VALUE OF THE BIBLE

INTRODUCTION:

 

Ever had someone scoff at the Bible to you?

 

1.       Look at all the religious wars in history – what good did the Bible do    those folks…

 

2.       Look at how people…in this Christian country….treat each other.

 

3.       Perhaps they even point to some members of the Lord’s church that    they know & point out some sin in their life….

 

4.       “So – What value does the Bible have?” they ask….

 

An infidel who was a soap manufacturer once said to a preacher, “That Bible you preach from is a failure in the world, because look at all the sinful people.” 

 

Just at that time a little boy with a dirty face crossed the sidewalk in front of them and the preacher said, “The soap that you make is a failure; look at all the dirty people in the world.” 

 

The manufacturer said, “That is not the fault of the soap; the trouble is that they haven’t used it.” 

 

The preacher replied, “Now you have the point.  There are many sinful people in the world, but it is not the fault of the Bible; they haven’t used it.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I.       THE BIBLE HAS NO VALUE

          A.      As a CHARM or a RELIC to be kept lying on the coffee table.                      Its presence will not bless - if its never read or obeyed.

          B.      Not to be used like a horseshoe or rabbit’s foot. 

 

                   1.       It won’t bring you good luck

                            

                             a.       carry it around

 

                             b.       keep it in the back window of your car

 

          C.      It is not some religious relic to be adored as a crucifix.

 

          D.      No special value as a WEDDING ACCESSORY FOR A                                        BRIDE

 

                   1.       Carrying a Bible at your wedding does not necessarily                                   mean that your marriage is founded upon the Bible.

 

          E.      The only value that it can have is in OBEDIENCE TO IT.

THE BIBLE IS THE WORLD'S MOST VALUABLE POSSESSION FOR IT TELLS US OF GOD

Gen. 1:1  “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

 

          A.      We wouldn’t know that unless it was revealed to us

 

                   1.       Chicken/egg no problem for the Bible believer

 

                   2.       Foolishness of Evolution

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We can know the very nature of God

 

Num 14:18   'The LORD is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations.'

 

          A.      Tremendously VALUABLE information

 

                   1.       God is not going to blow His top & strike you dead

                             slow to anger

 

                   2.       God is concerned about you

                             abundant in lovingkindness

 

                   3.       God is anxious to reconcile you back to Himself

                             forgiving iniquity and transgression

 

                   4.       However, God will not overlook sin in our lives!

                             will by no means clear the guilty,

                             THAT, TOO IS EXTREMELY VALUABLE!

 

Dan 3:28-29  (AFTER SEEING THE DELIVERENCE OF SHADRACK, MESHAK, AND ABED-NEGO) …. NEBUCHADNEZZAR WAS IMPRESSED!!

 

Nebuchadnezzar responded and said, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who put their trust in Him, violating the king's command, and yielded up their bodies so as not to serve or worship any god except their own God.

"Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation or tongue that speaks anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego shall be torn limb from limb and their houses reduced to a rubbish heap, inasmuch as there is no other god who is able to deliver in this way."

 

          A.      Isn’t it VALUABLE to know that Our God can do such things?

 

OUR GOD IS ALMIGHTY – NEBUCHADNEZZAR SAW IT!!

 

II.      What VALUE  does the Bible have?

 

IT TELLS US OF OUR OF ORIGIN

          A.      Where did Man come from?  Mars?  Evolution? 

 

                   1.       Millions of dollars spent – we’re sending a rover to Mars                              – to see if that is where life began

 

                   2.       Wouldn’t it be a marvelous thing to KNOW where man                                 came from? ---- What a scientific find --- breakthrough!

 

Gen 2:7  Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

 

Acts 17:24-31 – Read

 

THE BIBLE BLESSES NATIONS

          A.      We’ve lost touch with the facts

 

                   1.       America’s greatness is due to the influence of the Bible.

                  

                   2.       Andrew Jackson said of the Bible, “That Book is the                                  rock upon which the republic rests.”

 

          How different things would be if our politicians still believed that!

 

                   3.       Daniel Webster said, “If we abide by the principles                                    taught in the Bible our country will go on prospering,                                       but if we and our posterity neglect its instruction and                                   authority, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe                                  may overwhelm us and bury us and our glory in                                    profound obscurity.”

 

Look at what is happening to us as we pull further and further

away from the Bible’s teachings -

THE BIBLE IS VALUABLE TO ANY NATION

WHO WILL ABIDE BY IT

          B.      This is no shock to those who know the value of the Bible

                   The Bible tells us…..

 

                   Prov. 14:34 “Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a                               disgrace to any people.”

 

          Psalm 9:17  “The wicked will return to Sheol (Hell), Even all the        nations who forget God.”

The Bible keeps us from forgetting God…..

WHAT A GREAT VALUE IT HAS FOR US

 

 IT HELPS US IN TIME OF NEED

A.      In times of want   – Read….Matt. 6:25-31

 

B.      In times of plenty – Read…. 1 Tim. 6:9-10,17-19 

 

C.      In times of sorrow – Read …. John 14:1-3 

 

THE BIBLE MAKES PEOPLE FEEL BETTER

A.      Because it has a moral code that elevates mankind.

 

B.      Atheism has never changed a person from immorality to morality.

 

C.      Court judges, understanding the power of the Bible, have often   paroled a juvenile delinquent with the agreement that he attend Bible          study every week. ---

 

Why?  They realize the VALUE it has in changing morals…..

 

D.      Isaac Walton, English author, said of the Bible, “Every hour that I read you it kills a sin or lets in a virtue to fight it.”

 

Read - Gal 5:19-21 ---- What a great VALUE to know that

 

Read - Rom. 1:16-32 --- What valuable information….

 

THE BIBLE CREATES FAITH.

Read - John 20:30-31  --- no other book can produce FAITH

 

Jeremiah 23:29  “Is not My word like fire?" declares the LORD, "and like a hammer which shatters a rock?”

 

Romans 10:17  “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

WHAT A TREMENDOUS VALUE!!

 

IT PRICKS  AND  CUTS  THE  HEARTS  OF  MEN

Psa 19:7 “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.”

 

Heb. 4:12  “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

 

Acts 2:37  “Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?”

WITHOUT OUR HEARTS BEING PRICKED –

WE WOULD NOT REPENT –

WE WOULD NOT SEEK SALVATION

 

AFFECTS THE CONSCIENCE

A.      It makes men restless in their sins. 

 

Acts 2:37 -----

 

Acts 24:25 “And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.”

FURNISHES US UNTO EVERY GOOD WORK

Psa 119:11  “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. ”

 

Psa 119:104  “Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.”

 

Tim. 3:16,17  “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:  17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”

Where else in the world could you go to find out

what God wants us to do?

 TELLS US OF OUR  OBLIGATIONS

 

 Ecc. 12:13  “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”

 

Acts 10:34-35  “Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:  But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.”

 

Micah 6:8  “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? ”

 

Mark 16:16  “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IT TELLS US OF OUR  DESTINIES

Gen 3:19  “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. ”

 

Ecc. 12:7  “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. ”

 

Heb 9:27  “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: ”

 

Matt 25:33-34  “And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.  34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:” 

 

Matt 25:41,46  “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

 

46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.”

THE BIBLE TELLS US HOW TO LIVE AND HOW TO DIE

Phil. 1:21  “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

 

John 11:25  “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: ”

 

1 Cor 1:18-21  Read---

 

Do you believe?  Are you ready to die?  Have you obeyed the gospel?

 

2 Thess. 1:6-9