The last written book in the Bible is the Gospel by John. It was written after the Revelation. It contains several of the discourses and prayers of Christ, which none of the other evangelists had given. Does the Messiah ever put an embargo upon the Word, or apprehend any evil consequences from its indiscriminate perusal? Never.
On the contrary, his command to one and all, is, "Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me." (John 5:39.) Has popery ever uttered such a sentence as this? Hear the Saviour interceding for his disciples! More anxious that they should be holy than exalted or rich, he asks of his Father in heaven—"Sanctify them through thy truth: thy Word is truth." (John 17:17.)
Did ever a priest of Rome offer up for his people such a petition? If he did, and did so from the heart, why is there such a tenderness in giving the Scriptures to the people—who often times, because they have it not, are perishing through lack of saving knowledge. (Hosea 4:6.)
In the primitive ages of Christianity, when copies of the Scriptures were costly, because the art of printing was as yet unknown, as Chrysostom informs us, "the women and children frequently carried the Gospels, or parts of the New Testament, hung round their neck."
This they did not as an amulet—as a sort of charm, as if a few verses or chapters of Scripture could repel the assaults of every enemy—but that they, having God's Word constantly with them, might, when they pleased, take counsel of Him who is of infinite wisdom and understanding.
Nay, so much was the Bible prized, that some Christians, like Marcus when a youth, could repeat the whole of the Old and New Testaments; and of others, it is stated, that being themselves unable to read, they still, by hearing it read by their fellow-believers, had all the Bible committed to memory.
Were these Bible Christians, as we might call them, found swelling the ranks of heretics, schismatics, and other adversaries of the gospel? No! Their lives were spent in the fear of God—in the discharge of the duties of their respective callings; and when even a martyr's fate or apostasy were their only alternatives, they nobly preferred a cross with Christ, than a crown with Satan and the world.
