Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible

Guest (Male): The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals presents the timeless teaching of Dr. Donald Gray Barnhouse.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: There is in our day a neo orthodoxy which is in reality a pseudo orthodoxy because there is the attempt to establish the truth of some of the Christian doctrines without the underlying foundation of the authority of the word of God. All such attempts are buildings upon the sand. The rock of the scriptures must be the basis for all doctrine or there is no truth. It is written as the answer which will confound error today as it confounded error in the days of Christ.

Guest (Male): Over a half a century ago, the late Dr. Donald Gray Barnhouse, then pastor at 10th Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, saw the need to spread God's word beyond the hearing of his local congregation. He started the radio outreach which has become known as Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible. The application of God's word as taught by Dr. Barnhouse is as relevant today as when he first taught over the radio airwaves decades ago. The message we will be featuring on today's edition of Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible is entitled as it is written. You may remember the schoolyard chant sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.

Try telling that to Satan after he tried to tempt Jesus in the wilderness. Three times when Jesus was weak from hunger, Satan came to tempt him. Three times Jesus utterly defeated him by the power of the scriptures. How can the truth of God's word give us power and strength to overcome our difficulties and trials? The scripture text for this edition of Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible is Romans chapter three and verse 10. Here again is Dr. Donald Gray Barnhouse with the message entitled as it is written.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: Through the Lord Jesus Christ, we come unto the our Father and our God and in the Holy Spirit, we thank thee for thy word in all its majesty and beauty. We thank thee that it is eternal both in its origin and its destiny and we pray thee that we may be submitted to it in this hour. As we fling it forth, wilt thou take it and perform thy purposes that it may not return unto the void. In Jesus' name and for his sake, amen. In our study of the third chapter of Romans, we have seen a series of quotations asked from the point of view of the unbeliever and thoroughly answered by the Holy Spirit.

The objections have been set aside and he is now to set forward the proof from the scriptures of the Old Testament that there is no man righteous in the sight of God and that all are fully condemned in order that God may manifest his grace to all equally and fully. The paragraph which begins with the 10th verse is a tissue of quotations from all parts of the law, the prophets and the Psalms showing man's complete ruin in sin so that when this has been demonstrated, God may set forth his perfect remedy for sin through Jesus Christ.

The paragraph is introduced by the phrase found so often on the lips of Christ and in the writings of Paul as it is written. This is not the first time that the phrase appears in this epistle for in the first chapter there was a quotation from the prophecy of Habakkuk introduced by the phrase as it is written, the just shall live by faith. But I have reserved treatment of the phrase until the present moment for Paul is about to use the word of God as a sharp sword and it is as a sword that we must examine it here.

The Bible has many things to say about itself, but more important almost than anything it says about itself is the atmosphere that it creates about itself. Everywhere there is an attitude of quiet assumption that the Bible is the word of God. The Old Testament is stamped with thus saith the Lord and the New Testament is stamped with it is written. That God has spoken is accepted by Paul in such a way that we can compare it only with our present day universal assumption that the law of gravity is working and that objects do fall to the ground if released from any restraining force.

Or to change the figure, the Bible accepts the fact that God has breathed the whole of the scriptures much as we all admit that we take air into our lungs in order to live. Some people may quarrel with us because we show that Paul believed the scriptures to be from God and to be entirely from God. We shall turn therefore to the Gospels and watch the Lord Jesus Christ handling the Old Testament. Certainly, if we are to have any respect for our own honesty, we must follow Christ if we claim to be his followers. And if you call yourself a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ and do not adopt his attitude toward the revelation of God in the scriptures, you are simply deceiving yourself.

If you do not believe what Christ said about the Bible, you are no more a follower of Christ than if you do not believe what Christ said about himself or about his own death and resurrection. In point of chronology, the first time we see the Lord Jesus Christ saying anything about the Bible is in a conversation with God the Father on the day he was born into this world. That may astonish some, but the evidence is there in the word. The Lord was born as a human baby, although he did not have a human father.

His mother who was the virgin up to the time of his birth knew Jesus only as a baby that had been supernaturally conceived. She did not hear him speak, but in his deity he was one with the Father and the dialogue between them is a beautiful one. The Holy Spirit records the conversation in the 10th chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews. After pointing out that the blood sacrifices of the Old Testament altar were demanded by God, but were not pleasing unto him, the spirit continues, wherefore when Christ cometh into the world, he saith, sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, but a body hast thou prepared me.

In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, lo, I come in the volume of the book it is written of me to do thy will, oh God. Now among the many recorded conversations between members of the Godhead, this is one of the most interesting. God has had no pleasure in the blood sacrifices of the animals of the Jewish altar, he says. But they had been shadows of that death which Christ was to undertake upon the cross. He was to be made flesh for the purpose of death. All of the Old Testament had pointed to the incarnation.

When the day came, there was a triumphant shout from the baby, a shout that was not heard by human ears, but which God the Father heard and which the Holy Spirit preserved for the record. And what does the Lord Jesus say? He points to the scriptures which had been given by himself from heaven and which men had derided throughout the centuries, stoning the prophets and killing those whom God had sent to announce the great truths. Lo, I come. It is the equivalent of crying, at last the day, here I am. And then there is the parenthesis from his own lips.

In the volume of the book it is written of me. That which was passed between the Father and the Son in the glorious exaltation of that natal day is the attitude of the Godhead towards the scriptures throughout their entire length. It is written. It is written. That is the cry that echoed in heaven from the heart of God speaking to God when the incarnation had become a fact in human history. Even as it had always been a fact in the eternal plan of God. It is not astonishing therefore when we turn to the gospel itself to find the young child Jesus occupied with the word of God.

There have been those who have taught that we do not know anything about Jesus Christ from his babyhood to his manhood with the exception of the single incident of his conversation with the doctors in the temple when he was 12 years of age. That is of course not true. If we study the Bible carefully, we discover several things about Christ during what have been called the silent years. The Bible gives us evidence that Christ was spending his time with the scriptures. Isaiah speaks of Christ as growing up before the Father as a tender plant. And when he was only 12 years of age, all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.

During the years that followed, he lived in Nazareth. We do not know what he did. We have of course a word in the scripture that says that he worked in the carpenter shop. But everything else that man can say about him is sheer guesswork with the exception of the one fact which is revealed in Luke's gospel that he knew the Bible well and that it was his custom to go into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and read the scriptures to the people who of course did not know how to read. The same passage tells us that he knew how to find the place in the role of the prophet Isaiah.

And when we realize that there were no chapter and verse divisions in the manuscript, we can deduce a real familiarity with the word of God. In the light of this, it is not astonishing that on the occasion of his very first public appearance as a speaker, he took the word of God. And after reading a sentence which prophesied his coming, announced with absolute finality, this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. Jesus did not have what some theologians have called a dawning messianic consciousness. He was fully aware of course that he had himself written the Old Testament and that he had written it about himself and that the hour of fulfillment was now at hand.

Even before he had begun his public ministry, he had used the word of God as a weapon against Satan. Immediately after his manifestation as the lamb of God, he was led by the spirit into the wilderness where he was tested for 40 days by the devil. How did he conquer the enemy? By the words which he have before us today. It is written followed by the quotation from the word which is alive and powerful. In passing, let me point out the terrible thing that has been done by some people in putting out literature for use in Sunday schools which presents the temptation of Jesus as being a conflict between his own higher and lower natures.

My Lord Jesus Christ did not have a lower nature. He was the Lord from heaven and not the child of the Adamic race. No matter what a publication committee may call itself, it is really not a Christian education, but heathen education when it thus denies the essential deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was Satan, the personal devil, who tempted the Lord Jesus and not some voice within himself. And the Lord's only recourse was to quote three passages from the scriptures, all from the book of Deuteronomy saying, it is written, it is written, it is written.

Satan collapsed like a pricked balloon. The sword of the spirit had pierced his pretentions and there was an end of his efforts. The attitude of Christ in the midst of this conflict is most interesting. There was no attempt to argue the matter. His procedure was almost casual in its operation. There was the simple appeal to the word of God as though he had said, do you not know the unchangeable ruling of the Supreme Court? Your argument is not admissible. God has spoken to the contrary. Satan begins by asking the Lord to use his divine nature to help out his human nature.

His human nature was hungry and there existed what might be called a desire of the flesh. He could have overcome it by an act of divine power. The subtlety behind the temptation is seen when we realize that Lucifer had begun on the very highest plane of creation and had pretended to be able to run things independently of the power of God. The Almighty had answered by blasting the creation and remaking it under new conditions and under the dominion of a feeble biped man made lower than the angels and bound to this earth by the law of gravity.

Christ had come to the earth as a man made lower than the angels. He was about to display complete dependence upon God in his utterly hungry human nature. Satan wanted him to act from divine power. It would save Satan's face to have it done that way. The parallel may be found in the following. If I knew that I were going to be knocked down with a blow, I might choose to be knocked down by the world's champion prize fighter rather than by some little Casper Milk toast. Afterwards, I could say, well, after all, what could you expect?

The man that hit me was the champ. But to be knocked down by the little fellow would mean not only defeat, but defeat in the utmost humiliation. That was what was coming to Satan. Since thou art the son of God, he says, since thou art the son of God, command that these stones be made bread. Jesus answered with complete dependence upon the word of God. It is written, man, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. It was the equivalent of saying, I am going to overcome you not in the power of my absolute deity against which you could never prevail for a moment, but in my humanity.

I shall rest in confident trust on that which is written and I shall feed upon the revelation of his will and never depart from it. Is it any wonder that the devil hates the Bible? Is it a matter of astonishment that he seeks to destroy it? That he pretends the church tradition is to be followed rather than the book alone? For our Lord Jesus Christ, it was enough that he could say, it is written. And in this case, he set forth the principle that if we are to have power and satisfaction, we are to take the whole of the divine revelation and feed upon it.

It is life for it has come from God for our nourishment. And we are not to feed on part of it, but upon all of it. At the base of every heresy is some Bible truth that has been taken out of context and used out of balance with the rest of scripture. The devil was wounded by this thrust, but to liar that he is, he returned to the attack this time with great subtlety. He attempts to push the human Jesus into faith that is fanaticism. He knows the Bible and he knows it well. Some of it he knows as a fencer knows the tip of the adversary's sword.

But he has found that whenever he can catch an opponent off guard, he can sometimes turn the sword of God against the one that should be wielding it. And this is what he now tried with Christ, but it was an attempt in which he failed miserably. We can paraphrase it as follows. Christ had answered the first thrust by answering that he would overcome Satan on the level of his humanity. Dependent upon the word, Satan answers in effect, how marvelous. The world has just been waiting for a real example of faith. That is what is needed, faith.

And you are just the one to demonstrate the reality of faith. And of course it shall be faith in the word of God. that goes without saying. Now there's a verse in the Psalms which will be excellent as an object of faith. And here the devil takes the Lord to the pinnacle of the temple and shows him the courts below. Now Satan continues, here is how it works. There is this verse in the Bible and you remember that you've just said that man shall live by every yes, every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

And I have a suggestion to make in regard to it. You remember it is written, yes, it is written. He shall give his angels charge over thee to preserve thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Isn't that perfectly wonderful? Oh yes, how wonderful it is to live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Now if you'll just have faith, faith is so wonderful and if you will cast yourself down from the temple, the crowd will see you and right away they will think that you are plunging to your death.

Then suddenly upon the exercise of your faith, you shall be preserved by the angels and everyone will know in an instant that you are the Messiah. Come down out of heaven and they will accept you at once. You can have your kingdom without the necessity of going to the cross to die. And you will have taught the world the tremendous importance of faith. Yes, you are quite right. Man must live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. But the Lord Jesus Christ knew at once that this was an appeal to fanaticism and that the first principle of faith is obedience to the true nature of God and his word.

There is no faith whatsoever if there is not obedience to the principles of the whole of the word of God. Thus the Lord answered truly, it is written, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. If this principle were understood, there would not be the fanaticism of the snake handlers nor the cults that twist the word of God to teach that sin, sickness and death are unreality. It is written. That is the secret of spiritual knowledge. If it is remembered that the word of God is a set of divine principles and that we are not to catch at a proof text and tear it out of its context to nullify these principles.

Now at this point, Satan realized that he was defeated and put all his cards down before the Lord. I am really starved for recognition, he said in effect. And since the government of the earth was originally committed to me when I was Lucifer and since I am still the prince of this world by your own admission, I will consent to abandon all claims to the world and I will withdraw from all the contest if you will fall down and worship me. I want to be acknowledged just once. I want to have thee before me to admit that I am beautiful, that I am wise.

Now to have accepted the temptation would have been to exalt the creature to the place of the creator, to enthrone a will that was not the divine will and to push the whole universe into eternal chaos. But the Lord Jesus answered with the simple reminder, it is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God. Him only shalt thou serve. And upon this, the devil left him and angels came and ministered unto him. It had all been done with three blades out of the book of Deuteronomy. It is written. That was enough. It is written. It is written.

We go on into the midst of Christ's ministry. He is confronted by the leaders of the Jews who seek to trap him on every occasion. They hold a council against him that they may destroy him. Many traps are laid for him. The trap of taxation, should tribute be paid to Caesar? The trap of the sanctity of the law, should this woman be stoned? And finally the trap of marriage and the resurrection. What did Jesus answer them? He said, ye do err not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God. It was the supreme criticism against men who made their boast in the law.

And then he replied, have you not read that which was spoken unto you by God saying, I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. It was a stupendous answer for not only was it a reference to a verse in the Old Testament as the final proof of life after death, but the whole argument was made to turn upon the difference between a present and a past tense. If God had said, I was the God of Abraham, that would have meant that Abraham's life had ceased to be and that the Almighty's Godship ended with the death of the patriarch.

But since hundreds of years after Abraham left this earth, God says, I am the God of Abraham. That proves the Lord Jesus says that Abraham is still alive for God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. Oh, what would happen today if our theologians would appeal to the Bible as their Supreme Court from which there is no appeal? There can never be a true revival unless it comes in God's way and it will never come except through the continued declaration. It is written. And when the errorist attempts to use the Bible wrongfully, the true quotations cast him down as easily as the Lord cast down Satan's false quotation.

Finally, we come to the day of the resurrection of Christ. We skip over much because of the lack of time, but the attitude of the Lord towards the word which he had written is clearly seen on his resurrection day. The disciples are on their way to their home in Emmaus on the Sunday of the resurrection. The Lord joins himself to them as they travel and discovers their sadness. Suddenly he turns to them and says, oh fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken, ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to have entered into his glory?

And he of course used the word ought not Messiah to have suffered. And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. It was the first ministry of the word after the resurrection and it might be summed up, you are in a predicament of unbelief because you have not understood the truth that is written in the word. It is written. That is the only answer that is needed. And now we turn back to our text in Romans. The apostle Paul is a true follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He has a problem before him of demonstrating the universality of human sin. How shall he face the problem? Well, how did Christ face the problem? The answer we have fully demonstrated. Our Lord answered by the flashing words, it is written. So we find Paul in our text boldly proclaiming the same words, it is written. And that is enough. Though Peter tells us that the scriptures can be twisted and that they frequently are twisted, the Lord Jesus declared the scriptures cannot be broken. It is written and that is enough. We stand or fall by the word of our God.

Men may mock us and deride us today because we refuse to follow the blandishments of a false philosophy or the fallacies of a twisted logic. We are not moved. We stand upon the word of God and wait for the eternal verdict of the day when the Lord will try all men and all issues on the basis of the truths that have been set forth in this book. It is written. And our God and Father, we pray thee that the Holy Spirit shall take the truth of this word to many hearts today. Do in men what we never can do.

Bring life to the dead and the true faith of submission and obedience to those that profess thy name. Confound the skeptic, comfort the saints that cast their burdens upon thee and stand upon thine eternal word. We ask it in the name of Jesus Christ, the living word and for his name's sake. Amen.

Guest (Male): If you are weak, struggling and facing temptation, cling to the powerful promises of scripture. God's living eternal word will strengthen and sustain you and draw you closer to Christ. We hope you've benefitted from today's message by Dr. Barnhouse entitled as it is written. You can listen to additional Bible teaching by the late Dr. Donald Gray Barnhouse anytime, anywhere around the globe via the internet by visiting the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals website at alliancenet.org. An audio copy of today's teaching is available by calling us toll free at 1-800-488-1888. Today's message again is entitled as it is written or simply request message number R3-6.

We would also like to make available to you a free copy of Dr. Barnhouse's booklet entitled Jesus the Great I Am. If you ask people for their opinion about Jesus, they may say he was a powerful prophet, a brilliant moral teacher or even the greatest man that ever lived. But these high opinions are woefully inadequate. In this booklet, Dr. Barnhouse examines the Bible's remarkable claims that Jesus is Jehovah God in human flesh and the significance of this glorious truth for all of us today. This biblical look at the deity of Christ can powerfully impact your spiritual life.

Ask for your free copy of Jesus the Great I Am when you call or write. Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible is a radio ministry of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals exists to promote a biblical understanding and worldview drawing upon the insight and wisdom of reformation theologians from decades and even centuries gone by. We seek to provide contemporary Christian teaching materials which will equip believers to understand and meet the challenges and opportunities of our time and place. Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible comes to you through the generous gifts of our listeners.

If you have benefitted from this broadcast and would like it to continue, please prayerfully consider a donation to help us keep this ministry on the air. For more information or to make a contribution to support and further our work, please contact us by writing Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, Box 2000, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103. Call toll free 1-800-488-1888 or visit us online at alliancenet.org. Be sure and ask for a free updated resource catalog featuring books, audio teachings, commentaries, booklets, daily devotionals, videos and a wealth of other materials from outstanding reform teachers and theologians including Donald Gray Barnhouse, James Montgomery Boice, Michael Horton and Martin Lloyd-Jones.

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