I hope you are reasonably familiar with the Old Testament prophecies about the Lord Jesus Christ. I’ve never counted them, but I have read that there are 333 such prophecies. I remember that because it is such a symmetrical and easily remembered figure. Beyond the prophecies – Christ and the Old Testament (the written Word) are related in other ways. It could be said that Christ is the author of the Word, because He can’t be disassociated from the Spirit. And He is called “the Word” – the Greek word is the same for both the Bible and the Saviour.
But this evening, I’d like to take you in a different direction from these; one that I have neglected far too long. It isn’t exciting. You won’t be going home talking about the great lesson you heard tonight. But it is important. It is a part of my responsibility to teach the “whole counsel of God.” What did the Lord Jesus say and believe about the Bible as He had it in the days of His earthly ministry? I could probably extend this lesson, but there is enough in the Book of Matthew for us to consider.
Jesus affirmed the AUTHORITY of the Word of God when He answered Satan’s temptations.
“It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” “It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” “It is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”
When you think about it, this is quite astonishing: The eternal Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity, could have properly rebuked Satan under His own authority. But He skipped over that personal prerogative. And He didn’t do as the Jews sometimes did, pointing to the Temple or something else related to Jehovah. Jesus, in His humanity, declared that He was going to do nothing but what the Word of God told Him to do. “It is written, it is written, it is written in the Word of the Lord.” If that was good enough for the Lord Jesus; if that was sufficient to shut the mouth of Satan, then that should be good enough for you and me. God commanded it – God declared it – and that settles it. Jesus affirmed the authority of the Word of God over His actions as God’s ambassador on earth.
Then in His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus referred to the eternal NATURE of the Word of God.
Matthew 5:17-18 – “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” Again, if you think about it, this is surprising. Satan can’t negate God’s Word, no matter how hard he has been trying for thousands of years. Time can’t erode or rot away the Word. And not even the Son of God has authority to eliminate or cancel the smallest part of Bible. For exa., the only thing which can erase the power of a divine prophesy is the fulfilment of that prophesy. And even then the prophecy and its fulfilment will continue to stand as a testament to God’s authority.
David said, “Forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in Heaven.” Isaiah said, “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the word of our God shall stand forever.” And Peter added his two cents, finishing with an exclamation mark – “The word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.”
In Jesus’ Matthew 15 debate with the Pharisees He highlighted the Bible’s SUPREMACY.
“Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?” “Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition” – verses 3 and 6. The Jews had their traditions, which, some of them, lifted up above the Word.
For this, the Lord clearly rebuked them, and we clack our tongues that those naughty Jews. But the Catholics and Jews aren’t the only one’s to fill their religion with traditions. How many Baptists inadvertently elevate various things over the Bible? It is not just the Protestants, many Baptists do that with their doctrinal statements. Many Baptists point to, or quote, the 1689 London Confession of Faith before they quote the Bible – if they can quote the Bible at all. And we have our missionary traditions, and our church service traditions, and our business meeting traditions. Many Baptists wouldn’t consider supporting a missionary who was not sent out from some board. And every church service needs to have 5 hymns, except if there is a special. And then there is the offeratory and an invitation hymn. It wouldn’t be a worship service if there wasn’t a tear-jerk invitation at the end. Even if there isn’t a hint of it in the Bible, Baptists must have a quarterly business meeting, whether or not there is any business to be discussed. And let’s not forget to reaffirm that last year’s pastor should be reinstated as this year’s pastor. Jesus asks, “Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?” Do we have Biblical authority for all that we do in our worship and in our service?
In Matthew 22 Christ affirms the DIVINE INSPIRATION of the scriptures.
Turn to Matthew 22 and let’s begin with v.41 – “While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David IN SPIRIT call him Lord, saying, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.”
Where did the Psalmist come up with his complicated statement in Psalm 110? “The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” David said what he said “in the spirit.” He was lead of the Holy Spirit. His words were inspired of God. Peter said that “the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” And speaking of Peter – the apostle used those same words of David in his Pentecostal sermon.
Thus far, what little I’ve said tonight, could be summarized with the word “theology.” “Theology,” of course, is the study of God and everything about God, so the word is appropriate. But theology can be nothing more than a mental exercise, and if that is the case then it has little point. At times Jesus left the theological and practical in what He said about God’s Word.
Christ affirmed the Bible’s HISTORICAL and SCIENTIFIC ACCURACY.
Matthew 19:1 – “And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these sayings, he departed from Galilee, and came into the coasts of Judaea beyond Jordan; And great multitudes followed him; and he healed them there. The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”
In His discussion on the permanence of marriage, what source does Jesus quote? His Bible. And that reference to marriage comes to us from one of the first chapters of the Word of God. In this day when so many religious leaders are denying the historicity of the flood – denying the literal six days of creation – denying that Adam was our first, literal parent – Jesus didn’t join them. As we have seen recently in Sunday School, God created the first man, forming his body from the dust of the ground and breathing into him the breath of life. And as I hope to study next week, from the man, God made a woman, and He officiated in their wedding. “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh” – Genesis 2:24.
The Lord Jesus declared, first to the Jews and then through them to us, these are the facts. Genesis 1 is actual history; Genesis 2 is literal history. Don’t argue the fact. We know that these were historical events, because Christ Jesus tells us. If Genesis isn’t true, then Christ cannot be trusted, and ultimately our faith in God turns into dust.
And in the same context, with the same results, Jesus affirms the scientific accuracy of the Bible. Of course, the Bible is not a scientific text book. It wasn’t written with the purpose of explaining how the universe ticks. It reveals just enough about physics, chemistry, biology and cosmology to remind us that Jehovah is God. But when it does tell us something about the physical universe it is accurate. Christ Jesus knew that and affirmed that.
In speaking about His soon return he said in Matthew 24:32 – “Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
Obviously, I could have used this scripture for my last point on Biblical history, but let’s extend it just a bit. Jesus essentially tells us that Genesis 6 is true, “the flood came, and took them all away,” except for Noah who believed God and built the ark. This Spokane valley in which our city lays, was excavated through events related to Noah’s flood. And those jagged Canadian mountain peaks, which the Kjeldgaards enjoyed a few weeks ago, were formed through effects of the flood. Christ Jesus believed that, and by His grace I have learned to believe that as well.
Conclusion:
And the point is this: generally speaking, the world doesn’t look on the Bible the way Jesus did. Most of the world is living its hedonistic way, saying, “Let’s take our ease, eating, drinking and being merry, for tomorrow we’ll die like lemmings or sheep, and our bodies will return to mother earth.” But, says the Saviour, “Noah believed God, and he was saved in implementing his trust.”
We are absolutely dependent upon the Bible for those eternal truths we really need. We need to follow Jesus into what the Word of God tells us. We need to know it, trust it and implement it, just as our Saviour did.