Read Your Bible!

Introduction:

It was not unusual for Jesus to answer a question with a question, and this He did not to be evasive but to draw His listener’s into the truth and causes them to see something about themselves, that may have never previously dawned upon their souls.

One of His questions is one that is recurrent throughout the gospels; the question is simply this, “Have you not read?”

Illus: When I first moved to Texas I drove the regular speed through a school zone. The camera took a video and emailed my infraction. I couldn’t use the excuse I just moved here and didn’t know. It was the law and I should have read the signs.

Isn’t that how we are though? In life we plunder on giving little heed to the Word of God, yet Jesus says, “Have ye not read?”

You know what is interesting is that each time Jesus asked this question He asked it of the religious leaders of his day.

We would expect a minister to have read his Bible wouldn’t we? Yet, it was to the rabbis, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Chief Priests, Scribes and Elders that Jesus posed this question. “Have You Not Read…” Here were people who should have known better, who should have read and been up to speed with the things of God, but they were ignorant and in the dark on a whole host of topic, all of which God had revealed His will on.

They misunderstood the nature of the Sabbath. We see that in our opening text.They thought that the principle took priority over the people, but Jesus taught that the Sabbath was given to serve men and not vice versa. He said, “Have you not read…?

They misunderstood God’s will on divorce. Matthew 19:3-5. They had read the Pentateuch on the matter, but it seems they never got as far as Malachi, hence they took a liberal position on the matter failing to notice that God was against it. Jesus said “Have you not read?”

They denied the resurrection. Matthew 22:23-33. But again, Jesus said, “Have you not read?”

They misunderstood the nature of the Messiah, they never considered the possibility that He might be rejected of Israel. Mark 12:10. Again, “Have you not read?”

God is going to hold us to account for what we have read, and He is even going to hold us to account for what we have not read, because with the privilege of possessing a copy of the Scriptures comes the responsibility to read them and to know them.

Have you not read? Have ye not read? Have ye not read?

I. The Devil Knows the Bible (Matthew 4:1-11)

Matthew 4:1–11 CSB

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. Then the tempter approached him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” He answered, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Then the devil took him to the holy city, had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: He will give his angels orders concerning you, and they will support you with their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” Jesus told him, “It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God.” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus told him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” Then the devil left him, and angels came and began to serve him.

A. Do you see the Devil quoting Scripture there? Do you see how knowledgeable he was of the purpose and person of Christ?

1. He really misquoted it, but to do that, and to do it as skillfully as he did, you really have to read it.

2. How important it is that we do at least as well as the devil in reading our Bibles!

3. Listen to God, Ignore the rest.

4. That is why Christianity is so messed up today. That is what Christians are so readily taken in today, they are ignorant of the Bible.

5. Have you not read?

6. Surely if our enemy would read it, we should read it also.

7. In so doing we will save ourselves from a world of falsehood and temptation.

B. Do you know what God said through his prophet Hosea? Listen now: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” (Hos 4:6a)

1.That is the truth.

2. Ignorance and laziness are two of the greatest enemies of your soul.

3. You know what Solomon said, “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” (Prov 29:18)

a. A lot of preachers take that word “vision” and they make it to mean aspiration or desire after souls.

b. "vision” - is talking about revelation, it is talking about the Word of God.

c. Blessing comes through the reading of God’s Word. Have ye not read?

II. The Bible Tells How to Be Saved!

2 Timothy 3:15 CSB

and you know that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are able to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

A. Without the Scriptures you cannot be saved – see 2Tim 3:15

1. What would we know about the human condition was it not for the Word of God?

2. We would know nothing of the sin of man, the grace of God, no knowledge of the Saviour.

3. Salvation comes only to those who believe the Word.

4. We hear a lot of testimonies today – I have heard some of these personally, people who have visions of Jesus, people who hear voices in their head, people who experience strange things, and out of these experiences they assume they are saved.

5. You had best do better than that, because our salvation must be a response to the Word of God, to the Gospel, and the question that will be asked of every soul is, ”Have you not read?”

III. Reading is Essential to the Growth of the Christian (1 Peter 2:2)

1 Peter 2:2 CSB

Like newborn infants, desire the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow up into your salvation,

A. How interesting that the Scriptures compare themselves to milk, bread, meat and honey.

1. Job said, “I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.” (Job 23:12)

2. "Thy Words were found, and I did eat Them; and Thy Word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by Thy Name, O Lord God of hosts" (Jer. 15:16).

3. That is why Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

B. Have ye not read?

1. What about your quiet time? What about your Bible reading? Are you keeping up with that?

2. Illus: The story is told of a devout father whose son was studying for the ministry. The son decided to go to Europe for an advanced degree, and the father worried that his simple faith would be spoiled by sophisticated, unbelieving professors. “Don’t let them take Jonah away from you,” he admonished, figuring the swallowed-by-a-great-fish story might be the first part of the Bible to go.

Two years later when the son returned, the father asked, “Do you still have Jonah in your Bible?”

The son laughed. “Jonah! That story isn’t even in your Bible!”

The father replied, “It certainly is! What do you mean?”

Again the son laughed and insisted, “It’s not in your Bible. Go ahead, show it to me.”

The old man fumbled through his Bible, looking for the Book of Jonah, but he couldn’t find it. At last he checked the table of contents for the proper page. When he turned there, he discovered the three pages comprising Jonah had been carefully cut from his Bible

“I did it before I went away,” said the son. “What’s the difference whether I lose the Book of Jonah through studying under non-believers or you lose it through neglect?”

C. Friends the greatest threat to your Christian life is not the attacks of the apostate upon your Bible but your personal neglect of your Bible.

1. You need a quiet time.

2. You need to read, not for a Sunday School lesson, or a children’s meeting, but for you.

3. You need to read it not only on Sundays when the pastor says, “Open your Bibles at . . .” but on Mondays. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, etc.

4. Have ye not read? Are you right with God? Do you have a daily quiet time?

a. The quiet time is basic to our faith.

b. Illus: D. L. Moody wrote on the fly-leaf of his Bible these words: "This book will keep me from sin, and sin will keep me from this Book."

c. Every day, some part of the day should be spent with God.

5. This was the instruction of God to Joshua when he took over the leadership of Israel.

a. “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” (Joshua 1:8).

6. This was the message of the Jewish Shema – See Deut 6:4-9

a. You know it doesn’t matter what area of your life you look at, there is always a reward for those who are constant and consistent in what they do

b. We watch the great sports stars on the field of play and admire their skills. Some of that talent is natural, but a large part of it comes from consistent practice.

(i) Illus: Usain Bolt Olympic Gold Medalist (19 Medals total)! He trained for 90 minutes, every day. And ate a special diet every day.

c. We listen to great musicians, forgetting about the hours they spend in practice.

d. Are you a practicing Christian, do you spend regular time in the Word of God? Have ye not read?

e. The people at Berea were commended for being, “…more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11).

7. Perhaps you think you have not time to read the Bible every day.

a. Illus: A man once made this excuse to D. L. Moody. He answered, "My friend, if you are too busy to read the Bible every day you are busier than Almighty God ever intended any human being should be, and you had better let some things go and take time to read the Bible."

b. Have ye not read?

IV. The Bible Will Be God’s Book on the Last Day (John 12:47-48)

John 12:47–48 CSB

If anyone hears my words and doesn’t keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and doesn’t receive my sayings has this as his judge: The word I have spoken will judge him on the last day.

A. That is why Jesus said, “have ye not read?”

1. Ignorance is no excuse.

2. I found that out to the cost as I drove through a school zone in Texas.

3. It doesn’t matter that I didn’t read the signs, the law still stands, and so it with God’s law.

a. That is why it is important we get the Bible out, that is why it is important we support missions/evangelism.

4. But leaving that aspect aside, we need to understand that when we are judged by God, the one recurring question we will be asked is “Have ye not read?” and willing ignorance is no excuse.

Conclusion: “Have ye not read…?” How will you answer? Well, Lord, you see there was something good on TV. Oh, well, Lord I was busy visiting friends and socializing. Well, Lord, I found it hard to read, so I read newspapers, magazines, and fiction instead.