The truths of the Word of God are not mere sentiments, but the utterances of the Most High. Anyone who makes these truths a part of the life becomes in every sense a new creature. The person is not given new mental powers, but the darkness, that through ignorance and sin has clouded the understanding, is removed.
The words "A new heart will I give you" mean "A new mind will I give you." This change of heart is always attended by a clear conception of Christian duty, an understanding of truth. The clearness of our view of truth will be proportionate to our understanding of the Word of God. A person who gives the Scriptures close, prayerful attention will gain clear comprehension and sound judgment, as if in turning to God he or she had reached a higher grade of intelligence.
The Word of God, regarded and studied as it should be, will give light and knowledge. Its perusal will strengthen the understanding. By contact with the purest, most lofty truths, the mind will be enlarged, the taste refined.
We are dependent on the Bible for a knowledge of the early history of our world, of the creation of Adam and Eve, and of their fall. Remove the Word of God, and what can we expect other than to be left to fables and conjectures, and to that enfeebling of the intellect which is the sure result of entertaining error? We need the authentic history of the origin of the earth, of the fall of the covering cherub, and of the introduction of sin into our world. Without the Bible we should be bewildered by false theories. The mind would be subjected to the tyranny of superstition and falsehood. But having in our possession an authentic history of the beginning of our world, we need not hamper ourselves with human conjectures and unreliable theories.
Wherever Christians are they may hold communion with God. And they may enjoy the intelligence of sanctified science. Their minds may be strengthened even as Daniel's was.
God gave him "knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom." Among all the youth examined by Nebuchadnezzar, there "was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; therefore stood they before the king. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm." [Daniel 1:17, 19, 20.]
The habits and understanding of the youth who were not instructed by God were in accord with the knowledge that comes from idolatrous practices and leaves God out of the reckoning. Daniel and his companions, from the first of their experience in the king's court, were gaining a clearer comprehension and sounder, more accurate judgment than all the wise men in the kingdom of Babylon. They placed themselves where God could bless them. They ate only that food which would not becloud their minds. They followed rules of life which would help to give them strength of intellect, that they might gain the greatest possible benefit from their study of God's Word.
It was to Daniel that Nebuchadnezzar, unable to get help from his wise men, turned for an account of his forgotten dream and for an interpretation of it. Daniel and his companions sought the Lord in prayer, and He revealed to them the dream and its interpretation. And when they had related to the king what God had shown them, Nebuchadnezzar said, "Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldst reveal this secret." [Daniel 2:47.]
The mind in which error has once taken possession can never expand freely to truth, even after investigation. The old theories will claim recognition. The understanding of things that are true and elevated and sanctifying will be confused. Superstitious ideas will enter the mind to mingle with the true, and these ideas are always debasing in their influence. Christian knowledge bears its own stamp of unmeasured superiority in all that concerns the preparation for the future, immortal life. It distinguishes the Bible reader and believer, who has been receiving the precious treasures of truth, from the skeptic and the believer in pagan philosophy.
Cleave to the Word, "It is written." Cast out of the mind the dangerous, obtrusive theories which, if entertained, will hold the mind in bondage, so that the man shall not become a new creature in Christ. The mind must be constantly restrained and guarded. It must be given as food that only which will strengthen the religious experience.
The Bible teaches every soul to turn to the lands where the cross has not been uplifted and the name of Jesus exalted above every other name. The Bible contains the principles which lie at the foundation of civil and religious liberty. The nation that gives free room for the circulation of the Scriptures opens the way for the minds of the people to work with greater vigor. The reading of the Scriptures causes light to shine into the darkness. As the Word of God is searched, life-giving truths are found.
In the cities and nations of our world, there will be found among unbelievers a remnant who will appreciate the blessed Word and who will receive the Saviour. Christ will give men and women power to become the sons and daughters of God.-Manuscript 42, 1904.
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