Pastor Mile McPherson on Doubting the Bible: 'This Thing Is Alive – It's Scary'
Christians questioning whether they can trust the Bible must understand that it is the living, breathing Word of God, the pastor of The Rock Church in California said in a recent sermon.
In his latest series "I Doubt It," Pastor Miles McPherson discusses the question asked by many people: "Can I trust the Bible?"
McPherson says this question is extremely important to Christianity, as believers have to fully believe in the scripture for it to be the Word of God, adding that in the end, Christians must realize that the Bible is fully alive.
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Such an unwavering belief in the Bible's truth is especially difficult, as the devil is always trying to cause doubt in the Holy Book, McPherson says, pointing to Genesis, when the serpent questions the Word of God in the Garden of Eden to Adam and Eve.
Although Christians may have doubt about parts of the Bible, they need to keep three truths in mind: God breathed the Word of the Bible into those who wrote it, He sent His only son to physically live out the Bible on earth, and He affirms all of His biblical teaching with the Holy Spirit.
The San Diego pastor references several Scriptural passages to back up these truths, including 2 Timothy 3:16 (NIV): "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness."
God used the Bible's 40 different authors with all different kinds of literary styles to write the Holy Book over the span of thousands of years, he points out.
And along with God breathing the Word into those who wrote it, He also sent His only son to live out the teachings of the Bible here on earth in human form.
This can be seen in John 1:1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
God was saying to His followers about Jesus: "I'm not only give you a book, but I'm going to send you a person to show you how to live the book [and] he is going to display the purpose of this book and show you the journey this book is leading you on," the megachurch pastor explains.
This truth is also validated in Matthew 5:17 when Jesus says: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them."
Lastly, God promised to affirm everything in the Bible with the Holy Spirit, a feeling that can be experienced by Christians when they are reading the Holy Book or listening to a preacher quote from Scripture.
"This thing is alive – it's scary," McPherson told the audience, adding that because the Holy Spirit is affirmed through the Bible, "nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight."
"You can put your Bible in your drawer all you want – the spirit of God you can't put in your drawer," he maintains.
Ultimately, all Christians need to decide whether they believe the Bible is true or not, McPherson concludes, suggesting that in addition to recognizing the Scripture's validity, Christians must also publicly express their worship as explained in Luke 9:26: "Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels."
