PARABLES OF JESUS CHRIST
PARABLE OF THE BIBLE
DR. JIM DIXON
MATTHEW 13:51-52, MATTHEW 5:17-19, 2 TIMOTHY 3:14-17
SEPTEMBER 26, 1982
The Bible has stood the test of time. It endures. “All flesh is like grass and all of its glory like the flower of the grass. The grass withers and the flower falls but the word of the Lord abides forever.” More copies of this book have been sold in this world than any other book ever written. I want to share with you this morning on the subject of the Bible and its place in our life.
Two thousand years ago, Jesus taught His disciples in Parables and when He had done that, He said to them, “Have you understood all this?” They answered him, “Yes, Lord.” He said, “No, then. Understand that every scribe of the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who takes out of his treasure both that which is old and that which is new.” Now this Parable need not be hard for us to understand because in the Old Testament age, every scribe of the kingdom of heaven poured through the Old Testament revelation. They studied the Torah, the Pentateuch, the law, the prophets. It was a treasure to them, the very revelation of God. They gave their lives to the study of those sacred writings. But when Jesus Christ left His heavenly throne of glory and stepped foot in this world, suddenly every scribe of the kingdom of heaven had new treasure and new revelation to go with the old, to complete the old, and to fulfill the old.
Now as Christians living in the 20th Century, we have this treasure in the form of the Bible. We have the old revelation of the law and the prophets as contained in the Old Testament and we have the new revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ as contained in the New Testament. God wants us to know that this book is a treasure given to the household of God and we have been called today to be scribes, scribes of the kingdom and scribes of the scriptures.
I feel led to share with you this morning four teachings concerning God’s word. First of all, God wants us to know that the Bible is a source of life. Paul wrote to Timothy, and he said, “All scripture is inspired of God.” Now the Greek word there is “theopneustos,” a word which literally means “God-breathed.” All scripture is God-breathed. This book has the breath of God upon it and therefore it is a source of life.
In the beginning as recorded in Genesis, chapter 2, God breathed on man and man became a living being. The breath of God imparting life. In the 20th chapter of the book of John, Jesus Christ resurrected from the dead appeared to His disciples and He breather on them and they received the Holy Spirit. They received newness of life because, you see, the breath of God imparts life. There is a sense in which we are to think of this book as having the breath of God upon it and it is a source of life.
The author of Hebrews said, “The word of God is living and active.” The Greek word there is the word “zoe” from which we get the word “life.” It actually is used today to refer to zoos where life, various types of animals are present, but we are to think of this book as in some sense alive.
Most of you in this room received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior through the proclamation of the word. You received eternal life through this book. As Christians, this book continues to give life to us. Whenever we come to it and we’re feeling down or we’re feeling depressed or we’re feeling tired or weary or maybe we’re feeling like our souls and spirits are dying. We come to this book, and we open it, and God breathes on us anew and we find life. God promises us that as we come to this book, we will find life not only for ourselves, but we will become a source of life to all those who are around us.
Jesus said, “If you abide in Me and My word abides in you, you will bear much fruit and so prove to be My disciples.” Peter and Jude spoke of those who were waterless clouds, dried up springs, fruitless trees, and some people are like that. They have no water to give to the thirsty. They have no food to give to the hungry. They have no life to give to the dying, but God has promised us that if we abide in His word and let His word abide in us, we will become a source of life to all who are around us.
The Psalmist says that “those who meditate upon the word become like trees, planted by rivers of living water that bring forth their fruit in its season. Their leaves do not wither and all that they do, they prosper.” And so, we have this message from God that the Bible is a source of life. It is food for our soul. It is nourishment for our spirit. It gives life to our inward being.
I always love to go to Missouri. One reason I love to go back to the farm in Missouri is I love to eat the food that they have there. They always cook the greatest chicken dinners because they raise their own chickens. One time I was sitting around the table and there was a big plate of chicken there. I took a leg, took a wing, took a breast. When I was done, they said, “Jim, why don’t you have some more” so I took another leg, another breast, another wing, a thigh. Then they brought out another whole plate of chicken and I began to eat some of that, just devoured it all. When it was all done, the rooster crowed outside, a big loud noise. I said to my uncle, “Boy, you sure have got a proud rooster there.” He said, “Well he ought to be proud. Three of his kids just entered the ministry!”
That’s a semi-fictitious story but it’s true that whenever I go back to Missouri, I do love to eat the chicken. The truth of the matter is that I love to eat wherever I’m at. I look forward to breakfast and I look forward to lunch and I look forward to dinner and most of you are the same. But if we look forward and desire physical food that gives life to our physical bodies, how much more should we desire spiritual food that gives life to our spirits and souls? This is a primary source of spiritual food. This book gives life to our spirits and so we have this first message from God. The Bible is a source of life.
Secondly, God tells us that the Bible is a source of light, light to guide us. In the Psalms it is said, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.”
Decades ago, archeologists were digging in Palestine, and they came upon these strange lamps, little, tiny lamps that had compartments to put oil in them, but they didn’t know what they were. They had never seen lamps like these. They had a small ring around the bottom of each lamp. They didn’t know what they were until one archeologist was looking through the Psalms and when he came to the 119th Psalm, he saw this verse, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet.” The literal meaning of that Hebrew word is “foot-lamp.” Thy word is a foot lamp and suddenly he knew what they had dug up. They had dug up these little foot lamps. The Jews put these foot lamps on the toes of their feet, one on their right foot, one on their left foot. When they walked in the city at night, those little foot lamps gave them just enough light to see one step at a time as they walked in the darkness. This is the image that is given us of the power of the word of God. It is a foot lamp to us as we walk through the darkness of this world, and we are in the word. If we abide in the word, we will have light to walk one step at a time. God rarely gives you light to see three months down the road or 30 years from now, but He gives you, if you’re faithful to be in His word, He gives you light to walk one day at a time, one step at a time.
You know, in the Old Testament age, the high priest was very important to the Israelites. As Bob mentioned in his prayer, once a year, on the day of atonement, the high priest would go into the temple. He would go into the Holy of Holies and there is the very presence of God, he would sprinkle the blood of animals upon the mercy seat of the Arc of the Covenant, hoping to atone for the sins of the people. He would cry out to the Living God, representing the people before God, sharing the desires and needs of the people to the Living God. But he had one other highly important ministry and that was to represent God before the people. He would cry out to the people, telling the people of the desires of God, telling the people of the will of God. In order to know God’s will, he had two very important stones.
On the high priest’s breastplate, the high priest had two stones called the urim and the thumin, mysterious stones through which God spoke. Urim meaning “light,” thumin meaning “truth.” God would speak to the high priest through the urim as recorded in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy and also in I Samuel. God spoke through the urim to the high priest who would speak to the people. He did this up until the time of David but when Saul came to the throne, God said to Saul, “No longer will I speak to you through the urim” and God began to speak through His prophets. Then in the fullness of time, God spoke through His Son. We have the testimony of His Son in this book and it’s as though this book has become urim to us, light to us. God speaks through this book, disclosing His will, disclosing His judgement, disclosing His guidance. And so, we are to think of this book as a source of light, light to guide us.
Thirdly, God wants us to know that the Bible is a source of truth. It is thumin. Two thousand years ago, Pilate said to Jesus Christ, “What is truth?” Jesus said, “For this I was born and for this I came into the world, that I might bear witness to the truth.” We have that witness in this book and as Christians, we affirm that God’s word is true. Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah would be born of the line of David, and it was true. Micah prophesied that the Messiah would be born in a little tiny town called Bethlehem and it was true. Zechariah prophesied that the Messiah would be betrayed by a close friend for thirty pieces of silver, and it was true. Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah would die for the sins of the world, that he would become a suffering servant and it was true. Daniel prophesied the very year in which the Messiah would die, and it was true. The Psalmist prophesied that the Messiah would die by means of crucifixion and that He would be resurrected and that He would ascend, and it was true. God’s word is truth.
The major and minor prophets prophesied that the Jews would be scattered over the face of the earth, distributed among the nations, and at the close of the age, at the consummation, they prophesied that the Jews would be regathered from the nations into their homeland, into Palestine, and there they would become a nation again. In 1948, that prophecy was fulfilled because God’s word is true.
It was also prophesied by the major and minor prophets that Israel, having become a nation again, would reoccupy the holy city. They would reoccupy Jerusalem. In 1967, that prophecy was fulfilled because God’s word is true. The Bible prophesied that the cities of Sodom, Gomorrah, Babylon, Chorazin, that they would be totally destroyed, never again to be rebuilt in human history. Archeologists confirm that those cities even to this day lay in ruins. God’s word is true. We can depend upon it. It is the only source of truth, the only means of understanding truth concerning the world in which we live, concerning ourselves and concerning God.
King Abdullah of Jordan who was King of Jordan who was King of Jordan prior to King Hussein, used to put trick mirrors throughout his royal palace so that when people walked throughout the royal palace, they would have a distorted perspective of themselves and other surroundings. For instance, he put mirrors in the dining room that made people look just a little bit thinner than they really were. As you went through the royal palace, you would have a distorted perception. Most people go through this world looking at trick mirrors. They go through this world with a distorted perception of themselves and of their surroundings. Only through God’s word can we see accurately ourselves and our surroundings.
Six years ago, I was talking to a young woman who came into my office. She was a highly successful executive in a major corporation. She was living a life of promiscuity, but she didn’t view it that way. She wasn’t a Christian. She thought she was living a life of freedom. She thought she was living a life of enlightenment. But as she came to the church, after a period of time she accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior. And then she began to read the Bible. Suddenly she came to incredible discoveries. One day she came into my office, and she said, “The world is wrong.” She said, “I can’t believe it. Everything I’ve been taught by the world is wrong.” Suddenly she began to understand that joy and fulfillment come through serving and not by being served. Suddenly she came to understand that the moral and ethical values of the world lead only to destruction. Suddenly she came to understand that the commandments and the instructions of God are pathways that lead to blessing. God’s word, the source of truth. It is the key that unlocks the meaning of life.
In 1799, by Rasheed on the Nile Delta, Napoleon’s soldiers discovered the mysterious Rosetta stone. The ancient inscriptions on that stone became the very key that enabled philologists and linguists to understand and unlock the meaning of the ancient Egyptian languages. It enabled them to unlock the meaning of hieroglyphics. The Rosetta stone was the very key. God wants us to know that this book is the very key that enables us to understand and unlock the meaning of life. This is the very source of truth.
So, we have these three messages from God that the Bible is the source of life. It is the source of light for guidance. It is the source of truth. But we have a fourth message from God concerning this book and that is this. We must open it. We’ve been called to be scribes. We’ll never receive life or light or truth unless we open it.
Nine years ago, I began to memorize the word of God. I did it primarily because of the influence of Dean Wolf who was Pastor at Faith Presbyterian Church in Aurora. But I’ve had breakfasts and lunches with Dean and as I was talking with him, we would discuss various things. So often in his response to me, he would quote the scriptures. That was life for me. I knew how much that meant to me because Dean wasn’t talking. Suddenly God was talking. I realized at that time that Jim Dixon has absolutely nothing to say but God, you see, has everything to say and I desired to hide His word in my heart.
I don’t think we realize how blessed we are to have this book. In the Middle Ages, only the very rich had Bibles. Most Bibles were lined with gold and silver. They had precious jewels with which they were adorned. They belonged to kings or princes or to bishops of the church. In those days, Bibles were chained. They were chained to the pulpits of churches, or they were chained to the desk of the study of a great mansion where a price lived but the common person never had a Bible.
Now we thank God for men like Wycliffe and Tyndale who brought the Bible to all of us so that we can have it. In the ancient days, in the Middle Ages, the Bible was simply called “kotohnahti”, a word that means “chained.” In our day, the Bible is available to everybody and yet for some people it is as though the Bible were still “kotohnahti.” It is as though the Bible were still chained because some people never open it, never look at it.
When I was a little boy, I heard a lot of amazing stories about the Bible. I remember at church hearing some guy share his testimony and how he was in war. He had a little Bible in his vest pocket, and somebody shot him, and the bullet hit him right over the heart but just bounced right off the Bible. I thought, “Wow!” Then I heard a testament about somebody who had been shot and the bullet went right into the Bible and stopped right at John 3:16. I don’t know exactly what to make of that, but I thought “This is an incredible book!”
I took the Bible home and I started to sleep with it, thinking maybe it would protect me from burglars at night. That’s not really the idea of the Bible. The Bible is not God. It’s God that we worship. The Bible is God’s word that He’s given to us as a tool, and we’re meant to open it and study it that we might know and love him better.
Many years ago, in central Chile, a little 11-year-old girl lived. Her name was Maria. She was a Christian. Her mother died two years earlier. Her father was still alive. He was a coal miner, but he was not a Christian. He was bitter about her mother’s death. He didn’t want to have anything to do with the Bible. One day as he was going off to work in the mines, he took a little Bible and put it in his pocket. Late that night, about 1:10AM, there was this great explosion down in the mines. All the people of that little town in central Chile went out. They began to dig, and they dug all the way through the night and into the morning. Some of the men were saved but eight men died. One of those men was the father of this little girl.
When they got down to the portion of the mine where the father was, he was sitting in a circle with seven other men, and he had the Bible in his hand. They opened the back to the Bible, and he had written a message to Maria. It just said, “Dear Maria. Thank you for putting this little Bible in my pocket. I’ve been reading it to the men here. It gives us strength. I asked Jesus Christ to come into my heart and be my Lord just as the Bible says. When you read this, I will be with your mother. Someday we’ll all be together. I love you Maria.”
When I first read that, and it is a true story, I marveled at the power of God’s word to change lives once it’s opened. A man who had never opened the Bible suddenly opened it and it gave life even in the midst of death. This book gives light in the darkness. It gives truth in the midst of a world of confusion. God wants us to know that this is a treasure given to the household of God. We have been called as Christians to be scribes, scribes of the kingdom, scribes of the scriptures, in order that we might find life and light and truth. Shall we pray?