WE have come once more to the end of a volume, when a parting word must issue from our pen. Dear readers, our last message shall be, an appeal to you to hold fast to the Holy Scriptures.
In every period in the history of the Church, there have been difficulties peculiar to the times, and, thank God, there have been in every period soldiers of Christ, who have fought against the errors of their day with the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. In our time the greatest danger to the Church is the prevailing spirit of making light of the Word of God. Hence the soldier of Christ should be most earnest in holding fast and in upholding the Holy Scriptures. Our loyalty to Christ demands this of us, and if we possess Christian courage, we shall engage heartily in this warfare. With soul and strength, we will, God helping us, fight this fight of faith.
The Christian should remember that what he mourns in the infidelity of professing Christians is foretold in the Bible. The Apostle Peter says, “There shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts.” (2 Pet. 3:33Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, (2 Peter 3:3)). Jude also bids us remember that there “should be mockers in the last time” (ver. 18), and the Apostle Paul teaches, “the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” (2 Tim. 4:3, 43For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. (2 Timothy 4:3‑4)). Men, who are leaders and teachers in Christian communities, mock at the Old Testament—they call much of it a myth; they scorn the solemn testimony of God as to the judgment that Christ will bring upon the earth at His appearing; while on every hand, in the rank and file of professing Christians, men refuse sound doctrine, and, instead of listening to the truth of God, as revealed in the Scriptures, occupy their Souls with fables.
Let us never forget that the Bible, and the Bible only, reveals to us a personal God, and who and what He is. By the Bible we learn God’s holiness and love, His hatred of sin and His love towards sinful men. There only do we learn that our souls are immortal, and that our bodies will rise again. There only do we learn how we may be made fit for God’s presence, and how we may live in this world acceptably to God. And there we read of the judgment yet to come, of heaven and of hell.
The Bible is a whole, it is bound and tied together, and its parts cannot be separated without doing it violence. One mind breathes and speaks through it from Genesis to Revelation, and that one mind is God’s. The Son of God when on earth ever honored the Scriptures, He ever appealed to them as Divine authority. If Moses is not true, then Jesus is not the Way, the Truth and the Life. “It is written,” “That the Scriptures might be fulfilled,” are the index to the words and works of Jesus. Let there be no misunderstanding about it—such as seek to undermine the authority of the Scriptures are trying to undermine the authority of God and His Son over men’s souls. Such as deny the truth of the Scriptures, deny the truth of Jesus’ words, and in effect that He is true. The effort to get rid of the authority of the Bible is an effort to get rid of God’s authority.
One class of Christian infidels says, “The Bible is true, but you must not listen to it—the Church alone is capable of explaining it.” The other class says, “The Bible has God’s Word in it, but it is not itself the Word of God, and we will explain what in it is the Word of God.” Both classes unite in seeking to sever man’s faith from God, to center it in human authority. The first teaches its adherents not to believe what God says in His Word, but what the Church declares that God says. The second teaches its adherents not to believe what the word of God says, but what they say is God’s word. Thus both reject the authority of God’s Word over them, and constitute themselves into an authority superior to the Word of God. Both classes are enemies to the Word of God, and therefore to God who has given us His Word.
Now, by God’s Word we shall be judged, and a truly impious thing is it for man to set himself up against his Judge. What will his end be but one merited by his pride? It is not difficult to find the reason for this infidelity in the Scriptures. The truths God declares to us in His word are not agreeable to man in his fallen state. Whether for “the Church” or opposed to “the Church,” man unregenerate hates the sound of the realities God declares to him in the Bible.
In the Bible we find not only a Saviour, but a Friend. As we read it, God speaks to us, and Jesus tells us His love; heaven is opened to us, and the future becomes present to us; its words are living words, like springing water or constant sunbeams, fresh and new to the heart daily; its most familiar texts never grow old to the soul, but ever rejoice the heart. And why is this? Because the Bible is a divine book, and because the Holy Spirit of God opens our hearts to its truths as we humbly read it.
No one who is not a devout reader of the Bible will be a strong or wise Christian. Read it, asking for the teaching of God the Holy Spirit, and you will be wise; obey it, and you will be strong. Feed upon it, and you shall have a healthy spirituality. Meditate upon it, and you shall have peace in your soul. Make it your guide, and your steps shall not stumble. Follow its directions and your walk shall be pleasing to God. Use it for your Christian conflict, and you shall be victorious. Believe it as you read it, and heaven will open itself to your heart. Make it your delight, and God will make you His delight.
We have no better words to give as a parting message to our many readers than those of the Apostle Paul: “Brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.” (Acts 20:3232And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. (Acts 20:32)).