“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal...”

These are the opening words of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.  November 19, 2013, will mark the 150^th anniversary of this famous speech.

U.S. President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address during the American Civil War, on the afternoon of Thursday, November 19, 1863, at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.  On this same site four and a half months earlier, the Union armies defeated those of the Confederacy at the Battle of Gettysburg.

Abraham Lincoln's carefully crafted address, secondary to other presentations that day and only a little over two minutes in duration, came to be regarded as one of the greatest speeches in American history.

But it hasn’t always been regarded as highly...

This week a Pennsylvania newspaper confessed that it should have recognized the greatness of President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address at the time it was delivered.  The Patriot-News of Harrisburg, about 35 miles northeast of Gettysburg, retracted a dismissive editorial penned by its Civil War-era predecessor, The Harrisburg Patriot & Union.  The retraction said the newspaper's November 1863 coverage was wrong when it described the speech as "silly remarks" that deserved a "veil of oblivion."  The paper now says it regrets the error of not seeing its "momentous importance, timeless eloquence and lasting significance." *

There is a “document” that should be recognized for its momentous importance, timeless eloquence, and ETERNAL significance.  That document is the BIBLE, God’s Word.  What makes the Bible so valuable is the content of its message:
The very words of God.  It is a priceless treasure!

Consider the words of an unknown author as he gave tribute to the Word of God:

This Book contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers.

Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions immutable.

READ it to be wise, BELIEVE it to be safe, and PRACTICE it to be holy!

The Word of God reveals the state of man: we are sinners, and unless our situation is remedied, we are doomed to destruction (Romans 3:23; 6:23; Mat 7:13-14)

The Word of God reveals the Way of salvation: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).  Jesus is the Way of salvation (John 14:6), for He paid the price for our sins by dying on the cross on our behalf (Eph 1:7; 1 Peter 1:18-19).

To access the Way of Salvation... the Word of God teaches us that we must place our faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from our sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and be baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of our sins (Acts 2:38).  Then, as we walk in the light as He is in the light, then the blood of Jesus continues to cleanse us from all sin (1 John1:7)

Never underestimate the value of God’s Word!  It is of ETERNAL significance!

Won’t YOU “read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, and practice it to be holy” by trusting and obeying Christ today?