Does this mean we are not supposed to read the Bible? Absolutely not. Jesus said, recorded in the Gospel of John, He who is of God hears the words of God (John 8:47). Paul the Apostle wrote,

"Let the Word of Christ richly dwell within you; with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God." (Col 3:16)

For the same reason we need training in Evangelism, we need to study exhaustively the Word of God. Jesus cannot lead us to the Word of God in our seeking Him for answers to our needs unless we know the Word of God. Jesus can only lead us by what we know. Jesus, in talking about the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives, said, "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you" (John 14:26).

The better we know the Word, the more effectively Jesus is going to be able to use us. At the same time we cannot be certain that what we believe is Jesus’ leading in our lives through the ministry of the Holy Spirit is truly Jesus’ leading unless it is backed and supported by the Bible: God’s inerrant Word. This is why Isaiah, Paul and the writer of Hebrews states,

"To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn." (Isaiah 8:20)

"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." (2 Tim 3:16-17).

"For the word of God is spiritually-alive and energetically-affective and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing² as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the conscious-reasonings and intentions of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12)

Not only will we be able to distinguish what is truly Jesus’ voice through a thorough knowledge of God’s Word, but the writer of Hebrews also tells us we will also be able to distinguish what are truly the separate parts of man’s constitution, their interrelatedness, and through Jesus’ guidance through the Holy Spirit come to know what aspects of the Word apply to any given situation to truly deal with the heart of the matter in that part of man’s constitution that it truly relates to.

In this sense and context the Word of God is final authority over all issues. The word of God is final authority over the so called voice of Jesus or voice of the Holy Spirit.³⁴

The Word of God is Jesus’ provided measuring stick to help us determine what is truly His voice to us through the Holy Spirit.³⁵ Francis A. Schaeffer in his book, Escape From Reason, stated it this way:

"It is not a question of God revealing Himself in Jesus Christ only, because there is not enough content in this if it is separated from the Scriptures. It then becomes only another contentless banner, for all we know of what that revelation of Christ was comes from the Scriptures. Jesus Himself did not make a distinction between His authority and the authority of the written Scriptures. He acted upon the unity of His authority and the content of the Scripture."^13/83

The important thing for us to understand here is that Jesus is the answer to our need and knows what Scripture is needed in a given situation. Regardless of what we need, we enter into relationship with Jesus first to get the answer to our need through worship and praise and in Spirit and truth. We go to the Bible to train our minds and senses to discern that what we are receiving from Jesus through worship and praise is truly Jesus’ voice, because the Bible plainly states that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.³⁶ Jesus will never lead us contrary to the Word of God,³⁷ but Satan will.

In relating to Jesus to get the answer to our needs, first, we consider the objective facts; second, we take the objective facts to Jesus in prayer through worship and praise and in spirit and truth to get any subjective impressions not seen on the surface; third, we check the subjective impressions with the word of God to be sure that what we believe is Jesus’ revelation through the Holy Spirit is truly Jesus’ revelation because he never leads us contrary to the Word of God; and fourth, we check what we believe is Jesus’ leading with all proven facts not given in the Bible, but not in contradiction to it.

If we are to be successful in life and to know for certain what is Jesus’ leading in our life, a foundational knowledge and understanding of the Word of God is of first greatest importance. But this does not mean that limiting your education to the Word of God alone can make you a qualified minister in any field, otherwise, we would not need colleges and universities with fields in science, medicine, psychology, etcetera. What a knowledge of the Word of God will do is help us to discern what is true and what is false in the natural sciences that we pursue. Francis A. Schaeffer states,

"It is an important principle to remember, in the contemporary interest in communication and in language study, that the biblical presentation is that, though we do not have exhaustive truth, we have from the Bible what I term true truth. In this way we know true truth about God, true truth about nature. Thus on the basis of the Scriptures, while we do not have exhaustive knowledge, we have true and unified knowledge."^13/21

Airplanes are designed taking into consideration the unchanging law of gravity. Now you could study gravity the rest of your life, but this would never lead you to an adequate understanding of the physics and design of an airplane. But if you tried to build an airplane without taking the law of gravity into consideration first, you would never get off the ground, or if you did by some miracle get off the ground, you would probably end up crashing in the end. In other words you would fall into error. The Bible says, There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. (Prov 14:12). The law of gravity is the Bible of Aerodynamics. You cannot build an airplane with the knowledge of the law of gravity alone, but without this foundational understanding of the law of gravity first, you can never be sure that your science of aerodynamics is not in error, right, or safe, let alone whether or not it will get off the ground.

In the same sense the Bible does not tell us all there is to know about science, history, and the cosmos; but it does give us enough information in order to help us determine that the way we are pursuing our sciences and the way we are using our sciences is not in error.

For example: Uniformaterianism (evolution) states that the present is the key to the past, that the present aging process of the earth is as it always was from the beginning and the fossil layers are our proof to this fact and that men evolved from lower forms to higher forms until he became man.

The Bible in opposition to this tells us that God created the separate species spontaneously to reproduce only after their own kind (Gen 1-3) and that the fossil layers are a result of not slow progressive layering over millions of years but as a result of an instant catastrophe called the Genesis Flood which instantly destroyed all life forms upon the earth except Noah, his family and the collected animals upon the Ark (Gen 6-9, 2 Pet 3:3-7).

Since the theory of evolution contradicts God’s Word it is therefore false and must be rejected as truth. As long as science holds onto these false presuppositions as a basis for truth it will never come to the truth but will instead get farther and farther away from the truth and continue to bear the fruits of immorality in our society that it supports. There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. (Prov 14:12). . . . let God be found true, though every man be found a liar. . . . (Rom 3:4). Jesus said, For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me: for he wrote of Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words? (John 5:46-47).

The Franciscan Friar Roger Bacon, back in the thirteenth century, said that there are two sources of knowledge given to us by God: the book called the Bible and the book called nature.^18/100-101 If a person feels called to be an electronic engineer, and the next day is presented with an engineering problem to solve, without any previous schooling in electronic engineering, going to Jesus in worship and praise and in Spirit and truth for the answer is not going to help him. Why? Because Jesus through the Holy Spirit leads us to the solution to our needs by what we know. In this case the answer the person would probably get from the Lord would be to go to college and get a foundation in electronic engineering by completing a Bachelor of Science degree first, then He will show him the next step.

There are some special times when Jesus does give us knowledge beyond our knowledge. Harold Hill, an electric engineer, in his book, How to Live Like A King’s Kid, tells a story about some complicated electronic equipment that a set of technicians could not get to operate. Hill, himself, not knowing what to do prayed about it and the Lord gave him a mental read out, as he puts it, that told him exactly where the problem was, and thus by this revelation was able to get the equipment running.^19/157

These men, including Hill, had done all they knew to do in the natural and with the knowledge they had, but when a solution was not found, Hill was able to turn to the supernatural, Jesus, since his field at that point did not have an answer in this area of knowledge, and was able to get the answer they needed supernaturally.

I do not know all that the Bible has to say about theology and God’s truths and principles, but I have read through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation enough times that Jesus is able by the Holy Spirit to direct me to those specific passages that will give me the answer to my present theological problem.

In the same sense, having a degree in psychology or medicine or electronic engineering or whatever your field may be, does not make you an automatic success in these fields, but without this background information Jesus is not going to be able to bring to your remembrance the relevant principles of your particular field that is the right answer to your particular present problem at hand.

To depend on your knowledge alone will lead to error when it comes to dealing with man, particularly because of the complexity of inner problems. But to try and minister to someone having a problem that requires a professional education in Biblical psychology, without that back ground, solely through relationship with Jesus will also lead to error. Jesus leads us by what we know. Therefore, if Jesus is calling you to be a Christian psychologist, then to be a good psychologist you first need to know what God’s word teaches on the subject; second, you need to go to school and get a degree in psychology and then continually keep reading up on all the latest data as much as you are able. Why? So that Jesus by His Holy Spirit can more intelligently, more exactly show you what particular specific points of your previous education apply to the present need at hand.

When it comes to people’s needs or needs in science, irrespective of what we know, the Bible tells us we must approach Jesus like little children, as if we know nothing about the present need at hand. Why? Because only Jesus knows what aspects of our past education best applies to present problems at hand. This is because only Jesus knows exhaustively all the subjective and objective details involved. We do not because we are finite. He is infinite. Because we are finite we are foolish to not take His counsel into consideration as well in our considering how best to approach a problem since He is infinite and knows exhaustively all the details involved.

When it comes to getting the right answers to our problems, whether it be in relation to a person’s need, our needs, or our needs as related to our fields, it is not an either or situation. We need, first, a good strong foundation in the Word of God; second, an adequate educational background in our field; and then finally, we need to submit that knowledge to the Lordship and counsel of Jesus if we are to have the right answers to our present and daily problems and the right answers quickly.