"The Power of The Word of GOD"

"Power belongeth unto God" (Psalm 62:11).

The great reservoir of the power that belongs to God is His own Word – the Bible. If we wish to make it ours, we must go to that Book. Yet people abound in the Church who are praying for power and neglecting the Bible. Men are longing to have power for bearing fruit in their own lives and yet forget that Jesus has said: "The seed is the Word of God" (Luke 8:11).

They are longing to have power to melt the cold heart and break the stubborn will of those to whom they witness, and yet forget that God has said: "Is not My Word like as a fire?…and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?" (Jer. 23:29).

If we are to obtain fullness of power in life and service, we must feed upon the Word of God. There is no other food so strengthening. If we will not take time to study the Bible, we cannot have power, any more than we can have physical power if we will not take time to eat nutritious food.

God’s Word Has Power to Convict of Sin

In Acts 2:37 we read, "Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?" If we look back and see what it was they had heard that produced this deep conviction, we find that it was simply the Word of God. If you will read Peter’s sermon, you will find it one of the most biblical sermons ever preached. It was Scripture from beginning to end. It was, then, the Word of God, carried home by the Spirit of God, that pricked them to the heart.

If you wish to produce conviction, you must give men the Word of God.

God’s Word Has Power to Regenerate

In James 1:18 we read, "Of His own will begat He us with the Word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures."

In 1 Peter 1:23 we read, "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever."

The process of regeneration on our side is the simplest thing in the world. On God’s side it is mysterious, but with that we have nothing to do. The process is simply this: the human heart is the soil; you and I are sowers. The Word of God is the seed which we drop into the soil. God quickens it by His Holy Spirit and gives the increase (1Cor. 3:6). The heart closes around the Word by faith, and the new life is the product. The new birth is simply the impartation of a new nature, the impartation of God’s nature.

How are we made partakers of God’s nature? Read 2 Peter 1:4 and the context: "That through these [exceeding great and precious promises] ye may become partakers of the divine nature." The Word of God is the seed out of which the divine nature springs up in the human soul.

God’s Word Has Power to Produce Faith

"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God" (Rom. 10:17).

You can never get faith by merely praying, nor can you ever get it by any effort of the will. You can never get it by trying to pump it up in any way. Faith is the product of a certain cause, and that cause is the Word of God.

It is so for example with saving faith. If you want a man to have saving faith, simply give him something definite from God’s Word upon which he can rest. The Philippian jailer asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" (Acts 16:30), and Paul answered: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house" (Acts 16:31). But Paul did not stop there. Read verse 32: "And they spake unto him the Word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house."

They did not merely tell the Philippian jailer to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and then leave him floundering in the dark without giving him something to believe, or something for his faith to rest upon. They gave that which God has ordained to produce faith.

Here we often make a mistake. We tell people, "Believe, believe, believe," but do not show them how, do not give them anything definite to believe. Give him Isaiah 53:6, and thus hold up Christ crucified, or give him 1 Peter 2:24. Here he has something for his faith to rest upon. Faith must have a foundation.

God’s Word Has Power to Produce Prevailing Faith

Not only saving faith comes through the Word of God, but prevailing faith in prayer does also. Suppose I read Mark 11:24: "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." I used to say, "The way to get anything I want is to believe I am going to get it."

I would kneel down and pray and try to believe, but I did not get the things that I asked for. I had no real faith. Real faith must have a warrant. Before I can truly believe I am to receive what I ask, I must have a definite promise of God’s Word, or a definite leading of the Holy Spirit, to rest my faith upon.

We come into God’s presence. There is something we desire. Now the question is, "Is there any promise in God’s Word regarding this which we desire?" We look into the Word of God and find the promise. All we have to do is to spread that promise out before God.

For example, we say, "Heavenly Father, we desire the Holy Spirit. You have said in Your Word, ‘If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?’ (Luke 11:13). And You have said again in Acts 2:39 that ‘the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.’ I am a called man; I am a saved man. And here I have Your Word for it. You have promised it. I ask Thee now to fill me with the Holy Spirit."

We then take 1 John 5:14-15, and say, "Father, this is the confidence I have in You that, if I ask anything according to Your will You hear me, and if I know that You hear me, I know that I have the petition that I have asked of You." Then I rise up, standing upon this promise of God, and say, "It is mine." And it will be mine.

The only way to have a faith that prevails in prayer is to study your Bible, and know the promises, and lay them before God when you pray. George Mueller was one of the mightiest men of prayer. But he always prepared for prayer by studying the Word of God (John 15:7).

Suppose you have a skeptic to deal with, and you wish that man to have faith. What will you do with him? Turn to John 20:31: "But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name."

Clearly then, this book of John was given that through what is "written" therein, men "might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing they might have life through His name." "If any man willeth to do His will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak of Myself" (John 7:17).

The faith that gets the victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil; the faith that wins mighty victories for God, is also through the Word. (See 1 John 5:4; Eph. 6:16; Heb. 11:33-34).

Very early in my ministry I read a sermon by Mr. Moody. In it there was something to the effect that a man would not amount to anything if he had not faith. I said, "That sermon is true. I must have faith." I went to work and tried to work up faith. I did not succeed a bit. The more I tried to work up faith, the less I had. But one day I ran across this text: "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God" (Rom. 10:17), and I learned the great secret of faith, one of the greatest secrets I have ever learned.

I commenced to feed my faith on the Word of God, and as I have thus fed it, it has kept on growing from that day to this. So in every aspect we see that faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. If we are to have faith – and if we are to have power for God, we must have faith – we must feed steadily, largely, daily upon the Word of God.

God’s Word Has Power to Cleanse The Word of God has power not only to take impurity out of the heart, but to cleanse the outward life as well. If you wish a clean outward life, you must wash often by bringing your life in contact with the Word of God. If one lives in a city whose atmosphere is polluted with smoke, when he goes into the streets, his hands will become dirty. He must wash frequently if he wishes to keep clean.

In Ephesians 5:25-26 we read, "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself for it; that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word."

We all live in a world whose atmosphere is polluted, a very dirty world. As we go out from day to day and come in contact with this dirty world, there is absolutely only one way to keep clean, and that is by taking frequent baths in the Word of God. You must bathe every day, and take plenty of time to do it. A daily, prolonged, thoughtful bath in the Word of God is the only thing that will keep a life clean. "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to Thy Word" (Psa. 119:9).

God’s Word Has Power to Build up

In Acts 20:32 we read: "I commend you to God, and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build you up."

We hear a great deal about character building. The Word of God is that by which we must carry it on if it is to be done right. In 2 Peter 1:5-7 we have a picture of a seven-story-and-basement Christian. The great trouble today is we have so many one-story Christians, and the reason is neglect of the Word.

If we are to grow, we must have wholesome, nutritious food and plenty of it. "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby" (1 Pet. 2:2). A Christian can no more grow as he ought without feeding frequently, regularly, and largely upon the Word of God than a baby can grow as he ought without proper nutriment.

God’s Word Has Power to Make Us Wise

"The entrance of Thy Words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple" (Psa. 119:130).

There is more wisdom in the Bible than there is in all the other literature of the ages. The one who studies the Bible, if he does not study any other book, will know more of real wisdom. He’ll know more of the wisdom that counts for eternity as well as time, wisdom that this perishing world needs to know, wisdom for which hungry hearts are starving today. He will know more than the man who reads every other book and neglects his Bible.

The man who studies the Bible and neglects all other books will be wiser than the man who studies all other books and neglects the Bible. The man who studies the Bible will have more to say that is worth saying, and that wise people wish to hear, than any man who studies everything else and neglects the one Book.

Men who have greatly affected the spiritual history of this world, the men who have brought about great reformations in morals and doctrine, the men whom others have flocked to hear and upon whose words people have hung, have been Bible men in every instance. In many cases they knew little beside the Bible.

I have seen men and women without culture, who have had almost no advantages in school, but who knew their Bibles. I would rather sit at their feet and learn the wisdom that falls from their lips, than listen to the man who knows much about philosophy and science and theology even, and does not know anything about the Word of God.

There is wonderful force in the words of Paul to Timothy: "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly [another version says ‘completely’] furnished unto all good works" (2 Tim. 3:16-17). Through what? Through the study of the Bible.

God’s Word Has Power to Give Assurance of Eternal Life

"These things have I written unto you … that ye may know that ye have eternal life" (1 John 5:13).

That is, the assurance of eternal life comes through what is "written." Suppose one has not assurance of salvation, what shall we do? Tell him to pray until he gets it? Not at all. Take him to some such passage as John 3:36: "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." Hold him right to that point until he takes God’s Word for it, and then is sure that he has everlasting life because he believes on the Son, and because God says that "he that believeth on the Son HATH everlasting life."

God’s Word Has Power to Bring Peace into the Heart In Psalm 85:8 we read: "I will hear what God the Lord will speak: for He will speak peace unto His people, and to His saints."

Many people are looking for peace today, longing for peace, praying for peace. But deep peace of heart comes from the study of the Word of God. There is, for example, one passage in the Bible which, if we feed upon it daily until it really gets into our hearts and gets hold of us, will banish all anxiety forever. It is Romans 8:28: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose."

Nothing can come to us that is not one of the "all things." If we really believe this passage, and it really takes hold upon us, whatever comes, it will not disturb our peace.

God’s Word Has Power to Bring Fullness of Joy In Jeremiah 15:16 we read: "Thy Words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy Word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart."

And Jesus said in John 15:11: "These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full."

Clearly, then, fullness of joy comes through the Word of God. There is no joy on this earth from any worldly source like the joy that kindles and glows in the heart of a believer in Jesus Christ as he feeds upon the Word of God, and as the Word of God is brought home to his heart by the power of the Holy Spirit.

God’s Word Has Power to Bring Patience, Comfort and Hope

"For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope" (Rom. 15:4).

God’s Word Has Power to Protect from Error and Sin

In Acts 20:29-32, the Apostle Paul warned the elders at Ephesus of the errors that would creep in among them, and he commended them, in closing, "to God and to the Word of His grace." In a similar way, Paul writing to Timothy, the bishop of the same church, said:

"But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; and that from a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim. 3:13-15).

The one who feeds constantly on the Word of God is proof against the multiplying errors of the day. It is simple neglect of the Word that has left so many a prey to the many false doctrines that the devil, in his subtlety, is endeavoring to insinuate in the Church of Christ today.

And the Word of God has not only power to protect from error, but from sin as well. In Psalm 119:11 we read: "Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee." The man who feeds daily on the Word of God will be proof against the temptations of the devil. Any day we neglect to feed on the Word of God, we leave an open door through which Satan is sure to enter into our hearts and lives. Even the Son of God Himself met and overcame the temptations of the adversary by the Scriptures. To each of Satan’s temptations, He replied, "It is written" (Matt. 4:4,7,10). Satan left the field completely vanquished.

There can be no fullness of power in life and service if the Bible is neglected. In much that is written on power, also in much that is said in conventions, this fact is overlooked. The work of the Holy Spirit is magnified, but the instrument through which the Holy Spirit works is largely forgotten. The result is transient enthusiasm and activity, but no steady continuance and increase in power and usefulness.

We cannot obtain power, and we cannot maintain power in our own lives, and in our work for others, unless there is deep and frequent meditation upon the Word of God. If our leaf is not to wither and whatsoever we do is to prosper, our delight must be in the law of the Lord and we must meditate therein day and night (Psalm 1:2-3).

Of course, it is much easier, and therefore much more agreeable to our spiritual laziness, to go to a convention or revival meeting, and claim a "filling with the Spirit" than it is to peg along day after day, month after month, year after year, digging into the Word of God. But a "filling with the Spirit" that is not maintained by persistent study of the Word will soon vanish.

It is well to bear in mind that precisely the results which Paul in one place ascribes to being "filled with the Spirit" (Eph. 5:18-22), he in one other place ascribes to letting "the Word of Christ dwell in you richly" (Col. 3:16-18). Evidently Paul knew of no filling with the Holy Spirit divorced from deep and constant meditation upon the Word. To sum all up, anyone who wishes to obtain and maintain fullness of power in Christian life and service must feed constantly upon the Word of God.

- R. A. Torrey

Praise the Lord! Timely word! Thanks for posting this!

Amen. Torrey loved the Word, no doubt it.

I was just looking for a great book that I've given to new converts or those who I've witnessed to that needed more info. This book by Torrey has been priceless for that purpose. http://www.whitakerhouse.com/DeskTop.aspx?page=ProductInfo&item=33174

GOD Bless these folks at this publishing company and others for keeping the Classics available for this long. Even when the Christian book stores barely carry them anymore.

LORD Bless you Geraldine.

Wow, this is excellant. Thank you. I spend time in the Word nearly daily as much as my insomnia will let me but this has truly inspired me towards better use of the Word/God's promises. Thank you!

It seems in the Body that many things are "contagious" - you know?
Bitterness or a hunger for His Word - either can be contagious - as other things as well. Have been noticing that. After a good message like this from Torrey - it lifts His Word above any other's, to it's proper position. That brings joy because His Love only rejoices at His Truth.
Appreciate your appreciating this message as well.
Thank you, that appreciation is also contagious :)
GOD Bless!!

This is an AWESOME article! Thanks for posting it!

Jesus-is-GOD

I just had to share this with you as you were the one who posted this article. First of all, last Sunday I printed off a copy for someone in church who was also very much blessed by it. The article for them was also very timely!
Secondly, I was in the most amazing second hand Christian book shop which has become something of an oasis for me. It's not often I go but yesterday the opportunity came for me to go with a friend. This shop has three floors of old second hand Christian books, paperbacks at 50 pence to £2 and hardbacks £2 - £3. I have gleaned so many out of print books from here many of which are classics! Anyway yesterday I happened to pull out a small old paperback by Torrey and put it in my pile. When I got home and opened the book I realised the first chapter was the article YOU POSTED! To my joy I now had the whole book without realizing it!!! It's called 'How to Obtain Fulness of power' by Torrey. The best thing? It was only 50p! (That I'm guessing is less than a dollar)

http://www.amazon.com/How-Obtain-Fullness-Power-Torrey/dp/0883688506

This is Great Stuff. I love it. In other words it is alright to read my New Testament and it alone. Tory is Right On. I think of Vince Lombardi who used to say that men it is time to get back to basics. This is a football. The sane must be said for a Christian. This is a Bible. I heard that BIBLE stands for basic instructions before leaving earth. Great Article. Now to camp in the word.

Praise GOD Geraldine. What a Blessing!

I love these guys, Torrey, Simpson, Tozer, Ryle, Murray, Sparks, Nee, Katz, Wilkerson and others offered here and am very grateful to have found them and so many of you here that love Him so.
Some like Torrey are great for even the unsaved to read and learn about Jesus in words that are easier to understand as well.

Bless you Sisters and Brothers with many wonderful blessed moments with Christ Jesus and his servants of old. Alleluia to The King of kings!

HE REIGNS FOREVERMORE!

GOD Bless all.

That's Fantastic Lisa. Thank you a lot!!

Praise GOD for good books online! :)

"Not by Bread Alone"

There is nothing more important for the development of a Christian’s spiritual life than regular, systematic Bible study. It is as true in the spiritual life as in the physical life, that health depends on what we eat and how much we eat. "Man shall not live by bread alone" (Matt. 4:4). The soul’s proper food is found in one book, the Bible.

Of course, a true minister of the gospel will feed us on the Word of God, but that is not enough. He feeds us only one or two days in the week, and we need to be fed every day. Therefore, we must learn to feed ourselves. We live in a day in which false doctrine is everywhere, and only the Christian who studies his Bible for himself, daily, will be safe from being led into error.

Through the study of the Bible, one will be sound in doctrine and led to see his sins and to put them away. He will find discipline in the righteous life and be equipped for all good works. Our spiritual health, growth, strength, victory over sin, soundness in doctrine, joy, and peace in Christ come from study of God’s Word. Cleansing from inward and outward sin and fitness for service all depend on daily study of the Bible.
The one who neglects his Bible is bound to be a failure in the Christian life. The one who studies his Bible in the right spirit and by a constant method is bound to make a success of the Christian life. This brings us face to face with the question, "What is the right way to study the Bible?"

How to Study Your Bible

First of all, we should study it daily. "These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so" (Acts 17:11). This is of prime importance. No matter how solid the methods of Bible study, how much time one may put into Bible study now and then, the best results can only be secured when one never lets a single day go by without earnest Bible study. Any day that is allowed to pass without faithful Bible study is a day which opens our hearts and lives to error and sin.

A regular time should be set aside each day for Bible study. I do not think it is wise, as a rule, to say that we will study so many chapters a day, because that leads to undue haste, skimming, and thoughtlessness. But it is good to set apart a certain length of time each day for Bible study. Some can give more time to Bible study than others, but no one should devote less than fifteen minutes a day.

I set a short time span so that no one will be discouraged in the beginning. If a young Christian planned to spend an hour or two a day in Bible study, there is a strong probability that he would not keep the resolution and would become discouraged. Nevertheless, I know of many very busy people who have taken the first hour of every day for years for Bible study. Some have even given two hours a day.

The late Earl Cairns, Lord Chancellor of England, was one of the busiest men of his day. Lady Cairns told me that no matter how late at night he reached home, he always woke up at the same early hour for prayer and Bible study. She said, "We would sometimes get home from Parliament at two o’clock in the morning, but Lord Cairns would always arise at the same early hour to pray and study the Bible." Lord Cairns is reported as saying, "If I have had any success in life, I attribute it to the habit of giving the first two hours of each day to Bible study and prayer."

It is important that one choose the right time for this study. Whenever possible, the best time for study is immediately after waking up in the morning. Of course, it is good to spend a little time just before we go to bed reading the Bible so that God’s voice will be the last voice we hear. The bulk of our Bible study should be done when our minds are clearest and strongest. Whatever time is set apart for Bible study should be kept sacredly for that purpose.

We should study the Bible systematically. A lot of time is frittered away in random study of the Bible. The same amount of time put into systematic study would yield far greater results. Have a definite place where you study and have a definite plan of study. A good way for a young Christian to begin the study of the Bible is to read the gospel of John. When you have read it through once, read it again until you have gone over the gospel five times. Then read the gospel of Luke five times in the same way. Then read the Acts of the Apostles five times. Then read the following epistles five times each: 1 Thessalonians, 1 John, Romans, and Ephesians.

By this time you will be ready to take up a more thorough method of Bible study. A profitable method is to begin at Genesis and read the Bible through chapter by chapter. Read each chapter through several times and then answer the following questions on each chapter:

1.What is the main subject of the chapter? State the principal contents of the chapter in a single phrase or sentence.
2.What is the truth most clearly taught and most emphasized in the chapter?

3.Who are the principal people mentioned?

4.What does the chapter teach about Jesus Christ?

Go through the entire Bible in this way.
Another and more thorough method of Bible study will yield excellent results when applied to some of the more important chapters of the Bible. It is as follows:

1.Read the chapter for today’s study five times, reading it aloud at least once. Each new reading will bring out a new point.

2.Divide the chapter into its natural divisions, and find headings that describe the contents of each division.

3.Write down the most important facts of the chapter in their proper order.

4.Make a note of the people mentioned in the chapter and any light thrown on their character.

5.Note the principal lessons of the chapter. It is helpful to classify these. For instance, lessons about God, lessons about Christ, lessons about the Holy Spirit, etc.

6.Find the central truth of the chapter.

7.Find the key verse of the chapter if there is one. Mark it and memorize it.

8.Write down any new truth you have learned from the chapter.

9.Write down any truth you already know that has come to you with new power.

10.Write down what definite thing you have resolved to do as a result of studying this chapter.

A beneficial order of study for you might be all of the chapters in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts; the first eight chapters of Romans; 1 Corinthians 13; the first six chapters of 2 Corinthians; then all the chapters in Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, and 1 John. Sometimes you can refresh your study by alternating methods.

Another profitable method of Bible study is the topical method. This was D. L. Moody’s favorite method. Take such topics as: the Holy Spirit, prayer, the blood of Christ, sin, judgment, grace, justification, the new birth, sanctification, faith, repentance, the character of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, the ascension of Christ, the second coming of Christ, assurance, love of God, love (to God, to Christ, to Christians, to all men), heaven, hell. Get a Bible concordance and study each of these topics.

We should study the Bible comprehensively--the whole Bible. Many Bible readers make the mistake of confining all their reading to certain portions of the Bible that they enjoy. This way they get no knowledge of the Bible as a whole. They miss altogether many of the most important phases of Bible truth. Go through the Bible again and again--a certain portion each day from the Old Testament and a portion from the New Testament.

It is also beneficial to read a whole book of the Bible through at a single sitting. This lets you see the whole picture. Of course, a few books of the Bible would take one or two hours. But most books can be read in a few minutes. The shorter books of the Bible should be read through again and again at a single sitting.

Study the Bible attentively. Do not hurry. One of the worst faults in Bible study is haste. We only benefit from Bible study by learning its truth. It has no magic power. It is better to read one verse attentively than to read a dozen chapters thoughtlessly. Sometimes you will read a verse that grabs you. Don’t hurry on. Stop and think about that verse.

As you read, mark in your Bible what impresses you most. One does not need an elaborate marking system, simply highlight what impresses you. Think about what you mark. God affirms that the man who meditates on God’s law day and night is blessed (Psalm 1).

Memorize the passages that impress you most. "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee" (Ps. 119:11). When you memorize a passage of Scripture, memorize its location as well as the words. Study your Bible comparatively. In other words, compare Scripture with Scripture. The best commentary on the Bible is the Bible itself. Wherever you find a difficult passage in the Bible, there is always another passage that explains its meaning. The best book to use in this comparison is The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. This book gives a large number of references on every verse in the Bible. You may want to take a particular book of the Bible and go through that book verse by verse. Look up and study every reference given in The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge dealing with that book. This is a very fruitful method of Bible study.

Study your Bible and believe it. The apostle Paul, in writing to the Christians in Thessalonica, said, "For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe" (1 Thess. 2:13). Happy is the one who receives the Word of God as these believers in Thessalonica received it, as the Word of God. In such a person it is especially effective. The Bible is the Word of God, and we get the most out of any book by acknowledging it for what it really is.

It requires a prompt and unquestioning acceptance of, and submission to, its teachings. These teachings may appear unreasonable or impossible. Nevertheless, we should accept them. If this book is the Word of God, it is foolish to submit its teachings to the criticism of our finite reasoning.

Correct Bible study includes absolute reliance on all its promises in all their length, breadth, depth, and height. The one who studies the Bible as the Word of God will say of any promise, no matter how vast and beyond belief it appears, "God who cannot lie has promised this, so I will claim it for myself." Mark the promise you claim. Each day look for some new promise from your infinite Father.

You must also study God’s Word in obedience. Nothing goes further to help one understand the Bible than resolving to obey it. Jesus said, "If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine" (John 7:17). Many passages that look obscure to you now would become as clear as day if you were willing to obey everything the Bible teaches.

It is remarkable how soon one loses his thirst for the Bible and how soon the mind becomes obscured to its teachings when we disobey the Bible at any point. Nothing clears the mind like obedience; nothing darkens the mind like disobedience. To obey a truth you see prepares you to see other truths. To disobey a truth you see darkens your mind to all truths.

Cultivate prompt, exact, unquestioning, joyous obedience to every command that clearly applies to you. Be on the lookout for new orders from your King. Blessing lies in the direction of obedience to them.

Personal Companionship with God

Studying the Bible as the Word of God involves studying it as His own voice speaking directly to you. When you open the Bible to study, realize that you have come into the very presence of God, and that He is going to speak to you. Nothing gives more freshness and gladness to Bible study than the realization that, as you read, God is actually talking to you.

Bible study then becomes personal companionship with God Himself. What a wonderful privilege Mary had one day, sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to His voice. If we will study the Bible as the Word of God and as if we were in God’s presence, then we will enjoy the privilege of sitting at the feet of Jesus and having Him talk to us every day.

This approach makes what would otherwise be a mere mechanical performance of a duty become a wonderfully joyous privilege. One can say as he opens the Bible, "Now, God my Father is going to speak to me." Reading the Bible on our knees helps us to realize we are in God’s presence. The Bible became in some measure a new book to me when I took to reading it on my knees.

Study the Bible prayerfully. God, the author of the Bible, is willing to act as interpreter of it. He does so when you ask Him. The one who prays the psalmist’s prayer with sincerity and faith, "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law" (Ps. 119:18), will have his eyes opened to new beauties and wonders in the Word.

Be very definite about this. Each time you open the Bible for study, even though it is only for a few minutes, ask God to give you an open and discerning eye. Expect Him to do it.

The Holy Spirit as Teacher

How often we think as we puzzle over hard passages, "Oh, if I only had some great Bible teacher here to explain this to me!" God is always present. He understands the Bible better than any human teacher. Take your difficulty to Him and ask Him to explain it. Jesus said, "When he the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth" (John 16:13). It is the privilege of the humblest believer in Christ to have the Holy Spirit for his guide in his study of the Word. I have known many very humble people, people with almost no education, who got more out of their Bible study than many great theological teachers. This happened because they learned it was their privilege to have the Holy Spirit for their Bible study teacher. Commentaries on the Bible can be valuable. But one will learn more from the Bible by having the Holy Spirit for his teacher than from all the commentaries ever published.

Use spare time for Bible study. Time is lost in al-most every man’s life while waiting for meals, riding planes, going from place to place, and so forth. Carry a pocket Bible with you and use these golden moments to listen to the voice of God.

Store Scripture in your mind and heart. It will keep you from sin (Ps. 119:11) and false doctrine (Acts 20: 29-30, 32; and 2 Tim. 3:13-15). It will give you victory over the evil one (1 John 2:14), and it will give you power in prayer. "If ye abide in me and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you" (John 15:7). The Word will make you wiser than the aged and your enemies. "Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts. The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple" (Ps. 119:98, 100, 130). It will make you "thoroughly furnished unto all good works" (2 Tim. 3:17).

https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/articles/index.php?view=category&cid=34

This has been a delightful page and I've been busy downloading every link within it.

At the bottom of this brief history of this great man - there is one of the only Audio messages of R.A. Torrey that there is.

http://www.wheaton.edu/bgc/archives/Papers/Torrey/papers.html

Very rewarding to have an actual recording of this great man and to get to know him so well through all of the letters sent to him and by him - and even the words of his grandchildren in the links from just this one page.

It's a blessing to download the audio message and read along on that page that gives the transcript as well.
Blessings!!