The Inspiration and Authority of Scripture — J.C. Ryle

J.C. Ryle,

We must take heed to our doctrine about the inspiration and authority of the Holy Scriptures. Let us boldly maintain, in the face of all gainsayers, that the whole of the Bible is given by inspiration of the Holy Ghost,—that all is inspired completely, not one part more than another,—and that there is an entire gulf between the Word of God and any other book in the world.—We need not be afraid of difficulties in the way of the doctrine of plenary inspiration. There may be many things about it far too high for us to comprehend: it is a miracle, and all miracles are necessarily mysterious. But if we are not to believe anything until we can entirely explain it, there are very few things indeed that we shall believe.—We need not be afraid of all the assaults that criticism brings to bear upon the Bible. From the days of the apostles the Word of the Lord has been incessantly “tried,” and has never failed to come forth as gold, uninjured, and unsullied.

We need not be afraid of the discoveries of science. Astronomers may sweep the heavens with telescopes, and geologists may dig down into the heart of the earth, and never shake the authority of the Bible: “The voice of God, and the work of God’s hands never will be found to contradict one another.”—We need not be afraid of the researches of travellers. They will never discover anything that contradicts God’s Bible. I believe that if a Layard ¹ were to go over all the earth and dig up a hundred buried Ninevehs, there would not be found a single inscription which would contradict a single fact in the Word of God.

Furthermore, we must boldly maintain that this Word of God is the only rule of faith and of practice,—that whatsoever is not written in it cannot be required of any man as needful to salvation,—and that however plausibly new doctrines may be defended, if they be not in the Word of God they cannot be worth our attention. It matters nothing who says a thing, whether he be bishop, archdeacon, dean, or presbyter. It matters nothing that the thing is well said, eloquently, attractively, forcibly, and in such a way as to turn the laugh against you. We are not to believe it except it be proved to us by Holy Scripture.

Last, but not least, we must use the Bible as if we believed it was given by inspiration. We must use it with reverence, and read it with all the tenderness with which we would read the words of an absent father. We must not expect to find in a book inspired by the Spirit of God no mysteries. We must rather remember that in nature there are many things we cannot understand; and that as it is in the book of nature, so it will always be in the book of Revelation. We should draw near to the Word of God in that spirit of piety recommended by Lord Bacon many years ago. “Remember,” he says, speaking of the book of nature, “that man is not the master of that book, but the interpreter of that book.” And as we deal with the book of nature, so we must deal with the Book of God. We must draw near to it, not to teach, but to learn,—not like the master of it but like a humble scholar, seeking to understand it.

taken from: Knots Untied: Being Plain Statements on Disputed Points in Religion from the Standpoint of an Evangelical Churchman.

¹ Sir Austen Henry Layard – English archaeologist whose excavations greatly increased knowledge of the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia.

Preaching with Authority

Every preacher who stands behind a pulpit or on a street corner should desire to preach with authority.  He should hope that when people hear him that they are rather hearing God speaking to them through him.  He should long for his preaching to be effectual, moving people into obedient response to the Word of God.

For this is how Jesus preached. Following one of his sermons, this is the description of the response:  ”When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes” (Matthew 7:28-29).

So how does one preach with authority?  Certainly the preacher should pray that God would bestow authority upon him as he proclaims the gospel.  Yet are there principles he can follow so that when he preaches he just does not sound like he is just attempting to be authoritative, but actually preaches with authority?  I believe so, especially if we remember the context where this statement regarding Jesus’ preaching was made.  The crowds were amazed at the teaching of Jesus as they heard the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7).

Certainly there are unique ways Jesus taught on this occasion, as the Lord and Savior that He is, that the preacher cannot imitate.  Jesus came as the new Moses, sitting on the mountainside as he addressed the crowds (Matthew 5:1).  Several times he said “in former times you heard it was said” and quoted Scripture, then followed that with “but now I say to you,” revealing He spoke as the final, divine prophet of God.  He made personal, ultimate pronouncements on people and their eternal state as the Judge of heaven (Matthew 5:20, 25-26; 6:15; 7:22-23).  So there is an authority all his own by which the Lord preached.

Yet are there other qualities found in his message that the wise preacher can emulate?  In the Sermon on the Mount at least five qualities of his preaching stand out that give authority to his message.

Grounded in Law.  A large section of the Sermon on the Mount is Jesus teaching on the moral law of God, addressing such matters as murder, adultery, divorce, oaths, justice, and enemies (Matthew 5:17-48).  As he stated in the message, he did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets but to fulfill them.  When Jesus told his hearers their righteousness needed to surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees, he was not just speaking of the righteous standing justification by faith grants believers.  Rather, he was proclaiming that faith in him requires a heart-based desire to obey his Law.

Because so much preaching avoids today the Old Testament and particularly the Law of God, it lacks the power and fear the Law is to give.  How contrary that is to Jesus and his apostles who, as testified to by the Gospel, Acts, and the Epistles, continually returned to the Law in their teaching.  It gave their messages thunder and firepower.

Overflowing with Mercy. Our Lord’s life, ministry, and teaching were filled with mercy, and the Sermon on the Mount is no exception.  From pronouncing blessing on the poor in spirit and the merciful, to calling us to forgive our debtors, to turn the other cheek, to pray for our enemies, to give another mile to those who ask, Jesus both pronounces mercy to, and expects mercy from, his hearers.  Just as Old Testament Law had embedded in it directives to care for the poor, the widow, and the needy, so this message abounds with directives to live a gracious life.

This in part explains the reaction of the crowd, who noticed Christ taught “not as their scribes.”  These men used the Law to burden and oppress the people.  Jesus showed how, through a renewed heart in faith and union with him, that God’s commands are not burdensome but light because they lead us to love others (I John 5:3).

Filled with Moral Imperative. Too much preaching, especially in Reformed camps, is indicative rather than imperative in nature.  Men, afraid that they might be accused of being an Arminian if they call people to faith or a denier of justification by faith if they stress good works too much, settle for making their sermons little more than running commentaries over the text.

Near the beginning of his message, Jesus said the commands of Scripture are not to be relaxed and we are not to teach others to relax them or we will be deemed least in his kingdom.  Rather, we are commanded to let our light shine by obeying and teaching his commands,  which he offers in plentiful amount in this message.  ”Leave your gift at the altar.”  ”Be reconciled to your brother.”  ”Tear out your right eye.”  ”Do not resist one who is evil.”  ”Pray for your enemies.”   That’s just a few from the fifth chapter, which ends with another one that could be viewed as quite a task.  ”Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  Calling the congregation to obedience should not lead them to deny justification by faith, but to rely upon it!

Abounding in Illustrations.   Read aloud Matthew 5-7 and you will find this exercise takes less time than listening to most men’s sermons.  If and when you do read it out loud, listen to all of the illustrative language you hear packed into this message.  Jesus speaks actively about such things as tearing out eyes, leaving a gift at the altar, getting slapped on the cheek, going two miles, paying the last penny, or how the sun and the rain fall on the just and unjust alike.  He uses concrete imagery, talking about such wide and varied things as trumpets, eyes, lamps, moth, rust, birds, flowers, barns, thieves, specks, logs, fish, serpents, scorpions, sheep, wolves, fish, trees, rain, winds, flood…the list could go on.  He tells little stories throughout, from guys praying on street corners to sons asking fathers for bread to ending with men building houses on rock and sand.

Like the true Solomon he was, Jesus was wise in the ways this world works and thus used its imagery to teach spiritual lessons.  This makes sense, as he did create the world after all!  His teaching did not contain just an occasional illustration, but was illustrative in its entire nature.  Far from this illustrative language and these stories detracting from the  message, they added authority to it by relating all of life to the teaching and relating all the teaching to life.  People hearing this type of teaching know they do not have a dry academician on hand trying to get his talk stuffed into a scholarly journal somewhere, but a true preacher seeking to stuff their hearts with the very word of God.  The godly preacher will be a student of the world and creation around him.

Glorifying the Father.  All the previously mentioned elements may be present in a sermon, but if this final one is absent so will be the authority we should desire.  For another highlight of this message of Jesus is his expressed desire to honor his heavenly Father.

In an article contained in the book The Beauty and Glory of the Father, Bill VanDoodewaard points out how saturated the Sermon on the Mount is with Jesus speaking of his and our heavenly Father.  Some twenty references are made to the Father.  In almost every instance, Jesus speaks of him as the “heavenly Father” or “our Father who is in heaven.”  As he stated in other places, it is clear that Christ is not speaking here on his own initiative.  Rather, he is telling us what the Father instructed him to do.  Thus, his sermon rang with the power of a message from heaven because that is exactly what it was!  Similarly, preachers’ hearts must be absolutely filled when they preach with an earnest desire as ambassadors to deliver the Father’s word to his people.

Then, and only then, will they preach with his authority.

Preaching with Authority: Three Characteristics of Expository Preaching

Authentic expository preaching is marked by three distinct characteristics: authority, reverence, and centrality. Expository preaching is authoritative because it stands upon the very authority of the Bible as the word of God. Such preaching requires and reinforces a sense of reverent expectation on the part of God’s people. Finally, expository preaching demands the central place in Christian worship and is respected as the event through which the living God speaks to his people.

A keen analysis of our contemporary age comes from sociologist Richard Sennett of New York University. Sennett notes that in times past a major anxiety of most persons was loss of governing authority. Now, the tables have been turned, and modern persons are anxious about any authority over them: “We have come to fear the influence of authority as a threat to our liberties, in the family and in society at large.” If previous generations feared the absence of authority, today we see “a fear of authority when it exists.”

Some homileticians suggest that preachers should simply embrace this new worldview and surrender any claim to an authoritative message. Those who have lost confidence in the authority of the Bible as the word of God are left with little to say and no authority for their message. Fred Craddock, among the most influential figures in recent homiletic thought, famously describes today’s preacher “as one without authority.” His portrait of the preacher’s predicament is haunting: “The old thunderbolts rust in the attic while the minister tries to lead his people through the morass of relativities and proximate possibilities.” “No longer can the preacher presuppose the general recognition of his authority as a clergyman, or the authority of his institution, or the authority of Scripture,” Craddock argues. Summarizing the predicament of the postmodern preacher, he relates that the preacher “seriously asks himself whether he should continue to serve up monologue in a dialogical world.”

The obvious question to pose to Craddock’s analysis is this: If we have no authoritative message, why preach? Without authority, the preacher and the congregation are involved in a massive waste of precious time. The very idea that preaching can be transformed into a dialogue between the pulpit and the pew indicates the confusion of our era.

Contrasted to this is the note of authority found in all true expository preaching. As Martyn Lloyd-Jones notes:

Any study of church history, and particularly any study of the great periods of revival or reawakening, demonstrates above everything else just this one fact: that the Christian Church during all such periods has spoken with authority. The great characteristic of all revivals has been the authority of the preacher. There seemed to be something new, extra, and irresistible in what he declared on behalf of God.

The preacher dares to speak on behalf of God. He stands in the pulpit as a steward “of the mysteries of God” (1 Cor 4:1) and declares the truth of God’s word, proclaims the power of that word, and applies the word to life. This is an admittedly audacious act. No one should even contemplate such an endeavor without absolute confidence in a divine call to preach and in the unblemished authority of the Scriptures.

In the final analysis, the ultimate authority for preaching is the authority of the Bible as the word of God. Without this authority, the preacher stands naked and silent before the congregation and the watching world. If the Bible is not the word of God, the preacher is involved in an act of self-delusion or professional pretension.

Standing on the authority of Scripture, the preacher declares a truth received, not a message invented. The teaching office is not an advisory role based on religious expertise, but a prophetic function whereby God speaks to his people.

Authentic expository preaching is also marked by reverence. The congregation that gathered before Ezra and the other preachers demonstrated a love and reverence for the word of God (Neh 8). When the book was read, the people stood up. This act of standing reveals the heart of the people and their sense of expectation as the word was read and preached.

Expository preaching requires an attitude of reverence on the part of the congregation. Preaching is not a dialogue, but it does involve at least two parties—the preacher and the congregation. The congregation’s role in the preaching event is to hear, receive, and obey the word of God. In so doing, the church demonstrates reverence for the preaching and teaching of the Bible and understands that the sermon brings the word of Christ near to the congregation. This is true worship.

Lacking reverence for the word of God, many congregations are caught in a frantic quest for significance in worship. Christians leave worship services asking each other, “Did you get anything out of that?” Churches produce surveys to measure expectations for worship: Would you like more music? What kind? How about drama? Is our preacher sufficiently creative?

Expository preaching demands a very different set of questions. Will I obey the word of God? How must my thinking be realigned by Scripture? How must I change my behavior to be fully obedient to the word? These questions reveal submission to the authority of God and reverence for the Bible as his word.

Likewise, the preacher must demonstrate his own reverence for God’s word by dealing truthfully and responsibly with the text. He must not be flippant or casual, much less dismissive or disrespectful. Of this we can be certain, no congregation will revere the Bible more than the preacher does.

If expository preaching is authoritative, and if it demands reverence, it must also be at the center of Christian worship. Worship properly directed to the honor and glory of God will find its center in the reading and preaching of the word of God. Expository preaching cannot be assigned a supporting role in the act of worship—it must be central.

In the course of the Reformation, Luther’s driving purpose was to restore preaching to its proper place in Christian worship. Referring to the incident between Mary and Martha in Luke 10, Luther reminded his congregation and students that Jesus Christ declared that “only

 one thing is necessary,” the preaching of the word (Luke 10:42). Therefore, Luther’s central concern was to reform worship in the churches by re-establishing there the centrality of the reading and preaching of the word.
That same reformation is needed in American evangelicalism today. Expository preaching must once again be central to the life of the church and central to Christian worship. In the end, the church will not be judged by its Lord for the quality of its music but for the faithfulness of its preaching.

When today’s evangelicals speak casually of the distinction between worship and preaching (meaning that the church will enjoy an offering of music before adding on a bit of preaching), they betray their misunderstanding of both worship and the act of preaching. Worship is not something we do before we settle down for the word of God; it is the act through which the people of God direct all their attentiveness to the one true and living God who speaks to them and receives their praises. God is most beautifully praised when his people hear his word, love his word, and obey his word.

As in the Reformation, the most important corrective to our corruption of worship (and defense against the consumerist demands of the day) is to rightly return expository preaching and the public reading of God’s word to primacy and centrality in worship. Only then will the “missing jewel” be truly rediscovered.