What's Special about Scripture

There is normally a sense of urgency to people’s last words.  Last week as we finished up our Down the Road Series I mentioned that the last letter of Paul’s that we have a copy of is 2 Timothy, and the scholars tell us that it may have been written just weeks before Paul’s execution. 

Last week we looked at the words of Paul when he told Timothy, 2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.   Paul was summing up his life for his friend, it was almost as if he was delivering his own eulogy.  But those weren’t the only important words that Paul had for Timothy.

Earlier in this letter Paul reminds Timothy of where he was to find his authority, and it wasn’t from Paul. Paul writes, 2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.

You may have noticed that in my messages I use a lot of scriptures, when I was in college I read the words of John Wesley who said “I am a Bible bigot. I follow it in all things, both great and small.”  And I really didn’t understand what he meant but I have come to understand, because I too am a bible bigot, I don't think that anything I or anyone else has to say has the potential eternal consequences of God's word.

You don’t come to church on Sunday Morning to hear the collected wisdom of Denn Guptill, at least I hope you don’t.  You come to hear from the Bible, the word of God, the Holy Scriptures, so I don’t want to take the time you have entrusted me with to let you know what I think. 

And I would be naïve to think that everyone agrees with me on the validity or the value of this book. A number of years ago I was asked to take part in a debate on CBC radio concerning the Oxford translation of the Bible.  This particular translation worked very hard at trying to offend nobody. So they were very gender unspecific.  Now I understand some of that, he and her become they, mankind becomes humanity or should that simply be hu-people-y.  I can even concede a little bit on Sons of God becoming Children of God, although socially and culturally speaking, 2000 years ago being someone’s son was a whole lot different than simply being someone’s child and was understood as such.  If you didn't want to be gender specific but still wanted to capture the essence of the original son would have to translated "favourite child" not just child.

But the translation kept going, it removed any mention of the Jewish leaders asking for Christ to be crucified instead it was simply the religious leaders. Because it didn’t want to be anti-Semitic.  But historically it wasn’t just any religious leaders who demanding the execution of Christ it was the Jewish religious leaders.  That’s not to put any blame on Jews who live today that is simply the historic reality.  To deny that is akin to just referring to the authors of the holocaust as political leaders and not mentioning that they were German political leaders.

In the Oxford translation the right hand of God was no longer the preferred place because that would imply that left was wrong or bad.  The parable of the blind guides was left out because it was offensive to blind people, you get the gist.  And I was asked to debate another pastor who thought the Oxford translation was the greatest thing since sliced bread. 

And I challenged her saying that regardless of how you viewed the Bible it was wrong to take that much liberty with it.  If it was the word of God how could you make such radical changes, if it was just a historical document how could you justify tampering with it or if it was only great literature we wouldn’t change the wording of Shakespeare’s plays simply to make them more appealing for today.

But to her the Bible was just a book, a good book but just a book never the less.  And I couldn’t fathom how a pastor, a minister could view the word of God as just a book.  What did she say when she stood up on Sunday Morning?  What could she possibly offer her congregation if it wasn’t from the word of God? 

And so in the scripture that was read this morning Paul is writing a young pastor by the name of Timothy.  And as we read this we need to remember that 2 Timothy is a personal letter; it wasn’t addressed to the congregation in the Ephesian church it was addressed to the pastor of the Ephesian church. We are reading someone else’s mail. 

Paul is in prison in Rome facing execution and he is writing to encourage Timothy and to remind him of his calling.

And part of what Paul reminds Timothy of is his heritage, how he was brought up in a Godly home with a foundation established on the scriptures.   And so Paul tells Timothy 2 Timothy 1:5 I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you.   And that goes back to the promise we are given in Proverbs 22:6 Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.

In other words parents do your best when they are little and hope for the best when they grow up.  And Timothy had that heritage, it would appear that his Mother Eunice and his Grandmother Lois were followers of Christ and that they had brought Timothy up in the faith.  Now understand that these ladies came to their faith through a Jewish background and so that is how Timothy would have been raised. The scriptures that he would have been taught would have been the Jewish scriptures, what we know as the Old Testament, because for Timothy the New Testament was still a work in progress.

After He turned 13 the Rabbis would have felt that He was responsible enough to observe all the mitzvahs, which were the divine commandments or meritorious acts.  As He grew He would have read the Talmud which were the books of wisdom written by the Rabbis through the centuries.  And in those books He would have learnt things like “Never threaten a child, either punish him or forgive him.” or “A child's tears move heaven itself” or “Why was man created on the last day, so when pride takes a man it can be said, 'God created the fly before you.'”  He would have learnt all these things at the Heder or Hebrew school.  Historians tell us that at a time when 90% of the world’s population was illiterate, that every Jewish boy over the age of five was learning to read.  And while most of us do our best to struggle though with one language, Timothy was undoubtedly learning in both Hebrew the language of his people, and Greek which was the language of the marketplace. 

On His first day of school Eunice would have included a honey cake in His lunch to remind Him of how sweet learning was and His teacher would have given him a taste of honey and told Him, “The study of God's word is sweeter.”  But Timothy’s education in the scripture would have begun long before that, in his own home. 

But what are some of the things about the scriptures that Timothy and we by default are reminded of here in regards to God’s word?  Paul begins by reminding Timothy  2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God

First of all we are told that The Scriptures are Inspired by God  This is the crux of the entire sermon.  If you can’t believe that this book was inspired by God then what good is it for you?  It’s not just another self-help book, it’s not just another book on morality, it’s not just another “Good Book”.  This is the word of God.  And it’s not enough to say “Well I believe that parts of the Bible are inspired.”  What parts?  The parts that you agree with?  The parts that make you feel good but don’t make you feel guilty?  Do you get your pick of the Ten Commandments, so you’ll pick do not murder and do not steal but skip lying and adultery.  This book is either the word of God or it’s not and if it’s not then why waste your time with it?

It was Augustine who remind us “If you believe what you like in the Gospel, and reject what you don't like, it is not the Gospel you believe, but yourself.”

We hear the word inspired tossed around a lot these days, artists are inspired, musicians are inspired, and interior decorators are inspired.  But does that mean the same as the bible being inspired by God?  No.  In most cases when we speak about someone being inspired it means they are very creative, that they are able to draw some special inspiration from within themselves or from their Muse.

But the thought of the original language in saying the scriptures were inspired comes from the two Greek words which meant God and breathed, God breathed the scriptures into being.  As a matter of fact if you were to read 2 Timothy 3:16 in the New International Version it begins by saying All Scripture is God breathed.   You have 40 different human authors who put pen to paper, so to speak, who contributed to this book, and we believe that they were inspired by God in what they wrote. 

I read a great analogy a while ago.  If you were a musician and picked up a trumpet and played it the music would be created by your breath, the trumpet would simply be the tool, it would be what turned your breath into a recognizable sound. If you then picked up a tuba and played it would still be your breath but it would come out sounding different, hopefully.  In the same way the breath of God is played through various human writers in the Bible, same breath but we hear it in different ways.  So Moses writes different than David, who writes different than Amos who writes different than Jonah, who writes different than Matthew.  But the initial inspiration or breath is from the same source.

So it’s inspired, but why?  Do we have the Bible, the inspired word of God just to have a good book to read?  And it is great reading, there is mystery and intrigue and romance and betrayal, poetry and songs, inspiration, philosophy and theology all wrapped up in this book we call the Bible. No it’s not just a good read there needs to be a purpose to our reading. 

2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.

The Scriptures Teach us What is True  There has to come a time when we ask: What is truth?  Is it something that is defined by politicians?  God help us if it is.  Or do we leave it up to nine appointed judges in Ottawa to decide what truth is and by default what morality is?  Can truth change? 

According to the Supreme Court of Canada it can and they would have us believe that they are the ultimate authority for truth.  Back when the Supreme Court ruled changing the definition of marriage I met with our MP, Geoff Regan, and asked him what protection was in place for me as a clergy if I was asked to perform a same sex marriage.  Mr. Regan assured me that I was protected by the Supreme Court Ruling.  And so I asked if the Supreme Court ever changed its mind.  And he said it did.  Not much protection, but the point being is that truth is not supposed to change. 

Jesus promised in John 8:32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

But how can the truth set you free if the truth is ever changing and if what is true today isn’t true tomorrow?  Jesus said in John 14:6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

And we are told in Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

The truth is the same yesterday, today and forever and this is where you find it.

So what else is the bible good for? 2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives.

The Scriptures Make us Realize What is Wrong in our Lives  It’s not enough that we get our creed from the bible we also need to go to it for our conduct.  It’s is the source of both our belief and our behaviour. It should make a difference in how we live.  And if it doesn’t then there something wrong.  Christians are referred to as being born again, having a new beginning and being new creations.  That would signify new behaviour, how we act, how we live, what we do.

Throughout the Bible our behaviour is not taught to be a way to our salvation, as a matter of fact in Ephesians 2:8-9 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

So our salvation is not dependent on our behaviour, but our behaviour is dependent on our salvation.  Does that make sense?  No, ok.  You don’t become a Christian because of what you do, but when you become a Christian that determines what you do, there are specific things Christians do and specific things Christians don’t do.  And they are found in the book.  We are not left without guidance.

True story, this is too good to make up.  I was talking to a friend of mine one day and he was telling me about how he became a Christian.  No church background, a friend of his introduced him to Jesus, he had just started attending church.  His friend gave him a bible and he starts to read it.  At the time he was living with his girlfriend and one night they are lying in bed, he’s reading his bible and comes to a word he doesn’t understand.  So he turns to his girlfriend and says “What’s fornication?” Now if’n you’re wondering the same thing, fornication is sexual activity outside of marriage, sex is God’s wedding gift.

So he asks his girlfriend “what is fornication?”  And she replies “That’s what we do.” 

The scriptures tell us what is wrong.  But more than that let’s keep reading  2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong . . .

The Scriptures Correct us When we are Wrong, So the next morning Bill moves out, if they were fornicating and fornicating was wrong then he knew that he should stop fornicating.  Pretty simply right?  So what’s the problem?  And maybe that’s the reason we don’t read the bible, because we don’t want to find out what we are doing wrong and what we should do about that behaviour. 

When people talk about being accepting of people they talk about Christ’s love and forgiveness.  They remind us of the woman caught in adultery, how Jesus told those who wanted to judge her to cast the first stone if they were without sin.  And then people tell us how we should be like that accepting and forgiving of people regardless of what they do or how they behave.  What they forget is what Jesus told the woman when everyone had left.  Do you remember?  Sure he told her in John 8:11 “Go and sin no more.”

In other words stop doing what is wrong.  Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

Not only is there a new life but the old life is gone. 

And finally 2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.

The Scriptures Teach us to do what is right.   Sometimes people say that the Bible is full of Don’ts but there are actually more dos in the bible then there are don’t so if you spend all your time doing the dos you won’t have time to do the don’ts.
 If you want some place to start try Galatians 5:22-23 But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Here there is no conflict with the law.  So I’ll tell you what, work on those nine and when you get them down pat let me know and I’ll find you some more.

Here’s the secret if you want to know what’s in this book then you have to read it.  It can’t just sit there.  If you don’t have a bible I would recommend the New Living Translation, if you can’t afford one let me know and I’ll buy you one.

Every once in a while I read a quote and think; man I gotta use that.  Charles Spurgeon was the pastor for 38 years of the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London England.  During the time he was there the church grew to over 5,000 in attendance and he became known around the world for his preaching and this was before television.  And Spurgeon said once “There is dust enough on some of your Bibles to write damnation with your fingers.”  I hope that’s not true of you, let’s pray.