The Certainty of Scripture. T h e Words of Scripture A s Certain A s If Spoken Audibly Out of the Skies Bj> DR. A . O D IX O N
OD who a t sundry times and in divers manners spake in time, past unto the fathers by the prophets hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son.” (Heb. 1:1, 2) and if we turn to Deut. 4:12-14 we find three of the “divers manners” in which God spoke. 1. By the audible voice. “The Lord spoke unto you out of the midst of the fire; ye heard the voice of the words but. saw no form: only a voice.” This audible voice the three disciples heard on the Mount of Trans figuration, and it was heard again at the baptism of our Lord. 2. By writing. “He declared unto you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, even the ten commandments: and He wrote them upon two tablets of stone.” (Deut. 4:13). Voice and pen are here united. God speaks first and then writes. Our Lord Jesus followed the same order. He called men to speak His message to the world. Then the. Holy Spirit moved them to write. 3. By men chosen and taught of God to deliver His messages. “The Lord commanded me a t that time,” said Moses, “to teach you statutes and judgments.” (Deut. 4:14). Moses thus chosen and taught of God spoke and wrote. Jesus said “He wrote of Me.” Now, which ‘of the two methods is the most reliable? The voice of God audibly spoken or the writing under God’s guidance? g We are left in no doubt as to the answer, for we have in"" 2 Pet. 1:16-20 a comparison between the audible voice of God spoken from
heaven and the written word. Peter says, “We were eye-witnesses of His majesty, for He received from God the Father honor and glory when there came such a voice to Him from the excellent glory. ‘This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.’ And this voice which came from heaven we heard when we were with Him in the Holy Mount. We have also a more sure word of prophecy.” In thé next verse this word of prophecy is called “the prophecy of Scripture,” which makes it plain th a t it means the writings, and this same prophecy of Scripture came not in old times by the will of man but holy men of God spake (through this writing) as they were borne along by the Holy Spirit. The “more sure word of prophecy” evidently refers to the writing in comparison with the audible voice of God. That is, the prophecy of Scripture, the w ritten word of God, is more certain than the audible voice of God, though it might be spoken from the glory on the Transfiguration Mount. I asked an audience of Bible stu dents which would they prefer, the voice of God speaking to them out of heaven or the written Word as we have it in the Bible, and a few hands were raised in favor of the audible voice. But the in spired Word tells us th a t the prophecy of Scripture is more certain than the voice from heaven, CHINESE AMEN The Chinese have no word which will compare with our English word “Amen;” they say, instead, “Sin Yenen ching sing.” The heart wishes exactly so.
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