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"Thy Light and Thy Truth"
"O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles." Psalms 43:3

  Thoughts on the Word of God  

Men do not reject the Bible because it contradicts itself, but because it contradicts them.   E. Paul Hovey

The old covenant is revealed in the New, and the New Covenant is veiled in the Old.   Augustine

The new is in the old contained, and the Old is in the New explained.   Graham Scroggie

The family Bible is more often used to adorn coffee tables or press flowers than it is to feed souls and discipline lives.   Charles Colson

The Old Testament altar points to the New Testament cross.

The Bible is meant to be bread for daily use, not cake for special occasions.   (Deut 8:3, Mt 4:4)

When you open your Bible, ask the Author to open your heart.   (Ps 119:18, Luke 24:45)

If a Christian is careless in Bible reading, he will care less about Christian living.

Backsliders begin with dusty Bibles and end with filthy garments.   Spurgeon

To understand the Word of God, rely on the Spirit of God.

You can't enjoy the harmony of Scripture if you play just one note of truth.   (Acts 20:27)

To hear God speak, read the Bible carefully and study it prayerfully.

We cannot bear fruit without the water of God's Word.   (Luke 8:15)

The highest goal of learning is to know God.   (John 17:3)

When we look into the mirror of God's Word, we see ourselves more clearly.   (James 1:23 25)

A text taken out of context becomes a pretext.

Let God's Word fill your mind, rule your heart, and guide your tongue.   (Colossians 3:16, Ephesians 5:18; 19;20)

The Bible: The more you read it, the more you love it; the more you love it, the more you read it.

The best protection against Satan's lies is to know God's truth.   (Ephesians 6:14)

Like a compass, the Bible always points you in the right direction.   (Deut 28:13 14, Joshua 1:7 9)

Those who only sample the Bible never acquire a taste for it.   (Jer 15:16, Job 23:12, Ps 19:10)

If you're too busy to read the Bible, you're too busy.

God feeds the birds, but He doesn't throw the food into their nests.

We lose the joy of living in the present when we worry about the future. And we lose the joy of living for the future when we focus on the present.

Opening your Bible can be a real eye opener.

A well read Bible is a sign of a well fed soul.

A Bible that's falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn't.

Sin will keep you from the Bible or the Bible will keep you from sin.

It's better to live one verse of the Bible than to recite an entire chapter.

The Bible: read it through, work it out, pass it on!

Apply yourself to the Scriptures and the Scriptures to yourself.

Reading the Bible without meditating on it is like eating without chewing.   (Ps 119:15, 23, 27, 48, 78, 97, 99, 148)

God speaks through His Word take time to listen.

When the Bible becomes a part of you, you'll be less likely to come apart.

The Bible is simple enough for a child to read and too deep for a scholar to master.

The Bible is like the ocean. You can wade in it, feed from it, live on it or drown in it. But those who take the time to learn its truths and practice them will be changed forever.

With God's Word as your map and His Spirit as your compass, you're sure to stay on course.

When you study the Bible "hit or miss," you MISS more than you HIT.

When the Word of God dwells in you, the love of Christ shines through you.

Beware! Error often rides to its deadly work on the back of truth!   Spurgeon (2Cor 11:13 15)

Spiritual growth requires the meat of God's Word.   (Hebrews 5:14, 1 Peter 2:2)

Be diligent in your study of the Word of God. Then, instead of falling into error, you will stand firmly on the truth.

Your life will run smoother if you go by "The Book."

If we want our life to run well, even through stormy situations and rough circumstances, we must take the time to study the "Owner's Manual."

Many people store the Bible on the shelf instead of in their heart.

Some people make the Bible say what they want to hear.

To be a healthy Christian, don't treat the Bible as snack food.

A well read Bible is the companion of a well fed believer.

We must approach God's Word as if our lives depended on it because they do.

If your life depended on knowing the Bible, how long would you last.

We must align ourselves with the Bible, never the Bible with ourselves.

The branches of growing trees not only reach higher, but their roots grow deeper. It's impossible for a strong tree to have high branches without having deep roots. It would become top heavy and topple over in the wind." The same is true with Christians. It's impossible for us to grow in the Lord without entwining our roots around His Word and deepening our life in His commands."   Joni Eraeckson Tada

The roots of stability come from being grounded in God's Word.

Bible study demands pondering deeply on a short passage, like a cow chewing her cud. It is better to read a little and ponder a lot than to read a lot and ponder a little."

To get the full flavor of an herb, it must be pressed between the fingers, so it is the same with the Scriptures; the more familiar they become, the more they reveal their hidden treasures and yield their indescribable riches.   John Chrysostom, A.D. 347 407

There's no better book with which to defend the Bible than the Bible itself.   D. L. Moody

The study of God's Word brings peace to the heart. In it, we find a light for every darkness, life in death, the promise of our Lord's return, and the assurance of everlasting glory.   D. L. Moody

We fail in our duty to study God's Word not so much because it is difficult to understand, not so much because it is dull and boring, but because it is work. Our problem is not a lack of intelligence or a lack of passion. Our problem is that we are lazy.   R. C. Sproul

The Bible is like a telescope. If a man looks through his telescope, then he sees worlds beyond: but if he looks at his telescope, then he does not see anything but that. The Bible is a thing to be looked through, to see that which is beyond; but most people only look at it; and so they see only the dead letter."   Phillips Brooks

The Bible was not written to satisfy your curiosity, but to make you conform to Christ's image. Not to make you a smarter sinner, but to make you like the Savior. Not to fill your head with a collection of biblical facts, but to transform your life."   Howard Hendricks in Living by the Book.

It has been said that the Bible is so deep that theologians cannot touch the bottom, yet so shallow that babes cannot drown.

In the midst of that period of intellectual history called The Enlightenment, a philosophy known as deism was sweeping Europe. In the midst of this development, the famous skeptic, Voltaire, proclaimed that within 25 years, the Bible would be forgotten and Christianity would be a thing of the past. However, 40 years after Voltaire's death in 1778, the Bible and other Christian literature were being printed in what had once been Voltaire's own house!

My rule for Christian living is this: anything that dims my vision of Christ, or takes away my taste for Bible study, or cramps my prayer life, or makes Christian work difficult is wrong for me, and I must, as a Christian, turn away from it.   Dr. Wilbur Chapman

The Bible is God's chart for you to steer by, to keep you from the bottom of the sea, and to show you where the harbor is, and how to reach it without running on rocks or bars.   Henry Ward Beecher

Sow a thought, and you reap an act;
Sow an act, and you reap a habit;
Sow a habit, and you reap a character;
Sow a character, and you reap a destiny.   Samuel Smiles

Leave not off reading the Bible till you find your hearts warmed...Let it not only inform you, but inflame you.   Thomas Watson

Never let good books take the place of the Bible. Drink from the Well, not from the streams that flow from the Well.   Amy Carmichael

Gipsy Smith told of a man who said he had received no inspiration from the Bible although he had "gone through it several times." "Let it go through you once," replied Smith, "then you will tell a different story!"

THIS BOOK contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable. Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe and practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveller's map, the pilgrim's staff, the pilot's compass, the soldier's sword and the Christian's charter. Here paradise is restored, heaven opened and the gates of hell disclosed. Christ is its grand object, our good is its design and the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently, and prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure. It is given you in life, will be opened in the judgement, and will be remembered forever. It involves the highest responsibility, will reward the greatest labour, and will condemn all who trifle with its sacred contents.   Anonymous

C. H. Spurgeon in his sermon on Hosea 2:23 exults in the authority and efficacy of God's holy Word...

To my mind, it is very instructive to notice how Paul quotes from the Prophets. The revelation of the mind of God in the Old Testament helps us to understand the gospel revealed in the New Testament. There is no authority that is so powerful over the minds of Christian men as that of the Word of God. Has God made known any truth in his Word Then, it is invested with divine authority. Paul, being himself inspired by the Holy Spirit, and therefore able to write fresh revelations of the mind of God, here brings the authority of God's Word in the olden times to back up and support what he says: "As he saith also in Osee (Hosea)."

Beloved friend, if you are seeking salvation, or if you want comfort, never rest satisfied with the mere word of man. Be not content unless you got the truth from the mouth of God. Say in your spirit, "I will not be comforted, unless God himself shall comfort me. I want chapter and verse for that which I receive as gospel." Our Lord's reply to Satan was, "It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Give me, then, but a word out of God's mouth, and I can live upon it; but all the words out of man's mouth, apart from divine inspiration, must be as unsatisfying food as if men tried to live on stones.

Notice, again, how Paul teaches that the very essence of the authority of the Scriptures lies in this, that God speaks through his revealed Word:

"As HE saith also in Osee (Hosea)."

It is God speaking in the Bible whom we ought to hear. The mere letter of the Word alone will hill; but when we hear God's voice speaking in it, then it has power which it could not possess otherwise. It is a blessed thing to put your ear down to the promises of Scripture, till you hear God speaking through them to your soul. It is truly profitable to read a gospel commandment, and to listen to its voice until God himself speaks it with power to your heart. I pray you, do not regard anything that is preached here unless it agrees with what is written there in the Bible. If it is only my word, throw it away; but if it is God's truth that I declare to you, if God Himself speaks it through my lips, you will disregard it at your peril.

I will make only one other observation by way of introduction. Is it not wonderful how God's Word is preserved century after century There were seven or eight hundred years between Hosea and Paul; and it is remarkable that the promise to the Gentiles should lie asleep all that time, and yet should be just as full of life and power when Paul was quoting it after all those centuries. God's Word is like the wheat in the hand of the mummy, of which you have often heard. It had lain there for thousands of years; but men took it out of the hand, and sowed it, and there sprang up the bearded wheat which has now become so common in our land. So you take a divine promise, spoken hundreds or thousands of years ago, and lo, it is fulfilled to you! It becomes as true to you as if God had spoken it for the first time this very day, and you were the person to whom it was addressed.

O blessed Word of God, how we ought to prize thee! We cannot tell yet all that lies hidden between these covers; but there is a treasury of grace concealed here, which we ought to seek until we find it.