Bible Study

Truth is found a little at a time

/ livinglywrong

“In 2 Timothy 2:15 Paul issued a charge: ‘Be eager to present thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, cutting straight the word of the truth’ (Gk.). Every Bible student pays attention to this verse. When I was young, the Brethren teachers stressed the importance of cutting straight the word of the truth. Paul charged Timothy in this way because the truth regarding any matter is not found all in one place in the Bible. Rather, it is found throughout various books of the Bible, with a part in one place and another part in a different place. In His wisdom the Lord reveals the truth in this way. Perhaps He did this so that those who are careless will have difficulty knowing the truth. To know truth we must be diligent. Hence, Paul charged Timothy to ‘be eager.’

Some say we should not be strict or legal in studying the Word. They insist that we should read the Bible only when we are inspired by the Spirit to do so. This is like saying that there is no need to eat three meals a day, but a need to eat only when the Spirit inspires us. This means that if there is no inspiration, we should not eat. Paul, on the contrary, charges us to be eager. If we are truly eager to present ourselves approved to God, then when we read the Word, we shall find the truth revealed in one place after another, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. We need to put all these pieces together in order to see the picture, the vision. According to Isaiah 28:13, the word of the Lord is ‘precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.’ This means that we find the truth a little at a time.”

(Truth Messages, chapter 3)

If you only hold the Bible in your hand, you will miss Christ

/ livinglywrong

“In John chapter 7 there is another case of finding Christ. Christ was doing some marvelous things, and the people were saying, ‘Of a truth this is the prophet.’ Others said, ‘This is the Christ.’ Then some said, ‘Shall Christ come out of Galilee? Hath not the Scripture said, that Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem?’ Yes, the Scripture does say that; they were one hundred percent right. But they missed the mark just by being right. If they did not know the Bible so well, I believe it would be easy for them to grasp the Christ. They were frustrated by their Bible knowledge. Yes, He was born in Bethlehem, but He was raised in Nazareth. This really bothers people. If you only hold the Bible in your hand, you will miss Christ. You must follow the living Christ.

Then Nicodemus, who had come to know Christ somewhat, began to argue with them. But they protested, ‘Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet!’ They were absolutely right; not even the least prophet came out of Galilee. What would you say? We should not say, ‘Search and look,’ but, ‘Come and see!’ If you search and look, you will miss the mark, you will miss Christ. Christ was right there; yet they said, ‘Search and look.’ This is today’s situation. So many Christians are missing Christ. They keep themselves to the Scriptures: they say, ‘Have not the Scriptures said?’ But they miss Christ. Here is the Bible, and here is Christ. They care for the Bible, but they would not care for Christ.

Oh, it is possible to be so right, but wrongly right! You may be right, but you are just partly right; eventually you are not right, for you have missed the mark. The Lord always acts in a ‘sneaky’ way to those who feel they are so right. He does it purposely; He does not want us just to know the knowledge and go to sleep. He wants us to be alert at all times lest by knowing the Bible we lose His presence. Oh, it is possible to lose the presence of the Lord just by knowing the Bible. I would rather lose the knowledge of the Bible and keep the presence of the Lord. Do not say that as long as you are scriptural, you are all right. Regardless of how scriptural you are, if you lose the presence of the Lord, you are absolutely wrong. The Lord be merciful to us. Knowledge alone does not work. It did not work with the scribes, the chief priests, and the Pharisees, and it will not work for us.

What is the New Testament way to find and follow the Lord? It is continually to keep His presence, His hidden presence. He prophesied that he would come out of Bethlehem, but He came out of Nazareth. Give up your searching. God can never be understood by searching. [John 5:39-40] I am not searching; I am seeing, I am enjoying. I do not understand and I do not care to understand, but I enjoy. His presence is really hidden. Isaiah 45:15 tells us that He is a hidden God. He is a God that hides Himself. Learn to praise Him, learn to see Him, learn to trace Him, learn to find Him, but never try to understand Him. We are not qualified to understand Him; we are only qualified to enjoy Him. So ‘come and see.’ ”

(Finding Christ by the Living Star, pp. 16-19)