The special messengers of God, by whom the Bible has been written, were given the power of performing miracles, by which their inspiration was attested and their messages made authoritative; but the "more sure word of PROPHECY" (2nd Peter 1:19) furnished the greatest external proof of its inspiration. To this, more than to anything else, Christ and the apostles made their constant appeal. Matthew, narrating the deeds of the Saviour, gives us the standing phrase, "that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets" while Peter affirms, in words unmistakable, that the "holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." II Peter 1:21.
Christ is the center and heart of the whole Bible. The Old Bible or Testament is an account of a Nation. The New Testament is an account of a Man, who is Jesus Christ. The Old Testament foretold Christ's coming and founded and nurtured a nation by God to bring Christ into the world. There is no book like the Bible.
The poet has said,
"O precious Bible! burning words from heaven,
We'll ever cherish thee in our heart,
Sweet is the counsel by thy pages given'
On life's dark ocean, our only chart.
O precious volume! only in thy pages
We read the duty of all our race;
Only thy sunbeams, shining through the ages,
Reveal the wonders of saving grace."
Oh, my grandson, it is a glorious thing to understand what God requires of us and to live by it! To accept Christ as our Saviour, Lord, and Master, to strive sincerely and devotedly to follow in the path that He has mapped out for us in this life, is the most wonderful, the most reasonable, and the most satisfactory way to live. It means peace in our hearts, peace of mind, contentment, happiness, hope, and an assurance of a life beyond the grave that shall never end. What a glorious plan God has made for all who will love and serve Him with all of their hearts!
Oh, how sad to see so many go through life and face death without a hope of living in heaven with God forever in the end of time! How can anyone be so ignorant or be filled with such a lack of wisdom! It is beyond me. We all have to die, which is a proven fact. What then! Why try to get around it? It seems that every person should open his heart and mind to the Word of God and accept Christ with an open mind and consider it the greatest privilege in this world to live for Christ, the Creator of all mankind. We should be like Job of old who said, "I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food." Job 23:12.
Many times we read in the New Testament that "it came to pass." The prophecies in the Old Testament were fulfilled. Read the 53rd chapter of Isaiah and he describes Christ's crucifixion and atonement work with such accuracy of detail that the inspiration of the prophet is assured. He wrote this 712 years before Christ was born. He only had from the prophets before him the fact that God had told them that God was going to send a Messiah. So only God could inspire Him to write in such detail about his sufferings and death. Oh, there are so many proofs that the Bible is true! Jesus spoke about the Old Testament, "For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye *believe not* his writings, how shall ye believe my words?" John 5:46, 47. Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible. He wrote things that were told to him from the beginning. It all harmonizes with the rest of the Bible. The early people were careful to keep accounts and told them to their children. They were written when writing was available (or began).
What Is Sin?
When I was a child and teen-ager, I was taught by my parents what the Bible said was right and what was wrong. Many other doctrines in the Bible were taught to me. I read them in the Bible, believed them, lived by them, and was blessed in my soul and life. There came a time in my life that I began to desire for God to teach me personally what was right and what was wrong. I never doubted that the Bible was true but I wanted to say that I believe this or that because God's Word says so. I began to search things out in the Bible. I believe God wants each of us to have this firm foundation to stand upon. So my dear grandson, you are not different from your grandmother. When I finished my search I was glad that I could say I believed this or that because it says in the Bible thus and so. I didn't believe it because someone else said it, but because God had said it. This is the way I want you to know it.
There is one thing that I had when I began my search, that was the Holy Spirit as my teacher. The Bible tells us definitely that "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." I Cor. 2:14. Since the Bible was written by "holy men of God" who "spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit" and it is not "of any private interpretation," then we need to have the Holy Spirit to reveal, or help us to understand all of the Word of God. (II Peter 1:20,21). Yet there are a lot of the basics that we can know. I do hope that you will understand what I write to you by the help of the Holy Spirit.