Inspiration

	In 1985, thirty scholars formed a group known as the Jesus Seminar.  The group grew to more than 200 during the next decade.  The expressed purpose of this group has been to determine the true nature of Jesus.  They are sometimes described as the elite of liberal biblical scholarship, although some of us might be tempted to place most of the emphasis on "liberal" with little stress on "scholarship" and almost none on "biblical."
	Having accepted a multi-plank platform and agreed upon criteria which would guarantee a pre-determined outcome, they proceeded to examine the Gospels, plus two other documents, by voting on them passage-by-passage.  By the way, they had already decided to weight their considerations in favor of the non-biblical sources.
	Each scholar cast a red bead for every statement which Jesus undoubtedly said or which was close to something He said.  A pink bead was given for something which Jesus probably said.  A gray bead went to anything which Jesus did not say, but which contained ideas close to His own.  A black bead was submitted for that which Jesus did not say and which represents the perspective or content of a later or different tradition.
	John's Gospel account received no red beads.  It was given one pink bead.  It had two gray beads.  Every other passage in the Gospel was handed a black bead.
	Obviously, we could spend a great deal of our time discussing the scholarly element of this process.  But our time would probably be better used considering what they apparently don't know from a biblical standpoint.  Our word for this week is "inspiration."
	We must admit that it isn't hard to recognize why groups such as the Jesus Seminar want to vote on the Bible.  Our society wants to create its own religion with its own God and its own morals.  Actually, this is nothing new.  Remember what was happening back in camp as God was hand delivering His law to Moses?
	"Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain," we read in Exodus 32:1-6, "the people assembled about Aaron, and said to him, 'Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.' And Aaron said to them, 'Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring {them} to me.' Then all the people tore off the gold rings which were in their ears, and brought {them} to Aaron.  And he took {this} from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, and made it into a molten calf; and they said, 'This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.'  Now when Aaron saw {this,} he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, 'Tomorrow {shall be} a feast to the  Lord.' So the next day they rose early and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play."
	At the precise moment when we find God delivering His will to mankind, we have the larger group of men deciding what God should really be like and how He should be worshipped.
	Although we understand why a corrupt society rejects the idea of an inspired revelation from God, we must also call for intelligence and honesty.  We need to accept God or reject Him.  We need to accept the Bible or reject it.  We need to be Christians or stop deceiving ourselves.
	"I know your deeds," Jesus tells the Laodiceans in Revelation 3:15-16, "that you are neither cold nor hot; I would that you were cold or hot.  So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth."
	God has no use for fence-straddlers.  We must take the Bible or leave it.  But we cannot vote on it.
	If the Bible claims to be the inspired Word of God, then it is either what it says it is, or it is a lie.  There is no middle ground.  No good book makes false claims about itself.
	Inspiration literally means to be "God-breathed."  In other words, the Bible has come from no source lower than God Himself.  What claims does the Bible make about its inspiration? 

	The Bible is nothing less than the inspired word of God.
	"Therefore, I shall always be ready to remind you of these things," we read in 2 Peter 1:12-21, "even though you {already} know {them}, and have been established in the truth which is present with {you.}  And I consider it right, as long as I am in this {earthly} dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder, knowing that the laying aside of my {earthly} dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.  And I will also be diligent that at any time after my departure you may be able to call these things to mind.  For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.  For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, "This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased"-- and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.  And {so} we have the prophetic word {made} more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.  But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is {a matter} of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God."
	Let's notice a few things from this passage.  First of all, Peter makes it clear in verse 16 that the inspired writers are not simply following cleverly devised tales.  In verse 21 he says that no prophecy is made by an act of human will, but that the writers are moved by the Holy Spirit to speak from God.
	"For if you believed Moses," Jesus comments in John 5:46, "you would believe Me; for he wrote of Me."
	Jesus accepts Moses as an inspired writer.
	"Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled," Peter observes in Acts 1:16, "which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus."
	Peter says that it is the Holy Spirit who is actually speaking through the mouth of David.
	"As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old," Jesus notes in Luke 1:70.
	According to Jesus, God speaks through the mouths of the prophets.
	"But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets," Peter agrees in Acts 3:18, "that His Christ should suffer, He has thus fulfilled. 
	"As to this salvation," we find in 1 Peter 1:10-11, "the prophets who prophesied of the grace that {would come} to you made careful search and inquiry, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow."
	The Bible says that the Old Testament authors are inspired by God.  What about those who write the New Testament?
	"But the Helper," Jesus promises in John 14:26, "the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you."
	"But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes," the Lord adds in John 16:13, "He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come."
	If Jesus kept His promise, then the New Testament writers are inspired by the Holy Spirit.  This includes Paul, the author of the majority of New Testament books.
	"For I would have you know, brethren," Paul points out in Galatians 1:11-12, "that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man.  For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but {I received it} through a revelation of Jesus Christ."
	Does anyone confirm Paul's claim of inspiration?
	"Therefore, beloved," we read in 2 Peter 3:14-16, "since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of our Lord {to be} salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all {his} letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as {they do} also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction."
	Peter states that Paul writes according to a wisdom which has been given to him.  And Peter places the writings of Paul with the rest of the  Scriptures.
	The Bible is not written by men.  God has breathed His words into them.  The second thing that we notice from our passage is that the inspired Scriptures are not open to human interpretation.  They have a single, inspired meaning.
	"God," we find in Hebrews 1:1-2, "after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in {His} Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world."
	"For this reason," Hebrews 2:1-4 continues, "we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away {from it.}  For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will."
	God is very precise in His communication with mankind.  And He warns us to be very cautious in our handling of this unalterable message.
	The third thing that we learn from our passage is that we do well to pay close attention to God's inspired Word. 
	"And for this reason," Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 2:13, "we also constantly thank God that when you received from us the word of God's message, you accepted {it} not { as} the word of men, but {for} what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe."
	"So then, brethren," Paul urges in 2 Thessalonians 2:15, "stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word {of mouth} or by letter from us."
	"You, however," the apostle encourages in 2 Timothy 3:14-17, "continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned {them}; and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work."
	We do well to pay close attention to God's inspired Word.  It is very good for us if we do.  We must add that it is very bad for us if we don't.
	"If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual," Paul warns in 1 Corinthians 14:37-38, "let him recognize that the things which I write to you are the Lord's commandment.  But if anyone does not recognize {this}, he is not recognized."
	"But even though we, or an angel from heaven," Paul cautions in Galatians 1:8-9, "should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed.  As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you received, let him be accursed."
	"I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book," Jesus alerts in Revelation 22:18-19, "if anyone adds to them, God shall add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book."
	God inspired the Holy writers with the truth.  The truth is not a matter of our own interpretation.  And we do well to pay close attention to the truth so that we may be set free.

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission." (www.lockman.org)