Sunday, October 28, 2012
THE PRIORITY OF THE SPIRIT
* This is not the way I preached
it. Used the basic concepts, but
departed at several points. (See notes
in “Briefs” and
listen to CD)
Seven weeks
ago I shared a message entitled “The Spirit and the Word.” We spent our time that morning examining the
relationship between the Holy Spirit and the written Word of God. Of course, that is a very close relationship,
and it begins with the fact that the Spirit of God is the author of the written
Word. Holy men of God spoke, as they
were carried along by the Holy Spirit (II Pet. 1:21). Though humans were used to actually write
down the words, the ultimate author of the entire Bible is the Spirit of
God. That’s why we read that every
scripture is God-breathed, or “God-Spirited.”
We have the written Word because of the work of the Spirit.
Today I
want to explore this relationship between the Spirit and the Word in more
depth. My purpose is to help us
understand how vital the ministry of the Spirit is and how desperately we need
Him to work in our lives. You may say,
“We know that.” Maybe, but I’m not
convinced we know it at the level we need to know it.
Let’s begin
in John 5. In the latter part of this
chapter Jesus is speaking to the Jewish religious leaders (verses 10, 15, 16,
18). They accused Him not only of
working on the Sabbath by healing the lame man, but also of making Himself
equal with God. Jesus responded by
explaining to them that He had many witnesses of His true identity, including
John the Baptist, His own mighty deeds, and the Father Himself. Now let’s pick it up in verse 37 and read John
5:37-40…
And the
Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His
voice at any time, nor seen His form. 38 But you do
not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. 39 You search
the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they
which testify of Me. 40 But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.
I am aware
that in verse 39 of the KJV, “Search” is a command. It is a matter of translation, as the
original word can be taken as a command or a statement. It seems much better to understand Jesus as
saying, “This is what you do; you search the scriptures.” But either way you take the word “search,”
Jesus is saying that these religious leaders think they have life because they
spend their time poring through their Bible.
Get that picture in your mind.
These scholarly men thought they would receive eternal life because of
their great acquaintance with God’s written word.
On the
surface, that may sound really good.
However, there was a problem. Do
you see it? The Bible they read bore
witness to Jesus, but they refused to turn to the Jesus to whom their Bibles
pointed. While it was certainly a good
thing to read and learn the scriptures, they were unwilling to come to Jesus
for life. Those leaders clearly said
that they loved and honored the Word of God, but they despised Jesus and
accused Him of having a demon. The
Bible, yes; Jesus, no.
Please do
not take this lightly. This should stir
up some questions in our mind. How is it
possible to be such a diligent student of the Bible and absolutely miss the
will of God? How can a person spend his
life studying the Bible and reject the Son of God? Surely that is not easy to understand, and
yet, according to Jesus Himself, that is exactly what happened to these
guys. Now comes the big question: Can the same thing happen today?
Please turn
to II Timothy 3. Here in the latter part
of this chapter Paul is talking about the very Word of God that those religious
leaders were searching, the Word in which they thought they found eternal
life. Let’s read II Tim. 3:14-15, “But you must continue in the
things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have
learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy
Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which
is in Christ Jesus.” Paul says that the
scriptures Timothy learned from a young age were able to make him wise for
salvation. In other words, those
scriptures pointed the way to salvation.
Those religious leaders to whom Jesus spoke did not find the way of
salvation in the scriptures, even though they studied them all of their
lives. Those same scriptures made
Timothy wise unto salvation. Understand
that both Jesus and Paul are referring to what we know as the Old Testament. The truths contained in those Old Testament
books led Timothy and many others to salvation, but not so with the Pharisees
and other religious leaders of Jesus’ day.
Now let’s move forward a couple of
thousand years. We too have the
scriptures. Those people lived on the
other side of the cross; we live on this side of the cross. As they had the written Word of God, so we
have the written Word of God, but with one major difference. We have a much clearer and more complete written
Word than they did. The Old Testament
looked forward to the coming of the Messiah; through the New Testament we look
back at His death, resurrection, and ascension to the right hand of God the
Father.
It is not difficult for us to see
that though the Old Testament was the inspired Word of God and its truths were
crucial for the people of God, it pointed to someone greater. Its goal was to make its readers wise unto
salvation, as we read in II Tim. 3:15.
The stories about Abraham, Moses, David, and Elijah were very important,
but they meant little, if the Old Testament reader missed the truth about the
Messiah. Remember that the Pharisees
claimed Abraham was as their father, but the fatherhood of Abraham ultimately
had no value for those who rejected Jesus as the Son of God. The value of the Old Testament was finally in
the fact that it pointed to Jesus as Lord and Messiah.
Now let’s think about the New
Testament. It would be true to say that
New Testament is a continuation of the story of the Old Testament. However, that doesn’t give us the whole
truth. Many illustrations have been
given to picture the relationship between the Old and New Testaments. Someone has said that the Old Testament is
the bud, while the New Testament is the flower.
What was prophesied in the Old Testament comes to fulfillment in the New
Testament. The outward forms of the Old
Testament are referred to in Col. 2:17 as shadow, but the reality is in Christ,
whose life, death, and resurrection are clearly recorded in the New
Testament. Both the Old Testament and
the New Testament are the Word of God, but the New Testament is superior, just
as we would prefer the flower to the bud.
Having said that, we are likely to
conclude that the written words of the New Testament are the ultimate reality.
What could be better than to have the written record of the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ? If the Old
Testament was able to make people wise unto salvation, how much moreso is that
true of the New Testament! Is it any
wonder that godly parents want their children to read and grasp the Word of
God, especially the great truths that are unfolded in the New Testament. But it isn’t just for children. We encourage one another to read it, memorize
it, meditate on it, and obey it.
Now I want to ask you a very
sobering question: Is it possible to
idolize the Bible? Many years ago I was
accused of bibliolatry, of worshiping the Bible. That accusation did not come from some pagan
professor, but from another Christian.
Is it possible to idolize the Bible?
Can we ever put too much emphasis on the written Word of God? It is difficult to answer that question
without some frame of reference. In
response to the question about placing too much importance on the Bible,
someone might ask, “In comparison to what?”
If I am comparing emphasizing the Bible to emphasizing other reading or
viewing material, I could never put too much emphasis on the Bible. But what if I am considering the importance
of the Bible in relation to the importance of other spiritual realities? Are there other spiritual realities that are
of even greater importance than the Bible?
Let me put it like this: Is there always value in a person learning
the truths of the written Word? I answer
that question with a “Yes and No.” There
is value in all learning of scripture, in that those truths can lead us into
reality. On the other hand, what value
is there in learning scriptural truth, if that truth doesn’t lead us into
reality? In saying that, I am making an
assumption. I am assuming that there is
a reality beyond the words of the Bible.
Is that true? Is the reality in
the words themselves, or in something to which those words point? Think about that.
As you think, let me read you a
statement from William Law, written 250 years ago. At this point I must tell you that this little
book (The Power of the Spirit, by William Law) has opened my eyes to
some things. I am going to paraphrase
just a little bit of his statement to make it a bit clearer: “The Bible should be reverenced as doing all
that words can do to bring us to God--that is, to point the way. But the life-giving power of Christ does not
reside in intellectual study of the Bible, but in the life-giving power of the
Holy Spirit, for ‘the gospel is not in word only, but in power and in much
assurance of the Holy Spirit’ (I Thes. 1:5).’”
William Law is implying that while the words of scripture are to be
highly valued, the words themselves do not bring us to God. Unless the Holy Spirit does a work beyond the
words written on the page, they will never produce anything in a human life. Law goes on to say, “What folly to ascribe to
the letter of Scripture that power which the words themselves most plainly tell
us is solely in the life-giving Spirit of God” (p. 36). [Read II Cor. 3:1-6]
We might illustrate this truth by
comparing it to Gal. 3:24, “Therefore
the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by
faith.” If we read this verse at a
glance and apart from its context, we might get the idea that the law itself
saves a person. However, the larger
context of Galatians and the entire Bible makes it clear that the law brings us
to Christ by showing us that we don’t have the power to obey its precepts. Then when we realize this powerlessness to
come to God by obedience to the law, we are left to look for another solution. That solution is Christ, who was sent to bear
our sins. As our eyes are opened to the
truth of His crucifixion and resurrection, then we trust in Him and God
declares us righteous in Christ. The law
was preparatory to the gospel of Christ.
That doesn’t mean the law is not important, but it does mean that the
gospel is superior to the law.
William Law graphically illustrates this same truth by
taking us back to one of the first texts we examined in our study of the Holy
Spirit. Listen to
his criticism of studying the Bible without a few to present fellowship with
the Spirit…
This
basic error is much encouraged by the pitiful reasoning of great Bible scholars
and preachers who affirm that God no longer communicates with men except
through the words of Scripture: and who, on the grounds of a completed canon,
deny the reality of the Holy Spirit’s inspiration and communion presently
active in the soul and spirit of man. Let us put their doctrine into the letter
of the text, which will best show how true or false it is. Our Lord says, “It
is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away, the Comforter will
not come unto you.” That is, it is
expedient that I discontinue teaching in audible words, that you may have the
written page to look at with your eyes: for if I go away, I will send written
words which shall lead you into such a truth of doctrine as you could not have
while they were only spoken from my mouth. These will be the heavenly Comforter
abiding with you—the most supreme illumination you can receive from me.
According to these teachers, the fellowship Jesus offers is nothing so extreme
as the reality of the Holy Spirit actually manifesting Christ to our spirits
and His works in our lives; rather it is the wonderful, heavenly, sublime
communion between our intellects and the letter of Scripture.
What
can this intellectual approach bring to the study of Scripture except that
which the most wicked scholar could also boast through a knowledge of Greek and
his natural memory? A historical, intellectual or grammatical learning of the
words of Scripture can do no more towards removing the fleshly nature and its
works from the soul of man than the same human knowledge of mathematics or
literature. (p. 36-37)
Here is the
bottom line: Both the ministry of the
Bible and the ministry of the Holy Spirit are vital in our lives. We don’t choose between one or the other. As we have stated a number of times before,
the two go hand in hand. That makes
perfect sense, as it is the Holy Spirit who gave us the Bible. BUT the words of the Bible are preparatory
for the ministry of the Spirit. To put
it another way, the ministry of the Holy Spirit goes beyond what the Bible can
do. One of the ways we understand that
is to remember that the Holy Spirit is a person and He is God. While the written Word of God is vital for
the believer, it was never intended to take the place of a person, of God
Himself. We don’t fellowship with the
written Word, but we do fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Listen to the way Paul closes his second
letter to the Corinthians: "The
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the
Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen" (II
Cor. 13:14). That word
“communion” is the normal word for fellowship.
The Bible is a tool that leads to something greater -- fellowship with
the Spirit of God.
So can a person be guilty of
bibliolatry? Yes. While there are other ways we can do so,
William Law focuses on one particular aspect of this idolizing of the Bible in
his book The Power of the Spirit.
The original title was An Humble, Earnest, and Affectionate Address to the
Clergy. Yes, it was written
to preachers. Later, the title was
changed in order that it might reach a wider audience. Law was especially concerned about scholarly
study of the scriptures. This is what he
saw: He saw men giving themselves to
diligent study of the Word by various means -- study of the historical context,
research into the customs of biblical times, the learning the original languages
Greek and Hebrew, etc. Was he opposed to
Bible study? No, but he was violently
opposed to Bible study methodology that neglected the necessity of the Holy
Spirit’s power. Listen to this scathing rebuke of
Spiritless intellectualism…
Vain
men give to one another a special recognition as having great power and
position in this heavenly kingdom by virtue of a proficient learning in
languages and Biblical history, or skill in doctrinal analysis. If the faith of
illiterate fishermen did more for the establishment of the church in a few
years than centuries of prodigious scholarship, one may readily understand that
a trust in the wisdom of men and the letter of Scripture has caused the church
to fall from its first gospel state in much the way that Adam fell through
eating of the same tree of knowledge. The Bible teacher and religious leader
who gain and hold a church position through intellectual attainments and
oratorical skills can be said to differ from lesser men only as the serpent
differed from the other beasts of the field—in that it was more subtle. And the
old Serpent has elevated many of his servants through this same subtlety into
places of authority and influence within that which pretends to be the Church
of Christ. (p. 41)
Conclusion
I want to
conclude by reading you a portion of a kind of parable that William Law
constructs. He begins it with these
words: “Let me here relate to you a
little piece of history which a friend, Academicus, has given of himself.” In his little story Academicus represents
those who rely upon their mind to open up the truths of the Bible. So Academicus, armed with a sharp mind and a
thirst for learning, begins his story…
When I had taken my degrees in the university, I
consulted several great divines [biblical scholars] to put me in a method of
studying divinity. It would take half a
day to tell you the work which my learned friends suggested…
One
told me that Hebrew words are all; that when the Old Testament is read thus, it
becomes an open book…
Several friends of high repute and
leadership in the church told me that church history is the main matter, that I
must begin with the first Fathers and follow them through every age, not
forgetting to diligently study the lives of the Roman emperors, etc…
Another, who is not very fond of
ancient matters, but wholly bent upon rational Christianity, tells me I need go
back no further than the Reformation; that Calvin and Cramner were great men…
The last person I consulted advised me
to get all the histories of the rise and progress of heresies… These histories,
so he said, contract the matter, bring truth and error close in view, and I
should find all that collected in a few pages…
That is
just a summary of what Academicus said.
He went into great detail to explain how all these very educated friends
advised him in a particular line of study that would open up the great truths
of the Bible. But now listen to these
closing paragraphs. Here we are going to
be introduced to a character named Rusticus.
The name is taken from “rustic,” which the dictionary defines as “an
awkward, coarse person,” “an unsophisticated rural person.” In other words, his name speaks of an
uncultured man who doesn’t have the privilege of an education, etc.
Following
the advice of all these counselors as well as I could, I lighted my candle
early in the morning and put it out late at night. I had been thus laboring for some years, till
Rusticus, at my first acquaintance with him, seeing my way of life, said to me,
“Had you lived about seventeen hundred years ago, you had stood just in the
same place as I stand now. I cannot
read, and therefore,” says he, “all these hundreds of thousands of doctrine and
disputing books which these seventeen hundred years have produced stand not in
my way; they are the same thing to me as if they had never been. And had you lived at the time mentioned, you
had just escaped them all, as I do now, because thought you are a very good
reader, there were then none of them to be read. Could you therefore be content to be one of
the primitive Christians who lived before these writings, and who were as good
disciples of Christ as any that have been since, you may spare all this labor.”
It is
not easy for me, says Academicus, to tell you how much good I received from
this simple instruction of honest Rusticus.
What project was it, to be grasping after the knowledge of all the
opinions, doctrines, disputes, heresies, schisms, and decrees which seventeen
hundred years had brought forth through all the extent of the Christian
world! What project this, in order to
learn the reality of the power of Christ as a deliverer from the evil and
earthly flesh and blood, and death and hell, and to become a preacher of a new
birth and life from above! For as this
is the divine work of Christ, so he only
is a true and able pastor who can bear a faithful testimony to this divine work
of Christ in his own soul.
How
plain it should have been for me to see that all this labyrinth of learned
enquiry into such a dark, thorny wilderness of notions, facts, and opinions
could signify no more to me now, to my own salvation, to my interest in Christ
and obtaining the Holy spirit of God, than if I had lived before it had any
beginning. But the blind appetite for
learning gave me no leisure to apprehend so clear a truth.
Books
of divinity, indeed, I have not done with; but will esteem none to be such but
those that make known to my heart the inward power and redemption of Jesus
Christ, through the indwelling and working of the Holy Spirit. Nor will I seek for anything even from such
books, but that which I ask of God in prayer:
how more to abhor and resist the evil that is in my own nature, and how
to better obtain the full outworking of the divine life brought forth by a
supernatural birth within me. All
besides this is waste and folly.
Do you see
the point? Today we are blessed with
hundreds of years of accumulated biblical knowledge. And because we live in the age of technology,
we have access to all of it. We can read
the Bible from every translation imaginable.
In audio form we have it on cassette, CD, DVD. We can listen to it on our smart phones,
pods, and pads and every other device imaginable. We can go online and learn from those who
have studied the scriptures all their lives.
We can tune into the best sermons available. Bible concordances, dictionaries, and
commentaries are constantly at our fingertips.
But with all that, are we any better off than the first-century Christians
who had none of that? They didn’t even have
the New Testament in written form. Yet
these every-day Christians followed Jesus and proclaimed the gospel. Acts 17:6 testifies that these early
disciples turned the world upside down.
So why is
it that with all our advantages, we aren’t doing any better than they did? As a matter of fact, though we don’t want to
idolize those early Christians, we long to see God work through us as He did
through them. The answer is simple. Though they didn’t have many of the things we
have, they experienced the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in their
lives. They understood that the power for living and ministry doesn’t come
through learning. Knowledge, even
knowledge of scripture, is only a tool.
It is only preparation for something far greater, and that something is
fellowship with and complete reliance upon the Spirit of God. To the extent that biblical knowledge leads
us to personal involvement with the Holy Spirit, we praise God for it. But the truth is that far too often we have
seen the Bible as an end in itself; we have been deceived into thinking that if
we just know the Bible, we will grow in the Lord. No, that is not the case. A person can quote the entire New Testament
and know nothing of real spiritual truth.
That is he message of I Corinthians 2.
“The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for
they are foolishness to him; neither can he know them, because they are
spiritually discerned” (I Cor. 2:14).
We must
never elevate the Bible to a place where it is on a par with God. God gave us the Bible; the Bible does not
give us God. Eternal life is to know God
the Father and His Son Jesus Christ.
That knowledge is personal, intimate acquaintance, and it comes through
the Holy Spirit. Bible learning that is
not accomplished in the power of the Spirit means nothing. The truth was evident in the lives of the
Pharisees.
I have
spent our time this morning warning us of intellectual biblical knowledge that
neglects the Spirit, but praise God that it doesn’t have to be that way. The Spirit can give us a thirst for the Word
that goes far deeper than the brain. He
takes that Word and uses it to prepare us for fellowship with the living God,
to lead us to worship the Father in spirit and in truth.
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