Being Serious With God

By Odon Bulamba (9th August 2002)

The Bible has two parts, the Old Testament and the New Testament. Why is it called the Old Testament? It was called the Old Testament because it was written before Jesus birth, even though the Bible doesn’t actually say ‘Old Testament’. The Old Testament is called ‘The book of the law’. Why am I saying this? Our God is a God of the present; He is not an old God but a God who never changes and that is why His Word is always the same.

Why do we call the second part of the Bible ‘New Testament’? If Michelle is given a dress that was made in the 1940’s and a dress that was made in the year 2000, which dress will she choose? Michelle will choose the new dress, why? It is fashion. It is the same with Christians. When Jesus left the earth people decided to write new books that had teachings which were far from God’s will, and it got to the point that the Bible was no longer used in the churches because they believe that what was written before Jesus time belonged to that generation of people.

So why do we call the second part of the Bible, New Testament? And what does the Bible call it? The first part of the Bible is called the book of the law, but what is the second part? In the Old Testament we have five categories of books. The first part is called the Pentateuch, which means “five volumed book”, and was written by Moses. After this we have the history books, then the poetic books and then the prophetic books.

In the New Testament we have four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. What does gospel mean? Good news. Do you really believe it is good news? Why do you think it is called good news? When Shari sits her driving test it has to be marked by an officer, and the officer will tell her if she has passed or not. If Shari passes her test it will be good news, but if she fails it will be bad news. So what is the good news that is given by the gospel? Jesus left the heavens to dwell on earth so that we can be saved and this is the good news. The four gospels talk about the same theme and speak about Jesus life and share the same teachings, but they are slightly different. The Holy Spirit can inspire people in different ways. He can inspire Odon to go to the market place, He can inspire Oscar to go there as well, and if we were to explain how the Holy Spirit spoke to us, our versions will be different because the way we interpret things is different, and that is why there are differences in the four gospels.

Mark was the first one to write down what God had inspired him to record, Luke then gathered information from other people and that is how we get the book of Luke, after Luke it was Matthew and then John. In the book of Matthew it says that Jesus came from David. When Mary conceived by the Holy Spirit it meant that Jesus didn’t have a physical father, so why does it say that Jesus came from David? Mary and Joseph were descendants from David, but before knowing about David’s line we must know what his name means, so what does David mean? Who was the first disciple that Jesus called? Are we Jesus’ disciples or not? Who was the first person called by God? Who was the last person called by God? How many people has God called? Has God called you? How can you explain it?

The Bible says that many are called but few are chosen, who can explain this? John 5:39 says that you diligently study the scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life, what do you think about this verse?

If God has chosen us, He wants us to change, and that is why I have been speaking, it is because God wants us to change. Every time we learn something we have to practice it because the more we learn the more we will have to face satanic attacks, and if we are not preparing ourselves in the Word, we won’t be able to defend our soul. If you don’t know whom Jesus called first, how will know the last one? If you don’t know that the Bible has two parts how will you know what is written in it? This is why Jesus was called to watch over our souls because nobody else will watch over you. It has been about six months since I have been preaching on the same thing, and now it is time to move on.

When a child is on a spring board and doesn’t bounce it will stay in one spot, but if the child tries to bounce a little, the spring board will help him jump higher, and it will be a joy for that child. There was a lady who really loved God and she had a daughter. After a time her daughter died so she asked God, why did you take this child from me? God said that He is the one who gives and the one who takes back, but you will have another child that will serve me, and everywhere your child goes he will leave traces, but make sure that his trace will never disappear.

When the lady gave birth she had no pain and there was no blood, and the doctor said that this is not normal. The child was born with a smile while other babies would cry, and the medical staff would ask themselves, what kind of child is this? When the child was six months old, it was walking, and when his mother wanted to breast feed him he wouldn’t take it, but at six months he would eat salt and chillies. The mother was puzzled. At one year of age the child could speak fluently and he would threaten other children, and the mother regretted having this child because he embarrassed her.

At the age of three things started becoming serious, the young boy could understand what the hen and rooster were saying. One-day visitors came over to their house, and when you get a special visitor, a hen or rooster is killed. The rooster said to the hen, because visitors are here I am going to die, so please look after my children. The child jumped in front of his parents and said, please don’t kill this rooster because he will miss his children, but the mother turned to her child and said, what are you talking about? Because the parents didn’t understand their child, they went ahead and killed the rooster. Often God uses people in different ways and events to teach us, but people don’t understand. How can you come to realize that a child can understand what a hen is saying? You will think that this child is not normal. God talked to this child and said to him, people on earth don’t have pity on each other, when special people come over to visit they kill the souls of others and they suffer. And the child said this to his parents.

At the age of five God started using him and he would stand up in a group of people and speak. While the preacher was preaching the child would go up to him and tell him that what he was saying wasn’t true. This child could give Biblical answers that people couldn’t understand so they called him a sorcerer. People in the church could not believe this child, and that is why there is unbelief in the church today. We understand the Word but we don’t accept it, we are preached the Word but we doubt. Time is moving on, the child who was five is now forty. We have to know that time is moving fast, and if we don’t care about the foundation our result will be zero. We won’t keep on talking about sin, but there are other things that are useful to talk about like sanctification, redemption, justification and the list goes on.

We have to learn about these things, but if we dwell on the same thing everyday we will drown, so we need to learn how to swim and walk. Our God is a God of time and we, as Christians must take time seriously because it is short, and woe to the one who neglects time. John said that only those who are violent will enter the kingdom of God, and if you are not violent in the Word of God you will never succeed.

Joshua said, "the book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do what is written in it, and then you will make your way prosperous and have success". If you want success and prosperity you must meditate on the Word, but today as Christians we want 1000 people coming to us so that we can pray for them to be healed. It is true that this is success but before this success we have to meditate on the Word.

Before casting out evil spirits you must have a good foundation in the Word. The Word teaches you how to pray and prepare for a fast, and the Word also gives you strategies to fight against the devil. If you want to preach and save 1000 people without that solid foundation that comes from the Word, you are wasting your time, you must make an effort. If you want prosperity and God in your life, you must know the Word.

Whatever you learn, write it in your heart, it doesn’t mean to remember every verse in the Bible, but keep an idea of what you have learnt and use it when you are tempted. Psalm 119:11 says that I have written your word in my heart so that I may not sin against You. However we write it on paper and who knows our long that paper will last. How are we going to grow up if we are not serious?