06.02. The Foundation of the Anchor
The Foundation of the Anchor
You have received an invitation to a party. You know where to show up and when but you do not know the host and hostess and will not recognize them when you see them. The party is going to be held on a massive estate of several thousand acres. Another strange thing is that it will not be held until midnight. You are to arrive at a certain point for additional instructions. You are to drive the last mile up the road leading to the gate without headlights. The invitation intrigues you so you decide to go.
When you arrive at the appointed place in the dark a hooded man in black informs you that you are to place a hood over your head and proceed on foot into the estate. Now blindfolded by the hood and on foot you are to find the host and hostess of the party on the several thousand-acre estate. Impossible you would say. May I say, you would find the host and hostess in this hypothetical situation quicker than you would find the God of the universe without Him revealing Himself to mankind. We only need to look at the so called sacred texts of the world to realize the difficulty of man finding God. The Hindi have the book they called the Vedas which means "knowledge." They reveal a completely different concept of what God is than we would be familiar with for the most part. Then there is the Koran which claims to be the next generation of revelation past the Old and New Testaments. The premise is that the OT and NT where corrupt and the Koran straightens it all out. Also there are the books of Mormonism. There are several of these including the Pearl of Great Price and Doctrine and Covenants. And on and on we go with men trying to figure out God.
If you were God how would you have chosen to reveal yourself to humanity? How would you let the people know about you? Would you perhaps put men in a trance and tell them what to say? Would you have written it across the sky? How would you have revealed yourself to men?
Oh! But we have another problem. Remember the illustration of a man trying to find the host and hostess with a blindfold on. What if there was also no talking allowed, no touching allowed. What if in essence you had to walk around as a dead man who had no senses active.
I- The Ways of Revelation:
2 Timothy 3:16 "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness."
So how did God choose to reveal Himself to blind, spiritually dead humanity. We must remember that two times (Adam and Noah) all of humanity had a knowledge of God. But notice what it says in Romans 1:28 "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient."
We know from our text that the Scriptures are the anchor of all of our doctrine and may I say ultimate where we go back to for the Revelation of who God is. So how did we get the Word of God? How did He speak?
We find God using a variety of ways to "reveal" Himself to man. Let’s look at a few to help us understand revelation. 1- He spoke to men through His holy angels. We need not look any farther for a proof text then to Luke 2:8-14 . We also see this method employed in the reassurance of Abraham of the birth of Isaac and to inform him of God’s intent to destroy Sodom. (see Genesis 18:1-33) An angel warned Lot to flee Sodom. (See Genesis 19:1-38) The angel Gabriel revealed the great tribulation to the prophet Daniel in Daniel 9, and also informed Mary that she was the chosen one to give birth to Messiah recorded in Luke 1:26-37 . He revealed the birth to the shepherds and directed Phillip to the Ethiopian eunuch. 2- He spoke to men with an audible (loud) voice. We see God speaking to Adam in the garden in Gen 3 and to Noah in Genesis 6:13-21 . He also is recorded as speaking to Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, Nathan, Elijah, and Jeremiah. 3- He spoke (speaks) through a still small voice. This is found in 1 Kings 19:11 and is addressed to Elijah on the run in the cave. 4- He spoke (speaks) today through nature. Two men can stand and look into heaven and see two different things. One sees God another sees chance. One see the revelation another sees the uncertainty. One sees outward to God and another sees inward to self. So how do we know about the vastness of what’s out there? It is clear he speaks through nature from the following verses. Romans 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Notice Psalms 19:1-3 which says, "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. 2Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. 3There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard." 5- He spoke to men through dreams. We know that He spoke to Joseph no less than three times as recorded in the New Testament as well as the Wise Men who visited the Christ Child. 6- He spoke through visions. John on the Isle of Patmos as he was given the Revelation is an example of this. 7- He spoke through Christophanies. A Christophany is a pre-Bethlehem appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ. In most cases when the "Angel of the Lord" is mentioned in the Old Testament it is referring to the Lord Jesus. There are no less than 10 of these such appearances. 8- He ultimately spoke through the incarnate Son. Hebrews 1:1-2 "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds."
II- Written Word:
We know that Jesus is spoken of in the Bible as the Word of God. He is the Living Word that is revealed by the written Word. Remember now our text says in 2 Timothy 3:16 "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness."
There are a lot of phases in the Bible that verify that God spoke and then it was recorded. For instance 80 times the phase "it is written" is found in the KJV. One instance of this is in Matthew 4:4 "But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Jesus was answering the devil when he was tempting Him.
Another is the "Word of the Lord" which appears 255 times. The last is 1 Peter 1:25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. We know that these are not just the words of men but of God. 2 Peter 1:21 "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."
III- Anchor Points in the Revelation:
Why is it important that we settle the issue of the Word of God and it being a steadfast anchor? May I say from it come forth all the issues of eternal life. From the Word of God today we have the revelation of who God is, the problem man has, God’s plan of salvation, how can a man be right with God and on and on. The anchor of the revelation can now lead us into exploration of other areas that are settled that we can hold fast to.