The Saving Knowledge of God (3)

Q. What is a seventh argument?

A. It is that if the Bible is not of God, then it must have been made by good or evil angels, or by good or evil people. However, the Bible was not from good angels, for they themselves were desirous to discover something which they did not know, how it was that God was willing, in His Son, to become the God of sinners, and how that He was reconciling the world unto Himself. Neither can they call themselves “Lord” and “Lord of hosts.” The Bible is also not of the devil, for he only shoots arrows against it. All his efforts are to get rid of the Bible.

Neither is the Bible from good people, for they heartily acknowledge that they have not made it, but they have written it only because they were moved to do so by God's Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21). They also cannot call themselves Lord and God, as we continually hear in the Bible that the Author calls Himself. Neither did evil people make it, for they are pictured in it as most despicable, and they would also like to be rid of it. Thus no one remains but God.

These seven arguments should be firmly maintained by every one of us, saying, “I accept Thy testimony and desire to live according to that Word.” He who does this with utmost simplicity does it best.

Would you like another argument added to these? The purpose of the Bible is to bring all of you unto God and unto the Savior in the right way. It comforts the perplexed, and it strengthens the faint-hearted. The Word says, “If you will walk in that way, you will have peace.” It is true that he that does so will have liberty and quietness, and he that does not do so will have no liberty.

Would you like another argument? Just see what power has been done with and by that Word. This was not done by the sword and by persecution, as the Turks and Papists do in advancing their religion. We make use of nothing but the Word, and everyone can see that it is powerful; they must bow before it, even the most brazen of them. When the apostles were sent out to preach, what power accompanied the Word! What a great multitude were converted, crying out, “What must we do to be saved?” Even if there were no examples, the more that one lives according to the Word, the more security it gives. The wicked think they also have peace, but it is not right, and their end shall be bitter.

Q. Is it also consistent with grace when a person is assailed as to whether this Word is true?

A. Yes, it is our opinion that there are few who have entered into heaven without having tasted this. The devil is always busy trying to stir up unbelief. However, when these assaults come, we must not give in to them but immediately review the arguments proposed by us and then firmly believe that the Word is true. If the devil still comes to us with objections, we must not interest ourselves in them nor give him a hearing. Simply say to him, “I have no time for you; answer it yourself,” and then he will flee.

Q. Does this Book not teach us to know more of God than do the books of nature and conscience?

A. Yes, it not only teaches us to know that there is a God, but also to know

• who God is;

• that there is a triune God;

• what He is willing to be for an unworthy sinner, that He is full of mercy in His Son, even for the greatest of sinners, that there is a counsel of peace, a Mediator, and a Spirit to open the heart and enlighten the understanding;

• ourselves as miserable ones, that there is deliverance, and that this is followed by gratitude.

Q. Supposing that a person knows all this; is that enough?

A. No, then he must say, “Permit me with this knowledge to have inward light and to know Thee as my salvation,” and, “May it please Thee to let me know inwardly that which Thou hast promised to pour out upon all flesh—that sons and daughters shall prophesy, and that all of Thy children shall be taught of the Lord.” External knowledge is not sufficient for salvation. Then such a person will say, “Lord, I desire that Thou wouldest grant me to know it in such a way that I would experience the power of it in my heart.” This was what David prayed for, that he might taste and see that the Lord is good. The soul which is taught in the inner chamber and led into the banqueting house tastes and sees by experience the blessedness of that knowledge, and must say, “Who is a Teacher as Thou art, preaching in the heart as One having authority?” Then he will say that we must part with our wisdom which dwells within us, for the carnal mind is enmity against God.

Q. From what can we know that this knowledge is saving?

A. (a) Historical knowledge loves only wisdom, but spiritual knowledge loves the truth. “O how love I Thy law!” (Psalm 119:97).

(b) Where it is to the saving of the soul, it makes the person humble; it is lodged in the heart. Historical knowledge is only in the head and puffs up; spiritual knowledge humbles by its light, for they learn to know God in His greatness and themselves in their insignificance and nothingness.

(c) Where there is a saving knowledge, there is a denying of self; they are not quarrelsome. They do not envy those who know more, and they do not despise those who know less.

(d) Such souls always desire to increase in knowledge. They say, “No matter where I turn, I always find something new, something which I had not understood.”

(e) Such persons take notice of their conduct, whether it corresponds with their knowledge; when they do not find it so, it causes them much shame.

(f) A letter-knowledge is an enemy to all inward work; that which is spiritual is not tolerated. They lack these gifts, and they cannot bear that others have them. To such they give ill names, such as being stupid or too precise. They often imagine themselves a thousand times wiser than they in spiritual things, and they also speak differently about the Bible.

Q. Is it not a great blessing for a person if God gives him true wisdom?

A. Yes, it is his ornament. We read in Jeremiah, “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom…but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me.” It is not only his ornament, but it is all his delight that a person may see all the works of God. Every activity of God is equally new. This knowledge is a tree of life. The means and ways in which to obtain this knowledge of God are these: the book of nature; the book of conscience; and the Scriptures, which are given us in order that we might learn to examine ourselves, and so by degrees come to the knowledge of our misery.

— from Smytegelt's Monday Catechism

— to be continued —

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