Beginning at Genesis, they give up that which they deem questionable, and their
minds lead on, for Satan will lead to any length they may follow in their criticism,
and they see something to doubt in the whole Scriptures. Their faculties of criticism
become sharpened by exercise, and they can rest on nothing with a certainty. You
try to reason with these men, but your time is lost. They will exercise their power
of ridicule even upon the Bible. They even become mockers, and they would be
astonished if you put it to them in that light.
Brethren, cling to your Bible, as it reads, and stop your criticisms in regard to its
validity, and obey the Word, and not one of you will be lost. The ingenuity of men
has been exercised for ages to measure the Word of God by their finite minds and
limited comprehension. If the Lord, the Author of the living oracles, would throw
back the curtain and reveal His wisdom and His glory before them, they would shrink
into nothingness and exclaim as did Isaiah, “I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell
in the midst of people of unclean lips” (Isaiah 6:5).
Simplicity and plain utterance are comprehended by the illiterate, by the peasant,
and the child as well as by the full-grown man or the giant in intellect. If the individual
is possessed of large talents of mental powers, he will find in the oracles of God
treasures of truth, beautiful and valuable, which he can appropriate. He will also find
difficulties, and secrets and wonders which will give him the highest satisfaction to
study during a long lifetime, and yet there is an infinity beyond.
Men of humble acquirements, possessing but limited capabilities and
opportunities to become conversant in the Scriptures, find in the living oracles
comfort, guidance, counsel, and the plan of salvation as clear as a sunbeam. No
one need be lost for want of knowledge, unless he is willfully blind.
We thank God that the Bible is prepared for the poor man as well as for the
learned man. It is fitted for all ages and all classe