Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20060122.htm

JOHN: TRUSTING JESUS AS MESSIAH AND GOD
Part XXX: Resting Our Faith In An Inerrant, Logically Knowable Bible
(John 10:30-42)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

Two major, unnerving views held by some Evangelicals is that (a) we can not [allegedly] be SURE we understand God's truth in the Bible , and [at times it is thought this is so because] (b) we may not [allegedly] be able to trust the Bible's accuracy (as follows):

(1) Some time ago, a believer told me his family was "allergic" to my teaching! Stunned, I replied, "Can you show me where I err?"

He responded, "No, it's a difference of interpretation!"

I was astounded! He was implying I was doomed to float in a sea of uncertainty as to WHAT constituted God's Bible TRUTH in my ministry because variations in interpretation cloaked God's truth!

The church he now attends also promotes a degree of uncertainty about Bible truth. A flyer mailed from that church once advertised a seminar taught by one of its pastors, and the "promo" was: "We agree on the doctrinal basics, but agree to disagree on the rest!"

(3) This uncertainty about the Bible's truth, or about whether we can know it, reflects a growing crisis in Evangelicalism in general:

(a) A survey on the beliefs of students at 7 evangelical seminaries found that 53.8 percent "regard the Bible as accurate in its teachings, but its historical reporting is not always to be taken literally" (John H. Armstrong, The Coming Evangelical Crisis, 1996, p. 258)!

(b) It is little wonder that this uncertainty; after all, the churches from which many of these students come are often led by pastors who doubt the Bible is inspired by God. A poll of 10,000 clergymen in 5 U. S. denominations found that most Methodist, Episcopalian, United Presbyterian, Baptist and Lutheran clergymen held that the Bible is not God's Word in any unusual sense! (James M. Boice, Does Inerrancy Matter? [1979], p. 9)

(c) As a result, an evangelical book by J. Richard Middleton and Brian J. Walsh of Toronto's Institute for Christian Study, the work, Truth Is Stranger Than It Used To Be, p. 4-5 has come to assert that " . . . any truth' we claim for our cherished positions must be kept strictly in quotation marks.'" (Ibid., Armstrong, p. 37).

So, CAN we be SURE the BIBLE IS God's inspired Word? IF so, HOW can we be SURE we UNDERSTAND it's message correctly? If we CAN be sure, then, what IS the Bible's message?!"

(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )

Need: "(a) IS the Bible God's true Word, and (b) CAN I KNOW that (c) I UNDERSTAND it?! IF so, (d) HOW may I KNOW that I know what it says, and (e) what IS the Bible's central message to me?!"
  1. JESUS HIMSELF HELD THAT ALL WRITTEN SCRIPTURE IS GOD'S VERBALLY INSPIRED, AUTHORITATIVE WORD:
    1. Jesus viewed the WRITTEN Scriptures as God's Word, Jn. 10:34f:
      1. In saying, "Is it not written . . . ?" in John 10:34, Jesus referred to Psalm 82:6, cf. Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, ftn. to John 10:34.
      2. In referring to this verse, Jesus called it "the word of God" in John 10:35a, so He felt the WRITTEN Scriptures were God's Word!
    2. Jesus viewed the written Scriptures as VERBALLY inspired by God:
      1. In the context, the point of Jesus' argument rests with the use of the one WORD, "gods" found in Psalm 82:6, cf. John 10:34-36!
      2. As such, Jesus claimed this "scripture cannot be broken" in John 10:35b KJV, so He claimed each single WORD of Scripture is inspired of God so that Scripture is VERBALLY inspired of God!
    3. Jesus viewed the written Scriptures as DIVINELY inspired: combining His question of "Is it not written . . . ?" with His claim in John 10:35 that this is "the word of God" shows Jesus considered written Scripture to be DIVINELY authored, or authored of GOD!
    4. Jesus viewed the written Scriptures as PERMANENTLY inspired:
      1. The verb "written" in John 10:34, gegrammenon, is written in the perfect passive tense, U. B. S. Grk. N. T., 1966, p. 369; Analytical Greek Lexicon , 1972, p. 76.
      2. This tense means "it stands written," that what was written down in the PAST continues and WILL continue to bear God's authority! (J. G. Machan, N. T. Grk. For Beginners, 1951, p. 187f.
    5. Jesus viewed the written, God inspired Scriptures to be INERRANT:
      1. When Jesus said written Scripture "cannot be broken" in Jn. 10:35 KJV, He literally said, "ou dunatai luthaynai," that it was "not able to BE repealed, annulled, abolished," Ibid., U. B. S. Grk. N. T.; Arndt & Ging., A Grk.-Eng. Lex. of the N. T. , p. 206, 485.
      2. As His argument is based on the use of one word, "gods", Jesus held "no one could evade its force by saying an error was in the Scriptures" even at ONE WORD, Bib. Know. Com., N. T., p. 312!
    6. Jesus held that all ("plenary") written Scripture is inspired: His claim that "scripture" cannot be broken (10:35) uses the words, hay graphay to mean "the Scripture" "as a whole" [Ibid., Arndt & Ging., p. 165 (emphases ours)], so He held all written Scripture is God inspired!
  2. Then, Jesus used LOGIC to apply Scripture in John 10:34-36, so WE are to UNDERSTAND and APPLY the Bible the SAME WAY!
    1. In the context, Jesus meant to show that the religious leaders were not right to kill Him for the sin of blasphemy JUST BECAUSE He had CALLED Himself God Who was "one" with the Father, Jn. 10:30-36!
    2. Jesus' argument relied on the logical use of Psalm 82:6 (as follows): "If in any sense the Psalm may apply this term ["gods"] to men, then how much more may it be applied to Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world.'" (L. Morris, John (NICNT), 1979, p. 527f)
    3. By thus following this example of Jesus in interpreting and applying Scripture by use of simple human logic, we are assured that " . . . ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:32)
  3. If we then USE the verbally, divinely inspired written Scripture at John 10:30-42 LOGICALLY like Jesus exampled for us, it teaches He is GOD and MESSIAH to be BELIEVED for ETERNAL LIFE !
    1. Handling John 10:30-42 LOGICALLY as Jesus exampled for us, and as we would expect to handle any other piece of human literature, we note that after Jesus said He was one in essence with the Father in John 10:30 and the Jewish leaders reacted to try to execute Him for blasphemy in John 10:31, Jesus urged his foes to focus on His works that testified He was truly from God the Father, cf. John 10:32-33, 38.
    2. Now, in the extended literary context, those works include His healing the blind (John 10:21) and the lame (John 5:8-10) that Isaiah 35:4-6 had predicted would signal that God had arrived in Israel's presence!
    3. When the religious leaders still tried to kill Him, Jesus escaped and crossed over the Jordan River to where John first baptized, 10:39-40. That move signaled Jesus recalled John's ministry there (John 1:28), one that called Jesus "the Son of God" (John 1:34) due to the witnesses of the Father (Jn. 1:33a) and the Holy Spirit (Jn. 1:33b-34).
    4. Thus, by His crossing the Jordan at that time, Jesus implied He was the Son of God to be believed to give man eternal life, Jn. 1:29; 3:16!
Application: (1) May we believe on Jesus Christ to have eternal life. (2) May we believe the Bible is God's inerrant Word and (3) use it with simple human logic to be SURE of its message!

Lesson: Jesus taught that all written Scripture is God's verbally, divinely inspired and authoritative Word, and He exampled it is CORRECTLY known by way of simple LOGIC, and that the Bible teaches that He is the Son of God upon Whom one is to BELIEVE to receive ETERNAL LIFE!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

 I am positive I understand the truth of the passage we have just viewed in this message, and here are just SOME of the reasons why:

After the Sunday morning sermon of January 8th, 2 Christians in Fellowship Hall told me about an associate who was having doubts about the accuracy of the Old Testament record of the Exodus of Israel out of Egypt. Their associate had been taught Liberal Theology's view that holds to a late 13th cent. B. C. date for the Exodus. Yet, 1 Kings 6:1 and Judges 11:26 claim it occurred in the 15th cent. B. C.!

I was amazed at this news, for, in the next Prayer Meeting, January 11th, I had planned to teach in our series on Exodus beginning at Exodus 2:23! That very verse speaks of the death of the father of the Pharaoh of the Exodus, and his identity is a hot issue in the date of the Exodus debate! So, I saw God leading me to put off my study of Exodus 2:23-3:10 to prepare a lesson on the date of the Exodus!

I also saw from that Fellowship Hall conversation what I was to do with this very sermon! I had already glanced at this John 10:30-42 passage and knew I would be addressing Jesus' view on the inspiration of Scripture in John 10:34-36! However, from the conversation, I saw I would need to make that passage a highlight in the sermon for today!

However, the week before preaching on John 10:30-42, I wished I had more time to "finesse" that sermon and that day's evening message on Christ's atonement, for the subject matter of both sermons are "hot" issues in Evangelicalism! Well, a bad storm led us to cancel our a.m. service, and only 1 person came Sunday night, so I took all the time I wanted this last week to "finesse" both sermons for today!

Now, as I ponder all of this, I realize by such involvement of the Lord's leading that He is fulfilling His pledge in Revelation 3:20 to "come in" to me on a pricelessly personal level and get involved in leading me in the ministry so I might feed His flock for His glory!

From all this, (a) I KNOW Exodus 2:23, John 10:30-42 and Revelation 3:20 were divinely, verbally inspired and (b) that I UNDERSTAND God's TRUTH REVEALED in EACH passage -- God's involvement to help me with them was too CLEAR to MISS!

We REALLY CAN KNOW the TRUTH of God -- it is IN His WRITTEN Word, and He even GUIDES us with it as we USE it LOGICALLY! May we READ and LOGICALLY interpret it!