Enlightenment
Enlightenment
“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.… The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple” (Ps. 119:105, 130). The word translated “unfolding” is literally “opening” and can be translated “doorway.” Since ancient houses did not have windows, when the door was opened, the sunlight would burst into the room. A closed Bible gives no light, and a closed heart receives no light (Luke 24:32). The word translated “simple” could refer to a naive person who is easily deceived, but here it describes a person who has not been formally taught in a classroom, what Acts 4:13 calls an unschooled and ordinary person.
The Bible is an ancient book, yet it is always contemporary and helps us live in the present tense. The Holy Spirit reveals Jesus to us on its pages and gives us the truth we need for each day. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16–17). The Bible belongs to all of God’s people, not just the seminary graduates or the highly intelligent. The writers, “though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:21). The Holy Spirit not only inspired God’s Word, but He also instructs us in God’s Word. “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth,” said Jesus. “He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you” (John 16:13–14). The Spirit reveals Jesus in the Word just as Jesus showed Himself in the Word to the Emmaus disciples (Luke 24:25–27).
We all know that we can see Jesus in the types and prophecies of the Bible, but we can also see Him in the events (1 Cor. 10:1–13), the people, and the promises (2 Cor. 1:18–22). Before G. Campbell Morgan gave his exposition each Friday evening at the Westminster Chapel Bible School in London, he had the congregation stand and sing the beautiful song “Break Thou the Bread of Life.” I especially appreciate the stanza that says, “Beyond the sacred page / I seek Thee, Lord / My spirit pants for Thee, O Living Word.” To read the Bible and not see Jesus is to miss the greatest blessing of all.
Remember, the Holy Spirit was present when the events took place and the words were spoken that are recorded in Scripture, beginning with creation (Gen. 1:1–2) and ending with God’s last invitation and the apostle’s last prayer (Rev. 22:17–21). The Spirit is an eyewitness who can help us see and understand the truth God wants us to live.
When God gave us the gift of His Son, He gave us His very best and in Him everything we will ever need to live a successful Christian life! “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God” (2 Cor. 1:20). We live by promises, not by explanations; and when through the Spirit we claim a promise and say “Amen—so be it,” God fulfills the promise in Jesus Christ!
I like to recall the promises my wife and I have claimed and that the Lord has fulfilled in our family and our various ministries. Each promise had been in the Bible for centuries, but the Holy Spirit pointed them out to us just when we needed them most. We didn’t consult a concordance or turn the pages of the Bible searching for them. In the course of our daily Bible reading, these promises jumped right off the page and shouted, “Trust me!” In Jesus Christ, God has “given us everything we need for a godly life” (2 Pet. 1:3), and the keys that open this rich treasury are the unfailing promises of God. God has already said “Yes” in His Son, and we should say a believing “Amen” to claim God’s promise. If we do, one day that promise will be fulfilled in the way that glorifies God the most.