June 1931
T h e
K i n g ' s
B u s i n e s s
243
Grurnbs Gfrom the K ing’s ^ab le
Stand Fast in th e Faith LESSED is the man who in times such as these, when the hearts of many are failing them with ¡ L p l r fear, can still serenely and sublimely say with the psalmist: “I have stuck to thy testimonies.” ^jgllllgjP You can well afford to cling to the Bible. “ j S j r l Y ou can confidently stick to its history. It was for a long time the habit of infidel critics to savagely as sail the Bible and to mock at its manifold inaccuracies.
It is my confident contention that if the facts of science be thoroughly known, and the teachings of Scripture be rightly interpreted, it will be found that “as face answers to face” in water, so does geology to Genesis. The tele scope of latest construction and of farthest reach has not yet made any discovery that contradicts a single line of the Book. You can afford to stick to its teaching as to doctrine and duty. The theory of evolution has been pressed to
But the very stones have been crying out against the critics, and monuments have been tumbling down upon the heads of the men who were digging a grave for the dear old Book. The bricks of Babylon have covered them with con fusion. Every spadeful of earth thrown up in oriental ex cavations has brought to light fresh confirmation of the truth of the holy Bible. You may stick to its science. There is no essential conflict between science and the Scripture. It was not in tended that the Bible should be a textbook of science. The Lord will not do for us that which we can do for ourselves, and which will make us all the better for the doing. There fore, He has not given us a scientific treatise on geology, but He has said to the rever ent scholar: “Come with your hammer and your pick and break up the stones and turn up earth’s strata. Read my elder revelation written on the rocks.” It will do him good. God has not given us a text book on astronomy, but He
such extravagant lengths that its exponents would have us believe not only that man is the subject of evolution, but that God is as well; that there was one kind of deity in the days of Abraham, another in the days of Moses, another in the days of Elijah, and so on. According to them, with the roll of the ages God has changed like a chameleon. These changes, it has been con tended, have been reflected in the character of His worship ers. As a corollary, it is de clared that, if Elijah or David were now to reappear on earth, no Christian church of the present day would receive them into its fellowship. We may frankly concede that down through the ages there has been increasing clearness in the knowledge of God, because there was in creasing revelation until God beamed upon the world in the face of Him who was “the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his per son.” We may frankly concede that neither the saints of the
Thy Word is Like a Garden, Lord Thy Word is like a garden, Lord, With flowers bright and fair; And every one who seeks may pluck A lovely cluster there. Thy Word is like a deep, deep mine, And jewels rich and rare Are hidden in the mighty depths For every searcher there. Thy Word is like a starry host; A thousand rays of light Are seen to guide the traveler, And make his pathway bright. Thy Word is like an armory, Where soldiers may repair, And find, for life’s long battle-day, All needful weapons there. Oh, may I love Thy precious Word, May I explore the mine, May I its fragrant bowers glean, May light upon me shine! —Edwin Hodder, 1868.
has said instead: “Come on ! Grind your lenses, fit them to your telescopes, and spell out my glory as it is written in the stars. Man can dig and delve and spell and cipher; he shall make his own science. He can do it well enough. But that which is too deep for his drill or his plumb line and too distant for his telescope—but which it infinitely concerns him to know—I will tell him; and I will put it in ,a book with my imprint on it.” It would be singular indeed if He who made the world and made the Book should, in the Book, mislead us as to the facts relating to the world. We may be sure that He has not done so. He is not responsible for the shallowness of man’s knowledge of science, nor for the shallowness of man’s interpretationis of the Bible.
Old Testament nor of the New were immaculate. The sins committed by them are candidly recorded, for the Bible is a very honest book; and these sins are held up* not for emulation or approbation, but for reprobation. And yet, through all these changes, God’s standard remains immutable; right is right and God is God—“the same yes terday, to day and for ever.” In these days of surging theological currents, in these days of perplexing doubt and perilous drift, when so many are being swept off their feet and borne far out to sea, let our word of faith and hope ring clearly over the abyss of the seething wa ters: “I have stuck to thy testimonies.” We may stick to its prophecy. “Prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of
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