"Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth
not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth."—
2 Tim. 2:15 .
GOD SEEMS to have greatly blessed and used in the "harvest" work the six volumes of STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES. Probably none who are today rejoicing in the Truth would dissent from this statement in the slightest degree. Some we know would express the matter more strongly than this. Nevertheless every now and then we are brought to a realization that many of those who rejoice considerably in the Truth have but an imperfect knowledge of it—they are not rooted, grounded, established and built up in the Truth; they are not able to "rightly divide the Word of Truth"; they are not workmen who need never be ashamed in discussing the Truth with others.
Some of these, deficient in their knowledge of the Truth, are mere babes, beginners, who have not yet had a full opportunity for study. Some of them have read Vol. I and have skimmed over the other volumes. They perhaps learned of the classes for Bible study, and, attending them and discussing with the brethren and hearing some discourses, seemed to assume that they knew the teachings of the entire six volumes as though they had read them, studied them.
This is a great mistake; more, it is a serious mistake, because we are in the time when each and all must expect to be specially tried and tested. And those who have only a partial understanding of the Divine Plan—those who have only a part of the provided armor, will find it difficult, if not impossible, to stand in this evil day the assaults of the world, the flesh and the Adversary. If they have proper zeal for the Lord and a proper love for the Plan, they should manifest that zeal by thorough and persevering study of the volumes. They cannot afford to do less.
We find also that some of the dear friends who read the SCRIPTURE STUDIES years ago, and not recently, imagine that they remember their contents, when in reality they are quite ignorant of many of their teachings. We all have leaky, earthen vessels and the precious treasure of Divine Truth soon exhausts unless we keep replenishing. One way of replenishing is to go to the Bible direct. But many have found what the Scriptures seem to imply, namely, that human teachers are necessary, and that they can get much more knowledge of the Scriptures through the assistance of a teacher than they could obtain by their own energy. Such of our readers as have not read the STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES this year can scarcely appreciate how much they probably have lost of what they originally learned therein.