Post by Admin on Jan 20, 2024 15:21:52 GMT -5
Bible-Reading
"Study the Scriptures" (John 5:39). "How do you read it?" (Luke 10:26).
Next to praying there is nothing so important in practical religion as
Bible-reading. God has mercifully given us a book which is "able to
make [us] wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus" (2
Timothy 3:15). By reading that book we may learn what to believe,
what to be, and what to do; how to live with comfort, and how to die
in peace. Happy is that man who possesses a Bible! Happier still is he
who reads it! Happiest of all is he who not only reads it, but obeys it,
and makes it the rule of his faith and practice!
Nevertheless it is a sorrowful fact that man has a sad ability to abuse
God’s gifts. His privileges, and power, and abilities, are all
ingeniously perverted to other ends than those for which they were
bestowed. His speech, his imagination, his intellect, his strength, his
time, his influence, his money—instead of being used as instruments
for glorifying his Maker—are generally wasted, or employed for his
own selfish ends. And just as man naturally makes a bad use of his
other mercies from God, so he does of the written Word. One
sweeping charge may be brought against the whole of Christendom,
and that charge is neglect and abuse of the Bible.
To prove this charge we have no need to look elsewhere: the proof
lies at our own doors. I have no doubt that there are more Bibles in
our country at this moment than there ever were since the world
began. There is more Bible buying—and Bible selling—more Bible
printing and Bible distributing—than ever was since we were a
nation. We see Bibles in every bookstore, Bibles of every size, price,
and style—large Bibles, and small Bibles—Bibles for the rich, and
Bibles for the poor. There are Bibles in almost every house in the
land. But all this time I fear we are in danger of forgetting, that to
"have" the Bible is one thing and to "read" it quite another.
This neglected Book is the subject about which I address the readers
of this paper today. Surely it is no small thing what you are doing
with the Bible. Surely, when the plague is spreading in other lands,
you should search and see whether the plague-spot is on you. Give
me your attention while I supply you with a few plain reasons why
every one who cares for his soul ought to value the Bible highly, to
study it regularly, and to make himself thoroughly acquainted with
its contents.
I. In the first place, "there is no book in existence written in
such a manner as the Bible."
The Bible is "God-breathed" (2 Timothy 3:16). In this respect it is
utterly unlike all other writings. God taught the writers of it what to
say. God put into their minds thoughts and ideas. God guided their
pens in writing down those thoughts and ideas. When you read it,
you are not reading the self-taught compositions of poor imperfect
men like yourself, but the words of the eternal God. When you hear
it, you are not listening to the erring opinions of short-lived mortals,
but to the unchanging mind of the King of kings. The men who were
employed to write the Bible did not speak themselves. They "spoke
from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter
1:21). All other books in the world, however good and useful in their
way, are more or less defective. The more you look at them the more
you see their defects and blemishes. The Bible alone is absolutely
perfect. From beginning to end it is "the Word of God."
I will not waste time by attempting any long and labored proof of
this. I say boldly, that the Book itself is the best witness of its own
inspiration. It is the greatest standing miracle in the world. He that
dares to say the Bible is not inspired must give an explanation why
he believes this, if he can. Let him explain the peculiar nature and
character of the Book in a way that will satisfy any man of common
sense. The burden of proof seems to my mind to lie on him.
It proves nothing against inspiration, as some have asserted, that the
writers of the Bible have each different style. Isaiah does not write
like Jeremiah, and Paul does not write like John. This is perfectly
true, and yet the works of these men are not a bit less equally
inspired. The waters of the sea have many different shades. In one
place they look blue, and in another green. And yet the difference is
due to the depth or shallowness of the part we see, or to the nature of
the bottom. The water in every case is the same salt sea. The breath
of a man may produce different sounds according to the character of
the instrument on which he plays. The flute, the bagpipe, and the
trumpet, have each their peculiar note. And yet the breath that calls
forth the notes is in each case one and the same. The light of the
planets we see in heaven is extremely various. Mars, and Saturn, and
Jupiter, each have a individual color. And yet we know that the light
of the sun, which each planet reflects, is in each case one and the
same. Just in the same way the books of the Old and New
Testaments are all inspired truth, and yet the aspect of that truth
varies according to the mind through which the Holy Spirit makes it
flow. The handwriting and style of the writers differ enough to prove
that each had a distinct individual being; but the Divine Guide who
dictates and directs the whole is always one. All are inspired. Every
chapter, and verse, and word, is from God.
Oh, that men who are troubled with doubts, and thoughts about
inspiration, would calmly examine the Bible for themselves! Oh, that
they would take the advice which was the first step to Augustine’s
conversion, "Pick it up and read it! Pick it up and read it!" How many
difficulties and objections would vanish away at once like mist before
the rising sun! How many would soon confess, "The finger of God is
here! God is in this Book, and I did not know it."
This is the Book about which I address the readers of this paper.
Surely it is no light matter "what you are doing with this Book." It is
no light thing that God should have caused this Book to be "written
to teach us," and that you should have before you "the very words of
God" (Romans 3:2; 15:4). I charge you, I summon you to give an
honest answer to my questions. What are you doing with the Bible?
Do you read it at all? How do you read it?
II. In the second place, "there is no knowledge absolutely
needful to a man’s salvation, except a knowledge of the
things which are to be found in the Bible."
We live in days when the words of Daniel are fulfilled before our
eyes: "Many will go here and there to increase knowledge" (Daniel
12:4). Schools are multiplying every where you look. New colleges are
set up. Old Universities are reformed and improved. New books are
continually coming out. More is being taught—more is being learned
—more is being read than there ever was since the world began. It is
all good. I rejoice at it. An ignorant population is a perilous and
expensive burden to any nation. It is a ready prey to the first who
may arise to entice it to do evil. But this I say—we must never forget
that all education a man’s head can receive will not save his soul
from hell, unless he knows the truths of the Bible.
A man "may have immense learning and yet never be saved." He may
be master of half the languages spoken around the globe. He may be
acquainted with the highest and deepest things in heaven and earth.
He may have read books till he is like a walking encyclopedia. He
may be familiar with the stars of heaven—the birds of the air—the
beasts of the earth, and the fishes of the sea. He may be able, like
Solomon, to "describe plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the
hyssop that grows out of walls, and also teach about animals and
birds, reptiles and fish" (1 Kings 4:33). He may be able to lecture on
all the secrets of fire, air, earth, and water. And yet, if he dies
ignorant of Bible truths, he dies a destitute man! Chemistry never
silenced a guilty conscience. Mathematics never healed a broken
heart. All the sciences in the world never soothed a dying man. No
earthly philosophy ever supplied hope in death. No natural theology
ever gave peace in the prospect of meeting a holy God. All these
things are of the earth and can never raise a man above the earth’s
level. They may enable a man to strut and fret his little time here on
earth with a more dignified manner of walking than his fellowmortals,
but they can never give him wings, and enable him to soar
towards heaven. He that has the largest share of them, will find in
time that without Bible knowledge he has no lasting possession.
Death will make an end of all his attainments, and after death they
will do him no good at all.
A man "may be a very ignorant man, and yet be saved." He may be
unable to read a word, or write a letter. He may know nothing of
geography beyond the bounds of his own city or county, and be
utterly unable to say which is nearest to England, Paris or New York.
He may know nothing of arithmetic, and not see any difference
between a million and a thousand. He may know nothing of history,
not even of his own land, and be quite ignorant whether his country
is headed up by a Tribal Chief or by Queen Elizabeth. He may know
nothing of science and its discoveries—and whether Julius Caesar
won his victories with gunpowder, or the apostles had a printing
press, or the sun orbits around the earth—may be matters about
which he has not an idea. And yet, if that very man has heard Bible
truth with his ears and believed it with his heart, he knows enough to
save his soul. He will be found in the end with Lazarus in heaven,
while his scientific fellow-creature, who has died unconverted, is lost
forever.
There is much talk in these days about science and "useful
knowledge." But a knowledge of the Bible is the one knowledge that
is needful and eternally useful. A man may get to heaven without
money, learning, health, or friends, but without Bible knowledge he
will never get there at all. A man may have the mightiest of minds,
and a memory stored with all that strong mind can grasp—and yet, if
he does not know the things of the Bible, his soul is damned forever.
Woe! woe! woe to the man who dies in ignorance of the Bible!
This is the Book about which I am addressing the readers of these
pages today. It is no light matter "what you do with such a book." It
concerns the life of your soul. I summon you, I charge you to give an
honest answer to my question.
What are you doing with the Bible?
Do you read it?
How do you read it?
III. In the third place, "no book in existence contains such
important matter as the Bible."
Time would fail me if I were to enter fully into all the great things
which are to be found in the Bible, and only in the Bible. It is not by
any sketch or outline that the treasures of the Bible can be displayed.
It would be easy to fill a volume with a list of the exceptional truths it
reveals, and yet the half of its riches would be left untold.
How glorious and soul-satisfying is the description it gives us of
God’s plan of salvation, and the way by which our sins can be
forgiven! The coming into the world of Jesus Christ, the God-man, to
save sinners—the redemption He has accomplished for man by His
suffering, in our place, the just for the unjust—the complete payment
He has made for our sins by His own blood—the justification of every
sinner who simply believes on Jesus—the readiness of Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit, to receive, pardon, and save to the uttermost—how
unspeakably grand and comforting are all these truths! We would
know nothing of them without the Bible.
How comforting is the account it gives us of the great Mediator of the
New Testament—the man Christ Jesus! Four times over His picture
is graciously drawn before our eyes. Four separate witnesses tell us of
His miracles and His ministry—His sayings and His actions—His life
and His death—His power and His love—His kindness and His
patience—His ways, His words, His works, His thoughts, His heart.
Blessed be God, there is one thing in the Bible which the most
prejudiced reader can hardly fail to understand, and that is the
character of Jesus Christ!
How encouraging are the examples the Bible gives us of good people!
It tells us of many who were of like passions with ourselves—men
and women who had cares, crosses, families, temptations, afflictions,
diseases, like ourselves—and yet "through faith and patience
inherited what has been promised," and got safely home (Hebrews
6:12). It keeps back nothing in the history of these people. Their
mistakes, their weaknesses, their conflicts, their experience, their
prayers, their praises, their useful lives, their happy deaths—all are
fully recorded. And it tells us the God and Savior of these men and
women is still the same today as yesterday, and still waits to be
gracious.
How instructive are the examples the Bible gives us of bad people! It
tells us of men and women who had light and knowledge and
opportunities like ourselves, and yet hardened their hearts, loved the
world, clung to their sins, would have their own way, despised
reproof, and ruined their own souls forever. And it warns us that the
God who punished Pharaoh, and Saul, and Ahab, and Jezebel, and
Judas, is a God who never changes, and that there is a real hell.
How precious are the promises which the Bible contains for the use
of those who love God! There is hardly any possible emergency or
condition for which it does not have a word of hope and
encouragement. And it tells men that God loves to be put in
remembrance of these promises, and that if He has said He will do
something, His promise will certainly be fulfilled.
How blessed are the hopes which the Bible holds out to the believer
in Christ Jesus! Peace in the hour of death—rest and happiness on
the other side of the grave—a glorious body in the morning of the
resurrection—a full and triumphant acquittal in the day of judgment
—an everlasting reward in the kingdom of Christ—a joyful meeting
with the Lord’s people in the day of gathering together—these, these
are the future prospects of every true Christian. They are all written
in the book—in the book which is all true.
How striking is the light which the Bible throws on the character of
man! It teaches us what men may be expected to be and do in every
position and occupation of life. It gives us the deepest insight into the
secret springs and motives of human actions, and the ordinary
course of events under the control of human agents. It is the true
"judge of the thoughts and attitudes of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12).
How deep is the wisdom contained in the books of Proverbs and
Ecclesiastics! I can correctly understand an old Christian saying,
"Give me a candle and a Bible and shut me up in a dark dungeon,
and I will tell you everything that the whole world is doing."
All these are things which men could find nowhere except in the
Bible. We probably do not have the least idea how little we would
know about these things if we did not have the Bible. We hardly
know the value of the air we breathe, and the sun which shines on us,
because we have never known what it is to be without them. We do
not value the truths on which I have been just now dwelling, because
we do not realize the darkness of men to whom these truths have not
been revealed. Surely no tongue can fully tell the value of the
treasures this one volume contains. Well might old John Newton say
that some books were copper books in his estimation, some were
silver, and a few were gold but the Bible alone was like a book all
made up of bank-notes.
This is the Book about which I address the reader of this paper this
day. Surely it is no light matter what you are doing with the Bible. It
is no light matter in what way you are using this treasure. I charge
you, I summon you to give an honest answer to my question—What
are you doing with the
Bible? Do you read it? How do you read it?
IV. In the fourth place, "no book in existence has produced
such wonderful effects on mankind at large as the Bible."
(a) This is the Book whose doctrines turned the world
upside down in the days of the Apostles.
Many centuries have now passed away since God sent forth a few
Jews from a remote corner of the earth to do a work which according
to man’s judgment, must have seemed impossible. He sent them out
at a time when the whole world was full of superstition, cruelty, lust,
and sin. He sent them out to proclaim that the established religions
of the earth were false and useless, and must be forsaken. He sent
them out to persuade men to give up old habits and customs, and to
live different lives. He sent them out to do battle with the most
perverted idolatry, with the vilest and most disgusting immorality,
with a bigoted priesthood, with sneering philosophers, with an
ignorant population, with bloody-minded emperors, with the whole
influence of Rome. Never was there an enterprise for all appearances
more unrealistic and less likely to succeed!
And how did He arm them for this battle? He gave them no worldly
weapons. He gave them no worldly power to compel agreement, and
no worldly riches to bribe belief. He simply put the Holy Spirit into
their hearts, and the Scriptures into their hands. He simply
commanded them to expound and explain, to require compliance
and to publish the doctrines of the Bible. The preacher of Christianity
in the first century was not a man with a sword and an army to
frighten people, or a man with a license to be sensual, to allure
people, like the priests of the shameful idols of the Hindus. No, he
was nothing more than one holy man with one holy book.
And how did these men of one book prosper? In a few generations
they entirely changed the face of society by the doctrines of the Bible.
They emptied the temples of the heathen gods. They starved out
idolatry and left it high and dry like a stranded ship. They brought
into the world a higher condition of morality between man and man.
They raised the character and position of woman. They altered the
standard of purity and decency. They put an end to man’s cruel and
bloody customs, such as the gladiatorial fights—there was no
stopping the change. Persecution and opposition were useless. One
victory after another was won. One bad thing after another melted
away. Whether men liked it or not, they were slowly affected by the
movement of the new religion and drawn within the whirlpool of its power.
The earth shook, and their rotten shelters fell to the ground. The
flood rose, and they found themselves obliged to rise with it. The tree
of Christianity swelled and grew, and the chains they had thrown
around it to arrest its growth, snapped like string. And all this was
done by the doctrines of the Bible! Talk about great victories! What
are the victories of Alexander, and Caesar, and Napoleon, compared
with those I have just mentioned? For magnitude, for completeness,
for results, for permanence, there are no victories like the victories of
the Bible.
(b) This is the Book which turned Europe upside down in
the days of the glorious Protestant Reformation.
No man can read the history of Christendom as it was five hundred
years ago, and not see that darkness covered the whole professing
Church of Christ, even a darkness that could be felt. So great was the
change which had come over Christianity, that if an apostle had risen
from the dead he would not have recognized it, and would have
thought that heathenism had revived again. The doctrines of the
Gospel lay buried under a dense mass of human traditions.
Penances, and pilgrimages, and indulgences, relic-worship, and
image-worship, and saint-worship, and worship of the Virgin Mary,
formed the sum and substance of most people’s religion. The Church
was made an idol. The priests and ministers of the Church usurped
the place of Christ. And by what means was all this miserable
darkness cleared away? By simply bringing forth once more the
Bible.
It was not merely the preaching of Luther and his friends, which
established Protestantism in Germany. The great weapon which
overthrew the Roman Catholic Church’s power in that country, was
Luther’s translation of the Bible into the German tongue. It was not
merely the writings of English Reformers which threw down Roman
Catholicism in England. The seeds of the work carried forward were
first sown by Wycliffe’s translation of the Bible many years before. It
was not merely the quarrel of Henry VIII and the Pope of Rome,
which loosened the Pope’s hold on English minds. It was the royal
permission to have the Bible translated and set up in churches, so
that every one who wanted might read it. Yes! it was the reading, and
circulation of the Scripture which mainly established the cause of
Protestantism in England, in Germany, and Switzerland. Without it
the people would probably have returned to their former bondage
when the first reformers died. But by the reading of the Bible the
public mind became gradually leavened with the principles of true
religion. Men’s eyes became thoroughly open. Their spiritual
understandings became thoroughly enlarged. The abominations of
Roman Catholicism became distinctly visible. The excellence of the
pure Gospel became a rooted idea in their hearts. It was then in vain
for Popes to thunder forth excommunications. It was useless for
Kings and Queens to attempt to stop the course of Protestantism by
fire and sword. It was all too late. The people knew too much. They
had seen the light. They had heard the joyful sound. They had tasted
the truth. The sun had risen on their minds. The scales had fallen
from their eyes. The Bible had done its appointed work within them,
and that work was not to be overthrown. The people would not
return to Egypt. The clock could not be pushed back again. A mental
and moral revolution had been effected, and mainly effected by God’s
Word. Those are the true revolutions which the Bible effects. What
are all the revolutions which France and England have gone through,
compared to these? No revolutions are so bloodless, none so
satisfactory, none so rich in lasting results, as the revolutions
accomplished by the Bible!
This is the book upon which the well-being of nations has always
hinged, and with which the best interests of everyone in Christendom
at this moment are inseparably tied. By the same proportion that the
Bible is honored or not, light or darkness, morality or immorality,
true religion or superstition, liberty or tyranny, good laws or bad, will
be found in a nation. Come with me and open the pages of history,
and you will read the proofs in times past.
Read it in the history of Israel under the Kings. How great was the
wickedness that then prevailed! But who can wonder? The law of the
Lord had been completely lost sight of, and was found in the days of
Josiah thrown aside in a corner of the temple. (2 Kings 22:8). Read it
in the history of the Jews in our Lord Jesus Christ’s time. How awful
the picture of Scribes and Pharisees, and their religion! But who can
wonder? The Scripture was "nullified for the sake of man’s tradition"
(Matthew 15:6). Read it in the history of the Church of Christ in the
middle ages. What can be worse than the accounts we have of its
ignorance and superstition? But who can wonder? The times were
very dark, when men did not have the light of the Bible.
This is the Book to which the civilized world is indebted for many of
its best and most praiseworthy institutions. Few probably are aware
how many good things that men have adopted for the public benefit,
of which the origin may be clearly traced to the Bible. It has left
lasting marks wherever it has been received. From the Bible are
drawn many of the best laws by which society is kept in order. From
the Bible has been obtained the standard of morality about truth,
honesty, and the relations of man and wife, which prevails among
Christian nations, and which—however feebly respected in many
cases—makes so great a difference between Christians and heathen.
To the Bible we are indebted for that most merciful provision for the
poor working man, the Lord’s Day of rest—Sunday. To the influence
of the Bible we owe nearly every humane and charitable institution
in existence. The sick, the poor, the aged, the orphan, the insane, the
retarded, the blind, were seldom or never thought of before the Bible
influenced the world. You may search in vain for any record of
institutions for their aid in the histories of Athens or of Rome. Yes!
there are many who sneer at the Bible, and say the world would get
on well enough without it, who don’t think how great are their own
obligations to the Bible. Little does the unbeliever think, as he lies
sick in some of our great hospitals, that he owes all his present
comforts to the very book he despises. Had it not been for the Bible,
he might have died in misery, uncared for, unnoticed and alone.
Truly the world we live in is unconscious of its debts. The day of
judgment, I believe, will reveal the full amount of benefit conferred
upon mankind by the Bible.
This wonderful book is the subject about which I address the reader
of this paper this day. Surely it is no light matter what you are doing
with the Bible. The swords of conquering Generals—the ship in
which Nelson led the fleets of England to victory—the hydraulic press
which raised the tubular bridge at the Menai; each and every of these
are objects of interest as instruments of great power. The Book I
speak of this day is an instrument a thousand-fold mightier still.
Surely it is no light matter whether you are paying it the attention it
deserves. I charge you, I summon you to give me an honest answer
this day—What are you doing with the Bible? Do you read it? How do
you read it?
V. In the fifth place, "no book in existence can do so much
for every one who reads it with an open heart, as the Bible."
The Bible does not profess to teach the wisdom of this world. It was
not written to explain geology or astronomy. It will neither instruct
you in mathematics, nor in natural philosophy. It will not make you a
doctor, or a lawyer, or an engineer.
But there is another world to be thought of besides that world in
which man now lives. There are other ends for which man was
created, besides making money and working. There are other
interests which he is meant to attend to, besides those of his body,
and those interests are the interests of his soul. It is the interests of
the immortal soul which the Bible is especially able to promote. If
you want to know law, you may study Blackstone or Sugden. If you
would know astronomy or geology, you may study Herschel and
Lyell. But if you would know how to have your soul saved, you must
study the written Word of God.
The Bible is "able to make you wise for salvation through faith in
Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 3:15). It can show you the way which leads
to heaven. It can teach you everything you need to know, point out
everything you need to believe, and explain everything you need to
do. It can show you what you are—a sinner. It can show you what
God is—perfectly holy. It can show you the great giver of pardon,
peace, and grace—Jesus Christ. I have read of an Englishman who
visited Scotland in the days of Blair, Rutherford, and Dickson, three
famous preachers, and heard all three in succession. He said that the
first showed him the majesty of God—the second showed him the
beauty of Christ—and the third showed him everything in his heart.
It is the glory and beauty of the Bible that it is always teaching these
three things more or less, from the first chapter of it to the last.
The Bible applied to the heart by the Holy Spirit, "is the grand
instrument by which souls are first converted to God." That mighty
change is generally begun by some text or doctrine of the Word,
brought home to a man’s conscience. In this way the Bible has
worked moral miracles by the thousands. It has made drunkards
become sober—immoral people become pure—thieves become
honest and violent-tempered people become meek. It has wholly
altered the course of men’s lives. It has caused their old things to
pass away, and made all their ways new. It has taught worldly people
to seek first the kingdom of God. It has taught lovers of pleasure to
become lovers of God. It has taught the stream of men’s affections to
run upwards instead of running downwards. It has made men think
of heaven, instead of always thinking of earth, and live by faith,
instead of living by sight. It has done all this in every part of the
world. It is still all being accomplished. What are the Roman Catholic
miracles which weak men believe, compared to all this, even if they
were true? Those are the truly great miracles which are constantly
being worked by the Word.
The Bible applied to the heart by the Holy Spirit, is "the chief means
by which men are built up and strengthened in the faith," after their
conversion. It is able to make them pure, to sanctify them, to train
them in righteousness, and to thoroughly equip them for every good
work. (Psalm 119:9; John 17:17; 2 Timothy 3:16-17). The Spirit
ordinarily does these things by the written Word; sometimes by the
Word read, and sometimes by the Word preached, but seldom, if
ever, without the Word. The Bible can show a believer how to walk in
this world so as to please God. It can teach him how to glorify Christ
in all the relationships of life, and can make him a good leader,
employee, subordinate, husband, father, or son. It can enable him to
bear misfortunes and loss without murmuring, and say, "It is well." It
can enable him to look down into the grave, and say, "I will fear no
evil" (Psalm 23:4). It can enable him to think about judgment and
eternity, and not feel afraid. It can enable him to bear persecution
without flinching and to give up liberty and life rather than deny
Christ’s truth.
Is he weary in soul? It can awaken him.
Is he mourning? It can comfort him.
Is he erring? It can restore him.
Is he weak? It can make him strong.
Is he in the company of the unbeliever? It can keep him from evil.
Is he alone? It can talk with him. (Psalm 6:22).
All this the Bible can do for all believers—for the least as well as the
greatest—for the richest as well as the poorest. It has done it for
thousands already, and is doing it for thousands every day.
The man who has the Bible, and the Holy Spirit in his heart, has
everything which is absolutely necessary to make him spiritually
wise. He needs no priest to break the bread of life for him. He needs
no ancient traditions, no writings of the Fathers, no voice of the
Church, to guide him into all truth. He has the well of truth open
before him, and what more can he want? Yes! though he be shut up
alone in a prison, or cast on a desert island—though he never sees a
church, or minister again—if he only has the Bible, he has got the
infallible guide, and needs no other. If he only has the will to read
that Bible properly, it will certainly teach him the road that leads to
heaven. It is here alone that infallibility resides. It is not in the
Church. It is not in the Councils. It is not in ministers. It is only in
the written Word.
(a) I know well that many say they have found no saving power in the Bible.
They tell us they have tried to read it, and have learned nothing from
it. They can see in it nothing but burdensome and abstract things.
They ask us what we mean by talking of its power.
I answer, that the Bible no doubt contains some difficult things, or
else it would not be the book of God. It contains things hard to
comprehend, but only hard because we do not have the
understanding of mind to comprehend them. It contains things
above our reasoning powers, but nothing that might not be explained
if the eyes of our understanding were not feeble and dim. But is not
an acknowledgment of our own ignorance the very cornerstone and
foundation of all knowledge? Must not many things be taken for
granted in the beginning of every science, before we can proceed one
step towards acquaintance with it? Do we not require our children to
learn many things of which they cannot see the meaning at first? And
ought we not then to expect to find "deep things" when we begin
studying the Word of God, and yet to believe that if we persevere in
reading it the meaning of many of them will one day be made clear?
No doubt we ought so to expect, and so to believe. We must read with
humility. We must take much on trust. We must believe that what we
don’t know now, we will know later, some part in this world, and all
in the world to come.
But I ask that man who has given up reading the Bible because it
contains hard things, whether he did not find many things in it easy
and plain? I put it to his conscience whether he did not see great
landmarks and principles in it all the way through? I ask him
whether the things needful to salvation did not stand out boldly
before his eyes, like lighthouses. What should we think of the captain
of a steamer who came, at night, into the entrance of the Channel,
and claimed that he did not know every parish, and village, and
creek, along the British coast? Should we not think him a lazy
coward, when the lights on the Lizard, and Eddystone, and the Start,
and Portland, and St. Catherine’s, and Beachy Head, and Dungeness,
and the Forelands, were shining forth like so many lamps, to guide
him up to the river? Should we not say, Why did you not steer by the
great leading lights? And what should we to say to the man who gives
up reading the Bible because it contains hard things, when his own
state, and the path to heaven, and the way to serve God, are all
written down clearly and unmistakably, as with a sunbeam? Surely
we ought to tell that man that his objections are no better than lazy
excuses, and do not deserve to be heard.
(b) I know well that many raise the objection, that
thousands read the Bible and are not a bit the better for their reading.
And they ask us, when this is the case, what becomes of the Bible’s boasted power?
I answer, that the reason why so many read the Bible without any
benefit is plain and simple—they do not read it in the right way.
There is generally a right way and a wrong way of doing everything in
the world; and just as it is with other things, so it is in the matter of
reading the Bible. The Bible is not so entirely different from all other
books as to make it of no importance in what spirit and manner you
read it. It does not do any good, as a matter of course, by merely
running our eyes over the print, any more than Baptism and the
Lord’s Supper do any good by the mere virtue of our receiving them.
It does not ordinarily do any good, unless it is read with humility and
earnest prayer. The best engine that was ever built is useless if a man
does not know how to operate it. The best sundial that was ever
constructed will not tell its owner the time of day if he is so ignorant
as to put it in the shade. Just as it is with that engine, and that
sundial, so it is with the Bible. When men read it without benefit,
"the fault is not in the Book, but in themselves."
I tell the man who doubts the power of the Bible, because many read
it, and are no better for the reading, that the abuse of a thing is no
argument against the use of it. I tell him boldly, that never did man
or woman read that book in a childlike persevering spirit—like the
Ethiopian eunuch, and the Bereans (Acts 8:28; 17:11), and miss the
way to heaven. Yes, many will be exposed to shame in the day of
judgment; but there will not rise up one soul who will be able to say,
that he went thirsting to the Bible, and found in it no living water—
he searched for truth in the Scriptures, and searching did not find it.
The words which are spoken of Wisdom in the Proverbs are strictly
true of the Bible: "If you call out for insight and cry aloud for
understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as
for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God" (Proverbs 2:3-5).
This wonderful Book is the subject about which I address the readers
of this paper this day. Surely it is no light matter "what you are doing
with the Bible." What should you think of the man who in time of
cholera despised a sure prescription for preserving the health of his
body? What must be thought of you if you despise the only sure
prescription for the everlasting health of your soul? I charge you, I
entreat you, to give an honest answer to my question. What do you
do with the Bible? Do you read it? How do you read it?
VI. In the sixth place, "the Bible is the only standard by
which all questions of doctrine or of duty can be tested."
The Lord God knows the weakness and infirmities of our poor fallen
understandings. He knows that, even after conversion, our
perceptions of right and wrong are extremely vague. He knows how
artfully Satan can overlay error with an appearance of truth, and can
dress up wrong with plausible arguments, till it looks like right.
Knowing all this, He has mercifully provided us with an unerring
standard of truth and error, right and wrong, and has taken care to
make that standard a written book—the Scripture.
No one can look around the world, and not see the wisdom of such a
provision. No one can live long, and not find out that he is constantly
in need of a counselor and adviser—of a rule of faith and practice, on
which he can depend. Unless he lives like a beast, without a soul and
conscience, he will find himself constantly assailed by difficult and
puzzling questions. He will be often asking himself, What must I
believe? and what must I do?
(a) The world is full of difficulties about points of doctrine.
The house of error lies close alongside the house of truth.
The door of one is so like the door of the other that there is
continual risk of mistakes.
Does a man read or travel much? He will soon find the most opposite
opinions prevailing among those who are called Christians. He will
discover that different persons give the most different answers to the
important question, What must I do to be saved? The Roman
Catholic, the Protestant, and the Mormon each will assert that he
alone has the truth. Each will tell him that safety is only to be found
in his party. Each says, "Come with us." All this is puzzling. What will a man do?
Does he settle down quietly in some church here at home? He will
soon find that even in our own land the most conflicting views are
held. He will soon discover that there are serious differences among
Christians as to the comparative importance of the various parts and
articles of the faith. One man thinks of nothing but Church
government—another of nothing but sacraments, services, and forms
—a third of nothing but preaching the Gospel. Does he apply to
ministers for a solution? He will perhaps find one minister teaching
one doctrine, and another another. All this is puzzling. What will a
man do?
There is only one answer to this question. A man must make the
Bible alone his rule. He must receive nothing and believe nothing
which is not according to the Word. He must try all religious
teaching by one simple test—Does it square with the Bible? What
does the Scripture say?
I pray to God that the eyes of the Christians of this country were
more open on this subject. I pray to God that they would learn to
weigh sermons, books, opinions, and ministers, in the scales of the
Bible, and to value all according to their conformity to the Word. I
pray to God that they would see that it matters little who says a thing.
The question is—Is the thing said Scriptural? If it is, it ought to be
received and believed. If it is not, it ought to be refused and cast
aside. I fear the consequences of that submissive acceptance of
everything which "the preacher" says, which is so common among
many Christians. I fear lest they be led where they know not where,
like the blinded Syrians, and awake some day to find themselves in
the power of Rome. (2 Kings 6:20). Oh, that men would only
remember for what purpose the Bible was given to them!
I tell Christians that it is nonsense to say, as some do, that it is
arrogant to judge a minister’s teaching by the Word. When one
doctrine is proclaimed in one church, and another in another, people
must read and judge for themselves. Both doctrines cannot be right,
and both ought to be tried by the Word. I charge them, above all
things, never to suppose that any true minister of the Gospel will
dislike his people measuring all he teaches by the Bible. On the
contrary, the more they read the Bible, and prove all he says by the
Bible, the better he will be pleased. A false minister may say, "You
have no right to use your private judgment: leave the Bible to us who
are ordained." A true minister will say "Search the Scriptures, and if I
do not teach you what is Scriptural, do not believe me." A false
minister may cry, "Listen to the Church," and "Listen to me." A true
minister will say, "Listen to the Word of God."
(b) But the world is not only full of difficulties about
points of doctrine, it is equally full of difficulties about
points of "practice."
Every processing Christian, who wishes to act conscientiously, must
know that it is so. The most puzzling questions are continually
arising. He is tried on every side by doubts as to the line of duty, and
can often hardly see what is the right thing to do.
He is tried by questions connected with the management of his
"worldly calling," if he is in business or in trade. He sometimes sees
things going on that are of a very doubtful character—things that can
hardly be called fair, straightforward, truthful, and things that you
would not want done to you. But then everybody in business does
these things. They have always been done in the most respectable
houses. There would be no carrying on of a profitable business if they
were not done. They are not things distinctly named and prohibited
by God. All this is very puzzling. What is a man to do?
He is tried by questions about worldly amusements. Horse Races,
and balls, and operas, and theaters, and card parties, are all very
doubtful methods of spending time. But then he sees numbers of
great people taking part in them. Are all these people wrong? Can
there really be such mighty harm in these things? All this is very
puzzling. What is a man to do?
He is tried by questions about the education of his children. He
wishes to train them up morally and religiously, and to remember
their souls. But he is told by many sensible people, that young
persons will be young—that it is not right to check and restrain them
too much, and that he ought to attend shows, and children’s parties,
and give children’s balls himself. He is informed that this noble
person, or that lady of rank, always does so, and yet they are
considered religious people. Surely it cannot be wrong. All this is
very puzzling. What is he to do?
There is only one answer to all these questions. A man must make
the Bible his rule of conduct. He must make its leading principles the
compass by which he steers his course through life. By the letter or
spirit of the Bible he must test every difficult point and question. "To
the law and to the testimony! What does the Scripture say?" He
ought to care nothing for what other people may think right. He
ought not to set his watch by the clock of his neighbor, but by the
watch of the Word.
I charge my readers solemnly to act on the maxim I have just laid
down, and to adhere to it rigidly all the days of their lives. You will
never repent of it. Make it a leading principle never to act contrary to
the Word. Do not care for the charge of being overly strict, and a
person of needless precision. Remember you serve a strict and holy
God. Do not listen to the common objection that the rule you have
laid down is impossible, and cannot be observed in such a world as
this. Let those who make such an objection speak out plainly, and tell
us for what purpose the Bible was given to man. Let them remember
that by the Bible we will all be judged at the last day, and let them
learn to judge themselves by it here, lest they be judged and
condemned by it on Judgment Day.
"Study the Scriptures" (John 5:39). "How do you read it?" (Luke 10:26).
Next to praying there is nothing so important in practical religion as
Bible-reading. God has mercifully given us a book which is "able to
make [us] wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus" (2
Timothy 3:15). By reading that book we may learn what to believe,
what to be, and what to do; how to live with comfort, and how to die
in peace. Happy is that man who possesses a Bible! Happier still is he
who reads it! Happiest of all is he who not only reads it, but obeys it,
and makes it the rule of his faith and practice!
Nevertheless it is a sorrowful fact that man has a sad ability to abuse
God’s gifts. His privileges, and power, and abilities, are all
ingeniously perverted to other ends than those for which they were
bestowed. His speech, his imagination, his intellect, his strength, his
time, his influence, his money—instead of being used as instruments
for glorifying his Maker—are generally wasted, or employed for his
own selfish ends. And just as man naturally makes a bad use of his
other mercies from God, so he does of the written Word. One
sweeping charge may be brought against the whole of Christendom,
and that charge is neglect and abuse of the Bible.
To prove this charge we have no need to look elsewhere: the proof
lies at our own doors. I have no doubt that there are more Bibles in
our country at this moment than there ever were since the world
began. There is more Bible buying—and Bible selling—more Bible
printing and Bible distributing—than ever was since we were a
nation. We see Bibles in every bookstore, Bibles of every size, price,
and style—large Bibles, and small Bibles—Bibles for the rich, and
Bibles for the poor. There are Bibles in almost every house in the
land. But all this time I fear we are in danger of forgetting, that to
"have" the Bible is one thing and to "read" it quite another.
This neglected Book is the subject about which I address the readers
of this paper today. Surely it is no small thing what you are doing
with the Bible. Surely, when the plague is spreading in other lands,
you should search and see whether the plague-spot is on you. Give
me your attention while I supply you with a few plain reasons why
every one who cares for his soul ought to value the Bible highly, to
study it regularly, and to make himself thoroughly acquainted with
its contents.
I. In the first place, "there is no book in existence written in
such a manner as the Bible."
The Bible is "God-breathed" (2 Timothy 3:16). In this respect it is
utterly unlike all other writings. God taught the writers of it what to
say. God put into their minds thoughts and ideas. God guided their
pens in writing down those thoughts and ideas. When you read it,
you are not reading the self-taught compositions of poor imperfect
men like yourself, but the words of the eternal God. When you hear
it, you are not listening to the erring opinions of short-lived mortals,
but to the unchanging mind of the King of kings. The men who were
employed to write the Bible did not speak themselves. They "spoke
from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter
1:21). All other books in the world, however good and useful in their
way, are more or less defective. The more you look at them the more
you see their defects and blemishes. The Bible alone is absolutely
perfect. From beginning to end it is "the Word of God."
I will not waste time by attempting any long and labored proof of
this. I say boldly, that the Book itself is the best witness of its own
inspiration. It is the greatest standing miracle in the world. He that
dares to say the Bible is not inspired must give an explanation why
he believes this, if he can. Let him explain the peculiar nature and
character of the Book in a way that will satisfy any man of common
sense. The burden of proof seems to my mind to lie on him.
It proves nothing against inspiration, as some have asserted, that the
writers of the Bible have each different style. Isaiah does not write
like Jeremiah, and Paul does not write like John. This is perfectly
true, and yet the works of these men are not a bit less equally
inspired. The waters of the sea have many different shades. In one
place they look blue, and in another green. And yet the difference is
due to the depth or shallowness of the part we see, or to the nature of
the bottom. The water in every case is the same salt sea. The breath
of a man may produce different sounds according to the character of
the instrument on which he plays. The flute, the bagpipe, and the
trumpet, have each their peculiar note. And yet the breath that calls
forth the notes is in each case one and the same. The light of the
planets we see in heaven is extremely various. Mars, and Saturn, and
Jupiter, each have a individual color. And yet we know that the light
of the sun, which each planet reflects, is in each case one and the
same. Just in the same way the books of the Old and New
Testaments are all inspired truth, and yet the aspect of that truth
varies according to the mind through which the Holy Spirit makes it
flow. The handwriting and style of the writers differ enough to prove
that each had a distinct individual being; but the Divine Guide who
dictates and directs the whole is always one. All are inspired. Every
chapter, and verse, and word, is from God.
Oh, that men who are troubled with doubts, and thoughts about
inspiration, would calmly examine the Bible for themselves! Oh, that
they would take the advice which was the first step to Augustine’s
conversion, "Pick it up and read it! Pick it up and read it!" How many
difficulties and objections would vanish away at once like mist before
the rising sun! How many would soon confess, "The finger of God is
here! God is in this Book, and I did not know it."
This is the Book about which I address the readers of this paper.
Surely it is no light matter "what you are doing with this Book." It is
no light thing that God should have caused this Book to be "written
to teach us," and that you should have before you "the very words of
God" (Romans 3:2; 15:4). I charge you, I summon you to give an
honest answer to my questions. What are you doing with the Bible?
Do you read it at all? How do you read it?
II. In the second place, "there is no knowledge absolutely
needful to a man’s salvation, except a knowledge of the
things which are to be found in the Bible."
We live in days when the words of Daniel are fulfilled before our
eyes: "Many will go here and there to increase knowledge" (Daniel
12:4). Schools are multiplying every where you look. New colleges are
set up. Old Universities are reformed and improved. New books are
continually coming out. More is being taught—more is being learned
—more is being read than there ever was since the world began. It is
all good. I rejoice at it. An ignorant population is a perilous and
expensive burden to any nation. It is a ready prey to the first who
may arise to entice it to do evil. But this I say—we must never forget
that all education a man’s head can receive will not save his soul
from hell, unless he knows the truths of the Bible.
A man "may have immense learning and yet never be saved." He may
be master of half the languages spoken around the globe. He may be
acquainted with the highest and deepest things in heaven and earth.
He may have read books till he is like a walking encyclopedia. He
may be familiar with the stars of heaven—the birds of the air—the
beasts of the earth, and the fishes of the sea. He may be able, like
Solomon, to "describe plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the
hyssop that grows out of walls, and also teach about animals and
birds, reptiles and fish" (1 Kings 4:33). He may be able to lecture on
all the secrets of fire, air, earth, and water. And yet, if he dies
ignorant of Bible truths, he dies a destitute man! Chemistry never
silenced a guilty conscience. Mathematics never healed a broken
heart. All the sciences in the world never soothed a dying man. No
earthly philosophy ever supplied hope in death. No natural theology
ever gave peace in the prospect of meeting a holy God. All these
things are of the earth and can never raise a man above the earth’s
level. They may enable a man to strut and fret his little time here on
earth with a more dignified manner of walking than his fellowmortals,
but they can never give him wings, and enable him to soar
towards heaven. He that has the largest share of them, will find in
time that without Bible knowledge he has no lasting possession.
Death will make an end of all his attainments, and after death they
will do him no good at all.
A man "may be a very ignorant man, and yet be saved." He may be
unable to read a word, or write a letter. He may know nothing of
geography beyond the bounds of his own city or county, and be
utterly unable to say which is nearest to England, Paris or New York.
He may know nothing of arithmetic, and not see any difference
between a million and a thousand. He may know nothing of history,
not even of his own land, and be quite ignorant whether his country
is headed up by a Tribal Chief or by Queen Elizabeth. He may know
nothing of science and its discoveries—and whether Julius Caesar
won his victories with gunpowder, or the apostles had a printing
press, or the sun orbits around the earth—may be matters about
which he has not an idea. And yet, if that very man has heard Bible
truth with his ears and believed it with his heart, he knows enough to
save his soul. He will be found in the end with Lazarus in heaven,
while his scientific fellow-creature, who has died unconverted, is lost
forever.
There is much talk in these days about science and "useful
knowledge." But a knowledge of the Bible is the one knowledge that
is needful and eternally useful. A man may get to heaven without
money, learning, health, or friends, but without Bible knowledge he
will never get there at all. A man may have the mightiest of minds,
and a memory stored with all that strong mind can grasp—and yet, if
he does not know the things of the Bible, his soul is damned forever.
Woe! woe! woe to the man who dies in ignorance of the Bible!
This is the Book about which I am addressing the readers of these
pages today. It is no light matter "what you do with such a book." It
concerns the life of your soul. I summon you, I charge you to give an
honest answer to my question.
What are you doing with the Bible?
Do you read it?
How do you read it?
III. In the third place, "no book in existence contains such
important matter as the Bible."
Time would fail me if I were to enter fully into all the great things
which are to be found in the Bible, and only in the Bible. It is not by
any sketch or outline that the treasures of the Bible can be displayed.
It would be easy to fill a volume with a list of the exceptional truths it
reveals, and yet the half of its riches would be left untold.
How glorious and soul-satisfying is the description it gives us of
God’s plan of salvation, and the way by which our sins can be
forgiven! The coming into the world of Jesus Christ, the God-man, to
save sinners—the redemption He has accomplished for man by His
suffering, in our place, the just for the unjust—the complete payment
He has made for our sins by His own blood—the justification of every
sinner who simply believes on Jesus—the readiness of Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit, to receive, pardon, and save to the uttermost—how
unspeakably grand and comforting are all these truths! We would
know nothing of them without the Bible.
How comforting is the account it gives us of the great Mediator of the
New Testament—the man Christ Jesus! Four times over His picture
is graciously drawn before our eyes. Four separate witnesses tell us of
His miracles and His ministry—His sayings and His actions—His life
and His death—His power and His love—His kindness and His
patience—His ways, His words, His works, His thoughts, His heart.
Blessed be God, there is one thing in the Bible which the most
prejudiced reader can hardly fail to understand, and that is the
character of Jesus Christ!
How encouraging are the examples the Bible gives us of good people!
It tells us of many who were of like passions with ourselves—men
and women who had cares, crosses, families, temptations, afflictions,
diseases, like ourselves—and yet "through faith and patience
inherited what has been promised," and got safely home (Hebrews
6:12). It keeps back nothing in the history of these people. Their
mistakes, their weaknesses, their conflicts, their experience, their
prayers, their praises, their useful lives, their happy deaths—all are
fully recorded. And it tells us the God and Savior of these men and
women is still the same today as yesterday, and still waits to be
gracious.
How instructive are the examples the Bible gives us of bad people! It
tells us of men and women who had light and knowledge and
opportunities like ourselves, and yet hardened their hearts, loved the
world, clung to their sins, would have their own way, despised
reproof, and ruined their own souls forever. And it warns us that the
God who punished Pharaoh, and Saul, and Ahab, and Jezebel, and
Judas, is a God who never changes, and that there is a real hell.
How precious are the promises which the Bible contains for the use
of those who love God! There is hardly any possible emergency or
condition for which it does not have a word of hope and
encouragement. And it tells men that God loves to be put in
remembrance of these promises, and that if He has said He will do
something, His promise will certainly be fulfilled.
How blessed are the hopes which the Bible holds out to the believer
in Christ Jesus! Peace in the hour of death—rest and happiness on
the other side of the grave—a glorious body in the morning of the
resurrection—a full and triumphant acquittal in the day of judgment
—an everlasting reward in the kingdom of Christ—a joyful meeting
with the Lord’s people in the day of gathering together—these, these
are the future prospects of every true Christian. They are all written
in the book—in the book which is all true.
How striking is the light which the Bible throws on the character of
man! It teaches us what men may be expected to be and do in every
position and occupation of life. It gives us the deepest insight into the
secret springs and motives of human actions, and the ordinary
course of events under the control of human agents. It is the true
"judge of the thoughts and attitudes of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12).
How deep is the wisdom contained in the books of Proverbs and
Ecclesiastics! I can correctly understand an old Christian saying,
"Give me a candle and a Bible and shut me up in a dark dungeon,
and I will tell you everything that the whole world is doing."
All these are things which men could find nowhere except in the
Bible. We probably do not have the least idea how little we would
know about these things if we did not have the Bible. We hardly
know the value of the air we breathe, and the sun which shines on us,
because we have never known what it is to be without them. We do
not value the truths on which I have been just now dwelling, because
we do not realize the darkness of men to whom these truths have not
been revealed. Surely no tongue can fully tell the value of the
treasures this one volume contains. Well might old John Newton say
that some books were copper books in his estimation, some were
silver, and a few were gold but the Bible alone was like a book all
made up of bank-notes.
This is the Book about which I address the reader of this paper this
day. Surely it is no light matter what you are doing with the Bible. It
is no light matter in what way you are using this treasure. I charge
you, I summon you to give an honest answer to my question—What
are you doing with the
Bible? Do you read it? How do you read it?
IV. In the fourth place, "no book in existence has produced
such wonderful effects on mankind at large as the Bible."
(a) This is the Book whose doctrines turned the world
upside down in the days of the Apostles.
Many centuries have now passed away since God sent forth a few
Jews from a remote corner of the earth to do a work which according
to man’s judgment, must have seemed impossible. He sent them out
at a time when the whole world was full of superstition, cruelty, lust,
and sin. He sent them out to proclaim that the established religions
of the earth were false and useless, and must be forsaken. He sent
them out to persuade men to give up old habits and customs, and to
live different lives. He sent them out to do battle with the most
perverted idolatry, with the vilest and most disgusting immorality,
with a bigoted priesthood, with sneering philosophers, with an
ignorant population, with bloody-minded emperors, with the whole
influence of Rome. Never was there an enterprise for all appearances
more unrealistic and less likely to succeed!
And how did He arm them for this battle? He gave them no worldly
weapons. He gave them no worldly power to compel agreement, and
no worldly riches to bribe belief. He simply put the Holy Spirit into
their hearts, and the Scriptures into their hands. He simply
commanded them to expound and explain, to require compliance
and to publish the doctrines of the Bible. The preacher of Christianity
in the first century was not a man with a sword and an army to
frighten people, or a man with a license to be sensual, to allure
people, like the priests of the shameful idols of the Hindus. No, he
was nothing more than one holy man with one holy book.
And how did these men of one book prosper? In a few generations
they entirely changed the face of society by the doctrines of the Bible.
They emptied the temples of the heathen gods. They starved out
idolatry and left it high and dry like a stranded ship. They brought
into the world a higher condition of morality between man and man.
They raised the character and position of woman. They altered the
standard of purity and decency. They put an end to man’s cruel and
bloody customs, such as the gladiatorial fights—there was no
stopping the change. Persecution and opposition were useless. One
victory after another was won. One bad thing after another melted
away. Whether men liked it or not, they were slowly affected by the
movement of the new religion and drawn within the whirlpool of its power.
The earth shook, and their rotten shelters fell to the ground. The
flood rose, and they found themselves obliged to rise with it. The tree
of Christianity swelled and grew, and the chains they had thrown
around it to arrest its growth, snapped like string. And all this was
done by the doctrines of the Bible! Talk about great victories! What
are the victories of Alexander, and Caesar, and Napoleon, compared
with those I have just mentioned? For magnitude, for completeness,
for results, for permanence, there are no victories like the victories of
the Bible.
(b) This is the Book which turned Europe upside down in
the days of the glorious Protestant Reformation.
No man can read the history of Christendom as it was five hundred
years ago, and not see that darkness covered the whole professing
Church of Christ, even a darkness that could be felt. So great was the
change which had come over Christianity, that if an apostle had risen
from the dead he would not have recognized it, and would have
thought that heathenism had revived again. The doctrines of the
Gospel lay buried under a dense mass of human traditions.
Penances, and pilgrimages, and indulgences, relic-worship, and
image-worship, and saint-worship, and worship of the Virgin Mary,
formed the sum and substance of most people’s religion. The Church
was made an idol. The priests and ministers of the Church usurped
the place of Christ. And by what means was all this miserable
darkness cleared away? By simply bringing forth once more the
Bible.
It was not merely the preaching of Luther and his friends, which
established Protestantism in Germany. The great weapon which
overthrew the Roman Catholic Church’s power in that country, was
Luther’s translation of the Bible into the German tongue. It was not
merely the writings of English Reformers which threw down Roman
Catholicism in England. The seeds of the work carried forward were
first sown by Wycliffe’s translation of the Bible many years before. It
was not merely the quarrel of Henry VIII and the Pope of Rome,
which loosened the Pope’s hold on English minds. It was the royal
permission to have the Bible translated and set up in churches, so
that every one who wanted might read it. Yes! it was the reading, and
circulation of the Scripture which mainly established the cause of
Protestantism in England, in Germany, and Switzerland. Without it
the people would probably have returned to their former bondage
when the first reformers died. But by the reading of the Bible the
public mind became gradually leavened with the principles of true
religion. Men’s eyes became thoroughly open. Their spiritual
understandings became thoroughly enlarged. The abominations of
Roman Catholicism became distinctly visible. The excellence of the
pure Gospel became a rooted idea in their hearts. It was then in vain
for Popes to thunder forth excommunications. It was useless for
Kings and Queens to attempt to stop the course of Protestantism by
fire and sword. It was all too late. The people knew too much. They
had seen the light. They had heard the joyful sound. They had tasted
the truth. The sun had risen on their minds. The scales had fallen
from their eyes. The Bible had done its appointed work within them,
and that work was not to be overthrown. The people would not
return to Egypt. The clock could not be pushed back again. A mental
and moral revolution had been effected, and mainly effected by God’s
Word. Those are the true revolutions which the Bible effects. What
are all the revolutions which France and England have gone through,
compared to these? No revolutions are so bloodless, none so
satisfactory, none so rich in lasting results, as the revolutions
accomplished by the Bible!
This is the book upon which the well-being of nations has always
hinged, and with which the best interests of everyone in Christendom
at this moment are inseparably tied. By the same proportion that the
Bible is honored or not, light or darkness, morality or immorality,
true religion or superstition, liberty or tyranny, good laws or bad, will
be found in a nation. Come with me and open the pages of history,
and you will read the proofs in times past.
Read it in the history of Israel under the Kings. How great was the
wickedness that then prevailed! But who can wonder? The law of the
Lord had been completely lost sight of, and was found in the days of
Josiah thrown aside in a corner of the temple. (2 Kings 22:8). Read it
in the history of the Jews in our Lord Jesus Christ’s time. How awful
the picture of Scribes and Pharisees, and their religion! But who can
wonder? The Scripture was "nullified for the sake of man’s tradition"
(Matthew 15:6). Read it in the history of the Church of Christ in the
middle ages. What can be worse than the accounts we have of its
ignorance and superstition? But who can wonder? The times were
very dark, when men did not have the light of the Bible.
This is the Book to which the civilized world is indebted for many of
its best and most praiseworthy institutions. Few probably are aware
how many good things that men have adopted for the public benefit,
of which the origin may be clearly traced to the Bible. It has left
lasting marks wherever it has been received. From the Bible are
drawn many of the best laws by which society is kept in order. From
the Bible has been obtained the standard of morality about truth,
honesty, and the relations of man and wife, which prevails among
Christian nations, and which—however feebly respected in many
cases—makes so great a difference between Christians and heathen.
To the Bible we are indebted for that most merciful provision for the
poor working man, the Lord’s Day of rest—Sunday. To the influence
of the Bible we owe nearly every humane and charitable institution
in existence. The sick, the poor, the aged, the orphan, the insane, the
retarded, the blind, were seldom or never thought of before the Bible
influenced the world. You may search in vain for any record of
institutions for their aid in the histories of Athens or of Rome. Yes!
there are many who sneer at the Bible, and say the world would get
on well enough without it, who don’t think how great are their own
obligations to the Bible. Little does the unbeliever think, as he lies
sick in some of our great hospitals, that he owes all his present
comforts to the very book he despises. Had it not been for the Bible,
he might have died in misery, uncared for, unnoticed and alone.
Truly the world we live in is unconscious of its debts. The day of
judgment, I believe, will reveal the full amount of benefit conferred
upon mankind by the Bible.
This wonderful book is the subject about which I address the reader
of this paper this day. Surely it is no light matter what you are doing
with the Bible. The swords of conquering Generals—the ship in
which Nelson led the fleets of England to victory—the hydraulic press
which raised the tubular bridge at the Menai; each and every of these
are objects of interest as instruments of great power. The Book I
speak of this day is an instrument a thousand-fold mightier still.
Surely it is no light matter whether you are paying it the attention it
deserves. I charge you, I summon you to give me an honest answer
this day—What are you doing with the Bible? Do you read it? How do
you read it?
V. In the fifth place, "no book in existence can do so much
for every one who reads it with an open heart, as the Bible."
The Bible does not profess to teach the wisdom of this world. It was
not written to explain geology or astronomy. It will neither instruct
you in mathematics, nor in natural philosophy. It will not make you a
doctor, or a lawyer, or an engineer.
But there is another world to be thought of besides that world in
which man now lives. There are other ends for which man was
created, besides making money and working. There are other
interests which he is meant to attend to, besides those of his body,
and those interests are the interests of his soul. It is the interests of
the immortal soul which the Bible is especially able to promote. If
you want to know law, you may study Blackstone or Sugden. If you
would know astronomy or geology, you may study Herschel and
Lyell. But if you would know how to have your soul saved, you must
study the written Word of God.
The Bible is "able to make you wise for salvation through faith in
Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 3:15). It can show you the way which leads
to heaven. It can teach you everything you need to know, point out
everything you need to believe, and explain everything you need to
do. It can show you what you are—a sinner. It can show you what
God is—perfectly holy. It can show you the great giver of pardon,
peace, and grace—Jesus Christ. I have read of an Englishman who
visited Scotland in the days of Blair, Rutherford, and Dickson, three
famous preachers, and heard all three in succession. He said that the
first showed him the majesty of God—the second showed him the
beauty of Christ—and the third showed him everything in his heart.
It is the glory and beauty of the Bible that it is always teaching these
three things more or less, from the first chapter of it to the last.
The Bible applied to the heart by the Holy Spirit, "is the grand
instrument by which souls are first converted to God." That mighty
change is generally begun by some text or doctrine of the Word,
brought home to a man’s conscience. In this way the Bible has
worked moral miracles by the thousands. It has made drunkards
become sober—immoral people become pure—thieves become
honest and violent-tempered people become meek. It has wholly
altered the course of men’s lives. It has caused their old things to
pass away, and made all their ways new. It has taught worldly people
to seek first the kingdom of God. It has taught lovers of pleasure to
become lovers of God. It has taught the stream of men’s affections to
run upwards instead of running downwards. It has made men think
of heaven, instead of always thinking of earth, and live by faith,
instead of living by sight. It has done all this in every part of the
world. It is still all being accomplished. What are the Roman Catholic
miracles which weak men believe, compared to all this, even if they
were true? Those are the truly great miracles which are constantly
being worked by the Word.
The Bible applied to the heart by the Holy Spirit, is "the chief means
by which men are built up and strengthened in the faith," after their
conversion. It is able to make them pure, to sanctify them, to train
them in righteousness, and to thoroughly equip them for every good
work. (Psalm 119:9; John 17:17; 2 Timothy 3:16-17). The Spirit
ordinarily does these things by the written Word; sometimes by the
Word read, and sometimes by the Word preached, but seldom, if
ever, without the Word. The Bible can show a believer how to walk in
this world so as to please God. It can teach him how to glorify Christ
in all the relationships of life, and can make him a good leader,
employee, subordinate, husband, father, or son. It can enable him to
bear misfortunes and loss without murmuring, and say, "It is well." It
can enable him to look down into the grave, and say, "I will fear no
evil" (Psalm 23:4). It can enable him to think about judgment and
eternity, and not feel afraid. It can enable him to bear persecution
without flinching and to give up liberty and life rather than deny
Christ’s truth.
Is he weary in soul? It can awaken him.
Is he mourning? It can comfort him.
Is he erring? It can restore him.
Is he weak? It can make him strong.
Is he in the company of the unbeliever? It can keep him from evil.
Is he alone? It can talk with him. (Psalm 6:22).
All this the Bible can do for all believers—for the least as well as the
greatest—for the richest as well as the poorest. It has done it for
thousands already, and is doing it for thousands every day.
The man who has the Bible, and the Holy Spirit in his heart, has
everything which is absolutely necessary to make him spiritually
wise. He needs no priest to break the bread of life for him. He needs
no ancient traditions, no writings of the Fathers, no voice of the
Church, to guide him into all truth. He has the well of truth open
before him, and what more can he want? Yes! though he be shut up
alone in a prison, or cast on a desert island—though he never sees a
church, or minister again—if he only has the Bible, he has got the
infallible guide, and needs no other. If he only has the will to read
that Bible properly, it will certainly teach him the road that leads to
heaven. It is here alone that infallibility resides. It is not in the
Church. It is not in the Councils. It is not in ministers. It is only in
the written Word.
(a) I know well that many say they have found no saving power in the Bible.
They tell us they have tried to read it, and have learned nothing from
it. They can see in it nothing but burdensome and abstract things.
They ask us what we mean by talking of its power.
I answer, that the Bible no doubt contains some difficult things, or
else it would not be the book of God. It contains things hard to
comprehend, but only hard because we do not have the
understanding of mind to comprehend them. It contains things
above our reasoning powers, but nothing that might not be explained
if the eyes of our understanding were not feeble and dim. But is not
an acknowledgment of our own ignorance the very cornerstone and
foundation of all knowledge? Must not many things be taken for
granted in the beginning of every science, before we can proceed one
step towards acquaintance with it? Do we not require our children to
learn many things of which they cannot see the meaning at first? And
ought we not then to expect to find "deep things" when we begin
studying the Word of God, and yet to believe that if we persevere in
reading it the meaning of many of them will one day be made clear?
No doubt we ought so to expect, and so to believe. We must read with
humility. We must take much on trust. We must believe that what we
don’t know now, we will know later, some part in this world, and all
in the world to come.
But I ask that man who has given up reading the Bible because it
contains hard things, whether he did not find many things in it easy
and plain? I put it to his conscience whether he did not see great
landmarks and principles in it all the way through? I ask him
whether the things needful to salvation did not stand out boldly
before his eyes, like lighthouses. What should we think of the captain
of a steamer who came, at night, into the entrance of the Channel,
and claimed that he did not know every parish, and village, and
creek, along the British coast? Should we not think him a lazy
coward, when the lights on the Lizard, and Eddystone, and the Start,
and Portland, and St. Catherine’s, and Beachy Head, and Dungeness,
and the Forelands, were shining forth like so many lamps, to guide
him up to the river? Should we not say, Why did you not steer by the
great leading lights? And what should we to say to the man who gives
up reading the Bible because it contains hard things, when his own
state, and the path to heaven, and the way to serve God, are all
written down clearly and unmistakably, as with a sunbeam? Surely
we ought to tell that man that his objections are no better than lazy
excuses, and do not deserve to be heard.
(b) I know well that many raise the objection, that
thousands read the Bible and are not a bit the better for their reading.
And they ask us, when this is the case, what becomes of the Bible’s boasted power?
I answer, that the reason why so many read the Bible without any
benefit is plain and simple—they do not read it in the right way.
There is generally a right way and a wrong way of doing everything in
the world; and just as it is with other things, so it is in the matter of
reading the Bible. The Bible is not so entirely different from all other
books as to make it of no importance in what spirit and manner you
read it. It does not do any good, as a matter of course, by merely
running our eyes over the print, any more than Baptism and the
Lord’s Supper do any good by the mere virtue of our receiving them.
It does not ordinarily do any good, unless it is read with humility and
earnest prayer. The best engine that was ever built is useless if a man
does not know how to operate it. The best sundial that was ever
constructed will not tell its owner the time of day if he is so ignorant
as to put it in the shade. Just as it is with that engine, and that
sundial, so it is with the Bible. When men read it without benefit,
"the fault is not in the Book, but in themselves."
I tell the man who doubts the power of the Bible, because many read
it, and are no better for the reading, that the abuse of a thing is no
argument against the use of it. I tell him boldly, that never did man
or woman read that book in a childlike persevering spirit—like the
Ethiopian eunuch, and the Bereans (Acts 8:28; 17:11), and miss the
way to heaven. Yes, many will be exposed to shame in the day of
judgment; but there will not rise up one soul who will be able to say,
that he went thirsting to the Bible, and found in it no living water—
he searched for truth in the Scriptures, and searching did not find it.
The words which are spoken of Wisdom in the Proverbs are strictly
true of the Bible: "If you call out for insight and cry aloud for
understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as
for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God" (Proverbs 2:3-5).
This wonderful Book is the subject about which I address the readers
of this paper this day. Surely it is no light matter "what you are doing
with the Bible." What should you think of the man who in time of
cholera despised a sure prescription for preserving the health of his
body? What must be thought of you if you despise the only sure
prescription for the everlasting health of your soul? I charge you, I
entreat you, to give an honest answer to my question. What do you
do with the Bible? Do you read it? How do you read it?
VI. In the sixth place, "the Bible is the only standard by
which all questions of doctrine or of duty can be tested."
The Lord God knows the weakness and infirmities of our poor fallen
understandings. He knows that, even after conversion, our
perceptions of right and wrong are extremely vague. He knows how
artfully Satan can overlay error with an appearance of truth, and can
dress up wrong with plausible arguments, till it looks like right.
Knowing all this, He has mercifully provided us with an unerring
standard of truth and error, right and wrong, and has taken care to
make that standard a written book—the Scripture.
No one can look around the world, and not see the wisdom of such a
provision. No one can live long, and not find out that he is constantly
in need of a counselor and adviser—of a rule of faith and practice, on
which he can depend. Unless he lives like a beast, without a soul and
conscience, he will find himself constantly assailed by difficult and
puzzling questions. He will be often asking himself, What must I
believe? and what must I do?
(a) The world is full of difficulties about points of doctrine.
The house of error lies close alongside the house of truth.
The door of one is so like the door of the other that there is
continual risk of mistakes.
Does a man read or travel much? He will soon find the most opposite
opinions prevailing among those who are called Christians. He will
discover that different persons give the most different answers to the
important question, What must I do to be saved? The Roman
Catholic, the Protestant, and the Mormon each will assert that he
alone has the truth. Each will tell him that safety is only to be found
in his party. Each says, "Come with us." All this is puzzling. What will a man do?
Does he settle down quietly in some church here at home? He will
soon find that even in our own land the most conflicting views are
held. He will soon discover that there are serious differences among
Christians as to the comparative importance of the various parts and
articles of the faith. One man thinks of nothing but Church
government—another of nothing but sacraments, services, and forms
—a third of nothing but preaching the Gospel. Does he apply to
ministers for a solution? He will perhaps find one minister teaching
one doctrine, and another another. All this is puzzling. What will a
man do?
There is only one answer to this question. A man must make the
Bible alone his rule. He must receive nothing and believe nothing
which is not according to the Word. He must try all religious
teaching by one simple test—Does it square with the Bible? What
does the Scripture say?
I pray to God that the eyes of the Christians of this country were
more open on this subject. I pray to God that they would learn to
weigh sermons, books, opinions, and ministers, in the scales of the
Bible, and to value all according to their conformity to the Word. I
pray to God that they would see that it matters little who says a thing.
The question is—Is the thing said Scriptural? If it is, it ought to be
received and believed. If it is not, it ought to be refused and cast
aside. I fear the consequences of that submissive acceptance of
everything which "the preacher" says, which is so common among
many Christians. I fear lest they be led where they know not where,
like the blinded Syrians, and awake some day to find themselves in
the power of Rome. (2 Kings 6:20). Oh, that men would only
remember for what purpose the Bible was given to them!
I tell Christians that it is nonsense to say, as some do, that it is
arrogant to judge a minister’s teaching by the Word. When one
doctrine is proclaimed in one church, and another in another, people
must read and judge for themselves. Both doctrines cannot be right,
and both ought to be tried by the Word. I charge them, above all
things, never to suppose that any true minister of the Gospel will
dislike his people measuring all he teaches by the Bible. On the
contrary, the more they read the Bible, and prove all he says by the
Bible, the better he will be pleased. A false minister may say, "You
have no right to use your private judgment: leave the Bible to us who
are ordained." A true minister will say "Search the Scriptures, and if I
do not teach you what is Scriptural, do not believe me." A false
minister may cry, "Listen to the Church," and "Listen to me." A true
minister will say, "Listen to the Word of God."
(b) But the world is not only full of difficulties about
points of doctrine, it is equally full of difficulties about
points of "practice."
Every processing Christian, who wishes to act conscientiously, must
know that it is so. The most puzzling questions are continually
arising. He is tried on every side by doubts as to the line of duty, and
can often hardly see what is the right thing to do.
He is tried by questions connected with the management of his
"worldly calling," if he is in business or in trade. He sometimes sees
things going on that are of a very doubtful character—things that can
hardly be called fair, straightforward, truthful, and things that you
would not want done to you. But then everybody in business does
these things. They have always been done in the most respectable
houses. There would be no carrying on of a profitable business if they
were not done. They are not things distinctly named and prohibited
by God. All this is very puzzling. What is a man to do?
He is tried by questions about worldly amusements. Horse Races,
and balls, and operas, and theaters, and card parties, are all very
doubtful methods of spending time. But then he sees numbers of
great people taking part in them. Are all these people wrong? Can
there really be such mighty harm in these things? All this is very
puzzling. What is a man to do?
He is tried by questions about the education of his children. He
wishes to train them up morally and religiously, and to remember
their souls. But he is told by many sensible people, that young
persons will be young—that it is not right to check and restrain them
too much, and that he ought to attend shows, and children’s parties,
and give children’s balls himself. He is informed that this noble
person, or that lady of rank, always does so, and yet they are
considered religious people. Surely it cannot be wrong. All this is
very puzzling. What is he to do?
There is only one answer to all these questions. A man must make
the Bible his rule of conduct. He must make its leading principles the
compass by which he steers his course through life. By the letter or
spirit of the Bible he must test every difficult point and question. "To
the law and to the testimony! What does the Scripture say?" He
ought to care nothing for what other people may think right. He
ought not to set his watch by the clock of his neighbor, but by the
watch of the Word.
I charge my readers solemnly to act on the maxim I have just laid
down, and to adhere to it rigidly all the days of their lives. You will
never repent of it. Make it a leading principle never to act contrary to
the Word. Do not care for the charge of being overly strict, and a
person of needless precision. Remember you serve a strict and holy
God. Do not listen to the common objection that the rule you have
laid down is impossible, and cannot be observed in such a world as
this. Let those who make such an objection speak out plainly, and tell
us for what purpose the Bible was given to man. Let them remember
that by the Bible we will all be judged at the last day, and let them
learn to judge themselves by it here, lest they be judged and
condemned by it on Judgment Day.