RELIGIOUS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1106, 12 May 1893, Page 23

RELIGIOUS.

4 ADDRESSES BY PASTOR G. B. STARR,

Of the Australasian Bible School, Melbourne, delivered at the Skating Rink, Wellington, Sunday evenings, April 30 and May 7,1893. THE BIBLE, ITS ORIGIN, INSPIRATION AND COMPILATION. The Speaker said:—l have chosen as a foundation for this address the twenty-ninth verse of the twenty-second chapter of Jeremiah : " 0 Earth, Earth, Earth, Hear the Word of the Lord." In these words the whole earth is addressed: not the people of one nation, but the entire earth is to hear the words of the Lbrd. In every part of the Bible God himself—the Creator of man—claims to be the Speaker. " God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in a time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, Whom He hath appointed Heir of all things, by Whom, also, He made the worlds." Therefore, whether it is in past ages through the prophets, or- later by His Son, always, and at all times, God Himself claims tc speak. Again he says; " I have also spoken by the prophets, and have multiplied visions, and used similitudes by the ministry of the prophets."—Hosea xii., 10. And, again, it is said that in the gift of Christ, God fulfilled all the promises which He spake "By the mouth of His holy prophets which have been since the world began."—-Luke i., 70.

The Pkophets unitedly claim that God has spoken by them. Their testimony is like this: "And Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord;" and " Moses wrote all the words of the Lord."—Ex. xxiv., 3, 4. " David, the Son of Jesse, said : , . . the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet Psalmest of Israel, said, the Spirit of the Lord spake by m'e, and His Word was in my tongue."— the Lord put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said unto me: Behold, I have put My words in thy mouth." —Jer. i., 9.

Have these men told the truth? Then God has spoken by them, and their testimony is corroborated by Jesus Christ and his disciples. Christ said of Moses: Had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me ; for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings how shall ye believe my words ? And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead."— Johnv., 46,47; Lukexvi.,3l. Peter said, also: " Men and brethren this scripture, must needs be fulfilled which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before, concerning Judas."—Acts 1., 16. Thus God spake by Moses and the Holy Ghost spake by the mouth of David, and so we believe. Or THE MAKING 01' THE BIBLE, It may be said, as Paul said of the events in the life of Christ, that " This thing was not done in a corner." " For the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely; for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him; for this thing was not done in a comer." —Acts xxvi., 26. Consider the experience of The First of the Bible Writers, Moses. He was found in the bulrushes, and adopted into the royal family. He reached high positions in the army and honors of Egypt, and was " mighty in words and deeds." But when called upon to do so, he makes his choice. He chooses to be with the men who are in bondage. His choice is the " reproach of Christ," and he esteems it "greater riches than the treasures in Egypt." And God calls him from court life at Egypt, out into the wilderness, to follow the sheep, there to learn experience that will fit. him to be the royal leader of Israel. There Jehovah meets him at the burning bush, and informs him that he will send him upon a mission to Egypt for the purpose of delivering Israel from bondage. Pharaoh, he is to told, will refuse to let the people go; and Israel and Pharaoh will both question his call to this work. But the great " I am " promises to attend him, and mighty signs and wonders are to attest his call. Divine credentials of an extraoidinary character are thus to be given him in the sight of all Egypt; which at that time was , the leading nation of the world. Moses goes to Egypt and makes appeal after appeal to the king to let the people of Jehovah go. Kefusal upon refusal is met by miracle upon miracle, until, finally, Egypt was glad, when they departed : for the fear of them fell upon them." And as they journeyed the presence of the Infinite One among them was attested by the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, the opening of the sea, and the waters flowing from the smitten rock. And these things were known by all the nations around them; and SD it is written : " This day will I begin to put the dread of thee, and the fear of thee, upon the nations that are under the whole Heaven, who shall hear the report of thee, and shall tremble and be in anguish because of thee." Thus, in the sight of all the nations of his time, the first prophet and writer of the Bible is established as one sent of God. And thus is he still established, ia the minds of all

nations; and the God of Heaven, who at the first wrought so mightly to establish the Word of His Servant, will not to-day let that Word fall to the ground. " And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. In all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land, and in all the mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moses showed in the sight of all Israel—Deut. xxxiv., 10, 12. Joshua, The second of Israel's leaders, is equally well attested. "And Moses called Joshua, and said unto him, in the sight of all Israel, be strong and of good courage. . . And the Lord said unto Moses: Behold the days approach that thou must die; call Joshua and present yourselves in the tabernacle of the congregation, that I may give him a charge. And Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tabernacle of the congregation, and the Lord appeared in the tabernacle in a pillar of cloud."—Deut. xxxi., 7-15. And to Joshua the Lord said: " There shall not a man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee, I will not fail thee nor forsake thee."—Joshua i., 5. To him the Captain of the Lord's host appears, and as it was said to Moses at the bush, so it is repeated to Joshua: " Loose thy shoe from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy."—Joshua v., 14, 15. Passing Elijah, Elisha, Samuel, and the other prophets, we come to the highest of all witnesses upon the inspiration of the scriptures, Jesus of Nazareth. He is Heaven's minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary, and as such is furnished with extraordinary credentials. A mighty herald preceds his coming. At his baptism the voice of Jehovah breaks the silence of ages, and affirms: "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." And later again it is heard: " Hear ye Him." What does this Jesus say of the writings of Moses and of the other Scriptures? Let us listen. " Think notthat lam come to destroy the law or the prophets; . . . for verily I say unto you, till Heaven and earth pass, one jot or one title shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled."—Matt, v., 17, 18. Again, He says, "The Scripture cannot be broken."—John x., 34, 35. And in His fierce encounter with Satan in the wilderness of temptation He three times meets his temptations and conquers with, "It is written." Quoting Deut. viii. 6, x. 20, and vi. 16, and He places in the hands of men the same weapon ; " The sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God."—Eph. vi., 17. That we may conquer as he conquered. To all men He recommends with equal authority all the Old Testament Scriptures in the words: " Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me." —John v., .39. And after his resurrection we hear Him saying: "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." And, again, " These are the words which I spake 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. . . . Thus it is

written, and thus it behoved Christ to rise from the dead the third day."—Luke xxiv., 25, 48. This is the testimony of Jesus Christ to the Old Testament Scriptures.

The Call and the Inspiration of the New Testament Writers is equally well and publicly attested. Three years and a half the disciples are with Jesus in all the cities and villages of Palestine. But this is not enough ; they are to be endowed with power from on high, and with Heavenly credentials, in the sight of all nations; therefore they are told to tarry at Jerusalem for this purpose, which they did. '' And suddenly there came a sound from Heaven as of a rushing might wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting, . and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, . . and there were dwelling at Jerusalem devout men, out of every nation under Heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded because that every man heard them speak in his own language."— Acts ii. Surely here can be no mistake; witnesses " out of every nation under Heaven'' hear and see for themselves, that the promise of Christ is fulfilled, and that these men are authorised to speak in His name.

The Apostle Paul, Also, is called by Christ from Heaven (Acts ix.), and all his writings are placed, by the apostle Peter, upon equal authority with the Old Testament scriptures. "Even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also The other Scriptures, unto their own destruction."—2 Peters iii., 15, 16. Of the other scriptures with which Peter ranks his writings as equal, Paul says : " All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable."—2 Tim. iii., 16. And the writings or scriptures to which he refers, and to which Christ referred, were those that Timothy had known "from a child." The Old Testament books just as we have them to-day. Thus both Old Testament and New Testament writers were publically called and credentialed for their work. In the Compilation of the Bible what was to enter as a part of that Book was settled in Heaven ; and not by earthly councils, as some suppose. " For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in Heaven."—Psalm cxix., 89. " The prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Peter i., 21. (AM

that the prophecy as truly came in spite of the will of man. See Numbers xxiv., and John xi., 47, 51.) " The words of the Lord are pure words: As silver tried in a furnace of earth, and purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord; Thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever." —Psalms xii., 6, 7. Yes, God promises to keep His Word for his people, and, so far, despite every attempt of man to destroy or obscure it we have it intact; and so we will have it until the end. " For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass, the grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away; but the Word of the Lord endurth for ever."—lsa. xl., 6; i. Peter i., 24, 25. "The Lord gave the Word; great was the company of those that published it."—Psalms lxviii., 11. THE POWER OF THE WORD AS EXHIBITED IN CREATION AND REDEMPTION. " In the Begining was the Word." Said the speaker : The first thing we hear of is the word of God, and it will be the last thing; for when all men and the world in its present state are passed away, " The Word of the Lord endureth for ever." "By the Word of the Lord were the Heavens made ; and all the hosts of them by the breath of His mouth."—Psalms xxxiii., 6. Here we are informed just how the Heavens and Earth were made, and it is the best exposition of that most stupendous work ever written; as it is also the most simple and reasonable. " For He spake, and it was ; He commanded, and it stood fast." God spake and the thing described in His words existed. With this, the description of the creation, given by Moses in the first chapter of Genesis, exactly agrees. He says: "In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth. . . , And God said, Let there be light, and there was light. . . . and God said, Let there be a firmament . . . and it was so. . . . . And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind,

. . . and it was so." These are some of the statements of inspiration in the first chapter of Genesis regarding the creation; the entire chapter presents all the other portions of creation in the same way. "He spake and it was; He commanded and it stood fast."

Of the truth of these statements the Apostle Peter says: The men of the last days would be "willingly ignorant." "For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the Word of God the Heavens were of old, and the Earth standing out of the water and in the water; whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished; But the Heavens and the Earth which are (exist) now, by the same word, are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." Here the Apostle Peter takes the same position in regard to creation, as that taken by Moses and David, that the worlds were made by the Word of God. And the statements of the Creator himself in regard to his work, is the only reliable testimony on the subject that the human family possess; but because the human mind cannot grasp the infinite, and because man' cannot see how it can be so, he rejects the only testimony on the subject. But the difficulty lies entirely with the human mind, and not with the fact.

God's ways and works and thoughts are as high above man's as the Heavens are above the Earth ; and this being so, it is not surprising that man should not be able of himself to grasp the thought of God ; his only possible way of learning of either God's thoughts or ways is by means of His Word ; and that by faith in the statement exactly as God gives it. If it is altered by the wisdom of man, it will fall as far short of presenting God's thoughts as man's wisdom falls short of the Divine ; which is as far as the earth is beneath the Heavens. " For My thoughts are not your thoughts; neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord. For as the Heavens are higher than the Earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down and the snow from Heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater; so shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it."—lsiash lv., 8-11. Thus the Word of God was given to convey to man God's thoughts, and the only way for man to understand thoughts that are as high above his own as the Heavens are higher than the Earth, is by faith; not by human wisdom or reason, for this word is given to instruct the human reason. "By faith we understand that the worlds have been framed by the Word of God, so that what is seen hath not been made out of things which do appear."—-Heb. xi., 3, B. V. Faith understands it all; understands that the worlds were framed by the Word of God; but " Faith comes by hearing, and hearing' by the Word of God."—Rom. x, 17. True science is willing to acknowledge the Word of God as its first source of information, and so its deductions are in harmony with this word. The text, " By the Word of the Lord were the Heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth," is beautifully, though imperfectly, illustrated by The Voice Figubes,

a late discovery by Mrs. Watts-Hughes, a talented musician of London; who, for the purpose of testing the intensity of vocal sounds, employed the simple device of an elastic membrane stretched over the mouth of the receiver, into which the voice was introduced by means of a wide-mouthed tube. Upon the elastic membrane lycopodium powder, slightly moistened with water and glycerine Was used to hold the form of the vibrations; which to the great astonishment and delight of the musician, assumed the forms of various llowers; pansies, dasies, ferns, &c. Of her experiments Mrs. Hughes says, " As day by day I have gone on singing into shape these peculiar forms, and, stepping out of doors, have seen their parallels living in the flowers, ferns, and trees around me; arid, again, as X JiaYe watched the little heaps

in the formation of floweral figures gather themselves up, and then shoot out their petals, just as a flower springs from the swollen bud, the hope has come to me that these humble experiments may afford some suggestion in regard to nature's production of her own beautiful forms, and may thereby aid, in some slight degree, the revelation of yet another link in the great chain of the organized universe that we are told in Holy Writ, took its shape at the voice of God."—' The Centuary Magazine,' May, 1891. But science, " falsely so called," unwilling to acknowledge its inability to search out the infinite, leaves the Word of God and arrives, as it only can arrive, at conclusions wholly false. That God has put a limit to the' searchings of human wisdom, it is plainly stated '. " For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise ? Where is the scribe ? Where is the disputer of this world ? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of the world ? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the ! foolishness of preaching to save them that be- ! lieve."—l. Cor. i., 19-20. But the only preaching recognised or commissioned by God is the preaching of His Word. " Preach the Word " " The wise men, have they been ashamed. . . . . Lo they have rejected the Word of the Lord; and what wisdom is in them ? " None; no true wisdom. How can there be ? "Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection ? It is as high as heaven ; what canst thou do ? Deeper than sheol (the grave); what canst thou know ? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea."—Job xii., 7to 9, R.V. How is man to compass this subject ? It is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea; so if he pushes his researches to earth's remotest bounds it is still beyond him. "If any man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know." —I. Cor. i, 8,2, But when man is willing to acknowledge his ignorance, then he is getting into a fair way to be instructed of God. If we take the position that we will receive nothing as truth but that which demonstrates itself to our reason, we thereby cut ourselves off from any knowledge beyond our present ability to demonstrate; and the greater the truth, and the farther it is beyond us the more it will appear untruth to our reason, because we cannot see how it can be so. Faith, however, lifts a man above these difficulties, and not depending upon his reason, and however contrary it may appear to his uninstructed reason, he grasps by faith the statement of God's word as the exact truth upon the point, and rejoices in the knowledge and information he has received. " BY FAITH WE UNDERSTAND."

Not that God would have any man lay aside his reason. No, no; but submit that reason to be instructed by a higher reason—the wisdom of his creator, in his Word. But the men who reject the Word of God as the highest source of wisdom and knowledge, at once turn to other and lower sources—their own, and the wisdom of other men; and the result is conclusions as far from the wisdom of God as the earth is lower than the heavens, and as far from the truth also in things relating to God or his works. FAITH IS THUS THE FOUNDATION OF ALL TRUE KNOWLEDGE. A man learns his A, B, C's by faith. _ Who can demonstrate that A is A, or B is B? Our first teachers told us it was so, and we believed them; and well it was that we did, or we never should have learned to read. And so we are to receive the knowledge of the things of God, as a little child receives the instruction of his teacher. "Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven."—Matthew xviii., 3. And the one who thus receives the instruction God has given in his word, and yields obedience to it, may truly say with the Psalmist, "Thou, through thy commandments, hast made me wiser than all mine enemies I have more understanding than all my teachers, for thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients because I keep thy precepts."—Psalm cxix., 98-100. It was by the Word of Jehovah through Jesus Christ that the worlds were made, and it is by the Word of Jesus that they are now upheld. " All things were made by him ; and without him was not anything made that was made. ... He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.—John i., 1, 3,10. " For by him were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions or principalities or powers: all things were created by him, and for him. And he is before all things, and by him all things consists." (Hold together,)—Col. L, 16' 17. ' Upholding all things by the word of his power.' Heb. 1: 3. In the fife of Jesus upon eorth, the power of his word was manifested in all his miracles. In the first one at the wedding at Cana of Gallilee, the same word and the same power, that turns the water into wine, through the vine turued it into wine without the vine. No man can explain how the juice of the grape is produced in the cluster upon the dry-looking vine stock ; yet every one knows that it is so; and so it is with every fruit and flower; the beautiful colour, the delicious flavour, the delicate perfume, are all productions beyond our knowledge ; miracles past man's finding out, yet so common as to pass unacknowledged as the daily exhibitions of divine power and love. But he what produces all of these, walked our earth, and with a word, produced life, and growth, and health. " And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in thei* synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness, and every disease among the people. Aud they were astonished at his doctrine; for his word was with power, and they were all amazed; and spake among themselves, saying: ' What a word is this ; for with authority and pewer he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out." Mattthew IX : 35 and Luke IV: 32, 36. TUB CENTUF.ION OF CAPERNAUM caught the idea clearly, and said to Jesus, when he offered to come to his house and heal his servant; "I am not worthy tliat thou shouldst come wider my i'ooi but;

SPEAK THE WORD ONLY, and my servant shall be healed, for I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me; and I say to this man, * Go,' and he goeth, am? to my servant, ' Do this,' and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it he marvelled, and said to them that followed, " Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.' 1 The Centurion was a man under authority., Roman authority, and as long as he was kept in authority; when he said to a man, " Go;"' the whole Roman Empire said, " Go." Sowas Jesus Christ under authority, the authority of all. Heaven. John the Baptist said of Him: " The Father loveththe Son, and hath given all things into his hands." John III: 34, 35. And Jesus himself said: "All power is' given unto me in heaven and earth." Then When Jesus spoke, not the authority and power of one nation, but that of all Heaven, was back of his words; and all this power was manifested for the purpose of demonstrating to men, that

JESUS CHRIST HAD POWER TO FORGIVE SINS and deliver sinners from themselves, and. from Satan. " Whether is it easier to say unto the sick of the palsy, Thy sins are for' given thee; or to say,' Arise,' and take up thy bed and walk ? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, he saith to the sick of the palsy, I say unto the, Arise and take up thy bod, and go thy way into thine house. And immediately he arose and took up the bed, and went forth before them all; fn.somuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, "We never saw it on this fashion." Mark II: I—l 3. Lazarus and the widow's son are raisea at his word. The five loaves and a few fished are multiplied to feed five thousand; the waves of the sea are stilled at his words, " Peace be still.' Peter, at his own request, is invited by the Lord to come to him upon the water, and he steps out upon that one word ' Come,' and it holds him up, as long as he trusts it alone.

The word of God is not a dead thing, but is life and power itself.

" FOR THE WORD OF GOD IS LIVING AND ACTIVE, and sharper than any two-edged sword."— Heb. iv., 12. " The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life."—John vi., 63. The same Eternal, living Word, by which the worlds were created, and are still upheld; is now at work through the gospel, redeeming men who will let it. " For we arc his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you," and " the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth." The power of God thathasbeen manifested from the creation of the world, clearly seen and understood by the things that are made ; " Even His eternal power and God-head." So that we are all without an excuse for a single doubt regarding the power of the gospel to lift us out of all our difficulties. In the words of Paul we say : —" And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and the Word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance amongallthem that are sanctified." —Acts xx., 32.

The christian, experience begins and ends with the word of God. The gospel minister is commissioned only to " Preach the word ; " andthose who believe and are baptised, are promised salvation. Everywhere men are seeking for some emotion and feeling, that they suppose is the christian experience, but this is not a sound foundation ; what they need to do is to believe the word of God as though it were addressed to them personally. Following feeling and impression leads tp fanaticism and insanity; while following the word of God leads to soundness of mind. " For God hath not given us the spirit of fear ; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."— II Tim. i., 7.

As it is with the life so it is with growth ; CHRISTIANS ARE TO GROW BY THE WORD.

" Desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby." Christians are to grow as do the fruits and flowers, by receiving the light and moisture and nourishment that God gives them. Said Jesus: " Consider the lilies how they grow; they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." —Luke xii., 27.

" The plants and flowers grow not by their own care or anxiety or effort, but by receiving that which God has furnished to minister tctheir life. The child cannot, by any anxiety or effort of its own, add to its stature. No more can you, by anxiety or effort of yourself, secure spiritual growth. The plant—the child —grows by receiving from its surroundings that which ministers to its life —air, sunshine, and food. What these gifts are to animal and plant, such is Christto those who trust him. He is their everlasting light, " a sun and a shield." "He shall be as the dew unto Israel." "He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass.." "He is the living water, the bread of God." In the matchless gift of his Son, God has encircled the whole world with an atmosphere of grace as real as the air which circulates around the globe. All who choose to breathe this lifegiving atmosphere will live, and grow up to the full' stature of men .and women in Christ Jesus. 'As the flower turns to the sun, that the bright beams may aid in perfecting its beauty and symmetry, so should we turn to the Son of Righteousness, that Heaven's light may shine upon us, that our character may be developed in the likeness of Christ." " BY BEHOLDING WE BECOME CHANGED."

" Our growth in grace, our joy, our usefulness, all depends upon our union with Christ. It is by communion with him, daily, hourly, through His word and by His spirit, by abiding in Him, that we grow in grace. He. is not only the author but the finisher of our faith. It is Christ first and last and best always.—Steps to Christ. " For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and the garden caiiseth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all nations.' Visafei lxi»,