LESSON TWO – READING THE BIBLE

Eph. 1:17 — That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him.

Col. 3:16 — Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom.

A believer needs to pray; he also needs to read the Bible. Prayer is likened to breathing, and Bible reading, to eating. Both ought to be practiced daily by every believer.

THE ORIGIN OF THE BIBLE

The origin of the Bible is God; it was God who breathed His words of revelation through His Spirit into and out of the writers of the Scriptures [2 Tim. 3:16]. What was breathed out was not only words but also spirit.

Since the Bible is God’s breathing of His words out of men through His Spirit, it is men’s speaking of the word of God from God as they were borne by the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:21). Hence, the Bible is out from God, written by certain Old Testament saints such as the prophets, leaders, and kings among the Israelites, as well as by various New Testament saints, such as the apostles, Mark, and Luke.

THE CONTENT OF THE BIBLE

The content of the Bible is both extensive and inclusive; the two main aspects of this content are truth and life. Truth brings us revelation and knowledge of all the realities in the universe, such as the reality of God, the reality of man, the reality of the universe, the reality of the things of the present age, the coming age, and the eternal age, and in particular, the reality of the Christ appointed by God and the church chosen by Him. Life is God coming to be our life that we may be regenerated, grow, be transformed, and be conformed into the image of Christ, who expresses God, that we may become the expression of God.

“Your [the Father God’s] word is truth [reality]” (John 17:17). This word of the Lord Jesus indicates that God’s word in the Bible is truth; it reveals the reality of God Himself and of His economy for us to obtain.

In Acts 5:20 the angel spoke to Peter, charging him to preach God’s words of life. The words of life are the words of the Bible, which the apostles preached. Since the words contain life, they are able to supply life, and this life is God Himself. This proves that the main content of the Bible is not only truth but also life. (Life Lessons, vol. 1, pp. 30-31)

HOW TO READ THE BIBLE

Since the Bible is the word of God, its nature is divine and spiritual. We must read it with every part of our being.

First, Reading It with Understanding

In reading the Bible, we must first use the understanding of our mind to comprehend its text, which was written in human language, and to know its meaning (Luke 24:45).

Then Reading It with Wisdom

We need to understand with wisdom the word regarding the divine things revealed by God in the Bible (Col. 3:16). Ephesians 1:17 also shows us that wisdom is joined to our spirit. This wisdom is not what we have naturally but what we obtain through prayer. Such wisdom in our spirit is deeper and higher than the understanding in our mind. We understand the letter of the Bible with the understanding in our mind, and we apprehend the truth in the Bible by the wisdom in our spirit.

Finally, Receiving It with the Spirit

In Ephesians 6:17-18 we are told to receive the word of God by praying in the spirit. This reveals to us that we also need to exercise our spirit when we read and receive the word of God. This is done, undoubtedly, through prayer. Therefore, in reading the Bible, after we have understood the meaning of the text by our understanding and have apprehended the truth of the text with our wisdom, we should use our spirit by prayer to receive the truths in the Scriptures into the deepest part of our being, that is, our spirit. In other words, after we understand the text and receive the truth therein, we still must exercise our spirit to turn what we have understood and realized into prayer that it may be assimilated in our spirit, becoming our life supply and the basis of our spiritual experience.

Pray-reading

Another simple, spiritual, and most beneficial way to read the Bible is pray-reading. We take the Bible text as prayer and pray-read with it. Not only do we read and pray simultaneously, or pray and read, read and pray; but also we directly turn the text we are reading into the very words of prayer to pray with. At times we may apply the text to ourselves through prayer. The more we repeat this kind of pray-reading, the more uplifted and released our spirit becomes and the greater, deeper, and richer the benefit is which we receive.

THE TIME TO READ THE BIBLE

We may read the Bible at any time and should do it whenever necessary. However, generally speaking, it is best to read in the morning before we contact any persons or things, and it is especially good to match reading with prayer. Such times should not be too long. The most suitable way is to pray for ten minutes and read for ten minutes. Sometimes reading and prayer can be mingled together. (Life Lessons, vol. 1, pp. 38-40)

Reference: Life Lessons, vol. 1, chs. 5, 6

CHRIST IS THE WORD AND SPIRIT TOO

Study of the Word— The Word and the Spirit – 815

• Christ is the Word and Spirit too,
  And as the Spirit in the Word;
  And all the words He speaks to us
  Are life and spirit thus conferred.

• The Holy Word we have without,
  The Holy Spirit is within;
  The greatest gifts divine are these,
  That we may God enjoy therein.

• The Word the Spirit doth express,
  The Spirit its reality;
  They’re but two aspects of one thing
  And should not separated be.

• Whene’er the Spirit lights the Word
  The Word becometh life to us;
  When Word from Spirit is divorced,
  ‘Tis empty mental stimulus.

• When we the Word in spirit touch,
  As life the Spirit it becomes;
  The Spirit, when expressed from us,
  As words of life to others comes.

• Our spirit we must exercise
  To take the Word most inwardly,
  And then to give the Spirit forth;
  The two as one with us should be.

• Lord, may Thy Word in me become
  The Spirit as my life supply,
  And may Thy Spirit in Thy Word
  My true expression be thereby.