Taking The Bible Seriously
Do you take the Bible seriously? Think about it for a moment before you
answer. When was the last time you really spent some time reading from
it? How much can you remember from what you have read from the Bible?
That is a challenge, if you think about it. In our world there is far
too much inattentiveness toward the word of God. Today, I hope to
present some thoughts that will alter that, if possible, and if you stay
tuned.
First, however, please accept our invitation to visit the West End
Church of Christ today. At 9 this morning, we meet for Bible study in
various small classes. Each of these classes is conducted by a capable
teacher and relevant Bible topics are discussed. At 10 this morning we
meet for worship and again at 6 p.m. tonight. Wednesday evening at 7
p.m. we have classes for all ages and you are very cordially invited to
come.
The average person today, even though some may be very religious, knows
very little about the Bible. There are many other things that appeal to
us and occupy our main interests. What the Bible has to say may be held
in respect, but not in memory. The Bible may have some lofty principles
in thought but not in daily living. We take too many things for
granted. School is taken for granted and we have seen the sad results
of seniors in high school who cannot read anywhere near the expected
level of proficiency they should have. Religion is taken for granted
and few, if any, get concerned over whether there is a right and a
wrong, a heaven or hell, truth or error, or even life after death. All
of that is the result of not taking the Bible seriously. Such is really
frightening. I believe personally, that this is the absolute greatest
danger there is to the religious world all around us. Religion faces no
danger from atheism -- the idiotic view that there is no God at all.
Skeptics pose no real danger to religion. Modernistic and liberal
thinking theologians are no threat to the religious world. Atheists,
skeptics, and modernists have been trying for years to destroy the
Bible, the idea of God, the church for which Christ died and failed.
They have come and gone -- the word of God remains.
The problem we face is one of a lackadaisical disposition toward the
Bible and its great truths. It has the potential of complete
destruction. An ancient prophet, Hosea, cried out: "My people are
destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten
the law of your God I also will forget your children" (Hosea 4:6).
Destruction is a terrible fate for anyone. But the people of God are
subjects of destruction when they repeat the folly of the Israelites.
Disregard for the law of God leads to a lack of knowledge and lack of
knowledge leads to utter destruction. There is no way around the
conclusions just drawn from this prophetic passage.
The problem is not new. Jesus experienced it during His personal
ministry on earth. He was involved deeply in crucial teaching on the
nature of the kingdom He came to establish. Multitudes of people
followed His every footprint. He fed them miraculously with just a few
fishes and loaves of bread and some may have felt they wanted more "hand
outs." Some seem to have followed Him just for the novelty of it. To
those who were enamored by the novel nature of Christ, soon came the
passing away of the novelty. They then settled back into their lethargy
and hum-drum activities of life. To those enthralled by His
personality, came the time when through opposition to Him by the high-up
officials of Judaism, were discouraged from following Him further. Then
when Jesus plainly announced that following Him was much more than
eating free fish and bread, that in fact it was complete commitment to
Him as a way of life by partaking of His own nature, the Bible is clear
what happened. "Many walked with Him no more" (John 6:66).
Later in His work on earth Jesus had performed miracles, pronounced many
profound utterances of Divine truth and had commenced His instruction
relative to His kingdom. He spoke by parables, illustrating these great
truths by every day occurrences in life. He spoke of the kingdom as a
man sowing seed in planting time. Some of the seed, He said, fell by
the way side and produced no fruit. Other seed fell on stony ground and
sprang up for a short while, but because it had no depth wilted and
died. Some of the seed was choked out by thorns and thistles and the
remainder fell on good soil and produced a good crop. This parable is
found in Matthew 13 and Luke 8. We don't need a detailed explanation of
this simple parable. Jesus explained it Himself in Matthew 13:18-23. I
encourage you to read it. Suffice it to say that the seed is the word
of God; your own Bible is the seed of the kingdom of Christ. The soil
is your heart and my heart. Every human in the world that is
accountable to God may be found in one of these four categories of soil.
The ration of 3 to 1 may be very near a true figure of productive
hearers of the word of God in any generation. Not many take the Bible
seriously. Not many really study the Bible personally.
After Jesus taught this parable He explained how that people who are
inattentive to Scripture fulfill prophecy. Jesus said that a prophet,
inspired by the Spirit of God, wrote: "By hearing ye will hear and not
understand and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive" (Matthew
13:14). He also indicated that people stood guilty of becoming fat
(gross) or dull of hearing. Listen to the graphic words Matthew
records. "For this people's heart is waxed (or grown) gross, and their
ears are dull of hearing" (verse 15). Charles B. Williams, an eminent
Baptist scholar, translated this verse as, "For this people's soul has
grown dull and with their ears they can scarcely hear." We get a
picture of a person in a spiritual stupor, stupidly and blindly
existing, but making no effort at all to exercise the mental faculties
God gave him. Dr. Albert Barnes, a noted Presbyterian commentator,
wrote: "The language is commonly applied to the body, but is also used
to denote one who is stupid and foolish in mind. Here it means that the
people were so sensual and corrupt that they did not see or understand
the pure spiritual principles of the gospel." That sort of jars you,
does it not? But is it true of you or of me?
A person does not need to be an ignoramus or idiot intellectually to be
classed as "dull of hearing." One who is intellectually sharp in
politics, sports, modern philosophy, or even trivia games may be purely
stupid spiritually. A person may be a genius in business, in
educational circles, in social and civic affairs, but dumb as the
proverbial ox in biblical matters. With no offense at all intended, my
dear listening friend, I suggest that if you have no desire to
investigate the word of God, if religious affairs have no appeal to you
at all, if worship and service are words you never use, if you are not
concerned at all whether you are right or wrong religiously, you may
very well be in the category Jesus called "stupid." It behooves us all
to think.
But, I always wonder just why people get like this, and wondering, may
have found the answer -- at least in part. There is an answer in the
Bible. Let me give you just a few of the reasons.
First -- Some of us are too much engrossed in the world around us --
making a living paying off our mortgages, debts, educating our children,
building a good social image, and planning for retirement to be
interested in the Bible. Most of those things just mentioned are
important -- very important. But they all take second place to the
condition of one's soul. Jesus said, "What is a man profited if he gain
the whole world and lose his own soul, or what shall a man give in
exchange for his soul" (Matthew 16:25,26). Don't be so foolish as to
trade off your soul for the husks of this world, dear friend.
Second -- Some of us are bound by our own traditions. We are what we
are in religion solely because that is the way we grew up. We were
raised in a particular religious confession, a particular belief or
"faith" and are fully satisfied with it. We make no investigation of it
-- just accept it because that is our heritage and tradition. Listen to
Jesus Christ: "You make void the word of God through your tradition"
(Mark 7:13). Traditions and heritage are wonderful, particularly our
family and national heritage. But when traditions in religion are
contrary to plain passages of Scripture, they void and nullify the
desired effect of God's word. Check your traditional values, beliefs,
and practices by the Scriptures.
Third -- Some of us think we cannot understand the Bible. Some have
been taught that the proper understanding of Scripture is reserved for
the "clergy," the "pastor," or the Priest. All of us need all the help
we can get when we learn anything new to us. We had help when we
learned to walk, talk, eat, and play. But once a skill or task is
learned we don't need continued help in those things. We go on to more
complicated tasks and skills. The same is true in our reaction to the
Bible. We may profit from others who have studied the sacred text --
but once we learn for ourselves the truth of God our faith must then
grow in Christ, His word, and the Father in Heaven. The fundamental
rule for learning the will of God is that we let the Bible speak for
itself first as we read it. We accept it as the word of God in truth.
Paul wrote, "And for this reason we also constantly thank God that
when you received from us the word of God's message, you accepted it not
as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which
also performs its work in you who believe" (I Thessalonians 2:13, NASB).
And he added, "whereby when you read you may understand my knowledge in
the mystery of Christ" (Ephesians 3:4). So, you can understand it --
just read it -- spend time studying it, but above all put it into
practice.
There is nothing that will enlighten you spiritually that is not in the
word of God. The Psalmist said, "Thy word is a lamp to my feet, and a
light to my path" (Psalm 119:105). Why walk in the darkness of
spiritual stupidity? Why not walk in the radiant light of the revealed
word of God? If we can help you in any way to be more energetic in your
desire to know the will of God, or to understand it, please let us know.
Now, before you can write us at West End." West End Church of Christ,
1609 Parkside Drive, Bowling Green, KY. 42101. Till next Sunday, may
God bless you with a true and nagging desire to know more of divine truth.
Radio Sermon No. 16
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Lyrics, Chords Tabs Rated
Children's NT Studies
