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Part 3: “How the Bible Came to Be” (Cont’d.)June 21st, 2020(NOTES) The Process of How the Bible Came to Be(Slide) 1. The term used for God communicating to us is revelation2. The term used for the process of the authors writing down the thoughts of God into words – which we call The Bible – is inspiration (2 Tim. 3:16)(NOTES) A Bible Timeline (A Big Picture Overview of how the Bible came to be) 2,000 – 400 B.C. Old Testament events are written down under the inspiration of God in Hebrew (and a little bit of Aramaic) and collected, composing what is called the Hebrew Scriptures250 – 100 B.C. First Translation of the O. T. (Hebrew to Greek): The Septuagint (means 70 – LXX)300 – 400 The 27 N.T. books are accepted as canonical thus recognizing three centuries of use by followers of Christ 1228The Bible separated into chapters for ease of reading (Stephen Langton) 1382 - 1384 The first English Bible is translated by John Wycliffe – prints are hand-copied and smuggled throughout Europe. These copies are banned and burned. Forty years after Wycliffe’s death, his bones are exhumed, burned and thrown in a river.(Slide)Let me pause here and tell you a little bit more about Wycliffe. Wycliffe possessed a core belief and conviction which set him apart from most other spiritual leaders of his day, especially those in the established church – The Church of Rome. What was that? He believed the Bible was the ONLY source for Christian doctrine and living – not the authority of the church or its leaders (including the Pope).This belief led him to speak out against many unbiblical practices in the church including the papal system, transubstantiation in communion, private confession of sins to priests and the practice of indulgences – that is being able to do something or pay an amount of money for the forgiveness of sins. His passion for the sole authority of Scripture led him to translate the Bible so it could be distributed to the common people in their own language. Wycliffe died before his translation was complete…But his groundwork eventually led to the completion of the translation, the distribution of the Bible to the people, and paved the way for people like William Tyndale, Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation. 40 years after his death the church officially condemned Wycliffe and his teachings. They dug up his body, burned it, and spread the ashes in a small river nearby called the Swift River. One historian of the day noted, “They burnt his bones to ashes and cast them into the Swift River. The Swift River carried his ashes into the Avon River, which carried them into the Severn River and eventually into the ocean. And thus the ashes of John Wycliffe are the emblem of his teaching which is now disbursed all over the world.” (Slide) Today the Bible translation and distribution ministry called Wycliffe Bible Translators named in his honor, continues the legacy of John Wycliffe over 600 years later. (The Folkers) 1408English Bibles become illegal to read or translate in England without permission of the bishop. 1455The world’s first printable press with movable type is invented by Johann Gutenberg in Germany and the Bible is the first book printed, making mass distribution more possible.1488The O.T. divided into verses (Isaac Nathan) 1535Bible translator William Tyndale translates and prints the N. T. into English (forming the basis for the future KJV) and smuggles copies into England. Tyndale is strangled and burned at the stake for his “crime”. Soon after, the first legal translation of the English Bible is printed and distributed (The Coverdale Bible). 1551The N.T. divided into verses (Robert Stephanus) 1611King James of England commissions 52 scholars to undertake a new translation (using the most reliable manuscripts) – the KJVTODAY There are still 2,000 languages around the world with no translation of the Bible representing at least 1.5 billion people who do not have the full Bible in their?language — more people than the entire continent of Africa!And that’s what ministries like Wycliffe Bible Translators and other missions agencies and organizations are seeking to accomplish and why they are so desperately needed today.It’s why we must continue to seek to recruit and send people into the missions field armed with Bibles or the training to be able to translate the Bible into languages that don’t yet have it. (Those being mobilized from our church family). Now let’s come back to our text. These verses here in 2 Timothy not only define the nature of how the Scriptures came to be but also the benefits they provide to our lives. Last Sunday we looked at the first three…(Slide) How Does the Bible Benefit Me – 2 Timothy 3:16-17? The Personal Benefits of Scripture for My Life: 1. It provides teaching (doctrine/instruction) – 3:16aThe Bible helps me know what is right. 2. It provides rebuking (convicting) – 3:16bThis helps me know what is wrong. 3. It provides correcting (restoring/renewing) – 3:16c READThis helps me know how to get right. Let’s move now to the fourth benefit we receive from the Bible… (Slide) 4. It provides training in righteousness (discipline/exercise) – 3:16d (2 Tim. 2:25; Heb. 12:5, 7, 11; 1 Tim. 4:4-5; 1 Peter 1:23-25) This helps me know how to stay right. The word training found here in verse 16 has the idea of bringing up a child – child rearing, as well as any kind of training. It also carries the idea of discipline or exercise – like an athlete training themselves.The Bible is the training tool that God has provided for us and wants us to continuously employ in our lives to grow stronger and stronger in what – what’s it say here? Training in RIGHTEOUSNESS! Righteousness is the word that should characterize and describe followers of Christ. Christ saved you for righteous living. Christ called you to follow Him and He leads you down the path of righteous. Righteousness is the lifestyle God has called every Christian to pursue. The standard we are to emulate is the life of Jesus Christ which was a model of righteousness. Righteousness is what should set follows of Christ apart from non-believers. Our lives should reflect a commitment to doing what is right, living what is right, standing up for what is right, and setting an example for what is right to lost and desperate world. Amen?!In 1977 – my freshman year in high school - somebody came out with a new workout tool called THE Bullworker. The commercials for the Bullworker must have been really good because me and some of my friends each got one of those so we could workout and impress the girls with our tone muscles. In fact, here’s a picture of one of my friends using his bullworker… (Slide) I used mine so much they sent me a t-shirt and asked me to be a spokesman for their product… (Slide) So, you get the idea. Paul is telling Pastor Timothy here that it is his attention to the preaching and teaching of the Word of God that will build up the people in his church so that they are strong in righteousness. Turn over to 1 Timothy 4. READ 4:4-5. What brings spiritual nourishment to our souls? “The words of faith and good teaching.” Those are describing the Bible. A good pastor, Paul says, directs his people to that which is going to build them up, and that’s the Word of God. A focus on learning and studying and memorizing and meditating on and obeying the Bible will condition you and strengthen you toward a purpose – living a life of righteousness – doing what is right in the eyes of God. Turn over to 1 Peter 1. READ 1:22-25. No matter how long you’ve been a follower of Christ, no matter how many Bible studies you’ve sat through, Sunday morning sermons you’ve heard, Bible verses you’ve memorized, or devotionals you’ve read… No matter the depth of your understanding of the Scriptures, or the level of your spiritual maturity, there should always be a hunger inside every follower of Christ to apply themselves to being trained in righteousness through a dedication to the Word of God. And there will never come a day in your life when you are so strong spiritually that you don’t need a workout in the Bible. The depth of God and His Word is something we will never exhaust – not in this life – not in the next million years in heaven. So, how does the Bible benefit me, how does it help me? It provides…A body of truth that helps me know what is right and how to live rightlyA standard of what is wrong that brings conviction when I’m choosing wrong over right Instruction on how to be corrected and to be restored to right living again The perfect instruction that I need to build up my faith and make me strong in doing what is right and in living by what is right So why is all this important? Is there something to all this than just the benefits that you and I receive from the inspired Word of God? Actually there is. God has a purpose for the Bible in our lives – 2 of them actually. Let’s call them goals. What are God’s goals for you in relation to the Bible? What does God desire will take place in your life as you dedicate yourself to His inspired revelation to you? Verse 17 tells us (READ vs. 17a). (Slide) God’s Goals for the Benefits of the Scriptures in My Life:Spiritual completeness for daily living– 3:17a (Colossians 2:10) Now again, Paul is addressing this letter to Pastor Timothy and here he is saying that a pastor – Paul calls him a man of God – can and must be spiritually complete. A pastor must be a man of God and a pastor must be spiritually complete so that they can lead and shepherd their people according to God’s Word. A pastor’s people are depending on him to be spiritually complete and that completeness comes by and with a commitment to the Scriptures. Spiritual completeness means that a pastor must be capable or proficient in what they’re called to do. That proficiency especially includes a commitment to the Bible and an ability to preach it and teach it and disciple others with it. But spiritual completeness isn’t just for pastors. God wants all believers to be spiritually complete, capable and proficient in defending the faith and living a life a righteousness through the Word of God. That’s the first of God’s goals for you in relation to the Bible. READ 2 Timothy 2:15.The second goal God has for you in relation to His Word is… (Slide) 2. Spiritual enablement for good works– 3:17b (Eph. 2:10) Not only will the Bible make you spiritually complete for daily living, it will also enable you to live a life of good works which is another goal God has for you. (Slide) “This saying is trustworthy. I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed God might be careful to devote themselves to good works.” Titus 3:8 “And God is able to make every grace overflow to you, so that…you may excel in every good work.” 2 Corinthians 9:8(Slide) “He gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people for his own possession, eager to do good works.” Titus 2:14 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.”Ephesians 2:10 So let me ask you: What does a commitment to the Bible enable our church to do? God works! What does a commitment to the Bible enable YOU as a follower of Christ to do? God works! Let’s go out today and this week and let our faith shine, let the reality of Jesus Christ in us shine, and let our voices be heard in the world around us by doing good works that will point people to Jesus. (Free Drive-thru Meal) Since this is such a very evident and pressing goal that God has for us, I’ve chosen Ephesians 2:10 as our memory verse this week. Let’s say it out loud together… (Slide) So how are you doing? Are God’s goals for your spiritual completeness for daily living and spiritual enablement for good works being realized? If not, what do you have to change in your commitment to God’s Word so that they are? There’s a lot of people who say they have a commitment to the Word of God, but the reality of that commitment is most evidently seen not in their owning a Bible, but in their failure to use the Word of God and let transform them into the people God intends them to be. (Slide) Former heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman, who later in his career came to faith in Christ, in his book called, “God in My Corner”, wrote, “In 1974 when I fought Muhammad Ali in Africa, a friend gave me a Bible to take along on my trip.He said, ‘George, keep this with you for good luck.’ I was always looking for luck so I carried that Bible with me. I had lucky pennies and good luck charms, so now I added a lucky Bible to my collection of superstitious items. After I lost the fight, I threw the Bible away. I hadn’t even opened it. I thought, ‘This Bible didn’t help me win, so why do I need it?’ You see, I thought I’d get power from owning it; I didn’t realize that I needed to read it and believe what it says. Since then, I’ve come to understand that the Bible is my road map, not my good luck charm.” Folks, there’s no spiritual power in owning a Bible. The power to Christian living and becoming the person God has designed you to be, comes in what you do with it. ................
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