Thursday
Evening Bible Study
February
18, 2021
Today’s class
is all about reading your Bible.
Why I can trust the
Bible
Yet if you’re like me, you will find every once in a
while a thought creeping into your mind that asks the question, “How do
I know the Bible is God’s Word?”
Why should I spend so much time reading and studying it?
For me, the best
answer lies in the concept of fulfilled prophecy.
There is no other book that makes the kinds of specific predictions that are then fulfilled, like the Bible
does.
To be sure, there are books or authors that claim to predict the future,
but pay attention to how often they are correct, and pay attention as to what
kind of details are in the prophecy.
If you want to do
more research, I’d suggest you get a copy of “Evidence that Demands a Verdict”
by Josh McDowell. He has several
chapters devoted to showing you that you can trust the Bible, and specifically
in fulfilled prophecy.
There are literally hundreds of prophecies we could look at, but the most
important category of prophecies are those about …
Tyre
Ezekiel makes a prediction (Eze.
26) about the destruction of the grand city of Tyre, something that nobody
would have believed. He wrote,
(Ezekiel 26:4–5 NKJV) —4
And they shall destroy the walls of Tyre and break
down her towers; I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the
top of a rock. 5 It shall be a place for spreading nets in the midst of the
sea, for I have spoken,’ says the Lord God;
‘it shall become plunder for the nations.
Tyre was the
capital of the Phoenician empire, a city known for it’s navy fleet and
merchants who traveled the world.
The details about
it’s destruction are amazing – Nebuchadnezzar would lay siege to the city. He would break down it’s walls, but by the
time he did that, the city had relocated to an island ¼ mile offshore. He gave up.
Alexander the
Great would come along and in order to conquer Tyre, he took all the rubble of
the original city, and built a land bridge out to the island, scraping the dust
off the ruins to complete his project.
And then he destroyed Tyre.
Jesus
The Bible contains over 300 prophecies about the first coming of
Jesus. They don’t just predict that a
great leader will come. They tell us about the date
of His coming, His lineage, where He would be born (Bethlehem), His betrayal,
the price of His betrayal, His suffering, His crucifixion, and even His
resurrection.
I’m just scratching the surface of the prophecies.
The odds of someone fulfilling these specific prophecies are simply
astronomical. There is no other
explanation except that God, who knows the future, has share it with us.
(Isaiah 48:5 NKJV) Even from the beginning I have declared it to you; Before it
came to pass I proclaimed it to you…
There is no other book like the Bible.
Why the Bible is so
vital
Let me share ten of many things…
1. It gives us
a true picture of who God is.
(Jeremiah 23:32 NKJV) Behold, I am
against those who prophesy false dreams,” says the Lord, “and tell them, and cause My people to err by their
lies and by their recklessness. Yet I did not send them or command them; therefore they shall not profit this people at all,” says
the Lord.
There are going to be people who will make claims about God that are not
true. It’s only in God’s proven, tested
Word that we have a clear idea of just who God is. God hates people who make up silly false
ideas about who He is.
2. It gives us
guidance.
(Psalm 119:105 NKJV) Your word is
a lamp to my feet
And a light to my path.
There are times when I’m not sure which path I should take. More than once God has used His Word and the
principles in it to help me make healthy choices.
3. It gives us
comfort when we go through difficult time.
(Psalm 119:50 NKJV) This is my
comfort in my affliction, For Your
word has given me life.
(Psalm 119:92 NKJV) Unless Your law had been my
delight, I would then
have perished in my affliction.
4. It helps
keep us from sin.
(Psalm 119:11 NKJV) Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might
not sin against You.
When Jesus was
tempted by Satan, He responded to each temptation with Scripture.
(Matthew 4:4 NKJV) But He
answered and said, “It is written, …
5. It offers us
spiritual protection.
The Bible is called a “sword”.
(Ephesians 6:17 NKJV) And take the helmet of salvation,
and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
It is part of how we fight spiritual battles.
(2 Corinthians 10:4–5
NKJV) —4 For the weapons of our warfare are
not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the
knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of
Christ,
Part of how we do this is by learning to align our ideas with God’s Word
and not the things that the world tells us.
6. It builds our faith.
(Romans 10:17 NKJV) So then faith comes by
hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
I think this happens as I read, understand, and then learn to do what it
says. My steps
of obedience shows me I can trust God and His word.
7. It nourishes
our spiritual life.
When Jesus
answered Satan’s temptation to turn stones into bread…
(Matthew 4:4 NKJV) But He answered and said, “It is
written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds
from the mouth of God.’ ”
We need more than physical nourishment.
We need spiritual nourishment – and that comes from God’s Word.
8. It brings
cleansing.
(John 15:3 NKJV) You are already clean
because of the word which I have spoken to you.
(Ephesians 5:25–26 NKJV) —25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and
gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse
her with the washing of water by the word,
I find in my life that when I am tempted with sin, sometimes I have a hard
time getting those bad thoughts out of my head.
God’s Word is
the best kind of “brain-washing”.
Putting God’s Word into my head puts my mind back on track.
This is one of the ways that Jesus helps us to grow to be
more like Him – by washing us in the water of His Word.
9. It trains us to be
useful.
(2 Timothy 3:16–17 NKJV) —16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete,
thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Taking time to
learn your Bible is like going to Bootcamp, Basic Training. It helps you be more useful on the
battlefield of life.
The Bible has the answers to life.
Not just for us, but for people that we live with, work with, care
about.
10. It’s alive.
(Hebrews 4:12 NKJV) 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.
It’s not like any other book. It’s
not just a bunch of words.
It’s
alive. But not like some freak
Frankenstein monster.
There is a sense in which God will use His Word to speak to specific
situations in our lives. Daily.
Each time you
read through the Bible, if you ask in prayer, you will find that God will
“highlight” different passages, as your life is in a different place each time
you read.
Don’t miss out on what God wants to say to you.
Reading, meditating,
memorizing
At the very basic level, we all need to be simply reading God’s Word. We need to get it into our minds and hearts.
But we ought to also take it a bit deeper than just reading.
(Psalm 1:1–3 NKJV) —1 Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in
the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2 But his delight is in
the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates
day and night. 3 He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings
forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever
he does shall prosper.
“Meditating” on
God’s Word is about thinking and pondering it.
It’s like
“chewing” your food.
Sometimes it’s helpful to take a verse and read it over
and over again.
Think about each phrase, each paragraph.
A great way to
do this is to memorize God’s Word.
I find that when I memorize a Scripture, I become more acquainted with the
depths of it and I see more and more how it applies to my life.
The importance of the Holy Spirit
We need to realize that the Bible
is a “spiritual” book, and only people who are open to the work of the Holy
Spirit are going to understand it.
Paul wrote,
(1 Corinthians 2:14 NLT) But people
who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all
sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are
spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.
When you opened your heart to
Jesus, you stepped into a new, spiritual world. There are now new “glasses” by
which you look at things.
When we are reading God’s Word, we
ought to take a moment and pray, asking the Holy Spirit to teach us and making
a point of “yielding” ourselves to Him. John
calls the Holy Spirit the “anointing”…
(1 John 2:27 NKJV) But the anointing
which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone
teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is
true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.
It’s a good thing to listen to good
Bible teachers, but as a believer you too have the ability to learn directly
from God.
Just as a word of caution: We also need to be aware that sometimes our
minds can play tricks on us and we think the Spirit is saying something when
He’s not.
If you think you’ve come up with a
brand new idea about God, it’s good to check with another believer who has been
around the block. We need each other’s
input from time to time to make sure we stay on track.
Obedience
It’s important to read the Bible, but it’s even more important that we
learn to apply it to our lives, that we learn to obey it.
It helps us
survive the storms of life.
(Matthew 7:24–27 NKJV) —24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I
will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain
descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it
did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do
them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain
descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it
fell. And great was its fall.”
Both builders went through the storm, but only one survived.
Both men heard the “word”, but only one man did what it said.
Note: We are not going to be perfect
in this. This is part of the slow but
steady maturity we grow in. Don’t quit
because you stumble. Get back up and try
again.
Daily Reading plan
I can’t stress how important it is that you read your Bible every day.
The Bible is one of the main keys to our growth as Christians.
Don’t make the mistake of just hunting and pecking for a verse to read each
day. Make it your discipline to read
through an entire book of the Bible.
Our church has
a plan we’ve been using for years. You
can find the plan on our church app. If
you follow that
plan, you will be reading three chapters a day, and you will cover the entire
Bible in a year.
I’ve done this every year for over 30 years.
If reading three chapters sounds a little too much for you, our reading
plan has two parts – two chapters a day in the Old Testament, and one chapter a
day in the New Testament. If you want,
you can just read through the New Testament, and it’s only a chapter a day.
I’ve found over the years that the hardest part is just learning to
establish a habit.
They say if you do the same thing for thirty days in a row, you will have
established a habit.
I find it’s helpful to have a friend or two reading along with you, and
then you can discuss what you read each day and it
helps you stay on track.
Wrap up
I can’t stress how important it is for your spiritual growth that you establish a daily time
reading your Bible.
It’s one of the key building blocks to a stable, mature relationship with
Jesus.