Click here to view listing below for Act 17:4
"The Word of God"
I. PAUL SPEAKS OF HIS THANKFULNESS THAT THEY HAD RECEIVED THE WORD OF GOD FROM HIM.
A. The Bible is the word of God and is to be held in high esteem.
1. In
Psalm 138 God said that He would honor His word above His name.
2. Jeremiah said if a prophet has a dream, let him tell his dream, but he that has My word, let him speak My word faithfully, what is the wheat to the chaff, saith the Lord.
3. When a woman filled with emotion at the teaching of Jesus called out of the crowd, "Blessed is the womb that bore Thee and the breasts from which you nursed." Jesus replied, "Rather blessed are they that hear the word and do it."
4. Special blessings are promised for those who delight themselves in the law of God, Ps.
1. They shall be like trees planted by living water bringing forth fruit in their season, their leaf also shall not wither and whatsoever they do shall prosper.
B. The phrase received the word, in the scriptures is equivalent to saying that they were saved.
Act 2:41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added [unto them] about three thousand souls.
Act 8:14 Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:
C. In
Acts 17 we read about the word that Paul preached to them. He opened the scriptures and alleged, that the Messiah needed suffer, and rise again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is the Messiah
II. THEY DID NOT RECEIVE IT AS THE WORD OF MAN.
A. There are many people who have never read the scriptures or made only a cursory study who have concluded that it is the word of man.
1. They believe that the stories of the Old Testament are just folklore.
2. They sometimes refer to them as myths.
3. They assert that man needs something to believe in so he invented God and made up many stories and legends about the way God met and related to men.
B. Several years ago in one of our trips to the Holy Land our bus driver stopped to pick up and young Israeli girl who was in the military who was hitch hiking. Kay started up a conversation with her, and the girl promptly declared that she was an atheist. Kay questioned her about the Bible, had she ever read it, she responded, "Of course, we have to study the Bible in school." Kay asked her what she thought about the Bible, and she responded that it was just Jewish myths, because man needed something to believe in. I then asked her what right she had to that land, and obviously she was willing to defend that right. She quickly responded "God gave us this land." I stopped her and said, "Wait a minute, a few moments ago you told us you did not believe in God, or the Bible." I then said to her that we believed that they had a right to the land because God did promise the land to the descendants of Abraham, but if you do not believe in God or the Bible, then you really have
no right to come back to this land and establish the nation of Israel.
C. If the Bible is an invention of man, you must confess that they had to be the smartest men who ever lived. For 44 authors to write a book over a period of 1500 years, yet to make it one unified story that has stood the test of time and extreme critical analyses is at the very least quite remarkable.
1. To write a book that would need no revisions except for the language, that has bridged the millenniums of time and ministers to man at the end of the 20th century with the same life transforming power as it did to men who lived over 3000 years ago is quite remarkable to say the least.
2. What work of man can you think of that has had the same positive effect on the history of the world as the Bible.
3. The Bible has been likened to an anvil that has been hammered on for centuries. The hammers have long since worn out and disappeared, but the anvil still stands.
4. Two centuries ago Voltaire predicted that in 100 years Christianity would be but a vanishing memory. 100 Years after his death the house that he lived in was acquired by the British and Foreign Bible Society and was used for the storage of Bibles.
III. YOU RECEIVED IT NOT AS THE WORD OF MAN, BUT AS IT IS IN TRUTH, THE WORD OF GOD.
A. We believe and affirm that the Bible is the word of God, and as such, infallible and inerrant.
1. That it is God's revelation of Himself to man.
2. The Bible claims to be inspired by the Holy Spirit,
a. David said,
2SA 23:2 The Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word [was] in my tongue.
b. Jesus acknowledged David's claim. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying,
c. Peter also affirmed this truth.
Act 1:16 Men [and] brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus.
3. Paul wrote to Timothy
2TI 3:16 All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
2TI 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
4. Paul declared of Isaiah,
Act 28:25 Well spake the Holy Spirit by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers,
5. Peter said,
2PE 1:21 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 Spirit.
6. In Isaiah's day God challenged the prophets of the false gods,
ISA 41:21 Produce your cause, saith the LORD; bring forth your strong proofs, saith the King of Jacob.
ISA 41:22 Let them bring [them] forth, and shew us what shall happen: let them shew the former things, what they [be], that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come.
ISA 41:23 Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye [are] gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold [it] together.
7. Jesus said that He told them things that were yet future for the purpose that when it happened, they would know that He was God.
JOH 13:19 Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am [he].
8. Peter said, We were eyewitnesses of His majesty.
2PE 1:17 For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
2PE 1:18 And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.
2PE 1:19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
8. The Bible is unique in it's prophetic aspects. The Bible speaks of things that are going to happen hundreds and sometimes thousands of years before they happened.
9. There were over 300 predictions concerning the coming Messiah that were fulfilled by Jesus in His first coming.
1. His birthplace in Bethlehem.
2. His triumphant entry on a donkey.
3. The day of His entry.
4. His betrayal for 30 pieces of silver.
5. His scourging and death on the cross.
6. The casting of lots for His vesture
10. No wonder Jesus said to the scribes, "You do search the scriptures for in them you think that you have life, but they testify of Me.
B. Some of the most remarkable prophesies in the Old Testament concerning the coming Messiah are found in
Isaiah 52 and 53. Here the suffering and death of the Messiah are vividly described.
1. As Paul was preaching to them and alleging from the scriptures that the Messiah should suffer and arise from the dead, among other scriptures he surely quoted to them
Isaiah 52 and 53.
2. Recently through the use of computers, it has been discovered that there are fascinating coded messages in the Bible found in equally spaced letters. There is a tremendous amount of research being done at the present time on this fascinating phenomena. It is known as Equidistant Letter Sequencing.
3. Encoded in
Isaiah 53:10 are the words "Yeshua My name." Starting with the second Hebrew letter yod that appears in the phrase "He shall prolong." Ya'arik counting forward every 20th letter you find Yeshua Shmee ohz, Yeshua is My powerful name.
4. Other words encoded in
Isaiah 52 and 3 are:
a. Nazarene
b. Messiah
c. Shiloh
d. Passover
e. Caiaphas high priest
f. Annas High priest
g. The names of 11 of the disciples.
The sequencing can be found in a book by Yacov Rambsel called
His Name Is Jesus published by Frontier Research Publications.
Verse-Reference
Square — [Jhn 1:1 KJV]
Abbreviate Books
Use SBL Abbrev.
