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Of the law of Moses Jesus said:
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Mat. 5:19).
If the Lord’s displeasure was clearly upon those who would break even the least com- mand of the inferior covenant (which was soon to pass away), how much more shall His wrath be upon those who disrespect the superior covenant of Calvary?
The inspired writer makes this very argument in Hebrews 2:2-3:
For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward; how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?
Unmistakably, the Lord’s approval is only upon those who faithfully obey and teach His Word. No less unmistakably, His wrath is upon those who treat His Word with disdain and disrespect. There really is no other criterion for measuring faithfulness to Christ: “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my sayings, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I spake, the same shall judge him in the last day” (John 12:48). Show me a man who is flippant, careless, superior, and disdainful in his attitude toward the Sacred Page, and I will show you a man possessed of the same attitudes toward its Divine Author, regardless of his claims to the contrary.
How strange that we have come to the day when God’s Word is hardly even considered before some new program is launched, some new gimmick is adopted, or even some new doctrine is taught among the people of God. We should not be surprised that secular, atheistic, humanistic, and hedonistic worldlings despise God’s Word. They always have and always will. The amazement almost overcomes us when those among the people of God disdain the Holy Book.
In a day when many brethren falsely charge those who are set for the defense of the Gospel with “bibliolatry” (worshiping the Bible), we take refuge in the Lord’s own unblushing respect for the written Word. Every word He ever said concerning or quoted from the inspired writers, whether in the law, the prophets, or the psalms (Luke 24:44) demonstrated His absolute confidence in the Sacred Text, including the accounts of creation, Jonah and the great fish, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and Moses and the burning bush, all of which modernist theologians and other assorted infidels so enjoy classifying as “myths” and “legends.”
Faithfulness to God absolutely demands such confidence in His Word. When one surrenders undaunted faith in the Holy Word, he has surrendered confidence in all that really matters. “To the law and to the testimony!” (Isa. 8:20), is the consistent cry of God’s faithful people.
[Note: I wrote this article for and it was published in The Lighthouse, weekly bulletin of Northpoint Church of Christ, Denton, TX, September 14, 2014, of which I was editor.]
Attribution: From thescripturecache.com; Dub McClish, owner and administrator.
