Mon 3/4Poem: The God Who is and is known

The God who is and is known

 

God in of Himself, uncreated glory

 

Chose to create everything to reveal His story

 

He is One in essence, unending and bright

 

The Eternal God who dwells in uncreated light

 

He who is One reveals Himself as Three

 

Father, Son, Holy Spirit - the Holy Trinity

 

The Father is God who loves

 

Eternal in His activity

 

He directs His love to the Son, Equal in Divinity

 

The Son is the Beloved, with the Father in perfect unity

 

He is the one who reveals the inaccessible Deity

 

The Father planned all things in the wonder of His will

 

with the Son agreeing to perform His work, the cross to fulfill

 

History was made by the Father and entered into by the Son

 

To finish in history what in eternity had been begun

 

The Father and The Son, united in perfection

 

The Father being light and the Son His reflection

 

For such Perfect Love to have been in constant activity

 

A Third Person had to be sharing in the union of Deity

 

The Holy Spirit is the love between the Father and the Son

 

Equal to the two, all three being One

 

The God who is, has revealed in His word

 

He has sent forth the truth to be spoken and heard

 

The Spirit opens the truth in the sacred scriptures

 

Come by faith to Jesus, the source of endless treasures

 

The Spirit's call proclaims the truth: salvation has been won

 

The barren cross and empty tomb, Christ's work has been done

 

The Gospel tells you plainly, make your heart His throne

 

Praise God Who is and Who desires to be known

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Behold your God - Isaiah 40

Isaiah 40:9 "O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!" (KJV)

Isaiah 40 is among the greatest chapters in all of the 1189 chapters of God's Word.  In one chapter we get thoroughly introduced to the God of sacred scripture.  In today's blog I want to give you the reader an outline of this marvelous chapter, with the aim to make you more eager to know and pursue the God of glory. The chapter begins with God being the source of comfort and ends with the same truth.  May your Lord's day be blessed as you reflect on Isaiah's words in this fortieth chapter of His book.

What kind of God is the God of the Bible and Who is he revealed to be in Isaiah 40?  

1. God is the Personal God.    Isaiah 40:1-9

God is the Personal God that is the One True God.  Isaiah 40:1
This Personal God is God the Father.                       Isaiah 40:2
The Father is made know by the Son.                       Isaiah 40:3-5
The Son is revealed in scripture by the Spirit.           Isaiah 40:6-9

2. God is the Powerful God.    Isaiah 40:10-26

All-Good God (Omni-Benevolent)                             Isaiah 40:10-11
All Wise God (Omni-Sapient)                                    Isaiah 40:12
All Knowing God (Omni-scient)                                 Isaiah 40:13-14
Infinite                                                                        Isaiah 40:15-17
Self Existent (Aseity)                                                 Isaiah 40:18-20
All Present (Omni-present)                                        Isaiah 40:21-22
All Powerful (Omni-potent)                                       Isaiah 40:23-26    

3. God is the Providing God.   Isaiah 40:27-31

He is able to provide                                                Isaiah 40:27-28
He knows how to provide                                        Isaiah 40:29
He knows to whom to provide                                 Isaiah 40:30-31

To God be the glory! May you and I dear reader find our strength in Him as we enjoy Him!

T.R.U.E Love that waits and succeeds - P3

1 Timothy 6:11 But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.

Yesterday we featured details about the message behind a very important movement called "True Love Waits".  As a pastor I plan on preaching on this subject at our church this Sunday in lieu of what will be our youth pledging themselves publically to abstinence until marriage.  The message, based out of 1 Timothy 6:6-16, will  propose that: true love that waits and is faithful succeeds when you and I are a t.r.u.e man / woman of God. I would urge the reader to look back over the past couple of posts to review how we have defined the term "man of God", as well as gain an understanding of the message of "true love waits". 

Today I want us to interract with 1 Timothy 6:6-16 to understand Paul's message to young Pastor Timothy, urging him to be the man of God to that flock.  The principles we glean from this text can be used in gaining victory in the realm of moral/spiritual purity.  Thus in regards to "True Love Waits", we can be spiritually/morally and physically pure when as t.r.u.e men and women of God we consider the following four truths...

Trust in the Lord.  1 Timothy 6:6-11a
Paul writes beginning at 1 Timothy 6:6 "But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment."  Godliness in this passage simply means a man or woman of God who is trusting in God.  The last word in that passage - "contentment", is the motive that plays a major role in moral decisions.  Often whenever people are seeking fulfillment or contentment, they will attempt to attain it at whatever price. 

Scripture is very clear - there is only one way to be content - through Jesus Christ. Paul writes in Philippians 4:12-13 "know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. 13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."  People will spend hundreds and thousands of dollars to achieve lasting contentment - only to find that the the pleasure of the moment dwindles, requiring "more stuff" or "more excitement".  As the middle verse of the Bible tells us in Psalm 118:8 - "it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man." 

As you go down through 1 Timothy 6:7-11, Paul warns Timothy about what happens when people try to find contentment outside of trusting the Lord: "ruin and destruction". (verse 10)  The godliness spoken of in 1 Timothy 6:6 is repeated in 6:11. A man or woman of God who is true to God and entrusts their future or current circumstances to Him are those who are trusting the Lord.  But notice secondly what we find in these verses, namely the man/woman of God also must....

Run faith's race.  1 Timothy 6:11b-12
Paul gives Timothy the command: "pursue!".  The Greek word translated "pursue" refers to "run or aggressively chasing after" and could be translated - "keep on aggressively chasing after righteousness, faith, love, perserverance and gentleness."  A man or woman of God who is operating in true love will not only wait but succeed in their relationships and life because of the fact they are running the race of faith.  Success here is measured not by immunity from trouble in so much as it is marked by persistent faithfulness and reliance on the power of the Lord. (Proverbs 3:5-6) Passages such as Philippians 3:12-14 and Hebrews 12:1-2 urges Christians to run the race of faith.  As we run, we are also to "fight the good fight of faith" and hold onto our place in the race, not retreating back or losing our spot.  Moral and spiritual purity is not sprint but a marathon.  Like any good marathon runner, you need to be replenished with water.  Truly the water of the word, which communicates all of the qualities explained by Paul in 1 Timothy 6:11 is what you daily need if you aim to succeed as a t.r.u.e man or woman of God. (Ephesians 5:26; 2 Timothy 3:17)  So a true man or woman of God, in order to both wait and be faithful before and after marriage and in life, must trust God, run faith's race and thirdly.....

Understand God's Word.  1 Timothy 6:13-14a
Paul's kicks his words to Timothy up a whole bunch of notches when he reminds the young pastor that everything he is writing is done in the presence of God and of Jesus Christ.  In verse 14 he tells Timothy, the man of God, to "keep the command without stain or reproach until Christ's appearance."  The more you study and apply God's Word to your life, the more you will understand who you are and whose you are. (Joshua 1:18; Psalm 119:11) 

Is Paul saying here to understand and obey God's word without sin?  Hardly.  Only Jesus did that.  Frankly, who of us can say we have kept every word of scripture perfectly?  It is important to understand that Paul is not advocating obedience to God's Word in sinless perfection, rather he is advocating what the Bible calls "blamelessness".  A blameless person is someone who lives their life in such a way as to not be subject to accusation.  Blamelessness has to do with my conduct or behavior, which can be pure before men and the Lord.    Psalm 101:3 explains how to be "blameless" - "I will set no worthless thing before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; It shall not fasten its grip on me."  In a commitment like true love waits, what you allow your eyes to see or not to see can make all the difference in what you do. (Matthew 6:22)

Can we keep the commands of scripture in such a way as to build a testimony of faithfulness over time?  Absolutely!  God's grace is available for every command He gives us.  1 Corinthians 10:13 reminds us -  "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it." Moral and spiritual purity in the realm of our physical relationships is perhaps the greatest test of how much we view ourselves to be in the eternal presence of God and the Lord Jesus Christ.   In understanding God's word, we aim to read it, memorize it and meditate upon its words so as to have correct thinking. (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)  With the above points about what it means to be a t.r.u.e man/woman of God who aims to succeed in true moral/spiritual purity, lets consider one final thought...

Endure till Jesus Comes.  1 Timothy 6:14b-16
Unless we understand that all of our efforts in godliness have an eternal significance, we will become quickly discouraged.  Jesus Christ's second coming is the main motivation used in the New Testament for encouraging Christians to live holy and moral upright lives. (1 Thessalonians 4:18; 1 Peter 1:5; 1 John 3:1-3)  A man or woman of God is someone who trusts in the Lord, runs faith's race, understands God's word and endures untill Jesus returns.  His second coming signals the end of this age of grace and the finish line for every child of God. (Titus 2:13)  Christians we will be rewarded and judged based upon their level of faithfulness before Christ's throne. Such a realization should motivate us to carry out such commitments as "true love waits". (Matthew 12:36; 1 Corinthians 3:12-15; 2 Corinthians 5:10-11)  

T.R.U.E Love that waits and succeeds - P2

1 Timothy 6:11 But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.


Reviewing yesterday's definition of a man/woman of God
In yesterday's post we spent some time exploring what the scripture has to say about what it means to be a man of God.  We closed with this thought: true love that waits and is faithful succeeds when you and are a t.r.u.e man / woman of God.  In the post we looked at four characteristics that we drew from 1 Timothy 6:6-16 to define a man / woman of God:  

Trusting in the Lord. 1 Timothy 6:6-11a

Running faith's race. 1 Timothy 6:11b-12

Understand God's Word.  1 Timothy 6:13-14a

Endure till Jesus comes.  1 Timothy 6:14b-16

For today I want to explain why being a t.r.u.e man/woman of God is vital in a particular message I will be presenting centered around the event called "True Love Waits".

The message of true love waits
The reason we labored yesterday to define a man/woman of God is due to what I wanted to write about regarding the call to abstinence until marriage.  Back in February 1993 a small youth group of teenagers at a Southern Baptist Church had made a pledge to moral purity before marriage.  God took the message embraced by those teenagers and used it to launch a movement that became known as "True Love Waits".  In a featured article of the Baptist Messenger, Editor Brian Hobbs layed out the purpose and outcome of the movement:1

"What is surprising is that since its beginning, literally millions of teenagers have taken the pledge for abstinence until marriage, unleashing a positive peer pressure trend upon this nation. Connected to 'True Love Waits' pledge cards and even jewlery have acted as reminders of the commitment to God and before man."

So what is the pledge made by teenagers who resolve themselves to purity until marriage? Hobbs references the statement from the card each teenager signs:

"Believing that true love waits, I make a commitment to God, myself, my family, my friends, my future mate, and my future children to be sexually abstinent until the day I enter a biblical marriage relationship."

This message is something which I as a pastor and the church of which I am blessed by God to pastor strongly supports.  This Sunday our morning service will feature our youth pledging themselves in front of our church body to the commitments they made during the several weeks they participated in the "True Love Waits" program.2  For me personally this weekend will be especially touching, since my 15 year old son will be among them. 

The message of "True love waits" can only be achieved by those who are committed to being t.r.u.e men/women of God
The morning message will be based around 1 Timothy 6:6-16.  The only way young people and older people alike can carry out the Biblical vision of moral and spiritual purity is by being a man or woman of God.  In reflecting once again on Brian Hobbs' feature article about "True Love Waits", Hobbs notes from his interviewing other key Southern Baptist leaders that: "at the core of sexual integrity is our very walk with God." 

Moral/spiritual purity is not just about one area, but every area of the Christian life
The area of our physical relationships is of major significance, since it is a key battle ground being attacked by our enemy in 21st century society.  Everyone is wanting to redefine marriage, erase it all together, or replace it with lifestyles that define human beings only as biological entities who can have relationships free of moral constraints.  When we think about the message of "True Love Waits", as much as it does center on abstinence before marriage, the principles of moral and spiritual purity do not cease once that young person says "I Do".  The New Testament's vision of a Christian life of holiness entails presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1) and commiting our thought-life to Christ (Romans 12:2).  Furthermore, this vision includes serving the Lord with purity of devotion (1 Peter 1:15-16) and praying for our leaders, both spiritual and political, with clean hands and a pure heart (1 Timothy 2:1-3).  Without these truths of scripture, marriages fail, families deteriorate, churches suffer and society crumbles. 

Being a man/woman of God is how moral/spiritual purity is maintained and effectively lived
Being a man/woman of God who trusts God, runs faith's race, understands God's Word and endures until Jesus comes is an identity that touches every aspect of the Christian life.  When Paul wrote 1 Timothy, he was writing to a Pastor who was to be an example to everyone around him.  No one said being a man/woman of God would be easy.  In fact, unless you by grace through faith have trusted in Christ and are submitting daily to the Spirit's leading, scripture, prayer and weekly church attendance, the call to moral and spiritual purity in Christ will never be successfully achieved. 

However if you make it your aim as a young person, or middle aged person or older person to be through the strength of Christ the best man/woman of God, you can have a glowing testimony for the Lord.

In tomorrow's post we will unfold in more detail the reasoning of Paul in 1 Timothy 6:6-16 as it pertains to being a t.r.u.e man/woman of God. 

End Notes:

1. The article of which I referred to can be found at baptistmessenger.com

2. To find out more information about "True Love Waits", you can check it out at lifeway.com, where in the site you can key in "True Love Waits" and read featured articles and discover resources connected with its message.

T.R.U.E love that waits and succeeds - P1

1 Timothy 6:11 But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.

A God-centered church in need of a man of God
The Apostle Paul is writing to a young pastor at the church of Ephesus by the name of Timothy.  The Ephesian church was a great church that was founded by Paul in Acts 19-20.  For 2 1/2 years Paul ministered at Ephesus, with his time ending in a riot of the citizens wanting to kill him.  With the fledgling congregation attempting to minister the Gospel in such a hostile environment, their greatest need was stable leadership.  With that background, it was within a span of a few years that Paul's young protege, Timothy, came on the scene and was installed as the new Pastor of what was a growing church at Ephesus.  As Paul wrote 1 Timothy, his aim was to urge Timothy to be a man of God and lead this flock to be a God-centered church. (1 Timothy 6:11)

What is a T.R.U.E man of God?
In 1 Timothy 6:11 Paul refers to Timothy with a title that we only find in one other place in the New Testament - the title "man of God".1  Even though this title is used only twice in the New Testament, its background and usage in the Old Testament is quite extensive.  In over 70 places we find the Old Testament refer to people like Moses (Deuteronomy 33:1), Elijah (2 Kings 1:9); Elisha (2 Kings 8:4); King David (2 Chronicles 8:14) and various other prophets as men of God.  To be called a "man of God" is no light title, and for Timothy and ultimately every Christian to be called a "man (woman) of God" means that certain qualities are in mind. 

We could certainly do a character study on those Old Testament passages that speak of Moses, David and others as being "men of God", however I want to use 1 Timothy 6:6-16 as our key text - since Paul undoubtedly had at least one of those 70 plus other passages coursing through his mind as he wrote under Divine inspiration to young Timothy.  For today's blog, we will just list the key qualities of a true man/woman of God by utilizing the acrostic T.R.U.E as we see in 1 Timothy 6:6-16.  A t.r.u.e man/woman of God is defined by the following four characteristics...

Trusting in the Lord.   1 Timothy 6:6-11a

Running Faith's Race.  1 Timothy 6:11b-12

Understand God's Word.  1 Timothy 6:13-14a

Endures until Jesus comes.  1 Timothy 6:14b-16

When you think about men of God like Moses, David or Elijah, they each had all four of those qualities.  Moses and David both appear in the famous faith chapter of Hebrews 11 exhibiting every single one of those qualities.  In James 5 we see reference to Elijah, who being called by the title "man of God" at least 8 times in the Old Testament, evidence all four traits as well.2  Truly men like them and Christians today are called to be t.r.u.e men/women of God. 

Conclusion and upcoming blogs
This little study on what it means to be a true man/woman of God will be used for the next couple of days to encourage young and old Christians alike to aim for moral and spiritual purity.  Only a t.r.u.e man/ woman of God will see the necessity and have what it takes to heed such a call of God on their lives.  As we go into this coming weekend, our church and many congregations nation-wide will be participating in a biblical emphasis that will encourage young people to pledge themselves to abstinence until marriage.  This emphasis, called "True Love Waits", will be explained in more detail over the next couple of blogs. Our main idea will be that true love that waits and is faithful succeeds when you and I are t.r.u.e men / women of God. Until then, Lord bless.

End Notes:_____________________

1. The only other place we find this title "man of God" used in the New Testament is in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. "

2. Elijah evidenced trusting in God (James 5:17) running faith's race by praying repeatedly to God (James 5:18). By using men like Elijah as an example, James emphasizes the need to keep people accountable who turn from the truth - thus telling us that Elijah and those like him operate in the understanding of God's Word (James 5:19-20). Then of course since Elijah did endure to the end describes his overall life as a true man of God as we see in his life story recorded in 1 Kings 17 - 2 Kings 2. 

The Grace of Humility leads to Christ-likeness

James 4:6 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.”

Defining Humility
When you begin to study the subject of humility in the scripture, you will find rich meanings in the Old and New Testament words used to refer to humility.  The chief word for humility in the Old Testament literally pictures a servant bowing their knee in respect to a master or a king.  In the New Testament we see two main Greek words used to render the term "humility".  In the list of the nine fruits of the Spirit of Galatians 5:22, the word translated "meekness" in some translations could just as easily be rendered "humility".  The term used in that text speaks of striking a perfect balance between strength and control - thus meekness is a form of humility.  The other Greek word for humility is found in James 4:6, which refers to a person who desires to place others ahead of themselves.  I heard one preacher give this definition for humility: "humility is knowing what you are and what you are not."  At a Sunday School class I heard another person give this defintion of humility: "humility is not thinking less about yourself but thinking about yourself less." 

Certainly humility at one level can be expressed by all people - however non-redemptive expressions of humility will ultimately lead back to that person, even if unintentioned.  True Christian humility will result in the attention going away from the humble person to Jesus - since humility, next to love, is the best way for Christians to act, talk and think like Jesus. (Philippians 2:1-11)

Humility is a virtue
Humility is both a command given to believers and a Divinely given grace from the Holy Spirit.  Older Christians used to speak of what was called "Christian Virtues".  A virtue is anything that is Divinely given by God that in turn becomes a decision of of the will, resulting in that person drawing closer to God by their own choosing.  Case in point, humility is a Divinely given grace (John 13:15; Galatians 5:22; James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5) and yet at the same time it is a disposition of the human heart exercising such humility. (John 13:14; Ephesians 4:2; Philippians 2:3; 1 Peter 5:6)  Furthermore, humility results in a person drawing closer to God and being drawn closer to God. (Isaiah 57:15; James 4:7-10; 1 Peter 5:5-6)

So to sum up what we have said thus far - humility is both a responsibility of every Christian and a Grace given by the Spirit of God.  Without the grace of humility, a Christian cannot truly carry out their genuine responsibility to be a humble person.  Furthermore, the way I know I have successfully achieved Christian humility is when no one talks about me but rather talks about what Jesus has done. 

The Grace of Humility enables me to be like Jesus
James 4:6-10 is a remarkable text that shows how humility is given and acted out by Christians.  Furthermore, as you begin to look at James's series of commands in the text, you discover that they give you a working outline of Jesus' life and ministry.  Let me show you what I mean:

1. Jesus was given grace without measure due to His humility
John 1:14 "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. "

Philippians 2:8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Thus Christians are given a measure of grace in humility.
James 4:6 "But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.”

2. Jesus' humble submission to His Father led to Him resisting Satan and Satan's fleeing
Matthew 4:10 10Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.’” 11 then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.

Thus Christians are able to resist Satan when they humble themselves to God
James 4:7 "Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."

3. Jesus' humility led Him to depend on His Father in prayer
Luke 22:39-41 39And He came out and proceeded as was His custom to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples also followed Him. 40When He arrived at the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” 41And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray.  (There are over a dozen examples of Jesus praying in the Gospels)

Thus Christians are to humble themselves in prayerful dependance upon the Father
James 4:8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

4. Though Jesus was sinless in his humanity, He humbly drew near to God His Father
Hebrews 5:7 "In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety."

Thus Christians who are not yet sinless have even greater need to humbly come to the Father in prayer
James 4:8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

5. Though sinless, Jesus humbly went to the cross, bearing our sins and cried out to God
Mark 15:34 At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?" which is translated, "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?"

Hebrews 5:8 "Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered."

Thus Christians need to keep ever focused on the cross so as to hate sin and hasten more to Jesus
James 4:9 "Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom."  As Christians, we ought to be heartbroken anytime we sin.   

6. Jesus humbled Himself to death, and God raised Him up to be exalted at His right hand
Philippians 2:8-9 "Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (9) For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name"

Thus Christians who humble themselves under God's mighty hand will in due time be lifted up
James 4:10 "Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you."

Conclusion

The Grace of humility enables you and I to be like Jesus.  As we have seen in the above thoughts, whether we speak of Christ's incarnation (point #1), beginning of his earthly ministry (point #2), His prayer-life (point #3), His over-all daily life leading up to the cross (point #4), His crucifixion (point #5) or His resurrection (point #6), humility ran through the entirety of Jesus' earthly life, ministry, ddeath and reusrrection.  You and I as Christians are called to humility for the sake of being like Jesus.  May we operate in the grace of humility this day.   

Revelation, Inspiration, Canonicity, Preservation, Illumination

Genesis 3:1 "Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”


The first question in the Bible has to do with God's Word
Everything up until Genesis 3 had been commanded and declared by God. Satan took God's commands and declarations and put question marks on the end.  Sin entered into the world as a result of man losing and refusing to fight the Battle for God's Words.  As Christians, we need to know that the Bible we carry in our hands is the Word of God.  In today's post I want to introduce the reader to five terms that have been used by theologians to describe how the scriptures journeyed from God's mouth to man's hand.  Those five terms of which I speak are the following:

1. Revelation
2. Inspiration
3. Canonicity
4. Preservation
5. Illumination

Each of these terms could be given their own post, however for today I just want you the reader to be equipped with brief definitions so as to get in your mind the reliability and sufficiency of your Bible as God's very words.

1. Revelation - Making known that which was previously unknown  
In Bible doctrine we usually distinguish three types of revelation:

a. General Revelation - This is God revealing or making known His glory and power in creation and the conscience  (Psalm 19:7-11; Romans 1:18-31, 2:15)

b. Full Revelation - This is God's revelation of His Person and Majesty through the incarnation of God the Son, Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 1:1-3)

c. Special Revelation - This is God's Revelation of His purposes and will through the writing of the Old and New Testament scriptures, of which we are focusing upon in this particular blog today. (Deuteronomy 29:29; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21)

God revealed His words to His prophets, by whom spoke and then wrote down the revelation. In the New Testament the terms employed to refer to God's revelation refer to "unveiling that which was previously hidden".  (Exodus 24:4; Amos 3:7; Ephesians 1:10; 1 Peter 1:10-11)

2.  Inspiration - Human authors were given a unique measure of grace through their own writing styles to produce documents free from error and sufficient for faith and practice

Revelation (not the Book but the act of God making the unknown known) leads next to inspiration.  Quite literally God breathed out the scriptures.  Just as He breathed out His breath into the nostrils of Adam and Adam became a living soul, so did the writings of the Apostles and Prophets become living scripture as they wrote.  With the more than 40 authors, writing on three continents and in three languages, over 1500 years period of time, God used their writing styles and situations to produce a unified document free from error.  Once the last period of the Book of Revelation was completed, the Grace of inspiration would never operate again.  So with God's words written as errorless words, how would God's people know which books were God's books as opposed to forgeries?

3. Canonicity - The identification, reception and arranging of the individually inspired Bible books into the official collection of God's words
Virtually all the Bible books were immediately identified, received and collected by God's people for public reading, preaching and application.  The term "canon" literally means "measuring rod", hence the Bible is the final authority or "measuring rod" on all matters.  Not just any book could be considered part of God's Divine Library of the Bible.  Church history tells us that God's people used a variety of tests for recognizing God's words.1

God perfectly inspired the individual Bible books, not the manner of their order or arrangement.  Rather God in His Providence led the people of God to take up the task of receiving and arranging the books of scripture.  Without a doubt the Holy Spirit guided the process, and it must be remembered that the Bible produced the church, not the other way around.  By recognizing the nature of canonicity, we can see why its not a big deal for certain Bibles to have differing order or arrangement of the Bible books.2  We could spend more time in detail, but we must move onto the next term....

4. Preservation- God's Providential preservation of the words of the Bible in the hand-copied texts of the Old and New Testament.

We possess more certainty over the words of the Bibles in our possession today as being those originally penned by the Biblical authors than we do of any other ancient document.  Once that original manuscript left the hand of that prophet or apostle, how was it preserved as it was copied over and over again?  A whole field of study aims to answer this question.3  If God had not guaranteed the preservation of His words down to our day, we would have no idea what He commmunicated. (Matthew 5:18)  More could be said but we must hasten to the final key term...

5. Illumination - How God the Holy Spirit helps Christians understand the meaning of the Revealed, Inspired, Canonical and Preserved Text

When a Christian is converted by grace through faith, the Holy Spirit enables them to understand the meaning of the words of the Bible.  Passages such as 1 Corinthians 2:10-13 and 1 John 2:20,27 give us this promise of the Spirit's ministry in the life of the Christian.  Without the Holy Spirit's work of illumination, I could not preach the Bible with clarity nor could those to whom I preach apply what is preached.  Furthermore, without the proverbial "light-bulb" of understanding given by the Holy Spirit, no Christian could have fruitful study of God's word.4 

Conclusion
As you consider the five terms: Revelation, Inspiration, Canonicity, Preservation & Illumination, you will discover the truth of the matter: the Bible that you and I carry to church and read every week is the Word of God.  I would like to end today's blog with this quote from the Baptist Faith & Message 2000 Article 1 on the Holy Scriptures,  of which I affirm, and hope you do as well: "The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy."    

End Notes:______________________

1. So what were the tests?  Some examples are as follows:
a. Was the author a prophet, apostle or associate of an apostle?
b. Does the book correspond with previous revelation?
c. Does the Book bring about conversion?
d. Does the book point to Jesus Christ, the fullness of God's revelation?
e. Is the book recognized by virtually all Christians as God's word?

Tests such as these were used, and once individually recognized, the church came to arrange the books for use and preaching purposes.

2. For example we know by Jesus' day that the Old Testament was arranged in a three-fold way (Law, Prophets, Writings). (Luke 24:44) However in our English Bibles our Old Testaments are arranged as: Law, Historical Books, Poetic Books and Prophetic Books (Major and Minor Prophets). These differing arrangements have nothing to do with the words of scripture (inspiration), rather they represent the ways God's people came to organize the 66 Bible books.  Thus we see for instance Catholic Bibles, Eastern Orthodox Bibles and Protestant Bibles (the last which would be to most readers perhaps the most familiar) having their Bible Books in differing order.  The Catholic and Eastern Orthodox have additional books, of which I will not address right now (these issues have been addressed in other past blogs).  Suffice it to say, all three orderings have in common the universally recognized 66 Books which appear by themselves in such English translation and versions such as KJV, NKJV, NASB, NIV, ESV, NLT. 

3. The scholarly field to which I'm referring is called textual criticism. 
 Without going into too much detail, the thousands upon thousands of copies of manuscripts, both Old and New Testament, can reconstruct the original text in over 99% of cases, with no variation in the copies affecting any doctrine or teaching.  

4. Often people will confuse the terms "revelation" and "illumination". It is important to keep those two terms distinct, since God is not giving no new revelations today. Any insights people have into the spiritual realm or in guidance for every day life is a result of the Spirit's illuminating work through the scriptures. Even when we hear God's voice and know what He wants us to do, its because at some point we heard a Biblical based sermon or read a Bible verse that spoke on that subject.