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The full
force of the present argument will appeal only to those who are intimately acquainted with
the Bible, and the more familiar the reader is with the Sacred Canon the more heartily
will he endorse the following statements. Just as a knowledge of Latin is necessary in
order to understand the technique of a treatise on pathology or physiology, or just as a
certain amount of culture and academic learning is an indispensable adjunct to
intelligently follow the arguments and apprehend the illustrations in a dissertation on
philosophy or psychology, so a first-hand acquaintance with the Bible is necessary to
appreciate the fact that its contents never become commonplace.
One of the first facts which arrests the attention of the
student of God's Word is that, like the widow's oil and meal which nourished Elijah, the
contents of the Bible are never exhausted. Unlike all other books, the Bible never
acquires a sameness, and never diminishes in its power of response to the needy soul which
comes to it. Just as a fresh supply of manna was given each day to the Israelites in the
wilderness, so the Spirit of God ever breaks anew the Bread of Life to them who hunger
after righteousness; or, just as the loaves and fishes in the hands of our Lord were more
than enough to feed the famished multitude - a surplus still remaining - so the honey and
milk of the Word are more than sufficient to satisfy the hunger of every human soul - the
supply still remaining undiminished for new generations.
Although one may know, word for word, the entire contents of
some chapter of Scripture, and although he may have taken the time to ponder thoughtfully
every sentence therein, yet, on every subsequent occasion, provided one comes to it again
in the spirit of humble inquiry, each fresh reading will reveal new gems never seen there
before and new delights will be experienced never met with previously. The most familiar
passages will yield as much refreshment at the thousandth perusal as they did at the
first. The Bible has been likened to a fountain of living water: the fountain is ever the
same, but the water is always fresh.
Herein the Bible differs from all other books, sacred or
secular. What man has to say can be gathered from his writings at the first reading:
failure to do so indicates that the writer has not succeeded in expressing himself
clearly, or else the reader has failed to apprehend his meaning. Man is only able to deal
with surface things, hence he cares only about surface appearances; consequently, whatever
man has to say lies upon the surface of his writings, and the capable reader can exhaust
them by a single perusal. Not so with the Bible. Although the Bible has been studied more
microscopically than any other book (even its very letters have been counted and
registered) by many of the keenest intellects for the past two thousand years, although
whole libraries of works have been written as commentaries upon its teachings, and
although literally millions of sermons have been preached and printed in the attempt to
expound every part of Holy Writ, yet its contents have not been exhausted, and in this
twentieth century new discoveries are being made in it every day!
The Bible is an inexhaustible mine of wealth: it is the El
Dorado of heavenly treasure. It has veins of ore which never "give out" and
pockets of gold which no pick can empty; yet, like earthly treasures, the gems of God must
be diligently sought if they are to be found. Potatoes lie near the surface of the ground,
but diamonds require much laborious digging, so also the precious things of the Word are
only revealed to the prayerful, patient and diligent student.
The Bible is like a spring of water which never runs dry. No
matter how many may drink from its life-giving stream, and no matter how often they may
quench their thirst at its refreshing waters, its flow continues and never fails to
satisfy the needs of all who come and take of its perennial springs. The Bible has a whole
continent of Truth yet to be explored. A learned scholar who died during the present year
of grace had read through the Bible no fewer than five hundred times! What other book,
ancient or modern, Oriental or Occidental, would repay even a fiftieth reading?
How can we account for this marvelous characteristic of the
Bible? What explanation can we offer for this startling phenomenon? It is only stating a
commonplace axiom when we affirm that what is finite is fathomable. What the mind of man
has produced the mind of man can exhaust. If human mortals had written the Bible its
contents would have been "mastered" ages ago. In view of the fact that the
contents of the Scriptures cannot be exhausted, that they never acquire sameness or
staleness to the devout student, and that they always speak with fresh force to the
quickened soul that comes to them, is it not apparent that none other than the infinite
mind of God could have created such a wonderful Book as the Bible?
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