WHAT SHALL WE DO WITH IT?

The deposit of truth.-Divinely given.-A compendium. -Entrusted to the Church.-The responsibility of the ministry.-What is the result ?-Where is the remedy?—The oracles will stand.

Paul writes to Timothy, 2 Timothy 1:14: "That good thing which was committed unto thee guard, through the Holy Spirit which dwelleth in

us."

The deposit of truth.-What was this sacred trust or deposit, this paratheke, which Timothy had received from Christ?

The reference, as shown in the context, is very clear. It is that body of Christian truth which was "once for all delivered unto the saints." It is the aggregate of truths or doctrines regarded as essential by all believers who are in vital connection with the universal or "holy catholic Church." Everybody knows what they are.

We stand for the objective reality of these truths. One of the most specious forms of current heresy is Ritschlianism, which affirms that truth expresses itself only in "value judgments." It reasons thus: "It is quite immaterial whether there be a God or not, so long as one believes that

way; since one's belief, as a value judgment, answers all the practical purposes of a God." A like attitude is assumed toward the divinity of Christ, the atonement, justification by faith and other doctrines. All truth is thus reduced to a mere matter of personal opinion; the foundations of authority are removed and practically nothing is left of the religion of Christ.

Divinely given.-The body of Christian truth, referred to in our text, was given by divine revelation. It is important to emphasize this fact, as against the view current in some quarters that it was evolved from the inner consciousness of men. We hear of a "Pauline theology" and of a "Petrine theology"; but there is no such thing. God himself is responsible for the truth and trustworthiness of what Paul and Peter wrote under his direction. Their Scripture, like all other Scripture, was "inspired of God."

He chose forty men, at intervals along a period of fifteen hundred years, whom he singularly "inspired"; and these men wrote as they were "moved by the Holy Spirit." To liken the inspiration of Isaiah with that of Milton or Shakespeare is simply to explain it away altogether. The least that can possibly be affirmed of those who wrote under such inspiration is that they were so guided and controlled as to be protected from all possibility of error; so that the product of their writing could properly be called "The Word of God."

A compendium.-The body of truth thus revealed was recorded in the book known as "The Holy Scriptures." This Book is as singular, in the world's literature, as the inspiration which produced it. Other books "contain" truth; this Book is true.

Not only so; it is a complete summary of all spiritual truth, so far forth as a knowledge of spiritual truth is necessary to our temporal and eternal well-being. Hence the reference of Paul to the content of Scripture as a "deposit" entrusted to him for safekeeping and for the uses of his life and ministry. "Abide thou," he says to Timothy, "in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; and that from a babe thou hast known the sacred writings, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness; that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work."

All spiritual truth, so far as needed for our guidance, is here summarized, It is all here in the Book. This fact is worthy of emphasis in view of what is being said about "progressive revelation."

Do we affirm, then, that there is no such thing as progress in the understanding of truth? By no means! But all progress in spiritual knowledge

is within the limitations of Scripture; as John Robinson said when he bade farewell to the Pilgrims as they were embarking at Delft Haven: "I pray you, remember that new light will be ever breaking forth from the Word of God!" As there is no new force in the material universe, but new applications of force continually, so there are no new principles in the spiritual province, but ever new interpretations and larger uses of truth. The sun, which is our source of light and energy, is not changed to meet the demands of a progressive world, though there are many "new things under the sun," The Bible, in like manner, though elosed long centuries ago, was divinely adjusted to the progress of all succeeding ages.

Entrusted to the Church.-The body of truth thus revealed and recorded was deposited with the Church. Wherefore the Church is characterized as "the pillar and ground of truth." The word "church, or ekklesia, means "called out." The Church is a body of men called out of the world for the specific purpose of safeguarding and utilizing this deposit of scriptural truth.

The original germ or nucleus of Scripture was the Moral Law, or Ten Commandments, together with the Civil and Ceremonial Law which complemented it. God's jealousy for the maintenance of his Word is shown by his command to the Levites: "Take this book of the law, and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of Jehovah

your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee." In course of time there was added by inspiration to this original nucleus a further set of revelations, and these together with the foregoing were known as "the oracles."

The Jews were set apart as a Church or "chosen people" for the express purpose of preserving these oracles and passing them on to the coming ages.

In the course of Paul's great argument on justification by faith, where he shows that Jewish rites and ceremonies had no power to save, an objection is interposed, "What advantage then hath the Jew?" to which he answers, "Much every way; first of all that they were entrusted with the oracles of God." This was the singular privilege and prerogative of the Jews; they were "chosen" to be librarians of the Word. And, alas, they proved false to it! They rejected their own oracles, and crucified "the Hope of Israel." Wherefore "their candlestick was removed out of its place"; and every wandering Jew in the world today is a living monument of the divine jealousy for the Scriptures as the source of revealed truth.

The Christian Church, as successor of the Jewish Church, has a like mission. To it are entrusted the oracles, for safe keeping, exposition and propagation to the uttermost parts of the earth. This mission finds its proper interpretation in "Missions." To save souls is a divine prerogative; but to disseminate truth, the truth of the oracles