For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. Acts 20:27

It's important that we declare all God's words, Paul certainly did. We can't cherry pick the bits we like and ignore the rest. Even the most estranged verses have spiritual meaning and insights to give us, and we shouldn't discount anything in scripture. The apostles believed that all the Bible was from God; ‘All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.’ (2 Tim. 3:16). We like the parts of scripture that teach us, those that inspire us. The correction and rebuking verses not so much! Even if we rationalise that it is better to accept those more difficult verses because it will be beneficial for us in the long run, it still isn’t nice to be corrected. Scripture is also useful for training, there is a difference between teaching which is learning information and training which is learning to apply the information. If you are studying for personal benefit, it can be quite relaxing experience. Contrast this with learning for an upcoming exam, or practical application, and it’s a very different matter. God’s word must always be enacted, we can’t just know it as head knowledge. The point is, that every word of scripture is important, different verses have different applications, and we cannot discard the parts that make us uncomfortable. Jesus declared that the word would not pass away (Matt. 24:35), and every small part of it would be fulfilled (Matt. 5:18). If you want to discard any verse of the Bible, you're disagreeing with Jesus. In the parable of the wise and foolish builders we find one man builds on the rock and the other builds on the sand. Jesus said that the rock represents His word and anyone who builds on it would avoid destruction. It’s a well-known parable. Have you ever considered what the sand represents? We know that the rock is obedience to the word of God. Sand is interesting because it’s essentially a mixture of lots of little particles. It contains lots of minerals, and powdered shells and soils. But, its main component is rock, rather than one complete rock, the solid foundation of God’s word, it is many, many small pieces of it. I don’t know if Jesus intended on us interpreting the parable this way but perhaps the one who built on the sand also knew God’s word. Perhaps he picked the bits he most liked, the portions of the word that seemed good to him all while rejecting the rock in its entirety.

I once wrote a scripture on the wall of our mother's and children's group. They had a huge whiteboard with inspirational scriptures on it. 'Jesus blessed the children', 'God puts the lonely in families', 'children are like arrows and blessed is the one who has a full quiver' etc. things that might be typically found in this kind of setting. So, in my mischievousness I thought it would be funny to write a random scripture on the wall, my plan was to pick a book of the Bible at random, then choose a random chapter and random verse and just leave the reference. In all honesty I didn't expect anyone would actually look up the reference. So, without looking at my Bible, I chose Numbers 5:22, because what was the harm? I wrote it on the board and left it there finding it quite amusing. The mothers group met two weeks later, and I was surprised when I got a phone call from my mother, she was the leader of this group. She immediately, and quite crossly, asked why on earth had I written 'that' on the board. At this point I had forgotten I'd even done it. A moment later I remembered, and I replied, how do you know that 'I' wrote something on the board? She said that I was the only one daft enough to do it! I suddenly became quite nervous because I was unable to remember exactly what I had written, I sheepishly asked, 'what reference did I write again?' Numbers 5:22 says, "May this water that brings the curse pass into your bowels and make your womb swell and your thigh fall away.’ And the woman shall say, ‘Amen, Amen.’" Whoops! What a thing to write on the inspiring scriptures board of the mother and toddler group! Ashamed I explained that it was intended as a practical joke and that I hadn't even checked the scripture before writing it. Then I proceeded to profusely apologised for my stupidity.

Let's go back to what we said at first, didn't I preach the whole word of God? I had merely written down a scripture at random. While there certainly is some spiritual truth in Numbers 5:22, perhaps I should have realised that writing it without context was a very foolish thing to do. Teaching on this verse in an expositional Bible study is one thing, sending it to a group of mothers without any explanation was quite another. Here we find a conundrum, should we leave verses our or not? Perhaps it is more to do with accepting scripture overall and being careful about when and how we apply each verse. On the one hand, we should be very careful what we say to people. God says we will be judged for every word carelessly spoken (Matt. 12:36). That our words have power and can bring destruction (James 3). And anyone who preaches and teaches without love is merely a clanging gong (1 Cor.13:1). Consequently, we need tact and love; we should use wisdom and rely on the Holy Spirit whenever we preach or teach the Gospel. And, even more so as we apply it in our lives. On the other hand, we should be prepared to speak the scriptures as they are written, even if some find it offensive. We are not here to spare the feelings of others; we are here to preach the truth of God's word. There were times in the Bible when Jesus flipped tables and when Paul caused riots in the pursuit of declaring the truth. These two extremes are clearly opposites, so how do we know which to do and when? We must first understand that it cannot be our personal preference; each person may easily claim that they are doing what seems right to them all the while nullifying God's will. We must do only what Spirit leads us to do. Sometimes He may require us to hold our tongue as Jesus did before Herod. Other times He may require us to boldly speak out against things, as Jesus frequently did with the religious leaders of His day.

We must also remember that the multifaceted nature of God’s word is there for multiple different occasions, there is no one solution fits all. We need to reply on God to know which verses to apply and when. Consider Luke 15, there are three parables of 'lost things'. The sheep is lost and must be searched out, the sheep needs to be found and brought back into the fold. It will never make its way back alone and will die without being saved. The lost coin is different, it is nearby and needs only to be set in its proper place. It never left the house; it was more ‘misplaced’ than truly lost. Finally, we have a lost son, the father doesn't run after him as with the lost sheep. Rather, he waits patiently for the son to return and welcomes him the moment the son appears on the horizon. These are all lost things, and all require different approaches. So how do we know which one to apply in our current circumstances? We must reply on the Spirit of God, He will lead us through the word of God. This is why we need the whole council of God, not every scripture is right for every occasion. We cannot only pick the scriptures we find encouraging; God may very well want to challenge or rebuke us!

Paul was on his missionary journeys and the Spirit of Jesus redirected him multiple times (Acts 16:6-7). Jesus said he only did what He saw the father in heaven doing (John 5:19). If the father wanted it, Jesus obeyed. We must always follow the leading of the Spirit, and in a humble manner. We can't simply rely on logic and good reasoning, God frequently required His people to do apparently foolish, irrational things:

• Build a huge boat inland and fill it with animals.
• Raise a staff over the sea and expect it to part while being chased by an army trying to kill you.
• Walk around a city in silence over and over again.
• Pour water three times on a sacrifice during a drought expecting it to be set alight from the sky.
• Walk around naked while preaching the word.
• Cook your food over manure and so on.

Surely any of us would look at this behaviour today and consider it madness. Yet, these were the actions of Godly people in the Bible. Anyone can claim 'I'm doing God's will' but are they right? One of the biggest conflicts Jesus had in the New Testament was with religious people who 'thought' they were obeying God's will. In reality, they were directly fighting against God. This is sobering, these people were very zealous for God, their zeal was biblically based but their zeal was misplaced. We have to follow what God actually wants and not what we think He wants. This requires sacrifice, faith and obedience. Following God isn't always 'sensible' in the eyes of others, it doesn't always appear 'kind' but it is always right. We follow the whole council of God’s word because we believe God speaks through every passage. Sometimes He encourages, sometimes He rebukes, Sometimes He trains us, but God’s word is always right.

‘Man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.’ Deut. 8:3

Pastor Joseph Jones