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-48-
God Hath Spoken
"The Bible Stands"
The songwriter has written:
The Bible stands like a rock undaunted 'Mid the raging storms of time; Its pages burn with the truth eternal, And they glow with a light sublime. The Bible stands like a mountain towering Far above the works of men; Its truth by none ever was refuted, And destroy it they never can. The Bible stands and it will forever, When the world has passed away; By inspiration it has been given, All its precepts I will obey. The Bible stands every test we give it, For its Author is divine; By grace alone I expect to live it, And to prove it and make it mine. The Bible stands though the hills may tumble, It will firmly stand when the earth shall crumble; I will plant my feet on its firm foundation, For the Bible stands.
The Effect of the Bible
The reader has undoubtedly heard the account of the mutiny on the HMS Bounty. Her Majesty's ship was seized by mutineers who set the Captain of the vessel afloat in an open boat with a few loyal men. These men rowed several hundred miles and were rescued, but the men on board the Bounty shipwrecked on an island in the South Seas. The year was 1790.
The men on board the Bounty gave themselves over to wine, women and song, marrying with the natives. In a matter of a few years, one man remained as the sole survivor of the Bounty. All others had died by disease, or had been murdered.
One day, the man swam to the wreck of the Bounty where he found a trunk. When he had succeeded in bringing it to shore, he found it contained a Bible. It was the year 1824 when the United States ship Topaz sailed by Pitcairn Island, and sent a party of men ashore. They found a completely Christianized island. They had no need for police, because when they turned to righteousness, God returned health to the island's inhabitants.
The Testimony of George Whitefield
George Whitefield testified, "This book I have in my hand is the Book of God. He is the Author of it, and at His order, holy men of God wrote it, whom He inspired and directed. Yet, of all the writings of the world, this one is the most neglected. God has condescended to become an Author, yet we will not read His Book. Very few have ever given this Book of God one fair reading through. Most read this Book as they would a proclamation, a romance, a play or a novel."
The Testimony of Martin Luther
Luther said, "Let this single book be in all tongues, in all hands, before all eyes, in all ears, and in all hearts." Again, he wrote, "Reason thinks, `Oh, if I could only hear God once. To hear Him I would run to the end of the world.' Listen then, O man, my brother: God the Creator of Heaven and earth is speaking to you."
The Testimony of John Wesley
John Wesley declared, "I have thought I am a creature of a day, just passing through time as an arrow through the air. I am a spirit come from God, and returning to God: just hovering over the great gulf; till a few moments hence, I am no more seen. I drop into an unchangeable eternity!
"I want to know one thing: the way to Heaven—how to land safe on that happy shore. God Himself has condescended to teach us the way; for this very end He came from Heaven. He hath written it down in a book. O give me that Book! At any price, give me the Book of God!"
The Testimony of Daniel Webster
Daniel Webster testified, "If truth be not diffused, error will be. If God and His Word are not known and received, the Devil and his works will gain the ascendancy. If the evangelical volume does not reach every hamlet, the pages of a corrupt and licentious literature will. If the power of the Gospel is not felt throughout the length and breadth of the land, anarchy and misrule, degradation and misery, corruption and darkness will reign without mitigation or end."
America, how have the mighty fallen! Americans have rejected the Word of God, and have denied it to their children as they have denied it to the man on the street. We are consequently reaping the benefits of a licentious literature.
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