If men seek the Exemplar who will give them a goal for their practice,
they find such an Exemplar in the Christ of the Bible. If they seek the
Inspirer who will give them a longing for the perfect practice, they will
find that Inspirer in the Christ of the Bible. If men seek the Saviour who
will help them on to the perfect practice, they will find that Helper in
the Christ of the Bible.
Indeed, it may be said to be characteristic of the Bible that it not only
offers the perfect program, but that it offers the perfect help. This was
true even of the Old Testament. Jehovah was the strength of life. His
power was as immediate as his presence. He was a present help in time of
trouble. He was a present Guide in time of perplexity. The Christian
revelation seems to bring that consciousness of divine help nearer to men,
and to make it more real. Hence the Christian faith goes over all the
world seeking to win men to God and his righteousness. Everywhere it
proclaims a redeeming God. An ideal without a Saviour may become a
despair--a tormenting impossibility, the lure of the final falsehood. The
Bible gives the ideal and then it adds, "It is God which worketh in you
both to will and to do of his good pleasure." The Bible warns against
temptation, and then it tells of One who was himself tempted in all points
like as we are, yet without sin, of One who is able to succor them that
are tempted. The religion of the dead code becomes the religion of the
living Person. The Ideal becomes Example, and both Ideal and Example are
found in a Saviour.
With all this in our purpose, as well as in our creed, we come to the
Bible in full harmony with its primary intent. We find now that for every
moral and spiritual emergency the Book has its message. If it were
necessary we could list these emergencies and show the word that the
Bible has for each of them. Here is an illustration that serves as well as
a thousand for making the main point. The Gideons have been placing the
Bibles in the hotels of America. Travelers seldom go to their rooms
without seeing upon the table a copy of the Book. The organization that
has done this good work often receives accounts, anonymous or otherwise,
of the help given by the Bibles that its work has supplied. Here is a
letter received from a young woman:
Perhaps a word will help you to realize that the little "Good Book" on
the table in a lonely hotel room helps some. Last night, after
fighting the fight that any young woman with any appearance fights, I
found myself in Chicago at this hotel. I had papers, magazines, books,
and other reading matter, but for a joke--yes, joke--I picked up the
Bible. It fell open at the seventieth psalm. Can you imagine the
impression it made on me? I read it again and again. Needless to say,
it helped and I feel better, happier, and not so much alone.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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