Gratitude to God for the Scripture
VBC Albuquerque · Nov 17, 2024
The sermon emphasizes the critical importance of Scripture as the living Word of God and the foundation of Christian faith. Through a presentation of the history of Vietnamese Bible translation, the preacher demonstrates God's Providence in the preservation and transmission of God's Word. The sermon calls believers to gratitude for possessing a reliable and sufficient Scripture that transforms life.
The opening section of the sermon establishes the essential role of Scripture in the life of faith. Scripture is not merely the living Word of God but the foundation of Christian faith, providing believers understanding of creation's origin, the nature of sin, and God's plan of salvation. Any faith separated from Scripture's teaching lacks a solid foundation and is erroneous. The preacher emphasizes that the sermon's primary aim is to help believers develop an entirely new perspective on Scripture with sincere gratitude.
The second section develops a detailed history of Vietnamese Scripture translation from the sixteenth century to 2010. From the invention of Quốc Ngữ (Latin-based Vietnamese script) in 1651 to the special effort by the Protestant Church to translate the entire Bible into Vietnamese within fifteen years (completed in 1926), the sermon demonstrates God's Providence working through translators including William C. Cadman, Grace Hazenberg Cadman, Phan Khôi, and J.D. Olsen. Subsequent editions (1948, 1995, 2010) continued to refine the translation, reflecting the ongoing commitment of the Vietnamese Protestant Church to provide accurate Scripture to all believers.
The third section explains the complex process from original manuscripts to modern translations. The preacher presents the 1947 discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, proving Scripture's reliability through the ninety-five percent accuracy of Isaiah when compared with ancient manuscripts over one thousand years earlier. With more than twenty-five thousand manuscripts of the New Testament in various languages, Scripture possesses solid scientific evidence of preservation. The preacher also compares Scripture favorably with other religions such as Buddhism, demonstrating that Scripture was recorded earlier and with greater accuracy.
The fourth section emphasizes the miraculous structure of Scripture—sixty-six books written by over forty authors from three continents, three languages, across 1500 years, yet all unified around one theme: God's program of salvation through Christ. This miraculous unity is evidence that the Holy Spirit inspired the authors. The preacher emphasizes a crucial distinction between Scripture's content (God's Word) and specific translations (transmission tools), using the analogy of different audio formats to illustrate.
The final section applies the sermon's message to believers' practical life. Scripture must be the sole foundation of the Christian life, not tradition or sectarian doctrine. The preacher warns against the danger of approaching Scripture to confirm what one wishes to believe (eisegesis) rather than discovering what God intends to teach (exegesis). Ultimately, the sermon reminds believers that the Holy Spirit uses God's Word through various means—prayer, Bible study groups, preaching, and fellowship among believers—to transform life, and God's Word is living, active, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the human heart.