Value of the Bible

Learning Objectives

By the close of this lesson the hearer should be able to:

1. Move past thinking of the Bible only as a rule-book and see it as spiritual food.
2. Show that Scripture has a fitting word for every condition of the soul.
3. Treat daily reading as feeding, not as duty.

Thesis

The Bible is not merely a book of rules to obey or doctrine to believe; it is the soul's food, its companion in every mood, and the supply of its every need — and there is no other source for what it gives.

Burden

Most believers value the Bible the way a man values a tool chest: useful when there is a job to do, shelved the rest of the time. That undervalues it badly. The same Scripture that hands down doctrine also feeds, strengthens, comforts, and sustains the one who lives in it. A Christian who only consults the Bible will stay weak; a Christian who feeds on it will grow. This lesson is a call to stop merely using the Book and start living on it.

Introduction

We rightly emphasize the Bible as a storehouse of knowledge, a guide for Christian living, and the doctrine to be believed. Boles wants us to see values we often miss. Scripture is spiritual nourishment, a message for every mood, and the supply of every real need a man has. Peter puts the first plainly: "like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow" (1 Pet. 2:2).

I. The Bible Is Rich in Spiritual Nourishment (1 Pet. 2:2)

Scripture pictures itself as food at every stage of life:

• Milk for the newborn (1 Pet. 2:2) — the word that begins and sustains spiritual life.
• Solid food for the mature (Heb. 5:12-14) — deeper teaching for those trained by practice to discern.
• Living water for the thirsty (John 4:10; 7:37-39) — the Spirit's supply through the word that springs up to eternal life.
• Bread of life (John 6:51) — Christ Himself, made known to us in the word.

And the Bible is the only source of this nourishment. A man may be fed elsewhere in body and mind, but the soul has one table. Skip it and you starve where no other food reaches.

II. The Bible Has a Message for Every Mood (Heb. 4:12)

Whatever state a soul is in, Scripture meets it:

• Discouraged — it speaks courage.
• Weak — it supplies strength.
• Joyful — it deepens the joy.
• Sorrowful — it brings comfort.
• In despair — it gives hope.
• Dying — it gives life.

No other book reads the heart and answers it like this one, because the word of God is living and active, piercing to the dividing of soul and spirit (Heb. 4:12). It does not merely inform the mood; it ministers to it.

III. The Bible Supplies Every Real Need (2 Tim. 3:16-17)

Look at what man is, and watch Scripture answer each part:

• Man is a religious being — it teaches him how to worship the true God acceptably.
• Man is a sinful being — it teaches him how to obtain forgiveness in Christ.
• Man is a suffering being — it points him to the great Physician.
• Man is an intelligent being — it instructs him in the ways of righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

Whatever the soul's need, the answer is in the Book. Nothing essential to life and godliness is left out (2 Pet. 1:3).

Application

Change how you come to the Bible. Stop opening it only to settle an argument or fill a slot in a class, and start opening it to be fed. Read in the morning the way you eat in the morning — because the day will be long and you will be hungry. When you are discouraged, do not first reach for distraction; reach for the Book that speaks courage. A Christian's strength rises and falls with this one habit more than almost any other. Feed daily, and grow.

Conclusion

The Bible is worth more than we have reckoned. It is milk and meat, living water and the bread of life; it has a word for every mood and a supply for every need; and for these things it is the only source there is. Do not leave such a table untouched. Eat, and live.

Invitation

The word that feeds the Christian first gives him life — for "faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ" (Rom. 10:17). The same Scripture that nourishes the soul tells the sinner plainly how to be saved: hear, believe, repent, confess Christ, and be baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38). If you have never tasted that life, come and receive it today. If you are a believer who has been starving by neglect, come back to the table. Come while we sing.

Word Study

• "Long for" (1 Pet. 2:2, Gk. epipotheō): to crave intensely, as a hungry infant cries for milk — the appetite a healthy Christian has for the word.
• "Pure / unadulterated" (1 Pet. 2:2, Gk. adolos): without deceit or dilution — the word taken as God gave it, not cut with human additives.

Scripture Interlock Table