them to teach him. Though he was a scholar of great biblical knowledge and experience Geoffrey always had fresh insights to share about things that God was teaching him in the Scriptures. Though he was in his seventies he would often admit that he had previously been wrong about something. Through the process of going to the Pastors Group God slowly taught me that if I was to preach His word, instead of just ‘using’ the Bible, then I needed to stand in His council and hear the whole counsel of God.
There is resistance in the human heart to hearing the word of God. That is why, when teaching the people, Jesus repeatedly added,
“He who has ears to hear let him hear.” Mark 4:9
Having ears to hear means having a heart that is ready and willing to hear the counsel of God and do the will of God.
Standing in God’s council and hearing His counsel
In Acts 20 Paul meets with the Elders of the church in Ephesus for the last time. He tells them that in his ministry to them as an apostle he has not failed to declare to them the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27). The whole counsel of God is the understanding that the Scripture gives of God’s whole purpose, plan and action in human history. That whole counsel of God is about Christ, who is the living Word of God. It is
the mystery of (God’s) will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. Ephesians 1:9,10
The whole counsel of God is the word of Christ (Colossians 3:16), the word become flesh and living among us (John 1:14). In him we hear the word of the cross (1 Corinthians 1:18). And so faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ (Romans 10:17).
The two disciples on the Emmaus road were foolish and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets had spoken. But for them, and then for those back in Jerusalem, Jesus opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. The two going to Emmaus exclaimed,
Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” Luke 24:32
Thus by standing in the council of the Lord they came to understand the wonder of the counsel of the Lord (Luke 24:13-49). Likewise, if we are to understand the whole counsel of God we too will need to stand in the council of the Lord and pay attention and listen (Jeremiah 23:18,22).
Standing in the council of the Lord
We could understand an unbeliever saying, “I haven’t got much time for the word of God”. But it would appear that many of God’s people, like unbelievers, haven’t got much time for God’s word either. Today many Christians spend large amounts of time thoroughly learning the whole counsel of their profession, or working and playing on the computer, or watching television, films or sport. But they spend comparatively little time standing in the council of the Lord.
It is true that we are busy people and don’t have much time after we have performed life’s duties. But here are some ways that we can stand in the council of the Lord and so come to have the whole counsel of God revealed to us.
Soaking in the Scriptures
Those who take the trouble to read the Bible through, or to read a whole book of the Bible through, find that it gives them a perspective that is not gained by just reading familiar or favorite passages from the Bible.
I have found it most helpful to listen to the Bible being read on tape. I have a little listening program for each day consisting of the following:
- four chapters from Genesis to Job
- five Psalms
- four chapters from Proverbs to Malachi
- three chapters from the Gospels and Acts
- four chapters from Romans to Revelation
I listen to the Psalms and Epistles before I get up in the morning, the Gospels and Acts in the bathroom, and the Old Testament in the car or while exercising. While I only manage to average about 12-15 of the 20 chapters each day, the impact upon my mind is very significant and the time spent is full of communion with God. I find that His Spirit speaks to me as His word is read to me.
Studying the Scriptures
In addition to reading the Scriptures it is necessary to study them. I use what I call the ‘Sussans’ method of Bible study. Just as ‘this goes with this goes with that at Sussans’ (a women’s store specializing in clothing coordinates), so words and themes in the Bible can be followed throughout the Scriptures. We find that this passage goes with this passage goes with that passage to give great insight into the counsel of God. A concordance can be a helpful way of following these themes. Another way is to use a book in which the author has done the Bible search for you and takes you through the theme. Geoffrey Bingham’s are books very faithful expressions of this method. Some prefer books of exciting stories and inspiring illustrations, but the person who wishes to search the Scriptures and understand the whole counsel of God will find that much of the time-consuming work has already been done for them in Geoffrey’s books. The question is ‘Do I want to submit myself to God, to stand in His council and listen, and so to know His counsel?’
Memorizing the Scriptures
When we begin to see the jigsaw picture of God’s counsel come together before our eyes we realise that some passages in the Bible are central to that revelation. It is good to commit these to memory as a way of hiding the word of God in our hearts and renewing our minds in God’s will. It is said that while in a concentration camp Alexander Solzhenitsyn memorized about 12,000 lines of his writings, having no paper to write them down. The capacity of the human mind to store the word of God would appear to be almost limitless.
Esteemed by God
My hearts desire for you is that you be the person God speaks about in Isaiah 66:2.
This is the one I esteem:
he who is humble and contrite in spirit,
and trembles at my word. (NIV)
I pray that you will be
like Ezekiel, and take the scroll the word of the Lord and ‘eat’ it (Ezekiel 3:1-3),
like the two going to Emmaus, whose hearts burned within them when Jesus opened to them the Scriptures (Luke 24:32).
like the church after the day of Pentecost, and devote yourself to the apostles teaching (Acts 2:42),
like the Bereans, and receive the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to confirm the truth of Christ (Acts 17:11),
Then you will be able to respond to the Lord and His revelation as Mary did and say with her,
Behold, I am the servant of the Lord;
Let it be to me according to your word.” Luke 1:38
Rod James
Oct 2003
Quotations are from the English Standard Version. Permission is given to copy in this form.
Standing in
the Council of the Lord
A famine of hearing the word of God
At various times in the history of God’s people there has been a dis-inclination to hear the word of God, and so God has brought a judgment in the form of a ‘famine’ of hearing the words of the Lord.
“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord GOD,
“when I will send a famine on the land—
not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water,
but of hearing the words of the LORD.” Amos 8:11
One such occasion was in the days of the prophet Jeremiah. Even God’s prophets were not paying attention to His word and listening.
Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’”For who among them has stood in the council of the LORD to see and to hear his word, or who has paid attention to his word and listened? Jeremiah 23:16-18
The Sadducees in Jesus’ day had a very stunted view of the kingdom of God, and Jesus said to them,
“Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?” Luke 12:18-27
Even Christian ministers today can use the word of God without really hearing and understanding it.
When I was the minister at the CoromandelValleyUnitingChurch I used to go to the monthly Pastors’ Group at New Creation Teaching Ministries. There Rev Geoffrey Bingham would give a paper on some aspect of the teaching of the Scriptures. This was a painful experience for me because each month I would realise that since the last Pastors’ Group I had fallen back into a pragmatic use of the Bible. That pragmatism went like this. At the beginning of each week I would ponder what I might preach on the following Sunday. Selecting a subject that I wanted to motivate the troops about I would then look for passages of Scripture which would back upwhat I wanted to say. When I turned up each month to the Pastor’s Group I encountered a man who had been searching the Scriptures and allowing