2 Timothy 3:16 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
Theopneustros – God Breathed.
2 Peter 1:21 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 2:13 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.
John 5:39 39 You study[a] the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me,
Bible Facts/history
40 authors
Over period of 1500 yrs
Over 25,000 manuscripts – 98% accuracy
95% of entire bible accurate to other manuscripts
Most historically accurate documents in the world.
The bible is a mirror, not a window
Coloring book version – Samson, Noah, David and Goliath, Jonah
Example : Jonah 1:1-2 The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”
Nineveh was the capital of Assyrian Empire during the reign of King Hezekiah of Israel
Jonah rebels, flees
Great fish
Jonah 4:6-11 6 Then the Lord God provided a leafy plant[a] and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. 7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.”
9 But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”
“It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”
10 But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”
How do we become a “man after God’s own heart” like David?
Joshua 1:8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
Psalm 1: 1-2 Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
- Read the bible for yourself.
God’s plan for redemption
God’s promises
God’s character
2 Timothy 2:15 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
- Study the bible yourself
that I might not sin against you.
Reading does not equal studying
Commentaries, bible study, Sunday school
- Meditate on the word
Matthew 13:19 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path
- Apply the word
Let the Spirit lead
John 14:16-17 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be[a] in you.
John 16:13 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
The written word leads us to the Living Word
The word made text leads us to the Word made flesh.