If I Listen to Sermons, Why Do I Need to Read My Bible?
00:00:00.000 | (upbeat music)
00:00:02.580 | As we talked about yesterday,
00:00:06.400 | we are gearing up for our 12th
00:00:08.040 | and final national conference here in Minneapolis.
00:00:10.480 | It begins on Friday.
00:00:11.920 | Related to the theme of the conference,
00:00:13.400 | we have questions here that I wanna post to you, Pastor John.
00:00:16.040 | And here's the next one.
00:00:18.240 | Rather directly put, "Pastor John,
00:00:20.400 | "I rely on my pastor to study the Bible
00:00:22.500 | "and tell me what it says.
00:00:24.040 | "I don't feel like I need to read the Bible
00:00:25.640 | "because I'm listening to his preaching every week."
00:00:29.040 | So what would you say to a person who believes
00:00:31.140 | the Sunday sermon is enough Bible intake for their week?
00:00:34.420 | (laughing)
00:00:36.280 | - Well, I was a pastor and I love it when people listen.
00:00:39.480 | I love it when people trust their pastors
00:00:42.560 | and when they're excited to hear him
00:00:44.760 | explain the Bible each week.
00:00:46.260 | Amen, amen, that's wonderful.
00:00:48.800 | But something's wrong here.
00:00:51.120 | I mean, this is serious.
00:00:52.560 | Something's wrong here if the word of God
00:00:56.520 | is coming with power.
00:00:58.960 | Each week, it doesn't just satisfy hunger,
00:01:02.520 | it creates hunger.
00:01:04.880 | I would have felt like a total failure
00:01:08.560 | if my people said, "Because of your preaching,
00:01:12.140 | "we don't read our Bibles."
00:01:13.880 | Like, what?
00:01:15.000 | What have I done?
00:01:16.640 | I've given you food that is so uninteresting or boring
00:01:21.640 | or not having any portent or hope
00:01:25.680 | that you don't even pick it up during the week.
00:01:28.600 | So I'm really puzzled what the mindset of this person is
00:01:33.600 | to say, "This sermon is all I need."
00:01:36.720 | My question would be this, is it all you want?
00:01:40.160 | Why isn't the meal on Sunday
00:01:45.120 | wetting your taste for more on Monday?
00:01:49.900 | Why not?
00:01:51.520 | Seems to me like we have two issues here.
00:01:54.160 | One is, how much of the Bible do we need?
00:01:57.960 | And the other is, how much of the Bible do we want?
00:02:01.960 | So let's take the want question.
00:02:04.540 | Why would you only want one passage a week from the Bible?
00:02:09.540 | Why would you want that one and only passage a week
00:02:15.120 | to come through another person?
00:02:16.920 | To me, that's like saying, "I'm in love.
00:02:19.260 | "My sweetheart writes me every day,
00:02:22.140 | "and I would like to just read her letters once a week,
00:02:27.200 | "and I think I'd like somebody else to read them for me
00:02:30.460 | "and give me a digest of what she said."
00:02:33.360 | You kidding me?
00:02:34.280 | I was in love one time, summer of '67,
00:02:37.720 | working as a water safety instructor.
00:02:39.720 | I smelled the envelopes for five minutes before I opened 'em.
00:02:42.880 | I'm not gonna give 'em to anybody else.
00:02:44.880 | And so I'm very eager to go off every day
00:02:48.860 | with these lavender envelopes
00:02:50.940 | and smell the hands of my future wife.
00:02:54.960 | To only want to read one love letter a week
00:02:57.720 | when she's writing them every day
00:02:59.400 | is a sign that something is wrong.
00:03:02.580 | That's weird.
00:03:04.280 | Something's wrong with this person's relationship with God.
00:03:07.560 | Paul says that he lives for Jesus,
00:03:11.400 | who loved him and gave himself for him.
00:03:15.600 | Galatians 2:20, that's true.
00:03:17.640 | Jesus loved us so much that he gave his life for us.
00:03:22.120 | God loves us so much that he gave his son for us.
00:03:26.480 | And the Bible is the word of this Jesus who loves us
00:03:30.760 | and this Father who loves us
00:03:33.480 | about how they relate to us
00:03:35.640 | and what they are doing in the world.
00:03:38.080 | The whole Bible is an unparalleled love letter
00:03:41.060 | to the people of God.
00:03:43.120 | So the psalmist says, "How sweet are your words to my taste,
00:03:47.560 | "sweeter than honey to my mouth."
00:03:50.200 | It just wouldn't make any sense for the psalmist to say,
00:03:54.240 | "I get a spoonful of honey on Sunday and that's plenty.
00:03:58.000 | "Don't want any on Monday or Tuesday or Wednesday
00:04:00.740 | "or Thursday or Friday or Saturday."
00:04:03.240 | Instead he said, "My delight is in the law of the Lord
00:04:05.780 | "and on his law I meditate day and night.
00:04:10.180 | "More to be desired are they than gold,
00:04:12.200 | "even much fine gold.
00:04:14.240 | "If you seek them like silver and search for them
00:04:17.320 | "as for hidden treasures,
00:04:18.420 | "then you will understand the fear of the Lord
00:04:20.520 | "and find the knowledge of God."
00:04:22.960 | So I would ask our listener, bless his or her heart,
00:04:27.560 | why would you only want one glimpse a week of this beauty?
00:04:32.560 | One taste a week of this honey?
00:04:36.440 | One deposit a week of this silver in your bank?
00:04:40.120 | One letter from your lover?
00:04:42.160 | What is going on?
00:04:43.520 | Wake up, come on, wake up to reality.
00:04:47.440 | And then I would shift and ask, what do you need?
00:04:51.100 | Is one meal a week all you need?
00:04:54.780 | Not just what do you want, but what do you need?
00:04:57.000 | Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone,
00:04:59.380 | "but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God."
00:05:01.500 | Every one of them.
00:05:02.340 | That's how you live, that's how you live.
00:05:04.780 | You need to eat.
00:05:07.140 | I think I can say from experience, Tony,
00:05:09.820 | and from history, and from the Bible,
00:05:12.220 | every Christian needs more Bible, more spiritual food,
00:05:17.420 | than one meal a week.
00:05:20.140 | That doesn't work, physically or spiritually.
00:05:24.820 | Temptations are too relentless.
00:05:27.000 | Doubt is too frequent.
00:05:29.140 | Satan is too active.
00:05:31.440 | Tribulations are too heavy.
00:05:33.580 | Conflicts are too many.
00:05:35.540 | Emotions are too volatile.
00:05:38.420 | Perplexities are too difficult.
00:05:40.740 | Faith, hope, and love are too threatened
00:05:45.500 | to think I can deal with these all week long,
00:05:49.580 | simply from one word I got on Sunday.
00:05:53.160 | I can't do it, and I don't think anybody can.
00:05:58.160 | - Amen, thank you, Pastor John.
00:06:00.900 | And this Friday begins our 2014 National Conference
00:06:04.140 | here in Minneapolis at the Convention Center downtown.
00:06:06.820 | It's titled, "Look at the Book,
00:06:07.900 | "Reading the Bible for Yourself."
00:06:09.220 | It will be our 12th and final national conference,
00:06:12.100 | and I know a lot of you will be in town for it.
00:06:14.500 | You can also tune into the livestream
00:06:16.380 | at desiringgod.org/live.
00:06:19.780 | That page will have a schedule of events.
00:06:22.180 | I'm your host, Tony Reinke.
00:06:23.100 | We'll see you tomorrow.
00:06:24.260 | (upbeat music)
00:06:26.840 | (upbeat music)
00:06:29.420 | [BLANK_AUDIO]