God Preserves His Truth

The following is taken from "The Christian in Complete Armour" Daily Readings in Spiritual Warfare - By William Gurnall

William Gurnall (1616 - 1679) was Pastor of Church of Christ in Lavenham, in Suffolk, England. One of the sayings of his are "Cowards never won heaven. Do not claim that you are begotten of God and have His royal blood running in your veins unless you can prove your lineage by his heroic spirit; to dare to be holy in spite of men and devils."

June 4  -   God Preserves His Truth

God has never let truth get lost. In shipwrecks men do not try to save lumber and trivia of little worth but only what is most precious to them. In all the great revolutions of kingdoms and churches, God has preserved His truth. Thousands of saints' lives have been taken away, but the devil despises truth more than all the saints. And this is what still lives!

If truth were not so precious to God he would not allow it to be purchased with the blood of His people - or most important, with the blood of His Son. In that great day when the earth's elements will melt in fire, God's truth will not even be singed: "The word of the Lord endureth forever" (1 Peter 1:25).

God is severe to the enemies of the truth. A dreadful curse is pronounced upon anyone who adds to or takes away from truth. One pulls down all the plagues written in the Bible; and the other takes away his part out of the book of life and out of the holy city. It is no wonder that God values truth so highly when we consider what it is - truth is the substance of His thoughts and counsels from everlasting to everlasting. It is the fullest representation that God Himself could give of His own being so we might know and love Him.

Princes used to send their pictures by ambassadors to those they hoped to win and marry. God is such infinite perfection that no hand can draw Him to life but His own; and this is exactly what He has done in His Word- and because of this, saints of every century have joyfully given their hearts to Him.

As we accept or reject truth we accept or despise God. Although men cannot pull God from His throne and ungod Him, they come as close as possible when they attack the truth - they execute God in effigy. Yet God never stops wanting those of us who love Him to cleave to His truth.
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God has truly preserved His Word. There are more copies of the manuscripts of the Bible than any other book of ancient times.

Jesus Christ of Nazareth has around 40 non-biblical references whereas Tiberius, the Roman Emperor during Jesus Life has 10 - these are reliable historical references.

God's truth is the truth. God states that it will last forever. Gurnall states that it is the substance of His thoughts and counsels. He says it is the fullest representation that God Himself has given us, It is truly our Creator speaking to us.

I am reading material on George Mueller - A pastor in Bristol, England in the 1800. He was know for the orphanages he ran and that he never asked for money to feed and sustain those under his care, and God met his needs. Mueller stated that the main reason that he started the orphan ministry and sought only through faith and prayer to meet the needs of that ministry was so that it could be clearly seen that God is FAITHFUL STILL, and HEARS PRAYERS STILL.

One of the amazing things I read about him was that he had read the Bible through from Genesis to Revelation more than 200 times!!

Now that is someone who believes that the Bible is indeed the substance of God's thoughts and counsels. It is the very heart of God. How can we justify not reading it.

 Lord, we pray for a spirit of reverence for your Holy Word, help us, Heavenly Father, to desire you more, to learn of you more, to hunger for your Word, Help us LORD. Amen.

Information on George Mueller taken from Desiring God, John Piper, 2004 Bethlehem Conference for Pastors.