How to Study the Bible Week 3

Intro

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. ... John 1:1,14 NIV

2 Timothy 3:16–17 (NLT)16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip His people to do every good work.

According to the Word of God, what is the Word of God?

The Word of God is a sword that pierces. It's a light that shines. It is a mirror that reveals. The Word of God is a path to purity. It is a meal that spiritually nourishes you. It's a seed that reproduces. The Word of God is a fire that consumes. It's a defense against temptation. It is the source of all of our faith. The Word of God is the truth that lives forever.

Today, we get to open up the Living Word of God.

Prayer

It’s so good to be in the house of the Lord today. If you’re new or a guest with us today my name is Jeff Ream and it’s , an honor and privilege to be the lead Pastor at Generations Church. For the past few weeks we have been in a very practical and hands on series called “How to Study the Bible.”

And I want to tell you first hand how proud I am of you. So many of you have asked about what Study Bible to purchase, what Books of the Bible to start with, because you have a new desire to be men and women and even boys and girls who are actively reading your Bibles.

For those of you who haven’t been here we started our series stating that There is no greater way to get to know God, His character, His nature, His goodness, and the life that He has for you than reading his living word.

And so many of you have told me you’ve started reading the Bible because If you want to know the living Word (Jesus) you have to be in the written Word. (The Bible)

Last week we looked at the importance of learning the context of the text you are reading or studying because without the context you can read the Bible and have no idea what the author is talking about right.

We learned that when it comes to knowing the context of a passage you have to ask three questions.

1.Who wrote it?

2. To whom was it written.

3. What is its purpose?

And that’s exactly what we did with the Book of Philemon. And if you weren’t here go back and listen to it so that you can begin to apply it,

And then we closed out last week giving you the Acrostic S-P-E-C-K and I encouraged you to write these questions down in your Bible or your journal, or somewhere where you do your devotions and Bible reading. Because each time we are in the Word we want to ask

1. Is there a SIN to be avoided?

2. Is there a PROMISE to be claimed?

3. Is there an EXAMPLE to follow?

4. Is there a COMMAND to obey?

5. Is there something to KNOW about God?

Why are these questions so important to ask? Why would do I want to ask these questions about sins to be avoided or promises to claim? Why would I ask if I should follow someone’s example or obedience, or something that helps me to know more about God?

It’s because

The Bible is meant to transform us, not just inform us.

I love what the second part of I Cor. 8:1 …it says

1 Corinthians 8:1 (CSB)

…We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.

If I am completely honest with you some of the most damage that has been done by so called mature Christians has been done because they have a pride that overrides their love. And in their desire to be Holy, they have completely missed the boat that we are supposed to be loving others in the body of Christ and building them up. You want a picture of a healthy church, it’s one that speaks truth in love, because a friend will accept truth when they know they are loved but without the love we are just annoying loud cymbals.

You can know everything there is about the Bible, you’re head can be filled with every contextualization of every chapter, you can know every story, every Sunday school song, and still be lost as the worst sinner because knowledge does not make us more like Him, love does.

Please don’t mis-hear me. Knowledge is absolutely important and theology matters, and sin is still sin, and we are called to be Holy and we are even called to hold each other accountable , but none of that matters if we do not do it in love.

The Bible is mean to transform us, not just inform us.

Rick Warren once said that

“The Bible should give us a bigger heart, not a bigger head.”

I like that, and that's why we're going to apply what the Bible says. Right?!

If you have your Bible’s turn over to James chapter 1. And we will be in verses 19-25 for the remaining of our time together. James starts off his letter in the first part of the chapter addressing trials and hardships within the Christian life. And then in in verse 19 He begins a section where he writes on hearing and doing the Word of God. Follow along with me

James 1:19–25 (CSB)

19 My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, 20 for human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness. 21 Therefore, ridding yourselves of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent, humbly receive the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like someone looking at his own face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of person he was. 25 But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works—this person will be blessed in what he does.

This morning I want to simply pull out 4 things that we must do if we are going to be doers of the Word and not hearers only. James is writing this section of scripture and he is telling us that the goal of Christianity is not merely getting into the Word. The goal is to allow the Word of God to change us into the Image of God. The first thing James says it that we all need to take heed of is that we are to

Be Quick to listen.

James is giving us practical wisdom that would do us good to put into general practice in our lives and in our relationships with one another. But here knowing the context is the word of God and our interaction with it James reminds us Christians should be swift to hear and obey the Word of God. It’s not just hearing, it’s the combination of hearing and then obeying.

Matthew Henry said

It is our duty to hear God’s word, and apply our minds to understand it, rather than to speak according to our own fancies or the opinions of men, and to run into heat and passion thereupon.

He’s saying you and I must go to the Word ready to hear and consider what God’s word teaches in every matter. You don’t go to God’s Word with a preconceived preference of what you’re going to receive and what you are not going to receive. And if we are honest many of us are quick to listen to the parts we agree with but then decide the parts we don’t want to obey or listen to it. It is our job simply to come to the Word of God without preconceived notions of what we will listen to and what we won’t listen to.

So many times we come up with reasons why we shouldn’t obey. We have so many excuses as if we think we know better than the Lord. But here James is saying be quick to hear the word of God and put it into practice. And here’s a key thought for you, Don’t put off what you know you need to be obedient to do today, because it the longer you put it off the harder your heart will become and the harder it will be for the Word to take root in your heart. Which brings me to the second thing we must do if we are going to be doers and not just hearers.

2. Prepare the soil of your heart.

Verse 21 says

21 Therefore, ridding yourselves of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent…

That’s confession. That’s dealing with sin and getting rid of the weeks of your heart that keep you from receiving the Word.

Some commentaries believe that James is referring here to the Parable that Jesus told of the sower and the seed found in Matt. 13 .

Remember James would have been present when Jesus told the parable of the sower and the seed. Jesus compared the heart to soil and the Word to seed. And here James is saying If we as believers are going to receive the Word and get strength from it in our trials, then we must pull out the weeds so that we can indeed receive.

I don’t have a green thumb like some of you do, but I know that if I am going to plant seed in the ground I cant plant the seed on the top of cold hard dirt and expect it to take root.

It’s the same thing with the word of God. You can’t just grab your Bible and expect it to take root in your heart and your life if you don’t first prepare the soil of your heart. If you want want to be a doer and not simply a hearer you have to rid yourselves from any unconfessed sin. You have to get rid of the filth in your life. You have to examine your life and like the Psalmist David prayed. Pray “Lord see if there is any wicked thing in my life that I need to get rid of” and then guess what? Get rid of it. God’s Word cannot take root in an unrepentant sin filled life any more than these seeds can take root if I throw them on top of rocks.

That’s why the Lord commanded his people in

Jeremiah 4:3 (NLT)

3 …“Plow up the hard ground of your hearts! Do not waste your good seed among thorns.”

The soil of the heart must be prepared in order to truly receive the Word. If we have unconfessed sin in our hearts, and bitterness against God because of our trials or we are holding a grudge or unforgiveness against someone then we cannot receive the Word.

How many times do we get into the Word and think God isn’t doing anything in us, or think that the Bible isn’t working? Most likely it’s because you have not rid yourself of sin, and you and I have not prepared the soil of our hearts to receive the implanted word.

So we want to be quick to listen and obey, we want to prepare the soil of our hearts and then thirdly we must (vs 21)

3. Humbly receive the implanted Word

You’ve done the work with the power of the Holy Spirt to listen and obey, and through prayer and confession to the Lord and to others you have plowed up the hard ground of your heart so that now your heart is ready to humbly receive the Word of God!

James compares the Word of God to a mirror and he says in order for you to accept what the Word of God is going to show you about your life and the changes that need to take place you have to lower your defenses and receive what God says through His Word as loving truth.

It takes humility when a mirror is held up to our face and the truth about who we are is held up before our face and we see that what’s looking back at me in the mirror doesn’t look so good.

There’s sin’s, and there’s things we need to change. And I’m guilty of this too! When I am faced with the truth of the man in the mirror my natural human instinct is not, to change it is it? NO! My first natural instinct is to give excuses for my actions and say it’s not that bad. Why is that? Because I am not humbly receiving the truth of how my life measures up to the Word of God.

And James is warning us against being okay with the fact that what is held up before us doesn’t prompt us to action! And so many of us go to the Word of God and the Spirit through the Word of God shows us what we ought to do or what we need to change but we are so proud that we become content in the fact that we read the Word rather than putting it into action.

I think one of the greatest problems with the modern Christian is that we have a tame acceptance of truth without action and we substitute that as true religion without ever truly receiving the Word into our hearts and every day lives.

When you study the Word of God, when you read it this week, you have to be prepared for what the Spirit says to you. We cannot go to the Word and expect to be changed into His image, and to have the fruit of the Spirit grow in our lives when we aren’t willing to be obedient to what He tells us to do.

Lastly, James pulls it all together in verse 22 and begs us to

4. Be doers of the Word and not hearers only.

Why?

23 Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like someone looking at his own face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of person he was.

The great Bible teacher and author Warren Wiersbe said this about this passage. He said

The Word of God reveals what we are on the inside, just as a mirror reveals how we appear on the outside. When Christians look into the Word, they see themselves as God sees them and thus are able to examine their hearts and confess their sins.

I hope you have seen a common theme over the past three weeks.

Heart transformation never happens apart from obedience to the Word of God.

James finishes out in verse

25 But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works—this person will be blessed in what he does.

Do you truly want to live a blessed life? Do you want to live to the full potential God has for you? Do you want to make a difference for eternity?

Get into the Word! Look intently! Study it! Memorize it! James reminds us that it is Perfect!! It is God’s breathed Word. Persevere in it! Don’t forget it! Let it take root in your life! Then the blessings of almighty God will be on your life!

It all starts by being quick to listen and obey, preparing the soil of your heart by ridding yourself of sin , humbly accepting the Word of God and being a doer by living in complete obedience to the Word of God which is able to save you, set you free, and live a life that honors and reflects the glory of God.

We are going into a time of communion together. And before we do I want to give you a moment to prepare your hearts.

At Generations Church we practice open communion. And what that means is that you don’t have to be a member of Generations Church to take communion, but you do need to be a Christian. And more than that the Apostle Paul warns Christians to take heed of their lives. To do a heart check to see if there is any unconfessed sin in their lives. And then He said

“whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sin against the body and blood of the Lord.”

As Lisa plays we want to give you an opportunity to spend a moment with the Lord together to examine our hearts and I John 1:9 tells us that when we confess our sins to the Lord, He forgives us, and he cleanses us with the precious blood of Jesus!

Matthew 26:26-29 NIV

26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body."

PRAYER - THANKS

27 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

PRAYER - THANKS