Chapter 13—Mental and Spiritual Culture
“By knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and
pleasant riches.”
For the mind and the soul, as well as for the body, it is God’s law
that strength is acquired by effort. It is exercise that develops. In
harmony with this law, God has provided in His word the means for
mental and spiritual development.
The Bible contains all the principles that men need to understand
in order to be fitted either for this life or for the life to come. And these
principles may be understood by all. No one with a spirit to appreciate
its teaching can read a single passage from the Bible without gaining
from it some helpful thought. But the most valuable teaching of the
Bible is not to be gained by occasional or disconnected study. Its great
system of truth is not so presented as to be discerned by the hasty or
careless reader. Many of its treasures lie far beneath the surface, and
can be obtained only by diligent research and continuous effort. The
truths that go to make up the great whole must be searched out and
gathered up, “here a little, and there a little.”
Isaiah 28:10
.
When thus searched out and brought together, they will be found
to be perfectly fitted to one another. Each Gospel is a supplement to
the others, every prophecy an explanation of another, every truth a
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development of some other truth. The types of the Jewish economy
are made plain by the gospel. Every principle in the word of God has
its place, every fact its bearing. And the complete structure, in design
and execution, bears testimony to its Author. Such a structure no mind
but that of the Infinite could conceive or fashion.
In searching out the various parts and studying their relationship,
the highest faculties of the human mind are called into intense activity.
No one can engage in such study without developing mental power.
And not alone in searching out truth and bringing it together does
the mental value of Bible study consist. It consists also in the effort
required to grasp the themes presented. The mind occupied with
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