Energized by the Word
Note: I’ve had a lot of people ask me for my notes from my sermon last weekend. So, here they are. It is still in outline form, but I think you’ll be able to figure it out. You can listen to the sermon at www.harvestercc.org.
The Church in Action
Weekend Sermon
Energized by the Word—2 Timothy 1-2
Introduction
- Do you want to get me talking for hours upon end? Ask me one of these questions…
- Why are U2 and the Beatles are the two greatest musical groups ever?
- Why my two kids are the funniest kids ever?
- Why is Pepsi the perfect soft drink?
- Why is Tombstone the greatest western ever filmed?
- Why is my wife the most beautiful woman in the world?
- Why are the Cardinals the greatest baseball team ever?
- You have questions that I could ask you and you could talk for a long time about.
- In 1 Peter 3:15, Peter says, “always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.”
- The word “defense or answer” in the original Greek is apologia, which means to make an oral defense or explanation.
- It is similar to giving testimony in a court.
- As we continue the Church in Action, our theme for this week is Energized by the Word.
- 2 Timothy 2:15 & 3:16-17
- The word of God is the essential tool in the hands of the church and every Christian.
- But is it the best tool? Is in an outdated tool? Is it a trustworthy tool?
- Allow me to share four reasons why the Bible is trustworthy. The first two are objective truths, while the second two are more subjective truths.
1. The Bible is trustworthy because SCHOLARSHIP DEMONSTRATES IT.
a. Skeptic will always point to two issues when attacking the trustworthiness of the Bible from a scholarship perspective.
i. The lack of original autographs—the fact that we do not possess any original manuscripts of any book of the Bible.
ii. The integrity of the text—since the Bible has been hand copies for thousands of years; the integrity of the text cannot be trusted.
b. The accuracy of the Old Testament texts
i. The role of ancient scribes
1. Originally, the priests worked to copy and preserve the sacred writings.
2. From around 400 BC – 200 AD a group of scribes called the Sopherim preserved the text of the Old Testament.
a. They developed and amazing respect for the documents and copied them letter by letter.
b. Along with copying the manuscripts, this group standardized a pure text of the Hebrew Scriptures.
c. Also, they invented amazing methods of quality control.[1]
i. Their primary method was counting—they counted just about everything that could be counted.
ii. They calculated the middle verse, word, and letter of every book of the Old Testament and of the entire Old Testament.
iii. With these safeguards in place, they constantly checked the accuracy of their manuscripts.
ii. The Dead Sea Scrolls demonstrate the accuracy of the scribes.
1. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1946 turned the clock back over 1,000 years regarding the antiquity of Old Testament manuscripts.
2. Here is just one example of how accurate the transmission of the OT was during this 1,000 year period.
a. When scholars compared the scrolls of Isaiah from the DSS to those 1,000 years newer they found a remarkable discovery.
b. In a text that is usually over 100 pages in an English Bible, there were only 13 differences between the two texts.
c. These 13 differences amounted to nothing more than spelling changes in the way that certain words had morphed over that time span.[2]
iii. Quote: “Looking through the [text] will show a reader that the significant variants affect far less that 1 percent of the words of the Old Testament, and even among the 1 percent, there are no variants that would change any point of doctrine. Therefore, while some places remain where it is hard to be sure of the original reading, as a general assessment it is safe to say that the OT text that is the basis of modern English translations is remarkably trustworthy.”[3]
c. The abundance of the New Testament manuscripts[4]
i. Comparison with other ancient documents
1. The copies of average ancient Greek or Latin author’s writings number fewer than 20 manuscripts.
2. The average number of years between the writing of the average Greek author’s work and the earliest manuscript is 500 years.
ii. Abundance of New Testament manuscripts
1. As of today, we possess over 5,700 Greek NT manuscripts.
2. We have nearly 25,000 early copies of the NT in other languages.
3. Over 1 million quotations of the NT have been catalogued within the writings of the early church fathers. In fact, if we suddenly lost every manuscript of the NT, we could reconstruct it completely from just the quotations in the church fathers’ writings.[5]
d. So what does all this tell us?
i. If you think that you cannot trust the accuracy of the Bible because of the manuscript evidence, then you are dead wrong.
ii. Anyone who claims that you cannot trust the textual transmission of the Bible has not looked at one shred of evidence.
iii. If you throw out the Bible on this basis, then you have to throw out every single document of antiquity as well, because the Bible has 1000% more evidence than any other ancient document.
2. The Bible is trustworthy because HISTORY CORROBORATES IT.
a. Another area where the Bible comes under repeated fire is in the area of historical reliability. You’ll hear people repeatedly say, “The Bible is full of mistakes.”
b. Allow me to give you three examples (out of thousands I could have chosen) of how the truth of the Bible has been corroborated in archaeology.
i. Nabonidus[6]
1. Daniel 5:1 records that Belshazzar was the King of Babylon when it was conquered by the Persians.
2. Every cuneiform tablet that recorded the kings of Babylon, though, listed Nabonidus as the last king of Babylon. This led many scholars to distrust the biblical record.
3. However, in the early 1900’s, an inscription was found that explained that while Nabonidus was the rightful king, he spent his time at a desert oasis rather than actively reigning as king and left his son, Belshazzar in charge.
4. This would also explain why Belshazzar offered Daniel the position of third in command—Belshazzar was second.
ii. Megiddo[7]
1. In 1 Kings 14:25-28, we learn that Pharaoh Shishak of Egypt invaded the nation of Judah under King Rehoboam.
2. To avoid being conquered, Rehoboam paid a heavy tribute to Shishak out of the Temple treasury.
3. In a temple uncovered in Egypt, archaeologists found a relief depicting Shishak’s campaign in the land of Canaan.
4. This record includes the names of the cities that he conquered, but Jerusalem isn’t listed because it paid tribute to avoid capture.
5. However, Megiddo, which is far to the north, is mentioned as being conquered.
6. In Megiddo, archaeologists found a pillar with an inscription which declared that the city had been captured by Shishak.
iii. Pontius Pilate[8]
1. The gospels record that the governor of Judea during the crucifixion of Jesus was a man named Pontius Pilate.
2. Pilate’s name, though, was never mentioned outside the biblical record, though. That is, until 1961.
3. An inscription bearing Pilate’s name was found during excavation of the theater at Caesarea.
4. For everyone who has been to Israel, you have walked right by a replica of this stone as you exit the theater.
c. Walter Kaiser, renowned Old Testament scholar, says that “The facts, from whatever source, when fully known have consistently provided uncanny confirmation for the details of biblical persons, peoples, and places by means of the archaeological remains uncovered.”[9]
d. Let me give you a caution, though, concerning using archaeology as an apologetic for the Bible.
i. Notice that I said that history corroborates the Bible, it does not prove it.
ii. Please keep in mind that the goal of archaeology is not to prove the Bible (although that is the goal of some in the field.) Their purpose is to reconstruct the past, whether they believe it agrees with the Bible or not.
iii. New discoveries take years and sometimes decades to fully appreciate and interpret. For instance, all the Dead Sea Scrolls haven’t even been published yet, and they were discovered over half a century ago.
iv. So don’t get worried if some new discovery in the paper tomorrow claims to contradict the Bible. It will take 50 years for all the information regarding it to be digested and the scholars will change their mind about what it means probably 50 times.
v. Fifty years from now, I suspect that we’ll still be saying the same thing about archaeology that we do today—everything that has been discovered corroborates the biblical accounts.
Transition: I’ve given you some good objective reasons for trusting the Bible. Objective reasons are good, but I suspect that objective reasons don’t motivate lots of people to change their lives. Subjective reasons also show that the Bible is trustworthy, so let me give you two of them.
3. The Bible is trustworthy because EXPERIENCE CONFIRMS IT.
a. Illustration: This past weekend, Stephanie and I went to Chicago for a little vacation.
i. For lunch on Saturday, we ate at the Hard Rock café and were having trouble deciding what to order.
ii. The waitress gave us some suggestions and said, “Just ask me about anything on the menu, I’ve had it all.”
b. When it comes to life, I want to know someone’s experience before I commit to something.
i. I want to know what kind of car the car salesman drives.
ii. I want to know what kind of phone the phone salesman talks on.
iii. I want to know which hospital the doctors take their family to.
iv. And if I’m going to commit my life to live a particular way, I want to know how it has worked out for other people.
c. 1 Peter 2:2-3
i. Peter uses an interesting word: taste.
ii. He is using “taste” as a metaphor for “experience.”
iii. If you have experienced that the Lord is good.
d. The advice that the Bible gives for living life runs contrary to the way the world thinks.
i. The world says, “Hate your enemies and fight those who persecute you.”
· The Bible says, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Matthew 5:44
ii. The world says, “Never forget when someone does you wrong and try to get revenge.”
· The Bible says, “Forgive seventy times seven times.” Matthew 18:22.
iii. The world says, “If someone does something against you tell everyone you know how horrible that person is.”
· The Bible says, “If your brother sins against you go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone.” Matthew 18:15.
iv. The world says, “Husbands, love your wives until you get bored with her, or until someone better looking comes along, or until you feel like living only for yourself.”
· The Bible says, “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ love the church and gave himself up for her.”
v. And the list goes on and on.
e. Well, how does that advise play out in the experience of life?
f. As a minister, I have had countless conversations with people about how they have lived their lives. Guess what, I’ve never once talked with someone who said…
i. “I’m really glad I waited until later in life to give my life to Jesus.”
ii. “I wish that I had lived a lot more wildly when I was younger.”
iii. “Living a life of bitterness and anger over that thing that happened 30 years ago has done wonders for my health.”
iv. “Being married six times has been a real blessing in my life.”
g. However, I’ve had so many people say just the opposite. “Now that I’ve tasted that the Lord is good, I really regret living the way that I have.”
h. One author said this, “Even if I didn’t believe in Jesus, I would live by the principles he taught because it is a better way to live than the way the world teaches us.”
i. I believe that the Bible is trustworthy because experience confirms it.
4. The Bible is trustworthy because THE HOLY SPIRIT VERIFIES IT.
a. Let me close with one more reason that the Bible is trustworthy.
i. Now, for some of you here, you are going to totally understand what I’m about to say.
ii. But for some of you, I’m afraid that you will not get what I’m going to say—but you totally need to listen to it, because it is incredibly important.
b. The final reason that the Bible is trustworthy is because the Holy Spirit verifies it.
c. 2 Corinthians 2:11-16
i. Simply put, when you submit your life to living for Jesus, and become a Christian, the Holy Spirit fills your life.
ii. Acts 2:38
iii. You see, it is only by the power of the Holy Spirit that we develop the mind of Christ and see through spiritual eyes.
iv. It is only through commitment to Jesus and obedience to the word of God that you will fully understand the truth of the Bible.
d. Now I have talked to many people who are skeptical about the Bible and its trustworthiness.
i. But the more I’ve talked with these people, the more I’m convinced that they don’t disbelieve the Bible because the facts aren’t there.
ii. They don’t disbelieve the Bible because of some archaeological discovery.
iii. They disbelieve the Bible because they don’t WANT the Bible to be true. They don’t want the Bible to be true because the truth of the Bible has enormous implications on how a person is supposed to live their life.
e. If the Bible is true, then…
i. I’m a creation of the living God of the universe.
ii. I’m a sinner who cannot save himself.
iii. Jesus has a claim on my life.
iv. I have to change the way I live—and I really don’t want to.
f. The only way that the Bible will really make sense and you will completely see the truth that God has revealed in it is to give your life to Him.
Conclusion
- You may find yourself in one of two groups today.
- You may already be a Christian.
- If so, much of what I’ve said probably isn’t new.
- I hope that this sermon has strengthened your faith in the objective and subjective support of the Bible.
- You may not have given your life to Jesus.
- If so, I hope that you will understand better that the Bible can be trusted on objective grounds.
- However, I hope that you really see that the trustworthiness of the Bible comes also from subjective evidence that cannot be “scientifically” proven.
- You need to follow the leading of God and follow the path that the Bible lays out for living the best life of all—one that is energized by the Word of God.
[1] How We Got the Bible, p. 132.
[2] The Old Testament Documents, p. 164.
[3] Reliability of the Old Testament Manuscripts in The ESV Study Bible, p. 2587.
[4] Reliability of the New Testament Manuscripts in The ESV Study Bible, p. 2587.
[5] New Testament Criticism and Interpretation, p. 105.
[6] The Old Testament Documents, p. 99.
[7] Archaeology and the Reliability of the Old Testament in The ESV Study Bible, p. 2592.
[8] Pontius Pilate in the Archaeological Study Bible, p. 1714.
[9] The Old Testament Documents, p. 108.
Their 2 Cents