the Scriptures, and Christ. By Arthur Pink.

John chapter 5, verse 39. You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me.

Jesus is the golden thread that runs through the entire fabric of Scripture. From Genesis to Revelation, He is the central figure, the true focus, the foundation of every divine promise and prophecy. To miss Jesus in the Scriptures is to miss their heart and soul.

The Spirit of God did not inspire the Word simply to give us a system of morality, nor merely to inform us about doctrine, but to reveal the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Eternal Son made flesh. To profit from the Word, then, is to be brought face to face with Jesus in its pages.

The Scriptures show us His pre-incarnate glory as the eternal Word, His humble birth by a virgin, His spotless life, His sacrificial death, His triumphant resurrection, and His coming reign in glory. He is the true ark of safety, the true manna from heaven, the smitten rock, the uplifted bronze serpent, and the sacrificial Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Jesus is the treasure hidden in the field, the pearl of great price, the altogether lovely one. If we read the Bible and do not grow in love for Jesus, trust in Jesus, and obedience to Jesus, then we are not profiting from it.

It is possible to be well-versed in Scripture and yet blind to its central message. Such were the Pharisees who searched the Scriptures continually and yet rejected the very Christ of whom they spoke.

The Spirit of God always exalts Jesus. When the heart is illumined by the Spirit, the Scriptures become a living book. opening to us the unsearchable riches of Jesus. We are led to behold His glory, to rest in His righteousness, to wonder at His love, to draw from His fullness, and to walk in His steps.

The more we see of Jesus in the Word, the more our hearts burn with worship, and our lives become living epistles of His grace.

Are we learning to say with Paul, Whatever was to my profit, I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss, compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him.

May the Word never become dry or academic to us, but always be the means by which we behold the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

Let the word of Christ have its home in your hearts and minds and dwell in you in all its richness. Colossians chapter 3 verse 16.