John 5: 36-47
Why do we need to read the Bible?
The E100 challenge is a challenge for each of us to read 100 key passages of the Bible over next 20 weeks as part of the celebrations of 400 years since the King James’ version of the Bible was published.
But why all this fuss? After all many would claim the Bible is too old and out dated and written in such a different culture that it has nothing to say to us in 21st century Britain.
So why should we bother? Perhaps the Bible should retain a warm place in our hearts as a literary classic, but surely that’s all. Surely when we’re looking for wisdom and insight, the pages of Wikipedia and the Top Gear Magazine are much more useful.
Well of course you’d expect me to disagree with that idea. Here at All Saints’ we delight to call ourselves a Biblical church, a church which holds the Bible in very high esteem. Each Sunday we open the Bible together and hear it taught. Yet despite the fact that the Bible has sold more copies that any other book in History, even within churches like ours it remains one of the least read. And if we do read it, we stick to passages we like and understand.
E100 sets out to change that. The challenge for us all is to give some 10 minutes a day, for 5 days a week over the next 20 weeks to get an overview of the whole of the Bible. Over that time you’ll get to read poetry and prose, historical narrative, parable and prophecy. There will be words of wisdom and challenge, laws and letters and apocalyptic visions with the aim that you’ll not only understand much more of the whole story of God’s plan of salvation for the world, but get such a love of this book that when the 20 weeks are over you’ll not be able to put it down.
Yet still I can hear you thinking about that same question. Why should I bother? Sure, it will be useful in pub quizzes- but what real use is a book that contains writings written some 2000 to 3500 years ago?
I want to give you 6 reasons why you should take up the E100 challenge, and why the Bible is the most important book you will ever read.
Here’s number 1.
The Bible is God’s revelation of himself.
Although written by around 40 different human authors over a 1500 year period a fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith is that the Bible is very much God’s own words. As Christians we believe that those who wrote down the Bible were specially inspired by God to write down exactly what God wanted to say. Peter explains it this way in his 2nd letter: 2 Peter 1:20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. In the Bible God himself tells us who he is, what he is like and how we need to relate to him.
We can see the glory of God in creation; we can point to his presence in the seasons and the blessings of life and understand something of God’s laws by the fact we all have a conscience; that’s what’s known as general revelation: but none of those things gives us enough detail to know God’s name or enter into a relationship with him. Of course God does sometimes reveal himself to individuals in visions or dreams, but these are rare and unexpected. Had we been alive in 1st century Palestine we could have walked and talked with God in the person of Jesus – but that does not mean we are left in the dark about God because God has given us this book – the Bible. And as we read it we hear what God has to say about himself, we see his character displayed through how he behaves through history and we find out what he has to say about us.
That also means we must take seriously what it says. If this book really is God-inspired then we cannot dismiss it as just an interesting literary work. We need to be reading and believing and putting into practice what God has to say to us. This book carries God’s own authority – that’s why we teach what the Bible says every Sunday and don’t make up our own ideas. The Bible is God’s written revelation of himself.
Secondly, the Bible is God’s living word.
Read a novel and you’ll be entertained, a cookery book and you’ll be equipped, and an encyclopaedia and you’ll be informed. But read the Bible and you’ll be changed.
Paul tells us that God’s word is living and active, sharper than a double-edged sword. Isaiah tells us that God’s word is alive and will accomplish what God planned for it. And Jesus tells us in John 6 that his words are Spirit and Life.
When we read the Bible with an open mind God’s Holy Spirit which directed and guided the writers in the first place is active in our hearts and minds and brings the words to life and applies them to our lives. There’s an edition of the Bible called a Spirit-filled edition with all sorts of accompanying notes to help you understand it – but the truth is that all Bibles are spirit-filled. And when we read God’s word and hear it taught faithfully, God will speak to us. And if we are willing to accept his word as authoritative, then we will be changed as we read, hear and obey.
That’s why thirdly the Bible is necessary to grow as a Christian.
What do I mean by that? I mean that if we want to understand more about God, understand more about ourselves and have our character changed more and more into the character of Jesus then we need to read and study and obey the Bible.
As human beings we need a good balanced diet of nutritious food to grow and thrive. Live on a starvation diet we get weak and ill. The English Cricket team that so successfully thrashed the Aussies this winter will have had their diet carefully monitored so that they have the best kind of foods to help them perform. And for the Christian, if we want to understand more of God’s ways and want to grow in our faith and true Christian character, then we need solid spiritual food – we need God’s word.
Jesus himself, when he was being tempted by the devil, said that man cannot live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. If we are to grow in our faith, to be strong then we need a solid diet of God’s word. One meal a week is not enough to make us healthy – one dip into the Bible every week is not enough to grow in faith. Neither should we neglect whole portions of the Bible. I Tim 3: 16 & 17 says All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Reading and obeying the whole Bible is necessary to grow as a Christian.
But fourthly, the Bible is necessary to live as a Christian
The Bible is not just about a personal and private spiritual reformation; it’s about making sure we are prepared for life’s ups and downs. We don’t live in a spiritual bubble; we live our lives in a physical world which though largely ambivalent to our faith can be in outright opposition to it. Yet as we read the Bible we will get prepared for attacks and hardships, as well as the challenges of good times. Let me give you 6 things the Bible prepares us to face:
1. Hardship: Suffering is often a great challenge, and so to hold on to our faith we need to be grounded in God’s truth. Romans 15:4 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.
2.Temptation: We remembered a moment ago that in the face of temptation Jesus used scripture to rebuff Satan. We need to do the same if we are to resist. Ephesians 6 instructs us that to stand against the devil’s schemes we need to take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
3.Plenty: When things go well and life is great often our reaction is to forget about God. So in the good times, how will you hold on to your faith? The Bible keeps us grounded in the ultimate realities of life and the consequences of forgetting about God, and without its words we are likely to wander off. That’s why the Psalmist prays in Psalm 119: Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me.
That’s why Moses warned Israel many times to make sure that in the plenty and peace of the Promised Land they did not turn aside from God’s Laws or trust in their own wisdom. Unfortunately for Israel this proved to be a huge stumbling block because in the good times they forgot God and his commands and ended up in big trouble.
4.Questioning: When we are asked why we believe in Jesus, what are we going to say? Paul says that we should always be ready to give a reason for the hope we have, and since that hope is explained in the Bible we need to know what the Bible teaches so we can share with them God’s wisdom, not ours.
5.When false teaching comes: Sadly not every minister in the Church believes what the Bible says or teaches the truth. And if there is a charismatic and popular leader it’s easy to get misled. But how will you know if something is wrong unless you know the truth?
In Acts 17:11 Luke records this: Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. And if we are going to resist false teaching, we too need to know the truth and be confident in using the Bible.
6.Big Decisions: Like most blokes I usually reckon I can solve a problem without reference to a manual or set of instructions. Often that works – but just as often I make the situation worse. But we are foolish to think that we can make it through life without reference to our maker’s manual, especially when it comes to fundamental decisions. Psalm 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. Psalm 119:Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. So the Bible is necessary for everyday life in this world.
But fifthly, the Bible is necessary for eternal life.
In the passage we read from John’s gospel the religious leaders were busy searching the scriptures to find the secret of eternal life and Jesus commends them for searching in the right place. The trouble was they missed the whole point of the Bible – and remember they only had the Old Testament – they missed that it all pointed to Jesus.
According to Jesus here Moses and all the prophets were writing about Jesus. The Law, the sacrifices, even Israel’s history itself all pointed forward to his coming. And when we read the OT we need to keep in mind where it was all heading. You see, Jesus is the promised serpent crusher of Genesis 3 and Abraham’s ultimate descendant; he is the perfect Passover Lamb, great David’s greater son, Immanuel, God with us. Jesus is the great light to the gentiles, the way, the truth and the life; ruler of God’s eternal kingdom and the one through whom we must come if we would know that our sins are forgiven and know the joy of eternal life.
The way to know God and enjoy him forever is no secret. It’s all in here. A book translated, at least in part into 2500 languages covering some 98% of the world’s population. It’s even available in Klingon! God’s final word on life the universe and everything that truly matters is in here.
That’s why despite the most recent part being written some 2000 years ago in a country and culture far from our own, the Bible is so relevant to all times and place and cultures. In its 66 books, 1189 chapters and 31,103 verses we have God’s unchanging offer of eternal life explained for every generation– and we ignore it at our peril.
But sixthly and finally, reading the Bible is about being obedient
In Luke 8:21 Jesus was teaching when his mother and brothers came to take him home. When he was told about their presence he replied, "My mother and brothers are those who hear God's word and put it into practice." In John 8: To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
In the Old Testament as the people of Israel were about to enter the Promised Land Moses told them this:
Deut: 11: 18 Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 19 Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 20 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, 21 so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the LORD swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.
If we are to follow our Lord and Saviour and grow in his likeness; if we are to teach our children and grandchildren the truth; if we are to take his word to others then we need to know his teaching and put it into practice. And the only way to do that is to read and study and inwardly digest the Bible – and I mean the whole Bible. In the New Testament we have Jesus teaching in his own words and the apostles teaching about him. In the Old Testament we have 39 books which point towards his coming and we need to read it all.
Some parts are harder to understand – so it will take a bit of effort – as you might expect if we are thinking about the meaning of life and the creator of all that is made. Some parts will be hard to relate to because it will seem so distant from our culture, but there are plenty of helps and guides available. And some, perhaps lots of the Bible will be hard to put into practice both because it is counter-cultural and because our hearts are often hard.
But as we read God’s word with open hearts and put what it says into practice we will not only be changed into the character of Jesus and equipped for the next world- we will discover that full, and peace and joy-filled life that Jesus came to give us.
My encouragement for all of you is this: make some space in your busy lives and take up the challenge and let God’s glorious and eternal word invade your life. It will be the best investment you make this or any year. May God bless us richly as we feed upon his word. Amen.
Rev. Dave Brown Curate, Sid Valley Mission Community.