Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-06-03

How utterly foolish was that
wicked king to think that by burn
ing up the book he could avert the
disasters it prophesied! AS we'll
might an ugly woman smash a mir
ror that revealed her ugliness to
her. And yet people do this today.
A patient got mad with physician
I for telling him the truth about his
condition, refused to believe it, took
bno care of himself, and died, when
he might have lived. Many folks
hate the Bible today because it re-
veals their nothingness to them, and
folks don't like to be told that about
| themselVes-they agree to it about
others. And so they are trying to
do now what Jehoiakim did-to de-
strcy the Book. Instead of burning
it-that has proven ineffective SO
many times-they are adopting 9th
err methods. They have ridiculed it.;
they have misnterpreted it; they
have cut out portions Of it and made
a "Shorter Bible;" they have treated
| it as a man-made book and as writ
\ ten by man and have eliminated
such portions of it as do not measure
up to their own standard of what
ought to be. The absurdity Of the
thought! That any man might know
better than God that such a thing
ought or ought not to be. They
claim for themselves the. same in
spiration that jeremiah had. They
had better learn a lesson from
Baruch.
One of the most prominent mis-
sionaries In China, a man of bril-
liant intellect, has recently said that
there are many things in the Bible
that ought not to be there, and
many things outside Of it that ought
to be in it. God pity him and all
who follow him, for the next step is
a neasy one-he now claims that
Jesus Christ differs from us only in
degree, not in kind!
All! the devil is on his Job now
and then. He wanted the book of
jeremiah destroyed because it is
an essential link in the chain of
Gods revealed plan for our saliva
ton. 1t insists on personal, indi-
Vldual righteousness, and on the fu-
tlllty of the externals and the neces-
sity Of the inner heart life. It tells
Of the new heart, the new spirit, the
new covenant-and Satan did not
want that known for he has been
trying to controvert Gods word ever
since the time of Eden. He was
the animating spirit in the act of
Jehoiakim, and he is behind every
attack on the Word of God today.
even though many Of those he is
using are utterly unconscious off
his influence over their acts. Say
to him as he speaks through them,
! Get thee behind me, Satan!
What Jehoiakim should have done
was to have yielded to the message
of God through the book. Then he
and his nation could have been
spared, for God was just yearning
to bless them; He did everything
He could to avoid the punishment
of them.
God has a message for you in the
book today. His Word is the sword
of the spirit by means Of which
He would protect and defend you
against the attacks of the devil,
His enemy and yours. His Word
is the light which would remove the
darkness with which Satan has
blinded your eyes lest you see the
glorious gospel Of Christ, who Is the
image of God. His Word is quick
and powerful, and sharper than any
two-edged sword, piercing even to
| the dividing assunder of the soul
and spirit, and of the joints and mar
row, and is a discerner of the
! thoughts and intents Of the heart.
All things are naked and open I'M
to the eyes of Him with whom we
have to do, and His Word lays bare
our thoughts and reveals our ugly
selves to us, in order that we may
| see ourselves as we are in His
sight and change. He is not willing
that any should perish, but that
all should come to eternal life, hence
He has given us His Word.
What are you going to do about
it? Will you, like Jehoiakim, think
to make it ineffective by destroying
it, by dissecting it, by not needing
it, by ridiculing it? Or will you not
| yield to Him, and obey His Word
and let Him bless you exceeding
abundantly above all that you can
ask or think?
1.-THE Word of God shall stand
! forever" You can not break it; it
will either break you or make you.
| Which shall it be?