THE EVERLASTING PROMISES OF THE LIVING WORD.
By Lilian Otis McPherron
THE wonderful, soul-satisfying Word of God was given to us, not by the will of man, “but holy men of God spake as they were ‘moved by the Holy Ghost.” God inspired these men by the in-breathing of His own Spirit. Hence the Bible is not simply an inspired idea; but God goes by the thought, and inspires the direct word; for He says by the mouth of David, the sweet psalmist of Israel, “The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and His word was in my tongue.” It was given through the agency of the holy angels, who delight to bring light to this dark world from the courts above, and by gentle, patient ministry, move upon the hearts of men, to bring the lost into a fellowship with Christ which is even closer than they themselves can know. That the all-wise Father used these agencies to impart to man a knowledge of His will, and of all that concerns his salvation, is shown in the case of Daniel. When he had received a vision of earth’s history to the end of prophetic time, he was troubled, and at a loss to understand the vision; then he heard a voice say, “Gabriel, make this ‘man to understand the vision.” Then, later, as he set his face unto the Lord God by prayer and supplication, with fasting, to seek to understand this vision, while he was yet speaking, Gabriel, whom he had seen in the vision, touched him, saying, “O Daniel, I am now ‘come forth to give thee skill and understanding.” And yet again, “I ‘will show thee that which is noted in the Scripture of truth.”5 God designs that we should be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. He therefore gives to us “exceeding great and precious promises, that by these ye might be partakers of the divine ‘nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through ‘lust.” When we receive these great and precious promises by faith, God gives us power to become the sons and daughters of God, and our whole being is brought into conformity with the character of God. Then every dwarfed, withered, and dormant member of the body and faculty of the mind will be vitalized by the Spirit of God; for our connection with God will be established. What God’s Word can accomplish in the heart receiving it by faith is best shown by some of the inspired examples given us in the Word. See what it did for Moses, the meekest of men, yet the mighty leader of a great people. Until he was twelve years old he was diligently and prayerfully taught by a godly mother in harmony with the instruction given to Israel: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy ‘God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. ‘And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine ‘heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and ‘shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou ‘walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest ‘up.” Deut. 6:5-7. His whole life was a working out of this instruction. See the child Samuel, earnestly and prayerfully instructed by his mother, becoming, even at the age of six years, the mouthpiece of God. Daniel, before the captivity separated him from the home of his father and mother, had such training as this, and he became one of the greatest statesmen the world has ever known, and, above all, became greatly beloved in the courts of heaven. Jesus, our great Example, our Saviour, was taught at His mother’s knee of the things of His Father, both in the written Word, contained in the parchments of the Old Testament, and in the growing word seen in the world of nature, until He was thoroughly fitted to take up the work His Father gave Him to do, and “to finish the work.” “To ‘finish the work!” Wondrous words! All His work rounded out, completed in perfection. No broken threads, no tangled skeins, but perfection! Such may be our work if the living Word animates and infuses every faculty of mind and heart. O, that we would receive it into our hearts, to become flesh in us, that God’s name might be magnified, His thoughts for man made manifest, and the work of righteousness go with power, the world being lighted with the glory of Him who loved us, and gave Himself for us. LILIAN OTIS MCPHERRON.