Untitled Sermon (5)

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Good evening everyone, If you are new and joining us tonight, thank you for being here, if we haven’t already spoken do me a favor and come up and introduce yourself after we wrap up here. We do a lot of great things in this ministry/ We come together, have fun, play games, sing really wonderful and meaningful songs, and I don’t know about you but it puts my soul at ease to come and be here week in and week out and be a part of something larger than myself. We are not too far away from our mission trip to Atlanta where we will go to the area serve with compassion and offer real hope in the name of Jesus.

If you have your Bibles and I hope that you do, please open up to . As always we’ll bounce around a bit but this is where we will plant our flag this evening. As you turn there in the New Testament I want to ask you have you ever had someone break a promise to you? Or even worse, have you ever been the one who has broken a promise you have made to someone else? I mapped out where all we were going throughout this semester in terms of teaching back in the Summer and I love that this message coincides with where we are as a church at large. If you were with us this past Sunday you saw that we are in a brief little sermon series called, Words Matter, and boy is that ever the truth. Words absolutely matter. You hear Mark Satterfield say its not uncommon in their household to ask, “are you building up or are you tearing down?” Meaning are you being an encourager, a good friend, a good sibling or a good son or daughter with the words that you speak or are you being destructive?

Words absolutely matter. Whether we are taking into account how we speak with one another or we are taking into account whether or not we are men or women of our word. We are circling around something incredibly profound. Words absolutely matter.

Why is that? Why do words carry with them so much power? I think that ultimately it is so because we see a biblical truth when we talk about communication, promises, teaching, correction, and our dealings with one another. So we look to our Bibles, we look to Scripture and we see these 66 books, revealing God, his promises, is communicating to us by revealing himself through these words. We pour over its teaching and how it is to instruct our daily life and the foundations of who we are, but we look to this book differently. It is different than your biology text book. It is different than your favorite novel or the books you read as a child. Because we, as Christians call this book, inspired. Inspired by God, without error, perfect.

Words absolutely matter. Whether we are taking into account how we speak with one another or we are taking into account whether or not we are men or women of our word. We are circling around something incredibly profound. Words absolutely matter.

Why is that? Why do words carry with them so much power? I think that ultimately it is so because we see a biblical truth when we talk about communication, promises, teaching, correction, and our dealings with one another. So we look to our Bibles, we look to Scripture and we see these 66 books, revealing God, his promises, is communicating to us by revealing himself through these words. We pour over its teaching and how it is to instruct our daily life and the foundations of who we are, but we look to this book differently. It is different than your biology text book. It is different than your favorite novel or the books you read as a child. Because we, as Christians call this book, inspired. Inspired by God, without error, perfect.

Others would argue different, they will raise questions about the truth of the Bible. They will look at you and ask you, “do you really believe that nonsense? It’s so outdated. Irrelevant. Wrong.”

So with that said where we find ourselves tonight in this series that aims to prepare us for the tough questions. We ask,

[Slide]

"Can we really trust the Bible?”

There are a lot of people who will raise issue with the Bible. That surely you can’t take it seriously. It’s regressive. It’s outdated. And it doesn’t agree with itself.

"Can we really trust the Bible?”

There are a lot of people who will raise issue with the Bible. That surely you can’t take it seriously. It’s regressive. It’s outdated. And it doesn’t agree with itself.

I went to seminary in Wake Forest, NC. Not Wake Forest University which is located in guess where…. Wrong, Winston Salem. But Wake Forest is located in what is known as “The Triangle” which is an area outlined by 3 major college towns. Raleigh (NC State), Durham (Duke), and Chapel Hill (UNC). Southeastern Seminary is all of about 45 minutes or so from Chapel Hill where at UNC there is a professor by the name of Bart Ehrman. Bart Ehrman has made an entire career out of trying to get you to doubt the Bible. This field is called textual criticism. And in one of his more notable works (Misquoting Jesus), he makes the bold claim that between all the manuscripts of the Bible, not a single one lines up word for word, line for line. Striking fear into the hearts of college students everywhere. He will even go so far as to say, their are 400,000 textual variants (differences) between Biblical manuscripts. That is more differences than there are actual words that compile the New Testament. Now that seems to be a problem….

What Bart Ehrman fails to mention is that out of those 400,000 variants, only 1,500 are in any way meaningful.

How many of you know what language the NT was written in? Have any of you seen what one of these manuscripts look like? I’m glad you asked…

What Bart Ehrman fails to mention is that out of those 400,000 variants, only 1,500 are in any way meaningful.

[slide]

How many of you know what language the NT was written in? Have any of you seen what one of these manuscripts look like? I’m glad you asked…

No spaces, no punctuation. So if I stick you in a cave and give you a candle and say copy “this” down. You’re an old man, feeble hands, a bit shaky, yes there are some spelling errors. That is what the overwhelming majority of these textual variants are, spelling errors. Someone spelling John with two “n’s” instead of one. Can anyone do quick man in your head, when I say that of 400,000 textual variants only 1,500 are in any way significant. That means that as of now, in our conversation, your New Testament is 99.99625% in agreement with everything that has every been discovered about the New Testament. That is staggering. And of the remainder of those variants, you might say… well that is all well and good but 1,500 is not zero. And you are right, but of those 1,500 variants do you know how many of them come in theologically sensitive areas? Meaning areas where a different interpretation would change fundamentally what we believe about Jesus, about God… 0. None, Zilch.

[slide]

A famous scholar by the name of FF Bruce once quoted, if the Bible were a secular book, its certainty would be regarded beyond all doubt. And that is the truth. As you go to school you might run across names in your history classes, or if you have any philosophy classes, you might run across names like Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, or historical figures like Caesar, or Homer. All of these guys were voracious writers. And no doubt that if you have studied them in school they were studied with a great bit of esteem. But when we take into account if we can trust what is being put forth as their works we have infinitely better support for the Bible than we do some of their works.

No spaces, no punctuation. So if I stick you in a cave and give you a candle and say copy “this” down. You’re an old man, feeble hands, a bit shaky, yes there are some spelling errors. That is what the overwhelming majority of these textual variants are, spelling errors. Someone spelling John with two “n’s” instead of one. Can anyone do quick man in your head, when I say that of 400,000 textual variants only 1,500 are in any way significant. That means that as of now, in our conversation, your New Testament is 99.99625% in agreement with everything that has every been discovered about the New Testament. That is staggering. And of the remainder of those variants, you might say… well that is all well and good but 1,500 is not zero. And you are right, but of those 1,500 variants do you know how many of them come in theologically sensitive areas? Meaning areas where a different interpretation would change fundamentally what we believe about Jesus, about God… 0. None, Zilch.

A famous scholar by the name of FF Bruce once quoted, if the Bible were a secular book, its certainty would be regarded beyond all doubt. And that is the truth. As you go to school you might run across names in your history classes, or if you have any philosophy classes, you might run across names like Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, or historical figures like Caesar, or Homer. All of these guys were voracious writers. And no doubt that if you have studied them in school they were studied with a great bit of esteem. But when we take into account if we can trust what is being put forth as their works we have infinitely better support for the Bible than we do some of their works.

[slide: chart]

Can you trust the Bible? Well as it has been passed down through millennia, yes; you absolutely can. But it's not just an issue of archaeology is it? It’s not just a scholastic issue is it? We listen to the Scriptures and pour over its teaching and we get offended. the Bible is offensive. There is no doubt about that. When Jesus says, “you have heard it said from our ancestors do not murder or you will face judgment, but I tell you that whoever is angry his brother or his sister will face judgment. Whoever insults his brother or his sister will face the courts. And whoever says, “you fool” will face hellfire. This is offensive.

Who is guilty of being angry with a friend, a sibling, a parent. Me, I’m guilty. And for anyone to point that out of me, it’s an uncomfortable feeling to say the least. So when we face those who oppose the Bible, they may rattle off some statistics to you but don’t be fooled the real issue at hand is a heart issue. We live in a culture that says that you can be your own boss and you don’t have to listen to anybody. Bull...

Heart Issue

Who is guilty of being angry with a friend, a sibling, a parent. Me, I’m guilty. And for anyone to point that out of me, it’s an uncomfortable feeling to say the least. So when we face those who oppose the Bible, they may rattle off some statistics to you but don’t be fooled the real issue at hand is a heart issue. We live in a culture that says that you can be your own boss and you don’t have to listen to anybody. Bull...

Heart Issue

But what we know as Christians is that the supreme authority of this universe is for us, not against us. So much so that he peeled back the sky and revealed himself to us through the person of His Son. That is what means it talks about the word becoming flesh and dwelling among us. Words matter and God has given us his word, yes through the promises of old and they all build up to promise incarnate, that being Jesus.

I don’t want you to think that I am conjuring all of this up myself. says,

(CSB)

I don’t want you to think that I am conjuring all of this up myself. says,

(CSB)

STRUGGLES IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE

10 But you have followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, and endurance, 11 along with the persecutions and sufferings that came to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. What persecutions I endured—and yet the Lord rescued me from them all. 12 In fact, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. 13 Evil people and impostors will become worse, deceiving and being deceived.

STRUGGLES IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE

14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed. You know those who taught you, 15 and you know that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are able to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is inspired by God,

10 But you have followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, and endurance, 11 along with the persecutions and sufferings that came to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. What persecutions I endured—and yet the Lord rescued me from them all. 12 In fact, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. 13 Evil people and impostors will become worse, deceiving and being deceived.

and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work

14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed. You know those who taught you, 15 and you know that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are able to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is inspired by God,

and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work

Can you trust the Bible? Absolutely. It is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness so that the man of God may be complete and equipped for every good work.

Trusting the Bible is not a scholastic argument, its a heart issue. God gave us his word. He gave us His Son, truth incarnate. He gave us these Scriptures that we carry with us. 66 books that span the course of thousands of years. Written down by 35 some odd individuals but each of their hands were guided by a Sovereign God who loved you and me so much that he didn’t leave us in the dark.

If you walk out of here tonight, tattoo verse 16 on yourself. All of Scripture is inspired by God. You might have a translation that says that it is, “god-breathed.” The word used there is theoneustos and it is complied of two words. Theo, meaning, God. And neustos, which beans breath or wind or spirit. Its the same root word where we get words like pneumonia which guess what is an illness that resides where… in the lungs. I had it about a month and a half ago, it sucked. What do you do with your lungs.

We aren’t dealing with a textbook here. We’re not dealing with your favorite novel as a kid. This isn’t the hunger games or Harry Potter. What we have here and what we pour over week in and week out are the very exhalings of God.

Now that carries a couple of implications. says, "The elders who are good leaders are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.” That means that guys like Mark Satterfield, Grady, Robert, myself, or anyone who aspires to this work of ministry and preaching and teaching, that work is worthy of double-honor…. Why? Because when we stand in front of you on a Wednesday or a Sunday and we hold this book in our hands and say this is what God says about this or about that, we better be certain that what we are about to say is prayed over, carefully thought through, and obedient to what God wants to communicate to his people.

Because this is not some pep-talk, its not a helpful podcast or just flowery language. The words of this book pierce hearts. They cut deep. And they change lives. That is why Paul in Ephesians when he references the armor of God, Scripture is the “Sword of the Spirit.” Swords can defend one’s self incredibly well, it can fend off some of the worst dangers. But swords can cut deep in and of ourselves can they not?

There’s a pastor that I really admire name Bryan Lorrits. He’s at a church in Memphis. And I once heard him tell a story of his first trip home from college. You all will experience this someday when you move away. For some of you might not get to that point until you're like 35 but its ok. But you come home to that first home-cooked meal since you were away. Mom cook up a storm. For Bryan it was fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, collard greens, everything from scratch with all the bacon fat and grease that a growing boy needs.

When he sat down to eat his mother left the room and when she did he went over to the trash and the only thing left on his plate were the collard greens, he scrapes them off and puts his plate in the sink. 20 minutes go by and he hears his mom bellowing from downstairs, Bryan, come on down. As he makes his way to his mom’s voice, she’s there beside the trash can and asks, “what is this?”

And instantly just like we all do he goes into self-defense mode. “Mama, I don’t like your greens. I’ve never liked your greens. I don’t know why you make them for me knowing that I don’t like them.” And her response…

“Boy, I don’t remember taking your order.” Meaning, mama cooked you a good, wholesome, home-cooked meal, and you have the gaul to toss my hard work out?

I say all that to say that sometimes we pour over Scripture and it is good. It tastes good. For God so loved the World that he gave his only son that whoever would believe on him would have eternal life.”

“If god is for us who can be against us.”

“neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

But Sometimes we Scripture cuts deep. It is harsh. It’s convicting. It makes us want to weep.

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide your face from me?

2 How long must I take counsel in my soul

and have sorrow in my heart all the day?

How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

(CSB)

19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, 21 envy,, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I am warning you about these things—as I warned you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Sometimes the Word brings out of us things that we resent and don’t want to accept, but guess what. All of Scripture is what, “God-breathed,” and it is for our good.

Sometimes it is super hearty like steak, sometimes its sweet like peach cobbler. And sometimes its kale, we don’t like it, but its good for us.

You can trust the Bible. Whether it is the velvet cloth that lovingly embraces our heart or if its the chisel that through pain and trial chips away at everything in our lives that is not of God.

Words matter, they absolutely matter. And God has given us His… let us pray.