Text: 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5
(Chatham Citadel – September 26th, 1999 AM)
Lately I’ve been hearing a lot about studying God’s word. One of the “Staples” of our Christian faith along with prayer.
Paul writes in 2nd Timothy 3:16 that “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” So far, so good. Most of us can say “Amen to that”, but how well do we know these scriptures? How do we know that these particular writings are God-breathed? How do we know these verses are so useful in our lives?
There is a story of a new minister who was asked to teach the boys’ classes when their regular teacher was absent. He decided to find out what the boys knew, so he asked them who knocked down the walls of Jericho. When every one of the boys declared that it was not them, the preacher was appalled at their ignorance. At the next deacon’s meeting, he told about the experience. “Not one of them knows who knocked down the walls of Jericho!” he lamented. The group was silent until one seasoned veteran of the church spoke up, “preacher, this appears to be bothering you a lot. But I’ve known all those boys since they were born, and if they say they didn’t do it, then I believe them!”
Now, before you laugh too quickly, perhaps it is time for a quiz… Not a hard one, and the only one that needs to know how you did is you, so here we go. There are five questions. I’ll read the question, then after a moment, give you the answer. Each time you get an answer correct, count another finger. When we’re done, we’ll see how many fingers you have up.
1. True or False – Jesus was born in Jerusalem?
- False – Jesus was born in a stable in Bethlehem where his father was returning for a Roman census Matthew 2:1 – in research by George Barna, only 61% of Christians, and 55% of non-Christians knew Jesus birth place.
2. True or False – As well as being known for doubting Jesus’ resurrection, Thomas is the name of a book in the Bible.
- False – While Thomas did indeed doubt Jesus’ resurrection, (John 20:25), stating that he would have to put his finger into the holes in his hand to believe it, there is no book of Thomas in the Bible. One quarter of Christians get that one wrong.
3. True or False – the phrase “be sure your sin will find you out” appears in the Bible.
- True – Numbers 32:23 – After Moses divided the Promised Land among the Israelites, the tribes of Reuban and Gad requested land on the east bank of the Jordan. Moses granted their request but made them promise to go to war to conquer the land on the West Bank. If they broke the oath, Moses warned them that God would know.
4. True or False – the phrase “God helps those who help themselves.” Is in the Bible.
- False – Thomas Jefferson is credited as having said this famous phrase. The nearest thing in scripture is “The Lord helps [the righteous] and delivers them.” (Psalm 37:39-40)
5. True or false – The commandment “Thou Shalt not Kill” was the second commandment on the second tablet.
- True – The two tables given to Moses (Exodus 20:3-17) were divided between commandments relating to God, and those relating to man. When Jesus gave the two greatest commandments, (Matthew 22:37-38) he was really summarizing the two tablets made up of four commandments which referred to Loving the Lord your God with all your heart soul and mind, and six commandments relating to loving your neighbour as yourself.
Now, how did you do?
Of course, if you made a mistake or two, you probably aren’t the only one. You are in good company; many people have made mistakes, even in translating and printing the Bible. The first English language Bible printed in Ireland in 1716 encouraged its readers to “sin on more” rather than “sin no more”, and a 1702 edition quoted King David as having said “Printers” instead of princes “have persecuted me without cause.”
If you made a mistake or two, however, hopefully you are challenged to get out your Bible and study it more. Even when we find it difficult to understand, we should only be spurred on to dig deeper and learn more.
Phillip Brooks once said, “The Bible is like a telescope. If a man looks through his telescope he sees worlds beyond; but if he looks at his telescope, he does not see anything but that. The Bible is a thing to be looked through to see that which is beyond; but most people only look at it and so they see only the dead letter.”
Again, John Underhill tells a story from when he was painting the home of an 89 year-old lady in Spokane Washington. She had a large family Bible prominently displayed on the coffee table. The lady remarked that it was 116 years old and a priceless heirloom.
After commenting on how remarkable that was, John added “It doesn’t matter how old the Bible might be, what’s inside is what matters.” And the lady immediately replied “Oh, I know. That sure is the truth. Why, we have family records and births and marriages and deaths that go so far back, all recorded in that Bible; we could never replace them!”
It warms my heart when I visit a home, to see a worn out Bible on a table, filled with bookmarks and old bulletins, scribbled in and underlined. It means that the book is read and studied. It means that the person who owns it considers it more than a trinket to be placed on display.
The passage we read from the book of 2nd Timothy is a record of Paul’s instruction to the young man who was working in the church in Ephesus. In it, he reiterates the importance of scripture. Let me read for you again the three verses from 2nd Timothy 3:15-17:
“…from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 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.”
Without getting into a long discourse on how we came to have these sixty-six books, thirty-nine in the Old Testament, and 27 in the new. Or how they can be split into Pentateuch, Poetry, Prophets, Gospels, Letters and other divisions. Or how the writing spans millennium, or how the central theme of Jesus the Messiah keeps cropping up all through the collection. Without dwelling on the thousands of years of commentaries, and exegesis, there is really only one question that begs asking; have you read it?
Paul begins by saying Timothy has known the scriptures from a very young age. His mother and sisters taught him and his understanding brought him to knowledge of Jesus Christ and faith in His Salvation.
It would be enough if that is all the Bible did for us, but there is so much more; it is useful for teaching us, for telling us when we are dead wrong, for setting us on the right path, and for showing us the better way. It is also full of comfort, and joy, as well as wisdom. There is something for every one, and for every circumstance. The catch? The only catch is that you have to read it – really read it - to understand it – and more than read it, to take it to heart.
Some people think they know the Bible. They can quote verses to you from it in almost any situation, and yet they can also somehow miss the point.
There was a lawyer one time who thought he knew the Bible and tried to use a quote from it in a case.
He thought he would make a great impression on the jury by quoting from the Bible. So he said concerning his opponent’s client, “We have it on the highest authority that it has been said, “all that a man has will he give for his life.” But the other lawyer knew the Bible a little better, and said, “I am very much impressed by the fact that my distinguished colleague here regards as a highest authority the one who said “All that a man has will he give for his life.” You will find that this saying comes from the Book of Job (2:4), and the one who uttered it is the devil, and that is whom he regards as the highest authority!”
For hundreds of years, the Catholic Church kept the reading of the Bible to the elite – the priesthood. The result was a biblically illiterate mass of people.
In 1456, Gutenberg completed his three-year project to print a bible using moveable print. Since then, literally billions of copies have been printed and distributed, and yet there is still an immense number of biblically illiterate people in this world.
Even now, Christian believers know little of the bible’s history, its content, its structure, or the doctrines it contains. There have been two thousand years worth of classic works on the Christian life, basic theology, biblical language, and biblical ethics. How is it then, that those who have devoted themselves to lifetime habits of study in areas such as law, medicine, farming, and industry, sales and science, have only an elementary level knowledge of the Bible?
How is it that High School students can be taught and understand the complexities of computers, foreign languages, DNA, and Euclidean geometry, but cannot understand the basic principles taught in the sermon on the mount, let alone know who delivered that sermon.
How is it that people can teach Sunday school for years in a church, but find new truths in a beginner’s bible study, or at an introductory course on the bible at university or a bible college?
Why is it that when I talk about Bible Study, it is viewed as a task that is the sole responsibility of the pastor to undertake? Why do people think that a poor lay person has not the ability to comprehend the deep meanings contained in the Bible? Oh, my!
Let me say it now, clearly and without qualification. If you are not in a bible study, either in your own personal time, or with a group of friends, then you are starving yourself spiritually. There are plenty of good books at the Christian Book store to get you started if you feel uncomfortable with sitting down with only the Bible in front of you. There are friends and neighbours who would likely love to join with you to talk about the scriptures, and there are plenty of books to help you when you get stuck, as well as people in the church who will try to answer your questions.
Don’t wait for the Church to start a bible study that fits your personal socioeconomic demographic. Just do it! What are you afraid of?
We are blessed with a freedom to study God’s word. Unlike other countries where people are persecuted for even owning a bible.
Robert Seiple, president of World Vision in 1990, tells of a bible he has seen. A Russian Armenian owned it in 1915. He was beheaded while he was reading it. Mr. Seiple described the pages as large, thick, and well used, with a reddish stain inside that permeated most of the book – the stain of the man’s own blood – one of more than a million casualties of a religious and ethnic holocaust.
In the 1970’s, in the same country, a large shipment of bibles was sent from the west. Ceausescu, dictator of Romania, had his lieutenants confiscate them, shred them, and turn them into pulp. As if as some sick joke, they then had the pulp reconstituted into toilet paper and sold to the West.
All of this for a book that we take for granted. A book that many of us have several copies of in our homes, and rarely do we turn their pages. What a privilege we have to be able to read it.
Curtis Cartmel, a candidate for Salvation Army Officership in Williams Lake, BC told me of how God was challenging him to memorize the New Testament. He has worked with the people in Russia, and in other countries where the Bible is difficult to get a hold of. He felt that one day he might be in a place where he would not be able to have the bible, and wanted to make sure that he could carry it with him always, even if he did not have the book.
Where is that kind of dedication to God’s Word in the hearts of us who call ourselves Christians? Where is that kind of drive to take God’s word and apply it to our own living?
Let me leave you this morning with a poem by Amos Wells to consider:
I supposed I knew my Bible,
Reading piecemeal, hit or miss,
Now a bit of John or Matthew,
Now a snatch of Genesis,
Certain chapters of Isaiah,
Certain Psalms (the twenty-third),
Twelfth of Romans, first of Proverbs --
Yes, I thought I knew the Word!
But I found that thorough reading
Was a different thing to do,
And the way was unfamiliar
When I read the Bible through.
You who like to play at Bible,
Dip and dabble, here and there,
Just before you kneel, a-weary,
And yawn through a hurried prayer;
You who treat the Crown of Writings
As you treat no other book,
Just a paragraph, disjointed,
Just a crude, impatient look,
Try a worthier procedure,
Try a broad and steady view;
You will kneel in very rapture
When you read the Bible through. [1]
[1] Leading the Way by Paul Borthwick, Navpress, 1989, Page 139
No comments:
Post a Comment