Sermon Central
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This Old Book Series
Contributed by Jerry Owen on Aug 1, 2022 (message contributor)
Summary: sermon introduces a series on the Bible.
THIS OLD BOOK
When I was a kid, I was an avid reader. I cut yards to earn money and I bought/read all the Hardy Boys books. Loved Arthur/Camelot books. I read a lot of science fiction and fantasy adventure Books. I got a lot of enjoyment out of those books, but none of them really changed my life or helped me in any significant way.
When I was 6 or 7, though, I was introduced to an Old Book. In fact, it was quite ancient. I couldn’t understand much of it for a long time without having someone explain parts of it to me. But, I was fascinated by many of the stories I read in it. It is like no other book you will ever find. This Old Book is amazing. It has some of everything! Mystery, intrigue, love, hate, friendship, betrayal, all sorts of topics.
Adventure- Book of Acts- Apostle Paul’s missionary journeys.
Romance/Sex- The Song of Solomon.
War/Combat- Book of Joshua.
Self help Books- Book of Proverbs
History- 1&2 Kings and Chronicles, Ezra/Nehemiah, Ester, Prophets
Music- Book of Psalms
* Interestingly, this old book was written over the course of 1500 years but is still just as relevant today. What is it about this book that makes it still relevant today? It is because it is the Living Word of God.
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
1. THE WORD OF GOD IS ALIVE.
You can go to Brandon to the downtown library and you will find thousands of books. Fiction, historical, poetry, all kinds of books. Many of these books are informational, enlightening, and entertaining. But there is one book that is all of these things and more. Of all the books in the library, only one of those is “alive.” That is the Holy Bible. God’s Word is not a dead work written by a now dead author. It is relative in every generation and for every individual.
But there is another way that it is alive. It is alive because it brings forth life. One of the basic laws of biology is that only life can bring for life. God’s word brings life to the lost person that reads it when they respond to the gospel and repent and believe in Jesus.
And a third way the Word of God is alive, is because Jesus is the Word of God. John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God and He was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory.
You can’t really believe in Jesus without believing the Bible and you can’t really believe the Bible without believing in Jesus.
2. THE WORD OF GOD IS ACTIVE/POWERFUL.
In 1789, a mutiny took place on a ship called the Bounty. Fletcher Christian and his mutineers took the ship from Cpt Bligh due to his acts of extreme cruelty to the crew. They settled on Pitcairn Island along with their Tahitian wives. The mutineers were lawless and drunkards, though. Quickly their little society tore itself apart through drunkiness and fighting. 10 yrs later only 1 man was left alive along with the women and children. His name was John Adams. John came across the ships Bible one day and began reading it. Soon, the power of God’s Word transformed him from a brawling drunkard to a peaceful, loving believer in Jesus Christ. In short order, he shared the gospel with every person on the island and all became Christians.
** There was no preacher, no evangelist.... only the Word of God.
For many years, God gave me the privilege of leading mission teams to many areas of the world. Over the course of about 8 years my mission teams gave out more than 6000 Bibles in a country in Asia. There was this One guy I gave a Bible to and witnessed to him. I told him to begin reading in the NT. He said, no, I want to start from the beginning. I was afraid he would get bogged down and quit reading. 6 months later we went back and he informed us that he had become a Christian. I asked what led him to do that? His answer was that he read about a loving God that created man. But how all mankind became filled with sin and throughout the years repeatedly God poured out his wrath on sinners. He realized that even though God hated his sin, He did indeed love him. He found Christ on his own during those 6 months with just himself and the powerful Word of God.
