God's Book--God's Voice, The Bible (part 2)

A.     ITS INERRANCY

1.     Three important doctrinal terms:

a.     Revelation—when God gave His truth.

b.     Inspiration—when writers of the scriptures received and recorded His truth.

c.      Illumination—when we understand and apply His truth.

2. Revelation has ceased. Inspiration has ceased. But illumination is going on right up to this moment! Right now as you hold His book, The Holy Spirit is incessantly at work instructing you and giving you New Hope and clear direction.

2.     How can we be sure that God’s word is free from error and deserving of our trust?

a.     “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction, if righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

b.     All scripture inspired. Not inspired like a painting by Picasso, a sculpture by Michelangelo, or a play by Shakespeare, but inspired as in “God breathed.”

3.     How did God do it?  “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:20-21)

a.     Men moved by the Holy Spirit.

b.     Moved is a nautical term describing a ship without a rudder or sail at the mercy of the wind and the currents.

c.      Moved without its own power and energy.

4.     Writers, who without losing their own style and personality, wrote His truth under divine control.

5.     “Inerrancy means that when the facts are known, the scriptures in their original autographs and properly interpreted will be shown to be wholly true in everything that has to do with doctrine or morality or with social, physical, or life science.”

                                                                                     Paul Feinberg

B.     BENEFITS OF RELYING ON THE BIBLE

1.     STABILITY IN THE MIDST OF A STORM “You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies: For they are ever with me.”(Psalm 119:98) It gives you a deep sense of purpose and meaning. “I have more understanding than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation.” (Psalm 119:99)

a.     People who really know their Bible are not intimidated.

b.     You can be outnumbered, but not intimidated, because you have the truth, which gives you insight.

2.     WE GAIN MATURITY. “ I understand more than the ancients, Because I keep Your precepts.” (Psalm 119:100) You will have more understanding than the aged as you rely on this book.

DO YOU WANT STABILTY? WOULD YOU LIKE INSIGHT? IS IT YOUR DESIRE TO HAVE MORE MATURITY? OF COURSE! ABSOLUTELY! ALL THAT – AND MUCH MORE CAN BE FOUND IN GOD’S RELIABLE WORD. RETURN TO THE ROOT OF TRUTH. LEAN ON IT. START TODAY. IT WILL HOLD YOU UP AND KEEP YOU STRONG. WHEN IT COMES TO THE FINAL AUTHORITY IN LIFE THE BIBLE MEASURES UP.

(Condensed from chapter 3 of Growing Deep In The Christian Life by Charles R. Swindoll, 1986, Multnomah Press, Portland, Oregon.)

PRAY:

1. Lord You are my "shelter from the storm" and "strong tower." I will spend time with you in the coming year so that You will be my Teacher and my Guide.

2. Help me to grow in wisdom and maturity as a "saint" that is not afraid to talk to others about You and the magnificence which is Your Bible.

3. Lord help me daily to look to You for my strength and for wisdom to live a life that is acceptable and worthy of the title You have given me as Your child.

God'd Book--God's Voice, The Bible (part 1)

   One of the finest chapters I have read over the years was written by Pastor Chuck Swindol, President of Dallas Seminary and Pastor of several churches during his life. This chapter from one of his myriad books, I have used to teach Sunday School classes, Men's Bible studies, and the teaching of young pastors in India. It meant a lot to me when I read it and when I had the opportunity to share it with others. I hope you find it uplifting and encouraging as we get ready to start a new year with all its promise and challenges. Because of its length it is summarized and provided in two parts:

A.     THE ABSOLUTELY TRUSTWORTHY CRUTCH

1.     The Bible is the authority, the final resting-place of our cares, our worries, our grief, our tragedies, our sorrow and our surprises.

2.     Psalm 119 speaks of a man who knows what it means to hurt.

a.     He is no stranger to suffering (“MY soul faints for Your salvation, But I hope in Your word. “ (Psalm 119: 81)

b.     He waits for God’s word, not human reasoning (“My eyes fail from searching Your word, Saying  ‘When will You comfort me?’ (Psalm 119: 82).

c.      God’s assistance is not always immediate (“The proud have dug pits for me, Which is not according to Your law. All Your commandments are faithful; the persecute me wrongfully; Help me! They almost made an end of me on earth, But I did not forsake Your precepts.” (Psalm 119: 85-87).

d.     His only hope is God’s Word  (Unless Your law had been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction,” (Psalm 119: 92).

“IF THY LAW HAD NOT BEEN MY DELIGHT THEN I WOULD HAVE PERISHED IN MY AFFLICTION.”

3.     In a world of relativism, the Bible talks in terms of right and wrong, good and bad, yes and no, true and false. It tells us straight. It provides the kind of solid foundation you and I need.

B.     WHY THE FOUNDATION IS SO DEPENDABLE

1.     In Luke24: 27 it is called  “The scriptures” (that which is written). In other words, the sacred writings.

2.     God did not simply think or speak His message. He insured that it was actually written down.

3.     In John 17:14-17 Jesus tells us that “thy word is truth”. This is not human counsel; it is truth—divine counsel. It is honest. It has integrity. It is as absolute as it is timeless.

4.     Truth, real truth, truth you can rely on, truth that will never turn sour, that never backfires, that is the truth of this book.

5.     As Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 2:13, “When I presented the truth of what Moses, Jeremiah, and Amos had said, you saw it for what it really was—the very word of God.”

6.     When you realize that the print on the page you are reading is, in fact, God’s message, God’s Word, it stands alone. Absolutely unique---in a class by itself.

     There are only two eternal things on earth today, only two: people and God’s Word. Everything else will ultimately be burned up—everything else! 

   “Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because ‘All flesh is grass, And all the glory  of man as the flower of the grass,. The grass withers, And the flower falls away, But the word of the Lord endures forever.” (1 Peter 1: 22-25)


What is your plan for spending time in God's word for the coming year? Do you have a plan. I know you have heard the saying: "If you don't plan, then you plan to fail."

(Condensed from chapter 3 of Growing Deep In The Christian Life by Charles R. Swindoll, 1986, Multnomah Press, Portland


PRAY:

1. Dear Lord, help me to set up a plan and stick to it that has me read Your word every day. 
2. Help me to really read, looking for You to speak to my heart and for me to have a teachable heart that is quick to obey and to apply what You teach me to my everyday life.
3. Help me not to be afraid to share with others what You are teaching me and to encourage them to spend time with You also in Your precious Bible!

God came down!

  “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.” (Philippians 2:5-7)

    At this time of the year we celebrate the birth of Jesus and how God, in the form of His Son, Jesus Christ, left Heaven and was born of a virgin in stable in Bethlehem of Judea over 2000 years ago. Have you ever stopped to think of the magnitude of what God was willing to do for you and me? The prophet Isaiah prophesized 700 years before He was born that: “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14) Immanuel means “God with us”. That is what God did! He came down and lived among us for thirty-three years and then gave “His life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28b)

    Have you ever stopped to think about what it meant for Jesus to leave His place in heaven and to come down to earth to live as a human being in a poor and “foreign” land? My wife, Miriam, and I have spent some time in third world countries on various short term and one long term mission trip. One trip comes to mind immediately though, when I think of the shock one receives when going out of our native “industrialized” country to a completely different, more impoverished country.

  

    In 2000, Miriam and I and one other man went to support a pastor in Paramakudi, India. We were to preach at some outdoor gatherings (no longer legal in India), and teach some local pastors. We arrived in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) and had to stay overnight in a hotel before continuing our travel to Madurai by domestic airline and then by vehicle to Paramakudi. We landed at midnight in heat and the humidity and took a vehicle through the winding and dirty streets of Mumbai to get to the hotel. The multitude of people and traffic, even at that hour, was overwhelming. Homeless thousands slept on the sidewalks in makeshift shelters of cardboard and cloth and people were even cooking and sleeping next to night workers welding steel at a construction site. There were stray dogs, pigs, and cows roaming everywhere and there were open plots of land right next to houses with garbage piled high. (There is no garbage service.) There were open sewers that lent their smell the to the atmosphere and the incense being burned at Hindu shines that had the most demonic looking figures of gods that you can imagine.

     We arrived at the hotel, which was nice by Indian standards, but was a little different from the U.S. The shower was a bucket with a cup in it next to the facet. The water was cold. The toilet was a hole in the ground with two footprints marks where you would put your feet to squat over the hole and the room looked as though it had not been dusted, nor been cleaned well, in a while.

   As we lay in the bed I confess that I fell asleep fairly fast. Miriam could not. But it was not the lack of cleanliness, nor the poverty that she had witnessed that hit her hard. It was the spiritual darkness she could feel in that country that is shrouded in darkness and where the Hindu religion permeates every aspect of the country with its caste system and its stifling rules on what one can do or be in life.

    As she lay on the bed unable to sleep and feeling the oppression of her spirit she heard the Holy Spirit speak to her heart. He said: “You are feeling just a small part of what I felt when I left heaven to come down and live on the earth.” Miriam started to cry and she felt a heartfelt need to pray and to thank Jesus for all that He was willing to do for her in leaving His home in heaven and becoming a mere mortal so that He could die on a cross for our sins and be our High Priest!

   “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”(Hebrews 4:15)

  So how about you? Are you thankful for what God, though His Son, Jesus Christ, was willing to do for your sake? If you are, thank Him today! Oh yeah, don’t forget to tell someone else that doesn’t know Jesus about what He has done for you also!

PRAY

1.     Thank you Lord Jesus for coming down to live among us and live a sinless life so that You could be our Savior.

2.     Help me to remember Your compassion for Your lost sheep like me, and that You allowed Yourself to be born in a humble stable in Bethlehem so that You could be our sinless and compassionate High Priest.

3.     Lord help me to remember Your love for me throughout the coming year so that You will be lifted up and others will know You as their Savior as I do today.

     

    

Is your heart a Bethlehem?

    

   “And the angel answered and said to her. ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.’” (Luke 1:35-37)

     This time of year it is always exciting to read the story of Jesus and the ordeal of Joseph and Mary as they were obedient to God as the earthly parents of the Son of God. Oswald chambers does an excellent job, as usual, reminding us just what the advent of Jesus that blessed Christmas day really means for us:

      “Jesus Christ was born into this world, not from it. He came into history from the outside of history; He did not evolve from history.

       Our Lord’s birth was an advent; He did not come from the human race, He came into it from above. Jesus is not the best human being, He is a Being that cannot be accounted for by the human race at all. He is God Incarnate, not man becoming God, but God coming in human flesh, coming into it from the outside. His life is the Highest and the Holiest entering in at the lowest door. Our Lord entered history by the Virgin Mary.

      Just as our Lord came into human history from the outside, so must He come into us from the outside. Have we allowed our personal human lives to become a ‘Bethlehem’ for the Son of God?...The conception of new birth in the New Testament is of something that enters into us, not of something that sprang out of us.  (Oswald Chambers, The Psychology of Redemption)

    Have you allowed your heart to be a ‘Bethlehem’ for Jesus or have you put up a sign that says: ‘no room in the inn?’ If you have not let Him in, then what better time is there than now? “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2) Take the time now to open your heart to Him. You will never regret it!

PRAY:

1.     Oh Lord my God, how I long to know You better and to be Your faithful son or daughter.

2.     Help me today to totally surrender and abandon myself to You that You may guide my steps aright and keep me on the path that You have prepared lovingly for me.

3.     Keep me faithful to spend time with You everyday and especially this Christmas season as we remember Your willingness to leave heaven, to live with us, and to die on a cross for our sins that we who accept You as Lord and Savior might live for you here on earth and with you in heaven for eternity.

The Arrival

  "And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered...... Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. (Luke 2:1,4-7)

    As we approach the Christmas season I am reminded of one of my favorite stories, told by one of my favorite story tellers, Max Lucado. Pastor Lucado is the master of the word picture and his words always paint a visual picture for his readers that make a story come alive. I have often said "that when I grow up I want to be able to write like him." This story is entitled: The Arrival.

     "The noise and the bustle began earlier than usual in the village. As night gave way to dawn, people were already on the streets. Vendors were positioning themselves on the corners of the most heavily traveled avenues. Store owners were unlocking the doors of their shops. Children were awakened by the excited barking of the street dogs and the complaints of the donkeys pulling carts.

     The owner of the inn had awakened earlier than most in the town. After all, the inn was full, all the beds taken. Every available mat or blanket had been put to use. Soon all the customers would be stirring and there would be a lot of work to do.

   Our imagination is kindled thinking about the conversation the innkeeper and his family at the breakfast table. Did anyone mention the arrival of the young couple the night before? Did anyone ask about their welfare? Did anyone comment on the pregnancy of the girl on the donkey? Perhaps. Perhaps someone raised the subject. But at best, it was raised, not discussed. There was nothing that novel about them. They were, possibly, one of several families turned away that night.

    Besides, who had time to talk about them when there was so much excitement in the air? Augustus did the economy of Bethlehem a favor when he decreed that a census should be taken. Who could remember such commerce in the village?

     No, it is doubtful that anyone mentioned the couple's arrival or wondered about the condition of the girl. They were too busy. The day was upon them. The day's bread had to be made. The morning's chores had to be done. There was too much to do to imagine that the impossible had occurred.

    God had entered the world as a baby.

     Yet, were someone to chance upon the sheep stale on the outskirts of Bethlehem that morning, what a peculiar scene they would behold.

     The stable stinks like all stables do. The stench of urine, dung, and sheep reeks pungently in the air. The ground is hard, the hay scarce. Cobwebs cling to the ceiling and a mouse scurries across the dirt floor.

     A more lowly place of birth could not exist.

     Off to one side sit a group of shepherds. They sit silently on the floor, perhaps perplexed, perhaps in awe, no doubt in amazement. The night watch had been interrupted by an explosion of light from heaven and a symphony of angels. God goes to those who have time to hear Him--so on this cloudless night He simply went to shepherds.

    Near the young mother sits the weary father. If anyone is dozing, he is. He can't remember the last time he sat down. And now that the excitement has subsided a bit, now that Mary and the baby are comfortable, he leans against the wall of the stable and feels his eyes grow heavy. He still hasn't figured it all out. The mystery of the event puzzles him. but he hasn't the energy to wrestle with the questions. What's important is that the baby is fine and that Mary is safe. As sleep comes he remembers the name the angel told him to use...Jesus. "We shall call Him Jesus."

    Wide awake is Mary. My, how young she looks! Her head rests on the soft leather of Joseph's saddle. The pain has been eclipsed by wonder. She looks into the face of the baby. Her son. Her Lord. His Majesty. At this point in history, the human being who best understands who God is an what he is doing is a teenage girl in a smelly stable. She can't take her eyes off Him. Somehow Mary knows she is holding God. So this is He. She remembers the words of the angel. "His kingdom will never end."

    He looks anything like a king. His face is prunish and red. His cry, thought strong and healthy, is still the helpless and piercing cry of a baby. And He is absolutely dependent upon Mary for His well-being.

    Majesty in the midst of the mundane. Holiness in the filth of sheep manure and sweat. Divinity entering the world on the floor of a stable, through the womb of a teenager and in the presence of a carpenter.

     She touches the face of the infant God. How long was Your journey?

     This baby had overlooked the universe. These rags keeping Him warm were the robes of eternity. His golden throne room had been abandoned in favor of a dirty sheep pen. And worshiping angels had been replaced with kind but bewildered shepherds.

    Meanwhile, the city hums. The merchants are unaware that God has visited their planet. The innkeeper would never believe that he had just sent God into the cold. And the people would scoff at anyone who told them the Messiah lay in the arms of teenager on the outskirts of their village. They were all too busy to consider the possibility.

   Those who missed His Majesty's arrival that night missed it not because of evil acts or malice: no, they missed it because they simply weren't looking.

    Little has changed in the last two thousand years, has it?

(by Max Lucado in the book "God Came Near")

PRAY:

1. Lord help me this Christmas season to remember that You were willing to come down and live among us and die on a cross for our sins and to redeem us to live for You.
2. Help me today to look for those I come in contact to make sure they know about You and what You have done for me and for all who will put their faith in you.
3. Thank You Lord, for adopting me as Your child and fill me with Your Spirit today so that I might live this day for You and for Your kingdom which will never end!

 

My commitment as a Christian

     

      I don't know who gave me this short statement of commitment but I received it several years ago and is supposed to be written by a young African preacher and tacked on the wall of his house. It is well written and hopefully well lived up to by the author and each one of us who might be challenged by his humble words.

     "I'm a part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have Holy Spirit Power. The 'die has been cast'. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I'm a disciple of His. I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.

     My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future secure. I'm finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane walking, cheap living, and dwarfed goals.

        I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don't deserve to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power.

     My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way rough, my companions few, my Guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

    I won't give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, preached up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till He stops me. And when He comes into His own, He will have no problem recognizing me--my banner will be clear!"


PRAY:

1. Lord help me today to have an enthusiasm and fire like this young preacher. Thank you that You have claimed me as Your own.
2. Help me to be humble like this young man and to not desire anything for my benefit but all for the benefit our Your kingdom.
3. Help me to be faithful today to proclaim Your gospel to all I come in contact with who don't know about You and what an awesome God You are!