John Linton (1888 – 1965) John Linton is not normally listed among the elite of the evangelists in this century: Moody, Sunday, Bob Jones, Sr., Appelman, John Rice. But he was not some lesser light—God mightily moved through his ministry. He left a trail of converts to Christ as well as revived, restored, rejoicing churches.
His gospel soundness, his compelling delivery, his Scotch brogue and his devotion to our Lord made him widely acceptable. You cannot hear the inimitable Scotch brogue in his sermon, but you can enjoy its sweet and powerful message.
He died at age 77 in the pulpit while conducting evangelistic services.
The Bible – A Supernatural Book
The Marvelous Unity of The Bible
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God . . . – 2 Timothy 3:16.
The Bible is not so much one Book, but a library of books, sixty-six in number, written at different times, by some forty different persons—kings, poets, fishermen, herdsmen, most of them total strangers to each other. Written over a period of sixteen hundred years, yet in not one respect are their doctrinal and ethical teachings at variance. On the contrary, these sixty-six books fit into each other with perfect precision, making one symmetrical whole.
Question: Who can possibly account for this marvelous unity of the Bible apart from the inspiration of God?
Whence, but from Heav’n, could men unskill’d in arts,
In several ages born, in several parts,
Weave such agreeing truths? or how, or why
Should all conspire to cheat us with a lie?
Unask’d their pains, ungrateful their advice,
Starving their gain, and martyrdom their price.
—John Dryden
This unity becomes more apparent the more one studies the Bible.
I have heard that all the rope used by the British Navy has in its center a scarlet thread indicating government property. If so, it illustrates the fact that there are certain governing principles running all through the Bible narrative, shaping its events, molding its history, determining the destiny of its characters, and thus proving that one mind—God’s mind—controlled history as also He controlled the minds of those who recorded that history.
Look, for example, at what for want of a better term I call God’s Principle of Seconds. In the outworking of God’s redemptive purpose and to show the superiority of divine grace over human merit, He consistently sets aside the first and chooses the second.
The principle is plainly stated in 1 Corinthians 15:46: “That was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.” The first stands for the natural man whose efforts are stamped with failure. The second stands for the spiritual man who succeeds where the first man fails.
This remarkable principle governs the entire Bible narrative from Genesis to Revelation.
To illustrate: Not the first Adam brought salvation to the race; he failed. The second Adam succeeded.
Not the first son of Adam (Cain) was righteous, but became the first murderer; the second son (Abel) was called “righteous Abel” and became the first martyr.
The first bird sent out of the ark by Noah (the raven, a type of the flesh) failed to return; but the second bird (the dove, a type of the Spirit) returned with the olive leaf.
Not the first son of Abraham (Ishmael) became the heir; but the second son (Isaac) was chosen.
Isaac had twin sons, with Esau as the elder and Jacob the younger. Who was chosen?
“(. . . that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
“It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.” – Romans 9:11-12.
Not the first son of Joseph (Manasseh) was given the greater blessing by aged Jacob; but the second (Ephraim) was made the heir.
The first leader of Israel (Moses) failed to lead his people into Canaan; but Joshua, the second, succeeded.
Not the first covenant of the law brings salvation; but the second covenant of grace does. “He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.” – Hebrews 10:9.
Not the first king of Israel was the man after God’s own heart; Saul failed. David, the second king, was chosen.
Not the first birth of a man makes him a citizen of the kingdom of God, but the second birth does.
Not the first father gives spiritual life, for “that which is born of the flesh is flesh.” It is necessary that we be begotten by God the Heavenly Father.
Not this first body of ours will be the home of the soul in the everlasting future; but the second, new, immortal body will continue through the ages.
And not in the first heaven and earth will the redeemed serve our God and His Christ, for we read, “I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away.” – Revelation 21:1.
Here, then, is a remarkable principle governing the entire Bible story from Genesis right through to Revelation, and stamped like a divine hallmark upon the historical, poetic and prophetic writings.
It is a sheer impossibility for the writers of Scripture to have arranged these events or to have, by collusion, recorded them so as to reveal this elective principle of God’s seconds. Yet there they are, and more, which for brevity’s sake I have left unmentioned, all proving irresistibly that One Mind planned the unity of this wonderful Book.
If you do not believe the scarlet thread of God’s seconds proves the divine authorship of Scripture, how do you account for its presence from beginning to end of the Book?
To Be Continued
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the Holy Bible: King James Version. In Public Domain.
D.L. Moody often said, “Every Bible should be bound in shoe leather.” He did not say that because he had been a successful shoe salesman; rather, he said it because he was a dedicated Christian. Dynamic faith obeys God and proves itself in daily life and works. Sadly, we still have church members today who fit the description given in Titus, 
