The Bible: A Pathway to Relationship with God

Episode Title: "The Bible: A Covenant of Relationship"

Episode Overview:
In this episode, Pastor Charlie Mitchell unpacks why reading the Bible is essential for followers of Jesus, focusing on the relational aspect of scripture. He explains how the Bible serves as a covenant, aka a relational document, that defines our relationship with Jesus, guiding us to love, obey, and know Him more deeply. Pastor Charlie shares personal reflections, biblical insights, and practical steps to make the Bible an integral part of your walk with Christ.

Episode Highlights:

1. The Bible as a Covenant Document:
   • Just as major life decisions often involve verbal agreements and written documentation, our relationship with Jesus is mediated through His Word.
   • The Bible is a covenant document that outlines the nature of our relationship with God and invites us to respond in obedience and love.
   • Reading the Bible is not just a religious practice; it is foundational to following Jesus.
2. Obedience as an Expression of Love:
   • Key Verse: John 14:15 – “If you love me, you will keep my commands.”
   • To love Jesus is to obey His teachings, as the Bible reflects His will and commands.
   • The Bible is more than a book of commands or moral stories; it is the story of God’s relentless pursuit of humanity and His desire to rescue and redeem us.
   • How we respond to the Bible reflects how we respond to Jesus.
3. Making the Bible a Part of You:
   • Key Verse: John 14:17 – “He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive him because it doesn’t see him or know him. But you do know him, because he remains with you and will be in you.”
   • The Bible helps us internalize God’s Word, enabling the Holy Spirit to guide and transform us.
   • Practical steps: meditate on scripture, commit to studying, and make the Word a regular part of your life.
   • Supporting Scripture: Psalms 119:15-16 – “I will meditate on your precepts and think about your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.”
4. Eternal Security and Hope in the Bible:
   • Key Passage: John 14:18-21 – Jesus reassures His disciples that He will never leave them as orphans.
   • The Bible provides eternal promises, offering us hope and security in our relationship with God.
   • True discipleship is marked by obedience to Jesus' commands, living them out, and teaching them to others.

Practical Application:

• Commit to Regular Bible Reading: Start or deepen your practice of engaging with scripture daily.
• Meditate and Memorize: Reflect on and internalize the Word to let it shape your life.
• Align with Jesus: Remember that to follow Jesus is to live in accordance with His teachings found in the Bible.
• Read in Community: Join a Bible study or reading plan to grow alongside others.

Key Takeaway:
We read the Bible because we love Jesus and want to know Him more deeply. The Bible is not just a book of rules but a relational document that guides us into a closer walk with Christ. As we read, obey, and internalize His Word, we experience the transformative power of His presence in our lives.

Transcript

Shure MV7-1: 0:00

Yo welcome back to the Charlie Mitchell teaching an audio experience. I'm so glad to be back with you sharing another sermon. this is one from the archives. that I preached to Epiphany church in Baltimore, and I hope you enjoy it. If you make it all the way to the end. I got some updates and some things I would love to share with you. Peace.

Charlie Mitchell: 0:25

Welcome to the Charlie Mitchell teaching and audio experience. in your Bible or on your app, whatever you may have, would you please open up to John? John is a biographer of Jesus. And we're going to be looking at John chapter 14, verses, 15 and following. So we might get along and go a little further, a little shorter. It all depends on how long I preach this morning, but I want you to jump in right there so we're all on the same page. John, chapter 14, verse 15. Now, in your mind's eye, I want you to with me real quick. I want you to with me every. single relationship that you have in your life. Every single decision you've ever made, significant decision, I'll say it like that. Significant decision, in your life has come with,, a verbal agreement and or written documentation. Think about this. Every significant decision you have made in your life has come with a verbal agreement. Some kind of conversation had to take place and there was some significant documentation or paperwork or something of that matter. Let me give you a few examples because I know you're probably like, all right, documentation. Okay. When you wanted to get your driver's license. What happened? You had to go up to the, the DMV and then you had to state that I want to get my driver's license. And then you had to fill out documentation. You probably had to pass a test. Hopefully you had to pass the test. And then you had to write paperwork, sign paperwork, take a picture, and they gave you your driver's license. What is your driver's license? It's the documentation that you have read and understand all the rules of the road. When you get a job or you apply for a job, what do you have to do? You have to walk into an establishment or you have to go online and you have to get the application. You have to engage in that process, fill it all out. Then what do you have to do? Then you have to have an interview with someone, somebody has to talk to you about these things. They have to make sure that you understand clearly what the job is, what your responsibilities are. You have to agree to the amount of payment. Then you have to sign your name on the dotted line. Why? Because if you don't do your responsibilities or they don't uphold their end of the deal, you can have a followup discussion about that. Sort of be in relationship with your employer. There is a verbal agreement. and documentation. When I wanted to get married to my wife, Erin, I had to get on one knee and ask her to be my wife. What is that? That's a verbal declaration of my love and affirmation of her. And then she had to respond to agree. Cause what, what if, what if my wife would've just went like this? Is that an agreement? Is it a disagreement? Are you saying yes? No, maybe so. No, there has to be a verbal declaration. And then what did we do? We had a public wedding where we made public vows. What were my vows? I, Charlie, take the errand to be my lawfully wedded. Wife to have and to hold for better or for worse, from this day forward in sickness and in health, for richer or for poor. All this stuff I had to say in front of a crowd of witnesses. It might've just been a judge for you. It might've been a few folks, like it was for our family. It might've been, but you had to make a public declaration of your relationship. And then what happened immediately after the ceremony, sometimes you might go to the reception, all that kind of stuff. But there's a moment where you and your bride or the husband and the wife, the newly declared husband and wife have to get in the room and sign documentation. To publicly affirm with the state that you were married in that they are in fact in a relationship as part of public record. So every relationship, every kind of major decision that we make in our life is mediated with a verbal declaration and written statement. Documentation, right? That's true of the government. That's true of the city of Baltimore. That's true of your job. That's true of the college you live in. That's why we have speed limit signs so that they can hold you accountable to the words that were spoken and written down. Matter of fact, anytime you make a purchase, the reason so many people love Amazon is if you pull up your receipt and have print. that you made the purchase. They, they may have to return your money if you don't like what you've gotten. So all authority in our life is delivered through speaking and writing, which is speaking on paper. So that makes sense. Does that make sense? All relationships and all authority is mediated through speaking and writing. And our relationship with Jesus is no different. Need you to catch that. Our relationship with Jesus is no different. Over the last couple of weeks, we've started this process called, Read, and I'm inviting us as followers of Jesus Christ to read the Bible, to get reacquainted with the scriptures, to engage with it at a deeper level so that we can actually flourish and learn and grow and so that we may mature as true followers and disciples of Jesus Christ. And what that means is I, I'm trying to cast a vision. I'm trying to help shift some paradigms in our mind to help us to see, okay, why is it that we need to read this ancient library of books? Why is it that we need to submit to its authority? Why is it that these things are so important to us as beliefs in Jesus Christ? Why is it that I can't just live my life how I wanna live my life, but I have to engage with this? Bible. Why is that? So over the next couple of weeks, over the last week and this week is, is I'm trying to help us to see that, that Jesus has mediated his relationship with us through the scriptures. He's revealed himself through the scriptures. He wants to be in relationship with us through the scriptures, all of it. But, but it's not just that Jesus wants to do that. Is that that's how all of life is. works, Jesus has made the decision to reveal the nature of God through the scriptures. He's also revealed the way in which we can be in relationship with God through the scriptures. Scholars often talk about, the scriptures as covenant documents. If you've been reading along with us in the the Bible project Bible reading plan, um, you've probably seen the little devotional in the first couple of weeks, especially as we're going through the book of Genesis, where they brought up this idea of covenants. Covenant, and that God made a covenant with Adam and Eve, that God made a covenant with Abraham, that God made a covenant with Noah, and God is going to make several more covenants as we walk through the scriptures together over the course of the year. But what covenant means before you get lost in the sauce, what covenant means is That they are documents or poems or letters or, writings where Jesus is outlining the terms of our relationship. He's saying, okay, if you want to be in relationship with me and I want to be in relationship with you, here's the terms and conditions of our relationship. Same like I did with my wife. I, I committed to, no matter if she gets sick or I get sick, no matter if things are going good or things are going bad, no matter if we got a lot of money in the bank or no money in the bank, I have publicly committed to being in relationship with her. What does that mean? I've made a covenant with her. So think about this for a second. Covenant means that people have to enter into that contract, that relationship together. So that means the Bible isn't necessarily for everybody. Why? Because they're not all in relationship with the God of the Bible. So while it may be true for them, it's not actually, it don't have no bearing on their life. It may be absolutely right. It may be what we need to know. It may be what we need to understand to grow in the flesh. I am in relationship with Jesus, it has absolute authority because God has established because Jesus has a firm that that is where we go to understand the terms of our relationship. So when you become a. A follower of Jesus Christ, namely, when you enter into the waters of baptism, a lot of times people don't understand what baptism is when you enter into the waters of baptism, you are publicly affirming your affiliation, your association, your commitment To Jesus and the word of God that you are saying that my life is no longer my own, but I am submitting myself to the authority and the reign and rule of Jesus Christ. He is my rabbi. He is my teacher. He is my greatest influence and I want to live as his apprentice and follow him for the rest of my days. And that means that because he makes such a big deal about the Bible and the scriptures. I also am coming under the authority and I'm in relationship with the Bible. So the Bible contains the relational documents. It contains the relational documents for how we enter into and how we walk with Jesus. That's huge. I want you to get that in your mind. The Bible is, the relational documents for how we enter into and how we walk out our relationship with Jesus. How am I gonna be in relationship with somebody? I don't know how to, I don't know what to do, how to say, what to do, how what to I, but every other relationship we have that we've had to make a statement, we've had to declare, we've had to make it plain. We've had to affirm and the Bible. So here's why I want us to turn to John chapter 14 is because Jesus is going to help us to see how clear and how radical of a relationship he has with the Bible. He wants us to have with the Bible. Look at verse. 15 if you love me, you will keep my commands and I will ask the father and he will give you another counselor to be with you forever. He is the spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive him because it doesn't see him or know him. What's the first thing I want you to understand from this passage To obey the Bible is to obey Jesus. To disobey the Bible is to disobey Jesus. Look at what the passage says again. If you love me, if you love me, you will obey my commands. First word in that whole thing is if. If you're in relationship with me. If you're in relationship with Jesus, that means that you are committed to the teachings of Jesus. That makes sense, right? If you're in relationship with Jesus, that means you're committed to the teachings of Jesus. Jesus says, if you love me, you ain't gotta love me, you ain't gotta like me, you ain't gotta deal with me. But I'm telling you, if you love me, if you claim me, And I want to separate that before we even go any further. Not if you want to go to heaven, not if you want to flourish and grow in your life and develop into the best you possible. Not if you want your life to get better. Not if you don't want to go to hell. Not if you want to make more money in the new year. He didn't say none of that. He said, if you love me, that's important because too often the Bible is reduced down to commands that, that, that, that we're using to get what we want from God, but we don't want to be in relationship with God. So many times We don't actually want the King. We just want the kingdom. We don't want Jesus. We want the jewels. We don't, we don't want him. We just want his stuff. And Jesus is saying, listen, if you love me, then listen, you do what I ask you to do and we want to reduce it down to just a few rules and principles. A lot of times there are a lot of commands. There are a lot of stories. If you've been reading in the Bible reading plan in Genesis, this has been a long ongoing story after story, after story of these families and the world and creation and all these complexities and a lot of messages. There's a lot of stories, but the Bible is ultimately A story of God in relentless pursuit of humanity. So all you're seeing is from the beginning of time, God is chasing after people and we keep doing everything we can to run away from him and he keeps pursuing us and you're seeing the messiness by which we will go to escape God and God keeps coming back to us. Each covenant that God has made with humanity has been to pursue and rescue humanity. That is the overarching story of the Bible. Some theologians have broken it down into four to five parts. Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Renewal. Creation, that God created everything. Uh, Fall, that was Genesis chapter 3, where everything went down because of sin. Everything was permeated and messed up. And then we get the redemption. God is redeeming humanity. He's going to send a rescuer. Then Jesus comes as the great Redeemer. And then at in the end, he will make all things new. He will renew all the heavens and the earth. That's the overarching story of the Bible. But a lot of times we just get lost in the, in the sauce. So let me back up to what Jesus just said. If you love me, if you responded. to the love, my pursuit of you. If you are in relationship with me, the conditions of our relationship are, is that you're willing to walk with me and obey my teachings. So you can reject the Bible and therefore reject the invitation to walk in relationship with Jesus. Or, you can obey the scriptures and walk in flourishing relationship with Jesus and the world around you. So that's the first thing I want you to see. To obey the Bible is to obey Jesus. To disobey the Bible is to disobey Jesus. Second thing I want you to see in verse 17 is, uh, uh, is this, he is the spirit of truth. So Jesus is talking to his disciples. They're very concerned about everything going on, but, but, but he's trying to comfort them. Here's what he said. He is the spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive him because it doesn't see him or know him, but you do know him because he remains with you and will be in you. So the second thing I want you to see is to know Jesus is to make the Bible a part of you to know Jesus is to make the Bible a part of who you are. So many are blind to the spirit of truth. The spirit of truth that Jesus is talking about is the Holy Spirit. The one that he will send to help you understand who Jesus is, who will reveal Jesus to the world, who will proclaim Jesus to the world. Right. But so many of us are blind to him. So many in the world have read the Bible, heard the Bible, seen a preacher talk, heard their grandma say something about Jesus, but they did not understand. There's a reason for that. And Paul will say in second Corinthians chapter four, verse four, that in their case, the God of the age has blinded the mind. of the unbeliever to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. The reason they can't perceive and understand what you see about Jesus and what you see about the scriptures and what you know about God is because there has been an intentional effort to keep them blind. And the God of this age, the enemy, the devil, the physical embodiment of evil in the world is intentionally trying to keep them from seeing it, from understanding it. You know, there's a lot of talk about social media and what happens on there and people are upset because sometimes you'll post something on social media, but your friends and family don't see it. And then you'll hear people talk about the algorithm. They're suppressing things, the algorithm, and they're pushing things aside. And they don't, they won't let people see your posts. And it's the same thing with the enemy, that he is intentionally suppressing the posts about Jesus. He's intentionally pushing it aside so that people can't see it. So although you might follow the same people, although you may go to the same places, although you might've heard the same sermons, they don't hear it the same way you hear it. They didn't see it the same way you see it because there is a blindness. But when. Jesus becomes real to you. We talked about this a few weeks ago. When you have an encounter or an epiphany of Jesus, he will remain in you and be in you. And the only way that can happen, hear me, the only way that God can dwell in you, abide in you, it's through the Bible. It's through the Bible. A lot of times we say, man, I'm, I'm in relationship, I'm in relationship with Jesus and I am going to design a custom, uh, fit, a custom preference on how I want to do relationship with Jesus. And unfortunately, that's not within the limits of our contractual agreement, the Bible. He doesn't reveal himself like that. He says, if you want to be in me and you want to know me, you got to connect with me in the Bible and through the Holy Spirit. Psalm 119, 15 and 16 says it like this. I will meditate on your precepts and think about your ways. I will delight in your statutes and I will not forget your word. Did you catch that? There's an intentionality to getting the word in us, the teachings of Jesus in us. What does it mean that I sit with him and I meditate on the things that he said? Not the things that he just magically says to our unconscious mind, because there is a sense that we encounter God in creation. But the clearest way you can know and hear from God is through the scriptures. To meditate on his precepts and to think about his ways, we must commit to reading, rereading, studying, and learning. and memorizing the Bible. It is only through those practices that we, that Jesus remains in us. And in a few weeks, we'll talk about how do you do those practices? How do we become good at those things? So the first thing we see is this. The Bible is God's relationship document to us, man. I want to be in relationship with y'all. I want y'all to walk with me. I've made this world for you. I want to bless you and, and, and be in relationship with you. And I'm going to show you explicitly, man, how we are in relationship together and what I'm doing so that you can be a part of it. And so to obey the Bible is to obey Jesus, to disobey the Bible is to disobey Jesus. Amen. The second thing we saw was what you've got to make the Bible a part of you. If you want Jesus in you, you've got to make the Bible a part of you and your daily rhythm of life. But lastly, number three, here's what I want you to see. The Bible brings us eternal security in hope. We need eternal security in hope. Why? Because these days that we are going through are so uncertain. They're so abnormal. We don't understand. We will lose our way. We were, we attempted to, to renounce, to reject the teachings of God. We are being pushed and manipulated and forced. Forced and modeled and shaped to be those that doubt that walk away from the teachings and the love and affirmation of Jesus. And so we need the scriptures to anchor us in place so that we don't lose our bearings in such uncertain times. Here's what it says. But you do know him who the Holy Spirit because he remains with you and will be in you I won't leave you as orphans I'm coming to you in a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me because I live You will live too. On that day, you will know that I'm not, I am in my father. You are in me and I am in you. The one who has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. And what we, what he's, what he's affirming to us is that the Bible is filled with the eternal promises of Jesus. You need, I need to be able to go back to the scriptures and go, okay, God, I'm losing my way. I'm not, I'm unsure about the future. I'm anxious. I don't have a lot of peace. Everything out here is going crazy. The government is upside down. We don't know what's going to happen this week. The next week I'm fearful. I live in a place that, that is dangerous and unsettling. And what you do is When you come back to the scriptures, you are reminded of his steadiness, his faithfulness, his love, his promises, and they anchor your soul in the midst of a crazy season. The Bible is filled with the eternal promises of Jesus. In this passage, Jesus is reassuring. His disciples, some of us need reassuring right now. You need reassurance because you've been scrolling watching and watching and watching, talking and talking and talking to a lot of people out here, but you haven't been able to just come to the Word of God and hear Jesus speak directly to you through His Word to say, listen, I ain't gonna leave you. I won't leave you as orphans. As a matter of fact, I am sending somebody that will walk with you and that will be in you. Amen. So what is he doing? He's like a loving father that's talking to his scared children. That's saying, listen, I do have to go do some work, but he had listened. Listen, I'm sending mommy is right here. She's going to take care of you. And just as if I were here with you, that's how you should feel secure because she is here with you too, but he gives the ultimate. Assurance, which is if you're in me, what is that? If you're reading the scriptures, if you're trusting in me, what is that? You will take my words, the Bible, and you'll obey them. You will live them. You will teach them. And they will be the mark of our relationship together. How do I know that you're in a relationship with me? Because you take my words seriously. How do you know that I love my wife dearly? It's because when she gets sick, I'm still here faithfully loving her through it. How do I know that my wife faithfully trust me and loves me is because when money, when the bank account is on low, she's still here loving and affirming and we're walking together in relationship. Why? Because that was the covenant agreement that we made. So, these ain't just some words we said out into the atmosphere. No, these were commitments. This is a relationship that has been publicly established and written down. So Epiphany Church, listen to me. These are relational documents. Don't just see these as a rule book, as an encyclopedia of just facts and information. Just some hacks for you to get better at life. No, no, no, no. I want you to begin to see it as a love letter as affirmation from God that I, Hey, listen, I've been pursuing you. I love you. It'll reveal to you your identity. It'll show you how to overcome stress, doubt, peace. It'll remind you that God is walking with you and in you. It is another Reminded that you ain't alone in this world, no matter how you feel, but that you have a great cloud of witnesses that is affirming you, that you come from a long legacy of believers that have walked with the scriptures and walk with God. And you can look at their stories and begin to see yourself. It is a way in which you can see the entire world. world and you can go, Oh, I see how I fit into the midst of the mess that I've been called to. And so in the midst of all of this, the Bible is our relational document that keeps us whole and keeps us sane. So we read the Bible. Why? Because we're followers. And we read the Bible because we love in our, in our, in relationship with Jesus. Let me pray for us. Jesus, you have been so, so kind to us because unlike many of those who have gone through the annals of time, they were not given the supreme gift that we've been given in the scriptures. Many of us have multiple Bibles in our house, but don't understand the crown jewel, the blessing, the benefit that we've been given in the revelation of God that is bound together all throughout history so that we could commune with you on a daily basis. God, I pray that you would, you would shift our minds. You would make a paradigm shift in all of those who are in relationship with you, that they wouldn't just come to the Bible as a how to book, as a reference book, as an encyclopedia of interesting stories, but God, they will begin to see it as your letter to us, your pursuit of us, and it is the ways in which we can interact with you and the world around us. God put, put a desire in us to read your word, to know your word, to meditate on your word so that we may walk more closely with you. I thank you for all of those who have begun the journey of opening up the scriptures on a daily basis. Strengthen them, I pray. Encourage them, I pray. May you begin to illuminate the words to them so that things, they begin to hear your words fresh and new. Pray all of this in Jesus name, amen.

Shure MV7: 29:57

Yo, if you listen to this whole sermon all the way through you are a legend. And, uh, I want to commend you and say, thank you for your support. Of the Charlie Mitchell audio and teaching experience. And, I want to let you know, it's my goal to help you grow as a disciple. And so I have some other resources available to you. if you want to grow in your knowledge of the scriptures or just become more familiar with reading the Bible. I have another podcast called the dope daily audio Bible. And every day we just read a chapter of scripture And we do a brief prayer at the end. If that's something that might interest you. just go check it out. Dope daily audio Bible. And if you love these sermons, you love the things that are produced, please, please, please share it with a friend. I appreciate all the support. Peace.