The Bible

Tonight is about the Bible. And I want to start by asking: Take away my Bible, and what have you done to me?

Have a look at this first picture

The crown stands for God; the box stands for time and space where we live; and the stick person stands for us. And from inside the box, we cannot see God or find him. We're in the dark.

The only way we can know God is that God has made himself known - by sending his Son Jesus 'into the box' 2000 years ago. And only through Jesus' death on the cross can we come back into relationship with God.

Now we were not there when Jesus lived, died and rose from the dead. So the only way we can know about him is through the record God has provided – the Bible. Only if the message of this book reaches us can we come into relationship with God.

So take away my Bible and you leave me in the dark, without any answers to questions like, 'Why am I here?', 'What happens when I die?' and above all, 'Is there anybody up there?' Without the Bible we'd blunder our way through life without God, and then head into eternity without God. The Bible is that important that we need to get ourselves on the receiving end of it, and keep ourselves there. Which is what tonight's Bible passage is all about.

So would you turn to 2 Timothy 3.14. The apostle Paul wrote this to a pastor called Timothy, when a lot of people who called themselves Christians were turning away from the message of the Bible. And Paul says, 3.14:

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of

Ie, keep believing and living by the message of the Bible. And he gives reasons. Verse 14 again:

… because [reason 1:] you know those from whom you learned it

Why should Timothy keep believing the message about Jesus when others are rubbishing it? Well, partly because he knows those from whom he learned it. People like Paul who were eye-witnesses of the events surrounding Jesus. (Paul was only an eye-witness of Jesus after the resurrection; the other apostles were with Jesus for the 3 years up to his death and resurrection.) So this isn't fiction. It's fact. It's truth. But there's another reason to keep believing the message - in v15:

… because you know [reason 2:]… how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

The other thing that argues for the truth of the message about Jesus is that it was predicted ahead of time. When he talked about 'the holy Scriptures' Paul must have meant the Old Testament (OT), because the New Testament (NT) hadn't been written in Timothy's infancy. So Paul is saying: you also know how the OT predicted Jesus' coming and dying and rising from the dead. And you know that's all happened. Which argues for it being truth from God that we're in touch with, here.

And for us today, we have not only the OT that Timothy had. But also the NT – the writings that put the apostles' message on paper for all time. So that our 'Scripture' is the OT plus the NT. So as we read these verses about Scripture, we should be saying to ourselves, 'This is now talking about the complete Bible.' And Paul says three things about the Bible:

I. It's all about JesusII. It's all God's word III. It's all you need

First, IT'S ALL ABOUT JESUS (v15)

Look at v15 where Paul talks about

… how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

The number one thing God is aiming to do through the Bible is to get us to trust Jesus for salvation, and then keep trusting him.

I remember a hill-farmer talking about how he once rescued one of his sheep from a cliff-ledge that it had fallen onto. He heard it bleating away and when he looked down from the top of the cliff, it panicked and started trying to scramble off the ledge, which would have killed it. So the farmer left it. He came back next day - same thing: sheep panic. So he left it. He came back the next day and this time when the sheep saw him, no panic. He abseiled down and it let him haul it up. Because it had finally wised up to the fact a) that it needed saving, and b) that the farmer was the Saviour it needed to trust, because saving itself was out of the question.

And the number one purpose of the Bible is to do for us what that farmer did for the sheep. Verse 15 – it's out to wise us up to the fact a) that we need saving, and b) that Jesus is the Saviour that we need to trust because saving ourselves is out of the question. That's why the Bible talks so much about sin and judgement; but also why it talks above all about Jesus and how his death on the cross paid for the forgiveness of our sins – which is another way of saying that it saved us from the judgement we deserve.

The number one thing God is doing through the Bible is pointing us to Jesus and his cross and saying, 'It's done. Trust him for forgiveness.'

So I want to say for all I'm worth that the Bible is not a rule-book. It's a rescue-book. The basic message of the Bible is not, 'Do this and you'll be right with God'. That's the basic message of every one of the human religions of the world. It's the basic message of modern sects like the Jehovah's Witnesses. And it's the basic message of views that distort the Christian message - like the official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. But the basic message of the Bible is not, 'Do this and you'll be right with God'. The basic message of the Bible is, 'It's done. Trust Christ and you'll be right with God.' It's all about Jesus.

So what? Well, it may be that you're just looking into Christianity. In which case, to do that, you've got to look into the Bible. And since the Bible's all about Jesus the best place to start is actually at the end – with one of the four Gospels, where you can see Jesus most clearly.

Or it may be that you're a Christian and you've got bogged down in reading the Bible and given up. In which case, a great place to re-start would be with one of the four Gospels.

And if we have got bogged down in, or given up, reading the Bible (which we all do) – can I ask: is it partly because we've made it a rule-book and forgotten it's a rescue book? It's easy to make the Bible a rule book by making the first question we ask as we read it, 'What does God want me to do?' And we try to do it, and we fail because we're still this side of heaven. And if we think only of God as a rule-giver, will we want to go back to him as failures to be given some more rules? I doubt it. With that picture of God, our failure will make us stay away from him. And the way we stay away from him is to stay away from his Book.

But the first point in these verses is that it's all about Jesus. So the first question to ask when reading the Bible is, 'What does this tell me about Jesus, and how does he want me to trust him?' So when we read or hear the Bible, let's look for Jesus. Let's ask first not what we can do for our Saviour but what our Saviour can do for us. And in response, let's trust him, pray to him, ask of him the forgiveness and strength to carry on that we need.


Secondly, IT'S ALL GOD'S WORD (v16)

16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness

'God-breathed' is a word-picture to explain how the Bible came into being. We use the expression, 'Don't breathe a word about this to anyone.' Ie, your breath is what carries your words from you to others. And the picture here is that God breathed his words out, through the human writers of the Bible – so that they carried onto the page exactly what he wanted written. So that in this book and only this book, the words of men are simultaneously 100% the words of God.

Imagine that tonight, in the middle of the night you were woken up to find the risen Lord Jesus in the room. And he said, 'I want to speak to you.' What would your attitude be? How carefully do you reckon you'd listen? How much weight do you think you'd give what he said?

When Paul says, 'All Scripture is God-breathed', he's saying, all the words of the Bible are God's words to us today - every bit as much as Jesus speaking to us tonight would be God's words to us today. So whatever attitude we'd want to have in that imaginary encounter is the attitude we should bring to the Bible.

For a start, we'll want to listen to it. So we need to plan when and how to put ourselves on the receiving end of the Bible. At the least, we can do that by planning to be here on Sundays. A next step would be to join in with one of the small groups in church where we look at the Bible together. Having it in the diary, doing it with others, makes it easier at least to open the Bible another time a week. But another step would be reading the Bible on our own – which is a habit I'd encourage any Christian to get into. Do visit the Bible Notes table at the back for ideas of how to start or re-start.

We'll want to listen. And since Paul says it's all God-breathed (God's words), we'll want to listen to all of it. If you're here over a year at JPC, you'll notice we try to speak from all parts of the Bible (OT and NT) over the course of a year. If you come to two services on a Sunday (or at least get the tape or transcript of the sermon you don't hear) you'll hear more from all over God's Word in your average year. If we choose some good Bible reading notes they'll help us to do the same. And for some of us it'll be appropriate for me to say: it's about time we set ourselves to read through the whole Bible over the next year or two – again, do quiz Andrew at the Bible notes table for that.

I don't mean any of those suggestions to be a burden, but to encourage each of us to take the next step that would help us be more regularly on the receiving end of more of the Bible.

We'll want to listen to it. And we'll want to change in response. Which is what the rest of v16 is about:

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness

Verse 15 told us that the number one thing God is aiming to do through the Bible is to get us to trust Jesus for salvation, and keep trusting him. But then the number two thing he's aiming to do is to change us.

Verse 16 says God is out to 'teach and rebuke' – ie, to change our minds. Teaching is God putting his truth into my mind. Rebuking is God showing me where what's already in my mind is wrong and untrue. And then he is aiming for, 'correcting and training in righteousness' – ie, to change our lives. 'Correcting' is God showing us how we're living wrong. And 'training in righteousness' is God showing us how to live right in his eyes.

And notice two of those are negative. 'Rebuking and correcting'. Which means the Bible is always to some extent an uncomfortable listen or an uncomfortable read. That's one of the reasons we find it hard to read. God is always using it to show us what needs to change. It's like looking at yourself in the mirror first thing in the morning. It's like looking at your passport photo. It tells the truth, and that's uncomfortable.

But can I say: let's bear with it. The Bible doesn't always leave us feeling good, because God is working on us. He always accepts us as we are, but he loves us too much to leave us as we are. So let's bear with the surgery he's doing on our lives through the Bible. And can I also say: let's be wary of the instinct to find Christian circles which are more comfortable for us. Occasionally people say they're looking for a church where they'll be 'more comfortable with the teaching'. Now I'm making no claims for how well or otherwise we're doing here - it's far from perfect. But we'll always find the content of the Bible uncomfortable - and trying to avoid that is trying to avoid God.

Summing up so far:

1. It's all about Jesus. So: God is out to get us to trust him for salvation, and keep trusting him. 2. It's all God's word. So: God is out to change our minds and our lives.

So, whenever we read the Bible, or discuss it, or hear it spoken on, we need to end up asking, 'So what?' 'So how does Jesus want me to trust him as a result of this part of the Bible? And how does Jesus want me to change my mind and my life as a result of this part of the Bible?' When I read the Bible on my own, I find it a help to make myself write down answers to those questions, so I know I've really dealt with God through the Bible, and not just dealt with the Bible. And when I go to my Home Group, or I've heard a sermon, I find a bit of time afterwards to go back over it and ask myself those questions. Because other people can help me read and understand the Bible. But no-one can respond to God for me. I have to make time to see that I'm responding personally - otherwise the whole point of getting on the receiving end of the Bible is lost.


Thirdly, IT'S ALL WE NEED (v17)

16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Where Paul says 'man of God' it's a phrase he uses of Timothy as a pastor. He's basically saying, 'With the whole Bible, all of God's words, in his hands, the pastor has everything he needs for the work of leading people to Christ and then building them up as disciples. Ie, v17 implies that the Bible is all we need in order to know how to get right with God and then live right for God.

Now a lot of people wonder, 'Is that really true?', because they don't seem to find their questions answered in the Bible.

Well, the most important questions are about God and how we can know him and be saved back into relationship with him. The Bible answers them. That was point 1. The next questions, once we're back in relationship with God are, 'What should I do? How should I live for God' questions. And there are what I'd call 'type 1' and 'type 2' questions.

With 'type 1' questions, the Bible answers them. Eg, 'Should I rob this bank?' The Bible decides that issue for us ('No', in case you're troubled by that issue). The Bible answers a whole lot of 'type 1' questions, and in so doing draws a line between what's right and wrong in God's sight – a bit like the line around a football pitch. God has told us the 'right/wrong' boundaries within which we're to play out our lives

But then there are 'type 2' questions. Like, 'Should I do this course?', 'Should I apply for or take this job?', 'Should I go out with so-and-so?', 'Should I marry so-and-so?', 'Should I join this church?' 'Should I say 'Yes' to this area of ministry?' And the Bible doesn't decide them for us. There's a deafening silence. You look in vain for the verses in which your name and the name of the girl or bloke on your mind appear decisively together. You can try to make the Bible answer the questions. (Eg, you let the Bible fall open at a random place and try to read 'guidance' out of the first thing you come to; the Psalms happen to flop open and you read, 'You shall go out with Joy!' Problem solved: all you need now is to meet a girl called Joy.) But of course that would only be misusing the Bible.

The fact is that on those 'type 2' questions, the Bible doesn't make the decision for us. God wants us to decide. Eg, someone might have the options of doing a further degree, training to be a teacher or going into a business job. The Bible doesn't rule any of them out, because they're all inside the boundary line. They're all 'right'. It's not a choice between right and wrong, but between right and right and right. So how to decide? The issue is working out what's best. And for that (running with the football pitch analogy) we have to understand the 'game'. We have to know what God's goal for our lives is. And that's why we're having this 40 Days of Purpose time – to focus on God's goals or purposes for our lives so that we've got a better idea of where we should be playing on the pitch, and what moves we should be making.

And the Bible really is all we need for that. It decides for us all the 'type 1' questions that matter. And it gives all the principles and wisdom to enable us to decide on all those 'type 2' questions.

Which may leave you wondering, 'If the Bible's all we need, why are you up there speaking, wasting our time? Why all these sermons and small groups and Bible reading notes and Christian books?'

Well, when I say the Bible's all we need, I don't mean we need no help in reading and understanding and applying it to our lives. This very verse – v17 – makes quite clear that God intended there to be teaching in the church – one-to-many, like this; everyone-to-everyone in small groups, one-to-one in conversation between Christians. We need our fellow-Christians to help us discover the parts of the Bible we haven't yet discovered, and understand the parts we haven't yet understood. We need them in the flesh; and we need them on paper.


So, what has the apostle Paul taught us about the Bible?

1. It's all about Jesus. So: above all look for how any part of the Bible points to him and ask, 'How does he want me to trust him?' 2. It's all God's word. So: it comes with the weight of his authority and we should ask, 'How does he want me to change my mind or my life?' 3. It's all we need. So: let's keep working at getting to know it; get the help of others with it; and keep trusting that it has the answers we need.