away in random study of the Bible. The same amount of time put into
systematic study would yield far larger results. Have a definite place
where you are studying and have a definite plan of study. A good way for
a young Christian to begin the study of the Bible is to read the Gospel
of John. When you have read it through once, begin and read it again
until you have gone over the Gospel five times. Then read the Gospel of
Luke five times in the same way; then read the Acts of the Apostles five
times, then 1 Thessalonians five times, then 1 John five times, then
Romans five times, then Ephesians five times.
By this time you will be ready to take up a more thorough method of Bible
study. A good method is to begin at Genesis and read the Bible through
chapter by chapter. Read each chapter through several times and then
answer the following questions on the chapter:
(1) What is the principal subject of the chapter? (State the principal
contents of the chapter in a single phrase or sentence.)
(2) What is the truth most clearly taught and most emphasized in the
chapter?
(3) What is the best lesson?
(4) What is the best verse?
(5) Who are the principal people mentioned?
(6) What does the chapter teach about Jesus Christ? Go through the entire
Bible in this way.
Another and more thorough method of Bible chapter study, which cannot
be applied to every chapter in the Bible, but which will yield excellent
results when applied to some of the more important chapters of the Bible,
is as follows:
(1) Read the chapter for to-day’s study five times, reading it aloud at
least once. Each new reading will bring out some new point.
(2) Divide the chapter into its natural divisions and find headings
for each division that describes in the most striking way the contents
of that division. For example, suppose the chapter studied is 1 John
5. You might divide it in this way: First division, verses 1-3, The
Believer’s Noble Parentage. Second division, verses 4, 5, The Believer’s
Glorious Victory. Third division, verses 6-10, The Believer’s Sure Ground
of Faith. Fourth division, verses 11, 12, The Believer’s Priceless
Possession. Fifth division, verse 13, The Believer’s Blessed Assurance.
Sixth division, verses 14, 15, The Believer’s Unquestioning Confidence.
Seventh division, verses 16, 17, The Believer’s Great Power and
Responsibility. Eighth division, verses 18, 19, The Believer’s Perfect
Security. Ninth division, verse 20, The Believer’s Precious Knowledge.
Tenth division, verse 21, The Believer’s Constant Duty.
(3) Note the important differences between the Authorized Version and the
Revised.
(4) Write down the leading facts of the chapter in their proper order.
(5) Make a note of the persons mentioned in the chapter and of any light
thrown upon their character.
(6) Note the principal lessons of the chapter. It would be well to
classify these. For instance lessons about God; lessons about Christ,
lessons about the Holy Spirit, etc.
(7) Find the central truth of the chapter.
(8) The key verse of the chapter, if there is one.
(9) The best verse in the chapter. Mark it and memorize it.
(10) Write down what new truth you have learned from the chapter.
(11) Write down what truth already known has come to you with new power.
(12) What definite thing have you resolved to do as a result of studying
this chapter. It would be well to study in this way, all the chapters in
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Acts; the first eight chapters of Romans; 1
Cor. 12, 13 and 15; first six chapters of 2 Corinthians; all the chapters
in Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, First Thessalonians and First
Epistle of John. It would be well at times to vary this by taking up
other methods of study for a time.
Another profitable method of Bible study is the topical method. This was
Mr. Moody’s favourite method of study. Take up the great topics of which
the Bible teaches such as, the Holy Spirit, Prayer, the Blood of Christ,
Sin, Judgment, Grace, Justification, the New Birth, Sanctification,
Faith, Repentance, the Character of Christ, the Resurrection of Christ,
the Ascension of Christ, the Second Coming of Christ, Assurance, Love of
God, Love (to God, to Christ, to Christians, to all men), Heaven, Hell.
Get a Bible text-book and go through the Bible on each one of these
topics. (Other methods of Bible study, and more thorough methods for the
advanced student, will be found in the author’s book “HOW TO STUDY THE
BIBLE FOR GREATEST PROFIT.”)
3. We should _study the Bible comprehensively_—the whole Bible. Many who
read their Bibles make the great mistake of confining all their reading
to certain portions of the Bible that they enjoy, and in this way they
get no knowledge of the Bible as a whole. They miss altogether many of
the most important phases of Bible truth. Begin and go through the Bible
again and again—a certain portion each day from the Old Testament and a
portion from the New Testament. Read carefully at least one Psalm every
day.
It is well oftentimes to read a whole book of the Bible through at a
single sitting. Of course, with a few books of the Bible this would take
one or two hours, but with most of the books of the Bible it can be done
in a few minutes. With the shorter books of the Bible they should be read
through again and again at a single sitting.
4. _Study the Bible attentively._ Do not hurry. One of the worst faults
in Bible study is haste and heedlessness. The Bible only does good by the
truth that it contains. It has no magic power. It is better to read one
verse attentively than to read a dozen chapters thoughtlessly. Sometimes
you will read a verse that takes hold of you. Don’t hurry on. Linger and
ponder that verse. As you read, mark in your Bible what impresses you
most. One does not need an elaborate system of Bible marking, simply
mark what impresses you. Meditate upon what you mark. God pronounces
that man blessed who “meditates” in God’s law day and night (Ps. 1: 2).
It is wonderful how a verse of Scripture will open if one reads it over
and over again and again, paying attention to each word as he reads
it, trying to get its exact meaning and its full meaning. Memorize the
passages that impress you most (Ps. 119: 11, R. V.). When you memorize
a passage of Scripture, memorize its location as well as its words. Fix
in your mind chapter and verse where the words are found. A busy but
spiritually-minded man who was hurrying to catch a train once said to
me, “Tell me in a word how to study my Bible.” I replied, “Thoughtfully.”
5. _Study your Bible comparatively._ That is compare Scripture with
Scripture. The best commentary on the Bible is the Bible itself. Wherever
you find a difficult passage in the Bible, there is always some passage
elsewhere that explains its meaning. The best book to use in this
comparison of Scripture with Scripture is “The Treasury of Scripture
Knowledge.” On every verse in the Bible this book gives a large number
of references. It is well to take up some book of the Bible and go
through that book verse by verse, looking up carefully and studying every
reference given in “The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.” This is a very
fruitful method of Bible study. It is also well in studying the Bible by
chapters to look up the references on the more important verses in the
chapter. One will get more light on passages of Scripture by looking up
the references given in “The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge,” than in
any other way I know.
6. _Study your Bible believingly._ The Apostle Paul in writing to the
Christians in Thessalonica says, “For this cause also thank we God
without ceasing, because, when ye received the Word of God which ye heard
of us, ye received it not as the Word of men, but as it is in truth,
the Word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe” (1
Thess. 2: 13). Happy is the one who receives the Word of God as these
believers in Thessalonica received it, who receives it as what it really
is, the Word of God. In such a one it “works effectually.” The Bible is
the Word of God and we get the most out of any book by studying it as
what it really is. It is often said that we should study the Bible just
as we study any other book. That principle contains a truth, but it also
contains a great error. The Bible, it is true, is a book as other books
are books, the same laws of grammatical and literary construction hold
here as in other books, but the Bible is a unique book. It is what no
other book is, the Word of God. This can be easily proven to any candid
man.[1] The Bible ought then to be studied as no other book is. It should
be studied as the Word of God. This involves five things:
(1) A greater eagerness and more careful and candid study to find out
just what it teaches than is bestowed upon all other books. It is
important to know the mind of man. It is absolutely essential to know the
mind of God. The place to discover the mind of God is the Bible. This is
the book in which God reveals His mind.
(2) A prompt and unquestioning acceptance of, and submission to its
teachings when definitely ascertained. These teachings may appear to us
unreasonable or impossible, nevertheless we should accept them. If this
book is the Word of God, how foolish it is to submit its teachings to
the criticism of our finite reasoning. A little boy who discredits his
wise father’s statements simply because to his infant mind they appear
unreasonable, is not a philosopher, but a fool. But the greatest of
human thinkers is only an infant compared with the infinite God. And
to discredit God’s statements found in His Word because they appear
unreasonable to our infantile minds is not to act the part of the
philosopher, but the part of a fool. When we are once satisfied that the
Bible is the Word of God, its clear teachings must be for us the end of
all controversy and discussion.
(3) Absolute reliance upon all its promises in all their length and
breadth and depth and height. The one who studies the Bible as the Word
of God will say of any promise, no matter how vast and beyond belief it
appears, “God who cannot lie has promised this, so I will claim it for
myself.” Mark the promise you thus claim. Look each day for some new
promise from your infinite Father. He has put “His riches in glory”
at your disposal (Phil. 4: 19). I know of no better way to grow rich
spiritually than to search daily for promises, and when you find them
appropriate them to yourself.
(4) Obedience. Be a doer of the Word and not a hearer only deceiving
your own soul (James 1: 22). Nothing goes farther to help one understand
the Bible than the purpose to obey it. Jesus said, “If any man willeth
to do His will, he shall know of the teaching” (John 7: 17 R. V.). The
surrendered will means the clear eye. If our eye is single (that is, our
will is absolutely surrendered to God) our whole body shall be full of
light. But if our eye be evil (that is, if we are trying to serve two
masters and are not absolutely surrendered to one Master, God) our whole
body shall be full of darkness (Matt. 6: 22-24). Many a passage that
looks obscure to you now would become as clear as day if you were willing
to obey in all things what the Bible teaches. Each commandment discovered
in the Bible that is really intended as a commandment to us should be
obeyed instantly. It is remarkable how soon one loses his relish for
the Bible and how soon the mind becomes obscured to its teachings when
we disobey the Bible at any point. Many a time I have known persons who
have loved their Bibles and have been useful in God’s service and clear
in their views of the truth who have come to something in the Bible that
they were unwilling to obey, some sacrifice was demanded that they were
unwilling to make, and their love for the Bible has rapidly waned, their
faith in the Bible began to weaken, and soon they were drifting farther
and farther away from clear views of the truth. Nothing clears the mind
like obedience; nothing darkens the mind like disobedience. To obey a
truth you see prepares you to see other truths. To disobey a truth you
see darkens your mind to all truths.
Cultivate prompt, exact, unquestioning, joyous obedience to every command
that it is evident from its context applies to you. Be on the lookout for
new orders from your King. Blessing lies in the direction of obedience to
them. God’s commands are but sign-boards that mark the road to present
success and blessedness and to eternal glory.
(5) Studying the Bible as the Word of God involves studying it as His own
voice speaking directly to you. When you open the Bible to study realize
that you have come into the very presence of God and that now He is going
to speak to you. Realize that it is God who is talking to you as much as
if you saw Him standing there. Say to yourself, “God is now going to
speak to me.” Nothing goes farther to give a freshness and gladness to
Bible study than the realization that as you read God is actually talking
to you. In this way Bible study becomes personal companionship with God
Himself. That was a wonderful privilege that Mary had one day, of sitting
at the feet of Jesus and listening to His voice, but if we will study the
Bible as the Word of God and as if we were in God’s very presence, then
we shall enjoy the privilege of sitting at the feet of God and having Him
talk to us every day. How often what would otherwise be a mere mechanical
performance of a duty would become a wonderfully joyous privilege if one
would say as he opens the Bible, “Now God, my Father, is going to speak
to me.” Oftentimes it helps us to a realization of the presence of God to
read the Bible on our knees. The Bible became in some measure a new book
to me when I took to reading it on my knees.
7. _Study the Bible prayerfully._ God, who is the author of the Bible,
is willing to act as interpreter of it. He does so when you ask Him to.
The one who prays with earnestness and faith the Psalmist’s prayer, “Open
Thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law” (Ps.
119: 18) will get his eyes opened to see new beauties and wonders in the
Word of God that he never dreamed of before. Be very definite about
this. Each time you open the Bible to study it, even though it is but for
a few minutes, ask God to give you an open and discerning eye, and expect
Him to do it. Every time you come to a difficulty in the Bible, lay it
before God and ask an explanation and expect it. How often we think as we
puzzle over hard passages, “Oh, if I only had some great Bible teacher
here to explain this to me!” God is always present. He understands the
Bible better than any human teacher. Take your difficulty to Him and ask
Him to explain it. Jesus said, “When He the Spirit of Truth is come,
He shall guide you into all the truth” (John 16: 13, R. V.). It is the
privilege of the humblest believer in Christ to have the Holy Spirit for
his guide in his study of the Word. I have known many very humble people,
people with almost no education, who got more out of their Bible study
than most of the great theological teachers that I have known; simply
because they had learned that it was their privilege to have the Holy
Spirit for their teacher as they studied the Bible. Commentaries on the
Bible are oftentimes of great value, but one will learn more of real
value from the Bible by having the Holy Spirit for his teacher when he
studies his Bible than he will from all the commentaries that were ever
published.
8. _Improve spare moments for Bible study._ In almost every man’s life
many minutes each day are lost, while waiting for meals, riding on
trains, going from place to place in street-cars and so forth. Carry
a pocket Bible or Testament with you and save these golden moments by
putting them to the very best use, listening to the voice of God.
9. _Store away the Scripture in your mind and heart._ It will keep you
from sin (Ps. 119: 11, R. V.); from false doctrine (Acts 20: 29, 30, 32;
2 Tim. 3: 13-15). It will fill your heart with joy (Jer. 15: 16); and
peace (Ps. 85: 8). It will give you victory over the evil one (1 John
2: 14); it will give you power in prayer (John 15: 7); it will make you
wiser than the aged and your enemies (Ps. 119: 98, 100, 130); it will
make you “complete, furnished completely unto every good work” (2 Tim. 3:
16, 17, R. V.). Try it. Do not memorize at random but memorize Scripture
in a connected way; memorize texts bearing on various subjects in proper
order; memorize by chapter and verse that you may know where to put
your finger on the text if any one disputes it. You should have a good
Bible for your study. One of the best is “The Oxford Two Version Bible,
Workers’ Edition.”
VIII
DIFFICULTIES IN THE BIBLE
Sooner or later every young Christian comes across passages in the
Bible which are hard to understand and difficult to believe. To many
a young Christian, these difficulties become a serious hindrance in
the development of their Christian life. For days and weeks and months
oftentimes faith suffers partial or total eclipse. At just this point
wise counsel is needed. We have no desire to conceal the fact that these
difficulties exist. We rather desire to frankly face and consider them.
What shall we do concerning these difficulties that every thoughtful
student of the Bible will sooner or later encounter.
1. _The first thing we have to say about these difficulties is that from
the very nature of the case difficulties are to be expected._ Some people
are surprised and staggered because there are difficulties in the Bible.
I would be more surprised and more staggered if there were not. What is
the Bible? It is a revelation of the mind and will and character and
being of the infinitely great, perfectly wise, and absolutely holy God.
But to whom is this revelation made? To men and women like you and me, to
finite beings. To men who are imperfect in intellectual development and
consequently in knowledge, and in character and consequently in spiritual
discernment.
There must, from the very necessities of the case, be difficulties
in such a revelation made to such persons. When the finite tries to
understand the infinite there is bound to be difficulty. When the
ignorant contemplate the utterances of one perfect in knowledge there
must be many things hard to be understood and some things which to their
immature and inaccurate minds appear absurd. When sinful beings listen to
the demands of an absolutely holy being they are bound to be staggered at
some of His demands, and when they consider His dealings they are bound
to be staggered at some of His dealings. These dealings will necessarily
appear too severe, stern, harsh, terrific. It is plain that there must be
difficulties for us in such a revelation as the Bible is proven to be. If
some one should hand me a book that was as simple as the multiplication
table and say, “This is the Word of God, in which He has revealed His
whole will and wisdom,” I would shake my head and say, “I cannot believe
it. That is too easy to be a perfect revelation of infinite wisdom.”
There must be in any complete revelation of God’s mind and will and
character and being, things hard for a beginner to understand, and the
wisest and best of us are but beginners.
2. _The second thing to be said about these difficulties is that a
difficulty in a doctrine, or a grave objection to a doctrine, does not
in any wise prove the doctrine to be untrue._ Many thoughtless people
fancy that it does. If they come across some difficulty in the way of
believing in the divine origin and absolute inerrancy and infallibility
of the Bible, they at once conclude that the doctrine is exploded. That
is very illogical. Stop a moment and think and learn to be reasonable and
fair. There is scarcely a doctrine in science commonly believed to-day
that has not had some great difficulty in the way of its acceptance. When
the Copernican theory, now so universally accepted, was first proclaimed,
it encountered a very grave difficulty. If this theory were true the
planet Venus should have phases as the moon has. But no phases could be
discovered by the best glass then in existence. But the positive argument
for the theory was so strong that it was accepted in spite of this
apparently unanswerable objection. When a more powerful glass was made,
it was discovered that Venus had phases after all. The whole difficulty
arose, as all those in the Bible arise, from man’s ignorance of some of
the facts in the case. According to the common sense logic recognized
in every department of science, if the positive proof of a theory is
conclusive, it is believed by rational men, in spite of any number of
difficulties in minor details. Now the positive proof that the Bible is
the Word of God, that it is an absolutely trustworthy revelation from God
Himself of Himself, His purposes and His will, of man’s duty and destiny,
of spiritual and eternal realities, is absolutely conclusive. Therefore
every rational man and woman must believe it in spite of any number of
difficulties in minor details. He is a shallow thinker who gives up a
well-attested truth because of some facts which he cannot reconcile with
that truth. And he is a very shallow Bible scholar who gives up the
divine origin and inerrancy of the Bible because there are some supposed
facts that he cannot reconcile with that doctrine.
3. _The third thing to be said about the difficulties in the Bible is
that there are many more and much greater difficulties in the way of a
doctrine that holds the Bible to be of human origin, and hence fallible,
than are in the way of the doctrine that holds the Bible to be of divine
origin and hence altogether trustworthy._ A man may bring you some
difficulty and say, “How do you explain that if the Bible is the Word
of God?” and perhaps you may not be able to answer him satisfactorily.
Then he thinks he has you, but not at all. Turn on him and ask him how do
you account for the fulfilled prophecies of the Bible if it is of human
origin? How do you account for the marvellous unity of the Book? How
do you account for its inexhaustible depth? How do you account for its
unique power in lifting men up to God? How do you account for the history
of the Book, its victory over all men’s attacks, etc., etc., etc. For
every insignificant objection he can bring to your view, you can bring
many deeply significant objections to his view, and no candid man will
have any difficulty in deciding between the two views. The difficulties
that confront one who denies that the Bible is of divine origin and
authority are far more numerous and weighty than those that confront the
ones who believes it is of divine origin and authority.
4. _The fourth thing to be said about the difficulties in the Bible
is the fact that you cannot solve a difficulty does not prove that it
cannot be solved, and the fact that you cannot answer an objection does
not prove at all that it cannot be answered._ It is passing strange how
often we overlook this very evident fact. There are many who, when they
meet a difficulty in the Bible and give it a little thought and can see
no possible solution, at once jump at the conclusion that a solution is
impossible by any one, and so throw up their faith in the reliability of
the Bible and in its divine origin. A little more of that modesty that
is becoming in beings so limited in knowledge as we all are would have
led them to say, “Though I see no possible solution to this difficulty,
some one a little wiser than I might easily find one.” Oh! if we would
only bear in mind that we do not know everything, and that there are a
great many things that we cannot solve now that we could easily solve
if we only knew a little more. Above all, we ought never to forget that
there may be a very easy solution to infinite wisdom of that which to
our finite wisdom—or ignorance—appears absolutely insoluble. What would
we think of a beginner in algebra who, having tried in vain for half an
hour to solve a difficult problem, declared that there was no possible
solution to the problem because he could find none? A man of much
experience and ability once left his work and came a long distance to see
me in great perturbation of spirit because he had discovered what seemed
to him a flat contradiction in the Bible. It had defied all his attempts
at reconciliation, but in a few moments he was shown a very simple and
satisfactory solution of the difficulty.