Episode 11
Holy Bible, Book Divine! by John Burton, Sr.
What should you do with the Bible? Is it a sword to fight Satan? A baseball bat for whacking others? A shield to protect yourself against criticism? The usage of Scripture is often confused and lost today, and this hymn helps us see some of the key things we should expect to get out of our Bibles!
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Original Song Lyrics
Holy Bible, book divine! Precious treasure! thou art mine; Mine, to tell me whence I came; Mine, to teach me what I am:
Mine, to chide me when I rove; Mine, to show a Saviour’s love: Mine art thou, to guide my feet; Mine, to judge, condemn, acquit:
Mine, to comfort in distress, If the Holy Spirit bless; Mine, to show, by living faith, Man can triumph over death!
Mine, to tell of joys to come, And the rebel sinner’s doom: O thou precious book divine! Precious treasure! thou art mine.
Scripture References
Psalm 119:9-11, 20, 103, 128-129 BETH. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. 10 With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. 11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. ... 20 My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times. ... 103 How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! ... 128 Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way. 129 PE. Thy testimonies are wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep them.
1 Timothy 2:1-6 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; 2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
Genesis 1:26-27 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
1 John 5:6-8 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. 7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.
Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
1 John 4:15-16 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. 16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
Proverbs 6:16-19 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: 17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, 19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
Ephesians 2:13-22 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; 15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; 16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: 17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. 18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. 19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; 20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; 21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: 22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
Hebrews 11:5-6 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Proverbs 3:11-12 My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction: 12 For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.
Hebrews 12:5-7, 9-11 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? ... 9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? 10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. 11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
James 1:21-25 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. 25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
Psalm 119:105 NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
John 14:22-26 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? 23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. 24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me. 25 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. 26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
John 15:26-27 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: 27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.
John 16:7-11 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. 8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 Of sin, because they believe not on me; 10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; 11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
John 3:14-21 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Research Resources
Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs by Melody Publications (#174)
Then Sings My Soul vol 3 by Robert J. Morgan (p90)
A Song in My Heart by Robert J. Morgan (June 24)
The Complete Book of Hymns by William and Ardythe Petersen (p149)
Transcript
In this episode, we're talking about "holy Bible, book divine!" by John Burton, senior. "Holy Bible book, divine, precious treasure! thou art mine. Mine to tell me, whence I came mine to teach me what I am. Mine to chide me when I rove mine to show a Savior's love. Mine art thou to guide my feet, mine to judge, condemn, acquit. Mine to comfort in distress if the Holy Spirit bless. Mine to show by living faith, man can triumph over death. Mine to tell of joys to come and the rebel sinner's doom. Oh, thou precious book, divine, precious treasure. Thou art mine."
Gregory:This beautiful hymn was written by a man who was very involved early on in the Sunday school movement that was started by Robert Raikes. John Burton originally released the hymn under the name Nottingham J B. And as the hymn became popular, people discovered that John Burton senior was in fact, the author. He wrote many different songs, most of which are not popular today. But he had a tremendous influence on the lives of young people. His own son had learned this song before he even knew how to read.
Gregory:It's a powerful encouragement, and it reminds us of what to do with the Bible.
Gregory:First off, we see that we ought to treasure the Bible.
Gregory:"Holy Bible, book divine." We already examined how the Bible is divine and holy and made available to us by God when we looked at "The Bible Stands" in episode four. So I won't dwell there.
Gregory:But then we see " precious treasure thou art mine." I'm going to give you just a handful of verses from Psalm 119 what I call the love letter to God's word. Starting in verse nine, "wherewithall shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart, have I sought thee, oh, let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word, have I hid in mine heart that I might not sin against thee. My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath and to thy judgments at all times. How sweet are thy words unto my taste, a sweeter than a honey to my mouth. Therefore, I esteem all the precepts concerning all things to be right. And I hate every false way. Thy testimonies are wonderful. Therefore doth, my soul keep them." You can see that the Psalmist is just overwhelmed with the wonders of God's word. We too ought to treasure it.
Gregory:Secondly, we ought to learn from it. "Mine to tell me, whence I came mine to teach me what I am." Let me give you just a simple framework of how you can look at Scripture. As you read the Bible, these are three things that you can be looking for, and it will help you engage with God's truth and understand the purpose of Scripture better.
Gregory:First is "who is God, and how does he relate to himself?" Naturally, to answer that question, we have to answer "what is God?" Well, we know that God is a spirit. And "there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." And yet while there is only one, God, there are three persons within that one being. From the very beginning, he says, "let us make man in our image" and "so God created man in his own image." So you see there's a plurality of a sense, but there's also singularity as well. "There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one." So, what is God? He is the Trinity we saw in episode five. Also, God is love and we've hammered on that point many times before.
Gregory:And you're also looking for "who is God?" For instance, when he says "these six things, doth the Lord hate," well, we ought to pay attention to those because if you love someone, then you're also going to pay attention to what they love and what they hate. So the first thing you're looking for as you read the Bible is "who is God and how does he relate to himself?"
Gregory:Secondly, you ought to be looking for "who is man, and how do people relate to each other?" We won't spend time on these different categories, but you'll find that man is God's creation made in his image. God has instituted the family and he's instituted marriage. And that God has means for which he wants us to interact with friends and with enemies.
Gregory:So "who is God, and how does he relate to himself?" "Who is man, and how do people relate to each other?" And then the next most important thing. " What is the relationship between God and man?"
Gregory:For instance in Ephesians chapter two, as Paul writes to this church, he says, "but now in Christ Jesus, ye who were sometime were a far off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ, for through him we both have access by one spirit unto the father." Well, you see multiple elements there. You see some of who God is. You see that we needed to be reconciled and you see that because of Christ, we are reconciled and we're able to have a relationship with him.
Gregory:We also see in Hebrews for instance, that "without faith, it is impossible to please him for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." So God is telling us how we relate to him and how he relates to us.
Gregory:As you read the Bible, then you can look for these three different categories of things, understanding who God is, understanding who man is, and how all of these things relate. And I think that will help you as you read your Bible. We ought to be learning from it.
Gregory:Thirdly, we ought to receive correction, guidance and comfort from the Bible.
Gregory:Proverbs says "my son despise, not the chastening of the Lord, neither be weary of his correction for whom the Lord loveth, he correcteth, even as a father, the son in whom he delighteth."
Gregory:It is the loving father that disciplines his children to teach them to live right and to keep them out of harm's way. "Mine to chide me when I rove." "Mine art thou to guide my feet." Again, from Psalm 119, we see, "thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." God's word is what instructs us.
Gregory:It's profitable for instruction.
Gregory:And we also know that the Holy Spirit uses Scripture to do his work of comforting us. As Jesus is preparing to leave the disciples behind in John 16, he tells them, "nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away, the comforter will not come unto you. But if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. Of sin because they believe not on me. Of righteousness because I go to my Father and ye see me no more. Of judgment because the prince of this world is judged." As we view Scripture, we ought to receive from it correction, guidance, and comfort.
Gregory:And lastly, we need to either accept or reject it, and we need to own that choice. "Mine to show a Savior's love." "mine to judge, condemn, acquit." Scripture judges us. And it finds us guilty. We are condemned. But it also acquits us. It frees us from the guilt of sin because it tells us of the Savior Jesus Christ God in the flesh who died for our sin was buried and rose again so that we could live victoriously through him, gaining eternal life and also serving God for the rest of time.
Gregory:"Mine to show by living faith, man can triumph over death. Mine to tell of joys to come. And the rebel sinner's doom." I've often heard the question: well, how can a good God send people to a bad place like hell? And the reality is God isn't the one desiring to send anyone there. He is "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."
Gregory:John 3:16 is to my knowledge, the most popular verse in all of the Bible. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." But it goes on to say many things that most people are not so familiar with. " For God sent, not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned. But he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God."
Gregory:In other words, if somebody ends up separated from God in hell, it is because they have chosen to go there. By rejecting Jesus Christ, regardless of what else you look to, whether it's yourself or some other quote religion or some other way of life or you try to work to Heaven on your own, if you are not solely trusting Jesus Christ to get you there, you won't be able to be there.
Gregory:But also notice the other side of the coin. No amount of wrong you can do can keep you out of Heaven. God loves you. He cannot allow sin into Heaven, he cannot allow sin to go unpunished, so he took on the punishment himself because he loves you that much. And he offers you the opportunity to be set free. He offers you his righteousness, if you will but accept him by faith.
Gregory:Whether you're saved or not, I hope this short episode challenges you. Scripture is so important. We've seen before how it's inspired and preserved by God so that we can obey it. With this beautiful song. We see we ought to treasure it. We ought to learn from it. We ought to receive correction, guidance and comfort from it. We ought to accept or reject it, and whichever we choose, we need to own our choice. God gives us the choice, and we understand through His Word what the consequences of the two choices are. Either believe him and accept his salvation, or you reject him and look to anything else and thereby choose to be separated from him forever.
Gregory:May God help us treasure His Word more, absorb His Word more, and most importantly, live His Word more.
Gregory:To my regulars, thank you for your patience and for your prayers. I feel like I've cleared the worst of the sickness and my voice is finally recovering, but my appointment with the specialist revealed that my finger fracture is in a trickier spot than I was led to believe. Basically, now my whole dominant hand is in a cast.
Gregory:We'll see how being limited to one hand affects our schedule for now, but I'm still going to try to keep releasing weekly on Thursday mornings starting next week. God is always and only good to his children, even in the midst of pain. What looks like a setback to us really is just a loving opportunity to spend more time with Him and His precious Word.
Gregory:I look forward to what He's going to do in and through us going forward. See you next time.
