Sermon: "What Does Your Bible Mean to You?"
Let’s begin this morning by playing a game called … WHAT IS IT?
1. At one time, one could cost as much as a house.
2. Today, one organization gives away 45 million of them annually.
3. John Wycliffe is normally credited with making the first one available in English.
4. Today there are over one hundred different English translations of this item.
Of course the answer is “THE BIBLE.”
Why did a Bible cost as much as a house? Because they were hand copied and paper was very expensive.
The Gideons International is placing and distributing more than 45 million scriptures worldwide.
Others had translated part of the Bible into English, but John Wycliffe is normally credited with being the first one to translate the entire Bible into English.
Let’s see how much you know about your Bible. I’m going to give you some familiar sayings and you tell me if they are in the Bible.
1. Cleanliness is next to godliness. NO
2. Money is the root of all evil. NO
The Bible does say … “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.”
(I Timothy 6:10a).
3. Escaped with only the skin of my teeth. YES
JOB 19:20 – I am nothing but skin and bones; I have escaped with only the skin of my teeth.
4. The apple of his eye. YES
DEUTERONOMY 32:9, 10c -- 9For the Lord’s portion is his people , Jacob his allotted inheritance. 10cHe guarded him as the apple of his eye.
5. Let your conscience be your guide. NO
6. A word to the wise is sufficient. NO
7. Like a drop in a bucket. YES
ISAIAH 40:15a – Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket.
8. Practice what you preach. NO
9. God helps them who help themselves. NO
10. What is truth? YES
JOHN 18:37-38a -- 37“You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
38a“What is truth?” Pilate asked.
Now comes the most important question of all. WHAT DOES YOUR BIBLE MEAN TO YOU?
Our lesson this morning is designed to help you come to place a high value upon your Bible because it is God’s Word. Our scripture text was words written by the Apostle Paul to his young friend, Timothy, but they are words we should receive as if they were written to us.
II TIMOTHY 3:16-17 – 16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
You can grow in your faith in 2007 if you will believe what the Bible teaches, submit to its commands and trust its promises.
We say the Bible is God’s Word, therefore the first thing we are going to look at this morning is the question … Why does God speak to us?
We will then look at two other important truths, that when understood, will help to make our Bibles a vital part of our lives. Those two truths are:
GOD’S COMMANDS ARE TRUE
and
GOD’S PROMISES ARE TRUE
Let’s begin with the question …
I. WHY DOES GOD SPEAK TO US?
One reason God speaks to us is because …
A. HE DESIRES TO HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH US
The Bible says …
ACTS 17:24-28 – 24The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. 26From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28For in him we live and move and have our being. As some of your own poets have said, “We are his offspring.”
Even though God is the Creator and Ruler of the Universe, it is not his desire to live at a distance from those he created … particularly mankind. God created us with the intention that we might abide together forever in a love relationship. But such a relationship can only exist when the parties involved know something of each other.
God knows everything about us. The Bible says …
PSALM 139:1-4, 13-16 – 1O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. 2You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 4Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.
13For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know thatfull well. 15My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 16your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
Yes, God knows us inside and out, but we can know nothing about him unless he chooses to reveal himself to us. He has done that in three ways. First through ….
1. CREATION
The Bible says …
ROMANS 1:20 – For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature -- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
God has also revealed himself through ….
2. JESUS
Jesus was God in human flesh. Jesus said …
JOHN 10:30 – I and the Father are one.
Another time he said …
JOHN 14:9b – Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.
And finally God has reveled himself to us through …
3. HIS WORD … OUR BIBLES
God speaks to us through His Word to move us to do what he wants and to enable us to know him so that we may love him. His Word comes to instruct us and to woo us. It gives us a picture of what God has done and is doing, but it also calls us into a personal relationship with our Creator and Redeemer.
Yes, though it is hard for us to understand and accept God does desire to have a relationship with us and so he reveals himself to us in His Word … our Bibles.
God also speaks to us through His word because …
B. HE DESIRES TO INSTRUCT US
We have looked at this briefly already and isn’t that a big part of what our scripture lesson says. Listen to it again…
II TIMOTHY 3:16-17 – 16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
The Bible teaches us about what is true. The Bible reproves us when we do what is displeasing to God. The Bible trains us to do what is pleasing to God.
Now that we have seen why God speaks to us …
HE DESIRES TO HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH US
and
HE DESIRES TO INSTRUCT US
Let’s look at how the Bible can help us in each of those areas. We will begin first with the area of instruction by looking at the fact that …
II. GOD’S COMMANDS ARE TRUE
We are not going to spend a lot of time looking at the commands God gives us in His Word, but instead are going to look at what his commands can do for us.
Once you see what God’s commands can do for you, you will be more inclined to seek them out in His Word so you can make them be a normal part of your life.
First we see …
A. THEY BRING STABILITY AND PERMANENCE INTO OUR LIVES
You do not have to live very long to understand that things change. Our friendships change. Our families change. Things change at work. New inventions change the way we live. Yes, even local churches change. But God does not change. The Bible says …
JAMES 1:17 – Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
And listen to how this passage from the book of Psalms describes God.
PSALM 102:25-27 – 25In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. 26They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded. 27But you remain the same, and your years will never end.
If God doesn’t change, it follows that His Word does not change. His commands are just as true for us today as they were for Christians a hundred or five hundred years ago.
His commands, because they are true and do not change, bring stability and permanence into our lives. Yes, I know that down through the centuries some of God’s commands have been interpreted in very different ways, but the commands themselves have not changed. The struggle we have as God’s children is how those commands should be lived out in our society and circumstances. We may change how we try to obey the commands, but the commands themselves stay the same.
The next thing we see about God’s commands is that ….
B. THEY REVEAL OUR HUMAN NATURE
It doesn’t take long, when you read God’s commands, to realize that you are a sinner with a sinful nature. For example, listen to these commands of Jesus.
LUKE 6:27-30 – 27But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. 30Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.
Our natural tendency is to draw back from every one of those commands. We try and find some way to say that our circumstances do not come under the umbrella of those commands.
Of course, if we are true with ourselves we must admit that it is the concern for self or selfishness within us that makes us want to overlook those commands.
God’s commands shine light into the darkness of our inner lives. If we don’t run from the light it will show us that we are in need of a Savior.
God’s commands are truly wonderful …
C. THEY TEACH US WHAT GOD WANTS US TO BE
God didn’t redeem us from hell and then let us in the dark concerning how he wants us to live. He has spoken to us through His Word, our Bibles, and given us some pretty detailed instructions on how he wants us to live our lives. If we truly want to please God we will take the time to discover his instructions and then live them out in our daily lives.
Take just a moment and ponder this truth.
Your Creator, the Creator of the Universe, your Redeemer, the one who took the punishment for your sins has given you instructions on how he wants you to live. How much effort should you be willing to put forth to discover those instructions and then incorporate them into your life.
That leads us to the final point concerning God’s true commands …
D. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DISOBEY GOD’S COMMANDS
You may feel guilty at first, but if you don’t confess and repent, eventually, your sense of shame dries up. Slowly your capacity for truthfulness, loyalty and honesty is eaten away. Your conscience becomes weak and worthless.
Listen to what Paul wrote to Titus concerning such people.
TITUS 1:15-16 – 15To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. 16They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.
None of us want to fit that description.
Now might be a good time to ask that question we asked earlier … WHAT DOES YOUR BIBLE MEAN TO YOU?
God has been gracious to us in speaking to us and telling us what he wants us to do. Doesn’t that give you both a hunger and sense of urgency to know what he has revealed? To know what he wants you to do?
Before we close this lesson with some practical suggestions on how to make God’s Word, your Bible, be a vital part of your life, allow me to give you one more incentive.
III. GOD’S PROMISES ARE TRUE
Listen to what God’s Word tells us about his faithfulness.
HEBREWS 10:23 – Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
LAMENTATIONS 3:22-23 – 22Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
One way we see God’s faithfulness is in the keeping of the promises he has made. A mature believer understands that God’s promises, which are recorded in our Bibles, are the God-given foundation for a life of faith. The way to strengthen your faith is to focus upon the promises of God that speak to your circumstances.
Samuel Clark, in the introduction to his book called, Scripture Promises or The Christian’s Inheritance, wrote …
“A fixed, constant attention to the promises of God found in His Word and a firm belief in them will prevent worry and anxiety over the issues in your life. It will keep your mind quiet and composed through the changes and troubles that come through living. Christians deprive themselves of their most solid comforts through their unbelief or forgetfulness of God’s promises.”
God has given you many promises in His Word. Do you know them? Do you believe them? Do you rest upon them when troubles invade your life? Are they part of the foundation upon which you live your life?
CONCLUSION
As we begin yet another new year, I ask you once again … What does your Bible mean to you?
A true Christian is a person who acknowledges and lives under the Word of God. He believes what it teaches, trusts in its promises and obeys its commands. He will tell you that the Word of God has both convinced him of his sin and assured him of forgiveness.
He cries out with the Psalmist …
PSALM 119:5, 10, 36, 80 – 5Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees!
10I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands.
36Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain.
80May my heart be blameless toward your decrees, that I may not be put to shame.
What can you do to have your Bible come alive to you?
- READ IT … call the church office and request a Bible Reading Schedule.
- STUDY IT … Join a Sunday School Class, sign up for an “At Home Bible Study”. If you received any money for Christmas purchase a good Bible Dictionary.
- LIVE IT … You can read and study all you want and it will do you no good unless you believe what it teaches, submit to its commands and trust its promises.
If you do these three things, 2007 will be a great year for you spiritually, no matter what circumstances you encounter.