Reading the Bible by Pastor Vernon Rainwater

Why should we read the Bible? There are lots of ways I could approach a topic like this. I could talk about why we gravitate toward a certain translation of the Bible. I could explain why we believe the Bible is historically accurate and inerrant in the original text. I think I can make a fairly convincing case for why we can trust the Bible to be historically accurate, authoritative … that it's true in our lives and for our lives.

In the end, we will either decide that the Bible is the authority in our lives, and therefore the Bible and what it contains is smarter than we are, or we will decide that we are the authority in our lives, and we know better than what the Bible says. All of us make that decision, in one way or another, every single day of our lives with Scripture.

So how do we decide that we should read the Bible? We should read the Bible because it is a training manual, and our lives depend upon it.

I make a statement that strong because the Bible, as we have it, is so important in our lives. Here's what it says in Psalm 19:7-10: “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold” (ESV).

In 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Paul writes these words: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man [or woman] of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (ESV).

So Paul and David are saying this book is where truth comes from. Now, it would be one thing for David to say that. It's one thing for Paul to say that. It's quite a different and less significant thing for me to say that. But do you know who else believed that this is the word of God? Jesus Himself believed that. He believed it with every fiber of His being.

Jesus read the Bible. When Jesus announced His ministry, He announced it by reading from the Holy Scriptures to all who were listening. So in order to be a follower of Him, you can go to the same source He went to, and that's Scripture itself.

I once asked a successful businessman who supervises employees, “If you had created a training manual for your staff, and it was absolutely imperative for them to read that training manual, how would you persuade them to read it?” He thought for a minute and said, “I would read it along with them. I’d read it to them if I had to.” I love that! Think about that. It changes everything when the boss comes and reads with you what you need to know.

Do you realize that’s exactly what God has done with His Word? He reads with you. When you read Scripture, He is reading along with you. How do I know that? It says in 1 Corinthians 2:13: “And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual” (ESV). In other words, God Himself makes His Word clear to us as we read it. If you’re wondering, How come I read the Bible, but I never understand it? it’s because you’re forgetting the fact that Jesus is right there beside you, reading along with you.

There are times when I’m reading the Bible, and I don’t understand it. I just turn to Him and say, “This doesn’t make any sense. What were you thinking when you wrote this down?” Sometimes He tells me, and sometimes He just says, “Just keep reading.” And sometimes He doesn’t answer at all, which means I should have gotten it and didn’t need to ask Him. You figure out for yourself how you want to communicate with Him about it, but He’s reading along with you as you are reading His Word.

Ultimately, we should read the Bible because of whose story this is. Moses is not the story of Moses; it’s the story of Jesus, a perfect Moses who would deliver His people from bondage. David is not the story of David; it’s the story of Jesus, who would be the perfect King, who would never sin and would rule in splendor and glory. It’s not the story of Noah, who would gather people on a boat; it’s a story of Jesus, who would gather us into His church and take us on a journey that one day will result in our reaching our eternal and promised land.

This is not your story. If you’re reading every story of the Bible, looking for yourself in the Bible, you will be disappointed. You’re looking through the wrong end of the telescope when you do that. If you read the Bible, realizing from the beginning to the end that it’s the story of the glory and the suffering of Christ, it will change everything … and it can help you change the world.

It starts with your deciding whether you will let the Word of God speak in your life. Would you take a moment now and make that decision?

Rising (morning)

Psalm 147 The Message 14 People have read this passage
Hallelujah! It's a good thing to sing praise to our God;
praise is beautiful, praise is fitting.

God's the one who rebuilds Jerusalem,
who regathers Israel's scattered exiles.
He heals the heartbroken
and bandages their wounds.
He counts the stars
and assigns each a name.
Our Lord is great, with limitless strength;
we'll never comprehend what he knows and does.
God puts the fallen on their feet again
and pushes the wicked into the ditch.

Sing to God a thanksgiving hymn,
play music on your instruments to God,
Who fills the sky with clouds,
preparing rain for the earth,
Then turning the mountains green with grass,
feeding both cattle and crows.
He's not impressed with horsepower;
the size of our muscles means little to him.
Those who fear God get God's attention;
they can depend on his strength.

Jerusalem, worship God!
Zion, praise your God!
He made your city secure,
he blessed your children among you.
He keeps the peace at your borders,
he puts the best bread on your tables.
He launches his promises earthward—
how swift and sure they come!
He spreads snow like a white fleece,
he scatters frost like ashes,
He broadcasts hail like birdseed—
who can survive his winter?
Then he gives the command and it all melts;
he breathes on winter—suddenly it's spring!

He speaks the same way to Jacob,
speaks words that work to Israel.
He never did this to the other nations;
they never heard such commands.
Hallelujah!
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Reconnecting (midday)

Genesis 9 ESV 15 People have read this passage
And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.

"The fear of you and the terror of you will be on every beast of the earth and on every bird of the sky; with everything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea, into your hand they are given.

"Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant.

"Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.

"Surely I will require your lifeblood; from every beast I will require it. And from every man, from every man's brother I will require the life of man.
"Whoever sheds man's blood,
By man his blood shall be shed,
For in the image of God
He made man.
"As for you, be fruitful and multiply;
Populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it."

Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying,

"Now behold, I Myself do establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you;

and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, even every beast of the earth.

"I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth."

God said, "This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations;

I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.

"It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud,

and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh.

"When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth."

And God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth."

Now the sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem and Ham and Japheth; and Ham was the father of Canaan.

These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated.

Then Noah began farming and planted a vineyard.

He drank of the wine and became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent.

Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside.

But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were turned away, so that they did not see their father's nakedness.

When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him.

So he said,
"Cursed be Canaan;
A servant of servants
He shall be to his brothers."

He also said,
"Blessed be the LORD,
The God of Shem;
And let Canaan be his servant.
"May God enlarge Japheth,
And let him dwell in the tents of Shem;
And let Canaan be his servant."

Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood.

So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years, and he died.
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Resting (evening)

Romans 4 NIV 7 People have read this passage
What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

“Blessed are those
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the one
whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”
Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.

Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead —since he was about a hundred years old —and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
Romans 8:28 NIV 5 People have read this passage
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
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