How to Study Scripture B

One of the marks of a true Christian is a desire for the word of God.

They will desire to know the word more than that they will desire to obey the word and I am very suspect of someone who just has absolutely no interest in Scripture because Jesus said Riverside how he works by his word.

If you wish to know his purpose before it comes to pass. You can only discover that by his word.

So today on grace to you.

John MacArthur continues his foundational series titled spiritual boot camp with a helpful Q&A on how to get all you can from your study of God's word. John will tackle some of the most common questions people of asked about studying the Bible maybe questions that you have as well. So let's get to the first question now and then. John MacArthur's response. I realize you will be a long answer that I was learning in which letter you're supposed to read you said first John and then the gospel of John Wright that's a good question. I would suggest that there is no particular order, but that you alternate a short book with a long book like when you finish John to go back and read Philippians anything slippery you to go back and read Romans finish Romans with the 16 chapters go back and read the first Timothy which is six chapters. I go back and read Mark which is 16 then go back and read the Colossians will alternate between a large book in a small book at your own discretion, and you may find the Holy Spirit drawing you to different books because there are different needs in your life at any given time.

Okay you said the necessity to study like a baby that would die if he to get fit Raymond by death.

Would you clarify that simply said that a baby does need dies and Christian who doesn't feed himself on the word of God will find that in a metaphorical sense, he will die in the sense of usefulness die in the sense of joy, he will die in the sense of blessing obviously will not forfeit his salvation. That's another subject that we could cover, but we've covered in other areas. Okay.

If a person professes to have accepted Christ but shows no hunger for the word can we conclude anything about their salvation and then also, is there anything we can do to make a person like this more hungry for the word.

I think that's a very important question and it relates to two scriptural passages.

The first one is in John 831. Some Jews came to Jesus and said we believe in Jesus said to them, if you continue in my word, then you are my real disciple.

One of the marks of a true Christian is a desire for the word of God. Now that desire may vary, there may be some new Christians who have very minimal desire and I think very often the falls of that can be in the church that therein or in the Christian community that therein weathers no emphasis on the word and they don't really understand what that mean is true.

I think in Jesus pointed out that if somebody does really believe and their faith is really saving faith and they really come to Christ they will continue in his word other words, they will desire to know the word more than that they will desire to obey the word, but in certain cases that will very obviously some have a greater tenacity for the word than others. I may be that for some that commitment comes along later that real total commitment comes along later. It may be that some are in an environment where there isn't the peer pressure to get into the word that there should be and I think the only thing we can do to encourage them is to do is what were trying to do here to point out the benefits and the blessings of doing this and the consequences of not doing become victimized so continuing in the word of God is definitely the mark of the Christian and I I am very suspect of someone who just has absolutely no interest in Scripture because Jesus said if he is real disciple your continuing a part of it is along what she is asking. I was wondering to us that sometimes even on the desire is there to study is just in the area of discipline. Some people seem to be maybe have been brought up a certain way that it's very easy for them to discipline themselves to study where other people really have a hard time that even though they want to, but it's hard to be consistent.

I'll answer that question two ways. One is yes, it's true that some people are more discipline than others to that's no excuse because the Lord says were to study the word you know I've met some very undisciplined scatterbrained people study the Bible a lot and I've met some other military types who don't.

So I'm not sure you always have to equate spiritual hunger for the word with humanistic self-discipline. Now it may be easier for a very, very self-discipline person to set a time and get into it, but the facts are. Maybe he doesn't get as much out of it as somebody who doesn't little more scattered, but has a greater intensity of heart, so I really don't think you're dealing with an absolute in that sense I think that when the word of God tells us to study to show ourselves approved on the God that's a general command of all and that we can't say well I'm sorry I've taken a psychological survey and I'm undisciplined so that lets me off the hook and the second thing I would say if God makes a command. He gives us the energy and the Holy Spirit to fulfill better for walking in the spirit you mentioned understudy about finding a godly person in a pattern in their life. You could fall your spinal that more about what you mean about powder. Yes, the apostle Paul said to Timothy Beatdown example of the believers, in word conduct purity in every greatest feature of leadership is example and is true that and I I I see it so often is true that people mimic other people.

We all do it.

You know I mean I know when I go to the South and spent two weeks in the South. I come out top a lot less severe. Notice you do that. Oh I go to Mexico and on there for two week and I come home and everyone I see as a way ideas and because you are an imitator in the apostle Paul picked us up and everywhere he went he said, be imitators of me as I am of Christ.

We imitate and it's not enough to have somebody like Christ is a pattern because he's God we need somebody was human to follow. That's why Paul always went around say follow me, follow me, because I'm following Christ needs him some flesh that you can see the pattern of life and it's very important that you find that kind of pattern and that's why I say it's dangerous for Christians to just flit around and never have any godly people to whom they submit themselves so that they can watch the pattern of their lives presented John about that people followers thing pretty soon a person can find up to that person or following his human and they have sin in their life okay and that's obvious that we all have sin in our life. The first thing that the guy should do is admit it like Paulison on the chief let's get that straight at the beginning, let's not wait to find that out about the second thing is, it isn't so much the absence of sin that makes the example is how it's dealt with.

It's not you, not following the guy because he's perfect your following and because he knows how to handle his imperfection and and you'll find it that in every good thing like that. Satan want to push you to the limits and also that you become a little rubber duck quacks the same way everybody else cracks.

We follow the person as long as following them is the equivalent of following Christ, and we have to keep that perspective. It's as if you are following a a transparent man for whom you could see Christ when you stop seeing Christ and the man ceases to be transparent that he ceases to be what he should be due. I what I think is the example I think it's the man who's leading you.

It's his responsibility to make sure is transparent so you see Christ soon as he becomes like theocracies who loves to have the preeminence. Interesting thing about that is the concept of preeminence is only use one other time in Scripture it's in relation to Christ. So here was a man who was a leader in the church who was usurping the place of Christ, and he wanted the preeminence. When a man does that then he ceases to be transparent to See Christ anymore and he ceases to be functioning as a true example. But as long as the person continually points to the preeminence of Christ keeps the focus there. I think that the there's a validity. Okay I like you also to hit on. Basically what you're trying to do with it. Reading the Bible. I reimburse John for 30 days trying to build a habit in our life. Getting God's word interesting could use it for little bit about habits and how to build them. Yeah, it all habits are just doing things up officiously and that's exactly what it does.

If you can ever get the habit begun. We are creatures of habit know we basically do the same things all the time put on whatever apparently goes on. First, always goes on first.

By the time you get to be 40 years old and and how whatever sock goes on.

First that's all you know you're just creatures of habit you have the same kind of routines of the youngest of your daughter.

At this point you'll find out when you get old like us and everything else. Once what happened to my thing wise over there it's not here and you get into these little bills but that you could see this creeping up somewhere creatures of habit and the best thing to do is to start habits when you yeah routine really helps you can say well I just flow in the spirit man. I just cannot go below whatever Halal you can even trace habits in the life of Christ, you know, he spent most of the nights in communion with the father. That was his time. He retreated to the Mount of olives, night after night after night after night after night prayer with the father. That was his time when he was here on earth. And I think habits are very important. I don't think that the habit performed ritualistically or legalistic Lee as a substitute for what really should be going. But I think if you get into a pattern that helps just one more thing, are you saying that this reading of Scripture and in studying the Scripture on your own for yourself is something apart from any sort of ministry you're doing is a something that you do yourself apart from studying for so not necessarily. I feel that if I've studied the word of God.

I've studied the word of God. If I go into the study at 9 o'clock in the morning and and have prayer for a while and then I study till 5 o'clock in the afternoon and go home.

I don't say all I'm defeated today. I didn't have my devotion, not a five spent six or seven hours studying the Bible. I know people talk about having your devotions.

I'm not sure what that mean having your devotions. If it needs reading without understanding and maturity. Valid if it means going through little formula or reading something like our daily bread that's finds little bit of input but when you spent time in the intensity of the study the word of God.

That's what you're after. I don't think we need a label little segments say well if you didn't do it in this context and read this kind of a thing with this thing in mind doesn't count. We just for the ordinary Christian because your little different setting every single day. Would you say that supposedly were involved in an weekly Bible study, which they did little study during the week for that. Would you say that it will be important for them to do this reading Scripture. Yeah, I think you should set the pattern anyway and then if you did additional things they said they would be done additional don't break the pattern of a normal basis, but I don't think that's a crucial thing. I think maybe there is a day when you will break your pattern because you have to work on your lesson. That's fine. I don't see a problem with it like to ask you.

Maybe if you could explain the details of what you did this week in order to study and also what you would recommend for your new Christian how he should study the Scripture how it differ from the way you would study for a particular passage. Well, it probably would differ the way I study is to take that first of all I would read the text in several versions, along with the Greek text handy.

There until I understand it like I was working on first printing for 14 to 21 this week and so I read it and read it and read it and read it and read it just hit reading, I just again repetitious the until first trip in 1421 is so much of my mind I could probably standard Portugal passes and Avenue try to memorize what I'm saturated my mind with it. Now when I when I do that do that do that then it begins to begins to mean something to them in the middle of that I see concepts I see in that passage Paul making a very, very clear statement about these the spiritual father of the Corinthians, and that means this and this and this and this and this and outlined about once it develops a put that on paper then I go verse by verse through the passage and I get commentaries and I line up about 10 or 11 commentaries and I read everything everybody's ever written on that passage because I want to know the whole breadth of information about that verse and so I may read 12 commentaries on every verse in that whole section I take all kinds of notes on that and then I throw all that together and outcomes Sunday morning, good bad or indifferent, but I feel as I said earlier that the way to study is first of all to go to the Scripture and get all you get on the Scripture and then supplement that scriptural understanding with any books that you have available and as I said, you can study a book going through it to get the understanding of it, or you can study a topic like prayer or judgment. Only those things we mentioned, you can study a character, a biography anything you want and you can do it by just reading the verses putting together a paper and working through you may want to study a chapter and you might want to say what's the key thought of the chapter. Write that down one of the other thoughts that build to the key thought right all those down. What don't I understand right that now what do I understand right that there what are other subjects introduced in the chapter that I can also study right all those down and you'll find out of the chapter will come so much stuff you will believe it just loaded with, so there are a lot of ways to approach that to cover Joe do you do like your word studies and your grammatical studies right out of the commentaries or do you do it in some other way that's really hard for me to answer personally because I do it so many different ways. Sometimes, like today I I got this concept that came across work as a man named Gaius was working 1/3 John is a man named Gaius and Gaius is commanded as a man who not only knows the truth but walks in the truth, I thought that's interesting commendation for a man. I thought that the thing about the idea of commending so I just took my my Bible and I started in the Pauline epistles with the first one, Romans, and I found every time that Paul never commended anybody and I went through every one of those passages and he starts out 16 want to commend Phoebe for being a servant of fellow help and down down in Marion Urbana's and always isolate to every single book and I put down everybody that was ever commended and why they were commended so that was one way to do the study. Other times, for example, I had that thesis on third. John and I wanted to do some study into a Greek phrase and so I got out that particular thesis and study through that to see with the Greek phrase meant that I read the BF Wescott in the Greek text, and found out what he said it meant and then I would do it. From then sometimes I'll do the study myself. I wanted to do a study on a particular word Paula Bono so I took out my own Greek text lexicon and what I call a what what what is called Englishman's Greek concordance, and I did my own study on that.

So those alternate ways that you do it, but gets kinda hairy with me because I go all different directions, and that no one would give John what you do when you just morning to go through day and just don't feel like reading. Usually you don't read it. Well, one of the things I think is important is if you don't feel like reading the Bible. You have just recognized the truth that this is when you most need and if you can kinda get that in your mind, it may help be aware the fact the times you don't want to read of the times you most need it and their indications of the fact that maybe your approach to the Scriptures and all around me. You know we are. Let's face it is as rigid as we would like to set ourselves we are sinners and one of the ways we sin is disobedience and disobedience will take the form of a failure to do a lot of things and that's one of and we all fall there even myself, but I think if you recognize that when you feel that way. That's when you need it most.

Maybe that's John if you know someone using your Christian there far away from you, and you can attend church in your area. How do you what advice to give them in choosing the church and what to look for, well, you know, there are several things we have some tapes, like the marks of an effective church or other tapes on on the church and what would be the marks of a church that you want to go to.

That's one way but to send them the principal so they know what they're looking for but really this the only thing you can do is maybe send him some books or some other tapes so that they become build up in the face somewhere and can make a proper judgment of the church. This is a very practical problem. Somebody comes to Christ. Another area they don't know where to go to church so they go to some church because somebody takes America churches all goofed up. And so they find that they lose out.

They don't really grow.

They don't mature, so it's important for good church and I think that one way to do it is to send them books or tapes that will strengthen them and help them to grow to a position where they can make a proper evaluation.

I get asked every Sunday to recommend a church in some city I don't always know. So I say well send the person some tapes and some books so they can begin to study some basic things about what the church should be. Once they've made that evaluation. Then they'll know how to judge a church and then the only thing they can do is just following the Holy Spirit do think there's a danger in overemphasizing relying on helps in concordances and in so that cutting down the time after you've read and really allow the Holy Spirit to just speak to you individually and really let you know. You know what the verse means I know in my life that is my first first time I got hold of some helps in commentaries I just, you know, read the verse and hit the commentaries and while answer that I would say this, you really cannot know what the Holy Spirit is saying to you until you know the Holy Spirit is saying is he not saying anything different to you than he saying there running but it doesn't say always this wonderful what this says to me is the word says you I'm in is and what set you, we a lot of people go around saying the Bible means this to me. Love you know you if you interpret the Bible that way. Everybody's got their own thing so you can't just say what I want to read it in whatever God says to me that's good enough halftime Alicia to be out of context or misinterpret the Scripture to miss the whole point. So I would say that study the Scripture read the Scripture study the commentary and then sit down and meditate after you already know it meets go at it that way. But don't miss the meditation because it says and we read already in the Psalms of Joshua.

Meditate on these things day and night will meditate in our in our day and age that's important part of our site. I was reading some interesting things recently about the fact that it was Marshall McLuhan was saying that we live in a world that is so oriented around something happening all the time and conversation going on a music that no one ever thinks he said in the article. The best way to avoid God's number one never be alone number two always have the music on even went so far as to say there is nothing to talk about anymore in our world is nothing to say. The media has said everything there aren't any opinions that have been expressed a zillion time running the conversations that haven't been helped. So every sits around like a blank and stairs of the box wasn't anything to talk about. We have a whole world of media that Satan is used just so dominate our thinking. You see people around little things and early in the car bingo turn on the deal and I'll get home turn on the tube turn on the radio is got to be noise going on site the whole idea. Meditation, then you have somebody coming from the outside with his legs crossed the silly pseudonymous hair hanging down his back. Who says you sit in the corner, meditate, and that's the other extreme, will you sit there and think about nothing but really you know why that's popular today as popular as a social reaction to a world where your brain has been just bombarded and and people were sitting in the car try to figure out who they are but I think the Christian in the biblical approaches to meditate on the word of God.

Philippians forces, think on these things. You got to sit there and think on the site got to meditate on what you want to be sure your meditation is correct that your thinking on the proper thing and you have to interpret it properly. I'm not saying that just meditating on what is wrong. But if you will be thorough in your glut that also had summing up to some time ago mentioned to me that for any Christian will have an and read about that yet. I don't know about that particular kind in reference to your new Christian is just got to the third chapter in that particular subject is uncomfortable fifth chapter.

I believe that any sin at any point in your Christian life is a violation of what you know is right. I do think however that there may be some things that are such moral things that we really just don't know about. There are some areas where there are there are more of the practical principles more than the ethical or moral things which I do believe we know. In fact, I believe you know unregenerate man knows the white conches, but there may be some principles of behavior that God is lay down for the Christian, for example, a Christian might not know to give what he has in the first day the week unless somebody told him it because that you know he might've to get second Corinthians 89. He wouldn't really know that he was supposed to lay by and store the first data we just got his prosper. He may feel he wants to give but he wouldn't know the pattern or unless somebody taught about communion, he certainly would know to keep communion because that's not a moral and ethical think that's a practice in the church so there are some things that yes a person would have to learn what there are other things in the moral area that I believe God would teach to the spirit.

A good illustration of the Romans 14 where he says there are some don't understand the liberty in Christ to wittily grow up. Don't hassle him. If a man regards to daylight in regard it if you want to keep the Sabbath doesn't matter will grow to the place where he understands liberty so there's both side of over growing personally by repetitive reading. Is it possible suited teaching to family small children. By reading aloud. It sure is. I mean, without a yes. I think if you want to do your reading thing with your family that every great way to do just read it to get you all benefit disease, grace to you with John MacArthur. Thanks for being with us.

John is Chancellor of the Masters University in seminary. Today's lesson is part of a series spiritual boot camp will John as valuable as it is to listen to a Q&A like this or the other lessons in this study, there is something about being able to read good biblical materials that can really reinforce what you're studying and help you hear the truth in a way that it takes root and John while everything grace to you does starts with these audio recordings of your sermons.

It doesn't end there doesn't yet is true that obviously grace to, is known for the audio recordings of the teaching and preaching of the word of God been a long time ago we were very much aware that we could double up on the input strategy a little bit by creating study guides. We call them and we created. I think hundred and 40 of those study guides and that they were designed to be in your hand while you were listening to the message and also you are reading the flow of the message. In that booklet.

The first study guide that we ever did was called spiritual boot camp and here we are 40 years later and were starting this series all over again really exciting opportunity for us and were starting with the very first study guide spiritual boot camp. It's it's been re-done and it is designed to put in your hands everything and more that were going to be saying in our radio series on spiritual boot camp and also going to be able to be a stimulating section with questions and answers.

You can use in a group study so this is going to bring back some memories to those old-timers of grace to you who listen to us for decades that the southbound book on spiritual boot camp.

It will help you dig deeply into the issues were looking at in this study, and that is how to study the Bible how to pray and how to fulfill your role in the church and how to evangelize the lost. Perfect for use in home Bible study. A lot of people use them in their small groups over the years about 100 pages long, affordably priced, and by the way, we offered a free copy of this study guide to everyone on our mailing list last month.

If you're not on the mailing list and if you're not currently receiving my monthly newsletter. You need to be as a rule, when a new book of mine is published, grace to you offers it by mail free of charge to those on the mailing list now. The rest of the year. We offer special messages on CD or booklets or maybe DVDs always free of charge. So get on the mailing list. You can simply call or send us an email say like to start receiving my monthly newsletter and if you order a copy of the spiritual boot camp that will also put you on the mailing list.

Either way, contact us today as John said this spiritual boot camp study guide is not just a rehash of this series. It's filled with even more biblical truth on these key spiritual disciplines and it shows you practical ways to get better at them. It's available now so order yours today call our toll-free number 855 grace or go to our website Jide TY.org the spiritual boot camp study guide also comes with a question-and-answer section at the end of each chapter. It helps facilitate rich discussion. It's a great resource for a small group again to get one copy or several copies you can call 855 grace order from our website Jide TY.org know you work encouraged by today's lesson online resources have helped you prepare for teaching at your church, or if someone you know has come to faith in Christ because of the teaching he or she heard on our broadcasts.

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Thanks for making this broadcast part of your day and tune in tomorrow as John looks at how to pray is continuing his study spiritual boot camp with another 30 minutes of unleashing God's truth one verse at a time on grace