Topical Bible Studies C. K. Meyers All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” 2 Tim. 3 : 16. The BIBLE Its Inspiration and Importance ——---By M. C. WILCOX THE BIBLE; Its Inspiration and Importance. The term “ Bible ” (Greek, “ biblos,” meaning book) is now almost universally applied to the sacred writings of the Christian church, embracing two general divisions, the Old Testament and the New Testament. Both of these divisions are divided into books, thirty-nine in the former ‘and twenty-seven in the latter. The Old Testament Scriptures are referred to in the New Testament as “ the law and the prophets,” or the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms. The books of Moses, are the first five books of the Scripture, often called the Pentateuch, a Greek word meaning t-he five books. After the Pentateuch come the historical books, the poetical and practical, the greater prophets, and the lesser prophets. # They are classed together according to the matter they contain, and are not placed in chronological order. Job is generally considered to be the oldest book ; Malachi was the last written' of the Old Testament Scriptures. Th e book of Jonah is the oldest prophecy. It is well to bear THE BIBLE ; ITS INSPIRATION AND IMPORTANCE 3 such things in mind while studying the Scriptures. Every good reference Bible gives the supposed approximate dates. The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are sometimes called the “ Canon ” of Scripture. “ Canon ” is a word signifying rod, or rule, and has been applied front the time of Origen to those Scriptures which are considered authoritative. Uncanonical books are those not recognised as authoritative, while apocryphal books are those concerning which there are grave doubts. They are useful historically, but no part of the rule of faith. The terms “ Old Testament ” and “ Nev/ testament ” doubtless come from the use of the synonymous term “ covenant,” as used in the book of Hebrews. But these terms are not biblical as applying to the writings of the present or the past dispensations. Much of the Old Testament refers directly and as fully to the new covenant, or testament, as do the writings of the New Testament. They are terms of convenience to distinguish the Scriptures which were given before Christ from those which were given after our Lord came. I. The divinity, authenticity, and inspiration of the Bible are proved by the following :— 1. Purity of Teaching* No other code of morals in the world is to be compared to that of the decalogue. It forbids nothing right, it enjoins nothing wrong. It leads man out of his selfishness by teaching him that his highest duty is to love God—a God worthy to be loved—with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength, and to love his 4 THE BIBLE neighbour as himself. Every other religion is simply the development ©f some of the various characteristics, passions, or imaginations of humanity. The objects of worship were invested with the character of humanity. But the Bible presents a religion of purity and holiness far above man, while it gives to everyone who desires that purity with his whole heart, the power to reach it. The teaching of the word of God calls man ever onward and upward. The decalogue forbids every sin, and its divine unfolding searches every motive and hidden spring of action. 2. The Unity of the Scriptures. Its different parts were written all the way from 1500 B.C. to 98 A.D. They were written by men in every phase of life, by the lowly herdsman Amos, the priest Ezekiel, the warrior and man of God, Moses, the royal psalmist, David, the wisest of men, Solomon, the prime minister and prophet, Daniel, the fisherman, Peter, the physician, fiuke, the learned Jew, Saul of Tarsus, the beloved John, and many others. It was written by the lonely waters of the Euphrates, in Persia's royal city, in Jerusalem, the city of the great king, among the mountains and vales of the holy land, in the tents of the Idumean. emirs, on rock-ribbed and oceanbound Patmos,—written by all these, in all these various places, at all these different times, under different circumstances and influences, yet the same unity, the same spirit, pervades the whole.. It is not many books, it is one. It addresses men as they are everywhere ; it reveals the same disease, sin ; it shows the one only remedy, the blood of Jesus. ITS INSPIRATION AND IMPORTANCE 3. Its Impartiality. Had it been the work of priests, or the work of kings, or the work of any in high positions, it would have glossed, and excused, and palliated, and utterly hidden, their sins and crimes. But it does nothing of this. It reproves faithfully and fearlessly prophet and priest, king and noble, prince and peasant, soldier and citizen. The very ones reproved often record their own fall and reproof. Is it David the great king, or Solomon the wisest, or Moses the man of God, the reproof of God is given with even more sternness than to the humble in station. It espouses the cause of the poor, the meek, the defenceless ; it knows no caste, differing in these' respects from all other religions in the world, and proclaiming loudly that “ God is no respecter of persons. ’ ’ 4, Its Comprehensiveness is likewise proof of its divinity. It takes in every phase of human life —all the woes, the infirmities, the vicissitudes, the dangers, the weaknesses, the needs. It is adapted to all minds, to all grades, to all classes and conditions. There are counsel, warning, encouragement, instruction, condemnation, and approval for each one according to his needs. There is balm for every bruise, healing for every hurt, cleansing for every stain, the great store-house of all blessings. No other book can show such unity in connection with such many-sidedness and comprehensiveness. All that would minister to men's curiosity God has omitted. But in that which He has given He has stored and piled such mighty and far-reaching truths that an eternity of study upon 6 THE BIBLE them would not exhaust their meaning, their fulness, their richness, their power. 5. Prophecy is also a remarkable proof of its inspiration. In fact, God sets it forth as a proof that He is God. Says He, through the prophet : “I am God, and there is none else ; I am God, and there is none like Me ; declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times thq things that are not yet done.” Isa. 46 : 9,10. Here is a challenge from the God and Author of the Bible. We can prove His omniscience. His prophecies and oracles are not couched in such ambiguous terms as were those of the ancient heathen prophets, priests, and oracles; but they are clear and particular. God gives the rise and fall of States and nations before they came into existence in not less than seven lines of prophecy. He foretells the rise, overthrow, the plan of the overthrow, and the ultimate fate of great cities, before they reached the height of their power and grandeur. The fulfilment of many of these predictions is in the past, and secular history bears faithful witness, oftentimes unwillingly, to the veracity and infallibility of the word of God. The predictions concerning the first advent of Christ prove His divine mission. Many events of the last days which are fulfilling all around us, have been predicted in the centuries of long ago. We can see them if we will. What other religion can lay claim to such a book ? These are some of the characteristics of the Bible which prove its inspired inspiration. Men have endeavoured to write books and creeds and ITS INSPIRATION AND IMPORTANCE. 7 evolve religion through all the past, but not one book, not the excellencies of them all, can compare in number a’ncl fulness with the excellencies of the “ Book of books.” II. The inspiration of the original Scriptures is expressly declared by the holy writings themselves. Says the Tord by His apostle, and through him to all Christian ministers, in 2 Tim. 3 : 16,17 :— All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." “ All Scripture ” refers to what is held as sacred Scripture in Paul’s day, what Timothy had known from a child, “ The Holy Scriptures ” mentioned in the preceding verse. The New Testament was not then written. The statement, is emphatic, “ All scripture (writing) is given by inspiration of God (literally “ God-breathed ”).” He makes no exception, he includes all of the holy writings, our now Old Testament. Of this Peter also speaks in both his first and second epistle. In the first chapter of his first epistle, verses 10,11, in speaking of salvation through Christ, he says :— "Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace *that should come unto you ; searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.” . In his second epistle (1 : 21) we read :— “ For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man 5 but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." The above texts teach us this, that for the words which the prophets spake the Holy Ghost 8 THE BIBLE was responsible ; that divine Power being in them did testify ; and that the holy prophets themselves did not understand all that the Spirit of God spake through them, for they searched their own “ God-breathed ” writings. Their words were the words of the Spirit of God. And so David, “ the sweet psalmist of Israel,” said : “ The Spirit of the Tord spake by me, and His word was in my tongue.” 2 Sam. 23 : 2. To the above testimony from the Old Testament, the New bears abundant confirmation. Says Peter in quoting from the Old Testament: “This scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas. ’ Acts 1 : 16. Says the writer of the book of Hebrews in quotihg from the Old Testament, “ As the Holy Ghost saith.” Heb. 3 : 7. And this is confirmed by the frequent expressions : “ Hear the word of the Tord, ye rulers of Sodom” (Isa. 1 : 10); “ the word of the Tord came unto me.” Jer. 1 : 4. See also Hze. 1:3; Micah 1 : 1 ; Zeph. 1 : 1, and many other places. The prophets spake their own words, but they were also the words of God. And Paul classes all the holy writings together and says that “ all Scripture is God-breathed.” He also of his own writings affirms the same, classing himself with other apostles :— “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God ; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth ; comparing spiritual things with spiritual." 1 Cor. 2: 12,13. j ITS INSPIRATION AND IMPORTANCE. 9 They spoke, they wrote, in the words of the Spirit of God. Peter classes Paul’s writings among the “ other scriptures.” 2 Pet. 3 : 16. But it is unnecessary to multiply proof. With all these Bible declarations of its divine source, it would seem as if men who professed belief in the Christ of the Bible would accept its inspiration. And yet in these days of advanced civilisation and. education, when the treasures of buried lore have yielded up testimony after testimony to the authenticity of the word of God, men calling themselves Christian teachers, journals calling themselves Christian journals, sit in judgment upon the word of God, reject this, cut off that, ridicule another passage, each in his own way, till among them all there is nothing left of the word of God. If with the claims which the Bible makes for itself, a part is not inspired, if it is to be subject to the judgment of fallible, mortal men, we can believe its claims concerning nothing ; we should reject it all. It is either the word of God or it is not. If it is not, it is unworthy of credence ; if it is, as every evidence proves, it is worthy of all credence, of all confidence. There is no part of the Bible so often attacked by professed Christians of the higher criticism as the books of Moses. The following question and answer from a prominent and popular religious paper of New York City, just recently, will serve as an instance to show how many professed Christians regard a part of those Scriptures which the greatest apostle of io THE BIBLE *« ' Christ said were “ God-breathed,” which Peter says were written by men 11 moved by the Holy Ghost “As the world- was not created in six days, how could the Sabbath have oeen instituted by God on the ground that He had rested on the seventh day, as stated in the fourth commandment ? Do you believe that the commandments and all the laws in the Pentateuch were given by God? or written by Moses?” “ Many of them proceeded from Moses’ successors, building onto his work, and so were only involved in, or developed from, what •the Lord said to Moses.’ What God said to Moses He probably communicated, as now to us, inwardly, by enlightening the mind and conscience to see truth and feel its imperativeness. The Sabbath is of divine appointment, ' made for man,’ as Jesus says, required by the physical and moral nature which God made. That Moses should see this law written in our nature, and assign a fanciful reason for it, only shows that he was like the rest of us in being better able to see what is right than to give the reason for it.” In reply to this, we do but need to give the words« of the Great Teacher : “For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed Me ; for he wrote of Me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe My words ?” He who would reject the Old Testament Scriptures would, if the temptation were sufficiently great, reject the New. In every one of the temptations brought against our Lord in the wilderness, the enemy was in each instance repulsed by a shaft from the word of God, .and every scripture from the book of< Deuteronomy, the last of the five books of Moses. Matt. 4 : i-io. We have seen how fallible men regard the word of God ; the above instance is how He in whom dwell all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, regarded the books of Moses, the Old Testament Scriptures. See also Luke 4 : 17-21 ; John 5 : 39 ; 10 : 35 ; Luke 24 : 44. We know ITS INSPIRATION AND IMPORTANCE I I of no words which, more forcibly set before us the regard which the Son of God had for the Scriptures as contrasted with religious infidelity, than the following from Prof. P. Gaussen, D.D.:— “But, farther, let us turn from the apostles, prophets as they are—men sent by God for the establishment of His kingdom, the pillars of the church, the mouths of the Holy Ghost, ambassadors of Jesus Christ, . . . and let us go to the Master. Let us inquire of Him what the Scriptures were in His view of them. Here is the grand question. Tne testimonies to which we have appealed are peremptory, no doubt; and the doctrine of a plenary and entire inspiration is taught as clearly in Scripture as that of the resurrection of the dead can be; that ought of itself to be enough for us; but we repeat, nevertheless, Here is an argument which for us renders all less superfluous. How did Jesus Christ appeal to the Holy Bible ? What were His views of the letter of the Scriptures ? What use did He make of it, He who is its object and inspirer, beginning and end, first and last; He whose Holy Spirit, says St. Peter, animated all the prophets of the Old Testament (2 Peter 1 : 21)? . . . Among the most ardent defenders of their verbal inspiration, we know not one that ever expressed himself with more respect for the altogether divine authority and everlasting endurance of their most minute expressions, than was done by the man Jesus. And we scruple not to say, that were any modern writer to quote the Bible as Jesus Christ did, with the view of deducing from it any doctrine, he would forthwith have to be ranked among the most zealous partisans of the doctrine we defend. I am asked, What is your view of the Holy Letters? I answer, What thought my Master of them ? How did He appeal to them ? What use did He make of them? What were their smallest details in His eyes ? “Ah! speak to them thyself, Eternal Wisdom, Uncreated Word, Judge of judges ! and as we proceed to repeat to them here the declarations of Thy mouth, show them the majesty in which the Scriptures appeared to Thee—show them the perfection Thou didst recognise in them, that everlasting endurance, above all, which Thou didst assign to their smallest iota, and which will make them outlast the universe, after the very heavens and the earth have passed away ! " We are not afraid to say it : When we hear the Son of God quote the Scriptures, everything is said, in our view, on their divine inspiration—we need no further testimony. All the declarations of the Bible are, no doubt, equally divine ; but this example of the Saviour of the world has settled the question for us at once. . “ Follow Jesus in the days of His flesh. With what serious and tender respect does He constantly hold in His hands ‘ the volume of the Book,’ to quote every part of it, and note its shortest verses. See how one word, one single word, whether of a psalm or of an 12 THE BIBLE historical book, has for Him the authority of law. Mark with what confident submission He receives the whole Scriptures, without ever contesting its sacred canon. . . . Did I say, He receives them ? From His childhood to the grave, and from His rising again from the grave to His disappearance in the clouds, what does He bear always about with Him in the desert, in the temple, in the synagogue ? What does He continue to quote with His resuscitated voice, just as the heavens were about to exclaim, ‘ Lift up your heads, ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in?’ It is the Bible, ever the Bible; it is Moses, the Psalms, and the prophets; He quotes them, He explains them, but how ?—Why, verse by verse, and word by word. “ In what alarming and meiancholy contrast, after beholding all this, do we see those misguided meh present themselves in our days, who dare to judge, contradict, cull, and mutilate the Scriptures, Who does not tremble, after following with his eyes the Son of man as He commands the elements, stills the storms, and opens the graves, while, filled with so profound a respect for the Sacred Volume, He declares that He is one day to judge by that Book the quick and the dead? Who does not shudder, whose heart does not bleed, when, after observing this, we venture to step into a Rationalist academy, and see the professor's chair occupied by a poor mortal, learned, miserable, a sinner, responsible, yet handling God’s word irreverently ; when we follow him as he goes through this deplorable task before a body of youths, destined to be the guides of a whole people—youths capable of doing so much g ood if guided to the heights of the faith, and so much mischief if tutored in disrespect for those Scriptures which they are one day to preach ? With what peremptory decision do such men display the phantasmagoria of their hypotheses ; they retrench, they add, they praise, they blame, and pity the simplicity which, reading the Bible as it was read by Jesus Christ, like Him clings to every syllable, and never dreams of finding error in the Word of God 1 They pronounce on the intercalations and retrenchments that the Holy Scriptures must have undergone—intercalations and retrenchments never suspected by Jesus Christ; they lop off the chapters they do not understand, and point out blunders, ill-sustained or ill-concluded reasonings, prejudices, imprudences, and instances of vulgar ignorance. " May God forgive my being compelled to put this frightful dilemma into words, but the alternative is inevitable 1 Either Jesus Christ exaggerated and spoke incoherently when He quoted the Scriptures thus, or these rash, wretched men unwittingly blaspheme their divine Majesty. It pains us to write these lines. God is our witness that we could have wished to re-call, and then to efface them; but we venture to say, with profound feeling, that it is in obedience, it is in charity,, that they have been penned. Alas 1 in a few short years both the doctors and the disciples will be laid in the tomb, they shall wither like the grass ; but not one jot or tittle of that divine Book will then have passed away ; and as certainly as the ITS INSPIRATION AND IMPORTANCE. 13 Bible is the truth, and that it has changed the face of the world, as certainly shall we see the Son come in the clouds of heaven, and judge, by H's eternal word, the secret thoughts of all men 1” “ What is the chaff to the wheat ? ” Of course this inspiration refers to the original Scriptures. Ilie translations and versions arc so many multiplied copies and photographs, executed under such varied circumstances, and by so many, that room for doubting the identity of the Scriptures in this direction is infinitesimal. Tliose who copied that word were very careful and exact. The very jots and tittles were important. It is not too much to say that greater care has been taken in the copying and translating of the Scrip-' tures than of any other book in the world. They have been copied by men who believed them to be the words of God. They have been translated by men who believed the same thing, and who wished to spread the exact knowledge of them to the world. They have been translated by different schools and scholars who were jealous of their scholarship, and who were therefore painstaking to give every Hebrew, and Aramaic, and Greek word its exact meaning. The photographs are so many and agree so fully that we need not question in this respect. Our English versions are good photographs, in all great and essential particulars, of the word of our God. the inspiration of that word proves its importance. That it might be “ profitable for cioctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness ; that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good 14 THE BIBLE works/’ God gave it by inspiration. Man needed infallible, unchangeable doctrine, which the ages, nor the tempers of men, nor various sects, nor the influence of infidelity, could not mould ; therefore He gave a “ God-breathed ” rule of doctrine. “ It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps ; ” conscience is a creature of education, sometimes “ evil,” sometimes “ defiled but God’s word is truth ; its doctrines are pure. Man cannot always give wise reproof, nor can he correct the wrongs he reproves in others. The reprover also often needs reproof. And God has given reproof for every sin, for every wrong way in His holy word. With that reproof there is connected the way in which sin may be put away, the way the wrong may be corrected. It is an inspired reproof, it is God-breathed correction. Can we afford to ignore it ? Shall not our prayer rather be, “ 0 Lord, correct me, but with judgment ; not in Thine anger, lest Thou bring me to nothing.” Jer. io :'24. And the correction of God is always “ instruction in righteousness.” God’s word alone reveals how we may become righteous through the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ ; how God’s righteousness may be imputed to us through faith for all past transgressions ; how the evil heart may be changed ; how power will be given us to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus our Lord ; and how at last a life that measures with the life of God will be given to those who believe and do His word. There is no other way than the way of God’s ITS INSPIRATION AND IMPORTANCE 15 word. Nowhere else can we obtain these priceless riches. The words of God are spirit and life. John 6 : 63. He who uses God’s law as a lamp to his moral life (Ps. 119 : 105); its prophetic revelations as a light for present warning and present duty (2 Peter 1 : 19), who uses the gospel of Christ as it really is, the glad tidings of a Saviour (Luke 2 : io,ti), “ the power of God unto salvation ” (Rom. 1 : 16), will be truly perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. Dear reader, what will you do with this word which is given to you ? Will you heed it or reject it ? God has magnified that word above all His name. Ps. 138 : 2. Will you belittle it ? He has made precious promises to those who will tremble at that word. Isa. 66 : 2. Will you regard it ? It will judge you at the last day. Are you prepared to meet the sentence ? Are you walking in the way of that word, or in the way and traditions of men ? God’s promises are based on conditions ; the conditions are as much a part of the truth as are the promises. Do you hope to receive that which is promised without complying with the conditions ? Such hope is vain. True faith rests on the word of God ; good hope, on God’s promise; and God’s promises to be effectual to us are based on conditions. If you are not complying with the conditions, turn from the words and traditions of men to the truth of God; The Spirit that gave it will enlighten your understanding. You will find in that the Incarnate Word, who will give you of His fulness and satisfy your soul. May God help you to decide for truth. l6 THE bible; its inspiration and importance “'For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory ol man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away ; but the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.’’ I Peter I : 24/25. “ This Book, this holy Book, on every line Marked with the seal of high divinity, On every leaf bedewed with drops of love Divine, and with the eternal heraldry And signature of God Almighty stamped From first to last,—this ray of sacred light, This lamp, from off the everlasting throne, Mercy brought down, and in the night of time Stands, casting on the dark her gracious bow, And evermore beseeching men, with tears And earnest sighs, to read, believe, and live.” •—Pollock. Price (postage extra) per dozen, 6d.; per 100, 3/4. SIGNS OF THE TIMES A 16-page weekly journal, dealing with all current events which may be rationally deemed fulfilments of prophecy. It also contains articles on Health and Temperance. Subscription Price: g/. per year. BIBLE STUDIES A series of illustrated Bible readings. An aid to the study of the Scriptures, adapted to the use of individuals, families and Bible classt s —132 pages. Cloth (po.tage Id. extra, New Zealand, 3d.), 1/3 Limp Cloth (post free), 1/- SJGNS PUBLISHING COMPANY LTD., Warburton. Victoria, Australia. The Benefits of Bible Study. MRS. E. G. WHITE. “ All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and Is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, foi instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.’ In the Word of God is contained everything essential to the perfecting of the man of God. It is like a treasure-house, full of valuable and precious stores. “ Given by inspiration of God,” “ able to make us wise unto salvation,” rendering the man of God “perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works,” the Book of books has the highest claims to our reverent attention. Superficial study cannot meet the claims it has upon us, nor furnish us with the benefit that is promised. We should seek to learn the full meaning of the words of truth, and to drink deep the spirit of the holy oracles. To read daily a certain number of chapters, or to commit to memory a stipulated amount oi Scripture, without careful thought as to the meaning of the text, will profit little. To study one passage until its significance is clear to the mind, and its relation to the plan of salvation is evident, is of more value than the perusal of many chapters with no definite purpose in view and no positive instruction gained. We cannot obtain wisdom from the Word of God without giving earnest and prayerful attention to its study. It THK fifiNKFmr OF BIBL* STUDY. !s true that some portions of Scripture are too plain to be misunderstood; but there are many others whose meaning cannot be seen at a glance, for the truth does not lie upon the surface. In order to understand the meaning of such passages, scripture must be compared with scripture; there must be careful research and prayerful reflection. Such study will be richly repaid. As the miner discovers precious veins of metal concealed beneath the surface of the earth, so will he who perseveringly searches the Word of God as for hid treasure, find truths of the greatest value, which are concealed from the careless seeker. But if you do not make the sacred teachings of God’s Word the rule and guide of your life, the truth will be nothing to you. Truth is efficient only as it is carried out in practical life. If the Word of God condemns some habit you have indulged, a feeling you have cherished, a spirit you have manifested, turn not from the sacred monitor, but turn away from the evil of your doings, and let Jesus cleanse and sandtify your heart. Confess your faults, and forsake them wholly and determinedly, believing the promises of God, and showing your faith by your works. If the truths of the Bible are woven into practical life, they will bring the mind up from its earthliness and debasement. Those who are conversant with the Scriptures will be men and women who exert an elevating influence. In searching for Heaven-revealed truths, the Spirit of God is brought into close connection with the heart. An understanding of the revealed will of God enlarges the mind, expands, elevates, and endows it with new vigour, by bringing its faculties into contadt with stupendous truth, rto study is better to give energy to the mind, to THE BENEFITS OF BIBLE STUDY. 3 strengthen the intellect, than the study of the Word of God. No other book is so potent in elevating the thoughts, in giving vigour to the faculties, as is the Bible, which contains the most ennobling truths. If God’s Word were studied as it should be, we should see breadth of mind, stability of purpose, nobility of character, such as is rarely seen in these times. But Bible study is made a secondary consideration, and a great loss is sustained thereby. The understanding takes the level of the things with which it becomes familiar. If all would make the Bible their study, we should see a people who were better developed, who were capable of thinking more deeply, who would manifest greater intelligence, than those who have earnestly studied the sciences and histories of the world, apart from the Bible. The Bible gives the seeker for truth an advanced mental discipline, and he comes from contemplation of divine things with his faculties enriched; self is humbled, while God and his revealed truth are exalted. It is because men are unacquainted with the precious Bible histories, that there is so much lifting up of man, and so little honour given to God. The Bible contains that which will make the Christian strong in spirit and intellect. The psalmist says, “The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.” The Bible is a wonderful book. It is a history that opens up to us the past centuries. Without the Bible we should have been left to conjectures and fables in regard to the occurrences of past ages. It is a prophecy that unveils the future. It is the Word of God, unfolding to us the plan of salvation, pointing out the way by which we may escape eternal death and gain eternal life. Of 4 THE BENEFITS OF BIBLE STUDY. all the books that flood the world, however valuable, the Bible is the Book of books, most deserving of our study and admiration. It gives not only the history of this world, but a description of the world to come. It contains instruction concerning the wonders of the universe; it reveals to our understanding the character of the Author of the heavens and the earth. In it is the revelation of God to man. The searching of books of philosophy and science cannot do for the mind and morals what Bible study can do, if it is made practical. He who studies the Bible holds converse with patriarchs and prophets. He comes in contacft with truth clothed in elevated language, which exerts a fascinating power over the mind, and lifts the thoughts from the things of earth to the glory of the future, immortal life. What wisdom of man can compare with the revelation of the glory of God ? Finite man, who knows not God, seeks to lessen the value of the Scriptures, claiming that his supposed knowledge of science will not harmonise with the Word of God; but the divine Word is. a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our path. Those who boast of wisdom beyond the teaching of the Word of God, need to drink deeper of the fountain of knowledge, that they may learn their real ignorance. Men boast of their wisdom, when it is but foolishness. Let no man deceive himself. “ If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God; for it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.” The greatest ignorance that now curses the human race is ignorance of the binding claims of the law of God; and thia THE BENEFITS OF BIBLE STUDY. 5 ignorance is the result of neglecting the study of the Word of God. It is Satan’s plan to so engage the mind that men shall neglect the great Guide Book, and thus be led into the path of transgression and destruction. The Bible is not exalted to its rightful place among the books of the world, although its study is of infinite importance to the souls of men. In searching its pages, the imagination beholds scenes majestic and eternal. We behold Jesus, the Son of God, coming to our world, and engaging in the mysterious conflict that discomfited the powers of darkness. O, how wonderful, how almost incredible it is, that the infinite