2024-03-03 Doctrine 5 - Illumination of Scripture

Doctrine - Illumination of Scripture

Intro: Some things last a long time. Think of the

Olive tree, there are some in Israel now that were then when Christ was on earth. Or

Honey found in 1922 in the ancient tombs of the Pharaoh King Tut that has been dead for 3,346 years. The honey is still edible. Or

The famous Twinkie?

Link: However, even Honey and Twinkies will not last forever, there are very few things that will last forever, the Word of God, the Bible being one of them.

In Peter Christopher Nelsons book “Bible Doctrines,” Pastor Nelson highlighted 10 reasons doctrines on the Inspired Word of God. His 10th doctrine is titled, “The Bible Will Outlast the Universe.”

Bible Doctrines: Discover Profound Truths for Everyday Living (The Bible Is Inspired by God)

10. The Bible Will Outlast the Universe.

It has withstood all the onslaughts of its enemies, and what is worse, the misinterpretations of its friends. The guns of infidelity have been trained upon it, but not a turret of this mighty castle of truth has fallen. Lund stated:

There is no book that is more persecuted by its enemies, and none more tortured by its friends, than the Bible, the latter being due, in the final analysis, to ignorance of every sound rule of interpretation.

God’s Word is eternal and will outlast all of its detractors:

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Review of Doctrines:

Today: We will be looking at the second to the last of doctrines in the section of “God’s Revelation.” Illumination of the Scripture.

1. Illumination of the Scriptures

Definition: Because of the vast difference between God’s wisdom and ours and because of humanity’s sinful state, human beings are incapable, on our own, of fully grasping spiritual truth without being aided by the Holy Spirit through the process of illumination. When it comes to understanding the meaning of God’s Word, Christians do not rely ultimately upon human reason in the process of interpretation, nor do we rely solely upon an institution or body of scholars. Instead, a Christian ultimate reliance is upon the work of the Spirit of God, who illuminates the Scriptures in the heart and mind.

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John 14:15–18 “If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever. 17 The Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”

We can see here a few things:

God ask us to keep His commandments. This is impossible for us to do in the state that we are in, living with the old man still.

So God sends us a helper to make it possible.

The Helper, as described in Vs. 16, He the H.S. will be with us “Ah-ee-ohn” Forever - A duration of time that cannot be measured. Ah-ee-ohn perpetual.

The world can’t receive the Truth b/c they don’t have the H.S. in them b/c they are not saved from their sins.

The BKC says it this way:

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 14:16–17

He is invisible (the world cannot accept Him because it neither sees Him nor knows Him), yet He is real and active. Without a radio, radio waves go unnoticed. The Holy Spirit is unnoticed by the unsaved who have no spiritual life.

Jesus said He wouldn’t leave us alone as orphans, He would send the H.S.

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Application 1:

As a Christian, we must realize that what we are doing here is joining God. We at times fret and worry about our church, our family, our friends, loved-ones, neighbors and our countrymen. We don’t want to see the church die off, we don’t want to see our loved ones go to hell. But we must realize, its not our job to change hearts, its our job to join God as He changes hearts.

Secondly we must enjoy the Holy Spirit in our lives, allowing Him to change us from the inside out. Letting Him teach us and reveal to us the things of Christ. We must enjoy the good changes taking place.

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John 16:7–15 “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

Jesus is telling them, he must leave so that his replacement that is just like Him can do His job.

The H.S. will convict, its not our job

9 (NLT)The world’s sin is that they do not believe in Me; (NLT)

10 (NLT)Righteousness is available, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; (NLT)

The Spirit also convicts of righteousness by pointing to the only righteous One, Jesus.

11 (NLT) Judgment will come because the ruler of this world has already been judged. (NLT) 12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

Jesus says that the H.S. is here to convict of sin, not judge.

Jesus says He and the Father will judge b/c the ruler of this world has already been judged (How? By Christ b/c of the cross). Vs. 11

Satan is judging now and he’s doing so based on lies, man is born in sin and believes the father of his sin, that’s why we can’t convince them of the truth.

Only the H.S. can do this, He uses us to share the truth and the H.S. works on their hearts, but they must choose and we must choose to share our faith.

14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.”

Jon Courson’s Application Commentary Chapter 16

it’s not by excellent argumentation or through a powerful presentation that the light goes on and the heart opens up. It’s only by the work of the Spirit that people who are blind begin to see. Jesus knew this. That’s why He didn’t worry. And neither should you

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Application 2:

So if you worry about you family, neighbors, loved-ones, countrymen, etc. There is no need. All you need, alls we need to do as a church is to be faithful to the H.S., Not to do His job. We don’t change hearts, but we let Him change ours, to teach us the things written in the Bible, allow Him to change the way we think, thus changing our hearts to be faithful warriors of God.

We join God by accepting Jesus into our lives, confessing our sins & believing in our hearts.

We then must let Him change us, reveal to us our rightful place in serving and honoring and glorifying Him within the structure He set before us.

Allow ourselves to be taught

Allow ourselves to be challenged

Then let Him change hearts as we join Him in then telling others about Him. Then letting go and letting the H.S. work. We sit back, and we pray, on our own & together.

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Unsaved: God gave us His word, to communicate with us of our need of a Savior because of our sin. ABC Acts 16:31 “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

Saved: As a child of God, He wants you to not get overwhelmed with His job, don’t try to do His job, just do yours. Love God and join Him in what He is doing. He asks us to be faithful to serving alongside of Him. Will you commit to do this? Enjoy the H.S. by spending time with Him daily. Reading the Bible and waiting on Him to show you the truths in His Word? Talk to Him, thank Him for being in you FOREVER...