1. The Scriptures and Sin
原著：Arthur W Pink 译者： 林伟雄等
很有理由相信圣经的研读在最近这几年对大多数读者的灵命并无裨益,甚至在许多情况下,恐怕不但不蒙祝福,却反引来咒诅. 这是危言，却絶非耸听,乃是”对症下药”之说. 因为从这类读经所结的果子已经可以看到,属灵恩赐可能已被误用,神的慈爱也可能备受摧残. 世人也常以追求科学知识那样的热忱和兴趣致力于研读圣经,其结果也同样是专业知识与傲慢心态齐头并进. 当化学家在他设想的某项试验有所发现时,就会喜形于色,智慧人在研究圣经有所卓见时, 也同样感到兴奋.但与前一类人一样，此等兴奋可能毫无属灵价值。前者的成功会让他自大,鄙视旁人,认为他们无知;而后者也不例外，而且，这样情况常常是出现在那些把考察重点放在圣经数字学,圣经象征论,圣经预言学等专项上面的人身上.
研读圣经的初衷,人各不同. 有人是为了显得自己博学多才。在某些社交圈人士中,若不粗通圣经,则会被视为不学无术，所以为了保持体面,流行阅读并粗略了解圣经. 有出于猎奇而研读圣经,正如阅读其它名著一样。也有出自以自己宗派为荣,研读圣经是极力在圣经中搜求证据,来证明他的宗派中的特殊教义和信条, 亦有另一些人,为驳倒持不同意见者而研读圣经。上述各种人,他们心中并不思念神,他们并不渴望在灵性上得着造就, 因此读经对他们的灵命并没有真正的好处.
读经的真正裨益究竟是什么呢? 提摩太后书三章十六,十七节岂没有给我们清楚的答案吗? “圣经都是神所默示的, 于教训,督责,使人归正,教导人学义,都是有益的; 叫属神的人得以完全,行各样的善事”. 请注意这里省略了的训示就可以得知, 圣经教导的目的并不是为了满足人在知识上的追求欲,也不是为了让人发挥臆测想象力。 相反的,圣经是训练我们”作完全人”预备行各样的善事,所以是教训,督促,和矫正我们. 以下各点, 都旨在较详细地讲述这观点.
1 读经之后,接受定罪,灵命才得裨益. 神的话语在我们生命中第一个职责就是让我们知道我们全然腐败，毫无良善。就算是有些人操守可能无可指责,待人接物也无过犯,但当圣灵光借着神的话语照在他的心和良知,打开他以前被罪所蒙蔽的眼睛,让他省察他对神的态度和与神的关系时,他就会哭喊着说 “祸哉！我灭亡了！” 这是每一个真正得救的人认识到他需要救主基督的必经之路. “无病的人用不着医生,有病的人才用得着.”(路5：31) 然而,只有在圣灵用属天的能力把圣经打开给人，才能让他知道他是患了必死的绝症.
这种强有力的定罪的感觉使我们清楚看到犯罪使我们堕落到何等的程度，而且，这种感觉不应当只限于在我们刚刚决志信主前后那一阵子。每一次神把他话语灌到我心里的时候，都让我看到我们的神的标准相差的是何等的远。“你们在一切所行的事上也要圣洁。”（彼前1：15）要看读经对我们是否有益，第一个问题，或说的一个考试就是：当读到圣经记载各个不同人物所遭遇可悲的失败时,我们是否会设身处地认识到我们也会落到同样可悲的下场? 当读到关于基督的完美和神圣的生命时,我们是否会认识到我们和基督的天渊之别?
2. 读经之后,我们为罪忧伤,灵命才得裨益 心如石头地的听道者,经上说是那些”听了道,当下喜欢领受”,但是却“心里没有根”的人(太13：21)。 经上又说另一种”听见了这些话,覚得扎心”的人,(徒2：37) 就是那些听了彼得讲道后信主的人。 今天依然存在着这两种极其不同的情况。许多人将听到娓娓动听的讲道,或处处以旁征博引来表现自己知识渊博的”适合本世代的真理”之类的演说,可惜的是这些言词一般来说并不能触及听众良知,令他们深切反省。这种讲道通常获得听众的赞誉,但并没有让一个听众从而屈伏主前或更亲近主,与主同行. 相反,主的忠仆(那些凭着主赐恩典不追求获得”才华横溢”的美誉者)必将圣经教导立足于论述世人在品德行为上,揭示甚至是信徒中佼佼者的可悲失败,虽然群众不一定接纳这讲员,但那些真正重生的人,对这信息心存感恩以至在主前哀恸哭泣 “噢!我是个何等的罪人啊!” 同样，当私下研读圣经的时候也是如此，只有当圣灵作工,让我们领悟到自己的内在败坏时,我们才真正蒙福.
耶利米书三十一章十九节说,”我回转后,就真正懊悔受教以后,就拍腿叹息. 我因担当幼年的凌辱,就抱愧蒙羞.” 这段经文实在是贴切. 读者们,你们有过这样的经历吗? 读经后会使你心碎谦卑地来到主前吗? 读经会使你自我定罪.从而每日都这样被领到主前认罪悔改吗? 逾越节羊羔肉是要和苦菜一起吃的.(出13：8) 所以若我们真正要从读经中吸取养份,圣灵就一定让我们尝到甜蜜的美味前,品尝苦味. 启示録十章九节说 “我就去到天使那里,对他说:‘请你把小书卷给我.’他对我说:‘你拿着吃尽了,便叫你肚子发苦,然而在你口中要甜如蜜.’” 请注意圣经讲述此事时所出现的先后次序. 这次序屡试不爽,哀恸在得安慰之前,(太5:4) 自卑在升高之先.(彼前5:6)
3. 读经之后,坦诚认罪, 灵命才得裨益 对我们而言, 圣经于督责上是有益的.(提前3:16) 一个坦诚的心自会承认所犯的罪. 关于属肉体的人圣经教导说: “凡作恶的便恨光,并不来就光,恐怕他的行为受责备.”(约3:20) “神啊! 求你的慈爱怜恤我这罪人,” 这却是发自更新了的心的呼求. 每次圣经教导都促使我们在神面前深深省察自己的罪. “遮掩自己罪过的,必不亨通,承认离弃罪过的,必蒙怜恤.”(箴28:13) 当我们仍怀有我们隐藏的罪时,我们的灵命便不会亨通,也不会结果子. (参 诗1:3) 只有我们向神毫不隐瞒,全部认清我们的罪,才能享受衪的宽恕.
当我们仍在背负着未认的罪恶重担时,我们的良知没有真正的平安,我们的心灵也得不到安息,惟有将心思意念向神敞开, 才能得着释放. 好好注意大卫的经历, “我闭口不认罪的时候,因终日唉哼而骨头枯干. 黑夜白日你的手在我身上沉重； 我的精液耗尽,如同夏天的干旱”. (诗32:3,4) 对如此生动有力的形容,你是覚得莫名其妙呢，还是你灵里曾有过这样的经历能以说明? 设若你个人的经历足以完美地说明这方面圣经词句的话,真的,你蒙福啦! “我向祢陈明我的罪,不隐瞒我的恶. 我说: ‘我要向耶和华承认我的过犯。’祢就赦免我的罪恶.” (诗32:5)
4. 读经之后,更深地恨恶罪恶, 灵命才得裨益 圣经上说”你们爱耶和华的,都当恨恶罪恶;“(诗篇90:10) 神仆司布真说过 “我们爱神,便不能不恨恶神所恨恶的. 我们不仅要逃避罪恶和不沉溺在其中,更要拿起武器与罪恶斗争,并要义愤填胸对它开战.” 判断一个人的信仰表白是否真实,最佳的考验就是看他内心对罪的态度. 凡有圣洁的准则确立之处,便该憎恨一切不洁的思想和行为. 若我们真正恨恶罪恶,便更应感谢圣经指出那些我们从前认为不属于罪的罪恶.
在这方面大卫的经历是, “我藉着你的训词得以明白,所以我恨一切假道.” 好好注意, 这不只是”逃避”,而是”恨恶”,不单是指”某些”或”许多”,而是”一切假道”,不仅是”一切罪恶”,而且是”一切假道”. “你一切的训词,在万事上我都以为正直;我却恨恶一切假道.” (诗119:128) 那些邪恶者的行为就恰恰相反，”其实你恨恶管教,将我的言语丢在背后.” (诗50:17) 箴言八章十三节说”敬畏耶和华在乎恨恶罪恶.” 这种对神的敬畏是通过研读圣经得来的. (请参看申命记17:18,19) 所以解经家爱德华瑞纳说得好”我们若不恨恶罪,就不能治死罪,当年犹太人恨恶主,以致高喊:”钉他十字架!” 我们对罪的恨恶若不过于此，我们便绝不可能同样地要求我们的罪被钉死。.
5. 读经之后,离弃罪恶, 灵命才得裨益. 提摩太后书二章十九节说”凡称呼主名的人总要离开不义.”我们若抱着去认识什么是讨主喜悦和什么是使主不悦的目的去研读圣经,我们越读便越明白衪的旨意. 我们若与主同心,便能与主同行,这便被称为”按真理而行”. (约三1:4) 哥林多后书六章之末指出,信主的人当从不信的人中分别出来,便能得神所赐的宝贵应许. 请看圣灵是如何教导他们如何行事为人. 保罗不是说:”既有这等应许,就已得着安慰,因此便可自鸣得意了.” 而是说”亲爱的弟兄啊!我们既有这等应许,就当洁净自己,除去身体,灵魂一切的污秽,” (林后7:1).
圣经又说”现在你们因我讲给你们的道,已经干净了.”(约15:3)因此, 读经后是否使我们行事为人能去除污秽而焕然一新,是我们要经常反省进行的另一重要原则. 一个历久常新的问题是的”年青人如何洁净他的行为呢?”神给的答案是”要遵行圣经的教导”. 这当然正确. 但不单要研读圣经,相信并牢记,还要凡事按圣经教导身体力行. 圣经所说诸如’逃避淫行”(林前6:18) “逃避拜偶像的事”(林前10:14) “逃避这些事”-“贪恋钱财”(提前6:10)” 逃避少年的私欲”(提后2:22). 这都是使信徒远离罪恶的有用教导. 因为不但要承认罪,还要”离弃罪过”(箴28:12).
6. 读经之后,能增强抵抗罪的能力,对灵命方有裨益. 圣經的目的不但是揭露我们天生的罪性, 指出我们很多很多行事为人都”亏缺了神的荣耀”(罗3：23), 而且还教导我们如脱离罪,如何不得罪神. “我将祢的话藏在心里,免得我得罪祢.” (诗119：11) 这是神对我们的要求, “你当領受祂口中的教训,将衪的言语存在心裡.”(伯22：22) 特别要将神的诫命,警告,劝勉藏在心裡,視为至宝,牢记,默想,为之祷告,並且遵行. 若要地裡不会野草丛生,必须播种良种. 正如罗马书十二章二十一节所说的”以善胜恶”，所以越是把基督的道理丰丰富富地藏在心裡(哥3:16), 我们的身心便越是沒有留下給罪肆虐的余地.
但是仅仅从理性上认同圣经是真理并不够, 因神的话要求我们领受进入情感和意志的内心. 应该知道”因他们不领受爱真理的心”(帖后2:10) 是神对”背叛神”的定义,是很严肃的事。汤姆士曼頓(Thomas Manton, 十七世纪清教徒神学家，译者注)説得好，”假若只将圣经话语停留在舌头上和思想中,或只用作谈话資料或猜测,很快便会流失. 落在地面上的种子,空中飞鸟来叼走了. 所以要将它深藏,从耳听而牢记,再而铭刻于心,並愈浸愈透.只有当圣經的教导在我们心中占统治地位,我们才会在爱中领受它. 当我们爱慕圣经超过我们以前所最爱的属世享受时,我们才能把圣經铭记在心。”
要防禦抵挡属世的诱惑和撒但的试探，最有效的莫过于热爱神的话并铭记在心。經上说”神的律法在他心裡,他的脚总不滑跌.”(诗37：31) 只要真理在我们心内作工,激励我们的良心,被我们所热爱,我们便不会跌倒. 当约瑟被波提乏的妻子诱惑时,他说:”我怎能作这大恶得罪神呢？”(創39：9) 因为神的话在他心裡,他就有能力胜过情欲. 神的话带着神不可言喻的圣洁和祂不但能施行拯救,也能施行毁灭的大能大力。我们不能预知我们什么时候会遇到试探, 因此随时都要准备抵挡它. 经上说”你们中间谁肯侧耳….而听,以防将来呢?” (赛42：23) 是的, 我们有责任为未来谋算，就是在心中常存神的话, 好能对付将来的各种诱惑和试探的危险.
7. 读经之后, 所行的与犯罪背道而驰, 灵命才得益处. “凡犯罪的就是违背律法”. (约一3:4) 神说:”你要” ,罪则说:”我一定不要” ,神若说:”你不可”, 罪说:”我一定要”. 所以犯罪就是背叛神,执意”偏行己路”。(赛53:6) 因此,犯罪是一种在属灵领域内的无政府主义, 可把它视为在神面前挥舞“此路不通”的红旗. 正如无法无天的相反是臣服律法，与犯罪违背神相反的是顺服神。所以与犯罪相反就是走在顺服神的路中。神把圣经赐给我们主要原因之一,是让我们能明白如何来讨神喜悅，因为圣经不但于 “督责、使人归正”方面，而且在“教导人学义都是有益的”。
因此，我们有了我们自我反省必須经常使用的另一項重要規則。我们是否被圣经的教导模造我们，控制我们的心思意念，管理我们的行事为人？主所要求我们的是，“你们要行道，不要单单听道，自己欺哄自己。” (雅1：22） “你们若爱我,就必遵守我的命令.” (約14:15) 这段经文是说明信徒当以此表达对基督的爱和感谢。 要达到这境界需要神的帮助. 诗人祷告说”求祢叫我遵行祢的命令.”(诗119：35) 曼頓则说 “我们不只需要光来照示主的路,还需要有走主路的心志。因为我们的思想盲目不辨方向,所以要有指引. 因为我们意志软弱,更需要神的恩典来有力推动，纵使我们对真理完全明白，但若非全心接受并努力遵行，我们仍难逃玩忽职守之过。” 这是标志鲜明的主”诫命的路径”,（诗119:35, 参英文译本。中文译本缺路径二字，译者注）而非’自己的选择’, 是各人”自己的路径” 而非”众人都走的大路”.
让作者和读者都在主前用上述七項诚实劝勉,作自我反省,读经对你是让你更谦卑还是更傲慢,—- 为所得知识感到骄傲? 是在人前更加高抬自己, 还是在神面前更覚谦卑,更觉卑微? 是对你产生更深厌恶和憎恨老我,还是更为自满? 读經后你周围的人,甚至你的学生会否说 “我希望我能有你那样的圣經知识”? 还是能使他们向主祷告求主 “赐我信心,恩典,圣洁,如祢赐給我的朋友,老师那样?” “这些事你要殷勤去作,並要在此专心,使众人看出你的长进来.” (提前4:15)
1. The Scriptures and Sin
There is grave reason to believe that much Bible reading and Bible study of the last few years has been of no spiritual profit to those who engaged in it. Yea, we go further; we greatly fear that in many instances it has proved a curse rather than a blessing. This is strong language, we are well aware, yet no stronger than the case calls for. Divine gifts may be misused, and Divine mercies abused. That this has been so in the present instance is evident by the fruits produced. Even the natural man may (and often does) take up the study of the Scriptures with the same enthusiasm and pleasure as he might of the sciences. Where this is the case, his store of knowledge is increased, and so also is his pride. Like a chemist engaged in making interesting experiments, the intellectual searcher of the Word is quite elated when he makes some discovery in it; but the joy of the latter is no more spiritual than would be that of the former. Again, just as the successes of the chemist generally increase his sense of self-importance and cause him to look with disdain upon others more ignorant than himself, so alas, is it often the case with those who have investigated Bible numerics, typology, prophecy and other such subjects.
The Word of God may be taken up from various motives. Some read it to satisfy their literary pride. In certain circles it has become both the respectable and popular thing to obtain a general acquaintance with the contents of the Bible simply because it is regarded as an educational defect to be ignorant of them. Some read it to satisfy their sense of curiosity, as they might any other book of note. Others read it to satisfy their sectarian pride. They consider it a duty to be well versed in the particular tenets of their own denomination and so search eagerly for proof-texts in support of “our doctrines.” Yet others read it for the purpose of being able to argue successfully with those who differ from them. But in all this there is no thought of God, no yearning for spiritual edification, and therefore no real benefit to the soul.
Of what, then, does a true profiting from the Word consist? Does not 2 Timothy 3:16,17 furnish a clear answer to our question? There we read, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” Observe what is here omitted: the Holy Scriptures are given us not for intellectual gratification and carnal speculation, but to furnish unto “all good works,” and that by teaching, reproving, correcting us. Let us endeavor to amplify this by the help of other passages.
1. An individual is spiritually profited when the Word convicts him of sin. This is its first office: to reveal our depravity, to expose our vileness, to make known our wickedness. A man’s moral life may be irreproachable, his dealings with his fellows faultless; but when the Holy Spirit applies the Word to his heart and conscience, opening his sin-blinded eyes to see his relation and attitude to God, he cries, “Woe is me, for I am undone.” It is in this way that each truly saved soul is brought to realize his need of Christ. “They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick” (Luke 5:31). Yet it is not until the Spirit applies the Word in Divine power that any individual is made to feel that he is sick, sick unto death.
Such conviction that brings home to the heart the awful ravages which sin has wrought in the human constitution is not to be restricted to the initial experience which immediately precedes conversion. Each time that God blesses His Word to my heart, I am made to feel how far, far short I come of the standard which He has set before me, namely, “Be ye holy in all manner of conversation” (1 Pet. 1:15). Here, then, is the first test to apply: as I read of the sad failures of different ones in Scripture, does it make me realize how sadly like unto them I am? As I read of the blessed and perfect life of Christ, does it make me recognize how terribly unlike Him I am?
2. An individual is spiritually profited when the Word makes him sorrow over sin. Of the stony-ground hearer it is said that he “heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; yet hath he not root in himself” (Matt. 13:20,21); but of those who were convicted under the preaching of Peter it is recorded that they were pricked in their heart (Acts 2:37). The same contrast exists today. Many will listen to a flowery sermon, or an address on “dispensational truth” that displays oratorical powers or exhibits the intellectual skill of the speaker, but which, usually, contains no searching application to the conscience. It is received with approbation, but no one is humbled before God or brought into a closer walk with Him through it. But let a faithful servant of the Lord (who by grace is not seeking to acquire a reputation for his “brilliance”) bring the teaching of Scripture to bear upon character and conduct, exposing the sad failures of even the best of God’s people, and, though the crowd will despise the messenger, the truly regenerate will be thankful for the message which causes them to mourn before God and cry, “Oh, wretched man that I am.” So it is in the private reading of the Word. It is when the Holy Spirit applies it in such a way that I am made to see and feel my inward corruption’s that I am really blessed.
What a word is that in Jeremiah 31:19: “After that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded.” Do you, my reader, know anything of such an experience? Does your study of the Word produce a broken heart and lead to a humbling of yourself before God? Does it convict you of your sins in such a way that you are brought to daily repentance before Him? The paschal lamb had to be eaten with “bitter herbs” (Ex. 12:8); so as we really feed on the Word, the Holy Spirit makes it “bitter” to us before it becomes sweet to our taste. Note the order in Revelation 10:9, “And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.” This is ever the experimental order: there must be mourning before comfort (Matt. 5:4); humbling before exalting (1 Pet. 5:6).
3. An individual is spiritually profited when the Word leads to confession of sin. The Scriptures are profitable for “reproof” (2 Tim. 3:16), and an honest soul will acknowledge its faults. Of the carnal it is said, “For every one that loveth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved” (John 3:20). “God be merciful to me a sinner” is the cry of a renewed heart, and every time we are quickened by the Word (Ps. 119) there is a fresh revealing to us and a fresh owning by us of our transgressions before God. “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy” (Prov. 28:13). There can be no spiritual prosperity or fruitfulness (Ps. 1:3) while we conceal within our breasts our guilty secrets; only as they are freely owned before God, and that in detail, shall we enjoy His mercy.
There is no real peace for the conscience and no rest for the heart while we bury the burden of unconfessed sin. Relief comes when it is fully unbosomed to God. Mark well the experience of David, “When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer” (Ps. 33:3,4). Is this figurative but forcible language unintelligible unto you? Or does your own spiritual history explain it? There is many a verse of Scripture which no commentary save that of personal experience can satisfactorily interpret. Blessed indeed is the immediate sequel here: “I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin” (Ps. 32:5).
4. An individual is spiritually profited when the Word produces in him a deeper hatred of sin. “Ye that love the Lord, hate evil” (Ps. 97: 10). “We cannot love God without hating that which He hates. We are not only to avoid evil, and refuse to continue in it, but we must be up in arms against it, and bear towards it a hearty indignation” (C. H. Spurgeon). One of the surest tests to apply to the professed conversion is the heart’s attitude towards sin. Where the principle of holiness has been planted, there will necessarily be a loathing of all that is unholy. If our hatred of evil be genuine, we are thankful when the Word reproves even the evil which we suspected not.
This was the experience of David: “Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way” (Ps. 119:128). Observe well, it is not merely “I abstain from,” but “I hate”; not only “some” or “many,” but “every false way”; and not only “every evil,” but “every false way.” “Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right, and I hate every false way” (Ps. 119:128). But it is the very opposite with the wicked: “Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee” (Ps. 50:17). In Proverbs 8:13, we read, “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil,” and this godly fear comes through reading the Word: see Deuteronomy 17:18, 19. Rightly has it been said, “Till sin be hated, it cannot be mortified; you will never cry against it, as the Jews did against Christ, Crucify it, Crucify it, till sin be really abhorred as He was” (Edward Reyner, 1635).
5. An individual is spiritually profited when the Word causes a forsaking of sin. “Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity” (2 Tim. 2: 19). The more the Word is read with the definite object of discovering what is pleasing and what is displeasing to the Lord, the more will His will become known; and if our hearts are right with Him the more will our ways be conformed thereto. There will be a “walking in the truth” (3 John 4). At the close of 2 Corinthians 6 some precious promises are given to those who separate themselves from unbelievers. Observe, there, the application which the Holy Spirit makes of them. He does not say, “Having therefore these promises, be comforted and become complacent thereby,” but “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit” (2 Cor. 7:1).
“Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you” (John 15:3). Here is another important rule by which we should frequently test ourselves: Is the reading and studying of God’s Word producing a purging of my ways? Of old the question was asked, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?” and the Divine answer is “by taking heed thereto according to thy word.” Yes, not simply by reading, believing, or memorizing it, but by the personal application of the Word to our “way.” It is by taking heed to such exhortations as “Flee fornication” (1 Cor. 6:18), “Flee from idolatry” (1 Cor. 10:14). “Flee these things”—a covetous love for money (1 Tim. 6:11), “Flee also youthful lusts” (2 Tim. 2:22), that the Christian is brought into practical separation from evil; for sin has not only to be confessed but “forsaken” (Prov. 28: 13).
6. An individual is spiritually profited when the Word fortifies against sin. The Holy Scriptures are given to us not only for the purpose of revealing our innate sinfulness, and the many, many ways in which we “come short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23), but also to teach us how to obtain deliverance from sin, how to be kept from displeasing God. “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Ps. 119:11). This is what each of us is required to do: “Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart” (Job 22:22). It is particularly the commandments, the warnings, the exhortations, we need to make our own and to treasure; to memorize them, meditate upon them, pray over them, and put them into practice. The only effective way of keeping a plot of ground from being overgrown by weeds is to sow good seed therein: “Overcome evil with good” (Rom 12:21). So the more Christ’s Word dwells in us “richly” (Col. 3: 16), the less room will there be for the exercise of sin in our hearts and lives.
It is not sufficient merely to assent to the veracity of the Scriptures, they require to be received into the affections. It is unspeakably solemn to note that the Holy Spirit specifies as the ground of apostasy, “because the love of the truth they received not” (2 Thess. 2:10, Greek). “If it lie only in the tongue or in the mind, only to make it a matter of talk and speculation, it will soon be gone. The seed which lies on the surface, the fowls in the air will pick up. Therefore hide it deeply; let it get from the ear into the mind, from the mind into the heart; let it soak in further and further. It is only when it hath a prevailing sovereignty in the heart that we receive it in the love of it—when it is dearer than our dearest lust, then it will stick to us” (Thomas Manton).
Nothing else will preserve from the infections of this world, deliver from the temptations of Satan, and be so effective a preservative against sin, as the Word of God received into the affections, “The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide” (Ps. 37:31). As long as the truth is active within us, stirring the conscience, and is really loved by us, we shall be kept from falling. When Joseph was tempted by Potiphar’s wife, he said, “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Gen. 39:9). The Word was in his heart, and therefore had prevailing power over his lusts. The ineffable holiness, the mighty power of God, who is able both to save and to destroy. None of us knows when he may be tempted: therefore it is necessary to be prepared against it. “Who among you will give ear . . . and hear for the time to come?” Isa. 42:23). Yes, we are to anticipate the future and be fortified against it, by storing up the Word in our hearts for coming emergencies.
7. An individual is spiritually profited when the Word causes him to practice the opposite of sin. “Sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4). God says “Thou shalt,” sin says “I will not”; God says “Thou shalt not,” sin says “I will.” Thus, sin is rebellion against God, the determination to have my own way (Isa. 53:6). Therefore sin is a species of anarchy in the spiritual realm, and may be likened unto the waving of the red flag in the face of God. Now the opposite of sinning against God is submission to Him, as the opposite of lawlessness is subjection to the law. Thus, to practice the opposition of sin is to walk in the path of obedience. This is another chief reason why the Scriptures were given: to make known the path which is pleasing to God for us. They are profitable not only for reproof and correction, but also for “instruction in righteousness.”
Here, then, is another important rule by which we should frequently test ourselves. Are my thoughts being formed, my heart controlled, and my ways and works regulated by God’s Word? This is what the Lord requires: “Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (Jas. 1:22). This is how gratitude to and affection for Christ are to be expressed: “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). For this, Divine assistance is needed. David prayed, “Make me to go in the path of thy commandments” (Ps. 119:35). “We need not only light to know our way, but a heart to walk in it. Direction is necessary because of the blindness of our minds; and the effectual impulsions of grace are necessary because of the weakness of our hearts. It will not answer our duty to have a naked notion of truths, unless we embrace and pursue them” (Manton). Note it is “the path of thy commandments”: not a self-chosen course, but a definitely marked one; not a public “road,” but a private “path.”
Let both writer and reader honestly and diligently measure himself, as in the presence of God, by the seven things here enumerated. Has your study of the Bible made you more humble, or more proud—proud of the knowledge you have acquired? Has it raised you in the esteem of your fellow men, or has it led you to take a lower place before God? Has it produced in you a deeper abhorrence and loathing of self, or has it made you more complacent? Has it caused those you mingle with, or perhaps teach, to say, I wish I had your knowledge of the Bible; or does it cause you to pray, Lord give me the faith, the grace, the holiness Thou hast granted my friend, or teacher? ‘Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear unto all’ (1 Tim. 6:15).
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