I. The entire Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation, is the Word of Christ.
We must not look on the Bible as composed of parts when we make it, “The man of our counsel,” the guide of our life. The entire book is the guide, the man, the law, the Gospel. There is a disposition of many Christians to attach more importance to one part of the Bible than another part. This is wrong and it leads to evil in our lives. Every part of the Bible belongs to the entire book, it cannot be detached, it must not be rendered less important than some other part, for it was all written for our instruction and edification. So I would have you understand that the Bible itself in its entirety, is the Word of Christ, in the text, Christ is the light and the glory of every page of its history, prophecy, precept, promise, poetry, philosophy and practice. Human reason, effort and energy are too weak to have reached Heaven and brought down to us the riches of the Word of God. No man hath come down from Heaven to tell us of the wonders of the spiritual life, but the man, Christ Jesus. He is the pearl of priceless value, which we are to find hidden in this Word. Let the Word of Christ reign in you when your greatest interests are at stake, when your strongest passions are raging, and He will guide you into all truth and grace, and you will sing, “Glory to God in the highest, Peace on earth, Good will to men.”
The Bible is the Word of Christ, because He is the Author. He is the Jehovah of the Old Testament, and the Jesus of the New Testament. He spake to the Prophets as well as to the Apostles. He was in that beginning which was before time, when He is called the Word of God, when He was associated with God, and when He was God, and He was also in that beginning which marks the first moment, the first hour, the first day of time, when all things were made by Him and without Him was nothing made which was made. He is known as the Lamb which was slain from the foundation of the world, the everlasting Prince, the Holy One. As the Word of God, Christ is the great and only revealer of God and His revelation or revelations are the Bible, the Scriptures, the Word of God. We are exhorted therefore to see that great company which doth encompass us about and which looks down upon us, filled with God’s wisdom and power, because the word of Christ dwells richly in us. We are to look to Jesus as not only the author of His own Word, but also through this word, as the author and finisher of our faith, or religion. This word must dwell richly in the heart that the believer may be able to glorify God and to strive for that faith which is steadfast and immovable, for let us remember that faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Just as Christ appeared to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses, to whom He said, “I will be thy mouth,” so He appears today to every believer, in His Word. All these holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit takes the things of God and of Christ, and tells them to us in words. He gives us God’s and Christ’s words. When Joshua prayed that the sun might stand still, the sun in his fiery course stood still. Why? Because it was the word of God in Joshua which commanded the sun to stand still. I pray God, my brethren, that you may be filled richly with the word of God in all wisdom, that your own hearts may be filled with all spiritual blessing; that the wickedness which is flooding the country in hellish rage, may be stopped; that sinners may be brought to repentance; that the church may triumph most gloriously, and that the whole earth may be filled with righteousness as the waters cover the deep. We need today another Pentecost, when thousands shall be converted to God, and that time will come just as soon as God’s disciples are filled with the word of God.
II. The Word of Christ Dwelling in Us is Our Strength.
The Word reveals to us the saving power of God. Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation.” Yes, it is the power of God unto salvation, that is the thought that you should take hold of. We need power, strength, in this world of weakness and sin, and we can get this power only by letting the Word of Christ, dwell in us richly. The Word of Christ dwelling in us will take us out of ourselves, teach us that labor, learning, house-hold duties, supporting our families, being punctual to our duties in the church, avoiding quick tempers and unkind words, constitute the religion of Jesus Christ which we are to live. We must therefore be, “Doers of the Word and not hearers only.” We must hear the Word on the Sabbath and do it every day of the week. We are to look into the perfect law of liberty that we may know what manner of persons we are, and to continue to look into this law, lest when we know, we should forget what manner of persons we are. “Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this, that we should visit the widow and the fatherless in their affliction and keep ourselves unspotted from the world.” To do all these things, my brethren, the Word of God must dwell richly in you, in wisdom, or there will not be enough strength in you to live this Christ-like life. His word is strength, because Christ dwells in His word, and if His word dwells in you, you will have the strength of Christ in you. See what Christ is, He is life and immortality, He gives repentance and remission of sins, He is the bread that cometh down from Heaven, His blood cleanseth from all sin, He saves, and He does all these things in and through His word. Is that word in you? Lean on Him in His word, and He will give you daily strength, and guide you into all blessing, He will give you eternal life here and hereafter.
III. His Word Reveals to us the Plan of Salvation.
We would know nothing of the Saviour, nor of the sinner except through His word. He came to seek and to save that which was lost. Yes, it was lost, the soul of man. What we know of sin, of Satan, of hell, of heaven, of repentance, of faith, of justification, of sanctification, of glorification, we know through His word, and whatever we shall experience of these blessings, we shall experience through His word.
“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last, which is and was and is to come.” We must be saved through His word. Job said, “I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that I shall stand upon the earth at the latter days and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh will I see God whom mine eyes shall see for myself and not another.” How did Job get this knowledge? It was through the Word of God, doubtless spoken to him. And whatever we know of salvation, of sin, or of the resurrection of the dead, of Heaven and hell, of eternity, of immortality, we must get it out of the Word of Christ. I exhort you, therefore, my dear brethren, to have the Word of Christ dwelling in you richly in wisdom; study it daily, commit it to memory, put it into practice every hour, turn its precepts into practice, and you will rejoice in its power to redeem you from your sins, and to fill your hearts with power, joy and peace. Amen.
Where Is Your Tent?
“And Isaac departed and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar and dwelt there.”—Gen. 26:17.