The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1890-03-12
EXalt. The Word.
EY BISHOP CYRUS d. FoSS, IN SUN

EY BISHOP CYRUS d. FoSs, IN sun
DAY SCHOOL TIMEs.-No |.
God has spoken. We have hi.
Word. H. is all abroad in the earth ii
more than three hundred languages
1t has been copied by pen and press 1
thousand times more than any other
book. All down the ages it has beer
thrust upon the attention Of the world
demanding search, belief, homage
obedience.
1t has been tested sharply, skilfully
rcmorselcssly, and in multitudinous
ways. Every joint in its celestial ar.
NOR has been tried again and again
by swords and spears Of internal tenn
per. Persecution has dccrced its de-
struction. Scientific theories have
proclaimed its faIsity. Rationalistic
Fhigher criticism" has self-compla'
Gently announced its utter lack of au-
thenticily. All these and other forces
of oppo*itson have affected it very
much as thunder and storms do Mont
Blame. The clouds around its base
only make it seem lofticr and more
reSplendent.
Is it not high time for those VINO
teach the Bible to give 4 truce 10 ner-
vousncss, and go ahead rs though
nothing had happened? AS, indeed,
nothing las happened to affect in the
slightest degree the substance of "the
faith" or the all-conquering power of
the Word. [ am satisfied that relig-
Gus doubt gets large part of its cur
rency in our time from the careless
suggestion of it by ministers and Sun
day-school teachers, who often crude
ly state and over-state objections
Which they have not the skill etlectu-
ally to answer, thus making them
selves teachers of intidelity. The
great business Of the pulpit and
the Sunday-school is to teach the p
ble, and to urge its claim on the be-
lief and obedience of all who listen.
Let us teach if, and not busy ourselves
in suggesting doubts about it. Chill
dren, youth, and the masses of
church-going people, urgently need to
know what the Bible says.
plead with young ministers to eX-
alt the Word of Cod. Don't be per-
pctualIy apologizlng for the Lord God
Almighty. Find out what he has
said, and tell the people. There was
hard sense in the reply of plain man
who was urged to read Watson's
"Apology for the Bible" and who,
misapprehending the technical mean-
ing OF single word, answered, mo,
I don't want it; the Bible needs no
apology" Paul's charge to Timothy
is everlastingly timely,-"I charge
thee before God, preach the word"
Preach it, proclaim it, and trust God
to make way for it to the hearts of
men. Preach it, and not some weak
dilution Of it. Treat it as your Lord
did. Consider well what he said
about it, and what he did with it.
He said, "Sealch the Scriptures; for
.. they testify Of NE )" and, "lf
they hear not Moses and the prophets,
neither will they he persuaded, though
one rose from the dead" And in the
pinch of his sOrest need he turned to
the Old Testament, and used what he
found there us the very word of God.
In his forty days duel with the Devil
he drew no sword but what fits my
hand rs we'll rs his. He seemed to
have no concern as to whether the
whole Bible verbally inspired or not,
or as to whether Moses wrote the
whole of the Pentateuch; but, keep
ing his eye Oh the foe, he thlust his
hand back as though almost ut ram
pom, and drew from the sheath of
Deuteronomy three good blades before
whose glittering points Satan fled.
Dig evermore in this eNhaustless
mine. The grandly effective preach
ers are biblical preachers. The great
est sermons are those which make the
Word seem great.
Sunday. school teachers, cXalt tho
Word. Your great business in prep
Grafton is to find out what God says
Your general study Of the Bible ought
to consist largely in a comparison OF
Scripture with Scripture, and in
thoughtful and prayerful mediation
on the Word itself; and your special
preparation of the lesson should be
chiefly 4 deligent search after the ' cry
meaning Of the Holy Spirit in the
verses. Teach your scholars to han.
die the Book to find theverses prompt,
ly, to reverence it rs the very Word
of God, to obey it.
The Sunday-school should be Bi-
ble-school, and nothing else. l wish
its name could be changed to that. In
these days of bIackbGards and orches-
tras and Sunday school libraries, and
multiplied other appliance, let it not
he forgotten what all these things are
for, and let them not crowd aside the
the very thing for which the Sunday
school exists. DR.. James w. AleNan-
der, one of the most suggestive of
writers Oh preaching and Sunday
school teaching, gave most emphatic
testimony Oh this point: Having,
been, in one or another capacity, bus
led about Sunday-schools for forty
years, I venture my judgment, that,
if a pupil must forgo one or the 9TH
cr,-the explanation of the meaning
by question and answer, or the poses
sion of the text in his memory 1'er1a-
NW,-he had better let go the former.
With those attainmentS which such
knowledge insules or infers, there is
no part of household and juvenile
learning so valuable as what in good
old idiomatic mother-English is call
ed getting verses by heart. Having
almost worn out my eyes by reading
and study, let me testify to you, of
all | ever learned | most prize what is
level to you all ll,-that is, the knowl-
edge Of the Edglish Bible and for
one verse that I know by heart wish
| knew Il hundred"
Parents are under the pressure of an
obligation concerning the Bible which
it is to be feared very few of them
justly appreciate, and when many to-
tally ignore. Let a father distinctly
admit the ruth of these three propo-
sitions: 1. That the greatest want of
his children is religious knowledge