The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1915-01-29

l uOui CdCu, dAo
the historic II
sss%# books as follows:
Matt ew, two
hours; Mark. one hour and quarter;
Luke, two hours and quarter; John.
one hour and three-quarters; Acts, two
hours and quarter. Without this
continual reading 1t Is impossible to
get the general thought Of the book
you are studying.
In this general reading through Of
the book your purpose is not to ana.
lyze, nor is it even to get an outline,
but to get an Impression; therefore,
pay no attention to chapter marks.
One Is sometimes hindered in Bible
study by stopping at the end Of a
chapter. For instance, John ends
with the words: "And every man unto
his own house," chapter 81 reads:
Jesus went unto the mount of o.
ives" Now. suppose we end with the
first clause, have we not stopped in
the midst of beautiful thought? The
thought is this: That while every man
had his own home to which to go, that
while the foxes had holes and the
birds Of the air had nests, yet Jesus
had no place to call his own, so he
went to the mount Of Olives. To obvi.
ate the difficulty Of which we are
speaking 1t is well to read the Revised
Version.
II. Read the book over and over
again. In the second reading Of the
book you will see things that you did
not see clearly, II at all, in the first
reading. What at first sight was dim
and misty WILL, in the third or fourth
reading, begin to assume clear and
definite outline.
A careful and repeated reading of
the gospel of Matthew, as here sug.
gested reveals the fact that it has a
threefold division, each introduced by
the words, From that time Jesus be-
gam" Reading up to AIT we come
to point which marks the first divi-
sion from the second: From that
time Jesus began to preach" These
words are an indication Of the outline
of the book: % Jesus period Of prep
aration, 1:4-16; (2) Jesus period of
evangelistic effort, 4:17-16:21; (3) Je-
sus' period of passion, 16:21-2S:20;
indicated by the words, From that
time forth began Jesus to show unto
his disciples, how that he must
suffer-" This brief outline is sufficient
to illustrate the great advantage Of
no 80
der study.
III. Read the book prayerfully. Re-
member that the Bible Is in a very
real sense no ordinary book. 1t is an
extraordinary production; 1t is a SUI
pernatural work. The Spirit of God
inspired its writer's. The same power
must illumine its readers If they are
to understand it's meaning. We ought
never to attempt the reading Of Gods
Word without the prayer Of David in
our hearts: open thou mine eyes,
that may behold wondrous things out
of thy law" (See Cor. 2:9-16: lisa.
20: 10-12.)
w. Read the Book without the use
of any helps. This does not mean that
we are to despise or lightly esteem all
that God has said to the race through
godly men. But we must allow the
Bible to speak for itself. II we read
more of the Bible and less of the hui
man criticism and even suggestion
that has been allowed to throw its
shadow over the pages Of Scripture,
we shall come to deeper and moro
satisfactory understanding of the mind,
will and purpose of God as revealed
In his written revelation.
v. Suggestions for the study Of the
Epistle to the Ephesians:
1. Begin by reading the epistle
through three times at one sitting,
making no special effort to do any
thing more than catch the authors
spirit and the drift of his argument
Read now for general impression only.
2. Read the book through the fourth
time carefully and thoughtfully for the
purpose of finding out and classifying
questions of introduction, such as,
Who wrote the book? Why was it
written? What was the character of
the people to whom it was written?
When was 1t written?
Have by your side as many sheets
of paper as there are questions of in
PRODUCTION. Write headline on each
sheet, viz: On sheet one-The author;
who wrote the book? Sheet two-The
persons addressed to whom written?
Sheet three-When written? Sheet
four-Why written?
Now begin to read the text care
fully, prayerfully and thoughtfully.
Chapter 1, verse 1, gives US two points
the author of the book and the per.
sons addressed. Now write down on
Sheet one, Paul, ILL.," and on Sheet
two write "the saints which are at
Ephesus, and the faithful in Christ
Jesus, Ii" Reading on farther you
find something else to writS on sheet
two: The persons addressed were
"Gentiles, ell; 81, 6, 8; 4:17;" "for-
merly living in lust. 20, 3; formerly
in darkness, AIS; SIS"
Read through the epistle with these
questions in mind, and whenever an
answer occurs write it down on it's
respective sheet. giving the words Of
the text and the exact reference.