I Am

MY LESSON ON THE BIBLE

PART I

   When asked to give this lesson today, I was told I could talk on any subject, and take as long as I needed. I was excited to accept the challenge, because I felt it would be a chance to witness for Jesus and also to reaffirm my faith and belief in God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the Bible, as the divine word of God.

   First, I want to give you a brief review of my lesson plan and what I will be covering and etc. for the next couple of Sundays. I will be speaking on the Bible, and be expressing my views and sharing what I have gained through studying the Bible. At any time during the class, the entire study will be open for discussion. (Feel free to contribute to the discussion.)

   I will be providing hand-outs for reference to scripture which I will be using to support some information used or quoted.

   Also, I am providing a handout on just general information about the Bible. This will not be covered in class, due to the time element.

   In the first lesson, I will be giving you a history or background on the Bible, and then the next couple of lessons, we will cover a more intense study of the Bible and also cover a lot of scripture from both the New Testament and the Old Testament.

   It seems that in the past, we have had several views expressed on the Bible.

(1) Is the Bible the word of God?

(2) Should we believe everything in the Bible?

(3) Has the Old Testament become a study history, and no longer applies to us today?

(4) Is the Bible a book written by several men expressing their own views?

   With this lesson, I hope I can shed some light on some of these questions, and at the same time explain why I am so passionate about the Bible.

   All of my reference to scripture will be taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

   The KJV is an English translation of the Bible from Hebrews (Old Testament) and Greek (New Testament), and was published in 1611 by the will and command of King James the First.

   The KJV is also called the Authorized It is called the Authorized Version because it has stood the test of time as the most reliable source of scripture. The first question then is, “How reliable is this text?”. If it’s been copied and re-copied, how many errors have crept into it? Has the Bible been corrupted, altered, refused or tampered with?

   In (Revelations 22:18-19), “If any man shall add to these things (or delete), God shall add unto him the plagues written in this book.”

   When you examine the latest manuscripts with the oldest manuscripts few discrepancies are reflected; and these are of an extremely minor nature, that in no way affects the substance of religious belief.

   Therefore, the latest findings are a convincing and final justification of trusting the reliability and integrity of the printed message. We can say that what is written is the sacred scriptures.

   The original manuscripts or books of the Bible were written in different ages, from Moses to John (1600 B.C. TO 100 A.D.), a period of more than 1600 hundred years, by about 40 men. Men who were specially prepared for the work by direct inspiration from the Divine source of all knowledge.

   So, if God went to such great lengths to give us His word, surely He would also take steps to preserve that word UNCHANGED.

   What we see in history is that God did exactly that, with the King James Authorized Version. He preserved its integrity for future generations.

   In Peter God saw to it that these unique writings were preserved for later generations. The words of the Lord are pure words: As silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation

   With that said, I want to introduce you to my personal Bible-

   This is my pride and joy; one of my most prized possessions.

   This is the “King James Authorized Version. This book is over 123 years old (1891), and I am convinced beyond a shadow of doubt, that it is God’s word, handed down to help guide me and others to eternal salvation.

   I have a history with this book, and as I said before, this will be my source from which I take my scriptures.

   The word Bible is a word that comes from the Greek word “biblia”. It is a Greek plural noun meaning “the books”, or “the little books,” since they are a collection of books, rather than one book.

   The word “Bible” came from a word, which began to be applied to the sacred writings as a whole, about 400 years after Christ.

   The Bible is translated in over 1,157 different languages.

   * It consists of two sections: the Old Testament, made up of 39 books, and the New Testament, made up of 27 books.

   As we stated before, it is a collection of 66 books, written by as many as 40 authors, over a period of approximately 1,600 years.

   The Bible is not just a book of dead history. It is alive with inspiring faith.

   If you read Hebrews Chapter 11, it will highlight and which is the central theme of scripture.

   The Bible is the word of God given to us for spiritual truth, showing us the path to salvation.

   In it, God makes known to man His character and will. It is given by Inspiration of the Holy Although written by men, God directed them what to write. It was the mind of the Holy Spirit that inspired the pen of man.

   When reading the Bible, we must read it with a humble, faithful, believing, and positive attitude.

   Again I say, if the Bible is the inspired word of God, with books written by human authors, it was God’s Holy Spirit that inspired their words.

   Their authority came from Inspiration is the way in which God gave His word to us, through authors. Peter says “These men wrote as they were moved by the Holy Ghost”.

   And in Corinthians it says, “They wrote not in words of human wisdom, but in words taught by the Holy Ghost”.

   And again in says, “Receive with meekness the engraved word which is able to save your souls”.

   Inspiration overcame any tendency of the writers of the Bible to err, with the results that the words they wrote were precisely what God, the Divine author, intended us to have. We see this in Timothy

   Again, in Peter we see, “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but Holy man of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost”.

   Other reference to Bible bring inspired:

      Peter       Timothy

   In it says, “Your word, O Lord is eternal; It stands firm in the heavens”.

   God is at the opening of the Bible, God is at the middle of it, and God will be at the end of it.

   In it says “As we seek our creator, His word will enable us to produce lasting good fruit in our lives.”

(1) When we ask, “Is the Bible truly God’s word?” To answer this question, we see over and over again throughout scripture that what the prophets wrote was considered by even the Apostle Paul to be “Holy scripture” in

   They are Holy because God Himself was involved in their production.

   Paul even spoke that he, himself received the gospel, through the revelation of Jesus Christ

   Paul also reminded early Christians that the Holy scriptures are the “Oracles of God” in They are divine utterance.

   Again, Apostle Paul tells us in Timothy that all scripture is inspired.

(2) Paul describes scripture using the Greek term

   The first part of the word, means The second part is meaning meaning it came directly from the mouth of God.

   The inspiration of the Bible teaches that scripture is that is, God personally superintended the writing process; guiding the human authors so that His complete message was recorded for us.

   We saw this earlier in Timothy and in Peter

   “God-breathed” means God or So God, in the person of the Holy Spirit, literally breathed the Holy words of scripture into the writers of each book, through supernatural means.

(3) The Divine writer is Holy; therefore, what He writes is Holy.

   Because God is Sacred, the words He speaks are also Sacred, and the words God gave to mankind in the Bible are Holy and Sacred.

(4) In 19:7-8) “Just as God is perfect, so are His words perfect. Just as God is righteous and pure, so is His word righteous and pure.”

   Nearly 4,000 times passages in the Hebrew Bible are introduced by such expressions as “The Lord spoke”, “Thus says the Lord”, and etc.

   Scripture is consistently portrayed as coming from the very “Mouth of God,” Himself as in

(5) If we are to understand matters of faith, and life, from God’s creation of all things from nothing to the significance of the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ, then believing in the Bible is crucial.

   If the Bible is unreliable in what it teaches about these things, then we are left to speculate there is nothing of value to speak to the world.

   We must trust that the Bible is inerrant in its whole extent.

   We must believe the Bible to be inerrant because it comes from God Himself.

   It is unthinkable to contemplate that God might be capable of error.

   We trust the Bible because we trust God. To stray from scripture in faith or conduct is disloyalty to our Master.

   The Bible is a reflection of its author. The Bible was written by God Himself.

   The issue then is not simply “Does the Bible have a mistake?”, but “Can God make a mistake?”

If the Bible contains factual errors, then God is not omniscient and is capable of making errors Himself.

If the Bible contains misinformation, then God is not truthful, but instead is a liar.

If the Bible contains contradictions, then God is the author of confusion.

In other words, if Bibical inerrancy is not true, then God is not God.

THE BIBLE’S MESSAGE MUST BE TAKEN AS A

   It is not a mixture of doctrine that we are free to select from.

   The issue reflects on the character of God and is foundational to our understanding of everything the Bible teaches.

THE BIBLE STANDS OR FALLS AS A

   It is either trustworthy or it is not. If the Bible is the word of God, then to dismiss it is to dismiss God Himself.

The Bible is the only book that gives life, comfort, and hope, and it is the only book that will endure until the end of time. (Matthew 5:18)

   tells us, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away”.

   If we look at both and the Bible says, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”

   Millions die every year having bet their eternal souls that the Bible is not true, hoping against hope that it is nothing but a book of mythology, and that God does not exist. It is a risky gamble, and the stakes are very high.

   In Christ said: “He who is of God hears Gods words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”

   Even those who were actually there during the ministry of Jesus Christ had difficulty believing He was the Messiah, the Son of God. It took real faith to accept that fact, and many did not have faith 8:30,

   At the end of the day, it is really a matter of

   A person must first have an open mind and be willing to accept the words of Jesus Christ.

   God does not ask us to stop using our minds or accept what the Bible says blindly, but to study the word.

   There will be difficult passages in the Bible, as well as sincere disagreements over interpretations.

   I would urge you to read the Bible with an open mind; let it speak for itself, and that you find God’s word is truth as teaches.

   Do I love the Bible passionately? YES, I DO.

   Do I believe it’s the divine inspired word of God? YES, I

   Do I know and understand everything about the Bible? NO, I

   Our goal is to approach scripture reverently and prayerfully, and when we find we do not understand we pray harder, study more, and if the answer still eludes us—we humbly acknowledge our own limitations in the face of the perfect word of God. In Timothy the Bible says, “Consider what I say, and the Lord give thee understanding in all things”.