How to Listen to Preaching and Teaching

How to Listen to Preaching and Teaching May 22, 2019

Letting the Bible Live In Me

We all need it. Every believer needs the consistent preaching and teaching of God's Word. But, what kind of listener will you be? Listen to these helpful suggestions on getting the most out of the preaching and teaching of the Scriptures.

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(2 Timothy 3:16) Every Word from God is “God breathed”—it is connected to His very nature and life. Today we learn more about how God gave His Word to man and see the amazing proofs of divine inspiration in the Bible. (0975250326) —-more—-

The Inspiration of Scripture

Is God perfect? If God is perfect, would everything that comes from God comes out of God? Be perfect. If that’s the case, then would you say God’s breath? Is perfect. Someone says, that’s a strange line of questioning. Not at all, because the Bible says that the word of God literally was breathed out from God. In other words, it came directly from God’s very nature. It came from God’s heart to us. Here’s the verse 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”

Now, we can’t believe that the word of God is profitable if we don’t believe the word of God is inspired. We use the word inspired fairly loosely today. Writers say, I had a moment of inspiration. Speakers say I felt inspired to say something, but the word inspiration in two Timothy 3:16 is not some some passing surface emotion.

No, the word inspiration there literally means God-breathed. It was breathed out from the very nature of God. It came directly from God. To man.

Is God’s Word Perfect?

So I ask again, is God perfect? Oh, yes. God is perfect. If God is perfect, would everything that comes from God be perfect? Yes. Everything that comes directly from God would be perfect, untainted by sin and corruption.

If everything that comes out of God is perfect, then would not the very God-breathed words of Scripture be perfect? One of the great struggles that people have is whether the word of God can be trusted to be perfect in every way. My question is this: Does it come from a perfect God? We’re going to talk more about how God preserved his word through the ages and God’s promise to do that.

But let me just say right up front that to question the authority and the accurateness of scripture is to question the very nature of God. In fact, the Bible says that God has set his word above his name. Do you understand? God’s name is on the line? Is God powerful enough to preserve his word? Is God wise enough to give his word perfectly the first time?

All of this goes to our theology, to what we believe about God. So I read again that all scripture is given by the inspiration of God. Aren’t you glad it’s been given that God spoke through the Bible writers? So that when they wrote it was without error, without omission, and without exaggeration, we might say it this way. It was the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Human Penman and the Bible

And that doesn’t mean that God made men robots. He never does that. He allows men to work with him. What a privilege to be laborers together with God. And such was the case for these Bible writers. The truth was conveyed in such a way that it employed those men.

For example, the human penman personal experience comes out. There’s no doubt. They’re giving firsthand accounts many times. You can see Peter’s personality shine through. You can hear Paul’s educational background come through their historical accounts and read the gospel according to Luke. And it’s very obvious that a medical doctor, a physician, someone with knowledge of the human body and of those types of things is writing a very detailed account.

So, the information is given directly from God through men, and he employs and uses those men, their backgrounds, their style of writing. It’s wonderful. And before scripture was written down, information, truth, historical accounts, and information handed down through parents were passed along verbally.

Words that were passed on from generation to generation. But aren’t you glad God wrote it down for us? He wrote it down on the pages of holy scripture. So we’re not resting on dreams and visions and experiences. Now, somebody said, I wish we had the truth in black and white. You do have the truth in black and white.

God gave us the truth in his holy word. It is literally the voice of God to us. Lemme give you some examples. Acts 28:25 is a beautiful expression the Bible says, “25 And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers,”

Then who does he say is speaking? The Holy Spirit was speaking. He was speaking through Isaiah, but Isaiah was simply the mouthpiece, if you will. But the word was the very word of God. How about this one? Peter chapter one, verse number 11 says, searching what or what manner of time the spirit of Christ, which was in them did signify when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow who was speaking through these prophets, the spirit of Christ.

Which was in them. A Peter would use a similar expression in his second letter. In 2 Peter 1:21, read this “21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”

It was God speaking through the man. The truth was always, no matter what the means was, the truth was always given by the inspiration of God. That inspiration extends to the very words, not just the general ideas. God didn’t just give us the big idea. He inspired the very words that were given. We believe that he inspired every word, not just some of them.

The only thing in your Bible that’s not inspired are the chapter and verse divisions. Chapter divisions were inserted by a man named Stephen Langston. Who died in about 1228, and the verse divisions were added in 1551. Now let me just pause and say I appreciate chapter in verse divisions because they ate in our study, but those divisions were not given by inspiration.

What was given by the inspiration of God was the very words in the Word of God.

Proofs of Scriptural Inspiration

There’s so many proofs to the inspiration of scripture. There are internal proofs. For example, think of the unity of the Bible. A book written over 1,600 years, by 40 different human penman in different languages on three continents covering 1,600 miles and yet perfect unity, no contradiction.

You read its internal claims repeatedly, phrases like, “Thus saith the Lord,” “God said,” and “The word of the Lord came.” Those kind of statements appear more than 2,000 times in the Bible. The word claims to be holy. It claims to be the Oracles of God. Think of how truthful and transparent the scripture is.

There’s not another book on earth where the author would speak so plainly about the great failings of men that a man, a human pen, when would write down his own sins. They’re given by inspiration of God. It’s more than the words of men, and there are only internal proofs. There are external proofs. It’s powerful.

No other book has literally transformed people’s lives. I. Somebody said that where the Bible was best known, civilization rose to its highest levels. It’s the first book in printing, the first book ever printed. It’s the first in literature. No book has ever been translated intoes. It’s the first in history, theology, prophecy, biography, and so many language laws. Why is that? Because it is the very word of the living God.

The Eternal Truth of the Bible

Did you know that the average life of a bestseller is about five years? That’s all. And that 75% of all books go to the scrap heap within 90 days. Yet the Bible is still the bestselling book of all time. Why is that? Because truth is timeless. It is the eternal truth of the living God.

It was Carlisle who said, no lie can live forever. Friend, the word of God is forever settled in heaven. It is indeed the word of the living God. God still alive and so is his word.

And I want to challenge you today to spend some time meditating on God’s word and realize that it is not simply the word of David, Paul, or Moses.

This is the word of the living God. Ask the God of the word, the author who lives inside of you to use his book to speak to you today.

Outro and Resources

Repeating what other people have said about the Bible is not enough. We must know the biblical reason behind what we believe. We hope you will visit us at etj.bible to access our Library of Bible teaching resources, including book-by-book studies of Scripture. You’ll also find studies to watch, listen to, or read. We are so grateful for those who pray for us, who share the biblical content and for those who invest to help us advance this ministry worldwide. Again, thank you for listening, and we hope you’ll join us next time on Enjoying the Journey.

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