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T H E K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
“The Word of God endureth forever." By its own weight it has crushed all rivals and it will continue to do so unto the end. (3) ITS ENDESTBUCTIBILITY (Cannot be shaken or changed— th e Rock of ages). “H e a v e n a n d e a r t h s h a l l p a s s a w a y , b n t m y w o r d s h a l l n o t p a s s a w a y .” (H a r k 1 3 :3 1 ) The Bible is one book. Every word is essential. “N o t o n e j o t o r t i t t l e s h a l l p a s s a w a y u n t i l a l l s h a l l b e f u l f ille d .“ (M a t t . 5 :1 8 ) The Lord has set His seal to it,— “The Scripture cannot be broken.” (John 10:35)
T estam ent begins w ith Christ, and ends w ith th e prom ise of His second coming. There is a marvellous proof in the Bible itself of th e ab solute oneness of th e Living Word and th e W ritten Word. Both are expressions of the m ind of God: “Who being the brightness of His glory and th e express image of H is per son.” (Heb. 1 :3 ) “ I have w ritten— the g reat things of my law .” (Hosea 8:12 ) B o th have etern al existence. “ Jesus Christ, the same, yesterday, today and forever.” (Heb. 12 :8 ) “The Word of God which liveth and abideth forever.” (1 P etj 1:23 ) Both are God’s messengers to a lo st w orld: “God, hav ing raised up His Son Jesus, sent him to bless you.” (Acts 3 :26) “ Blessed are they th a t hear th e Word of God and keep it.” (Luke 11:28) B oth ¡partake of th e hum an and divine. “ God was mani fest in th e flesh.” (1 Tim. 3 :16 ) “Holy men— spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” (2 Pet. 1:21) B oth are faultless. “ In H im is no sin. (1 John 3:5) “Every Word of God is pure. (Prov. 30:5) Both are sources of life. “I am— the life.” (John 15:6) “The Word of God is quick (living) and powerful.” (Heb. 4 :12) Both are light. “ I am th e ligh t of th e world. (John 8 :12) “The commandment is a lamp, and the law is ligh t.” (Prov. 6:23) Both are tru th . “ I am th e T ru th ” (John 16 :6 ) “Thy Word is tru th .” (John 17:17) Both a re food fo r th e soul. “ I am th e Bread of Life.” (John 6:35 ) “Man doth not live by bread alone, b u t by every word th a t proceedeth out of the m outh of th e Lord.” (Deut. 8 :3 ) B o h m u st.b e received in o rd er to be saved.” “As many as received him, to them gave he power to become th e sons of God.” (John 1:12 ) “Receive w ith meekness the en grafted Word, which is able to save your souls.” (Jam es 1 : 21 ) The rejection of eith er entails g rea t loss. “ If you be lieve not th a t I am He, ye shall die in your sins." (John 8 :24) “ If they h ear not Moses and th e prophets, n either will they hear, though one rose from the dead.” (Luke 16:31) . Both are despised and rejected by th e n a tu ra l man. “He is despised and rejected of men.” (Isa. 53 :3 ) “F u ll well ye reject the commandment of God th a t ye may keep your own trad itio n .” (Mark 7:9) Both w ill judg e n s a t th e la st. “He will judge the world in righteousness, by th a t Man whom he h ath or dained. (Acts 17:31) “The dead were judged ou t of those things which were w ritten in th e Book (Rev. 22:12) Bearing in m ind th e declaration of w ar between Satan and Christ, as given in Gen. 3:15, then it is plain th a t every attack upon th e w ritten Word is an attac k by Satan upon the living Word. Were the w ritten Word destroyed man would be w ithout a message, th e sky w ithout a sup, life w ithout a light, th e dawn would give place to darkness, the foundations of society would crumble. (4 ) ITS IRRESISTIBLE POWER and INSPIRING IN FLUENCE. (Quick— powerful— life-giving and life-creat ing ).
Every p art is interwoven with every o th er part. It is complete, a chain, one link of which, if broken, destroys th e chain. It is a stru ctu re bu ilt upon a sure foundation by th e Di vine A rchitect, every p art of which is necessary to its com pleteness, from the pencil of the arch itect to the beams and girders which support th e building. It is an organic unity, every p a rt of which is pervaded by the Spirit of Life, and not a single book could be om itted w ithout destroying th e organism . Every book is in perfect agreem ent w ith every other book, a diversity in unity, and a unity in diversity. Think of two reporters giving an account of some occurrence, how they differ al though both were eye-witnésses. But here are books which were w ritten centuries ap art, by forty different w riters, du ring a period of 1600 years, going forward in sto ry and prophecy, and yet all guided by one unseen, bu t unerring Hand. The plan of God, embracing a period of 4000 years, is condensed in th irty -n in e books of th e Old Testam ent, which include the Law, th e Prophets, and th e Psalm s. This arrangem ent was verified by Christ in Luke 24:44: To be properly understood you m u st know it all. Here lies th e g rea t weakness in the m inistry, and consequently in the church, so many men have not read or studied the Book. An instance of th e ignorance reg ard ing the Bible among so-called educated people is furnished by th e L it erary D igest which states th a t in th e University of North Dakota seven percent of th e studen ts could no t name a single book of th e Old T estam ent and less th a n fifty per cent could name ten books. F ou rteen of them named Heze- kiah as “ one of the books of Moses.” Answers in regard to th e New Testam ent were even more unsatisfactory, eight and one-half per cent being unable to name a single book. Seventeen named “P au l” as one of th e books of th e New Testament,—^th ree suggested “ Simon,” and two "Jacob.” O thers mentioned “Thomas” and “Lazariis,” etc. The com m ent of th e L iterary Digest on th is state of affairs, is this: “We are weighed and found w anting.” Even Hume, the em inent historian, who boasted of being th e prince of skep tics, confessed to Dr. Johnson th a t he had never read even the New Testam ent w ith attention. The Bible contains no contradiction. There is a mystery about it, as th ere was a mystery in th e cloud th a t led Israel th rough the sea and through th e wilderness. How could a cloud have any au tho rity? and yet it was a simple thing to follow where it led, and to ta rry where it rested. The secret things belong unto God. The question in th e Old Testam ent is “Where are thou ?” in th e New T estam ent “Where is H e?” The Old T estam ent begins w ith God, and ends w ith a prophecy of the coming of Christ. The New
“A n d h e s a id n n t o t h em , T h e s e a r e t h e w o r d s w h i c h I s p a k e u n t o y o n , w h i l e I w a s y e t w i t h y o n , t h a t a l l t h in g s m u s t h e f u l f i l l e d , w h i c h w e r e w r i t t e n in t h e l a w o f M o s e s , a n d in t h e p r o p h e t s , a n d in t h e p s a lm s c o n c e r n in g m e .” There is a progress of doctrine from Genesis 3:15 to the Cross: “A n d I w i l l p u t e n m i t y b e tw e e n t h e e a n d t h e w o m a n , a n d b e tw e e n t h y s e e d a n d h e r s e e d : i t s h a l l b r u is e t h y h e a d , a n d t h o u s h a l t b r u is e h i s h e e l .”
“F o r t h e W o r d o f G od i s q u ic k a n d p o w e r f u l ; s h a n y tw o - e d g e d sw o r d ; p i e r c in g e v e n t o t h e d i v id i o f s o u l a n d s p i r i t , a n d o f t h e j o in t s a n d m a r r o w ; a c e r n e r o f t h e t h o u g h t s a n d in t e n t s o f t h e h e a r t .” (
There you have it. Do you w ant an illu stration ? Read th e Old T estam ent and read the New Testament. Why is America, th is young nation, th e leading nation of th e world (Continued on Page 125)
Education Without the Word is Erroneous (Page 77)
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