Deo Gloria
Sermon for September 15, 2019
Pastor Martin Bentz
Text: 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21; Genesis:18:20+21; Micah 5:2; John 17:17
Theme: Is the Bible True?
Last week we tackled an extremely important question, a question that has tremendous implications for our lives: Is God real? Today we’re going to examine an equally important question: Is the Bible true?
What do you know about God? Well, from reading the Bible you know, for example, that God is holy, that he is triune, that he is loving and eternal and all-knowing and all-powerful and faithful and merciful and unchanging. But now let’s take away the Bible for a moment. Let’s say that you cannot use it as a basis for your information. Now what do you know about God? Not very much. What about Jesus? How much do you know about Jesus? Again, not very much. How about heaven and hell and how to get to heaven? What do you know about them? Hardly anything, which really highlights the importance of today’s topic. The source of virtually everything we believe is the Bible
But how do we know the Bible is true? How do I know the Bible’s not full of errors and mistakes? How do I know it’s not just like any other book in the library? That’s the way many people look at it, you know, that it’s no different than any other book, written by people and therefore subject to human opinion and bias and flaws. So how do I know it’s true and that I can believe what it says?
Obviously, the Bible is a human document. It was written by ordinary people just like you and me. There are, however, a number of things that make the Bible different from any other book, that make it special and unique, and that indicate that it is true.
First of all, the Bible is inspired. Now I recognize people say that about other books as well. For example, a reporter might interview someone who had survived the sinking of the Titanic. And later, because he felt so inspired by his conversation with that person, he decided to write a book about it. That’s not what we mean when we say the Bible is inspired. What we mean is that the people who wrote the Bible didn’t just write it on their own. Rather they were prompted and guided to write what they did by God himself. This is the point Paul is making in our first Scripture passage from 2 Timothy ch. 3. He writes, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness”(v. 16). This is where the word “inspiration” comes from. It means “to breathe in.” God breathed into the authors of the Bible. He put it in their hearts to write these things down. He put in their minds the thoughts and ideas they were supposed to write. He guided them in writing what they did. At times he gave them the very words to write. He inspired them.
Notice too that Paul says that “all Scripture is God-breathed,” not just some it, not just parts of it, all if it. From the story of creation to the story of the flood, from the Psalms of David to the songs of the saints and angels in heaven recorded in the book of Revelation, from the account of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem to the account of his resurrection on the third day—all of it, every part of Scripture is “God-breathed,” is inspired by God.
This is also the point Peter is making in our second Scripture passage, the one from 2 Peter ch. 1. In the preceding verses Peter refers to a very special event in Jesus’ life, one that he and the other disciples could easily be accused of making up: the story of Jesus’ transfiguration. Can’t you just hear the skeptics? “You mean to tell me Jesus’ face just started shining and his clothes started glowing? You mean to tell me you heard a voice come from a cloud? Come on. You can’t be serious!” But listen again to what Peter says, “We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty”(v. 16). In other words Peter is saying, “We didn’t make it up. We didn’t invent this story about Jesus. We saw it with our own eyes. We heard it with our own ears. It really happened. You can believe it.”
Then he goes on to say that we should believe and pay attention to what prophets say too. Why? Take a look at v. 21: “For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” What’s Peter saying? He’s saying that what the prophets wrote wasn’t their idea. It didn’t originate with them. In other words, it wasn’t Moses’ idea to write what he did in Genesis, or David’s idea to write what he did in the Psalms, or Isaiah’s idea to write what he did in the book that bears his name. It was God’s idea. He is the one who prompted them to write what they did. And he even helped them write it. “Men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” Moses had help when he wrote the book of Genesis. David had help when he wrote the 23rd Psalm. Isaiah had help when he recorded the prophecies in his book—divine help. Each and every one of them was guided, was assisted, was carried along by the Holy Spirit. And that’s one reason you and I can be sure the Bible is true, because it was inspired by God.
A second is the Bible’s historical accuracy. Over the years scholars have often doubted the Bible’s accuracy on historical people, places, and events. They have claimed that certain people or places mentioned in the Bible never existed or that certain events never took place. But the Bible has always proven to be accurate.
For example, let’s look at our third Scripture passage from Genesis ch. 18: “Then the LORD said, ‘The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know’”(vv. 20+21). For many years scholars pointed to these verses as proof that the Bible was wrong, that this whole story about Sodom and Gomorrah was a fabrication because there was no evidence outside the Bible that those cities ever existed. But then in 1964 archeologists began digging at a site in northern Syria called Tel Mardihk. There they found some 17,000 clay tablets. Surprisingly, some of the tablets contained lists of cities in the region, and among them were the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Bible turned out to be correct after all.
Another example is found in Daniel ch. 5, where it refers to Belshazzar as king of Babylon. The problem was that for many years there was no historical evidence that a man named Belshazzar ever served as king of Babylon. So again, the Biblical account was said to be wrong. But then in 1956 archeologists unearthed three stones with inscriptions on them that solved the mystery. It seems that the man who was king of Babylon at the time had decided to lead his armies on an extended military campaign in faraway lands. And so he temporarily installed his son as king in his absence. Anyone want to guess what his son’s name was? That’s right: Belshazzar.
And there are numerous examples like that, instances where the Bible’s accuracy concerning various people or places or events was questioned. And each and every time the Bible has turned out to be true. Nelson Glueck, the renowned Jewish archeologist, has said, “It may be stated categorically that no archeological discovery has ever controverted a biblical reference.” Another reason we can be sure the Bible is true.
A third is the fulfillment of biblical prophecy. There are hundreds of prophecies in the Bible—many of them relating to the coming of the Messiah. These prophecies or predictions about the coming Savior were written down hundreds and in some cases more than a thousand years before Jesus was born. A good example is the well-known prophecy from Micah ch. 5, words we often hear at Christmas time: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times”(v. 2). In this passage the prophet Micah predicts that the coming Savior would be born in the village of Bethlehem. And, as you know, that’s exactly where Jesus was born.
And there are many other passages like that. One foretold that the Savior would be born of a virgin, another that he would come from the tribe of Judah, another that he would come from the house of David, another that he would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver, another that his hands and feet would be pierced, and on and on and on. All together there are over 300 prophecies concerning the Messiah that were fulfilled in the life and ministry of Jesus.
What are the chances of something like that happening, that all of these prophecies, made hundreds and even more than a thousand years in advance—what are the chances that all of these prophecies could be fulfilled in one person? Using the mathematical science of probability, Peter Stoner has calculated that the odds of one person fulfilling just 8 of these prophecies would be 1 in 1017. Yes, you heard me correctly. The probability that even 8 of these prophecies would be fulfilled in one person is 1 in 1017. To help us grasp how incredible that is, Mr. Stoner provides the following illustration:
Suppose we take 1017 silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting it right? 1 in 1017.
The fulfillment of prophecy is another testimony to the truth of the Bible.
A fourth and final one is our Savior Jesus. Jesus himself made a striking statement about the Bible in John ch. 17. He said: “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth”(v. 17). Jesus, of course, is referring to the Word of God recorded in the Old Testament Scriptures, the same Old Testament Scriptures you and I have in our Bibles today. And notice what he says: It’s truth. It’s not just a collection of man-made stories. It’s not a human record of events full of bias and opinion and mistakes. It’s truth. So if we had any doubts about the Bible before, if we had any doubts about whether or not the Bible is actually true, Jesus clears them up for us. He states categorically that it is.
And yet, there are still those who cast doubts on the Bible, who question its accuracy, who ridicule it and scoff at what it says, who say it’s full of mistakes and errors and contradictions. What do you suppose such people deserve from God on the Last Day? A free pass into his heavenly kingdom? I rather doubt it.
And what about people like you and me, people who claim to be followers of Jesus, believers in Jesus, and yet people who also at times have doubted God’s Word and questioned his Word and ignored his Word and flagrantly disobeyed his Word? What do we deserve from God on the Last Day? The honor and privilege of living with him in his kingdom? We too deserve to be shut out, banished to that place reserved for all the scoffers and the doubters and the unbelievers—that awful place called hell.
Thank God we have the Bible! Thank God we have this book from God which tells us the truth not only about our sins, but even more importantly about our Savior Jesus! Yes, it is important that we recognize our sins, because until we do, until we do recognize our sins and repent of them, they will forever be a roadblock and a stumbling block in our relationship with God.
But there is another truth God wants us to take away from the Bible. There is another reason God has given us this book. And that’s so that we might learn about our Savior Jesus, the one who came into this world and gave his life on the cross that he might rescue us from all of our sins, including all the times we doubted God’s Word and questioned God’s Word and ignored God’s Word and failed to live according to his Word. Jesus gave his life in payment for our sins so that we might be forgiven, so that the Judge of heaven might not throw the book at us on the Last Day, but that through faith in him we might enjoy everything this book promises: a life of unending peace and joy and glory in heaven. This is the main reason God had this book written and why he urges us to believe what it says with all our hearts. The apostle John put it this way toward the end of his gospel: “These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name”(John 20:31). Amen.