REQUIREMENTS FOR EFFECTIVE BIBLE STUDY
Pastor Dale Morgan
June 5, 2007
By: David Cloud
"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to
be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" 2 Timothy 2:15
Following are some things that God Himself has emphasized to us as
requirements for understanding the Scriptures. Though we do not yet get
into the practical side of Bible study in this section, the things that
we will say here are crucial and will challenge the Bible student about
the spiritual requirements of this blessed endeavor. No Bible student
has progressed so far that he has no need to be reminded of these
foundational things.
1. Effective Bible study requires SPIRITUAL LIFE (1 Cor. 2:14 - 3:3).
The first and foremost requirement for fruitful Bible study is a godly
life. There are three types of people described in 1 Corinthians
chapters two and three: the natural man, the spiritual man, and the
carnal man. The natural or unsaved person is spiritually dead and blind
(Eph. 2:1-3; 2 Cor. 4:4). He cannot understand the things of God. "The
deepest biblical scholar, if he fails to find Christ, knows less of the
real meaning of the Gospel than the humblest Christian who is living in
the faith of the Son of God" (Pulpit Commentary). When the heart turns
to the Lord, though, and receives Jesus Christ, the blindness is lifted
(2 Cor. 3:14-17). The spiritual man (1 Cor. 2:15-16) and the carnal man
(1 Cor. 3:1-4) refer to believers. The believer is either spiritual or
carnal depending on his walk with Christ. The carnal or worldly believer
can understand the simple things of the Scriptures but not the more
difficult things. He can take milk but not meat. Milk is predigested for
the one who drinks it, whereas meat requires that the eater himself
digest it. (See also Hebrews 5:12-14.) Thus, spiritual life is more
important in Bible study than technical skills. "A person who
understands the language of the Holy Spirit, but who does not understand
a word of Greek or Hebrew or Aramaic, will get more out of the Bible
than one who knows all about Greek and Hebrew but is not born again. It
is a well-demonstrated fact that many plain men and women who possess no
knowledge of the original languages in which the Bible was written have
knowledge of the real contents of the Bible. Their understanding of its
actual teaching and its depth, fullness, and beauty far surpasses that
of many learned professors in theological faculties" (R.A. Torrey).
Proverbs 17:16 contains a serious warning: "Wherefore is there a price
in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it?" If
a person's heart is not right with God, he cannot obtain wisdom
regardless of how much money he spends and regardless of how much
education he obtains.
Dear friends, if we want to study the Bible fruitfully, we must make
certain that we are born again and that we are walking in close
fellowship with the Author of the Book. This is the first and foremost
requirement.
Studying the Bible is something like tuning in to a radio channel.
Heaven is far away, but God broadcasts His glorious message to earth on
a clear and powerful station with the call letters BIBLE. If the
believer is in fellowship with Christ, he has an open channel to Heaven
through the Scriptures. The closer the fellowship with Christ, the
sharper the reception and the more plainly the Bible speaks. If, on the
other hand, a believer walks in carnality and in fellowship with the
world, the reception becomes increasingly poor, because the Holy Spirit
is grieved (Eph. 4:30), and the static of the things of this world
hinders the reception. Child of God, don't let unconfessed sin and
worldliness rob you of the blessing of being tuned in to Heaven's
glorious channel!
2. Effective Bible study requires FAITH (Heb. 11:1, 6). The one who
benefits from the study of the Scriptures must approach this important
business by faith. Bible faith means confidence in God and His promises,
and there are many things of which the Bible student must be confident.
(1) He must be confident that the Bible is God's inspired, preserved
Word and that he can depend upon its every utterance (1 Thess. 2:13).
(2) He must be confident that God loves him and wants him to understand
the Bible. The Bible is a revelation, not a hiding, of the truth (Deut.
29:29). (3) He must be confident that the Holy Spirit will help him
understand the Bible (1 John 2:27).
3. Effective Bible study must have THE RIGHT GOALS. To properly
understand the Bible, one must have the right motive and objective.
There are many wrong motives. Some read the Bible merely to learn
something new and curious, like the Athenians of old to whom Paul
preached (Acts 17:21). Some want to be entertained and have no intention
to obey God, like those who heard Ezekiel (Eze. 33:31-32). Some read
God's word simply to find errors and to seek an excuse to disbelieve, as
did the Pharisees and Sadducees, scribes and lawyers when they vainly
and foolishly attempted to catch Christ in some mistake (Lk. 20:40-47).
Some show interest in the Bible only in the hope of gaining worldly
advantage, such as those in poorer countries who think that Christianity
is a ticket to America or a way to make money. This was similar to the
motive of the Jews who heard Christ because they hoped He would provide
them with food and clothing and protect them from their enemies (Jn.
6:14-15). When they learned that Christ was not merely a ticket to
worldly prosperity, they turned away from the Word of God (Jn. 6:66).
Thus, we must be very careful that we come to the Word of God with the
right motives, some of which are as follows: (1) The first and foremost
goal of Bible study is to know the Lord. An example of this is Mary
sitting at Jesus' feet to hear His word (Lk. 10:39). Her desire was to
know Christ himself. That is how we must approach the Bible. God did not
give us the Scriptures to entertain us but that we might know Him, as
Adam and Eve, when they walked with God in the garden of Eden (Gen. 3:8)
and as Enoch, who walked with God in an evil age (Gen. 5:24). (2)
Another proper goal in Bible study is to know the Lord's will (Rom. 12),
so that we might please Him in this life. The believer has the privilege
of knowing the very mind of Christ for all aspects of his earthly walk.
(3) Another important objective of Bible study is to help others.
According to Hebrews 5:12, it is God's will that every believer become a
teacher of the Scriptures, not in the sense of leading a church but in
the sense of helping others privately in our daily lives. It is
therefore pleasing to the Lord that we study the Bible in order to
instruct others. Every Christian should be able to do what Philip did
with the Ethiopian eunuch, when he started at Isaiah and preached Christ
to him (Acts 8:30-35). The older women are to teach the younger ones
(Titus 2:3-4), etc.
4. Effective Bible study must have THE RIGHT PRIORITY. God requires
first place in our lives (Matt. 6:33); and since He has magnified His
Word above even His name (Ps. 138:2), it is evident that He intends for
us to make the study of His Word the very highest priority. Following
are some of the ways that we can do: (1) The study of the Bible should
come first in the day when we are still fresh and our minds are
uncluttered with the concerns of life. Some have vowed to the Lord that
they will not eat breakfast until they have eaten God's Word. That is a
noble and wise thing. For many years, I determined before the Lord that
I would not read any other material until I had first read His Word.
When I was engaged to my wife and she was still living in a foreign
country and our only form of communication was the mail, I determined
before the Lord that I would never read one of her letters until I had
first spent my time studying His Word. I believe such things please the
Lord, because they demonstrate our zeal toward spiritual matters. (2)
The study of the Bible should be given sufficient time. It is not
honoring to God to apply only a tiny amount of time to the study of His
Word, or to read some little two-minute devotional in the place of
serious Bible study. (3) The study of the Bible should be a priority
above the study of other books. It is not honoring to God to spend most
of one's time reading about the Bible while neglecting the actual study
of the Bible itself. While we do not despise the value of sound
doctrinal books, they should never take the place of the Bible.
5. Effective Bible study requires HUNGER FOR GOD AND HIS TRUTH (Ps.
63:1). Job lived long ago and did not have all of the Scriptures as we
do today, but he had a great hunger for God's words. He testified, "ŠI
have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food" (Job
23:12). Likewise, for a Christian to make Bible study the priority it
must be, requires that he have a great hunger to know the Word of God.
Be careful not to spoil your appetite! If you find that you have lost
your appetite for the Bible and that it has become boring, you might be
feeding on the wrong things in your life. The believer has both the
flesh and the spirit, and if he feeds the flesh, he will be carnal and
will lose his appetite for spiritual things (Gal. 5:16-25). It is like
eating candy and junk food and spoiling one's appetite for wholesome
food. The solution to such a problem is to stop eating the junk and to
separate oneself to good food and soon one regains a healthy appetite.
6. Effective Bible study requires CONCENTRATION AND MEDITATION. The
Bible speaks of the importance of meditating on God's Word, which refers
to focusing one's mind upon the Scriptures so that God's words become
central to one's affections (Josh. 1:8; Ps. 1:1-2; 19:14; 49:3; 119:11,
97, 99). If you can't concentrate completely upon the Bible, your study
time will not be very profitable. It is so easy for the mind to wander
as you read the Bible, and we must do whatever is necessary to keep our
thoughts on the Scriptures, to hold the words of God in our hearts so
that they bring forth good fruit. Not only do we live in a weak, fleshly
body (called the "body of this death" in Rom. 7:24) that gets tired and
sick, and not only do we dwell in a world full of cares and woes, but we
have an aggressive enemy that seeks to hinder our spiritual development.
His name is Satan, meaning the adversary, the one who stands before us
to resist us. Bible study is spiritual warfare, and we must do
everything possible to win this war.
The parable of the sower teaches us that a man must make the effort to
understand and apply the Scriptures, or the truth will be stolen away
from his heart by the Devil (Matt. 13:19). We must capture the truth by
meditating on it and finding out its meaning.
This is why MEMORIZATION of Scripture is so important. When Scriptures
are memorized, the believer can then meditate upon them at any time. It
is good to write Scripture verses down on cards and keep them with you
so that you can spend time memorizing Scripture when you have
opportunity, such as when you are waiting on someone or something.
Redeem the time!
Following are some suggestions to help you concentrate upon the Word of
God: (1) A quiet, private place is required. I have seen Christians
trying to study the Bible in a room where other people are talking and a
radio is blaring, etc. That is not wise, and it is not honoring to the
Lord, who deserves our undivided attention. The Bible is the very Word
of God. Would it be proper to invite God over for a visit and then have
many other things going on at the same time as He was talking to us? On
some occasions when I have visited people in their homes to talk to them
about spiritual matters, they have kept the television on and have
continued watching it even while I was trying to talk with them. That
was very disrespectful to me personally and, more importantly, to the
message that I was bringing, and surely God feels the same way when we
fail to give Him our full attention. There have been occasions when I
have gotten into my car and driven out to a country road or, if in a
city, to the backside of the parking lot of a large shopping area in
order to have a quiet and private place for my Bible study time. (2) Ask
the Lord to help you keep your mind on His Word. If you find your mind
frequently wandering during Bible study, lay the matter before the Lord.
Tell Him that you desire to grow in knowledge of Him and His Word,
explain your problem to Him, and beseech Him to help you concentrate.
(3) If you are particularly worried about some matter, cast it upon the
Lord (1 Pet. 5:7) and trust Him to take care of it for you; then turn
your full attention to His Word. (4) Have pen in hand as you read. Just
the action of picking up one's pen and being ready to write things down
or to mark in one's Bible causes the mind to focus more on the reading.
(5) Remove things from your Bible study area that are distracting. I
know a pastor who removed all of the bright colored covers from the
books in his office, because they distracted him when he was trying to
study the Bible. (6) Be careful about using a computer during Bible
reading time. I use my computer to study the Bible, because it is so
efficient, but I do not use my computer when I have my daily devotion
time in the Scriptures and when I am just reading the Scriptures. It is
too easy to get distracted with other things on the computer. (7) Be
careful about extraneous thoughts. When you are studying the Bible, it
will often happen that thoughts about other things will rush in and you
will be tempted to leave the study of the Bible and to rush off and take
care of those things. For this reason, it is a good idea to have pen and
paper handy and to jot down thoughts so that you can take care of them
later. This way, you can put them out of your mind for the time being
and proceed with your study. If you get in the habit of allowing
yourself to rush off and take care of other things, you will be crippled
in your ability to study the Bible fruitfully. (8) Go back and read the
passage again. When you find that your mind has wandered during the
reading of the Scripture, it is important to go back and read that
passage again until you understand what you are reading, even if it
takes several readings. It is better to read one verse with clear
understanding than to read an entire chapter with the mind drifting to
other things. (9) Try not to read the Bible when you are tired.
Sometimes this cannot be avoided, and it is better to read the Bible
when you are tired than not at all. But the wise Bible student will
arrange his schedule in such a way that he can study the Scriptures when
he is alert. (10) If you find your mind wandering, it might help to put
the Bible reading first before you do anything else in the day. I have
found that if I start reading and studying other things first, it is
much more difficult to concentrate on the Bible. (11) Sometimes it is
helpful to read the Bible aloud if you find your mind wandering. This
can help you maintain your concentration. (12) A larger print Bible can
also help with concentration because it is easier to read and the pages
of the Bible are not as cluttered with type. (13) Be persistent. Don't
let the devil defeat you in your Bible reading. If you find yourself
unable to concentrate for a period, don't quit. Just go back at it the
next day and the next and the next. There are ups and downs in Bible
study as there are in everything else in life. The best tip for
effective Bible study is to just keep on keeping on!
7. Effective Bible study REQUIRES HARD WORK (Prov. 2:1-5). God likens
the search for wisdom to that of searching for silver. Men do not
ordinarily find silver lying on the ground in easily accessible places.
Some has been found that way, but it is more commonly found in the
precipitous mountains, deep in the solid rock, so that it must be
obtained through very strenuous labor. Likewise, while there are
treasures everywhere one looks in the Scriptures and some of the
treasures can be found through even the most casual reading of it; much
labor is required to draw out the best treasures from the Scriptures.
"Most great truths do not lie on the surface. They must be brought up
into the light by patient toil" (Frank Charles Thompson). A lazy person
will never understand God's Word very well. To rightly divide the Word
of God requires workmen (2 Tim. 2:15). It is one thing to own
concordances and commentaries; it is another thing to USE them! You must
apply great diligence in this endeavor. Many are seeking some "secret
key" that opens up the Bible; but while there are many important keys
and rules of interpretation, as we will demonstrate in this course,
there is no "secret key" that bypasses the requirement of hard work.
There are no shortcuts for the lazy person.
8. Effective Bible study requires PRAYER (Ps. 119:18; Prov. 2:3; Eph.
1:17-18). As we search the Bible, we must cry out to its Author for
understanding. We must trust the Lord and "lean not unto thine own
understanding" (Prov. 3:5-6). "Prayer will do more than a college
education to make the Bible an open and glorious book" (R.A. Torrey). As
the Bible student grows in his understanding of the Scriptures and has
success in applying the rules of interpretation, he is ever in danger of
becoming lackadaisical. The old heart can deceive me into thinking that
I have "arrived" and that I no longer need to cry out to the Lord for
understanding. One way to resist this is to remind myself of what I
don't understand in the Word of God rather than focus on what I do
understand. No man will ever truly master the Scriptures. The Bible, as
God's Word, is an eternal book containing endless truth. A man could
study any one book of the Bible for his entire life, studying it
diligently every day, and never completely master even that portion of
Scripture. In some ways, the more I study the Bible, the less I realize
that I really know about it. You know many things, but you realize that
your knowledge is only superficial, that there is much that still lies
beyond your grasp. The Bible has that quality, and we never come to the
place in our Bible study whereby we do not need to cry out to the Author
for help and understanding.
9. Effective Bible study requires PATIENCE and PERSISTENCE (Jn. 8:31;
Col. 1:23; 1 Tim. 4:16; James 1:6-8). "It is the glory of God to conceal
a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter" (Prov.
25:2). The Bible is the Word of the eternal God, and it is not possible
that we will understand all of it in a short time. It is to be the Book
of a man's life, his entire life, and no man will ever exhaust its
treasures. A few years ago, for example, I finally found the meaning of
one of the Proverbs that I have been studying for 23 years. And this
week I found the answer to something in the Bible that had puzzled me
for 29 years. Study your Bible with patience. The fruit is there for the
one who just keeps on keeping on, plodding along in his study, day by
day, year by year, onward, forward, with patience. "But that on the good
ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the
word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience" (Luke 8:15).
Persistence is crucial in the Christian life. Feelings come and go. The
child of God must continue in the things of Christ whether he feels like
it or not, whether the situation is difficult or easy. Certainly, this
is true for Bible study. There will be periods in which your heart will
sing and the meaning of the Scripture will literally leap off the pages
of the Bible and it will come alive. There will be other times in which
everything is dull and dry, even the very study of God's word. We must
remember that we live in a "body of this death" (Rom. 7:24) and we are
much affected by our physical condition. I remember a pastor friend who
had kidney failure. Before his illness, he had a vibrant Christian life.
He would memorize entire books of the Bible and the Scriptures were his
delight. After his illness, he testified to me that though he continued
to read the Bible, it only mocked him. David spoke of such a condition
in Psalm 119:83. "For I am become like a bottle in the smoke; yet do I
not forget thy statutes." David was saying that he felt all dried up
like a leather bottle that was left over a fire. The child of God will
go through times like that experientially, and he must do what David
did, "yet do I not forget thy statutes." Even if Bible study becomes
monotonous and discouraging, just keep on keeping on and the blessing
will return. One preacher wisely said, "Read the Bible when you feel
like it, and when you don't feel like reading it, read it until you do."
10. Effective Bible study requires PAYING ATTENTION TO THE DETAILS
(Matt. 4:4). To benefit the most from Bible study, one must understand
that every word of the Bible is important. In fact, the Lord Jesus
Christ spoke even of the jots and tittles, which are tiny parts of the
Hebrew letters (Matt. 5:18). The wise Bible student pours over the pages
of Scripture looking at every detail, knowing that nothing in the
Scripture is there by accident. Every word of Scripture has a divine
purpose. It was purified seven times (Psalm 12:6). Thus, it is
imperative that the student have an accurately translated Bible that
brings out the details of the Hebrew and Greek.
11. Effective Bible study requires OBEDIENCE (Ps. 119:133; Lk. 11:28;
Jn. 7:17; 8:31-32; Heb. 5:14; Jam. 1:22-27; 1 Pet. 2:1-2). The Bible is
not given for entertainment, but that we might know and do the will of
God. The person who has no intention to obey God will never understand
the Bible properly. A Christian who is worldly and spiritually careless,
who is unfaithful to the house of God, who is not busy in the service of
the Lord, will not have a strong understanding of biblical truth. Such a
one is also vulnerable to the wiles of false teachers, who "by good
words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple" (Romans
16:18). "It is remarkable how clear, simple, and beautiful passages that
once puzzled us become when we are brought to that place where we say to
God, 'I surrender my will unconditionally to Yours. I have no will but
Yours. Teach me Your will.' A surrendered will does more to make the
Bible an open book than a university education. It is simply impossible
to get the largest profit out of your Bible study until you surrender
your will to God" (Torrey).
For this reason we must apply Bible study to our daily lives. Don't read
and study the Bible as a mere intellectual exercise. Continually ask the
Lord to show you how it can be applied to your life. The Bible should
"reprove, rebuke, exhort" (2 Tim. 4:2). It should be profitable "for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (2 Tim.
3:16). It should produce patience, comfort, hope (Rom. 15:4). It should
admonish us not to sin (1 Cor. 10:11).
12. Effective Bible study requires CONFESSION OF SIN (Ps. 66:18; Pr.
28:9). As we have seen, the carnal believer cannot understand the deep
things of God. How does the believer deal with the sin problem in his
life? By repentance and confession (1 John 1). Thus, it is crucial that
the believer confess his sins so that he can grow in grace and in the
knowledge of the Word of God.
13. Effective Bible study requires HUMILITY (James 4:6; Matt. 18:3). The
proud person will not learn anything from the Lord. God requires
child-like humility. The believer must submit himself to God and accept
that which God has spoken, not trying to search beyond the Scriptures to
find out things that are still hidden (Deut. 29:29), not haughtily
thinking that he can fully understand all of the things of God and
rejecting those things that he cannot understand. There are many things
in Scripture that are exceedingly difficult to understand, such as the
deity and humanity of Christ and the sovereignty of God and
responsibility of man. It should not surprise us that we are unable to
fully understand such things in this present fallen world, and living,
as we do, in the weak flesh. The proud person, though, demands that he
understand everything in the Bible and that he explain every seeming
difficulty, or he refuses to believe it. The proud person comes to the
Bible merely to find confirmation of his own opinions, and he rejects
that which does not suit his own thinking. The humble man, on the other
hand, simply believes everything God says. In Mark 9:31, Christ told his
disciples that he would be killed and would rise the third day. Verse 32
says they did not understand his saying. Why not? The words were plain
enough. They didn't understand because they had other ideas about what
Christ would do and they could not therefore receive the plain word of
God. "What will a pious, obedient, loving child do when he hears the
father make a remark which on the surface appears objectionable? Instead
of criticizing him and condemning his utterance as wrong, the child will
ask him for an explanation. If we find stumbling blocks in the Holy
Scriptures, let us take the attitude of such a loving child" (William
Arndt).
14. Effective Bible study requires both READING (Deut. 17:19; Rev. 1:3)
AND STUDYING (2 Tim. 2:15). Reading and studying are two different
things. It is crucial, first, simply to READ the Bible. There is
probably no other one thing that can help a believer better understand
the Bible than simply reading it and reading it and reading it. If you
learn nothing else from this course, I challenge you to make the reading
of the Scriptures a big part of your Christian life. It is necessary,
also, to STUDY the Bible. This involves slowing down the pace, doing
word studies, analyzing individual passages, doing topical studies,
outlining books, using commentaries, etc. This is the point at which we
begin to use Bible study tools.
SOME TIPS ON READING THE BIBLE:
a. Read it systematically. That means read it all of the way through.
Why should the Bible be read systematically? First, the Bible is not
merely a series of writings; it is one Book; and to be understood it
needs to be read and studied as one Book. Each individual book of the
Bible complements the other books, and as the Bible is read
systematically the pieces gradually fit together.
I supposed I knew my Bible,
Reading piecemeal, hit or miss,
Now a bit of John or Matthew,
Now a snatch of Genesis,
Certain chapters of Isaiah,
Certain Psalms (the twenty-third)
Twelfth of Romans, First of Proverbs--
Yes, I thought I knew the Word!
But I found that thorough reading
Was a different thing to do,
And the way was unfamiliar
When I read the Bible through.
You who like to play at Bible,
Dip and dabble, here and there.
Just before you kneel aweary,
And yawn through a hurried prayer;
You who treat the Crown of Writings
As you treat no other book--
Just a paragraph disjointed,
Just a crude impatient look--
Try a worthier procedure
Try a broad and steady view;
You will kneel in very rapture
When you read the Bible through!
-- Amos R. Wells
"Such as read the Bible by fits upon rainy days, not eating the book
with John [Rev. 10:9-10], but tasting only with the tip of the tongue:
such as meditate by snatches, never chewing the cud and digesting their
meat, they may happily [haply, i.e. by chance] get a smackering for
discourse and table talk; but not enough to keep soul and life together,
much less for strength and vigour" (Samuel Ward, 1615, cited from David
Daniell, The Bible in English, p. 552).
(1) This is why it is good to have a Bible reading plan. By reading
three and a half chapters a day one can read through the Bible in a
year. By reading one chapter a day one can read the Bible through in
three years and three months.
(2) Following are some suggested Bible reading plans:
(a) By the following 52-Week Bible Reading Plan you will read the Old
Testament once and the New Testament twice in a year:
Week
1 -- Genesis 1-26
2 -- Genesis 27-50
3 -- Matthew
4 -- Mark
5 -- Exodus 1-21
6 -- Exodus 22-40
7 -- Luke
8 -- John
9 -- Leviticus
10 -- Acts
11 -- Numbers 1-18
12 -- Numbers 19-36
13 -- Romans, Galatians
14 -- 1 and 2 Corinthians
15 -- Deuteronomy 1-17
16 -- Deuteronomy 17-34
17 -- Ephesians to Philemon
18 -- Hebrews to 2 Peter
19 -- Joshua
20 -- 1 John to Revelation
21 -- Judges, Ruth
22 -- Job 1-31
23 -- Job 32-42, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon
24 -- 1 Samuel
25 -- 2 Samuel
26 -- Psalms 1-50
27 -- 1 Kings
28 -- 2 Kings
29 -- Psalms 51-100
30 -- 1 Chronicles
31 -- 2 Chronicles
32 -- Psalms 101-150
33 -- Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther
34 -- Proverbs
35 -- Matthew
36 -- Isaiah 1-35
37 -- Isaiah 36-66
38 -- Mark
39 -- Luke
40 -- Jeremiah 1-29
41 -- Jeremiah 30-52, Lamentations
42 -- John
43 -- Acts
44 -- Ezekiel 1-24
45 -- Ezekiel 25-48
46 -- Romans, Galatians
47 -- 1 and 2 Corinthians
48 -- Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos
49 -- Ephesians to Philemon
50 -- Obadiah to Malachi
51 -- Hebrews to 2 Peter
52 -- 1 John to Revelation
(b) The Perpetual Bible Reading Schedule is a system whereby you read
one portion from four different parts of the Bible each day: Historical
(Genesis - 2 Kings), Devotional (1 Chronicles - Song of Solomon),
Prophetical (Isaiah - Malachi), and Doctrinal (New Testament). The
average amount read each day in this plan is less than four chapters. It
is available on the web at http://rejoicing.com/bread.html.
(c) The Good Book Company Bible Reading Plan also uses a Bible portion
from four parts of the Bible, the history and prophets of the O.T., the
wisdom books of the O.T., the N.T. Gospels, and the N.T. Epistles. This
is also available on the web at
http://www.olywa.net/mmccahan/gbbiblereadjan.html.
(d) Back to the Bible has five different Bible Reading plans: reading
the Bible by the Chronological order of the books; reading the Bible by
the Historical order of the books; reading the Old and New Testament
together; reading from beginning to end of the Bible; and a blended plan
which is a combination of the others. These can be found at
http://www.backtothebible.org/devotions/journey.
(e) Place a bookmark in the Bible at three places: Genesis, Job, and
Matthew. By reading one chapter from each of these sections every day,
you will read the Old Testament once and the New Testament twice in
about eighteen months.
(f) Read three chapters every weekday and five chapters on Sundays, and
you will read the entire Bible in less than a year. In January and
February, read Genesis through Deuteronomy. In March and April, read all
of the New Testament. In May and June, read Joshua through Esther. In
July and August, read Job through Song of Solomon. In September and
October, reread all of the New Testament. In November and December, read
Isaiah through Malachi.
b. Read an individual book of the Bible repeatedly until the theme and
meaning become clear. Well-known Bible commentator G. Campbell Morgan
read a book of the Bible 50 times before commenting. Evangelist R.A.
Torrey advocated reading a book 12 times. Dr. Bruce Lackey advocated
reading it at least 10 times in order to get the right meaning. The
exact number of times is not the essential thing; what is essential is
that you read the book or passage enough so that its meaning becomes
clear and its individual parts begin to fit together and make sense.
c. Keep a pocket Bible or New Testament handy so that you can make the
most of any extra time during the day by reading a portion of Scripture.
So much time is wasted that could be better spent. One well-known
secular writer read an entire large history of Britain during the
minutes he had to wait each day for his meal to be brought to the table.
d. One can also have some of the benefits of reading the Bible by
listening to it on cassette or CD in the car or at home or elsewhere.
e. Divide your Bible study time into two parts: the first part just for
reading and the last half for studying. It doesn't take very long to
read the three to four chapters required for one to read the N.T.
through twice in a year and the O.T. once.
(1) You can do your reading and studying at one sitting.
(2) Or you can divide them into two separate times during the day.
(3) You can also focus on reading during the first part of the year,
while focusing on study the second part of the year. For example, during
the first part of the year you could read 10 chapters a day and thus
read the Bible all the way through in a mere four months (the Bible
contains 1189 chapters). That would leave eight months in the year in
which to apply yourself to the study of the Bible.
f. Divide your Bible reading into morning and evening portions (Psalm
119:147-148). A good habit to develop is to read a portion of Scripture
in the morning and in the evening. Some possibilities:
(1) Read a portion of the Old Testament in the morning and a portion of
the New Testament in the evening.
(2) Read the Scriptures systematically in the morning, three or four
chapters a day, proceeding through the Bible; and then read more
devotionally in the evening, allowing the Holy Spirit to lead to various
passages.
g. Divide your reading time between the Old and New Testaments. I have
also found that it is good not to read continually in the Old Testament
without also reading some in the New. One can forget that we no longer
live under the Mosaic Law and that it was given only to lead us to
Christ, and the Law can actually hinder rather than strengthen the
spiritual life if it is used improperly. Always be careful to look at
the Old Testament through the eyes of the New. It can be helpful, though
it certainly should not be made into a hard and fast rule, to read the
New Testament at least twice as much as the Old. There are two ways to
divide your time between the Testaments.
(1) First, you can read a section in the Old Testament and a section in
the New Testament every day.
(2) Second, you can read an Old Testament book and then a New Testament
book, or any combination thereof. As already noted, a good plan is to
read the New Testament through twice in a year while reading the Old
Testament through once. That is 1449 chapters, so one only has to read
an average of four chapters a day to do this.
15. Effective Bible study requires the help of A GOOD CHURCH. "But if I
tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in
the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and
ground of the truth" (1 Tim. 3:15). "And he gave some, apostles; and
some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the
edifying of the body of Christ" (Ephesians 4:11,12). "Remember them
which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God:
whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation" (Hebrews
13:7). "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the
churchesŠ" (Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3: 6, 13, 22). The church is the
institution God has ordained to be the pillar and ground of the truth.
It is to that institution that He has given ministry-gifted men for the
edification of the saints, and it is crucial for the child of God to
benefit from this wisdom. There are places in this dark world in which
there are no sound churches, but in general, it is not God's will for a
Christian to be a "lone maverick." The biblical pattern is for a
Christian to join himself to a sound Bible-believing church. That is
emphasized throughout the New Testament. It is particularly in the
church that the Christian is to hear the Word of God. Seven times in
Revelation chapters two and three we read that we are to "hear what the
Spirit saith unto the churches." We believe there is a special sense in
which God speaks to the believer in his own assembly through his own
pastors. As the Lord had a special message for each of the churches of
Asia Minor in the first century, he has a special message for each
church today. Each church is a body, and the members are to be taught
and edified together by the Lord through the pastors and teachers. In
addition to this, the Christian can avail himself of other sound
teachings through books and tapes. He should take advantage of every
avenue of sound teaching available to him, but the first place for sound
teaching is in one's own church, assuming, of course, that the church is
a good one. When I was a new Christian, I didn't know where to go to
church at first. I was led to Christ by a Christian man while traveling,
so when I was settled down from that trip I started visiting various
churches. In the mean time, I obtained some books by various false
teachers that were confusing to me. One was by a Seventh-day Adventist.
Others were by Pentecostals. Soon the Lord led me to a little
fundamental Baptist church in Bartow, Florida, and the pastor and mature
Christians there were exceedingly helpful to me and assisted me in
becoming grounded in the truth.
Don't waste the precious opportunity of learning from your church. So
many Christians are so incredibly careless about the preaching and
teaching they sit under. They don't seem to be there to get as much help
as possible in understanding the Scriptures and in being better prepared
to serve Jesus Christ. They sit so casually under the sound of the
teaching, hardly looking at their Bibles, never taking notes, making no
effort whatsoever to capture something that will benefit them later.
They don't come prepared with paper and pen. Don't follow this unwise
example. Use every opportunity of sitting under good preaching and
teaching to capture as much as possible for your spiritual life and
ministry. Even dull preachers and teachers usually have something
worthwhile to say, if the student will make the effort to get it. Come
prepared to capture the things the Lord shows you during the preaching
and teaching. Don't come complaining; come praying, beseeching the Lord
to speak through the preaching. Come with pen and paper. Come with a
Bible that has a margin wide enough to jot things down. Come with pencil
or colored pens to mark your Bible. Underline important things. Jot down
cross-references that you find during the teaching. Jot down definitions
of words. Jot down good outlines that you can use later. Jot down good
thoughts and helpful sayings. As you sit under preaching in an expectant
manner, earnestly seeking something from the Lord, you will find that
many thoughts come to you and that the Lord will give you many things.
Don't let these slip away. Jot them down in a notebook or on slips of
paper. I am thankful to the godly example of a Christian friend the Lord
gave me when I was first saved. His name is Richard Tedder, and he was
saved only a short while before I was, but he had become a diligent
Bible student and had grown spiritually. Soon after I was saved in the
summer of 1973, I joined a newly started independent Baptist church in
Bartow, Florida. Richard was one of the members, and he befriended me
and was a great help in my early Christian life. One thing I learned
from Richard, and I don't know if he even knows this, was to have a
proper study Bible with me when I came to church and to take notes
during the preaching. His wise example in this matter got me off to a
strong start in my Christian life and helped establish me in the path
down which I have gone in my ministry.
16. Effective Bible study requires THE HELP OF OTHER GOOD TEACHERS (Acts
8:30-31; 2 Tim. 2:2). God has ordained that we learn from teachers. As
already noted, all things being right, your primary teachers will be
your own pastors and teachers in the church (Heb. 13:7). At the same
time, it is not wrong to receive help from good Bible teachers who are
not in your own church. One way to do this is through books. Thus, good
commentaries and doctrinal books can be very helpful. We deal with this
in a separate section.
17. MEMORIZE THE BOOKS of the Bible. A good starting point for effective
Bible study is to memorize the names and order of the 66 books of the
Bible. This will greatly help you as you search the Scriptures, run
cross-references, and use a concordance.
18. DON'T GET STUCK IN A RUT. There are few binding laws of Bible
reading and study that God has given us. Each believer is at liberty to
follow the Holy Spirit's lead and to try different things. If you find
yourself bored with your Bible study, it might be time to try something
different. Also, as much as I believe in reading the Bible through every
year, it is not something that should necessarily become an unbreakable
law.