The Penn's Grove record., 1909-02-05

D0 SuIpIlocu IL no fuses MS bearings
as to the great problems of life.
What do you believe about God? Or
about Christ? Or about Revelations?
Or about the Atonement? Or about
Justification by Faith? Or about
Heaven and He'll? If you have no
Bible, you are at liberty to say, "My
opinion is thus and So" buff you are
a Christian and have taken the Bible
as your rule OF faith, you are bound
to say. II have found It written thus
and so in the Word of God"
Our faith as Christians is not a
matter Of hearsay or personal opin-
Ion, but of authority. "And the Lord
answered Job out of the whirlwind,
saying, Who is 1t that darkeneth
counsel by words without knowledge?
Grid up now thy loins like a man,
for l will demand of thee, and answer
thou Mel" So speaks the Infinite to
the man whose breath is in his nos
trils, "Be still and know that / am
Cod"
Third. The Scriptures are prohta-
BILE "for correction" The sailor who
is In doubt as to his whereabouts,
gets his latitude and longitude by the
use of his quadrant and steers accord
ingly. So does the Christian search
the Scripture, and, on finding himself
wrong, makes haste TO return to God.
In n of the general assemblies of
the Church of Scotland the venerable
Dr.. Erskine sat within the rails and
heard, i~mpatiently, a discussion which
seemed to him to proceed without
due reference to the Scriptures. At
length he arose, and with a voice
tremulous with age, said, Moderator,
rax me yon Bible, wull ye?"
Opening it, he read the prescript,
and adding simply, @Thus saith the
Lord" sat down. But that was
enough in a Christian assembly; fol
there the word of the Lord Is an end
of controversy. "To the law and the
testimony, if they speak not according
to this word, it is because there is no
life in them"
Every man must say for himself
whether he will take the Scriptures
to be his guide or lean on his own
understanding; but having made the
Scriptures his choice, he is bound to
live accordingly.
One may go his own gait or let God
direct him. In the former case he is
not a Christian. In the latter case he
is. l know of only these two kinds OF
people in the world, to wit: Men of
God and men without God.
Fourth. The Scriptures are profita.
BILE "for instruction in righteousness. "
AS a "rule of practice" they are like
the rudder of the ship.
One Of the great words of the Bible
is righteousness. 1t is set forth in
fUyn nnrfnot cumhn1c roro11p A. TA~
Commandments and the Sermon on
the Mount, and one perfect Exemplar.
The critic has yet to be found who
can pick a flaw in the Decalogue; and
by common consent Christ is the one
immaculate man who has lived in this
world of ours.
But If we as Christians believe in
the Bible, which presents such an ad-
mirable code of morals, how is it that
there are so many inconsistent pro-
fessors among us? The point is well
taken; we freely acknowledge the
justice of it. But in that criticism
what a tribute is paid to the morality
of the Bible, and to the Christ who
perfectly exemplifes it, Behold the
Book, how faultless it's standards OF
righteousness! And behold the Man!
The world finds mo fault in Him at
ALL"
But there is this to be said: The
best people are Bible Christians.
There is not one among them who
claims perfection; but, taking them
by and large, good, bad and indiffer.
ent, we do not shrink from a com.
parison. Let a thousand of them
stand up in line, and a thousand
others who reject or ignore the Scrip.
lures in IN opposite line, and we are
ready to have the exhibit stand upon
its merits.
But suppose all Christians did live
up to the standard of the Bible, what
people they would be! One Man did
so once. He brought the bottom OF
His life up to the top of His light. :
The Bible was His rule of faith and
practice, and in His walk and CONVEX.
sation He was true to it. And when
He hung upon the cross, the soldier
in charge of His execution was moved
to cry, verify, this was a righteous
mani"
1t remains to emphasize the mos
important point Of all, namely, that
the Scriptures are profitable to the
end that the man of God may be
Thoroughly furnished unto all good
works"
1t is in the Scriptures that the
Christian gets his commission for ser
vice. "As the Father has sent MI
into the world" said Jesus, $50 send
you" AS Christians we are to serve
not ourselves but others, to do every
thing to the glory of God.