after I shut off the back one
there. Eric, welcome. Good to have you with us. I know
Cheryl's there. I know Jamie and Jim, her son, are right there,
and whoever else. But good morning, Roger. Good morning. Good to see you
again this morning. Wasn't that long ago? We saw
you on a Friday night. Testing one, two, three. Can
you hear me out of the speakers? Yeah. Let's turn to page 297
and open this morning's study with a hymn, and then I'll pray.
Do I need to go a little louder? Hm? Why didn't you ask about
the speakers? Just curious. Oh. OK. Who's this? The story of everything's above
Of Jesus and His glory Of Jesus and His love I love to tell the
story Because I know it is true Satisfy my longing And nothing
else can do I love to tell the story Will be my theme in glory
To tell the old story Of Jesus and His love I love to tell the
story It's pleasant to repeat I love to tell the story For
some who have never heard The message of salvation From God's
own Holy Word I love to tell the story Will be my theme and
glory To tell the old story Of Jesus and His love I love to
tell the story For those who know it best Seem hungering and
thirsty To hear it like the rest of glory, I sing the new, new
song. Will be the old, old story that
I have loved so long. I love to tell the story. Will be my female glory to tell
the old, old story. Lord, we ask this morning that
you would bless us for your son's sake. Father, that's the only reason
you have any reaction to us at all. We are nothing but sin. Yet, Lord, because of his works,
Because of Your Son and His salvation for His people, Christ and Him
crucified, You bless us. Thank You, Lord, for Your blessings.
Shine the light of Your Word in our hearts as we continue
to go through this book titled, Basic Doctrines of the Bible.
In Christ's name we ask. Amen. All righty. began, if you would, allowing
me to just recap a little bit about what we looked at in our
study two weeks ago. You'll recall that we're looking
at the basic Bible doctrines of the Bible. I said that twice,
didn't I? The basic doctrines of the Bible.
There you go, I said it right. Written by Brother Don Horner.
And we're in Chapter 2 where he's talking about the doctrines
of God's Word. And he takes his thoughts on
this chapter from Psalms 138, verse 2, where it says, I will
worship toward thy holy temple and praise thy name for thy loving
kindness and for thy truth. Now that's important. Do you
know how many times the Lord says, thy truth in scriptures?
I'm going to get away from myself if I go there. Truth is important. I've got to say it. Truth is
important. It says it right here in His Word. For thy lovingkindness
and for thy truth. If you go to the book of John
chapter 17, you'll see where the Lord Jesus Himself in His
priestly prayer talks to God the Father about His Word being
true. It's important that we know the
truth and that we worship the truth. And the Lord warns us
over and over again about those who preach not the truth. And
we'll talk more about that in our next message, but I'm going
to go on from there. Then it goes on in Psalms 138, the last
part of verse 2. For thou hast magnified thy Word
above all thy name. His Word. He's magnified it more. He even says in John 1, verse
1, in the beginning was the Word. It's been there since the beginning.
The thoughts that God had about men, over 40 different men, writing
the books of the Bible, were before the world ever was. In
the beginning was the Word of God, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. Isn't that what it says? So what
this verse is saying here, Thou hast magnified thy Word above
all thy name, is very, very important. And we went about looking how
the Bible declares the Word of God as being the Word from God. And we spent much time looking
at that a couple weeks back. I don't want to spend too much
time this morning. It's the inspired, infallible, inerrant Word of
God. And Don's bringing out in this chapter four things. He
says, I will show you four things about the Bible which I trust
will be blessed of God to your soul and make the Book of God
even more precious. than it is already. And we looked
at the first thing he wanted to bring out, which was the Bible
is the inspired, infallible, and errant word of God. And Don
makes this claim. He says the Bible claims divine
origin. And he gives several verses that
we looked at last two weeks ago. The Bible claims to be a necessary
revelation. And we looked at several verses
to look at that. The Bible claims to be the sufficient effectual
means by which God redeems sinners, chosen sinners, and calls them
to life. And we looked at several different
verses for that as well. The Bible claims both the authority
and the finality as the Word of God, as you can see in Isaiah
chapter 8, verse 20. Even though the book was given
through weak, sinful human beings, their weaknesses Their sins,
their humanity does not affect the Bible's infallibility because
it was the inspired Word of God. And we spent our time looking
at that in our last lesson. So this morning we're gonna look
at the second thing Don wants to point out in this about the
Word of God. And then we'll look at number
three and four next week. So the second thing is this,
the evidences and the arguments for the divine origin and inspiration
are as comforting as they are irrefutable, undeniable. You can't argue it. Don says,
let me give you just a few of the many internal evidences of
inspiration. We're not even going to look
at the external evidences, though they are numerous. The internal,
meaning the internal evidences pointed out to us in the Word
of God, The internal evidences are sufficient
both to refute the gainsayers and to comfort our souls as we
live by faith in this world, this world of trouble, this world
of woe leaning upon the promises and the teachings of our God
in Holy Scripture. Now the first thing he wants
to point out about that it's irrefutable is this, that the
Lord Jesus Christ accepted the Old Testament. He accepted it. He accepted it as the Word of
God. How often did we see, as it is written? Well, what was
he referring to? He was referring to the Old Testament
as the Word of God. Jesus Christ Himself declares
the Old Testament to be His Word. Scriptures as the Word of God.
When He dwelt upon this earth, He never made any attempt to
prove the validity of the Old Testament, but simply referred
to it and quoted it, expounded upon it, and lived upon it as
the Word of God itself. In fact, he very deliberately
quoted from two books of the Old Testament which are the most
frequently attacked by infidels, Deuteronomy and Isaiah. Deuteronomy was the book from
which he made every quotation when Satan tempted him in the
wilderness. And you can read that in Deuteronomy
8.3, 6.16, and 6.13. And then in Luke 4.4-12 is where
the devil tempted the Lord Jesus. And you can see in those verses,
if you want to write those down, Deuteronomy 8.3, 6 verse 16 and 6 verse 13. And you can see those coming
to pass where he used those verses and referred to them in Luke
chapter 4 verses 4 through 12. Isaiah was the book that he referred
to when he began his public ministry and first announced himself as
the Messiah. Look over at Isaiah 61 real quick. Let's look at that. In Luke chapter
4 verse 16 through 21, we see him Quoting from Isaiah, that's
where he went into this, you know, in Luke chapter 4 verse
16, that's where he went into the synagogue and he sat down
and began to read. Remember that story? Look here
in Isaiah 61. Let's look at that, Isaiah 61.
This is where he referenced to this very thing, and you'll see
it yourselves. Let me just get there. Isaiah 61, verse 1. Recall, this is what he began
to read. The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord
hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek. He hath
sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim the liberty of the
captives to the captives, and the opening of the prison to
them that are bound. Those are the words that he quoted
from when he began his ministry, when he began teaching and preaching.
Secondly, the uniqueness of the Bible, writes Don, that is to
say the singularity of its teachings, attests to its divine origin. The book of God is totally different
from all other books in the things it reveals and teaches. All who ever drink from this
fountain, writes Don, this fountain of truth, have tasted the distinct
difference of this book that's called the Bible from all other
books that we have ever heard or seen. I say amen to that. I wouldn't stand before anybody
and tell them that it was an inspired word of God, but I will
about this. I'm convinced, and God's people
are all convinced of the same thing. The Bible alone gives
us an account and revelation of God's character. The Bible
alone agrees with and satisfies that which is revealed in creation
and stamped upon the consciousness of all men, of all human beings.
Holy Scriptures tell us that the Lord our God is omnipotent,
holy, wise, just and good. Do they not tell us that? The
Bible alone gives us an account of man's origin. Where else have
you seen the beginnings of thinking, oh, you see all kinds of things
where we may have come from, amoebas or fish or monkeys or
something like that. Nothing in this, no other book
has ever given the origins of men. Not even the Quran has given
us where the origins of men have come from. The Bible does. No other attempts to account
for these things that gives any satisfaction to it. No book of
mere human composition would give such a brutally honest portrayal
of human depravity, would it? The Bible alone reveals and explains
the necessity of Christ's incarnation. The Bible alone reveals the plan
of salvation for fallen men that is both honoring to God and satisfactory
to the conscience of men, God's plan in salvation. Look over
Romans chapter 3. Look over Romans chapter 3. Look what it says in verse 24
through 26. We're talking about the Bible
declaring that salvation for fallen man is both honoring to
God and satisfactory to our consciousness of men. It's God's plan of salvation. Being justified freely by His
grace. That is grace, freely. You can't
buy it, you can't earn it. through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus, there's our redemption through His works,
that Christ in Him crucified in that very first verse, verse
25, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation, a payment,
a passing over, the mercy seat, a propitiation through faith,
through belief in His blood, to declare his righteousness
for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance
of God. To declare, I say at this time, his righteousness
that he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth
in Jesus. Any honest person who reads the
Bible with any measure of carefulness and thoroughness will readily
acknowledge that it could not possibly be a book of mere human
origin. You know, that was one of the
things that first stood out to me when the Lord showed me His
grace, when He shined His light in my heart, was this is not
a book that men could have come up with on their own imagination.
Not spread out over all the time that it is, and we'll get to
that in just a moment here ourselves. The Bible has the stamp of God
upon it, I'm sure of that. I have no doubt about that. Thirdly, the frankness. And the candor which the Bible
deals with its most prominent characters is evidence of its
divine origin. Have you ever noticed that God
does not spare all the wise men that he has put in his word,
does he? What a God who would show the wise men as being no
more than you and I. Sinners saved by grace. If they expose any weakness and
faults, speaking of human biographies, or man... What did I do? I lost my place there. All human biographies, writes
Don, I read it wrong, if they expose any weakness and faults
in their subjects, either excuse them or find a way to make them
appear insignificant. The Word of God paints a different
picture. When it describes the lives of
its greatest, most eminent characters, it paints their very darkest
sides along with it. The Bibles make no attempt to
whitewash Noah's drunkenness. The Bible makes no attempt to
cover up Abraham's fear of Abelic, or Lot's incest, or Moses' anger,
or Aaron's idolatry, or David's murder and adultery, or the disciples'
unbelief, Peter's fall, or the strife which divides Paul and
Barnabas. No, the Bible takes no part in
hiding those things. Fourthly, the perfect harmony,
writes Don, and unity of the Bible is simply an unanswerable
argument for its divine origin and the great source of comfort
and assurance of our faith. If I should see my great-grandfather,
who has been dead since I was a boy, rise up out of the earth,
that fact would be less miraculous than the existence of God's Word. Listen to this carefully. The
Bible was written in three languages, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, three
different languages, by some 40 different authors who lived
on two separate continents over a period of more than 1,600 years. Parts of it were written in palaces. Parts of it was written in prisons.
Some of it was written by well-educated men in great cities, and other
parts were written by shepherds, fishermen, Parts of it were written
during times of war, pestilence, and danger, and other parts during
times of ecstatic joy. Those who wrote the words of
the Holy Scripture were from virtually every walk of life.
Judges, priests, kings, prophets, prime ministers, herdsmen, scribes,
fishermen, and soldiers. Yet in spite of all these varying
circumstances, all these different conditions, All these different
workmen and ages of time employed in the production of the book,
it stands as one book. Isn't that amazing? I agree with
Don. Isn't that a miracle? What a
miracle God has caused by giving us His Word. Listen to the words
of A.W. Pink. A.W. Pink said this, he said, 40 persons
of different nationalities, possessing various degrees of musical culture,
visiting an organ of some great cathedral at long intervals of
time, spaced out over time, and without any collusion between
each other whatsoever, striking 66 different notes, which have been combined, yielded
into a theme of the grandest on terror ratio ever heard. Would it not show that behind
these 40 different men, there was one presiding mind? Isn't that what we get with this
book? I read the book of Matthew, and I think to myself, I see
the same thing in the book of Mark. Did they collude? Did they sit there around a campfire
one night or around a candle in one of their houses and collude?
Well, what do you think? Do you think we ought to write
this? No. The difference between the two
books is so obvious that they never colluded at all, yet they
both speak of the same thing, Christ and Him crucified. There's only one explanation,
writes Don, for the existence of the Bible, and it gives us
in 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 21. 2 Peter chapter 1, one verse, explains
the reason for the book God has given us to read. 2 Peter 1, verse 21, we read these
words, For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of
man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost. How do we have this book? Can
we count on this book? Can we rely on this book? I can. I need to add something to what
Don has written here. Not only can I, not only do I,
take this book as God's Word, I believe because He has given
me the gift to believe. It's not the first time I've
read this book. I've been reading this book since I was a little
kid, not with any knowledge of what it meant, not with any...
I mean, my parents were Baptists. We went to church. My real father was a preacher
of some kind. I have no idea. My stepdad was
a preacher of God's sovereign grace. I do know that, but only
because I heard a tape after the Lord called me out of darkness.
I know that my only reason for believing anything of this book
is because God has given me His gift. His gift of mercy. gift of grace. And I'll close
with these words, this last and final point that Don brings out.
The multitude of prophecies given in the Bible that have been exactly
fulfilled to the very letter. You know, people predict time,
things throughout time, all the time. That's what our weathermen
do. They predict what's going to happen tomorrow's weather.
We don't know. Very rarely. Everything that
God has predicted to come to pass has come to pass exactly
how it was supposed to come to pass. Remember when he entered
Jerusalem? Remember our Bible study? We just looked at this
recently. Some of you who can't attend
on a Friday night Bible study, we looked at this. The Lord Jesus
came into Jerusalem. And on his way into Jerusalem,
before he came into Jerusalem, he told two of his disciples,
go into town, and when you see the donkey and its... Fold. I'm not saying exactly how it
is, because I don't have it here in front of me. But when you
see the donkey in the fold, take that donkey in the fold. And
if somebody comes up to you and asks you, hey, what are you doing
with my donkey in my fold? Tell them the master needs them.
And they'll say, it's OK. Go ahead and take it. Guess what? That's exactly what
happened. Right down to the T. Why? Because he's God. That's why.
The prophecies given in the Bible that have been fulfilled have
been fulfilled to the very letter. And because of that, it demands
that an honest person acknowledge the divine origin of the Bible.
Prophecy is the foretelling of future events, writes Don, before
they come to pass. This is the acid test of divine
revelation. The Lord God himself appeals
to fulfilled prophecy throughout the Bible. Turn over to Isaiah
chapter 41. We'll look at a couple of verses.
We got some time here still. Look over to Isaiah chapter 41. Look at verses 21 with me. We're talking about the Lord
God Himself appealing to fulfilled prophecy throughout the Bible. Here's one of the prophecies
here in Isaiah 41, verses 21-23. Produce your cause, sayeth the Lord,
bring forth your strong reason, saith the King of Jacob,
let them bring them forth and show us what shall happen. Let
them show the former things what they be, that we may consider
them and know the latter end of them, or declare us things
for to come. Show the things that are to come
hereafter, that they may know that ye are gods, yea, do good
and do evil, that ye may be dismayed and be holding together. Now,
I want you to jump from there over to 2 Peter chapter 1. Go
over to 2 Peter, almost all the way over to the book of Revelation. And look at 2 Peter chapter 1. Speaking of what we just read
there in Isaiah 41, look at these words in verses 19-21. We have also a more sure word
of prophecy, where unto you do Do well that ye take heed as
unto the light that shineth in a dark place, until the day of
dawn and the day star arises in your hearts, knowing this
first, that no prophecy of scripture is of any private interpretation,
for the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man,
but holy men of God spake as they were moved. Fortune tellers,
palm readers, and other Practitioners of witchcraft frequently make
general predictions, write God, that astound men. The Word of
God does not make vague, general predictions, but specific, precise
predictions and stakes its veracity upon their fulfillment. The Lord
Jesus Christ was, of course, the central theme of the Old
Testament prophecy, and you can read that. You're familiar with
the words in Isaiah 53. It's very clearly about the Lord
Jesus. But there were multitudes of specific prophetic statements
made about Him in the Old Testament that were exactly fulfilled.
Let's look at one of them, if you would. Turn over to Isaiah
7, verse 14. Isaiah 7, verse 14. Therefore the Lord himself shall
give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive
and bear a son and call his name Emmanuel. Now, you recall it
in Matthew, don't you? You remember what it said in
Matthew. That's exactly what happened, isn't it? A virgin
gave birth. So we see that the word of God
is specific. The prophecy concerning Josiah,
the boy king of Judah, was made during the days of Jeroboam,
and it was fulfilled 350 years later. You can read about that
in 1 Kings 13 and 2 Kings 23. Numerous other fulfilled prophecies
could be cited by anyone even casually familiar with Holy Scripture. These are facts which no one
can refute. Don closes with this, he says,
let men cavil as they will. The Bible is the very word of
God as far as I am concerned. It simply cannot be explained
in any other way. It is an open book. Its truths
are not written in the language of scholars, but in the common
language of common men. The Bible is the book for the
people. It was delivered by God to His saints, not to the Pope,
not to the priests, not to the academics, not to the clergy,
but to the saints of God. There is nothing hidden, nothing
written in secret codes. Everything is open. If the Gospel
is veiled, it is not because there is a veil upon the book
of God, but because there is a veil upon the hearts of men. Closed with 2 Corinthians chapter
4. 2 Corinthians 4, verse 4. Actually, 3 and 4. But if our
gospel is hid, interesting, we're going to be looking at this very
thing ourselves. If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that
are lost, in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds
of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel
of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine. unto them. Folks, this is the Word of God
that we hold in our hand. This book that I hold here, the
cover is coming apart. Oh, I could go get another new
one. But the words in it mean more to me than just another
new book. The things that are special to
me in this book where the Lord speaks to my heart about saving
sinners, of whom I am chief. I don't know about you, but this
book means so much more to me than any other book ever written.
Because it's the Word of God, and I know it in my heart. Brother
Michael, would you lead us in closing prayer, please? Father
in Heaven, we thank You for the written Word. We know that it's
true because You have it. giving us life and life. And we can see, without the Spirit
of God quickening us, we would have no idea what was written
within. We thank you, Father, for the
gift of faith. In Jesus' name, amen.