Just before I moved here a friend of mine took me up in a single engine aircraft that he jointly owned with several other persons. It was a clear and warm August day in 2000 and we flew over downtown Grand Rapids and made several circles around our home in NE Grand Rapids as I took pictures of it from around 5,000 feet high.
Then we headed over our church property and the school where we were meeting at the time and then into NE Kent County when Phil said, “You fly.” So, I took the stick and while I love airplanes and still do after all that has happened, I was scared to death. I was very much aware at that point of what it takes to fly an airplane.
I did not do a very good job of flying. In fact, I did not notice that I was pushing the nose down as I took control of the stick. But, Phil did. He kept saying, “Pull the nose up.”
Phil has flown for many years. He knew by watching the instruments and by his experience and training that the nose of the aircraft was pointed down, not a lot, but just enough to cause the airplane to descend. Phil had a point of reference that I did not and that is why he understood what was happening and I did not.
This morning, we are continuing to study ways of sustaining and establishing our relationship with God. And this morning our topic of study is about a very important way that God has given to us that helps us know how to live the Christian life.
Here are some clues:
1. It has been called the “Word of God.”
What is the Bible?
2. A verse in this book says, “It is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true.”
What is the Bible?
3. Without it I really can’t preach on Sunday morning.
What is the Bible?
Last Sunday, we used our right hand in regard to prayer as follows: (Overhead) Praise, Cooperation, Petition, Forgiveness, and Victory.
And I suggested that prayer: establishes, deepens, and sustains our relationship with God.
Today, we are going to use our left hand to help us understand how to study our Bible because God has given us the Bible to know how to love, follow, trust, and obey God. (Overhead)
Now, before we hear how to study there are two things that are very important about the Bible:
1. The Bible is the central and only true guide to the Christian Faith. Yes, there are books about the Bible and even books about books of the Bible. People who seek to help us understand what the Bible says write many of these books. But, when it comes to the basics of Christianity the Bible stands alone.
2. God wants us to understand the Bible. As I have said before, God has not given us the Bible and then stood back with arms folded and said, “Go ahead and figure it out.” He has given us the Bible to help us live the Christian faith. And He wants us to understand what it says.
One of the neat things about Bible study is when you ask kids to repeat back a Bible story they have heard.
Like the little boy who exclaimed when a pressed tree leaf fell out between the pages of an old Family Bible, “Hey, this must be where Adam and Eve left their clothes!”
Or the following written responses to various statements made in response to questions asked in the classroom:
“Jacob, son of Isaac, stole his brother’s birth mark.” Or “Moses went up on Mount Cyanide to get the Ten Commandments.”
If we are going to faithfully and wholeheartedly follow God in every area of our lives, then we must do five things with the Bible and David Durey has us use our left hand to help us remember those five things. (Overhead)
Ready?
For us to love, follow, trust, and obey God we must hear, read, study, memorize, and meditate on the Bible.
In Romans 10:17 we read, “Yet faith comes from listening to this message of good news – the Good News about Christ.” Listening is another name for hearing. In fact, it is a very good description of hearing because for us to apply the Bible to our lives we must hear what the Bible says.
One of the ways we express our love for someone is by what, listening to him or her, right? And when we are listened to, we feel love and respected, right? Now, I have to confess, that I don’t do this perfectly. I need to work on this. But, when I take the time to listen, good things happen: My relationships with others improve, they feel loved and respected, and I understand the needs and thoughts of another person.
What does it mean to listen? It means, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, “to pay attention in order to hear.” I would add, “to pay attention in order to understand.”
For us to understand the Bible, we have to hear what it says. And one of the ways that we can hear what it says is when we model what it says in Luke 8:15, “But the good soil represents, honest, good-hearted people who hear God’s message, cling to it, and steadily produce a huge harvest.”
In other words, we must be open to what the Bible has to say. Our attitude must one of openness and receptivity. If it isn’t then we are not going to hear what God wants us to know.
But, listening to the Bible is one thing, reading it is something else. The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 119:11, “I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” As we read the Bible we must store it like a squirrel stores nuts, so that when we draw upon it, it gives us the strength to live the right way.
Without the Bible, Christianity is foundationless. It is essential to the proclamation of the Christian faith. Without the Bible, our personal relationship with God is also foundationless. It is essential to our relationship with Him because without it, we do not know how to follow Him.
In James 2:22 and 23 we read, “And remember, it is a message to obey, not just listen to. If you don’t obey, you are only fooling yourself. For if you just listen and don’t obey it is like looking at your face in a mirror but doing nothing to improve your appearance.”
If we want to have our life appearance improved through the work of God; if we want to have peace with God, if we want to really live well for God, then we must do more than merely hear and read the Bible. We must also study it!
Now the word “study” is a dirty word to some of us here this morning. We don’t like to study. We hate to study. But, the purpose of studying the Bible is not to just collect information, but to allow God to change us, to transform us to become more and more like Jesus.
Other words for “improve” are “advance” and “develop.” And what is it that needs to be improved, to be advanced, to be developed? It is our character!
And one of the ways we improve, advance, and develop our character is through Bible study. We cooperate with God to become a better, more authentic Christian as we allow God to use the truth of the Bible to change us from within.
Paul’s words to Timothy apply to us, “Work hard so God can approve you. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth.” Now Paul is not talking about working to earn salvation, he is speaking of work as living out salvation. And a good worker is one who studies.
Now, how do we study the Bible? Good question! In fact here are four good questions for studying the Bible. (Overhead)
1. What does it say? This is observation of the text/passage. We first read to read it, to know what it says.
2. What does it mean? This is interpretation of the text/passage. Now we often skip the first question and go to this question. However, we first must read what it says.
Here is an example. In Matthew 5:29 and 30 we read, “So if your eye –even if it is your good eye- causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to loose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your hand-even if it is your stronger hand – causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
Now what does Jesus say? “If you eye or your hand causes you to sin, cut it off!” Now if we were to take that literally what would that mean? There would be a lot of us blind and unable to walk, right? Does he mean to literally to blind and maim yourself? No! Well then, what does he mean?
We look at the context. He is talking about adultery. And He says that adultery really takes place in the heart and mind before it takes physically takes place. Then he says to gouge and cut yourself in order to save your soul from hell.
What does He mean? Stop doing what you are doing. Don’t let your body be an avenue for adultery, stop looking at and stop holding another person instead of your spouse.
3. Now the next study question is, “How does it fit in with the Bible as a whole?” This is called correlation. Good Bible study does not pick texts/passages out of a hat and fit them together. It ties them in with the larger segments in which they appear. I illustrated that in my example, when I noted that Matthew 5:29 and 30 was a part of a segment about adultery.
4. Finally we ask the hardest question of all, “How do I use it in my life?” This is the application question. Remember the James passage about improving your appearance? This is what the Bible and Bible study is all about. The ultimate purpose of Bible study is to help us apply what is said and meant to our lives.
Now, hearing the Word, reading the Word, and studying the Word is one thing, we need to also hide the word in our hearts and minds. And we hide scripture in our hearts through memorization. (Overhead)
A few weeks ago our topic was victory over sin and temptation and our primary verse was I Corinthians 10:13. In that verse Paul says that God will provide a way of escape from temptation. One of the ways that God provides escape from temptation is through scripture that we memorize. And Jesus illustrated how powerful that can be as we read in Matthew 4 that contains the story of His temptation while in the wilderness.
Three times Satan tempted Jesus in specific ways. And every time Jesus’ response was, “The scriptures say,” “The scriptures say,” “The scriptures say.”
In a couple of churches that I have served, Bible Quizzing, memorizing and quote a book of the Bible, has provided teens with the opportunity to develop a relationship with scripture and that has served many of them well over the years. One of those teens, if I remember correctly, memorized the entire book of Matthew and could quote it word for word!
However, memorization, to be effective, must be linked to our final way of grasping God’s word and that is meditation. Meditation is reflecting on, praying on, and deeply pondering the Bible.
I like to call meditation, “munching” on scripture. We chew it slowly and carefully. We taste it, if you will, and savor it. David Durey suggests that meditation “is seeking to KNOW and OBEY God’s word.”
In Psalm 1 we are given a great word picture of those who meditate on scripture. “They are like,” it says in verse 3, “trees planted along a river bank. . . Their leaves never wither, and in all they do, they prosper.”
Our primary verse for today, Psalm 119:105, was read earlier, “Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path.”
The lamp of that day probably have been an oil lamp and the light would have been just enough for the next few steps. Enough for the feet to be firmly placed one step at a time.
The images of a strong, healthy tree and a clear, not large, lamp are two images I want to leave with us today. (Overhead)
God has given us the Bible to help us move forward in our lives with Him so that we can see which direction to go. The Bible has also been given to us to help us grow deep, to have roots that are not easily shaken when challenges and difficulties come.
How strong are your roots? Better yet, how deep are your roots? One can have strong roots that are shallow. One can also have deep roots that are weak. In what is your life rooted these days? Is the Bible a daily part of your life?
What kind of light are you giving off? Have you allowed God to trim your wick, through prayer and Bible study, so that your light is shining brightly in your corner of the world?
What kind of grip do you have on your Bible? As we listening to it, as we read it, as we study it, as we memorize it, and meditate upon it, it helps us to love, follow, trust, and obey God.
Paul said in Philippians 4:8, “And now dear brothers and sisters, let me say one more thing as I close this letter. Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”
This passage is one measurement of Christian maturity. And we can begin to exhibit it as we allow the Bible to get a grip on us. Let it do so. Amen.
