Why do we prefer to stumble along and do a job halfway, when, with just a little effort, we could do it well? Why is it that we will take a stab at something we don’t know how to do, .we will fool with it, we will mess with it, but, if it takes some study to learn to do it right, we’re not interested, we’re outta here? Why is that?
Last week my wife put in front of me a little alarm clock, designed for travelers. It was a thin little thing, about the size of a credit card, and it runs on one of those little watch batteries. It needed a new battery. Would I please get the old one out? Well, I took one look at the thing and knew instantly how to get the battery out. Four screws on the back plate; obviously, just take those out and the battery would be exposed. So out came the four little screws. But guess what? Inside there was another plate, a plate with circuits on it; the battery was visible at one end of that plate, but the plate too was held down with more screws. Did I have to undo those too? About this time, Margaret hovered over my shoulder and began to express concern about what I was doing. That’s what wives do, you know; it’s a setup. They ask you to do a job and then they tell you you’re doing it wrong. Now if they really know so much, how come they don’t just do it themselves?! I guess it’s all a part of what makes marriage interesting. Anyway, she said, "Do you really think you should take all that stuff apart? Isn’t there maybe a pullout here at the end of the clock?" "Pullout!" say I. "Whoever heard of such a thing? No, you always have to get into the back of these things to get out the battery." And so I worked away at the world’s smallest Phillips head screws, using the world’s dullest Phillips head screwdriver. No success.
Then I remembered that when I had taken the clock out of its case, there was a piece of paper inside. Just an innocent, nondescript piece of paper. I got that paper, and right at the top, in bold print, it said, "How to change the battery: grasp the pullout bracket at the end of the clock."
Ouch! Groan! And what is the lesson here? Some of you are saying, "The lesson is, listen to your wife." Okay, I’ll take that. But there is another lesson, too. That lesson is, "When all else fails, read the instructions." "When all else fails, read the instructions. "
For, you see, in life, all else will fail, if we do not read the instructions. It’s not really a question of IF all else fails; it is WHEN all else fails. It is because everything will fail, if you and I do not read the instructions for life.
God’s instruction manual for life is called the Bible. This book, which has lasted through many centuries, which has been translated into thousands of languages, is the best selling book of all time. It continues to be purchased and distributed all over the world. It is recognized, even by those who disregard its message, as the greatest of literary masterpieces. The Bible is unique. It is praised by nearly everybody. There’s just one thing wrong. There’s just one problem. The Bible is unread and unknown. It is not understood, it is not used as it was intended. It has not become our instruction manual for life.
For we prefer, as with everything else, to stumble along, making it up as we go, botching it. Why is it that we seem to prefer muddling through, when, with a little effort, with some study, we might live powerfully? When all else fails, since all else will fail, read the instructions.
I
For one thing, knowing the Bible will help us deal with the disappointments of life. Understanding what the Bible has to say about human nature, will empower us to be strong in difficult circumstances.
Paul, in this letter, is counseling the young Timothy to deepen his understanding of the Scriptures. And Paul testifies that the only thing that got him through some tough times, times when his integrity was being called into question, times when his intentions were being challenged ... the only thing that got him through those tough times was his knowledge of the truth. Paul speaks of having endured persecutions and suffering; he mentions three towns where folks rose up in arms and just about killed him. But Paul tells the young Timothy that he could endure that because he understood that some folks were deceived, some folks were ignorant, and that he found the Scripture is useful for reproof and correction. Reproof and correction.
Paul endured the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune because, through his study of God’s word, he knew where he was headed, he knew why others were mistaken, he had something useful for reproof and correction. The Scripture taught Paul how to deal with the disappointments of life.
There is a discipline that some of us have studied, at least a little, a discipline that helps us understand human nature. It’s called psychology. Psychology helps us describe and sometimes even prescribe human behavior. And that’s fine. I do not put down the discipline of psychology for one moment.
But here is.the psychology book par excellence! Here is the record of human nature, in all its richness, and in all its sickness! Here is the record which will teach us who we are, how we can deal with our hurts, our disappointments, our challenges. It is useful for reproof and correction.
You’ve tried to make a friendship work, but everything is going wrong. YOu’ve tried to cajole and bribe and flatter, but your friend is growing more distant. Where do you get help? Where else but in the Scriptures will you find out that "If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing." When all else fails in friendship, read the instructions.
You’re trying to manage a marriage, but the harder you try, the worse it gets. You have threatened, you have commanded; and then you have tried being a meek little nothing. But it isn’t working. What do you do? Where else but in the Scriptures will you read, "Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ ... love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her."? Where else will you learn that? When all else fails, read the instructions.
You’re trying to raise a child, and that kid just has a mind of his own. When you say no, he says yes. When you say it’s red, he insists it’s blue. When you say it’s cold, he knows it’s hot. Where are you going to get some help? Yes, read your Dr. Spock, or whoever the current guru is. Yes, read the child psychology textbook. But also let’s read, "Fathers, do not provoke your children, or they may lose heart." When all else fails, before all else fails, read the instructions.
The whole spectrum of human issues is here, and the Scriptures are useful for reproof and correction. You’re battling an illness, and you need assurance. Where else can you be assured that there is one who "forgives all our iniquities and heals all our diseases"?
You’re wondering whether your life has meaning; you’re wondering if you can invest yourself in something that has power. What other book will tell you, "Whoever would save his life shall lose it, and whoever will lose his life for the gospel will find it." What other book? When all else fails, read the instructions. They are useful for reproof and correction.
And when you are facing death, when the last hours come, what other source do you have to know that there will be a city where there will be "no more death, no more crying, no more pain.. where all things will be made new?" Read the instructions, friends; when all else fails, because all else will fail, read the instructions. They are useful for reproof and correction in life’s disappointments.
II
But the Bible is not only useful to defend us. It is also useful to equip us. The Scriptures not only protect us and guide us in our disappointments; they also equip us to make a difference. Like the good NFL teams some of you are off to see today, they are not only defensive, they are offensive.
Paul not only tells Timothy that God’s word helped him fight off deception; he not only shows that God’s word helped him deal with persecution and suffering. Paul also tells Timothy that God’s word equips. It prepares us to do something positive. It teaches us how to make a difference.
"All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work." "Proficient, equipped for every good work."
I must tell you flat out that the scandal of contemporary Christianity is that so many of us are ineffective. So many of us cannot do anything that makes a difference. We cannot share our faith; we cannot teach others; we cannot even so much as console the grieving or comfort the sick. We don’t know how. We don’t know how because we have not studied the Scriptures, which are able to train us and to equip us for every good work. We need the Bible to make us effective, proficient people.
Many of you entered the church building today through the Piney Branch Road door; Over it, in the stone work on the outside, there is an open Bible. A good symbol, as far as it goes. It is a reminder that all that is preached here, all that is taught here, comes from the Scriptures. Let no message ever come from this pulpit that is not saturated in the Bible.
But I want you to notice something disturbing about that open Bible up and over the church door. Its pages are blank. The masons carved nothing on them. No words, not even a reference to some verse. Just an open, blank, book.
To me that is a picture of where we are. We revere the Bible, but we do not see its content. We pronounce our allegiance to the Scriptures, but they are empty, they are a hidden mystery, because we have not studied them and let them equip us. But, I tell you, with the great apostle, that the Bible can train us, it can equip us. And if we use it, we can make a difference in this world.
Suppose you want to make a difference in somebody’s life. Then you have to know what the Bible means when it insists that one "must be born again". And you have to know how to help someone find that new birth.
Suppose you want to make a difference in this community, in this city. Then you had better have a grasp of the God who requires that we do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with Him. When all else fails, read the instructions, and they will equip you for every good work!
Suppose we want to be a great church; suppose we want to be faithful to our Lord’s commission; suppose we want to deserve the right to continue here on this corner. Then let us get serious about the Bible. Then let us expand our Sunday School and let adults enroll in it and bring their children. Suppose we want to prosper as a church; then let us study that word that teaches us to "go and make disciples of all nations", all the people of this community, red and yellow, black and white -- for how else would we know they were all precious in His sight, if it were not for this book?
Let us do Sunday School and Prayer meeting and Seekers and Experiencing God and outreach Bible studies and support groups. Let us do it all! Because this word is able to equip us for every good work. And without it we will be flimsy reeds, blowing in the wind. When all else fails, before all else fails, read, know, study these instructions. They are able to make us proficient, equipped for every good work.
III
For, after all, the bottom line is this: something eternal is at stake, and without the Scriptures we will miss it. Something of overwhelming importance is at the very heart of human life, and without the Bible we will not grasp it. There is something you just can’t get unless you read and follow the instructions.
Says Paul, "The sacred writings are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus." The issue is salvation. What does it mean to be saved? How is anyone saved? Is it just by wanting to be saved? Is it by deserving to be saved? Is it by being a nice, sincere person, who believes in vaguely good things? No. No.
If we expect to be saved, that comes through faith in Christ. And faith in Christ comes from the instruction of this word. These words point to the word made flesh. This word is able to instruct us for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
Men and women, let’s get serious about the Bible. We will pay a terrible price for Biblical illiteracy. The souls of our people are at stake. Eternity is at stake. I do not ask that we all become scholars. I do not expect us to gobble up Greek or to hover over the Hebrew. I would not want us to hole up in our corners and become connoisseurs of the curiosities, figuring out how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. I just ask one thing. When it comes to life, life here and now, with aII its disappointments; life that can make a difference; life that has eternity in view… when all else fails, because all else will fail, will you please read the instructions?
