YOU OUGHT TO READ THE BIBLE

Since words affect you, it would be wise to feed yourself with quality words. The adage “You are what you eat” can be applied spiritually. By far, the most wholesome words are found in the Bible.
The Bible is in a class by itself because “All scripture is given by inspiration by God (2 Timothy 3:16).” There may be other books inspired by God to some degree, but the entire Bible (“ALL scripture”) is divinely inspired.

Other books that may have the unction of God are those teaching or amplifying Biblical truths. Of course, not all such books are inspired; some are erroneous and therefore harmful. Only the Bible is sure. Professor M. Montiero-Williams spent forty-two years studying Eastern books and has this to say about the Bible:

“Pile them, if you will, on the left side of your study table; but place your own holy Bible on the right side all by itself, all alone – with a wide gap between them. For there is a wide gap between it and the so called sacred books of the East which severs the one from the others, hopelessly, and forever…a veritable gulf which cannot be bridged over by any science of religious thoughts.”

Wilbur Smith has collected 25,000 volumes of writings and declares: “Whatever one may think of the authority of and the message presented in the book we call the Bible, there is world-wide agreement that in more ways than one it is the most remarkable volume that has ever been produced in the some five thousand years of writing on the part of the human race.”

I pointed out in Issue #2, The Bible: just another book?, that there are numerical designs intertwined in both the Old and the New Testament that are beyond the ability of a modern computer to produce. I also listed a number of prophecies that were fulfilled in detail. I mentioned that though the Bible was written by some forty writers over a period of 1,500 years, the content is harmonious. What other book can make such claims? None. There is no book to compare. None comes close. None has changed so many lives – in every century, in every nation (not simply changed opinions, but changed people themselves, making them new). It can change your life too. You should read the Bible.

Jesus said (John 6:63), “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” The words of Christ are Spirit-impacted words bringing life. Those words are recorded in the Bible. Because you want life, you ought to read the Bible.

Psalm 1:1: Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.

Regarding spiritual matters, many (most?) of the words you hear come from “the counsel of the ungodly,” people scornful of God’s standards and His words. These words may spring from religious people propagating a counterfeit gospel (of which there are many), or from humanists and agnostics who enter your home and ears through the media. Of these people Jesus might say (Matthew; chapter 23):”Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat; and swallow a camel Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like white sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.”

Jesus did not usually speak so harshly. He was tender to the harlot and tolerant of thieves. But to those who led the masses astray with false teaching and hypocritical religiosity He was severe indeed.

Only you can determine the words that you hear and read. Jesus said, “the truth shall make you free.” Truth does that – it leads into freedom. Error leads into bondage. The Bible is truth and you ought to read it.

Time is not truth (about spiritual matters). Reader’s Digest and Oprah and Dr. Phil are not truth. You will never hear Raymond (Everyone Loves Raymond) say to his brother, “Bro, I want to tell you that I just accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Remember that emptiness I tried to explain to you – you know, you told me you often felt the same thing – how nothing seemed to really satisfy – how I just couldn’t find anything that gave me peace? Well bro, I found what I had been searching for. I found Christ! It was one of the guys at the gym – I thought he was just a religious freak – he told me about Jesus. I feel different, bro…like clean all over. I feel really great.”

And you won’t hear his wife say, “Look, Ray, why don’t we just admit that nothing we have ever done or tried has brought us real joy. And none of our friends seem to have found it either. You know I’ve never been able to tell anyone this but I feel so…well, guilty for the compromising things I’ve done. I think we both need something more. I heard there is a really great speaker at a Christian businessman’s banquet this Monday. He apparently is talking about a fulfillment he discovered through Jesus Christ. Maybe there’s something to it. What do you say, hon? Do you think we could go?”

Jesus said (Matthew 15:14), “If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.” Almost all words coming over the media come from the spiritually blind. If you limit yourself to the words of the sightless you, like them, will end up in the ditch. Shadowing, emulating or trusting in the damned will lead to damnation.

The media creates heroes but really, there are no heroes. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned EVERYONE to his own way (Isaiah 53:6).” There is one hero and His name is Jesus. It is His words that bring life. Other words will not save you but will bring you to a place you certainly do not want to go. You really should read the Bible.

The Bible gives a clear and definite warning (Proverbs 13:13), “Whoso despises the word shall be destroyed.” You should not neglect the Bible. The Bible is the inspired word of God. If you consume a daily diet of God’s word you “shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not whither (Psalm 1:3).” “The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth purified seven times (Psalm 12:6).” “Is not my word like as a fire? Saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces (Jeremiah 23:29)?” The people who told you they found a new life in Christ were not lying. The gospel of the Bible is “the power of God unto salvation to every one who believes (Romans 1:16).” You ought to read and submit to the Bible.