Friday, January 22, 2016

         I love the sacred Book of God!
         No other can its place supply;
         It points me to His own abode;
         It gives me wings and bids me fly.

         Sweet Book! in thee my eyes discern
         The very image of my Lord;
         From thine instructive page I learn
         The joys His presence will afford,

         In thee I read my title clear
         To mansions that will ne'er decay;
         Dear Lord, oh, when wilt Thou appear,
         And bear Thy prisoner away?

         While I am here, these leaves supply
         His place, and tell me of His love;
         I read with faith's discerning eye,
         And gain a glimpse of joys above.

         I know in them the Spirit breathes
         To animate His people here;
         Oh, may these truths prove life to all,
         Till in His presence we appear!
                                              Thomas Kelly


It is a very popular notion that, provided people are moral, amiable, benevolent, charitable and philanthropic, it is of very small consequence what they believe.  Life is better than creed or dogma, we are told.  All this sounds very plausible; but the reader may rest assured that the direct tendency of all this manner of speech and line of argument is to get rid of the Bible — rid of the Holy Ghost — rid of Christ — rid of God — rid of all that the Bible reveals to our souls.  Let him bear this in mind, and seek to keep close to the precious word of God.  Let him treasure that word in his heart; and give himself, more and more, to the prayerful study of it.  Thus he will be preserved from the withering influence of scepticism and infidelity, in every shape and form; his soul will be fed and nourished by the sincere milk of the word, and his whole moral being be kept in the shelter of the divine presence continually.  This is what is needed.  Nothing else will do.
                                                                                                                                       C. H. Mackintosh

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If we want any authority to confirm the truth of God's Word, we are in reality rejecting God's Word altogether, and resting on man's word.  A man may say, "How do I know that the Bible is the Word of God?"  We reply, It carries its own divine credentials with it; and if these credentials do not convince, all the human authority under the sun is perfectly worthless.  If the whole population of the earth were to stand before me, and assure me of the truth of God's Word, and that I were to believe on their authority, it would not be saving faith at all.  It would be faith in men, and not faith in God; but the faith that saves is the faith that believes what God says because God says it.
                                                                                                                                     C. H. Mackintosh

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