This excerpt is taken from George Whitefield. It provides great counsel for all of us who are seeking to read throught the Bible.
I will lay down some directions for you to study the Scriptures with benefit.
First, have always in view the purpose for which the Scriptures were written—to show us the way of salvation by Jesus Christ. "These are the Scriptures that testify about me," says our Lord. Look, therefore, always for Christ in the Scripture. He is the treasure hidden in the field, both of the Old and New Testaments. In the Old, you will find him under prophesies, types, sacrifices, and shadows; in the New, revealed in a body 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 everything that is obscure, and will unlock to you the wisdom and riches of all the mysteries of the kingdom of God.
Second, search the Scriptures humbly—childlike. God hides the sense of them from those who are wise in their own eyes and reveals them only to babes in Christ, who hunger and thirst for righteousness and crave pure spiritual milk, so that they may grow by it.
Imagine yourselves, therefore, when you are searching the Scriptures, especially the New Testament, to be with Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus. And be as willing to learn what God will teach you as Samuel was, when he said, "Speak, Lord, for your servant hears."
Third, 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. 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 who speak to you am he."
Fourth, in order to search the Scriptures still more effectively, make an application of everything you read to your own hearts. For whatever was written in the book of God was written for our learning. And what Christ said to those before, we must look on as spoken to us also, for since the Holy Scriptures are nothing but a revelation from God how fallen humanity 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.
First, have always in view the purpose for which the Scriptures were written—to show us the way of salvation by Jesus Christ. "These are the Scriptures that testify about me," says our Lord. Look, therefore, always for Christ in the Scripture. He is the treasure hidden in the field, both of the Old and New Testaments. In the Old, you will find him under prophesies, types, sacrifices, and shadows; in the New, revealed in a body 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 everything that is obscure, and will unlock to you the wisdom and riches of all the mysteries of the kingdom of God.
Second, search the Scriptures humbly—childlike. God hides the sense of them from those who are wise in their own eyes and reveals them only to babes in Christ, who hunger and thirst for righteousness and crave pure spiritual milk, so that they may grow by it.
Imagine yourselves, therefore, when you are searching the Scriptures, especially the New Testament, to be with Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus. And be as willing to learn what God will teach you as Samuel was, when he said, "Speak, Lord, for your servant hears."
Third, 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. 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 who speak to you am he."
Fourth, in order to search the Scriptures still more effectively, make an application of everything you read to your own hearts. For whatever was written in the book of God was written for our learning. And what Christ said to those before, we must look on as spoken to us also, for since the Holy Scriptures are nothing but a revelation from God how fallen humanity 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.
Fifth, labor to attain that Spirit by which they were written. The Scriptures have been compared to the cloud that went before the Israelites. They are dark and hard to be understood by the natural self, as the cloud appeared dark to the Egyptians. But they are light to Christians, as that same cloud, which seemed dark to Pharaoh and his house, appeared bright and altogether glorious to the Israel of God.
How could it be otherwise? For God, being spirit, cannot communicate himself any other way than in a spiritual manner to human hearts, and consequently if we are strangers to his Spirit, we must continue strangers to his Word, because it is altogether like him, spiritual. Labor therefore earnestly to attain this blessed Spirit; otherwise, your minds 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, sixth, before you read the Scriptures, pray that Christ, according to his promise, would send his Spirit to guide you into all truth. Intersperse short interjections while you are engaged in reading. Pray over every word and verse, if possible, and when you close the book, most earnestly implore God that the words that you have read may be 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, reviving, and inflaming your souls by the Word of God. You will then not only read, but observe, learn, and digest what you read—and the word of God will be food and drink to your souls.
Seventh, read the Scripture consistently, or, to use our Savior’s expression, "Diligently study the Scriptures." Dig in them as for hidden treasure, for here is an allusion to those who dig in mines, and our Savior would by it teach us that we must take as much pains in constantly reading his word, if we would grow wise by it, as those who dig for gold and silver. The Scriptures contain the deep things of God and therefore can never be sufficiently searched by a careless, superficial, cursory reading, but by an industrious, close, and humble application.
How could it be otherwise? For God, being spirit, cannot communicate himself any other way than in a spiritual manner to human hearts, and consequently if we are strangers to his Spirit, we must continue strangers to his Word, because it is altogether like him, spiritual. Labor therefore earnestly to attain this blessed Spirit; otherwise, your minds 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, sixth, before you read the Scriptures, pray that Christ, according to his promise, would send his Spirit to guide you into all truth. Intersperse short interjections while you are engaged in reading. Pray over every word and verse, if possible, and when you close the book, most earnestly implore God that the words that you have read may be 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, reviving, and inflaming your souls by the Word of God. You will then not only read, but observe, learn, and digest what you read—and the word of God will be food and drink to your souls.
Seventh, read the Scripture consistently, or, to use our Savior’s expression, "Diligently study the Scriptures." Dig in them as for hidden treasure, for here is an allusion to those who dig in mines, and our Savior would by it teach us that we must take as much pains in constantly reading his word, if we would grow wise by it, as those who dig for gold and silver. The Scriptures contain the deep things of God and therefore can never be sufficiently searched by a careless, superficial, cursory reading, but by an industrious, close, and humble application.
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