“The Greatest Giver of Gifts, Part 2” by Romans
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUnDKD1NMH4
Last week, as we continued into our Seasonal Themes, I listed some of the Gifts God has bestowed on us as The Greatest Giver of Gifts. At the conclusion of last week's Discussion, I supplemented the Gifts that I covered with all of the other Gifts that I omitted due exclusively to space and time considerations. The lists of the Gifts of God that I reviewed was not by any means an exhaustive list.
I am going to start our Discussion, tonight, with a Gift I have never named in any Bible Study that I have conducted with any of the Groups I have had the opportunity to teach. It is the Gift of Language. Language is a reflection of a characteristic of the God in Whose Image we were made. The first quoted words in the Bible quote our Creator saying, “Let there be light.” The Father, Son and Holy Spirit have been in communication with each other throughout Eternity. Jesus, Himself, is called The Word of God in John 1:1.
How do we know God said those words? Language. Not just spoken language, but also written and read language. There are hundreds, and according to some reports I have read, thousands of Christian Denominations. And they exist all reading the same words from the same book, yet they have allowed Satan to play divide and conquer with them when God's Will and Way are in writing.
What would the Christian landscape look like if we only had word of mouth to depend on in terms of God's Commands and Statutes and requirements for what His Will was regarding His people? It would be chaos. Some say, give the current Status Quo even with a written Word of God, it is already chaos.
As I have alluded to repeatedly in the Group and with other Groups that I have taught, 1 Corinthians 1 and Romans 14 are largely ignored and dismissed by Mainstream Christianity's hundreds of Denomination. In 1 Corinthians 1, beginning in verse 10, Paul is alarmed when he learned that the Church at Corinth had devolved into factions.
He wrote, “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided?” (1 Corinthians 1:10-13).
Albert Barnes answers Paul's question with these words: “Is Christ divided? Paul, in this verse, proceeds to show the impropriety of their divisions and strifes. His general argument is, that Christ alone ought to be regarded as their head and leader, and that his claims, arising from his crucifixion, and acknowledged by their baptism, were so pre-eminent that they could not be divided, and the honors due to him should not be rendered to any other.
The apostle, therefore, asks, with strong emphasis, whether Christ was to be regarded as divided? Whether this single Supreme Head and Leader of the church, had become the head of different contending factions? The strong absurdity of supposing that, showed the impropriety of their ranging themselves under different banners and leaders.”
The mere existence of Denomination answers the Apostle Paul's question with “Yes. Christ is divided.” And that is the wrong answer. Denominations present to the world a bickering, disallowing, fragmented, divided and even a dismembered Body of Christ. Denominations are a black eye on the Body of Christ. And they exist in spite of God's Word being written down and meticulously copied, preserved and disseminated.
Jesus told us, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Matthew 24:35). That prophecy was fulfilled by Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and to a less degree, the Apostle Paul. It was only by the Apostle Paul that we learned that Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than receive.” Those words are not recorded in any of the Four Gospels. In Acts 20:35, Paul quoted Jesus in his farewell address to the elders of the Church at Ephesus.
But the word “Scripture,” itself, indicate an enscribing, a written account. The words that were written for us were directed to be written for us as they were inspired by the Holy Spirit. We read, “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 3:16-17).
The comments in the Preacher's Homiletical takes us back to the previous verse that is important to this Discussion, and then comments on it: Let's read both: “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” (2 Timothy 3:15).
The Importance of Early Instruction in the Bible.
I. The advantage of a knowledge of the Scriptures.—1. They communicate truths of immense value. 2. These truths cannot be obtained but by Divine Revelation 3. Their knowledge is the noblest improvement of the mind.
II. The Holy Scriptures are made effectual to salvation.—1. They discover the method of salvation. 2. They make men wise unto salvation through faith.—P. Hutchison.
2 Timothy 3:16-17. The Inspiration and Utility of the Scriptures. I. The inspiration of the Scriptures.—1. What is inspiration? The infallible record of an infallible Revelation 2. The object of inspiration. To give certainty to that written under its guidance.
II. The utility of the Scriptures.—1. As an unvarying standard of doctrine. 2. Useful in the confutation of all religious error. 3. Useful as an infallible standard of right and wrong. 4. Useful for instruction in righteousness.—Homiletic Monthly.
It is the Gift of Language that gives us the ability to communicate as we do: to convey, receive, understand, read and write our thoughts and feelings and experiences. How else could we possibly have been able to convey anything, especially to anyone after we died? I suppose that, without language, if I were hungry and you had food, that I could point to my mouth and indicate hunger. But, 2,000+ years after if happened, we can read and understand what Jesus experienced:
“And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered” (Luke 4:1-2).
And we can also read and learn from, how, to each of the three listed temptations in the Wilderness, Jesus prefaced His response with the three words, “It is written...” Language. Written language yielding reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness. Jesus' response was in direct reference to what the Holy Spirit directed Moses, and dozens of authors after him, to write down.
And why were they written down? The Apostle Paul tells us, “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come” (1 Corinthians 10:11).
Why did the Apostle John utilize the Gift of Language and write down his Gospel Account? He tells us, “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: 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 20:30-31).
Why did the Apostle Peter write his epistle? He tells us, in apparent reference to his imminent execution, “... shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me. Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance” (2 Peter 1:14-15).
Were it not for language, how could we otherwise have possibly been able to keep these things in remembrance? And how, without written language, could we have been able to benefit from the 2,000 year old thoughts and will of a man about to die? We could not. Jesus' words, John's words, Paul's words and Peter's words could not have existed at all without language, and would have passed away were it not for the Gift of written language.
Only man can record and preserve all of the above for current and future readers. Men may have held the writing tools, but man is not the author of what is written in the Word of God. The Bible, the written Word of God, is unlike any other writing. It contains what man can never have known, guessed or invented.
The Gift of Language, and our ability to read and write Language made possible a momentous event in the days of ancient Israel. It was during the days of King Josiah. Both internal and external enemies had destroyed all known copies of the Law... except one. That last one was found when a renovation of the Temple was ordered by the King.
We read, “And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it... And Shaphan the scribe shewed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes...
And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the king's, saying, Go ye, enquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us” (2 Kings 22:8-13).
None of the above can ever have happened without Language. And even with language, if a written copy of the Law had not been written down, King Josiah can never have known how and why God's great wrath was kindled against them, and what the words were that Israel had not hearkened to.
Psalm 119, the longest Psalm and the longest chapter in the Bible celebrates the written Word of God. The Psalmist wrote,
“O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day. Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.
I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts. I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word. I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me. How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments. I am afflicted very much: quicken me, O LORD, according unto thy word” (Psalm 119: 97-107).
Albert Barnes writes, “The margin here is “candle.” The Hebrew word means a light, lamp, candle. The idea is, that the word of God is like a torch or lamp to man in a dark night. It shows him the way; it prevents his stumbling over obstacles, or failing down precipices, or wandering off into paths which would lead into danger, or would turn him away altogether from the path to life.
And a light unto my path - The same idea substantially is presented here. It is a light which shines on the road that a man treads, so that he may see the path, and that he may see any danger which may be in his path. The expression is very beautiful, and is full of instruction. He who makes the word of God his guide, and marks its teachings, is in the right way.
He will clearly see the path. He will be able to mark the road in which he ought to go, and to avoid all those by-paths which would lead him astray. He will see where those by-roads turn off from the main path - often at a very small angle, and so that there seems to be no divergence. He will see any obstruction which may lie in his path; any declivity or precipice which may be near, and down which, in a dark night, one might fall. Man needs such a guide, and the Bible is such a guide.”
At this point there is a cross-reference to Psalms 119:9, and notes there. Consider the Gift of Language when we read, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word” ( Psalm 119:9).
Albert Barnes comments regarding this, “The word wherewithal means “by what” (Hebrew); that is, What means shall a young man adopt by which he may “cleanse his way?” it indicates a state of inquiry. The case supposed is that of a young man pondering the question how he may be saved from the corruptions of his own heart, and escape the temptations to which he is exposed in early years, and lead a pure and upright life.
There can be no more important inquiry for one just entering on the journey of life; there can be found nowhere a more just and comprehensive answer than is contained in this single verse. All the precepts of ancient and modern wisdom, all the teachings of pagan morality and religion, and all the results of the experience of mankind, could furnish nothing in addition to what is here suggested. The world has no higher wisdom than this by which to guide a young man, so that he may lead a holy life.
“Shall a young man - The remark here might be applied also to those who are in middle life, or even to those who are in more advanced years, but it is applied here especially to the young, because it may be supposed that in the other cases the matter may be regarded as settled by experience;
because to the young, as they commence life, the inquiry is so momentous; and because it is a question which it may be supposed will come up before the mind of every young man who has any right aspirations, and any proper conception of the dangers which encompass his path.
Cleanse his way? - Make his course of life pure and upright. The language does not necessarily imply that there had been any previous impurity or vice, but it has particular reference to the future: not how he might cleanse himself from past offences, but how he might make the future pure. The inquiry is, how he might conduct himself - what principles he could adopt - under what influence he could bring himself - so that his future course would be honest, honorable, upright.
By taking heed thereto ... - The word “thereto” is not in the original. The Hebrew is, “To keep according to thy word;” or, “in keeping according to thy word.” Prof. Alexander supposes that this means “to keep it (his way) according to thy word;” and that the whole is a question - “How may a young man so cleanse his way as to keep it according to thy word?” - and that the answer to the question is to be found in the general strain of the psalm, or in the general principles laid down in the psalm.
But it is clear that the answer to the question must be found in the verse, or not found at all; and the most natural construction is that in our translation. So DeWette renders it: “How can a young man walk guiltless? If (or, when) he holds (or, keeps) himself according to thy word.” The meaning clearly is If he governs himself according to the law of God - if he makes that law the rule of his life and conduct, he would be enabled to do it.
All other things might fail; this rule would never fail, in making and keeping a man pure. The more principles of common honesty, the principles of honor, the considerations of self-interest, the desire of reputation - valuable as they may be - would not constitute a security in regard to his conduct; the law of God would, for that is wholly pure.”
Further in Psalm 119, the great value of the written Word of God is upheld. We read, “Consider how I love thy precepts: quicken me, O LORD, according to thy lovingkindness. Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.
Princes have persecuted me without a cause: but my heart standeth in awe of thy word. I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil. I hate and abhor lying: but thy law do I love. Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments. Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.
LORD, I have hoped for thy salvation, and done thy commandments. My soul hath kept thy testimonies; and I love them exceedingly. I have kept thy precepts and thy testimonies: for all my ways are before thee. Let my cry come near before thee, O LORD: give me understanding according to thy word.
Let my supplication come before thee: deliver me according to thy word. My lips shall utter praise, when thou hast taught me thy statutes. My tongue shall speak of thy word: for all thy commandments are righteousness. Let thine hand help me; for I have chosen thy precepts. I have longed for thy salvation, O LORD; and thy law is my delight” (Psalm 119: 160-174).
No other physical creature on earth has language. Yes, I know that other creatures can communicate in a wide variety of ways. Ants with chemical signals and trails leading to food. Bees with a “waggle dance” to plot locations of flowers. And birds with specific calls to warn of predators. But no other creature can, as we routinely do, convey and enscribe history, prophecy, thoughts, dreams, wishes, hopes, fears and many other emotions and experiences.
Let us thank God for the Gift of Language and Literacy. By it and through both of these Gifts, Jesus' words have not passed away, and we have available to us the Word of God for correction, reproof, and instruction in Righteousness. Without Language, without words ~ written words ~ we could not know we have a Creator, Who He is, what His Name is, what His Laws and Statutes are.
Without Language, without words ~ written words ~ we could not know, as King Josiah did not know, that we violated the Laws of God and incurred His wrath. We could not read the Apostle Paul's words, “The wages of sin in death...” (Romans 6:23). But we also could not know that we have a Savior. We also could not know that God has had a Plan of Salvation before Adam and Eve took those bites of the forbidden fruit.
Without the written Word of God, we could not know that our Creator, Himself, became flesh and paid the death penalty we deserved by our rebellion and lawlessness. He did not merely live and die for us. He lived and was executed for us, enduring the cross, the most heinous form of execution ever devised by man.
Without Language ~ written words ~ we could not know the rest of the thought in the verse I just quoted. Yes, “the wages of sin is death,” but it goes on to say, “but the Gift of God is Eternal Life through Jesus Christ our Lord” Romans 6:23). All of this and so much more is ours to read and learn and understand and meditate on and apply to our lives.
As Christians, we are at war. In Ephesians 6 we are instructed to put on the “whole Armor of God.” Among all the articles of defense described in that Armor, there is only one weapon: “the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God” (Ephesians 6:17).
Of this Matthew Henry writes, “The word of God is the sword of the Spirit. The sword is a very necessary and useful part of a soldier's furniture. The word of God is very necessary, and of great use to the Christian, in order to his maintaining the spiritual warfare and succeeding in it. It is called the sword of the Spirit, because it is of the Spirit's inditing and he renders it efficacious and powerful, and sharper than a two-edged sword.
Like Goliath's sword, none like that; with this we assault the assailants. Scripture-arguments are the most powerful arguments to repel temptation with. Christ himself resisted Satan's temptations with, It is written, (Matthew 4:4,6,7 and 10). This, being hid in the heart, will preserve from sin (see Psalm 119:11), and will mortify and kill those lusts and corruptions that are latent there.
The full Scriptural reference of the Word of God being described as being “sharper than any two-edged sword” is found in Hebrews 4:12: “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
Of this. The Sermon Bible writes, “Life a Dialogue. There is a Word of God to us; there is also a word of ours to God. The Divine word and the human. The word which speaks, and the word which answers and makes reply.
I. The Word of God. There are many such words. There is a word of God in nature. There is a word of God in providence. There is not sound only, but a voice in both of these; a voice implying a personality, and a voice presupposing an auditor. If the definition of "word" is intelligence communicating itself, here twice over is a word of God, and here is an ear to which it makes appeal.
The word was a voice before it was a book. The living life wrote itself upon other lives; they, in turn, wrote it upon others, ere yet a page of gospel Scripture was written, on purpose that the distinction between letter and spirit might be kept ever fresh and vital; on purpose that the characteristic of the new revelation might never fade or be lost sight of, how that it is God speaking in His Son—God speaking, and God bidding man to make reply.
II. There is also a word of ours to God. The particular point in the view of the holy writer was that of accountability. God speaks in judgment, and we speak to give account. "With Him" directly and personally "we have to do." The two words of which the text speaks are not independent words.
This conversation is not between two equals, either of whom must contribute his share to the instruction and the enjoyment of the meeting. The {immeasurablenss}, in nature and dignity, of the two speakers, while it forbids not freedom in the inferior, forbids presumption... The word of the man meets the word of his God on the strength of the Word made flesh, which is the reconciler and the harmoniser of the two. "I looked, and behold, a door opened in heaven, and a voice saying to me, Come up hither!" C. J. Vaughan, University Sermons, p. 546.
I. The Word of God judges the Christian below. We are familiar with the Word of God. Like Israel, we possess the treasure in our
country, in our families. Do we know that in possessing, reading, and knowing the Scriptures we are under a mighty, solemn and decisive influence, and that this Word judges us now, and will judge us at the last day?
The Word is (1) living. It is the seed which appears insignificant, but which, if received in good ground, shows its vitality. Hence it is that by this Word souls are born again into eternal life. (2) The living Word is powerful and energetic. It springs up and grows while men are unconscious of its operation. It grows and energises in our thoughts and motives; it brings forth fruit in our words and actions; it impels to exertion, it sustains in trial.
(3) The Word cannot be living and energetic without being also a sword, dividing and separating, with piercing and often painful sharpness, that which in our natural state lies together mixed and confused. Without a solemn awe and trembling at the Word of God, there is no true rest in Christ.
II. The Word judges us on earth, and we are humbled; the Lord Jesus represents us in heaven. He intercedes for us, He sympathises with us. We look from earth and self to the sanctuary above, and find there nothing but love, grace, sympathy, and fulness of blessings. He is our great High Priest. In the sanctuary of blessedness and glory Jesus, who was tempted in all things as we are, apart from sin, is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He remembers His earthly experience;
He knows our frailty, the painfulness of the conflict, the weakness of the flesh. We are upheld according to His lovingkindness, according to the multitude of His tender mercies. Justified by His blood, we are now much more abundantly saved by His life. Our great High Priest in the highest glory is our righteousness and strength; He loves, He watches, He prays, He holds us fast, and we shall never perish.”
As we close this Installment on the Gift of spoken and written Language, I invite you to consider the value of the closing words of this Commentary, and how we can know of all that is being described: I will repeat the words:
“We are upheld according to His lovingkindness, according to the multitude of His tender mercies. Justified by His blood, we are now much more abundantly saved by His life. Our great High Priest in the highest glory is our righteousness and strength; He loves, He watches, He prays, He holds us fast, and we shall never perish.”
We can be assured of all of the above. But the only reason we can know this at all is because of the Gift of Language, and the Gift of the written word, and the Power of the Gift of the written Word of God.
This concludes this Evening's Discussion, “The Greatest Giver of Gifts, Part 2”
This Discussion was originally presented “live” on December 7th, 2022.
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