“Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus.”
Under this heading it is proposed to call the attention of the readers of the PRESENT TRUTH week by week to a portion of the Epistle to the Hebrews and to other portions of Scripture that are naturally suggested by it. The study will be somewhat similar to that which appeared on the Book of Romans two or three years ago, although we do not propose, at present at least, to make a study of the entire Epistle, but only of the first four or five chapters. The design is to fix the words of the text as firmly as possible not simply in the memory but in the mind of the reader, that the Holy Spirit may open them to the understanding. When this is done, the treasures of the Word will be seen, and the possessor will have within him a constant source of joy and strength.
The object of Bible study is to find out what God says; for it is not alone those who never read the Scriptures, who are ignorant in this respect. Many read the Bible regularly, and still have very little idea of what God actually says to them. All the meaning of the words of the Lord does not lie on the surface; the business of the Bible teacher is to make this deeper meaning appear; for the true Bible teacher simply follows the leading of the Spirit of God, “for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” There is all the difference in the world between this kind of Bible study and that (miscalled) study that consists in putting a meaning into the text, and saying dogmatically, “This means so and so.” In this case the individual follows his own mind or fancy, and not the mind of the Spirit. The difference between the two methods of teaching may be seen in this, that where the teacher puts a construction on the text, giving his opinions and ideas, arbitrarily saying that it means thus and so, the student who accepts his guidance must always keep his words in mind; for since the interpreted meaning is not actually in the text, but is put upon it, it is very evident that the reader cannot see it in the words of the text, but must look through the words of the teacher; in the other case, if the teacher is indeed only an instrument of the Holy Spirit, the student sees in the very words of the Bible a meaning that he did not see before, but which he can clearly see is actually there; and he sees it now so plainly that he wonders why he did not see it before. The Spirit of faith may thus be likened to a magnifying glass, or a telescope, that enables us to see realities that are hidden from the unaided sight.