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I.
The Bible; How to Study and Understand It
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Chapter 4
:
The Life-Giving Word
1. WHAT is the nature of the word
of God?
"For the word of God is quick, and
powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and
spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a
discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."
Heb. 4:12.
2. How are the oracles of God
described?
"This is he, that was in the church in the
wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the
mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the
lively oracles to give unto us." Acts 7:38.
3. What did Christ declare His
words to be?
"It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh
profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they
are spirit, and they are life." John 6:63.
4. What was Peter's testimony
concerning Christ's words?
"Then Simon Peter answered Him, Lord, to whom
shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life."
Verse 68.
5. What did Christ declare His
Father's commandment to be?
"And I know that His commandment is life
everlasting." John 12:50.
6. What lesson was intended by
feeding the children of Israel with the manna?
"And He humbled thee, and suffered thee to
hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not,
neither did thy fathers know; that He might make thee
know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every
word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth
man live." Deut. 8:3.
7. What interpretation did Jesus
give to this lesson?
"Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I
say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven;
but My Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
For the bread of God is
He which
cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the
world."
John
6:32,33.
8. In further explanation of
the meaning of this lesson, what did Jesus declare
Himself to be?
"And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread
of life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger;
and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst." Verse
35.
9. What benefit is derived from
eating this bread of life?
"As the living Father hath sent Me, and I
live by the Father:
so he
that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me. This is
that bread which came down from heaven: not as your
fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth
of this bread shall live forever." Verses 57,58.
10. What instance is recorded of one who fed upon the
true manna?
"Thy words were found, and I did eat them;
and Thy
word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart:
for I am called by Thy name, O Lord God of hosts."
Jer.15:16.
11. What name is applied to Jesus
as the revelation of the thought of God in the flesh?
"In the beginning was the Word, and
the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1.
"And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and
His name is called The Word of God." Rev. 19:13.
12. What was in the Word?
"In Him was life; and the life was the
light of men." John 1:4.
13. What is Jesus therefore also
called?
"That which was from the beginning, which we
have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we
have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the
Word of life." 1 John 1:1.
14. Why did the Jews fail to find
life in the Scriptures?
"Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think
ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of
Me. And ye will not come to Me, that ye might have
life." John 5:39,40.
15. What constitutes a part of
Christian experience?
"And have tasted the good word of God,
and the powers of the world to come." Heb. 6:5. See
answer to question 10.
16. In assigning him his
life-work, what instruction did Jesus give to Peter?
"Jesus saith unto him, Feed My sheep."
John 21:17.
17. What apostolic injunction
indicates the way in which this instruction is to be
obeyed?
"I charge thee therefore before God, and the
Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the
dead at His appearing and His kingdom; Preach the
word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove,
rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine." 2
Tim. 4:1,2.
18. How are we instructed to pray
for both physical and spiritual nourishment?
"Give us this day our daily bread." Matt.
6:11.
NOTE.-When
"the Word became flesh and dwelt among us," the
thought of God was revealed in human flesh. When
holy men of God "spake as they were moved by the
Holy Ghost," the thought of God was revealed in
human language. The union of the divine and the
human in the manifestation of God's thought in the
flesh is declared to be "the mystery of godliness;"
and there is the same mystery in the union of the
divine thought and human language. The two
revelations of God, in human flesh and in human
speech, are both called the Word of God, and
both are the Word of life. He who fails to
find Christ thus in the Scriptures will not be able
to feed upon the Word as the life-giving Word.
Like
wandering sheep o'er mountains cold,
Since all have gone astray;
To life and peace within the fold,
How may I find the way?
To Christ
the Way, the Truth, the Life,
I come, no more to roam;
He'll guide me to my Father's house,
To my eternal home.
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