Inspiration of the Scriptures — William MacDonald

I would like to add my own personal word of thanks to all who labored so hard and so well in this conference. I go away with many pleasant memories. I would appreciate your prayers as I travel to California beginning tomorrow, a long, long trip.

The Holy Spirit and the Inspiration of Scripture

We need the Lord every hour. Just for a few minutes, I'd like to gather up some threads with regard to the inspiration of the scriptures. The Holy Spirit is the one who inspired the scriptures. 1 Corinthians 2 .13, which we looked at in detail.

We did look at 2 Peter 1 .21. Would you look at that for just a moment, please? 2 Peter 1 .21. It says, Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scriptures of any private interpretation, for the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God speak as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

The usual interpretation of this verse is that no one has a right to interpret the scriptures according to his own personal way of thinking. No prophecy of the scriptures of any private interpretation.

But that isn't really what it means. This doesn't refer to the way you interpret the scriptures. It refers to the way in which the scriptures were originally given. The rest of the verse goes on to prove that.

When it says no prophecy of the scriptures of any private interpretation, it means when Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, Malachi, Matthew, John, when they wrote, they weren't giving their own private interpretation of things.

They weren't using their own wisdom in what to write down. They were speaking, writing, as the Holy Spirit moved them. Now, of course, it is true that no prophecy of the scriptures, that we don't, individuals don't have a right to interpret it apart from the Holy Spirit.

That's true. But that's really not what the word is saying here. This has to do with how the scriptures were originally given. And the Bible that we have in our hand doesn't consist of men's interpretation of things.

Verbal and Plenary Inspiration

They were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spake accordingly. Now, we believe in the verbal, plenary inspiration of the scriptures. When we say the verbal inspiration of the scriptures, we mean that the very words those men wrote down were the words of God.

No question in the world about that. And we saw that this morning when we were reading in 1 Corinthians 2 .13. It uses that, not in the words which man's wisdom teaches, but words which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

When we say the plenary inspiration of the scriptures, we mean that the Bible is inspired from Genesis through Revelation. All scripture is given by inspiration of God. Just to show you how thorough the inspiration of the scriptures is, turn to Matthew 5 .18.

There you read these words. The Lord Jesus is speaking. He says, but verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till all be fulfilled.".

One jot and tittle. What would we say today? One dotting of the I, one crossing of the T. A jot and a tittle weren't even letters in the Hebrew alphabet. They were marks. They were strokes. They were very, very minor.

When you think of a capital E and then think of a capital F, the difference between a capital E and a capital F. Just that stroke at the bottom of the E. The Lord said not one jot or tittle would pass from the law till all be fulfilled.

I want to tell you that's inspiration to the very minutest degree in the scriptures, isn't it? Not one jot or tittle would pass until all be fulfilled. Then even the singular and the plural of words is inspired in the Bible.

Galatians chapter 3 verse 16. I think this is thrilling when you see this in the word of God. Paul makes a big point here between singular and plural. It says in verse 16 of Galatians chapter 3, now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made.

He saith not unto seeds as of many, but as of one, unto thy seed which is Christ.". A difference in the English of one letter, adding that plural F to a word. And that shows you the minute detail in which the word of God is inspired.

Now, it's all inspired to the same degree. All the scriptures inspire. That's one of the problems with a red-lettered New Testament. Some of you may have it. Don't feel badly if you do. Publish the New Testament with all the sayings of Christ in red letters.

That's all right, but it might create the impression in people's minds that what's in red letters is more inspired than what isn't. And that isn't true, is it? What Paul writes in the epistles is just as much the word of God as what you see in red letters in your Testament.

The Trustworthiness of All Scripture

And because the word of God is inspired, it's insaluble. There are no errors in the word of God. It's absolutely trustworthy. Some men today say, well, it's trustworthy in matters of faith and morals, but not in other matters.

I say it's trustworthy in all matters that you can possibly think of. B. H. Carroll said it's foolish to talk about degrees of inspiration. He says all the Bible is the word of God. When I was a boy, I found a thousand contradictions in the Bible.

I marked them. I had nearly a thousand more contradictions then than I have now. I now have a half dozen in the Bible I cannot explain satisfactorily to myself. I think if I had a little more sense, I could explain them.

That's what he says. That's very good, isn't it? When he was a boy, he had a thousand contradictions in the Bible. Today, he has only about six, and he says, if I had a little more sense, I think I could explain those six.

I think we want to mention that inspiration, when we hear about the Spirit of God inspiring the scripture, inspiration doesn't guarantee the truth of what, for instance, Satan says in the Bible. It guarantees the authenticity of the record.

But if Satan tells a lie in the Bible, it doesn't mean it's true, does it? If man says something in the Bible that isn't true, it's inspired because God wanted it to be in the Bible, even if it isn't true.

For instance, the book of Ecclesiastes. The book of Ecclesiastes represents Solomon's search for meaning to life under the sun. The expression under the sun is found 29 times in the book of Ecclesiastes.

A lot of his conclusions under the sun aren't true at all. He says, you know, man dies and goes into the grave, and the dog dies and goes into the grave, and man has no advantage over the dog. Well, that's not true, is it?

That's not true at all. But that's man's wisdom under the sun. Dear friends, you have to get above the sun to get true wisdom. I'm glad it's in the Bible. I'm glad it's part of the inspired word of God, because God is saying, McDonald, don't go through that dreary search for meaning under the sun.

Solomon, the wisest and richest man who ever lived, went through that search, and he couldn't find it. I don't think you can find it. So I'm grateful for the book of Ecclesiastes. But just remember, not everything in it is true.

Preservation and Transmission of the Biblical Text

It represents man's search under the sun. Incidentally, the cults love Ecclesiastes, because they don't put the key in the door. That's why. That's why they love it. Now, here's a problem. When we speak of the inspiration of the scriptures, we're thinking of the original documents.

The original documents, as they were written down by the various men—Moses, the Pentateuch. But we don't have the original documents today, and that presents a problem to some people. They say, well, you believe in the inspiration of a book, and you don't have the original documents.

No problem. There are so many copies of the Old Testament, and so many copies of the New Testament, handed down, transmitted down through the centuries, it's just as good as if we had the original documents.

Let me put it this way. Supposing there were a fire back in Philadelphia, and the Declaration of Independence were burned, would we be any of the losers? Just because the original copy was burned. But we'd know everything that was in it, wouldn't we?

We'd know everything that was in it. And that's true of the sacred scriptures. Let me just give you some little facts about that. The book of Isaiah we've had for centuries. Is that the right book of Isaiah?

Is that the way it should be? Well, not too many years back, they found the Dead Sea Scrolls, and in the Dead Sea Scrolls, among them, they found a copy of the book of Isaiah. So they were going to take this copy of the book of Isaiah that they just found, and compare it with what they had assembled as a true book of Isaiah down through the years.

It represented a hundred pages of manuscript, the book of Isaiah. Sixty-six books. And a Jewish scholar found thirteen problems. There were thirteen words in the Dead Sea Scroll Isaiah that seemed to be a little different.

They didn't affect any doctrine, of course, of the faith. Thirteen words. Just think of that. A few years passed, and he said that in his considered opinion, he was hasty on ten of those thirteen problems.

They were all small problems. Problems like this. The difference in the spelling, the brief spelling of judgment, J-U-D-G-E-M-E-N-T, and the American spelling of judgment, J-U-D-G-M-E-N-T.

What was comparable in the Hebrew. Things like that. The difference is between Isaiah as we have it, and Isaiah as it was in the Dead Sea Scroll copy. Only thirteen changes that this scholar thought of, and he says, well, I was a little hasty about ten of them.

I want to tell you, that's marvelous when a copy can be transmitted down through the centuries, and only three. I would like anybody in the room to typewrite a hundred pages of manuscript, and have only three types of graphical errors in it.

I'd like to see it. I don't think anybody in the room could do that. I know something about editing and copywriting and all the rest, but I want to tell you, we make more mistakes. What about the New Testament?

Scholars today will tell you that the New Testament, the text of the New Testament as we have it today, is ninety-nine and nine-tenth percent pure. Just think of that. One-tenth of one percent, and that one-tenth of one percent represents very minor problems.

Not one of those things represents a doctrine of the Christian faith. What does that mean? It means I can hold this book up before you tonight and say, that is the Word of God, and I really believe it with all my heart.

Faith in the Bible and Billy Graham's Preaching

The differences are minor, and they have nothing to do with doctrine. Somebody says to me, how can you prove that the Bible is the Word of God? Well, I want to tell you something. There are many evidences that the Bible is the Word of God, and it would take more than the time we have tonight to go over them.

But let me just suggest this to you. You accept the Bible by faith, and then God proves to you that it is the Word of God. Many years ago, Billy Graham was down in Southern California. He was at a conference at Forrest Homes, and he was up there in the hills, and he was having a duel with God.

He had been hearing all these doubts and denials about the Bible, and he was beginning to be a little bit affected by those doubts and denials. Let me just read it to you the way he tells it. In August of that year, I had been invited to Forrest Homes, a conference that is high in the mountains outside Los Angeles.

I remember walking down a trail, tramping into the woods and almost wrestling with God. I dueled with my doubts, and my soul seemed to be caught in the crossfire. Finally, in desperation, I surrendered my will to the living God revealed in Scripture.

I knelt before the Bible and said, Lord, many things in this book I do not understand, but thou hast said the just shall live by faith. All I have received from thee I have taken by faith. Here and now, by faith, I accept the Bible as thy Word.

I take it all. I take it without reservations. Where there are things I cannot understand, I will reserve judgment until I receive more life. If this pleases thee, give me authority as I proclaim thy Word, and through that authority, convict men of sin and turn sinners to the Savior.

Within six weeks, he started the Los Angeles Crusade, and that is when Billy Graham started to say, The Bible says, and he noticed a new authority in his preaching. That was the beginning of the great ministry.

How did it happen? He accepted the Bible faith. That is what we have done. You cannot argue people into the kingdom of God, but you can get them to read the Bible and find that they are dealing with living materials, and they will find that he who has felt the force of it is not likely to doubt the source of it.

Rationalizing Away Difficult Biblical Commands

That is true. Once you have felt the force of the Bible, you are not likely to deny the source of it. Having said that, let me say this. It is possible to believe in the inspiration of the scriptures, to be 100 clear about the scriptures, and yet when we come to a verse in the scripture we don't like, we explain it away.

This is one of the sins of evangelicalism. How do we explain it? Number one, it couldn't mean that literally. Have you ever heard that? We come to some verses that say, Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, where thieves break through and steal.

Lay not up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust doth not corrupt, where thieves do not break through and steal. It couldn't mean that literally. You have to have prudence, don't you?

You have to have common sense, don't you? And we take that verse of scripture and we wring the meaning out of it so there is not enough left to make soup for a sick grandpa. We don't. It is one of the sins of the saints.

Tradition Versus the Word of God

A second rationalization. We have never done it that way. That is what we say. We come to a word of God and it is really not the way we have done it. That is what we say. We have never done it that way.

Do you know that is exactly what the Jews did in the time of the Lord? You read about that in Matthew chapter 7 verses 9 -13. Matthew 7, just let me tell you the story there if you want to turn to it you can.

Matthew 7 verses 9 -13. The law of God said honor your father and your mother that your days may be long upon the earth. The Jews developed a tradition. Here is a Jewish father and he comes to his son and he says, son I am bankrupt.

I have nothing. Can you help me out? All that son had to say was Korban. That is all he had to say. Just a word. Korban. And that meant, dad, anything that I might have given you at this time has been dedicated to the Lord.

That is what it meant. It didn't mean the Lord would ever get it. He had to say that. All he had to say was Korban. Anything that I might give you to help you out of your financial distress at this time has been dedicated to the Lord.

He said to them here, by your traditions you may void the law of God. Isn't that what he said? Matthew 7 verses 9 -13. I don't have the right reference there, but anyway. It is Mark 7. Sorry about that.

Mark 7 verse 9. Let's read it. Verse 10. So Moses said honor thy father and thy mother and whoso curseth father or mother let him die to death. But he sayeth if a man shall say to his father or mother it is Korban, that is to say a gift by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me he shall be free.

He suffereth no more to do aught for his father or his mother making the word of God of none effect through your traditions. And we do that. We come to some hard verse of scripture and we say Korban. And the verses of scripture that we like the least are those that have to do with money.

The most sensitive part of modern man's anatomy is his pocketbook. The hardest job the Holy Spirit has is to cut the nerve between a man's brain and his wallet. Do you know that Jesus talked more about money than he talked about heaven and hell?

He talked more about money than he talked about personal salvation. They don't like it. The church doesn't like it. Everybody ought to be profited. Nothing too good for the people of God. Live high off the hog.

Making Personal Exceptions to Scripture

Not what you read in the New Testament. Explanation number three. I know that's what it says in the Bible, but in my case God wants to make an exception. Isn't that sweet? Here's a girl who falls in love with an unsaved fellow.

He says, look my friend, you can't marry that fellow. He's unsaved and you're a believer. I know that's what the Bible says, but in my case, God wants me to marry him so I can lead him to Christ. We make void the word of God with excuses like that.

The Cultural Argument Against Biblical Commands

Number four. That was just for Paul's day, or the days of the early church. This is the cultural argument, and it's very, very strong today. But I want to tell you something. If you use the cultural argument of all, you can get rid of anything in the Bible.

Prudence and Obedience to God

If you use it with regard to women's place in the church, you can get rid of baptism and the same argument. It's just for Paul's day. We do that. Men do that. Number five. God knows I have to live, doesn't he?

When the stern demands of Jesus' discipleship are pressed upon people, they say. A young man said that to Spurgeon once. God knows I have to live, doesn't he? Spurgeon said, I don't grant that. We have to obey God.

Common Sense Versus Supernatural Wisdom

Who said we had to live? Six. You have to be prudent. You have to use common sense. If you put common sense above the word of God, it becomes rat poison. The word of God is supernatural sense, not common sense.

Rejecting Apostolic Authority

It's above common sense. Number seven. Those scriptures reveal Paul's prejudices. Paul was a male chauvinist. Paul was a woman hater. And those scriptures reveal his prejudices. If that's true, you don't have the word of God.

Obeying Scripture Despite Offense

If that's true, the Bible is not the word of God, the inspired word of God. Number eight. I can hardly believe that anybody would say this. You shouldn't do it if it would offend somebody, would you? You shouldn't obey the word of God if it would offend somebody.

Refusing to Relegate Biblical Teaching to the Kingdom

Yes, do it whether it offends people or not. Number twelve. Those teachings are just for the kingdom. Oh, that's convenient. Anything you don't like, relegate it off to the kingdom. But God is not deceived by all of these things.

At the coronation of a British king or queen, the Bible is presented to him or to her with this word. We present you with this book, the most valuable thing the world affords. Here is wisdom. This is the royal law.

The Holy Spirit Transforms Believers Into Christ's Image

These are the living oracles of God. Wonderful, isn't it? There's just one more point on that little outline there, and that is this. A final ministry. I don't say this is a final one, but the final ministry on this outline.

The Holy Spirit transforms believers into the image of Christ. I think that's a nice note to end on. 2 Corinthians 3, verse 18. It says,. But we all, with unveiled faith, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Let's go over it. Just take the verse apart and put it together again. But we all, all believers, with unveiled faith. What's an unveiled faith? A faith where there's nothing between the soul and the Savior.

No unconfessed sin. Perfect communion between God and the believer. Unveiled faith. Beholding as in a glass. What is the glass? The glass is the table. What do you behold in the Bible? The glory of the Lord.

What happens when you go to the Word of God, not for an occasional glance, but for a concentrated gaze? Beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord. What happens? Are changed into the same image. What does that mean?

That means we become more like Christ. That's what it means. From glory to glory. What does that mean? It means from one degree of glory to another. It's a progression. It's an upward climb. How does that marvelous change take place?

Even as by the Spirit of the Lord. This is the secret to becoming like the Lord Jesus. Being occupied with Him. The gaze. It's the gaze that sanctifies. It's the look that saves, isn't it? You take that look of faith to the Lord Jesus Christ and He saves you.

I tell you, it's the gaze that sanctifies. We all with unveiled faith beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Prayer for Christlikeness

May we all go forth from the conference with this prayer in our hearts. To be like Jesus. To be like Jesus. All I want is to be like Him. Shall we pray? Father, we would pray this all through life's journey from earth to glory.

All I want is to be like Him. May this be the great ambition of our souls day by day. As we go to the Word of God and feed on the Word of God and behold the glory of the Lord, the Holy Spirit will have His wonderful way in transforming us into His image.

We ask in His worthy name. Amen.