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-17-
God Hath Spoken
Scripture was written for our learning. It is not for us to choose whether or not we are going to search it because God has commanded us to search it. What he commanded Israel of old, He has commanded us as well. In Deuteronomy chapter 6, verses 3-7, we read, "Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey. Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children..."
Note, "THOU shalt teach them diligently unto thy children." We must not leave the teaching of our children to the Sunday School teacher, or to the pastor. It is the responsibility of parents to catechize their own children. "...And thou shalt talk of them," God said, "when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up" (vs.7). The things of God should be the subject of constant conversation in our families. Wherever we are, we are to speak of them to our children, and we are to do it continually.
"And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates" (vs. 8-9). No one should wonder where we stand regarding the things of God.
"And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land, which He sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not, and houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full; then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name. Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you; (for the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth" (vs. 10-15).
We are commanded to read the Scriptures and to teach them to our children. If we would not have the curse of God upon us, we cannot allow our children to grow up as weeds. We must not permit them to go the way they would, but we are commanded to teach them and to train them to go in the way they should.
The Bible itself is our settled rule. Therefore, a strict account will be required of us as to how we have learned the Word of God—how we have treated the book God has authored.
The Thessalonians
In I Thessalonians chapter 2, verse l3, Paul writes, "For this cause also thank we God without ceasing [i.e. "we are continually rejoicing"], because when ye received the Word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe."
From this passage it would appear the Thessalonians had a change of heart, for here the apostle praises God that they did not hear the preached Word with an argumentative spirit. Instead, they received it as the Word of God, which in truth it is. It is for this reason that the apostle says the Word of God "effectually worketh also in you that believe."
The Word of God works effectually in them who believe. People only truly believe that which motivates them. They may argue that they believe the Bible, but if their belief does not affect the way they live, they are full of hot air.
The issue today over the Scriptures is the issue of authority. What is to us the settler of our disputes? Is it the Bible, or is it man—any man, or any number of men? Is it a brilliant man, or perhaps a doctor of philosophy?
Is our faith based upon scholarship? then how can the uneducated believe? Did God design His Word for the brilliant, or for the man on the street? Is the written revelation given men for their learning, or does it abound in mysteries that only critics and philosophers can understand?
The authority of Scripture—the place we give to the Word of God—will determine both how we use it, and how it will effectually work in us. If we do not believe, yet God abides faithful.
No evil is worse than the liberty to err." —Augustine, A.D. 354-430