By Russell DeLong
"There is none like it, give it to me" (I Samuel 21:9)
The words of my text leaped from the lips of David when the priest mentioned that they
were keeping in the synagogue, as a relic of a colossal victory, the sword with which he had slain Goliath. "There is none like it, give it to me," he exclaimed.
The sword in spiritual warfare represents the Bible as definitely indicated in Ephesians
6:7, "Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God."
The Bible is different! It is unique! "There is none like it." Why?
The Bible is not just another book. It is THE Book -- the Book of books. But why?
Many answers might be given and considered at great length. Let us mention some briefly and then focus our attention on what appears to me to be the outstanding major reason.
It is a fact that forty different men of varying vocations ranging from peasants to kings,
wrote the sixty-six books of which the Bible is composed, and wrote at different times over a period of 1,600 years. Each brought his bit -- his contribution -- from his standpoint -- from his station in life -- and when they are put together we have an uncontradictory volume of sixty-six -books fused into one Divine Revelation, all pointing man to God's purpose for his life.
"There is none like it" for popularity. The Bible is always -- every year -- the best seller.
"There is none like it" for guidance.
"There is none like it" for literature. It stands at the very apex of all the great literature of the world. It is sublime in style, lofty in thought, and correct in expression.
"There is none like it" for durability. Other things are transient and passing. Friends,
fortunes, and fame may pass, but God's Word endureth forever. You can depend upon it. It is sure and steadfast, always abiding. Atheists, skeptics, agnostics, and infidels have destroyed the Bible by the thousands. Great bonfires have been made with the Bible as fuel. Predictions have been made that the Bible would soon be extinct. In the laboratory the Bible has been placed under the microscope by critics. It has been analyzed, torn to pieces, destroyed, and yet it goes on in greater power and influence than ever. When atheists and infidels have rotted in their graves, when the sun has burned to a cinder and the moon has turned to blood, when the stars have fallen from their sockets and the earth has been rolled together as a scroll and cast behind the walls of oblivion forever, God's Word will go on in triumph. "Heaven and earth may pass away, but my word shall
not pass away."
The Bible is God's will for man. If it is not, then we, as human beings, are all mariners at
sea without a compass or a chart. Your idea of right and wrong is as good as mine. There is no final tribunal of truth. There is no center of authority. Everything is purely relative. The Bible answers all the great questions of life: Where? Whom? What? From whence? Whither? How? It offers proposed solutions and, when followed, will produce satisfaction and happiness.
We might build argument after argument concerning the Bible as God's Word, but I think
the greatest argument is this fact: men and women in the maze of modern complexities who will follow the precepts and truths as laid down in the Bible will find the riddle of life solved and discover the road to happiness.
Suppose I ordered a large, old-fashioned floor clock for my home from Montgomery Ward in Chicago. When it arrives, to my surprise and astonishment, it is unassembled. In the packing box I find wheels, pivots, posts, face, hands, crystal, body, nuts, screws, springs, and all that it takes to make a clock -- hundreds, if not thousands of parts. I am bewildered and perplexed. What shall I do? As I dig down through the parts I find a book of instructions. I am informed that if I put a to a, b to b, c to c; put 1 to 1, 2 to 2, 3 to 3, etc., I can assemble the clock and make it function. So I follow the instructions, putting this wheel on that pivot; cogging this wheel to that wheel; attaching this spring, etc. After several hours of work, following the instructions in the book, and not without some problems, I have the clock assembled and to my satisfaction and delight it runs. I conclude that the man who wrote the book of instructions made the clock and that the man who made the clock wrote the book of instructions. The author of the book and the creator of the clock are one and the same person.
Human beings and society are faced with many problems, desires, instincts, habits,
ambitions, disappointments, sorrows, death, and a thousand and one complexities. Life is a maze of snarled, tangled perplexities. The Bible is the only book that will solve the riddle of life. If you will follow the instructions, put a to a, and b to b, confess your sins, obey the Ten Commandments, do right, follow the sermon on the Mount, you will find that life will work out happily and with prosperity. You will discover that the One who wrote the Holy Book of Instructions, made man. You will conclude that the Being who created man with all his internal strivings, instincts, and desires, wrote the Book. The Author is the Creator and the Creator is the Author.
The Bible is the only book which solves the mysteries of life and brings happiness and
contentment of spirit. Tennyson will no do it; Emerson falls short and even Shakespeare is inadequate. The Supreme, Intelligent God who wrote the Book, the Bible, has given us instructions which will untangle the sorrows of life and bring harmony out of discord. The poem, "The Anvil" clearly pictures the potency of the Book.
I paused one day beside the blacksmith's door,
And listened to the anvil ring the evening chimes,
And looking in, I saw upon the floor
Old hammers, worn with beating years of time.
"How many anvils have you had," said I,
"To wear and batter out those hammers so?"
"Just one," he answered, with twinkling eye,
"The anvil wears the hammers out, you know."
And so I thought, the Anvil of God's Word,
For ages skeptics' blows have beat upon,
Yet, though the noise of infidels was heard,
The Anvil is unworn -- the hammers gone.
THE BIBLE -- YET IT LIVES
"Generations follow generations -- yet it lives.
Nations rise and fall -- yet it lives.
Kings, dictators, presidents come and go -- yet it lives.
Torn, condemned, burned -- yet it lives.
Hated, despised, cursed -- yet it lives.
Doubted, suspected, criticized -- yet it lives.
Damned by atheists -- yet it lives.
Scoffed at by scorners -- yet it lives.
Misconstrued and misstated -- yet it lives.
Ranted and raved about -- yet it lives.
Its inspiration denied -- yet it lives.
"Yet it lives -- as a lamp to our feet.
Yet it lives -- as a light to our path.
Yet it lives -- as a guidebook for Heaven.
Yet it lives -- as a standard for childhood.
Yet it lives -- as a guide for youth.
Yet it lives -- as a comfort for the aged.
Yet it lives -- as food for the hungry.
Yet it lives -- as water for the thirsty.
Yet it lives -- as rest for the weary.
Yet it lives -- as light for the heathen.
Yet it lives -- as salvation for the sinner.
Yet it lives -- as grace for the Christian.
"To know It is to love It.
To love It is to accept It.
"To accept Its Christ means Life Eternal."
Jesus stands at the door of your heart. Will you accept Him? He will untangle the snarled
strands of your life and bring peace and happiness. Lift the latch, turn the knob, open the door and say, "O Thou Christ of the Bible, I bid Thee enter."
Nothing, either good or bad, can come to you unless you yourself open the door. The old
Stoic was right when he said, "I rest content that nothing can harm me unless I open the door to the enemy." True! But it is also true that nothing good can come to me unless I open the door.
It is reported that when that great masterpiece, "Christ Standing at the Door," was first
unveiled, a critic remarked to the artist, "There is a glaring omission." "What is it," asked the painter. "You have forgotten to put a door knob or latch on that great oaken door." The artist answered, "But you, sir, have missed the great truth of the painting. That door represents the door to the heart of man. That is Christ knocking. There is no latch on the outside. If the door is ever opened the latch will have to be lifted from the inside."
Oh, what a truth! The will decides the destiny of man. Jesus is knocking. He stands without. You must lift the latch. Open the door. Bid Him Enter. Your intellect tells you that you ought to do so. Your heart wants Him. Let your will answer the call of your mind and heart.
Out of my bondage, sorrow, and night,
Jesus I come, Jesus I come,
Into Thy freedom, gladness, and light,
Jesus I come to Thee.
Out of my sickness into Thy health,
Out of my want and into Thy wealth,
Out of my sin and into Thyself,
Jesus I come to Thee.
Leave your bondage, sorrow and night. Forget your failures and defeats and come to Him.
Out of my shameful failure and loss,
Jesus I come, Jesus I come,
Into the glorious gain of the cross,
Jesus I come to Thee.
Out of earth's sorrows into Thy balm,
Out of life's storms and into Thy calm,
Out of distress to jubilant psalm,
Jesus I come to Thee.
Just now let Him in. Open the door. Meet Christ now and hear Him speak peace to your
troubled soul.
