The Words of Eternal Life
Theological Proposition/Focus: Scripture contains the most important and significant words we possess.
Homiletical Proposition/Application: We need to not just value Scripture in word but in deed as well.
Introduction:
Image: Use setting the stage for the opening image
Need:
Subject:
Preview:
Text: John 6:68
Setting the Stage:
Read John 6:60-69
One of the hardest teachings of Jesus is not that you need to follow certain rules to get to heaven but that there is nothing you can do yourself to get to heaven.
The Father must enable someone to come to Jesus.
The simple fact is that you can do nothing to earn your way into heaven. Rather Jesus demands personal faith
What Christ offers is not a promise of political freedom from evil overlords. Christ promises atonement for personal sin and freedom from personal sin.
In John 6:66 we see that many of Jesus's follows got the message and realizing it was not what they wanted, they left.
Jesus asks the disciples who did not leave if they will also leave
Peter responds in verse 68, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."
For all the problems Peter has, right here he is the all-star, he get's it. In Christ is everything we could possibly hope for or need.
Body
Today we are going to take a slightly different approach to the outline. The first thing I am going to do is to be to tell you what it looks like to make Scripture a spiritual discipline. To do so I will tell you four different stories of places in the Bible where Scripture was used. Then I will tell you why you should make Scripture a spiritual disciple. To do this I am going to take you to four different passages and use those passages to explain the theology of the use of Scripture. After talking about the why, we will dig into the how. To do this I am going to tell you four stories of modern Christians who I know and what they have done to make Scripture a spiritual discipline. Finally, I will give you a few pro-tips for maximizing your routine. So, with that in mind, let's start with the question:
What does it look like to make Scripture a spiritual discipline?
Spend significant time memorizing Scripture.
There have been a lot of people throughout history who have memorized significant portions of Scripture.
One individual claims that the Apostle Paul had the Old Testament memorized in Hebrew.
Some claim that in the early church Tertullian had memorized the entire Bible.
Martin Luther claimed to have nearly all of the Bible memorized.
Noah Webster is said to have memorized the entire Bible.
In modern times there are a number of individuals who have memorized well over 75% of the Bible.
That is all good and wonderful but let me give you a biblical example.
In Matthew 4:1-11 we encounter Jesus being tempted by Satan in the wilderness.
Satan brings temptation to Jesus and each time Jesus responds with with Scripture presumably quoted from memory.
Satan tempts Jesus with food, Jesus responds by quoting Deuteronomy 8:3 stating "man shall not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."
Satan tempts Jesus with popularity and Jesus responded by quoting Deuteronomy 6:16, stating "Do not put the Lord your God to the test."
Satan tempts Jesus with power and Jesus responded by quoting Deuteronomy. 6:13 stating "Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only."
You may never be able to be famous for memorizing the entire Bible but what I do know is that Jesus had Scripture memorized and used the Scripture he knew.
Spend significant time studying Scripture.
There are all sorts of examples of people who study Scripture
I have a bookshelf full of books written by academics who have spent significant time studying to write a single book on one book of the Bible.
My favorite commentary on the book of Acts is 1162 pages long.
My favorite book on systematic theology is 1663 pages long.
But you don't have to be an academic to study Scripture!
In Acts 17:10-12 we learn of the Berean Christians who studied the Bible daily seeking to see if what Paul preached was accurate.
10 As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. 12 As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.
These individuals benefitted greatly from daily study of God's Word!
