Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal
life: and they are they which testify of me.--_John 5, 39._
This year marks an event of more than passing interest to the
English-speaking world, _viz._, the tercentenary or 300th birthday
of the translation of the Bible. It was in 1611, early in the
summer, when, after seven years of the most painstaking labors,
the most scholarly men of that time completed and turned over for
publication their manuscripts. It was styled the King James Version
or Translation, because it was with the help and patronage of that
monarch of England, King James, that it was issued; and so as the
Germans speak of Dr. Luther's Bible translation, the English speak
of King James' Version.
It is this translation of God's Word that lies before us, for though
in the past three centuries there have been more than a score
of worthy revisions, none has dislodged this from its place of
supremacy, and so it is fitting that grateful mention should be made
of the glorious work, the blessings of which continue to flow out to
us whenever we open the holy pages.
It must be remembered that the Bible, prior to these translations,
was a sealed book. One seal was the tyrannical policy of the
Church of Rome, that forbade the people to read it for themselves.
Chained to the altar of some cathedral or to the wall of some
library, like that which Luther discovered in the University at
Erfurt, it was securely clasped and locked. The only persons who
had anything to do with it were the monks, who in their dark and
obscure cells would spend their days mechanically copying the sacred
parchments. It was in this respect, indeed, a sealed book. Another
seal were the languages in which it was written, so that, even if
the people had possessed a copy, they would for that reason have
been unable to read it; Hebrew, Greek, and Latin were things they
could not understand and read. And to this might be added another
seal, _viz._, that the Church of Rome had well seen to it that the
majority of the people could not read at all. Ignorance among the
masses was profound.
Now, thank God, no such seals exist. There is no prohibition of
Bible reading in this land. There are to-day more Bibles than ever;
it is the very best seller of all books, and no one dares forbid
us to read God's Word as freely as we please. We also have the
Scriptures in our own tongue, and never has there been a time in the
world's history when people were as universally able to read. And
yet, glorious as this all is, is it not true that the Bible is a
book that is shut and sealed? Which is that seal? That seal, my dear
hearers, is one of the people's own making, one that they themselves
place upon it,--it is a lack of genuine study of it. They do not
go and search the Scriptures that they may learn the wonderful
things it has to teach them. If, then, I shall succeed in a measure
to break that seal, and to stimulate you to Bible study, I shall
consider that God has blessed the humble effort of His servant.
We shall regard this morning: _I. Why you should read your Bibles._
_II. How you should read them._
Why you should read them. Because God says so. "Search the
Scriptures," is His plain and authoritative command. We are well
enough acquainted with the arguments of Rome that would tell us it
is a great mistake to let every layman read the Bible. See what
confusion it has caused. Whence came all these hundred and one
different sects, these endless conflicting opinions, this skepticism
among you Protestants? Is it not because you permit every one,
without distinction and discrimination, to read the Bible? To which
we answer: By no means. That is not the fault of the Bible. That
some have wrested the Scripture to their own harm, misused it, does
not do away with its proper use. God has beautifully made this
world, and it is full of His blessing; that some, in selfishness and
sinfulness, abuse it, is not His fault nor that of His gifts. He
has given man His only-begotten Son for their salvation; the fact
that hundred thousands do not accept and believe in Him is not God's
fault, nor His Son's, nor His Gospel's, nor His Church's fault. Just
as destitute of all sound reason it is to place the abuses which
some have made with the Bible to the Bible itself.
No, clearly, distinctly, positively rings out God's command: "Search
the Scriptures." He bids us do it. He points to each and every one
of us, as if to say, "Thou do it." Does it not lie in the very
nature of the Book? For whom did He cause it to be written? For the
clergy, that the ministers might have some texts to preach on? No
more so than He gave the Ten Commandments only to the clergy. They
are the universal possession, they are for all the laity as well
as the clergy. And to whom, as you examine the Inspired Volume,
are most of its contents directed? There are the fourteen letters,
or epistles, of St. Paul. A few of them, like those to Timothy and
Titus, are addressed to a clergyman, but the greater majority are
addressed to the congregations at Rome, at Ephesus, at Philippi, at
Thessalonica, and so forth, to the members accordingly. Moreover,
the direction in many places is, that the hearers should examine
what the preachers say, lest they preach something contrary to the
Scriptures. How could the hearers do this if they were prohibited
from reading the Bible? Away, then, with this opinion that is
gaining ground, that the Bible is a professional clergyman's
text-book, and let the personal application strike home in your own
case, Thou shalt search the Scriptures.
And one other reason does God furnish us in the text why we should
read it. He says, "For in them ye think ye have eternal life; and
they are they which testify of me." Those are deep, wonderful words;
they tell what Bible reading benefits, brings us, _viz._, eternal
life. That this present life is not all there is to life, that there
is a life besides and after this, that all men in all ages and in
all countries have conjectured; that life is dependent upon a right
relation to God, this, too, an inward monitor, called conscience,
however unwelcome may be its voice, tells every one with greater or
less distinctness; but how man is to get into right relations with
his God, to that problem one book, the Bible, and it alone, holds
the key. What is that key? The text says it: "Search the Scriptures;
for in them ye think we have eternal life, and they are they which
testify of me." "Me," is the speaker, Jesus Christ, and doing what
the text directs, we find that everywhere does it link "life" with
Christ. "I," says Jesus, "am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life."
"I am the Resurrection and the Life." "I am come that ye might have
life." The writings of the Apostles are full of the same thought:
"In Him was life." "He that hath the Son hath life." "He that
believeth not the Son shall not see life." "This is life eternal to
know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent."
Would we, then, have life, life that is life indeed, spiritual life,
life that passes over into eternal life, then must we find it in
Christ, and this is the teaching of the text, and its application
to us; to find Christ you must read your Bible. Outside of what the
Bible tells us there is no salvation, no hope, no life. Let that
thought, I pray you, sink down indelibly into your minds. There are
some certain truths which men may know without the Bible,--that
there is a God; that this God has certain attributes; that He is
almighty, all-knowing, holy, just, gracious; for it is only an
almighty Being that could have created, only an all-wise Being
that could so adequately have fitted up this universe. Men also
know without the Bible that there is a difference between good and
evil, and that the one is to be done and the other left undone.
Likewise they have a strong notion that man is immortal, and that
there is a future state. These few things men may know without the
Scriptures, and these few even only imperfectly. But when it comes
to the questions: Who is God? What is His will? What His purposes
toward us men, purposes of damnation for offenses and sins committed
against His holiness? What guarantee have you that there is a life
beyond this? And what sort of a life is it? Who has ever brought
us information regarding it? What can afford me peace against a
conscience that convicts me of wrong and offense against the holy
God? When, as stated, it comes to deal with such and innumerable
other questions, there is only one source of information, one book
that can enlighten and instruct us, and that is this Book which
God Himself has inspired to be written; in which He has revealed
Himself, according to His person and His attributes; in which He
proclaims His plan of salvation for the sinful and condemned race
of men, and opens out to them with divine assurance the gates of
immortality and life. There is none equal to it, nothing like it, it
stands in a class all to itself,--it is not man's book, but God's.
Wouldst thou, then, my dear hearer, know these things that affect
thy soul, thy salvation, thy everlasting destiny, then take this
volume and read. So much as to the first concern, why we should read
it. Because God commands it. Because of what it brings us. And now
let us regard: How should we read it?
Here I would say, first, regularly, with pious consistency. It is
well enough for a person to come to church on Sunday. As long as
he does that, and attends to what is going on there, his soul is
not left altogether without spiritual nourishment. But church comes
only once a week, and if the soul gets no spiritual food beyond
what it may pick up there, I leave you to judge whether it is
likely to shoot up into a strong and healthy growth of godliness.
The First Psalm describes the godly man as delighting in the Law
of the Lord, and in His Law doth he meditate both day and night.
Time, indeed, for the most of us may be very limited; but none of
us--I say that without fear of challenge--but can, if he wishes and
so wills, find a few minutes to read a verse or two when he comes
home in the evening, or before he goes to work in the morning, or
while going to work, and a couple of verses well thought over will
do a person more good than whole chapters swallowed without thought.
Resolve to do but this little, my dear hearers, and God, who judges
us according to our means, and who looked with greater favor on the
two mites of the poor widow than on all the golden offerings of the
rich, will accept your two verses and enable your souls to grow and
gain strength by this their daily food. The doctors tell us that our
health is largely determined by the regularity of our habits, and
this is as true of our spiritual health as of our bodily. There is
none of us who fails to take a glance at the daily paper,--why not
at the Bible? Be regular.
Then, again, as you have time, read it carefully. That is the
direction of the text. The word "search" in the original is a very
strong one, much stronger than "read." It may be rendered "ransack."
Turn up and down,--bring all your industry to bear upon the quest.
One trouble with our hearers is that they imagine that they are
pretty well familiar with all the Bible has to tell them, and the
result is that they miss the wealth of its hidden treasures. But
there is no royal road to Bible knowledge. It calls for thought,
earnest research, and thorough investigation. For that reason every
one, to become right practical, every member of the family should
have a Bible of his or her own, of clear type and good paper, and
of substantial binding. On the margin that Bible ought to have
the marginal references of which I spoke to you at length in a
former service. In the rear of your Bible have a concordance; there
you will find a large number of passages on a certain topic, for
instance, prayer. Look them up in your Bible, compare them, and you
will learn what the Bible has to say regarding prayer. So of other
subjects, such as faith, charity, redemption, and the like. It is
profitable and delightful work. It is like digging out gold. You
will not mind the labor in the fascinating charm it has for you.
And to this you may add as a most helpful guide a good commentary
written by some sincere lover of God's Word. What other devout and
learned students of God's Word have written it is well for us to
profit by in our understanding of the precious volume.
Not a charm or an ornament to keep on our shelves or to lock up in
our closets, not a story-book to read for amusement, is the Bible,
but, as the text tells us, the means of giving us eternal life in
Christ Jesus; and so we ought to make use of it.
There, then, it is--Holy Bible, Book Divine, our chief treasure in
this sin-darkened world, giving strength, comfort, and salvation.
Ah! who should not prize it, read it, search it? God make us
ministers and our members Bible students; how much better ministers,
how much better members we would then be!
May God bless the words of our lips and the meditation of our
hearts! Amen.