Spiritual Habits: Bible Study
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Introduction
Introduction
How’s your 2018 starting out? Have you been able to carry out your new year’s resolutions? Many times our new year’s resolutions are changing habits. A recent article from CNN says that habits are actions performed with little conscious thought and often triggered by external cues. Perhaps you got up this morning and performed habits like brushing your teeth, washing your face, and drinking your coffee the same way you did yesterday and the day before.
So many of our daily actions are so routine they are automatic. What about our spiritual habits? How automatic are they? Over the next few weeks, I am going to share with you several spiritual habits that are absolutely essential as you grow in your faith in Christ. We are going to look at Bible Study, Prayer, Doing the Word, and being in community with our faith.
I want to invite you to look at each one of these over the next few weeks and see how you can grow your spiritual walk by putting into practice each of these disciplines. My desire is to grow as much as I can, learn as much as I can, and walk closer with Christ than ever before.
Today, I want to encourage you to look at the Bible in a new way.
It has been said that the Bible is the textbook of the Christian faith. Scriptures are the source of of instruction for young and old and all of us in between. It points us to salvation, it clarifies for us the understandings of the gospel, it provides guidance for us in daily life. Any doctrine that we practice in our faith should come from the basis of biblical texts.
Young Timothy received great wisdom from Paul about what we now as the Word of God.
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
2 Timoth
Simplicity of Scripture
Simplicity of Scripture
Many of us grew up with parents and grandparents that had a love for the bible. I can remember seeing my grandmother’s Bible and each chapter having multiple check marks for each time she read it through. We learn in chapter 1 of 2 Timothy that he also was greatly influenced by his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice as they lived out their faith in front of him.
The Bible is simplistic in its nature and provides for us the opportunity to be nourished.
At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.
Luke 10
But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
Even in this passage, we learn that Timothy was able to learn from scripture even in infancy.
As we study scripture, we are fortunate to see its simplicity but also fortunate to understand that it is sufficient for our needs.
Sufficiency of Scripture
Sufficiency of Scripture
Studying scripture will make you wise according to this passage, “for salvation through faith in Christ. “
Scripture is from God. Paul tells Timothy that it is God-Breathed.
Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
2 Peter 1:
Every passage of scripture has God as its ultimate Author and salvation, doctrine and Christ-like living as its purpose.
Scripture is useful for teaching. We all would do well to learn the principles and precepts of scripture.
Scripture is useful for rebuking and correcting. It is useful for training and righteousness.
The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.
Scripture is designed to nourish us, guide us and empower us. Scripture is simplistic and sufficient and is it also sovereign.
Sovereignty of Scripture
Sovereignty of Scripture
Paul tells young Timothy that scripture will equip the man of God to be thoroughly equipped for every good work. Earlier in chapter 2 verse 21, Paul tells Timothy that this good work would consist of noble purposes, being made holy, and useful to the Master. Scripture produces holiness in you and I.
So how can we grasp God’s word most effectively and most efficiently. Well, God has given us incredible wisdom throughout His word. Over the years I have discovered six ways that we can indeed grasp God’s word. Being the visual person that I am, I want you to see this through an illustration using my hand. In fact, I want you to use your hand as well.
In order to grasp God’s word, we first need to HEAR it.
Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.
Next, we need to
We don’t only need to HEAR it, but we need to READ it.
Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.
We can HEAR it and READ it, but next we also need to STUDY it.
Acts
Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
We can HEAR it, READ it, and STUDY it, but we also need to MEMORIZE it.
I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.
We can HEAR it, READ it, STUDY it, MEMORIZE it, and we can MEDITATE on it.
Psalm 1:2
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
We can HEAR it, READ it, STUDY it, MEMORIZE it, MEDITATE on it, and finally, DO it.
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
Let me illustrate exactly how this works.
(show the illustration of grasping God’s word).
Challenge:
I want to challenge you to make the spiritual habit of bible study as you go into this year. Make time each day to grasp God’s word and watch what happens in your life and in the life of our church.