Others there be who read the Bible; but when they read it, they say it is
so horribly dry. That young man over there says it is a “bore;” that is
the words he uses. He says, “My mother says to me, when you go up to
town, read a chapter every day. Well, I thought I would please her, and
I said I would. I am sure I wish I had not. I did not read a chapter
yesterday, or the day before. We were so busy, I could not help it.”
You do not love the Bible, do you? “No, there is nothing in it which is
interesting.” Ah, I thought so. But a little while ago I could not see
anything in it. Do you know why? Blind men cannot see, can they? But
when the Spirit touches the scales of the eyes, they fall off; and when
he puts eye-salves on, the Bible becomes precious. I remember a
minister who went to see an old lady, and he thought he would give her
some precious promises out of the word of God. Turning to one, he
saw written in the margin “P.,” and he asked, “What does this mean?”
“That means precious, sir.” Further down, he saw “T. and P.,” and he
asked what the letters meant. “That,” she said, “means tried and
proved, for I have tried and proved it.” If you have tried God’s word
and proved it–if it is precious to your soul. then you are Christians; but
those persons who despise the Bible, have “neither part nor lot in the
matter.” If it is dry to you, you will be dry at last in hell. If you do not
esteem it as better than your necessary food, there is no hope for you;
for you lack the greatest evidence of your Christianity.
Alas! alas! the worst case is to come. There are some people who hate
the Bible, as well as despise it. Is there such an one stepped in here?
Some of you said, “Let us go and hear what the young preacher has to
say to us.” This is what he has to say to you: “Behold, ye despisers,
and wonder and perish.” This is what he hath to say to you: “The
wicked shall be turned into hell, and all that forget God.” And this,
again he has to say to you: “Behold, there shall come in the last days,
mockers, like yourselves, walking after your own lusts.” But more: he
tells you to-night that if you are saved, you must find salvation here.
Therefore, despise not the Bible; but search it, read it, and come unto
it. Rest thee will assured, O scorner, that thy laughs cannot alter truth,
thy jests cannot avert thine inevitable doom. Though in thy hardihood
thou shouldst make a league with death, and sign a covenant with hell–
yet swift justice shall o’ertake thee, and strong vengeance strike the
low. In vain dost thou jeer and mock, for eternal verities are mightier
than thy sophistries, nor can thy smart sayings alter the divine truth of a
single word of this volume of Revelation. Oh! why dost thou quarrel
with thy best friend, and ill-treat thy only refuge? There yet remains
hope, even for the scorner. Hope in a Saviour’s veins. Hope in the
Father’s mercy. Hope in the Holy Spirit’s omnipotent agency.
I have done when I have said one word. My friend, the philosopher,
says it may be very well for me to urge people to read the Bible; but he
thinks there are a great many sciences far more interesting and useful
than theology. Extremely obliged to you for your opinion, sir. What
science do you mean? The science of dissecting beetles and arranging
butterflies? “No,” you say, “certainly not.” The science, then, of
arranging stones, and telling us of the strata of the earth? “No, not
exactly that.” Which science, then? “Oh, all sciences,” say you, “are
better than the science of the Bible.” Ah! sir, that is your opinion; and it
is because you are far from God, that you say so. But the science of
Jesus Christ is the most excellent of sciences. Let no one turn away
from the Bible because it is not a book of learning and wisdom. It is.
Would ye know astronomy? It is here: it tells you of the Sun of
Righteousness and the Star of Bethlehem. Would you know of botany?
It is here: it tells you of the plant of renown–the Lily of the Valley, and
the rose of Sharon. Would you know geology and mineralogy? You
shall learn it here: for you may read of the Rock of Ages, and the
White Stone with the name engraven thereon, which no man knoweth
saving he that receiveth it. Would ye study history? Here is the most
ancient of all the records of the history of the human race. Whate’er
your science is, come and bend o’er this book; your science is here.
Come and drink out of this fair fount of knowledge and wisdom, and ye
shall find yourselves made wise unto salvation. Wise and foolish,
babes and men, gray-headed sires, youths and maidens–I speak to you,
I plead with you, I beg of you respect your Bibles, and search them
out, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and these are they which
testify of Christ.
I have done. Let us go home and practice what we have heard. I have
heard of a woman, who, when she was asked what she remembered of
the minister’s sermon, said, “I don’t recollect anything of it. It was
about short weights and bad measures, and I didn’t recollect anything
but to go home and burn the bushel.” So, if you will remember to go
home and burn the bushel, if you will recollect to go home and read
your Bibles, I shall have said enough. And may God, in his infinite
mercy, when you read your Bibles, pour into your souls the
illuminating rays of the Sun of Righteousness, by the agency of the
ever-adorable Spirit; then you will read to your profit and to your soul’s
salvation.
We may say of THE BIBLE:
“God’s cabinet of revealed counsel ‘t is!
Where weal and woe, are ordered so
That every man may know which shall be his;
Unless his own mistake, false application make.
“It is the index to eternity.
He cannot miss of endless bliss.
That takes this chart to steer by,
Nor can he be mistook that speaketh by this book.
“It is the book of God. What if I should
Say, God of books, let him that looks
Angry at that expression, as too bold,
His thoughts in silence smother, till he find such another.”
“This article originally appeared here at Bible Bulletin Board.”
