February 15th, 2004, Sunday Morning

"What is the Bible?"
What It is, Where It came from, what It means to your life

Jefferson St. Baptist Church, 401 Jefferson St., Wichita Falls, Texas, 940-322-1851 Ron Beisner, Pastor

OPENING: 2 Timothy 3:16-17

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• INTRODUCTION: What is the Bible--to you? Is it "just a book" or do you truly believe it's 66 God-breathed Books, penned by 40 authors, over a 1500 year period?
  
  
  • John 1:1: The Bible (referred to as "The Word") originated before the beginning of the world or man
    
    
  • John 1:1: The Bible is referred to as "The Living Word" because the Bible says God IS "The Word"
    
    
    • ANALOGY:
      
      
      • A man writes a book
      • The man and the book are two separate objects which can survive, independent of each other: if the man dies, the book lives; if the book is destroyed, man lives
      • The man and the book can change, independent of each other: the man can write the book and later change his mind about certain beliefs; now the book and the man are different
        
        
      • God is the Bible--one object
      • Every Word in the Bible describes God, His mission and his purpose for you
      • To change Words around in the Bible is to change who God is and what He believes
      • You cannot destroy the Bible and still have God; You cannot destroy God and still have the Bible
        
        SUMMARY:
      • To read the Bible is to literally read the thoughts and words of the Living God
      • The Bible was written by God and passed to man by the Holy Spirit, that man would "pen God into writing on paper"
    
    
  • 1 John 1:14: And then Jesus (referred to as "the Word was made flesh") came from Heaven to earth
    
    
    • CONCLUSION: God = Jesus = the Bible: the Living Word (Bible) that walked among man
  
  
• 2 Timothy 3:16-17: THE PURPOSE OF THE BIBLE IS TO:
  
  
  • Provide you "life's instruction manual"
  • Inform you of the truth (to dispel man's lies)
  • Correct you when you err or sin
  • Instruct you on how God wants you to live and interact in the world
    
    
  • FOR THE ULTIMATE PURPOSE OF: Living a Godly (Christian) life--apart from the sin and evil that surround you in this world--and doing the work God has prepared for you
  
  
• GOOD QUESTION: If there is only one God, which of the many versions of the Bible is the correct one?
  
  
  • The original King James Bible (KJV) is the source from which all other Bibles came from; PROOF: KJV has no copyright date; all others do
  
  
• FIVE CHARACTERISTICS GOD TELLS YOU ABOUT THE BIBLE'S (HIS) RELATION TO YOU:
  
  #1/5: YOUR LAMP (WHICH ILLUMINATES YOUR FUTURE)
  
  
  • Psalm 119:105: "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."
    
    
    • "Thy word": Tells you what direction your life needs to go and how you're to act, along the way
    • "lamp": an object which illuminates only a few steps in front of you--not the entire road
      
      
      • God only shows you a few steps in front of you at a time so you will not become overwhelmed of seeing/managing your entire life's road in one view
        
        
      • Matthew 6:34: Jesus said not to worry about tomorrow; not only can you not see or control it's coming but you've got enough to worry about today
      
      
    • God's Lamp leads you on the path to
      
      
      • Becoming a better Christian
      • Defining who you're meant to be in this life
      • Understanding your job in this life
  
  #2/5: A FIRE
  
  
  • Jeremiah 5:14 and 23:29: It will consume/overwhelm you with either:
    
    
    • The motivation/drive to do God's work OR
    • Conviction/judgment when you willingly/knowingly sin against God
    
    
  • Ever notice (if you're saved) when you do something you know God said not to, God puts a person or a particular passage of the Bible in your path at just the right place and time to remind you when you're going against God's rules?
    
    
    • To help keep men on the path today, "accountability groups" are being formed, in place of "men's groups," in order for man to better recognize when he is moving out of touch with God
      
      
      • Men are grouped together in one-by-one pairs versus groups so that each man can confide in and help exhort each other to stay on God's path
    
    
  • Those who are lost (not saved) or equate the Bible as on the same level as any book written by man will conclude the Bible is "just a book;" But to the saved who truly believe it is God's Living, breathing Word, handed down for man to pen on paper so we may read of God, the Bible is a fire which will burn in and stir your heart to spiritual motivation
  
  #3/5: A HAMMER
  
  
  • Jeremiah 23:29: God has the perfect size/shape hammer to break any man's hard/sinning heart
    
    
  • It is a tool to rebuke and correct (chastise) you so that you'll realize your sin and become self-convicted
    
    
  • A hammer hurts: you may spiritually ache, you may physically cry, you may say that God's Word "hit you like a ton of bricks"
    
    
  • Hebrews 12:6: God "hammers" you out of love--not anger--in order to bring you back on the path and change your sinful ways
    
    
    • Ezekiel 33:11: God takes no pleasure in "hammering" you; nor does He want to see the unsaved and wicked die and not go to Heaven
  
  #4/5: A SEED
  
  
  • Matthew 13:18-23: Jesus' parable of the sewer tells of the result of trying to plant seeds (or, in other words, what can happen when God's Word is taught)
    
    
    • v22: If man enters church, bringing the cares and worries of the world with him, he will not learn/profit from God's word because he is too distracted--the planted seed is choked out from among the thorns
      
      
    • v23: If a man enters church, "leaving the world outside," and not only hears the preacher but also understands, then he not only learns God's Word but uses it to produce for God (reach other lost souls)--the planter's seed has found good soil
      
      
      • Similarly, as you water your spiritual seeds and mature, God will expect more of you: more seeds be planted (you advance your education of the Bible) and that you begin to plant seeds in others
      
      
    • Therefore, the growth of spiritual seeds planted within you depend upon how you care for that seed--not how moving the choir's singing or the pastor's sermon is
      
      
      • Will you learn nothing new from the Bible today by worrying about your affairs in the world or will you water that seed by not only hearing the pastor but further studying (meditating upon) his message later?
      
      
    • It's human nature to wake up in the morning and immediately worry and plan the events of the day; it makes your daily Bible reading and prayer with God less effective
      
      
      • At work, in the morning, Pastor Beisner likes to listen to the sermons on the radio; However, if he becomes very busy in his duties, he will forgot all he has listened to and learned
      
      
    • Before daily devotion becomes a chore or "additional duty," realize we read our Bible daily and go to church weekly in order to receive a new seed from God and help it germinate within so it, and consequently you, may grow a little closer to God and know Him (the Bible) that much more
      
      
    • Matthew 4:30-32: Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed--the smallest seed known to man; And as Jesus' parables ends--just like in real life--the mustard seed grows to have greater leafs than any plant in the world
      
      
      • LESSON: Contrary to the world's belief system, sometimes the smallest, most insignificant looking things mature to become the most powerful and effective, among the group
      
      
    • All God wants from you is a relationship with Him, and relationships require two-way communication
      
      
      • Therefore, in other to reach God, you must reach the Bible--get into His Word
        
        
      • Seeds require watering (daily devotion and Bible reading); Make sure you "leave the world outside" when meditating upon the Bible or else you'll choke out the seed of the day
  
  #5/5: A SWORD
  
  
  • Ephesians 6:13-17: Of the various pieces of God's armour, the Bible is considered the sword, which can be used in an offensive and defensive manner
    
    
    • DEFENSIVE
      
      
      • Matthew 4:2-10: DEFENSIVE: All three times Satan challenged Jesus to satisfy his personal needs, Jesus began his negative response with, "It is written"--thus Jesus defeats temptation and evil by using the Bible (as opposed to physical strength, violence)
        
        
      • TESTIMONY: In late 2003, Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore refused an order to remove the Ten Commandments stone pillar from in front of his courthouse; While he was removed from office, he fought the system by using the Bible to defend his actions rather than clauses of the man-made U.S. Constitution or other legal loopholes (REFERENCE: CNN.COM's Nov 14, 2003, "Ten Commandments Judge Removed from Office")
      
      
    • OFFENSIVE
      
      
      • In February, 2004, San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom publicly disobeyed California state law by allowing mass homosexual marriage (not "civil union"); Various protestors cited passages of God's Bible to contest his actions
        
        
      • Leviticus 18:22: For years, the Southern Baptist Convention has fought against the gay movement in America by citing the verse in the Bible where God states homosexuality to LITERALLY BE an "abomination"
        
        
      • To use the Bible offensively is to be pro-active, not reactive
        
        
        • Don't be reactive: wait for Sunday morning to dust off your Bible for church or for something tragic/catastrophic to happen before you search your Bible for the answer
          
          
        • Be pro-active: have daily, set-aside devotions with God (the Bible) and study not just to read it but to learn to wield it defensively and offensively
  
  
  • Psalm 119:11: Why meditate (not just read) the Bible?
    
    
    • To spiritually grow
    • To become better Christians
    • To learn how not to sin against God
    
    
  • 2 Corinthians 5:17: To become a Christian should be the most radical, life-altering experience in your entire life; Otherwise, you really haven't changed or become saved
    
    
    • If you really have changed and become saved, you prove this by giving up AND NOT RETURNING TO your bad habits of the past (your "old self"); I.e., pornography, drinking, adultery, cursing, etc.
    
    
  • Like everything else in life, you "get out of the Bible what you put into it"
    
    
    • Don't just read it like it's another book because it's not; it's different from any other book in this world because God wrote it--not man
      
      
      • What makes the Bible special are the Words within, not the physical book itself
  
  CLOSER

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• Romans 3:23: "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" No one in this world is "perfect" or even "good enough to get into Heaven"
  
  
• Romans 5:8 and John 3:16-17: Yet, even in the midst of knowing we were disobeyed God, God sent his perfect Son, Jesus, to be punished for what you did, because God loves you too much not to see you join Him in Heaven
  
  
  • God sent his Son--the Living, walking Bible--to live among and teach us how to live and how we can get into Heaven
    
    
  • And when Jesus was crucified for your (not "the world's") sins and was resurrected and returned to Heaven, He never left you because as long as the Bible is still on this earth, so is He
    
    
    • Matthew 18:20: And when you read his Word with friends, He invisibly joins you
  
  
• John 3:16: God has proven He does what He says--and he promises you, in this verse, literally, "everlasting life."--IF you want it
  
  
  • Acts 16:31: How do you get everlasting life? "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ [the Bible], and thou shalt be saved"
  
  
• No other book in the world changes your life, rebukes you, teaches you, breaks you, and shows you how to spiritually defend and attack like the Bible