How to Study The Bible Part 4

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Enjoy it, share it, but most of all, thank you for listening and choosing the Truth Podcast Network. We are back, Roy. What a difference a week makes, and we are here once again trying to encourage the listening audience to do what, Roy? To read the Bible, study the Bible, and journal about what they're learning. Absolutely, Roy, because we can't remember everything. We hear a message at our local houses of worship, and someone asked us, hey, what was the message about?

Ah, ah, well, I really don't know, but the choir sung really well. Yeah, and what's really funny about that, that's 30 minutes after they walk out of the building that you're asking that question. Absolutely, absolutely, and see, the thing about it is it's true, and we're not just giving God the time that he wants us to give. Yeah, and that's really sad.

We just not. It's just really sad, and we always often pose the question, Will, what would you do differently if you had seven days to live? If you knew you had seven days, what would you do differently?

Wow, that's a good question. And, you know, you think about the Bible, you're learning about, you're basically prepping for the meeting, if you think of it in some ways. By reading the Bible, you're prepping for the meeting of the day that you're going to be before our Father. Absolutely. And also life application stuff, obviously, and being armed for discussions and to share your heart and share your beliefs, but you're prepping for the big meeting. Absolutely, and the thing about it is you stand alone. Yes, you do.

No one is going to stand on your behalf. So, Roy, we're continuing with the Tim LaHaye book, How to Study the Bible for Yourself, and we're looking at this, the library of the Bible. He talks about the library of the Bible, and, you know, he sort of like breaks the Old Testament and New Testament down. Of course, we got the 39 books of the Old Testament, the 27 of the New Testament, making the 66 books. And so he sort of like sections them out by history.

And what's the next one he got there? Well, let's see. What I'm seeing is the three, you're talking about the three revelations?

Oh, I see what you're talking about. Yeah, they got the history, we've got the law, and then we've got another group of history. And we've got poetry, we've got major prophets, we've got minor prophets, we've got the life of Christ, and then church history, epistles and letters and prophecy. Yeah, and see, and then church history, it's the book of Acts. And I like reading the book of Acts because the book of Acts, Acts actually is a short version for the actions of the Holy Spirit working through the apostles. So when you see Acts, these are the actions that the Holy Spirit did through the apostles during that time. And it's a very good book because God, well, it's all good, but God blesses the writer, who is Luke, to journal basically the account.

This is exactly what he did. You know, God gave him this journaling capability, and he journaled because when you read it, it's like, okay, we started off here in Caesarea, we got on the boat. Tell me that's not journaling. It's just like he's taking the step by step as what's occurring.

We entered, you know, crossed into the sea, there was a big storm that came as a result of us coming, and then we were shipwrecked over here on the side. So it's, you know, reading it, it's like reading a historical novel is what it is. And, you know, what better way to stay in touch and to get in touch, right, with everything that you believe in, the anchor of your whole faith. And I think that's what we really miss, Will, is that we think of it as a chore or a task, and it's really not. It's really blessing you.

It's bringing you to a deeper level of intimacy, like we said in last week's show. I think people, once they get started, and part of that prayer before we start reading it, I think you should pray that God will birth that desire and that burning desire to continue to go deeper and grow, grow, grow, grow closer to him through his word. You know, Roy, and that's just like when we first became born again. When we first became born again, think about how excited we were. You know, it's like, wow, God has saved me from the damnation of hell. He's saving me, you know, from the power of sin.

He's going to save me from the presence of sin. And so it was just like so much joy, and you wanted to tell the world. You wanted to share the gospel with everybody. But it seems like as we get older, we want to share the gospel less. We get less enthusiastic, and we get more distracted, you know.

Instead of enthusiastic. And next thing you know, we're giving more time to the cares of the world rather than giving more time that's going to ultimately give us insight to our eternal future. Well, it's funny you say that because, you know, Maximize Manhood, the book that we're finishing up, what is it?

Restore the Glory, I think is in the last chapter, is that very thing. When you start out, you're excited and you're on fire, but as time passes, kind of like having, you just, you get, I don't want to say the word numb, but you get in a routine that's not necessarily a healthy routine, and it's about restoring the glory, you know. And that is, so then freshen it up. Dive into the word. Change it up with your study habits.

Change it up with the people you're around. And make it and keep it on fire. He gave the analogy of like, he said his wife had restored their kitchen, you know, some 25 years ago, they had remodeled their kitchen. Well, 25 years later, I may have to date this a little bit off, but the kitchen's worn down.

Needs to be restored, right, refreshed. No different in our daily lives. Keep the excitement in there, and that's by changing things up. Once you get in a routine and you feel like you're not getting anything out of it, then you need to step back and pray. Say, Father, what is it that I need to do different here?

Is there something that you're trying to show me in a way I need to approach the Bible in terms of how I'm studying, the amount of time I'm putting into it, or who I'm around when I'm doing my study? And if you're around those individuals that are maybe dragging you or taking you down. No, that wouldn't happen.

Then you need to find some different individuals to be around. Yes. Some, you know, some stronger individuals. So we were talking about this next thing that you mentioned, Roy, in the book here, How to Study the Bible for Yourself, God's Three Revelations. We talked about that in the Christian Fellowship group, how God reveals Hisself to mankind.

So what are those three things, Roy? Well, He reveals through creation. And see, we can see that because man can't make hills. He can't make the universe. He can't make galaxies, moons, and suns.

He don't have any ability to do those things. So those things are higher than man. And from the standpoint that because man cannot make them, it says that there has to be, and there is, someone who is greater.

Far greater, yeah. Who is able to create. It's ironic, I had that conversation today. We were talking about a gentleman I was speaking with said that his son had asked him about rocks and how many millions of years ago those had been created. And I said, you know, what people fail to realize is that our finite understanding of what we see is only what we've learned and what we've been taught, right? And so to think about a rock, folks need to think the Creator, when He spoke it, it was created. So in His words, all of what man has classified, it took this amount of time, or this has been laying around for a million years, God spoke it into creation, right? So all of those man-made measurements and man-made understandings of things happened in an instant. And so that's kind of cool about the creation piece.

It is. So the second way that God has revealed Himself is through His Son. Through His Son, Jesus Christ. Now, when we think of Jesus Christ, we know from Christ's coming that He was going to be the sacrificial lamb when we read that in Scripture. The sacrificial lamb for all. So those in the Old Testament, they were basically saved on credit, is what we like to say. Meaning that they were saved on Christ's eventual coming. And those who were born again after Christ came, then we look back at the cross, and we see what Christ has done. Whereas those born-again believers in the Old Covenant, they were looking toward the cross and Jesus Christ's coming and what He would do. We, under the dispensation of grace, are looking back at the cross and see what Jesus Christ has done. Well, in this particular section, Tim says all man really needs to know about God is found in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Absolutely. It's because all of His teachings are pure. All of His teachings are holy. And if we live by what He taught, then we won't be putting our eyes as some denominations and or religions focused more on the law. And the law cannot save us. It just basically shows us how bad we are as an individual who have come into this world. And we are all corrupt when we're born into this world.

We lie that those things are part of our nature, which is the nature of the natural. Well, and the statement he makes behind that, which is right, I think very pertinent and right along the line with what we're talking about. But unless you happen to live during the time of His life being Jesus' life, you would never have known about that revelation of God were it not for what? Were it not for the Bible, of being available for you to read that. And so that's the third way in which God reveals Himself is through the Bible. Through the Holy Scriptures. And so when you talk about the Holy Scriptures, of course we're talking about a holy Bible and not just a Bible.

Because we did mention something like this. When you talk about a Bible, you're simply talking about a collection of books. So a Bible could really be the Encyclopedia Britannica. It's just a collection of books. That's what the term means. But when you put holy Bible, it separates God's word from any other collection of books. Because it's God inspired and it's God driven. So my Bible of manuals for all my tools doesn't count as holy.

No, no, no. Not in any stretch of the – unless you want to make them such. Well, now we do know that there are people that have idols that are not the idol.

That are not worshipping God, right? And they don't even realize it sometimes, right? Exactly. They have a tendency to just simply veer off. I think that's because their focus or attention. And that's where their focus of attention are. And wherever their focus is, it's just like Jesus said. Wherever your treasure is, that's where your heart's going to be and vice versa. So if you have a burning desire to do those things that are not pleasing to God, then you're going to do them.

But if you get into the word of God and you do absolute deep study, you'll find out that a lot of things that you were saying amen to, that you should not be saying amen to them. Very good, Will. When you come back, we're going to jump into 1 John 2 for scripture to back up what we just covered. Folks, we'll be right back with you.

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Call 336-885-1987. Welcome back to Man Talk Radio. And before we get back into what we were just about to break, I just want to tell you, Will and I, as we talk about a black guy and a white guy as part of our tagline on our show, that's important for our listeners to understand. We love each other as brothers.

Absolutely. We would die for each other, literally, and we can say that openly to you. And folks, in this time period we're in in our society, not just race relations, but just the believers and the non-believers and the way believers are being attacked, it's important that we come together. No matter what the color of your skin, no matter what the denomination that you attend, or non-denomination churches, it's important that we all come together as a body of Christ. Never in our society in my lifetime have I ever seen the criticality that the level is and the need for us to be one. So I just want to, God just impressed on my heart and mind just to share that with you.

We need to be one. And one challenge I would leave with you as we move into the second half of the show is when was the last time that you had dinner or lunch with somebody who didn't look like you? When was the last time that you spent some time with someone who didn't look like you?

And I mean that from a skin color and from a race standpoint. When is the last time you spent someone to get to know someone? And if you haven't done that, I would just encourage you to do that. Get out of your comfort zone. Think about the disciples. They were always out of their comfort zone.

They were always out of their comfort zone because they were following Christ and Christ was all about getting out of your comfort zone, going to serve others. So I just want to encourage you. Will, just appreciate you as my brother. Just want to openly say that.

I try to do that periodically. But just God impressed on my heart. Just thank you for being a part of this ministry and how God's using you. But folks, one of the scriptures I want to read to you was that in 1 John 2, it comes right in line with what Will was talking about. It's about not loving the world. So do not love the world or anything in the world.

We're at 2, 15, I believe. I don't have my readers on. But do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.

Think about that. If you love the world, then love for the Father is not in them. And then one could say love for the world is anything that goes before the Father. So to Will's point, if you've got other idols or other things that you're so worried about, and one could even say, how much time do I spend with the Father every day in prayer and in the Word? And if that's the last thing that you're doing, then that means other things are more important than the Father.

Not by quantity of time, but by priority. Exactly. Or if you're giving your less time to God. And what I mean by that is you can read the scripture and meditate on the Word of God all day long. Meditation is part of your communing with God and His Spirit, because God is a spirit. And they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. So we have to worship God in spirit, and we worship Him in truth. Now, we can't see God with our natural eyes, but we can see the result of what God does in the life of a believer.

So as you and I, we make ourselves available during the day, how much time are you meditating on what you're studying? Because you can read it and then forget it. You can study it and forget it. But if you read it, study it, and then meditate on it, more times than not, Roy, you are not going to forget it. No, it's going to be embedded.

It's going to be embedded. You're exactly right, Will. And the prayer piece of that, and God supernaturally can make things happen if you're doing those things, because you're being obedient. And that's the thing. If we think of it in our own human capabilities, we may not have the best memory. We may not have the best retention. But if we're doing what God's asked us to do, He can do all those things supernaturally and make it hold, make it stick, make it available in times of need.

Absolutely. And so when you get your Bible and you start studying the Bible, again, we're going back to Tim LaHaye. He said, do the mental work, you know, when it comes to upfront. Think about what books you want to study.

Just don't haphazardly jump in there. But do do the mental work. Say, OK, I'm going to read, as he suggested, the Gospel of John or First John for 30 days, then do that. And don't be tempted to go anywhere else until you've completed that task. And see, and I think that's what he means when he says entire. Do it in its entirety. So if you set a plan out, don't start on the plan and then all of a sudden revert back because, oh, I'm getting a little weary mentally and doing the same repetitions, reading the same First John over and over again. But when you read it, let God bless you to be open to those things that He revealed to you each time you read it. And I guarantee when you read it, you're going to get a different insight on each of those 30 days.

Yeah, that's great, Will. And as Nikita always says, trust the process. So you've got a prescribed process and an opportunity here to follow it. And most of us don't have the tools or didn't have the training or the guidelines to go forward. Trust the process.

Put the 30 days in and see and pray about and look at the rewards God's going to give you. And if you notice, we always talk about disciple. But if you, you know, discipling others or how we were discipled, when you look at the word disciple, what other word do you see in disciple? You see discipline, discipline people.

So when you discipline yourself to trust in God for the plan that you have laid out because you've done the mental work up front. You thought about the book you want to study. You gathered the necessary resources that you're going to use in your study. Make sure you have some highlighters with you, different color highlighters with you.

Make sure you have a nice, big, thick pad. And then those three resources that we talked about on last week's show, along with other additional resources that you might have. Some commentaries and things like that. But because they they will help you get gain and get some understanding. But don't use the commentary as gospel because, again, the commentary, it's just that it's a commentary by whom? Yes, it's some ones who have taken the word of God and based on how they understand the word of God to be, that's how they're going to write it down.

Yeah, but the good news is most of the commentaries that are available, like Matthew Henry and several of them, they're very educated, well studied. So it's a good perspective to have, especially if you're struggling with a particular scripture or an area of understanding. But then you need to come right back to that and pray over it and say, okay, Father, is this what it is that you need me to take from this? And use that and back to the meditation and back to the prayer time, back to the reviewing and locking it in.

And God will wind it all up. Indeed. And I like the time factor that Tim LaHaye talks about, says, you know, devote 15 to 30 minutes of reading. Now, this is just reading, not studying, but reading per day. And I think what this does is it keeps you centered and consistent on a particular time of day. If you're a morning person, afternoon person or evening person and you dedicate that particular time to it, then that'll keep you on that consistent path of assuring that you're doing your necessary reading on a daily basis. You're being consistent in that reading. And of course, that goes along with your daily devotion. And back to the discipline piece. That's just we can't say it enough.

Set a time, set a pattern, start putting the pieces together for yourself. Don't haphazardly look at the word of God, but look at it as a sacred because it is a sacred collection of books. And when you see the Holy Bible as sacred, then you will be viewing God the same way because he is holy and he is a sacred being. And when we come to him, we need to come to him humbling ourselves because we're talking about the creator of the universe. You know, God is not and I've heard pastors say this before. You know, and it depends on the context in which they're using it, whether or not it's applicable or not, but or not. But God is not your your pal. Like you just slap on the back and say, hey, buddy, let's go. You know, but again, it depends on the context in which you because if we just continuously look at God as one of our buddy, buddy, pal, pal, and we're not looking him as the creator of the universe, Roy, I think we've fallen short.

Oh, I would agree. You look at the respect you give your parents. You don't treat them like buddy, buddy, pal, pal. And they're the creator of everything. So he certainly doesn't demands and commands our highest level of respect. But still, you have the intimacy with him, just like you would your parents.

But it's at a higher level. Absolutely. You know, because we have to we have to understand who it is that we're praying to, who it is that we're studying to, why we want to make ourselves approve in the in the sight of God, because the more we draw closer to God and the more God feeds into our spirit, that means the more we can be effective representatives for him. That's so good, Will. So Will, as we're coming closer on the show, I just want to take a few minutes and just if you could give, you've got a lot of years as a pastor, a lot of years as the father of Christ and had someone really downloading into your life. You know, we've tried to give our listeners some tools here to help them with their study, help them with each other and their relationships and encourage them to get engaged somewhere in the body of fellowship. And also, even as we talked earlier during break, you know, we've given invitations to men and for those women there to listen. And a few short sentences here. What would you like to leave our listeners with if you could give them one or two key priorities to walk away with? Well, I would say based on the entire study, Roy, that we have to be disciplined in order to study the Bible and not just read the Bible. And then I would say, ensure that you get in a group with some solid men so that they can sow seeds into your life.

Those are the two things that I would suggest. That's good. And what I would add on top of that, those men that can sow into you, make sure they're men, they're going to speak truth into you and also hold you accountable to your commitments and into your daily walk.

Because men who basically give you what you want to hear is not your friend. Yep. And not who you need for accountability. Folks, have a blessed week. Thank you for your time. God bless you.

We love you. As we wrap up today's show, be assured that TAWCMM, Talking and Walking Christian Men's Ministry, is building a community of men that are Christ followers with the desire to be servant leaders in their homes, communities, churches and work environments. Check out our website for upcoming events and regularly scheduled meetings. Drop us a note for topics that you would like to have us visit in the future. Thank you for joining us on Man Talk today. Visit us at www.tawcmm.com. Men walking the talk.