A S P E C T S - a monthly devotional journal For subscription information on receiving Aspects every month via e-mail, or the laser-printed edition by mail, see NOTES, COPYRIGHT & SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION near the end of this file. Aspects is written by David S. Lampel. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Issue #03, February 1991 (Internet Edition) H I S W O R D ----------------------------------------------------------------- In this issue: Perspective - God's word as counsel or resource Perspective - the comfort or peace we find in His word Perspective - God's word as our daily authority Perspective - God's word as a powerful weapon ----------------------------------------------------------------- Talked with the devil lately? What did you say to him? Better yet, what did he say back? In my tender years, I would go to church camp every summer. In our church, kids could earn their way to camp by memorizing scripture verses. The more you memorized, the less your parents had to shell out for your week in the sun. Somehow over the years of growing up, I never quite lost the notion that memorizing Bible verses was something one did under the gun; and it was usually done to gain some prize--or to prove your ability to memorize words on a page. I don't remember anyone tell- ing me why I should be memorizing verses from the Bible. Have you ever caught yourself saying something like this when praying? "Dear God, I'm really sorry that I sinned against you. But Satan has been tugging on me really hard lately and you know how persistent he can be! Please forgive me for yielding to his temptation and give me the strength to grit my teeth and be strong against him. Thanks a lot. Amen." Well, if you haven't, I have. I've heard myself say that a lot over the years. And I'm sure glad the Father is a patient God because every time we ask for strength against the wiles of Satan, He has every right to come back with: "You DUMMY! I've already given you everything you need!" And that's why we should be memorizing scripture. Hebrews 4:15 says: "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin." And when was Jesus tempted? Well, one of the times was when He was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, before His ministry even began. His defense against the conniving devil should be noted by us--since it is the same defense available to us today. Satan made three offers to Jesus--each more grand and tempting than the previous. And three times he was put away by Jesus wielding scripture like a two-edged sword. "It is written! It is written!" I can imagine those words stinging Satan worse than any physical weapon. He better than anyone knows the power of the Word of God. Our enemy does not always wait for us to run to the Concordance, or flip through the dusty leaves of our coffee-table Bible. Sometimes there's an urgency to his attack that takes our breath away. And we need our sword sharpened, ready for the answering thrust. We need the words of God to be living inside us. The Psalmist knew. In his words we can hear the wisdom of someone who had failed to have his sword sharpened, but had learned from his mistake: "How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Thy word. With all my heart I have sought Thee; do not let me wander from Thy commandments. Thy word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against Thee."(1) ____________________ "The Word of God...is far more than a record of human experience or a report of spiritual realities by long-dead men. The Word of God is a living and active power, a timeless moment at which, in our own time and space, we can meet the living God. God expresses Himself in his revealed Word and continues to act through it. The Word is both recorded truth and our moment of truth--both truth about God and the place where we meet God personally."(2) In this issue of Aspects we consider God's Word--specifically, His printed and, in the Old Testament, spoken Word. The key words translated word in scripture would be DABAR, in the Hebrew, "to speak or talk" and RHEMA, in the Greek, "that which is spoken, what is uttered in speech or writing."(3) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Perspective R E S O U R C E ------------- "It is not enough to desire to be right; for ignorance may make us think that we are doing God service when we are provoking Him, and the fact of our ignorance will not reverse the character of our action."(4) That I May Keep Thy Precepts(5) The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. PSA 19:7-8 Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the LORD. Blessed are they who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart. PSA 119:1-2 Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me. PSA 119:133 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. ROM 15:4 1SA 3:1-21 1KI 12:21-24 1KI 13:1-10 2CH 34:14-21 PSA 19:7-14 PSA 111:7-10 PSA 119:1-28 PSA 119:101-112 MAT 15:1-9 LUK 8:19-21 LUK 11:27-28 LUK 24:44-49 ACT 17:10-12 1TI 4:13 2TI 3:14-4:2 HEB 5:12-6:3 JAM 1:22-25 1JO 2:4-6 Holy Bible, Book Divine Holy Bible, book divine, Precious treasure, thou art mine; Mine to tell me whence I came, Mine to teach me what I am. Mine to chide me when I rove; mine to show a Savior's love; Mine thou art to guide and guard; mine to punish or reward. Mine to comfort in distress, suff'ring in this wilderness; Mine to show, by living faith, man can triumph over death. Mine to tell of joys to come, and the rebel sinner's doom; O thou Holy Book divine, precious treasure, thou art mine.(6) ____________________ We believe in the Word of God as final truth. But how do we answer those who just as confidently follow a separate truth? We each must discover our own reality. For some it is Marx; for some, Jesus. Buddha, Mohammed, Jung.... Each is perfectly valid to someone. Then, too, each chosen reality bears its own chosen consequence. Saddam Hussein prays to the same God that is the Jehovah of our prayers. How can one person tell another that the Bible is absolute truth for both? The truth of scripture is based on the marriage of theistic revelation and human discernment. Did not Paul and Peter have profound disagreements? Paul and Barnabas? Paul and John Mark? All holy men, examples for us, recorded in holy scriptures. Did not David commit the most hideous sins, yet God claimed him as a man dear to His heart? We must be circumspect with our scriptural chauvinism. The teenage girl accuses the teenage boy of immaturity--thereby betraying her own. Likewise, the denominationalist accuses the brother of gross inaccuracies, thereby betraying his own. If we, indeed, are called to have a personal relationship with our God, then every believer will, perforce, enjoy a different knowledge of God and His holy Word. "Never mind the scribes--what saith the Scripture?" (Luther) "Men do not reject the Bible because they find faults in it, but because it finds faults in them." (Blanchard) "An old man once said, 'For a long period I puzzled myself about the difficulties of Scripture, until at last I came to the resolution that reading the Bible was like eating fish. When I find a difficulty I lay it aside and call it a bone. Why should I choke on the bone when there is so much nutritious meat for me? Some day, perhaps, I may find that even the bone may afford me nourishment.'" (Spurgeon)(7) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Perspective C O M F O R T ------------- I can think of few situations more distressing than being thrown down into a dank, stinking dungeon. Maybe the only thing worse, would be to preface the experience with a beating by rigid, cold rods. Paul and Silas lived through both, and with victory.(8) Instead of bemoaning their fate, they took the opportunity to praise their God by singing hymns to Him. They sang to display His goodness to those within earshot (including one soon-to-be-troubled jailer); but I can imagine they also sang to comfort themselves with the words of scripture. ____________________ That I May Keep Thy Precepts I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. PSA 130:5 My soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to your word. PSA 119:28 May your unfailing love come to me, O LORD, your salvation according to your promise; then I will answer the one who taunts me, for I trust in your word. PSA 119:41-42 My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life. PSA 119:50 1KI 8:56 PSA 33:4 PSA 107:19-21 PSA 119:28-31 PSA 119:41-43 PSA 119:48-54 PSA 119:74 PSA 119:160-162 ISA 50:10 JER 31:10 EPH 1:13-14 1PE 1:22-25 Jesus Loves Me Jesus loves me! this I know, for the Bible tells me so; Little ones to Him belong, they are weak but He is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! The Bible tells me so. Jesus loves me! He will stay close beside me all the way; He's prepared a home for me, and some day His face I'll see. Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! The Bible tells me so.(9) ____________________ "O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. You hem me in--behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and won- derfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you... Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."(10) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Perspective A U T H O R I T Y ------------- I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes...(11) ____________________ That I May Keep Thy Precepts Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 2TI 2:15 I will speak of your statutes before kings and will not be put to shame. PSA 119:46 "The Lord GOD has given Me The tongue of the learned, That I should know how to speak A word in season to him who is weary. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear To hear as the learned." ISA 50:4 (NKJV) Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. COL 3:16 GEN 15:4 NUM 3:16 NUM 3:51 JDG 13:17 1SA 15:22-31 2SA 12:9-12 1KI 16:34 1KI 17:24 PSA 119:44-47 PSA 119:89 ISA 40:6-8 MIC 4:1-3 LUK 4:16-21 JOH 8:48-55 JOH 12:48 JOH 15:1-5 JOH 17:6 JOH 17:14-17 ACT 4:29-31 ACT 13:44 ACT 17:2-3 ACT 18:24-28 2CO 4:2 COL 3:16-17 1TH 2:13 2TI 4:2 HEB 4:12 O Word of God Incarnate O Word of God Incarnate, O wisdom from on high, O Truth unchanged, unchanging, O Light of our dark sky; We praise Thee for the radiance that from the hallowed page, A lantern to our footsteps, shines on from age to age. It floateth like a banner before God's host unfurled; It shineth like a beacon above the darkling world. It is the chart and compass that o'er life's surging sea, 'Mid mists and rocks and quicksands, still guides, O Christ, to Thee.(12) ____________________ I am always amused to hear some scientifically authoritative commentator exclaim: "We now know...", which is usually followed closely by an official contradiction to an heretofore established fact. These statements are often made in connection with stellar data verified by satellite or, more often, discoveries concerning ancient earth life-substances. Always what was just recently considered indisputable fact is being replaced by new indisputable fact. "We now know..." When it comes to such things, believers in the veracity of Scripture never say: "We now know.."; they just say, as they always have: "We know..." Our authority never changes, it is never replaced by something more contemporary. It is simply, quietly, the truth that it always has been. ____________________ "What does not agree with Scripture does not come from God." (Morris) "We have the truth and we need not be afraid to say so." (Ryle) "My brethren, when you hear that a learned man has made a new discovery which contradicts the Scriptures, do not feel alarmed. Do not imagine that he is really a great man, but believe that he is just an educated idiot or a self-conceited fool." (Spurgeon) "The English Bible--a book which if everything else in our language should perish, would alone suffice to show the whole extent of its beauty and power." (Lord Macaulay)(13) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Perspective W E A P O N ------------- That I May Keep Thy Precepts With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall. It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. 2SA 22:30,33 When I am afraid, I will trust in you. PSA 56:3 You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word. PSA 119:114 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. EPH 6:17 GEN 15:1 EXO 9:13-26 2SA 22:29-37 PSA 56:1-7 PSA 119:36-40 PSA 119:113-114 JER 23:28-32 MAT 4:1-11 EPH 6:13-18 Standing On the Promises Standing on the promises that cannot fail, When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail, By the living Word of God I shall prevail, Standing on the promises of God. Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord, Bound to Him eternally by love's strong cord, Overcoming daily with the Spirit's sword, Standing on the promises of God.(14) ____________________ As God is dependably changeless, so is our enemy Satan. Thank God that he is not eternal, but as long as he does live, he is dependably as bent on evil tomorrow as he was yesterday. Has any believer escaped the wiles of this treacherous angel of darkness? I would like to shake his hand and learn his secrets. No, it is my guess that Satan has worked his tricks on every believer since the beginning of our faith. And we have no more dramatic illustration of both Satan's exhausting methods and the unbeatable power of the Word of God than in the narrative of the meeting of Jesus Christ and His nemesis, the Prince of Darkness: "Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written: "'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'" Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me." Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'" Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.(15) What a bountiful gift we have from the Father in His Holy, printed Word! Therein we are reminded of His concern for our lives; His justice, wisdom and magnanimity; and His ever-present consolation. In His Word we carry with us the final authority for all things, be they temporal or eternal, and His sharp and deadly sword, that we might wield against our foes. If we so choose. ======================================================================== NOTES, COPYRIGHT & SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION Notes ----- 1. Psalm 119:9-11 (NASB) 2. Lawrence O. Richards, Expository Dictionary of Bible Words, (Zondervan, 1985), p.635. 3. However, we will not be considering one perspective of another Greek term also translated as word; that is logos (John 1:1), at least as it pertains to the personification of The Word in Jesus Christ. 4. Charles Haddon Spurgeon on Psalm 119:9, The Treasury of David. 5. Psalm 119:134 (NASB) 6. John Burton, Hymn #273 in The Hymnal for Worship & Celebration, WORD Music (1986). 7. Martin Luther, cited in More Gathered Gold (Evangelical Press, 1988), p. 21; John Blanchard, Ibid.; Charles Haddon Spurgeon, The Quotable Spurgeon, (Shaw, 1990), p.150. 8. Acts 16:22-40 9. Anna B. Warner, Hymn #579 in The Hymnal for Worship & Celebration, WORD Music (1986). 10. Psalm 139:1-25 (NIV; less vs. 19-22) 11. Romans 1:16a 12. William W. How, Hymn #269 in The Hymnal for Worship & Celebration, WORD Music (1986). 13. Leon Morris, More Gathered Gold (Evangelical Press, 1988), p.21; J.C. Ryle, Ibid., p.25; C.H. Spurgeon, Ibid., p.26; Thomas Babington, Lord Macaulay (1800-1859). 14. R. Kelso Carter, Hymn #271 in The Hymnal for Worship & Celebration, WORD Music (1986). 15. Matthew 4:1-11 Copyright Information --------------------- All original material in Aspects is Copyright (C) 1996 David S. Lampel. This data file is the sole property of David S. Lampel. It may not be altered or edited in any way. It may be reproduced only in its entirety for circulation as "freeware," without charge. All reproductions of this data file must contain the copyright notice (i.e., "Copyright (C) 1995 David S. Lampel."). This data file may not be used without the permission of David S. Lampel for resale or the enhancement of any other product sold. This includes all of its content. Brief quotations not to exceed more than 500 words may be used, with the appropriate copyright notice, to enhance or supplement personal or church devotions, newsletters, journals, or spoken messages. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture is from the New International Version. NIV quotations are from the Holy Bible: New International Version, Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission. NASB quotations are from the New American Standard Bible (C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation. 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Be sure to include your postal mailing address if you choose the printed edition. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Aspects is distributed free-of-charge, without obligation, in service to our Lord and to His glory. Reader opinions are always welcome, as are insights into the published material. Send all comments to the above address. We always appreciate hearing when someone has been edified by this work. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Notes on the "online" Format ---------------------------- Certain adaptations to the text are necessary for distribution of this ASCII edition of Aspects. Endnote reference numbers are enclosed in parentheses (); quotations are enclosed by quotation marks " ", and are further set apart from original text by indentation and the presence of a following endnote reference; Scripture references are indented, and either cite the reference or are accompanied by a following endnote reference. If you would prefer reading Aspects in its more native, printed form, we would encourage you to subscribe to the edition that is mailed out every month. ---------------------------------------------- file: /pub/resources/text/aspects: asp-003.txt Dave (dlampel@dlampel.com)