as a Power
By Rev. W. H. Griffith Thomas, D. D. Another able address, delivered at Montrose Bible Conference, August 6, 1915
GOD has spoken to us in ysi the Bible, and this -Divine revelation is our supreme and final authority; and if
whatever to the human writer o f the Scrip ture, but only to the Divine Author. In Heb. 3 : “The Holy Ghost saith.” What are we to make o f that? It refers to Psa. 95. It 'was written .by a man,' David or some one else, yet here there is no refer ence to a human author at all. “The Holy Ghost saith.” So that the use made shows that the writer is concerned not with what the Psalmist said, but what the Holy Ghost said. And this means that the Holy Spirit is the Author o f Scripture. II. The Instruments of the Bible. The Holy Spirit used men as the instru ments o f Divine revelation. At this point We meet a number of passages where the Divine and the human are -mentioned ; where the distinction is drawn ve'ry clearly between thé Divine Author and the human instrument. Matt. 1 :22, “Spoken o f the Lord by the prophet.”" Acts 1:16, “ The Holy Ghost spake by. the mouth o f David.” And 2 Peter 1:21, “ Holy men o f old spake as they were moved (carried along) by the Holy Ghost.” So that We have as the instruments o f the. Spirit’s work,-the men who were first the speakers, and then the I do not know any other term that will better express my idea. I mean, first the men, and then their words. The men are not alive now, and if we are to be in touch with their revelation, it must be through their words ; and if we are to be sure o f the human revelation. from God, then for us writers o f Divine revelation. III. 1The Media of the Bihle.
I its message is- Christ, as the manifestation of God for human life, the next point is, Hew can this message become vital, how can it be made real in our life "and work 2 The answer is, By the Holy Spirit. My subject, The Bible as a Power, is really the Holy Spirit in relation to the Bible. I. The Source of the Bible. W e believe that the Bible comes from God, a Divine Source, through and by means of the Holy Spirit. The .Old Testa ment prophets, for instance, claimed to be the recipients o f Divine revelation. “The word o f the Lord came;” . “the Lord spake;” “ the word o f 'G o d ;” “ God said;” “the Lord commanded.” Phrases like these are found nearly seven hundred times in the Pentateuch alone. Very many times Jeremiah claims to be actuated by God’s commands. These phrases to which I have referred . are found scattered throughout the Scriptures no less than three thousand times altogether, And there is one verse which, whatever else it means, certainly makes this plain: 2 Sam. 23 :2, “The Spirit o f the Lord spake by me, and His word was on my tongue.” Now in harmony with this in the Old Testament, we have in the New Testament the presence and power o f the Holy Spirit claimed. It is sometimes overlooked that in some passages there is no reference.
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