Seven Important Features of Revelation (01/07/2001)

Revelation Through Nature, Providence, Miracles, the Incarnation, and Scripture

Turn with me this morning to Psalms 19. I Should say Psalm 19 this morning. We'll continue our Study of the great doctrines of the Bible and if you remember we're studying Bibliology the study of the Bible itself what the Bible says about itself and we'll continue that just a little bit this morning.

Let's read this. Follow along with me. I'd like to read this because this passage will review some of the things we've already discussed. And get into the material we want to talk about today, so just follow along with me.

It's not a long psalm and we'll read it together. It says the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament Showeth his handiwork. Day and today uttereth speech and night and tonight showeth knowledge.

There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. It means the voice of the creation of God. If you remember last Sunday, we talked about seven. Well not last Sunday, but the last time we were on this study we talked about the seven modes of Revelation seven ways that God has revealed himself and the first one was that God revealed himself through nature.

And so that's what this talks about. The heavens declare the glory of God in verse 3. Verse 3 says there is no speech nor language where this voice is not heard. All languages can hear this. There is no man on the face of the earth at any time that is not Responsible for this revelation of God because all men can see this in verse 4.

Their line has gone out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world. So that as Romans chapter 1 says they are without excuse and them hath he set a tabernacle for the Sun. Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.

His going forth is from the end of the heaven and his circuit into the ends of it and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. And then verse 7 begins to talk about. Another way that God has revealed himself and that is through his word.

The law of the Lord is perfect. Converting the soul the testimony of the Lord is sure making wise. The simple the statutes of the Lord are right. Rejoicing the heart the commandment of the Lord is pure enlightening the eyes.

The fear of the Lord is clean. Enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold? This is hard for me to read because I'm singing the scripture song in my mind while I'm reading it.

More to be desired are they than gold. Yea than much fine gold sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned and in keeping of them. There is great reward Who can understand his errors.

Cleanse thou me from secret faults. This shows one of the things that the Word of God will do. It will show us our sin. Which is necessary for us to be able to confess our sin. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins.

Let them not have dominion over me. Then shall I be upright and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight. Have you ever thought about the fact that as you're alone and you're thinking that The Lord is hearing your thoughts and listening and what you're thinking is either acceptable to him or it is not.

And so the more that a person is in the Word of God the more likely it is that the very meditation of his heart Will be acceptable To the Lord because you'll be meditating on his things. Oh Lord my strength in my Redeemer.

The Seven Modes of Revelation

Well, so we remember then that there are seven modes of Revelation. God revealed himself through nature. God has revealed himself through his providence. He's revealed himself through the preservation of all things.

He holds all things together. The fact that we're here looking at each other this morning the fact that the pew is intact. That you're sitting upon shows that God is holding all things together by his son Jesus Christ and So God is revealed that way.

He's also revealed through miracles in biblical history and in our own lifetimes and he is revealed through direct communication as he spoke to the prophets and Some of whom he spoke to directly Adam Cain Enoch Noah Abraham Isaac Jacob many others.

He has also revealed himself through the incarnation, which we spent a great deal of time on that one because Jesus is the Word and The greatest revelator of the Father and then he also has revealed himself to us through the Holy Scriptures.

And so that's what we talked about last time today. I want to talk to you about seven important features of revelation. Things that are true about how God reveals himself. First of all, we would note that his revelation Includes various themes, especially as we look at the Word of God.

We see that the Bible is doctrinal. It's also devotional. It's also historical. It is also Prophetical it is very practical and it's extremely scientific. There are some who have said well, the Bible is not a book of science.

So, you know if it's a little bit off don't worry about it. It's a book of religion and that's because they don't know the Bible if they say that the Bible everywhere where it speaks to science is Absolutely accurate even to the significant figures.

I remember one time brother Rocky did a study. He wrote a little booklet. In fact, we can still get access to that. If you don't have it, you ought to pick it up, but it's called something like the Bible in science science deals with scientific allusions in the Bible and One of the deal things that he talked about was that Pi R square is found in the Bible and pi is actually to the correct number of significant digits scientifically where it speaks of it and So it is all of these things it is varied in the different way that God the different Way that God has spoken to us in the Bible through these different modes.

Revelation Is Partial and Complete

Second thing we would find out if we turn to Deuteronomy chapter 29 in verse 29. The next two points seem contradictory, but they're really not. Because they're from simply from two different points of view.

Because point number one is that it is the bot the Revelation is varied in its themes. Point number two is that it is partial Revelation. Point number three is that it is complete revelation. Now, how can we have it be both partial?

Revelation and complete revelation at the same time. Well only if you realize that It's partial from God's point of view, but it's complete from our point of view. From man's point of view and our age in the church age.

It's absolutely complete. But from God's point of view, it is not because we can never know the whole mind of God, obviously. So Deuteronomy 29 29 talks about its partiality. It says the secret things belong unto the Lord our God.

But those things which are revealed Belonging to us and to our children forever that we may do all the words of the law. Now that scripture is very important because it shows us that we can't Know all that there is to know about God and we will never know all there is to know about God because to do that Would be to be God and we discussed very clearly in Sunday school this morning that there cannot be another God.

And even God will not create another God. And so The secret things belong to the Lord these are the things that are simply of him and of his knowledge and things that he has not revealed to us and may never reveal to us some of these things and Yet it says but those things which he has revealed belong to us now.

That's where we go into point number three, which is concerning the facts that are revealed. His revelation is complete in James chapter 1 in verse 25 it says but who so looketh into the perfect law of Liberty and Continueth therein he being not forgetful here, but a doer of the work this man shall be blessed in his deed.

It's interesting that the Word of God is described as the perfect law of Liberty. The word perfect in the Bible especially in the New Testament since means complete and mature. We think of it in English today to mean I guess we would say sinless.

We would say if something's perfect it is without fault or error and it certainly can carry that meaning but the primary color of this word means perfection or completion or maturity. So it the sense of it is that the law of Liberty is complete.

It is mature. It is exactly what God wants us to have in our age. Which we would just call that the church age and then we go into 1st Corinthians 13 in verse 8. It speaks of this again charity never faileth, but whether there be prophecies they shall fail whether there be tongues.

They shall cease whether there be knowledge. It shall vanish away for we know in part we prophesy in part. But look at this but that which is perfect when that which is perfect is come. Then that which is in part shall be done away.

I might point out that that which is perfect is in the neuter tense in the Greek. Which means it's not masculine or is it feminine? So it's speaking about a thing and I believe it's speaking about the same thing that we find in James 125.

The perfect law of Liberty it means it's mature. The Word of God is Complete it's mature. It is all that God wanted us to have and in that sense It is absolutely complete. So it's partial from the point of view that we don't know all of God's mind.

But it's complete from the point of view that he that everything about himself that he wanted to reveal to us in this Dispensation of time has been given and we have it and it's called the Word of God.

In these last days he hath revealed himself to us by Jesus Christ. That's why Jesus is called the Word now. That means that if the revelation of God is complete to us. That means that this book must touch on all issues of life that you will come in contact with.

It will teach you how to deal with people and People problems. It will teach you how to deal with circumstances in life. It'll teach you how to deal with the fool. It'll teach you how to be wise. It'll teach you everything that you need to know about yourself.

It will teach you everything you need to know about how to live. It's like an owner's manual for a human being and It will reveal to you all of the mind of God that he wants you to know right now. And the beautiful thing about it is he's revealed it to us in such a way That everything he wants us to know is actually here, but we can live a lifetime.

I think of my grandfather 97 years old every day of his life. He found something new in this book. It's not really new but it was new to him and the same is true of us. Because there is so much here. We will never ever in this life even get a thimble full of all that's here and Yet we're supposed to dig as we're digging for treasure.

It's better than gold. It's sweeter than honey. And we should dig for that treasure every day because all that he wants us to know is here in this lifetime. And that's what we mean when we say it's complete touches on all issues of life.

Psalm 119 96 says this I have seen an end. I'm gonna let you turn to that one. The whole Psalm as you know, 119 is much of it is about the Word. About the Word of God. I mean I we could have used that for this morning.

The thing is it would have been for this morning this afternoon tonight all next day and all week. There's so many verses in that chapter about the Word of God. It's not like a sermon That you can take from it.

It's like a lifetime study of what the Bible says about itself. But I found this one to be one that I had not noticed before. Do you ever do that? You're reading the scripture. You say well, I've read this a hundred times, but I never saw this.

This is one of those kind for me Psalm 119 96 I have seen an end of all perfection. But thy commandment is exceeding broad now. I think what David is saying here is that he has seen all the things in his world the scientific world of his day the historical world of his day the Medical world of his day.

He had seen an end of everything that could be done in the world as man knew what to do in his day. But when he looked at the Word of God He said is exceeding broad now that's in contrast to being able to see the end of the things of this life.

He's saying you can't do that with the Word of God now. It's interesting when you look at the Hebrew words here where he says thy commandment is exceeding broad. The word Exceeding is the word may hold which means Vehemence, and it's just a word that's used to give the superlative Of anything.

It's like the biggest it can be. This is the biggest word you can use to make something big and So he what he says exceeding broad now the word broad is raw Cobb, which means roomy in Any and every direction.

Amazing roomy in any and every direction and you put the word may hold in front of it. It means it's it's more that way than any other thing can be. It's the superlative. It is the largest Thing that goes off in any and every direction that there is there is nothing larger.

This is the largest this is the largest thing you have in life. This may be the only thing that you have in the physical realm that goes off in every direction and you never find an end To it. It is absolutely complete in that sense.

God knows our mind. He built it. He knows our ways. He knows how to deliver to us the revelation of himself and to imagine that he has put it all within a book that's not even much over two inches thick and Yet it goes off in every in any in every direction to infinity.

That's what the Hebrew says when it says I have seen an end of all perfection, but thy commandment is exceeding broad. Well, that's amazing to me. Oh how I love thy law. It is the meditation of thy heart all the day.

He says why does he say that because he understands the scope of it? He understands that if he spent all of his time every day the whole rest of his life He cannot fathom the depth and the breadth of what God has given him and all he had was the Old Testament.

Or parts of the Old Testament think of what we have on our lap today we have the entire canon that has been given for this dispensation of time and So it's exceeding broad and therefore it brought him to love the law of God and to meditate upon it all the day long.

Throughout the day he would think about it because it was so deep. Though through thy commandments Past thou through thy commandments has made me wiser than my enemies. Do you want to have a competitive edge in this world?

Then Meditate on the Word of God as the others do not He says for they are ever with me and then he goes and says I have more understanding than all my teachers. For that testimonies are my meditation.

He says my teacher may be studying some specific thing about life that he's teaching me. And while he's spending time being an expert on that, he said I'm meditating on God's Word. So I'm wiser than my teachers.

What a beautiful passage of Scripture dealing with the completeness of God's revelation. Well if the Word of God is varied in its themes and It is partial in the sense that I'm sorry. The revelation of God is partial in the sense that we don't know everything about God in this life.

But it's complete in the sense that the revelation He's given us is absolutely all that we need and more than we can ever fathom. Then the next thing about it is that it is progressive. God's revelation has been in fact Progressive.

Progressive Revelation

Mark chapter 4 verse 28 says for the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself first the blade. Then the ear after that the full corn in the ear and that's the way God has given to us his Word. Each book of the Bible avails itself of the accumulated truth that has gone before it and the last book is Like a vast union station into which all the great highways of revelation and prediction Converge and terminate and so God has given his revelation down to us in a progressive manner as he gives to the prophets of old to Moses the Pentateuch the first five books of the Bible and he comes down and lays down more of his scripture through each Successive prophet of old and then we come down to the New Testament time when God verified The Apostles and the Lord Jesus Christ through many remarkable miracles as The New Testament was given to us all the way down to almost 80 100 when or 90 at least when John wrote or penned the book of the Revelation.

Revelation Is Primarily Unto Redemption

So it is progressive in nature. The fifth thing about it is that God's revelation is primarily unto redemption. It speaks to every issue of life. But we should always come back to the fact that Jesus Christ is on every page.

And if we don't take what we study and relate it to God himself, then we lose. Now the whole world today, I believe in many of the churches around us are Studying all the wonderful things that God has taught us in the Bible about how to live with people and how to live with circumstances in life.

We're being taught how to be successful successful Christian living. Successful in business successful in marriage. Successful in child rearing. All those things are given to us in the Word and they're very important or God wouldn't have given it to us.

Like I said, it's the owner's manual for how for a human. But if we neglect to study and learn of God on every page of the Bible. Then we're missing out on the better thing. We're missing out on the best thing and if you I'm convinced if you go back a hundred years In the history in this country For certain and you walk into almost any church of any denomination in that day.

You would hear the preacher preaching a sermon about God about the character of God about the person of God and. So as we study we need to understand that Primarily his revelation is about himself To us and about his great plan of redemption in the Lord Jesus Christ.

2nd Timothy 3 15 says and that from a child thou has known the Holy Scriptures. Which are able to make thee wise unto salvation. Through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. So one of the great outstanding things about God's revelation to ourself is that the scriptures are given?

To make us wise unto salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ in the very familiar passage in 1st John chapter 5. I'm just gonna start at verse 11 and this is the record. The record means the written word.

This is the record that God has given to us eternal life in this life is in his son. He that has the Son has life he that has not the Son of God has not life. These things have I written he says unto you That believe on the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life and That you may believe on the Son of God.

He's written these things primarily for redemptive purposes to save his own and to bring us to himself that the that the lost sheep might be found and That they might hear his voice and follow him. The sixth thing about the revelation of God is That God's divine revelation for this age is final now notice that I Put the Adjective for this age in front of that because if we were to say that God's revelation is final.

Then we would contradict the second point where we said it's not complete from his point of view I fully believe when we get to heaven I think my grandfather right now as much as he studied the Word and I'm convinced He studied it more than most of us study it every day, especially in his later life after retirement years.

I mean that was his Vocation and avocation. He just studied the Word did little Bible studies. He used to love to study characters in the Bible, he would study the Bible for studying the people in the Bible and Seeing Christ in the people.

But I'm convinced that right now. He's learning some things that God did not tell him in this book. I'm convinced that he's learning some other things. But with respect to us in this age in this world This revelation is final.

I can prove that to you if you'll turn to Jude and look at verse 3. There are a lot of people who debate this and and that's okay. But I think that Jude 3 pretty much puts an end to the debate. I Really do believe that God's Word has a back cover on it.

Not just because brother Rocky used to tell me that but I think that that was God's plan for this dispensation. I believe that God's plan was that the book of Revelation would be the last book of the Bible and Jude 3 says beloved when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation.

It was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith. Now the key is the phrase the faith that means the Christian faith Which was once delivered unto the Saints now and you as you go into the Greek and you read this phrase Which was once delivered.

It it really is very strong language. The word once is the Greek word hop ox, which means literally once and for all. It actually comes from two smaller words. The first word is the word ha which means one and The second word is the word pass which means the whole or everything or for all.

So when you put those two little words together the word hop ox means once and for all. It doesn't mean just once but it means once and for all. Now we know what that means in our English when you say this is done once and for all that means it's been done once never needing to be done again never needing to be added to and that's what the Bible literally says about the faith is that it Was once and for all delivered and to the Saints now this word delivered is a beautiful concept.

The word delivered Literally means to surrender to yield up to entrust or to transmit something. So it says that the word was once and for all Transmitted to us was delivered to us yielded up from God to man on the on the planet earth and entrusted Into our hands to do with as we would.

It can also mean to give into the hands of another to give over into one's power or use to deliver to one something to keep to use to take care of to manage and This is what God did once and for all when he gave us the faith.

Now I Went into vine to see how he defined this word delivered and it was just awesome what I found here. Because he says it means to deliver over but he says there is a figure behind this in the Greek language with it the Greek mind would understand this figure and The figure is one of being that of a mold which gives its shape to what is cast in it.

Pouring something into a mold and then it hardens and that mold gives that thing that shape the shape of the mold and That's what this word means when it says that the word or the faith was once and for all Delivered unto us.

It's as if it's in a mold and Has given shape and that's why in the physical world as we come into the physical world where we are living. We have the written word and it has a shape and it is complete we can hold it in our laps.

And yet it is so broad in every direction. We can't fathom at all and that in itself is a miracle. There's no other book like that all the other little books you get you read you read them once and you toss them usually.

Because you glean what you can and there's nothing new in it, but this book you pick it up every day and You glean something new. So the Word of God for this age was final in its Revelation and the seventh thing is this the revelation of God is accurate to the point of infinity.

Revelation Is Accurate to the Point of Infinity

That's pretty accurate. It is accurate to the point of infinity. Second Timothy 316 all scripture is given by inspiration of God. It is God Breathed therefore it is without error. It is profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction for instruction in righteousness.

It is God's Word written. Psalm 138 2 says I will worship toward thy holy hill and praise thy name for thy loving kindness and because of thy truth. For thou has magnified thy word above all thy name.

What an unusual verse. Do you think it unusual that God himself? Would magnify his word above the name of God. The very name itself and. Yet the Bible says he has done that because his word is his revelation of himself to us.

Do you realize that's what a name is at least a Bible name if you do a study on all the names of God in the Bible. You'll learn more about the character and person of God than just about any single study you could do.

Because every name of God is there progressively given through the Old Testament and even into the new tell another attribute of God. Some of them tell three or four attributes of God just within that one name and.

And El Shaddai, for example God Almighty. You think of the power and the strength of God, but it also comes from the little Hebrew word root word Shad. Which means the breast? So it pictures God is the one who nourishes us and who Who keeps us in his protection.

Like that like we see in in the human realm like the mother would do. We see the motherly Feminine attributes of the father as we see that in that name and every name of God gives further attributes of him.

But he says that he's lifted or magnified his word even above the name. Because his word is the complete revelation of God for us in in our time. Psalm 119 89 says forever. Oh Lord. Thy word is settled in heaven.

I want you to think about that with me for a moment if it's true that the Bible the Word of God is accurate to the point of infinity then it must be a book that comes out of Eternity into time it comes from one dimension into another.

It is in fact a heavenly book and this phrase forever Oh Lord, thy word is settled in heaven tells us a lot the word forever. There are a couple of words forever. We're gonna look at here. But this word forever is Olam, which is an awesome word to me because it literally means the vanishing point so or the vanishing point.

So it's time out of mind or it's it's the inability to think of a place where there is no time To the vanishing point to the vanishing point. Oh Lord. Thy word is settled in heaven. It goes beyond our horizon.

It goes beyond our ability to see in the physical realm. It goes out beyond that and it has in fact come from that place to us. So forever to the vanishing point. Oh Lord. Thy word is settled in heaven this word settled Means to station to a point to establish it is established forever when you establish something.

It means it's not going to change. Now I'm willing to say that brother Luther probably is learning some things He didn't know. But I'm not saying that God's going to add to this information. He's not going to Change.

I should say this information. This information is settled. In fact, it has come from the from the place where there is no time where God is the I am. He is the eternal God. It's all now to him. It's finished.

So this is a finished book in That sense because this book was meant to be the revelation of God to man in this world In this physical realm in this universe on the planet Earth and in that great sense.

It is absolutely accurate to the point of Infinity it is settled. It is established. It is a pillar it is presented to us by God. It has been it has been reared up by God given to us from the vanishing point from the other dimension.

It is established and it will stand all of those words come from this little word Not sob in the Hebrew, which means to be settled. Now when we go into Peter chapter 1 verse 23 It gives us another word About the Word of God first Peter chapter 1.

Verse 23 and following I'll just start with verse 25 because it says but the word of the Lord endureth forever it's in contrast to verse 24, which will be reminded of this as we go after the Service today out to the cemetery and we have a little graveside service for a dear man and brother of ours.

It says for all flesh is as grass and all the glory of man as the flower of grass the grass withereth and the flower thereof falleth away, but in contrast to that the Word of the Lord Endureth forever.

It is accurate to the point of infinity. It is not going to be changed. We have it in our lap and It is given as the Lord gave it from that dimension into ours. It's absolutely perfect. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you where it says that His word endureth forever.

The word endure means to remain or continue it is settled forever. What's interesting though that the word forever comes from two little Greek words. The first one is ice which means unto the second one is I on He on which our word eon comes from which means evermore.

So you put that together and in the New Testament at whereas in the Old Testament It says it's unto the vanishing point. It comes from the other dimension beyond which we can see in the New Testament.

It gives this idea. That is it is unto the unbroken age and perpetuity of time. Unto the unbroken age and perpetuity of time. So this word that you hold in your lap is unto that other Age you read in the Bible where it says age and age in the future.

We go out beyond the kingdom age a thousand-year millennium. There's not a lot of information given to us. But as we go out into age and to age this book is unto that age. God will not replace this book.

He may give us information that we didn't see in it while we were here, but he won't replace it. It's that valuable. It's that amazing it is from the other dimension into this dimension and it's absolutely accurate to the point of Infinity.

Now I'd like you to go back and let's close here where we started this morning in Psalm 19 starting with verse 7 the law of the Lord is perfect. Converting the soul the testimony of the Lord is sure. Making wise the simple the statutes of the Lord are right.

Rejoicing the heart the commandment of the Lord is pure. Enlightening the eyes the fear of the Lord is clean enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether more to be desired than gold sweeter than honey and By them as thy servant warned and in keeping of them is great reward.

It is perfect. It is complete. It is mature and It converts the soul. It is sure. You don't have to doubt it. You don't have to wonder about it. If you see it in God's Word, and if God said it then don't worry about it.

You can be sure of it. And that's what makes the simple wise. These fishermen like Peter and John who never went to the seminaries of their day. And yet people noted their wisdom why. Because they walked with Jesus they walked with the Word and that was a sure word and The surety of the Word of God makes the simple wise.

It'll make you wiser than your teachers. The Word of God is right Which brings rejoicing in the life? The Word of God is pure Which brightens and lightens our eyes rather than having as Jesus said. But if I be dark the whole body is dark.

This Word of God enlightens Our eyes because it's pure. This word is true Which brings righteousness? You know the word righteous really can be broken down just to mean to mean right and the definition of right is God and So God has given us the truth and Jesus said the truth will set you free.

Why because it's right? Teaches you how to be right. It is to be desired more than gold. It is to be cherished more than honey more than the dessert on the table at the end of the table today and He ends by saying it gives us warning and if we heed the warnings in it.

And if we be doers of the Word rather than just hearers only then it brings great reward even in this life. And so the Word of God is an awesome book the fact that the God the creator of the universe has revealed his infinite nature is outside of time self To us in time in a perfect complete accurate way.

We should never take it for granted. If we get into this book We'll develop that sweet kind of spirit that Luther waters had that Enabled you to sense that when he prayed that God was right there in the room with you.

That comes from years in the book and from focusing on the Word of God Not other things around us and that's so there's a wonderful example. It was given by this one man. It's what Jesus wants us to do is to have that relationship and allow him to speak to us through his word.

Let's stand. As we open this book moment by moment day by day God reveals himself to us and our relationship with him is expanded and Becomes broader and broader just like this book itself is brought in every direction To infinity let's pray father.