- Mar 28, 2005
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I read something very interesting last night in a sermon from a Puritan divine. He said that faith is more stable when it is based on the written scriptures rather than a scripture promise that comes to mind. He says that when a person needs encouragement and a scripture comes to mind that lifts him up, he is encouraged for the moment. But the next day he may get a condemning scripture come to mind and then be plunged back into discouragement and despair. So he says that impressions from scripture that pop into our minds may give temporary relief from discouragement and despair, but can be overturned quite quickly when other impressions and scriptures come to mind.
He says that trusting what is written in the scriptures is a much more stable foundation for faith, because when the believer needs encouragement, he or she can go to the Bible and collect all the scriptures written there that would strengthen his or her encouragement in Christ. Doing this prevents getting a verse out of its context coming to mind that might mislead a believer and give him false confidence, and then getting another verse out of context that gives him a false sense of condemnation. It is like using the pin method of finding a scripture, which one guy tried. So he shut his eyes opened the New Testament at random, stuck the pin on a verse. It read, "Judas went out and hanged himself." He thought that was not right so he tried again, "And go and do thou likewise." So this is the danger of getting isolated verses to mind when the context in which they were written might give a quite different impression. This is why it is best to study the written scriptures, looking at verses and passages in their contexts, culture and place in history. Doing this strengthens faith much more than getting random verses come to mind.
He says that trusting what is written in the scriptures is a much more stable foundation for faith, because when the believer needs encouragement, he or she can go to the Bible and collect all the scriptures written there that would strengthen his or her encouragement in Christ. Doing this prevents getting a verse out of its context coming to mind that might mislead a believer and give him false confidence, and then getting another verse out of context that gives him a false sense of condemnation. It is like using the pin method of finding a scripture, which one guy tried. So he shut his eyes opened the New Testament at random, stuck the pin on a verse. It read, "Judas went out and hanged himself." He thought that was not right so he tried again, "And go and do thou likewise." So this is the danger of getting isolated verses to mind when the context in which they were written might give a quite different impression. This is why it is best to study the written scriptures, looking at verses and passages in their contexts, culture and place in history. Doing this strengthens faith much more than getting random verses come to mind.
