The Word of God – Part 6

2 Timothy 2:15 “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”

Our attitude toward Scripture depends upon whether we really believe that Scripture is inspired. If not, then any system of truth it contains cannot be relied upon.  It is imperative to understand their claims to divine inspiration, infallibility and integrity. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

One of the great truths about the Word of God is its symmetry. The Bible contains 66 books, written by 39 human authors (although we know that the main author is the Holy Spirit moving upon these men as He so chose) and over a period of 1500 years. Separate any one of the 66 books and it makes no sense, but together they proclaim a unity of the whole will and plan of God.

We talk about the revealed Word of God. What does that mean? The dictionary definition of the word revelation is: “A revelation is that which is revealed by God to man.” The word itself means “flinging or drawing back the veil,” which would indicate the removing of a veil or obstacle that hinders complete vision.

The Bible is not primarily a record of man’s thoughts about God, but a record of what God has done and revealed of Himself to man. Its basis is not, “Thus and thus man thinks,” but rather, “Thus and thus saith Jehovah,” or “Thus and thus hath Jehovah done.” 

We also talk about the inspired Word of God. It is important to grasp what we mean by this often used word. There is a difference between revelation and inspiration. 

Revelation is the subject matter of the message, what God imparts to man, but inspiration is the power or method by which man communicates his God-given message to man. We may therefore regard inspiration as a special gift of the Holy Spirit, by which prophets of the Old Testament and the apostles and their companions in the New Testament transmitted the revelation of God as they received it. These two facts are combined by Peter: “For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” 2 Peter 1:21

Here the word signifies “breath,” thus showing that God is the Author of man’s intelligence.  In 2 Timothy 3:16 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God.” The particular word used by Paul means “God-breathed,” that is, God Himself, or, through His Holy Spirit – told the writers of the Bible just the very things to record. 

The Bible not only contains God’s words, but is, from beginning to end, the Word of God. If anyone has reason to doubt the inspiration of the Bible, the certain yet simple test to apply is to yield oneself to its power; strive faithfully to follow its commands, acting as it suggests, and as a result, the conviction will irresistibly grow upon the mind seeking proof in this way – that its claim to be inspired of God is not to be questioned, but reverently received as just and undeniable.  After all, it is personal experience that counts, and our Lord said: “If any man will do…..he shall know.” (John 7:17)

Another word that we often use is ‘illumination.’  Clarence Larkin observes that: “Spiritual illumination is different either from Bible inspiration or revelation. It is the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer, by which he has his ‘spiritual understanding’ opened to understand the Scriptures. (John 16:12,15)

“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.” I Corinthians 2:11

“The natural man cannot receive the teachings of the Spirit of God; neither can he know them, for they are spiritually discerned.” I Corinthians 2:14

He goes on to say, “The work, then, of the Holy Spirit in these days is not to impart some new revelation to men, or to inspire them to write or speak as the prophets and apostles of old, but so to illuminate men’s minds and open up their understanding of the Scriptures that their heart will burn within them as they compare Scripture with Scripture, in having revealed to them God’s plan and purpose in the ages, as disclosed in His Holy Word.” 

Reformation brings us back to the realization that God’s Word is just that: GOD’S WORD, and it is reliable “for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17

The Word of God – Part 5

Psalms 119:98-100 “Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes. I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts.”

We read that when the resurrected Jesus was in the midst of the 12 disciples that “he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.” Luke 24:45

We will not understand Scripture by intellect alone. It will take the illuminating power of the Holy Spirit to open Scripture. One man of God rightly said: “The Bible is burglar proof against all unsanctified learning. The Holy Spirit alone holds the key to it.” In other words, if we are going to understand the Word of God then it is going to be the Holy Spirit teaching us. It was Augustine who said: “I would affirm that the sufficiency of our learning is to discover that our learning is insufficient.”

Just as we need the Holy Spirit for the work, so we need Him to fit us for the work.  Jesus told His disciples to stay in Jerusalem until they received the Holy Spirit. It could have been easy for the 12 disciples to think that because they had been with Jesus for three years (three years of Bible School) that they were prepared to go out.

This, I believe, is a mistake that we are making today; that somehow a biblical education fits us for the work of the ministry. I am not saying that this is not important, but if we do not have the Holy Spirit leading in this then we are doomed to failure.

Often what we call “sacred” learning is nothing more than ‘secular’ because so often there is the absence of the Spirit’s anointing and illuminating power as well as dependence upon the Holy Spirit.

 
What we have found out throughout the history of the church is that studies about God when there is not a humble dependence upon the Holy Spirit to illuminate – do not help but are actually harmful. We have too many preachers preaching about God; preachers who do not know the Lord in an intimate way. They know about Him, but they do not know Him in truth and Spirit.

In Psalms 103:7 “He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel.” This is what I am referring to. There is a difference between knowing the ways of God and actually seeing His them, in His deeds. Moses knew the ways of God and through Moses God could act and show His ways/deeds to the children of Israel. I believe that this brings out the difference between a person who has been fitted by the Holy Spirit for the work, and those who have not.

It was professor Beck who said: “Gentlemen remember that without the illumination of the Spirit theology is not only a cold stone, it is deadly poison.” The Psalmist said: “If the foundation is being destroyed what can the righteous do?” What is our foundation? The Scriptures! Who have been the ones tearing down the Scriptures? It has been our so-called theological professors.

One of the reasons for this is that they think that they can understand the Scriptures by microscopic exegesis and by philosophical analysis. However, we read in 1 Corinthians 2:11 “For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.” This seems to be a truth that today has been forgotten by many of our Bible Schools and Seminaries. We read about the two disciples on the Emmaus road that when they were walking with Jesus and Jesus opened the Scripture to them, their hearts burned within them.

Reformation will bring us back to a simple reliance upon the Holy Spirit to understand Scripture and to see Scripture become flesh in us.

The Word of God – Part 4

2 Timothy 2:16-17 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

In every society we have what I call the ‘opinion makers.’ These are people who use words to make a living like the journalists, anchormen/women, lawyers, politicians, educators, etc. Often we find that they create the opinions that we all accept and live by.

Some years ago I was in Denmark and stopped at a little kiosk to buy a English magazine. When the owners saw that I spoke English they started to speak to me. They told me that they had lived in Canada for many years and had just recently moved back to Denmark having been gone for almost 25 years. They went on to tell me how they were scared with what they saw taking place on how people were being brainwashed. They were being told what to buy, where to buy it, what to wear, etc. In other words, what they were telling me was that their opinions were being formed for them.

I believe that we, as God’s people and especially those in leadership positions, should be the opinion makers. We should know the Word of God and make God’s opinion known in our society. Francis Schaeffer said: “The culture is to be constantly judged by the Bible, rather than the Bible being bent to conform to the surrounding culture. The early church did this in regard to the Roman-Greek culture of its day. The Reformation did this in its day in relation to the culture coming at the end of the Middle Ages. And we must never forget that all the great revivalists did this concerning the surrounding culture of their day. And the Christian church did this at every one of its great points of history.”

Isn’t this a problem that we have in the Western world today in that the Bible is looked down upon and is discredited and irrelevant to what we are faced with today? However, it doesn’t matter what the ungodly say about the Bible, but for those who profess a faith in Jesus Christ and believe that the Bible is the Word of God, we need to allow the Word of God to be the one guiding us in this world. This is what happened with the early church as well as the reformation during Luther’s day. Luther’s great statement should be the statement of each one of us who claims to be a Christian: “I stand on the Word of God.” 

What is happening in our society is that all things are relative. The final value is what makes me, the individual, happy, feel good, etc. Nothing is fixed; there are no standards except what makes the individual happy.

I would like to bring home two things in this regard. First, in most of our states we have the no-fault divorce laws. They are based on the view that there is no right or wrong and consequently what gives them happiness at the moment is the only way to go. Today, divorce among God’s people is just as high as among the unsaved. 

Secondly, we need to see the promiscuity that is taking place today in the light of the Word of God. In our generation people are asking why promiscuous sex is wrong. I can think of three reasons why.

First: Because God says it is wrong. For those of us who profess to follow Christ that should be enough right there. Second: We need to understand how the Lord made us in regards to our relationships with one another and to fulfill the way in which He made us for. Promiscuity tries to force something into a form which God never made us for and which cannot be fulfilled. Third: Promiscuous sex is wrong because it destroys the picture of what God means of marriage, the relationship between a man and woman.

We need reformation to see things set right in our society.

 Word of God – Part 3

Psalms 119:98-100 “Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes. I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts.”

When we look back into Western history and we see the importance of the Word of God – we are astounded. However, in many of our schools and homes people are ignorant of the important role that the Word of God has played in our lives and societies.

The Bible Literacy Project states: “Scripture begins with God creating the world, but there is something these verses don’t tell you: The Bible has itself created worlds. Wherever you stand on the spectrum from devout to atheist, you must acknowledge that the Bible has been a creative force without parallel in history.”

If one was to go to the apotheosis of the French Middle Ages – Sainte Chapelle – one will see that the walls are made almost entirely of stained glass. Writer Shalom Spiegel said: “It has been rightly called the most wonderful of pictured Bibles.”

Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch said: “The King James Bible has influenced our literature more deeply than any other book – more deeply even than all the writings of Shakespeare  – far more deeply.”  The poet and painter William Blake calls the Old and New Testaments “The Great Codes of Art.”

Abraham Lincoln, one of our great Presidents said in his inaugural address: “With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right.” The historian William Wolf said this about Lincoln’s address “with its fourteen references to God, four direct quotations from Genesis, Psalms, and Matthew, and other allusions to Scriptural teachings it reads like a supplement to the Bible.” Lincoln’s comment about the Bible: “The best gift God has given to man. But for it we could not know right from wrong.” Isn’t this one of the problems that we have today? We do not know right from wrong. We are now calling good evil and evil good.

Ronald Reagan called America “a great shining city on a hill,” three-and-a-half centuries after John Winthrop (sailing for Boston in 1630) anticipated a new community that would be “as a City upon a Hill” invoking the famous verse in Matthew, “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid,” (Matthew 5:14) which harks back in turn to the prophets (Isaiah 2:2-3, Micah 4:2) and the book of Proverbs 4:18. John Livingstone Lowe called the King James Bible “the noblest monument of English prose” (1936); George Saintsbury called it “probably the greatest prose work in any language” (1887). Nearly two millennia earlier, the great Pharisee rabbi Hillel described the ideal life: “loving peace and pursuing peace; loving humanity and bringing it close to the Torah.”

A survey was done by two professors to see who had made the greatest impact upon our nation. They went through thousands of speeches, essays, etc. to find who was quoted the most. To their surprise they discovered that the Bible was the one that was quoted the most. What an impact the Bible made upon our nation in its early developing years.

Some of our founding fathers like Winthrop, Adams, Lincoln, and thousands of other ordinary citizens found a good destiny in the Bible and made it their own, but today the Bible is fast becoming a book that just sits on the book shelf and gathers dust.

Historian G.M. Trevelyan said: “We aren’t discussing a merely ‘popular’ or ‘influential’ book. We are talking revolution. In 16th and 17th-century Britain, the English Bible was capable of affecting the first thoughts people had on waking, their last thoughts before sleeping, their dreams, and their nightmares. British homes were decorated biblically – with Bible quotations or pictures painted or papered on the walls or printed on cloth wall-hangings. British life grew and flourished on a biblical trellis. Centuries later, Quiller-Couch wrote of the Bible in Britain that the Bible is in everything we see, hear, feel, because it is in us, in our blood.”

Reformation brings us back to the Word of God. My prayer is that God will give His people a hunger for the Word of God. Like Job said: “I have esteemed your word more than my necessary food.”