October 1929
470
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
What Every Christian Ought to Know About the Whole Bible B y R ev . W m . H. P ik e « ERE is a Book called the Holy Bible, declared in itself to be the work of the Living God, Creator of heaven and earth. On almost every page we read, “Thus saith the Lord.” Being then the message of the Creator to the crea ture, it should be guarded with jealous care, studied with diligence and proclaimed to all mankind^ upon this book. It is the only holy Book in the world. It begins with the holy God in a holy creation and ends with the holy God dwelling in the midst of a holy people, in a holy city in a new heaven and new earth. What lies be tween the beginning and the end is merely man in his transition period. In this parenthesis God is seen in Christ making atonement for sin; Christ by His Spirit entering into those that trust Him and making them fit for the new heavens and the new earth.
We say with W. W. B., the unknown author: “The Holy Bible is a perfect book from our perfect God. It is His love letter to the human race. Here the Father plans, the Son executes, and the Spirit operates. The way of salvation is given, heaven is revealed, and hell de scribed. The cross is its center, eternal life its fruition, and God’s glory its end. By it the^ soul is cultured, the mind enlightened, the memory enriched, and the heart established. “The Bible is the traveler’s guide, the pilgrim’s staff, the warrior’s sword and the fighter’s shield. It is the tele scope of faith, the microscope of conscience, the mirror of Christ’s face, and the casket of God’s grace. It is food for the heart-hungry, drink for the soul-thirsty, medicine for the sin-sick, cordial for the world-weary, and life for the spirit-dead. Read it to be godly, use it to be fruitful, believe it to be faithful, and trust it to have peace. “God has manifested this Word above His great name, and commanded that it be preached and practiced; it is His standard of judgment. By it men are warned and wooed, saved or doomed. Read it in the company of the Author. Be a Bible-read, Bible-fed, and Bible-led Chris tian. It covers the course of time between two eternities, and will live forever.” How much, then, do we know of this wonderful Book which contains sixty-six books written by over 40 writers, covering at least 1,500 years from Moses to John? Men of all grades and stations in life, from the sheep herder of the wilderness to the king upon his throne. Here is represented every phase of literature, law, his tory, biography and apocalypse; poetry, parable, proverb, and prophecy. Here is the greatest variety of themes, the greatest range of subjects, and the largest amount of knowledge ever placed between two covers. One central thread of “redemption by blood” runs from beginning to end. One Messiah, God manifest in human flesh, com ing, living, dying, rising, ascending, and sitting on the throne of God. He is its sublime center. The Bible begins in the right way and ends in the right way. “In the beginning — God.” Without God there could be no material universe. Perfection is God’s stand ard. The Bible begins with a perfect God, a perfect crea tion, and a perfect man. It ends with a perfect God, a perfect redeemed creation, and a perfected redeemed peo ple. Holiness is found in every one of the sixty-six books. It is a holy Bible. It sets forth a holy God, it has a holy tabernacle of worship, with a holy_ place and a most holy place. Its ministers were a holy priesthood and they were anointed with holy oil. The holy Child Jesus was born to be the world’s Saviour. He died and rose again that He might bring to God a redeemed and holy people. The future home of this redeemed people is called a holy city. Thus God has stamped His holiness
This divine revelation is divided into an Old and a New Testament. It would be a more accurate use of words to call these divisions the Old and the New Cov enant. No one died in the Old Testament and left his last will and testament to humanity. But God did make a covenant with Abraham and his seed, and with Moses under law; and both were sealed with a blood atonement (Gen. 15; Exodus 19:3-20:23; Deut. 5:1-22). These laws expressed in writing that which man’s heart approves as right. Atonement by blood was provided for those who failed to keep this law. But the New Covenant did not demand of mankind that which his fleshly nature could not measure up to, but provided a perfect atonement for sin and imparted a new nature (the new birth) to man by which man would be enabled to please God. This New Covenant is made, not between God and man but between God and His all-powerful Son. Man steps into this cov enant simply through faith in the Son of God. God works only in those who have this covenant relation. Thus Paul could say, “He that has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” So, through the New Covenant of grace into which we step by faith the moment we trust His atoning work, we have life and are kept until Jesus returns for His church (Heb. 9:11- 22, R. V.). This Bible was written in three languages originally,— namely, the Old Testament in Hebrew and the New Tes tament in Greek, minor portions in Chaldee. The word “Bible” is from the Greek biblia, which means books. The Old Testament was divided into three parts by the He brews and was so spoken of by Jesus in Luke 24:44: “that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and the prophets, and the psalms concern ing me.” 1. The Law books are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. 2. The Prophets are Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings. These are called the former prophets. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the twelve minor prophets are called the latter prophets. 3. The Psalms is a general title which means the writings and includes the Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Dan iel, Ezra and Chronicles. Our present division of the English Bible is as fol lows : I n T h e O ld T estament 1. The five Law Books—Genesis, Exodus*'Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy—often called the Pentateuch. 2. The twelve Historical Books—Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles,
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