Years ago, an uneducated and untrained carpet-cleaner was used by God to make an impact on a number of lives through some ‘lessons’ he was teaching from the Bible. And while he was no ‘theologian’ by his own admission, God’s hand was upon him and he was being invited to speak at numerous conferences and meetings around the country. One such meeting took place in Dothan, Alabama where a group of Baptist pastors were attending. It’s not uncommon to have a number of speakers at such an event and this gentleman was one of several who had been invited speak and to share from the word of God.

When it was his turn to take to the podium, he stood up, and instead of sharing stories about himself or opening with some colorful or funny illustration…he opened his Bible to one particular chapter and simply read three verses from that chapter before closing the Book and then stood there silently for a few minutes. The chapter was 1 Corinthians 14; and these were the passages he read:

“I thank God I speak in tongues more than you all.” (18)

“I wish you all spoke in tongues.” (5)

“Do not forbid anyone to speak with tongues.” (39)

The room grew silent; and if you know anything about various church doctrines when it comes to such passages, there was no verbal shouts of ‘Amen!’ taking place. In fact, as he would later relay this story to others, one could sense an uncomfortable tension growing in the room. After a few minutes of unease, he addressed the crowd with one simple question asking this:

“Brethren…all I did just now was read three verses straight out my Bible. Would you consider for a moment and give attention to what that thing is that is rising up in many of you right now?”

When I heard him share this story years later…it really hit a nerve in me, as in a ‘nerve of conviction’, because I have been in similar settings myself over the years and felt that same ‘angst’ rise up within me when I heard various scriptures read. And they were usually verses that did not ‘fit’…with how I believed, or had been ‘taught…to believe’… that caused that response in me. How about you? Ever experience that before…maybe even while reading here from my morning lessons?

I remember preaching a sermon years ago, and I read a passage from Matt. 5 where Jesus was citing text from the OT Law (10 Commandments) and He made this statement saying: “You’ve heard it said that ‘you shall not murder’ and ‘whoever murders will be in danger of the judgement’…but I say to you whoever calls someone a fool will be in danger of hell fire.” (21-22). That was not the central focus of my message that morning, but I had felt impressed to read that particular verse while sharing my message. And I can remember to this day a gentleman coming up to me immediately afterwards and got right up in my face and told me directly: “God not sending anybody to hell for calling someone a fool!” And then he walked away. I was pretty young at the time and remember being a bit caught off guard by that incident because all I did was read that verse straight out of my ‘red letter edition’ Bible, and clearly that one particular passage had struck a nerve in this gentleman, which baffled me. 

And perhaps you’ll remember a story I have shared here before, of an incident that took place which actually sparked these daily blog postings of mine. It occurred within the first year of my personal ‘awakening’ that resulted in my spending much time devouring God’s word during that first year of the pandemic and the ensuing ‘shut down’. I wasn’t ‘blogging’ at that time, but had been known to just drop a ‘morsel or two’ of something I may have read that morning…here on my FB page…’just to share with whomever’.

I was about to go out and take a walk down my road that morning when I saw a notification that someone had commented on my post, so as I began my walk, I just messaged this person privately to address his question of concern over what I had posted. (It was that passage from John 8:32-36). This young man had taken exception to what I had shared so I was simply trying to engage with some conversation as I walked as to what had bothered him from what I had shared. The ensuing discussion grew a bit ‘testy’ and he was quite defensive with me, so all I knew to do was simply point back to the Bible and offer up more verses for him to consider. That’s when I made the apparent ‘mistake’ of quoting 1 John 3:6 and 9.

When I offered one more follow up question to him, the message was ‘sent back’ to me, as if it didn’t go through, which puzzled me as I continued walking. I thought I had lost connection but discovered quickly that he had decided right then and there to ‘block me’ from conversing. I was unable to go to his personal FB page to reach him directly. By all practical purposes…he had ‘slammed the door’ on me and our conversation. End of discussion and all future correspondence. Oddly…he’s not the only person to have done that with me in recent years. Go figure. I really don’t go looking to debate folks over the Bible, rather I just feel compelled to share these things that I have been learning, and have been instrumental in changing my life in a good way by what I have l learned. I just figured any and all ‘believers’ would be excited to discover these truths for themselves as well; and…many of you have by what I have heard from you. Praise Jesus!

But the point in my sharing these stories with you today is a follow up to my lesson from yesterday, that sobering reminder found in 2 Thess. 2:9-12, and what will happen to people who don’t have a ‘love for the truth’. Jesus even got in to it with a group of Pharisees one time and just flat out told them they were ‘unable to hear/receive the word of God’…because they did not belong to God (John 8:43-44). And this all plays into that ‘test’ I shared with you to examine your own heart and how you respond to various passages when you come across them. It’s a quick test to see who or what…has your heart; Jesus…or a ‘doctrine’.

I don’t mean to suggest that when you come across various passages that don’t make sense to you, or may sound just the opposite of what you have been taught to believe about some things…that you just gladly receive them and make an immediate ‘about face’ in your understanding when you see the word staring you in the face. But friends…we need to beware and take caution as to how we do respond when we come across truth in our Bibles…that we don’t understand immediately. And here’s why: Take a look at Matt. 13:19; Mark 4:15; and Luke 8:11-12. Those are from the Parable of the Sower and we are told by Jesus what tends to take place in the ‘spirit realm’ when we find ourselves prone to not wanting to believe what we read. It can shut down ‘fruit production’ immediately. Hopefully we can explore more tomorrow, Lord willing.