Understanding Divine Revelation

SPEAKER 02 : 0:01

Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Wednesday, September 24th. Regardless of the content, all books are basically the same. They’re created by people for people. Today, you’ll discover the wonderful exception is the Bible. Our series continues on the Book of Books.

SPEAKER 01 : 0:20

Every day, all around the world, millions of people pick up this book and they read it and they meditate upon it. Every day, millions of people around the world share what they’ve learned and what’s happening in their life as a result of reading this book. Every Sunday, millions of men around this globe stand behind pulpits, either under thatched roofs or in great cathedrals, and open the truths of this Word to share it. There has never been a book like this. There never will be one like it because this book is the living Word of the living God. It is the book of all books. Never has been one to match it. Never will be because God has given us a revelation of Himself in what you and I call the Bible, the Word of God. Now… I want you to turn for a moment if you will to the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah, one of the major prophets of the Old Testament. I want us to turn to the last chapter, and I want to give you a little brief idea of what’s happening. Isaiah, as he concludes his prophecy, is prophesying to the people of Israel, and here’s what he’s saying to them. Your sacrifices are not impressing God, because rather than offering sacrifices to a God whom you love, what you’re doing is you’re murdering or killing animals. because your heart is not in what you’re doing you’re not getting god’s attention by all these sacrifices he says this is what gets god’s attention look into you will in verse one thus says the lord heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool where then is a house you could build for me where is the place that i may rest for my hand made all these things thus all these things came into being declares the lord now listen this next part But to this one I will look. This is what God is saying. But to this one I will look. to him who is humble and contrite of spirit and who trembles at my word. What does he mean when he says that God, we can get God’s attention if our heart is right, contrite before him, humble before him, and that we tremble before his word? What he means is that if we reverence his word, we stand in awe of his word, We are willing to obey His Word. That is, we see this as a guidebook, an instruction book, a book of commandments and principles and laws and encouragement and help. He says, “…this is the one to whom I will look, the one who has a contrite and humbled spirit, recognizing their need of God, and the one who trembles, who reverences, stands in awe of the living Word of God.” So what I want to do in this particular message is this. I want to give you some reasons that you and I surely should reverence, stand in awe, and tremble before the living Word of God. And the first one is this, and that is because of the very nature of this book. This is God’s book. It is the revelation of Almighty God. In fact… This book is the record of the revelation of God of Himself through His spoken Word and through His intervention in history and creation and ultimately in His coming to earth in the person of Jesus Christ to reveal Himself to mankind. And John calls Him the Word. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Jesus Christ was the living expression of Almighty God. This book is the revelation of God. And so when I look at this book and ask myself the question, why should I tremble at this book? Because this is the revelation and the record of the expression of the mind and heart of the eternal God who created this universe and who came to live in the person of Jesus Christ. There’s a second reason that I would tremble at this word and stand in awe of it, and that is because of the very structure of it. Think about this for a moment. There are sixty-six books in this Bible, and so we’re talking about sixty-six different books. Thirty-nine in the Old Testament, twenty-seven in the New. So we’re talking about sixty-six books written over a period of fifteen hundred years by approximately forty different men. Now think about this. These were different people, different personalities, and different backgrounds. Can you imagine, for example, and you get a small group of historians together today and let them write about anything, inconsistencies and all kinds of contradictions and disagreements. You get medical doctors together or people in the area of science and you let them write and what happens? You have contradictions, inconsistencies, differences of opinion. You can go from Genesis chapter 1 all the way to the last words of the book of the Revelation. Remember, 1,500 years, 40 different people, two different languages, and what you find? Absolute consistency, no contradiction in this book. This book cannot be a normal book. It has to be the book of books, and it is because it is the living Word of the living God. Now, When we think about what this book is, one of the reasons that I personally would stand in awe of it is because of the origin of it. God is the one who wrote this book. Now think about this for a moment. The truth is, no man would have written this book if he could have. He would not have written this book if he could have. And he could not if he would have because of the truth that is in it. It’s the revelation of God. But not only that, here’s the reason I know that no man would have written this book if he could. For the simple reason this book condemns mankind. This book says that a man is a sinner. This book says that a person in all of his good works could never be made acceptable in the eyes of God. This book says that all of man’s righteousness are as filthy rags in the sight of Almighty God. No man is going to write a book that condemns him before judgment. No man’s going to write a book that says that he will one day spend eternity in hell unless he receives a certain person by the name of Jesus Christ as his personal Savior. No man would have written this book if he could, and he would not, he could not, even if he wanted to. This is God’s divine revelation. So I want to say again what revelation is. revelation is divine truth that you and i received from god we could not get any other way inspiration is how god gave us this truth illumination is what happens when you and i open this book and we ask the lord lord show us what this means how am i to interpret this illumination is the work of the holy spirit to enable you and me to understand the truth of god You and I are not getting revelations. We get illumination. We may say, well, I was inspired. I understand what you mean by that, but the inspiration of the Scripture ceased long ago. So when we talk about inspiration, what do we mean? I want you to notice the 16th verse of 2 Timothy chapter 3, 3rd chapter of the 16th verse, and listen to what the Apostle Paul says. He says, “…all Scripture…” is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for a proof, for a correction, for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. Look at that. All Scripture is inspired by God. Now, listen carefully. What is inspiration? The word simply means God-breathed, which simply means this. Listen carefully. God chose men and And by the Holy Spirit, he guided those men. He guided their minds and he guided their spirits to write down the message that God revealed to them through the Holy Spirit. And so what God has given us, he has given us a word that he has breathed into the mind and heart of these men and he has guided and protected their writing down of his message to mankind. Now somebody says, all right, now wait a minute. The Apostle Paul was writing to Timothy and telling him that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. How could that be true when that was not the end of the Bible? Well, look at it this way. For example, the word Scripture is used about 51 times in the Bible, and usually, oftentimes, it will refer to the entire Old Testament, sometimes to a passage in the Old Testament, sometimes to a brief passage in the New Testament. and sometimes a greater passage. I want you to turn, if you will, go over to 2 Peter for a moment, and I want you to notice something that Peter said about Paul and what Paul had written. Now, while you turn and remember this, that Hebrews, 2 Peter, Jude, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, John, and truly the Revelation, at the time this was written, that was not a part of the Scriptures. And so… Listen to what Paul said, and I’ll explain that in a moment. In the third chapter of 2 Peter, in verse 15. Oh, let’s start with verse 14. Therefore, Peter says, “‘Beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of our Lord to be salvation, just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote to you.’ as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things in which some hard to understand, which the untaught… and unstable, distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures to their own destruction. Which simply says that Peter acknowledged the authority of the writings of Paul as being the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and therefore a part of God’s divine Scripture. Now, if you go back to Ephesians chapter 3 for a And notice, if you will, beginning in verse 1 of chapter 3. Very important. Listen to what Paul says. Paul is telling us how he got what he received. For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus, for the sake of you Gentiles, if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace, which was given to me for you, that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. What’s revelation? Truth. divine truth that God gives that could not be received any other way. He says, you know how I understand this? God gave me this. Turn back over, if you will, to 1 Corinthians chapter 2. And here again, a very important passage. Listen to what Paul says here. He has just quoted a part of the Scripture in Isaiah about things that I cannot see and the ear can hear and how God’s going to reveal them. Here’s what he says in verse 10 of 1 Corinthians chapter 2. For to us God revealed them through the Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. Here’s what you’re going to find. Each time Paul talks about how he received something, you’ll notice it is always by the Holy Spirit. Remember we said that inspiration is God having chosen men, and by the Holy Spirit, what did He do? He guided their minds and their heart, their spirit, to write down the message God intended for men to have, and He did that through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God was guiding and controlling and guarding what they wrote. So when somebody says, well, then what about Hebrews and Jude? What happens is the church acknowledged these books also as authentic revelation from Almighty God so that what you and I have from Genesis to Revelation, the church acknowledged that these were indeed the inspired Word of God and having contrasted them with many things that were floating around in those days, did not, listen, was not consistent with this message. And so what you and I have is the ultimate and final revelation of God. And there’s no evidence that God today is certainly adding to His revelation. Listen, when you read the book of the revelation, it’s very evident why God allowed that to be last in His whole canon of Scripture. Because therein we find the ultimate consummation of God’s great eternal plan for all mankind. And so when you look at the Scriptures and you think in terms of what it means for them to be inspired, look, if you will, also in 2 Peter and the first chapter for a moment. Look there, if you will, in the first chapter. Because he says something here that’s so very important in 2 Peter chapter 1, verse 20. Peter writing and says, But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation. What does he mean by that? Simply this. Now listen carefully. This is really important. He says, no prophecy or any portion of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation. What does that mean? Simply this, that you and I do not have the right to take the Bible and find some verse or passage of Scripture and interpret that, listen, out of its context, listen, unrelated to the rest of the Bible. We interpret the Scripture. Listen, we interpret Scripture with Scripture, by Scripture, in relation to Scripture. And so when we come to look at all of these books, listen to what he says. We’re to interpret Scripture with Scripture. Verse 21, “…for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved, carried along, guided, guarded by the Holy Spirit of God spoke.” And so here again, what he’s simply saying is this, this isn’t the will of man. What did we say in the very beginning of this point? Simply this, that man would not have written it if he could, and he could not if he would have, because man would not write a book that condemns himself. And so therefore, what is Peter doing? Simply attesting to the authenticity of the Scripture, and that is that God is the one who is the author of the Word of God. So when Isaiah says in this passage, in the 66th chapter, when he says that… To this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit and who trembles at my word. To stand in awe of the Word of God, to recognize what this book is, its very structure and the fact of how we got it, and that is inspired by the living God given to us down through these years. Now. Somebody says, now, but no, wait a minute. Now, how could they have remembered all these things if they weren’t taking notes? Well, I want you to turn, if you will, to two verses. Look, if you will, in John chapter 14. John chapter 14, and notice what Jesus said here. Remember that Jesus is going to be crucified the next day. He’s up in the upper room talking with them. They’re headed toward the Garden of Gethsemane where He’ll be betrayed. And, of course, they’re frustrated. They’re confused. They’re scared to death. He’s talking about dying and being crucified. They can’t figure that out. He’s been talking about being the Father’s Son. And if you knew Him, you knew the Father, and He has all power. And now they don’t know exactly how to handle all that. If you’ll notice in verse 25 of John 14, these things I’ve spoken to you while abiding with you. Now listen, but the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. Now listen carefully, either Jesus Christ or fulfill that prophecy when he said he the Holy Spirit will bring all things to your remembrance that I’ve said to you that’s why we have the Gospels or Jesus Christ lied if he lied we’ve had it if he lied we’re all in serious eternal trouble Jesus Christ did not lie and here’s what he said to them knowing that he was going to be crucified knowing that he’d be resurrected knowing that there would be a Pentecost knowing the things that were going to transpire he said The help of the Holy Spirit who inspired the Word, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. And what He was saying is this. He said, there’s some things you don’t understand right now. But when the Spirit of truth comes, He will help you understand. Not only that, He’s going to bring to your remembrance all that I’ve said to you. Which means, this is why we can understand that John the Beloved, who was up in years and received the revelation on the Isle of Patmos, which is the last book in the Bible, that gives us a glimpse of future things, of the great tribulation period that’s coming, and also finally of heaven. How did he get all that? I’ll tell you how he got. The Spirit of God guided him and led him. And the Spirit of God also brought to his remembrance, as he is the author of the gospel, John’s gospel. And he’s the author of that gospel. Who brought to his remembrance? Who brought to Mark? Who brought to Matthew? Who brought to Luke these things? The Spirit of God. Jesus says the Holy Spirit will bring to your remembrance. When Jesus left this earth, He said, when I go away, the Spirit is coming. The Holy Spirit came at Pentecost. What did He do? He baptized the whole body into Christ Jesus, making every single one of us a part of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are His living body on the face of this earth. He came to live and dwell on the inside of us to interpret the truth to us. Jesus knew what was going to happen. And so… When he left, the Holy Spirit came, what, to live among us, to guide us, and to instruct us, and to give us direction for our life. God didn’t leave anything unturned. He didn’t come up short anywhere. And Jesus Christ knew exactly what he was talking about when he said, lots of things you can’t understand now, but you will. The Spirit of God will reveal them to you. And so what you and I have is we have the revelation of Almighty God. Now, if Almighty God is who He says He is, and we believe that He is, and if He loved you and me enough to send His only begotten Son into this world to die for our sins on the cross of Calvary, which was the greatest price God the Father paid because of His love for you and me, would He then, would God allow carelessness? Would God allow callousness? Would God allow Those people to write down the truth. And you recall that sometimes when Paul was in prison, he was speaking and someone else was writing it down for him. Somebody says, well, if man wrote it, it has errors. Listen, if man wrote it and it was man’s message and man wrote it without God, yes, it would be full of errors. But if Almighty God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, guarded and guided those men who wrote it, yes, it can be written by men, but written without error.

SPEAKER 02 : 18:38

Thank you for listening to Trembling Before the Word of God. For more inspirational messages like this one, visit our 24-7 online station. And if you’d like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by intouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of InTouch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.