PastorPhilMartin's Blog

Mission Trip to Myanmar

pastorphilmartin — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:56:31 +0000

It was an exciting and tiring week teaching at Yangon Grace Bible School. It was a great joy to have pastors and students learning about one of the greatest leaders in the Old Testament, Nehemiah.

I left for Myanmar early on Monday morning and flew for the next 24 hours. I had a short night because I had to be at the airport at 5:00 am the next morning in order to catch my next flight. The flight was delayed and I thought about that extra 2 hours I could have slept!

Finally, I got to Yangon and checked into my hotel room. We grabbed a quick bite to eat and we were off to the Bible School. I taught for several hours that afternoon. I was tired, and I was hoping that what I taught sounded like Nehemiah!

Ben Bounds, the director of Faith International Partners, had already taught the first 2 chapters and I taught the rest of the book. I taught with the aid of an interpreter for hours each day, and to be honest it was hard work. The exciting thing is that for many of the men, it was the first time they had ever been taught Nehemiah.

It was very humbling to meet these National pastors who traveled great distances to come to this training. Some travel days, in fact one pastor traveled 6 days. He walked two days, rode buses 2 days and traveled by boat for 2 days. Most of the men are ministering in the mountains to the Hill tribe people; usually they are from that tribe themselves. The people are used to walking great distances, because for many, the only way to get where they live is a foot path. Most of these men are poorly educated by our standards, in fact, some have difficulty reading.

One thing I was impressed with was their hunger for God’s Word. They asked great questions and you could tell they were really processing the information they had heard. Another real blessing was hearing them sing praises to God. They could really sing and it was loud. It sounded like a men’s choir, 50 voices strong! It gave me the glory bumps every time they sang. I wish we could sing with that passion at Metro! It really seemed they were singing for His glory and praises to His name.

I preached the commencement address on Saturday afternoon. It was a real honor to challenge these graduates to go back home and reach their tribal group with the gospel. I hope you will pray for them. Their country is ruled by a communist military government. They will hazard their life for the message they preach and the Lord they serve.

Doesn’t God deserve our Best?

pastorphilmartin — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:56:06 +0000

Doesn’t God deserve our Best?

After listening restlessly to a long and tedious sermon, a 6-year-old boy asked his father what the preacher did the rest of the week. “Oh, he’s a very busy man,” the father replied. “He takes care of church business, visits the sick, works on his sermon, counsels people…and then he has to have time to rest up because speaking in public isn’t an easy job.” The boy thought for a moment and then said, “Well, listening ain’t easy, either!”

It ain’t easy to listen, is it? That’s probably how Malachi’s listeners felt.

Let me remind you of the situation that Malachi is addressing. The Jews had returned to their land after living in modern-day Iraq for 70 years. The Temple had been rebuilt and the worship of God had been reestablished. While outwardly everything seemed OK, on the inside a cancer of complacency had been eating away at their commitment. Their worship had become wimpy, their leaders had morphed into lightweights, their relationships had ruptured, their offerings were anemic and they had stopped serving. As God’s final spokesman at the end of the Old Testament, Malachi comes on the scene to challenge them, and us, to give God our best.

1. Embrace an authentic faith (1:6-7). There are two sides to the Father’s love. One side is tender and the other a bit tougher. He is relational in His giving, and He is resplendent in His glory, and as such, we must honor Him, which means to consider Him weighty.

2. Give God priority over possessions (1:8-9). The priests were accepting not just the second best from the people; but worse than that, they were bringing God sick sheep and gross goats. They were offering the ones that weren’t worth anything. God is not interested in substandard sacrifices (Lev. 22:2, 19-20).

There are three standards for sacrifices in Scripture.

• Give the best (John 12:3-5)

• Give to God first (2 Chron. 31:5)

• Giving should cost us something (2 Sam. 24:24)

3. Grasp the greatness of God (1:10-14). God would much rather have us shut down the church than to come to Him with pathetic leftovers. Every time God mentions sacrifice, He follows it with the phrase, “I will be great” or “I will be feared.” Sacrifice is directly linked to the greatness of God. When we offer Him little or nothing, we are really saying that God doesn’t matter much to us.

Instead of counting it a privilege to minister on God’s behalf, they exclaimed, “What a burden!” They even “sniffed at it contemptuously,” which means that they “puffed” or “blew” in exaggerated exasperation. I imagine God looking at us and wondering why we get so bored with Him (see Mic. 6:3; Isa. 1:12-13).

If you ever get a glimpse of the greatness of God, and what Jesus has done for you, you’ll never play church again and you’ll give God your best for the rest of your life.

The Upside of Resolutions

pastorphilmartin — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 21:30:14 +0000

The Upside of Resolutions

Have you ever talked to someone who said that they won’t make any resolutions because they always break them? While I certainly understand this (all too well), the downside of this attitude is that we can end up not making any decisions to move forward spiritually. As Donald Whitney writes, “No one coasts into Christlikeness.”

If you’re up for a serious challenge this week, I dare you to read through 70 Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards. (http://www.apuritansmind.com/the-christian-walk/jonathan-edwards-resolutions/ ) I’m so far from exhibiting most of them in my own life but I found that the simple act of reading them has provided some motivation to move forward.

Here are some that really rocked me this morning.

1. Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God’s glory, and my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriad’s of ages hence. Resolved, to do whatever I think to be my duty and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many and how great so ever.

3. Resolved, if ever I shall fall and grow dull, so as to neglect to keep any part of these resolutions, to repent of all I can remember, when I come to myself again.

8. Resolved, to act, in all respects, both speaking and doing, as if nobody had been so vile as I, and as if I had committed the same sins, or had the same infirmities or failings as others; and that I will let the knowledge of their failings promote nothing but shame in myself, and prove only an occasion of my confessing my own sins and misery to God.

10. Resolved, when I feel pain, to think of the pains of martyrdom, and of hell.

17. Resolved, that I will live so as I shall wish I had done when I come to die.

24. Resolved, whenever I do any conspicuously evil action, to trace it back, till I come to the original cause; and then both carefully endeavor to do so no more, and to fight and pray with all my might against the original of it.

28. Resolved, to study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly and frequently, as that I may find, and plainly perceive myself to grow in the knowledge of the same.

52. I frequently hear persons in old age say how they would live, if they were to live their lives over again: Resolved, that I will live just so as I can think I shall wish I had done, supposing I live to old age. July 8, 1723.

70. Let there be something of benevolence, in all that I speak.

NO PLACE TO LAY HIS HEAD

pastorphilmartin — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:37:24 +0000

NO PLACE TO LAY HIS HEAD

By Rick Marschall

The Christmas story has become really sanitized.

I mean literally. How many depictions do we see, how often do we think, of the Christ Child in the manger, surrounded by shining angels, kindly shepherds, pretty sheep… and bugs and worms, rotted bits of feed and dung, dirt and moldy straw?

The manger was likely in a rough, dark, musty cave, not in an open-air lean-to that the greeting cards portray.

We can also wonder whether Joseph and Mary were told “No room in the inn!” not only because the city was crowded… but perhaps because innkeepers declined rooms to unmarried pregnant girls.

Homeless…a mother who was single when she conceived… rejected…forced to the humblest place in the city to be born, farm animals as attendants: the Bible accurately calls it a lowly birth.

What has NOT been scrubbed clean from the story is that the Bible called it a lowly birth hundreds of years before it happened, in every particular – these details and many more. Truly this was the Son of God.

But we should not turn to the next pretty greeting card this Christmas season. Linger in that stable, and you will see more. You will see children today born in similar circumstances. Parents in distress. No place to live. Little to eat. Rejected and despised.

When God chose to humble Himself and become flesh, He emptied Himself of His royal nature, and became… middle class? A suburbanite fretting over student loans? Someone managing a household budget and hobbies? OK, those might not be profiles of average Bethlehemites of the day… but they are not profiles of millions of babies born around the world today, either.

God identified with the most basic level of humanity. He meets us at our humblest places, conditions, and realities.

When we think of this unsanitary and unsanitized picture of the Nativity, does it change our attitude toward Jesus, the Incarnate Lord, come to live with us?

Does it change our attitude toward homeless, rejected, vulnerable, hungry children being born every day?

Does it change our attitude toward our own hearts?

Learning How to say Thanks

pastorphilmartin — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 16:16:07 +0000

Learning How to say Thanks

Researchers have proven what most parents probably knew instinctively: gratitude doesn’t come naturally. In her book entitled “The Gift of Thanks,” Margaret Visser cites a study which observed how parents teach their children to say “hi,” “thanks,” and good-bye.” The children in the study spontaneously said “hi” 27 percent of the time, “good-bye” 25 percent of the time, and “thanks” 7 percent of the time. Parents had to prompt their children to say “hi” 28 percent of the time, “good-bye” 33 percent of the time, and “thanks” 51 percent of the time.

In conclusion, children had a much more difficult time learning to say “thanks.” Most children have to learn to say “thank you” even before they know what it means. Visser states, “Eventually, when [children] have matured and been further educated, they will come to be able to feel the emotion that the words express. The words come first, the feelings later.” Perhaps this applies to adults too!

Based on this research Visser concludes that learning to be thankful involves a steep learning curve. She writes, “In our culture thanksgiving is believed to be, for most children, the very last of basic social graces they acquire … .Children have to be ‘brought up’ to say they are grateful. The verb is passive: they are brought up, they do not bring themselves.”

Visser also notes that, although we have to grow into the practice of thanksgiving, once we finally learn to be grateful, we seldom forget it: “Such phrases [like ‘thank you’] become so ingrained in us that they last when almost everything else has been forgotten. In states of aphasia, or in people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, these little phrases often survive the shipwreck of other memories.”

Margaret Visser, “The Gift of Thanks” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009), pp. 8-15

By the way can I say thanks to all who remembered my birthday! The cards were great and the expressions of encoragement were much appreciated! I can wait to walk on the treadmill that you gave me. I have no excuse not to be skinny and healthy! Thanks!

Pastor Phil

Thanksgiving Proclamation

pastorphilmartin — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 23:36:25 +0000

Thanksgiving Proclamation

The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful years and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the Source from which they come, others have been added which are of so extraordinary a nature that they can not fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God.

In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict, while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.

Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the field of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than theretofore. Population has steadily increased notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battlefield, and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union.

In testimony wherof I have herunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

[Signed]
A. Lincoln

Trust God’s Timing

pastorphilmartin — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 13:35:48 +0000

This morning, early, we got the phone call we hoped we wouldn’t get. The kids were leaving their home because the flood waters were rising. They called as they were driving away from their house in northern district above Bangkok. The waters have had them surrounded for about a week but now the flood has started into their neighborhood.

As they were driving south, Heather phoned on Ryan’s cell phone (I’ve never really cared for cell phones until now) as they made their way south toward a place called Hua Hin.

We don’t really know much about what is happening but I assume that the car is loaded with grandchildren and as much stuff as they can carry, with Pedro (Heather’s dog). Going about 100 miles south will get them out of the flooding as they wait for the waters to recede.

Before they left they had already put as much as they could carry on the second floor of their house. Some of their household items were too heavy for them to lift so they moved it to the highest place they could to get them off the ground. A washer, a dryer, a refrigerator were just too heavy for Heather to help Ryan move so this will be probably flooded.

The decision to evacuate was made after trying to wait out the flood. Their neighborhood was one of the last areas in their district to flood. The water started over the walls in the back of the neighborhood and the decision was- move now or be stuck until they were either rescued and or the water receded. They were told that the water might recede over the next month. Their friends, in the neighbor had next to theirs, were already flooded and the water was waist deep.

In light of the flooding and what has happened to our kids, let’s ponder some thoughts about God’s timing. I have been thoroughly studying Titus 1:3: “…And at His appointed season He brought His Word to light…” All of God’s promises will come true but it’s on His timetable, not ours. Events on God’s calendar occur at designated times in history according to His perfect wisdom. The timing of Jesus’ birth, for example, is one of Paul’s favorite themes. Galatians 4:4: “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law.”

The word “appointed” refers to that which is one’s own private and unique possession. The purpose behind God’s timing is often known only to Him. The word “season” refers to a window of opportunity, or a fixed period of time. Acts 17:26 reminds us of God’s direct involvement in our lives: “…he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.”

Andrew Murray offers a helpful perspective on being patient about God’s timing: “Waiting in the sunshine of His love is what will ripen the soul for His blessing. Waiting under the cloud of trial that breaks in showers of blessing, is as needful. Be assured that if God waits longer than you would wish, it is only to make the blessing doubly precious

(“Waiting for God,” page 102).

Will you trust His timing today? I’m sure trying to….

Saved to Share

pastorphilmartin — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 18:10:46 +0000

Last Sunday we kicked off our missions conference and I spoke from Acts 26 and showed that we are saved to share. This chapter records for us the third time that Paul gives us his personal testimony in the book of Acts.

Someone has observed that there are only two kinds of Christians in this world:

1. Those who talk ABOUT the lost.

2. Those who talk TO the lost. Which one are you?

You have not been saved just to sit in church, or to soak up truth, or to sing in a choir, or even to send missionaries around the world. You have been saved to Share.

Do you know what God’s greatest tool is to reach other people for Jesus Christ? Well, the answer is YOU!

A survey from the Institute of American Church Growth showed that 75 to 90% of new believers come to Christ through a friend or acquaintance who explains the Good News on a one-to-one basis. Only 17% of all conversions come through what is called an “event” such as a pastor preaching a Sunday morning message, a crusade, or some other church activity.

Every true Christian has in his heart perhaps the single most powerful tool available to be an effective witness for Christ his personal testimony. That is all Paul had as he stood before a king in Acts 26 and it was all he needed. In this chapter we see the simple things Paul did that every Christian can begin to do today to be an effective witness for Christ.

“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope you have.” I Peter 3:15

One of the most effective tools you have for sharing your faith is your testimony – the story of how Jesus Christ transformed your life.

When the Apostle Paul stood before King Agrippa (Acts 26), he spoke simply, logically, and clearly about his life before salvation, how he met Christ, and what his life was like after conversion. Paul’s testimony takes three or four minutes to read aloud.

Learning how to tell others your story in the same manner will be important on your mission trip. The choice of the right words, the flow of your story, and knowing how to begin and end are important.

The purpose of preparing a testimony is not to memorize it and say it verbatim, but to help you put into words some of the important and interesting details of your own conversion experience. A testimony serves primarily as a “door opener,” not a “convincing tool.” Many people are not ready to be convinced they need Christ, but can often be led to talk about the gospel after hearing a personal testimony.

Paul’s Model

Paul’s testimony in Acts 26 is a biblical model you can follow in writing your own personal testimony.

LEAD IN VERSES 2-3

BEFORE VERSES 4-11

HOW VERSES 12-20

AFTER VERSES 21-23

CLOSE VERSES 24-29

Here are some suggestion for developing the Before, How, and After sections of your personal testimony.

BEFORE

Many people’s actions spring out of their unsatisfied deep inner needs. What were one or two of your unsatisfied, deep inner needs before you came to know Jesus Christ? Some examples of inner needs are:

Lack of peace Lack of security

Fear of death Lack of purpose

Something missing Lack of Significance

No meaning to life No real friends

Desire to be in control No motivation

Loneliness

Non-Christians are usually trying to satisfy their deep inner needs through unsatisfactory solutions. In the past, what unsatisfactory solutions did you use to attempt to meet those deep inner needs? As you develop your testimony, list positive, as well as negative solutions you may have tried.

Some examples are:

Marriage/family Education

Work Hobbies/entertainment

Drugs/alcohol Sex

Sports/fitness Wrong friends

HOW

1. Describe the circumstances that caused you to consider Christ as the solution to your deep inner needs. Identify the events that led to your conversion. In some cases this may have taken place over a period of time.

2. State specifically the steps you took to become a Christian. If there is a particular passage of Scripture that applied here, you may want to use it. Usually, you will simply paraphrase it.

3. Include the gospel clearly and briefly. The gospel includes: All have sinned; Sin’s penalty; Christ paid the penalty; You must receive Christ.

AFTER

Share how Christ met or is meeting your deep inner needs. In the BEFORE you expressed your needs and how you tried unsuccessfully to meet them. You now want to firefly show the difference that Christ has made in your life.

Conclude with a statement like this: “But the greatest benefit is that I know for certain I have eternal life.” The person you are talking with will tend to comment on the last thing you say. Often it is natural to move from the testimony into a clear presentation of the gospel.

HOW

2. State specifically the steps you took to become a Christian. If there is a particular passage of Scripture that applied here, you may want to use it. Usually, you will simply paraphrase it.

3. Include the gospel clearly and briefly. The gospel includes: All have sinned; Sin’s penalty; Christ paid the penalty; You must receive Christ.

AFTER

it’s YOUR story. You will help others see that Christ can make a difference in their lives, just like he has made a difference in yours!

At first blush, it appears as if Paul was unsuccessful. “Then Agrippa said to Paul, ‘You almost persuade me to become a Christian.” (v.28) You would think that it was all for naught because Agrippa did not come to Christ. But listen carefully. Paul was succesful because he was faithful. He was indeed “obedient to the heavenly vision.” Any witness is successful when he or she simply testifies to the truth of Jesus Christ, shares the story of their own conversion, and leaves the results to God. Because that is all God has called us to do, is to simply tell the truth about Jesus.

If you do not have a testimony or you are not sharing your testimony, you need to examine yourself as to whether or not you have truly met Jesus Christ. Has there been a time in your life when you repented? When you truly turned to God? Are you now doing works befitting repentance? If you do not have a testimony, today you can.

Church and Football

pastorphilmartin — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 18:10:17 +0000

Did you know church can be just like football?

Quarterback Sneak—Church members quietly leaving during the invitation.
Draw Play—What many children do with the bulletin during worship.
Half-time—The period between Sunday School and worship when many choose to leave.
Benchwarmer—Those who do not sing, pray, work or apparently do anything but sit.
Backfield-in-Motion—Making a trip to the back (restroom or water fountain) during the service.
Staying in the Pocket—What happens to a lot of money that should be given to the Lord’s work.
Two-minute Warning—The point at which you realize the sermon is almost over and begin to gather up your children and belongings.
Instant Replay—The preacher loses his notes and falls back on last week’s illustrations.
Sudden Death—What happens to the attention span of the congregation if the preacher goes into “overtime.”
Trap—You’re called on to pray and are asleep.
End Run—Getting out of church quick, without speaking to any guest or fellow member.
Flex Defense—The ability to allow absolutely nothing said during the sermon to affect your life.
Halfback Option—The decision of 50 percent of the congregation not to return for the evening service.
Blitz—The rush for the restaurants following the closing prayer.

Where did the Bible come from??

pastorphilmartin — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 20:15:56 +0000

Where did the Bible come from??

Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

Matt. 24:35

Have you ever wondered where the Bible came from? How did we get the actual book that we hold in our hands? Did some guy say, “Hey, Martha. Hold my calls. I’m going up to my bedroom to write me some of that there Bible stuff”? Did God get a bunch of people together and do a group project, like a “Create the Bible Weekend”? Most people have no idea how each Bible portion was written and gathered into the whole. Here

are a few more questions I’ve heard people ask: Did the people who were writing the Bible know that they were writing Scripture? Did they have any awareness that God was writing through them? Did they say to themselves, “People are going to be reading this for thousands of years”? Did some people try to write the Bible and fail? Or did they get it right the first time? Were they on a direct feed from almighty God? Or were they

like, “Hey, God, I’m not getting this part-can we go over it again?”

The answers to these questions are extremely important. By studying the history of what did happen, we can greatly amplify our confidence in God’ s Word. Amazingly, the Bible was written over 1,500years by forty different authors on three different continents: Asia,

Europe, and Africa. The classic New Testament passage on the Bible’s origin is found in 2 Timothy 3:15, which says, “From childhood you have known the sacred writings

which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”

I like that phrase at the end of the verse that says essentially, “Timothy, ever since you were a kid, you’ve known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise unto salvation.” A lot of times people wonder, “How does a person come to be saved? How does a person come to know the Lord in a way that gets beyond religion to a genuine relationship?” Here we learn that the key is the Word of God. It is Scripture that penetrates people’s hearts and allows them to comprehend the “wisdom that leads to salvation.”

Let me ask you that same question: “Are you wise to the ways of salvation?” Either way, that kind of wisdom, salvation wisdom, can only come from God’s Word, the book that our Creator has written. Now maybe you’re thinking, Hold on. Do you really-believe that God sat at a desk and took a pen in His hand? Well, not exactly like that. Back to 2 Timothy 3:15. The phrase “sacred writings” in verse 15 is comoposed of two Greek words, which refer to the Old Testament Scriptures. Then in verse 16, “all Scripture” was the term used in the early church to describe God’s new writings.

Notice what Paul said in verse 16: “All Scripture is inspired by God.” All of it-the old and the new are both inspired, not just the part of the Bible that speaks to you. Not just the part that agrees with human wisdom. Not only the parts that bring you comfort. All Scripture-all of it-is given by inspiration of God. All sixty-six books. All 1,189 chapters. All 41,173verses. All 3,566,480 letters. All of it! The reason this is so important is that there are some parts of God’s Word that we don’t necessarily like or agree with. True or false? Some parts make us very uncomfortable because they convict us about our behavior and contradict views that we have thought to be correct. For that reason it is essential that we understand and accept the Bible’s own assertion that all of it-the parts that bless me and the parts that stretch me–all of it is God’s Word. Notice the word inspired in 2 Timothy 3:16.Some versions say inspiration. The word inspiration translates a compound word in the original. It’s a two-part word that means God-breathed. Once you understand the concept that all Scripture is inspired or God-breathed, you will never look at the Bible the same way again.

The best illustration I’ve heard to explain the concept of God-breathed is that of a sailboat. If you’ve ever been sailing, you know how incredible it is when the wind

blows down, catches the sail, and carries the boat across the lake. The boat can’t go where the wind won’t take it. In the same sense, God breathed the words of Scripture into the human authors. Yes, there were men who wrote it down. But the words that were written

were the very words of God. God breathed or blew His words into the hearts and minds of the human sails. The end result is that what we have recorded in the Bible are

the very words of God.

You say, “Can you be more specific?” Yes, I can. Not only did God write a book, but the Holy Spirit communicated the words. With so many people attacking and denying

the true authorship of Scripture, you have to be very specific about what you mean when you say that the Bible is God’s Word. Charles Ryrie, a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, illustrates how times have changed: … “Not many years ago, a1l you had to say to affirm your belief in the inspiration of the Bible was that you believed the Bible was the Word of God. That was it. But as people have sliced and diced and criticized and

hacked the Bible to bits [or tried to-obviously they’ve failed, it became necessary to add that you believed the Bible was the inspired Word of God. Later you had to include the verbally inspired Word of God. Then to mean the same thing, you had to say the plenary, verbally inspired Word of God. Today one has to say the plenary, verbally inspired, infallible Word of God. So many people have tried to undermine God’s Word that you have to be really clear about what you mean.”

Let me touch on a couple of those things. We believe in the plenary inspiration of Scripture. We believe God wrote the whole thing from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation

22:21. We believe that God wrote it all and not just certain parts.

Secondly, we believe in the verbal inspiration of Scripture-not just that God chose the concepts, but that He chose the specific words. It wasn’t like God was a coach as the apostles were writing down the New Testament-where He would say, “Hey, now write something about the feeding of the 5,000.” God wasn’t looking over the writer’s shoulder and saying, “Good, yeah, that’s ,really good. Now” write something about how much I love them. Yeah, yeah, that’s fantastic! No, it wasn’t like that-at all. The Holy Spirit communicated the specific words-not just the paragraph headings.

You say, “Weil, okay. But weren’t the apostles writing many years after Christ lived? How can I be sure that the words they wrote down were actually the exact words that Jesus spoke? I can’t remember what my mom said on the phone yesterday. How could they remember what Jesus said twenty, maybe even thirty years earlier?” First of all, I’m sure some of the disciples must have been saying, “Hey, is anybody getting this down? Lord, hang mon for a second. Somebody grab a pencil. We’ve gotta get some of this stuff down.”

But beyond that, Jesus promised the disciples help in remembering what He said. In John 14:26- Jesus promised, “The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” Isn’t that a great pledge? So Jesus was like, “Hey. Don’t worry about trying to remember every single thing I say. When it comes time to write the Gospels, when it comes time to .write down the record of My life, I will have sent the Holy Spirit to indwell you, and He will bring to your mind all the words that I am speaking now.” Wow! That is so great! Look at Jolui.16:12. Not only would the Holy Spirit bring to mind the things the disciples might tend to forget, but Jesus said, “There’s a whole bunch of stuff I want to tell you guys, but you can’t handle it right now!”

John 16:12-13 says, “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth: for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak.” So some of what the apostles wrote down in the New Testament were things that Jesus had never even spoken. The Holy Spirit was adding things under the direction of God the Father. Notice that the disciples were promised additional insight from the Holy Spirit, who would be directly involved in the inspiration and recording of Scripture.

As these truths begin to dawn upon our understanding, we can see that almighty God is very deeply invested in this book called the Bible. He could have communicated with us in a lot of different ways. He could have written His message in the sky. He could have sent us all heavenly telegrams. He could have appeared in person annually to make His will known. There are many approaches God could have used to get His information

to us. What God chose to do was to write a book. That was His plan, and that is His plan. He chose to make Himself and His will for us known in a book.

“For this reason we need to be very sure that we do not allow the words of the Bible to be diluted or compromised. They are not to be added to, subtracted from, or edited in any way. The words are not to be updated, amplified, or adjusted, not even once. In Rev. 22:19, almost the last verse in the Bible, it says, “If anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city.”

Notice it says that if anyone takes away from the words of this book-not the concepts, not the thoughts, but the words. God doesn’t want people messing with His book. He doesn’t want people changing it. He doesn’t want people arrogantly thinking they can upgrade it or make it more accessible or less offensive or whatever. But there are some very troubling trends in the world today related to people taking God’s Word seriously.

First, I am concerned about the emphasis on study notes over the sacred text. It really bothers me to turn through the pages of a Bible and see the study notes written in the same font right alongside God’s Word. Some people spend more time reading the notes than what God actually wrote. There is danger in giving the words of men an authority parallel to the words of God. When you pick up the Bible, make sure you’re learning the Bible, and not just a single person’s thoughts about this book.

People have been understanding God’s Word without notes for thousands of years. Surely the most educated group of people who ever lived don’t need someone to interpret every single word.

Here’s a second trend that concerns me: marketing the Bible by creating a special version for every demographic segment of society-the High School Bible, the College Bible, the Worship Bible, the Seeker Bible, the Revival Bible, the Seniors’ Bible, the Little Kids’ Bible. It’s out of control! Where did this idea come from? From people who want to get God’s life-changing truth into the hands of everyone, or from those who want to profit from the Word of God through marketing techniques?

Next we’re going to have the Farmer’s Bible, but we’ll need a Crop Farmer’s Bible because his needs are a lot different from those of a livestock farmer! The livestock farmer will have to have his own Bible. Ridiculous! The third and most dangerous trend in our day is a dramatic shift in the actual philosophy of translation itself. For 2,000 years people translated the New Testament with one primary agenda: accuracy. They tolerated translations that were awkward or even unclear at times because they believed that the Holy Spirit gave the precise words that God the Father wanted, and their greatest passion was to know exactly what God said. But nowadays people say, “Just make it readable. People will never understand that; smooth it over, fill in the gaps, and make sure no one is left pondering what it means.” Many of today’s translators have forgotten that God’s

Word cannot be known apart from the work of the Holy Spirit (1Corinthians 2:14). If the Spirit of God is opening the heart of a person, he or she will understand God’s Word. If the Spirit of God is not guiding them into truth (cf. John 16:13), no amount of” dumbing down” the Bible and injuring its accuracy will help. Good modern translations that present the greatest possible word-for-word accuracy would be the New American Standard Bible and the English Standard Version.

If we accept the biblical truth that God chose the words, then clearly we should not be tampering with those words in any way. But if the exact words don’t matter, maybe I should release the “Gen-X Bible” I have been working on. Here’s a sample from Luke 15:14, the story of the Prodigal Son. The English Standard Version says, “And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need.” That’s an accurate translation. Now here’s my Gen-X version- “So the dude looks in his bag for a bit more green, and it’s like bone-dry. To make it worse, there’s like no food anywhere-not even a can of bean dip or something. And you know how bad you can get the munchies if you’ve been partying. So this guy is completely bent over with a hunger problem, and his formerly full pockets are way empty.’?

Is that where we want to go with the Bible? Many people are headed in that direction. We need those who will stand up for verbal inspiration. Some people say, “But, Lord, we’re helping people understand Your Word.” God’s like, “Whew! I couldn’t have done it without you.” Remember: God wrote a book! The Holy Spirit communicated the words, and the words matter! God can handle the obvious limitations of language equivalency

if we do our best to render word-far-word accuracy in our translations.

That’s God’s part. Now let’s consider the human role in the writing of Scripture. The apostles wrote the words down. This is where alot of people begin to struggle, saying, “I don’t have a problem with God’s book. As long as it’s in God’s hands, I feel really confident about it. It’s when some guy is actually writing it down-that’s what troubles me. It’s like, what if they got distracted or forgot a part or something? I forget stuff all the time. How can I be sure that they didn’t mess up the Bible somehow?” The other key New Testament passage on where the Bible came from is 2 Peter 1:20-21: “But know this first

of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”

Notice first of all the phrase, “for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will.” While it was not man’s will creating the Scriptures, God did work through the authors’ individual personalities. God did not simply dictate the Bible. It wasn’t like John said, “Okay, now let’s do chapter 3, verse 16. ‘For’-Okay, got it. What’s next?-’God’ -Got it. Next?-’ so’-Got it.-’loved’ Got it.-’the’-Next?-’world’-Great!/I The apostles and other authors of Scripture had more than a secretarial function. We believe that God supernaturally flowed His word-for-word truth through the personality and mind of the author. If you look at the life of Peter, for example, he was excitable, enthusiastic, and very verbal.

When you read his writings, they are the same way. He is talking about this, and then he’s talking about that, and next he’s changing the subject a third time. He’s allover the place, and you can see Peter’s personality in the way he writes. Or you might say, in the way God writes through him.

Now take the apostle Paul. He was like a lawyer: Point one, point two, point three. Perfect logic. Flawless argumentation. That’s how Paul writes. John was the one who leaned on Jesus’ bosom at the Last Supper. John was tenderhearted and loving. You can see his personality in the Gospel and Epistles God wrote through him. John constantly brings up God’s love and the way we must love each other. Do you see how God worked through the individuality of the human authors to bring the truth He wanted to communicate? It was God’s content delivered through human personality. But not just any old human personality. I don’t think many of us would have been qualified to write the Bible.

I know I wouldn’t have been. God chose the most righteous, godly people who have ever lived as the instruments to write His book. They were apostles and prophets-pure vessels, clear channels. They were men with the capacity to hear God very directly and perfectly.

These were men who had a lifetime of experience in downloading God’s heart to people.

Now we’re trying to answer the question: Where did the Bible come from? And hopefully you get the God part and the human part. Next let’s consider the book part. Maybe you think to yourself, A period of 1,500 years, forty different authors, sixty-six books. I can’t find a book that I read last year. How did sixty-six little books written over 1.5 millennia

get together in one big book?

To state it simply, the early church pulled it all together. Very early, within a very few years, the leaders of the church put these sixty-six books together, concluding, “These are the books God has written.” Again, while most people have little or no knowledge of how this happened, a clear understanding of the historical record can do a lot to bolster faith in God’s Word. The process they used involved two main steps: 1) eliminating the inferior writings; and 2) identifying the inspired writings.

ELIMINATING THE INFERIOR WRITINGS

The writing of the Scripture was complete by A.D. 95. Hundreds of manuscripts were copied and recopied so that everyone could hear the messages God had given. But there were also many writings that were not inspired by the Holy Spirit. So it wasn’t as if these sixty-six books were off in a pile all by themselves. Around and among the writings that would eventually be recognized as God’s Word were others that were of mere human origin. Canonization is the word that is used to describe how the individual books of Scripture were set apart and recognized.

The word canon actually means “measuring rod.” So the canon of Scripture is the collection of books that measured up. Norman Geisler and William Nix have written A General Introduction to the Bible,3inwhich they explain the process of canonization.

There were four categories into which the available religious writings were placed, and the first category was called the homolegomena, which means” one word” or “agreement.” These books were accepted by everyone and recognized quickly.

Then there was the second group called the antilegomena. These were books that were initially spoken against. People said, “We’re not sure about this one.

Should it really be in the Bible?” There were five Old Testament antilegomena books. People weren’t sure about the Song of Solomon at first because they thought it was too sensual. Ecclesiastes was also doubted initially because people thought it was too cynical. The book of Esther was questioned because it never mentions the name of God, though as people studied Esther, they carne to see the thread of God’s sovereignty woven beautifully through its story. The other two doubtful books were Proverbs and Ezekiel.

The New Testament books initially included in the antilegomena were Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, Jude, and Revelation. Most of these were initially doubted on the grounds of authorship. For example, until the early church fathers were convinced that John really wrote 2 and 3 John, they weren’t willing to say that it was God’s Word. All of these were initially questioned but were eventually recognized as sacred Scripture.

A third category of writings you’ve probably heard of is the apocryphal books. The word apocrypha means “hidden” or “hard to understand.” These were also in the pile of books that were examined and measured against the standard of God’s authorship. There were fourteen to fifteen apocryphal books. A battle continues over these books in that the Roman Catholic church did not fully recognize them until the middle of the second millennium.

Several apocryphal books were added to the Bible during the time of the Protestant Reformation when certain Christians were questioning specific doctrines of the Catholic church and objecting to the lack of biblical support for such teaching. These apocryphal books, which do not agree with the originally canonized books, are used to substantiate Catholic teachings such as purgatory and prayers for the dead. These later books have always been noticeably inferior, and by virtue of their contradictions of teachings of the books originally recognized, apocryphal books should not be considered books that

God wrote.

The last category of writings considered during the process of canonization was the pseudepigrapha. This grouping, though it includes possibly 300 or more writings, focused in on 18 specific ones that, while high in quality, were unanimously recognized as clearly not God’s Word. These books were filled with fanciful, magical kinds of things such as stories about Jesus when He was a little boy and how He would do tricks for His friends. Everyone agreed that these were the creations of people’s imagination rather than messages given supernaturally by God.

IDENTIFYING THE INSPIRED WRITINGS

I remember when I studied these matters for the first time, I had one burning question. You may be asking that question even now: “What specific standards did they actually use to establish the canon?” In reality there were five tests the writings had to pass in order to be considered God’s Word. We can call them “five proofs of inspiration.”

1. Authority. The book under consideration had to have authority. If you have ever studied God’s Word with an open heart, you know firsthand that it is unlike anything else you have ever read. The Bible has an almost measurable aura of authority. This authority was also present in the teaching of Jesus and was readily apparent to His audience. “They were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority” (Mark1:22). Although we live in a day that repudiates authority, the early church understood that anything truly written by God would need to have an obvious ring of authority.

If you were to read through the whole Bible and circle every time it says, “And God said,” and “Thus says the Lord,” and “The word of the Lord came to,” you would discover that more than 4,000 times the writers of Scripture say without embarrassment or apology that

what they are saying and writing is the very Word of God. For this reason the early church knew that if the specific writing under consideration was in fact God’s Word, then all would agree that it communicated a sense of divine authority.

2.Authorship. Was it written by a man of God? It may have been that some were claiming that certain books were written by apostles when in fact they were not. Others were doubting truly apostolic writings simply because the subject matter or the circumstances of writing caused the apostle to write in a way that seemed different from other things he had written. Before a book could be accepted as from God, the early church wanted to be sure who the author was and that he had the credentials of one through whom God would choose to give His Word. As I mentioned above, this is why some books were initially disputed. When the authorship issue was settled, the matter was settled, and the books were included in the Scripture

3. Authenticity. Does the book tell the truth about God and man? Does the book tell the truth about salvation? Is it consistent with the rest of what we know to be God’s Word? This cross-checking is why there are no contradictions in the Bible, by the way. We like to think that we’re the smartest people who ever lived, but in reality we do not have a greater intelligence-not by a long shot. In fact, I’d like to suggest to you that the people who were living on the earth during the canonization of Scripture were extremely intelligent. Instead of wasting their lives watching television, they spent many, many years poring over the text-every word, every line, every verse, every chapter, comparing with other Scriptures back and forth, back and forth, and then confirming, “This is God’s Word because it agrees one hundred percent with everything else we know.” They would take a particular verse and compare it to the Pentateuch written by Moses. Then they would compare it to the books of each of the prophets. Then they would line the writing up with Psalms and other Old Testament books of poetry. They demanded that the message be consistent in every detail, or else it was not authentic. This is why the Apocrypha never passed the early test and was never accepted.

4.Alive. Hebrews 4:12 says that lithe word of God is living and active.” It’s powerful. It changes people’s lives. As these books were circulated, one of the things that people wanted to know was, “Is this powerful? Is this life-changing truth? Does this impact our lives?” Surely a message given by God Himself will have powerful results in the lives of those who read it. If it does, then that book was more likely to be confirmed as the Word of God.

5.Acceptance. This was the most important test of all. Did the other churches receive it as God’s Word? You can imagine as the letter to the Romans was written, it was passed around to this church and then circulated to a second church, then a third, and a fourth, and so on. As the people of God in each community read it, did they confirm and recognize that it was in fact the very Word of God, or was it simply a human communication? Were the churches unanimous in their perception of the book? First Thessalonians 2:13 records an actual occurrence of this process happening in an informal way when Paul reports: “For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.” The strongest test of the writings was their rejection or acceptance as God’s Word by the individual churches and their elders. So that’s where the Bible came from. God wrote a book. The Holy Spirit communicated the words. Men wrote them down. The early church pulled the writings together. This process was complete by A.D. 125, but it

was not one hundred percent confirmed worldwide until about A.D. 300.

Do you believe that God wrote a book? Because if you do, then that book should be getting a lot of attention from you, shouldn’t it If God really did write a book, we ought to be reading it, studying it, memorizing it, and letting it guide our lives. Go to the next page and learn exactly what the Bible can do for you and your family.

God wrote a Book

James MacDonald