The Bible comes to men as the word of God. In every part it speaks to men as from God and upon the authority of God. But how shall men who do not know God know that it is the word of God? This is the question that thousands of people ask. They ask, “What proof is there, where is the evidence, that it is the word of God?”
There is evidence—evidence that every man can have—evidence that is convincing and satisfactory. Where is it, then? Let us see.
Being the word of God, where could evidence be found that it is such? Where should we expect to find such evidence? Is there any one of greater knowledge than God, or of greater authority than he, of whom we may inquire?—Certainly not. For whoever God may be, there can be no higher authority, there can be none of greater knowledge. Whoever he is, in the very nature of the case he is the fountain of knowledge, he is ultimate authority. And to ask of any one who is of less knowledge and authority than he, any answer that we might receive would be of less authority than the Bible itself, and so would be no proof at all. Such answer would have no value as evidence upon which the individual himself might rest.
Even to ask that “some other” than the God of the Bible should tell us whether this is the word of God, would be nothing else than to ask that God himself should tell us, because the God of the Bible presents himself to men as God alone, and presents that word as his word; so that to ask for “some other” to tell us, when we should find that “other,” we should find only God; for whoever God is, and as certainly as he is, there can really be no other.
Suppose, then, we were to ask God whether this is his word, and suppose he should tell us in just so many words, “The Bible is my word,” we should have his word for it. But we have that already, over and over; so that even then we should have no more evidence than we now have in abundance; and the evidence would be in nowise different; for it would be the evidence of his word, and that we already have.
By this it is plain enough that the word of God is its own evidence. In the nature of the case there can be no higher evidence, no better evidence. Therefore this word in itself is the highest, the best, the only really satisfactory evidence.
The word of God bears in itself the evidence that it is the word of God. It is impossible that it could be otherwise. If God had never yet spoken a word to the human family, and should this day send a message to all people at once and in their own native tongues, that word, being the word of God, would have to bear in itself the evidence of its being the word of God; for the people could not possibly inquire of any other, because there is no other person whose knowledge or authority is equal to this. Bearing in itself the evidence of its being the word of God, all the people could obtain this evidence by accepting it as the word of God. Each one who did this would know that it was the word of God, for he would have the evidence in the word, and by accepting it, also in himself.
THE FORBIDDEN BOOK.
This is precisely the position that the Bible occupies toward the people of this world. It comes as the word of God. As such it must bear the evidence in itself, for there can be no higher, no better evidence. Whoever receives it as the word of God, receives in it and in himself the evidence that it is the word of God. And so it is written, “When ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.” 1 Thess. 2:13; Acts 17:1, 2. And again: “A new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you.” 1 John 2:8. And again: “My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will [is willing to] do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.” John 7:16, 17. Thus he who accepts the word as the word of God, gets the evidence that it is the word of God. He who will not accept the word can not have the evidence; in rejecting the word, he rejects the evidence, because the evidence is in the word. To make this yet plainer if possible, especially to those who doubt that the Bible is the word of God, we may for the sake of the case suppose that it were not, and that the God of the Bible were not the true God. Suppose then that we should find the true God and ask him, and suppose he should say, “It is not the word of God.” We should then have only his word; and the only way that we could know that this answer were true would be by believing it, by accepting it as the word of God. So that the only way in which any person could surely know that the Bible is not the word of God, would be by the word of God. And even though they had the word of God to this effect, the only way that they could be sure of it—the only evidence they could have—would be by believing that word. But there is no word of God that the Scriptures are not the word of God, while there is the word of God that the Scriptures are the word of God. That word of God bears in itself the evidence that it is the word of God. And every soul who will receive it as it is, will get the evidence. The evidence will be plain to him who believes the word.
GOD’S WORD AND PLAN.
By Cowper
O, how unlike the complex works of man,
Heaven’s easy, artless, unencumbered plan:
No meretricious graces to beguile,
No clustering ornaments to clog the pile;
From ostentation as from weakness free,
It stands like the cerulean arch we see,
Majestic in its own simplicity.
Inscribed above the portal, from afar,
Conspicuous as the brightness of a star,
Legible only by the light they give,
Stand the soul-quickening words—Believe and Live.
—Cowper.
THE EARLY FATHERS.
BUT of these we may safely say that there is not a truth in the most orthodox creed that can not be proved by their authority; nor a heresy that has disgraced the Romish Church that may not challenge them as its abettors. In points of doctrine, their authority is with me nothing. The word of God alone contains my creed. On a number of points I can go to the Greek and Latin fathers of the church to know what they believed, and what the people of their respective communions believed; but after all this, I must return to God’s word to know what he would have me to believe.—Dr. A. Clarke, Comments on Proverbs 8.
The Word Incarnate.
By J. H. D.
BY J. H. D.
“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” John 1:14.
The divine incarnation, the death, and the ascension of Jesus Christ, the free pardon of the unrighteous, the work of redemption, and a final issue in a life that is eternal, are all parts of a system which in fragments is incredible. In order to make any single part thoroughly intelligible it is almost necessary to expound the whole at once. But to the natural mind each is a mystery that human reasoning can not fathom. But what the wisdom of man fails to search out, can be known by the heavenly wisdom that is promised to all who ask. James 1:5. “The Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” 1 Cor. 2:10.
That Jesus Christ existed before he was upon this earth is clearly proved by the word of truth: “O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.” Rev. 22:13. It is Christ himself who speaks, and he is speaking of himself. “In the beginning was the Word [Logos], and the Word [Logos] was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that hath been made.” John 1:1, 2, R. V. See also Col. 1:13–16; John 3:13, 31; 13:1–3; 10:30.
The Word Made Flesh.
“But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth his Son, born under the law, that he might redeem them which were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” Gal. 4:4, 5, R. V. Christ was born under the law as man’s representative, to satisfy the law for all of man’s transgression of it. See Gal. 3:13. This is the work of redemption for man. But this is not complete until death is abolished. “The wages of sin is death.” Those that are under the law are condemned to death. Jesus Christ was made flesh to give man freedom from this death.
This Christ is the all-creating “Word made flesh,” “God over all, blessed forever.” “Who, in God’s form subsisting, not a thing to be seized on, esteemed the being equal with God; but emptied himself, taking a servant’s form, coming to be in man’s likeness; and in fashion being found as a man, humbled himself, becoming obedient as far as death, yes, death on a cross.” Phil. 2:6–8, Rotherham’s Translation.
It is impossible to separate the incarnation of Christ from the plan of salvation. The whole plan is founded on this fact: He must be made flesh before he could die. His incarnation must be a fact before his resurrection could be true. And of the importance of this resurrection we read: “If Christ hath not been raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ have perished.” 1 Cor. 15:17, 18, R. V.
The Nature of Christ’s Incarnation.
“The Word was made flesh.” What was the nature of this flesh which he took? Was it free from all tendencies to sin? Was it free from temptations? One scripture answers the latter question: “We have not a High Priest that can not be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but one that hath been in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” Heb. 4:15, R. V. So the flesh which the Logos took was subject to temptation, just as the flesh we possess. “But each man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed. Then the lust, when it hath conceived, beareth sin; and the sin, when it is full grown, bringeth forth death.” James 1:14, 15, R. V. The flesh without any of the desires for evil is not subject to temptation. But Christ was tempted like as we are, so he must have had the same kind of flesh which we have.
“For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh [margin, “flesh of sin”] and as an offering for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.” Rom. 8:3, R. V. According to the marginal reading of this text, which is the literal reading, Jesus Christ took “flesh of sin.” But a flesh of sin must have had sin in it, although it may never have been manifested. Yes, reader, the blessed Son of God, the Creator, the divine Logos, did indeed humble himself, when he emptied himself of his glory (John 17:5), and of his creative power, and took up his abode in flesh with the same desires that you have in your flesh.
The connection between the divine and the human in Christ’s flesh was so real and so vital that the Word became just as much a part of the personality of Jesus, as is the thinking power a part of man’s being. The union was so close that it constituted the Logos, the man, and the Manhood Divine. It was so close that when Jesus says “I,” it is the whole man which speaks. Although he is God and man, yet he is not twain, but one Christ.
The Object of the Incarnation.
Why did Christ take the humble position he occupied on earth?—“To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” Gal. 4:4, 5. Fallen man could not redeem himself. It must take divine power to break the bands of sin. This power must come from heaven. Man lost his innocency, his dominion, and his life. The Son of God became flesh in order to restore to man his innocency, his life, and his dominion. Or, in other words, the object of the incarnation of the Son of God is to give eternal life to mankind.
“In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” Again it is said, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” He taught the woman of Samaria that the water which he would give would be within, a fountain of water springing up to everlasting life. In another place Christ proves to the Jews that he is the bread of life. He called their attention to the fact that their fathers ate manna in the wilderness and died, but that he was the bread that came down from heaven, of which, if a man should eat thereof, he should not die. John 6:50.
In order to be freed from death and have life, one must be a partaker of Christ. “For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end.” Heb. 3:14. We are partakers of him by being partakers of his holy life. See Heb. 12:10. If we are partakers of him, as the heavenly bread, he must dwell in us. And this is promised to the believer: “Ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” 2 Cor. 6:16. “That he would grant you according to the riches of his glory, that ye may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” Eph. 3:16, 17, R. V.
The Lord himself says it is his desire to dwell in the hearts of those who will receive him: “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” Isa. 57:15. If the believer will open the door of the heart, Christ desires to come in and abide with him, by his actual representative, the Holy Spirit. But Christ in us is Christ again in the flesh. But Christ has no better flesh in us than that which he took when he came to this earth. “For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing.” But there must be good in us if we enter the kingdom of God; and in order that this may be so, it was necessary for Christ to take this sinful flesh when he dwelt among men. It was to teach man that in him was the only perfection that would ever meet the requirements of God’s holy law.
As he kept his flesh from sin, and condemned sin in it, so he will keep the flesh of the sinner who believes in him, and condemn sin in it. As he caused his flesh to conquer death in a resurrection from the dead, and carried it into heaven triumphant, so will he take our bodies through death by a resurrection, and bring them safely into heaven if we will let him take up his abode in us. He7is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever. His triumphant incarnation, his reign in sinful flesh, is the assurance that the sinner need not become discouraged, but he can have this same divine power to bring the flesh triumphant to the kingdom of heaven.
Christ does not keep the law for us, apart from us, but he works the righteousness of God in us. The humanity of Christ both revealed and obscured his divinity. Many of those who associated with him only looked upon the flesh, and failed to see the divine power that was working within. Many more to-day only see the human, while the divine is hidden from them. Had the world looked at his life and seen that his life was a perfect one, they would have seen that there was power to live a perfect life in the flesh. The flesh alone could not live the life he lived; therefore it was evident that there was divinity within that gave the flesh power over sin. It was God in the flesh. Until his divine nature was thoroughly understood, his forgiving power could not fully be believed.
This same Logos lives to-day. “Fear not; I am the first and the last, and the living one; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of hades.” Rev. 1:17, 18, R. V. Being alive, he is able to do for our flesh that which he did for the flesh he took triumphantly to heaven. He was the Word before the world, and he was the Word while in the flesh. He is the Word in heaven to-day, and by his Holy Spirit he is the Word in the heart of every sinner who will accept him. But this word is life. John 6:63. Then he who receives the Word, receives life, and is a new creature. “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.” 1 Peter 1:23. By the new birth the Word (Logos) again takes up an abode in the heart. “I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live; and yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in me; and that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Gal. 2:20, R. V.
As the connection between the divine and the human in Christ’s flesh was so real that the Word became just as much the personality of Christ as is the thinking power a part of man’s being, and the union made the Logos man, and the manhood divine, so should the close union exist between the divine and the human in our flesh. The man should be transformed thus again, making God and man one in Christ. Then will the flesh, with all its desires, be in perfect subjection to God’s holy law. Then will the object of the Word being made flesh be fulfilled, and our flesh, given his life, will be finally saved in the kingdom of God.
THE LIGHT OF THE WORD.
By William How
O word of God incarnate,
O wisdom from on high,
O truth unchanged, unchanging,
O light of our dark sky!
We praise thee for the radiance
That from the hallowed page,
A lamp to guide our footsteps,
Shines on from age to age.
The church from her dear Master
Received the gift divine,
And still that light she lifteth
O’er all the earth to shine.
It is the golden casket
Where gems of truth are stored,
It is the heaven-drawn picture
Of Christ, the living Word.
It floateth like a banner
Before God’s host unfurled;
It shineth like a beacon
Above the stormy world;
It is the chart and compass
That o’er life’s raging sea,
Mid mists and rocks and quicksands,
Still guides, O Christ, to thee!
O, make thy church, dear Saviour,
A lamp of burnished gold,
To bear before the nations
Thy true light as of old!
O, teach thy wandering pilgrims
By this their path to trace,
Till, clouds and darkness ended,
They see thee face to face!
— William How.
THE BIBLE TO BE UNDERSTOOD BY ALL.
By Ellen G. White
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
“SEARCH the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify of me.” “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” “For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God; for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.”
By searching the Scriptures we are to know God, and Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent. The Bible has not been given for the benefit of ministers only; it is the book for the people; it is the comfort of the poor man. It is a great mistake for ministers to give the impression to the people that they should not read the Bible because they cannot understand its sacred teachings, and should be content with the interpretation given by those whose business it is to proclaim the word of God. Ministers who thus educate the people are themselves in error. The Bible and the soul were made one for the other, and through the agency of the word and the Holy Spirit, God moves upon the heart. To him who receives the love of the truth, the word of God is as a light that shineth in a dark place, pointing out the path so plainly that the wayfaring man though a fool need not err therein. He realizes that “the entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.”
The uneducated man, in earnest desire of soul, may in his humility and simplicity reap from the Bible far greater consolation than the learned or more exalted and honored man. He may never be able to present to another the same evidences of the inspiration of the word that a learned man could, but he can bear in his life and character a testimony of strength, showing forth in his outward demeanor the evidence of the power of the truth. God means that the poor and uneducated should have his word as a sure light and guide in the path of righteousness. If they are sincere, and desire earnestly to know the will of God, they will not be left in darkness. It is the privilege of every one to be wise for himself in reading the Scriptures. No man can safely trust his soul to the minister, or to men who are learned and talented. Jesus charged the priests and rulers, who were regarded as learned in the Scriptures, as being ignorant both of the Scriptures and the power of God. Those to whom God has intrusted talents are responsible for the use of their gifts, and should study the Bible as a book that may be understood. A single text has proved in the past, and will prove in the future, a savor of life unto life to many a soul. As men diligently search, the Bible will open out new treasures of truth, that will be as bright jewels to the mind.
If the poor and unlearned are not capable of understanding the Bible, then the mission of Christ to our world was useless; for he says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.” The command to search the Scriptures, Christ addressed not only to the Pharisees and scribes, but to the great multitude of the common people who crowded about them. If the Bible is not to be understood by every class of people, whether they be rich or poor, what would be the need of the Saviour’s charge to search the Scriptures? What profit would there be in searching that which could never be understood? What would be the consistency of this command, if the searching of the Scriptures would not dispel the clouds of error, and would not lead men to an understanding of the revealed will of God to man?
Let every one who has been blessed with reasoning faculties take up the neglected Bible, and search the Scriptures, that he may understand what is the will of God concerning him. In this book heavenly information is given to men. The Bible has been addressed to every one—to every class of society, to those of every clime and age. The duty of every intelligent person is to search the Scriptures. Each one should know for himself the conditions upon which salvation is provided. Satan has interposed his shadow between your soul and the bright beams of light that shine from heaven to guide you to the portals of bliss. Through his confederacy of evil angels and evil men, Satan has wrought in such a way as to bury up the truth under the rubbish of human traditions, customs, and practices.
In Christ’s day, as in our day, the people were looking to the educated men, to the scribes and Pharisees, to explain to them the meaning of that which the God of heaven had revealed. These teachers had departed from God, and were following their own understanding, and did not follow the ways of the Lord. They thought they must interpret the Scriptures in a way that would harmonize with their course of action. They were seeking the praise of men, and departing more and more from the plainly revealed way of the Lord, following the traditions of men’s devising. Of them Christ declared, “In vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”
The Pharisees and the religious teachers so misrepresented the character of God that it was necessary for Christ to come to the world to represent the Father. Through the subtlety of Satan, men were led to charge upon God Satanic attributes; but the Saviour swept back the thick darkness which Satan had rolled before the throne of God in order that he might intercept the bright rays of mercy and love which came from God to man. Jesus Christ revealed the Father in his true character to the world, representing him as full of mercy, love, and light. Christ took upon him humanity in order that the light and radiance of divine love should not extinguish man. When Moses pleaded, “I beseech8thee, show me thy glory,” he was placed in the cleft of the rock, and the Lord passed by before him. When Philip asked Christ to show them the Father, he said, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” He revealed the Father to Philip as he had revealed him to Moses when he passed by before him, and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.” Jesus proclaimed himself to the world as the perfect representation of the Father, and invited the love and confidence of the world to be centered in the Father. He said: “I am in the Father and the Father in me.” “If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also; and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. . . . Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself; but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me; or else believe me for the very works’ sake.”
In plain language the Saviour taught the world that the tenderness, the compassion and love that he manifested toward man, were the very attributes of his Father in heaven. Whatever doctrine of grace he presented, whatever promise of joy, whatever deed of love, whatever divine attraction he exhibited, had its source in the Father of all. In the person of Christ we behold the eternal God engaged in an enterprise of boundless mercy toward fallen man. Christ clothed his divinity with humanity, that his humanity might touch humanity, and divinity reach divinity.
Christ and the Bible.
What Christ was among men, the Bible is among books. He was made flesh and dwelt among men, and the word of God comes in the same form as other words, and dwells among other books. But as in the person of Jesus dwelt the incarnate God, so in the Bible is the living word of God. As when men saw Jesus there was no beauty that they should desire him (Isa. 53:2), so the natural, unbelieving man sees no beauty in God's word that he should desire it. But as Peter, and all other believers, could say of and to Jesus, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16), so every believing soul finds the Bible to be the word of life of the living God. As Jesus the Christ “came unto his own received him not” (John 1:11), so God's word is often rejected by his own people. The cases are parallel at every point. Christ is in person and character just what the word is in character. The Bible, in its morality and power, is God's word expressed in letter; Jesus Christ is the working out of that word in the grandest character that ever lived,—the Perfect Man. If by faith in him we will receive the word, it will work out in us what it did in him. His living word will become incarnated in us.
THE WORD OF GOD; HOW UNDERSTOOD AND RECEIVED.
By Wm. Covert
BY WM. COVERT.
The Bible is a volume of life given to man by the Spirit of God. In speaking of its exhaustless benefit, David said, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Ps. 119:105. The Book of which God is the Author makes known to us the origin and destiny of the human race. It has been given to man since transgression has entered our world, and is designed to be a guide, leading out of the darkness of sin and death into the light of righteousness and life. The sweetest of all hours in the believer’s life are those spent in the study of its pages. David was but presenting the happy experience of the earnest seeker after truth, when he wrote, “The entrance of Thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.” Ps. 118:130. “How true!” exclaims the Christian as he reads this statement. He remembers how poor and miserable and blind he once was, when, with no hope, and without God in the world, he was led by the Spirit of God to search for comfort in the word.
And yet, though the word is a lamp and a light, man must be in possession of eyes in order to receive the light. He that desires to see will therefore pray, “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law.” Ps. 119:18. He will not pray this because it is written in the word, but the word expresses the natural desire of the heart which desires to know God. To such an one the assurance is given that his prayer is answered. “For thou wilt light my candle; the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.” Ps. 18:28. Or, as stated elsewhere, “By his light I walked through darkness.” Job 29:3.
Paul sets forth the manner in which the word of God was understood and received by those who heard him preach. He says:—
“For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.” 1 Thess. 2:13.
That person who believes the Scriptures to be indeed the word of God, and who understands them to be God’s word spoken to him, is thereby placed in vital touch with the mind of God. Such an one will be enabled to understand that which is spoken, because the word received itself gives understanding. It was through rejecting the word of God and receiving in its stead the word of Satan that the mind of man was darkened. (See Gen. 3:4-6.) This was a step from light and life into darkness and death. It was unbelief that caused this deadly leap into the blackness of night. That word must again enter the mind in order that man be reclaimed. The word can be received only through faith. As stated by the apostle, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him.” Then with faith it is possible to please God. Had Adam and Eve continued to believe, after they were placed in charge of God’s works in the earth, their understanding never could have been darkened. But unbelief became the vehicle of sin and death. Therefore faith in God’s word must become the means of restoring that which man has lost. In making known this truth the apostle says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” And again, “We have access by faith into this grace.” A simple, yielding trust brings peace and rest.
The prophet, in speaking of how the word is received and understood, says: “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart.” Jer. 15:16. It was not until the words were eaten that the joy was experienced. But the eating came through believing what God spake. The prophet’s mind was made bare of all unbelief, and the word of God was received. Thus God’s word entered the mind. The words, being directly from God, were an impartation of the infinite mind. They gave light and understanding. They brought joy and peace to the heart because by them the apostle was made to understand that love which he says passeth understanding.
The receiving of the word through living faith is the avenue by which Christ enters the heart. As all the word comes to us through Christ, so Christ comes to us through the word. As expressed by the apostle, “We have received . . . the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.” 1 Cor. 2:12. Of these things we speak and understand through the wisdom which is taught by the Holy Ghost. But only so far as the living word dwells in the mind can this be done. 1 Cor. 2:13.
The natural or unconverted man receives not the things of God. To him they are foolishness, because with a darkened mind he can not discern them. Verse 14. But as the entrance of the word gives light and understanding, it is important that the word be studied daily, that it may have complete possession of the mind and control all the actions of life.
The understanding which the word imparts to the believer enlarges his ability to comprehend and enjoy more and more of the richness of God’s grace. Through the continual study of the Scriptures, the mind keeps in constant touch with that wisdom which magnifies and strengthens all the perceptions. This gives a capacity and a richness to the mind that makes life a continual drinking in of the word, and hence of the light and life of God.
