SUNDAY READING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14133, 7 August 1909, Page 4 (Supplement)

SUNDAY READING.

WHY WE GET SO LITTLEOOUrT r OB ?

• THE BIBLE. ' ' ' :BT BEV. B. A. TOBBET, D.D. » V \< There are very many people who listen with wonder to others as they give out the results of their study of the Bible, and >\ then are deeply perplexed .that their own study yields no such fruit. Much of Bible .' v reading and Bible study has little profit, in, ; it. There are various reasons for this.

Wrong method: The first is, tlho use of a poor method of Bible study. The reading and study of many is without any ) method or system whatever, quite at random. Everyone should adopt some method and be sure that it v is a good one. It would not be wise' in this chapter to attempt to even outline a single method of Bible study, and no one method will suffice. We need, / to follow several methods if we are to get the full measure of profit from, our study. We would suggest that the reader go to some one whose own study has proved itself richly fruitful, and ask him to show how he studies his Bible. But a few characteristics of a vicious method can be pointed out. Any method that spends more time in studying about the Bible than in digging , into the actual (tontents of the book is a thoroughly • vicious method of Bible study. Questions regarding the authorship of the various portions of Scripture, the date and manner of their compositions, etc., are doubtless of great importance, but they are not as important as the divine truth contained in the books themselves. Yet one frequently meets with those who are thoroughly up in the latest discussions regarding the sources of the Pentateuch or Hexateuch, and the authorship and date of 'Isaiah and the Psalms, who betray the densest ignoranco regarding the priceless truth contained in these various portions of the Word of God. A bright college student, in commenting on the fruitlessness of Im class work in tho Bible, recently said, "We have spent tho whole year trying .to find' who wroto the Pentateuch."

A method of ."study of the contents of" the. books that occupies itself more with the mere details of history, chronology, and geography than it does with the great truths taught and illustrated, is a vicious method of study. I. once examined an elaborate system of Bible study, covering one of therichest portions of the Book, and yet the analysis and questions and suggestions for study were almost entirely taken up with matters of historical and geographical set-, ting, and very little with the essential and eternal truth thus set. . . ./

Think closely: Any method of study thai: does not demand close thought and hard work is a hopelessly vicious method. People arc seeking for some easy method of Bible study. There is no easy method that is of any value. God never puts gold where it can be got without hard work. Any good method of study will demand time, close application, and hard work. 16 need hardly •be said that the reward of a, wise expenditure of time arid labour in this direction will be . exceeding great. Much study of the Bible bears little fruit because of a failure to concentrate the thought upon that which is being studied. The mind is constantly wandering to other matters. Whole chapters are read through, and scarce a thought in them has penetrated the mind, much less fixed itself there. But no other book demands such concentration of thought for its understanding and appreciation. We must then seek out a method of study that compels concentration of thought. - ,

Meditate: The failure to meditate upon what is read is responsible for much fruitless Bible study. There is a d«ep wisdom in the words of the Psalmist when ho pronounces that man happy who meditates in the law of the Lord day and night (Ps/ i. 1. 2). Meditation .is the method of intellectual and spiritual digestion and assimilation. It is wonderful how verses and - chapters and books of the Bible open up as one meditates upon them. The failure to make personal application of the truth : discovered in Bible study lies at the root-, of . its fruitlessness in many instances. In | ' our .study of the Bible the question before, our minds should always be, What is there her© for me? What duty is pointed out' ' hero for me to do? What lino of action is' suggested _ here for me to follow? Whatprivilege is here revealed for mo to claim?i. What promise is here proclaimed for me;; to make xmy own T In this way our life, win be steadily enlarging into the measurd of that perfect life which is set forth in tW Bible. _ Happy is the man who stands be-* fore his Bible with the determination that' ' every command in it ho will obey, every' ' promise m it ho will appropriate, and every • privilege x declared in it he will claim for, himself, and who is constantly on tho lookout for new commands to follow, new promises to lay hold of, and new privileges to \ make his own. But how many there - are who study their Bibles, and seemingly get quite a clear understanding of their meaning, but upon whose minds it never seems to dawn that these inexorable commands, these stupendous promises, these immeasurable privileges are for me! If you belongto this class, learn to read your Bible in' a new way, as the voice of " the living God speaking directly to you. r ' 1 purposo: M any get little out of' ii w j t soe of the richest portions' of - the Word of God because they have nob learned, or have failed to bear in mind, that the central purpose of all Scripture is to bear witness of Jesus Christ, that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of ' prophecy" (Rev. xix. 10). It was when Jesus expounded to the two on the way to Kmmaus " in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself" that their hearts burned, within them (Luke xxiv. 27, 32) In a similar way will our hearts bo 'made to glow if the Scriptures are oDen to us in such a way that we see Christ-in them. How wearisome are all tho details about the tabernacle and the sacrifices and the high priest and - his garments if we have not learned to look for the truths here set forth concerning the Word which' was - made flesh and tabernacled among us" (John i 14, see Greek), and the " Jamb without blemish and without spot" (I. Peter i. 19), "Christ.our passover .... . . sacrificed for us . (I. Cor. v. 7), and our "high t priest who is holy, harmless, undefiled separate from sinners" (Heb. vii. 26). When I"L /i n *?, f Ce i in these Old Testament types the . shadows of things to come" and in Christ the body that casts the sha- "• } then everything is replete with the profoundest significance and imte- ' rest.

Wrong time: The selection of an improper time for tho study of the Bible leads .to more fruitless Bible study than °" would think who has not given considerablo thought to the matter. The Biblo demands -the clearest thought a man has m order to understand it. God's " judgments are a ,P° at deep. It is of the highest importance that the one who would get tho most out of his Bible study sacredly set apart l i?*, portion of each day for the work, and' that he select sue;, time as expenenee shows his f mind to be the clearest, and to be freest from interruptions. With tho great majority of men tho early morn-' Bible study laV ° proven to be tho best for Lack of prayer: There still remains ono source of barrenness in Bible study which we must mention, neglect of prayer. It has. been said over and over again. that he who would see the beauties and glories revealed in the Bible must approach it with the prayer of the Psalmist: "Open Thou mine eyeS) that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law" (Ps. exix. 18). Wo fancy that an accurate knowledge of tho forms of speech in which tho Bible 19 written, and of the manners, customs, idioms, etc., of the people, is quite sufficient to enable l ? by close study to discover the truth herein revealed. But it is not' so. Real, humble, earnest, believing, expectant r.rayer gives a clearness of vision to discern " wondrous things out of" God's Word that can be obtained in no other way. There is much talk in* these days about " the New Bible." Take your Bible to God and lay it before Him, and tell Him how little tou are getting out of it., and ask Him to open, it to you, and trust and expcct Him to do it, and you will have a new Bible. It is simply wonderful with what an overpower' ; ing divine light old familiar passages from tho Bible glow when one has in deed* and in truth looked up to God to illumine thos* • Ho has laid open before him. " Tell me in a word how to study my Bible" a busy man onco said as ho waited for hit *»"»• •7 our knees, in earnest prayer to God for light and in deep meditation upon, what is written. God must enlighten and you must think.. Never open vour Bible for even a few moments' study "of its contents without at . least lifting your heart to God in real prayer' that He in.iv open to you the Scriptures. Herein wo find at least part of the explanation of tho fact that many unlettered men and women have a knowledge of the real contents of the Word of God that • puts to shame men of profound scholarship. They aro taught of God. " They lacked wisdom, they asked 'it of Goo and they obtained it. (Jamas: i. 5-7.) v :