liThe Miracle of the Book 6"

by Desmond Ford

The unity of the Bible is a strong indication of its divine origin. Why then does not everyone believe?The major obstacle is not intellectual, but moral. We are all spiritually dead.

We cannot understand spiritual things unless the Spirit of God has spoken to us and we haveresponded. This mysterious testimonium makes our faith unshakable.

Why, if the Bible is so wonderful, doesn't everyonethink so? Why, if the evidence is so overwhelm-ing that God directed in the writing of this

book, doesn't everybody see and believe that evidence?

Trouble with Cain's WifeThere are, of course, people who can't believe the Biblebecause they have intellectual obstacles. But that is morerare than Bible critics would like to allow. The mainobstacle to faith is our personal behavior.

Reuben Torrey was preaching and a man came up tohim afterwards, and said, "I have trouble with Cain'swife. Where did she come from? The Bible says Adamand Evewere created, and tells how they began a family.Suddenly, we have Cain going off and marrying. Wheredoes Cain's wife come from? There's no mention of herbeing created. I can't believe the Bible because of Cain'swife."

Torrey said, "If I fully explain to you the problem,will you believe?"

The man responded, "Well, I wouldn't say that."Torrey found out later that the man's problem was

with someone else's wife, not Cain's.

Bad Morals a Fog to FaithThe U.S.Bureau of Standards sent a scientific team toNewfoundland to investigate the problem the shippingwas having with the fog in the region.

They scientifically examined a strip of "typical" fogthat was only three feet wide, six feet high, and 100 feetlong. With their special instruments, they investigatedthat strip of fog and discovered how much water was inthat fogbank.

In a fog three feet wide, six feet high, and a hundredfeet long, there was one-seventh of a glass of water. Thatone-seventh of a glass was aerosolized into 60 billiondrops. That one-seventh of a glass of water was able tohide the sun, the sky, and the ocean.

I have said this before: While there are some honestpeople who have intellectual obstacles that keep them on

7

the outside of faith, for every one of those, there are ahundred on the outside for moral reasons.

If a person gives up faith in the Bible, my first ques-tion to them isn't, "What is your intellectual obstacle?"My first question to them is this, "What have you beendoing? What are you up to?"

Dead Without the SpiritTo some extent, we all share this perversity of nature, so Iwant to tell you the other half of the story now. It is notenough to have an inspired Book and to know why it'sinspired. We have to realize from the start, when weinteract with other people, that we cannot raise the dead.

Everybody is dead in trespasses and sins (seeEphesians 2:1), and you and I can't raise them. Not withall the arguments in all the time there is.

Roman Catholic theologians have said, "The Bible isthe church's gift to believers." Fanatical Protestants havesaid, "The Holy Spirit gives us our messages. He tells usevery morning what to do, where to go, and what tosay." More literalistic Christians have said, "The Bible,and the Bible only, is my religion."

They are all mistaken. The Bible without the Spirit isdead. And the Spirit without the Bible-regarding thedetails of truth-is silent.

The TestimoniumThe Protestant Reformers believed that a passage inMatthew 16 was very important. This is the passageabout Peter's Great Confession:

"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you sayI am?"

Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, theSon of the living God."Jesusreplied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah,for this was not revealed to you by man, but by myFather in heaven." (Matthew 16:15-17 NIV)

It's very important that we learn the truth that our

Lord is expressing to Peter. Verse 17: "Jesus replied,'Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.'" Now, why is Peterblessed? Because "this was not revealed to you by man,but by my Father in heaven." Revealed, not by humanreasoning, but by God in heaven!

The Reformers called this the testimonium, a Latinword for "witness." What they meant was: The humanmind is so defiled, so self-centered, so selfish, it cannottruly see truth even when it runs into it, when it bumpsinto it. Unless the Holy Spirit speaks to our heart, theword in the ear alone won't reach the heart.

Unspiritual Cannot Understand SpiritualLet's see what Paul says:

We have not received the spirit of the world but theSpirit who is from God, that we may understandwhat God has freely given us.This iswhat we speak,not in words taught us by human wisdom but inwords taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truthsin spiritual words. The man without the Spirit doesnot accept the things that come from the Spirit ofGod, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannotunderstand them, because they are spiritually dis-cerned. (2 Corinthians 2:12-14)

Notice that the unspiritual person does not receivethe gifts of the Spirit of God. They are folly to him. He'snot able to understand them. That's because they arespiritually discerned (see verse 14).

In verses 13 and 14 Paul is saying, "The naturalman doesn't receive the things of the Spirit of God. He'sdead, dead in trespasses and sins. He's like a stone."

Imagine I pass you a stone and say, "Give it life."Quite rightly you would respond, "Don't be ridiculous!"

Neither can we resurrect the dead. And unbelieversare "dead." But if we present truth to people and the HolySpirit can use us as an instrument, then people can behelped. When a person who has been sanctified by thetruth of the gospel speaks a word, that word has tremen-dous power, and the Holy Spirit will work with the hearer.But always remember, it is the Holy Spirit, not thespeaker, who brings conviction to the hearer.

Inner WitnessThe Latin word for "witness" is testimonium.

When John Wesley's father was dying, he said to hisboys, "The inner witness, the inner witness!" He wasreferring to Scripture, "The Spirit itself beareth witnesswith our spirit, that we are the children of God" (Romans8:16 KJV).Unless the Spirit of God moves, we cannot doanything.

It's the same as it was, "In the beginning" (Genesis1:1). The Bible starts with the chaos of the cosmos, robedin darkness. Then the Spirit of God moves, and Godspeaks. The word of God is heard. Gradually order, for-mation, and life come from the chaos. God rests, and theimage of God, Adam and Eve, rest with him.

That is the story of salvation, isn't it? We are all bornof chaos, robed in darkness and ignorance. But the Spiritof God moves on the face of the waters. The word of Godsays, "Let there be light." There is light and darkness

8

now, and people make their decisions and divide intogood or evil. Lifesprings up for us who choose the Lightof the World, Jesus; and we come back to the image ofGod and enter into Sabbath rest for all eternity. The firstchapter of the Bible is a picture of the whole Bible. Thatone chapter pictures the whole plan of salvation and ofthe moving of the Spirit:

We are not like Moses,who would put a veil over hisface to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while theradiance was fading away. But their minds weremade dull, for to this day the same veil remains whenthe old covenant is read. It has not been removed,becauseonly in Christ is it taken away. Evento this daywhen Moses is read, a veil coverstheir hearts. Butwhenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is takenaway. Now the Lord isthe Spirit, and where the Spiritof the Lord is,there is freedom. (2 Corinthians 3:13-17)

Condition for Receiving TestimoniumThere's a condition for receiving the "testimonium."Christ explains it to us in John 14.

Jesus begins by saying: "Believe in God, believe alsoin me" (John 14:1 NRSV).Then later he says, "If you loveme, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask theFather, and he will give you another Advocate, to be withyou forever" (14:15-16). This Advocate, this Comforter, isjust like Jesus.

Here we see the testimonium, the witness. Believe,love, obey. Anything we can get easily is usually notworth anything. Unless it is a spiritual thing that onlythe Infinite can bestow.

That's how it is with salvation. You can receiveeasily. Just take it.

Growth Not EasyWhat follows, the question of spiritual growth, is not soeasy. That's because growth must enlist our cooperation.How much must I to cooperate? Totally. Totally, with allthat in me is.

God wants the logwood. He won't accept the wood-chips. God won't accept the sawdust. Leftovers are notgood enough. Everything must be dedicated to God.

Even every penny. Don't "Shop till you drop and buytill you die." Everything you own belongs to God. Yourtime, your talents, your love-all must be given to him.

Believe, love, obey, and I will pray the Father, saysJesus; and the Father will give you another Comforter. It isthe Spirit who gives conviction that can never be shaken.

Remember this: "If a person becomes a Christianonly through human reasoning, then human reasoningcan turn that person out of it."

But if you became a Christian because the HolySpirit has witnessed with your spirit, no human beingcan dislodge you. If it's the moving of the Spirit of Godthat brought you to Christ, no one can pluck you out ofChrist's hand. If the Spirit witnessed to you that God isyour heavenly Father, that Christ died for you, that heloves you infinitely despite your weaknesses-no humanbeing can dislodge you. ~

~§"