HOW SHALL WE SPEND THE LONG WINTER EVENINGS?
By W. S. Sadler
Working for Professors—Bible Readings.
THE Bible reading is a heaven-born idea. This plan of studying and teaching the Bible is a most valuable means of clearly bringing before the minds of men and women truths with which they were acquainted. Christ sought to clinch many of his great utterances by directing to his hearers some searching and pointed question. Sometimes a question asked, although left unanswered, is a means in the hands of God of arousing inquiry on the part of some honest soul. The great danger of the Bible-reading idea is that it is liable to become stereotyped; that is, we simply copy from some printed book or manuscript the arrangement of the questions and the scriptures which was prepared by another mind. This Bible reading may have been very useful and greatly blessed of God in the hands of the one who originally prepared it; and it may also be of some value to you and me; but for us to take this cut-and-dried arrangement of Scripture and seek to use it as our own production, in the work of bringing gospel light to darkened souls, is certainly a plan not to be recommended. A Bible reading, to be a success and used by the Spirit of God to convict men and women of truth, should be full of “meat in due season” for those to whom it is given. It must, as it were, be a reading specially prepared by the Spirit for the particular opportunity and occasion, given through you as an instrument, and attended with the power and demonstration of the Holy Spirit. It is not by might nor by intellectual greatness nor power of argument that men and women are won to the gospel or any point of truth. This work must be accomplished through the power of the Holy Spirit. Give the gospel in your Bible reading. The third angel’s message is the gospel for the last generation. If your Bible readings do not contain the gospel, and are not followed by converting power, then it is evident that they do not contain the spirit of the third angel’s message, which is the spirit of the gospel. When an opening presents itself for a Bible reading, go to God on your knees, and ask him for that enlightenment of his Spirit and for that guidance of his wisdom that will enable you to go before a company that is hungering and thirsting for righteousness, with a presentation of truth fresh from the looms of heaven, woven with neither the threads of another’s mind nor the idle speculations of your own mind. Present the great truths and doctrines from the gospel side. Make Christ the center of every effort. So present these things that men and women will be able to recognize on their very face that they contain the necessary power to enable all who accept them to meet the required standard. In presenting the great Sabbath truth, make it clear and plain that the Sabbath is the sign between us and God of what God is to us. It brings to light God, both as our Creator and as our Redeemer. God says that it is a sign that he is the Lord that doth sanctify us. Unless we are sanctified, saved, kept, and daily growing by his power, we can not keep the Sabbath; and it is in proportion as we are sanctified that we can keep the Sabbath. The Sabbath is inseparably linked to the great truths of the redemption and the sanctification of the body, soul, and spirit. In our efforts to present advanced truths to those who know something of the Bible and of the gospel let us be careful that we do not close any doors that might be open to us, by antagonizing those who are more or less unfamiliar with our real position and belief. Let us remember that “he that winneth souls is wise,” and if “any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not.” You had better lose your argument and win a soul, than to lose a soul by winning an argument. People will recognize the truth of God and the Spirit of Christ by their favor. A truth that is conscientiously lived up to and practiced in our daily life, has that power and favor about it which makes those with whom we come in contact hungry for it. And the promise of God is that they who “hunger and thirst after righteousness . . . shall be filled.” So let us make use of the Bible-reading idea to the very best advantage at every suitable opening, always bearing in mind that while we may learn from the Bible readings of others, and thus gain many valuable suggestions, it is the plan of God to give us, as it were, a new reading for each new opportunity we have of pointing a soul to the Lamb of God. W. S. SADLER.