In considering Christ as “the great Teacher”, last month, we noticed that He is the Prophet like Moses who was to be revealed in the fullness of time. When Moses explained his responsibilities to Jethro, his father-in-law, he specifically mentioned: “I do make [Israel] know the statutes of God and His laws” (Ex 18:16). It was his duty as a prophet – as one who was to reveal the mind of God to His creatures – to make them know how they should live. Later Moses was to bring down from Mount Sinai the tablets of stone on which were written the Ten Commandments, the authoritative summary of God’s law. These 10 commands were not only for the Children of Israel in Moses’ time; they give infallible direction to every future generation in every part of the world as to how they should live. But as individual Israelites came to Moses with their difficulties, he was able to give them divine direction for their particular circumstances.
We live in a different age. We cannot go with our particular difficulties to an inspired prophet to receive divine direction. Yet we not only have a completed Bible, we have Christ, of whom Moses was only a type. Although Christ is no longer physically present in the world, He still exercises the office of Prophet and is able to show us, “by His Word and Spirit” (Shorter Catechism 24), the statutes of God which are most relevant to us even in the most perplexing circumstances. Thus, as God’s people seek direction, they may look to Christ, to work through the Holy Spirit and bring suitable parts of the Word of God to bear on their thinking and, more generally, to influence their minds by the principles they have absorbed over the years from the Bible, so that they respond appropriately to their situation.
In countries which were in the past influenced by Christianity, people still follow some of its principles, to a degree. For instance, they still have a regard for human life and maintain a considerable degree of honesty in their dealings with one another. Indeed one sometimes wonders at the extent to which British society, for instance, still functions effectively, when the Christian basis for personal and business relationships has been so much undermined. Even in these days of great spiritual darkness, when the saving influences of the Holy Spirit have to a large extent been withdrawn, we have much reason to thank the Most High for His restraining mercy.
Today most people reject God’s Word, and His laws in particular. When rationalism has so largely infected the professing Church, we should not be surprised that the beliefs of those outside the Church are based on nothing better than human reason. We should be very conscious that unaided human reason provides an inadequate basis for deciding moral and spiritual issues. We are fallen creatures; our reason does not function properly; it has been corrupted. The natural man has no love for God or His law, and so is unwilling to submit to it. When people are confronted, for instance, with the obligation to keep the Sabbath – when faced with the call to “remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy” – they reject it because they have no sense of the authority of God or His Word. They consider it contrary to reason and they will not submit. They have no love for true spiritual activity; their desires are focused on the things of the world.
When a generation shuts out the light shed by the Bible, it is impossible for any human power to penetrate the darkness of the natural mind. A divine work is needed. That is not to suggest that it is inappropriate to refer to the Fourth Commandment and its authority; the point is the absolute necessity of Christ’s work, as the great Prophet, if such efforts are to be effective. Not even the sorrow, the heartbreak, so often associated with sins against the Seventh Commandment can stop this generation’s descent into immorality of every kind. If this descent is to be reversed, the authority of God’s law must be brought to bear on the consciences of people generally.
This may seem highly unlikely. A study, reported at a recent American Physical Society meeting in Dallas, Texas, examined census figures produced in nine countries, including the Netherlands, where already 40% of the population state that they have no religious affiliation. The study used a sophisticated mathematical technique and claimed that, in all nine countries, religious observance will almost entirely die out. The technique has already been used to analyse a wide range of phenomena in physics when a number of factors play a part, and has also been successfully applied to the declining use of minority languages.
Obviously religious observance in the West has decreased dramatically. No one needs advanced mathematical techniques to prove that, if present trends continue, Christianity will disappear in some parts of the world. On the other hand, there are false religions which are increasing in strength, not decreasing. In any case, it is never safe to assume that present trends will continue indefinitely. More seriously, this study ignores the power of God, the work of the Lord Jesus Christ as Prophet, and the activity of the Holy Spirit in bringing the Word of God to bear on the souls of sinners, even those who willfully disregard God’s authority.
No one can be sure that the Church of God will be maintained in any particular place. But one thing is certain: “as long as the sun and moon endure” – that is, “throughout all generations” – there will always be some who will fear God in some parts of the world” (Ps 72:5). And, in due time, Christ will so work, by His Word and Spirit, that He will be glorified throughout the whole world by sinners believing the truth and trusting in Him.
Sinners reject many doctrines as contrary to reason. In any case, the wish is often father to the thought. They do not want to believe, for instance, that God must punish sin. This solemn truth does not meet the approval of their fallen reason; they turn away from it and ignore their need of the Saviour. Similarly, they may refuse to believe in a lost eternity; they may even refuse to believe that human beings continue to exist, in any sense, after death. But however immune individuals or communities may feel to religion, Christ, through the Spirit, is able to impress them with such doctrines when, in providence, they are brought into contact with revealed truth. No sinner is too ignorant or too rebellious for this Prophet to deal with.
It is not a mere theoretical knowledge of God’s law or other doctrines that the Spirit brings about. He imprints both law and gospel on the soul, so that the person’s heart and life are transformed. Thus the Lord promised: “I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts” (Jer 31:33). As Matthew Henry points out, God then “works in them a disposition to obedience, a conformity of thought and affection to the rules of the divine law”.
When sinners, now born again, submit to God’s law, they are also made willing to receive other teachings of Scripture – that God, for instance, must punish sin. They now learn to pray, “Lead me in Thy truth, and teach me: for Thou art the God of my salvation; on Thee do I wait all the day” (Ps 25:5). And He says to them: “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with Mine eye” (Ps 32:8). It is a promise that Christ as Prophet will go before them throughout the rest of life’s journey, until they reach a world when there are no difficulties of any kind.
Unbelieving researchers may use mathematics as a tool in predicting the demise of religion. The mathematics employed may have been flawless; it may make the conclusions appear impressive but does not make them true. Important factors were ignored: among them Christ’s work as Prophet and the power of the Holy Spirit. Whatever may happen for a time in some countries, true religion will never disappear; it will yet powerfully influence the whole world. When that happens, people everywhere will realise that all the doctrines of the Bible are perfectly consistent with true reason.