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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
December 1925
A Reminder, aWarning, and an Exhortation Dr. F . E . Marsh, London, England In presenting this, the concluding article of the splendid series which Dr. Marsh has contributed to The King’s Business during 1925, we desire to express our deep appreciation of his kindness and Courtesy. We commend this dear man of God to “Our Family” for their daily prayer in his behalf, that God may increasingly use him in the coming days. Few men have equalled him and none excelled him in his ability to expound the Scriptures. We rejoice that he has promised us another series in 1925 on “Anthropology—or the Doctrine of Man.”
|N concluding this series of messages on “The Bible” X want to give a reminder, a warning, and an exhortation. “Known unto the Lord are all His works from the beginning."’ This fact is pecu liarly illustrated in the way the Spirit has indicated that men will deal with His Word, and how believers should deal with it. .There are words which only occur once in the New Testament in the form in which they appear in con nection with what the Word is, what it does, what men have done and will do in relation to it, and what we should do and not do with it! Briefly let us look at these once-occur ring words. A Reminder The Bible is a spiritual Book for a spiritual people to be spiritually understood as they are spiritually minded and as they are under the spiritual instruction of the Holy Spirit, who will through them spiritually communicate to others. Christ’s word is “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine” (John 7 :1 7 ). This is a law which prevails only in the spiritual sphere, and does not hold true in the intellectual. In the intellectual sphere a man believes a thing because he knows it to be true; in the spiritual a man knows a thing to be true because he believes it. In the intellectual sphere he does because he knows— in the spiritual he knows because he does. As there were three sections in the Tabernacle— the outer court, the holy place, and the holiest of all, so there are three courts of truth. There is the outer court of natural truth as seen in the realm of nature; there is the inner court of God’s revelation as made known in Scripture; and there is the holy court of the Spirit’s illumination as He made known in us the vitality of God’s truth. Let us look at the words which occur only once in the New Testament, which remind us what God’s Word is, and what the Spirit says. “Inspiration of God”-—-(Theopneustos) 2 Tim. 3:16 The Greek word “Theopneustos” means God-breathed. Coleridge confessed, “In the Bible there is more that finds me than I have experienced in all other books put together: the words of the Bible find me at greater depths of my being, and whatever fln.ds me brings with it an irresistible evidence of its having proceeded from the Holy Spirit.” Coleridge worked from the evidence to the cause, but the cause of the evidence is stated in the Bible as being “inspired of God.” The right attitude is to believe the Word, not because it inspires, but because it claims to be inspired and proves its claim. The breath of God is found in the Word of God, for the Word of God is the breath of God. “Discerner”— (Kritikos) Heb. 4:12 The word “kritikos” means to be skilled in judging, hence a discerner— one capable of seeing the facts of a case, and of giving a true judgment. The Word of God is a “dis cerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Men criticize the Word to their shame and condemnation,
whereas if we are criticized by the Word it will be to our salvation and comfort. “Expressly”— (Retos) 1 Tim. 4:1 The adverb “expressly” signifies outspokenness or dis tinctiveness. “The Spirit speaketh distinctly” that certain things shall mark the latter times, and among them is the departure from the faith. The faith signifies the truth of the Gospel, and from it many are departing. They who thus depart are throwing overboard the chart of Truth, the com pass of Faith, the anchor of Hope, the rudder of Guidance, the Captain of Salvation, the lookout of. Love and the power of the Spirit. “Testified Beforehand”— (Promarturomai) 1 Pet. 1:11 Christ’s suffering and glory are the themes of the Spirit’s testimony in the prophetical writings of the Old Testament. The word rendered “testified beforehand” is compound. “Marturomai” meaning to attest and ratify as truth; and “pro” which is the prefix “before;” hence, “to witness beforehand” as the two men who bore the cluster of grapes from Canaan between them on a staff, one going before and the other following after (Num. 1 3 :2 3 ). So Christ, God’s cluster of grapes, cut off and yet glorious, was pre ceded by the heralding of the prophets and succeeded by the testimony of the apostles (Acts 5:31, 32). In the above four Scriptures we are reminded of what the Word is— Inspired of God; what it does— criticizes the individual; what the Spirit expressly declares of the last days; and what is the subject of their contents, namely, Christ in His sufferings and glory. A Warning The Spirit has very distinctly told us what men will do or attempt to do with the Word, and has specially empha sized their action by the once used words, “Corrupt”— (Kapeleno” ) 2 Cor. 2:17 The reference is to a huckster, a retailer, who by impli cation adulterates the goods he sells, for these hucksters in the apostles’ days were notorious for their habit of water ing the wine, and adulterating their commodities. Men adulterate the wine of God’s Word when they dilute it with the water of their own reason. “Handle Deceitfully”- —(Doloo) -2 Cor. 4:2 The significance of the word is expressed by a conjurer who deceives the onlookers by his sleight of hand; or, to change the figure, an angler who baits his hook that he may catch the fish. The word “doloo” comes from “dolos” which is rendered “craft” (Mark 1 4 :1 ); “guile” (1 Pet. 2 :2 2 ); “deceit” (Rom. 1 :2 9 ); and “subtilty” (Acts 13 :1 0 ), Antics and accessories are not needed or wanted to show off or entice. The Word of God in its bare and unvarnished truth is efficient and sufficient for all God’s purposes. (Continued on page 586)
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