The past month we have celebrating the ministry of the Sunday school. The Sunday school ministry is focused on studying the greatest book in the world. I want to begin by giving you a test to determine the strength of your Bible knowledge.
Q. Who was the greatest financier in the Bible?
A. Noah. He was floating his stock while everyone else was in liquidation.
Q. Who was the greatest female financier in the Bible?
A. Pharaoh’s daughter. She went down to the bank of the Nile and drew out a little prophet.
Q. What kind of man was Boaz before he got married?
A. Ruth-less.
Q. What kind of motor vehicles are in the Bible?
A. Jehovah drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden in a Fury.
A. David’s Triumph was heard throughout the land.
A. Honda...because the apostles were all in one Accord.
Q. Who was the greatest comedian in the Bible?
A. Samson. He brought the house down.
Q. What is one of the first things that Adam and Eve did after they were kicked out of the garden?
A. They raised Cain.
Q. What excuse did Adam give to his children as to why he no longer lived in Eden?
A. Your mother ate us out of house and home.
Q. Which Bible character had no parents?
A. Joshua, son of Nun.
(From Christianstories.com: provided by SermonCentral)
None of us could pass this test. However, you do need some Bible knowledge in order to get the joke behind the answers. I want to complete our Sunday school emphasis by doing a simple message about the importance of Bible study. I cannot get too technical in this sermon. There is inadequate time. There have been volumes written about the subject of Bible study. There have been many books written about Bible study methods. When I was in seminary, there were entire courses devoted to the study of the Bible. I cannot do justice to this subject in one simple message. My goal is to encourage and challenge you to examine your growth as a Bible student.
For a text I want to read two passages from II Timothy. To begin I want to read II Timothy 3:15-17. “the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
This is my outline. First, I want to remind you of the Bible’s origin. Second, I want to discuss the Bible’s purpose. Finally, I want each of us to examine our commitment to the study of the Bible.
I. Let me remind you of the Bible’s origin.
A. The Bible is a gift from God. Notice verse 16. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God.” A gift is something we cherish. I read about a man in Kansas City who was severely injured in an explosion. Evangelist Robert L. Sumner tells about him in his book The Wonders of the Word of God. The man’s face was badly disfigured, and he lost his eyesight as well as both hands. He was a new Christian, and one of his greatest disappointments was that he could no longer read the Bible. Then he heard about a lady in England who read braille with her lips. Hoping to do the same, he sent for some books of the Bible in braille. Much to his dismay, however, he discovered that the nerve endings in his lips had been destroyed by the explosion. One day, as he brought one of the braille pages to his lips, his tongue happened to touch a few of the raised characters and he could feel them. Like a flash he thought, I can read the Bible using my tongue. At the time Robert Sumner wrote his book, the man had "read" through the entire Bible four times.
(Robert L. Sumner, The Wonders of the Work of God. Provided by Sermon Central)
Do you cherish the word of God? Consider the words of the Psalmist.
“How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth.” (Psalm 119:103).
“I love Your commandments More than gold, yes, than fine gold.” (Psalm 119:127).
B. The Bible was inspired by God. The phrase inspired could be translated “God breathed.” God breathed His ideas into the formulating of this book. Some people reject the Bible on grounds that it was written by men. We should understand that God supernaturally breathed His ideas into the heart of those who wrote the pages of this book. The Bible is God’s primary means of communicating with us.
Charles Spurgeon declared, “If God has spoken, listen! If God has recorded his words in a Book, search its pages with a believing heart…; but if you regard it as the Book of God,... study the Bible daily. Treat not the Eternal God with disrespect, but delight in His Word.”
(Presented to Sermon Central by Chris Jordan)
II. Let me remind you of the Bible’s purpose. This purpose is two-fold and is identified in two verses in II Timothy 3.
A. In verse 15 we read where Paul tells Timothy “you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation.”
The Bible is a diverse book. The Bible is a collection of 66 different books divided into two sections (Old and New Testaments). It was written by over 40 authors over a span of 1,500 years in three different languages. Thirty-nine books make up the Old Testament. Twenty-seven books make up the New Testament. The Old Testament is written primarily in Hebrew, with a little Aramaic, and the New Testament is written in Greek. These diverse authors present a unified portrait of God’s plan for man and God’s offer of salvation. As to different kinds of literature, the Bible contains history, poetry, prophecy, romance, letters, biographies, songs, journals, laws and stories. So the Bible is an entire library consisting of different kinds of literature. Each of those literary forms points toward God’s gift of salvation.
People criticize the Bible for different reasons. Many people criticize the Bible because they say it is not a complete book of history. God never intended for the Bible to be a history book. Other people criticize the Bible because there are gaps in its records. Again, God never intended for the Bible to fill in all gaps concerning world events. Others complain because the Bible does not discuss the disappearance of dinosaurs. It was never God’s purpose to give us a book of history, a book covering all aspects of the world’s existence or a discussion of dinosaurs. God’s primary purpose in giving the Bible was to give man a description of how to be saved. Man needed to be told how to find a personal relationship with a Holy God. Man needed to be given hope. Man needed to know how to find eternal life. Man needed to know how to find forgiveness for sin.
Notice an important phrase in verse 15. The Bible gives us wisdom that points us to Jesus. Jesus is the source of our salvation, not the Bible. Some people may think it is the Bible that saves us. The Bible primes our heart so that Jesus can save us.
B. In verse 17 we find the second aspect of the Bible’s purpose. It was given to equip men in how to live a Godly life. In verse 16 Paul mentions Biblical truth that man needs in order to live a Godly life. These are truths that equip us for such a life. There are four areas needing our attention. I am going to define and explain these four and then give a comparative example from the football field.
1. The first area is doctrine or teaching. This refers to basic Bible truth that God wants us to know? The purpose of doctrine or teaching is to change you into something better.
• The story is told of a South Sea Islander who proudly displayed his Bible to a G.I. during WW II. He had received it as a present from a missionary some time before. The soldier said, “O, we’ve outgrown that sort of thing.” The native smiled back and said, “Well, it’s a good thing we haven’t, because if it weren’t for this book, you would be our evening meal.”
• DL Moody said: “The scriptures were not given for our information but our transformation.”
In football, doctrine or teaching would be equivalent to fall practice or spring training. It is the time when coaches focus on fundamentals.
2. The second area is reproof. The purpose of reproof is to convict you when you do something wrong. It shows you the errors you make.
In football, reproof is what occurs when you make a mistake that brings a 15 yard penalty on your team. The coach calls you over to the sideline and reproves you.
3. The third area is correction. Correction teaches me how to do things right.
In football, correction is that time when the coach makes you run disciplinary laps or sprints in order to correct your mistake. It is amazing what you learn when you are running one or two miles.
4. The fourth area is training. Training helps to prepare you for future challenges? This is when the coach tries to teach you how to avoid future penalties.
Illustration: One of the most dramatic examples of the Bible’s transforming ability is "Mutiny on the Bounty." In this story a group of native men and women led a rebellion against the notorious Captain Bligh. Nine mutineers, along with the Tahatian men and women who accompanied them, found their way to Pitcairn Island, a tiny island in the South Pacific. Ten years later, drink and fighting had left only one man alive--John Adams. Eleven women and 23 children made up the rest of the Island’s population. So far this is the familiar story made famous in the book and motion picture. But the rest of the story is even more remarkable. About this time, Adams came across the "Bounty’s" Bible in the bottom of an old chest. He began to read it, and the divine power of God’s Word reached into the heart of that hardened murderer and changed his life forever. The peace and love that Adams found in the Bible entirely replaced the old life of quarreling, brawling, and liquor. He began to teach the children from the Bible until every person on the island had experienced the same amazing change. Every person on Pitcairn Island became a Christian.
(From Signs of the Times, August, 1988, p. 5.)
The Bible has power to change.
The end result of Bible study is that we may be equipped for serving God. The goal is not perfection but preparation. None of us will ever be perfect. Amen! However, God will teach us to live in such a way that we may live for Him and represent Him in this world.
Illustration: This is somewhat like a football player. A football player learns the rules of the game and the basic fundamentals of the game in order that he may compete. No player ever goes without making a mistake. All players occasionally get penalties called against them. However, in learning the rules a player prepares himself for competing in the game.
III. Finally, I close my message by challenging you to examine your personal Bible study. When I was a freshman in college I went through orientation. In the orientation process they instructed us in proper study habits. They emphasized the importance of good study habits. They knew that good study habits were imperative in a successful college experience. Even so, Bible study is critical in your walk with God.
What might we say about study? Look at chapter 2 verse 15. “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” Paul was writing to a young pastor named Timothy. He did not want Timothy to be ashamed in his ministry as a pastor. Shame occurs when we fail to do something, be something or know something.
STATS: George Barna wrote The State of the Church in 2002. Barna conducted a survey of self-pronounced Christians and here’s what he found about their knowledge of the Bible. Rremember, these are Christians..
• 48% could not name the four Gospels.
• 52% cannot identify more than two or three of Jesus’ disciples.
• 60% of American Christians can’t name even five of the 10 Commandments.
• When asking graduating high school “born again Christians” over 50% of them thought Sodom and Gomorrah were husband and wife.
• 61% of American Christians think the Sermon on the Mount was preached by Billy Graham.
• 71% of American Christians think “God helps those who help themselves” is a Bible verse.
No wonder George Barna said, “Americans revere the Bible but, by and large they don’t know what it says. And because they don’t know it, they have become a nation of Biblical illiterates.”
STORY: The new pastor was asked to teach the junior high boys’ Sunday school class in the absence of the regular teacher. He decided to see what they knew, so he asked who knocked down the walls of Jericho. All the boys denied having done it, and the preacher was appalled by their ignorance. At the next elders’ meeting he told about the experience. "Not one of them knows who knocked down the walls of Jericho," he lamented. The group was silent until finally one seasoned veteran spoke up. "Preacher, this appears to be bothering you a lot. But I’ve known all those boys since they were born and they’re good boys. If they said they didn’t know, I believe them. Let’s just take some money out of the maintenance fund, fix the walls, and let it go at that."
So what advice do we draw from this passage about Bible study.
A. A Bible student should be diligent.
In concluding this Sunday school focus could I challenge you to be diligent as a Bible student.
• Be on time and be ready to study on Sunday mornings.
• Instead of standing around talking to the boys, go to a Bible study class.
• Set aside a set time every day to spend in the word.
B. A Bible student should be disciplined. How?
• You might have to set your alarm clock to get up earlier.
• You might have to set your alarm clock on Sunday morning in order to be here by 9:00.
• You might have to get out of your comfort zone.
When I speak of being disciplined I am not limiting that to some deep study of the word. You might be comparing your study to that of a professor.
I have heard Bible study described using the following acrostic. Consider the word HEART as you consider your personal discipline. The Bible says “thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against God.” How can we hide His word in our heart?
H--- Hear it
E--- Examine it or study it
A--- Apply it
R--- Remember it or memorize it
T--- Think about it or meditate on it
A healthy spiritual diet includes all of these activities.
If I were to ask you to raise your hand if you believe the Bible to be the word of God, most everyone in this room would raise their hand. However, if I ask you if you live like the Bible is the word of God, could you still raise your hand?
