Adrian Rogers - Jesus and His Bible
Would you take God's Word please and open to Matthew chapter 5. In a moment, we're going to be reading from verse 17 and verse 18. In these Sundays, the ones that precede us and the ones that will follow us for a short time, I'm going to be speaking to you about my desires for the church. We're talking really about, "Milestones and New Horizons," looking backward a little bit, looking forward a whole lot. And I've tried to talk to you about what kind of a church I want us to be: a victorious church, a Spirit-filled church, a united church.
Next Sunday I'm going to be talking to you about a Christ-honoring church, God willing, if we're still here and the rapture hasn't come. But today, I want to speak to you about a Bible-believing church. I do not have enough vocabulary to tell you how important your faith must rest in the Word of God. Now, what I want you to see today is what Jesus thought of His Bible. Now, because of what Jesus thought of His Bible is so very important to you. For the servant must be like his master. Jesus had a Bible, it was the Old Testament. And I want you to hear Jesus' testimony to the Old Testament. Now, listen, folks, only ignorance scoffs at the fact that Jesus Christ was an historical character; we know that beyond the shadow of any doubt.
Now, just who was this Jesus? Well, scholars are still scratching their heads and thinking, we know because we have a Bible. Now, listen very carefully to this next statement. Jesus authenticates the Bible and the Bible authenticates the Lord Jesus. These rise or fall together. I want you to see what Jesus said about His Bible; I'm talking to you about the time that Jesus was here on Earth before the New Testament was ever written. Jesus said in Matthew 5 verses 17 and 18, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you..."
Now, folks, listen, when Jesus says, "Verily," everything that Jesus says is true, but when Jesus says, "Verily," He's saying, "Pay attention"! That word verily means truly or Amen and Amen. "Verily I say unto you, 'Till Heaven and Earth shall pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.'" Now, that's what Jesus said about His Bible. He said, "I didn't come to destroy the law and the prophets". The law and the prophets were the name for the Old Testament. That's what the Jews called, and still call, the Old Testament, "The law and the prophets". Now, I want you to see what Jesus said about His Bible. I'm going to call it the Old Testament.
Now, I want to lay three things on your heart today. I pray God that you will receive them. I pray God that He will rivet them upon your soul. I pray God He will etch them in your psyche. I pray God that you will never, never, never waiver on these truths. Think with me about three things in this passage that we see concerning Jesus and His Bible. First thought: Jesus fulfills the Old Testament in its predictions. The Old Testament is a book of prophecy. It is a book of predictions, and it predicts the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew 5 verse 17, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill".
Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of every Old Testament prophecy concerning Him. Do you want a key to understanding the Bible? The key to understanding the Bible is to look for Jesus in the Bible. Jesus is the hero of the Bible. If you read the Bible and you don't find Jesus, re-read it! The Bible has one hero, His name is Jesus; one villain, that is Satan; one problem, that is sin; one solution, that is salvation. That is what the Bible is all about. Let me give you some Scriptures for your margin just to point out what I'm talking about that Jesus and the Bible rise or stand together.
Luke chapter 24 verse 27, Jesus is speaking, and the Bible says, "And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself". That is, Jesus took the Old Testament, He started with Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, and then He went on to the prophets. And He began to expound the things in these Scriptures. Now, it says that He did this, "In all of the Scriptures". It doesn't say that He showed them all the things concerning Himself in the Scriptures, but, "He showed them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself". That's the reason I say that the Bible is a Jesus book.
Sometimes people say, "Have you read the four Gospels"? Friend, I've read all 66. They're all about the Lord Jesus Christ in all the Scriptures. Now, you may not see Him literally there on any page if you're reading the names of some of the list of names in Genesis that sound like a Hebrew telephone directory. And you say, "Where's Jesus there"? Well, friend, if you understand the history, Bible history and all of it, you'll understand ultimately it is written to present the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, put down this verse also, Acts chapter 10 and verse 43, "To Him," that is, to Jesus, "give all the prophets witness".
Don't get the idea that the Old Testament was written about one thing and the New Testament is written about something else. "To Jesus give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive the remission of sins". The Savior and the salvation that the Savior provides are presented in the Old Testament. And then, here's what Jesus says to the church. Now, you listen, John chapter 5 verse 39, "Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think that you have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me". Did you hear that? Jesus said, "You search the Scriptures".
And I want to remind you that His Bible was the Old Testament. And He says, "These are they which testify of Me". God has no program, no plans, no purposes that do not ultimately center in the Lord Jesus Christ. And Jesus is in all of the Bible, and you will find Him especially in prophecy. Now, I said that Jesus fulfills the predictions of the Old Testament. Jesus Christ is unique. He's the only person ever born to this world whose ancestry, birth time, forerunner, birth place, birth manner, infancy, manhood, teaching, character, preaching, reception, rejection, death, burial, resurrection, ascension were all prophesied centuries before He was born.
Now, friend, what a testimony to the character of the Bible and the character of Jesus, how they rise and stand together. You know, in the Bible there are great number of prophecies in the Old Testament concerning Jesus Christ, three-hundred and thirty-three precise prophecies. A man named Peter Stoner, who's a statistician, didn't take three-hundred and thirty-three of these prophecies; he took only eight. And he figures the possibility that eight of these prophecies could have been fulfilled by chance, only eight out of threehundred and thirty-three.
Now, he wrote in the book, "Science Speaks," this amazing fact. He said, "The mathematical chance that eight of these prophecies could be fulfilled in one person," eight, now, listen to this, "is ten to the seventeenth power". You say, "Now, I know exactly how many that is, pastor". Well, I don't know that we even have a name for that. Gazillion, I guess. But he illustrates it, and this I can understand. He said, "If you were to take the State of Texas, from border to border, and cover the State of Texas with silver dollars". Now, the Texans would like this. "With silver dollars two feet high". Now, just in your mind think of the State of Texas. One week I drove across Texas. It seemed like a week driving from border to border. It's a big state.
Now, just imagine Texas covered with silver dollars two feet high. "And then you take a man and blindfold him and drop him down somewhere by helicopter, El Paso, Dallas, it doesn't matter where. And there's one silver dollar in all those silver dollars that has a special mark on it. And he's blindfolded and cannot see. The chance that he would reach down and pick up that one silver dollar is about the same mathematical probability that these eight prophecies could be fulfilled by mere chance". And only eight of them that he deals with. What about three-hundred and thirty-three of these prophecies? You see, look, one prophecy.
You say, "Well, He may be the Son of God". Two prophecies. "Well, it's a little more different". Three, and so forth. You see, when you add them up, then the possibility of chance greatly diminishes. Joyce and I have a son named David who lives in Spain. When I want to call David, I pick up the phone and dial a specific number, and he's on the other end. But think of how the mathematical situation works out. When I pick up the phone, I eliminate everybody who doesn't have a telephone, so I know I'm not going to call anybody who doesn't have a telephone when I lift up the phone. And then, when I dial the overseas operator or number, I know that I'm not going to talk to anybody in North America.
300 million people are cut out of the equation right now. And then I dial the country number. And then we eliminate all of the millions and billions of people who live in other countries. And then I dial the area code. And then I eliminate everybody in that country, the country of Spain, that doesn't have that particular area code. And then I begin to dial his personal number. When I dial the first number, I eliminate everybody whose phone number doesn't begin with that first number. And then the second number, we eliminate everybody whose phone number doesn't begin with the next two numbers, and so on, and we keep narrowing and narrowing the scope until the phone rings and I hear this voice I love to hear, say, "Diga," "speak", and there's David.
Now, do you think that anybody could pick up a telephone and just dial numbers and get their loved one? I mean, just at random, overseas somewhere? No! Well, friend, it's a mathematical impossibility that such would happen. Well, let's call the Lord Jesus Christ. Are you ready to call Jesus and get Him on the phone? Well, first of all, when we pick up the phone and begin to speak to the Lord Jesus Christ, we're looking for someone from the human race. You say, "I thought He was God". Yes, He is God, but He is human. The Bible says that, "This Savior is to be the seed of the woman," in Genesis 3 verse 15, the very first prophecy we have that He's a man, not an angel or some other creature.
And so, first of all, we have to dial someone of a certain race. And then we dial someone who is of a section of that race. Three sections came out of the ark: Ham, Shem, and Japheth. But Jesus is of Shem. Genesis 9 verse 26, "Blessed be the LORD God of Shem". So He must be a Shemite. But now not only do we have a race and a section of that race, but we tighten the focus, and we have a nation of that section. And we see there in Genesis chapter 12 verses 2 and 3 where God says of Abraham: "He's going to make of him a great nation". and he's going to be the one, "Through him that all the nations of the world will be blessed".
That is, Messiah is going to come through Abraham. But then not only do we have a nation, but we have, friend, a tribe of that nation. Out of that nation is going to come a tribe, and that tribe is going to be the tribe of Judah, and we tighten the focus a little bit more. Genesis chapter 49 verse 10 says that, "The scepter shall not depart from Judah". And so we have a tribe. So, now, notice what we're saying. There's a tribe of that nation, of that section, of that race. But now, wait a minute. We narrow it just a little bit more. There's a family of that tribe from whom the Messiah will come.
In First Samuel 16 verse 3, we find out that it is one of the sons of a man named Jesse who's going to have a son named David who's going to be the progenitor of the Savior of the world according to the flesh. But now we notice not only is there a family, there is a woman of that family who's going to give birth to the Messiah. In Isaiah chapter 7 verse 14 says that, "A virgin shall conceive and bear a child". And then we find out that there is a Son born of that woman, of that family, of that tribe, of that nation, of that race. "Hello, Jesus"! There He is! Now, listen, do you think for one minute that happens by chance?
Jesus said in John 5:39, "You search the Scriptures; these are they which testify of Me". And Jesus fulfills the Old Testament in prediction. It's there. You see Jesus there in the Old Testament in prediction. But now, here's the second thing I want you to see. Jesus fulfills the Old Testament in its perfection. Not only in its prediction, but in its perfection. Jesus said here in Matthew chapter 5 verses 17 and 18 that, "Not a jot or a tittle will fail from the law till the law be fulfilled". Listen to it, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till Heaven and Earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled".
You say, "Well, pastor, tell me what a jot and a tittle is". Well, the jot is the smallest letter in the Greek alphabet we call an iota or eota. That's the smallest marking in Hebrew, that's a jot. And then a tittle is the smallest punctuation mark, almost like a fly speck. And Jesus is saying, "Look, this thing is so inspired, this Bible, that the smallest, most minute marks, punctuations are there, and they will never, never, never fail". Now, Jesus held the highest view of the Bible. We have some people today who tell us, "Well, the Bible is inspired in spots," and they think they're inspired to spot the spots.
Friend, I want to tell you, if you can't trust all of it as God originally gave it, you cannot trust any of it. Jesus said, "Not a jot or a tittle shall fail from the law till all be fulfilled". Now, I want to give you two words. You may not be interested in these. They're a little bit technical. But first of all, the Bible is verbally inspired. That means not just the thoughts, but the words. Verba in Latin means word. Word for word, the Bible is inspired. Jesus said in Matthew 4:4, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God". And don't let anybody just tell you, "Well, the thoughts are inspired; you can fool with the words".
Friend, you can't have thoughts without words any more than you could have mathematics without numbers. God gives the Word. So the Bible is verbally inspired. All right. Now, that's a word you've learned about the Word of God. Now, the Bible is also plenarily inspired. We believe in the verbal, plenary inspiration of the Word of God. Now, what do we mean by plenary? That means full; it means all of it. That means Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is verbally, plenarily inspired. "Not a jot, not a tittle shall fail from the law till all be fulfilled". Got it? All right.
Now, don't ever slip. You go off there and some of these people with their verbal gymnastics and their use of words are going to plant doubt in your mind concerning the Word of God. Anybody who puts doubt in your mind concerning the Word of God is doing the work of the devil. Put it down. You kids going off to college, you better get a grip on the Word of God. And your view of the Bible better be the view of your Savior, who said, "Not a jot, not a tittle shall fail from the law till all be fulfilled". And that moves me. Now, you see, if that's not true, you've only got one of two conclusions. Either the Bible was not true, and Jesus was so ignorant He didn't know it, or else Jesus knew it, but He was so dishonest He wouldn't admit it. Well, your Savior may be ignorant or dishonest, but not mine and I don't think yours is either.
Now, I want you to see a third thing. Jesus fulfills the law of God, friend, not only in its prediction and not only in its perfection, but Jesus fulfills the Bible, and specially the Old Testament, in its purpose. What is the purpose of the Old Testament law? Well, in Galatians 3:24, the Bible says that the Old Testament law is a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. The law can't save us. The Ten Commandments cannot save us. But all they do is to show us our need for the dear Savior.
Put down this verse, Romans 10 verse 4, "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth". Jesus said, "I didn't come to destroy the law or the prophets". "I'm not going to say, 'Well, the Ten Commandments don't matter anymore; forget about that.' I didn't come to destroy it, but I have come to fulfill it". Now, when you understand this, you understand what the cross is all about; why Jesus Christ died. When Jesus Christ died, John 19:30, He bowed His head and He said, "It is finished"! It is fulfilled. That's what He's saying, "I have fulfilled it. I have met every demand of the law".
You see, if Jesus had not met every demand of the law, He could not be your Savior. God demanded a perfect, sinless sacrifice that was born of a virgin with none of the Adamic nature in Him, and He lived a sinless life. Jesus Christ met every standard of the law of God, every one of them. Jesus met every requirement of the Word of God. And that's the only reason that Jesus can be my Savior and yours. Had Jesus not fulfilled the righteousness of the law, I could never be righteous. You see, Jesus did this for me. Jesus fulfilled the law for us that grace might fulfill it in us. Let me tell you the difference between the law; when you think of the law, you think of the Ten Commandments because that summarizes the law.
You see, listen, the law says, "Do this and you will live". The Gospel says, "Live and you will do". The law says, "Pay me what you owe". The Gospel says, "I forgive all". The law says, "You shall love the Lord with all of your being". The Gospel says in First John 4:10, "Herein is love; not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son". The law says in Deuteronomy 27 verse 26, "Cursed is everyone who continues not in all things written in the book of the law to do them".
If you are going to try to be saved by keeping the law, and you break one little point, there's a curse upon you. Listen to it again. The law says, "Cursed is everyone who continues not in all things written in the book of the law to do them". But the Gospel says in Psalm 32:1, and I thank God for this, "Blessed is the man whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered". The law says in Romans 6:23, "The wages of sin is death". But the Gospel says, "The gift of God is eternal life". The law says, "Do". The Gospel says, "Done". Jesus fulfilled it. He died upon the cross. The law says, "Run", but it gives us no legs. The Gospel says, "Fly", and it gives us wings.
You see, listen, why the Old Testament? To show that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that He fulfills the Bible in its predictions; to show that He is the Son of God who fulfills the Bible in its perfection, and who believed it; and then He's the Son of God who fulfills the Bible in its provision. The law is just here to tell us that we're sinners, that we're lost. We cannot save ourselves. You say, "Well, my religion, Pastor, is the Ten Commandments". Then you're going to die and go to Hell. You say, "That's blunt". I meant it to be.
The Bible says in James 2:10, "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all". Is there anybody here who would have the audacity, the unmitigated gall to stand and say, "I have never broken one of the Ten Commandments"? Of course not! Of course not! If you've broken one, in spirit you've broken them all. The law is a unit, and God doesn't grade on the curve. Imagine yourself hanging over a ferocious furnace of fire suspended by a chain. Nine links in that chain are made of forged steel, and one link is made of crepe paper. How safe are you? "Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all".
I am a sinner. You are a sinner. Jesus came to save sinners. He suffered, bled, and died on that cross and paid every debt that we owe, and He fulfilled the law in its purpose, where the law is but a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, to say we're poor, lost sinners. We can't save ourselves, but Jesus died to save us. And we say, "In my hand no price I bring; simply to Thy cross I cling". That's the Gospel. The Gospel, friend, is good news. Well, you say, "Does that mean, Pastor, it doesn't matter how I live? That the Ten Commandments are obsolete"? No, they're absolute. And every day of my life I want to live by God's blessed Commandments. But the Bible says, "The righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us". You can't do that without Jesus Christ in you. That's what it's all about.
Bow your heads in prayer. Now, friend, I want to tell you today that we have a wonderful Bible. The Bible of Jesus was a perfect Bible. It was the Old Testament. Those of us who live this side of Calvary also have the New Testament. How blessed we are. And if the Old Testament is true, so is the New, and the New says we must be born again. If you're not saved, you need to give your heart to Jesus. May I help you to do that? Right now, while eyes are closed and heads are bowed, if you know Jesus already, would you sincerely pray for those around about you, someone who may not know the Lord Jesus.
Father God, we pray together in the name of Jesus, that Your Spirit will come today and move in this congregation. Lord, I thank You that You are the end of the law for righteousness to those who believe; Lord, that we're no longer under condemnation of the law, and, Lord, we have the victory that we can only have through the forgiveness of sin because You fulfilled the law down to the minutest detail. Now, Lord, open hearts today.
And precious friend, if you need Jesus, would you pray:
Lord Jesus, I need You and I want You. Help me to trust You enough today to make it public. Lord, I know that walking an aisle can't save me, but, Lord, You said that if I trust You, I'll not be ashamed of You. So, Lord, help me today to trust You enough not to be ashamed of You. Come into my heart, forgive my sin, and save me, save me, Jesus. Amen and Amen.