Six Keys to
Understanding God’s Word
Study Series on the Awesome Words
of Almighty God
John 8:43
DATE: 27 September, 2008 AM
PLACE:
I.
Introduction (John 8:43)
A.
Our Lord asks a
question…
1.
(Mat 12:3) But
he said unto them, HAVE YE NOT READ what David did, when he was an hungred,
and they that were with him;
2.
(Mat 12:5) Or
HAVE YE NOT READ IN THE LAW, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the
temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?
3.
(Mat 19:4) And
he answered and said unto them, HAVE YE NOT READ, that he which made them at
the beginning made them male and female,
4.
(Mat 22:31) But
as touching the resurrection of the dead, HAVE YE NOT READ that which was
spoken unto you by God, saying,…
B.
This was asked to a
very religious group called the Pharisees! What a slam! They had read the
Old Testament over and over, and had discovered what was the middle verse,
and the middle word of the Scripture was, and they knew exactly how many
words and letters there were in every book and chapter. They knew the names
of the people in Scripture, how long they lived, where they were buried.
They thought they knew all there was to know about the Bible…
C.
And Jesus comes along
and says, “Have ye not read…?”
D.
I wonder, if our Lord
were to enter into this room, and stand up here from this pulpit and ask us
all the same question, how would we answer?
E.
The question is not
“Do we know what the Bible has in it?” or “have you every read its words?”
F.
The question is, like
Philip asked the
G.
I want to help you
today start understanding what you read in this Book of books!
II.
Background
A.
The Bible is NO Ordinary Book.
1.
Written by God (2Peter
1:21)
2.
Eternal (Matthew
24:35)
3.
Perfect (Psalm 19:7)
4.
For all nations and
for All Time - A perfect 66 Book Library that GOD wrote for all people
a.
Written not just the
Jews, but all nations
b.
Written not just
thousands of years ago, but it has prophecies and commands that clearly
point to today, and even a thousand years into our future!
c.
Written not just to
adults, but to children
5.
God wrote this Book!
B.
The Bible is THE Most Important
Book.
1.
The only Absolute
Truth (John 17:17)
2.
The Foundation for
Faith – confident faith!
3.
Soul-Food –
a.
We are in the midst of
a FAMINE (Amos 8:11)
b.
Most people are
STARVING and they don’t know for what, nor how to find the “food” that they
need! Our children, teens, parents, etc!
c.
Our Soul HAS to have
God’s Words to live (Matthew 4:4; Psalm 130:5; 119:28)
1)
Your body HAS to eat
2)
Your spirit HAS to
worship
3)
Your soul HAS to know
and live by God’s words!
4.
Life-Manual
a.
How to handle problems
b.
How to bless and
protect your marriage
c.
How to train up your
children
d.
How to handle rough
authority problems
e.
How to deal with your
past, and handle your future
f.
How to worship, pray,
praise, and weep
g.
How to live and even
how to die!
h.
It is pretty inclusive
of all that we need to know!
5.
Nations and laws are
built upon the words of this Book
a.
Without this Book we
would have almost no rights, hospitals, checks and balances in our
governments, protection for the weak & the poor
b.
Most laws today are
directly related to the instructions in the Bible on how to treat one
another – innocent until proven guilty, there has to be 2 or 3 agreeing
witnesses to accuse you of a crime – not just by suspicion, etc.
6.
This Bible is more
than just words on a page. Without it our world would have crumbled long
ago!
C.
The Bible is an Unknown Book!
1.
Taken for granted in
95% of all homes
2.
Sometimes only
worshipped, but not read
3.
Easily misread –
people try and read it only to not understand it at all
D.
Good News!
It is NOT Impossible to Read and Understand the Bible… it was written to be
read with our eyes, understood with our mind, believed with our heart, and
lived with our lives! But it is only going to be opened up to the hungry
(Luke 8:9,10)
E.
The command
- “Seek ye out of the book of the LORD,
and read” Isa 34:16
III.
Message – Six Keys to
Understanding God’s Word
A.
Read It With Purpose.
1.
To Know and Love God
2.
To have Answers and
not just questions
3.
To calm the heart and
mind
4.
To stop you from
sinning (Psalm 119:11)
B.
Read It With Spiritual Eyes and
Ears (John 8:43-45; 3:3-10; 1Cor 2:13-15)
1.
People CANNOT
understand this Bible without the help of its Author
2.
There are some parts
that are plain
3.
But the rest are only
understood spiritually, from God’s viewpoint
a.
That’s why people MUST
get born again – even the most intelligent of professors, and religious
leaders!
b.
That’s why we as
believers HAVE to pray before we read, asking God to open our eyes so that
we can see the wonderful truths of this Book (Psalm 119:18)
4.
Most of you do not
read this Bible with spiritual eyes and ears.
5.
When you do read it
spiritually:
a.
You will start to see
a whole other dimension to life – an eternal dimension – that people are
more than just flesh and bones, that they will live forever, in heaven or
hell, that the economy is not worth worrying about – GOD is!
b.
You will also start to
hear another voice in your heart than your own (John 10:27-28)
C.
Read It With Perseverance.
1.
Have a set time to
read your Bible – like you do to eat
2.
Read a set amount – at
least two chapters at a time, but four is best
3.
Read to the finish,
and start over. Keep reading this Bible over and over, to learn it, and see
in it deeper, and greater beauty and truth
4.
Start in Matthew, read
through to Revelation
5.
Then start in Genesis
and read all the way through to Revelation
D.
Read It With Faith
(Hebrews 4:2)
1.
You can fully believe
what you read
a.
A lot of people only
believe the easy parts
b.
They come to something
hard or strange, and they skip right over
1)
The miracles
2)
The warnings –
damnation of hell
3)
The clear prophecies –
too clear from many people
4)
The descriptions of
creation – think it had to be by evolution
2.
Start just believing
what you read – especially the promises!
Every promise in the Book is
mine!
Every chapter, every verse, every
line.
I am standing on His Word divine,
Every promise in the Book is
mine!
3.
What promises do you
know, do you firmly believe? Do you recall them to your heart and remind
yourself daily of God’s promises that cannot fail? I do!
a.
Heb 13:5 I will
b.
Philp 4:19 My God
shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus
c.
Isa 43:2 When
thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the
rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire,
thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
d.
Isa 40:31 They that
wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with
wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and
not faint.
e.
Ps 23:4 Yea, though I
walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for
thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
E.
Read It With Carefulness
– pay attention to HOW you read your Bible
1.
Read it Literally,
take it literally
a.
The cults
“spiritualize” and allegorize” and symbolize everything
b.
Jesus was a real,
literal, perfect Man
c.
The nails were real
and rusty
d.
e.
God REALLY rained down
f.
God really wrote the
ten Commandments with His own finger
g.
Satan really IS a
seven headed hideous dragon who appears as an angel of light to people who
are not aware of his trickeries
h.
The antichrist will be
a real person who will unify
i.
j.
But the rest of the
time, when He is speaking of heaven, He is speaking of a literal, real
place!
k.
When He is warning of
hell, He is speaking of a real, literal place with fire and brimstone, and
darkness and weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth!
2.
Read it Practically
a.
Keep it simple and
practical. Ask yourself, and ask God to show you how what you are reading
applies to your life today?
b.
You will be surprised
to see how what you are experiencing right now will go along with whatever
you are reading in the Bible!
3.
Read it in Context –
little blurbs and snippets of Scripture taken out of the context in which
they were written can be damning
a.
Mat 24:13 But he
that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
b.
1Co 15:29 Else
what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at
all? why are they then baptized for the dead?
c.
Psa 14:1 says, “There
is no God” – NO! In context it says, “The fool hath said in
his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable
works, there is none that doeth good.”
4.
Store it away into
your heart and mind – memorize it and meditate on it
5.
Test what you Think
(1John 4:1; Acts 17:11) – use your mind as much as your heart!
a.
Rightly dividing the
words (2Tim 2:15)
b.
Some things belong to
the Jews, some to the unsaved, some to the believer, some to the past, some
to the future
c.
It would be good to
test what you think something means
d.
That’s why we come to
e.
Keep a notebook and
write in your Bible your thoughts
F.
Read It With Obedience
(James 1:22-25)
1.
Look for what you must
do when you read
a.
Maybe it is to humble
yourself and go to your brother and apologize
b.
Maybe it is to go to
someone you stole from and pay them back
c.
Maybe it is to stop
right where you are and pray for your parents and your others that you
haven’t prayed for in a long time
d.
Maybe it will be for
you to get back out soul-winning and telling someone every day about how to
get saved
e.
Maybe it will be to
lay aside your tithe once again and start giving to the Lord every week
f.
Maybe it is to finally
be honest with everyone and admit you are lost and get born again today!
2.
This is the highest
goal of reading my Bible – to obey it!
3.
It is more than just
information, and facts, and truths – it is the way to live (Matthew 4:4),
live “by every word”
G.
Try to read your Bible
in any other way and you have just wasted your time, and you are ripe for a
cult to come along and capitalise on your confusion
H.
Read the Bible this
way, and
IV.
Conclusion
A.
Our Lord asks a
question… HAVE YE NOT READ? I wonder, if our Lord were to enter into this
room, and stand up here from this pulpit and ask us all the same question,
how would we answer?
B.
Simple Truths
1.
The Bible is NO Ordinary Book.
2.
The Bible is THE most important
Book for
all people, and for all time
3.
The Bible is an Unknown Book!
a.
Taken for granted in
95% of all homes
b.
Sometimes only
worshipped, but not read
c.
Easily misread –
people try and read it only to not understand it at all
C.
Six Keys to Understanding God’s
Word
1.
Read It With Purpose
2.
Read It With Spiritual Eyes and
Ears
3.
Read It With Perseverance.
4.
Read It With Faith
(Hebrews 4:2)
5.
Read It With Carefulness
– pay attention to HOW you read your Bible
a.
Literally
b.
Practically
c.
Contextually
d.
Store it away into
your heart and mind – memorize it, meditate on it
e.
Test what you Think –
use your mind as much as your heart!
f.
Rightly dividing the
words (2Tim 2:15)
6.
Read It With Obedience
(James 1:22-25)