Saturation Bible Study

Transcription

1 Saturation Bible Study Intimacy in the Living Word A Bonus Session with NRJohnson Nobody ever outgrows Scripture; the book widens and deepens with our years. Charles Spurgeon Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:31-32 I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the word of God, and to meditation on it.... What is the food of the inner man? Not prayer, but the word of God; and... not the simple reading of the word of God, so that it only passes through our minds, just as water runs through a pipe, but considering what we read, pondering over it, and applying it to our hearts. George Müller Beyond Mere Study The Purpose for Spending Time in the Word You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. John 5:39 Spiritual Life Barometer Burnout An answer for any moment Saturation Bible Study! 1

2 A Desire For Depth Types of Studies Topical Word Chronological Character Book / Expositional Verse by Verse Ways to Study Read Meditate Memorize Inductive - to use logic induction and reasoning by examining the particulars, facts, and essence of a text, such as context and word meanings first before making any conclusions. Exegesis - usually an expansion of inductive including more word studies, Greek grammar, etc Saturation - as a sponge is soaked and permeated in a bucket of water, so must I be in the Word of God. Taking the Word into the everyday moments of my life where I am constantly thinking and dwelling upon it. Context! Green Word Sentence Paragraph Chapter Section Book Corpus NT/OT Canon Genre & Literary Contexts Three Questions For Every Passage 1. What does it say? (Observation) 2. What does it mean to the original hearers? (Interpretation) Saturation Bible Study! 2

3 3. What does it change? How does the concept/truth apply in my life? (Application) Dan s 3 Questions O - Observation U - Understanding T - Thinking Devotions vs Saturation Devotions Rules & Requirement (and gold stars) Have to (pressure) Spoon-fed (reading someone else s study) Focus on me (what I get out of it) Interpretation (what I think) Time (watching a clock) Works mentality (if I, then God will ) Doing Burden/fear/drag Saturation Relationship & Intimacy Want to (no pressure) Soaking (resting in the Word) Focus on the Spirit Revelation (Spirit reveals truth) All the time (every moment) Response to the movement of JC Being Delight Saturation Challenge 1. Read (there is no substitute for reading God s Word) Model 1: a. 20 minutes/day OT (read through the OT once a year) b. Read one NT book every day for 30 days Small vs Big Books (7 chapters/day) * write out theme for each chapter In depth reading of NT: 2.5 years Model 2: a. Read in OT, place a bookmark b. Read in NT, place a bookmark Go back and forth every other day Model 3: Daily read a selection from OT, NT, Psalm, Proverb (one year Bibles are usually set up this way) Saturation Bible Study! 3

4 Model 4: Chronological Model 5: Read the Bible through in 90 days 2. Exposition: Book of the Bible Studying a book verse by verse Goal: an exposition (study) on every book of the Bible 3. Saturation Read Philippians every day... for how long? Take an index card with you Part 2 Four Bogus Excuses 1. Time I don t have time. Concept: Seeking & Responding Life Illustration: Vine and Branches 2. Training (Greek, Grammar, Grades) I haven t had the training. Concept: Truth vs Truths Illustration: The Reservoir We are obsessed with facts/information not Truth Google reports there are 34,000 searches per second (which is more than 3 billion searches per day what a month s total was in 2010) The weekday edition of the New York Times contains more information than a person in the 17th-century England would have come across in their entire lifetime Saturation Bible Study! 4

5 More information has been produced in the last 30 years than the previous 5,000 Over 4,000 new books are published every single day Information is doubling every months (in 2010, there was over 32 times the amount of information that we had in 2001). Some estimate within a few years information may be doubling every 11 hours. 3. Technique I don t know how. Concept: Role of the Holy Spirit Illustration: Shakespeare vs. Scripture Role of the Holy Spirit Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:... However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. John 16:7-8, Tools I don t have any resources. Concept: Word of God is all you need Illustration: Stranded on an Island You Need A Plan A Method of Hermeneutics Generals background of book author audience purpose context genre & literary contexts Saturation Bible Study! 5

6 Cultural Background Any time two or more people come together, do things in a certain way, create customs and habits = culture Ellerslie Jesus had a culture Example: disciple s understanding of Messiah Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" Acts 1:6 Historical Background Every book of the Bible was written to a particular people in a particular historical context Example: Adoption (Roman mentality) Repetition Great teaching tool What someone says a lot is important to them Don t take a minor issue and make it major (Creation/God s Love) Examples: -- Ephesians: In Christ -- 1 John 4:8, 16: God is Love -- Holy, Holy, Holy Sentences repetition contrasts comparisons lists cause/effect conjunctions (and, but, for, therefore, since, because) verbs pronouns figures of speech/idioms Saturation Bible Study! 6

7 -- English: raining cats and dogs, beat around the bush, underdogs, born with a silver spoon in his mouth, he is in a jam, he s in hot water, see the light -- Bible: lamp unto my feet, white-washed tombs, brood of vipers, broken heart, a doubleedged sword, baptism of fire, be fruitful and multiply, harden your heart, heart s desire, put your house in order, he knew her not, letter of the law Paragraphs general and specific (I like desserts vs I like chocolate cake) Questions/answers Dialogue Purpose statements Means (by which something is accomplished) Conditional clauses (condition with the following result or consequence) Actions/roles of people/god Emotional terms Tone Grammar Know parts of speech (noun, verb, adjective, adverb, direct object) need to identify: noun, verb, direct object "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen. Matthew 28:19-20 Difference between prescription and description A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. John 13:34 So Gideon said to God, "If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said-- look, I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said." Saturation Bible Study! 7

8 Judges 6:36-37 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Matthew 6:9-13 Bible Study Resources *Bible Dictionaries Suggestion: Smith s Bible Dictionary (also: Nelson s, Easton s, Holman, New Unger s) (great series: IVP s Dictionary of - Jesus and the Gospels, Paul and His Letters, etc) *Concordance Two Kinds: English shows all the locations of an English word (ie: love) Greek shows all the locations of a particular Greek word (ie: agape, phileo, etc) * Many exhaustive concordances will show English words with groupings within Greek words (love agape, phileo, eros, etc) Suggestions: Strong s Exhaustive Concordance, Young s *Cross References Suggestions: Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge, Dakes Study Bible (good on cross references), online Greek Lexicon (and grammars) Suggested Lexicons: * Zodhiates Complete Word Study OT/NT * Kittel s Theological Dictionary of the NT, * Mounce s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words * Greek-English Lexicon of the NT and other Early Christian Literature (BDAG) Saturation Bible Study! 8

9 Suggested Grammars (how to learn basic Greek / helps on word tenses, moods, etc) * Greek for the Rest of Us by William Mounce * It s Still Greek to Me by David Allen Black * English Grammar to Ace New Testament Greek by Samuel Lamerson More Advanced Grammars * Basics of Biblical Greek by William Mounce * Basics of NT Syntax by Daniel Wallace * Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics by Daniel Wallace Commentaries The Bible is its own best commentary! Two Kinds: Sermonic Word Commentaries are written by people going through the same study process (thus there can be errors) HELPFUL: o stimulating thoughts and ideas o o helps with observation (historical, cultural, words, Greek, grammar, context, outlines, etc) confirms/verifies truth PROBLEM: using commentaries to shortcut or bypass personal saturation o Becomes like my reservoir which I go to rather than go through the process and toil of study! Shortchanges the process of intimacy with Jesus (process is important) Suggestions: * An Annotated Guide to Biblical Resources for Ministry by David Bauer -- shows what commentaries are good for certain books of the Bible * Barclay Commentaries (good for background) * New International Commentary of the New Testament * New International Greek Testament Commentary * World Biblical Commentary * Renaissance New Testament Commentary Online Tools Saturation Bible Study! 9

10 BlueLetterBible.org BibleStudyTools.net Esword / MacSword BibleArc.com Computer Programs Note: you don t need fancy computer programs, though they can be helpful and speed the study process Suggestions: Logos, PC Study Bible, Bibleworks, Accordance deeperchristian.com/bible Quotes One of these days some simple soul will pick up the Book of God, read it and believe it. Leonard Ravenhill There s no better book with which to defend the Bible than the Bible itself. DL Moody The Bible will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from the Bible. DL Moody The canon-mind is the most honest, happy, holy, and healthy mind in the universe. It s a mind controlled by the person of Jesus Christ, esteeming the things that He esteems, despising the things that He despises. It is a mind in tune with Heaven, discriminating between light and darkness with the deftness of God Himself. It is a mind radically loyal to the words of Scripture, unbending in opposition, unyielding to doubt and unwavering in its allegiance. Eric Ludy Bravehearted Gospel Those whimpering Stateside young people will wake up on the Day of Judgment condemned to worse fates than these demon-fearing Indians, because, having a Bible, they were bored with it while these never heard of such a thing as writing. Jim Elliot Saturation Bible Study! 10

11 I desire to handle the Word of God so that no man may ever find an excuse in my ministry for his living without Christ. Charles Spurgeon The most foolish person in the world is the one who has the opportunity to read, absorb, digest, live in, be immersed in worship-reading the Bible, but doesn t do it because of PREOCCUPATION with other things of this world. Rex Andrews Beware of reasoning about God s Word. Obey it. Oswald Chambers We have to learn to rely on the Holy Spirit because He alone gives the Word of God life. All our efforts to pump up faith in the Word of God is without quickening, without illumination. You reason to yourself and say, Now God says this and I am going to believe it, and you believe it, and re-believe it, and re-re-believe it, and nothing happens, simply because the vital power that makes the words living is not there. Oswald Chambers Biblical Ethics Am I willing to trade my addiction to the world s entertainment for more time with my Bible? Blessed is the man... whose delight is the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night (Psalm 1:1-2). Leslie Ludy Set Apart Femininity The vigor of our Spiritual Life will be in exact proportion to the place held by the Bible in our life and thoughts. I solemnly state this from experience of fiftyfour years. The first three years after conversion I neglected the Word of God. Since I began to search it diligently the blessing has been wonderful. I have read the Bible through one hundred times, and always with increasing delight. Each time it seems like a new book to me. Great has been the blessing from consecutive, diligent, daily study. I look upon it as a lost day when I have not had a good time over the Word of God. George Müller By the time he died, Müller had read through the Bible 140 times. Saturation Bible Study! 11