Studying the Word of God

(Message by Pastor Philip Joseph on November 15, 2009, at NLF-Vashi. Here’s hoping I haven't missed much. Happy reading!)

God is in the business of communication; communicating with us. He wants to get our attention in matters concerning our life; and He wants us to get His attention. Let me bring your attention to the Word that came to us during the time of worship; one shows us how we can be to get God's attention and the other how God is communicating with us to get our attention. If you turn with me to Isaiah 66:2, in the last part of the verse God says, “But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word”. There are three aspects involved here – humility, a contrite heart and a high regard for God's word. The second Word during the worship was from Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God”. Be still-be attentive to hear what God is speaking to us. Many of us know only too well what busy means; there is the work or business, travel, family. Even young school-going children will know what busy is. We may even think that these are all very important-and hardly any time left to KNOW God. I think, that is why, maybe, some people get connected to God only post-retirement.

If you look at Psalm 138:2, the last part goes ‘For You have magnified Your word according to / in proportion to/ above all Your name'

God's word is magnificent in proportion to His holy name. God is looking for people who have a premium, value or high regard for His word. And remember, we can get as close to God as we really want to!

This is what I would like to share today – about the importance of God's word in each one of our lives. Turn with me to 1 Peter 2:2 “as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby”

The purpose of God's word is our own growth. Just as babies long for-have a desire for milk, we must have a desire for the pure, unadulterated logikos milk of God's word.

When I got engaged to my fiancée, we used to communicate to one another. In those days, there were no mobile phones, even telephone communication was rare; and we used to write letters to one another. Once I complete writing my letter, I would wish that the letter would reach her by speed-post as soon as possible and eagerly wait for the reply. When it arrives, I immediately open it and begin reading the contents. After reading it, I keep it carefully and then after sometime, open it and read it again…and again, and again. You see, I wanted to make sure that I understood every written word for its exact intent.

And it is the same way, with God's word; we have it in written form-His letter of love for you and for me. We must open it, read it-again and again, till we fully comprehend what God is speaking to us. We cannot simply say “I love you, Lord” and forget about His letter. If you love God, then this book-the Bible is for you to READ.

Its my burden today that each one of us will be STUDENTS of His word. That we dig deep into its words, phrases and sentences, and get a hang of what He says to us.

The Greek word ‘logikos’ is used in two sense. One, as is here, the ‘logikos’ milk representing the spiritual side equivalent of sincere or pure. Another verse found in Romans 12:1 uses the same Greek word ‘logikos’. The verse goes ‘I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your logikos service’. Here we find the use of the word in its rational sense meaning ‘sincere’, ‘reasonable’. We observe the use of ‘logikos’ in its spiritual and rational senses, which are in fact two sides of the same coin. That is why, we must be careful to understand both sides while studying God's word. It is essential to get a grasp of both the spiritual side and the rational side. People, who study the Bible only as a devotional book (the so-called ‘super-spiritual’ people), may miss out the rational side.

And great scholars, who study the Bible only as a rational book, will miss out completely the spiritual side of it. That is why, 1 Peter 2:1 says ‘…laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and evil speaking…desire the pure milk…’. Remember, Jesus was speaking to the Jews, who had a high regard for the Old Testament. They were all well-versed in its content. But they viewed it rationally. That is why Jesus asks them in John 8:43 “Why do you not understand my speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word”. We need a right attitude in studying and listening to God's word-to be able to understand. We need to trust and ask God to give us a revelation of His written word. That is why we say ‘Open our eyes, Lord that we may see’ (Eph. 3:9). God has hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes (Matt. 11:25).

On the other hand, those who read the Bible only as a devotional book, miss out the ‘logikos’ rational side of God's word. These are the super-spiritual who do not apply their mind to understand, but think everything is done by them in the spiritual way. They may open randomly any page in the Bible and begin reading some verses and come out and say ‘God has spoken to me’.

In India, we can see this-a man sitting with hundreds of cards-fortune cards and a single parrot. On a call, this parrot will come out, browse the cards, reject some and then pick one and give to the fortune-teller. The gullible customer receives it as a divine guidance. Do you think you are like that parrot to randomly select a portion of the Scripture? That you close your eyes, open up a page, point your finger and there you are; do you expect God to speak from where you have pointed? You see, the Bible is a book to study systematically-right from Genesis and through Revelation-chapter by chapter, book by book. How do you prepare for your exams? By randomly opening and studying-will you not fail? Some people are like that-some where in the 'middle'-ages (middle-pages); they have never read Genesis or Revelation and so they neither know the beginning nor the end. They try to get by, quoting some scriptures from the middle portions of the Book. But the milk is a wholesome food for the babies.

There was an Ethiopian going on the road in his chariot; reading from the book of Isaiah. But he could not understand the spiritual meaning as to the person and fulfillment. You know that Philip was sent to explain God's word to him. In the English language, we find quite a few translations of the Holy Bible; and some para-phrase Bible such as the Living Bible, which is not exactly a translation. If we read the Queen's English now, we may not grasp the entire meaning, like in the King James Version, translated in 1611. Since Bible is a rational book also, first, we need to get a good, reliable and accurate translation for our study of God's word in English.

The second aspect is that we need to read the Bible in context. When we study God's word, it's better not to randomly pick and interpret its meaning. For example, if we open 1 Corinthians, chapter 7, and read from verse 1, it goes like this: ‘Now concerning the things of which you wrote to me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman’ (or ‘It is good for a man not to get married’).

And one may conclude that it is God’s will for man to be a bachelor and say that he’s quoting from the scripture (and that too with reference). But if you read the first part of the verse carefully, and read the previous chapter (chapter 6) on the general tone of Paul’s writing, it is clear that Paul is making an exception and not a rule. Paul says, that ‘with regard to what you wrote to me earlier…’ and in 6:13 he says ‘…the body is not for sexual immorality’ and continues in the same tempo in 7:2 ‘Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife…’. It is with regard to these things, Paul is making the statement in the last part of verse 1 (chapter 7). That is why it is important to read the Bible in context. Read few verses before and after; know about who is the speaker and to who is it addressed.

The third aspect is that we need to look at any subject holistically…reading from Genesis to Revelation. Continuing in the same subject of marriage, if you read from Genesis, to revelation, (like I did before getting married), and find out all references concerning marriage, we find that it is indeed God's will for man to get married to a woman. This kind of reading is known as the ‘complete mention principle’. But, there are exceptions; like Paul-himself, unmarried, as called to an apostolic ministry; the people in Corinth because of the situation prevalent there at that time.

We must know other references to the subject within the Bible to fully understand what God is speaking to us. We see that during the temptation of Jesus, Satan came with a quote from God’s word saying ‘For it is written…’. Jesus countered Satan with ‘It is ALSO written…’. That is why it is important to read the entire Bible and not just familiar and favorite portions of it. We see also, people coming up and speaking encouragement with just one side of God's word. Jesus depended on the Scriptures to counter Satan. For us too, it may be helpful to have a concordance Bible to study relevant subject in other portions of the Bible. Romans 15:4 says, “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope”. All things are written for our instruction and guidance; from the faith of Abraham, to prayer of Jacob, to the song of Moses and comfort of psalms, the patience of the prophets…we can learn from them all.

Why must we read God’s word?

James 1:22 says “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves”. If we read the Bible, just to quote ‘pompously’ in the crowd for others, or as a ritual and practice reading the Bible just for the sake of reading, or just be hearers but not willing to make any changes in accordance to God’s word, the Bible says, we deceive ourselves.

What must be our response?

We must believe. It is God’s word-the truth. Jesus spoke in John 5:46, 47 “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for He wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” We can absolutely take God at His word. The problem of the Jews was their unbelief. They never believed the writings of Moses, although they ‘knew it’ rationally speaking. The word is given to us too. It is for us to believe. There are wonderful promises of God kept for us. We can take it at its face-value. Every promise of God requires a partnership with our faith to make it happen.

Some people ask me, ‘How does God speak to us?’ or ‘How do we know that God is speaking to us?’ The answer is, when we familiarize ourselves with what God has spoken already in His word, the Helper, the Holy Spirit brings to our remembrance the particular word, verse or portion from God's word. He brings us a revelation of who God is. That is how God communicates to us.

That is why we need a foundation in God's word. We must not nibble bits and pieces of God's word, and think that we are prepared to face the world. Remember, the word of God is a weapon in the believer's armor-the Sword of the Spirit. We need to study God's word in its entirety. If we do not, we expose ourselves to strange doctrines and man-made ‘knowledge’. If we are strong in the Biblical foundation, and if someone prophesies to us, we will know God only confirms what He has already spoken to us.

God's word is pure, unadulterated, uncontaminated food for us. We can hang on to every word of God; because it will be fulfilled. It will by no means pass away until all is fulfilled. Let us understand spiritually and rationally, God's word given for us.

May our eyes be opened and may God grant us a revelation of the goodness hidden in His word for each one of us; and I pray that each one of us, whether young, youth or old, may find growth and strength in His word. Amen.