Rev. David Holwick ZG The Quest for the Real Jesus, #6
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
October 19, 2008
Luke 24:44-47
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I. The Bible is a hot book.
A. It has been debated, burned and blasphemed. And bought.
1) Schools are afraid to discuss it.
2) Many people don't understand it.
B. It has even entered into the presidential election.
1) Barak Obama and applying the Bible to current social issues.
Back in June 2006 he gave a major speech on the connection
of religion and politics.
Obama suggested that it would be impractical to govern
based solely on the word of the Bible.
He said:
"Which passages of Scripture should guide our public
policy?
Should we go with Leviticus, which suggests slavery is OK
and that eating shellfish is an abomination?
Or we could go with Deuteronomy, which suggests stoning
your child if he strays from the faith?
"Or should we just stick to the Sermon on the Mount, a
passage that is so radical that it's doubtful that our
Defense Department would survive its application?
"So before we get carried away, let's read our Bible,"
Obama said, to cheers.
"Folks haven't been reading their Bible."
#35477
2) John McCain has brought up the Bible as well.
In his 2005 book "Character is Destiny," McCain wrote:
"The only undeniable challenge the theory of evolution
poses to Christian beliefs is its obvious contradiction
of the idea that God created the world as it is in
less than a week.
But our faith is certainly not so weak that it can be shaken
to learn that a biblical metaphor is not literal history."
C. What did Jesus believe about the Bible?
1) Those who consider themselves Christians should pay careful
attention to how Jesus himself used the Bible.
a) His view should matter more to us than any politician,
or scholar, or even preacher, for that matter.
2) I cannot "prove" the Bible and don't think I need to.
3) My approach is to let the Bible speak for itself and
assess whether it makes sense, whether it meshes with
reality as I experience it.
4) I want to approach the Bible the same way Jesus himself did.
II. Jesus believed that the Bible's assertions are true.
A. He states it flatly - "Your word is truth." John 17:17
1) John 10:35 - "the Scripture cannot be broken".
2) It cannot be found to assert a falsehood.
B. All the prophecies about him had to come true. Luke 18:31
1) Jesus taught the disciples this when he was at his peak.
"Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, 'We are going
up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the
prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.'"
2) As Jesus was arrested, he told his disciples to not resist
because the Bible had predicted it, and it had to happen
this way.
Matthew 26:54 --
"But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that
say it must happen in this way?"
C. Limitations on the Bible's truth.
1) The Bible's truth is not exhaustive - it doesn't give us
everything that can be know about God.
a) For example, he says we can also learn things about
God by observing the sun and rain. Matt 5:44-45
2) Not all commands in the Bible are equally weighty.
a) Jesus taught that there are lesser and weightier
matters of the Law. Matt 23:23
3) Limitations on the wideness of the Bible's truth does not
negate the complete accuracy of what it does contain.
III. Jesus believed the Bible is inspired in the words themselves.
A. The Bible is true down to the smallest letter (yodh). Mt 5:18
B. Jesus sometimes based his argument on a single word.
1) Matthew 22:32 - God IS the God of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob.
He is arguing against the Sadducees who did not believe
in resurrection.
If there is no resurrection, the patriarchs cease to
exist and Jesus would have to say God WAS their God.
2) The choice of a single word is also crucial.
a) Matthew 22:43-45 - Jesus forces his opponents to
consider what the Bible says about the Messiah.
In Psalm 110, which he quotes, David calls the
Messiah the "Lord" even those elsewhere it says
he is his son.
Therefore the Messiah is greater than David (and
a hint that Jesus is greater than them.)
His whole argument hinges on a single word.
b) Counterargument - is every word ALWAYS important?
1> Jesus sometimes paraphrased the Old Testament.
A> He also used the Greek translation.
B> Does the "every word" idea of inspiration hold
up then?
2> Even when he paraphrased, he used an accurate
representation of the original.
A> In the same way, the different gospels put
Jesus' words a little differently but
convey the same thought.
IV. Jesus believed the whole Bible is equally inspired.
A. Jesus accepted the entire Old Testament as being God's Word.
1) He refers to the Law, prophets and psalms.
(the three-part canon accepted by Jews)
2) He did not seem to accept the books written between the
testaments, which Catholics put in their Bibles.
B. Some Jews gave authority to only some parts of the Old Testament.
1) The Sadducees accepted only the first five books, what
Jews today call the Torah.
2) Jesus argued the whole Old Testament was authoritative.
a) In Matthew 5:17, Jesus refers to the Law "or" the
prophets - the prophets are just as valid as the Law.
C. Theologians call this "plenary inspiration." (plenary=full)
2 Timothy 3:16 --
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching,
rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness."
1) What the Bible says, God says. Matt 19:4-5
a) The ethics are correct. Mark 12:29-31
b) The history is trustworthy.
1> Jesus considers Adam and Eve, Jonah, Solomon, David
and all the prophets to be historical figures.
2> He refers to Creation, Noah's flood, and the Exodus
as actually happening.
2) Did Jesus "improve" the Bible?
a) Some famous passages in the Sermon on the Mount have
Jesus quoting a principle of the Torah (do not
murder, etc) and going beyond it (don't hate).
b) He is not really contradicting the Old Testament.
He is showing the deeper implications of its
teaching.
V. How Jesus used the Bible.
A. He used it to establish spiritual truth.
1) He often brings it up in arguments and disputes.
a) When people questioned him about something, he asked
them what the Bible said on the topic.
In Luke 10:25-26, Jesus is asked what needs to be done
to inherit eternal life.
Jesus responds, "What is written in the Law? How do
you read it?"
b) Resurrection dispute - they are in error, not knowing
the Scriptures or the power of God. Mark 12:24
2) Jesus believed the Scriptures were understandable.
a) Both scholars and untrained common people should be
able to understand it.
b) Jesus' responses always assume that the blame for
misunderstanding any teaching of Scripture is not to
be placed on the Scriptures themselves but on
those who misunderstand or fail to accept what
is written.
c) NOT ONCE do we hear Jesus saying anything like the
following: "I see how your problem arose - the
Scriptures are not very clear on that subject."[1]
3) God's Word is the ultimate authority, above man's traditions.
a) Human tradition focuses on externals. Mk 7:6
b) Tradition has a way of replacing Scripture. Mk 7:8-9
B. He used it to establish his own credentials.
1) The Scriptures point to Jesus himself. John 5:39-40
VI. Baptists believe in Bible alone on questions of faith.
(Hold up your Bible. Not pew Bibles!)
A. We believe the Bible is inspired and authoritative.
1) It is only statement of truth we need.
a) "Statements of Faith" can be useful, but can replace
the Bible if you are not careful.
2) If our traditions are against the Bible, dump them.
a) Stay as close as possible to beliefs of the early church.
B. It is important to approach the Bible maturely.
1) Many have "picked and choosed" verses they like.
2) Bible is not an example or favorite promise book.
a) It is God's plan for our lives.
3) The Bible is not without its difficulties.
a) Controversial passages:
1> Place of women in the church, dietary laws, etc.
2> Issues like slavery and shellfish and stoning kids
are worthy of investigation - and it is not
as clear-cut as some blithely claim.
b) Scripture must be looked at intelligently.
1> In context.
2> Understanding of its culture.
3> Understanding of its literary styles.
C. Christ comes first.
1) Jesus claimed the Bible pointed to him.
a) If you miss him in it, you miss it all.
b) His parable of the rich man and Lazarus concludes with
the evil rich guy being tormented in hell.
He begs Abraham to let him go back and warn his brothers.
Abraham replies that they have the Bible - if they won't
listen to that, then even someone rising from the
dead won't convince them. Luke 16:31
We also have the Bible - heed its warning to you!
2) I believe the Bible because I have come to believe in Jesus.
a) When I was first attracted to Jesus, I read the Bible
rather skeptically.
b) I had no preconceived idea it was the inspired Word of
God.
c) Over time, I have come to see its cohesion and spiritual
power.
3) Have you?
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
[1] Wayne A. Grudem, "A Response to Contextualization and Revelational
Epistemology," in HERMENEUTICS, INERRANCY, AND THE BIBLE, ed.
Earl D. Radmacher and Robert D. Preus (Grand Rapids: Zondervan
Publishing House, 1984), pp. 755-56 (emphasis is his).
#35477 "Can The Bible Be Applied To Modern Issues?" Adapted from various
sources including <http://www.cnn.com/2008/politics/06/24/~
evangelical.vote/index.html>, and the text of Obama's speech at
<http://obama.senate.gov/speech/060628-call_to_renewal>.
These and 30,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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