THE HOLY SCRIPTURES
I. M. Shearer
Luke 24: 25–27, 44–47; 2 Timothy 3: 14–17; 2 Corinthians 3: 15, 16
It will be evident that I want to speak about the Scriptures. Timothy had known them from a child, just as most of us here have, and I suppose it may have been true of the two who were on their way out to Emmaus. Those two, however, needed to have the personal service of Christ to get the point of Scripture. Every scripture is mentioned in 2 Timothy. You cannot read a page, or turn to a verse, but God would direct you to Christ. Look at the thickness of this book, and every page is to teach us about Christ. It is God’s word; let us not be flippant about it, careless or casual; rather let us develop an interest in turning to His word, for every scripture will speak to us of Christ. Does that not make it the most important literature you could be occupied with? The world is full of books, but they are not the books that are referred to here, the Scriptures to which the Lord turns—“And having begun from Moses and from all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself”. Persons may have that experience today; that is what I read in Corinthians—when a soul turns to the Lord, “the veil is taken away”.
We read the Scriptures in the meetings, of course; these are very important occasions. We have God’s precious word in our hands and we open it; our minds are subject, the Spirit is free, and Christ becomes portrayed, living in our interest and affections, as we go through Scripture together. We call it ‘the temple’ because God speaks to the
soul. God speaks. It is truly God’s word. It says of the sinners in Luke 15 that they “were coming near to him to hear him”. People were hanging on Christ. He was light and blessing to them. Well, He would speak to us again now—I trust I do not speak so loudly that you cannot hear His voice. Surely we would all be interested to hear God speak, and one thing He would say would be, “This is my beloved Son: hear him”. God wants to direct us to His Son.
Now this couple in Luke 24 are very discouraged; “We had hoped that he was the one who is about to redeem Israel”. Perhaps there is someone here who is finding that life is not quite as he imagined it should be and has found the going a bit tough; who thought that he knew the direction things should go, and they did not go that way at all. The Lord says, “O senseless and slow of heart”. They had not seen the bearing of Scripture. The Lord Jesus in all His public life had drawn on Scripture. He drew on it immediately after His baptism, and in His preaching in Nazareth (the first recorded one); He drew on it to meet the Pharisees, and when He taught the disciples. In all His history amongst men He had been drawing on the Scriptures—(of course, all His life He had valued them). Now He was demonstrating that “it behoved the Christ to suffer”. There it was in Scripture that He had to go that way. Oh, let us turn to Scripture for help. But most importantly, let us turn to the Lord for help in the Scriptures.
The question is, when do you read the Scriptures? Do not leave it just to meeting time. Do not leave it just to the morning reading, with father reading the Scriptures, young people. You read the Scriptures. See how moment by moment they are so important in your life. Start the day with them. Follow up what is said in meetings by
turning to Scripture. Understand them. The eunuch said, “How should I then be able unless some one guide me?”, Acts 8: 31. Some people have said, ‘I do not need the ministry. I have the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit’. They do need the ministry to guide them; we all need the ministry. I do not elevate ministry to the status of Scripture, but it is a help, and as you take it up with the Lord you will find just how helpful it is. Someone once said, ‘Reading the ministry does not make you spiritual, but you will not get spiritual without reading the ministry’. It is true; oh, do give it a try. There is plenty of help available if you are interested.
Now this couple had a very privileged sermon, which was quite a long one. I do not think we should be too chafed about long words, if the Lord is speaking to us in them. What an interesting time this was, all the way from Jerusalem out to Emmaus. What ground they covered!—the Lord patiently going over “all the scriptures”. They ended up with an understanding of Christ. They said, “Was not our heart burning in us as he spoke to us on the way?” Have you ever had a reading like that, when your heart was burning within you?
They returned to Jerusalem with much to reflect upon in what He had said. It had a rebuke but also every needed direction for them. It says in verse 31, “he disappeared from them”. It was up to them now; which way are they going to go? They returned to where the brethren were gathered. There is a place where the word of God is cherished and loved; be there. It is not made the subject of debate, but it is respected, and it governs the saints. That is where we should be. There it was they got this further word from Christ—and I think it is a very affecting thing—“that all that is written concerning me in the law of
Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled”. God has not had to surrender one work of all He has conveyed. It all has been, or will yet be, fulfilled. We do not have to worry too much about world events and which chapter they fit into; God has that in hand; you can be distracted by that. You can be sure that every word is going to be absolutely, in detail, fulfilled.
Now what the Lord Jesus wants us to do, beloved brethren, is to feed on Him in the Scriptures. So, “he opened their understanding to understand the scriptures”. Maybe He would use an occasion like this to open your understanding. Something that was not clear before becomes clear, not through the skill of anyone particularly but through the personal touch of Jesus. We do not need to turn to enormous libraries with commentaries and so on; we need to turn to Christ. If you have a problem, He is the answer to it.
I was impressed that this expression, “every scripture”, is brought in in Timothy. Paul refers to Timothy’s history, involving some godly women. I would like to say this to fathers and mothers; help your children, from their earliest years, to love the Scriptures. Lois and Eunice are mentioned in chapter 1. Lois would have been an older woman, but Eunice might have been a young woman. When Timothy was born, as a young woman she valued the word of God and brought her child up to appreciate it too. What an example to our dear younger mothers and fathers, that your own respect and love for the word enters into the upbringing of your children. Timothy acquired a love and respect for the word in the home. The word of God must be paramount there. If it is held anywhere it should be in the households of the saints. It was so in the house of Eunice, and Timothy benefited by it. He was probably no different from most children;
there would be those struggles we are acquainted with in our families, and you can understand how the word would be brought in. I do not want to be fanciful, but it entered into his upbringing. He would grow up knowing that he was to be governed by the Scriptures.
Now Paul is just emphasizing, in a day when things outwardly seemed to have collapsed or fallen apart, that God’s word was still there, and profitable. Let us cling to it in our present days. “Every scripture is divinely inspired, and profitable ...” Now I did not want to go into this list in detail but I would like to convey this impression, that the profitability of Scripture lies in its presentation of Christ. It is profitable “for teaching”, that is, that Christ is presented in a way that is teaching. Then “for conviction”, for a view of Christ would bring conviction.
Conviction suggests reality, not just a formal external acknowledgment to somebody, but the soul is brought before God. “For correction” involves that a soul forsakes something, changes course, acknowledges wrong. Finally, “for instruction in righteousness”; oh, how I would like to be skilful to instruct persons and bring before them Christ as a standard and guide, as a rule in life. The profitability in Scripture involves that it brings Christ before the soul.
Now later on today you will have free time. Why not use some of that free time to turn to the Scriptures and see if God cannot help you to see Christ in them? Try to avoid the distractions that often come in on Saturday afternoons. Then when you get to your room last thing in the day, do not just fall into bed and sleep; first get into God’s presence with His word, even if you just spend five minutes in God’s presence, and let His word speak to your heart. He would love to fill your
soul, as you go to sleep, with Christ. You remember that in the days of Israel the manna came down in the morning upon the dew. And if you are going to have dew, you need the clear nights; make sure you finish your day with that clear sky. Go over things, have it all clear and open, restfully go to sleep, and find in the morning that there is something fine and granular, something different—it is Christ. God wants you to start the day right, to feed on Christ, so you need to finish the day with Christ before you and, I am suggesting, use the word of God.
To turn to 2 Corinthians 3, if you go back to the previous verses you find that, although the law was referred to, the readers were not enlightened; it was a dead word to them. It had become part of an effete religion. It had been added to by the scribes and the wise men, tradition had been included; it was wielded by those who were certainly unspiritual and perhaps even godless. The Lord was unsparing in speaking to the Pharisees, to the Sadducees and to the scribes—men who were familiar with the word. As amongst the people of God, which the Jews were at that time, it had become obscure, a dead word to them. Maybe it has acquired that character in Christendom. There would be a remnant of persons that appreciate it, but today many obvious things of Christendom are directly opposed to the word of God.
Men have become hardened to it (see note ‘b’ to v.14 in the New Translation). But when the soul turns to the Lord, “the veil is taken away”.
I can remember when the Lord mercifully entered into my life and I first turned to the word of God, as His word. That was a real experience, and you can have that if you have never had it before. Take up the passages of Scripture as bearing on you. The veil will be taken away. It
does not bring before you a daunting, fearsome, condemning God. It brings you to appreciate that God in Christ is for you. A new and most attractive pathway opens up to you because this channel of communication has become established. If you feel that there is a certain veil, a curtain, that the clear meaning of God’s word, the holy Scriptures, is not apparent to you, then I would suggest that if you are urgent with God, if, you “turn to the Lord” it will be taken away. You will get an understanding. The psalmist says, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet”, Psalm 119: 105. Perhaps you have not yet had any clear idea of the path you should tread. God’s word will make it clear. It is here; the answer is here; and in the Scriptures God will show you Christ in such a fashion that you will have no doubt whatever as to the path you should take. Why not try it?
Dear young brethren, you are at the beginning of a very important life. God wants it to be held for Him. We were speaking this morning in the reading as to consecration. We could say much about the Nazarite, but do you see that the Lord wants you totally, absolutely? He does not want you just acknowledging a religion. He does not want you just to be performing external acts that are acceptable to the brethren. He wants you fully and absolutely. There is no person here who had his life spoilt because he gave Christ free way with him. Their life began when they did. There are old persons here, I know, who could witness to that, that it does not wear out, it does not grow stale. This veil taken away is an abiding experience. Read the end of the chapter. Look what happens—“transformed according to the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Lord the Spirit”. That is the essence of Christianity. It is a spiritual life; it is boundless; it is eternal. It is beyond the influence of any circumstance. Ask a
widow who is with God; ask a godly businessman; the spiritual things of life, which are within the reach of any of us. Well, I trust we are encouraged. May the Lord bless the word.
Address at Newport, Gwent
1 December 1990