Did you answer yes? You did! Excellent! How come? How come you answered yes?

Is it because you were taught that God’s Word is eternal?

Is it because you have always understood it to be eternal?

If a non-believer, a Bible doubter, asked you, “Is God’s Word eternal?” How would you answer him or her?

Just yes?

Okay, what if they next asked you, “How come?”

Is that crickets I hear?

The Apostle Peter admonishes us (yes admonishes; not suggests) that we be ready to do what?

    “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear…” (1 Peter 3:15)

Have you set aside the Lord God, have you made Him holy in your heart and are you ready to share the reasons for your hoping in the Lord Jesus Christ?

Gee Bro Dave thanks for beating us up this morning. I’m not beating anyone up, just sharing what God asked me when I read this verse:

    “Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven.” (Psalm 119:89)

The order of the universe, the heavens and the earth, declares God’s word eternal, His laws, are forever unchanging:

    “They continue this day according to Your ordinances, for all are Your servants.” (Psalm 119:91)

The Prophet Isaiah in bringing comfort to God’s people the Israelites declared:

    “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.” (Isaiah 40:8)

Peter also declared to born again Christians:

    “…having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever…” (1 Peter 1:23)

Okay, so some of the dead men who wrote the Bible said it is eternal; I’m still not convinced.

How would you answer that comment? First, the Apostle Paul taught his protégé Timothy:

    “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Okay, another dead guy. Okay dear skeptic, how about Jesus’ words?

    “For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.” (Matthew 5:18)

Wow Bro Dave, you sure know a lot about the Bible being eternal! Why thank you, but I can’t take credit for that.

You see, I read my Bible, and because I am a born-again Christian I have the Holy Spirit as my teacher:

    “But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.” ( 1 Corinthians 2:10-12)

So who is your primary Bible teacher? Is it your pastor? Is it your Sunday school teacher? Is it your favorite radio preacher? Those are all excellent supplementary teachers, but as a born-again believer you have a private Bible tutor in the person of the Holy Spirit. And this private tutor is supplied to us, sent personally by Jesus Christ Himself:

    “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:13-14)

Beloved I know that I am pounding this “Read Your Bibles” theme, but herein is found the secret to living the victorious Christian life. Do you remember the first three verses in the Book of Psalms?

    “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.” (Psalm 1:1-3)

Beloved, please, please go find your Bibles right now. You may be reading this and thinking, oh Bro Dave I only have a few minutes before I have to go to work. That’s okay, put it in your bag and read it during your break or lunch hour, just read Proverbs 20 and/or Psalms 96-100. Go ahead, grab your Bible, jot down these verses and put them in your Bible, and put your Bible near your lunch.

Do you want to be a complete Christian, a whole Christian? Then stop trying to take shortcuts through biblical aids such as teachers and devotionals. Only the Bible can make you a whole Christian. Let A.W. Tozer’s words ring in your ears as you go through the day, a day I pray is blessed.

    “The Word of God well understood and religiously obeyed is the shortest route to spiritual perfection. And we must not select a few favorite passages to the exclusion of others. Nothing less than a whole Bible can make a whole Christian.”

In Christ
Dave
Ps. 37:4

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    Copyright © 2009 David Jeffers

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