THE VALUE OF THE SCRIPTURES

P.A.Gray

2 Timothy 3:16,17; John 5:39; 19:5 (from ‘And he’); Leviticus 4:1-3

I would like to speak about the value of the Scriptures and the importance of reading them. It may seem a simple thing, but there are many voices and opinions in this world, and there is stability for our souls in knowing the Scriptures. Timothy was told “that from a child thou hast known the sacred letters”, 2 Tim.3:15. It is right to hear them read in our households, but I would like to encourage everyone here to read the Bible for yourself, to make it your own. And I would like to encourage you to read it all through; “Every scripture is divinely inspired”.

It may be that you feel that some scriptures are more interesting than others and some are more understandable than others, but it is important to read the Bible all through because there is something on every page that is of value. It might not always be easy to see it, but the Holy Spirit would help you to get something from every page and from every word of Scripture. The apostle Paul draws attention to a distinction in relation to one word, “And to seeds, as of many; but as of one” (Gal.3:16); so just one letter can make a difference.

The Scriptures are interesting. They are more than a long list of things to do or not to do, or a long list of names or historical incidents. They speak about the Lord Jesus. If you look for it, there is something about Him to be found everywhere you read. When I say that the detail of Scripture is important, I draw on one example to bring that out. Have you ever heard it said that the peace-offering relates to fellowship? Leviticus chapter 3 tells you about the peace-offering, but it might still not be very clear why it relates to fellowship. You have to go to chapter 7 of Leviticus and there is just one sentence in that chapter, not even a verse, but a sentence, in verse 19, which says “And as to the flesh, all that are clean may eat the flesh”; that is the flesh of the peace-offering. Except in the case of the burnt-offering, the offering was eaten by the person who offered it, or by the priest, but in this case it says as to the flesh, “all that are clean may eat the flesh”. The peace-offering was something which a man brought, but it was available for everyone who was clean, and that is why we can say from Scripture that the peace-offering relates to the enjoyment of fellowship. What one person brings, another gets the benefit of; “all that are clean may eat the flesh”. I say that to draw attention to the importance of reading the Bible thoroughly, otherwise you can miss things that are important.

I might add that when we say that the peace-offering relates to fellowship, we should explain it, because it is something that everyone should understand. What we say should be based on Scripture; or rather it must be based on Scripture. We ought not to say things if we do not have a scriptural basis for them. That is why it is important to read the Bible, so that we understand that what we are saying is based on Scripture, it has the authority of Scripture behind it; so “Every scripture is divinely inspired”.

It may be that some of the scriptures do not at first appear interesting. There are lists of names, for example at the beginning of the first book of Chronicles. They are important nonetheless, because they help us to understand other scriptures. So in 1 Chronicles chapter 1, we find that Canaan begot Zidon his firstborn, but then we find Heth, and the Jebusite and the Amorite, and the Girgashite, and the Hivite, and the Arkite (vv.13,14). These families caused trouble for Israel because they were of the sons of Canaan, and you see set out in a small way there how these opposing families all come from one source. So the daughters of Heth, for example, were the cause of weariness to Rebecca (Gen.27:46). Some of the others that we have mentioned had to be dispossessed in the land because they were of a generation that was opposed to what God was doing.

In the same part of 1 Chronicles you can read of a man called Jabez. His mother bore him with pain, and he says “Oh that thou wouldest …enlarge my border”, 1 Chron.4:10. You might think that such a request was wrong; that Jabez was asking for more than he had inherited. But a spiritual application makes the matter clear; Jabez was a man who wanted God to expand his understanding of the inheritance. This is shown in just two verses in the middle of a long list of names, and if you did not read the list of names, you would never find these two verses about a man who wanted to go in for the things of God. If you missed it, you would miss the fact that God honoured what Jabez said, and blessed him. If you desire to know more of the things of God like Jabez did, God will honour that and He will bless you. The scripture speaks of “those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice”, Ps.50:5. It involves a sacrifice of your time to read the Scriptures, and to pray about them and to think about them, but God will honour you if you do it by giving you expansion in your soul, and by giving you impressions of Christ by the Holy Spirit. “Every scripture is divinely inspired”; there is something worthwhile on every page of the Bible, but you have to read it to get it.

Now I want to say something about “being profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness”. In John 5, the Lord Jesus Himself says; “Ye search the scriptures, for ye think that in them ye have life eternal, and they it is which bear witness concerning me”. The Lord says; “they it is”. I have sometimes quoted it wrongly, ‘these are they’, but He says “they it is”. The Scriptures are one whole; “the scripture cannot be broken”, John 10.35. You cannot take one scripture and say that it disagrees with another. It does not. The Scriptures are one whole, all given by the Holy Spirit, “which bear witness concerning me”. The note says that they ‘are the witness bearers’. Look for the witness of Christ in Scripture. When He drew alongside the two on the way to Emmaüs, the Lord Jesus spoke of Moses and all the prophets and unfolded to them “in all the scriptures the things concerning himself”, Luke 24:27.

If you look at the first page of the Bible, you will read about the great light to rule the day. That is a witness to Christ. Does He rule your life? Does He rule your day as a great light, a light that eclipses every other light? Paul came into that knowledge, when he was Saul. There was a great light above the brightness of the sun, and the light of Christ in glory ruled Paul’s life that day, and every day after that.

And then you come to man “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Gen.1:26); pointing forward to Christ “who is image of the invisible God, firstborn of all creation”, Col.1:15. Then you come to the coats of skin (Gen.3:21), conveying the truth that Jesus had to die in order that sin might be covered. When the coats of skin were provided, God Himself spoke about the seed of the woman who would crush the head of the serpent (Gen.3:15). That is a testimony, a witness, to Christ. Then Abel took of the firstlings of the flock and of their fat and offered them up as a sacrifice (Gen.4:4); a witness to Christ. The firstling was the very best for God. So there is all of that witness in only the first few pages of the book of Genesis. Then you look in the other books of Moses, and Who do you see? When a house was to be set free from the bondage of Egypt, they were to take a lamb, “a lamb, for a father’s house” (Exod.12:3); that was pointing forward to Jesus.

In Leviticus, the burnt-offering, the oblation, the peace-offering, the sin-offering, the trespass-offering, all pointed forward to one blessed Man in whom God would find His eternal pleasure. Then in Numbers 21, the serpent of brass on a pole points forward to that blessed Man; “thus must the Son of man be lifted up”, John 3:14.

In Deuteronomy, we read, “And of Joseph he said, Blessed of Jehovah be his land! By the precious things of the heavens, By the dew, and by the deep that lieth beneath, And by the precious fruits of the sun, And by the precious things put forth by the months, And by the best things of the ancient mountains, And by the precious things of the everlasting hills, And by the precious things of the earth and the fulness thereof, And let the good will of him that dwelt in the bush Come upon the head of Joseph, Upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren. His majesty is as the firstling of his ox; And his horns are as the horns of a buffalo”, Deut.33:13-17. So in the books of Moses, you can see the things that testify of Christ, and we have only touched on a very few.

Then too, Isaiah 53, maybe one of the best known scriptures, says “Who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of Jehovah been revealed?”, Isa.53:1. Oh, the arm of Jehovah, the power that was to come in, speaks of Jesus. It says elsewhere “I have laid help upon a mighty one”, Ps.89:19. It tells us of Christ and of His sufferings, that He was despised by His people whom He had come to call, but it tells us too that He would come out of death in victory, “He shall see of the fruit of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied”, Isa.53:11.

These are well-known scriptures, but I would urge you not to overlook the ones you may not know so well. I will read you a verse from Jeremiah 17, “Blessed is the man that confideth in Jehovah, and whose confidence Jehovah is. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out its roots by the stream, and he shall not see when heat cometh, but his leaf shall be green; and in the year of drought he shall not be careful, neither shall he cease to yield fruit”, Jer.17:7,8. It all points forward to Christ. And the book of the Lamentations of Jeremiah is interesting too. These lamentations speak of the sorrow that will come upon Jerusalem, but also “It is of Jehovah’s loving-kindness we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not; they are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. Jehovah is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him”, Lam.3:22-24. Jeremiah was a man who knew great sorrow, but still he could say “Jehovah is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him”.

I seek to point out to you that Christ is the living thread that runs through Scripture. Jesus spoke from Moses and all the prophets to the two on the way to Emmaüs, and then when He comes to His own, He speaks not only of Moses and the prophets, but also the Psalms. Along with the Psalms, the books of Job, the Proverbs, the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes all speak of experience with God. Job said “I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee: Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes”, Job 42:5,6. He could say in principle, ‘I have seen the Man of God’s choice; I know that I do not measure up but still I can repent because there is forgiveness available’. There are many things that come out in Job including death and sorrow and soul exercise, but there is also an appreciation of the goodness of God. The word says “Dost thou know about the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him that is perfect in knowledge”, Job 37:16. There are some beloved brethren going through times which we can surely say speak of the clouds, but the clouds are balanced and they are all in the hands of the One who is perfect in knowledge. What we do not know, the Lord knows, God knows. The Lord Himself says, “no one can seize out of the hand of my Father”, John 10:29. If persons are saved, they are saved for eternity; there is no such thing as being saved one day and lost another day. We may not know why things happen as they do, but we can rest on the impregnable rock of Holy Scripture; “no one can seize out of the hand of my Father”. Whatever weakness, sorrow, and outward tragedy may come in, the Father’s hand remains, an unshakeable source of power.

John 19 touches on this matter of every scripture being profitable for teaching. “Behold the man!” Why is that profitable for teaching? It teaches us that there is only one Man before God and every one will have to confess Him. We have been reminded that “every knee should bow”, Phil.2:10. “Behold the man!” We need to learn that there is only one Man before God. Why is this profitable for conviction? Because if we do not have the conviction in our own souls that there is only one Man before God, we will go astray, we will not get the blessing of salvation, because the other man that we will have before us will be ourselves. So “Behold the man!” is profitable for conviction, and for correction too. If we have our eye on anyone other than Christ, it is a snare. “The fear of man bringeth a snare”, Prov.29:25. There is only one Man before God. If we need correction, then the answer is to get our eye on Christ. And if we need instruction in righteousness, there is one Man who fulfilled all for the pleasure and glory of God, so that it says, “Him who knew not sin he has made sin for us, that we might become God’s righteousness in him”, 2 Cor.5:21. If we need instruction in righteousness, and we do, it is all to be found in Christ. It says of Him that “Thou hast loved righteousness and hast hated lawlessness; therefore God, thy God, has anointed thee with oil of gladness above thy companions”, Heb.1:9. Think of Jesus, tempted of the devil after forty days in the wilderness; He proved that He loved righteousness. Not that God needed proof of it, but Jesus proved that He loved righteousness and hated lawlessness because even at the weakest point, when the devil tempted Him when He hungered, He fell back on the word of God. The devil attempted to use the word of God wrongly. He had said at the beginning in the garden “Is it even so, that God has said”, Gen.3:1. The devil met in Jesus a Man for whom the word of God was perfect. Jesus would not turn aside from the word of God; He simply quoted it and thus bound the strong man, that is the devil, before He went on to plunder his goods.

Why does the scripture say that Jesus was anointed with the oil of gladness above His companions? If you read about the setting up of the tabernacle system, you will find in Exodus 29 the anointing of the priests; “And this is the thing which thou shalt do to them to hallow them, that they may serve me as priests” (v.1) then in verse 5, “And thou shalt take the garments, and clothe Aaron with the vest” and then in verse 7 “and shalt take the anointing oil, and pour it on his head, and anoint him”. That is the High Priest anointed above His companions. Later on, Aaron himself and his sons, the priests, were anointed with the blood and the oil, but verse 7 is a distinctive anointing of the high priest. The reference to the Lord Jesus being anointed with the oil of gladness above His companions is something distinctive that belongs to Christ, and Christ alone.

Leviticus 4 is another scripture profitable for teaching. It may appear a little more obscure, but it is very, very important. You may have heard it said that this time of grace in which we are is covered by the teaching of the sin of inadvertence. In Leviticus 4, we read about a soul sinning through inadvertence. Why is that important? Hebrews tells us that “where we sin wilfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains any sacrifice for sins”, Heb.10:26. If any of us was to be regarded by God as having sinned wilfully, there would be no sacrifice for sins, but the Lord said when He was on the cross “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”, Luke 23:34. He covered the present dispensation with what is described here in Leviticus as a sin of inadvertence. God in His grace is not charging you at this time with wilful sin, but wants to bring you into blessing by your trusting in the Person, in the finished work and in the precious shed blood of Jesus. So this scripture is profitable for teaching because it helps us to understand the righteous basis on which God can forgive sin.

Why is this scripture in Leviticus important for conviction? If you have sinned, it is important that you are convicted of it and that you recognise what you have done. In order to repent, you must recognise that what you have done is wrong. “If a soul shall sin”; does that apply to you? It certainly applies to me. I can tell you from the Bible that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”, Rom.3:23. So this scripture is profitable for conviction in order that we may recognise that each one of us has sinned and offended God. And it is profitable for correction, that is to say, it can turn us away from our sins, because it says “then for his sin which he hath sinned shall he present”. There is an offering available and that offering is Jesus. And then also for instruction in righteousness; God is righteous to forgive your sins, because there is an offering available, a perfect offering, and that is Jesus.

I say these things to seek to bring out that reading the Bible, going over it carefully and prayerfully with the Holy Spirit, and seeking the Lord’s help about it, will bring light into your soul. This will in turn bring stability into your soul, that the man of God may be complete. What is in mind is that you should be complete too, fully fitted for every good work. It refers to the man of God where we read in Timothy. You may enquire; does that mean it is only for brothers? No, it means that there ought to be maturity in the soul of every saint. There is particular service which is for brothers to do, but I do not restrict it to that; the Scriptures are for everyone. Lydia was a seller of purple at Philippi, she had a house, and her heart was “opened to attend to the things spoken by Paul”, Acts 16:14. She was a sister who was interested in the ministry. The Lord blessed her, and an assembly was established in Philippi that Paul held in great affection. So Lydia represents one “fully fitted to every good work”.

In speaking of the importance of Scripture, I do not set aside ministry which is fully consistent with it. Paul says to Timothy as to certain things “knowing of whom thou hast learned them”, 2 Tim.3:14. It is important that we can trace what is said back to their source in the Bible. I am seeking to establish in our souls that everything we do and say as believers must be based on Scripture. For us to understand that, it is important for us each to have a grasp of Scripture for ourselves.

I do not want to set this before you as a difficult challenge. All I am suggesting is that each one of us here should commit ourselves to taking up the Bible every day and learning about the Lord Jesus from it. Go through the Scriptures in an orderly way, not as a routine, but paying regular attention to them, and remembering always what the Lord Jesus said “they it is which bear witness concerning me”. I trust the Lord may help us for His name’s sake.

Address at Aberdeen
25 August 2012