THESE ARE WRITTEN
John 20:30 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: 31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
John 21:25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.
The importance of the scriptures could not be more seriously set forth than in the account of the rich man in hell. That event is set forth in the following passage. Luke 16:27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: 28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. 29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. 30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. 31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
The term, “Moses and the prophets” refers to the Old Testament scriptures. Therefore in this event, shown from an eternity circumstance, Abraham refuses to set forth more than what has already been provided. He states to one in hell that the scriptures are most sufficient to keep the rich man’s brothers out of that horror. But the rich man disagrees, as he didn’t give any credence to the scriptures and therefore wound up there. So he wanted something more spectacular than that for his brothers deliverance.
And even if one rose from the dead, (and Christ did), without belief in the written word even that would not avail! For Jesus told them this himself! John 5:46 For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. For the written word is to bring us to the Person of the Living Word! John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Nicodemus also wanted to approach Christ on the basis of miracles, but he too, was refused. John 2:23 ¶ Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. 24 But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, 25 And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man. 3:1 ¶ There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
And Christ also rebuked Nicodemus for not knowing of the necessity of the new birth, even though, he too had only the Old Testament available to him. John 3:9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? 10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? For even a child who is in a proper spiritual relation with the scriptures can, by the Holy Spirit, be made wise unto salvation through faith. 2 Timothy 3:15 And that 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.
Although the printed word cannot, of itself, bring one into the new birth, they can be used of the Holy Spirit to bring one unto the need of the Living Word, who alone can save! John 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. But this cannot be done with just the natural understanding of the bare letter. A revealing of the spirit of the word by the Holy Spirit is essential! John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. 2 Corinthians 3:6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
And most of us do not realize what a miracle it is to even hold a Bible in our hands. Do you have any other ancient book in your possession that has been written by authors of long ago? If you had such a treasure you would probably lock it up in a safe. Yet our Lord has made sure that we have copies of such a book readily available! For he has promised us two things concerning His word! 1. It would never pass away. 2. It cannot be disproved. Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. John 10:35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
Satan has done what he could to attempt to diminish the effect of the Scriptures from among mankind. To Eve he asked, “Hath God said?” And he has continued to cast doubt upon God’s written record book down through the ages. And to our Lord Himself Satan quoted passages, but in an attempt to have them misapplied. Matthew 4:6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. All Harlot religion is derived from such misuse of the scriptures. Have you ever considered that the Lord came not to institute religious denominations? But that he came to establish faith?
And skeptics can try as they might to set one bible passage against another, but this only shows that they have no spiritual understanding. If anyone thinks one verse disproves another, it is only because they do not understand the overall content of God’s message.
Here is an example. First Acts 13:48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. Then 1 Timothy 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. Now in that Acts 13:48 verse it clearly states that only those “ordained to eternal life” would “believe.” And this is backed up by John 6:37. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
But then the 1 Timothy verse clearly states that God will have all men to be saved. Therefore at first glance, with only a surface reading, these seem to oppose one another. But since the scripture cannot be broken, there cannot be any conflict between these verses. So it has to be our interpretation that is faulty. For if we read the first three verses of our 1 Timothy 2 passage we realize that we are being instructed to pray for all kinds of men! Therefore we see that 1 Timothy 2:4 merely states that God will have all kinds of men to be saved. Not all men, without exception, but all kinds of men without exclusion!
We absolutely know that all men, without exception, are not going to believe, for multitudes in our day have no faith! And there are already souls in Hell. But we have biblical proof that the Lord Jesus is to save all kinds of men, without exclusion. Revelation 5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
One other verse that is always dredged up in an attempt to establish a universal atonement is this verse. 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the verse states that God’s longsuffering is to “us-ward.” That is, “towards us.” For in verse one of this chapter Peter clearly states that he is writing to the “beloved.” Therefore again, we see that this verse is not referring to the salvation of all men without exception. Yet entire denominations, with all their evangelistic efforts are established upon the misinterpretation of such verses.
But this changing of the word of God holds horrible consequences for those who do so. Revelation 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
We must be as the ancient peoples of Berea in regard to our relation to the Holy Scriptures. Acts 17:10 And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
We have much greater light than those of the Old Testament. The law only had a shadow of things to come. Hebrews 10:1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
But we have the light of the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore as we are more blessed, we are under greater responsibility to benefit from that light. John 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
Hebrews 10:28 He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: 29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.
“THESE ARE WRITTEN,” but who wrote them? Well, it was a joint effort by the Holy Spirit giving inspiration to holy men. 2 Peter 1:21 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. There were instances of dictation as when the Holy Spirit moved on Jeremiah, who dictated what he had revealed to this prophet’s heart unto Baruch who wrote them down. Jeremiah 36:17 And they asked Baruch, saying, Tell us now, How didst thou write all these words at his mouth? 18 Then Baruch answered them, He pronounced all these words unto me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book.
And it was the same as the Apostle Paul dictated the Book of Romans to Tertius. Romans 1:1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, 16:22 I Tertius, who wrote this epistle, salute you in the Lord.
And the Lord Jesus instructed his disciples that the Holy Spirit would refresh their memory concerning all that he wanted written of his earthly ministry. John 14:25 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. 26 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.
And one of the most unique events to show the Spirit’s involvement in the writing of the Scriptures is found in the Book of Jeremiah. For after the king heard the words of Jeremiah, he burned the original copy in his fire place. Then the Lord God revealed that portion of these writings, to Jeremiah again word by word, but also adding other words also. Jeremiah 36:21 So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll: and he took it out of Elishama the scribe’s chamber. And Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes which stood beside the king. 22 Now the king sat in the winterhouse in the ninth month: and there was a fire on the hearth burning before him. 23 And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth. 24 Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants that heard all these words. 27 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the roll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying, 28 Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned. 32 Then took Jeremiah another roll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah; who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire: and there were added besides unto them many like words.
And it was as the Person of the Eternal Word was glorified in his resurrection, that the disciples began to understand and believe the scriptures and Christ’s word. John 2:22 When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said. 12:16 These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him.
Pastor Gene Breed
November 19, 2020
