How to Study the Bible - Week 6 Session 2

We do this through the website BibleArk.com. This website was built by Bethlehem Seminary in Minnesota, and they teach this as a first-semester course in their seminary program. Fuller Seminary in Pasadena also used to teach this same process. There are probably others that do as well.

You can visit this website for free, but when you use the free version, it is limited in how you can save your work. You can use it and go through the material, but they also have a paid option. When you go to this website, there are different things you can do. I talked about sentence diagramming or block diagramming. A lot of times, you'll use sentence diagramming if you're working with Greek texts in the New Testament, or you use block diagramming when parsing Old Testament Hebrew passages of Scripture.

Today, we are going to be using discourse arcing, which I mentioned earlier. In this arcing area, you would choose a passage and then copy the passage in. I have already copied a passage, and we will look at First Peter, chapter 5, verses 1 through 4. I will use this program to break the passage down into its propositions and clauses. Then, I will group the different propositions together using these arcs, and we will identify what they are so that you can see how they logically connect in these verses.

As I break this apart, this tool makes it really easy. You can see it brings up a little slash mark when I go through the text. For example, "The elders who are among you," I will break the text right there. "I exhort," I will break the text there. "I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed."

I have taken the first verse of First Peter, chapter 5, and broken it into five clauses. You might say, "Well, I think you should break that one into two different clauses." Some of this is more of an art than a science.

Than science, I'm just breaking it apart. As we continue on, "Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly." Do you see a positive-negative comparison here already? "Nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock." When the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the Crown of Glory that does not fade away.

I've broken this apart into all these different propositions. Now, I realize what I just did very quickly. You're probably wondering how I did that so quickly. I have a cheat sheet; I've already done this one before. I did this for my class that I taught at the Bible College seven years ago. So, I'm just going through and breaking this apart the way that I would break it apart now.

If you're reading through this and breaking the text apart, it would take a little bit longer to go through it. However, you can see it's not rocket science to just break it apart into each of its component parts so that we can see all the things that are going on in the text.

At this point, after you've broken it apart, remember I said at the very beginning of this there were two steps. The first step was to break it into its propositions, and then the second step was to go back and see how each proposition relates to the others. This way, we can understand what Peter is saying in this passage.

Now, we start to group these propositions together. The first one is about the elders. What ends up happening here is that you keep going through this passage over and over again, reading through it just to see what's there. By the time you've done this exercise, if you've just taken four verses, you could spend two or three hours going through the text, seeing how this all groups together to understand what is being said in this passage.

So, "the elders who are among you, I exhort." I'm going to group these together. All I did to do that is when I hover over this, a little dot appears. Another dot appeared here, so now I've grouped these two things together.

Make some relationship assumptions here about what's going on as I go through this. When I hover over this, I get this little hamburger menu, and this is where all of those things that I just talked about are available. So, series progression, alternative, both, and action manner—all those weird things. The reason I went through all that in the first hour was so that you understand what is going on when I'm making these things work here.

We have the elders who are among you. I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed. Now, there's a new kind of idea happening here in verse two, so I'm going to group these two together. I have two sets of arcs put together, and I'm going to start to see how these relate to each other. I'm going to group these together as a whole.

Now I've got those put together as one whole idea: the elders who are among you, I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed. I see here maybe you would see a progression, but I see a series. There is a series of ideas that he is giving here in this passage.

Then, up here, he says, "The elders who are among you, I exhort." I'm just going to label this at this point. I'm going to pick one of these; remember I've done this in the past. I'm going to call this situation response. So, situation: the elders are among you; response: I exhort. We might call this something different, but for the moment, we're going to call it that.

We have an idea here: the elders who are among you, I exhort, and there's some more stuff going on. I'm going to call this idea explanation. All I'm doing is grouping things together using all of these concepts I talked about in the first hour so we can see how all of this goes together.

Then we come down into this next section: "Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers." I'm going to group these things together.

He is calling them to do something: shepherd the flock of God. He is commanding them and telling them how they are going to do that—serving as overseers. I will refer to this as the action of shepherding the flock of God.

Now, how are they going to do that? They are to serve as overseers. He says not by compulsion, but willingly. I will group those together: not for dishonest gain, but eagerly. I will group those as well. He also says not as being lords over those entrusted to you, but as examples to the flock. I will group those together too.

What kind of relationship do we have here? It alternates between negative and positive. I will group all of these together as one big group. So now we have two sections: shepherd the flock of God and serving as overseers. That is the action and the manner.

The action is to shepherd the flock of God, which is among you, serving as overseers. What is the manner in which you are going to do this? You are not going to do it by compulsion, but willingly. You are not going to do it for dishonest gain, but eagerly. You are not going to do it as being lords over those entrusted to you, but as examples to the flock.

Grouping all these together, we get down to the bottom. When the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away. Grouping these together, when the chief Shepherd appears—that is the action. What will happen when the chief Shepherd appears? You will receive a crown of glory that does not fade away.

There is a kind of progression here: you are going to get a crown of glory. What kind of crown of glory? One that does not fade away. I will call this an action—His showing up—and the result: you will receive the crown of glory.

At this point, I've broken everything up into different components to analyze the text and understand its significance. This process can take a significant amount of time, but I was able to do it quickly because I've done it before. I have my little cheat sheet here, which can help you think about the text and construct how you might share it with someone else.

There are several other aspects I would consider as I go through this passage. Essentially, I'm using this tool to see how everything fits together. I had to go through all that preliminary information so that you would understand these different relationships. I realize that you may not fully grasp these relationships yet. If you visit Bible Arc, you can watch hours of video where they teach you how to do this. If this is something you're interested in, I encourage you to explore it further.

At this point, you might be thinking that you never want to see this again, but I want to show you why, as a Bible teacher, I would use a tool like this. Why is this helpful? For one, I've broken this passage down into very clear language, allowing me to follow the progression of what's being said in the text. Once I have that clarity, I can begin to build a message from it.

Why is this important? If I'm teaching a message, does this look familiar? I know it's a little small and hard to read, but that is the exact passage I just analyzed in 1 Peter 5:1-4. The elders are among you; I exhort. I am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ. I've added some highlights and underlined "fellow elder" in verse 1c, with "humility" next to it.

At this point, if I'm putting a message together on this passage, I recall that I taught through it several years ago. Perhaps you were here when we were going through 1 Peter. This is how I approached the text. I broke this passage of Scripture down, and as I'm building my message, I consider what I will share. For those of you who attend this church, you receive a sermon guide. The points on that guide come directly from the passage of Scripture.

For example, the elders who are among you is an idea that Peter discusses in this passage. As I analyze what he is saying, I build a point for the message I will deliver. My point would be something along the lines of...

Lines of leaders are not Lords. You see it there in the elders who are among you. These leaders, he is writing to, are the elders of the church; they are among the people in the church. Therefore, leaders are not Lords.

Then we go back to the passage where Peter says, "I who am a fellow elder." Peter is a fellow elder, but if you know anything about Peter, that's saying something. By the time he writes this letter to the church, the Catholic Church sees him as the first pope. At the very least, we see him as being pretty important within the church. Notice that I wrote next to the elder, "I am a fellow elder." There is some humility here, as he recognizes that he is an elder among the other elders within the churches.

My second point that flows right from the text is that leaders must maintain humility. Leaders are not Lords; they are among the people of God. Point number two: leaders must maintain humility. Going back to the text, he says, "Shepherd the flock of God which is among you." Again, there’s that idea of being among, serving as overseers. From that, I am building the points from my message as I go through this. The greatest leaders are great servants. "Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers." This point, that the greatest leaders are great servants, is biblically true and comes right from the text of Peter's message in First Peter, chapter 5, verses one through four.

We also see this idea of "Shepherd the flock of God which is among you." Where do you think Peter got this idea of leadership within the body of Christ being like a shepherd? Do you remember you had to do a word study a couple of weeks ago? Jesus and Peter had a conversation in John, chapter 21. When they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs."

He said to him again a second time, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Tend my sheep." He said to him a third time, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me?" Peter was grieved because he said to him a third time, "Do you love me?" He said to him, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my sheep."

So, where did this idea come from about leaders within the body of Christ being shepherds of the flock of God?

A conversation that Peter had decades before he wrote this letter with Jesus reveals an interesting interplay in this passage. Jesus asks Peter, "Do you love me?" When Jesus asks that question, He uses the term "Agape." Peter responds, "Yes, Lord, you know that I Phileo you."

In the Scriptures, Agape represents the highest form of love. A good definition of it can be found in First Corinthians chapter 13, which states that love suffers long and is kind; it does not boast itself. You may have heard or read this passage before. Phileo, while still a wonderful form of love, is more of a brotherly or friendship love. It is not as high, if you will, as the self-sacrificial love of Agape.

So, Jesus asks Peter, "Do you Agape me?" and Peter replies, "Lord, you know that I Phileo you." Jesus then instructs him to "Feed my lambs." The second time, He asks, "Peter, do you Agape me?" Again, Peter responds, "Yes, Lord, you know that I Phileo you," and Jesus tells him to "Tend my sheep."

The third time, Jesus asks, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you Phileo me?" Here, Jesus changes His approach, coming down to Peter's level. In one sense, He is even questioning Peter, asking if he even Phileo's Him. The fact that this exchange happens three times is significant because Peter had just denied the Lord three times.

Peter was grieved because Jesus asked him a third time if he loved Him, not merely because the question was repeated, but because Jesus asked, "Do you even Phileo me?" Peter replied, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I Phileo you." Jesus then instructs him to "Feed my sheep."

This idea of leaders being shepherds of the flock of God originated from this conversation with Jesus by the Sea of Galilee, as recorded in John 21. From this, I want to emphasize another point: love is the greatest leadership qualification. Love for God and love for His people are the most important key qualifications for a leader.

Do you love God? Do you love His people?

We then see a positive-negative comparison in this passage: leaders are not compelled by obligation but willingly serve. Leaders are not to be lords over those entrusted to them but are to be examples to the flock.

The idea of being entrusted with leadership is a stewardship. The flock is not mine; it is God's flock. He has entrusted them to me as a leader, and so it is a stewardship.

In the passage, you will receive the Crown of Glory. Point number seven is that faithful stewards will be rewarded. When I went through the text several years ago and then put together a sermon guide, I reflected on what the points in the sermon guide would be. They are all the exact points that are right there, straight from the text. Where did those points come from? They came from spending time in the text, breaking it apart into all its component parts, and seeing what is there. I then drew out the applicable teachings or truths that emerge from that passage of Scripture.

When all is said and done, I realized I had the wrong passage showing up right here. This is supposed to be 1 Peter 5:1-4: "The elders who are among you, I exhort." As I go through, here are my teaching notes for that passage and each one of those points. Leaders are not lords. I am building everything I am discussing in this passage on the idea that they must maintain humility. The greatest leaders are great servants. At that point, I had to refer to John chapter 21 and talk a little about that passage: "Feed my sheep." Love is the greatest leadership quality and qualification.

All the points end up being a progression as I move from one thing to the next through the teaching of that passage of Scripture. So, why break all of this down? Essentially, I could take this one piece of paper and teach the entire message from it, as it is all broken down. I added those bubbles coming off of it, which is another feature of the program, allowing me to include more information as I go through. I understand that this is a higher-level approach, and I provided that caveat at the beginning.

The beginning of this approach involves breaking the text apart at a higher level. The purpose of this is to help you see the logical progression of what is being said in the text, so that you can understand its meaning. From that understanding, you can identify the clear applications that flow from the text. This is why we call what we do here at Cross-Connection Church expositional Bible teaching or preaching. We are exposing what the text says, what it means, and what it means for us. What are the takeaways that we should derive from this passage of Scripture?

Quite honestly, I could take this and teach a series of lessons on the entire topic. I have actually taught at some pastors' conferences before, where I discussed this exact concept. We go through what we are called to do as ministers of the Gospel. This is one of the clearest teachings in the New Testament about the work we are called to do, and it comes directly from the text.

I recognize that there are many complex and unusual elements to navigate in order to teach this effectively. However, the whole aim is to rightly divide the word of truth, breaking it down into its component parts and seeing how each one relates to the next. From that, we can clearly articulate what this text is saying for us.

That was a lot of information, so I will open it up to questions if you have any. I realize there might be too many questions, and you may not even know how to articulate them, which is perfectly fine. If you have any questions, please lift up your hand. Nick will bring a microphone to you so that we can all hear.

Oh, getting filmed now—that's great! Is there a guideline for how much of this text we should be gathering at a certain time? How do we know what to grab or where to start?

That's a really great question. A lot of times, as you've gone through Gordon Fee's book—if you have gone through it—he emphasizes learning to read the Bible in paragraphs, which is really helpful. Just look at a paragraph and then try to break that paragraph down. However, sometimes there is just too much information. For example, when you're going through Ephesians chapter one, if you tried to go through Paul's one run-on sentence that spans 14 verses, it could end up being 77 pages long. So, it's often best to take a verse and break it apart.

So that you can see what's going on in that passage, you can observe how it relates to the next passage and then how it connects to the following one. Sometimes, this is a perfect example of where you have an opening paragraph in First Peter, chapter 5, verses 1 through 4. It breaks down pretty easily, allowing you to dissect it and see what's being said.

Other times, there is a very long continuous thought that just keeps going, like in Romans chapter 7 or Romans chapter 8. In those cases, you have to really break it apart. As you do, it starts to become clear. For instance, when I was going through Romans chapter 7, one of the interesting aspects is Paul's language in that passage. There is a key moment where he switches between "I" and "me," discussing the old man of the flesh. He expresses, "Oh, wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body of this death?"

He goes back to this Roman 7 man, and there are many arguments among Bible teachers about what is happening in that passage. However, when you break it down, you notice that there is a different way he speaks when he uses the word "I" compared to when he uses "me." This distinction becomes clear when you analyze the text closely. You can see how it divides up when you break it apart, but you only notice that when you start to dissect it in this manner.

So, start with a paragraph. If that's too much, reduce it down to a couple of verses to see how they logically connect.

Are there any other questions, Scott?

Yes, are the different translations similar in their breakdown, or are there better translations that you would prefer?

If you go to this website, the top one they will use is the ESV version. This is because Bethlehem Seminary uses the ESV as their primary text. However, you can also use the other translations available. The more literal word-for-word translations are easier to work with than, say, the New International Version or the New Living Translation.

Using the New American Standard Bible, the Christian Standard Bible, the ESV, or the New King James Version will break down a little bit easier and better than the New International Version or the New Living Translation. Those two, the New International Version and the New Living Translation, are great translations, but they are more of a thought-for-thought approach rather than a word-for-word translation.

As I have mentioned before, the closest to the original Greek is the New American Standard Bible, which breaks down closest to the original text.

Are there any other questions? Lift your hand up really high if you do have a question.

It's apparent to me that a lot of people have probably already done a lot of work for this. Is there a library of the analysis that's already been done? Yes, they do have some of it available. I think that you actually have to go to their paid tier to start seeing what other people have submitted. There are a number of people who are posting these online. I've seen some individuals who actually go through passages on YouTube.

John Piper, who was the president of Bethlehem Seminary for many years, is a great Bible teacher. Theologically, I have some issues with John Piper, but that's a whole other discussion. He does a thing called "Look at the Book," where he puts a text of Scripture on a black background and goes through it, circling, highlighting, and underlining. He basically dissects a passage of Scripture like I did last week, talking through it.

I will throw out a little warning: he is heavy, heavy, heavy on Calvinism, and that's my biggest issue with John Piper. I like him for a lot of things, but he has come to the point where he preaches more Calvinism than the Bible sometimes, and I have an issue with that. I'm fine if you're a Calvinist, but don't make that the primary thing to talk about.

Are there other questions? I understand that I have overwhelmed you with a lot of crazy things, and I totally get it. That's why this is not homework. I'm not sending you away to go and arc a passage. If you were in my Bible college class, I would make you do so, but you're not, so I'm going to be gracious.

What I'll do is dismiss you at this point, and I'll stick around if you have any questions afterward. Make sure you turn in your homework from last week. We will not have class next Tuesday; I will be in the Philippines. I would appreciate your prayers as I will be speaking at a pastor's conference there, focusing on the book of Philippians. It seems to fit really well.

We will be back for class on November 8th. I'll see you at seven o'clock on November 8th, Election Day. We'll be here, choosing to study the Scriptures together. God bless you guys. If you have any questions, I'll stick around.

Let me pray. God, pour out your Spirit upon your church. Give us a love for your Word and a desire to know You and Your Word. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. God bless you guys.