What Do We Study? - 3/15/09pm

Note: The point of this sermon is not to say that there are things in scripture that we shouldn't study. But rather that we should understand why we study these things.

If you walk into just about any bookstore and go to the religion section, it seems like about half the books on the shelves will have one of these terms on the front cover. People seem to be obsessed with these things. Yet how much time does the Bible spend talking about these matters, regarding what actual events will take place? Very little.
I Thessalonians 4:13-17 -Dead in Christ rise first, then the living
I Thessalonians 5:1-5 -Comes as thief in the night
II Timothy 3:1-9 -People in the last days
II Peter 3:1-13 -Destruction of earth by fire
Revelation 20:11-15 -Judgment by works
While this is hardly every passage dealing with these things, it’s the most prominent passages referred to. Many passages that people turn to regarding the end of the world have nothing to do with the end of the world. But each of these that we just read just sort of…ends, don’t they? Let us go back and read the conclusions of these passages:
I Thessalonians 4:18 -Therefore comfort one another
I Thessalonians 5:6-11 -Therefore let us watch and be sober
II Timothy 3:10-17 -But you, continue in the truth
II Peter 3:14-18 -Therefore, be diligent
Revelation 21-22 -Eternity with Christ
We see that the emphasis in these passages is not the end of the world itself, but to provide some background for why we must follow Christ. It’s there to help get to the point. Indeed, we see the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment listed as things that should be basics:
Hebrews 5:12-6:3 -The elementary principles of Christ
I Corinthians 3:1-4 -Corinthians not ready for meat

We need to always remember that studying the Bible is not simply a mental exercise. Our study has a practical purpose:
II Timothy 3:16-17 -All scripture is profitable:

Doctrine
I Timothy 6:3-5 -The doctrine of the Lord Jesus
Reproof
Titus 2:1-15 -These things exhort and reprove
Correction
Proverbs 3:11-12 -Whom the Lord loves, He corrects
Instruction in Righteousness
I Corinthians 10:1-13 -These were written for our instruction