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Chosen no: R-4930 a, from: 1911 Year. |
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"To Show Thyself Approved"
"Study to show thyself approved unto God, a
workman that needeth
not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth."--
2 Tim. 2:15.
GOD SEEMS to have greatly blessed and used in
the "harvest" work the six volumes of STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES.
Probably none who are today rejoicing in the Truth would dissent from this
statement in the slightest degree. Some we know would express the matter more
strongly than this. Nevertheless every now and then we are brought to a
realization that many of those who rejoice considerably in the Truth have but
an imperfect knowledge of it--they are not rooted, grounded, established and
built up in the Truth; they are not able to "rightly divide the Word of
Truth"; they are not workmen who need never be ashamed in discussing the
Truth with others.
Some of these, deficient in their knowledge of
the Truth, are mere babes, beginners, who have not yet had a full opportunity
for study. Some of them have read Vol. I and have skimmed over the other
volumes. They perhaps learned of the classes for Bible study, and, attending
them and discussing with the brethren and hearing some discourses, seemed to
assume that they knew the teachings of the entire six volumes as though they
had read them, studied them.
This is a great mistake; more, it is a serious mistake, because we are in the time when each and all must expect to be
specially tried and tested. And those who have only a partial understanding of
the Divine Plan--those who have only a part of the provided armor, will find it
difficult, if not impossible, to stand in this evil day the assaults of the
world, the flesh and the Adversary. If they have proper zeal for the Lord and a
proper love for the Plan, they should manifest that zeal by thorough and
persevering study of the volumes. They cannot afford to do less.
We find also that some of the dear friends who
read the SCRIPTURE STUDIES years ago, and not recently, imagine that they
remember their contents, when in reality they are quite ignorant of many of
their teachings. We all have leaky, earthen vessels and the precious treasure
of Divine Truth soon exhausts unless we keep replenishing. One way of
replenishing is to go to the Bible direct. But many have found what the
Scriptures seem to imply, namely, that human teachers are necessary, and that
they can get much more knowledge of the Scriptures through the assistance of a
teacher than they could obtain by their own energy. Such of our readers as have
not read the STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES this year can scarcely appreciate how
much they probably have lost of what they originally learned therein.
W.T. R-4930a : page 442 - 1911r