Search the Scriptures - Bible Study
“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” (John 5:39)
The Lord Jesus Christ believed that the scriptures are a revelation of truth about Him and that it is worthwhile to study them. In my role as pastor, I often exhort the flock to search the scriptures to see if the things I am teaching are so. In my experience, those who take up the cause tend to progress in discipleship and understanding to a greater degree. At times I mention of “homework” in my preaching. I have heard many Christians say, “I’d like to study the bible, but I don’t know where to start.” While this objection strikes me as insubstantial, I cannot deny that it has been raised time and again in conversation. My homework assignments are intended to take “I don’t know where to start” off the table. I’ve occasionally said, “Some of you have told me you don’t study the bible because you don’t know where to start. Well, I’ve taken that excuse off the table. Where you gonna hide now?” My hope is that this mild invective might be received with a measure of humor and self-reflection. Indeed, “Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?” (Galatians 4:16)
SearchING the Scriptures
The study of God’s word is among the greatest spiritual blessings of my Christian discipleship. I have told some folks, “If you will study the bible, you will improve my preaching.” That might seem counterintuitive but I believe it is true on multiple levels:
While it is true that “familiarity breeds contempt” it is also true that “ignorance breeds instability.” Many of God’s sheep suffer the ill effects of spiritual immaturity because they have never studied the word of God. We should familiarize ourselves with the bible and in so doing aspire to acquire the former problem rather than be perpetually saddled with the latter.
It is impossible to read the bible without raising questions in your mind. I believe I heard Elder Sonny Pyles mention this on more than one occasion. Bible readers know it is true. As the list of questions grows, so too does appetite for finding the answers. This in turn improves a disciple’s attentiveness to preaching.
As one’s understanding of the truth grows, so too does their ability to understand what a man is preaching to them. One who has never studied the word of God misses out on some measure of preaching, even if they’re paying attention. While Elders strive to teach the whole flock and to communicate ideas in a way that translates to a broad audience with differing levels of familiarity with the bible, they also regularly say things that are only received by those who have a measure of orientation to the faith once delivered.
Reading the word of God helps a disciple see beyond “Elder Tallgrass says” into the realm of “God says.” This keeps us ever-mindful that, “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.” (Isaiah 40:8).
More could be said in this regard but I’ll leave it alone in favor of pointing out a needful reminder.
The Primitive Practice of the Lord’s New Testament Church
Any sober examination of the Lord’s New Testament ministry leads to the following observations:
The disciples did not have bibles. We live in a time that has more access to the bible than any other in history. As a result, it is easy to project our level of access to the text of scripture back onto the disciples of the New Testament era. There are bibles at Walmart, on Amazon, in hotel rooms, in homes, in audio format, online for free, in multiple languages, etcetera. Many profitable and convicting lessons can be drawn from this observation, but suffice it to say that in the time of the Lord’s earthly ministry, nothing resembling this level of access to the scripture existed. It follows that “searching the scripture” was not some private endeavor as it might be in our time. It involved going to a place that had a copy of the scriptures (most likely a Synagogue), hearing the scriptures read (Luke 4:16-21), and engaging in meditation and discussion thereof (Acts 17:11). Simply put, studying the word of God was a public event, distinct from the matter of what would come to be the Sunday worship service. While we have more access to the word of God today and more ability to study the scriptures on our own, we should not do this to the exclusion of studying the word of God in the assembly under the prayerful guidance of God-called Elders (Acts 8:30-31).
Spiritual instruction often took the form of dialog. To state that plainly, many scriptural examples of teaching are a two-way street, involving both questions from those in attendance and answers from those who were teaching. This is the primitive practice of the church established in the New Testament. Stated another way, the notion that New Testament instruction must ever and always take the form of preaching in the assembly (i.e., monolog) is an unscriptural contrivance that arises from tradition rather than scripture. There are numerous public question and answer sessions recorded in the New Testament that demonstrate this form of instruction. Examples include Matthew 15:1-8, Matthew 16:13-20, Matthew 18, Matthew 19, Matthew 22:23-33, Matthew 24, John 8:1-11, John 9, etc.
CONCLUSION
Given these observations, our current level of access to the bible, the examples of instruction found in the New Testament, and our liberty to pursue biblical truth in accordance with those examples, I want to encourage the flock to read the bible more. To that end…
Read Matthew 3 and answer the following questions:
What is the first thing John the Baptist preached?
Why didn’t John accept the Pharisees who came to him as valid candidates for baptism?
How far is Galilee from Jordan? How far did Jesus travel to be baptized?
Do you see the trinity represented in verses 16 and 17?
I hope to find occasion to facilitate dialog with the flock on bible questions in the coming months, whether over lunch after church, on the church website, on facebook, through direct messages, or through in person gatherings. As always, my door is open to any questions that one may have and I commit to answering them to the best of my ability as time permits with emphasis on questions asked by the flock I am privileged to serve.
- Elder Daniel Samons