All right, first of all, what
Paul writes to Timothy by way of exhortation, 2 Timothy chapter
3, and he says to him, verse 14 through verse 17 of this text,
Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned, and hast been
assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned. and that from a
child thou hast known the holy scriptures which are able to
make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ
Jesus. Here's our text. All scripture
is given by inspiration of God, that's so interesting, and is
profitable for doctrine for reproof, for correction, for instruction
in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, throughly
furnished unto all good works. All right, 2 Peter chapter 1,
and this time beginning in verse 16, unto the end of the chapter. For we have not followed cunningly
devised fables when we made known unto you the power and the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the
Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him
from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I
am well pleased. and this voice which came from
heaven we heard when we were with him in the holy mount. We have also a more sure word
of prophecy where unto you do well that you take heed as unto
a light that shines in a dark place until the day dawn and
the day star arise in your heart. Watch the last two verses. Knowing this first, that no prophecy
of the scripture is of any private interpretation, for the prophecy
came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, our Holy Spirit. Now, as we begin this study in
retrospect, that is, in looking back over those studies that
we've already had, not only is this a subject worthy of our
having and contemplating, and we will not stagger at what we
read from the Word of God in this particular place. But I
was thinking this week, it would have been fitting, it would have
been proper and in a good order to have studied this as our first
study in the series. the writing, the inspiration
of the Word of God? Did God really inspire the Scripture? Are they infallible so that they
are without any error? And why might this have been
taken up first in our study and then building upon it? Well,
because everything that we have said, everything that we will
say in regard in this series is taken from the Holy Scripture. So we might first of all have
declared them to be inspired. We will only use the Scripture. The Bible will be our authority
as we so often read in the Scripture. Thus saith the Lord. What saith
the Scripture? Or God said this, or Moses said
that. The Scripture might be fulfilled. So it is the scripture that teaches
us that God hardened the heart of Pharaoh, our first study.
It is the scripture that teaches us that God hated Esau, our second
study. Likewise, scripture said that
God created out of nothing in a period of six days as we looked
at last week. Since all that we believe, all
that we preach, all that we will say is summed up in the scripture,
all doctrine, all practice is to be based squarely upon the
word of the Lord. Then, as the old-timer John Gill
wrote, it is necessary to secure the ground that we go on. That is, the word of the Lord
or the Holy Scripture. Here is a quote from the good
Dr. Gill that since all things that we know relating unto God
is taken from the Scripture, quote, it would be necessary
to establish the divine authority of them and show that they are
a perfect and a sure rule to go by, or the standard of faith
and of practice to be read constantly, studied diligently, and consulted
with on all occasions," unquote. A good testimony to the word
of God. By the way, when we speak of
the scripture, we refer in our day to both the Old Testament
and the New Testament scripture. When we say scripture, we include
the Old Testament and the New Testament. There are 39 books,
as you probably know, in the Old Testament, and there are
27 books in the New Testament that are counted in the canon
of the scripture. That is, they have a right to
be there. They are accepted because they
are authentic, And they are the Word of God. Now, canon, C-A-N-O-N,
of the scripture, meaning that these writings are accepted as
being genuinely inspired of God. They're authorized. They belong
as being in the Word of God. to have a due place among the
sacred writings of our God, considered so by the Christian church and
by the witness of the Holy Spirit of God. It's very interesting
how the canon of Scripture came to be put together, and we don't
have time to get into that this morning. But let's get this out
of the way concerning the canon of the Scripture. that there
are two things now that occupy our mind just for a moment. And that is this, number one,
that the canon of the scripture is restricted to the 66 books
of the Bible, 39 in the Old, 27 in the New Testament. and that it is complete. And we underline and emphasize
complete. No more inspired writings are
to come. No more are to be added. No matter who it is that comes
among us claiming new inspiration. not the Book of Mormon, not the
Koran, or any other one claiming new or later revelation from
God. Also, that no canonical books
are lost, only to be, quote, discovered by some at a later
time. So the canon of the scripture
stands at the 66th book is complete and nothing else will be added. Then there's the question, secondly,
of what is called the apocrypher. This is a collection of books
that are sometimes included in some of the Bibles. At one time,
they were bound up in the King James Version in days gone by,
sometimes included in Scripture, but considered to be spurious
books by the Church of God and of Christ, illegitimate. uninspired,
not worthy of being bound up with the canon of the scripture
and considered an equality with the other scripture. And consider
this with regard to the apocrypher. A man once asked me, why don't
y'all have the apocrypher in your Bible. These are the books
that are bound up in the Catholic Bible, as you may know. And I
answered him in this way. Well, in the New Testament, we
never find that the Lord himself or any of the apostles ever quoted
from any of the apocryphal books that are sometimes bound up. We do not find them quoting or
referring to them, but they quote many others and that gives them
authenticity. Sometimes they quoted the heathen
poets, but we don't find them quoting from the apocrypher. And it is here that the Roman
Church finds justification and scripture for all of their putting
away of indulgences and that kind of thing. Now, we'll go
on and say something else. There are several views of the
scripture that are held by people that are in the world. Some consider
the scripture to be strictly the writings of men. And they'll
tell us very quickly, oh, the word, the Bible, was written
simply by ordinary men. And so they say they're just
history and not, therefore, divinely inspired and infallible. Others consider many things,
especially in Genesis, to be myths, myths brought over from
Babylonia or some other place. And they consider many of them
to be myths, particularly in the first 11 chapters of Genesis. There are others who say that
some things in the Bible are not literally true, and though
some might be true, some probably or not. Well, then that raises
the question, the difficulty for us, how then shall we know
which are true and reliable and which are not? And so it casts
all things under a shadow. And some there are who say that
God only gave the writers an idea or a skeleton and he left
them to their own self to fill in the meat and to put in the
rest of it and to flesh them out. And then there is the Christian
view that the scripture is the divinely inspired word of God. that it is the inerrant, the
infallible Word of God. When we use the word infallible
in connection with the scripture, it means that it is sure, that
it is certain, that it is without error, that it is totally competent
and dependable. They are the words of God, inspired
by God, though written by men, to the people, to the church
of God in the world. So let's put some scripture to
it, for everything that we believe is written up in the scripture. And let's see what inspired writers
had to say about the scripture. We read it. 2 Timothy chapter
3 and verse 16. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God. 2 Peter chapter 1 19 through
21, which we shall come to shortly. Now, 2 Peter 3, 16 has one of
the most amazing sayings concerning the scripture that we'll find
anywhere, and that is that it is given by inspiration of God,
and the inspirer is none other than God himself. And we're going
to have to focus upon that statement, given by inspiration of God. Now, let's look, as we usually
do, at the immediate context, to the surrounding context, what
Paul is saying and who he is saying it to. He is exhorting
Timothy to fidelity and steadfastness in the work of the ministry. We read in verse 14 where he
tells him to abide, to remain, to continue in the things that
he has been taught and that he has learned that are of God and
had been convinced of them in assurance. Timothy had no doubt
about them. He learned them. It was witness
to his heart that they were assuredly true. The things he had learned
with conviction. These things had been embraced
by Timothy in such a way as to give them a firm lodging in the
life and belief and behavior of young Timothy. Understand,
Paul's exhortation is not because Timothy was weak or because he
was wavering in the things of God, but because of the apostasy
and because of the condition mentioned in verse 1 through
13 of that chapter. Dangerous times shall come. All manner of wickedness shall
surround the Christian church and the Christian people. A form
of godliness will be kept, but denying the power thereof. Reprobates concerning the faith
will come and appear. Evil men and seducers waxing
worse and worse and worse. These are some of the things
that he writes. in the first 13 verses of that
chapter, 2 Timothy chapter 3. And these deceivers, deceiving
and being deceived. Being deceived themselves, they
then deceive others. And so Paul said to Timothy,
stand fast. You have known from a child the
Holy Scripture, able to make one wise unto salvation. So here's
his exhortation, Timothy, continue in the things that you have been
convinced of. And Paul adds in verse 14, and
the last part, knowing from whom you have learned them. Now that raises the question,
Whom is Paul referring to as the instructor of Timothy? Who is it that he had learned
these things from? Who does Paul mean is Timothy
or had been Timothy's teacher? For it is clear that Paul means
the teacher or the teacher to give credibility to what Timothy
believed and accepted assuredly. Now does Paul give credit to
the Lord or to the Holy Spirit as having taught Timothy? Did
he refer to himself in a very modest way, not mentioning his
name? Other places he does. Or is it
his mother and his grandmother who from a child had taught him
and read him the Scripture? Paul adds in verse 15, Timothy
had from his youth, from a young child, been acquainted with the
Holy Scripture. He'd been taught them. He'd heard
them read. carried to the synagogue where
they were read and expounded. Now, of course, Paul is referring
to the Old Testament canon calling them holy. He's referring to
such men as Moses, David, Solomon, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and all of the
minor prophets of the Old Testament who wrote and spoke as they were
moved upon by the Spirit of God. Now watch, able to make thee
wise unto salvation. The scripture, able to make one
wise unto salvation. You have that again, I think,
in Luke chapter 16, 29 through 31. Remember, when diabetes, when the rich
man lifted up his eyes in hell, begged for a drop of water from
the finger of Lazarus. And what did Abraham say to that
man? They have Moses and the prophet. Let them hear them. If they will
not believe Moses and the prophet, neither will they believe if
one returned unto them from the dead. In John chapter 5 and verse
39, the Lord said on a certain occasion to his audience, search
the scripture for in them You think you have eternal life. So only by the scripture can
the mind of God toward man be known and revealed. Now, what
is not in accord with God's word, religiously, is not true. Salvation can only be known by
the revelation of the Scripture and the teaching of the Word
of God, of course, in the hand of the Spirit. And I'd like to
give you this unpaid commercial, if I might. This really speaks,
I think, to our day and to our time and the light, light emphasis
that is put upon the Scripture and the Word of God in the churches
in our time and generation. Very little emphasis, very little
exposition of the scripture is given to the people in our day. What do they get? Well, they
get silly stories, they get current events, they get sad, weepy tales,
they get wild music, they get entertainment for the flesh,
and they get a big dose of psychology. Nearly every Sunday morning. Not the scripture, but these
other things. And they go away entertained
and pleased with themselves. But in verse 16 of that chapter,
Paul gets nearer to the heart of the matter of the scripture,
and he does so by declaring, all scripture is given by inspiration
of God. That's the King James rendering. We look at it more closely. Now,
some see two ways to express this, all scriptures given by
inspiration of God. Number one, all or every. The whole of scripture, every
bit of it, is given by inspiration of God. Number two, every scripture
given by inspiration of God is profitable. Those in the Greek
say that either one of these is acceptable. Now, the word
scripture is the word grafe and is a noun from the word grafeo,
a verb to grave or to write, to engrave or to write something
down. By scripture, we understand the
Bible, the Word of God, the Holy Bible, the scripture. We also
call it the Word of God, for the Word of God is inspired by
God. But not every religious writing
fits into this category. Not the Book of Mormon, wasn't
even published until 1830. And not the Quran, supposedly
revealed to Muhammad by Allah. But the 39 books of the Old Testament
and the 27 books of the New Testament, which is, again, a closed revelation,
no more will be written of the same quality. But there is no
need or necessity of anything else to be written or added. Now, focusing on that word, inspiration,
in this verse of the scripture. This is the only time this word
is used, I believe, in all of our New Testament. And it is
a word that means, I've read and I'm told, God breathe. All scripture is God-breathed
when you study it out. Every scripture, the whole of
it is God-breathed. Each part, each line is God-breathed,
even though several persons wrote several different parts of the
scripture, separated by many, many years of time in writing
their part of the scripture. Now, the word for inspiration
has in it the name of God. If you look, all scripture is
theos, all scripture is God-breathed. Now, when we say that the scripture
is God-breathed, we're not claiming that God spoke the word in an
audible voice so that the author simply wrote them down. It is
not that God did dictate orally the Word of God for them to write
down the words, though of old God did speak in an audible voice
at time of his choosing unto his people like at Sinai or at
the casting out of Ishmael. It is said that God spoke unto
his mother Hagar, Genesis chapter 21. at the baptism of the Lord
Jesus Christ. There came an oral voice and
at the transfiguration upon the mount. But neither do we say
that God himself wrote them down with his very own finger as he
did the law. In Exodus chapter 31 and verse
18, God wrote the law by his own finger upon the tablet that
Moses had brought with him. Now God could have used any of
these methods had it pleased him. He could have spoken out
loud. He could have caused the words to appear had it pleased
him. But then God did not cause these
words to mysteriously appear upon the scripture, though he
could have if he wished, as he caused the writing to appear
in Daniel chapter 5 upon the wall of the king. When we say
that scripture is God-breed, then we mean, as John Gill said,
and I quote, This is to be understood of the scripture in their original
language in which they were written and not of the translations."
We don't have the original and most of us couldn't read them
if we did. Much or most of the Old Testament
was written in Hebrew and most or nearly all of the New was
written in Greek the common language of that time and era. For in
his providence, God has raised up competent scholars who are
talented in the word to know to translate that we might have
the word of God in our own language that we might hear the Word of
God in our own tongue. Now I grant that some of the
newer translations are not as accurate as some of the older
translations, but we do not have access unto the original, so
thank God that some, with the knowledge of the Word of God,
Greek and Hebrew are able to translate us a reliable copy
of the Word of God in our own tongue wherein we were born,
as it says in Acts chapter 2. But enough about translation. Let's return to Paul's word that
all scripture is by inspiration. Literally, all scripture is God-breathed. Now, this is an amazing saying
when we understand it. This is true even though God
gave us the God-breathed scripture by using human instruments. Common, ordinary men, as we call
them, wrote it down. This is one strong argument.
Long used against the scripture that these are the writing of
men as I have heard people say Men wrote that their Bible and
so they're not gonna swallow it all and so they dismiss the
part that they don't like So the scriptures are God breathed
and written down by men. Peter wrote, 2 Peter 1, 20 and
21, knowing this first. that no prophecy of the scripture
is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in
old time, the margin has any time, came not in any time by
the will of man, and the NASB has it, no prophecy was ever
made by an act of the human will. but holy men of God spake as
moved by the Holy Spirit. Now, let's try to put this in
its broader context. How it connects with what goes
before, why the apostle includes it in the epistle at this particular
place in the letter. This passage here in Peter got
some difficulties with it. I know that because I read most
of my commentary and I find that it is a difficult passage of
scripture. So let's try to get a handle
on it and understand it. In verse 12 through verse 15,
the apostle Peter wished to stir them up to remembrance of the
truth that they had been established in. even as he knew that he was
living in the shadow of his own death. The Lord said, soon I
must put off this my tent or tabernacle, which he expressed
in euphemism. After my decease, after my exodus
is the word that is here. Then in verse 16 through verse
21, he declares the trustworthiness of the prophetical word. Here's the trustworthiness of
the prophetical word because, and number one, it was confirmed
in Christ. The prophetical word was fulfilled
in the Lord Jesus Christ. He makes reference to the transfiguration
there on the mount. When the Lord was transfigured,
his clothes became bright. It scared them to death, and
they saw Moses and Elijah. Secondly, he said, it was not
a part from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It was confirmed
in Christ and it was given by the Holy Spirit. Peter had been
privileged, he said, to be an eyewitness of the transfiguration
of the Lord when Christ received honor and glory from God and
a voice on the mountain said, this is my beloved son in whom
I am well pleased. Unquote you can see Matthew you
have three accounts of this in the gospel. It's in Matthew 17
It's in Mark 9 and it's in Luke 9 for three accounts of the transfiguration
Now the hard part are the words in verse 19 of 2nd Peter chapter
1 we have also a more sure word of prophecy but within the question
come more sure than what and about what. More sure than what? And about what? There are many
views to consider concerning this passage, but it must be
related to the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. In
verse 16, as simulated, occurred in the transfiguration on the
mount, verse 17 and verse 18. And see this in verse 19. We
have also a more sure word of prophecy. Then moving into verse
20, knowing this, knowing this first of all, knowing this assuredly
and beyond doubt or question. Now this is the main thing in
regard to this. This is recognized and acknowledged
by all who are settled in the Lord Jesus Christ. That no prophecy
of the scripture is of any private interpretation. Now, what are
we to make of that? That is a hard saying. This is
much misapplied, I believe, by many in our day. For this does
not forbid private reading, private study, private research, and
private judgment of the Scripture. For how can they take heed unto
prophecy unless they know it and are acquainted with it? Peter's
point, I think, is this. the absolute authority and complete
reliability of the writings of the prophets of God, that they
are absolutely reliable and trustworthy. Calvin put it like this, to give
the words of the prophet the same credit as being the word
of God. Now, look at two words, private interpretation. No scripture
is a private interpretation. What can that mean? Well, it
refers to the origin of the scripture. John Gill wrote this, no prophecy
of the scripture is of man's own impulse and invention or
composition, none of it, not any of the scripture. In other
words, they are divinely inspired. The spirit of God breathed them
out or God breathed them out. and men wrote them down. And
the reason, therefore, that they are to be heeded and that they
are our authority is that they are divinely inspired. They are not a private interpretation. Now verse 21 clearly establishes
this. 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. Not the will of man. gave us
the Scripture. No man sat down and said, you
know, I'm inspired today. I'm going to write the Word of
God. They did not decide what they
would write as they were writing. They did not decide when to write
as they were led by the Spirit. But these holy men of God spake,
moved by the Holy Spirit. You know, when we think about
it in the Scripture, what great works are assigned under the
Spirit of God. When we think about, read, and
study our Scripture, we find great works that are done by
the Spirit of God. Here are some of them main and
paramount in the Scripture. It was He that brooded over that
mass in Genesis chapter 1, 1 and 2. It was the Spirit of God that
miraculously, beyond our comprehension, conceived the humanity of Jesus
Christ in the womb of the Virgin. It is He that quickens dead souls
to life. The Spirit of God breathes and
quickens and regenerates. And it was the same Holy Spirit
that authored the Scripture, that moved upon the human instrument
that they might write, 2 Peter 1, 21, as they were moved by
the Holy Spirit. And what's more, it is also the
work of the Spirit to open our heart, to illuminate our mind
and our understanding to the Word of God and teach us the
things of God. We can read it and we can hear
it, but we will not understand it unless the Spirit of God opens
our understanding. Now, let's think a minute of
the men who wrote the Scripture. We believe they were inspired.
We believe they were guided by the Spirit as they wrote. And
these men who wrote the Scripture, being inspired by the Spirit
of God, were of two sorts. Number one, prophets. The prophets. The prophets of old who wrote. The great prophet Moses, David,
Isaiah, and so on. And number two would be apostles. Apostles wrote a great deal of
our Bible, the whole of the New Testament. Now here's the word
moved. Holy men of God spake as they
were moved. Moved! is from a word meaning
to be born alone. is how we might express it. They
were born along by the Holy Spirit. And the picture here is of a
ship at sea with its sails stretched out and the wind is filling them
and is bearing them along. And that's the picture that we
have here. And you have it in Acts 27, 15 and verse 17. The word is often in the New
Testament, however, but most of the time it is translated
brought, B-R-O-U-G-H-T, or bring or bear, is how it is translated,
as the ships were borne along by the wind that were filling
their sail. So the writers of the scripture
were born along by the Holy Spirit of God. They were not expressing
their own thoughts or their own opinion or their own biases. They were not writing according
to their own will what they thought we ought to know. Inspiration
is what Abraham Kuyper called that special, unique work of
the Holy Spirit whereby He directed the minds of men in the act of
writing the Scripture." Now, it's not that God took hold of
their hand. as they sit down with pen and
they write. Sometimes we do that with a little
child, teaching them how to write their name and such like, and
we hold their hand and we guide it. No, God did not do that.
Christ is not personally on earth in the flesh. Neither are there
any that learned from him personally and individually, nor do we have
apostles and our ministers are not infallible, not immune from
error in our day. Yet we're not left without an
infallible guide, having a more sure word of prophecy, the Bible,
the word of God. God does not speak orally from
heaven by a thundering voice as he did in other ages. So shall it ever be until the
end of the world. Our only concern is what saith
the Scripture, the Word of God. For, if I can quote Kuyper again,
the Holy Spirit has bestowed upon the church a complete and
infallible Scripture, unquote. To this there is an objection
that is sometimes made. I mentioned it, but let's look
at it again. There are those who say to us,
look, You err in that you let the scripture be its own character
witness. You let the scripture tell us
that the scripture is perfect and is inspired. You accept its witness of itself,
and this is unreasonable, some would say. We have an example. In John 8 and verse 13, The Pharisees
used the same argument with the Lord Jesus Christ. They said
to him, listen, you bear witness of yourself, your witness is
not true. Well, is that a good argument?
You bear witness of yourself, your witness is not true. Well,
how did the Lord answer that kavil or that chart? He answered,
his witness was true. For he was indeed the Son of
God, and he indeed came down from heaven. And we say because
the Scriptures are God-breathed, because they're infallible, and
they are inerrant, they are therefore a proper witness of their self. They are without error, even
concerning themselves, because they are God-breathed. So let's consider the justification
of Christ being called the Word. Have you ever wondered about
that? Christ is called the Word. John chapter 1-1, 1-14, Revelation
19 and 13, In the beginning was the Word,
the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. His name was called
the Word of God, those texts. Now this is a declaration of
his deity. When he is called the Word, it
is a declaration of his deity. In the beginning with God and
was God is the testimony of the scripture. This is not said of
the written scripture nor of Christ only in his incarnate
state, but he was the Word before he became incarnate. The Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us. Then consider something,
what Paul adds in 2 Timothy 3 and 17, that because the scripture
is God-breathed, it is profitable in every way, that this man of
God, the minister, may be perfect, may be fitted, may be adequately
equipped, furnished to every good work in the labors of the
word and the doctrine in the ministry. 1 Timothy 5, 17. which
must be sound doctrine that cannot be condemned. The minister must
spend time in the Word. The minister must study daily. He must study to show himself
approved unto God, rightly dividing the Word, a workman that needeth
not to be ashamed. Now, close with this little short
thought. Some have called us bibliologists,
that we worship the Bible. They say, oh, y'all worship the
Bible. Y'all a bunch of Bible-thumping
Bible worshipers. But we only worship God, and
we serve him, aided, guided, instructed, and taught by the
infallible Word of God. And this I say in closing. Test
our profession by the Scripture. Test your profession in the light
of the Scripture. Bring that test to the touchstone
of the Scripture. Compare your experience with
the teaching of the Word of God, and you'll be much comforted
to see when it agrees.