God's Great Masterpiece
The Bible is God's masterpiece, written through the supervision of God and the use of human channels.
Selwyn Hughes emphasizes the unbreakable nature of Scripture in John 10:35, affirming his belief in the supervisal inspiration of the Bible. He explains that God guided the writers of Scripture to ensure accuracy and truth, protecting them from error and deceit. Hughes compares the divine authorship of the Bible to the construction of St. Paul's Cathedral, where various workers contributed but the ultimate masterpiece belonged to Sir Christopher Wren. Ultimately, Hughes asserts that while humans like Moses, David, and Paul physically wrote the Bible, it is truly God's Word.
Text
"... and the Scripture cannot be broken ..." (v. 35)
For reading & meditation:
John 10:1-18
I said yesterday that I subscribe to the supervisal inspiration of the Bible. I believe God led the minds and hearts of the writers of Scripture to go to the right sources for information, to come up with the required data, and in the process protected them from exposure to error, deceit, or imposture. He supervised them in their research, in their reporting, and when He spoke directly to them He was there also to make sure that they received clearly the message He wanted to convey. Ian Macpherson puts this truth most powerfully in his book The Faith Once Delivered when he says: "As in the mystery of the Incarnation, God linked Himself to humanity, so in the mystery of the inspiration of Holy Scripture, God made use of human channels, yet He never surrendered His Divine authorship or permitted the Book to become the word of man rather than the word of God." Another writer, H. O. Mackey, put it like this: "Who built St. Paul's Cathedral? So many masons, carpenters, iron-workers, carvers, painters - and then there was Wren. He was not a mason, or a carpenter ... and never laid a stone. What did he do? He did it all. He planned it, inspired it with his thought." Mackey does not intend to dishonor the workmen who toiled hard and long, but simply to make the point that in the final analysis St. Paul's Cathedral is Sir Christopher Wren's masterpiece. Who wrote the Bible? Moses, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, John, Peter, Paul, and many others. But whose book is it really? It is God's.
O God, it is the entrance of Your Word that brings light and the neglect of Your Word that brings darkness. Help me to expose myself more and more to that light, so that I may walk through life with a sure and steady tread. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Sermon Outline
- The Inspiration of Scripture
- The Human Factor in Inspiration
- The Result of Inspiration
- God's Supervision of the Writers
- Protection from Error and Deceit
- God's Use of Human Channels
- Divine Authorship of Scripture
- The Bible as God's Masterpiece
Key Quotes
“As in the mystery of the Incarnation, God linked Himself to humanity, so in the mystery of the inspiration of Holy Scripture, God made use of human channels, yet He never surrendered His Divine authorship or permitted the Book to become the word of man rather than the word of God.” — Selwyn Hughes
“Who built St. Paul's Cathedral? So many masons, carpenters, iron-workers, carvers, painters - and then there was Wren. He was not a mason, or a carpenter ... and never laid a stone. What did he do? He did it all. He planned it, inspired it with his thought.” — Selwyn Hughes
“It is the entrance of Your Word that brings light and the neglect of Your Word that brings darkness.” — Selwyn Hughes
Application Points
- We should expose ourselves more and more to the light of God's Word to walk through life with a sure and steady tread.
- God's Word is our source of light and guidance in life.
- We should recognize the Divine authorship of Scripture and give it the respect and authority it deserves.