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Living Hope SDA Church

Christian Martin

The B.I.B.L.E.: Is That the Book for Me?

You know, you are here today because God believes in you.

You got up this morning and are here today because God believes in you.

As we open the word of God and as we worship him now through the preaching and the hearing of his word, let's bow together, our heads together as we pray.

Our Father in Heaven, we've come here today, Lord, seeking to have an encounter with You.

We pray, we ask, we plead, that You would give us discernment to hear Your still, small voice.

We pray that the Holy Spirit, Lord, would be present to take my spoken words and apply them personally and spiritually into every heart that's both here today and from wherever they may be online.

We pray that the Holy Spirit who can be in all places at the same time.

Speak to hearts today Lord and we thank you in Jesus name, Amen.

1 of my favorite devotional books of all time is called Steps to Christ.

If you haven't read that book, you're going to want to Check it out.

It is a classic book that speaks relevance because it deals with our daily life and how to take steps to Christ.

It says, "...when Christ dwells in the heart, the soul will be so filled with His love and the joy of communion with Him that it will cling to Him.

Love to Christ will be the spring of action.

A profession of Christ without this deep love is mere talk, dry formality, and heavy drudgery." Wow.

And I'm talking specifically about that last sentence.

That last sentence is what just took hold of me.

And this being the experience of those who profess Christ, the experience of 1 at church while singing hymns like, Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee.

Or, praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation.

O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation.

All ye who hear now to His temple draw near, sing now in glad adoration." I mean, these hymns are sung often, while many present, without this deep love, it's all mere talk, dry formality, and heavy drudgery.

And the reality is, though, that more than 1 of us here today is saying, yep, yeah, that's me.

But the reality is, the reality is that it doesn't have to be that way.

And it's not church attendance that's missing.

It's not the offering tithe that is missing in the chest.

You know, over the years, various surveys have been conducted, for example, by Pew Research Center and Barna Group.

These are polling firms that specifically survey church attendees.

Really interesting conclusions or findings that they come up with.

And 1 in particular came up with the very same statistic.

All these different firms, they discovered that of those who sit on church pews, 4 out of 5 have no daily quality time alone with God.

I mean, Let that stat just kind of land right there in your mind.

And if these surveys are an accurate reflection of the state of the church today, that means that as much as 70 to 80 percent of the average church is professing Christianity without experiencing a quiet time or quiet devotional time with Christ Himself.

So, what is basically meant by that quality time alone with God?

We'll hear that phrase, you know, here and there.

Devotional time, worship time, personal devotional time with God.

It's a question that we should probably ask ourselves if in fact 4 out of 5 don't have any time with God.

We got to really get to the heart of this.

Really, really get to the heart of this And let's keep it simple, saints.

What is meant by that daily personal worship or devotional time?

It's time alone at the beginning of every day in contemplation of the life of Jesus as written in the Bible and through prayer.

That's what devotional time is all about.

The point of quiet time with the Bible is to become better acquainted with Jesus.

The quiet time, the point of quiet time with the Bible, is to become better acquainted with Jesus.

As you become more acquainted and more familiar with the Scriptures, there's a discovery you'll find.

You'll discover that you'll find Jesus throughout the Old and New Testament, from Genesis to Revelation, there He is!

Starting in Genesis, and reading through the minor and major prophets.

Jesus is The seed of the woman, the Passover Lamb, the High Priest, the cloud and the fire, the prophet like Moses, the commander of the Lord's army, the judge, the kinsman, redeemer, the glorious temple, the rebuilder of the walls, the Lord who is our shepherd, the wisdom of God, the lover, the serving, suffering servant, the bridegroom, the mighty Savior, the messenger with beautiful feet, the cleansing fountain, the Son of Righteousness.

And in the New Testament, He is the Messiah, the miracle worker, the Son of Man, the Son of God, the Justifier, the Last Adam, the 1 who sets us free, the God who meets our every need, the fullness of the Godhead, the soon coming King, the mediator between God and man, the blessed hope, the friend who is closer than a brother, the blood that washes away my sins, the great physician, the everlasting love, God our Savior, and the King of kings and Lord of lords.

HMS Richards, senior, tells a really good illustration.

When I found this, I was like, that's the 1.

At 1 time, he was leaving work and heading back home, and he was tired.

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The B.I.B.L.E.: Is That the Book for Me?

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