A True Work of the Spirit (Part 3)
January 31st, 2007
(By John MacArthur)
So far we have seen that a true work of the Holy Spirit exalts the true Christ and opposes Satan’s interests. Today, we will continue by looking at another mark of the Spirit’s work. The following material is adapted from Jonathan Edwards’s The Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God.
It Points People to the Scriptures
“We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” (1 John 4:6)
The spirit that causes people to have a greater regard for the Holy Scriptures and establishes them more in the truth and divinity of God’s Word is certainly the Spirit of God.
The devil never would attempt to beget in persons a regard to the divine Word. A spirit of delusion will not incline persons to seek direction at the mouth of God. “To the law and to the testimony!” (Isa. 8:20) is never the cry of evil spirits who have no light in them. On the contrary, it is God’s own direction to discover their delusions.
Would the spirit of error, in order to deceive men, beget in them a high opinion of the infallible Word? Would the prince of darkness, in order to promote his kingdom of darkness, lead men to the sun? The devil has always shown a mortal spite and hatred towards that holy book, the Bible. He has done all in his power to extinguish that light, or else draw men off from it. He knows it to be that light by which his kingdom of darkness is to be overthrown. He has long experienced its power to defeat his purposes and baffle his designs. It is his constant plague. It is the sword of the Spirit that pierces him and conquers him.
It is that sharp sword that we read of in Revelation 19:15, which proceeds out of the mouth of Him that sat on the horse, with which He smites His enemies. Every text is a dart to torment the old serpent. He has felt the stinging smart thousands of times.
Therefore the devil is engaged against the Bible and hates every word in it. We may be sure that he never will attempt to raise anyone’s esteem of it.
(To be continued tomorrow)
Amen! God magnifies His Word above His name. Psalm 138:2
Wielding the sword of the Spirit in love surely is something the devil hates.
“The devil has always shown a mortal spite and hatred towards that holy book, the Bible. He has done all in his power to extinguish that light, or else draw men off from it. He knows it to be that light by which his kingdom of darkness is to be overthrown.”
And that is why he loves to fill our day with the things of this world or even with things we feel we must get done for the day. Many times I start my day without reading the word of God. How foolish is that? If Scripture is a sword that defeats the devil, why wouldn’t the Christian soldier equip himself daily before he begins the day that he might meditate upon it throughout the day?
Amen and amen! Once the enemy can undermine our faith in the Word, we have no firm foundation for our faith. Only the Holy Spirit would want us to have faith in God’s Word. It’s true - this is why we must meditate on Scripture day in and day out.
The Scripture is {{all}} true and God-breathed [2Tim.3:16, Ps.119:89…]. If {{any}} of it is considered untrue, how can any of the rest of it be considered true or God-inspired?… it relegates Scripture to just another philosopy to be adopted or not at our own personal whim.
Let us stand firm in the gift of faith and our confidence in the Scriptures to His Glory. There are many adversaries to the Word and our fellowship of faith in Him.
1Cor.16:13
forgive the single question: Why use the word “divine” or “divinity”? in what sense is the scriptures “divine”? In what sense does the Holy Spirit focus a believing heart on the “divinity” of scripture? Please clarify. Thank you.
What then of those “Christian Leaders” who are constantly attempting to cast doubt on scripture as the complete and perfect Word of God? What is amazing to me is how so many other “Christians” flock to sit at their feet. Shouldn’t we consider these deceivers to be tools of Satan? In that sense I would also say that they are “Christian” in name.
In Christ
Mike Ratliff
@ Tom Lawler - I’ll try to explain
|| Why use the word “divine” or “divinity”? in what sense is the scriptures “divine”? ||
The Scriptures are divine in the sense that they hold the very same authority as God. Rejecting Scripture is to reject God Himself.
1 Thess 4:8 “So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.”
|| In what sense does the Holy Spirit focus a believing heart on the “divinity” of scripture? ||
I’ll give you some verses as to how I think this happens.
a) The power to believe that the Bible is the Word of God.
1 Thess 2: 13 “For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.”
b) The power to know the truth and for the power to live by that truth (sanctification).
John 17:17 “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.”
1 Corin 2:12 “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God,”
Romans 15:16 “to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.”
c) The Spirit personally testifies to us.
Romans 8:16 “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,”
[…] Part 3 - It Points People to the Scriptures. […]
Tom,
Also, don’t forget (and I might be off on this one, the rest will have to let me know)
John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”
John 1:14 “And the Word became 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.”
When we speak of the divinity of the Bible, we are pointing out that the Word of God is Jesus Himself. Or at least that’s how I’ve always interpreted it. I’m sure someone here will put me in my place. But hope that helped anyway.
Thanks,John, for the clarification of the authority of Scripture. I appreciate your teaching ministry very much.