In this episode, explore the profound insights of Adrian Rogers, who delves into the significance of scripture as the very breath of God. Through the lens of 2 Timothy 3:16, Rogers elucidates how every word of the Bible is inspired and essential for spiritual maturity and growth. This message is a deeply personal invitation to not only understand but live by the teachings of the Bible, a document as relevant today as it ever was. Rogers takes us on a journey through the scientific and historical accuracies of the Bible, dismantling misconceptions and presenting an unassailable unity of texts
Adrian Rogers was a motivator, an encourager, and a leader of the faith. He was also passionate about presenting scriptural application to everyday life circumstances, and you’ll hear that in today’s message. Now, let’s join Adrian Rogers.
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Look at the scripture, 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 16. It is a key seminal scripture on the Word of God. Listen to it. All scripture, not some, all is given by inspiration of God. That means it is the breath of God. It doesn’t mean that the scriptures… are breathed into. What that literally means, that word theonoustos, means that the scriptures are the breath of God. All scripture is given by the breath of God. What you’re hearing right now is the breath of Adrian. You see, my lungs have air and my diaphragm and my chest muscles are pushing that air up over through my esophagus, over my larynx, and my tongue and my teeth and my lips are forming that into particular sounds. And by the way, it’s passing over my vocal cords that are vibrating. And so what you’re hearing literally is the breath of Adrian. Scripture is the breath of God. It is as true as if God Almighty stood in the pulpit and spoke those words. That’s the reason Jesus said in Matthew 4, 4, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word, now listen to this, that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Now when you read the Bible with that in mind, That what you’re hearing is really the breath of God, the words of God. Over and over and over again in the Bible, the Bible calls itself the Word of God. Literally thousands of times, the Word of God. So look at it again. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine. That means what is true for reproof, what is wrong for correction, how to get right for instruction in righteousness, how to stay right that the man of God may be perfect. That word perfect teleos means mature. You want to be a full grown Christian that you may be mature, thoroughly furnished unto all good works, all good works. Your Christian life depends upon your assurance that the Bible is the Word of God. Your salvation depends upon your understanding the Word of God, for the Word of God is the gospel. If you want people to believe the gospel, you’ve got to give them the gospel to believe. And the gospel is the Word of God, your assurance. It comes from the Word of God. How do I know I’m saved? Not because I feel it. Because I know what God has said. First John 5, 13, these things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. My growth depends upon the Word of God. As newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the Word that you may grow thereby. You come to me and you say, Pastor, you know, I’m just so weak. I can hardly get out of bed. So have you been to see the doctor? Yes. But he doesn’t seem to know what’s wrong with me. I’m just so weak. I can hardly move. I just don’t have any strength. I said, well, what are you eating? Well, nothing. Oh, I come to, I eat once a week on Sunday mornings at 11. That’s all I eat. Poor thing. As newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby. And then the Bible speaks over there in Hebrews 5 about the meat of the word. Your spiritual power. Depends upon your knowledge of the Word of God. There is awesome power in this book. Evangelism, all of it, goes back to the Word of God, your usefulness. You cannot be shaky about the Word of God and be a great Christian. The Bible is not the book of the month. It is the book of the ages. Now, I… was in the process of giving you some reasons why I personally believe the Bible is the Word of God. And by the way, I believed it when I started preaching with all of my heart, and I believe it more now than I did then. How could that be if I believed it with all my heart then? Well, I loved Joyce with all of my heart when we got married, and I still love her more now than I did then. Friend, I am telling you, you can be assured that the Bible is the Word of God. Now, we believe the Bible is the Word of God because of its scientific accuracy. Because that’s where it’s attacked mostly, at its science. And we’ve talked to you about the fact that before you say the Bible is not scientifically accurate, make certain that you know, number one, the Bible. And number two… that you know science. One woman said she knew the Bible wasn’t the Word of God because the Bible says that Adam and Eve ate an apple in the Garden of Eden and apples don’t grow in the Mesopotamian Valley where the Garden of Eden was. That’s superb ignorance. The Bible doesn’t say anything about Adam and Eve eating an apple to begin with. The Bible doesn’t mention the fruit on the tree, just the pear on the ground. It’s amazing. It is amazing. Make sure number one, you know the Bible. Make sure number two, that you know science. And we gave you some wonderful illustrations of the science of the Bible. We talked about the astronomy of the Bible, how the Bible shows that the earth is suspended in space, how the Bible shows that the earth is round, how the Bible teaches before the days of modern telescopes that the stars are without number. We dealt with that. We won’t redo that again. We talked about not only the astronomy science, but we talked about the physiological science and the human body. We talked about how the Bible gives rules of health and hygiene, how the Bible discusses the power, life-giving elements in the human blood and all of these things. And then we talked not only about the Bible and its scientific accuracy, but we talked about the Bible and its historical accuracy. How men for years doubted that Belshazzar ever existed as the book of Daniel tells that he existed. Or how the people knew how to write in the days of Moses and so forth. And we dealt with that. we said that the Bible is historically accurate. And this spade of the archaeologists has time and time again confirmed and affirmed the impeccability, the inerrancy of Scripture. So those are the first two reasons we gave the scientific accuracy of the Bible and the historical truth or accuracy of the Word of God. Now, here’s the third reason. I believe the Bible is the Word of God because of the wonderful unity of the Bible. Now, the Bible is a book that has a unified message from beginning to end. You say, well, that’s not unusual. Well, now let me tell you something about the Bible. The Bible is one book, but it is more than one book. It is 66 books, 39 in the Old Testament, 27 in the New Testament. And the Bible was written over a long period of time, over about 1600 years. You think of that. The Bible was written by 40 or more different authors. The Bible was written in about 13 different countries. The Bible was written from people from all kinds of backgrounds. As you look at the various authors of the Bible, some were shepherds, some were kings, some were soldiers, some were priests, some were fishermen. Some were scholars. Some were historians. Some were professional men. Some were common laborers. What a plethora, what a panoply, what a immense number of occupations and backgrounds make up the people, the 40 different authors who were the human penmen of the Bible. And these people… who wrote the Bible, wrote on at least three different continents. And they wrote in all kinds of places. Some of the books of the Bible were written in prison. Some were written in fields. Some were written in deserts. Some were written in caves. Some were written in palaces. Some were written on ships. Some in homes. You could not get a greater variety of people and places. And indeed, you could have a greater variety of languages, but you still had a great variety of languages of those who wrote the Bible. And not only that, but they wrote on all kinds of subjects and in different styles. Now take all of that. Say you’ve got 66 books written over 1600 years. And put them all together. They make one book. That has one story from Genesis right on through to the book of the Revelation. Friend, it is amazing. It is a book that does not contradict itself historically. Historically. Scientifically, ethically, doctrinally, it is one book. How can you explain that apart from divine inspiration? Dr. R.A. Torrey gave this illustration. I think it’s a classic illustration. Suppose we were to build somewhere in the United States. We’ll say built here in Memphis, Tennessee, a monument to honor all 50 states of the United States. From my home state of Florida, perhaps we’d have coral stone. From Georgia, granite. From another state, marble. From another state, gypsum. From another state, graystone, brownstone. All of the various kinds of stones. And let’s suppose these stones are cut in the quarry and boxed and shipped to Memphis, Tennessee. They are different sizes, different shapes. Some are square. Some are cylindrical. Some are trapezoidal. Some are rectangular. Some have shapes for which there is no name. And some are shipped by rail. Some come by plane. Some come on boats. And some by trucks. And these stones all come here to Memphis, Tennessee. And the workmen begin to uncrate them and assemble. And they come together. Every piece begins to interlock. All of the hues and the colors begin to match. There’s not one stone too many. Not one stone too few. No stone needs to be built up and no stone needs to be shaved down. And when it is finished, there is an incredibly beautiful temple, a monument. Let me ask you a question. Would you say that just happened? Just happenstance? No. If you’re a thinking person, you would have to say that was not an accident. There had to be an architect who designed it and sent the specifications to the quarry for that to happen. Is that not right? Now, when you have the Bible, that it comes together from all of these backgrounds that I have described to you And you put it between leather covers. No longer 66 books, but one book that has one theme, which is redemption. It has one hero, the Lord Jesus Christ. It has one villain, who is the devil. It has one purpose, the glory of God. I’ve been studying this book for more than a half a century. Seriously. Seriously. I’m not finding hidden flaws. I’m finding hidden beauties. I’m finding things that are amazing. The Bible is a remarkable book. It’s like a coat where you pull a thread here and it wrinkles way up here, over here somewhere. It is a seamless garment of truth. Why do I believe the Bible is the Word of God? Well, I believe the Bible is the Word of God because of its wonderful unity. Now, that’s the third reason. Okay? Here’s the fourth reason I believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God. Because of the fulfilled prophecy of the Bible. Only God can prophesy. No one else apart from God knows the future. No one. The only future that you know is the future that God has revealed in his word. All of these so-called psychics on television. I hope you don’t call those pathetic people. Let me ask you a question. If they know the future, how come none of them win the lottery? Recently, one of these networks went bankrupt. I wonder if they saw it coming. Only God can prophesy. Now, God in the Bible has predicted thousands of events that have already come to pass and have been fulfilled and others that will be fulfilled. Therefore, you can take a child of God, lock him away, put him in a dungeon with a Bible and a candle and And he will know more about the future than all of the wise acres and the prognosticators put together apart from the word of God. If we wanted to spend time talking about fulfilled prophecy, we couldn’t do it in a half an hour. We couldn’t do it in a day. We couldn’t do it in a week. We could not do it in a month. We could not do it in a year to do justice to the fulfilled prophecy in the word of God. If we were to take just one subject, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the focal point and the spirit of all prophecy, and look in the Old Testament, the prophecies concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, there are more than 300 exact prophecies concerning the Lord Jesus Christ that are in the Old Testament. Every one of them are absolutely correct. Do you know what the naysayer says about the fulfilled prophecies concerning the Lord Jesus Christ? And by the way, the mathematical probability that only eight of these prophecies could have been fulfilled is so mathematically astounding that the ratio of chance, it comes up with a number that we don’t have a number for in the human language. But I’m not talking about eight, I’m talking about 300 plus prophecies concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, how does the naysayer deal with that? He says, well, Jesus wanted people to think that he was the Messiah. So he just arranged to fulfill these prophecies. Well, let’s see if that’s true. First of all, he arranged where he would be born. Pretty good arrangement. He arranged that he would be born in Bethlehem. Micah 5, 2 says he would be. Matthew 2, 1 through 5 says he was. Number two, he, quote, arranged that he would be born of a virgin. Pretty good arrangement, huh? Isaiah chapter 7. Moreover, he arranged that he would be crucified again. And it was prophesied centuries before crucifixion was even known. If you read Psalm 22, Psalm 22 is written, and I remind you it was written by David, hundreds of years before the Lord Jesus Christ was born here upon this earth. If you read Psalm 22, Psalm 22 reads as if a person was standing at the foot of the cross. It talks about the piercing of his hands and his feet. It talks about the casting lot for his garments, the casting of lots for his garments. It talks about the words that people would say to him as they scorned him and mocked him on the cross. It talks about the very words that Jesus Christ would utter from the cross before crucifixion was even known. As a form of capital punishment. The Jews had stoning for capital punishment. When we read in Psalm 22, they pierced my hands and my feet. They cast lots for my garments. Yes, he arranged all of that. Yes, if you believe he just arranged it. He also, as this arrangement, he persuaded two thieves to be crucified with him. One on the right hand and one on the other, as is prophesied in Isaiah chapter 53 and fulfilled in Matthew chapter 27. Also, he arranged that Judas would betray him for 30 pieces of silver, Zechariah 11, 12, fulfilled in Matthew 26, verse 15. Now here’s the classic arrangement. He arranged that after he was crucified, he’d be raised again the third day. And that is prophesied in the word of God that he would be raised again on the third day. Now, he arranged all of this. Well, the truth of the matter is he really did arrange it because he’s God. And God caused all of this to come to pass in his infinite wisdom. But there’s no way that it was humanly arranged. These prophecies were not fulfilled for the most part by the friends of Jesus, but by those enemies who had nothing to gain, who really hated him and would not want to do anything that would attest to the fact that he was indeed what he was and who he was, the Son of God. What does the Bible say about all of these prophecies? Well, I’ll sum it up in Matthew chapter 26 and verse 56. But all this was done that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. That the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. No other… Book knows the future and no one knows the future except what God himself reveals. One of the undeniable affirmations of the word of God. Fulfill prophecy. If you had no other reason to believe that the Bible is the word of God, then fulfill prophecy. So far I’ve talked about scientific accuracy. I’ve talked about historical truth. I’ve talked about wonderful unity. I’ve talked about the fulfilled prophecy of the Bible. Now let me give you another reason that I believe the Bible is the Word of God. And it is the ever-living quality of the Bible. No book has ever had as much opposition as the Bible. Men have laughed at it. Men have scorned it. Men have abused it. Men have misquoted it. Men have made laws against it. There was a time in Scottish history when even to own a Bible was a crime worthy of death. Voltaire was a brilliant man. He was a French atheist. Voltaire took out after the Word of God. He lived about 300 years ago. Voltaire said, in my lifetime, 50 years from now, the world will hear no more of the Bible. Quite a boast. 50 years from now, the world will hear no more of the Bible. Voltaire has been dead for about 300 years. But in the very house where Voltaire made that statement, the French Bible Society, the did a wonderful business distributing Bibles. They were stacked from floor to ceiling in Voltaire’s house. Our friend, listen, there are a lot of people who pronounce the death of the Bible, but the corpse has outlived the pallbearers. The Bible is, as I’ve said, not the book of the month. It is the book of the ages. Let me give you a verse. First Peter chapter one, verses 24 and 25. For all flesh is as grass. Hey, folks, you’re going to wither and so will I. All flesh is as grass and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth and the flower thereof falleth away. But the word of the Lord endureth forever. Now, I’ve had my share of education. I went to school eight years past high school. I live in the 21st century. But here I am, believing and sharing a book that is millenniums old. Think about it. Think about it. Think about this book. that is alive and well in the 21st century, loved, revered, studied. An incredible book. One of the ways I know the Bible is the Word of God, it stood up under so much shoddy preaching. It’s amazing. The Bible has a longevity to it. Who else would go to a book as old as the Bible? And study it and carefully analyze it in a new and a modern age. It’s one of the great, great proofs of the inspiration of the scripture is the ever-living quality of the Bible. Now there are those so-called theologians who want to re-examine the Bible today. As far as I’m concerned, I just as soon trust a group of blind men with some lightning bugs in a jug in a cave trying to examine the noonday sun. These people to examine the word of God. As far as I’m concerned, we need to re-examine these so-called theologians. The word theos means God, logos means word. They’re supposed to believe the word of God. Theologians, they’re like grape nuts and neither grapes nor nuts. They don’t know the theos, they don’t believe the logos. Friend, the Bible is a book that has survived the ages. You throw the Bible in the fiery furnace and it will come out without the smell of smoke in its clothes. The Bible survives. The word of our God endures forever. The Bible is an indestructible book. Now, let me give you another reason. And I believe the Bible is the Word of God. And that is the transforming power of the Bible. The transforming power of the Bible. The Bible, this book, has incredible power. I mean living power. The Bible says of itself in Hebrews 4.12, “…for the Word of God is quick and powerful.” Sharper than a two-edged sword. The word quick literally means alive. It comes from the Greek word zoon. It’s the word we get our word zoology from or zoo from. Speaks of living things. And quick and powerful. The word powerful comes from the Greek word energes. It’s the word we get our word energy from. And what it literally means is the Bible is alive and it pulsates with power. You read other books? Friend, this one reads you. I have preached the Bible long enough to know that it has power in it. Romans chapter 1, verse 16, the apostle Paul said, For I’m not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation. And the word he used for power there is the Greek word dunamis. It’s a word we get dynamite from. It is the dynamite of God is in this book. You could not preach the Bible as I have for as many years as I have without understanding that there is power in the word of God. You know, when I preach, I look at you and you look at me. For some strange reason, I often say this, people sitting out there have the idea that maybe I don’t see them. Well, you see me, don’t you? And I watch people. I try to look into the faces of people as I speak. And I know that sometimes there’ll be a person who’ll come in and maybe his wife has badgered him to come and And he’ll come and he’ll check out the light bulbs and he’ll look around. Who are these people? Look at the size of this place. Why do that? Who’s that guy? And, you know, and they just kind of come to critique everything. Really, they’re pretty much against their will, but they’re. And they’re not sure they believe what I’m preaching or not, but probably are pretty cynical and pretty critical. But they come. And they listen. And they listen. And they listen. And the Bible begins to do its work. I’m not talking about my rhetoric. I’m talking about the word of God itself. The Bible says of itself, is not my word like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces. You can take a hammer and begin to tap a rock. You don’t have to hit it with a great heavy blow. Just keep tapping. The rock will split. The rock will split. I’ve seen it happen so many times. I’ve seen people come whose lives are transformed by the Word of God. I know one of our finest members here in this church. I’ll not call his name because I don’t have permission to do that. Oh, he’s such a wonderful man. He came to listen to me teach when we were down at the old church. He came to what I call then the pastor’s discovery class. I taught it on Sunday morning at 930. And he came and he went through the whole thing one time. I could tell he’s sizing me up and everything. But he came back the next time. Went through it again. Began to wonder, could this be true? Went through it again. Went through it again. And finally he said, yes. I believe. He’s one of our finest leaders in this church. Now, what is that? That’s the word of God. That’s the power of the Word of God. Is there a secret to the ministry that God has given me the privilege of having? Yes, but it’s an open secret. There’s power in the Word of God. If you take this book, pray over it, analyze it, organize it, illustrate it, and apply it, it will change lives. It will change lives. There’s power in the word of God. The Bible is saving to the center. Billy Graham began, by the way, I knew Billy Graham. I have a picture of Billy Graham myself when Billy was in his 30s. I remember when Billy Graham began to speak and I heard him in the early 50s. Billy then was a flaming young evangelist. Many times he’d wear these red ties. But if any of you remember Billy speaking in those days, Billy would say, the Bible says, the Bible says. And he would stand behind the word of God. The Bible says. That was his authority for preaching. Billy Graham went to preach in England. in a great arena there, the Haringey Arena. And this was unusual for an American evangelist to come to staid Britain to preach. And all of the newspapers were talking about this flamboyant evangelist. They had all kinds of stories about him and how he was a showman and a huckster and all of this. But Haringey Arena filled up to hear Billy Graham. It was a big event in London. Sitting way up there in the stadium, in the stands, were two men and they were talking about the evangelist. Whether or not he was a money grubber, whether he was this or that, a huckster or whatever. But Billy opened the word of God and he began to preach. One of these men was a medical doctor. And the medical doctor, when the invitation was given and Billy said, come to Christ. The medical doctor turned to this man who the two of them had been critiquing and criticizing. The medical doctor said to him, I don’t know about you, but I’m going down there to give my heart to Jesus Christ. And the man sitting next to him said, and I’m going with you. And here’s your billfold. I’m a pickpocket. What changed those people? The Word of God. I’ve seen it happen so many times. I know that it is saving to the sinner. I’ll tell you something else. It is sweet to the saint. It is sweet to the saint to delight in the Word of God. One man said, I have no greater joy than to be in a nook with a book. I have an inner witness in my heart. that the Bible is the Word of God. Jesus said, my sheep hear my voice and I know them. Saving to the sinner, sweet to the saint, sufficient for the sufferer. You’d have to be a pastor to go in and out of the hospitals, to visit people, talk to people whose hearts are broken and crushed, sometimes with mental anguish, sometimes with great financial duress, sometimes with bodies that are wracked by pain. These people don’t want to read from the Sears catalog. They’re not interested in a book of science. They’re not interested in some work by Tolstoy. They want a word from God. And I’m telling you that the sweet promises of the Word of God can soothe a wrinkled brow, can speak peace, give satisfaction to the thirsty soul. I’ve seen it happen so many times. I’ll say something else. The Word of God is sufficient for the scholar. I don’t pretend to be the greatest scholar, but I’ve spent my life in this book. I want to reiterate what I said a while back. I believed it when I started. I believe it more now. No one who has studied the Bible would even dare say he’s gotten to the bottom of the book. You know a little fear I have in the back of my mind? I’m afraid someday somewhere somebody’s going to find out how little I know about the Bible. I mean, I feel like I’ve just got my foot inside the door. And yet I’ve given my heart to this. Somebody says the Bible is like a pool. Shallow enough that a little child can come and get a drink of water without fear of drowning. And so deep. The scholars can swim in it and never touch bottom. The Bible transcends the mind of natural man because it contains the mind of God. Its depths are immeasurable. And you will never, ever, ever say I have mastered the book. Thank God for the Bible. It is like a mountain whose peak reaches out of sight forever. It’s like an ocean whose depth no one can fathom. It is an endless song. It is a never-ending river of truth. I want you to believe that the Bible is the Word of God. And the Bible was written not primarily to tell you how the heavens go, but how to go to heaven. It is God’s love letter. Again, I remind you, the Bible has but one theme, and that is redemption. One hero, Jesus. One villain, Satan. One purpose, the glory of God.
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