From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase

Part two of a series of selections from chapter three of
Profiting From the Word by Arthur W. Pink

Edited by Dr. Paul M. Elliott, President, TeachingTheWord Ministries

The more we are truly profiting from our reading of the Scriptures, the more deeply we understand our need of Him.

In the first article in this series, Arthur W. Pink answered the question, "Why search the Scriptures?" The answer is, as Jesus said, the Scriptures "testify of Me" (John 5:39). In the wondrous person of Christ is the answer to our every condition, every circumstance, and every need, both for time and eternity. Scripture. from beginning to end, reveals Christ. Pink now tells us the first of seven ways in which you as a believer can profit from studying the Christ of the Bible:

An individual is profited from the Scriptures when they reveal to him his need of Christ. Man in his natural estate deems himself self-sufficient. True, he has a dim perception that all is not quite right between himself and God; yet has he no difficulty in persuading himself that he is able to do that which will propitiate Him. That lies at the foundation of all man's religion, begun by Cain, in whose 'way' (Jude verse 2) the multitudes still walk.

Tell the devout religionist that 'they that are in the flesh cannot please God' (Romans 8:8), and he is at once offended. Press upon him the fact that 'all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags' (Isaiah 64:4), and his hypocritical urbanity at once gives place to anger. So it was when Christ was on earth. The most religious people of all, the Jews, had no sense that they were 'lost' and in dire need of an almighty Saviour.

'They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick' (Matthew 9:12). It is the peculiar office of the Holy Spirit, by His application of the Scriptures, to convict sinners of their desperate condition, to bring them to see that their state is such that 'from the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness' in them, but 'wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores' (Isaiah 1:6). As the Spirit convicts us of our sins our ingratitude to God, our murmuring against Him, our wanderings from Him as He presses upon us the claims of God His right to our love, obedience and adoration and all our sad failures to render Him His due, then we are made to recognize that Christ is our only hope, and that, except we flee to Him for refuge, the righteous wrath of God will most certainly fall upon us.

Nor is this to be limited to the initial experience of conversion. The more the Spirit deepens His work of grace in the regenerated soul, the more that individual is made conscious of his pollution, his sinfulness and his vileness; and the more does he discover his need of and learn to value that precious, precious blood which cleanses from all sin. The Spirit is here to glorify Christ, and one chief way in which He does so is by opening wider and wider the eyes of those for whom He died, to see how suited Christ is for such wretched, foul, hell-deserving creatures. Yes, the more we are truly profiting from our reading of the Scriptures, the more do we feel our need of Him.

Dear friend, is this true of you?

Next: Are the Scriptures Making Christ More Real to You?

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