The Purpose of Scripture

Hi, welcome to Insights. I'm Pastor John

and I'm in the position of re-recording.

Seems like a a volume didn't come up.

You know, this has been a tough week.

Um,

going through dealing with the uh memory

in remembrance of 911 and then the day

before that the assassination of Charlie

Kirk. A lot of people have been hurting

and have been in the situation of trying

to deal with this. But today I want to

talk about understanding the purpose of

scripture. What is the purpose of

scripture? It says, "All scripture is

given by inspiration of God and is

profitable for doctrine, for reprove,

for correction, for instruction in

righteousness, that the man of God may

be perfect, truly furnished unto all

good works." So the purpose of scripture

is

the first thing is it teaches sound

doctrine. It brings reproof and

correction. It trains us in

righteousness and it equips us for every

good work. So we're going to take a look

at this today and see what we've got

going here. Um

2 Timothy 3:16 says, "All scriptures

given by inspiration of God and is

profitable for doctrine, for reprove,

for correction, for instruction and

righteousness, that the man of God may

be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto

all good works.

Have you ever tried to build something

without instructions?

The proc the pieces look right, but

without guidance, the final result is

shaking, incomplete. Life without

scripture works the same way. Many

people try to navigate life with their

own wisdom, but end up lost or

frustrated. God has not left us without

direction. He's given us his word, the

perfect manual, not just for survival,

but for living in his purposes.

Paul's final letter to Timothy was

written from a Roman prison. In it, he

urges Timothy to remain faithful amidst

growing false teachings and spiritual

compromise. The apostle reminds him that

scripture is not the invention of men

but inspiration of God. Literally, it's

God breathed.

This means every word carries divine

authority and purpose. The Old and New

Testaments together reveal God's nature,

his redemptive plan, and his will for

his people. Unlike other writings, the

Bible is timeless, eternal, and

powerful. It's meant to instruct,

convict, transform, and equip believers

for their calling.

Um

there's a statement made by many people,

one which I have subscribed to myself,

which is God doesn't call the qualified,

he qualifies the call. When he calls

you, he equips you. He transforms you.

He renews your mind. He gives you a

message to share with people with

conviction.

Every Christian has to wrestle with this

with the question, why has God given us

scriptures? The Bible is not a

declaration for our shelves or a book

reserved for preachers. It is God's

voice to all who believe. Uh the

psalmist said, "Thy word is a lamp unto

my feet and a light unto my path."

That's Psalms 119:105.

The word is both light for guidance and

a sword for battle. That's Ephesians

6:17. To truly understand its purpose,

we must look at what it accomplishes in

our life.

So the first thing is the Bible teaches

sound doctrine.

It reveals God's truth, God's plan, and

God's will. It protects us from false

teachings and anchors us in Christ. John

17:17 says, "Sanctify them through thy

word, through thy truth. Thy word is

truth." Just as a compass always points

north, scripture points us to the

unchanging truth of God.

Study the word not only to know what you

believe, but why you believe it. That's

just as important.

The principle is God's word is the

foundation of all truth in a world of

deception.

And you need God's word to shine that

light in there to to reveal what you're

seeing and what you're in principle to.

The word of God, it brings reproof and

correction.

Hebrews 4:12 says, "For the word of God

is quick and powerful and sharper than

any two-edged sword and is a discerner

of the thoughts and intents of the

heart. The word of God exposes sin and

sets us back on the right path. It

corrects us. It's a course correction.

It brings us back into the center where

God leads us. Jesus said, "Straight is

the gate narrows the way that leadth

unto salvation." So, we need to make

sure we stay on that straight and narrow

path. It's like a mirror. When you've

been out working and working in the yard

or whatever, you get dirt on your face.

You look at a mirror, you see a dirty

face, and you wash your face. That's

what the word of God does. It shows us

our reflection of who we are and what

we're doing. It reveals the stain of sin

that we can't see. And the only way that

you can see that is through the word of

God. Don't resist conviction.

Let God's work confront wrong attitudes

and actions that will lead you to

repentance because God uses his word to

lovingly discipline his children. It's

not a threat. He's trying to give you

course correction. He's trying to keep

you going in his ways where you can do

what he's called you to do. The Bible's

a guide for holy living and spiritual

growth. It trains us in righteousness

and righteousness is right standing with

God. Unbroken fellowship with God. And

so it's important that we understand

that God has a specific way he expects

us to to live and he gives us those

expectations written in the word. This

is uh Psalms 119:9 says, "Where with all

shall a young man cleanse his way by

taking heed thereto according to thy

word." It's God's word that does this.

It's God's word that instructs us in

righteousness. An athlete trains daily.

They're out there, they're practicing.

Uh soldiers, same thing. They carry

their equipment. They go out there and

they practice with their with their

weapons and they practice carrying their

gear and they practice and practice and

practice

so that they're able to effectively use

the weapons that they have.

If you're struggling, practice small

steps of obedience, truthfulness,

humility, forgiveness, allowing

scripture to mold your character because

at the end of the day, that's that's

what makes you a Christian. It's your

character and your integrity. Your

character has to be based on God's word.

The Bible doesn't just inform us. It

transform us transforms us into the

likeness of Christ.

The word of God, the scriptures also

equips us for every good work. It

prepares us to serve him faithfully and

effectively.

James 1:22 says, "Be ye doers of the

word and not hearers only, deceiving

your own selves." There has to be

actions behind the words. A soldier

never enters battle without armor.

Scripture equips us with wisdom,

strength, and courage for the tasks

ahead. Let every sermon of Bible study

move you toward one action of service or

obedience.

Scriptur is the divine equipment that

empowers us for ministry, service, and

daily life.

Uh

Ephesians 6:17 gives us that in

Ephesians chapter 6. It lists out the

armor of God. We're supposed to put all

those pieces on, but we need the

scriptures to be able to fight the

battle against our our own mind and

against the the activities that the

enemy brings against us.

The Bible's not a mere collection of

ancient writings. It's God's living word

breathed out. It's powerful and

purposeful. It teaches truth, convicts

of sin, and trains in righteousness, and

it equips us for every good work. The

question today is not whether the word

has power, but whether we whether we

will submit to it. If and you have to

ask yourself this question.

Will you allow scripture to be more than

words on a page?

Will you let it be God's voice guiding

your life?

So I want to pray with you. Heavenly

Father, we thank you for your word which

is pure and eternal. Forgive us for

neglecting it or treating it lightly.

Create in us a hunger for the scriptures

that we may know growth in truth,

holiness, and readiness for every good

work. write your word upon our hearts

that we may walk in obedience and bring

glory to Christ the living word in Jesus

name. Amen. So you guys have a great

week and I will see you guys again next

week. I will be uh

I will be broadcasting from moral bay

next week because I will be on vacation.

But we'll see you next week. You guys

have a great week. God bless you.