"For no prophecy ever came by the will of man, but men spake
from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit."—2 Pet. 1:21.
"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, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."—2 Tim.
3:16, 17.
Our subject this morning is "The Inspiration of the Bible, or to What
Extent Is the Bible Inspired of God?" The subject is of vital and
fundamental importance. If we can make it clear that the writers of
the various books of the Bible were inspired of God in a sense that
no other men were ever inspired of God, that they were so gifted and
taught and led and governed by the Holy Spirit in their utterances as
recorded in the Bible, that they taught the truth and nothing but
the truth, that their teachings were absolutely without error,—then
we have in the Bible a court of final appeal and of infallible wisdom
to which we can go to settle every question of doctrine or duty. But
if the writers of the Bible were "inspired" only in the vague and
uncertain sense that Shakespeare, Browning and many other men of genius
were inspired, only inspired to the extent that their minds were made
more keen to see the truth than ordinary men, but still only in such a
way that they made mistakes, or chose the wrong word to express their
thought, so that we must recast their thought by discovering, if we
may, what the inspired thought back of the uninspired words was, then
we are all at sea, in hopeless confusion, so that each generation
must settle for itself what the Holy Spirit meant to say through the
blundering reporters; and it is absolutely certain that no generation
can determine with anything approximating accuracy what the Spirit
meant, and so no generation can arrive at the truth, but simply
promulgate blunders for the next and wiser generation to correct, to
be corrected in turn by the next generation that follows it. Thank
God that this latter subtle but popular doctrine can be proven to be
utterly untrue!
There is great need of crystal clear teaching on this subject,
because our colleges and seminaries and pulpits and Sunday schools
and religious papers are full of teaching that is vague, inaccurate,
misleading, un-Scriptural, and oftentimes grossly false. There are
many in these days who say "I believe that the Bible is inspired" when
by "inspired" they do not mean at all what you understand or what the
mighty men of faith in the past meant by "inspired." They often say
that they "believe the Bible is the Word of God," when at the same time
they believe it is full of errors.
Now the Bible is as clear as crystal in its teachings and claims
regarding itself, and either those claims are true, or else the Bible
is the biggest fraud in all the literature of the human race. The
position held by so many to-day, that the Bible is a good book, perhaps
the best book in the world, but at the same time it is full of errors
that must be corrected by the higher wisdom of our day, is utterly
illogical and absolutely ridiculous. If the Bible is not what it claims
to be, it is a fraud—an outrageous fraud.
What does the Bible teach and claim concerning itself? What does it
teach and claim regarding the fact and extent of its own inspiration?
I. THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN APOSTLES AND PROPHETS DIFFERENT IN
CHARACTER FROM HIS WORK IN ALL OTHER PERSONS
The first thing that the Bible teaches on this point and claims for
itself is, _that the work of the Holy Spirit in apostles and prophets,
in the various human authors of the different books of the Bible,
differs from His work in other men, even in other believers in Christ_.
It teaches that the Holy Spirit imparts to apostles and prophets an
especial gift for an especial purpose. We find this clearly taught in 1
Cor. 12:4, 8-11, 28, 29, where we read, "+Now there are diversities
of gifts, but the same Spirit. . . . (8) for to one is given through
the Spirit the word of wisdom; and to another the word of knowledge,
according to the same Spirit; (9) to another faith, in the same Spirit;
and to another gifts of healing, in the same Spirit; (10) and to
another workings of miracles (powers); and to another prophecy; and
to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues,
and to another the interpretation of tongues; (11) but all these
worketh the one and the same Spirit, dividing to each one severally
even as He will. . . . (28) And God hath set some in the church, first
apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly teachers, then miracles, then
gifts of healings, helps, governments, divers kinds of tongues. (29)
Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers
of miracles?+" This chapter is the fullest and clearest chapter in
the Bible on the subject of the various gifts of the Holy Spirit. It
is the classical chapter on the whole subject, and the teaching of
these verses is as plain as language can make it, and it states in
terms, the meaning of which is unmistakable, that the gift bestowed
on apostles and prophets _differed in kind_ from the gifts bestowed
on other believers, even though those believers were filled with the
Holy Spirit. Not only did the work of the Holy Spirit in the apostles
and prophets differ from His work in men of genius, but even from His
work in other believers. These verses make it as plain as day that
the doctrine which has become so common and so popular in our day,
that the work of the Holy Spirit in preachers and teachers and in
ordinary believers, illuminating them and guiding them into the truth
and into the understanding of the Word of God, is the same in kind and
differs only in degree from the work of the Holy Spirit in Apostles
and Prophets is thoroughly unscriptural and untrue. This doctrine
overlooks what is here so clearly stated and so carefully elucidated,
that while there is +"the same Spirit" "there are diversities of
gifts" "diversities of ministrations," "diversities of workings" (1
Cor. 12:406 R. V.) and that not all are Prophets or Apostles. (1 Cor.
12:29.)+
Those who desire to minimise the difference between the work of the
Holy Spirit in Apostles and Prophets, and His work in other men,
often refer to the fact that the Bible itself says that Bezaleel, the
architect of the tabernacle, was to be +"filled with the Spirit of
God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all
manner of workmanship," "to devise the work of the tabernacle"+
(Ex. 31:1-11), as a proof that the inspiration of the Prophet does not
differ in kind from the inspiration of the artist or the architect.
This argument at first glance seems plausible, but when we bear in mind
the facts about the tabernacle, especially the fact that the tabernacle
was to be built after the pattern shown to Moses in the mount (Ex.
25:8, 9, 40) and that therefore it was itself a revelation from God, a
prophecy, a setting forth of the truth of God, the argument loses all
its force. The tabernacle was the Word of God done into wood, gold,
silver, brass, cloth, skin, etc., just as truly the Word of God and the
revealing of God's truth as if the truth were printed on a page. So,
of course, Bezaleel needed to be inspired, he was a prophet, a prophet
who uttered his prophecies in the details of the tabernacle. There is
much reasoning about inspiration to-day that appear at first sight very
learned, but that will not bear much scrutiny or candid comparison with
the teachings of the Word of God. There is nothing in the Bible more
inspired than the tabernacle, and if the destructive critics would
study the tabernacle more carefully and thoroughly they would be led
to give up their ingenious but untenable theories, not only about the
construction of the tabernacle, but about many other things as well. I
have never heard or known of a single destructive critic who had ever
given a thorough study to the real meaning of the tabernacle in all
its parts, or who had any considerable understanding of the types of
Scripture. I have challenged the critics in the University centres of
England, Ireland and Scotland to name one single destructive critic
who had ever made any thorough study of the types, and no one has ever
attempted to even suggest one.
II. TRUTH HIDDEN FROM MEN FOR AGES, AND WHICH THEY HAD NOT DISCOVERED
AND COULD NOT DISCOVER, BY THE UNAIDED PROCESSES OF HUMAN REASONING,
HAS BEEN REVEALED TO APOSTLES AND PROPHETS IN THE SPIRIT
The second thing taught in the Bible regarding the inspiration of
the Apostles and Prophets, the inspiration of the various authors of
the books of the Bible, is that _truth hidden from men for ages, and
which they had not discovered, and could not discover, by the unaided
processes of human reasoning, even human reasoning at its very best
and highest, has been revealed to Apostles and Prophets in the Holy
Spirit_. We find this very clearly taught in Eph. 3:2-5: +"If so be
that ye have heard of the dispensation of that grace of God which was
given me to you-ward; (3) how that by revelation was made known unto
me the mystery, as I wrote before in few words, (4) whereby when ye
read, ye can perceive my understanding in the mystery of Christ; (5)
which in other generations was not made known unto the sons of men,
as it hath now been revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets in
the Spirit."+ The meaning of these words is unmistakable. Paul here
declares in words the meaning of which is perfectly plain, that God
"in the Spirit" had revealed "unto His holy apostles and prophets"
"the mystery of Christ" which in former generations had not been made
known unto the sons of men, which they had not discovered and could not
discover except by revelation from God; Paul and the other apostles
and prophets knew it by direct revelation from God himself through the
Holy Ghost. The teaching is inescapable that the Bible contains truth
that men never had discovered and never could have discovered if left
to themselves, but truth which the Father in great grace has revealed
to His children through His servants the prophets and apostles. We see
in this the folly, a folly so common in our day, of seeking to test
the statements of Scripture by the conclusions of human reasoning, or
by the intuitions of the "Christian consciousness." The revelation
of God transcends human reasoning, and therefore human reasoning
cannot be its test. Furthermore, a consciousness that is truly and
fully Christian is _the product_ of the study and absorption of Bible
truth. It is not _the test_ of the truth of the Bible,—it is _the
product_ of meditation on the Bible. If our "consciousness" differs
from the statements of the Bible, it is not as yet a fully "_Christian_
consciousness," and the thing for us to do is not to try to pull God's
revelation down to the level of our consciousness but to tone our
consciousness up to the level of God's Word.
III. THE REVELATION MADE TO THE PROPHETS BY THE HOLY SPIRIT WAS
INDEPENDENT OF THEIR OWN THINKING
The third thing that the Bible makes perfectly clear as to the
inspiration of the Prophets and Apostles is, that _the revelation made
by God through His Holy Spirit to the Prophets was independent of the
Prophets' own thinking, that it was made to them by the Spirit of
Christ which was in them, and that they themselves oftentimes did not
thoroughly understand the full meaning of what the Spirit was saying
through them, and that what they said was a subject of diligent search
and inquiry to their own mind as to its meaning_. This comes out very
plainly in 1 Pet. 1:10-12, +"Concerning which salvation the prophets
sought and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should
come to you; searching what time, or what manner of time the Spirit of
Christ which was in them did point unto, when it testified beforehand
the sufferings of Christ and the glories that should follow them. Unto
whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto you, did they
minister these things which now have been announced unto you through
them that preached the Gospel unto you by the Holy Spirit sent forth
from Heaven; which things angels desire to look into."+ Here again
the meaning is as clear as day and inescapable. We are told that the
prophets had a revelation made to them by the Holy Spirit, the meaning
of which they did not thoroughly comprehend, and that they themselves
"sought and searched diligently" as to the meaning of this revelation
which was made to them and which they recorded. The Spirit, through
them testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ (e.g. in Isa. 53:3,
Ps. 22) and the glories that should follow them. They recorded what the
Spirit testified, but what it meant they did not thoroughly understand.
It was not merely that their minds were made keen to see things
which they would not otherwise see, and which they therefore more or
less accurately recorded. No, there was a very definite revelation,
arising _not from their own minds at all_, but from the Spirit of God
Who made the revelation to them and this they recorded, but it was
not of themselves to that extent that they themselves wondered as to
what its meaning might be. What they recorded was not at all their
own thought, it was the thought of the Holy Spirit who spoke through
them. How utterly different this conception is from that which is so
persistently taught in many of our colleges and theological seminaries
and pulpits,—how utterly different it is from the conception that was
taught a week ago to-day in one of the pulpits of our own city.
IV. NO PROPHETIC UTTERANCE WAS OF THE PROPHET'S OWN WILL, BUT THE
PROPHET SPOKE FROM GOD AND THE PROPHET WAS CARRIED ALONG BY THE HOLY
SPIRIT AND NOT BY HIS OWN IMPULSE OR REASONING IN WHAT HE SAID
The fourth thing that the Bible makes perfectly clear is, that _not
one single prophetic utterance was of the prophet's own will (i.e.,
it was not in any sense merely what he wished to say), but in every
instance the Prophet spoke from God, and the Prophet was carried along
in the prophetic utterance by the Holy Spirit, regardless of his own
will or thought_. We find this stated practically in so many words in
2 Pet. 1:21 where we read: +"For no prophecy+ (literally, _not a
prophecy_) +ever came+ (literally, was brought) +by the will
of man; but men spake from God being moved+ (literally, carried
along, or borne) +by the Holy Spirit."+ There can be no honest
mistaking of the meaning of this language. The Prophet never thought
that there was something that needed to be said and therefore said it,
but God took possession of the prophet, _carried him along_ in his
utterance, by the power of the Holy Spirit, and he spake, not from his
own consciousness, and not from his own reasoning, nor from his own
intuition, but "_from God_." As God's messenger he spoke what God told
him to say.
V. THE HOLY SPIRIT WAS THE REAL SPEAKER WHO SPOKE IN THE PROPHETIC
UTTERANCES
The fifth thing that the Bible teaches regarding the Inspiration of
the Prophets and the Apostles and their utterances, is that _the Holy
Spirit was the real speaker in the prophetic utterances, that what was
said or written was the Holy Spirit's Word that was upon the Apostle's
tongue, and not the word of the Prophet or Apostle_. This is said in
the Bible in so many words, over and over again. For example, in Heb.
3:7 we read: +"Wherefore, even as the Holy Spirit saith, To-day if ye
shall hear His voice, harden not your hearts, etc."+ The author of
the epistle to the Hebrews is quoting Ps. 95:7, 8 and says that what
the Psalmist is recorded as saying "_the Holy Spirit saith_." Again in
Heb. 10:15, 16, we read: +"And the Holy Spirit also beareth witness
to us; for after He had said, This is the covenant that I will make
with them after those days, saith the Lord: I will put my laws on their
heart, and upon their mind also will I write them."+ Now the author
of the Epistle to the Hebrews is quoting Jer. 31:33, and he does not
hesitate to say that the testimony that Jeremiah there bore is _the
testimony of the Holy Ghost_, that the Holy Ghost was the real speaker.
Again we read in Acts 28:25, 26 that Paul said, +"Well spake the Holy
Spirit through Isaiah the prophet, unto your fathers, (26) saying, Go
thou unto this people and say, By hearing ye shall hear and shall
in no wise understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall in no wise
perceive, etc."+ Here Paul is quoting Isaiah's words as recorded in
the 6th chapter of Isaiah, the 9th and 10th verses, and he distinctly
says that the real speaker was not Isaiah, but "the Holy Spirit" who
spoke "through Isaiah the prophet."
Turning now to the old Testament we read in 2 Sam. 23:2 this assertion
by David regarding the things that he said and wrote: +"The Spirit of
Jehovah spake by me, and his word was upon my tongue."+ There can
be no mistaking the meaning of these words on the part of any one who
goes to the Bible to find out what it really claims and teaches. The
Holy Spirit was the real speaker in the prophetic utterance. It was the
Holy Spirit's utterance that was upon the prophet's tongue. The prophet
was simply the mouth by which the Holy Spirit spoke. Merely as a man,
except as the Holy Spirit taught him and used him, the prophet was
fallible as other men are fallible, but when the Spirit was upon him,
when he was taken up and borne along by the Holy Spirit, then he became
infallible in his teachings; for his teachings were not his, but the
teachings of the Holy Spirit. It was God who was then speaking, not the
Prophet. For example, Paul merely as a man, even as a Christian man,
doubtless had many mistaken notions on many things, and was more or
less subject to the ideas and opinions of his time, but when he taught
as an Apostle, under the power of the Holy Spirit he was infallible,
or rather the Spirit who taught through him was infallible, and the
teachings that resulted from the Spirit's teaching through him, were
infallible, as infallible as God. Common sense demands of us that we
carefully distinguish between what Paul _may have_ thought as a man,
and what he _actually taught_ as an apostle. In the Bible we have the
record of what he taught as an Apostle. Some one may cite as a possible
exception to this statement 1 Cor. 7:6, 25, where he says: +"But
this I say by way of concession, not of commandment. . . . Now concerning
virgins, I have no commandment of the Lord, but I give my judgment, as
one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be trustworthy."+ There
are those who think that Paul does not seem to have been sure here that
he had the word of the Lord in this particular matter, but that is not
the meaning of the passage. The meaning of v. 6 is that his teaching
which he had just given was _by way of concession_ to their weakness,
and not a commandment as to what they must do. And the teaching of v.
25 is that the Lord, during His earthly life, had given no commandment
on this subject, but that Paul was giving his judgment; but he says
distinctly that he was giving it _as one who had obtained mercy of the
Lord to be trustworthy_ and _furthermore, in the 40th verse of the
chapter he distinctly says that in his judgment he had the Spirit of
God_. But even allowing that the other interpretation of this passage
is the correct one, and that Paul was not absolutely sure in this case
that he had the Word of the Lord and the mind of the Lord, that would
only show that where Paul was not absolutely sure that he was teaching
in the Holy Ghost he was careful to note the fact, and this would only
give additional certainty to all other passages that he wrote.
It is sometimes said that Paul taught in his earlier epistles that
the Lord would return during his lifetime, and that in this matter he
certainly was mistaken. But Paul never taught in his earlier epistles,
or any other epistles, he never taught anywhere, that the Lord would
return during his lifetime. This assertion is contrary to fact. He does
say in 1 Thess. which was his first epistle, the 4th chapter and 17th
verse: +"Then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with
them+ (i.e., the believers who had already fallen asleep) +be
caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we
ever be with the Lord."+ He does here put himself in the same class
with those who were still alive when he wrote the words. He naturally
and necessarily did not include himself with those who had already
fallen asleep. In speaking of the Lord's return he does not say nor
hint that he will be still alive when the Lord returns. It is quite
probable that Paul did believe at this time that he might be alive
when the Lord returned _but he never taught that he would be alive_.
The attitude of expectancy is the true attitude in all ages for every
believer. This was the attitude that Paul took until it was distinctly
revealed to him that he would depart before the Lord came. I think
it very probable that Paul in the earlier part of his ministry was
inclined to believe that he would live until the coming of the Lord,
but the Holy Ghost kept him from so teaching, and also kept him from
all other errors in his teachings.
VI. THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE APOSTLES GAVE NOT ONLY THE THOUGHT, BUT THE
WORDS IN WHICH THE THOUGHT WAS TO BE EXPRESSED
The 6th thing that the Bible makes clear as to the inspiration of the
apostle and prophets is that, _the Holy Spirit in the Prophets and
Apostles gave not only the thought but also gave the words in which
the thought was to be expressed_. We find this very clearly stated
in 1 Cor. 2:13: +"Which things also we speak, not in words which
man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Spirit teacheth; combining
spiritual things with spiritual words."+ One of the most popular
of the false theories of Inspiration in our day is that the Holy
Spirit was the author of the thought, but that the Apostles were
left to their own choice of words in the expression of the thought,
and that therefore in studying the Bible we cannot emphasise the
exact meaning of the words, but must try to find the thought of God
that was back of the words, and which the writer has more or less
inaccurately expressed. There are many teachers in our theological
seminaries to-day, and in our pulpits, who speak very sneeringly and
superciliously of those who believe in Verbal Inspiration,—i.e., those
who believe that the Holy Spirit chose the very words in which the
thought he was teaching was to be expressed, but however sneeringly
they may speak of those who believe in Verbal Inspiration, certainly
the Bible claims that it was verbally inspired. The passage which I
have just read makes it as plain as language can possibly make it
that the "_words_" in which the Apostle spoke were not "_words_ which
man's wisdom teacheth, but _which the Spirit teacheth_." Now if this
is not the fact, if only the _thought_ that was given to Paul was the
thought of God, and he clothed the thought in his own words, then Paul
was a thoroughly deceived man on a fundamental point, in which case
no dependence at all can be placed in his teachings on any point, or
else he was a deliberate fraud, in which case the quicker we burn up
his books the better for us and all concerned. There is no possibility
of finding any middle ground, and the attempts to find a middle ground
have landed those who have tried it in all kinds of absurdities. If
you have an exact and logical mind, you must take your choice between
Verbal Inspiration and bald infidelity. _Paul distinctly states that
the words in which he conveyed to others the truth that was revealed
to him were the words which the Holy Spirit taught him._ The Holy
Spirit himself has anticipated all these modern ingenious, but wholly
unbiblical and utterly illogical and entirely false theories regarding
his own work in the Apostles. The theory that "the concept" was
inspired but the words in which the concept was expressed were not, was
anticipated by the Holy Spirit Himself and exploded 1800 years before
our supposedly wise 19th century theological teachers conceived it,
and attempted to foist it upon an unsuspecting public. It was exploded
eighteen centuries before it was exploited. Furthermore, the theory
is absurd in itself. As the only way in which thought can be conveyed
from one mind to another, from one man's mind to another man's mind,
or from the mind of God to the mind of man is by words, therefore
if the words are imperfect the thought expressed in those words is
necessarily imperfect. The theory is an absurdity on its very face, and
it is difficult to see how intelligent men could have ever deceived
themselves into believing such a thoroughly illogical theory. If the
words are not inspired the Bible is not inspired. Let us not deceive
ourselves; let us face facts.
Furthermore, the more carefully and minutely one studies the _wording_
of the statements of this wonderful book—the Bible—the more he will
become convinced of the marvellous accuracy of _the very words_ used to
express the thought. To a superficial thinker the doctrine of Verbal
Inspiration may appear questionable or even absurd, but any regenerate
and Spirit-taught man who _ponders the words_ of the Scripture day
by day, and year after year, will become thoroughly and immovably
convinced that the wisdom of God is in _the very words_ used as well
as in the thought which is expressed in the words. It is a significant
and deeply impressive fact that our difficulties with the Bible rapidly
disappear as we note _the precise language_ used. The changing of a
word or letter, or of a tense, case or number, would oftentimes land us
in contradiction or untruth, but taking the _words exactly as written_,
difficulties disappear and truth shines forth. Countless times people
have come to me with apparent difficulties and supposed contradictions
in the Bible and asked a solution, and I have pointed them to the exact
words used and the solution was found in taking the words exactly
as written. It was because they changed in a slight degree the very
words that God spoke that a difficulty had seemed to arise. The Divine
origin of nature shines forth more and more clearly the more closely we
examine it under the microscope. As by the use of a powerful microscope
we see the perfection of form and the adaptation of means to end in
the minutest particles of matter, we are overwhelmingly convinced that
God, a God of infinite wisdom and power, a wisdom extending down to
the minutest parts of matter, is the author of the material universe:
so likewise the divine origin of the Bible shines forth more and more
clearly under the microscope. The more minutely we study the Bible the
more we note the perfection with which the turn of a word reveals the
absolute thought of God.
An important question, and a question that has puzzled many writers at
this point, is: If the Holy Spirit is the author of the very words of
Scripture how do we account for the variations in style and diction?
How is it, for example, that Paul always used Pauline language,
and John used Johannean language, and Peter used language that was
characteristic of himself? The answer to this question is very simple
and is two-fold: First, even though we could not account at all for
this fact, it would have little weight against the explicit statement
of God's Word with any one who is humble enough and wise enough to
recognise that there are a great many things which he cannot account
for at all which could be easily accounted for if he knew a little
more. It is only the man who has such amazing and stupendous conceit
that he thinks he knows as much as God, in other words, that he is
infinite in wisdom, who will give up an explicit statement of God's
Word simply because he sees a difficulty in the way of the acceptance
of that statement, which he in his limited knowledge cannot solve. But
there is a second answer, and an all-sufficient one, and that is this:
these variations in style and diction are easily accounted for. The
Holy Spirit is infinitely wise. He Himself is the Creator of Man, and
of man's power of speech, and therefore he is quite wise enough and has
quite enough facility in the use of language in revealing truth to and
through any individual to use words, phrases and forms of expression
that are in that person's ordinary vocabulary and forms of thought,
and He is also quite wise enough to make use of that person's peculiar
individuality in revealing the truth through him. It is one of the
marks of the Divine wisdom of this book that the same Divine truth
is expressed with absolute accuracy in such widely variant forms of
expression.