THE TRENTON BULLETIN

THE TRENTON BULLETIN

Trenton Church of Christ, Trenton, Florida

Many people accept the Bible being the word of God with little thought. They have always heard it said that the Bible is the word of God and that is enough for them. Others question whether this is so, especially when other religious groups claim to also have the word of God. The problem is their word of God is not the Bible. The Muslims have the Koran, Church of Christ of Later Day Saints (Mormons) have the Book of Mormon, Doctrines and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price. Others go by the writings of Confucius and the list goes on. So which one is “The Word of God?” How can we know for sure the Bible is the word of God? Another question is, “Can they all be the word of God?” Some people want to say the Koran is the word of God, just as the Bible and the Book of Mormon. Let us begin our study with the Bible.

Starting off, we need to notice what the Bible claims for itself. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Timothy 3.16). The Bible claims to be the word of God, Paul clarifies this by saying “all scripture.” Meaning we must take the whole Bible and not just bits and pieces of it. During the day of Jesus, the Sadducees only accepted the first five books of the Old Testament as being the word of God. This would have included the events from Genesis to Deuteronomy.

However, Jesus pointed out that He came to fulfill not just the prophecies of Genesis to Deuteronomy, but also the Prophets and the Psalms. “Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me." (Luke 24:44) The Prophets refer to the writings of Jeremiah, Isaiah, Micah, Daniel, and the rest of the Old Testament Prophets. Of course, the Psalms refers to what we call the Psalms today. The 22nd Psalms speaks of the suffering of the Christ upon the cross. Let us not miss the point that Jesus is making. The Law of Moses, the Prophets of the Old Testament, and the Psalms were revealing the word of God and spoke of Him.

In the New Testament, we have the words of Jesus written in the Gospels. The Book of Acts written by Luke, the Epistles written by Paul, Peter, John, Jude, and James. Finally, the Book of Revelation written by John. They all contain the word of God.

Next, 2 Timothy 3.16 says the scriptures were given by inspiration. The word inspiration means to “be breathed”. Literally, it means that God breathed the scriptures or God spoke. You see we breath out when we speak. Therefore, as God spoke He gave us the scriptures. What proof do we have of this being true? The writers of the Old Testament pointed out repeatedly that they were simply revealing the word of God. “And the Lord spoke to Moses saying” (Exodus 6.10). “Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying” (Numbers 5.4). “After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, it came to pass that the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun” (Joshua 1:1).

David said, “The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me” (2 Samuel 23.2). Isaiah wrote, “Hear the word of the Lord, You rulers of Sodom; Give ear to the instruction of our God You people of Gomorrah” (Isaiah 1.10). Jeremiah gives us a description of how God did this. “Now the word of the Lord came to me saying… Then the Lord stretched out His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me, ‘Behold I have put My words in y our mouth’” (Jeremiah 1.4, 10). Reading on in Jeremiah one finds the prophet stressing the source of the message; “And the word of the Lord came to me saying” (Jeremiah 1.11), “Now the word of the Lord came to me saying” (Jeremiah 2.1), “Hear the word of the Lord” (Jeremiah 2.4).

In Ezekiel we read, “The word of the Lord came expressly to Ezekiel the priest” (Ezekiel 1.3a). Haggai contains all of thirty-eight verses and in 26 of those verses, the “Lord” is mentioned as being the source of the message.

In many cases, the prophets proved their inspiration through miracles. Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18 to prove that He was a prophet of Jehovah. The prophets of Baal built altars and offered a sacrifice to their god, but nothing happened. Elijah built an altar with wood and a sacrifice to offer to God. It was dowsed with water three times. Fire from heaven came and consumed the altar. Was Elijah a prophet of God? What greater proof could he offer? The prophets foretold events that came true. Babylon conquering Judah was foretold in Isaiah 39, serves as one example.

In the New Testament Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit. What would the Holy Spirit do? “He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you” (John 14.26b); “He will bear witness of Me, and you will bear witness also, because you have been with Me from the beginning” (John 15.26b-27), “And He, when He comes will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment” (John 16.8). The writings of the Apostles were not what they wanted to say, but what the Holy Spirit revealed to them. Therefore, Paul could say, “that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. And by referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit” (Ephesians 3.3-5).

The will of God was not discovered by man or invented in the minds of the Apostles and Prophets, it was revealed by inspiration. If one believes in Jesus, then they must accept what Jesus said about the writings of Moses and the Prophets. Christ referred to the creation account in Genesis 1 & 2 in Matthew 19 when dealing with the question of marriage and divorce. He also told them to “remember Lot’s wife” in Luke 17.32. Jesus quoted Deuteronomy when being tempted by Satan in Matthew 4.

If one accepts one part of the Bible they must accept the whole of the Bible as being inspired by God, 2 Timothy 3.16. One must also accept the claim of the Bible to being the totality of God’s revelation to mankind. Why? Because the very scriptures that claim to be inspired by God also claim to contain all of God’s word. “Seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1.3). The phrase “everything” leaves no room for later day revelation or some other revelation.

Jude writes, “Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). What is our common salvation? It is the acceptance of Jesus as the Son of God and all that it entails. Christ said that not one can come to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). What about that “common salvation?” It had been once and for all delivered to the saints. Once and for all means there is nothing left to reveal.

If one wants to argue that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, they must reject the Bible. The same goes for the Koran, the writings of Confucius, or any other so-called prophet. I have heard people say, “That sounds closed minded.” It is not more “closed minded” and those that accept the Book of Mormon, the Koran, or any other religion. While studying with some Mormons, I asked them the following question. “If there is a contradiction between the Bible and one of their books, which one will they accept?” They said, “One of their books.” The person that accepts the Koran places it above the Bible and such is true for another religion. One cannot accept the Bible and the Koran, or the Book of Mormon, etc.

I am told that two “elders” (?) all of twenty years old, asked their host if he believed the scripture re. “Witnessing”; i.e., “in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.”? He answered that he did: and then one young man turned to his companion and asked him to bear witness.

The youth said, “I bear witness that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God.” Whereupon, the first youth also said, “I bear witness that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God.” Well, that settled it! Joseph Smith must have been a prophet of God for both young men “bore witness” — or did they??

In genuine trial, does God or the court consider every one who can speak — utter words — a “witness”? We know better! To qualify as a witness, one must have knowledge of that to which he testifies. John could “bear witness” of Christ because he had heard, seen, and touched Him; and because Christ had been “manifested” unto him. (1 John 1:1-3) The manifestation of “that eternal life” was Deity “made known” in the life, works, and heaven’s declarations concerning Jesus of Nazareth. (John 5:31-47 14:7-9) John, like Peter, had been with Jesus in the holy mount (2 Peter 1: 16-21) and spake as he was moved by the Holy Spirit. Now there’s a WITNESS for you.

But some have concluded there can be no “witnessing” or “testifying” today. This is hasty! We have as much right — and obligation — to be a witness, as did any saint of the past. What we have seen, heard, touched — i.e., what we have come to know, we may tell — “testify”. If you believe Jesus is the Christ, you may tell others THAT YOU BELIEVE JESUS IS THE CHRIST. If you were baptized on July 6th., you may tell others WHAT YOU DID, AND WHAT YOU FEEL ABOUT IT!! But don’t get the idea that your “testimony” makes a thing true — or even that your “testifying” is on a par with that of the inspired Apostles.

“Witnessing” and “Testifying” have a sectarian or denominational connotation — enough so that I do not use the words in the current “religious” sense — because what can be no more than purely subjective, has been used as though it were a voice from God. In fact, this is one of the modern or neo-orthodox concepts of how God speaks to man. A bit earlier, sectarians thought the Holy Spirit moved them to “witness” in some direct way. Of course, both concepts are erroneous and harmful — leading gullible people to accept as “testimony from God” something that originated in the mind of the speaker.

Mormon “elders” may testify THAT THEY BELIEVE SMITH WAS A PROPHET OF GOD, and I would have no reason to doubt their testimony. They are qualified to tell me WHAT THEY BELIEVE, but that is a long way from proving that what they believe is true. When people tell me their religious experience, I believe they had some sort of “feeling” or “experience” — there is really no way I could “testify” that they had not. But I refuse to accept an interpretation of their “feeling” that contradicts the Bible.

At the zoo, a man watched as an attendant entered a wildcat cage through a door on the opposite side. He had nothing in his hands but a broom. Carefully closing the door, he proceeded to sweep the floor of the cage. The onlooker observed that the worker had no weapon to ward off an attack by the beast. In fact, when he got to the corner of the cage where the wildcat was lying, he poked the animal with the broom. The wildcat hissed at him and then lay down in another corner of the enclosure.

"If you aren't brave and the wildcat isn't tame, then I can't understand why he doesn't attack you."

The man chuckled, then replied with an air of confidence, "Mister, he's old -- and he ain't got no teeth."

Some situations do not require much courage. Others, however, require a great deal of courage. Take, for example, the choice Daniel was given -- stop praying to God or face the hungry lions (which were not toothless!). Or Moses -- live a life of luxury in the king's palace, or align himself with God's people. Or Esther -- keep quiet and not cause a commotion, or stand up against evildoers at the risk of losing her life.

How we need such courage in our own lives! Courage to stand for the truth regardless of the consequences. Courage to live a life where Christ comes first regardless of what others might think. Courage to confess the name of God to a world which regards us as fools.

"Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the LORD" (Psalm 31:24).

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Rom. 12:2).

There is an old legend about a fly that buzzed past a spider's web. The spider called out to the fly, "Come in and sit for a spell." The fly said, "No, sir. I don't see other flies on your web, and I am not going in alone." But, presently, he saw on the floor below a large crowd of flies dancing around on a piece of brown paper. He was delighted! He was not afraid because lots of other flies were doing it. So he came in for a landing. Just before he landed, a bee zoomed by, saying, "Don't land there, stupid! That's flypaper!" But the fly shouted back, "Don't be silly. Those flies are dancing. There's a big crowd there. Everybody's doing it. That many flies can't be wrong!" The fly landed and eventually died on that very spot!

“My son, if sinners entice you, Do not consent…My son, do not walk in the way with them. Keep your feet from their path, For their feet run to evil And they hasten to shed blood” (Proverbs 1:10-16).