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THE KING’S BUSINESS
sought joy wherever it was to be found, in pleasure, in study, and in sin, and have at last found a joy in the Bible they found nowhere else. There is a countless multi tude who have been lifted out o f awful depths o f despair into lofty heights o f unut terable joy by the truths this Book con tains, and the speaker o f this morning is one o f them. 4. The Bible has a wisdom-giving power that no other book possesses. “ The entrance o f thy words\giveth light” (Ps. 119:130). I have known people o f very meagre edu cational advantages but who have studied the Bible, who have more wisdom in the things o f greatest practical and eternal import, in the things that really count for time and eternity, than many very learned men who have neglected this Book of matchless wisdom. 5. The Bible has a courage-giving power no other book possesses. No other book has made so many and such peerless heroes, it has made them too out o f most unpromising stuff. It has transformed beardless boys and tender maidens into heroes. 6 . The Bible has a power to inspire activ ity that no other book possesses. It makes lazy men industrious; half alive men fully alive. There are said to be but two things o f which a professional tramp is afraid, water and work, but I have seen the very tramp from whom I got this information, transformed into a man o f untiring indus try by the matchless teaching o f this Book. IV. In Its Universal Adaptability. The Bible differs from all other books in its universal adaptation. Other books fit certain classes, or certain types, or cer tain races o f men, but the Bible fits men universally: 1. It fits all nations. No nation has ever been discovered that the Bible does not fit. Charles Darwin, the greatest naturalist o f his day, thought he had discovered in the Terra del Fuegans a people the Bible would not fit, and frankly stated that mis sionary work among them would be in vain.' His exact words written after his visit to Patagonia were, “ Nothing can be
done by mission work ; all the pains bestowed upon the natives will be thrown away, they never can be civilized.” But more humble believers in the universal adaptation o f the Bible and the gospel it contains, thought differently, and proved their faith and So thoroughly convinced Charles Darwin by facts, o f his mistake, that he became a regular subscriber to the funds o f the society they represented. 2. The Bible not only fits all nations, but it fits all ages. It is the child’s book, the young man’s book, the book o f the middle aged, and the book o f the, old. 3. Thè Bible fits all classes. It fits the poor and it fits the rich. It fits the palace and it fits the garret. It fits the learned and it fits the ignorant. It fits the noble man and it fits the peasant. It fits Glad stone, and James D. Dana, and Romanes, and Neander, and it fits the man so illit erate that he can scarce spell out its words. 4. The Bible fits all experiences. It is the book for the hour o f gladness, and the book for the hour o f sadness; the book for the day o f victory, and, the book for the day o f defeat; the book for the day in which we have achieved the greatest moral triumph, and for the day when we have fallen deepest into sin; the book for the day o f clearest faith, and the book for the day o f darkest doubt; the book for the wedding day and the book for the day of funerals. There is not an experience in life wherein the Bible does not have the message which -we most need. To that fact there are tens o f thousands, o f peo ple o f all classes in many nations ready to testify. The testimony is from such a host of witnesses and such competent wit nesses that the only one who can doubt it is the man who is bound he won’t believe. V . In Its History. The Bible differs from every other hoik in its hisiory. 1. The Bible has been hated as no other book. No book has ever aroused the ani mosity o f men o f all classes as the Bible has. The Bible has been hated by rich men and it has been hated by poor men. It has been hated by the scholar and it has been
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