The Holy Scriptures

Someone texted me this past week and told me that our webpage was down and I asked Zach to check on that and take care of it and he did and he sent me a report which I found was very interesting. for 2025 and the four months of 2026, January through April of this year, we've had over 17,000 hits to the sermons in 101 different countries. It's amazing, isn't it? That's amazing. Now the gospel, it goes around the world and can only pray that God will use his word. We never know. I was somewhat amazed. The country that had the most hits was Singapore. Singapore. And the US was second.

If you will, let's turn in our Bibles today to Acts chapter 17. I'm going to read the first four verses, but before I read these verses, I want to sort of set the stage. Paul and Silas had been shamefully, shamefully treated in the city of Philippi in chapter 16. They had both been beaten with many stripes and put into prison and their feet in stocks. they had experienced the truth of what the Lord Jesus Christ said, it is enough for the disciple that he be as his master. The Lord Jesus Christ is the master, and the treatment that he received in this world, his world, he was also shamefully treated.

And now they come to Thessalonica. Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, which was a synagogue, where it was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures. opening and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered and risen again from the dead, and that this Jesus whom I preach unto you is Christ. And some of them believed and consorted with Paul and Silas, and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few. They came to this city of Thessalonica, which today is the second largest city in modern day Greece.

There was a synagogue here, we see, which tells us there was a considerable population of Jews, but mainly a Gentile city. And even though before this, back in Acts chapter 13, when Paul was in a place called Antioch of Pisidia, He said this to the Jews at that time, it was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you, but seeing you put it from you and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. Even though that had taken place before what we read here in Acts Chapter 17, we see that when they come to a city where there was a synagogue, where there was a place where Jews and proselytes, Gentile proselytes to Judaism gathered, that's where they went first. And they exercised the work of the ministry. And I want to ask this question, first of all, today. What is the work of the ministry? Well, it has to do with the word of God. It has to do with the scriptures.

Before this, in Acts chapter 6, there was a need for some men to be set apart to distribute to the poor in the church. And the apostles made this statement. They said, choose out. some men that are worthy of that office. And they said that we might give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.

What is the work of the ministry? It has to do with the word of God. It has to do with the scriptures that we might give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word. And so my message today concerns the Word of God. And I want to make three statements. I want to make an enlarge on these three statements.

First, the scriptures are the Word of God. I didn't say the scriptures contain the Word of God. I said the scriptures are. the Word of God. And by scriptures, I mean the 66 books that we have in our Bibles. It doesn't contain the Word of God, it is the Word of God. And every one of these books, letters or books, prophecies, every one of them has the same author. Think about that. Written over a long period of time, and yet every book in this Bible, the Word of God, all have the same author. And what do I mean by that?

I'm not saying, of course, that Moses did not write the first five books of the Bible, because we know that he did, and the Lord Jesus Christ He said that when he said, for Moses said, honor thy father and thy mother. Moses said that. Moses wrote that.

And we know that's written, of course, in Exodus and Deuteronomy. I'm not saying that David did not write many of the Psalms which speak of Christ, because the Lord Jesus Christ said this, David himself saith in the book of Psalms. All these books have the same author. They have the same author.

And yet I'm not saying that Moses didn't write those first five books and that David didn't write many, if not most of the Psalms, 150 Psalms in our Bible. And I'm not saying that Isaiah did not write his prophecy. of 66 chapters, as it is divided in our Bibles. Or that Jeremiah didn't write his prophecy, or Ezekiel his, or any of the minor prophets. I'm not saying that, but I am saying, and I want to emphasize this to all of us here today, the Bible has one author, even though the Apostle Paul, in writing the letter of Philippians said, To write, speaking of himself, to write the same things to you, to me, is not grievous. You might say, well, preacher, how then? You say that every book has the same author, but yet you've pointed out that Moses wrote some, and David wrote some, and Paul wrote some. How can it be that they all have the same author? Look with me in 2 Peter. Turn with me, if you will, to 2 Peter. In 2 Peter 1, beginning with verse 16, Peter's writing to the believers.

For we have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honor and glory. Now he's speaking about that day when the Lord took Peter, James, and John, sometimes they're referred to as the elect, among the elect, these three apostles. Remember, he took them apart from the other apostles several times. When he went into the house of Jairus, whose daughter had died, he put everyone out, but he took with him Jairus and the child's mother and Peter, James, and John, that they might witness and see him speak unto that corpse I say unto thee, rise. In the garden of Gethsemane, when our Lord, in his agony there, praying before he would go to the cross the next day, in such agony, the scriptures tell us that his sweat was as great drops of blood. You remember he took the apostles, but he had some stay here, and then he took Peter, James, and John a little farther into the garden, and then he went a little farther. And yes, there was a day, we call it the Mount of Transfiguration, when he left the bulk of his disciples and took Peter, James, and John with him up on that mountain. and he was transfigured before them, and Elijah and Moses appeared with him there.

That's what Peter has reference to here when he said, for he, that is Jesus Christ, he received from God the Father honor and glory, the glory of his person. You know, when he came into this world, the Son of God came into this world, he veiled by taking the flesh, that body that was prepared of the Virgin Mary for Him by God the Holy Spirit and uniting Himself to that body. He veiled His glory. He didn't cease to be God. He didn't cease to be all that God is. But on that day, on the mountain, that glory broke through. His face did shine as the sun. His clothes were whiter than any fuller, any washer could wash them. And remember, Peter, as usual, began to speak before he thought I can identify with that.

Lord, let's make three tabernacles. Let's build three tabernacles here. One for you, one for Elijah, and one for Moses. And there came a voice from glory saying, this, this is my beloved son. Not Elijah. Not Moses, though they were sons of God, but not his only begotten son, his beloved son. This is my beloved son.

Hear him." Well, that's quite an experience. Peter said, you can stake your eternity on that. No, no, no, no. No. Follow on. 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. Now notice this.

We have also a more sure word of prophecy. A more sure word of prophecy. More sure than Peter's experience there on the mount. Where unto you do well that you take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place until the day dawn. and the day star rise in your hearts, knowing this first, a first importance, this is a first importance, knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture, and we're talking about the words in the Old Testament, Genesis through Malachi, those 39 books there, Not one of those words which were written in the original, I know the original manuscripts, yes, was of any private interpretation.

In other words, it wasn't by man's impulse, by man's invention. Well, then how did they write? Yes, Moses wrote, and David wrote, and all of them wrote. Well, how did they write? Well, look, for the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men, men set apart, sanctified of God.

They spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Who's the author? We've got several men God used in writing, but who is the author? God, the Holy Spirit. The scriptures, the word of God. Someone might say, well, preacher, that's talking about the Old Testament. And it is.

What about the New Testament? These 27 books we have in the New Testament, what about them? Well, turn over a few pages there in 2 Peter chapter 3. You know what it really means when we say that God the Holy Spirit is the author? The word of God is God breathed. It is God-breathed. What about the New Testament?

Well, look at what Peter writes concerning the words of the Apostle Paul here, beginning with verse 14. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that you look for such things, be diligent that you may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation, Even as our beloved brother Paul, also according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written unto you, as also, now notice, in all his epistles speaking in them, of these things in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable rest, now watch this, as they do also the other scriptures. You see what he's saying? He's putting the words that the Apostle Paul wrote on the same level as the other scriptures. The scriptures in the Old Testament that we saw were God-breathed, not of any private interpretation, not of any man's own invention, but God-breathed. He is putting the words of the Apostle Paul on that same plane, in the same category.

And he tells us, doesn't he, that men rest the Scripture, they twist the Scripture. And that's still true. You have to be careful, don't you? A man will take a verse out of some book, and the verse, yes, is inspired, but they forget the context many times and teach it something that the Bible, the analogy of the faith, doesn't support. They just base it on one verse of Scripture.

No book, speaking of the New Testament, no book or no letter in the New Testament, when they made the canon, put the canon together, there was never any question about the books in the Old Testament. This is what the Jews had accepted and received as the inspired word of God.

But in the New Testament, after the apostles, of course, there were many letters being spread about, and if you wanted someone to read your letter, just sign Paul's name to it. Well, did Paul write it? No, not necessarily. That's the reason Paul gives a clue at the end of every one of the letters that he wrote. He always said the same thing. He always spoke about God's grace, didn't he? You can start in Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, all the way through, and right at the very end, you've got that signature word by the Apostle Paul of the grace of God.

But when they put the canon together, different books were accepted, of course, some not as readily. But every book, every letter had to be either written by one of the apostles or a close associate of one of the apostles. And that's the reason we can say today that we have the complete word of God. the revelation of God we have in our hands today. And the reason there cannot be any addition to it is because there cannot be any more apostles.

You know, there were several, I think about five things that had to be true of a man to be an apostle, and the very first one is he had to have seen the resurrected Christ. He had to be able to testify. I've seen the Jesus who died and is now alive. Well, no one can do that today. No one could do that after the apostles passed off off the scene.

And so that's one reason we know that the word of God cannot be added to. And the last book in our Bible, the book of Revelation, warns people about adding to. And if you add to that prophecy, and the same would be true of all the scripture really, but if a person adds to the word of God, then the plagues, the scripture says the plagues are upon that person. The curse of God is upon that person.

So that was my first point. The scriptures are the word of God. Now, you say, well, where did you get that here in your text? Well, let's go back here to Acts chapter 17. Acts chapter 17. Verse two, and Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, that is, into the synagogue, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures. Out of the scriptures. My second statement is simply this. The scriptures reveal the only way of salvation, the only way of salvation.

I think of that word in Psalm 119 that says, wherewithal, a question, wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? It doesn't matter if it's a young man or an old man, all those in between. Wherewithal shall a person cleanse his way. We all need cleansing. What kind of cleansing? Cleansing from sin. We need our sins washed away. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto according to the scripture, according to the word.

And then, of course, the apostle Paul writing to Timothy, From a child, thou hast known the holy scriptures. Now listen, thou hast known, he had a grandmother, he had a mother who taught him the word of God, the scriptures. 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. The scriptures. able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Here in Thessalonica, Paul goes into the synagogue, we're told, these three Sabbath days, and he meets with those there. What was his object? What was his goal when he went into the synagogue and met with these people? And many of them were his kinsmen. According to the flesh, they were Jews. Well, look over to Romans chapter 10 and see what he says. Romans chapter 10 and verse one, brethren. My heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved.

What was his goal when he went into that synagogue, those three Sabbaths, and reasoned with them out of the scriptures? His desire was that his kinsmen, and not just his kinsmen, of course, but that they might be saved. And he goes on here to say, for I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth." What was Paul's object? and going into the synagogue and reasoning with them out of the scriptures. Well, his object was that they might be saved. He was quick to bear testimony to the fact that they were zealous.

They had a zeal, but it was not according to knowledge. They were ignorant, Paul says, of God's righteousness. Now, when he said that, What righteousness of God is he talking about? I don't think he was talking about God's inherent righteousness, the fact that God is righteous, he is holy, always has been, always shall be.

They knew that. They were so superstitious, in fact, that many of them would not even pronounce his name. And when they were writing the scriptures, copying the scriptures, rather, They would take a bath before they would even write Jehovah. They were zealous, yes, but not according to knowledge. No. It wasn't that righteousness that they were ignorant of.

It was the righteousness of God. That is because Jesus Christ is God. It is him and his righteousness. His perfect obedience and suffering the penalty of the law that his people had broken. It's a righteousness, they were ignorant of the righteousness that God has provided for all that by faith look to Christ, trust in him. Now Paul's message, if you still have your Bible here, Acts 17, he had two points. He had two points.

He reasoned with them out of the Scriptures that Christ, the Messiah, the one who had been promised the seed of Abraham, the seed of David, that he would suffer death. and rise victorious over the grave. Now we're not told what scriptures the Old Testament he used when he reasoned with them, maybe a different passage every Sabbath. You know, our Lord Jesus in John chapter five, he was speaking to some religious Jews, Pharisees, They condemned him because he had healed a man on the Sabbath day. And they said, well, he can't be of God. He's broke the Sabbath.

And our Lord told them, search the scriptures. Now you read that, let this sink in. He said that to men, that's all they did. Scribes, Pharisees, you had to be able to quote from memory most of the Bible to be a Pharisee. That's all they did. And yet he said, search the scriptures.

For in them, in the reading of the scriptures, you think that you have everlasting life. But they, the Scriptures, are they that testify of me. And you will not come to me that you might have life. He reasoned, three Sabbath days we're told, that the promised Messiah all the way through the Old Testament had been promised that one was coming and he had been pointed out or it had been pointed out rather, yes, he's going to be a glorious king and his kingdom, there shall be no end. Yes, absolutely. But he's also going to be one who's going to suffer and die.

And they didn't see that. All they saw was a glorious king. He's going to make our nation, the nation of Israel, a powerful nation once again and will not be subservient to the Romans or any other nation. They thought his kingdom would be of this world. I thought about Isaiah chapter 52 and 53. I'm just confident that Paul took them there. The Messiah that you've been looking for, let me show you what your prophet Isaiah said about him. Turn here and look with me.

He's going to be beaten to such a degree, it's going to be doubtful that He's even a person. His visage, His appearance was more marred than any man, the scripture says. That's what your prophets tell you. Yes, God in mercy has promised a Savior, but He's going to be a Savior who suffers and dies. Why is He going to do that? He's going to have to pay for the sins of his people. If anyone is going to be saved without the shedding of blood, there is no remission.

That was his first point. His second point was simply this. This Jesus, you've heard about him. This man, Jesus of Nazareth, He is the Christ. And he reasoned with them that he was the Christ out of the scriptures. Maybe he took them to Micah and showed them, listen, the Savior, the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem. That's where he was born.

Maybe he took them to the Psalms that says his hands and feet will be pierced Maybe he took them there to remind them that when he was put to death, he was nailed to the cross. Maybe he reminded them where not a bone of his bones will be broken. Remember how Pilate gave the order to go to the three that were being crucified and break their legs? That was to speed up the death. But when they came to Christ, he had already died. He had already dismissed his spirit to his father and bowed his head. They didn't break any of his bones. Why? Because it had been prophesied that not a bone would be broken. And you could go on and on through the Old Testament, reasoning with these people.

Jesus of Nazareth, yes, the Messiah has to suffer and die, and Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah. And that's the reason I say the scriptures reveal the only way of salvation. My last point is this. Well, first of all, the scriptures are the word of God. We're all on the same page there. The scriptures are the word of God. Number two, the scriptures reveal the only way of salvation. And number three, the scriptures guide and comfort God's people through this world. The psalmist said, thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. The believer makes the word of God his guide. He looks in here, whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. Should I go here? Should I go there? Should I do this? Should I do that?

He makes his decisions based upon the word of God. The word of God is a lamp, David said, a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. And that's a metaphor. And the picture is of a man walking in the dark and on either side of a deep precipice. He needs a light. He needs a lamp. And that's what the word of God is to a child of God. It's a lamp. And I want to say this in closing.

When you are on your deathbed, if God allows you a deathbed, many people, go out into eternity, they don't go from a deathbed. They go from being killed some way, their life being shut out by sickness or some tragedy. But what I'm saying is, on your deathbed, my brother, my sister, when everything is giving way, everything, When the cold sweat of death is on your brow, you can see your friends, your loved ones speaking to you, speaking about you maybe. You can't hear them.

I'm going to tell you, the only thing that's going to give you comfort is this word. This word. And I thought especially of the words in that parable that our Lord told. Two debtors, one owed 500 pence, one owed 50, but neither one had anything to pay when he frankly, freely forgave them both. That's my hope. That's my hope. I hope it is yours too. We can close our eyes in death to meet Jesus Christ our Lord, to be absent from the body, to be present with the Lord. May the Lord bless His word.

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