06.07. Good Men Have Loved It

7. GOOD MEN HAVE LOVED IT

Great men have appreciated this book and good men have loved it. When Martin Luther turned from Pilate’s stairway, which he had been climbing on his knees to appease the wrath ofGod, and made his way back to the University of Wittenburg, it was not to study the origin of the species or the science of astronomy, but it was to study the chained Bible, convinced in his heart that, "The just shall live by faith." It was the reading of this book that fired the hearts of John and Charles Wesley and through its teachings God raised them up and thrust them out to spread scriptural holiness over the earth. From its pages the good man Bunyan found his inspiration for the immortal dream, "The Pilgrim’s Progress." Fired by its doctrines David Brainerd braved the hardships of the North American wilderness and entered the savage camps of the red men that he might carry to them its message of hope and cheer.

It is the book that old Bishop Asbury loved, read and carried in his saddle bags as he traveled the thousands of miles on horse back in the early days of our country. Good men have loved it in the past, and good men love it today. Old Dr. L. W. Munhall, when eighty-four years of age, held up the Bible before an audience of several thousand people and as the tears trickled down his old face said, "Thou precious word of God, I love thee with every drop of blood in my veins; I esteem thee more than my necessary food. Thou art sweeter to me than the drippings of the honeycomb. Thou art honey out of the rock, the finest of the wheat. Were there one drop of blood in my veins that did not love thee I would let it out before I rest this night."

Oh, I repeat it again, great men have appreciated this book and good men have loved it. You never saw a good man who did not love the Bible, and the man in olden times who gave a load of hay for a few pages of this book got the top price for his stock-food. No book is loved like the Bible.