Dr. Mike Murphy
February 26, 2023
He had served the church for many years. For the last twenty-two years he had given the sermon every Sunday, and led the Bible study every week. He had baptized many of the faces he saw each Sunday. He had been there as many of families in the congregation had grown, and he had sadly watched as many of the same faces had faded away. He had been there to smile with them in the good times, and to share tears with them in the most trying of times. Through it all, he felt he had faithfully been there. But as he contemplated the two questions he had been asked just minutes before, he began to wonder if all he had done even mattered.
He had started that Sunday like any other. He greeted all as they arrived for Sunday School, and he made last minute preparations to his sermon. As the service started, he welcomed all, and opened in prayer. He heard the choir sing, and he watched as the tithe was collected. As he made his way to the pulpit, he gave a sermon he had given years before. He talked about the Flood. He told the congregation each detail of the story. A story in his eyes that was among the greatest of fables, a way for the Lord to show us that He would not make the same mistake twice.
He finished the sermon, and watched as the congregation smiled, and looked on as they rose for the final hymn. He gave the closing prayer, and wished all a great day as they made their way out the door. It was as he stood by the door that his day took an unexpected turn. A young man, in his early twenties, approached him. He had been coming to the church for several weeks now, and as the young man reached for his hand, he asked if he could help him with a few questions he had about the sermon. He wished his farewells to a few others, then made his way to his office with the young man.
As the young man sat, he looked over and began to ask him about the sermon he had just given. He still remembered the words the young man asked. “Why do you think God made a mistake? And why do you think the Flood is just a story, nothing but a fable?” He smiled as he heard the questions, questions he had heard before. He told the young man, that the Bible was filled with many such stories. Stories that were nothing more than a way to teach right from wrong. Stories that were created by men to help us better understand God. A way to show us where God had went wrong, and as a way of showing us how He desired to make those things right. He explained to the young man how the Bible was not perfect, flawed like the men who had written it. That although they had been inspired by God to write it, the words they placed on the paper we filled with their opinions, with their own imperfections. He told the young man how years of study had shown him this. How years of discussion with his fellow pastors had led most respectable theologians to accept this.
As he finished, he watched the young man gather himself. And as the young man began to speak, he was not able to prepare himself for what the young man would say. With just two questions, the young man rocked him to his very core, and made him begin to question all he held as certain. The young man asked, “If the Bible is not perfect, and we are learning more each day about those imperfections, then how do you know what you teach as truth today will not be proven as a lie tomorrow? And if God makes mistakes, then how do you know if He is making a mistake with you here today?”
With two questions, he had been left silent. Questions he was not prepared for, and questions he did not have the answers for. Questions that made him greatly question himself. Questions that eat at his very soul. Had he been ministering to and serving his congregation all these years? Or had he been misleading them, leading them down a path that did not have any answers?. With two questions he realized that all the wisdom he thought he possessed, had just been shown to him as foolish.
In every church across our country today, a question is being asked. With each sermon, with every Bible study, the question is proclaimed. Many choose to ignore the question, claiming they do not hear it. Others deny the question, claiming the question is not one that should ever be asked. But through it all, the question can be heard echoing through every sanctuary. Is the Bible the Word of God, or is it the words of men? Did men simply write their impressions and thoughts of God, or did God move their hand as the words were written on each page?
No book or publication holds a place in this world like the Bible does. The Bible is by far the world’s best selling and most widely distributed book. It has founds its’ way into almost every crevice of this world, and has been translated in over two thousand languages. No other book has been as influential, and no other book has dared to make such incredible claims. The Bible tells us the exact purpose of our lives, and holds all the answers the future will show us. It explains man’s greatest questions, and it puts an end to his greatest doubts. No other book that man has written answers all our questions with one hundred percent accuracy, and no other book has dared every to try.
The Bible contains sixty-six books, from over forty different writers. Those writers include men that range from nobility to the working class, written in three different languages over three continents. And through it all, these men were of same mind, with each of their words weaving together perfectly. By all human standards, this is not just remarkable, but humanly impossible! If you went into a college classroom today, picked out forty students, and asked each of those students to write a chapter for a book you were doing titled “Who is God, and what is He doing in the world today?”. What do you think you would get back from each of those forty students? Do you think you would get back a compatible, a conforming, and a consistent theme in each of their chapters? Of course not! They would give you back works that would be all over the board! And it would be expected, because in each you would read their own influences and their own opinions. Only if you had chosen a single writer would you expect to see a unified and singular message. The same is with the Bible! We see one unified message because it came from One author, God! Man may have penned it, but only the Lord could have provided the words!
The Bible tells us, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”(2 Timothy 3:16-17). The Greek word here for “inspired” actually reads “God-Exhaled”, or “God-Breathed”. No better word could Paul have used in describing who wrote the Bible. God created man when He breathed life into Adam(Genesis 2:7). It was through His breath that Christ brought the Holy Spirit to the disciples(John 20:22). So it should be of no surprise that God would breathe life into His Word. His breath shows us that the Scripture is from God, and is of God, having nothing to do with human origins. Scripture can never be a matter of our interpretations, but is a fulfillment of God’s teachings.
Those who would teach the Bible falsely, claiming the pages are filled with the mistakes of a man created fable, would come in direct conflict with the words of 2 Timothy 3:16-17. In seeking to quote the Bible in their own words, on their own terms, they draw the breath of God out of the Scriptures and replace it with their own breath. How easily they forget, only if Scripture was given by God, trustworthy and perfect in every way, could the Holy Spirit use it to inspire us and to direct us. If Scripture was the word on man, flawed and opinionated as man will always be, then the Holy Spirit could never reach us through it. If the Bible was not perfect, flawless in every way, it would not point us in a direction toward God, but lead us on a path away from God. But the words of this verse make it very clear, each word of Scripture carries the same authority as if the Lord were to come down and speak them directly to you today.
Each word, of each verse, of each chapter, of every book is overflowing with similar claims as the one we read in 2 Timothy 3:16-17. Sometimes the words were heard in the voice of God Himself. Over thirty-eight hundred times the Bible records God speaking directly to man, revealing His love, His guidance, and His direction. So many times we read, “The Lord spoke”, or “the word of the Lord came to me saying”, as God stated with clear authority that He, and He alone, was communicating His message to us. Other times, we read in His Word, as He spoke to man face to face. Giving clear messages to them that they were to tell all around them. Other times, He voice was heard, calling on man to spread His message to anyone who would hear.
Although God was the author of each word of Scripture, He often used man to pen those words for Him. Many times, we are told those men by name. Other times, we look to tradition and similar clues to determine and understand who those men were. For years, many have looked to the Psalms and other Books of the Bible questioning who these men could be. Often claiming that not knowing the name of these men leads to confusion in the Scriptures. Stating that the uncertainty of the writer causes doubt in the words. But when we look on these men truthfully, we are not debating the author, only whose name will appear in the credits. God alone is the author, it is just a debate as to who He called on to write down His words.
As Christ walked this earth, He gave us the key to determining exactly Who the author of all Scripture is. Christ said, “My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.”(John 7:16-17). Christ tells us that man is incapable of authoring one word of Scripture. Nowhere do we see that stronger than in each word of prophecy. Peter tells us, “for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”(2 Peter 1:21). Man is incapable of telling you what he will be doing the next minute. And if like me, can barely tell you what he was doing yesterday. On our own, we do not have a clue what tomorrow holds. We are lost to be able to accurately tell you what the future will bring. Only One who knows tomorrow, can tell you about tomorrow. Only One who has already seen tomorrow, can give you the details of what tomorrow will bring. Prophecy is living proof of just how accurate and flawless Scripture is. With each word it shows us just how perfect the Bible will always be. Each word of prophecy not only points to the author of the Scriptures, but it announces His perfect presence.
James tells us, “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”(James 1:17). Anything we know as perfect, anything that is good in our lives, has been given to us by the Lord above. One of those perfect gifts that He gave us was His perfect word, the Bible. And with each word we read in it, He speaks to us. He leads us. He guides us. He commands us. He instructs us. He warns us. He blesses us. And He perfectly loves us. Each word shows us that our God is not just good, that He is not just great, it shows us that He is perfect. God breathed His Word to us in a perfect way, bringing life to that Word without flaw or errancy. In His Word, He answers every question we may have in a perfect way. In it, He gives us perfect direction in an imperfect world. .And what else should we ever look for or expect from a Perfect God!
Every day, all of creation proclaims the perfection that is found in His Word! Every moment, the Heavens sing about the perfection His Word brings us! Each word that is sang proclaims a love and a hope that can only be found in His perfect ways. That hope shows us that perfection can never be found in us or in our words, not even a small amount of it seen if we were to offer our life to God. But hope shows us that perfection can always be seen in Him offering His life for us, so that every word He gave us could be fulfilled perfectly. Perfection can only come down from above. Perfection was found in the pen the prophets and the apostles held. It was found in the print as it rolled off of Gutenberg’s press. And perfection is found each time you turn the pages of His Word today. With each word you read, you can see the perfection in His breath!
Praying with each word of the Bible you read, you see Perfection! 