25-0615a Transcript

Preacher: Mike Mathis

(0:59) Good morning to those that are here at the building (1:04) and to those who are on the phone. (1:10) We welcome you. (1:12) And aside from this day being Father’s Day, (1:17) which again we wish the fathers happy Father’s Day, (1:24) the lesson that I choose this morning is the blessing of reading.

(1:34) Now this can be beneficial to everybody, (1:39) but I have especially dear gifts for the young people. (1:45) And I wish there were more young people here, (1:49) but we who are here and those who are listening, (1:55) you can be benefited, we can be benefited. (2:02) By what we learned this morning.

(2:07) Revelation 1, 3 says, (2:11) Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy (2:20) and keep those things which are written in it, (2:24) for the time is near. (2:28) Now that is speaking specifically of revelations. (2:38) And I believe that we can apply that to the reading of the rest of the word of God.

(2:51) Starting from Genesis to Jude and including Revelation. (3:03) Then what I want to do is I want to encourage those of us here to learn to read. (3:25) There are two things that I have heard out of people.

(3:33) One is I don’t like reading. (3:37) And the second is I don’t have time to read. (3:47) Especially when it comes to reading the Bible.

(3:52) There is a third excuse. (3:57) That is the Bible contradicts itself. (4:05) And it says one thing, one place.

(4:11) And then it says another in opposition to what it says. (4:17) But let me assure you that the Bible does not contradict itself. (4:27) That these contradictions are just supposed.

(4:38) But let us turn to 1 Timothy 4. (4:45) The fourth chapter. (4:48) And I’m going to begin reading. (4:54) I’m going to begin in verse 12.

(5:00) Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers (5:06) in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. (5:16) Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. (5:23) Do not neglect the gift that is in you, (5:27) which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership.

(5:37) Meditate on these things. (5:40) Give yourselves entirely to them that your progress may be evident to all. (5:48) Take heed to yourselves and to the doctrine.

(5:52) Continue in them. (5:54) For in doing this you will save both yourselves and those who hear you. (6:09) Now I’m going to say that the first thing that I want to deal with in this particular reading (6:22) is that Paul instructs this young man Timothy.

(6:31) And that is he instructs him to give attention to reading, to exhortation, and to doctrine. (6:44) Now there are copies of the Bible that says, give attention to public reading. (7:00) Now the New King James says, give attendance to reading.

(7:08) So this reading can be private reading. (7:13) This is what I want to encourage, is to privately on your own read the Bible. (7:29) Now reading does not mean you take the Bible and you open it up to a certain place (7:42) and you just read maybe a verse or two and then you close it up.

(7:51) I have read, because maybe I have read a couple of verses, (8:06) but what about the rest of that chapter that I may be in? (8:13) Or better still, what about the chapters that are before that? (8:19) So the simple thing is, is to take a book of the Bible, (8:29) start in that book at the very beginning of that book. (8:37) Like saying, you really want to read, some have suggested that you read the book of Mark. (8:53) You start in Mark at the beginning of Mark, (8:58) and Mark will, from the first chapter to the end of the book of Mark, you read it.

(9:08) You start reading that way and begin to do so in a private way. (9:20) It can also be done publicly. (9:26) It’s good that we publicly read the Bible.

(9:31) There are times that we have a public reading, (9:36) but we choose to read a certain portion of the Scriptures publicly, (9:46) without even commenting on what is stated in there. (9:52) That’s good. (9:53) We let the Bible speak, and we do it in a public way.

(10:00) Now let me give attention to those excuses that I have read. (10:11) I don’t like to read. (10:15) Boy, that is a different thing with me.

(10:22) You know, when I learned to read in grade school, (10:28) starting to read in the first grade, such things as run, spot run, and such like, (10:44) when I learned to read, that opened up a whole new world for me. (10:53) I was getting books, and there was a time that I had a star on my eye, (11:04) and I believe it was my right eye, (11:10) and it was almost closed, but I had a book, (11:16) and I was trying to read that book just with one eye, (11:22) because that is how much reading I enjoyed. (11:33) Now I want to ask a question.

(11:38) Do we like to eat? (11:42) I don’t know of anyone that would say, I don’t like to eat, (11:52) unless they are really not hungry, because they may be ill. (12:01) They may have something on their mind, and that takes the appetite away. (12:11) Otherwise, I don’t think anybody would say, I don’t like to eat.

(12:19) Now, you take some food because you’re hungry. (12:29) You have a plate, and you put what you want to eat on that plate, and you eat it. (12:40) Now let me ask you, how long does it take you to eat what you put on the plate? (12:47) Not very long, is it? (12:52) You know, the Word of God is spoken of as spiritual food.

(12:57) We have a physical part to us, and we have a spiritual part to us. (13:07) And just as we need to satisfy the hunger that is in our physical bodies, (13:16) we need to feed our spiritual part. (13:25) 1 Peter 2, verse 2, in that it says, (13:32) As newborn babies desire the sincere milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby.

(13:47) A newborn baby needs milk, starts on milk, and as he grows, as the baby grows, (14:02) he is given, besides the milk, food. (14:09) It may be soft, but he starts eating food. (14:17) And as time goes on, he keeps growing.

(14:23) He gets to the point that he takes more solid food. (14:29) Well, that’s the way it is with the Word. (14:33) It is spoken of as food.

(14:40) And there is something that is said in Hebrews 5, beginning with verse 12. (14:56) It says, For though by this time you ought to be teachers, (15:01) you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God. (15:08) And you have come to need milk, not solid food.

(15:15) For everyone who protects only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, (15:23) for he is a babe. (15:26) But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, (15:31) that is, those who, by reason of use, have their senses exercised (15:37) to discern both good and evil. (15:44) So it is spiritual food.

(15:48) And the Hebrew writer, whoever it is, (15:55) chides them for not being teachers themselves. (16:03) But then they need the milk of the Word to start out. (16:12) The newborn babes that are in Christ need milk, but they need to grow.

(16:19) And then partake of the more solid part of the Word. (16:29) And then, I don’t have time. (16:37) Now, since I’m talking especially to young people, (16:45) you’re now having your school vacation.

(16:52) But when school is going on, you may be given homework. (17:03) And you come home, but when you come home from school, (17:10) you may have to do your chores at home, (17:20) plus do your homework that the teacher assigned you. (17:25) And after that, you do your homework.

(17:32) Then there are some free time. (17:34) What do you do in that free time? (17:41) You might even upon in school find some free time (17:48) while you’re at school. (17:54) What do you do in that free time? (18:04) While you have that free time, (18:07) you could be reading some from your book, from the Bible.

(18:18) Now, we might take another book, (18:27) and we might read that, whatever book it is. (18:32) We may look at a magazine. (18:35) We start reading an article out there.

(18:40) Or we could take a little bit of time to read in the Bible. (18:50) Now, this thing, I don’t have time to read, (18:56) is not a valid excuse. (18:59) We have to make time to read.

(19:06) But then there is this thing about the Bible contradicts itself. (19:22) In 2 Timothy 2, verse 15, it says, (19:38) Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, (19:43) a worker who does not need to be ashamed, (19:47) rightly dividing the word of truth. (19:52) Now, let’s not say, now wait a minute.

(19:57) This is not Timothy when we learn about Timothy. (20:02) We learn that he is a young man. (20:06) He is an evangelist.

(20:12) He has learned from childhood and known the Holy Scriptures, (20:19) according to 2 Timothy 3, verse 15. (20:25) And he knows the Scriptures. (20:30) And some may say, well, I’m not going to be a preacher.

(20:36) I’m not going to be a teacher. (20:38) Okay, okay. (20:42) I’m not talking about that.

(20:44) I’m talking about let us learn what God wants us to know, (20:49) because this is where God is speaking to us. (20:56) But we’ve got to know something about this book (21:00) that a lot of people fail to recognize. (21:07) And that is that the Bible is divided in two parts.

(21:14) Now, if we’re going to rightly divide the word of truth, (21:19) let’s know that the Bible is divided into these two parts, (21:27) the Old Testament and the New Testament. (21:33) We need to learn that those that lived under the Old Testament (21:39) were told things that don’t apply to us. (21:47) They were told to do things that are not told us to do.

(22:00) Now, I have divided this lesson into two parts. (22:05) I’m going to get into the second part tonight. (22:13) So let me encourage you to read this, to start reading the Bible.

(22:26) Now, let us understand we live under the New Testament. (22:34) This is the Testament that we have under Jesus Christ. (22:44) And the things that we do, as we read it, (22:51) that we are told to do, we should do.

(22:59) And we need to learn to rightly divide the word of God. (23:06) In other words, we, for instance, need to ask ourselves, (23:12) who said it? (23:15) Not a word that you read. (23:19) Because I see sometimes that there are people that will say (23:27) that the one who writes the book, (23:32) and let’s start with the first five books, (23:35) Moses wrote those books.

(23:38) But Moses wrote as God instructed him. (23:44) And then when God is speaking, and they’re reading down, (23:51) they fail to take in that God, in the beginning, it says, (24:02) and God said. (24:06) Moreover, the word of the Lord came to Moses and said, (24:10) and read on down, and then we come out and say, (24:16) well, Moses said this.

(24:19) Yes, Moses said that. (24:24) But we need to know that God is telling Moses, (24:29) and Moses wrote it down, and he in turn told the people. (24:35) So we need to learn that.

(24:39) So let’s start at the beginning. (24:44) In Genesis, God said, (24:51) eat the forbidden fruit, you die. (24:56) God told them that they were not to eat of the tree of knowledge (25:01) of good and evil.

(25:03) For in the day that you eat of that, you’ll die. (25:08) The serpent said, you won’t die. (25:13) God’s hiding things from you.

(25:16) He knows that you will be as he knows. (25:25) God instructed Noah to build an ark, (25:29) but he doesn’t tell us the day that we need to build an ark. (25:37) We live, as I said, under the New Testament law.

(25:46) So we need to understand. (25:47) And therefore people seem to get things mixed up (25:55) because they don’t realize, (25:58) oh, I believe all the Bible. (26:06) Yes, I believe that God instructed Noah to build an ark, (26:11) but I also believe he didn’t tell me or anybody today to build an ark.

(26:17) We need to handle the word of life. (26:26) Now I’m going to offer the invitation. (26:33) Jesus said in Mark 15, 15 and 16, (26:38) he told the disciples there to go into all the world (26:45) and preach the gospel to every creature.

(26:48) He that believes and is baptized shall be saved. (26:54) That is a simple statement. (26:58) It’s so easy to understand.

(27:03) But we’ve got people that very wholeheartedly contradicts that. (27:17) They don’t believe what that says. (27:26) To some, the way that’s agreed is that (27:32) he that believes shall be saved and is baptized.

(27:40) No, that’s not what that says. (27:42) That says he that believes and is baptized shall be saved. (27:50) So if anyone has not obeyed the command to believe and obey, (28:00) and there as that said, and as Jesus said there, (28:05) but he also said we need to turn away from sin.

(28:10) And he also said that we need to confess him before an end. (28:19) So if you haven’t done that, then we urge you to do so. (28:27) But also, that’s not the end of it.

(28:30) You know, some people will be buried in waters of baptism (28:37) and then, God on my way, (28:43) don’t make attention to live as God would want them to live. (28:50) And that is not right because he wants us to live faithful unto him. (29:00) Now, it won’t be perfect, but he wants us to be faithful.

(29:06) He wants us to be true to him. (29:09) So if you are subject to the gospel invitation in any way, (29:14) if you need the prayers of the congregation for whatever reason, (29:21) we would urge you to come forth while we stand and while we sing.