How deeply important is all this, in this day of human tampering with the Word of God! How blessed to know that we have in our possession a book so divinely perfect that not a sentence, not a clause, not a word, can be added to it. We speak not, of course, of translations or versions, but of the Scriptures as originally given of God--His own perfect revelation. To this, not a touch can be given. As well might a human finger have dared to touch the creation of God, on the morning when all the sons of God sang together, as to add a jot or a tittle to the inspired Word of God. And on the other hand, to take away a jot or a tittle from it, is to say that the Holy Ghost has penned what was unnecessary. Thus the holy volume is divinely guarded at both ends. It is securely fenced round about, so that no rude hand should touch its sacred contents. What! it may be said in reply, do you mean to say that every sentence, from the opening lines of Genesis to the close of Revelation, is divinely inspired? Yes; that is precisely the ground we take. We claim for every line between the covers of the volume a divine origin. To question this is to attack the very pillars of the Christian faith. A single flaw in the canon would be sufficient to prove it not of God. To touch a single stone in the arch is to bring down the whole fabric in ruins around us. "All Scripture is divinely inspired, and" being so, must be "profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect [αρτοις], throughly furnished unto all good works." (2 Tim. iii.) This stronghold must on no account be surrendered; nay, it must be tenaciously held, in the face of every infidel assault. If it be given up, all is hopelessly lost--we have nothing to lean upon. Either the Word of God is perfect, or we are left without any divine foundation for our faith. If there be a word too much or a word too little in the revelation which God has given us, then verily we are left, like a ship without compass, rudder, or chart, to be drifted about on the wild, tumultuous ocean of infidel thought; in short, if we have not an absolutely perfect revelation, we are of all men most miserable. But we may still be challenged with such a question as this: Do you believe that the long string of names in the opening chapters of 1 Chronicles--those genealogical tables are divinely inspired? were they written for our learning? and if so, what are we to learn from them? We unhesitatingly declare our reverent belief in the divine inspiration of all these; and we have no doubt whatever but that their value, interest, and importance will be fully proved by and by in the history of that people to whom they specially apply.