June 1929
269
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did and free access to the Bible as we have. A young man, not so long ago come from a foreign country, was quite surprised when the writer produced a Bible from his pocket, and had another surprise when he discovered that it was in English and that he could read it even though his English is poor! There is no doubt of it,—we do not fully enough appreciate the liberty and freedom that is ours, Not all people enjoy it. We ought to be more ready to share our blessings with them. We have excellent educational facilities. Most of us have had better educational advantages than our fathers had. That, however, is no assurance of bettered ability to obtain the spiritual truths of the Word. It is not even an assurance that we will use our privileges and advantages toward that end. It does make the process easier for us, though, if we are but willing to capitalize spiritually our material advantages. These things broaden the opportun ities for Bible study. Too, we have abundant freedom for the pursuing of these studies. As a nation we are not bound to so long hours of labor as were our fathers. We have more leisure. Now leisure is a curse to any people who does not know how to properly invest it. We Christians need to be con stantly setting before the world examples of properly invested leisure time. To what better advantage can we invest it than in a perusal of the Scriptures, in a search after the truth? The Church,—i.e., the organized Church, needs the fruits of that perusal; the world needs the pat tern of such wisdom. Perchance many of its citizens will even be led to join hands with us as the result of an exam ple of this kind. Open Bibles, books, commentaries, maga zines on spiritual subjects are ours in abundance. Schools are within our reach by correspondence if by no other way. Through any or all of these channels wisely chosen and carefully followed, we may reap a rich harvest. We dwell in the midst of opportunities. Does our knowledge of the Word match the opportunities that are ours? Remember 2 Tim. 2 :15. V a l u a b le R e su l t s A ccru e a s a R e su l t o f T h is S tu d y in g Valuable results accrue to ourselves as a fruit of this studying. Our reason for such study is not primarily to ward these accruements except as they enable us the more successfully to serve Him who is our Lord and Master. For the moment we will refer to Dr. Charles F. Yoder’s book entitled, “God’s Means of Grace.” He speaks of the Bible as being a means of Regeneration (1 Peter 1:23), as a means of Faith (Rom. 10:14, 17), as a means of Justification (Rom. 4 :3), as a means of Sanctification (Jn. 17:17), and as a means of Spiritual Growth (Matt. 4:4; Psa. 119:11; Eph. 6:17; Heb. 4:12; Phil. 4:8). What Christian can dispense with these things in his life? To give them up means to give up Christ. Not one of those things can be left out and a man continue a Chris tian. They are vital, elemental to the new life. Do away with them and you have no new life. They are funda mental doctrines. The first (regeneration) is the beginning of our Christian lives, the whereby of our existence as sons of God. The second (faith) is the very foundation upon which our lives in Christ rest. The third (justifica tion) is the judicial statement of our holiness and thereby acceptability with God. The fourth (sanctification), in its present progressive state as well as more completely in its final consummation, is the actual realization in fact of the judicial statement of our justification. The fifth (spiritual growth) is our necessary advancement toward the “stature
o f the perfect man in Christ Jesus.” Which will you strike out? Well, the Bible is a means toward all these. Without the instrumentality of the Bible, then, we would be rather poor Christians! Friends, we can’t afford to neglect our Bibles. It is spiritual suicide to do so. On the other hand, think of the richness of the above-mentioned blessings coming to us from the hand of God and through the divine Word. God grant that we may be busied in its study, not for selfish ends, but for the glory ef Him who is the Author and Finisher of our faith. O u r S t a n d in g W it h G od is I n f l u e n c e d by O ur A t t it u d e T oward t h e B ib l e Our standing with God is directly influenced by our attitude toward the Bible. Timothy is to study to show himself approved unto God. No low aim in itself. No, it is not Paul’s approval. It is not the approval of the churches. It certainly is not to gain the approval of out siders, that he might entice them to think him a jolly good fellow. It is to show himself approved of none less than God Himself. What are your motives in the things toward which you direct your mind ? Here is a good te st: Does their showing forth demonstrate you as approved of God ? Jas. 1 :18 tells us that we are brought forth by the will of the Father through the Word, into the new life. Then our very existence as Christians can only be upon the basis of His approval. We need diligence in the maintenance of that approval. We might be Christians, and still a strong part of our actions and thoughts be without His approval (see 1 Cor. 3:10-15). Shame to us if such be the case. Henceforth let your aim in all things be to obtain His approval. We learn from the Bible what He approves. The young man Timothy is to show himself also a workman who needeth not to be ashamed. Toward this end he was to sttidy; Would it not be glorious to stand before God unashamed of our work! Paul says that we can and should study toward that end. You may have seen some workman in a factory or elsewhere who had cause to be ashamed of his work. He tried to hide it from the sight of any eyes which might see the inferiority of it. In 1 Cor. 3 :13 Paul says “each man’s work shall be made manifest’’ It is folly to try to hide poor workmanship. It only delays the day of detection. It may even lead to an earlier detec tion. How different it is, though, when one is a work man who needs not to be ashamed! Toward that end we shall direct our studies. The Bible tells us of the standards of Christian workmanship. From it we can learn the needed information to make us unashamed workmen. Oh, yes, we will have need to study the Bible to find it out. We are continued in close relationship to God when we come to the third part of Timothy’s aim. It is that of “rightly dividing the word o f truth.” We are dealing with that which is God’s when we are dealing with the Word of truth. It is a serious responsibility, one not to be made light of or to be lightly regarded. It is a responsibility fraught with serious implications. It is not nearly so serious, and not nearly so fraught with danger, however, as is any course which constantly stands aloof from God and His Holy Writ. We are not at liberty to juggle Scriptures and texts as the comedian does jackstones and balls. We are trading neither in silver nor gold but in life values, and that life in the fullest and richest sense. We are to divide the Word aright, divide it justly, divide it in keeping with itself, divide it in accordance with its nature as the Word of truth. Men’s opinions cannot hold the floor here. We are dealing with facts and not with vain imaginings. While a man’s opinions may be in accord with
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