Beginning with the Bible, Part 1: Start Here

Sunday, October 20, 2013

- If someone were to ask me what I thought the purpose of the Bible was then I would have to say that the main purpose of the Bible is to point people to salvation in Jesus Christ.

- But I would also have to give the person who asked me that question, today's take-home truth: the Bible lights our thought paths, so we can walk with Christ in obedient faith.

- The Bible lights our thought paths so we can walk with Christ in obedient faith.

- Now, the only way the Bible can do that is through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and by the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

- Without the Holy Spirit to guide and direct as we read the Bible, then we are only left with human reasoning, false arguments, and proud obstacles which lead to disobedience.

- The Bible lights our thought paths so we can walk with Christ in obedient faith.

- Let's get going first with Psalm 119:105, "Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path."

*- When we think about the kind of lamp that the psalmist was referring to then we need to be thinking about an ancient lamp. Not something which has about 40 million candlepower.

- There's no faith involved in using that kind of lamp to get from the tent or the camper to the toilet in the middle of the night.

- Using that would be like having your own little personal version of the sun.

- There's no effort involved. This is not the right kind of lamp.

*- No, we're talking about something which has about 1 candlepower.

- Going out after dark with this kind of lamp requires a great deal more concentration from a person. It requires a great deal more faith.

- This lamp also requires effort because you have to pay attention to your feet. You have to keep your wits about you.

- A small lamp like this lights up just enough of the space around you so that you are forced to take one step at a time with your eyes focused on the path ahead of you.

- The psalmist wrote, "Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path."

- The world in which we live is a dark world filled with the darkness of sin and controlled by the powers of darkness.

- But Jesus is the light of the world and he has given us the lamp of his word to shine on the path that lies before us, so that by faith in him, we can take each day one step at a time.

- The words that God has spoken in the past capture for us the character of God himself, as well as the character of his plans.

- As we spend time in his word, the better we know him and the better we know his plans and therefore the better we can know what God would have us do as we face all of life's circumstances.

*- The better we know God's words the better able we will be to make the daily decisions of life that keep us on the path with him.

- The Bible lights our thought paths so we can walk with Christ in obedient faith.

- Now let's turn to our second Scripture for this morning, 2 Corinthians 10:3 to 6

*- 3 We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. 4We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. 5 We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. 6 And after you have become fully obedient, we will punish everyone who remains disobedient.

- Now, the original readers and listeners to this letter from Paul were the Christians of the city of Corinth.

- The folks at Corinth had all kinds of problems. I am thankful to God that they did because we wouldn't have first and second Corinthians without them.

- One of the problems they had was in listening to all kinds of false teachers.

- So, Paul contrasted human standards with God's standards. He told them there's a human way of doing things and there's a godly way of doing things.

- Paul reminded the Corinthian Christians that the Christian life is a spiritual war and that Christians are warriors for God, who are involved in spiritual battle against spiritual forces of evil.

- Because this is a spiritual battle against spiritual evils, it would be silly to consider fighting in this battle with physical strength and human strategies and material wealth.

- Paul says we use God's weapons for this fight, and we don't use God's weapons to attack people.

- In the sixth chapter of his letter to the church of Ephesus, Paul told the Ephesian Christians about the armor of God and Paul only lists two weapons of attack, the rest are defensive weapons, the two weapons are the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, and prayer, persistent, Spirit filled, unceasing prayer.

*- Physical, worldly weapons are absolutely useless in spiritual battle.

*- Only the truth has the power to gain victory in spiritual warfare. Only faith in God empowers Christians in spiritual struggles. Only by following God's path can victory be guaranteed.

- Paul was right to be concerned about the Corinthian Christians because the strongholds of the devil are false philosophies which turn away glory from God and hide the truth.

- Paul, saw strongholds of evil as human reasoning, false arguments and proud obstacles.

- Any belief, point of view, thought, attitude or value that deflects glory from God and hides the truth is a stronghold of the devil.

- The Christian has access to only two weapons to attack, tear down and destroy such strongholds which keep people from knowing God.

- Again, those two weapons are the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, and persistent prayer in the Spirit.

- And Paul says what we must do to respond is destroy strongholds and take every thought captive to obey Christ.

*- As Paul wrote to the Romans, Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. (Romans 12:2, NLT)

- The Bible lights our thought paths so we can walk with Christ in obedient faith.

- If we are going to be the kind of people who bring God glory and bring the truth of God's grace to our neighbors, then we also need to be the kind of people whose beliefs, thoughts, attitudes, values and points of view are grounded in the Christ of Scripture.

- We need to be the kind of people who take every thought captive to obey Christ.

- We need to be the kind of people who are unwilling to allow themselves to continue copying the behavior and customs of the world,

- And be the kind of people who are willing to allow God to transform us by changing the way we think.

- We need to become the kind of people who live on a steady diet of Bible.

*- The Bible contains the words of God which reveal the Word of God, Jesus Christ.

- To know Jesus, we need to know his words and deeds.

- To think like Jesus, we need to know what he said and how he acted.

- To know God's standards, we need to be intimately familiar with his law.

- To fight in the battle, we need to know how to wield our swords and we need to know what to pray and how to pray.

- To fight in the battle, we also need our armor: feet, shod with the gospel of peace; waists, buckled with the belt of truth; bodies, covered with the armor of righteousness; heads, wearing the helmet of salvation; and, having a firm grip on the shield of faith.

- To know God, we need a steady diet of his word.

- The Bible, we start here. Read it, and read it more. Pray it, and pray it more. Know it, and know it more. All so that we'll know him and that he knows us.

*- The Bible lights our thought paths so we can walk with Christ in obedient faith.