Acts 18:23-19:7 And he departed there, and entered into a certain man's house, named Justus, one that worshipped God… 1. It is by being taught that, men acquire knowledge of and competency for anything. All Christians need to be taught (Romans 16:16), and it is impossible for any to begin too early (2 Timothy 3:15), and none are too old. Apollos, although mighty in the Scriptures, did not feel himself above this necessity. 2. Religion develops the power to learn, and produces the spirit most favourable to learning — humility. 3. The things which Christians are to learn are the sublimest and most important (Acts 20:30; 2 Timothy 3:17). Note — I. WHAT THE BIBLE IS TO MEN IN GENERAL. 1. It throws light on Nature. The materialist cannot find God in His own creation; the natural theologian can only find traces of Him; the Bible student is taught to find Him everywhere. 2. It reveals God's plan of salvation (2 Timothy 2:10; Hebrews 8:5). 3. It contains the standard of true morality. A well-made clock may be expected to keep Correct time; but owing to circumstances few clocks are always right. It is well, therefore, to have a public clock in every city which shall serve as a positive standard for all the other clocks of the place — better still to have at Greenwich one that is so for the whole country. Man is a moral clock whose original construction was perfect, but whose moral order is now sadly deranged (Ecclesiastes 7:29; Romans 3:23); but God has given us a standard whereby the right can be ascertained and the wrong ones rectified, in the Bible. 4. It is the rule whereby the destiny of every man shall be determined at the final judgment (Acts 17:31; John 12:48). For these reasons, therefore, man, as man, needs Bible teaching. II. THE PARTICULAR RELATION OF THE BIBLE TO THE CHURCHES. 1. It is their school book. The Churches are so many schools in which Christ teaches, and He will permit of no other text book but this. 2. It is their legal code. When a man becomes a citizen of another country, it is important that he should become acquainted with the laws of that country, lest he should unwittingly break them. So when a man comes out of the world into the kingdom of God it is necessary for him to master the laws by which that kingdom is governed (Isaiah 8:20). 3. It is the means of their sanctification (John 17:17; Ephesians 5:25, 26). 4. It is their fountain of comfort (Psalm 119:50; Romans 15:4). 5. It is their defensive and aggressive weapon. Some weapons are defensive only, but a sword is both (Ephesians 6:17; Matthew 4:3-11). 6. They are its custodians, as the Jewish Church was of the Old Testament. 7. They are the instruments by which its light is to shine on the world (Philippians 2:15, 16); but it must be in them first (Galatians 3:16); otherwise they are lamps without oil. 8. They are to teach it to the world (Matthew 28:19, 20). 9. Through it they are to convert the world (Mark 16:15; 2 Timothy 4:2). 10. It is the means of their growth — (1) In numbers (Acts 6:7); (2) In spirituality (1 Peter 2:1, 2). (R. Hughes.) Parallel Verses KJV: And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man's house, named Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue. |
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