Scripture and the Holy Spirit
The first two Sabbath-school lessons to be used in this country during the next quarter are upon “The Word of God.” There is good reason for the renewed consideration of this vital subject. While a rampant skepticism is doing its destructive work, and the authority of “the inward light” is being substituted for the authority of the Word of the living God, it is fitting that we should examine anew the firm foundation of our faith in a “Thus saith the Lord.” We have already presented some extracts from the writings of Dr. Adolph Saphir upon this general subject, and we think our readers will be interested in, and profited by, the reading of further extracts from the published works of this defender of the old-time faith in the inspiration of the Scriptures. We therefore take the following paragraphs from his book “Christ and the Scriptures:” — It is because people do not believe that only the Spirit of God can reveal the things of God and Christ to our spirit, that they have no firm belief and enlightened view as to the Spirit’s special work—the Scripture. Had a Scriptural view of the person and work of the Holy Ghost been more powerfully prevalent in the church, not merely in her formularies, but in reality and life, there would never have been so much occasion given to represent the teaching of the church on the inspiration of Scripture as “mechanical,” “converting men into automata,” etc.; and the whole question would not have assumed such a scholastic and metaphysical form. For then the living testimony and the written testimony would appear both as supernatural and Spirit-breathed. The more the supremacy of the Holy Ghost, divine, loving, and present, is acknowledged, the more the Bible is fixed in the heart and conscience. But if the “Book” is viewed as the relic and substitute of a now absent and inactive Spirit, bibliolatry and Bible-rejection are the necessary results. The whole history of Israel was under the immediate guidance of the Spirit. The tabernacle, as well as all the other institutions, was framed not by human wisdom, but, as Paul says, the Holy Ghost symbolized (signified) through them. Heb. 9:8. Israel received a word, embodied in Scripture and institutions which were formed by the Spirit. In like manner Jesus, the fulfilment, was conceived by the Holy Ghost. The world did not understand him, because he was from above: how could they testify of him whom they knew not? Who can testify of Christ, but the Holy Ghost? If Scripture is the testimony of Jesus, it must be by the Spirit. This is granted by all Christians. But fix your mind on this thought still further. Who can understand Christ fully? Not even Paul could say he knew him, but only that he desired to know him (Philippians 3); and whatever measure of knowledge he possessed was, according to his own confession, by the Spirit. None can know Christ fully,6except the Spirit, even as none knoweth the Father but the Son. If we have in Scripture a full and adequate testimony of Christ (full and adequate, not absolutely, for no man knoweth the Son but the Father, but relatively for our life, in doctrine and walk, for us individually and as members of families and society, for the Jews and the church in all ages), who but the Spirit could be the author of Scripture? He only possesses this fulness, out of which he distributes severally to the various writers according to their position and character. But does Scripture give any direct teaching on the subject?—It does, and that, not in a few isolated passages, but frequently and copiously. Notice the expressions constantly used by the prophets: “Thus saith the Lord,” “The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it;” “The word of the Lord came to . . .” In Hosea 12:10 we read, “I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets.” And so distinct is this characteristic of the true prophet, that in Jeremiah we have the most fearful denunciations against false prophets, who ran without being sent by God, and who spoke without having received a message from God. Jer. 14:14, 15. The Spirit of Jehovah, the prophets assert, came upon them. It is an influence from without and from above. The hand of the Lord came upon them, in order to signify that it was not their meditation which elevated them to behold future things, but the Spirit of the eternal God. In the case of the three great prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, they had each a special vision and solemn commission, setting them apart for their prophetic office. Isaiah’s mouth is touched with a live coal from off the altar; unto Jeremiah Jehovah saith, “Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth:” Ezekiel received and ate the roll God gave him; the message was divine, and according to God’s commandment Ezekiel said, “Thus saith the Lord God.” Most of God’s prophets were unwilling to go: the Lord had to compel them to go—Moses, Jeremiah, Jonah—that it may be more evident that God sent them to deliver his message and not their own thoughts: the origin of their prophecy as well as the message itself was divine. In accordance with this, we find that in quoting from Moses and the prophets the Lord and the apostles sometimes mention the name of the individual writer, as Isaiah, David, etc., but more frequently the words are introduced with the expression, “He saith,” or, “The Scripture saith,” or, “The Holy Ghost saith.” In the epistle to the Hebrews the quotations are invariably attributed not to the human writer, but to the Lord, to the Holy Ghost, or to “one in a certain place,” thus carrying out most fully what is stated at the very commencement of this epistle, that it was God who spoke by the prophets unto the Fathers. The manner in which the Scripture is quoted by our Saviour, the evangelists and the apostles, clearly shows that they regarded the men by whom the Word was written as the instruments, but the Lord, and more especially the Spirit, as the true author of the whole organism of the Jewish record. So evident was this truth to the Jews, and to all whom the apostles taught, and so confirmed were they in this belief by the constant practise of their teachers, that we scarcely expect a formal deliverance on a point which indirectly was continually impressed on the early Christians. But when Paul looked forward to his approaching departure, and committed the work of the ministry unto Timothy, in the prospect of perilous times and false teachers, he reminded his dear son in the gospel of the supreme authority and sufficiency of Scripture, declaring that “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God.” 2 Tim. 3:16. There can be no doubt as to the meaning of the terms employed; that “Scripture” means the writings of Moses and the prophets, as acknowledged by the Jews and confirmed by Jesus; that “all Scripture” means the whole of that Scripture (just as in Eph. 2:21 the same expression “all” means the whole building, and in Eph. 3:15 the “whole family,” and in 1 Peter 1:15, the “whole conversation”), the whole, showing both its organic unity (as Rom. 11:26, “all Israel”) and the perfection of all portions of the Book; and that “inspired of God” means that the Spirit of God is the author of this Scripture influencing the men who wrote in such a manner that their writings are pure and absolute truth.