• What Bible Did Jesus Use?

• Part 02
• Series: The Power of the Book You Can TRUST - Unleashing the Inspired Word Into Your Life
• Date: May 19, 1996 | Passage: Matthew 5:18

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Not too many months ago the Congress of the US "pulled the plug on NASA's elaborate search for radio signals from alien life". (2) SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence project) has been an American scientific community priority for many years. Because of the evolutionary belief system so prominent in our culture there is also a desire to find even higher evolved life forms. The newspapers at that time reported: "Some speculate that alien intelligence might beam vast streams of coded information, a virtual encyclopedia galactica, with insights into THE ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE AND IMMORTALITY."

SUCH AN ABSOLUTE DISREGARD FOR THE INDISPUTABLE FACT THAT SUCH A STREAM OF INFINITE KNOWLEDGE HAS ARRIVED IS INCOMPREHENSIBLE! The Intelligence of the Universe HAS beamed us about our origin and offered immortality freely to all.

Thus we have here this morning not only crystal clear details on the opening day of the cosmos but also:

• The secret of how to live forever
• The secret of how to have a joy-filled marriage (Proverbs 5)
• The secret of how to experience real love (I Corinthians 13)
• The secret of how to be prosperous and successful (Josh 1)
• The secret of how to never fear the future (John 14)
• The secret of how to resist Satan (I Peter 5)
• The Immense God who is vastly beyond all that exists, and has always been before all the universe began, has revealed Himself in the Scriptures.
• The Awesome Creator who has attested to His might by the countless stars, galaxies and mysteries of the cosmos out there, has opened His mind for us to explore.
• The Endless of Days who sees us who are as frail as dust and fleeting as shadows has placed before us the Eternal Word to have, to hold, to love and to live.

Why Have So Few Heard and Seen This Truth?

Listen to the apostle Paul:

2 Corinthians 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. (KJV)

Ephesians 4:18 Having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart. (KJV)

What does that virtual encyclopedia galactica have to say?

I believe the Bible is true. It is all it claims to be. There are seven reasons why you can believe this too. The first reason is also the ultimate one. Jesus believed, taught, and practiced personal belief in the book that you now hold in your hands!

JESUS CHRIST: Because our Lord Jesus Christ said so! Jesus believed the Scriptures were FLAWLESS from Genesis to Malachi (Matthew 23:35 Jesus refers to the Jewish Scriptures which started with Genesis 'Abel' and ended with II Chronicles 'Zechariah'. In this sweeping statement He encompassed all the Old Testament Scriptures and said He believed it, as we would say from Genesis to Revelation). The words of our Lord Jesus were filled with the Scriptures. He used them -

• To pray His Mighty Intercession of John 17 He uses the Scriptures (Psalm 41:9).
• To prepare for Gethsemane He sang from the Scriptures at the Last Supper with His disciples. (Matthew 26:30 and Mark 14:26 = 5214 humneo singing of paschal hymns. These were Psalms 113 - 118 and 136, which the Jews called the "great Hallel")
• To endure the horrors of Golgotha He had the words of the Scriptures flowing from His lips on the Cross. (Matthew 27:46 and Luke 23:46 quote Psalms 22:1 and 31:5.)
• To comfort the confused and sorrowful disciples in Luke 24:44 He reminds them that the Scriptures often speak of Him.

Turn with me to Matthew 5:18. We can learn a lot about what Bible Jesus used from this passage. "For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all is accomplished."

A. EVERY WORD OF GOD IS ABSOLUTE! "Until heaven and earth pass away" represents the end of time, as we know it, the end of earthly history. As God's Word, the law would outlast the universe, which someday will cease to exist. "The present heavens and earth by His word are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men" (2 Pet. 3:7; cf. v. 10). Even the psalmist knew that "Of old Thou didst found the earth; and the heavens are the work of Thy hands. Even they will perish, but Thou dost endure; and all of them will wear out like a garment; like clothing Thou wilt change them, and they will be changed. But Thou art the same, and Thy years will not come to an end" (Ps. 102:25-26). Isaiah said, "Lift up your eyes to the sky, then look to the earth beneath; for the sky will vanish like smoke, and the earth will wear out like a garment, and its inhabitants will die in like manner, but My righteousness shall not wane" (Isaiah. 51:6; cf. 34:4; Rev. 6:13-14).

B. EVERY WORD OF JESUS IS EQUALLY AUTHORITATIVE! "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words shall not pass away" (Matthew. 24:35). What was true of the law, in its fullest meaning as the Old Testament, was also true of Jesus' teaching. It is timeless. It is incredibly foolish to ask, "What does the Bible, a two-thousand-year-old book, have to say to us today?" The Bible is the eternal Word of the eternal God. It "is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword" (Hebrews. 4:12). Phil Johnson says, "It has long preceded and will long outlast every person who questions its validity and relevancy."

C. EVERY WORD WILL COME TO PASS! Not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law , Jesus continued. The smallest letter translates the word ioµta , the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet. To Jesus' Jewish hearers it would have represented the yodh , the smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet, which looks something like an apostrophe. A stroke ( keraia ) literally means "little horn" and refers to the small marks that help distinguish one Hebrew letter from another. God says in Jeremiah 1:12 Then the LORD said to me, "You have seen well, for I am ready to perform My word." (NKJV)

D. EVERY WORD OF GOD WILL BE PRESERVED!  As one noted theologian has stated, "In other words, not only will the smallest letter not be erased, but even the smallest part of a letter will not be erased from the Law. Not even the tiniest, seemingly most insignificant, part of God's Word will be removed or modified until all is accomplished. But without the smallest exception, every commandment, every prophecy, every figure and symbol and type would be accomplished."

E. EVERY LETTER OF GOD'S WORD IS TRUE! No other statement made by our Lord more clearly states His absolute contention that Scripture is verbally inerrant, totally without error in the original form in which God gave it. That is, Scripture is God's own Word not only down to every single written word, but down to every letter and the smallest part of every letter.

F. EVERY BOOK OF GOD'S WORD IS TRUE! Jesus referred to the Old Testament at least sixty-four times, and always as authoritative truth. In the course of defending His messiah-ship and divinity before the unbelieving Jewish leaders in the Temple, He said, "The Scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:35).

G. EVERY VERB TENSE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT IS TRUE! John MacArthur has stated "When the Sadducees tried to trip Him up by asking which of seven successive husbands would be a woman's husband in the resurrection, that is in heaven, He replied, "You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures, or the power of God" (Matthew. 22:29). In that confrontation with the Sadducees, Jesus' whole argument is based on a single verb tense. In the book of Exodus, which He was here quoting, God told Moses that He is, not was, "the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." (3:6) Hundreds of years after those patriarchs had died, the Lord was still their God. Obviously those men were still alive. God's Word is therefore authoritative not only down to the smallest part of every letter, but also to the grammatical forms of every word. Because Scripture itself is without error, when it is believed and obeyed it will save us from error.

H. EVERY MORAL PRECEPT IS TRUE! Over and over again, Jesus confirmed the accuracy and the authenticity of the Old Testament. He confirmed the standard of marriage that God established in the Garden of Eden (Matthew. 19:4), the murder of Abel (Luke 11:51), Noah and the flood (Matthew. 24:38-39), Abraham and his faith (John 8:56), Sodom, Lot, and Lot's wife (Luke 17:29), the call of Moses (Mark 12:26), the manna from heaven (John 6:31, 58), and the bronze serpent (John 3:14).

What Should be Our Response to These Truths?

1. YIELD TO THE WORD! Christ and His Word are inextricable. You cannot divide Him from the Scriptures. He spoke them, defended them and affirmed them. To accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord is to yield to what He taught about Scripture. Scripture's authority is Christ's authority. To obey the Lord is to obey His Word. "He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God" (John 8:47). To trust in Christ is to say of Him as Peter did, "You have words of eternal life" (John 6:68).

2. TRUST THE WORD! The Old Testament cannot contain any errors. If there were any we would have to decide one of two things about Jesus Christ. Either He was ignorant of those errors, in which case He was not omniscient and was therefore not God. Or else He knew of the errors but denied them, in which case He would have been a liar and a hypocrite, and therefore not holy God.

3. RECEIVE THE WORD! Always remembering that it is "the word implanted, which is able to save [our] souls" (James 1:21). We should receive it because of the infinite majesty of the Author and His authoritative statements about it. We should receive it because of the price that God paid to get it to us, and because it is the standard of truth, joy, blessing, and salvation. And we should receive it because not to receive it brings judgment.

4. EXALT THE WORD! Psalm 138:2 I will worship toward Your holy temple, And praise Your name For Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word above all Your name. (NKJV) Charles Spurgeon said, " Is the infallible revelation of the infallible Jehovah to be moderated, to be shaped, to be toned down to the fancies and fashions of the hour? God forbid us if we ever alter His Word." Martin Luther never feared men, but when he stood up to preach he often felt his knees knock together under a sense of great responsibility to be true to the Word of God.

5. OBEY THE WORD! We should be diligent to present ourselves approved to God as workmen who do "not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth" (2 Tim. 2:15). Like Jeremiah, we should find God's words and eat them (Jeremiah. 15:16), and "let the word of Christ richly dwell within" us (Col. 3:16).

6. DEFEND THE WORD! We are to "contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3). Like Jude, we should fight for the integrity, purity, and authority of Scripture. Spurgeon said, "The everlasting gospel is worth preaching even if one stood on a burning fagot and addressed the crowds from a pulpit of flames. The truths revealed in Scripture are worth living for and they are worth dying for. I count myself thrice happy, to bear reproach for the sake of the faith. It is an honor of which I feel myself to be unworthy, and yet most truly I can say the words of our hymn, 'Shall I to soothe the unholy throng, soften Thy truths and smooth my tongue to gain earth's gilded toys, or flee the cross endured my God by Thee?'"

7. SHARE THE WORD! We are to have as our constant goal to share the Word. 2 Timothy 4:1-2 I charge [you] therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season [and] out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and teaching. (NKJV) Says Spurgeon again, "I cannot speak out my whole heart on this theme which is so dear to me, but I would stir you all up to be instant in season and out of season in telling out the gospel message, especially to repeat such a word as this: 'God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.' Whisper it in the ear of the sick, shout it in the corner of the streets, write it on your tablet, send it forth from the press, but everywhere let this be your great motive and warrant. You preach the gospel because the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it."

1. Scroggie says that the Gospels total 3,779 verses. The words of Christ total 1,934 of them. Jesus quotes the Old Testament 180x so just under 10% of His recorded words are Old Testament quotes!

2. San Diego Union-Tribune, 11/5/93.

3. MacArthur, John F., The MacArthur New Testament Commentary , (Chicago: Moody Press) 1983.

4. Faith for the Family, 11/77, p.29.

5. Focus on Family Citizen, 1/20/92, pp. 13-15.

6. How old is the Universe, USN&WR, 5/20/96, pp.60-61.

7. 11/21/80, pp883-87.

8. 2/78, pp. 19-30.

9. MacArthur, John F., The MacArthur New Testament Commentary , (Chicago: Moody Press) 1983.

10. World that Perished, foreword.

11. MacArthur, John F., The MacArthur New Testament Commentary , (Chicago: Moody Press) 1983.