Speaker Sermon/Lesson Title Audio   Video  Text   MS Word Category Bobby Stafford Have You Not Read?         Bible

“Have You Not Read”

Introduction:

Recently, John MacArthur wrote, “From the very beginning, the battle between good and evil has been a battle for the truth.”  Note Genesis 3:1-5. “Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.  And he said to the woman, ‘Has God indeed said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’  And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’  Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die.  For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ ” NKJV  Satan succeeded in getting Eve to question the truthfulness of God’s instruction.  This has been his tactic ever since: to cast doubt on God’s straightforward revelation, to get people to question whether God’s Word is clear enough to be certain about what it teaches.

Theme:

Is the Bible clear enough to be understood; can we be certain about what  it teaches?

Body:

I.  What Does the Bible Say about Itself?

·  The Bible claims to be the Word of God.

o  Jesus preached the “Word of God.”  (Luke 5:1) “So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret,” NKJV

o  The Apostles preached the “Word of the Lord.”  (Acts 8:25) “So when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.” NKJV

o  Scriptures were taught to young Timothy.  Read II Timothy 3:14-16.  “But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.  All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” NKJV

·  The Bible claims to be truth.

o  “Thy Word is truth.”  (John 17:17) “Sanctify them by Your truth.  Your word is truth.” NKJV

o  Read II Timothy 2:15.  “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God,  a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” NKJV

·  Person of God and Word of God are “knit together” – interconnected.  To say that the Bible can’t be understood is to deny God’s ability to make it understandable.

·  The scripture even says there are “some things hard to understand.”  (II Peter 3:16) “as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.” NKJV  Even these can be understood with effort. 

II.  Can the Bible Be Understood by All?

·  Read Psalm 19:7b “The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;” NKJV  The Bible is clear enough for the simplest person.  Read Psalm 119:130.  “The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.” NKJV  The Bible can be understood even by those without great intellectual ability.  Robert Beymond writes “. . .one does not need to be “learned” when reading the gospels or hearing them read, to discover that they teach that Jesus was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, performed mighty miracles, died on the cross ‘as a ransom for many,’ and rose from the dead on the third day after death.” 

III.  Is the Bible Clear in All Essential Matters?

Let’s look at Christ’s responses to various people in the New Testament.  Examine just one.  (Matthew 22:23-32) “The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying ‘Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were with us seven brothers.  The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother.  Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven  will she be?  For they all had her.’  Jesus answered and said to them, ‘You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.  For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.  But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?  God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.’ ” NKJV  They should have known.  Notice Jesus did not say – “I see how you may have not understood because the Scriptures are not very clear on this subject.”  Regardless to whom He’s speaking, the blame for misunderstanding any teaching of Scripture is never the Scriptures fault, but on the individuals themselves.

IV.  Must A Special Method Be Used to Interpret the Bible?

No.  The Bible was written in the language of the common man, the man on the street.  The Holy Spirit used ordinary men [fishermen, shepherds, farmers] to communicate the message of God.  Read it like other books – using regular methods to interpret in order to understand.  (Ephesians 3:3-4) “how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery  (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ).” NKJV

Conclusion:

All men will be judged by the Word of God.  (John 12:48) “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him – the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.” NKJV  Claiming that the Bible is not clear enough to understand in no way relieves one of his responsibility.  The Bible is indeed a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. 

Bobby Stafford 

 August 12, 2018