The most precious gift God
has given mankind, apart from Jesus Himself, is His
written Word, the Bible. Yet
today the Bible is ignored, mocked, hated, vilified, and looked upon as a relic
of the past, having no application for us in these ‘modern’ days.
Someone may say, “Why make
such an issue over a book? It’s just a book!” But it isn’t “just a book.” It is
the actual written Word of God. The Apostle John proclaimed:
“In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning
with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing
came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the
Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not
comprehend it.” (John 1:1-5)
The Second Person of the
Godhead, the Son of God; i.e. Jesus Christ, is the Word, and that Word is
proclaimed and glorified in the book we call the Bible. From beginning to end,
Genesis through Revelation, the Word of Almighty God speaks to any who will
listen.
But someone may say, “If I
could only hear from God directly.” If I write you a letter, would you be
hearing from me directly? Of course you would! God has written mankind a
letter, a very long letter, and those who read it are hearing directly from
God.
“But forty different people
wrote the sixty-six books of the Bible. How can we say God wrote it?” The
Apostle Peter said:
“But know this first of all,
that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no
prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy
Spirit spoke from God.” (2 Peter 1:20-21)
The Apostle Paul stated:
“All Scripture is inspired by
God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in
righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good
work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
Why do we throw out all these
frivolous excuses about the validity of the Bible when the Truth is so evident?
The answer is found right in the Bible.
“For the time will come when
they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled,
they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own
desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to
myths.” (2 Timothy 4:3-4)
Those who don’t know Jesus
will shy away from the Bible because they don’t want to hear the Truth about
their sins and its consequences. What they are missing though is that there is
a remedy provided by God, and that remedy is the forgiveness of all sins and
acceptance into the family of God upon committed belief in Jesus Christ.
What about the Christians
though? Why are so many Christians Biblically ignorant? We call ourselves a
Christian, yet have little to no interest in the Bible. How can that be? The
Bible says,
“Be diligent to present
yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed,
accurately handling the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)
I know people who can quote
you any sport statistic you want, but couldn’t tell you if the book of Romans
is in the Old or New Testament. Others can name every soap opera and spend
hours telling you about each character, but not be able to name the four
Gospels. Many keep up with the political arena, the Hollywood ‘stars,’ and
other ‘important’ matters, but have never told anyone else about Jesus.
Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t
to say that all Christians are Biblically ignorant and seemingly uncaring about
sharing Christ. The frightening thing is that most are. Even more frightening
is the nagging suspicion of doubt about the salvation of many who claim to know
Jesus but do not. They’re just ‘playing church.’
Generally speaking, churches
in the United States of America are composed of people who are spoiled and
lazy. We want to be entertained and accept no responsibility as a workman for
our Lord.
Pastors should be fired up
about Jesus Christ, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and training those in his care
for service. Jesus said the Scriptures spoke of Him. So, all the Word of God
should be taught, not just pieces here and there.
In my opinion, much of the
disinterest in the pew comes from the pulpit. If those in the pulpits would
preach the unadulterated Truth and ALL the Truth from the Bible, people by the
thousands would be falling on their knees before God to be forgiven and looking
intently for His return.
I realize that many would
stop going to the church services just as they also forsook Christ. The
offering plate might suffer. A pastoral job might be on the line. What is more
important though, being a spiritual wimp or a warrior for Jesus Christ?
This Bible we’re talking
about is composed of roughly 27% prophecy, but prophecy is rarely ever
mentioned from most pulpits. It has been my experience that many of those in
the congregation would love to have their pastor teach prophecy, but the
pastors refuse. Why? Oh, they give various reasons, but could the real reason
be that they know nothing about prophecy? If you don’t know it, you can’t teach
it. Right?
The Bible is the most
important material piece of property we could ever have in our hands, but it is
absolutely of no use to us if we don’t open it up, use it and believe it. It
contains the Truth about God, about us and so much more. If we believe what it
says, could we really ignore it?
All of it should be
proclaimed. All of it should be, by a true Christian, believed. I decided
nearly fifty years ago in a religious class in college that the Bible always
overrides our opinions. If it seems there is a conflict in the Scriptures, the
conflict is with me, not the Scriptures. I need to keep studying and listen to
the Lord, not man. Every word in the Bible is true, or none of it is true, and
it is 100% Truth. Satan will try to place doubts in our minds through
unscrupulous men. Ignore them. Only God speaks the Truth, and every word He
says is Truth.
Grant Phillips
Email: grantphillips@windstream.net
Pre-Rapture Commentary: http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com
