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extremium

THE ANCHOR THAT HOLDS

Kevin D. Paulson

           The story is told that John Wesley, the great founder of the Methodist faith, once asked a man,

            “What do you believe?”

            The man answered, “I believe what my church believes.”

            Wesley then asked, “What does your church believe?”  The man answered, “The same thing I believe.”

            Wesley then pressed the matter further: “Well, what do both you and your church believe?”  The man answered, “We both believe the same thing.”

            The sad reality, brothers and sisters, is that many who call themselves Christians, even today, don’t know what they believe, or why.

            My father was once invited, years ago, to speak at a very large local church in our home town, where one of his teaching colleagues at the school where he worked, was a member.

            My father came home utterly astounded at how little of the Bible some of those people knew.  He said to us, You could get up in that church and say, “Let’s all turn to Moses 5, and half the folks there would be trying to find it!”

            Years later, I remember a television show called the $128,000 Question, hosted by Alex Trebeck.  Some of you may remember the show.

            People were required by the rules of the program to choose the category regarding which they would be questioned. 

            One man I remember chose the Bible.  And it was amazing how easy the questions were for anyone who—like me—had been raised in a Bible-believing home.

            For example:

            “For $32,000, which miracle did Jesus perform at Cana?”

            “For $64,000, who made this statement, ‘Take ye Him, and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him.’?”

            I started to think, “Wow, I could get awful rich on this program!”

            Well, there’s a lot of interest in the Bible these days.

            Some of you may have noticed a survey sometime ago conducted by the Pew Forum, reported by CNN and the Associated Press, regarding the knowledge Americans have—and do not have—concerning religion.
           
            “Survey: Americans don’t know much about religion.”
            Rachel Zoll, Associated Press, Sept. 28, 2010

            Such questions as the following were included in the survey:

            For example:

            “When does the Jewish Sabbath begin?”
            45% gave the correct answer.
\
            “Which Bible figure is most closely associated with remaining obedient to God
despite suffering?
            39% gave the correct answer.

            What was the name of the person whose writings and actions inspired the Protestant Reformation?
            46% gave the correct answer.

            (And only half of Protestants did!)

            Some years ago, a similar survey was published in Christianity Today

            Bear in mind that this survey was taken of churchgoing, Biblically conservative, evangelical and fundamentalist Christians.

            Sadly, what the survey demonstrated was just how little knowledge of God’s Word there was among people you would expect to be more than casually familiar with it. 

            One question from the survey made this obvious.  A multiple choice question which listed a number of Bible quotations, asked, “Which of the following did Jesus say to Nicodemus?”

            Only 14 percent checked the right answer: “Ye must be born again.”

            A much larger percentage put a checkmark by the statement, “Take up thy bed and walk,” and an equally large number checked, “I will make you fishers of men.”

            Well, we’re going to look at the claims of the Bible this evening.  And we’re going to establish from the beginning of this series that the Bible is in fact God’s inspired and eternally reliable Word of truth.

            Sadly, folks, there are Christians today who rely on many different kinds of spiritual authority besides what is found in God’s Word.

  1. Human opinion (God says, but I think . . .”
  2. Human scholarship (The Bible says, but scientists and theologians say . . . “)
  3. Human experience (“I tried to be a Christian, but it didn’t work for me.”)

 

  1. What does the Bible claim about itself?

 

II Tim. 3:16:
            “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”

II Peter 1:20-21:
            “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scriptures is of any private interpretation.                                
“For 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.”

            So the Bible claims to speak for God, not for any human culture or individual.

            The Bible also claims to be its own interpreter:

I Cor. 2:12-14:
            “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 
“Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.                                             
“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

In other words, what the Spirit inspires must be compared with itself in order to be understood. 

            Isa. 28:9-10:
            “Whom shall He (the Lord) teach knowledge? And whom shall He make to understand doctrine? Them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.                                                 
“For precept must be upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little.”

            Not only does this explain how we are to compare the Bible with itself; it also explains that simple people—babes
--are those to whom the Lord chooses to explain spiritual truth.

Matt. 11:25:
            “I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.”

            So according to the Bible, simple people are fully capable of understanding what the Bible says.

            In fact, the Bible promises superior knowledge to those who accept and obey its teachings:

            Psalm 110:10:
            “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do His commandments.”

            Psalm 119:98-100:
            “Thou through Thy commandments has made me wiser than mine enemies; for they are ever with me.
            “I have more understanding than all my teachers, for Thy testimonies are my meditation.
            “I understand more than the ancients, because I keep Thy precepts.”

            Isa. 55:9:
            “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

 

  1. How Jesus Viewed the Bible

There are those who say, I like Jesus, but I’m not so sure about the Bible.

            “I don’t mind reading about the gentle, loving Savior who blessed children and forgave the woman caught in adultery.”

            “What I can’t deal with are those Old Testament stories about God destroying the whole world with a flood, burning up wicked cities, or commanding His people to do some pretty fierce things.”

            But how did Jesus regard the Old Testament Scriptures?

            When tempted by Satan in the wilderness, what was His sole defense?

            Matt. 4:4:
            “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

            Matt. 4:7:
            “It is written again, “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.”

            Matt. 4:10:
            “Get thee behind me Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.”

            It is fascinating how Satan challenged Jesus by the statement, “If Thou be the Son of God . . .”

            Have you ever wondered why Jesus didn’t simply reply to Satan, “My Father declared Me to be His Son forty days ago, on the banks of the Jordan.  I have His spoken word on who I am.  That’s all I need.”

            Folks, Jesus fell back on the written Word because He knew men and women throughout the ages have heard voices—some from God, many more from elsewhere. 

            From the witch of Endor to Bishop Pike, from the Delphic Oracle and the seven sons of Sceva to Jeane Dixon and Jim Jones, men and women have claimed access to supernatural contact.

            And by His strict reliance on the written Word, Jesus wanted us to remember always that only one measure is able to forever tell the difference between God’s voice and the voice of His adversary.

            We’re going to talk more about this issue as our series moves on.

           

  1. The Bible Foretells the Future

Isa. 42:8-9:
            “I am the Lord; that is My name: and My glory I will not give to another, neither My praise to graven images.
            “Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I will tell you of them.”

            Isa. 46:9-10:
            “Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like Me,
            “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all in My pleasure.”

            What Bible predictions can we think of that have been fulfilled throughout history?

            Four world empires to arise

  1. Babylon
  2. Medo-Persia
  3. Greece
  4. Rome  

 

Cyrus to be the warrior-king who would capture Babylon (Isa. 45:1-3)

Babylon to be destroyed and never again inhabited:

Isa. 13:19:
            “And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.”
           
            Isa. 13:20:
            “It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.”

 

  1. Science and the Bible

Job 26:7:
            “He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.”

            Isa. 40:22:
            “It is He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth.”

            Psalm 103:12:
            “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us.”

            Why doesn’t it say, As far as the north is from the south?   Because there is a limit to the north and the south—the North Pole and the South Pole.  There is, however, no limit to the East or the West.

           

  1. An anchor and a light

Our supreme authority in this series is described in the following verses, from both Old and New Testaments:

            Isa. 8:20:
            “To the law, and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”

            Acts 17:11:
            “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”

One of my favorite hymns is, “Will Your Anchor Hold?”  The Bible uses many metaphors for the clarity of God’s Word.  One is that of a light shed by a lamp.
 
            Psalm 119:105:
            “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”

            Without the objective standard of God’s eternal Word, we are adrift at sea without an anchor, groping in the fog without a light.

            Today’s world wrestles with issues that God has already made plain, agonizes over dilemmas God has already solved, wonders about mysteries God alone can reveal.  Returning to God’s Word as our supreme authority would bring both simplicity and fulfillment to the lives of men and women.