Sermon Tone Analysis

INTRODUCTION

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Did you know that the Old Testament is composed of:

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39 books

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929 chapters

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23,214 verses

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593,493 words

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Did you know that..

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Psalms is the longest book

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Obadiah is the shortest book

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Did you know that there are...

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17 historical books

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5 poetical books

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17 prophetical books

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Did you know that the New Testament is composed of:

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27 books

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260 chapters

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7,959 verses

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181,253 words

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Did you know that...

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Acts is the longest book

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3 John is the shortest book

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Did you know that there are...

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4 Gospels

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1 historical book

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22 epistles

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Did you also know that it was not until 1250 A.D. that the Latin Bible was divided into chapters by Cardinal Hugo?

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Did you know that in 1551 Robert Estienene included verse divisions in the Greek New Testment

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Did you know the first entire English Bible to have verse divisions was the Geneva Bible in 1560 (Willmington)

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Did you know any of this?

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Do you know why I ask?

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I ask because what I have to say today is about your time in God’s Word

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As we begin the new year, I want to encourage you to read your Bible MORE or start reading it for the first time on a regular basis

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Someone said it takes 70 hours and 40 minutes to read the Bible at pulpit rate

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It takes 52 hours and 20 minutes to read the Old Testament

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It takes the 18 hours and 20 minutes to read the New Testament

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In the Old Testament the Psalms take the longest to read: 4 hours and 28 minutes

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In the New Testament the Gospel of Luke takes 2 hours and 43 minutes to read (Doan)

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Reading the Bible is certainly attainable and should constantly be pursued

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The question is a matter of priority

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There was a church in Scotland that reported it read the Bible nonstop in 62 hours and 55 minutes (E7700I)

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Saints throughout the ages have expressed this kind of commitment

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Like...

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A French nobleman, M. De Renty, who read the Bible daily for three hours on his knees...

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Lady Frances Hobart read the Psalms twelve times a year, the New Testament three times, and other parts of the Old Testament once

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Susannah, who was the countess of Suffolk, for the last seven years of her life, read the Bible twice yearly

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Dr. Gouge read 15 chapters daily—five in the morning, five after dinner, and five in the evening before bed

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Jeremiah Whittaker read all the epistles in the Greek New Testament twice every night

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Joshua Barnes read a small pocket Bible which he always carried with him—over 120 times

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Robert Cotton read the whole Bible through 12 times a year

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Henry Willmer, read with the most detailed attention the whole Bible 8 times over.

During his 9th reading at the Book of Job, death overtook him (E7700I)

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John Quincy Adams said: “I have for many years made it a practice to read through the Bible once a year.

My custom is to read four or five chapters every morning immediately after rising from my bed.

It employs about an hour of my time, and seems to me the most suitable manner of beginning the day.”

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Did you know the Law was read regularly in the synagogue?

(FB)

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Did you know the New Testament letters were read in the churches to which they were sent?

(FB)

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Did you know there are saints who have committed the Bible to memory

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Like...

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Tertullian who devoted his days and nights to Bible reading, so much so that he learned much of it by heart, even its punctuations

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Theodosius the Younger could repeat any part of the Scripture exactly, and discourse with the bishops at court as if he himself were a bishop

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Origen never went to meals or to sleep without having some portions of the Scriptures read

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Eusebius said that he heard of one, whose eyes were burned out under the Diocletian persecution, repeat from memory the Scriptures in a large assembly

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Beza could repeat all of Paul’s epistles in Greek at the age of 80

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Cramer could repeat the entire New Testament from memory, learning it on his journey to Rome

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Ridley also memorized the entire New Testament during his walks in the Pembroke Hall of Cambridge

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Well as you can see there are many who have committed their lives to this Book, the Bible

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As we think about it today, I want to focus on the labor of reading the Bible

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Not everyone can read

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For them, audio Bibles are perfect

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For those who struggle with reading, having an audio Bible is extremely helpful

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It is difficult to estimate the extent of literacy in the ancient world

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Professional scribes passed on their knowledge within their families

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Their services were available to those who were illiterate (FB)

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Revelation 1:3 says there is a blessing for those who read and give heed to the things written in this book

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Though that may have reference to the book of Revelation, it is still true as you read the Bible

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Charles Spurgeon said, “I usually find that the greatest doubters are the people who do not read the Bible.”

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As we talk about reading the Bible, there are different ways to do this

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That’s what I want to talk about this morning

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As we begin the new year, let’s make a commitment to read the Bible

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Let me show you how to do this

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Charles Spurgeon said, “How often do we open the sacred book and read a chapter through, perhaps at family-prayer, or perhaps in our own private devotions, and having read from the first verse to the last, we shut up the book, thinking we have done something very right and very proper, and in a vague way somehow profitable to us.

Very right and very proper indeed, and yet, right and proper as the thing is, we may really have gained nothing thereby.

We may, in fact, have only drilled ourselves in the merely external part of religion, and may not have enjoyed anything spiritual, or anything that can be beneficial to our souls, if we have forgotten the divine Spirit through whom the Word has come to us.”

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So let’s change that this morning

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I want to give you 5 ways to read your Bible

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The first is to...

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LESSON

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I. Read Prayerfully

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Our reading should be done with the deepest reverence

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No one can comprehend the teachings of the Bible in his own ability

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He must have the assistance of the Holy Spirit

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Remember “the Holy Spirit helps us in our infirmities, but not our idleness” (Spurgeon)

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David’s prayed in Psalm 119:18, “Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law.”

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Albert Barnes says the Hebrew word for “open” means to “be naked…to make naked”

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In other words, it means to “uncover, to disclose, to reveal”

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Thomas Manton said, “The Hebrew phrase signifieth ‘unveil mine eyes’”

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David’s prayer was for God to “take away from [his] eyes what is before them to prevent clear vision”

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It’s what God did to Balaam in Numbers 22:31, “Then Yahweh opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of Yahweh standing in the way with his drawn sword in his hand; and he bowed his head down and prostrated himself to the ground.”