Radio Sermon 16
Taking The Bible Seriously <return to table of contents>
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.
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 some danger from atheism -- the idiotic view that there is no God at all. Skeptics pose no serious 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 (1 Pet. 1:23-25).
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 the people of God whom the prophet says 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 tells us, "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 for themselves.
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 expert in trivia games may be spiritually ignorant. 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. We don’t have time to be interested in the Bible. These things just mentioned are important -- very important. But all must 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" (Matt. 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. Most people are what they are in religion solely because that is the way they grew up. They were raised in a particular religious confession, a particular belief or "faith" and are fully satisfied with it. They 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 Thess. 2:13, NASB). And he added, "whereby when you read you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ" (Eph. 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" (Psa. 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.