How to Study the Bible - Week 7 Session 2

I want to come back to this slide. What do we proclaim and preach? We proclaim the Kingdom of God in heaven. We proclaim the Gospel. We proclaim Christ crucified. We proclaim the Word. We proclaim Jesus. We do so for conviction, for conversion, for comfort, for edification, for transformation, and for all these different things that we've talked about, including exhortation.

It's worth noting that Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, specifically in First Corinthians chapter 1, says that this method is the foolishness of preaching. He states, "For after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." It's fascinating that one of the greatest preachers in the New Testament and in all of Christian history described this as a foolish method.

I shared that passage to highlight that in the same chapter, Paul notes that the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. This message is foolishness to those who are perishing, and it has been that way for 2,000 years. It is still seen as foolishness in our day by many people for all kinds of different reasons. Sometimes, the message seems fallacious and absurd to the intellectuals of the Greco-Roman world of 2,000 years ago, or to the intellectuals of our day. It can appear crazy and stupid.

Moreover, it also seems so basic to people. We are going to preach Jesus; we are going to preach the Word; we are going to preach the Kingdom of God. All these things seem so basic and simplistic that there must be something more we are to do. We should recognize that many churches do not do this.

Now, that's not to say that there aren't many that do. There are a lot of great churches in our area. I think ours is the best church, but there are many great churches and many great preachers available online who are preaching these things: the Kingdom of God, the Gospel, Christ crucified, the Word, and Jesus. All these things are being proclaimed and preached. However, we must recognize that not all churches do this. Even in our area, there are many churches that do not, just as Paul warned Timothy would happen.

It happens that they would heap up for themselves teachers who will tickle their ears. There are churches that give a message which, when it comes down to it, is just kind of motivational moralism. Be better, do better. There are other churches that proclaim a message, and I'll just say, and this is appropriate at this moment, there are those who preach a highly political message. If you watch my coffee time message, I'll have something to say about that tomorrow; I recorded it today.

They are not preaching this; they are declaring something. They are making disciples after something, but it's not disciples after Jesus. We have to be careful with that sort of stuff. We can descend into kind of motivational moralism—be better, do better—or a highly politicized gospel with a mindset of "Our kingdom come, our will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven."

There are those who preach a soothe-saying message, just to make people feel good. You know, the "Your best life now" kind of thing. I don't have to name names; that's the reality of what it is. It's a soothe-saying message to help people feel good. Sadly, one of the greatest exports of American Christianity in the last 75 years has been the Prosperity Gospel, which is absolutely false and horrendously bad. It boggles my mind.

I have had the privilege of traveling to many different places around the world, including some nations that have a poverty level that makes our poverty look wealthy. The Prosperity Gospel has taken root in these places, like Mozambique, Swaziland, and the Philippines. It is one of the biggest and most atrocious exports of American Christianity in the last 75 years.

So, a soothe-saying message, a false Prosperity Gospel, a self-help kind of message—there are all kinds of pop psychology and self-help sort of stuff that's given at churches every single week. Now, you can add to the list a whole bunch of woke nonsense. There are all kinds of churches that are just getting into all kinds of woke nonsense that is not the kingdom of God.

It's not gospel; it's not Christ crucified. It's not the Word; it's not Jesus. It is not for conviction; it is not for conversion. It is not for all these things that we've talked about. It is not a Biblical church. I realize that this is a huge statement, but if we look at what I shared tonight about what differentiates a Biblical church, it is not a New Testament church. It is a gathering. It might have the incorporation of 501(c)(3) as a non-profit church, but it is not a New Testament church.

I would suggest that Jesus could write a letter, like He did in Revelation, to some of those churches. We want to be careful that we don't find ourselves in that kind of church because you can backslide into that. The Ephesian church became lukewarm; they were at one time hot, and they became lukewarm. The church at Laodicea or the church at Ephesus left their first love. We can easily fall into those kinds of patterns. It is a reality, so we have to be on guard.

We must search the Scriptures and be diligent to study, to show ourselves approved as workmen and workwomen who rightly divide the Word of Truth. Our aim, my aim, is to preach the kingdom of God, preach the gospel, preach the Word, preach Christ crucified, and preach Jesus. We go through the Scriptures in a way where we take the text to try and understand what it says, what it means, and how we ought to apply it and live it out. That is the process of what I talked about: inductive Bible study.

When we get to this whole thing of how we proclaim and preach, it starts with everything that I've talked to you about over the last two months. Our desire here at Cross-Connection Church is to be engaged in what would be called expositional Bible teaching. Expositional Bible teaching is just exposing what the text says, what the text means, and the application from the text. The applications or the points of truth that we're going to believe or do come right out of the text. That is what I strive to do; that's what the other pastors here at this church do. It's also what the other pastors that I'm very closely linked with as co-laborers in Christ, friends like David Guzik and others, endeavor to do: to simply go through the text.

Scriptures share what they say, what they mean, and how we are to believe or live those things out. That’s what we’re trying to do. When it comes to how we proclaim and preach, it all begins with the simple things that I’ve shown you—the same methods that I employ every single day and week.

When I study for myself devotionally, or I study to go speak in the Philippines, or teach here on a Sunday morning, or at the Bible College, or wherever I might go, even if I’m just sharing in a small Bible study or interacting one-on-one with someone, I am studying to show myself approved all the time. I want to be ready in season and out of season to do whatever needs to be done: to condense, rebuke, exhort, and patiently teach. My goal is to equip the saints for the work of the ministry and to present every man perfect before Jesus Christ.

My calling and commission from Christ is to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, to make disciples of anyone we interact with. How do we do that? It all starts with devotional Bible study. You have to make it a habit in your life to begin studying the scriptures. Hopefully, you do it every single day. Start small—with a sentence, a verse, or a paragraph—and go through it slowly.

I am still very slowly moving through Second Thessalonians. This morning, I went through one paragraph of that passage. I read through it and wrote about six or eight pages of my own prayers or thoughts in a journal. When I say six or eight pages, I mean small pages, not giant ones. It’s a little small journal, so don’t worry.

I spent the first hour of my day today at my desk at home, going through Second Thessalonians chapter two, just one paragraph in that passage, and thinking devotionally about it. What does it say? What does it mean? What is God trying to say from the text to me at this moment?

We will become incredibly dry in our faith if we don’t do that on a regular basis. We need the living water of the Spirit and the Word to saturate our lives. Hopefully, it comes to a point that we...

Desire His words more than our daily food, and we recognize, as we are going to see in Deuteronomy, that man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. It begins with devotional Bible study—spending time with God in His word through prayer and careful reading of the Scriptures, asking the Spirit of God to open our eyes so that we may behold wonders from His word.

The proclaiming, heralding, teaching, and preaching all start there. When a pastor or teacher begins to drift towards motivational moralism, soothsaying, or politicking, I think they have probably left their devotional time long before that. Virtually every time I have had a conversation with someone who has experienced a major crisis of faith or has fallen into significant sin, and now they are coming in for biblical counseling, I ask them how much time they spend in the word of God. The answer is often, "A little bit," which usually means none. We always start at the basics: let’s get that devotional time with the Lord started, because that is where all this grows from.

One of the great dangers for pastors, which I have experienced many times, is coming to a place of dryness. You get so busy with other things or become tired, and as a result, you don’t spend time in the word devotionally. This is a dangerous path; it always leads to a state of dryness. When this happens, it is not the fruit of the Spirit that is evident, but rather the works of the flesh. These manifest as complaining, murmuring, being short-tempered with people, being divisive, and gossiping. If you see these things in yourself, it is an indication that you need to repent and turn back to the very simple things of devotional Bible study.

Simply going through the Scriptures, examining what truths to believe and do, and praying and planning to obey with the Spirit's help is a very simple, continual process. I shared a story back in week two about the old man telling his grandson to go and put water in the basket. The water just goes through, but the basket was cleaner. God wants to wash us.

Us by the washing of the water by the word, and He wants to sanctify and cleanse us to make us more like Him. That is a long process, and you will never attain perfection. Paul, the great Apostle, says in Philippians chapter 3, "Not as though I have attained, or am already perfected; but I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has laid hold of me." I love those words. Jesus saved him for a purpose. What is that purpose? To be conformed to the image of His Son. He saved you for the purpose of conforming you to the image of His Son. That's what He saved you unto—glorification. We want to lay hold of the very thing that He saved us unto glorification. That's what He saved us unto, so we're pressing on that we would lay hold of that.

Preaching in that area of devotional Bible study moves into the whole area of studying the Bible with purpose. When I'm getting ready to go teach in the Philippines, what am I doing? I'm studying the Bible with purpose. I'm going to speak to a group of Christian leaders in a foreign country. I was given information a little bit beforehand about some of the struggles that are happening in the Philippine Church, which have to do with the same old problems we hear in every single church: backbiting and division. Of course, the book of Philippians is all about unity within the church.

We spent a lot of time over the three days we were at this conference talking about God's call to us to be unified in Christ Jesus. I'm looking at the scriptures through the lens of speaking to this group, and here are the issues that they're dealing with. I want to address those with the scriptures. What did Paul do when he wrote to the Corinthians? He knew the issues in First Corinthians. He knew the problems they were facing. The entire book is him answering their questions with a doctrinal biblical theology about how they should work those things out—things like meat sacrificed to idols and guys shacking up with their stepmom. That's in there, so you should read it. It's a fascinating book.

As it has been said by Ray Stedman, who passed away many years ago, it should be called "First Californians" because it fits California great. So, we moved from tips on devotional Bible study.

Studying the Scriptures or reading them devotionally on a regular basis should be a part of our lives. This practice can lead us into purposeful study of the Bible. You might be going through the Scriptures to answer a question in your heart about who God is or what salvation is all about. Perhaps you are trying to respond to a question from a family member, a co-worker, or a friend. You might also be preparing for a small group Bible study with others. When you approach the Scriptures with that focus, it will affect how you engage with them.

As you study, consider what methods you are using. Are you employing inductive Bible study techniques such as observation, interpretation, and application? What does the text say? What does it mean? What is the direct application from the text? Use whatever tools you need: highlight, underline, circle with different colors, or write little notes around the text. You can even use a mind map or any artistic method that helps you put your thoughts on paper about what the text says, what it means, and what it means for us.

When you move into the area of proclamation and preaching, you are simply sharing what you know. It might be as simple as saying, "I once was blind, and now I see." There was a question texted in about feeling afraid or embarrassed by a lack of skill to speak. If someone does not proclaim the gospel to others, does that mean they are bound for destruction or hell? No, as Paul says in Corinthians, that is not the case.

I was reminded of the widow with her two mites. She gave what she could, and Jesus said she gave more than all the rest because she gave out of her lack. It’s important to pray for opportunities and ask God to give you the words to share, even if you feel afraid to speak. There was a well-known leader in the Old Testament who also felt he couldn't speak. God assured him, "I will be with your tongue." That leader was Moses.

We have this big book called Deuteronomy that we've been studying, and it seems like Moses did okay. All we are doing when we proclaim and preach is sharing what we have discovered in the Scriptures as we mine them and dig out the treasures they contain.

I can say with absolute certainty that people often ask me if I sense the Spirit of God moving in my teaching when I get up to preach. I sense God working by His Spirit more in my private study than I do in my public proclamation. When I really sense God, He is directing and leading me. It is as if I am looking at a passage of Scripture, and all of a sudden, He links it to another passage and brings to mind something I don't remember reading. Without a doubt, I sense the inspiration and directing of the Spirit of God more in my private study than in my public proclamation.

Now, don't get me wrong; I enjoy standing up and preaching. I never thought, when I was in high school, that I would like public speaking. I remember sensing, when I was in about tenth grade, that God might want me to teach the Bible. So, I took speech and debate in my junior year of high school, and I learned one thing from that class: I was not a public speaker. God has a sense of humor, and I learned that later.

As I mentioned, I sense the leading of the Spirit more in my private study than in my public proclamation. That's really important; that's key. To proclaim and preach is only to share what you have discovered as you have spent time devotionally with the Lord or in purposeful Bible study, whether through inductive Bible study or breaking down the text. You might use something like Bible arcing or a scripture marker on Blue Letter Bible's website, or whatever it is that helps you understand what the text says, what it means, and what it means for you.

Where do commentaries come in? Well, sometimes you come to a passage and think you know what it means. You're pretty sure of your understanding and have put down some thoughts about it. Then, you go read someone like David Guzik, Charles Spurgeon, or Richard Melek, one of the other great commentators out there, and you realize, "Wow, I was actually right on." The same God who inspired the Word and spoke to Charles Spurgeon just revealed to me what this text says. It's an awesome thing.

Sometimes, however, you read a commentary and think, "Man, I was way off." But then you read five other commentaries, and...

Commentaries can often lead to confusion. You may realize that either you were way off or that they are all way off because they all present different interpretations. There are passages of Scripture that are hard to interpret and have many differing opinions. Ultimately, we need to break the text down into its most fundamental and core parts, examining how everything relates to one another. This helps us understand what it says, what it means, and what it means for us.

This is not a post-modern literary endeavor where everyone gets their own idea about what the text says. I have a real hard time with that. We begin with devotional Bible study, developing a devotional life for ourselves, individually, with the Lord. Hopefully, this becomes a regular part of our daily lives. For some of you, that might be in the morning because you are more of a morning person. For others, midday might work better, or perhaps at night. Whatever it may be, we see from David that he meditated on the Word day and night. May it be that which fills your heart and soul.

We often meditate on the news and social media, turning it over in our minds constantly throughout the day. We think about the elections, the elections, the elections. What is it that fills your heart? What is causing you stress, anxiety, frustration, and anger? It is often all of that. Instead, fill your heart with the Living Word of God. As Paul said in Philippians 4, "Whatever things are lovely, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are good, whatever things are of good report, think on these things." The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. What a good promise!

There is a command: be anxious for nothing. Some of you may feel anxious about looking at the news tomorrow morning. It is hard not to be anxious. I have not attained perfection, but I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus laid hold of me. What did He lay hold of me for? To rest in Him. He invites us, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

For us to be able to share the Word of God, we need to trust and have confidence in the veracity of the Word of God—the truth of the Word.

The authority of all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is useful for doctrine, reproof, correction, instruction, and righteousness. The sufficiency of Scripture means that it is enough for all those things that God needs us to know, so that we might know Him and walk in His ways.

Does the Bible tell you everything about what kind of tech products to buy or not buy? It does not provide the right answer on that one, nor does it specify what kind of car to drive. It does not tell you every little detail about science and medicine. God has given us brains and rationality to be able to discover truth, but all truth is ultimately God's truth. When we discover something amazing about the biomechanical makeup of the human body, we are uncovering something that points back to His glory.

However, does the Bible reveal every aspect of everything? No, it reveals what God wanted and needed you to know so that you might know Him and understand how to walk in Him. If we are going to live according to the Scriptures devotionally and proclaim these truths, we need to have confidence in the veracity, truth, authority, sufficiency, and reliability of Scripture.

If you are going to share something with someone else in the name of Christ, you should always begin with the text of Scripture. What does the Bible say? What does it mean? The application should draw directly from what the text says and what it means. The whole goal is to allow the text to speak.

When sharing with someone—a co-worker, a family member, or a friend—whether it is one person, a group, or multitudes, the aim is to let the text speak. One great preacher of the 20th century, John Stott, said that it is our conviction that all true Christian preaching is expository preaching. What is that? It is simply exposing what the text says, what it means, and what it means for us. This is the standard we go back to: the Scriptures.

One of the greatest compliments I think I have ever received was in a class on biblical counseling about 20 years ago. Part of the class involved lectures, and then in the last half, we would divide into small groups of men and women.

I was in a small group of about five or six guys for 20 weeks. There was a lot of Bible memory, and there was a lot of really hard work going through a big book called Biblical Self-Confrontation, which was a chore and challenging. I remember about 10 weeks in, one of the guys, whose name I didn't remember, said something that stuck with me. We were finishing up our small group time, and he said, "I really appreciate that every single time Miles shares something, he shares something straight from the Bible." I was surprised because I hadn't even noticed I did that. He mentioned that I always gave a scripture, and that little statement made in a small group Bible study really ministered to me. It brought me back to what the Bible says.

As John Wesley, the great founder of Methodism, said, we should be Bible bigots. That was what they called him—a Bible bigot. "Methodist" was a derisive term because he had such a strong method of life, spending many hours in scripture every morning in prayer. While we may not all be like John Wesley, we should aim to spend time with our Lord in devotion. If you begin to make this a part of your life, He will lead you to interact and share what you have found with other people, whether it's just your spouse, your kids, another family member, a co-worker, a friend, a neighbor, or even a stranger. God will lead you to do those things.

This idea of expositional Bible teaching, preaching, heralding, and sharing what the Bible says, what it means, and what it means for us is not necessarily a style of preaching, but for us, it is the standard of proclamation. This is the way we endeavor to do it: to share what the scriptures say. One of the most beautiful biblical examples of this is actually found in an Old Testament passage of scripture, which we went through last summer in Nehemiah chapter 8. In Nehemiah chapter 8, all the people gathered together with the word of God as Ezra the Scribe and the Levites gathered together. They stood on a raised platform before all the people who could be there with understanding.

They shared the Scriptures and brought out the Book of the Law of Moses. Ezra brought it out before the assembly, all those who could hear with understanding. He read from it, and those who could understand listened attentively. Ezra stood on a platform, opened the book in the sight of all the people, as stated in Ezra chapter or Nehemiah chapter 8, verse 5. He opened the book in front of all the people, and all the people stood up. Ezra blessed the Lord; he prayed to the great God, and all the people answered, "Amen," lifting up their hands. They bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord.

Then the Levites helped the people to understand the law. They read distinctly from the Book of the Law of God, gave the sense, and helped the people to understand the reading. That's what we're doing. That's what I do when I get up here on a Sunday morning or when I speak at the Bible College. I want to read distinctly from the Scriptures, give the sense of it, explain what it says, what it means, and how we can live out or believe these things in our lives.

That's what you're going to do as you begin to make devotional Bible study a part of your life, whether one-on-one, in a group, or with multitudes, whatever God calls you to do. It is that simple. There are all kinds of methodologies and books on homiletics, three-point sermons, one-point sermons, topical studies, book studies, and character studies. There are volumes and volumes of books you could read endlessly. Of the increase of books, there is no end.

But at the end of the day, all you're doing is sharing what you know from the Scriptures with one person, a dozen, or a thousand. I don't know what it is, but God wants you to share and proclaim. That's what He wants you to do.

So, it is my hope that as a result of all of this, you will begin to develop a practical practice of devotional Bible study, and that will flow into other areas. Next week, we will talk more about that on a practical level and how you can work that out in practice.

With that, are there any questions? Next week is our last week. Oh, you're so kind! Goodness gracious, you're so kind. Originally, I said nine weeks, but I was able to put some things together, so we're going to do eight weeks.

Plus, holidays are fast approaching, and I'm sure you all have all kinds of craziness going on. Do you have any questions before we wrap up tonight? I'll stick around for as long as you want.

Let's pray. God, we thank You for the fact that You have given us revelation. You have revealed Your mysteries in the Scriptures that were inspired by You, so that we might know You, understand Your nature, and discern Your will. We pray that we might know how we are to walk before You.

God, help us to live these things out. I pray that You would give my brothers and sisters here a deep desire for Your Word, to dig into the Scriptures. I ask that You would begin to open doors for them, perhaps to interact briefly with a co-worker, friend, or family member. You have a calling for each and every one of us to proclaim Your message. You have commissioned us to herald, proclaim, tell, and teach all these things.

Lord, help us to do that for Your glory and for Your namesake. We ask this in Jesus' name, and all those agreed said, "Amen."

All right, we'll see you Sunday, and then next week. God bless you all. If you have any questions, I'll stick around.