The Climax-Madisonian. (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.) 1914-1917, 1915-04-07

hours; Mark, one hour and a quarter;
Luke, two hours and a quarter; John,
one hour and three-quarters; Acts, two
hours and a quarter. Without this
continual reading it 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 1t 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 Z ends
with the words: And every man unto
his own house," chapter 81 reads:
Jesus went unto the mount of Oh
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 it 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, if 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 suE-
gested reveals the fact that II has a
threefold division, each introduced by
the words, From that time Jesus be-
gan" Reading up to 4:17 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:+16; (2) Jesus period of
evangelistic effort, 4:17-16:21; (3) Je-
sus' period of passion, 16:21-2S:2O;
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
the continuous reading Of the book un-
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; it Is a su-
! pernatural work. The Spirit of God
| inspired its writer's. The same power
must illumine its readers if they are
to understand its meaning We ought
! never to attempt the reading of Gods
Word without the prayer of David in
our hearts: open thou mine eyes,
that 1 may behold wondrous things out
of thy law" (See 1 Cor. 2:9-16; lisa.
29: 10-12.)
". 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
" 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?
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, 1:1;" and on Sheet
two write ''the saints which are at
Ephesus, and the faithful in Christ
Jesus, Ill"
Read through the epistle with these
!, questions in mind, and whenever an
answer occurs write it down on tts
respective sheet, giving the words OF
the text and the exact reference.