Well, let's just go ahead and get started. We'll just start off in a prayer and
then we'll just go ahead and get right to it. Let's bow our heads and pray.
Heavenly Father, we are so grateful that we are here tonight as we are opening
your Word. We're reading your Word. We're studying your Word. We're learning more
about who you are. We're learning more about the Holy Spirit, the origin of
scriptures. And tonight we're going to learn more about the authors and more
about the idea of divine inspiration. And these are not the easiest of topics, but
they're important. And we just ask for your clarity. We ask for your guidance. We
ask that you will reveal yourself to us. You will reveal your wisdom, your insight,
your knowledge. And we're just so grateful that we have the Bible with us. We're so
grateful that we can open the Bible, that we live in a place where we can
read and study the Bible without much fear, like in other places. And
whatever have your way with us tonight, we ask that we will learn and grow
together. There's so much that we can learn that certainly we can have a
lifetime of dedication of learning your Word. And every time we read the pages of
scripture, we might learn something different. And I just pray for everyone
here tonight that we will just grow together. Be with us. For as your Word
says, where two or three are gathered in your name, there you are with us. So be
with us tonight. It is in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen. Well, I'm really glad
that you guys are all here tonight as we're doing part two. We're doing the
origin of scripture. I did mention last week that we were gonna go into
another section, but I had forgotten that we only did part one. So this is part
two of the origins of scripture. So the title of the series we're doing is The
Nature, the Purpose, and the Power of Scripture. And it's very important to do
a Bible study on the Bible because sometimes it's good for us as Christians
to know where did we get our Bible and what does the role of the Holy Spirit
have in scripture. So last week we talked about how the Holy Spirit carried
along the writers, and it's just been a very, it's very deep. It's very spiritual.
It's the idea, look, the Word of God is a gift from God. It's a gift from heaven,
if you will, right? Being the pages of this book being divinely inspired is just
when we think of God breathing out his breath of life into the words that were
written and that we have this book together. It's just something that's
inspiring, and I think it really helps me with my faith journey, and I hope it
helps you with your faith journey. And the first question, I have a question I
want you to think about this as we start off here, is I know it says how many of
you feel like the Bible has impacted your walk with God, but I guess it's the
question of do you feel that the Bible has impacted your walk with God? Do you
feel that way? I hope everyone can say yes, right? That the Bible, it
influences us, right? It helps us with coming to know who God is, what God has
done for us, right? And we think of the Word of God, the Word of life, right? That
it breathes life into us, if you will. You know, we learn about how... we're gonna
learn about the authors of Scripture, and I want us to keep in mind the idea of
the Holy Spirit carrying along with those authors like we did last week. We
learned about the connection with a boat on the water, right? When we're talking
about the overwhelm power of the ocean, when a boat is there on the water, right?
A boat, it needs wind, it needs the water, it needs an engine to move around, and
that's how we think of the Holy Spirit. And yeah, we're continuing with... we're
gonna focus on what the Bible reveals to us about the authors. I want us to know
we're not going over every individual name. We're focusing on the origins and
the authors that brought forth the Word of God. So you'll see in your notes the
outline of what we have here, the authors of Scripture, and you'll see on here it
says the Old Testament through Moses and the prophets. Now we're not going through
every single name of the prophets, we're not going through every single name of
the apostles. This is more of an overview and you'll see why. It's very
beautiful how everything is connected. When we go through the New Testament, we'll
see in the same way that the Holy Spirit guided the prophets when they're writing
the Old Testament, is the same way that the Holy Spirit worked with the apostles,
right? When you think of Peter, when you think of Paul, when you think of John or
Matthew, and you think of all of these writers, the book of James, the book of
Jude, all of them being divinely inspired. And I want us to remember that
this, knowing all of this, is it's foundational to our faith, right? It helps
us from when we're a baby Christian to when we're an adult, when we're a mature
adult. I want us to think of, when we think of the Bible, it is not one book, it
is many books, it is a collection of books. And I want to ask, I'm gonna put
this on the screen, it's how does seeing the Bible as a library rather than one
book, how does that help you with your understanding of the Bible? It's a good
question, you know? The Bible is a library of God's Word. We have the prophets, right,
who are prophesizing about things that are coming in the future. We think of
prophecy as the coming of Jesus Christ, and how Christ is the fulfillment of the
many, many prophecies that are there. We also think of the wisdom literature, and
we think of ecclesiasties, or we think of Job, we think of the beautiful poetic
language of Psalms, right? We think of the love story of song of Solomon, right?
We think of the letters of the Pauline letters, where Paul is talking about, you
know, how churches should conduct themselves, and you know, guiding them
the early church. We learn about the Acts of the Apostles, the beginning, if you
will, of the early church. And then of course, let's not forget the Gospel,
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John talking about the miracles of Jesus, the life of
Jesus Christ, and how significant his life is. We think of the miracles of
Jesus. We think of him turning water into wine, right? The wedding feast at Cana.
We think of Jesus walking on water. I always love the story when people thought
Jesus was a ghost when he was walking on the water in the storm. I also think of
how Jesus healing the sick, right? Raising Lazarus from the dead, the feeding of
the 5,000. All of these miracles, I can't imagine what it, it must have been really
incredible to see how the bread and the fish and how it multiplied and it fed
the 5,000. That would have been incredible to see. Seeing someone put mud on
their eyes and being able to see. I remember watching a movie once where you
see mud being put in the blind man's eyes. He's like, what are you doing? Why are
you doing this? And then he's clearing his eyes out and he can see. And it's like,
I've never seen before and it's just something that is incredible. And so
when we look at that question, I want you to always remember that it's not one
book. It's many books and this library of the Bible is all connected to
each other. And that should help all of us. The more we read, the more we look at
the pages of Scripture. It should help us in our faith seeing that pieces and
Psalms is, you know, it's over here in the Gospel or when Jesus is referring to
the prophets or the prophets are talking about the coming of Jesus Christ. There's
so much of that. And that is very different than a regular textbook, if you
will. You think of science and history or you think of Lord of the Rings or you
think of Harry Potter or whatever book it is. And it's just not the same with the
connections here. And so I want us to turn our Bibles. We're gonna turn, it's on
the screen. It's gonna be John chapter 1 verse 17. And in these ESV Bibles, it's
gonna be page 1053. So feel free to use whatever Bible you want to use, whether
that's the Pew Bible or not. And you'll see why we're talking specifically about
Moses, the prophets, and Christ being a writer. That's interesting. What does that
have to do with this? And then of course the apostles. So we'll see what this says.
So let's go to John chapter 1 verse 17. It says, for the law was given through
Moses. We know the law, the Pentateuch, the Torah, came through Moses.
Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. And I want you to, some of us are
aware of the Gospel of John, right? It has a rich language about Jesus Christ
existing before the creation of the universe. And I want us to think about
this before we go further into this. Jesus being there before the creation of
the universe. You can answer this if you want or you don't have to. But what
feelings or thoughts come to your mind when you think Jesus being there with
the Holy Spirit, with God, the Trinity all being there, with the creation of the
universe? I know we think of God, the Father, being there, right? In the beginning
God, he spoke. God said, let there be light. Jesus being there though. Feel
free to answer. Like what thoughts come into your mind? It's kind of a great mystery.
We have the idea that Jesus is the Logos, right? Or Logos, known as the word.
Right? You'll see in your notes, this will be on the back page. If there's any
verse that's not in the outline, it says, referenced verses for reflection. So, let
us make man in our image after our likeness. And we think about how we are
made in the image of God. So, in the beginning was the word. When we think of
John, and there's a connection here. There's an important part here. John
chapter 1 verses 1 through 18, it piggybacks off of this idea that
Jesus, that Christ is the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. And that's very
beautiful language describing who Christ is. I'm gonna put this on the screen
here. And we can look at this together. It might be a little hard to read. I'll
read it so we can kind of see this together. And this is all connected
here. In your notes, you'll see it just shows the verses. I put up the more of
the verses on here. There's a verse in Colossians, which goes on to say, he is
the image of the invisible God. For by him, he's talking about Jesus, all things
were created in heaven and on earth. All things were created through him and for
him. So, Jesus as Creator. Okay? So, this helps us with the understanding of that
John chapter 1 verse 17, our first verse, right? The Creator. It also goes on as Redeemer. He is
the head of the body, so I'm still in Colossians. Through him to reconcile to
himself all things, making peace by the blood of the cross. It is Christ and his
redemption for us by the shedding of his blood, by his death on the cross, Redeemer.
And then sustainer. He is before all things and I love this. In him, all things
hold together. Why am I bringing this up? Because there's a connection with John,
which leads us to understand just that one verse, John chapter 1 verse 17. In the
beginning was the word, right? All things were made through him and without him was
not anything made that was made. So, Christ being the word, right? The Creator.
Redeemer. And it goes on in John chapter 1 verse 12. But to all who did receive
him, the word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth. It's
talking about Christ being Redeemer. Maybe not exactly like how it is in the
Colossians passage, but there we're talking about he is becoming flesh. The
word becoming flesh, Jesus becoming flesh. And sustainer. In him was life and the
life was the light of men. The light that shines in the darkness and the darkness
has not overcome it. Sustainer because light is always going to shine in the
darkness. So, what is in the world does this have to do with verse 17? Well, it
helps us to understand when we look at our notes, when we look at these verses
that, well, part of the origin of Scripture is Christ being the word made
flesh. Part of it is Christ being there from the creation of the world. So, it is
connected here. And we have this idea of the law being given through Moses, like I
said those first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch, the Torah, right? And we
know, obviously, you know, right, we should know Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers, and Deuteronomy. I know the law is one of the hardest books, five books to
go over. Hearing a, doing a sermon series on Leviticus is not going to be a rather
difficult, right? But it goes on saying that God's grace, right? Grace and truth
came through Jesus Christ. Well, God's grace came through Jesus Christ. God
provided a way for salvation through faith, right? For all who believe in Him,
right? Having that faith in Jesus Christ. I love giving the example in, in
sermons and just anyone that I talk to. Well, how do I get to heaven? Well, what
must I do? Well, let's look at the Bible. I always think of the thief on the cross.
He knew he did wrong. And he turns to Jesus saying, Jesus, remember me when you
come into your kingdom or when you enter your kingdom, depending on the
translation. And it's such a profound thing because I think of some churches,
some people will say, well, you need to do the ABCs. You need to do all of these
certain prayers and certain classes you must take. But do you though? Well, did
the thief get baptized? The thief did not get baptized. Did the thief say a
sinner's prayer? I mean, there's nothing wrong with the sinner's prayer. Nothing
wrong whatsoever. But did the thief do that? Well, if Christ himself is saying
that the thief on the cross is going to be with him in paradise, I think we
should take note of that. That's so important for us. So all of that to say,
in that verse, John 117, grace and truth, so salvation, right? When we make a
decision to have Christ in our lives, we're saying yes to Jesus, right? That
grace, that salvation that comes from God. And instead of receiving death, instead
of receiving judgment or punishment, we receive life. We receive freedom in him.
It's just like how I say, you know, we are free from sin, not free to sin. I've
been reading over and studying over the book of Jude. And one of the things that
sticks out so much is, and you'll find this when you talk about false prophets
or false teachers, is, well, because I'm saved, I can sin. Because I'm saved, I can
do what I want. And Scripture clearly says no. It doesn't mean just because you
have said yes to Jesus, doesn't mean you should murder or steal, or doesn't mean
you should swindle people or, you know, cheat or whatever. It doesn't mean it
doesn't give you the ticket to ride. But unfortunately, that was very common, was
okay, I'm saved, therefore I should go do bad things. No, you shouldn't do bad
things. That is a call for you to, you're entering into the new covenant, right? We
are part of the new covenant. We think of how Jesus Christ fulfilled the law. In
the back of your notes, this is in your future reading, right? Further
reading, 2 Corinthians chapter 3 is all about the new covenant. We could have a
whole series just on that. But that's for you to read in your spare time about
that. But it's all about how we are ministers of the new covenant. Then we
have this idea of truth, right? Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. The idea
of truth is, we know Jesus Christ as the way and the truth and the life. And
that's also the reference on the back of your page, right? I am the way, the truth
and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. You know, it's very
interesting. When I was a kid, I used to watch, you know, the old Bible movies
where you saw a Pontius Pilate. He's dressed in his Roman costume, if you
will. And I always loved Pilate. He seemed like, you know, a military guy. He was a
government official, right? He was a very powerful man. And it's very interesting
when, and this isn't in your notes, but it's just thinking about this. When Pilate
asks the question, what is truth? And then he goes out and he's saying, I find no
guilt in this person. He doesn't answer it, but you can kind of gather from that.
That Pilate's like, oh, maybe this guy is the truth. And so when we're talking
about going back to the John passage, grace and truth came from Christ. It's
very powerful, very powerful language. So I want us to go to our next verse. It's
going to be on, it's going to be Luke chapter 24 verse 27. And it's one page
before in our ESV study Bibles, or it's right before Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
So it's just right at the end of Luke. And you'll see there's a
connection with this. When you use Pew Bibles, you start getting used to the
page number instead of, that's the thing I've noticed coming here. And that's okay.
That's okay. So in Luke chapter 24 verse 27, it says in here, and beginning with
Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the
things concerning himself. Okay, well, it's clear beginning with Moses and the
prophets. We see that, okay, there's mention of these authors and the divine
inspiration of it. But what's interesting in the context of this verse is this is
after the resurrection of Christ, Jesus is appearing to two disciples and they
don't know who Jesus is at that time. So they're walking with him, right? They're
on the road to Emmaus. And it says that Jesus interpreted them scripture. So what
that means is he's explaining to them how the Word of God pointed to Christ.
And I'm like, oh, that's really beautiful when we're talking about the
reference of the authors of the scripture, the origins of the scripture, how
Christ was part of the origins of the scripture. So Jesus is explaining to the
disciples how he is supposed to suffer. And I know we always have a hard time
with the fact that Christ had to suffer and I'm sure they did too. They were
probably wondering, why does he have to suffer? Well, I would have loved to be
there on the road to Emmaus and hearing him explain it to his disciples and
them not knowing who it is. That's always amazing to me when you think of,
you know, if Christ came back in bodily form and you didn't recognize him, that
must have been very interesting. In verse 25, Jesus is saying how foolish they
are, but he explains that they should pay attention to the scriptures.
They need to pay attention to what the prophets have to say. And that's also
good language. So it's interesting how all of that is connected, right? Christ had
to explain to his disciples how he had to suffer. He had to suffer to fulfill the
Old Testament prophecy. And in the back of your notes in Acts chapter 3 verse 18,
it says, God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets that Christ would suffer.
So this reference in Luke is referencing Acts here. And if you go ahead,
let's stay on that page. I need to turn it to it again. 1,052. Look at verse
44. Verse 44. So he finally, let's even go back further. Jesus appears to his
disciples, right? Peace to you, right? And there's doubts that arose with
the disciples. Verse 39. See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself, touch me
and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see that I have.
And he's going on. Verse 44. He said to them, these are my words that I spoke to
you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law
of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. This is not in your
notes, but let's go to that next verse. Then he opened their minds to understand
the scriptures and said to them, thus it is written that Christ should suffer and
on the third day rise from the dead. And that repentance for the forgiveness of
sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem.
You are witnesses to these things and behold, I'm sending the promise of my
father upon you. Stay in the city until you're clothed with power from on high,
referencing the Holy Spirit. Wow. So there's a lot in there. These are the
words that I've spoke to you. Everything written about me. So this is all
connected to Christ. This is all that's why it's kind of like I said, we're not
going over every author, but we're going over how is this? How are the prophets and
the apostles? How are they all divinely inspired? Right? Remember, let's think of
the big idea, the origin of scripture, the breath of God, the carrying along of
the Holy Spirit and how Moses and the prophets and the apostles and the Psalms
through Christ, how it's all connected to each other. That's, I know it's a lot to
think about, but it's very, it's wonderful that we get to see these
connections. We find that Moses, the prophets and the Psalms in that verse,
the verse 44 of Luke 24, verse 44, it's pointing to Christ. It's all connected to
the divine inspiration of the Word of God and the carrying along of the Holy
Spirit to the writers. And this is to show that Christ came to fulfill what was
written. I love that Jesus had to explain to his disciples, right? I mean, I can't
imagine how humbling that must be to be a disciple of Jesus and to have it
explained to me. Oh, that's a ghost. I mean, what are you saying here? Feel my
sides, feel my wounds. I think of, I think sometimes we give doubting Thomas a
bad rap because I think, would you question it? Because they didn't know
that he was, they didn't have the full context that we have. So I think that
when Christ is saying here, here I am, look, this, and now I'm gonna explain how
all of this is connected. I am a fulfillment of the prophecies from the,
from the law of Moses, from the prophets and even from the Psalms and I think,
man, the Psalms, that would be a really good study, study the Psalms and see how
that points to Christ. But we know that it points to Christ. Christ came to
fulfill what was written and many of you may know the famous, it's just on the
back of your notes, Matthew chapter 5 verse 17 verse that says, I have not come
to abolish the law or the prophets but to fulfill them. So it's all connected.
Let's go to Hebrews. It's gonna be, it's on the screen here, Hebrews chapter 1
verses 1 through 2. I know we're going over a lot of verses here, so you guys
have any questions? I guess before we continue, I know it's a lot of information.
Alright, in Hebrews, long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our
fathers by the prophets. Well, there we have it, right? Divide inspiration, right?
The leading of the Holy Spirit through the prophets. But in these last days, he
has spoken to us by his son. So that's where Christ has to do with the divine
inspiration of Scripture. That's how Christ is an author, if you will, whom he
appointed the heir of all things through whom also he created the world.
Remember, we're talking about Jesus as the Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.
There's one about the Creator. You don't really learn this as an early
Christian. Maybe you do. We think of the creation of the world by God the Father,
right? Let there be light and there was light. We don't think of Jesus necessarily
all the time and even for me, sometimes I'm like, I think it's just one of those
things that is meant to puzzle us, right? My mother being a devout Christian as
she is, she would always say, there's some great mysteries that we just don't
understand. And that's a mystery I don't understand and we have to be okay with
that when we think about that. But isn't that interesting? He appointed the heir of
all things through whom also he created the world. That's why I showed you Jesus
as Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer. That you'll find passages that support this
part of the attributes, part of the qualities of the character even of who
Jesus is. The writer of Hebrews, he is speaking to the early Christians. He's
speaking of the Jews, right? He's speaking to the Jews about their fathers. That God
spoke to the Jewish people through all of the prophets, right? We know that when
we look at the Old Testament, we hear about God's people, the Jewish people,
right? We think of, gosh, the whole history out in the scripture where the
cycle, they obey God and then they get a little overboard, they disobey God,
there's repentance, right? Think of 40 days in the wilderness, I think of the
promised land. We can just think about all of the, just how the Old Testament was
connected to the Jewish people. Now here's the thing though and I want this to
really resonate, I want this to really stick out to you here. So God spoke to
the Jewish people through the prophets. In this time period, God spoke to us, the
Gentiles, the Church by Christ. Let me go on. It goes on talking about how Christ
was their heir of all things, right? So Jesus has authority and power over all
creation because we learn about Christ as Creator. So Jesus is the Lord of all
not man and not angels and I say that because it goes on talking about angels.
So let's think about this, the mystery, right? You'll know why I'm saying
mystery here when we go further along in here. You'll see when we go to the
Ephesians passage, so I'm trying to not give you too much here, but okay, so Jesus
is Lord of all, the heir of all things whom He created the world. So He's spoken
to us by His Son, us being the Gentiles, right? So let's go to Ephesians chapter
3 verse 5. You'll see a connection here and it's really good. So I'll put that on
the screen. It's Ephesians chapter 3 verse 5 and it's page 1160. Alright, so
Ephesians 3 5. Let's just go from chapter 3, okay, just the beginning of
chapter 3. For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of
the Gentiles, hold on to that. Assuming that you have heard of the stewardship
of God's grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to
me by revelation. So mystery and Gentiles as I have written briefly. Verse 4, when
you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ. What is
the mystery of Christ? Which was not made known by the sons of men in other
generations as it now has been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the
spirit. There we go again, divine inspiration through the prophets and the
apostles. Verse 6, the mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of
the same body and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the
gospel. So the mystery of Christ, the mystery of the gospel, when you read that
what's what are you hiding, right? It's being revealed the truth that the gospel
is not just for the Jews, it is for everyone, it is for the Gentile and the
Jew. That's why in verse 6, Gentiles are fellow heirs, right? Remember when we were
talking about how Jesus is the heir of all things when we read that in Hebrews?
Well, we talk about the mystery here that we are part of the same body. We are
included in the salvation plan, the redemptive story for everyone. Because
when we think of the whole context of the Bible, the Bible as a whole, we think
of the idea of redemption, we think of restoration, we think of reconciliation,
we think of how there is a sin problem, right? We think of the separation from God
when sin entered the world. Well, it appears from here that it looked like
salvation was only available to the Jews, but because of Jesus Christ, there was
the mystery that was revealed, that God had this plan for redemption for everyone.
That is why it's so important when we think of John 3.16, for God so loved the
world that he gave his only son that whosoever believes, it doesn't say that
only the Jews, it doesn't say only the Gentiles, that whosoever. That's why it's
so such beautiful language knowing that, okay, it's available to everyone, but to
know that it was hidden and that it was revealed to the prophets,
right? It's revealed to the apostles now, this mystery. Well, now we know the mystery,
we know the answer to that. We know that Jesus Christ provides salvation to
everyone and not just the Jews, and that's such a huge, just a powerful verse
to think about. And I want us to think about also of how in, did I put this on
the screen? I guess I didn't. Let's go, I don't have a page, I don't have a
slide. Let's go to Romans here, okay? It's gonna be in Romans chapter 16 verse 25,
because Romans is gonna make mention of the mystery of Christ. Like I said, I
don't have a slide for you, but you'll see. Let's read it together.
Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching
of Jesus Christ. According to the revelation of the mystery that was kept
secret for long ages, but now has been disclosed through the prophetic writings
that have been made known to all nations, according to the command of the
eternal God to bring about the obedience of faith to the only wise God, be glory
forevermore through Jesus Christ. Amen. It's talking again about the mystery that
was revealed. It was hidden and that's something that we learn about scripture
so much is that there are things that are hidden in the word of God and as we
read and as we study, we will learn more from it. And I think it even talks
about in scripture how scripture is protected from those who don't believe.
And I think there's something to that. Why would God hide things from people,
but you can't look at it that way. God is protecting scripture from those who
don't believe, which is an encouragement for us to be a believer so that we can be
able to read and study and find more inspiration, go in depth into the word
of God and really just apply it to our lives. Sometimes things of God, right, it
says in scripture that things of God are foolishness, right, to those who don't
believe. Think about that. Things that we understand as Christians, other non-
believers that are yet to come to faith, they're not ready yet. And that's very
difficult language for those who may be on the outside. The atheist or the
agnostic or someone who's never made that decision for Christ, how can you make
such a connection that doesn't make sense? Isn't the Bible just a book? Well,
you're not there yet. That's why scripture is so big about starting from
the the milk of the word to going into solid food. Because you know, as
Christians, the word of God is going to mold us. It's going to shape us. It's going
to make us into the men and women that God wants us to be. And when we have
Bible studies like this, there may be people who don't understand anything
that we're talking about tonight. And maybe they do. Maybe by the grace of God
they understand certain components. But I do believe that there are things that
will be revealed to those who desire to be close to the Lord, who walk with the
Lord and open the word of God and study it. And I know that's a hard thing to
really think about. It's like, well, why can't everyone understand the Bible
equally? Well, part of it, I would say it's your heart. Where is your heart at
when you're reading and studying scripture? So when we think about this
mystery that was kept secret, it wasn't the right time for God to reveal it.
Because God had something great in store for his people. To provide salvation
from Jesus Christ through Jesus Christ. And so when we think about our lesson for
tonight, we have learned, we've gone over this part two of the origins of
scripture, and we have learned that God breathed into his word. Because God is
the giver of life. To think that he breathed, he used the Holy Spirit to
inspire these writers to overwhelm them, to write on, to write these letters and
to write, you know, when you're thinking of Moses and the prophets, to... That's
beautiful language that really goes to show how much higher the Bible is
than really any other book. On a personal note, I've had many people who
years of ministry, I've ran into people every so often, they ask me,
what books do you read? And it's a common question. Sometimes people ask, hey, do
you read Charles Spurgeon? Do you read C.S. Lewis? Do you read, you know, different
writers and authors? And certainly reading Christian books or reading, you know,
mythological stories or, you know, a good action novel and no different than
watching movies, that's fine. But I remember I used to have such a hard time
answering that question because one thing I like to answer with other
Christians, and they like, when they ask who do you read, I'm like, well, I read the
Bible and I feel like that's what you should be reading. And I used to have
such a hard time when they're like, well, what about, you know, the great writers,
what about St. Augustine? What about origin? What about, and I'm like, I don't, I
don't read them and I don't want to read them. And I just, I remember that
throughout ministry, the years that I've met different pastors and different
Christians, sometimes I was like, well, yeah, I know what you're asking me and
the answer is no. And I just, with that situation, I had to learn that it's okay
to not read them, but it's certainly okay to read them. When we're reading other
books, we have to remember that it should never triumph. It should never be above
scripture. And you have to be careful when you have people that are, there's
nothing wrong with reading the great theologians and the great pastors. But
when it, if you're a Christian and you're finding that you're reading Charles
Spurgeon or you're reading a Wesleyan literature or whatever it is, and you're
reading that more than the Bible, that does cause them to question, well, why are
you reading these authors more than scripture? And I say all of this because
there's nothing wrong with just reading the Word of God and there's also nothing
wrong with reading other authors, but keep your priorities straight on what's
important to you. So I always think of those days when I would run into other
Christians and they talk about those kind of things. It's also no different than
when we think of creeds or when we think of book of prayers. I know there's like
the Westminster Confessional and there's the different creeds and all of
those. They're good if they help you in your walk with the Lord, but the moment
they take over the importance of scripture, you have to be very careful.
And when I say these things, I know sometimes people get very upset. They're
thinking, well, why would you tell me not to read Charles Spurgeon? Why would you
tell me not to care about the creed? I'm not saying that. There's nothing wrong
with creeds. There's nothing wrong with books of prayers. I know Catholics and
Lutherans and Anglicans, they have their book of prayers. There's beautiful prayers
that have been written throughout the centuries that should not triumph what
scripture has to say. And so when we think of God breathing on to the words, like,
did God breathe in Harry Potter? Did God breathe in Lord of the Rings? Or did
God breathe on these other things? And the answer is no. So why would you elevate
these other things above scripture? So our key takeaways. We've learned that the
Bible is a library of books inspired by God. Every, you know, to know that all of
these authors were led by the Holy Spirit. That's inspirational. I mean, sometimes
when we're in our work and we're just getting in the groove and we're, you
know, we're working and getting things done, that's just our own. That's our own
mind, right? Some people call it flow or getting in the zone when you're working
and working and you're just getting things done. Imagine having the
overwhelming feeling of the Holy Spirit coming upon you to write things
down, to write what would become the Word of God. I can't even, I can't even imagine.
We also have this idea that Jesus existed before the creation of the world
and that is something that is very difficult for people to fathom, to
understand. How was Jesus there? Well, we think of let us, right? In that verse,
let us make man in our image after our likeness. That is part of, yes, there's
not a lot of verses on that, but that's one of them. Also, the idea that Jesus is
the Creator, the Redeemer, and the Sustainer, holding everything together,
being there at the creation of the world and then being the redemption, right?
Jesus being the atoning sacrifice, the sacrificial lamb, the lamb that was slain.
I think of so many songs that talk about worthy is the lamb that was slain.
I think of what scripture has to say about, I mean, even when we think about
God providing a sacrifice, we think of Abraham wanting to sacrifice Isaac. You
read that, you think he's really going to do it. God will provide a sacrifice.
Well, not only does God provide a sacrifice at that moment, but it's also
foretelling that there will be a sacrifice. So it's a double whammy, if
you will. It's truth being set in motion. And obviously, Moses is the writer of
the Torah, right? In the Pentateuch, that the Bible was carried along, written
through Moses, the prophets, Jesus and the Apostles. So it might be a strange
thing to say, well, Jesus is the author. Well, he is. And it's, I would definitely
say that people will struggle with that. I mean, even I have a difficulty with
that, but we know that through these verses that Christ was there and that
Christ's influence is there as the author, if you will. And I want you to take a
moment, reflect on one thing you can apply to your life this week. And I want
to ask you any questions you may have or any insight or anything you learn
tonight. You've probably heard, Speak, Lord, your servant is listening. Sometimes,
when we get so busy with things, it's focusing only on God's word. And it, it
gets so easy for us to get distracted by our phones. I mean, even on my
tabla right here, I got some notifications. I'm like, get out of here. I
don't, I don't want you there. It's definitely becoming a lot more difficult
to be able to, when you're, to have that intentionality, to take time to open the
word of God and to focus on it. You know, we have so many shouting voices in the
world, right? People who like to scream and yell and they like to, you know, I'm
louder than you or you're louder than me or whatever. But oftentimes, God will
speak to you in peace and quiet. When you're in a room and sometimes you just
have to turn your phone off. Sometimes you have to just really make an effort. I'm
not gonna have any electronics or, and then if you do that, you got to make sure
you're not thinking about things you have to do or things that are in process,
right? You can't think about the laundry. You can't think about, you know, what am I
cooking tomorrow or, you know, what, what appointments? Sometimes you need to pray
just to silence your mind and all of the thoughts that are going on. I know many
times that I might be so busy. I feel like I don't have time for God's word and
you can't let that happen. You have to really, sometimes there are days where
it's easy, you know, like a Saturday. There's other days, man, it's so difficult.
I always think of how, in scripture where it says, do not be conformed to the
patterns of this age or the ways of the world, depending on what translation, but
to be transformed by the renewal of your mind. There's so many ways we can look at
that passage and definitely asking God to strengthen your mind, to renew your mind
so that you can focus on His word. How do you want to speak to me today?
How do you want that, God? And it's, it takes practice. It takes a lot of effort.
And I find that sometimes when we're the most distracted is that's the times we
need to pray the most or that's the time we need to open the word when we're
overwhelmed or when we're filled with anxiety or you know, it's like, man, I
did so much today and I just want to go to bed or I just want to do this. But
definitely thinking about where your heart is, where your heart is, you could
say where your mind is and just sometimes I know for me personally, there have been
times I just sit there and I pray, I just close my eyes, I just pray and I ask
God to get these thoughts on my head, you know. There's a song out there where it
says, it's a song called Why Does the Sky? It's by, I think it's Matt Redman and
the chorus is, let all the other names fade away until there is only you. And it's
such a powerful verse where they're repeating it over and over. It's a very
repeated lyric. But I think there's something to that though, where the
names of other people, right? Where you could mean, you know, the people that
you're interacting with until you're focusing on God. But it could also mean
if we're lifting someone else's name over God, let's battle all fade away.
Singing praises to the Lord, finding different ways to connect with God. How
we go about that varies from person to person. I know for, I'm very blessed with
my wife. We connect with the Lord in nature. That's always been the way that
we, it's kind of how we connect with each other, but also how we connect with
the Lord. You hike up a mountain and just look at all the, I don't know how many
trees, I don't even want to try to count them, but you're overwhelmed by the
splendor, the grandeur, the sights, the sounds, the sounds of the birds and
hearing the wind through the trees. I feel like that's where I connect with
the Lord the most. You got to make sure you bring a Bible as well, you know, in
those moments. And if you don't, make sure you pray and just appreciate, God, you
really made all this for us. I mean, I know there's a lot of people that don't
like this world, but there's so much beauty to this world. To come to appreciate,
you know, every, every plant that grows. I think it's in Job, the book of Job, where
it says that, it might be Job, I'm trying to remember where it's at, but God is
asking the question, who grows the crops? And I'm like, who, that's, that's actually
really hard if you think about it, because we're giving the seeds to crops or
plants. We put it in the ground and we water it and give it sunlight and give it
time and do we really grow it though? And it's, it's this idea that is God that
allows for these plants to grow. And it's, I just, when I think about that, when I
read something like that, I'm like, okay, there's stuff that we have to do, but
there's certainly a lot on God's part. And yeah, how, how you connect with God
though, asking, singing songs, speak to me, Lord, speak to me, you know, I'm ready
to listen. And sometimes we have to be careful when we ask, we're asking God, you
know, what do you have for me today? It may not always be the thing we're, we're
wanting to hear, but the things we're needing to hear. It's just like the famous,
I'm gonna ask God for patience, well, God, why aren't you giving me an answer?
Right? It's no different than when we're asking God to speak to us. I know that
next, these next coming weeks, we will be doing the titles and the name of
scriptures, as I mentioned, so the word, right? The word of God, the word of Christ,
the word of truth, the holy scriptures, the oracles of God, that'll probably be
next week. Then there's the name and the characteristics of scripture, how the
word is pure, the word is true, it's perfect, it's living and active. And then
I'm not sure how long this one, this, there's two other ones. The purpose of
scripture, revealing the law of God, understanding humanities, lost state, how
Christ is the Savior, there's a lot of depth in there. I don't think we'll be
able to do that in one, that'll probably be two or three. And then the truths and
the misconceptions about scripture, how, what happens if we ignore scripture or
how we need to embrace the word, how we, you know, the Holy Spirit's role in
interpretation or what is the consequence for rejecting God's word. I think
it's all of that is, you know, it goes with our title, right? The purpose of
our scripture, the nature of the scriptures, the power of the scriptures.
And that's why we have that on our title here, right? The nature, the purpose, and
the power of scripture. And I just, I like that a lot. I think it's definitely
in depth. I know there's a lot of, there's lots of different styles of Bible
study, right? Some will do revelations, some will do a topic, and I just felt,
it's definitely a lot, and I do appreciate everyone, you guys all being here
tonight. Any other thoughts, any other questions? I mean, well, it's when we
think of when the apostle Paul is saying grace and peace from God our Father,
right? It's the peace that is surpassing all understanding, right? The peace that is
a result, a byproduct from the grace that we receive. It's one of the unique
things about being a Christian is how there is a peace, right? It surpasses
all understanding. Well, you can lose everything and still have the joy of the
Lord. And that is something that to an outsider, an unbeliever, or someone
hasn't believed, will not understand. How do you still have the joy of the Lord in
your house when you just lost everything? Think of the book of Job. That's a
perfect example. I mean, in one day he lost everything. Job lost everything, and I
can't imagine, maybe that'll be a heavy sermon series one day, but then having
your friends say, oh well, you know, are you praying enough or you know, what's
wrong with you, Job? Yeah, and it's just thinking about that, but sure, Job got
depressed. He felt his human emotions, but he was still faithful. And thinking
about that is, although we, it's still very hard to understand. Like, whoa, you
have a man who lost everything. I'd hate to lose everything. Would I be like
Job? That's a much more difficult question to answer.
Yeah, well, does it when this servants come up to Job one by one, like, oh man, I
just, but definitely, yeah, there is that peace that comes from the Lord. There's
the wisdom that comes from the Lord. When, you know, the idea is that receiving
that peace, receiving that, having that sense of calm, knowing that, knowing
where you're going, right? The famous question, do you know where you're gonna
go when you die? Well, yeah, there's a peace that comes to that. It's like, I have
nothing to fear, right? Yeah, I mean, the only fear we should have is the fear of
the Lord. Having that awe and reverence for who God is and his creation, but also
just knowing that no matter what politician, what changes happen in this
country, what the wrong people do to us, yeah, it still hurts us absolutely, but
it's not. There's something that is beyond. There's a love that's beyond me.
There is peace that is beyond me that comes from God. And I think that's the
most powerful thing about being a Christian. It's the most reassuring
thing of being a Christian is having that peace. It's, you know, we think of how the
world does things, you know, Ecclesiastes, there's nothing new under the Sun. How
often do people want to do the eye for an eye thing, right? You stole from me, I'm
gonna steal from you, or you did wrong to me, I want to do wrong to you. Yet God's
provided a much better way of loving us and forgiving us, even when it's
difficult for people to love themselves, even when it's difficult for people to
forgive themselves, you know, when you work with teenagers or you work with
adults even, sometimes we're harder on ourselves than God is. Knowing that God's
going to forgive us, he forgives us of our sins, why are we so hard on ourselves?
Just like when we did the Jonah series, right? When Nineveh was saved, right? It's
a wonderful thing. The whole city of Nineveh repents and turns to God, but yet
Jonah is angry, and God asks him, why are you angry Jonah? Well, because he was so
entrenched, he was so full of anger that he didn't see the good that was
happening. So it's just definitely a lot. Well, let's go ahead, let's close in
prayer, and Father we thank you for bringing us here tonight. You are the
divine author, the inspirer of the writings of scripture. You sent your Holy
Spirit to overwhelm the writers, to inspire them to take the pen if you will,
and to write down your word. We've learned tonight how in the beginning was the
word, learn about Jesus Christ as the word, such complicated language, but
beautiful language. We learn more about how your son Jesus is the creator,
redeemer, and sustainer. Very beautiful language and how you hold all of us
together. We ask that you are with us as we go from this place, and we may
grow in faith, continue to grow. We're always learning about you, we're always
growing. May we continue to grow closer to you, and we just are in awe and in
wonder of your word, who you are, what you have done, and what you continue to do.
Providing a way of salvation through faith in Jesus is the most beautiful
thing, and as we've learned tonight, the mystery of Christ, the mystery of the
gospel that you had a plan all along to provide salvation for all who believe in
you. Be with us as we go from this place. May we live in love like you. May we,
our love shine upon others. May the peace of God, may your peace God be with us.
And as we've read in Romans, you are able, the mystery that was kept for
secret so long ago has been disclosed through the prophets, through the
apostles. To you be the glory and the honor, and we just are in awe and
thankful for your word, for salvation. May we be beacons of hope for others. It is
in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.