Spiritual Disciplines Series: Read The Instructions - Bible Study
INTRO: Back when the telegraph was the fastest method of long-distance communication, a young man applied for a job as a Morse Code operator. Answering an ad in the newspaper, he went to the office address that was listed. When he arrived, he entered a large, busy office filled with noise and clatter, including the sound of the telegraph in the background. A sign on the receptionist’s counter instructed job applicants to fill out a form and wait until they were summoned to enter the inner office.
The young man filled out his form and sat down with the seven other applicants in the waiting area. After a few minutes, the young man stood up, crossed the room to the door of the inner office, and walked right in. Naturally the other applicants perked up, wondering what was going on. They talked among themselves that they hadn’t heard any summons yet. They assumed that the young man who went into the office made a mistake and would be disqualified.
Within a few minutes, however, the employer escorted the young man out of the office and said to the other applicants, “Gentlemen, thank you very much for coming, but the job has just been filled.”
The other applicants began grumbling to each other, and one spoke up saying, “Wait a minute, I don’t understand. He was the last to come in, and we never even got a chance to be interviewed. Yet he got the job. That’s not fair!”
The employer said, “I’m sorry, but all the time you’ve been sitting here, the telegraph has been ticking out the following message in Morse Code: ‘If you understand this message, then come right in. The job is yours.’ None of you heard it or understood it. This young man did. The job is his.”
I think many of us make the same mistake when it comes to Bible study. We study the Bible but we are not really listening for God’s voice and therefore we do not understand what He wants to say to us. We are easily distracted by busyness and the countless distractions all around us. God has spoken, and He wants to speak to you, but are you listening for His voice?
Tonight we are going to talk about Bible study. I want to answer two questions: Why study the Bible? And How to study the Bible?
"...there’s a translation of Scriptures that this guy Eugene Peterson has undertaken. It has been a great strength to me. He’s a poet and a scholar, and he’s brought the text back to the tone in which the books were written." Bono
“Americans need to read the Bible. Even more, they need to study it. It is the cornerstone of freedom, the foundation of idealism, and the key to abundant living.” Billy Graham
I came up with 5 reasons why we should study the Bible
1. It’s divine (2 Tim. 3:16 “all Scripture is God-breathed…”; Heb. 4:12)
It’s from God and it tells us who God is, what God is like, what God desires, what God offers, and most importantly, how we can know God personally.
God gave it to us, God gave it to you. It deserves a healthy and humble respect.
2. It’s truth (Jn. 17:17)
Let’s play a game of true or false.
1. a penny dropped from the top of the Empire State Building will embed itself in the pavement. (F)
2. You can send a coconut through the mail without wrapping it. (T)
3. If you college roommate commits suicide, you get automatic A’s in all your courses. (F)
4. Koalas are always stoned from ingesting the alcohol in eucalyptus leaves. (F)
5. A woman adopted a stray dog in Tijuana, Mexico and later discovered it was a sewer rat. (F)
6. Some Oregon highway workers blew up a whale and showered the town with whale blubber. (T)
7. You can tell if a big operation is under way at the White House by the level of pizza orders that come from there. (F)
The Bible is not just partly true….it’s totally true. Jesus said “Santify them by the truth, Your Word is truth” Jn. 17:17
3. It’s our map (Ps. 119:105) The Bible not only shows us how to know God but it also tells us how we should live. “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.”
ILL- Driving to Dad’s took 23 West instead of 23 East (failed to use a map and common sense)
“When you have read the Bible, you will know it is the Word of God, because you will have found in it the key to your own heart, your own happiness and your own duty.” Woodrow Wilson
4. It’s our food (Mt. 4:4) Just as food is necessary for our physical health, so the Bible is necessary for our spiritual health and growth. “Man does not live on bread alone, but on EVERY WORD that comes from the mouth of God.” Jer. 15:16 “When Your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight.” Eze. 2:8 “But you, son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not rebel like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.” Eze. 3:1 “And he said to me, ‘Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; the go and speak to the house of Israel.”
ILL – Reading Ezekiel in my devotions; repeated phrase “then they will know that I am the Lord.”
“A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education.” Theodore Roosevelt
5. It’s our life (Deut. 32:47) The Bible shows us how we can have life, real like (Jn. 10:10) “They are not just idle words for you- they are your life. Deut. 30:15-16 “See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord you God will bless you in the land you are now entering to possess.
ILL – Bible also calls itself a: sword, light, mirror, counselor, and a story
ILL- ONE YEAR CHALLENGE – finishing reading Bible through for the 10th time in 8 years!
How Can I Study The Bible?
Don’t be like the Prince of Granada.
The prince of Grenada, an heir to the Spanish crown, was sentenced to life in solitary confinement in Madrid’s ancient prison called “The Place of the Skull.” The fearful, dirty, and dreary nature of the place earned it the name. Everyone knew that once you were in, you would never come out alive. The prince was given one book to read the entire time- the Bible. With only one book to read, he read it hundreds of times. That Bible became his constant companion.
After 33 years of imprisonment, he died. When they came in to clean out his cell, they found some notes he had written using nails to mark the soft stone of the prison walls. The notations were of this sort: Ps. 118:8 is the middle verse of the Bible; Ezra 7:21 contains all the letters of the alphabet except the letter j; the ninth verse of the eighth chapter of Esther is the longest verse in the Bible; no word or name of more than 6 syllables can be found in the Bible.
When Psychologist, Scot Udell originally noted these facts in an article in “Psychology Today”, he noted the oddity of an individual who spent 33 years of his life studying what some have described as the greatest book of all time yet could only glean trivia. From all we know, he never made any spiritual commitment to Christ, but he became an expert at Bible trivia.
How can we not make the same mistake? I have a simple plan to help you get the most out of your personal Bible Study.
How? By following the acrostic: PRAY
Prepare
Need the RIGHT TOOLS:
A study Bible (NIV study Bible or Life Application Study Bible)
A Bible concordance (Strongs)
A one or two volume commentary (Bible Knowledge Commentary)
A Bible dictionary (International Dictionary of the Bible)
Need the RIGHT MINDSET:
Before you begin your study, pray Ps. 119:18 “open my eyes that I may see the wonderful things in Your Word” Ask God to “guide you into all truth” Jn. 16:13
Bible study must be done in faith and with the power of the Holy Spirit
1 Cor. 2:12 says “We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.”
Record (Exegesis)
There’s a dual nature to the Bible. Because it’s God’s Word, it has ETERNAL RELEVANCE, it speaks to all people, in every age and in every culture and so we must all listen and obey.
But because God chose to speak His Word through human words in history, every book of the Bible also has HISTORICAL PARTICULARIY. Each document is conditioned by the language, time and culture in which it was originally written.
So we need a balanced approach and must avoid all extremes. One extreme is to see the Bible as a HISTORY BOOK. The other extreme is to obey every single command like Deut. 22:5,12 “A woman should not wear men’s clothing”- so you cannot wear socks, or shorts---IT’S SIN!
There are TWO important tasks in good Bible study.
The first task is EXEGESIS- the careful, systematic study of Scripture to discover the ORIGINAL, INTENDED MEANING. (Historical task)
There are two kinds of questions to consider and to ask of every Biblical passage. Those of CONTEXT (When was it written?) and those of CONTENT (What’s the meaning of the words?).
The second task is HERMENEUTICS- seeking the contemporary relevance of the ancient text. What does it mean here and now?
Examples of bad hermeneutics are: 1 Cor. 15:29- Baptizing for the dead (Mormans);
Mk. 16:18- snake handlers
Under RECORD you are doing EXEGESIS. As you study a passage you want to:
Read the context
Research the historical background and find the original meaning of the text.
Ask 5 W’s (who, what, where, when, and why)
Circle and look-up (using Bible Dictionary) key words and/or phrases
Cross reference with other passages
Paraphrase the passage (put it in your own words)
Apply (Hermeneutics)
Asking the Question: How does this passage of Scripture apply to me today?
Ask God to SPEAK to you. Ask yourself, is there a:
Sin I need to confess or avoid?
Promise I need to claim or principle to live by?
Example I need to follow?
Action I need to take?
Knowledge of God that’s new to me?
Yield
Asking Question: What action does God want me to take?
Give yourself to God and take action. Rom. 12:1-2
Closing ILL- You know the Psalm, I know the Shepherd.
There was once a Shakespearian actor who was known far and wide for his one-man show of readings and recitations from the classics. He would always end his performance with a dramatic reading of the 23 Psalm. Each night, without exception, at the conclusion of the psalm, the crowd would give thunderous applause in appreciation of the actor’s incredible ability to bring the verse to life.
One night, just before the actor was to offer his customary recital of the 23 Psalm, a young man from the audience spoke up. “Sir, do you mind if tonight I recite the 23 Psalm?
The actor was taken back by this unusual request, but he allowed the young man to come forward and stand front and center on the stage to recite the psalm, knowing that ability of this unskilled youth would be no match for his own talent.
With a soft voice, the young man began to recite the words of the Psalm. When he finished, there was no applause. There was no standing ovation as on other nights. All that could be heard was the sound of weeping. The audience had been so moved by the young man that every eye was full of tears.
Amazed by what he heard, the actor said to the youth, “I don’t understand. I have been performing the 23 Psalm for years. I have a lifetime of experience and training- but I have never been able to move the audience as you have tonight. Tell me, what is your secret?”
The young man humbly replied, “Well sir, you know the Psalm….but I know the Shepherd.”
The goal of Bible study is not just to know the content of the Bible- it’s stories, it’s sayings, it’s teachings. It’s to get to know the AUTHOR of the Bible in a deeper, more personal way.
