WHY THE WORD OF GOD IS IMPORTANT.

OUR CONVERSION TO CHRIST.    I learned Isaiah 53 at my grandmother’s suggestion..   She offered to help me if I learned a chapter of the bible and recited it at a children’s rally.   She gave me five shillings ( her weekly allowance ) to buy a football.   I forgot the chapter of the bible . Rather, I thought so.   Ten years later, in a small   country town I searched for a real faith. Stupidly and arrogantly, I

boasted that I would throw my bible into the grass paddock out of my window and never waste time reading it.   I sought answers.   Is the bible true?   Who wrote it? Does it apply today?   The Lord reminded me that he was the Author.

I read again the 53rd Isaiah. It all returned to me, having been   hidden in my frontal cortex for 10 years.   I read ’All we like sheep have gone astray.   We have turned everyone to his own way. And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.’   I read further, ’ He was wounded for our transgressions,   He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our sins was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.’ The Lord led me to Calvary as I read, ‘He was led as a Lamb to the slaughter, and as sheep before its shearers is dumb , so He opened not His mouth.’

He had won the battle: my mother and grandmother’s prayers had triumphed.

 I bowed before Him, my Saviour and my Lord.   So vivid even after 70 years.

GOD’S WORD   DIRECTS OUR STEPS. I had commenced daily study of the bible, as essential for every believer, as oxygen for breathing. . That morning I read Matthew 25, ‘When did I see you hungry and fed you; or thirsty and gave you drink; naked and clothed you; when did we see you sick and in prison and come to   you; you were a stranger and I took you in?’   Then the Lord’s amazing response. ’Inasmuch as you have done to one of the least of these My brethren, you have done it to Me.’   I read it repeatedly, being gripped with its reality, yet not understanding it.    The solemn truth of those who refused to minister in the Lord’s Name grabbed me too. ‘Inasmuch as you have not done it.........

Turning on the radio to the BBC, I heard of the bombing of the first civilian city during WW11.   Coventry had been bombed.   The world staggered. It was as though the Lord said, ‘Get out of the bank, and into a medical unit.   Remember Matthew 25.’ I obeyed immediately without telling any   loved ones: mother or my fiancee, now my dear wife: a profound error.   The only medical unit formed in Adelaide for overseas had been assembled, and   I was drafted. 2/9 AGH. Total redirection: from finance to healing.    Heavenly guidance to minister to my Lord.

Just as Paul spent three years in Saudi Arabia studying the Word of God, so the Lord opened my heart to glorious bible truths during my army experience.  

In Egypt, Norm introduced me to the types of Christ in the Old Testament: Noah’s ark, Abraham’s offering of   Isaac, Joseph’s life, the Passover Lamb, the smitten Rock, the Brass serpent.   It amazed and excited me.

In Israel, a New Zealand Dr at Nazareth invited us to his hospital for teaching basic truths of His word.  

In Papua New Guinea,   Scotty, street preacher to a thousand coal-miners in NSW taught me many gripping themes in the New Testament.

Our infinitely wise Lord guided me to gifted Bible teachers over later years: enriched by the treasures of competent authors; and made daily bible study live.

TO TEACH THE TRUTH OF SALVATION.

During my post-war medical training, Gordon Reimers of Campaigners for Christ presented studies at the Evangelical Union, which demonstrated the power of the Word of God. ’And when the Helper is come, he will convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. John 16:   8. He went over   the truth with a fine comb, just as we dissected the human body in the next building. He showed us how the Word of God must be broken up, releasing eternal truth. He went on, ’Of sin, because they do not believe in Me.’ We learned that rejecting the truth of the Lord Jesus as personal Saviour, Lord, Intercessor is greater sin than any other.

He continued, ‘The Holy Spirit will convict of ‘righteousness, because I go to My Father, and you see me no more.’ The word spoke of showing God’s righteousness in accepting what his Son had done on calvary, raising His Son from the dead, and welcoming Him home to a victory salute in heaven.   It proved a broader understanding of the righteousness of our Lord. His next point was ’He will convict of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.’ I recall, though sixty years have passed, Christ’s surpassing triumph and satan’s defeat when our Lord cried, “it is finished’ : and his power over us was broken.   Total victory of our dear Lord eclipsed the devil’s grasp.    Those   lunch-time studies were crucial for me, recognizing his loving dissection of the precious page, and declaring it.

THE COMING OF THE LORD DRAWS NEAR.

Terrorism has gripped many.   The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

 People are beguiled, preferring the mystery of Harry Potter to the mystery of Christ and His salvation: millions are deluded. ‘Behold, I show you a mystery.’

Sir Richard Dawkins of Oxford, a vigorous proponent of evolution, disdains all   faith in the living God.   The theory of evolution is the most insidious opponent to saving trust in Christ. ’In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth‘.

Mobile phones and I-pods facilitate access to music and discussion.   That leaves little time for enjoyment of His glorious presence. ‘I Am with you always.‘

Global warning is a religion, drawing many environmentalists, forgetting that ’By Christ all things consist.’    ‘I, John, saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.’   Revelation 21:2

Islamisation has mostly controlled Europe and UK, ’The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of satan, with all power, signs and lying wonders.  

2 Thessalonians 2;5     ‘He must reign till he has put all enemies under His feet.’

‘Hate talk’ or vilification is being fought out in USA, planning to rob bible believers of the right to preach Christ as the Saviour and Emancipator from sin.

Men scorn the bible as the word of God.   ‘The fool in his heart has said there is no God.’ Psalm 14. Theologians generally have forfeited their authoritative defence of Holy scripture. Bless the Lord for the exceptions.

50% of marriages, including christian, fail: having departed from Ephesians 5   ‘Be filled with the Holy Spirit,   Husbands love your wives,: wives, be in submission to your husbands.’   Fathers be not bitter.   Children obey your parents.  

Persecution of believers is at all-time high.   10% are deprived of privileges or face death for their faith. For example, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Pakistan are prominent.

 Israel as a nation is under constant threat: for example, Iran threatens to   drive her into the sea.   UN and European Union do not support her.   Christ will come to rapture His bride, the church: and reign, so fulfilling all His promises to that chosen nation of Israel.   Ezekiel 36. 37.                       

WE should intelligently pursue the eternal position   to know - and love- and absorb the whole counsel of God.                              

 Harrold Steward.