| | PAGE. |
|——————————————————————|——-|
| A WORD ON OBJECTIONS TO THE SHORTER CATECHISM; | 201 |
| A SERMON. By the late Rev. Alexander Gunn, Watten, Caithness, | 204 |
| THE LORD’S DAY ACT OF CANADA, | 216 |
| THE MEMOIRS OR SPIRITUAL EXERCISES OF ELISABETH WEST; | 219 |
| BRIEF NOTES OF A LECTURE. By the late Mr. Gilmour, Strathpeffer, | 227 |
| NOTES OF CATECHISINGS. By the late Rev. Archibald Cook, Daviot, | 230 |
| A LETTER FROM REV. JOHN B. RADASI, | 232 |
| SEARMON. Leis an Urramach Michael Bruce, | 233 |
| OBITUARY, | 239 |
| PROTESTANT NOTES, | 239 |
| CHURCH NOTES, | 240 |
| THE MAGAZINE, | 240 |

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THE Free Presbyterian Magazine And MONTHLY RECORD.

VOL. XII.

OCTOBER, 1907.

No. 6.

A Word on Objections to the Shorter Catechism.

THE Shorter Catechism, as a manual of religious instruction, was at one time acceptable to almost every Protestant denomination in Scotland. Though it has come to be regarded as a purely Presbyterian document, it originated with the famous Assembly of Divines sitting at Westminster in the seventeenth century—an Assembly that was composed of twelve Congregationalists and one or two Episcopalians, as well as a number of Presbyterians. The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, on the 28th July, 1648, approved of “the said Shorter Catechism, as a part of the intended uniformity, to be a Directory for catechising such as are of weaker capacity.” Congregationalists, including Baptists, as well as Presbyterians, have used it in the instruction of their children—Baptists omitting only one question, namely, that relating to infant baptism. It seems a strange turn of affairs in the religious life of our country that leading men in the Church of Scotland are now the chief promoters of a new Catechism, the general adoption of which would entirely exclude the Shorter Catechism from the public schools, and from the prominent place it has hitherto had in our national life. This new movement brings out in stronger relief than ever the widespread departure “from the faith once delivered unto the saints” which has taken place among the Churches. And yet some of these ecclesiastical leaders tell us that they and their Churches stand where they did! We are glad to observe, however, that as yet the new Catechism is making very little, if any, headway, and that School Boards are disposed to continue their adherence to the Shorter Catechism.

It is our intention in this article to examine briefly some of the objections that have been raised against the use of the Shorter Catechism.

The first kind of objection, we observe, is that directed against the doctrine of the Catechism. Some persons do not hesitate to say that the Catechism contains many errors. These objectors, who declare themselves so plainly, are, for the most part,

Arminians among the Congregationalists and Baptists who feel under no obligations to respect the Shorter Catechism. Presbyterians who are anxious for a new Catechism, generally express themselves in a more plausible way, though not essentially different in spirit or opinion from the previous objectors. Being conscious, however, that they are under some obligation to hold the doctrines of the Shorter Catechism, they veil their opposition in the language they employ, and speak of the harsh and severe terms in which some of the questions are expressed. The questions referred to, our readers may readily surmise, are such as relate to sin and the Fall and its consequences, and the sovereignty of God’s grace in the salvation of sinners. Now it is not the design of the present article to enter into any elaborate argument in defence of the doctrinal statements of the Shorter Catechism. Suffice it, meantime, simply to point out that the Church in the past has regarded the Catechism as expressing in a simple, clear, orderly manner, certain plain Scripture truths on the above subjects. With all impartiality there is really nothing in the Catechism but what is already in the Scriptures. The controversy therefore is, in reality, with the Bible and not with the Shorter Catechism. We do not claim that the Catechism is an inspired document, but we make bold to say that men may as well cast off the authority of the inspired apostles and of Christ Himself as to reject the doctrines that are stated in it. And this is really what many professedly Christian teachers are doing at the present day. They reject, for example, the authority of the Apostle Paul, and they cut and carve the Scriptures in general into various elements to suit their own opinions. The deep-seated reason, then, why certain questions in the Shorter Catechism are not palatable to them is that they have never been subdued to the acceptance of the truth by the grace of God. The law in its spirituality, sin in its heinousness, guilt and punishment, and salvation as of free grace, are things which have never been opened up to them by the Spirit of God.

Unregenerate, untaught men have got into the position of ministers of the gospel and professors of theology. Many of the spiritual guides of the people are blind leaders of the blind. They disbelieve and hate the humbling doctrines of God’s Word, and take care to preach and advocate only what is palatable to the flesh. We have been studying these matters for years, and unregeneracy, chiefly in the pulpit, is the only adequate solution we have discovered of the general declension from “the faith,” and the widespread opposition to the doctrines of sin and salvation, as hitherto expounded by men manifestly enlightened by the Holy Ghost.

Before passing to another kind of objection to the Shorter Catechism, we shall notice shortly one objection to the doctrinal expression of the Catechism which has been raised by men of various schools. They say that it does not sufficiently enlarge upon “the love of God,” and an instance has been cited in the

case of the answer to Question 20: “Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery?” The answer runs—”God having, out of His mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer.” Some, who profess to be Calvinists, say that there is not enough about the love of God here. Now, our first answer is that this is the Shorter Catechism, and that if a more enlarged expression of things is wanted, they can find that in the Larger Catechism. But it appears to us that the framers of the Shorter Catechism exhibited the greatest Christian wisdom in their formation of this as well as other questions. They studied to express themselves in such a way as to exclude error as well as unfold truth, and thus did the work of faithful guardians of the youthful understanding. There are no points on which the natural mind is more ready to go astray than the extent of God’s love and the determining principle of salvation, and so they did very well indeed to lay the foundations of the faith so carefully and wisely in the minds of the young. It would be better for their critics if they followed their example in the teaching of the present young and rising generation. “Religion made easy for the carnal mind” seems to be the motto of many present-day instructors of youth.

We shall resume this subject in next issue.

A Note from Latimer’s Sermon of the Plough.—”Who is the most diligentest Bishop and Prelate in all England, that passeth all the rest in doing his office? I can tell you, for I know him who it is; I know him well. But now I think I see you listening and hearkening, that I shall name him. And will you know who it is? I will tell you: it is the Devil. . . . And his office is to hinder religion, to maintain superstition, to set up idolatry, to teach all kinds of Popery. When the devil is resident, and hath his plough going, then away with books and up with candles; away with Bibles, and up with beads; away with the light of the Gospel, and up with the light of candles, yea, at noonday. When the Devil is resident, that he may prevail, up with all superstition and idolatry, censing, painting of images, candles, palms, ashes, Holy Water, and new service of men’s invention, as though man could invent a better way to honour God with than God Himself hath appointed. “Down with Christ’s Cross, up with Purgatory Pick-Purse, up with him—the Popish Purgatory, I mean; away with clothing the naked, the poor and impotent; up with the decking of images, and gay garnishing of stocks and stones; up with man’s traditions and his laws; down with God’s traditions and His Most Holy Word. Down with the old honour due to God, and up with the new God’s honour. . . . Oh, that our Prelates would be as diligent to sow the corn of good doctrine as Satan is to sow cockle and darnel!”

A Sermon.

BY THE LATE REV. ALEXANDER GUNN, WATTEN, CAITHNESS.*

(Taken down by a Hearer.)

“Thy testimonies are wonderful; therefore doth my soul keep them. The entrance of Thy words giveth light, it giveth understanding to the simple.”—Ps. cxix. 129, 130.

IT is very remarkable to observe the strength of language David uses in this Psalm, and in many other Psalms, in expressing his love for God’s Word, his admiration for the divine excellence, and his constant observance of the Word as the rule of his life and conversation. O what a pattern we have in David! He was truly a man after God’s own heart, and he had in his day very little of the Scriptures, except the five books of Moses; he had very little beyond the dawn of divine revelation. How astonishing, therefore, is it to find him exclaiming in the language of the text, “Thy testimonies are wonderful; therefore doth my soul keep them!” And, my friends, this is the uniform testimony of all God’s children from first to last. They all have the same high esteem for His Word; they all find much delight in it as David did. And, if God’s Word be not wonderful and precious in our eyes, it is a sad token that we do not know it, or at least, do not understand it.

How many there are, even in this congregation, whose knowledge of the Word of God is next to nothing, although they have been all their lives hearing and reading it! Many have scarcely even the elements of Christian knowledge. No one would believe it until he would come to examine a man for baptism; no one would believe the ignorance that there is of the Word of God. I remember an elder’s son, not belonging to this congregation, but nevertheless of the Free Church, who came to me for baptism. I began to question him regarding his knowledge of God’s Word, and asked him several simple questions about the Saviour, but he was so utterly destitute that he could not even tell me where Christ was born, what He did on earth, or what befel Him. And yet this man was the son of an elder in the Free Church! And when I refused him baptism, he said, “O, just give it to me this once, and I will do as much for you again.” How scanty is the knowledge of the Word of God!

* This is a sermon by the second Mr. Gunn of Watten, who died on the 14th December, 1892, in the 83rd year of his age, and 55th of his ministry. His father was the well-known “great Mr. Gunn” who died in 1836, and whom he succeeded in Watten, the following year, being ordained on 31st March, 1837. The latter Mr. Gunn, though not so eminent as his predecessor, was a man of considerable gifts, and a weighty and edifying preacher of the gospel. The present discourse was preached when he was about 80 years of age, and exhibits the prolonged vigour of his mental powers, as well as the excellence of his views of truth.—Ed.

There are two things we may see in these words in the 129th verse. We have the practice of the godly and the reasons of it.

The practice of the godly is this:—”Therefore doth my soul keep them.” Their souls keep God’s testimonies. Now, this should be a question with everyone, “Dost my soul keep His testimonies?” No doubt the memory of many here keeps God’s Word, but it is the soul’s keeping that is spoken of. Does your soul keep them? David says, “Thy testimonies have I taken as a heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart.” It is the inmost soul that works in the keeping of His testimonies. This is the practice of the godly:—”Therefore doth my soul keep them.” Now, the word “keep” here implies that the person who keeps them has got a charge to do so. He has got a charge, and a charge from God. He said by Moses to the children of Israel:—”These words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children.”

“His testimony and his law
In Israel he did place,
And charged our fathers it to show
To their succeeding race.”

And again, in the New Testament, it is written:—”God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken to us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things.” The word of salvation is commanded by Christ to be spoken to every creature, and everyone that hears the Word gets a charge from God to keep it—to make the use of it God intends and designs. And the Word is to everyone that hears it, not to believers alone. “To you, O men, I call, and my voice is to the sons of man.”

Now, in the soul’s keeping of God’s testimonies it is implied that all the faculties of the soul are engaged in the work. The memory is engaged in retaining them; the understanding is engaged in knowing them; the heart is engaged in loving them; the conscience is engaged in reverencing them; and the life is engaged in practising them. All the faculties of the soul are engaged in this exercise. This can never be done until the soul is in real earnest. Men may retain the words in their memory, and yet have no care to understand the spiritual meaning of them. They do not love them in their hearts, nor practise them in their lives. “Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” “For this is the love of God that we keep his commandments; and his commandments are not grievous.” When a man becomes a Christian, like Paul, he can say, “I delight in the law of God after the inward man,” although “I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.”

Christ was an example to all His followers in the keeping of

God’s commandments. He says, “I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart” (Ps. xl. 8; Heb. x. 7). “My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work” (John iv. 34). His chief delight was in doing God’s will and in keeping His commandments; and the same command He lays upon His followers—”Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” Now, the Catechism says, “No mere man since the Fall is able in this life perfectly to keep the commandments of God, but doth daily break them in thought, word, and deed.” But, in the case of the believer, where there is a hearty and sincere endeavour to keep God’s law, God accepts of it. Evangelical obedience consists in this. Although there is not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not, if there be first the willing mind, he is accepted according to that he hath; and the perfect obedience of Christ covers all shortcomings.

Now, there is nothing that will make a sinner thus keep in his soul the testimonies of God but the love of God dwelling in his heart. It is not a man’s own uprightness or resolutions that will keep him in the way of God’s commandments, for man is unstable by nature, unstable as water. This can only be done by his heart being established by grace, and through the love of God shed abroad in the heart. It is by God’s keeping us that we can keep His commandments. “Uphold Thou me: guide my footsteps that they may not slip out of those ways of Thine.” Well, that is the practice of the godly.

We now come to the reasons of that practice. There are two reasons here in the text.

The first reason is contained in the words, “thy testimonies.” That is the first and great reason why we should keep them: they are God’s testimonies. They are the sovereign commands of the great Lawgiver to all His creatures—to all His subjects. “Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts carefully,” and “Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them.” It is not left to their choice whether they will keep them or not. They must keep them, or be regarded as rebels, and be liable to punishment. Adam was cast out of paradise for not keeping God’s commandments. And like as Adam was cast out of paradise, so shall all disobedient sinners be shut out of heaven. He is the great God, upon whom all creatures depend. His favour is as the early dew; in His anger is destruction. “He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth; he toucheth the mountains, and presently they smoke.” Who then can abide His indignation or stand before the fierceness of His anger? “By thy wrath we are consumed.” Christ says, “Fear not them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” “Yea, I say unto you, Fear him.” And let His authority rule over your heart and over your life.

And what are the testimonies and commandments of God? He commands all men everywhere to repent, to believe in Christ, and to flee to Him for refuge. He also commands all men to walk in obedience to His holy law, as they shall answer at the great day. If sinners had the true fear in their hearts, O what manner of persons would they be in all manner of holiness! When everyone shall stand before Him to receive their final doom, blessed shall they be that do His commandments; they “shall enter in through the gates into the city,” and shall be received with joy and gladness, and all sorrow and sighing shall be swept away for ever.

The first reason, then, why we should keep the testimonies is that they are God’s testimonies. They ought to be chosen and obeyed in preference to everything else, as Peter said, “Whether ought we to obey God rather than men, judge ye.”

The second reason is their own intrinsic excellence. “Thy testimonies are wonderful.”

God’s works are wonderful. They reveal many of the perfections of Jehovah—His wisdom, His power, and His goodness. But His Word is still more wonderful. He hath magnified His Word above all His great name. (Psalm cxxxviii. 2.) It is a treasury of divine instruction, revealing the operations of Jehovah before man was upon the earth; revealing now to man the right way of worshipping Him and gaining access to Him, which man could never have found out himself; and revealing the way in which a guilty sinner can be saved. What a mystery! The wisdom of the creature could never have found it out. He hath magnified His Word above all His great name.

Now, the testimonies of God in the Bible are not silent regarding the mysteries of nature, but, although they are not silent regarding these, yet they were not given to teach men natural philosophy and human science. And, though they abound with the mysteries of nature and providence, yet their chief purpose is to reveal the counsels of His grace and love for the salvation of lost sinners. Mysteries, that never could be known by human creatures, are revealed in the Word so plainly that he who runs may read. There is in it, milk for babes and strong meat for men, and mysteries that the very angels desire to look into, as Peter says, “which things the angels desire to look into.” The chief subject which appears in the Old Testament and in the New, is Christ and His salvation. The Old Testament shows us the preparation that God was making for 4,000 years for the coming of Christ—how He was preparing the world and the Church for His coming. And, then, the New Testament tells us of His coming, what He has done for us, and what He is now doing for His redeemed. These things are revealed in the Word—in the letter of the Word—but they are revealed savingly to the soul only by the teaching of the Holy Ghost. “He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”

We may gather from these and the subsequent words of David that the more he understood and knew of God’s testimonies, the more wonderful they appeared to him, for as David grew in knowledge and experience of the Word of God, it was always getting more wonderful and precious to him. I remember the late James Macadie saying to me, when he began to read the Bible over the last time before he died (he read it over several times), how wonderful and precious some parts of the Old Testament appeared to him. He never thought them so wonderful before. And it appears from various expressions of David that the more he studied and knew of the Word of God, the more wonderful it appeared to him. Now, David was a man of deep wisdom and large experience in all matters human and divine. And what does he say about all human things, about all he had seen in the world? He says:—”I have seen an end of all perfection,”—that is, in the world—”but thy commandment is exceeding broad”—so broad that he could not comprehend it. That is what every person will have to say who is taught from above. Outward joys and pleasures do not reach or satisfy the soul—the higher nature of man. “Miserable comforters are ye all, physicians of no value.” It is good for a man to learn this. It is good for a man to come to such a conclusion, and when he can say with the heart, “I have seen an end of all perfection, but thy commandment is exceeding broad.”

Let us now observe in what respects is the Word of God wonderful.

1. It is wonderfully suited to man’s need and man’s present condition. It is wonderfully suited to man’s need as a sinful creature. In the Psalm that we were singing—the 19th Psalm—it is said:—

“God’s law is perfect and converts
the soul in sin that lies;
God’s testimony is most sure,
and makes the simple wise.”

That is one thing we need to get—the soul converted. The testimonies of God have a wonderful power in converting the soul. The commandment of the Lord endureth for ever. We may sing praise to the Lord daily, but O can we join with the Psalmist and say this from experience, “God’s law is perfect, and His testimonies are perfect, even as He Himself is perfect?” Nothing can be added to His Word, or taken from it. His testimonies are suited for all persons in all ranks and conditions, in all countries and in all ages, old and young, high and low, rich and poor. The Scriptures are equally suited to them all, whatever they may be. O, surely, that is wonderful! The Bible is a looking glass that shows to every sinner his own real picture—what he is inwardly and what he knows not himself.

1. There is another respect in which the Word is wonderful, that is, the way in which the Lord has recorded it in human language.

There is in the Bible such a union of majesty and simplicity that it is without any equal. There are no such majestic passages to be found in all human writings as in the Bible, and none so plain and simple. O, what overwhelming thoughts, and such matchless majesty and simplicity! That was the character of Christ’s preaching. His very enemies acknowledged it, and said, “Never man spake like this man.” There was a divine majesty about all that he said, and a divine authority, and at the same time, he spoke in words so simple that even children could understand him. “Never man spake like this man,” so that His enemies were astonished at His doctrine. His word was with power. And that is just the character of the written Word. It shows that the same Spirit dictated both. The great character, then, of the Word is plainness, simplicity, power, and authority. Just look at Hebrews, 4th chapter and 12th verse, “For the Word of God is quick (the word ‘quick’ might have been translated from the Greek, ‘living’), and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerning of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.” O what simplicity and majesty, and divine authority have we here! Take again the ten commandments written by the finger of God. Nothing can ever be conceived so concise and so compendious as the ten commandments. It is utterly impossible for the imagination to conceive anything that can at all be compared with them; they are most wonderful. And then Christ sums up the whole divinity and morality of the Bible in one sentence, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thy neighbour as thyself.”

We hear a great deal about social science at present. There is a great noise about it. Every magazine and paper contains articles bearing on it. But the whole substance of social science Christ puts in a few words: “Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.” What a depth and comprehensiveness of meaning are in these few words! There is nothing more that is needed to thrill the whole world with peace and happiness. What more is needed to fill it with peace and love than obedience to these few words? If the world was filled with that love, it would be a world of peaceful and happy brethren. No more would nation go to war with nation, and kingdom against kingdom; neither would they lift up the sword any more. Consider, then, and rest your social science upon these words: “Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.” We have thousands and thousands of Acts of Parliament, tons after tons, waggons after waggons of them, and all to keep men right and to make them brotherly to one another. But that sentence contains more than the essence

of them all. It makes every man a law to himself. It does not need the law written on paper or parchment. It is a law that is written in the heart. “Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.” That is very wonderful!

1. Another thing that is very remarkable about the Bible is the harmony of all its parts. You will find no contradictions of one part with another. They are all in perfect harmony, although the books of the Bible were given to the world by a great number of different persons, living in periods far remote from one another. Some were very learned men—men like Moses, skilled in all the learning of the Egyptians—and some ignorant, like the fishermen of Galilee. Many of these books were written a vast distance of time from one another. We know that opinions about many things are constantly changing. Even within our own memory, opinions, that at one time were asserted and believed in, are now greatly changed. If you look back a few centuries in the history of Britain, you will find that the changes of opinion are very marked. But although it took 1,500 years to give the whole revelation that is contained in the Bible—although the first part of it was written 1,500 years before the last—yet you see how harmonious it is; there is not one contradiction in the whole book. It shows the divine care and the superintendence of the divine Spirit overruling all and preventing any inaccuracies or mistakes.

I was reading the other day—I forget where—of one of the most learned men of the present day, I think it was Sir William Dawson, the first geologist in the world, and in natural science before all others, and it was stated that he said, “All the labours of the enemies of the Bible for the last 3,000 years have never yet been able to prove one single error in it, either in point of doctrine, or in point of history.” And you know that of late, during the last twenty or thirty years, there have been great discoveries made on the banks of the Euphrates and the Tagus, and in the land of Palestine, great discoveries of ancient monuments and slabs of stone, engraved with the peculiar characters of the East. Many of these—every one of them, in fact—that bears upon anything in the Bible, goes uniformly to strengthen and confirm its veracity and correctness. They all strengthen and corroborate the divine record of the Bible history. This is very wonderful. It shows that all the books of the Bible were under the careful supervision and protection of one divine Spirit. There is no discrepancy, no jarring and no contradiction. Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. The law and the gospel, although they appear to be opposed to one another, both work together for the salvation of sinners.

1. The testimonies of God are wonderful on account of their deep mysteries which could never have been found out by fallen men. For instance, the mysteries of the Trinity, of the Creation, of the Fall of man, of his Redemption by the grace of God through

Jesus Christ, and the Regeneration of man through the work of the Holy Spirit. They also reveal to us the future everlasting condition of the good and of the bad, the blessedness of the good and the misery of the bad. These are mysteries that no human being can fully fathom. They sprang from the mind of the Eternal, and they are now revealed to us through the Bible. All that man knows of God comes from the Bible. There is nothing of God seen in the Book of Nature that can compare but very imperfectly with what is revealed of Him in the Book of Scripture. A child, who has the Bible in his hand, may learn more in a half-an-hour of these mysteries, than all the great men of this world, who have lived in the past ages, together with all the philosophers of ancient Greece and Rome, all the time they were studying. The philosopher may guess a great deal regarding the power, wisdom, and goodness of God, but he never can know anything about His mercy, grace and love, the mysteries upon which the eternal happiness of man depends, and which even angels desire to look into. What a treasury of knowledge is in such a book!

1. Another thing that the Word is remarkable for is its power. Paul, in his first epistle to the Thessalonians, says, “Our gospel came to you not in word only, but in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance.” Very shortly after the death of Christ the gospel penetrated almost the whole of the known world. It spread over the earth, and everywhere Pagan idolatry began to decline, and, in a short time afterwards, the Roman Empire—the pagan Roman Empire—began to fall. The little leaven, as Christ said, leavened the whole lump. It was during the apostolic period that the gospel was disseminated so much in the Roman Empire. The whole lump was leavened. The little cloud, at first no bigger than a man’s hand, grew and accumulated until at last it covered nearly the whole earth. It was not the eloquence of men that did it; it was the innate power of “the truth” itself, because the Spirit of God was in it. It spread and conquered and prevailed throughout the Roman Empire although it was contrary to the whole nature of man. It called upon men to forsake their sins and their pleasures, to forsake revenge and to love their enemies, to suffer persecution for the Truth’s sake, and a variety of other things contrary to the whole tenor of man’s nature. And the reward it offers is not outward things but spiritual mercies and everlasting recompense to all those who are willing to forsake all and follow Christ. O what singular, what inconceivable power!

2. There is another very wonderful thing in connection with the Scriptures, that is, the remarkable way in which they have been preserved. Look how wonderfully they were discovered and preserved from being lost in the reign of Josiah, King of Judah. The temple had been corrupted and confused, and Josiah gave command that it should be cleansed. Before this the word of Jehovah had been neglected, and the temple was full of rubbish.

When they were cleansing it they found “the book of the law” that had lain hidden and neglected so long that the existence of such a book was almost entirely forgotten. This book comprised the five books of Moses.

In New Testament times, and for a great number of years, God’s Word had most inveterate enemies in the Roman Emperors. The Roman Empire then included the whole of the known world. The Emperors issued edicts that were proclaimed throughout the world that every Bible should be burnt, and these edicts they endeavoured to carry out with the most relentless hand. And now the Roman Catholics do the same thing in these days in Ireland. If a Roman Catholic gets hold of a Bible, he is forced, immediately the priest knows, to give it up. And it is the same in the continent, but at least some parts of it are not quite so bad, which are not under the rule of the Romish priesthood. If any Roman Catholic has a Bible, he is bound to tell it to the priest when he goes to Confession, under pain of all the anathemas and curses of the Church. He is then forced to give it up or burn it. Is it not wonderful then how the Scriptures have been preserved for such a length of time, through such straits and emergencies, until now it is impossible to calculate the number of Bibles in the world? There was a divine power protecting the Bible in all ages. There was a divine power superintending the writing of the Bible and preserving it from error, and now there is a divine hand preserving it from destruction.

In the hundred and thirtieth verse of this Psalm, the Psalmist goes on to commend the Word of God, because of its enlightening power, “The entrance of Thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding to the simple.”

Though the Word is full of mysteries, yet it is full of light. It makes the simple wise, and reveals even unto babes the things that are hidden from the wise and prudent of this world. It is light upon all things; it throws light upon everything that concerns sinners; it throws light upon the miseries of hell and the glories of heaven and the invisible world. It throws light upon the ways of God towards men, and upon the ways and struggles of men on this earth . . . “I have seen an end of all perfection, but thy commandment is exceeding broad.”

It gives light about the Fall of man. It teaches that men, by nature, have no understanding. “The Lord looked down from heaven to see if any understood and did seek after God,” but there was not one. “There is none that doeth good, no, not one.” From the highest to the lowest all are alike, serving divers lusts and pleasures. And we see that those who have the highest human knowledge and the greatest scientific learning, have the deepest spiritual ignorance combined in the same man. Those who are looked up to and adored on account of their knowledge of science and literature, and everything of which human knowledge consists, and who are admired as leaders and princes, you will

find to possess the deepest spiritual ignorance. How strange and wonderful! They are simple and void of understanding. The Apostle Paul was a very learned man in his natural state, but he was a Pharisee and knew nothing of spiritual things. He was instructed in all the human knowledge of his day, like Moses, but O, how dark was his mind! There is no spiritual knowledge in man by nature, no fear of God, no love to God. The world is what he seeks as his portion, not heaven. He sees very little evil in sin, and therefore he is very easily tempted and led by Satan into sin, and his conscience, whenever it awakes, is very easily quieted and lulled to sleep again. It is said that, when the ostrich is pursued, and is almost completely wearied out, she will thrust her head into the sand, believing that when she does not see her enemies, they do not see her. That is the case with the sinner; his understanding is darkened; and he believes that God sees as little of him as he sees of God. Thus they are void of understanding, and think they will escape judgment. They think little of eternity, if their souls are allowed to sail on at ease, and they are unwilling to be taken up with such thoughts. What is the cure for such a state of soul as this? It is “the entrance of Thy words.” There is no hope of ever curing the ignorance of sinners but by the entrance of God’s Word that has cured millions and millions of dark souls. It has translated them from being the children of darkness to be the children of light, and it has the same power still. When the Word of God comes into the soul it brings light and life with it. When God began the work of creation, darkness brooded over the face of the deep. Darkness and light are the same to him, though not to his creatures. And God spake the word and said, “Let there be light,” and immediately there was light. And He has but to speak and there will be light by the Word in the human soul. Job, in the 10th chapter, speaks of the soul and understanding of man as a land of darkness, darkness itself and of the shadow of death, where there is no order, and where the light itself is darkness. These were Job’s words, and they are true to this day. He described the state of the human mind as it existed in his day, and it exactly corresponds with the human mind now.

When the Word enters the soul by faith, then the light of God reveals the Fall and lost position of man by sin, and he sees that all is ruined. Until they get this light, those, who deny original sin, can very easily do so. What they thought was a splendid palace is nothing but a heap of ruins. There is no wisdom in Israel by nature, no holiness, and nothing to fit them for meeting with God and having fellowship with Him. They have nothing on their side but misery, and ruin, and death, and until their false hopes are thrown down, they become vain, empty fellows. You see that in the case of Paul in the 7th of Romans where he says: “I was alive without the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. And the commandment, which

was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.” Paul thought that he was touching the law blameless and right at all points, but when the law came he found that he was altogether wrong. And this is a great mercy for the sinner, when he is awakened from his false dream of security and false hope, that he may seek the true peace of God. Then, the law, as Paul says, is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. It teaches us that we are self-destroyed sinners, and that there is no refuge for us but in Christ. This is a great mercy, to be convinced of sin, and brought to Christ and His fulness, that we may receive “the propitiation for our sins.”

But the word “simple” may have another meaning besides “want of understanding.” It may signify upright—an upright man, a one-hearted man. It may mean, according to its original signification, without folding or twisting. The first half of the word is “sim” or “sin,” which means “without,” and the second half, “pla,” signifies “turns”—”without turns.” According to this, a simple man is a man without guile—a pure, upright man. Men are not so by nature; their hearts are desperately wicked. But this man is pure, upright, and single-hearted. “As he thinketh in his heart, so doth he truth express.” It is what Christ calls, in the parable of the sower, an honest and good heart—made so by the grace of God.* Well, then, the Word shall be an enlightening word to such a man, who is, in this sense, simple. The Word of God gives such persons spiritual wisdom, because they “receive with meekness the engrafted word which is able to save their souls.” They are enabled by the Word to discern more and more of their own sin, more and more of the character of Christ, and more and more of the emptiness of the world. Thus the Word humbles them; it is a humbling light. The more they see of it, the more humble they are made by this sanctifying light. It makes them to know more and more of their dependence on God’s grace. “It giveth understanding to the simple.”

Now, my friends, it is because there is so little of this knowledge—this enlightening knowledge—in the world that there is so much profaning of God’s name. People go about His worship in the most irreverent and self-satisfying spirit. Their minds are not humbled by the great breadth of God’s law and righteousness, because there is little of this light. O! the light manner in which professing Christians go about the worship of God is very grievous to His Holy Spirit. We are told that Jerusalem sinned more than Sodom and Gomorrah, because she had greater privileges. Her sins were more grievous in the sight of God, because she had more means of instruction. With such great privileges the effect ought to have been true fear and true reverence of His name. But Christ says, “This is the condemnation that light is come into the world, but men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”

The entrance of His Word giveth light and understanding unto the sinner—light to discern more of the Divine Majesty, that we

may bow before Him and His authority. God’s Word gives sinners not only light to see their own spiritual malady, but light to know and understand Christ as their great remedy in His various offices, working on their behalf as their prophet, priest, and king, meeting all their needs. He is their atoning righteousness and justification, and by the Word, in the hand of the Spirit, they trust in His infinite merit and power; and through the redemption Christ has purchased, the Lord pardons their sins, renews their natures, and prepares them for life everlasting. This shows that all the believer gets is from grace—free grace. “By grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.”

The Word gives them light to find their way to heaven. No man can find his way without the Word of God. “Thy word is a light unto my feet and a lamp unto my path.” The Church of Christ—like Israel of old—meets with many trials, many temptations, and many troubles, but here is their remedy: in their straits they are revived and quickened by His Word alone. The Word shows to them the true hope they have in the mercy of God through the work of Christ.

We may then sum up the effects of the Word of God, and say it is a discovering word—a discovering light—which shows the true nature of man and the true nature of God, the true nature of earthly and of heavenly things, and how we should cleave to the one and despise the other. This is a lesson that all should learn, and learn thoroughly—the perishing nature of earthly things and the abiding nature of the heavenly. It is also a directing light. “Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel while I live.” It shows the sinner the broad way, and directs him to the narrow way. It warns him of the one, and exhorts him to strive to enter in at the other. It is a quickening light. As the sun in spring quickens all vegetation and causes it to grow and put forth its blossoms, so in like manner the Word quickens the soul. It is a comforting Word. “Truly the light is sweet, and it is a pleasant thing for the eyes to behold the sun.” How comfortable after the darkness of the stormy night is it to come into the bright sunshine! This is one of the effects of the entrance of God’s Word. It is also a satisfying light. “Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.” This light reveals to the sinner the unsearchable riches of Christ and the pleasures that are at God’s right hand for evermore. There can come no saving light into the soul but what comes from God.

Seek, then, that blessedness of the soul in which Christ shines by this divine light, that you may see His atoning sacrifice, and may be enabled to rest in Him and His finished work; that you may know by experience the truth of the text, and may be able to say with David, “Thy testimonies are wonderful, therefore doth my soul keep them. The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding to the simple.”