Gordon Duff Sr. Facebook ad: “WHEN YOU ONLY KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE HEARD…”

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WHEN YOU ONLY KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE HEARD PREACHED, BUT NOT WHAT YOU HAVE STUDIED .......................................... 📖 Acts 17:11 KJV “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” .......................................... There is great value in sitting under sound preaching. God has ordained preaching. God uses pastors, teachers, evangelists, and faithful men to open the Scriptures, rebuke error, encourage the saints, and call sinners unto repentance. But there is a danger when a person knows only what he has heard preached, and has never learned to search the doctrine personally in the Word of God. .......................................... Because preaching was never intended to replace personal study. It was intended to drive us deeper into it. .......................................... A sermon can tell you what a passage means. Personal study teaches you why. A sermon may give you the conclusion. Personal study helps you follow the doctrine from Genesis to Revelation. A sermon may expose one error. Personal study teaches you how to recognize that error when it appears in another form. .......................................... If all you know about a doctrine is what another man told you, then your understanding may only be as deep as your memory of his words. But when you have searched the Scriptures yourself, compared passage with passage, studied the context, followed the subject through the Bible, and prayed for understanding, the truth becomes settled in your own conscience before God. .......................................... 📖 2 Timothy 2:15 KJV “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” .......................................... Notice Scripture says, Study. Not merely listen. Not merely agree. Not merely remember what somebody else said. Study. .......................................... There is also another danger. A person who does not know the doctrine being preached from his own Bible may be impressed by confidence, personality, eloquence, tradition, education, volume, emotion, or reputation and mistake those things for biblical authority. .......................................... But a confident preacher can still be wrong. An old tradition can still be wrong. A popular interpretation can still be wrong. A moving sermon can still contain error. And something repeated for fifty years does not become Scripture simply because nobody challenged it. .......................................... 📖 Isaiah 8:20 KJV “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” .......................................... The final authority is not the preacher. It is not the denomination. It is not the commentary. It is not what your family has always believed. It is the Word of God. .......................................... And when believers neglect personal study, deception can take root quietly because they have no biblical framework with which to test what they are hearing. A half-truth can sound whole. A verse removed from context can sound convincing. A man-made doctrine can sound biblical because biblical vocabulary is being used. And emotional agreement can be mistaken for spiritual discernment. .......................................... 📖 Ephesians 4:14 KJV “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine...” .......................................... That verse describes doctrinal instability. One teacher says one thing, so you lean that way. Another preacher says something different, so you lean another way. Then a video, a book, a podcast, or a respected friend introduces another interpretation, and suddenly your convictions move again. .......................................... Why? Because borrowed convictions are easily replaced. Studied convictions are much harder to move. .......................................... The Bereans were called noble not because they rejected preaching, but because they received the word eagerly and then searched the Scriptures to determine whether what they heard was true. That is the biblical balance. .......................................... Listen carefully. Receive humbly. Study personally. Test everything by Scripture. .......................................... 📖 1 Thessalonians 5:21 KJV “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” .......................................... The preacher may introduce you to a doctrine. But your Bible must establish it. .......................................... The teacher may help you understand the passage. But your Bible must remain the authority. .......................................... The pastor may warn you of deception. But personal knowledge of Scripture helps keep deception from finding an easy place to live. .......................................... There is a major difference between saying, “My preacher says...” and being able to say, “I have searched the Scriptures, and this is what the Word of God teaches.” .......................................... Sit under preaching. Value faithful teachers. Respect those who labor in the Word. But never surrender the responsibility God gave you to know His Word for yourself. .......................................... Because the believer who only knows what he has been told can be persuaded by another voice. The believer who knows why he believes what he believes from Scripture has something far stronger than secondhand conviction. .......................................... 📖 John 5:39 KJV “Search the scriptures...” .......................................... Good preaching should never make you dependent upon the preacher. It should make you increasingly dependent upon the Word of God. .......................................... #KJV #JesusChrist #BibleTruth #Scripture #StudyTheBible #SoundDoctrine #BiblicalTruth #ChristianLiving #Discernment #PreachingThis