Search the Scriptures

“Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. He that speaks of himself seeks his own glory: but he that seeks his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.”  John 7:16-18

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Genuine religion is based upon a belief in the Holy Scriptures. God’s Word is to be believed without question. No part of it is to be cut and carved to fit certain theories. Men are not to exalt human wisdom by sitting in judgment upon God’s Word. The Bible was written by holy men of old, as they were moved upon by God’s Holy Spirit; and this Book contains all that we know for certain and all that we can ever hope to learn in regard to God and Christ, unless, like Paul, you are taken to the third heaven to hear “unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.” 2 Corinthians 12:4.

“We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” 2 Peter 19-21.

The writers of the Bible had to express their ideas in human language. It was written by human men. These men were inspired of God’s Holy Spirit. Because of the imperfections of human understanding of language, or the perversity of our human mind, ingenious in evading truth, many read and understand the Bible to please themselves. It is not that the difficulty is in God’s Word. Even politicians argue points of law in the statute book, and take opposite views in their application.

The Holy Scriptures were given to men, not in a continuous chain of unbroken utterances, but piece by piece through successive generations, as God in His providence saw a fitting opportunity to impress man at sundry times and in divers places. Men wrote as they were moved upon by God’s Holy Ghost. “First the bud, then the blossom, and next the fruit,” “first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.” This is exactly what the Bible utterances are to us. There may not always be perfect order or apparent unity in the Scriptures. The miracles of Jesus Christ are not given in exact order, but are given just as the circumstances occurred, which called for this divine revealing of the power of Christ.

The truths of the Bible are as pearls hidden. They must be searched, dug out by painstaking effort. Those who take only a surface view of God’s Word will, with their superficial knowledge, which they think is very deep, talk of the contradictions of the Bible, and question the authority of the Scriptures. But those whose hearts are in harmony with truth and duty will search the Scriptures with a heart prepared to receive His divine impressions. The illuminated soul sees a spiritual unity, one grand golden thread running through the whole, but it requires patience, thought, and prayer to trace out this precious golden thread. Many tears have been shed, many prayers offered, that the Lord would open the understanding to His Word.

God’s Word is not given to us in grand superhuman language. Jesus, in order to reach us where we are, became human. Everything that is human is imperfect. In our human language, different meanings are expressed by the same word; there is not one word for every distinct idea. The stamps of our minds are different. All do not understand expressions and statements alike. The minds of different education and thought receive different impressions of the same words, and it is difficult for your mind to give to others of a different temperament, education, and habits of thought by language exactly the same idea as that which is clear and distinct in your own mind. Yet to honest, right-minded men you can be so simple and plain as to convey your meaning for all practical purposes.

Many commit the error of trying to define minutely the fine points of distinction between justification and sanctification. Into the definitions of these two terms they often bring their own ideas and speculations. Why try to be more minute than is Inspiration on the vital question of righteousness by faith? Why try to work out every minute point, as if the salvation of the soul depends upon all having exactly your understanding of this matter? All cannot see in the same line of vision. Some understand the statements of Holy Scripture to suit their own particular minds and cases. Prepossessions, prejudices, and passions have a strong influence to darken the understanding and confuse the mind even in reading the words of Holy Writ.

The Bible was written by inspired men, but it is not God’s mode of thought and expression. It is that of imperfect humanity. God, as a writer, is not represented. Others may say such an expression is not like God. But God has not put Himself in words, in logic, in rhetoric, on trial in the Bible. The writers of the Bible were God’s penmen, not His pen. It is not the words of the Bible that are inspired, but the men that were inspired. Inspiration acts not on your words or your expressions but on your mind, who, under the influence of God’s Holy Ghost, is imbued with thoughts. Your words and God’s thoughts receive the impress of your individual mind. God’s divine mind is diffused. God’s divine mind and will is combined with your human mind and will; thus the utterances of the man are the Word of God.

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The central theme of the Bible, the theme about which every other in the entire book clusters, is God’s plan of redemption, the restoration of our human soul to the image of God. From the first intimation of hope in Genesis 3:15 to that last glorious promise of the Revelation, “They shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads” Revelation 22:4, the burden of every book and every passage of the Bible is the unfolding of this wondrous theme,—man’s uplifting,—the power of God, “which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 15:57. He who grasps this thought has before him an infinite field for study. He has the key that will unlock to him the whole treasure house of God’s Word.

Look at each Bible writer. Why do we need a Matthew, a Mark, a Luke, a John, a Paul, and all these other writers who have borne their testimony in regard to the life of our Savior during His earthly ministry? Why could not one of the disciples have written a complete record, and thus have given us a connected account of Christ’s life and work? Jesus gave His word in just the way He wanted it to come. He gave it through different writers, each having his own individuality, though going over the same history. They do not represent things in just the same style. Each has an experience of his own, and this diversity broadens and deepens the knowledge that is brought out to meet the necessities of varied minds.

The Creator of all ideas may impress different minds with the same thought, but each will express it in a different way, yet without contradiction. The fact that this difference exists should not perplex or confuse us. It is seldom that two persons will view and express truth in the very same way. Each dwells on particular points which his constitution and education have fitted him to appreciate. Sunlight falling upon different objects gives those objects a different hue.

Jesus speaks to human beings in imperfect speech, in order that the dull, degenerate senses of earthly beings may comprehend His words. Thus is shown God’s condescension. He meets fallen human beings where we are. The Bible, perfect as it is in its simplicity, does not answer to the great ideas of God; for infinite ideas cannot be perfectly embodied in finite vehicles of thought. Instead of the expressions of the Bible being exaggerated, as many may suppose, these strong expressions break down before the magnificence of the thought, though the penman (orator) selected the most expressive language through which to convey the truths of higher education. Sinful beings can only bear to look upon a shadow of the brightness of heaven’s glory.

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“Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord. Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.”  Matthew 13:51-52

It is in the Old and New Testaments (Covenants) of the Bible that a knowledge of God is most clearly revealed to fallen man. This is the treasure house of the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was the lamb slain from the foundation of the world in Genesis 3:21 before He was crucified and slain by wicked hands in Acts 2:23. He which now testifieth “Surely I come quickly” Revelation 22:20 is still the lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world. This same gospel message was given by Adam, Seth, Enoch, Methuselah, and Noah. Abraham in Canaan and Lot in Sodom bore the message, and from generation to generation faithful messengers have proclaimed the Coming One.

The rites of the Jewish economy were given to Moses by Jesus Christ Himself. He was the foundation of their system of sacrificial offerings, the One represented in all their religious service. The blood shed as their sacrifices were offered pointed to His shed blood. All offerings were fulfilled in Him. Jesus Christ as manifested to the patriarchs, as symbolized in the sacrificial service, as portrayed in the law, and as revealed by the prophets, is the riches of the Old Testament. Jesus Christ in His life, His death, and His resurrection, Christ as He is manifested by God’s Holy Spirit, is the treasure of the New Testament. Our Savior, the outshining of the Father’s glory, is both the Old and the New.

Jesus Christ in His teaching presented old truths of which He Himself was the originator, truths which He had spoken through patriarchs and prophets; but He now shed upon them a new light. How different appeared their meaning! A flood of light and spirituality was brought in by His explanation. And He promised that the Holy Spirit should enlighten the disciples, that the word of God should be ever unfolding to them. They would be able to present its truths in new beauty. Ever since the first promise of redemption was spoken in Eden (Genesis 3:15), the life, the character, and the mediatorial work of Christ have been the study of human minds. Yet every mind through whom God’s Holy Spirit is working presents these themes in a light that is fresh and new. The truths of redemption are capable of constant development and expansion. Though old, they are ever new, constantly revealing to the seeker for truth a greater glory and a mightier power.

In every age there is a new development of truth, a message of God to the people of that generation. The old truths are all essential; new truth is not independent of the old, but an unfolding of it. It is only as old truths are understood that we can comprehend the new. Yet it is the light which shines in the fresh unfolding of [new] truth that glorifies the old. He who rejects or neglects the new does not truly possess the old. For him it loses its vital power and becomes but a lifeless form. There are those who profess to believe and to teach the truths of the Old Testament, while they reject the New. But in refusing to receive the teachings of Christ, they show that they do not believe that which patriarchs and prophets have spoken. “Had ye believed Moses,” Christ said, “ye would have believed Me; for he wrote of Me.” John 5:46. Hence there is no real power in their teaching of even the Old Testament. Others who claim to believe and to teach the gospel of Jesus are in a similar error. They set aside the Old Testament Scriptures, of which Jesus declared, “They are they which testify of Me.” John 5:39. In rejecting the Old, they virtually reject the New; for both are parts of an inseparable whole. No man can rightly present the law of God without the gospel, or the gospel without the law. The law is the gospel embodied, and the gospel is the law unfolded. The law is the root, the gospel is the fragrant blossom and fruit which it bears. The Old Testament sheds light upon the New, and the New Testament reflects back upon the Old. Each is a revelation of the glory of God in Christ Jesus. Both present truths that continually reveal new depths of meaning to the earnest seeker.

“He that believes on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” John 7:38. Old truths will be presented, but they will be seen in a new light. There will be a new perception of truth, a clearness and a power that all will discern. Those who have the privilege of sitting under such a ministry will feel the energizing power of a new life. The fire of God’s love will be kindled within you. Your perceptive faculties will be quickened to discern the beauty and majesty of truth.

In giving us His Word, God has put us in possession of every truth essential for our salvation. Thousands have drawn water from these wells of life, yet there is no diminishing of its supply. Thousands have set Jesus before them, and by beholding have been changed into His same image. Their spirit burns within them as they speak of His character, telling what Christ is to them, and what they are to Christ. But these searchers have not exhausted these grand and holy themes. Thousands more may engage in the work of searching out the mysteries of salvation. As the life of Jesus and the character of His mission are dwelt upon, rays of light will shine forth more distinctly at every attempt to discover truth. Each fresh search will reveal something more deeply interesting than has yet been unfolded. The subject is inexhaustible. The study of the incarnation of Christ, His atoning sacrifice and mediatorial work, will employ the mind of the diligent student as long as time shall last; and looking to heaven with its unnumbered years he will exclaim, “Great is the mystery of godliness.”

In eternity we shall learn that which, had we received the enlightenment it was possible to obtain here, would have opened our understanding. The themes of redemption will employ the hearts and minds and tongues of the redeemed through everlasting ages. We will understand the truths which Christ longed to open to His disciples, but which they did not have faith to grasp. Forever and forever new views of the perfection and glory of Christ will appear. Through endless ages will the faithful Householder [Jesus] bring forth from His treasure things new and old.

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