The Bible Is The Word Of God Series

Intro: During the Great Depression, there was a man named Yates who lived in Texas and owned a sheep ranch. But his financial situation was so strained he knew it was only a matter of time before he lost everything.

-Every day Yates and his family did all they could to keep food on the table. After a period of time they had to accept a government subsidy or lose their home and land to creditors. But one day, in the midst of financial bleakness, a geological crew from an oil company came knocking on Yates’ door. They asked if they could have Yates’s permission to drill a well on his property promising him a large portion of the profits if they struck oil.

-Yates agreed to the deal and the crew began drilling. When the crew hit 500 feet, they came up dry. When they hit 800 feet, nothing happened. They hit 1,000 feet and it was no different. But whenever they dug down to a little over 1,100 feet they hit pay dirt. They ended up tapping into one of the richest oil reserves in Texas. The hole in the ground began to spray out 80,000 barrels of oil a day. Over night Yates and his family became millionaires.

-Pretty cool story. Yates was a man who’d been sitting on wealth for a # of years but he never knew it. As a matter of fact he was at a point to where he was @ to lose the only life he knew. But whenever he began to search out his land he discovered he was rich.

-You know what? There’s no doubt in my mind that we can identify w/this man. The reason why is b/c there are a lot of us who struggle in this life. We have a void in our life that just doesn’t seem to ever get filled up. We search and struggle for hope and meaning. But very few people ever discover that right underneath their noses is a vast source of wealth that can totally transform their lives.

-What am I talking @? I’m talking @ God’s Word, the Bible. Far too many of us have the Word of God sitting on our coffee tables or stashed away in some dark corner in our bookshelf, never having been opened or seriously looked in to. And the result is we’re missing out on a great wealth of information that leads to a prosperous and meaningful life.

Sermon Idea: Today in our passage of Scripture we’re going to see Paul share w/Timothy 3 important pieces of information to learn @ Scripture. 3 important lessons that will show the true value of the Bible.

-If you have a Bible I want you to know that you’ve got a gold mine on your hands. Now some of you might wonder how it is that the Bible could be called a gold mine. You might wonder how the Bible is more than just a book. Well, fortunately for us Paul shared w/Timothy 3 principles every person ought to know @ the Bible.

2 TIMOTHY 3: 16-17

Bckgrd: In this Scripture we see one of the strongest statements there is for the authenticity, the wealth and the power of the Bible. And b/c of that it’s important we look into this passage of Scripture. We need to understand that the Bible is a book of great wealth. We need to understand that Paul, a man who lived 2,000 years ago, understood the Bible was a very important book.

-Before Paul was to die he wanted to establish the credibility and power of the Bible. It wasn’t just some ordinary book. It was a uniquely special book that could transform lives. But Paul knew that there were going to be people who didn’t see the value of the Bible and there’d be people who’d try to pervert what the Bible said.

-So he clearly set out to show what every person ought to know @ the Bible. The 1st principle every person ought to know @ the Bible is:

DIV. 1: THE BIBLE COMES FROM GOD (v. 16)

Exp: If you’re a person who likes to read, one thing that will be important to you is “Who wrote the book?” I remember when I was in seminary learning @ the importance of “Who wrote the book?” When I was in preaching class I learned that there are a lot of materials you can go to to help you prepare for sermons.

A. But as you look to different resources for help it’s important to know who the author is. The reason why is b/c there are some authors who might not hold scripturally sound beliefs. Let me give you an example.

1. One resource that’s very good is the author William Barclay. He has excellent information on the historical perspective of Scripture and every day living during the times of Christ.