68 The Fundamentals in Matthew His resurrection, in Mark His ascension, in Luke His parting benediction and promise of enduement, and in John the added hint of His second coming. The Epistles are likewise all necessary to complete the whole and complement each other. There are five writers, each having his own sphere of truth. Paul’s great theme is Faith, and its relations to justification, sanctification, service, joy and glory. James treats of Works, their relation to faith, as its justification before man. He is the counterpart and complement of Paul. Peter deals with Hope, as the inspira- tion of God’s pilgrim people. John’s theme is Love, and its relation to the light and life of God as manifested in the believer. In his Gospel, he exhibits eternal life in Christ; in his epistles, eternal life as seen in the believer. Jude sounds the trumpet of warning against apostasy, which implies the wreck of faith, the delusion of false hope, love grown cold, and the utter decay of good works. What one of all these writers could we drop from the New Testament? The Unity of the Bible is the unity of one organic whole. The decalogue demands the Sermon on the Mount, Isaiah’s prophecy makes necessary the narrative of the Evangelists. Daniel fits into the Revelation as bone fits socket. Leviticus explains, and is explained by, the Epistle to the Hebrews. The Psalms express the highest morality and spirituality of the Gld Testament; they link the Mosaic code with the Divine ethics of the Gospels and the Epistles. The passover fore- shadows the Lord’s supper, and the Lord’s supper interprets and fulfills the passover. Even the little book of Jonah makes more complete the sublime Gospel according to John ; and Ruth and Esther prophetically hint the Acts of the Apostles. Nay, when you come to the last chapters of Revelation, you find yourself mysteriously touching the first chapters of Genesis; and Io! as you survey the whole track of your thought, you find you have been following the perimeter of a golden ring; the extremities actually bend around, touch,
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker