THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
437
^iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiimiiiiimmiimiiiniuiimimiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiminniiiiiiriiiiriiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiHiiig Dr. O . P. Gifford on The Bihle ffliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiliiiiiniiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiffi “A good book is th e precious life blood of a m aster-spirit, embalmed and treasu red on purpose, to a life beyond life.” John Bunyan pictures Evangelist holding the “Best of Books” in his hands. The usefulness of a book de pends upon its ch aracter and use. The worst of books may warm the body when used as fuel, the “Best of Books” will do no good in an ice chest. “The seed is th e Word of God.” It is only bird food on th e beaten path, rubbish on shallow soil, and a failure on the thorn-m ortgaged field. “ In good and honest h earts it brings forth, th irty , sixty, an hundred fold, “afte r its own kind.” A good and honest h e a rt su rrend ers to and .co-operates w ith th e living seed. The laboratory method analyzes and destroys, the honest method multiplies, organized life. Dr. J. B. Thomas, my pastor in Brooklyn, N. Y., once said to me, “ I was educated for th e law. A lawyer does not spend his tim e in criticizing th e law b u t in learning w hat it teaches and applying it to life.” I t would be contempt of court to tre a t th e decisions of judges as some critics tre a t the Bible. He sought to know w h at th e Bible teaches and to apply it to life. The Gospel was preached to th e Israelites in th e w ilderness as well as unto us,, b u t it did no t profit them , no t being mixed w ith faith. F aith is the g astric juice of th e soul. Food, unmixed w ith proper juice causes indigestion and h e a rt failure. T ru th unmixed w ith faith shortens sp iritu al life. Spiritual indigestion sh u t a generation out of Canaan. Dr. Landrum of Kentucky when a pastor in V irginia visited me in Boston. A fter hearing different Boston pastors
he asked me one day, “Do you know th e difference between the North and th e Sou th?” “Not w hat you have found, w hat is it? ” “ In th e North a text of S cripture is th e beginning of an argum ent, in th e South it is th e end of th e argum en t.” The North challenges, th e South ac cepts. If th e tex t has the countersign chosen by th e sentinel, it can en ter the camp, if not— “ Sibboleth.” The chem ist analyzes the seed, kills it and gives you the elements. The good h ea rt accepts and gives fo rth fru it." L isteners are not a class in chem istry bu t a field. The pastor should sow, not destroy.— Dr. O. P. Gifford. Dr. David J. B u rrell in a sermon recently said, “ If God were to reveal H imself in both hum an form and in Scripture, th e man and the Book would be in perfect accord w ith each other. The Book would be not only true, bu t in th e necessity of th e case, a com plete setting fo rth of God so far as it is im po rtan t th a t man should know Him. The Bible claims to be th e W ritten Word of God. On the o th er hand, a man claim ing to be incarnate God would have to be, in th e necessity of th e case, a tru e and complete revelation of God in all H is practical relations w ith us. He would need to be, as it were, th e articu late speech of God ad dressed to men. And th is is precisely the claim which is made for Jesus Christ. If these respective claims of Christ and th e Bible are true, we would expect them to agree, each w ith the other, perfectly. They do agrée per fectly. 'âs> 'éêr JESUS AND THE BOOK
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