05.06.06
Reading the Bible (10)
What should I do after I read the Bible?‘and practise it in our lives.’
“You’re all talk” – in many ways, there’s not a worse insult you could throw at someone than saying that. It makes them out to be a hypocrite, one whose words are no more real than a morning fog. Thus far, in our studies in Reading the Bible, I guess you could throw that accusation at us, that we are all talk. We have been using Q. 90 of the Shorter Catechism as a template for understanding why and how we should read the Bible: Q. 90 A. 90 Is this Question of the Shorter Catechism ‘’, which sounds nice, but has no real substance, no real bite, no real practical impact. The answer is no, because the final clause of the answer firmly states that we must put what we have read and learned into practise. It’s no good to be a mere listener, we must also be doers. Tonight, I want to bring our studies on Reading the Bible to a close by looking at putting the Bible into practise, doing the Bible, in our lives. I want to see two things: first, the necessity of doing, and then second, the impact of doing.
[A] The Necessity of Doing
For this section, I want to turn to James 1:25 – ‘But the one who penetratingly absorbs the perfect law, the one which gives freedom and remains [is not] a listener with forgetfulness, but a doer of the work, this one shall be blessed in the doing of it.’ James has been talking about the way in which we live our lives, as those who reign in our tongues and keep ourselves from anger, rather, we are to, according to vs. 21, in gentleness receive the implanted word which is able to save your souls. So, according to James, in contrast to immorality stands the reception of the implanted word within us. But then, he goes on to discuss the two different ways in which we can ‘receive’ the word. One, is as a mere listener; the other as an eager listener and faithful doer. The one is what we are not to do; but in the other there is blessing.
(a) The Folly of Mere Listening – Being Jesus’ brother, James had been brought up in a very similar environment to our master. His teaching methods were therefore rather similar. He therefore proceeds to warn against mere listening by using a parable. It tells of a man who goes to look at literally ‘the face of his birth’ (i.e. his natural features) in a mirror, but then, after observing himself, he departs and straightaway forgets what he looks like, or literally, ‘of what sort he is’. This man of course, is a fool; just like we would be if we looked at our face in a mirror and immediately forgot what we looked like. Or to push the illustration further, it would be foolish to observe your face in the mirror first thing in the morning, notice you have a dirty splotch on your cheek, had sleep in your eye and your hair hadn’t been brushed, but fail to do anything about it. To fail to do anything about your dishevelled appearance would both nullify the intent and purpose of the mirror, and so the mirror does you no good. But that is exactly what the man who listens to the Word but fails to do it is like. He sees what he looks like in the mirror of the Bible, he sees that he is a sinner in need of divine grace and wisdom, and yet he forgets what he has read and doesn’t put it into practise. Thus, he nullifies the intent and purpose of the Bible, which is to deal with our sin and bring us to Christ and thus it does him no good. Rabbi Duncan, the first minister of Milton, wrote, “God does not speak to us for the sake of amusing us; nay, not for the sake simply of instructing us. He speaks to us that His will may be known by us, and may be done by us.” He continues, “He who hears and does not is but trifling with the law of God.” Thomas Boston writes, “Be careful to practise what you hear, otherwise it will do you no good.” The folly of mere listening presents us with a challenge – what use are we making of the mirror of God’s Word? Are we using it as it should be used? Are we using it to conform our lives to the image of Jesus Christ and to walk in godliness and Christ likeness?
(b) The Wisdom of Eager Listening and Faithful Doing – In contrast to this, James talks of another man, who listens eagerly to the perfect law which gives freedom i.e. the Word and remains, and does not forget, but does. Now there are three things I want to say about the difference between this man and the fool:
i. There is a difference in the quality of listening – too often, listening to the word, as we have described it in the last 8 sermons on this topic, has been disparaged. People want to do, and do not merely want to hear. But in order to do, there must first of all be hearing. In order to correctly construct a model, there must be instructions to follow. And the doer, according to James 1, listens to the word in a manner different from that of the mere hearer. This doesn’t come across too well in English translations, but the Greek word for ‘listening’ is different between the two types of person. The verb in vs. 23 and 24 is a word which means ‘to look at’ – at times it can be used for contemplative study, but here it is used to mean almost a glancing squint. But the word used of the doer in vs. 25 is another Greek word, ‘parakupsas’ – which means to ‘penetratingly absorb’. It’s a fascinating word, used only 4 times in the NT, twice in John 20, to describe how John and then Mary Magdalene stooped down to look into the empty tomb of Jesus, and then in 1 Peter 1:12 to speak of how the angels long to stoop down and look into the things of redemption. The mere ‘listener’ furtively glances at the Bible, doesn’t focus on the message of the text and doesn’t concentrate on the preaching of the word. By contrast, the one intent on not merely listening, but ‘doing’ the Bible will absorb the message, like a sponge absorbs water, or like a steak is marinated in spices before being cooked. Rabbi Duncan writes, “God’s Word is to be studied, that God’s Will may be done.” It was my intention that these 9 studies on Reading the Bible should give you the tools you need to do parakupsas not mere glancing – they were designed to enhance the quality of your listening, and I hope they have achieved that.
ii. There is a difference in the quality of activity – it is not true to say that the man who merely listens does nothing – he does two things according to vs. 24 – he departs (or turns away) and then he forgets. Now neither of these take much effort, indeed, it is the default position of the human heart to turn away from the instruction of God’s Word, and furthermore, the devil and our own sinful hearts do everything they can to pluck the word from our minds, just like the birds plucked the seed from the path in the parable of the sower. By contrast, the one called the doer, does the work – that work talked about in the verses surrounding the parable – the work of bridling the tongue, the work of refraining from anger, the work of laying aside vulgarity and superfluity of evil, the work of receiving the implanted word, the work of being concerned for suffering widows and orphans, the work of keeping onself spotless from the world. Now that’s work – it doesn’t really require any work to do the deeds of the mere listener – to turn away and to forget – but it really does require work to do the things of Christ. John Calvin writes, “The doer is he who from the heart embraces God’s Word and testifies by his life that he really believes.” The one who does not do the work, according to vs. 26, deceives himself and his religion is worthless. By contrast, the one who does the work, is no hypocrite and his relationship with God really is worth something. The question jumping out at us from the text is not just about the quality of our listening, but about the quality of our doing? Are we working the Word? Or, are we turning away and forgetting? And if we are doing the latter, surely it indicates to us that we never really believed what the Word told us in the first place! You’ll also notice that for the ‘doing’ one, obedience is not just a one-off occurrence – it’s a continuing, a persisting in doing. That’s what we signed up for and that’s what we must do – the faithful and consistent work of obedience to God’s Word in every situation and at all times.
iii. There is a difference in God’s Verdict – the man who penetratingly absorbs God’s Word and then proceeds to put it into practise is talked of in vs. 25 as being ‘blessed in the doing of it’ – not ‘blessed for doing it’ – as if somehow they earn the blessing of God, but rather, as they do the work of the gospel, they are blessed. Blessedness in the Bible is an expression of God’s satisfaction. Therefore, the blessing and satisfaction of God rests upon the man as he eagerly listens in order to do the will of God. However, the man who hears, but does not do, with such God is not satisfied and He does not bless. If you then, are at all interested in receiving the blessing of God, of hearing on that great and final day, ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant’, do not be a mere listener to the Word, but absorb it and do it, for as John Calvin writes, “Blessedness is to be found in doing, not in cold hearing.”
How this church and how the world around needs, people who will not be mere listeners to the Word, but will also be doers thereof. We need to be people who are absorbed and soaked and marinated in the Word, so much so that we ‘sweat’ Scripture, if that were possible, in the way in which we live our lives. We need to be doers, not mere hearers, and so doing is necessary.
[B] The Impact of Doing
Having taken our leave of James 1, let’s return now to Question 90 of the Shorter Catechism. SC. Q. 90 How is the word to be read and heard, that it may become effectual unto salvation? A. 90 That the word may become effectual unto salvation, we must attend thereunto with diligence, preparation, and prayer; receive it with faith and love, lay it up in our hearts; and practise it in our lives. As I see it, faithful studying and doing of the Word has two positive impacts upon our Christian lives:
(a) Doing Brings Salvation – in James 1:21, we read that the implanted word is able to save us. In our first study of the Shorter Catechism, we looked at how it can be said that Reading the Bible makes effectual our salvation. We saw, by using earlier Catechism answers, that what happens when we read our Bibles, is that God gives to us, the benefits of redemption. In other words, the Bible is like a bucket, which we lower down into the well of redemption, in order to draw for ourselves the cool, clear, life-giving waters of salvation. For the non-Christian, we saw, in the words of Q. 89 of the Shorter Catechism, that the Word has a convicting and a converting effect – in that it shows them their need of Christ, and the way of salvation in Christ. But for such as these, if they will not do what is required of them in Scripture, that is to believe and trust in Christ, then salvation will not be theirs. It is like drawing with the bucket of the Word the water of salvation from the well of redemption, but then pouring out on the ground the water that has been drawn forth. If it is not used then it is of no use. And so, their doing is to consist in the great work of faith.
But for the Christian, how can it be said that our doing brings the benefits of redemption to us? After all, we do not believe in salvation by works, but in salvation by grace alone? So how can our doing bring us salvation? The answer is found again in Q. 89 of the Shorter Catechism, where for the Christian, the Word has the effect of building us up in holiness and comfort, through faith unto salvation. The Word has an edifying effect. It does not make us more saved than we already are – to think this is legalism and diametrically opposed to the teaching of the Bible, but what it does do, is make us more aware, and to bring us more into the experience of, the benefits of salvation. Reading the Bible and putting it into practise makes us more sensible of what it means to be justified by grace, adopted as children of the Living God, and sanctified by the Holy Spirit of Promise. Saved is what we are – that is, to use technical language, our ontological state. But the knowledge and certainty and meaning of our salvation takes a lifetime to fathom – and this is what Reading and Practising the Bible does for us. It doesn’t make us more saved than we already are, but it does give us the assurance and comfort that we were saved in the first place, that we are being saved, and that we will be saved on the last day.
Let’s take a couple of illustrations here. Imagine you meet someone who says that he is married and that he loves his wife, and with some hesitation he points to the corner of the room where an attractive woman is sitting by herself. Yet, when you speak more to him about her, it becomes clear not only that he doesn’t know anything about her but that does he want to know anything about her; and furthermore he never does anything she tells him to. You would to question whether indeed the couple are married at all; you would even begin to question whether the man you’re speaking to knows that pretty girl in the corner, or if he is just pretending he does. Now if we say that we are married to Christ, and that we love him, but at the same time take no interest in the Christ we find in the Scriptures, and after all, that is the primary place we find Christ, and we certainly don’t do what He tells us to, then surely we must question whether we love Him, or know Him at all! After all, didn’t Christ Himself say, ‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments’?
Or to use another illustration taken from marriage – a man and a woman can be legally married, and yet not enjoy the benefits of marriage. The wife may act in a way which denies any love for her husband, living as a single woman, and so, even though they are legally married, neither feel as if they are, nor do they enjoy what benefits there are in the marriage arrangement. However, if both husband and wife work at their marriage, they will be no more married than the couple who don’t work at it, but they will reap the benefits of marriage whereas the first couple won’t. And so, the loving couple make every effort to please each other and to love each other selflessly – and in doing so, they are not merely married in law, but they ‘feel’ married and enjoy being married. That is what happens when a person reads and ‘does’ the Bible – she isn’t only married to Christ, but she also both ‘feels’ married to Him and enjoys the benefits of being married to Him. And so, the first impact of practising the Word in our lives is that it brings salvation to us.
(b) Doing Brings Wisdom – we’ve come a long way since the beginning of our studies on Reading the Bible – we’ve covered vast vistas of knowledge and understanding. But what I want to suggest is Q. 90 of the Shorter Catechism shouldn’t be thought of as a line, but as a circle, and that the importance of putting into practise what we read is that it closes the circle and feeds back into the beginning of the process once again – and, it seems to me at least, that this is what true wisdom is all about. I’ll expand on this, then I’ll illustrate it and then in closing, I’ll give an example.
This point came to me while I was reading the Puritan John Flavel on this subject. He writes of putting the Word into practise, “this serves to reprove our formal and dead hearing the word, and excites us to evidence and exercise more faith, love, and obedience, in hearing it.” What Flavel is saying is that the more we put the Word into practise in our lives, the more we will want to hear the Word. Putting the Word into practise therefore does not merely conclude the hearing process, it takes us back to the beginning of the hearing process. It makes us realise that what we have heard, and done, is true to life. In other words, it convinces us that the Word we have read really is the Word of God and that it is relevant to our lives today. And so, next time we approach the Bible, we will approach it with more diligence, we will prepare more efficiently and pray more earnestly; we will receive it with more faith and more lovingly; we will study it more earnestly; we will make more of an effort to memorise and meditate upon it and we will be determined to put more of into practise. Another way of saying this, is that the more we know and experience Christ through the Scriptures, the more we will want to know and experience Christ through the Scriptures. And so, Q. 90 of the Shorter Catechism is a circle, not a line.
Think for a moment of a man who is camping in the middle of a forest. It is a cold night, and although he has matches, he doesn’t have a fire. That’s because he doesn’t believe that the twigs and branches which litter the forest floor actually burn. Now, supposing he takes a twig and sets light to it, he will find that it actually does burn, and that the flame produces heat and warms him up. Having done that once, he will go and find another twig, and a bigger branch, and build himself a decent fire, and before long, he’ll be warming his hands and cooking his tea in its cheery flames, and he will have forgotten that it is a cold night, and that once he was cold. Doing the small thing, in this man’s case, convinced him of the wisdom of gathering more wood and doing the same thing again. That’s like our reading of the Word. The first time we read and do, its like we are lighting a small fire, but as we see the wisdom of reading and doing, we gradually build a bigger fire, and before long, we begin to feel and enjoy the warmth of knowing God in a clearer and dearer way.
Take as an example of this point the teaching of Psalm 73, where the Psalmist finds himself slipping because he is envying the prosperity of the wicked. But then, as he considers their future state, he begins to realise that he is better off with his God, than they are with their goods. Now imagine that you read and study that Psalm, and you find, in time of stress and pressure, that putting into practise the faith that the Psalmist had helps you to gain perspective and helps you to cope. The result of putting that word into practise, ‘doing’ faith in tough times, will help you to see that that the Bible is relevant to you, and you will want to know more, so that you may apply it in other areas of your life. That is the circle of Reading the Bible and the benefit of putting it into practise in your life.
As your pastor, it is my duty to lead you to green pastures, where you will find good grass to eat and good water to drink. That is my duty, but it is not my duty to chew the grass for you, nor is my responsibility to drink the water for you. I can draw the water from the wells of salvation for you, as I hope I do, but you must drink. Similarly, it is not my responsibility to read the Bible for you, nor to put the Bible into practise in your lives – these are things you must do. It takes me all my time to try and do these things for myself and I cannot and must not practise them for you. My prayer is that these studies on Q. 90 of the Shorter Catechism may have given you the incentive and the know-how to chew and to drink of Christ – so that in whatever circumstance you find yourself in, you may be able to build yourself up and comfort yourself with God’s Word, through faith, and that in doing these things, you would know Christ better. AMEN
– in many ways, there’s not a worse insult you could throw at someone than saying, ‘’. It makes them out to be a hypocrite, one whose words are no more real than a morning fog. Thus far, in our studies in Reading the Bible, I guess you could throw that accusation at us, that we are all talk. We have been using Q. 90 of the Shorter Catechism as a template for understanding why and how we should read the Bible: Q. 90 A. 90 Is this Question of the Shorter Catechism ‘’, which sounds nice, but has no real substance, no real bite, no real practical impact. The answer is no, because the final clause of the answer firmly states that we must put what we have read and learned into practise. It’s no good to be a mere listener, we must also be doers. Tonight, I want to bring our studies on Reading the Bible to a close by looking at putting the Bible into practise, doing the Bible, in our lives. I want to see two things: first, the necessity of doing, and then second, the impact of doing.[A] For this section, I want to turn to James 1:25 – ‘’ James has been talking about the way in which we live our lives, as those who reign in our tongues and keep ourselves from anger, rather, we are to, according to vs. 21, in gentleness receive the implanted word which is able to save your souls. So, according to James, in contrast to immorality stands the reception of the implanted word within us. But then, he goes on to discuss the two different ways in which we can ‘receive’ the word. One, is as a mere listener; the other as an eager listener and faithful doer. The one is what we are not to do; but in the other there is blessing.(a) – Being Jesus’ brother, James had been brought up in a very similar environment to our master. His teaching methods were therefore rather similar. He therefore proceeds to warn against mere listening by using a parable. It tells of a man who goes to look at literally ‘’ (i.e. his natural features) in a mirror, but then, after observing himself, he departs and straightaway forgets what he looks like, or literally, ‘’. This man of course, is a fool; just like we would be if we looked at our face in a mirror and immediately forgot what we looked like. Or to push the illustration further, it would be foolish to observe your face in the mirror first thing in the morning, notice you have a dirty splotch on your cheek, had sleep in your eye and your hair hadn’t been brushed, but fail to do anything about it. To fail to do anything about your dishevelled appearance would both nullify the intent and purpose of the mirror, and so the mirror does you no good. But that is exactly what the man who listens to the Word but fails to do it is like. He sees what he looks like in the mirror of the Bible, he sees that he is a sinner in need of divine grace and wisdom, and yet he forgets what he has read and doesn’t put it into practise. Thus, he nullifies the intent and purpose of the Bible, which is to deal with our sin and bring us to Christ and thus it does him no good. Rabbi Duncan, the first minister of Milton, wrote, “” He continues, “” Thomas Boston writes, “” The folly of mere listening presents us with a challenge – what use are we making of the mirror of God’s Word? Are we using it as it should be used? Are we using it to conform our lives to the image of Jesus Christ and to walk in godliness and Christ likeness?(b) – In contrast to this, James talks of another man, who listens eagerly to the perfect law which gives freedom i.e. the Word and remains, and does not forget, but does. Now there are three things I want to say about the difference between this man and the fool:i. – too often, listening to the word, as we have described it in the last 8 sermons on this topic, has been disparaged. People want to do, and do not merely want to hear. But in order to do, there must first of all be hearing. In order to correctly construct a model, there must be instructions to follow. And the doer, according to James 1, listens to the word in a manner different from that of the mere hearer. This doesn’t come across too well in English translations, but the Greek word for ‘listening’ is different between the two types of person. The verb in vs. 23 and 24 is a word which means ‘to look at’ – at times it can be used for contemplative study, but here it is used to mean almost a glancing squint. But the word used of the doer in vs. 25 is another Greek word, ‘’ – which means to ‘penetratingly absorb’. It’s a fascinating word, used only 4 times in the NT, twice in John 20, to describe how John and then Mary Magdalene stooped down to look into the empty tomb of Jesus, and then in 1 Peter 1:12 to speak of how the angels long to stoop down and look into the things of redemption. The mere ‘listener’ furtively glances at the Bible, doesn’t focus on the message of the text and doesn’t concentrate on the preaching of the word. By contrast, the one intent on not merely listening, but ‘doing’ the Bible will absorb the message, like a sponge absorbs water, or like a steak is marinated in spices before being cooked. Rabbi Duncan writes, “” It was my intention that these 9 studies on Reading the Bible should give you the tools you need to do not mere glancing – they were designed to enhance the quality of your listening, and I hope they have achieved that.ii. – it is not true to say that the man who merely listens does nothing – he does two things according to vs. 24 – he departs (or turns away) and then he forgets. Now neither of these take much effort, indeed, it is the default position of the human heart to turn away from the instruction of God’s Word, and furthermore, the devil and our own sinful hearts do everything they can to pluck the word from our minds, just like the birds plucked the seed from the path in the parable of the sower. By contrast, the one called the doer, does the work – that work talked about in the verses surrounding the parable – the work of bridling the tongue, the work of refraining from anger, the work of laying aside vulgarity and superfluity of evil, the work of receiving the implanted word, the work of being concerned for suffering widows and orphans, the work of keeping onself spotless from the world. Now that’s work – it doesn’t really require any work to do the deeds of the mere listener – to turn away and to forget – but it really does require work to do the things of Christ. John Calvin writes, “” The one who does not do the work, according to vs. 26, deceives himself and his religion is worthless. By contrast, the one who does the work, is no hypocrite and his relationship with God really is worth something. The question jumping out at us from the text is not just about the quality of our listening, but about the quality of our doing? Are we working the Word? Or, are we turning away and forgetting? And if we are doing the latter, surely it indicates to us that we never really believed what the Word told us in the first place! You’ll also notice that for the ‘doing’ one, obedience is not just a one-off occurrence – it’s a continuing, a persisting in doing. That’s what we signed up for and that’s what we must do – the faithful and consistent work of obedience to God’s Word in every situation and at all times.iii. – the man who penetratingly absorbs God’s Word and then proceeds to put it into practise is talked of in vs. 25 as being ‘’ – not ‘’ – as if somehow they earn the blessing of God, but rather, as they do the work of the gospel, they are blessed. Blessedness in the Bible is an expression of God’s satisfaction. Therefore, the blessing and satisfaction of God rests upon the man as he eagerly listens in order to do the will of God. However, the man who hears, but does not do, with such God is not satisfied and He does not bless. If you then, are at all interested in receiving the blessing of God, of hearing on that great and final day, ‘’, do not be a mere listener to the Word, but absorb it and do it, for as John Calvin writes, “”How this church and how the world around needs, people who will not be mere listeners to the Word, but will also be doers thereof. We need to be people who are absorbed and soaked and marinated in the Word, so much so that we ‘sweat’ Scripture, if that were possible, in the way in which we live our lives. We need to be doers, not mere hearers, and so doing is necessary.[B] Having taken our leave of James 1, let’s return now to Question 90 of the Shorter Catechism. SC. Q. 90 A. 90 As I see it, faithful studying and doing of the Word has two positive impacts upon our Christian lives:(a) in James 1:21, we read that the implanted word is able to save us. In our first study of the Shorter Catechism, we looked at how it can be said that Reading the Bible makes effectual our salvation. We saw, by using earlier Catechism answers, that what happens when we read our Bibles, is that God gives to us, the benefits of redemption. In other words, the Bible is like a bucket, which we lower down into the well of redemption, in order to draw for ourselves the cool, clear, life-giving waters of salvation. For the non-Christian, we saw, in the words of Q. 89 of the Shorter Catechism, that the Word has a convicting and a converting effect – in that it shows them their need of Christ, and the way of salvation in Christ. But for such as these, if they will not do what is required of them in Scripture, that is to believe and trust in Christ, then salvation will not be theirs. It is like drawing with the bucket of the Word the water of salvation from the well of redemption, but then pouring out on the ground the water that has been drawn forth. If it is not used then it is of no use. And so, their doing is to consist in the great work of faith.But for the Christian, how can it be said that our doing brings the benefits of redemption to us? After all, we do not believe in salvation by works, but in salvation by grace alone? So how can our doing bring us salvation? The answer is found again in Q. 89 of the Shorter Catechism, where for the Christian, the Word has the effect of building us up in holiness and comfort, through faith unto salvation. The Word has an edifying effect. It does not make us more saved than we already are – to think this is legalism and diametrically opposed to the teaching of the Bible, but what it does do, is make us more aware, and to bring us more into the experience of, the benefits of salvation. Reading the Bible and putting it into practise makes us more sensible of what it means to be justified by grace, adopted as children of the Living God, and sanctified by the Holy Spirit of Promise. Saved is what we are – that is, to use technical language, our ontological state. But the knowledge and certainty and meaning of our salvation takes a lifetime to fathom – and this is what Reading and Practising the Bible does for us. It doesn’t make us more saved than we already are, but it does give us the assurance and comfort that we were saved in the first place, that we are being saved, and that we will be saved on the last day.Let’s take a couple of illustrations here. Imagine you meet someone who says that he is married and that he loves his wife, and with some hesitation he points to the corner of the room where an attractive woman is sitting by herself. Yet, when you speak more to him about her, it becomes clear not only that he doesn’t know anything about her but that does he want to know anything about her; and furthermore he never does anything she tells him to. You would to question whether indeed the couple are married at all; you would even begin to question whether the man you’re speaking to knows that pretty girl in the corner, or if he is just pretending he does. Now if we say that we are married to Christ, and that we love him, but at the same time take no interest in the Christ we find in the Scriptures, and after all, that is the primary place we find Christ, and we certainly don’t do what He tells us to, then surely we must question whether we love Him, or know Him at all! After all, didn’t Christ Himself say, ‘’?Or to use another illustration taken from marriage – a man and a woman can be legally married, and yet not enjoy the benefits of marriage. The wife may act in a way which denies any love for her husband, living as a single woman, and so, even though they are legally married, neither feel as if they are, nor do they enjoy what benefits there are in the marriage arrangement. However, if both husband and wife work at their marriage, they will be no more married than the couple who don’t work at it, but they will reap the benefits of marriage whereas the first couple won’t. And so, the loving couple make every effort to please each other and to love each other selflessly – and in doing so, they are not merely married in law, but they ‘feel’ married and enjoy being married. That is what happens when a person reads and ‘does’ the Bible – she isn’t only married to Christ, but she also both ‘feels’ married to Him and enjoys the benefits of being married to Him. And so, the first impact of practising the Word in our lives is that it brings salvation to us.(b) – we’ve come a long way since the beginning of our studies on Reading the Bible – we’ve covered vast vistas of knowledge and understanding. But what I want to suggest is Q. 90 of the Shorter Catechism shouldn’t be thought of as a line, but as a circle, and that the importance of putting into practise what we read is that it closes the circle and feeds back into the beginning of the process once again – and, it seems to me at least, that this is what true wisdom is all about. I’ll expand on this, then I’ll illustrate it and then in closing, I’ll give an example.This point came to me while I was reading the Puritan John Flavel on this subject. He writes of putting the Word into practise, “” What Flavel is saying is that the more we put the Word into practise in our lives, the more we will want to hear the Word. Putting the Word into practise therefore does not merely conclude the hearing process, it takes us back to the beginning of the hearing process. It makes us realise that what we have heard, and done, is true to life. In other words, it convinces us that the Word we have read really is the Word of God and that it is relevant to our lives today. And so, next time we approach the Bible, we will approach it with more diligence, we will prepare more efficiently and pray more earnestly; we will receive it with more faith and more lovingly; we will study it more earnestly; we will make more of an effort to memorise and meditate upon it and we will be determined to put more of into practise. Another way of saying this, is that the more we know and experience Christ through the Scriptures, the more we will want to know and experience Christ through the Scriptures. And so, Q. 90 of the Shorter Catechism is a circle, not a line.Think for a moment of a man who is camping in the middle of a forest. It is a cold night, and although he has matches, he doesn’t have a fire. That’s because he doesn’t believe that the twigs and branches which litter the forest floor actually burn. Now, supposing he takes a twig and sets light to it, he will find that it actually does burn, and that the flame produces heat and warms him up. Having done that once, he will go and find another twig, and a bigger branch, and build himself a decent fire, and before long, he’ll be warming his hands and cooking his tea in its cheery flames, and he will have forgotten that it is a cold night, and that once he was cold. Doing the small thing, in this man’s case, convinced him of the wisdom of gathering more wood and doing the same thing again. That’s like our reading of the Word. The first time we read and do, its like we are lighting a small fire, but as we see the wisdom of reading and doing, we gradually build a bigger fire, and before long, we begin to feel and enjoy the warmth of knowing God in a clearer and dearer way.Take as an example of this point the teaching of Psalm 73, where the Psalmist finds himself slipping because he is envying the prosperity of the wicked. But then, as he considers their future state, he begins to realise that he is better off with his God, than they are with their goods. Now imagine that you read and study that Psalm, and you find, in time of stress and pressure, that putting into practise the faith that the Psalmist had helps you to gain perspective and helps you to cope. The result of putting that word into practise, ‘doing’ faith in tough times, will help you to see that that the Bible is relevant to you, and you will want to know more, so that you may apply it in other areas of your life. That is the circle of Reading the Bible and the benefit of putting it into practise in your life.As your pastor, it is my duty to lead you to green pastures, where you will find good grass to eat and good water to drink. That is my duty, but it is not my duty to chew the grass for you, nor is my responsibility to drink the water for you. I can draw the water from the wells of salvation for you, as I hope I do, but you must drink. Similarly, it is not my responsibility to read the Bible for you, nor to put the Bible into practise in your lives – these are things you must do. It takes me all my time to try and do these things for myself and I cannot and must not practise them for you. My prayer is that these studies on Q. 90 of the Shorter Catechism may have given you the incentive and the know-how to chew and to drink of Christ – so that in whatever circumstance you find yourself in, you may be able to build yourself up and comfort yourself with God’s Word, through faith, and that in doing these things, you would know Christ better. AMEN