Bibliology - Lesson 5 by O. B. (Oscar Brian) Mink

Assignment:
Study Chapter four (4) of The Bible and Spiritual Criticism by A. T. Pierson.
Questions on this lesson will be based on the following comments.

Scripture:
I Thessalonians 5:21 "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good."

The Double Challenge

    In lesson four (4), we noted that God has established criteria by which the Bible student is to examine every person claiming to speak for God.
    The ministers' doctrine and his deportment, his belief and his behaviour must correspond with, and meet the Scriptural requirement.
    The New Testament Baptist church is God's executive arm in the earth, and if the local churches fail to demand of those who claim for themselves preacher status what the Bible says they are to possess, it is certain that false teachers will creep in. Laxity in enforcing this rule has destroyed many churches, reducing them to synagogues of satan. The minister is to be of "Good behaviour, holding fast the faithful Word." (Titus 1:9). I Peter 5:1-3, "The Elders which are among you I exhort, feed the flock of God which is among you, being ensamples to the flock."

Intellectual Impotence

I Corinthians 1:21 "... The world by wisdom knew not God ..." The natural man can be intellectually correct about certain facts taught in the Bible, and he can know many facts about the Bible. But the greatest intellectual acquisition of' Bible knowledge is within itself impotent in revealing the true God. Knowledge produced by the natural mind is restricted. He can know by weighing the evidence that Christ was crucified in the exact way and manner described in the Bible. And by using the same criteria used by honest historians in recording history, he can also know that Christ arose from the dead at the time, and in the manner revealed in Scripture. Though he knows Christ died and arose from the dead, it does not, and will not, profit him until he knows by Holy Spirit revelation that Christ died and arose from the grave as his personal substitute. The world, by wisdom, may know many things about God, but they shall never, by the power of the intellect, be able to truthfully say, "I know Whom I have believed." (II Timothy 2:12).

Pharisaic Attitude

There are thousands in our day who are studying the Scriptures in the same way and with the same ends in view as the pharisee's of Christ's day. The first century pharisee's s approached the Scriptures in a cold, intellectual and academic manner. They were immovable in their ways and had no intention of bowing to the authority of Holy writ. The pharisees intellectual conception of the Old Testament was broad and comprehensive. They had a deep and abiding reverence for the letter of the Word. They were experts in Old Testament genealogy, chronology and ceremonialism. But with the written Old Testament constantly before them, and endless hours of study in it, they yet failed to see Whom it was the prophets alluded to in their prophecies of the coming Messiah. They had the written Word of God and they knew more about the Old Testament than any other people in the world, yet their knowledge was the product of natural wisdom, and natural wisdom is eternally inadequate in appropriating spiritual truth. They excelled all in knowledge of the written Word, but were totally destitute of knowledge concerning the living Word. Thus it is Christ says to the pharisees of every age, "My Word hath no place in you." (John 8:37). The Bible is more than a religious text book, more than a compendium of religious knowledge. It is food for the quickened soul, and light for the renewed life.

Spiritual Development

II Peter 3:18, "Grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ." This command is given to them that have believed in Christ to the saving of their souls (II Peter 1:1). And the born again person must be constantly aware of his need for perpetual Bible study. The Bible emphatically declares that the natural man cannot receive a proper conception of God from his study of the Scriptures, then too, it is equally true, and plainly taught in Scripture, that the born again person cannot have the conception of God he should have, apart from the study of the Scriptures. Regular and systematic Bible study is necessary for spiritual growth, and the spiritual well being of the believer, even as a proper diet of food stuff is necessary to a person's physical well being. The natural tendency is to feed our physical bodies and neglect our spiritual being. The devil's authorship of this program of neglect is seen in the wilderness temptation of Christ (Matthew 4), but Christ countered and defeated the devil by quoting the Scripture which states, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God," (Deuteronomy 8:3, Matthew 4:4). Through diligent study of the Bible the soul of the believer is fed. The soul assimilates the truths of God's Word, and is strengthened thereby. When Christ said to the studious Pharisees, "Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God," (Matthew 22:29) He was not condemning them for their incessant study, but for not relying on the power of God for instruction. The Holy Spirit is the Divine Instructor, and through His tutelage a workman is developed "that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth" (II Timothy 2:15).

"Thy Word is everlasting truth;
How pure is every page!
That Holy Book shall guide our youth,
And well support our age.
Isaac Watts - 1719

Rejection Of The Record

    I John 5:10, "... He that believeth not God hath made Him a liar; because he believeth not the record that Gave of His Son." This is a reference to what might be termed the nominal unbeliever, but he nevertheless is a rejecter. He may be considered a passive rejecter when compared with those who vehemently and manifestly oppose the Word of God, yet by his disobedience he calls God a liar. Christ plainly says, "He that is not with Me is against Me," (Matthew 12:30). Some rejecters may not rave and rant, concealing their rage and restraining their vain imaginations against the record that God gave of His Son. But nominal resistance to the Word of God is in the eyes of Him that is infinitely holy an absolute rejection of His Son. The written Word and the Living Word are infallibly and eternally linked together, it is impossible to reject one without rejecting the other.
   John 12:48, "He that rejecteth Me and receiveth not My words, hath one that julgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day."
    The written Word came from God, and is therefore endowed with many of the characteristics of God. The Scriptures are infallible, eternal, immutable, holy and every effort to discredit the Bible is, in essence, an attempt to discredit God. The written Word of God is that indispensable instrument the Holy Spirit uses in imparting life and light to the elect of God. And to the elect, the commandments of God are not grievous, but joyous.

Conclusions

To the world, the Bible is the most contemptible thing in existence. The world will go on mocking and ridiculing the person that holds the Bible to be the very Word of God. What this world needs to speedily learn is: God views those that hold contempt for the Scriptures as holding contempt for His Beloved Son, and will in final judgment consign the Bible despiser to eternal and holy contempt.

Questions
Lesson - 5

1. How can New Testament churches prevent false preachers and teachers from entering and destroying their churches?

2. Can the natural man be intellectually correct about certain facts taught in the Bible?

4. What must a person have revealed to him by the Holy Spirit before he profitably can study the Bible?

5.What did the first century pharisees have a deep and abiding reverence for relating to the Scriptures?

8. Christ did not condemn the pharisees for their incessant study of Scriptures. What did He condemn them for relating to the study of the Word of God?

9. What is necessary for the spiritual health and spiritual well being of the believer?

12. Every effort to discredit the Bible is, in essence, an attempt to discredit whom?

13. Name four attributes which the written Word and the Living Word have in common.