3-4-2007 message by Pastor Rich Doebler
Although many say the Bible is the literal word of God, fewer individuals today seem to know or care what the Bible really says. From a book by Peter J. Gomes:
- 8 out of 10 Americans claim to be Christian, but 4 out of 10 of those Christians are unable to name the four gospels.
- 10% of Americans think Noah's wife was Joan of Arc.
- Jay Leno's "on-the-street" interviews: "Can you name one of the Ten Commandments?" One college student replied, "Freedom of speech?"
- Leno challenged another, "Complete this sentence: Let he who is without sin...?" She responded: "Have a good time?"
- He asked a young man, "Who according to the Bible was eaten by a whale?" The first thing he could think to say was: "Pinocchio?"
Some of you may have heard this week about James Cameron's documentary. He's airing a movie that essentially undercuts the validity of the core of Christian belief. He claims that an archaeological discovery in Jerusalem—a "bone box" called an ossuary—once held the bones of Jesus.
It's not the first time the Bible record has been challenged. Some people don't want the Bible to be true, because that would require a response from them. They would have to accept or reject the God of the Bible. Human nature, however, is rebellious, so many people don't want to submit. Instead, they look for ways to try to attack the truth of God's Word.
Archaeology is only one way people have tried to challenge the Bible. They've discounted the Bible because it refers to places or peoples unknown by any other historical or archaeological records. The Bible can't be reliable, they say, because it makes up names like the Hittites or Pilate. It's just like the stories of Paul Bunyan, they say. It's based on fables, not facts, they say.
But time and time again, new discoveries have disproved the skeptics and authenticated the Bible. In fact, archaeology has consistently proven the accuracy of the Bible. One renowned archaeologist (Nelson Glueck) stated: "No archaeological discover has ever [contradicted] a biblical reference."
So to James Cameron I say: Bring it on! Your bone box won't bring the downfall of Christianity. Your efforts to dodge your own personal responsibility to the Almighty won't undermine the Bible. The reliability of God's Word will not be shaken by your quasi-scientific method or your wild theories.
Throughout the centuries, through all of history, in various cultures and contexts, God's Word has been proven true. It is has been repeatedly challenged, but it has always stood the test. It has remained uncompromised. God's Word is everlasting and unchanging. The psalmist said: Your word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens. (Psalms 119:89)
The prophet Isaiah wrote: The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever. (Isaiah 40:8)
Jesus said: I tell you the truth, 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. Matt 5:18
All through history, the human race has needed the security and the unshakable conviction of a sure word from God. But in times like those we live in today, when mankind seems to have lost its spiritual moorings, when people seem to have lost their moral compass, when society wanders in a vast, spiritual wilderness, we need God's Word more than ever!
The word of God has been compared to a number of things—to a sword, to a mirror, to a lamp, to a light, to gold, to honey, to silver, to bread, to milk, to meat. I'd like to look at one of the ways Jesus described God's Word in the gospels:
4 While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: 5 "A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. 6 Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown... 11 This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God." (Luke 8:4-8,11)
If God's Word is like seed, what does that tell us? Seed is alive...grows...matures...yields a harvest.
1. It's alive. Someone has said: "Anyone can count the number of seeds in an apple, but only God knows the number of apples in a seed." We're talking about potential—seeds have the ability to reproduce, to create life. God's Word is like seed because it is full of potential.
These are not dry, empty words; these are life-giving words!
There are a lot of words that bring death, not life. Our world today is full of words—communication happens through newspapers, magazines, radio, TV, the Internet. Turn on the news. Jump on the Internet. You can find words full of hate and destruction—anti-Semitic words, white supremacist words, terrorist words from Al-Quada and others. Words that inspire fear and hatred lead to death—sometimes literally. Words can teach how to make a bomb, for instance—even a nuclear weapon.
But words can also kill the human spirit. Maybe you've felt the dagger of harsh, insensitive words. Words that ridicule and mock. Words that criticize. Words that insult. Words that suck the life right out of you. Maybe you've felt verbal abuse so strong that you wished you could just crawl into a hole and die.
The good news is that while other words take life, God's Word has the power to bring spiritual life to dead, lifeless souls. God's Word is like seed. It can drop into the cracks in a broken heart or an unbelieving heart and open it up to the convicting work of the Holy Spirit. God's words generate life within the human heart.
2. It grows. God's Word, like a seed, grows. It is the nature of seed to germinate. It is its purpose to grow.
Given half a chance—wherever the farmer planted the seed—it grew. It grew on the good soil, of course, but it also grew under harsh conditions. On rocky soil where the seed couldn't find any decent soil to put down deep roots and find moisture—even there it grew. Among the thorns, which choked and strangled the new life, even there the seed sprouted and grew. The only place it didn't grow was on the path where it was walked on and where the birds ate it before it had a chance to germinate.
The lesson is clear: if you give God's Word the smallest chance, it will grow. Read God's Word; study God's Word; memorize God's Word, and it will sprout with spiritual life and grow within your soul. Seed was intended to grow. And the purpose God's Word is to grow within you.
Jesus' story, however, also gives us a warning. Because even though God's Word has great potential for life, even though its purpose is to grow in our lives, we can disregard God's Word—ignore it, trample over it, leave it for the birds to steal away.
Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. (Luke 8:12)
Because we can be hard-hearted, like rock, and prevent God's Word from taking root in our lives.
Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. (Luke 8:13)
We can fill our lives up with worldly distractions and choke out the growth of God's Word in our lives.
The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. (Luke 8:14)
The seed is reliable. It will not fail. God's Word will undoubtedly grow. But it's up to us to provide the right kind of soil and go give the right kind of nurture for the seed of God's Word.
But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop. (Luke 8:15)
3. It produces a harvest. Like seed, God's Word is designed to yield a crop. It's designed to reproduce and to multiply. The first harvest is in our own lives. God wants to change our lives by the power of his Word.
There's a story in a book called Evangelism for the Fainthearted: A Christian university student shared a room with a Muslim. As they became friends, their conversation turned to their beliefs. The believer asked the Muslim if he'd ever read the Bible. He answered no, but then asked if the Christian had ever read the Koran.
The believer responded, "No, I haven't, but I'm sure it would be interesting. Why don't we read both together, once a week, alternating books?" The young man accepted the challenge, their friendship deepened, and during the second term he became a believer in Jesus.
One evening, late in the term, he burst into the room and shouted at the long-time believer, "You deceived me!"
"What are you talking about?" the believer asked.
The new believer opened his Bible and said, "I've been reading it through, like you told me, and just read that the Word is living and active!" He grinned. "You knew all along that the Bible contained God's power and that the Koran is a book like any other. I never had a chance!"
There are a number of reasons why God gave us his Word. But it wasn't only for our personal benefit; it wasn't only to give us new life; God didn't give us his Word just so we could grow spiritually. God also gave us his Word so we could produce a harvest—so we could multiply and reproduce God's spiritual life by spreading his Word to others.
When he was just 18 years old, John Chapman struck out on his own, headed west. It was 1792 and the most of the land was still wilderness. But Chapman had a plan—and he traveled throughout the wilderness planting apple seeds. That's how he earned his nickname: Johnny Appleseed. When he died more than 60 years later, he had established thousands of acres of orchards and had planted tens of thousands of apple trees. Planting seeds had multiplied exponentially his impact on the west.
God said through the prophet Isaiah: so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:11
What's most important is not how much of the Bible you know, but how much of the Bible you live. Empty knowledge of the Bible does not give eternal life. But personally knowing the God of the Bible does bring life—it's only by having a relationship with the Lord that we can have eternal life! We must follow him, putting his words into action if they are going to have any effect.
Nearly 40 years ago I attended a lecture by the author, Hugh Schonfeld. He knew the Bible backwards and forwards; he understood the original biblical languages; he had even translated the Greek NT into English—but he was a skeptic, an agnostic, an unbeliever. He even wrote a book called The Passover Plot, trying to debunk the Christian faith. He had knowledge, but he didn't have life.
The writer of Hebrews in the Bible says: For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. (Heb 4:2)
Information without faith comes up short. If there is to be spiritual life and growth and harvest in our lives, then it will be because we've received God's Word with faith. Paul writes in his letter to Timothy: All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable... (2 Tim 3:16, NASB)
How is Scripture profitable? Why is it a good investment? What kind of benefits will you receive by studying the Bible? [Some of this comes from the little booklet on the rack in our church foyer called Your Bible and You! It lists a number of additional benefits available by reading the Bible.]
1. You'll receive God's direction. One of the primary ways God guides us through life is by the principles and insights we gain from reading his Word. The person who does not know God's Word will be left floundering around in the dark. If you want direction in life, if you want help in making decisions about your future, knowing God's Word is key. When your mind has been renewed and your thinking is shaped by the principles of the Bible, then you'll be better at discerning God's will.
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. (Psalms 119:105)
The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple. (Psalms 119:130)
4 Show me the path where I should walk, O LORD; point out the right road for me to follow. 5 Lead me by your truth and teach me... (Psalms 25:4-5, NLT)
2. You'll clean up your act. God's Word gives us a moral compass. It points us in the right direction. It sets boundaries for our lives to keep us out of trouble.
How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. (Psalms 119:9)
Jesus cleanses the church "by the washing with water through the word. (Eph 5:26)
12 For the word of God is full of living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep into our innermost thoughts and desires. It exposes us for what we really are. 13 Nothing in all creation can hide from him. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes. This is the God to whom we must explain all that we have done. (Heb 4:12-13, NLT)
3. You'll be set free. Freedom from sin, from habits, from addictions, is possible because God's Word shows us the way to be set free.
31 ...If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. (John 8:31-32, NASB)
...the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom...not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does. (James 1:25)
4. You'll defeat sin. God's Word is an essential weapon in combating temptations and doing spiritual battle.
I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. (Psalms 119:11)
Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me. (Psalms 119:133)
Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Eph 6:17)
5. You'll be equipped to do good. The foundational tools for living a Christian life are made more available to us the better we know God's Word.
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Tim 3:16-17
6. You'll find comfort in tough times. Allow God's Word to do its work and spiritual strength and hope will grow in your life.
For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. (Romans 15:4)
This is my comfort in my affliction, that Your word has revived me. (Psalms 119:50, NASB)
My soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to your word. (Psalms 119:28)
Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up... (Acts 20:32)