No Ordinary Book
Of all the books ever written, there is only one that is divinely inspired, utterly infallible, and totally trustworthy – the Bible, the Book of books!
The Bible is no ordinary book; it is the unfolding revelation of almighty God. The Bible is the mind of God put into print so that man can know His ways, His character, and His power. In it the Lord demonstrates His amazing love and concern for us by bestowing magnificent promises and fulfilling them. The Bible is where we can find solid answers and real help for every circumstance of life.
The Book of Books
During much of the 19th century, George Müller, pastor, evangelist and founder of the Ashley Down Orphanages in Bristol, England, cared for 10,024 orphans in his life. George Müller was known as a man of audacious faith and prayer. When you read his autobiography it is amazing to see the answers to prayer this godly man had during his long life.
He boldly prayed in millions of dollars for the orphanages and never asked anyone directly for money. He never took a salary in the last 68 years of his ministry, but trusted God as “Jehovah-Jireh” to put in people’s hearts to send him what he needed. He never took out a loan or went into debt, and neither he nor the orphans were ever in lack.
What was his secret that made him a man of such daring faith and prayer? During his lifetime he systematically read through and studied the Bible from end-to-end over 200 times, and more than half of those readings he did on his knees, praying over the Scriptures and meditating on God’s promises diligently. For George Müller, the Bible was the world’s greatest library and the fuel for his faith.
2 Timothy 3:15-17 (NIV) From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
In these few verses, Paul gives us two major reasons why we should know and study the Scriptures…
- The first purpose of the Scriptures is that we might come to know the Lord Jesus Christ and receive salvation (verse 15). We learn about Jesus our Savior and His saving grace through the Bible.
- The second purpose of studying the Word is to help us grow spiritually that we might be equipped for whatever God wants us to do (verse 17).
- The fourfold process to continual spiritual growth is teaching (doctrine), rebuking, correcting, and training (verse 16).
- Teaching shows us the godly path on which we are to walk as believers; rebuking shows us where we got off the path; correcting tells us how to get back on the path; and training in righteousness teaches us how to stay on that path. This means that the Bible is the comprehensive guidebook for living the Christian life.
The powerful evangelist Dwight L. Moody often said, “The Bible was not given to increase our knowledge, but to change our lives.”
The World’s Greatest Library
The word Bible means “THE BOOK.” The Bible is one book, with one Divine Author, but it is also a library of sixty-six books. Under the direction of the Holy Spirit the sixty-six books were written over 1,600 years, on three continents, through the pens of at least forty human writers who came from all walks of life – kings, prophets, leaders, fishermen, shepherds and followers of Jesus.
The Bible begins with the creation account of Genesis 1 written by Moses about 1445 BC and extends to the eternity future account of Revelation 22, written by the Apostle John about AD 95. Through the work and personal supervision of the Holy Spirit, the Word of God was protected from any human error.
“The Bible has been banned, burned, scoffed, and ridiculed. Scholars have mocked it as foolish. Kings have branded it as illegal. A thousand times over it the grave has been dug and the dirge has begun, but somehow the Bible never stays in the grave. Not only has it survived, it has thrived. It is the single most popular book in all of history. It has been the best-selling book in the world for years!” – MAX LUCADO
The Bible is THE BOOK for everyone! It is an entire “Divine Library” of sixty-six books covering the whole range of literature. It includes history, poetry, drama, wisdom, biography, prophecy, love letters, philosophy, visions of the future, and inspirational reading. Little wonder, then, that all or part of the Bible has been translated into more than 2,426 languages and every year more copies of the Bible are sold than any other single book. The Bible will still be the Book of all books when all the other writings of men throughout the centuries have passed into obscurity.
The Bible is the most amazing volume ever penned. In its 66 books, 1,189 chapters, 31,173 verses, and 774,746 words, God Himself speaks to humanity. It is revelation, inspiration, and communication of God’s plan for man. It is a book of divine instruction. It offers comfort in sorrow, guidance in perplexity, advice for our problems, rebuke for our sins, and daily inspiration for our every need.
Why God Gave Us the Bible
Sir Walter Scott, a famous Scottish novelist and poet and a devout Christian, was dying when he said to his secretary, “Bring me the Book.” His secretary looked at the thousands of books in his vast library and said, “Dr. Scott, which book?” He said, “THE BOOK, the Bible – the only Book for a dying man!”
And I would have to add that the Bible is not just the only Book for a dying man, but it’s the only Book for a living man, because it is the Word of life. God has given us the Bible in order that we might know Him and that we might do His will here on earth.
“Scripture is like a pair of divine spectacles which dispels the darkness and gives us a clear view of God. When the Bible speaks, God speaks!” – JOHN CALVIN
The Bible is God’s written revelation of His will to mankind. It is in the Bible that we find straight answers to life’s biggest questions: What is the meaning of life? Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going? What is the purpose of my existence? The Bible is a written history of God’s saving grace. The Bible is one book, one history, one story, HIS STORY! The central message of the Bible is the message of the Lord Jesus Christ who declared in John 14 verse 6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
The Bible contains the divine answer to the deepest needs of humanity, sheds unique light on our path in a dark world and makes plain the way to our eternal salvation through personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. By surrendering your life to Jesus and following His principles in the Bible, you will be on the right road to great blessing and reward. God and His Word provide the only stability in our unstable world. How shortsighted people are who spend all their time, efforts and energy focused on this temporary world and accumulating its possessions, while neglecting the Bible and its eternal truths!
What the Bible Will Do For You
Many of today’s most popular books listed on “the bestsellers lists” are self-help books. But the number one bestseller of all time is the Bible, which, amazingly, fits into the opposite category: it’s a non-self-help book! The Bible teaches us that we cannot help ourselves, but God can. Through His Word God freely offers all the help and answers we need. Among many other things, the Bible will teach us how to trust in the Lord and depend upon Him alone for direction, protection and provision (Proverbs 3:5-7).
Even with today’s vast wealth of books and amazing technological advances, the Bible remains the only source of divine revelation and power that can equip and encourage Christians in their “daily walk with God.” Through the Word you’ll walk in wisdom, be built up spiritually, sharpen your discernment and clarify your life’s direction. Note these ten powerful promises in the Scripture.
1. The Bible is the source of faith. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17).
2. The Bible is the source of truth. “Sanctify them by Your truth; Your Word is truth” (John 17:17).
3. The Bible is the source of spiritual growth. “As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby” (1 Peter 2:2).
4. The Bible is the source of joy. “Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart” (Jeremiah 15:16).
5. The Bible is the source of wisdom. “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom” (Colossians 3:16).
6. The Bible is the source of God’s blessing when obeyed. “Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it’” (Luke 11:28).
7. The Bible is the source of guidance. “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105).
8. The Bible is the source of peace. “Great peace have those who love Your law” (Psalm 119:165).
9. The Bible is the source of power. “The Word is alive and full of power – making it active, operative, energizing, and effective” (Hebrews 4:12 AMP).
10. The Bible is the source of victory in spiritual warfare. “I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the Word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one” (1 John 2:14).
If you want to be wise, read the Bible. If you want to be secure, trust the Bible. If you want to be right with God, obey the Bible. Through the Bible, we obtain hope, encouragement, comfort, strength, wisdom, faith and much more.
What You Should Do With the Bible
Studying the Bible is an absolute must for Christians. God’s Word instructs us, “Study to show thyself approved unto God” (2 Timothy 2:15 KJV). The Bible teaches that we cannot be true disciples of Jesus Christ if we do not have a regular intake of the Word of God (John 8:31-32). Far from being an outdated, stuffy or boring book – the Bible is still very relevant today! Because it is the divinely inspired Word of God and because it provides unparalleled eternal benefits, these should be your responses to God’s Word:
- Read it (I Timothy 4:13).
- Receive it (1 Thessalonians 2:13; Mark 4:20).
- Study it (Acts 17:11; 2 Timothy 2:15 AMP).
- Understand it (Matthew 13:23).
- Believe it (John 6:68-69).
- Pay attention to it (Proverbs 4:20).
- Meditate on it (Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:2).
- Trust in it (Psalm 119:42).
- Obey it (1 John 2:5).
- Hide it in your heart (Psalm 119:11).
- Love it (Psalm 119:97).
- Live by it (Matthew 4:4; Psalm 119:9 NIV).
- Speak it (Joshua 1:8; 2 Corinthians 4:13).
- Treasure it (Job 23:12).
- Preach it (2 Timothy 4:2).
- Fight for it (Jude 3).
A person currently facing problems might say, “If only we had a manual of instruction for life.” We do! It’s called the Bible, the Word of God. The Bible is “the user’s manual for life and living.” The key to unlocking the door of real peace, joy, wisdom and personal success in life is seeking the Lord and daily renewing your mind in His Word, the Book of books!
Dr. Howard A. Kelly (Professor of Gynecology at Johns Hopkins University from 1889 through 1940, and Gynecologist-in-Chief to the Johns Hopkins Hospital) was a committed Christian and avid student of the Bible. Speaking at Moody Bible Institute, he once said: “The very best way to study the Bible is simply to read it daily with close attention and with prayer to see the light that shines from its pages, to meditate upon it, and to continue to read it until somehow it supernaturally works itself, its words, its expressions, its teachings, its habits of thought, and its presentation of God and His Christ into the very depth of one’s being.”
Even though the Bible is an ancient book, its principles are timeless and its truths are just as relevant today as when they were first written thousands of years ago. As we read, meditate and consider God’s truth, our spirits and souls find nourishment. Our faith increases and we grow in godly wisdom. Wisdom has the power to change our lives for the better and save us from ungodly choices.
Think of the words of George Washington, “It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible,” and President Abraham Lincoln’s thoughts on the Bible: “In regards to this great Book, it is the best gift God has ever given to man. All the good the Savior gave to the world was communicated through this Book. But for it we could not know right from wrong. All things most desirable for man’s welfare, here and hereafter, are to be found portrayed in it.”
What’s the best thing you can do with your life? Spending quality time reading and studying God’s Word, “the Book of books” because it is spiritually enriching, faith-injecting, and life-transforming and results in a deeper walk with God.
