Below are notes to a sermon preached Sunday morning, Jan. 05, 2003, at Gospel Light Baptist Church, Albany, Georgia. For more outlines from 2002 and 2003, including a zipped file of all of my 1999, 2000, and 2001 sermon outlines, click on the link at the bottom of this note, and go to our website:

BIBLE-BELIEVING FUNDAMENTALISTS BELIEVE IN THE SCRIPTURES THEY ARE INSPIRED, INFALLIBLE, AND INERRANT

Pastor Michael D. O'Neal (Proverbs 11:30) - Gospel Light Baptist Church
P.O. Box 3071 (237 Lockett Station Road) - Albany, Georgia 31706
(229) 432-0039 (church) / (229) 698-2127 (parsonage)

Scripture Reading: 1 Thessalonians 2:10-16

Text: 1 Thessalonians 2:13

1 Thessalonians 2:13 For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

Introduction: our church is a Bible-believing, fundamental church. What does that mean? Well, first that we are Bible-believers. After that, we arefundamentalists. We BELIEVE ALL of the Bible, but we make the great teachings of the Bible, the fundamentals, issues of fellowship. We contend about the fundamentals.

What are these fundamentals of the faith? One of them is that

THE SCRIPTURES ARE INSPIRED, INERRANT, AND INFALLIBLE

This is NON-NEGOTIABLE. It is not an incidental; the integrity of our Bible is a FUNDAMENTAL. It is actually the starting place for salvation and all other great doctrines of the faith, for

Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

I. THE BIBLE IS PROVIDED BY GOD IN INSPIRATION

2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

Psalms 68:11 The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it.

A. It is inspired by His breath

Inspired is the opposite of EXpired
The so-called "Living Bible" is actually the "Dead Counterfeit."

B. It is identified with His being

Jesus is called the Word - John 1:1,14

II. THE BIBLE IS PURE IN ITS INSTRUCTION

Psalms 119:140 Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it.

Proverbs 30:5 Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.

Psalms 12:6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

A. In spiritual matters - John 4:24

B. In scientific matters - 1 Timothy 6:20

C. In social matters

Marriage
Child-raising
Work
Handling money
Education

III. THE BIBLE IS PRESERVED INTACT

Psalms 12:6-7 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. 7 Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

We believe the Bible IS, not WAS, the INSPIRED word of God!

A. There is a promise of preservation

Matthew 24:35
1 Peter 1:23
Isaiah 40:8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

B. There is a purpose for preservation

The salvation of your soul - James 1:18
Your growth as a believer - 1 Peter 2:2
A final authority in your life - Romans 3:4

C. There is a plan for preservation

The overseer - GOD - Psalms 12:6-7
The tools - men (God used fallible men to write the "originals" as well as to preserve God's word through the centuries
Old Testament - the Levites
New Testament - believers

D. There is proof of preservation

There is not one proven error in the King James Bible

The Anvil

Last eve I paused before a blacksmith's door
and heard the anvil ring the vesper chime.
And looking in, I saw old hammers on the floor,
Worn by the beating years of time.
"How many anvils have you had," said I,
"To wear and batter all these hammers so?"
"Just one," said he, then with a twinkle in his eyes,
"The anvil wears the hammers out you know."
And so I thought, the anvil of God's word,
For ages skeptic blows have beat upon.
Yet though the noise of falling blows was heard
The anvil is unharmed-the hammers gone!

Source unknown

THE BIBLE STANDS

Century follows century - There it stands.
Empires rise and fall and are forgotten - There it stands.
Dynasty succeeds dynasty - There it stands.
Kings are crowned and uncrowned - There it stands.
Despised and torn to pieces - There it stands.
Storms of hate swirl about it - There it stands.
Agnostics smile cynically - There it stands.
Profane, prayerless punsters criticize it - There it stands.
Unbelief abandons it - There it stands.
Modernism tries to explain it away - There it stands.
The tooth of time gnaws, but makes no dent - There it stands.
An anvil that has broken a million hammers - There it stands.

(Copied - Author Unknown)

When the Bible speaks of SALVATION, you need to listen and OBEY ... it is the word of God!

When the Bible speaks of BAPTISM, you need to listen and OBEY ... it is the word of God!

When the Bible speaks of CHURCH MEMBERSHIP, you need to listen and OBEY ... it is the word of God!

When the Bible speaks of THE SURRENDERED LIFE, you need to listen and OBEY .... it is the word of God!

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