We took a seeming diversion last week to briefly address The Da Vinci Code and the fallacies it asserted about the Bible and church history. In these times, we can expect an increasing onslaught of such attempts to sow into the minds and hearts of people, and at the very least, cause them to doubt the validity of the Scriptures. Of course, The Da Vinci Code goes far beyond that and actually promotes paganism, secret societies, and other forms of demonically inspired worship, but there is an obvious reason why the Scriptures must be attacked to do this. The Scriptures are the greatest threat to the powers of darkness. This also brings up another point about how many of the Reformers thought that certain biblical prophecies would be fulfilled, especially that of Revelation 11:4-12:

These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth.



And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner.



These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.



When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them.



And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.



Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves.



And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.



Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them.



And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them (NKJV).

These two witnesses were considered by many Reformers (not all) to be the Old and New Testaments. In verse 6 it says, "These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire," as they do as often as it is written in them.

During the period we call the Reformation, the Scriptures themselves were the main target of the counter Reformation forces, and then of the humanistic philosophers like Voltaire. It was the Scriptures that had awakened the Reformation; it was the printing of the Gutenberg Bible that fueled it; and it was primarily the Bible that stood as a witness against all of the evil ways of mankind—either from the perversion of the faith in religious institutions, or from the denial of faith by the humanists. This onslaught brought about a period when it seemed that the Bible may actually have been eradicated from influence in Europe, and then it shocked the world by standing up more powerfully than ever, which some considered its exaltation to heaven.

Regardless of whether the text in Revelation 11 is about the Old and New Testaments or not, there has been, and we can expect there to always be, an onslaught of the devil to destroy men's faith in the Scriptures. If Jesus, who was the Word, would stand on "it is written," how much more do we need to take our stand on what is written when confronted by the onslaught of evil in these times? We will be strong to the degree that we know and base our lives on the Word of God. The devil knows this and it is why he fears the written Word of God the most, and why he has an unrelenting attack on it which he began in the Garden when he asked Eve, "Did God say that?" (see Genesis 3:1)

Again, the very first tactic of the devil is to undermine faith in the Word of God. Therefore, it is crucial that we establish in our hearts and minds that it is the Word of God, and that we will live by it. Both the Old and New Testaments pass every test for authenticity of ancient works devised by science probably far more than all other ancient works, yet few scientists seldom admit to this. This is mostly because true objectivity and intellectual honesty is rarely found in science when it has anything to do with verifying the Scriptures, faith, creation, etc. They will usually accept the most flimsy evidence if it seems to undermine the validity of the Scriptures or faith, and they will reject a mountain of evidence as not being proof if it confirms them. This is to be expected.

With true objectivity and true intellectual honesty, science overwhelmingly confirms both the Scriptures and creation. However, our faith should not be dependent on what science says about the Bible, but on what the Holy Spirit says about it. The Bible is the only ancient book whose Author is still alive! We can ask Him any questions, and He will teach us in the most powerful and substantial way that anyone can be taught—by the anointing.

When we read the Scriptures, we should be doing much more than just trying to learn the text—we should be learning about Him from Him. This is the great lesson from the greatest sermon ever preached on the earth—the Lord's teaching of the two men on the road to Emmaus.

In this story, Christ is preaching Christ from the beginning of the Scriptures until the end. How could any sermon ever surpass that? However, they still could not recognize Him until they saw Him break the bread. I think that, like these two, we most often miss the Lord when He tries to draw near to us because, as it states in Mark, "He appeared to them in a different form" (see Mark 16:12). If they had known Him after the Spirit instead of just appearances, they would have recognized Him right away, which is why He did this. We, too, often can only recognize Him if He comes in a way or form that we are used to. He must deliver us from this if we are to truly know Him after the Spirit.

What will open our eyes to recognize Him is when we see Him break our bread. It is not just hearing the words of the Lord that is important, but hearing the Word Himself. He may speak to us through familiar people such as our pastor, teacher, or authors, but He may also choose to speak to us through unfamiliar sources. He Himself wants to be our Teacher. He will often use the ministries of those He appointed in His church as teachers, pastors, apostles, etc., but it should be His voice that we seek to hear. When He is teaching us, the letter comes to life.

With the onslaught that will always come against the Scriptures, we should also increase our resolve to read them, know them, and stand on them. In whatever way we are being attacked by the devil, we should have a ready answer from the Word to stand on just as the Word Himself did. There is an answer to everything we are going through in the Bible.

The more you read the Scriptures, the more you will also know for sure that no human agency could have ever written them. As Napoleon is said to have remarked after reading the Gospel of John, "If Jesus is not the Son of God, then the one who wrote this Gospel is! I know men, and no man could have written anything like this!"

Even so, Spurgeon once said that he could find ten men who would die for the Bible for every one who would read it. We should appreciate those who defend the Bible, but that is not enough. If we really believe that the Bible is the Word of God, how can we neglect it? If you knew that the mother lode was buried in your backyard, you would be foolish not to quit work, rent a backhoe, and dig! We have something much more valuable than the mother lode gathering dust on our bookshelves! Are we not the greatest of fools if we are neglecting such a treasure?

Isaiah 59 seems quite an accurate representation of our time, but we are assured in verses 18-19:
 

Just as there is an onslaught of evil, multitudes are turning to righteousness. Just as there is a massive assault on the validity of the Bible, even more are finding it to be the true Word of God. Just as many are becoming increasingly enraged at the unrelenting message of the Bible, many more are loving its truth more deeply. When the enemy comes in like a flood, we should never get discouraged, but rejoice and begin to look for the standard that the Lord is raising up. His truth will certainly prevail.