Faithful in Bible Study | Part 1

What are the factors we need to learn in order to be faithful to God? Now we want you as a believer in Jesus Christ, and especially if you are a new Christian, to learn some factors of faithfulness that will help you to stand strong, to be a good Christian at home, and to be a solid citizen in this world. And the factor of faithfulness that comes number one is Bible study.

Welcome to Love Worth Finding, featuring real truth that never changes through the messages of acclaimed pastor and Bible teacher, Adrian Rogers. Today, we begin a series called Factors of Faithfulness. If we want to live holy lives, to be sanctified and powerful in the Lord, we need to learn how to be faithful in studying God's Word. If you have your Bible, turn now to 2 Timothy chapter 2, we'll begin in verse 15, as Adrian Rogers presents part one of Faithful in Bible Study. Take God's Word and find 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 15.

In a moment, we will look at it. Let me tell you what happened to me. As a teenage boy, I sat in the church and heard a man preach the gospel. I was sitting by my father. When the invitation was given, my father went forward to give his heart to Jesus Christ. Conviction of the Holy Spirit struck my heart. I went forward also to give my heart to Jesus Christ. And I was as sincere as a young man could be. And when I went forward, they filled out a form and they stood me up in front of the church and they said, aren't we very grateful that Adrian Rogers has come forward tonight to give his heart to Jesus Christ? And the people said, amen.

And that was about it. And I went out and endeavored to live the Christian life. And I want you to know as a young man, I struggled and I failed and I struggled and I failed and I rode a spiritual roller coaster.

Sometimes I was up and sometimes I was down. Sometimes I wondered if I had been saved at all. But then slowly, I began to get into the Word of God. I began to study the Bible. I learned some truths.

And when I learned some truth, that truth became something absolutely solid that I could stand on. And my life was transformed, not by resolution, not by emotion, not by determination, but by the truth of God's Word. Now we want you as a believer in Jesus Christ, and especially if you are a new Christian, to learn some factors of faithfulness that will help you to stand strong, to be a good Christian at home, and to be a solid citizen in this world. And the factor of faithfulness that comes in number one is Bible study. I want you to look at God's Word and see what Paul said to Timothy. 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 15, study, to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Now that is God's command to you and me through Paul and Timothy, that we're to study to show ourselves approved unto God. Do you want to live a holy life? Jesus said in John chapter 17 verse 17, as He prayed for us, He prayed, Lord, sanctify them through thy truth.

Thy Word is truth. You want to be sanctified? You want to be holy? You want to be powerful in the Lord? You want to stop riding a spiritual rollercoaster?

You want to stop walking around on eggshells and jello? You want some spiritual steel and concrete beneath your feet? Then learn to be faithful in Bible study. I want to give you today four things that I pray God the Holy Spirit will write upon your consciousness, indelibly, that will help you to know, understand, and live by the Word of God. Now we're talking about faithfulness in Bible study. Number one, if you would understand the Bible, if you would know the Bible, if God's Word would be to you a bright living reality, you must, number one, receive the saving author of the Bible. Now God is the author of the Bible. You must receive the author of the Bible into your heart.

Why is this? Because without Jesus Christ, you are spiritually blind. First Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 14, the natural man, that is a naturally born man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they're foolishness unto him. Neither can he know them because they're spiritually discerned. If you've only been born once, you are a natural man born into the natural world and blind to the spiritual world. You will never truly understand the Bible.

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 4 that Satan is the God of this world and he has blinded the minds of them that believe not. And without Jesus Christ, the author of the Bible in your heart, you will never understand the Bible. To try to help an unsaved man to truly understand the Bible would be like trying to teach a dog to understand opera.

You just can't do it. You don't have the facility, you don't have the ability to understand the Word of God. There's a classic story that I've shared with you before about a young man who went to a college class and the professor was an infidel and he tried to mock those students who believed in the Word of God and he let loose a diatribe against the Word of God. And then he asked, is there anybody here now who says he believes the Bible is the Word of God?

And even those Christians who were Christians seemed to be intimidated, but one young man stood up in the back of the room and said, yes, sir. He said, I want you to know I believe the Bible is the Word of God. The professor said, does it make sense to you?

He said, yes, sir, it does. The professor said, well, young man, I want you to know I've read the Bible and it doesn't make any sense to me. And the students said, sir, I don't mean you any disrespect, but the Bible is God's love letter to His children. If you've read it and don't understand it, it's because you've been reading someone else's mail.

Isn't that true? You see, the Bible is God's letter to us. And in order to understand the Bible, you must know the God of the Bible. Now, an unsaved man can read the Bible and appreciate it for beautiful literature.

It is beautiful literature. He might learn the history of the Bible. He might even agree with the moral precepts of the Bible. But he will never know the deep meaning of God's Word until he's born again. Nicodemus came to Jesus by night.

Nicodemus was a master in Israel. That is, he was a brilliant man, but he couldn't understand. And the reason he couldn't understand is he had not been born again. Jesus said in John 3, 3, except a man be born again, he cannot see.

Nicodemus was a blind man. Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of heaven. He just cannot or the kingdom of God. And so therefore, if you would understand the Bible, first of all, invite the Lord Jesus Christ into your heart, the saving author of the Bible. You must receive the saving author of the Bible.

Have you got that? Now, once Christ is in your heart, then you begin to pray. Never come to Bible study without praying. In Psalm 119, there are three prayers that you need to pray before you begin your Bible study. Once you know that Jesus Christ is in your heart, put these verses down in your margin, Psalm 119 and verse 12.

Here's the first prayer. Teach me thy statutes. Teach me thy statutes. And when you pray that, God begins to teach you. He becomes the teacher in your heart. When you pray, Lord, teach me thy statutes, when you lay your intellectual pride in the dust and pray over the word of God, now remember that Christ must be in your heart first of all.

Three things will happen. When you pray, Lord, teach me thy statutes. In Psalm 119 and verse 18, your eyes will be opened. Psalm 119 verse 18, open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.

That's the first thing that will happen. Your eyes will be opened. God will help you to see things that you have never seen.

I can tell when I'm walking in the Spirit when I'm reading the word of God. There are truths that just jump up off the Bible into my heart. Number two, not only will your eyes be opened, but your heart will be stirred.

Put this verse down, Psalm 119 verse 36. Incline my heart unto thy testimonies. God opens your eyes, God inclines your heart. You see, you must see, and then your heart must be moved. Your eyes will be opened. That's number one. Your heart will be stirred.

That's number two. And then your mind will be enlightened. Listen to Psalm 119 verse 73.

Give me understanding that I may learn your commandments. And so you have the Lord Jesus Christ in your heart. You have received him into your heart. God gives you a new heart. God gives you a new mind. Then you come to the Word of God and you say, God, teach me your statutes. And when you do this, you pray, Lord, open my eyes. You pray, Lord, stir my heart.

You pray, Lord, quicken my mind. Never fail to study the Bible that way. It's unthinkable to me that I would sit down for a serious study of the Word of God without first of all asking the author of the Word of God to teach me. I read years ago about a man who had a mentor, a Bible teacher. He was a new Christian. And the mentor was teaching this younger Christian the Word of God.

And they were doing well. They would meet for Bible study. And the young neophyte Christian would have difficulty with the Word of God. And he would come to his teacher whose name was Harry. And he would say, Harry, what does this mean? Or Harry, teach me that.

Or Harry, what about this? And Harry would explain it to him because Harry had a walk with God, a real close walk with God. And he taught the younger man. And we need older people to teach younger people the Word of God.

And that's a very wonderful and legitimate thing. But one time this man could not get to Harry. He had a problem in the Word of God.

He couldn't understand it. He labored over it and he said to himself, boy, I wish Harry were here. I wish somehow Harry were here because I need to understand this. And he went to God and said, Lord, I just somehow helped me to get to Harry.

I need to understand this. And the Lord said to him in his heart, why don't you ask me to explain it to you? I'm the one who taught Harry. And you can ask God Himself to teach you the Word of God.

So number one, number one, here's the first big heading. You must receive the saving author of the Bible. You must have Jesus Christ in your heart. Number two, you must recognize the sovereign authority of the Bible. Once you know the author, you must believe the authority of the Word of God. The Bible will never be a real book to you if you do not accept it as the sovereign authority of Almighty God. The Bible is a literary miracle.

Put this verse down, 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 16. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God.

And the word inspiration that's used here is used only one time. This one time in the Bible it's theonustis. And what it literally means is it is God-breathed. All Scripture is God-breathed, is given by inspiration of God. That literally means that it is God-breathed. Not that God breathed into the Scriptures, but that God breathed the Scriptures themselves.

You say, why would you call the Scriptures God-breathed? Well what you're hearing right now is my breath, my breath. There's a diaphragm down here. There are lungs in here. My diaphragm and my rib cage are pressing against my lungs and they're sending air up my throat. That air is passing over my larynx and my voice box and that air is being moved and articulated by my tongue, my teeth and my lips and I'm making sounds. And what you're really hearing right now is my breath.

I am breathing out my words right now. Now the Bible says that all Scripture is the breath of God. When you read the Bible you hear God speak. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God.

Now it says all Scripture, not some Scripture. That's the reason we believe in the verbal plenary inspiration of the Bible. Verbal means every word. A verb is a word. Plenary means full.

The Latin word plenus means full. So theologians call it the verbal plenary inspiration of the Bible. That means all of the Bible is fully inspired.

There's no part of it that is not inspired. As you pick up the Bible you read phrases like this, the Word of God came unto me, or the Lord said, or God spake, or thus saith the Lord. You read that 3,808 times. God said. God said. Now either the Bible is the Word of God or it is the biggest bundle of lies the world has ever known. It is the Word of God and you need to take it that way.

Jesus Christ said in Matthew chapter 4, 4, man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. The Word proceeds out of the mouth of God. You say, well didn't people write the Bible? Yes, they wrote it. But they wrote it by divine inspiration.

God Himself inspired the penman. Well you say if God wrote it why didn't all sound alike? Why do parts of it sound so different? Because God used different people just like our orchestra. Suppose Carter Threlkel who is the orchestra director and by the way can play a number of instruments. If Carter picks up one instrument and plays it and then he picks up another one and plays it and then picks up another one that plays it, you would be able to tell the characteristics of those different instruments.

A trumpet would sound like a trumpet, and a French horn like a French horn, and a cornet like a cornet and an oboe like an oboe or whatever. But there is one author who is playing all the instruments and you pick up this Bible and you can say, yes that's Paul, yes that's Matthew, yes that's Moses, yes. Those are the different authors of the Bible but really there is one author who is using all of those men as instruments in His hand, not mechanical dictation.

God uses the fears, the desires, the aspirations, the experiences of all of those men but over it all and through it all is divine inspiration. And so you must accept, you must accept the absolute authority of the Word of God and your view of the Scripture must be the view that Jesus had and Jesus said in John chapter 10 verse 35, the Scripture cannot be broken. Now if you accept the absolute authority of the Bible some will say you're guilty of worshipping the Bible. Some of the liberals will call you a bibliolator, that is you've made an idol of the Bible and they call that bibliolatory, just worshipping the Bible, pay no attention to them. I'm telling you if reading the Bible brings you closer to Jesus Christ and causes you to love Jesus Christ unless you let the Bible stand between you and Jesus Christ just pay no attention to them, that's their problem.

Love the Word of God. And so the Bible interpreted by the Holy Spirit is the final authority, not reason, not human reason, not your conscience. Your conscience is like a sundial.

It operates according to the light that's shown on it. So your conscience can't be your guide unless God guides your conscience. And so it's not human reason, not your conscience, not tradition, not emotion but the Word of God.

Now here's the third thing. First of all you must receive the saving author of the Bible. You must have the author of the Bible in your heart. Number two, you must believe the sovereign authority of the Word of God. No stutter, no stammer, no apology, the Bible is the Word of God.

Number three, you must resolve a serious analysis of the Bible. The author, the authority and the analysis of the Bible. It's not enough to say that God is the author of the Bible.

It is not enough therefore to say that the Bible therefore is absolutely authoritative. You must learn to study and analyze the Bible. You must bring your mind to the Bible though you lay your intellectual pride in the dust at the same time. Put these scriptures down. First Timothy chapter four verse 13, Paul said, till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation and to doctrine.

And then again the scripture that we began with. Second Timothy two verse 15, study to show yourself approved unto God. Now what does that word study mean? I looked it up in a number of translations.

Let me tell you some of the ways that that word study is translated. One says give diligence. Another says earnestly endeavor. Another translation says do your best. Another says try hard. Another says let it be your care.

Another says aim first. All of these are saying that you must have a burning desire for the Word of God. You must earnestly endeavor. You must study to show yourself approved unto God. Do you really want to know the Bible? Could you say with the psalmist in Psalm 119 verse 72, the law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver, than thousands of gold and silver? I mean had you rather know the truth of God's Word or be a multimillionaire? Answer that question in your heart but don't answer it out loud. If money, silver and gold means more to you than the Word of God, I wonder if you even have a right to call yourself a Christian. Don't tell me that you believe the Bible is the Word of God unless you have a desire to understand it.

That's contradictory. I don't want you to answer this question out loud but I want to ask you this question. How many of you believe everything you read in the newspaper? Well you say, and if I were to ask for the hands to go up, I doubt that any would go up. But I'd ask you a second question, even more embarrassing. How many spend more time with the newspaper every day than you do with the Word of God? That's an incriminating question. You spend more time with that that you don't believe than that which you say you do believe.

You spend more time with the bad news than you do with the good news. You say yes, I know the author of the Bible. Yes, I believe the authority of the Bible but I make no analysis of the Bible. I do not study the Bible. You must friend open the Bible and do as the Apostle Paul said give attendance to reading, to exhortation and to doctrine.

There is no other way that you are going to get it. We have some ways to help you to grow in Bible understanding. First of all by Bible preaching and Bible teaching. When you come into this place you go to our fellowship Bible classes there is a teacher who is teaching the Bible. When you come into this auditorium there is a preacher who is preaching the Bible.

And God gives to the church pastors and teachers to help you to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Now the Bible says here in our text that we started with that you are to rightly divide the Word of Truth. And that word rightly divide literally means to cut straight the Word of Truth. And what it comes from is a practice in the Old Testament when an offering would be made to God unless it was the whole burnt offering say it were a lamb and it would be brought to the Lord that lamb would be divided. The priest would take it and he would divide it into thirds. One third would be offered to God.

One third would be given back to the person who brought the offering and one third would be given to the priest. And what he would do would be to rightly divide that lamb, cut it straight as it was meant to be so that everyone would get that part that belonged to him. Now you need to do the Word of God the same way. You need to learn how to rightly divide the Word of God. Don't bring your ignorance to the Word of God but study the Bible.

And we'll hear part two of this foundational message coming up tomorrow. But maybe today you have questions about who Jesus is, what he means to you, how to follow him with your whole heart. Go to our Discover Jesus page at lwf.org slash radio. You'll find resources and materials there that can answer questions you may have about placing your faith in Jesus. Again go to lwf.org slash radio and click Discover Jesus at the top of the page. Now if you'd like to order a copy of today's message call 1-877-LOVEGOD and mention the title Faithful in Bible Study. This message is also part of the Insightful Factors of Faithfulness series. For the complete collection, all seven powerful messages, call that number 1-877-LOVEGOD.

Or you can order online at lwf.org slash radio. Or write us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38600, Memphis Tennessee 38183. Well thanks for studying with us in God's Word. As you continue with your day, consider the question, are you exercising your faithfulness in studying the Bible? Dwell on that and we hope you'll join us for part two of this message tomorrow right here on Love Worth Finding. A listener wrote recently and said this, I was first introduced to Pastor Adrian Rogers messages through a ministry that sent Bibles to us quarterly along with DVDs of Pastor Rogers preaching.

When I watched them, it was a true blessing and encouragement. But we are honored to provide messages and resources to help you grow in your faith. That's why as a way to say thank you for your gift right now, we'd love to send you our Tapestry Faith and Forgiveness Journal. Adrian Rogers said, your faith is the measure of your victory and success. This Tapestry Journal reveals that only by faith can we extend forgiveness to others, share God's truth and leave a godly legacy. Request the journal Tapestry Faith and Forgiveness when you call with a gift at 1-877-LOVEGOD or you can give online at lwf.org slash radio. Again, thanks for your support of Love Worth Finding.