THE HOLY SCRIPTURES
James S.Gray
2 Timothy 3: 10–17; 2 Peter 1: 19–21; Luke 24: 25-27, 44–49; Acts 17: 10, 11
It will be evident, beloved brethren, that I had the thought of speaking about the precious Holy Scriptures. My purpose is to attract us to their value. The Lord Jesus used them. He used them, I would say, in a perfect way, as everything He did was perfect; but I am impressed with the need in the last days that we should be equipped for whatever may come, and the passage in 2 Timothy suggests the thought of being “complete”, as the note says, ‘complete as to qualifications’. Now, we may any of us feel that we have some way to go if we think of that, but what is presented here is that “Every scripture is … profitable … that the man of God may be complete”, that is to say, whatever else is in it, beloved brethren, that if we are to be here in a fixed way for God, then we need the qualifications that the Holy Scriptures provide.
Now, I would say before I go any further that the scriptures alone would not be sufficient for us because we need their living application to us, which perhaps the expression ‘the word of God’, would convey, as we get in the epistle to the Hebrews, “the word of God is living and operative”, (chạp 4: 12). It accomplishes things. Perhaps the Spirit will help us as to what is said about it in this passage in that connection. We find also in the scriptures of truth, especially in the teaching of the apostle Paul, that the Holy Spirit’s help and guidance are especially needed in understanding the scriptures and in using them and being guided by them.
I want to refer first of all to the authority of the scriptures. The apostle Paul is writing to a man who would be left after he had gone. He is told first of all about the things concerning Paul personally and his teaching with which he had been “thoroughly acquainted”. Now, beloved brethren, I raise the question for myself and for us all as to how we would feel if this were addressed to us. Would we able to say, yes, that is how I am, “thoroughly acquainted” with all Paul’s “teaching, conduct, purpose, faith …” and so on, all these things? I would have to say as to myself, I desire to increase in the acquaintance that I have with these things and in the thoroughness of my acquaintance with them. I think the thought in it is that the truth set out in the scriptures is embodied in persons, supremely in the Lord Jesus Himself. As it says in the word, “as the truth is in Jesus”, Eph 4: 21. But, beloved brethren, the scriptures contain the inspired, written mind of God. I wonder therefore if we might open our hearts for the Spirit to convey an impression to us of how valuable they are. They are the word of God, recorded in writing, infallible, divinely inspired, the supreme authority for every question as to faith and truth and conduct in the sight of God. Paul is bringing in, in this chapter, this emphatic word, “thou”, as he does elsewhere in this epistle. He refers to his sufferings – I did not want to go into that, precious as they are – but he brings forward for Timothy the emphatic instruction to “abide in those things which thou hast learned, and of which thou hast been fully persuaded, knowing of whom thou hast learned them”. Now, beloved brethren, what have we learned? If we are to abide in those things which we have learned, what have we learned? Has our instruction begun? How far has it progressed? Well, there is a great blessing attaching to our being present on an occasion such as this when God graciously gives us encouragement through the word. He gives us to know the life of it because it is in the experience of persons who know God, and He gives us the joy and liberty that it leads to because it is connected with the unfolding of eternal things which are in the mind of God for men.
And so I raise the question from this passage as to what we have learned and, further, whether we are fully persuaded about it, and then “knowing of whom thou hast learned them”. I think that we would do well to take account of the source of what we read. I am sure brethren are generally careful about that, but we are to know of whom we learn things and I speak of these things in a way as introductory to lead up to the vital importance of the scriptures themselves. We have noticed before, that the apostle Peter calls attention to the scriptures, the word, by encouraging the saints to be “as newborn babes” desiring “earnestly the pure mental milk of the word”, 1 Pet 2: 2. If we are to learn from the scriptures, beloved brethren, we must read them.
I have noticed that on a number of occasions the Lord Jesus draws attention to the necessity of that by implication. He says, for example, “have ye never read …?” (Matt 21: 16) and other things like that. Think of being in a company where a question is brought forward and the Lord as it were addresses our souls and says, “have ye never read …?” He also brings forward scriptures from the prophets and from the Psalms. Indeed it is something to be considered seriously that the Lord Jesus shows the authority of the scriptures by comparing what Moses wrote with His own words. He says, “for if ye had believed Moses, ye would have believed me, for he wrote of me”, John 5: 46. So that the Lord Jesus regards the Old Testament scriptures as authoritative on a level comparable with His own words. How remarkable that is! We do well, therefore, in these days of decline and brazen rejection of the word of God, to pay attention to the divine setting out in the scriptures themselves of their infallible authority.
If we were to look into authentic history, we would be able to trace very remarkable facts as to the way in which the original manuscripts in which scripture was recorded were handled and regarded in a holy way by those who were concerned with them. But in our time I believe the Lord would put the responsibility upon us in a fresh way to accept the preciousness of the scriptures on the one hand, and their absolute authority over our souls on the other. They are authoritative, as it says here: “Every scripture is divinely inspired, and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness”. Do we not feel and see the need of these things in our time? Is there not a need of teaching? The scriptures are “profitable for teaching”. If you want to know about the things of God, go first to the scriptures. You say, where shall I look? Well, it is a purpose of mine to-day to call attention to the value of reading the scriptures, that we may know where particular teaching is to be found.
It says here that Timothy had “from a child … known the sacred letters”. I wonder if we have had that privilege, beloved. Have we known the sacred letters from a child? Do you remember that your mother or your father read the scriptures to you? Do not undervalue it! Do not let the practice slip! Maintain what has been begun from your earliest youth and diligently commit yourself to the reading of the scriptures, as I was saying, “the pure mental milk of the word”, the scriptures by themselves, and allow the Holy Spirit to cause the wealth and the instruction and value of them to govern and feed and guide us! And this expression “the sacred letters” not only refers to what is in the title page of the precious book we have in our hands – the Holy Scriptures - but that every word matters. They matter in detail. We may not see the significance of all but let us value and therefore seek to know the “sacred letters”.
Another thing about God’s word, as we read it, is that not only has it teaching, as we have here, but it has conviction. It is ”profitable … for conviction”. You may say, I have difficult days before me. How will things go? Will you seek the guidance of the word? I think that as questions arise in our lives - and I do not leave aside the necessity of prayer as essential to the life of a Christian in communion with God - but, supporting that, I believe it is necessary that the scriptures themselves should have a prime place. I would appeal to the brethren to be regular - if never before, start now in regularity - in applying ourselves to the reading of the scriptures!
I want to be practical. Supposing that I was to select one or two from this company and ask, Have you read the scriptures, all of them from beginning to end, would we all be able to say that we had? Well, of course, our younger brethren have not had so much time as those of us who are older but they are able for more perhaps. You will say to me, but time is short. I think that the practical answer to that is what I heard a beloved servant of the Lord say years ago, that when it is a question of matters of time and what can be done in the available time, one practical solution is to put the essentials among the things that have got to be done, in other words, to prioritise. I suppose a good many of us here feel that in these times in which we live, priorities are coming from all directions, but they do not come with more authority than from God; and, beloved brethren, the answer to them does not come with more profit than from God. I think, therefore, that in making our decisions we are to consider both the priority of the claim, and the advantage and profit of the result in the long term. And so the priorities for the believer are communion with God, at the beginning of the day certainly, and at the end of the day certainly, and as continuously as we are able for it otherwise; and also to give place to the reading of the Holy Scriptures for what they are and for what they will do for us as communications from God.
So that they are “profitable for teaching, for conviction”. I may go over the day in retrospect. I may review things that have taken place and I may find that in little things or even in greater things perhaps I am uneasy. Well, read the scriptures! Turn up something! We all know something, but turn up a word and it brings conviction because it is living. The word of God is living and it brings something home to us, which may involve correction. Let us be ready to accept the conviction and the correction of the precious scriptures so that we may be guided, preserved and instructed in righteousness.
The younger people here will not mind my saying that we older ones are very sympathetic with the practical difficulties of exercising discrimination about righteousness in these days, but the scriptures help. Make yourself familiar with the scriptures and you will find that they give you instruction in righteousness! You say, well, the little things do not matter. They do matter to God and we who believe and who love the Lord Jesus, are concerned about what is pleasing to God, so that the scriptures are valuable for “instruction in righteousness”. It is like just a touch or a pull, this way or that, to keep us in the path of God’s mind.
Now, I want to refer to the passage in Peter for one simple reason – the Spirit may help us as to other aspects of it – but my purpose was to point out that it is necessary to hold the scriptures as a whole in our regard for them. There are learned men who have tried to apply the human mind to the destruction of the authority of scripture or certain parts of it. You take the book of the prophet Jonah. The simple answer to men’s reasoning and questions is in the fact that the Lord Jesus Himself used it in quotation when He was here. I think that there are simple answers to the reasoning of the human mind if we are subject and obedient to the Lord Jesus Himself. So it says here that “the scope of no prophecy of scripture is had from its own particular interpretation”. Now, I do not feel able to explain the full meaning of that but I think one feature of truth that is in it is that you cannot isolate a particular scripture and use it in separation or contrast with others. The whole must be seen as presented by God to convey His mind. And I therefore suggest that we should not in practice limit what we read. As I have said, the Lord Jesus quotes from Moses and from the Prophets and from the Psalms, and we would do well, therefore - as our custom is in our gatherings, I believe - to seek to cover through dependent enquiry the range of the precious scriptures. The Lord might raise the question with us as to whether we have read a particular Prophet. You will remember that the evangelist, Philip, when he joined the chariot of the Ethiopian on his return journey, found that he was reading the prophet Isaiah. Do we read the Prophets? The prophetic writings, beloved brethren, are not only for learned or older people. The Prophets are part of the inspired Holy Scriptures, and I use them only as an example. There are practical books in the Old Testament which give much instruction which can be used as we are helped of the Spirit for the life of the believer in the present time though themselves not immediately and directly written for that purpose, while no doubt in the mind of God for all times.
Now, in the earlier verse I read, the apostle Peter is referring to the prophetic word of which we have just been speaking and he says, “And we have the prophetic word made surer, to which ye do well taking heed”. Now, beloved brethren, would that the Spirit would stimulate our hearts as to taking heed to what God has said! I think that so far as I understand this passage, Peter is saying that on the mount of transfiguration they had the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ in glory in anticipation. That was what these believers had specially come to look for and Peter, of course, specially brings in the kingdom in his writings. But the kingdom was coming and the confirmation of it, the thing that made it sure, as I understand it, was that Peter and the other apostles with him had seen it when they saw the glory of Christ on the mountain. It was not then a long-term hope for Jewish believers. It had been “made surer” through the announcement of the glory of Christ from heaven. Now, beloved brethren, if there is a voice from God, I would say in the words of this scripture, we do well taking heed. I challenge myself as to how much we go over what God has said to us. We do not learn all at once and may we helped, beloved, to go over and take heed to what we have received.
But he goes on to say, “(as to a lamp shining in an obscure place)”: that, I understand, would be referring to a prophetic voice appearing and giving light in darkness, but the morning star is what gives the light for believers, “until the day dawn and the morning star arise in your hearts”. Let us see that the precious scriptures present to us the glory of Christ personally. That was the purpose of the Father’s voice on the mount, to magnify the personal glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is what we will find is the purpose of the whole of scripture, that Christ might be magnified and that the divine thoughts concerning the fulfilment of everything in Him for God’s pleasure should be set out and be understood.
And we are presented here with the prospect of the day dawn and, as we have often been told, the morning star is the assurance of that. We may have been accustomed to think of this on the line that there are signs beforehand that the Lord is coming for the assembly; but look at it this way, beloved brethren; the Lord is very soon coming into His public kingdom; He is about to be manifested; and the conviction of it is in those who have seen His glory. Before that the Lord Jesus will take to Himself those who love Him. He is coming to take His own to Himself and then it will be that we will prove that the day dawns. We shall be in our eternal conditions immediately. The morning star then will have risen in our hearts and it will be that the precious coming of the Lord for His saints will but a short time anticipate the introduction of His public glory, but we shall first be with Him. May it stimulate our hearts to look for Him and to be found valuing the precious things which speak of Him!
Now, I must speak of how the Lord Jesus Himself read and referred to the scriptures. I wondered about reading – I have read a good deal already – the passage in which we have the beautiful record of His reading from the prophet Esaias in the synagogue at Nazareth, but time prevents. But we should see the glory and beauty of the precious Saviour Himself, God manifest in flesh, illuminating in His reading the dignity that should mark our reading and handling of the precious scriptures: He “stood up to read”, Luke 4: 16. Another thing about that passage is, as we have noticed, that He stops at a particular point before the passage itself reaches its completion; but He stopped when He reached the point which was needed for the moment and He says, “To-day this scripture is fulfilled in your ears”, (v 21). Beloved brethren, when you read the scriptures, remember that the fulfilment of everything is in Jesus. The eunuch we referred to was reading something and he says, “concerning whom does the prophet say this? of himself or of some other?”, Acts 8: 34. We may say, how are these things, these glorious things spoken of, to be fulfilled? They will be fulfilled in one Man who is the centre of heaven, the theme of the Father’s pleasure and delight. So He says, “To-day this scripture is fulfilled in your ears.” I believe the principle is set out, in that unique utterance, of the value of the present application of the scripture to those to whom it is addressed. May we always be ready as the word of God is described as a “two-edged sword” (Heb 4: 12), to allow the truth to apply itself to us so that we may get gain from it in a practical way.
But here on the road to Emmaus the Lord speaks of the scriptures and He speaks about believing “in all that the prophets have spoken”. Well, surely you would need to know all that the prophets have spoken before you could believe in it. I do urge diligence – and I feel the need of it for myself, but I urge diligence - in pursuing the reading of the scriptures and seeking understanding of them in their detail of and in their scope. But He says, “O senseless and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory? And having begun from Moses and from all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.” Well, beloved brethren, that shows to us that all the scriptures contain things concerning the Lord Jesus. You say, what about these prophets? Take the prophet Obadiah, or others, which largely if not almost exclusively speak of judgment? What about them? What about the sufferings of Christ, beloved brethren? Our attention was drawn in comparatively recent times to the way in which the sufferings of Christ are pointed to in the prophets. If we think that a prophet is substantially about judgment, let us think about the sufferings of Christ, He who bore the judgment that was due to you and to me! I believe that appreciating all that Christ is personally is an essential part of valuing the scriptures and I call attention to the fact that here the Lord began from Moses. We are not told that He began from the first book of Moses, but He began from Moses, and one thing I learn from that is that we should learn the value of the books of Moses in relation to the setting out of God’s thoughts as to Christ and especially, as we had brief reference to it earlier, as to the value of the divine view that is represented in the tabernacle system in which God sets out that the One who is precious to Him is at the very heart and centre of the whole thing. Beloved brethren, young and old, I say to you that Jesus is at the heart of the whole of scripture. He is the One of whom the Holy Spirit desires to speak. He is the One who is the attraction in the scriptures. He is the One in whom is the fulfilment of everything that is said there. And it says, “And having begun from Moses and from all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.”
Well, later, as they were assembled, the Lord Jesus says further, as we noticed, “that all that is written concerning me in the law of Moses and prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.” As we were saying, the whole range of scripture will be fulfilled and the embodiment of its fulfilment is in Christ. Of course, it involves the government of God and the ways of God and the working of them into result to His glory and according to His majesty, but the fulfilment of scripture will be worked out in the place which the Lord Jesus has in the quickly-coming day of His glory.
Now, I wanted to say that we need great help, I believe, in a spirit of dependence in approaching the scriptures that we should depend upon divine help for the opening of our understanding. We can ask the Lord for that. He did it for them. How favoured, how distinctive they were! But, beloved brethren, He can do it for us! Let us ask the Lord to open our understanding to understand the scriptures so that we may be equipped, as we have been saying already, for the pathway of the believer until the Lord shall come.
And so He says, “Thus it is written, and thus it behoved the Christ to suffer, and to rise from among the dead the third day” and so on. I think that it is very important for us to pay attention to what is written: “Thus it is written …” May we be greatly helped to pay attention to these things, but feebly presented, but I desired that we might be encouraged to consider the great value of what is contained in the written word.
Now, I want to call attention to a passage in Romans chapter 15, in closing, because Paul says there, “For as many things as have been written before have been written for our instruction, that through endurance and through encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope” (v 4). Well, now you say that things are bad publicly. Where can we look? I say to you that there is sufficient in the scriptures to give us hope. There is both endurance and encouragement of the scriptures to be found because the things that were written before were written for our learning. I think it is very encouraging that God has provided everything that is needed. Perhaps we are not familiar with a passage such as this in Romans 15 or we have forgotten that it was there. I forget certain passages at times and the Spirit helps us by bringing things to our remembrance. The Lord spoke of that as part of His service when He came. But I call attention to this passage as showing that there is encouragement in the scriptures and, by implication, they give strength for endurance so that we might have hope. Now, if anyone here had ever any thought of giving up in the path of faith, I say to you, turn to the scriptures and find that the things that were written before were written for us. Someone else may have gone through something very similar to what you are going through now and God may have had something written down which will be for our learning and for our encouragement and to help us to endure so that we might have hope. I say, do not give up hope because there is provision in the Word for our encouragement and uplifting.
Now, these saints in Berea of whom we read are compared with those in another locality. It is not that there is any disrespect for the brethren in Thessalonica, because they were greatly valued and the features of God’s work in them were set out quite distinctly and in an appreciative way by the apostle Paul, although they needed exhortation, as we all do. But it is quite permissible to call attention to a feature that is of particular value. It does not mean that others are necessarily condemned except that they would perhaps, if they heard about it, also desire that a feature of quality or virtue which was in another company of believers might also be found in them. And the feature of quality, of course, as we well know, in the Berean saints was firstly that they received “the word with all readiness of mind”. They were not opposers. They were ready to listen, ready to understand, but they “daily” searched “the scriptures if these things were so”. One might say simply, if it were not too familiar, that the brethren in Berea were not just going to swallow down everything. They were going to say, ‘How does this go with what is said in the scriptures? This is a new thought to me, how does this fit with the teaching of scripture? And I think that is how we should apply our minds with the Holy Spirit’s help to the receiving of a word, as it is ministered to us, that we should test it by what is in the written word of God.
Now, it is not that they did it only on a Saturday afternoon or evening but they did it daily. I have felt the challenge of the fact that this is not only that they read the scriptures daily – I do trust and I believe that we would all here do that – but “daily searching the scriptures”, that is, does it agree with this passage? does it agree with the Lord’s words? does it agree with what He has given to His apostles? does it agree with what the apostle Paul received from the glory? That is what the Bereans would say – of course they had only the Old Testament scriptures, I take it – but they would search the scriptures and it proves that the scriptures are one whole because their testimony is one and it concerns Christ.
Well, beloved brethren, I feel I have spoken feebly but I did have a purpose to lay upon us the sense of obligation as to the preciousness of the scriptures and their authority and I do emphasise the value and profit and advantage of using them and becoming accustomed to using them for what they are in themselves and what they can furnish for us in the way of equipment. I think the thought of being “prepared for every good work” (2 Tim 2: 21) is not just the same as the thought of having the unction and knowing all things (1 John 2: 20); that would be that there is the capacity, by the presence of the Spirit in the believer, for being able to discern things as they are in the sight of God. But this in the passage in 2 Timothy is more the thought of equipment which is valuable so that it may be used both for our preservation and, I may say, for the help and encouragement of others that we might be able to “succour by a word him that is weary” (Isa 50: 4), as is said prophetically of the Lord Jesus Himself. He shines in everything. Let our hearts be towards Him and let us learn from Him how the scriptures are to be respected and used, but may we use them and find the profit of it as useful to us and for God while we are here in the path of His will until the Lord comes. For His Name’s sake.
BUCKHURST HILL
14 October 2000