1. Is the bible past it’s ‘use by’ date?

2. Read the label!

3. Some possible reasons for feeling the bible is past it’s ‘use by’ date
religions just re-invent themselves when proved wrong
the language and messages are ‘old fashioned’
it’s behind the times on scientific advances
it’s not relevant to modern day issues
the people who read it seem ‘out of touch’

4. What makes this book unique?
40 writers
Written over 1600 years
One author .....
‘The word of the Lord’
Accurate foretelling of the future

5. A unique book preserved through time
A unique book preserved through time! There are more than five and a half thousand Greek copies of the New Testament Compare this with the Greek classic Homer’s ‘Iliad’ with just 643 copies and the first complete preserved text dates from the 13th century

6. A few recommendations from key figures of the past: Napoleon described it as “no mere book, but a living creature with a power that conquers all”. George Washington said “it is impossible to govern rightly without it”. Abraham Lincoln claimed “it was the best gift ever given to man”. Charles Dickens said “It is the very best book that ever was, or ever will be known to the world”.

7. The bible AHEAD of it’s time!
Egyptian medical texts from around 1500BC give an insight into knowledge at that time.
Treatments included;
statue dust
beetle shells
mouse tails
cat hair
pigs eyes
For a splinter the remedy was;
“ a salve made from worm blood and donkey dung”

8. The bible AHEAD of it’s time!
3500 years ago the laws for living given to Moses gave advise on practical sanitation, hygiene and quarantine.
Exodus 15 v 26
Numbers 19 v 12 – 13
Lev 13 v 46
How many lives could have been saved throughout history if people had listened to the Bible?

9. The bible offers deep insights on the BIG questions about human nature
Our natural desires
“There is a way that seems right
to a man but its end is the way of
death” Proverbs 14 v 12
The struggle within us to do good
“A war of the mind” Romans 7

10. The bible always offers us principles not always specifics on every issue of the day
medical ethics
sexuality and marriage
paying taxes
poverty and exploitation
environmental issues
etc etc etc

11. Bringing an old story to a new audience
Engaging with the word of God?

12. Getting behind the language, culture and context of bible times
Some effort is required
A matter of faith not intelligence
The good Samaritan (Luke 10)
loving our neighbour
helping any who are in need
putting differences aside
... deeper meaning in the detail!

13. Patterns in bible prophecy for more than one generation
Messages about the future for the immediate audience
Patterns that are to be repeated in the future

14. God’s word is not like any other book
“For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the holy spirit” 2 Peter 1 v 21

15. A third of the bible is prophecy...... And most of that is about the Jews
Jeremiah 30 v 11
Making sense of the madness we see around us in the world and knowing that there is a God with a plan and a purpose NOW.

16. Making sense of the tomorrows news God’s plan unfolding
“ And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples: all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth be gathered against it.”
Zech 12 v 3

17. More than just our physical wellbeing
14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work Timothy 3:14-17

18. God’s word is not like any other book
“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division on soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” Hebrews 4 v 12

19. A book for all time given by a God not bound by time
No ‘use by’ date
but a call to USE IT NOW