Sermon Tone Analysis

I. Inspiration

Inspiration recognizes the role of the Holy Spirit in producing the Scriptures.

Paul uses the term theopneustos giving us the idea of God “breathing out” the Scriptures.

Since “spirit” in the original language can also mean “breath” the process of “out-breathing” we attribute inspiration as the work of the Holy Spirit.

Since God is perfect, accurate and incapable of error, so the Word of God is perfect, accurate and incapable of error.

When we use this term, inspiration, we are referring to the supernatural guidance of the writers by the Holy Spirit which resulted in every Word being accurate and reliable in the original manuscripts.

When we talk about the authorship of Scripture, we recognize dual authorship God wrote the Bible using human authors.

A. Inspired Guidance

Inspiration shows us the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit upon the writers.

Not everyone uses the word inspiration with the same meaning.

Sometimes people use the word to describe the “enthusiasm” of a brilliant artist.

we have to define the word as it is used in the context of Scripture.

The Bible says:

Peter through the Holy Spirits inspiration uses the word moved, meaning picked up and borne along as they wrote God’s message.

So, inspiration means an author was guided to go where God wanted him to go, not where he chose.

B. Inspired Writers

Inspiration also incorporates the personality of the writer into the final product.

Some have argued in the past that God dictated to the writer who simply recorded it, much as a secretary would type a letter that the boss had dictated.

So, this is called the dictation theory.

There are places in the Bible that are dictated by God, Revelation 2:1-3:22 for instance (the letters to the churches).

At other times, the style of the writing and the selection of words reflect the personality and even background of the writer.

We can especially see this in the four Gospels.

Matthew was a Jewish tax collector, impressed with the fact that he had found the King of the Jews.

His Gospel begins with a royal genealogy and the arrival of the kings from the East to worship Christ.

Mark, a young disciple of Peter, seems to reflect Peter’s activism in his Gospel.

The Key word “straightway” or “immediately” makes it appear Jesus is always on the move, doing something as a servant.

Luke’s Gospel is more methodical, reflecting his historical investigation int o the facts.

Luke the medical doctor reflects the humanity of Christ and his key word is “the Son of man”.

The fourth Gospel, written by one “whom Jesus loved,” seems to be obsessed with love for Jesu sand his love for others.

His key word is “believe.”

Though each of the four Gospels reflects a unique style of writer and a unique perspective of Jesus, they do not contradict each other.

They harmonize completely to give us the fully inspired, accurate record of the life of Christ.

C. Inspired Words

I believe in the verbal plenary inspiration of scripture.

Verbal means that every word of Scripture is God-breathed.

Every single word, not just the ideas behind the words, is in the Bible because God wanted it there.

The word plenary means “complete or full”;

when used to describe the inspiration of God’s Word, plenary means that all parts of the Bible are equally of divine origin and equally authoritative.

Inspiration applies to more than thoughts or impressions of the authors.

Inspiration means God places the words there.

Every word in the Bible are inspired equally, though some may have greater influence on our lives than others.

So, the Holy Spirit’s ministry extends to the very words.

A man in a sailboat is dependent on both the wind and his own skills in sailing a course.

In the same way, God communicated his revelation to the world in an accurate and reliable Book, every word chosen by the moving of the Holy Spirit of God, yet expressed through the personality of the human author.

D. Inspired Results

The Bible is completely reliable because it is completely inerrant and authoritative

Because God inspired the Bible, it is completely accurate and reliable.

The Bible is different than other good books in its content, method of writing, and the final product.

It is the very Word of God - and as such He has promised its...

II.

Preservation

A. By Biblical Promise

1.

Old Testament Promises Of Preservation

2. New Testament Promises Of Preservation

B. By God’s Power

Down through the ages, there have been several concerted efforts by pagan unbelievers to eradicate the Word of God.

In A.D. 303, the Roman emperor Diocletian ordered the confiscation and destruction of all the Christian scriptures.

Thousands of early copies and possibly some original manuscripts were burned.

However, the Word of God was not eradicated!

Earnest believers protected the Word and hid it away in the catacombs, in caves and in graves.

Thus the Word of God survived that attack!

The French humanist Voltaire once said, "Another century and there will not be a Bible on the earth."

Two centuries have gone, and the circulation of the Bible is one of the marvels of the age.

After he died, his old printing press and the very house where he lived was purchased by the Geneva Bible Society and made a depot for Bibles.

On December 24, 1933, the British Government bought a book called Codex Sinaiticus from the Russians for half a million dollars.

On the same day, a first edition of Voltaire’s work sold for eleven cents in Paris bookshops.

Joseph Stalin, this bloody butcher took over all of Russia upon the death of Lenin in the late twenties.

From this point on until his death in the fifties, Stalin instituted a "ban the Bible."

A purge from the U.S.S.R. such as had never been witnessed before.

The miserable man literally attempted to wipe the Word of God and the God of the Word from the Russian people’s minds.

Did he succeed?

A recent poll taken in Russia shows that today more people than ever believe in God and His Word.

For thousands of years the enemies of truth have sought to destroy the precious Word of God.

Every attempt to do so has failed miserably as the Bible continues to be read and loved by millions of people.

In 1526, William Tyndale had produced the first English translation of the Bible to be printed on a printing press.

This new version was hated by the Roman Catholic Church and in particularly by the Bishop of London.

A certain man named John Packington, who knew the Bishop and his hatred of the Tyndale translation, but who was also secretly a friend of Tyndale, went to the Bishop of London and told him he knew how to get all of Tyndale’s Bibles.

The Bishop told him to get them and that he would gladly pay whatever they cost.

The Bishop of London promised to buy them with the intention of burning them at Paul’s Cross Cathedral in London.

Packington went to Tyndale and told him of the deal he had made with the Bishop.

Tyndale responded by saying that he knew the Bishop would burn his Bibles.

However, printing the Bibles had left Tyndale deeply indebted.

Tyndale decided to sell the Bibles to the Bishop of London.

He saw several advantages in doing so.

First, he could use the money to pay his way out of debt and have even more Bibles printed.

Secondly, He knew when the people of England saw the Bishop of London burning the Word of God they would be come enraged.

So, the enemy of the Word of God actually allowed Tyndale to pay off his debts, correct the text of his translation and print three times the number of Bibles that had been destroyed!

Later, when some of Tyndale’s associates were arrested and asked where they received the money to print their Bibles, they answered that the money came from the Bishop of London.

This one instance is proof that God is able to preserve His Word despite the attempts of all its enemies to destroy it.

III.

Illumination

Illuminations only one of the many present-day ministries of the Holy Spirit.

Through this ministry he reveals to us important spiritual truths we would otherwise miss.

While we think of illumination in terms of a helping the Christian understand the Bible, it also occurs as conviction to the unsaved.

A. Conviction to the Unsaved

Conviction is clearly the work of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus said,

The word “convict” means “to rebuke or to cause to see.”

The main work of the a Holy Spirit in the life of the unsaved is to help that individual see his need for the Saviour.

The Holy Spirit convicts by helping the sinner see his sin, to see the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and to see the sin judgement of the cross.