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HEwords 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.
(Psalm 12:5-7)
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ORall flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: 25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
(1 Peter 1:24-25)
We should never be deceived by the profusion of man-made bibles being commercially pushed upon us in our day by book publishers and even denominations. The NIV, the ESV, and the RSV are all productions of deception made not only for profit, but for deliberate deception to bring the Church under the globalist agenda of one-world church. That church will be one devoid of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and only Begotten Son of God. If Christ can be omitted from our worship and doctrine, anything goes insofar as union with every depraved religion on the face of the earth; because Jesus keeps getting in the way of the one-world religion.
I have excerpted the first lesson from the work, BIBLE LITERATURE, An Introductory View of the Bible and its Books for the General Reader, And Sixth Grade Text-Book for Schools and Colleges, by JOHN A. W. HAAS, DD – a Lutheran publication of 1906. Such teaching of the Bible was perfectly acceptable at a time nearer the days of the Founders when men yet remembered the intentions of those great men who heard the leading of God in our Founding. Below is the introductory chapter of the book - reformatted for Word, and Bible verses added as supporting documentation:
The Bible, God's Word to man, records revelation and its history. It is itself, as such record, also revelation. A light unto our feet, it directs ; quick and powerful, it discerns our very thoughts to show us our sins. It is the power of God unto salvation, as we search it to find Christ, of whom it everywhere testifies.
Contents
This wonderful Book of books is a whole library of literature. It contains stately prose and forceful poetry. Simple stories and annals of history, plain narratives and descriptions of dramatic power, lyrics and orations are found in it. The literature of a nation, covering thousands of years, has come to classic expression within its covers. The record of the rise of Christianity, the faith of faiths, is preserved in memoirs and letters, written within the space of about fifty years.
Unity
But despite this diversity of the books of the Bible, and their difference in time, style, character and language, there is a wonderful unity, which makes the Bible one Book. The Old Testament is the truth in development and preparation for the New Testament. The New Testament is the book of fulfillment in Christ. But the Old Testament agrees in purpose and aim with the highest thought of the New Testament.
Inspiration
This unity is due to the divine Spirit, who moved the holy men of God to write, and who, in the progress of the history of Israel, shows the need and, with increasing light, the coming of the great Saviour.
The New Testament contains the picture of the Savior. The four gospels are the historical Memoirs of Jesus. The Acts report the beginnings of the history of the Church. In the epistles are unfolded the doctrines of the life of the Christian. The Apocalypse is the prophetic outlook of the Church.
Historically, and in order to note the development of revelation, the Old Testament ought to precede. The New Testament, however, lies nearer to our Christian life and presents the centre and aim of all revelation in Christ Jesus. When we know this aim, we can see more clearly the Old Testament approach to it.
Practical Lessons
1. The Bible is God's clear and powerful word to man. The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.(Psalm 119:130)
2. It was written in various forms by holy men. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. (2 Peter 1:21)
3. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, it is one. (2 Peter 1:21)
4. Christ is the centre of it. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. (John 1:1-4)
5. He is proclaimed in history, doctrine and prophecy. O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. (Luke 24:25-27)
