TOPIC:‌“Making the Bible Live Again”

                  by Rev. Dr. Reg Dunlap

 

TEXT:‌Hebrews 4:12

 

‌‌“For the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than

‌‌any two-edged sword.”

 

I have been a student of the Bible for the last fifty years. I have read it entirely through, read it by books, chapters and verses. From this vast experience of reading, studying and meditating upon this blessed Book, I can truthfully state that to me the Bible is without doubt the greatest Book that has ever been written.

 

I realize there are many people who ignore the Bible and don't read it. Others read it but don't understand it for they lack the spiritual insight which the Holy Spirit provides those who have been born into the family of God. Still others think the Bible is nothing more than a collection of fairy tales, myths and legends. This is to their shame, and eventually, to their eternal loss.

 

But to those of us who know not only the Word of God, but the God of the Word as revealed in Jesus Christ, the Bible is much more than just a book of ethical teaching, literary beauty, it is God's divine revelation of Himself to man. It is a revelation of God's grace and love to man. From its pages we expose ourselves to the LIFE which it gives, to the LIGHT which it shares, and to the LOVE it reveals:

 

Now in this second of three messages on the Bible, let the Holy Spirit be our Guide as we seek to make it live again in our lives.

 

I.

 

‌Think, first of all, of the CONSTRUCTION of the Bible. The word “Bible” is derived from the Greek word “biblos” meaning a book. Towards the end of the second century Greek believers called their sacred writings “The Books.” Often the Bible has been called “the Divine Library” or the Book of Books.

 

‌The Bible was written by about forty different writers who lived in different countries, spoke different languages and came from different backgrounds. These writers included a king, a fisherman, a rabbi, a poet, a statesman, a politician, a general, a scribe and so many other vocations. The Bible is divided into two main sections: the Old Testament and the New Testament. The word “testament” means “covenant” or “agreement.” These words came into use about the time of the third century to distinguish between the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Scriptures. The Old Testament was originally written mostly in Hebrew, and deals with the calling, history, . . .