I. THE WORD OF GOD.

" The words of the Lord are pure words; as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times." "Forever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven." (Ps. 12:6; 119:89.)

The most important part of a building is its foundation. If that be weak, unstable, the whole superstructure is insecure. Hence, in giving an outline of Scripture doctrine, it is fitting at the beginning to see what that scripture is whose doctrines we would exhibit. If it be a human production, fallible and incomplete, the doctrines, drawn from it will be the same, human doctrines, to be judged like any other teachings of men. If the scriptures contain mistakes, if they cannot be fully received in every particular, neither can the doctrines they teach.

Again, blemishes here and there, mistakes, incorrect statements, are not only themselves to be rejected, but the whole Scripture loses its divine authority and power. It is just here that we must have a clear understanding; for it is just here that Satan is making one of his sharpest and most insidious attacks. Formerly, it was the avowed infidel, the blasphemer, who rejected the Scripture. But a few years ago, and "The Mistakes of Moses," was the theme of a lecture by a notorious and wicked man. Now the same theme is handled by men held in reputation in the churches, men of moral character, clinging to their church, and professing to do and teach in the fear of God. Under the name of " Higher Criticism," this infidelity has come into the very fountain heads of teaching, defiling and poisoning all that comes from them.

Sad enough it is that such teachers should have a following; sadder still that those who see the error should still lack firmness to denounce it, to judge it, and at all cost purge themselves from complicity with it. In times past, men have assailed the person of the Son of God, the Word who is God. Now they are assailing that Word which speaks of Him. If the soul jealous for the honor of the Lord will not brook a hint or whisper of question as to his perfect, spotless humanity, neither can it brook a like question as to the divine Word. Either it is perfect, or it is not His Word at all.

But how are we to know that the Scriptures are the Word of God ?

Many earnest and faithful souls have laboriously collected from history and monuments and elsewhere, those evidences which are in many ways proofs of the fact that these writings are authentic-that they are what they claim to be. But if God has spoken, is He going to leave it to man, fallible man, to prove that He has spoken ? Do we need argument to prove to us that the sun shines, or will we need to search all ancient monuments and relics to search for evidence that it shone in times past, and must therefore do so now ?

No; the sun speaks for itself, by its shining; and that Word which is compared to the sun in the nineteenth psalm, speaks for itself to all who are not blind. Its glorious light must come from God. The divine power it exerts can only be His. As the man in the ninth chapter of John needed no labored proof to know that the One who had opened his eyes was from God-his opened eyes were proof enough for that-so we, too, need no proof that this Word is God's. It has enlightened us.

The Bible, then, is its own proof. We can calmly listen to all the attacks of unbelief upon it, and the mockings of those that know not God, just as we would be uninfluenced by the arguments and jeerings of blind men that the sun does not shine. But what a relief this is! It requires no profound knowledge, no long study, to reach this assurance. Nay, the wise and prudent often err by their own wisdom, while babes have these things revealed to them. It is simply, " He that hath an ear, let him hear." What then, does God's Word warrant us in believing about ?

First, its inspiration, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God." By this is meant that He is the author of it. " Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." What they wrote was not by hearsay, nor at second hand. God used them as His instruments. He took the men as they were, fitted often by special dealings, and then used them, their minds, hearts, and bodily powers,-used them in such a way that, while free, they could make no mistake, for they spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. And just here is the difference between the ordinary guidance and superintendence of the Spirit in the believer, and the inspiration of the Scriptures. In the latter case, all is perfect, for it is revelation from God; in the former, that revelation is before us, and we are seeking to make use of it, and here comes in the weakness and imperfection of man. All is to be tested by that Word, which, tested by itself, proves itself consistent throughout, the product of one Mind. Along with inspiration, let us note the question of the perfection of Scripture. "The Scripture cannot be broken." " One jot or tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled. "Jot" is the Hebrew letter yodh, or "y," the smallest letter in the alphabet-being little more than a dot. A " tittle " was a little horn, or mark, on some of the letters, used to distinguish them from others. So then we might paraphrase it thus-" no dot to an i or cross to a t shall fail." But this means the most absolute and entire perfection.

In the text at the head of this paper, God's Word is compared to silver purified seven times – the perfect number-so that there is no dross, only the pure metal. We sometimes hear the expression "The Bible contains the Word of God," just as we would say such an ore contains silver:but it contains dross also, and if the Bible only contains the Word of God, who shall tell the dross from the silver ? No; the Bible is the Word of God. By this is not meant the English Version as we have it; but the Scriptures as originally given in the Hebrew and Greek. We cannot be too thankful for the wonderful preservation of the manuscripts, through centuries of persecution and of darkness, for the remarkable accuracy of the translation into our own tongue, so that, practically, the most unlearned of us all has in his hands God's pure and precious word. Small errors of copying or translating there may be, for no uninspired human work is perfect, but these are but as motes in the air, which do not prevent our being preserved and refreshed as we breathe it in.

Next, we come to the authenticity of the Scriptures. "The Law was given by Moses." ' He wrote of "Me." This tells us plainly that the books of Moses, so-called, were written by him-not by several unknown authors ; that when Scripture says Isaiah or Hosea wrote such and such books, they did write them ; that they are not the product of some later age, as the higher critics would teach. Paul wrote Paul's epistles, Peter and James theirs, and God the Spirit inspired each one to convey God's mind in an infallibly perfect way.

As to the credibility of these books-can we believe all they teach, every statement they make ? Unquestionably we can, and must. Inspired of Him who is the Spirit of truth, all their contents are truth. Every miracle recorded, every doctrine stated, – all is true, eternally true. Even the apparent contradictions but offer to the prayerful student of the Word fresh opportunities to discover new beauties in the Word.

We come, then, to the Scriptures as God's infallible When we read it God is speaking to us. We more its judges than we would be judges of what might say aloud to us. It judges and searches us. with what confidence, then, we can come to this precious Word. What holy fear becomes us too. It is God, in His still small voice, speaking to us. Let us beware how we refuse any of its teachings, or add any thing to it. Let us prove all things by it, and hold fast that which is good.

(To be continued.)