Naylor Community Christian Church
Naylor, Georgia
I. Introduction
-- I’m
going to open this morning by reading from the Book of Nehemiah – we’re not
going to dig into this text this morning – I just wanted to read it for context
and to frame the message today
-- so, you’re welcome to join me in
Nehemiah 7:73b to 8:8 or you can just listen as I read this passage without
comment, from the Word of God
-- Nehemiah Chapter 7, the second
part of verse 73
Nehemiah 7:73b When the seventh
month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, 8:1 all the people
came together as one in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the
teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord
had commanded for Israel.
2 So on the first day of the
seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was
made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. 3 He read it
aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in
the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the
people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.
4 Ezra the teacher of the Law
stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion. Beside him on his right
stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah and Maaseiah; and on his left
were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah and Meshullam.
5 Ezra opened the book. All the
people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it,
the people all stood up. 6 Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the
people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and
worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
7 The Levites—Jeshua, Bani,
Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah,
Jozabad, Hanan and Pelaiah—instructed the people in the Law while the people
were standing there. 8 They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear
and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.
-- I read a
story about this young man from a wealthy family who was about to graduate from
high school – he was looking forward to the graduation gifts he expected to
get, especially the new car that he just knew his mother and father were going
to give him in celebration of his graduation
-- and that
was not an unreasonable expectation – you see, his father and he had spent
months looking at cars – and the week before his graduation, they finally found
the perfect car – both of them agreed that this was the car he needed – and so,
the young man was certain that his father was going to get it for him as a
graduation present
-- when the
graduation ceremony ended and his parents came up to congratulate him on the
field, his father handed him a gift-wrapped box – he excitedly grabbed the elegantly
wrapped package, thinking that the keys to his new car must be inside
-- you can
imagine what went through his mind when he tore open the paper and opened the
box and found only a Bible in the box – a leather-bound Bible with his name
imprinted on it
-- he
looked at the Bible – he looked at his father – and disappointment and shock
was on his face – he took the Bible out of the box and turned it upside down,
expecting car keys to fall out – but nothing did – except for the Bible, the
box was empty
-- the
young man was so angry at his parents because he didn’t get the new car he felt
he deserved that he threw the Bible down on the school field where the
graduation had been held – and stormed out – he went to his house and packed
his stuff and had a friend come pick him up
-- his father tried to stop him –
to speak to him – to explain to him what was going on – but he shrugged off his
father’s hand and ran out of the house – he and his father never saw each other
again
-- he
finally went home years later, after he received the call that his father had
passed away – he went – not out of love – but once again, out of a desire to
get what was due him – the inheritance that his father left
-- as he went through the box of
possessions that his father had specifically set aside for him, he found the
leather-bound Bible that his parents had given him at his graduation – he
picked it up – brushed away the dust – and idly began flipping through the
pages of this book that had brought him such distress
-- as he did so, a piece of paper
tucked inside the Bible in the Gospel of Matthew caught his eye – he pulled it
out – and saw that it was a cashier’s check, dated the day of his graduation,
in the exact amount of the car he and his father had chosen
-- the father had been trying to
help his prodigal son learn a greater message on the day he left home – he knew
that his son wanted the car, and he was happy to provide it for him – but he
also knew that his son’s future depended more on his relationship with God than
anything else
-- so, the father had highlighted a
verse in the Book of Matthew as a message to his son – Matthew 6:33 -- "Seek
first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to
you"
-- now this story is probably not
true, but it still speaks to us with a message that is as true for us today as
it was when these words were first written down – the most important thing for
us to do is to follow the precepts of Matthew 6:33 and seek first the Kingdom
of God and His righteous – to seek a relationship with Him – to seek to grow in
our knowledge of Him – for it is through this relationship that we will find
the things that we need – the things that will give us life
-- as we talked about last week, we
are beginning a sermon series on spiritual disciplines and spiritual gifts, for
these are how we can do what Matthew 6:33 tells us to do – seek God – and seek
His kingdom and His righteousness
-- through the spiritual
disciplines – those acts on our part that we do to grow closer to Christ and
grow in our knowledge and understanding of Him – and the exercise of our
spiritual gifts – the supernatural empowering of the Holy Spirit through us to accomplish
God’s will and direction – we become mature Christians who truly know and love
God and seek His kingdom above all
II. Spiritual
Disciplines
-- before
we begin discussing each of the major spiritual disciplines, I want to take a
moment and talk about what spiritual disciplines are, in general, and how we
practice them
-- last
week, we read in 2 Peter 1:4 that we have been called to “participate in the
divine nature” of Christ – and we discussed how this implies action on our part
– that to do so – to participate in the divine nature of Christ -- we have to
get up, pick up our mat, and follow Him, just as the lame man by the pool of
Bethesda did
-- so, spiritual
disciplines are the practices that we take up in order to do just that
– these disciplines are known in
the church as “means of grace” – and what this phrase means is that throughout
the history of man’s relationship with God – dating all the way back to Adam
and Eve in the Garden of Eden -- right through the church age that we are in
now – men and women have experienced the grace and presence of God as they have
practiced these various spiritual disciplines
– hence, these are the “means” –
the ways – the things that we do – to grow closer to God – these are the things
that our forefathers in the faith have done and that experience has proven that
God uses as an avenue to pour out His grace and presence in our lives
-- in other words, throughout
history, these spiritual disciplines are how people have found God and grown in
their knowledge of Him
-- but here’s the thing about
spiritual disciplines – they are personal – and the way that one person finds
God and relates to Him may not be the way that another person relates to God –
each of us must find our own way
-- let me give you a good
illustration of why this is true – several years ago, Gary Chapman wrote a
ground-breaking book called, “The Five Love Languages” – and in this book, he
made the case that people were different – that they expressed and understood
love differently – so, if you were to relate to them, you had to know what
their love language was – the five love languages that Chapman listed in his
book were Words of Affirmation, Acts of Service, Receiving Gifts, Quality Time,
and Physical Touch
-- what Chapman taught in this book
was that some people express their love to others in words -- by complimenting
them – saying good things about them – and, likewise, they experienced love –
they felt love -- when others spoke words of affirmation to them
-- another way Chapman said some
people express love was actively -- by doing things – acts of service – for
another person – washing the dishes for them – taking out the trash – little
things like that – and, likewise, when someone did a kind thing for them, some
little act of service, they felt love from the other person
-- the book goes on through each of
these five love languages – but Chapman pointed out that the love languages had
to match the person – that if someone felt love through quality time – if they understood
love to be spending time with another person – then someone doing things for
them, wouldn’t speak to their hearts the same way
-- you could do all kinds of chores
and things for them, but they wouldn’t be happy – they wouldn’t feel loved –
they would rather just have you sit on the couch with them than do things for
them, because that is who they are – that is how they are created – that is how
they experience and feel love
-- so, the love languages have to
match – you have to speak love in the language the other person understands,
and they have to do the same for you
-- everybody is created differently
and receives and expresses love differently
-- I believe the spiritual
disciplines follow the same pattern – some people relate best to God through
reading the Bible – holding a Bible in their hand and reading the word of God
and listening for His voice through the pages
-- others relate best to God and
feel His presence when they sing or praise God in song or other forms of
worship
-- and others relate to God by acts
of service – doing things for Him and in His name – ministering to other people
-- for this is where they feel His presence more closely than any other way
-- some use several of the
disciplines, depending on where they are in their lives or how they are feeling
in the moment
-- so, here’s my advice – find the
spiritual discipline that speaks to you – or find a way to approach the
spiritual discipline in a way that makes it easier for you to relate to God
– for instance, we’re going to talk
about reading the Bible today as a spiritual discipline – some people aren’t
good at reading – they get confused with the words and the language and they’re
just not readers – but if they listen to the Bible instead of sitting down and
reading words on a page, they might find they understand it better – they might
be auditory learners who learn through speech more than through reading a text
-- you do you – you do what works
for you – and don’t let anyone judge you for the way you relate to God – and
vice versa – just because somebody else does something else or does a spiritual
discipline in a different way, that’s okay, too – because that’s their love
language with God
-- everybody with me? – okay, then
let’s get moving – turn with me if you would to 2 Timothy 3:16-17
2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is
God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in
righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for
every good work.
III. The Spiritual
Discipline of Reading God’s Word
-- the
first spiritual discipline I want us to talk about is the one that everybody
knows – reading the Bible – reading God’s word
-- when you
become a Christian, the very first thing you are told to do is read the Bible,
right? – why is that?
-- well,
it’s because the experience of mankind is that God speaks to us through the
Bible – through the Scriptures – this is God’s primary way of communicating
with us today – and in His word, we find guidance and direction – we find
encouragement and hope – we find comfort and salvation
-- the
Bible is the primary source of relating to God today – and the word itself
tells us that
-- in these
verses, we read, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching,
rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may
be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
--
“God-breathed” – this means that these words were given by God Himself to us –
the Holy Spirit inspired the human writers of the Bible to pen the words that
they were given – He led them to write down what God wanted us to know – and
God has kept the Bible intact and inerrant throughout history – with His words
coming down to us and meaning the same thing for us – as they have throughout
the history of mankind
-- so, the
Bible is literally the Word of God – and for that reason alone, we should make
an effort to try to read it and understand it and apply it in our lives today
-- and God
tells us here in 2 Timothy that His word is useful for teaching – for gaining
knowledge about God and His purposes and His ways and for sharing those with
others – we know what we do about God and His interactions with mankind – of
His commands and His precepts -- because of the written word that was passed
down to us to teach us and for us to use to teach others
-- it is
useful for rebuking and correcting – some Bibles read, “rebuking and reproving”
– very similar concepts – very similar actions
– to rebuke is a harsher form of
correction – it is using God’s word to stop someone immediately with strong
disapproval – if someone is blaspheming God – someone is actively sinning
against another – committing an evil or an injustice – you rebuke them – you
proclaim God’s word to them in a way that pronounces judgment upon them and
their actions
-- to reprove or correct is a more
gentle correction – it is like gently steering a horse in the direction it
should go versus pulling harshly on the rein to stop it – you reprove and
correct Christians when they are straying from God’s word – when they are
disobeying God or making bad decisions and bad choices – you show them the way
they should go by using God’s word, so that you can correct their behavior and
help them follow the correct path
-- finally, Paul tells us here that
the Bible is useful for “training in righteousness” – this is applying the word
of God to your life – teaching provides knowledge – training implements wisdom
– it means taking what you know, and doing something with it
-- think of the word “training”
here in a horticultural sense – when you “train” a plant, you turn it’s
branches in the direction that you want it to go and grow – for instance, with
grape vines, the farmer will take the branches of the vine and train them along
a trellis – showing them the direction they are to follow and to grow into
-- that is the context of this
instruction that Paul gives here
-- so, when we are “trained in
righteousness,” we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us and direct us down the path
God wants us to go as He trains us and grows us in the grace of God
-- these verses conclude by telling
us that if we let the Holy Spirit, through the word of God, teach us, rebuke
us, reprove us, and train us for righteousness, we will be thoroughly equipped
for every good work
-- in other words, it is through
the study and application of the Bible in our lives that we become mature
Christians, equipped to do what God is calling us to do and to become who He is
calling us to become
-- and I want to make sure you see
that – reading the Bible is not the ultimate goal – simply picking up the Bible
and reading the word everyday and then putting it back down and going your own
way is NOT what God intends
-- reading the Bible is part of the
journey and is the means by which God shapes us and molds us and speaks to our
heart so that we do what He wants us to do and become who He wants us to be
-- I have known atheists and
cultists in my life that knew the Bible a whole lot better than me – they knew
chapter and verse – they could recite it back to me when I tried to share with
them – they had read their Bibles and they knew them inside and out
-- but the reading of the Bible had
not changed who they were because they had read the Bible as an exercise – as a
way of gaining worldly knowledge -- and not as a means of grace – not as a way
to relate to God – not as a way to allow the Holy Spirit to work within them
and through them to do God’s will and purpose
-- you can read the Bible every day
– you can memorize Scripture and recite it back – but if you don’t let the word
of God change you – if you don’t experience God through the reading and
memorization of Scripture – you are missing the point
-- George
Barna, the Christian researcher and pollster, made this comment following a
survey of Bible-reading habits by Christians:
"True discipleship is about a lifestyle, not simply about stored up
Bible
knowledge."
-- "Often, churches assume
that if people are reading the Bible and attending a small group, then real
discipleship is happening. Unfortunately, we found that's often not the case.
Discipleship is about being and reproducing zealots for Christ.
“Discipleship, in other words, is
about passionately pursuing the lifestyle and mission
of Jesus Christ. Our studies revealed that a surprisingly small
proportion of born again Christians claim that they are aggressively seeking to
be true followers of the Lord."
-- Barna’s research hammers home
the point that I’m trying to make here -- always remember the reason why we are
encouraged to read the Bible – it is not just to read it as a daily exercise or
practice – it’s not just to learn more about God – we read the Bible as a way
to hear God speak to us – as a way to grow in our love and knowledge of Him –
as a way to passionately pursue the lifestyle and mission of Jesus Christ and
participate in His divine nature
-- when it comes to approaching the
Bible in the church, there are two spiritual errors that a lot of people make
– the first is that they avoid the
Bible altogether – they don’t read the Bible – they don’t take it in – they
receive no nourishment from it – Steve Farrar called these people, “spiritual
anorexics,” because they way they avoid the Bible is the same way someone with
anorexia avoids food
-- a spiritual anorexic is a person
who refuses to eat -- they refuse to take in the word of God -- sure, they own
a Bible -- they may own several Bibles -- but they never open the Bible up to
see what God says
-- the second error in approaching
the Bible is “spiritual bulimia” – when someone just goes overboard on reading
the Bible – it’s like they’re binging on the word of God – they are just taking
it in and in and reading it constantly, but then they purge themselves of the
word and deny their bodies of the essential nutrients that God has provided
--
spiritual bulimics readily read God's word -- they may be actively involved in
Bible Studies and Sunday School -- they may devote hours and hours each week to
reading the Scriptures -- but there is an aversion to applying the scripture to
their lives
-- just like the bulimics with the
eating disorder, people who approach the Bible like this take in vast amounts
of Scripture, but they don't apply it, so they lose out on the nourishment it
offers
--
scriptural facts might be in their mind, but they are not integrating them into
their lives – like the atheists and cultists I mentioned – a lot of Christians
do the same
-- a person
has spiritual bulimia when they consistently refuse to apply what they read in
the Bible to their lives – they take the word in, but they don’t use it – the
Bible warns us about this and tells us to not be merely "hearers" of
the word but "doers" of the word
-- we
should be like the prophet Ezra -- the scriptures state that "Ezra had set
his heart to study the law of the Lord and to practice it." -- the key to
finding nourishment from the Bible is to read it – to study it -- on a regular
basis -- to seek God’s presence and His voice through what we read -- and then to
apply what we are taught
-- the goal
is to have a balanced approach to reading Scripture so that the Spirit can use
it to mold us and shape us into the image of Christ
-- so,
let’s get down to the nitty-gritty – we know that we need to read the Bible –
we know that God speaks to us through His word – we know that this is a means
of grace that God gave us from the very beginning – and we are aware of the
dangers of spiritual anorexia and bulimia
-- so, how
should we read the Bible? – once again, remember the Five Love Languages – find
a way to read the Bible that works for you
-- speaking
broadly, you have two main avenues – you can pick up the Bible and read it as a
book on whatever platform works best for you – a physical book or a screen -- or
you can listen to the Bible being read to you – or do both – experiment and see
what works best for you
-- like I
said, some people are auditory learners and learn best by hearing someone else
speak – others can read the text and get more out of the word that way – they
key is find what works for you and do it – don’t say you’re going to do it – do
it
-- what
version of the Bible do I need to read? – what translation is the best? – the
answer here is simple – the best translation of the Bible out there is the one
that you can read and understand
-- do not
let anyone tell you that you have to read the Bible in a certain translation or
it doesn’t count – they don’t know what they are talking about – I know that we
have several denominations and Christians in our community who are King
James-only Christians – and they will put down anyone who doesn’t read the
Bible in that translation
-- as one
woman told me, “If it was good enough for Jesus, it’s good enough for her”
-- the KJV
is a fine translation, if you can understand it – but if you have difficulty
reading sentence structure and words from the 17th century, then
don’t read it
– I had a friend who was discipling
someone one time and asked the guy to read a passage from his Bible – he had
the King James version and he read the passage and then my friend asked him
what it meant to him – he said, “I don’t know – I didn’t understand it” – so,
my friend asked if he could see this guy’s Bible – he picked it up – and threw
it across the room – and as the guy looked on in disbelief, my friend said, “It
does you no good to read God’s word if you can’t understand the words you are
reading – find a Bible you can understand, and use that”
-- I use the 1984 New International
Version to teach from because I have found it to be an easy-to-read and
easy-to-understand translation – it is written at about an eighth grade level,
so it’s not too difficult for most people to comprehend
-- this works for me – but if it
doesn’t work for you, find something that does – God’s word is contained in the
various translations and paraphrases – find one you can read and understand –
or hear and understand – and use it
-- it is more important that you
can understand what God is saying to you than to dogmatically stick with a
translation because someone told you this was the only one you could use
-- so, first we are going to choose
whether we are reading the Bible or listening to the Bible – or both – and then
we are going to find a translation of the Bible that we can actually understand
– and then we’re going to commit to getting into God’s word every day
-- next question: how much should I
read every day? – once again, it’s your choice – here’s my recommendation –
remember the purpose of reading the Bible – it is to grow in your knowledge and
understanding of God so you can participate in His divine presence
-- you don’t have to read an entire
book or entire chapter every single day to hear God – sometimes, God will speak
to you from one single verse – and that one verse is enough for that day
-- Dietrich Boenhoffer, the
martyred German priest from World War II, taught in his seminary the practice
of seeking God in smaller passages and single verses and then rereading those
passages or that single verse every day for a full week or longer
-- the goal was to let God speak to
you through that passage or verse – to dwell on it – to seek God’s voice and
presence – and see what He wanted you to do with that verse that week
-- don’t feel like you have to read
through the Bible in a whole year – the intent is not to log the amount you
read – the intent is to listen for God’s voice in what you read – whether that
is a chapter or a single verse
-- read what God leads you to read
and no more – and allow yourself the flexibility to go where He sends you – to
the Book or Chapter in the Bible He wants you to read – instead of what you had
planned to read that day
-- I did not intend to spend an
entire message on 2 Timothy 3:16-17 today – I had planned to go to Psalm 119 –
but God said otherwise – and here we are
-- it’s good to have a plan – but
remember that God is sovereign – He is our Lord – He knows what you need – so,
if you have a plan to read a certain passage today, but you feel like you need
to read something else – follow your gut – because that might be the Spirit
leading you to the particular passage and verse that God wants to speak to you
through today
-- so, to sum all this up – the
most important thing is to get into God’s word however you can – whether it’s
through reading or through listening – and to make sure it is in a format that
you can understand and absorb
-- read where God directs you and
don’t worry about reading a certain amount every day – have a plan – follow
your plan – but if God leads you elsewhere, submit to His leadership
-- in January 2025, I decided to
read through the Bible again – I pulled out my one-year Bible, which is a great
format for reading the word of God – but I got pulled away from the daily
reading time and time again – this is January 2026, and right now I’m on August
11th – but that’s okay
-- remember, the purpose is not to
log the amount you read – but to hear God and grow closer to God as He speaks
to you through His word – if you can read though the Bible in a year, great! –
but if it takes you three years, that’s okay, too
-- the important thing is to stay
in the word – to hear God through the Word – and to let Him mold you and make
you – to let Him teach you and rebuke you and correct you – to let Him train
you in all righteousness – because He is shaping you into the person He wants
you to be so that you can be thoroughly equipped for every good work He has
called you to do
V. Closing
-- I know this has gone long, but
we had a lot of ground to cover – if I didn’t answer your questions about
reading the Bible today, come see me and I’ll help you work through them
-- I want to close with the words
of George Mueller, a powerful man of God who lived over a 100 years ago --
Meuller is speaking here on the value of scriptural meditation and the study of
God’s word:
"Now I saw that the most
important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of
God and to meditate on it, that thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged,
warned, reproved, instructed; and that thus, whilst meditating, my heart might
be brought into experiential communion with the Lord.
"Now what is food for the
inner man: not prayer, but the Word of
God: and here again not the simple reading of the Word of God, so that it only
passes through our minds, just as water runs through a pipe, but considering
what we read, pondering over it, and applying it to our hearts."
-- Mueller demonstrated through his
life what we have been talking about in this message – reading the word of God
is one of the primary spiritual disciplines because it is known as a means of
grace
-- by reading God’s word – by
listening to God’s word – we commune with God in a real and personal way – we
hear Him through His written word – and as we meditate on what we have read –
as we think about it and apply it to our lives – it changes us and helps us
grow in grace and become more like Jesus in our ways and our thoughts
-- so, let me encourage you today
to take up God’s word – to pick it up and read it or listen to it every day –
to seek first the kingdom of God and His presence through the word – so that
you might grow more and more like Him every single day
-- with that, let us close in
prayer and as the last song is played, please respond to God and His word as
you feel led
-- let us pray
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