100 Sermon Illustrations on Word Of God

Jansen, the leader of the Jansenites, was an ardent seeker after the truth. His advice to his followers was to study the Bible on their knees. “No means of conversion,” he used to say, “can be more apostolic than the Word of God. Every word of Scripture,” he says, “deserves to be weighed more attentively than gold.”

Charles A. Dana was a great editor and thinker. This is his fine tribute to a book that has influenced the life and destiny of more men than any other literature:

There is perhaps no book whose style is more suggestive and more instructive, from which you learn more directly that sublime simplicity which never exaggerates, which recounts the greatest event with solemnity, of course, but without sentimentality or affectation, none which you open with such confidence and lay down with such reverence: there is no book like the Bible. When you get into a controversy and want exactly the right answer, when you are looking for an expression, what is there that closes a dispute like a verse from the Bible? What is it that sets up the right principle for you, which pleads for a policy, for a cause, so much as the right passage of Holy Scripture?

This book is a lamp, but lamps are not to be pulled in pieces; lamps are to be read by. When you go down into the valley and the shadow, you will need a light. In that long journey down into the darkness of death you will travel alone. And here is a lamp that will light your path and bring you out of the chill and the damp and the dark into the morning, and the dawn shall be followed by day and the day shall deepen into high noon, the noon of God’s heaven. (Text.)

— N. D. HILLIS

Every ship has a compass. No captain would dream of going to sea without a compass, for there are times when neither sun nor stars appear and steering must be done by the compass alone. So every man should have a compass. The Bible is the Christian mariner’s compass, and by it he must steer.

How far away the Bible seems to us when it tells of sack-cloth and ashes, and about Jacob and Mordecai and Isaiah, who marked their desolation by these signs! In Korea sack-cloth is still such a mark, and with hair unbound and their persons wrapt about with these coarse folds of bagging they sit like Job and cry, “Aigo, aigo.” “And the mourners go about the streets.” From the writer’s house we look out on one of the main thoroughfares of the city; and frequently, as the sun goes down, there comes a procession bearing lanterns and a long line of mourners in sack-cloth following the dead with mournful wailings. Is there not a thought and a providence underlying the oneness of these things with all the settings of the Scripture?

The Bible continues to be the most popular of books, as shown by the report of the American Bible Society for 1909. The total number of issues amounted to 2,826,831, of which 1,427,247 came from the Bible House in New York, and 1,399,584 from the society’s agencies abroad, in Turkey, Syria, Siam, China, Japan, etc. These issues consisted of 327,636 Bibles, 545,743 New Testaments, and 1,953,452 Scripture portions. The number of volumes was 673,803 in excess of the issues of a year ago, and 590,076 in excess of any year in its history.

An incident is related of William Duncan, the “Apostle of Alaska”:

One day soon after Mr. Duncan had arrived among the Indians there, a fine-looking old Indian chief, Neyashtodoh, one of the chiefs of the Kitlahns, who had three sons, called upon him. “I have heard that you have come here with the letter of God. Is that so? Have you the letter of God with you?” asked the chief. “I have,” said Mr. Duncan. “Would you mind showing it to me?” “Certainly.” Mr. Duncan placed a large Bible on the table. “This is God’s Book.” The Indian caressed it reverently. “Is God’s letter for the Tsimsheans?” “Certainly. God sent this Book to your people, as well as to mine.” “Does that Book give God’s ‘heart’ to us?” “It does.” “And are you going to tell the Indians that?” “I am.” “It is good--it is good, chief,” was the answer of Neyashtodoh.

The following is by Frank Dempster Sherman:

Not only in the Book Is found God’s word, But in the song of every brook And every bird.

In sun and moon and star His message shines! The flowers that fleck the green fields are His fragrant lines.

His whisper in the breeze, And His the voice That bids the leaves upon the trees Sing and rejoice.

Go forth, O soul! nor fear Nor doubt, for He Shall make the ears of faith to hear

— The eyes to see

Richard McCoy, 37, takes the Bible’s references to fire and brimstone quite literally. In May 2007 he used pages from a Bible as kindling to start several small fires in his Chattanooga, Tennessee, motel room. He first disconnected the room’s fire alarm so it would not be detected early. No one was hurt, and McCoy was arrested. He has been judged mentally competent to stand trial.

Christians have a mission to set the world on fire, but not in the way McCoy did!

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[Original illustration at this number was deleted for being obsolete]

Danny Akin, dean of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary's school of theology, believes expository preaching is still the best way to reach the lost.

Some have said traditional methods of preaching will no longer attract people, Akin said. He, however, does not believe the problem is expository preaching.

"I agree with Paige Patterson, the president of our convention, who says, 'The criticisms I hear about expository preaching are in reality criticisms about boring preaching,'" Akin said.

"The greatest preaching in the earth is still captivating, prophetic, invigorating, Christ-honoring exposition," Akin said.

"When you come to a story in the Bible, tell the story," he continued. "But when you come to doctrine in the Bible, teach doctrine. Teach it zealously, teach it with energy, teach it faithfully and honor the author of Scripture who knew what he was doing when he gave it exactly like we find it."

Akin, speaking on "spiritual exercises that make us strong," used 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22 to point out eight "spiritual exercises" for all Christians, and for ministers in particular.

Akin used the fifth exercise -- "Do not despise prophesying" -- to speak about the narrative-versus-exposition debate.

"One of the ways we may quench the Spirit is by despising or treating as nothing the preaching of the Word," he said.

Evidently, Akin said, there was "a loss of respect" for preaching in the first century just as there is in the 20th century.

"According to 1 Corinthians 1:18, the preaching of the Word is the power of God," Akin said. "We understand from 1 Corinthians 14:24 that the preaching of the Word convinces and convicts. We understand from 1 Thessalonians 1:5 that the preaching of the Word comes in the power of the Holy Spirit.

"Preaching in every generation has come under attack and has been treated as nothing," he said.

Akin also emphasized the sixth spiritual exercise, "test all things," which is found in 1 Thessalonians 5:20.

"I believe there is a four-fold test that we ought to apply to every teaching, every doctrine, every minister, every pastor who stands here and proclaims to say, 'Thus saith the Lord,'" he said.

Akin called the first test the "Savior test."

"We [should] step back and ask, 'Is what is being taught and is what is being said honoring, glorifying and uplifting the name of our Lord Jesus Christ?'" Akin asked.

Christians should use the "Scripture test," Akin said, to ask, "Is this that I am hearing consistent with not [only] part, but consistent with the totality of the written revelation of God?"

The third test, the "Spirit test," Akin said, should lead Christians to ask, "Is this teaching in concert with the express desires and ministry of the Holy Spirit, whose intended purpose was to in all things glorify the Lord Jesus?"

The fourth test is the "saint test."

"You step back and you ask, 'What have other great men and women of God said about this?'" Akin said. "I like to say to my classes on biblical interpretation, 'If you are the only person to interpret a passage in a certain way, you might be right, but you're probably not.'"

Akin compared spiritual health to physical health, saying that in order to stay spiritually healthy all Christians must perform "spiritual exercise."

The eight exercises Akin gave, taken from 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-22, were: rejoice always; pray unceasingly; in everything give thanks; do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophesying; test everything; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from evil.

"I believe the Apostle Paul gives us no less than eight different exercises that if we are constant and consistent to engage in them, we will indeed be spiritually healthy for the Lord," Akin said. "Each of the main verbs in those eight exercises is an imperative. It is a word of command. God is not asking you, but commanding you. It is not that God is asking us to do these things perfectly, but God is asking us to do these things consistently. These should become daily, regular habits of your life."

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The book of Hebrews is difficult to translate because so much of the content concerns the Jewish culture and religious rituals that are totally foreign to the Agta people, who live in the northern Philippines. However, some parts of it really make sense to them, like the verse in Hebrews 4:12, "The Word of God is living and potent."

Depending upon the context, the Agta word madagat can mean stinging, venomous or potent. A poisonous snake is madagat, but so are some medicines that can heal. My translation assistant, Amboy, explained his understanding of how the Word of God is potent: "It depends upon how we approach it. If we disregard it, it's like the poisonous snake. But if we live by it, its potency is like medicine." "It's like the samrid," he said. "What's that?" I asked. He went on to describe a small caterpillar that infests various trees and plants at certain times of the year. You should try to avoid them like the plague, because if your skin comes in contact with its fuzzy hairs, it leaves a burning welt.

If you are an Agta, however, you know the most immediate and effective remedy -- the samrid itself. You pick off a nearby leaf and scoop the caterpillar onto it in order to avoid touching it again. Then you fold the leaf and squash it inside the leaf. Next you remove the flattened body of the samrid with a stick, leaving only the body fluids on the leaf. Then you rub these fluids on the burning welt and experience immediate and lasting relief.

"That's how the Word of God is," Amboy says. "If you don't open it, and read it, and believe it, it holds nothing but judgment for you, like the samrid. But if you open it up, there is medicine inside that removes the judgment like nothing else will."

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Adapted from IN OTHER WORDS, Wycliffe, Dec, 1986. Submitted by Robert Burris, Hayfork, California.

"The Seed Is The Word of God"

Max Patterson

In the book, RESTORATION PRINCIPLES AND PERSONALITIES, by Dabney Phillips, he writes, "when the tomb of King Tut was discovered and opened in 1927, a bottle of sealed seeds was found. In time these seeds were planted and produced lovely plants in spite of the fact that they had been 'bottled up' for over three thousand years." In all these years the germ of life in those seeds had not died. All they needed was to be planted in ground, and watered. [but see below...]

What an important illustration this is for a great principle taught in the Bible. Luke 8:11 says, "the seed is the word of God." When that seed (or word) is planted in the heart of men, it brings forth exactly the kind of plant and fruit that God wants. Even though the word (the New Testament) is 2,000 years old, the germ of life that the Lord put in it has never died. The Hebrews writer said, "For the word of God is living and powerful..." (Heb. 4:11).

What is amazing about this seed (the word) is that it does not matter that it is 2,000 years old. When planted in the human heart it can become active. When mixed with trust (faith), it germinates, comes up, and bears fruit. What an amazing process! No philosophy of man, no mere human opinion, no majority of collective thought has the power of the word of God. These cannot save, cannot give hope, and cannot take one to heaven. Only the seed, the word of God can do that.

--Church News, Neosho, MO

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David Holwick: a database user asked me to verify the King Tut seed story. Apparently it is apocryphal. Here are some details from a university site:

http://www.uvsc.edu/courseinfo/biol/bio2130/harrisji/notes3.pdf

SEED LONGEVITY

How long can seeds survive? [wheat in the pyramids is apocryphal]

The Beal experiment at MSU began in 1879. Dr. Beal buried 20 pint jars filled with weed seeds from several species - supposed to be a 100 year experiment (every five years) - this was done until 1920, but then the interval was extended to every 10 years. Results in 1980 (101 years): germination of 29 moth mullein, 1 mullein, 1 mallow (last mallow to germinate was in 1899). The last bottle is scheduled to be unearthed in 2040.

World records: lotus seeds from a bog dated at 2000 years (had to be scarified) - magnolia from a tomb in Japan, 2000 years old, grew to a tree more than seven feet tall - arctic lupine from a lemming burrow in the Yukon, 10,000 years old, chromosome number had changed [1 more or 1 less]

But can we rely on the biblical accounts? you may ask. When I first became a Christian, I certainly raised such questions. In fact, I began to study the Bible with a lawyer’s skepticism. I suspected it was a compilation of ancient fables that had endured through the centuries because of its wisdom.

I made some startling discoveries, however. The original documents from which the Scriptures derive were rigorously examined for authenticity by early canonical councils. They demanded eyewitness accounts or apostolic authorship. Today a growing body of historical evidence affirms the accuracy of the Scriptures.

For example, the prophecy recorded in Psalm 22 explicitly details a crucifixion, with its piercing of the hands and feet, disjointing of the bones, dehydration. Crucifixion, however, was a means of execution unknown to Palestine until the Romans introduced it -- several hundred years after the Psalms were written.

So modern critics concluded the Psalms were written later, such “prophecies” perhaps even recorded after the fact. Then came the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which made possible the scientific dating of portions of the Psalms to hundreds of years before Christ.

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Charles Colson, “Kingdoms in Conflict,” 1990, p. 100.

Ancient people longed to hear a word from heaven.

Outside of the town of Delphi there were cracks in the earth that gave off fumes. A goat herder discovered that when he entered one of the chasms, he sensed a spiritual euphoria and could see into the past and the future.

A shrine was erected at the site and a young virgin was chosen to live there and communicate her visions to the people. However, the men began flirting with the virgins so they were replaced by 50-year-old women. Keep that focus on the message, guys!

Overcome by the fumes, the priestesses would speak the word of God in low voices. And usually what was spoken could be taken two ways, so you couldn’t blame them for what happened.

In 2001, archaeologists investigated the faults that run near the temple and found they emitted noxious gases. These gases could induce hallucinations.

The Bible is more complicated than this. Some of it is visions people had. Other parts are poetry, or sermons, or historical accounts. But Christians believe all of it originated with God.

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[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #1366]

The "Word" is the " Spirit's sword," whatever the motive of the

preacher. "Some, indeed, preach Christ even of envy and strife, and

some of good will. The one, not sincerely; the other, of love. What

then? Christ is preached, and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will

rejoice."

The meaning of this is, whoever carries or preaches the Word of

God, carries or handles "the sword of the Spirit." And the Spirit

always goes with the "Word," and more or less gives it power. And this

accounts for a fact that otherwise would stagger us, that bad men have

preached the gospel from bad motives, and yet men have been soundly

converted under their preaching, while the preacher has gone to

perdition.

I once read an incident that illustrates this. An avowed infidel, a

real scoffer at religion, a native of Sweden, had occasion to go from

one port to another in the Baltic Sea. On reaching a certain point,

the vessel on which he expected to sail had left, so he took passage

on a fishing boat going the same way. These fishermen took him to a

small island, which was the headquarters of a company of pirates.

He had told the fishermen, through fear of being murdered, that he

was a minister As they reached the island, it was agreed that he

should preach a sermon Sunday. This was a great trial to the infidel,

as he knew but little of the Scriptures, and did not believe in their

inspiration. But as he had told them he was a minister, he now feared

they would kill him if he did not preach. So preach he must, and do

the best he could, and appear sincere. He spent a sleepless night.

What could he say?

When the hour came for preaching, he found these wicked men

assembled. A seat was arranged for him, a table with a Bible on it. He

feared death if he refused, but how could he preach when he did not

believe the Bible? They all sat in silence for some time.. At length

these words came to his mind: "Verily there is a reward for the

righteous, and verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth." As he

delivered these words, other passages came to his mind. He spoke of

the rewards of the righteous, the judgments of the wicked; the

necessity of repentance, and the great importance of a change of life.

The matchless love of God, although it was spoken by an infidel,

through fear of being killed if he did not, had such an effect upon

the minds of these wretched men, that they were melted into tears.

This melted him so that he became like a little child.

The next day these pirates fitted out a vessel, and carried him to

the place he wished to reach.

He did not preach Christ from envy, but from fear. But Christ was

preached, and the Holy Spirit used his own sword, and produced this

wonderful effect. Not because the preacher was good, or intended to do

good. Many an unconverted man has had a good deal of success in the

ministry without any good motive in preaching. Success in the ministry

does not necessarily prove the minister a Christian man, but that the

"Word" is the "Spirit's sword."

-- A. B. Earle, From: "Incidents Used In His Meetings," published in

1888

Christ is the Word of God. It is not in certain texts written in the New Testament, valuable as they are; it is not in certain words which Jesus spoke, vast as is their preciousness; it is in the Word, which Jesus is, that the great manifestation of God is made.

... Phillips Brooks

The Revelation of God is not a book or a doctrine, but a living Person.

... Emil Brunner

You probably don't think it's any big deal that you can turn over by yourself or burp yourself or feed yourself. But it's a big deal when our new grandson starts doing some of those things for the first time. That's a milestone! The other day our daughter called and said, "I wish you could see him now - he's feeding himself Cheerios!" There was dancing in the streets! See, the little guy has been studying his hand for months, flexing those fingers, eventually trying to grab available targets like noses and glasses. But now he's really got it together. He's sitting in a high chair with Cheerios on the tray - and he's reaching for one of those O's, wrapping his fingers around it, and putting it in his mouth - all by himself! And then he smiles and laughs real big. What a guy!

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Thrill Of Feeding Yourself."

All of us grownup-types know what a big deal the accomplishment of being able to finally feed yourself really is. We know this is the beginning of lots and lots of times he will do that in his life! He's moved from needing someone else to feed him to be able to feed himself. God is wishing some of us would get to that point.

Too many of us depend way too much on getting fed spiritually by someone else. We're living on that nourishment given to us by someone on Christian radio or Christian TV, on a pastor or youth leader or Bible study leader's lessons, on Christian concerts and conferences and retreats. And that's all good stuff. But if you've known Jesus for very long, what others feed you should be supplemental to what you're getting directly from God and His Word.

It's OK for a baby to be fed by someone else in his early days - and many new followers of Jesus are really dependent on an older Christian feeding them spiritually. But just like with our grandson, it shouldn't always be that way! Many people who have belonged to Jesus for many years are still babies when it comes to feeding themselves. It's time now to take this big step toward growing up in God.

You want to be able to get most of what you need spiritually directly from God Himself, especially as He speaks to you personally through His Word, the Bible. You need to know that if you were marooned on an island, and cut off from every Christian you know and Christian meeting you attend, that you would be fine spiritually as long as you've got your Bible.

As you sit there with God's words in your lap, there's a special prayer you need to pray. It's in Psalm 119:17-18, our word for today from the Word of God. David says it this way: "I will obey Your word. Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in Your law." This is going direct, without anyone between you and God. You ask God to open your eyes to help you see some wonderful things in His Book. Feeding yourself spiritually begins when you first set a non-negotiable daily time to be with your Lord. Then you offer Him your heart and mind as a blank piece of paper to show you whatever He wants. Put His words into your own words. And ask the Holy Spirit to show you something in your life that you can immediately apply God's words to this very day. Learn something from God, and then live it out that day.

It is really exciting to experience God taking something that's in His heart and planting it in your heart - with no one in between. Now, don't abandon those great opportunities to hear from Him through others, like your pastor, for example. It's great to have a special meal, prepared by someone who really knows how to cook spiritually. But there's no substitute for you opening your Lord's Love Letter each new day and finding your own personal message from Him.

Our grandson got really excited when he finally started feeding himself. And he should. It's an important step in growing into all a child is created to be - especially if it's a child of God.

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Copyright © Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc., PO Box 400, Harrison, AR 72602. Used by permission. Written by Ron Hutchcraft. 'Practical Answers to Real Life Issues'

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It used to be that if you had a message to get through to someone, you left that message on their voice mail to get their attention. Then fax machines came along and a fax was a more dynamic way to communicate your message and have it noticed. Then along came e-mail and introduced an even more dynamic way to get through. Now it's not uncommon for e-mailers to check their computer several times a day - eagerly wanting to know, “Has someone tried to reach me? What did they have to say?” And many e-mailers hope to hear that little voice from their computer that raises their expectations. It says, “You've got mail.”

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “You've Got Mail.”

Actually, you've got mail every day - mail from Almighty God Himself! God's messages are, of course, communicated in His Book, the Bible. You may say, “Yeah, but that's not new information.” Well, on the one hand, God's messages in the Bible are timeless information - always there, as true today as they were the day He authored them. But, on the other hand, God's messages are always breaking news, too, because your situation is different today.

God's Holy Spirit, who knows all about the Bible and who knows all about you, will miraculously use one of God's messages to change how you see your situation, and it may even change the situation! Timeless information that is breaking news for your situation.

Yes, you've got mail from God. But, like any message you might receive through e-mail, you'll never get the message if you don't check in to see what God has to say today. So many days have been so unnecessarily confusing, so unnecessarily messed up because you didn't pick up your mail from God.

There's a great picture of how God sends His messages to us in our word for today from the Word of God in Exodus 16:14. God's ancient people were traveling through the wilderness in need of food. And God supplied their need by sending this miracle food called manna - which interestingly enough in Hebrew means, “What is it?” Well, the Bible says, “When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, 'What is it?'“

“Moses said to them, 'This is what the Lord has commanded: Each one is to gather as much as he needs ... No one is to keep any of it until morning.’ However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots,” the Bible says, “and began to smell.” Now, in the New Testament, manna is used to symbolize spiritual food from God. And the “collection” principle is still the same - pick up a fresh batch each new day. Yesterday's messages from God won't do for today. He's got fresh manna, fresh messages, for the needs of this fresh new day.

Some days your mail from God will give you perspective on what's going on in your life. Other days it will give you a corrective to steer you back on course from a detour. But it's daily bread! You'll have to want God's messages enough to turn off some other messages for a little while - your television, the Internet, the newspaper, your music - all of which can end up stealing all or most of your time with God.

If you'll open God's Word with the eagerness and anticipation of someone who is checking their e-mail, I can guarantee you will always have mail - holy mail, life-changing mail - messages from the God of the universe to your heart.

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Copyright © Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc., PO Box 400, Harrison, AR 72602. Used by permission. Written by Ron Hutchcraft. "Practical Answers to Real Life Issues"

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On March 3, 2006, Rev. Jane Adams Spahr was found not-guilty of ministerial misconduct, even after the openly lesbian Presbyterian minister had defied the teachings of her church by performing “marriages” for two lesbian couples. Given the current state of mainline Protestantism, the actions by the trial court were not completely unexpected. Nevertheless, this act of rebellion against the church's law and the clear teachings of Scripture sets the stage for an even larger conflict when the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) holds its General Assembly in June.

Rev. Jane Adams Spahr is no stranger to controversy. In 1991, the Downtown United Presbyterian Church in Rochester, N.Y., called her as co-pastor. That call subsequently was invalidated by the denomination's General Assembly and its Permanent Judicial Commission. Nevertheless, the church then called her to serve as a “lesbian evangelist” and she established her ministry as the organization called “That All May Freely Serve.” That ministry was formed in partnership with Westminster Presbyterian Church in Tiburon, California. As the denomination's news service, PCUSA News, explained, “Since then, Spahr has traveled the country mustering support for the ordination of gay and lesbian Presbyterians and building a network of regional groups to help in the effort.”

The current controversy emerged as Spahr was charged with breaking church law by marrying two homosexual men in Canada. Since her ordination was not recognized in that country, and therefore her name did not appear on the marriage certificate, a church court ruled that it could not prove that she actually had officiated at the wedding.

In short order, she eliminated that defense by openly officiating at the “weddings” of two lesbian couples. She officiated at ceremonies for Annie Senechal and Sherrill Figuera in 2005, and the previous year had officiated at a ceremony for Barbara Jean Douglass and Connie Valois.

Her current trial took place before the Permanent Judicial Commission of the Redwoods Presbytery in California. The trial took place at the Church of the Roses in Santa Rosa, located about 65 miles north of San Francisco.

As media reports indicated, the church often was packed with Spahr's supporters and those who were openly advocating for a rebellion against the church's rules.

Stephen L. Taber, the attorney prosecuting Spahr on behalf of the Redwoods Presbytery, had argued that the trial was not over gay rights, but the right of the denomination to establish its own rules and structure for church discipline. “The burden on this commission is not to decide whether same-sex marriage is or is not appropriate for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.),” he argued. “The only question here is whether Rev. Spahr committed certain acts, and whether those acts are in violation of the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church.”

Taber was standing on firm constitutional ground as he made his case. After all, the denomination's Book of Order defines marriage as a covenant between a man and a woman, excluding all alternatives. Furthermore, the Permanent Judicial Commission of the General Assembly ruled in 2000 that ministers may bless same sex “unions,” but may not call such unions marriage.

In presenting her defense, Spahr claimed a right to individual conscience. As PCUSA News reported: “Spahr, as the first witness called before the seven-member commission, was far from repentant for presiding over the nuptials of the lesbian couples. She said she was following her conscience, a call from God and the wishes of the 'brides' when she officiated at their weddings.”

In pressing her case, Spahr argued that the church's rules that disallow same-sex marriage are unfair and unjust. “I can't begin to tell you what it is to say to [same-sex couples] that they were married by the church, by the authority of someone representing the church of Jesus Christ,” Spahr told the court. “What it means for lesbian and gay people who are told for so long that they're no good, that our relationships are no good. That has a profound effect on them.” She also claimed that the denomination's rules limiting marriage to heterosexuals violates the church's commitment to “love and hospitality.”

Spahr's attorney, Sara Taylor, argued that the church had no right to judge Spahr's actions. “The reformers were clear in their assertions that the authority of the church to discipline belongs not to the church but to Christ.”

Of course, this is hardly fair to the reformers and their witness. Nevertheless, the trial ended with the court acquitting Spahr by a 6-1 ruling that determined that Spahr was acting within her ministerial “right of conscience” in performing the “same-sex marriages.”

Beyond this, the court's majority went on in a “concluding affirmation” to offer a direct challenge to the denomination's rules. “We affirm that the fundamental message of the Scriptures and Confessions is the proclamation of the Good News of God's love for all people. It is a message of inclusiveness, reconciliation, and the breaking down of barriers that separate humans from each other, and that this proclamation has primacy in the conduct of the Church.” In other words, the court turned its back on the Bible's clear teachings that condemn homosexual activity as sin and on the church's explicit rules that prohibit ministers from officiating at “same-sex marriages” -- all in the name of “the fundamental message of the Scriptures and Confessions.”

The Spahr trial and the larger controversy point to the most basic issues that have created such an explosive crisis within liberal Protestantism and the denominations commonly known as “mainline” Protestantism. For years, the mainline Presbyterians have been debating issues of scriptural authority.

The foundation for theological revolution was set in 1967, when the denomination replaced the historic Westminster Confession with a book of confessions that replaced one common doctrinal standard with several -- ensuring a process of theological compromise and accomodationism.

In June, the 217th General Assembly of the denomination is to receive the final report of the “Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church.” This task force was established in 2001 and was charged with developing “a process and instrument by which congregations and governing bodies throughout our church may reflect on and discern the matters that unite and divide us, praying that the Holy Spirit will promote the purity of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).”

The group's report, entitled Peace Unity Purity [or PUP], is, in effect, nothing more than a call for continuing conversation and the embrace of even greater diversity within the denomination.

Of course, Scripture stands at the very center of this controversy. The PUP report cites The Second Helvetic Confession and asserts: “[W]e believe and confess the canonical Scriptures of the holy prophets and apostles of both Testaments to be the true Word of God, and have sufficient authority of themselves, not of [human beings].” Responding to this confessional statement, the group asserted: “We acknowledge that there is heated debate over biblical interpretation among Presbyterians who honor the authority of Scripture. In the midst of these debates it is important to remember that the consciences of us all are bound by the witness of Scripture to Jesus Christ. Even as it is important to preserve freedom of conscience and the interpretation of Scripture, such freedom is subject to standards ... and must be exercised within constitutional bounds....”

As should be obvious by now, the acquittal of Rev. Jane Adams Spahr should demonstrate conclusively the failure of this proposal.

In the first place, one must question the group's decision to suggest that the heated debate over the interpretation of Scripture on issues of sexuality is found “among Presbyterians who honor the authority of Scripture.” Such a statement effectively implies that persons may deny clear teachings of Scripture, while still claiming to honor its authority.

By any measure, the acquittal of Rev. Spahr should demonstrate that a call for all ministers to bind their consciences “by the witness of Scripture” does not avail. The presbytery of the Redwoods did nothing to require Rev. Spahr to subject her conscience to the constitutional bounds of the church or to the clear teachings of the Bible.

Rev. Spahr's attorney cited the reformers of the 16th century as suggesting that the church must leave matters of ministerial discipline to God. This flies in the face of the actual writings and actions of the reformers. John Calvin, whose legacy stands as the very fountain of the stream that eventually produced the Presbyterian denomination, insisted that “we must be ruled by the Word of God.” Furthermore, “Seeing God will be served with obedience, let us beware and keep ourselves within those bounds which God hath set,” Calvin insisted. Martin Luther, famously standing at his own church trial at the Diet of Worms, famously told his judges that his conscience was “bound by the Word of God.”

The Presbyterian Lay Committee, a group of concerned Presbyterians who have been seeking to pull their church back to biblical and theological accountability, has referred to the PUP document as “a political solution to a theological problem.”

“Some persons who call themselves Christians, including ordained leaders of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), struggle with claims of the authority of Scripture,” the group argued. “They affirm Scripture as a guide and source of wisdom, but regard it as culturally conditioned and of human origin. Thus they place it alongside, and even, at times, under the judgment of other human authorities. They prefer to say, 'Listen for the Word of God,' rather than 'Listen to the Word of God' when reading the Bible in the context of worship. Persons who hold such beliefs clearly are not talking about the Scriptures that Jesus upheld and fulfilled and that his church has affirmed for more than 2000 years.”

As the Presbyterian Lay Committee's argument concludes, “Making the denomination's implicit pluralism explicit, by whatever inclusivist scheme, would admit but not solve our current disorder. Elijah's counsel to Israel is precisely the word that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) must hear. We must cease limping between two opinions. We must answer Christ's compelling question: 'Who do you say that I am?’ We must make a choice.”

The Presbyterian Lay Committee has it right -- the denomination must make a clear choice. The acquittal of Rev. Jane Adams Spahr sets the stage for the denomination's General Assembly to face the question squarely when it meets in June. Nothing less than the denomination's witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ is at stake. If individual conscience is allowed to invalidate the clear teachings of Scripture, the denomination faces an unavoidable disaster.

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This column was adapted from Mohler's website at www.albertmohler.com. Mohler is president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. For more articles and resources by Mohler, and for information on The Albert Mohler Program, visit www.albertmohler.com.

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Many years ago in a Moscow theater, matinee idol Alexander Rostovzev was converted while playing the role of Jesus in a sacrilegious play entitled CHRIST IN A TUXEDO. He was supposed to read two verses from the Sermon on the Mount, remove his gown, and cry out, “Give me my tuxedo and top hat!”

But as he read the words, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted,” he began to tremble. Instead of following the script, he kept reading from Matthew 5, ignoring the coughs, calls, and foot-stamping of his fellow actors.... Before the curtain could be lowered, Rostovzev had trusted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior.

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J. K. Johnston, WHY CHRISTIANS SIN, Discovery House, 1992, p. 121

Bart Ehrman’s career is testament to the fact that no one can slice and dice a belief system more surgically than someone who grew up inside it. Raised as a not particularly devout Episcopalian in 1950s Kansas, the best-selling Bible scholar had a “born-again” experience as a high school sophomore and asked Jesus into his heart. Eager to study Holy Scripture full-time, he entered the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago -- motto: “Moody Bible Institute, where BIBLE is our middle name” -- where every professor and student had to sign a statement attesting that the Bible is the inerrant word of God, a divinely inspired document from its first page (Genesis 1:1) to its last (Revelation 22:21).

But almost immediately, Ehrman ran into a problem. It was an intellectual problem at first, but it soon became larger and harder to quarantine. In one of the first classes he took at Moody, he learned that none of the original texts of the New Testament exist. All we have are copies, made years later -- usually, many CENTURIES later. In fact, the copies are copies of copies, and they’re filled with errors or intentional changes made over decades or centuries by scribes. Burning with fervor to discover the true word of God, the authentic divine voice that had been obscured or changed by all-too-human writers, Ehrman decided to begin a serious study of the New Testament. He completed his undergraduate studies at Wheaton College, where he began studying ancient Greek, the original language of the New Testament. But there was still no answer to his original question: How could we know what the word of God was if all we had were error-riddled copies?

So Ehrman decided to plunge all the way in and immerse himself in the academic study of the texts of the New Testament. He entered the Princeton Theological Seminary, home to the world’s leading authority in the field, Bruce Metzger. His literalist faith in and his devotional approach to the Bible were under increasing strain, but he managed to hold onto them for a while -- until a professor jotted a casual comment on one of Ehrman’s papers. Ehrman was attempting to explain a passage from the Gospel of Mark in which Jesus refers to an event that took place “when Abiathar was the high priest.” The problem is that the book in the Old Testament that Jesus is referring to states that not Abiathar but his father Ahimelech was the high priest. Ehrman came up with a convoluted argument to reconcile the contradiction, using Greek etymology to prove that Mark did not mean what he apparently said. Ehrman believed that his professor, a beloved and pious scholar named Cullen Story, would appreciate his argument as a fellow believer in biblical inerrancy.

Story’s response, Ehrman wrote in his best-selling 2005 book “Misquoting Jesus,” “went straight through me.” “Maybe,” Story scrawled at the end of Ehrman’s paper, “Mark just made a mistake.”

Story’s comment proved fatal for Ehrman’s belief that the Bible was the inerrant word of God. Realizing that his own argument was unconvincing, he was forced to acknowledge that yes, maybe Mark DID make a mistake. “Once I made that admission, the floodgates opened,” Ehrman wrote. “For if there could be one little, picayune mistake in Mark 2, maybe there could be mistakes in other places as well. Maybe, when Jesus says later in Mark 4 that ‘the mustard seed is the smallest of all seeds on the earth,’ maybe I don’t need to come up with a fancy explanation for how the mustard seed is the smallest of all seeds when I know full well it isn’t. And maybe these ‘mistakes’ apply to bigger issues. Maybe when Mark says that Jesus was crucified the day AFTER the Passover meal was eaten (Mark 14:12, 15:25) and John says he died the day BEFORE it was eaten (John 19:14) -- maybe that is a genuine difference.”

The dike of Ehrman’s literalist belief had been breached, and no divine intervention would turn back the floodwaters. He came to believe that the Bible was “a human book from beginning to end. It was written by different human authors at different times and in different places to address different needs. Many of these authors no doubt felt they were inspired by God to say what they did, but they had their own perspectives, their own beliefs, their own views, their own understandings, their own theologies ... Mark did not say the same thing that Luke said because he did not mean the same thing as Luke.”

Ehrman’s demolition of biblical literalism in “Misquoting Jesus” is neatly summed up by an anecdote. “Occasionally I see a bumper sticker that reads, ‘God said, it, I believe it, and that settles it.’ My response is always, What if God DIDN’T say it?” A lucid, accessible and entertaining guided tour of biblical scholarship, “Misquoting Jesus” makes it indubitably clear -- unless one simply decides in advance that all logic, scholarship, rules of historical evidence and rational thought do not apply to the Bible -- that God did not “say it.” A bunch of human beings said a lot of different things over hundreds of years, a bunch of other human beings wrote down different versions of what they said, and yet another bunch of human beings decided -- also over hundreds of years -- which of these writings should be part of the Holy Book and which should not. This is simply the historical truth.

In 1977, Natan Sharansky was abducted by the KGB outside his apartment and charged with treason. He spent nine years in Lefortovo Prison, where he symbolized President Reagan’s description of the “religious dissident trapped in that cold, cruel existence.” Sharansky later said: “They wanted to use me to destroy Jews who hoped to leave for Israel.”

In prison, Sharansky befriended Volodia Poresh, a Christian. The two secretly started each day reading the Old and New Testaments. They called these Bible sessions “Reaganite readings.” Why? Because Reagan had declared that year the “Year of the Bible,” a designation dismissed by the Kremlin, and by some Western elites, but which inspired Sharansky and Poresh. They gained strength from that Bible, coping with the “evil” (Sharansky’s word) they faced. When Sharansky was freed, he met Reagan in the White House. The president awarded him the Medal of Freedom.

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Paul Kengor is professor of political science at Grove City College in Grove City, Pennsylvania.

Many years ago in a Moscow theater, matinee idol Alexander Rostovzev was converted while playing the role of Jesus in a sacrilegious play entitled CHRIST IN A TUXEDO. He was supposed to read two verses from the Sermon on the Mount, remove his gown, and cry out, “Give me my tuxedo and top hat!”

But as he read the words, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted,” he began to tremble. Instead of following the script, he kept reading from Matthew 5, ignoring the coughs, calls, and foot-stamping of his fellow actors.... Before the curtain could be lowered, Rostovzev had trusted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior.

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J. K. Johnston, WHY CHRISTIANS SIN, Discovery House, 1992, p. 121

"It is impossible to righteously govern the world without God and the Bible."

-- George Washington

"Within the covers of one single book, the Bible, are all the answers to all the problems that face us today - if only we would read and believe."

-- Ronald Reagan

"The Bible is not man’s theology but God’s anthropology."

-- Abraham Heschel, Jewish Bible scholar

"The inspiration of the Bible depends upon the ignorance of the gentleman who reads it."

-- Robert Green Ingersoll

"Most people are bothered by those passages of Scripture they do not understand, but the passages that bother me are those I do understand."

-- Mark Twain

"The Bible is a window in this prison of hope, through which we look into eternity."

-- John Sullivan Dwight

"To say nothing of its holiness or authority, the Bible contains more specimens of genius and taste than any other volume in existence."

-- Walter S. Landor

"The Bible may be the truth, but it is not the whole truth and nothing but the truth."

-- Samuel Butler

"The total absence of humor from the Bible is one of the most singular things in all literature."

-- Alfred North Whitehead

"All human discoveries seem to be made only for the purpose of confirming more and more strongly the truths that come on high and are contained in the sacred writings."

-- John F. Herschel

"God the Father is the giver of Holy Scripture; God the Son is the theme of Holy Scripture; and God the Spirit is the author, authenticator, and interpreter of Holy Scripture."

-- J. I. Packer; Christian Quotations of the Day (CQOD)

"A man who is well-grounded in the testimonies of the Scripture is the bulwark of the Church."

-- St. Jerome, CQOD

"This book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this book."

-- D. L. Moody, evangelist.

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The crews assigned to the recovery effort after the September 11th attack on the Pentagon had an awful job to do. Working in 120-degree heat, they were making their way through the wreckage left behind when terrorists flew Flight 757 into the Pentagon. They didn't find any survivors. They did find a mass of concrete and metal debris; the metal too hot to touch. But USA Today reported that they did find a sign of hope as they looked into that black chasm inside. On a second floor, right next to where the jet sheared off a section of the building, was an undisturbed stool. And on it was a thick, open book - a Bible. It wasn't burned. Neither was anything around it or on the two floors above it. The leader of the recovery team was quoted as saying, "I'm not as religious as some, but that would have me thinking. I just can't explain it."

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about "Indestructible Truth."

I was moved when I read that - because the Bible has been for me, and for millions of people, the one thing that has survived every fire in our life. Everything else may be taken away, but God's words are still true, always surviving life's fires. Jesus said it in Luke 21:33, our word for today from the Word of God - "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away."

If you want to anchor your life to truth that will never let you down, the Bible is that anchor. It's the only book God ever wrote. As 2 Timothy 3:16 says, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness." It's authored by God, and it's life-changing!

The Bible doesn't just claim to be God's own words - the evidence for that claim is overwhelming. The Bible was written by 40 different authors over 2,000 years in three different languages! Imagine the changing ideas of truth over that span. And yet the Bible has a unified message - same God, same concept of sin, same concept of forgiveness, of heaven, of morality. Now, imagine getting forty different people from the same city and the same generation together right now in one room and asking them to write their ideas on those subjects. You'd be lucky to get two of them to agree! But the Bible, written over so many years with such author and cultural diversity, reads like it had one author. It did - God.

Every time the archeologists have dug up something described in the Bible, it has proven the Bible to be true - even if the Bible was the only book that talked about it. And hundreds of Biblical prophecies, most of them 200 to 2,000 years in advance, have been fulfilled to the finest detail. No Biblical prophecy has ever been wrong. That's God, folks.

But for most of us, what matters most is that this book has proven to be God's words in our own lives, over and over again. His promises are true, His warnings are right, His directions work. The Bible is the rock that never moves, the compass that's never wrong, the life preserver that never sinks. And though it is an anvil that has been hammered against for centuries, the hammers are gone, the anvil remains.

And right now, as so much in your life may be burning down, go to this Book, trust this Book, stake everything on this Book. These are God's words, and you'll make it if you hang onto them with everything you've got. Jeremiah 23:29 says it so well - "'Is not My word like fire,' declares the Lord, 'and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?'"

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Copyright © Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc., PO Box 400, Harrison, AR 72602. Used by permission. Written by Ron Hutchcraft. 'Practical Answers to Real Life Issues'

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