So what is tonight’s subject? It’s on the most profound, least understood, most controversial, most misinterpreted, most ill-used, most beautiful and thought-provoking issue of all time. It has spurred more disgust, more argument, more disdain, more discussion, more thought, more hate, and more love than any other know entity. Nations have risen, fallen, transformed, and died because of it. It has led some to great prosperity, and led others to great poverty. It’s influence has been world-wide, and none of us have escaped its influence. Throughout history it’s been burned, banned, shunned, denied, and still it persists and it’s voice echos through the corridors of history as strongly as ever it first did when man first embraced it, and from that first man, it has always been embraced by someone who has loved it and cherished it. Never has it not been loved, never has it not been sought, never has it been ignored, and I can say with full confidence that it shall never not be relevant.
It’s has united, divided and separated more people, spurred and spurned both the great and the small, the weak and the strong, the wise and the ignorant, the humble and the arrogant. Nothing, since its inception, not one thing, not one person, has not in some way been touched and influenced by it. If you live today, in this country (America), or any modern country, you have been touched by it – though it’s touch may have been as light as down – you have felt it’s influence though you may not have recognized it for what it was.
So what do you think it is? As you answer this question, I ask you to hesitate for just a second, and ask this question of yourself first: why has it been what it is. Why has it endured when everything else, everything else, is subject to decay, destruction, and ultimate death, this one thing has prevailed; has continued to thrive in spite of the war against it, that continues to quietly stand in the face of the warriors against it and laugh; that continues to stand in front of those who have embraced it, and shields them from every dark and evil flight of arrow that tries to penetrate the armor of those who wear it.
The greatest of all men, both the common and the uncommon, the educated and the illiterate, have been held sway by its beauty, have been captivated and captured by it, and have been held the most loving prisoner because of it. No man, nor woman, nor child, apart from it has ever known their true worth, their role, and their duty; nor their destination without it. No guru, college professor, politician, media mogul, or religious leader can compare, compete, or conquer the one it embraces – for you see – the one who holds it most dearly in his or her heart is held by it in return.
You must be careful in its handling, and in your approach to it, for it above all other things can condemn you as nothing else can, and yet for those who approach it with the right heart, who seek its revelation as the most precious of all jewels, and accept its value as beyond price nothing will ever hold more importance for you.
What is it? It’s the Word of God; The Holy Bible
wayneaugden 