The Unread Bestseller

1
The Unread Bestseller

• We have free and ample access to Gods Holy Book.
  Yet, 64 of Americans fail to read the Bible
  because they claim they are just too busy.

2
The Unread Bestseller

• Approximately 100 million Bibles
  are printed worldwide each year
  making it, hands down, the best
  selling book of all time.
• 92 of all Americans own at least one edition
• The Gideons distribute over 45 million Bibles
  each year
• However, in times past, the words of God were not
  as readily available as they are today.

3
The Unread Bestseller

• In Middle Ages it took three
  tedious years for qualified scribes
  to hand print just one copy of the
  Scriptures.
• Only the rich and powerful had a copy of the
  text.
• Most were uneducated, and unable to read in their
  own language, much less the Latin text that was
  most common in that day.

4
The Unread Bestseller

• By the 1450s Johannes
  Gutenberg, a printer from Mainz, Germany
  invented what historians have called
  the most important invention of the past
  millenium.
• First printing press with moveable type took the
  Bible as its first project. The Gutenberg Bible
  opened the door for placing Gods word into the
  hands of the people.
• However, still took 3 years for 180 copies, and
  still out of reach of common man.

5
The Unread Bestseller

• Gutenbergs Bible cost the
  equivalent of an average workers
  three year salary.
• Men such as Martin Luther, John Wycliffe and
  William Tyndale sacrificed greatly in their
  efforts to have the Bible printed and translated
  into the common languages of man.
• Because of their efforts, today we have free and
  ample access to the Word of God. But

6
The Unread Bestseller

• 64 of Americans fail to read the
  Bible because they claim they are
  just too busy.
• Less than 50 of Americans can name the first
  book of the Bible (Gallup)
• 66 dont know who delivered the sermon on the
  mount (Gallup)
• A 1997 Barna survey reported that 12 of those
  questioned thought Joan of Arc was Noahs wife!
• The Bible has become the unread Bestseller

7
The Unread Bestseller

• You have a Bible that has been
  translated into your own language
• Do you delight in it? (Psa. 11916, 103)

8
Psalm 11916, 103

• (16), I will delight myself in Your statutes I
  will not forget Your word.
• (103), How sweet are Your words to my taste,
  Sweeter than honey to my mouth!

9
The Unread Bestseller

• You have a Bible that has been
  translated into your own language
• Do you delight in it? (Psa. 11916, 103)
• You have been blessed with an education which
  allows you to read your Bible
• Do you study it? (Psa. 119148 2 Tim. 215)

10
Psalm 119148

• My eyes are awake through the night watches,
  That I may meditate on Your word.
• Be diligent to present yourself approved to God,
  a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly
  dividing the word of truth
• (2 Timothy 215)

11
The Unread Bestseller

• You have a Bible that has been
  translated into your own language
• Do you delight in it? (Psa. 11916, 103)
• You have been blessed with an education which
  allows you to read your Bible
• Do you study it? (Psa. 119148 2 Tim. 215)
• You are not persecuted for owning a Bible
• Are you ashamed to be seen carrying one? (Rom.
  116)

12
Romans 116

• For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,
  for it is the power of God to salvation for
  everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also
  for the Greek.

13
The Unread Bestseller

• Many have sacrificed their
  freedom and lives in order to
  translate it into the common venacular
• Do you stand in awe of it? (Psa. 11961)

14
Psalm 11961

• Princes persecute me without a cause, But my
  heart stands in awe of Your word.

15
The Unread Bestseller

• Many have sacrificed their
  freedom and lives in order to
  translate it into the common venacular
• Do you stand in awe of it? (Psa. 11961)
• Apostles and Prophets were imprisoned, whipped,
  and violently executed so you could have Gods
  holy word
• Do you walk worthy of it? (Eph. 41-3)

16
Ephesians 41-3

• I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech
  you to walk worthy of the calling with which you
  were called, 2 with all lowliness and
  gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one
  another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity
  of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

17
The Unread Bestseller

• Many have sacrificed their
  freedom and lives in order to
  translate it into the common venacular
• Do you stand in awe of it? (Psa. 11961)
• Apostles and Prophets were imprisoned, whipped,
  and violently executed so you could have Gods
  holy word
• Do you walk worthy of it? (Eph. 41-3)
• Jesus was crucified so you could have the truth
• Will you obey it? (John 11, 14 668)

18
John 11, 14 668

• (1), In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
  was with God, and the Word was God.
• (14), And the Word became flesh and dwelt among
  us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the
  only begotten of the Father, full of grace and
  truth.
• (668), But Simon Peter answered Him, Lord,
  to whom shall we go? You have the
  words of eternal life.

19
The Unread Bestseller

• You have the life-giving gospel
• Will you share it with others?
  (Mark 1615)

20
Mark 1615

• And He said to them, Go into all the world and
  preach the gospel to every creature.

21
The Unread Bestseller

• You have the life-giving gospel
• Will you share it with others?
  (Mark 1615)
• Many parents in the past could not read the Bible
  to their children
• Do you read it to yours? (Deut. 66-9 Eph. 64)

22
Deuteronomy 66-9

• And these words which I command you today shall
  be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently
  to your children, and shall talk of them when you
  sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when
  you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall
  bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall
  be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall
  write them on the doorposts of your house and on
  your gates.

23
Ephesians 64

• And you, fathers, do not provoke your children
  to wrath, but bring them up in the training and
  admonition of the Lord.

24
The Unread Bestseller

• You have the life-giving gospel
• Will you share it with others?
  (Mark 1615)
• Many parents in the past could not read the Bible
  to their children
• Do you read it to yours? (Deut. 66-9 Eph. 64)
• You have the divinely revealed mind of God
  recorded for you!
• Do you twist, pervert, and add your opinions to
  it? (Gal. 16-9)

25
Galatians 16-9

• I marvel that you are turning away so soon from
  Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a
  different gospel, which is not another but there
  are some who trouble you and want to pervert the
  gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel
  from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than
  what we have preached to you, let him be
  accursed. As we have said before, so now I say
  again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you
  than what you have received, let him
  be accursed.

26
Conclusion

• You have within your
  grasp the words of
  eternal life! Do your
  eyes fail from searching
  it?
• These were more fair-minded than those in
  Thessalonica, in that they received the word with
  all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily
  to find out whether these things were so (Acts
  1711).