Pleasure & Profit in Bible StudyMoody, Dwight Lyman
Religion
Pleasure & Profit in Bible Study
Moody, Dwight Lyman
Bible -- Study and teaching
Both men were blind, but they were not cured alike. A great many men are
kept out of the kingdom of God because they are looking for somebody
else's experience--the experience their grandmother had, their aunt, or
some one in the family.
ONE INQUIRER AT A TIME.
Then it is very important to deal with one at a time. A doctor doesn't
give cod-liver oil for all complaints. "No," he says, "I must seek what
each one wants." He looks at the tongue, and inquires into the symptoms.
One may have ague, another typhoid fever, and another may have
consumption. What a man wants is to be able to read his Bible, and to
read human nature, too.
Those do best who do not run from one person in an inquiry-meeting to
another, offering words of encouragement everywhere. They would do
better by going to but one or two of an afternoon or evening. We are
building for eternity, and can take time. The work will not then be
superficial.
Try first to win the person's confidence, and then your words will have
more weight. Use great tact in approaching the subject.
It will be a great help to divide persons into classes as much as
possible, and bring certain passages of Scripture to bear upon these
classes. It is unwise, however, to use verses that you have seen in
books until you are perfectly clear in your own mind of their meaning
and application. Avail yourself by all means of suggestions from outside
sources, but as David could not fight in Saul's armor, so you possibly
may not be able to make good use of texts and passages which have proved
powerful in the hands of another. The best way is to make your own
classification, and select suitable texts, which experience will lead
you to adopt or change, according to circumstances. Make yourself
familiar with a few passages, rather than have a hazy and incomplete
idea of a large number.
The following classification may be found helpful:--
1. Believers who lack assurance; who are in darkness because they have
sinned; who neglect prayer, Bible study, and other means of grace; who
are in darkness because of an unforgiving spirit; who are timid or
ashamed to confess Christ openly; who are not engaged in active work for
the Master; who lack strength to resist temptation and to stand fast in
time of trial; who are not growing in grace.
2. Believers who have backslidden.
3. Those who are deeply convicted of sin, and are seeking salvation.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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