I. The Power of Gods Word to Convict Men of Sin.
In Hebrews 4:12 we have a Scripture which
draws attention to this peculiar characteristic of the Bible - "For the Word of
God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even
to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow,
and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." The
writings of men may sometimes stir the emotions, search the conscience, and
influence the human will, but in a manner and degree possessed by no other book
the Bible convicts men of their guilt and lost estate. The Word of God is the
Divine mirror, for in it man reads the secrets of his own guilty soul and sees
the vileness of his own evil nature. In a way absolutely peculiar to
themselves, the Scriptures discern the thoughts and intents of the heart and
reveal to men the fact that they are lost sinners and in the presence of a Holy
God.
Some thirty years ago there resided in one of the
Temples of Thibet a Buddhist priest who had conversed with no Christian
missionary, had heard nothing about the cross of Christ, and had never seen a
copy of the Word of God. One day while searching for something in the temple,
he came across a transcription of Matthew's Gospel, which years before had been
left there by a native who had received it from some traveling missionary. His
curiosity aroused, the Buddhist priest commenced to read it, but when he
reached the eighth verse in the fifth chapter he paused and pondered over it:
"Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." Although he knew
nothing about the righteousness of his Maker, although he was quite ignorant
concerning the demands of God's holiness, yet he was there and then convicted
of his sins, and a work of Divine grace commenced in his soul. Month after
month went by and each day he said to himself, "I shall never see God, for I am
impure in heart." Slowly but surely the work of the Holy Spirit deepened within
him until he saw himself as a lost sinner; vile, guilty, and undone.
After continuing for more than a year in this
miserable condition the priest one day heard that a "foreign devil" was
visiting a town nearby and selling books which spoke about God. The same night
the Buddhist priest fled from the temple and journeyed to the town where the
missionary was residing. On reaching his destination he sought out the
missionary and at once said to him, "Is it true that only those who are pure in
heart will see God?" "Yes," replied the missionary, "but the same Book which
tells you that, also tells you how you may obtain a pure heart," and
then he talked to him about our Lord's atoning work and how that "the blood of
Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." Quickly the light of God
flooded the soul of the Buddhist priest and he found the peace which "passeth
all understanding." Now what other book in the world outside of the Bible,
contains a sentence or even a chapter which, without the aid of any human
commentator, is capable of convincing and convicting a heathen that he is a
lost sinner? Does not the fact of the miraculous power of the Bible, which has
been illustrated by thousands of fully authenticated cases similar to the
above, declare that the Scriptures are the inspired Word of God, vested with
the same might as their Omnipotent Author?