people are looking to private Christian schools to provide their children with a truly Christian education. We are thinking in this lesson, how ever, not so much of the ability to read books, but of the ability to read the Book, the Bible, and to get its message. Many, many people read the Bible but to some of them ,the Bible is a closed Booki The reason is apparent: it is be cause these people to whom the Bible is not meaningful are, in the most cases, not born again. Paul tells us that the word of the cross is to those who perish foolishness! (1 Cor. 1:18). The Bible does not make sense to the man who cannot enter into its spiritual message of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 2:14). The record of Philip’s witness to the Ethiopian teaches us how the Bible may rightly be read so that its message comes with power and blessing to the reader. Let us note the lessons in this passage. First we learn that The Bible Is Not an Easy Book To Understand The Ethiopian was reading his Bible, but he did not understand what he read (Acts 8:31). Now, we know that any body who is taught by the Spirit at all can read John’s Gospel and understand most of it. The Gospel of John is so simple that even a child can grasp its teaching and be saved with the Spirit’s help. But the majority of the Bible needs careful study. In order for a Christian to understand his Bible, he needs to study the background of the Bible and GOD WANTS YOU to hand out Tracts. Let’s get busy for the LORD before it’s too late.
to learn something of the human authors and the occasion for writing the various books of the Bible. This information can be obtained from any good Bible commentary and Bible dictionary. With these tools the student can begin his study of the Bible, book by book, starting with Genesis and working his way through Revelation. Every Christian owes it to himself and to his Lord thus to study his Bible. Another help to understanding the Bible is to attend a Bible-teaching church staffed by godly Bible-believing men and women and a Bible-preaching pastor. The Christian will learn much about his Bible from such a church. The third method is to study good books about the Bible. There are many such good books, but the Christian ought to buy selectively and carefully. Any good Bible Book Store will make recommendations of helpful books for Bible study. If there is no book store near you, write to the Biola Book Store, 560 South Hope Street, for a catalogue of good books, or for a list of suggested books for the Christian’s library. The Bible Ought to Be Studied by All Every man and woman and young person in the world ought to make it the daily habit of his life to study the Bible. There is no book like it in all the literature of the world. The Bible is the only Book of which it may be said it “makes you wise unto salvation” (2 Tim. 3:15; Rom. 1:16, 17). The Ethio pian was engaged in a wise and holy occupation when Philip came to him: he was studying his Bible. The Bible is true “wisdom” (Prov. 4:5-13). No man is worthy of the title “ educated” until he knows the Bible and has entered experimentally into its eternal truths. A legitimate paraphrase of this passage in Proverbs would be to substitute the name “ Christ” for each place where the word “wisdom” is found. Christ is indeed the believer’s wisdom (1 Cor. 1:24, 30). When the Bible Is Rightly Studied, Christ Is the Theme You will notice that when Philip be gan to teach the Ethiopian, he started with Isaiah 53 and “ preached unto him Jesus” (Acts 8:35). Jesus is the theme of the entire Bible. No man can under stand the Bible unless He sees Jesus Christ throughout. The real “ key to the Scriptures” is not some book written about the Bible, but Jesus Christ Him self. Any other “ key” will lock up the Bible tight. When you read the Bible, what do you see? You see Christ! What do you see about Christ? First of all, you see Him as the fulfillment of all the types and symbols of the Old Testament. These are called “ shadows” ; Christ is the reality (Heb. 10:1). All the sacri fices of the Old Testament pointed to
Christ. The priesthood pointed to Him as the Great High Priest (Heb. 10:19- 22). The feast days pointed to Him as the all-sufficient Saviour. When He came, He came as “the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). In the Bible you will see Christ as the great Lover of souls (Luke 19:10). He came all the way from Heaven to earth to seek and to save the lost. How He loved sinners and how He loves them yet! He will receive any man who comes and will forgive him freely (John 6:37; Matt. 11:28-30). In the Bible you will see Christ as the One who is coming again (Acts 1:11, John 14:3; Matt. 24:44). Just as surely as He came the first time in fulfillment of the prophecies that predicted His first coming, so He will come again ex actly as the Bible says He will. The question that comes in the light of this tremendous fact is this: Are you ready to meet Him? There is only one way of making sure, and that is to receive Him as your Saviour and Lord (John 1:12; 3:36; Acts 16:31). No one has ever been able to improve on the matchless teachings of the Son of God. Every worth-while teaching since the day of Christ is but an echo of the words that came from His lips. One of His teachings had to do with the relationship of men. If all men, Christian and non-Christian alike, would seek honestly to practice all that our Lord said about human relations, this world would indeed be a different place. Let us not forget that Christ did not come into the world in order to be man’s teacher. He did teach, but this is not why He came. He came in order that He might seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). He came in order that He might die for the sins of the world and thus become guilty man’s Saviour (2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24). A man might know and seek to practice all the teachings of Christ and still be lost. It is not re formation but regeneration that saves a man (John 3:3; Tit. 3:5; 1 Peter 1:23). But the teachings of Christ were given in all seriousness. He intended that men should obey Him. His way is the best way, yea, the only way of peace. Thus the Scripture before us in Luke 10:25-37. The Identity of “Thy Neighbour” One of the central teachings of the parable our Lord gave in answer to the lawyer’s question (v. 29) is the fact August 17, 1952 THY NEIGHBOUR AS THYSELF Luke 10:25-37
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