BEYOND THE BIBLE by J. O. Beard

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Apr 9, 1902

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 28, No. 15.

BEYOND THE BIBLE.

By J. O. Beard

THE first thought that suggests itself on this heading is that above and beyond the Bible is God, the author of it, and the Holy Spirit, by which it was given.

But there is another sense in which the words may be used; that is, to get beyond the use or need of the Bible. Truly speaking, that would be as impossible as for a man to step off into the air above the ladder up which he has climbed.

Last fall a man said to me, “Do you know, I do not read the Bible as much as I used to.” A little questioning brought out the idea that when a man is sanctified and is walking with God, the Holy Spirit will reveal divine things to him independently of the Bible. He thought he did not need the Bible because God talked directly to him. He belongs to a class of sanctificationists who draw this conclusion from John 14:26 and 16:13. They think that knowledge will be revealed to them just as they need it, consequently they do not need to trouble themselves to find out what has already been revealed.

This is one of the most dangerous positions that a man could assume. It at once shuts him off from that which would enable him to properly test his experiences and whatever revelations he may have. God will be consistent with Himself, and what He may reveal in these last days will not contradict what He has revealed in the past. So, if a man believes God has made a special revelation to him, the first test he should apply is whether it is in perfect harmony with God’s past revelations of His will. But in making such a test it will

be necessary to study the Bible very carefully.

It is not the province of a teacher to discover a science nor to compile a text-book, but so to guide the pupil that he may understand, and be able to use the principles already given in the text-book. Therefore the promise of the Holy Spirit as a teacher is not a promise of a new revelation, but a bringing to remembrance of the things already revealed, and so setting them before us that we can understand and apply them.

Further, God will not reveal anew that which He has already revealed and has had recorded for the benefit of the world. For example, the Lord had told through Jeremiah (ch. 29:10) that he would leave the Israelites in Babylonian captivity for seventy years. He did not repeat this to Daniel, but left him to learn it from what Jeremiah had written. See Dan. 9:2. Yet Daniel was “greatly beloved” in heaven, and was God’s chosen prophet to Israel during their captivity.

Add to this the constant reference made to the Scriptures by the inspired writers, and the oft-repeated injunction to study and obey these Scriptures, and it is very plain that God did not plan for us ever to get beyond the need of the Bible while in this world.

The Lord said to Isaiah (30:8): “Write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come.” To Daniel He said (12:4): “Shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end.”

The psalmist says: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Ps. 119:105. And Timothy was instructed so to study that he might have God’s approval by being able rightly to divide the word of truth: for “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” 2 Tim. 2:15 and 3:16, 17. Even the Lord Jesus, who was the very embodiment of righteousness, and who daily communed with His Father, repelled the attacks of Satan by quotations from the Scriptures, which he introduced with the words, “It is written.”

From all this, and much more that might be given, it is forcibly and emphatically evident that any spirit which is giving revelations to a man, and at the same time impresses him that he need not read the Bible, or that he may neglect to obey any of its commandments, is not the Spirit of God; and, therefore being a deceiver, must be the spirit of the devil. Then let us bring all matters of faith to the great test, “to the law and to the testimony” (Isa. 8:20), thus proving all things, so that we may hold on to that which is good. 1 Thess. 5:21.

J. O. BEARD.