WHY WE BELIEVE THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD
WHY WE BELIEVE THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD
Dr Gwyn Pugh | Millington, TN
Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the [c]worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.
Jesus – John 17:8, 17 For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me … Sanctify[a] them by Your truth. Your word is truth.
Peter – 2 Peter 1:19-21 [a]And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; 20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private [b]interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but [c]holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
Paul – 2 Timothy 3:14-17 But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for [a]instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Isaiah 55:8-11 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, So are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
A BIT OF PROLEGOMENA
Theopneustos means “outbreathed or expired” vs. “inspired or breathed in” prompting Packer to remark, “SCRIPTURE is a divine product and must be approached as such” (J. I. Packer, 29)
“The worst sort of clever men are those who know better than the Bible.” (C.H. Spurgeon)
“The authority of the Scripture dependeth not on the testimony of man or the church, but wholly on God… and therefore to be received because it is the Word of God.” (Westminster Confession)
“Would that this one Book were in every language, in every land, before the eye and in the ears and hearts, of all men! (Martin Luther – 1483-1546).
“He is there and he is not silent.” (Francis Schaeffer)
“Every now and then science may disagree with the Bible. Just give the scientists time, and maybe they will catch up..” (Adrian Rogers – Love Worth Finding Ministries)
WE BELIEVE THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD BECAUSE:
We do no seek to justify our belief in the Bible intimidated by liberal scholarship, by bowing to Goldschmidt’s scientific method, by running it through the grid of British empiricism, or by arguing about its’ cultural relevance as if it were not – seeking to impress an already antagonistic rational infrastructure of unbelief. I must always be aware that a great deal of the literature, academics, politicians, institutions, or people in general are not open to a fair exchange of truth. Lurking beneath their bluster is an anti-Christ, spirit-driven pretense,masquerading as objectivity without bias!
In reverence to God, why not start with, as fact, that God does exist rather than that He does not? Let others prove that He does not. Why not start, as many of us did in our adolescence or youth, with a faith in the Word that has long since been formed in us, confirmed throughout our lifetimes in numerous ways, rather than grandfather in academic doubt in the present?Famous Survivalist/Adventurer Bear Grylls just weeks ago went on his greatest adventure when he was baptized in the Jordan River. After a lifetime of thrills and chills he finally concluded about his faith in Christ: “I got it right as a child” believing early on that God is there . Childhood is a good time to come to faith.Whereas, the same battle for the mind faces a much higher threshold within the complexities of adulthood.
God is not asking us to legitimate the gospel by our proofs, convening perennial quests for the real historical Jesus – elevating ourselves in academic conceit, passing judgment on the Bible. Proving the Bible to be true and saving faith are notstrict equivalents. Like, knowing that by-pass surgery works. But, not unless you submit to it if you need it. You must stillbelieve the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ by faith alone (sola fide in sola scriptura). Proclaim it whether you can prove it or not. Obey it in order to understand it. But, do not give quarter to the serpent’s challenge to experiment with it with yourown reason. Nor should you belittle childhood conversion as somehow not vigorous enough to be considered the genuine article. That’s blasphemy that belittles a genuine work of the Spirit!
So, I start with faith in the reality of God’s existence. Close on the heels of this scriptural starting point, I believe God exists because of revelation. Simply put, He has revealed himself! He has revealed himself in his creation, in his Word, and most perfectly in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Furthermore, it is plausible to believe that such a being or person, as God, is able to communicate – and has done souniquely in the book we affectionately call the Bible. An a priorifaith posture, as a starting point, seems superior and less offensive to God than pretending as if he does not exist and has not spoken until we grant him our rational permission. Let’s reduce the litmus a bit by these summary answers. The Bible is the record of how he showed up, showed out, and started speaking.
By faith we board an airplane, train, bus, car – never having met the mechanics, inspectors whose job is to detect metal-fatigue, fellow-passengers, or pilots that God alone has watchedthe last 24 hours before entering the airplane! By faith we ride a gurney into a surgical suite knowing little to nothing about those on the surgical team, including the surgeon, or the working condition of their equipment – into whose hands we are, astonishingly, willing to risk absolutely everything. By faith we hop on an amusement ride at the county fair without inspecting the ride or its’ operator. Or, how about a highway bridge we’ve never crossed.
Is it not hypocritical and insulting when we do not give our Almighty God and the Bible anything near the same amount of trust that we mind-numbingly, freely, casually give to other individuals or things, for far less evidence than there is for faith in the Bible!
BEGINNINGS LEADING TO BELIEVING THE BIBLE
Personally, there has never been a time when I was not in a church. This began shortly after birth, and has continued throughpre-adolescence, teenage years, young adulthood, middle age, and down to the present. My journey to belief in the Bible began early on in a godly home, attending a church that prioritized the Scriptures, and predictably, I had a genuine conversion experience in my junior years. Most everyone smiled on encouraging children to come to Christ back then. Acceptance of the Bible as God’s Word was for many unquestioned. It would not be unusual to find in the prevailing culture many who did not profess to follow Christ who, nevertheless, believed the Bible was God’s Word
So, for some, belief begins with the simple and quiet acquiescence of childlike faith during one’s youth. For others, it is more intense or sensational when it includes those who aredelivered from more remarkable things like substance addiction, social abuse, the perils of war while in the military, atheism, or extremely late in life – all of which are undoubtedly significant in their own way. Even the precise timing and divine orchestration of circumstances can be miraculous. The Apostle Paul’s conversion was dramatic for sure but, on balance, not any more efficacious than a quiet prayer offered to God by someone hidden away in obscurity all alone. Regardless, every savedperson, in whatever venue, has found the Bible to be the trans-temporal constant that is there for them, when they are ready to turn to it.
True academic or empirical evidence is not disregarded as meaningless since they function as inspiring secondary supports. But, they must never be confused with the pure Word itself. 66 books written by a multitude of authors over thousands of yearswithout ever severing the scarlet thread running throughout the whole. The New Testament itself was completed within 70 yearsof the life of Christ (cf. Plutarch wrote 400 years after the time of Alexander the Great without anyone ever questioning Alexander’s existence. A reluctant C.S. Lewis finally admitted something similar with the realization that “I’d be incrediblymoved by such an inspiring story it if I found it in a pagan myth(paraphrased). Then why not a true story in the Bible? How can you believe so collegiately in virtually every historical personbut cannot trust those identified in the Bible? – which maintainsa unified redemptive purpose over a long period of time with many diverse authors, factually and thematically consistent within itself, inerrant, supported by 5,600 hundred extant Greek manuscripts, 10,000 Latin texts, vetted through the early church’s gauntlet of “apostolicity, orthodoxy, and catholicity.”
We are familiar with the natural arguments creationscientists have made against evolution, like the retrograde rotation of planets, increasing entropy, Cambrian explosions, or the complexity of DNA molecules? These apologetic trivia areindeed impressive in their own right, even consistent with theBible, but, as mesmerizing and entertaining as they are, these are but breadcrumbs pointing us toward their Creator. They are not why we believe the Bible is the Word of God. They are not a part of the Bible’s formula for salvation. They are exciting confirmations.
Corruptions of the Bible were rejected as apocryphal, heretical, or pseudepigraphic imposters. One brief example shared by William D. Mounce is sufficient citing the Gospel of Thomas – a Gnostic collection of the sayings of Jesus from the Nag Hammadi library in Egypt. He quotes a portion from Robert J. Miller’s work as follows:
Simon Peter said to the (the Apostles), “Make Mary leave us, for
females don’t deserve life.” Jesus said, “Look, I will guide her to
make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every female who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of Heaven.” (Why I Trust The Bible, p. 106) (as an aside, the Jesus Seminar made Thomas the 5th Gospel.)
That’s not the Bible. The Holy Spirit helped the young church recognize that. Real Scriptures, however, were likely recognized as inspired Scripture, shortly after they were written,and soon added to the canon, albeit some more slowly than others.
In time the Bible was universally recognized by the true church – Its’ transmission through time guarded by the God whocomposed it. It has served as the sure foundation for individuals, families-nations-civilizations, survived countless attempts to erase its’ existence, and remains the unique hope and consolation of all mankind, forever. Only God could do that! my friends. Examine the myriads of evidence all over again if you want. Or, simply heed the witness of God’s Spirit and ministry within you. In the end, the Bible awaits a personal leap of faith to release its’ intrinsic power into your life, and collaterally, the lives of those around you, by the same creative exhaled breath that brought the universe into existence! Now, that’s sensational.
And, what are the consequences for those who choose not to believe? The consequences are so intolerable that they compel us to respond. The rewards that await those who do choose to believe are too magnificent to forfeit. The Word always rewardsthose, to the degree it is applied, who are bold enough to act on its’ truthfulness. But, it also ruins those who repeat Eve’s original mistake – of experimenting with the Word, elevating one’s reason over it, only to reject it in the end. Consequently,we must extend a hand for those individuals who have never read, heard, or understood but are waiting for us to give God’s Word to them, much Like Philip and the Ethiopian. Alertness to this divine dynamic, provided by the Spirit of God, will move us into those redemptive moments of time when true salvation experiences happen for people. Be alert! You may find yourselfin the middle of one of these moments with someone who’s depending on you. If so, be ready to do your job!
I. WE BELIEVE THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD BECAUSE IT IS REVEALING.
He showed up in the midst of those primordial elements of Gen. 1:2 commanding everything into existence, shaping themex nihilo, into empirical and spiritual reality as recorded in Genesis. But, equally, from the very start, our Creator started walking and talking with mankind in the garden of Eden –revealing a desire for fellowship that even the fall from grace could not erase in the heart of God. After those initial conversations with Adam and Eve, God expanded them into a Book called the Bible intent on including the whole world,highlighted throughout the Bible with the clause “thus saith the Lord” used around 400 times! So that “That the nations and people may know that God is the Lord and there is no other.”And, conversely, that they may know there is a serpent!
Undeterred, God countered the rejection of his Word in the garden, piercing the newly imposed darkness and silence, with this bunker-busting Book. This is how an infinite, holy, and loving God responds to a finite and sinful mind that can no longer comprehend him, and in fact, is no longer so inclined?ANSWER: He continued revealing himself by speaking to godly men, women, and children such as Abraham, Moses, Samuel, David, Isaiah, or Mary – with the same efficacious power that never returns to him void. God made certain that the ink of Scripture dried quickly and permanently beyond the ability of future nefarious attempts to destroy it.
THE GRACE OF INTERVENTION
From the bowers of ancient Eden to the foundations of a new heaven and earth – the trajectory of history remains as “a holy God, living in a holy place, with a holy people, forever”(Gordon MacDonald). And, if we turn Schaeffer’s axiom on its’ head, sadly, the serpent and his voice are still alive and well on planet earth! (Hal Lindsey) Neither is he silent, but roars about seeking whom he may devour with the same Edenic method. Sadly, he will succeed apart from more powerful, benevolent, personal intervention. Isaiah asked, “Whom will I send and who will go for me.” (Isa. 6:8) But, just as significant is the question “To whom will you go that is waiting for you to come?”
Enter Anne Sullivan and Helen Keller as a useful analogyto help picture this continuing miracle of communication. Anne, dubbed “The Miracle Worker”, as she was popularly and appropriately named, descended into the dark and silent world of Helen Keller, at Ivy Green in Tuscumbia, Alabama, well over a hundred years ago in the late 19th century. Born to wealthy parents, the idyllic world at Ivy Green was spoiled when their young child – a young baby girl, was totally blinded and deaf at 19 months old due to a mysterious disease – depriving her of the two most important senses used in communicating and interacting within the world in an unfiltered way. Helen’s personality would turn virtually feral causing her to lash out at those around her.
Anne, too, had a difficult young life living in a wretched institution with deplorable conditions such as insanity, abuse,and even cannibalism in Tewksbury Mass. She was afflicted with eye issues of her own throughout life. Ironically, after successful treatment earlier in her young life, she lost her ownsight by a stroke at 35. But, not before successfully finding a way to redeem Keller from an eerily similar pitiful condition.She discovered a bridge of communication – a previously non-existing link in young Helen’s life, who described her ownmiserable condition – of feeling like she was “lost at sea in a dense fog” which is a pretty good analogy or metaphor for those who are spiritually lost as well.
Anne placed a doll in Helen’s hand one day and began tracing the word D – O – L – L in Helen’s other hand. Later on, when the process graduated to the introduction of Helen to the element of w-a-t-e-r, Helen elaborated movingly on this mostseminal moment, describing her redemption from the horrible darkness and silence providentially imposed by a terrible disease. Her words very nearly capture the experience of all who have ever been redeemed from their own darkness by the light of the gospel. She said of that defining and liberating moment:
I stood still, my whole attention fixed upon the motions of her
fingers. Suddenly, I felt a misty consciousness of something
forgotten – a thrill of returning thought; and somehow the
mystery of language was revealed to me. I knew that w-a-t-e-r
meant the wonderful cool something that was flowing over my
hand. The living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, set it free!
Helen broke through her dark and silent existence led bysomeone willing to intervene for her to a remarkable degree . All who have been physically blinded in this world have been following the templates of these two blinded girls ever since! Helen would go on to write 12 books, speak several languages, become the first deaf-blind person to graduate with a bachelor’s degree, and be widely considered the most influential advocate of the disabled in the 20th century. Worth redeeming would you say? Miss Sullivan entered into it for the long haul, devoting her entire life to Helen Keller. And when she finally passed away, Helen was there, holding the hand of the one who held hers. so instrumental in redeeming her pitiful condition. Hey, here’s an idea. If you want to help someone, rather than a doll, place a Bible in their hands!
II. WE BELIEVE THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GODBECAUSE IT RECORDS THE WORDS JESUS SPOKE!
The best edition of a Bible is a Read–Letter one (one you read). The second best is a Red-Letter one, because it reminds us when Jesus is speaking. Throughout his ministry, he spoke the words of God with resounding authority (Mt. 7:29; 9:8; 28:18; Mk. 1:22; Lk. 4:32) “What words these are! With authority and power, he gives orders to impure spirits and they come out!” The hearts of the two disciples on their way to Emmaus burned within them when he talked and opened the scriptures to them. When we hear his words our hearts are touched with divine fire like theirs were. His Spirit bears witness to us that these are the words of God for he doesn’t speak like other men. The Spirit convicts and convinces us (Jn. 16:8) drawing us to God. Faith is subsequently born and we end up believing or accepting Christ because the ministry of the Word and Spirit have been successful! This, too, is why we believe the Bible is the Word of God! Because Jesus said it is.
Reject the lisp of the serpent personified in brilliant men who have become scientists, philosophers, psychologists, or academics who have misused their gifting, intentionally or otherwise, discouraging a relationship of simple faith in fellowship with Christ and the Bible. The masses of people do not require it and people would be better served walking through a church house door on their way to public libraries and collegeclassrooms! Listen to what Jesus says first.
III. WE BELIEVE THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD BECAUSE IT IS SUPERIOR TO HUMAN REASON(RULING OR REGAL)
Already perfected beyond alternative diction, addition, or subtraction. The words of the Lord are pure words, Like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. (PS. 12:6) You really ought to consider leaving the pure text just as it is! Martyn Lloyd Jones concurs by saying, “Face the Scripture as it is. Do not argue with it; do not try to manipulate it, do not twist it; face it, receive it and submit to it whatever the cost.”
The very first appeal of the serpent in his assault on God’s Word was his subtle attempt to move Eve from the high ground of God’s Words to an area more preferrable to him, i.e. within the battlefield of her mind – a strategic move calculated to enhance a chance of success – where she would be more likely to succumb or surrender, not nearly as fortified as the Word itself – working around God’s Revelation to Eve’s ability to reason or rationalize with it.
And, so it began – words reminiscent of king Theoden on top of the wall at Helm’s Deep as the miscreants prepared to storm the battlements – what the publication The Sacred Sandwich calls, “the most grave crisis facing the Church today… the subtle downgrading of the Bible as the infallible and inerrant truth of God which Christians must faithfully heed.”And, goes on to conclude, “present-day Christendom has become too enamored with the world and all its trappings… They have slowly displaced the authority of the Scriptures with manmade traditions, cultural influences, and a religious syncretism that appeals to our earthly senses… Like the Hebrews in the wilderness, they have grown weary of God’s heavenly manna, and have desired a return to the tempting, but empty food of their captors in Egypt.” Have you become so jaded that the Bible is no longer interesting to you or that you have to disguise it in order for people to come to your church or that it now requires a gargantuan effort to even pick it up and read it at home?
Eve initially repelled the first broad frontal assault challenging the concept of God having spoken at all by recitingspecifically in regard to the trees of the garden. Unquestionably, God had spoken and was unequivocal, with a warning about a severe and immediate penalty if his Word was disobeyed. Wow, how reminiscent is that of Godly parents who have given their children the same type warnings. “Son, if you do this, I’m goingdo that.” And, my parents never disappointed. Neither does God.
The serpent then moved on trying to outflank her success inreproducing the words of God verbatim, by impugning their truth and motive – essentially accusing God of selfishly withholding some benefit. The battlefield propaganda subtly, almost seamlessly, shifted from what God explicitly said, to what the serpent said, then to what Eve thought about it. Trap sprung. The moment she began to reason or rationalize, a permanent nagging suspicion ensconced itself inside man’s nature. The battle for the minds, hearts, and souls of mankindwas prematurely lost and the paradise that went along with it!We will always find reality to be exactly like he says it will be.
An amazing thing happened in a college football game just recently when the game was on the line in overtime. The coach sent in the play for a handoff. The center hiked the ball to the quarterback who, instead of handing the ball off like the coachdesigned, in a milli-second of time, changed the play in his mind keeping the ball instead of handing it off, believing he could run the ball in himself. He was then tackled behind the line and his team lost the game. Everyone on the losing team hung their heads in disbelief. The press had a hey-day with it. What a foolish move by the talented quarterback to reject the coach’s call for his own because he thought in that brief but oh so critical moment he knew better than the coach did.
Likewise, silence and shame replaced the enthusiastic fellowship in the garden. The light within them was darkened. The death God predicted in fact occurred. The collateral damage of this one act of disobedience, and arrogance, on the part of Adam and Eve was catastrophic. It degraded the entire race,federally and experientially, into Augustine’s non posse non peccare – a Latin phrase meaning “not able not to sin.” From then it was “not thy will but mine be done.”
Ironically, the revealed will of God is, at times, contrary to human reason. God’s initial revelations to Abraham required a type of rational suicide – to leave everything that was familiar and known to him for the unknown, by going to a land where hehad never been. God would there ask him to do things that were physically impossible – to bear a child of promise beyond his years – and, then, inexplicably, literally sacrifice him – which would have been, from a rational and emotional standpoint,totally absurd and emotionally impossible. In such critical moments, “reason” must take a back seat to what God commands or reveals. That’s what genuine Abrahamic faith looks like under the hood. It is an ability to leap over the imposing juggernauts of contrary rationalizations, that argueagainst the will of God for our lives.
It is appropriate here that we recognize the absurdity of trying to manufacture a conversion to Christ by appealing to a carnal mind, as damaged and biased as it is. This is what believers do, albeit unintentionally, by mixing empirical evidences into a presentation of the gospel. The unregenerate mind first needs intervention, sometimes called prevenient grace. No, the ability to reason has not vanished within total depravity as some would have it. But, it needs exposure to the Word and enablement by the ministry of the Holy Spirit. For no man may come to God unless the Spirit draws him (Jn. 6:44; Rom. 10:17) – something a presentation of mere empirical evidence cannot do. You end up demeaning or diluting the gospel by trying to reinforce it with some kind of extra-biblical evidence in an attempt to somehow make it more appealing or effective. It doesn’t need it.
But someone may be saying, “Poor soul, you are so cancelled in terms of modern church methodology.” Oh, yea? Tell that to those who preceded you for 2000 years of successful church history, and many other Christian workers of today, that their success is simply an illusion to those workers, and conversely, that it’s better to be spiritually woke to methods relevant to the 21st century for no other reason than they previous ones are old and boring. Do you really have no idea about when you drift off center? Have you somehow acquired exclusivegnostic-like control over those who want God’s blessing only if they know your secrets of ministry? I don’t think so.
Just how superior is God’s Revelation in the Bible, especially when applied to our own individual struggles? Jesus said, “Peter let down your net again. Peter reasoned ‘I’ve fished all my life, all night long, there’s nothing down there, nevertheless at Jesus’s word … he let it down and the net filled with a tremendous number of fish. What happened was whatJesus already knew would or could happen if Peter and his fellow fisherman had enough faith to lower their net one more time – in spite of their previous experience and paucity of evidence the night before. With nothing but the command of Christ to go on, they obeyed. Moral of story – Jesus knows where the fish are! And, he revealed it to Peter!
Up against the mighty Sword of God’s revelation given in the Bible, and expertly wielded by our new Champion in the wilderness of Matt. 4, the serpent was silenced and slithered away in utter defeat, failing to lay a glove on mankind’s new invincible Representative. Quoting the Bible in the Battlebecame our new and unchanging mantra teaching us that overwhelming power is the only thing the devil respects. And, it happens when choose to use the Bible.
IV. WE BELIEVE THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD BECAUSE IT IS REDEMPTIVE (REDEEMING)
The power to redeem, found uniquely in the Bible’s words,does not degrade over time. Our consistent application of itmay! Jesus’ command to the great Ephesian Church, toward the end of the first century, was an attempt to correct the drift that invariably occurs, and did, within mere decades of the Ephesianchurch’s founding. To correct this, the Risen and Glorified Christ said, “Repent, and do the first works!” Recognize, Repent, and Resume. That’s makes for good formula or a good sermon.
TO THOSE WHO GRIEVE WHAT THE FIRST TEMPLE LOOKED LIKE (in a manner of speaking) AS WE GAZE ONEMPTY CHURCHES, ALTARS, PULPITS, COLLEGE STUDENT BODIES, OUR FORMERLY GREAT COUNTRY – THAT ARE MERE VESTIGIAL REMINDERS OF WHAT THEY ONCE WERE. Why do we not grandfather forward those methods that produced the former success. Abandon secularrecipes, that have missing ingredients, for those that never losetheir power or shine! I am suggesting you change your formula by mining the Bible itself for the relief we all seek. Research those relentlessly. Support them with helpful complimentary resources. Anything else is a lost ball in the weeds you’ll never be able to find. This way you already know where the ball is. It’salways been nearby at your feet and in your hands. It lies in the Book, not in the weeds of surrogate marketing principles! I’m suggesting you retrieve those successful formulas, found in the Word, that still linger with the fragrance of Christ’s blessing. Research them. Resume them. Rejoice when they begin producing new results.
We believe the Bible, tonight, because every generation of the Lord’s people have found it to be sufficient in their time,exposing each new generation to the preaching, teaching,hearing, or printing of God’s Word. Toying with methodological inventions are like football linemen that chicken fight (i.e. get tangled up) with the oncoming rush. So occupied, their opponents rush past them and sack the quarterback. They are like antidotes that have no effect on the serpent’s poison. But just know, you can’t replace the formula in Romans 10 with a fossil or some other “work around to go around” the Bible itselfand expect to win anyone to Christ!
CONCLUDING APPLICATION
R.C. Sproul said, “I think the greatest weakness in the church today is that almost no one believes that God invests His Power in the Bible. Everyone is looking for power in a program, in a methodology, in a technique, in anything and everything but that in which God has placed it – His Word. He alone has the power to change lives for eternity, and that power is focused on the Scriptures.” PCA News and Views/Jude 3 and the PCA.
MOTIVATIONAL APPEALS
MISSIONARY CARLYLE HANNAH
This cuts to the chase of why we take the Bible to others. Ultimately, we do it, or whatever we do for Christ, because Jesus said to do it whether we are successful or not!
While riding home on a bus one day, Brother Hannah looked outside the window and saw an Indian holy man sitting under a tree as they passed by. By the time he made it home he had decided to go back and speak to the man. After making his way back, he found the man still sitting there and sat down beside him, without either one of them saying anything for two hours. The holy man finally broke the silence by saying, “You know I don’t want you to be here.” To which Carlyle responded: “Sir, I am not here because you want me to be… I’m here because Christ told me to be!”
I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU TO COME
I heard a missions representative speak at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary a few years ago. He was a leader connected with those whose primary focus was toward least reached people groups. If my memory serves me correctly they had located one of the least reached groups in Switzerland of all places! We stereotypically think of majestic snow covered mountains towering over lush valleys below and their hillsides decorated with quaint little rustic chalets or cottages, that evoke a longing to visit Switzerland sometime.
Upon arriving and introducing themselves, seeking permission from the elders to do ministry there with the people, the men made an unusual request. Their answer was yes but they wanted the would-be missionary to visit an elderly woman who was very ill in order to pray with her. They went to her hut, making their way to a room in the back where she was lying unresponsive. She was just lying there huddled up on her death bed in silence. But, he went close to her, prayed, and was just about to leave the room, she made a movement signaling them that she wanted to say something to the man. With her passing very imminent, the missionary got close enough to hear what she wanted to say. She whispered to him, “I’ve been waiting for you to come.”
For us here tonight I say to us all, “what are you waiting for?” But, equally as challenging I think, is to ask it in another way. Who is waiting for you?Those divinely appointed moments, like the above, are likely already being maneuvered into place.
Want a real heartfelt blessing of a different kind? A little bit of the real joy of the season? Take a Bible to someone this Christmas season, who does not have one, and place it in their hands. Not a d-o-l-l or w-a-t-e-r like Anne Sullivan placed in Hellen Keller’s hand, but a B-i-b-l-e that makes it possible for them to communicate with God!