On all hands, the divine sufficiency of Holy Scripture is called in question. In some cases, this is openly and deliberately done; in others, it is with less frankness hinted, insinuated, inferred, and implied.
The Christian mariner is told, directly or indirectly, that the divine chart is insufficient for all the intricate details of his voyage – that such changes have taken place in the ocean of life since that chart was made that in many cases it is entirely deficient for the purposes of modern navigation. He is told that the currents, tides, coasts, strands, and shores of that ocean are quite different now from what they were some centuries ago, and that, as a necessary consequence, he must have recourse to the aids which modern navigation supplies, in order to make up for the deficiencies in the old chart, which is, as a matter of course, admitted to have been perfect at the time it was made.
Now, I earnestly desire that the Christian reader should be able, with clearness and decision, to meet this grievous dishonor done to the precious volume of inspiration, every line of which comes to him fresh from his Father’s bosom, through the pen of God, the Holy Spirit. I desire that he should meet it, whether it comes before him in the shape of a bold and blasphemous statement, or a learned and plausible inference. Whatever garb it wears, it owes its origin to the enemy of Christ, the enemy of the Bible, the enemy of the soul.
If, indeed, the Word of God be not sufficient, then where are we? Or whither shall we turn? To whom shall we betake ourselves for aid, if our Father’s book be in any respect defective? God says that His book can “furnish us thoroughly to all good works” (2 Tim. 3:1717That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Timothy 3:17)). Man says, No; there are many things about which the Bible is silent, which, nevertheless, we need to know. Whom am I to believe? God, or man? Our reply to anyone who questions the divine sufficiency of Scripture is just this: Either you are not a “man of God”; or else that for which you want a warrant is not “a good work.” This is plain. No one can possibly think otherwise with his eye resting on 2 Timothy 3:1717That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Timothy 3:17).
O for a deeper sense of the fullness, majesty and authority of the Word of God! We very much need to be braced up on this point. We want such a deep, bold, vigorous, influential, and abiding sense of the supreme authority of the divine canon, and of its absolute completeness for every age, every clime, every position, every department – personal, social, and ecclesiastical, as shall enable us to withstand every attempt of the enemy to depreciate the value of that inestimable treasure. May our hearts enter more into the spirit of those words of the Psalmist,