The Christian's Companion — E.A. Johnston

The Bible as the Christian's Constant Companion

In Psalm 1, we see that blessed is the man who studies God's Word. His delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law doth he meditate on it day and night. It was said of Azahel Nattleton, who was so mightily used to God during the Second Great Awakening that he was a man of one book.

Historical Distractions and the Bible as the Book of Earlier Christians

Well, they didn't have TV or the Internet back then, or even telephones for that matter, so Christians back then didn't have the distractions that we have today. People back then were readers, and the one book they read more than any other was the Bible.

Daniel Webster on Scripture and the Nation

As a matter of fact, friends, I want to read you a quote from that time period in America, and it will give you a picture of what a Christian land this used to be and is no more. This quote was written in 1823 by Daniel Webster, who was Secretary of State under three different presidents.

Listen to how he viewed America in relation to God and the Bible. If religious books are not widely circulated among the masses in this country, I do not know what is going to become of us as a nation.

If truth be not diffused, error will be. If God and his word are not known and received, the devil and his works will gain ascendancy. If the evangelical volume does not reach every hamlet, the pages of a corrupt and licentious literature will.

If the power of the gospel is not felt throughout the length and breadth of the land, anarchy and misrule, degradation and misery, corruption and darkness will reign without mitigation or end. Well, those are the words of a famous statesman back then, and they reflect the majority in this country back then as well.

The Bible's Neglect Among Modern Preachers

It's odd to me that the Bible today is not even a pastor's first choice for a companion anymore. I know preachers who'd rather sit and watch ball games on TV all night than stay on their knees in prayer and in their Bibles, and it's reflected in their lack of power in the pulpit.

Being Mastered by the Word of God

But the Bible is the Christian's companion, for he is to study it, meditate and chew on it and live by it and soak himself in the word of God if he desires to be useful to God. Stephen Olford used to say, One cannot master the word of God unless he is mastered by the word of God.

And it's true, friends. I'll never forget a story about C .T. Studd, that great missionary to Africa and China. He was staying with F .B. Meyer, and F .B. Meyer noticed that the light in C .T. Studd's room was always on very early in the morning.

One morning, Meyer knocked on the door and he found C .T. Studd sitting at a desk with his open Bible, and F .B. Meyer asked him what he was doing. C .T. replied, I'm asking God by his spirit to make this verse a reality in my life.

Think about that, friends. There was a generation of preachers who not only read their Bibles, but the Bible went right through them. They knew their God because they knew the word of God and immersed their lives in its pages.

George Whitefield, the great British evangelist, read his Bible on his knees. I tried doing it one year, and I confess, friends, I didn't get very far with it. It's easier to sit in a chair and read it.

But the Christian who is serious about learning his Bible will make the Bible his companion and read it until it becomes a part of him. He will believe and stand on its promises until they are real to him.

Knowing Christ Through Scripture and Preaching Without Compromise

And by reading the Bible, that Christian will know the Christ of the Bible. So when he witnesses, he can preach Christ and him crucified. The person who makes the Bible his close companion will preach it without compromise.

Bible-Saturated Preaching and Power in the Pulpit

Men of former days knew their Bibles better than we do today. And they knew their God better than we as well. And when they preached, they had power in the pulpit. I want to read you an excerpt from Heman Humphreys, who was a seminary president and pastor during the Second Great Awakening.

Listen to his words. Their preaching was not in man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and with power. It was eminently scriptural. The ministers of that day read and studied the Bible more than all other books.

They had received it from their master as their only commission. And in virtue of it, as ambassadors for Christ, they besought sinners in his stead to be reconciled to God. It was surprising to notice with what facility they would quote chapter and verse from all parts of both Testaments without turning over a single leaf.

Indeed, it sometimes seemed to me as if they knew all the Bible by heart. And it is no disparagement to say that they did know much more of it than most preachers do now. They had a great deal more of it in their sermons.

Almost all their illustrations, as well as their proofs, were drawn from its rich and inexhaustible treasures. Thus saith the Lord was enough for them. Those words of Heman Humphreys should shame all of us, for we do not know our Bibles like that.

And the proof is that most preaching today is just dialogue and funny stories. And that's why few are being saved today. John Song, the evangelist who shook China for God, read his entire Bible through forty times in one hundred and ninety-three days.

Turning Away from Television and Returning to Scripture

He was a walking Bible. I want to challenge you, friends, to turn off that idiot tube known as your TV, and take that time you'd normally waste sitting there until your eyes grow as big as saucers and your brain the size of a bee, and instead make a covenant with Almighty God that you will give that time to the study of His Word.

I got rid of my TV years ago, and most folks think I'm odd because I don't have a TV. But I give that time to God in prayer and the study of His Word. It's made a big difference in my life, friends. Take the challenge.

Spend more time in your Bible, and accept the sacrifice. I promise you, friend, it'll totally change and transform your life. Let us pray.