Best Seller or Bread of Life?
The Bible is not just a best seller, but the bread of life that guides us in obedience to God, with eternal consequences.
A.W. Tozer emphasizes the disparity between the widespread purchase of Bibles and the lack of genuine engagement and obedience to their teachings. He argues that mere admiration of the Bible's literary qualities is insufficient, likening it to someone reading life-saving instructions during a disaster without acting on them. Tozer calls for a total commitment to the Bible's message, suggesting that such dedication could lead to a moral revolution in society. He warns that failing to obey the Bible's directives stems from a spiritual blindness caused by sin, which ultimately jeopardizes one's eternal destiny.
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Of the millions of Bibles bought during the last few years there is no certain way to discover how many are being read. But there is a pretty sure way to discover how many readers obey them. Total committal of a few hundred thousand persons to the message of the Bible anywhere in the world would work a moral revolution that would affect for good every facet of modern life. Since no such revolution has occurred we can only conclude that the Best Seller is not being read, or at least not being obeyed.
In a time of disaster such as earthquake or flood first-aid information and the instructions of the medical authorities are often matters of life or death. What would we think of a man if we found him at such a time comfortably reclined reading this material for its literary beauty? He might feel an aesthetic thrill at the terse, concise language and still die of typhoid, for his life depends not upon his admiration of the words of the official directives but upon his obedience to them.
As preposterous as such conduct would be, yet something like it is practiced constantly in a sphere where the consequences are far more weighty. Men who have but a little while to prepare themselves for the eternal world read the only book that can tell them how--not to learn how, but to enjoy the literary beauty of the book. Only the blindness of heart occasioned by sin would permit men so to do.
Sermon Outline
- The Best Seller or Bread of Life?
- The Consequences of Disobedience
- The Problem with the Best Seller
- The Importance of Obedience
- A Life of Aesthetic Thrill
- A Life of Eternal Consequences
Key Quotes
“Total committal of a few hundred thousand persons to the message of the Bible anywhere in the world would work a moral revolution that would affect for good every facet of modern life.” — A.W. Tozer
“Men who have but a little while to prepare themselves for the eternal world read the only book that can tell them how--not to learn how, but to enjoy the literary beauty of the book.” — A.W. Tozer
Application Points
- We must not just read the Bible for its literary beauty, but for its life-changing message.
- Obedience to the Bible is crucial for our eternal destiny and daily lives.
- The blindness of heart occasioned by sin prevents us from seeing the importance of obedience to the Bible.