Let us turn to God's Word, and
I want this morning to direct your attention to words that
we find in the book of Proverbs, in the 30th chapter of the book
of Proverbs, and we'll read the first six
verses, the words of Agor, the son of J.K., Eve and the prophecy,
The man spake unto Ithiel, even unto Ithiel and Ucal, Surely
I am more brutish than any man, And have not the understanding
of a man, I neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the
whole, Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended, Who hath
gathered the wind in his fists, Who hath bound the waters in
a garment, who hath established all the ends of the earth, what
is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell?
Every word of God is pure, he is a shield unto them that put
their trust in him. Have thou not unto his words,
lest he reprove them, and thou be found a liar. Our text is found here at the
beginning of verse 5 in these verses that we've just read.
Proverbs chapter 30, the beginning of verse 5. Every word of God
is pure. Every word of God is pure. Or as the Margin says, purified. Now the speaker here is Solomon. These are the Proverbs of Solomon. We are told that, are we not,
right at the beginning of the book, the Proverbs of Solomon.
The son of David, king in Israel. Here he makes use of these symbolic
names, the words of Agor, the son of Jacob. Agor literally
means the gatherer. J.K. is the hearer, and there's
a sense in which we see that these two things were true of
King Solomon. He was a hearer, he was a gatherer,
if we go over to the next book, that of Ecclesiastes, or the
preacher. And there in chapter 1 and verse
13, The preacher again, it's Solomon,
king over Israel in Jerusalem, he says there in verse 13 of
chapter 1, And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom
concerning all things that are done under the heaven. This is
the sore travail, this sore travail hath God given to the sons of
man to be exercised there where the search is out. and seeks
after wisdom. He is one who searches out, who
hears that he might gather again. In the second chapter there in
Ecclesiastes, in verse 8, I gathered, he says, I gathered me also silver
and gold and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces. Solomon then is the one who is
spoken of here. under the names of Agor, the
son of Jacob. Again, if we go to the end of
the book of Ecclesiastes, in chapter 12 and verse 9, we read,
Yea, he gave good heed and sought out and set in order many proverbs. He is the hearer, he is the gatherer. It is Solomon then who is still
speaking here at the end of the book as he speaks in the former
chapters of the book. and he speaks to and he speaks
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The man spake unto Ithiel, even
unto Ithiel and Ukel. Again, these are symbolic names. Ithiel literally means God with
me. God with me. Ukel is the mighty
one. He speaks to the Lord Jesus,
He speaks of the Lord Jesus. Christ is here in the Book of
Proverbs as in every other part of the Word of God. Remember
how we said to the Jews, search the Scriptures, these are they
that testify of me. And here we see Him as the Eternal
Son of God. the one who is the revealer of
God, verse 4, who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended,
who hath gathered the wind in his fists, who hath bound the
waters in a garment, who hath established all the ends of the
earth, what is his name? And what is his son's name, if
thou canst tell? Here is the reference then to
the Lord Jesus who is of course the eternal son of God, the one
who is the great revealer of God, the image of the invisible
God, the one who is spoken of so plainly of course earlier
in the remarkable words that we have in that 8th chapter concerning
the wisdom of God. And there we see his eternal
sonship, the one who is eternally begotten of the Father. He says in chapter 8 verse 24,
when there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were
no fountains abounding with water, before the mountains were settled,
before the hills was I brought forth. Verse 30, Then I was by
him as one brought up with him. I was daily his delight, rejoicing
always before him. He is that one then who is the
eternal Son of God. And he is that one of course
who is the Word of God. He is the Word incarnate as we
see in the opening chapter of John's Gospel. In the beginning
was the Word. as He is the Wisdom of God here
in Proverbs 8, so He is the Word of God there in John 1. In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. All things were made by Him,
and the Word was made flesh, and dwells among us. And we beheld
his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth. He is that Word of God then. The Word made flesh. And here in the Bible we have
the inscripturated Word of God. Every Word of God is pure. We are told here in verse 5. As the Scriptures and the Law
bear one tremendous name, the written and incarnate words in
all things are the same. This is the word of God, this
is the word of the Lord Jesus Christ, that revelation that
God has been pleased to give to the sons of men. As we come
to these words of our text this morning, beginning of this fifth
verse in the thirtieth chapter of the book of the Proverbs.
We are reminded, are we not, of what we have here in the Bible.
It is total truth. Every word, without any exception,
in its totality, every word of God's is pure. It is all truth from Genesis
through to the Revelation. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God. And there in 2 Timothy 3 and
verse 16, the expression given by inspiration of God, as you
some are probably aware, that is really a single word. And
it's one of those compound Greek words. It's made up really of
just two words joined together. And literally it's the word God
breathed. All scripture is God breathed. It's the breath of God. Now when
we speak, of course, breathing is so necessary to our speaking. when we aspirate a word we have
to breathe in order to do it and so here in the scriptures
we have the breath of God, the words of God and it is God's
words right from the beginning to the end of the book in all
its parts We speak sometimes of plenary inspiration when we
speak of the doctrine of Scripture. And plenary simply means in every
part, throughout, from beginning to end. The Lord Jesus Christ
gives such teaching, such a high doctrine of the Word of God.
Verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass one jot or one
tittle shall in no way pass from the law till all be fulfilled. Not one jot or a tittle can pass
and as we said before there when he speaks of the jot he is referring
to one of the letters in the Hebrew alphabet. We read earlier
from the 119th Psalm and as Again, we said on previous occasions
that Psalm is an acrostic poem, it's built around the letters
of the Hebrew alphabet. And each of the sections therefore is headed by the letter that
stands at the beginning of each of the verses in the original
Hebrew. The first section, the first
eight verses, all the verses begin with the first letter of
the alphabet, the letter Arneth. And so on right through the whole
of the Hebrew alphabet. And when we
come to verse 73, In Psalm 119 you will see that
at the head of that section stands the letter Jod or Jot. One jot or tittle shall in no
wise pass from the law said Christ till all be fulfilled. And you
will see that letter there is a very small letter, smallest
of all the letters of the alphabet. And the title is not even a letter,
it's simply part of a letter. We might compare it to our Latin alphabet by saying that
it's the dot on an I or the cross on a T. It's just a minute part
of a letter. And the Lord Jesus, you see,
is saying with regards to the Word of God that none of it can
fail, none of it can fall. Even the smallest letter, even
the parts of letters. He says on another occasion,
the scripture cannot be broken. All of the book is to be deleted. We are to bow to its authority,
we are not to be partial with regards to the word of God, or
that God would grant that we might love it in its totality. We read those words there in
the 6th verse of the 119th Psalm. Then shall I not be ashamed when
I have respect unto all thy commandments, all thy commandments, without
any exception. We're not to be those who are
partial. We're not to be those who love to dwell much upon the
exceeding great and precious promises of the Word of God.
Thank God for the promises. What an encouragement they are
to poor souls. And that all Jai and that all
Amen in the Lord Jesus Christ. But we must also love those holy
precepts. That we might walk in the way
of obedience. to what God himself is commanding
us here in his word. Remember how in the book of Malachi
God through his servant there rebukes the priests because of
their partiality in the word of God. In Malachi chapter 2 And verse 9 he says, therefore
have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people
according as ye have not kept my ways but have been partial
in the law. They not kept all of God's ways,
there was a partiality. God preserved us from that sort
of spirit. We are to be those who recognize
the truth of it all. the totality of the Word of God,
and we want to embrace it all. It only is to be believed. One of the great watchwords,
of course, at the time of the Protestant Reformation was that
expression, Sola Scriptura, the Bible alone. This is our authority. We're not then to add to His
Word. What do we read here in verse
6? Adds thou not unto his words, lest he reprove them, and thou
be found a liar. We are not to add to the word
of God, we are not to subtract from the word of God. We are
not to take anything out of the word of God. We come to the very
last chapter in Revelation 22. Almost the very last words of
the book, verse 18, I testify unto every
man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if
any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him
the plagues that are written in this book. And if any man
shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy,
God shall take away his part out of the book of life and out
of the holy city and from the things which are written in this
book. or we're not to answer it, we're
not to subtract from it. And there are those who would
do that of course. The Roman Catholic Church adds to the Word
of God. It doesn't just submit to the
authority of the Bible, there is also the tradition of the
Church, which must also be accepted and put on the same level as
the Word of God, even superior to the Word of God we might say.
But not just the Romanists, there are those who call themselves
evangelical, charismatics who also would add to the word of
God because they say that they have certain charismatic gifts
revelatory gifts, they are receiving words from God that are on the
same level as the word of God in scripture, they are added
and there are those also who would take away from the word
of God there are those modernistic theologians as they are called
with their higher criticism they come to the word of God and they
want to take great portions away from the word of God demythologize
the Old Testament as they say there are those who would subtract
from it then as well as those who would add to it those solemn
are those words that we just read there at the end of the
book of the revelation with regards to such we have to examine ourselves
Are we those who do reverence God's word in its totality? We recognize that it is all true. Every word of God is pure. It is all true. It is absolute
truth. It's absolute. It's pure. It's purified. It's that metal
that has no dross in it, no alloy in it. Again, we see it there in the
119th psalm and the 140th verse. Thy words is very pure, it says. The margin there in the 119th
psalm and 140 says, or refined. Thy word is tried. Thy word is refined. There is
another psalm. Psalm 12 tells us the words of
the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in a furnace of earth purified
seven times. And seven of course has the idea
of perfection, the number of perfection. It was on the seventh
day after the six days of creation that God rested from all his
works and rejoiced in his works. It was all very good. Seven then
is that number that is associated with perfection as we see in
the book of Revelation where the number seven occurs several
times. And so when we read in the 112th Psalm of God's words
being purified seven times. It is all pure. It is absolute
truth. There is no error in it. I said
that sometimes we speak of plenary inspiration. We say that it is
inspired throughout from Genesis chapter 1 to Revelation chapter
22. But we also say that the inspiration of the Word of God
is in heaven. It is not liable to any error. There's nothing erroneous or
contradictory anywhere in the book of God. There can be no
error. Why? Because what is the Bible?
It's a revelation. It's a special revelation of
God. And the one revealed is a holy
God. He is three times holy as we
see in Isaiah chapter 6 when the prophet sees there the
throne of God and the angels, the seraphim, the burning ones
about the throne of God. And what do they say? They say,
holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts. He is Holy Father, Holy
Son and Holy Spirit. And this book is a revelation
of this thrice-holy God. In Exodus 15 we are told He is
glorious in holiness. The Holy One of Israel. He's just descent. His justice
is holy justice. His wisdom is holy wisdom. His power is spoken of in Psalm
98 as a holy arm. For that arm of the Lord, that
power that belongs unto God is holy power. And His words, His
words is a pure word. The Holy Word, every word of
God is pure. How we should reverence it then.
How we should desire by the grace of God that we might submit to
its authority, that we might bow. Remember how in the 19th
Psalm one of the names that he's given to it is the fear of the
Lord. the fear of the Lord. It's a name given to the Bible
with a feeling, to reverence it. It is true. But the Bible
is also sincere scripture. Every word of God is pure. He is a shield unto them that
puts their trust in Him. have thou not unto his words,
lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar. What we see
here in these verses, when we take account of the context in
which our text is set, verses 5 and 6, what we see here, surely,
is a contrast. There's a contrast between God
and man. Every word of God is pure. And what is man? Thou be found
a liar, it says at the end of verse 6. There's the contrast.
We see it more fully in that 12th Psalm that we've referred
to previously. There in Psalm 12, verse 2 we read, They speak vanity
every one with his neighbour, With flattering lips and with
a double heart, do they speak? This is men, you see. The godly
man ceaseth, the faithful fail from among the children of men.
They speak vanity, every one with his neighbour. With flattering
lips and with a double heart, do they speak? The Lord shall
cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh
proud things, who have said, With our tongues will we prevail,
our lips are our own, who is Lord over us? for the oppression
of the poor and for the signs of the needy. Now when I arise,
saith the Lord, I will set him in safety from him that puffeth
at him. The words of the Lord are pure
words, as silver tried in the furnace of earth, purified seven
times. All the contrast you see between
those words of the Lord, the one who comes to the aid and
to the help of the needy ones who are puffed at, Men speak proud words against
the people of God. But the Lord appears. There is
a contrast there between the vain, foolish, proud, flattering
words of men and the pure words of God. We have this word at the end
of verse 6. We found a liar. Who is the father of lies? The
devil is the father of lies. And we see it right at the beginning
of creation, do we not, when God sets Adam there in the garden
of Eden, makes every provision for him, and tests him in the
matter of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And Adam is
told quite plainly, In Genesis chapter 2 and verse 17 that he
is not to eat of that fruit. In the day that thou eatest thereof
thou shalt surely die says God. He has forbidden the fruit. And
you know in the next chapter when the serpent instrument of
the devil comes and tempts thee how he contradicts the word of
God. Genesis 3, 4 thou shalt not surely die. God says, thou
shalt surely go. And the devil says the very opposite. He denies the word of God, he
contradicts the word of God. He is the father of lies. And our first parents, of course,
they embrace that law. For we are those, alas, in our
fallen nature, children of wrath, children of disobedience. In the third chapter of Romans,
Paul refers to men and he's quoting from the Psalms, Psalms 14 and
Psalm 53. So it's the third time we read such
solemn words as Paul speaks here to the Romans. verse 12 of chapter 3 says they
are all gone out of the world they are together become unprofitable
there is none that do us good no not one their throat is an
open sepulcher with their tongue they have used deceit the poison
of asps is under their lips whose mouth is full of cursing and
bitterness what an awful description of man in his fallen nature throat
an open sepulchre, a deceitful tongue, the poison of asps under
his lips, his mouth full of cursing and bitterness. This is man's
condition by nature, sadly. And it's an awful state that
men are in, is it not? Their words are lies, They flatter
with their lips. They speak bitter, proud, hard
words. And in contrast, in contrast
to all of that, the Word of God is said to be tried and proved. It is that Word that stands the
test. It is a pure Word. And we're
not to doubt it. We're not to doubt the Word of
God. Observe again the context when
we think of what's stated in the previous verse. It's not
only what we have in the following verse where we read of a man
who is a liar, but in the previous verse we have mention of him
who is God's son, who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended,
who hath gathered the wind in his fist, who hath bound the
waters in a garment, who hath established all the ends of the
earth. What is his name? What is his son's name? If thou
canst have every word of God is pure. It is the Lord Jesus Christ,
of course, who comes and gives that final revelation of God,
that full revelation of God. He is that one who is the image
of God. No man has seen God at any time, says John. The only
begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared
Him. Oh, what a declaration it is
that we have then. What a wondrous revelation. in the ministry of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Never man spake like this man. That's what his opponents say.
When the Pharisees sent them to arrest the Lord Jesus Christ,
they take him. They try to find some offence
in his words, but never man spake like this man. At the end of
his sermon on the Mount, when Jesus had ended all these things. We are told there in Matthew
chapter 7 how the people were astonished. Why? Because he taught them as one
having authority and not as the scribes. He spoke with authority. Why? Because he spoke true words.
He declared the word of God. He revealed God. And what a revelation
it is. It's the Gospel, of course. It's
that full revealing of God in all His holy attributes as that
God who is just, that God who is holy and righteous and good,
that God who is merciful and gracious, that God who is long-suffering,
forbearing, the God of love. And we see that revelation, I
say, in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, all
the promises of God. In Him, says Paul, and in Him,
Amen to the glory of God by us. All the promises. They are true,
they are dependable. And what gracious words He speaks,
all what invitations he makes to poor sinners. How he calls
the sinner to himself. Remember the end of the eleventh
chapter in Matthew. Come unto me, he says, or ye
that labour and I have elated, and I will give you rest. Take
my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in
heart, and you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke
is easy and my burden is light. How tenderly then he speaks to
sinners, who feel the awful burden of their sins, that are to come
to him. All that are to take is yoke,
that light yoke upon them. All that the Father giveth me,
he saith, shall come to me. And he that cometh to me, I shall
in no wise cast out. And we see here the the sincerity
of the words of God, as he addresses himself to needy souls, to poor
sinners, how he gives them his exceeding great and precious
promises. How the Lord then is pleased
to speak kind words, sincere words to sinners. The Bible is
total truth. in all its parts, its absolute
truth. And here we have the sincere
words of a gracious Saviour, sincere scriptures, in contrast
with the words of men, those vain, proud, hard saints, those
that flatter men with their lips, those who speak lies. What a
contrast. when we come to the Word of God
and then finally we can say that the Bible is proven promise. It's proven promise. Every Word
of God is pure. He is a shield unto them that
put their trust in Him. Is there not a connection between
the promise that we have at the end of the verse and what we
read at the beginning of the verse. He is a shield to all who trust
in him. He will protect them. He will
keep them. And we know that is true. Why?
Because it's the word of God. It's a pure word of God. It's
that purified Word of God. Thy Word, remember, we read in
the 119th Psalm and verse 140, Thy Word is very pure. In other words, the Word is purified,
it's tried, it's refined. The words of the Lord are pure
words, as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. And do not the people of God
prove His Word in their own experience. That's what God's people do.
They prove the sincerity of what God is saying. They rest in His
Word. They find it to be a true Word.
The psalmist says, I'll taste and see that the Lord is good. You have to taste the word of
God. Again, in another psalm we're told it's sweeter than
honey and than the honeycomb. And this is what God's children
do. They come to his word and they find it brings comfort to
their souls. It's sustenance. It encourages them. As they come to it, as they read
it and study it and contemplate and meditate in it, they find
that there is profit. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God, says Paul, and is profitable. Oh, there's profit for the soul
then in the word of God. Now why is it that God's word
or God's promise is so dependable, so reliable? Because of the one
who has given it. It's the word of God. Every word
of God is God's word. Oh yes, God made use of men,
human instruments. There are a multitude of human
writers when we come to the word of God in the first five books
of course we have the writings of Moses but then we come to
the book of Joshua and so on we have the writings of different
prophets there are a whole variety of human authors but all of them
inspired by the Holy Ghost as Peter said those holy men of
God say because they were moved by the Spirit of God and the
verb that he uses to move is a very strong verb they were
literally brought along, carried along like we read of Paul in
his shipwreck at the end of Acts when they had to really abandon
any hope of controlling the ship they let the ship drive, they
committed it to the winds and the winds and the waves drove
it where they would. And it's the same word that Peter
is using when he speaks of those holy men, how they were borne
along by the Spirit, carried where the Spirit would take them.
They're not writing in their own words, they're writing the
word of God. Every word of God is pure. This is why we can rely upon
what is said in the Scripture. because of the one who gave it.
Now we have some five questions here in verse four. Who has ascended
up into heaven or descended? Who has gathered the wind in
his fist? Who has found the waters in a garment? Who has established
all the ends of the earth? What is his name? What is his
son's name, if they can stand? And is there not some significance
in these questions? Again, we find questions concerning
God in Isaiah chapter 14, and there at verse 12, following,
Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hands, and
meted out heaven with a span, and comprehended the dust of
the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and
the hills in a balance? who hath directed the Spirit
of the Lord, or being his counsellor, hath taught him, with whom took
he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path
of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and showed to him the way of
understanding. No one is God. Oh, He is the
Great God. And He is that One, you see,
who has given us His Word. what we come to then as we meet
in this fashion is to the word of God and we sit under it and
we are to bow to its authority we are to reverence it it's God's
word and God has here given us his promise and he's confirmed
that promise he's given an oath has he not? When he gave promise
to Abraham, we are told in Hebrews chapter 6, because he could swear
by no greater, he swore by himself. All he has committed his very
being to the performance of his word. If his word fails, God
fails, God is no more. He has magnified his word above
all his name. and it's our privilege to have
the word of God before us but all that the word might not
only be before our eyes but might it come into our minds that our
understandings might be enlightened that we might receive it and receive it not just into
our enlightened minds but that it might also move our will that
we might be those who are made willing to walk in the way of
its holy precepts. And not only that it might move
our wills, but also that it might come into our very hearts and
warm our hearts. And that it might be real food
for our souls, sweeter than honey, sweeter than the honeycomb. Because
we recognise whose word it is. It is the very word of God. It's
total truth. It's sincere scriptures. It's
proven promises. Every word of God's is pure. May the Lord be pleased to grant
His blessing upon His Word today. Amen. Let us now conclude our worship
as we sing the Hymn number 878. 878, the tune is St Ethelwold's
number 58. Say, Christian, which thou thrive
in knowledge of thy Lord, against no scripture ever strive, but
tremble at his words. 878. A Christian who shall troy in
knowledge of thy rule Against no scripture ever strived,
God trembled at His word. Reveal the sacred page to injure
any part. He crazed with blind and feeble
rage A hard and haughty thought He fought with darker fear Beware
thy want of sight No imperfection can be there, for all God's words
are right. The Scriptures and the Lord bear
one tremendous name. The written and incarnate The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you
all. Amen.