It’s Biblical: How do I read the Bible. 2024 Men’s BS

Introduction

Remember our quote.... divine revelation that is soteriological. Salvation for the world.

Pray over the Bible

It is important to invite God into the Bible reading experience. Asking God to illuminate the text for you...

In her book God the Spirit , Beth Felker Jones wrote that the term illumination refers to “the way in which the Spirit continues to work in and with God’s people, as readers of Scripture, to help us understand and be faithful to what we read there.” 3 The term inspiration , she says, refers to God’s work in and through the biblical writers in the past. Inspiration and illumination, then, come from the same source, but they serve different purposes. God inspired the biblical writers to create works that would guide first Israel and then the church. God illuminates our readings so that we can grasp more deeply the meaning of the inspired writings.

It is not as important how you pray over the text but that you pray

Examples:

It could be something simple like....

“God, guide my thoughts and fill my heart through this reading. Help me become the person you want me to be.”

Or something historic like this prayer from John Chrysostom...

O Lord Jesus Christ, open Thou the eyes of my heart, that I may hear Thy word and understand and do Thy will, for I am a sojourner upon the earth. Hide not Thy commandments from me, but open mine eyes, that I may perceive the wonders of Thy law. Speak unto me the hidden and secret things of Thy wisdom. On Thee do I set my hope, O my God, that Thou shalt enlighten my mind and understanding with the light of Thy knowledge, not only to cherish those things which are written, but to do them; that in reading the lives and sayings of the saints I may not sin, but that such may serve for my restoration, enlightenment and sanctification, for the salvation of my soul, and the inheritance of life everlasting. For Thou art the enlightenment of those who lie in darkness, and from Thee cometh every good deed and every gift. Amen.

Wording is a little old but the words have power and there is something to a prayer that has been preserved and passed down through centuries.

John Wesley believed that it is crucial to end a time of scripture reading with a prayer, “that what we read may be written on our hearts.”

All of this should be prayed over because we hope that in our reading God will change us!

Do you have a practice like this?

Praying the Bible

Can anyone think of parts of the Bible that are good for praying?

Psalms exactly:

Psalm 51 NIV

For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place. Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you. Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Savior, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise. You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise. May it please you to prosper Zion, to build up the walls of Jerusalem. Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous, in burnt offerings offered whole; then bulls will be offered on your altar.

Or a psalm of praise:

Psalm 46:1–3 NIV

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.

Psalm 46:10–11 NIV

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Or a psalm of lament:

Psalm 22:1–2 NIV

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest.

It could be at a certain time when you feel these emotions and turn to these texts. And listen if it means googling a psalm of praise or lament or good psalm for suffering…DO IT.

The Bible Project, again is a good recommendation to you. In their Read Scripture App there is a reading a psalm every day. It goes numerically so some days it lands on a psalm of praise and I do not feel like praising....but it is work for me or a prayer to pray.

Or I am having a good day and I get to the lament days. It is worship for me to consider that I am in a place of blessing because God has answered…or remembering a time when I was in that scenario.

Meditating Upon the Text

Richard Foster wrote, “What happens in meditation is that we create the emotional and spiritual space which allows Christ to construct an inner sanctuary in the heart.”

Meditating is about removing the many distractions from our hearts and the world around us. This is very different from what we have discussed before, though they can be complimentary.

Foster continues by saying, Meditation on Scripture “centers on internalizing and personalizing the passage. The written word becomes a living word addressed to you.”

There is no right way to do this, probably some weird or possibly wrong ways....but no magic formula. We should all participate in this type of study.

Memorization

From the very beginning Israelities memorized and allowed the words of God to take hold of their hearts. It continued with monastic practices throughout history. Recitation done out loud in the monasteries allowed for God’s work to become alive and powerful. But we live in a different time and jumping into something like this might be more difficult.

Example: Mike Wilson in seminary memorizing whole books of the Bible.

Start:

2 Timothy 1:7 NIV

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.

All throughout the day consider this verse

carry it with you

whenever it comes to mind repeat it

ponder each word at different times

consider if this is how you live your life

Do you experience fear or timidity, or do you experience power, love, and self-discipline.

And slowly grow this practice. I am working on memorization of the book of Ephesians.

Ok another form of mediation....

Read a passage slowly

Focus on the words....

Revelation 1:13–18 NIV

and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

We don’t just want to read Scripture....we want to internalize it.

Lectio Divina

This dates back to the middle ages and is roughly translated as “the divine reading”

There are many different forms or practices of this you can find more online but here is a basic practice:

Find a quiet place

Identify a passage of Bible you want to read; Psalms or something from Gospel

Read slowly through text, maybe out loud

listen to the sounds of the words as you read them

If something stands out to you, you may want to focus on that word

You have found the centerpiece of your meditation. Note: If this does not happen every time, you should not be concerned. This is not task-oriented activity, “It is a way of resting in God’s Word, allowing the Holy Spirit to guide you.

6. Once you have read the text, meditate on the text. What words jump out at you? What images are in your mind? What feelings did this evoke within you? If there is a phrase that catches your attention continue to meditate on it…you may be surprised about what comes to you.

7. Gradually meditation will become prayer.

8. Finally, rest in the Spirit

Let’s take a few minutes to try one together:

Example:

Mark 4:35–41 NIV

That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

Practice.

Then of course what we have done as a student of Scripture. I enjoy spending time doing all of these practices.

Whatever you do, just open the Bible!

Repetition is critical

Consistency

Persistence

Suggestions for Bible Reading now:

Wake up call (DiscipleshipBands)

Read Scripture app (Bible project)

Daily Office

What practices work for you?!

Homework: Segment Survey Matthew 13

Show structure on the board. I would end the section at verse 52…I think the next verses belong in the next section.

A couple of things…what kind of writing do we have here? Parable writing. That should tell us some things about this.

Parable definition from Dean of Chapel at Perkins School of Theology at SMU, Wes Allen:

A Parable is a narrative metaphor, drawn from nature or common life, which arrests the hearer by its vividness or strangeness and leaves the mind in sufficient doubt about its precise interpretation or application to tease it into active thought even to the point of altering one’s world view. - Wes Allen (SMU)

Prologue:

Matthew 13:1–2 NIV

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore.

Then Jesus teaching in front of Crowds: 13:3-35

Then Teaching specifically to Disciples: 13:36-52

Draw out rest on board....

What did you find?

I found a few really important for the whole segment: questions of definition, of rational, and then of implications.

A. Particularization

Jesus begins with teaching to the collective crowd and moves to specifically teaching His disciples.

Key verse: Mat 13:16

What is the meaning of this movement of teaching to the general population to the particular group of disciples? How does Matthew show this and how does this illumine the meaning of the passage?

Why does Jesus teach in this way and why does Matthew develop the passage in this fashion?

What are the implications?

B. Recurrence of Contrast

There is a contrast of the disciples and the rest of the crowd, those that “hear” and those that “don’t hear”.

I would probably add a Substantiation of this from the Is. passage and moving on from there.

Key verses: 13:10-17 and specifically 10-11

What is the difference between the disciples and everyone else? How does Jesus show this difference? How is this difference the importance of understanding the parables?

Why does Jesus develop this contrast? Why do the disciples have a better understanding of Jesus teaching? Or do they?

What are the implications?

C. Recurrence of Comparison

Jesus uses parables to compare people of different walks of faith to seeds that are scattered; the kingdom of heaven to a field of wheat/weeds; again the kingdom to mustard seed; and again the kingdom to leaven; kingdom to a treasure in a field; merchant searching for pearls; a fishing net; and a householder

What is the meaning that can be concluded from the comparisons of the kingdom of heaven? What characteristics of the kingdom can be drawn from each comparison?

Why does Jesus teach with these parables? Why does He use these specific comparisons to the kingdom of heaven?

What are the implications?

Other major impressions: Jesus’ teaching on the kingdom of heaven seems to be frequently accompanied or supplemented with eschatology. In other words it seems that Jesus would define the kingdom of heaven in association with what happens at the end of times as well. Already and not yet implications here.

Kingdom of heaven implications:

Ok some things I want to offer us. It is clear that the kingdom of heaven cannot be captured in a single definition. As we began our lecture today the good news that Jesus is the King is the message of the Gospels and if Jesus is the King then the kingdom is by which He is king over. The kingdom of heaven has many implications over our life. It is that which is worth anything else we might ever have or find in this life. It is something that start small and grows bigger than anything else....Jesus coming to one place and time and now the movement bigger than ever....or the smallest amount of faith growing bigger and bigger in an individual or a community. It is yeast that infects the whole. The kingdom is currently mixed with those that are in and those that are not but will one day be pure and holy…

Also we know that the kingdom is already, but it is not yet. Like headlights on the highway. We see right in front of us but at the same time we flip the brights on and we see further.

On some level the disciples are no different than the crowds, they are no smarter, or do not have more answers, the difference seems largely to be their relationship to Jesus. Their availability and choice to follow gains them access and further detailed answers. Jesus is harsh and blunt with them, but caring at the same time not leaving out the hard parts but loving them with all of it. He is hoping and helping them to have good soil so that the message of the kingdom will take root in their hearts and grow and flourish.

Homework for next time:

Is interpretation of Matthew 16:24

Matthew 16:24 NIV

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

I want you to start by asking questions of this text. Definition questions, then rationale questions, then implications. Look at Matthew. The passage it is in and think about the whole book…considering other places that might help you understand what this text really means. Does it mean literal death? What might be wrapped into this work?

Only then, do I want you to use internet, study bible notes, commentaries. There are commentaries in my library, the church, etc. I have included a couple here for you.

Then I want you to use your own words to write about what this verse means in the Bible and what it means for your life.

Resources:

blueletterbible.org

study Bible notes