“THAT book” (said a caviler one day, speaking of the Word of God) “is not fit to be read to my children.” Would it not have been better if he had paused a moment, and asked, “If all the truth of my own history had been written down, would it be fit to read to my children?”
Why does man hate the Scriptures so much? “It is a collection of fables,” he says. “But this cannot be the real reason, for if you accept this charge, AEsop and others have, before now, made a collection of fables, and he does not hate them.” “It is only a history,” he says, “and there are mistakes in it.” But even if this were true, why do not other histories get a share of his hatred? “It has so many contradictions in it.” How glad he seems to be when he thinks he has found one. But it is easier to make the charge of a so-called contradiction than to honestly point it out. But if he actually found a thousand (in reality he cannot find O one), it would be no reason for these strong feelings of undisguised bitterness. He says the story of Jesus Christ is only a myth, that He never existed as He is spoken of in the Bible—that the Bible statements are not true. But people don’t get angry about Grecian mythology; they don’t get madly excited over the stories of Jupiter or Hercules, because they are not true. Ah, no, all this caviling lacks the, clear ring of genuine honesty. The true reason must be sought elsewhere. “Thy word is a... light unto my path,” said David (Psa. 119:105105NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. (Psalm 119:105)), and “men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved” [shown as they are] (John 3:19, 2019And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. (John 3:19‑20), New Trans.). This is the true secret.
A farmer in Lincolnshire said that he had not opened the Bible for nearly twenty years―that he dare not do it. Every page seemed to condemn him.
The Word of God is as the eye of God upon the soul of man, and because he cannot bear it, he tries his utmost to set it aside and get rid of it.
A certain princess in one of the South African native tribes, though only a plain-featured, commonplace sort of creature, was greatly flattered by those who wished to please her, by being told she was not only the most lovely woman in her tribe, but that her face was the most beautiful on earth! About that time an English hand-glass was brought to her. She had never before seen any such thing in her life. On receiving the mirror, she went into her hut to take one good, long, delightful look at her own beauty. But when she held up the glass and saw her own face (anything but handsome), she was so greatly annoyed that she lifted her royal fist and dashed the glass to pieces, and then made a law that no looking-glass should ever again be brought into the tribe. Why this rage? It was not the material glass she quarreled with, but with the unpalatable revelation it made of what she really was. But did breaking the mirror change a single feature? No. In this respect it left her as it found her.
Take another illustration. A rich Chinaman, who visited this country, took great delight in a beautiful microscope which was shown him. Having purchased one for himself, he took it back to China with him. One day he chanced to examine a tiny bit of his boiled dinner rice, when, to his horror, he discovered that there were actually tiny living creatures in it! Now it was part of his creed not to eat anything that once had animal life. What was to be done now? He Was not only particularly fond of his rice, but it was the staple of his daily food. He thought he only saw one way out of it. He would destroy the instrument that pointed out the distasteful fact, and accordingly dashed to pieces the offending microscope!
Now, foolish as these two heathens may appear in the light of ordinary civilized common sense, yet the course pursued by those who attack the Scripture is quite as foolish. They talk as though facts could be altered as easily as opinions are changed. Alas that man should thus deceive himself, and by madly flinging the friendly “lamp” from him, leave himself in such utter darkness.
Neither the negro-princess nor the Chinaman saw a way out of their inevitable difficulty. Whereas, if the Word of God exposes what we really are, if it leaves no question as to what our conduct really involves, it tells us of a righteous deliverance from both, in the death of Christ. If it exposes my moral ugliness, it shows me that there is a way of standing before God, clad in the comeliness of Another—the beauty of Christ. God Himself has devised this way, as it is written: “Of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto Us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:3030But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: (1 Corinthians 1:30)) If it shows the character of what I have been doing all my life; if it shows the ultimate result of so continuing, it tells, with equal plainness, of what Another has done, the Lord Jesus Christ, and that, through faith in His precious blood, I may get forgiveness of the past, and power for a new walk in the future. The Word of God holds out true happiness for every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ― “joy and peace in believing”; “joy unspeakable, and full of glory.” Tens of thousands have proved it through life, and tested its reality upon a dying pillow. What a treasure it is to the Christian!
Does infidelity hold out anything really worth having even in this world, or anything better when the journey of life is over, than “a leap in the dark”? It does not.
It is said that a Mr. Wilmot, an infidel, when dying, laid his thin, trembling hand on the Bible, and exclaimed solemnly, and with more than ordinary energy, “The only objection against this book is―A BAD LIFE.”
Be it your wisdom, dear reader, to come to the Word of God with open bosom, and honestly face the truth. If it detect the evil in you, it will direct you as to how to get rid of it. If in its light you see yourself a sinner, the same light will give you to read that faithful saying, so “worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” If it make known that man in his natural state will not do for God, it will make equally plain that God has found Another Man in whom all His delight can center, and that every believer stands accepted in that Man. May this blessing be yours. Take one step in the light now, and it will never be yours to take a “leap in the dark” at the end.