Telegram-herald., 1890-03-24
DIVISION OF The WORD.
The Plan of the Scriptures in the
Old and New Testaments.
Rev. w. j. Russell OF the Church of Christ
breaches to Crowded Congrega-
tion Last Evening

Rev. w. J. Russell of the Church of
Christ preached last evening on THE
Division of the Word" He chose for
his text III Timothy ii, 10.
"Study to show thyself approved un-
to God, a workman that needeth not to
be ashamed, rightly divining the word
of truth"
He said: "The word of God is one
of the grandest gifts ever bestowed
upon the human race. 1t is the only
book that tells us of God and His
wonderful works and also of the origin
and early history of man. 1t also ac-
qualnts us with the origin of sin and
the fall of man, and teac hes US the
universal plan of redemption.
God is not being of confusion, but
of order. He has left us the two great
volumes of nature and revelation, and
there are no discrepancies in them, but
rather like two angels they walk hand
IN hand. We should apply the same
Conscientious methods IN studying the
Bible that we do in the study OF other
things. The two grand divisions of the
Bible are, of course, the Old and New
TeStaments. They each have their par
ticular purpose and while dependent
upon one another, they are widely diff
ferent in their nature. For instance.
the Old Testament represents the word
IN its fieshly sense, and the new repre-
sents the spiritual sense. The Old Tcsta-
ment IS directed TO a nation and the
new is for the whole world. The old
teaches by symbols and prophecies,
while the new teaches by actualties.
The old commands the offering of
sacrifices IN atom ent of sin, the new
teaches that one great sacrItier was
made for Us all.
The old testament is subdivided into
three divisions, the law, the prophe-
clcs, and the psalms. The lawis written
IN the fire books of Moses. There are
twcnty-one prophetlcal books written
by the judges aud tue prophets of
Israel, aud these may be again subdi-
vldcd INTO the major and minor prOrhe-
cics. The former are those fOrctelliug
of the coming of the Messiah. The
psalms are the poetry of the scriptures,
and m the theme of the grelter part of
them IS the coming OF Christ and the
spiritual kingdom. The old testament
ia ll-d with prophecies, but there are
few fulfilments.
The new testament 5 the comple-
mcut OF the old, and represents the
fulfflment Of the law. Tne entire
work OF the eight writers may be sad
TO have been written ~ answer 10 four
questions
FIRST What must Tbclievc2 The life
and WORKS 90 Christ. as portrayed hv
two Of his -c,p.cs and tvo cvaugehs.s.
are a complete answer to TINS
Second. "Nhat must I do,' The
historical book. the Acts Of the
Apostles answers. THIS hook tells Of
the beginning of the divine work
that has trHmphed over pagan
ISM and may properly be called the
hook Of couvcrs.on If any one wshes
70 know what they must do 90 be saved
let them read the book Of Acts Peter
ssid % those mo came inQUrng. Re-
pent and be hantised " The prob en-
of divine grace is worked ont IN thIs
book Just As clearly as any mathemat-
zeal problem car be worked.
The next question Is. How shall I
Gve7'
The spistles of John. Paul Peter ard
Jude vii tell Won this. Peter sums .
at ur In eNhortrg his followers % the
practice Of the seven Christian ersces.
The last question. "W hat snail oa n'ine
after this fe2 s answered 81 Revcls-
Sons tnat gives t1e history Of the str1z-
sles and trIuuphs cf she church sud
tells of the eternal home that ava =
tne SAINTS VITO are "a thful unto death. -