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1 In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was
in the beginning with God. 3 All things
were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was
life; and the life was the light of men. . . . . 14 And the Word
was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of
the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John
1:1-4,14)
In
the rural parts of Tennessee and North Georgia, the Bible is often referred to
as “the Good Book;” but, though that misnomer was applied with honorable
intentions, it falls too far short of the Holiness that should define the
Bible. One of the greatest Russian writers Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy wrote
many literary works that are considered masterpieces of all time. These were
good and great works of authorship. But all of his works combined could not
lead a soul one single inch toward God and away from the gaping jaws of Hell. A
good book can save no one, and neither can the good works of morally just men.
The Holy Bible is certainly a good book, but far more. The Kohinoor Diamond
(the largest) is surely a good diamond; but no one would define it that way
because it is far more valuable than simply a ‘good’ diamond.
There
is no other book that can compare with the Holy Bible. It is altogether a book
like no other that has ever graced the eyes of man. It is, among other things,
a history book, a science book, a guide book, chart and compass book, a medical
book, a health book, a geography book, and the Word of God whose words are
filled with healing and mercy. It is not simply filled with Divine Words, but
it is THE Word of God! Every single word is precious and Holy, and the new
critics who have invented the false versions proliferating in modern church
society, have impugned that Word by their false scholarship and chicanery.
I
read a story taken from the World Christian Digest (entitled the
Master’s Ass) many years ago that relates the practical wisdom of the Bible: “A
Haifa policeman, who knew his Bible, got on the trail of a gang of smugglers.
And just as he predicted from Isaiah 1:3, “the ox knoweth his owner, and the
ass his master’s crib,” the starving animals led the police directly
to the smuggler’s hide-out!”
The
Science of Meteorology was revealed in the Bible long before the science came
to man’s notice less than four hundred years past. God’s Word informs us that
the winds have weight long before a scientist named Isaac Beekeman proposed the
same to the ridicule of all society in 1618. The atmospheric column bears
weight downward and is measured in barometric pressure. 24 For he looketh
to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven; 25 To make the
weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure. (Job 28:24-25) Patterns of movement of air masses and rain are also revealed: 6 The wind goeth
toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about
continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits. 7 All the rivers
run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence
the rivers come, thither they return again. (Eccl
1:6-7) Long
before man’s exploration of space was even a dream; God informed us the earth
floated in space without the support of Hercules, or the four elephants
superstition of the East. 7 He stretcheth out the north over the empty
place (possibly
a reference to the fact the North Pole has no land mass to support the ice
cap), and hangeth the earth upon nothing. (Job
26:7)
Long
before Matthew Fontaine Maury discovered and charted the tropical zones of the
sea, God revealed to us the same: 8 The fowl of
the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the
paths of the seas. (Psalm 8:8) Once while ill with
the influenza, Matthew Fontaine Maury (the first Superintendent of the US Naval
Observatory, first proponent of the US Naval Academy and Pathfinder of the
Seas) lay in his quarters while his son read to him from the Psalms. When his
son read Psalms 8:8, Maury insisted he read that line again upon which he
proclaimed, “If God says there are paths in the sea, I am going to find them!”
So, he began to solicit the windage, current, and temperature charts from
commercial and naval vessels upon which he based his discoveries that cut
shipping times by as much as two thirds.
The
Bible even tells us that all material objects that we see with the naked eye
are composed of tiny particles that are invisible to our naked eyes. 3 Through faith
we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things
which are seen were not made of things which do appear. (Heb 11:2-3) It is a simple fact a gold coin can be readily seen by the
greedy, but the millions of atoms which comprise the coin are invisible. The
examples of these wonders of scripture are too abundant to cover in this
devotion, but the examples given should suffice to convince. 6 By the word of
the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his
mouth. 7 He gathereth the waters of the sea
together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses. 8 Let all the
earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. 9 For he spake,
and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast. (Psalm 33:6-9)
The
separate and individual words of the Lord, parsed by manipulative, so-called
‘higher critics,’ are each sacred and pure. 6 The words of
the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of
earth, purified seven times. 7 Thou shalt
keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever. 8 The wicked
walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted. (Psalm 12:6-8) Those who invent new versions, copyrighted for profit, are among
those “vilest men (who) are exalted.”
But
let us examine the essence of this Holy and Sacred Scripture called the Holy
Bible. What gives it its Holiness and Sacredness? It is the
Personage who is revealed on every page and in every word of that Holy Book –
the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Word and the Life! 4 Thou hast a few names
even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with
me in white: for they are worthy. 5 He that overcometh,
the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out
of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before
his angels. (Rev 3:4-5)
But
what is in a name, the sage of Stratford-on-Avon (Wm. Shakespeare), inquired
perhaps flippantly? The Bible has the answer to that question: 1 A good name is rather
to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver
and gold. (Prov 22:1) I would suppose the
only quality of a name that makes it good is its heritage in the Lord for none
other than God is GOOD!. That seems an impossible barrier for mortal man to
achieve in qualifying. But man cannot qualify! It is a work of grace of the
Lord that imputes goodness and a good name. We are told that the righteous
shall even be given a new name in glory – one to which no sin or disreputable
memories can be associated: 17 He that hath an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh
will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in
the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. (Rev 2:17) The White Stone symbolizes the imputed innocence to the holder.
That name is written down beyond the Gates of Splendor in God’s Book of Life.
Is your name there? It certainly could be. Let me explain.
You
may recall our Lord’s final prayer in the Garden at Gethsemane prior to His
Passion. 20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall
believe on me through their word; 21 That they all may be
one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be
one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22 And the glory which
thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 23 I in them, and thou in
me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou
hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. (John 17:20-23) All of those names written down in the Book of Life are part of
God’s Holy Word, hidden from our view, but just as real as that held in our
hands. If we are One with the Word, which is Christ, and Christ is the WORD –
totally and complete – then our given names written in the Book of Life are
secured to us by His mercy and unmerited grace. Christ is veritably: the way, the truth,
and the life. (John 14:6) And we have become
a portion with Him as One if we have received that mercy and unmerited grace.
He has lost none who have been placed in His hands by the Father. If your name
is recorded in that Book of Life, it cannot be erased on earth. His Word is
LIFE!
I
pray those who are ‘called’ Christian will become, indeed, Christian, and
evidence a greater and unreserved reverence for His Word – every Word without
human modification!
