By
Charles Woodruff
“Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed
thereto according to
thy word” (Psalm 119:9). “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that
I might not sin against thee” (Psalm 119:11).
What shall we study and meditate on? There are many books in the
world -- some are
good, some are bad. This is true of sermons you can hear and read
-- some are good,
some are bad. We could suggest as some have that you read nothing
other than the Bible.
Yet being men and women in a modern world, we are not likely to
limit ourselves to that,
especially if we are good readers. God gave us a desire for
knowledge in many areas, and
we fulfill it by reading, sometimes.
Many years ago, in another state, I was asked to preach in a
particular church on several
different occasions. I suppose I was 39 or 40 then, and the pastor
there was considerably
younger than myself. I got to know him pretty well, and stayed
with him and his young
family each time I was in the area. He told me that he read at
least one of Charles
Spurgeon’s sermons every day. I said, “Very commendable. Spurgeon
was a great
preacher and left us a great body of work.” The pastor also put a
Spurgeon sermon in his
church paper each week.
The last time I was there, I met another young couple from his
church that was staying in
the pastor’s home until their house got repaired. They seemed like
a nice couple. A short
time later I got word that this pastor fell into sin with the
other woman, and left his wife
and two children for her. Two homes were broken up! A ministry was
destroyed!
What brought about this awful situation? This minister was surely not
following the
teachings of Spurgeon when he did this. You can’t blame
Spurgeon for this, for he was a
godly man. It does show that no matter how much a person is claiming
to follow sound
doctrine, he can err if he is not obeying God’s word.
Spurgeon preached the word.
Some others he read from like Arthur Pink also preached the word.
He read his bible regularly. But it doesn’t matter. He could have been reading
John Wesley every day. Or J.C. Philpot, J.C.Ryle, David Wilkerson, Billy
Graham, or R.C. Sproul. There had to be something much deeper than which
ministers were influencing him. This minister himself studied and preached the
word. He seemed to have good Bible knowledge. Why did he put another
black mark on the cause of Christ? “But whoso committeth adultery with a
woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own
soul” (Proverbs
6:32). We are all flesh and blood, and I
have to say “but for the grace of God there go I”.
There is an answer however. Many, as James says, are
only hearers (or readers), of the
word. “Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only,
deceiving your own selves”
(James 1:22).
You see, it is not enough to just hear, or read, or be religious,
the word must be in the heart to cause the manifestation of doing good
works. James also said “…To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it
not, to him it is sin” (James 4:17). This person knew. All thought him
to be a true brother -- God alone knows. He surely does not appear to be God’s
chosen, unless he repents. Beloved, as the verse I quoted at the beginning we must hide God’s word in our hearts. As our theme verse says, it is a
lamp to guide our path. But we must be doers of the word. Remember in
Ephesians, that great scripture mountaintop, it says: “For by grace are
ye saved. Through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the
gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are
His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God
hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:8-10).
“Since for unbelieving men religion seems to stand by opinion
alone, they, in order not to
believe anything foolishly or lightly, both wish and demand
rational proof that Moses and
the prophets spoke divinely. But I reply: the testimony of the
Spirit is more excellent than
all reason. For as God alone is a fit witness of himself in his
Word, so also the Word will
not find acceptance in men's hearts before it is sealed by the
inward testimony of the
Spirit. The same Spirit, therefore, who has spoken through the
mouths of the prophets
must penetrate into our hearts to persuade us that they faithfully
proclaimed what had
been divinely commanded ...”
--John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion 1.7.5.
(emphasis mine C.W.)
Spiritual Conversation- J.C. Ryle
“Conference on spiritual subjects is
a most important means of grace. As iron sharpens
iron, so does exchange of thoughts
with brethren sharpen a believer's soul. It brings down
a special blessing on all who make a
practice of it. The striking words of Malachi were
meant for the Church in every age --‘Then
those who feared the Lord spoke often one to
another--and the Lord hearkened, and
heard it, and a book of remembrance was written
before him for those who feared the
Lord, and that thought upon His name. And they
shall be mine says the Lord, in that
day when I make up my jewels.’ (Mal. 3:16, 17.)
What do we know ourselves of spiritual conversation
with other Christians? Perhaps we read our Bibles, and pray in private, and use
public means of grace. It is all well, very well. But if we stop short here we
neglect a great privilege and have yet much to learn. We ought to ‘consider
one another to provoke to love and good works.’ We ought to ‘exhort’ and ‘edify
one another.’ (Heb. 10:24; 1 Thess. 5:11.) Have we no time for spiritual
conversation? Let us think again. The quantity of time wasted on frivolous,
trifling, and unprofitable talk, is fearfully great. Do we find nothing to say
on spiritual subjects? Do we feel tongue-tied and speechless on the things of
Christ? Surely if this is the case, there must be something wrong within. A
heart right in the sight of God will generally find words. ‘Out of the
abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.’" (Matt. 12:34). From Expository
Thoughts on the Gospels on Luke 24 13-20.
