Bible Memory

Review:

Turn to Psalm 119:11.

Chapter nine we learned about the witness of a believer.

Every believer should tell others about what God has done in their lives.

We saw that Christ has left clear instructions for us to go and tell others

We saw that the gospel is simple. We must deliver it simply.

We must explain that we are all sinners

We must explain that Christ died on the cross for us

We must explain that God gives eternal life when we trust Jesus alone to save us.

Remember: we are learning this material so that we can teach others these principles.

Introduction - Chapter ten: Bible Memory

I don’t know what its like to try to learn something new at 40, 50, 60+ years of age. But my life experience has taught me this: as long as I tell myself that I can’t do something, it is almost certain that I won’t be able to do it.

I must first set my mind to do something before it will ever be possible for me to do it.

I say that for this reason: I know that age and mental health are relevant factors in being able to memorize God’s Word. However, do not discount the importance of “want to.” I find that people generally can learn new things if they have the “want to.”

Children learn so much faster in school when they want to versus when they don’t want to.

If the heart’s not in it, it’s going to be an uphill battle.

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Did people in the Bible memorize the Scriptures that they had?

In other words, is this a more modern idea that independent Baptists came up with? Or is this a discipline that has a biblical basis?

Read Psalm 119:11.

Turn to and read Psalm 37:30-31, 40:8

Can anyone think of a New Testament example of someone who was taught the Scriptures as a child?

He had a mother and grandmother that taught him the Scriptures. Timothy

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2 Timothy 3:15 KJV 1900

15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

There is substantial evidence that the people of the Bible engaged in Scripture memorization, particularly during the time of Jesus.

The primary educational method in ancient Jewish culture relied on rote memorization, and as a first-century Jew, Jesus would almost certainly have memorized the Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament. Jesus’ fluent command of Hebrew Scripture—demonstrated both in his precise word choice and his grasp of deeper meaning—indicates he engaged in serious study.

The cultural context made memorization especially necessary. Writing materials were extremely scarce in biblical times, far more so than even a few centuries ago. This scarcity meant scriptural memorization served as people’s primary means of accessing Scripture in the first-century Jewish world.

The practice had deep religious roots. God commanded the Hebrew people in the Shema to keep his words “on your heart” and “recite them to your children.”

By Jesus’s time, this memorization emphasis remained deeply embedded in Jewish culture, with the Shema recited multiple times daily and vast portions of Scripture—sometimes entire books—memorized in early Jewish schools.

Important Terms

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Meditation: thinking on God’s Word so that we better understand it and live it

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Bible memorization: memorizing specific verses from God’s Word

The Key Bible Truths section of this chapter explain some reasons why we memorize Scripture. But tonight I want to skip over that material and boil it down to this.

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We memorize the Bible because that is what the Holy Spirit uses to teach, to reprove, to correct, and to instruct us in righteousness.

When you are going about your day and a verse of Scripture pops into your mind at just the most opportune moment, you can count on it, that’s the Spirit of God doing what He does best.

I can’t tell you how many times that has happened when I’m being tempted to sin, when I’m witnessing to someone about Jesus, when I’m preaching, or when I’m trying to encourage another Christian. That’s just how the Spirit of God works. One of his primary ministries to us today is applying the Scriptures to our daily lives. Bible memory is the practical enabling of that.

How do we memorize the Bible?

The points in the book are things that I discovered on my own as a teenager when I began memorizing verses. My personal experience is that it works.

Go through points in the book on pages 69-70

Example: Romans 3:23

Break it down into parts.

Go for a walk.

Say it out loud.

Repeat the parts and slowly add them together.

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Romans 3:23

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“For all have sinned”

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“and come short of the glory of God;”