Just Read Your Bible

Every year since 2011, the American Bible Society and the Barna Group have conducted a study where they have researched the impact of the Bible on the life of the Average American.

This group tries to answer questions like these:

How much do Americans use the Bible, if at all?

What influence does the Bible have on people’s choices and decisions?

What do people believe about the Bible, its origins, and its teachings?

Why do people use—or not use—the Bible.

How, where, and with whom do people interact with the Bible?

What difference does the Bible make in the lives of those who engage with it?

After 10 years that this group has been conducting research here is what they say…

“Bible Engagement Transforms People’s Lives...”

They go on to say this...

The Bible is the greatest influence on a person’s Spiritual Health. Period. There is no close second.”

—Not Sunday Morning worship gatherings, not Sunday School, Not mission trips, not revivals, not church camps, not disciple nows…the most impactful thing these researchers found on the spiritual health of a person was a regular habit of engaging with God in His Word...

But here’s the problem…most of us rarely if ever spend time along reading our Bibles…the State of the Bible for 2020 didnt show many promising results…less people read their Bible this year than last year…in a year where we probably needed God’s Word more than ever…and only about 9% of people regularly engage in Bible Reading every week...

And this problem isnt new...

Charles Spurgeon once said:

“There are times when solitude is better than society, and silence is wiser than speech. We should be better Christians if we were more alone, waiting upon God, and gathering through meditation on His Word spiritual strength for labour in his service. We ought to muse upon the things of God, because we thus get the real nutriment out of them. . . . Why is it that some Christians, although they hear many sermons, make but slow advances in the divine life? Because they neglect their closets, and do not thoughtfully meditate on God’s Word. They love the wheat, but they do not grind it; they would have the corn, but they will not go forth into the fields to gather it; the fruit hangs upon the tree, but they will not pluck it; the water flows at their feet, but they will not stoop to drink it. From such folly deliver us, O Lord. . . .”

So this morning…I got one goal…Just Read Your Bibles...

I dont want us to be a church…and I dont want to be a man…that loves the wheat but doesnt grind it…that loves the corn, but unwilling to go out and harvest it...

No catchy title…just straight forward…The Main thrust of the message this morning is “Just Read Your Bible”

So would you please stand as we read God’s Word together...

2 Timothy 3:16–17 ESV

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul tells us two things about why the Bible is worth reading this year...

First...

The Power of the Bible

“All Scripture”

Every word of the Bible you hold.

Old Testament and New Testament.

“is breathed out by God”

“God Breathed”

Made up of two words… “God” and “Spirit”

“Inspired by God” is what it means...

They are straight from the mouth of God

The term is “Inspiration”

It means that although the Bible was written over the course of many years, by many different authors, in many different contexts, all of the authors were under the inspiration of God the Holy Spirit.

What it means is that we believe that God has spoken to us...

The Baptist Faith and Message says it this way...

The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God’s revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.

This doesnt mean that the Holy Spirit doesnt still speak…He does…He speaks through creation, he speaks to our hearts, he speaks through other people at times…This is why Paul gives us council about prophesy and tongues in some of his other letters...

But the standard, the authoritative word…that judges any other word we think we might have recieved from God comes from His inspired Word..the Bible we hold in our hands.

What it means is that the Bible has the first and final say as to what is true about God, about gender and sexuality, about race, about justice, about marriage, about money, about family…and on and on the list goes...

“You Christians look after a document containing enough dynamite to blow all civilization to pieces, turn the world upside down and bring peace to a battle-torn planet. But you treat it as though it is nothing more than a piece of literature.”― Mahatma Gandhi

The Purpose of the Bible

5 Purposes:

Teaches

Reproves

These two are about what we believe...

The word of God teaches us what we should believe about God....

The only real way for us to know who God is and what we should believe about God is what is revealed about him in his word.

So the word teaches us what to believe about God and it reproves our false ideas about who God is and what He is like.

Corrects

Trains

The Word doesnt just teach us what we should believe...

God uses his word to coach and train us to not only believe rightly but to live rightly.

When we dig into God’s word we come face to face with out own sin…and then God uses His word to help us to repent...

To turn from sin…and to walk in the Light of Christ...

This is why Paul goes on to say that the Word of God completes us..

Hebrews 4:12 ESV

12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Equips

Bottom Line: We are Incapable of Being Healthy Followers of Jesus Apart from a Regular Intake of God’s Word.

The Barna Group and American Bible Society found these things correlated with people who regularly engaged with God’s Word:

Are significantly more willing to unconditionally forgive others.

Are 10x more likely to give financially to churches or charity.

Are more likely to serve others through volunteering.

Are 4x more likely to say they have made a decision to follow Jesus that is still important to them.

2x more likely to have prayed in the past 7 days.

3x more likely to have attended church in the past month.

Another study was done in 2019 on the spiritual growth of over 250,000 Christians…Here was the conclusion:

“Nothing has greater impact on Spiritual growth than reflection of Scripture. If churches could do only one thing to help people at all levels of spiritual maturity grow in their relationship with Christ, their choice is clear. They would inspire, encourage, and equip their people to read the Bible—specifically, to reflect on Scripture for meaning in their lives…Bible engagement is the singly most spiritually catalytic activity a person can engage in.”

We don’t need all that research to know that the Bible has the power to transform our lives. God himself promised it right here in 2 Timothy and in Hebrews 4 and many other passages...

But it is nice to use stats like this to validate what we already know to be true...

The purpose of God’s word is to teach us, strengthen us, correct us, train us, and equip us with wisdom for how to come to saving faith in Jesus…and how to follow him in the everyday rhythms of life.

It helps us understand why Charles Spurgeon said so long ago… “A Bible that is falling apart usually belongs to someone who isnt.”

I don’t read my Bible so that God loves me more…I read my Bible so that I will love Him more.

Bible Reading is a Key Stone habit…it is one of those things in life that

Im going to give you three helpful tools to help you begin to build the habit in your life of spending time with God in His word more...

Have a Plan

Have a Place

Have a Person

“The primary purpose of reading the Bible is not to know the Bible but to know God.”― James Merritt

Ultimately, there is no way for us to know God than through His Word.

So here is my plea……take up your plan…pick your place…choose your person to hold you accountable…Just read your bible...