Temple Baptist Church - 2-2-2025
1 Peter 1:18-25; 2 Timothy 3:15-17
Introduction:
A. This morning, because of my subject matter, I picked one of the most precious portions of Scripture that I could find.
1. These verses are the child of God’s guarantee that what they put their saving faith in is faithful and trustworthy. Is what we just read not clear concerning the importance and reliability of God’s Word?
2. Now I want to define some of the terms often used concerning the Bible.
a) Inerrancy and infallibility – “not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible”
b) Perfectly preserved – “liveth and abideth forever … But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.”
c) If inerrant, infallible, and perfectly preserved, then the inspiration is intact through the preservation.
Psalms 12:6-7 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. (7) Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
d) This is where I stand! I do not doubt my Bible. I do not correct my Bible. I do not debate my Bible. I believe my Bible.
B. A last week, I preached on the subject of biblical inspiration: God breathing into the word of God through holy men of old.
1. Inspiration: to infuse. Therefore, if God “infused” His inspired word into manuscript form, when did it cease to be inspired? Were the first copies inerrant and infallible; if yes, then were second copies inerrant and infallible; if so, then were the third copies inerrant and infallible; and this list could go on.
2. We either have the word of God or we only have a manmade book that contains the word of God at best or just part of the word of God at worst. If we have the Word of God in the English, then just believe it! Our Bible says it is inspired: just leave it alone and preach it!
3. The bible never causes doubt! It instills within the reader extreme confidence. Its pages are full of clarity concerning its purity and preservation! Men do not become liberals or doubters by reading the word of God. They become such by reading after or sitting under men who cast doubt upon what we have in our hands today. WHEN DID MEN QUIT BELIEVING THE WORD OF GOD? I still believe it!
C. Now for the question of our day. Is preservation an act of God or an act of man? In 2 Timothy 3:15-17, there are three tenses referenced. This is called the Progressive Mention of inspiration is found in the New Testament. In the Progressive Mention, we find Preservation.
The Progressive Mention Principle: "God makes the revelation of any given truth increasingly clear as the word proceeds to its consummation."
2 Timothy 3:15-17 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. (16) All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: (17) That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
1. Past Tense in Verse 15: " 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.
a) The Holy Ghost, in verse 16, is speaking of the "holy scriptures" that Timothy was raised and saved with! The Old Testament canon of Scriptures had been both written and closed for over 400 years! Timothy had no original manuscripts!
b) The God the Holy Ghost said that what Timothy had was inspired.
2) Present Tense in Verse 16: "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:"
a) Timothy is now a grown man and a pastor in Ephesus. The only two original manuscripts that we know for sure that Timothy had were 1st and 2nd Timothy.
b) Paul told Timothy to rightly divide "the word of truth." What he was rightly dividing were copies. They were still profitable to him. He was told to "preach the word:" to "reprove, rebuke, and exhort with the Scriptures as Paul said, "And doctrine."
3) Future Tense in Verse 17: "That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works."
a) "That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works!" God has never called a man to preach the gospel without giving him the Word of God to preach from.
b) The Holy Ghost is talking about me. All I need is my Bible! Thank God for my pastors over the years; thank God for the godly teachers who instilled within me confidence in my bible.
c) God forbid that I fail God, fail my family, fail my friends, fail my church, and fail missions by saying that ALL I have is a man-made copy that has omission, additions, and is not only errant, but it may sometimes fail.
D. Preservation verses Corruption.
1. We have had the written Word of God since around 1500 BC when Moses wrote down what God said in the Pentateuch: Gensis through Deuteronomy. Therefore, we have had Scripture for 3,500+ years now.
2. Let’s look at the past 144 years. The Revised Version of the New Testament was completed, translated from the Wescott-Hort text, in 1881 and the Old Testament completed in the Revised Version in 1885. Since the RV came on the scene, we now have app. 100 different English Versions off of the WH Text.
3. All of these new “bibles” are different one from another. So, here is what we need to realize. If man cannot preserve the “bible” for 144 years, how could man have done any better the previous 3400 years?
4. Preservation cannot be an act of man if we are to have a reliable Bible in which we can establish and anchor our faith!
5. We MUST have complete confidence in our Bible! It boils down to this: you either believe what the Bible says, or you do not believe what the Bible says. There is not one verse out of 31,102 that ever says that there will be errors, additions, or omissions in God’s Word.
E. In the First Mention of Biblical Preservation, found in the Book of Exodus, we find that preservation of Scripture was an act of God.
1. God gave to tables of stone written by the finger of God.
Exodus 31:18 And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.
Exodus 32:15-16 And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. (16) And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.
2. Moses broke those two tables when he saw the sin of the children of Israel.
Exodus 32:19 And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.
3. God commanded Moses to make two more tables of stone and God wrote on these tables the “words that were in the first tables.”
Exodus 34:1 And the LORD said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest.
F. Here is the crux of my message this morning. We either have God’s Word or we only have a book that contains God’s Word. We cannot have it both ways. It is either or!
1. Though possibly well meaning, bible scholars who deny inspiration and divine preservation for today have done believers a great injustice. They open several “cans of worms” that cause God’s people to doubt the bible.
2. If our preserved bible is not inerrant, then it is errant!
a) If it is errant, then how many errors are there in the King James Bible: one, one hundred, one thousand, 100 thousand?
b) If there are errors in the King James Bible, where are they? John 3:16, John 14:1-6, Romans 10:9-13, Hebrews 9:22? If we do not have the originals nor have we seen them, then every verse in the bible becomes suspect and, therefore, possibly in error!
3. If our preserved bible is not infallible, then it is fallible! You cannot have it both ways.
a) If the Bible is fallible, then it can and will fail. The promises of the bible along with the prophecies of the bible may or may not come true.
b) If the Bible is fallible, will God truly meet our needs?
c) If the Bible is fallible, is our Lord really going to return in both the Rapture and the Second Coming?
d) If the Bible is fallible, is heaven a reality and salvation eternal?
e) If the Bible is fallible, then please tell me which parts I cannot trust.
4. Part of my work as a pastor is to instill confidence in the hearts and minds of our people, not to cause a shadow of doubt in them!
Psalms 12:6-7 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. (7) Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
Psalms 33:11 The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
Psalms 100:5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.
Psalms 119:89 LAMED. For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.
Psalms 119:152 Concerning thy testimonies, I have known of old that thou hast founded them for ever.
Psalms 119:160 Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.
Isaiah 40:8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
Matthew 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
Luke 16:17 And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.
1 Peter 1:23-25 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. (24) For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: (25) But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
Conclusion:
1. Over 100 years ago, Dean John William Burgon wrote: "If you and I believe that the original writings of the Scriptures were verbally inspired by God, then of necessity they must have been providentially preserved through the ages."
2. In Inspiration, God gave us His Faultless Word. In Preservation, God gave us His Faithful Word which must remain His Faultless Word.
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