Dr. John MacArthur on being "book smart" - Part 2

Since we're at the end of a chapter, I'm taking a brief break from our spiritual depression series.  These two posts are from another Dr. John MacArthur letter dated September 17, 2010.

"Similar examples of dead faith about in church around the globe.  Pews are filled every Sunday with people who grew up in the church, surrounded by the truth and familiar with the usual Bible stories, but who have kept that knowledge at arm's length.  Perhaps they haven't grown completely cold to biblical truth, but they haven't really obeyed it yet, either.

"Some of them may even think about the Bible and its teachings constantly, or blog about it daily--but they treat it like a hobby rather than truly submitting to its authority.  Others never even think about it except on Sundays.  Like a reference volume or a textbook, it sits static in a dusty corner of their minds, accessed only in the need of the m oment, and then quickly ignored again.

"That is a dangerous and tragic way to handle the truth of Scripture.  Knowing about (emphasis in original) God is simple not enough.  Grasping the facts alone is not the same as being saved.  In fact, apart from true faith and repentance, a person who merely knows about (emphasis in original) God is no better off than the demons (James 2:19).

"The catch is that knowing about (emphasis in original) God is still a vital part of truly knowing Him.  For every person who understands the truth but remains in that hearer-only category, there are many more who know next to nothing about the God of Scripture, but who are content to put their trust in a god of their own making. (emphasis in original)  Their flawed perception of God comes from ignorance of the Bible, poor teaching, bad theology, or mismatched bits of biblical truth they've cobbled together through the years.  In some cases, their concept of God is purely a figment of their own imagination.

"Put simply, that is idolatry--such people have substituted a fictional deity for the Lord.  It's no different from worshiping a golden calf, a bronze Buddha, or a stone sphinx.

"And it's not just people outside the church who think and live that way.  Plenty of people who have been exposed to the truth of Scripture prefer to worship their own, homemade versions of God.  Projecting their own values and characteristics on the Lord, they presume He can't truly be all that His Word claims He is--that there must be limits to His knowledge, power, wrath, and judgment.

"Or they choose one of the Lord's more favorable attributes and camp on it to the exclusion of everything else He has revealed about Himself in His Word.  For example, we are naturally thrilled by the truth of 1 John 4:8 'God is love."  But if your theology begins and ends there, you're not really worshiping the true God of the Bible, but one you've concocted.  True biblical faith doesn't cherry-pick the truth.  Everything (emphasis in original) Scripture teaches about the nature, character, and work of the Lord is vital and necessary.  Choosing anything short of that is idolatry.

"So while it's not enough to hear the truth without obeying it, nevertheless, 'faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word' (Romans 10:17).  In other words, hearing and understanding the truth about God is still absolutely essential (emphasis in original) for a right relationship with Him.  You can't know God without first knowing what is true about Him.  And a true knowledge of the true  God is likewise the necessary foundation for authentic obedience to His Word.

"In short, what you know about the Lord and what you do with that knowledge touches every part of your life...so much hinges on believing the unfiltered, accurate truth about who God is and what He's done...."

Dr. John MacArthur on being "book smart" - Part 1

Since we're at the end of a chapter, I'm taking a brief break from our spiritual depression series.  This short series of posts is from another Dr. John MacArthur letter dated September 17, 2010.

"You've probably heard the pharse 'book smart.'  It's a way to describe people who excel academically, but seem unable to put their knowledge to any practical use.  Their expertise may appear to be vast and impressive, but it is essentially useless.  They are well informed in theory, but they are fools in practice.

"I'm deeply concerned that there are many men and women in the church today who are book smart when it comes to the Bible.  They know the truth of God's Word, but it has not taken root or made any transformation in their lives.  They might be able to give all the right answers on a quiz about biblical theology, but if that knowledge has not penetrated their hearts and brought about real faith and repentance, it's worthless.

"That's not to say the truth itself is worthless or ineffective.  God's Word never returns void (Isaiah 55:11).  But that doesn't mean the truth always secures a positive, sanctifying result.  After all, the truth hardened Pharaoh's heart.  The same sun that melts the wax also hardens the clay.

What we are really talking about is the difference between knowing the Lord, and knowing about Him (emphasis in original).  No amount of academic knowledge can substitute for real repentance and living faith.  Those are the essential marks of a right relationship with God.

"Anyone can know about (emphasis in original) God and his truth.  Some of the world's foremost Bible scholars are liberals who see Scripture as nothing more than a historical artifact of a piece of literature.  While their knowledge of God's Word is often vast, their hearts remain cold and unmoved by the truth.

24 Hours to Live--How Shall I Spend Them?

Our recent Old Testament Bible reading has been in I Samuel. King Saul had disobeyed the Lord several times, and Samuel had told him the Lord had rejected him from being king, and that David would be the new king. Saul added to his sins by pursuing David with the intent to kill him. Upon being confronted by his son, Jonathan, about this, Saul became enraged and sought to kill him with a spear. Later, David also confronted him about this on at least two occasions. Each time, Saul appeared to repent, but it was short-lived, and soon David was on the run from him again.

Finally, the Philistines gathered together for war. Saul, very much afraid, asked his servants if they knew of a medium he could contact, since Samuel was now dead. So Saul went to the witch of En-dor, and God allowed Samuel's spirit to rise from the ground (much to the witch's surprise and terror) and talk to Saul. Samuel told Saul he would die in the battle, along with his sons. Saul's response?

"Then Saul fell immediately full length on the earth, and was
very much afraid, because of the words of Samuel;
and there was no strength in him;for he had eaten
no bread all the day,nor all the night."
(I Samuel 28:20)

The following verses tell how the woman and servants persuaded Saul to eat, then the Bible says, "Then they rose up, and went away that night." (I Samuel 28:25b) Saul, who claimed to be a believer in the one true God, had just been handed his death sentence. He had maybe 24 hours left to live. What did he do with that time? The Bible does not say, though we can infer that he rejoined the army of Israel before the battle began.

It got me to thinking. If I knew I would die tomorrow night, what would I be doing? I would hope that I would be confessing and repenting of sin, restoring any broken relationships, spending time with my husband and two sons, and most importantly, spending as much time as possible with God, since I would soon be seeing Him. I was also challenged to be doing those things NOW, since none of us knows when we will be called Home.

It was troubling to see a family member who was terminally ill, and claimed to be a Christian, spending all of her time reading romance novels, watching TV, doing picture puzzles, and doing word puzzles. I did not see her read her Bible, and it was not even on her bedside table for quite some time. Surely she realized she would soon be meeting her Maker. Why didn't she spend more time with Him? Only she and God knew the answer to that question. Thinking of this led to the thoughts on these passages today.