## The Bible is the Master Key

## Hebrews 4:12

- The Bible is alive: "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." (Heb 4:12)
- Peter speaks of God’s word as that which is "... incorruptible ... which liveth and abideth for ever." (1 Pet 1:23)
- Paul refers to the Bible as the Word of life (Philippians 2:16).
- The Bible is the master key to our spiritual growth as a believer. It provides and sustains our spiritual life because it is alive.

I. The Bible’s Vital Signs.

A. The Bible is alive in itself.

1. The Bible is perennially fresh.

2. In every generation and every age, the Bible proves itself to be alive and relevant.

3. Its riches are inexhaustible, its depths unfathomable.

B. The Bible is up-to-date.

1. Have you ever looked at your old high school or college text books?

2. Most of them are obsolete.

3. The march of progress and discovery has left them behind.

4. But the Bible speaks as perceptively and definitively to the twentieth century as it did to the first century.

C. The Bible discerns hearts.

1. It has insight that shakes us up.

2. It is a sharp, two-edged sword that dissects our innermost beings.

3. It judges the thoughts and intentions of our hearts.

4. It reveals to us exactly what we are, which is why those who cling to their sin don’t read it: they don’t want to be convicted.

II. The Bible is life giving.

A. The Bible not only has life, but also gives life.

1. The power to reproduce is a fundamental characteristic of life.

2. Mere human thoughts and words cannot impart spiritual life.

3. But the living Word of God can.

"Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures."(Jas. 1:18)

4. The Holy Spirit uses the Word to bring about new birth.

5. The only way to become a child of God is through the living Word:

"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Rom 10:17)

6. The Spirit of God uses the Word of God to produce life.

"It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." (John 6:63)

B. The Bible sustains spiritual life.

1. By it we are spiritually born, and by it we are nourished to maturity.

"As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:" (1 Pet 2:2)

2. Have you ever seen a hungry newborn baby?

3. That baby isn’t interested in hearing you talk, in playing with you, or being cuddled.

4. Nothing short of being fed will satisfy.

5. Peter tells us that our desire for the Word should be that strong.

6. Many Christians do not strongly desire the Word, and as a result they suffer from spiritual malnutrition.

7. The Word of God nourishes believers.

8. We need it as a baby needs milk, but we also need to grow up so that we can take in solid food. cf Heb. 5:13, 14

C. The Bible transforms lives.

1. Paul encouraged the believers in Ephesus to be renewed in the spirit of their minds (4:23).

2. In Romans 12:2 he said that the renewing of our minds transforms us.

3. Even as believers, we need to let the Word change us.

4. We do not become perfect when we become believers.

5. The Holy Spirit still has a lot to do to mold us into Christ- likeness.

a. Only through filling our minds with the Word and living in obedience to its principles can our lives be changed.

b. Many Christians struggle with the problem of how to be more committed to the Lord.

c. Yet if they neglect the Word, little if any change will result.

d. Only the Holy Spirit, working through the Word, has the power to bring us to maturity in Christ.

II. There Are No Shortcuts to Spiritual Maturity.

A. They do not exist!

1. Many Christians try to figure out some shortcut to spiritual maturity, but none exists.

2. As we gaze into the mirror the Word of God and behold the glory of God...

3. As we allow the sword of the Spirit to do surgery on our souls...

4. As we permit the water of the Word to cleanse us...

5. The Holy Spirit will transform our lives.

B. The most significant step in our personal spiritual development takes place when we commit ourselves to the study of the Bible.

C. The Bible is central to our spiritual lives.

1. It is instrumental in our regeneration and crucial to our spiritual growth.

2. In it God has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness’’ cf 2 Pe. 1:3.

3. And we pay a high price for neglecting it.

III. How to Use the Bible to Grow Spiritually.

A. Believe it.

1. Today many voices compete with the Scriptures for allegiance.

2. Don’t follow the majority.

3. Too many believers seem willing to abandon God’s Word for supposed short-cuts to maturity.

4. But Peter’s response must be ours: "Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life." (John 6:68)

5. Accept the Bible for what it is: the divinely inspired, infallible, inerrant, all-sufficient Word of God.

6. Doubting the truths God has revealed in Scripture will rob us of our joy and may ultimately destroy our faith altogether.

B. Study It.

1. All Christians should make it their goal to be, like Apollos, "... mighty in the Scriptures" (Acts 18:24).

2. Too many Christians are content with shallow, superficial Bible study or even no Bible study at all.

3. Such neglect of serious study can result in doctrinal error as well as misconceptions on how to live the Christian life.

4. The Bible rewards diligent study.

5. And through study of the Scriptures, we can show ourselves approved of God (2 Timothy 2:15).

C. Honor it.

1. The citizens of Ephesus honored the statue of Diana because they thought Jupiter had sent it down from heaven.

2. So they worshipped it-ugly, obscene, and horrible as it was.

3. But something of true beauty has come down out of heaven from God-His precious Word, which is more valuable than gold or jewels (Proverbs 3:14, 15).

4. Don’t pay lip service to the Bible while in reality you give your life in pursuit of the world’s substitutes.

D. Love it.

1. "O how love I Thy law! It is my meditation all the day." cf Ps. 119:97

2. Can we say that? Do we give the Word as much of our time and attention as we do other, less-deserving objects of affection?

3. Do we read the Bible as a love letter sent to you from God?

4. Or do we turn instead to diversions that actually hinder our growth?

E. Obey it.

1. Obedience is ultimately the only appropriate response to God’s Word.

2. It will do us no good to believe, study, honor, and love the Bible unless we also obey it.

3. The commands of God aren’t optional; they are obligatory.

4. We can’t approach the Bible like a smorgasbord, choosing what we wish to obey and bypassing the rest.

5. Our obedience must be implicit.

"And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." (1 Sam 15:22)

So we find that God’s Word is the master key that opens everything else in the spiritual realm! Despite what many believe and teach today, nothing apart from the Word can unlock the way to some spiritual power unavailable through Scripture.