Sermon Tone Analysis

! Introduction

!! 1. John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of our country, once stated... "So great is my veneration for the Bible that the earlier my children begin to read it the more confident will be my hope that they will prove useful citizens of their country and respectable members of society.

I have for many years made it a practice to read through the Bible once every year."

!! 2. George Muller, who established many orphanages throughout England, said... "I believe that the one chief reason that I have been kept in happy useful service is that I have been a lover of Holy Scripture.

It has been my habit to read the Bible through four times a year; in a prayerful spirit, to apply it to my heart, and practice what I find there.

I have been for sixty-nine years a happy man; happy, happy, happy."

·         Within the covers of one single book, the Bible, are all the answers to all the problems that face us today—if only we would read and believe.

- Ronald Reagan

 

·         Never let good books take the place of the Bible.

Drink from the Well, not from the streams that flow from the Well .-

Amy Carmichael

 

 

A Bible in the hand is worth two in the bookcase.

- Author unknown

 

!!  

John Piper:

*Why do you emphasize Bible reading and prayer so much?*

I don't think there is anything more basic to knowing the supremacy of Christ, loving him, and obeying him—and being the church for each other and for the sake of the world—than to hear God speak to us in his word and then to speak back to him with the praises and the longings of our hearts.

The reason for that is because it is so plain that today God reveals himself to us by the word.

The living Christ in his bodily form is not here.

He has ascended and taken his place at the right hand of God.

Neither are his inspired prophets and apostles here.

God has ordained for himself to be known primarily by the word that was recorded from those prophets and apostles—especially those who knew the Lord himself in his physical form—and preserved in a book.

But let’s face it, reading through the entire Bible or even committing to reading a daily portion can be difficult.

It can be a struggle to stay at it day after day.

That’s the way it is with most new things that we resolve to start.

We begin with enthusiasm but somewhere along the way we give up.

We may feel that we don’t have the time for reading the Bible every day.

But Dr. Tony Evans reminds us that we always have time for what is first on our list.

The question then becomes: Is the Bible first on our list?

!

The Importance of the Bible

 

Why is the Bible important?

*The Bible is enduring and lasting.

(Because God is enduring)*

                        PS 119:89 says: Your Word, Oh Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.

IS 40:8 The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of our God stands forever.

/Nobody ever outgrows Scripture: the Book widens and deepens with our years./—Charles

Spurgeon[1]

God’s word is enduring.

We live in a changeable age.

Fads come and go.

Popularity and ideas ebb and flow.

How few things are enduring!

If you don’t believe this just look at a picture of yourself from a few years ago!

The Word of God is enduring!

Isaiah contrasts it with flowers and grass.

Flowers and grass may be here today and we enjoy them but we know that they are short-lived.

Their beauty is fleeting.

The same is true of us, our time here is short.

Our “wisdom” is usually shortsighted.

God’s word endures and stands firm in the ups and downs of life.

The Bible has withstood the attacks down through the years of atheists, liberals, false religions and western culture.

Countries have made it illegal and sought to keep it out of the hands of people.

Yet, the Bible endures and is loved and cherished.

People without a copy of the Scriptures in closed countries will risk their freedom to obtain it and to get it to others.

The Bible endures because God has promised that it would and he is faithful to his promises.

John MacArthur:

God anticipated man’s and Satan’s malice towards the Scripture with divine promises to preserve His Word.

The very continued existence of Scripture is guaranteed in Isaiah 40:8, “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever” (cf. 1 Pet.

1:25).

This even means that no inspired Scripture has been lost in the past and still awaits rediscovery.

The actual content of Scripture will be perpetuated, both in heaven (Ps.

119:89) and on earth (Is.

59:21).

Thus the purposes of God, as published in the sacred writings, will never be thwarted, even in the least detail (cf.

Matt.

5:18; 24:25; Mark 13:3; Luke 16:17).

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.

Is. 55:11[2]

 

            *The Bible is trustworthy (Because God is trustworthy)*

                        PS 117:7 The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy.

Eze 12:25  25 But I the Lord will speak what I will, and it shall be fulfilled without delay.

For in your days, you rebellious house, I will fulfill whatever I say, declares the Sovereign Lord.’ ” [3]

 

God will fulfill what he says.

He will honor his promises.

He is faithful and just and we can depend on what he says.

You can build your life upon the foundation of the Bible.

In our world it can sometimes be very difficult to find a trustworthy and reliable person.

Whether a car mechanic or a doctor or a plumber, a trustworthy person can be hard to find.

People often go back on their word.

They fail to live up to their commitments.

Have you ever been burned by an unreliable person?

Have you put your trust in something or someone and they let you down?

Most of us have and that makes us a little hesitant to trust.

But God has always been and always will be faithful and because he is faithful, his word can be trusted.

Bob Utely writes

 I began to search for evidence of its trustworthiness, which I found in (1) the historical reliability of the Bible as confirmed by archaeology, (2) the accuracy of the prophecies of the Old Testament, (3) the unity of the Bible message over the sixteen hundred years of its production, and (4) the personal testimonies of people whose lives had been permanently changed by contact with the Bible.

Christianity, as a unified system of faith and belief, has the ability to deal with complex questions of human life.

Not only did this provide a rational framework, but the experiential aspect of biblical faith brought me emotional joy and stability.

John MacArthur again:

The sacred book which we read, study, obey, and preach deserves to unreservedly be called The Bible or “The Book without peer,” since its author is God and it bears the qualities of total truth and complete trustworthiness as also characterizes its divine source.[4]

The Bible really has one theme throughout and that theme is Jesus.

(Read Swindoll page 17)

 

*Why Read the Bible?*

            Let’s start with the negative: *we don’t want to be ignorant of what God has told us*.

Paul often warned his readers that he did not want them to be ignorant about important subjects.

He wrote to the Romans in 11:25 imploring them not to be ignorant regarding the dealings of God with Gentiles and the nation of Israel.

He warned the Corinthians repeatedly about not being ignorant of several different theological subjects.

He said in 1 Cor 12:1 “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant”.

He was disappointed with them regarding their divisions in the church and he was saddened that they were still needing milk like infants when they should have been pressing on to more substantial “meat subjects”.

He warned then not to be ignorant concerning the schemes of Satan (2 Cor 2:11).

Likewise he warned the Thessalonians to not be ignorant concerning Christ’s coming (1 Thess 4:13)

The writer to the Hebrews lamented their lack of spiritual progress in these words: (chapter 5:11ff)

 11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn.