Authority Of Scripture

AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE

II TIM. 3:15-17

            Living Word – Jesus Christ – claimed to be God – Jn. 1:14

            Written Word – Bible – claimed to be from God –II Tim. 3:16

Tells us – Where we came from – Creation

                  Why we’re here – Glorify God and serve Him

                  Where we’re going – Eternity

Reasons to believe Scripture came from God – “God-breathed”

                               I.            Unity —  66 books – 44 authors –over 1,600 yrs. —  3 languages

–Authors – different backgrounds  —  most not well educated

–Most did not know each other —  kings of Israel, warriors, shepherds, poets, a physician, fisherman, a tax collector, a tent-maker, a farmer – some young, some old

–Scripture contains history, prophecy, poetry, praise, wisdom, genealogy, gospel, instruction, exhortation, symbolism, miracles; Heb., Greek, Aramaic

HARMONY OF MESSAGE  — NO CONTRADICTIONS

–In contrast – Koran and Book of Mormon – written by 1 man – dictated by an angel

–The Koran – no prophecy, no miracles, no Savior, no forgiveness, no personal transformation, no assurance of heaven except for the martyr

–The Hindu Vedas – no prophecy, teach reincarnation, pantheism, everything and everybody ends up at Krishna, everything is an illusion

–Buddhist teaching – leads to a state of mind called Nirvana

–Jehovah’s Witnesses – wrote their own version (translation) of Bible in 1961; beginning in 1843 they began to set dates for return of Christ and Armageddon – numerous efforts at setting dates failed over and over – even in light of Jesus’ words – “no man knows the hour or the day”

                             II.            Prophecy – Scripture contains 1,817 individual predictions on 737 subjects – 8,352 verses (27% contain prophecy)

            –300+ prophecies in OT about coming Messiah – all fulfilled in Jesus Christ (never any prophecies about Buddha, Mohammed or any other leader)

            –Deut. 18:20-22 – prophets must be 100% correct or not from God

            –Historical prophecies – 100% correct

            –Expectation – all futuristic prophecy – (end-time) will come to pass

            –1976-1979 – study done – top 10 psychics – 98% wrong – 6 of 10 wrong always

                          III.            Popularity – several hundred million in annual sales worldwide

            –read by more than a billion people every year – proclaimed as the world’s greatest literary masterpiece

                          IV.            Preservation – Bible – suffered more opposition, hatred, and censorship – including book burnings – than any book survived       over emperors, kings, and dictators who tried to eliminate it.

            –1947 – Dead Sea Scrolls – Qumran caves near the Dead Sea — more than 1,000 manuscripts dating before AD 68 were found – identical             to AD 1100 manuscripts used for King James translation in 1611 – showed reverance and respect for God’s Word through the ages

            Jn. 10:35 – “The scripture cannot be broken” – Jesus

Scripture – I Tim. 3:15-17

I.   Shows us how to be saved – vs. 15

II. Tells us where scripture came from – vs. 16 – “God-breathed”

III. Tells us why it was given – vs. 16 – “profitable” – doctrine, etc.

IV. And for what purpose – wholeness and equipping for ministry

–Illustration – Letter from Pres. of USA – God’s love letter to saints

–Illustration – Voltaire – over 200 yrs. Ago – Atheist – “in 100 yrs. Christianity will be a fading memory” – after death, Brit. Bib. Soc.

bought Vol. house – filled library with copies of Bible for distribution – The thing he hated most, he could not destroy.  Mt. 24:35 – “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”