Shalom Aleichem...
Reflections is a weekly Christian Teaching Ministry. Each week we will talk about the Bible and lessons we can put to use in our daily life. We will try to, on a weekly basis, provide to you stories, thoughts, and just easy ways to live your life on a straight path.
THIS WEEK'S TEACHING....October 11, 2021
Packed with facts and stories, this teaching is designed to excite people about reading the Bible.
What Can the Bible Do for Me?
Joshua 1:6-8
For the over 3,500 years, people have been touched by the Bible and we are going to be touched deeply by it over the next six weeks.
For this series you are going to need a Bible. If you didn’t bring one with you today, there should be one under your chair or under a chair near you. Would you all take a Bible and hold it up for me for a minute?
If you don’t own a Bible, or know someone who doesn’t, we are selling Bibles for a dollar at the Fuel Bookstore in the lobby this morning. Please take advantage of that.
How many of you have ever had questions about the Bible? In a recent poll, 85% of Americans said they wished they read the Bible more.
My goal over the next several weeks is to give you the inspiration and tools to enable you to do that.
But let’s be honest: The Bible is such a big book that everyone who has ever heard of it or come in contact with it has had questions about it.
We are going to explore this book, God's Word. The book isn’t hard; many people have read the entire thing in one day. No...not me!!
Without wanting to be overly dramatic, what I want to say is: What we are doing may be the most important learning you’ll do in your entire life.
We are going to focus on Psalm 19, this week.
Abraham Lincoln once said “I believe the Bible is the best gift God ever gave to man.” That’s kind of a lofty statement, wouldn’t you agree?
When you think about the beauty of the Grand Canyon, or the Rocky Mountains, or of the love of a man for a woman, or the love of a fan for the NFL, it may sound like a ridiculous statement.
“The Bible is the best gift God ever gave to man.”
• You can argue that everyone ought to own a Bible because it’s the best-selling book of all time.
• You can argue that everyone ought to read the Bible because of its great influence on our world.
• And you can argue that everyone ought to know the Bible because it’s changed more lives than any other piece of literature in history. But can you really say that it’s the best gift God ever gave to man?
Let’s look at what the Bible says about itself. Psalm 19:7…
7 The law of the LORD is perfect,
reviving the soul.
The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of the LORD are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the LORD are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
9 The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever.
The ordinances of the LORD are sure
and altogether righteous.
10 They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the comb.
11 By them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
The Bible makes some lofty claims for itself. Write this down quickly with me. From this Psalm,
[A. The Bible claims it…]
1. The Bible claims it can revive your soul when you’re feeling discouraged. – Ps. 19:7a
2. The Bible claims it can make you wise. (even if you’re a simpleton) – Ps. 19:7c
3. In Ps. 119:99, it claims that it can make you smarter than all your teachers.
4. A few verses later (Ps. 119:105), it claims that it will guide your life, like a divinely-assembled GPS, if you will let it.
5. The Bible claims that if you’re feeling dirty, it can wash your soul from sin. Eph. 5:26.
6. It claims that if you’ll memorize it, it will keep you from sin. Ps. 119:11.
7. It claims that it can enlighten your eyes to how life really works. – Ps. 19:8. – How great a benefit is that? (Knowing how life really works. – Remember the Mel Gibson movie, “What Women Want?” The Bible claims to be able to show you what everybody wants.)
8. It claims that it will reveal truth to you about yourself. – Heb. 4:12.
9. In Deuteronomy 32:46-47, it claims that it will prolong your life, if you live by it.
10. If that’s not enough, in Isaiah 55:11, the Bible claims that whenever Scripture is spoken, it does something that God wants to have done. Its exact wording is that it “will not return void,” but accomplish what God wanted and achieve God’s purposes.
If a book could do what this book claims it can do, how great a gift would that be?
Well, making claims is one thing, but can the Bible back it up? Is there any evidence to suggest that the Bible can actually do what it claims it can for you?
That’s what I want to talk you about this week. I want to walk you through what the Bible has done for people like you and me for the last 3,000 years. Because if you can see this, I think you’ll say to yourself before you close Reflections today, “THIS is a great gift. And I want to read it, and know it, and participate in this series and bring as many friends with me next week so they can get in on this too.”
Now, I want you to read Joshua 1:6. I want to show you one more claim the Bible makes, and then tell you how it came true in the life of Joshua.
The Bible claims that it will help you meet life prosperously and successfully.
The back story behind Joshua chapter 1 is that Joshua had just assumed leadership of his nation. He and the Israelites are standing on the east side of the Jordan River, about to invade the land of Canaan.
In Joshua 1:6, God says to him...
6 “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.”
7 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful”. – Joshua 1:6-8
God tells Joshua to do three things in order to experience prosperity and success.
B. The Bible Offers Prosperity and Success to those who will (Josh. 1:8):]
1. First, he says, Keep talking about this book.
2. Second he says, Keep thinking about this book. Think about it frequently – day and night, and deeply – that’s what “meditate” means.
3. Third, he says, Keep doing what you find in this book. Do what it says. Live it out. Put it into practice.
“Joshua,” God says, “if you will live by this book, you will be prosperous and successful.” – How many of you would like to be prosperous and successful?
Joshua’s never led a people before. But over the next 7 years, he conquers 31 tribal nations.
At the end of his career, the “land of Canaan” has become “the land of Israel.” He and his people settle in houses they haven’t built and eat grapes from vines they haven’t planted. And Joshua’s final word to the people is, “…every good promise of the Lord has come true…” Joshua 23:15.
The family I was raised in went to church, but we never opened the Bible. The priest who led our services read from Scripture, but he never asked us to open a Bible for ourselves. So the first time I ever actually touched a Bible was when I went to a Christian coffeehouse meeting with friends.
For weeks I had watched my friends trek to this coffeehouse meeting with Bibles under their arms, so on the first night I went with them, I went into the den of our home and I got out the Bible. I knew right where it was: right there with all the great works of literature - right between Dante and Shakespeare...my Mother was a teacher:)
And somehow I knew that when I picked up this book, it was different than all other books. – We’ll talk about that next week in Reflections because I want you to know how unique and special this book is.
I took that book off the shelf and blew the dust off of it, and when we met at the coffeehouse meeting, I pulled that baby out of my gym bag and was so proud that I fit in with the group because I had a Bible just like they all had Bibles.
I had no idea what an adventure I was beginning that night. After opening that Bible for the first time, I asked for a Bible for my birthday, which was just three weeks away. Since the first day I opened the Bible, I have read it almost every day since.
In this book he promises prosperity and success. I’ve read it. And because of it, I’ve never missed a rent payment or mortgage payment. I came out of college debt-free, came out of graduation school debt-free, came out of my doctoral program debt-free. I own two cars, both paid for, and a house, partially paid-for - which makes me wealthier that 97% of people in history. I have a career/ministry that I love and a future that is bright. And I give all the credit to God, and to his book. It’s one of the best gifts God ever gave man.
So if you’ve ever wanted to be prosperous and successful, I want to make a suggestion to you today. I want to suggest that you read the Bible. That you read and keep reading. That you talk about it, think about it, and do what it says. If you do this, God says you will be prosperous and successful.
God’s Word proved its claims in Joshua’s life. It’s proven its claims in my life. And the Bible not only helps individuals, but whenever a group of people turn to it, the Bible helps the whole group too.
One of my favorite stories is the story of the Motilone Indians of Columbia, South America. (Mow-til-oh-ee).
In the 1960’s, the Motilones were Stone Age headhunters feared by all their neighboring tribes. They had killed every white man who trespassed into their territory.
Some Catholic Priests tried to make contact with them, but were macheted to death. A seventeen year old kid named Bruce Olson tried to enter their tribe, but was shot in the leg with an arrow. For some reason, the Motilones nursed him back to health and allowed him to enter their tribe. He spent five years learning their language.
One day a tribesman told Bruce a legend about a prophet who would come carrying a banana stalk that would speak the words of God to them.
Olson couldn’t quite understand the idea behind the legend. “Why look for God to come out of a banana stalk?” he asked.
The Motilone showed him a banana stalk. Another tribesman bent down and swatted the stalk with his machete, splitting it in half. Olson said, “The two halves looked like pages from a book”.
Bruce grabbed his pack, took out his Bible and started flipping through the pages. He pointed to the leaves of the pages and the leaves from the banana stalk.
“This is it!” He said. “This is God’s banana stalk!”
Within weeks, hundreds of Motilones gave their lives to Christ and Bruce taught them from “God’s banana stalk”.
Within five years, instead of hunting and eating their neighbors, Motilone tribesmen learned about medicine and began providing medical assistance for their neighboring jungle tribes. Today they hold positions in the Columbian government and are helping to protect other tribes from encroachment by outside forces.
How many of you have seen the movie “Mutiny on the Bounty”?
The Bounty was a real ship, with a real mutiny. In 1790, when the mutineers realized they would be hanged for their crime if they were caught, they persuaded some Polynesians to join them and settled a mis-charted island called “Pitcairns Island”.
When they arrived at Pitcairns, they started brewing alcohol, and pretty much stayed drunk 24/7 after that.
Fights broke out. Two massacres took place. One person committed suicide. All the Polynesian men died, and so did all but one Bounty crewmember. His name was John Adams.
One day, Adams found a Bible in Fletcher Christian’s sea chest and began to read it. He led himself to Christ and began to teach the women and children what he was learning in the Book.
Several years later some British ships discovered Pitcairns Island. When they saw what was going on there, they recommended to the King of England pardon everyone. They said the culture on the island was “like a Golden Age.”
Lincoln said, “The Bible is the best gift God has given to man.” Maybe it’s true!
If you’ve read anything by Charles Dickens, you know how terrible conditions were in 18th century England. There were no child labor laws, so children as young as age four were put to work up to 12 hours a day in dangerous factories and sent into the corners of coal mines that were too narrow for adults to reach. If you’ve seen the musical “Oliver,” you know that hunger was rampant. Tuberculosis, diphtheria and cholera outbreaks were common. School was only available for the children of the rich.
In 1738, Jonathan Wesley starting forming little Bible studies around the country. He was so keen on using methods to teach the Bible that people called his followers, “Method-ists”.
By 1798, there were 100,000 Methodist Bible studies in England.
One of those Bible Reading Methodists was Samuel Plimsoll.
Plimsoll thought it was wrong that the merchants overloaded their ships and then shrugged it off and collected large insurance claims when their ships sank and the crews drowned. Plimsoll invented a symbol that marked a line on the ship to indicate its safe loading level. This line has saved thousands of lives and is still called “The Plimsoll mark” to this day.
Another Bible Reader was Robert Raikes.
Raikes saw that poor children couldn’t attend school because they worked six days a week. So he invited “Sunday school” to teach kids to read, by reading the Bible.
Other people from this Bible reading movement formed orphanages, mental asylums, hospitals and prisons.
Florence Nightingale developed the nursing profession.
William Wilberforce brought an end to the English Slave Trade.
Bible Readers fought and won women the right to vote.
William and Catherine Booth formed the Salvation Army.
Wesley’s 18th century Bible-reading revolution changed people’s character. It lifted so many English people’s work ethic, care ethic, and sense of personal trustworthiness that, by the 19th century, England had become the most powerful and prosperous nation on earth.
The same thing happened in America. The religious low point of our history was the 1850’s. Then revival began happening all around our country in 1857. People began reading the Bible. This was before gas or electricity. So after dark, families would gather around a few candles at the kitchen table. While mom and grandma sewed and repaired clothes, the father of the family would read the Bible, by candlelight, for an hour or more every evening.
And like in England, work-ethics rose, along with integrity and initiative and care for the poor. The Civil War broke out, in part, because Bible-readers determined that slavery was a sin. America’s 19th century Bible-reading made us the most prosperous and successful nation of the 20th century.
And I’d like to see that happen again.
So this week, friends, we are launching a Bible Reading Revolution together. And here’s what I’m asking you to do:
[C. How to Launch a Bible-Reading Revolution:]
1. Get a Bible.
If you don’t have one, pick up one for a dollar in our bookstore.
Other things you might do are
• Spread the word by posting a review of The Bible Questions on Amazon.
• If you have a blog, blog about it.
• If you have a Twitter account, tweet about it.
• If you have a Facebook account, post about it there.
Are you with me? Besides Jesus, this is the greatest gift ever given to man. Who wants to be part of a Bible Reading Revolution?
Before we end for this week, I would like you to read Psalm 1..
.
The psalmist writes:
1 Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.
Read those last four words with me:
“Whatever he does prospers.”
That’s God’s promise to those who talk about, think about and do what’s written in the Bible.
The adventure begins....
Packed with facts and stories, this teaching is designed to excite people about reading the Bible.
What Can the Bible Do for Me?
Joshua 1:6-8
For the over 3,500 years, people have been touched by the Bible and we are going to be touched deeply by it over the next six weeks.
For this series you are going to need a Bible. If you didn’t bring one with you today, there should be one under your chair or under a chair near you. Would you all take a Bible and hold it up for me for a minute?
If you don’t own a Bible, or know someone who doesn’t, we are selling Bibles for a dollar at the Fuel Bookstore in the lobby this morning. Please take advantage of that.
How many of you have ever had questions about the Bible? In a recent poll, 85% of Americans said they wished they read the Bible more.
My goal over the next several weeks is to give you the inspiration and tools to enable you to do that.
But let’s be honest: The Bible is such a big book that everyone who has ever heard of it or come in contact with it has had questions about it.
We are going to explore this book, God's Word. The book isn’t hard; many people have read the entire thing in one day. No...not me!!
Without wanting to be overly dramatic, what I want to say is: What we are doing may be the most important learning you’ll do in your entire life.
We are going to focus on Psalm 19, this week.
Abraham Lincoln once said “I believe the Bible is the best gift God ever gave to man.” That’s kind of a lofty statement, wouldn’t you agree?
When you think about the beauty of the Grand Canyon, or the Rocky Mountains, or of the love of a man for a woman, or the love of a fan for the NFL, it may sound like a ridiculous statement.
“The Bible is the best gift God ever gave to man.”
• You can argue that everyone ought to own a Bible because it’s the best-selling book of all time.
• You can argue that everyone ought to read the Bible because of its great influence on our world.
• And you can argue that everyone ought to know the Bible because it’s changed more lives than any other piece of literature in history. But can you really say that it’s the best gift God ever gave to man?
Let’s look at what the Bible says about itself. Psalm 19:7…
7 The law of the LORD is perfect,
reviving the soul.
The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of the LORD are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the LORD are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
9 The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever.
The ordinances of the LORD are sure
and altogether righteous.
10 They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the comb.
11 By them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
The Bible makes some lofty claims for itself. Write this down quickly with me. From this Psalm,
[A. The Bible claims it…]
1. The Bible claims it can revive your soul when you’re feeling discouraged. – Ps. 19:7a
2. The Bible claims it can make you wise. (even if you’re a simpleton) – Ps. 19:7c
3. In Ps. 119:99, it claims that it can make you smarter than all your teachers.
4. A few verses later (Ps. 119:105), it claims that it will guide your life, like a divinely-assembled GPS, if you will let it.
5. The Bible claims that if you’re feeling dirty, it can wash your soul from sin. Eph. 5:26.
6. It claims that if you’ll memorize it, it will keep you from sin. Ps. 119:11.
7. It claims that it can enlighten your eyes to how life really works. – Ps. 19:8. – How great a benefit is that? (Knowing how life really works. – Remember the Mel Gibson movie, “What Women Want?” The Bible claims to be able to show you what everybody wants.)
8. It claims that it will reveal truth to you about yourself. – Heb. 4:12.
9. In Deuteronomy 32:46-47, it claims that it will prolong your life, if you live by it.
10. If that’s not enough, in Isaiah 55:11, the Bible claims that whenever Scripture is spoken, it does something that God wants to have done. Its exact wording is that it “will not return void,” but accomplish what God wanted and achieve God’s purposes.
If a book could do what this book claims it can do, how great a gift would that be?
Well, making claims is one thing, but can the Bible back it up? Is there any evidence to suggest that the Bible can actually do what it claims it can for you?
That’s what I want to talk you about this week. I want to walk you through what the Bible has done for people like you and me for the last 3,000 years. Because if you can see this, I think you’ll say to yourself before you close Reflections today, “THIS is a great gift. And I want to read it, and know it, and participate in this series and bring as many friends with me next week so they can get in on this too.”
Now, I want you to read Joshua 1:6. I want to show you one more claim the Bible makes, and then tell you how it came true in the life of Joshua.
The Bible claims that it will help you meet life prosperously and successfully.
The back story behind Joshua chapter 1 is that Joshua had just assumed leadership of his nation. He and the Israelites are standing on the east side of the Jordan River, about to invade the land of Canaan.
In Joshua 1:6, God says to him...
6 “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.”
7 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful”. – Joshua 1:6-8
God tells Joshua to do three things in order to experience prosperity and success.
B. The Bible Offers Prosperity and Success to those who will (Josh. 1:8):]
1. First, he says, Keep talking about this book.
2. Second he says, Keep thinking about this book. Think about it frequently – day and night, and deeply – that’s what “meditate” means.
3. Third, he says, Keep doing what you find in this book. Do what it says. Live it out. Put it into practice.
“Joshua,” God says, “if you will live by this book, you will be prosperous and successful.” – How many of you would like to be prosperous and successful?
Joshua’s never led a people before. But over the next 7 years, he conquers 31 tribal nations.
At the end of his career, the “land of Canaan” has become “the land of Israel.” He and his people settle in houses they haven’t built and eat grapes from vines they haven’t planted. And Joshua’s final word to the people is, “…every good promise of the Lord has come true…” Joshua 23:15.
The family I was raised in went to church, but we never opened the Bible. The priest who led our services read from Scripture, but he never asked us to open a Bible for ourselves. So the first time I ever actually touched a Bible was when I went to a Christian coffeehouse meeting with friends.
For weeks I had watched my friends trek to this coffeehouse meeting with Bibles under their arms, so on the first night I went with them, I went into the den of our home and I got out the Bible. I knew right where it was: right there with all the great works of literature - right between Dante and Shakespeare...my Mother was a teacher:)
And somehow I knew that when I picked up this book, it was different than all other books. – We’ll talk about that next week in Reflections because I want you to know how unique and special this book is.
I took that book off the shelf and blew the dust off of it, and when we met at the coffeehouse meeting, I pulled that baby out of my gym bag and was so proud that I fit in with the group because I had a Bible just like they all had Bibles.
I had no idea what an adventure I was beginning that night. After opening that Bible for the first time, I asked for a Bible for my birthday, which was just three weeks away. Since the first day I opened the Bible, I have read it almost every day since.
In this book he promises prosperity and success. I’ve read it. And because of it, I’ve never missed a rent payment or mortgage payment. I came out of college debt-free, came out of graduation school debt-free, came out of my doctoral program debt-free. I own two cars, both paid for, and a house, partially paid-for - which makes me wealthier that 97% of people in history. I have a career/ministry that I love and a future that is bright. And I give all the credit to God, and to his book. It’s one of the best gifts God ever gave man.
So if you’ve ever wanted to be prosperous and successful, I want to make a suggestion to you today. I want to suggest that you read the Bible. That you read and keep reading. That you talk about it, think about it, and do what it says. If you do this, God says you will be prosperous and successful.
God’s Word proved its claims in Joshua’s life. It’s proven its claims in my life. And the Bible not only helps individuals, but whenever a group of people turn to it, the Bible helps the whole group too.
One of my favorite stories is the story of the Motilone Indians of Columbia, South America. (Mow-til-oh-ee).
In the 1960’s, the Motilones were Stone Age headhunters feared by all their neighboring tribes. They had killed every white man who trespassed into their territory.
Some Catholic Priests tried to make contact with them, but were macheted to death. A seventeen year old kid named Bruce Olson tried to enter their tribe, but was shot in the leg with an arrow. For some reason, the Motilones nursed him back to health and allowed him to enter their tribe. He spent five years learning their language.
One day a tribesman told Bruce a legend about a prophet who would come carrying a banana stalk that would speak the words of God to them.
Olson couldn’t quite understand the idea behind the legend. “Why look for God to come out of a banana stalk?” he asked.
The Motilone showed him a banana stalk. Another tribesman bent down and swatted the stalk with his machete, splitting it in half. Olson said, “The two halves looked like pages from a book”.
Bruce grabbed his pack, took out his Bible and started flipping through the pages. He pointed to the leaves of the pages and the leaves from the banana stalk.
“This is it!” He said. “This is God’s banana stalk!”
Within weeks, hundreds of Motilones gave their lives to Christ and Bruce taught them from “God’s banana stalk”.
Within five years, instead of hunting and eating their neighbors, Motilone tribesmen learned about medicine and began providing medical assistance for their neighboring jungle tribes. Today they hold positions in the Columbian government and are helping to protect other tribes from encroachment by outside forces.
How many of you have seen the movie “Mutiny on the Bounty”?
The Bounty was a real ship, with a real mutiny. In 1790, when the mutineers realized they would be hanged for their crime if they were caught, they persuaded some Polynesians to join them and settled a mis-charted island called “Pitcairns Island”.
When they arrived at Pitcairns, they started brewing alcohol, and pretty much stayed drunk 24/7 after that.
Fights broke out. Two massacres took place. One person committed suicide. All the Polynesian men died, and so did all but one Bounty crewmember. His name was John Adams.
One day, Adams found a Bible in Fletcher Christian’s sea chest and began to read it. He led himself to Christ and began to teach the women and children what he was learning in the Book.
Several years later some British ships discovered Pitcairns Island. When they saw what was going on there, they recommended to the King of England pardon everyone. They said the culture on the island was “like a Golden Age.”
Lincoln said, “The Bible is the best gift God has given to man.” Maybe it’s true!
If you’ve read anything by Charles Dickens, you know how terrible conditions were in 18th century England. There were no child labor laws, so children as young as age four were put to work up to 12 hours a day in dangerous factories and sent into the corners of coal mines that were too narrow for adults to reach. If you’ve seen the musical “Oliver,” you know that hunger was rampant. Tuberculosis, diphtheria and cholera outbreaks were common. School was only available for the children of the rich.
In 1738, Jonathan Wesley starting forming little Bible studies around the country. He was so keen on using methods to teach the Bible that people called his followers, “Method-ists”.
By 1798, there were 100,000 Methodist Bible studies in England.
One of those Bible Reading Methodists was Samuel Plimsoll.
Plimsoll thought it was wrong that the merchants overloaded their ships and then shrugged it off and collected large insurance claims when their ships sank and the crews drowned. Plimsoll invented a symbol that marked a line on the ship to indicate its safe loading level. This line has saved thousands of lives and is still called “The Plimsoll mark” to this day.
Another Bible Reader was Robert Raikes.
Raikes saw that poor children couldn’t attend school because they worked six days a week. So he invited “Sunday school” to teach kids to read, by reading the Bible.
Other people from this Bible reading movement formed orphanages, mental asylums, hospitals and prisons.
Florence Nightingale developed the nursing profession.
William Wilberforce brought an end to the English Slave Trade.
Bible Readers fought and won women the right to vote.
William and Catherine Booth formed the Salvation Army.
Wesley’s 18th century Bible-reading revolution changed people’s character. It lifted so many English people’s work ethic, care ethic, and sense of personal trustworthiness that, by the 19th century, England had become the most powerful and prosperous nation on earth.
The same thing happened in America. The religious low point of our history was the 1850’s. Then revival began happening all around our country in 1857. People began reading the Bible. This was before gas or electricity. So after dark, families would gather around a few candles at the kitchen table. While mom and grandma sewed and repaired clothes, the father of the family would read the Bible, by candlelight, for an hour or more every evening.
And like in England, work-ethics rose, along with integrity and initiative and care for the poor. The Civil War broke out, in part, because Bible-readers determined that slavery was a sin. America’s 19th century Bible-reading made us the most prosperous and successful nation of the 20th century.
And I’d like to see that happen again.
So this week, friends, we are launching a Bible Reading Revolution together. And here’s what I’m asking you to do:
[C. How to Launch a Bible-Reading Revolution:]
1. Get a Bible.
If you don’t have one, pick up one for a dollar in our bookstore.
Other things you might do are
• Spread the word by posting a review of The Bible Questions on Amazon.
• If you have a blog, blog about it.
• If you have a Twitter account, tweet about it.
• If you have a Facebook account, post about it there.
Are you with me? Besides Jesus, this is the greatest gift ever given to man. Who wants to be part of a Bible Reading Revolution?
Before we end for this week, I would like you to read Psalm 1..
.
The psalmist writes:
1 Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.
Read those last four words with me:
“Whatever he does prospers.”
That’s God’s promise to those who talk about, think about and do what’s written in the Bible.
The adventure begins....
DID YOU EVER WONDER???
How can God use our many failures and turn them into success? Believe me, it’s possible!
Using Failure
How can God use our many failures and turn them into success? I can’t count all the inventors who, if they had given up, would have never invented great things like the airplane, the light bulb, the television, and any other number of things. If we see failure as not being final, we’ll persevere and keep moving forward. If we can see that our failures can be launching pads for future success. One lady who was swimming across the English Channel finally gave up, but when she got in the boat, she could see through the fog that she was less than a mile away. If she’d known that, she said that she wouldn’t have given up. The point being, success may come just after the time when you feel like giving up. The great inventors learned that if it didn’t work, they kept trying and trying, but one thing they didn’t do. They didn’t give up.
Success Can Lead to Failure
I can also count numbers of people who, when they made it big, started to fall. Their successes went to their heads. Their pride led to their downfall. Once success came, they started to overestimate themselves. One pastor had several people tell him that his sermons were among the best they’d ever heard. He then asked his wife, “How many great preachers do you think there are in the world?” She wisely answered, “One less than you think.” Ouch! Pride comes, and then the fall. And the higher someone is lifted up, the harder the fall will be. There is a real risk for those who are successful to start believing their own stuff, thereby, their success sometimes led to failure, rather than let failure lead to success. It can happen to me, and it can happen to you. Some people just can’t handle success.
Success is in the Finish
In trying to inspire perhaps his favorite church, Paul wrote to the Philippians, “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil 3:13-14). The point is, never trip over anything that’s behind you. God forgives (1 John 1:9), and we move on. We don’t drive backwards using our rearview mirror because if we give too much attention to looking back, we’re at risk for stumbling over something that’s right in front of us. I love the Author of Hebrews admonishment: “God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do” (Heb 6:10).
What Doesn’t Work
Thomas Edison would never have invented the light bulb if he gave up after 300 tries, or 500 tries, or a thousand! It was what didn’t work in his experiments that led to what did work. The point is he didn’t give up. He found out by trial and error (most error) how to make the light bulb that has been relatively unchanged for over a century. Edison’s trip down the road of failure was the same road that led him to success.
Blood, Sweat & Tears
Most people can pour their life into something and yet see no tangible or visible results, but it may be that just down the road that it all smooth’s out. The bumpy ride you’re having today may be easier once you’re down the road a ways. Nothing worthwhile comes easily and it may take a little blood, sweat, and tears to endure the road of failure which should ultimately lead to success. The only time you’re really defeated is when you stop moving.
Getting Strength
We can do nothing without Jesus Christ (John 15:5), but with Christ Who will strengthen us, we can do all things (Phil 4:13) within His will. That’s why the Apostle Paul could say, “I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need” (Phil 4:12), so he would say, stay on the road, even if it appears to be going nowhere. Paul was content with the ride. Keep going and keep trying to find the road to success. This trip’s going to require us to be content with the ride, but it’s not so much the journey as it is the destination for believers.
The Finish Line
We are all pilgrims or wanderers in this life because we’re citizens of the kingdom and not of this world. For this reason, we must “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil 3:14). Paul asks, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it” (1st Cor 9:24)? He keeps pressing forward, “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own” (Phil 3:12). How about you? Are you pressing forward? Or, are you looking back? If you are, you might miss the turn that leads to success.
A Comma, Not a Period
I once heard a pastor tell someone who was contemplating suicide that God intended this to be a comma and not a period. How many heroes and heroines of the faith do you know that have failed time after time? How many famous Christians or believers you know have failed big time? There are too many to count. People like David, Jonah, Elijah, and many others. Every one of us will fall, but we can get back up again. Even if we’re disgraced, it’s not the end of the story. In fact, it might be the beginning of a new chapter in our life. After a great forest fire, from ashes to beauty, thousands of new trees burst forth to cover the mountains.
Failure is Not Final
Solomon once wrote that “the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity” (Prov. 24:16). Perhaps Solomon knew very well what it meant to fall, as he fell into serious sin after marrying a foreign woman and falling into idolatry, but he did finally repent near the end of his life. The difference between Christians and the lost are that we can fall into sin, but the unsaved dive and swim in it and don’t seek to repent of it.
We all fall into sin, but we don’t stay there. We get back up, and God forgives us of all our sins and then cleanses us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). We get a fresh start every day!
ConclusionA faith that’s not been tested is a faith that can’t be trusted. You may not be where you want to be, but at least you’re not where you used to be (Eph 2:1-2), right? Every one of us will make mistakes, but we’ll learn from them and grow from them.
We’ll stop repeating certain mistakes. We can teach others that some things are not in their bests interests. We can use our examples of mistakes and failures to show others that God can bring out good in these things (Gen 50:20).
Concede the fact that it’s not going to be easy in this life living as a Christian. We must understand that we can’t do it without Christ, so let’s fix our eyes upon Jesus Who is waiting for us at the finish line.
How can God use our many failures and turn them into success? Believe me, it’s possible!
Using Failure
How can God use our many failures and turn them into success? I can’t count all the inventors who, if they had given up, would have never invented great things like the airplane, the light bulb, the television, and any other number of things. If we see failure as not being final, we’ll persevere and keep moving forward. If we can see that our failures can be launching pads for future success. One lady who was swimming across the English Channel finally gave up, but when she got in the boat, she could see through the fog that she was less than a mile away. If she’d known that, she said that she wouldn’t have given up. The point being, success may come just after the time when you feel like giving up. The great inventors learned that if it didn’t work, they kept trying and trying, but one thing they didn’t do. They didn’t give up.
Success Can Lead to Failure
I can also count numbers of people who, when they made it big, started to fall. Their successes went to their heads. Their pride led to their downfall. Once success came, they started to overestimate themselves. One pastor had several people tell him that his sermons were among the best they’d ever heard. He then asked his wife, “How many great preachers do you think there are in the world?” She wisely answered, “One less than you think.” Ouch! Pride comes, and then the fall. And the higher someone is lifted up, the harder the fall will be. There is a real risk for those who are successful to start believing their own stuff, thereby, their success sometimes led to failure, rather than let failure lead to success. It can happen to me, and it can happen to you. Some people just can’t handle success.
Success is in the Finish
In trying to inspire perhaps his favorite church, Paul wrote to the Philippians, “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil 3:13-14). The point is, never trip over anything that’s behind you. God forgives (1 John 1:9), and we move on. We don’t drive backwards using our rearview mirror because if we give too much attention to looking back, we’re at risk for stumbling over something that’s right in front of us. I love the Author of Hebrews admonishment: “God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do” (Heb 6:10).
What Doesn’t Work
Thomas Edison would never have invented the light bulb if he gave up after 300 tries, or 500 tries, or a thousand! It was what didn’t work in his experiments that led to what did work. The point is he didn’t give up. He found out by trial and error (most error) how to make the light bulb that has been relatively unchanged for over a century. Edison’s trip down the road of failure was the same road that led him to success.
Blood, Sweat & Tears
Most people can pour their life into something and yet see no tangible or visible results, but it may be that just down the road that it all smooth’s out. The bumpy ride you’re having today may be easier once you’re down the road a ways. Nothing worthwhile comes easily and it may take a little blood, sweat, and tears to endure the road of failure which should ultimately lead to success. The only time you’re really defeated is when you stop moving.
Getting Strength
We can do nothing without Jesus Christ (John 15:5), but with Christ Who will strengthen us, we can do all things (Phil 4:13) within His will. That’s why the Apostle Paul could say, “I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need” (Phil 4:12), so he would say, stay on the road, even if it appears to be going nowhere. Paul was content with the ride. Keep going and keep trying to find the road to success. This trip’s going to require us to be content with the ride, but it’s not so much the journey as it is the destination for believers.
The Finish Line
We are all pilgrims or wanderers in this life because we’re citizens of the kingdom and not of this world. For this reason, we must “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil 3:14). Paul asks, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it” (1st Cor 9:24)? He keeps pressing forward, “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own” (Phil 3:12). How about you? Are you pressing forward? Or, are you looking back? If you are, you might miss the turn that leads to success.
A Comma, Not a Period
I once heard a pastor tell someone who was contemplating suicide that God intended this to be a comma and not a period. How many heroes and heroines of the faith do you know that have failed time after time? How many famous Christians or believers you know have failed big time? There are too many to count. People like David, Jonah, Elijah, and many others. Every one of us will fall, but we can get back up again. Even if we’re disgraced, it’s not the end of the story. In fact, it might be the beginning of a new chapter in our life. After a great forest fire, from ashes to beauty, thousands of new trees burst forth to cover the mountains.
Failure is Not Final
Solomon once wrote that “the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity” (Prov. 24:16). Perhaps Solomon knew very well what it meant to fall, as he fell into serious sin after marrying a foreign woman and falling into idolatry, but he did finally repent near the end of his life. The difference between Christians and the lost are that we can fall into sin, but the unsaved dive and swim in it and don’t seek to repent of it.
We all fall into sin, but we don’t stay there. We get back up, and God forgives us of all our sins and then cleanses us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). We get a fresh start every day!
ConclusionA faith that’s not been tested is a faith that can’t be trusted. You may not be where you want to be, but at least you’re not where you used to be (Eph 2:1-2), right? Every one of us will make mistakes, but we’ll learn from them and grow from them.
We’ll stop repeating certain mistakes. We can teach others that some things are not in their bests interests. We can use our examples of mistakes and failures to show others that God can bring out good in these things (Gen 50:20).
Concede the fact that it’s not going to be easy in this life living as a Christian. We must understand that we can’t do it without Christ, so let’s fix our eyes upon Jesus Who is waiting for us at the finish line.
BOOKS OF THE BIBLE...A TEACHING
Why Does It Matter That the Bible Is the Word of God?
If the Bible is, in fact, the Word of God, then there are some important things we need to consider. Scripture itself tells us some of these things.
The Bible is true. God is always truthful and correct in everything he says (2 Samuel 7:28; Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18), therefore his Word is also truthful and correct in whatever it says (Psalm 12:6; Proverbs 30:5). Jesus said to his Father, “Your word is truth” (John 17:17). He does not merely say God’s Word is true, but he equates it with truth itself—ultimate Truth. This means that the Bible is inerrant, or without error. This certainly applies to spiritual matters, but must also apply to every other kind of matter, whether scientific, historical (more on this in chapter 29), or anything else.
Jesus’ own understanding of this can be seen in John 10. Jesus claimed deity for himself by saying, “I and the Father are one” (v. 30). The Jews’ response was to pick up stones to execute him for blasphemy. Jesus then said, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods” ’? If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and the Scripture cannot be set aside—what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’?” (vv. 34–36).
Jesus believed that the Scriptures “cannot be set aside,” that is, they cannot be shown to be false or wrong in any way (NIV 1984 says, “cannot be broken”). Furthermore, he backs up this claim on the basis of one word--gods (elohim)—in the middle of one verse from the psalms—Psalm 82:6. What is even more amazing is that he was staking his own life on one word from one verse in the Hebrew Scriptures! To Jesus, every word of Scripture is perfect.
The Bible is trustworthy. Because God is faithful and can be trusted to do what he says (Numbers 23:19; 1 Corinthians 1:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:24), the Bible, as the Word of God, can also be trusted (2 Samuel 7:28). This is what the term infallibility means. It is often used as a synonym for inerrancy, but, to be precise, it takes it one step further: Because the Bible is without error, it will never fail in its message or purpose, nor will it ever cause anyone to fail or lead them into error, or fool them into believing something that is not worthy of belief.
An amazing statement of Jesus that reflects this idea is found in Matthew 5:17–18: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.”
When Jesus referred to the “Law or the Prophets,” he had in mind all of the Scriptures of that time—the Hebrew Scriptures, or what we call the Old Testament. His assertion, then, was that from those Scriptures, not the smallest letter or least pen stroke would be lost until the end of time. The smallest letter in the language that Jesus spoke was a yodh, or a Y. It would look to us like an apostrophe (’) written at the top of a line of letters with just the flick of the wrist. The “least pen stroke” referred to a part of a letter that distinguishes it from another letter.
If we start with a P and add a stroke at the bottom, we end up with an R. If we start with an I and add a stroke at the top, we have a T. So the amazing thing that Jesus is saying is that until the end of time, God will protect and preserve his written Word down to individual words, letters, and even parts of letters! He would not do this unless it were all true and trustworthy (see also Matthew 24:35).
The Bible is a unity. Because the Bible ultimately comes from one mind, namely God’s, it reflects a perfect harmony of thought. Therefore, there are no contradictions in the Bible, just as there are no contradictions in God’s mind. Every biblical text complements and agrees with all other biblical texts. This is not to deny that the Bible will sometimes seem to contradict itself, but we will take this matter up in another chapter.
The Bible is authoritative. Because God is our ultimate authority, the Bible is our ultimate, written authority. This means that its authority comes from God, not from any human source.
Therefore, its authority is greater than any human (pastor, priest, bishop, king, president, prime minister), human institution (church, denomination, council, senate, parliament, court), or human document (creed, catechism, confession, doctrinal statement, ordinance, law). This also means that, like God, the Bible deserves to be believed and obeyed. To disbelieve it or to disobey it is to disbelieve or disobey God himself.
This is why the Old Testament prophets continually called the nation of Israel to obey the law of God contained in the Hebrew Scriptures. At the very end of the Old Testament, God said through his prophet Malachi, “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel” (Malachi 4:4). This is what Paul meant when he wrote, “What I am writing to you is the Lord’s command” (1 Corinthians 14:37).
If the Bible is the Word of God, then.… We could go on and on. There are many implications of this amazing truth. We have looked at only some of the more important ones.
God’s words are inherently authoritative. This seems to be what people recognized in the teaching of Jesus, as Matthew notes at the end of the Sermon on the Mount: “The crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law” (Matthew 7:28–29).
HAVE A SAFE AND BLESSED WEEK:)
Ho'omaikaʻi ka Pua iā kākou