Focus Passage: II Timothy 3:14-4:4
Supplemental Passage: Rom 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
Introduction: During Superbowl XXXVII, (2003) FedEx ran a commercial that spoofed the movie Castaway, in which Tom Hanks played a FedEx worker whose company plane went down, stranding him on a desert island for years. Looking like the bedraggled Hanks in the movie, the FedEx employee in the commercial goes up to the door of a suburban home, package in hand. When the lady comes to the door, he explains that he survived five years on a deserted island, and during that whole time he kept this package in order to deliver it to her. She gives a simple, "Thank you."But he is curious about what is in the package that he has been protecting for years. He says, "If I may ask, what was in that package after all?"She opens it and shows him the contents, saying, "Oh, nothing really. Just a satellite telephone, a global positioning device, a compass, a water purifier, and some seeds." Like the contents in this package, the resources for growth and strength are available for every Christian who will take advantage of them.
DL Moody said: “The scriptures were not given for our information but our transformation.”
B.I.B.L.E. – Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth
I. God’s Word is Trustworthy
a. vs 16 – Inspired by God, literally “God Breathed”.
b. Mat 24:35 "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.
c. Our faith is based on fact, not fable (vs 4 says “people will turn from truth toward myths”. That time is now)
II. God’s Word is Useful
a. The Message puts vs 16 this way: “showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God's way.”
b. The ESV puts vs 17 this way: “that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”
c. Voltaire in his day said, “in 100 years the Bible will be a forgotten book, only to be found in museums.” 100 years later, Voltaire was dead, and his house was purchased by the Geneva Bible Society for the printing and distribution of Bibles!
III. God’s Word is Worthy of Study
a. When Jesus was tempted by Satan, He used Scripture to respond: Mat 4:4 But He answered and said, "It is written, 'MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.'"
b. Speaking of the Bereans, “Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” Acts 17:11
c. vs 3: the time is here NOW when people will not endure sound doctrine.
i. How do you know if it is sound unless you KNOW it?
ii. If all the Bible you get is my preaching, then you are starving your soul to death.
Invitation: It is a common temptation of Satan to make us give up the reading of the Word and prayer when our enjoyment is gone; as if it were of no use to read the Scriptures when we do not enjoy them, and as if it were no use to pray when we have no spirit of prayer. The truth is that in order to enjoy the Word, we ought to continue to read it, and the way to obtain a spirit of prayer is to continue praying. The less we read the Word of God, the less we desire to read it, and the less we pray, the less we desire to pray. George Muller
