Better Bible Study - #1

I’ve Decided to Look at a Topic That I Believe is Appropriate For Our Wednesday Night Bible Study

“How to Have Better Bible Study”

This is Not Going to a Be Ph.D Level Hermeneutics Class

We’re Just Going to Spend a Few Weeks Looking at Tricks and Tips That Can Help Us Have Better Bible Study

Some of Tricks and Tips May Not Be New to Us

But I Do Believe They Will Help Us in Our Bible Study

And My Greatest Hope is That it Will Cultivate an Excitement and Desire Within Us For Bible Study

Since You Support Me to Teach and Preach Here, I Have the Opportunity to Study 6+ Hours Tuesdays - Fridays

I’ve Learned New and Better Ways to Study

I’ve Learned How to Study Deeper

And the More I Learn About the Bible, the More Excited I Become to Keep Studying

There Was a Time in My Christian Life When Bible Study Was the Last Thing I Wanted to Spend My Free-Time Doing

Now it’s My Favorite Hobby

That Can Be the Same For Everyone in This Room

But That Doesn’t Happen By Simply Sitting Down With a KJV and Reading For 5-10 Minutes a Day

It Takes Learning New Techniques and Trying New Things

That’s What We are Going to Be Looking at For the Next Few Weeks

DON’T JUST READ! MEMORIZE, STUDY, & THINK

It’s Wonderful to Read the Bible

Through the Bible We Learn About:

God’s Character

Jesus’ Sacrifice

Jesus’ Resurrection

Jesus Acting as Our Advocate in Heaven

The Kingdom

Redemption

Reconciliation

Salvation

And How to Live By Faith

But Simply Reading Through the Bible is Not Going to Cause You to Grasp These Incredibly Deep and Important Topics

We Need More

We Need to Memorize the Bible

Memorization is Important to Fight Off Temptation and Sin

It’s Important to Teach Others

It’s Important in Helping Us Practice Our Faith and Good Works

It’s Important to Helping Us Understand the Bible

It’s Important For Our Hope

Typically When We Think About Memorizing the Bible, We Think About Memorizing Bible Verses Through Repetitious Reciting

That’s a Very Good Thing to Do

But, There are a Lot of People Who Hate Trying to Memorize Bible Verses

I Am One of Those People

But if You Enjoy Using Repetitious Recitation to Memorize Verses, Paragraphs, Chapters, or Even Whole Books…

Then Keep Up the Good Work!

But if You’re Like Me and Can’t Motivate Yourself to Repeat Bible Verses to Yourself Everyday…

There Are Other Ways to Memorize the Bible

Such as Choosing One Book of the Bible and Reading it Over and Over and Over

Something New Will Stand Out to You Each Time You Read it

And Eventually, You Will Start to Notice and Memorize the Themes, Purpose, and Structure of the Book

You May Not Walk Away With a Single Verse Memorized (You Probably Will Though)…

But You Will Have Memorized What the Book is All About

We Need to Study the Bible

Reading and Studying Are Not the Same Thing

Studying is When You Take Your Time With What You’re Reading

You Concentrate, Ask Questions, and Consider the Different Possible Answers to Those Questions

You Dig Deeper Than the Surface Level of Reading

You Analyze Paragraph By Paragraph, Verse By Verse, Word By Word

I Love to Study With the Help of Commentaries

I Would Recommend Finding at Least a Couple of Good Verse By Verse Commentaries

Here’s a Good Way to Use Them:

Read a Verse or Passage

Speculate On What You Believe the Author Was Intending to Communicate With That Verse

You May Think You Have it Figured Out, or You May Have No Idea What it Means

Then Open Up Your Commentaries to That Verse and Read What They Believe the Verse to Be Saying

You May Agree With One or Both of Them

Or You May Completely Disagree

Whether You Agree or Disagree, Make Sure You Have Biblical Reasons For Why

And Then Form Your Interpretational Opinion of That Verse or Passage

You May Have Gotten it Right, or You May Have Gotten it Wrong…

But Either Way, You Will Have Learned Something

And as You Continue to Study, You Will Learn More That Will Either:

Confirm That You Interpretted That Verse Correctly

Or Confirm That You Got it Wrong

I Also Love to Study By Reading Passages in Other Translations

I Highly Recommend Comparing Translations

My Primary Translation That I Study and Preach Out of is the NASB (Most Accurate Word For Word Translation)

But Almost All of the Today’s Major Translations Are Good For Something

NASB, ESV, (N)KJV - Good For Studying

Focus More On Word For Word Translation From the Original Languages

NIV, NLT - Good For Reading

Focus More On Communicating What the Original Authors Were Trying to Say in Today’s Language

Much Easier to Read and Comprehend

Whenever I Am Struggling With a Passage, Sometimes All I Need to Do is Read it in Some Other Translations

And Many Times, the Meaning is Made So Much Clearer

There Are Other Ways to Study That We Will Eventually Look at, But Those Are My 2 Favorite Ways

And They Are Pretty Easily Accessible to the Average Person

We Need to Think About the Bible

Reading, Memorizing, or Studying the Bible Without Thinking and Meditating On it…

Is Not Going to Bring About the Desired Results

I Grow Just as Much and Probably More in My Bible Knowledge and Application…

When I Think and Meditate About What I’ve Read, Memorized, and Studied

And Even Better Than That is Thinking Outloud With Other Christians

Sometimes the Best Way to Learn and Grow is in a Group

Thinking Outloud With Others

LET’S PUT IT TO THE TEST

We Are Going to Choose a Short Context

(Memorize)We Are Going to Read it 3 Times in NASB or You Can Follow Along in Whatever Translation You are Using

(Study)Then We Are Going to Read it in a Different Translation

(Study) Then We Will Analyze the Text

I’ve Read Several Commentaries to Help Aid Us in Our Analysis

(Think) Then We Will Discuss the Passage With Each Other

And Hopefully, When We Finish, We Will Have Memorized What That Passage is About and We Will Have a Better Understanding of it Than Before

Acts 1:1–8 (NASB)

The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach,

until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen.

To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.

Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me;

for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”

He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;

but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

Now, Let’s Read it Once in the NLT:

Acts 1:1–8 (NLT)

In my first book I told you, Theophilus, about everything Jesus began to do and teach

until the day he was taken up to heaven after giving his chosen apostles further instructions through the Holy Spirit.

During the forty days after he suffered and died, he appeared to the apostles from time to time, and he proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive. And he talked to them about the Kingdom of God.

Once when he was eating with them, he commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before.

John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?”

He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

The First Thing I Noticed Was How Much Easier the NLT Was to Understand Upon Simply Reading the Text

Did Anyone Notice Any Major Differences in Meaning Between the 2 Translations?

One Difference in Verse 3 That I Noticed Was That the NLT Put:

“he appeared to the apostles from time to time”

The Original Text Doesn’t Tell Us That Jesus Appeared “From Time to Time”

But When We Look at How Jesus Appeared to the Apostles at the End of the Gospel Accounts, We Know That to Be True

Another Difference I Noticed Was in Verse 4

NASB - “Gathering them together”

NLT - “Once when he was eating with them”

The Greek Word Used Here is Only Found Here in the New Testament

So the Meaning is a Little Uncertain

According to the Greek Dictionaries I Have at My Disposal…

The Word Can Mean:

To Assemble Together

To Stay With

To Eat With

So it’s Possible Jesus Was Eating With His Apostles When He Told Them This

And Then in Verse 8 the NLT Adds an Explanation of What it Means to Be a Witness of Jesus:

“telling people about me everywhere”

Besides Those 3 Were the Only Major Differences I Could Find

But None of Them Were Necessarily Wrong

They Were Just Added or Changed in Order to Help Us Better Understand the Text

Now, Let’s Analyze the Text

Acts 1:1–2 (NASB)

The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen.

We Believe Luke to Be the Author

He Refers to a 1st Account

He’s Talking About the Gospel of Luke

First He Wrote About Jesus’ Life, Death, and Resurrection

Now His is Writing About Jesus’ Ascension to the Throne of Heaven,

The Establishment of the Church

And the Spreading of the Gospel Throughout the World

He is Writing to “Theophilus”

Theophilus = “Friend of God”

Some Believe He Was a Real Person Whom Luke Was Writing to Inform of the Life and Ministry of Jesus and His Apostles

Some Believe He Was a Christian Who Was Funding the Writing of Luke & Acts

Some Believe it Wasn’t a Person But Represented All People Who Considered Themselves as Friends of God

His Former Account of Ended With Jesus Telling His Apostles to Stay in Jerusalem

Acts 1:3 (NASB95)

To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.

For 40 Days Jesus Showed the Proof of His Resurrection to His Apostles

During Those 40 Days He Also Continued Speaking to Them About the Kingdom (His Rule and Reign Over His People)

Acts 1:4–5 (NASB)

Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

While Gathering Them Together, Staying With Them, or Eating With Them…

He Told Them to Stay in Jerusalem

Why?

To Wait For the Promise of the Father

What Was That Promise?

That They Would Be Baptized By the Holy Spirit

Jesus Talked About This in Detail in John 14-16

We See it Happen in Acts 2

The Apostles Would Be Able to Work Perform Signs and Miracles to Confirm Their Preaching and Build Up the Church

Christians From That Point Forward Would Have the Holy Spirit Living Within Them…

To Produce Fruit Within Them

Guarantee Our Salvation

And to Resurrect Us When Jesus Returns

Acts 1:6 (NASB)

So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”

Jesus Had Spent His Entire Ministry Talking About His Reign and Rule Over His Kingdom

Now the Holy Spirit is About to Be Poured Out On Them

Something the Prophets Continuously Connected With the Restoration of God’s People

So His Apostles Ask, “Are You About to Restore the Kingdom of Israel?”

This Was the Hope of the Jewish People

For Messiah to Reign as King and For Israel to Be Sovereign and Powerful Again

Acts 1:7 (NASB)

He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;

Jesus Tells Them Not to Worry About the Timing of God’s Appointed Restoration

Acts 1:8 (NASB)

but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

They Would Receive Power From the Holy Spirit

Not Power to Topple Rome and Be Sovereign Again

But Power to Be a Witness of the Death, Burial, and Resurrection to the Whole World

They Were Tell the World About Jesus

This Verse is the Thematic Verse of the Entire Book of Acts

It Begins With Receiving Power From the Holy Spirit Which Enables Them to Spread the Gospel

Then it Provides an Outline of the Rest of the Book

They Will Spread the Good News of Jesus in Jerusalem (Ch. 1-7)

Then to All of Judea and Samaria (Ch. 8-12)

Then to All the Earth (Ch. 13-28)

Now Let’s Think About the Text

Why Was Luke Writing This Account?

Why Did Jesus Stick Around For 40 Days?

Why Did They Have to Stay in Jerusalem?

What Do We Learn About the Kingdom From This Passage?

What Does This Chapter Teach Us About the Mission of a Christian?

What Does This Passage Tell Us About the Book of Acts?