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Scripture: I Samuel 28:1-14
C.I.: But Can We Really Trust the Bible?!
So far… (2 items needed for faith…) - Title
• The Validity of the Bible
• Types of Errors which “Could” have Entered
into the Text
• Errors of the Eye…
• Haplography (omission of material):
• Lk. 14:26-27 , “If anyone comes to me
and does not hate his own f., m., w., c., b., s. cannot …. – ( v.
27 ), Whoever does not carry his own cross
and come after Me cannot be My disciple .” - - Numerous manuscripts
omitted v. 27.
• I Jn. 2:23, “Whoever denies the Son
does not have the Father ; the one who confesses the Son has the Father
also.” – Since both phrases ends with “has the Father,” it
was omitted from many manuscripts – (its italicized in KJV, meaning the
editors added it as an insertion).
• Dittography (repeating the same line twice):
• ILLUST.: “These are the times that that
try men's souls.”
• Acts 19:34 , “Great is Diana of the
Ephesians!” – Is repeated 2x in an ancient manuscript.
• Mk. 9:44, 46, 48 , “Where their worm
does not die, and the fire is not quenched” – Verses 44 & 46
are not in the most ancient manuscripts.
• Errors of the Ear… (when many scribes in one room “took dictation”):
• ecomen = 1 per pl pres ind = “We have”- or- ecwmen
= 1 per pl pres subj = “We might have”
• Rom. 5:1 , “Therefore having been justified
by faith, we have peace w/God thru our Lord JC
• English 101 and the accuracy of the Bible
• You may have hated grammar in school but God loves it in
His word!
• Verbs have tenses (i.e., past, present, future).
• When asked by the Sadducees re: resurrection – Jesus returned
to the scriptures…
• Mk. 12:24, 26 , “…you do not understand
the scriptures or the power of God … Regarding the fact the dead rise
again, have you not read in the book of Moses, how God spoke to him saying, ‘ I
am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob ' ?
He is not the God of the dead; but of the living. You are greatly mistaken.”
• Jesus trusted that the tenses were correctly transmitted
over the hundreds of years
• Nouns have number (i.e., singular, plural).
• Apostle Paul believed that a noun's number would be correctly
transmitted over the centuries
• Gal. 3:16 , “Now the promises were spoken
to Abraham and his seed. – He does not say, ‘And to seeds,' as referring
to many, as referring to many, but rather to one, ‘And to your seed,'
that is, Christ.” – From Gen. 22:18 .
• Yet Paul is saying that after hundreds of years – we can
trust that the word was uncorrupted!!
• As we saw last week ( M.A.P.S. ), we can
have 100% certainty about the accuracy of the text.
• The writers of the New Testament knew their words were to
be trusted…
• Matt. 5:18, “…not the smallest letter or stroke…” ;
Mk. 16:15, “Go into all… , Lk. 24:44, “…all things which are
written about Me…” ; Jn. 8:31, “If you abide in My word…” ;
Acts 6:4, “We will devote ourselves…” ; Rom. 10:17, “Faith
comes by hearing…” ; I Cor. 2:12, “We have received, not the spirit
of the world…” ; II Cor. 4:7, “We have this treasure…” ;
Gal. 1:8, “If we or an angel from heaven…” ; Eph. 5:26, “…sanctify
her by the washing…” ; Phil. 4:9, “The things you have learned
and received…” ; Col. 2:8, “See to it that no one takes you captive…” ;
I Thess. 4:18, “Comfort one another…” ; II Thess. 3:14, “If
anyone does not obey our instruction…” ; I Tim. 3:15, “I write
so that you may know how…” ; II Tim. 3:16, “All scripture…” ;
Tit. 1:9, “…holding fast the faithful word…” ; Philemon 21, “I
write to you so that you will do even more than what I say” ; Heb.
2:1, “We must pay much closer attention to what we have heard…” ;
Jms. 1:21, “Receive the word implanted…” ; I Pt. 2:2, “Like
newborn babes…” ; II Pt. 3:18, “Grow in the grace…” ; I Jn.
1:3, “What we have seen and heard…” ; II Jn. 9, “Anyone who
goes too far…” ; III Jn. 13, “…I had many things to write to you…” ;
Jude 3, “…contend earnestly for the faith…” ; Rev. 22:18-19, “…if
anyone adds to the words of this book….”!!!
• What dead people tell us about the reliability of
the word of God…
• “The King, the witch and the wardrobe (or, at least, the
dead prophet)”
• Paraphrase Scripture Reading (I Sam. 28:1-14 ).
• Saul was hoping to hear something new, something different, and
something better!!!
• I Sam. 28:17 , “The Lord has done according
as He has spoken through me.” – In other words, what God said through
Samuel He would do – He has done!!!
• God's word does not change even when there is a change in
circumstances.
• The rich man and Lazarus ( Lk. 16:19-31 )
• Paraphrase this section of scripture, “There was a certain
rich man, and he habitually dressed….
• Vs. 27-29 , “And he said, ‘Then I beg
you, Father, that you send him to my father's house – for I have 5 brothers – that
he may warn them,,, lest they also come to this place of torment.' But
Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets, let them hear them.'”
• Notice the teaching: - the way to avoid going to a place
of torment after death, - is to hear (i.e., OBEY) the
words of the Bible before you die!!!
CONCLUSIONS:
1. There are many ways that errors could have crept into the text of our
Bibles. But there is only one way
that they have been kept out and that is what God did, ( Matt. 24:35)!
2. Even down to the grammar of the Bible we find the word to be totally
reliable.
3. This past week someone said to me, “How can we know about heaven or
hell? The only ones who
know whether or not they exist are there and they don't come back!” I guess
we can't say that anymore! a. But let us return to the account of the rich
man and Lazarus for the story is not over.
b. vs. 29-31 , “‘They have Moses and the Prophets,
let them hear them.' – But he said, ‘No, Father
Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!' – But
he said to them, ‘If
they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded
if someone rises
from the dead.'”
c. Today we all have a choice. We can believe the word of God,
or walk away…?! ( Rom. 6:3-4 ).
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