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SUBJECT: 09 - BOOK THREE CHAPTER SIX
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TOPICAL SERMONS IN OUTLINE
# THE BIBLE: WHEREIN IT DIFFERS FROM ALL OTHER BOOKS
INTRODUCTION. -- The Bible stands absolutely alone. It is an entirely unique book. It is not a book, it is THE Book. Wherein the Bible differs from all other books:
I. In its Depth.
The Bible is the unfathomable and inexhaustible book. It is unfathomable not because of the obscurity of its style, but because of the profundity of its teaching. The style is so simple and clear that a child can understand it, but its truth is so profound that we explore it from childhood to old age, and can never say that we have reached the bottom.
1. There are whole volumes of meaning in a single and apparently simple verse.
2. The Bible is always ahead of man. What other book ought to command the attention, the time and the study that this book does which is deeper than all other books, ahead of all other books and ahead of every age?
II. In the Absolute Accuracy of its Statements.
The Bible is the only book that always says all it means to say, and never says any more than it means to say.
III. In its Power.
There is perhaps no place in which the supremacy and solitariness of the Bible shines out as in its power. {455} In what direction does the Bible show a power that no other books possess?
1. Saving power.
(a) The Bible has unique saving power in individual lives.
(b) It has saving power in national life.
2. The Bible has a comforting power no other book possesses.
3. The Bible has a joy-giving power no other book possesses.
4. The Bible has a wisdom-giving power that no other book possesses. Psa_119:130.
5. The Bible has a courage-giving power no other book possesses. No other book has made so many and such peerless heroes.
6. The Bible has a power to inspire activity that no other book possesses.
IV. In its Universal Adaptability.
Other books fit certain classes, or certain types, or certain races of men, but the Bible fits man universally.
1. It fits all nations.
2. It fits all ages.
3. The Bible fits all classes.
4. The Bible fits all experiences. It is the book for the hour of gladness, and the book for the hour of sadness, the book for the day of victory and the book for the day of defeat. The book for the day of clearest faith, and the book for the day of darkest doubt.
V. In its History.
1. The Bible has been hated as no other book.
2. Loved as no other book.
3. Studied as no other book.
4. It has been victorious as no other book.
VI. In its Authorship.
Finally, the Bible differs from every other book in its authorship. Other books are men's books, this is God's book. {456}
# IS THE BIBLE IN DANGER?
INTRODUCTION. -- Many consider that the Bible is in grave danger. Many think so because they are glad to think so; it gives their conscience some little consolation in a life of sin. Others fear so with great reluctance. They love the Bible; would be glad to believe, they are afraid that the old book must go. So let us honestly face the question, "Is the Bible in danger?"
We will not deny that the Bible has enemies and most gifted ones. Six reasons why the Bible is not in danger:
I. Because the Bible has already Survived the Attacks of 1,800 Years.
II. The Bible is not in Danger because it Meets and Satisfies the Deepest Needs of Man.
1. First of all the need of pardon and peace.
2. The need of man is deliverance from sin's power.
3. The need of comfort in sorrow.
4. Need of hope in the face of death.
III. The Bible is not in Danger because there is Nothing Else to Take the Place of the Bible.
The Bible contains all the truth of moral and spiritual subjects that other books contain, it contains more than all other books put together, and it contains all this in portable compass.
IV. The Bible is not in Danger because it has a Hold that Cannot be Shaken on the Confidence and Affection of the Wisest and Best Men and Women.
The Bible has the distrust and hatred of some, but it has the confidence and affection of the wisest and especially the best and holiest of men and women. The men who know the Bible best are the men who trust it most and love it best. The Bible is distrusted and hated by those whose influence dies with them; the Bible is loved and trusted by those whose influence lives after them. {457}
V. The Bible is not in Danger because it is the Word of God.
Many things prove that this book is the Word of God: its fulfilled prophecies, its unity, its Divine Power, its inexhaustible depth, the fact that as we grow in knowledge and holiness -- grow Godward -- we grow toward the Bible.
VI. The Bible is not in Danger because any Honest and Earnest Seeker after Truth can find out for Himself that the Bible is God's Word.
CONCLUSION. -- The Bible is in no danger. But while the Bible itself is in no danger those who vent their spleen upon it are in danger. It is no small sin to ridicule the Word of all-holy and all-mighty God. There are others who are in danger. Those who listen to the fascinating eloquence of an Ingersoll and allow it to lull them to repose in a life of sin.
# INFIDELITY: ITS CAUSES, CONSEQUENCES AND CURE
I. Causes
1. The misrepresentation of Christianity by its professed disciples. Two kinds of misrepresentation:
(a) In doctrine.
(b) In life.
2. Ignorance. Ignorance of what the Bible contains and teaches. Ignorance of history.
3. Conceit. Men become infidels because they find things in the Bible they cannot understand, because there are apparent contradictions which they cannot reconcile. To think that our finite minds could take in in a day or a month all the truth revealed by an infinite mind; to think that because I can't take a statement in it the statement can't be true; to think because I can't find a solution to a difficulty none can be found, all this is to think that my mind is infinite, that I know all things, that I am God.
4. Sin. This is the commonest and most fundamental cause of infidelity. In two ways:
(a) Men sin and betake themselves to infidelity to find comfort in their sins. {458}
(b) Sin blinds their eyes to the truth of the Bible and makes it appear foolishness.
II. Consequences.
1. Sin. Infidelity breeds sin; there is no doubt of that. It is caused by sin and in turn begets a progeny like its ancestry.
2. Anarchy. Anarchists are always infidels.
3. Wretchedness and despair.
4. Suicide.
5. Hopeless graves.
6. Eternal ruin.
III. The Cure.
1. Christ-like living on the part of professed Christians.
2. A surrendered will on the part of the infidel.
3. The study of the Will of God.
# WHY I BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST
INTRODUCTION. -- There is nothing more important for a man for the life that now is and for the life that is to come than a faith in Jesus Christ that is intelligent, clear and firm.
I. I Believe in Jesus Christ first of all because of the remarkable Fulfillment of His prophecies.
Jesus Christ was a prophet. He made some astounding predictions regarding the future. Predictions that seemed incredible and in some cases absurd, but which history has fulfilled to the letter. Take for example His prediction of a world-wide conquest by His disciples. (In Mat_28:18-20.); Mat_24:1-2, Mat_24:5, Mat_24:7, Mat_24:10, Mat_24:16, Mat_24:26, Mat_24:28; Luk_19:41-44; Luk_21:20-24.
II. I believe in Jesus Christ, in the second place, because of His Fulfilled Promises.
Jesus Christ was not only a prophet but a promiser. He made promises of a most extraordinary character, but promises the truth of which any man could test for himself, and all who have tested the promises have found them true. E.g., Mat_11:28; Act_1:8; Joh_7:17. {459}
III. I believe in Jesus Christ, in the third place, because of the Wholesome Character of His Laws.
IV. I believe in Christ again because of the Way He Fits into and Fulfills all O.T. Types and Prophecies.
V. I believe in Jesus Christ because of the Fact of His Resurrection.
VI. I believe in Jesus Christ because of the Uniqueness of His Claims and the Way in which He Substantiates Them.
VII. I believe in Jesus Christ because of His Demonstrated Power to Save.
I believe that Jesus can save because He does save. I believe that Jesus can save because I have seen Him do it.
# SOME ABSOLUTE CERTAINTIES
INTRODUCTION. -- We live at a time when the religions and philosophies of all ages and all lands are being brought together for comparison. What an inextricable tangle there seems to be -- Christianity, Mohammedanism, Buddhism and Zoroastrianism; all the various forms of materialistic and spiritualistic philosophy. Within Christianity itself what a conflict of rival theologies! Where is truth to be found? What is truth? It is a great relief and joy to find some certainties among this endless maze of uncertainties, to find something to stand upon and be able to say here at least I have solid rock underneath my feet.
A few of the fundamental truths about which there can be no honest question:
I. The first absolute certainty is that there is an absolute difference between right and wrong.
II. The second certainty is that a man ought to make an honest and diligent search for the truth and to follow every possible clue that promises to lead to it.
1. Here prayer comes in. It is a possible clue. {460}
2. The Bible is at least another possible clue. Many very credible witnesses claim they have come to this book, not all prejudiced in its favor but honestly seeking truth, and have in this book found what they sought. These two clues should be followed together.
III. The third certainty is, a man ought to obey so much of the truth as he finds and as fast as he finds it.
IV. The fourth certainty is that every man is a sinner and needs a Savior.
V. The fifth absolute certainty is that Jesus does save those who put their trust in Him.
VI. The sixth absolute certainty is that there is no Savior from the guilt and power of sin but Jesus Christ.
VII. The seventh absolute certainty is that the life of the one who accepts Jesus Christ as Savior and who surrenders to Him as Lord, believes the promises and obeys the precepts of the Bible, is the noblest, fairest, happiest and in every way the most satisfactory life.
# WHY I BELIEVE THAT JESUS CHRIST IS THE SON OF GOD
INTRODUCTION. -- There is no subject more important than that of the Divinity of Jesus Christ. If Jesus Christ is not Divine, then Christians are idolaters. If Jesus Christ is Divine then all who do not acknowledge Him as such and accept Him as their Divine Savior and Lord are guilty of the awful sin of rejecting the Son of God and denying Him the honor due to His name.
I. I believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God because of His own Claim to be the Son of God, and the Way in which He Substantiates that Claim.
Christ's claim to be divine is substantiated:
1. First, by His character. {461}
2. His claim to be divine is substantiated by the miracles which He performed.
3. Christ's claim to be divine is substantiated, in the third place, by His influence on the history of the world.
4. Christ's claim is substantiated, in the fourth place, by His resurrection from the dead.
II. Because of the Teachings of the Bible besides His own.
III. Because of the Divine Power He possesses Today.
It is not necessary to go back to the miracles of Christ when upon earth to prove this. He has divine power. He exercises this power today and any one can test it.
1. He has power to forgive sins.
2. He has power today to set Satan's victims free.
IV. I believe that Jesus Christ is Divine because of the Character of those who Accept Him as Divine.
V. I believe in the Divinity of Jesus Christ because of the Result of Accepting His Divinity.
The religion that accepts God the Father but rejects Jesus Christ His son has no such deep and lasting moral power as the religion that accepts Jesus Christ as divine. Unitarianism does not save the fallen. Unitarianism does not beget a missionary spirit. Faith in Jesus as divine makes missionaries and martyrs; it produces men of prayer and faith. It produces consecrated living. The denial of the divinity of Christ tends to prayerlessness, religious carelessness, unbelief, worldliness, selfishness and easygoing living.
# UNTO PRAYER
INTRODUCTION. -- The great need of our day in our church life is more prayer. Passages that put this call in an especially impressive and instructive way: 1Pe_4:7 RV. The closing words, "BE SOBER UNTO PRAYER." The word translated "be sober" means to be "calm and collected in spirit." To be clear-headed. The thought is that prayer is a matter of greatest importance as the days go fast flying toward the end, and that it demands a man's best thought, {462} and that a man needs a clear head before all else, in order that he may approach the great God acceptably in prayer. Prayer demands our best moments and our best thought.
I. "That ye may Give Yourselves unto Prayer." 1Co_7:5 RV.
Here Paul says that there are certain duties incumbent upon married people that they may by mutual consent give up for a season that they may give themselves to prayer. That is, prayer is a matter of such vast importance, and for its proper prosecution demands such concentration of thought and disentanglement from other concerns, that matters of very great weight may properly be laid aside to attend to this weightier matter of prayer. The words translated "that ye may give yourselves unto prayer" mean literally 'that ye may have leisure unto prayer." That is, prayer cannot be properly prosecuted by a preoccupied mind. It demands leisure. It demands the putting of all other things aside and attending absolutely and wholly to this.
II. "Continuing steadfastly in prayer, watching therein with supplication." The third passage is Col_4:2 RV.
The words translated "Continue steadfastly in prayer" mean give constant attention to prayer, make a business of prayer. It is the same word used in Act_6:4, where the apostles wanted some one to be appointed to look after the poor in order that they might GIVE THEMSELVES CONTINUALLY to prayer and the ministry of the Word; and in Act_10:7, where it is said of certain soldiers that they WAITED ON Cornelius CONTINUALLY; and in Rom_13:6, where it is said of officials that "they are God's ministers, ATTENDING CONTINUALLY upon this very thing." It evidently means to make a business of a thing. We should make a business of prayer. It is Jesus Christ's business. That is what He lives for. Hebrews_2:25. When the Church of Christ does make prayer its business our eyes shall behold such great things in conversions and progress in life at home and missionary conquests abroad as we have never dreamed of. Our verse says something else about prayer than making it a business. "Continue steadfastly in prayer, WATCHING THEREIN." It must be a wide-awake business. {463}
III. "That ye strive together." Rom_15:30.
We should strive in prayer. The word translated "strive" means to "contend" or "fight" or "struggle" against opposition. To put forth intense and determined effort. The noun from which it is derived is translated "conflict" or "fight," as for example in 2Ti_4:7. God demands the same earnestness in prayer that He does in work. We get the best things in work only by hard working, and we get the best things in prayer by hard praying. There are obstacles to be overcome by prayer, real obstacles; there are enemies to be conquered by prayer, live enemies, strong enemies, and the prayers that win take a vast outlay of soul energy.
CONCLUSION. -- Four practical suggestions.
1. Set apart time from everything else for praying. A certain portion of every day and frequent special seasons.
2. Prepare for prayer.
(a) Examine your heart and life to see if you are in praying trim, and if not, get into it.
(b) Think carefully over the things that you are to pray for. Find the best, the most needy, most urgent causes.
3. When you undertake to pray summon all your spirit and energy and pray it through.
4. Look to the Holy Spirit to guide every step of the way, "praying in the Holy Spirit."
# THREE FIRES
I. The Fire of the Holy Ghost. Mat_3:11; Act_2:2-4.
1. First of all fire reveals. 1Co_3:13. What does it mean to be baptized with fire? The answer to this is found in considering what fire does.
2. Fire refines and purifies. Isa_44:1-28; Zec_1:3, Zec_1:9; Mal_3:1-3.
3. Fire consumes. It refines by consuming. Eze_24:9-11. There is much in all of us that needs to be consumed, pride, vanity, love of money, love of pleasure, fear of man.
4. Fire illuminates. When one is baptized with fire, truth we did not see at all before becomes as clear as day, the Bible becomes a new book, glory shines from every page. {464}
5. Fire also warms; it makes to glow.
6. Fire imparts energy. All forms of energy can be transformed into heat and by heat we can generate the different forms of force and motion.
7. Fire spreads.
II. The Fire that Tries Our Works. 1Co_3:13-15.
Not a judgment regarding salvation. The persons whose works are here burned up are saved. It is a judgment regarding the works we do as Christians and the reward we shall receive for them. All the works we do for Christ, or professedly for Him, are to be tested. They are to be put to the severe test, the fire test. All that will not stand the fire test will be burned up.
III. The Fire of Eternal Doom. 2Th_1:7-9.
Every one of us shall know fire from God. Some of us, I hope, will know the fire of the Holy Ghost. Many of us, I know, will know the fire that tries and consumes our work which is not of the right sort in God's sight. Some shall know the fire of eternal doom. There is a fire of eternal doom. For whom is it?
1. To them that know not God.
2. To them that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus.
CONCLUSION. -- There are these three fires, one of which we all must know. Which shall it be?
# THE BAPTISM WITH FIRE
(Mat_3:11.)
The interpretation that makes the fire of future judgment untenable.
1. In that case it should read "or fire."
2. The way coupled with Holy Ghost, not two "withs," as in AV and Rev_3:1-22. Literal translation, "With Holy wind and fire."
4. Fulfilled at Pentecost. Act_2:2-4. {465}
What is it to be baptized with fire? The answer found in considering what fire is said to do in Scripture and what came to the disciples at Pentecost.
1. Refines. 1Co_3:13.
2. Refines and purifies. The apostles after Pentecost compared with before. Isa_4:4; Zec_13:9; Mal_3:1-3.
3. Consumes. Eze_24:9-11; Joh_5:35.
4. Illuminates. James_16:13; 1Co_2:14.
5. Fire warms, it makes to glow.
6. Fire imparts energy, generates power and motion.
7. Fire spreads.
The great need of ministers and Christian work, of individual Christians and the Church is a baptism with fire.
II. How Received.
How did the apostles receive it?
1. They recognized their need.
2. They believed it was for them.
3. They really desired it.
4. They continued steadfastly in prayer.
5. They were wholly surrendered to God's will.
6. They expected it.
One gets the baptism with fire in pretty much the same way as one gets water baptism. You wish to be baptized with water, you go to one qualified to baptize with water, tell him what you want and put yourself in his hands for him to baptize you, you being willing to take upon yourself all the consequences of that baptism. Do just the same in this. There is but One qualified to baptize with fire. Jesus Christ, the risen Christ, is the sole and only baptizer with the Holy Ghost.
III. Stirring up the Fire.
1. This clearly implies that after one has received the baptism with fire it may burn low and must be stirred into a flame. Experience abundantly proves this. 2Ti_1:6. {466}
2. How kindle into a flame?
(a) Study of the Word. Eph_5:18-19; comp. Col_3:16. Just as soon as any one neglects his Bible study the Holy fire burns low. Jer_23:29.
(b) Prayer. Act_4:31.
(c) Work. 1 Timothy 4;13-14.
CONCLUSION. -- Have you been baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire? Will you be today? Have you been and is the fire burning low? Will you kindle it into a flame?
# POWER: ITS SOURCE AND HOW TO OBTAIN IT
Text. "God has spoken once... power belongeth unto God." Psa_62:11.
INTRODUCTION. -- The great need in Christian work is power. The father and mother in the home. The Sunday-school teacher. The personal worker. We preachers of the Gospel. We must have power. We can have power. How can we get it?
I. The Source of Power.
Power belongeth unto God. All real power is from Him. We get power by getting in contact with Him, in union with Him. How often you see a man whom you supposed to be a comparative ignoramus doing a mighty work for God. Why is it? Somehow he has gotten into contact with God. He has got hold of God's power. If you have not the power nobody is to blame but yourself. God is not to blame, for He longs to give; the devil is not to blame, for he can't hinder. You are to blame.
II. How Power Is to be Obtained.
What are the conditions upon which God bestows upon us the power that belongs to Him?
1. We must put away sin. Isa_59:1-2.
2. We must be separated and stay separated unto God. Jdg_16:15-17; cf. Num_6:1-2, Num_6:5.
3. We must get down low before God. 1Pe_5:5-6. When we give up our own wisdom we get God's. When we give up {467} our own power then and only then we get the power of God. Isa_40:29 hew:29 hew:29.
4. We must have faith. Heb_11:32-34. How to get faith. Romans 10;17.
5. If we are to get God's power we must ask for it. Luk_11:5-10. The place of prayer is the place where power is obtained. Isa_40:31 hew:31 hew:31; Jam_4:2.
6. If we are to have power we must have the Holy Ghost. Act_1:8; Act_4:31, Act_4:33. Luk_11:13; Act_2:39.
# THE CHRISTIAN WORKER AND THE HOLY SPIRIT
INTRODUCTION. -- There are three passages in the Bible regarding the Holy Spirit that every one who wishes to be used of God in winning souls should ponder very deeply.
I. Luk_24:49.
1. WHAT IS THIS ENDUEMENT OF POWER?
(a) A definite experience.
(b) Separate and distinct from regeneration.
(c) A clothing of the believer in Christ with the power of God.
2. How received. Can be variously stated.
(a) Must believe there is such an enduement. Act_19:1-6.
(b) Must desire it. Isa_44:3.
(c) Put away hindrances. The great hindrances, sin and self-sufficiency.
(d) Absolute surrender. Act_5:32.
(e) Prayer. Luk_11:13; Act_4:31.
(f) Faith -- claim. Mar_11:24 RV.
II. These words are addressed to believers. The Holy Spirit is here set forth as a fire. Significance. There is danger that this fire be quenched. Not enough to receive this fire. Must see to it that it is not quenched. 1Th_5:19.
1. How the Holy Spirit is quenched. {468}
(a) Through not yielding to the Spirit's suggestions. See context.
(b) Through incoming of sin.
(c) Through going back on our consecration.
(d) Through self-indulgence.
(e) Through pride.
If one has quenched the Spirit what shall he do? Go alone with God and find the cause. Then have done with it. Can power be renewed? Yes.
III. Here again the Holy Spirit is compared to fire. The verse tells us it is not enough not to quench the fire. We must feed the fire and stir it into a flame. Here is where many fail. 2Ti_1:6.
1. How?
(a) The study of the Word. Eph_5:18-19; compare Col_3:16.
(b) Prayer. Act_4:31.
(c) Work. The exercise of the gift increases the power of the gift. 1Ti_4:14 (see context, 1Ti_4:13).
# THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE WORD
INTRODUCTION. -- The one who would be an efficient worker for Christ must know the power of two things. The power of the Spirit of God and the power of the Word of God. These two are most intimately related to each other.
I. The Holy Spirit is the author of the Word. 2Pe_1:21; 1Pe_1:11; Heb_3:7; Joh_4:26; 1Co_2:12-13.
II. The Holy Spirit leads men to the Word. Luk_1:67 (and which follows Scripture), 2:25, compare 2:32; Act_2:4, Act_2:14-17, etc. (Act_2:25-28); Act_6:5, compare ch.7. (Whenever a man was filled with the Holy Spirit he was full of Scripture.)
III. The Holy Spirit is the interpreter of the Word. 1Co_2:14.
IV. The Holy Spirit enables the preacher to communicate with power to others the truth he himself has been taught. Act_4:31, Act_4:34; 1Co_2:1-5. {469}
V. The Word is the instrument the Holy Spirit uses in all His blessed work.
1. Joh_15:26, compare Joh_5:39.
2. Joh_16:8, compare Act_2:37.
3. Joh_3:5, compare 1Pe_1:23; Joh_1:18.
4. 1Pe_1:2, compare Joh_17:17.
5. 1Co_12:9, f.cl., Rom_10:17.
6. Rom_8:16, compare 1Jn_5:13.
7. Gal_5:22, compare Jer_15:16; Joh_15:11.
8. Rom_15:13, compare Rom_15:4 (hope).
9. Act_9:31, compare Rom_15:4 (comfort).
The Spirit of God works through the Word. If we wish the Spirit to do His work in our hearts we must study the Word. If we wish Him to do His work in hearts of others we must give them the Word. Eph_6:17. But the Word alone will not do it. It is the Word and the Spirit. We must look to the Spirit to make His Word effectual. 2Co_3:6.
# SOME REASONS WHY EVERY SENSIBLE MAN SHOULD BE A CHRISTIAN
I. Every sensible man should be a Christian because the teachings of Jesus Christ are true and right and ought therefore to be obeyed.
A learned man is a man who knows a great deal, a sensible man is a man who acts upon what he knows. A man may have much learning and very little sense. The man who knows and believes the teachings of Christ to be true and doesn't act upon them has the least sense of all.
II. Every sensible person should be a Christian because the acceptance of Christ brings salvation.
Two things are perfectly clear to every candid person who considers the facts in the case. 1st. That men need salvation. 2nd. That Christ does save those who accept Him. The first of these certainties every man knows from experience. The second of these certainties, that Jesus Christ does save those who put their trust in Him, any one can know not only from {470} the sure Word of God that asserts, Rom_1:16, but from observation as well. It is a simple, incontrovertible fact that Jesus Christ has saved men.
III. Every sensible man should be a Christian because Christ brings a deeper, purer, more lasting joy to those who accept Him than can be found in any other way.
Ask any one who has ever been a real Christian if he finds in Christ a deeper, purer, more lasting joy than he ever found elsewhere and he will tell you yes, far deeper, immeasurably deeper. 1Pe_1:8.
IV. Every sensible man should be a Christian because real faith in Christ prepares one for every emergency of life that can possible arise. Php_4:11-12; Heb_11:6; Rom_8:28.
# IMPORTANCE OF BIBLE STUDY
INTRODUCTION. -- There is nothing more important for the Christian than Bible study. There is nothing as important except prayer, holy living and work. And the one who rightly studies his Bible will pray powerfully, live holy, and work earnestly and efficiently. Bible study is also important for the one who is not a Christian.
I. Bible Study is Important as a Means of Intellectual Development.
No other study offers the material for such an all-round development of the mental powers as the study of the Bible.
1. The Bible is the profoundest book that ever was written.
2. The Bible gives a wider scope for the legitimate use of the imagination and fancy than any other book, or all other books. It goes back into the eternal past; it looks forward into the eternal future. The greatest masters of literature have allowed their fancy to drink in its highest inspiration at the Bible fountain.
3. The Bible is the world's great masterpiece of style.
(a) It is the world's marvel of condensed thought. Volumes are packed into a single verse. {471}
(b) It is the peerless model of simple, chaste, strong, Anglo-saxon.
(c) It is absolutely unrivaled in its power of terse and incisive statement.
(d) It has a power that no other book possesses of saying things in a way that so penetrates the mind and fastens itself in the memory that they cannot be forgotten. Any man or woman who desires to write well or speak well should study the Bible above all other books.
4. Bible study affords such opportunity as is found nowhere else for the cultivation of the powers of observation, analysis, synthesis, inference, memory and recollection.
II. Bible Study is of the Highest Importance for the Promotion of Growth in Christian Character. 1Pe_2:2.
III. Bible Study is Important for the Production and Development of Faith. Rom_10:17.
1. Faith as opposed to unbelief.
2. Faith that prevails in prayer.
3. Saving faith.
4. Faith that expects and receives great things from God in work.
IV. Bible Study is Important as a Safeguard against Sin. Psa_119:11.