A BIBLE DIALOGUE
Questions by H.A.MATIER; Answers by A.J.POLLOCK.
We will turn to four passages of Scripture which bring before us four points of great practical interest.
1. “Give attendance to reading” (1 Tim. 4:13).
2. “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17).
3. “I am a companion of all them that fear Thee” (Ps. 119:63).
4. “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together” (Heb. 10:25).
What are we exhorted to read in the first of these four verses?
The Apostle Paul in giving this advice to Timothy evidently directed him to the study of the Holy Scriptures. They are the fountain head of all true knowledge for the Christian. So the young convert today should “give attendance to reading” the Bible. He will also do well to read books that help in the understanding of the Scriptures. Much of the literature of the day is nothing but poison in disguise. It is to be shunned as injurious to the soul.
A gentleman in the East was reading a book, when a small serpent concealed in the binding stung him fatally. Many a soul has been poisoned fatally, not by something concealed in the binding of a book, but by the pernicious words printed in its open pages. For instance, the infidel teachings of the “Higher Criticism” are a case in point, for they come with great pretensions to piety, and their writers hold high positions in the religious world. Books of this kind should be let alone.
What particular portions of the Bible afford direction for a Christian, and why is it necessary to read it?
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God maybe perfect, throughly furnished to all good works” (2 Tim. 3:16-17).
This verse answers your double question. “All Scripture … is profitable,” and it is necessary to read it for instruction and in order to be furnished to all good works. It is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. It is “the sincere milk of the Word” for babes in Christ, and “strong meat “for those who are more mature. I should advise young Christians to begin with the Gospels, but to systematically neglect any part of the Bible would result in great loss. We need it all—Old Testament and New.
What helps have we in the understanding of the Scriptures?
First and foremost, the Holy Spirit. Even the babes in Christ are said to have “an unction from the Holy One,” and to “know all things” (1 John 2:20), that is, to have a capacity to receive all truth.
But we may also help one another. If a young Christian meets with some passage that he cannot understand, let him ask some one of greater knowledge than himself. Then again, there are expository books that may be safely recommended to the young convert. But the Bible itself is the best commentary.
Why is the Bible spoken of as a sword?
It is called “the sword of the Spirit” (Eph. 6:17). “The Word of God is quick [living], and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword” (Heb. 4:12). It is because it is a weapon of warfare for the Christian. He cannot “fight the good fight” by means of natural wisdom or powers of argument. In the temptation in the wilderness our Lord foiled Satan by using “the sword of the Spirit.” Three times over He quoted from Deuteronomy, and prefaced each quotation by saying, “It is written.” We need to know our Bibles to use our sword.
Is there any necessity to pray? Should we pray as a duty, or because of our need?
Prayer is a necessity. It has been called the breath of the soul. The Lord Jesus was marked by prayer. So was the Apostle Paul. So is every devoted Christian.
Duty is a cold word. We might as well buy a mechanical Tibetan praying-wheel if we make prayer a duty. Duty leads people to “say prayers” with more or less formality. Need leads us to pray.
We are entitled to pray about our everyday needs. God cares for His children on these lines surely. The Apostle Paul could say to the Christians at Philippi, “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19).
I knew of a striking case. A young lady ran away from home and married a ne’er-do-well man much beneath her socially. The result was that she had to support him. She kept a school and continued this till she was well stricken in years. As she got past work the school dwindled. One bitter December night the last shovelful of coals was put on the fire, and the last crust taken from the shelf. It was a trial of faith—an empty coal cellar, an empty cupboard! The Christian wife said in confidence, “The Lord will provide. I have prayed about it.” The unsaved husband spoke bitterly as to their lot, and chid his wife as to their circumstances. As he spoke, a knock was heard. A lady left an envelope at the door, saying that her mother could not rest till she had sent it. The envelope contained a five-pound note. When the unbelieving husband saw it he burst into tears. The husband and wife, the lady who brought the envelope, and the lady who sent it were all personally known to me.
In prayer we can be assured that God sends the best answer He can. Paul prayed thrice for his thorn in the flesh to be removed. But better than granting the petition, God gave the answer, “My grace is sufficient for thee; for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” So that he gloried in the thing he besought might be removed.
If your child asked for a razor to play with, would you not in refusing give the very best answer love could give? And do we not sometimes ask for razors?
But we should not be selfish and only pray for our needs. We can pray for others, the conversion of unsaved relatives, of unsaved neighbours, of the dark benighted heathen in distant lands and for the edification of believers. 1 Timothy 2:1-2 exhorts us to pray for all men, for kings and all in authority. There is need, indeed, for prayer for ourselves and for the Lord’s interests. It is no wonder the Apostle wrote, “Pray without ceasing.”
Your third piece of counsel was as to companionship. How should we behave towards the unconverted?
When we speak of companionship we refer to voluntary associations. We have involuntary associations with the unconverted, or else we should have to go out of the world. We may serve an unconverted master, or have unconverted fellow-clerks, or workmen. We have to deal with unconverted tradesmen, and if in business have to seek business with the unconverted.
Our conduct to them should be courteous, kind, affable. There should be no sanctimonious air as if we were better than they. We should act so as to win their respect for the Master we serve, and if possible to win them for Him.
Those working near us may swear, or tell questionable stories, or seek to tempt us to go their way. To all this there should be a kind, courteous refusal to give their worldly and sinful ways any approval.
I remember many years ago being asked to take a shilling ticket in a raffle to help a sick man. To take a ticket would be to join in gambling. To refuse to help would lay oneself open to the charge of meanness, which would have reflected on Christ. The way out of the difficulty was plain, and it served to teach two lessons—that a Christian would not gamble, and that a Christian was ready to do good to all, as Scripture exhorts. I gave some money to the man who was getting up the raffle and asked him to present it to his sick comrade. I only mention this as a practical example of how a Christian should act.
But Scripture is plain that our voluntary associations, those we cultivate for our own pleasure, should be Christian. “Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4). Again: “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers” (2 Cor. 6:14).
Look at Peter warming himself at the fire in the high priest’s palace. Look at Lot in Sodom. Look at Samson with Delilah. Tell me, is not worldly companionship dangerous for a saint of God?
Henry Thorne, a converted actor, who is now an evangelist preaching the gospel, gives the striking testimony that in his unconverted days when any of the theatrical profession were seriously ill and wanted to see a clergyman they always took care to send for one who did not patronize them. Comment is needless.
Above all, in the companionship of husband and wife, a Christian man or woman should always choose a Christian partner, and on no account marry an unbeliever. Scripture speaks of marriage as being at our will, but adds for the Christian, “only in the Lord,” and 2 Corinthians 6:14 warns us against the unequal yoke. Samson’s case with Delilah is a warning indeed.
How are we to behave towards our unsaved relatives? Does not the Apostle Peter speak of the unconverted husband being won without the Word by the Christian deportment of his wife?
Yes, 1 Peter 3:1 clearly states this. It supposes a couple married as both unconverted. The grace of God comes in and saves the wife. Her husband may refuse to let her present the gospel to him. What is she to do? She is to obey her husband as a dutiful wife and seek to win him by the silent sermon of her life. So with our other unsaved relatives. We have to render them affection and due attention, and seek tactfully to win them for Christ.
This brings us to your fourth point. Will you speak about that?
It is most important for the young convert to steadily attend the gatherings of God’s people. Scripture is plain: “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching” (Heb. 10:25).
Christians are never intended to be self-sustaining. A dozen embers are fast dying out at the bottom of the grate. Gather them together carefully and presently the fire gathers strength, and with a little fresh fuel it becomes bright and cheerful.
And so the more Christians meet together in a right way, according to God’s Word and principles, the healthier for them. A sheep separated from the flock is generally a sickly sheep. Scripture expects believers to have fellowship and be helpers of each other’s faith.
May the Lord encourage each young convert to earnestly tread the path mapped out for those who follow Him “till He come.”