Untitled Sermon (7)

Good Moring,

Thank you all so much for the opportunity to speak to you today. I want to thank my wife Trish who got to put up with me. I also want to thank Aaron, not just for him being my professor, but for his support, encouragement, guidance and friendship.

I have a wonderful daughter named Lauren, son in law and a grand dog. They live in Killeen Texas. If you haven heard of Kileen, it is the community where Ft Hood is at. It lies halfway between San Antonio and Waco. Several months back we learned that Chase had been selected to go to a special training school in Georgia. He was due to leave February 13 and would be gone until the first of April. I knew that Lauren would be lonely during that time. Me missing her had nothing to do with it. So we made a plan for me to go see her the first part of March.

I drove to Denver and got on a Frontier Airline Airbus A320. NOw, I am an airplane nut. I grew up around airplanes, worked at multiple airports in my life and at an airline for a short time. One of the most important things that is grilled into you and are constantly reminded of when you work around airplanes is safety. You take safety classes where you have lectures, you have hands on and you read lots and lots of safety training lessons.

With safety being so synonymous in my life with aircraft, I totally took myself by surprise and shocked myself when the plane started to taxi away from the gate and I felt a sharp bump and heard a loud clang.

Let me backup a bit here. Any time I have flown I alway, always pay attention to the safety talk given after you board. I always counted the number of seats between me and the nearest exit, in front and behind me. I did not this time. I did not pay attention to the flight attendant standing up front showing me how to buckle the seat belt. I did not listen to the instruction about the emergency flotation, nor did I pay attention to where the emergency exits were located. Most importantly, I did not read the Airline Safety Card, But the thing is, I NEVER DO. All that safety training and personal experience, I don't read it. I do my own thing.

As the plane started to move and I heard the noise and felt the bump, I realized I had not done any of this, I had not paid any attention to any of the talk, noticed where my seat was located, etc.. Thankfully I had the card in front of me to read. I did pull it out and read it.

I think that a safety card is a good example of how we treat the Bible. The safety card is not a supplement to what the flight attendant is telling us. It is not an insignificant brochure that is lightly suggested to read, it is something that contains information that will save you life. But you have to read it, just like that Bible. You have to read it to know what is inside, to know if you are being misled by what is being taught. You need to read it to find your way, and you need to read it to really get a full picture and understanding to save your life.

I’ll be reading form the NIV, so please open your bible to 2 Timothy 3:13-17

13 while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Im going to read that first verse again,

“while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived”

As we go through life, I feel that everyday we are constantly bombarded with sin and false teaching. So much of it in fact that we and we don’t even recognize it anymore. This isn't new, It has happened to us since Satan deceived Eve in the garden. He tricked her into eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It is probably the most easily recognized story of deception in the Bible. There is no gray area when it comes to sin, but I feel we act like there is. How much better off would we be, everyone be if we knew God’s word?

Sadly, there will continue to always be those who try to deceive us in an effort to convince us that sinful behavior really is not. We are continually bombarded with messages that sinfulness is okay. The message of “he is doing it, so it must be okay” is all around us. We see it on our billboards, on the TV shows we watch, what is taught in our schools.

The areas in life that were once considered morally wrong are not anymore. Even if we do not do them ourselves, we have become complacent and accept them in life. We have somehow justified sin to become okay or we have been deceived into believing there is nothing we can do about it. We have let it become a normal part of our lives.

Satan’s efforts to deceive us have not ended not will they end, there will always be people who try to convince you otherwise.

Every area in our lives.

If we know what the Bible says, we would know when we are being deceived. We would recognize those who are being deceitful and bear false witness.

We know that Homosexuality, Premarital Sex, Divorce, Extramerital affairs, Gambling are wrong. We are told that it is not hurting anyone. But is that really true?

Those are just a few examples of sin that have become accepted in society because people do not know the scriptures. It is not just the unchurched and nonbelievers who do not know the scriptures.

Here are some statistics from Statista, a national survey company that measures the reading habits of Americans from 2020

Only 3% read their Bible Daily

9 % once a week

34% Never read it.

They did not have statistics as to how many Christwswian read their bible, but the Ponce Foundation did.

They published that 84% of Christian only read their Bible while in church

If you do not read the Bible, how do you know what’s in it?

Many churches have given in to the pressures of society and no longer say some of the sins are really okay. Can you imagine hearing this type of message coming from the Pulpit! It is coming from those who should know what the Bible really says.

Paul recognized the importance of not being deceived so great he even wrote to the Ephesians He warned them of the dangers of deception from the false promises of sin and what will happen when.

Ephesians 5:3-7 3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk, or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. v 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be partners with them.

Have you let sin crept into your daily life and have justified it because it is normal and socially accepted? Even if you have not ever participated in any of these sins that I stated, are there any other sinful activities that have been deceiving you?

Do you think that if you knew the Bible as well as you should, you would recognize your sin sooner and not let it trick you into thinking it was something other than what it really was? Would not reading the Bible and meditating on its meaning bring clarity to the deceptions you are faced with?

Christians need to know the Bible. We need to know what it is. It was given to us all, young and old. We need to read the Bible so we continue to be good Christians.

Read verse 14-15 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.

Just as Pual was reminding Timothy, I think we need constant reinforcement of what it is we have learned. Because we have been separated from God through our sin, we need to work to come back to him. Whether we are brought up in a Christian home from infancy or came to Christ later in life, we need reinforcement and personal verification for what is being taught. What you learned as a child or even yesterday will hold more value if you verify what personally is being taught. I believe we need to study what the scriptures ourselves so we do not get led astray and stay on the correct path for salvation.

As Chrsitains, our salvation did not come without a cost. God sacrificed his Son for us.

It is important to know what the Bible says so know what the price Jesus paid personally so we could have salvation. I think in order to truly know the cost for salvation, one must understand what it is that is being taught in the Bible.

In high school we probably all took geometry. How many remember how to calculate the volume of a sphere, or know what sine, cosine, and tangent are? I can tell you I don’t because I don’t know.

How about algebra?

Here is a little word problem for you. Jane spent $42 on shoes. This was $14 less than twice what she spent for a blouse. How much was the blouse?

I am sure that there was a time you could have quickly and easily solves this problem off the top of your head. Had you known how to do it, you would know and trust that answer to be $28.00. I’m not going to stand up here and willfully tell you it’s not, but how do you really know without knowing how to solve it for yourself. Isn’t that the same with reading the Bible?

Just think how easier life would be if you remember all that you once knew. I’m not referring to algebra, but the scriptures themselves. You’ve heard the messages once, you’ve learned what they have said but what have you done to remember so the meaning doesn't slip away from you?

If you aren't in the habit already and haven’t done this, set a daily reminder so you know it’s time to read the Bible. By knowing the scriptures, you will be able to apply the meaning to your life and draw you nearer to God.

Let’s look at the last section of this passage,

Timothy 3:16-17: 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

The Bible is the Word of God, God-Breathed means that the Bible itself is inspired by God. It is not the words of man, rather the Holy Spirit guided each author to in what was put to paper. I believe it is knowing this that gives the Bible its authority. It is what makes the words meaningful and significant. Without them being from God, how do we know that the meaning of them is truly what God wants us to know and do?

Peter reminds his original readers and is applicable to us today that the word of God comes to us from the Holy Spirit, not from man.

Read 2 Peter 20-21: Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

I believe that if this were not true, then what is in the Bible has no more significance than any other book. The Word of God is the Bible, not a commentary, not a reference, not devotion, it is the Bible. Those are all great tools to help understand the Bible, but they are not the words of God, but rather the words of man.

We speak to God through prayer, it is what WE use to open ourselves to God. Of the many ways he speaks to us, GOd’s gift of the Bible is what we use to see who he truly is. By reading the Bible we know who God is, we know his character, we begin to understand our purpose, and by reading the Bible, I think we really truly know who God is. From reading the Bible longer do we speculate on what it is God wants or desires for us. As a discipler, it helps you teach others correctly in their walk. I don't think it possible to properly teach someone if you do not know the material being taught. The Bible provides us the knowledge that we need in order to grow in wisdom. Not earthly wisdom, but Biblical wisdom. The type of wisdom that only comes from a relationship with Christ and without knowing the Bible we will not know the path to keep us on the road for salvation. I like to think of the Bible as a map, but instead of the route to and from points, it provides us with the way for salvation.

Remember the days before GPS and cell phones how we used to get to new places? If you were going to some place you had never been to before, you had two choices. The first choice is to ask for directions and hope they are correct without missing any important details and you understand them. The second choice you could get is a proper map to navigate yourself to your destination.

“In December 2016, 71-year-old New Jersey native Barbara Briley was driving down to North Carolina to visit relatives for Christmas with her great-granddaughter La’Myra. Somehow Barbara had gotten turned around and became lost in the middle of Virginia. She tried stopping at a gas station to ask for help. The clerk tried to help her with the GPS but she misunderstood her GPS’s instructions. She turned down a random dirt road and drove deep into the woods. When she drove over a small fallen tree,her car became stuck. Not only where Barbara and La’Myra were lost, they were stranded.

No other cars passed on the dirt road for several days. Meanwhile, their family was worried. Police helicopters were searching for them but couldn’t spot them from underneath the trees. It turns out that the dirt road was on private property, and the owner found them. Barbara was unresponsive, but La’Myra was totally fine and very talkative. They both survived by eating the snacks that they had in the car for the Christmas party. The property owner called 911, and the two received medical care immediately” (Quinn).

Such a scary story . So what went wrong? Lots of things, but the biggest mistake is Barbra didn’t know where she was going. She knew where she wanted to go, but didn;t know how to get there. She relied on other people to put her on the right path, but she didn’t understand. Had she had a proper map and knew how to use it, she might not have gotten lost. Thankfully this story ended well.

God does not want you to wander around lost, physically or spiritually. Without God's word to direct us, we would be lost. We have been separated from him and need to be led back, and that is through Jesus Christ. If you are lost God wants you to come now back to him now. Not next week, not tomorrow, but now. The way back to God is simple, it starts by asking him to come into your heart and accept him as your Lord and Savior. If you have come to Christ, stay on course, please, read your Bible.

I can't stress enough how important it is to read the Bible. The benefits from reading the Word of God are not measurable by oneself, but they are easily seen by others. You will grow closer to God, you will understand what it is that he wants you to know so you don’t get deceived. We are all separated from God through sin, and we need help to stay on course so you do not get lost. I urge you. if you do not have a reading plan get one and get started.

Lets pray.