Written by Mr. G.D. Buss, A Vice-President of the Society

The perfect Hand and operation of the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Truth, is discernible throughout the pages of Holy Scripture. This is especially seen in what He has seen fit to be recorded and what He has not seen fit to be recorded. Where He remains silent it is our wisdom to be silent. When men have sought unwisely, however well-meaning, to fill up the ‘gaps’ their efforts noticeably lack the authority and unction of the accepted canon of Scripture, and many erroneous men have sought to lead others astray, the Roman Catholic Church being a chief culprit! Was not this Martin Luther’s dictum, ‘Only the Word of God’. For example, very little is recorded between the birth of our Lord and the beginning of His public ministry. That those years were vital in the robe of righteousness He was perfectly weaving is indisputable, but again the Holy Spirit has for wise reasons remained largely silent. And in the context of the words of John 20.30–31, ‘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’; we again come face to face with several important truths concerning the inspiration of Holy Scripture.

The four evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, were not left to rely on their memory nor on that of others, but, according to the Saviour’s promise, the Spirit brought to ‘their remembrance’ no doubt in various ways, those things which He had told them as well as what He had done. They were the Divinely appointed and inspired recorders of the Lord’s ministry, meaning that we have a faithful and infallible account of His sacred life, death, and resurrection. They were as much moved by the Holy Spirit as the holy men of old to whom Peter refers in 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’. But as John says in the close of his Gospel, so much more could have been written (cf. John 21.24–25)!

What are we to learn from this?

Firstly, the sovereignty of inspiration. Although it seems from Luke’s words in the opening of the Gospel that bears his name that many had ‘taken in hand’ to make a record of the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, these ‘many’ were not authorised and appointed so to do, as the four evangelists were. Were they rather like Ahimaaz whose tidings were not clear, and had to stand aside in the telling of the death of Absalom, whereas Cushi the appointed messenger had the authority to declare faithfully what he had witnessed (see 2 Samuel 18.19–32)?

But then the question still arises, ‘why does it appear that only a fraction of what could have been written was recorded?’ The answer lies in Divine sovereignty: not just in the messengers being appointed, but also in the message they were given to deliver. The Holy Ghost left on record that which He would use as His sword in the ingathering of souls to be saved.

Secondly, the purpose of inspiration. John tells us this in the words we have already referred to: ‘But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God …’ (John 20.31). The whole purpose of God in giving the Scriptures is that sinners might be awakened to their need of a Saviour, and to see that Jesus Christ of Nazareth is indeed the Son of God, through Whom alone salvation can come. ‘Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God’ (Romans 10.17). The written Word is given us to reveal to us the Incarnate Word, even Jesus. But what a complaint Isaiah has in this regard! ‘Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?’ (Isaiah 53.1). The Arm of the Lord is God’s eternally begotten Son in our nature, and the Revealer is the Holy Spirit, who takes of the things of Jesus and reveals them to sinners, that they might believe. Sadly, man’s fallen nature is such that it is neither able nor willing to believe in this way. Even though the children of Israel heard the very voice of God giving the Ten Commandments, while they remained only written on the tables of stone it did not make them believers; such is the sinful and culpable state of fallen man. But when the Holy Spirit writes in our hearts the truth, then there is a believing wrought by Him which is saving. This is the incorruptible seed Peter speaks of in his epistle ‘which liveth and abideth for ever’ (1 Peter 1.23).

Thirdly, the success of inspiration. When Paul said ‘I have planted, Apollos watered’ (1 Corinthians 3.6), of what seed was he speaking? None other than the Word of God that God has promised will not return unto Him void (see Isaiah 55.10–11). What a responsibility then lies on both the ministers and translators as well as the hearers that we cleave to ‘what is written’ and nothing else! How many times did the Lord Jesus Christ Himself refer to those very words: ‘It is written’? How often in His holy life was it recorded ‘that what was written might be fulfilled’? Could it not be said that He is the One of whom David speaks: ‘He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him’ (Psalm 126.6)? He Who was the Man of Sorrows here below now sends His ministers forth with the precious seed of His Word, which He has promised to bless: ‘Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days’ (Ecclesiastes 11.1). What a clear example of this principle is that of the Ethiopian in Acts 8.37. When Philip had expounded the truth concerning Jesus in Isaiah 53 the eunuch confessed: ‘I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God’ (Acts 8.37), so we see fulfilment of the words, ‘These are written, that ye might believe …’ (John 20.31).

Finally, the power of inspiration. The inspired Word as used by the Holy Spirit gives life through the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. What a precious difference to the believer there is in comparison to the letter of the truth (which nonetheless is not to be despised) when the Word becomes alive such as the words spoken by the Saviour in 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’. It is then that the dead are quickened and the living enlivened, and it becomes the food of faith in accordance with the Saviour’s words: ‘If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever’ (John 6.51).

How indebted we are to the three Persons in the undivided Trinity for these Words of Life! May it be our aim that many more may be brought to savingly experience the reason ‘why these things are written’.  

First published in Quarterly Record 647.