BIBLE READING
By: Andres C. Guevara Jr.
Introduction:
Let us learn why Bible reading is an essential and vital part to a successful and powerful Christian life. We should know how to do and make it a primary importance in our personal life as an individual if want to bring glory to His holy name.
Vance Havner said: “There are more Bibles sold and less read than any other book”.
Patrick Henry said: “The Bible is worth more than all other books written, but it has been my misfortune never to have found time to read it.” In II Peter 3:18 Peter said in his epistle, ”But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ..”
Why Bible reading is important?
I- THE WORD IS JESUS CHRIST.
John 1:1, 14—Jesus Christ was the Word in the beginning who manifests in the flesh. In the second coming of Christ in glory His name is called The Word of God (Revelations 19:13).
I Timothy 6:3; I Corinthians 1:24—Jesus Christ is the wisdom of God. Hence, we ought to have the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5) so read the Bible.
II- THE WORD CAN MAKE US WISE
II Timothy 3:15—A person should know the Scripture from the childhood and that would benefit them wisdom of knowing the way of salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
II Timothy 1:5—Parents and Grandparents have a great role and responsibilities in guiding and influencing the children by the unfeigned faith through the Scriptures.
I Corinthians 1:30—Christ made unto us our wisdom for our daily standard of living.
III- THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL REMIND US OF WHAT WE LEARN
John 14:16-17, 26—The Spirit will teach Believers in all truth and reminds them of what they learned from the Word of our Lord Jesus Christ.
John 16:7, 13—Jesus Christ will tell us the truth and the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth. The Spirit will not speak of Himself but of the Son. Therefore, we should read the Bible daily that the Spirit would guide, teach and reminds us daily
IV- WE CAN HAVE PEACE OF GOD IF WE DO WHAT WE LEARNED
Philippians 4:9—Paul assures the Philippians that the peace of God shall be with them if they practice what all they have learned, received and heard from the Scriptural preaching and teaching ministry. Now, how can they do if they do not know? How can they know if they will not learn, receive and hear right things accurately from the Scriptures?
V- BIBLE READING IS A COMMAND TO ALL PREACHERS
Philippians 4:13—Paul instructed the young preacher Timothy to have a treasure time in Bible reading. And he could done it through rightly dividing the Word of truth because ungodliness will increase into a person’s life through shun profane and vain babblings (II Timothy 2:15-16).
VI- JESUS CHRIST EXHORTS TO SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES
John 5:39—The Lord Jesus Christ exhorts those who denied and rejected His deity to search the Scriptures that they might come and know Him as the eternal life.
VII- NOBLE MEN SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES DAILY
Acts 17:10-12—The word NOBLE in the Greek is “
Eugenics (genetics) is breeding to produce a highly favored offspring. These
Every believer is born with a perfect salvation, a perfect Gospel, a perfect Bible. But what we do after salvation tells us much about the nobility of the individual. The Noble believers received the Word of God and search the Scriptures daily with readiness of mind. These Jews opened the Old Testament Scriptures and weigh if the preaching of the Apostle Paul was truly based on it and they found it is so. And they believed. Since Paul reasoned out of the Scriptures, and referred them to the Old Testament for the proof of what he said, they had recourse to their Bibles, examined whether Paul’s arguments were cogent, and determined accordingly.
The doctrine of Christ does not fear a scrutiny. The New Testament is to be examined by the Old Testament
The Bible clearly teaches some believers are nobler than others. What do you do with your Bible? Have you stopped doing what made you a good Christian?
Some Christians used to study the Word of God, take notes, and take it home. But the devil has convinced them that they’ve reached such a high plateau of spirituality that they no longer have to do it. You never reach that plateau until you’re just like Jesus, and we won’t be just like Jesus until we see Him.
A Christian who listens many hours to a speaker that is thorough in his presentation and information then offer to the believer a wealth of study, still needs to search the Scriptures daily because no one else can do his Bible study for him. Pastor cannot do your study for you. I cannot take your place.
VIII- STUDYING THE BIBLE IS PROFITABLE
We are commanded to study God’s Word. Studying God’s Word is profitable (II Timothy 3:16).
The four ways it profits us are:
Doctrine: Teaches us what is right to believe.
Reproof: Points out error in our life
Correction: How to correct what is wrong in our life.
Instruction in righteousness: Teaches how to stay right.
There are four important questions to ask when reading your Bible:
1. Who is speaking?
2. Who is being spoken to?
3. What does it mean?
4. What does it mean to me?
The goal in reading the Bible is not just to read through the Bible in a year or to read so many chapters each day. The goal is to let God speak to your heart as you read it. I personally don’t have any Bible reading goals.
By that I mean, I don’t try to read 10 or 20 chapters each day. There may be times when I find myself buried in one verse. There have been times when one word captured my time in the Word
WHERE TO BEGIN
The Bible is not hard to understand if we will just read it. The average word in the Bible is only five letters long. Many new Christians try to wade through the Bible from the beginning and often get begged down with hard names to pronounce, and with genealogies. It is best to have three of four places you read each day. A good suggestion to start is:
1 Chapter in Psalms--for sweetness
1 Chapter in Proverbs--for wisdom
1 Chapter in Mark--for Christ-likeness or 1 Chapter in John--for Christ's deity
1 Chapter in Genesis--for finding out how it all began
WHEN TO READ
Strength for the day is needed at the beginning of the day! God’s manna for
HOW TO READ
Read prayerfully. Before starting, ask God to give you something for the day. Read obediently. God doesn’t bless only the amount we read. He blesses how much we obey. James 1:22 says, “But be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”
HOW MUCH TO READ
It is not how much we read but how much we meditate on what we read. There are two times a Christian is to meditate on Scriptures- day and night.—Joshua 1:8
HOW TO STUDY YOUR BIBLE
There are three methods of Bible Study:
1. Topical study—Choosing a topic and, using a concordance, looking up all references where it occurs.
2. Expository study—Studying a passage of Scriptures.
3. Textual study—The study of one or two verses.
IX- MAN SHALL NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE BUT BY EVERY WORD OF GOD
Matthew 4:4—Jesus said that man shall not live by physical food only but also by spiritual food.
I Peter 2:2—Spiritual babies desires the Word that help them grow spiritually.
Job 23:12—Job said, “I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.”
Psalms 119:9-10— Here the Bible is described as a GUIDE. In verse 9 he speaks of “taking heed thereto according to Thy word.” In verse 10 he prays, O let me not wander from Thy commandments.” The steps of his life were ordered by the Bible. The direction of his life was determined by the Bible. He saw the Bible as a book to obey. He saw it as the commands of God under which he was to submit. Psalmist in verse 10 referred to God’s Word as “commandments.” He did not call them suggestions or recommendations. They are commands.
Psalms 119:11—The Bible is described as a GUARD. He says, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee.” The Bible not only is a guide of the Christian life, it is a GUARD.
D. L. Moody used to say, “Sin will keep you from the Bible, or the Bible will keep you from sin.”
M. R. DeHaan said, “The Lord has given us in the Bible road signs to warn of dangers and to show us the right way. Once having started on the way to Heaven, by taking Jesus as Lord and Saviour, you will be guided by His Word and counsel. Pay close attention to the signs in the Book, and you will not only arrive safely but have a most enjoyable trip. Read the warnings in the Bible!”
XI- ALL SCRIPTURES IS EQUALLY INSPIRED BY GOD
II Peter 1:20-21—The holy men did not write what they willed but what the Holy Ghost moved them to write.
In II Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scriptures is given by inspiration of God”.. Inspiration means “God breathed”. In other words, God dictated the words to holy men so they would write the exact words of God. It was much like a boss would dictate a letter to a secretary.
The Inspired writers—“Holy men of God spake as they were moved.”—II Peter 1:21
The Inspired writings—“All Scripture is given by inspiration.”—II Timothy 3:16
The Inspired words—“Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth.—I Corinthians 2:13; “That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles.”—II Peter 3:2.
Translations are not inspired; there are copyist errors; none of the originals are in existence today; ancient copies being discovered are almost identical.
We accept the Scriptures as the infallible Word of God, the canon of 66 books as complete: we do not recognize the Apocrypha or any other books to be inspired.
The original Scriptures will be the standard of judgment in the last day—John 12:48
Let us read the Bible daily and obey its message in our daily lives.