The Holy Spirit dictated the Bible. "Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost" (II Pet. 1:21). We are told that the things God has prepared for us are not known by eye, nor ear, nor heart of man; "But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit" (I Cor. 2:10). And even the very words of divine revelation are given by the Holy Spirit. "Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Spirit teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual" (I Cor. 2:13). The Holy Spirit is the author of the Bible. So the Word of God is fittingly called, "The sword of the Spirit" (Eph. 6:17). - John R. Rice [Twelve Tremendous Themes, pg. 112]
When we come to read or study the Bible then, we should be conscious of the Spirit's presence. We should always ask Him to teach us the Word of God. Many times when I write an article or preach a sermon, I earnestly pray for the Spirit to bring to my remembrance the Scriptures on the subject and to help me understand them. And strangely, often when I am in the pulpit, in the midst of a sermon, Scriptures come to mind that I did not think about when I prepared the sermon. And oftentimes after I have read the Scriptures in the pulpit, there comes to me such light on the Word of God as I did not have in the study and preparation. But that only happens, of course, as I am led by the Spirit of God and when I am surrendered to Him and have an open receptive heart. He is the Comforter, the Guide, and the Teacher of the Christian. - John R. Rice [Twelve Tremendous Themes, pg. 117]
Is the Bible a trustworthy book, or is it meant to deceive? Must humble Christians approach the Bible with wary caution, feeling that God in the Bible means to trap them into false teaching, that it cannot be believed and taken at simple face value? Do you believe that the Bible does not literally mean what it says, and that it cannot be taken at face value? Well, I for one believe nothing of the kind. I believe it is meant to be understood, that the Bible may be taken at honest face value. I believe that the Holy Spirit can be trusted, and that what He has written down for us was written honestly, with frankness, with simplicity, for believing heats, and is worthy of all acceptation. - John R. Rice [Twelve Tremendous Themes, pg. 192]
False teachers have written that they would hate a God who would send a sinner to Hell to be tormented forever. And others have said that God is too good to send a sinner to Hell. Well, we know nothing about how good God is except by the Bible. I had rather one line from Jesus Christ about what kind of Hell sinners go to than to have all the theories in the world formulated by men as to what they think God would do or would not do. - John R. Rice [Twelve Tremendous Themes, pg. 193]
Satan hates the idea that sin must be punished. Men everywhere condone sin and shun the ideas of judgment and punishment and eternal ruin for Christ-rejecting sinners. BUT BACK TO THE BIBLE! To every believing, humblehearted person of childlike faith the Bible speaks with awful solemnity and terrible certainty about the fact of eternal torment for sinners who will not repent, will not turn from their sins to God nor trust in the Saviour God has provided. Men who go by their own theories may believe something else, but all who are willing by childlike faith to receive God's Word on the subject must believe in eternal torment in Hell. - John R. Rice [Twelve Tremendous Themes, pg. 193]
If you find any Scripture that, to you, seems to teach that God will reconcile lost sinners in Hell to Himself one day, then you are perverting that Scripture, because you are making it contradict the plain and emphatic statement of passage after passage scattered throughout the whole Bible. - John R. Rice [Twelve Tremendous Themes, pg. 199]
The Bible, God's Word, never contradicts itself. When it appears to do so, it is because the Scripture is misinterpreted by men who have twisted Scripture to make it prove what it does not mean. - John R. Rice [Twelve Tremendous Themes, pg. 199]
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