THE BIBLE: THE WORD OF GOD OR THE WORD OF MAN
 

Text: 1 Corinthians 2:7-13

Introduction:
  I. How should we view the Bible?  Should we look on it 
     as the word of God?  Or is it just a great book that 
     was written by men?
 II. These are questions that are in the minds of many in 
     our generation.  Many who formerly believed the Bible 
     to be the word of God has given up that faith.
III. In this lesson we raise four questions that we hope 
     can focus attention on the Bible for what it really is.

Body:
   I. "Assuming that the Bible is the word of God, how did 
      God communicate His message so that we now have it 
      written in such a book as the Bible?"
      A. The answer is found in 1 Corinthians 2:7-13.
      B. We have the Holy Spirit reveling the Mind of God
         and supplying words to the Apostles and Prophets,
         who in turn wrote and spoke it by the Spirit 
         (Ephesians 3:3-5) to us (1 Corinthians 2:13).
  

 II. "But if the Holy Spirit provided the actual words, how 
     do you account for the different writing styles that 
     are so obvious in the Bible?"
     A. We must acknowledge that the Bible does contain 
        varying writing styles, varying phraseology; even 
        the personalities of men as they show through 
        their writing vary in the Scriptures - example 
        of Paul and John.
     B. The answer is simply that the Holy Spirit led 
        them to write words that were in keeping with 
        their own vocabularies and personalities.
     C. An illustration - Say there are three writers 
        who write on a regular basis for a publication 
        - A, B, C.  If there names are not on the articles, 
        regular readers who are observant could easily 
        pick which article belong to each writer - but if 
        the three of them were given the Holy Spirit for 
        one issue, there wouldn't be a dramatic change in 
        writing style or vocabulary, but the Holy Spirit, 
        while using their own writing style and general 
        vocabulary, would guide in the selection of the 
        actual words to be written so that the article 
        would communicate in an unerring manner the truth 
        on the subject under consideration.

III. "But what assurance is given us that they really were 
     led by the Holy Spirit in what they wrote?"
     A. Jesus' promise - John 14:26; 16:13; Matthew 18:18; 
        Acts 2:1-4.
     B. The Apostle's claim - 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 
        1:20-21; 1 Corinthians 14:37; 2:7-13; Ephesians 
        3:3-5.
     C. The miracles - Hebrews 2:1-4.

 IV. "Of course they made such claims as these, but anybody 
     can make claims.  How do we know that they were truthful?  
     How can we be sure that it was not just some great hoax?
     A. The numbers involved - The apostles, prophets, and 
        associates - the more involved, the less possibility 
        of a hoax, and especially when many writing and their 
        testimony agree.
     B. They backed their claims with their lives.
        1. If a hoax, a lie, what did they have to gain by 
           the lie?
        2. They went to their death, continuing to make the 
           claims that they had always made.
     C. The finished product - the Bible itself.
        1. Cannot take time to develop this point.
        2. To discuss its unity; its beauty; its uniqueness.
        3. I find in it everything I could ever expect to 
           find in a book from God; I have no other 
           explanation for its greatness than that it has to 
           be from God.
        4. And it has lived - It lived through the dark ages; 
           it was chained to the pulpits; those who first 
           translated it into common languages were tortured, 
           persecuted, and put to death; skeptic blows have 
           beat upon it, but it still stands.

THE ANVIL - GOD'S WORD

Last eve I passed beside a blacksmith's door,
	And heard the anvil ring, the vesper chime;
Then, looking in, I saw upon the floor
	Old hammers, worn with beating years of time.

"How many anvils have you had," said I,
	"To wear and batter all these hammers so?"
"Just one," said he, and then, with twinkling eyes,
	"The anvil wears the hammers out, you know."

And so, thought I, the anvil of God's words,
	For ages skeptic blows have beat upon;
Yet, though the noise of falling blows was heard,
	The anvil is unharmed - the hammers gone.

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