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Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

The Bible is God's message to mankind. It is a record of God's dealings with men at particular times and places. It is God's revelation to man with regard to truths that must be believed, commands that must be obeyed, and promises that must be trusted in.

The Bible is important because the information found within is of the utmost importance.

Three Reasons Why the Bible is Important:

1. The Bible is our Only Source of Information About God

Where else can we go to find out about God? We learn of His great power (Genesis 1:1) and that He is our creator and sustainer (Colosians 1:16-17). We learn of His great love for us (John 3:16; Romans 5:8). We learn of His justice (Romans 2:5-11) and His mercy (Psalm 100:5). We learn that He has all knowledge (Isaiah 46:9-10) and is the source of all truth (John 17:17).

2. The Bible is our Only Source of Information About Salvation

From the earliest pages of the Bible we learn about sin (Genesis 3; 1 John 3:4) and its damning effects (Isaiah 59:1-2; Romans 6:23). We learn that the responsibility is our own and no other's (Ezekiel 18:20). We learn that everyone has this problem (Romans 3:23). We learn that we are lost. Where would we be without knowledge of Christ's purpose for coming - to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). There would be no hope without knowledge of God's plan for man's salvation (Romans 1:16; 2 Thessalonians 2:14).

3. The Bible is our Only Source of Information About Eternity
Man would be left to wonder about what lies beyond or left without hope without the Bible. To those faithful in Christ there is hope and reward (Revelation 2:10; Matthew 25:21). There is relief from pain and suffering (Revelation 21:4). There is rest (Revelation 14:13). There is separation from that which is evil (Revelation 21:8).

The aforementioned is a mere taste of what would be lost to us if we didn't have the Bible. The truth is that these things are lost to millions on the earth today because they don't count the Bible as important and so it is neglected. These die without the hope that can only come through the Bible.

Alexander Campbell was one of the founders of the Restoration Movement in the early 1800's. This was an American movement to return Christianity back to the simplicity of the New Testament, and to return to the Bible as the guide in Christian beliefs.

Campbell wrote about the Bible:
"The Bible is to the intellectual and moral world of man what the sun is to the planets in our system - the fountain and source of light and life, spiritual and eternal."

"The Bible, or the Old and New Testaments, in Hebrew and Greek, contains a full and perfect revelation of God and his will, adapted to man as he now is."

"The Bible is a book of facts, not of opinions, theories, abstract generalities, nor of verbal definitions. It is a book of awful facts, grand and sublime beyond description. These facts reveal God and man, and contain within them the reasons of all piety and righteousness, or what is commonly called religion and morality. The meaning of the Bible facts is the true biblical doctrine."

Campbell gives this advice on the study of the Bible:
We must not listen to the voices around us, but hear the still, small voice of God's instruction.

He says we must approach Bible study by doing these things:

1. approach Bible study as a child

2. meditate upon God's word day and night

3. sit in God's presence

4. listen to God's instruction

Barna Research: Barna noted that most local churches essentially ignore three critical spiritual dimensions: ministry to children, ministry to families and prayer. His statistics showed that less than one out of every five Protestant churches deem ministry to families or to children to be among the top priorities of the church.

There are 48 direct references in the Bible to the phrase "the word of God".

Proverbs 30:5
Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.

Luke 4:4
And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.

Luke 5:1
And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,

Luke 8:11
Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.

Luke 8:21
And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it.

Luke 11:28
But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.

Acts 6:7
And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.

Romans 10:17
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Ephesians 6:17
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Hebrews 11:3
Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

Jeremiah 10:23 - The way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.

The Bible claims that it teaches the true answers to these questions.

Psalms 119:105 - Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.

John 17:17 - Your word is truth.

2 Timothy 3:16,17 - All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Bible teaching affirms that belief in the gospel of Jesus Christ and Christian teaching will give the spiritual direction you need to show you the meaning and purpose of life. It claims that you can find these answers in God's word if you will diligently study the Scriptures.

A Christian's desire for the Truth, the Word of God, must be avid. A believer must give the highest priority in his life to learning Bible facts and principles. There are many examples in the Bible of the great effort made by people of God to obtain truth.

John 14:6 "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me."

Matthew 6:28-34

Psalm 119:72 "The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver."

PSALM 119:127, 162.

Proverbs 23:23 "Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction and understanding."

Psalm 86:11 "Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth; unite my heart to fear thy name."

EXAMPLES OF EAGERNESS FOR TRUTH

Temple worshippers in the time of Christ: LUKE 21:37,38

Samaritans: JOHN 4:39-42

Cornelius: ACTS 10:30-33

Bereans: ACTS 17:10-13

COL. 1:9-13, 21-23; 2:1-8

EPH. 1:17-23; 3:14-19; 4:11-16

REASONS WHY BIBLE TEACHING IS IMPORTANT

The Bible is the only source of knowledge of how to know and love the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no such thing as "love at first sight" in spiritual things. The believer must get to know Christ very well, and this requires the daily intake of knowledge about Christ through the Word of God, which is "the mind of Christ."

I Corinthians 2:16 "For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ."

Philippians 3:10 "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his suffering, being made conformable unto his death."

John 14:23 "Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loves me not keeps not my sayings; and the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me."

Daily Bible study leads to occupation with the Lord Jesus Christ, a daily walk with
the Saviour.

Hebrews 12:2,3 "Looking unto Jesus, the author and finished of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest you be wearied and faint in your minds."

Bible doctrine, learned under the faith principle of applied teaching, produces confidence during the believer's lifetime.

2 Corinthians 5:6-8 "Therefore, we are always confident, knowing that, while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, and not by sight). We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord."

The Bible is the only source of God's viewpoint.

Isaiah 55:7-9 "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have compassion on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Bible doctrine is the basis for orientation to God's plan during the believer's lifetime.

Isaiah 26:3,4 "The one who is steadfast of mind thou wilt keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in thee. Trust in the Lord forever, for in God the Lord, we have an everlasting rock."

Bible knowledge produces sanity and stability of mind. It is very important to get the Word of God into the mind before the times of pressure come. It is not too likely that an unstable person will respond to the Word of God. God's deals with the pressures of life using "preventive maintenance".

James 1:8 "A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways."

Bible doctrine is the basis for divine guidance.

Romans 12:1,2 "I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."

Without the Word of God, the believer's mind will be corrupted by Satan and will become a repository of world-viewpoint and false teaching.

2 Corinthians 11:3 "But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ."

EPHESIANS. 4:17-25