10 Reasons to Read the Bible (Part 1)

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

Reading the Bible Helps Us Live Better and Avoid Darkness

If you'd like more information, visit our website morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. Reading the Bible helps us to live a better life. Psalm 119 verse 105 says, Your word, speaking to God, your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.

When a person does not heed the word of God, they go astray. If I don't read the scripture and live by the scripture, I am going astray. Proverbs 6, 23, For the commandment is a lamp and the law a light.

Reproofs of instruction are the way of life. So when we know God's word and then put it into practice, our lives are enriched. Our lives get better. They don't always get easier immediately, but our lives do get better.

Can I get a witness of somebody who says, you know, when I got saved, started reading God's word, my life got much, much better. Because if you can't say yes, then no one else has a reason to even pay attention to what we're saying.

Amen. Can you say that? Amen. When we know God's word and put it into practice, things get better. However, when we neglect God's ways, that's when the darkness starts to spread. You know, there's just darkness everywhere.

There's darkness in the world. And when you don't have the light of scripture, the darkness spreads. Job 22 verse 22 tells us to accept instruction from God's mouth and lay up his words in our heart. So basically, if I can put it this way, there is a principle woven into the fabric of creation that what a man sows that he shall also reap.

So if you do good, good will come back to you. If you draw near to God, he will draw near to you. If we are filled with the spirit of God, then we reap the fruit of the spirit. Love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

And all of that starts by seeking God because you can't know anything about God apart from his word. So if you want that, if you want the best for your life, seek God in the scripture. So that's the first reason.

The Bible, reading the Bible, it helps us to live life better. The second reason, closely associated with it, is to do God's will. I already said, there's all these people asking, how do I know God's will?

What's God's will for my life? Well, it's revealed in scripture. And even if you know what's right, you know, we all need a reminder. Well, I already know all that. There's somebody in this church right now thinking to themselves, whenever I get up here and start talking, well, I already know all this.

I've already heard this before. Maybe that's true. I doubt it's true, but maybe it is true. You still need a reminder. And I know that because I need a reminder. And we get the reminder from the word of God.

Reading the Bible helps you to obey God and to not sin. And whether a person recognizes it or not, sin is the root cause for all of our problems. For all the problems in the world, sin is the root cause.

How do we overcome sin? By having God's word in our heart. How did Jesus resist? Going back to Matthew 4, where we started. How did Jesus resist the temptation in the wilderness? Because he had the word of God in his heart.

He didn't even have to take a Bible and try to find where. Jesus just knew. And he quoted the scripture to the devil. That's how you overcome. Psalm 119 verses 9 through 11. It says, how can a man cleanse his way?

By taking heed according to your word. With my whole heart I have sought you. Oh, let me not wander from your commandments. Your word I have hidden in my heart. That I might not sin against you. It's been said, and I know you've heard this before.

I know most of you have. But it's been said how the word will either keep you from sin. Or sin will keep you from the word. See, we need that reminder. When I first started reading the scripture on a daily basis, it was difficult.

Because I wasn't used to doing it. Just like anything. You take up a new hobby. You try to break a bad habit. At first, it's hard, right? Isn't that true with just about anything? Somebody made a New Year's resolution last night.

That I'm not going to eat this stuff anymore. And I'm going to eat better. And whether you keep that or not is another story. But if you do, you know it will be hard the first few days, the first few weeks.

But it gets easier. Some of you quit smoking a long time ago. And at first you remember how hard it was. But now, you still might think of it at times. But now it's a lot easier. And that's the way it is with reading the Bible.

You start out. It's difficult. And there's always going to be some distractions. Something is going to try to pull you away. But after a little while, it gets easier. And that's when the blessings really start to come.

And as far as overcoming sin. Either God's word is going to dwell within you richly. Or sin will dwell within you richly. It's probably going to be one or the other. Sin will dwell in you to a great degree.

Or God's word. Because one pushes out the other, doesn't it? It's like the water. You pour. You have an empty glass. You pour the water into the glass. That's how you get the air out. You can't get the air out any other way.

You pour the water in. That's how you get it out. That's what you've got to do. Put the word of God into your heart. That gets the sin out. Otherwise, the sin is going to be pushing the word out. It's going to be one or the other.

You know, most professing evangelicals in the United States get maybe what? A half hour pep talk per week? They get a half an hour motivational message per week? Well, and that's if they're going to church at all.

But even if people hear a good biblical sermon, statistics say that only 12 or something like that, 15%, is what you retain. That's not much. It's sort of like being in school. And this is just some advice on how to approach scripture.

It's like being in school. You know how this is. You can sort of coast through and do the bare minimum or just do the things that are required of you. And you're not going to really learn much, though, right?

You're not going to learn unless you, number one, see the importance of it. And then, number two, you do the work. You apply yourself. And that's what we need. We need to see the importance of God's word and then do the work.

We need to apply ourself. Otherwise, we're not really gaining any ground. So unless you're reading the Bible on your own, being in church on Sunday is great. Worship is great. Having Christian friends.

We need the reading of God's word. We need it. Also, going on to the next thing, if you're not, here's the thing. If you're not reading the scripture yourself, then that means you're taking someone else's word for it.

This is why we always encourage you to bring your Bible to church with you. Now, if you look at your cell phone, my eyes are starting to go, so I can understand people who like to look at their cell phone.

But you need the Bible in front of you is the point, right? Because you don't really know whether I'm telling you the truth. I can seem to quote scripture, but is it out of context? Am I just saying things that God said that he didn't really say?

You know there's preachers out there who do that. So if you don't read the scripture for yourself, you're taking someone else's word for it, which leads to the third reason to read the Bible. To guard against false prophets and false teachers.

We saw what Jesus said about the scripture. What did Jesus say about this topic? You can write this down. Matthew 24 verses 24 and 25. Jesus said for false Christ and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

See that I have told you beforehand. Jesus warned his followers, be careful. There's a lot of people out there preaching in the name of God and maybe even in my name or claiming to be the Christ even.

But they're deceivers. First John 4 verse 1. The apostle writes, beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God. Why? Because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

If you say, well, I don't need to read the Bible because I just watch this Christian minister on television. Oh, that strikes panic into my soul. Maybe you're watching someone who's okay, but you better test what he says against the word of God in context.

I don't know how many people I've seen get messed up by coming under the spell of a false teacher. And notice what John said, beloved, do not believe every spirit. And I don't know how to explain this fully, but there's something spiritual.

There's a spirit behind these men who teach false doctrine. You really do come under their spell. Again, I don't know exactly how all that works, but we're told in the scripture to mark and avoid false teachers.

Don't even tamper with it. Don't even, well, I'm just going to, this is the illustration. It's like chicken. I'm going to eat the meat and spit out the bones. Well, that works in life with some things maybe, but if there's a guy, he's a false prophet.

You shouldn't be chewing anything. Mark and avoid is what Paul says in Romans 16. But when you read the scripture for yourself, it helps you to spot their error. So when they say something that's off base, you know better because you read it directly from the source.

First Thessalonians 5, 21 says, test all things and hold fast that which is good. And I'm not just telling you this for the guy on TV. I'm telling you do this to me now because I'm trying to lead you astray.

But every Christian in every church should be doing this no matter who the pastor is. So read the word of God. Test everything you hear from the pulpit against what God's word says. Right. You've heard this before.

You know this. Okay. You got a reminder. Fourth reason to read scripture. But that's new for somebody. It's new for someone. The fourth reason to read scripture is to spend time with the Lord. How much time do you spend with God?

You spend all sorts of time with coworkers. You spend time maybe by yourself, spend time with friends. But how much time do you spend with God? Make it a point in 2023 to spend maybe a little more time with God.

You know, praying is when we talk to God. So when I pray, I don't hear God talking back to me. If you're in the word and praying over the word, that's how God speaks to us. God speaks to us through his word.

So we pray to God, he talks back through his word. He admonishes us. He corrects us. And unless you're perfect, and I assure you you're not, you need, we need that correction and instruction. Hebrews 4 verse 12, For the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit.

I don't even know what that means. I don't even know how that's possible, but that's what it says. That's how powerful the word of God is. And of the joints and marrow in his, here's the thing. It is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Knowing Jesus, the Cross, and the Gospel from Scripture

God's word can speak to us in such a way nobody else can. Reason number five, to know more about Jesus, the cross, and the gospel. I mean, this is a big one, obviously, because there are people who have all sorts of different ideas about who Jesus was, what the gospel is, right?

You've all heard of the social gospel and the prosperity gospel and this gospel and that. Well, there's only one true gospel. And how do you find out what it is? How do you know who Jesus was and what he came to do?

How do you know? By reading the scripture. The answer is in the text. So did Jesus come to fix society? Did he come to make you healthy and wealthy? Did he, did Jesus come? Here's, here's, this one always gets me.

There are some people who think that Jesus came to undo the law of Moses because it just wasn't working. So he's going to, he's going to start over and try something different. Well, not, not exactly.

But there's all sorts of different ideas that people think and say, how do you know? You look to a verse like 1 Timothy 1 .15 that says, Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. Hey, that's in black and white.

That's what, that's who he is. That's what he came to do. Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Coronet Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, morriscoronetchurch .com.

And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett. Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.