Why is it important to know the Bible?
Donald Whitney took a missions trip to East Africa. They were ministering to a small church there and found out that the pastor only had 6 sermons. All of which came from Bible stories that he had only heard. No one had a Bible! They were steeped in wrong doctrine and were misled about many things in Scripture. The team was able to scrape together the funds necessary for buying several Bibles for the church so they could actually study God’s Word.
Knowing Scripture is necessary for being correct about our doctrine. Doctrine: A set of beliefs or principals that are taught. How many of you would recognize a false teaching or even a false teacher? This is paramount to setting up a good foundation. America is growing increasingly towards universalism. Do you know what that means? Universalism is acceptance of everyone’s beliefs.
Let’s take a look at a few of these arguments. See if you can pick out the ones that are true.
1. It doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you believe it strongly enough, you will get to heaven as long as you just do your best.
2. Muslims and Christian’s believe in the same God.
3. It is ok to be gay, the Bible doesn’t say anything about it. As long as you really love each other it’s fine.
4. I believe that it is just simply about being a good person and loving people, God will accept me.
None of those statements are true. Sure, these were really easy ones, but what do you do if someone asks you about your beliefs on salvation? What does it take? Could you tell them? Could you lead them through the Bible and show how Christ is the ultimate Savior of the world? We are told to “Be prepared to give an answer….” How do you know that I am on track? By checking what I say with Scripture! Check what the pastor says by seeing what that Bible teaches. Don’t take my word or anyone else’s for granted.
1Ti 4:6 If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed.
When I was living in Africa we came into contact with many of the local religions. One of the most interesting of the bunch was one called “Celestial Christian’s”. They had Sunday morning services that resembled Church and then at night they would do their voodoo ceremonies and pronounce curses on their enemies. You cannot double dip with your religious doctrines! Why is it wrong to think that you “all roads” lead to God? (Draw out the mountain idea) The problem is that when you actually look at what these different religions believe, you start seeing differences that cannot be reconciled. Buddhists believe in reaching Nirvana (Complete nothingness) after being re-incarnated multiple times. Mormons believe if they hold their rules and regulations well enough, that they will eventually become god’s of their own worlds. Catholic’s worship Mary and leave out the Lordship of Jesus Christ. They do not believe in Salvation as a gift, but as something they have to earn through good works. There are so many false doctrines out there that it is easy to get sucked in if you do not know your Bible! The look like a church, they practice kind of what we practice, they are nice people, why shouldn’t I believe what they are telling me?
Mat 7:13 "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.
They gate is WIDE that leads to destruction! That is why we hold to true scripture and doctrine. Have you heard it said that doctrine is not important? I was at a Christian concert and the lead singer said from the stage, “Doctrine is not important, it just holds you back, we just need love.” Pay close attention to what those people say next. 1Ti 4:16 Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers. Don’t be fooled.
“It’s one thing to be unfamiliar with Scripture when you don’t own a Bible: it is another thing when you have a bookshelf full.” Donald Whitney “Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life” pg 28.
So, why do we read God’s Word? Why do we study it? Because it gives us the Words of life! It draws us closer to God and helps us understand how to better overcome sin in our lives. Just as we looked at 1 Timothy 4 last week, we are to be disciplined for godliness. Part of that is being grounded in correct beliefs.
Scripture reading is the first and most important spiritual discipline. Did Jesus read scripture? Of course! Jesus was intimately familiar with Scripture. When Jesus was being tempted in the desert how did he overcome Satan’s temptations? With scripture. The first martyr, Stephen (Acts 6), used a historical look at scripture to show Christ to the religious leaders. They were so convicted that they killed him. How about just being familiar with the Gospel? Who hear knows what the Gospel is? My Wife, Victoria, will sit down and just speak the Gospel to herself. She stays fresh with it that way. It is a reminder that we cannot rely on ourselves, but that we have to trust in God. The Gospel is not just something we need to hear once. We need to be reminded of it daily! Especially if we are sharing it with others.
We should be falling more in love with our Savior every day, but if we do not know His Word or spend time with Him, we will not grow in our relationship.
Now that we know how important it is to be reading scripture, how do we build a habit of it? The answer to this one is TIME. We have to set aside the time to read and study God’s Word. It doesn’t just happen. It is a discipline.
Have a plan. Do not just start reading at random. That is the easiest way to misunderstand God’s word and take it out of context. Plus, random studying does not help you learn. Look for reading plans. Check out the blog, there is one on there that I am posting.
The point is not to run through as much scripture as you can. I used to do that when growing up. I would try to get through as many chapters as possible in that 30min. But then I could hardly tell you what it was about because I was pretty much speed reading it! I was missing out. The point is to listen and hone in on what God wants you to take away from that session. Something that is a great practice is just praying afterword and asking God to reveal what He wanted you to learn. Then just go back over something that stuck out to you. Ask what God wants you to do about it. Meditate on just one or two things that popped out at you. If you cannot remember anything from your readings you will not grow from it at all.
Bible reading is different from Bible study. We are not going to go in depth on this right now, but what is the difference? A pen and paper. That is it! Just jot down what you feel God is saying to you. Look up verses that relate to what you are reading. Study how a character in the Bible used prayer or faith to follow God.
Let me know if you need a Bible, or if you are having trouble understanding what you are reading. That is what I am here for. Check out sermons online! There are a ton of free resources through Itunes and other sources.
If you are not reading your Bible daily right now, make a commitment to start. Try to spend at least 15 minutes a day to begin. Then you can increase it from there. The important thing is that you are in the Bible!
I really want you to know that this is not a game. God is real and He really wants to be involved in your life. We do not have the pressures of needing to hide our faith. We do not know what it means to be kicked out of our families or threatened to be killed for our faith. People die for the Bible every day and there have been thousands that have died to get this to us. Let’s not neglect this awesome gift that God has given us.
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