Lesson 1: How God Leads Through Scripture
A. WHAT DOESN’T WORK
1. Sitting on a rock by a lake waiting for God to speak. Christianity is a relationship and you learn from God in similar ways that you learn from others.
2. Name it, claim it, saying what you want God to do, so it will happen.
3. Hope and poke.
4. Praying until you’ve convinced yourself. “This is what God wants me to do.”
B. WHAT IS THE BIBLE?
1. The Bible is God’s book, it brings me to God. “The word of our God will stand forever” (Is. 40:8).
2. The Bible is truth, it always tells me the right thing to do. “Thy Word is truth” (Jn. 17:17).
3. The Bible contains God’s will to help me find God’s plan for my life.
“God has a plan for your life.” – Blue Sign
4. The Bible gives God’s life, so you can live for God. “The words I speak unto you . . . are life” (Jn. 6:63).
5. The Bible has God’s Spirit to help you be spiritual. “All scriptures is given by inspiration of God” (II Tim. 3:16).
6. The Bible has God’s wisdom, to help make us wise. “The law of the Lord is perfect, making wise the simple” (Ps. 19:7).
7. The Bible has God’s principles to guide us to live for God. “The word which I say unto you, that shalt thou do” (Num. 22:20).
C. HOW TO FIND GOD’S LEADING IN SCRIPTURE
1. Read the Bible straight forward and do what it commands, i.e., the Ten Commandments.
a. Don’t add to the Bible or take away from it. “If any man adds unto these things . . . if any man shall take away from the words of the book . . . God shall take away . . .” (Rev. 22:18-19).
b. The law of silence, when the Bible is silent, don’t make it speak.
2. Always begin with what you understand and do it.
3. Know the difference between doing the positive and avoiding the negative commands.
a. To not do the positive, is a sin of ignorance or falling short. “To him who knows to do good, and does not do it, to him it is sin” (James 4:17).
b. To not avoid the negative is a transgression and dangerous.
4. Know the difference between interpretation and application.
a. Bible has one interpretation (can’t make one word mean two things).
b. Bible has many applications.
Applications are many
Interpretation is one
Many applications for readers
The interpretation is one
5. Know the difference between description and prescription.
a. A description of an action may not apply to you.
(1) Jesus told demons, (1) be quiet, (2) tell me your name.
(2) Walk on water.
(3) Rise and be healed.
(4) The spitters vs. the non-spitters.
6. What can you learn from Bible examples of people?
a. Can’t always follow them: Jacob had two wives.
b. Can get vision from their service, i.e., Nehemiah.
c. Get motivation from their sacrifices and obedience, i.e., Esther.
d. Get growth from their discipleship.
7. When the Bible uses figurative language, determine what the speaker has in mind.
The Golden Role of Interpretation
The plain sense makes good sense, seek no other sense.
But take each word at its normal literal meaning.
-Cooper
D. WHAT TO BRING TO THE BIBLE
1. Intelligently examined. “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11, KJV).
2. God wants you to understand what you know and do it. “They read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading” (Neh. 8:8, KJV).
3. God wants you to give diligence. “Study to show thyself approved of God” (II Tim. 2:15, KJV).
4. The Bible is written in everyday common language for every day. Common people to live every day for God.
a. Not a mystical book, i.e., deep hidden truth.
b. Not a theological book, but a description of lives.
c. Not a philosophical book, i.e., it doesn’t search for the meaning of life; it has the answers to life.
5. It’s not the things I don’t understand in the Bible that bother me, it’s the things I understand.
If you have never really accepted Jesus as your personal Savior, would you do it right now? Do not delay or put it off. If you would like to receive Christ by faith, pray this simple prayer in your heart:
Dear Lord, I acknowledge that I am a sinner. I believe Jesus died for my sins on the cross, and rose again the third day. I repent of my sins. By faith I receive the Lord Jesus as my Savior. You promised to save me, and I believe You, because You are God and cannot lie. I believe right now that the Lord Jesus is my personal Savior, and that all my sins are forgiven through His precious blood. I thank You, dear Lord, for saving me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
If you prayed that prayer, God heard you and saved you. I personally want to welcome you to the family of God and rejoice with you.
