Why We Need The Bible

Why We Need The Bible

2 Timothy 3:14-17

Let me read to you this morning a letter addressed to our missionary in the Middle East ----------. The writer of the letter is an Afghan living in Iran who heard Bro. --------- preaching on the radio. “I have believed in your God and in your message. I have fallen in love with the teachings of Almighty God through Jesus Christ. Your programs have been food for my soul. I have been searching for a Bible and was finally able to borrow a New Testament from a friend...Before I had a different religion, but now I am a Christian. However there is much I do not know about Christianity. Where should I go to confess my faith....Please write to me and tell me how I can be closer to Jesus. How many times a day should I pray? Which month should I fast? How should I celebrate Christmas and Easter? God told Solomon to build a house. Where is this house located? When I share my new faith what can I tell others about the differences between Christianity and my previous religion?” Lifeword newsletter, Spring 2004

What would you tell him? What resources should we direct him to? In 2 Tim 3:16, it seems tailor-made for a man in his position. The Word of God will give him everything to answer his questions, everything he needs to be everything God created him to be.And it’s for you also.

1. We need the Bible because ....

It will make you “wise about salvation”

It is inspired, which means “God-breathed”

It teaches truth to us

It shows the proof of our errors

It corrects when we are misguided

It guides us into righteous living

It makes us everything God wants us to be.......

.....if we follow it.

If the Bible offers all these benefits, why do we shy away from it? Why is it neglected at the peril of our spiritual growth and temporal joy?

2. We neglect the Bible because .... Hebrews 4:12-13

The Word of God awakens us from self-deception, ignorance, blindness; like the emperor’s new clothes, we’re shown to be naked

The Word of God is alive

It’s not ink on a page. It is God’s communication to us, filled with His breath –remember, it’s God-breathed. What it touches it does not leave unmarked.

“...the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”

John 6:63

The Word of God is powerful

The Word is not given to us to inform but to transform. Notice in this passage how the Word is to be taken as if coming from the very mouth of God “For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.” 1 Thessalonians 2:13

The Word of God is penetrating

A great weapon was the double-edged sword. Now instead of just hacking you could actually stab your opponent, more effectively damaging his vital organs. It gets inside and hurts and heals. This is what we mean in saying it reproves and corrects.

“ So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:11

The Word of God is revealing

I can’t remember who said it, but right after 9/11 I heard a pundit say about the investigation into the terrorists responsible, “ Before evil can be destroyed, it must be revealed.”

Conclusion–

The Word of God nourishes us into becoming all that God created us to be. Here is an exhortation to all who are frustrated in your spiritual life:

Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. 1 Peter 2:1-3