GYC Great Lakes 2011

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GYC Great Lakes

Vikram Panchal

How to Study the Bible

Well, thank you for joining us again in this third of our series on practical spirituality from GYC Great Lakes, live from Andrews University, Berrien Springs.

Our topic for today is how to study the Bible.

From the beginning of time, forces have been brewing to keep the Bible out of the hands of ordinary citizens.

In fact, in 8300, the Roman Emperor Diocletian did all that he could to unleash a brutal and ruthless persecution against the Christians.

He ordered for every Bible to be burned, believing that by destroying the scriptures he would in fact destroy Christianity.

Now many of you have heard of the Emperor Nero, but Diocletian unleashed what was called the Great Persecution.

Never had there been such a persecution as during that time of Diocletian.

However, it is also interesting to note that within 24 years, by AD 324, Constantine became the next Roman Emperor, and he caused Christianity to become the legalized religion.

By far, the burning of the Bible did not do to Christianity what Diocletian initially hoped.

During the time of the French Enlightenment, Voltaire, the famous historian and philosopher, said that 1 day in another century and there will not be a Bible on Earth.

Voltaire predicted that within 50 years time there would not be a single Bible left on planet Earth.

However, it is interesting to note that in the very house in which Voltaire lived, in the house in which Voltaire probably wrote these words, has now been converted into a Bible distribution center where Bibles are distributed throughout France and the European continent in many different languages.

Have you ever considered the power that there is in the Word of God?

In fact, the book of Psalms, chapter 119, verse 162, King David says, I rejoice at thy word as 1 that findeth great treasure.

In the book of Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 12 the Apostle Paul the great evangelist says, For the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

There has never been a more opportune time to start studying the Bible again and unlock the important truths that are present in there.

The question is, how do we actually study the Bible?

Because we have a one-hour session today, I want to share with you 3 critical principles.

The first principle is that we need to study the Bible in its entirety.

Martin Luther, the very famous German reformer, who protested against Papal Rome, the Roman Catholic Church, because he had kept the Bible from the laity.

In fact, the Bible could only be read in Latin by the educated clergy.

Martin Luther's ambition was to have the Bible translated in as many languages as possible and to have the Word of God distributed far and wide.

He said, For some years now I have read through the Bible twice every year.

If you picture the Bible to be a mighty tree and every word a little branch.

I have shaken every 1 of these branches because I wanted to know what it was and what it meant." Martin Luther shows us that the first key principle is that we need a solid, deep understanding of the Word of God.

In our first session today, we looked at how Paul commended to Timothy to be an able defender of the Word of God.

In 2 Timothy chapter 4 verses 1 and 2, Paul said, Preach the Word, be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering in doctrine.

And Paul again says in 2 Timothy 2 verse 15, study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

I'm quoting from the King James Version there.

So there's no doubt we need to become very well acquainted with the Word of God.

Was a godly man, and 1 of his secrets was to read the Bible through in its entirety, I believe, once or twice or maybe even 3 times per year.

And so we need to have a solid macro understanding of what the Word of God teaches.

The second principle I want to share with you today is that not only do we need to read the Bible in its entirety, not only do we need to have an overall perspective of what the Bible says, but we need to delve deeper into specific parts of what the Bible teaches.

And so the second principle is that we need to study the Bible in short passages.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the famous English preacher, who was called the Prince of Preachers.

In fact, rumors abound that once when Spurgeon was preaching, an unconverted man who was doing renovations on the rooftop in the church where Spurgeon was preaching heard the word Jesus Christ by Spurgeon and he was immediately converted.

I do not know if this rumor is true, but regardless we know that Spurgeon was a man of God and this is Spurgeon's advice to us.

Some people like to read so many Bible chapters every day.

I would not dissuade them from the practice, but I would rather lay my soul asoak in half a dozen verses all day, then rinse my hand in several chapters.

Oh, to be bathed in a text of Scripture, and to let it be sucked up in your very soul till it saturates your heart." There is no doubt that we need to study an entire book of the Bible in short passages so we can delve deep into the Word of God.

The third principle I want to share with you today comes from a quote by a lady called Jacqueline Heasley.

Jacqueline Heasley says this, the Word of God is a person.

When you read it, do you see words or do you see a person?

And so our third principle is that we should look for Jesus in every single chapter, in every single word, in every passage we're studying for our morning devotions, we should look for Christ.

In fact, the Bible is merely a reflection of the face of Jesus.

When we study the Bible, when we read the words, we should look for Christ.

We should have a Christ-centered or a Christocentric approach to Bible study.

On the basis of this quote then, how does the psalmist describe the longing we should have for God?

It is 1 thing to study the Bible, it is another thing to have a longing, a heart longing to spend time in the Word of God.

The first quotation I want to share with you comes from the book of Psalms which says in verse 42 verses 1 and 2.

The Bible says this, as the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for you, O God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

Our longing for God should be as a deep unquenchable thirst.

David says he longed for God as the deer pants for the water brooks.

In fact, in Psalms chapter 27 verse 4, King David said it like this.

He said, 1 thing my heart desires that I will long for all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.

If he desired a relationship, he already had it.

If he desired anything the world could ever offer him, King David was a man who already had it.

And yet, King David said, 1 thing have I desired.

In other words, 1 thing I lack, and that is to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple.

King David said it well when he realized that there was 1 thing he was lacking.

Today, does your heart desire to spend time in God's Word, to immerse yourself in the Word of God, to let it sink deep and richly into the deep recesses of your mind.

There's another quote from Psalms, chapter 63 and verse 1.

And I'm reading from the New King James Version.

Here King David says, oh God, you are my God.

My flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water on our PowerPoint slide here we have a picture of a parched land where there is no water and there's a strong sunlight that's causing great death of wilderness, great starvation, where no food can be grown, where there is no water.

In the same way our heart should long to study the Word of God.

The final quotation I want to share with you comes from Psalms 84.2.

Here it says, My soul longs, Yes, even faints for the course of the Lord.

My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God." King David's heart was crying out to spend time with God.

To experience that same heart longing for the Word of God?

But the question I want to ask you today is, what is the best time to study the Word of God?

Is it in the evening, just before we're going to switch off the lights and turn and go to bed?

Is it in the afternoon just after we've had a wonderful warm lunch?

King David after all was called a man after God's own heart.

Let's read the wisdom of King David himself.

In the book of Psalms chapter 143 verse 8, King David says, "'Cause me to hear thy loving-kindness in the morning, For in Thee do I trust.

Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my soul unto You.

You see, our minds are fresh in the morning time.

It is wonderful to be able to hear the Word of God in the morning right before the sun even sets or if the sun has set, if you are a slightly late riser, to be able to hear the Word of God when you've just woken up.

And so the morning time is the best time to do our devotions.

But the key question is, what then is the best way to study the Bible?

There might be many different methods that you've learned prior to coming here, but I want to share with you a proven method that has personally enriched my spiritual walk with God.

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How to Study the Bible

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