Inspiration of the Prophetic Writers
13
of superior wisdom. These men are, many of them, smart men, learned
men, they have eloquence and talent, the whole lifework [of whom] is
to unsettle minds in regard to the inspiration of the Scriptures. They
influence many to see as they do. And the same work is passed on
from one to another, just as Satan designed it should be, until we may
see the full meaning of the words of Christ, “When the Son of man
cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” (
Luke 18:8
).
Brethren, let not a mind or hand be engaged in criticizing the Bible.
It is a work that Satan delights to have any of you do, but it is not a
work the Lord has pointed out for you to do.
Men should let God take care of His own Book, His living oracles,
as He has done for ages. They begin to question some parts of revela-
tion, and pick flaws in the apparent inconsistencies of this statement
and that statement. Beginning at Genesis, they give up that which they
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deem questionable, and their minds lead on, for Satan will lead to any
length they may follow in their criticism, and they see something to
doubt in the whole Scriptures. Their faculties of criticism become
sharpened by exercise, and they can rest on nothing with a certainty.
You try to reason with these men, but your time is lost. They will exer-
cise their power of ridicule even upon the Bible. They even become
mockers, and they would be astonished if you put it to them in that
light.
Brethren, cling to your Bible, as it reads, and stop your criticisms
in regard to its validity, and obey the Word, and not one of you will be
lost. The ingenuity of men has been exercised for ages to measure the
Word of God by their finite minds and limited comprehension. If the
Lord, the Author of the living oracles, would throw back the curtain
and reveal His wisdom and His glory before them, they would shrink
into nothingness and exclaim as did Isaiah, “I am a man of unclean
lips, and I dwell in the midst of people of unclean lips” (
Isaiah 6:5
).
Simplicity and plain utterance are comprehended by the illiterate,
by the peasant, and the child as well as by the full-grown man or
the giant in intellect. If the individual is possessed of large talents of
mental powers, he will find in the oracles of God treasures of truth,
beautiful and valuable, which he can appropriate. He will also find
difficulties, and secrets and wonders which will give him the highest
satisfaction to study during a long lifetime, and yet there is an infinity
beyond.