By John Thiel, mp3

Study with Care

Jesus our Lord and Saviour is here with us by His Holy Spirit and He wants us to receive this water of life as in the hymn ‘I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say.’ This is what the theme of our divine service is today, drinking at the fountain of life. Stoop down and drink and live.

In my experience over the years, I have found that the real drinking and eating is missed by many a believer in the Bible. The real drinking yes, there are a lot of truths, a lot of information gained in the reading of the Word, but the drinking at the fountain of life seems to evade many, many Christians in these last days.

The Actual Drinking of the Word

We need to discover this spiritual exercise in living reality.

The life of Christ that gives life to the world is in His word. It was by His word that Jesus healed disease and cast out demons; by His word He stilled the sea, and raised the dead; and the people bore witness that His word was with power. He spoke the word of God, as He had spoken through all the prophets and teachers of the Old Testament. The whole Bible is a manifestation of Christ, and the Saviour desired to fix the faith of His followers on the word. When His visible presence should be withdrawn, the word must be their source of power. Like their Master, they were to live “by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4. {DA 390.3}

As our physical life is sustained by food, so our spiritual life is sustained by the word of God. And every soul is to receive life from God’s word for himself. As we must eat for ourselves in order to receive nourishment, so we must receive the word for ourselves. We are not to obtain it merely through the medium of another’s mind. We should carefully study the Bible, {DA 390.4}

How are we to study the Bible? We are to study carefully.

…asking God for the aid of the Holy Spirit, that we may understand His word Ibid

Then come these very practical words.

We should take one verse, and concentrate the mind on the task of ascertaining the thought which God has put in that verse for us. We should dwell upon the thought until it becomes our own, and we know “what saith the Lord.” Ibid

Here is the skilful careful method by which we are to drink at the fountain of life. Nobody can drink for me to quench my thirst and neither can I drink for you for you to quench your thirst. All I can do is to point you to as John the Baptist did, the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world. What the people do with that is how they are benefited. Here we have the beautiful direction by which we can drink deeply. We want to drink at the fountain that we are here opening up to our mind’s eye. It is cited beautifully in the book Steps to Christ:

But there is but little benefit derived from a hasty reading of the Scriptures. One may read the whole Bible through and yet fail to see its beauty or comprehend its deep and hidden meaning. One passage studied until its significance is clear to the mind and its relation to the plan of salvation is evident, is of more value than the perusal of many chapters with no definite purpose in view and no positive instruction gained. Keep your Bible with you. As you have opportunity, read it; fix the texts in your memory. Even while you are walking the streets you may read a passage and meditate upon it, thus fixing it in the mind. {SC 90.2}

In Desire of Ages we just went into the small detail. Here we are seeing it enlarged for us. We are to do this frequently even when we are in a state of waiting to use that time to enjoy a repast of reading a thought, a passage, and fixing it in the mind.

We cannot obtain wisdom without earnest attention and prayerful study. {SC 90.3}

If I am going to drink and eat of the bread of life, I need earnest attention and prayerful study.

Some portions of Scripture are indeed too plain to be misunderstood, but there are others whose meaning does not lie on the surface to be seen at a glance. Scripture must be compared with scripture. There must be careful research and prayerful reflection. And such study will be richly repaid. As the miner discovers veins of precious metal concealed beneath the surface of the earth, so will he who perseveringly searches the word of God as for hid treasure find truths of the greatest value, which are concealed from the view of the careless seeker. Ibid

Now come those beautiful, relevant words:

The words of inspiration, pondered in the heart, will be as streams flowing from the fountain of life. Ibid

We want to drink deeply at the fountain of life. The words of inspiration, pondered in the heart will be that. It will be a stream flowing from the fountain of life. Here we see that there is a deliberate effort to be exercised. I am thirsty for spiritual water of life; it’s not just going to fall into my lap. We have it illustrated in the children of Israel story. They were thirsty weren’t they? They were wandering around the desert crying out, ‘water Lord.’ The rock was struck and then water came. Many times people are going through this.

The mere reading of the Word will not accomplish the result designed of heaven; {RH, June 11, 1908 par. 13}

There is a design of heaven which we need to gain. It is not the mere reading of the Word.

…it must be studied and cherished in the heart. The knowledge of God is not gained without mental effort. We should diligently study the Bible, asking God for the aid of the Holy Spirit, that we may understand his Word. Ibid

What must we do? We must diligently study; take that time and as you read, don’t just consider the words – that would be shallow. No, cherish and concentrate the mind to discover the thoughts.

An Important Point

Grasp the thought in the Scripture in the text. Many people get themselves confused with words and thoughts in the Word of God. I want to read something very important when it comes to the reading and trying to drink at the water of life.

Human minds vary. {1SM 19.1}

How true it is; we have different varying minds. We don’t understand what the other person is saying.

The minds of different education and thought receive different impressions of the same words, and it is difficult for one mind to give to one of a different temperament, education, and habits of thought by language exactly the same idea as that which is clear and distinct in his own mind. Ibid

This is one of the problems of communication between human beings because the words that are used will not always communicate the thoughts that are intended to the person who is receiving them.

Yet to honest men, right-minded men, he can be so simple and plain as to convey his meaning for all practical purposes. If the man he communicates with is not honest and will not want to see and understand the truth, he will turn his words and language in everything to suit his own purposes. He will misconstrue his words, play upon his imagination, wrest them from their true meaning, and then entrench himself in unbelief, claiming that the sentiments are all wrong. {1SM 19.1}

This is the plight that we meet that the receiver of the words receives them differently to the way that they were meant because his temperament, education, and habits of thought by language, are different to others but honest men listen carefully for the intent of a person’s statements and will not misconstrue the words viewed from their perspective. They will seek to understand what that person is saying.

The Bible is not given to us in grand superhuman language. Jesus, in order to reach man where he is, took humanity. The Bible must be given in the language of men. Everything that is human is imperfect. Different meanings are expressed by the same word; there is not one word for each distinct idea. The Bible was given for practical purposes. {1SM 20.2}

We are looking not for words we can discuss and argue over, we are looking for the practical purpose and thoughts behind those words. But we have a difficulty to deal with. Namely that we must make sure we don’t read those words and put meanings upon them that are not intended.

The stamps of minds are different. All do not understand expressions and statements alike. Some understand the statements of the Scriptures to suit their own particular minds and cases. Prepossessions, prejudices, and passions have a strong influence to darken the understanding and confuse the mind even in reading the words of Holy Writ. {1SM 20.3}

There is much reading of the Bible that is actually dangerous because our prepossessions, prejudices, and passions have a strong influence to darken the understanding and confuse the mind even in reading the words of Holy Writ.

The Bible is written by inspired men, but it is not God’s mode of thought and expression. {1SM 21.1}

That’s a shock. As you read the Bible, the Bible is written by inspired men, but it is not God’s mode of thought and expression.

It is that of humanity. God, as a writer, is not represented. Men will often say such an expression is not like God. But God has not put Himself in words, in logic, in rhetoric, on trial in the Bible. The writers of the Bible were God’s penmen, not His pen. Look at the different writers. {1SM 21.1}

It is not the words of the Bible that are inspired, but the men that were inspired. Inspiration acts not on the man’s words or his expressions but on the man himself, who, under the influence of the Holy Ghost, is imbued with thoughts. But the words receive the impress of the individual mind. The divine mind is diffused. The divine mind and will is combined with the human mind and will; thus the utterances of the man are the word of God.– Manuscript 24, 1886 (written in Europe in 1886). {1SM 21.2}

Can you get your head around that? The man who was inspired by God is writing down what he has received from God. It is his words, the man’s words trying to communicate the thoughts that were inspired into him. Then you and I come and we read those words and from our human background with our particular tempers and character defects, we will be in danger of misconstruing those words. We need personally the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to read aright.

That is exactly the picture of the ten virgins. They all had their lamps, that was the word of God, the Bible, but only the five wise had the oil in their vessels. When they had their lamps and their lamps went out because of the circumstances of life that caused the lamp to go out, they didn’t have the oil of the Holy Spirit to be able to read the Bible aright and as a consequence they missed out.

This is an important understanding by which we can understand our process of carefully drinking the word of life from the Bible. We are to take a sentence, a text, and ascertain the thought that was behind the words. We need the Holy Spirit to do that as we are instructed. In our exercise we are to read in order to captivate the thoughts behind the words. This is why it says in Colossians don’t get involved with arguments over philosophy and vain deceit over words. This is what the theologians do; they argue over what words mean, they get themselves all confused in the reading of the Bible because the thought in the Scripture is not contained in one word. It is the use of the words collectively in the effort to try and communicate the word of inspiration. For this we need the help of the Holy Spirit.

Quenching Your Thirst

We want to exercise the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in appreciating what those words lead us to drink. The Psalmist is a poetic person here, he makes a poetic description:

Psalm
42:1 As the hart panteth after the water brooks,

He puts a picture in our mind here. Look at that beautiful deer. It’s thirsty, it’s panting, it’s hot. It looks for somewhere to drink. That picture he now communicates:

Psalm 42:1 …so panteth my soul after thee, O God. 2 My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?

What is the psalmist thirsting for? Like the hart and deer thirsting for water, he is thirsting for God. Thirsting for God? Can you try to understand what he is saying? What am I thirsting for in reality? As we read scriptures, we are to ask these questions so we can get the answers. What in reality am I thirsting for? Thirsting for God? Can you drink God? What does it mean? Jesus made mention of this and this is where our knowledge of Scripture is very important that we actually do what the Bible says.

You are thinking about this text and now you have a question. How are you going to find an answer to that question from God? Jesus himself makes an allusion to this. Here you can see how the subject of thirst from the water of life is connective.

John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

What is the psalmist thirsting for? He is thirsting for God, he is thirsting for life which comes from God and Jesus said, this is life eternal, that they might know God. That you might know Jesus Christ. The knowledge of God. My soul thirsts for you God to get to know you and appreciate you as a person O God. What is this knowledge of God? It is life eternal.

Are there scriptures that deal with knowledge? What I must do with knowledge?

Proverbs 2:1 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; 2 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, [and] apply thine heart to understanding; 3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, [and] liftest up thy voice for understanding; 4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as [for] hid treasures; 5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.

My soul thirsts for God. It is the thirsting of who God and what God is and how God can satisfy my longing heart. We are told by Jesus this is life eternal for you to drink of this fountain of life to know God.

If thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee (if) thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, [and] apply thine heart to understanding.

In other words, if you will apply yourself diligently to the reading of the Word, if you will cry as a thirsty hart crying for the water brooks, if you will cry after knowledge and lift up your voice for understanding, if you will seek for her like silver and gold or like that thirsty soul looking for water, then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.

A thought expressed triggers another need which triggers another answer which triggers another beautiful direction by which I will now be able to drink of God; the knowledge of God. I must reach for that knowledge of God. The Apostle Peter who had been drinking at the fountainhead of Jesus Christ says some wonderful words:

2 Peter 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, 3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that [pertain] unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Here are some words which require us to connect with the knowledge of God that we need and also of Jesus Christ which is now enlarged before our mind’s eye. Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord.

Grace

As you get to know God, you will discover God’s grace. What is God’s grace? Can you think of a Bible text that deals with God’s grace?

What I am sharing with you, pursue it in your own research. Go to the concordance on grace and there you will see how the knowledge of God connects us with this grace. What does grace do?

Titus 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

What does the grace of God do? It teaches us. What does it teach us? It teaches us of the wonderful gift of Jesus Christ by which we will deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world. There is a vast field for you to research. This is important when he says that by the knowledge of God grace and peace be multiplied to us. In other words, grace is multiplied as you keep on going through the knowledge of God in His Word. If you come to the other part, grace and peace, peace, that is to be multiplied by the knowledge of God. When you drink of this grace and you drink of this peace, what scripture comes to you, in regards to peace?

Psalm 119:165 Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.

It’s to do with a knowledge of God.

2 Peter 1:3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that [pertain] unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

Jesus Christ; through the knowledge of Him, what is given us? All things. How is the knowledge of Jesus going to give me all things? Straight away there comes the scripture that says in Romans chapter 8 the knowledge of Jesus as you study Him in the Word communicates the fact that in Jesus Christ all heaven is contained the divine nature.

Romans 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

His divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of Jesus Christ. It is a thirsting after the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ that is going to unveil and enlarge to us all the rich blessings due to us. I am going to be drinking of all those rich blessings. Verse four is another puzzle

1 Peter 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Whereby by this knowledge of receiving everything according to Romans chapter 8, receiving all through Christ:

Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. What may be our pleasure through the knowledge of Jesus imparting everything to us from heaven? There are precious promises there; what will those precious promises do? They will make us to become partakers of the divine nature, through the knowledge of Christ, and of God.

That is why Jesus said:

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

As you do that, you will be overwhelmed with the deep thoughts, this is mine, I have eternal life if I am drinking deeply of all this material.

We will drink of just one promise by which we may know the reception of the divine nature inside of us as we open our mind to the meditation of each beautiful thought that is contained here. In this Scripture is contained a most precious promise, which combines all that we have been looking at so far. Here is the beautiful, direct reference to thirsting. My soul thirsts after God; after the knowledge of God and Jesus Christ so that as I thirst for it, He shows Himself to satisfy my longing heart, He says:

Isaiah 55:1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

We are told to come, and drink.

Isaiah 55:2 Wherefore do ye spend money for [that which is] not bread? and your labour for [that which] satisfieth not? …

And now he makes a point of it. What are we to do with the drinking of the Word?

Isaiah 55:2…hearken diligently unto me…

Be diligent in your research.

Isaiah 55:2…and eat ye [that which is] good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

If you are not actually constantly eating and drinking of the bread of life, when you don’t eat constantly as you need, you only eat so much and then you become anorexic. So many Christians are anorexic because they haven’t been regularly eating. Let your soul delight itself in fatness, if you will come and pursue this.

Isaiah 55:3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live;

Now comes a very important statement, here is the promise.

Isaiah 55:3 …and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, [even] the sure mercies of David.

Here is a promise, is that right? It’s a promise that I am going to make an everlasting covenant with you if you will come and drink and eat; partake of my Word, and come to know me. As you come to know me, you will find the everlasting covenant. Here is the promise. By these precious promises you will become a partaker of the divine nature. What then are we to pursue according to this promise? I will make an everlasting covenant. What is that? What is this promise of this everlasting covenant which is going to produce that divine nature in me? Is there a scripture that you can think of that deals with the everlasting covenant? Here is this amazing promise by which you may be partaker of the divine nature. It is in relation to the covenant that was made before with regards to the law with the Israelites which covenant they broke but God said, I am going to make a new covenant, an everlasting one.

Jeremiah 31:33 But this [shall be] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

The Sure Mercies of David

Here is a profound promise by which the divine nature can be in us; it actually spells it out that they shall teach no more every man his neighbour because by this covenant they will know the Lord, deep inside. They will know Him by this covenant.

We now come to the research of God’s Word by which if I will now continue drinking and searching for that beautiful water of life through the study and contemplating of each particular thought, the thought that sticks in my mind now is the covenant. How is this covenant going to bring the law of God into my heart? God says, I’m going to write it in your heart. Please do. What are you going to do? Come to the knowledge, come to the knowledge of what is written. There is a knowledge in His word that deals with that particular point of the covenant. There is a covenant that is to be made and there is according to Malachi 3:1, an interesting statement.

Malachi 3:1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek,

Do you remember, thirsting after the Lord God?

Malachi 3:1… and the Lord whom you seek shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.

Messenger of the covenant; who is this? From the knowledge we have already from Scripture, there was the messenger that prepared the way for the other one; that’s John the Baptist. We know that. The Lord whom you seek shall suddenly come to his temple, what is He; what is Jesus who comes whom John the Baptist prepared everybody for? He is the messenger of the covenant or the angel of the covenant because a messenger means angel/angelos. Jesus is the messenger of the covenant. He is the one by whom God has said, I am going to write the law in your heart, and you will all know me. You’re going to be receiving the divine nature inside of you by the messenger of the covenant. This covenant of putting the law in our hearts is beautifully chronicled. The Word of God is going to do it if I will cherish it and open my heart to all these beautiful words.

2 Corinthians 3:3 [Forasmuch as ye are] manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart.

Isn’t this exactly what the covenant was about by which we become epistles of Christ? Christ ministered inside of us is the source by which the law is to be written in the heart. Christ. Here it is in all its beauty; the messenger of the covenant. It’s the one that the Father sent and through the knowledge of Jesus Christ by reading these scriptures and opening our minds to all the different thoughts that are contained in each text, here is the picture that develops.

2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to [give] the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

Through the reading of the Word my mind picks up the thoughts that are contained in each Scripture. As I make them my own and meditate upon them in the process which I have just shared with you, the picture of the ingredient of the divine nature being drunk deeply into the soul opens up this vast and powerful assurance that we become the sons of God. That is because Christ the divine nature, through the receiving of the Word in the heart which we cherish as we meditate on these things, will become imbedded in the heart. It is the light out of the darkness; it is the light of the knowledge of the glory of God of the character of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

What is Jesus saying to the people of Laodicea?

Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

I will come in. This is the profound yearning of God and Jesus for us. I want you to know about this, I want you to know the Scriptures; be diligent and search them. As you search through those Scriptures, just as we have done, you will actually be drinking of the water of life. As we drink it and we pay attention to it taking it in personally, we are learning that our thirst can only be quenched through this exercise that we have been engaging in. As we do that, we will find precious internal assurance the divine nature is implanted within.

Through this process as we have just seen it unfolding before us, Isaiah 55:10 – 13 comes profoundly into focus.

Isaiah 55:8 For my thoughts [are] not your thoughts, neither [are] your ways my ways, saith the LORD

We need to discover those thoughts. As we have been doing that, it’s been unfolding to us and now he says, my word, God’s word is going to achieve its ends as you occupy and I occupy my mind with it.

Isaiah 55:10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: 11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper [in the thing] whereto I sent it.

What was heaven’s purpose? Heaven’s purpose was to cause in us the living realities if we will carefully study.

Isaiah 55:12 For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap [their] hands. 13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign [that] shall not be cut off.

Here is a precious privilege. As we receive the Word and it begins to germinate and multiply in my heart by doing what I have been told to do, to think carefully about each thought and make it my own, it leads me to the next thought and I make that my own. Then God’s thoughts that were not my thoughts are being developed in me and God’s thoughts are my thoughts. As that happens and you start launching out from there, lo and behold, what will happen? You will be surrounded by joy. Everything around you will start speaking to you. The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing. Oh, how true this is! It has been my experience. The Lord actually is in those nature principles around me and everything is uplifting itself before my mind’s eye. All the trees of the field shall clap [their] hands. Then comes that beautiful statement that we read about in the desert, the waters will flow. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree : and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign [that] shall not be cut off. We who in heart have been a dearth wilderness, will become a living, vibrant, countryside within.

I have just exercised your mind in this; this is precisely what we are instructed to do:

How to exercise faith should be made very plain. {Ed 253.3}

I have just passed you through the exercise of faith. Is it plain?

To every promise of God there are conditions. If we are willing to do His will, all His strength is ours. Whatever gift He promises, is in the promise itself. Ibid

As I take the gift, what will I have? Follow carefully:

“The seed is the word of God.” Luke 8:11. As surely as the oak is in the acorn, so surely is the gift of God in His promise. If we receive the promise, we have the gift. Ibid}

If we receive the promise, we have the gift. As I receive the Word and I make it my own in this method, by reading that and acting on it, it becomes mine and inside the Word is the gift itself.

Faith that enables us to receive God’s gifts is itself a gift, of which some measure is imparted to every human being. {Ed 253.4}

Every human being has a measure of faith. All you need, Jesus said, is a measure of faith the size of a mustard seed, and you can do great things. Everyone has got it.

It grows as exercised in appropriating the word of God. Ibid

That’s what we were talking about in the beginning. Appropriating means to take a statement, meditate upon the thought; ascertain the thought, then make it your own. Your faith will grow as you exercise this. Don’t let your faith be anorexic; exercise it, in appropriating the word.

In order to strengthen faith, we must often bring it in contact with the word. Ibid

In the study of the Bible the student should be led to see the power of God’s word. In the creation, “He spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.” He “calleth those things which be not as though they were” (Psalm 33:9; Romans 4:17); for when He calls them, they are. {Ed 254.1}

All God wants us to do is to take those words that are productive, as He said there in Isaiah 55; it will not come back to me empty. You will become alive with it.

In conclusion, the life from God is in His word, the water of life. Take in His word by diligent reading and experience His life within.

The great and essential knowledge is the knowledge of God and His Word. {AG 303.2}

There should be a daily increasing of spiritual understanding; and the Christian will grow in grace, just in proportion as he depends upon and appreciates the teaching of the Word of God, and habituates himself to meditate upon divine things. Ibid

It has to become a habit. That is why Sr White says as you’re walking in the street take your Bible, meditate, habituate yourself, and your faith will grow. The great essential knowledge of the God will quench your thirst.

In giving us the privilege of studying His Word, the Lord has set before us a rich banquet. Many are the benefits derived from feasting on His Word, which is represented by Him as His flesh and blood, His spirit and life. By partaking of this Word Ibid

As we partake of it, what does it do?

…our spiritual strength is increased; we grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth. Habits of self-control are formed and strengthened. Ibid

Now brace yourself.

The infirmities of childhood–fretfulness, willfulness, selfishness, hasty words, passionate acts –disappear, and in their place are developed the graces of Christian manhood and womanhood. Ibid

I couldn’t help but smile at those words, the infirmities of childhood, how many of us can remember the childhood upbringing that has created terrible infirmities within us? The childhood wilfulness that has been stirred by wrong treatment, the wilfulness, the selfishness, the fretfulness, the hasty words, the passionate acts; don’t they all manifest themselves in us? But as we engage in this kind of Bible reading which we all need to do to eat and drink for ourselves, these things will disappear because we are partaking of the word, our spiritual strength is increased. We grow in the knowledge and in their place are developed the graces of Christian manhood and womanhood. It is a process of development while the other is dropping off.

We have wonderful answers. As we have listened to God’s word, as we have taken hold of this in our exercise and we say, right, then if this is the answer by which I am going to find eternal life, if this is the method by which I am going to be changed from my sinful self to those perfect Christian principles in my life and the glory of God, then something has to take place in my decision making here. That is what I am going to do. That is where I am going to centre my whole occupation.

Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;

All the other things that we are occupied with will be taken care of because as I am doing my work faithfully, the Lord will do His work for me as I am working and dwelling with Him. Let us go to and do what we have been guided into understanding here. Then we will surely reap the reward of the promise that was in the word. It will be reaping eternal life and Jeremiah 31:34 becomes your personal reality. As we surrender ourselves to the activity that has been introduced to our minds through these messages, look what will take place. If it hasn’t taken place, get hold of it; it will take place.

Jeremiah 31:34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

The day will come when you will turn to me and say, look what I have found and I will say, that is beautiful; now my soul is fed because you have the answers for yourself. You will no longer need any man to teach you because you have engaged in what the teacher of righteousness according to righteousness has implanted in our life. May God grant us this that we all may be part of that company that will stand at the end being able to survive through the most perplexing horror that is going to be met, because we know the Lord ourselves.

Amen.