It's Balanced With a Disciplined Obedience - Scriptures, Part 2

In the 19th century there was a Danish religious philosopher by the name of So Kierkeg. And he said many things regarding Christianity, some of which probably we would completely discard. But there is one statement he said that I think is very significant for this evening, and it goes as follows, and I quote Too often in their church life, people adopt an attitude of the theater. Imagining the preacher is an actor and they his critics, praising and blaming the performances. Actually, the people are the actors on the stage of life.

The preacher is merely the prompter, reminding the people of their lost lines. And so I find myself week in and week out hoping that more and more people will be excited about the things of God, and no more so than in the area of learning to study the scriptures. Realizing what's there and helping people to grasp Bible study. Last week we talked about Luke 11, verse number 28, when Jesus said these words: Blessed are those who hear the word of God. And observe it. The real blessed person is the one who hears the word of God.

The question is: how do we hear? So let me give you six ways that you can learn to listen to God. The very first one is this: qu.

You got to listen quickly. James 1:19, we covered it last week. Let every man be quick to hear. Whether it's by way of television, if there is anybody on the TV anymore speaking the word of God. If it's by way of a Sunday morning worship service, but we're quick to hear the Word of God, we long to hear the Word of God. If you want to be an effective hearer, you've got to practice the art of quickness. Quickly listening to things that are there. Having the ears perk up. Having the antennas raised whenever something about the Lord.

Is spoken. Number two, it's not only do you need to hear quickly, but you need to hear quietly. It was James who went on to say, let every man be quick to hear and slow to speak. It's James' way of saying, be quiet. Just listen to the word of the Lord. The third way we hear or need to hear is expectant.

Same verse, Psalm 62, verse 5, goes on to say this. For my hope is from him. The psalmist says, I need to sit quietly before the Lord. I need to wait in silence. Why? Because my hope is in the Lord. And there's an expectancy there. He's expecting God to speak. When we open God's word, we must go with an expectant heart, saying, God is going to say something. And because God is going to speak, I am willing to listen.

I am ready to listen. I am quick to hear. I am slow to speak because God is going to say something. And fourthly, you need to listen open. So many times we go to the Word of God with a closed mind. We go to the Word of God with a set agenda. We go to the Word of God with our mind already made up about our theological beliefs. We go to the Word of God already made up about what we think is right for our lives and trying to bring God's Word in line with our lives instead of submitting ourselves to God's Word.

Therefore, we're not going to the Word openly to listen to what He has to say. We go with the closed mind. But if you want to listen properly, you've got to be able to hear the word of God. With an open mind. And when you hear the word of God confronting you on an issue in your life that you want to do, but God says you can't do, will you submit to that?

Do you have an open mind about what God says about your life? And fifthly, you need to hear reverently. Reverently. First Samuel:.

Eli said, Look, Samuel, next time you hear the voice, say this: Speak, Lord. For your servant is listening. Speak, Lord. It's God who is speaking. To our souls. Psalm 138, verse 2: great verse. Thy word, O Lord, is magnified acc to thy name. Together with thy name, God's word is magnified on the equal plane as God's name, and one day every knee will bow at the name of Jesus Christ. And so we need to understand the primacy of God's word and how preeminent it must reign in our lives. And so when we go, we go reverently, knowing that it's the Lord God, the majestic architect.

The creator of the world who is speaking to our souls, and he has got something he wants to say. And so we listen reverently. And then, sixthly, you need to listen gratefully. You need to listen gratefully. Psalm sixty-three says this. Verses 1 to 5. O God, thou art my God. I shall seek thee earnestly. My soul thirsts for thee, my flesh yearns for thee, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Thus I have beheld thee in the sanctuary, to see thy power and thy glory. Because thy loving is better than life, my lips Will praise thee, so I will bless thee as long as I live.

I will lift up my hands in thy name. My soul is satisfied as with morrow and fatness, and my mouth offers praises with joyful lips. And so we go with grateful hearts saying thanks, Lord. Thanks so very much that you will speak to me, someone who is absolutely nothing. Be it you have chosen to speak to me through your word. Six principles that help you understand. How to hear God speak to you. Second of all, reading.

Revelation chapter 1, verse 3. We talked about it last week. Blessed is he who reads. And those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it. And so when you go to the Word of God, you must understand that you pr that He might do a mighty work in your heart. This is a spiritual walk. This is a spiritual life. And you come to know a spiritual God. And therefore, you must come before Him. By spiritual means. So, first of all, you go to read prayerfully.

Number two, read att. Attentively, turn with me over to Proverbs chapter 2. Proverbs chapter 2, verses 1 to 4. Says this, my son, if you will receive my sayings and treasure my commandments within you, make your ear attentive to wisdom. And incline your heart to understanding. For if you cry for discernment, lift your voice for understand. If you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures, then you will discern the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God. We need to barrage the text with questions, always asking questions about what has been said, so that we might learn to answer them.

The Bible does not yield its fruit. To the lazy. You've got to dig for it. And when you begin to dig into the text, things begin to jump out at you like you've never seen before. So you need to read attentively. And thirdly, you need to read purposefully.

Turn with me over to 2 Timothy chapter 3. Very familiar verse to those of us here at Christ Community Church, but let's look at it again.

All scripture is inspired by God and profitable. That is, there's a purpose behind it. It's purposeful read. Why? Because they're God's words. God doesn't speak just to hear him speak. God speaks because he has something to say. He's got a purpose behind what he says, right? And so as we go to his word, we understand that his word is profitable. And what is it profitable for? Well, it's profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in Righteousness. So when you read the Bible, you must read the Bible purposefully.

There's something that's there. Jesus would use phrases over and over and over again. Read Hebrews chapter 11. By faith, it was Abel, by faith, Enoch, by faith, Noah, by faith, Abraham, by faith, Sarah, by f Moses. You kind of get the idea that God wants you to understand what faith is all about in Hebrews chapter 11. In Matthew chapter 5, over and over and over again, seven times, Jesus says, You have heard that it was said unto you, but I say unto you.

You have heard that it was said unto you, but I say unto you. Jesus says, Look, this is what you've been taught, but I want to tell you what is really truth.

And so, as you begin to see what God is doing, there's a purpose behind everything He says, how he says it. So, what God put in the Word of God is not there by accident. It's not there by coincidence. It didn't just happen to come down and be in print. It's there because God had a purpose. And so we read the Bible. Purposely. And fourthly, you need to read the Bible repeatedly. That is, you read the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. So many times we're anxious to get through the Bible.

Wow, man, I read through the Bible this year. Hey, great, what'd you learn? I don't know, man, but I read through the Bible. Well, that's good. What's that got in your mind? Oh, I don know, man. What are the books of the Bible? I don know what they are. What order are they in? I don't know. But I read through the Bible. I got my one-year Bible, and I did it, man. Well, that might be good for one year. But the next year, you better sit down with a pen and pencil and begin to jot down some things that God's telling you as you read the Word of God.

It's not so much. That we read through the Bible as much as it is that we digest what we read. And so take it in small qualities or small quantities. Begin to read it repeatedly over and over and over again. Reading through those 176 verses of Psalm 119. Over and over and over again. Take a book like Phile and read it every day for 30 days. By the end of those 30 days, you'll know every verse in the book of Phile almost by heart. But read it every day, just for 30 days. But read it repeatedly. Why?

Because the Lord said in Isaiah 28, verses 10 and verse number 13, that you learn line upon line. Precept upon pre, here a little, there a little. That 's why. When you study for a test, do you read through the book once, close it up, and say, I got it. If you do, you know more than most people know. You got to read it, you got to reread it, and you got to re it. And that 's not even God's inspired word, right? So, the same way it is with the Word of God. You've got to read it repeatedly. And fifthly, read it patiently.

Read it patiently in our world of little patience and Quick fix, fast-paced society. We want solutions now, don't we? We want to be able to open the Word of God and say, God, I need direction here. Show me today. So we open it up and we read through it and say, Well, Nothing there. I guess I'm done. God's not speaking today. We're too impatient. We're not willing to sit and listen at the feet of God. And so we go to the Word of God with a set agenda. But maybe God's got a different agenda. Maybe there's something else He wants to teach you.

Maybe there's a lesson that you forgot about. And it's in the text, but because you were looking for something else, you didn't hear me speak. You got to read the Bible patiently. And sometimes we open it up and say, okay, man, let me get here.

Spark said I should read through one proverb a day for. For 31 days, and I can go through the book of Proverbs in 31 days and cover every chapter and then just redo that month after month after month. And I've been reading it, and there's just nothing there. So maybe I'll go on to Ezekiel. Read that for a while. You see, you can't go to the Bible. And seek to be entertained. You have to go to the Bible and seek to be enlightened. That's the difference. But we read the Bible because we want God to entertain us.

But God wants to illumine your mind, He wants to enlighten you as an individual. That takes patience. It was Jonathan Edwards who pinned these lines in his journal shortly after his conversion. He said, I seemed often to see so much light exhibited by every sentence, and such a refreshing food communicated that I could not get along in read. often dwelling long on one sentence to see the wonders contained in it, and yet almost every sentence seemed to be full of wonders. And that's the way we ought to approach the scriptures.

As a psalmist, open my eyes that I might see wondrous things out of thy law. You 've got to be in it for the long haul. You can't expect the quick fix when it comes to Bible study and read. Like the hard-working farmer over in 2 Timothy 2, verse 6. The hard-working farmer. Is used as an analogy. You got the athlete, you got the soldier, you got the farmer. Well, the farmer has to be a patient man. He plow, he plants, and then he waits, and he waits, and he waits some more until things begin to spring up.

And you got to be like the farmer. You got to be able to plow deep. You got to be able to plow long. You got to be able to plant continually. And then you sit and you wait for God to do his thing. And that's what you got to do. And lastly, you need to read the Bible enthusiastically. That's the last one. Enthusiastically, the psalmist said in Psalm 119. 9, Oh, how I love thy law. How many of you can honestly say that? I love the law of God. Psalm 119, verse number 127. I love thy commandments above gold, yes, above fine gold.

How many people can actually say that? I love God's word more than my money. And then over in Psalm 119, verses 47 and 48, I shall delight in thy commandments which I love, and I shall lift up my hands to thy commandments. Which I love. Is that you? The psalm was enthusiastic about reading and studying and listening to God. When you go to the Word of God, you have got to go enthusiastically. You've got to go excited about what's there. Why? Because God's Word is the source of everything. God's Word is a source of truth.

And because it is, I know that when I read the Word of God, I will understand what absolute truth is. I got to know what Psalm 19, verse 8 says when it says, The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. That is, God's word is not only a source of joy, a source of truth, it's a source of joy. God's word delights my soul, the psalmist says. God's word gives me victory over Satan. Read Matthew chapter 4, verses 1 to 11. As Jesus Christ used the word of God to gain victory over Satan, it gives you victory over Over temptation.

That's why we take the helmet of salvation. That's why we take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, that we might be able to overcome the wiles of the devil. God's word is a source of growth. 1 Peter chapter 2, verses 1 and 2. As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby. You've got to be like a little baby just wanting to have more and more milk. You come enthusiastically to the Word of God because it helps you grow. God's Word is powerful. Hebrews chapter 4, verse 12, Romans chapter 1, verse number 16.

And they also understand that God's word is a source of guidance. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet. And the light into my path. When you understand all that God's word is, you want to come to it. You want to get up. You want to read it. You want to read it before you go to bed. You want to make it a part of your life. And so, in order to understand how to read the Bible, You've got to read the Bible enthusiastically and watch God do a work. And time is short, so I'm going to give this to you really quickly: a third principle on the basics.

Of study. Of course, Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 2, verse 15: be diligent. Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed. You got to be diligent in your Bible study. You got to be a hard worker in order that you have nothing to be ashamed of, but in order that you'll be approved by God. The word approved means to be shown of high quality. A high-quality Christian is one who has no flaws for which he shall be ashamed. And Paul tells Timothy, I don want you to be ashamed workmen.

So Paul says, You study. You be diligent to approve yourself. Unto God, because He is the one you seek to please. And these are just some questions that were given to me one day that I think would be very interesting. That will help you in your Bible study this week. I want to give them to you. There's six of them. And number one is this: what did you like?

What did you like? So let's say you're reading Ephesians chapter 5, verses 22 to 33. And you sit down and You say, well, it says, wives, be subject to your own husbands Oh, I like that. I like that. I'll write that down. See? I don't mean to be facetious, but you need to understand that when you go to the text, what do you like that you read? Write it down. Oh, I like that. And then ask yourself this question. What didn't you like? Maybe something's confronted you don't like. Well, let's be honest, let's write it down.

And it says that I'm to love my wife as I love myself. I'm not sure I like that very much. So I say, you know, I'm not sure I want to love my wife like I love myself because I really do love myself. And if I really love myself, that means I got to give up myself to love my wife. I not sure I want to do So, I'm going to write that down. I'm not sure I really want to do that. The Bible says that husbands are to be sub to their wives.

In fact, the word subject in verse number 22 is not even there in the original text. So it just says, literally, wives to your own husbands. That's important to understand. Why? Because verse number 21 says, and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. So, submission is the context in which Ephesians 5:2 and following is written. So, not only is the wife to be submissive to the husband, but fellas, the husband is to be submissive to the wife. That's the implication. Not only are children to be subject to their parents, but parents are to be submissive to their children.

That's the context. Not only are slaves to be subject to their masters, but masters are to be subject to their sl. Why? Because we are to submit ourselves one to another. Doesn't mean there's a difference between authority and who God gives the authority to. But the submissive heart is what God's looking for. So you say, well, I'm not sure I like that, so I write that down. And then he asks himself a third question: What did you not understand?

What did you not understand? Well, the Bible says that Christ gave him up for the church, and verse number 26 says that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word.

What 's that? What's the washing of water with the words? Well, I write that down and ask myself: well, what does that mean? I'm to nourish my wife. What does that mean? What does that actually mean to nourish my wife, to cherish my wife? So I write down things I don't understand because they are legitimate questions. And then ask yourself a fourth question: what did you learn about God? Every Bible verse has something about God in it. So what do you learn about God? I learned that he gave his son for the church.

I learned that the Lord nourishes the church like I take care of myself. I got a great God. And then you ask yourself a fifth question: what do I do? What do I do? Well, if I'm honest, I've got to reach out to my wife and give myself to her as Jesus Christ gave him to the church. That is, I must be willing to die for my wife. I must be willing to nourish her and to cherish her. A word that deals with protection and warmth and security. I have to give my wife a secure kind of feeling. That when she wakes up in the middle of the night, or when she goes to bed at night, she goes to bed under the warmth of that security blanket because I'm the protector, I'm the provider, I'm the preserver of my family, because that's how Jesus Christ is for the church.

That's what I need to do. And then I ask myself the last question: What phrase do I take with me today? That's always a good one. Just take one phrase with you. One sentence with you. And so you look and you ask yourself, so husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. I'll take that phrase with me today. And then you just write it on a piece of paper, put it in your pocket, and take it with you. You ask those six questions. For seven days when you read your Bible. And I guarantee when you come back next week, You'll know more about your Bible and what you should do after reading your Bible than you have known at this time in your life.