IT ’ S SE T T L ED in Heaven There has never been any let-up in the attacks upon the Bible from the time the devil said to Eve, “ Yea, hath God said?” , and every attack upon its verity has been of the Devil. Satan has had and used all kinds of agents during the centuries, but He has never worked a more dangerous or dastardly scheme than the one he is putting over now. He has entrenched himself inside the professing church, and with subtilty sows the Seed of sedition among the saints. The great majority of the people in the church know but little, if anything, about the text of the Scriptures. Most of the sermons preached are textual, and while the matter of the sermon may be as good as any lecture or literary production, there is nothing of exposition of the Word of God; no arraying of the great truths by which and through which only can be produced strong, virile Christian life. The text is often but a mild sop to the people, and is used for the propaganda of any fad or fancy desired. What the preacher says is taken to be the teaching o f the Bible. Israel suffered because the shepherds failed to feed the sheep, and false shepherds— wolves in sheep’s clothing—did the devil’s work among the people. We need have no fear concerning the Word of God, for it is written: “ Forever, 0 Lord, thy Word is settled in heaven.” The minds of the people may be unsettled by the wily, wicked agents of Satan, but not a jot or tittle shall pass until all shall be fulfilled. We are not afraid for the Word of God, but we could earnestly desire that God’s people everywhere would give themselves to reading and studying the Bible for themselves. A man or woman with the Bible in hand, with some knowledge of its teaching, is always a terror to these plausible, pitiful pulpitteers who, when confronted with a passage of Scripture hem and haw and stutter and inwardly curse the teachers who are teaching the Word and arming the people with a “ Thus saith the Lord.” An evangelist was recently preaching upon the theme of Christ’s visible and personal return, and quoted the text: “ His feet shall stand upon the Mount of Olives.” On the following Sunday the pastor of one of the local churches made light of the statement as an absurd teaching. A business man, calling on a business matter in one of the homes, was questioned by a good woman of the pastor’s church concerning this statement, whereupon the business man took her Bible and opening to Zech. 14 :4 asked her to read it. The good woman said, “ Is that in the Bible? I didn’t know that was in the Bible.” Of course, how would she know? Is it not the business of the church to teach the Word? And if the people are not instructed, do they not become an easy prey to the Devil’s agents in the pulpit and school? We know that the Word of God cannot
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