Text: Prov. 6:20-24

 Alexandar Duff, missionary to India, sailed on the Lady Holland. His clothes, his prized possessions, his library of 800 volumes, were all on board. Within a few miles of India they were shipwrecked. The passengers, just like Paul in the book of Acts, were all saved, but the possessions were all lost. On the seashore Alexandar Duff looked out to sea, hoping against hope that some part of his possessions might be cast upon the shore. Then, they saw something small floating on the top of the water coming nearer to the shore. Nearer it came while anxious eyes gazed upon it. What would it be? The missionary waded into the water and grabbed the floating object. What was it? The Bible! Of all his possessions, of all his books, that one single Book was worth saving. He took the rescued Bible as a token from the Lord. The very next day he began his missionary career teaching a class of 5 boys meeting under a banyan tree. A week later the class had swelled to 300. So begins the story of Alexandar Duff.

 Famous Personalities on the Bible

• "In regard too this great book, I have but to say, it is the best gift God has given to men. All the good 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."

• "I have a very simple thing to ask of you. I ask every man and woman in this audience that from this day on they will realize that part of the destiny of America lies in their daily perusal of this great book."

• "The whole of the inspirations of our civilization springs from the teachings of Christ and the lessons of the prophets. To read the Bible for these fundamentals is a necessity of American life."

• "Unless we form the habit of going to the Bible in bright moments as well as in trouble, we cannot fully respond to its consolations, because we lack equilibrium between light and darkness."

• "The Bible is the unfailing guide which points the way for men to the perfect life. The lessons of charity, justice, and equality which enrich its pages should be learned well by all men in order that greed, avarice, and iniquity can be blotted out."

 Preliminary Thoughts

Transition: I want you to notice three characteristics of the Word that will help motivate us to read it daily.

Big Idea: We must read the Word daily in order to grow.

1. The Bible is a Living Book
1. Verses
1. Prov. 6:22 "talk with thee"
2. Heb. 4:12 "The Word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any two edged sword."
3. 1 Pet. 1:23 "…Liveth and abideth forever."
2. Just as God breathed the breath of life into Adam, this Book is permeated and animated by the breath of God.
3. Relevant even though written centuries ago
1. Speaks to our moral needs
2. Speaks to our social needs
3. Speaks to our spiritual needs
4. If truth is timeless, changeless and if the Bible is the truth, then it is truth for today as well as for yesterday.
1. Give examples: sexual sins, lying, character issues
2. America does not need some new revelation in order to fix her problems, she needs to return to the old paths, the old truths that made us great and sustained us.
3. The answer to our ills does not lie in some yet undiscovered mystery. It is right here in front of us in the pages of Scripture.
4. It Gives Life. Just as living things procreate, so does Scripture.
2. The Bible is a Personal Book: "talk with thee"
1. The Bible is for you personally, not scholars, theologians, preachers. It is not for a chosen few, but for all. It is God’s love letter to you.
2. Descriptions of the Word
1. Light (Ps. 119:105)
1. Gives light during difficult decisions
2. Keeps us from stumbling
2. Milk (1 Pet. 2:2)
1. Some of you are spiritually malnourished because you have not been feeding on the word
2. Also called "meat," "honey"
3. Fire (Jer. 5:14)
4. Hammer (Jer. 23:29)
5. Mirror (James 1:23-24)
1. It shows us as we are, not as we think we are
2. helps us to take a spiritual inventory of our lives
6. Seed (Mt. 13:18-23)
1. "My Word will not return void."
2. We need to spread the Word and let the HS take it from there. Sometimes it takes a while for the truth to take root.
7. Sword (Eph. 6:17)
1. Some of you are trying to fight a fight but you don’t have a weapon!
2. This is the only weapon given in Eph. 6
3. When will the Bible give you help?
1. In sorrow
2. In joy
3. In time of decision "instruct thee"
4. In instruction
5. In difficulty "
6. In fear "when i am afraid i will trust in thee" "for God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of love, and a sound mind."
7. In doubt
4. How To Read Your Bible by F. B. Meyer
1. Read your Bible-not as a newspaper, but as a letter from home. If a cluster of heavenly fruit hangs within reach, gather it.
2. If a promise lies upon the page as a blank check, cash it.
3. If a prayer is recorded, appropriate it and launch it as a feathered arrow from the bow of your desires.
4. If a truth is revealed in all its intrinsic splendor, entreat that its brilliance may
5. Ever irradiate the hemisphere of your life like a star.
3. The Bible is a Simple Book: "with thee"
1. God took His truth and put it in our language on our level so that we could understand and benefit by it. Though His ways are unsearchable and deep, His Word still has shallow waters that we can all wade into to find comfort, peace, and rest. God keeps things simple. Man wants to make things complicated.
2. Simple words Jesus uses: "light, bread, truth, way, life, shepherd, vine, seed"
3. Salvation simple

 Keys to Successful Bible Study

1. Do it daily
2. Have a regular time
3. Be accountable to someone
4. Pray about what you read
5. Practice what you read
6. Develop a plan

1. Reading the bible through in a year
2. Paragraph study
3. Character study
4. Topical study
5. Word study

 Pictures of bloated bellies and toothpick arms. That’s what God sees when He looks at the church. Christians, who should be well nourished are shriveling on the vine, spiritually anemic, powerless to make a difference because they are not in this book!