NOTES ON THE INTERNATIONAL LESSON.
God's Message by His Son.
"GoD . . . spake . . . by the prophets." God is the author, the matter is his, the words are his, and he spake them to the people by the prophets. That which the prophets have spoken therefore is the word of God. These men spoke not of themselves, "For 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 Ghost." 2 Pet. 1:21. The Bible needs to be defended less, and preached more. The very best defense of the Bible is to preach it faithfully. And then, whether men will hear or whether they will forbear, nevertheless it is the word of God that has been spoken. If they will hear, it is the word of God that they hear; if they refuse, it is the word of God which they refuse. Great is the responsibility of him who stands before the people with the word of God. "He that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully." "If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; . . . that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ." 1 Pet. 4:11. "I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence, and give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth." Isa. 62:6, 7. "For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth." Isa. 62:1.