Sunday, May 25, 2014 am
BACK TO BASICS 2014
Bible Authority - 4
Does Silence Give Authority?
This month we continue
our study of Bible Authority in our “Back to Basics” Series.
It is my hope that in what we have studied thus far it is clear
that we need authority (permission) for all that we do both what we do
and HOW we do it. We have
noted the legitimate ways to establish authority (Command, Approved
Example and Necessary Inference), and the nature of authority (both
Specific and Generic). With
this we can make application and determine what we know to be pleasing
to God.
But man often wants to do
things that are not specifically authorized, so he seeks other ways to
justify his conduct. We have
discussed the new hermeneutic (which dismisses CENI and appeals to a
more subjective standard) and shown it to be unscriptural.
But another way that man seeks to justify their actions is by
appealing to the silence of scripture.
They might reason, “As long as the Bible doesn’t specifically
forbid something, then it is acceptable to do” or “Where there is
silence, we are at liberty to determine HOW to fulfill a task.
In our lesson this
morning, we are going to look at how God feels about silence.
a.
What is silence? When we speak of
silence we mean when God says nothing.
b.
There are passages to
consider with respect to the authority of Godl
i.
Colossians 3:17
“And whatever you do
in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to
God the Father through Him.”
ii.
2 Tim. 3:16-17 – with
scripture, the man of God may be complete.
There are many such passage that appeal to the scriptures giving
us all that we need.
iii.
1 Corinthians 4:6“Now
these things, brethren, I have figuratively transferred to myself and
Apollos for your sakes, that you may learn in us not to think beyond
what is written, that none of you may be puffed up on behalf of one
against the other.”
iv.
2 John 9, “Whoever
transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not
have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father
and the Son.” The word “transgress” means to go aside or go beyond
(as in a boundary).
v.
1 Peter 4:11, “If
anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone
ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in
all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the
glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
vi.
Deuteronomy 12:32, “Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it;
you shall not add to it nor take away from it.”
vii.
Deuteronomy 4:1–2, “Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the
judgments which I teach you to observe, that you may live, and go in and
possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers is giving you. You
shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that
you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.”
viii.
Revelation 22:18–19, “For I testify to everyone who hears the words
of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will
add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone
takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take
away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the
things which are written in this book.”
ix.
Deut. 29:29, “The secret
things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed
belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words
of this law.”
In this text Moses is saying, GOD MEANS WHAT HE SAYS. If He wanted
to say something in a different way He would have done that. If He
wanted us to do something differently, He would have told us how to do
that. He also notes that what God DOESN’T say belongs to Him.
That is the silence of scripture.
x.
Considering all these
passages (and others could be added to them), does it seem pretty clear
that God knows HOW to communicate what He expects?
Does it seem that if God wanted to permit certain things He would
have to us of them?
a.
Moses and the 2nd Passover
– Numbers 9. The Passover
was an important feast to Israel.
Even in the wilderness they observed this feast.
Numbers 9 speaks of some who were unable to partake at the
appropriate time (because they were unclean due to a dead body).
They did not want to be deprived of the opportunity to partake of
this memorial, so they ask Moses about it.
Vs. 8 says, “And Moses said to them, “Stand still, that I may
hear what the Lord will command concerning you.”” (Numbers 9:8)
NOTICE that they could not arbitrarily choose to set aside
another day – regardless of good intentions or circumstances.
They needed permission.
Moses inquired of the Lord and the children of Israel were
granted a second opportunity (IF they were unclean or away on a journey)
Vs. 10. BUT the point is
SILENCE was NOT consent!
b.
Nadab and Abihu – Leviticus 10:1-2, “Then
Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in
it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the Lord,
which He had not commanded them. So fire went out from the Lord and
devoured them, and they died before the Lord.” NOTICE why they were
killed. Because they acted
WITHOUT authority. The Lord
had instructed where priests were to get their fire (Lev. 16:12).
He did not have to say, you CANNOT get it from another source.
Specific instructions forbade everything else.
c.
Moving the ark – 1 Chron. 13:7-10. In
this text David is king and he desires to bring the Ark into Jerusalem.
To do so, he builds a new cart which was driven by Ahio and
Uzzah. At some point, the
oxen stumbled and Uzzah reached out to hold the ark. The Lord struck
him dead immediately.
What displeased God? Was it David moving the Ark to Jerusalem?
Was it David’s desire heart?
Was it Uzzah’s good intentions?
NOT at all.
A study of the Old Law reveals that the ark was to be carried by Levites
(sons of Kohath) – Num. 4:15.
God did not have to say, no king can carry it.
By specifying WHO had the job, His SILENCE forbade everything
else.
d.
Matthew 15:1-2 when the scribes and
Pharisees came to Jesus they asked Him why His disciples did not wash
their hands (ceremonially) when they ate bread.
Jesus rebuked them saying, “He answered and said to them, “Why
do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?”
(Matthew 15:3) A study of the Old
Law will not find the command for washing before one eats (there was
washing commanded in various settings, but not this).
God had not commanded it, nor authorized it.
Here the leaders were binding it.
Jesus then illustrates how they set aside the laws of God with
their own loopholes and He concludes, “Thus you have made the
commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.” (Matthew 15:6)
e.
Judaizing teachers
–– Acts 15:1 records men coming from Judea to Antioch and demanding that
Gentiles be circumcised and keep the law of Moses to be saved.
In the discussion of the Apostles, elders and saints at Jerusalem
they reached a conclusion that God did NOT require the keeping of the
Law of Moses. God’s POSITIVE
commands as to what Gentiles needed to do excluded all other
requirements for salvation.
Again silence prohibits rather than permits.
f.
Hebrews 7:14, in describing the
Priesthood of Jesus, the author explains why Jesus could NOT be a priest
of physical Israel. He said,
“For it is evident that our
Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning
priesthood.” (Hebrews 7:14)
When God specified the Levites for the priesthood, He didn’t have
to name the other 11 tribes as being excluded.
POSITIVE instructions excluded everything else.
NOW, consider 2 Chron 26:16-20 where we find Uzziah, who was actually
considered a good king in Judah, decided that he was going to burn
incense on the altar of incense to the Lord.
Azariah tried to stop him, but he became furious and attempted to
offer the incense anyway. We
are told that while he was angry, leprosy broke out on his forehead
beside the altar of incense.
He couldn’t get out fast enough and was a leper until the day of his
death. AGAIN, his
intentions may have been good, but he was NOT authorized to offer
incense. God’s POSITIVE
instructions prohibited anything else.
His silence was NOT authority.
a.
When God gives us
instructions and approved examples, we need to respect their authority.
b.
Instrumental music – we have used this as our example throughout this
study of authority. Here let
us consider: God SPECIFIED singing (Eph. 5:19, Col. 3:16, etc.).
He did NOT have to say, “Do not use instruments of music” for it
to be prohibited. His
silence is ENOUGH!
Yet many today argue, “But God didn’t say we couldn’t”.
While that is a true statement, when we understand the silence of
God, we realize that we must stay with that which He specified. To
add to what He has commanded is to transgress His laws and to challenge
their sufficiency. And that is dangerous ground to tread
upon. Our eternal destiny is far too valuable to tamper with by basing
it on, “But God didn’t say I couldn’t do that!”
c.
Baptism – immersion.
Both the meaning of the word and various examples demonstrate
this. So when someone today
says, “But God didn’t say we could not pour water on one’s head as
baptism” they are rejecting God’s POSITIVE command which regulates how.
d.
Baptism – is not for infants.
A study of baptism shows that only mature persons obeyed the
gospel. They believed BEFORE
they were baptized (Acts 8:37, 16:31-33, 8:12 – the Samaritans, etc.).
That is why when one argues about the “household” of Cornelius,
the jailer and Lydia, it is not valid.
God did not have to say “NOT infants”.
His POSITIVE command was enough!
e.
When to eat Lord’s Supper – first day of the week.
Acts 20:7. He didn’t
have to say, “NOT any other day”.
We have a POSITIVE example we ought to follow.
f.
What is the work of the church?
It is to worship God collectively, evangelize, edify the saints
and limited benevolence – NOTHING MORE! And how these works are carried
out have many parameters specified by command, example and inference (we
will discuss these in greater detail in future lessons).
God’s SILENCE does NOT give permission to change the work of the
church.
g.
Organization of the church?
Local, independent and autonomous.
Again, we shall see there was no earthly headquarters or
organizations larger than the Local congregation in scripture.
God is SILENT about such.
I am convinced His eternal pattern for the church is sufficient.
And thus we can see that silence is NOT a valid way
to establish authority. Let
us understand that when we appeal to what God does NOT say to justify
what we do we are saying that either God doesn’t care about how we do
something (and many believe this) or He did not sufficiently present
what He expects us to do and how to do it.
To appeal to the silence of scripture is a
dangerous way to establish authority for what you do.
Do NOT gamble with your soul by seeking to add to God’s
instructions, either by silence or any other way.
Think about it!