Why God gave us the Bible

We are going to begin by looking at a verse in 2nd Timothy chapter 3, because we want to understand why God has given us his word. You know, it is possible to study the Bible for the wrong reasons, and I think a lot of Christians do. Now, we need to study the scriptures and approach the scriptures for the same reason with which God gave it, and that's described in 2nd Timothy 3 verse 16 and 17. It says all scripture is inspired by God. God is the one who breathed his breath into this book, just like he breathed into Adam. If God had not breathed into Adam, he would have been just a pile of dust, and any book into which God has not breathed is just a pile of dust. God breathed into this, and it's been given to us for teaching, to show us the right path for reproof. God's given us his word to rebuke us strongly. Reproof is a strong word. To correct us when we've gone astray, to lead us back to the right path, to train us in righteousness. That means our character should change. To straighten us because we are all crooked, and ultimately so that we can become men and women of God. That the man of God, verse 17, may be adequate or complete. You know, like a glass of water when it's filled is complete. That our character is rounded off, balanced, complete, and that we are equipped, anointed for ministry, to serve him for every good work that God has prepared for us. So that's the purpose of scripture, and if you study the Bible, you must study it for these reasons. That your character might be full-rounded and become the way God wants it to be. That you can be anointed and equipped to serve other people the way God wants you to serve. The Bible was not given for us to increase in knowledge, or just to teach other people. No, a lot of people use it for the wrong reasons. Now you must keep that in mind, my dear brothers and sisters, when we go through these studies and all through your life. I started studying the Bible 41 years ago, and this is the goal that I've had before me all these 41 years. I did not study the Bible to teach other people. I studied the Bible because I wanted to know what God had to say to me. I studied it at the feet of Jesus, and asked the Holy Spirit to teach me. I've never been to a Bible school, but God who taught the apostles in the day of in the first century, I believe he could teach me in the 20th century. And he can teach you too. You know it says that when the disciples were walking to Emmaus after the resurrection, Jesus opened the scriptures to them. And that is the thing which we want him to do to us as well. We want Jesus to walk with us. That's how I want to study the scriptures. Jesus walking with me, opening the scriptures. And those disciples said our hearts burned within us when Jesus opened the scriptures. And that's how it should be in our life. When the Holy Spirit shows us scripture, our heart should burn within us. The scripture is not boring. Do you think those two disciples found Jesus boring? Jesus is never boring. An anointed ministry is never boring at no time. If we walk with Jesus and allow him to open the scriptures to us, our hearts will always burn, because the scriptures reveal Christ. The other thing I want to say to you is God has not written the scriptures for lazy people. We got to meditate on scripture. Blessed is the man, it says in Psalm 1, who meditates on the law of the Lord day and night. That doesn't mean he's reading the Bible day and night. He meditates on it. Maybe he read it just a few minutes in the morning. But he meditates on it right through the day and in the middle of the night. If he wakes up, he thinks about scripture. And as he meditates, he understands God's laws. Now in the Old Testament, they meditated on God's laws. In the New Testament, we are told in 2nd Corinthians 3 verse 18, that we meditate on Jesus. The word made flesh. And we see Jesus in the scriptures. We meditate on him as he is revealed to us in the pages of scripture. And such a man, it says in Psalm 1, will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. He will always be green. He will always be fruitful all the time. Another Psalm, it says even in old age, he will bring forth fruit. That is God's will for every one of us. It is not God's will that any of you sitting here should be a barren tree, even when others around you are barren. In a time of drought, you can be green and fruitful. The secret is to meditate on the scriptures, on God's word. There's another verse that's in Proverbs 25 verse 2, which says, it is the glory of God to conceal a matter, and it's the glory of kings to search it out. God has in the world concealed deep down under the surface of the earth, all the valuable metals. You don't find diamonds on the surface. They're all deep down. What you find on the surface is grass and mud and dirt. Cheap stuff. If you read the scripture superficially, you won't get the real riches of it. It's the glory of God to conceal a matter. And if you're going to be a king, a king, one who's reigning in Christ, it's your glory to search it out, to dig out and find it, and as God sees that wholeheartedness and eagerness in you, the Holy Spirit will reveal to you the meaning of scripture. Jesus said, I thank you, Father, that you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent, and you have revealed them to babes. You don't need to be clever, but you've got to have a clean heart. A babe's got a clean heart. It's your heart condition that determines whether you understand scripture, not your head intelligence. It's hidden from the clever and the intelligent. You can't understand scripture by getting a doctorate in theology. You can understand scripture if you've got a humble heart and a good conscience. That's how we understand scripture. Scripture gives us promises and commands that we have to believe and obey, words to rebuke us and words to comfort us.