Thesis 10 – Some read the Scriptures to attain knowledge and do not practice what they read.

Posted on by
Reply

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” There are some that read the Scriptures much but do it just to attain and gather information. There are those as Pharisees of old that are lovers of the actual Scriptures themselves but will not become a lover of Him who the Scriptures testify. The devil knows more Scriptures and theology then any man. God does not reprimand those who read the Scriptures much, but those who read them and do not practice what they read.

James 1:22
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 

Matthew 7:21
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

3 John 4
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. 

Thesis 9 – There has never been more access to the word of God yet so little reading of it.

Posted on by
Reply

“Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhoration, to doctrine.” The practice of reading the Scriptures diligently is neglected to such a low level! Many evangelicals have not read the entire Bible after being in church for decades. Men will read books about the Bible but will not preserve and read the Scriptures that alone can make us wise to salvation.

1 Timothy 4:13
Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.

Nehemiah 8:1-3
all the people came together as one in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded for Israel. So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.

Psalm 119:59
I have considered my ways and have turned my steps to your statutes.

 

Thesis 8 – We take it too lightly, the blessing and honor of having God’s Scriptures in our possession.

Posted on by
1

“I will delight myself in Your statues; I will not forget Your word.” Modern evangelicals have had more full unhindered access to the word of God then any other generation in church history. We have thousands of new Bible translations, study Bibles and commentaries. Yet there has never been a lower reverence for the Scriptures. Men consider it nothing to buy a new Bible and throw away the old one. We have lost sight of what it means to have the Holy Scriptures in our possession.

Psalm 119:16
I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.

Acts 13:44
On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.

Nehemiah 8:9
Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.

 

Thesis 7 – There needs to be a recovery back to teaching through the whole counsel of God expositionally.

Posted on by
Reply

“For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.” Evangelicals have tried everything except the simple unadulterated preaching of the word of God. Expositional preaching demands a love for the truth and has with it a desire to be true to the text itself. Too many modern evangelicals use the Scriptures as a launching pad for their own ideas and topics they want to cover. There is a dire need for men to get immersed in the word of God and have their preaching as such that keeps men’s thoughts on the very words of God.

Acts 20:27
For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.

1 Timothy 4:6
If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished on the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed.

2 Timothy 2:15
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

 

Thesis 6 – The doctrine of hell and eternal suffering is something little grasped by most evangelicals.

Posted on by
Reply

“Cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” The doctrine of hell is something little mentioned in evangelical churches. The actual word hell is avoided and other less severe substitutes or allusions are made in its stead. Evangelicals are not gripped by the thought that masses of humanity around them are on their way to a Christ-less, End-less Hell.

Matthew 13:42
They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

James 5:1
Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you.

Psalms 9:17
The wicked go down to the realm of the dead, all the nations that forget God.

 

Thesis 5 – Preachers give smooth words to entice men, yet very few give any words of correction or rebuke.

Posted on by
Reply

“They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly, saying, ‘peace, peace!’ when there is no peace.” Church discipline is something very little practiced in evangelical churches. Mentioning specific sins that are prevalent in the congregation or community is never done. Preachers like false prophets of old are masters at smooth words and jokes that satiate the consciences of men. The evangelical church is in dire need of preachers with the true prophetic spirit that will speak the truth in love; correcting and rebuking with all long-suffering.Jeremiah 6:14
They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace.

Proverbs 1:23
Repent at my rebuke! Then I will pour out my thoughts to you, I will make known to you my teachings.

1 Timothy 5:20
But those elders who are sinning you are to reprove before everyone, so that the others may take warning.

 

Thesis 4 – There is little mention of sin or the depravity of man from evangelical pulpits.

Posted on by
Reply

“For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.” To even mention sin in the pulpit or preach an entire message on sin is something little done. Evangelicals are used to hearing how good man is and how sins are just mistakes. Preaching on the true character of man as a repulsive sinful depraved individual is barely done. Preachers by in large preach what the people want to hear in evangelical churches.

John 3:20
Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.

Galatians 5:19-21
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Ephesians 5:5
For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.