| Topic: |
Religions > Bible |
| User: |
"Carl" |
| Date: |
27 Dec 2007 11:13:52 PM |
| Object: |
The Duty of Searching the Scriptures |
The following is a sermon of exhortation from George Whitefield to encourage
Christians to search the scriptures and how to do so. It encourages me and I
hope it encourages the reader as well.
May God bless,
Carl
my website -- http://www.nettally.com/saints/
my blog -- http://www.anniemayhem.com/cgi-bin/wordpress/
---
The Duty of Searching the Scriptures
by George Whitefield
"Search the Scriptures." John v. 39.
When the Sadducees came to our blessed Lord, and put to him the
question, "whose wife that woman should be in the next life, who had seven
husbands in this," he told them "they erred, not knowing the scriptures."
And if we would know whence all the errors, that have over-spread the church
of Christ, first arose, we should find that, in a great measure, they flowed
from the same fountain, ignorance of the Word of God.
Our blessed Lord, though he was the eternal God, yet as man, he made the
scriptures his constant rule and guide. And therefore, when he was asked by
the lawyer, which was the great commandment of the law, he referred him to
his Bible for an answer, "What readest thou?" And thus, when led by the
Spirit to be tempted by the devil, he repelled all his assaults, with "it is
written."
A sufficient confutation this, of their opinion, who say, "the Spirit
only, and not the Spirit by the Word, is to be our rule of action." If so,
our Saviour, who had the Spirit without measure, needed not always have
referred to the written word.
But how few copy after the example of Christ? How many are there who do
not regard the Word of God at all, but throw the sacred oracles aside, as an
antiquated book, fit only for illiterate men? Such do greatly err, not
knowing what the scriptures are, I shall, therefore,
FIRST, Show, that it is every one's duty to search them.
And SECONDLY, Lay down some directions for you to search them with
advantage.
I. I am to show that it is every person's duty to search the Scriptures.
By the Scriptures, I understand the law and the prophets, and those
books which have in all ages been accounted canonical, and which make up
that volume commonly called the Bible.
These are emphatically styled the Scriptures, and, in one place, the
"Scriptures of Truth," as though no other books deserved the name of true
writings or scripture in comparison of them.
They are not of any private interpretation, authority, or invention, but
holy men of old wrote them, as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
The fountain of God's revealing himself thus to mankind, was our fall in
Adam, and the necessity of our new birth in Christ Jesus. And if we search
the scriptures as we ought, we shall find the sum and substance, the Alpha
and Omega, the beginning and end of them, is to lead us to a knowledge of
these two great truths.
All the threats, promises and precepts, all the exhortations and
doctrines contained therein, all the rites, ceremonies and sacrifices
appointed under the Jewish law; nay, almost all the historical parts of holy
scripture, suppose our being fallen in Adam, and either point out to us a
Mediator to come, or speak of him as already come in the flesh.
Had man continued in a state of innocence, he would not have needed an
outward revelation, because the law of God was so deeply written in the
tables of his heart. But having eaten the forbidden fruit, he incurred the
displeasure of God, and lost the divine image, and, therefore, without an
external revelation, could never tell how God would be reconciled unto him,
or how he should be saved from the misery and darkness of his fallen nature.
That these truths are so, I need not refer you to any other book, than
your own hearts. For unless we are fallen creatures, whence those abominable
corruptions which daily arise in our hearts? We could not come thus corrupt
out of the hands of our Maker, because he being goodness itself could make
nothing but what is like himself, holy, just, and good. And that we want to
be delivered from these disorders of our nature is evident, because we find
an unwillingness within ourselves to own we are thus depraved, and are
always striving to appear to others of a quite different frame and temper of
mind than what we are.
I appeal to the experience of the most learned disputer against divine
revelation, whether he does not find in himself that he is naturally proud,
angry, revengeful, and full of other passions contrary to the purity,
holiness, and long suffering of God. And is not this a demonstration that in
some way or other he is fallen from God? And I appeal also, whether at the
same time that he finds these hurtful lusts in his heart, he does not strive
to seem amiable, courteous, kind and affable; and is not this a manifest
proof, that he is sensible of his underlying misery, and wants, he knows not
how, to be redeemed or delivered from it?
Here then, God by his word steps in, and opens to his view such a scene
of divine love, and infinite goodness in the holy scriptures, that none but
men, of such corrupt and reprobate minds as our modern deists, would shut
their eyes against it.
What does God in his written word do more or less, than show thee, O
man, how thou art fallen into that blindness, darkness, and misery, of which
thou feelest and complainest? And, at the same time, he points out the way
to what thou desirest, even how thou mayest be redeemed out of it by
believing in and copying after the Son of his love.
As I told you before, so I tell you again, upon these two truths rest
all divine revelation. It being given us for no other end, but to show our
misery, and our happiness; our fall and recovery; or, in one word, after
what manner we died in Adam, and how in Christ we may again be made alive.
Hence, arises the necessity of searching the scriptures, for since they are
nothing else but the grand charter of our salvation, the revelation of a
covenant made by God with men in Christ, and a light to guide us into the
way of peace, it follows that all are obliged to read and search them,
because all are equally fallen from God, and all equally stand in need of
being informed how they must be restored and united with him.
How foolishly then do the disputing infidels of this generation act, who
are continually either calling for signs from heaven, or seeking for outward
evidence to prove the truth of divine revelation? Whereas, what they so
earnestly seek for is nigh unto them, nay, it is within them! For let them
but consult their own hearts, they cannot but feel what they want. Let them
but consult the lively oracles of God, and they cannot but see a remedy
revealed for all their wants, and that the written word does as exactly
answer the wants and desires of their hearts, as face answers to face in the
water. Where then is the scribe, where is the wise, where is the solidity of
the reasoning of the disputers of this world? Has not God revealed himself
unto them as plain as their own hearts could wish? And yet they require a
sign: but there shall no other sign be given them. For if they believe not a
revelation which in every way is so suited to their wants, neither will they
be persuaded though one should rise from the dead.
But this discourse is not designed so much for them that believe not, as
for them, who both know and believe that the scriptures contain a revelation
which came from God, and that it is their duty, as being chief parties
concerned, not only to read but search them also.
I pass on, therefore, in the SECOND place, to lay down some directions,
how you may search them with advantage.
FIRST, Have always in view the end for which the scriptures were
written, even to show us that the way of salvation is by Jesus Christ.
"Search the scriptures," says our blessed Lord, "for they are they that
testify of me." Look, therefore, always for Christ in the scripture. He is
the treasure hid in the field, both of the Old and New Testament. In the
Old, you will find him under prophesies, types, sacrifices, and shadows; in
the New, manifested in the flesh, to become a propitiation for our sins as a
Priest, and as a Prophet to reveal the whole will of his heavenly Father.
Have Christ, then, always in view when you are reading the Word of God,
and this, like the star in the east, will guide you to the Messiah, will
serve as a key to every thing that is obscure, and unlock to you the wisdom
and riches of all the mysteries of the kingdom of God.
SECONDLY, Search the scriptures with an humble child-like disposition.
For whosoever does not read them with this temper, shall in no wise
enter into the knowledge of the things contained in them. For God hides the
sense of them from those that are wise and prudent in their own eyes, and
reveals them only to babes in Christ: who think they know nothing yet as
they ought to know; who hunger and thirst after righteousness, and humbly
desire to be fed with the sincere milk of the word, that they may grow
thereby.
Fancy yourselves, therefore, when you are searching the scriptures,
especially when you are reading the New Testament, to be with Mary sitting
at the feet of the holy Jesus; and be as willing to learn what God shall
teach you, as Samuel was, when he said, "Speak, Lord, for thy servant
heareth."
Oh that the unbelievers would pull down every high thought and
imagination that exalts itself against the revealed will of God! O that they
would, like new-born babes, desire to be fed with the pure milk of the word!
Then we should have them no longer scoffing at Divine revelation, nor would
they read the Bible any more with the same purpose the Philistines brought
our Samson-to make sport at it! but they would see the divine image and
superscription written upon every line. They would hear God speaking unto
their souls by it, and, consequently, be built up in the knowledge and fear
of him, who is the Author thereof.
THIRDLY, Search the scriptures, with a sincere intention to put in
practice what you read.
A desire to do the will of God is the only way to know it; if any man
will do my will, says Jesus Christ, "He shall know of my doctrine, whether
it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." As he also speaks in another
place to his disciples, "To you, (who are willing to practice your duty) it
is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to those that are
without (who only want to raise cavils against my doctrine) all these things
are spoken in parables, that seeing they may see and not understand, and
hearing they may hear and not perceive." For it is but just in God to send
those strong delusions, that they may believe a lie, and to conceal the
knowledge of himself from all such as do not seek him with a single
intention.
Jesus Christ is the same now, as formerly, to those who desire to know
from his word, who he is that they may believe on, and live by; and to him
he will reveal himself as clearly as he did to the woman of Samaria, when he
said, "I that speak to thee am he," or as he did to the man that was born
blind, whom the Jews had cast out for his name's sake, "He that talketh with
thee, is he." But to those who consult his word with a desire neither to
know him, nor keep his commandments, but either merely for their
entertainment, or to scoff at the simplicity of the manner in which he is
revealed, to those, I say, he never will reveal himself, though they should
search the scriptures to all eternity. As he never would tell those whether
he was the Messiah or not, who put that question to him either out of
curiosity, or out of malice that they might have grounds to accuse him.
FOURTHLY, In order to search the scriptures still more effectually, make
an application of every thing you read to your own hearts. For whatever was
written in the book of God, was written for our learning. And what Christ
said unto those aforetime, we must look upon as spoken to us also: for since
the holy scriptures are nothing but a revelation from God, how fallen man is
to be restored by Jesus Christ: all the precepts, threats, and promises,
belong to us and to our children, as well as to those, to whom they were
immediately made known.
Thus the Apostle, when he tells us that he lived by the faith of the Son
of God, adds, "who died and gave himself for me." It is this application of
Jesus Christ to our hearts, that makes his redemption effectual to each of
us. And it is this application of all the doctrinal and historical parts of
scripture, when we are reading them over, that must render them profitable
to us, as they were designed for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness, and to make every child of God perfect, thoroughly furnished
to every good work.
I dare appeal to the experience of every spiritual reader of holy writ,
whether or not, if he consulted the Word of God in this manner, he was not
at all times and at all seasons, as plainly directed how to act, as though
he had consulted the Urim and Thummim, which was upon the high priest's
breast. For this is the way God now reveals himself to man: not by making
new revelations, but by applying general things that are revealed already to
every sincere reader's heart.
And this, by the way, answers an objection made by those who say, "The
Word of God is not a perfect rule of action, because it cannot direct us how
to act or how to determine in particular cases, or what place to go to, when
we are in doubt, and therefore, the Spirit, and not the word, is to be our
rule of action."
But this I deny, and affirm, on the contrary, that God at all times,
circumstances, and places, though never so minute, never so particular,
will, if we diligently seek the assistance of his Holy Spirit, apply general
things to our hearts, and thereby, to use the words of the holy Jesus, will
lead us into all truth, and give us the particular assistance we want.
But this leads me to a FIFTH direction-how to search the scriptures with
profit: Labour to attain that Spirit by which they were written. For the
natural man discerneth not the words of the Spirit of God, because they must
be spiritually discerned; the words that Christ hath spoken, they are
spirit, and they are life, and can be no more understood as to the true
sense and meaning of them, by the mere natural man, than a person who never
had learned a language can understand another speaking in it. The
scriptures, therefore, have not unfitly been compared by some to the cloud
which went before the Israelites-they are dark and hard to be understood by
the natural man, as the cloud appeared dark to the Egyptians-but they are
light, they are life to Christians indeed, as that same cloud which seemed
dark to Pharaoh and his house, appeared bright and altogether glorious to
the Israel of God.
It was the want of the assistance of this Spirit, that made Nicodemus, a
teacher of Israel, and a ruler of the Jews, so utterly ignorant in the
doctrine of regeneration: for being only a natural man, he could not tell
how that thing could be; it was the want of this Spirit that made our
Saviour's disciples, though he so frequently conversed with them, daily
mistake the nature of the doctrines he delivered; and it is because the
natural veil is not taken off from their hearts, that so many who now
pretend to search the scriptures, yet see no farther than into the bare
letter of them, and continue entire strangers to the spiritual meaning
couched under every syllable, and contained in almost all the precepts of
the book of God.
Indeed, how should it be otherwise, for God being a spirit, he cannot
communicate himself any otherwise than in a spiritual manner to the hearts
of men; and consequently if we are strangers to his Spirit, we must continue
strangers to his word, because it is altogether like himself, spiritual.
Labour, therefore, earnestly to attain this blessed Spirit; otherwise, your
understandings will never be opened to understand the scriptures aright: and
remember, prayer is one of the most immediate means to get this Holy Spirit.
Therefore, SIXTHLY, Let me advise you, before you read the scriptures,
to pray that Christ, according to his promise, would send his Spirit to
guide you into all truth; intersperse short ejaculations whilst you are
engaged in reading; pray over every word and verse, if possible; and when
you close up the book, most earnestly beseech God, that the words which you
have read, may be inwardly engrafted into your hearts, and bring forth in
you the fruits of a good life.
Do this, and you will, with a holy violence, draw down God's Holy Spirit
into your hearts. You will experience his gracious influence, and feel him
enlightening, quickening, and inflaming your souls by the Word of God; you
will then not only read, but mark, learn, and inwardly digest what you read:
and the Word of God will be meat indeed, and drink indeed unto your souls.
You then will be as Apollos was, powerful in the scriptures. Be scribes
ready instructed to the kingdom of God, and bring out of the good treasures
of your heart, things both from the Old and New Testament, to enlighten all
you converse with.
One Direction more, which shall be the last, SEVENTHLY, Read the
scripture constantly, or, to use our Saviour's expression in the text,
"search the scriptures;" dig in them as for hid treasure, for here is a
manifest allusion to those who dig in mines. Our Saviour would thereby teach
us, that we must take as much pains in constantly reading his word, if we
would grow wise thereby, as those who dig for gold and silver. The
scriptures contain the deep things of God, and therefore, can never be
sufficiently searched into by a careless, superficial, cursory way of
reading them, but by an industrious, close, and humble application.
The Psalmist makes it the characteristic of a good man, that he
"meditates on God's law day and night." And "this book of the law, (says God
to Joshua) shall not go out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein
day and night;" for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and thou shalt
have good success. Search, therefore, the scriptures, not only devoutly but
daily, for in them are the words of eternal life; wait constantly at wisdom's
gate, and she will then, and not till then, display and lay open to you her
heavenly treasures. You that are rich are without excuse if you do not; and
you that are poor, ought to take heed and improve that little time you have:
for by the scriptures you are to be acquitted, and by the scriptures you are
to be condemned at the last day.
But perhaps you have no taste for this despised book. Perhaps plays,
romances, and books of polite entertainment, suit your taste better. If this
be your case, give me leave to tell you, your taste is vitiated, and unless
corrected by the Spirit and Word of God, you shall never enter into his
heavenly kingdom: for unless you delight in God here, how will you be made
meet to dwell with him hereafter. Is it a sin then, you will say, to read
useless impertinent books; I answer, Yes. And that for the same reason, as
it is a sin to indulge useless conversation, because both immediately tend
to grieve and quench that Spirit, by which alone we can be sealed to the day
of redemption. You may reply, How shall we know this? Why, put in practice
the precept in the text; search the scripture in the manner that has been
recommended, and then you will be convinced of the danger, sinfulness, and
disatisfaction of reading any others than the book of God, or such as are
wrote in the same spirit. You will then say, when I was a child, and
ignorant of the excellency of the Word of God, I read what the world calls
harmless books, as other children in knowledge, though old in years, have
done, and still do; but now I have tasted the good word of life, and am come
to a more perfect knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, I put away these
childish, trifling things, and am determined to read no other books but what
lead me to a knowledge of myself and of Christ Jesus.
Search, therefore, the scriptures, my dear brethren. Taste and see how
good the Word of God is, and then you will never leave that heavenly manna,
that angel's food, to feed on dry husks, those trifling, sinful
compositions, in which men of false taste delight themselves. No, you will
then disdain such poor entertainment, and blush that you yourselves were
once fond of it. The Word of God will then be sweeter to you than honey, and
the honey-comb, and dearer than gold and silver. Your souls by reading it
will be filled, as it were, with marrow and fatness, and your hearts
insensibly moulded into the spirit of its blessed Author. In short, you will
be guided by God's wisdom here, and conducted by the light of his divine
word into glory hereafter.
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| User: "rogue" |
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| Title: Re: The Duty of Searching the Scriptures |
28 Dec 2007 03:28:28 AM |
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Carl wrote:
The following is a sermon of exhortation from George Whitefield to encourage
Christians to search the scriptures and how to do so. It encourages me and I
hope it encourages the reader as well.
JERRY
So, does this mean, Carl, that you actually intend to research your
opinions and be able to provide a textual support for them rather than
just offering them as fact?
That would be a nice change, Carl.
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: The Duty of Searching the Scriptures |
28 Dec 2007 10:58:19 AM |
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Ps 14:1; 53:1
The fool says in his heart, "There is no God ." (NIV)
Ps 53:1
The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, and
their ways are vile; there is no one who does good. (NIV)
[Atheists, whether in opinion or practice, are the greatest fools in
the world. Those that do not seek God do not understand; they are
like
brute-beasts that have no understanding; for man is distinguished
from
the brutes, not so much by the powers of reason as by a capacity for
religion. The workers of iniquity, whatever they pretend to, have no
knowledge; those may truly be said to know nothing that do not know
God, v. 4. (from Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible: New
Modern Edition)]
Prov 6:16-17
There are six things the Lord hates...a lying tongue... (NIV)
Prov 10:18
He who conceals his hatred has lying lips, and whoever spreads
slander
is a fool. (NIV)
Prov 10:23
A fool finds pleasure in evil conduct, but a man of understanding
delights in wisdom. (NIV)
Prov 12:16
A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an
insult. (NIV)
Prov 12:22
The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in men who are truthful.
(NIV)
Prov 13:16
Every prudent man acts out of knowledge, but a fool exposes his
folly.
(NIV)
Prov 14:8
The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways, but the
folly of fools is deception. (NIV)
Prov 14:16
A wise man fears the Lord and shuns evil, but a fool is hotheaded and
reckless. (NIV)
Prov 14:24
The wealth of the wise is their crown, but the folly of fools yields
folly. (NIV)
Prov 15:2
The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool
gushes folly. (NIV)
Prov 15:7
The lips of the wise spread knowledge; not so the hearts of fools.
(NIV)
Prov 18:2
A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his
own opinions. (NIV)
Prov 23:9
Do not speak to a fool, for he will scorn the wisdom of your words.
(NIV)
Prov 26:4
Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him
yourself. (NIV)
Prov 26:11
As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly. (NIV)
Prov 27:3
Stone is heavy and sand a burden, but provocation by a fool is
heavier
than both. (NIV)
Prov 27:22
Though you grind a fool in a mortar, grinding him like grain with a
pestle, you will not remove his folly from him. (NIV)
Eccl 7:5
It is better to heed a wise man's rebuke than to listen to the song
of
fools. (NIV)
Eccl 7:6
Like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of
fools. This too is meaningless. (NIV)
Eccl 7:9
Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the
lap of fools. (NIV)
Rom 1:22
Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools... (NIV)
May God bless,
Carl
my website -- http://www.nettally.com/saints/
my blog -- http://www.anniemayhem.com/cgi-bin/wordpress/
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