Some time ago, we went to Atlantic City to preach in one of the churches there for several days. It was off-season and one of the great hotels there gave the church one of its loveliest suites for us to enjoy. We looked out across the Atlantic in its ever changing moods and enjoyed its beauty to the full. Now suppose that a young friend who lived in Iowa and who had never had the privilege of journeying to the coast to see one of the oceans should have asked us to write him about the ocean. What would you think if we wrote as follows.
We have a beautiful room and a picture window gives us a sweeping view of the ocean. The window is 12 feet 2 inches long and 4 feet 8 inches high. It’s divided into three sections. We’ve taken a scraping of the glass and had it analyzed and can tell you the chemical formula of the glass. We have had an expert from one of the glass companies tell us all about the glass and we’re giving you herewith a history of the invention and development of the glass. The glass is set in steel frames that are painted black and we have had the steel analyzed and the paint analyzed and you can read the analysis in our 2nd and 3rd studies affixed to this letter. And then we have discovered that the panes of glass are kept in the frames by a putty composition and we’ve scraped down some of this and are giving you a long addenda of the chemical composition of the putty. And finally, we’ve inquired from the hotel management and found their method of keeping the windows clean and you’ll be delighted to know from the subjoin study that the whole process of the window cleaning is how its carried on and the formulas of the special detergents needed to cope with the salt spray from the ocean. And in closing, let us say that we hope you have enjoyed our study of the ocean.
Well, we smile at such a farcical parable, but it must be admitted that there are people who can name for you the books of the Bible and can give you the history of the Jewish people, the list of the kings who judged in Judah and Israel, and a mass of background material about the written Word of God, and who nevertheless seem to forget that the Bible exists only to bring us to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the ocean beyond the window. The young man might decide that seeing the ocean was not worth the trip to the Atlantic coast. And surely, if it were no more than a study of the window through which the ocean might be seen, he would be right. How many people have been turned away from the road that leads to the Lord Jesus Christ by the inept way in which some who count themselves among His most zealous followers point not to the Lord Jesus Christ, but to some of the mechanics by which God has brought Him to us. Now I will not be misquoted. I am not lessening my concept of the Word of God. I believe that all scripture is God-breathed and that it is profitable for all the things for which God gave it. But at same time, I must insist, that God gave it in order that we should look through it and beyond it, to the Lord Jesus Christ.
If your concept of the Bible does not bring to your life the warm compassion of the Savior, you have not seen the Word of God aright. If your knowledge of the Bible does not give you an integrity that makes your word as good as your bond, you have not seen the Word of God aright. If you can rise from reading the Word of God and go on to a life of petty gossip or inane pastimes, you have not seen the Word of God aright. Now, let us sum up what we have seen and go on to examine the chain of thought which is before us. God has done all things for us and all things are available to all men in Jesus Christ. All that a man must do is to call upon the name of the Lord, but the call must be preceded by faith. Not only faith in the existence of God but in the revelation of God in His Word, and this faith must bring us to the understanding of the Lord Jesus Christ; in His atoning death and in His saving life and love.
Donald Grey Barnhouse
