Let's suppose that you are driving to a very important appointment. In fact, it is so extremely important that it involves your entire future.
The place of the appointment is a thousand miles from your home in a city you have never driven in and at a place of business that is totally new.
Sixty miles from your destination, you doubt whether you will make it on time. You are not even sure whether you are going in the right direction. You stop for help. Each of the people you ask gives you different directions Totally confused, you become hopelessly lost. You are certain that you will miss this crucial appointment.
In your desperate search to find the right way, you ask a gas station attendant. Fortunately, he not only knows the way, but gives you a map with explicit directions. With new confidence you set out assured of your destination.
The most important appointment in life is with Jesus Christ. To miss this is to miss life eternal. To miss life's most important event. Yet multitudes have taken wrong "religious" directions. They are helplessly lost on the road of life. With no map, they are confused. They have followed the wrong directions.
Where can a reliable map be found? Are there directions to guide men and women on teh highway of life? The Bible is such a map. It presents clear, understandable answers to the deepest questions of the human heart. Questions such as:
and many others.
These studies are especially designed to answer your questions directly from the Bible. Yes, you will discover your answers from your own Bible. The first study, entitled "How to Understand the Bible", concerns a Book written over a 1500-year period. It contains sixty six small books written by forty-four different authors.
1. Since the Bible was written by man, how much of it comes from God? 2 Timothy 3:16. MY BIBLE SAYS: "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, ..."
2. Did the Bible writers simply write down their own ideas? 2 Peter 1:21:
MY BIBLE SAYS: "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."
3. Since the Bible has been copied many times throughout the centuries, is it still reliable today? Are there serious errors within its pages? Psalm 12:6,7:
MY BIBLE SAYS: "The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever. "
The same Holy Spirit who inspired the Bible has protected it throughout the centuries. Recent archeological discoveries have further confirmed its accuracy and reliability. God's Word is a safe, reliable guide. You can confidently stake your life on its teachings.
4. For what purpose has God given us the Bible? Psalm 119:105:
MY BIBLE SAYS: "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."
5. How certain can I be that the Bible will guide me correctly? 2 Peter 1:19:
MY BIBLE SAYS: "We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place,..."
6. Isn't the Bible a matter of individual interpretation? 2 Peter 1:20:
MY BIBLE SAYS: " Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation,... "
7. What does the Bible claim to be? John 17:17:
MY BIBLE SAYS: "Sanctify them by Your truth. Your Word is truth."
8. What is the first step in understanding the Bible truth? John 7:17:
MY BIBLE SAYS: " If anyone wants to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on my own authority."
An understanding of the Bible largely depends on a willingness to do whatever God requires. Bible study is not simply a mental exercise. It is a heart experience. Are you willing to do whatever God asks you in His word? Deep within your heart do you desire to serve Him? If you do He will lead you into all truth. (John 8:32)
9. What method of Bible Study is especially helpful in discovering God's truth? Isaiah 28:9,10:
MY BIBLE SAYS: "Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? ...For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little."
10. What guarantee has Jesus given to ensure that as we study the Bible with a sincere heart, we will be led into His truth? John 16:13:
MY BIBLE SAYS: "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth:..."
MY DECISION: It is my determined purpose to study the Bible with an open mind seeking to discover God's truth.
