His Constant Rule and Guide

During Sunday School this past week I made the point that we should address the Scriptures first before we Google or Wikipedia an area of interest. What does the Bible say about a particular subject should be our first question. Alas, I’m sure it is an afterthought for most if at all. Well Bro Dave are you saying we can find answers to every subject in life in the Bible? Yes, if God means for us to know the answer!

Would it not be safe to use Jesus as our example? One element of the fourfold witness to the Christ Jesus spoke of was the Scriptures:

    “If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true. There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true. You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved. He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light. But I have a greater witness than John’s; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish—the very works that I do—bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me. And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.” (John 5:31-39)

In sermon on John 5:38, the great revivalist preacher George Whitefield, whose preaching brought the First Great Awakening, said:

    Our blessed Lord, though he was the eternal God, yet as man, he made the scriptures his constant rule and guide. And therefore, when he was asked by the lawyer, which was the great commandment of the law, he referred him to his Bible for an answer, “What readest thou?” And thus, when led by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil, he repelled all his assaults, with “it is written.”

Beloved, you will face no greater challenge in this Christian life than the temptation of the devil. You will fight no greater physical battle than the battle of your flesh. How do I learn to hold my tongue and respond in a Christlike manner? Know the Word! Most of what comes out of our mouth is filthy rags before the Lord and at best spoiled by our impurity. Not God’s Word!

    “The words of the LORD are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.” (Psalm 12:6)

Some of the dumbest things Christians say is when they erroneously interpret Scripture; however this is not a modern phenomenon. Jesus had to put up with it when He walked the earth too:

    “Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God?'” (Mark 12:24)

In my feebleness I am attempting to write a devotional on the Word of God and yet the greatest devotional ever written on God’s Word is Psalm 119. Look what the writer has to say about Scripture:

    “How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word.” (Psalm 119:9)

Confused about how to live your life? Turn to the Bible!

    “This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life.” (Psalm 119:50)

Are you going through a troubling time? Turn to the Bible!

Well I do that Bro Dave but you don’t know what I’m facing! No, but are you saying Jesus isn’t enough? Beloved I do not desire to minimize what life brings, however Jesus, the Apostles, the early church, and many Christians around the world today face greater peril and persecution then any of us could imagine. Somehow Jesus was and is enough for them.

It all comes down to faith, which is nothing more than trust. Will you trust God’s Word when the going gets tough? Will you look to Scripture when deciding which road to take in life’s journey? Or will you trust man’s knowledge, yours included, over the inerrant and infallible Holy Word?

Our Founding Fathers faced great trials and stood like solid oaks. What could have kept these diverse men so united? Their belief in the inalienable rights endowed my their Creator God Almighty; in nature’s laws and God’s laws. One founder not so well known is James McHenry; you’ll find his signature on the US Constitution. He studied medicine under Dr. Benjamin Rush (a signer of Declaration of Independence), served on General George Washington’s medical staff, was Secretary of War, and oversaw the establishment of West Point. Dr. McHenry said this about the Bible’s importance while soliciting funds to distribute Bibles to the public:

    “Neither, in considering this subject, let it be overlooked, that public utility pleads most forcibly for the general distribution of the Holy Scriptures. The doctrine they preach, the obligations they impose, the punishment they threaten, the rewards they promise, the stamp and image of divinity they bear, which produces a conviction of their truths, can alone secure to society, order and peace, and to our courts of justice and constitutions of government, purity, stability, and usefulness. In vain, without the Bible, we increase penal laws and draw intrenchments around our institutions. Bibles are strong intrenchments. Where they abound, men cannot pursue wicked courses, and at the same time enjoy quiet conscience.”

Here’s the bottom line: either we read our Bibles regularly or we do not. We either set down on Sunday afternoon and pick them up the following Sunday morning or we do not. If given a choice over this devotional, another devotional, Our Daily Bread…whatever, or the Bible; choose the Bible. If you don’t have enough time in the morning to read your Bible, try going to be earlier and waking up earlier…I’m just saying.

If it is important to you; you’ll do it. It was good enough for our Lord, in fact, it was His constant rule and guide.

In Christ
Dave
Ps. 37:4

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    Copyright © 2010 David Jeffers

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