Understanding What You Read Part I
Psalm 119
You know…THE BIBLE IS AN AMAZING BOOK
Most people who are believers would tell you that the Bible is a remarkable book.
But the Bible is not only an Amazing and Remarkable Book.
• According to Hebrews 4:12- it is a living and powerful book.
• The word powerful comes from the Greek word “Energes”
• That word is where we get our word effective.
• So the Bible is an AMAZING< REMARKABLE> EFFECTIVE BOOK
According to Jesus…His words contained life.
• In John 6:63 Jesus said “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”
Now most people I come in contact with want to have a full and meaningful life.
• The only problem is that many don’t know how to have it.
• They seek after things that bring them instant gratification but later leaves them desiring more.
As most of you know…I am on a constant diet. Every time I look at myself in the mirror all I see are these buldging cheeks and I think…Man..I need to do something about this weight. Can anybody here identify with me. Anyway, I had been doing pretty well. Currently I stand before you 23 pounds lighter than I was 4 months ago. But I have had my share of setbacks along the way. The other night I was hankering for chocolate. I was hoping Melissa had made some sugar free chocolate pudding. There was none made so I started searching through the cabinets and I found something that would due just fine. A box of Hershey Chocolate Bars….not one but a box full. I told myself.,…this is what I need to fix the need, and one wouldn’t hurt. So I ate one…and then another….and then another. The next morning I had gained 3 pounds and was so ashamed that I couldn’t even look myself in the mirror.
You see, sometimes we recognize we need help but aren’t sure where to turn or where to go.
• So we look for the solution that meets our immediate need…even if it isn’t in our best interest long term.
• And then we find ourselves still empty, still in need, and worse off then we were before.
Today…I want to encourage you to not only have a higher regard for the Bible.
• I want to encourage you to read and apply it’s truths.
I know that is harder than it appears….and today I want to help you with that.
C.S. Lewis is a very famous Christian writer. He was a professor at Cambridge University, England. He became convinced of the truth of Christianity and became a Christian in his early thirtiesOne of the most popular books he wrote was ’The Lion, the Witch, and Wardrobe’ one of a series called ’The Chronicles of Narnia’. These are children’s fantasy books but highly respected by adults too - as they read them to their children.
This article concerns an incident one day when C.S. Lewis was in the tool shed in his garden. He noticed a sunbeam shining across the shed. It was showing up the dust particles. He must have seen the same thing many times before but this time he was captivated by it.
He traced the beam to the crack at the top of the closed door of the shed. But what struck him was that although it appeared to be coming from the crack, it was really coming from a blazing star 90 million miles away! Squinting up the beam carefully so as not to burn his eyes, he followed the beam through the crack in the door, through the leaves of a tree outside and beyond to its magnificent source. Lewis thought to himself how different it was looking along the beam to its source than it was looking at the beam in his tool shed.
As we join Lewis in his tool shed, in our mind’s eye, we cannot help but notice that the thin beam is so small and weak by comparison with that great burning nuclear fire that is the sun. Just looking at the beam alone tells us so little about its great source. You have to look along the beam to see that. The little beam is beautiful certainly, but it source is magnificent and awe-inspiring.
We need to continually remind ourselves to remember that the Bible’s WORDS, THOUGHT and PRINCIPLES can be traced back to Magnificent and Awe-inspiring source…GOD!
WHEN we keep that in the forefront of our minds…
• It affects our motivation to read.
• And our desire to understand.
So this morning…if you have a desire to understand what you read…then let’s get started learning 3 things that will help you to comprehend the Bible’s truths.
I. Pray About Understanding the Bible.
I didn’t learn this lesson in Seminary.
• But rather…I learned this lesson when I was fifteen years old.
The Bible I am preaching from today…was given to me by my parents on October 25, 1964. I remember unwrapping this precious gift and taking it from the box. I had never had a leather bound Bible and it was in my favorite color…Blue. Before I could even open it up My Mom and Dad began to teach me some things about owning a Bible. First, they told me it wasn’t just any book and therefore I shouldn’t treat it like any book. Of course, I kind of understood that already…after all I was in SS for 15 strait years. They told me not to set anything on top of the Bible and then showed my how to properly break in a new Bible. I remember the great respect the demonstrated as they took the pages and began to separate them. [like soildiers folding a flag by a graveside]. Then my mother told me the most important lesson I have ever learned. She said, “Will…sometimes it is hard to understand, but if you will keep on reading and pray before you begin reading…God will prepare your heart to understand.
Over the years I have done my best to try and practice what She preached to me that day.
• And you know, it seems that Mom’s advice was right in line with what the Psalmnist teaches.
• Let’s look at what He instructs us to pray for…so that we can better understand God’s Word.
For God to Open Your Eyes 18
It becomes clear from this Psalm and others that the writer truly had a desire to have a better understanding of God.
• That makes sense…because He understood that this life is sometimes pretty difficult, things happen that blindside us, cause us anxiety and hurt.
• He understood that we need divine intervention in life, but He also understood that our natural inclination is to not always ask for God’s help.
Please understand that God has intervened in our lives.
• Not only did He come to this earth and walk among men.
• Not only did He die for our sins.
• But he also, inspired a book that if read and understood can truly help us to experience a blessed and fulfilled life.
One of the best things you can do…is to begin praying to for God to open your eyes and reveal His truth to you.
• That is what the Psalmnist did…He prayed for God to help him understand the word and all it’s wonders.
All too often we don’t pray for intervention until a crisis.
• We need to learn to be prepare ourselves before the crisis strikes.
For God to Stir Your Heart 36
Notice verse 36…it is so honest. He say’s “Incline my heart to Your testimonies, and not to covetousness.”
You know, sometimes we have to pray the way…that we wished we felt.
• Let’s face it…sometimes when we open up the Bible we are so frustrated with life that we are not postured to listen or learn.
Sometimes the best thing we can do is say, “God open my eyes and stir my heart.”
For God to Enlighten Your Mind 73
David reveals another startling confession.
• In verse 73…he acknowledges that God made him. Life is a gift from God.
• And God didn’t just create us, God created us with a purpose.
Therefore, if God has created our lives for a purpose and with meaning.
• We have to be able to understand, to discern God’s direction and plans for life.
You see, even if life has purpose…if you don’t understand the purpose.
• Life is meaningless.
Therefore, we need to ask God to not only reveal truth…but to properly give us discernment.
• In other words, to be able to see the heart of His truth.
It is one thing to understand truth, and another thing to have an understanding of truth.
For example, I can hear and believe that by Grace we are saved, and not really understand the heart of the truth…how it truly impacts our lives every day. Without having a true appreciation for the value of Grace.
It is my opinion that churches are filled with people who can spit our doctrine, church history, and facts from Sunday School lessons for the past 30 years.
• And while they can certainly recite truth…they don’t really have an understanding of the Truth they are reciting.
This isn’t a phenomena that is only found in the spiritual realm. It happens every day to students across our county. I was the master at being able to cram for a test, memorize facts, and get by. You may get by in the short term but soon you forget the facts you stuffed into your head. How many of us have memorized events from History without truly appreciating the significance of the event.
That happened to me this past week. I was reflecting on the condition of our country and the lack of leadership in the house, senate that truly represented people instead of self interests. I broke out a copy of the Declaration of Independence, and started reading it. The language in that document is beautiful, and meaning behind the document is inspiring. So inspiring that a group of men where willing to risk their lives in the pursuit of liberty. They were willing to be killed as traitors in order to be free from Tyranny. They didn’t just know what liberty was, they truly had an understanding of Liberty
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
When there is understanding Words can be inspiring and life changing.
• And when there is no understanding…Words can just be noise. [blah, blah, blah]
Conclusion/Invitation
Through most of my life I have been told that knowledge is the key to Spiritual Growth.
• And I agree that Knowledge is a key…but my fear is that for too long that is all we have emphasized.
• I memorized scripture, learned the books of the Bible, Learned the stories and could recite them, I won awards for Bible Drills.
• When I got older I read the doctrinal statements of the church and I could tell you what the Baptist Faith and Message taught. And I knew that was what Baptists Believed…at least until I got to seminary.
• So I would agree that knowledge is important…it is a good first step, a necessary first step.
But if all we do is impart knowledge, then we are setting people up for a lot of frustration in their faith journey.
• It is imperative that we go beyond knowledge to UNDERSTANDING.
• To the point where our faith is more than being able to recite facts and stories and even good doctrine.
• It must become personal. We must take ownership of what we believe.
That is the only way that faith is inspiring and truly life changing.
You see, I think that is the difference between the faith of so many in the NT and the faith of so many today.
• That is why so many of them laid it all on the line for Christ.
• And I believe that is why God worked so powerfully in their midst.
You see, they had more than just knowledge….they had understanding.
• An understanding that inspired them to live for Jesus.
Do you?
We must get over our pride and never get over our need for God’s Word.
