The Bible – What is it?

Now, do we trust the right people? Well,

on a scale of one being very little

trust and 10 being total trust,

in your heads, don't shout them out

because it might get controversial. All

right, I want you to think about how

much trust would you give to each of

these different groups of people. One

being the least, 10 being the most. If a

piece of information was given to you by

a social media influencer, where does

that come on? One to 10. Okay. A

journalist working for a newspaper. And

I'm deliberately not saying which

newspaper.

A journalist working for the BBC. Does

that make your score go up or down?

A medical doctor?

Probably higher. A celebrity?

Probably lower. An encyclopedia.

What about Wikipedia? How does that

compare to an encyclopedia for you?

Interesting how much more trustworthy

that's become in these days of AI

generated content. Well, we've already

seen in the children's tech talk that

the Bible is the word of God. Yes,

written by human beings. But human

beings whose lives, experiences, and

understandings were arranged to be just

so by God so that when they wrote it

came out exactly as God intended it to.

2 Timothy 3:16. All scripture is

2 Timothy 3:16

breathed out by God and profitable for

teaching, for reproof, for correction,

and for training in righteousness.

The Bible presents itself as the word of

God. It's undeniable that it presents

itself as that.

And that has some very important

implications for us.

We're going to be asking the question

today,

what is the Bible?

And the first answer we've already

given, the Bible is the word of God. I'm

going to give us two implications. What

it means for us that the Bible is the

word of God, followed by one more answer

to that question. That's the plan for

today. Uh this week is week one of a

three-week series looking at the Bible.

So this week, what is the Bible? Next

week, what is the Bible about? We're

going to do the whole story of the Bible

in one go. And then the week after that

will be an all age service and we're

going to look at some of the different

ways in which the Old Testament points

us to Jesus. And hopefully that will

help us in our own personal reading of

the scriptures. Uh well to orient

ourselves to get more out of God's word.

So the Bible is the word of God.

Implication number one,

the Bible is authoritative.

The Bible is authoritative.

Uh, who do you call when the car won't

start?

Or if your ceiling falls in, I'm sure

you've got a person. Maybe it's the AA,

maybe it's a builder, or you've just got

one of those friends who's omnicompetent

and they can basically do everything,

right? And you ring them up. The point

is, you pick someone who knows what

they're doing. If you were to ring me in

those situations, I could give you

sympathy, but I wouldn't be much help

beyond that. A couple of years ago, I

was helping a school trip to the zoo at

Longle. And as we went through the

safari section in the big bus, it was

pointed out to me that there was a

microphone by the driver, a microphone

that I could use, and I could talk to

the children about the animals. And so I

did. I was a able to tell the children

all kinds of interesting facts about the

animals. Do you know groups of zebras

always sleep in circles? And depending

on if they're in the northern or

southern hemisphere, they'll either be

facing clockwise or anticlockwise.

That's not true at all. That's a total

lie. This is the sort of thing I was

telling them, right? I'm not an

authority on the animal kingdom, right?

David Atenburgh, happy birthday, David

Atenburgh. He would be a suitable

authority to give that tour.

Well, if the authorship of the Bible

only came down to human beings, if it's

just the writings of some human beings,

then we could question its authority.

Because what human being really knows

everything?

If it's only the word of human beings,

we could say, "This bit's good, but I

don't need to think about or listen to

that bit because maybe that person who

wrote that bit doesn't have a full

enough perspective, so I can just ignore

it."

Take the Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul,

it is very likely in the time in which

he was writing the Bible and possibly

never possibly never at all, he was

never married. Now, we can't say that

totally for sure because the Bible

doesn't tell us that. But it seems like

he was never married.

Yet, he's one of the people in the New

Testament who speaks most extensively

about marriage.

A non-married man

speaks the most about marriage or nearly

the most in the New Testament letters.

Let me read it for you. Ephesians 5:22.

Ephesians 5:22

We looked at this not so long ago.

Wives, submit to your own husbands as to

the Lord. For the husband is the head of

the wife, even as Christ is the head of

the church, his body, and is himself its

savior. Now, as the church submits to

Christ, so also wives should submit in

everything to their husbands. Husbands,

love your wives as Christ loved the

church, and gave himself up for her,

that he might sanctify her, having

cleansed her by the washing of water

with the word, so that he might present

the church to himself in splendor,

without spot or wrinkle or any such

thing, that she might be holy and

without blemish. In the same way,

husbands should love their wives as

their own bodies. He who loves his wife

loves himself. For no one ever hated his

own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes

it, just as Christ does the church,

because we are members of his body.

Therefore, a man shall leave his father

and mother and hold fast to his wife,

and the two shall become one flesh. This

mystery is profound, and I am saying to

you, it refers to Christ and the church.

However, let each one of you love his

wife as himself, and let the wife see

that she respects her husband.

If that's just Paul writing

as an unmarried man,

ignore it.

But the Bible is the word of God.

And when God speaks about any topic, he

speaks as the ultimate authority.

After all, he's the creator of all

things. He knows what he's talking

about. God designed marriage. So God can

speak about it with authority. And we

should listen.

And when Paul came to write that

passage, God had so arranged the

circumstances of his life and arranged

his understanding so that when he wrote,

what he wrote was exactly what God

wanted it to be. The Bible is the word

of God.

It speaks with authority.

I mean, sure, the Bible had been

finished writing just about 2,000 years

ago. We've got more information in the

world than they did back then.

But that doesn't mean that we can ignore

the Bible.

Yes, we live in a different world to the

one in which they did. And so

understanding the Bible properly will

involve thinking carefully about the

context in which it was written. The

application today will look different to

the way it did back then. But the truth

is the same.

So when I object to something I read in

the Bible,

I have to ask myself, who is speaking?

Is this the word of God or not?

And we can't just hide behind, well,

it's a different context and back then

they had these views about things and

that's what no

God ensured his word was exactly what he

wanted it to be.

If we say that scripture is wrong, we

have to say that God is wrong.

And that's exactly the lie that the

devil used in the Garden of Eden to

tempt the woman. You will not surely

die.

A Christian submits to what the Bible

says because it is the word of God.

It isn't the case that God is a creator

who didn't realize that there was a

better way of doing something. And we've

now figured out a better way of doing

things. Right? Play-Doh was originally

invented as a means by which to clean

soot off walls. Now it's a toy. It's

much better for that, isn't it? Or a

scientist at 3M, the chemical company.

He was trying to work on making a

really, really strong glue.

What he made turned out to be, well,

pretty much rubbish. until someone

started using it on bookmarks and the

post-it note was born. See, they created

something and they hadn't realized the

greater purpose that it could have.

That's not what happens with God and the

world. The way God has made the world,

his intention for it is perfect. It's

not like we come up with some new way of

doing things and God's going to go, "Oh,

yeah, that's much better than my way."

God speaks with authority.

It's not that human beings have figured

out a better use for sex than the one

that God intended or that church is an

old-fashioned idea and we've got better

ideas about how we can do that now. We

can just meet online, right?

No. When God speaks, he speaks with a

total authority.

This is what is good and is best and is

right.

Now, that doesn't mean we should be

lacking in compassion and care as we

relate what the Bible teaches.

After all, we've got people who are part

of this church who are unable to come

out for physical reasons here to the

church building,

right? And we we we bear that in mind.

It is best for us to be physically

together, but we provide for them and we

try and meet with them. And some of us

go out and visit them and we want them

to know we love you and you are a part

of us.

But particularly when it comes across

the Bible's sexual ethic,

churches like this which hold to the

authority of scripture have sometimes

been overly harsh in the way they have

taught these things.

As someone who doesn't struggle with

same-sex attraction, God's teaching

about sex and sexuality costs me very

little compared with someone for whom it

is an issue.

And we shouldn't miss that. I shouldn't

make everything sound easy when for some

it's very hard because it's something

that feels so intrinsic to them. It's

something that feels so intrinsic is is

sin that they need to turn away from. I

shouldn't teach that harshly.

I shouldn't make it sound easy. Well,

you just need to stop doing that. Stop

thinking that, stop feeling that. But at

the same time, we can't deny what the

Bible says either

because the word of God is the word of

God. And so it's authoritative.

We communicate it with compassion

without compromising on its truth.

So implication number one, the Bible is

the word of God. Therefore, it is

authoritative.

Implication

number two, the Bible is infallible.

Right? Now, that's a slightly technical

word. What does it mean? God is not

capable of making mistakes.

When God speaks, he speaks what is true.

That follows from the fact that he is

truth himself. Jesus said, "I am the way

and the truth and the life." Jesus says

of God the Father, "Your word is truth.

God never lies." We're told in Titus

Titus 1:2

1:2,

"Because the Bible is the word of God,

it's one of the works of God and so it

is consistent with his character. If God

cannot lie, then the Bible cannot

contain lies." That's what infallible

mean. incapable of containing error

because it is the word of God.

So we can have confidence in reading the

Bible that what it says is true

because of who wrote it.

Now if I ask you the time

and you tell me it's half past

and it's really 31 minutes past and 13

seconds is your answer to me incorrect?

No. It's not as precise perhaps, but it

doesn't make it incorrect.

People try and draw out inconsistencies

in the Bible. One passage they might

turn to is Ecclesiastes 1:5 that says,

Ecclesiastes 1:5

"The sun rises and the sun goes down and

hastens to the place where it rises."

And someone might say, "Well, you say

the Bible is the word of God. It's

authoritative and it's talking about the

sun rising and setting. Why is it not

talking about the fact that actually the

Earth is orbiting the sun?

Is the Bible therefore wrong because it

doesn't say that?

Well, no. We're talking about levels of

precision here. What Ecclesiastes

describes is the experience that we have

of it. It's not claiming to talk about

cosmological realities and how the sun

relates to the earth and such things.

The Bible's not precise on every topic

in the way we might like it to be, but

it always speaks truthfully.

Or how about Proverbs 26:es 4 and 5.

Love this one. Here's verse four. Answer

not a fool according to his folly, lest

you be like him yourself. Next verse.

Answer a fool according to his folly,

lest he be wise in his own eyes. Right?

Two contradictory statements put right

next to each other. Well, hang on a

second. You're saying the Bible is

authoritative. It's the word of God.

It's infallible. Well, that seems to be

a bit of a problem. It's contradicting

itself.

Does this undermine the infallibility of

God's word? Well, there we need to bear

in mind the context. Proverbs is a book

about wisdom.

The nature of wisdom is choosing the

right course. It's not one sizefitsall,

is it? In life, there's multiple

different courses that you might take

that might be good. Wisdom is discerning

which one is best. And so God, who of

course invented wisdom,

has given us these two things next to

each other, which causes us to stop and

have to think and consider when a fool

speaks, how am I going to respond to

them? According to their folly or not

according to their folly,

you see, it doesn't undermine the

infallibility of scripture. Actually,

it's part of the beauty of scripture,

the way in which God communicates his

truth to us through such amazing things

such as the book of Proverbs.

The genre and intention of each book is

important, and we'll think about that a

bit more next week as we look at some of

the different books that make up the

Bible.

But then there are also things written

in the Bible that aren't true.

Job chapter 20, Zofar the Neamothite, he

Job 20 · chapter mention

is saying that the wicked will get

what's coming to them in this life. He

says bold as brass, right? Wicked people

before they reach the end of their

lives, they will suffer. They will get

their just desserts. Now, that's not

true, is it?

How many cases have we witnessed and

heard about in recent days of wicked

people who seem to have lived their

lives, they've died in prosperity, and

then after they've died, then it all

comes out and we find out what's been

going on.

Well, does that undermine the authority

of God's word, its infallibility?

Job chapter 20 says the wicked will get

Job 20 · chapter mention

what what's coming to them in this life.

Well, if you take that passage out of

its context, you might try and find some

sort of error in it. But within its

context, the book of Job is this big

long painful to read sometimes argument

between ultimately four men, five men if

you include Elohoo, who comes along at

the end, right? The argument they have

and they're throwing together all their

different ideas about what is right and

to explain the situation that Job finds

himself in. and some of what they say is

right and some of what they say is

wrong.

That's part of the wisdom of the book of

Job. Through seeing things that are

incorrect, it leads us to what is

correct. But if you just take a chapter

out of its context and look at it on its

own, well then you might get the wrong

idea.

So do you see the Bible does contain

contradictions?

In a sense, the Bible does contain

errors. Now, please don't take me out of

context in saying that, right? Because

you shouldn't take the Bible out of its

context when we look at those things.

Yes, there are errors, but they're

errors which are really obvious to us in

their context. Yes, there are

contradictions, but they're part of how

we are taught the way of wisdom.

The Bible is infallible.

People draw up their lists where they

try and point out errors in the

scriptures. They just don't stand up.

The Bible is the word of God.

So, it has authority and it is

infallible. It's incapable of containing

error.

Now, I've got one more answer to the

question, what is the Bible? And it's

going to lead us into the big question

that we're asking next week. Um, show of

hands, who's a fan of Lord of the Rings?

Okay, very good. Now, there's different

levels of Lord of the Rings fans, okay?

So, there's some of you mere mortals,

right? Who have only watched the

cinematic versions of the films, right?

Okay. You know, the ones that came out,

they're only about 3 hours long.

Then there's some of you who've watched

the extended editions, right? Yeah. Four

and a half hours, getting near five.

Yeah. Come on. Right. Yeah. So, then

you're getting a higher level. Then

there's the people who've actually read

the books, right? And then you go beyond

that. Then there's the supplemental

books as well. And I'm not just talking

about The Hobbit, right? You get more

stuff coming along the The Sons of

Hurin, The Book of Lost Tales, all these

kinds of things. They kind of add up and

add up and add up and add up. A true

Tolken nerd must have read all of these

works to become truly, I don't know,

Gandalf or something maybe, right?

There's lots of other books that you

might read.

Do you know there's lots of brilliant

Christian books out there on every

topic? you know, parenting, money, work,

sex, management, all kinds of things.

But in order to live a godly life,

there is only one book that you actually

need.

2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 16 and 17. All

2 Timothy 3:16

scripture is breathed out by God and

profitable for teaching, for reproof,

for correction, and for training in

righteousness. And note this, that the

man of God may be complete,

equipped for every good work. The Bible

is

sufficient.

It is sufficient in and of itself to

teach us everything that we need to know

to live a life that is best for us and

which is pleasing to God.

The 66 books of the Bible contain within

them all that God needs us to know.

The Apostle Paul speaking to the church

in Galatia who've started to hear other

ideas about the gospel and the truth of

God comes down very strongly against it.

He says this, "Even if we or an angel

from heaven should preach to you a

gospel contrary to the one we preach to

you, let him be accursed."

As we've said before, so now I say

again, if anyone is preaching to you a

gospel contrary to the one you received,

let him be accursed.

Paul is saying, you have everything you

need to know in the gospel.

We have everything that we need in the

Bible. If something comes along that

tries to add to it or change its message

or take something away

as they were at that time in Galatia, it

should be rejected. The Bible is

sufficient.

Which means when it comes to the tricky

situation at work, the wrestling with

our mental health, dealing with our

finances, parenting unruly children,

caring for unruly parents, whatever it

is, whatever we face, the Bible is

sufficient.

It gives us everything we need to know

in order to face these things in a way

that will be best for us and most

pleasing to God. Everything we need to

live a godly life is in the Bible.

So, does that mean then if everything I

need to know is in the Bible, I don't

need to bother going to the doctors

anymore?

I've got everything I need to know,

right? The Bible is sufficient.

Well, no. Right. In fact, Jesus himself

says, uh, those who are well have no

need of a physician, but those who are

sick. Now he's making a wider point,

right? But he's pointing out that

clearly there is a place for doctors.

The sufficiency of scripture does not

mean that the Bible gives me

instructions on how to fix the problem

that I'm having with my computer

or diagnosing the symptoms that are very

uncomfortable that I'm experiencing.

But the Bible is sufficient to tell me

how I should face frustrating situations

like a broken computer

or worrying situations like a medical

emergency.

For all of life, the Bible speaks.

And because it is the word of God, it

speaks with authority.

The Bible was finished nearly 2,000

years ago, but it speaks into the

problems of our day.

Transgenderism,

social media, nationalism,

nothing's going to come up that will

take the Bible by surprise.

In the area of mental health, in

particular, Christians can get very

mixed up.

There are two extremes. One extreme

is where a Christian says, "Well, the

Bible is sufficient, so the Bible is

absolutely the only thing I should be

listening to, and I can reject whatever

is said by mental health professionals.

I reject any idea about any kind of

anti-depressants or anything like that

because the Bible is sufficient. I don't

need those things."

I hope I've already shown that that is

the wrong idea. It's not denying the

sufficiency of scripture to make use of

these other sources of wisdom and help.

But I don't think that's where most of

us are.

I think most of us tend towards the

other extreme, which is this. When it

comes to things like mental health,

we've basically come to a position

where what we live is that the Bible

doesn't have very much useful to say

about mental health and medication.

And so those other sources of wisdom are

listened to with the exclusion of

scripture. Scripture for the rest of

life, but not in this area.

But didn't God make us?

Doesn't he know everything about us?

In his word, when he speaks about things

like anxiety, fear, depression, he knows

what he is talking about. And his word

is sufficient.

Well, come back at six o'clock tonight

for a spotlight from a chartered

psychologist.

But really, that's not the reason to

come back later. You know, caring for

those with mental health struggles.

Actually, the reason to come back later

is because Katherine, who is speaking

tonight, is someone who is committed to

the authority of scripture.

And she has expertise in the field of

mental health. And as someone who's

committed to the authority of scripture,

she shows us and the ways that she

speaks shows us that she takes these

other things and what is helpful and

puts them under the spotlight of the

word of God. That's where the Christian

should be with these things. I do come

back later and and hear about that.

You see, human beings, psychologists,

doctors, neuroscientists, we've observed

and discovered things about human beings

that are true.

We can listen to them with some

confidence,

but only the word of God is truly

authoritative.

And given that the Bible is sufficient,

we should judge whatever we hear from

any source outside of the Bible against

the Bible.

That includes everything I say,

everything Matt says, everything

Katherine will say. We are fallible. We

get stuff wrong.

But when God speaks,

he doesn't get anything wrong.

So the Bible is God's word.

That means it has authority. That means

it is infallible.

And we've seen that it's also

sufficient. It gives us everything we

need. Don't worry. You don't need to buy

the complete works of some other person

in order to truly get everything you

need for the Christian life. It's all in

your Bible. As long as it's not just the

New Testament and Psalms, right? It's

all in your Bible.

And you know what? When we talk about

the sufficiency of scripture, I was

thinking about this. It sounds a little

bit lacking. Uh I was assembling

something this week and I would describe

the instructions as just about

sufficient. You know, these sorts of

things often it come from China, right?

and they give you some pictures and

they're quite vague pictures and they

just about give you what you need to

figure out as long as you can kind of

work your way through the concepts of

what on earth that drawing means and

which direction it's supposed to be in.

Right? It's just about sufficient. The

Bible's not like that. The Bible's not

just about sufficient.

I It's big. Have you ever tried to read

the whole thing? It takes some time. God

has been thorough.

And better still, God's not written it

in just one way.

And we'll see this more next week. There

are glorious different types of

literature in the Bible. There are

stories, there are poems, there's formal

teaching, there's case law, there's

amazing dreams. And through these

things, God has communicated everything

that we need to know.

Have you come across those lists online?

Right? Five verses for when you're, you

know, 10 verses for if dot dot dot. You

come across those, right? Some of our

Bibles even have them in, right? And

they're very helpful, right? But they

can be unhelpful in that they can give

the idea that the Bible's a sort of

reference guide, right? Oh, I'm feeling

really angry today, right? To turn to

the section on anger, right? Okay, it's

all there. I just read that section, I

get everything I need. That's not the

way the Bible's written. If you spent

any time in it, you'll know that

it's not a how-to manual. It tells me

everything I need to know for life and

godliness. And it communicates it

through one glorious story told through

those different styles.

Which is why next week we'll look at

what is the Bible about.

And as we get the whole story of

scripture, it should help us then

whatever part of scripture we come to to

orient ourselves so that we can access

the truly sufficient word of God.

So then what's your view of the Bible?

What is the Bible?

The Bible presents itself as the word of

God.

You might have other reasons for

doubting that claim that the Bible is

the word of God,

but the Bible certainly presents itself

in that way.

I encourage you if you've got questions

to ask them. Uh we're going to run an

8week uh Bible course in September to

help us unpack the Bible and all that it

is.

And come back next week here the big

story of the Bible. Or if you can't be

here, listen to the podcast version of

the sermon.

But the Bible claims to tell you

everything you need to know.

So read it.

For those of us who are convinced that

the Bible is the word of God,

let's recommmit ourselves to studying it

and understanding it and talking about

it with each other.

I confess with my mouth the Bible is the

word of God. Do I live that with my

life?

I'm going to invite the band up to start

getting ready to play us our next song.

We're going to sing a couple of songs

about living lives that are committed to

God.

And in between those two songs, I'm

going to read a passage about God's

people promising to respond to God's

word. Can I encourage you if you are a

Christian and confessionally you would

say, "Yes, the Bible is the word of God.

It's authoritative. It's infallible.

It's sufficient." But you realize that

your life hasn't been living up to that.

And the way you've been treated hasn't

been living up to that. Take this time

to deal with God.

As I say, these are songs about

commitment to God. A life lived under

the authority of God's word. Take this

time to confess it to him and know that

he is full of love to you even when you

neglect his good word to you.

And then after the last song, so we'll

sing a song. I'm going to read a passage

after the last song. Can I encourage you

if you're a Christian, share your

current favorite Bible verse with the

person sat near you. Can I encourage

you? Don't try and be impressive. Right?

Let's not do that. Let's give up on that

idea. Right? What verse has been

speaking to you recently? Or maybe the

last one that did if it was a while ago

because I trust God has imprinted it on

your mind. Let's point one another to

the authoritative words of life.