How To Read the Bible Part 1

When is the last time you heard the Lord’s voice?

I suspect most of us have a pretty good textbook answer to that question

Some of us can quote 2 Timothy 3:16 by heart

2 Timothy 3:16 ESV

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

If it is breathed out by God, well, isn’t that speaking?

God is speaking.

And He’s speaking to us - and He does it through the Bible.

But it’s not quite as satisfying as a conversation would be - Am I right?

Something I noticed is when I study for a sermon - the scripture comes alive for me and I get really excited about it.

You can tell - I have trouble skipping things - I want you to have the same experience I did.

And sometimes I give you too much.

But I’ve noticed when I sit down to do my reading in the morning - the scripture isn’t as exciting.

Not a wasted activity by any means - but not necessarily satisfying either.

But something happened to change that - I went to the Pillar Unite Conference.

One of the neat things about preacher events is they tend to give out books and this one did.

It was a little yellow book by Matt Smethurst.

The title is “Before You Open Your Bible.”

It’s 89 pages long, more of a booklet than a book.

But it made me stop and I heard God.

And I want that for you.

Kids - our three words today are: Bible, Speak, Love.

So let me tell you what I think has happened to us by telling you a schmaltzy story that I’m sure you’ve heard.

Ted has fallen in love with his co-worker Jane.

The problem is - He’s married to Amy and has been for 10 years and one son.

Here’s how Ted tells his story.

When I got home that night as my wife served dinner, I held her hand and said, I’ve got something to tell you. She sat down and ate quietly. I observed the concern in her eyes.

Suddenly I didn’t know how to open my mouth. But I had to let her know what I was thinking. "I want a divorce" I said calmly. She didn’t seem to be annoyed by my words, but instead asked me softly, "Why?"

I avoided her question which only made her angry. That night, we didn’t talk to each other and she went to bed in tears. I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage, but I could hardly give her an answer. How could I tell my wife of 10 years that I had fallen in love with someone else?

With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement which stated that she could own our house, our car, and 30% ownership of my company. She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces. I felt sorry for her. I was sorry for how she was feeling, but I could not take back what I had said. I had fallen in love with Jane who worked at my company.

Finally, she cried loudly in front of me, which was what I had expected to see. To see and hear her cry was actually a bit of a release. The idea of divorce which had obsessed me for several weeks now seemed to be firmer and clearer now.

The next day, I came back home very late, having spent the day with Jane, and found Amy sitting at the table writing...something. I didn’t know what to say, so I went straight to bed and fell asleep. When I awoke, she was still there at the table writing. Without asking any questions, I went back to bed. Quite honestly, I just didn't care.In the morning she presented her divorce conditions: she didn’t want anything materialistic from me. She requested that during the next 30 days, that we both work to live as normal a life as possible. Her reasons were simple: our son had his exams in a month’s time and she didn’t want to disrupt him with news of our broken marriage.

This was agreeable to me. But she had something more. She asked me if I remembered our wedding day. And how I had carried her into out bridal room, over the threshold that night. She continued and requested that every day for the next month’s duration that I carry her out of our bedroom to the front door every morning. I thought she was going crazy. Just to make our last days together bearable, I accepted her odd request.

I immediately told Jane about my wife’s divorce conditions. She laughed it off and thought it was absurd. Jane said that, "Amy will have to face the divorce no matter what tricks she was trying to use."

Now, Amy and I hadn’t had any body contact since the night I told her of my affair and my plans to divorce her. So when I carried her out on the first day, we both appeared clumsy and awkward. Our son clapped behind us, cheering "Daddy is holding Mommy in his arms!" His words made me sad. From the bedroom to the sitting room, then to the door, I managed to get her to the front door. Before I put her down, she whispered, "don’t tell our son about the divorce." I nodded in agreement, feeling somewhat upset. I put her down outside the door. We both headed off to work.

The next day, as I carried her through the house, we both were a little more relaxed. She leaned on my chest. I could smell the fragrance of her perfume on her blouse. I realized that I hadn’t looked at this woman carefully for a long time. I realized she was not young any more. There were fine wrinkles on her face and her hair was beginning to gray. For a moment, I thought about what I had done to her.

On the fourth day, when I lifted her up, I felt a sense of intimacy returning. This was the woman who had given ten years of her life to me and a beautiful son. On the fifth and sixth day, I realized that I still loved her. (I did not share my thoughts with either Jane or Amy) I also noticed, that It became easier to carry her as the month slipped by. Perhaps the everyday workout was making me stronger?

One morning, as we were dressing for work, Amy mentioned that she was struggling with what to wear. She tried on quite a few dresses but because she had lost weight, nothing fit as it did before. Then it hit me. I suddenly realized that she had grown so thin, that was the reason why I could carry her more easily.

A few moments later, our son came into our room and said, "Dad, it’s time to carry Mom to the door." To him, seeing his father carrying his mother out had become an essential part of his life. My wife gestured to our son to come closer and she hugged him tightly. I turned my face away because I was afraid of the feelings I was having. I then picked her up and carried her through the rooms of our home. Her hands were wrapped gently around my neck, so softly and naturally. I held her body tightly and found myself feeling the way I had felt on our wedding day.

On the last day of the month, when I held her in my arms I could hardly move a step. Her weight loss now made me sad and concerned me. I held her tightly and said, "I’m so sorry...I hadn’t noticed that our life lacked REAL intimacy.

In that moment, I knew what I had to do. I quickly drove to the office…. jumped out of the car...and headed straight to Jane's office. I opened her door and said very clearly, "I'm sorry, Jane, but I don't want to divorce my wife anymore. I still love her and have realized over the last 30 days, that I carried her into my home on our wedding day and that I am supposed to hold her until death do us apart. And that's what I'm going to do."As I quickly left the office, I immediately drove straight to the flower shop. I purchased a bouquet of flowers for my wife. The card read, "I’ll carry you out every morning until death do us apart."

That evening I arrived home, flowers in my hands and a smile on my face. I felt so alive with my renewed love for my wife.

If you’ve heard the story before you know the ending.

I hate the ending - if you don’t know it, you’ll have to look it up on the internet - it’s easy to find - but here’s the point.

Hold up my Bibles

I’ve had a bible for 67 years.

It has been with me through every up and down of my life - it is as familiar as a wife of 10 years.

I’ve read it’s words so many times, I often find myself skipping verses I know almost by heart - do you do that?

But these words are the whispers of our first love to us - they literally are the Lord speaking to us.

“All scripture is God-breathed...” remember?

He wants us to hear His voice - He wants us to hear: Matthew 11:28

Matthew 11:28 ESV

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

I know some of us are troubled right now - do you hear the words of Jesus?

Those words are to you - and you know, He didn’t have to say them.

He didn’t have to say anything.

I mean really, when Adam and Eve sinned, was there a rule that He had to hang around?

In the mess you might be in right now - did you have a part in making the mess?

Is there any kind of requirement that the Lord MUST hang in there with you except for the requirement

That HE places on HIMSELF.

Deuteronomy 31:8 ESV

It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

When we sit down to read our Bibles, we need to take a moment and remember that the Lord isn’t required to speak to us

But He does.

He wants you and me to rest and not be weary.

He wants you and me to soar on the wings of eagles - only He knows that we can’t

Unless He tells us how.

Humbly

We must come to the Bible humbly.

We don’t deserve Jesus ever speaking to us - I don’t care who you are or how much you think of yourself.

I don’t care about any arguments that, “Well, I’m a child of the king.”

Good for you - but you wouldn’t be - none of us would be a child of the king except that the King

Of HIS own free will adopted us

Ephesians 1:5 ESV

he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,

He made a plan to adopt us - before forever began.

I convinced my brother once that mom and dad found him in a septic tank and adopted him.

And he cried and cried and I got in so much trouble.

But we were found in a septic tank - as nasty as that sounds - we were as nasty as nasty can be

But you remember this - we studied it: 1 Corinthians 6:11

1 Corinthians 6:11 ESV

And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

We are washed clean by the blood of our brother Jesus - He makes us worthy.

When you leave here today, you’ll pick up your Bible - but remember you do not deserve a Bible

But the Lord wants you to have a Bible so you can hear Him speak.

When you sit down to read your Bible, come humbly and come

Prayerfully

Now - don’t tune me out - listen to what this means.

Smethurst says to “pray in anticipation of God’s word.”

And he quotes John Piper’s way of preparing..

Piper calls it his IOUS

I - Incline

Psalm 119:36 ESV

Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!

As you come to the scriptures, don’t look for what you want to hear - listen to what God wants to say about Himself.

The first time I did this before I started reading, I was as tired and wrung out as a person could be.

Every last one of us have felt that way, and that was my day.

And instead of praying, “Lord, you’ve got to tell me what to do,” I came to the scripture and said, “Lord, what do you want me to hear about you.”

My reading started at Psalm 138, and the Lord told me that He makes me bold with strength, He told me that His Word is going to change the world

He told me He regards the lowly - which is what I was that day.

He told me no matter how bad I feel, He revives me.

Then He said His lovingkindness - one word but two, really.

His loving us

His kindness to us - His kindness to me - will last forever.

I couldn’t have told Him that’s what I needed to hear because I didn’t know what I needed to hear.

But when the Lord told me what He does - it was exactly what I needed to hear.

O - Open My Eyes

Psalm 119:18 ESV

Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.

Let’s take the law at face value - think 10 commandments.

Things you must do - things you can’t do.

Rules we must follow - rules are limiting right.

But what if we looked at the law differently with open eyes.

I can worship the Lord and know I’m right

I don’t have to have an image to stare at - I can go outside on a clear night, I can stare off into space and feel overwhelmed by the presence of God.

I can speak any words I want to speak, including praises and thanks for God.

I can rest one day a week and not feel guilty for it and I can thank God for it.

I can be glad my mom and dad gave birth to me

I can help people live - I can rescue needy people - I can give folks a hand up

I can love a woman fiercely and intimately all the days of my life.

I can own property and land and cultivate it and raise animals if I want and play on it and swim in its creeks

I can tell the truth about anything and everything.

I can live my life desiring the things God wants me to have - things that are best and will make my life on this earth the best this life can be.

God’s word is freedom, not bondage.

Open my eyes to that, Lord - cause me to see.

U - Unite

Psalm 86:11 ESV

Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.

Unite my heart - keep me focused.

Silence your phone - turn off your television.

Forget your to do list and the urgency of things - want to hear.

Lord, my one hearts desire is to hear you - keep me focused on you.

Our minds are like ping pong balls bouncing all over the place.

Put my mind on mute, Lord, so I can hear you.

S - Satisfy

Psalm 90:14 ESV

Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

The problem with Ted was, he had become dissatisfied with Amy - she was the same old, same old.

Our problem is we’ve become dissatisfied with the Bible - it is the same old, same old.

But is it really?

Have you noticed, God’s word is the one thing we keep coming back to

Because we know right - because we know

Remember this? John 6:67-68

John 6:67–68 ESV

So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,

We know this in our hearts - the Holy Spirit confirms this in us.

When we hear Jesus speak in His word, we know we have life.

The best life - the most abundant life.

Not fame and fortune and happiness.

No, it will be like carrying Amy over the threshold “Her hands were wrapped gently around my neck, so softly and naturally. I held her body tightly and found myself feeling the way I had felt on our wedding day.”

How long has it been since hearing Jesus’ speak caused your heart to be quiet?

Yeah, I know it’s kind of schmaltzy but have you read the Song of Solomon?

Have you read John 17:26

John 17:26 ESV

I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

That the love with which you loved me

A love that would not let Jesus remain in the grave

With a love that would not let his body see decay

With a love that welcomed His son home

That's the love Jesus asks the Father to give to us.

That’s what we want to hear - those words.

And they are there - we will see them

We will hear them - when we come to our Bibles humbly and prayerfully.

Jesus wants us to hear.

Let’s pray.