Transformative Power of Studying God's Word

1) "You see, in our Christian walk, it is important that we don't just see the Bible as a book to go on our bookshelf. You see, it is. It is God's revelation to us. It's his roadmap for our lives. It's the source of divine wisdom. It's the place where we can go to to know God. And it's one of our essential practices as Christians. I don't know how many times people have said to me, God doesn't speak to me. My response has to be, when was the last time you opened your Bible? And nine times out of ten, not every time, but nine times out of ten, they say, oh, I haven't had a chance to do that for a while. Well, there's why God's not speaking to you. Because one of the places he chooses to speak is in his word. It's not the only one, but it's a massively important one." [06:35] (81 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2) "Without the word, without the Bible, our faith is weak. Our knowledge is limited. And our ability to discern the truth is compromised. We talked about God conversations. And how I truly believe, and we as a movement truly believe, that God still speaks directly. And it doesn't always have to come through the word. But you see, if we don't... If we don't have the word, we will struggle to discern whether it's God speaking. Because God will not say today anything that contradicts what he said then. The Bible is hugely important. And we are in a privileged position here in the UK to be able to own one without threat of persecution." [08:32] (71 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3) "We need to study it in context. One of the most common mistakes people make. Is taking verses out of context. The Bible can be made to say absolutely anything. If it's taken out of context. We should always look at the surrounding verses. And the larger message of the book or the letter we're reading. And then we should place that in its context within the whole of the Bible. What is God truly saying?" [15:36] (38 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4) "We've bent the Bible to our understanding. Instead of bending our understanding to the Bible. Strong's Concordance is a great tool. Like I say it gives you the Greek. And it gives you the Hebrew. And it gives you the meanings of those words. It's crucial. To understand the full meaning. Of the language that's used. In John 21. 15 to 17. When Jesus asked Peter if he loves him. The word love is used multiple times. But in the Greek. There are two. Words for the love. Jesus first asks Peter. If he loves him. With agape love. A deep selfless love. Peter do you love me? Peter do you agape me? Peter responds. Yes Lord I do love you. Everything must be great. So why does Jesus say it again? Peter do you love me? Yes Lord. You know I love you. But Peter do you love me? Yes Lord. I do love you. You know that. If we just read it in English. It's kind of a nonsense conversation. We think God's trying to get at something. And God is trying to get at something. But we don't understand that. Until we understand the word for love. Peter do you agape me? Yes Lord I phileo you. Peter do you agape me? Yes Lord. I phileo you. You know that. Peter do you agape me? Yes Lord. I phileo you. Peter do you phileo me? Yes Lord. You know I do. You see there's a difference in that word love. Agape. That selfless love. Phileo is actually a friendship. It's a brotherly love. So God is asking. Jesus is asking Peter. Do you love me above everything else? Am I your number one? Selflessly will you devote yourself to me? And Peter says yeah I'll be your friend. Two very different things. Thank the Lord that he was gracious and merciful. And he came to Peter's level. And he took Peter from where he was at. Yes. Let's be friends. Let's love each other with a friendship love. We'll move into that agape love." [20:11] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5) "Exegesis is the process of drawing out the intended meaning of the scripture it's saying what did the author intend this message to mean and what did the original audience get from the message exegesis is all about understanding the context that the word the passage the letter the book was written in the original meaning and then we have hermeneutics which is that art or science of bringing that word into the now what does that mean to me right now how do i apply that to me right now to modern believers and followers right now let me give you an example of exegesis jeremiah 29 11 i'm sure a lot of you know that passage for i know the plans i have for you declares the lord plans for welfare and not for evil to give you a future and a hope some people would say that's their favorite verse well you see the exegesis of the word is the that verse tells us that this was written for the israelites they were in exile at the time god was reminding them that despite their suffering he had a plan for their future he was encouraging them to remain faithful while they were in babylon knowing that he would one day restore them to their homeland now that is the original meaning of that passage that's what the author wrote that's what he wanted to get across that's what he felt god wanted to say and that's what the israelites would have taken from it when they heard it we don't live two thousand plus years ago i don't know that any of us in this room are jewish we're not israelites we're definitely not in captivity in babylon so to just take that passage and say that's mine i'm living it living my best life without understanding why or how or even if you can take that passage would be a big mistake because you may base some life choices on something that doesn't have anything to do with you so let's look at the hermeneutics of that while the specific promise in jeremiah 29 11 was to the israelites we can apply the principle that god has good plans for us as his people even when we're in difficult circumstances god's character is consistent and he remains faithful to guide us into hope and the future and this is how exegesis and hermeneutics come together and give us a fuller understanding of the word this is how we study the word because when we do this properly we save ourselves from making some big blunders and saying things like moses built the ark" [24:08] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6) "We shouldn't resort to manipulation shortcuts or superstitions to get what god has already promised us we should never do things that undermine our dependence upon him and we can take that from that passage about a goat we can also take respect for life and creation proverbs 12 verse 10 backs us up and says whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast but the mercy of the wicked is cruel you see we should treat with dignity and respect the things that god has created and given us to steward and that includes creation and we should guard against pagan and unholy practices amongst us you see well while boiling a goat in its mother's milk may not be relevant to us today we face many modern equivalents whether it's relying on look reading horoscopes going to seances engaging in rituals that are contrary to our faith tarot cards i've even seen some christian organizations get mixed up with angel cards what a load of tripe we are called to be set apart from that rubbish that is the occult and we don't dabble with the occult we don't mess with it we don't look at it if you're reading your horoscopes let me encourage you right now to repent of that and burn them because if you want to know your future open your bible and it will tell you your future if you know him you will go to be with him in paradise if you want to know what decision to make go to the one who will give you an answer that is for your best and for his glory you see we don't have that temptation to boil a goat in our mothers in its mother's milk not in our mother's milk in its mother's milk that would be very weird we don't have that temptation but we do have lots of other temptations other occult temptations we don't have that temptation but we do have lots of practices other pagan practices that we need to drive out of our lives why because we are called to be holy because he is holy so there's your hermeneutics of that passage from a passage that some of you may have sat there and thought that has no bearing on me whatsoever i don't have a clue what it means it's old testament i can ignore it actually no we can take the principle of holiness that god is calling the israelites to and we can apply that to us and we can apply that to us and it's confirmed and backed up in scripture in the new testament in peter the exegesis of these passages shows that the command not to boil a goat in its mother's milk was likely rooted in preventing israel from adopting pagan rituals for modern believers the command underscores the importance of trusting god alone for provision avoiding practices that mimic the pagan or earthly rituals and maintaining holiness in our daily lives" [40:20] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7) "What are some of the key elements to studying the bible properly number one consistency just as we eat food daily to sustain our bodies we need to daily intake the word of god the bible to maintain our spiritual lives matthew 4 4 reminds us man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of god if we aren't feeding our spirits with the word we are spiritually starving context and cross-reference using cross-references is another powerful tool the bible often interprets itself for example in isaiah 53 5 it says but he was pierced for our transgressions he was crushed for our iniquities upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace and with his wounds we are healed that passage finds its fulfillment in the crucifixion of christ as seen in the gospels cross-referencing isaiah with the gospels will give you a fuller understanding of what that all means and it will show the the unity of scripture as we place both of those books one of the gospels and isaiah into the gospel of christianity this timeline of the redemptive story of god seeing it in the bigger picture how it all marries up how a book that was written 800 years before the gospels could ever talk about a man who would be crucified and fulfill the passages in that book the mystery of scripture i can't encourage you enough get into the bible get into your word understanding the original languages i've already mentioned this strong's concordance helps us to dig deeper for instance in philippians 4 6 we are told do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to god the greek word for anxious and i'm looking oh no katina's in the room merimana day i weren't too far off but that's the greek word for anxious if I'm right, it means to be torn in two directions. It means to be torn apart. You want to add anything to that, Tina? connotation of confusion, going one way but then thinking about the other way. It gives us a deeper picture as to what's going on when Paul's talking in Philippians about being not anxious. Don't be in two minds. Don't be drawn and pulled away from the gospel, from that that God has given us. Don't be anxious about it. We would look at anxious and think, oh, we're worrying. But it's deeper than worry. It's about being pulled from one place to another. It's about being torn. It's about confusion rather than worry. I've heard so many people say, we shouldn't be worried about anything. Why not? Worry does happen. Worry does happen. Worry is natural. We can give that to God. But that's because they've taken out of context. Do not be anxious about anything. And then we must apply what we've learned. James 1.25. The one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in doing. We must not only hear the word but live it. If our Bible study doesn't lead to transform living, we're missing the point. The word of God is essential to our Christian walk. It is God-breathed, profitable for teaching, correcting, and training us to live rightly. We must not only study it consistently, but also use tools to uncover the richness of the original languages. And through exegesis and hermeneutics, we can draw out God's truth and apply it to our lives." [42:08] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)