01. The Bible-The Word Of God

CHAPTER ONE

THE BIBLE-THE WORD OF GOD

“Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth" (2 Timothy 2:15).
“Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee" (Psalms 119:11).


The Bible is the Word of God and the Word of truth. It is the message of God to man. It is man’s only per­fect and authoritative rule of life and conduct.
“The Word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword" (Hebrews 4:12).
Its pages are pages of power. Today men must get back to the Bible.

The Bible reveals:

That the evil that is in the world today is the result of unbelief;
That it is the result of the self-will of lost individuals who are blinded by Satan and who are living in sin;
That it is the result of man’s disobedience to the commands of a holy and all-wise God.

Man’s disobedience to the will of God is causing mil­lions to continually separate themselves from God. Mil­lions of men are being lost in sin and death because of lust.

“When lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin when it is finished, bringeth forth death" (James 1:13-15).

Organizations of sinful men are controlling our nation­al governments. They are breaking all the laws of God and of the state that make for peace and that hold civili­zation steady. Sinful men are taking counsel together against the Lord.

The hearts of sinful men are failing them in these days, because of fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.

The Psalm­ist, in the second Psalm, describes God’s judgment on sinful men that take counsel together against Him, when he says, “He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore dis­pleasure.”

The Bible is the only book that can give a satisfactory explanation, and a clear understanding, of the cause and the meaning of the turmoil and the fear of these troub­lous times;

The Bible is the only book that can give the remedy for this turmoil and fear.

The Bible is the only book that reveals Jesus Christ, the Saviour of mankind.

The Bible tells us of the fact of sin, of the state of man while in sin, of man’s doom as a lost sinner, and of God’s plan of redemption from sin unto Eternal Life.

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” The Bible is not an ordinary book. To those who have no faith in God, the Bible is a closed book; but to us who believe, it is the inspired Word of God, and the only up-to-date book in the world.

Ulysses S. Grant said concerning the Bible, “Hold fast to the Bible as the chief author of your liberties; write its precepts on your heart, and practice them in your lives. To the influence of this book, we are indebted for the progress made in civilization, and to this we must look as our guide in the future.”

William McKinley said, “The more profoundly we study this wonderful book, and the more closely we ob­serve its divine precepts, the better citizens we will be­come, and the higher will be our destiny as a nation.”

Dwight L. Moody, when he was asked from whence he had obtained such lasting power and strength in his life, said, “I have power insomuch as my soul is saturated with the Word of God.”

The apostle Paul wrote, “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; preach the Word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, re­buke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine, For the time will come when they will not endure sound doc­trine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to them­selves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry" (2 Timothy 4:1-5).

Paul says also, “Men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but deny­ing the power thereof: from such turn away" (2 Timothy 3:2-5).

True Christians humbly believe the teachings of the Word of God.

Let us, as servants of God, launch out into the deep:

- Into the deep of God’s Word;
- Into the deep of the atonement;
- Into the deep of God’s Will;
- Into the deep of the Holy Spirit.

This is where we lose ourselves and our sorrows in the calmness and peace of His everlasting presence.

Because the Bible is the Word of God and the Word of Truth, it has stood the test of centuries.

The feeble efforts of a few non-Christian, evil-possessed writers, to discredit the Word of God and to claim that the Bible is a fraud, have been of no avail. Millions of people, both in this nation and in other nations, have received guid­ance, courage, power and joy from its pages of power.

The Bible is called the Book of books. All of its 66 books are united into one book. The Bible is composed of the very best literature in the English language. It has always been the best book used by parents in the home for the instruction of children and young people. The teachings of the Bible have combined as a powerful influence to make a social order in which right-thinking and right-living shall be the rule.

The Bible has the distinction of being the first book to be printed by John Gutenberg, the reputed inventor of printing. The time of this printing was from 1450 A. D. to 1455 A. D.

The first complete translation of the Bible into English was made by John Wycliff in 1382 A. D.

The first print­ing of the English Bible was made in 1535 A. D., accord­ing to the translation of Miles Coverdale, the English translator-over 400 years ago.

Today there are 21,000,000 copies of the Bible, or por­tions of the Bible, being printed in one year, by 21 dif­ferent Bible Societies, in nearly 800 different dialects and languages.

Statistics show that annually more copies of the Bible are being sold than of any other 100 books combined. The history of the American Bible Society, one of these 21 different Bible Societies, is very significant. The American Bible Society was organized in 1816 A. D. in the Board of Estimates room in the City Hall of New York City. After 125 years of service, which ended in May, 1941, this society held its 125th annual meeting in this same room.

The record shows that the American Bible Society, during this 125 years of service, has distributed a total of 305,555,700 Bibles and portions of the Bible. This number averages 4 copies of Scripture distributed each minute of the 24 hours of each day of the entire 125 years.

At the present time, the American Bible Society alone is printing in one year over 7,000,000 copies of the Scrip­ture and portions of the Scripture. This is a remarkable record, and one which is an inspiration to all people who are interested in the spread of the Gospel. Thousands of people in the world today will testify, personally, to the importance of this wide distribution of the Word of God, because of the saving and transforming power of the Word of God in their own lives.

The Bible should be read by all men. It should be read slowly, frequently and prayerfully. It should fill the memory, guide the feet, and rule the heart. Wher­ever the Bible goes, it does good.

“So shall My Word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it" (Isaiah 55:11).