How blessed are the hopes which the Bible holds out to the believer in Christ 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 in 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, these are the future prospects of every true Christian. They are all written in the book,--in the book which is all true. How striking is the light which 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. It is the true "discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." (Heb. iv. 12.) How deep is the wisdom contained in the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes! I can well understand an old divine saying, "Give me a candle and a Bible, and shut me up in a dark dungeon, and I will tell you all that the whole world is doing." All these are things which men could find nowhere except in the Bible. We have probably not the least idea how little we should know about these things if we had not the Bible. We hardly know the value of the air we breathe, and the sun which shines on us, because we have never known what it is to be without them. We do not value the truths on which I have been just now dwelling, because we do not realize the darkness of men to whom these truths have not been revealed. Surely no tongue can fully tell the value of the treasures this one volume contains. Well might old John Newton say that some books were _copper_ books in his estimation, some were _silver_, and some few were _gold_;--but the Bible alone was like a book all made up of _bank notes_. This is the Book about which I address the reader of this paper this day. Surely it is no light matter _what you are doing with the Bible_. It is no light matter in what way you are using this treasure. I charge you, I summon you to give an honest answer to my question,--What art thou doing with the Bible?--Dost thou read it?--HOW READEST THOU? IV. In the fourth place, _no book in existence has produced such wonderful effects on mankind at large as the Bible_. (_a_) This is the Book whose doctrines turned the world upside down in the days of the Apostles.