Note: In the closing application to last Sunday morning’s sermon from Nehemiah 8:1-12 on Ezra the scribe reading the law of God
to the returned exiles, I shared this anecdote (taken from Joel R. Beeke, Puritan Evangelism: A Biblical Approach, p. 1):
The Puritan minister John Rogers (c. 1570-1636) once preached to his
congregation about their neglect of Scripture.
He imagined what God might say to them:
“I have trusted you so long with my Bible…it lies in [some] houses all
covered with dust and cobwebs, you care not to listen to it. Do you use my Bible so? Well, you shall have my Bible no longer.”
With that said, Rogers picked up the
Bible and began to walk away from the pulpit.
Then, he took on the role of the
people and fell on his knees pleading, “Lord, whatever Thou dost to us, take
not Thy Bible from us; kill our children, burn our houses, destroy our goods;
only spare us Thy Bible, take not away Thy Bible.”
Assuming again the part of God Himself, Rogers replies to the
congregation, “Say you so? Well, I will
try you a little longer; and here is my Bible for you. I will see how you use it, whether you will
search it more, love it more, observe it more, and live more according to it.”
May we learn to treasure God’s Word
more dearly.
Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle
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