Let Us Abide in the Words of Christ

Hallelujah.

I’d like to share a message with the title, “Let us abide in the words of Christ.”

On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the highest, how many of us would like to have a meaningful relationship with God?

Is it easy to have a meaningful relationship with someone? I’m not talking only in a romantic sense, but that too. It’s not a walk in the park. It takes intentional effort. And specifically, it takes intentional effort to engage with their words.

Words are how our souls interact. If we don’t engage someone through words, then we can’t say we actually know the person.

On the other hand, even if we’ve never spoken to a person before, we can feel that we really know that person if we read their words.

Here’s a letter

Right now, I would say our situation with Jesus is more similar to a phone call than a dinner date.

And so I would like to share a spiritual practice that many of our spiritual forefathers have used to mediate on Jesus’ words.

And our scripture passage comes from John 15:7-8

John 15:7–8 ESV

7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

In today’s passage, Jesus talks about glorifying the Father, bearing much fruit, and proving to be His disciples. But it all depends on an “if”. What’s the “if”?

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you.

This is the big “if” that determines whether you’re a Christian or not. It’s the “If” that proves that you’re a disciple of Christ. This is the “If” that leads to eternal life.

Matthew 4:4 ESV

4 But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

So what does it mean to have Jesus’s words abiding in us?

Abide (meno) = living, dwelling, remaining. It’s where we get the word “abode”.

At minimum, to have Jesus’ words abiding in us means that we at least know them, understand them, and remember them.

I think this is important. Do you agree?

The Bible doesn’t command us to memorize Scripture, but it is strongly implied.

Colossians 3:16 ESV

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Back in the OT time, books were not yet invented. They had to write by hand on expensive and costly materials, which meant that most people didn’t have a Bible in their home. In order to meditate on Scripture, you had to first memorize Scripture.

Joshua 1:8 ESV

8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

Psalm 1:1–2 ESV

1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

Psalm 119:97 ESV

97 Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.

The psalms and proverbs describes remembering Scripture as storing up treasures.

Proverbs 2:1 ESV

1 My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you,

Proverbs 7:1–3 ESV

1 My son, keep my words and treasure up my commandments with you; 2 keep my commandments and live; keep my teaching as the apple of your eye; 3 bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.

Psalm 119:11 ESV

11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

When Moses asked God to show him His glory, God gave Moses His Word instead. Why? Because God has ordained for spiritual seeing to happen mainly through hearing.

Exodus 33:18–19 ESV

18 Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” 19 And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.

Exodus 34:5–7 ESV

5 The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

Spiritual seeing happens mainly through hearing.

And when we see in faith, we savor the goodness of God. When we savor the goodness of God, we glorify God.

Hearing + Grace = Seeing + Faith —> Savoring —> Glorifying

“If I read the Bible every day, why do I need to memorize it?”

A consistent pattern of reading the Word of God is sufficient to feed our souls. It’s enough. But I’d like for us to consider taking an additional step to abide in God’s Word.

Reading the Bible provides us with a broad knowledge of God’s Word. We read a chapter, and move on to the next chapter.

On the other hand, memorization gives us a deep knowledge of each word and how it all fits together.

And honestly, when it comes to Scripture reading, the only thing that counts is what we actually understand and internalize. I don’t know about you, but my experience is I read 4 chapters and then 2 hours later I’ve forgotten most of what I’ve read.

Our understanding and internalization of the Word of God is what truly counts when it comes to our spiritual growth. The more deeply we meditate on God’s Word, the more it becomes a part of us.

Should we memorize single verses?

How do you choose which verses to memorize?

We should not memorize only the verses we like.

Would you like if your pastor only preached the verses that he likes? So why would you preach to yourself passages that only you’re familiar with? When we memorize Scripture, we are preaching God’s Word to ourselves.

Psalm 42:5 ESV

5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation

We preach to ourselves, “Hope in the Lord.”

We need to treasure every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Matthew 4:4 ESV

4 But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

2 Timothy 3:16 ESV

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

If we memorize individual verses, we might miss something that God wants to say to us through a less well-known portion of that book.

Benefits of memorizing books

All the books of the Bible are written with a purpose. 1 Peter is written to encourage Christians who are going through trials. Mark was written to show the what it means to be a disciple.

Memorizing entire books verse by verse enables us to see the overall flow of the book. And we can see how each paragraph fits into the flow, and how each verse contributes to each paragraph.

This means that there is less chance of taking a verse out of context and using it to say whatever you want.

The most famous example is in this memory verse from Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV

11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

People memorize this verse, thinking that life is all about success and triumph. But they don’t realize what God says right before.

Jeremiah 29:10–11 ESV

10 “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

How to choose your first book

Not too long. Some people choose to do the book of Ephesians because it’s not too long, and it’s so rich and full of power.

When I first started this, I went with 1 Timothy.

And here’s the recommended pace for memorizing.

6 days a week. 1 verse a day.

Count the total number of verses in the entire book.

Divide that total number by the number of verses you will memorize per week. The answer is how many weeks the book should take you.

Determine a tentative finish date.

Add 10% so you don’t feel too much pressure.

Ephesians has 155 verses in total, so it would take 26 weeks or 6 months if you memorize 6 verses a week. 10% of that is 3 weeks, so you would take 29 weeks.

Daily procedures

Repetition over time.

Saying a verse 100 times a day is not a helpful as saying it every day for 100 days. The key to successful Scripture memorization is repetition over a long time period.

Prioritize reviewing old verses.

Go through the verses you memorized beforehand before learning a new verse.

Memorize the verse numbers (optional)

This will enable you to pick out individual verses to quote. And it will prevent you from omitting verses when you’re reciting the entire book.

Ephesians 1:1-3 = “one-one Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: one-two “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. one-three Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…”

Photograph the verse with your eyes

Try to capture the verse on the page with your own eyes, as if you’re taking a photograph. Try to burn the image into your memory.

Say the verse out loud

The additional sensory input to your brain helps the memorization process.

Try putting some feeling and emotion into reciting the verses.

This is a form of meditation.

Example of a daily procedure

Day 1

Read Ephesians 1:1 out loud ten times, looking at each word as if photographing it with your eyes. Include the verse number if you want. Then cover the page and recite it ten times. You’re done for the day.

Day 2

Yesterday’s verse first. Recite yesterday’s verse, Eph 1:1, ten times. Look in the Bible if you need to refresh your memory.

New verse. Read Eph. 1:2 out loud ten times, looking at each word as if photographing it with your eyes. Include the verse number if you want. Then cover the page and recite it ten times. You’re done for the day.

Day 3

Yesterday’s verse first. Recite yesterday’s verse, Eph 1:2, ten times. Look in the Bible if you need to refresh your memory.

Old verses, all together. Recite Eph. 1:1-2 together once, including the verse numbers if you want.

New verse. Read Eph. 1:3 out loud ten times, looking at each word as if photographing it with your eyes. Include the verse number if you want. Then cover the page and recite it ten times. You’re done for the day.

This cycle would continue through the entire book.

The “old verses, all together” stage will soon swell to take most of the time, but that’s exactly how it should be. You can recite the book of Ephesians in less than 15 minutes. And there’s no shame in looking back at the Bible to refresh your memory.

Day 60

Yesterday’s verse first. Recite yesterday’s verse, Eph 3:6, ten times. Look in the Bible if you need to refresh your memory.

Old verses, all together. Recite Eph. 1:1-3:6 together once, including the verse numbers if you want. Look in the Bible if you need to, so this process won’t take too long.

New verse. Read Eph. 3:7 out loud ten times, looking at each word as if photographing it with your eyes. Include the verse number if you want. Then cover the page and recite it ten times. You’re done for the day.

Finally, how do you choose which Bible translation to use?

Just choose anything except the Message or the Passion translation. NASB or ESV or NKJV or LSB or NIV or NLT are all good.

May I invite us to give this a try?

Ephesians 1:1 ESV

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus:

Ephesians 1:2 ESV

2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.