The Holy Scriptures: September 2006
Table of Contents
A Divine Book
The Bible is, we plainly see;
Then it must have a pedigree;
It either is a book divine,
Or men to make it did combine;
Suppose the latter, then they must
Either be wicked men or just;
Take either case and you will see
A proof of its divinity.
If wicked men composed this book,
Surely their senses they forsook;
For they the righteous man defend,
And curse the bad from end to end;
If righteous, then they change their name,
For they the authorship disclaim,
And often say, “Thus saith the Lord,”
And testify, “It is His Word”;
If it be not, they tell a lie
And all their righteousness deny.
Author unknown
The Holy Scriptures
God has spoken to us — what an incredible fact! He has spoken through nature, through men and through angels. Most important of all, He has spoken to us in the person of the Son, the Word become flesh. And, by the Holy Spirit, He has given to us a perfect, holy book, the Holy Scriptures, which we commonly call the Bible. Every word of it comes from God Himself.
The books of men record their thoughts, their feelings and their acquired knowledge. By contrast, God’s book is living and powerful. It is incorruptible seed, which by the Holy Spirit gives and sustains life. It is the food for the soul, as bread is the food for the body, for man shall not live by bread alone.
The books of men may and are judged by men, but God’s book judges man, and it is to be judged by no man. His word is always final. It reveals many things to man, about himself, the world he lives in and God Himself that he could never know unless God, his creator, told him.
It is a book no man can master. The greatest minds are the darkest minds without understanding given to them by the Spirit. Yet, to the submissive heart and mind, it is a supreme light, joy and communication from God’s heart and mind directly to the heart and mind of His creature. Blessed be God for His gift — the Holy Scriptures.
The Holy Scriptures: Food for the Soul
There are three primary ways in which it is possible to read the Word of God. It may be read from a sense of duty; it may be resorted to for help, support or guidance; and it may be read from delight in Him whose Word it is and whose precious treasures of grace and blessing it unfolds. For some, these three methods mark different stages of spiritual life. They may begin by reading from a sense of obligation, then proceed in due time to reading for help and teaching, and finally read because they realize that God’s words are “more precious than gold, yea, than much fine gold; and sweeter than honey and the dropping of the honeycomb” (Psa. 19:10 JND). This last method, as many have found, is the only true way of Bible study, for the soul that so ponders upon the revelation which God has been pleased to make of Himself is in communion with His own mind and in the power of the Holy Spirit.
There is a possibility, however, of going back from this point after it has been reached. To lose heart for the Word of God is a clear sign of a bad state of soul. This is sometimes concealed by the pernicious habit of attempting to feed upon the truth discovered and prized in former years. There seems nothing more humbling or hardening than the habit of reproducing over and over again the precious things gleaned and treasured up through past exercises and studies. To speak much of past blessings is often to confess that we have nothing to tell of God’s present activity and power. If we are to be channels of blessing, what is communicated should be fresh. The one who is in the present activity of faith in the risen and glorified Christ and is ever drawing from the inexhaustible fountain is the one who becomes the channel of the rivers of living water (John 7:38).
The Person in the Word
What will assist us to read the Scriptures with delight? Above all, let us seek to sit at the feet of Jesus, like Mary, and to hear as we read His Word. The Word indeed should never be separated from the Person of Him who speaks. When the Jews asked our blessed Lord, “Who art Thou?” He replied, “Altogether that which I also say to you” (John 8:25 JND). By this He signified that what He said and taught perfectly expressed Himself and contained the unfolding of what He was. Remembering this when we read His words, we not only hear Him speak to us, but through what He speaks He discovers Himself to our souls. Nothing so keeps us in dependence, while we read, as the sense of being in the presence of God in order to receive divine communications. This is also of primary importance.
Regular and Systematic Reading
In addition to this, it greatly helps if we read the Scriptures regularly and systematically. The more we read, the more we desire to read. If nothing is allowed to interfere with the seasons set apart for this purpose, the reading will soon become as much a necessity as our daily food. A well-known servant of the Lord made it a point never to read less than two chapters the first thing in the morning. Remarking upon his habit, he said, “You may call me legal, but I cannot do without my two chapters!” Many have discovered, on the other hand, that when they have left their reading to favorable opportunities, they soon found how little time was left at their disposal. Even our blessed Lord, speaking through the prophet, says, “The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: He wakeneth morning by morning, He wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned [learner]” (Isa. 50:4). His ear was opened to hear every morning what Jehovah might communicate, and in this blessed attitude of learning and dependence He is our example.
Dependence and Learning
These two things — dependence and learning —are always connected. This is exemplified in the action of our blessed Lord towards His disciples after His resurrection. After reminding them that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the Psalms concerning Himself, He opened their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures (Luke 24:44-45). Later He opened the heart of Lydia to attend unto the things which were spoken of Paul (Acts 16:14). Whether, therefore, for power of understanding or for power of reception, we are entirely dependent on Him. It is in proportion to our dependence on Him that He acts in us by the Holy Spirit to enable us to understand “the things concerning Himself” which are revealed in God’s Word. (See John 16:13-15.)
Seeing God’s Purpose
Finally, we must realize that Christ Himself is the key to the whole Bible. He is the object of all God’s purposes, whether in respect of the earthly or the heavenly people. He is, moreover, the center of all God’s ways. It is around Him that all the facts of revelation point, and to Him all types and prophecies look. In the administration of the fullness of times it is God’s sovereign pleasure and purpose to head up all things in the Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth. If Christ and His glory are not before the soul in our scriptural studies, we shall not profit because we will not be in communion with the mind of God. Leave out Christ, and the Bible becomes a dead letter, provoking criticism and controversy at every turn; bring in Christ, and the Book is instilled with life and power, a living unity, because it reveals a living Person, and the reader is filled with adoration and praise.
Adapted from The Christian Friend,
Vol. 19, p. 113
The Holy Scriptures: Their Origin and Preservation
Most of us do not stop to think of the tremendous amount of preservation and translation that has gone into the Bible as we know it today. At times in the past it was deliberately destroyed, and at other times treasured on papyrus scrolls and on beautifully illustrated manuscripts. People have been burned for owning a Bible, but today it has been translated into more languages than any other book and is available to most (but not yet all) who wish one. How did this come to be? The Bible’s history is a fascinating study, and the one you hold in your hand is indeed a miracle — a gift from God.
Its Divine Inspiration
Here we have a book which claims divine inspiration from God and is addressed with all authority from God to man. Because it comes from an infinite God, it deals with and communicates truth which is also infinite. Yet it is addressed to man who is finite in his thoughts and is written in words which, insofar as they are human language, are able to be read by man. Although he can read the words and understand them, yet the truth revealed in the Bible is ultimately beyond man’s learning and understanding, for it takes him into areas where he is totally dependent on divine revelation. Yet, in dependence upon God, man can enjoy and live in the good of what is revealed in His Word. More than this, although the Bible claims divine inspiration, yet the human touch is still there. Not only the personalities of the writers, but also the character and personalities of those about whom they wrote are portrayed vividly for us. Each writer has his own style, and some books are historical, others poetical, while still others prophesy the future. Yet all hangs together and flows together in perfect harmony. There is no explanation for all this, except that it is what it claims to be — the Word of God.
The First Five Books
Before Moses and the exodus of Israel from Egypt, it does not seem that there was any written Word of God. No doubt there were oral communications from God, and these were likely passed down through various generations. Then God gave Moses the inspiration to write the first five books of the Bible, often called the Pentateuch. Other writers followed, probably close to forty of them, until John wrote the Revelation about 97 A.D. Thus the writing of the Bible from the human standpoint took about 1600 years.
The Original Languages and Translations
The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew, an ancient language that likely originated in the land of Canaan. This was spoken by the nation of Israel up until the time of the Babylonian captivity, when the language changed by being mixed with Mesopotamian languages such as Chaldee and Syrian. This modified language was called Aramaic. When they came back from the captivity, the Jews continued to use this language, and it was commonly spoken when our Lord was on earth. However, at that time Greek was the common language in many parts of the Roman world, and it became more and more generally used as time went on. Thus, when the New Testament came to be written, it was written in Greek, a language in which it would be more widely read and understood. By this time, too, the Old Testament had been translated into Greek (about 280 B.C.). This translation was called the Septuagint, so named because the work had allegedly been done by seventy scholars. It enjoyed a wide usage during the time of our Lord, and it seems that both He and the apostles quoted freely from it when referring to the Old Testament. However, the Jews also continued to speak Aramaic, especially those still living in the land of Israel, and rabbis often then read the Old Testament in pure Hebrew in their synagogues. In such cases an interpreter might be available to translate for those who knew only Aramaic.
Since the canon of Scripture was completed, many translations of it have been made — some good and some rather defective. Because it is God’s Word, accuracy in translation is important, and we appreciate those who, in dependence on God, have sought to make translations which give the original wording as exactly as possible. We can be thankful, though, for every attempt to make the Word of God available to people in their own language. Even less accurate translations (such as Martin Luther’s, for example) have been used of God in much blessing to souls.
The Complete Canon of Scripture
Many times the question has been raised, “How do we know that we have the exact canon of Scripture? How do we know that the books which have been put together form the Word of God, and that it is complete? Since the work was done by men, is it not possible that some book was inadvertently left out, or possibly one included that does not belong there?”
Some of the books, particularly the Pentateuch, were regarded by Israel right from the beginning as the very utterances of Jehovah, and they were treated as such. Later inspired books were not always recognized at once for their true character, but as time went on, they were ultimately shown to have come from God. Likewise, those that were not inspired were identified as such and left out of the Word of God. In this connection, Martin Luther made a wise statement when he said, “The church cannot give more force or authority to a book than it has in itself. A council cannot make that to be Scripture which in its own nature is not Scripture.” No doubt he was referring to a council of the Roman Catholic Church, perhaps the council of Trent, that took upon itself to decide that the uninspired books of the Apocrypha should be included in the canon of Scripture. But from the very beginning the inspiration or otherwise of various writings was always decided by the internal testimony and intrinsic value of the writings themselves. Because the writings were found to be “living and operative” (Heb. 4:12 JND), they were recognized as the Word of the Lord. Other books, even those written by writers who were used of God to pen some of the inspired writings, have passed away, having served their purpose. Even Scripture itself refers to some of these writings, such as “the book of Nathan the prophet” (1 Chron. 29:29) and “the epistle from Laodicea” (Col. 4:16). Such writings have long since been lost, but those given by inspiration will endure forever.
Various Apocryphal Books
In recent years there has been a great deal of interest in certain writings alleged to be inspired. In 1945 an archive of 57 Christian writings was discovered in central Egypt. Among them were a so-called “Gospel of Thomas,” a “Gospel of Mary,” and a “Gospel of Judas.” There are other additional books (such as the “Gospel to the Nazareans”) which the church fathers cited occasionally, but which are not included in the canon of Scripture. Those who want to discredit the Word of God have made much of these writings. In fact, it is quite possible that Dan Brown was motivated to write his blasphemous novel, The Da Vinci Code, from reading this material found in Egypt, for some of his claims are found in at least two of these apocryphal books.
Several aspects of these writings prove conclusively that they were not inspired. First of all, their naming is misleading. For example, even the most liberal scholars admit that the so-called “Gospel of Judas” has nothing to do with Judas and was not written by him. Second, their dating is very speculative and the timing of their being written is only conjecture. It is unlikely that they were written until at least the second century A.D. Third and most important, their teaching is often blasphemous and at variance with the truth given in the books known to be the Word of God. This explains why they were originally excluded from Scripture. For example, many of them deny the perfect divinity and humanity of the Lord Jesus, and they deny that the work of Christ is necessary for salvation.
Be Thankful
Let us be thankful for the Word of God which we hold in our hands and which God has preserved to us. Surely the One who inspired men to write it was able to see to it that it was preserved for us, even amid the taints of human carelessness and weakness that occasionally entered into its text during its journey through the ages. Several times in the Word of God we find a warning about adding to it, and we are warned about taking away from it. Such warnings would not be there if there were no danger of such things, but God well knew how the heart of man would seek to undermine His divine revelation. May we have faith in God and His Word, and resist every effort to corrupt it. W. J. Prost
The Holy Scriptures: Inspiration by the Holy Spirit
The Holy Scriptures are the work of the Holy Spirit. It was He who guided each writer, whether in the Old Testament or the New, filling and taking possession of the vessel while holding in check all that would be of man, that we might have the mind of God in its perfection and purity without adulteration. Let us hold this firmly, for never was Satan more determined to wrest the Scriptures from souls than at the present time. Ritualism on the one hand places a priest between the Word of God and the soul; rationalism on the other throws doubt on all that is revealed. Both systems, though in different ways, would rob us of the priceless treasure God has given.
In 1 Corinthians 2:9 the Apostle reminds us of the word of Isaiah that “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him,” adding, “but God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit.” Here he asserts divine revelation as the source of the vital truths he taught. We read also in Ephesians 3:3-5, “The mystery . . . which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.” No one can reveal the things of God but the Spirit of God. The Apostle asks, “What man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God” (1 Cor. 2:11). As no one knows my things (thoughts) but my own spirit until I utter them or reveal them, so no one knows God’s things but His Spirit. Nothing can be more degrading than the notion that God cannot reveal His mind to man. The truth is that the Spirit has revealed the mind of God, and we have it in the Scriptures. Thus the apostolic writings are the standard whereby truth and error may be tested. As John says, referring to himself and the other apostles, “We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error” (1 John 4:6).
The Human Element and the Divine
It may be remarked that revelation does not go beyond the person receiving it; to pass the truth on to others in its perfection requires divine inspiration. Such is man, that even the favored recipients of divine revelations could not be trusted to communicate them to others without spoiling them. Here the Spirit of God comes in again. Thus Paul tells us, “Which also we speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, communicating spiritual things by spiritual means” (1 Cor. 2:13 JND). This is inspiration. Here, too, we may see how far inspiration extends. Some have taught that the doctrines of Scripture are inspired of God, but that the writers were allowed to express them in their own language; others have taught that the reasoning so often found, particularly in the epistles, was left to the writer. Still others think the inspired writers used their own illustrations and selected Old Testament scriptures to confirm their words. All such thoughts are below the truth. The fact is that none of this was left to the vessel. The words, not merely the truths or doctrines, were given by the Holy Spirit. Were it otherwise, we could have no divine certainty. Where would we draw the line between the human and the divine? Not that a human element is altogether denied. Paul has his style, and Peter has his, for the Spirit took up the men as He found them. Nevertheless, every word thus written was from Himself.
Original Writings and Translations
We cannot contend for the inspiration of a particular translation. In such efforts there may be (and are) blemishes, for God does not work perpetual miracles. Here the study of languages comes in as an important and valuable work, and also care in reproducing the original as accurately as possible. We do assert, however, that every word of the original writings was inspired by the Spirit of God.
There are many scriptural proofs of this. As to the Old Testament Peter says, “Prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:21). Paul says in Acts 28:25, “Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers.” In Acts 3:18, we are told that God showed by the mouth of all His prophets that Christ should suffer.
Proofs of Divine Inspiration
The New Testament as well as the Old is vouched for in the general statement of 2 Timothy 3:16, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God.” Paul’s writings are referred to, including, and I suppose specially referring to, the Epistle to the Hebrews, in 2 Peter 3:16. And in 1 Timothy 5:18, he quotes from Luke 10:7 and says, “The scripture saith.” These are but a small part of the proofs. The more deeply the subject is investigated, the deeper will be the soul’s confidence in God that He has given us by His Spirit His unerring word in all its fullness and beauty.
In conclusion, one more thought remains to be noted in 1 Corinthians 2. We have seen that the chapter asserts revelation and inspiration; it also shows that the help of the Holy Spirit is needed in order to receive and understand the things that have been given. This is why enemies stumble and man’s mental powers fail. His powers are unavailing, apart from the Holy Spirit. “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14). The soul must be born of God, and the Spirit must be the teacher; then all is simple and plain. He has come down from above to guide the saints into all the truth, and He never disappoints or fails the humble, waiting soul. W. W. Fereday, adapted
The Holy Scriptures: Their Object and Subjects
[The first sentences of this article are long and perhaps complicated. They may need to be read several times slowly and then pondered. We assure you that the effort is worth it.]
The Holy Scriptures have a living source, and living power has pervaded their composition: hence the infiniteness of its bearing and the impossibility of separating any one part from its connection with the whole. One God is the living center from which all flows; one Christ is the living center round which all its truth circles and to which it refers, though in various glory; and one Spirit is the divine sap which carries its power from its source in God to the minutest branches of the all-united truth, testifying of the glory, the grace and the truth of Him whom God sets forth as the object, center and head of all that is in connection with Himself. This is all of Him who is, withal, God over all, blessed forevermore.
To give all this as a whole, and perfectly, would require that it be the Giver Himself. Even in learning it, we know in part, and we prophesy in part. The more we have traced it up towards its center —beginning from the utmost leaves and branches of this revelation of the mind of God, from where we have been reached when far from Him — and thence looked down again towards its extent and diversity, the more we learn its infiniteness and our own feebleness of apprehension. We learn, blessed be God, that the love which is its source is found in unmingled perfection and fullest display in those manifestations of it which have reached us even in our ruined state. The same perfect God of love is in it all. But the unfoldings of divine wisdom in the counsels in which God has displayed Himself remain ever to us a subject of research in which every new discovery, by increasing our spiritual intelligence, makes the infiniteness of the whole, and the way in which it surpasses all our thoughts, only more and more clear to us.
Its Object
The Bible, in its object, is a whole, which presents to us God coming forth from His essential fullness to manifest all that He is, and to bring back into the enjoyment of this fullness with Himself those who, having been made partakers of His nature, have become capable of comprehending and loving His counsels and Himself.
But before this purpose is fully revealed, man is brought upon the scene as a responsible being, and his history is given to us in the various phases through which he has passed, up to the cross, where his enmity against God was manifested. The foundation was there laid for the full revelation of that purpose and the accomplishment of God’s good pleasure in man. It was laid in such a way that His whole divine character of love and righteousness was revealed and glorified, and God perfectly glorified in every respect in bringing man into glory.
Three Great Subjects
We shall find three great subjects in the Bible: (1) the creation (now under the effect of the fall); (2) the law, which gave to man, such as he is now, a rule in the midst of this creation to see if he could live there according to God and be thereby blessed; and (3) the Son of God.
The first two, namely, the creation and the law, are bound up with the responsibility of the creature. We find all that is connected with these two either guilty or corrupted. The Son, on the contrary, is the manifestation of the grace and love of the Father and the manifestation of God’s love to the world, when this guilt was already there in lawless sin and lawbreaking. He is the express image of the subsistence of God, in whom the Father was seen. We see Him suffering in love in the midst of this fallen creation and the contradictions of a rebellious people and, when God had been perfectly glorified in respect of sin, accomplishing all the counsels of God in uniting all things in blessing by His power and under His authority, those even who with hatred had rejected Him, being forced to own Him Lord to the glory of God the Father. And at last, when He shall have subjected all things, we see Him giving up to God the Father the kingdom of His glory as Son of Man, that God may be all in all.
The Counsels of God
Besides all this, in the Holy Scriptures there are in the counsels of God those with whom the God whom we know in Jesus surrounds Himself, who are to be brought into the likeness of Him with whom they are associated as sons, He the firstborn among many brethren who are to enjoy eternally with God His favor and blessing, as it rests on Him with whom and through whom they enjoy it. There is also an earthly people in whom God manifests the principles of His government here below and His unfailing faithfulness; it is to these that the law was given.
The Church
Finally, in the Bible we see in the purpose of God before the world was (but hidden until the fit moment) that there was a church, chosen in Christ, His bride, to be presented to Himself without spot or wrinkle. It is His body too, the fullness of Him who fills all in all, united to Him by the Spirit with which all the members are baptized, and soon to be manifested in glory when He takes that headship.
The Cross
The cross is the center of all this in every respect. There the history of man in responsibility, as the child of Adam, ends, and there begins anew grace reigning through righteousness. There good and evil are fully brought to an issue, both hatred in man and love in God, both sin and the righteousness of God against it. There God is perfectly glorified morally, and man judged in sin and then redeemed in righteousness, the dominion of evil destroyed, and that of man [Christ] established in righteousness as God willed it should be. There death and he that had the power of it are set aside, and this by an act of love which set the Son of God as man at the head of all things in righteousness. Through the cross, all rests secure and immutable in result on the ground of redemption. What shall the end of the despisers of it be!
The Dealings of God With Man
Hence in the Bible we shall find, not only the creation, the law and the Son of God, but the dealings by which God has prepared the way for, and led men to expect, His manifestation; the development of all the principles on which He entered into relationship with men; the consequences of the violation of the law; and, lastly, in its place, the manifestation of the church upon the earth and the directions He has given to it, together with the course of events which are connected with its existence and its unfaithfulness on the earth; with that of the earthly people of God; and with man himself, responsible to God and clothed with authority by Him on the earth: the whole closing with the glory of Jesus, Son of Man, maintaining the blessing and union of all things under the reign of God; and, in conclusion, God all in all. The history of Jesus; the position granted to the church in glory according to the counsels of God, the mystery hidden from the ages; her participation in the sufferings of Jesus and her union with Him; and, in general, the testimony of the Holy Spirit given from on high are clearly revealed in the New Testament. That of which we have spoken previously forms the course of the ages; the church forms no part of them.
Its Two Parts
The Holy Scriptures are naturally separated into two parts — that which speaks of the first two subjects, first, the creation and man in relationship with God without law and His people under law, and, second, that which speaks of the Son come upon the earth and all that relates to the church and its glory — that is, in general, the Old and New Testaments.
J. N. Darby, adapted from introductory
material to the Synopsis
The Holy Scriptures: Their Inspiration and Impact
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Tim. 3:16).
Important words! Oh that they were more thoroughly understood in our day! It is of the highest importance that the Lord’s people should be rooted, grounded and settled in the grand truth of the absolute, unqualified inspiration of Holy Scripture. Men of this world may scoff at the Word of God, but it is that “which liveth and abideth forever” (1 Peter 1:23). As for us, let it be our deep joy and consolation to meditate upon the Word of God, so that we may ever be discovering some fresh treasure in that exhaustless mine, some new moral glories in that heavenly revelation which speaks to us with a poignancy and freshness as if it were written expressly for us — written this very day.
The Living and Ever Current Book
There is nothing like Scripture. If you could lay your hand on any human writing of three thousand years ago, what would you find? A curious relic of antiquity, having no application whatever to us or to our time — a musty document, a piece of obsolete writing, referring only to a state of society and to a condition of things long since passed away. The Bible, on the contrary, is the book for today. It is God’s own book, His perfect revelation. It is His own voice speaking to each one of us. It is a book for every age, for every class, for every condition, rich and poor, learned and ignorant, old and young. It speaks in a language so simple that a child can understand it, and yet so profound that the most gigantic intellect cannot exhaust it. Moreover, it speaks right to the heart; it touches the deepest springs of our moral being; it goes down to the hidden roots of thought and feeling in the soul; it judges us thoroughly. In a word, it is, as the inspired Apostle tells us, “quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Heb. 4:12).
And then notice the marvelous comprehensiveness of its range. It deals as accurately and forcibly with the habits, customs and manners of this present century of the Christian era as with those of the very earliest ages of human existence. It displays a perfect acquaintance with man in every stage of his history. The culture of today and that of three thousand years ago are mirrored with like precision and faithfulness on its pages. Human life in every stage of its development is portrayed by a master hand in that wonderful volume which our God has graciously inspired for our learning.
The Faithful Book
But then this book judges man; it judges his ways and judges his heart. It tells him the truth about himself, and for this reason man does not like God’s book. There is a constant effort to pick holes in it. In every age men have labored hard to find flaws and contradictions in the Word of God. Its enemies are to be found, not only in the ranks of the vulgar and coarse, but among the educated and refined. Just as it was in the days of the apostles, “certain lewd fellows of the baser sort” and “devout and honorable women” — two classes far removed from each other, socially and morally — found one point in which they could heartily agree, namely, the utter rejection of the Word of God and of those who faithfully preached it. (Compare Acts 13:50 with Acts 17:5.) So we always find that men who differ in almost everything else agree in their determined opposition to the Holy Scriptures.
It was exactly the same with the living Word—the Son of God — when He was here among men. Men hated Him because He told them the truth. His ministry and indeed His whole life were a standing testimony against the world, hence their bitter and persistent opposition. Other men were allowed to pass on, but He was watched at every turn of His path. At the close of His life, when He was nailed to the cross between two thieves, these latter were left alone; there were no insults heaped upon them. No — all the insults, all the mockery, all the coarse and heartless vulgarity — all was heaped upon the divine occupant of the center cross.
The Link to God
Thank God, He has revealed His mind — He has given us the Holy Scriptures. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Tim. 3:1617). Let us praise the Lord for such words! They assure us that all Scripture is given of God and that all Scripture is given to us. What a precious link between the soul and God! Nothing can touch the Word of God. “Forever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven” (Psa. 119:89). What remains for us? Just this: “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee” (Psa. 119:11). Here lies the secret of peace. The heart is linked to the very heart of God by means of His most precious Word, and is thus put in possession of a peace which the world can neither give nor take away. The Word is that which endures forever, and thus our salvation and our peace are as stable as the Word on which they are based.
How Can We Know It Is God’s Word?
We may be met by the question so often raised and which has troubled many. The question is this: “How are we to know that the book which we call the Bible is the Word of God?” Our answer to this question is a very simple one. The One who has graciously given us the blessed book can give us also the certainty that the book is from Him. The same Spirit who inspired the various writers of the Holy Scriptures can make us know that those Scriptures are the very voice of God speaking to us. It is only by the Spirit that anyone can discern this. “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God . . . neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14). If the Holy Spirit does not make us know and give us the certainty that the Bible is the Word of God, no man or body of men can possibly do it. On the other hand, if He gives us this blessed certainty, we do not need the testimony of man.
Its Credentials and Supremacy
We must faithfully maintain the divine authority and, therefore, the absolute supremacy and all-sufficiency of the Word of God, at all times, in all places, and for all purposes. We must hold that the Scriptures, having been given of God, are complete in the fullest sense of the word. They do not need any human authority to accredit them: They speak for themselves and carry their credentials with them. All we have to do is to believe and obey, not to reason or discuss. God has spoken; it is ours to listen and to yield an unreserved and reverent obedience.
Subjection to Its Authority
Never was there a moment in the history of the church of God in which it was more needful to urge on the human conscience the necessity of implicit obedience to the Word of God. Some believers feel that they have a right to think for themselves, to follow their own reason, their own judgment, or their own conscience. They think that there are some things in which we are left to choose for ourselves. The result is innumerable sects, parties, creeds and schools of thought. If human opinion is allowed at all, then one man has as good a right to think as another. Thus the professing church has become a proverb and a byword for division.
What is the remedy for this widespread disease? It is absolute and complete subjection to the authority of Holy Scripture. It is not men going to Scripture to get their opinions and views confirmed, but rather going to Scripture to get the mind of God as to everything. This is the one pressing need of our day —reverent subjection in all things to the supreme authority of the Word of God. Here lies the true secret of moral security. Our knowledge of Scripture may be very limited, but if our reverence for it is profound, we will be preserved from a thousand errors, and there will be steady growth. We will grow in the knowledge of God, of Christ, and of the written Word. We will delight to draw from those living and exhaustless depths of God’s Word and to range through those green pastures which infinite grace has so freely thrown open to the flock of Christ. We will find divine perfection in the Word of God and a wide circle of divine revelation which has its eternal center in the blessed Person of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
C. H. Mackintosh, adapted