STUDY OF SCRIPTURE
STUDY OF SCRIPTURE
No. 1. To ascertain the one great subject of Scripture, to the expression and development of which the whole without interruption conspires.
No. 2. In reading it, to be convinced of its plenary inspiration, and because of this, to note down every word and ascertain its meaning, which is best done by writing the word and seeing then the use made of it.
No. 3. To read a distinct book at a time and seek the leading idea or aim of it, which is easy to do, but not so easy to sustain through all the parts of the book. To connect all these points like the parts of a map is very useful.
No. 4. To take a subject and see how it is exemplified in different parts by different aspects and different characters. This gives power in the practical application of Scripture.
No. 5. To read the Scripture ad libitum, by which the soul acquires a colour and tone. In trouble,
[p. 445] sorrow, or conflict, it is wonderful the effect which reading Scripture will have on you - you are carried into its mind and current, almost unknown to yourself. It is change of air and scene, the best restorative power to the moral invalid. The better we understand No. 1, that is, the grand aim of Scripture, the more strength do we imbibe from reading it, even in a desultory way.
The aim of all discipline is to free me of everything which hinders Christ in me; so that, while the ministry of the word opens out to me the beauty and glory of my position in Christ, the discipline through circumstances detaches me from the weights which hinder me here. It is ever where a believer has most vanity or self-confidence that discipline makes its mark. If Jacob be a very active man he becomes lame. If Moses be a very muscular man he must learn by forty years in the wilderness not to trust in himself. And Paul is crippled where he feels most. God will stain the pride of all men. The sanctified man is a body of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give its glow, every dark part driven out and Christ reigning in the heart, the body simply His vessel or medium for expressing His own will and pleasure.
I am about to utter a short sentence of only seven words; but if you understand it, you are well-taught christians. It is this: Where man was removed God was expressed.
The more you follow one Person alone, the more simple your path will be. The reason people find their path so difficult is that they have not a single eye for a single Person.