HoHum:
Three sons left home, went out on their own and prospered. Getting back together, they discussed the gifts they were able to give their elderly mother. The first said, "I built a big house for our mother." The second said, "I sent her a Mercedes with a driver." The third smiled and said, "I’ve got you both beat. You remember how mom enjoyed reading the Bible? And you know she can’t see very well. So I sent her a remarkable parrot that recites the entire Bible. It took elders in the church 12 years to teach him. He’s one of a kind. Mama just has to name the chapter and verse, and the parrot recites it." Soon thereafter, mom sent out her letters of thanks: "Milton," she wrote one son, "The house you built is so huge. I live in only one room, but I have to clean the whole house." "Gerald," she wrote to another, "I am too old to travel. I stay most of the time at home, so I rarely use the Mercedes. And the driver is so rude!" "Dearest Donald," she wrote to her third son, "You have the good sense to know what your mother likes. The chicken was delicious."
WBTU:
Last time we talked about the Holy Spirit as a Divine Person.
We can divide the work of the Spirit into two main categories. 1) He gives us knowledge 2) He gives us power. It is important that we keep these two aspects distinct.
What is the most important thing the Holy Spirit has ever done for us? He gave us the Bible
40 men in different countries, writing in different languages (Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek), produced the 66 books of the Bible over a period of some 1,600 years. Yet it is clearly more than a human document, more than religious literature. No man, or group of men could have, by any possibility, produced it merely by human effort. Everything they wrote was produced under the immediate influence of God himself, in the person of the Holy Spirit.
In a real sense the Holy Spirit is the author of the Bible; the Bible is His gift to us.
For instances:
Revelation and inspiration
Both of these are involved in God’s communication with us. On a human level communication is the process of transferring a thought or concept from one person’s mind to the mind of another. We can do this through such means as facial expressions, gestures, or words. This is not as easy as it might seem. We can think of all kinds of scenarios where this communication is crucial, such as being warned by someone about a potential danger or being directed by a doctor through a prescribed treatment program. Unfortunately, human communication is often hindered or corrupted by such things as faulty memories, incomplete understanding, and poor choice of words. We are finite creatures; and our powers of communication are finite.
One of the most wondrous things is the fact that the Creator of the universe, God himself, has determined to communicate with us, his creatures! He desires to share his very thoughts with us! This is an awesome concept in itself, but given our sinful situation it becomes a matter of eternal consequence. Among other things, God must communicate with us to tell us how to be saved from our sin. This is a big part of the Bible.
In view of our desperate need to hear God’s message to us, in view of God’s choice to use humans to deliver this message, and in view of the potential problems involved in the communication process, how did God ensure that what the biblical writers documented for us is what he himself wanted us to hear?
This is where the Spirit’s work of revelation and inspiration enter the picture. The Spirit makes sure that the Bible contains all the information we need for godliness and salvation, and that it is communicated to us in a form that is complete and free from error.
A large part of the biblical material was revealed directly to human authors by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is true of anything in Scripture that could not have been known by any human being, such as the account of creation in Genesis 1. It is also true of any prophecy of a future event planned or foreknown by God, such as Isaiah 53. On the other hand, other parts of the Bible are not the result of revelation but were known to the writers from their own experiences, such as Acts 21:1-16 (much of this section is Luke’s own account of where they were going and what they were doing- note Luke’s “we”) and Romans 16:1-23 (Paul’s personal greetings to people in Rome). Some parts may be a combination of both divine revelation and human sentiments (the Psalms, hard to tell where the Psalmists are speaking from their own emotions or by the power of the Holy Spirit).
Why should we trust and obey any part of the Bible, even its revealed parts, given that every bit of it has been mediated to us through finite human authors who are subject to errors in the communication process? Here is where the Spirit’s work of inspiration becomes crucial. When the Bible writers were preparing the original written texts of their messages, the Holy Spirit was working within them not only to reveal some things to them but also to make sure that whatever they wrote was absolutely true and without error. Whatever influence was necessary to bring about this result is what we call “the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.” While not all the Bible is revealed, it is all inspired; and this is the reason why all Scripture is completely trustworthy and authoritative.
Biblical testimony to the Spirit’s role
2 Peter 1:19-21. Peter is speaking here of the origin of the Bible, not some reader’s interpretation of it. That is, no part of the Word came into existence merely by some human being sitting down and declaring, “I think I’ll write a book of the Bible!” No, whatever the role of the human author, the ultimate cause and source for the biblical writings is clearly the Holy Spirit: “Men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
John 14:26. Jesus said the Holy Spirit would help the apostles in two ways:
Give them infallible memories of everything they had heard Jesus teach during his earthly ministry; this is part of what is involved in inspiration.
He will teach you all things, he will reveal new things to them.
John 16:12-14. This is a clear promise of new revelation that would be given to the Apostles by the “Spirit of truth.” The Spirit’s inspiring work is implied in the assurance that what they taught would be truth. This promise applies to the Apostles’ preaching and oral teaching, and also to their writings.
Parts of the NT are not written by Apostles. Yes, but this also applied to any nonapostle upon whom the Spirit bestowed the gift of prophecy. The teaching of the inspired apostles and NT prophets in one sense forms the very foundation upon which the church is built. Ephesians 2:20 and 3:5
The Importance of inspiration
Some Christians get a bit nervous when the subject of inspiration is raised because they mistakenly assume that inspiration means that the Holy Spirit must have dictated every word of Scripture to the human authors. This is clearly not the case, as we have just discussed. The key distinction is between revelation and inspiration.
The Spirit performed these functions in different ways. Hebrews 1:1. In some instances inspiration may have involved a kind of dictated revelation, but this was certainly was not necessary in most cases. At the other end of this, we may picture the Spirit as supervising the experience based writings of human authors. Luke 1:1-4. As the latter wrote, the Spirit would simply watch for any problems and would then intervene in the thinking and writing process only where necessary to guard against error or incompleteness. Every word is not supplied or dictated, but every word is supervised, approved.
The real issue is not the process but the product or result of this. The result is that the Bible is the very words of God. Romans 3:2
Paul knew that when he taught under the inspiration of the Spirit, his message was not “the word of men” but “the word of God.” 1 Thessalonians 2:13
Jesus said this of inspiration in John 10:35 and then in John 17:17
H. Leo Boles: Every theory which does not recognize the Holy Spirit in every word as well as in every thought is to be rejected.
Conclusion and invitation:
When we hold a Bible, insofar as it accurately represents the original text penned by Apostles and Prophets, we have in our very hands a permanent, errorless record of God’s will for us and God’s message of hope to us. Nothing the Spirit could do for us is more vital than this. The most important thing the Holy Spirit ever did for us is to give us the Bible!
Abraham Kuyper: Among the divine works of art produced by the Holy Spirit, the Sacred Scripture stands first. It may seem incredible that the printed pages of a book should excel His spiritual work in human hearts, yet we assign to the Sacred Scripture the most conspicuous place without hesitation. That the Bible is the produce of the Chief Artist, the Holy Spirit; that He gave it to the Church and that in the Church He uses it as His instrument, cannot be over-emphasized.
The Bible contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveler’s way, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword, and the Christian’s charter. Here paradise is restored, heaven opened, and the gates of Hell disclosed. Christ is its grand object, our good its design, and the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently, and prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure.
