October 16

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. - 2 Timothy 3:16.

“HOLY men of God,” says Peter, “spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” And, says Dr. Watts,-

“The prophets’ pens succeed their breath,

To save the holy words from death.”

We are here reminded of the origin of the Scriptures,-with the committing of the mind and will of God to writing. This is important for two purposes. First, because the knowledge of them must be preserved and extended. Without the knowledge of them they cannot be felt; they cannot be acted upon; they can neither become the rule of our conduct nor the source of our consolation. Therefore says the apostle, “How can they believe on him of whom they have not heard?” Therefore says God, “By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many.” Therefore says the church, “That thy way may be known on earth, thy saving health among all nations.”

And, Secondly, because there was no way of preserving and extending this knowledge to be compared to this. Thus, both with regard to extensiveness and security, Scripture surpasses oral tradition. We all know, in the common affairs of the world, how a thing is altered by repeated relation. There are some persons who never regard accuracy at all; others seem incapable of it,-some from lack of memory, others from fervency of feeling and circumstances; and it is well known how a single term will express too much or too little to define properly the true meaning of a case. It is proverbially said there is no believing one-half of what we hear. What should we have known of the history of our own country without written documents? A number of facts might have reached us orally, but then they would have been altered in the lapse of years; and therefore the earliest part in the history of every nation, previous to the acquisition of written records, is always deemed fabulous. And what was derived from this source when it was unrecorded became more and more indistinct and corrupt.

This was natural and unavoidable; but in the family of Abraham, and in the nations of the Jews, it was otherwise. There revelation was, after a while, committed to writing. Thus it became fixed and certain. Thus appeals could be made to it, and mistakes could be corrected by it. The original copy was kept in the ark of the Lord. Every king of the Jews, when he came to his throne, was commanded to transcribe it for his own use. At every public festival it was brought forth and read in the audience of the people. This would keep up an acquaintance with it. The pious would of course soon multiply copies, and they would lend and read these transcriptions to their relations, neighbours, and friends. The highest honour, therefore, that can attach to writing is, that by means of it the words of eternal life have come down to us unimpaired. And, as Dr. Watts says,-

“The bright inheritance of heaven

Is by the sweet conveyance given.”