Welcome to the InTouch podcast with Charles Stanley for Thursday, September 25th. Satan knows that when people begin to doubt scripture, they're easily led astray. Let's learn how to avoid his trap by trusting God's Word as your infallible guide for life. And stay with us after the message for a preview of a new From the Pastor's Heart podcast premiering in 2026. Every year, hundreds of millions of copies of this book.
Apprentices Every year Hundreds of thousands. Millions are sold. Every year, hundreds of thousands are given away. Every day people pick up this book. And they're comforted by reading it.
strengthened helped in so many different ways. They find direction in God's will for their life. Hope and security in reading this book. There has never been a book like this. There never will be one like it because this book.
Is the living word of the living God. It is the book of all books. Never has been one to match it, never will be, because God has given us a revelation of Himself in what you and I call the Bible, the Word of God.
So, what I want to do in this particular message is this: I want to give you some reasons that you and I surely Should reverence, stand in awe, and tremble before the living word of God. And the first one is this: and that is because of the very nature of this book. This is God's book. It is the revelation of Almighty God. In fact, This book is the record.
of the revelation of God of Himself. Through his spoken word. And through his intervention in history, and creation And ultimately, in his coming to earth in the person of Jesus Christ to reveal himself to mankind, and John calls him the word. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. Jesus Christ was the living expression of Almighty God.
And so, when I look at this book and ask myself the question, why should I tremble at this book? Because this. Is the revelation and the record of the expression of the mind and heart of the eternal God who created this universe and who came to live in the person of Jesus Christ. There's the second reason that I would tremble at this word and stand in awe of it. And that is because of the very structure of it.
Think about this for a moment. All through this Bible, there is one central theme that runs all the way through it. At the end of this message, I'll show you how that theme runs. One central theme all the way through this book: 1,500 years, 40 different people, written on three different continents, men who did not know each other. How is it that they could write?
Write about the same truth, oftentimes not even understanding fully the very prophecy that they were giving. And yet they've given prophecies, prophecy after prophecy after prophecy in the Old Testament that has come to pass. Prophecies in the New Testament come to pass all hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years ago. And if somebody said, You know what?
Someone said, for example, put me in a prison. and shut me out from all the media. And give me the Bible, I can tell you what's going on in my society and my day. Because the truth is, for all practical purposes, because man's not changed, times really change in circumstances, but man's nature has not changed. He will always be doing what he's doing because he has a fallen nature, he has the same basic needs in every century, in every civilization, in every period and season of time.
And what is the answer to all that? The answer to every man, every woman, every young person in every society, in every culture, in every age, in every period of time is the living message of the word of the living God. That's why we say this book is ancient and the most up-to-date thing there is. Because not only does it tell me what happened yesterday, not only do I understand what's happening today, but I can tell you what is going to happen tomorrow. Because the God who wrote this makes no mistakes and He has told us exactly what to expect in the future in prophetic times.
Now, When we think about what this book is, one of the reasons that I personally would stand in awe of it is because of the origin of it. God is the one who wrote this book.
Now think about this for a moment. God the Father chose men. He guided their minds. Their spirits to write down His message. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, so that what you and I have is a correct Translation, a correct Message of the living God.
who would be very careful that you and I will know the truth. God certainly would not leave it to man to make up stories, leave it to man to make up some kind of message for men to live by. A God who loves me enough to have sent his only begotten Son to the cross to die on my behalf is a God who certainly loves us enough to be sure we have the truth of his word. And oftentimes in the Old Testament, here's what you'll find: you'll hear the prophet saying, The word of the Lord is, the burden of God is, thus saith the Lord, God has spoken. What was God doing?
By his Spirit? He was guiding those men. In what they said, guiding them to write down the message that He intended for that generation to have and all generations thereafter. Why? Because man has a fallen nature.
It is the same fallen nature centuries ago. It is the same fallen nature we'll have in the next century because man doesn't change, man's needs do not really change ultimately. And so, what God has given us, He has given us a word that He has breathed into the mind and heart of these men, and He has guided and protected their writing down of His message to mankind.
So that's the way we got it. God is the author of it, and God has preserved it down through these years so that you and I may have an instruction book by which to live. All right, we come to think in terms of something else, and that is the trustworthiness of this book. Listen, we said, first of all, one of the reasons we stand in all of this book is because of the nature of it. Record of the revelation of God.
Story of God's redeeming love. By the very structure of it, it is amazing how God has put it together over these years and kept it and preserved it. It is amazing how God gave it as he chose different men of different locations and different backgrounds and cultures and life to write down his message.
Well, what about the trustworthiness of it?
Well, you hear people say, for example, do you believe part of the Bible, some of the Bible, all of the Bible? Is the Bible inerrant? What do they mean by inerrant?
Well, you look it up in a dictionary and it means without error.
So, when we come to the Word of God, you're not going to find that particular word in the Bible. The Bible doesn't say, I am inerrant. Inerrance simply means without error, but to put it a little different, let's put it this way, and that is. The Bible tells the truth. Only the truth.
In all its parts and in every single word.
Now, listen carefully. Inerrancy does not mean that God ignored his purpose, that God ignored the personalities, that God ignored the times, the seasons, and the backgrounds of these men. He chose these men because of their background. He chose these men, listen, in their particular day, in their time, in their capacities. Why?
Because he wanted to send specific messages. And so Matthew writing to the Jews. And Luke writing to the Gentiles, Mark writing this comprehension of the life of Christ, and John writing to do what? I'll tell you. For example, if somebody says, well, I don't know about Jesus and I don't even know how to start, usually you know what we say?
Start with the Gospel of John, because John wrote in order that those who read it might believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. For example, neither does inerrancy mean that some New Testament writer like the Apostle Paul couldn't paraphrase something in the Old Testament. For example, when you and I quote scripture sometimes, we will give the full meaning of that scripture, but we don't give all the single solitary words. And so it does not mean that it is erroneous.
Now, think about this for a moment. If Almighty God is who He says He is, and we believe that He is, and if He loved you and me enough to send His only begotten Son into this world to die for our sins on the cross of Calvary, which was the greatest price God the Father paid because of His love for you and me, would He then Would God allow carelessness? Would God allow callousness? Would God allow. Those people to transcribe the truth, to write down the truth.
And you recall that sometimes when Paul was in prison, he was speaking and someone else was writing it down for him.
Somebody says, Well, if man wrote it, it has errors. Listen, if man wrote it and it was man's message and man wrote it without God, yes, it would be full of errors. But if Almighty God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, guarded and guided those men who wrote it, yes, it can be written by men, but written without error. And so, therefore, when people usually want to push error, push error, push error, usually, here's what I've found, not always. Oftentimes, there's something in the Word of God that bothers them.
Not the fact that it's an error, but something it commands, something it demands, something it requires. If, for example, that I want to live a certain way, The best thing I can do is to say, well, you know, if I hear some pastor say, well, you know, all the Bible's not true. What am I going to do? My fleshly nature is going to look for some reason to do what? To find a reason not to believe the very passage that God's convicting me with.
And so, therefore, you know, if I don't want to do that, the best thing I can do is just not believe that's real. Say, well, you know, that's one of those errors. That's one of those things that's incorrect. Paul couldn't have meant, he couldn't have possibly meant that. I've had people look at me.
And when I say I give them a verse and I say, look, now just read that for yourself. They ain't about to sit and read it out loud. Read it out loud. Get a little air and teddy with me. Read it out loud.
And uh Then I'll say, Well, what does that say? And you know what?
So help me. Because they did not want to agree with it, they did not want to surrender themselves.
Well, they say, well, that's not what it means.
Well, read it again, read it again.
Well, I hear what you're saying, but I just don't believe that's what it says.
Well, pray tell me, what does it say? And you know what?
If you don't want to believe it, You don't have to believe it. God's not going to make you believe His Word. But, my friend, the most tragic thing you can do is to lay this book down and not believe it.
Now listen. God has given us a book. Nobody has come up with anything yet that would contradict a single doctrinal truth or principle of the Word of God. And remember, 1500 years, 40 men, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, one consistency all the way through, one theme all the way through. This can't just be any old book.
And so, when I think about the disastrous results of standing up before people and saying, well, now there are certain parts of the scripture you can believe and certain parts you cannot, that is nothing but pure ministerial pride.
Now listen. I'm not saying that there aren't some people out there who have some difficulties because of where they are. They don't know the scriptures. And I'll tell you one thing that really bothers me. When I look to pick up a magazine and somebody's trying to tell us they're trying to figure out who the real Jesus is, those scholars and those people who write these articles, listen, you know what?
They don't have any more than you and I have. What they're trying to do is to go back here and study cultures and so forth and put Jesus in some light he's not. Listen, God who wrote this book, this book is up to date for every single generation, no matter who they are. And you know what?
In all this scholarship, and all this study, and all this digging around, the truth is they don't have anything to dig with any more than you and I do. And the truth is that they just submit themselves to the word of God and believe and acknowledge the spirit of God who gave it is the spirit of God who has governed it and guarded it and preserved it. Man, just stop digging around and start believing it. Because I can tell you, listen, this isn't anything new. People have been doing that for years and years and years, and you know what?
They're dead, they're gone, we're still believing it, church is moving on, people are still being saved, and what happens is the Word of God marches on absolutely victorious.
Now, Now, you wonder, well, why are you getting so excited about this?
Well, I'm excited about the Word of God, I've been excited about that all my life. But I'm going to give you a living example that I received on the internet at InTouch this week. It just so happens, and I've been planning to preach this series for some time, but listen to this. This is a lady who wrote this. I hope this message reaches you.
I have a concern that you may be able to help me with. I attended church last Sunday at an evangelical so-and-so kind of church. in my town. and the interim pastor said that the Bible was written and transcribed by humans and is therefore imperfect. He pointed out that the earliest church spread the gospels through word of mouth.
Later, after the gospels were written, illiterate scribes copied the manuscripts and probably made errors in transcription. The Gospels, he said, are filled with the flavor of the authors, for example, Luke's opinion and personalities apparent in his Gospel. Then she says, my problem is this. If the Bible is not perfect, If it is not the Word of God, If it is the word of men trying to interpret God, how will I know what words to live by? and what words to ignore because they are in error.
And so she says, I would like to believe that God had a hand in what the Bible contains and what He made sure it says exactly what He wanted it to say. Am I naive? Ma'am, you are not naive. Your pastor is the one who's naive. If your pastor stands up, and starts telling you that the Bible is full of errors.
Here is my absolute conviction. You either need to go to another church Or you need to tell your pastor, get out of the ministry until you settle once and for all what you believe about this book, because I'm telling you, that is the most disastrous thing that a man can do. If you don't believe the Bible from cover to cover, then my friend, listen, don't get up and stand up and claim to be a minister of the gospel, sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. A gospel that is given to build us up. Transform us and bring us to God and teach us how to live by faith when you are undercutting, destroying, absolutely severing, listen, the very cords of existence and life in the life of a child, in the life of a teenager, in the life of a college student who's going out there and facing the world with all of its unbelief.
Listen, we live in a world that's full of unbelief. We live in a world that, listen, is continually contradicting the Word of God and talking about the fact that it is ancient. Friend, It is absolutely disastrous. I'd rather listen to a grandmother who stayed on her knees and been in this book. Through the years of her life, I'd rather listen to her teach me theology than somebody in some institution somewhere who does not believe the word of God because that woman knows, listen, not only has she accepted this as truth, but she's got 50, 60, 70, 80 years of living it out and proven by her life, God is everything He says He is.
He's every single thing He says is.
Now Let me come to the last point, and that is: one of the reasons I think you and I should stand in awe before this book. Not only because of its very nature, it's the revelation of God, not because of its awesome structure, how God's kept it together, not because of its origin by inspiration, and not because of its trustworthiness, the fact that it is the inerrant word of the living God. But I think one of the primary reasons that I stand in awe of this book. It's because listen Because of the message of the book. The message of this book, listen, is the story of God's redeeming love for mankind for you and me.
Now, I don't want you to look into scripture, I just want you to listen carefully because I want to take you through the Bible. It is the story of God's redeeming love. That's listen. It is very evident in the Garden of Eden, in the first book of the Bible, this book is the story of God's redeeming love. Because what happened?
In the Garden of Eden, God's first man and woman, Adam and Eve, fell into sin. God in His love approached them and confronted them with their sin. And what did He do? He did not condemn them, though even he had said before, the soul that sinneth it shall die. What did he do?
He killed an animal. He brought skins to cover. their nakedness. What did he do? He shed blood.
What did he do? He says in that third chapter, speaking of Satan, he says, Satan will bruise his heel. He will bruise Satan's head. That could be none other than Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, who was the Messiah. First book of the Bible, first family, first incident.
What do we have? We have the story of God's redeeming love beginning. When I look at the glorious night in which Jesus Christ was born, what was happening? God the Father. Doing what?
Keeping his word from the Garden of Eden back there, who said a Messiah was coming, came into this world in the person of his Son, Jesus Christ, born of a virgin. Conceived by the Holy Spirit, came into the world that night to be born to say to the world: listen, peace on earth, goodwill toward men. Listen, he came to reveal the Father. Then, when I look at that amazing event at the cross, what do I see at the cross? But nothing more than the redemptive plan of God coming to a great finality.
What was he doing? Jesus Christ, the Son of God. That Lamb of God prophesied all the way back in Genesis.
Now, what was happening? Satan was about to be destroyed. Satan was about to be defeated at the cross. And while his destruction is absolutely, listen, absolutely settled in the book of the Revelation, God has allowed him some time. At the cross, Satan was defeated.
And in that crucifixion, what was happening? The Lamb of God, listen, symbolical of all those sacrifices, was now taken upon himself. The Son of God, the living Lamb, taken upon himself, the sin of all mankind for all ages. Every single sin ever committed, ever will be committed, listen, was purchased, listen, paid for in debt, so that God wrote for every one of us who received Jesus Christ as our Savior, paid in full our sin debt. And so, therefore, all of us who are His are saved and saved forever.
This is the book of books. Never has been one like it. Never will be one like it. Listen, it's good enough to live by, good enough to die by, and if you die by any other book, you will be eternally doomed. Listen, you reject this book.
You deny this book? You refuse this book? And what you do is you seal your eternal doom. You accept this book? You believe this book?
You yield to the message of this book, and what do you have? Your name written in the Lamb's Book of Life, your sins forgiven, and forever. God is your Father, Jesus Christ your Lord, the Spirit of God your power, and what heaven your home. That is the promise of the Word of God. Thank you for listening to part two of Trembling Before the Word of God.
And coming up next, a preview of a new From the Pastor's Heart podcast premiering in 2026. Welcome to From the Pastor's Heart. featuring the timeless teachings of doctor Charles Stanley. Life is short. Very short when you think about it.
Even though we trust by faith that God is preparing a wonderful eternity for us, doesn't it feel like we sometimes have unfinished business to do here on earth? or at least a few more things you'd like to experience before you're called to Jesus.
Well, Dr. Stanley has said it can be a blessing to embrace the brevity of our time on Earth. And in this month's From the Pastor's Heart Letter, Dr. Stanley's insight will help us consider how to make each day count with God. Reading Doctor Stanley's letter this month is my friend Bill.
who works here in our partner communications department at In Touch. Hey, Bill? Hey John, thank you so much for inviting me to come today. Yeah, I mean, Bill, you're an incredible encouragement to all of us here at InTouch. You're a very warm person and such a warm and kind voice.
I know on the phone, I think our partners really love talking to you every day.
Well, it's been one of the great privileges of my life to come work here at InTouch Ministries and have the opportunity to pray with brothers and sisters who call in from all over and pray with them, encourage them, share the unsearchable riches of Christ, and share verses of encouragement. It's just been a wonderful experience and a great joy each day. How long have you worked here? Two-year anniversary. Two years.
And the thing I think I love about your story, and it's unfortunate because you never met Dr. Stanley, but I love the fact that we're now getting people that work at InTouch that have never worked here during his lifetime. What is that like? I will say that since I've come to work here, I have been voraciously digesting and reading his books, listening to his sermons. And I feel like I am getting to know him that way, the way a lot of our listeners do, but also through the stories that you and others have told me about their experiences with Dr.
Stanley. And the one thing that everybody universally says is what you see on TV is the person you meet in the hallway. Warm, friendly, godly, puts you right at ease, and you always come away just feeling better.
So it's just been wonderful. He would have loved to get to know you. You are. such a joyful guy. When I told people about this particular recording that we're going to do, and that I wanted Bill to read the letter, everyone was like, Bill, oh, oh, that's so exciting.
I can't wait to hear Bill.
So we're going to, without further ado, let you read this letter.
So, you can see, folks, why we think he's such a great person to read it for us. And we're going to get to talk to him a little bit later about the letter. But first of all, here is Bill with this month's. from the pastor's heart. If you only had six months to live, How would you spend your time?
more than likely every week would become increasingly important. In fact, you would begin to count the minutes you had left.
Well, none of us know how long we have to live.
So the question becomes What are we doing with our lives now? Paul gives us a very wise admonition in his letter to the Ephesians, where he says, Be careful how you walk. not as unwise men, but as wise. making the most of your time because the days are evil.
So then do not be foolish. but understand what the will of the Lord is. The only way to use our time wisely is to use it as God desires, according to His will, not ours. Leaving God out of our plans and schedules will always lead to feeling pressured. We look at all we need to accomplish and conclude we don't have time to spend consulting him.
so we ask Him to bless us and then plunge ahead with our plans without the benefit of God's foresight and wisdom guiding us. Of course we'll wind up feeling stressed, because only God can order our steps perfectly. To use our time wisely there are a few steps we can take. First We must realize that all our time is the Lord's. We can't delegate Sunday as the Lord's time and the rest of the week as ours, to do as we please.
God owns it all, and we are just stewards of the time He entrusts to us in this lifetime. Second, we must give the Lord top priority. the most important part of each day is the time we spend fellowshipping with the Lord as we meditate on His word, speak with Him, worship him and serve others. Jesus modeled for us what giving God top priority in our day looks like. In the early morning, While it was still dark, Jesus got up.
left the house and went away to a secluded place and was praying there. Mark 135. When I attended seminary, I was a little bit of a family. I realized it was a natural temptation for students to become so busy studying for classes that personal prayer and Bible study would get neglected. but I discovered I could accomplish much more When I began each day with the Lord and asked Him to direct my schedule as He desired.
He always gives us enough time each day to do His will by guiding and governing our schedules in the very best of ways. Third, as believers, we're accountable to God. Paul explained it to the Corinthian church this way. Therefore, We also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to him, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body. according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
2 Corinthians 5, verses 9 and 10. The word bad in this verse means worthless. You don't want to spend your time on earth doing things that have no eternal value. Your time is your life. and your life belongs to God.
Rely on the Holy Spirit to help you invest your life in what pleases the Lord. Paul reminds us earlier in the same chapter that our earthly bodies are only a tent and that we groan for our final home in heaven. This is meant to give us courage that this life isn't all there is, that by faith we set our focus on what is lasting. Make your life count. By being a beacon of Christ and the gospel for everyone around you.
See yourself. as a person of eternity. Not merely, a person of time. It's the difference between the between spending time and investing it in blessings for yourself and others. Wow, thanks for reading that, Bill.
It's such a treat to hear Dr. Stanley's thoughts and. Especially like our life. We do think about heaven, but we get trapped in this worldly thoughts and And what do I have to do? And my mortgage is due, and all these things.
And it's such a good reminder about the brevity of life and how to make it timeless, how to realize that we are a person of eternity. What encouraged you about the letter? I think that was it. You know, we get lost in just the temporal things, but we are people of eternity. Ecclesiast 3:11 says that God has put eternity in our heart.
We're very unique. And now Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, dwells in us. And so I just love the way he made it practical with those three points. It was wonderful and so inspiring, and a reminder that as people of eternity, we need to give God top priority each day. And I was thinking about how the letter starts, and it references the fact that we just often plunge forward with our day, ask God to bless our plans, and we get that so backward.
I know you've learned some of those lessons from your personal testimony. You've been sharing that with us at InTouch. Just you went through a cancer battle started in 2019, right? Yes, I did. I actually was diagnosed in June of 2019 with stage 4 terminal cancer, basically given about a year to live.
And the first thing I did when I got home, I told my wife, I'm going to go in the back bedroom, and I don't know when I'll be back, but I need some time with my father. And I went back and uh because of a back problem I don't normally get on my knees, but this time I got down on my knees and I have been ever since. And anyway, as I began just opening up, I was just saying, Father, Father. And the first sensation I had was just God wrapping his loving arms around me. And I felt like I'm saying.
I've missed when you just came to me like this, because you weren't asking for anything, because you didn't even know what to ask. You just knew you needed to spend time with me. And that was really the beginning of a a rebirth of my Christian life, and I'm so grateful. Mm.
So that context of eternity, of like our life is brief, was such a blessing to you. That's incredible. What's it been like since then? I mean, that's six years ago now. It changed my life forever.
Shortly thereafter, the Lord gave me some experiences of obeying God and leaving all the consequences to him. I began researching voraciously, and I did a combination of Western alternative and natural. But every step, I just prayed, researched, and did whatever I felt the Lord was telling me. And the first big thing is he said, you need to leave your job. But I was the main breadwinner.
There was no way for us financially to survive. And I just felt as clear as anything. You leave your job by faith. And I told my wife, and she was. supported me.
And in that next year, The series of financial miracles that we had, I made more tax-free in the next year than I had made the prior year working. Long hours at a company. And so I learned that lesson of obeying God and seeing God work out everything. And it also brought me to a point of just reconsecrating. My my prayer each day was, Lord, I have and will reconsecrate every remaining breath because every breath I'm breathing now, you've given me as an extra.
So it's all yours. Just whatever you want, here I am. And within. A number of years, I ended up being able to come here at In Touch Ministries, which I would say is an answer to a lifelong prayer that I would have a chance to serve the Lord with my full time. I mean, you are a living embodiment of this letter.
And, you know, God worked it out because I just thought of you and didn't really think about the letter. And then, as we were getting ready to record, I'm like, oh my goodness, this is the perfect person to read this letter about eternity.
Well, thanks for being vulnerable and sharing that with us. Anything else you wanted to say before we wrap up? I'd love to say a little prayer for our listeners.
Okay. All right. Father, how grateful we are. Uh fresh encouragement from you. to realize that we are people of eternity.
and that we really do need to give you. The top. priority in our lives. Save us from the worthless things. Help us each day.
To give you that top priority and let you flow through each and every one of us that when we stand before you, We all hear. Good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your master. In Jesus' precious name we pray. Amen.
Thank you, Cam Bill. September has always been a really special month for us here at Intouch. because it's Doctor Stanley's birthday. And as a staff, we got to hang out with him and have some cake and ice cream. It was always fun to see him.
Kick back and relax, a guy who was a real model to us of the love for Jesus. And it would have been his 93rd birthday this month. We remain really grateful to God for His devotion to helping us grow in our intimacy with Jesus. His calling remains our calling.
Well, we hope you've been energized by Dr. Stanley's letter. to keep eternity in mind each day. Remember Matthew 6.33, but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. and all these things will be added to you.
in the coming days and weeks. Watch out for God's hand and pray for a deepening awareness of His presence. as you appreciate the beauty of creation and enjoy the people he's put into your life. Thanks so much for joining us for this month's From the Pastor's Heart. Until next time.
God bless you.
