Only the Gullible Will be Saved: A sermon by the Reverend Frisbee Pettifog
By WizenedSage (Galen Rose) ~
The Bible is very, very clear on many things and one of the most important is this: only the gullible will be saved from the eternal fires of hell. Now, hear me out as I make this clear to you.
You all know the story of Doubting Thomas from the Gospel of John. The Disciple Thomas said he would not believe in Christ’s resurrection until he saw the nail marks in his hands. And after Jesus appeared to him and showed Thomas the marks of his crucifixion, Jesus said, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” You see, Jesus wants you to believe even though you have not seen any evidence. He is telling you here, in no uncertain terms, that the way to that belief which is your salvation is gullibility.
But this is just one passage among many in the scriptures which teach the essential message of gullibility. It is a recurring theme. Hebrews 11:1 says,
In Mark 10:15 we read,
The doubters ask, “But why didn’t God provide solid proof of the message of the Bible, of Jesus?” Well, the answer is staring us in the face! If he had provided such proof, we would not need faith. We would not need to be gullible in the face of proof; common sense would have been sufficient, and this is clearly not the message of scripture.
It is our belief that matters, and the more contrary evidence we can sweep aside in our quest for Jesus, the greater will be our faith, and the more blessed shall we be. As Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 1: “Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For . . . the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” That is the message of gullibility; the world does not know God through wisdom, but through gullibility! Paul here is merely echoing the message of Jesus; blessed are those who have not seen or understood (through the wisdom of the world) and yet have believed.”
But, we need not rely solely on our own understanding of Scripture to learn the message of gullibility. We can also learn from those great Christian philosophers and interpreters of antiquity for they have much to teach us even in our modern times. Martin Luther, for example, wrote, “Faith must trample under foot all reason, sense, and understanding.“ Luther knew that reason is the greatest impediment to faith, to gullibility. If belief is the goal, then all impediments must be swept aside to enable the expansion of faith.
So, how far do we follow this sacred path of gullibility? We follow it all the way. The Lord is not interested in half measures, and he has no patience with the doubtful. If necessary, we must stand reason on its head that we may have faith in the essential message of the Lord God. To achieve the ultimate faith, we must follow the great Christian teacher Tertullian who wrote, concerning the Resurrection, “I believe because it is absurd.” Tertullian understood gullibility, and his words should stand as a beacon to those of us who would emulate his great faith.
God’s desire for our gullibility provides the obvious explanation for something which has troubled many throughout the ages, and that is why there are such outrageous stories in the Bible, with its talking snakes, magical fruit trees, virgin births, faith healing, walking on water and all the rest. Obviously, these stories are there to test our gullibility, our fitness to be saved and earn an eternity in heaven. St. Augustine taught that we make it all true; God gives us that amazing power. As he explained, “Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.” You see, through God’s gift of gullibility, our minds will surely make manifest that which we cannot see or understand.
God only wants those with imagination to share his heaven, those whose flights of fancy know no earthly bounds. There is no room for the sad, imperfect wisdom of man in God’s mansions. Let us now pray that God will grant each and every one of us his great blessing of infinite gullibility.
You all know the story of Doubting Thomas from the Gospel of John. The Disciple Thomas said he would not believe in Christ’s resurrection until he saw the nail marks in his hands. And after Jesus appeared to him and showed Thomas the marks of his crucifixion, Jesus said, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” You see, Jesus wants you to believe even though you have not seen any evidence. He is telling you here, in no uncertain terms, that the way to that belief which is your salvation is gullibility.
But this is just one passage among many in the scriptures which teach the essential message of gullibility. It is a recurring theme. Hebrews 11:1 says,
"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see."We are being instructed here to be certain of the things we hope for, in the absence of any evidence.
In Mark 10:15 we read,
“I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."You see, If you tell a child about God, Jesus, and heaven, he doesn’t argue with you, he does not say, “How can this be?” He accepts what he is told. He comes to Christ as a child and it is the nature of the child to be gullible.
The doubters ask, “But why didn’t God provide solid proof of the message of the Bible, of Jesus?” Well, the answer is staring us in the face! If he had provided such proof, we would not need faith. We would not need to be gullible in the face of proof; common sense would have been sufficient, and this is clearly not the message of scripture.
It is our belief that matters, and the more contrary evidence we can sweep aside in our quest for Jesus, the greater will be our faith, and the more blessed shall we be. As Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 1: “Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For . . . the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” That is the message of gullibility; the world does not know God through wisdom, but through gullibility! Paul here is merely echoing the message of Jesus; blessed are those who have not seen or understood (through the wisdom of the world) and yet have believed.”
But, we need not rely solely on our own understanding of Scripture to learn the message of gullibility. We can also learn from those great Christian philosophers and interpreters of antiquity for they have much to teach us even in our modern times. Martin Luther, for example, wrote, “Faith must trample under foot all reason, sense, and understanding.“ Luther knew that reason is the greatest impediment to faith, to gullibility. If belief is the goal, then all impediments must be swept aside to enable the expansion of faith.
So, how far do we follow this sacred path of gullibility? We follow it all the way. The Lord is not interested in half measures, and he has no patience with the doubtful. If necessary, we must stand reason on its head that we may have faith in the essential message of the Lord God. To achieve the ultimate faith, we must follow the great Christian teacher Tertullian who wrote, concerning the Resurrection, “I believe because it is absurd.” Tertullian understood gullibility, and his words should stand as a beacon to those of us who would emulate his great faith.
God’s desire for our gullibility provides the obvious explanation for something which has troubled many throughout the ages, and that is why there are such outrageous stories in the Bible, with its talking snakes, magical fruit trees, virgin births, faith healing, walking on water and all the rest. Obviously, these stories are there to test our gullibility, our fitness to be saved and earn an eternity in heaven. St. Augustine taught that we make it all true; God gives us that amazing power. As he explained, “Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.” You see, through God’s gift of gullibility, our minds will surely make manifest that which we cannot see or understand.
God only wants those with imagination to share his heaven, those whose flights of fancy know no earthly bounds. There is no room for the sad, imperfect wisdom of man in God’s mansions. Let us now pray that God will grant each and every one of us his great blessing of infinite gullibility.