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God Hath Spoken
Beware The Pitfalls In Bible Study
The Allegorical Interpreter
Beware of the Allegorical Interpreter who makes the Bible a book of mysteries that must be decoded. Many such people even claim to find coded messages in Scripture. This also is heresy. Now there are allegories in the Word of God, for when He spoke of the tabernacle, the Lord tells us that He spoke in shadows of things yet to come. But beware of the person who interprets everything allegorically. Such a person can make the Bible to read like a Satanist's bible.
A person can cross out the Word of God, or decode it to make the Bible read like he or she wants it to read, but remember the words of Luther: "Whom God intends to destroy, He gives leave to play with Scripture." Therefore, beware of the person who studies the Bible to find an allegory, or an intellectual puzzle, and refuses to accept Scripture as it plainly reads.
The Mesmerized Memorizer
Second, beware of the mesmerized memorizer. This person may rise every day and religiously, and ritually memorize a portion of God's Word. I have known some who have memorized entire books of the Bible, and others who can boast of being able to recite the entire New Testament. However, they have never labored to understand the sense of Scripture. This is as pathetic as it is sad.
When the Holy Spirit spoke through David and exhorted us to hide His Word in our heart, He did not mean that we are to hide it simply in our brain: we are to hide it in our affections so that we will love what it says. In Psalm 119, David cried out, "Teach me thy statutes," and the reason he prayed it was that he might be more obedient to the will of God. Beware of the mesmerized memorizer. He can recite large portions of the Bible, but his understanding of the sense of Scripture is asleep. If we err because we do not know the Scriptures, let us labor to know the sense of the Scriptures. Whether we ever memorize a verse or not, let us gain the sense of the verse.
The Historical Enthusiast
Beware of the historical enthusiast who knows the details of battles, the reigns of the kings, but who treats the Bible as if it was a book intended only to develop the mind. Such a person wants to know everything about the Bible, but he does not want to know the God of the Bible, or to bring his life into conformity to the Bible. Beware of the historical enthusiast.
The Spirits of Emotionalism and of Indifference
Beware, as well, of a spirit of emotionalism that leaves no lasting residue of godliness. Spurgeon very succinctly said, "Singing that leaves no lasting residue of godliness is little worth." The same may be said of all who handle the Word of God in a profane fashion. It does not matter how great a religious fix a person can get on Sunday: the crux of true religion is how a person behaves on any given day of the week. What is a person like when he is all alone?
My father used to tell of a deacon who was a pious man in church, but who would go home and abuse his farm animals. He would whip his horse, kick his dog, and generally mistreat his wife and children. Solomon testified "A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast" (Prov. 12:10). No good man is a cruel man. Beware of a false spirit of emotionalism that leaves no lasting residue of godliness.
Beware of a spirit of indifference. Such a spirit allows a person to neglect the Word of God for whole days, weeks, or months. We need to study the Scriptures privately. Then, we need to study the the Scriptures as a family. And then, we need to publicly gather together to study the Scriptures with others of like precious faith. The Scriptures must be hid in the affections. They must be prized enough to be remembered, but it is not enough to have them in our mouth or in our memory. Neither is it good enough to have them in our understanding. They must be sealed up in our affections. "Thy word have I hid in mine heart that I might not sin against thee" (Ps. 119:11). More is meant here than the understanding.
The Scriptures are our authority as to our creed—what we are to believe—and therefore, they are our authority in the matter of eternal salvation. Consequently, he errs greatest who does not know the Scriptures. He may have been a church member from the cradle, and his father may be a minister, but the Scriptures themselves are our authority as to what we are to believe. Therefore, ignorance of Scripture is deadly.
The Lord Jesus Christ commanded, "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me" (John 5:39). They do greatly err who do not search the Scriptures. This truth cannot be over emphasized. If it is inspired by God, if it is the inerrant Word of God, if this is the authority of God, if this is indeed the Word of God, then how dare we refuse to study it?
The Scripture is profitable to men. It is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. But how is it profitable to men? The Word of God will either draw men, or it will drive them away. The reason there is so little preaching of the Word of God in our churches is because we do not want to drive away too many of the Philistines. The Bible reveals the Christian's character, the Christian's confession (that is, what he believes), and it reveals the Christian's glory. It is designed to be his guide to direct him. It is his guard to secure him. It is his companion to cheer him.