R681 The Word Of God, Pt.1

God has an encouraging word for you and me today through the Bible-based preaching of Dr. Don Wilton as we study the book of Hebrews together. We're headed to Hebrews chapter 4 in just a moment as we open God's encouraging word with Dr. Don Wilton, well-known seminary professor, evangelist, pastor for over 25 years, and probably most well-known as the pastor of Dr. Billy Graham. If you haven't seen his book or read his book called Saturdays with Billy, it is a tremendous blessing. It's available both in hard copy and on audio form. You can find all the links on our website at www.tewonline.org. That's www.tewonline.org. Today as we open the word together, know that our phone line is open as well at 866-899-WORD. We'd love to pray with you anytime, 866-899-9673.

And now, Dr. Don Wilton. This book, the Bible, is a very, very precious word. Over the decades and over the centuries, so much has been said about the Bible.

It has been discussed, it's been debated, it's been analyzed, scrutinized, criticized, burned, discarded. I think just about anything that you and I could ever imagine could ever happen to anything has happened to the Word of God. And yet the Word of God abides forever.

Today we're going to be studying one of the most precious and most wonderful of all subjects and it has to do with the Word of God. I love the Bible. I certainly don't understand all of it.

I've tried to. I've tried to study it, but I don't necessarily understand all of it, but I want you to know today that I believe all of it. Every single word, even those parts that I don't necessarily understand because this book, the Bible, is about God. And you know, when you talk about God, there is so much about God that we could never know because of who He is.

He's God. This Bible is the centerpiece on the mantelpiece of First Baptist Church. It ought to be the centerpiece of every Christian's life. It ought to be the centerpiece of our marriages, of our businesses, of everything that we do and everything that we say.

This word which is a lamp and a light. We're going to be speaking today about God's Word because it's right here in Hebrews chapter 4 and I want you to turn with me to Hebrews chapter 4. We're going to be looking at just two verses today and God has found it necessary to insert, I believe, something that is so vital to every believer's heart and it concerns this wonderful Word of God.

I want to read it to you. It's found in Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 12. Here's what the Bible says about itself. For the Word of God is living and active. It is sharper than any double-edged sword. The Word of God penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow.

The Word of God judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. Now my friends, I'm going to do something today that I don't know that I've ever done before as your pastor.

This may be a first and yet it may not be. I'm certainly careful not to apply an absolute to this junction. But I'm going to read to you my introduction.

How do you like that? I have people from time to time comment and say to me, Pastor, it just seems to me that you have very few notes in front of you and I'm going to tell you that that is true for the most part. Most of the notes I have is the outline that I give to you to help you in your own study and to be able to help you to take notes.

That's what I've got in front of me just in case I cannot see the screen as far as you can. But I don't have extensive and exhaustive notes and it's interesting that you know why I don't have major notes. Have you ever been in a school classroom where all the teacher does is read to you out of a textbook?

You know how you spell that? B-O-R-I-N-G. Boring. Have you ever had a teacher who walks in, sits down or stands on their table, leans on a table and says, all right, page six, begin. I used to have some history teachers who did that and boy, did they make history boring. And then I had some history teachers who would come in and I want to tell you something, folks.

They made history come alive because they were involved in the subject. Well, I cannot do this on my own because I'm not able to do that. But by God's grace and through His Spirit, I will go and I will prepare over the weeks and God will put these things in my heart. And I come here on Sunday mornings and on other occasions and I have a basic outline and I get up and I preach and I ask the Lord every Sunday, Lord, would you say a whole lot of things that I had no idea I was going to say? And you know, folks, I don't want you to be overly impressed, but my staff often tell me, they say, now, pastor, we have three morning worship services and from time to time, Steve will come to me or Sal or somebody and say, gee, pastor, I wish you'd said that in the early service. And I'd say to them, well, what was it exactly that I said?

And now you know why we record these services, folks, so that we can get it. There are times, many times when I'm preaching that quite honestly and frankly, there are things that I find myself sharing with you that I know only God could have put that in my heart. Now that's called inspiration. When I stand here and speak to you, I am preaching to you, God willing, under God's inspiration.

It's not Don Wilton. I'm asking the Lord to speak through me as he does through you and the choir sings. It's not you singing. You are the instrument of God's grace. When you are playing a musical instrument, yes, you've got ability to play that trumpet and to play those drums and things, but God speaks.

He flows through us. Now there is so much that I want to say to you by way of introduction this morning that I knew that it would take me the next three weeks, so I just wrote it down. So I'm going to read my introduction, but you're going to need to have to listen carefully because, folks, I'm about to share with you some of the most wonderful truths concerning the Word of God as we try to contextualize and try to understand what it is that God is saying to our hearts. Listen carefully. When George Mueller was 90 years of age, he was asked how many times he had read through the Bible.

He replied, I've never kept exact count, but approximately 200 times. And the 200th reading of the Word of God was fresher than any of the others. I find new truth each time I read the Word of God. Charles Haddon Spurgeon said of this. He said that the Bible is a vein of pure gold, unalloyed by any earthly substance. It is a star without a speck, a sun without a blot, light without darkness, a moon without paleness. Oh Bible, it cannot be said of any other book that it is perfect and pure.

Dr. R.G. Lee said this of the Bible, God's inspired infallible Word, inspired in totality, regenerative in power, personal in application, God's miracle book of diversity in unity. Now listen to this. Andrew Jackson said this of the Bible. That book, sir, is the rock upon which our republic stands. Patrick Henry said this of the Bible. The Bible is worth more than all other books ever printed. George Washington said this of the Bible.

It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible. Charles Dickens, that great novelist, said this and I quote, The New Testament is the very best book that ever was or ever will be known in the world. Erasmus said these astonishing words about the Bible. These holy pages will summon the living of God's mind. They will give you Christ himself. Christ talking, Christ dying, Christ rising, the whole Christ in a word.

They will give him to you in an intimacy so close that he would be less visible to you, even if he stood before your very eyes. Now, my friends, the story of the Bible is Christ and his plan of salvation. Two words summarize the Bible, ruin and redemption.

Ruin by sin and redemption by the blood of the cross of Christ Jesus. So what about this Bible? The Bible is a library.

Now listen carefully. The Bible is a library of 66 different books written by 40 authors over a period of about 1600 years. Two of these writers were kings, two were priests, one was a physician, two were fishermen, two were shepherds, and so on and on and on. Paul was a Pharisee and a theologian, for example. Daniel was a statesman. Matthew was a tax collector. Joshua was a military leader. Ezra was a scribe.

Nehemiah was a cupbearer. And so the list goes on. Despite widely divergent backgrounds and eras of its authors, the Bible presents one major theme throughout, from Genesis to Revelation.

What is that theme? The restoration of God's elect through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now the word inspired means God breathed.

Isn't that a beautiful statement? The word inspired means God breathed. All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable, 2 Timothy chapter 3. All Scripture is inspired by God. That speaks to the plenary verbal inspiration of Scripture. Now boys and girls, if you're listening this morning, I know that's a big mouthful, the plenary verbal inspiration of the Bible. Plenary verbal inspiration is the only type of inspiration that the Bible teaches. What it means is that all words of the Bible are inspired. And what that means is that this Bible is without flaw.

It is without mixture of error. It is completely, absolutely, 100% true from Genesis to Revelation. Now the question is this, relates to what is called the apocrypha. Now those of you that are religious students, you would have heard of that big word, the apocrypha. The apocrypha means hidden books. The apocrypha is a collection of hidden books written from about 200 BC until about 100 AD, 300 year period of time, 200 years before Jesus died until about 70 years after Jesus died, before he was born until after he died. The apocrypha was never considered and has never been considered as part of Scripture by any Bible scholar. Now the question is this, when were the books of the Bible recognized as inspired? The answer is that the books of Scripture were immediately recognized as inspired the moment they were written. There was no waiting period for the canon of Scripture to be established.

There's another big word, by the way, we're talking about all kinds of things. Apocrypha means hidden books. Canon literally means the standard of authority that determines that the Bible is absolutely true, the inspired infallible and errant Word of God. When was the canon of Scripture established? The entire canon of Scripture was established as soon as the book of Revelation was completed in the first century, early in the first century. Future church councils, oh, they convened if you've studied church history to recognize the canon of the new state church, which was established after Constantine's conversion, in fact, after about 250 years after unbelievable persecution of the Christians.

The state church did not even authorize the canonization of Scripture. The state church merely recognized the obvious heavenly authority of the books of the Bible, which had been affirmed since the apostolic age began. Now, when is the apostolic age? The apostles were those men who had witnessed literally the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. So the apostles were those who lived and only lived immediately during and following the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The apostle Paul, the apostle Peter, the apostle John, and the disciples as we know them so well indeed. Now, Paul, one of the apostles, he called the gospel Scripture by quoting Luke chapter 10 and 1 Timothy chapter 5. In 60 AD, about 25 or so years after the death of Jesus, Paul recognized all the Old Testament and the gospels as the inspired Word of God. Peter gave equal authority to the epistles of Paul alongside the Old Testament. He called both of them the Word of God in 2 Peter chapter 3. The New Testament church knew that Paul's writings were the inspired Word of God way back then in the first century. The entire Bible as we have it today was recognized as the Word of God by the church of the apostles all the way back there in the first century.

Now, a couple of other thoughts and I'm going to move on. The Bible, my friends, is superior to all other books ever written so as to be unique and it stands in a class all by itself. It is superior to all science and to all philosophy and to every book written concerning those disciplines in wisdom, literature, and otherwise. Take for example in 1903, that famous scientist and those of you that have studied science will remember Herbert Spencer, one of the most noted of all scientists, a brilliant man. Herbert Spencer culminated his long and well-recognized scientific career by saying that the universe is made up of five elements. What were those five elements? Time, force, action, space, and matter. What Herbert Spencer didn't know in 1903 was that he was actually unknowingly quoting Genesis chapter 1 and verse 1, which I preached on on Wednesday night. Why?

In the beginning, time, God, force, created, action, the heavens, space, and the earth, matter. Please forgive the interruption. We'll return in just a moment with the rest of today's message with Dr. Don Wilton, but he insists I remind you we're available for you. 24 hours a day, as a matter of fact, on this phone number, 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673. In this day and age of texting and typing, sometimes the opportunity to speak with someone, to have someone pray for you and hear them pray for you by name is a remarkable blessing. No matter what you're going through, as Dr. Don would say, we would be honored to be one of your 2 a.m. friends. Anytime you can call 866-899-WORD.

Again, that's 866-899-9673. And if you would prefer to go keyboard to keyboard, we'll meet you on our website at www.tewonline.org. That's www.tewonline.org. While you're there, sign up for the daily encouraging word devotional from Dr. Wilton. You can receive an email of phonically via email every day, or if you'd like a hard copy, we produce a quarterly version. You're welcome for that as well. Absolutely free. It's all available on our website at www.tewonline.org. That's www.tewonline.org. Now back to today's great teaching with Dr. Don Wilton.

Well, let's go even further than that. Dr. Montoy Williams, and again, some of you I know have studied him. I remember studying him when I majored in English literature in one of my degrees.

He was professor at Bowdoin University, professor of Sanskrit for years and for years, for over 40 years. One of the things that Professor Williams did was that he compiled a study of all Eastern religion philosophy. And he compared them to the Bible with these words. This is what Professor Williams said.

Pile them if you will on the left side of your study table. Place your own Bible on the right side all by itself with a wide gap between the two of them. For there is a gulf between it and all the so-called sacred books of the East, which serves the one from the other, utterly, hopelessly and forever. The religious writings of the East are not in the same class with the Word of God. Well, go back to the Emperor Diocletian.

Boy, he was a troublemaker. Diocletian, if you remember your history, created a column in Nicaea. And the column even to this day still reads Extincto Nominee Christorium. Now roughly translated, that means that the name of Christ is extinct.

Yet 22 years later, the Council of Nicaea met within sight of that same column to declare that the Bible is the Word of God. What about the French philosopher, that infidel Voltaire, born in 1694. What did Voltaire say?

Voltaire made that bold unabashed pronouncement that within 50 years, the world will hear no more of the Bible. Yet 50 years after Voltaire's death, we know the Geneva Bible Society used Voltaire's house to print and distribute Bibles. In the mid 20th century, the British Museum purchased from the Russian government the 4th century New Testament manuscript called Sinaiticus. I'm one of those unfortunate beings who have studied part of Sinaiticus.

If you've got a good microphone, my lens, you can have a look at it. And I tell you, it is an awesome study of Sinaiticus with Tischendorf discovered in a monastery on Mount Sinai in 1858. On the same day, Sinaiticus was purchased for 2.5 million dollars, Voltaire's first edition manuscripts were selling for 13 cents on the streets of Paris. Ladies and gentlemen, I simply want to make an announcement to you today that the Word of God is living and active. It is sharper than any double-edged sword. It penetrates even to the dividing of the soul and spirit, joints and marrow.

It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom those of us who are in Christ must give an account. The Word of God shall abide forever. Do I hear an Amen here this morning? And so it is, my friends. Indeed, it will abide forever. And you and I will as well. We are created by God as eternal creatures.

We're going to be alive forever, either with Jesus, with God in heaven, or separated from Him. Have you begun to think about that? Perhaps what you've heard today from God's Word has challenged you and you'd like to speak with someone to have someone pray with you, answer some questions, and talk to you more about that. We're here to do that at 866-899-WORD.

That's 866-899-9673. But perhaps the most important decision that needs to be made is not making call to us, but calling out to God as Dr. Don leads us in these final moments together. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ?

I'm so happy to hear that. Why don't you pray this prayer with me today? Dear God, I know that You love me very, very much. And I know that the Lord Jesus Christ came and died on a cross so that I might be forgiven of my sin. Today, I repent of my sin. I confess my sin to You. And I invite You to come into my heart and into my life by faith. In Jesus' name I pray. If you prayed that prayer, let me be the first one to welcome you to the family of God.

This is wonderful. I hope that you know how much I'm going to be praying for you and how very important this is for me. Call us so that we can talk to you and connect you in the right place so you can begin this wonderful journey.

And in just a moment, I'm going to come back with a final word. If you just rededicated your life to Christ or gave your life to Jesus for the very first time, welcome to the family of God. We want to celebrate with you, and you need to tell somebody.

Why don't you tell us? Give us a call right now at 866-899-WORD, and Dr. Don would love to send you some free resources that will help you grow in that decision. Our number again is 866-899-9673. Or, meet us online at www.tewonline.org where there are tremendous resources. As a matter of fact, Dr. Don will share about a great resource that will help you on a daily basis grow in your faith. The Encouraging Word's most requested resource is the Daily Encouraging Word. The Daily Encouraging Word is a daily devotional made available in a quarterly booklet or delivered each morning in your email inbox. If you would like to request this free devotional, please call 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673. Or, visit online at www.tewonline.org.

That's www.tewonline.org. We are confident that it will be a blessing to you. The Encouraging Word is a viewer and listener supported ministry.

Thank you for listening today. Now if you're at our website signing up for that Daily Encouraging Word devotional Dr. Don mentioned or other resources, I pray you'll take a moment and dig a little deeper about who we are at TEW, The Encouraging Word. Over the last decade we have seen thousands of people give their lives to Christ because of the biblically based teaching of Dr. Don Wilton. And every single day we have more opportunities to be on more networks, but we'll only do that when the resources are available. So if you would prayerfully consider getting involved with us financially and prayerfully, we would love to hear from you.

Details again are online at www.tewonline.org. Before we get away, a closing thought from our pastor and chief encourager, Dr. Don Wilton. You know, before we go today, what a day of worship we've had. You know, you and I have in the middle of our hearts our beloved nation, don't we? How much I love America.

I'm so proud to be an American. You know, this broadcast is seen by so many of our armed forces across the world, and we hear from many, many of them, and we love them, we admire them, we respect them. They are our real heroes. And I want you to join with me as we are praying for them, that God would protect them and their families and loved ones. Let's do that right now, shall we? Just before we go, why don't you join with me? Lord Jesus, I'm joining with thousands of people right now and praying for our members, our brave, brave members of our community and our world who are in uniform. Many are overseas in strange and difficult places, families left behind. Lord Jesus, bless them, keep your hand upon them in every way, in Jesus' name, amen. Again, the ways to connect are our phone number at 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673, or online at TEWOnline.org. Cheers!