God-Breathed
I'm going to start off with a wonderful quote by Spurgeon. He said,
"The prayer meeting is the thermometer of the church. You can measure a church's health, its strength, often by a prayer meeting."
The Bible wants us to know that God is a personal God. It does that in different ways, even the names of God. But you also have those graphic images of God, those personal images. He's likened to a father, He's likened to a brother, He's likened to a husband and a friend. But you also have what they call anthropomorphic language. It comes from the Greek word anthropos, man, and God does not have a body like ours. But human language is used to describe God, a God who walks, a God who rests, and a God who works. Figuratively speaking we can say this, “He has hands, He has eyes, He has feet, He has ears.”
The psalmists, especially those prayer psalms, frequently refer to God's ears. Psalm 34, for example, “The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and His ears toward their cry.” But God also has a mouth. Dr. Ferguson actually has a book titled The Mouth of God. And both Jesus and the apostle Paul described the Bible in those terms. Remember Jesus in the wilderness, Matthew 4:4, when He was under attack by the devil, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
And if you turn over to 2 Timothy, if you have a Bible with you, this is probably the most important verse to help us understand the Bible and its function, the most definitive statement, I think. Here is what we read in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” And the significant word here is translated from this Greek word θεόπνευστος (theopneustos). What does it mean? God-breathed or breathed out by God. And that explains why when we open our Bibles, read our Bibles, we hear the Bible, we are hearing the living voice of God. And that explains its profitability.
Notice what he does here. He tells us now how the Bible profits us, four great benefits or four great spiritual profits from the Word of God. Look again at the text.
And only the Christians can truly profit from the word of God. We have embraced Christ by faith, we pray by faith and we hear the word of God by faith. But all of those benefits depend upon faithful, consistent hearing and reading the Bible on our part. We have to take advantage of it privately and publicly. So here is a good way of stating it. “We must speak into the ear of God and we must listen to the mouth of God.” Jesus repeatedly told His disciples and told those He was preaching to, He almost said, “Put your ears on.” Mark 4:9, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Luke 8:18, “Take care then how you hear.” John 8:47, “Whoever is of God hears the word of God.”
And you might remember Jesus showing the importance of hearing the word of God, but also putting it into practice. Remember what He does in the last section of that Sermon on the Mount. He uses a parable of two builders, one builds his house upon rock, one builds his house upon sand. And then something of a test, a storm. Could be trials, persecution, but it's a test to test the genuineness of one's faith. With the house, one house implodes, the other house stands. What's the point of the parable? You are to be a hearer and a doer. Hearing is not enough. It’s sort of like Siamese twins, you never want to separate them. Never separate hearing from doing.
The psalmists, especially those prayer psalms, frequently refer to God's ears. Psalm 34, for example, “The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and His ears toward their cry.” But God also has a mouth. Dr. Ferguson actually has a book titled The Mouth of God. And both Jesus and the apostle Paul described the Bible in those terms. Remember Jesus in the wilderness, Matthew 4:4, when He was under attack by the devil, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
And if you turn over to 2 Timothy, if you have a Bible with you, this is probably the most important verse to help us understand the Bible and its function, the most definitive statement, I think. Here is what we read in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” And the significant word here is translated from this Greek word θεόπνευστος (theopneustos). What does it mean? God-breathed or breathed out by God. And that explains why when we open our Bibles, read our Bibles, we hear the Bible, we are hearing the living voice of God. And that explains its profitability.
Notice what he does here. He tells us now how the Bible profits us, four great benefits or four great spiritual profits from the Word of God. Look again at the text.
- Doctrine & Instruction: The scriptures are profitable for doctrine or instruction. God teaches us what is right.
- Exposure of Sin: The scriptures are profitable for exposure of sin. God reproves us. He tells us when we are wrong.
- Correction: The scriptures are profitable to correct our errors, wrong thinking or to get us back on the right path. God corrects us by His word.
- Training in Righteousness: Scripture trains us in righteousness. God by His word trains godly character and conduct.
And only the Christians can truly profit from the word of God. We have embraced Christ by faith, we pray by faith and we hear the word of God by faith. But all of those benefits depend upon faithful, consistent hearing and reading the Bible on our part. We have to take advantage of it privately and publicly. So here is a good way of stating it. “We must speak into the ear of God and we must listen to the mouth of God.” Jesus repeatedly told His disciples and told those He was preaching to, He almost said, “Put your ears on.” Mark 4:9, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Luke 8:18, “Take care then how you hear.” John 8:47, “Whoever is of God hears the word of God.”
And you might remember Jesus showing the importance of hearing the word of God, but also putting it into practice. Remember what He does in the last section of that Sermon on the Mount. He uses a parable of two builders, one builds his house upon rock, one builds his house upon sand. And then something of a test, a storm. Could be trials, persecution, but it's a test to test the genuineness of one's faith. With the house, one house implodes, the other house stands. What's the point of the parable? You are to be a hearer and a doer. Hearing is not enough. It’s sort of like Siamese twins, you never want to separate them. Never separate hearing from doing.
Posted in Pastor Devotional