Tuesday, January 21, 2020

The Word of God - Why We Need To Study The Bible


Why Should We Study the Bible?
Read Hebrews 4:12
For the Word of God is quick, and powerful….

The Bible says the Word of God is ‘quick’
Quick does not mean ‘fast’ as we define the word today.
          When the Bible was being translated to English the word ‘quick’ actually meant
       ‘to live’ (see Strong’s G2198) which is what the original writing was saying.
Paul, who is the writer of the Book of Hebrews, was teaching that the Word of
                  God is alive…. The Bible is the Living Word of God.

God wants to speak to us every time we open and read the Bible.
The Word of God should never become stagnant to us.
We should never read just to be reading or to say we’ve read it.
It should be a routine (a daily habit) but never just a ritual
(ritual = actions or behavior regularly followed by someone)

2 Timothy 3:16-17
          All Scripture is given by the inspiration of God,
          and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof,
for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
That the man of God may be perfect (complete),
thoroughly furnished (fully equipped) unto all good works.

When the Bible says all Scripture is given by the inspiration of God it is saying that all
Scripture is divinely breathed by God.  (see Strong’s G2315)

Every Scripture in the Bible was given by God to:
instruct and teach us concerning God’s laws and ways (doctrine)
chasten and convict us when we’re doing things that displease God (reproof)
to correct us so that we’ll change our ways and straighten up (correction)
to educate and train us how to be more Christ like in every way (instruction)

READING versus STUDYING
There is a difference between reading and studying the Bible.
I can read the Bible but studying causes me to dig a little deeper to understand God’s Word more fully.

Did you know the Bible actually instructs us to STUDY and SEARCH the Scriptures?
Paul admonished in his letters to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:15 to…
          STUDY to show thyself approved unto God,
          A workman that needeth not to be ashamed,
          Rightly dividing the Word of Truth

Jesus, Himself, taught in John 5:39 that we are to…
          SEARCH the Scriptures;
          For in them ye think ye have eternal life:
          And they are they which testify of Me.

Search means (through the idea of inquiry) to seek, to investigate
          (Strong’s G2045 eraunao)

God WANTS us to seek, to search, and investigate the Scriptures.
Every time we open the Bible to read, we need to have an open mind to hear
what God wants to say.

Paul (formerly Saul) was a Pharisee and the son of a Pharisee (Acts 23:6)
          He was an accomplished student of the Word
          He was brought up from the time he was young studying God’s laws
at the feet of Gamaliel, who was an eminent doctor of the Jewish law.
          Paul knew the O.T. Scriptures and was zealous for God
he fought against anything he perceived as false doctrine.
          He fought against the followers of Jesus Christ, persecuting and killing them
                   because he thought following Jesus was contrary to God’s Word
and was blasphemy against it.  (Acts 8)
          Paul didn’t realize he was fighting against God,
against what God wanted to REVEAL to him,
and what God wanted to do THROUGH him.
          Paul studied and knew the Word BUT God still had more to reveal to him.
                   God wanted to show him there was more to salvation than the O.T.
law which he followed.
          Paul thought he had eternal life when he was following the Law
                   He didn’t realize or understand until later that the Law was merely our
Schoolmaster (tutor/instructor) to bring us unto Christ (Gal 3:24)
The Law was just a shadow of things to come (Heb 10:1)
          Paul had a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge (Romans 10:1-2)
          He had some understanding although he sincerely thought he was wise in the
Scriptures but he didn’t have a full understanding
of God’s redemption plan
          He finally came to understand that after his Damascus Rd experience 
Read Acts 9:1-5
                   Jesus let him know when he was persecuting the Christians,
he was really persecuting Jesus.  And his efforts were in vain.  

As Christians, we have personal responsibilities (things God requires of us)

Read Philippians 2:12
Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed,
not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence,
 work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

*we are to WORK out our salvation with FEAR and TREMBLING
*we can’t do that if we don’t read the Bible and know what His Word says

2 Peter 1:10
Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to
make your calling and election sure:
for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

*we are to make our calling and election absolutely SURE (i.e. stable/steadfast)

2 Timothy 2:15
Study to shew thyself approved unto God,
a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the Word of Truth

We study so we can correctly understand God’s Word, and please God. 
1.     Study
2.     Work on it
3.     Make absolutely Sure
We are to STUDY the Scriptures so we won’t be ashamed and without an answer when someone asks us a question concerning what we believe and why we believe as we do.
There’s so much false doctrine and teaching floating around today.
Many are confused as to what’s really Biblical Truth and what’s not.

Hearing the Preached Word can help us to grow spiritually and to understand more fully what the Scriptures are saying.  God gives the Pastor anointing and revelation to expound and explain the Scriptures.  

Titus 2:3
          But hath in due times manifested His Word through preaching.

Isaiah 40:8
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth:
but the Word of our God shall stand for ever.

God’s Word never changes.  It will stand forever.

That’s why it’s important to read the Word, get the Word in our hearts, and know what God’s Word really says.

There are two important things in our walk with God that we must not neglect.
·        Daily Bible reading
·        Daily Prayer

These two things are vitally important to feed our spiritual man. 

When the devil came to Jesus tempting Him to turn stones into bread, Jesus responded with the Word of God.  He said in Luke 4:4….
….It is written, that man shall not live by bread alone,
BUT BY EVERY WORD OF GOD.

We need the Word of God (the Bible) more than our daily food.
It is God’s Word that will sustain us day to day. 

Phl 2:5 - Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.

The more you read it, the more you will begin to get the mind of Christ in you.
In other words…you’ll begin to think and act more like Jesus. 

So, HOW do I study the Bible?
FIRST and foremost – READ the Bible DAILY!

It doesn’t have to be several chapters.

*The importance is not concerning how much you read but how much you retain.*

Meaning….it’s more important to understand what you’re reading than to have read 3 chapters and not understand what you just read.

Psalm 119:11
Thy Word have I hid in my heart,
That I might not sin against Thee.

That’s the goal – to get God’s Word down in our heart.
When we know what the Bible says, it will help us not to sin and do wrong.

You’ll also find the more you read it, the more things will quicken to your mind as you read and you’ll begin to make connection between Scriptures.

WORD STUDY

A ‘word study’ is when you want to find and read all Scriptures concerning (for example) ‘love’
Go to Blueletter.org or look in the back of your Bible (if you have a concordance in it)
Then look up and read all the Scriptures about love to gain a broader understanding of what God’s Word says about loving others and God’s love to us.

What if I don’t understand what a word means?

If you don’t understand what you’re reading, you can do two things:
1.     pray and ask God to help you understand what He is saying in His Word.  He will begin to open your understanding…but it will take time. (Just as a baby learning to talk, walk, eat, etc)
2.     Ask the pastor or a teacher of the Word - Don’t be afraid or ashamed to ask if you don’t understand.

Sometimes you can look in a dictionary or ask google the definition of a word HOWEVER, that will not always be accurate since some word meanings have changed over the years.

For example the word “quick” in Hebrews 4:12
To us today, ‘quick’ means ‘hurry’ or ‘fast’.  But when the Bible was being translated to English, the word ‘quick’ meant ‘alive’.

So if you google or look in a dictionary for the definition of quick, you’re not going to get an accurate Biblical definition of the word.  

A more accurate way to get a Biblical definition is to look at the Strong’s Concordance definition of the word.

Now that most phones have access to internet, this becomes a lot easier than in the ‘good ol’ days’ when we’d have to find and lug around a huge book.

The website I use to locate Scriptures or to look up definitions is at BlueletterBible.org   I highly admonish you to use the Authorized King James Version.  Some people like to read other versions saying they are easier to understand but the other versions omit important words and verses and even change some of the meanings. 

This is why I’m showing you how to look up the definition of a word you may not understand.

Once you locate the verse or chapter you are wanting to read, you can scroll to the top of the web page and you should see a box that you can click on which says “Strong’s”

It will refresh the page and add little numbers beside the words. 

As you are reading, if you do not understand a word, then click on the number to the right of that word.

It will take you to another page that has “Lexicon :: Strong’s …………”

Scroll down until you see “Show Strong’s Info” – click on it.

It will then show you the definitions.
        Note: sometimes those definitions may still be confusing.  In that instance, go to   
        Google and search for the definition or come ask the Pastor or Bible teacher.

Again - Don’t be afraid or ashamed to ask if you don’t understand.
*The importance is not concerning how much you read but how much you understand.*

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