January 1, 2012 “What’s so GREAT about the Bible?”
2012 Reading Schedule introduction: We’re following the Our Daily Bread (odb.org) Bible in a Year schedule. Sermons will be based on prior week’s and/or next week’s reading. If you’ve done the reading and receive some useful insight, each week we’ll give space for one person to share, just before the sermon. Reading suggestion: if you “fall off” read a little each day until the next book starts, then jump in on that day again. Listening to the reading is fine, great to do when driving; I know some can take in and process more through listening, and that’s no problem!
Bible Offering: You may remember that I mentioned taking up an offering for Bibles at Christmas, but I realized I wanted to spend more time preparing you for this, because I believe it’s important enough. We’ll be doing some of that today, and I expect we’ll take up the offering on February 12th, which happens to be the day we’ll be holding an all-church business meeting… we’ll be sharing the finances and accomplishments over the past year and plans for the coming year. That’ll be after the church service that day, and lunch will be included.
Persecuted DVD (From Assemblies of God site: biblealliance.org)
What’s so great about the Bible that these people hunger for it so much? That people will die for it?
The rest of the DVD describes some of the experiences of our brothers and sisters around the world, those who suffer and die horribly for their faith; some are imprisoned just for owning Bible. Their stories may seem far away and feel unrelated to our experience here in America, but these are real, current stories. There really are many believers in the world who, because they won’t reject Christ, are forced to watch their spouses and children being tortured and killed before they themselves are killed.
Why? Why would they hold tighter to Jesus and His Word than to their own flesh and blood?
We know there is a great reward for those who hold to the Word of God and who refuse to deny the name of Christ. We read about it in Rev 3, where the church of Philadelpia is commended for their faith:
Revelation 3:8 I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.
So ok, it makes sense that the reward can be a good motivator… but is that enough? Will it be enough for you when you are forced to choose between your family and your God? Well, to be honest, we don’t know that all of us will have to face that exact choice. The bait, the temptation to deny Christ, is different depending on the culture and on what’s important to us… For many, it doesn’t take the threat of death to cause them to abandon their faith. Will the promise of reward be enough for you when you’re faced with these circumstances…
Will the promise of reward be enough, when the world is in your face and you are being ridiculed for your faith, told that it’s foolish, questioned about your behavior since becoming a Christian, where maybe you’ve stumbled repeatedly and continued in weaknesses that you’ve had since long before you accepted Christ?
Will the promise of reward be enough when you’re asked about God’s provision when you’ve been stuck in poverty, or when you’re asked about God’s healing when you or your loved ones have been struck with chronic illness?
How about that “freedom” Jesus promised, when you’re still imprisoned by bitterness and hurts, by broken relationships and the consequences of decisions made years ago, especially those decisions made by others that continue to affect you?
Will the promise of reward keep you? Maybe it will, maybe that will be enough for you… but I’m not so sure it will keep me, since I know how well the promise of a healthier life motivates me to exercise and eat better!
I believe that what will keep you and me is bigger than the promise of reward. You see, that promise is only a part of something much, much bigger, and that something is Truth… and particularly, the truth of the Word of God, absorbed into our daily lives and walked out day by day.
What will keep us? Knowledge of, commitment to, and trust in Jesus’ teaching, found in the Bible. Here’s what Jesus said His own teaching would do for us if we hold to it:
John 8:31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
Hold to His teaching… “Continue in my word” NASB has it… “Meno” = abide, remain, stay, dwell in His Word. This involves continual contact, presence, exposure to the mind of Christ we find in the Bible. Romans 12:2 says to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind” and I tell you, it WORKS. Being in the Word will transform how you see and think about things. This isn’t something magical or supernatural, really, because if you spend time immersed in anything you will be transformed by it, your thoughts, your worldview WILL begin to conform, or at least become desensitized to it. Ex. Profanity in movies, violence (ex. On 9/11 a 10yrold boy I knew was watching the live news footage of reporters at the Pentagon and said, “hey wouldn’t it be cool if they had a plane come crashing down behind them?”)
Being immersed in the truth of the Word produces something different in us. Knowing God’s truth sets us free in such a way that the enemy’s attempts to get you to deny your faith won’t work. The enemy will try to play on your insecurities… but the truth is, your security comes from God, not from your own greatness. The enemy will try to play on your fear of loss, loss of loved ones, loss of possessions… but the truth is, all of it belongs to God. (“He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep in order to gain what he cannot lose”) Many believing parents I know speak of surrendering loved ones to God, but in reality they are just acknowledging that they never belonged to them in the first place. The enemy will try to play on your dread of loss of reputation, of being seen as a fool… but the truth is, the only approval that is worth anything comes from God, and the enemy cannot tarnish your reputation before God.
All of this truth is found in God’s Word, and this is why the Bible has been central to our faith since the very beginning, even before the whole Bible was finished being written! What do I mean by that? I mean that when the first apostles were writing the words that would later become part of our New Testament, they were quite aware of the true source and power of God’s written Word, which, for them in that day, contained pretty much what we call the Old Testament.
For example, here’s Paul writing to a younger disciple, his own “son in the faith” by the name of Timothy:
2 Timothy 3:15-17 …from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work
Here’s Peter’s take on how we got the Scripture:
2 Peter 1:20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.They also recognized that what they were preaching was also the Word of God.
1 Thessalonians 2:13 And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.
These, and many other passages, are what really made me start to pursue a more reverential study of God’s Word… I’ve shared my testimony before, of how I was saved sitting alone at home and fell in love with God while reading the Bible. I don’t always share that from that point forward I had a tremendous hunger and sensitivity to the Word, and it was at that point that I heard my pastor say that the Bible is a human book of wisdom about God. RED FLAG! You see, because I had been spending time in the Word, seeing with eyes of faith that God had opened up, this sort of statement didn’t fly with me. I already knew that this was not what the Word said about itself. If she’d said it a few months earlier, I might not have thought anything of it. But from that point on, even though I deeply respected that pastor on many levels, I held her teaching of the Bible pretty lightly. She and I met and she confirmed that, not only had I understood her correctly, but she believes and teaches that Jesus Christ is not the only means of salvation. She understood when I told her believed differently, that Jesus is the ONLY way, and she understood when I left that fellowship a few months later, with a nice farewell dinner and kind words.
Side note: No matter how young you feel in your faith, if there’s something I say, or anyone else here says, that doesn’t seem to ring true with you and what you understand of the Word… don’t be afraid to bring it up. It might have been a misunderstanding, it might have been something carelessly or unclearly stated, but it just might have been error. I admit that I get careless or lazy sometimes and mix Scriptures, use them out of context, confuse them with things I’ve read elsewhere. Please, PLEASE allow yourself that boldness, for the sake of us all. BUT… Please also take the time to bring your question later, so there can be thoughtful discussion. If there was something unclear, it can be clarified not only then but before the congregation at the appropriate time. I’ve done that before, when I’ve shared something and then realized later that I had messed up… I don’t at all mind correcting that.
Ok, back to today’s message… I shared with you just a couple of passages that describe how the apostles saw Scripture, both the Old Testament and the words they were preaching and teaching, and eventually writing. There are whole shelves of books on this topic, like this one here (Norman Geisler’s Systematic Theology), and most of them start with those passages, especially 2 Peter 1:20-21 and 2 Tim 3:16.
From p 229: “The Bible claims to be a book from God, a message with divine authority. Indeed, the biblical writers say they were moved by the Holy Spirit to utter His very words—that their message came by revelation so that what they wrote was breathed out (inspired) by God Himself”
He goes on to discuss 2 Peter 1:20-21 and 2 Tim 3:16, and then a whole bunch of other passages. This is some pretty important foundation for us as believers. In fact, you may or may not know that the #1 foundational doctrine in the statement of fundamental truths for our denomination, the Assemblies of God, says NOTHING about speaking in tongues... Nope, the very first statement is this:
1. The Scriptures Inspired
The Scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments, are verbally inspired of God and are the revelation of God to man, the infallible, authoritative rule of faith and conduct (2 Timothy 3:15-17; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Peter 1:21).
And there you see the verses I read earlier. In fact, before even getting into the fundamental truths, our Constitution states that “the Bible is our all-sufficient rule for faith and practice.” All of the doctrines that follow flow from a shared understanding of that Bible, and form a “basis of fellowship among us.”
We'll touch on these doctrines as we study the Word together, but if you’d like to go deeper, especially into a better understanding of the inspiration of Scripture, there are several ways to go. You could borrow some of the texts I collected while in seminary. I have these great little “Know Your Bible” booklets too, and I highly recommend that you take one to read along with as you come to each chapter through the year. You could also start with the fundamental truths booklet from the AG, and study out the verses yourself. In fact, I recommend that, and maybe even memorizing one of the scriptures so that you always have that answer ready… 2 Timothy 3:16 is an easy address to remember:
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
Wondering if the part you’re reading came from God? “All Scripture is God-Breathed” Feel like you need to be taught? Rebuked? Corrected? Trained in righteousness? The Scripture is the place for you. Note this isn’t emphasizing the Bible’s usefulness for correcting others, but for your own equipping! See what it says next:
17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Remember what the name of our church stands for? “ECHO: Equipping the church to Cultivate, Harvest, and Overcome.” If equipping is our primary task here, do you see why the emphasis on the Word? Reading it aloud to each other, quoting it in our prayers and in our songs, exploring how it fits together, within itself and within our daily lives… all of these are opportunities for the Word to do just what it says it does: equips us for service.
The Word equips us to walk in power… to overcome every obstacle, not always because the obstacle is removed, but because the truth has set us free, free from the trap that the obstacles are intended to set for us. The enemy loves to get us in a corner, where we only see limited options and none of them GOOD options. What I say next might upset you, but I hope you’ll take it for what it’s worth: almost every issue that is brought to me can be resolved with a perspective shift. The issue may seem to be about health, or about money, or about a relationship, or about, about, about…about all of these things, or other things, or whatever… but I’ve seen things turn around, for me and for some of you, too, when truth is introduced… our perspective changes, and the chains fall off… the enemy’s attempt to shame us or terrify us is exposed, and things don’t look so big anymore. You see, the circumstances are the circumstances… we all got ‘em, some folks seem to have more of ‘em than others, and some folks seem to cause a lot of ‘em for others! But all of these things are being used to shape us, to test and refine our faith, so that we can stand in the end, so that we can truly hold to Jesus’ teaching. When we grasp His teaching, when we see what He’s doing in our lives, when we turn the corner and see that light of truth, WHOA! Everything looks different!
Now, don’t get me wrong, if we can help ease the pain of circumstances for each other, absolutely, I believe we should try to do that as much as possible… it’s hard to know when the pain is a necessary pain for someone else, so I try to err on the side of easing pain when I can. But more than that, I believe we should, as much as possible, encourage each other in the truth, the truth of the Word, to counter the enemy’s lies and half-truths and crafty little insinuations… I said this to someone this week, and I’ll say it to you all right now: I love you and I HATE to see you suffer, but you want to know what I hate even more? I hate to see you give up, to see the enemy convince you that his stinking lies are the truth. This ought not be, and it doesn’t HAVE to be… We can and we must find encouragement in the Word, for ourselves and for each other, in order to counter the filthy lie with the pure truth. This truth, tested and proven in our lives as we walk through and digest the Bible together, this truth becomes our true food and true drink… this is what those persecuted Christians find so great about the Bible that it’s worth dying for, and, I believe, it will be enough for you, too, to make you stand in the face of persecution.
Let’s pray.
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