The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1909-02-04

"usI Uc sOme plaCe OIL duInOrlty
whittier we can go with an assurance
among the islands of the Hesperides.
guided by nothing more Trustworthy
than opinion and guess work, doubt
ing and wondering. with the rocks
and forests as our farthest horizons.
this Is to pursue a vain and hopeless
quest. And little wonder IL we are
lost in doubt and perplexity. To our
cry Where is TRUTH" the echoes an
swer. mockingly. What is TRUTH"
But the Christian takes up his Bible.
opens 1t. and 10, from every page
there comes voice, Il am the truth"
II, then. man would be a believer.
and not perpetual doubter; if he
would rest on authority and not on
mere opinion. let him search the
Scriptures, for
When wit and wisdom fail,
Our guide to everlasting life,
Through oil the gloomy vale
Second. The Scriptures are profita-
BILE "for reproof." They answer the
same purpose that the North Star
does when the ship gets out of her
course. Only dead reckoning" is
possible without it..
The man who follows his own de-
vices and knows no other or better
standard of truth than can be found
in his inner consciousness must mot
be surprised II he loses his 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.- but IL you are
a Christian and have taken the Bible
as your rule Of faith, you are bound
to say. "I 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 wbirlwind
saying, Who is it that darkeneth
counsel by words without knowledge?
Gird up now thy loins like a man,
fo- 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 I am
God"
Third. The Scriptures are profita-
BILE "for correction" The sailor who
is in doubt as to his whereabouts.
gets his latitude and longit lde by the
use OF his quadrant and steers accord
ingly. So does the Christian search
tho Scripture, and, on finding himself
wrong, makes haste 10 return to God.
In one OF the general assemblies of
the Church of Scotland the venerable
DR.. ErskiEe sat within the rails and
heard, impatiently, discussion which
seemed to him to proceed without
due reference to the Scriptures. At
length he arose, and with voice
tremulous with age, said. Moderator.
rax me yon Bible, wull ye?",
Opening 1t, he read the prescript.
and adding simply, Thus saith the
Lord" sat down. Bu. that was
enough in a Christian assembly; for
there the word of the Lord is an end
or controversy. ITO the law and the
testim kf they speak not according
20 this ':Sfd, 1t is because there is NC
life in them"
Every man must say for himself
whether he will take the Scriptures
to be his guide or lean OF his own
understanding; but having made the
Scriptures his choice, he is bound +,
live accordingly.
one may go his own gait or let God
direct him. In the former case he is
not 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 rule of practice" they are like
the rudder of the ship.
One OF the great words of the Bible
1s righteousness. 1t is set forth in
two perfect symbols. namely the Ten
commandments and the Sermon on
the Mount, and one perfect Exemplar.
Inc critic has yet to be found who
can pick flaw in the Decalogue: and
by common consent Christ is the one
immaculate man who has lived in this
world of ours.
Eut II we as Christians believe in
the Bible, which presents such an ad-
mlrable 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 1t. But in that criticism
what tribute is paid to the morality
or the Bible, and to the Christ who
perfectly exemplifies It! Behold the
BOOK, how faultless it's standards OF
righteousness! And behold the Mani
The world finds mo fault in Him ut
ALL"
But there is this to be said: The
best people are Bible Christiaps.
ihere Is not one among them who
claims perfection; but, taking them
by and large, good, bad and indifrer-
ent, we do not shrink from a COM
parlson. Let thousand of them
stand up in line, and a thousand
others who reject or ignore the Scrip
lures In an 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