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THE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
September 1925
The Scriptures Are Authoritative in Their Utterance, Methodical in Their Setting, and Many-Sided in Their Ministry Dr. F . E. Marsh, London, England The Scriptures a re A uthoritative in Their U tterance S HERE are certain tra its which proclaim au tho rity in its tru e character. Character, or w hat a per son is, is the soul of au tho rity ; righ t, or w hat an individual does, is th e basis of au tho rity ; office, or 13. Living in its Nature. “ Incorruptible Word of God . . . living and abiding” ^ (l Pet. 1:23, 25). 14. Faith-begetting in its Ministry. “F aith cometh by the Word of God” (Rom. 10 :17 ). 15. Beneficent;;;in its Working. “ So m ightily grew the Word of God and prevailed” (Acts 19:19, 20). 16. Safe-guarding in its W arnings. “By them is Thy servant, w arned” (Psa. 19 :11 ). 17. Searching in its Discernment. “ D iscerner of th e thoughts and in ten ts of th e h e a rt” (Heb. 4 :1 2 ). 18. Assuring in its Message. “My W ord”—-“These are w ritten th a t ye m ight believe” (John 5:24, 31). 19. Reproductive in its Moulding. “ . . obeyed doctrine into which ye were delivered” (Rom. 6:17 R. V .). 20. Christ-revealing in its W itness. “They testify of Me” (John 5 :3 9 ). 21. God-magnified in its Approbation. “Thou h ast mag nified Thy Word above all Thy Name” (Psa. 138 :2 ).
the position one holds, is the insignia of au tho rity ; ability, or w hat a person can accomplish, is the streng th of au tho r ity ; possessions, or what an individual has, is an accessory to au tho rity ; claim, or w h at a person owes to another, is the call of au tho rity ; u tteran ce, or w hat a person says, is the m andate of authority. Christ illu strates every one of these characteristics, as is emphasized by the use of th e word “Exausia” in relation to Him. Character: As the Holy One He cast out demons (Luke 4 :3 6 ). R igh t: As the Son of Man He had the God-given rig h t to forgive sins (Matt. 9 :6 ). Office: All au tho rity has been given to Christ (Matt. 28: 18 R. V .). Ability: Christ’s au tho rity is seen in His casting down of Satan (Rev. 12:10 R. V .). Possessions: Majesty, dominion and au tho rity are ascribed to God our Saviour (Jude 25). Claim: F o r God gave Him au tho rity to lay down His life for us— th a t is, His claim to us (John 10 :18 ). U tterance: Christ’s Word was always w ith authority (Mark 1:27; Luke 4 :3 2 ). The popular theory is th a t God gave th e thoughts of the Bible and th a t man clothed them w ith his own words. Such a statem en t is no t the statem en t of Holy W rit. Again and again we are told “God said,” “ th e Lord spake,” “The Lord commanded,” “ th e Word of the Lord came,” “ thus saith th e Lord,” etc. Let anyone ponder the following claims which th e Word of God claims for itself, and it will be seen how vast and vital those claims are. The Bible is—■ 1. S upernatu ral in its Origin. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Tim. 3 :1 6 ). 2. Complete in its S tructure. “The law of th e Lord is perfect” (Psa. 19:7-10). 3. U nited in its Testimony. “ In all the Scriptures con cerning H im self” (Luke 24:27, 44). 4. Accurate in its Prophecies. “Testified beforehand” (1 Pet. 1:10-12). 5. Unique in its Detail. “T h at the Scripture m ight be fulfilled” (John 19:24, 28, 36, 37). 6. D istinct in its Claim. “The Word of God” (1 Thess. 2 :1 3 ). 7. In e rra n t in its Contents. “Thy Word is settled in heaven.” “ Is very p u re” (Psa. 119:89, 140). 8. A uthoritative in its U tterance. “Thy W ord.” “Thy W ord” occurs 34 times in Psa. 119’ (Psa. 119:11). , 9. P lenary in its Revelation. “ H ath spoken unto us by His Son” (Heb. 1:1-3). 10. Divine in its Spirit. “Holy men . . . spake as moved by th e Holy S p irit” (2 Pet. 1:19-21). 11. P eculiar in its Adaptation. “Quicken me according to Thy W ord” (Psa. 119:133, 154). 12. Reliable in its Promises. “All the promises of God in Him are yea” (2 Cor. 1 :2 0 ).
We say of the Scriptures as has been said, “The affirma tions of Scriptures of every kind, w hether of sp iritual doctrine or duty, or of psychological or philosophical prin ciple, are w ithout any erro r when the ipsissima verba of the original autographs are ascertained and in terp reted in th eir n atu ra l or intended sense.” The Scriptures are Methodical in Their S etting and A rtistic in th e ir P arallelism s The a rtist would tell us th e essential things in a rt are conception, perspective and atten tion ; or to th e ordinary mind th ere must bé clearness of design, proportion in arrangem ent, and atten tion to details. These rules are seen in the construction of though t as revealed in th e sentences of Scripture. For instance, in the lines of Scripture p aral lelism, the first line would answer to th e th ird line, and the second line to the fou rth line, or the first line would answer to the fou rth line and th e second and th ird to each other, or if th ere were eight lines the correspondence m ight be a combination, namely, the first and second lines would answer to the seventh and eighth, and th e th ird and fifth and fourth and sixth would correspond. L et us tak e a few concrete illustrations. A lternate— Ezekiel 36 :26 , 27 (A.) “A new h ea rt also will I give you, (B.) And a new sp irit will I pu t w ithin you, (A.) And I will take away th e stony h ea rt out of you and I will give you an h ea rt of flesh, (B .) And I will pu t my Spirit w ithin you.” “A” and “A” give the promise of a new heart, and “B” and “B” the promise of a new Spirit. Jerem iah 17:5-8 (A.) “Cursed is the man th a t tru ste th in man,” etc, (B.) “F o r he shall be like the h eath in the desert. (A.) Blessed is the man th a t tru ste th in the Lord,” etc. (B .) “F o r he shall be as a tree planted by the w aters,” etc. Here we have the blessing of faith in the Lord and the blight of reliance on man. 1 Cor. 3 :6 , 7. (A ). “ I have planted, (B ). Apollos w atered, (C ). And God gaye th e increase;
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