Sunday, June 29, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Studying God’s Word
Many years ago the Sunday school class I was in at that time had a contest for a new Thompson Chain Reference Bible. I do not even remember what the contest was, but I do remember the thrill of winning it. It was my first study Bible. Today it is packed away in a box as one of my most prized possessions. I'm glad I was introduced to Bible Study as a child. The Bible is not just any book, it is THE book. It is the only book that is the infallible Word of God. I fear that far too many Pentecostal Saints do not know that much about the Bible, how to study it, or even understand much of it beyond an elementary level. One of my greatest desires in my ministry is to teach people how to study the Word of God and to equip them with the tools to do so.
The Bible is the inspired Word of God. It is not really one book, but rather a collection of books providing guidelines for our beliefs and our behavior. The Bible is divided up into two major sections, called Testaments or Covenants. The first is the Old Testament, where the primary theme is the Law of God. It is a collection of 39 books and its primary focus is on the nation of Israel. The second division is the New Testament, where the primary focus is that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Old Testament Law. It is a collection of 27 books and its primary focus is on the Church. It is necessary to understand the Old Testament to really grasp the Truths in the New Testament. God intended every Saint to be a student of the Word of God. It doesn't matter if you were never proficient in other subjects, the Bible is not understood with a carnal mind. If you will read and study the Word of God with a Spiritual mind, God will open up your understanding to its glorious Truths. Paul instructs us in his second letter to Timothy, "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed." The entire subject of studying the Word of God can fill volumes of books, so I will attempt to give you a beginning that you can pick up and run with.
The first thing that you will need is a good study Bible. There are several available today. The one I will recommend is the Thompson Chain Reference Bible in the King James Version. It would also be beneficial to own a good topical Bible such as Nave's. Whatever Bible you decide to purchase, learn to use the study system in it to get the most out of your study. The second book you will need is a Strongs Concordance. This is a book that lists every word in the Bible and where it is listed. It also gives the word in the Hebrew or Greek that our English word was translated from. This is an essential tool to own for any student of the Word of God. You will also need a good Bible dictionary. I recommend Nelson's Bible Dictionary. It is a comprehensive book that lists all of the subjects, people, places, etc. in the Bible. It is also helpful to own a good commentary on the Bible. A popular choice among Bible students is the Matthew Henry Commentary. One of the most helpful and useful study books I have found is Nelson's Illustrated Book of Bible Facts. I highly recommend any student of the Word to own this book. It is helpful in understanding the culture and customs from the era of Scripture. These are just a few of the basic books needed to study, you will find there are many more that can be useful, but these will give you the ability to skillfully study the Word of God.
One of the things that can be helpful in studying the Bible is to mark in your Bible. Marking in your Bible for study purposes is not disrespectful, but rather adds value to that Bible over time. You may choose to write notes in the margins, or use highlighters marking different subjects with different colors. You may use red for Scriptures on salvation, purple for the deity of Jesus Christ, etc... If you do use highlighters make sure to purchase ones from a Bible book store that are designed for Bibles, regular highlighters may bleed through the thin paper.
It is important to have a good environment for study. Just as with anything you are reading, the Bible is best read in a quiet place with no distractions. Use a table or desk with space to spread your Bible and study books out. In today's world, distractions abound and obligations we must meet press upon us, but if you want to get the most out of the Word of God, you need a place where it is just you and God and His Word. We all need a place where He can speak to us from His Word. There is something wonderful about being alone with Him and Word. Jesus spoke of a prayer closet, a place where you can talk to Him with no one else around. I believe this closet he spoke of can also be used for a place of meditation on His Word.
I'm going to discuss here some of the different methods of Bible Study. The most basic and probably most important is simply reading your Bible. It is at this time that you are reading His Word and he is speaking to your heart from His Word. This is a time for personal relationship with Him. It is not a time for a preacher to find a message or a Sunday School Teacher to search for a lesson. This may happen during that time, but the primary motive is to build our relationship with Him and to draw closer to Him. You can read from anywhere any Scripture you choose, for it is all inspired by God. However, you will find there are certain portions of Scripture you may find more beneficial for your personal growth. For example, the first four books of the New Testament, known as the Gospels, are the life and times of Jesus Christ. You will gleam great truth and inspiration from reading the words of Jesus Christ. The book of Acts is the story and history of the first century Church. The letters in the New Testament, known as the Epistles, are simply letters from ministers to various Churches, and hold equal relevance for our lives today. In the Old Testament the book of Psalms has encouraged and inspired people for thousands of years. The book of Proverbs is God's wisdom for a variety of life's problems. There are exciting and miraculous stories in the books of the Old Testament that demonstrate God's power and His salvation for man. By simply reading the Word of God, great revelation, understanding, power, and anointing can come upon your life.
A second method of studying is to memorize Scriptures. You can choose some of the key doctrinal Scriptures and commit them to memory. This is a helpful tool when witnesses and also when you need a Scripture on a particular subject, you can easily recall it. You may think this is a difficult task, but most people greatly underestimate their own mental ability. If you were to memorize only one Scripture a week, in one year's time you could commit to memory enough Scripture to cover all of the key subjects.
A third method you can use during your study is to study out a topic throughout Scripture. This is where a good topical Bible can really help. You can choose a subject and follow it from Genesis to Revelation. This gives you a good balanced view of what the Bible says about a particular subject. There have been many doctrinal errors made because people have chosen one certain Scripture in the Bible on a certain subject but did not study what the rest of the Bible had to say about that subject. It is important to study out the entire subject to get a good understanding of what God is telling us. All Scripture will work in harmony to give us an understanding of doctrinal truth. An important study rule to follow when studying out a topic is to use the Law of First Mention. This is an important principle when doing a topical study. The Law of First Mention says that in order to properly understand something in the Bible, you must find where it is first mentioned. Examples of this rule could take many pages, but suffice it to say that when you study a topic, you will find this to be true.
Character study is the last method of Bible study I will give you, although there are many more. These will get you started and give you a good foundation for studying the Word. Character study is simply studying a person in Scripture. You can get a lot of encouragement and strength when you study about people in Scripture and find out that they were just like you. The Bible makes no attempt to gloss over peoples mistakes and failures. The Bible is candid and honest. The Thompson Chain Reference Bible has in it several Character studies. The best character study you can do is to study the life and times of Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament there are exciting and miraculous stories that are played out in peoples lives. Study David and Moses, Joshua and Elijah. Study Noah and Debra, Samuel and Ruth. You will find similarities in their lives that can give you direction and encouragement, to know that people facing the same struggles as you have found victory through their faith in God.
While the Word of God is always positive and powerful, I do want to warn you of a couple of the most common mistakes that are made when studying the Bible. The first error made is to take Scripture out of context. This is true with anything that you read, but great doctrinal errors have been made when it is done with the Bible. When you read a verse in the Bible, you must read the verses before and after it to properly understand what the author is talking about. The chapter and verses that you see in your Bible were not made by author of that book, they were added later to help give organization to the Scriptures. So look at the chapter before and after the verse also. It helps to understand who wrote the book, what the purpose of the book was (history, a song, a letter to a Church etc…), and to whom it was written. All of these things helped shape the verse and are important to properly understand that verse. A second common error made is to only take one or two verses on any given subject and then form conclusions, or even worse, doctrine, from these verses. You must study every verse on a subject before any conclusion can be drawn. Many false doctrines and misconceptions have been made by people who have made this error.
I want to add a final word on studying the Word of God. This is the greatest book ever written, for although it was penned on paper by man, it is the inspired Word of God. The Bible is God's mind in print. I believe Satan has deceived many by telling them the Bible is boring, it cannot be understood, or it is not relevant for our day. The truth is that the Bible is exciting, it is understood with a Spiritual mind, and it holds complete relevance for our world today. May God richly bless you as you study and learn of His Word.