CONTAINING ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-ONE READINGS SYSTEMATICALLY ARRANGED FOR HOME AND CLASS STUDY, AND ANSWERING NEARLY THREE THOUSAND QUESTIONS
by W. L. Emmerson
SIGNS PUBLISHING COMPANY
1950
WARBURTON, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA.
NEVER before have so many voices clamored for audience as in our day. From public platform, through the medium of the press, and over the ether, leaders of thought and action are insistently proclaiming their particular recipes for remedying the ills of mankind. Yet so diverse and mutually contradictory are they, that, instead of quieting man's fears and giving assurance and hope to a perplexed generation, the confusing Babel serves only to increase disquiet and deepen perplexity and despair.
Amid the darkness of earth's night of sin and woe, the hearts of men everywhere yearn for some authoritative Voice greater than mail's to guide their erring steps into paths of truth and righteousness and peace.
To those who have had "ears to hear" such a Voice has spoken through the centuries in the pages of Holy Writ. And no less in the crisis hours of history to which we have come, has it a message of hope and courage for every responsive soul.
For many, however, a very real problem presents itself as the pages of the Sacred Volume are turned with sincere desire to understand its message of life. "How can I find an answer to the particular problem about which I am exercised? I have my Bible, but I need some guide to lead me along its highways and byways and point out its glories and holy truths."
It is to help meet this commonly felt need that the present work is sent forth. Its plan is simple. In one hundred and forty-one readings carefully compiled in counsel with experienced ministers, Bible teachers, and other Christian workers, an endeavor has been made to set forth the whole range of Bible teaching about the world and man, sin and salvation, the meaning of history, and the ultimate purpose of God-not in the form of a fallible human commentary, but as God's own answers in His own words to the age-long questions in the minds of men. And those who will prayerfully apply themselves to their study will find, we confidently believe, within the sacred pages of God's Word, a perfect answer to every problem, whether concerning this life or the life to come.
In the compilation of these studies, consideration has been given to all relevant passages, and from them the most pointed texts have been chosen in order to present comprehensively, yet within reasonable compass, the fundamental teachings of the Bible. In many places reference is also made to supporting texts, and with the aid of the marginal references in his own Bible the diligent student will be able to develop each theme at will.
While the essential purpose of the volume is to let the Bible speak for itself, brief explanatory notes, often in the words of great preachers and teachers, have been added here and there to emphasize the message of the inspired Word. In selecting these comments, no account has been taken of denominational barriers. The only criterion has been the sincerity and truth of their witness to the Evangelist of God.
It is thus hoped that those who approach the Bible for the first time will here find clear and simple guidance as they seek to comprehend the great doctrines of Holy Scripture, and that those who have made the Bible a life-long study may be led into a deeper and more blessed understanding of the profundities of divine revelation.
One other feature deserves special mention-the fine selection of masterpieces of sacred art with which the work has been profusely embellished. There have of course, been false prophets wielding brush and chisel, just as there have been false prophets in the pulpit. But none can deny that consecrated art has given a powerful witness to the truths of the gospel. Conscious of this debt, we have associated with the Bible studies some of the most inspiring examples of modern religious art, in order that the message of the Scriptures may be seen with the eyes as well as perceived by heart and mind. In both home and class study this pictorial presentation of the gospel will be of particular value in the instruction of the young.
Besides the plates illustrating Bible teachings, many photographs, taken by the author during extensive travels through Bible lands, have been included to show how modern discoveries have vindicated the truth of the Bible record.
That many, through these pages, may gain a new love for the Book of books and hear more clearly the "still small voice" which is seeking to make itself heard amid the din and clash of earthly strife is the sincere prayer of
THE AUTHOR
1. The Scriptures
HOW WE GOT OUR BIBLE
IS OUR BIBLE COMPLETE?
CAN WE BELIEVE THE BIBLE?
A BOOK FROM HEAVEN
WHY WE NEED THE BIBLE
HOW TO UNDERSTAND YOUR BIBLE
2. God
A PERSONAL CREATOR
CAN WE KNOW GOD?
DOES GOD CARE?
THE DEMANDS OF HOLINESS
IS GOD IN CONTROL?
3. The World and Man
HOW THE WORLD BEGAN
WHAT IS MAN?
WHEN CAME EVIL?
DO WE NEED TO BE "SAVED"?
WAS JESUS DIVINE?
PROPHECIES THAT CAME TRUE
WHY CHRIST CAME
DID JESUS NEED TO DIE?
THE POWER OF THE RESURRECTION
WHAT IS JESUS DOING NOW?
5. The Way of Salvation
GRACE MEETS THE SINNER'S NEED
WHAT IS PREDESTINATION?
CONVICTION OF SIN
WHAT IS CONVERSION?
BLESSINGS OF FORGIVENESS
JUSTIFIED BY FAITH
BORN FROM ABOVE
RECONCILED TO GOD
RIGHTEOUSNESS BY FAITH
6. The Law and the Gospel
GOD'S TEN WORDS
THE LAWS OF SACRIFICE
WHICH LAW WAS NAILED TO THE CROSS?
GOD'S TWO COVENANTS
7. Man's Duty to God
WHY GOD CAN HAVE NO RIVAL
MAN'S MODERN IDOLS
THE HOLIEST NAME
GOD'S MEMORIAL
HOW OLD IS THE "WEEK"?
A TEST OF LOYALTY
THE SABBATH AND THE "SABBATHS"
DID JESUS KEEP THE SABBATH?
THE SABBATH AND THE RESURRECTION
HOW WAS THE SABBATH CHANGED?
BRITAIN'S EARLIEST FAITH
THE BIBLE SABBATH RECOVERED
HOW TO OBSERVE THE SABBATH
8. Our Duty to Man
GOD'S APPEAL TO YOUTH
THE SANCTITY OF LIFE
MODERN MORALS AND THE MORAL LAW
THE RIGHTS OF MAN
THE POWER OF THE TONGUE
DECEITFUL RICHES
9. The Christian Experience
IN HIS STEPS
LIVING BY FAITH
CHRISTIAN GROWTH
WALKING IN THE LIGHT
BIBLE PERFECTION
JOY IN THE LORD
ENDURING TO THE END
10. Why Death and Suffering?
IS GOD RESPONSIBLE?
WHY DO THE INNOCENT SUFFER?
THE DIVINE REFINER
SUFFERING FOR CHRIST'S SAKE
11. PRAYER
THE PRIVILEGE OF PRAYER
HOW TO PRAY
PRAYERS GOD WILL ANSWER
FOR WHOM SHOULD WE PRAY?
12. The Holy Spirit
THE HOLY SPIRIT
HAPPENED AT PENTECOST?
THE SPIRIT AND THE LIFE
THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT
13. The Angels
WHO ARE THE ANGELS?
WHY ARE SOME ANGELS BAD?
SPIRITUALISM-ANCIENT AND MODERN
ANGEL MINISTRY
14. The Church
THE ISRAEL OF GOD
THE CHURCH OF CHRIST
THE PRIVILEGE OF WORSHIP
THE MINISTRY OF SONG
THE FELLOWSHIP OF SAINTS
IS BAPTISM ESSENTIAL?
A LESSON IN HUMILITY
AT THE LORD'S TABLE
15. Christian Service
SAVED TO SERVE
THE GREAT COMMISSION
WHAT WE OWE TO GOD
FREEWILL OFFERINGS
MINISTRY TO THE NEEDY
16. The Home
A SACRED ORDINANCE
THE IDEAL HUSBAND
THE IDEAL WIFE
PRIVILEGES OF PARENTHOOD
THE HOME AND THE CHILD
BEST STORIES FROM THE BEST BOOK
A PATTERN FOR YOUTH
IDEALS OF WOMANHOOD
17. Healthful Living
THE GOSPEL OF GOOD HEALTH
THE BIBLE AND DIET
MENACE OF INTEMPERANCE
CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE
18. Community and State
THE POWERS THAT BE
PRIVILEGES OF CITIZENSHIP
MASTER AND SERVANT
19. World Destiny
DOES PROPHECY MATTER
LIGHT IN A DARK PLACE
CAN WE UNDERSTAND PROPHECY?
GOD'S BLUE-PRINT OF HISTORY
THE ANARCHY OF NATIONS
ANTICHRIST UNMASKED
THE BATTLE-GROUND OF EMPIRES
HEAVEN'S ZERO HOUR
20. The World in Prophecy
WILL CHRISTIANITY SURVIVE?
THE FUTURE UNSEALED
DISSOLVING EMPIRES
THROUGH TRIBULATION TO TRIUMPH
THE GREAT CONSPIRACY
AMERICA AND WORLD DESTINY
HEAVEN'S LAST APPEAL
MARKS OF THE REMNANT
THE TWO SEALS
WHEN THE STORM BREAKS
21. The Return of Jesus
THE "BLESSED HOPE"
WILL CHRIST REALLY COME?
IS THE END NEAR?
WHAT DO THESE THINGS MEAN?
WILL THE WORLD BE CONVERTED?
GOD'S STRANGE ACT
THE SAINTS' REWARD
SATAN'S LAST BATTLE
22. Life After Death
IS DEATH THE END?
ARE THE DEAD ALIVE?
WHEN WILL THE DEAD RISE?
23. The Judgment
WILL THERE BE A DAY OF RECKONING?
WHEN WILL THE JUDGMENT BEGIN?
THE DAY OF THE LORD
HOW WILL GOD PUNISH THE WICKED?
WILL HELL BURN FOR EVER?
24. The Kingdom of God
SHALL WE GO TO HEAVEN?
"THY KINGDOM COME"
GOD'S "NEW ORDER"
WHO WILL BE THERE?
Until the day of his death, Bede continued his work of translating the Scriptures into Anglo-Saxon.
1. How close was man's earliest fellowship with God?
"And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.... And the Lord God called unto Adam." Genesis 3:8, 9.
2. By what tragedy was this intimate communion broken?
"Your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you." Isaiah 59:2.
3. After the entrance of sin what modified method of communication did God adopt?
"God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in time past unto the fathers by the Prophets." Hebrews 1:1.
4. In process of time what nation did God single out to be the special medium of His revelations?
"What advantage then has the Jew? ... Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God." Romans 3:1,2. (See also Romans 9: 4.)
5. What further provision did God make in order to keep a knowledge of His will before His chosen people?
"And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book." Exodus 17:14. (See also Exodus 24: 4.)
In His providence God gathered up the record of the past and communicated it to Moses, instructing him to write it in a book to form the nucleus of a written revelation which could be handed down from generation to generation without fear of corruption. By inspiration Moses wrote the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, which became known as "the book of Moses" (2 Chronicles 25: 4), "the book of the law of Moses" (Joshua 23:6), and in later times the Pentateuch. Moses undoubtedly also wrote the Book of Job.
6. Who was commissioned to continue the sacred record after the death of Moses?
"And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God." Joshua 24: 26.
7. When Israel settled in Canaan through whom did God give further guidance and reproof to His people?
"The Lord testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers." 2 Kings 17: 13.
During the period of the monarchy there were added to the books of Moses and Joshua, the books of Samuel, the earlier parts of Kings and Chronicles, the psalms of David, Proverbs, the Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, and the writings of the earlier `prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, Joel, and Amos.
8. During the captivity of Israel and Judah or immediately after the return what new books were incorporated into the Scriptures?
Ezekiel, Daniel, Obadiah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, and perhaps the latter parts of the books of Kings and Chronicles.
9. How did the returned captives indicate their desire to understand the words of the Lord?
"And all the people gathered themselves together; ... and they spoke unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded to Israel." Nehemiah 8:1. (Read verses 1-8.)
10. What remaining books were added in post-captivity days to complete the Old Testament as we now have it?
Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.
With the Book of Malachi, written about 400BC, the canon of the Old Testament was completed, having been in process of formation for over 1,000 years.
11. How did Jesus refer to the Scriptures in His day? "These are the words which I spoke unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning Me." Luke 24:44.
This threefold division was the customary classification of the Old Testament books in the days of Jesus, the "Law of Moses" -including the five books of the Pentateuch; "the prophets" comprising Joshua, judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the twelve minor prophets. While the third division was called "the psalms" because these were first in order, but it included also Proverbs, Job, Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra (including Nehemiah), and 1 and 2 Chronicles.
12. What form did the earliest writings of the New Testament take?
"I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren." 1 Thessalonians 5:27; (See also Colossians 4: 16.)
As time passed it became more and more difficult for the apostles personally to visit all the groups of Christian believers which were springing up. So in order to meet the need of further instruction in the faith, to combat prevailing error, and to warn against strange and heretical teachers, they were led to send forth messages of warning and exhortation. (See 1 Corinthians 1:1,2; Galatians 1:1,2; Ephesians 1:1; James 1:1; 1 Peter 1:1, etc.)
13. W.hat portions of the New Testament were next written?
"Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us . . . it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, that thou might know the certainty of those things, wherein thou has been instructed." Luke 1: 1-4.
Some thirty-five years had passed since Jesus was taken away, and persecution was decimating the ranks of the disciples. Soon there would be no one who had been with Jesus to tell the story of His life and teachings. So several were led to prepare authoritative accounts, and the Gospels came into being. The earliest was written by Mark; Matthew wrote his Gospel soon after, followed by Luke. John's Gospel came much later, and was perhaps the last of the New Testament books to be written.
14. In addition to his Gospel what further record was Luke inspired to set down in writing?
The "Acts of the Apostles" as they went forth to fulfil the great commission given them by Jesus. (See Acts 1: 1.)
15. With what wonderful prophetic communication was the New Testament completed?
"The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, to show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass; and He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John." Revelation 1:1.
By AD 100 all the books of our present New Testament had been written. That this was in the providence of God is clearly evident, for not one of the apostles, save perhaps John only lived to see the beginning of the second century. The believers now began systematically to copy out and circulate the apostolic writings with the Old Testament Scriptures. From the middle of the second century, testimony is forthcoming from every part of the Roman Empire to the general acceptance of the whole Bible, as we know it, as the inspired Word of God.
16. How did God intend that the Bible should be used?
a. It was to be read publicly in the assemblies of God's people. "Go thou, and read in the roll, which thou has written from My mouth, the words of the Lord in the ears of the people in the Lord's house." Jeremiah 36: 6. (See also Nehemiah 8:8.)
b. It was to be earnestly studied by the individual believer. "Stitdy to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed." 2 Timothy 2:15.
17. What blessed result would follow the wholehearted acceptance of the Word?
"These are written, that yemight believe that.jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you might have life through His name." John 20:31.
1. Do all Bibles contain exactly the same books as our Authorized and Revised Versions?
No, the Douay Bible'of the Roman Catholic Church contains what is known as the Apocrypha. This comprises seven extra books in the Old Testament, namely: Tobit, Baruch, Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, and 1 and 2 Maccabees, together with seven additional chapters to the Book of Esther and sixty-six extra verses in'the third chapter of Daniel called, "The Story of the Three Children."
2. What does the Roman Catholic Church say with reference to the contents of her Bible?
"If anyone does not receive the entire books with all their parts as they are accustomed to be read in the Catholic Church, and in the Old Latin Vulgate Edition, as sacred and canonical . . . let them be anathema."Decree of the Council of Trent, 1546.
3. Can we ascertain what books there were in the Old Testament as used in the days of Christ?
"The books which are definitely enumerated [by the Jews] as part of the collection of Holy Scripture are exactly the same as those books of the Old Testament which are now received. And there is no trace of any explicit difference of opinion on the subject, or of any attempt to extend the collection by the addition of later writings." -Bishop Westcott in "The Bible in the Church," page 49.
4. From what Old Testament books did Christ and the apostles quote?
While Christ and the apostles quoted from practically every book in the Protestant canon they never quoted any of the apocryphal books as Scripture, nor even recognized their existence. This indicates conclusively that they did notregard any-of these latter as of divine origin.
5. Did the early church accept the apocryphal writings?
"The apocryphal books were not admitted into the canon of Scripture during the first centuries of the Christian church. As Bishop Barnet well observes, We have the concurring sense of the whole church of God in this matter." - Thomas Hartwell Horne, B.D., in "An Introductiow to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures," pages 458, 459.
6. Have any Roman Catholics ever questioned the inclusion of the Apocrypha in their Bible?
Yes. The great Roman Catholic scholar jerome, when instructed by Pope Damasus about AD 400 to prepare the standard Latin Vulgate version, wanted to exclude the Apocrypha as having no place in Scripture. He was prevented from doing so however, and under pressure allowed them to remain to be "read for purposes of edification." Thus the Roman Catholics cannot even claim the support of their chief translator for the Apocrypha.
7. What other Catholic authorities have pronounced against the authority of the apocryphal writings?
Augustine followed Jerome in recognizing a difference between the canonical and apocryphal books. The Spanish and Trans-alpine churches rejected the Apocrypha. The British Catholic scholars Bede, John of Salisbury (1180), and William Ockharn (1347) all separated the apocryphal books. Cardinal Ximenes, in his magnificent Polyglot Bible, separated the Apocrypha from the rest of Scripture in the sixteenth century.
Even after the Council of Florence in 1442 and the Council of Trent in 1546 had pronounced the apocryphal books equally as inspired as the other books, Sixtus of Siena (1566) insisted on separating the Apocrypha from the rest of the canon, and Bernard Lamy declared, "Nevertheless they are not of the same authority."
8. Why then does Rome insist on retaining the Apocrypha?
Because the apocryphal books can be quoted in support of some of the false doctrines of the church.
a. Prayers for the dead are advocated. "If he had not hoped that they that were slain should have risen again, it had been superfluous and vain to pray for the dead." 2 Maccabees 12:44.
b. The dead are represented as praying for themselves. "O Lord Almighty, Thou God of Israel, hear now the prayers of the dead Israelites, and of their children, which have sinned before Thee." Baruch 3: 4.
c. The meritorious value of almsgiving is emphasized. "For alm's does deliver from death, and shall purge away all sin. Those that exercise alms and righteousness shall be filled with life." Tobit 12:9.
d. The doctrine of purgatory is suggested. "The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and there shall no torment touch them." - Wisdom 3: 1.
"The apocryphal books prove by contrast that the books of the Hebrew canon, as a whole, are generically distinct from the ordinary religious literature of the Jews; and establish more clearly than anything else the absolute originality of the gospel." - Bishop Wescott in "TheBible in the Church," Page 291.
9. To what conclusion must we therefore come with respect to the Apocrypha?
That it has no place in the canon of divine revelation.
10. What solemn warnings should be heeded by those who seek to add to or detract from Holy Writ?
"You shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall you diminish ought from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you." Deuteronomy 4:2.
1. WHAT claim does the psalmist make for the Scriptures?
"Thy Word is true front the beginning." Psalm 1-19: 160.
The "higher critics" dispute this statement, declaring that they have discovered many historical, geographical, chronological, scientific, and other "mistakes" in the Scriptures. They therefore contend that if the Bible is not accurate in details which can be tested by outside evidence, it certainly cannot be "infallible" in its spiritual teaching.
2. How important is it that we be certain as to the basis of our faith?
"If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" Psalm 11:3.
3. How should Christians prepare themselves to meet these attacks upon the Bible?
"Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear." 1 Peter 3: 15.
4. To what do the Scriptures direct us to turn for evidence in support of their trustworthiness?
"Ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee." Job 12:7, 8.
5. How do the heavens witness to the truth of the Bible?
"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork." Psalm 19: 1.
"Everything points with overwhelming force to a definite event, or series of events, of creation at some time or other. The universe cannot have originated by chance out of its present ingredients, and neither can it always have been the same as now." - Sir James jeans in "Eos," pages 52-55.
6. What witness do all created things give to their Maker and to the truth of the Bible record?
"For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead." Romans 1:20.
"Today scientists of the first rank have almost unanimously declared that science demands the intervention of a Creator." Reverend E. J. Gill before the British Association.
"The exquisite structure of the sun, the planets, and the comets could not have had their origin but by the plan and absolute dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being." - Isaac Newton.
7. Mention some striking facts of the natural world which were actually anticipated in the Bible long before they were discovered by the scientists.
a. "He . . . hangs the earth upon nothing." Job 26: 7.
The suspension of the earth in space was discovered by Copernicus in 1475.
b. "He looks to the ends of the earth, to make the weight for the winds." Job 28:24, 25.
Galileo (1630) was the first to affirm that air had weight.
c. "Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?" Isaiah 40:12.
Only in recent years has it been realized how important are the proportions and balance of the land masses and oceans on the earth's surface.
d. "They [the heavens and the earth] shall perish; but Thou remains; and they all shall wax old as does a garment." Hebrews 1: 11.
Not, until the twentieth century was the progressive aging and disintegration of matter by radioactivity discovered. Nature is going down the steps; any upward step is impossible." - Sir James Jeans in "The Universe Around Us," Page 306.
e. "For the life of all flesh is the blood thereof." Leviticus 17:14.
The circulation and function of the blood was discovered by William Harvey in 1615.
"Tested by cosmogony, astronomy, geology, and zoology, physiology and comparative anatomy, natural philosophy and sanitary science, etc., this Book evinces superhuman knowledge and wisdom. Hence the Bible is a scientific marvel. It belongs to the oldest class of literature, yet it is the youngest and newest in adaptation to scientific discovery, and perpetually keeps abreast of human progress." - Dr. Arthur T. Pierson in "Many Infallible Proofs."
8. How have men spoken "to the earth" and what has it taught?
Buried civilizations of earlier days have yielded their treasures to the spade of the archeologist.
9. What are some striking examples of Bible facts once denied by the critics, but which have been completely confirmed by modern archeological discoveries?
a. They declared that Abraham was a half -savage nomad quite incapable of the activities credited to him in the Biblical record. But in recent years it has been proved by Professor Leonard Woolley that a high state of civilization existed in the Near East long before the days of Abraham. (Read Woolley's "Ur of the Chaldees.")
b. They ridiculed the account of the capture of Jericho by Joshua until Professor Garstang of Liverpool University excavated the site and declared: "Set side by side with the Biblical narrative the material evidence is seen to bear out, in every essential detail, the record of the capture and destruction of Jericho by the Israelites under Joshua." - Joshua, Judges.
c. They once denied the existence of the Hittites. But Professor Wm. Sayce of Cambridge proved the existence and extent of the Hittite Empire by excavating thousands of remains from all over Asia Minor and Northern Syria. (Read Sayce's "Monument Facts and Higher Critical Fallacies.")
d. They denied that there ever was a king of Babylon called Belshazzar. Today more than 500 tablets mentioning his name are known. (Read Dougherty's "Nabonidus and Belshazzar.")
e. They, asserted that the Book of Acts was entirely untrustworthy in its history and geography. Sir William M. Ramsay, however, after years of travel in Asia Minor, conclusively declared, "Luke's history is unsurpassed in respect of its trustworthiness." (Read "Luke the Historian," by A. T. Robertson.)
10. What testimonies have noted excavators borne respecting the results of archeological research?
"The Higher Criticism is bankrupt whenever tested by the facts of modern discovery and scientific archeology. The rout is complete." - Professor. Sayce in a letter to the Reverend A. H. T. Clarke of Devizes, quoted in the Church of England Newspaper.
"A little dose of archeology is a wonderful corrective to the fertile imagination, and furnishes a wholesome check to speculative criticism." - Canon Girdlestone in a Foreword to "Biblical Discoveries in Egypt, Palestine, and Mesopotamia."
"Modern criticism, neither on internal nor on external grounds has been able to throw any doubt on the authenticity of a single book of our New Testament. Their authenticity, accuracy, and honesty are super-vindicated by every new investigation. "-Professor B. B. Warfield, in "New Testament Criticism."
11. In what striking prophecy did a noted scientist foreshadow the vindication of the Bible by scientific research?
"When science makes its next attack upon theology, if indeed that shall ever be again, it will find an armament, largely furnished by itself, which has made the Bible as impregnable as nature." - Professor Henry Drummond in he "Expositor," Third Series, Volume I.
12. In what Biblical terms may we therefore express our confidence in 1 the trustworthiness and accuracy of the Scriptures?
"Thy Word-is very pure: therefore Thy servant loves it." Psalm 119: 140.
1. WHAT terms applied to the Biblical record affirm its divine origin?
"The Book of the Lord." Isaiah 34: 16. "The Gospel of God." Romans 1:1. "The Oracles of God." Romans 3:2. "The Word of God."- Hebrews 6:5. "The Word of Christ." Colossians 3:16.
2. From whom do the Bible writers claim to have received their messages?
"And God spoke all these words." Exodus 20:1. "The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and His word was in my tongue." 2 Samuel 23:2. "The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, and He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John." Revelation 1:1.
3. How explicitly do they disclaim credit for their compositions?
a. They specifically disavow responsibility for their revelations. "I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ." Galatians 1:11, 12.
b. They often did not understand their writings. "I heard, but I understood not." Daniel 12: 8.
4. Do the Bible writers claim inspiration only for the general thought or teaching of Scripture or for the actual Words?
"He said unto me, Son of man, all My words that I shall speak unto thee receive in your heart, and hear with your ears." Ezekiel 3:10. "Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Ghost teaches." 1 Corinthians 2:13.
5. How do they acknowledge each other's inspiration?
"I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the, Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolation of Jerusalem." Daniel 9:2. "Our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him has written unto you." 2 Peter 3:15.
6. What seal does Jesus set on the inspiration of the Scriptures?
"All things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning Me." Luke 24: 44. "The Scripture cannot be broken." John 10:35.
7. Are there any evidences apart from the claims of Scripture that the Bible is an inspired Book?
Yes, there are many, of which may be specially mentioned: (a) its marvelous unity, (b) its superhuman range of teaching, (c) its perpetual freshness and universal appeal, (d) its transforming power upon the individual, (e) the fulfillment of its prophecies, and (f) its indestructibility.
8. Why is the Bible's unity of doctrine so remarkable?
The Scriptures comprise sixty-six books written by some forty or more authors over a period of one and a half millenniums. Yet there is one system of doctrine, one rule of faith, and running from Genesis to Revelation there is one dominant theme, redemption through the cross of Christ. The unity and plan exhibited on every page of the Scriptures testify to an activity more than human guiding the pens of the writers and guiding the church in gathering the books which had been so written.
9. How completely is human wisdom eclipsed by the teachings of the Bible?
"Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?" 1 Corinthians 1: 20.
The Scriptures offer a clear solution to all the problems of life. They treat upon God and man, the meaning of sin and suffering and death, of origin and destiny, in a manner understandable to the simplest and yet inexhaustible in their profundity. They exhibit a coherence and a sense of proportion not found elsewhere. How did the Hebrews, surrounded by nations steeped in polytheism and nature worship, come to possess so unique a body of doctrine if not by divine revelation?
10. What is notable about the perpetual freshness and universal appeal of the Scriptures?
"The Word of God lives." 1 Peter 1: 23.
Though this Book has neither been added to nor detracted from for nearly two thousand years it meets the needs of men today as fully as it met the needs of those who were contemporary with the original writers. It appeals not to one class of society, but to every sort and condition of men from highly civilized peoples to savages in the darkest corners of the earth. Nor is even this all. Its message never palls. The oftener it is read, the more it is enjoyed. The deeper the mine is dug the broader grows the vein and the richer the ore. These are not the marks of merely human genius.
11. What remarkable power upon the individual does the Bible possess?
"For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when you received the Word of God which you heard of us, you received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the Word of God, which effectively works also in you that believe." 1 Thessalonians 2:13. (See also 1 Peter 1:23.)
The Bible is something more even than a unique system of religion and ethics. It is possessed of a power which is not paralleled by any human composition. The Bible comes to men sunk in degradation and sin, arrests them in their downward course, and builds up characters of righteousness. Those who have experienced its transforming power have no need to be convinced by argument. They know that the Bible is not a human book.
The original "Bounty" Bible and Prayer Book used by John Adams on Pitcairn Island. As sole survivor of the "Bounty" mutineers, he used this treasured Book to educate the children and to administer the island. It is now back on Pitcairn after having been carefully repaired.
"I cannot argue with you," said an old Highlander to Claudius Buchanan; "I cannot present theological facts or reasons; I cannot explain the philosophy of revelation. But I know this, that when I was a man of evil character the Bible got hold of me and quelled the tiger in me."
12. Who only could have inspired the marvelously accurate prophecies of Scripture?
"I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done." Isaiah 46:9, 10.
"The revelations of prophecy are facts which exhibit the divine Omniscience. So long as Babylon is in heaps; so long as Nineveh is empty, void, and. waste; so long as Egypt is the basest of kingdoms; so long as Tyre is a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea. So long as the great empires of the world march on in their predicted course-so long have we proof that one omniscient Mind dictated the predictions of that Book." H. L. Hastings in "Will the Old Book Stand?" Page 19.
13. How has the Bible been able to survive the constant persecution to which it has been subjected through the ages?
"Heaven and earth shall pass away: but My words shall not pass away." Luke 21:33. "The Word of God lives and abides for ever." 1 Peter 1:23.
No book has lived through such fierce and relentless persecution. Antiochus Epiphanes vented his wrath against the Old Testament Scriptures, and the Roman emperors, especially Diocletian, against the New. In the subsequent centuries there has hardly been an hour's cessation of attack upon it. Yet in spite of all the assaults of infidelity, pseudo-science, and higher criticism, this wonderful Book is still the "best seller" of all. The reason can only be that the Mind which inspired its contents has also preserved it from every attack, that the world might never lack a sure Guide to this life and the life to come.
14. Surveying all these evidences what must be our verdict concerning the Bible?
"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God." 2 Timothy 3:16. "Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." 2 Peter 1:21.
"The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." John 6: 63.
1. WHAT knowledge is unattainable by human wisdom?
"Can thou by searching find out God?" Job 11: 7. "How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!" Romans 11:33.
2. How only can we attain unto this knowledge?
"The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever." Deuteronomy 29:29.
"The Scriptures are the only records in which God has been pleased to consign His truth to perpetual remembrance." - Calvin.
3. What confidence may we have in the knowledge which comes to us through the Word of God?
"Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge, that I might make thee know the, certainty of the words of truth; that thou might answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?" Proverbs 22:20, 21.
"There is no sure doctrine but such as is conformable to the Word of God. This Word is the only truth; it is the sure rule of all doctrine and of all life, and can never fail or deceive us." - Protest of the Princes, cited in DAubigne's "History of the Reformation," Volume 1V, page 75.
4. To a world alienated from God through sin what assurance does the Bible bring?
"I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation, to every one that believes." Romans 1:16.
"The Christian religion has news about God and man; and its first news-yes, let us admit the fact- is bad news, the news of man's sin and God's wrath against sin, but the Christian religion has not only bad news: it has-and this is the important thing about it-good news." - Revelation A. H. Rees, MA, in the Church Times.
5. What spiritual transformation is made possible through the Word?
"Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which lives and abides forever." 1 Peter 1:23.
6. How does the Word continue to bless the transformed life?
a. It gives understanding. "The entrance of Thy words gives light; it gives understanding unto the simple." Psalm 119: 130.
b. It keeps from sin. "Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee." Psalm 119: 11.
c. It guides in the way of life. "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." Psalm 119: 105.
d. It builds up. "And now brethren, I commend you to God, and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified." Acts 20:32.
e. It gives hope. "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." Romans 15:4.
7. How completely does the Bible meet human needs?
"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may he perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." - 2 Timothy 3:16, 17.
"The object is not merely to convince and to convert him; it is to furnish all the instruction needful for his entire perfection. There is no deficiency in the Bible for man in any of the situations in which he may be placed in life; and the whole tendency of the Book is to make him who will put himself fairly under its instructions absolutely perfect." - Albert Barnes.
8. What value therefore does Job place upon the Word?
"Neither have I gone back from the commandment of His lips; I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my, necessary food." Job 23:12.
9. What supreme gifts come to us through the Word of God?
"These things have I written unto you that you may know that you have eternal life." 1 John 5:13. "He called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Thessalonians 2:14.
10. Where will the Bible lead those who take it as their guide?
"O send out Thy light and Thy truth; let them lead me; let them bring me unto Thy holy hill, and to Thy tabernacles." Psalm 43:3.
"I want to know one thing-the way to heaven; how to land safe on that happy shore. God Himself has condescended to teach the way. He has written it down in a book. Oh, give me that Book! At any price, give me that Book of God!" - John Wesley.
The sterling qualities in Timothy's character were developed because of his interest and diligence in studying God's Word.
11. On the other hand, what dire results will follow its neglect?
"Who so despises the Word shall be destroyed." Proverbs 13: 13.
"There is Jehovah's revelation of Himself to men. Receive it or be lost. Reject it and perish!" - C. H. Spurgeon.
12. What then should-be our attitude to the Word?
a. Seek after it. "Seek you out of the Book of the Lord, and read." Isaiah 34: 16.
b. Give earnest heed to it. "Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip." Hebrews 2:1.
c. Obey it. "Be you doers of the Word, and not hearers only." James 1: 22.
A message of life and comfort from the Book that never grows old.
1. WHAT is the Apostle Paul's desire for all believers?
"I cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him." Ephesians 1:15-17.
2. How early in life may the study of the Bible be profitably begun?
"From a child thou has known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation." 2 Timothy 3: 15.
Catherine Booth had read the Bible through eight times before she was twelve years of age.
3. How constant thereafter should be, our study?
"These [in Berea] were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the Word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so." Acts 17: 11.
"Do not believe me simply unless you receive proof of what I say from Holy Scripture." - Cyril of Jerusalem, in "Catechumen," 4, 17, 33 (AD 348).
4. In what spirit should we approach the Word?
a. As God's Word to us. "For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when you received the Word of God which you heard of us, you received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the Word of God, which effectively works also in you that believe." 1 Thessalonians 2: 13.
b. Ready to obey its precepts. "If any man will to do His will, he shall know of the doctrine." John 7: 17.
5. What attitude is fatal to profitable Bible study?
"You reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your own tradition." Mark 7: 9.
T. H. Huxley's fine statement on studying the book of nature is equally applicable to the study of the written Word. "Sit down before fact [and the Bible] as a little child, be prepared to give up every preconceived notion, follow humbly wherever nature [and the Bible] leads, or you shall learn nothing."
6. Is lack of education a bar to the understanding of the Word of God?
"I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou has, hid these things from the Wise and prudent, and. has revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in Thy sight." Matthew 11:25, 26.
7. Why is human wisdom no help in comprehending the Word?
"The natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." 1 Corinthians 2:14. (See also 1 Corinthians 2:11)
8. Whence' may we obtain the necessary spiritual discernment?
"We have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God." 1 Corinthians 2: 12. (See also verse 10.)
9. Is all Scripture equally understandable?
"Our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him has written unto you; in which are some things hard to be understood." 2 Peter 3:15, 16.
10. How then should we begin our Bible study?
"Desire the sincere milk of the Word." 1 Peter 2: 2.
11. Having mastered the fundamental principles of the gospel, to what should we proceed?
"Strong meat belonged to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." Hebrews 5:14.
12. How did the Apostle Paul reprove certain believers for lack of progress in study?
"For when for the time you ought to be teachers, you have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat." Hebrews 5:12.
How many are there today in the same spiritual condition, old in association with the faith and yet babes in understanding! Such is not the Father's plan for His children. The Christian life should be an Advance, a growing day by day in grace and in the knowledge of God.
13. What admonition does he give to those who have failed to dig deep into the- mine of truth?
"Leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto Perfection." Hebrews 6:1.
Not forsaking or abandoning them, but leaving them as a child leaves the letters of the alphabet, or as a plant lifts its head above the ground and presses upward toward the sun, yet ever drawing sustenance from its root.
14. What principles should govern our study of the Word?
a. Associate relevant Scriptures. "Comparing spiritual things with spiritual." 1 Corinthians 2:13.
b. Synthesize and build up. "Precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little." Isaiah 28:10.
"The infallible rule of `interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself; and, therefore, when there is a question about the true and full sense of any Scripture (which is not manifold, but one), it must be searched and known by other places that speak more clearly." - Westminster Confession of Faith (1647).
15. How much of the Bible may we profitably study?
"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." 2 Timothy 3:16. "And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." Luke 24:27.
"Guard against favorites in the Word of God. Take the Bible as a whole; reverence every part of it. Study every portion of it. You will find none unprofitable. The more your mind is enlarged to grasp and come in contact with revelation as a whole, the more will your tone of piety be healthy, and the more will your principles be fixed, broad, and firm." - Revelation H. Stowell.
16. To what portions of Scripture should we give special attention?
"Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though you know them, and be established in the Present truth." 2 Peter 1:12.
The message of Noah was urgent "present truth" to the generation before the Flood. The books of Daniel and the Revelation together with other prophecies of the latter days" and the last time" are equally urgent and important to Christians today. (See Daniel 12:4; Revelation 1:1-3.)
17. What beneficent results come from a diligent study of the Word?
a. It points the way to personal salvation. "The Holy Scriptures are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. " 2 Timothy 3:15.
b. It equips for the service of God. "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed." 2 Timothy 2:15.
c. It gives sure hope of future glory. "The hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel." Colossians 1:5.
1. WITH what affirmation does the Bible open?
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Genesis 1:1.
"How tremendous are the implications of this simple statement! It denies atheism by declaring that there is a God. It denies agnosticism by implying that God may be known. It denies pantheism by distinguishing between the Creator and the creation. It denies polytheism by revealing that God is One.
Indeed, there is no false `ism' which is not condemned by this statement." - Dr. W. Graham Scroggie, in "The Christian."2. In what other ways doles the Bible teach that God is a personal Being?
a. He is described as "living." "He is the living God." Jeremiah 10:10.
b. Personal faculties and actions are attributed to Him. "The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil." 1 Peter 3: 12.
c. Jesus is declared to be the "Son" of God and Jesus claims God as His "Father." "God sent forth His Son . . . to redeem them that were under the law." Galatians 4: 4, 5. "And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice9 He said, Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit." Luke 23:46.
d. He is called the "Father" of man and the righteous are described as His "sons." "But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things." 1 Corinthians 8:6. "You are the children of the Lord your God." Deuteronomy 14:1.
3. What testimony does nature bear to the existence and personality of God?
"The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made even His eternal power and Godhead." Romans 1:20.
"There is nothing between absolute scientific belief in a creative Being and the acceptance of the theories of the fortuitous concurrence of atoms. If you think strongly enough you will be forced by science to the belief in God, which is the foundation of all religion. "-Lord Kelvin.
"What a thunderstorm of facts! But what do they all signify? Is it all a meaningless maze of materialistic facts, or is it one syllable in God's explanation of Himself to men, so that the `meanest flower that blows' and the merest hint of design, show the working of the mind and power of One whom a son may call Father?"-Revelation Leslie D. W. Weatherhead in "The Eternal Voice."
4. How do the Scriptures therefore regard those who deny His existence?
"The fool has said in his heart, There is no God." Psalm 53:1.
"Posterity will one day laugh at the foolishness of the modern materialistic philosopher. The more I study nature, the more I stand amazed at the works of the Creator. I pray while I am engaged in my work at the laboratory," - Louis Pasteur.
"Atheism, unlike agnosticism, with which it should not be confused-Atheism, the denial of God, is not a system of philosophy fit for intelligent people; seeing that it totally fails to account for the universe, life, and human experience. And also is generally rejected by scientific opinion, at least in this country."- Dr. Heywood, Bishop of Ely, in the Church Times.
5. How do the Scriptures emphasize the unity of the Godhead?
"God is one." Galatians 3: 20.
6. What does the Bible say of God in contrast with other alleged gods?
"Though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) but to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in Him." 1 Corinthians 8:5, 6.
7. What title does the Lord take to distinguish Himself from all other claimants?
"The Lord is the true God." Jeremiah 10:10.
8. What difference is there between the personality of God and of man?
a. He is invisible to mortal eyes. "Lo, He goes by me, and I see Him not: He passes on also, but I perceive Him not." Job 9: 11.
b. He is not subject to the limitations of human personality. "God is a spirit." John 4: 24.
c. His attributes are inherent in Him, whereas man's are derived from God. "The Father has life in Himself." John 5: 26.
d. In all things He infinitely transcends His creatures. "His understanding is infinite." Psalm 147:
e. "With God all things are possible." Matthew 19: 26. "There is none holy as the Lord: for there is none beside Thee." 1 Samuel 2: 2.
9. How enduring is the being of God?
"Even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God." Psalm 90:2.
10. What Bible statements indicate that God has a definite dwelling-place?
"The Lord's throne is in heaven." Psalm 11:4. "Hear Thou in heaven Thy dwelling-place." 1 Kings 8: 39. (See also Psalm 103:19.)
11. Though dwelling in heaven, is He limited thereto?
"Am I a God at hand, said the Lord, and not a God afar off? Do not I fill heaven and earth?" Jeremiah 23: 23, 24.
12. How close does He seek to come to His creatures?
"I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit." Isaiah 57: 15.
13. What should the majesty and love of God evoke from us?
"O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our Maker." Psalm 95: 6.
14. What are the essential factors in acceptable worship?
"God is a spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." John 4:24. "Without faith it is impossible to please Him." Hebrews 11:6. "Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness." Psalm 29: 2.
15. For what are the ungodly condemned?
"The God, in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, has thou not glorified." Daniel 5: 23.
16. In what tragic way has their worship been diverted through sin?
"Who changed the, truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever." Romans 1:25.
17. What appeal, therefore, does Paul make to the wicked?
"We preach unto you that you should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein." Acts 14:15.
18. What, in fact, will be the theme of the last gospel appeal to the world?
"Fear God, and give glory to Him; and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." Revelation 14: 7.
"It may well be that this announcement of God as the Creator is the very thing that our own generation needs most to consider, if it would retrace its steps from the broad road leading to destruction which evolution and modernism have opened up. The more thoughtful thinkers are warning us that the only escape from the paths of error is for mankind to return to the first words of the. Bible, that God is the Creator." - Sir William Dawson in "The Bible Confirmed by Science."
1. IN what tragic state of ignorance did Paul find the people of Athens?
"As I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD." Acts 17: 23.
2. By contrast what striking affirmation did Paul make?
"I know whom I have believed." 2 Timothy 1: 12.
"The heart of religion is not an opinion about God such as philosophy might reach as the conclusion of its argument it is a personal relationship with God." - Dr. W. Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury, in "Nature, Man, and God," page 54.
3. How does he express his desire for others?
"I cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him." Ephesians 1:15-17.
The only knowledge which is of any avail in the light of eternity is a personal, intimate knowledge of God. Christianity is not merely belief in certain facts about a Person; it is rather a knowledge of that Person. Only this can transform lives and solve the problems of humanity. Christianity is not a philosophy, but a life -not a knowledge of abstract principles, but a personal knowledge of faith and love of God in Christ."-Dr. Barry in Ellicott's "Commentary."
4. Can unaided human reason attain to a knowledge of God?
"Touching the Almighty we cannot find Him out." Job 37:23.
Skilled as man may be in the elucidation of the mysteries of the universe, he cannot find out God. Elihu spoke truly when he said, "Behold, God is great, and we know Him not, neither can the number of His years be searched out." Job 36:26.
5. Why cannot we search out God in the same way that we study natural phenomena?
a. Because He cannot be apprehended by the physical faculties. "You have neither beard His voice at any time, nor seen His shape." John 5: 37.
b. Because the finite mind cannot comprehend the infinite. "That which is far off, and exceeding deep, who can find it out?" Ecclesiastes 7: 24.
c. Because sinful man cannot approach unto God. "Thou can not see My face: for there shall no man see Me, and live." Exodus 33: 20.
6. Though man cannot find out God, what does God offer to do for man?
"I will make known My words unto you." Proverbs 1: 23. "He opened the ears of men, and sealed their instruction." Job 33: 16.
7. Through what channels does God make Himself known to man?
a. Through His works. "The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead." Romans 1:20. (See also Psalm 19:l.)
b. Through inspired men. "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets." Hebrews 1:1.
c. Through Jesus. "We know that the Son of God is come, and has given us an understanding,- that we may know Him that is true." 1 John 5:20. (See also John 1:18)
d. Through the Spirit in personal experience. "You have an unction from the Holy One, and you know all things." "You need not that any man teach you." 1 John 2: 20, 27.
8. Why do many fail to apprehend God?
"The natural man received not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.1 Corinthians 2:14.
9. On what conditions is this spiritual perception given?
a. Spiritual desire. "Yea, if thou cried after knowledge, and lifted up thy voice for understanding; if thou seek her as silver, and searched for her as for hid treasures; then shall thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God." Proverbs 2: 3-5.
b. Faith. "He that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He rewards them that diligently seek Him." Hebrews 11:6.
c. Readiness to obey. "His secret is with the righteous." Proverbs 3: 32.
10. What are some of the blessings which a knowledge of God brings to the believer?
a. Peace. "Acquaint now thyself with, Him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee." Job 22: 21.
"God has made us for Himself and we are restless until we find our rest in Him." - Augustine.
b. Joy. "Thou wilt show me the path of life: in Thy presence is fullness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore." Psalm 16: 11.
The world is full of pleasure, but how little joy! The appearance of happiness is but a cloak to conceal an aching heart, a feeble attempt to escape from the sorrow which is sapping the life of mankind. How different is the joy of knowing Him! It is not superficial and transient, but deep and enduring.
c. Understanding. "Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord." Hosea 6:3. "For the Lord gives wisdom." Proverbs 2:6. (See also James 1:5.)
d. Comfort. "Who comforted us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." 2 Corinthians 1:4.
e. Confidence and hope. "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day." 2 Timothy 1:12.
11. What supreme blessing does the knowledge of God bring to the believer?
"This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou has sent." John 17: 3.
12. What urgent call therefore comes to us?
"Seek you the Lord while He may be found, call you' upon Him while He is near." Isaiah 55:6.
God is infinitely willing and desirous of bestowing His companionship upon us. Tenderly He pleads for us to come to Him. He will not force an entrance into the sanctum of the soul if we do not wish to know Him, but He knocks at our heart's door, and if we will open to Him, He will come in and abide with us.
13. How should we respond to the call of God?
"When Thou said, Seek you My face; my heart said unto Thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek." Psalm 27:8.
To know Him; to talk with Him; to tell Him all our joys and sorrows, and to hear His words of comfort; to walk with Him in the daily tasks of life and to feel the support of His powerful arm -what a glorious privilege! Shall we refuse such an invitation?
14. What benediction does Peter pronounce upon believers?
"Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 3:18. "Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord." 2 Peter 1:2.
"He leads me beside the still waters."
1. WHAT do the Scriptures teach concerning the character of God?
"God is love." 1 John 4:8. "Good and upright is the Lord." Psalm 25:8.
2. How was God's goodness expressed in creation?
"And God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good." Genesis 1:31.
3. Though tarnished by sin what witness does nature still bear to His love?
"The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord." Psalm 33:5.
4. How does God feel toward mankind alienated from Him through sin?
"I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee." Jeremiah 31:3.
5. By what act is God's love toward man supremely revealed?
"In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him." 1 John 4: 9.
"Love is the `Alpha and Omega' of redemption, the love of God to man. Read it in the journey of the Mediator from heaven to earth! Read it in His pilgrimage through the land of sorrow! Behold Him `nailed to the shameful tree!' See the blood and water gushing from His side! Hear the sound of the waterspouts, as the floods of wrath roll over Him! Then ask the reason. The answer is: `God is love.' " "Evangelistic Cyclopedia," pages 290, 291.
6. To how many is the message of the gospel extended?
"The same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Romans 10:12,13.
7. How patiently does God wait for a response?
"The L6rd is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness but is long-suffering to us ward not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." 2 Peter 3:9.
8. What does He promise to those who return to Him?
"I will love them freely: for Mine anger is turned away from him." Hosea 14:4. (See also Jeremiah 3:12.)
9. Into what intimate fellowship with Himself does He admit them?
"Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God." 1 John 3:1.
10. Are there any limits to the goodness of God to His children?
"He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" Romans 8:32.
11. May we count on His goodness at all times?
"The Lord will command His loving-kindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me." Psalm 42:8. "The mountains, shall depart, and the hills be removed; but My kindness shall not depart from thee." Isaiah 54:10.
12. What loving control does He exercise over all the circumstances of our lives?
"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28.
13. How comprehensive is His promise of help?
"And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work." Corinthians 9: 8.
14. Assured by such promises what are we urged to do?
"Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee." Psalm 55: 22.
"If you tell your troubles to God, you put them into the grave: they will never rise again when you have committed them to Him. If you roll your burden anywhere else, it will roll back again, like the stone of Sisyphus." - C. H. Spurgeon.
15. How do we know God's goodness will be even more strikingly manifest toward His children in the future?
"Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love Him." 1 Corinthians 2:9.
"The biggest thing with which the mind can cope is the infinite love of God; and all our sanctified powers, and all the ministries of holy fellowship, and all the exploration of eternity will never reach a limit in its unsearchable wealth. The biggest thing you and I will ever know is the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord." -Dr. J. H. Jowett.
16. In what appropriate way may we acknowledge the goodness of the Lord?
"Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!" Psalm 107: 8.
1. BESIDES perfect love and omnipotent power, what is another of the fundamental attributes of God?
"The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His works." Psalm 145:17.
2. By what name is His holiness declared?
' the midst
"I am God, and not man; the Holy One in of thee." Hosea 11:9.
3. What qualification, therefore, is absolutely essential?
"Follow holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord." Hebrews 12:14.
4. What, therefore, was the inevitable consequence of the entrance of sin?
"Your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear." Isaiah 59: 2.
5. Is this separation final?
"He retained not His anger for ever, because He delights in mercy." Micah 7:18.
6. What promise of restoration does God make to those who will respond to His plan of mercy?
"You shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy." Leviticus 19: 2. (See also 1 Peter 1:16.)
"The conditions of eternal life, under grace, are just what they were in Eden-perfect righteousness, harmony with God, perfect conformity to the principles of His law. God has made provision that we may become like unto Him, and He will accomplish this for all who do not interpose a perverse will, and thus frustrate His grace." - E. G. White in "Thoughts front the Mount of Blessing," page 116.
7. By what process may we recover God's righteousness and the privilege of fellowship?
"The righteousness of God is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference." Romans 3:22.
"The power of working does not spring out of ourselves, but from God, and therefore cannot have any intrinsic merit in it, for which we can claim salvation as a due. We are created anew in Christ Jesus, and were admitted into a state of salvation not because we have done good works, which merited salvation thereby. But we were admitted into that state by God's free grace, in order that we might do good works, which God before prepared for us as our appointed path to lead us to heaven." - Bishop C. Wordsworth.
8. What confession is necessary as a preliminary to the reception of God's righteousness?
"O Lord, righteousness belongs unto Thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day." Daniel 9: 7.
9. If we confess our unrighteousness what will God do for us through Christ?
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9.
It is the will of God to cleanse us from sin, to make its His children, and to enable us to live a holy life. So we may ask for these blessings, and believe that we receive them, and thank God that we have received them. It is our privilege to go to Jesus and be cleansed, and to stand before the law without shame or remorse." - E. G. White in "Steps to Christ," pages 55, 56.
10. How is the reconciliation of God's justice and His mercy through Christ described?
"That He might be just, and the justifier of him which believes in Jesus." Romans 3:26.
11. When will God finally decide who may be restored to eternal association with Him, and what will be the basis of selection?
"He has appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He has ordained." Acts 17:31.
12. How complete will be the knowledge on which God's judgment is based?
"The Lord looks from heaven; He beholds all the sons of men. From the place of His habitation He looks upon all the inhabitants of the earth. He considers all their works." Psalm 33: 13-15.
13. How will God deal with persistent sinners in the judgment?
"He shall say depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity." Luke 13:27.
14. What will be the blessed reward of those who, through Christ, accept the righteousness of God?
"Henceforth there is laid up for mea crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only but unto all them also that love His appearing." 2 Timothy 4:8.
15. In order, therefore, to attain unto eternal fellowship with God, what must we diligently seek?
"Seek you first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness." Matthew 6: 33. Proud and self sufficient Nebuchadnezzar had to learn the lesson that "the Most High rules in the kingdom of men."
1. HAD God a definite purpose in creating the earth?
"He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited." Isaiah 45: 18.
"If it is, from God that our life derives its meaning then in His will is the one final principle by which all human ends can be measured. In His will is the true goal of all endeavor, the one absolute standard of righteousness, the reward and crown of all moral striving. Here is the ultimate standard and conviction beyond all the contingencies of history, which must be the pole-star of the human pilgrimage. "- Canon F. R. Barry in "What Has Christianity to Say?" page 163.
2. How completely are the plans of God laid for the outworking of His purpose?
"Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world." Acts 15:18.
3. How perfect are the counsels of the Lord?
"With Him is wisdom, He has counsel and understanding." Job 12:13. "His understanding is infinite." Psalm 147:5.
4. In whom does the divine purpose center?
"Who has saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was- given us in Christ Jesus before the world began." 2 Timothy 1:9.
5. How has God emphasized the immutability of His counsels?
"God, wilting more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath." Hebrews 6: 17.
6. Though men may plan wisely, what all too often frustrates their desires?
"To will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not." Romans 7:18.
7. By what attribute, however, is God's wisdom reinforced?
"God has spoken once; twice have 1 heard this; that power belongs unto God." Psalm 62:11. "He is strong that executes His word." Joel 2:11.
8. Is there any doubt then as to God's ability to bring His counsels to fruition?
"Who works all things after the counsel of His own will." Ephesians 1:11. "My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure." Isaiah 46:10.
"God is omnipotent. He can do anything and all things. There is absolutely nothing too hard for Him. There are countless blessed and glorious applications of, and inferences from, this great truth; it will take you your entire lifetime to discover them all, and you will rejoice in them throughout all eternity."-R. A, Torrey.
9. By what name does God declare His omnipotence?
"I am the Almighty God." Genesis 17:1.
10. How was God's omnipotence demonstrated in creation?
"He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast." Psalm 33:9. "Thou has made the heaven and the earth by Thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for Thee." Jeremiah 32:17.
11. How is His power continually manifest in nature?
"While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease." Genesis 8:22. "Upholding all things by the word of His power." Hebrews 1:3.
Commenting upon the frequent references to the sustaining power of God in the psalms, A. C. Welch says: "The psalmist does not conceive the universe as owing its existence to the fiat of the Almighty, but then left to go its own way. To him the same divine care which brought it into being is needed if it is to be maintained.... The world became an ordered place through the divine wisdom; it continues in its seemliness because this is never withdrawn." "The Psalter in Life, Worship, and History."
12. To whit does God draw attention in order to inspire confidence in His activity among men?
"If you can break My covenant of the day, and My covenant of the night, then may also My covenant be broken with David My servant." Jeremiah 33:20, 21.
13. What authority does He exercise in the kingdoms of men?
"The Most High divided to the nations their inheritance." Deuteronomy 32:8. "He changed the times and the seasons. He removes kings, and sets up kings." Daniel 2:21. "The Most High ruled in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomsoever He will." Daniel 4:17.
"World events which shape the lives and destinies of millions do not too obviously bear the mark of divine plans, Yet when we have realized the fact of man's free will do we not see in all history, past and contemporary, His story." - Revelation Leslie D. Weatherhead in "The Eternal Voice."
14. How does God make even the acts of wicked men work out His will?
"As for you, you thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good." Genesis 50:20. "Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee: the remainder of wrath shall Thou restrain." Psalm 76:10. "Through the greatness of Thy power shall Your enemies submit themselves unto Thee." Psalm 66:3.
"All that is memorable in the annals of history; all the rising and fall of empires; all the turns in human life, take place according to His plan. In vain men contrive and combine to accomplish their own counsels; unless they are parts of His counsel likewise, the efforts of their utmost strength and wisdom are crossed and reversed by the feeblest and most unthought of circumstances." - Isaac Newton.
"We believe that behind all this [present] welter of suffering and death-struggle there stands One who slowly, but unerringly, is working out His great purpose, of love for His children."-Dr. Lunt, Bishop of Ripon.
"The happiest people today are those who are convinced that ultimately man's destinies are with God, that behind terror and destruction, perplexity and darkness, God is supreme."-Dr. E. W. Barnes, Bishop of Birmingham.
15. Can anything. prevent the fulfillment of God's will in the lives of those who yield themselves to Him?
"I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38, 39. (See also John 10:29.)
16. Though, in His all-seeing purpose, He may permit evil for a time to hold sway, how complete will be His final triumph?
"He will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness." Romans 9: 28.
"This world had its beginning for a purpose; it will be brought to its conclusion when that purpose shall have been accomplished; and then the after-world will start upon its eternal course."-Canon Girdlestone in "Dies Irae," page 239.
17. What song of triumph will be raised in that day?
"The Lord God omnipotent reigns." Revelation 19:6.
18. For what then should we earnestly pray?
"Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." "For Your is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory." Matthew 6:10,13.
1. WHERE does our knowledge of the world begin?
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Genesis 1:1.
"Only one key can open the universe, that key is the living God." - Dr. Parker.
2. By what agencies did God create the worlds?
a. Through Christ. "God, who created all things by Jesus Christ." Ephesians 3:9. (See also John 1:1-3.)
b. With the aid of the Holy Spirit. "And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." Genesis 1:2.
3. What purpose had God in creating the earth?
"He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited." Isaiah 45:18.
4. How did God prepare the earth as the abode of living creatures?
"And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called He Seas: and God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:9,10.
"The Bible recognizes no long ages in which the earth was slowly evolved from chaos. Of each successive day of creation, the sacred record declares that it consisted of the evening and the morning, like all other days that have followed." - E. G. White in "Patriarchs and Prophets," Page 112.
"If the word day in these chapters does not mean a period of twenty-four hours, the interpretation of Scripture is hopeless." - Professor Marcus Dods in "Genesis," Page 4.
5. What forms of life did God first create upon the earth?
"And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree." Genesis 1: 11.
6. Having clothed the earth with vegetation, what orders of creation did God next bring into existence?
"And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that has life, and fowl that may fly above the earth. Let the earth bring forth the living creature, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth." Genesis 1:20-24.
7. How is the doctrine of evolution expressly contradicted in Scripture?
"And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind." Genesis 1:12. "And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind." Genesis 1:25.
"In all this great [British] museum there is not a particle of evidence of the transmutation of species. The theory is not founded on observation, and is wholly unsupported by facts." Dr. Etheridge.
"The first leaf of the. Mosaic record has more weight than all the folios of men of science and philosophers." - Jean Paul.
8. What further statement proves conclusively that man was directly created and is not the result of evolution from lower orders of life?
"And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." Genesis 2: 7.
"There is a gulf between animal and man that no evolution hypothesis has been able to bridge." - Sir Ambrose Fleming in the British Weekly.
"I know nothing about the origin of man except what I am told in Scripture-that God created him. I do not know anything more than that, and I do not know anybody who does." - Sir William Dawson in "The Christian Commonwealth."
9. What attributes of God were specially manifested in creation?
"He has made the earth by His power, He has established the world by His wisdom, and has stretched out the heavens by His discretion." Jeremiah 10:12. "The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord." Psalm 33:5.
10. How long was God occupied in the work of creation?
"In six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is." Exodus 20:11.
11. What did God do on the seventh day?
"And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made." Genesis 2:2.
12. For all future time what high honor was give into this day?
"And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made." Genesis 2:3.
"God Himself measured off the first week as a sample for successive weeks to the close of time. Like every other, it consisted of seven literal days. Six days were employed in the work of creation; upon the seventh God rested, and He then blessed this day and set it apart as a day of rest for man."-E. G. White in "Patriarchs and Prophets," Page 111.
13. Of what was His holy day to be a continual reminder?
"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. For in, six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is." Exodus 20:8-11.
Assembling fossil bones. Man is not an evolutionary jig-saw puzzle, but the product of God's creative act.
1. WHAT does God claim with reference to man's origin?
"I have created him.... I have formed him; yes, I have made him." Isaiah 43: 7.
2. What physical nature has he in common with other living creatures?
"And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground." Genesis 2: 7. "He gives to all life, and breath, and all things." Acts 17:25. "They have all one breath." Ecclesiastes 3: 19.
3. How does man differ from the lower orders-of creation?
a. God communicated to man a nature akin to His own. "In the image of God made He man." Genesis 9:6.
b. He intended man for communion with Himself. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." Matthew 4: 4.
4. With what faculties are we able to apprehend God and His will?
"With my soul have I desired Thee ... with my spirit within me will I seek Thee early." Isaiah 26:9.
5. Of what three parts is man thus composed?
"I pray God your whole spirit and soul [mind] and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Thessalonians 5: 23.
6. Having given men the capacity for communion what invitation does the Creator extend to them?
"Seek Him that makes the seven stars and Orion, and turned the shadow of death into the morning, and makes the day dark with night." Amos 5:8.
7. How are we encouraged to avail ourselves of the privilege of communion?
"He rewards them that diligently seek Him." Hebrews 11:6.
8. How does God desire us to regard Him?
"Have we not all one Father? has not one God created us?" Malachi 2: 10.
"God is universal Sovereign-Father, and all men are by nature His children. The age-long tragedy of mankind springs from the fact that, though the Fatherhood abides, the son ship is broken. Mankind does not live in the spirit of son ship or in the fellowship of sons. The Christian message is that men may enter into the consciousness and experience of son ship through Jesus Christ." H. M. Hughes in "The Christian Idea of God," page 139.
9. What harmonious relation should likewise obtain between man and man?
"Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself." Mark 12:31. "A new commandment I give unto you, That you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another." John 13:34.
10. What authority did God give man on the earth?
"Thou made him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands; Thou has put all things under his feet." Psalm 8: 6.
11. Though God has made man His steward, how doles He declare His ownership?
"Whatsoever is under the whole heaven is Mine." Job 41:11.
12. What is required of a steward?
"It is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful." 1 Corinthians 4:2.
13. Will God call man to account for his stewardship?
"Every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor." 1 Corinthians 3:8.
14. What is required of a faithful steward?
"Therefore glorify God in your body, and in you spirit, which are God's." 1 Corinthians 6: 20.
15. What will the unfaithful steward forfeit?
"If thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity." Ezekiel 33:9.
16. How just will be God's apportionment of reward and punishment?
"The soul that sins, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him." Ezekiel 18:20.
17. Will God take pleasure in withdrawing life for ever from the sinner?
"I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn you, turn you from your evil ways; for why will you die?" Ezekiel 33:11.
18. What gracious offer, therefore, is made to those who repent and seek to fulfil the divine intention?
"Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin." Ezekiel 18:30.
1. HAD evil any part in God's original creation?
"And God saw everything that He had made, and, behold it was very good." Genesis 1:31.
2. With whom, then, did sin originate?
"He that committed sin is of the devil; for the devil sinned from the beginning." 1 John 3:8.
3. Who is the devil?
"That old serpent, called the devil, and Satan, which deceived the whole world." Revelation 12:9.
"If ever an idea was Biblical, it is the existence of a personal devil." - Goethe.
4. What was his original name and from what high estate has he fallen?
"How art-thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!" Isaiah 14:12.
5. What was Lucifer's original character?
"Thou was perfect in thy ways from the day that thou was created." Ezekiel 28:15.
6. What sinful thought arose in Lucifer's mind?
"Your heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou has corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness." Ezekiel 28:17.
7. Who associated themselves with Satan in his opposition to God?
"The angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation." Jude 1:6.
8. What was the result of Lucifer's rebellion?
"And there was war in heaven: Michael and His angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven." Revelation 12:7, 8.
9. Where was Satan exiled?
"I beheld Satan fall from heaven." Luke 10:18.
"Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea! For the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath." Revelation 12:112.
10. By what means did-he deceive our first parents?
"The serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety." 2 Corinthians 11: 3. (Read Genesis 3: 1-6.)
"All the problems that perplex us, all the pain that pursues us, and all the yearnings of the soul that drive us-every great problem is answered in Genesis."-Revelation Dr. J. C. Massie.
11. How has Satan since been occupied in the earth?
"The devil, as a roaring lion, walked about, seeking whom he may devour." 1 Peter 5: 8.
"And now I will ask a strange question: who is the most diligent bishop and prelate in all England, that passes all the rest in doing his office? I will tell you-it is the-devil. He is the most diligent preacher of all others; he is never out of his diocese; he is never far from his cure; you shall never find him unoccupied; he-is ever in his parish; he keeps residence at all times; you shall never find him out of the way. He is the most diligent preacher in all the realm."-Bishop Latimer in a sermon entitled "Sermon of the Plough."
12. Who volunteered to defeat Satan's designs?
"For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that J-1ernight destroy the works of the devil." 1 John 3:8. (See also Hebrews 2:14.)
13. On what occasion was the overthrow of Satan first foreshadowed?
"I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her Seed. It shall bruise thy head, and thou shall bruise His heel." Genesis 3:15. (Compare Romans 16:20, RV.)
Of the third chapter of Genesis, R. C. Trench, Dean of Westminster, declared: "It is the only chapter which, if we could conceive it as being withdrawn, would leave all the rest of Scripture unintelligible. Take this away, this record of the fall, and of the provision which God so graciously made to repair these consequences, to build up the breach which Adam had made, take this away and you take away the key of knowledge to all the rest of the Bible. Nor is it the Bible alone which would thus become unintelligible, but the whole condition of the world around us, of man and of nature, of our own selves above all, would present itself to us as an inexplicable riddle. What a riddle indeed does it evermore continue to be to all those who refuse to accept the solution of it here offered! There are indeed in this chapter almost as many mysteries as there are words." "Sermons Preached in Westminster Abbey," pages 48, 49.
14. How was Christ's power over Satan and his evil agents manifested during His earthly ministry?
"When the even was come, they brought unto Him many that were possessed with devils: and He cast out the spirits with His word." Matthew 8:16.
15. In the hour of' death what reference did Jesus make to the shortness of Satan's power?
"This is your hour, and the power of darkness." Luke 22:53.
16. How had He previously foretold, the end of Satan's dominion?
"Now shall the prince of this world be cast out." John 12:31.
17. After His ascension, whom did Jesus commission to continue His controversy with Satan?
"I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness; to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God." Acts 26:16,18. "You shall be witnesses unto Me." Acts 1:8.
18. What struggle is the lot of the children of God in all ages?
"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Ephesians 6:12.
19. How may we obtain full protection against Satan?
"Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." Ephesians 6:11.
20. What assurance of triumph is given to every child of God?
"He that is begotten of God keeps himself, and that wicked one touched him not." 1 John 5:18.
21. What seeming triumph will Satan achieve in the last days, and why?
"Now the Spirit speaks expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils." 1 Timothy 4: 1.
22. Yet in spite of Satan's apparent 1 victories, how fearfully do the evil angels contemplate the. coming judgment?
"The devils also believe, and tremble." James 2:19.
23. To what end will Satan ultimately come?
"And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone." Revelation 20:10.
24. What end did Paul predict also for the evil angels?
"Whose end shall be according to their works." 2 Corinthians 11:15.
25. What " assurance are we given that the tragic story of rebellion will never again be repeated?
"Affliction shall not rise up the second time." Nahum 1:9.
1. WHAT high privilege was vouchsafed to man in the beginning?
"So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them." Genesis 1:27.
2. How was man's loyalty to God put to the test?
"And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou may freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shall not eat of it: for in the day that thou eats thereof thou shall surely die." Genesis 2:16, 17.
3. How did, Satan subvert our first parents from allegiance to God?
"The serpent beguiled Eve ` through his subtlety." 2 Corinthians 11:3. (Read Genesis 3:1-6.)
4. What tragic change came in the relations between men and God as a result of the fall?
a. They became sinners in His sight. "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all Men, for that all have sinned." Romans 5:12.
b. They lost the privilege of open communion with God. "Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden." Genesis 3: 23.
c. They were doomed to die. "Dust thou art, and unto dust shall thou return." Genesis 3:19.
5. What heritage did the fall thus confer upon the whole human family?
"Behold, I was shaped in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me." Psalm 51:5.
"If there be any truth in the Bible, it is this: that sin is not a stage in upward evolution, a mere survival of animal tendencies which is gradually being outgrown, nor a mere' result of untoward circumstances, or a lack of education or experience. But a lawlessness of the human will, a perpetually renewed rebellion against God, which disorders human nature by depriving it of the fellowship of God."- Bishop Charles Gore.
6. How sadly has man been marred by sin?
a. His understanding is darkened. "Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from' the life of God through the ignorance that is in them." Ephesians 4: 18.
b. His heart is full of evil. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" Jeremiah 17: 9.
c. His conscience is defiled. "Unto the . . . unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and con-, science is defiled." Titus 1: 15.
d. He is spiritually dead. "You, being dead in your sins." Colossians 2: 13.
"Total depravity," means, as Principal Denney says, "the depravity which sin has produced in human nature extends to the whole of it."
7. How completely is he alienated from God?
"The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Romans 8:7.
8. Are any excluded from condemnation?
"But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: the Scripture has concluded all under sin." Galatians 3:11-22. "The whole world lies in wickedness." 1 John 5:19.
9. How impotent is the sinner to work righteousness?
"Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may you also do good, that are accustomed to do evil." Jeremiah 13:23.
"Sin has so affected his nature that he cannot do anything that is good without the grace of God."- Dr. Griffith Thomas.
10. How hopeless is his condition apart from God?
"At that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world." Ephesians 2: 12.
11. To what end, therefore, must unaided man inevitably come?
"To be carnally minded is death." Romans 8:6. "How can you escape the damnation of hell?" Matthew 23:33.
"There is nothing, I believe, which at the present time needs more to be insisted on than the reality of guilt. It is not an illusion, which we should be taught to disregard in view of God's infinite love; it is as real as life or death, a gigantic problem alike for God and man. His condemnation of sin, His wrath repelling sin, resting over sin, are not figments of our ignorance and fear; they are absolutely real things, to which our conscience bears a true though awfully inadequate testimony."-Principal Denney.
12. What cry of despair may well come from his lips?
"O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Romans 7:24.
13. Because of man's impotence to save himself, whit is his only hope?
"Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God." 1 Chronicles 22:19. (See also Jeremiah 29:12-14.)
14. How has Go d demonstrated His desire to restore man to fellowship with Himself?
"Yet does He devise means, that His banished be not expelled from Him." 2 Samuel 14:14.
15. Through whom has the possibility of restoration come?
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16.
16. How universal is God's offer of mercy?
"For God has concluded them all in unbelief, that He might, have, mercy upon all." Romans 11:32.
17. In what striking way is the comprehensiveness of redemption emphasized?
"Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him." Hebrews 7:5.
18. Is there any other way of escape than God's?
"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Acts 4: 12.
19. What should be the sinner's response?
"Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me- from my sin." Psalm 51:2. "Create in me a clean heart, O God," Psalm 51:10.
20. How is redemption compared with God's creative work?
"If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation." 2 Corinthians 5: 17 (RV, margin).
21. In what scripture does God claim to be both Creator and Redeemer?
"But now thus said, the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and He that formed, thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee." Isaiah 43:1.
22. What satisfaction does a knowledge of salvation bring?
"Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin." Romans 4:7,8.
1. WHAT challenging question must every soul answer for himself?
"What think you of Christ?" Matthew 22:42.
2. How do the Scriptures help us in settling this vital problem?
"These are written, that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God." John 20:31.
There are two absolutely essential elements in historic Christianity. One is a personal God. The other is the incarnation of God in Jesus.
3. What definite statement does the Bible make concerning the. nature of Christ?
"Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh." 1 Timothy 3:16. "The Word was God." John 1:1.
4. How did Jesus emphasize His oneness with the Father?
"I and My Father are one." John 10:30. (`See also John 17:11, 21, 22.)
5. What other claims are made by or for Jesus which compel us to recognize Him as God incarnate?
a. Omnipotence. "All Power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth." Matthew 28:18.
b. Omniscience. "In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Colossians 2:3.
c. Perfect holiness. "In Him is no sin." 1 John 3:5. (See also Hebrews 4:15.)
d. Eternal existence. "He is before all things." Colossians 1:17. "Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." Micah 5:2.
e. The sum of divine attributes. "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." Colossians 2:9.
"I personally have traced over 500 passages which affirm or imply the deity of Jesus."-Dr. W. Graham Scroggie, DD, in "The Christian."
6. Because He revealed in their entirety the attributes of the invisible God how could He well be described?
"Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature." Colossians 1: 15.
7. While truly God, how truly was He also man?
"But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman." Galatians 4: 4. "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." John 1:14.
"This blessed union is incapable of dissolution. As there ever has been, and ever will be, the eternal Son of God, so will there ever remain the eternal Son of man." Archbishop Butler's "Sermons," Series 1, page 73.
8. When was the incarnation of the Son of God decided upon?
"Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you." 1 Peter 1: 20.
9. To whom was the first intimation of the incarnation made?
To the serpent in Eden. "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her Seed. It shall bruise thy head, and thou shall bruise His heel." Genesis 3: 15.
10. How did the news come to Mary that God was to become incarnate in human flesh?
"The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that Holy Thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." Luke 1:35.
Was Jesus divine? The Roman centurion voiced his conviction: "Truly this Man was the Son of God." Mark 15:39.
"If our Lord had entered the race by natural generation, it would be extremely difficult for us to believe that the Child of Mary was the Word incarnate. We should have been almost compelled to think of Him as a mere man, who, in an unusual degree, had received the indwelling of the divine life. He might thus appear to us as the First-born among many brethren, but He could not be our Redeemer."-Dr. D. M. MacIntyre, DD, in "Christ the Lord."
11. By what act did the wise men from the east recognize the divinity of Jesus?
"And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary His mother, and fell down, and worshipped Him." Matthew 2:11.
12. How did God testify to Jesus' divinity at the commencement of His ministry?
"For He received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to Him from the excellent glory, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." 2 Peter 1:17.
13. How was Jesus' divinity manifest in His life?
a. By His miracles. "The power of the Lord was present to heal them." Luke 5:17.
b. By His authoritative teachings. "His word was with power." Luke 4:32. "Never man spoke like this man." John 7:46.
14. What divine prerogative did He exercise?
"But that yd may know that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins, Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto your house." Matthew 9:6.
15. What paramount gift did He claim ability to confer?
"For as the Father raised up the dead, and quickened them; even so the Son quickened whom He will." John 5:21.
"Jesus knows no more sacred task than to point men to His own person. The Jesus who thinks thus of Himself, and who looks on humanity with such a confidence in His power to redeem them from the terrible misery in which He sees every one round about Him, stands as a fact before us, a fact that has no equal." - Hermann in "Communion with God."
16. What testimony did the disciples bear' to His divinity?
"Thomas answered and said unto Him, My Lord and my God." John 20:28. "Simon Peter answered and said. Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." Matthew 16:16.
17. Who else during Christ's life on earth recognized His true nature?
"And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God." Luke 4: 41.
18. To whom did Jesus declare He would return?
"I came forth from the Father, `and am come into the world: again, I leave the World, and go to the Father." John 16:28.
19. What position does He now occupy in heaven?
"Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto Him." 1 Peter 3:22.
20. When will Christ's divinity be manifest to all?
"In the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of His glory." Matthew 19:28.
21. What confession will all men then make?
"That every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:11.
22. How vitally important is the acceptance of the doctrine of the incarnation?
"Hereby know you the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: and every spirit that confessed not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof you have heard that it should come. And even now already is it in the world." 1 John 4:2, 3.
1. How did the woman of Samaria testify to the Jewish expectation of the Messiah, or Christ?
"The woman said unto Him, I know that Messiah comes, which is called Christ." John 4: 25.
"In the New Testament the name Christ is used as equivalent to the Hebrew, Messiah [Anointed], the name given to the long promised Prophet and King whom the Jews had been taught by their prophets to expect."-William Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, Article, "Jesus Christ," page 307.
2. What declaration did Jesus make to her concerning Himself?
"Jesus said unto her, I that speak unto thee am He." John 4: 26. (See also Matthew 26:63, 64.)
3. What evidence did Jesus offer His disciples in support of His claim?
"O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets, have spoken: and beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." Luke 24: 25-27.
4. How was the Messiah to be manifested?
"For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given." Isaiah 9:6 (Matthew 1:22, 23).
5. Along what human line of descent would He come?
"There shall come forth a Rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots." Isaiah 1:1 (Matthew 1:1).
6. Where would Messiah be born?
"But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be Ruler in Israel." Micah 5:2 (Matthew 2:4-6).
7. In what miraculous way would He be conceived?
"Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son." Isaiah 7:14 (Matthew 1:20).
8. What danger would threaten His early years?
"Thus said the Lord; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not." Jeremiah 31:15 (Matthew 2:16-18).
9. Where would He be temporarily exiled?
"When Israel was a child, then 1 loved him, and called My Son out of Egypt." Hosea 11:1 (Matthew 2:13-15).
10. By whom would His ministry he announced?
"The voice of him that cries in the wilderness, Prepare you the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God." Isaiah 40:3 (Luke 3:4).
11. What would be the nature of Messiah's blessed ministry?
"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me; because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted." Isaiah 61:1 (Luke 4:16-19).
12. Before His passion what symbolic exaltation would He receive?
"Behold, thy King comes unto thee: He is just, and halving salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass."' Zechariah 9:9 (Luke 19:35).
13. By whom would Messiah be betrayed?
"Yes, Mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of My bread, has lifted up his heel against Me." Psalm 41:9 (Luke 22:3; John 13:2, 21-26).
14. For what price would He be sold?
"And I said unto them, If you think good, give Me My price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for My price thirty Pieces of silver." Zechariah 11: 12 (Matthew 26: 14-16).
15. In what spirit would He endure His sufferings?
"He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth." Isaiah 53:7 (Mark 15:3-5).
16. How was Messiah's vicarious suffering foretold?
"But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed." Isaiah 53:4, 5 (Matthew 8:17).
17. How exactly were the details of the crucifixion foretold?
"They pierced My hands and My feet." "They Part My garments among them, and cast lots upon My vesture." Psalm 22:16, 18 (John 19:24).
18. Where would Messiah rest in death?
"And He made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death." Isaiah 53:9 (Matthew 27:57-60).
19. In what words was His resurrection foreshadowed?
"For Thou wilt not leave My soul in hell; neither wilt Thou suffer Your Holy One to see corruption." Psalm 16: 10 (Acts 2: 25-27).
20. In view of His minute fulfillment of messianic prophecy how confidently did Paul witness that Jesus was the Christ?
"And Paul reasoned with them out of the Scriptures, opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ." Acts 17:2, 3.
1. WHY cannot God reveal Himself directly to sinful man?
"Thou can not see My face: for there shall no man see Me, and live." Exodus 33:20.
2. What means did He adopt to make known His will after the entrance of sin?
"God at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in time past unto the father's by the Prophets." Hebrews 1:1.
3. How did men treat the revelation of God through the prophets?
"But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised His words, and misused His prophets." 2 Chronicles 36:16. (See also Nehemiah 9:30, 31; Jeremiah 7:25, 26. )
4. Through whom did He finally decide to speak to man?
"God has in these last days spoken unto us by His Son." Hebrews 1:2.
"Because men rejected the messages which God sent, through human instrumentalities," says Dr. A. W. F. Blunt, Bishop of Bradford, "it becomes at least not inconceivable that God might seek a way of showing to man all of Himself that could be apprehended by man, and that He might choose to do so by living a human life, by Himself becoming incarnate, and not, as before, by merely inspiring human agents." Recall to Religion," page 265.
5. What did God primarily seek to reveal in Jesus?
"No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He bath declared Him [made Him known, Weymouth]." John 1:18. (See also Matthew 11:27; Luke 10:22.)
6. How perfectly did He make known the character of God?
"He that has seen Me has seen the Father." John 14:9. "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." Colossians 2:9.
"I recall an occasion in my parochial experience when I was visiting a nurse who was ill; and in speaking of prayer I took occasion to ask her how she thought of God when she said her prayers. Her reply was: I think of Him as Someone like ourselves, only perfect. In fact, I think of Jesus Christ." - Dr. B. Heywood, Bishop of Ely, in "This Our Faith," page 81.
7. Beside revealing God to man, what example did Jesus set of submission to the will of God?
"I delight to do Thy will, O My God: yes, Thy law is within My heart." Psalm 40:8. "We always those things that please Him." John 8:29.
8. How did He demonstrate the possibility of a life of victory over sin?
"In all points tempted like as we are yet without sin." Hebrews 4:15.
9. By His sinless life what did He condemn?
"For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh." Romans 8:3.
10. Having revealed by His life what man was intended to be, what blessed gift did Jesus offer through His death on Calvary?
"For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one Man, Jesus Christ, has abounded unto many." Romans 5:15. (See also verse 17.)
11. What will the acceptance of His gift of grace effect?
"The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin." 1 John 1:7.
12. How complete a deliverance from sin did He make possible?
"Thou shall call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins." Matthew 1:21. came not to judge the world, but to save the world." John 12:47.
13. What glorious prospect has He set before saved sinners?
"For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 1:11.
14. Is there any way back to God other than by Jesus Christ?
"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man comes unto the Father, but by Me." John 14:6 "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Acts 4:12.
"Upon some mountain peaks there is only one solitary path and he who will not climb through this narrow place cannot reach the summit and must fall to his death. So, too, there is only one way to eternal life-Christ."-Emil Brunner in "Our Faith."
15. How should we respond to such a Savior?
"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shall be saved." Acts 16:31.
"The acceptance does not accrue to the individual till he believes and so receives. The gift is not put into the hand till it is open and empty. But the gift has been bought ready for the recipient long before he kneels to receive it. It was his, in provision, from the moment of the purchase; and the glorious Purchaser came up from the depths where He had gone down to buy, holding aloft in His sacred hands the golden gift, ours because His for us." H. C. G. Moule in "Romans," Page 127.
16. What feelings should a knowledge of salvation evoke in us?
"Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift." 2 Corinthians 9:15.
1. WHEN was Jesus chosen to be the world's Redeemer?
"Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for .You." 1 Peter 1:20.
2. To what lengths did God know His Son would need to go in order to save man?
"The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." Revelation 13:8.
3. How certain was Jesus of the predestined course of His life?
"This that is written must yet be accomplished in Me, And He was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning Me have an end." Luke 22:37.
"Christ's death was not simply a fitting conclusion to a life of self-sacrifice and obedience to the uttermost, but He was born to die, and His death effected something vital for our salvation, which His earthly incarnation, had it ended in some other way, could not have secured for us."-Dr. Chavasse in "The Atonement in History and in Life," edited by Canon L. W. Grenstead.
4. In what words did Jesus testify to His willingness to suffer for men?
"Therefore does My Father love Me, because I lay down My life, that I might take it again. No man takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again." John 10:17, 18.
5. What did the death of Christ thus reveal?
"God commended His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8.
"There was a cross in the heart of God before there was one planted on the green hill outside Jerusalem. And now that the cross of wood has been taken down, the one in the heart of God abides, and it will remain as long as there is one sinful soul for whom to suffer."-Dr. Dinsmore in "The Atonement in History and in Life," edited by Canon L. W. Grenstead.
6. Beside manifesting the extent of the love of God and of Christ for man, what further purpose did the cross serve?
It indicated the immutability of the law of God. "Whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God." Romans 3:25.
"Repentance was not enough. His [man's] sin had to he adequately dealt with. It demanded expiation; and expiation mean open confession and full reparation. In this stern