A CHRONOLOGICAL SCRIPTURE
READING GUIDE
How To Get The Most From Reading Your Bible.
How to Get the Most from Reading your Bible
by Thomas Watson
1. Remove hindrances. (a) remove the love of every sin (b) remove the distracting concerns of this world, especially covetousness [Matt. 13:22] (c) Don't make jokes with and out of Scripture.
2. Prepare your heart. [1 Sam. 7:3] Do this by: (a) collecting your thoughts (b) purging unclean affections and desires (c) not coming to it rashly or carelessly.
3. Read it with reverence, considering that each line is God speaking directly to you.
4. Read the books of the Bible in order.
5. Get a true understanding of Scripture. [Ps. 119:73] This is best achieved by comparing relevant parts of Scripture with each other.
6. Read with seriousness. [Deut. 32:47] The Christian life is to be taken seriously since it requires striving [Luke 13:24] and not falling short [Heb. 4:1].
7. Persevere in remembering what you read. [Ps. 119:52] Don't let it be stolen from you [Matt. 13:4,19]. If it doesn't stay in your memory it is unlikely to be much benefit to you.
8. Meditate on what you read. [Ps. 119:15] The Hebrew word for meditate' means to be intense in the mind'. Meditation without reading is wrong and bound to err; reading without meditation is barren and fruitless. It means to stir the affections, to be warmed by the fire of meditation [Ps. 39:3].
9. Read with a humble heart. Acknowledge that you are unworthy that God should reveal himself to you [James 4:6]
10. Believe it all to be God's Holy Word. [2 Tim 3:16] We know that no sinner could have written it because of the way it describes sin. No saint could blaspheme God by pretending his own Word was God's. No angel could have written it for the same reason. [Heb 4:2]
11. Prize the Bible highly. [Ps. 119:72] It is your lifeline; you were born by it [James 1:18] you need to grow by it [1 Pet 2:2] [cf. Job 23:12].
12. Love the Bible ardently [Ps. 119:159].
13. Come to read it with an honest heart. [Luke 8:15] (a) Willing to know the entire and complete will of God (b) reading in order to be changed and made better by it [John 17:17].
14. Apply to yourself everything that you read, take every word as spoken to yourself. Its condemnation of sins as the condemnation of your own sin; the duty that it requires as the duty God would require from you [2 Kings 22:11].
15. Pay close attention to the commands of the Word as much as the promises. Think of how you need direction just as much as you need comfort.
16. Don't get carried away with the minor details, rather make sure to pay closest attention to the great things [Hosea 8:12].
17. Compare yourself with the Word. How do you compare? Is your heart something of a transcript of it, or not?
18. Pay special attention to those passages that speak to your individual, particular and present situation. e.g. (a) Affliction -- [Heb. 12:7, Isaiah 27:9, John 16:20, 2 Cor 4:17. (b) Sense of Christ's presence and smile withdrawn -- [Isaiah 54:8, Isaiah 57:16, Ps. 97:11] (c) Sin -- [Gal 5:24, James 1:15, 1 Peter 2:11, Prov 7:10&22-23, Prov 22:14] (d) Unbelief -- [Isaiah 26:3, 2 Sam 22:31, John 3:15, 1 John 5:10, John 3:36]
19. Pay special attention to the examples and lives of people in the Bible as living sermons. (a) Punishments [Nebuchadnezzar, Herod, Num 25:3-4&9, 1 Kings 14:9-10, Acts 5:5,10, 1 Cor 10:11, Jude 7] (b) mercies and deliverances [Daniel, Jeremiah, the 3 youths in the fiery furnace]
20. Don't stop reading the Bible until you find your heart warmed. [Ps 119:93] Let it not only inform you but also inflame you [Jer 23:29, Luke 24:32].
21. Put into practice what you read [Ps 119:66, Ps 119:105, Deut 17:19].
22. Christ is for us Prophet, Priest and King. Make use of His office as a Prophet [Rev 5:5, John 8:12, Ps 119:102-103]. Get Christ not only to open the Scriptures up to you, but to open up your mind and understanding [Luke 24:45]
23. Make sure to put yourself under a true ministry of the Word, faithfully and thoroughly expounding the Word [Prov 8:34] be earnest and eager in waiting on it.
24. Pray that you will profit from reading [Isaiah 48:17, Ps 119:18, Nehemiah 9:20].
- 1. You don't seem to profit as much as others do. Remember the different yields [Matt 13:8] though the yield isn't as much as others it is still a true and fruitful yield.
- 2. You may feel slow of understanding [Luke 9:45, Heb 5:11].
- 3. Your memory is bad (a) remember you are still able to have a good heart despite this (b) you may still remember the most important things even if you cannot remember everything, be encouraged by John 14:26.
A Chronological Reading Guide
Jan 1....Genesis 1,2
Jan 2....Genesis 3-5
Jan 3....Genesis 6-9
Jan 4....Genesis 10,11
Jan 5....Genesis 12-15
Jan 6....Genesis 16-19
Jan 7....Genesis 20-22
Jan 8....Genesis 23-26
Jan 9....Genesis 27-29
Jan 10....Genesis 30-32
Jan 11....Genesis 33-36
Jan 12....Genesis 37-39
Jan 13....Genesis 40-42
Jan 14....Genesis 43-46
Jan 15....Genesis 47-50
Jan 16....Job 1-4
Jan 17....Job 5-7
Jan 18....Job 8-10
Jan 19....Job 11-13
Jan 20....Job 14-17
Jan 21....Job 18-20
Jan 22....Job 21-24
Jan 23....Job 25-27
Jan 24....Job 28-31
Jan 25....Job 32-34
Jan 26....Job 35-37
Jan 27....Job 38-42
Jan 28....Exodus 1-4
Jan 29....Exodus 5-7
Jan 30....Exodus 8-10
Jan 31....Exodus 11-13
Feb 1....Exodus 14-17
Feb 2....Exodus 18-20
Feb 3....Exodus 21-24
Feb 4....Exodus 25-27
Feb 5....Exodus 28-31
Feb 6....Exodus 32-34
Feb 7....Exodus 35-37
Feb 8....Exodus 38-40
Feb 9....Leviticus 1-4
Feb 10....Leviticus 5-7
Feb 11....Leviticus 8-10
Feb 12....Leviticus 11-13
Feb 13....Leviticus 14-16
Feb 14....Leviticus 17-19
Feb 15....Leviticus 20-22, Psalm 95
Feb 16....Leviticus 23-27
Feb 17....Numbers 1-3
Feb 18....Numbers 4-6
Feb 19....Numbers 7-10
Feb 20....Numbers 11-12:16, Psalm 90
Feb 21....Psalm 91; Numbers 12-14
Feb 22....Numbers 15-17
Feb 23....Numbers 18-20
Feb 24....Numbers 21-24
Feb 25....Numbers 25-27
Feb 26....Numbers 28-30
Feb 27....Numbers 31-33
Feb 28....Numbers 34-36
Mar 1....Deuteronomy 1-3
Mar 2....Deuteronomy 4-6
Mar 3....Deuteronomy 7-9
Mar 4....Deuteronomy 10-12
Mar 5....Deuteronomy 13-16
Mar 6....Deuteronomy 17-19
Mar 7....Deuteronomy 20-22
Mar 8....Deuteronomy 23-25
Mar 9....Deuteronomy 26-28
Mar 10....Deuteronomy 29-31
Mar 11....Deuteronomy 32-34
Mar 12....Joshua 1-3
Mar 13....Joshua 4-6
Mar 14....Joshua 7-9
Mar 15....Joshua 10-12
Mar 16....Joshua 13-15
Mar 17....Joshua 16-18
Mar 18....Joshua 19-21
Mar 19....Joshua 22-24
Mar 20....Judges 1-4
Mar 21....Judges 5-8
Mar 22....Judges 9-12
Mar 23....Judges 13-15
Mar 24....Judges 16-18
Mar 25....Judges 19-21
Mar 26....Ruth 1-4
Mar 27....I Samuel 1-4
Mar 28....I Samuel 5-8
Mar 29....I Samuel 9-12
Mar 30....I Samuel 13-16
Mar 31....I Samuel 17, 18; Psalm 23
Apr 1....I Samuel 19:1-18; Psalm 11, 59
Apr 2....I Samuel 19:19-24; 20,21; Psalm 56, 142
Apr 3....I Samuel 22; Psalms 17, 34, 35
Apr 4....Psalms 52, 109, 140
Apr 5....Psalm 31, 64; I Samuel 23:1-29
Apr 6....Psalm 54,22; 1 Samuel 24
Apr 7....Psalms 63,12,57
Apr 8....Psalms 58, 120; 1 Samuel 25
Apr 9....Psalm 141; 1 Samuel 26,27
Apr 10....1 Samuel 28,29,30
Apr 11....1 Samuel 31; 2 Samuel 1,2
Apr 12....Psalm 101; 2 Samuel 3,4
Apr 13....2 Samuel 5; Psalm 139; 2 Samuel 6
Apr 14....Psalms 78,96
Apr 15....Psalms 15,24,68
Apr 16....Psalms 132,133
Apr 17....Psalms 106, 105
Apr 18....2 Samuel 7; Psalms 16,2
Apr 19....Psalm 110; 2 Samuel 8; Psalms 97,98
Apr 20....Psalms 108,117,118
Apr 21....Psalms 60,9,20
Apr 22....2 Samuel 9,10,11
Apr 23....2 Samuel 12; Psalms 6,32
Apr 24....Psalms 33,38,39,21
Apr 25....Psalms 40,41,51
Apr 26....Psalms 103,104; 2 Samuel 13
Apr 27.... Psalm 55; 2 Samuel 14,15
Apr 28....2 Samuel 16; Psalm 7; 2 Samuel 17
Apr 29....Psalms 3,4,42
Apr 30....Psalm 43,5,8
May 1....Psalm 28,61,62
May 2....Psalm 69,70,71,86
May 3....Psalm 143, 2 Samuel 18,19
May 4....Psalms 122, 26, 27
May 5....Psalms 141, 65; 2 Samuel 20
May 6....2 Samuel 21; Psalms 29,30
May 7....Psalms 131, 18; 2 Samuel 22-24; 1 Kings 1
May 8....Psalms 72, 145; 1 Kings 2
May 9....1 Kings 3,4,5
May 10....Psalms 99,100, 127, 128
May 11....Proverbs 1-4
May 12....Proverbs 5-7
May 13....Proverbs 8-11
May 14....Proverbs 12-15
May 15....Proverbs 16-19
May 16....Proverbs 20-23
May 17....Proverbs 24-27
May 18....Proverbs 28-30
May 19....Proverbs 31; Ecclesiastes 1,2
May 20....Ecclesiastes 3-5
May 21....Ecclesiastes 6-8
May 22....Ecclesiastes 9-11
May 23....Ecclesiastes 12; Song 1,2
May 24....Song 3-5
May 25....Song 6-8
May 26....1 Kings 6-8
May 27....1 Kings 9-11
May 28....1 Kings 12-14
May 29....1 Kings 15-17
May 30....1 Kings 18-20
May 31....1 Kings 21,22; 2 Kings 1
Jun 1....2 Kings 2-4
Jun 2....2 Kings 5-7
Jun 3....2 Kings 8-10
Jun 4....2 Kings 11-14:20
Jun 5....Joel 1-3
Jun 6....2 Kings 14:21-25; Jonah 1-4
Jun 7....2 Kings 14:26-29; Amos 1-3
Jun 8....Amos 4-6
Jun 9....Amos 7-9
Jun 10....2 Kings 15-17
Jun 11....Hosea 1-4
Jun 12....Hosea 5-7
Jun 13....Hosea 8-10
Jun 14....Hosea 11-14
Jun 15....2 Kings 18; Psalm 44
Jun 16....2 Kings 19:1-34; Psalm 73
Jun 17....2 Kings 19:35-37; Psalms 92, 93
Jun 18....Psalms 46, 75, 76
Jun 19....Isaiah 1-3
Jun 20....Isaiah 4-6
Jun 21....Isaiah 7-9
Jun 22....Isaiah 10-13
Jun 23....Isaiah 14-17
Jun 24....Isaiah 18-21
Jun 25....Isaiah 22-25
Jun 26....Isaiah 26-28
Jun 27....Isaiah 29-30
Jun 28....Isaiah 31-33
Jun 29....Isaiah 34-36
Jun 30....Isaiah 37-39
Jul 1....Isaiah 40-42
Jul 2....Isaiah 43-45
Jul 3....Isaiah 46-48
Jul 4....Isaiah 49-51
Jul 5....Isaiah 52-54
Jul 6....Isaiah 55-57
Jul 7....Isaiah 58-60
Jul 8....Isaiah 61-63
Jul 9....Isaiah 64-66
Jul 10....Micah 1-4
Jul 11....Micah 5-7
Jul 12....Nahum 1-3
Jul 13....2 Kings 20,21
Jul 14....Zephaniah 1-3
Jul 15....Habakkuk 1-3
Jul 16....2 Kings 22-23; Psalm 74
Jul 17....Psalms 79, 94; 2 Kings 24:1-16
Jul 18....Psalm 88; 2 Kings 24:17-20, 25
Jul 19....Obadiah; Jeremiah 1,2
Jul 20....Jeremiah 3-5
Jul 21....Jeremiah 6-8
Jul 22....Jeremiah 9-12
Jul 23....Jeremiah 13; Psalms 13,14
Jul 24....Psalms 36, 37, 49
Jul 25....Psalms 53, 77, 89
Jul 26....Psalm 123
Jul 27....Psalms 25, 50, 67
Jul 28....Psalms 102, 130
Jul 29....Jeremiah 14-16
Jul 30....Jeremiah 17-20
Jul 31....Jeremiah 21-23
Aug 1....Jeremiah 24-26
Aug 2....Jeremiah 27-29
Aug 3....Jeremiah 30-32
Aug 4....Jeremiah 33-36
Aug 5....Jeremiah 37-39
Aug 6....Jeremiah 40-42
Aug 7....Jeremiah 43-46
Aug 8....Jeremiah 47-49
Aug 9....Jeremiah 50-52
Aug 10....Lamentations 1-5
Aug 11....1 Chronicles 1-3
Aug 12....1 Chronicles 4-6
Aug 13....1 Chronicles 7-9
Aug 14....1 Chronicles 10-13
Aug 15....1 Chronicles 14-16
Aug 16....1 Chronicles 17-19
Aug 17....1 Chronicles 20-23
Aug 18....1 Chronicles 24-26
Aug 19....1 Chronicles 27-29
Aug 20....2 Chronicles 1-3
Aug 21....2 Chronicles 4-6
Aug 22....2 Chronicles 7-9
Aug 23....2 Chronicles 10-13
Aug 24....2 Chronicles 14-16
Aug 25....2 Chronicles 17-19
Aug 26....Psalm 82; 2 Chronicles 20; Psalm 83
Aug 27....Psalms 47, 48, 115
Aug 28....2 Chronicles 21-24
Aug 29....2 Chronicles 25-27
Aug 30....2 Chronicles 28, 29; Psalm 80
Aug 31....2 Chronicles 30-32
Sep 1....2 Chronicles 33-36
Sep 2....Ezekiel 1-3
Sep 3....Ezekiel 4-7
Sep 4....Ezekiel 8-11
Sep 5....Ezekiel 12-14
Sep 6....Ezekiel 15-18
Sep 7....Ezekiel 19-21
Sep 8....Ezekiel 22-24
Sep 9....Ezekiel 25-27
Sep 10....Ezekiel 28-30
Sep 11....Ezekiel 31-33
Sep 12....Ezekiel 34-36
Sep 13....Ezekiel 37-39
Sep 14....Ezekiel 40-42
Sep 15....Ezekiel 43-45
Sep 16....Ezekiel 46-48
Sep 17....Daniel 1-3
Sep 18....Daniel 4-6
Sep 19....Daniel 7-9
Sep 20....Daniel 10-12
Sep 21....Esra 1; Psalms 85,126, 137
Sep 22....Ezra 2; Psalms 1, 121
Sep 23....Psalm 119
Sep 24....Ezra 3:1-7; Psalms 107, 111
Sep 25....Psalms 112, 113, 114
Sep 26....Ezra 3:8-13; Psalms 66, 84,116
Sep 27....Psalms 125, 129; Ezra 4; Haggai 1,2
Sep 28....Zechariah 1-3
Sep 29....Zechariah 4-6
Sep 30....Zechariah 7-10
Oct 1....Zechariah 11-14
Oct 2....Ezra 5, 6:1-15; Psalm 138
Oct 3....Ezra 6:16-22; Psalms 81, 134
Oct 4....Psalms 135, 136, 146
Oct 5....Psalm 87; Ezra 7-8
Oct 6....Ezra 9,10; Esther 1,2
Oct 7....Psalm 10, 45; Esther 3, 4:1-9
Oct 8....Esther 4:10-17; 5-7
Oct 9....Esther 8-10; Psalm 124
Oct 10....Nehemiah 1-3
Oct 11....Psalms 147-149
Oct 12....Nehemiah 4-6
Oct 13....Psalms 150, 19; Nehemiah 7
Oct 14....Nehemiah 8-10
Oct 15....Nehemiah 11-13
Oct 16....Malachi 1-4
Oct 17....Matthew 1-4
Oct 18....Matthew 5-7
Oct 19....Matthew 8-11
Oct 20....Matthew 12-15
Oct 21....Matthew 16-19
Oct 22....Matthew 20-22
Oct 23....Matthew 23-25
Oct 24....Matthew 26-28
Oct 25....Mark 1-3
Oct 26....Mark 4-6
Oct 27....Mark 7-10
Oct 28....Mark 11-13
Oct 29....Mark 14-16
Oct 30....Luke 1-4
Oct 31....Luke 5-8
Nov 1....Luke 9-12
Nov 2....Luke 13-16
Nov 3....Luke 17-20
Nov 4....Luke 21-24
Nov 5....John 1-4
Nov 6....John 5-8
Nov 7....John 9-12
Nov 8....John 13-16
Nov 9....John 17-21
Nov 10....Acts 1-3
Nov 11....Acts 4-6
Nov 12....Acts 7-9
Nov 13....Acts 10-14
Nov 14....James 1,2
Nov 15....James 3-5
Nov 16....Galatians 1-3
Nov 17....Galatians 4-6
Nov 18....Acts 15 To 18-11
Nov 19....1 Thessalonians 1-5
Nov 20....2 Thessalonians 1-3; Acts 18:12 - 19:10
Nov 21....1 Corinthians 1-4
Nov 22....1 Corinthians 5-8
Nov 23....1 Corinthians 9-12
Nov 24....1 Corinthians 13-16
Nov 25....Acts 19:11-20:1; 2 Corinthians 1-3
Nov 26....2 Corinthians 4-6
Nov 27....2 Corinthians 7-9
Nov 28....2 Corinthians 10-13; Acts 20:2
Nov 29....Romans 1-4
Nov 30....Romans 5-6
Dec 1....Romans 7-9
Dec 2....Romans 10-12
Dec 3....Romans 13-16
Dec 4....Acts 20-22
Dec 5....Acts 23-25
Dec 6....Acts 26-28
Dec 7....Ephesians 1-3
Dec 8....Ephesians 4-6
Dec 9....Philippians 1-4
Dec 10....Colossians 1-4
Dec 11....Hebrews 1-4
Dec 12....Hebrews 5-7
Dec 13....Hebrews 8-10
Dec 14....Hebrews 11-13
Dec 15....Philemon; 1 Peter 1,2
Dec 16....1 Peter 3-5
Dec 17....2 Peter 1-3
Dec 18....1 Timothy 1-3
Dec 19....1 Timothy 4-6
Dec 20....Titus 1-3
Dec 21....2 Timothy 1-4
Dec 22....1 John 1,2
Dec 23....1 John 3-5
Dec 24....2 John; 3 John; Jude
Dec 25....Revelation 1-3
Dec 26....Revelation 4-6
Dec 27....Revelation 7-9
Dec 28....Revelation 10-12
Dec 29....Revelation 13-15
Dec 30....Revelation 16-18
Dec 31....Revelation 19-22
A Godly Man is a Lover of the Word
by Thomas Watson
"O how love I your law." (Psa. 119:97)
Part A: Godly Man Loves the Word Written
Chrysostom compares the Scripture to a garden set with ornaments and flowers. A godly man delights to walk in this garden and sweetly solace himself. He loves every branch and part of the Word:
1. He loves the counselling part of the Word, as it is a directory and rule of life. The Word is the direction sign which points us to our duty. It contains in it things to be believed and practiced. A godly man loves the directions of the Word.
2. He loves the threatening part of the Word. The Scripture is like the Garden of Eden: as it has a tree of life in it, so it has a flaming sword at its gates. This is the threatening of the Word. It flashes fire in the face of every person who goes on obstinately in wickedness. "God will wound the head of His enemies, the hairy scalp of the one who still goes on in his trespasses." (Psa. 68:21). The Word gives no indulgence to evil. It will not let a man halt half-way between God and sin. The true mother would not let the child be divided (I Kings 3:26), and God will not have the heart divided. The Word thunders out threats against the very appearance of evil. It is like that flying scroll full of curses (Zech. 5:1).
A godly man loves the menaces of the Word. He knows there is love in every threat. God would not have us perish; he therefore mercifully threatens us, so that he may scare us from sin. God's threats are like the buoy, which shows the rocks in the sea and threatens death to such as come near. The threat is a curbing bit to check us, so that we may not run in full career to hell. There is mercy in every threat.
3. He loves the consolatory part of the Word - the promises. He goes feeding on these as Samson went on his way eating the honeycomb (Judges 14:8,9). The promises are all marrow and sweetness. They are reviving to us when we are fainting; they are the conduits of the water of life. "In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul." (Psa. 94:19). The promises were David's harp to drive away sad thoughts; they were the breast which gave him the milk of divine consolation.
A godly man shows his love to the Word written:
(a) By diligently reading it. The noble Bereans "searched the Scriptures daily" (Acts 17:11). Apollos was mighty in the Scriptures (Acts 18:12). The Word is our Magna Carta for heaven; we should be daily reading over this charter. The Word shows what is truth and what is error. It is the field where the pearl of price is hidden. How we should dig for this pearl! A godly man's heart is the library to hold the Word of God; it dwells richly in him (Col. 3:16). It is reported of Melanchthon that when he was young, he always carried the Bible with him and read it greedily. The Word has a double work: to teach us and to judge us. Those who will not be taught by the Word shall be judged by the Word. Oh, let us make ourselves familiar with the Scripture! What if it should be as in the times of Diocletian, who commanded by proclamation that the Bible be burned? Or as in Queen Mary's days, when it spelled death to have a Bible in English? By diligent conversing with Scripture, we may carry a Bible in our heads.
(b) By frequently meditating on it: "It is my meditation all the day" (Psa. 119:97). A pious soul meditates on the truth and holiness of the Word. He not only has a few transient thoughts, but leaves his mind steeping in the Scripture. By meditation, he sucks from this sweet flower and ruminates on holy truths in his mind.
(c) By delighting in it. It is his recreation: "Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart." (Jer 15:16) Never did a man take such delight in a dish that he loved as the prophet did in the Word. And indeed, how can a saint choose but take great pleasure in the Word? All that he ever hopes to be worth is contained in it. Does not a son take pleasure in reading his father's will and testament, in which he bequeaths his estate to him?
(d) By hiding it: "Your word I have hidden in my heart" (Psa 119:11) - as one hides a treasure so that it should not be stolen. The Word is the jewel; the heart is the cabinet where it must be locked up. Many hide the Word in their memory, but not in their heart. And why would David enclose the Word in his heart? "That I might not sin against you." As a man would carry an antidote about him when he comes near an infected place, so a godly man carries the Word in his heart as a spiritual antidote to preserve him from the infection of sin. Why have so many been poisoned with error, others with moral vice, but because they have not hidden the Word as a holy antidote in their heart?
(e) By defending it. A wise man will not let his land be taken from him but will defend his title. David looked upon the Word as his land of inheritance: "Your testimonies I have taken as a heritage forever, for they are the rejoicing of my heart." (Psa 119:111) And do you think he will let his inheritance be wrested out of his hands? A godly man will not only dispute for the Word but die for it: "I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God." (Rev 6:9)
(f) By preferring it above things most precious: (1) Above food: "I have treasured the words of His mouth More than my necessary food." (Job. 23:12). (2) Above riches: "The law of Your mouth is better to me than thousands of coins of gold and silver." (Psa. 119:72). (3) Above worldly honour. Memorable is the story of King Edward the Sixth. On the day of his coronation, when they presented three swords before him, signifying to him that he was monarch of three kingdoms, the king said, "There is still one sword missing." On being asked what that was, he answered, "The Holy Bible, which is the 'sword of the Spirit' and is to be preferred before these ensigns of royalty."
(f) By talking about it: "My tongue shall speak of your word." (Psa. 119:172). As a covetous man talks of his rich purchase, so a godly man speaks of the Word. What a treasure it is, how full of beauty and sweetness! Those whose mouths the devil has gagged, who never speak of God's Word, indicate that they never reaped any good from it.
(g) By conforming to it. The Word is his compass, by which he sets his life, the balance in which he weighs his actions. He copies out the Word in his daily walk: "I have kept the faith" (2 Tim. 4:7). St Paul kept the doctrine of faith, and lived the life of faith.
Question: Why is a godly man a lover of the Word?
Answer: Because of the excellence of the Word.
1. The Word written is our pillar of fire to guide us. It shows us what rocks we are to avoid; it is the map by which we sail to the new Jerusalem.
2. The Word is a spiritual mirror through which we may see our own hearts. The mirror of nature, which the heathen had, revealed spots in their lives, but this mirror reveals spots in the imagination; that mirror revealed the spots of their unrighteousness, this reveals the spots of our righteousness. "When the commandment came, sin revived, and I died" (Rom. 7:9). When the Word came like a mirror, all my opinion of self-righteousness died.
3. The Word of God is a sovereign comfort in distress. While we follow this cloud, the rock follows us. "This is my comfort in my affliction, For Your word has given me life." (Psa. 119:50). Christ is the fountain of living water, the Word is the golden pipe through which it runs. What can revive at the hour of death but the word of life (Phil. 2:16)?
Part B: A Godly Man Loves the Word, Because of the Efficacy it has had upon Him
A godly man loves the Word preached, which is a commentary upon the Word written. This day-star has risen in his heart, and ushered in the Sun of righteousness. The Scriptures are the sovereign oils and balsams; the preaching of the Word is the pouring of them out. The Scriptures are the precious spices; the preaching of the Word is the beating of these spices, which causes a wonderful fragrance and delight. The Word preached is "the rod of God's strength" (Psa. 11O:2) and "the breath of his lips" (Isa. 11:4). What was once said of the city of Thebes, that it was built by the sound of Amphius' harp, is much more true of soul conversion. It is built by the sound of the gospel harp. Therefore the preaching of the Word is called "the power of God to salvation" (Rom 1:16). By this, Christ is said (now) to speak to us from heaven (Heb. 12:25). This ministry of the Word is to be preferred before the ministry of angels.
A godly man loves the Word preached, partly from the good he has found by it - he has felt the dew fall with this manna - and partly because of God's institution. The Lord has appointed this ordinance to save him. The king's image makes the coin current. The stamp of divine authority on the Word preached makes it an instrument conducive to men's salvation.
Application: Let us test by this characteristic whether we are godly: Are we lovers of the Word?
1. Do we love the Word written? What sums of money the martyrs gave for a few pages of the Bible! Do we make the Word our bosom friend? As Moses often had 'the rod of God' in his hand, so we should have 'the Book of God' in our hand. When we want direction, do we consult this sacred oracle? When we find corruptions strong, do we make use of this "sword of the Spirit" to hew them down? When we are disconsolate, do we go to this bottle of the water of life for comfort? Then we are lovers of the Word! But alas, how can they who are seldom conversant with the Scriptures say they love them? Their eyes begin to be sore when they look at a Bible. The two testaments are hung up like rusty armour which is seldom or never made use of. The Lord wrote the law with his own finger, but though God took pains to write, men will not take pains to read. They would rather look at a deck of cards than at a Bible.
2. Do we love the Word preached? Do we prize it in our judgments? Do we receive it into our hearts? Do we fear the loss of the Word preached more than the loss of peace and trade? Is it the removal of the ark that troubles us?
Again, do we attend to the Word with reverential devotion? When the judge is giving his charge from the bench, all attend. When the Word is preached, the great God is giving us his charge. Do we listen to it as to a matter of life and death? This is a good sign that we love the Word.
Again, do we love the holiness of the Word (Psa. 119:140)? The Word is preached to beat down sin and advance holiness. Do we love it for its spirituality and purity? Many love the Word preached only for its eloquence and notion. They come to a sermon as to a performance (Ezek. 33:31,32) or as to a garden to pick flowers, but not to have their lusts subdued or their hearts bettered. These are like a foolish woman who paints her face but neglects her health.
Again, do we love the convictions of the Word? Do we love the Word when it comes home to our conscience and shoots its arrows of reproof at our sins? It is the minister's duty sometimes to reprove. He who can speak smooth words in the pulpit, but does not know how to reprove, is like a sword with a fine hilt but without an edge. "Rebuke them sharply" (Titus 2:15). Dip the nail in oil, reprove in love, but strike the nail home. Now Christian, when the Word touches on your sin and says, "You are the man", do you love the reproof? Can you bless God that "the sword of the Spirit" has divided between you and your lusts? This is indeed a sign of grace and shows that you are a lover of the Word.
A corrupt heart loves the comforts of the Word, but not the reproofs: "They hate the one who rebukes in the gate." (Amos 5:1O). "Their eyes flash with fire!" Like venomous creatures that at the least touch spit poison, "When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth." (Acts 7:54). When Stephen touched them to the quick, they were mad and could not endure it.
Question: How shall we know that we love the reproofs of the Word?
Answer 1: When we desire to sit under a heart-searching ministry. Who cares for medicines that will not work? A godly man does not choose to sit under a ministry that will not work upon his conscience.
Answer 2: When we pray that the Word may meet with our sins. If there is any traitorous lust in our heart, we would have it found out and executed. We do not want sin covered, but cured. We can open our breast to the bullet of the Word and say, "Lord, smite this sin."
Answer 3: When we are thankful for a reproof: "Let the righteous strike me; It shall be a kindness. And let him rebuke me; It shall be as excellent oil; Let my head not refuse it. For still my prayer is against the deeds of the wicked." (Psa. 141:5). David was glad of a reproof. Suppose a man were in the mouth of a lion, and another should shoot the lion and save the man, would he not be thankful? So, when we are in the mouth of sin, as of a lion, and the minister by a reproof shoots this sin to death, shall we not be thankful? A gracious soul rejoices when the sharp lance of the Word has pierced his abscess. He wears a reproof like a jewel on his ear: "Like an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold is a wise reprover to an obedient ear." (Prov. 25:12).
To conclude, it is convincing preaching which must do the soul good. A nipping reproof prepares for comfort, as a nipping frost prepares for the sweet flowers of spring.
[From The Godly Man's Picture by Thomas Watson, a Puritan Paperback edition published by the Banner of Truth.]
The Preacher and His Bible
by L. R. Shelton, Sr.
[While this article was writen with the preacher in mind, the truths are applicable to all saints who love the Lord our God -RLP]
I want to speak to you this morning on the subject, "The Preacher and His Bible." When God calls a man to preach, He gives him one charge, and that is 2 Tim. 4:1-2, "I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word." The Bible is God's Word, whether anybody believes it. It is established in heaven and was given to man by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Author of the Word, and it is verbally inspired, inerrant, absolute, and unbroken. God never calls a man to preach his opinion, or to preach to suit anybody. He calls a man to preach His Word. The Bible is the Word of God, whether you believe it, or whether anybody believes it.
The Bible is the preacher's companion. He is to study it, meditate upon it, pray over it, and read it until it becomes a part of him and until the Promises are real to him. The Bible is not just a book for the preacher to get a text out of to preach from. He is to preach the Word, the whole counsel of God. If, for one moment, he comes to doubt one jot or tittle of the Book, it would be best for the souls of men if a millstone were tied around his neck and he was cast into the sea. He is not to preach doubts and fears, or maybe so's, or what Dr. So and So thinks or says; he is to preach the Word.
In the first place, the preacher must know the CHRIST of the BIBLE. The Lord Jesus Christ is magnified and exalted in every verse of the Bible from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21. If the preacher does not know the Christ of the Word, the Bible will be, more or less, a closed Book to him, and just something in which to find a text to preach from. I do not mean that you should know "about" Christ, but you must know Him experimentally, know Him personally as your Lord and Savior, as the One who is real to your heart, and about whom you can say, "He is my Beloved, and I am His." The preacher who does not know Christ does not know the Word. The only thing he can do is to rattle Joseph's dry bones. He must not only believe Christ died for him, but he must know Him, whom he has believed.
Second, the preacher needs to learn his Bible mechanically. In other words, he must have a WORKING KNOWLEDGE OF HIS BIBLE; he must know every book in the Bible, where it is located and the central thought or truth of that book. And, remember, you cannot array one part of the Bible over against another. I have actually heard preachers say, in giving charges to young preachers, "Now don't pay any attention to the Old Testament; you preach the New Testament." That smells satanic! You cannot understand the New Testament until you know the Old Testament. You can't understand the Old Testament unless you know the New Testament. The Old Testament is the New Testament concealed; the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed. I was sitting in a graduating class one day when the teacher requested a certain student to turn to the Book of Ephesians and read a passage, giving the chapter and verse. The young man fumbled with his Bible, turning here and there, and finally said to the teacher, "Professor, Ephesians is not in my Bible." Now there was a preacher graduating from the Seminary, and he did not know whether Ephesians was in the New Testament or in the Old, or that it was even in the Bible! So, you must have a working knowledge of your Bible.
In the third place, the preacher must know THE HOLY SPIRIT, the Author of the Word. He must know Him first in indwelling salvation; then he must know Him in His filling presence: he must be filled with the Holy Spirit. Third, he must know the Holy Spirit not only as the One who empowers him, but he must know Him as his Teacher. He must ever be going to school to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit wrote the Word, and therefore He knows the interpretation of the Word. There is no substitute anywhere for the Holy Spirit. I must emphasize this fact because we are living in a day when the Holy Spirit is not known in the average church. If you are born again, you are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and let me say this frankly to you, you will never be happy or know the joy of your salvation until you give over and surrender to the Holy Spirit, who indwells you. But, let me warn you--when. you do that, you say to the world, "Good-bye"; you say to all outside influence, "Good-bye." You turn neither to the right nor to the left: you go straight ahead. (Isa. 30:21) You will be called stubborn, hardheaded, independent, crazy, beside yourself, and everything else that can be imagined by the hearts of unsaved religionists, but, my friend, you will never be able to understand God's Word and preach it in power so that it will open the hearts of men for salvation until you do. I feel sorry for, and pity the little silk-handkerchief, cigarette-sucking preachers today who stand in their pulpits and try to represent our Lord. I do not say that critically; I say it with a heart of pathos and love, which is aching over the saddest situation I have ever witnessed--and that is, to see a man who may be an intellectual giant, yet who stands in the pulpit void of the Holy Spirit. He may have a wonderful flow of words, and he may utter some great truths; but his messages are empty and void of power and never bring men to Christ, although many may make professions under his ministry. The early New Testament preachers were filled with the Holy Ghost, and they set the known world on fine and shook the foundations of hell with their message.
Fourth, the preacher must know THE DOCTRINES OF THE WORD. Another sad situation we face today is, the average preacher does not know what he believes. He has sat in a seminary under men who pick the Word of God to pieces, and who deny the substitutionary death of Christ and put a question mark after the miracles of our Lord, until he does not know what to believe or what to preach. There are seven basic doctrines of God's Word that every preacher must know if he is going to preach the Word in power and preach it intelligently. First, there is the Sovereignty of God--God on the throne--and the Lordship of Christ. Second, he must know the Doctrine of the Total Depravity of man, and know it experimentally. If the only thing that he knows about total depravity is that he was a bad boy, he should quit the ministry before he ever begins. You can only learn what total depravity is when you lie in the dust of repentance at the feet of Christ. Third, he must know Salvation by Grace, or Blood Redemption in Christ He does not learn the way of grace by sitting in a theological class-room; he learns that in the House of Holy Spirit Conviction, and that is the only place he will ever learn it. Fourth, he must know the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit, or he will flounder and never accomplish anything, even though he may rise to the highest position in his denomination. Fifth, he must know the Doctrine of the Second Corning of Christ--not some theory, but what the Bible teaches about the Second Coming of our Lord. Then, the Person and Work of Christ is the center of all these doctrines. The seventh doctrine is the Doctrine of Satan and the spirit world. Would to God our preachers would stop preaching theories and preach THE WORD as it is, to men as they are! God help us in this hour! God give us preachers who know Christ, who know the Holy Spirit, who know the Word, and who will preach it without compromise!
How to Read the Bible
A Sermon
(No. 1503)
Delivered by
C. H. SPURGEON,
At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington
—Matthew 12:3-7.
THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES were great readers of the law. They studied the sacred books continually, poring over each word and letter. They made notes of very little importance, but still very curious notes—as to which was the middle verse of the entire old Testament, which verse was halfway to the middle, and how many times such a word occurred, and even how many times a letter occurred, and the size of the letter, and its peculiar position. They have left us a mass of wonderful notes upon the mere words of Holy Scripture. They might have done the same thing upon another book for that matter, and the information would have been about as important as the facts which they have so industriously collected concerning the letter of the old Testament. They were, however, intense readers of the law. They picked a quarrel with the Saviour upon a matter touching this law, for they carried it at their fingers' ends, and were ready to use it as a bird of prey does its talons to tear and rend. Our Lord's disciples had plucked some ears of corn, and rubbed them between their hands. According to Pharisaic interpretation, to rub an ear of corn is a kind of threshing, and, as it is very wrong to thresh on the Sabbath day, therefore it must be very wrong to rub out an ear or two of wheat when you are hungry on the Sabbath morning. That was their argument, and they came to the Saviour with it, and with their version of the Sabbath law. The Saviour generally carried the war into the enemy's camp, and he did so on this occasion. He met them on their own ground, and he said to them, "Have ye not read?"—a cutting question to the scribes and Pharisees, though there is nothing apparently sharp about it. It was very a fair and proper question to put to them; but only think of putting it to them. "Have ye not read?" "Read!" they could have said, "Why, we have read the book through very many times. We are always reading it. No passage escapes our critical eyes." Yet our Lord proceeds to put the question a second time—"Have ye not read?" as if they had not read after all, though they were the greatest readers of the law then living. He insinuates that they have not read at all; and then he gives them, incidentally, the reason why he had asked them whether they had read. He says, "If ye had known what this meaneth," as much as to say, "Ye have not read, because ye have not understood." Your eyes have gone over the words, and you have counted the letters, and you have marked the position of each verse and word, and you have said learned things about all the books, and yet you are not even readers of the sacred volume, for you have not acquired the true art of reading; you do not understand, and therefore you do not truly read it. You are mere skimmers and glancers at the Word: you have not read it, for you do not understand it.
I scarcely need to preface these remarks by saying that we must read the Scriptures. You know how necessary it is that we should be fed upon the truth of Holy Scripture. Need I suggest the question as to whether you do read your Bibles or not? I am afraid that this is a magazine reading age a newspaper reading age a periodical reading age, but not so much a Bible reading age as it ought to be. In the old Puritanic times men used to have a scant supply of other literature, but they found a library enough in the one Book, the Bible. And how they did read the Bible! How little of Scripture there is in modern sermons compared with the sermons of those masters of theology, the Puritanic divines! Almost every sentence of theirs seems to cast side lights upon a text of Scripture; not only the one they are preaching about, but many others as well are set in a new light as the discourse proceeds. They introduce blended lights from other passages which are parallel or semi-parallel thereunto, and thus they educate their readers to compare spiritual things with spiritual. I would to God that we ministers kept more closely to the grand old Book. We should be instructive preachers if we did so, even if we were ignorant of "modern thought," and were not "abreast of the times." I warrant you we should be leagues ahead of our times if we kept closely to the Word of God. As for you, my brothers and sisters, who have not to preach, the best food for you is the Word of God itself. Sermons and books are well enough, but streams that run for a long distance above ground gradually gather for themselves somewhat of the soil through which they flow, and they lose the cool freshness with which they started from the spring head. Truth is sweetest where it breaks from the smitten Rock, for at its first gush it has lost none of its heavenliness and vitality. It is always best to drink at the well and not from the tank. You shall find that reading the Word of God for yourselves, reading it rather than notes upon it, is the surest way of growing m grace. Drink of the unadulterated milk of the Word of God, and not of the skim milk, or the milk and water of man's word.
But, now, beloved, our point is that much apparent Bible reading is not Bible reading at all. The verses pass under the eye, and the sentences glide over the mind, but there is no true reading. An old preacher used to say, the Word has mighty free course among many nowadays, for it goes in at one of their ears and out at the other; so it seems to be with some readers—they can read a very great deal, because they do not read anything. The eye glances but the mind never rests. The soul does not light upon the truth and stay there. It flits over the landscape as a bird might do, but it builds no nest there, and finds no rest for the sole of its foot. Such reading is not reading. Understanding the metering is the essence of true reading. Reading has a kernel to it, and the mere shed is little worth. In prayer there is such a thing as praying in prayer—a praying that is in the bowels of the prayer. So in praise there is a praising in song, an inward fire of intense devotion which is the life of the hallelujah. It is so in fasting: there is a fasting which is not fasting, and there is an inward fasting, a fasting of the soul, which is the soul of fasting. It is even so with the reading of the Scriptures. There is an interior reading, a kernel reading—a true and living reading of the Word. This is the soul of reading; and, if it be not there, the reading is a mechanical exercise, and profits nothing. Now, beloved, unless we understand what we read we have not read it; the heart of the reading is absent. We commonly condemn the Romanists for keeping the daily service in the Latin tongue; yet it might as well be in the Latin language as in any other tongue if it be not understood by the people. Some comfort themselves with the idea that they have done a good action when they have read a chapter, into the meaning of which they have not entered at all; but does not nature herself reject this as a mere superstition? If you had turned the book upside down, and spent the same times in looking at the characters in that direction, you would have gained as much good from it as you will in reading it in the regular way without understanding it. If you had a New Testament in Greek it would be very Greek to some of you, but it would do you as much good to look at that as it does to look at the English New Testament unless you read with understanding heart. It is not the letter which saves the soul; the letter killeth m many senses, and never can it give life. If you harp on the letter alone you may be tempted to use it as a weapon against the truth, as the Pharisees did of old, and your knowledge of the letter may breed pride in you to your destruction. It is the spirit, the real inner meaning, that is sucked into the soul, by which we are blessed and sanctified. We become saturated with the Word of God, like Gideon's fleece, which was wet with the dew of heaven; and this can only come to pass by our receiving it into our minds and hearts, accepting it as God's truth, and so far understanding it as to delight in it. We must understand it, then, or else we have not read it aright.
Certainly, the benefit of reading must come to the soul by the way of the understanding. When the high priest went into the holy place he always lit the golden candlestick before he kindled the incense upon the brazen altar, as if to show that the mind must have illumination before the affections can properly rise towards their divine object. There must be knowledge of God before there can be love to God: there must be a knowledge of divine things, as they are revealed, before there can be an enjoyment of them. We must try to make out, as far as our finite mind can grasp it, what God means by this and what he means by that; otherwise we may kiss the book and have no love to its contents, we may reverence the letter and yet really have no devotion towards the Lord who speaks to us in these words. Beloved, you will never get comfort to your soul out of what you do not understand, nor find guidance for your life out of what you do not comprehend; nor can any practical bearing upon your character come out of that which is not understood by you.
Now, if we are thus to understand what we read or otherwise we read in vain, this shows us that when we come to the study of Holy Scripture we should try to have our mind well awake to it. We are not always fit, it seems to me, to read the Bible. At times it were well for us to stop before we open the volume. "Put off thy shoe from thy foot, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." You have just come in from careful thought and anxiety about your worldly business, and you cannot immediately take that book and enter into its heavenly mysteries. As you ask a blessing over your meat before you fall to, so it would be a good rule for you to ask a blessing on the word before you partake of its heavenly food. Pray the Lord to strengthen your eyes before you dare to look into the eternal light of Scripture. As the priests washed their feet at the laver before they went to their holy work, so it were well to wash the soul's eyes with which you look upon God's word, to wash even the fingers, if I may so speak—the mental fingers with which you will turn from page to page—that with a holy book you may deal after a holy fashion. Say to your soul—"Come, soul, wake up: thou art not now about to read the newspaper; thou art not now perusing the pages of a human poet to be dazzled by his flashing poetry; thou art coming very near to God, who sits in the Word like a crowned monarch in his halls. Wake up, my glory; wake up, all that is within me. Though just now I may not be praising and glorifying God, I am about to consider that which should lead me so to do, and therefore it is an act of devotion. So be on the stir, my soul: be on the stir, and bow not sleepily before the awful throne of the Eternal." Scripture reading is our spiritual meal time. Sound the gong and call in every faculty to the Lord's own table to feast upon the precious meat which is now to be partaken of; or, rather, ring the church-bell as for worship, for the studying of the Holy Scripture ought to be as solemn a deed as when we lift the psalm upon the Sabbath day in the courts of the Lord's house.
If these things be so, you will see at once, dear friends, that, if you are to understand what you read, you will need to meditate upon it. Some passages of Scripture lie clear before us—blessed shallows in which the lambs may wade; but there are deeps in which our mind might rather drown herself than swim with pleasure, if she came there without caution. There are texts of Scripture which are made and constructed on purpose to make us think. By this means, among others, our heavenly Father won d educate us for heaven—by making us think our way into divine mysteries. Hence he puts the word in a somewhat involved form to compel us to meditate upon it before we reach the sweetness of it. He might, you know, have explained it to us so that we might catch the thought in a minute, but he does not please to do so m every case. Many of the veils which are cast over Scripture are not meant to hide the meaning from the diligent but to compel the mind to be active, for oftentimes the diligence of the heart in seeking to know the divine mind does the heart more good than the knowledge itself. Meditation and careful thought exercise us and strengthen the son for the reception of the yet more lofty truths. I have heard that the mothers in the Balearic Isles, in the old times, who wanted to bring their boys up to be good slingers, would put their dinners up above them where they could not get at them until they threw a stone and fetched them down: our Lord wishes us to be good slingers, and he puts up some precious truth in a lofty place where we cannot get it down except by slinging at it; and, at last, we hit the mark and find food for our souls. Then have we the double benefit of learning the art of meditation and partaking of the sweet truth which it has brought within our reach. We must meditate, brothers. These grapes will yield no wine till we tread upon them. These olives must be put under the wheel, and pressed again and again, that the oil may flow therefrom. In a dish of nuts, you may know which nut has been eaten, because there is a little hole which the insect has punctured through the shell—just a little hole, and then inside there is the living thing eating up the kernel. Well, it is a grand thing to bore through the shell of the letter, and then to live inside feeding upon the kernel. I would wish to be such a little worm as that, living within and upon the word of God, having bored my way through the shell, and having reached the innermost mystery of the blessed gospel. The word of God is always most precious to the man who most lives upon it. As I sat last year under a wide-spreading beech, I was pleased to mark with prying curiosity the singular habits of that most wonderful of trees, which seems to have an intelligence about it which other trees have not. I wondered and admired the beech, but I thought to myself, I do not think half as much of this beech tree as yonder squirrel does. I see him leap from bough to bough, and I feel sure that he dearly values the old beech tree, because he has his home somewhere inside it in a hollow place, these branches are his shelter, and those beech-nuts are his food. He lives upon the tree. It is his world, his playground, his granary, his home; indeed, it is everything to him, and it is not so to me, for I find my rest and food elsewhere. With God's word it is well for us to be like squirrels, living in it and living on it. Let us exercise our minds by leaping from bough to bough of it, find our rest and food in it, and make it our all in all. We shall be the people that get the profit out of it if we make it to be our food, our medicine, our treasury, our armourv, our rest, our delight. May the Holy Ghost lead us to do this and make the Word thus precious to our souls.
Beloved, I would next remind you that for this end we shall be compelled to pray. It is a grand thing to be driven to think, it is a grander thing to be driven to pray through having been made to think. Am I not addressing some of you who do not read the word of God, and am I not speaking to many more who do read it, but do not read it with the strong resolve that they will understand it? I know it must be so. Do you wish to begin to be true readers? Will you henceforth labour to understand? Then you must get to your knees. You must cry to God for direction. Who understands a book best? The author of it. If I want to ascertain the real meaning of a rather twisted sentence, and the author lives near me, and I can call upon him, I shall ring at his door and say, "Would you kindly tell me what you mean by that sentence? I have no doubt whatever that it is very dear, but I am such a simpleton, that I cannot make it out. I have not the knowledge and grasp of the subject which you possess, and therefore your allusions and descriptions are beyond my range of knowledge. It is quite within your range, and commonplace to you, but it is very difficult to me. Would you kindly explain your meaning to me?" A good man would be glad to be thus treated, and would think it no trouble to unravel his meaning to a candid enquirer. Thus I should be sure to get the correct meaning, for I should be going to the fountain head when I consulted the author himself. So, beloved, the Holy Spirit is with us, and when we take his book and begin to read, and want to know what it means, we must ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the meaning. He will not work a miracle, but he will elevate our minds, and he will suggest to us thoughts which will lead us on by their natural relation, the one to the other, till at last we come to the pith and marrow of his divine instruction. Seek then very earnestly the guidance of the Holy Spirit, for if the very soul of reading be the understanding of what we read, then we must in prayer call upon the Holy Ghost to unlock the secret mysteries of the inspired word.
If we thus ask the guidance and teaching of the Holy Spirit, it will follow, dear friends, that we shall be ready to use all means arid helps towards the understanding of the Scriptures. When Philip asked the Ethiopian eunuch whether he understood the prophecy of Isaiah he replied, "How can I, unless some man should guide me?" Then Philip went up and opened to him the word of the Lord. Some, under the pretense of being taught of the Spirit of God refuse to be instructed by books or by living men. This is no honouring of the Spirit of God; it is a disrespect to him, for if he gives to some of his servants more light than to others—and it is clear he does—then they are bound to give that light to others, and to use it for the good of the church. But if the other part of the church refuse to receive that light, to what end did the Spirit of God give it? This would imply that there is a mistake somewhere in the economy of gifts and graces, which is managed by the Holy Spirit. It cannot be so. The Lord Jesus Christ pleases to give more knowledge of his word and more insight into it to some of his servants than to others, and it is ours joyfully to accept the knowledge which he gives in such ways as he chooses to give it. It would be most wicked of us to say, "We will not have the heavenly treasure which exists in earthen vessels. If God will give us the heavenly treasure out of his own hand, but not through the earthen vessel, we will have it; but we think we are too wise, too heavenly minded, too spiritual altogether to care for jewels when they are placed in earthen pots. We will not hear anybody, and we will not read anything except the book itself, neither will we accept any light, except that which comes in through a crack in our own roof. We will not see by another man's candle, we would sooner remain in the dark." Brethren, do not let us fall into such folly. Let the light come from God, and though a child shall bring it, we will joyfully accept it. If any one of his servants, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, shall have received light from him, behold, "all are yours, and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's," and therefore accept of the light which God has kindled, and ask for grace that you may turn that light upon the word so that when you read it you may understand it.
I do not wish to say much more about this, but I should like to push it home upon some of you. You have Bibles at home, I know; you would not like to be without Bibles, you would think you were heathens if you had no Bibles. You have them very neatly bound, and they are very fine looking volumes: not much thumbed, not much worn, and not likely to be so, for they only come out on Sundays for an airing, and they lie in lavender with the clean pocket handkerchiefs all the rest of the week. You do not read the word, you do not search it, and how can you expect to get the divine blessing? If the heavenly gold is not worth digging for you are not likely to discover it. often and often have I told you that the searching of the Scriptures is not the way of salvation. The Lord hath said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." But, still, the reading of the word often leads, like the hearing of it, to faith, and faith bringeth salvation; for faith cometh by hearing, and reading is a sort of hearing. While you are seeking to know what the gospel is, it may please God to bless your souls. But what poor reading some of you give to your Bibles. I do not want to say anything which is too severe because it is not strictly true—let your own consciences speak, but still, I make bold to enquire,—Do not many of you read the Bible m a very hurried way—just a little bit, and off you go? Do you not soon forget what you have read, and lose what little effect it seemed to have? How few of you are resolved to get at its soul, its juice, its life, its essence, and to drink in its meaning. Well, if you do not do that, I tell you again your reading is miserable reading, dead reading, unprofitable reading; it is not reading at all, the name would be misapplied. May the blessed Spirit give you repentance touching this thing.
I think that is in my text, because our Lord says, "Have ye not read?" Then, again, "Have ye not read?" and then he says, "If ye had known what this meaneth"—and the meaning is something very spiritual. The text he quoted was, "I will have mercy, and not sacrifice"—a text out of the prophet Hosea. Now, the scribes and Pharisees were all for the letter—the sacrifice, the killing of the bullock, and so on. They overlooked the spiritual meaning of the passage, "I will have mercy, and not sacrifice"—namely, that God prefers that we should care for our fellow-creatures rather than that we should observe any ceremonial of his law, so as to cause hunger or thirst and thereby death, to any of the creatures that his hands have made. They ought to have passed beyond the outward into the spiritual, and all our readings ought to do the same.
Notice, that this should be the case when we read the historical passages. "Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungered, and they that were with him; how he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shew-bread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?" This was a piece of history, and they ought so to have read it as to have found spiritual instruction in it. I have heard very stupid people say, "Well, I do not care to read the historical parts of Scripture." Beloved friends, you do not know what you are talking about when you say so. I say to you now by experience that I have sometimes found even a greater depth of spirituality in the histories than I have in the Psalms. You will say, "How is that?" I assert that when you reach the inner and spiritual meaning of a history you are often surprised at the wondrous clearness—the realistic force—with which the teaching comes home to your soul. Some of the most marvelous mysteries of revelation are better understood by being set before our eyes in the histories than they are by the verbal declaration of them. When we have the statement to explain the illustration, the illustration expands and vivifies the statement. For instance, when our Lord himself would explain to us what faith was, he sent us to the history of the brazen serpent; and who that has ever read the story of the brazen serpent has not felt that he has had a better idea of faith through the picture of the dying snake-bitten persons looking to the serpent of brass and living, than from any description which even Paul has given us, wondrously as he defines and describes. Never, I pray you, depreciate the historical portions of God's word, but when you cannot get good out of them, say, "That is my foolish head and my slow heart. o Lord, be pleased to clear by brain and cleanse my soul." When he answers that prayer you will feel that every portion of God's word is given by inspiration, and is and must be profitable to you. Cry, "open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law."
Just the same thing is true with regard to all the ceremonial precepts, because the Saviour goes on to say, "Have ye not read in the law, how that on the Sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless?" There is not a~single precept in the old law but has an inner sense and meaning; therefore do not turn away from Leviticus, or say, "I cannot read these chapters in the books of Exodus and Numbers. They are all about the tribes and their standards, the stations in the wilderness and the halts of the march, the tabernacle and furniture, or about golden knops and bowls, and boards, and sockets, and precious stones, and blue and scarlet and fine linen." No, but look for the inner meaning. Make thorough search; for as in a king's treasure that which is the most closely locked up and the hardest to come at is the choicest jewel of the treasure, so is it with the Holy Scriptures. Did you ever go to the British Museum Library? There are many books of reference there which the reader is allowed to take down when he pleases. There are other books for which he must write a ticket, and he cannot get them without the ticket; but they have certain choice books which you will not see without a special order, and then there is an unlocking of doors, and an opening of cases, and there is a watcher with you while you make your inspection. You are scarcely allowed to put your eye on the manuscript, for fear you should blot a letter out by glancing at it; it is such a precious treasure; there is not another copy of it in all the world, and so you cannot get at it easily. Just so, there are choice and precious doctrines of God's word which are locked up in such cases as Leviticus or Solomon's Song, and you cannot get at them without a deal of unlocking of doors and the Holy Spirit himself must be with you, or else you will never come at the priceless treasure. The higher truths are as choicely hidden away as the precious regalia of princes; therefore search as well as read. Do not be satisfied with a ceremonial precept till you reach its spiritual meaning, for that is true reading. You have not read till you understand the spirit of the matter.
It is just the same with the doctrinal statements of God's word. I have sorrowfully observed some persons who are very orthodox, and who can repeat their creed very glibly, and yet the principal use that they make of their orthodoxy is to sit and watch the preacher with the view o framing a charge against him. He has uttered a single sentence which is judged to be half a hair's breadth below the standard! "That man is not sound. He said some good things, but he is rotten at the core, I am certain. He used an expression which was not eighteen ounces to the pound." Sixteen ounces to the pound are not enough for these dear brethren of whom I speak, they must have something more and over and above the shekel of the sanctuary. Their knowledge is used as a microscope to magnify trifling differences. I hesitate not to say that I have come across persons who
"Could a hair divide
Betwixt the west and north-west side,"
in matters of divinity, but who know nothing about the things of God in their real meaning. They have never drank them into their souls, but only sucked them up into their mouths to spit them out on others. The doctrine of election is one thing, but to know that God has predestinated you, and to have the fruit of it m the good works to which you are ordained, is quite another thing. To talk about the love of Christ, to talk about the heaven that is provided for his people, and such things—all this is very well; but this may be done without any personal acquaintance with them. Therefore, beloved, never be satisfied with a sound creed, but desire to have it graven on the tablets of your heart. The doctrines of grace are good, but the grace of the doctrines is better still. See that you have it, and be not content with the idea that you are instructed until you so understand the doctrine that you have felt its spiritual power.
This makes us feel that, in order to come to this, we shall need to feel Jesus present with us whenever we read the word. Mark that fifth verse, which I would now bring before you as part of my text which I have hitherto left out. "Have ye not read in the law, how on the Sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple." Ay, they thought much about the letter of the Word, but they did not know that he was there who is the Sabbath's Master—man's Lord and the Sabbath's Lord, and Lord of everything. oh, when you have got hold of a creed, or of an ordinance, or anything that is outward in the letter, pray the Lord to make you feel that there is something greater than the printed book, and something better than the mere shell of the creed. There is one person greater than they all, and to him we should cry that he may be ever with us. o living Christ, make this a living word to me. Thy word is life, but not without the Holy Spirit. I may know this book of thine from beginning to end, and repeat it all from Genesis to Revelation, and yet it may be a dead book, and I may be a dead soul. But, Lord, be present here; then will I look up from the book to the Lord; from the precept to him who fulfilled it; from the law to him who honoured it; from the threatening to him who has borne it for me, and from the promise to him in whom it is "Yea and amen." Ah, then we shall read the book so differently. He is here with me in this chamber of mine: I must not trifle. He leans over me, he puts his finger along the lines, I can see his pierced hand: I will read it as in his presence. I will read it, knowing that he is the substance of it,—that he is the proof of this book as well as the writer of it; the sum of this Scripture as well as the author of it. That is the way for true students to become wise! You will get at the soul of Scripture when you can keep Jesus with you while you are reading. Did you never hear a sermon as to which you felt that if Jesus had come into that pulpit while the man was making his oration, he would have said, "Go down, go down; what business have you here? I sent you to preach about me, and you preach about a dozen other things. Go home and learn of me, and then come and talk." That sermon which does not lead to Christ, or of which Jesus Christ is not the top and the bottom, is a sort of sermon that will make the devils in hell to laugh, but might make the angel of God to weep, if they were capable of such emotion. You remember the story I told you of the Welshman who heard a young man preach a very fine sermon—a grand sermon, a highfaluting, spread-eagle sermon; and when he had done, he asked the Welshman what he thought of it. The man replied that he did not think anything of it. "And why not?" "Because there was no Jesus Christ in it." "Well," said he, "but my text did not seem to run that way." "Never mind," said the Welshman, "your sermon ought to run that way." "I do not see that, however," said the young man. "No," said the other, "you do not see how to preach yet. This is the way to preach. From every little village in England—it does not matter where it is—there is sure to be a road to London. Though there may not be a road to certain other places, there is certain to be a road to London. Now, from every text in the Bible there is a road to Jesus Christ, and the way to preach is just to say, 'How can I get from this text to Jesus Christ?' and then go preaching all the way along it." "Well, but," said the young man, "suppose I find a text that has not got a road to Jesus Christ." "I have preached for forty years," said the old man, "and I have never found such a Scripture, but if I ever do find one I will go over hedge and ditch but what I will get to him, for I will never finish without bringing in my Master." Perhaps you will think that I have gone a little over hedge and ditch to-night, but I am persuaded that I have not for the sixth verse comes in here, and brings our Lord in most sweetly, setting him in the very forefront of you Bible readers, so that you must not think of reading without feeling that he is there who is Lord and Master of everything that you are reading, and who shall make these things precious to you if you realize him in them. If you do not find Jesus in the Scriptures they will be of small service to you, for what did our Lord himself say? "Ye search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, but ye will not come unto me that ye might have life"; and therefore your searching comes to nothing; you find no life, and remain dead in your sins. May it not be so with us?
It will save us from making a great many mistakes if we get to understand the word of God, and among other good things we shall not condemn the guiltless. I have no time to enlarge upon these benefits, but I will just say, putting all together, that the diligent reading of the word of God with the strong resolve to get at its meaning often begets spiritual life. We are begotten by the word of God: it is the instrumental means of regeneration. Therefore love your Bibles. Keep close to your Bibles. You seeking sinners, you who are seeking the Lord, your first business is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ; but while you are yet in darkness and in gloom, oh love your Bibles and search them! Take them to bed with you, and when you wake up in the morning, if it is too early to go downstairs and disturb the house, get half-an-hour of reading upstairs. Say, "Lord, guide me to that text which shall bless me. Help me to understand how I, a poor sinner, can be reconciled to thee." I recollect how, when I was seeking the Lord, I went to my Bible and to Baxter's "Call to the Unconverted," and to Alleine's "Alarm," and Doddridge's "Rise and Progress," for I said in myself, "I am afraid that I shall be lost but I will know the reason why. I am afraid I never shall find Christ but it shall not be for want of looking for him." That fear used to haunt me, but I said, "I will find him if he is to be found. I will read. I will think." There was never a soul that did sincerely seek for Jesus in the word but by-and-by he stumbled on the precious truth that Christ was near at hand and did not want any looking for; that he was really there, only they, poor blind creatures, were in such a maze that they could not just then see him. Oh, cling you to Scripture. Scripture is not Christ, but it is the silken clue which will lead you to him. Follow its leadings faithfully. When you have received regeneration and a new life, keep on reading, because it will comfort you. You will see more of what the Lord has done for you. You will learn that you are redeemed, adopted, saved, sanctified. Half the errors in the world spring from people not reading their Bibles. Would anybody think that the Lord would leave any one of his dear children to perish, if he read such a text as this,—"I give unto my sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand"? When I read that, I am sure of the final perseverance of the saints. Read, then, the word and it will be much for your comfort.
It will be for your nourishment, too. It is your food as well as your life. Search it and you will grow strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. It will be for your guidance also. I am sure those go rightest who keep closest to the book. Oftentimes when you do not know what to do, you will see a text leaping up out of the book, and saying, "Follow me." I have seen a promise sometimes blaze out before my eyes, just as when an illuminated device flames forth upon a public building. One touch of flame and a sentence or a design flashes out in gas. I have seen a text of Scripture flame forth in that way to my soul; I have known that it was God's word to me, and I have gone on my way rejoicing. And, oh, you will get a thousand helps out of that wondrous book if you do but read it; for, understanding the words more, you will prize it more, and, as you get older, the book will grow with your growth, and turn out to be a greybeard's manual of devotion just as it was aforetime a child's sweet story book. Yes, it will always be a new book—just as new a Bible as it was printed yesterday, and nobody had ever seen a word of it till now; and yet it will be a deal more precious for all the memories which cluster round it. As we turn over its pages how sweetly do we recollect passages in our history which will never be forgotten to all eternity, but will stand for ever intertwined with gracious promises. Beloved, the Lord teach us to read his book of life which he has opened before us here below, so that we may read our titles clear in that other book of love which we have not seen as yet, but which will be opened at the last great day.
The Lord be with you, and bless you.