WHAT GOOD IS THE BIBLE?
Preached at Naylor and Wright's Chapel UMC
15 August 2004

I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Luke 4:1-11

-- Witch's Invitation
-- several years ago, Christian singer Carman received an invitation in his male from a male witch -- a warlock -- named Isaac Horowitz -- Isaac had heard about Carman and his witness for Christ -- so he wanted to meet Carman
-- Carman went over to his house -- his house was filled with occultic symbols -- pentagrams -- horoscopes -- Ouija boards -- crystal balls -- Isaac invited Carman to sit down and then handed him a large book filled with newspaper clippins -- Isaac said, "you see all those newspaper clippings -- I did all of that with my powers"
-- he said, "I healed this woman -- and I cured this man -- I cursed this man with AIDS -- on and on -- page after page he went -- finally, he said, "do you realize that with my dark powers I can make you rich or even curse someone to death? -- then, Isaac leaned back in his chair, smirked at Carman, and said, "Now, what can your God do to compete with this?"
-- Carman said he sat there stunned for a few minutes -- he said he kind of felt like Moses did when he turned his rod into a serpent and the three Egyptian magicians did the same thing -- he said "it's as if you're sitting there in that stunned moment while your faith gets violated and all you feel is weak, powerless, and lame"
-- but then, something dwelled up within him and he remembered the word of God from 1 John 4:4, "Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world"
-- and he stood up and thrust that book back into Isaac's arms and said, "I will not compare God's miracles to Satans -- the issues are not whose kingdom this is because that is settled -- the issue is what is the condition of your soul versus mine -- and the Bible tells me that because I believe in Jesus, that my name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life -- where is yours written?"
-- and with that, Carman left -- knowing that God had once again defeated Satan and his servants

Power of God's Word
-- this little story about Carman and his encounter with Isaac proves one great point -- our God is an awesome God -- and there is power in His word -- and, through Christ, we have access to this power -- this book is God's written revelation to us -- and because it is the word of God -- it is powerful -- the Bible says that "the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."
-- Paul tells us in Ephesians 6 that the Bible is to be the Christian's sword -- but very few of us actually take our sword out and use it at all -- 90% of all homes in America have a Bible, but less than 40% of us read our Bibles except at church -- so, this morning, we are going to look at the subject, "What good is the Bible?"

-- Basic Protestant Belief/Wesleyan Quadrilateral
-- we are continuing in our series on the basic Christian doctrines -- so far, we've looked at salvation by faith through grace -- original sin -- justification -- and sanctification -- this morning we are going to look at the primacy of Scripture
-- this was the main break between the Protestants and the Catholic Church -- the Catholic church holds that the Bible and Papal Authority are equal -- Protestants hold that the Bible is supreme and that scripture should be the final word
-- now, this is one place where the Methodists have a little different belief than other denominations -- while we still affirm that the Bible is the principle authority for the church, Wesley taught that we need three other things in order to fully understand the principles of the Bible -- reason -- tradition -- and experience
-- Wesleyan Quadrilateral -- not a football play -- it's recognition that in order to understand the Bible, we need to read it and use reason to try to understand it -- then, we need to look at tradition to see how this has been played out in history by the church community -- and finally, we look at the experience of this truth in our life
-- that's all well and good, but what good is the Bible in my life? -- what does it matter if I read the Bible or study the Bible or memorize passages from the Bible? -- let's look at a passage now in Luke 4 that answers that question

-- Scripture Lesson -- Luke 4:1-11
-- context -- Jesus has just been baptized by John in the Jordan River -- God has just spoken audibly and announced to all those present that Jesus was His beloved Son, in whom He was well pleased -- and now, after that spiritual high, we are given this passage

-- vs. 1-2
"Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. "

-- first thing to see here -- this is a pattern -- any time you have a spiritual high, it will usually be followed by a spiritual low -- anytime you do something for God or you start on a new spiritual discipline, Satan steps in -- he doesn't mind Christians, so long as they don't do anything -- but once they do -- once they start to deny themselves, pick up their crosses and follow Jesus, Satan gets perturbed and steps in, trying to tempt us into sin
-- spend time worrying about Osama Bin Laden and terrorism in our country -- we need to be just as concerned with spiritual terrorism
-- difference between temptation and sin -- temptation is not sin -- decision point -- a choice -- as Yogi Berra says, "when you come to a fork in the road, take it" -- temptation is a fork in the road and you have to choose at that point whether to give in to temptation and sin or to resist temptation and follow God -- Rick Warren, "temptation is an opportunity to do good"

-- vs. 3-11
"The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread." Jesus answered, "It is written: `Man does not live on bread alone.' " The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours." Jesus answered, "It is written: `Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.' " The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here. For it is written: "`He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.' "

-- in this passage we see three times where Satan tried to tempt Jesus -- the first temptation was the lust of the flesh -- the desire to fulfill the needs of the body in a wrong way -- the second temptation was the lust of the eyes -- the desire to obtain what we see before us -- the third temptation was the pride of life -- the desire to elevate ourselves above God
-- Satan tempts us with whatever he thinks will take us down -- for some of us, it is the lust of the flesh -- for others, the lust of the eyes -- for others, pride -- whatever it is, be sure that if Jesus was not immune from temptation you will not be
-- what do you do when Satan comes around to you and starts whispering his lies in your ears? -- what do you say to him? -- some of us just try to ignore him, but that doesn't work -- Satan is persistent and he will keep on and on and on until you finally give in -- some of us try to argue with him -- to confront him with our knowledge -- but that won't work -- Satan has been tempting humans for thousands of years, and he knows all our arguments better than us
-- so, what should we do? -- we should follow Christ's example -- in every situation, when Satan tempted Him, what did Jesus do? -- He recited scripture back to Satan -- all He did was speak God's word in power to turn back that particular temptation
-- have you ever wondered about that? -- why did Jesus do that? -- He was God -- all He had to do was speak and Satan could have been destroyed then once and for all and we wouldn't have to be putting up with him right now -- or, Jesus could have called down legions of angels to come and fight Satan on His behalf -- but He didn't do any of that -- He simply quoted Scripture -- Why?
-- He did it because it was an example for us -- just like His baptism -- Jesus didn't have to be baptized, but He did it to show us the way -- and in this case, He is showing us how to fight temptation -- how to fight the lies of Satan -- He knew we couldn't defeat Satan by our words and that we couldn't call down legions of angels, so He showed us how to get rid of temptation when it comes our way -- we are to call on the power of the Word of God
-- that is why we need to read and study and memorize God's word -- so we'll be ready to fight Satan's temptations when they come our way -- how are you going to use your sword if you don't know where it is or if it is dull from a lack of use?

-- story of Isuzu truck with hose loose -- couldn't use it for about three months -- the power was there all the time -- it was only a loose connection that kept us from putting the power to work
-- what is the loose connection in your life that is keeping you from putting the power of Scripture to use? -- it doesn't matter if 90% of the homes in America have Bibles in them if no one reads them -- the only way to get the power is to read and study and memorize the Bible
-- importance of memorization -- quick recall of Bible verses to use to confront Satan and temptation
-- you memorize what you want to -- phone numbers -- addresses -- people's names -- baseball statistics -- football statistics -- I'm tired of people telling me that they can't memorize the Bible -- you memorize what you want to -- preaching without notes

-- shortly beore WWII, a Bible distributor visited a small village in Poland and gave a Bible to a villager, who was converted by reading it -- he passed the Bible onto others -- the cycle of conversions and sharing continued until 200 people had become believers through that one Bible -- the Bible distributor came back to preach a worship service -- and rather than ask for testimonies -- he suggested that several in the audience recite verses of Scripture -- one man stood and said, "perhaps we have misunderstood -- did you mean verses or chaptes? -- these villagers had not memorized a few select verses of the Bible but whole chapters and books -- since they only had one Bible, it was the only way they could keep the Bible close to them

Closing
-- John 1:1-5
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it."

-- Jesus is the Word -- Jesus is the physical representation of God's Word and the Bible is the written representation of God's word -- when God speaks, He speaks with Power -- when God speaks, the world is created -- when God speaks, life is renewed -- when God speaks, darkness flees -- and when you speak God's word in Jesus' name, the same thing will happen -- darkness and temptation will leave you just as Satan left Jesus after he failed in tempting Him
-- want to close with this quote:
"This book is the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners and the happiness of believers -- its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding; its histories are true and its decisions are immutable
-- read it to be wise -- believe it to be safe -- practice it to be holy -- it contains light to direct you -- food to support you and comfort to cheer you -- it is the traveler's map -- the pilgrim's staff -- the pilot's compass -- the soldier's sword and the Christian's Character
-- here paradise is restored, hevaen opened, and the gates of hell disclosed -- Christ is its grand subject, our good its design -- and the glory of God its end
-- it should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet -- read it slowly, frequently , and prayerfully
-- it is a mine of wealth -- a paradise of glory -- and a river of pleasure -- follow its precepts and it will lead you to Calvary -- to the empty tomb, to a resurrected life in Christ -- yes, to glory itself, for eternity"
-- Let us pray