Happiness: from An Illustrated Summary of J.C. Ryle's Practical Religion

This is a chapter from J.C. Ryle's classic book Practical Religion.

HAPPINESS

"Happy are the people whose God is the Lord!" Psalm 144:15

The story is told of a man trying to persuade a crowd in the open air that there is no God, devil, heaven, hell, resurrection, judgment, or life to come. He talked boldly. The crowd listened eagerly. It was, as Jesus would phrase it, the blind leading the blind. Both were falling into a ditch (Matthew 15:14). A poor old woman  slowly moved up front and asked him loudly, "Sir, are you happy?" He looked scornfully at her and gave no answer. She said, "Sir, I ask you to answer my question. You want us to throw away our Bibles, not listen to ministers of the Gospel, and think as you do. Before we take your advice, we have a right to know what good we shall get by it." The skeptical speaker stammered and tried hard to turn the subject, saying he had not come there to preach about happiness, but the crowd began to press the woman's wise question. At last he walked away in confusion. His conscience would not let him answer the question: he dared not say he was happy.

Whenever people you know begin to take up new views of religion or criticize Bible Christianity, thrust onto their consciences the old woman's question. Ask whether their new views make them feel comfortable within. Ask whether they can say, with honesty and sincerity, that they are happy. This is a significant matter because the Bible teaches the heart cannot be right in the sight of God that knows nothing of happiness. That man or woman cannot be in a safe state of soul who feels nothing of peace within.

1. Things essential to all happiness. The desire for happiness is planted deeply in the human heart. We all naturally like comfort and gladness, disliking pain, sorrow, and discomfort. Solomon the Wise tells us that God "has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts.... I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God" (Ecclesiastes 3:11-13). Few, however, really think about what they mean when they talk of happiness. They dream of a happiness that would never satisfy their nature's wants.

A. Happiness does not require freedom from sorrow and discomfort. The happiness I am inquiring about is such as a poor, dying, sinful creature may hope to attain. Evil abounds in this world. Sickness, death, and change are daily doing their sad work on every front. In such a state of things, the highest happiness a man and woman can attain on earth must necessarily be a mixed thing. If we expect to find any perfect happiness this side of the grave, we expect what we shall not find.

B. Happiness does not require laughter and smiles. Many laugh out loud and are merry in company, but are miserable in private and almost afraid to be alone. The eternal Word of God teaches us that even "in laughter the heart may ache, and the end of joy may be grief" (Proverbs 14:13). Like Shakespeare's Hamlet said, a man "may smile and smile and be a villain." A truly happy man will often show his happiness on his face, but not always. A woman may have a very happy face, yet not be happy at all. Of all deceptive things on earth, few exceed mere gaiety and merriment. There is a temporary elevation of spirits about it, but do not call it by the sacred name of happiness. The most beautiful cut flowers stuck into the ground do not make a garden.

C. Happiness does require the highest wants of human nature to be satisfied. What are those wants? Can we do nothing but hear, see, smell, taste, and feel? No, we have a thinking mind and conscience. Do we have consciousness of any world except that in which we live and move? A still, small voice within us all often makes itself heard: This life is not all! There is a world unseen: there is life beyond the grave. Yes, we are "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14). It is foolishness to pretend that food, clothes, and other material things can make us happy. They can do nothing for the immaterial needs of the soul and conscience. There can be no true happiness until those needs are satisfied.

D. Happiness does require sources of gladness not dependent on anything in this world. There is nothing upon earth that is not stamped with the mark of instability and uncertainty. All the good things money can buy are fleeting: they either leave us or we are obliged to leave them. All the sweetest relationships in life are liable to come to an end: death may come any day and cut them off. The person whose happiness depends on those things is like the man building his house on sand (Matthew 7:24-27).

E. Happiness does require being able to face the past, present, and future with justified comfort. To be really happy, a man must be able to look back at the past without guilty fears, to look around him without discontent, and look forward without anxious dread. Are you able to look steadily either before or behind you? Your present position may be easy and pleasant. But stop and think quietly over your past. Can you reflect calmly on all your omissions and commissions? How will they bear God's inspection? How will you answer for them at the last day? Now think of the years yet to come, especially the certain end: death and judgment. Are you prepared? If you cannot look comfortably at any season but the present, you do not yet know what real happiness is like.

2. Common mistakes about the way to be happy. There are several roads thought by many to lead to happiness. On each multitudes of men and women are continually traveling. They think if only they get what they want, they will be happy. If they do not, they are more likely to blame their luck than their choice of road. I will mention by name some of the principal delusions about happiness, which I do out of love and compassion to warn people against cheats, quacks, and imposters.

A. Rank and greatness. The rulers of this world are seldom happy. They have troubles none know but themselves, seeing a thousand evils they are unable to remedy. The Roman Emperor Antonine often said that the imperial power was an ocean of miseries. Queen Elizabeth I of England, when hearing a milk maid singing, said she wished she had been born to a position like hers. Shakespeare's Henry IV sums it up well: "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown."

King Solomon had power, wisdom and wealth far beyond any ruler of his time. We know from his own confession in the biblical Book of Ecclesiastes that he made a grand experiment of how far the good things of this world can make a person happy. Never, surely, was such an experiment tried under such favorable circumstances; never was anyone so likely to succeed. Yet what is Solomon's testimony? You have it in his melancholy words, "All is vanity and vexation of spirit!" (Ecclesiastes 1:14; 2:17).

B. Riches. They can enable a person to command and possess just about everything but inward peace. They cannot buy a cheerful spirit and a light heart. There is care in the getting of riches, along with the cares of keeping, using, and distributing them. A wise man said money is another word for trouble.

Walk down the street of any major business district and study the faces of businessmen and women leaving near the close of day. What tale do the deep lines furrowing brow and cheek tell? What about the air of anxious preoccupation that characterizes five out of every six we see? They tell us  something greater than gold and bank notes is needed to make people happy.

C. Learning and science. They may profitably occupy people's time and attention, but cannot make them happy. Like Solomon, those with vast learning discover that "in much wisdom is much grief, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow" (Ecclesiastes 1:18). The heart wants something as well as the head; the conscience needs food as well as the intellect. All the secular knowledge in the world will not give men and women joy and gladness, especially when faced with sickness, death, and the grave.

D. Rest and leisure. It is easy to assume those things bring bliss if you regularly have to venture out to work early on a cold morning, but the most miserable creature on earth is the one who has nothing to do. Work for the hands or head is essential to human happiness. Without it the mind feeds upon itself, and the whole inward man becomes diseased. The machinery within us, so to speak, is made for work; without something to work upon, it is likely to wear itself to pieces. Work was invented by God before the Fall: Adam and Eve were joyfully tasked with tending the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:15). There will be no idleness in heaven: God's servants shall serve Him in bliss (Revelation 22:3).

E. Pleasure and amusement. Of all weary, flat, dull, and unprofitable ways of spending life, this exceeds all. To think of a dying creature with an immortal soul expecting happiness in feasting and reveling, dancing and singing, playing games and watching entertainment—in crowds, laughter, noise, music, and wine! Surely it is a sight to make the devil laugh and the angels weep. Even children will not play with their toys all day long. They must have food. But when grown-up men and women think to find happiness in a steady stream of amusement, they sink far below a child.

Do you doubt what I say? Then stand with me in the most fashionable parts of town in the height of the season. We soon will see many who seem to possess the choicest gifts of this world: beauty, wealth, rank, fashion, and troops of friends. Sadly, few will appear happy. On many faces we shall read weariness, dissatisfaction, discontent, sorrow, or unhappiness as clearly as if written with a pen. This is a humbling lesson to learn, but a wholesome one. It applies not only to town life, but also to more modest settings. You will soon discover that backbiting, lying, slandering, envy, pride, laziness, lust, substance abuse, and petty quarrels murder happiness anywhere. Fallen human nature is the same evil thing everywhere.

All the wrong roads to happiness are like bright fountains of waters that at first taste sweet. A crowd stands around them that refuses to leave, but you may know that God has written over each fountain, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again" (John 4:13). Remember all these mistakes about happiness and be wise!

3. The way to be truly happy: to be a real, enthusiastic, true-hearted Christian. This is a sure road to happiness and open to all. None are excluded but those who exclude themselves. The people I have in view are not mere talkers, but real Christians in heart and life, who rest all their hopes on the Lord Jesus Christ and His atonement, who have been born again and live holy lives. Their religion is a mighty energizing and constraining  principle governing every day of life.

A. Christian consistency despite the ebbs and flows of life. Christians are subject to the same difficulties and frailties as anyone else, but deep down inside they have a mine of solid peace and substantial joy that is never exhausted. This is true happiness. Not all true Christians are equally happy, for there are differing levels of maturity, and all have their ebbs and flows of comforts. Some tides, like those of the Mediterranean Sea, are almost imperceptible; others, as in Wales, come 50 or 60 feet at a time. The bodily health of believers is not always the same, and the same goes for their earthly circumstances. The souls of those they love fill them at times with distress; they themselves are sometimes overtaken by a fault and temporarily walk in darkness.  But as a general rule, the true Christian has a deep pool of peace within him or her, which even at the lowest is never entirely dry.

B. Christian peace of mind and conscience. Christians are at rest within because they know Christ made atonement on the cross for all their sins, cleansing them forever from guilt. They see in the priesthood and mediation of the risen Christ now in heaven (Romans 8:33-34; Hebrews 7:24-26) a complete answer to all their fears. Conscience is no longer the enemy of the true Christian, but his friend and adviser. Therefore he is happy. He can look behind him and before him, within him and around him, feeling, All is well. He can think calmly about his past life, and however many and great his sins, take comfort in the truth that they are all forgiven. The righteousness of Christ covers all. He can think calmly about things to come, yet not be afraid. Sickness is painful, death is solemn, and Judgment Day is an awe-full reality, but having Christ for him the Christian has nothing to fear. He or she can think calmly about Almighty God, saying, "He is my Father, my reconciled Father in Christ Jesus. I am weak and unworthy, yet in Christ He regards me as His dear child and is well pleased." What a blessed privilege it is to think and not be afraid!

C. Christian hope independent of this world. Christians have something that cannot be affected by sickness, death, private losses, or public calamities: "the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding" (Philippians 4:6-7). They have reserved for them in heaven "an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away" (1 Peter 1:4). A believer's wife may die, his darling children may be taken away from him, and he may be left alone in this cold world; his earthly plans may be crossed; his health may fail. But all this time he has a portion nothing can hurt, and one Friend who never dies. His lower springs may fail, but his upper springs are never dry. This is real happiness.

D. Christian priorities in the right order. All the powers of his being are directed to right ends. His mind and affections are set "on things above, not on things on the earth" (Colossians 3:1-4). His will is not bent on self-indulgence, but is submissive to the will of God. Christians realize that "the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever" (1 John 2:17). Their minds are not absorbed in perishable trifles; they desire useful employment, especially the privilege of doing good.

Who has not seen the misery of disorder and discomfort of a house where everything and everyone are in their wrong places: last things first and first things last? The heart of an unconverted man or woman is such a house. Grace puts everything in that heart in its right position. The things of the soul come first and the things of the world come second. Christ reigns over the whole man, and each part of him does his proper work. This new heart is really a light heart, unburdened from pride and self will. The Christian sits at the feet of Jesus and is in his right mind. He loves God and loves man, so he is happy. In heaven all are happy because all do God's will perfectly. The nearer a man or woman gets to this standard, the happier he or she will be.

The plain truth is that without Christ, there is no lasting happiness in the world. He alone can give the Comforter who abides forever. He is the sun; without Him you never feel warm. He is the light; without Him you are in the dark. He is the bread; without Him you are starving. He is the living water; without Him you remain thirsty. Take what you like, go where you will, be surrounded by all the comforts you can imagine—it does not matter: apart from Christ, the Prince of Peace, you cannot be happy.

E. Christian contentment despite adverse circumstances. Give a man a sensible interest in Christ, and he will be happy in spite of poverty. He will tell you he is lacking nothing that is truly good. He is provided for: he has food to eat the world does not know of (John 4:32-34) and  friends who will never leave him or forsake him (Joshua 1:5; Hebrews 13:5-6). The Father and the Son have come to him and made Their home with him (John 14:23). The risen Christ Himself says, "I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me" (Revelation 3:20).

Give a woman a sensible interest in Christ, and she will be happy in spite of sickness. Her flesh may groan and her body be worn out with pain, but her heart will rest and be at peace. One of the happiest people I ever met was a young woman who had been ill for many years with a disease of the spine, and lived in a cold attic. Her case was incurable, but she was always rejoicing in the Lord Jesus. Her spirit triumphed mightily over her flesh. She was happy because Christ was with her.

Give a man a sensible interest in Christ, and he will be happy in spite of abounding public calamities. The government of his country may be thrown into confusion, rebellion and disorder may turn everything upside down, laws may be trampled under foot, and might may prevail over right, but still his heart will not fail. He will remember that the Kingdom of Christ will one day be fully established, so that man will say, "It is all right: it is well with the righteous."

I desire to make an affectionate appeal to the many different people who are reading this: Man of the world, caring for nothing but the things of time, neglecting the Bible, making a god of business or money, providing for everything but the day of judgment, planning about everything but eternity: Are you happy? You know you are not.

Foolish woman, trifling life away in levity and frivolity, spending hours on that frail body that must soon pass away, making an idol of fashion, amusement, and human praise, as if this world were all: Are you happy? You know you are not.

Young man or woman, bent on pleasure and self-promotion, fluttering from one  pursuit to another, fancying yourself clever and knowing, too wise to be led by godly ministers, yet ignorant that the devil is leading you like a beast to the slaughter: Are you happy? You know you are not.

You will never be happy until you are converted to Christ. You might as well expect the sun to shine on your face when you turn your back to it as to feel happy when you turn your back on God and Christ. The keys of the way to happiness are in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is appointed by God the Father to give the bread of life to all who hunger, and the water of life to all who thirst. Come to Him, confessing you are weary of your own ways and want rest, that you now realize you have no power to make yourself happy or holy, and have no hope but Him. This is coming to Christ.

You have everything to encourage you. The Lord Jesus Himself invites you. He proclaims to you as well as to others, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30). Multitudes have walked in the way you are invited to enter, and have found it good. Once like you they served the world and became enmeshed in folly and sin. Once like you they became weary of their wickedness and longed for deliverance and rest. They heard of Christ and His unmatched ability and willingness to save. They came to Him by faith and prayer after many doubts and hesitations, but found Him a thousand times more gracious than they had expected. Walk with them to Christ.

Those of you who know and love Christ have no doubt experienced such sweetness in Christ's peace that you would love to know more of it. I urge us all to have an increase of happiness in Christ's service by laboring every year to grow in grace. Let us beware of standing still and instead search the Scriptures more earnestly, pray more fervently, hate sin more, mortify self-will more, love others more, and become more humble. Let us also be laboring every year to be more thankful and to do more good. May we be more and more like God, who not only is good, but does good (Psalm 119:68). There is much we might do if only we had the will. For God's glory, the enrichment of others, and our own happiness, let us be fervent and faithful Christians!

Bible Reading: from An Illustrated Summary of J.C. Ryle's Practical Religion

This is a chapter from J.C. Ryle's classic book Practical Religion.

BIBLE READING

"Search the Scriptures." John 5:39

"What is your reading of it?" Luke 10:26

Next to praying, there is nothing so important in practical religion as Bible reading. God has mercifully given us a Book that is "able to make us wise for salvation through faith in  Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 3:15). By reading the Bible we may learn what to believe, what to be, what to do, how to live in contentment, and how to die in peace. Blessed are those who possess a Bible! Happier still are those who read it. Happiest of all are those who not only read it, but also obey it, making it their rule of faith and practice.

Nevertheless, it is a sorrowful fact that man has an unhappy skill in abusing God's gifts. One sweeping charge may be brought against the whole of Christendom: neglect and abuse of the Bible. Give me your attention while I supply you with a few plain reasons why everyone who cares for his or her soul ought to value the Bible highly, study it regularly, and be thoroughly acquainted with its contents.

1. There is no book in existence written in such a manner as the Bible.  The Bible was "given by inspiration of God" (2 Timothy 3:16). In this respect it is utterly unlike all other writings. God taught the writers of it what to say. He put into their minds thoughts and ideas, and guided their pens in setting down those thoughts and ideas. When you read it, you are not reading the self-taught compositions of men like yourselves, but the words of the eternal God. When you hear it, you are not listening to the erring opinions of short-lived mortals, but to the unchanging mind of the King of kings. These men did not speak on their own, but "spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:21). All other books in the world, however good and useful in their way, are more or less defective. The more you look at them, the more you see their defects and blemishes. The Bible alone is absolutely perfect. From beginning to end it is the Word of God. 

God made us reasonable creatures like Himself, and has supplied us with many sound reasons for trusting the Bible, but rather than providing long and labored proofs of that here, I will simply point out that the Bible itself is the best witness of its own inspiration. It is utterly inexplicable and unaccountable from any other point of view. He who dares to say the Bible is not inspired, let him give a reasonable account of its meticulously fulfilled prophecies, unity of theme despite being written over a 1,500 year span, close correspondence with history and archaeology, and other unique characteristics of this Book.

It proves nothing against inspiration, as some have said, that the writers of the Bible each have a different style. Isaiah did not write like Jeremiah, and Paul did not write like John. That is perfectly true, yet the works of those men are not less equally inspired. The waters of the sea have different shades. In one place they look blue and in another green, owing to the depth or shallowness of the part we see, yet the water in every case is the same salt sea. In the same way the Books of the Old and New Testaments are all inspired truth, yet the aspect of that truth varies according to the mind through which the Holy Spirit makes it flow. The writing styles and diverse backgrounds of each biblical author were all alike inspired by the same Divine Guide. Every chapter, verse, and word is from God.

People who are troubled with doubts and skeptical thoughts about the Bible would do well to calmly examine it for themselves. How many difficulties and objections would vanish away at once like mist before the rising sun? It is no light matter that God caused this Book to be "written for our learning" (Romans 15:4) and that we should have before us "the oracles of God" (Romans 3:2). Are you taking advantage of this opportunity by reading and studying the Bible?

2. There is no knowledge necessary for salvation other than what is in the Bible. We live in days when the words of Daniel are fulfilled before our eyes: "Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase" (Daniel 12:4). Schools are multiplying on every side, new colleges set up, and old universities reformed and improved. New books and articles are continually coming out. More is being taught, more is being learned, more is being read than ever before, which is a mercy since an ignorant population is a perilous and expensive burden to any nation. It is ready prey to the first Absalom, Catiline, or Wat Tyler who arises to entice it to evil. Nevertheless, all the beneficial knowledge a person can receive will not save that person from hell unless he or she knows the truths of the Bible.

Chemistry never silenced a guilty conscience. Mathematics never healed a broken heart. No earthly philosophy ever supplied hope in death. A knowledge of the Bible is the one knowledge that is needful and eternally useful. A man may get to heaven without money, learning, health, or friends, but without Bible knowledge he will never get there at all. A man may have the mightiest of minds and a memory stored with all that mighty mind can grasp, yet if he does not know the things of the Bible, he will make shipwreck of his soul forever. 

3. No book in existence contains such important matter as the Bible. How glorious and soul-satisfying is the description it gives us of God's plan of salvation, the way by which our sins can be forgiven! The coming into the world of Jesus Christ, the God-man, to save sinners;  the atonement He made by suffering in our place, the just for the unjust; the complete payment He made for His people's sins by His own blood; the justification of every sinner who believes in Jesus; the readiness of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to receive, pardon, and save to the uttermost—how unspeakably grand and cheering are all those truths! We would know nothing of them without the Bible.

How comforting is the account of the great Mediator of the New Testament! Four times over His picture is graciously drawn before our eyes. Four separate witnesses tell us of His miracles and ministry, His sayings and deeds, His life and His death, His power and His love, His kindness and His patience—His ways, words, works, thoughts, and heart. There is one thing in the Bible that even the most prejudiced reader can hardly fail to understand: the impeccable character of Jesus Christ.

How encouraging are the examples the Bible gives us of good people! It tells of many who were like us: men and women who had cares, families, temptations, afflictions, and diseases like ours, yet "by faith and patience inherited the promises" and got safely home (Hebrews 6:12). Their mistakes, infirmities, conflicts, experience, prayers, praises, useful lives, and triumphant deaths are faithfully recorded. The Bible reminds us that the God and Savior of those men and women still waits to be gracious to us today, and is altogether unchanged.

How instructive are the examples the Bible gives us of bad people! It tells us of men and women who, like us now, had light, knowledge, and opportunities, yet hardened their hearts, loved the world, clung to their sins, insisted on their own way, despised reproof, and ruined their own souls forever. It warns us that the God who punished Pharaoh, Kings Saul and Ahab, Queen Jezebel, Judas Iscariot, and Ananias and Sapphira is a God who never changes, and that there really is a hell.

How precious are the promises the Bible contains for the use of those who love God! There is hardly any possible emergency or condition for which there is not a timely word. God loves to be reminded of these promises. If He has said He will do something, His promise shall certainly be fulfilled.

How blessed are the hopes the Bible holds out to the believer in the Lord Jesus! Peace in the hour of death, rest and happiness on the other side of the grave, a glorious body in the morning of the resurrection, a full and triumphant acquittal on the day of judgment, an everlasting reward in the Kingdom of Christ, a joyful meeting with the Lord's people in the day of gathering together: these are the future prospects of every true Christian. They are all written in the Book that is wholly true.

How striking is the light the Bible throws on the character of man! It teaches us what men may be expected to be and do in every position and station of life. It gives us the deepest insight into the secret springs and motives of human actions, and the ordinary course of events under the control of human agents. The Word of God is the true "discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12). How deep is the wisdom contained in the Books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes!

We probably have not the least idea how little we should know about all those things if we did not have the Bible. We hardly appreciate as we should the value of the air we breathe and the sun that shines on us because we have never known what it like to be without them. Surely no tongue can fully tell the value of the treasures this one volume contains. How are you using this treasure?

4. No book in existence has produced such wonderful effects on mankind at large as the Bible. This is the Book whose doctrines turned the world upside down in the days of the apostles. Nearly two millennia have passed since God sent a few Jewish men from a remote corner of the earth to do a work that, according to human judgment, must have seemed impossible. The risen Lord  sent out His apostles at a time when the whole world was full of superstition, cruelty, lust, and all kinds of sin. He sent them to proclaim that the established religions of the earth were false and useless, and must be forsaken. He sent them to persuade people to give up old habits and customs, and to live different lives. He sent them to do battle with the most enslaving idolatry, the vilest immorality, a bigoted priesthood, sneering philosophers, an ignorant population, and bloody-minded emperors.

How did Jesus arm them for this battle? He simply put the Holy Spirit into their hearts and the Scriptures into their hands to expound and explain, to establish and publish the doctrines of the Bible. He was one holy Man with one holy Book. How did His disciples prosper? In a few generations the face of society changed in the light of those doctrines. God used the apostles and their disciples to famish idolatry, leaving it high and dry like a stranded ship. They brought into the world a higher tone of morality between man and man. They raised the status of women. The altered the standard of purity and decency. They put an end to many cruel and bloody customs, such as the gladiatorial combats. There was no stopping the change. Persecution and opposition were useless. One victory after another was won. One bad thing after another melted away. Whether people liked it or not, they were insensibly affected by the movement of the new religion, and drawn within the whirlpool of its power. The tide rose, and they found themselves obliged to rise with it. All this was done by the truths of the Bible. For extent, results, and completeness, there are no victories like the victories of the Bible.

Many of the good things that societies have adopted for public benefit may be clearly traced to the Bible. It has left lasting marks wherever it has been received. From the Bible are drawn many of the best laws by which nations are governed and kept in order regarding truth, honesty, care for the needy, and family relations. To the influence of the Bible we owe nearly every humane and charitable institution in existence. The sick, poor, aged, orphaned, mentally and physically disabled were seldom or never regarded or lovingly provided for before the Bible influenced the world. You will search in vain for any record of institutions for their aid in the histories of Athens or Rome.

Sadly, there are many who sneer at the Bible and say the world would get along well enough without it, but they do not realize how it has benefited their lives. Those who lie sick in great hospitals, originally founded by Christian charity, might have died in misery, uncared for, unnoticed, and alone. The world we live in is fearfully unconscious of its debts. The Last Day alone, I believe, will tell the full amount of benefit conferred upon it by the Bible. How is the Bible benefiting you now?

5. No book in existence can do so much for those who read it rightly as does the Bible. The Bible does not profess to teach the wisdom of this world. It was not written to explain mathematics or astronomy. It will not make you a doctor, lawyer, or engineer. But there is another world to be thought of beside that in which we now live. There are other ends for which man was created, besides making money and working. There are other interests we are meant to attend to, besides those of the body. It is the interests of the immortal soul that the Bible is especially able to promote. It is able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ (2 Timothy 3:15). It can show you what you are: a sinner. It can show you what God is: perfectly holy. It can show you the great giver of pardon, peace, and grace: Jesus Christ. It is the glory and beauty of the Bible that it highlights the majesty of God, the beauty of Christ, and the desperate need of every man and woman from the first chapter to the last.

The Bible applied to the heart by the Holy Spirit is the grand instrument by which souls are first converted to God. That mighty change is generally initiated by a text or doctrine of the Word brought home to a person's conscience. The Bible has worked moral miracles by the thousands that way. It has made drunks sober, immoral persons pure, thieves honest, and violent people meek. It has taught worldly people to seek first God's Kingdom. It has taught lovers of pleasure to love God and Christ. It has taught people to think of heaven instead of always thinking of earth, and to live by faith instead of by sight. All this it has done in every part of the world. All this it is doing still.

The Bible applied to the heart by the Holy Spirit is the chief means by which men and women are built up and established in the faith after their conversion. It is able to cleanse them, sanctify them, instruct them in righteousness, and furnish them thoroughly for all good works (Psalm 119:9; John 17:17; 2 Timothy 3:16-17). The Bible can teach a man how to glorify Christ in all his relationships, making him a good employer, worker, citizen, husband, father, and son. It can enable him to bear afflictions and hardships without complaining and with confident faith. It can enable him to look into the grave and say, "I will fear no evil" (Psalm 23:4). Is he drowsy in soul? It can awaken him. Is he mourning? It can comfort him. Is he in the wrong? It can restore him. Is he weak? It can make him strong. Is he in company? It can keep him from evil. Is he alone? It can talk with him. All this the Bible can do for all believers.

Now I know well that many say they have found no saving power in the Bible. They tell us they have tried to read it, but have learned nothing from it. They see nothing in it but hard and deep things. Consider this: the Bible no doubt contains hard things or else it would not be the Book of God, but is not humble acknowledgement of our own ignorance the foundation of all knowledge? Must not many things be taken for granted in the beginning of every science before we can proceed? Do we not require our children to learn many things they cannot perceive the meaning of at first? Therefore expect to find deep things when you begin studying the Word of God, yet believe that if you persevere, the meaning of most or all of them will one day be made clear. Read the Bible with humility and take much on trust with faithful guides. Remember also in fairness that many things in the Bible are easy and plain. Steer by those lights into the deeper waters.

Many raise the objection that thousands read the Bible, but do not seem any better for their reading. But the reason so many read the Bible without benefit is simple: they do not read it the right way. There is generally a right way and a wrong way of doing everything in the world. The Bible will not do anyone lasting good unless it is read with humility and earnest prayer. The fault is not in the Book, but in the careless reader. Never did a person read it like the fair-minded Bereans with intelligent perseverance (Acts 17:11) and miss the way to heaven. No one on the day of judgment will be able to say he or she went thirsting to the Bible and found in it no living water. The words spoken of Wisdom personified in Proverbs are true of God's Word: "If you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God" (Proverbs 2:3-5).

6. The Bible is the only rule by which all questions of doctrine and duty can be settled. The Lord God knows the weakness of our poor fallen understandings. He knows that, even after conversion, our perceptions of right and wrong can be indistinct for awhile. He knows how artfully Satan can coat error with an appearance of truth, dressing up wrong with plausible arguments until it bears some semblance to right. Knowing all this, God has mercifully provided us with an unerring standard of truth and error, right and wrong, in His Book. 

We are to try all religious teaching by one simple test: does it square with the Bible? What do the Scriptures say? Is the asserted teaching  biblical? If it is, it ought to be received and believed. If it is not, it ought to be refused and cast aside. A true minister will say, "Search the Scriptures, and if I do not teach you what is scriptural, do not believe me." A false minister will declare, "Hear the Church! Hear me!" A true minister will say, "Hear the Word of God!"

But the world is not only full of difficulties about points of doctrine, but also about points of practice. How does one discern his or her duty regarding such matters as one's employments, choice of amusements, and the upbringing of one's children?  By the letter or the spirit of the Bible he or she must test every difficult point or question. That is the reliable compass by which to steer throughout life. Make it your operating principle never to act contrary to the Word of God. You will never regret it. Do not listen to the common objection that the rule you have laid down is impossible and cannot be observed in a world such as this. People who object like that need to be told that by the Bible we shall all be judged at the Last Day. Let them learn to judge themselves by it here so they may avoid being judged and condemned by it hereafter.

7. The Bible is the Book all true servants of God have always lived on and loved. Every living thing God creates requires food. When the Holy Spirit raises a man from the death of sin and makes him a new creature in Christ, the new life in that man's soul requires food. The only food that will sustain it is the Word of God. Just as a child born into the world naturally desires the milk provided for its nourishment, so does the born-again believer desire "the pure milk of the Word" (1 Peter 2:2). His or her "delight is in the Law of the Lord" (Psalm 1:2).

Love for God's Word is a chief characteristic of the godly in Scripture. The patriarch Job said, "I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food" (Job 23:12). Love for the Word is a shining feature  throughout the magnificent 119th Psalm, which has this as its theme: "Oh, how I love Your Law!" (Psalm 119:97). Love for the Word also characterized Paul and his companions, who were "mighty in the Scriptures" (Acts 18:24). But love for the Word is especially prominent in our Lord Jesus Christ. He read it publicly, quoted it continually, expounded it frequently, and advised the religious leaders to "search the Scriptures" (John 5:39). He used Scripture as His weapon to resist the devil (Matthew 4:1-11). He said repeatedly, "The Scriptures must be fulfilled" and one of the last things He did before ascending to heaven was to open the understanding of His disciples so they could "comprehend the Scriptures" (Luke 24:45). No man can be a true servant of the Lord Jesus Christ who has not something of his Master's mind and feeling toward the Bible.

Love for the Word has been a prominent feature in the history of all the godly men and women we know about since the days of the apostles. It is the lamp Athanasius, Chrysostom, and Augustine followed. It is the well reopened by Wycliffe,  Tyndale, Luther, and Calvin after it had been blocked. It is the sword with which Latimer and Knox won their victories. It is the manna that fed Bunyan, Owen, and a noble host of Puritans. It is the armory from which Whitefield and Wesley drew their powerful weapons. Differing as those holy men did in some matters, on one point they were all agreed: they delighted in God's Word. So do faithful men and women in churches around the world today. Dear reader, do you follow in the footsteps of this flock?

8. The Bible is the only book that can comfort a man in the last hours of his life. We are all sadly apt to put away this subject. I want everyone to do his or her duty in life, but I also want everyone to think of death. I want everyone to know how to live, but also to know how to die. Death is a solemn event to all: the winding up of all our earthly plans and expectations, and a separation from all we have loved and lived with. It is often accompanied by much bodily pain and distress. It brings us to the grave and corruption. It opens the door to judgment and eternity—to heaven or to hell. "In the place where the tree falls, there it shall lie" (Ecclesiastes 11:3). "It is appointed for man once to die, and then comes judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). It is an event after which there is no change or opportunity for repentance.

It becomes every thoughtful and sensible person to consider calmly how he or she is going to meet death. The good things of the world cannot comfort a man when he draws near death. Money can buy the best medical advice and attendance for a man's body, but it cannot buy peace for his conscience, heart, and soul. The pleasures of the world will give him no pleasure: he cannot hide from himself that they are hollow, empty, powerless things. Honors and delights he once may have craved are out of harmony with his condition. They cannot stop one gap in his heart, where the last enemy is coming in like a flood. They cannot make him calm in the prospect of meeting a holy God. The latest news and novels he will ignore. Their time will be past. Whatever they may be in health, they are useless in the hour of death.

There is but one fountain of comfort for a man drawing near to his end in this life, and that is the Bible. I do not say that the Bible will do good to a dying man if he has not valued it before, as if it were a good-luck charm, but I do say positively that no dying man will ever get real comfort except from the Word of God. All comfort from any other source is a house built upon sand. Chapters, passages, texts, promises and doctrines of Scripture that are heard, received, believed, and rested on are solid ground and a firm foundation here and for eternity. As a minister I have seen not a few dying persons in my time. I never saw anyone enjoy what I should call a real, solid, calm, reasonable peace on his deathbed who did not draw his  peace from the Bible. Surely it is no light matter whether you read that Book or not.

For application I conclude by addressing a few, plain words to the conscience of every class of readers:

A. Those who can read but never do read the Bible at all. You are in danger because your neglect of the one and only Word of God is plain evidence that you do not love the God of the Word. Beware lest the day come when you feel, "Had I but honored the Bible as much as I have honored the news or other books, I should not have been left without comfort in my last hours, and now must face God without hope!" Hope remains for you now if you read the Bible and believe its saving message.

B. Those who are willing to begin reading the Bible, but need advice. Listen to me and I will give you a few short hints:

(1) Begin reading the Bible this very day. It has never been easier than now to access the Bible for free in one's heart language. Read it yourself, persuade someone else to read it to you, or listen to an audio Bible. One way or another, through eyes or ears, the words of Scripture must actually pass before your mind.

(2) Read the Bible with an earnest desire to understand. It also has never been easier to access free, reliable Bible commentaries and other helps. Do not think for a moment that the grand object is to pass through a certain number of pages. They mean nothing without understanding. Say to yourself often as you read, "What is all this about?" Dig for the meaning like a man digging for gold. Work hard and do not give up. Humbly ask for help from Christians you know and respect, for the godly will be happy to give it.

(3) Read the Bible with childlike faith and humility. Open your heart as you open your Book, saying, "Speak, Lord, for your servant hears" (1 Samuel 3:8-10). Resolve to believe implicitly whatever you find there, however it may run counter to your own prejudices. Resolve to receive heartily every statement of truth, whether you like it or not. Beware this miserable habit of mind into which some readers of the Bible fall: they receive some doctrines because they like them, but reject others because they are convicting to themselves or to others they know and love. The Bible is useless to such people. Are we to be judges of what ought to be in God's Word? Do we know better than God? Settle it in your mind you will receive and believe it all, and what you cannot currently understand you will take on trust. Remember that when you pray, you are speaking to God and He hears you. But when you are reading the Bible, God is speaking to you and you must listen.

(4) Read the Bible in a spirit of obedience and self application. Sit down to  study it with a daily determination that you will live by its rules, rest on its statements, and act on its commands. Consider as you travel through every chapter, "How does this affect my conduct? What does it teach me?" It is poor work to read the Bible from mere curiosity while you do not allow it to influence your heart and life. The Bible is read best that is practiced most.

(5) Read the Bible daily. Make it a part of every day's business to read and meditate on some portion of God's Word. This nourishment for your soul is every bit as needful as food and clothes are for your body. Yesterday's food will not help today's labor, nor will today's food feed the laborer tomorrow. Do as the Israelites in the wilderness did and gather your manna fresh every day. Do not hurry your reading. Give your Bible the best, not the worst part of your time.

(6) Read all the Bible in an orderly way. "All Scripture ... is profitable" (2 Timothy 3:16). Some people's Bible reading is a system of perpetual dipping and picking, which works against broad, well-proportioned views of truth. In times of sickness and affliction it is allowable to search out seasonable portions, but with that exception, I believe it is best to begin the Old and New Testaments at the same time: to read each straight through to the end, and then begin again.

(7) Read the Bible fairly and honestly. Determine to take everything first in its plain, obvious meaning, and regard all forced interpretations with great suspicion. As a general rule, whatever a verse of the Bible seems to mean, it does mean. Take Scripture as you find it without any attempt to force it into any particular system. Interpret literature by its literary type: historical narrative, law, instruction, poetry, prophecy, proverb, or parable. You will be able to tell the difference between statements and symbols. Help is available when you need it.

(8) Read the Bible with Christ continually in view. The primary object of all Scripture is to testify of Jesus. Old Testament ceremonies are shadows of Christ. Old Testament judges and deliverers are types of Christ. Old Testament history shows the world's need for Christ. Old Testament prophecies are full of Christ's ministry, sufferings, atoning death and resurrection, and return in glory yet to come. His first coming and His second, the Lord's humiliation and His Kingdom, the cross and the crown shine everywhere in the Bible. Keep a fast hold on this clue, and it will help you read the Bible correctly.

C. Those who believe the Bible, but read it little. Listen to me and I will say a few things that deserve your serious attention. First, you are likely to get little comfort from the Bible in time of need. Second, you are not likely to be established in the truth, which leaves you vulnerable to false teaching and many doubts. Third, you are likely to make many mistakes in life without reliable guidance from God's Word. The world you steer through is full of rocks, shoals, and sandbanks. You are not sufficiently familiar with either the lights or the charts.

Do not merely read your Bible a little, but read it a great deal. "Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly" (Colossians 3:16). Do not be a mere babe in spiritual knowledge, but seek to become well instructed in the Kingdom of heaven, continually adding new things to old as Jesus said (Matthew 13:51-52). A religion of feeling is an uncertain thing. It is like the tide or the moon: sometimes high and sometimes low. A religion of deep Bible knowledge is a firm and lasting possession. It enables the man or woman who possesses it not merely to say, "I feel hope in Christ," but "I know who I have believed" (2 Timothy 1:12).

D. Those who read the Bible often, but doubt the good it is doing them. This is a crafty temptation of the devil he will use when he cannot fool you into not reading the Bible at all. Let me encourage you. The greatest effects are often silent and hard to detect at the time they are being produced. Think of a child's daily growth, the influence of the moon upon the earth, and that of air upon human lungs. Your Bible reading is doing far more good to your soul than you can readily perceive. Often when one's memory has difficulty readily recalling facts, one's character is receiving everlasting impressions. Is sin becoming every year more hateful to you? Is Christ becoming every year more precious? Is holiness becoming every year more lovely and desirable in your eyes? If so, take courage. The Bible is doing you good, though you may not be able to trace it out day by day.

The Bible may be restraining you from sin or delusion into which you would otherwise run. It may daily be keeping you back from many a false step. You might soon find this out to your cost if you cease reading the Word! Resist the devil. Settle it down in your mind as an established rule that, whether you feel it at the moment or not, you are inhaling spiritual health by reading the Bible and steadily gaining strength.

E. Those who really love the Bible, live by it, and read it often. Give me your attention and I will mention a few things we all shall do well to take to heart for times to come.

(1) Let us resolve to read the Bible more and more every year. Let us try to get it rooted in our memories and engraved onto our hearts. Let us be well provisioned with it on our voyage throughout life and death. Who knows but that we may have a very stormy passage? Oh, to have the Word hidden in our hearts (Psalm 119:11) for all such times!

(2) Let us resolve to be more watchful over our Bible reading. Let us be jealously careful about the time we give to it, and how that time is spent. Let us beware of omitting our daily reading without sufficient cause. Let us not be yawning or dozing over our Book as we read. Never exalt any minister, denomination, theological system, trendy idea, book, or friend above the Word. Cursed be any human counsel that creeps in between us and the Bible, blocking the Bible from our view! As Jesus said, do not lay aside any Commandment of God for any traditions or ideas of men (Mark 7:1-13). Oh, to read with a hungry spirit and a simple desire for edification!

(3) Let us resolve to honor the Bible more in our families. Let us read it morning and evening to our children and households, and not be ashamed for others to see that we do so. Do not be discouraged if not all are faithful Christians. The Bible reading in a family has kept many from jail, debt, and scandal if not from hell, but where there is life there is still hope.

(4) Let us resolve to meditate more on the Bible. It is good to take with us two or three texts when we go out, and turn them over and over in our minds whenever we have a little leisure. It keeps out many vain thoughts. It preserves our souls from stagnating and becoming like ponds where the frogs live but the fish die. It sanctifies and sharpens our memory.

(5) Let us resolve to talk more to believers about the Bible when we meet them. That helps our conversations to be profitable and to steer clear of anything frivolous or uncharitable. Bringing up the Bible more will help us help each other keep our hearts in tune. May we strive to walk together in this evil world that Jesus would often draw near and go with us, as He did with the two disciples journeying to Emmaus (Luke 24).

(6) Let us live by the Bible more and more every year. Let us frequently take account of our opinions, practices, and habits in public and in private, measuring all by the Bible. God help us to conform to it and keep our way pure, as Psalm 119:9 directs, by living according to God's Word.