Well, I'll tell you that ensemble we had up here at last is a mean German polka, too. Maybe one of these nights we'll be able to hear that. A ferry left its port in Belgium a few days ago on a routine trip to Dover, England. But 15 minutes later as it began to enter the English Channel, the giant ferry began to roll over. And from the accounts that we've heard, within about a minute it was on its side, resting on the bottom. At this point there is an unknown number of dead.
It appears it'll be well over 100. Why did that happen? That's the question that everyone's asking. As I was coming to church tonight I heard one crewman quoted who says that it was his fault that he failed to properly close the front auto doors which allowed the water to enter the vessel in huge amounts. Think of that. Because a door was improperly shut there are over 100 people dead. It's a tragedy, but there's a tragedy of even greater dimension that is occurring in the Christian world today.
And by Christian world I'm speaking in a broad sense of the evangelical world. A door is being opened which will surely result in tragedy for the souls of many. The door that I'm talking about is the door of the doctrine of the Word of God. The dangerous door openings that can result in the shipwreck of the soul I would include as the following. First, the teaching that the Bible is authoritative but it does not communicate God's revelation without error.
In other words, the Bible, while it has authority to speak to us, is also a book that has errors in it, at least errors that are geographic or historical in nature. It seems to me that that is double talk. For how can a book that has errors in it, and who is to judge what the errors are, pick them out, a book that has errors in it, can that book be authoritative? That is a door that's left open that can swamp the soul of a person.
A second door that is being opened in some circles is the teaching that the Bible is not God's final statement for us. Yes, these would agree, the Bible is the Word of God, but God is today supplementing the Bible by newer revelations. I want to quote from a brochure that was mailed to people throughout the Twin Cities area a couple of years ago by a gentleman from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.
This is what he says, teaching the people who receive the materials, quote, God is continuously revealing more and more to his church. We'd better remain teachable in spite of the so-called strange manifestations of the Holy Spirit at times. We must remain teachable and open to new revelations of God's Word and manifestations of the Holy Spirit in 1984. Well I would certainly agree that we need to remain teachable.
God wants us to have hearts that can receive new teaching, deeper understanding of his truth. But I strongly disagree with this charismatic evangelist who says that God is today giving revelations of his Word. That is an open door, my friend, that will shipwreck many people spiritually. What do we as a church believe regarding the Word of God? That is a question that I want us to look at together this evening.
We have a doctrinal statement as a church that summarizes in capsule form what we believe concerning the Bible. It says we believe that the Bible is the Word of God, fully inspired and without error in the original manuscripts, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and having supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct. There are some people when reading that statement immediately say, what does it mean here without error in the original manuscripts?
That is a common way of stating what those who love God's Word have believed through the centuries. Obviously the inspiring work of the Holy Spirit took place when Paul wrote his words or when Luke wrote his words or the other authors of Scripture. That is why we say that they were fully inspired and without error in the original manuscripts. We do not have today in existence any of the original manuscripts.
What we do have is a Bible that can be trusted because of a science called the science of textual criticism. What we have today are copies of the Bible, both the Old Testament and the New Testament. Just regarding the New Testament alone, there are 5,000 manuscripts that record for us portions of books or complete books of the New Testament. These are copies, these are manuscripts of the original writings. These are in the Greek language.
Now if you take the Latin translations in additional, there are 8,000 of those manuscripts and in other languages 1,000 manuscripts. These are ancient documents going back hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years. They have been discovered by archaeologists doing their work, largely in the mid-east. Godly gifted scholars compare these manuscripts. They study them carefully according to certain principles of textual criticism.
Trying to determine as accurately as possible what that one original manuscript said. The thing that is so amazing is that all of these thousands of manuscripts, copies of the Word of God, all of these agree in all essentials. There is no disagreement among them. Now the work of inspiration did not include the work of the copyists who copied down those manuscripts. The work of inspiration was with that individual that wrote down that book the first time.
That's why we say that we believe the Bible to be fully inspired and without error in the original manuscripts. Because we have a Bible like we have today that is authenticated by thousands of copies, we know this book as we have it in our hands to be fully trustworthy. We need not doubt what God has said. Now in this statement we say we believe the Bible is the Word of God. That deals with revelation. We say what is revelation?
Well I'm not talking at this moment about the book of the revelation at the end of the New Testament, but I'm using the word revelation in a broader sense. Word means exposure or the revealing of something. It is a disclosure. The Bible is a disclosure. It is a revelation of God. When we use that term revelation we are talking about the content of the 66 books of the Bible, the Old and New Testament. It is an objective propositional statement of what God desires to tell us. It is not subjective.
It is written down for us in black and white so that we can study it. And all of us have a copy of the Bible, maybe different translations, but it says the same thing so that all of us know what God has said. Revelation is complete. It is not being given today as this one gentleman from Oklahoma claims. God is not giving prophecies in that sense today. He is not giving rama's, that is little updates, supplements to what he has written in this book.
The book of the revelation of Jesus Christ at the end of the New Testament concludes with a warning. It is a warning to those who would take away from the book or add to the book. And it says that those who would take away from the book will find their names taken away from the book of life. And those who dare to add to it, God will add to him the plagues that are written therein.
Because of its unique place coming at the end, the last book inspired by the Holy Spirit, because of its unique place, we believe that that warning applies not only to the book of the revelation of Jesus Christ, but to the entire book, the Bible, all 66 of the books. God has chosen to reveal himself several ways. Of course, there is natural revelation in nature around us, as well as in the conscience within.
And then there is the personal revelation of God fully given to us in his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. But today we have for us his written revelation. The Bible is a progressive unfolding of God's person and his purposes. It reveals his attributes, as we studied somewhat this morning, so that we can understand what God is like and what he is doing in the world. That is the revelation of the Word of God.
In the doctrinal statement that we have, it uses the term fully inspired, written under the inspiration of God's Spirit. I would like you to open your Bible with me to a key text in Scripture that supports what our doctrinal statement says, 2 Timothy 3, verse 16. It says, all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, for training in righteousness. The Word of God claims that it is inspired. What does that mean? There are some false theories of what it means.
I would like just to highlight those for you. There is one theory called the natural theory of inspiration that says that the Bible writers were inspired just like a poet, a musician, an artist. That the Bible is therefore the product of human genius because they were inspired people like gifted artists. But that is not what the Bible means when it says all Scripture is inspired by God.
There is a theory called the dictation theory of inspiration, which says that the writers were passive instruments and that in essence they heard God dictating in their mind so that what they wrote were simply the words that they heard God speaking within as though they were the scribes, they were the secretaries, and God dictated the word through them. I believe that to be a false theory of inspiration.
There is another theory called the partial theory of inspiration, which says those doctrinal and moral truths in the Bible are inspired by God and therefore without error. But other details, geographical details, historical details, those are not inspired. Therefore only a part of the Bible you see is inspired they say. That too, it seems to me, must be rejected as false. Then there is the existential theory of inspiration, which says that it is an act of God on the reader.
This is the position of those who are neo-orthodox in their doctrinal position. They say that inspiration is not something that occurred back there when the writer wrote the words, but it occurs today. So that when you or I read the Bible and suddenly there is a truth that leaps off the page and strikes us, that that then becomes inspired to us. And so inspiration to them is when it is inspired to you today as the reader. The existential theory, which again must be rejected.
And finally there is the conceptual theory of inspiration. Those who accept this theory say that the thoughts of the Bible are certainly inspired, but not the words. In other words, God gave the ideas to the writers of scripture. But then each man clothed those ideas in his own thoughts. And that the words themselves are not significant, but only the thoughts, only the concepts. And so it is called the conceptual theory of inspiration. But we as a church do not accept any of those theories.
Our understanding of what this word means in verse 16 can be described as the superintendent method of inspiration. Let me define that for you. Let me tell you where we stand on this. We believe that the men who were the authors of scripture were directed by God in the choice of their words without a violation of their own personalities. So that what was written was what God wanted said. What we believe in can be summarized as the verbal and plenary inspiration of scripture.
The idea is not just the thoughts, that's the plenary side of it, not just the concepts. Yes, those were inspired, but beyond that, God aided the writers of scripture so that the very words which they chose to use out of their own backgrounds, out of their own personality, their own vocabulary, that those words they chose to use were the very words indeed that God wanted them to use. That is not the same as the dictation theory. God did not dictate to them.
Nonetheless, the words they chose were the words that God wanted them to use, the superintendent method of inspiration. We have another insight as to what this means in 2 Peter, if you would like to turn over there. Chapter 1. In verse 20 it says, but know this first of all, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will. Do you understand what that says?
In other words, the writers of scripture did not act on their own in writing these books. It is not the product of their own will, their own effort, but it says, men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. Basically what that word means is that they were born along by the Holy Spirit. That is, they were aided by the Spirit of God. He carried them along as they wrote.
He impelled them so that their words, while coming from within their own personality, their own vocabulary, did not actually originate with them, but they were the words that God wanted them to write. We have some examples of inspiration within the Bible where it is clearly stated that is exactly what happened. One of them is found in Acts chapter 4 and verse 25. Would you look here with me and notice carefully how this is recorded. Remember that Luke is writing this.
Acts chapter 4 and verse 25, Luke is recording for us here the prayer of the disciples. They are speaking about the Lord who made the heaven and earth. In verse 25 it says this, Who by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of our father David thy servant did say. Then it quotes from Psalm 2. Do you understand what is being said here?
Luke is affirming that as David, the servant of the Lord, wrote Psalm 2, it was not merely coming from him, though he was the human author, but rather it was by the Holy Spirit that he wrote, and that as he wrote the Lord did say this through him. Over and over in Scripture there are similar statements like that. Isaiah and many of the other prophets made statements like, The word of the Lord came to me saying.
Before they will say, The Lord says, not claiming to speak of themselves, the Lord says. So the Bible claims to be the inspired word of the living God. I could give you other examples of that, but I won't take time tonight. Second Timothy 3, 16 we've looked at. All Scripture is inspired. That means God breathed. You and I express our thoughts by our breath. We breathe into our lungs and then we exhale, but we control that exhalation of breath.
It comes through our vocal cords and into our mouths. We use the cavity of our mouth, our tongues, our lips, our teeth to form words so that as that breath escapes our mouths, words are formed. So when the Bible says that it is God breathed, what it's saying is that it is the very expression of the thoughts, the word of God himself.
That is why we affirm so strongly, and we do in our doctoral position, that the Bible is the word of God written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, fully inspired and without error. Yes, without error. I believe that the infallibility or the inerrancy of Scripture is absolutely a key doctrine. For once that door is opened to the possibility of error of any kind in the word of God, the ship will sink. Ultimately.
That door must be kept closed to the teaching that says that the Bible is inerrant when it speaks in doctrinal matters, but there are possible errors in other areas of truth. Not so. That is why the Bible is called the Holy Bible. That means without error. It is the revelation of a holy God. If it in fact is fully inspired by the Holy Spirit, how can the Holy Spirit produce an unholy book? Either it is holy or it is unholy. It can't be something in between.
We believe it to be a holy book, an inerrant book. And it seems to me that it is that inerrancy which gives it its authority. We say in our statement that it has supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct. And so we as a church look to the Bible to guide us. What does the word of God say regarding that issue? How are we to conduct ourselves as a church, as individuals? What are we to believe about this or that? The word of God is our supreme authority.
That puts us into contrast frankly with some of the movements that are around these days. But that is where we stand as a church. And that is where God's people historically have stood through the ages. That the Bible is the final and supreme authority in all matters because of its nature as the word of God. The ideas of men come and go. They pass away. Just as the heavens and earth will pass away, but Jesus said, my word will not pass away.
It is settled forever in the heavens, says the word of God. One of the key things that is facing the church today is how to interpret the Bible. I want to talk about that next week. How do we know what the Bible means? That's pretty key. And as I think I've stated before, and others have stated from this pulpit, that is the battle today. What does the Bible mean in what it says? Let me conclude tonight by saying this.
If we believe what we say we believe in this paragraph, if we affirm that the Bible is without error the word of the living God, fully inspired as we have said, there are some implications to us. In the first place, we must see the Bible as our final authority in what we believe. There are many ideas that are floating around out there these days.
Because of television and radio and the media that people have available, that everybody has available, and because of the freedom of expression that we have in our society, and I'm glad for that freedom of expression, because the freedom that the cultist has is the same freedom that I have to say the truth. But nonetheless, because of the plethora of ideas available today, how are we to know what to believe? Well, you and I can discern by comparing that teaching to the word of God.
Do not believe it just because you hear it from the pulpit in this church. Believe it because the word of God says it. Let it be your source of determining what is truth and what is error. Because we have a Bible that is dependable, that is durable, that is final, you and I have an authority upon which to base our lives. That is a tremendous implication for us.
In a world where there is much quicksand, where there is very little basis, when people base their lives on ideas and philosophies and concepts that wash back and forth with the waves of our times, you and I have a rock in the word of God upon which to base our faith, and not only our faith, but our very lives, our eternal souls. A second implication is that if I believe this to be true, then I need to treat the Bible with proper respect.
We have before talked about various levels of commitment to the word of God. That most basic and really superficial level of commitment and listening to the Bible. You make that commitment in coming to church, and coming to small church or Sunday school, and turning on Swindoll or MacArthur or whomever you listen to in the radio or television. It is a commitment that you want to hear the word of God. I thank God for that availability in our society.
For the fact that almost every hour of the day you can put a tape in a machine or listen to a radio and you can hear the word of God. It's a great privilege that we have that is something new in the last few decades in this world. The kind of availability that we have to listen to the Bible. But we can't stop there. We have to go to the next level which says I will read the word of God. Not just listen to it, which can be passive, but I will take an active step to read the word of God.
But then a third step that goes beyond merely reading it, I will study the word of God. I will take time to determine what that is saying. It's a commitment sometimes of finances. That's one reason that we have established a bookstore in our church. Because we want to make available to people the basic tools of Bible study. Sometimes it's an investment of $20 or even $50 if you get some of the tools that are available today to help you understand the Bible.
But I'll tell you it's a wise investment. It's a good investment. I want to encourage you to get the basic Bible tools so that you can study the word of God. I think every Christian ought to have a good basic study Bible. That is one that has notes and cross references right here within it. So that wherever you are you have some basic helps in determining the meaning of texts. But then the next level of commitment to the word of God goes beyond that. It's the level to memorize the word of God.
Really as you study the Bible the memorization is almost natural because going over and over and over those words it begins to make an imprint upon your mind. I suppose that there are people here today who would say, well I haven't memorized a lot of the Bible. But if you have studied the Bible very much you might be surprised how many verses would come to you. I heard just a couple of weeks ago that we have one of the young men in our church who has memorized almost the entire New Testament.
Wasn't me. I'm sorry to say I haven't memorized that much. But what a gift that is. There are some people by the way who have a greater gift at memorization than others. But to memorize the word of God is an opportunity and a responsibility for all of us. Whether it be individual verses for particular purposes or whole paragraphs that we wish to hide in our hearts. That is a commitment to the word of God.
If we say folks that the Bible is the word of God then we better be committed to it or it does us no good. Then that final level is the level of meditation where we're tearing the scripture apart in our minds allowing it to soak down deep into our spirits. We take that phrase, we take that word, that thought and we run it through our minds, we lay it aside and we pick it up again and run it through as we seek to determine what God is saying there.
If we believe the Bible to be the word of God then we must make a commitment to the deepest level to it or really we're hypocrites. Earlier I said that there are dangers of opening the door to weaker ideas regarding what the Bible is. And that those open doors can result in tragedy. But I think that there is a third danger.
There's a third danger that can lead to shipwreck and that is the danger of believing everything that I have said tonight and to have said amen in your soul but to leave the Bible closed or to neglect it. That can make you a shipwreck as fast as accepting some false idea about the Bible. Because believing all of the right things about the Bible and having it shut on our dresser or on the coffee table or on a shelf in our home leaves the soul open to peril and danger.
If tonight you are a part of our church or even if you're not but you agree with us regarding what we have said, what we have stated as a church regarding the word of God, as we say here we stand and you say in response so do I, that's where I stand, then let's let the implications of that statement really impact our lives.
We don't become bibliologists, we don't become worshippers of the Bible, we are worshippers of the living God but we cannot worship the living God and ignore his written revelation to us. God help us to be not only believers of a doctrinal statement but livers out of that statement in our commitment to this book. Would you open your hymnal with me? I'd like for us to sing number 126. It's not too common but I think you'll recognize the tune and be able to pick up the words quickly.
126, how wonderful that book divine by inspiration given. Let's stand together as we sing 126. How wonderful that book divine by inspiration given. Bright as a lamp its doctrines shine to guide our souls to heaven. Its light descending from above our sin-sick world to cheer displays a Savior's boundless love and brings His glories near. It shows to men His wandering ways and where His feet have drawn and brings to view the matchless grace of our forgiving God.
It lights our paths, it lifts our hearts along the upward way. It life and joy and peace imparts till dawn's eternal day. Let's bow together. All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching. Are you letting the Word of God teach you? Profitable for reproof, are you letting it bring conviction to your soul? For correction, are you letting it tell you what to do to get out of the mess you're in? Are you letting it tell you how to straighten out your path?
It's profitable for training in righteousness. Are you letting it instruct you and equip you? That's why God has given it, my friend. Will you right now in the quietness of this closing moment commit yourself afresh to the Book and to the God who inspired it? Our Lord, as we depart from here, we give thanks to you for this sure revelation given by inspiration of the Holy Spirit to men of old.
We thank you that you also guarded it so that down through the years, as it was copied and as it has been printed and distributed to us, we have a Bible we can rely upon, a Bible that is trustworthy, that we can open its pages and believe what it says and be brought to you. Lord, draw us to yourself this week as we draw ourselves to the Book and let it do its work in our lives that we may become mature people of God.
I pray that not only for the adults but for the teenagers here, for the boys and girls, that there will be in our church family and in all who are present and some who perhaps represent other churches, that there may be in all of us a deep love for this Bible by inspiration given. We pray this in the name of Him who is the living word, Jesus Christ. Amen.