"I believe that one reason why the church of God at this present moment has so little influence over the world is because the world has so much influence over the church."
-Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Why Study Your Bible?

The following is a basic outline of why and how to study the Bible, an essential aspect of growing in faith and learning to "give a reason for the hope that you have."

What makes a person who does the best Bible study?
• A person who really desires to do what the Word says
o James 1:22-25
 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.

• Do you really want to know?
• Do you really want to follow?
• Do you really want to know truth?
• Through it, a Christian gets to know God personally—God is the author!!

1. It says what it says
a. Literal translation
b. Simple truth (don’t allegorize or spiritualize)
i. Ex. the whole “resurrection in His followers” concept
ii. If it is not so, it will say so (ex. Jesus’ baptism—“came down like a dove”)
c. Simile—Spirit descended like a dove
2. One correct interpretation! Many applications!
3. Be aware of the context
a. Philippians 4:13—“I can do everything through Him who gives me strength”
b. Talking about how Paul was able to be content in ant and every situation, not “Oh! God had empowered me to go out and do anything my little heart desires!”
c. Verses are close ups of a grander picture
4. Take note of to who and about who
a. Often times makes so much more sense
b. The whole the bridegroom coming like a thief in the night idea
5. Accurate definitions—look it up if you’re not sure
6. Understand that there is a difference between “the Church” and “Israel”
7. Remember that everything found in the Word is there for a purpose
a. Genesis 5:3-31—name meanings
i. Adam—Man
ii. Seth—Appointed
iii. Enosh—Subject to death
iv. Kenan—Sorrowful
v. Mahalalel—From the presence of God
vi. Jared—One comes down
vii. Enoch—dedicated
viii. Methuselah—dying he shall send
ix. Lamech—To the poor and lowly
x. Noah—rest/comfort

What is the point of Bible study? Dow we really NEED it?
Job 23:12 “I have not departed from the commands of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread.”
Job realized the true need for it—he was also blessed with great success and wealth, but when it was all stripped away, he was not crushed because nobody could take the Lord away from him. Material things, fine, who cares, but God and His Word will always remain strong.

Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of our God stands forever.”

Job 1:20-21 “At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord had taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.’”

Deuteronomy 32:46-47 “He said to them, ‘Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. They are not just idle words for you—they are your life.’”

Why do we do it?—Joshua 1:8—“Do not let this book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”


What are our natural tendencies?
• Too hard
• Boring
• 2 Kings 3:14-20—ditches in the desert
• Discouraged—1 Kings 19:11-13

Basics
1. Just read it first—read it through and don’t worry about getting everything, just read it through. If you felt like you didn’t quite understand it, read it through again.
a. The major part of this truly is the consistent reading-not worrying about how much you understand. Nobody understands everything perfectly the first time they go through, but you will get some things, and the next time through you will get more; that’s why you can find people in their 80s that have it almost memorized and yet still diligently study. God made a marvelous book that gives us a challenge.
b. Proverbs 25:2 “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.
c. Don’t focus on what you don’t understand, but what you do understand. See Bible study as a lifelong process! Jesus tells us that the Spirit will show us what we need to know.
i. John 14:23 “Jesus replied, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will obey My teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey My teaching. These words you hear are not My own; they belong to the Gather who sent me. All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all the things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
ii. The wording and the context of is just like Joshua
d. Read expecting God to show you something—really expecting.
i. Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who honestly seek Him.
e. Read with the understanding that this is how God talks to you. It is truly a conversation with God! Throughout the Scriptures, all these guys talk to God—the Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah; God talks with Moses and Adam as though they are friends (‘cause they are!)
2. Start at the beginning and find the first, thought, idea, story part, etc.
a. Now what is it saying?
b. Simple meaning—don’t read into it, but take it for what it says
c. Scripture really has only one correct interpretation

3. After the interpretation is found, find applications—how does this play out in your life? Or in life in general? You may be able to find many applications in every section.
a. Again, see James 1:22-25
b. Obedience is key in this whole venture! Just studying will get you nowhere. It has to play out
c. Psalm 119—the significance of the Word

This outline was primarily composed by Ty Newton, used on the 2008 Calvary Youth Retreat.

Old Coats and New Wine

Luke 5:36-38

He told them this parable: “No one tears a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins.”

    Let’s begin with a bit of simple background. Now, it’s an established fact that most clothes shrink, specifically when washed for the first few times. However, they do stop growing smaller as time goes on. Knowing that, one would be a fool to take a brand new piece of cloth and sew it on to an old garment, for when the entire piece was next washed, the new part would begin to shrink while the old remained the same, thus causing the new to tear away and create a hole larger than the original.
In a similar fashion, grape juice is made and put into new wineskins where it is left to ferment; in that fermentation process, though, the wine begins to expand and thus the bag expands with it. If that newly forming wine, however, were to be put into old bags and begin to expand, the wineskins would burst, and therefore spill the wine and render it worthless.
    So many people put rules and traditions in a place that’s almost higher than their faith itself, or they try to fit other things into their faith that really don’t belong. I remember listening to one of my extended family members (a Lutheran) talking to his friend (a Catholic) about how quickly a priest could get through a mass and how fast a pastor could get through the liturgy, and I realized then that his belief system was one of tradition and knowledge than rather than a personal, thriving relationship with Christ. It was seriously sad to listen to him talk about what he thought was important in church services.
    Jesus was dealing with a similar situation here, but with the Pharisees. See, the Pharisees—a group of often snobbish Jewish leaders—thought it terrible that Christ and His followers were not holding to the custom of fasting, among other things. In other words, they were upset that He (the Son of God) was not following the rituals that they declared were necessary. Rather than humble sacrifice and obedience to God, these Pharisees thought that their rituals (many of which were not directly prescribed in the law) would save them.
    What Christ is talking about here is that the Jewish teachers were trying to fit the Old Covenant into the beginnings of the New Covenant, which, like the old cloth/new cloth and old wineskins/new wine examples, doesn’t work. Now, just to be clear here, Jesus wasn’t coming to completely wipe out the law—remember His words in Matthew 5:17-18, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” Here’s the deal, since Christ came, He has proved that the rituals and practices of plain Judaism clearly fall short of His glory and greatness. His power over death and ability to bring about salvation from sins makes the law and rituals of the past simply a shadow that came before Christ Himself. Look at what Hebrews 8:13 says (and while you’re at it, please read the entire chapter), “By calling this covenant ‘new,’ He has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.”’
    Let’s go back to that new patch on the old coat for a second. The irony with that statement is that what is supposed to serve to repair one item, in the end, only serves to ruin both cloths as well as making the original hole even larger.
Christ cannot be contained within the boundaries of the old law, for it was incomplete. And we cannot force our other little ideas and beliefs into Christ, because, as Isaiah 55 says, “’My thoughts are not your thought, neither are your ways My ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.’”
    God came to save me, and in doing so mended the cloth just right, so that the coat would not tear away, yet why is it that I often think that I can do a better job? I know better, but I still do it. Nevertheless, I will not stop trying to give everything to God, and just know that God is God and He will always do what is right and good.