Thy Testimonials are My Meditation (Ps. 119:99.) 9> By Rev. Louis Meyer, Cincinnati, Ohio f I V HE s t a t eme nt is often repeated, a nd commonly accepted, t h at g t he Bible is and r ema i ns the
will quickly cool off our emotions, and t he house of o ur assurance, based upon them, mu st fall. But if we build upon t he rock of God's Word, t he tempest, t he rain, and t he floods, cannot destroy t he house, and our h e a r ts and minds will be filled with the peace of God which passeth all understanding. (2) It is necessary to intelligent c h u r ch membership. Wh at a pitiful spectacle it is when the members of t he church a re unable to find, or a re hesi- t a t i ng and slow in finding t he text upon which t he preacher is basing his ser- mon. Yet, even older Christians of o ur day a re not as familiar with t he order of t h e books of t he Bible, as t he children of Christian homes of a generation ago used to be. But mo re necessary to in- telligent church-membership t h an an outward knowledge of t he Bible, is a deep knowledge of its doctrines. It is t r ue t h at our Catechism helps us to learn wh at " f a i t h ," " r e p e n t a n c e ," "re- generation," "sanctification," "adop- tion," "me r c y ," and so on are, a nd Bible dictionaries very concisely instruct us concerning most Biblical subjects, but .only prayerful, systematic Bible study opens unto us the glorious meanings of these things, until t he h e a rt rejoices in t he Divine Mercy. Th e re is an inclination to accept t he creed, or testimony, of t he Church into which t he providence of God a nd our conviction h a ve led us, without much f u r t h er investigation, because our par- ents or some f r i e n ds in whom we have confidence accepted it. Such Christians may become loyal memb e rs of their de- nomination and implicitly obey t he in- junction of their creed. But intelligent church memb e rs they become only, when in their daily systematic study of t he Bible they discover t he different prin- ciples of their denomination, one here, one there, a n o t h er there, within the vol- ume of t he precious book. Much complaint is ma de t h at Chris- tian men and women a re easily d r awn aside by t he fanciful teachings of false and heretical preachers. The reason for this rapid progress of false doctrine is probably found in t he lack of systematic study of the Bible. It gives t h at intelli- gent knowledge of t h e doctrines of God's Wo rd which enables Christian men to discern between t he t r ue ¡and t he false. itinued.)
best-selling book of our age. But does t h at mean t h at it is also more read a nd studied t h an any other book? Th e re is " no possibility of ascertaining the t r ue s t a te of affairs, b ut f r om general obser- vation we a re inclined to t h i nk that, if we me an with " r e ad a nd s t u d i e d" a systematic study of the whole Bible, we mu st r e g r e t f u l ly concede t h at o ur gen- eration has not as thorough-going knowl- edge of t he Wo rd of God as our F a t h e rs had. We live in stirring, bustling times, and few a re inclined to t a ke as mu ch time for the study of the Wo rd of God a nd meditation upon it as we ought to take. It is t r ue t h at t he Sabbath Schools t h r o u g h o ut t he country are more n ume r o us and more crowded t h an ever before and t h at t h us thousands upon thousands of children and young people are led to a systematic study of t h e lessons, b ut let us not forget t h at these lessons are only portions of the Bible, and t h at t he systematic study of t h at one lesson on one day of t he week, be it done ever so prayerfully and t h o r- oughly, cannot t a ke t he place of the daily, systematic study of t he Bible. Young People's Societies are doing mu ch to ma ke their members well ac- quainted with the Wo rd of God; Bible glasses for Adults, oftimes under the auspices of t he Y. M. C. A. or Y. W. C. A., a re certainly exerting an influence for good, especially in our large cities; but all these cannot prove to us t h at t he general systematic study of the Bible is as common a custom amo ng Christian men and women as it should be. And yet a p r a y e r f u l, systematic study of t he whole Wo rd of God is necessary f or every Christian. Wh y? (1) I t is necessary to t he f u ll as- s u r a n ce of hope. "Be ready always to give an answer to every man t h at asketh you a reason of the hope t h at is in you in meekness and reverence," a re the wa r n i ng words of the Apostle. We call t h em wa r n i ng words, for we all are in- clined to base our assurance upon our emotions and our feelings. • Th us we a r e like t he man who "built his house upon t he sand; and the rain descended, a nd t he floods came, and t he winds blew, and beat upon t h at house; and it fell." The s t o rm of trials and sorrows (To be con
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