Becoming a People of the Word

BECOMING A PEOPLE OF THE WORD

 

The great British preacher, Charles Spurgeon, was testing the acoustics in a new building erected for his congregation. In his best annunciation he spoke into the empty hall, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!” To test the acoustics again, he repeated the phrase. This was in the 19^th century without the benefit of a sound system. But he was not as alone as he thought. Two laborers were working up in the superstructure of the cathedral, unchurched men who did not follow Christ. One of the men was convicted on the spot when he heard those words, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” 

            I believe this is the power of the Word of God to change people’s lives. Reading the Bible will transform your life. Hearing the words of the Bible spoken will speak to your heart. 

            From our Vision Statement under “Radically Following Jesus,” is written: “We envision a community of believers becoming a people who read and understand the Bible, becoming as a result a people of the Word. We will read the Bible through the lens of Jesus Christ, grasping his Lordship, Sonship, and salvation throughout the Old and New Testaments.” 

            In short, when we adopted this vision statement as a community of believers, we promised to become a people of the Word of God. To that end, we are embarking on a year of becoming a people of the Word. Our primary way of doing that is through using Immerse in our Life Groups.

            Our text today emphasizes our conviction that the Bible transforms the life of the Christian making him or her equipped to handle life’s challenges. Let’s briefly unpack this. 

            Paul told Timothy, “All Scripture is breathed out by God…” (16a) or is “God-breathed.” Think of God breathing out versus inhalation. If you speak while breathing in, it’s not natural and a little difficult Your larynx was designed by God to respond to air moving up out of your lungs (A-B-C-D inhaling and exhaling examples). Scripture is God breathing out. We can say that the Bible is God talking – it is the voice of God. 

            All of Scripture is a product of the breath of God. The Spirit moved in the writers’ personalities, contexts, histories, and crises to speak what God wanted to convey to his people. Peter commented on this when he wrote, “…you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. No, these prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God,” (2 Peter 1:20 NLT). 

            The word “fairy tale” kept clanging in my head this week. I had read a post online of a person responding to the Bible as a just a bunch of fairy tales. As if Hans Christian Andersen had written his ugly duckling story for the Bible. It was a hostile response. And I kept thinking, “Is that what the world thinks of the Bible?” When people think that way it gives you pause, “Do I believe the Bible? If I believe the Bible, do I take it seriously?” 

            Peter’s inspired statement in his second letter tells us that the Bible writers were not writing from their imaginations, nor were they inventing clever stories. These are NOT fairy tales, but revelations of God’s working in the midst of human history, most notably through Jesus Christ, his own Son. 

            What’s most remarkable about Paul and Peter’s statements is that they are talking about the OT. The New Testament had not been written and collected yet. The OT, which many Christians find difficult to read, was the Bible for the new church in Acts. All the books, from Genesis to Revelation, are God’s breath. Not all books are equally important; not all are equally inspired (Esther vs. John). But the Holy Spirit had a purpose in prompting men and women to write what they wrote. 

            What does the Bible do for you? Paul told Timothy that it is “…profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,” (16b). A good way to remember the gist of this verse is this: 

·      Teaching – tells you what is right.

·      Reproof – tells you what is not right.

·      Correction – tells you how to get right.

·      Training in Righteousness – tells you how to stay right. 

            Many people today think that the Bible is not relevant to today’s issues. Some think it is the job of the preacher to make the Bible relevant, but the truth is more that the job of the preacher is to keep from making the Bible irrelevant. It is already relevant. We must handle it correctly. 

            A Wycliffe Bible translator in a remote village in Papua New Guinea reported how when they translated the opening chapters of Genesis for the natives, their attitude toward women changed overnight. They had not realized or understood that women had been specially formed out of the side of the man. Without even this concept developed, these people immediately grasped the ideas of equality between the sexes and adjusted their behavior. They heard the Word. They believed the Word. They changed.

            If the Bible is not relevant for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in what God tells us is right living, then why, during the Stalin era in Soviet Russia, were the Soviets so afraid of the Bible? They jailed people for reading it. They knew that this book had the power to change lives. 

            What does the Bible do to you? Paul concludes his thought, “…that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work,” (17). That’s an interesting word, “complete.” It carries the meaning of “entirely suited” or “able to meet all demands.” If you don’t believe the Bible is useful and relevant, you will be an incomplete Christian. That means, you will not be able to meet life’s challenges with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the wisdom of Christ, or the power of God. 

            What are you facing? What challenges? What responsibilities? What burdens? What sacrifices are you called to make? The Scriptures enable us to face all of life’s challenges by comprehensively preparing us for every good work – for whatever God asks us to do. 

 

            Today, in English alone, there are more than 900 translations or paraphrases of the New Testament in whole or in part. And to think that only 500 years ago there was only one basic translation – Latin! And only the priests and the wealthy could read Latin. The Bible was not in every home. The Bible was not available to every person. Most Bibles were chained to the pulpit. 

            But men like Martin Luther, John Wycliffe, and William Tyndale believed that the Bible should be available to every person in their own language. The church at the time prohibited translating the Bible into the common language. But they persisted, some died, and we have the Bible – God’s words – in our homes, even on our phones. We have no idea how miraculous that is! 

            This is the year for RFC to become a people of the Word. Our challenge is to read the Bible with fresh eyes. Nothing has a greater impact on the spiritual growth of the church than when people read the Bible. If we could do one thing to help people grow in spiritual maturity and in their relationship with Christ, it would be to help our people get into the Word of God and to reflect on it as it pertains to life. 

            Let’s read together God’s Words! Let’s hear together God’s voice!

 

                                                            AMEN?