The Extraordinary Light of Scripture

In a great article by Dr. Michael Haykin entitled: Remembering the Ministry of William Bridge, printed in the Fall Edition of the publication, Jubilee,[1] Dr Haykin references some of the thoughts of Bridge in relation to our Christian adherence to the written Word of God in contrast to the subjective impressions and supposed leadings of the Holy Spirit.   The article is worth reading in it’s entirety.  Here are a few insightful quotes from a preacher from the 17^th Century.

• Impressions, for example, “though good, are not our daily food.”
• Bridge admitted that God is indeed able to employ such to guide his people since the closure of the canon of the Scriptures, but essentially the written Word of God has replaced them, and they are to be viewed with great wariness.
• “If Luther had hearkened to revelations and visions, and not kept close to the Scripture, what had become of his reformation?”
• “Though God may sometimes lead a man in extraordinary ways, and work by ways and means extraordinary; yet if a man’s heart be drawn off from the ordinary means by what is extraordinary, it is not right.”
• In response to the Quakers who believed “if the Spirit that is in me, be the same Spirit with that which did write the Scripture, what need I wait on or be ruled by the word without, or the Scripture, any longer”, Bridge responded: “Because, although ye have the same Spirit which did write the Scriptures, yet you have not the same inspiration of the Spirit.”
• [“T]his light of Scripture is the best light, the most excellent light; more excellent than that of revelations and visions; more excellent than that of dreams and immediate voices; more excellent than that of impressions; more excellent than that of the law and light within; more excellent than that of Christian experience, or that of divine providence, or that of human reason; more excellent than this pretended light (but in truth, darkness) of judicial astrology. Surely therefore it is the most excellent, safe and sure light in the world.”
• Here is our exhortation: “Let it be your continual companion, going where you go; if you go into the fields, oh! let the word go with you; if into your calling, oh! let the Scripture and the written word of God be with you. Thus shall you take heed unto it, as to a light shining in a dark place.”

Emphasis mine!

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[1] Pages 34-44