Devotional - 99-08-10 - The Word of God

The Holy Alphabet Series

2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is God-Breathed, and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.

"The Word of God is the holy Scriptures, imediatly inspired, which is contained in the Books of the Old and New Testament., 2 Timothy 3:16." - Robert Port

The last portion of Port's Holy Alphabet. Fittingly it is on the Word of God. I would like to give some short historical accounts of those who have found the love of God's Word to be their consuming passion and who, in turn, God used greatly for His kingdom.

Augustine, of Hippo (354-430), whose book, Confessions, is the most influential book in the history of the Christian Church (excluding the Bible), made the Scriptures his pure delight. Before his conversion he enjoyed reading Cicero most of all, but after, he ceased to even enjoy reading Cicero. He wrote several other very influential works including, The City of God. All his works are still in print today.

Turtullian (160-225), the Father of Latin Theology. His theology is fundamentally Scriptural, and he was known to have committed large portions of Scripture to memory. He wrote many influential works and all of them are still in print today.

Theodore Beza (1519-1605), learned Paul's Epistles in Greek so thoroughly, that when he was 80 years old, he could still quote them. His influence among the Swiss Christians was great and his work with the Greek text of Scripture was very influential in establishing a standard Greek version of the Scriptures, so influential that it is called, Codex Bezae.

Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556), could repeat from memory the entire New Testament. He was eventually burned at the stake for his views. Before that, however, he served Christ for many years as the most influential Spiritual leader in England in his lifetime.

Nicholas Ridley (1500-1555), said, "The walls and trees of my orchard, could they speak, world bear witness that there I learned by heart almost all the Epistles." He also was very influential and was again burned at the stake, because he refused to deny the Scriptures he had hidden in his heart.

You may have never heard of these men and that is a shame. But you have much in common with them in your faith in Christ. They were men who God used greatly in promoting His cause in the earth. They all had one thing in common, they loved God's Word. Do you love God's Word? Do you love it enough to take the time to hide large portions of it away in your heart, word for word, by memorization?

Think for a moment of those you know who are spiritual leaders in your area... Are they those who love God's Word so much that they meditate, memorize, and hide it in their hearts as if it were a precious jewel? Do they love the Scripture enough to memorize it?

Let me tell you something, it is easy to say you study the Bible a lot. It is easy to convince people that you are someone who knows a lot about the Bible, whether that is true or not. But one thing is not easy. It is not easy to talk about memorizing Scripture, because it is something easily checked. You can't get away with falsehood there, and the memorization of Scripture has long been a characteristic of those who seek godliness. May it also be a characteristic of us also.

Soli Deo Gloria,
T-

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