SUNDAY, 02/14/2021

SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON - CAPTAIN NOAH AND HIS WONDERFUL SHIP MORNING WORSHIP - OUR FAITH’S FIRM FOUNDATION - SUNDAY EVENING MESSAGE - SATAN'S ATTACK ON OUR MINDS

CAPTAIN NOAH AND HIS WONDERFUL SHIP

“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

“For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,

“And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matthew 24:37-39).

In the sixth and seventh chapters of Genesis is the Bible record of the Flood. Some men do not believe the story of the Flood because some things about it they do not understand. They have never seen the necessity of the Flood, and they have never studied the Bible to discover that necessity. Some others do not believe in a universal deluge simply because they do not want to believe it.

Convince a man against his will, He's of the same opinion still.

So, we shall not waste time with those who will not be convinced and who pursue the ostrich policy of shutting their eyes to facts. Rather, I speak to you who recognize that.

Facts are chiels that winna doon, An' dauma be disputed,

who are fair-minded enough to give facts their place and who leave their minds open to the evident truth.

The Necessity of the Flood

I shall endeavor to show you that the destruction of the anti-diluvian world was not the arbitrary decree of a sovereign God, but a necessary act of justice, rendered imperative by the unutterable degeneracy and moral corruption of antediluvian civilization.

The Bible record of the Flood is supported by a worldwide tradition existing among many on the earth today, to the effect that away back in prehistoric times a great Flood of water deluged the earth. The tradition of the Flood is still extant among the North American Indians at our doors.

The scriptural record of the Flood is also supported by the geological formation of the earth. The testimony of geologists, some of them wholly skeptical on Scripture, is far more startling than most people imagine and is proof positive that only upon the hypothesis of the widespread deluge can we account for the vast mud beds filled with seashells in places far removed from the ocean, and for the huge boulders in different parts of the world, stranded in extraordinary equilibrium.

“These vast masses of primitive rocks,” says Professor Forbes, “apparently without any great wear and tear of traveling, are deposited upon the bare rock and are often placed in positions of such ticklish equilibrium that any considerable convulsion would have displaced them. A thousand circumstances demonstrate that the deposition of these masses has taken place at the very last period in the world's history.”

Sir Henry Howarth said:

The breaking up of the earth's crust of which evidence seems to be overwhelming, necessarily caused great waves to traverse wide continental areas, and drowned the great beasts with continual mantles of loam, clay, gravel and sand, as we find them covered and drowned.

The same geologist describes this flood of waters as “certainly one of the most widespread catastrophes which the world has seen” and proves that the waters covered Northern Europe to a depth of 1,600 feet, poured over Asia Minor, appeared in India, China, Africa, Australia and the West Indies, and fearfully ravaged North and South America. Hear the summary of Sir Henry Howarth:

I submit with every confidence that I have proved that the extinction of the mammoth in the old world was sudden and operated over a wide continental area, involving a widespread hecatomb, in which man, as well as other creatures, perished; that this destruction was caused by a flood of waters which passed over the land, drowning the animals and then burying their remains;. . . that the loose watery envelope which covers a large portion of the world was set in motion, and sweeping over the land drowned and then buried deep in gravel, loam and clay, hecatombs of living beings, a vast cemetery of life, causing a deluge apparently unparalleled in extent and completeness.

In the face of these statements, I submit that you do not require the Bible to prove the Flood--the geologist's hammer declares it.

The Bible record of the Flood is also supported by reason and common sense. There are some things in the Bible hard to be understood, things which are not contrary to our reason, but which are beyond our reason. The record of the Flood, however, is neither contrary to nor beyond our reason. When we know all the facts, the necessity of the Flood becomes apparent.

Some years ago, in England, a man was killed by being choked to death. A man high in official circles in England planned the killing, and while he did not himself commit the deed, he hired another to put him to death.

The victim was brought to a certain building, where the hired assassin set upon him and choked him to death. All England knew of the killing of this man and also knew the man who had planned his death.

Queen Victoria was on the throne, and she knew that this official had put a man to death. Nevertheless, the Queen sometime later publicly honored the man with a knighthood. In spite of the fact that he had deliberately planned ·the death of another human being, this Christian queen honored him at one of her court celebrations while the general public assented to the act!

You will say, “Impossible!” Not at all--not when you know all the facts. That man who was choked to death was a murderer; the hired assassin was the public hangman; and the official who ordered the murderer's death was the lord chief justice of England who, a few years later, was knighted as a reward for many years of faithful public service!

When we know all the facts about a question, it makes a difference. The killing of that man was an act of justice upon the dead, an act of mercy toward the living.

Upon that basis, the necessity of the Flood becomes apparent.

The Crisis Preceding the Flood

In Genesis 6 we read:

“And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

“And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them” (vss. 5, 13).

The sons of God had broken down the barriers between themselves and had brought then--as it often brings today--a harvest of sin: The earth became filled with violence and injustice. There was no order, no government. No man was safe, either in his own person or in possession of those who were his own. Murder and rape were the rule.

Some students of demonology believe that the antediluvian giants were a race of beings actually related to demons, and so positively possessed by the Devil that it practically amounted to demons becoming members of the human family, and that in the pandemonium of unrighteousness which caused polygamy to prosper and purity to cease from the earth, God destroyed the entire race, sparing only Noah and his family because Noah was “perfect in his generations.”

The phrase means “upright in his marriage relationship,” and it gives us an insight into the awful degeneracy of that day, when personal purity was such a scarcity that God's Word records it only of Noah.

The basis of the judgment was that “every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” The Hebrew word signifies not only the imagination, but every thought, desire and purpose.

The whole fabric of antediluvian civilization was shot through with moral rottenness. Lust was everywhere rampant, and just as a wise doctor removes a cancer lest the whole body be destroyed, so God, in mercy to the nations yet unborn, removed this wicked and adulterous generation from the face of the earth and gave the human race a fresh start under Noah.

The Preparation for the Flood

And God said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth . . . Make thee an ark.”

Noah was no shipbuilder, but he began to do as he was told. He believed that when God commands, He equips. As Dr. Oliver said, “Noah had the faith of the elderly lady who said, 'Brethren, if the Lord asks me to jump from a stone wall, it's my business to jump, and it's the Lord's business to make the hole!”

God gave Noah explicit specifications regarding the dimensions of the ark. These dimensions are the same in ratio as the dimensions of our modern liners.

God told Noah He would give men time in which to repent; meanwhile, Noah was to build the ark and preach righteousness.

Noah and his stalwart sons set to work building the ark. Giant trees of the forest fell before the gleaming ax. Gigantic animals dragged them to Captain Noah's shipbuilding yard.

Plank by plank, cubit by cubit, story by story, the ark went up. Noah would build in the daytime, and in the evening, he would go out to the street corner to warn these godless, degenerate reprobates of the coming judgment.

I need not tell you that Noah was not a popular preacher. They called him a pessimist, a preacher of calamity, a judgment howler. They spoke of “Noah's proclamation of absurdity.” He no doubt was in earnest, he meant well, he was sincere, he had a good delivery, but they drew the line at his old-fashioned theology.

If they had had any funny papers in those days, Noah and his ark would have had the front page of the comic supplement. No doubt the comedians at the antediluvian theater would bring down the house with humorous representations of Captain Noah and the ship that never went to sea.

The Unbelief Before the Flood

But Noah went on building and preaching. He preached for decades and did not win a convert outside his own family.

Noah often had long talks with the carpenter who was helping him build the ark. He would tell him every day of God's warning and urge him to believe God and save himself and his family. But the carpenter always refused:

“Noah, I thank you for the invitation, and I appreciate your interest in my soul. Perhaps you are right about this flood. I know you are a consistent believer, and I admire your good life; but you'll pardon me if I don't believe just as you do. I'll help you build the ark, but I -can't see my way clear to enter it.”

And when the Flood came, that carpenter was found outside the ark he had helped to build and perished in the waters.

You will say, “But, preacher, there was no carpenter who helped build the ark and yet himself was lost. That story can't be true.”

My friend, that story is true.

The man who helps build the ark but will not enter it is here tonight. There has been a Noah's carpenter in every church of which I have been pastor. There are some here now. Perhaps thou art the man!

Who is that carpenter? The man who attends church, is interested in its welfare, contributes to its treasury, admires its preacher, who gives money and time to build up the work of God, yet will not accept the preacher's Christ, will not enter the ark of salvation.

Every unconverted deacon or trustee or elder or steward or organist or singer or usher is a Noah's carpenter--trying to help build the work of God but refusing to accept Christ and be saved,

As the time draws near for the coming Flood, Noah becomes more earnest in his preaching. Crowds gather before the ark into which Noah has gathered pairs of every living bird and beast. As the people stand around, all sorts of remarks are heard. One fashionably dressed woman says:

“Look at that Noah crowd. My, aren't they extreme! I think people ought to have a little moderation with their religion. Why, they don't even believe in theaters or dancing. We certainly won't invite them to our bridge party after Lent.”

Another woman says:

“Just listen to that preacher Noah. He's always preaching on sin and judgment. He just makes you shiver. He would never be popular with the young people of our church. Why, he actually believes in a literal Hell. I guess he has never been to college or he wouldn’t talk that way. Our preacher would never scare us like that. We'll never give Noah a call to our church.”

One man says:

“I think Noah is all right, and I'd go into the ark with him, but I don't care for Shem, that eldest son of his. I believe he is a hypocrite. He sold me a horse last week, and when I got it home, I found it had the heaves.”

Another man says:

“How preposterous of Noah to say that only the few who enter the ark will be saved. It's dogma like that that is killing religion. As if God would be a just God to let everybody perish except a few who believe like Noah. Why, it's absurd.

And God says, “For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights.”

Noah's soul is filled with concern. He goes out and begins to cry with tremendous earnestness: “It is appointed unto men seven days, and after this the judgment.”

There is such intense conviction in Noah's message that the populace becomes alarmed. Finally, the excitement becomes so intense that, as someone has said, the authorities of that day quite likely held a convention to settle once and for all the question of the coming Flood.

I can picture in my mind that convention. All roads lead to the gigantic ark. Bearded patriarchs hundreds of years old gather from all parts.

The first speaker is Dr. Daniel Dry-As-Dust, the philosopher. He says:

“Ladies and gentlemen, God is perfect wisdom. Perfect wisdom makes no mistakes. If God should destroy mankind, it would prove that God had made a mistake in creating what He was afterwards forced to destroy. But as God is perfect wisdom, and perfect wisdom makes no mistakes, therefore, God shall not destroy mankind, and therefore there shall be no flood.”

The people applaud to the echo.

The Professor Hezekiah Highbrow, the eminent scientist, has his turn:

“We are gathered today to dispose once and for all of the unscientific absurdity of an approaching world destruction. Science has shown that for thousands of years no break has occurred in the reign of natural law. There has been no physical crisis, no intervening miracle, no violent arrest of the world's course. That a uniformity of law, unbroken for thousands of years, will end in a sudden, miraculous, spectacular intervention is contrary to the law of evolution; and I declare the voice of science to be against a universal flood.”

Loud cheers again come from the people.

Finally, Dr. Silas Sailtrimmer, the popular preacher, rises to speak:

“My beloved friends, God is a God of love. For 120 years this uneducated religious zealot has slandered the character of God by saying He will bring a cruel judgment upon the world. Our modern theologians cannot reconcile such a judgment with the love of God, and I ask you to be broad-minded people and to take your stand with me upon the lofty ground of the larger hope.”

“Let Noah adapt his preaching to the age in which he lives. He believes exactly as Adam believed and is a thousand years behind the times. Let him preach on the love of God. I for one do not believe in frightening people into God's kingdom. Even if God did speak to Noah regarding a judgment by water, then I believe the water is not literal, but figurative, and I have behind me the consensus of the latest scholarship when I say there shall be no literal flood.”

The convention adjourns, the people lulled to sleep by a sickly, sentimental theology which declares that no matter how much licentiousness, degeneracy, criminality, and debauchery stain the souls of men, God is too loving to enforce His demand for common decency.

The Provision for the Flood

“And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation” (Genesis 7:1).

Noah walks up the gangway behind his family and hesitates before entering. He casts a wistful, anxious, pitying look at his friends below. The look upon his face disturbs their fears. Some would come in with him even at the eleventh hour, but they fear the scoffs of the crowd.

And there are some here who would accept Jesus Christ, but you are afraid of what people will say. My friend, they may laugh you into Hell, but they cannot laugh you out of it!

“And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark.”

Noah and his wife, his three sons and their wives, enter. God Himself shuts the door and casts off the gangway, Noah inside--the people outside.

As the great door slams shut, a strange silence fills the air, the silence that precedes the storm. The sky is rapidly darkening. The rising wind begins to moan the funeral dirge of a dying world. Big drops of rain begin to splash upon the upturned faces of those who stood watching the tempest.

“The same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened” (vs. 11).

Then ten thousand screams of horror rend the darkening sky. Suddenly the earth rocks, and huge fissures belch oceans of water in pursuit of fleeing men. The whole sky seems to cave in, and dense avalanches of water descend in a universal deluge.

“Away to the hills” is the cry. But on comes the overwhelming tempest, roaring like ten thousand lions. Breaking timbers, fleeing men, terrified animals, groaning earth, angry heavens, whirling cyclones--all churn together into a seething maelstrom.

“And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered” (vs. 19).

Some have made rafts of their own invention, but no boat but one can endure such a storm. They are dashed to pieces against the mountaintops.

Oh, where now are the false comforters? Where now are the arguments that lulled to sleep a sin-loving race? lost, my friends, lost in the judgment of God!

“And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark” (vs. 23).

The Message of the Flood

Men and women, I charge you as you value your soul--hear this word. The God who spoke the imperishable word of judgment in the days of Noah has spoken a message for us today. Jesus said:

“As the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

“For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,

“And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

“Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh” (Matthew 24:37-39, 44).

That day is one day nearer than it ever was before. Think of it, you who are Christians with loved ones unsaved. Think of it, you who are outside the ark of salvation— “ln such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” Are you ready? He came before in mercy; He will come again in judgment. Are you ready for His coming?

God has prepared an ark of salvation for all who will enter. If you will confess your lost condition before God now and receive Jesus Christ as your Saviour, God will save you. God in mercy is keeping the door open. He has waited a long time for you. Ten years of waiting for that young man and that young woman; forty years He has waited for that father and that mother. But He will not wait forever. Someday the door will be closed.

Someone will knock when the door is shut, By and by. Hear a voice saying, “I know you not.'' Shall you? Shall I?”

Someone will call and shall not be heard, Vainly will strive when the door is barred. 'Someone will fail of the saint's reward. Shall you? Shall I?

The day of judgment in Noah's day was sudden, unexpected and cataclysmic. And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be when Christ comes to earth again--suddenly, unexpectedly, in an hour that ye think not. Are you ready?

When the Flood came, God preserved His own in the ark. When judgment falls upon a Christ-rejecting world, every believer will be safe in the ark of salvation.

Are you in this ark tonight? God says, “Come thou and all thy house into the ark.” Are you inside, my friend? If so, thank God; but what about your house? Are they all inside? What of your children? Is that boy in? Is that girl in? Women, you are in. Is your husband in? Young woman, you are in. Is your friend in? Is one of you going one way, and one going the other way? one bound for Heaven; one bound for Hell? O God, find us out. O God, open blind eyes.

“Come thou and all thy house into the ark.” Fathers and mothers, if you want your sons and daughters to go in, the only way is to go in yourself. Reject Christ, and is it any wonder that your children do the same? If Noah had stayed out, his sons would never have entered.

A census was taken of the religious condition of the families in a certain district. In the families of Christian parents, two-thirds of the young people were Christians. In the families where the parents were not saved, only one-twelfth of the young people in their homes were decided Christians.

My friend, will you stay out of God's ark and, by staying out, keep others out with you? What will you say to God: fathers and mothers, when He asks you in the Judgment Day, “Where is that son? Where is that daughter?”

When the storm breaks, I pray that you and yours may be found safe in the ark of salvation. “Come thou and all thy house into the ark.”

- John Linton (1888-1965) - This sermon is from the book Walking on Water.

OUR FAITH’S FIRM FOUNDATION

“From a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3:15-17).

Someone has said, “The Bible was not written to show us how the heavens go, but how to go to Heaven.”

But if the Bible is not true as to how the heavens go, then it might not be true as to how to go to Heaven. If it is the true way to Heaven, it must be true to all heavenly truth.

I call your attention to several things that are suggested by this Scripture.

I. THE PROCLAMATION OF SCRIPTURE’S ORIGIN

We have here the plain, unequivocal proclamation of the divine origin of Scripture: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God.”

A careful study of the Old Testament reveals that 680 times in the Pentateuch, those writings are designated as the word or words of God; 418 times in the historical books of the Old Testament, this same claim is made 196 times in the Psalms, it is claimed that they are the word or words of God; 1,306 rimes in the prophetic books, the prophets claimed to speak the word or words of God. Thus, in the Old Testament, we have the claim made at least 2,600 times that it is the word or words of God.

Jesus Upheld This Claim

When Jesus was here on earth, He upheld this claim of the Old Testament, never once questioning it, but on several different occasions affirming it. For example, in Matthew 22:31, 32, in His discussion with the Sadducees Jesus declared:

“But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”

He called the Scriptures “that which was spoken unto you by God” –not by Moses, not by man, but “that which was spoken unto you by God.” Here Jesus unequivocally laid His endorsement and approval upon the claim of the Old Testament, that it was spoken by God.

Take another example. In Matthew 5:18 Jesus declared:

“Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. “

The tittle was the small diacritical mark that gave certain inflections and meanings to words. The jot was the smallest character in the Hebrew alphabet. Here Jesus declared that not one of those would pass away until all were fulfilled. This is not only verbal inspiration, but this is letter inspiration, carrying it to the very finest point possible.

If every letter were authoritative, as Jesus here claimed, then certainly every word had to. be authoritative. And if every word was authoritative, then certainly every line was authoritative. And if every line was authoritative, then every verse was authoritative. And if every verse was authoritative, then every chapter had to be authoritative. And if every chapter was authoritative, all Scripture was authoritative.

So, we are back to Paul’s original declaration, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God.”

II. THE PRODUCTION OF SCRIPTURE

“We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:19-21).

That all Scripture is given by inspiration of God is further substantiated by the statement of the apostle Peter when he wrote that “no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”

Here He not only corroborates the claim of the apostle Paul but gives us insight into how the Scripture was produced— “holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”

Like a chip or piece of driftwood is borne along on the bosom of a river current, the men who wrote the Bible were moved or borne along by the power of the Holy Spirit to write things that they themselves did not even understand!

For example, in Genesis, chapter 9, in reference to the sacrifice of animals, God forbade Noah the drinking of the blood, saying that “the life . . . is the blood thereof” (vs. 4).

We know today that one of the first things they do when you are taken to a hospital· is to take a blood test. and examine your blood under a microscope to see if it is good, healthy, uncontaminated blood. A healthy bloodstream means a healthy body. An unhealthy bloodstream means an unhealthy body. It is a verification of the statement, “The life . . . is the blood thereof.”

How did Moses, writing centuries before modern development of medical science, know that the life was in the blood? He didn’t know and, if left to himself, would not have written it. But God, who created man and animal and made the life stream and the bloodstream, did know it, and the Holy Spirit moved Moses to write it.

Take another example. In Job 26:7 is the declaration that the Lord hangs the earth on “nothing.” That was written at a time when everybody believed that the earth was sustained by a foundation like any other structure. But here is a plain declaration that it swings in space: “He . . . hangeth the earth upon nothing.” Now, since men have circumnavigated the globe, we know that it does hang by the law of gravitation, out in space, on nothing.

How did Job know that the earth hung on nothing? Job didn’t know it, didn’t know any more about it than the rest of the folks of his day. But God, who created the earth and hung it out in space, knew it; and the Holy Spirit moved Job to write a truth, the scientific accuracy of which later centuries have demonstrated.

Take another example. In I Corinthians 15:41, we are told in the discussion of the resurrection that “one star differeth from another star in glory.” Is that a scientific fact? Are no two stars alike? They most assuredly are not.

When I was a college student, I read the outstanding book of astronomy by James Hopwood Jeans in which he declared that at Pasadena, California they had photographed over 300 million stars in the Milky Way alone. And we have the testimony of the head of that observatory that of all the stars they had photographed up to that time, no two of them had been alike.

If you look up into the sky on a clear night, you see many, many stars twinkling in the heavens. They all look alike, but they are not alike.

How did the apostle Paul, writing before the days of huge telescopes and unaided by scientific progress, know that no two stars are alike? He didn’t know. He didn’t know any more about it than you or I would have known if we had lived in his day.

But Almighty God, who created the universe, swung the planets into their orbits and hung the stars in their spaces, did know it. And His Spirit moved the apostle Paul to make a statement two thousand years of scientific investigation has confirmed.

We could cite many other examples similar to the ones noted, but these mentioned are sufficient to show how God produced the Scriptures by moving upon the hearts of the writers.

Ill. THE PERMANENCY OF SCRIPTURE

In Matthew 24:35 Jesus declared, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”

That is a strange statement made while Jesus stood on the side of the mountain, thronged by a multitude. There was no shorthand stenographer present. They had no typewriters. It wasn’t taken down, printed, or recorded. Yet He declared, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”

After Jesus had been crucified and had ascended back to the Father and the Holy Spirit had come on the day of Pentecost, then the Holy Spirit fulfilled the promise made by Jesus to the twelve in the Upper Room when He said:

“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (John 14:26).

The writers of the New Testament, unaided, would not have recalled all of the words of Jesus, but the Holy Spirit moved them to record His sayings, just as He moved Paul, Job and Moses to. write the statements that I have referred to above.

The Scriptures are here to stay.

- All Homer ever wrote is printed in perhaps twenty modern languages.
- All Shakespeare wrote has found expression in over forty different languages.
- All Tolstoy wrote will be found expressed in some sixty different languages.
- Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress has been printed in some 120 or 125 languages and dialects.

But the Bible today is printed in over two thousand different languages and dialects and is scattered over the face of the earth.

“Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away” (Mark 13:31).

No wonder the apostle Peter admonished his readers:

“Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever” (1 Peter 1:23).

IV. THE POWER OF SCRIPTURE IN SALVATION

In our text Paul declared,

“From a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”

And, in the Scripture previously quoted, Peter declares that we are “born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God.”

The apostle Paul also declared in Romans 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.” And, in Romans 10:13-15, 17, he declared:

“Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach; except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. “

James declared, “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth” [James 1:18)].

Thus, we see that the Scriptures are the power of salvation. They are the instruments God uses to beget newborn souls into the kingdom. “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

The rich man in Hell, suffering in the horrible flame and torment, begged and pleaded with Abraham to send Lazarus back to his brethren that he might “testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.” But Abraham reminded him, “They have Moses and the prophets.”

God has no other plan to save this world than through the Word of God to enlighten men’s darkened minds and souls and bring them to the knowledge of Christ.

“From a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus,” said Paul to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:15.

- A thirsty man could die of thirst standing beside a lake full of water if he refused to drink.
- A hungry man could starve to death sitting at a table spread with all sorts of fine foods if he refused to eat.
- The sick man may die looking at the directions on the bottle of medicine.

It is not enough just to have the remedy at hand; the instructions must be followed. It is not enough just to have water and food in convenient reach; they must be partaken of. And it is not enough just to have a Bible on the center table of the home or in the drawer or somewhere handy, or even carried under the arm to Sunday school and church; it must be partaken of by reading it, and its instructions must be followed.

“Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1 :21, 22).

V. THE PLACE OF SCRIPTURE IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE

There is more to being a Christian than just being born again. There is more to being a Christian than just being saved and ready to die. There are a testimony to give and a service to render to those about us.

This is suggested in our text when Paul declared that the Scripture “is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”

Paul likewise urged upon Timothy:

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).

The Lord furthermore declared:

“Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock.

“And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand” (Matthew 7:24, 26).

No Christian ought to be satisfied with just being saved and getting to Heaven. He ought to want to serve the Lord here; and to serve the Lord here in his fullest capacity, he must be well grounded in the Word.

Education is very fine and helpful, and I certainly believe in it, or I would not have worked my way through two universities. But education and college degrees will not fully and properly equip you for the work of the Lord.

You may win souls without ever knowing a thing about biology, but you can’t be a soul winner without knowledge of the Bible.

You may win souls without a knowledge of history and literature and art and sciences, but you can’t be an efficient servant of God and a winner of souls without some knowledge of the Bible.

And I fear that one of the tragedies today is that too many of our ministers and religious workers, while they are getting college and seminary degrees and learning all about history and literature and other secular subjects—all of which are good in their place—are neglecting really to know the Gospel, “. . . for it is the power of God unto salvation.”

VI. THE PROMOTION OF SCRIPTURE

There is another responsibility that is ours, and that is the responsibility to promote the Word of God. Jesus gave His disciples the command:

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:19, 20).

And Paul wrote to Timothy:

“The things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2).

Then in his final message to young Timothy, Paul wrote:

“I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsujfering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall tum away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry” (2 Timothy 4:1-5).

Poetry, philosophy, history, art, and other things have their place and are frequently helpful as windows through which to let in the light. But the great responsibility, the supreme responsibility of the minister is to preach the Word.

Frequently people will say concerning their pastor, “He is a good man and a fine pastor to visit the sick and pray with people, but he just can’t preach.”

This is one of the biggest disgraces that can come to a preacher. Preaching is his supreme mission. Binding up wounded feelings, visiting the sick, burying the dead, reconciling quarreling factions, raising money, and promoting church programs and drives are all secondary duties of a preacher. His one great responsibility is to preach the Word.

Another common comment is, “Well, you know our pastor is a fine man, and he means well, but you never hear him say a word against sin and the evil around us.”

This is, if anything, a bigger disgrace than the other. Paul specifically charged young Timothy to “be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine!”

The preacher who never rebukes sin in the life of his own members and in the community around him is not fulfilling his high mission, not true to his own calling in Jesus Christ.

Paul in this Scripture specifically prophesied:

“The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, - make full proof of thy ministry.”

The “full proof” of a man’s ministry includes preaching the Word and rebuking sin just as much as it does visiting the sick, singing songs, leading prayer meeting and urging people to be ready to die.

- Dr. Sam Morris (1900-1988)

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