Paul Tripp: The people that are in the Bible are given to us so that we would be able to know ourselves. As I examine myself in the mirror of all of those characters in the Bible, I end up learning fundamental things about myself that have practical implications for everything I encounter in this broken world.

Kate Crowley: Welcome to Right Here, Right Now and today's program from Paul Tripp Ministries. Join us as Paul connects the transforming power of Jesus Christ to everyday life.

Male Voice: Well, here's what's been up with me when it comes to the Bible. I guess I've always treated my Bible like a life encyclopedia. I thought of it as a list of topics that God has spoken to. So I would use my concordance, and I would look for verses on the particular topics of interest, and then I would check out what each of those verses had to say about the topic.

I had no idea the Bible was a story. I didn't grasp topical verses were connected to the story of Scripture, and I couldn't possibly understand them when I had ripped them out of the context of the story that they were in. I had no clue there were great themes running through every part of the Biblical story, themes that could define God and me and the life I was created to live. It had always sort of bugged me that the Bible was arranged the way it was.

The other way I used the Bible was in my personal reading each morning. As I looked back over the years, I didn't think I was really reading to learn so much as I was reading each morning to get blessed. You know, I mean, I was hoping that God would meet me in some obvious way each morning as I read.

I was reading to spiritual buzz as I started my day. So I didn't read as a student. I didn't examine the content of each passage for how it related to the whole of God's Word and for the wisdom that can be found there. Yes, I was one of those people. I had the Bible in my hands; I read it regularly, but I didn't really understand what it was all about and because of that, the Bible often frustrated and disappointed me, and it surely didn't have the impact on my life that it was meant to have.

Music: "These Days" by Jackson Browne

Well I've been out walking
I don't do that much talking
These days, these days
These days I seem to think a lot
About the things that I forgot to do
And all the times I had the chance to

Kate Crowley: Welcome to Right Here, Right Now with Paul Tripp as he shares the truth of God's Word with today's message, "Real People" from the series, "What's So Important About the Bible Anyway?"

Now for a refreshing look at how important words can be, Paul has authored a helpful book simply titled, War Of Words. He authored this with the intent of helping you see how the power of words reflects God's grace. It's available at Paul's website, paultrippministries.org.

And while you are there, be sure you check out the other great resources designed to help you live your life in the grace that God provides. Again, that's paultrippministries.org. And now, here's Paul Tripp with more Right Here, Right Now.

Are You Like Drew?

Paul Tripp: Could it be that you're one of those people like Drew? Could it be that you have the Bible in your hands, but you have not really understood what it is all about? Could it be that, although you've read it much that you are not really receiving what the Bible was meant to give you?

Have you looked at the Bible as God's Encyclopedia of human problems and divine solutions? Have you been one of those people who reads the Bible with the hope of getting some emotional, spiritual high? What does the Bible mean to you?

How are you using this amazing book that the God of wisdom and the God of revelation has placed in your hands? Is this book radically rearranging your life? Is it causing you to desire, think, choose, act, and speak in brand-new ways? Is it beginning to lift clouds of confusion? Is it enabling you to live with hope and with courage? Is it making sense out of the things that have never made sense before in your life?

Here's the question we've been asking, and I'll ask it again, and I'm going to ask it again and again, "What's so important about the Bible anyway?" And I have said that I want to look at four aspects of what the great Biblical story gives us.

The Bible presents us with the real world.

The Bible introduces us to real people.

The Bible invites us into relationship with the real God.

The Bible welcomes us to real redemption.

In these four ways, it is clearly the most amazing book that you could ever read. In these four ways, it has the power to radically transform you and your life.

Now get this - by the amazing grace of God, you have been given this incredible book. It really does, as I've said already today, it really does have the power to transform your heart and to reshape your life. But it must not and cannot be used like a spiritual charm or like a spiritual Ouija Board.

So how are you doing with God's Word? Or, maybe I should say it this way, "What in the world are you doing with God's Word?" Are you like Drew? Have you had it in your hands for years but not making use of it the way it was designed to be used? What practical insight has it had in shaping your identity, your sense of meaning and purpose, your inner sense of well-being, your functional definition of the purpose of life, your understanding of who God is and what He is doing on earth, right here, right now?

What impact has it had on shaping the way you approach your work, the way you approach your friendships, the way you approach your family, the way you approach your finances, the way you approach your personal life? Is the Bible reordering your priorities? Are you being transformed by God's great, expansive Book?

Music: "Man In The Mirror" by Michael Jackson

I'm going to make a change
For once in my life
It's gonna feel real good
Gonna make a difference, gonna make it right
As I turned up the collar on my favorite winter coat
This wind is blowin' my mind
I see the kids in the street with not enough to eat
Who am I to be blind, pretending not to see their need?
A summer's disregard, a broken bottle top
And one man's soul
They follow each other on the wind you know?
'Cause they got nowhere to go, that's why I want you to know
I'm starting with the man in the mirror
I'm asking him to change his ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself and then make a change

The Bible Introduces Real People

Paul Tripp: It really is wonderful that the Bible not only presents to me a gritty and realistic world just like the one I actually live in, but get this; the Bible also introduces me to real people. I don't know if you've noticed it or thought about this or not, but the characters of the Bible are very familiar. They are people just like you and me.

Now I think it's possible to miss this because we see those people encased in historical and geographical contexts that are so vastly different than ours. And so that makes it possible to miss the fact that the people in those contexts speak, act, and respond just like us.

It's very important that the Bible does not present to us characters that are like perfectly formed figures in the wax museum of human nobility. And the Biblical characters are also not like cartoon characters with saccharine smiles and melodic voices. When we look at the characters in the Bible, we are able to recognize the people of the Bible because they're just like us.

Take Adam and Eve for example; they were skillful blame shifters, just like us. King Saul is paranoid and duplicitous, just like we often are. Peter is inexplicably proud, just like we can be. Nebuchadnezzar is addicted to power, just like we often are.

When we look at the pages of Scripture, we see people in familiar relationships. They're sons and daughters; they're husbands and wives; they're preachers and poets. We see people in the Bible in familiar situations. We see crowds of onlookers. We see needy beggars on the street. We see political leaders caught between two agendas. We see people of diverse ethnicities. We see people of different social classes. We see teachers and students. We see craftsmen and artisans. We see manual laborers. We see the rich and the poor. We see the very elderly and the very young.

There is an incredibly rich display of the variegated colors of humanity that dyes almost every page of the Bible. You see, you simply do not have to look very long to see a person in the Bible who was just like you.

The Bible also powerfully displays the whole range of human passion. We see joy and rejoicing. We see grief and mourning. We see fear and timidity. We see contentment and delight. We see jealousy and greed. We see faith and doubt. We see patience and perseverance. We see rage, discouragement, hatred, self-sacrificing love, lust, obsession, and selfishness.

And in all of this, we are able to observe how human beings respond to situations and how they respond to the people around them. And in an amazing way, we are ushered into the hallways of human hearts to examine their thoughts, to inspect their desires, and to understand their choices. It is an amazing thing how the Bible puts real flesh and blood people in front of this.

And you know what happens in the process of all of this? Here's what happens. In the process of all of this, our hearts are exposed and confronted. Our desires are exposed and confronted. Our thoughts are exposed and confronted. Our actions are exposed and challenged. Our relationships are exposed and critiqued.

The people of the Bible are given to us so that we would know ourselves. I need to say that again; it's very important, and I just don't want you to miss it. "The people that are in the Bible are given to us so that we would be able to know ourselves." Here's what it's like; these people are given to us as a mirror so that we can look into their lives, and in looking into their lives, see ourselves as we actually are.

Even the Bible's commands and principles depict real flesh and blood humanity because they address the same mundane and/or significant issues that every human being experiences. These commands speak to the eyes; these commands speak to the tongue; these commands speak to the hands; these commands speak to the mind.

Now, what are these? These are all the parts of the body that you and I, in our sin, have trouble controlling. These commands tell you how to respond to mistreatment. These commands tell you how to plan for the future. These commands tell you how to respond to your government. These commands tell you how to reconcile a relationship. These commands tell you how to correct and instruct a child. They tell you how to lead a church, how to love your husband and wife, how to treat the elderly with respect and honor, how to respond for and minister to the poor, and how to deal and live with your neighbor.

Now again, what is all of this about? What is this grand multifaceted display of humanity that's in Scripture all about? What in the world is the reason for it being here? Here it is again: there simply is no better means of self-knowledge and self-exposure than the mirror of the Word of God.

You see, as I examine myself in the mirror of all of those Biblical characters, I learn fundamental things about myself that have practical implications for everything I encounter in this broken world. And I'm going to repeat that because I think it's a very, very important principle, "As I examine myself in the mirror of all of those characters in the Bible, I end up learning fundamental things about myself that have practical implications for everything I encounter in this broken world." I learn things that I would not learn any other way. And here's what's important about all that I just said; the Bible has the power to expose us for who we really are.

Music: "Wonderful Merciful Savior" by Phillips, Craig & Dean

Wonderful, merciful Savior
Precious Redeemer and Friend
Who would have thought that a lamb could
Rescue the souls of men
Oh, You rescue the souls of men
Counselor, Comforter, Keeper
Spirit we long to embrace
You offer hope when our hearts have
Hopelessly lost the way
Oh, we hopelessly lost the way
You are the one that we praise
You are the one we adore
You give the healing and grace
Our hearts always hunger for
Oh, our hearts always hunger for

The Most Important Point About Real People

Paul Tripp: Now I want you to hear me say this, and I say that all the time; I tell you all the time that there is something that I want you to particularly pay attention to. But this is probably the most important point that I'm going to make about the importance of the Bible introducing us to real people. Here it is: the Bible, because it does that, never allows us to believe in neutral, undirected, unmotivated humanity.

The Bible always requires us to admit that behind everything you and I do or say, behind every action that we take, every choice that we make, every word that we say, every decision that we make, we are in the pursuit of something. There is some hope or some kind of dream that we refuse to live without.

There are things that we value so much that we will willingly sacrifice other good things to get them. It's sad and scary to say, but we will even debase our humanity in order to deify the creation, in order to get it to give us what we want. The very things we seek to possess begin to possess and control us. We live for the shadow glories of the physical, created world, and we forget the one true glory that is really worth living for: the glory of God.

If you spend time with the Bible, you will discover that it is masterful in its portraiture of humanity. The Bible requires us to make this one painful humbling admission. Here it is. It is the confession that we all work hard to avoid; it is the confession that I've called you to again and again. Here it is: our deepest, most pervasive, most abiding problem is inside of us. If you let the Bible humbly call you to make this admission, your life will never be the same.

Once again, you need to see how this all connects to every situation and relationship of your life. Once again, you need to see how the things we have been talking about can truly be life transforming. Why do so many of us tend to lose our way in the situations and relationships of our daily life?

All of the labyrinthine pathways of the human existence on what Scripture leads us, leads to one place - they'd lead us to. They lead us to humbly begin to confess that we are our greatest problem. They lead us to begin to cry out for something more than skills and more than techniques.

Yes, they help us to quit thinking that what we really need is cosmetic change. They call us to stop thinking that changes in situation, location, and relationship is all we need. As we look into the mirror of the people in Scripture, we begin to discover how deep our need really is, and we begin to cry out for the help that only God can give us.

(Music Interlude)

Paul Tripp: Have you ever noticed what James says about the Bible in James 1:19 through 25? Well, let me read it:

My dear brothers, take note of this. Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry; for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. Therefore get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent, and humbly accept the word planted in you which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in the mirror and after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and continues to do this not forgetting what he is heard but doing it, he will be blessed in what he does.

Could it be that you're like the person that James describes, that you look in the mirror of the Word of God, but you don't pay attention to what you're seeing there, and you walk away from the Word of God completely and totally unchanged?

Wouldn't it be ridiculous if you did that with your physical mirror in your bathroom in the morning? That you would go there with your bed-head hair and with all the other damage that the night has done, and you would look into the mirror, and the mirror would confront you; it would show you, you as you actually are, and you turn away utterly unchanged, doing nothing?

The Bible is a mirror. It shows you 'you' as you actually are. What are you doing with what the Bible shows you about you?

Kate Crowley: Dealing with people, an honest look at relationships from Paul Tripp on Right Here, Right Now. There's more coming from Paul's series, "What's So Important About the Bible Anyway?" Be sure and invite a friend to join in tomorrow. You can also hear these words of grace online when you visit Paul's website at paultrippministries.org.

Now, if you ever wonder how your words impact others, you need to pick up a copy of the book, War Of Words. In this writing, Paul Tripp examines the importance of practicing godly speech. That's War Of Words. Log on to paultrippministries.org. That's all one word; Paul Tripp spelled, T-R-I-P-P, paultrippministries.org. And, you can check out what Paul has to say from his most recent blog at paultrippministries.org.

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I'm Kate Crowley. And on behalf of Paul Tripp Ministries, I want to remind you that, in Jesus Christ, there really is help, right here, right now. Be sure and listen in tomorrow.