 Which of the apostles were inspired? Which of the prophets were inspired? Well, the answer might surprise you. This issue of inspiration is a vitally important question and issue because whether we think about it or not, it actually shows up a lot. The question is how do we know if someone is being moved by the Spirit? How much should we take into account from saying so? And as we look at the Bible, are the scriptures the product of men who were inspired by the Holy Spirit? And the question has to be asked, what does it mean to be inspired by the Holy Spirit? Well, there is a big issue at hand here and it's vitally important that we get this correct. And because we tend not to get it correct, we have a problem here in America and in other countries of people claiming authority that they have no right to claim. As a matter of fact, claiming authority that no one in the Bible claimed. Let's go to the passage in 2 Timothy chapter 3. This is where people get kind of tripped up, I believe, on this issue of being inspired. Now, before we go there, I recently put out a poll and I just wanted to see where people were thinking. The poll asked this question, which of the apostles and prophets were inspired? And over 90%, 95% at last count, believe that all of them were 2% said just the apostles, 1% said just the prophets, and 2% said none of them. Well, what's the correct answer? Before we get the answer, let's go to the scriptures and then let's let you look at it. Notice what he says. All scriptures, this is Paul speaking. All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training, and righteousness. Notice what is inspired. The scriptures, he says, all scriptures, pas à graffit, that is what is inspired, not the people who wrote it. Now, is that kind of just being being semantical, kind of parsing hairs, splitting hairs? No, it's not. And the Bible wants us to know that it was not Paul that was inspired, nor was it Peter or John or James or Moses or Ezekiel or Jeremiah or Elijah. It's not that they were inspired. No, it's the words that they wrote that were inspired. Before we get to that, let's go back to the passages again and let's look at what this word inspired actually is because that question also needs to be answered. Where we get the word inspired comes from two words put together, Theia Nustas, the Theia, which is from God, and the Nustas is breathe. So, God breathe. Well, what's God breathe? Well, clearly not the apostles. How do we know so? Same with the prophets, because to be God breathe would also have to entail being perfect or being infallible without flaws. Well, God's word is, but are the men perfect, flawless, without error? No, they're not. Peter goes on to tell us in 2 Peter 1.20 he says, but know this first of all, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation or the word that's used here is by two words, epi and then luo, which is by them putting together. And so this word, epiluceos, no one has done that on their own for no prophecy was ever made by the act of human will. But men, look what it says, moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. In other words, what we have, we have men who spoke and their words were inspired, but they themselves were not. How so? As the Holy Spirit, as Peter is saying, the Holy Spirit moved upon them and then they spoke from where? From whom? From God. So the words that we have are inspired, but not the people. And there's an important point that needs to be made before we go to there. Let's also notice that Paul, who is in Berea, he's speaking, he's giving instructions, he's giving the word, but notice what happens in Acts 17-10. He says, and the brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. Now verse 11, notice what happens. Now, these were more noble minded than those in Thessalonica 4. They received the word with great eagerness, examining the scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. Notice, we don't have really that happening with Jesus, when Jesus, who certainly obviously is at a level that the apostles are not, or the prophets are not. You don't go and research what God says. If God says something, it's what God says. But with Paul, let's check it with what? Let's check it with the other scriptures that are also inspired. Not the person, but if what he says is inspired, then it's going to line up with the scriptures. That's what the Bereans were doing. And notice what Paul says also. Paul is being, because of the miracles, because of the signs and wonders that are happening at his hands, as well as Barnabas, the people think that he is Zeus and Hermes. And so what do they say to them? Going, saying in Acts chapter 14 verse, let's say in 15, he says, men, why are you doing these things? We are also men of the same nature as you and preach the gospel to you, that you should go in turn from these vain things to a living God. So they're saying we are just like you. There's nothing special about us. As a matter of fact, even for an Old Testament person, going to James, James says the same thing, James 517 says Elijah was a man with a nature like ours and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain. Why is that important? He's trying to get them to understand that there's nothing special about Elijah, but it's a connection with who? With God. These men were men who had fears, who may have had doubts at times, who may have done things that they probably should not have done. You think about Peter having to be confronted by Paul with how he was treating the Gentiles as the Jews approached. You think about Paul himself saying in Romans 7, the things that he wishes not to do that he does. Well, that's not a person who is inspired or God breathed. Now, does that mean that everything that Paul does or Peter does or James would do or John or Moses or any of these men? Does that mean that any and everything they do is correct or Godly? No. They are, as they said, mere men. As a matter of fact, everything that they spoke is also not inspired. First Corinthians lets us know that Paul had had communications with them before. None of those were considered to be inspired or at least worthy or rise to the ranks of being in the canon because every time that Moses may have spoke or Paul may have spoke or John may have spoke, that doesn't necessarily mean that that was inspired by God. Because if they were inspired, then everything that they say or do would also be on the level of what God is doing. What they do is not inspired. What they say is not inspired. Only what is given to us in the scripture that God gave to us, as Peter says, where the Holy Spirit moved upon them to write these things. And so we have to be careful. Now here's why this is very important. Many of you see and hear people speaking about how they are speaking for God, how they have heard from God, how God is saying things. So what are they doing? They are putting their words on par with God as though God has spoken to them and they speak to you. Well, what does that mean? That means God is breathing out into them what to say and they make it as though they are inspired to say whatever. Well, how do we check that? How do we compare that? Well, we can't. Therein lies the problem. You can't compare that with scripture because they're not going off scripture. They're going off of what they say. The Lord told me or I heard the Lord or I heard the Lord or the Lord was working in me or I was in the spirit. Things like that, they cannot be verifiable. And what do we have? We have people being led astray because people are placing a higher value on the man or the woman versus the scripture. And therein lies the problem because our confidence is not in the man who wrote our confidence. It's not in Paul. Remember Paul is the one who says imitate me and he didn't put a period there. He says imitate me as I follow Christ. And so who we ultimately are following according to Paul would be Christ, not him. But these are people who we don't put our confidence in them. We put our confidence in the word because the assurance is in the word. The priority or the place of rank or authority is the word, not the person. If you think that a person is inspired, then what ends up happening is you have a lower view of scripture and a higher view of the man. Our confidence is not in man, nor is it in the man who wrote the scripture. Our confidence is in the scripture because it was though it was delivered by man, it was breathed out by God. And the interesting thing is how God would even use even their personalities, their writing styles. Paul writes differently than Luke. Luke writes differently than John. John writes differently than Matthew. Matthew writes differently than James. Moses writes differently than Jeremiah. All these things that are brought out, but God uses all of them to say exactly what he wants to say. And everything that they say, the things that are inspired, the things that are God breathed is exactly what the Lord wants for us. But we cannot allow the view of a man rise to the level of our view of scriptures. If we do, then we'll have what we have today, people coming up with their own sorts of interpretation and leading people astray. Also what this shows that it is easy for people who love the scriptures to miss something that can, I think can be pretty obvious, but you can get kind of caught up in it because I asked a question a certain way to see who would go to the scripture and look and compare that with the scripture. The scripture again does not say that the men who wrote it are inspired. It just says all scriptures is inspired. We don't have one passage, not one passage that tells us that a man of God is ever inspired. The only one that rises to the same authority and even higher than the word is Jesus who honors his word. And so guys, I just want to be careful about how we treat and view even the apostles because if we venerate the apostles and that office, then no wonder why people come today and want to claim themselves to be apostles and prophets. But if we put the word above everything else, then there's no way that someone can come and say or claim to be in the office of the word. That can't be. So they take advantage of our misunderstanding of what the text is saying and thinking that we think highly of the men, they want to be highly thought of as well and claim to be in that same role. But it's clear what's inspired isn't the man, it's the word of God. Amen.