1. See the _use made of Scripture in the time of inspiration_. Look at the well known case of the Bereans, Acts xvii. 11: they brought Paul himself to the test of Scripture; a set of laymen went daily to their Bibles to see if the man of God himself were true, and for this, which would be mortal sin in the Church of Rome, they were actually commended by the Holy Ghost, for a “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” The Berean laymen, therefore, were right, when they studied their Bible as the rule of faith. Take again the case of Timothy. Timothy, we know, was a remarkable man. St. Paul loved him as his own child, and always spoke of him as his son. He was to Paul what John was to Christ. The grace in his heart was of early growth; he was one of those chosen few, who were believers from their youth. But mark his early history. He lived at Lystra, a heathen city: his father was a heathen, yet Timothy knew his Bible well: he had learned it of his mother, as she too from hers. Here then we have a little band of Bible students in the midst of a heathen city: it consisted of two women and one little boy. And yet we are to be told that the bible does not speak plainly to common people, that it cannot be understood until the church interpret. Who interpreted to Timothy? Who to Eunice? Who to Lois?
2. Or refer to the _purpose for which the book was written_. The Lord said to Habakkuk, { 12a} “Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.” It was his intention, therefore, that the prophecy should be understood. Of the whole Old Testament, St. Paul says, “Whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our learning, that we” (i.e. believers generally) “might have hope.” Rom. xv. 4. They were intended therefore for the learning and comfort of the church. St. John’s gospel was written “that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through his name.” John xx. 31. And his epistle was addressed to those that believe on the Son of God; “that ye might know that ye have eternal life, and that ye might believe on the name of the Son of God,” John v. 13. What can be plainer than that God designed the Bible for the church at large, for the comfort and instruction of the whole body of his believing people?