Why The Bible is True R1237

God has an encouraging word for you and me today through the Bible-based preaching of Dr. Don Wilton and this message, Why the Bible is True.

Each of us move through our day understanding the law of gravity. We know some things that are true, some things that affect us, and today we'll discover from Dr. Wilton this particular concept about building our lives on truths that we can depend on. As we study God's Word, know that we're available for you both online at theencouragingword.org and this phone number 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673. We'd be happy to connect you with so many calls about the CD of the Voices of Lee, the a cappella worship CD, and the empty disciple, things you've been seeing online at theencouragingword.org.

But we'd also be happy just to talk or listen or pray. That's 866-899-9673. And now, Dr. Don Wilton. I'm going to ask you to take this book in whatever means that you may have at your disposal. I have a hard copy in my hands. I'm still very old-fashioned, and I love this book, the Bible. This is God's story, and we are embarking on the story. And the story is a book written by Randy Frazee, and the story is a book that was written about the whole Bible.

And one of the things I've just done is I've read it again, and I could hardly put it down. I didn't read it as a substitute for the Bible. This book written by Randy Frazee does not take the place of the Bible, and it is not the Bible. It is a story written in 31 chapters that takes sections of the Bible and written in story form to the point at which you won't want to put it down. It covers the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and it is so exciting.

It's wonderful. And then when I take the Bible, this book that I have, and you may today have that on your iPad, you just get it right out, or your blackberry, you may have a raspberry or a strawberry. If your strawberry's got the Bible on it, get it out. Open your Bibles, first of all, to 2 Timothy.

I want to show you something just incredible today. 2 Timothy, and I'm going to be in chapter 3. I want to read to you two passages of Scripture as we try to ask the question, why is the Bible true or why the Bible is true? What is it about this book, the Bible, that is so remarkably and singularly significant?

Why is this book unlike any other book? There is not another book in this world that was ever written that can ever match God's Word, the Bible, and it is absolutely true. We are going to share God's truth with our searching world. So just to put it on the table, let me read to you two passages. This, first of all, in 2 Timothy chapter 3, and I'll just begin at verse 14. Paul says this, but as for you, continuing what you have learned and what you firmly believe, knowing from whom you have learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through Jesus Christ.

All Scripture, all Scripture, every single word from Genesis to Revelation is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God, that the person who knows Christ may be complete and equipped for every good work. And so Paul says to Timothy, I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is the judge of the living and the dead and by his appearing and his kingdom. Preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, reproof, rebuke and exhort with complete patience and teaching.

Now watch this, America. I think what we're about to read has arrived. For the time will come when people will not endure sound teaching, but rather having itching ears, they will accumulate to themselves, they will follow after, they will join churches. The time will come when people will no longer want to hear sound doctrine. They will no longer want to go to church, especially when the word of God is preached as truth.

But rather having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and will wander off into myths. Very quickly, let's go to 1 John. Go to 1 John, chapter 5, probably one of my favorite passages of Scripture. 1 John chapter 5. I'm going to read to you just one verse, verse 13. If there was any verse I wanted us to hold on to during these weeks, it would be this one. 1 John, chapter 5 and verse 13. This is your verse. It's my verse. God gave us to this verse because this is God's story and God gave us his story because he wanted his story to be my story, to be your story.

This is what he said, I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. These past few weeks, my precious wife and I met every day with the Lord Jesus. We woke up every day and we sat down together and we opened God's word to discipline. We chose the book of Acts and read through the whole book of Acts, taking one or two chapters, three chapters every day. And we just sat there together over a cup of coffee and we held hands and we just read the Bible.

No fanfare. I promise you, I didn't preach to her. It was a discipline. She probably got saved at least seven times during this vacation. But we just sat there and held hands. We opened the Bible to the book of Acts and we just read God's word and then we prayed together. We prayed for you every day. I prayed for you, my people. I prayed for you, Steve. I prayed for you, Sal. I just prayed for you. I asked the Lord to watch over you. I prayed sometimes for you. I didn't know if there was anything that I would know about, but I've discovered since coming home this week that I actually prayed for some people and didn't know what they were going through until I got back home. I just want to say this to you. How can you be blessed by the Bible?

Yes, I'm going to just give this to you very quickly. There's five things that you can do. Number one, plan it. You want to be blessed by the Bible, plan it. Every chapter in the book, the story, covers a certain section. We're going to look at that section.

We're going to say it goes from Genesis 1 to this chapter here. And that week, I'm going to divide that span in the Bible. I'm going to say, we've got seven days to read through that section.

Some of it's going to be a tall order. I've already told Karen the famous begat passages, I'm going to begat very bequickly. You can too. You can begat very bequickly.

It'll still mean the same thing. But every day when I stand here on Sunday, I'm going to have personally read actually God's truth. So the first thing, plan it. You need a time. Decide what time you're going to do that and stick with it.

Now it was easy for me on holiday because I didn't have to come into the office. It's not so easy for me for the whole year because I'm a pastor. So I've got to accommodate that. I've got to make allowances. My calendar, I get home most nights at 10, 11 o'clock at night. Sometimes I leave my home at six in the morning. Sometimes I leave at six in the morning. I don't get home until 11 o'clock at night. Many days are like that.

Sometimes I do. So I need to understand as I plan it that I've got to be very flexible, but I cannot compromise on that. So for me and Karen in our lifestyle, we've got to kind of on a daily basis the night before say tomorrow this is going to be the time. Number two, read it. Plan it. Read it. Read it. Actually read it. I sat there with Karen and I actually read it.

I mean out loud. I just read it. Just read it. Just read the Word of God. You're going to discover something.

You don't even have to say anything. Just read it. Just see what God does. You're listening to Dr. Don Wilton, our teacher here on The Encouraging Word.

Please don't go away. He'll be back to complete today's message, Why the Bible is True in just a moment. But Dr. Don wants me to remind you, we're here for you connecting on our website at www.tewonline.org. Connecting with great resources like when God is separated. We'll tell you more about that in a minute because we have a nation that we need to pray for. Again, details at www.tewonline.org. But we're also here to pray with you and for you. 866-899-WORD will always connect you with someone ready to talk or listen or pray.

That's right. We're here for you at 866-899-9673 or online at www.tewonline.org with great resources like this. We are not in a good place in America. What would God say to us today? Without God, we can do nothing to stand strong in a country turning away from the path God has laid out for us.

As our nation endures tragedy after tragedy, it is so important that we follow the second greatest commandment and love our neighbors unconditionally. With your gift of support to the encouraging Word this month, you will receive Dr. Wilton's powerful sermon, God's Message to America, along with the bonus book, When a Nation Forgets God, by his longtime friend Erwin Lutzer. These resources will engage, enlighten, and encourage you in your walk with Christ. That's just one of many great resources on our website, www.tewonline.org.

And yes, we still have copies of that latest book from Dr. Wilton called, Saturdays with Billy, about his time being the pastor of Dr. Billy Graham in the last 25 years of Dr. Graham's life. It's a wonderful book, again, available both to read and to listen to on our website at www.tewonline.org. Number two, read it, plan it, read it, read it, actually read it. I sat there with Karen and I actually read it.

I mean out loud, I just read it. Just read it, just read the Word of God. You're going to discover something, you don't even have to say anything, just read it, just see what God does. Remember, it's God's Word and every bit's true.

Okay, number three, feel it. Be prepared to feel it. That's the third thing, you want to be blessed by the Bible, plan it, read it, feel it. Just God will begin to speak to you just through his Word. And I'm going to tell you how that happens.

It will amaze you. I've just read through the book of Acts. I've been preaching for over 35 years. I promise you, friends, I came across verse after verse, passage after passage. I promise you, I never seen them before. I don't know how to explain that to you. I just never see, I would get out my notebook, say, where did that come, now I've never seen that before.

I'm not saying I've never read it before, I've just never seen it before. It's never jumped out at me and God would jump these things out at me just through reading it. Number four, pray it. Pray it, prayer is the key. So what Karen and I did, we planned it, we read it, we felt it, and then we prayed it. Pray what you feel, because what you feel in your heart is what God's saying to you for that moment. So pray it. When you pray, Lord Jesus, thank you for your Word.

We've just read about how Paul stood up in front of these people and spoke about his Christian faith and how he met the Lord Jesus. Pray that, pray that, just pray it. Pray back what God said to you.

And then number five, live it. Friends, here's the issue, don't just read the Word and feel it and pray it, be obedient to it. It's time for us to be obedient. We don't have the privilege of picking and choosing what it is that we will decide to be obedient to. Enough of that. The time has come. Too many people no longer want truth.

They don't want sound doctrine. It's all, well, is this politically correct? Does this suit my culture?

Is this going to allow me to be elected? Well, I just, I don't care what the Bible says, I'm just going to leave that part out. We don't have that privilege. Just live it. Just be obedient to the Word of God. There it is.

You ready? Plan it, read it, feel it, pray in light of it. Live it. What I have found, even over these last few weeks, is that the living it was made so much more possible as I read it and felt it and prayed it and came out of it for that day. I found myself being so much more inclined and prepared and ready to obey it. God was doing something in me. He was strengthening me. So the question is, how will you know that this Bible is true?

Here it is. I'm just giving this to you. How will you know that the Bible is true, that this is not a fable or just some other book? There are four things that will show you as you read the Bible that you will know that it's true. Number one, you'll know it's true because the Bible tells you about a sovereign God and you will know it.

You will know that the Bible is true because when you plan it and you read it and you live it and you pray it and you feel it, this Bible, this story that we are going to go through will tell you about a sovereign God. He's the only God. He will make himself known to you. And you're going to discover that that he is the one who created the universe and he is the one who made you. And he is the one who designed the plan for your and my redemption. He's the one who gave us the means of salvation. He extends the invitation to us in all his ways.

He is sovereign. And it'll just affirm, affirm, affirm, affirm. It's not going to be a preacher. It's just the Bible is going to tell you about a sovereign God and you will know it. Number two, because it tells you about a loving saviour and you will feel it. Not just about a sovereign God and you will know it, but it will tell you about a loving saviour and you will feel it. You know, that great Methodist preacher, John Wesley, when he came to know Christ, he penned those most famous words at Aldersgate in England.

He said, my heart was strangely warmed. You know, I've just read again in Acts about Paul. He was Saul of Tarsus persecuting the way of the Lord and the church. And he was on the road to Damascus of all places that is under such scrutiny these days. And all of a sudden he was confronted by this blazing light.

He felt it. This loving saviour. When you read the story, Jesus is going to just rise up out of the pages of God's truth. And you're going to see this loving saviour with these arms outstretched, being crucified for our transgressions upon a cross. You're going to feel it. It's going to be deep inside of you.

Number three, because it tells you about a powerful spirit. And you will believe it. That's how you will know the Bible is true, because this story, this Bible, this book is going to tell you about a powerful spirit. And you will believe it.

Let me tell you why. Because it's God's spirit who will convict you. You're not going to convict yourself.

You cannot convict yourself. Only God can do that. God is going to convict you. And when you read through the story, the story is going to scream out this powerful spirit who's the third person in the Trinity.

God, the Holy Spirit, who convicts us of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. I'll tell you something else the Spirit does. He reveals this truth to us. So when you read it, the Spirit of God, who inhabits the very words of the Lord, is going to speak to your heart and you're going to believe it. And number four, you're going to know that this Bible is true.

Because it tells you about a blessed people. And you will be it. This story will tell you about a blessed people. And you, my friend, will be it.

You know, as I've reread Randy Frazee's book, The Story. I just cannot get over that God treated me with such loving kindness. But this great God who gave us a loving Savior. And who speaks to us through his powerful spirit.

Wants to bless us like this. You know, Paul put it like this, he said, there but by the grace of God go I. You're going to start in Genesis and you're going to just marvel.

I'm still trying to get over the beginning part, which will be in next week. I mean, how many times did God's people let God down? And yet, you'll know it.

Would you bow your heads with me this morning? Lord Jesus, the Bible is your story. We know it's true, Lord. Because it tells us about a sovereign God. And it tells us about a loving Savior. And it tells us about a powerful spirit. And it tells us about a blessed people. And that's every one of us for whom Christ died. How grateful we are.

Indeed, how grateful we are. Our time is gone for today's message with Dr. Don Wilton here on The Encouraging Word. But the ministry of The Encouraging Word continues 24 hours a day.

Not just this little slice, but 24 hours a day. We're connecting both at our website, theencouragingword.org. And also at the end of this phone number, 866-899-WORD.

That's 866-899-9673. It would be our great privilege to connect with you. To share with you not only the resources you've heard about. The concept of growing in this no longer being an empty disciple, but a filled disciple. Whether it be the voices of Leah, acapella worship, or other resources.

We'd love to connect you with that. But most importantly, we'd love to spend some time just praying with you and for you. What is God dealing with in your life? Every time I hear the Word of God preached by our pastor, I find myself in a need of a course correction.

I need to make an adjustment. I need to find a way to focus my attention on what it is God wants me to do right now. If you need someone praying with you and for you along whatever that need is, we stand ready to connect. Both online at theencouragingword.org.

And that phone number, 866-899-9673. Until next time, take care and God bless. Are you living life at the top of your game? Or do you find yourself tired of meaninglessness?

Tired of busy nothingness? In his new message, The Empty Disciple, Dr. Wilton will help you fill your life with the things that please the Lord and start to savor the sweetness of life in Jesus Christ. Plus, you will receive a very special bonus music CD entitled, Acapella Worship by the Voices of Lee. You will be blessed and lifted up as you listen to the high energy and inspiring recording of praise songs. Request these two powerful ministry resources when you give a generous gift to The Encouraging Word this month.

Write to us at Post Office Box 2110, Spartanburg, South Carolina, 29304. Or call us toll free at 866-899-WORD. Or visit online at theencouragingword.org. Thank you for your support, helping us proclaim the precious, life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ to a nation in desperate need of biblical truth, hope, and direction in 2018. You know, every single time I get up and have the privilege of being able to share God's Word with you, I pray for you. And I ask God to allow me to see you through my spiritual heart because I know how much God loves you.

I just want you to know that it means a great deal to me that you would write to me, that you would allow us to partner together. Your life is important. It's important, first of all, to the Lord Jesus every step of every day. But it's also important to me because I'm part of your family. We are part of the family of God. So God bless you, my friend, and thank you for letting me pray for you.