Matthew 5:17-18

"Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.

According to Jesus Himself what does He say about scripture?

1. The law is the first five books of the bible.

[18] "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. What is He referring to, the smallest letter, What is the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet? It’s a dot. Jesus is predicting that everything in this bible, in this old testament will be accomplished until it pass away. So what can you learn about God’s word here?

1. It will have fulfillment, everything in it will be accomplish.
2. It is eternal

What does Jesus claim about the bible?

Matthew 7:24-27

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock. [25] "And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock. [26] "And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand. [27] "And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and it fell, and great was its fall."

So according to Jesus what can you learn about God’s word? If you practice it, it will not be change. In other words what is Jesus claiming about the bible? In Matthew 5, sabi niya eternal ito, it will be fulfilled. In other words it is so accurate, it is actually controlling, what it says will happen. The bible or His word if you act upon them is the foundation for wise living, therefore, if you don’t have it, what will be called? A fool. You cannot act on something that you don’t know. Anything about life, the foundation of it all is God’s word, that’s why if you do not know it well and you therefor cannot act upon it. In the deepest trials of people when they lose their love ones, what happens to them? They dig into God’s word. The emptiness, the loneliness, drives them to God’s word. As God drove you there, that was good for you, it’s good for God to keep you away from the longings of your heart here, one day aangatin ng Panginoong Diyos yun so that your desire of your heart will be fulfilled. So Jesus said, it’s eternal, this word it will be accomplished, it is the foundation of all of life. If you want to be wise know God’s word, act upon it.

CREDENTIALS OF THE BIBLE

1. Unique

• It’s the only book that took over 1500 yrs. to write.
• It was written over 40 generations
• It has over 40 authors with different background
• It was written in different places
• it was written in different times
• it was written it different moods
• it was written in 3 different continents
• It was written in 3 different languages (Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic)
• It has over 100 controversial topics (includ. Divorce, sex, money, homosexuality etc.)
• There’s continuity, beginning, an end. - There are no contradictions in the bible

2. Unique in its CIRCULATION

• Read by more people
• Published more than any book 

3. Unique in its SURVIVAL

• Existed 1000 yrs. before printing press
• Job created solely to preserve
• Attacked like no other book

4. Unique in its HISTORY

• Astonishingly accurate
• Clearest picture of origins 

5. Unique in its CHARACTERS

• Actual people
• Man is not the hero

Therefore what do we understand about the bible, what do we believe about the bible?

Bible’s Attributes

1. It is infallible - no mistakes (Ps. 19:7)
2. It is inerrant - always true (Prov. 30:5-6)
3. It is complete - nothing else needed (Rev. 22:19)
4. It is authoritative - demands obedience (John 8:31)
5. It is effective - does what it says (Isaiah 55:11)

1. To fight Satan’s schemes (Matt. 4:4 <-> Deut. 8:3)
2. To forecast future events (Matt. 22:23 - 32)

• ignorant w/out it (bible)

1. To explain Himself to Men (Luke 24: 25 - 27)

So according to Jesus He used scripture old testament to explain Himself to people. That’s the only way we can really ever get know God through scripture. If you seek Me with all of your heart you will find me. Very important like the baby you must long, if you don’t have a desire to know God it’s useless. You will never find Him. The condition is with all your heart.

Let me close with this story. This gentleman, he had a wife and a beautiful daughter and one day when the daughter was growing up, five years old. They would very proud of the picture. One day from school the daughter was just lost. You know what his father did, he decided to spend all of his money and everything else his time to go find his daughter. He went to every single mall every single day. Suppose you were the daughter and you have been hug for 5 years and you have nice home and everything else, suppose you are now the one lost what would you do? What would be in your heart? There would be a longing to be with whom? To those that you love and that is the bottom line. If you love someone you would go to the deepest ocean sacrifice everything to be with that person, would you not? You would. It took him a year and a half, he finally found his daughter. He did, kasi merong mag-asawa walang anak kinuha. Should they sue now the person? That’s the question being asked. Yeah, maybe you could but the first thing that should be in your heart is thankfulness, more important did it not create a longing in your heart, did it not create a lesson that you never forget, that your daughter is more important than your work? Do you think now that man, will he now call his daughter at home, make sure that she’s safe, do you think he will now take his daughter for granted? It will be a long time, kasi nawala eh. The saying goes absence makes the heart glow fonder

Has God been absent in your life, has He been so absent, has He been missing or another way, have you been missing? Is there a longing in your heart? If there is then you are right to study God’s word. The greatest person in this universe took time, give everything to preserve His love letter for you. Let’s not neglect Him. Let’s bow our heads.