“SHE is a very good scholar, and has plenty of learning,” said one woman of another to whom I had been talking about her soul. So had Nicodemus, and yet he knew not that before he could enter the kingdom of God, he must be born again.
So had the Scribes and Pharisees, when they “suffered not them that were entering into the kingdom of heaven to go in.” So had Saul of Tarsus, when he “made havoc of the church,” but was injurious and an unbeliever. So had the princes of this world, who “crucified the Lord of Glory,” and were ignorant that He was God’s wisdom; for, “had they known it,” they would not have crucified Him.
Some of my readers, likewise, may think that scholarship and learning will be helpful in the matter of salvation. It is true, that to be able to read the Bible is an untold blessing; yet it is equally true that to read it, and not to receive its truths, only adds to our condemnation. The Bible is very plain; the Lord Himself said, “He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor” (Luke 4:1818The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, (Luke 4:18)); and it is written, “Not many wise men after the flesh. . . are called: but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world, to confound the wise... That no flesh should glory in His presence.” (1 Cor. 1:26-2926For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 27But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29That no flesh should glory in his presence. (1 Corinthians 1:26‑29).)
If salvation depended in any way on the wisdom of man, we should still have something to boast of before God, instead of making our boast only in “Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” Learning and scholarship belong to the mind and the head, and it is your heart, dear reader, that God wants to reach; the Bible is His voice to conscience and heart. Listen to His words, “The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Rom. 10:8, 9, 108But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:8‑10)) With your natural ear you listen to someone who reads the Bible, or you read it yourself; you accept it as God’s word; with your heart you believe in the One of whom it speaks, for you muss have to do with a living Person, the Lord Jesus, whom God has raised from the dead and all the learning in the world cannot help you to that.
“Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed.” Thank God for that “whosoever”; learned, or unlearned, wise, or foolish, there is no difference in God’s sight; but, “the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him.” Think not that the wisdom of this world will help you to understand the truth of God; had it been so, what need for the Lord to say, “Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 18:33And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:3).) Does not a child receive the thoughts of another, because it has no knowledge of its own of which to boast?
The Bible is a book which may well interest the mind of man, for it is a revelation of infinite wisdom; but many a man reads it as a study, who never has had his conscience reached, or his heart broken, over its pages. Oh, read the Bible as a message from God to you, and you will not fail to find what will meet your need.
An aged person said to me lately, “When I was young, I used to think differently, but I see it all now. Reading the Bible over won’t save the soul; nothing but the blood of Christ can do that.” This person had read the Bible as a duty, but now finds there Christ Jesus of whom it testifies, and who “of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” (1 Cor. 1:3030But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: (1 Corinthians 1:30).) Have you, my reader?
H. L. H.