Studying the words of God
Key Passage: Psalms 12:6-7
Date: April 11, 2024
Turn your Bible to Psalms chapter number 12 tonight, Psalms chapter number 12. And let me just say I’m so glad we got the Bible, God’s words. And it’s wonderful. And apart from it, we’d be dead in the water, if you will. We just, we just.
No way you or I could figure out what God is and what he wants and how he wants it and how to get to him and all that. Praise the Lord for the Bible. And then let me say a stepfather, praise the Lord for the King James Bible in the English language. Praise the Lord for that. You’ve got to have some sure footing. I think of several, I don’t know how many over the years, Muslims I’ve witnessed to.
And I’ve had this happen several times with me. Some of our other soldiers have had this happen too. They’ll say, well, y’all have so many Bibles. We only have one in Koran. You’ve got somebody there. How do you know which one’s right? Or do you have one that’s right? And say, yes, we do. And we have the King James Bible. And they don’t have that much to say after that. But if these are just, well, they use any other version in the world. They’ve got something on you, if you will. And praise the Lord, we’ve got something to stand on.
We’ll talk about that a little bit at touch tonight. But how to study the Bible. We started this last Wednesday night, and we’re just going to take a couple Wednesday nights on it. Help me out last Wednesday night. We talked about the Bible and the Holy Spirit, right? The author of the Bible. Boy, you’re not going to know the Bible apart from the Holy Spirit.
And I think next Wednesday we’ll talk about different tools to use, and we’ll go through some commentaries and Bible software and some Bible dictionaries and things like that. But all that without the Holy Spirit is like having heavy equipment, but no fuel—just no good without the Holy Spirit. And so we cannot forget that when we’re studying the Bible.
And so we’re going to talk tonight about the words of God, studying the words of God tonight.
Psalms 12 and just two verses. Many of you’ve read over these. You’ve studied about it a little bit. Verse number six and verse number seven. Psalms 12, verse number six. Would you please stand as I read God’s Word together? And I hope maybe your love, your respect for your Bible, the Bible will grow a little bit tonight. It’s an amazing book. And praise God for it. Psalms 12 and verse number six, the Bible says the…
Words. Can I emphasize that more, you know, the plural? He’s not just talking about the word of God. He says, the words, plural, every single word. Words—the words of the Lord are pure words.
Notice that plural. As silver tried in a furnace of earth purified seven times. Seven’s the number of completion. And I believe in the English language we have the words that’s been purified. And I don’t have to go wondering and waiting and look around for something else. I’ve got what I believe is the word of God. I’ve got it.
I don’t have to wait for the next one. Every six months they came out with a new version, by the way. By the way, you realize they all got copyrights on it, so somebody’s making money off of it. You realize that? You know what the best-selling book of the year is? Every year, the Bible. There’s a lot of money there. You understand that. But I believe we have it.
So I don’t have to know other languages different. I’m talking about the English language. We’re in America here. Amen. I’m talking about English here tonight. I believe we got it. Don’t have to keep looking. It’s been purified, furnace of earth seven times. “Thou shalt keep them, O Lord. Thou shalt preserve them,” the words, plural. Thou shalt preserve them from this generation, forever. Wow. That’s pretty clear. Forever. I mean, from the penning of this, from this generation, forever. And he’ll preserve the words. See? Now, just for a little bit tonight, how to study the words of the Bible. Words are so crucial, just the words.
Are just so important. Let’s just for a little bit pray that God would maybe help us to grow as students of His word. Would you ask that tonight?
Remember what Jesus said over there in Matthew 4:4? “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word.” Every word. The words of the Bible are so very important. What does the Bible say? “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” What do you say? Words. Words bring life or they can kill. Words are just so valuable. And the words of the Bible—it is not just the Word of God. It is, and I don’t want to make light of that at all, but the Word of God, yes, praise the Lord for that. But it’s more than that. It’s the words of God. Every word, the words of the Bible.
Many of the other versions, I’m going to mention it several times. Many of these other versions and all that, they take the NIV, the most popular, the new versions. It’s a—what they call it—dynamic equivalence. It’s a thought-for-thought translation. It’s what someone thinks God said, and so they put that into words. Now, I don’t want that. I want the words. The King James Bible is what they call a formal equivalence. It’s a word-for-word translation. I want the words of God. He said, “The words of the Lord are pure.” The words.
Words are so very, very important. By the day, if you look over Revelation, the last book of the Bible, look in the last chapter of the Bible, right towards the end of it. You’ll know what I’m getting at. Many of you already know what I’m going at, but I want you to see something specific about it. Revelation 22. And I want you to look in verse number 18, Revelation 22. And look in verse number 18, if you would please, Revelation 22:18. If you’re there, would you say amen? Amen. Good. Verse number 18, and he said, “For I testify to every man that heareth the words…”
Here’s the words of the prophecy of this book. “If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. And if any man shall take away from the what? Words. Not just the word of God, yes, but more specific: the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life and out of the Holy City and from the things which are written in this book.” Just a little example right there of how important the words are.
And years ago, I had a Bible study at Union Tank. And you start a Bible study at a big factory. You get every denomination of the world coming in. They want to argue about everything. I think I learned more Bible there almost than I did in Bible college because you’re put on the spot, and you better know your stuff. And I think it was out of Bible study that one man came in and said, “Well, you can lose your salvation,” and he referenced that. And he said, “If you tell you what in the Bible, you’re going to lose your salvation.” But if you notice real closely what the words of the Bible—every word is important. God didn’t mess up. By the way, don’t mess with it. You’ll mess it up. Amen. Leave it alone.
But notice what it says in verse number 19: “If any man should take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his name.” Is that what it says? No, his part. It’s worded like that for a reason. No, it’d go against the rest of the scriptures if you lose your salvation. Take away his name. I think he’ll use his rewards. Think of his part. You understand how the words of the Bible are so crucial? Every word. And we got so many changing, and many preachers changing the words of God. Words are so important. Let it say what it says. The words of God are so very important.
So just a little bit tonight, I want to talk about how to study the words. Maybe you’re reading through in your morning devotion as the sun’s coming up. Amen, Brother Joel? And that’s a good thing. And a word pops out and you say, “I wonder what that means.”
In the couples class, we just went through some words, and I really had to study some about. One word, just last Sunday I had to study out—two words really had to study out—was lust and lasciviousness. What do those really mean biblically? And I had to put a definition to those words. Let me give you the definition I came up with. And I’m going to try to a little bit show you how I came up with those words. By the way, you may do your word study different than mine, and that’s fine. Your way probably better than mine. I’m just trying to give you maybe some ideas and some faults, and maybe kind of get your curiosity going on how to study the words of the Bible. Okay, so I’m not saying my way is right, your way is wrong, because it’s going to live a little different for you. And that’s fine. And probably many, many, much better students of the words of God than I, but I’m just trying to give you a little system that I use sometimes.
So anyway, lust, what do we come up with that? The definition we gave to that, or I gave to that, was strong inner desire for something, using for something you know you should not have. Lasciviousness, for that word, being controlled by your desire.
I gave a little illustration of that. A week or two or somewhere ago, somewhere—I don’t know where—but a lady walked by, very immodestly dressed. I looked away, and I looked right at a man over here on this side, just looked like a normal guy wearing blue jeans, whatnot, and it looked like a clean, middle-aged, older man, but I was very disappointed when I saw his eyes get right on her and follow her all the way for a good ways. And that’s lasciviousness. His desire was controlling him.
Now, how did we come up to those things? I just got seven things on the top there, how to study the words of the Bible. Number one: Look at the first time it is used in the Bible. I went and I said, “All right, when is the first time lust, and what is the first time lasciviousness used in the Bible?” Look, if you will, keep your finger. Well, I don’t think you’d just turn. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 2. 1 Corinthians chapter 2, if you would. 1 Corinthians chapter 2. And look if you would please at verse number 12 and verse number 13. 1 Corinthians 2, and verse number 12 and verse number 13 of God’s word tonight.
Some people like notes and all that. I’m not a real big one on it in church, but it’s a little bit more of a Bible study. One thing, man, I don’t like to look at the top of your heads. Amen, I like to see you. But I understand you taking notes, and I get that. We got a little Bible study going here today. And I gave you a syllabus. You’re just doing what I wanted you to do. Look at verse number 12 right there, 1 Corinthians 2. Look at verse number 12. He says, “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.” The Spirit of God, that’s the Holy Spirit. He’s to teach us all things. We got that last Wednesday. And I see, he said, “Wait a second, this spirit, he said that we may know the things that are freely given.” How do you know it? From the Bible. See?
Now look at verse number 13: “Which things also we speak”—where do you speak? Words. What am I studying words to that? “Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth; (for knowledge puffeth up),” and you get a prideful teacher that’s trying to magnify himself and all that, and he’s not going to accomplish anything in a heart. No, the Spirit of God must do. He must be working. “Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth.” What the Holy Spirit wrote? The Bible, pen, author, the Bible. Notice the last phrase: “comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” I show you all that. The best dictionary on the Bible words is the Bible. That’s the best, that’s the best thing. And I’ll talk a little bit about why I believe that. But when you compare scripture, spiritual things with spiritual things, that’s when things begin to take true meaning and true root. You take the Bible, all right, how can I get a Bible definition of this word? All right. That’s so important. So use the Bible.
How do you do that? Many of you, you probably know how to do that. Well, let me just say a few words. There’s a lot of Bible apps you can download on your phone to do that. Bible software you can do that. And Brother Patterson uses E-Sword. I use a different one. And I’m not against it. It’s free. Mine costs seven bucks. I like the free better than seven bucks. But there’s all kinds of different things out there. You can go online and find out. Or some of you—how many have a Strong’s Concordance? You got a Strong’s Concordance? I really don’t use or didn’t use mine anymore. So I gave mine away. Big thick book about like this right here, Strong’s Concordance. And every word that’s in the Bible is in there. I’m talking about every word. And you can go to Lust or Lasciviousness, and you can find out the first time and where it’s located in the Bible. You can do it that way if you just want to use books. And if I didn’t have it on my computer or whatnot, I would still have that. I used it for years. It’s a great Bible study tool that you can use. You can go to Gateway Bible online and look it up that way. There’s all the other crazy versions in there, but you can go just to the King James Version if you like to do that. But look up the first time that word is used in the Bible.
Our two words are mentioned, just trying to use an illustration here. Lust. The first time lust is mentioned in the Bible is in Exodus 15, and verse number nine. It’s actually when the children of Israel came to the sea and then Pharaoh’s army chased them. Remember, the walls came tumbling down on Pharaoh’s army and killed them all. And Moses over there, they had the song of Moses and the prophecy of God, that next chapter. They typically call it the Song of Moses. This is right in the middle of that Song of Moses. The first time lust is used. Let me just read it for you: “The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.”
So that’s the first time of lust. And it was these Egyptian soldiers and Pharaoh, they want to get the children of Israel. Well, they desired that. And they said, “I’m going to get my lust. I’m going to satisfy them. I’m going to get them.” So I learned a little bit just from that. Notice it uses the personal part of my lust. It begins to develop a little bit of a picture of my mind. What does a real lust really mean, biblically? I had just a strong desire to get them. So we’re going to do it. And, of course, God stopped it, but it begins to develop a little bit what the word means. Lust is used in 21 verses in the Bible. If you looked it up in some of these things, you’d see that.
Lasciviousness is another word we’re doing a little study on. The first time lasciviousness is mentioned in the Bible is Matthew 7:22, and it’s used in a list, all right. It’s only found six times in the Bible, but sometimes when I look up a word and it’s used in a list, well, that’ll do any help, and sometimes it doesn’t help greatly. But it did help me a little bit define the word lasciviousness, and I’ll show you why. Let me just read it for you. Matthew 7:22. Here’s the list: thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. Now here’s the thing that one helped me a little bit to find it. Because some people would say lasciviousness is just only sexual sin. It has to do with the—and often it does—but in that list, it really wasn’t listing off a lot of sexual things there. I thought, okay, well, maybe not all the time. It does apply to that. You see, it just helps me form up a little bit of a definition of a word just by these different things.
Now, sometimes, sometimes when you look up the first time a word is used in the Bible, you can get your definition just from that. While back, I was studying up on the word guile. How many of you know that you’ve seen the word ‘guile’ in the Bible? Well, what exactly does that mean? Well, the first time it’s mentioned is Exodus 21:14. And he’s talking about the law here, and if they break the law, what happens to him? And he’s talking about murder here. Let me read it for Exodus 21:14: “But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbor to slay him with guile, thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die.”
Now just from that I understand, he’s coming to this guy saying, “Man, Brother Frank, I love you,” but he’s planning on he’s going to kill him. And you see the deceit in it, the trickery. And God has to do with a deceitful, manipulative person. That’s the term we use a lot in our day of time. Manipulative person. They’re always deceitful. You can’t just take him for face value. See?
Putting the definition on the word holy, the first time it is used. It is Moses, and he’s there at the burning bush, Exodus 3:5. And he said, “Draw nigh hither; put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.” I think holiness, a good definition, or holy, a good definition of it, is drawing away from the world to God. Both are important. So how do you get that out of it? Well, your feet—remember over there in the New Testament? He said, “Hey, you need to wash?” And Peter said, “No, you don’t need to wash me.” He said, “Well, you ain’t got no part of me.” I don’t wash it. He said, “Well, hey, not just my feet, but everything.” And the Lord said, “No, no, you’re already clean. You’ve been saved, but you need your feet washed because you walk in a dirty world.” Amen, I know a little bit there. There’s something significant about that. So he’s saying, hey, Moses, take off your shoes. You’ve been walking in a sinful world, get away from all that world, and then you get over here to me in the burning bush. You’re drawn out of God. You see how looking up the first time that word is used in the Bible helps us so much in finding a definition for ‘holy’?
So, number one: How do you study the words of the Bible? Look at the first time it is used in the Bible. We’re trying to let the Bible define the Bible. We’ve gotten all out of whack by letting people define the Bible for us.
Number two: How is that word used elsewhere in scripture?
Now, if it’s like ‘holy,’ well, that’s pretty tough because it’s mentioned 544 times. 544 verses have it in there. I typically don’t take time to read all those. You understand what I’m saying? But some of these—lust or lasciviousness—is a little bit easier. Some of this Bible software that you and I have, you can just pull it up, you can read off those 18 real quick, and it helps you grasp what does God mean by that word? See? When it comes to lust, that word—we put a strong inner desire for something, usually for something you know you should not have. James 1:14: “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust.” Kind of goes to the first time the word, “my lust.” That’s why I put in the definition: an inner desire. It’s in you. I mentioned it, I think Sunday night in the message, but I don’t think even when you’re walking with God, you ever get rid of your lust. And I got that from another time lust is mentioned in the Bible: “This I say, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” You still got lust, but you don’t fulfill it when you walk in the Spirit. You see how you develop a definition of these Bible words from the Bible?
So I look up every time these words are listed, and there are so many tools that you can do that very easily. Lasciviousness, it’s mentioned in six verses in the Bible. Ephesians 4:19: “Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.” He’s given himself over. This desire that controls him. You know, this guy, his eyes had control of him. Well, he didn’t go commit, break the law. But if you give yourself over to that, see, many people do break the law. I understand him. And so I understand a lot that fits in that definition of the word over in Ephesians 4:19. So, number one, look up the first time it’s used in the Bible. Number two, look up other places that word is used in the Bible.
Number three: Look it up in Noah Webster’s 1828 dictionary. Now, Noah Webster was a senator just like you and I. I don’t put everything in—almost stock in that—but it can help. It’s a tool. I have—Brother Fontaine bought this for me years ago—a Noah Webster, 1828. But here’s the thing: You don’t have to get one of these things nowadays. I really don’t use it anymore. I haven’t used it in years. You can download the app on your phone. Or I turn my phone off typically when I’m studying; you don’t want to get interrupted. But you can pull it up on your computer any time. You just pull it up and search it. It’ll come up, go to site. And that’s typically the way I use it. But Noah Webster was a godly man. He got saved and he became somewhat of a preacher, just a godly man. And his dictionary in 1828 is much closer to 1611 than these modern-day dictionaries. You understand languages typically decline over the years. So I’m getting something a little bit closer to a 1611 King James Bible dictionary, and it was by a godly man. So it can help me much in it. I don’t put all my stock in it, but it’s a tool. It’s a good tool you can use to study the Bible. Sometimes I say, “Well, that helps me.” Sometimes it doesn’t help me a bit in the world. Sometimes I don’t agree with it because of what I’ve already read in the Bible. See? I’m going to go by the Bible, first of all, but it’s a great tool.
Number four: Study the original languages or the original language definition. In your little syllabus there, it says Koine Greek. That’s the New Testament. The New Testament original language is Koine Greek. By the way, they don’t speak that type of Greek today. That’s very important. That type of Greek they don’t use today. In the Old Testament, it’s Hebrew for the vast majority. There are a couple of chapters, just a little bit in Ezra and Daniel, and then a verse really in Jeremiah that uses Aramaic. Well, that’s just very minute for the vast majority; it’s Hebrew. But often the part that gets so confusing is the Greek. And I want to just talk about that for just a minute here. Study the original languages. Typically, the tool that is used for that is the Strong’s Concordance. If you were to look up ‘lust,’ it’ll give you a number over by the side of it. You can look it up in the back. I haven’t used the book in so long. Or if you have computer software, for mine, you click ‘interlinear,’ and then you hold your cursor over there and pull up the Greek, or you just click on it and go. And here’s the thing, that’s very helpful. It’s got basically a Greek lexicon or dictionary built into it. But can I say this about that? I would not put a whole lot of stock in that either. It’s a help. But I’m basically going by what Strong thinks that word means. And Strong’s is a pretty good man, but can I say this? Strong had some flaws. Did you realize that Strong was on the committee for the New American Standard Bible? He died before it got published, but he was part of it. So I’ve got to be careful even there. If somebody just puts all their stock on Strong’s, well, pray for Strong, but he’s just a man. And I want to learn. I want to try to get something from them, and I’ve got to be careful with that.
And by somebody—well, and this is what I have promised so many guys on the radio and TV—“Well, the Greek means this or that.” Well, how do you know that? Because some Greek guy told you that in some university somewhere—excuse me, not some Greek guy, some Greek teacher, professor—and he got that from some book somewhere. And let’s just be honest about it. I remember a guy who wanted to argue about something, and he said, “Well, the Greek means this right here.” And I said, “Oh, you know Greek? I’ve studied Greek.” I said, “Well, quote me here, read me a paragraph of Greek.” He couldn’t do it. So why am I supposed to—well, because this is what so-and-so said? I said, “Well, how do you know that he’s right?” I’m going back to man. You understand what I’m saying? And I’m not saying it’s wrong. And I’m part of the formula, but friend, be so careful with that.
They will use the term exegete. That’s not a bad term. It’s just good at explaining a word or what it means. Greek will do this. Greek is a very specific language. Most of you know this: for the word ‘love,’ there are three to four Greek words that can be translated into love. And so with that, I always have been taught, and I believe this: Greek can be like a magnifying glass. And you can put it on there and bring some things out you never saw before. But if Greek is changing what the Bible is saying, which often you’ll hear on the radio and TV, I’ve got a problem with that. Now, I want to bring something, I want to learn something, I don’t want to change it. By the way, if this Greek professor disagrees with what the King James Bible says—look, that was 47 of the best scholars of that day and time—I don’t think he would measure up with one of them. Not one of them. By the way, translation was kind of the height at that time. They had been working out many other English translations leading up to the height of it. And so I’m not going to take some Dr. Messier up over here and say it ought to say this, when 47 of the best scholars of that day and time—and it has been proven for 400 years—I’m not going to go against that for some guy that thinks he knows Greek, and he can’t even read or say a paragraph of Greek. Come on now. He didn’t grow up with it because it’s not used anymore. So be careful.
Be careful. I remember over here, and his apartment’s over here, and some fellow said, “Well, that word over there in John 14, it doesn’t merely mean mansion, you know, it doesn’t. It doesn’t, it doesn’t, it doesn’t—it’s not right when the Bible says he’s got mansions prepared for us. That Greek word doesn’t mean mansions.” I can’t remember if I told him this, said it, or I wanted to say it—I can’t remember saying it or not—but I think maybe I did with him. I don’t know. I said, “Hey, won’t you read me a paragraph of Greek if you know it so well?” Now, they can’t do that. And even if they could, they just learned it from some Greek class like I learned whatever that guy, Mr. Pins, taught us in Greek class. Because I’m going to want Mr. Pins in the books he reads. So it’s very helpful, but be wise about it. Look, friend, I’m telling you, what you’ve got right here is it. That’s what you put your stock in right there. There’s always going to be men come along kind of bashing against it and trying to change it, perfect it. Hey, listen, the words of the Lord are pure. Later on, study out what’s there. Yes, somebody’s great tools, and they can put a magnifying glass on it, but I want what God said, not what somebody thinks he said.
So important. So number four, you say you used it, but then you bashed it the whole time. But it’s a tool. I don’t want you to put all your stock in it, though. Understand. It’s a tool that God could use. And it even has the magnifying glass. That’s a big help for me. Yeah, it can help me get some things out of it that I didn’t know were there. But if it’s starting to change the Bible, I’ve got a problem with it. See?
Then number five. You all still want me today? Number five? Good deal. Just how to study the words. I’m trying to look up words. I want to do a word study. How do I do that? Number five: A good Bible dictionary.
There are so many of them out there now. American Tract Society—sometimes I like it because it gives more. Some are just so short or they don’t cover a lot of words. It covers a lot, and I like that. Smith’s Bible Dictionary, Unger’s Bible Dictionary, East’s Bible Dictionary. And there are others, others that are good ones, but get you a good Bible dictionary. Here’s Unger’s Bible Dictionary. This is a Holman Bible Dictionary. I’ve just gotten lazy, to be honest truth. I use Bible software so much, I don’t use the hardbacks that much anymore. But there’s so much out there. We’ll talk about it next Wednesday, and I’ll show you some. That’s very inexpensive. You don’t have to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars. You can get E-Sword for free. Power Bible, seven bucks. There are programs out there that you can get very inexpensively that have a lot of these things in there. Same thing with that. It’s a Bible dictionary. It’s a good thing, but a man wrote it, and I’m going to take it, but I’m going to be wise about it and realize that—that is just a man-written book.
Number six: With caution, search the definition online. You can just search it out: “What’s the definition of so-and-so?” And a lot of times you’ll get different articles coming up, some good, some bad. I say with caution. Sometimes you’ll do that, and jw.org will come up, and it’s just Jehovah’s Witness. I’m not going to go by that at all, but sometimes you’ll find some helpful things. Sometimes that will help you study the root word of a word, and when did it come from? Did it come from Latin? Did it come from Greek? And you can find out the root word of that word, and that might help a little bit. The biggest thing, I want to try to use the Bible to define the Bible. That’s what I’m asking. Now, some of these help, and they may help me kind of chisel off something to get to the root definition, or the defined definition. But I want to use the Bible best I can. That’s so important to use the Bible.
Then number seven: Once I give it a definition, once I have a definition written out or defined, once I have it, I want to do two things. Once you have a definition put down, however you want to put it, I want to do two things—double check. That’s the way I want to double check my definition. Number one: Will it fit in other scriptures? All right, our definition of lust we gave it: “Strong inner desire for something, using it for something you know you should not have.” Or I can go through those old 21 times lust is mentioned, and does it fit every time? If it doesn’t fit, I don’t have the right definition. I can double check. Lasciviousness: “Being controlled by your desire.” It’s mentioned six times total. Does that fit in every one? And that’s a double check for my definition I just gave for that word. I can double check, make sure it’s correct or not, from God’s word. I can just double check.
And then number two: Ask the—who’s the author of the Bible? Ask the Holy Spirit, “Is this what you are saying?” It’s amazing sometimes you just ask. Just ask Him. It’s shocking what you get for asking. “Lord, I’m having a hard time grasping this. Is this what you mean by that?” And you just ask. Friend, God wants to reveal His word to you. You don’t have to have a certain IQ. You don’t have to be the greatest scholar. You have a humble, truthful desire for God in His Word, and He’ll teach it to you. Now, He may use some of these things that I mention; He may not, but He’s the author of it, and He can teach you. Think, by the way, sometimes I’ll look up a Bible dictionary or I’ll go online and I’ll search it, and boy, the Holy Spirit can tell you right up front, you know, truth just rings true, and the Holy Spirit says, “You know, that’s not right.” I just say, “Well, I’ll be able to that.”
But you take Him, by the way, double-checking it. Just does that definition work through all these others? Well, that’ll tell you. The Bible’s a wonderful book. It’s a—you know, that puzzle. I often mention the jigsaw puzzle when it comes to the Bible. And the more you put those pieces, and the more you get it put together, you used to have, you know, 498 pieces left because you only put two together, you know, if you’ve got a 500-piece puzzle, whatever it is, you know. But once you only have maybe 50 of them left, then it starts getting easier. And the Bible’s amazing how it interlocks itself. Over the years, you put some time and some energy and some study into it, and the more you get into it, this passage begins to open up. You’re like, “Wow, I never saw how Revelation opens up Daniel and Daniel opens up Revelation.” It’s amazing how the Bible fits together wonderfully. It’s a wonderful book. That’s going to take some study, but it’s worth it.
By the way, He told us, “Study to show thyself approved unto God.” He told us to study it. By the way, almost all the new versions take that word ‘study’ out of there. Second Timothy 2:15. Check it out, almost all of them. No, the Bible tells us to study it. When you begin to study the Bible, it just becomes alive to you. It will. It’s going to take some work, some effort, but the Holy Spirit wants you to know it. He wants you to know it for sure.
Original File: Pastor Paul Chisgar - Wednesday PM 08242022