13 Stott, Between Two Worlds , 95.
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4 Edmund Clov ney explains that Abraham believed when he had "received the wordbut not the event", a distinction on which the structure of promise in the covenant restsPreaching and Biblical Theology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1961), 45 10 Prophets. Let them be convinced, however, that though God is not verbose he is explicitto interpret his deeds Ultimate proof of God joining together word and deed is the Logos, the Christ, theSon of God, in whom the writer of Hebrews exulted, "In the past God spoke to ourforefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last dayshe has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whomhe made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory, and the exact representationof his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word" 15 Not only did God disclosehimself in his Son, but this Son, Jesus, also spoke, as the gospel writers give record Whilethe centrality of Christ in the preaching event will be dealt with later in this chapter, theincarnation and ministry of Jesus Christ provides confirmation that God wants to beknown. Furthermore, he wants preachers to make him known The means by which men are to know God and make him known is the ScripturesDefined as "God's Word written" in Article 20 of the Church of England's 39 Articles, theScriptures go beyond the revelation of God's past acts with their contemporaneous verbalexplanations The Scriptures are a record, accurately preserved, of God's redemptiveactivity in history He desired, as the Scriptures demonstrate, to not only be known bypeople of the past but by people of today Stott concluded that only by committing hisself-disclosure to writing "could God’s particular revelation become universal, and what hedid and said in Israel and in Christ be made available to all people in all ages and places" 16
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