Understanding in Our Minds

"Let my cry come before Thee, O Lord; Give me understanding according to Thy word" (Ps. 119:169).

Many people experience a shallowness in their worship, because they don't correctly understand the nature of God. Others have given themselves to completely false worship, because they have an incorrect basis for their faith.

Several years ago, I was approached on the streets of Amsterdam by a group of young people witnessing. They were telling people they needed to accept Christ into their hearts. They invited me to their "Christian coffee house." I was excited to meet what appeared to be vivacious young believers. However, the coffee house turns out to be a "Christian disco" where they "hustled people for Jesus."

I discussed in detail the claims of Christ with them. They told me they believed that Allah is God, Mohammed, His prophet, and Jesus, His son. Obviously, they didn't draw those conclusions from the Bible. Yet they continually quoted verses of Scripture. I asked them how they could believe the Bible and claim to be followers of Mohammed at the same time. I discovered there was a "great prophet" who was head of their group. This "prophet" had final authority in matters of their faith.

That was the same type of cultic following that Jim Jones gathered around himself. A great tragedy occurred, because hundreds of people heeded the words of Jim Jones as their final authority rather than the Word of God. The final, authoritative revelation of God to man is not the Bible plus a prophet. Nor is it the Bible plus another great religious book. The final revelation of the person, attributes, and nature of God is found in the Bible alone. If we are to have a correct understanding of the moral character of God, we must become people of that one great Book, the Bible. Without the holy Scriptures, we may find ourselves worshipping a false god. Jesus said that true worshippers would not only worship in spirit but also in truth. The Word of God is absolute truth.