The Sunday School and the Scriptures
(No. 1866)
A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, OCTOBER 18, 1885,
BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
"And that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are
able to make you wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ
Jesus." 2 Timothy 3:15.
HOW very remarkably the times repeat themselves! As I said just now, in
the reading of the chapter, the warning which Paul gave concerning his
own times is quite as necessary for this present age. Again darkness
thickens and the mists hang heavily around our footsteps. Evil men and
seducers wax worse and worse and very many have turned away their ears
from the Truth of God to listen to fables. Nor do we wonder that it is
so. History must repeat itself so long as we have the same human nature
to deal with, the same sins to ensnare mankind, the same Truth to be
trifled with and the same devil to stir men up to the same mischief.
But, Brothers and Sisters, when the same evils come, we must apply to
them the same remedies. When a disease appears which has done deadly
mischief in past times, physicians inquire for medicines which, on a
former occasion, curbed the enemy. We are bound to do the same in
spiritual matters. We must see what Paul did in his day when the
malaria of false doctrine was in the air. It is remarkable how very
simple, as a rule, everything is that is really effective. If a
discovery is made in science or machinery, it is complicated, at first,
and that for the very reason that it is imperfect. But all improvements
are in the direction of simplicity. It is just the same with spiritual
teachings. When we get at reality, we cut off superfluity. Let us not
talk of inventing wise measures for the present distress in the
spiritual world, but let us use the great remedy which was so effectual
in Paul's day! Paul, himself, taught young Timothy the Gospel–he made
him not only hear his doctrine, but see his practice. We cannot force
the Truth of God upon men, but we can make our own teaching clear and
decided–and make our lives consistent therewith. Truth and holiness
are the surest antidotes to error and unrighteousness. The Apostle said
to Timothy, "Continue in the things which you have learned and have
been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them."
He then dwelt upon another potent remedy which had been of great
service to the young preacher, namely, the knowing of the Holy
Scriptures from his earliest childhood. This was, to young Timothy, one
of his best safeguards. His early training held him like an anchor and
saved him from the dreadful drift of the age. Happy young man, of whom
the Apostle could say, "From childhood you have known the Holy
Scriptures, which are able to make you wise unto salvation through
faith which is in Christ Jesus!"
Brothers and Sisters, to be prepared for the coming conflict, we have
only to preach the Gospel and to live the Gospel–and also to take care
that we teach the children the Word of the Lord! This last is
especially to be attended to, for it is by the mouth of babes and
sucklings that God will still the enemy. It is idle to dream that human
learning must be met by human learning, or that Satan must cast out
Satan. No! Lift up the bronze serpent wherever the fiery serpents are
biting the people and men shall look to it and live. Bring the children
out and hold them up–and turn their little eyes towards the divinely
ordained remedy, for still there is life in a look–life as against the
varied venoms of the serpent which are now poisoning the blood of men!
There is no cure, after all, for midnight but the rising sun. No hope
remains for a dark world but in that Light of God which lightens every
man. Shine forth, O Sun of Righteousness, and mist, cloud and darkness
must disappear. Brothers, keep to the Apostolic plans and rest assured
of Apostolic success! Preach Christ! Preach the Word in season and out
of season–and teach the children. One of God's chief methods for
preserving His fields from tares is to sow them early with wheat. Upon
that I am going to speak, this morning, as the Holy Spirit shall help
me.
In tracing the gracious work of God upon the heart of Timothy and upon
others who are favored as he was, I shall notice that this work
commenced with early instruction–"From childhood you have known the
Holy Scriptures." And secondly, it was quickened and made effectual by
saving faith–"The Holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise unto
salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." Then we shall notice
that the effect of this early teaching upon Timothy was that it created
a solid character and, furthermore, that it produced great usefulness.
I. The work of God's Grace in Timothy COMMENCED WITH EARLY
INSTRUCTION–"From childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures."
Note the time for instruction. The expression, "from childhood," might
be better understood if we read it, "from a very child" or, as the
Revised Version has it, "from a babe." It does not mean a well-grown
child, or youth, but a child just rising out of infancy. From a very
child Timothy had known the sacred writings. This expression is, no
doubt, used to show that we cannot begin too early to imbue the minds
of our children with Scriptural knowledge. Babes receive impressions
long before we are aware of the fact. During the first months of a
child's life, it learns more than we imagine. It soon learns the love
of its mother and its own dependence–and if the mother is wise, it
learns the meaning of obedience and the necessity of yielding its will
to a higher will. This may be the keynote of its whole future life. If
it learns obedience and submission early, it may save a thousand tears
from the child's eyes and as many from the mother's heart. A special
vantage ground is lost when even babyhood is left uncultured.
The Holy Scripture may be learned by children as soon as they are
capable of understanding anything. It is a very remarkable fact which I
have heard asserted by many teachers, that children will learn to read
out of the Bible better than from any other book. I scarcely know why.
It may, perhaps, be on account of the simplicity of the language–and I
believe it is so. A Biblical fact will often be grasped when an
incident of common history is forgotten. There is an adaptation in the
Bible for human beings of all ages and, therefore, it has a fitness for
children. We make a mistake when we think that we must begin with
something else and lead up to the Scriptures. The Bible is the book for
the peep of day. Parts of it are above a child's mind, for they are
above the comprehension of the most advanced among us. There are depths
in it where leviathan may swim–but there are also brooks in which a
lamb may wade. Wise teachers know how to lead their little ones into
the green pastures beside the still waters.
I was noticing, in the life of that man of God whose loss presses very
heavily upon many of our hearts, namely, the Earl of Shaftesbury, that
his first religious impressions were produced by a humble woman. The
impressions which made him Shaftesbury, the man of God and the friend
of man, were received in the nursery! Little Lord Ashley had a godly
nurse who spoke to him of the things of God. He tells us that she died
before he was seven years of age–clear proof that early in life his
heart had been able to receive the seal of the Spirit of God–and to
receive it by humble instrumentality. Blessed among women was she whose
name we know not, but who worked incalculable service for God and man
by her holy teaching of the chosen child! Young nurses, note this.
Give us the first seven years of a child, with God's Grace, and we may
defy the world, the flesh and the devil to ruin that immortal soul!
Those first years, while yet the clay is soft and plastic, go far to
decide the form of the vessel. Do not say that your office, you who
teach the young, is in the least degree inferior to ours, whose main
business is with older folks. No, you have the first of them and your
impressions, as they come first, will endure last–oh that they may be
good and only good! Among the thoughts that come to an old man before
he enters Heaven, the most plentiful are those that before visited him
when he sat upon his mother's knee. That which made Dr. Guthrie ask for
a "bairn's hymn" when he was dying is but an instinct of our nature
which leads us to complete the circle by folding together the ends of
life. Childlike things are dearest to old age! We shuffle off a portion
of the coil that surrounds and hampers us and go back, again, to our
more natural selves and, therefore, the old songs are on our lips and
the old thoughts are in our minds! The teachings of our childhood leave
clean cut and sharp impressions upon the mind which remain after 70
years have passed. Let us see that such impressions are made for the
highest ends.
It is well to note the admirable selection of instructors. We are not
at a loss to tell who instructed youthful Timothy. In the first chapter
of this Epistle, Paul says, "When I call to remembrance the unfeigned
faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois, and
your mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in you, also." No doubt
grandmother Lois and mother Eunice united in teaching the little one.
Who should teach the children but the parents? Timothy's father was a
Greek and probably a heathen, but his child was happy in having a
venerable grandmother, so often the dear-
est of all relatives to a little child. He had also a gracious mother,
once a devout Jewess and afterwards, also, a firmly believing Christian
who made it her daily pleasure to teach her own dear child the Word of
the Lord.
O dear mothers, you have a very sacred trust reposed in you by God! He
has, in effect, said to you, "Take this child and nurse it for Me and I
will give you your wages." You are called to equip the future man of
God, that he may be thoroughly furnished unto every good work. If God
spares you, you may live to hear that pretty boy speak to thousands and
you will have the sweet reflection in your heart that the quiet
teachings of the nursery led the man to love his God and serve Him!
Those who think that a woman detained at home by her little family is
doing nothing, think the reverse of what is true! Scarcely can the
godly mother quit her home for a place of worship, but dream not that
she is lost to the work of the Church–far from it–she is doing the
best possible service for her Lord! Mothers, the godly training of your
offspring is your first and most pressing duty! Christian women, by
teaching children the Holy Scriptures, are as much fulfilling their
part for the Lord as Moses in judging Israel, or Solomon in building
the Temple!
Nowadays, since the world has in it, alas, so few of Christian mothers
and grandmothers, the Church has thought it wise to supplement the
instruction of home by teaching held under her fostering wing. Those
children who have no such parents, the Church takes under her maternal
care. I regard this as a very blessed institution. I am thankful for
the many of our Brothers and Sisters who give their Sabbaths–and many
of them a considerable part of their week evenings, also–to the
teaching of other people's children who somehow grow to be very much
their own. They endeavor to perform the duties of fathers and mothers,
for God's sake, to those children who are neglected by their own
parents–and therein they do well. Let no Christian parents fall into
the delusion that the Sunday school is intended to ease them of their
personal duties. The first and most natural condition of things is for
Christian parents to train up their own children in the nurture and
admonition of the Lord.
Let holy grandmother's and gracious mothers, with their husbands, see
to it that their own boys and girls are well taught in the Book of the
Lord. Where there are no such Christian parents, it is well and wisely
done for godly people to intervene. It is a Christly work when others
undertake the duty which the natural doers of it have left undone. The
Lord Jesus looks with pleasure upon those who feed His lambs and nurse
His babes, for it is not His will that any of these little ones should
perish. Timothy had the great privilege of being taught by those whose
natural duty it is, but where that great privilege cannot be enjoyed,
let us all, as God shall help us, try to make up to the children the
terrible loss which they endure. Come forward, earnest men and women,
and sanctify yourselves for this joyful service!
Note the subject of the instruction. "From childhood you have known the
Holy Scriptures"–he was led to treat the Book of God with great
reverence. I lay stress upon those two words, "Holy Scriptures." One of
the first objects of the Sunday school should be to teach the children
great reverence for these holy writings, these Inspired Scriptures. The
Jews esteemed the Old Testament beyond all price and though,
unfortunately, many of them fell into a superstitious reverence for the
letter and lost the spirit of it, yet were they much to be commended
for their profound regard to the Holy Oracles. Especially is this
feeling of reverence needed nowadays. I meet with men who hold strange
views, but I do not care one-half so much about their views, nor about
the strangeness of them, as I do about a certain something which I spy
out at the back of this novel thinking. When I find that, if I prove
their views to be unscriptural, I have, nevertheless, proved nothing to
them, for they do not care about Scripture–then I have found out a
principle far more dangerous than mere doctrinal blundering!
This indifference to Scripture is the great curse of the Church at this
hour! We can be tolerant of divergent opinions, so long as we perceive
an honest intent to follow the Statute Book. But if it comes to this,
that the Bible, itself, is of small authority to you, then we have no
need of further parley–we are in different camps and the sooner we
recognize this, the better for all parties concerned. If we are to have
a Church of God at all in the land, Scripture must be regarded as holy
and to be had in reverence. This Scripture was given by Holy
Inspiration and is not the result of dim myths and dubious traditions!
Neither has it drifted down to us by the survival of the fittest as one
of the best of human books. It must be given to my children and
accepted by ourselves as the Infallible Revelation of the Most Holy
God! Lay much stress upon this–tell your children that the Word of the
Lord is a pure Word, as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified
seven times. Let their esteem for the Book of God be carried to the
highest point!
Observe that Timothy was taught not only to reverence holy things in
general, but especially to know the Scriptures. The teaching of his
mother and his grandmother was the teaching of Holy Scripture. Suppose
we get the children to-
gether on the Sabbath and then amuse them and make the hours to pass
away pleasantly? Or instruct them, as we do in the weekdays, in the
elements of a moral education–what have we done? We have done nothing
worthy of the day, or of the Church of God! Suppose that we are
particularly careful to teach the children the rules and regulations of
our own Church and do not take them to the Scriptures? Suppose that we
bring before them a book which is set up as the standard of our Church
but do not dwell upon the Bible–what have we done? The aforesaid
standard may or may not be correct and we may, therefore, have taught
our children the Truth of God or have taught them error! But if we keep
to Holy Scripture, we cannot go aside. With such a Standard we know
that we are right. This Book is the Word of God and if we teach it, we
teach that which the Lord will accept and bless.
O dear teachers–and I speak here to myself, also–let our teaching be
more and more Scriptural! Fret not if our classes forget what we say,
but pray them to remember what the Lord says. May Divine Truths about
sin, righteousness and judgement to come be written on their hearts!
May revealed Truths of God concerning the love of God, the Grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit never be forgotten by
them! May they know the virtue and necessity of the atoning blood of
our Lord, the power of His Resurrection and the Glory of His Second
Coming! May the Doctrines of Grace be engraved as with a pen of iron
upon their minds and written as with the point of a diamond upon their
hearts–never to be erased! Brothers and Sisters, if we can secure
this, we have not lived in vain. The generation now ruling seems bent
on departing from the eternal Truths of God, but we shall not despair
if the Gospel is impressed upon the memory of the rising race.
Once more upon this point–it appears that young Timothy was so taught
as a child that the teaching was effectual. "You have known the Holy
Scriptures," says Paul. It is a good deal to say of a child that he has
"known the Holy Scriptures." You may say, "I have taught the children
the Scriptures," but that they have known them is quite another thing.
Do all of you who are grown up, know the Scriptures? I fear that
although knowledge in general increases, knowledge of the Scriptures is
far too rare! If we were now to hold an examination, I am afraid that
some of you would hardly shine in the lists at the end. But here was a
little child who knew the Holy Scriptures! That is to say, he had a
remarkable acquaintance with them. Children can get that–it is by no
means an impossible attainment. God blessing your efforts, dear
Friends, your children may know all of Scripture that is necessary to
their salvation. They may have as true an idea of sin as their mother
has. They may have as clear a view of the Atonement as their
grandmother can have. They may have as distinct a faith in Jesus as any
of us can have!
The things that make for our peace require no length of experience to
prepare us for receiving them–they are among the simplicities of
thought. He may run that reads them–and a child may read them as soon
as he can run! The opinion that children cannot receive the whole Truth
of the Gospel is a great mistake, for their child-condition is a help
rather than a hindrance! Older folk must become as little children
before they can enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Do lay a good groundwork
with the children. Let not Sunday school work be slurred, nor done in a
slovenly manner. Let the children know the Holy Scripture! Let the
Scriptures be consulted rather than any human book.
II. Our second need was to be that this work was QUICKENED BY SAVING
FAITH. The Scriptures do not save, but they are able to make a man wise
unto salvation. Children may know the Scriptures and yet not be
children of God. Faith in Jesus Christ is that Grace which brings
immediate salvation. Many dear children are called of God so early that
they cannot precisely tell when they were converted–but they were
converted–they must, at some time or other, have passed from death to
life. You could not have told this morning, by observation, the moment
when the sun rose, but it did rise–and there was a time when it was
below the horizon and another time when it had risen above it. The
moment, whether we see it or not, in which a child is really saved, is
when he or she believes in the Lord Jesus Christ. Perhaps for years
Lois and Eunice had been teaching the Old Testament to Timothy while
they, themselves, did not know the Lord Jesus. And, if so, they were
teaching him the type without the antitype–the riddles without the
answers–but it was good teaching, for all that, since it was all the
Truth of God which they then knew.
How much happier, however, is our task, since we are able to teach
concerning the Lord Jesus so plainly, having the New Testament to
explain the Old! May we not hope that even earlier in life than
Timothy, our dear children may catch the thought that Christ Jesus is
the Sum and Substance of Holy Scripture and, so, by faith in Him may
receive power to become the sons of God? I mention this, simple as it
is, because I want all teachers to feel that if their children do not
as yet know all the doctrines of the Bible and if there are certain
higher or deeper Truths of God which their minds have not
yet grasped, still, children are saved as soon as they are wise unto
salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus! Faith in the Lord
Jesus, as He is set forth in Scripture, will surely save. "If you
believe with all your heart, you may," said Philip to the eunuch–and
we say the same to every child–you may confess your faith if you have
any true faith in Jesus to confess. If you believe that Jesus is the
Christ and so put your trust in Him, you are as truly saved as though
gray hairs adorned your brow.
Notice that by this faith in Christ Jesus, we continue and advance in
salvation. The moment we believe in Christ we are saved, but we are not
at once as wise as we may be and hope to be. We may be, as it were,
saved unintelligently. I mean, of course, comparatively so, but it is
desirable that we should be able to give a reason for the hope that is
in us and so be wise unto salvation. By faith, children become little
disciples and, by faith, they go on to become more proficient. How are
we to go on to wisdom? Not by quitting the way of faith, but by keeping
to that same faith in Christ Jesus by which we began to learn. In the
school of Grace, faith is the great faculty by which we make advances
in wisdom. If by faith you have been able to say A, B and C, it must be
by faith that you shall go on to say D, E and F, until you shall come
to the end of the alphabet and be an expert in the Book of Wisdom. If
by faith you can read in the spelling book of simple faith, by the same
faith in Christ Jesus you must go on to read in the classics of full
assurance and become a scribe well instructed in the things of the
Kingdom of God. Keep, therefore, close to the practice of faith from
which so many are turning aside.
In these times men look to make progress by what they call thought, by
which they mean vain imagination and speculation. We cannot advance a
step by doubt–our only progress is by faith. There are no such things
as "steppingstones of our dead selves." Unless, indeed, they are
steppingstones down to death and destruction! The only steppingstones
to life and Heaven are to be found in the Truths of God revealed to our
faith. Believe God and you have made progress! So let us pray for our
children, that they may constantly know and believe more and more, for
the Scripture is able to make them wise unto salvation, but only
through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Faith is the result to aim at.
Faith in the appointed, anointed and exalted Savior. This is the anchor
to which we would bring these little ships, for here they will abide in
perfect safety!
Observe that the text gives us a plain intimation that by faith,
knowledge is turned into wisdom. Exceedingly practical is the
difference between knowledge and wisdom. See it in the text, "From a
child you have known." But it is faith, faith alone, that turns that
knowledge into wisdom–and thus the Holy Scriptures are "able to make
wise unto salvation." "Knowledge is power," but wisdom is the
application of that power to practical ends! Knowledge may be bullion,
but wisdom is the minted gold, fit for circulation among men! You can
give your children knowledge without their having faith, but they must
have faith given them of the Holy Spirit before that knowledge can
become wisdom! Scriptural knowledge is wisdom when it influences the
heart, when it rules the mind, when it affects the daily life, when it
sanctifies the spirit, when it renews the will. O Teachers, pray for
your dear children that God would give them faith in Christ Jesus so
that the knowledge which you have given them may turn to wisdom! Go as
far as you can go with the teaching, but always cry mightily unto the
Lord that His Holy Spirit may work regeneration, create faith, impart
wisdom and give salvation.
Learn yet, again, that faith finds her wisdom in the use of knowledge
conferred by the Scriptures. "From childhood you have known the Holy
Scriptures, which are able to make you wise unto salvation through
faith." Faith never finds her wisdom in the thoughts of men, nor in
pretended revelations. She resorts to the Inspired Writings for her
guidance. This is the well from which she drinks, the manna on which
she feeds. Faith takes the Lord Jesus to be her wisdom. The knowledge
of Christ is, to her, the most excellent of the sciences. She asks
only–What is written? And when that question is answered, her
difficulties are ended! I know it is not so with this unbelieving age
and this it is which causes me to go mourning and lamenting. Alas for a
Church which rejects the testimony of the Lord! As for us, we abide by
the Word of the Lord and from it we will not stir an inch!
See then, my Hearers, what is needed for all of you who are
unconverted. The Holy Scriptures must be made the means of your
salvation through faith. Know the Bible, read the Bible, search the
Bible–and yet the Bible, alone, will not save you! What did our Lord,
Himself, say? "You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you
have eternal life; and they are they which testify of Me; and you will
not come unto Me that you might have life." If you come not to Jesus,
you will miss eternal life! Searching the Scriptures is able to make
you wise unto salvation "through faith which is in
Christ Jesus"–but not without that faith! Pray, you Sunday school
teachers, that you may see this faith worked in the children whom you
teach! What a blessed groundwork for faith, your teaching of the Holy
Scriptures will be! But never mistake it for the building, itself,
which is of faith alone!
III. Time fails me. I cannot dwell as I would upon other points, but I
beg you to notice, in the third place, that sound instruction in Holy
Scripture, when quickened by a living faith, CREATES A SOUND CHARACTER.
The man who, from childhood has known the Holy Scriptures, when he
obtains faith in Christ, will be grounded and settled upon the abiding
principles of the unchanging Word of God. I wish it were so with the
bulk of those who profess and call themselves, "Christians." In these
days we are surrounded by unsettled minds, "ever learning, but never
coming to a knowledge of the Truth of God." These are carried about by
every wind of doctrine. What numbers of professors I have known who go
into one place of worship and hear one form of doctrine and apparently
approve it because the preacher is "a clever man!" They hear an
opposite teaching and they are equally at home, because, again, it is
"a clever man!" They join with a Church and you ask them, "Do you agree
with the views of that community?" They neither know nor care what
those views may be–one doctrine is as good as another to them. Their
spiritual appetite can enjoy soap as well as butter! They can digest
bricks as well as bread!
These religious ostriches have a marvelous power of swallowing
everything–but they have no spiritual discernment, no appreciation of
the Truth of God. They follow any "clever" person and, in this, prove
that they are not the sheep of our Lord's pasture, of whom it is
written, "A stranger will they not follow, for they know not the voice
of strangers." We desire to build up a Church with those who know what
they know and can give a reason for what they believe. The true
Believer's great reason for his faith is, "It is written." Christ our
Master met the tempter in the wilderness with, "It is written." Though
He was, Himself, Inspired, yet His teaching was full of the Old
Testament–He was always quoting the Words of the Inspired Book and,
therein, setting us an example.
If you and I would contend with Satan and with an evil world, so as to
overcome in the conflict, we must take care to take our stand squarely
and firmly upon the Scriptures! Let us treat our opponents to volleys
of Scripture! Let us fire point-blank with sacred texts! These are
arguments which wound and kill! Our own reasonings are mere paper
pellets, but Scriptural proofs are bullets of steel! Our opponents will
find it useless to try to lead us away from the old faith when they
perceive that we will not budge an inch from Holy Scripture. We are
bomb-proof when we shelter beneath the Word of the Lord. The cunning
craftiness of deceivers is foiled by the clear simplicity of, "Thus
says the Lord."
Those who know the Scriptures and so believe in Jesus, are pillared
upon a personal acquaintance with the foundations of their faith. "From
childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures"–they were not treated
with an ignorant reverence, but with an intelligent homage. How much I
desire that each one of you may be a personal student of the Holy
Scriptures! We need to know them for ourselves! Personally grasping
them as a Revelation of God to himself, the godly man loves them,
studies them, feels them, lives upon them and so knows them! By this
means he becomes as independent of other men. Paul is to die. Poor
Timothy! Yes, it will be, "poor Timothy!" if he carries his faith in
Paul's bosom and has none in his own heart! But Timothy's Bible is not
going to die! Timothy's knowledge of Scripture is not going to be taken
from him, nor is the Holy Spirit about to depart from him!
Look at some of our Churches–while a well-instructed Gospel minister
leads the way, the Brethren abide in their steadfastness. The good man
dies and where is the Church? No doubt, those who are instructed in the
Scriptures remain in their places, but the more ignorant are scattered
like chaff! There are numbers, now, in this part of London, wandering
about, who were once zealous for the faith, but are now almost
indifferent to it. I will not mention names, but I could do so readily
enough–I mean the names of esteemed Brethren who gathered an earnest
following about them, but they are gone–and with their going, numbers
of their followers have gone, too! I fear there could not have been a
sound knowledge of the Word of God, or these people would have survived
the great loss of their teacher. Oh, to have a good personal building
up upon the solid Word of God! Then you will know what you know and you
will hold fast to it–and there will be no driving you away from the
standards of the faith. I labor for this among you and I pray that I
may not labor in vain.
The man that has been taught the Scripture from his youth is anchored
by the Divine influences of that Scripture. It has so operated upon him
that he knows for himself its Divine power. He knows the difference
between the Truth of God and error by the effect produced on his heart
and life. Without any boasting, he is able to discern between things
that
differ because about Scriptural Truth there is a strange, mysterious
unction which does not attend the teachings of the most learned of men.
I cannot explain to you what this unction is, but every child of God
knows it. When I read a text of Scripture, even if I do not now it to
be a text of Scripture by memory, I perceive its Divine origin at once
by a mystic influence which it exerts over my heart. The most striking
passages of any sermon are well-placed texts. A sentence from the mouth
of God will have more permanent power over a Christian man than the
best composed of human statements! God's Word is living, powerful and
has a power to enter the heart beyond that of any other word! The Words
of the Bible strike and stick–they enter and abide.
He that has been taught in Scripture, steeped in Scripture, saturated
with Scripture–is conscious of its permeating influence and it gives
him permanence of conviction. Like the crimson dye in cloth, the tint
of Scripture is not to be gotten out of the soul when once fixed there!
It is dyed ingrain–it enters into the very nature of the man! Bible
Truths influence his thoughts, words and deeds–it is all-pervading–he
begins to eat, drink and sleep Holy Scripture. The man's heart is fixed
on God, fixed in the Truths of God and fixed in holy living. He will
stand fast, however evil the days. Though all the rest should
apostatize, this man cannot, for the Divine Word, through faith, has
bound him to the Altar of the Lord and, in the Truth of God he must and
will both live and die, come what may.
Besides, a man that has once been taught in the Scripture and to whose
soul the Spirit has blessed that teaching, has come to yield himself to
the supremacy of Scripture and this must operate to the shaping of his
character. I confess that sometimes I come across a text which does
not, at first blush, agree with other teachings of Scripture which I
have already received–and this startles me for the moment. But one
thing is settled in my heart, namely, that I will follow the Scripture
wherever it leads me and that I will renounce the most cherished
opinion rather than shape a text or alter a syllable of the Inspired
Book. It is not mine to make God's Word consistent, but to believe that
it is so! When a text stands in the middle of the road, I drive no
further. The Romans had a god they called, "Terminus," who was the god
of landmarks. Holy Scripture is my sacred landmark and I hear a voice
which threatens me with a curse if I remove it! Sometimes I say to
myself, "I did not think to find this Truth to be just so, but as it is
so, I must bow. It is rather awkward for my theory, but I must alter my
system, for the Scripture cannot be broken." "Let God be true, but
every man a liar."
We want our children to have this deep reverence for Scripture, even as
we have it ourselves. There it stands! The eternal pen has written it
and we accept it! If God has said it, we have no desire to question it,
lest the Scripture should say to us, "No but, O man, who are you that
replies against God?" We must bow before the Infallibility of the Holy
Spirit and say, "Lord, teach me what this means. What I know not, teach
me." He who goes through the world with an intense reverence for
Scripture will be a man, indeed. The Lord will make good in him that
Word–"Them that honor Me I will honor." Angels and men, before long,
reverence the man who reverences the Word of God. Feed your mind on the
pulse of Scripture and, like Daniel and his comrades, your countenance
shall appear fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children who eat
the portion of the king's meat from the philosophic tables of the
world.
While on this point, I would also say that this kind of instruction
will hold a man fast against the differing seductions of the age. Here
I go into one place of worship and I see a pretty little dolls' house
at the far end and people are bowing down before some paper flowers and
candlesticks! Around the building I see pictures of virgins and saints,
but he who has read his Bible enters not into this modern idolatry! A
priest once said to a poor Irishman, "There will be no good come of
your reading the Bible." "Why," replied the man, "it is written,
'Search the Scriptures.' Please, your Reverence, I was just reading,
'you shall read it to your children' and the priests have no
children–how can you account for that?" "Ah!" replied the priest, "the
likes ofyou cannot understand the book." "Well," said the man, "if I
cannot understand it, it will do me no harm, but if I can understand
it, it will do me great good."
Just so! The Bible is a very dangerous book to superstition, but to
nothing else! Spread it, then, to the winds of Heaven and read it,
every one of you! To the Law and to the Testimony! If we speak not
according to this Word, it is because there is no Light of God in us!
He that holds to the Bible will be equally free from the dangers of
rationalism which are now so abundant and he will keep himself clean
from the ravings of anarchy which now sound like the cries of dragons
from the dark places of the earth! People are beginning to forget the
Commandment, "you shall not steal," and they are planning various
methods of political thievery by which the foundations of society will
be shaken. Love of Holy Scripture will be the sheet anchor of the State
as well as of the Church! If men are thoroughly grounded in Holy Scrip-
ture, we shall undergo political changes with great advantage–but if
not, there is mischief brewing. The Bible is the cornerstone of our
future hope.
IV. Now, lastly. As this early teaching creates a fine solid character,
so will it PRODUCE GREAT USEFULNESS. I will say nothing more than just
this. Thus Timothy became above all others a choice companion for Paul,
one upon whom Paul looked with love and remembered with joy. Companions
for Apostles are only to be produced in the school of Holy Scripture.
Those who have communed with Moses, David and the Prophets, are fit to
associate with an Apostle. It is something to produce out of a child a
comrade for a veteran servant of the living God! Let a man of God get
side by side with a youth who knows the Scriptures and he feels, "This
is fit company for me." Paul, worn with years of persecution, strokes
his gray beard and his eyes light up with joy as he looks on that young
Timothy! What is there about him more than about any other? Why, only
that he knows the Scriptures and they have made him wise unto
salvation!
There were, no doubt, fine young fellows to be found who gloried in
preferring the advanced thought of philosophers to the stereotyped
teachings of Holy Scripture. But had they begun to talk to the Apostle
upon their new theories, Paul would have dismissed them with words of
warning. He knew nothing of them or of their "other Gospel," except
that they troubled him and the Churches. Without Scriptural training, a
convert has no grit, no backbone and no soul in him. But when Paul
looked on a gracious youth who knew the Scriptures and held fast to
them, he thanked God and took courage.
This young man became a minister and an Evangelist. He was a preacher
of such a sort that we should have been glad to have heard him. God
send us many such! Perhaps we might have said, "The young man's
opinions were rather crude and his expressions were somewhat rough, but
we can put up with that from so young a man. On the other hand, what a
richness of Scripture there was in him! What depth of thought! Did you
not notice he had not got through a dozen sentences before he had
quoted Scripture? And when he came to prove his point, he did not give
half-a-dozen rationalistic arguments, but he brought out a single Word
from the Lord and the point was settled." You must agree with a man who
is at home with his Bible. This is the kind of preacher that we need
more of! Instruct your children well, beloved Teachers, that they,
also, may become Scriptural teachers in due time.
Timothy became, also, a great champion for the faith. He came forward
and in the midst of all those who were preaching false doctrine, he
stood firm to the end–he was steadfast, unmovable, courageous–because
as a child he had known the Scriptures! O Teachers, see what you may
do! In your schools sit our future Evangelists. In that infant class
sits an Apostle to some distant land! There may come under your
training hand, my Sister, a future father in Israel! There shall come
under your teaching, my Brother, those that are to bear the banners of
the Lord in the thick of the fray! The ages look to you each time your
class assembles!
Oh, that God may help you to do your part well! We pray with one heart
and one soul that the Lord Jesus Christ may be with our Sunday schools
from this day and till He comes. Amen and Amen!
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