Week Commencing March 21st 2021

Week Commencing Sunday 21^st March 2021

Call to worship

Jesus said “A time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24)

The Holy Spirit has been described as the Counsellor. He leads us into truth. Indeed we must worship God in spirit and truth. This morning we are thinking about how we can believe the Bible- God’s truth to us- because it is inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Opening Hymn (Piano)

The Holy Spirit is self-effacing, He leads us into the truth about the Son and the Father, glorifies them and stirs us to worship accordingly:

Yours the glory and the crown,
the high renown, the eternal name.

2 Word incarnate, truth revealing,
Son of Man on earth!
power and majesty concealing
by your humble birth:
Yours the glory...

3 Suffering servant, scorned, ill - treated,
victim crucified!
death is through the cross defeated,
sinners justified:
Yours the glory...

4 Priestly king, enthroned for ever
high in heaven above!
sin and death and hell shall never
stifle hymns of love:
Yours the glory...

5 So, our hearts and voices raising
through the ages long,
ceaselessly upon you gazing,
this shall be our song:
Yours the glory...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxJg2Xm46dI

Opening Prayer

Lord we do indeed praise and worship You. Bless the worship of your church here; that we may receive your word through the power of the Holy Spirit. Enable us to worship in Spirit and truth. Amen

Readings.

Acts 16:11-15:

16¹¹ From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. ¹² From there we travelled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.

¹³ On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. ¹⁴ One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. ¹⁵ When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

2 Timothy 3:14-17:

3¹⁴ But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, ¹⁵ and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶ All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷ so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Item. ‘Ancient words’ (Recording)

O let the ancient words impart

Holy words of our faith
Handed down to this age
Came to us through sacrifice
O heed the faithful words of Christ
Holy words long preserved
For our walk in this world
They resound with God's own heart
O let the ancient words impart

Ancient words ever true
Changing me changing you
We have come with open hearts
O let the ancient words impart

Martyr's blood stains each page
They have died for this faith
Hear them cry through the years
Heed these words and hold them dear

Ancient words ever true
Changing me changing you
We have come with open hearts
O let the ancient words impart

We have come with open hearts
O let the ancient words impart
O let the ancient words impart

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOi1Rwt_kCI

Sermon. “The Inspiration of the Bible” Part 1.

Our theme this morning- The Inspiration of the Bible- is closely related to a two part sermon entitled “The Accuracy of the Bible” from the 10^th and 17^th January of this year. I cover different ground there, so if you want to think further on this important subject I suggest you visit our website at Angmering Baptist Church and read those materials. It is important because without an accurate and inspired Bible, you do not have a Bible you can trust, indeed, without an accurate and Holy Spirit inspired Bible- you do not have Christianity. As one R.E. teachers manual put it “Christians get their ideas about Christianity from the Bible”. Amen! Christianity is not what we would like God to be or do; how we might like Him to fit with cultural philosophies and fashions that appeal to us. Rather, we humbly receive God’s revelation to us and so resist making Him into our own limited image and will.

The Bible claims to be a supernatural book. 2 Timothy 3: 16 “All scripture is God-breathed.” The actual verb Paul uses means “expired”…”breathed out”, as all words are. But the Bible is “God-breathed”. It came from His mouth. It is His direct revelation to mankind. God has made plain to us what we could never find out for ourselves. The ideas in the Bible are not human opinion or belief. They are the thoughts of God expressed through the minds and words of men.

It does not mean this inspiration is an exercise in dictation. The prophets weren’t secretaries. Rather, the writers were so moved by the Holy Spirit, so much under His control, He could use their human personalities to express his revelation, without their human limitations distorting or confusing it. The Bible is the Word of God in human words. It says exactly what God wants to say.

Now the Bible claims to be the inspired Word of God, are there any convincing reasons to suggest this is the case? How do we know its claim is true?

1. The Unity of the Bible:¹

The Bible was written over a period of about 1,500 years. It was written by more than 40 authors from every walk of life, including kings, military leaders, peasants, philosophers, fishermen, tax collectors, poets, musicians, statesmen, scholars and shepherds. There was:

“Moses, a political leader and judge, trained in the universities of Egypt; David, a king, poet, musician, shepherd, and warrior; Amos, a herdsman; Joshua, a military general; Nehemiah, a cupbearer to a pagan king; Daniel, a prime minister; Solomon, a king and philosopher, Luke, a doctor and historian; Peter, a fisherman; Matthew, a tax collector; Paul, a rabbi; and Mark, peter’s secretary.

The Bible was written in different places: by Moses in the wilderness, Jeremiah in a dungeon, Daniel on a hillside and in a palace, Paul inside prison walls, Luke while traveling, John while on the Isle of Patmos.

Written at different times: David in times of war and sacrifice; Solomon in times of peace and prosperity.

Written during different moods: some writing from the heights of joy; others writing from the depths of sorrow and despair; some during times of certainty and conviction; others during days of confusion and doubt.

Written on three continents: Asia, Africa and Europe. Written in three languages: Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic

The Bible is written in a wide variety of styles including historical narrative, poetry, letters, law, romance, satire, biography and autobiography, parable and allegory.

The Bible addresses hundreds of controversial subjects, subjects that create opposing opinions when mentioned or discussed. Hundreds of hot topics (e.g., the supernatural origin of the universe and life on earth fashioned by God’s power; including the special creation of animals fully formed ‘according to their kinds’ and the unique creation of human beings from one man and one woman², marriage, divorce and remarriage, homosexuality, adultery, obedience to authority, truth telling and lying, character development, parenting, the nature and revelation of God). Yet from Genesis through to Revelation these writers addressed them with an amazing degree of harmony.

Further, In spite of its diversity, the Bible presents a single unfolding story: God’s redemption of human beings. The “Paradise Lost” of Genesis becomes the “Paradise Regained” of Revelation. The gate to the tree of life is closed in Genesis, it is opened forever in Revelation. The unifying thread is salvation from sin and condemnation, to a life of transformation and bliss in the presence of the one, merciful, holy God. In short one theme; our salvation in Christ.

The principle character throughout is the one true God made known through Jesus Christ. This we see even in the Old Testament. It has been said, “The law provides the foundation for Christ, the historical books show the preparation for Christ, the poetical works aspire to Christ and the prophesies display an expectation of Christ.”

F. F. Bruce writes of this unity, “Any part of the human body can only be properly explained in reference to the whole body. And any part of the Bible can only be properly explained in reference to the whole Bible”

An anthology of say just 10 modern authors would disagree with one another. Even if these were carefully chosen, they would have some ideas in common, but still display numerous conflicts and perspectives. The Bible on the other hand, contains many books by many authors, yet there is a unity which binds the whole together. An anthology is compiled by an anthologist, but no human anthologist compiled the Bible. It has one ultimate author- the Holy Spirit. That is how every part contributes to the whole.

The Unity of the Bible suggests it is the Inspired Word of God. Another reason that suggests the Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit is to do with

2. Experience:

There is the inner testimony- the Holy Spirit’s witness in our hearts and minds to His authorship of the Bible. For those people who are unbelievers and resistant to God, they cannot share in this evidence. Paul writes “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2: 14).

But clearly there are people who are not yet Christians who the Holy Spirit is drawing and opening up their eyes to His truth. You might be in that position today. You may never have heard about the manuscript evidence for the reliability of Scripture (see Update 10/1/21. “The Accuracy of the Bible.”) You may know little of the Bible’s content. But it would still be possible for you to find your way into an evangelistic meeting, to hear someone preach on one passage from the Bible and become a Christian there and then. This is because you are not merely hearing the gospel message. The Holy Spirit who is the author of that passage is now opening your heart and mind to receive it. He is giving you the confidence to make that commitment. At the time of hearing you might know little about the Bible and comparatively little about God. But when God’s Spirit speaks directly to you through His Word –it’s as though the Word is reading you- then you can begin your journey as a Christian with confidence.

This is what happened to Lydia. She heard Paul preach just once and was converted. Paul writes in Acts: “We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshipper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.”

Many people sitting here began their Christian journey like that. God spoke to them from a preached portion of His Word. The Spirit witnessed in their hearts to the truth of what they heard. And they gave their life to Christ. That’s what I did when I was eleven years old. I was in the Albert Hall listening to an evangelist. His message burned in me and I knew I had to respond and make a commitment to Christ. What did I know then? Very little compared to what I know now. But that first reception of the Word by the Spirit was enough to start me on my pilgrimage. Since then He has often given me the witness within my own spirit to the truth of His word for my life.

Do you need to make that first response today? The truth of God’s word is burning in you- the Spirit testifies to it- and you know you need to respond to Him. I would urge you to respond and commit yourself to Christ today.

Once we are Christians, once we are made spiritually alive by the Holy Spirit, the Bible continues to fascinate us. The Holy Spirit goes on witnessing with our spirit to the truth of Scripture, guiding us, challenging, correcting and encouraging us as we read its pages. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2 that we believers have received the Spirit “who is from God… that we may understand…and speak words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words”:

I was looking through some previous journals I have kept to remind me how the Holy Spirit has spoken to me as I have meditated on Scripture (Also see Update 24^th May 2020 ‘Practicing the presence of God’ about biblical meditation/God’s voice.) and came across the following:

I had visited a monastery with another Baptist minister- not to stay permanently! - but to set aside a day to pray and meditate on the Word. I had various concerns on my mind that I’d let swirl around in my head for too long and my life’s problems at that time seemed too overwhelming. Some to do with family some to do with the Church in Lewes- where I was minister at that time. So I started reading the Sermon on the Mount and prayed as I read; I read there “Do not worry about your life” and “Is not life more important than food…” I read about God’s provision for the birds of the air-and I saw one through my window care free going about its business- and the phrase “are you not much more valuable than they” resonated with me. And I read “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God”. The Holy Spirit was ministering to me through these words, calming my mind, bringing perspective, that life really is found in God’s direction and provision.

And as I read Matthew 7:7: “Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened to you” I sensed the Spirit directing me to bring each of my concerns to God in prayer; areas concerning some of my children’s futures and areas of Church life and see what He will do in each area- to see the new life He will bring to each concern and His provision. I was encouraged to keep asking, seeking and knocking for each area, to persevere in prayer through the day. And I saw some concrete answers to these prayers even in the immediate days following.

That’s one example of the Holy Spirit witnessing with my spirit to the truth of Scripture and using it to encourage and guide and build these words into my life. And I have seen this in other Christians I have spoken to: a man who was finding it hard going gaining employment but was encouraged by Abraham’s example “who by faith set out to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going”. Or the man who was facing death but was full of assured hope and confidence when he read “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms…I am going there to prepare a place for you”. Or the young man learning to be less directed by his feelings and the lure of worldly success and more influenced by conviction, commitment and Kingdom values as he read his Bible. In all these ways the Holy Spirit ministers the Word into people’s lives.

You could all give your own examples of the inner testimony- the Holy Spirit’s witness in our hearts and minds to His authorship of the Bible.

The Bible is inspired by God. The Bible is the Word of God in human words. It says exactly what God wants to say. It is ‘God breathed’. There is a wonderful unity to the Bible though it was written by over forty different authors in different places over a period of 1,500 years. It has one ultimate author- the Holy Spirit. That is how every part of the Bible contributes to the whole. And we have seen today that there is also an inner testimony- the Holy Spirit’s witness in our hearts and minds to His authorship of the Bible. As Paul put it in a letter to the Thessalonians “We thank God continually because when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.” (1 Thessalonians 2: 13).

Next week we look at further reasons for accepting the Bible as the inspired Word of God, including the fulfilment of predictive prophesy and also Jesus own attitude to the Old Testament along with His preparing of His disciples/apostles to write the New Testament.

¹ Much of this first section ‘The Unity of the Bible’ is taken from “Evidence that Demands a Verdict” Josh McDowell

² For Christian worldview see excellent overview on origins: Ken Ham’s ‘Science Confirms the Bible’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74UIt8uHQPs or ask me for a free copy of ‘Creation & Evolution. Why it matters what you believe’ by Colin Garner.

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Hymns (Guitar and violin)

And out of Zion's hill salvation comes

And these are the days of Ezekiel
The dry bones becoming as flesh;
And these are the days of Your servant David
Rebuilding a temple of praise
And these are the days of the harvest
Oh, the fields are as white in Your world
And we are the labourers in Your vineyard
Declaring the word of the Lord!

Behold He comes…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ca9LnzJnpjQ

Who is there like You?
And who else would give their life for me?
Even suffering in my place
And who could repay You?
All of creation looks to You
And You provide for all You have made

So I'm lifting up my hands
Lifting up my voice
Lifting up Your name
 

And in Your grace I rest
For Your love has come to me and set me free
And I'm trusting in Your word
Trusting in Your cross
Trusting in Your blood and all Your faithfulness
For Your power at work in me is changing me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=io2cAYuaQUk

Prayers

Trusting in God’s care for his children, we pray in the name of Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit.

For those who are sick

Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Psalm 36:5

We pray for those who are unwell due to the coronavirus: in your compassion, grant them strength and healing.

For our health workers

In the day of trouble you answer us, O Lord, and you protect us; you send us help and give us support. Psalm 20:1-2

We pray for all who minister to the sick throughout our health service, that they may renew their strength in you and be channels of restoration and renewal for those who suffer.

For the anxious

You are near to the broken-hearted, O Lord, and you save the crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18

We pray for all who are anxious about loved ones, friends and neighbours: enable them to trust in you and be steadfast in hope.

For the lonely and the isolated

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me. Psalm 23:4

We pray for all those who feel isolated or alone, that they may experience your loving presence. Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer. For the strong and the vulnerable Lord, you raise the poor and lift the needy.

For those in authority

We cast our burden upon you, O Lord, and you sustain us. Psalm 55:22

We pray for all in authority who face difficult decisions that affect the lives of many; grant them wisdom and courage.

For those engaged in research

O Lord, you are great and abundant in power; your understanding is beyond measure Psalm 147:5

We pray for all engaged in research, who have developed vaccines and remedies for coronavirus: grant them wisdom, understanding and effectiveness in their continued endeavours. We pray for efficient and equitable distribution of vaccines to people of all nations.

For traders and employees

Lord, you are our light and our salvation; whom shall we fear? You are the stronghold of our life; of whom shall we be afraid? Psalm 27:1

We pray for traders and employees who are fearful of the future, that businesses may be secured, jobs protected and families supported. Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer. Amen (National Council of the Churches of Christ)

Farewell. The Wilson family.

Hymn (Piano)

I will trust in the cross of my Redeemer,
I will sing of the blood that never fails;
Of sins forgiven, of conscience cleansed,
Of death defeated and life without end.

Beautiful Saviour, Wonderful Counsellor,
Clothed in majesty, Lord of history,
You’re the Way, the Truth, the Life.
Star of the Morning, glorious in holiness,
You’re the Risen One, heaven’s Champion
And You reign, You reign over all.

I long to be where the praise is never-ending,
Yearn to dwell where the glory never fades;
Where countless worshippers will share one song,
And cries of ‘worthy’ will honour the Lamb.