Revelation - Knowing God : Lent 2003
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Revelation - Knowing God : Lent 2003 |
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I have persuaded Dick Farr to let me publish his notes for the excellent Lent course "Revelation - Knowing God" BUT please note that these are just that - NOTES. I'm sure they will mostly be intelligible if you attended the course and that you will get some value from them even if you didn't, but if there is anything which jars or you think is inconsistent with good biblical teaching, please remember it could be the note format - or indeed my conversion to a web page! It is also worth commenting that Dick is the only man I know who writes in tongues, so if he handwrote these first... {;-)
15 yrs ago I was in E’brne Crem & between assignments chatting to another clergyman. He was concerned about the Q? of auth in the church. I said that was easy, the bible was auth in the church. He replied that the problem with evangelicals was that you say that but don’t live up to it.
He was from the High Church end and thinking seriously about going over to Rome because he saw the Pope as the only viable auth in the church today.
He is right to identify a crisis of auth in the church. To simplify matters we can say that there are 4 candidates:
What we can say for auth we can also say for Knowing God.
The reason for the fields is that we need the other 3 to aid each one. So we listen carefully to trad, not arrogantly thinking that we know what the bible means whereas no previous generation has; we use our minds; we relate the bible to the real world.
However the bottom line is: where does the final authority lie. When push comes to shove do we bring our experience, reason & tradition to the bar of scripture, or do we say ‘No’ to the Bible because we prefer the word of experience, reason, or tradition ?
Those who say they saw the face of God in a poppadom, or in a billboard advertising pasta.
It makes sense that the One God should be known under different guises in different places - Vishnu in India, Allah in Saudi, Jesus in England.
Until the Bp confirms you you cannot be a real Xn.
When push comes to shove which way will you break ?
Within the CofE the Bible has always had top place.
Canon A5 Of the Doctrine of the Church of England. The doctrine of the CofE is grounded in the Holy Scriptures, and in such teachings of the ancient Fathers and Councils as are agreeable to the said Scriptures.
Art 6 Of the sufficiency of the HS for salvation. HS containeth all things necessary for salvation.
Art 20 Of the authority of the church. And yet it is not lawful for the church to ordain any thing that is contrary to God’s word written, neither may it so expound one place of scripture, that it be repugnant to another.
But today things are different. In our own Dioc Syn over the last 2 yrs, a mildly biblical amendment to the marriage proposals was defeated, the OT law was mocked, and on Saturday a non-biblical position on h’sex could well be taken.
Add this to some of the concerns over the new Abp’s views on Rev and we can discern a fundamental shift in the denom’s position. Whilst addressing a group of theol coll students, RW considered how we are to respond to people holding different theological views.
He was rightly sensitive to the hurt that could be caused by thoughtless, dismissive remarks. However, he went on to say that when we appeal to Christ in such matters He has nothing to say.
We are faced by a silent icon on the wall. We make our arguments before Him and He is the totally enigmatic face on the wall, the cross, the bread and wine. Silent signs, as silent as he was before Pilate, consistently refusing a straight or simple answer. For RW silence or darkness are God’s answers. He describes this as the inarticulate crying of God in the stable or the wordless cry from the cross.
In a Radio interview he said that the bible was not a linear communication from God. He did not speak the words we find in its pages. In fact some of those words, in the Book of Rev, are page after page of paranoid fantasy and malice, they are sick and diseased.
You see now why it is so important to be asking this Q? at this time. Does God speak, Is there a word from the Lord ? And if so How does God speak ?
Today we will seek to tackle the 1st Q? and we will do it from within an Anglican position.
At all the crucial points in the bible it is the word of God that comes to the fore. The bible leaves us in no doubt that the God of the bible is a God who speaks. That is how we know Him, that is how He chooses to make Himself known.
This will be something of a whistlestop tour today, but we will return to some of these places in future weeks.
Genesis 1, and continuance Heb 1:3
We have noticed before the pattern in this chapter, we have noticed the difference between contemporary creation myths and God‘s way, we have marvelled at a God who is powerful enough to have done this. We know just how far from His creation this means of creation places Him.
When you and I set out to make something we need the ingredients to hand - be it a cake or shelves. There is nothing more annoying than getting part way through to discover that the next bit is not there. We stop to search, we go out to buy. We cannot do it like He did.
Heb reminds us that the way He began everything is the way that everything continues. Each and every human being is totally dependent upon God for their latest breath. By His permission the sun rose & we woke up today.
Genesis 3:14-19, Deuteronomy 28:15-68
God’s response to the rebellion of mankind is to speak first and then to act. The words come before the deeds. They explain the consequences of what A&E have done, before A&E experience those inevitable consequences.
The same pattern occurs in Dt where the Lord warns Is what will happen should they choose to disobey His words for their life in the Land. He will never act in a peremptory fashion, punish first & explain later.
Parental problem.
Genesis 9:9-17; 15:17-21; Ex 19:5; Jer 33:21 = 2Sam 7:11b-16; Jer 31:31
If we have seen two instances of God being different from us, then in this He acts as we do. How do you make a promise without words ? Yes acts can symbolise a promise, like a wedding ring, but the ring is not the promise.
God’s promise to Noah makes that point loud and clear. The covenant is made v8-11, then the sign of the covenant is explained and given, the rainbow v12-17. What would N, we, have made of a rainbow without explanation ?
What would Ab have made of the strange goings on in Gen 15 without the words ? What would M have had to say to Israel about the privilege & responsibility that was theirs as God’s people, now they stood on the threshold of the Land ? The same would be true of David and his descendents.
How would we know that the time had come for the NC to be put in place ? God’s promise in Jer is filled out in Hebrews particularly.
Promises demand words. At these highpoints of the bible story God speaks, speaks promises.
John 1:1,14, Hebrews 1:1+2
When the promises are fulfilled what does God do ? He sends His one & only Son into the world. And how is He designated at the start of JG ? the Word.
One reason for that we discover in v3, Through Him all things were made. How did God create, He spoke. Jesus was the Word enfleshed, v14. Yes, fully God and fully man, always the Word.
Now wonder that later in John we are told that this Jesus has life in Himself, that life is to be found in His words. He is the prophet who was to come, the One to whom all people must listen. Eternal life is to be found in no-one else, it comes through believing His words, 6:68.
In Heb 12:24 His death is spoken of as speaking a better word than the blood of Abel. Why ? Because Abel’s blood / death cried out for vengeance, Jesus’ death / blood cries out for forgiveness for sinners. This is the word of the NC.
At this highest point of all, God speaks - in and through His Son.
2Peter 3:7, Hebrews 12:26+27, and judgement Mt 25:41
Having considered the beginning & the middle it is only sensible that we consider the end. Creation continues because of the word. By word it will cease, 2Pet 3:7. Or in the dramatic picture conjured up by Heb 12, the Word will so shake the world that everything that can be removed will be.
And at the judgement seat we are told that the Lord will command those before Him to Come or to Depart.
So as we look at the high water marks of the Bible account, we have to say Yes, there is a word from the Lord.
The Q? we must move on to is, How do we hear that word today ?
Last week we were left in no doubt that there is a word from the Lord. At each of what we called the highpoints of the bible account, God speaks. We noted that that word was a dynamic and active word, doing what it was sent out to do - creating, promising, judging. Good news.
But we don’t want to be the only kid at the party who doesn’t get a party bag, we don’t want to be left outside the stadium while we listen to the cheering on the inside.
We weren’t present at any of those highpoints so far. So how will it be for us. How do we hear God speak today ? Where is His voice to be found ?
The answer to the Q? was given on the front page of Sunday’s Observer. But sadly that fish is now dead - do we wait for another, after all we’re often being told that there are plenty more fish in the sea.
In our next 3 sessions we will try to do better - Today we hear God speak in the church, by His Spirit, and, this week, in the G.
We start here because at PJ says The G stands the beginning of the story that explains why there are christians at all.
The G is the power of God for the salvn of those who believe.
So says the ApP in Ro 1:16. This G rescues men & women of all races and through all time, from the wrath to come, and for relationship with the living God. And this G is spelt out earlier in the ch, v1-6. Words from God & about God which have the dynamic effect we saw last week.
This is God’s means of bringing the blessing to the world as promised to Ab. By it He informs the world of its central truth, it is the way He applies X’s death to men & women. By God we learn God. Through it He prepares people for the coming K.
Its power is also seen in 1P1:23-25. This time the G is described as the word of God, the 2 are used interchangeably in the NT. This time what the word achieves is spoken of as being born again.
To help us see this more clearly, let’s look at the case study that is Thessalonica. A great change 1:9f because of G 1:5, the word 2:13. This rescued the Thess from not knowing God 4:5. 1:3 speaks of the labour, love, endurance, hope that are now characteristic of their lives.
You & I need to remember this power. It speaks to us of the seriousness of our situation without the G, without God. It also gives us a confidence as we seek to share this good news with others.
All of us will have had that experience of talking about Jesus to someone, and suddenly you think how daft, how weak, how unimportant the words sound. Remember that this word is good seed. Small but powerful, able to push up through the earth to produce a great harvest.
What does the G do ? It brings people from darkness to light, from death to life. It is the power of God for the salvn for everyone who believes.
The G is a word from God who promises, creates, judges, saves.
The G is verbal, it is a message. It is good news, that is preached, heralded, proclaimed. Hence the unique appearance in Mk1:1. In 1:15 Jesus uses it to herald the coming of the King. His words are the instrument of salv, in that they act as a warning about what is to come, so demand a response.
As we have seen in the NT it becomes the words about Jesus that bring new life. So Heb 2:1-3. Amazingly the Creator God conforms Himself to our weakness that He may be known through intelligible speech.
But people say, don’t bother me with words I just want Jesus. We sing I want to see Jesus.
This G, with its words, claims to give access to JC, the Word, and promises union with Him. The Xn G is verbal revelation. Not a witness to the rev in Jesus, a witness to the Word. The words of the G bring us to the Word, JC. JC We enjoy Christ only as we embrace Christ clad in his own promises.
Jesus uses words Jn 3:34 & gives words 17:6,8,20 to ensure the true rev about God & Himself is passed on. God has left us means of access to Jesus the Word, that means of access is the G, with its words about Jesus.
This G is both personal & propositional. It contains information about God, about Jesus, and it is also a word from God. It comes to us with the offer of relationship. It comes with all the weight and attactiveness of His person.
Think of those days when you could not wait to get to the post. Was it the latest love letter, was it the job offer ? The words meant so much to you because of who was writing - the weight of the employer, the attractiveness of the lover.
We need to know about God and we need to know God. Because the G is from Him for us, it achieves both things. The words bring us to the Word.
Others will want to say that its all about God’s mighty deeds, His interventions in history. Sometimes we talk about ‘the Jesus event‘, the mightiest of God’s deeds.
But we need an explanation to make sense of those acts - a preacher/carpenter dies on a cross outside Jer around 30AD. So what ? The event means nothing until it is explained.
We need the report and the explanation. It is the difference between saying: Christ died, and saying: Christ died for our sins, the G in 1Cor 15:3.
The great events are only accessible to us, and only intelligible to us in words.
But the events are important because they root God’s promises in history, in our world and our lives. As we saw last time God is the One who makes promises to mankind. Those promises create both a history and a future - prophecy in the OT calls God’s people to live in the light of the promises.
Think of AB&Sar as they wait for their child; think of Is in the wilderness; think of the curse of the Exile; think of the return of Jesus.
The promise exists between the acts, to be acted on & hoped in. Words bring friendship, command, intimacy, order. They are a living rev of the One who speaks, & thereby elicit trust & confidence. Promises are only as secure as the one who makes them. This God never lies, always does what He says.
Those words have a present power whilst taking us to the future. So in Heb 4:12 the words themselves can judge us, even though they are not the Day of J. We treat the words as we would the person themselves.
Employer or lover.
To believe the G, is to believe Him, is to accept His promise about the present - our forgiveness, relationship with Him - and about the future - heaven.
The G is God’s verbal promise to mankind, the means by which we may come into relationship with Him.
What confidence can we have in this word of promise ? Why should we give it any more credence than the talking fish, than the other voices that would claim our attention in a similar way ?
That the G demands a response is part of its dynamism, its effectiveness. It is never mere information. Through it we meet a Person, to Him we must respond.
The G demands rep & faith in its hearers. PJ the G provokes a crisis of decision in its hearers.
Rep = abandonment of certain positions & submission to God.
Belief in G = faith in Jesus, which is trust in the word. The word of knowledge about Jesus, the word that is near us, Ro 10:6-9.
PJ authentic faith involves the capacity to trust and obey words, sentences and paragraphs.
But let’s not forget that in Ro 1:5 the G is to be obeyed.
R&F is the gateway to relationship.
If the G is the word of God, the bible must be too.
To start with the G then to abandon the word is to move off in a completely different direction. There is no access to God apart from His word, to abandon that word is to abandon Xty altogether.
The schoolboy who decided top pick up the ball & run with it had abandoned football altogether, he was playing a new & different game - rugby.
The bible is the book of the cov, Ex 24:7, 2Chr34:14-31. Because it records the cov->G, the bible is intended to create & sustain our relat with the living God PJ.
God’s people have never been without His rule through word, His promise.
For us today, these words are to be found in scripture. So the bible both teaches us about … and also finds us & holds us through the promises.
We need to know because of the promises.
As JIP The bible is God preaching. To hear His voice we must listen to this.
Yes there is a word from the Lord, we hear the voice of God loud and clear in the G. PJ says The G stands the beginning of the story that explains why there are christians at all.
The G also leads us to important conclusions about the nature of revelation - as verbal and being found in the bible.
It continues the pattern of last week, in that here we have the dynamic, active and effective word of God, the power of God for the salvn of everyone who believes.
Rev does not bring the G - G is rev.
So at Thess: change 1:9f because of G 1:5, the word 2:13. This rescued the Thess from not knowing God 4:5. Faith, trust love are the characteristics, brought about by work of HS, 1:5.
The G stands the beginning of the story that explains why there are xns at all. PJ This G is where faith begins and so it remains essential to true faith - Gal 1:87, 1Cor3:10ff.
To be able to say what is the G we must be able to give an a/c of what was taught by Jesus & 1st xns. Jesus is Lord, diff time, diff audiences, diff purpose in writing letter.
... that people come to know God, through hearing the truth about Him. The G is verbal, it is a message, something that preached, heralded, proclaimed. Mk1:1. 1:15 Jesus uses it to herald the coming of the King. Instrument of salv as warning about what is to come, so response is repent. Mk also introduces the idea of word to describe the pchg of Jesus 4:1-20. G & word become synonyms throughout NT.
It is the G that makes people prepared for the coming K, Ro 1:16, 2Cor4:1-6. The G is God’s means for prosecuting his work in the world, by it He informs the world of its central truth, it is the way He applies X’s death to men & women. By God we learn God.
Its power is also seen in 1P1:23-25, Jas 1:18-25, Heb 4:2,12f, Acts 6:7,14:21, Jn 17:17,20, Mk 4:20,8:39. The G is the type of rev, it tells us what rev is & what rev achieves.
Why should we believe it ?
Givens for a Jewish audience, to be argued before G, Acts 14:15f,17:16-34. God’s declaration that this is who He is is made through speech intelligible to human beings. From God & about God. So NT phrase the word that was preached to you.1P1:23,25; 1Th2:13, Acts 8:25; Heb 4:12.
A word that claims to give access to JC, and promises union with Him. Xn G is NOT a non-verbal rev. The words / word of the G bring us to the Word, JC. However thare are those who argue that the written / proclaimed word is only a witness to the Word. Jesus uses words Jn 3:34 & gives words 17:6,8, to ensure the true rev about God & Himself is passed on. God has left us means of access to Jesus the Word, who reveals God.
Rev is then not Jesus Christ, but Jesus is Christ, the Lord.
JtB Mt3:1,4:17, JC Mk1:14, Lk13:5, end Mt25:31ff, Mk8:38; Ap Acts 2:2:33, 10:42, 17:31.
The G is about Jesus not us. 2 Cor 11:1-6, Gal 1:9. The G is about THIS Jesus. Acts 17:3, 1Cor15:3.
We know Him to be the true Jesus: because of what He said, Mt 28:16ff; because of what He experienced, male, Jew etc, equally there is no access to this Jesus through a preaching that denies what He said/did, a Jesus of faith as opposed to a historical Jesus; because of what was said about Him by those whon knew Him, Mt 16:15f, Lk 24:45.
This is the character of the cov God Ex34:6f, now seen in X 1Jn4:10, Ro5:1-11. No wonder 1Cor1:18. Promise to all, J&G.
Never mere information. the G provokes a crisis of decision in its hearers PJ Rep = abandonment of certain positions & submission to God; faith = in this Jesus. Belief in G = faith in Jesus = trust in the word. JC We enjoy Christ only as we embrace Christ clad in his own promises.
Rev yields knowledge, the G yields knowledge of God.
The problem we are ignorant & alienated from him, blinded to the truth. Faith in God’s words make relationship. Language creates that personal union Jn 17:17,20f, the word continues that relat 15:4-10.
Words & deeds p68ff
Promises are both future & verbal. History & prophecy are created by a cov relat. Cov precedes law.
Bible = bk of cov,m cf Ex 24:7, also 2Chr34:14-31. Because it records the cov->G, the bible is intended to create & sustain our relat with the living God. God’s people have never been without His rule through word, His promise. These words are to be found in scripture. So the bible both teaches us about… but it also finds us & holds us through the promises. We need to know because of the promises. authentic faith involves the capacity to trust and obey words, sentences and paragraphs.
The G is THE pattern of all rev.
It is the key element in coming to a saving knowledge of God. There are of course other revs. So Heb1:1-2, 2:1-4, Rom 16:25-27. The call to Xns is to live in the G, in X, Col 2:6f.
The G is the word, it is both personal & propositional. Today many want to argue that the G is a witness to rev, not rev itself. But the G contains both information & promise, it is to be responded to by faith.
Hence the words themselves can judge us, Heb 4:12f, even though they are not the Day of J. We treat the words as we would the person themselves. To believe the G, is to believe Him, 1Th2:13, etc. His words provide & remain the appointed place of our relationship.
The G is not just an event - the Jesus event. Yes, God does mighty acts, the cross & res are the mightiest. But the G is the word about those acts, their explanation, the laying out of the promnise attached to them. Gt events / acts only made accessible to us in words.
The promise exists between the acts, to be acted on & hoped in. Words bring friendship, command, intimacy, order. They are a living rev of the One who speaks, & thereby elicit trust & confidence. Promises are only as secure as the one who makes them. This God never lies, always does what He says.
To start with the G then to abandon the word is to move off in a completely different direction. There is no access to God apart from His word, to abandon that word is to abandon Xty altogether.
Rev -> knowledge, the G brings that kn. The G is to be obeyed, Ro1, it leads us to submit to X’s lordship. We know Him through the word He has spoken & ordained. Faith, not by sight, depends on words / promises. Ro 10:6-9 the word is near you.
Kn includes information from & about God.
Kn is personal. As we receive promises we relate to Him.
If the G is the word of God, the the bible must be too.
Summary p93.
Just as the word stands before the world, so the word stands before the people of God in the OT & NT. It is the promise to Ab that tells of the nation. The desc of Ab, Isaac and us, are described as children of promise Gal 4:28.
From another angle, in the NT belief comes through hearing the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, Eph 1:13. That leads to new birth into a cov community, the church.
To which, Pet tells us, all the privileges and responsibilities of the OC people have been transferred, 2:9f.
It is on the G foundation, laid as P tells us by him the master builder, that all subsequent workmen must build, 1Cor 3:10+11.
As we concluded last time, you cannot start with the G and then move off to something else claiming that it is really the same thing.
Neither can you dismantle the foundation and expect the bldg to stand - London office block, built a garage.
Let’s look first at the bldg, then at its dismantling.
Is … the gathering at Sinai.
The congregation at Sin may be seem a strange place to begin but it is the place to begin.
The word assembly = church, in Acts 7:38, and in LXX Dt 4:10 in the day of the assembly/church.
Ex 19:7 tells us that they were met to hear all the words the Lord had commanded Moses to speak.
Here we get the fuller picture. We also get a truly amazing claim, v32b has anything so great as great as this ever happened ? Since creation nothing is the answer. Let’s see why.
CW p50#2L6.
Here at Sinai the pattern is set for Is’s history. Obedience and disobedience, devotion and idolatry. Throughout their history God’s voice continues to be heard:
On a positive note it should surprise us not at all that the faithful Israelite, the one with whom the Lord esteems is described in Is 66:2 he who trembles at my word.
Equally it is no surprise when we are told why the Exile for the NK comes 2K 17:14f, yet v19 even Judah.
The word stands before the church. The promise calls the people into being. They assemble to hear the voice of God. Their history is determined by their obedience to that word.
As we have seen it was the foundation of the G laid by the apostle that saw the church founded.
In Eph 2:20 that point is made again. There is some discussion whether the ap=NT, pr=OT. If so the order is strange. Esp when we look at 3:5, where the mystery of X is given to both by HS.
JRWS p107L16. The bldg grows from the rev given in X, with the ap & pr elaborating and explaining the mystery of His coming to call all perople to Himself.
Acts 2:42, 4:33, 6:2. When the ec meets it does so around the ap tchg - their witness to the res. When the 1st internal crisis hits the church it is at this point, the ap tchg. How can they properly fulfill their ministry when there is so much else to do ?
Intereseting how today we happily load more & more parishes / jobs / expectation on clergy and wonder that the church is in the state it is in.
Mk 3:14 makes it clear that an ap is one who is with Jesus. Acts 1:21+22, show that in order for the replacement to be appointed he must have been with Jesus from the beginning to His asc.
Then he may be a witness to the rest which is the apostolic ministry of v 25, the ap. In the case of P he was least of all the ap due to his persecution; and one abnormally born because he was called last of all, 1Cor 15:7-9.
John 14:25+26, 16:12-15. They have been with Jesus, they have seen and heard. They have been instructed as a Rabbi would teach - gathering 12 to learn tchg by rote.
But this tchg is so important that more assistance is provided. God Himself, in the person of His Spirit, will remind the ap of what Jesus taught.
I think we find this difficult because we know how easily we forget things. How much we rely on diaries & gadgets. Helpful to know that God had made a much better provision for people who were already better placed than us to do it.
He will also cause them to know more because as yet all they have been taught is all they can bear, 16:12.
They are the ones through whom others will hear and believe the truth about Jesus, 17:20.
reminders of what P taught whilst he was with them 1Th 4:1f,
answers to Q? they have raised 1Cor 7,
addressing specific doctrinal or ethical issues 1Jn 4:1-3, 1Cor 5.
Letters, some specific, some general Eph, Col, some congregational some personal 1Tim + 2Tim, which become scripture, 2P 3:2+16b.
1Tim 1:3, 2Tim 4:1f, Tit 1:5, - the specific jobs that P entrusted to T&T in Eph & on Crete
2Cor 8:16-24, Tit + ano to collect collection
Phil 2:19-23, Tim to be sent to bring news to P
Providing for the future
1Tim 3:2 tchg elders among elders & deacons;
Tit 1:9 A pastor needs two voices, one for gathering the sheep and the other for driving away wolves and thieves. .. both to rule those who are teachable and to refute the enemies of the truth JC.
2Tim 2:2 faithful men who will pass on the message to others,
Heb 13:7 leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you.
One to one 1Pet 4:11
After the ap what the church needs is:
But what do we do when, as in so much of the CofE, there is a concerted campaign to make sure the voice of God is not heard - that is that the scriptures are not heard ?
Let us return to our 4fields from wk1. We saw then that the CofE has adopted the B 1st position. But today in too many church circles truth rests on 4 legs, knowledge of God comes from 4. 4 legs which carry equal weight.
Less you think I am exaggerating let me give you a few examples:
Since the church wrote the bible, so it can rewrite it Bp Pittsburgh
Ch of Province - we’ve ditched the bible on these so …
Dioc New West - Record of faith comm exp of God, flawed record of their faith journey, symbols to direct us towards God.
God gave people exp, they were inspired so we aspire to similar exp. And are free to say this is not authentic.
Abp Cant letter
Jer 7:28 This is the church …
Let’s turn to 2Pet. Another letter that looks over the precipice to the post-ap age. A letter written wehen the opponents of Ap Xty were working hard & successfully.
The reality it shows us include: new destructive heresies from exploitative teachers 2:1-3; slander Jesus [glories] 2:10b-12; appealing to our sinful, worldly instincts 2:18-22.
3:3-5a scoff at & mock the promise.
What is the answer to such tchg, how can ordinary Xns survive, how can the church survive such days ?
Personal growth 1:5,10; 3:17-18.
1:12 reminder of truth of word : NOT sophisticated myths v16, but eye/ear witnesses, v17f. So sure & certain word in OT v19-21. OT is permanent & certain assurance. OT is light to help us walk to that day - always need the light of the prophetic word. Interpretation given to the proph - although not nec in full 1P1:10 v20+21. From God.
Remember the word of OT & NT, proph & ap 3:1-2; live godly lives 3:11-12a; believe the promise 3:13-14.
We stick with the word God has spoken and the lifestyle that must flow from that word. Often it will seem to be the duller option - not that same old stuff again.
Please don’t tempt us to teach you new things, to depart from this word. Down that road lies Exile, destruction.
The G, the bible, is therefore the terminus not the bus stop. Today the pressure is on to move on, to explore this or that. But the expression of true faith is to remain & remember.
Once you’ve heard & believed the G you have, by God’s grace, arrived. Every sp blessing is yours in Christ.
The word God speaks is a dynamic and effective word. A word and words which bring creration into being, which through the G bring us into relationhsip with our Creator & Redeemer - relationship is all but impossible without words.
We thought last week about hearing that word in the church today and the provision God had made. Today we’ll consider the role of the Holy Spirit.
Breath = wind = spirit , in both Heb & Gk. Something to be born in mind when reading OT/NT.
Genesis 1:2+3 the breath of God was hovering/brooding, and God spoke.
Psalm 33:6
Isaiah 61:1+2 that the breath of God is on the Messiah means He will speak God’s words.
Hebrews 3:7, 4:3, 7 the words of the OT attributed to God, HS, & David.
2Timothy 3:16+17 the words were God-breathed, God-Spirited.
We see how close is the relationship between the Word and the Spirit in the Bible. But if we give a moment’s thought to this matter of breath and words we shall see how obvious that is.
When I speak what happens ? Breath/wind/air goes over my vocal cords - the result sound, words.
It should suprise us not at all then that in Ephesians 6:17 we are told that the sword of the spirit is the word of God.
Let’s give some thought to this matter of inspiration.
The extent of inspiration is under attack today. The letter from Abp, bible contains words from God, or the word of God is to be discerned in it.
Revelation is communicated in various ways and by various authors, but the Spirit is always involved. So in OT: visions, voice, other writings, other prophetic writings, letters all occur. Not forgetting personalities, historical situation, literary skills, styles of authors. Last week ap.
Sometimes the mouthpieces are unconscious & surprising, so Caiaphas Jn 11:51.
I am inspired by …
2Peter 1:19-21 - it was the job of the prophet to communicate divine truths, including their interpretation. So the Red Sea. Even if at the time they did not fully understand the import of what they wrote, 1Peter 1:10-12.
That God inspired is clearly stated, how He did it is not always so clear.
There were times when He dictated, to Moses on Sinai Ex 19:6f. In Ex 32:15 it appears that God actually wrote it Himself.
But today we prefer individual genius to providence, yet those in earlier days who spoke about ‘divine pen-men’ may well have been nearer the truth.
We also prefer immediacy. But in the end what is the difference between the word of the prophet to an OT king and a carefully crafted Gospel ?
Both are the word of God, the Spirit inspired both the utterance and the writing, and because of their source both carry equal authority.
The bible is the account of God working through human agencies, the book itself is both human and divine. We can read it like any other book - but it is not any other book.
It is God’s book that will fully equip His people for everything good they have to do in this world.
The work of the Spirit continues to be tied to the word.
He did not just inspire its writing but He also illuminates the reader the hear & understand. We have seen the importance of this in the hearing and receiving of the Gospel.
Negatively - John 5:39+30, Heb 4:2.
Positively - 1Thess 1:4f, 2:13
It is a process that goes on throughout the christian life.
1Corinthians 2:
From conversion, in that their faith rested on something & someone so weak & powerless was a sign of nothing but the Sp power & work v4f. Human wisdom cannot see the truth about God v6bf, but the Sp can v10b. So that we may understand v12b.
GFee the Spirit (is) the key to the proper understanding of the G itself, both his preaching of it v13, and their experience of it as grace, v12.
As preachers we know the importance of the Spirit’s work - Thomas Watson spoke of the Spirit being the wind who drove the ship, of the sermon, home to the port, the heart, of the listener. Please pray this for the preaching week by week or it will all be in vain.
As individuals before the word we know the importance - words which meant nothing can now mean everything, so we pray whenever we approach any passage. That the light of the Spirit will enable us to understand and live.
We must be careful to keep these 2 aspects of the Spirit’s work separate. If not we will fall into saying that it is the reader who is inspired rather than the text. On the other hand we will look for the inner light within rather than as we approach the word God has given to us.
Inspiration is the work of the Spirit through ap & proph; illumination is His work of focussing us on X & His word.
But what about the testimony of many: God spoke to me …? What about the desire that I expect we have all had at some time or another for a direct word from God on a given matter ?
If we are Xns then our everyday lives will include the experience of forgiveness, assurance, answered prayer, the application of the bible, nudges to phone or stop off at, words that make sense of …
We’ll have been in mtgs where the conclusion of an item has been it seemed good to the HS & us. Some may have dreams & visions; some may speak in tongues or have words of knowledge.
All part of God’s providential care of His people. All part of His general revelation as the Sov Lord of the universe.
... had always been understood as us talking to God until a book in the 70s entitled Listening to God. Yes, things will often be clearer after we’ve prayed. Yes that next conversation is just the one we needed. As has often been said coincidences seem to happen when I pray.
But the Xn is never invited to empty his or her mind and wait to see what enters. We are called on to meditate on the bible. The rest is mysticism - which begins in mist & ends in schism.
So let’s pray as we have been invited & told to in the NT.
... a number of us will have experienced meetings when tongues, or proph or words of knowledge have occurred. But one thing to be aware of is that what we call these things today may not be what Paul et al meant then - JIP Keep in Step.
Like me you might have been told things under such categories. Because of mistakes and the damage done - end of cancer, babies not conceived - many more charismatic churches have stopped such things being said in such cases.
When a friend of mine was told by someone in his congregation that he should see a doctor because he was seriously ill. He had a choice. He chose to see the doc & he was seriously ill.
Time of sharing in church - Shelford / Dag.
...will tell us something of the character of God, Ps 19, Ro 1. In 1Tim 4:4 we are told that everything comes from the Lord & is for our enjoyment - as we reflect on that gracious provision we marvel at God’s goodness, His generosity.
...a gift that plays a vital role here. Something we are to go with and act on, Rom 14:5b, 12.
While I would still feel uneasy about using God spoke, of such instances, I do not want in any way to downplay our daily Xn experience.
Let us rejoice in the many ways we can be aware of God throughout every day and when we meet together.
What are we to make of such experiences, such words ?
All that must be brought to the bar of scripture. Why ? Because scripture is our supreme authority, and because there are many voices out there.
As we became aware last week, in the NT we seem to have two views of prophecy. The one, Eph 2:20, 3:15, 4:11, would seem to be foundational; under, or closely associated with, the apostles.
In 1Cor 14:29-32 we discover that the other - whatever it was - was subject to the control of the prophet v32, mindful of others who wanted to speak v30, and to be weighed carefully v29.
Max Turner Even at its best, like any other event of God’s ‘speaking’ to/leading a person, prophecy may be prone to corruption by other spiritual influences and so forth. Careful discernment is the need of the hour.
Let me urge you to discernment, as you hear the bible taught in Sunday sermons or in some of the other ways we’ve been thinking about.
All ‘words’, experience must be brought to scripture - the words of the Spirit.
Which is to say that since Jesus ascended we have been living in the LD.
God’s provision in the NT is what we need for today, the HS working in & through the Ap. There is no need for any new or extra words for the 21stC.
Heb 1:1-2: a final word because the work is finished in the last age of creation.
Jesus is all we need, we know the HS is at work when we focus on Jesus because that is the work of the Sp.
John 3:16, 6:63, 68 - life
Guidance:
Rather
You can make the bible say anything. Therefore it says nothing.
Advert showing how different cultures take different gestures in different ways. Words too can mean different or dangerous things - I could murder a gin.
AF-L’s email headlines :
DC Exegetical Fallacies - urban myths for preachers & bible students.
How can those of us who want to take the bible seriously, & encourage others to do the same, show that we have integrity about the way we handle it. Such was the way commended to Tim by Paul - 2Tim 2:15.
Following a Q? from last week, let’s begin by looking at the way we interpret the OT.
We saw the 2nd week that this is fundamental to the way God speaks and so how we understand what He says.
God is the One who makes promises to mankind. Those promises create both a history and a future - in the present we look back to the history, and we look forward to the future.
The promise of the OT/C is of God providing a rescuer - a serpent crusher, a sacrifice, a suffering servant, from our recent sermon series; but also a King, and a Prophet, and a Priest.
It is the promise, the fulfilment of which is in X; it is the shadow, Jesus the substance; it is the signpost, Jesus the destination. So Luke 24:27,44,45. Read through X, 2Corinthians 1:20.
On the way through to Jesus those promises will have had an interim fulfilment - an event that encourages us to trust what God says.
Genesis 12:1-3: Land, People, Blessing; God’s People, Place, Rule. Partial -> completion.
Even in Jesus 1st coming we know that we do not have everything. There is still one thing history waits for, His Coming. The final fufilment, the consummation, will on that Day see all the boxes ticked, there will be nothing outstanding.
So, we need to know where we are - bible overview, bible literature. As was said last week by someone the better we know our bibles the safer we will be from different voices and false teachers.
JPR has helped us with the Law, Sex Law Grace Gospel. Let’s do some examples to see how this works. Remembering we have the words of Jesus to follow You have hear that it was said … But I tell you … . Matthew 5.
The OT has been a minefield for those who would love to twist the bible, and ridicule those who want to take it seriously. So let us approach it through promise & fulfilment - and be prepared to put in the hard work to delve deeper.
The natural sense of scripture.
God has spoken to be understood, to be in relationship, therefore His word, the bible, is plain to its readers.
JRWS the whole purpose of revelation is clarity not confusion, a readily intelligible message, not a set of dark & mysterious riddles. God wants to communicate with ordinary people & save them. Books claiming to have cracked the bible code.
So we say ‘No’ to the coterie of academics who would claim to be able to sort the wheat from the chaff through their various kinds of criticism. We say ‘No’ to to those who make fanciful reconstructions of promises about the end of the world, or allegorise OT details.
JC the true meaning of scripture is the natural and obvious meaning; and let us embrace and abide by it resolutely.
Original language or best translation
In coming to the bible we must treat it as divine, ask HS for help, and treat it as human, use the usual tools we would apply to texts.
If we can attempt Gk & Heb then that’s best, otherwise use a bible which is an accurate translation. Make use of concordances and many other helps.
Literal meaning - unless the context demands something different.
Figurative language - John 3:3, 6:51+40, 10:7+14
Secondary issues
Yes, there are some places where scripture is not as clear as others. Baptism, church order, millennium.
What do we do when that happens ? We look again at our own position. We say Yes to our agreements & agree to leave such secondary matters to one side.
Or we say that because we agree on what is most important we can agree to differ & not makes an issue of such things - Xhills.
The original sense of scripture.
Although the whole bible is to everyone, and every part is to all times & places. The originals were written in specific times & places, by specific people for specific people.
It is in that context that we must understand it, not by reading back the concerns / ideas of our own day.
Charles Simeon My endeavour is to bring out of scripture what is there, not to thrust in what I think might be there.
We call the task exegesis - to read out of the text what is there, not eisegesis - to read into the text what we would like to be there. So cutting …
The Q? we must constantly ask is - what did the author intend to convey, what is he asserting, what will his original hearers have understood him to mean, why did he put this here now. We sometimes call this process, going back to Corinth etc.
Romans 16:16 kiss of peace = a handshake all round JBPhillips
But in all this the text comes 1st and we must beware emptying the word of its power as we fit it into our framework or emasculate it as we take it from that culture to today.
The general sense of scripture.
The whole bible comes from one mind - so there will be no contradiction. Our intention will be to resolve discrepancies.
Art 20 Of the authority of the church. And yet it is not lawful for the church to ordain any thing that is contrary to God’s word written, neither may it so expound one place of scripture, that it be repugnant to another.
We take into account the immediate and wider biblical context to help us to understand.
So 1Cor 10:13, rebuke because of complacency despite OT.
Why is feeding of 5000 the only miracle in all 4 G ?
Promise of Ez 34:11ff; Is in wilderness & manna. So who is He?
When building a doctrine we pull in info from across the bible.
Sabbath - Genesis 2:2,3; Exodus 20:8-11; Deuteronomy 5:12-15; Mark 2:23-3:4; Hebrews 3+4
Scripture comes from one mind, the mind of God, through the pens of many writers, illuminated by the One Spirit.
Pending tray - where we put the things that we are not yet sure about.
Confidence - 2Timothy 3:15-17
Yes God speaks to save us & equip us for service.
Last updated 10th June, 2003