We have no reason to doubt God’s word because we can not 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 can not
fathom? The difficulty lies solely in the weakness and narrowness of the
human mind.
[Sidenote: _Mysteries Evidence of Divinity_]
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.
[Sidenote: _Simplicity and Adaptation_]
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.”[274] 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.
[Sidenote: _Limit to Comprehension_]
God intends that to the earnest seeker the truths of 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.”[275] The idea that certain portions of the Bible can not 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 “thoroughly furnished unto all
good works.”[276]
[Sidenote: _Inexhaustible Riches_]
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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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