Searching the Scriptures

Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. JOHN 5:39

Whitefield was not a scholar. He read Greek, as every Oxford man did, but he never wrote a commentary and seldom argued fine points of interpretation. What he did was read the Bible constantly, prayerfully and on his knees. As a young man, by his own account, he would read the Scriptures with Matthew Henry’s commentary open beside him, praying over the text line by line. His sermons are soaked in Scripture; hardly a sentence passes without a phrase from it. His short sermon The Duty of Searching the Scriptures sets out how he thought the Bible should be read, and it remains one of the best practical guides to Bible reading in the evangelical tradition.

What the Scriptures are for

Whitefield begins with a diagnosis. When the Sadducees came to Christ with their riddle about the woman with seven husbands, He told them they erred, not knowing the Scriptures. If we asked where all the errors in the church came from, says Whitefield, we would find that most of them flowed from the same fountain: ignorance of the word of God.

He then asks what the Bible is for. Its sum and substance, he answers, is two great truths: our fall in Adam and our recovery in Christ. The threats and promises, the precepts and the sacrifices, the histories and the prophecies, all either suppose that we are fallen or point to the Mediator who has come to restore us. The Scriptures are, in his phrase, the grand charter of our salvation.

And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 2 TIMOTHY 3:15

Seven directions

Then he gives seven directions for reading the Bible with profit.

First, always keep in view the end for which it was written — to show the way of salvation by Jesus Christ. “Look, therefore, always for Christ in the scripture.” He is the treasure hidden in the field of both Testaments: in the Old under prophecies, types and shadows, in the New manifested in the flesh. Keep Christ in view, says Whitefield, and He will be like the star in the east, leading you through every obscure passage.

And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. LUKE 24:27

Second, read with a humble, teachable spirit. God hides the meaning of His word from those who are wise in their own eyes and reveals it to babes. Imagine yourself, he says, sitting with Mary at the feet of Jesus, ready to learn, and say with Samuel, Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth.

Third, read with a sincere desire to put into practice what you learn. “A desire to do the will of God is the only way to know it.” Christ promised that whoever is willing to do His will shall know whether His doctrine is from God.

If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. JOHN 7:17

Fourth, apply everything you read to your own heart. What was written aforetime was written for our learning. Paul says Christ loved me and gave Himself for me; so must every reader make the word personal.

Fifth, labour for the Spirit by whom the Scriptures were written. The natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God; they are spiritually discerned. Nicodemus, a teacher of Israel, could not understand the new birth because he lacked the Spirit who alone could explain it.

Sixth, pray before, during and after reading. Whitefield’s counsel is intensely practical: ask Christ to send His Spirit before you open the book; send up short prayers as you read; “pray over every word and verse, if possible”; and when you close the book, ask God to engraft what you have read into your heart.

Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. PSALM 119:18

Seventh, read constantly. The word search, he says, alludes to those who dig in mines. We must take as much pains over the Bible as miners take for gold and silver. Read it not only devoutly but daily.

Word and Spirit together

Whitefield was accused of enthusiasm, and he knew that some who shared his experience claimed to be led by the Spirit apart from Scripture. In this sermon he opposes them directly. Christ Himself, who had the Spirit without measure, answered every temptation with It is written. That alone, says Whitefield, confutes those who say the Spirit only, and not the Spirit by the word, is our rule. God now reveals Himself not by making new revelations but by applying what is already revealed. The Spirit and the word belong together: the Spirit to open the word, and the word to test every spirit.

To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. ISAIAH 8:20

Where care is needed

Whitefield’s remark that God will direct the diligent reader in every particular case, as plainly as by the Urim and Thummim, needs some care. God does guide His people through His word, but He does not promise that every decision will be settled by a verse leaping off the page. Whitefield in his early years sometimes treated texts that struck him as direct guidance for particular choices, and was not always right. The Bible gives wisdom for decisions more often than it gives answers to them.

He also wrote dismissively of plays, romances and polite literature, calling a taste for them vitiated. Many Christians since have found much that is good in good books. His underlying point stands, though: a heart that has no appetite for God’s word should ask why.

Dig

The simplest lesson of the sermon is the hardest to keep: read the Bible, and read it every day, looking for Christ. Everything else Whitefield says is commentary on that. The Scriptures testify of Him, and those who search them with prayer will find Him there.

How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! PSALM 119:103

FOR REFLECTION AND ACTION

1. Set a daily time and place for reading Scripture, and keep it for the next thirty days.

2. Before you read, pray briefly for the Spirit’s help. As you read, pray over what strikes you. When you finish, ask God to engraft it into your heart.

3. In whatever passage you read this week, ask where Christ is — in promise, type, shadow or person.

4. Choose one thing you have read and do it. Test Whitefield’s claim that the desire to do God’s will is the way to know it.

5. Read The Duty of Searching the Scriptures in the Ochorus library and copy his seven directions into the front of your Bible.

A PRAYER

Lord Jesus, the Scriptures testify of You. Open my eyes to see You in every page.

Give me a humble and teachable heart, and a will ready to do what I learn.

Send Your Spirit, who wrote the word, to open it to me, and keep me from seeking any guidance that contradicts it.

Make Your word sweeter to me than honey, and let me dig in it daily as for hidden treasure. Amen.