Studying Through the Bible

I was asked a thoughtful question today about the Calvary Chapel style of teaching through the Bible verse by verse:  what happens after you teach through the entire Bible?  Do you just cycle through the same notes?  While I cannot speak for other churches or pastoral approaches to teaching, I can speak to the unfathomable wisdom of the revelation of God's word.  One could more easily bottle all the water of the oceans of the world before we could process or exhaust God's wisdom held forth in the Bible.  Because Scripture is God-inspired, living and active, there is much more to learn than we can possibly receive in a single pass or a thousand studies of the same passage.  This is one reason my practice is to study a passage from scratch every time:  God and the passage hasn't changed, but I do.

By the grace of God, faith in God and obedience to His word results in increased maturity.  Our experiences, feelings, and circumstances impact our perspective and outlook.  Thus the Bible and God's truth will impact us differently depending on our current frame of mind and what God has already been speaking to us about.  The timeless truths remain in full force, but what seems most relevant to us at the time can change depending on how we are feeling and what we are thinking.  The Holy Spirit is able to go beyond the words of the page as well, leading us to consider how other passages connect in new and unexpected ways that provide additional richness and depth of personal application.

Another aspect of teaching through the Bible is even if a text is repeated the congregation and hearers will also be a different group of people.  They too will be in various stages of spiritual growth and maturity.  God is able to help those preaching tailor a fresh message by His leading that takes into account things we cannot know, like an unbeliever who will be visiting or new believers in the congregation.  Even in the midst of teaching the Holy Spirit can prompt a new line of reasoning not written down to dovetail into the message that ministers to the minister and people alike.  The picture of Hebrews gathering manna to be eaten that day is a picture of the daily gathering of our daily bread with humility due to our need.  There is also a season to eat of the old store, and this suggests God's Word is no less nourishing when a sermon is shared that has been preached before.

As useful as commentaries and study materials can be, there is no substitute with digging into God's Word afresh ourselves to seek what God has to say to us or our congregation through us today.  The scene with Boaz who commanded handfuls of grain be conspicuously left for Ruth is a beautiful picture of how God supplies our needs with wisdom, illustrations, promises, instruction, rebuke and personal application:  all we must do is rise in faith and gather them up.  Even a short devotional talk with children can yield more leftovers than the bread and fish that remained after Jesus fed 5,000 men plus their families with the lunch of one lad.  Praise the LORD He supplies our need for spiritual nutrition that brings health, growth and transformation by His grace.  God and His Word never change, but He is faithful to change us by familiar and obscure passages alike.

The Non-Negotiables

When we establish priorities, it is reasonable this results in making decisions that are non-negotiable.  A pregnant mother who prioritises the health of her baby chooses to avoid drinking alcohol during her pregnancy.  Should a glass of wine or beer be offered to her--even when she is not "showing"--she will politely decline the beverage because having a healthy infant is more important than having a drink.   She does not need to wrestle every time alcohol is on a menu or on the table because it is not negotiable in her mind; the decision has already been made.  The decision was already made to choose drinking options without alcohol that pose no risk for her developing baby.

In a marriage, workplace or in our relationship with God, there should be non-negotiables.  During an interview with a company years ago, I told the business manager who was hiring I was not available to work on Sundays regardless of overtime.  For me, it was a non-negotiable because my wife and I were already committed to attend church with our children on Sundays.  I was not tempted by double or triple time because the decision to go to church had already been made.  The decision to go to church was not impacted by a busy week, late nights or if I was feeling well-rested.  I was going to church unless I was not physically able to go because of sickness that would keep me from going to work during the week.

Recently I heard someone say that we shouldn't make doing what is good and right dependent on our feelings, and I agree with this.  Doing what is good should be a non-negotiable for a child of God and going to church, giving, serving and helping ought to be in the non-negotiable category.  Nothing in this world is certain, but we ought not to waffle between going to church or staying home every week depending on how we feel.  What God commands us to do--like not forsaking the gathering of believers together--we ought to do by faith in Him.  God has given us wisdom in His word, the power of the Holy Spirit within us, and the ability to do His will:  He holds us responsible to do our part according to His will.

It is wise to determine before a pressure-filled moment to decide what is the correct course of action and not be swayed by fleshy, selfish influences that are not of God.  Sometimes our non-negotiables arise from transgressions.  We decide we will no longer drink alcohol even when it is offered because we find we are unable to show restraint.  At the same time we should not need to commit adultery before we establish wise boundaries concerning our conduct and communication with members of the opposite sex.  Our non-negotiables ought to be established by faith and obedience to the LORD as we communicate with our spouse and fellow believers.  The LORD is faithful to help us walk in wisdom and strengthens us to stand resolute in His grace.

The LORD With Us

After David was anointed king over Israel, the Holy Spirit came upon him and the Spirit departed from king Saul.  God sent a distressing, tormenting spirit to afflict king Saul and his advisors were discerning to know exactly what was happening.  Rather than urging Saul to repent of his pride and rejection of God, they suggested Saul find a man who could skillfully play soothing music on the harp when he was troubled.  Saul agreed with their advice and amazingly David was the candidate immediately suggested.

1 Samuel 16:18 states, "Then one of the servants answered and said, "Look, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a mighty man of valour, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a handsome person; and the LORD is with him."  One could say David had a lot going for him:  he was a skillful musician, a brave and mighty champion, a fit soldier, well-spoken and good looking.  I expect most people would be happy for others to ascribe only one or two of these qualities to them and speak well of them to those in authority.  But the final flourish of David's description is the most important of all that we can overlook and undervalue:  "...and the LORD is with him."  All those other desirable qualities in David flowed on from God being with Him, his Creator Who fashioned him in the womb of his mother.

The LORD being with David meant he was always near the living God Who helps, strengthens and upholds His people like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and Joshua.  By God being with him, David was assured of wisdom, provision, protection and guidance to successfully do what God called him to do and be all God created him to be.  God was with David whether he was shepherd over his father's flocks in a field or summoned to play the harp in the court of king Saul.  The power of God to deliver and save remained constant when he faced the Philistine champion on a field of battle or his own son Absalom who usurped the throne through political intrigue.

We find this immortal phrase used by Balaam when he looked at the camp of the Hebrews and blessed them in Numbers 23:21-23:  "He has not observed iniquity in Jacob, nor has He seen wickedness in Israel. The LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a King is among them. ²² God brings them out of Egypt; He has strength like a wild ox. ²³ "For there is no sorcery against Jacob, nor any divination against Israel. It now must be said of Jacob and of Israel, 'Oh, what God has done!'"  The LORD God was with Israel, and the shout of a king pointed to the Son of David, the Messiah Jesus Christ who would deliver people from their sins even as God saved people out of the iron furnace of Egypt.  No evil spirit, curse or weapon fashioned against God's people will prosper while God stands guard over our souls and delivers us from evil.  It is fitting the name of the Messiah and KING OF KINGS would be called Immanuel, for Jesus is God with us (Is. 7:14).

We may not be skilled musicians, mighty warriors, well-spoken or have dashing looks, but what the king's advisors said of David is true of us by faith in Jesus:  the LORD is with us.  Of all the blessings God provides His people, there is none greater than our LORD being with us.  All praise and thanks to God for His gracious and unspeakable gift, truly too wonderful for words!

Integrity of the Heart

A passage I read this morning affirmed it is possible we can take credit for things we ought to primarily credit God for doing.  While God has given mankind the freedom to choose what we will believe, think, say and do, He always is personally involved when we do what is right.  He helped Abimelech to walk in integrity when he had been deceived by Abraham and Sarah during a visit to his land.

When Abraham visited Gerar, he and Sarai both lied and claimed to be siblings when they were husband and wife.  As was customary in those days, if a beautiful woman came into a king's territory he had the authority to bring her into his home--which he did, for Sarah was beautiful.  God appeared to Abimelech in a dream and rebuked him for taking a married woman into his house, and Abimelech protested he had done nothing wrong.  Genesis 20:5-6 reads, "Did he not say to me, 'She is my sister'? And she, even she herself said, 'He is my brother.' In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this." ⁶ And God said to him in a dream, "Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For I also withheld you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her."  God commanded Abimelech return Sarah to Abraham, and he immediately complied the following day.

Abimelech had walked with integrity, yet he was not alone in doing so:  God helped him to do so and kept him from touching Sarah.  From God's perspective, it was only by God's gracious intervention Abimelech could do what he knew was right and prevented him from transgression.  If we walk in integrity before God and man, we cannot claim this goodness or ability arises naturally from us.  We are able to be upright because God has provided a solid foundation for our feet and strength to stand.  Should we fall into sin and do wickedly, it was our own choice God sovereignly allowed, for He is even able to redeem evil for good to those who love God.

The hope Christians have is never in our ability to exonerate ourselves or successfully protest our innocence but in admitting our sinfulness and placing our faith in God who imputes His righteousness to us by His grace.  Abimelech was deceived in this passage by Abraham and Sarah, and we can be deceived by ourselves to think we can walk in integrity without constant help from God who supplies strength, wisdom and grace.  When our hearts are marked by integrity and innocence, should we do righteously and what is godly, let us thank and praise God for His sustaining, guiding hand in our lives to help us live in the way that pleases Him and how God keeps us from doing evil.