Knowing and Living What I Believe!

February 13,, 2022 – Morning Service Hickory Corners Bible Church Pastor Rich Anspach

Hebrews 11:1, 6 – “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen…And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”

Why do you believe what you believe? How does what you believe affect the way you live your life?

What do you believe about the Bible, God, Jesus Christ, Satan, different religions, where did everything come from, the purpose of life, what is good and bad, why is there so much evil in the world, is there life after death, is there a heaven and hell, will the earth be destroyed one day, is there truth, absolutes to live by, what about evolution, abortion, gay movement, critical race and social justice movements, etc?

Where did those beliefs come from? Did they comes from parents, school teachers, churches, books, religious groups, other people, the Bible?

The reason why I am asking these questions is that I am starting a new series of messages to explore how to know what to believe and why and how it should affect our daily lives.

“Because what you believe should affect the way you live. And how you live should reflect what you believe.”

I. Questions about believing the Bible.

To do this, I believe we need to start with the Bible. Without a solid foundation for what to believe, one will not have a reason to believe it and practice it in ones life.

Of course, when you mention the “Bible”, you raise a lot of other questions like:

Why believe the Bible? Aren’t there a lot of other religious books and literature?

Why only the 66 books in most Bibles? Why not include the 14 apocrypha books?

How is it different from other religious books? They say they wrote as the angels revealed it to them?

How was the Bible given? Isn’t it just man’s ideas?

Why was it written? Wasn’t it just for the Jewish people?

Why should I do what it says? Isn’t is out of date and not relevant for the moral condition of today?

Aren’t some the stories “make believe”? Adam and Eve being spoken to by a serpent? Genesis 3; A world

wide flood and an ark with animals in it and only 8 people be saved? Genesis 6; Balaam’s donkey

speaking to him? Numbers 22; or someone rising again from the grave? I Corinthians 15

Isn’t it just a book of do’s and don’ts? You can’t have any fun it you follow them. Galatians 5:22-25

To answer many of these questions and objections to believing and living what the Bible says, I am going to present in several messages how the word of God came together from the first written words given to Moses, Genesis to Deuteronomy, to the last words written by John, Revelation.

II. Summary statement about the Bible.

Let me summarize what we have in the Bible. There are 66 books written by 40 some authors over a period of 1600 years composed with unity, harmony, and a central purpose and message.

III. Out church statement.

Also, let me read our church statement of what we believe about the Scripture, the Bible:

“We believe the Holy Scripture, the sixty-six books, both the Old and New Testament, to be the verbally

inspired Word of God, the final authority for faith and practice, inerrant, infallible and God-breathed

through Spirit-controlled men. We believe the Bible to be the true center of Christian union and the

supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, opinions will be tried.”

(2)

I trust through these messages, that when someone ask: “Why do you believe that?” your answer will not be “Because that is what our church believes.” Or, “this is what I have been told to believe.” But, “Because God through His Word teaches this and therefore I believe it.

In this introductory message, let me give you some key verses about the Bible itself and how we should respond to it.

IV. Key verses about the Bible itself and how we should respond to it.

A. II Timothy 3:16-17 – The Source and Value of the Scripture.

B. II Peter 1:20-21 – The Way the Scripture was Given.

2 Peter 1:20–21 ESV

knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

C. John 20:30-31 – The Purpose and Central Message of the Scripture.

D. I John 5:13 – The Certainty in what we Believe in the Scripture.

E. John 17:17 – The Working of the Scripture in our Lives.

F. II Peter 1:3 – The Provision for Everything for Life and Godliness comes from the Scripture.

G. James 1:22 – The Exhortation to Obey the Scripture.

The next message will address questions like:

Why did God wait about 2500 years before the first words of the Bible were written?

Did the people of the world have any communication with God and what He expected of them

before Moses received and wrote the first 5 books of the Bible?