It's God's Clear Revelation to Us

[0:00] Well, would you turn with me to your Bible, because we're going to read together in the Scriptures this morning, and we're reading in Psalm 119. This ought to be very familiar to us, because over recent months, on and off, Edward Lobb has been preaching to us from this psalm, and a little while ago we looked at this section.

[0:21] Not going to be preaching particularly from the psalm this morning, we're in a series a little different from normal, only we would be taking parts of the Bible and teaching through that particular section, but we're on a little series on a more thematic course at the moment, which the title is Why We Treasure the Bible.

[0:41] And this morning, we're thinking about the clarity of God's revelation to us. So I want to read this little section from Psalm 119, from verse 105 to the end of the little section there at verse 112.

[1:00] Psalm 119, verse 105. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. I've sworn an oath and confirmed it to keep your righteous rules.

[1:15] I'm severely afflicted. Give me life, O Lord, according to your word. Accept my freewill offerings of praise, O Lord, and teach me your rules.

[1:27] I hold my life in my hand continually, but I do not forget your law. The wicked have laid a snare for me, but I do not stray from your precepts.

[1:37] Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart. I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever.

[1:49] Until the end. Perhaps just one more verse down at 130. The unfolding of your words gives light. It imparts understanding to the simple.

[2:07] Amen. And may God bless to us his word. Open your Bibles with me, if you would, at 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

[2:19] And we will get there eventually. But I want to say to you this morning, we treasure the Bible because it is God's clear word of revelation to us.

[2:33] It's an accessible word. To give divine light to all peoples. And we began last week with this question of why do we treasure the Bible?

[2:46] Of course, the Bible has been the most printed book in history, the most influential book in world history. It has certainly shaped our nation and our culture enormously.

[2:58] But the question remains, what kind of book is it? And we began last week by saying that, first of all, and of course, above all, the Bible is God's covenant revelation to us.

[3:12] And that means it's a word of personal revelation. Revealing God himself to us so that we can know him. Not just to know about him, but actually come to know him personally.

[3:26] So it is the unique personal revelation of God to lead us into a lasting, proper relationship with him.

[3:37] Through Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Word made flesh. It's a coherent word. We said it's a single great story with a single great purpose. To make God known to human beings so that we might know him.

[3:51] Ultimately, of course, in the person of God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And Christ is the heart of all God's covenant promises to man from the very beginning.

[4:04] The Christ who is promised and prepared for all through the prophets, what we call the Old Testament. And who's at last presented to the world in the Gospels. And then who's preached to all the nations in the acts of the apostles.

[4:17] And whose gospel then is preserved and passed on for the church in all the epistles, the writings of the apostles in the New Testament. And the Christ whose kingdom at last is seen perfected in all of its glory forever.

[4:31] In the very last book of the Bible, the revelation, the apocalypse given to John the Apostle. And in Christ revealed in all the scriptures, Christ our Savior.

[4:44] God calls us to belong to his family forever and ever. Now we said that if God really is God, then of course, if he is over all creation and made all things, then he must first reveal himself to us so that we can respond to him.

[5:03] He's got to break into our world, speaking words so that we can find him. And that, of course, is what he has done from the very, very beginning.

[5:13] By speaking into our world in words. But ultimately, in the word himself made flesh. In the person of God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. In the Gospel.

[5:25] Which is preserved for us for all time in the words of the apostles and the prophets. The Bible is a covenant word. It's God's personal revelation.

[5:35] And its purpose is to bring us into personal relationship with him. But here's the question. Is that really possible?

[5:46] Can God really speak clearly in that way? So that all people can hear him and can understand him? Well, there are people who doubt that.

[5:59] They'll say, well, no, God, if he's God, must be very complex. And understanding theology is so very complicated. So we just can't be simplistic about all of this.

[6:11] Ordinary people could just get very, very mixed up. If they were to just read the Bible for themselves. And the implication is that you need very clever specialists to interpret the Bible. And only real experts like that can possibly understand it.

[6:24] And then dish it out to ordinary people. That was really the view all through the Middle Ages. When the Church of Rome taught people exactly that.

[6:35] Kept the Bible out of the hands of ordinary people. The Bible could only be interpreted by priests. Because they kept it in Latin. Only those who'd had higher classical education could understand it.

[6:48] Only they could meet it out to ordinary people. It was way, way beyond the scope of ordinary people. They could have pictures and statues and things like that. But they couldn't possibly be expected to understand words.

[7:01] And actually today you've got a very similar problem. When some scholars and so-called experts. They say really the same things.

[7:14] The Church mustn't get simplistic. It mustn't get naive. That's the danger of fundamentalism. That's the swear word that's used today, isn't it? And it makes it sound as though just reading the Bible.

[7:28] As though it were quite clear and understandable to an ordinary person. That's fundamentalist. That's the sort of thing that turns people into suicide bombers. Of course, that is complete arrogance, isn't it?

[7:42] It's an elitist snobbery. It speaks as though just all ordinary people were complete fools. And shouldn't be allowed to read any books at all for that matter. Probably shouldn't be allowed to vote either.

[7:54] It really is extraordinarily elitist. And then, of course, there are many people who would doubt today that even God could speak clearly at all.

[8:06] And that whatever the Bible says, well, it can have any number of different interpretations. Because what it really means is all completely in the eye of the reader.

[8:18] Because there's no such thing as objective truth. It's all just your interpretation. That's very common today, isn't it? We hear people say that all the time.

[8:28] But that's just your interpretation. I've got my interpretation. You've got your interpretation. It's different. That's all there is to it. Again, that's just double standards, isn't it?

[8:38] Because when people talk like that and write books about that sort of thing. Clearly, they expect people to be able to understand their words and what they're saying. So why can't God use words that have a very clear meaning?

[8:55] That can be understood clearly to mean the same thing to everybody who reads them. Next time somebody says to you, that's just your interpretation. Say, pardon? And when they repeat themselves, just keep saying that.

[9:08] And as they get more and more cross with you, just say, I'm sorry, I can't understand. I've no idea what you mean. Well, they'll get quite cross quickly, won't they? They'll say, can't you understand plain English? You'll say, I'm sorry, that's just your interpretation.

[9:20] I've no idea what you're saying. You see? It's all very well to talk like that, isn't it, in fancy ways. That's the sort of thing that people spied out in university classrooms, if they were allowed into university classrooms.

[9:34] People studying English and that sort of thing get that all the time. But the thing is, none of us live actual real life in the real world on planet Earth. Is if we could never understand anything to be actually real or clear or true.

[9:51] Next time your bank manager says, I'm sorry, you've gone over your overdraft. Try saying to him, well, I'm sorry, that's just your interpretation. Next time you get caught speeding and the policeman shows you the gun that says you were 30 miles over the speed limit.

[10:06] Oh, that's just your interpretation. Mine is, it was all fine. Well, you see if that will stop you getting your fine. You see, it's nonsense, isn't it?

[10:18] And so are the claims that God can't speak clearly and plainly. If we can, as creatures, speak clearly and plainly to one another, as we do every single day in ordinary life, then why can't the God who created us, who created our mouths and our tongues and speech, why can't he speak clearly in the way he wants to?

[10:46] Well, of course God can speak clearly. And he has spoken clearly in the Bible. Clear words from God to us.

[10:57] The great theologian J.I. Packer, who died just a few months ago, put it this way, the Bible is God preaching God to us. The Bible is itself a clear interpretation of God.

[11:15] It's a clear word. It's an accessible word. It's a ready interpreted word to man. And we can understand it, and we can take it in for our great blessing.

[11:29] That's important to get this very, very clear, because many Christians even are actually quite confused by this. And there is a tendency among Christians, even those who love the Bible, there's a tendency to think that reading the Bible is a bit like going into your larder full of nice ingredients, and thinking that it's up to you to put all those ingredients together and form them into something that's nice to consume.

[11:55] I was thinking about this the other day, and thinking it's a bit like treating the Bible as the HelloFresh bag. Now, I know that there are some people in this congregation, and I'm not looking at them right at this moment, but one of them has told me they'd never cooked a decent meal in his life at all before until they started getting HelloFresh.

[12:12] HelloFresh is this wonderful thing they deliver to your door, bags with ingredients and a recipe in it. And you take everything out of the bag, and absolutely everything is there in just the right amounts and all the rest of it, and it tells you exactly what to do.

[12:24] And then even a complete idiot can make a delicious meal. I know, because I've done it myself. Well, that is not what the Bible is like. It's not a bunch of ingredients that we put together to make the recipe, which is the message.

[12:38] Dick Lucas used to use a very similar illustration about a cookery show with Delia Smith. The oldies here will remember Delia Smith when she used to be on the TV, and it was exactly like that.

[12:48] She'd be there in her lovely kitchen, and she'd say, well, I'm going to teach you today to make a beautiful cake. And you have all these, like all of us do, you know, you put the butter in a little dish, and you put the sugar in a little dish, and you've got ten little dishes all over there, and it's all beautiful, and put it all together, mix it all up, and puts it in the oven.

[13:05] But of course, on the cookery show, you can't wait, can you, for the oven to do its work. So she goes into an oven immediately beside it, and says, well, so you can see, here's a cake I made earlier.

[13:18] And she brings it out, and puts it, and cuts it up, and has a nice piece to eat. And you see, the Bible reader, and the Bible preacher, is not cooking up their own recipe out of a bunch of ingredients that we find in the Bible, like HelloFresh, or like Delia Smith making a cake.

[13:39] The Bible reader, and the Bible preacher, is receiving a fully prepared, ready-made, ready-baked cake to eat right now. The Bible is the cake.

[13:52] The Bible is the interpretation already made by God earlier, and preserved for our consumption. revelation. So when we approach a part of Scripture, it's not, it's not that we're saying, well, what can I make out of this?

[14:08] What, how can I give this meaning? No, when we approach the Bible, we are asking the question, what is the plain, distinct, coherent meaning in this word that God has already spoken to us?

[14:23] That's what it means, you see, that the Bible is a clear word of revelation. Its message is accessible because it's ready-interpreted revelation.

[14:35] It's not obscure, it's not indistinct. Paul says to Timothy, all Scripture is able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

[14:46] All Scripture is able to make you equipped for every good work. The psalmist says, the entrance of your word gives light. It gives understanding to the simple.

[15:01] Now, this was one of the great watchwords of the Reformation. It was called the doctrine of the perspicuity of Scripture. That means the Bible is perspicuous, it's clear, you can see it, it's intelligent, it's plain, it's distinct, it's explicit, it's not obscure, it's not indistinct, it's not got hidden mysteries in it, it can only be found by a specialist class of priests or scholars.

[15:30] Now, we need care, that doesn't mean that some parts of the Bible can't be quite hard to understand. In fact, Peter himself writes in the Bible that some parts of Paul's letters are hard to understand.

[15:41] I think we'd all agree with that. But it does mean that what is essential for all of us to know is clear and is understandable to all, to everyone.

[15:52] He'll take time and proper effort to know the Bible, to study it, and to do so seriously. That's what the Confession of Faith of our church, the Westminster Confession, which summarizes what we believe.

[16:07] This is how it puts it. those things which are necessary to be known, believed, and observed for salvation are so clearly propounded and opened in some place of Scripture or other that not only the learned, the very clever people, but the unlearned, normal people, in a due use of ordinary means, that's preaching and teaching and studying and so on, that they may attain a sufficient understanding of them.

[16:44] All that's necessary is clear to everybody who will search diligently and seriously for it. And that clarity comes, of course, from understanding the Bible better through reading it, through becoming familiar with it, so that what might seem unclear at first in one place is made clear by something that you read elsewhere in the Bible and putting it all together.

[17:08] So the confession of faith goes on this way. The infallible rule of interpretation of Scriptures is the Scripture itself. And therefore, when there's a question about the true and full sense of any Scripture, which is not manifold, it's not diverse, it's one, in other words, it's a coherent message, and when there's doubt or a question about one part, it may be reasoned and known from other places that speak more clearly.

[17:38] You see, the Bible is its own interpreter. Tell us not just the events of the story of Christ that are unfolding for us to interpret, it tells the story and it interprets the story for us.

[17:55] And God's Holy Spirit has seen the whole, overseen the whole of the production of Scripture himself. And the Holy Spirit of God has worked all the ingredients into a perfect whole so it's clear, so it's understandable, so it is accessible to everyone who will approach it with honesty, with humility, and with a sense of open inquiry.

[18:17] God's Word will be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path if we approach it the way that the Bible tells us to. So let's look at a few brief examples just to show you how the Bible gives a clear interpretation of the person who is central to the whole message of Jesus Christ.

[18:37] If you're there in 1 Corinthians 15, look at verse 3. And it's a verse here about the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul says, I deliver to you as of first importance what I also received that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures.

[18:57] What does the death of Jesus Christ mean? Does the death of Christ have any meaning? Well, you'll get many, many answers to that question today if you ask somebody what's the meaning of the death of Jesus.

[19:12] Somebody will say, oh, well, it was a great display of love. Somebody else will say, well, it was a tragic martyrdom. He was a great teacher. It was taken away before his time. Some will say it was a mistake of the Roman governors.

[19:32] People will say all sorts of things about what they think the death of Jesus was all about. Actually, if you ask a Muslim, they'll say to you that the death of Jesus didn't actually happen. That's what Muslim doctrine teaches.

[19:45] Jesus didn't actually die on the cross. He revived. So people have all sorts of interpretation of the cross of Jesus. Let's look at what this verse actually says.

[19:56] First of all, Christ died. There was an event. There was a passion. And notwithstanding what Muslims believe, nobody else really dices the fact that in the first century Jesus of Nazareth died on a cross.

[20:16] But many progressives today, many liberal theologians will say, well, that's all that matters. It was just a Christ event. We don't need theories of atonement and things like that.

[20:27] All these sorts of things just produce unnecessary controversies. All we need to agree on is that Jesus died. But you see, the problem is that that event on its own doesn't constitute a gospel, does it?

[20:42] Doesn't constitute good news. For the disciples at the very beginning, it was far from good news, was it? It was bad news. They were devastated that Jesus died. Richard Dawkins knows that Jesus died on the cross, but the death of Jesus is not a gospel for him.

[21:02] But look at the next word. Christ died for our sins. Now, there is an explanation of the death of Jesus that gives the death content.

[21:15] It was a death for sins. It was not just a passion. It had a purpose. It was not just a show of love. It was not just as an example of love.

[21:26] It was a death for sins. But again, what exactly does that mean for our sins? Is it like an innocent pedestrian being knocked down by a drunk driver and we say, well, they tragically died for the sins of that driver?

[21:47] Or is it like we would say, well, if that driver was put in prison, he was put in prison for his sins? That's hardly good news, is it? That's not telling us anything. So what does it mean that Christ died for our sins?

[22:00] Well, look at the next phrase. He died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures. In other words, Jesus' death for sins was a death for sins in the way death for sins is explained in the whole of the Old Testament scriptures.

[22:18] Scriptures that tell us that the fundamental problem of human beings is their sins because sin separates from God. Sin condemns them to death under the curse of God.

[22:30] But the scriptures also tell of the promise of God to reverse the curse of sin and death through a coming Savior. There are scriptures that explain atonement for sin in terms of a substitutionary sacrifice where one dies in the place of another for sin.

[22:53] And that's signaled, isn't it, in all the priestly sacrifices of the Old Testament summed up above all in Leviticus chapter 16 about the day of the atonement when an animal was killed and their blood sprinkled on all the others.

[23:07] And another one was sent away out into the wilderness to signify the taking away of the sins far away from the people of God. The scriptures promised a Messiah, the great king who the prophet Isaiah said would be the Lord high, lifted up and yet he would be lifted up like a servant to die to bear the trespasses and the iniquities of his people as an offering for their sins so that many may be counted righteous, so that the nations would be sprinkled even for their sins.

[23:46] You see, there's an event, yes, Christ died, but what makes it revelation is the explanation that he died for our sins and according to the scriptures. There was a passion, there was a historical fact, no one denies it really, Christ died.

[24:02] But it wasn't just a passion, it was for a purpose. And that purpose was to fulfill the clear plan and promise of God from the very beginning that he would be the savior of his people's sins.

[24:17] Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, the scriptures that teach about sin and atonement and about forgiveness. So that one verse succinctly sums up the interpretation of the death of Jesus so clearly.

[24:33] just as of course many, many other parts of the Bible do. We saw that all through our studies recently in the book of Hebrews, didn't we? Look at Hebrews chapter 9 verse 22 if you can.

[24:46] It sums up the whole of the Old Testament teaching about sacrifice. Under the law he says, that is under the Old Testament, the Old Covenant, almost everything is purified with blood for without blood there is no forgiveness.

[25:03] of sins. And then he goes on to explain doesn't he how these shadows, these foreshadowings that are repeated all through the time of the Old Testament how they come to fulfillment at last in the death of Jesus Christ for sins.

[25:16] Verse 26 He appeared once and for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Do you see the same thing?

[25:28] The event of Christ's death explained clearly. It was a passion a substitutionary death for the punishment of sin with the purpose of putting away sin and all of it according to God's plan and promise foretold all through the scriptures.

[25:50] And that is what makes the death of Jesus Christ good news not bad news. The Apostle Peter says exactly the same thing in 1 Peter 3 verse 18. Christ suffered for sins the righteous for the unrighteous that he might bring us to God.

[26:07] The event Christ's passion and the explanation his purposeful saving death in our place to bear away sins and to bring us home to God our Father.

[26:20] You see that is not just my interpretation is it? That's the Bible's own interpretation it's clear it's already interpreted it's intelligible it's accessible to all people God is his own interpreter he has spoken to us a word of clear revelation.

[26:42] Turn with you to Matthew chapter 1 Matthew 1 and verse 18 let's have another example I want you to be absolutely clear on this Matthew chapter 1 and verse 18 it's headed the birth of Jesus Christ it's all about this event but immediately we have explanation don't we?

[27:02] The birth of Jesus Christ verse 18 took place in this way so what was the birth of Jesus Christ all about? I remember one of our girls was very small came back from primary school one day and announced Daddy the only reason Jesus was born was to teach people about love I said oh who told you that?

[27:26] well my teacher told me that well does the Bible just leave us to make up our own interpretation like that teacher's own interpretation? no it doesn't look at verse 18 here the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way when his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph before they came together she was found to be with child now in the normal world in the real world which they lived in just as we lived in that's a pretty devastating event isn't it?

[28:04] we don't tend to think of it like this but imagine that's your fiancé a few years ago the BBC actually did a very good surprisingly good nativity drama and it showed the devastation of that reality Joseph discovering that Mary his betrothed was pregnant not by him what was Joseph's interpretation?

[28:34] well Mary had been unfaithful that's verse 19 isn't it? he's a decent man he doesn't want to disgrace her but he's not going to marry her she's been unfaithful so he wants a quiet divorce somebody who was betrothed because it was so much more than just our engagement it was as good as marriage itself to get out of a betrothal he had to have a legal divorce and he's a decent man but he's devastated what is his interpretation?

[29:05] he's been unfaithful to me was Joseph's own interpretation right though? well no it wasn't no good is it?

[29:17] every one of us just having our own interpretation God's the one who can give the correct interpretation and he does it twice over here doesn't he? in verses 20 to 23 first of all through a direct new revelation through the angel but then again also through a much older revelation in the scriptures look at verse 20 as Joseph considered these things devastated man as he was behold an angel of the Lord appeared to him a dream saying Joseph son of David do not fear to take Mary as your wife for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit it's a supernatural birth and verse 21 it's a saving birth she'll bear a son and you'll give his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins very different interpretation and then to back it all up look at verse 22 all this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and they shall call his name

[30:19] Emmanuel it is a supernatural birth Joseph and it's a scriptural birth Joseph Joseph's own interpretation was it was a sinful birth it was the kind of birth that would wreck a marriage that teacher's interpretation was well it was just a simple birth to teach us all about love God's interpretation is that this is a supernatural birth of God the son himself come to save his people from their sins according to the promises of scripture from the beginning unless you're in any doubt of that if you read through Matthew chapter 2 the next chapter you'll see that five times Matthew says at the end of every paragraph that this is all explained by what the scriptures taught for so it was written by the prophet this was to fulfill the word spoken by the prophet again and again and again this is clear plain unequivocal and it's accessible to anyone who just takes time and care to read the bible properly of course the bible is made up of all different kind of writing different genres there's stories there's narrative like this there's letters there's plot proverbs there's poetry and all the rest of it of course we've got to be sensitive to that of course we've got to realize that the human writers convey their meaning in different ways and in different circumstances you don't read a story the same way as you read a shopping list obviously but both of these can convey real meaning and the purpose of communication is to communicate the clues in the name not to deliberately confuse and if we learn to read our bibles carefully and properly we will find things becoming clearer and clearer as the writers become more familiar to us as we get to know their ways and their emphases and so on now of course that does not mean that none of us need teachers of course we do just as we need teachers at school to help us how to learn how to read properly how to study properly the scriptures won't yield their treasures just a chance inquiry but of course we need to be conscientious not casual but every true teacher teaches in order to set their pupils free through their teaching so those peoples will learn to learn by themselves a teacher is there to equip them to do that a teacher is not there to keep their pupils dependent on them forever not a very good teacher and that's the same way in the church isn't it that's what Paul says for example in Ephesians chapter 4 where he says he gives the church pastors and teachers why to equip the saints all of them for their works of ministry to help us all learn how to read and understand and apply God's words for ourselves and as we come to know it more and better the Bible more and more and more interprets itself for us the Old

[33:32] Testament helps us to understand the New Testament and vice versa you'll never understand Jesus fully unless you understand and know the Old Testament but you won't understand the Old Testament properly at all unless you grasp that all of it is leading to Jesus Christ all of it is fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus Christ and you need the New Testament to show you how that happens to make it clear but friends this is an open book not a closed book it's a clear word from God to all of us whatever was written in former days says Paul was for our instruction that through endurance and through the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope that's why the Wycliffe Bible was translated into the vernacular that's why the Geneva Bible during the Reformation was translated into the vernacular that's why the King James Bible was translated so that everybody in this nation could have access to the Bible in a language they can understand that's why we have more modern translations as well so that we can access this clarity of God's word in our own language of today that's why we send the Robries to Nigeria with Wycliffe

[34:51] Bible translators to translate the Bible into the mother tongue of the people there so that they can understand the clarity of God's word in the same tradition of Wycliffe himself all of that would be a total waste of time wouldn't it if God couldn't or didn't speak a clear word a comprehensible word to human beings but he has he has spoken a clear revelation an accessible word a ready interpreted word the unfolding of his word gives light it gives understanding to the simple so let me just think through two implications of that first of all you can open your Bible with confidence and you can also pray with the psalmist the old prayer that became the prayer of the old scripture union open thou mine eyes that I may see wondrous things out of thy law isn't that a great gift from

[35:54] God we can open his word which is clear if we read it conscientiously sensibly intelligently with effort he will speak clearly his word to our lives so that's the first thing but secondly this means that you can open the Bible with others as well with confidence that people have never read the Bible before people never even looked at it before and you can know that they also will be able to understand and grasp its message if they read it on its own terms they too will be able to come to behold wondrous things and come to share the joy that we have in coming home to God through the gospel of Jesus Christ see often Christians even Christians who love the Bible themselves often they're very fearful of opening that Bible with other people because I don't know they think first oh you need to do lots of things before you never get to the

[36:55] Bible you need to come up with all sorts of arguments with people that prove to them that God exists or prove to them that you know archaeology backs up the Bible or all kinds of other things because we think that the Bible on its own isn't enough or might not make sense to people friends that is very very wrong the Bible is God's clear revelation to us and that means it is an accessible word that can bring divine light to all peoples so there's no better way is there to bring that light to people's lives by opening the word of God in scripture with them the unfolding of your word gives light it imparts understanding to the simple but I don't think the simple are simpletons the simple just mean those who come honestly with an open mind and are willing to hear what it says and when they do it brings great light some of you will have heard

[37:57] Richard Bergonon who developed the word one-to-one for reading John's gospel to people you've heard him tell the story of one of the reasons why he did that he was a city businessman in London and he was seeking to evangelize other friends he had a particularly intelligent friend and colleague who he talked to about the faith but he always had all sorts of questions and Richard found it hard to answer so he thought I know I've got a friend who's one of the smartest guys in the whole country John Lennox the professor of mathematics at the university of Oxford a brilliant mind a brilliant Christian speaker and he thought I'll get him to come to lunch or to supper he did and his friend peppered John Lennox with questions and John Lennox answered all of his questions and they had a wonderful evening but his friend just said well that's very interesting let's do it again so he's a bit disappointed but they did it again same thing happened all the questions they weren't getting anywhere and then John Lennox said well if we're going to do it again next time instead of all these questions let's just open John's gospel together and look at it and we'll discuss and see what it says that's what they did and suddenly his friend was arrested he began to engage he began to see what the gospel was all about why because the unfolding of your words gives light it really does that's why many of you are doing word one-to-one you're reading

[39:20] John's gospel it doesn't have to be John's gospel give me any part of the bible that's a handy one and you're seeing the unfolding of God's word brings light to the darkness see doctrines can often seem very boring things can't they not important let's never mind about doctrines but can you see how important this doctrine of the perspicuity of scripture really is how practical it is how wonderful it is if you pray Lord open my eyes that I may see then you will find wondrous things in God's word the bible for yourself for your life and you will be able to share those wondrous things with other people all people why do we treasure the bible we treasure it because God's word written is a clear revelation so it is an accessible word to give his light to all peoples so let's treasure it that way friends in practice in our own lives and let's be constantly opening the bible to ourselves but also to others so that lives may be flooded with the light of God and may God help us as we do amen let's pray together blessed Lord who has caused all scripture to be written for our learning grant that we may in such wise hear them read mark learn and inwardly digest them that by patience and the comfort of thy holy word we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life which thou hast given us through our saviour jesus christ amen