How Do You Read?

April 22, 2007

Introduction

 

            In Luke 10:25-29, we have this account, “And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" {26} He said to him, "What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?" {27} So he answered and said, " 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,' and 'your neighbor as yourself.'" {28} And He said to him, "You have answered rightly; do this and you will live." {29} But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"  What follows is the story we know as the Good Samaritan.

 

            His morning, we focus our attention on the two questions that Jesus asked this lawyer:  "What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?"  Now let me paraphrase for us today:  How are you reading your Bible?  What if Jesus had asked you, “What is your reading of the law, or the Bible, how would you answer?

 

Body

 

I.        For many, the honest answer is probably, very little.

A.     Do I need daily Bible reading?

1.      Members of the early church were daily students of the word.

(Acts 2:46-47 NKJV)  So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, {47} praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

2.      Those of Berea were daily students of the Bible.

(Acts 17:10-11 NKJV)  Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.  {11} These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.

a.  Paul commended these brethren for searching the scriptures.

b.  We need to be seeking of truth today.

 

B.     Old Testament saints had their own commandments for Bible study.

 

(Deu 6:6-9 NKJV)  "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. {7} "You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. {8} "You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. {9} "You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

II.  What results when we do not know the word?

 

1. It is like a famine in the land.

 

(Amos 8:11 NKJV)  "Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord GOD, "That I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine of bread, Nor a thirst for water, But of hearing the words of the LORD.

2. People perish for lack of knowledge.

(Hosea 4:1& 6 NKJV)  Hear the word of the LORD, You children of Israel, For the LORD brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land: "There is no truth or mercy Or knowledge of God in the land. . . .  {6} My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.

3. What happens to us today?

1.      We are losing our children.

2.      We are losing our members.

a.       Some because of sin in their lives.

b.      Some because of lack of discipline.

c.       Some because of poor attitudes.

d.      Some because God and eternity are no longer real.

III.  Why do we need to study the Bible?

1. David said it was a deterrent to sin.

(Psa 119:9-11 NKJV)  How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word. {10} With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! {11} Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You!

2. Paul encouraged Timothy to read and study.

1.      First, his general statement.

 

(2 Tim 2:15 KJV)  Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

 

2.  More specifically, “give yourself to reading.”

 

(1 Tim 4:13-15 NKJV)  Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. {14} Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. {15} Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all.

 

IV.  How can we study?

 

A.     We need a time.

 

1.      We have the Old Testament example.

 

{Deu 6:7} "You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.

 

a.      “When you lie down”—Many use bedtime as their time to read the Bible and say their lengthy prayer.

b.      “When you rise up.” – Some like to rise early and get in their reading and prayer to begin the day.

 

2.      The main thing is to set a time and then begin your program.

 

B.     We need a plan.

 

1.      Maybe it is to read through the New Testament by reading a chapter a day.

2.      Maybe it is to read through the Bible in a year with a one year Bible.

3.      Maybe it is to start easy with the one minute Bible.

4.      Any plan is better than no plan.

 

C.     We need to meditate.

 

1.      Take time to think about what we have read.

2.      Honestly search as those of Berea, to see if what we are teaching is what the Bible says.

3.      We need a foundation of Bible understanding to really know the will of God.

 

Conclusion

 

I.  Is your life right with the Lord?

 

II.  Do you need to be baptized into Christ?

 

III.   Have you said or done things publicly that need to be confessed publicly and made right.

Scripture quotations marked "NKJV™" are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

 

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