What Do You Want To Know
Bible Survey 101
Through the Bible we are able to look at the way men and women of God and the world conducted their lives and through that inspection of the work, we learn what God expects and what my happen when we obey and when we choose to go our own way.
This week I bring you a message entitled What DO You Want to Know / Bible Survey 101 part one
We refer to the Bible as “the Word Of God”. Since we believe it is
indeed His word, what do we do with it?
After all The Bible is not easy to read, it is confusing. It seems to contradict itself at times, I mean, if God made the world in six days and rested on the seventh day, was it a struggle for Him to do the work, is there a task that could conceivably wear God out, If he made two worlds in the same time frame, would he have had enough strength to do it without more time to rest.
I thought God was all powerful, omniscient, omnipresent, all knowing, etc. Oh, and if God made man on the 6th day, and Adam named all the animals before Eve was created, how could Adam do that before the day was over and still allow God time to put him to sleep and create Eve out of Adam’s rib? These simple questions come from reading the first two chapters of the Bible. And I could come up with dozens more.
You might ask me what do you mean pastor, I study the Bible? Why, I read several verses, and I read the “Daily Bread”, I read my lesson plan, and I even try to remember the verse of the day. Isn’t that enough?
2 Tim 3:13-17 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Rob Bell , pastor of Mars Hill church in Michigan, has a lot to say about the word of God.
One thing that he emphasizes in his book Velvet Elvis is a comparison between bricks in a wall and springs on a trampoline. I love the imagery and before anyone begins to think that it is sacrilegious look into the word and see how Christ communicated to the people of his day. Even the disciples had to ask for clarification at times to know what it was that Christ was trying to say when he used allegories to help others understand what He was trying to say.
Note to self: A trampoline is a lot more forgiving than a brick wall.
Rob talks about how often individuals quote the Bible with statements that indicate to believe anything other than what they say is wrong. What they have is a brick wall mentality. Each concept they have determined in the Bible becomes a brick. When placed upon each other they build a wall that is impenetrable, as long as you maintain the integrity of the bricks. But what if you got something wrong in building that wall, it happens. It has happened to every denomination, there are changes made to doctrinal thought, to special rules, to flow of ministry. But when you build yourself a wall and later find out that a couple of those bricks have to be removed, then the integrity of the wall is in jeopardy.
Those bricks sometimes crumbles when you begin to ask questions.
That’s the problem with a brick. It has no give, if it tries to expand, it crumbles and falls apart, it attacks the integrity of the entire wall. All because you discovered something new.
Think you know it all?, Do you think I know it all? Did the Apostles know it all? I don’t think so.
Paul said in Phil 3:12-16
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
15 All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
I think we need to be careful that we do not have a brick mentality.
When you talk to the un-save with a brick mentality, you will lose them. I had a conversation with a lady last year. I believe her to truly love God, I think she really wants to see others saved. I was saying what happens when an un-churched or unsaved person comes into a service, hears the gospel, knells down and gives his/her heart to the Lord. He/she stands
up and you see his/her arms and neck are covered with tattoo’s. I said what
do you do. Her reply was, God forgives them of their sin.
(Brick mentality)
I had to say to her, why was it a sin.
Romans 7:7 (NIV)
7 What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not covet."
This scripture says that if it was a sin, but they just didn’t know it, it would not have been a sin to them. There would be nothing to forgive.
But I bought into the brick theory. I never really checked out the scripture that dealt with tattoo’s. I’ve just always heard that the Bible says not to mark your bodies. Here it is:
Lev 19:26-28 (NIV)
26 "’Do not eat any meat with the blood still in it.
"’Do not practice divination or sorcery.
27 "’Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.
28 "’Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD.
Makes you wonder why those who quote the part about tattoo’s don’t think that they need to obey not cutting the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of their beards.
Now a brick mentality will say you should not wear a beard anyway.
But if you study a little further you will read in Isaiah 44:5
5 One will say, ’I belong to the LORD’;
another will call himself by the name of Jacob;
still another will write on his hand, ’The LORD’s,’
and will take the name Israel.
Write on his hand is the same as tattoo on his hand.
APPLICATION
TWO CHOICES:
BELIEVE WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN TOLD THROUGHOUT YOU LIFETIME
LET GOD OPEN UP THE “SPRINGS” OF LIVING WATER THROUGH HIS WORD
Look For the next part in this series
