I Don’t Have to Read the Bible– Lies of the Enemy #11– Purity 1023

To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.org or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning. Today's photo of Tranquility at Lake Nautili comes to us from Fred Dimmick, who shared this beautiful collaboration between God and man on social media on April 19th. Apparently Lake Nautili is a man-made lake and is one of the, of of many reservoirs of the Tennessee Valley Authority. It is located entirely in Union County, Georgia, within the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. Uh, the lake was formed, um, in 1942 by the damming of the Nottely River, and it extends 20 miles upstream to the town of Blairsville. So man dammed Nottely River to make the lake to help with flood control, but you don't get lake without the river— God's creation. And you don't get that sense of tranquility without that sunset. And we don't get that underlying peace without the presence of God. Well, it's Friday. Let's thank God for that too. And Fred's photo has me thinking of the countryside home I will return to this evening, and of the possibility of finding some tranquility out in God's creation, as the wife has scheduled a hike to Crown Point tomorrow. Uh, I have never been there, but I am trusting Tammy Lynn to lead me to something good and look forward to the trip. My research this morning shows me that, uh, that there is a Crown Point historic site on the shores of Lake Champlain, but I honestly am not sure if that is our destination or not. But I was able to download a couple of PDF maps, uh, to my Adobe Cloud if I discover there is no other Crown Point in the Great White North and want be able to find my way. Well, I usually would put just spontaneously go and see. It can also be nice to know where exactly you are going and having a map or a guide to give you the heads up of the— on the lay of the land. It's good to know the truth about what, what you will experience. And speaking of the truth, that brings us to continue in our current series, which is an examination of some of the common lies that the enemy tells us to cause us to doubt our faith, steal our peace, or to influence us to choose not to follow the Lord with the way we live our lives. And so today, because I am thinking, uh, about guidance, uh, today's big lie is lie number 11: I don't have to read the Bible. How many people that you know who claim to be Christians have said those words to you? I pray it's not many, but the hard truth is that a recent article by Stephen Presley on religionunplugged.com indicates that there has been a dramatic decline in Bible reading, quoting a study from the American Bible Society that noted an unprecedented drop in the percentage of Bible users in the United States, noting that nearly 26 million Americans reduced or stopped their interaction with scripture in the past year. So less people are draw— are drawing, uh, well, so more people— gotta watch your wording— so more people are drawing away from reading God's word, um, which would cause us to question, do I have to read the Bible? While the last thing I ever want to do is to create a legalistic requirement or checklist of things you must do to be a Christian, I would point to scripture to show that the study of God's word should be a fundamental aspect of our faith. Before I present the verses and another link to openbible.info, I just want to tell you that when I was born again in 2010, I really had a sense that the Lord did indeed actually save me because I suddenly had a real desire to be a quote-unquote real Christian, which was accompanied by a newfound passion to know God more by reading his word. I have been reading the Bible ever since. I've read it several times in various translations and have consulted numerous, uh, commentaries from other— and other Christian books. And I've greatly benefited from knowing what the Bible says and applying its wisdom to my life, which naturally brings me to the first verses that come to mind when I— when I seek to encourage others to read the Bible. James 1:22-25, uh, from the NIV tells us, uh, do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and after looking at himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and and continues in it, not forgetting what they have heard but doing it, they will be blessed in what they do. Head knowledge is one thing, but the Bible was meant to be a guidebook to living. Its purpose is to draw us close to God, cause us to make, uh, Christ our Lord and Savior, uh, to teach us how God would want us to live us— live our lives, and to tell us what is to come in the future. Spoiler alert: Jesus is coming back. Um, 2 Timothy 3:16-17. 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us all scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. God gave us his word to teach us what is true, to do what is right, and to equip us for life. Some people turn the word Bible into an acronym to remind us that it is our basic instruction instructions before leaving Earth to highlight its purpose. Hebrews 4:12 tells us, uh, for the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. The Bible is a living word, and it speaks to our hearts to guide us in the way we should go. It's the best way to hear God's voice. Romans 10:17 tells us, 'So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.' Our faith comes through the word of God. The good news about Jesus that causes us to, to believe is— surprise— Bible-based. So our faith came by hearing what the Bible had to tell us about Jesus. Most of what we know about Jesus is contained in its pages. So this living word saves us, but it also assures us that we have been made new and are transformed by its study. 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. All things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. And Romans 12:2 tells us not to be conformed to this world, but to be— but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Our minds, hearts, and lives are to be transformed by the truth of who God is and who we are in Christ, which is all found in the Bible. So here's a link, uh, to Bible Info's 59 Verses About Bible Reading. Uh, it's on the blog, uh, to encourage you to not stand on your freedom to not read the Bible, but to further to be further assured that God gave us his word to help us. We might be lazy, prideful, or stubborn, but we should also know that the enemy Satan is delighted when Christians don't read the Bible or know what it says. So to combat that first-person lie from the enemy that tells you, 'I don't have to read the Bible,' turn the tables on the spiritual forces of darkness by saying, 'Yeah, I don't have to read the Bible, but God invites me to read his word so I can hear him speak, and that's a conversation that I definitely want to be a part of. I will read the word of God and do what it says. So keep walking and talking with God and pick up the Bible regularly to see what he is telling you there. As, uh, let's see, and we move along today, today's Bible verse. Surprise! Um, from the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men, this morning's meditation verse is, uh, or verses are actually, uh, Colossians 3:9-10. And, uh, the word says, don't lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like Him. Today's verses contain the proof text of what I consider to be one of the first things a Christian disciple should commit themselves to when they decide to be a real Christian: stop lying. Satan is the father of lies, and so that— so the last person we want to resemble Uh, as Christian is the devil, so we should, so we should seek to, so we seek, I seek to encourage all who read this today to speak, uh, the truth in all things. Stop lying to each other. After being a habitual liar to cover up my shortcomings or sins for most of my life, it was a great relief to make the dis— that decision to stop lying. When the Lord put this conviction on my heart, I was far from perfect. Still, still am far from perfect, but because the Holy Spirit in me convicts me to tell the truth, I have had the humbling but freeing experience of ratting myself out when I invariably would make some foolish decisions. When you are throwing yourself under the bus regularly because you want to walk the walk as well as talk the talk of being a Christian by telling the truth, you eventually learn to stop the shady behaviors that normally have to be covered up. Telling the truth helps us to know our Creator and to become more like him. Comically, I would and still sometimes do regrettable or foolish things. I usually confess them shortly after because I couldn't bear to remain in deception's shadow. The Holy Spirit convicts me to do what is right now, like all the time, and so I am increasingly honest in my actions as well as my words. Uh, not perfect, mind you, by the, um, but the deep relief that comes from living in the truth, uh, and yeah, I don't know what I was trying to say there. I, I, because of the deep relief that comes from living in the truth, I usually instruct anyone that I just disciple to stop lying because of the joy that I have found that comes from knowing that you have nothing to hide. And you are living in harmony with the Lord. Um, as always, I invite all to go to mtforchrist.org where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we continue sharing from A.W. Pink's The Sovereignty of God, or actually we're in the appendix now, uh, basically Appendix 1 of On the Will of God. And today we're sharing the second part of that appendix, and we'll be all through with that appendix, moving on to Appendix 2 tomorrow. So if you want to see that resource, go to the end of today's blog post to read what A.W. Pink has to say about the will of God. Also at the end of that blog post, you'll see a bunch of encouragements and links to various things, one of which is to join our discipleship classes that we put on the podcast for Victory Over the Darkness, The Bondage Breaker, and Freedom in Christ. These are audio teachings that I put forth back in 2021 to encourage the body of Christ and to, you know, help people learn about who they are in Christ, what the spiritual forces of darkness are and can do, and most importantly, how to experience your freedom in Christ. And so if you want to check out those teachings and if you wanted to get those materials um, you'll find them on the blog, and then you can email me at mtforchrist247@gmail.com to receive the class materials I handed out, study guides and handouts, free of cost via email. Also, we encourage the word of God. Surprise, surprise, that's what today's message is all about. So we, um, we encourage people to read the Bible and do what it says, and we do that here on the podcast by doing a Bible study, a topical Bible study with Arthur and Susanna Kadi each Sunday, and we'll be doing it in 2 days. So if you, if you can't wait 2 days, we have a whole archive of studies from our past, basically audio and video, available on our YouTube channel and the podcast. So if you wanted to check those out, enjoy a Bible study, we invite you to check ours out and join it. So today is Friday, and I have to run out the door to go to work. So let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you so much for all you've done. Uh, thank you for saving us and encouraging us to read your word and to do what it says, and the way, you know, um, that has transformed our lives. And Lord, we pray for anyone who's listening or reading this message today, that you would come and encourage them to read your word and to do what it says. To be guided in the way they should go. We also pray that you would come alongside them and bless them and come alongside them in their prayer request. Today we're praying for a dear friend whose husband had a heart attack, and luckily they— it was before they went away on a trip, and apparently it's gonna— he didn't die and he's going to have to have surgery done over the weekend or possibly Monday. So we're keeping her in our prayers today, and we'll continue to pray for her privately. But today I wanted to mention her on the podcast, so she'll remain nameless because I don't know if she wants her name out there. But we're praying for our friend, and, um, you know, if you wanted to come alongside her in prayer, we'd appreciate that because, uh We need each other in the body of Christ. And, um, you know, when these things happen, we really understand what's important. Um, it's our faith, our love for one another, and, um, you know, our assurance that God has everything under control and that no matter what happens, we can find peace and strength when we turn to him. So as we draw into the last day of the work week, we also need to find strength for the day. So let's pray for that. Um, Lord, we pray for you to go before us today, open our eyes to everything you want us to see and do, and, uh, lead us in the way we should go. Because, Lord, we need your help, um, every day, um, to draw closer to you and to be more like you, uh, and to do the good works that you've prepared for us beforehand, the reason why you brought us into the body of Christ. And so, Lord, we want you to help us to find our purpose today. And to bask in the peace that comes from being in your presence. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, and we love you. We pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.