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Practice
of Bible Reading
BIBLE
memorization of
Noted Bible teacher E.
Schuyler English told of Michael Billester
a Bible distributor who visited a
small hamlet in Poland shortly before World War II. Billester gave a Bible to a
villager
who was converted by reading it. The new believer then passed the
Book on to others. The cycle of conversions and sharing continued until 200
people had become believers through that one Bible. When Billeser returned in
1940
this group of Christians met together for a worship service in which he
was to preach the Word. He normally asked for testimonies
but this time he
suggested that several in the audience recite verses of Scripture. One man
stood and said
"Perhaps we have misunderstood. Did you mean verses or
chapters?" These villagers had not memorized a few select verses of the
Bible but whole chapters and books. Thirteen people knew Matthew
Luke
and
half of Genesis. Another person had committed to memory the Psalms. That single
copy of the Bible given by Billester had done its work. Transformed lives bore
witness to the power of the Word.
E. Schuyler English.
While studying in the Holy
Lands
a seminary professor of mine met a man who claimed to have memorized the
Old Testament--in Hebrew! Needless to say
the astonished professor asked for a
demonstration. A few days late they sat together in the man's home. "Where
shall we begin?" asked the man. "Psalm 1
" replied my professor
who was an avid student of the psalms. Beginning with Psalm 1:1
the man began
to recite from memory
while my professor followed along in his Hebrew Bible.
For two hours the man continued word for word without a mistake as the
professor sat in stunned silence. When the demonstration was over
my professor
discovered something even more astonishing about the man--he was an atheist!
Here was someone who knew the Scriptures better than most Christians ever will
and yet he didn't even believe in God.
Jack Kuhatschek
Taking
The Guesswork Out of Applying The Bible
IVP
1991
p. 16.
BIBLE
reading of
That book
sir
is the
rock on which our republic rests.
Andrew Jackson.
The N.T. is the very best
book that was or ever will be known in the world.
Charles Dickens.
It is impossible to
righteously govern the world without God and the Bible.
George Washington.
Within the covers of one
single book
the Bible
are all the answers to all the problems that face us
today--if only we would read and believe.
Ronald Reagan.
Never let good books take
the place of the Bible. Drink from the Well
not from the streams that flow
from the Well.
Amy Carmichael.
God is everywhere.
However
He does not want you to reach out for Him everywhere but only in the
Word. Reach out for it and you will grasp Him aright. Otherwise you are tempting
God and setting up idolatry. That is why He has established a certain method
for us. This teaches us how and where we are to look for Him and find Him
namely
in the Word.
Martin Luther.
When their son left for
his freshman year at Duke University
his parents gave him a Bible
assuring
him it would be a great help. Later
as he began sending them letters asking
for money
they would write back telling him to read his Bible
citing chapter
and verse. He would reply that he was reading the Bible--but he still needed
money. When he came home for a semester break
his parents told him they knew
he had not been reading his Bible. How? They had tucked $10 and $20 bills by
the verses they had cited in their letters.
John T. Spach
in Reader's
Digest.
"DAILY BIBLE READING - Part One"
Why We Need To Make It A Habit
INTRODUCTION
1. John Quincy Adams
the sixth president of our country
once
stated...
"So great is my veneration for the Bible that the earlier my
children begin to read it the more confident will be my hope that
they will prove useful citizens of their country and respectable
members of society. I have for many years made it a practice to
read through the Bible once every year."
2. George Muller
who established many orphanages throughout England
said...
"I believe that the one chief reason that I have been kept in happy
useful service is that I have been a lover of Holy Scripture. It
has been my habit to read the Bible through four times a year; in a
prayerful spirit
to apply it to my heart
and practice what I find
there. I have been for sixty-nine years a happy man; happy
happy
happy."
3. Both of these men spoke of the habit of Bible reading...
a. This is a habit which many great people in the past engaged in
regularly
b. Many people still do so today
c. But I fear that if the truth were known
fewer and fewer people
have developed the habit of daily reading the Bible
1) Many have probably never read the New Testament from beginning
to end
2) Even fewer have never read the entire Old Testament
4. And yet
I agree with:
a. Patrick Henry
who said: "The Bible is worth more than all other
books which have ever been printed."
b. Charles Dickens
who wrote: "The New Testament is the very best
book that ever was or will be known in the world."
5. For this reason
I have one objective in this lesson and the one to
follow: TO ENCOURAGE EVERY PERSON TO DEVELOP THE HABIT OF DAILY
BIBLE READING!
[To help motivate us all in this regard
I wish to point out WHY it is
so important to develop the habit of daily Bible reading...]
I. BECAUSE OF THE POWER OF GOD'S WORD TO SAVE - Ja 1:21
A. GOD'S WORD SAVES US BY PRODUCING FAITH - Ro 10:17
1. Without faith it is impossible to please God - He 11:6
2. Without faith in Jesus we cannot be saved - Jn 8:24
3. The Word Of God was written to produce such saving faith - Jn
20:30-31
B. GOD'S WORD SAVES US BY CAUSING US TO BE "BORN AGAIN" - 1 Pe 1:
22-23
1. Jesus stressed the necessity of being born again - Jn 3:3-5
2. The rebirth involving water and Spirit comes when one has
received the "incorruptible seed" of God's Word; in
particular
the gospel - 1 Pe 1: 23-25; Ja 1:18
C. GOD'S WORD SAVES US BY KEEPING US SAVED - Ac 20:29-32
1. Paul frequently spoke of this value of God's Word (especially
of the Old Testament)
a. To the Corinthians - 1 Co 10:11-12
b. To Timothy - 2 Ti 3:14-17
2. It is the lack of God's Word which has always destroyed the
people of God - Hos 4:6
II. BECAUSE OF THE POWER OF GOD'S WORD TO COMFORT - Ro 15:4
A. GOD'S WORD COMFORTS US THROUGH THE "HOPE" IT GIVES - Ro 15:4
1. Paul speaks in this context of the Old Testament
2. Even it provides assurance of our hope because it tells how
God always keeps His promises
B. GOD'S WORD COMFORTS US THROUGH THE "HAPPINESS" IT GIVES - Ps 1:
1-3
1. Happiness through the stability and nourishment it provides
2. Note that this happiness comes to the one engaged in daily
Bible reading! ("day and night")
C. GOD'S WORD COMFORTS US THROUGH THE "PEACE" IT GIVES - Ps 119:165
1. With such inner peace
nothing causes them to stumble - Ps
119:92-93
2. As Robert E. Lee has said: "In all my perplexities and
distresses
the Bible has never failed to give me light and
strength."
[Much more could be said about the value of God's Word
but I want to
stress another reason why everyone should develop the habit of daily
Bible reading...]
III. BECAUSE WE ARE CREATURES OF HABIT AND TIME
A. AS CREATURES OF HABIT...
1. We either have good habits or bad habits
2. If we have not developed the GOOD habit of daily Bible
reading...
3. Then we have developed the BAD habit of NOT reading the Bible
daily!
B. AS CREATURES OF TIME...
1. We are subject to the limitations time places on us
2. As illustrated by James
our time on earth is brief - Ja 4:14
C. AS CREATURES OF BOTH...
1. If we have not developed the GOOD habit of daily Bible
reading...
2. Our time on this earth will one day catch up with us
a. We will have spent our lives on this earth without
utilizing the benefits provided by daily reading of God's
Word
b. Many will have to face God having never read through His
Word ONCE!
CONCLUSION
1. This lesson is being presented to you at the end of another year...
a. Did you develop the habit this year?
b. If not
see how time has once again passed you by
and you have
yet to read the Word of God upon which your soul's salvation
depends!
2. As another year is about to begin
and many resolutions are being
made
I want to encourage you to make DAILY BIBLE READING one of the
top resolutions on your list
so at the end of the next year things
will be different
In the next lesson
I will offer suggestions as to HOW to make DAILY
BIBLE READING a habit...
－－《Executable
Outlines》
"DAILY BIBLE READING - Part Two"
How To Make It A Habit
INTRODUCTION
1. In the previous lesson
I sought to encourage everyone to make daily
Bible reading a habit...
a. By emphasizing the value of the Word of God to:
1) Save Us
2) Comfort Us
b. By stressing we are creatures of habit and time
1) We either have a habit of reading or not reading
2) If we have gotten in the habit of not reading
our time on
earth will end without our ever having read God's Word
2. In this lesson
I want to offer suggestions for making daily Bible
reading a habit in our lives
[To be successful in forming any good habit...]
I. WE NEED TO CREATE A "POSITIVE ADDICTION" TO DAILY BIBLE READING
A. WHAT IS A "POSITIVE ADDICTION"?
1. Usually when we hear the word ADDICTION
we think of NEGATIVE
ADDICTIONS
a. Which is simply another word for BAD HABITS
b. Such as smoking
swearing
drinking
gambling
c. When something bad for us:
1) Becomes "second nature"
2) We do it without much effort or thought
d. We become dependent on it
either emotionally or physically
e. When we try to do without it
we experience various degrees
of discomfort
2. POSITIVE ADDICTION is when you become dependent upon a good
habit
a. For example
exercise can become a positive addiction
1) Those who have made exercise a pleasurable and frequent
experience soon become "addicted" to it
2) So that if they go a few days without exercise
they
feel uneasy
depressed
irritable
3) Of course
if they go without exercise long enough
the
discomfort will eventually pass
b. So a positive addiction is a habit which is:
1) Good for you
either physically
mentally
or
spiritually
2) A source of pleasure and satisfaction
3) One that should you neglect it
begins to give you
"withdrawal pains"
B. WHY IS A "POSITIVE ADDICTION" TO DAILY BIBLE READING NECESSARY?
1. It will help you maintain the practice of reading the Bible
2. Should a few days go by without reading the Bible
the
"discomfort" experienced will help motivate you to get "back
on track"
3. Most people who have tried to read the Bible daily and did not
keep it up...
a. Are people who have never experienced a positive addiction
to reading God's Word
b. Rather than a pleasurable experience
it was a chore
c. So when they fell behind in their goals
there was little
motivation to catch up
[Having explained what I mean by "positive addiction"
here are some
thoughts on...]
II. HOW TO CREATE A "POSITIVE ADDICTION" FOR DAILY BIBLE READING
A. THE PRINCIPLES ARE THE SAME FOR CREATING ANY POSITIVE
ADDICTION...
1. You must make the experience a pleasurable one
a. This is where many people fail when it comes to "exercise"
b. Going about it the wrong way
the daily workouts are
painful and miserable
c. Therefore any excuse not to exercise prevents them from
keeping it up
2. The same applies to reading the Bible
a. To many
they try to do too much too soon
b. The experience soon becomes little more than "marking a
checklist"
B. SOME SUGGESTIONS...
1. START SLOW
WITH SMALL GOALS
a. Many try to start by reading through the Bible in one year
1) An admirable goal
but most never make it past Exodus or
Leviticus
2) Before Bible reading has become a positive addiction
they run into difficult passages of Scripture
3) They are like beginning joggers who try to run a mile
the first time out
b. I would recommend starting with making the New Testament a
yearly goal
1) This requires no more than a chapter a day
2) The material is easier
more edifying at the outset
c. Once you have read the New Testament in a year a couple of
times
1) You might read through the Old Testament one year
2) Then begin reading through the entire Bible each year
2. BEGIN EACH SESSION WITH PRAYER
a. Like that found in Ps 119:18: "Open my eyes
that I may
see wondrous things from Your Law."
b. This puts us in the most receptive frame of mind - cf. Ja
1:21
3. READ SLOWLY
CAREFULLY
a. This helps to prevent reading without comprehending what
you read - cf. Ps 1:1-2; 119:15-16
b. Reading out loud at times
as though you were reading to
someone else
can help to read this way
4. MAKE USE OF BIBLE STUDY AIDS
a. Especially a Bible dictionary
and Bible maps
b. Don't observe the "pass over"
passing over...
1) Words you don't understand
2) Names you don't know
3) Places unfamiliar to you
c. Every time you do
there is that much more of the Bible you
don't understand
don't get anything out of it
d. Take a moment to look them up in the references
5. DISCUSS WHAT YOU READ WITH OTHERS
a. Encourage others to follow the same program of reading
b. Share your discoveries
the passages that encourage you
6. READ WITH THE INTENTION TO DO WHAT IT SAYS
a. Otherwise
you are wasting your time! - Ja 1:22-24
b. The true joy comes in the application of God's Word
(another "positive addiction" to develop) - Ja 1:25
7. END EACH SESSION WITH PRAYER
a. Like that expressed in Ps 119:5-6
b. Or the one found in Ps 119:10-11
CONCLUSION
1. I have found that following these suggestions the practice of
reading the Bible becomes one of great joy - Ps 119:162
2. Done on a regular basis
a "positive addiction" for daily Bible
reading quickly develops which helps one to keep up this wonderful
habit
3. I hope that in some way I have encouraged everyone...
a. To begin if they have never done so
b. To continue if they are doing so
c. To try again if they tried in the past and failed
For there is so much to gain
and there is so much to lose!
－－《Executable
Outlines》