God: "I looked for someone to take a stand for me, and stand in the gap" (Ezekiel 22:30)
In the past God spoke in a variety of forms. Listen to the opening verses from the book of Hebrews. 'God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son' (Heb. 1:1-2a). In Jesus Christ, the Word of God became incarnate. His words are God's words. And His words were God's final and most supreme revelation to mankind. On that holy mountain the Father declared, 'This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him' (Mt. 17:5). Through Christ, Scripture is complete and sufficient for 'everything pertaining to life and godliness' (2 Pet. 1:3). God designed it whereby no other revelation would compete with that of His Son. From Genesis to Revelation, the Scriptures are closed, and Christ had the final say.
In books for spiritual edification, much depends upon the manner in which they are read. If taken up carelessly and read in a light mood, they are likely to do little good. The attention will not be fixed, nor the heart engaged, nor the conscience awakened. You must be somewhere alone with God – where you can have leisure and opportunity to commune with your own heart and with Him – where you can pause, reflect, and pray, unobserved by a single fellow-creature – where you can stop, examine, meditate, and it may be, weep. Before you read another chapter, put down the volume, fall upon your knees and agonize in prayer, that the perusal may be blessed to your soul. Take the book with you into your closet. Read it in your most serious hours, in your greatest privacy, and in the most solemn manner.
