Answers to Correspondents

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The Word of God
W.H.T. writes us as follows:
On page 271 of “Scripture Truth” I notice the phrase, “the Bible, the word of God,” and again on page 286 the term “The word of God” is apparently applied to the Bible.
1. Am I right in saying that the “Word of God” is a title of dignity and glory applied to the Lord Jesus, and that it is this adorable Person spoken of in the following (amongst others) scriptures: — John 1: 1; Hebrews 4:12 and 13; Hebrews 11:3; Revelation 1:2 and 9; Revelation 6:9; Revelation 20:4?
2. Is there any scriptural authority for calling the Holy Scriptures or any part thereof the “Word of God”?
3. What do people mean by the term when they apply it to the Scriptures?
4. Assuming the title belongs to the Lord Jesus alone, would it not be in some degree derogatory to Him to apply it to the Scriptures as well?
We hold the Bible to be the very word of God; in it is communicated to men in human language the whole truth as to God, as He has been pleased to reveal Himself, and blessed indeed are they who have ears to hear.
In the case of the words of the Lord this will not be questioned, for we read, “He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God,” and again, “I have given unto them the words which Thou gavest me” (John 3:34 and 17:8).
When we come to the testimony of the apostles we find that their words were not the words of man’s wisdom, but which the Holy Spirit teacheth (1 Cor. 2:13), and what they wrote was the commandments of the Lord (14:37).
In the Old Testament we have the “Thus saith the Lord” of Moses and the prophets, and the Lord spoke of the written commandments of Moses as “the word of God” (Mark 7:13); and the prophecies are distinctly said to be the words of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:16; Heb. 3:7; 4:7, &c.).
There are, then, the distinct and direct words of God, which come under the head of revelation, and there is also the record of the lives and sayings of men, which were given by inspiration of God; but these latter are not merely historical writings, like the uninspired writings of men, and they cannot be judged by the same standard; but in them God makes known His ways with men, and therein is made manifest for our learning, what men are as departed from God, and what God is in His mercy and justice, His grace and righteousness towards men. The Old and New Testaments are both needed for this, and that we might have them “holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:21), and every scripture is God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:16), and so we rightly speak of the Bible as the word of God.
The expression the “word of God” occurs about forty times in the New Testament, and in most instances describes God’s testimony as to the Lord Jesus Christ, in Whom is the whole revelation of the truth of God; this was committed to His servants, this they preached and for it they suffered gladly. This is all contained in the Scripture.
Several of the passages quoted in your letter do not refer to the Lord personally, but to this testimony of God. Revelation 1:2 and 9 relates to that which is going forth in this present day of Grace; and Revelation 6:9; 20:4 to that which will go forth during the interval following the rapture of the Church and the coming of the Lord to His Kingdom.
Hebrews 11:3 is the spoken word of power by which the worlds were called into being.
Hebrews 4:12 and 13 is the word of God and its effect in the soul; “out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword” (Rev. 1:16); this word for us is in the Scriptures, the immediate reference throughout chapters 3 and 4 being to Psalm 95.
Revelation 19:13 presents the Lord personally as the One in and through whom God’s righteous judgment is displayed in the overthrow of all that is opposed to God.
John 1:1 stands alone. “The Word” occurs there as a title of Deity which none but the Son could claim; He is the full and perfect expression of all that God is, whether in creation, redemption or judgment. He could not be this were He not God, for only One who is Himself God can make God known to men; but the Word, who was in the beginning, who was with God and was God, was made flesh and dwelt among us for this purpose.
Everlasting Punishment
Question — Upon what texts do the holders of non-eternity of punishment base their views, and will you explain them and give some passages which prove this doctrine. — W.P.
The more advanced of those who deny the truth of eternity of punishment, do not appeal to any passage in the Bible: that Book is discarded by them as being without authority. R. J. Campbell tells us that what Paul wrote, for instance, should have less weight with us than the opinions of a pious mother; so that we are not surprised to have from his pen the statement, “Perhaps it would help to clear up the subject if I were to say frankly, before going any further, that there is no such thing as punishment, no far-off Judgment Day, no great white throne, and no Judge external to ourselves.” He makes this emphatic assertion without a shadow of proof, and has no authority for it except his own personal feelings on the subject. No earnest seeker after the truth will be satisfied with that.
There are others, of whom the late Canon Farrar was representative, who build up a doctrine of salvation after death upon the much discussed text, “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit; By which also He went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah” (1 Peter 3:18-20).
Their interpretation of this is that the gospel is preached to men after death, but there is no other passage in the Bible to support this view, moreover it is in direct contradiction to several plain scriptures, about which there can be no question. For instance, “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the Judgment” (Heb. 9:27).
“Behold now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2).
“And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed; so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence” (Luke 16:26).
We know that there are no contradictory teachings in the Holy Scriptures, so that this interpretation of the passage must be rejected, and one in keeping with the whole body of scriptural truth sought in its place.
The whole question hangs upon the time when the preaching to the spirits now in prison took place, and about this there ought not to be any difficulty.
In this same epistle, Peter speaks of the Spirit of Christ testifying in the prophets (2 Peter 1:10-11). When did the Spirit of Christ — the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21) — testify in the prophets? When they uttered their prophecies. When did Christ in (as it should be) the Spirit preach to the spirits who are in prison? When Noah uttered his prophecy of the coming flood. It was not Noah’s word merely that they rejected, but the warning of Him who is the Eternal Word.
This is confirmed in the account of the preaching in Genesis 6:3, where we read, “And the Lord said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man... yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.” And so in great longsuffering the Spirit of Christ — the Holy Spirit — continued to strive for 120 years, but men continued disobedient, and the door of mercy closed, and closed for them forever. There is not the slightest ground in this passage upon which to build the doctrine of hope for those who die without mercy (Heb. 10:28, 29), and in their sins (John 8:21).
The following passages speak clearly upon this solemn subject — everlasting punishment — and need no comment., —
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal (the same word in both oases) “ (Matt. 25:46).
“Into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched “ (Mark 9:43, 44).
“Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His power “ (2 Thess. 1:9).
“But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death” (Rev. 21:8).
1 Corinthians 10
R.J.R. — What is the meaning of the term (in 1 Cor. 10:21), “The Cup of the Lord”?
What is the meaning of the term, “The Lord’s Table”?
What does the expression “Partake of the Lord’s Table” convey?
Is it right to speak of being “At the Lord’s Table”?
Can believers “Receive (other believers) to the Lord’s Table”?
Do all true believers “partake of the Lord’s Table” or some only?
The Cup and Table speak in symbol of the foundation of Christian fellowship, which is the Lord’s death. The Cup is also described as “the cup of blessing”; it is the new testament in the blood of Christ; in it is set forth the blessing and love in which we are called to participate, blessing and love of which His blood is the pledge and token.
The Table probably brings the bread more into prominence, and here we have the communion of the body of Christ, and in breaking it we manifest our fellowship as one body. They are called the cup and table of the Lord in contrast to the cup and table of devils’; it was morally impossible to partake of, or “hold with,” (as the word means) both. In partaking there is complete identification with the Lord’s death in all the blessings and responsibilities attaching to this identification.
Scripture does not speak of being at the Lord’s Table; it is not a point of locality but a matter of Christian profession, and should be a great exercise as to whether our conduct and profession are consistent with each other.
We do not read of believers receiving other believers to the Lord’s Table, but we are exhorted to receive one another, and this of course is to Christian fellowship. In doing this we acknowledge those whom God has received. There may be doubt in the mind as to some, as in the case of Saul (Acts 9:26, 27), but when all question is settled it would be an act of disobedience to the Lord to refuse one of His own, except in such cases as are made abundantly clear by Scripture.
As to the last question, the chapter contemplates all true believers — the whole Christian “we” as breaking the one loaf (verses 16, 17) and so partaking of, or in communion with, the Lord’s table; not to do so is to be in an altogether anomalous position, whereas the chapter is treating of what is normal.
The State of the Dead
W.T.M. — It is evident that the spirits of those who die in the Lord are immediately present with Him (see Phil. 1:23; Acts 7:59; Luke 23:43), and this must mean bliss for them, even though they remain in the disembodied state until the coming of the Lord, when their bodies will be raised in glory (1 Cor. 15:43, 51-53).
It is also clear that those who die without Christ are in the place of torment (Luke 16:23 and 24), though they await the last resurrection when at the great white throne they receive their final sentence to the lake of fire (Rev. 20:11-15).