An All-Sufficient Word by Francis M. Wilcox

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · May 5, 1910

An All-Sufficient Word

By Francis M. Wilcox

NOTHING is more reasonable than that God should give a revelation of his will to his children. Creating the human family through no will or volition of man's, it would be expected that the divine Being would reveal to his creatures his purpose concerning them, and a knowledge of the relationship which he designed them to sustain to himself and to one another. The Scriptures declare themselves to be this revelation of the divine will. Repeatedly in the messages which have come from the prophets of the Word, they declare themselves as expressing the sentiments and purposes of the divine mind. But even aside from what the Bible writers say of their own writings, we have much other contributory evidence that the Scriptures are indeed the word of God to the human family. A few of these we might enumerate:—

1. The answer of history to prophecy. Even the skeptic must admit that in this there is a remarkable coincidence which can not be explained. Long years, sometimes centuries, before events took place, they were clearly portrayed by sacred writers. The rise and fall of nations have been predicted; the page of history gives a record of Babylon, Media, Persia, Grecia, Rome, and many other kingdoms, in exact fulfilment of these predictions. To claim that these prophecies were mere guesswork, the idle predictions of pretenders, is to deny the logic, not of one single incident, but of a concert of evidence.

2. Archeological research. Excavations among the old ruins of the East, with the unearthing of tablets and the deciphering of hieroglyphics, have opened a vast storehouse of information, and serve very fully to corroborate the Scriptural data. Repeatedly when men have denied the existence of some ancient city or personage or event, the findings of the archeologist have given effectual denial to every skeptical assumption.

3. The endurance of the Word. The Word of the Lord abideth forever, and like walls of adamantine rock they have withstood the assaults of the ages. Rome has proscribed the Word and burned it at the stake. Infidel France, so far as her influence extended, sought to destroy its influence among men forever. It has been the subject of the scoffer's jest and the infidel's cavil, but still it lives, and works effectually and mightily in the hearts of those who still receive it in deed and in truth as the Word of the living God.

Its influence among men, however, stands in greater peril to-day than ever before; not so much from the assaults of its avowed enemies, as from the insidious, undermining attacks of its professed friends who seek to interpret its spirit and construe its teaching in harmony with their own perverted ideas of God and his revelation.

4. Its mysteries. That there are in the Scriptures things which man can not fully fathom is an evidence of their divine authorship. The Scripture deals with great principles. Some of its simplest expressions reveal great and mighty truths. The fact that we can not fully fathom these in all of their significance, shows a great Master-mind operating in and through the revelation.

5. Its impartiality. So far as the human family is concerned, the Bible brings to view no heroes or heroines. It does not unduly exploit virtues, nor gloss over sins. It records the foolishness of Solomon, the weakness of David,

the failure of Moses, and the fickleness of Peter. It exalts God, and not man, and sets character before the individual.

6. The unity of the Scriptures shows that a great Master-mind controls the wills and expressions of the Bible writers. What a marvelous book it is! what a wonderful compendium of moral philosophy! with its sixty-six different volumes written by more than half a hundred writers, men who wrote in different ages of the world, under different national and social influences, occupying different stations in life, from the king on his throne to the humble herdsman of Tekoa; yet all bearing the same universal testimony of concerted, united, harmonious teaching. This of itself is truly a remarkable fact.

7. Its universal adaptation. In every age of the human family, to every tongue in which the work has been translated, it has proved of general application. It carries comfort to the mourner, hope to the oppressed, strength to the weary, and light to those in darkness, as well as conviction of sin, admonition and rebuke to men of every degree and every-nation. It meets and supplies the needs of the great human family.

8. And finally: the simplicity and yet withal the dignity characterizing the Scriptures show them to be the revelation of the Infinite. In them is nothing of the superficial. We find nothing of cheapness. The words of God are expressed in a style so simple, and yet so dignified, that they may be understood by the humblest, and yet they commend themselves to the highest intelligence.

The Word of God is an all-sufficient guide. Every one who follows its instructions may become “perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” Other books may throw light upon its sacred pages, may take some of its great principles and draw them out in detail, but no books and no writings can ever take the place of the Word of God, or form a substitute for, or an addition to, that Word. It is the standard by which Christian character will be tested, by which every spirit in the world will be proved. As well, it becomes the standard by which every other book and every other writing must be measured. In these days of moral degeneracy and spiritual declination, when many so-called Christians deny the power of the Word of truth and seek to explain its divine principles in harmony with their own perverted philosophy, let us exalt the Word. Let us make it the man of our counsel, the lamp to our feet, and the light to our path. By thus doing, we shall not walk in darkness, but shall have a light to guide us, and a foundation on which to stand securely in the evil times that are before us.

F. M. W.