THE INDESTRUCTIBLE BOOK

THE INDESTRUCTIBLE BOOK

Matt. 24:35; Heb. 4:12; Ps. 12:6

I. Introduction

A. There was a time when even the worst sinner believed that the Bible was the Word of God.

1. He may not live what the bible teaches, but at least He accepted the fact that the bible was right and he was wrong.

2. Today some very moral people say that the "Bible is just another book."

3. In times past, the enemies of the bible were outspoken men like Voltaire and Ingersoll.

4. Today there is a more insidious form of opposition.

5. Some highly educated people in our seminaries are teaching that the bible is riddled with errors.

6. Even clergymen in our pulpits are deriding the bible

B. The Bible is not in any danger of becoming a relic of the past.

1. It is in no danger of being destroyed.

2. Heaven and earth shall pass away but my words shall never pass away.

II. It Has Survived Attacks for 1900 Years

A. The Bible warns men of sin and demands that sin be dealt with.

3. Because men want to hold on to their sin, they attack the Book which exposes it.

4. It has been burned by the Roman Church, it was banned by Hitler and confiscated by Stalin.

5. But the Bible lives on.

6. Voltaire said, "Twelve men established Christianity, I'll show you how one man can destroy it."

7. The very room where he proclaimed his victory over Christianity and the Bible has ironically become a Bible depository of the International Bible Society.

8. Voltaire is dead and the bible lives on.

III. It Can't be Destroyed Because It Meets Human Need

A. Before Tennyson's friend Arthur Hallam died, He found comfort in the Bible. He said, "I see that the Bible fits into every crevice of the human heart."

B. Consider for a moment some of the needs of the human heart.

C. The Need for Pardon and Peace

1. In our deepest moments we realize that there is something wrong inside us.

2. We know that we have sinned against a holy God

3. Is there a place where we can find pardon and peace?

4. The Bible points us to that answer - it tells of One who loves and forgives if only we will come to Him in faith

5. John Wesley preached in England and whole villages were transformed. The worst sinners became the sweetest Christians. A picture of Wesley was found in every home. A stranger, coming into one of these homes, asked, "Whose picture is that?" And the reply was, "There was a man sent from God whose name was John." Why did the people love Wesley so much? Because he opened up a Book which told them where they could find pardon and peace.

6. Ponce DeLeon sought a fountain which would restore man's youth.

7. He never found that fountain but the Bible tells of a fountain where all of our sins can be washed away: "There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Emanuel's veins, and sinners plunged beneath that flood, Lose all their guilty stains."

D. There is need for comfort in sorrow.

1. You go to the cemetery and put away one of your loved ones.

2. Your heart is breaking. Then the thought comes, "They are safe in the arms of Jesus and I will see them again someday."

3. Where did you get that idea? You got it from the bible.

4. Nothing can give you the comfort which the Bible gives.

5. The world has its philosophy about sorrow but it only leaves you with an empty feeling.

6. You turn the pages of your Bible and what do you find?

7. "I am the resurrection and the live, He that believeth in me though he were dead, yet shall he live."

8. "Let not your heart be troubled, ye believe in God, believe also in me."

9. The Bible is unparalleled in its comfort for the time of sorrow.

10. There is no greater message in all of literature than one found in the 23^rd Psalm.

11. The Bible alone holds words of comfort in time of sorrow.

IV. Men Can't Destroy the bible for there is Nothing Else to Take it's Place

A. When the mother of Hume the infidel was dying, she said to her son, "I am dying and you have robbed me of my faith. What can you give me now to take it's place?"

1. He had nothing to offer her in her hour of need.

2. Think of what the bible offers - "Lo, I am with you always..." "Ye though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me."

3. When you take the bible away from mankind, they are left hopeless and empty.

4. In a certain city, a group of young men came together and formed what they called an "infidel club". They decided to come together one night and burn a Bible as a demonstration of their unbelief. They appointed their president to cast the bible into the fire. When the time came to burn the bible, this young man took it in his hands and held it a long time. Then he laid the Bible back on the table and said, "We had better not destroy this Book until we find something better to take its place."

5. Man will never find anything to take the place of the bible.

6. It is as far above other books as a mountain is above a molehill, as the sun is far above a flickering candle and a skyscraper is far above a dollhouse.

V. Men Can't Destroy the Bible Because It Is the Word of God.

A. God said His Word "...would never pass away..."

1. How are you treating this wonderful Book? Are you using it? Or is it covered with dust?

2. Somebody gave a sundial to an African tribe.

3. They thought it was beautiful and considered it sacred.

4. They built a roof over the sundial to keep it from the elements.

5. As a result, it was rendered useless.

6. Is that the way you treat your Bible?

7. You respect it, admire it, even reverence it. But, do you cover it up and put it away?

B. The Bible is a "...lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path."

1. Are you walking in that light? Are you following that path?

2. When Sir Walter Scott lay dying, he said to his son-in-law, "Bring me the Book." His son-in-law knew that he had a large library, so he asked, "Which book?" and the great man answered, "In an hour like this there is only one Book. Bring me the Bible."

3. In life or in death, for comfort or forgiveness, the Bible is the only Book we need and the only Book I want.