THY WORD IS TRUTH
“Thy Word is Truth.” John 17:17b
The Bible, the dear Word of God, is the most precious Book in the whole world, because it is the truth. From the first chapter of Genesis to the last chapter of Revelation, it is the entire Word of the Holy One of Israel.
If the Lord has given conversion to our soul and we may seek His guidance, then we shall find out that we may be sure of the truth of Holy Writ. It is more certain than anything else in the world.
If the Lord, by the operation of the Holy Spirit, will cause in our heart a hunger after the Word of God, we shall find out that it fits man for life, in all circumstances, yes, that it will be his Guide and prepare him for the day of death.
There are many books in our world of today. Bad books, worthless books, and books which are a blessing for a poor soul; however, there is no book on which we can rest at the moment of death but the Bible.
When it is so dry and cold in our heart, and the Lord gives us to cry for His help, then at His time, He shall make sure that the Bible is like rain, which moistens and refreshes the earth. And so, God’s Word can refresh our poor soul.
For God’s child it is like a fountain, from which we draw living water; it is like a tree which has branches, limbs and twigs full of luscious fruit. When there may come a hunger for the Word of Life, we can find many fruits in the precious Testimony of Almighty God.
The Word of God, by the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, can uncover the wickedness of our soul, can give an insight in the godlessness of our nature. It can also, by the grace of the Lord, give us an insight in the way and work of the Sun of Righteousness in the darkness of our heart. In that same Word we can find the great Fountain filled with the water of life, which will be given freely to a wretched sinner. Oh, my dear reader, it is the great revelation which God has graciously given to unworthy sinners in themselves in the darkness of this world.
Yes, the Word of God is the handwriting of Him, Who sits upon His throne, by which He reveals unto poor people His good pleasure and seals unto them their salvation. It is the medicine for a soul who cannot help himself or herself anymore. God’s everlasting Word is a stream of living water for a thirsting soul, it is the source of all spiritual knowledge.
Nowadays, there are many maps for travelers, but the infallible Word of God is the best Guide Book for a person who by himself cannot find the way to God and Christ. Oh, that it might fill our thoughts, rule our heart, and guide our feet.
At times, it can be a great comfort for a weary soul, or a textbook full of instruction. It is able to give hope to a hopeless soul.
All of us can know, and I hope believe, that the Holy Word of God had many writers, but only one Author, namely the Triune God of heaven and of earth.
If the Lord will give us some experience out of His Word by the Light of Heaven, then we may see that it flows from the throne of God. It is the voice of God for a lost generation, for helpless people.
The Word itself carries the living stamp of Divine inspiration, but there must be a spiritual eye to see it. He that is blind does not know that the sun shines but by the report of others. However, those who actually see, are assured that they really see it. They are assured by nothing less than the sun’s own light.
It is the same way for all generations from Adam to the last one in this world. By ourselves we are blind in the ways of heaven and the Word of God is a closed Book. But if and when the Lord gives light in our soul, if and when He will open our blind eyes, then we may see the Light that came down from heaven. The Light, that is revealed in the Holy Testimony of God.
If it is to be well in our life, we must understand that the more one draws from, and drinks of, the well of Scripture, the thirstier one becomes for its water. And yet, that alone completely quenches one’s thirst.
Oh, young and old readers, don’t stop reading Scripture on account of its difficult passages. From ourself we cannot understand the contents of the Word of God, but by the Holy Light we may learn to see what the Lord desires to teach us by such parts of Scripture.
In this connection, I would like to remind you what God’s servant, the apostle Peter, said to God’s children in his days. We can read it in II Peter 3:16, 17: “As also in all his (Paul’s) epistles speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, unto their own destruction. Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.”
Immediately, in the last verse, follows an appeal to God’s people: “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” And then a few words to the glory of Him Who sits in the heavens upon His great and white throne: “To Him be glory, both now and forever. Amen.”
The Holy Word of God fares no better than Christ did during His earthly sojourn. Since Christ was “found in fashion as a man,” the Jewish public regarded Him as a mere man like John the Baptist, Elijah, or one of the prophets at best. People make the same mistake with the written Word of God. Since the Bible is written in our human language, it is not regarded to be God’s Word, but is placed into the same class with man-made books and is even criticized by men.
We know that against the Lord Jesus all kinds of slander was permitted. We can read in the Gospel: “For many bare false witness against Him, but their witness agreed not together.” It is the same thing which is happening against the precious Word of Almighty God.
But His Word shall stand forever!
During many centuries, learned men--learned indeed, but not in humble obedience to God’s ordinances-have been fighting against the Word of God. Still, wonder of heaven, the Bible has come out of a thousand fights unscarred, from a thousand fires unscathed.
As firm as a rock the Holy Scriptures alone remain the only rule and standard according to which, as the only touchstone, all dogmas should and must be discerned and judged as to whether they be good or evil, right or wrong.
God’s Testimony to mankind is the fully inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of God. Whenever you reject it as such, you are in troubled waters of pretended autonomous human reason, perpetual guess, in the black darkness of torturing doubt, and the unrest of soul, for which there is no cure.
The best evidence that the Bible is inspired is to be found within its covers. It proves itself. Every part of the Word of God supports every other part, while the whole reveals God’s righteousness and at the same time God’s love and His perfect plan for the redemption of the elect, of people who learn to cry out: “I am lost! I am lost!”
May I ask you a question: “Did a time come in your life that you, when you looked in the Word and Law of God, had to cry out: ‘I am lost’?” Oh, ask the Lord if He will use His Word to open your heart, so you may see that we all are fallen children of Adam.
The Bible must be divinely inspired. Did not Paul-while he himself was driven by the Holy Spirit-write so to Timothy? “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God.” He is the Author of the complete Word. And this great Self-revelation He makes known to His own people. They receive the sure evidence in their heart by experience, not only the certainty that the Lord spoke His own Word, but also the certainty that His Word will never pass away. On the contrary, it shall remain immutable. With David they sometimes exclaim as in Psalm 119:
Forever settled in the heav’ns,
Thy Word, O Lord, shall firmly stand;
Thy faithfulness shall never fail;
The earth abides at Thy command.
Thy Word and works unmoved remain,
Thy ev’ry purpose to fulfill;
All things are Thine and Thee obey,
And all as servants wait Thy will.
(Psalter 332)
If you learn that you are guilty, that you are a wrongdoer, then, by the Light of the Holy Spirit, the Bible can be the greatest blessing for your poor soul, bestowed by God. It is pure, all sincere; it is not partly true, but the complete truth. And there is no better teacher of this Holy Book than He, Who Himself is the Author of His Word.
We will give you a humble advice: Search the Scriptures and pray for light in your soul for a right understanding of its contents.
Truly, my dear friends, you cannot read too much in the Divine Word. When you read it, do so with a prayer in your heart that the Lord will give you an understanding heart, and that it might be your Guide Book on your journey to the never-ending eternity.
People in distress, recall the people that were pricked in their hearts on the day of Pentecost. They said to Peter and to the rest of the apostles: “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” You should know the answer (read it in Acts 2). What was the blessed result? Listen: that they gladly received the Word Peter preached--it was the Word That came from heaven for lost sinners.
I hope and pray that the Lord will open many eyes and ears, and that we may receive a clear insight into Holy Scripture, which show us how the Lord in all ages and time would have His blessed Word preserved for the comfort of His elect children and church in spite of Satan.
Let it be a lesson for our souls in this very dark time, and also an encouragement for God’s children: “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”
Finally, remember this: In the Word of God the only Way of salvation is declared, the only Light for a dark soul. I hope we may learn more and more for our soul, what Jesus Himself has said: “I am the Light of the world. He that follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the Light of life.” Amen.
Chilliwack B.C.
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Bekijk de hele uitgave van donderdag 1 april 1976
The Banner of Truth | 20 Pagina's