By J.R. Miller
Another indispensable help in Christian life is the bible. In prayer--we talk to God; in the Bible--God speaks to us. The first disciples heard the words of divine truth as they dropped directly from the lips of the great Teacher. They could bring their questions right to him, and he would answer them. They could ask him what he wanted them to do, and he would tell them. When they were in sorrow, the words of comfort fell, warm and tender, from the very lips of the Son of God into their sad hearts. One of his friends sat at his feet and listened reverently and lovingly to his instructions; another leaned his head on the Lord's bosom, and whispered his confidential questions, and received answers; an inquirer came by night to him and had a long talk with him about the way to be saved.
Those were wonderful days when God himself was on this earth in human form, speaking in the tones of actual human speech the words of life, and answering men's questions with his own lips. We cannot any more hear the divine voice--as men heard it then. Yet God still speaks! We can still bring our questions, and he will answer them. We can still sit at the Teacher's feet--and hear his words. We can still rest our head on his bosom in our sorrow--and listen to his assurances of love. We can still ask him how to be saved, and get a plain, clear answer. God speaks to men--in his written Word!
The question is--how to get help from the Bible. We know the help is there. Others find it, and we see their face glow, or the tears glisten in their eyes as they read its pages. But somehow it does not open to us, as it does to others. We cannot say, "Oh how love I your law! It is my meditation all the day!" We try to make ourselves love the Bible, and to find its words sweeter than honey and more precious than gold; but, to be perfectly honest--we do not love it, nor do we find in it either the honey or the gold. Yet we know that the sweetness and the richness are there--if only we could find them. How may we read the book, so that it will open to us and show us its wondrous treasures of light, of love, of comfort, and of help?
For one thing, we must rid ourselves of all superstitious notions about the Bible. It is not a "lucky charm". Merely having a Bible in one's possession, or on one's person--will neither drive away evil nor bring good. Soldiers entering battle sometimes throw away their pack of cards, and put their Bible into their pocket--they imagine that then they will be safer in danger; but a Bible in a soldier's pocket--is in itself no more protection than a pack of cards. Nor, if he has it in his pocket only, will it be of any more use to him if he is killed in battle. The mere owning of a Bible or having one in the house, does no one any good. It would be just as well to wear the crucifix, or to nail a horseshoe over the door. We must get clear of superstitious impressions respecting the holy Word of God.
We must remember, also, that the mere reading of a certain portion of the Bible every day, will not make us wise unto salvation, nor purify our heart, nor give us comfort in sorrow, nor put a staff into our hand to help us along life's rough, step paths. The Bible does not yield its blessing to such reading.
Then, further, it is not enough to understand the words, or even to memorize them. There are many people who have many Bible texts at their tongue's end--who never get any real help from them, nor make any practical use of them. There are those who know the promises and can quote them to others--who are not able to apply one suitable promise to their own personal needs, and who get no benefit for their own lives from the texts they remember! Hiding the bible in the memory, is not all that is necessary to make its treasures of help availing.
Just what is the office of the Bible, with reference to our personal life? There are books which it is necessary merely to read--they have no office or errand to us, beyond the pleasure or instruction which their pages may impart, as we go over them. We listen to a lecture on astronomy, and we hear many interesting things about the sun, the planets, or the stars. We believe what we hear, and we may remember the facts; but it is not expected that the knowledge of these scientific facts will make any change in our conduct or character tomorrow. If we are in trouble, these truths will not comfort us. We cannot pillow our heads upon them in sorrow. If we are perplexed about duty, we shall not get any light from them--the stars are too far away, and too cold. The same is true of all similar knowledge; our whole duty with regard to it, is to receive it and to lay it up among our mental stores.
But there is more than this to be done with the truths of the Bible. They are the words of God, and as such they are meant to be obeyed. They reveal to us invisible things--things which no natural human eye can ever see--and we are to believe in these unseen things, as eternal realities--and to live with reference to them. Every truth in the Bible has a practical bearing upon life in some of its phases. The Bible is therefore a book for practical living--not merely for theoretical knowledge.
An illustration or two will make this plain. The first word that comes to the inquirer is, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved." It is not enough to know--or even to understand--this word. It calls for an act--the committing of the soul, utterly and forever, for salvation, for life, for glory--into the hands of the only Redeemer and Savior.
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart." It is easy to memorize these words--but that is not all we are expected to do with them. They have their proper outcome only when they draw out our heart's holiest affections, and fasten them upon God in loyal, consecrating devotion.
"This is my commandment, that you love one another." The sentiment, men say, is admirable. It is extolled by many on whose heart and life it makes no impression whatever! No doubt the "sentiment" is very beautiful--but its true office is intensely practical--to kindle in every Christian heart a deep, generous, unselfish affection which shall bind and hold together all believers in a common and holy brotherhood.
To make proper use of such words as these, we must not only understand them and admire them as ethical teachings--but must also submit our life to them--to be influenced, molded, colored, and directed, by their requirements. That is--we are to receive them as God's words of command to us--and obey them accordingly. We are using the precepts and counsels of the Scriptures aright--only when we are implicitly, unquestioningly, and loyally--walking in the way which they mark out for our feet.
The true outcome of the Bible as a book of commands--is a holy personal life--and a Christ-like personal character. The way, then, to get help from the Scripture--is to come to it as to Christ himself, asking what he would have us to do--and then, as we read, we are to submit to its directives. Thus, the Bible will become to us a personal guide--the voice of Christ, ever saying, "This is the way--walk in it!" Thus, the Scripture will be the hand of Christ, ever leading us in right paths.
There is another class of bible words--the promises. These do not so much call for active obedience--as for implicit belief and restful trust. They contain assurances of divine help and blessing in certain circumstances. They tell us of things which we cannot see. Thus they call for the exercise of faith, and therefore it is not easy to make them available. Many who are faithful in performing every required duty--fail to get such help from God's promises in the hours of darkness, as these promises are intended to give.
How can Bible promises be made available in times of need? How can we get from them, that help which they are intended to give us living? We must recognize and accept them as the sure and faithful words of God--words that will be fulfilled to the letter, in the experience of every child of God who rests upon them. They must be hidden in the heart and kept always ready for instant use. Then, when the need comes for which these promises make provision, they must be personally appropriated and trusted in as God's fresh and explicit words of assurance to his love ones.
It is, in fact, only in the experiences of real need, that the value of the divine promises can be realized. One may greatly admire a lifeboat as he looks at it hanging in its place above the ship's deck on a fair morning--but he does not know its true worth--until the ship is going down and the lifeboat is his only hope of rescue. It is just so with Bible promises. We do not know their worth--until we enter upon the experiences in which we are helpless without them! We may admire them when all is fair and calm about us--but it is only when the shock of the tempest is on us, and our earthly trusts are shattered, that we can realize the value of the truths which have God's arm underneath them. It is only when our path leads down into some dark gorge of trial, where no earthly sunbeams fall--that we learn the worth of the lamps of heavenly promise.
Thus the Bible is a book for life, and only when we submit our life to it--can we get its help. The hungry heart will always find the bread. The sincere and simple hearted seeker after truth will always find the truth. The submissive spirit will receive guidance. The believing soul will find the arm of the Eternal God, under every word of promise.
As to the manner of reading the Bible--but few suggestions may here be given. The heart is the great matter! If the heart is right, God's Spirit will guide, and will not only open the treasures of the Scriptures and reveal their sweetness--but will also open the reader's eyes to behold the wondrous things which the sacred book contains!
The Bible should certainly be read every day; our soul as well as our body needs daily bread. It should be read, too, in connection with secret prayer; the two exercises mutually help each other. Devotion without the Word to feed upon--is inadequate for our soul's needs. And without prayer--the Bible does not open to us nor yield the blessing we seek. We should always keep the Bible lying open on the closet table.
With regard to the method, the Bible may be read in course, or read by books, or read by topics, or read to meet the needs of the day, or read fragmentarily without order or plan. Some people read the Bible through every year. Too many read without system or method of any kind, beginning wherever the book opens; and as a result they read certain portions many times over--but leave whole sections unread and unexplored. Every intelligent Christian should seek to become familiar with all parts of the Bible, and therefore it is well to read it through regularly, and in order.
Besides this, however, it is well to read also by topics, searching the volume through with a concordance, to know what the Holy Spirit teaches on all phases of a particular subject. It is profitable, too, to read individual books, if possible at one sitting. This is especially helpful to the understanding of the Epistles. As experience ripens and the book becomes more familiar, it is pleasant and helpful to turn each day to passages which meet the peculiar needs of the day. Young Christians will usually find it profitable to begin with the story of Christ in the Gospels, studying the life and words of the Master--until their hearts are filled with thoughts and memories of him whose life is their pattern, and whose words are to guide their steps.
The system of Sunday school lessons, affords and excellent opportunity for thorough and consecutive Bible study. In seven years, the student is carried through the whole Bible. Of course many parts of it are not taken up in the lessons; but if the portions thus omitted between the Sunday sections are carefully read each week, the entire Bible will be studied in the seven years. The daily "home readings" indicated in connection with the lessons form in themselves an excellent Bible reading course, covering every day in the year. For most young people there is perhaps no better system of Scripture study, than that which follows the order of the Sunday school course--the lessons, the home reading, and the connecting portions. If this is closely and conscientiously followed, day after day and year after year--it will in the end yield a full, intelligent and systematic knowledge of the Word, which makes wise unto salvation.
But, in whatever order the Bible may be read--let it surely be read. There are now so many commentaries and other writings upon the Scriptures, that we are in danger of reading a great deal about the Bible--while the book itself is neglected! It is important that we search the Scriptures themselves! Each Christian should search the Scriptures, for himself. It is not enough to take the golden findings which another has dug out--we must dig for ourselves!
Above all, we must pray for light while we read--that we may discover the precious things which God has stored away in his Word. We must also pray for submission, that we may be able to yield our life to every influence of the truth. We must also pray for faith, that we may be able to realize the invisible things of God, which the holy Word reveals--and get their support and their blessing for our soul.
