Preached by Gregory W. Lee
21 May 2006
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to 2 Timothy 3
10. You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance,
11. persecutions, sufferings--what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.
12. In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
13. while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
14. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it,
15. and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
16. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
17. so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
-- this morning, I want to spend some time talking about the Bible -- the God-breathed revelation of God -- it is our belief that this book contains the full revelation of God -- all that is needed for salvation and sanctification
-- as Paul tells us here in this passage -- the Word of God is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness so that we may be made mature and complete in Christ -- thoroughly equipped to complete the good works given to us by God
-- the Bible is a remarkable document -- it has 66 books written by 44 authors over a period of 1500 years -- 39 in Old Testament written from about 1400 BC to 400 BC -- and 27 in NT -- written from about 50 AD to 100 AD -- but when read together, these 66 books combine to create a single composite masterpiece outlining God's plan of salvation for humankind -- starting with the fall in the Garden of Eden and ending with the death and resurrection of Jesus and the sending of the Holy Spirit
-- the Bible is the living, breathing Word of God -- it is a sacred history, recounting the works of God in the lives of men for thousands of years -- it is a road-map to eternity, giving us a glimpse of the end-times to come -- it outlines moral precepts by which we are called to live -- it is the foundation of our theological doctrines and gives us direction about church structure and practice -- and it provides us guidance on how to live in accordance with God's principles and precepts in our daily, personal lives
-- as one person has quipped, "The Bible is nothing less than Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth"
II. How did we get the Bible?
-- so, how did we get this Bible? -- how did this holy book come to us in this form?
-- in his book and in the movie, "The Da Vinci Code" -- Dan Brown got one thing right -- one of the characters, Sir Leigh Teabing, states that the Bible did not come from heaven as a facsimile -- and that is true -- we didn't just wake up one morning and find this book laying on our doorstep -- so, how did we get it?
-- in the Da Vinci Code, we are told that the Bible was made during the Council of Nicea in 325 AD at the direction of the Roman Emperor Constantine -- in his book, Brown says that the Council got together and voted on what to put into the Bible and what to leave out, and that they purposefully left out lots of books -- for instance, Brown says they threw out over 80 gospels that did not line up with their political message
-- but this is not true -- Brown put this into the book and movie in order to advance his beliefs about Mary Magdelene being married to Jesus and that Jesus intended for Mary to be the leader of the church
-- in reality, the Council of Nicea did not produce the Bible that we have today -- in fact, the full 27 book NT was not even recognized in Constantine's lifetime
-- Dan Brown wants you to believe that we got the Bible based on the vote of one council at one time, but that is not the way the Bible was finalized
-- the process of recognizing and affirming what books and writings are Scripture -- God-breathed revelations given to the church -- is called the setting of the canon -- or canonization
-- the word "canon" comes from a Greek word meaning "rule" or "standard" -- measuring stick -- final rule or standard of authority for the church
-- in other words, these are the books that the church recognizes as being inspired and revealed by God -- these are the standards by which all other books and writings and teachings are measured -- Barclay -- church did not create the canon but came to recognize, accept, affirm, and confirm these particular writings as the inspired Word of God -- when these books were read and taught, it became evident to all that they were indeed God's message to us
-- the thing to keep in mind as you think about the Bible and how it came to us is that these books weren't made Scripture by putting them in the Bible -- they already were Scripture and already were accepted by the church and by believers for a long time before they ever were compiled into one book
-- let me give you an example from the OT -- from the time that Moses first wrote down the words of God in the first five books of the Bible -- the Pentateuch -- these books were accepted as Scripture -- as the Word of God
-- over time, as God spoke through the prophets and through others, additional books and writings were accepted as Scripture -- eventually, around 100 AD, after the fall of Jerusalem, the Jewish people collected all the 39 books of the OT and put them in one document and said, "This is it -- this is all the inspired Word of God -- anything else that comes along may be edifying -- but it is not to be considered Scripture"
-- the same is true of the NT -- as various books were written and taught in the churches, they became accepted by the early Christians as Scripture -- in 2 Peter 3:15-16, Peter writes that Paul's letters were Scripture -- this means that as early as during the life of the apostles, certain writings were recognized by the Christian church as being God-breathed and inspired
-- over time, other books and letters were accepted by the church as part of the Canon -- part of Scripture
-- at various points of history, the need arose to have a clear listing of what books were considered Scripture and what books were not -- the primary reason for such a listing of Scripture was in response to heretical teachings
-- the first listing of NT Scripture -- the earliest NT canon -- was actually put together by a heretic -- Marcion -- 140 AD -- compiled an extensively edited copy of Luke and 10 heavily edited Pauline letters -- since Marcion was a Gnostic, this canon strongly suggests that the Gnostic boks such as the Gospel of Thomas were not yet written, or he would have included them in his canon -- forced church to deal with the issue of its own canon -- they needed to write down a list of what books and letters were accepted by Christians as Scripture so that churches would not be misled by Marcion and other heretical teachers
-- Muratorian Canon -- late 2nd century -- includes four gospels, Acts, Pauls 13 letters, Jude, Revelation, 1 John, and at least one of John's two other letters -- 21 of 27 canonical books are recognized as authoritative before the end of the second century
-- also listed numerous other books that fell into one of three categories: disputed (primarily because of catholicity), edifying but not authoritative, and heretical
-- 325 AD -- after the Council of Nicea -- Eusebius produced a written canon: recognized books, disputed books, rejected books -- 22 books were undisputed, recognized as canonical
-- 367 AD -- Athanasius provided the first list that includes all and only the 27 books of the NT -- 393 AD Augustine endorsed the same list and Jerome included these in his translation called the Vulgate
-- at this time, the canon was effectively closed for the majority of the church -- the church agreed that these 27 books and no more were Scripture -- the canon was closed by consensus and not the pronouncement of an emperor or council -- Barclay, "The NT books became canonical because no one could stop them from doing so"
III. Criteria for Canonization
-- turn in Bibles to Galatians 1
-- so, what made these 27 books so special? -- what was the criteria that made these books part of the canon? -- What made these Scripture?
--I've got several classic Christian writings here that I'm sure you've all heard of -- "Mere Christianity" -- "The Great Divorce" -- "The Problem of Pain" by C.S. Lewis -- "Confessions" by St. Augustine -- "Pilgrim's Progress" by John Bunyan -- several books by Billy Graham -- for generations these books have shaped Christian thinking on a variety of theological issues -- why are these not considered Scripture? -- What makes the Book of Acts more important that "Mere Christianity?"
-- we see it right here in this passage -- look at verse 1
1. Paul, an apostle--sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead--
2. and all the brothers with me, To the churches in Galatia:
3. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
4. who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,
5. to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
-- when the early church set about recognizing and affirming the books of the New Testament, they used three criteria as their measuring stick
1) apostolic -- apostle or associate of apostle -- Paul tells us in verse 1 that he was an apostle -- apostle is a teacher who received their authority directly from Jesus
2) orthodox -- did it conform to teachings of other books known to be written by apostles -- vs. 3-5 -- Paul gives the basic orthodox teachings of Christianity -- Jesus was Lord -- God Himself -- gave Himself for us on the cross as payment for our sins -- three years after Paul's conversion on the Road to Damascus, he went to Jerusalem to ensure that what he understood and was teaching was in accordance with what the earliest disciples of Jesus were teaching (vs. 11-24)
3) catholic -- universally accepted -- did a majority of the churches accept it as scripture -- notice in verse 1 that this letter from Paul was sent to all the churches in Galatia -- it was intended to be read and taught among all the churches -- not just one -- over time, it was circulated outside of Galatia and was accepted by the entire Christian community as God-breathed -- revealed to Paul by Christ and, as 2 Tim 3 says, "useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness"
-- so what about these Christian classics -- sermons -- current writings?
-- edifying but not authoritative -- they may be catholic in the sense that the majority of the church accepts them and uses them for teaching -- they may be orthodox in that they line up with the canon of Scripture -- but they are not apostolic -- they were not produced by an apostle or an associate of an apostle -- for this reason, these extra-biblical books are considered useful, but not God-breathed Scripture
IV. The Hidden Books
-- Jesus Committee -- 8-10 years ago -- what did Jesus say? -- Five gospels -- heavily edited editions of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John -- included Gospel of Thomas -- Gnostic gospel
-- Gnostic books -- Gnostic gospels -- Gospel of Mary Magdelene -- Gospel of Philip, Gospel of Mary, Peter and the Egyptians -- Gospel of Judas -- these are the books that weigh heavily in Dan Brown's antiChristian theology
-- Why rejected:
1) not apostolic -- were not written by the Apostles and appeared in written form after most of the NT was already in use and accepted by the church -- from the second to the ninth century -- up to 500 years after the time of Constantine
-- keep in mind that the heresies recorded in these books came up during the Apostolic era -- Paul mentions false teachings -- false gospels in this chapter -- verse 6
6. I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel--
7. which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.
8. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!
9. As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!
10. Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.
11. I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up.
-- no evidence that these teachings were written -- the word "gospel" simply means "good news," and it is likely that these were just verbal teachings that formed the basis for the Gnostic gospels that were written about 100 years later
-- Apostle John also dealt with false teachings -- 1 John 4: 2. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3. but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
-- satan will always try to mislead and imitate -- when there is something real -- Scripture or revival -- satan will come in and imitate it with something to draw people's faith and attention away from the real
2) not orthodox -- emphasized the deity of Christ while sacrificing his humanity -- they did not line up with the teachings of the Apostles or the other books accepted by the Christian community as inspired Scripture
3) not catholic -- "Eusebius, the first church historian, affirms that the early church rejected these gospels as soon as they appeared" (McFarland) -- these writings were not circulated and accepted by the early church -- and were rejected by most of the early Christians
-- The Dead Sea Scrolls -- contained no gospels or references to Jesus -- portions of every OT book except Esther -- commentaries on the OT, some extrabiblical work, secular documents, and business records -- "The Qumran community, which wrote or preserved these documents, had nothing to do with Jesus or Christianity" Alex McFarland
V. Closing
-- so, in a nutshell, there you have the explanation of how we got our Bible -- how the canon of Scripture was really set
-- contrary to Dan Brown's allegations in The Da Vinci Code, the Bible was not created by Constantine -- it was not voted on and approved in a council -- it was not decided by one man
-- the Bible was created when the early Christians recognized the fingerprints of God in the writings and teachings of the Apostles -- when our forefathers in the faith gathered and preserved the letters and the books that they recognized to be the revelation of God -- inspired through the Holy Spirit and given to the church during the Apostolic era
-- it was only later -- after the church had already accepted these books and letters in their heart as God's Word -- that the official Canon of Scripture was written down and agreed to by the official church of the day
-- the story of the Bible and how it came to be is a fascinating story -- but more important than that is the life-changing message that is contained in these pages -- Words from God Himself that offer us hope of eternal life, salvation, and forgiveness of our sins through His Son Jesus Christ
-- let us pray
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