Psalm 119: 105-112; John 20: 30, 31; 2 Timothy 3: 16, 17; Hebrews 4: 12, 13

The song of my childhood kept running through my head this past week. I made it the title for this message. "The B-I-B-L-E, yes, that’s the book for me; I stand alone on the Word of God, the B-I-B-L-E." What a book it is! More copies of this book have been printed than any other book in the world. Even as we worship, some believers in other parts of the world take out their Bibles and read it by candle in a closet for fear of being caught. In the meantime, we in the West take the book for granted. Those who like statistics say that Americans have 2.5 televisions per household, and 3 Bibles. Yet, the book seldom is opened by this same population. Tragic!

The Bible, is that the book for....you, too? I can give many reasons that it should be. But unless you read it, my reasons will have little meaning. The Bible gives us a foundation for life and health, for home and society. This same document continues to be scorned by our culture. "Out-dated." "Paternalistic." "Narrow-minded." Those quotes did not come from the world, but from within our own denomination.

Our church faces a serious crisis today. People who do not want to change, or claim that they cannot change, want to change the Bible to fit their desires. So, even our church leaders bring doubt to this most precious of books - to its message that transforms lives and moves mountains of doubt and changes whole nations. While in Europe I was asked time and again by members of the Presbyterian Church of Kenya, "Doesn’t your church know how to read the Bible?" We are being observed by Christians around the world. We must get into this Book. Better than that...this Book must get in to us!

I want to be sure that you know the value of this book. I hope you take the time to read your own copy. Don’t just read devotional booklets. They’re nice, but they do not substitute for the B-I-B-L-E. Within its pages we find how to live successful, abundant lives. We discover how to change the most difficult person in the world - OURSELVES! But each of us must be willing to do two things: first, know what is inside. One woman was asked if she knew what was in her Bible. She knew exactly what was in hers: "a pressed rose, my grocery list, and a raffle ticket." Not quite what I had in mind. Know your instruction book. Second, allow your Bible to get in you. That is, be willing to be gripped by God- His love, His hope, His power! That means you might have to give up some TV time, or internet time. But that small sacrifice will yield rewards that will bring you real life! Let me refresh you with how the Bible came to us and gives to us.

...men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. (2 Peter 1.21) Words were spoken, then they were written on parchment and papyrus. Prophets of God spoke from God to His people. Not very popular. Some were killed. Others were just run out of town. But they were moved by God the Holy Spirit to tell the people of His love. God wanted His people then, and He wants His people now, to love Him no matter what. To follow Him wherever He places them. And to show His love right where we are.

Written over a period of 1,500 years. Authored over 40 generations by over 40 authors of varied backgrounds. Some wrote a lot, like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. Others wrote but a few thoughts, like Amos, Obadiah, and Malachi. But those words called on His people to come back to Him. Those words told of a soon-coming king, who would be with them forever. Also included with the prophets has come history from Moses and other authors. The origins of the world and humans and sin and the demands of the Ten Commandments. And always, God gives His salvation story from beginning to end.

We can thank Jerome (405 A.D.) He took the ancient texts (Hebrew and Greek), translating them into the common (Vulgate) language. Then, about a thousand years later, a man named John Wycliffe translated the Vulgate in the English. Along came Gutenberg with his movable type setting press, and the rest, as they say, is history. And what a history! Thanks to Luther and a man named William Tyndale, the Bible was made available quickly to thousands of people.

350 years ago (1662) the Bible was available to Indians in Massachusetts. By 1810, William Carey gave the nation of India the Bible in over 20 languages. Our church, Central Presbyterian, was being organized about 1873. At the same time that the Bible was available to over 500 different language groups. We know that there are just over 6000 languages in the world. Thanks to very dedicated translators, like Wycliffe Bible Translators and others, our Bible has been translated in 2000 languages. Portions or all of the Bible can be read in the heart language of so many. These translators tell us that just a little over 800 more languages will cover almost the total of the different language groups. We’re getting closer to getting His Word to all.

In a recent issue of Voice of the Martyrs, there is a story out of North Korea. Two young men are accosted by the police. One of the young men is challenged that he is a Christian. There was no denial. They beat him on the spot. One of the police took his gun, pointed it at the fellow’s head. In the moment before the gun exploded, sending the young man to be with Jesus, he looked at his friend with peace in his eyes. The surviving young man was shaken, and told his mother. "I too, am a Christian," she said. "But I feared the same fate would be yours if I told you about Jesus." "Who is Jesus?" She told him the life-changing story, and he was converted on the spot. When his adult brothers came home, he told them, and they became Christian. Now, they needed Bibles. Risking his own life, he was able to secure one copy in Southern China. Later, VOM heard of the need, and was able to print thousands for secret distribution into that nation. Oh, yes, the Bible does make a difference. Our trouble - we have had it too easy!

So, why all the fuss? As I said, we have Bibles coming out of our "ears." Copies in this church can be found stuck in odd places, but seldom opened. We love the clever sayings: Dusty Bibles are a sign of a dry spirit; A Bible that is falling apart is a sign the reader is not; We don’t reject the Bible because it contradicts itself - but because it contradicts us!

"Give me one good reason to read this book." How about three? Read it and discover that this book is accurate, honest, and life-changing! This last reason brings us the good news that God loves you! God loves you! That IS LIFE-CHANGING!

The Bible is accurate. Each new discovery of secular archeologists have proven places and people and events given in the Bible actually happened. Genesis 1-3, describes the creation of man and woman. God so ordered us that man and woman need each other. God established marriage between man and woman as the basic family unit. One does not have to marry, but if marriage happens, God meant for only a man and a woman to come together in marriage. The man will leave his parents and cleave to his wife. (*Pew Bible 2, RSV, in Central Presbyterian) This is God’s order. He had nothing else in mind.

Move to Joshua 6.20 (PB 193). The Israelites marched to victory over Jericho, when the walls came tumbling down. Recent findings indicate that the walls did not so much tumble outward nor inward, but went down more like an elevator.

Rest for a moment in the story of Ruth (PB 236). We hear of how the Jewish husband of the Moabite Ruth, died. Ruth fought to stay with her mother-in-law Naomi, and the two returned to Israel. There we observe how the poor were cared for. They had the best kind of welfare system. Free food was available, but you had to work for it. The corners of the field were left for the poor. Ruth provided for Naomi by working hard in the fields. Though from Gentile Moab, her future husband Boaz made sure she was protected. Then he risks all to marry her. Ruth joins a list of women in the genealogy of Jesus, since she would become the great grandmother of King David (PB 238).

The Bible is honest. Moses, the hero leader of the Israelites, murdered an Egyptian and ran into the wilderness for forty years. (Exodus 2, PB 48). King David, still hero to the nation of Israel, committed adultery, murder, and fought his own children to keep his throne. (2 Samuel, PB 269- 295) And women, such as Jezebel, remind us how much people against God will do anything to live for themselves. She came to a bloody end, prophesied by Elijah, her bitter enemy. (2 Kings 9: 30-37, PB 334)

The Bible dares to begin with the worst about us - to look into the dark places of the human soul. It probes and reveals spiritual pride and rebellion. The Bible answers the most important questions we can ask. "How can we live as victors each day?" Thy word is lamp to my feet and light to my path. "Why am I here?" To perform thy statutes for ever, to the end. (Ps 119.105, 112, PB 545) His Words are light and life to us!

The Bible is life-changing! Here we meet Jesus Christ. Pictured in the Old Testament, in the structure of the Tabernacle and Temple. Symbolized in the system of sacrifices that the people of God had to perform regularly. Promised by prophet and psalmist. Jesus came to us! We discover through His Word that God offered Himself in His Son. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whosoever believes in Him, will not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3.16, PB 89)

We discover that the Gospels were written for one purpose only: but these things are written that you would believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and believing you will have life in His name. (John 20. 31,32, PB 110) In Jesus Christ, we discover that our greatest enemy can be conquered with the love of Jesus. He poured out His life on the cross for such sinners as you and me. If we accept His sacrifice on our behalf, if we welcome Him into our lives, we find out that HE CONQUERS US! And we are glad!

When He enters into our life, we discover His Word profits us. We can be trained to do battle against any enemy of our Lord. And we discover that He strengthens us for this battle, as we put His Word into our lives. (2 Timothy 3.16, 17, PB 199) It is sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit...discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4.12, PB 205)

No culture nor people will be missed by God. A man named Arthur Hammond worked on the Bible for the Khmer people of Cambodia. He could not keep good translators to help him, until a man named Ham joined him. Each day they might translate one or two verses. They progressed very well. Then, one day Ham showed up at the door of Hammond. "I take the book you give me to work on for the morrow. I cannot put it down. My wife is angry with me, for I stay up until midnight reading. I finish your book (Bible). I am persuaded that this Jesus is the true God. I want to become Christian." "The sacrifice will be great," warns Hammond. "I am ready. I already write to my family. They said I could make up my own mind. I can face my friends." The work went from one or two verses, to one or two chapters per day. And it was accurate.

Study history, read novels. They move from tragic questions to frustration and despair. The Bible opens with tragic questions, but does not stop there, but leads to the glorious answer He provides - His Son, Jesus Christ alive! Read His Word. Be amazed how much He loves you! The B-I-B-L-E...I hope that’s the book for you!

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