Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible

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

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: I am seeking to open the scriptures to you. God alone can open your eyes, and God alone can open your mind. For when we have seen the opening of the Bible under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, then we will see the Lord Jesus Christ in all his glory. And when we have seen him, we shall never be the same again. If we bow before him and ask him to open our mind so that we may understand his truth, he will give us his Holy Spirit to do that work.

Guest (Male): Over a half a century ago, the late Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse, then pastor of 10th Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, saw the need to spread God's word beyond the hearing of his local congregation. He started the radio ministry, 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 Open Book, Open Eyes, Open Mind.

A man can open the Bible and read it, but he will remain blind to its eternal truths unless the Lord opens his eyes and mind to receive them. We must rely on the Holy Spirit to help us truly understand the scriptures and incorporate them into our daily lives. Has God opened your eyes and your mind and made you receptive and obedient to his word?

The scripture text for this edition of Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible, Romans chapter 14 and verse 11. Here again is Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse with a message entitled Open Book, Open Eyes, Open Mind.

Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse: Through the Lord Jesus Christ we come unto thee our Father and our God and in the Holy Spirit. How we praise thee for thy great faithfulness, for the way by which thou hast led us. Surely thou doest all things well and we worship thee. Now in this hour, speak a blessing to each listening heart through thy word. We ask it in the name and for the sake of our Lord Jesus. Amen.

Once more we return to our theme, it is written. Some time ago I sat with a man who had achieved a high position in the field of public relations. We were discussing the nature of my broadcasts, these studies of the Bible which I've been giving for several years. We were talking about how I might say all that I want to say and yet not to offend any minority group.

The answer of course is that this is impossible. The moment that any man speaks in public on most any question, he's going to offend somebody. I am highly offended by some things that I hear on the radio or see in the papers. For example, if I hear someone make a prayer that does not end with a clear acknowledgment that God may be approached only through the Lord Jesus Christ, I am hurt.

I accept the hurt and I say nothing about it, because I know that I'm in the midst of a world that has rejected Jesus Christ. And I'm content to follow his leading, giving my testimony for the truth and against the evil of rejecting Christ. Again, I am highly offended when I hear any attempt to offer a prayer through any other mediator than Jesus Christ.

I'm convinced that the Bible teaches that there is no other name under heaven whereby we must be saved, and that Jesus knew what he was saying when he proclaimed, I am the way, the truth and the life. My friend said to me, I understand your difficulty, but the situation would be relieved if you said from time to time, it's my opinion that or it seems to me that, or I may be wrong but I think.

Afterwards, as I was pondering these things and praying about them, I realized that my difficulty lies in the fact that I believe that the Bible is ultimate truth and that there is no appeal from it. To me, God has spoken to all mankind in the Bible and there is no other place of religious truth. Just exactly as the United States Treasury Department is the only source of American money, and any attempt to make such money by any other source is a high crime of counterfeit to be pursued to the utmost.

So the word of God is the only source of religious truth, and any attempt to utter an opinion contrary to the word of God is a sin of counterfeit to be pursued by God to the utmost. The true Christian leaves all of that pursuit to God, repudiates any inquisition or even pressure in the present age, believing that God will take care of all judgment at the end of this age. Now this leaves me in the position of utter peacefulness.

I know what I believe because I find it in the word of God, taught there by God's vicar, the Holy Spirit. We say to all men, even as we believe Christ said when he was here on earth, You may do as you please, and you may believe as you please. But there is an absolute standard of truth, and you will be judged by it when the Lord comes back again.

We have not understood the chapter of Romans which we have been studying during the past score of lessons, if we do not realize that all that is being said is for the purpose of bringing peace to Christians who hold differing points of view on secondary matters. On all secondary matters, I must, if I am to obey the word of God, I must follow the advice of my friend and interlard my teaching with the definite statements that I am teaching the truth as the Holy Spirit has revealed it to me in the Bible.

It could be that I have missed the way somewhere along the line in arriving at the conclusions which I hold on such matters as church government and discipline, on forms of baptism and methods of ordination, the mode and manner of administering the communion and the details of prophetic fulfillment. I'm not saying that I do not have very strong ideas on these secondary matters for I do have strong ideas.

And I believe that they grow out of the teaching of the whole of the word of God. But these are secondary matters. The Bible says this and therefore we are not to dispute about them. But when it comes to the great central truths of scripture, I am not permitted to say, it's my opinion that or I may be wrong but. There are some truths that just are, and there is no questioning them.

I would be disobedient to God if I did not speak with positive finality. I am commanded to do this. God says in First Peter 4:11, if any man speak and the context shows that he's talking about those who minister for him, if any minister speak, let him do it as one who utters oracles of God. If any man renders service, let him do it by the ability which God gives.

The effectiveness of any preaching can come only from the power of the Holy Spirit speaking through a man who has accepted the fact that God has given us his word with final truth, and that we are to send it forth in such a fashion that it will either anger men terribly or cause their regeneration. No one can remain neutral in the face of the true preaching of the word of God.

When we understand these principles, we will understand the full nature of the Christian ministry of the word. It's the ministry of the word. The most important phase of the truth is to be found in our text, it is written. We have seen the nature of the problem and then have studied the attitude of the Lord Jesus Christ toward the scriptures.

Let us now look at the men of the New Testament, the men of the early church and see what their attitude was. At this point there may be someone who will object that they do not want the authority of the Bible, they want the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, we will agree with the last half of their statement, and say that the first half nullifies all that they wish to achieve.

Certainly we accept the final authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is God, the second person of the Trinity. When he came into the world, God witnessed concerning him. When he was baptized, a voice came from heaven saying, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Then three years passed. Christ had lived among men. He had lived among bad men and bad women.

He had been accused by his detractors of being a drunkard and a wine bibber. He had been accused of being a companion of dishonest men and of harlots. It was from such an environment that God took Jesus Christ into the Mount of Transfiguration and let the universe look into the heart of the Savior. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And he adds, hear him.

Without question, we accept every thought of those who say that we must proceed to the final authority of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. But in doing so, we point out that his authority was never at variance with written word and that those who preached him always preached him as he was found to be announced in the Old Testament. Christ is our foundation.

But that foundation is in the bedrock of the word of God. The first sermon preached by any of his followers was that preached by Peter on the day of Pentecost. We find it in Acts 2. I wish you would look at it in your Bibles if it's possible. Christ had told Peter that he would be given the keys of the kingdom. The first key was used on that day of Pentecost to open the door to all Israel.

The second key was used in the house of Cornelius, to open the door to all the Gentiles. Since then, the door has been wide open for all the world, and no keys are needed for a door that is open. Never let anyone deceive you on that matter. There are no keys needed for a door that is open. Peter rose in all the boldness of the Holy Spirit to speak the truth in the face of all Jerusalem.

He is to explain their present condition and the reasons for the transformation that had taken place in them. How does he begin? Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known and give ear to my words, for these men are not drunk as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day, but this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel.

Now after this single verse, there follows a five verse quotation from the prophet Joel. The happenings of Pentecost then were according to that which was written in the Old Testament. Peter then arrives at the central theme of his preaching, Jesus Christ. And in verse 22, he takes one verse to announce this. Men of Israel, hear these words.

Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs, which God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know. Now this declaration consists of only 29 words. And it's followed by another declaration linking Christ with the eternal plan that had been previously announced in all its parts in the Old Testament.

We are beginning to see the outline of Peter's method. Fact, basis in the Bible, second fact, second basis in the Bible, and it will be the same all the way through. Now in verse 24, Peter announced the resurrection in 23 words. But God raised him up, having loosed the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.

These 23 words are followed by a 72 word quotation from the Psalms, showing the resurrection of Christ as it was prophesied in the Old Testament. The Pentecostal address then blossoms into an explanation of this Old Testament passage, proving that David could not have been talking about himself when he spoke of the resurrection, and drawing the final conclusion, For David did not ascend into the heavens.

But he himself says, The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand, till I make thine enemies a stool for thy feet. There is nothing more to be said by Peter except the application of the truth about Jesus Christ to those who heard the words of the preaching. Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.

The words as I have counted them are for simple reasons taken from an English translation, but it would be the same in any language. The structure of the preaching can be plainly seen. Christ is preached. And then the preaching is lashed to the Old Testament. Christ is further preached, and this preaching is then lashed to the Old Testament. The ratio is approximately one verse of preaching and five verses from the Old Testament as the foundation of it.

I have seen my mother sew on a button. After the button had been attached to the cloth, the garment was turned over and the sewing was cross-stitched for reinforcement. I've seen my father put a long nail through a board and then beat down the point until it was clinched. Well, this was the way Peter preached. Everything he said was cross-stitched or clinched with the written word of God.

We find the same method in the preaching of Paul. Take for example the description of Paul's preaching in Thessalonica. When he arrived in that town, he found a group of his own people. We read, and Paul went in as was his custom, and for three weeks he argued with them from the scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead and saying, This Jesus whom I proclaim to you is the Christ.

Now listen to this preaching. What is he really saying? It was necessary for Christ to die and to rise from the dead. Why was it necessary? Go back to the conversation of Christ and the disciples on the road to Emmaus on the day of the resurrection. Listen to Christ say the same thing.

O foolish men and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken, was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory? Christ's action following this statement reveals the inner meaning. For beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

It was necessary because it was written. It was impossible that there should be a prophecy in the Old Testament without it being fulfilled. God had spoken. And God cannot trifle with men. When he speaks, we can be sure that it's done. When he commands, we can be sure that it will stand fast.

Paul's preaching in Thessalonica was not different in content or in method from that which he presented in other places. He writes to the Corinthians, reminding them of what he had preached. We read in his first epistle to the Corinthians, Now I would remind you, brethren, in what terms I preached to you the gospel, which you received, in which you stand, by which you are saved, if you hold it fast, unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you as of the first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures. The content of the message is the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord. But very important for our purpose in this present study is the fact that twice in this brief statement we find the phrase in accordance with the scriptures.

The fact that the Old Testament had laid the foundation for the truth was of paramount importance to Paul, as it should be to all Christians of all ages. And the reason why we're so intent on this matter of the authority of the Bible is that we know beyond question that there is no practical authority in Jesus Christ himself for us, except as that authority is revealed to us in the narratives that God has given us about him.

If the narratives can be destroyed, Christ himself is denied and minimized, and his work is of no effect for us. It is in reality the whole Bible and the whole Christ, or no Bible and no Christ. Furthermore, I know from my own personal experience, as well as from what I find in the word of God, that once this great truth is grasped, and once that this great truth has grasped and gripped any man, that man's life is transformed.

And he enters into peace that passes all understanding. Let us take for our example the spiritual blessing that came to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus on that first resurrection day. Christ had told them that they were foolish because they had not believed the Old Testament scriptures. He had insisted that it was necessary that he should have suffered and risen again.

Then we read that he revealed himself to them at table in the breaking of the bread. When he vanished out of their sight, they said to each other, Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked with us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures.

I've been teaching the Bible to many thousands of people for many years, and I've heard many testimonies as to the blessing of the Lord in the hearts of the people. And I believe it's safe to say that the main thrust of the blessing, according to these testimonies, is that the whole life was transformed, and that the heart was set on fire when it was realized that the Bible was a great unit, and that the Lord Jesus Christ was to be found on its every page.

We sing more about Jesus in his word, holding communion with my Lord, hearing his voice in every line, making each faithful saying mine. And there is truth in this great fact. Now, as we come to the close of this particular phase of our study, I want to put before you a very practical test.

You, perhaps, have not understood the Bible the way you'd like to understand it. Perhaps you have not known Christ the way you would like to know him. The solution to your difficulties is to meet the Lord Jesus Christ, an encounter, as they call it today. You're to meet him as he reveals himself to you in his word, and allow him to do for you what he wants to do in this double revelation of himself and his word, as the living God, ready to touch you, and to be touched by you, and ready to fill you, and ready to satisfy you.

In that last chapter of Luke, where we have this story of the revelation of Christ to the disciples of Emmaus, the word opened is found three times. If we look at these passages in the order of their occurrence, we find them saying, he opened to us the scriptures, as we were on the road. Following this as they sat together, and as they saw him take the bread and bless it, their eyes were opened, and they recognized him.

They rejoined the other disciples, and Jesus came to them again. We read, These are my words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures.

So, the opening of the scriptures, the opening of the eyes, and the opening of the mind, these are the three works that we must desire from our Lord. I am seeking to open the scriptures to you. God alone can open your eyes, and God alone can open your mind. For when we have seen the opening of the Bible under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, then we will see the Lord Jesus Christ in all his glory.

And when we have seen him, we shall never be the same again. If we bow before him and ask him to open our mind, so that we may understand his truth, he will give us his Holy Spirit to do that work. I've turned the pages of several hymn books, reading the hymns that have been written about the Bible. Perhaps that which is most often sung is the simple, break thou the bread of life, dear Lord, to me, as thou didst break the loaves beside the sea.

Beyond the sacred page, I seek thee, Lord. My spirit pants for thee, oh living word. But as I was looking in the hymn book, I found another hymn about the Bible, which has been sung in the church for almost 200 years. It may have gone out of fashion and may not be known to many believers, but it contains thoughts that can bring to us a fresh realization of the importance of our text, it is written.

Two men, Benjamin Beddom and Thomas Cotterill, wrote the following hymn. God in the Gospel of his Son, makes his eternal counsels known, where love in all its glory shines and truth is drawn in fairest lines. Here, sinners of a humble frame may taste his grace and learn his name, may read in characters of blood the wisdom, power and grace of God.

The prisoner here may break his chains, the weary rest from all his pains. The captive feel his bondage cease, the mourner find the way of peace. Here, faith reveals to mortal eyes a brighter world beyond the skies. Here, shines the light that guides our way from earth to realms of endless day.

Oh, grant us grace, Almighty Lord, to read and mark thy holy word. Its truths with meekness to receive, and by its holy precepts, live. Yes, we can thank God that our greatest earthly possession is the written word of God, for it is the only thing of heaven which we possess in tangible form that is not marked by the curse. Thank God we have the book. Because it is written, we know about our Lord Jesus Christ.

And our God and Father, we pray thee that we may know the opening of the scriptures, the opening of our eyes, and the opening of our minds. Thus, we can learn to know thee and to love thee as we ought. We ask it in the name and for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Guest (Male): God alone can illuminate his eternal word to your eyes and mind by the Holy Spirit and reveal Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. We hope you have benefited from today's message by Dr. Barnhouse entitled Open Book, Open Eyes, Open Mind.

To listen to additional teaching by Dr. Barnhouse, visit us online at alliancenet.org. An audio copy of today's teaching is available by calling us toll-free, 1-800-488-1888. Today's message again is entitled Open Book, Open Eyes, Open Mind. Or simply request message number R14-17.

We would also like to make available to you a free copy of our booklet entitled The Gospel We Like to Hear. The Bible warns us against following teachers who will tickle our ears with false doctrines that appeal to our fleshly nature. This free booklet clearly states forth the true biblical gospel and sounds a warning against ear-tickling, people-pleasing distortions of the good news, including the false religion of signs and wonders, salvation without Lordship, and the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel. Ask for your free copy of The Gospel We Like to Hear when you call or write.

Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible is a radio ministry of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We exist 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 which will equip believers to understand and meet the challenges and opportunities of our time and place.

We also produce the radio broadcast, The Bible Study Hour, featuring the teachings of the late Dr. James Montgomery Boice, and Every Last Word, featuring the Bible teaching of Dr. Philip Graham Ryken. For a full list of radio stations carrying our programs, visit our website at alliancenet.org. Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible comes to you through the generous gifts of listeners like you.

If you have benefited from the 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 further our work, contact us by calling toll-free, 1-800-488-1888. Again, that's 1-800-488-1888. Call us today.

You may also write to us at Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, Box 2000, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103. Visit us online at alliancenet.org. Don't forget to request a free resource catalog featuring books, audio teachings, commentaries, booklets, videos, and a wealth of other materials from outstanding reformed teachers and theologians, including Doctors Donald Grey Barnhouse, James Montgomery Boice, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, and Philip Graham Ryken.

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