No finite mind can fully
comprehend the character or the works of the Infinite One. We cannot by
searching find out God. To minds the strongest and most highly cultured, as
well as to the weakest and most ignorant, that holy Being must remain clothed
in mystery. But though "clouds and darkness are round about Him: righteousness
and judgment are the foundation of His throne." Psalm 97:2, R.V. We can so far
comprehend His dealing with us as to discern boundless mercy united to infinite
power. We can understand as much of His purposes as we are capable of
comprehending; beyond this we may still trust the hand that is omnipotent, the
heart that is full of love.
The word of God,
like the character of its Author, presents mysteries that can never be fully
comprehended by finite beings. But God has given in the Scriptures sufficient
evidence of their divine authority. His own existence, His character, the
truthfulness of His word, are established by testimony that appeals to our
reason; and this testimony is abundant. True, He has not removed the
possibility of doubt; faith must rest upon evidence, not demonstration; those
who wish to doubt have opportunity; but those who desire to know the truth find
ample ground for faith.
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We have no reason
to doubt God's word because we cannot understand the mysteries of His
providence. In the natural world we are constantly surrounded with wonders
beyond our comprehension. Should we then be surprised to find in the spiritual
world also mysteries that we cannot fathom? The difficulty lies solely in the
weakness and narrowness of the human mind.
The mysteries of
the Bible, so far from being an argument against it, are among the strongest
evidences of its divine inspiration. If it contained no account of God but that
which we could comprehend; if His greatness and majesty could be grasped by
finite minds, then the Bible would not, as now, bear the unmistakable evidences
of divinity. The greatness of its themes should inspire faith in it as the word
of God.
The Bible unfolds
truth with a simplicity and an adaptation to the needs and longings of the
human heart that has astonished and charmed the most highly cultivated minds,
while to the humble and uncultured also it makes plain the way of life. "The
wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein," Isaiah 35:8. No child need
mistake the path. Not one trembling seeker need fail of walking in pure and
holy light. Yet the most simply stated truths lay hold upon themes elevated,
far-reaching, infinitely beyond the power of human comprehension,--mysteries
that are the hiding of His glory, mysteries that overpower the mind in its
research,--while they inspire the sincere seeker for truth with reverence and
faith. The more we search the Bible, the deeper is our conviction that it is
the word of the living God, and human reason bows before the majesty of divine
revelation.
God intends that to
the earnest seeker the truths of
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His word shall be
ever unfolding. While "the secret things belong unto the Lord our God," "those
things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children." Deuteronomy
29:29. The idea that certain portions of the Bible cannot be understood has led
to neglect of some of its most important truths. The fact needs to be
emphasized, and often repeated, that the mysteries of the Bible are not such
because God has sought to conceal truth, but because our own weakness or
ignorance makes us incapable of comprehending or appropriating truth. The
limitation is not in His purpose, but in our capacity. Of those very portions
of Scripture often passed by as impossible to be understood, God desires us to
understand as much as our minds are capable of receiving. "All Scripture is
given by inspiration of God," that we may be "throughly furnished unto all good
works," 2 Timothy 3:16, 17.
It is impossible
for any human mind to exhaust even one truth or promise of the Bible. One
catches the glory from one point of view, another from another point; yet we
can discern only gleamings. The full radiance is beyond our vision.
As we contemplate
the great things of God's word, we look into a fountain that broadens and
deepens beneath our gaze. Its breadth and depth pass our knowledge. As we gaze,
the vision widens; stretched out before us we behold a boundless, shoreless
sea. {Ed 171.2}
Such study has
vivifying power. The mind and heart acquire new strength, new life.
This experience is
the highest evidence of the divine authorship of the Bible. We receive God's
word as food for the soul, through the same evidence by which we receive bread
as food for the body. Bread supplies the
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need of our nature;
we know by experience that it produces blood and bone and brain. Apply the same
test to the Bible; when its principles have actually become the elements of
character, what has been the result? what changes have been made in the life?
"Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." 2 Corinthians
5:17. In its power, men and women have broken the chains of sinful habit. They
have renounced selfishness. The profane have become reverent, the drunken
sober, the profligate pure. Souls that have borne the likeness of Satan have
been transformed into the image of God. This change is itself the miracle of
miracles. A change wrought by the word, it is one of the deepest mysteries of
the word. We cannot understand it; we can only believe, as declared by the
Scriptures, it is "Christ in you, the hope of glory." Colossians 1:27.
A knowledge of this
mystery furnishes a key to every other. It opens to the soul the treasures of
the universe, the possibilities of infinite development.
And this
development is gained through the constant unfolding to us of the character of
God--the glory and the mystery of the written word. If it were possible for us
to attain to a full understanding of God and His word, there would be for us no
further discovery of truth, no greater knowledge, no further development. God
would cease to be supreme, and man would cease to advance. Thank God, it is not
so. Since God is infinite, and in Him are all the treasures of wisdom, we may
to all eternity be ever searching, ever learning, yet never exhaust the riches
of His wisdom, His goodness, or His power.