The Silence of the Scriptures
INTRODUCTION Psalms 1:
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the
ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the
seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD;
and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3 And he shall be
like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his
fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever
he doeth shall prosper. 4 The ungodly are not so: but are like
the chaff which the wind driveth away. 5 Therefore the ungodly
shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation
of the righteous. 6 For the LORD knoweth the way of the
righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
I. The Bible Anticipates All Spiritual Needs.
A. It is a Divine Book and a Sufficient Book:
II Tim. 3:14-17 But continue thou in the things which
thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of
whom thou hast learned them; 15 And that from a child
thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to
make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in
Christ Jesus. 16 All scripture is given by inspiration of
God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the
man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all
good works.
B. Contains a "Pure" and flawless law:
Prov 30:5,6 Every word of God {is} pure: he {is}
a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add
thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and
thou be found a liar.
Psa. 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect,
converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is
sure, making wise the simple.
C. It is the perfect law of liberty –
James 1:25 But whoso looketh into the perfect
law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a
forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man
shall be blessed in his deed.
II. What should our attitude be concerning the things the
Scriptures are silent about?
A. Do they give us liberty to engage in anything?
B. What should we do regarding those things in
which the Lord says nothing about?
C. Want to consider what our attitude should be
concerning The Silence of The Scripture.
Body
I. TWO ATTITUDES TOWARD THE SILENCE OF THE
SCRIPTURES.
A. Statement of these attitudes:
1. Where the Bible is silent, where God has not
spoken we are at liberty to act as we think best.
Thus, silence gives freedom to act.
2. Where the Bible is silent we must be silent.
We can do only those things which the Lord
authorized.
B. These attitudes were prevalent during the
Reformation movement.
1. MARTIN LUTHER, the great German reformer,
felt that the church is at liberty to do anything not
expressly forbidden.
a. Luther would remove from church services
only what the Bible condemned.
2. HULDREICH ZWINGLI, the great Swiss
reformer, felt that only that which is expressly
authorized should be taught or practiced.
a. In 1520 he broke with the Catholic Church.
b. 1523 he held a series of debates.
c. Set forth idea of Justification by Faith.
d. The Lord's Supper became a memorial.
Doctrine of transubstantiation was
completely repudiated.
e. His view of the Scripture would allow in church
services only what the Bible approved.
f. Set forth his views in 1525 in a treatise entitled
"A Commentary on the True and False
Religions.''
3. Luther and Zwingli debated the Lord's Supper at
Marburg in 1529
a. Luther insisted that the actual body and blood
of Christ was present in the elements.
b. Zwingli contended that the bread and the wine
were "representative'' of the body and blood
but that they were not actually present.
C. These attitudes were present during the Restoration
Movement of the 19th Century.
1. Walter Scott - “We speak where the Bible
speaks and are silent where the Bible is silent.”
a. (Compare to 1 Peter 4:11)
b. Those who held for this claim felt that the church
could do only that which God authorized.
c. Later some misinterpreted this expression
and began to teach, "Where the Bible is
silent we have liberty, freedom to act.''
2. Walter Scott - came up with the five steps to
Salvation by studying the Conversions in the
Book of Acts.
a. 1827 persuaded by Campbell to attend the
annual meeting of the Mahoning Baptist
Association in New Lisbon, Ohio.
b. Chosen to be a traveling Evangelist for the
Western Reserve of Ohio.
c. Saw couldn't imitate the procedure of
denominational evangelists.
1) Mourners bench common use, Calvinism
had produced a feeling of Helplessness.
2) A sinner was told he had to plead with
God in Prayer to save him.
3) Knew was not enough.
4) Turned to book of Acts and studied the
teachings and activity of first century
preachers.
5) Made careful analysis of each case of
conversion.
6) For the first time saw clearly that there were
logical ``steps'' involved in each sinner's
conversion.
a) Faith, repentance, confession and
baptism were necessary to receiving
remission of sins. This he called
"The Gospel Restored''
b) Tremendous responses were gained,
he baptized a thousand people in the
first year.
D. These attitudes were involved in the division of the
19th Century.
1. Those who adopted the view Where the Bible is
silent we have liberty thus freedom to act as we
think best became known as (The Christian
Church or Disciples of Christ)
a. They accepted Missionary Society, Instruments
of Music, even though neither is authorized in
the New Testament.
1) Later they added State-wide organizations,
Choirs, and Women Preachers on the
grounds that the Bible doesn't say not to.
2. Churches of Christ continued to believe "Where
the Bible is silent we are silent.''
a. They rejected both the societies and I. M. on the
grounds that they were not Authorized in the
Word of God.
E. In this generation these attitudes are prevalent again.
1. Many members of the churches of Christ are now
accepting the view of the Christian Church of
years past concerning the silence of the Scriptures.
a. The cry has gone forth, "We do many things
for which we have no authority.''
1) They feel the silence of the Scripture permits
their doing things not expressly forbidden.
2. Still others continue to teach and believe
"Where the Bible is silent we are to be silent.''
a. Believing that there must be authority from God
before we can teach or practice a thing.
II. DOES THE SILENCE OF THE SCRIPTURE AUTHORIZE
ANYTHING?
A. God has revealed himself to man.
1. All that we know about the will of God is that which
He reveals.
1 Cor. 2:9-13 But as it is written, Eye hath not
seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man, the things which God hath prepared
for them that love him. 10 But God hath revealed
them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God. 11 For what
man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of
man which is in him? even so the things of God
knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. 10 12 Now
we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the
spirit which is of God; that we might know the things
that are freely given to us of God. 13 Which things
also we speak, not in the words which man's
wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost
teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
a. We cannot know the mind of God by his
silence, thus silence does not authorize
anything.
b. We cannot know whether God will be pleased
with anything we do unless he has revealed
his will on that thing.
Examples:
1) We know God is pleased when we worship
Him in Spirit and in Truth for he has
revealed this to us:
12 John 4:23,24 But the hour cometh, and
now is, when the true worshippers shall
worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for
the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24
God is a Spirit: and they that worship him
must worship him in spirit and in truth.
2) We know what God wants the church to do:
Preach the word, edify the Saints and that
her needy be cared for. This has been
revealed to us Eph. 4:8-12
3) We do not know if God is pleased when the
Church engages in practices not authorized
in the Bible.
2. And it is presumptuous to conclude that God is
pleased with anything we might propose to do if
there is no revelation from Him that would indicate
it to be true.
a. What men things and wants is not necessarily
what God thinks and wants.
b. If we want to receive blessings from God we are
going to have to do things HIS way, rather than
what pleases us.
3. Scriptures:
Deut. 4:2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I
command you, neither shall ye diminish {ought}
from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the
Lord your God which I command you.
Deut. 12:32 What thing soever I command you,
observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor
diminish from it.
Mt. 15:8-9 This people draweth nigh unto me
with their mouth, and honoureth me with {their} lips;
but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do
worship me, teaching {for} doctrines the
commandments of men.
Col. 2:22-23 Which all are to perish with the
using; after the commandments and doctrines of
men? Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom
in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the
body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.
I Pet. 4:11 If any man speak, {let him speak} as
the oracles of God; if any man minister, {let him do
it} as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all
things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to
whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever.
Barnes: As the oracles of God speak;
to wit, in accordance with the truth which
God has revealed, and with an impressive
sense of the responsibility of delivering a
message from him. The word rendered
“oracles” (??´??a logia) means, properly,
something “spoken” or “uttered”; then
anything uttered by God - a divine
communication - a revelation.
B. Example of the Silence of the Scripture.
1. Moses spoke nothing concerning priest coming
from the tribe of Judah.
Hebrews 7:14 For it is evident that our Lord
sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake
nothing concerning priesthood.
a. Should we conclude that since God was silent
about this that priests from the tribe of Judah
would have been acceptable?
1) If so, (silence authorizes) Jesus could
been a priest on earth, for he was of that
tribe. BUT….
Hebrews 8:3,4 Now every high priest is
given authority to take to God the things
which are given and to make offerings; so
that it is necessary for this man, like them, to
have something for an offering. If he had
been on earth he would not have been a
priest at all, because there are other priests
who make the offerings ordered by the law;
2) Therefore when God mentioned Levi and
not the others they were prohibited from
being priests.
2. Silence does not give consent! Silence prohibits!
a. Men often want to do things THEIR way, but…
1) 1 Cor. 4:6 We are not to think of men
above that which is written.
2) Why would one think we need to do
something that God has not authorized?
2 Pet. 1:3 - According as his divine
power hath given unto us all things that
pertain unto life and godliness, through the
knowledge of him that hath called us to glory
and virtue:
b. We must act with Authority from Christ doing
all in his name.
Col. 3:17 - And whatsoever ye do in word or
deed, {do} all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God and the Father by him
Barnes: Do it all because he requires
and commands it, and with a desire to
honour him. His authority should be
the warrant; his glory the aim of all our
actions and words.
c. Where the scriptures stop, our teaching and
practice must stop.
C. The list of THINGS that are practiced under the guise
Silence Authorizes, is long and the things
that could be added are endless.
a. If God is silent about something, like PRIESTS
FROM THE TRIBE OF JUDAH, it is because it
is not what He wants.
b. Thus where there is no authority we must
conclude we should not act.
CONCLUSION:
1. We must respect what God has said, but we must also
respect what he has NOT said.
2. Our attitude toward the silence of the scripture is important.
3 How we view the bounds which Scripture places upon
collective Christian behavior will determine what we do
as a church.
a. If we believe that our conduct is not restricted to
only what Scripture reveals, then we may use wide
latitude in deciding congregational activities.
b. If instead Scripture itself sets the limits (by what has
been written) for what the church should do, to go
beyond these bounds would be presumptuous,
divisive and in rebellion to divine authority.
INVITATION
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