Practical ReligionChapter 5 - Bible Reading (Part 2)

J.C. Ryle

Review - Reasons to value the Bible

No other book is written like the Bible

The knowledge needed for salvation is found in the Bible

No book contains such important matter as the Bible

No book has produced such effects on mankind as the Bible

The Bible is the only rule to try all questions of doctrine and duty

The Bible is the book which all true servants of God have lived on and loved

The Bible is the only book which can comfort you in your last hours of life

Those Who Never Read the Bible

You are in danger of losing your soul.

Beware, lest you put off reading your Bible until you are on your deathbed, and find the Bible a sealed book to your soul.

The idea that “men do very well without reading their Bibles” keeps you from knowing that they do very poorly, and end up in Hell.

A neglected Bible is evidence that its owner does not love God. ~ J.C. Ryle

Those Who Read But Seek Advice

Start reading it today!

Don't just think about it, do it

If you can not read it yourself, persuade someone else to read it to you

Read with an earnest desire to understand it

Do not just turn pages

Dig for the meaning like you are digging for gold.

A Bible not understood is a Bible that does no good.

Those Who Read But Seek AdviceRead with a childlike faith and humility

Resolve to believe, even if it goes against your biases

Resolve to receive it as truth, even if you don't like what you read

Resolve to take on faith that which you can not understand

Remember that when you read the Bible, God is speaking to you, and you are not to argue, but to listen.

Open your heart as you open the book

Those Who Read But Seek AdviceRead in a spirit of obedience and self-application

Study it with a daily determination that you will live by its rules, rest on its statements, and act on its commands

Consider, as you read it, how this affects you and your conduct, or teaches you.

Read the Bible daily

Make it a daily practice to read and meditate on some part of the Bible

Do not hurry over your reading

That Bible is read best, which is practiced most.Visit the throne of grace and the Bible every day

Those Who Read But Seek Advice

Read all the Bible, and in an orderly way

Do not engage in “dipping and picking”

Read both the Old and New Testaments

Read the Bible fairly and honestly

Take everything in its plain and honest meaning, questioning forced interpretations

When a literal interpretation will stand, the farthest from literal is usually the worst.

“All Scripture is profitable… 2 Tim. 3:16

Those Who Read But Seek Advice

Read with Christ continually in view

OT ceremonies are shadows of Christ

OT judges and deliverers are types of Christ

OT history shows the world's need of Christ

OT prophecies are full of Christ's sufferings and glory to come

The first advent and second, the cross and crown, the Lord's humiliation and kingdom, shine everywhere in the Bible

The grand primary object of all Scripture is to testify of Jesus.

Some Love the Bible but Read it Little

You will get little comfort from the Bible in time of need

Your stores of Bible consolation may run very low

You are likely never to be established in the truth

You may be troubled with doubts about assurance, grace, perseverance, faith, and the like

You are not sufficiently ready with your weapons to be able to fight a good fight with Satan. Your armor does not fit you well. Your sword sits loosely in your hand.

Some Love the Bible but Read it LittleYou are likely to make many mistakes in life

In your marriage, your childrens' education, the running of your household, the company you keep

You are not sufficiently familiar with the charts to guide you through life's rocks and shoals

You are likely to be carried for a season away by a false teacher

You lack the ballast of the Word

You are likely to be tossed to and fro, like a cork on the waves

All these are uncomfortable things. I want every reader of this paper to escape them all. Take the advice I offer you this day. Do not merely read your Bible ‘a little,’ but read it a great deal.

Some Love the Bible but Read it Little

Do not read your Bible a little – read it a great deal

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly (Col 3:16)

Deep Bible knowledge enables us to say not only “I feel hope in Christ” but “I know whom I have believed.” 2 Tim 1:12

All these are uncomfortable things. I want every reader of this paper to escape them all. Take the advice I offer you this day. Do not merely read your Bible ‘a little,’ but read it a great deal.

Some Read the Bible Much, But Feel No Better For It

Not seeing the effects of Bible reading does not mean that no good is coming from it

The greatest effects are often silent, quiet, or hard to detect

There may be far more affecting your soul than you are aware of

This is a crafty temptation of the devil, to get you to give up reading your Bible. At one stage he says, ‘Do not read the Bible at all.’ At another he says, ‘Your reading does you no good: give it up.’

Some Read the Bible Much, But Feel No Better For It

The Word may produce deep impressions on your soul, of which you may not be presently aware

Does sin become more hateful to you?

Is Christ becoming more precious?

Is holiness becoming more desirable to you?

If so, the Bible is doing its work in you

This is a crafty temptation of the devil, to get you to give up reading your Bible. At one stage he says, ‘Do not read the Bible at all.’ At another he says, ‘Your reading does you no good: give it up.’

Some Read the Bible Much, But Feel No Better For It

The Bible may be restraining you from sin

You would soon find this out if you stopped reading it

Settle your mind that, whether you feel it or not, you are inhaling spiritual health by reading the Bible, and becoming more strong.

This is a crafty temptation of the devil, to get you to give up reading your Bible. At one stage he says, ‘Do not read the Bible at all.’ At another he says, ‘Your reading does you no good: give it up.’

Some Love the Bible Much, Live Upon It, and Read It Much

Resolve to read it more every year

Try to get it in your memory, and engraft it on your heart

If sight or hearing fails, we will be well provisioned with it

Sight and hearing may fail us, and we may be in deep waters. Oh, to have the Word ‘hid in our hearts’ in such an hour as that!

Some Love the Bible Much, Live Upon It, and Read It Much

Resolve to be more watchful over our Bible reading each year

Be very jealous of the time we give to Bible reading and the manner the time is spent

Do not omit Bible reading without sufficient cause

Be careful never to exalt a preacher, sermon, book, tract, or friend above the Word

Cursed be that book, or tract, or human counsel, which creeps in between us and the Bible, and hides the Bible from our eyes! Once more I say, let us be very watchful. The moment we open the Bible the devil sits down by our side.

Some Love the Bible Much, Live Upon It, and Read It Much

Resolve to honor the Bible more in our family

Read it unashamedly to your family and household

Resolve to meditate more on the Bible

Take two or three texts with you and turn them over in your mind when you have a little time

Meditating on verses from the Bible preserves our souls from stagnating and breeding corrupt things.

Some Love the Bible Much, Live Upon It, and Read It Much

Resolve to talk more to believers about the Bible

This helps make our conversation profitable

And helps drive the devil away

Resolve to live by the Bible more every year

Measure all your opinions, practices, habits, attitudes, public and private behavior, by the Bible

Resolve to conform these things to the teachings of the Word

Let us measure all by the Bible, and resolve, by God’s help, to conform to it. Oh that we may learn increasingly to ‘cleanse our ways’ by the Word!

For next week:

Chapter 6: The Lord’s Supper (Going to the Table)

Please read:

1 Cor. 11:23-34