T H E K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
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My Bible Address given a t W orld’s F und am en tal Conference, F t. W orth, Texas, by T. C. H orton
HERE did it come from— th is Book? Did Moses invent it? It stands alone, like a mountain peak, up and out from a world absolutely dependent upon some revelation concerning th e “where” and the “ how.” The Bible says, “In th e beginning, God!” Stand aside, puny puppet, w ith your suppositions; ta k e off your hat, bow your head! You stand in th e presence of Elohim . It is here we must begin. Somebody created th e universe. Someone m ust have created it. There is only one place to anchor our fa ith S - in th e revelation God has given us— th e Bible. The Bible asserts its claim to be the revelation of God. It makes no apology. I t speaks w ith authority. Does th a t settle th e question? Yes. Can you prove it? Yes; it proves itself.
su it for Adam and Eve. A curse upon the villian. A de claration of w ar between the villian and the seed of th e woman. A prophecy of th e victory of the villian over the seed of the woman: and the final victory of th e seed of the woman over the villian. A curse upon the wedded couple, and upon th e ground. A sho rt story, bu t the whole Bible, w ith 66 books, is used to tell th e development and sequel of th a t story. The story is the seed-plot of God’s plan and purpose in th is earth . The evidence is before us today everywhere—man w ith a sinful nature. Every child born into the world (ex cept on e)— born w ith a devilish n atu re: th e ea rth w ith its tho rn s and thistles. Man working a t the tho rn s and th is tles, yet never overcoming them save by constant daily toil, and never perm anently elim inating them. Now you have God’s plan like a panoram a sketched be fore you. There m ust be a man-child. He m u st be virgin- born. - In order to bring about th a t event God m ust choose a time, a place, a woman. Read th e Book! The long story of centuries is th ere, but, step by step through the years, slowly bu t surely God leads by a people, by prophets, to the cradle of Bethlehem. W hatever is worth believing is subject to proof of its tru th . God has endowed us w ith reasoning powers and ex pects us to b ready to give an answer to every one th a t ask- eth a reason of th e hope th a t is w ithin us. W e m ust not be content w ith blind belief. The Roman Catholics and Christian Scientists have a blind belief,fe^for th e one prohibits th e individual use of th e Bible, and th e th er insists th a t it can only be in te r preted by Mrs. Eddy. But th e belief of sboth, is easily re futed by th e facts. The Word of God has been the object of attac k since th e entrance of Satan in the garden. “Yea, hath God said?” Satan is th e first critic, the first assail ant, and the plan of attack has never changed. The point of- attack has changed. The enemies of th e Word of God are now w ithin the fold of th e so-called Evangelical church. Now they have soft words about “The dear B ible!” They have laid way th e hammer, and are strok ing th e Bible w ith love pats, telling us how nice and good it is, bu t— it is not true! Jesus Christ added his seal to th e au tho rity of the Old T estam ent in: «A n d b e g in n in g a t M o s e s a l l t b e p r o p h e t s , h n n t o t h em in a l l t h e S c r ip tu r e s t h e t h in g s c o n c e (L u k e 2 4 :2 7 .) Nearly one thousand times the Old T estam ent is quoted or alluded to in the New Testament. The Bible contains th ree solemn w arnings against adding to, or subtracting from , the Word of God: “Y e s h a l l n o t a d d u n t o t h e w o r d w h i c h I c o n e i t h e r s h a l l y e d im in i s h o u g h t f r o m i t , t h a t y e c om m a n d m e n t s o f t h e L o r d y o u r G od , w h i c h I c (H e u t . 4 : 2 ) «A d d t h o u n o t u n t o h i s w o r d s , l e s t h e r e p r o v e t b e f o u n d a li a r .” (P r o v . 3 0 :0 ) «A n d if a n y m a n s h a l l t a k e a w a y f r om t h e w o r o f t h i s p r o p h e c y , G od s h a l l t a k e a w a y h i s p a r t o o f l i f e , a n d o u t o f t h e h o l y c i t y , a n d f r om t h e t h i w r i t t e n in t h i s b o o k .” (R e v . 2 2 :1 8 , 1 9 ) V oltaire predicted th a t th e Bible would be extinct in a hundred years from his tim e (1778 ), b u t his printing-press passed into th e hands of p rin ters of th e Bible! Today the Bible is always on th e press of every country, and millions of Bibles are printed every year, in hundreds of languages. It is estim ated th a t enough have already been published to supply every fam ily in the world.
(1) ITS INSISTENT CLAIM (Speaks w ith au th o rity ). There are b u t two perfect things in the world—The In carnate Word of God, and th e W ritten Word of God, and th ere is a hum an and a divine element in each of them— bu t both are faultless. The Diving Word and the W ritten Word are one. There is never any conflict or disagreem ent between them . There are four texts which suffice to prove th a t th e Bible claims to be th e Word of God. « F o r e v e r , O L o rd , t h y W o r d I s s e t t l e d In H e a v e n .” ( P s a . 1 1 9 :8 9 ) « F o r th o u h a s t m a g n if ie d t h y w o r d a b o v e a l l t h y n am e .” . ( P s a . 1 3 8 :2 ) " .S a n c t ify t h em t h r o u g h t h y t r u t h ; t h y w o r d I s t r u t h .” ( J o h n 1 7 :1 7 ) «A n d h e s a id u n t o m e , t h e s e s a y i n g s a r e f a i t h f u l a n d t r u e ; a n d t h e L o r d G o d o f t h e h o ly p r o p h e t s s e n t h i s a n g e l t o s h e w u n t o h i s s e r v a n t s t h e t h i n g s w h i c h m u s t s h o r t l y b e d o n e .” (R e v . 2 2 :« ) There are hundreds of others. Moses received, no t com piled th e w ritten Word. « T h is i s t h a t M o s e s w h i c h s a id u n t o t h e c h ild r e n o f I s r a e l , a P r o p h e t s h a l l t h e L o r d y o u r G od r a i s e u p u n t o y o u o f y o u r b r e th r e n l i k e u n t o m e ; h im s h a l l y e h e a r .” T h i s i s h e , t h a t w a s In t h e c h u r c h in t h e w i ld e r n e s s w i t h t h e a n g e l w h i c h s p a k e t o h im in t h e M o u n t S in a i, a n d w i t h o u r f a t h e r s , w h o r e c e iv e d t h e l i v e l y o r a c l e s t o g i v e u n t o u s .” (A c t s 7 : 3 8 ) The first reference to th e w ritten Word is in Ex. 17:14: «A n d t h e L o r d s a id u n t o 'M o s e s , W r i t e t h i s f o r a m em o r i a l in a b o o k , a n d r e h e a r s e i t in t h e e a r s o f J o s h u a ; t h a t I w i l l u t t e r l y b lo t o u t t h e r em em b r a n c e o f A m a le k f r om u n d e r h e a v e n .” Have you ever noticed th e first chapter of Genesis— its brevity—simplicity— au tho rity ? “ In th e beginning God created ”— “And th e Spirit of God moved.” “And God said.” “And God saw.” “And God said.” “And God called.” “And God said.” “And God made.” (28 tim es in 24 verses) Then, Chapter 2, 1st verse: ‘«T hu s t h e h e a v e n s a n d t h e e a r t h w e r e f in is h e d , a n d a l l t h e h o s t o f t h em .” Over 2600 tim es the expressions “God spake,” “Thus saith the Lord” occur.
My Bible speaks for itself, defends itself, challenges all comers. It says “T ry me now and prove me,” and up rise ten thousand tim es ten thousand sain ts on earth , and ten m illion times ten m illion saints in heaven to swell the chorus— “Thy Word is tru th .” (2) ITS INDISPUTABLE EVIDENCE (P rogram— prophecy— purpose). It is no t my intention to follow the beaten path in th is argum ent, b u t let you look a t the Book as you would a t any o ther book. There is a plot— a theme. A wonderful wedding. A wed ding-gift of a world. A command. A penalty. A golden day. The entrancé .of a smooth-appearing, soft-voiced, lying villian. A fatal faíK An offended God. A blood-stained X s S
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