Laboring in the Word of God

The theme of the General Conference of Elders this year was Live the Word. It sought to build upon the theme of the General Conference meetings from 2015, which was Labor in the Word. In the Labor in the Word sessions, the ministry came together and spent significant time engaged in teaching sessions and training and classes and that pointed us to opportunities and to how it is that we need to, as a ministry, delve deeper into God's Word in order to understand it more thoroughly for ourselves, but then by extension to be able to go on and teach it more effectively as well. Labor in the Word is an important part of the instruction given to the ministry in Scripture. And as it's portrayed for the ministry, it's not study only, but labor in the Word is preaching as well as study, it's teaching, it's engaging in those pastoral duties in terms of guiding and directing and helping the spiritual growth of the flock. And so that is specific to what the ministry is to be doing in terms of their calling, but labor in the Word is not completely delegated to the ministry only. The fact is, brethren, all of us should be labor in the Scripture to the point that we have a firm grasp on the meaning and instruction that it contains for our life.

So for today's message, what I'd like to do is actually kind of rewind a little bit. I'd like to go back to the topic of laboring in the Word, and I address it with us today from the perspective of laboring in our Bible study, because again, it's a topic that I believe is relevant to us all.

Now, the labor in the Word is not just to have a cursory understanding of what the Bible says. It's not to just sort of breeze through it quickly and have a casual overview of the Scripture, but it's to delve deeply into the context and the meaning and the spiritual intent of the Scripture. What is the lesson that God is giving us to learn? What is it in terms of the details that we can draw out through our deep and intensive study?

In 1 Timothy 4, the Apostle Paul admonishes Timothy to give proper attention to laboring in the Word of God. And in doing so, that was going to be a benefit not only to Timothy in his ministry, but it was going to be a benefit to those whom he would teach as well. Let's go to 1 Timothy 4, and we'll pick up the account in verse 12. See the Apostle Paul's instructions.

1 Timothy 4, verse 12, he says, Let no one despise your youth. He says, But be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. He says, Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, and to doctrine. So it would be that reading of the Scripture that was preserved in Timothy's day, as well as teaching.

The exhortation, the encouragement of the brethren, the instruction in the doctrine, which was the established teaching in that way. Verse 14, he says, Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy, with the laying on the hands of the eldership. Meditate on these things. Give yourself completely to them, that your progress may be evident to all.

Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them. For in doing this you will save both yourselves and those who hear you. And so, as the minister of Jesus Christ, fulfilling his role that he'd received upon ordination, Timothy was to commit his life to laboring in the Word.

He was to read it. He was to study it. He was to meditate on it. But then, by extension, he was to go to live it and to teach it. And the benefit would not be just for himself, although that would be increased benefit in that way. But the benefit was for those as well whom he was pastoring, who he was guiding and directing in the Word as well.

This passage tells me that as a minister of Jesus Christ, I'm expected to labor in the Word. The purpose of doing so is not for my personal benefit only, but it would then be for the benefit of those who I would teach and instruct and have interaction with in that way also.

Now, just over a page in my Bible, 1 Timothy 5, we continue to see more instruction on laboring in the Word. That's given to the ministry. 1 Timothy 5, verse 17, says, It says, So again, laboring in the Word is to be a primary focus of the ministry. It's where they put their attention and their time and their focus in order to be proficient in what it is that God has called them to do. They're to study it, come to understand it, and ultimately, they are to go on to teach it.

Verse 18, it says, And so there is a paid ministry that exists in the Church of God, and their focused work, or their full-time work, as we would call it, is then to labor in the Word, to focus on these things, again, to teach and instruct and help not only in their growth, but the growth of others.

As students, brethren of biblical instruction, you and I must spend time each and every day laboring in the Word of God. After all, these are the words of life. As Mr. Alwine pointed out in the first message, we're to be looking forward, looking to what it is that God has in store, not only for our life, but for the world at large, ultimately the establishment of the kingdom of God. And that focus comes through delving into and studying and looking into the Word of God. That focus isn't something that just is generated by our own thought process, independent of God. If the Sabbath service is the only time during the week that we have our Bibles open, it's the only time that we're engaging in the process, then we're not adequately laboring in the Word.

You and I can't expect that we will get everything that we need for the week out of a 12-minute sermonette and a 45-minute to an hour-long sermon. Laboring in the Word takes a personal active participation, and it's something that must go on all throughout the week. A regular part of our life, again, a routine that is devoted to studying into the Word of God.

If life has become too busy to devote to adequate time in our Biblical studies, then it's high time that we set new priorities in our life, or at the very least reorganize the ones which we have.

So I guess the question for you and I, brethren, would be, how wisely are we using the time we've been given?

Are we setting top priorities in our life to delve into the Word of God, spend time on our knees in prayer, to build that relationship? Because, you see, when we pray, we're talking to God, we're communicating to Him. When we study His Word, God is communicating to us. He's answering questions that we may have. He's instructing us in terms of how we're to develop into His character and His mindset.

His will is contained here in the words of God. And so, if we're to have a relationship with the one that we covenanted with at baptism, then, brethren, we ought to be engaged each and every day delving into the Word.

So again, how wisely are we using our time?

In Acts 6, beginning in verse 1, we see a circumstance which took place after the first Pentecost, in which God's Holy Spirit was poured out on the Church.

Acts 6 and verse 1, and what we're going to recognize is the apostles themselves acknowledge the need to have right and proper and adequate time and laboring in the Word.

Acts 6 and verse 1, says, So you had the time period, as I said, following that Pentecost, and many lingered in Jerusalem. You recall that, as they could, they sold those things which they had so that they could share all things in common.

And it says here, through that process, then, the numbers were multiplying, and yet you had the Greek-speaking Hellenistic widows who were being overlooked, where the Hebrew widows were being taken care of.

Verse 2, it says, You know, it wasn't that the serving of the widows wasn't an important thing.

It wasn't that it was something that was beneath the disciples, that they would never do something such as that for themselves. But you see, the apostles understood that the time in their life needed to be devoted into God's Word, to studying it, to preaching it, to proclaiming the gospel message, because that is what they had been called to do. Those other things were important, but they recognized that their time and their focus could be easily taken away by dealing with the day-to-day activities. And so, verse 3, it says, So again, the function of the apostles put them into a little bit of a different position than the others in regards to their need to be so completely immersed in the ministry of the Word.

And yet, I think the principle is valid for all of us. We need to recognize what in our life is pulling us away, if indeed it is, from laboring in the Word and focusing in it to the degree that we should. You know, we can always find things to fill our time with. There's plenty of things to do, in which direction you look. And many of those things are good. And so, we like to take on things and do things that we say, well, this is a good thing to do, and that's a good thing to do. And many of them are, but even too many of a good thing can distract us from what it is that ought to be our primary focus. A good thing can take our focus away from that which is necessary and should be of top priority in our lives.

Verse 5 going on, it says that the saying, please the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith in the Holy Spirit, and Philip. And it goes through and names the other seven. Verse 6, and they set before the apostles. And when they, the apostles, had prayed, they laid hands on them. And so, this is the origin of the office of the deacon.

And the responsibility of the deacon is to help relieve some of the day-to-day workload that would otherwise be on the ministry. That which are good things to be done and must be done, but they're things that could take the attention away that the minister needs to spend, then, on laboring in the Word.

A deacon and deaconess, brethren, is a needed and a trusted companion to both the ministry and the brethren. And they fulfill a very important role. Verse 7, it says, as a result, the Word of God spread. And the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith. And so the result was spiritual fruitfulness was produced. The Word of God went out, and the people were cared for, and the apostles could then continue in that way, laboring in the Word, proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Brethren, laboring in the Word of God must be a priority, again, each and every day in our lives. It's essential to our remaining grounded in the truth. It's essential to our ability to evaluate the validity of the things that we hear around us every day. Let's notice the example of the Bereans in Acts 17. Acts 17. Again, we're trying to evaluate what is it that we just heard in the news this week? What effect does that have on the world political scene and events leading forward in prophecy? How do we evaluate just the personal circumstances that happened in our life during the week at school or at work?

Whatever it might be. We evaluate those things through the Word of God. Again, Acts 17, beginning in verse 10. It says, then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. They'd been up in Thessalonica, and things had turned a little ugly for them. There was resistance to the degree of threat upon their life. So they were sent away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. The Apostle Paul is known as the Apostle to the Gentiles, but it was his routine, wherever he went, to first go and get thrown out of the Jewish synagogue. Then he would preach to whoever else wanted to follow and continue to listen. He maybe didn't always get thrown out of every synagogue, but it was a regular part of the pattern. Verse 11, it says, These, the Bereans, were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. So the Bereans were willing to listen to the message and the instruction that the Apostle Paul had brought to them. The message was, Jesus Christ the Messiah has come. He has died for the sins of mankind. Believe in Him, believe in the Son of God, and you can be saved. Have that relationship with God the Father, because your sins are forgiven. That was the message that he was bringing. And so the Bereans listened willingly, and yet they also understood the importance of proving that from Scripture. I would say, in a modern context, trust yet verify is a phrase you've all probably heard.

The Bereans accepted, heard what he had to say, but they said, you know, let's verify this against the Word of God as well. And, brethren, that should be our approach, too. You know, I remember as a child in church services hearing Mr. Armstrong saying, you know, don't believe me, don't take my word for it, but blow the dust off your Bible and prove it for yourself. And, you know, those are good words. The question is, do we do it?

Because we should be. You know, that's what we've been admonished to do all these years. Because, brethren, it takes us from simply being hearers of the Word to now having ownership personally in our lives today. Because we see it, we study it, and we put it into our minds and hearts personally.

How do you think the Bereans searched the Scripture? Now, I've thought about that as kind of an interesting concept to consider. Because when I search the Scripture, say in preparation for a message, where do I go? I go to e-sword, I go to Google, type in a key word, and boom, all the Scriptures related to that topic pop up, and I pull out the ones that I want to use in my message and put in there. So, you know, you and I could say, go to the Bible and use one of those tools, and we could prove Jesus was the Christ. Hey, I can show you all these Scriptures in the New Testament, and then I can show you these prophecies in the Old Testament. But remember, what was the Scriptures that the Brethren had? They had what we would call the Old Testament. You know, it was the Scripture unto them. And it wasn't that they had it all bound up in a book on the shelf like we do. It was in a scroll, multiple scrolls, in the synagogue. And so you would actually have to go and engage in the process of laboring in the Word, you know, manually rolling through these scrolls, reading what was written. My question is, could we do that? Could we do that with the Bible that we have? Could we prove that Jesus is the Messiah, fulfilling prophecies by telling the story of His life, and then point to the prophecies in the Old Testament? Because that's what they had. But let's up the ante a little bit. Because we ripped out the New Testament. Now, rip out the center marginal reference with the Scripture. You know, rip out the wide margin that you wrote your own notes in. Take out the chapter breaks which have been inserted. Take out the handy little chapter headings at the top. What would it take for you or I to prove from the Word of God that Jesus Christ was the Messiah and fulfilled these things?

I would say it would take some laboring in the Word, manually getting in there and digging. And when you consider the Bereans, what did it take? Well, it meant they had to have a working knowledge of the Scripture as a whole. They had to be well-versed in the flow and the context to know where to go to find these things in order to prove them so. They were conducting what we would call a technical review of the message of the Apostle Paul. And I would call that laboring in the Word. Brethren, it's something that in our modern-day age of convenience and help sources, I think it's something we've gotten away from.

But I think it's surely what we should be able to do in order to properly handle the Word of God. Verse 12, here carrying on, it's little chapter 17, says, Therefore many of them believed, because they found it, they proved it, and it was confirmed as being so. Many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men.

Brethren, we can't just casually take someone's word for what the Bible says. I don't want you to casually take my word for what I say it says. I want you to see that it says so for yourself. I think we have a relationship in such a way, you know I would never try to deceive you in any intentional way. But this word must be something that we all know personally and intimately for ourselves.

My job as a minister is to teach you from the Word of God, not to teach you my own opinion. And yet I say things in a message outside of what is quoted by Scripture, and what you need to understand is that those words are commentary. It is not Scripture. The church magazine articles, the booklets we put out, the blogs on the website, the Beyond Today television program, those sections that are not quoting directly from the Scripture are not Scripture, they are commentary.

Now we do believe that the commentary is inspired, that God through His Spirit guides and directs what it is that we say. But we need to understand the difference of what is commentary and what is Scripture. I believe commentary can be very helpful in applying these words to our lives. I appreciate good commentary, and I use commentary personally in my Bible study. It helps to guide and direct and give me areas of focus in certain ways, and so I do believe those things are important. But brethren, commentary should never be a replacement for Scripture, and it never should be the basis for our belief system.

The Word of God, pure, clear, and direct, must be the basis by which our belief system is built. The commentaries can help to add extra aid in coming to understand more fully the Word. But if your understanding of the Bible has come because of commentaries, then I say, turn to the Word. And I say, let's put labor in it. See what it is that it truly says. Yogi Berra, the commentator, not the purple bear in the cartoons, that's Yogi Berra. One time I quoted Yogi Berra, and after the sermon my wife said, that was a little embarrassing, I can't believe you quoted Yogi Berra.

Reverse, Yogi Berra. I said, well that's pretty funny, I wasn't quoting Yogi Berra, I was quoting Yogi Berra, and she says, well who's that? And I explained it to her, and I was kind of laughing, and I told the kids, I said, your mom's so funny, she thought I was quoting Yogi Berra, and they said, who's that?

So, you know, can't win for trying. But Yogi Berra, let's get it straight, Yogi Berra says that you can see a lot just by looking. And that's good advice. Brother and I would ask the question, how closely are we looking? Do we look personally to truly see what it is that the Bible has to say?

You know, it's amazing what we can actually see in Scripture when we're looking for ourselves. What does it say? Not does what somebody else says, what does the word say? We can learn a lot by looking. Fish Thessalonians 5, 21 tells us to test all things. Some translations say to prove all things. Hold fast to that which is good. And so laboring the word is there to help us come to understand what is truth and what is not. But again, we have to be willing to look for ourselves and to prove it for ourselves.

Notice the words of warning from the Apostle Paul to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3, verse 13. 2 Timothy 3, verse 13, again we're referring to the perspective of, you know, proving what is true, disproving what is not.

2 Timothy 3, 13, Paul says, but evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. And so there's going to be a spirit of deception, he's telling Timothy, that's going to be on the scene during his time. He's going to continue to increase and get worse all the way up to the end of the age. And he says, you need to be aware of that. But then he goes on to add the antidote to that deception.

Verse 14, he says, but you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them. And that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. You know, Timothy was well versed in the Word of God. He'd studied it from his youth. He'd grown up with his mother, or his grandmother, Lois, and his mother, Eunice, faithful individuals that had trained and brought him up in the faith and in this way. I guess in that sense we would consider Timothy to be a third generation Christian. He'd also received spiritual instruction and training directly from the Apostle Paul. And so he's reminding Timothy, in order to keep from becoming bogged down in that deception, remember what you have learned from the study of the Word. Again, that would have been the Scriptures that we would call the Old Testament. Remember those things. Remain grounded in them. And remember whom you received the message of Jesus Christ from, directly from the Apostle Paul. He says, remember what you've learned and from whom you've learned them. Important instructions for us today, brethren, as well. Continuing on, verse 16, he says, All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. So the things that we learn through our laboring in the Word of God equips us to do good. It equips us to stand in the face of deception, to be able to recognize what is truth and what is not. It equips us, brethren, to be able to walk as good servants of God the Father and Jesus Christ. Now, just cross the page in Titus chapter 1. We have the example of another minister who Paul was working with and instructing. Titus was left behind in a region to set things in order in a way that required a solid foundation as well in the Word of God. Titus chapter 1 and verse 5, Paul says, For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things which are lacking and appoint elders in every city as I command you. He then goes on to describe the qualifications for an elder.

Verse 9, Holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine to both exhort and convict those who contradict. And so the instruction for Titus was that he was to appoint elders who were well grounded in the Word of God, those who had labored in the Word and had that solid foundation. And that foundation wasn't something they were to develop after they were ordained. He said, Pull out men who have walked the course in that way, who know the Word, who can teach it, who can defend it, because there's heresy to be fought against here. And we need men who are strong in the faith. So laboring in the Word, brethren, is what these men already were doing before the thought or the office of ordination in that sense was ever brought to their attention. It was simply the way they were living their life. Carrying on, verse 10, he says, For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not for the sake of dishonest gain. Contending for the faith requires that the ministry of God be well-grounded in the Word of God. But it's not instruction for the ministry only, because the brethren, each and every one of us, must be well-grounded as well, in order to avoid deception, in order to be able to then recognize truth from error and implement the truth in our life. Notice Jude, verse 1, one chapter to the book of Jude. Jude, verse 1. Notice who this book is addressed to. Jude, verse 1, says, Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, brother of James, to those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ.

He says, mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. Jude isn't addressing specifically the ministry. He's addressing all the brethren, all the flock, those who are called and sanctified by God the Father, and Jesus Christ. Verse 3, he says, Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you, to exhort you, to contend earnestly for the faith, which was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turned the grace of our God into lewdness, and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

And so the warning is to the brethren that they be on guard against deception, that they understand indeed what the word of God says, so they will not be taken advantage of, will not be run around in that way. Brethren, all of us have a responsibility to fight for the truth, to preserve the true faith in our life, to stand up for what it is that we've been given, what it is we recognize in the Word of God, and to remain steadfast in that way.

My question would be, how can you fight for that which you do not know? How could you fight for the Word of God if you're not spending your time laboring in the Word of God, internalizing it, making it of paramount importance in your life? Again, indeed, we must be. If you're going to hold fast the faithful Word, as you've been taught, if you're going to contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints, then you and I have to spend our time coming to know it very, very well.

We have to devote our life to it. And part of that dedication is known as laboring in the Word. Again, brethren, to labor in the Word is not just a casual familiarity. It's not just a passing glance at what it is the Bible says, but it needs to be a deep and intimate study and an internalizing of the Word of God in our life.

Laboring in the Word of God leads to knowledge of God, leads to understanding of the plan of God. It needs to be something that we make that time for daily, because this truly, as Mr. Allwine said, is the focus of our life. Where are we going? What's our focus? What's our direction? What's our perspective? If it's grounded in the Word of God, then, brethren, we will have God's mindset as we walk through this life each and every day. Ephesians 5, verse 15, continuing on with the Apostle Paul's writing. Ephesians 5, verse 15. Paul says, See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise. To walk circumspectly means to have an understanding of your surroundings and your environment, an understanding of what's going on and how it is then that you should deal and respond to those things.

So walk circumspectly. Verse 16, he says, redeeming the time because the days are evil. So again, it's about what we are doing with the time that we've been giving. Are we using it well? Are we engaging in the study of God's Word to the degree that we should be? Are we using the time to learn and to grow spiritually and to build on that solid foundation, which has been laid before us, not only in Scripture, but in our life through the indwelling of God's Holy Spirit?

You know, God gives us the ability to understand. He gives us His Spirit that God indirects us, but we need to put it to work and use in our life as well. We need a labor in the Word. Verse 17, it says, therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. How do we come to understand the will of God?

It's not just the conclusion that we draw for ourselves and our own mind. It's what we come to by studying His Word. His mind is here. The knowledge He has revealed is here. And by God guiding and directing us, we will begin then to understand truly what the will of the Lord is. So, brethren, how do we labor in the Word? How do we labor in the Word? We understand clearly we must do it, but how do we put it into practice? I suppose each and every one of us have our own methods by which we go about Bible study, and some methods are probably more effective than others.

But I'd like to share some points with us that will hopefully help our Bible study to be time that is spent more efficiently as we labor in the Word of God. So I have six points. We won't spend a whole lot of time in each point, but there's just six points to share with you, hopefully help you in laboring in the Word of God.

Point number one is set apart quiet time to study God's Word each day. Set apart quiet time to study God's Word each day. Because, you see, you're not going to get much out of your Bible study if there's constant distractions, constant things pulling at your focus. If the TV's blaring, if the phone's ringing, if the kids are crying, you know, at some point that's going to be detrimental to your studying into God's Word. So find what part of that day would be quiet, that you can devote your full attention to it, and use it. If you're an early riser, maybe it's before you head off to work, maybe it's before the children are up and out of bed. Maybe it's time you spend at night after everybody else in the house has gone to bed. That's one of my favorite times to spend in Bible study. Perhaps if your schedule lines up, well, with your spouses, it's a good time that you can sit down together, labor in the Word together. Iron sharpening iron. Use that time, and it will not only help build your relationship with God, but it will be effective in building your relationship with one another as well. So seek that quiet time to set apart for the study of God's Word. Point two, pray for God to give you understanding. Pray for God to give you understanding. Seek His inspiration. After all, brethren, these are His words. He inspired them, and when we study into them, we gain a further understanding as to who God is and what it is He is working out in our lives. So pray for that understanding. On our own, that's something that we can't fully comprehend and grasp. If this is God's mind inspiring these words, we need God's mind in us to fully grasp what it is He would have us to take from them. So pray for His inspiration and understanding in your Bible study. Notice Psalm 119, verse 33. Psalm 119, beginning in verse 33, here David says, And so this should be our attitude as we approach our Bible study each and every day. It should be a desire to understand it so that, brethren, we can then turn and live it. That's what David's saying. Verse 35, Testimonies and not-too-covetousness. Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things and revive me in your way. How much time during the day do we spend looking at worthless things? Things that really don't add value to our life. I like Netflix as much as the next person, but what does that really do for my spiritual growth and relationship with God? If I can find time to spend... I don't remember what the average is on television now these days. It seems like it's five hours a day, something in that range. But if I can find one or two hours a day for television, certainly I could find more time than that for God. It just simply means maybe I've got to turn one off and engage in the other. David says, you know, in verse 37, turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things and revive me in your way. Establish your word to your servant who is devoted to fearing you. Turn away my reproach which I dread for your judgments are good. Behold, I long for your precepts. Revive me in your righteousness.

So, brethren, there's things that should be of importance in the way that we approach this life, and certainly laboring in God's Word must be one of those that are first and foremost. So pray to God to help open your understanding. Proverbs 3, 5-6, a familiar passage to us in this way. It says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. And all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths. So again, in terms of Bible study, seek God's guidance and His direction. If we try to approach it from the perspective of simply our understanding as it is alone, apart from God, then we'll either misconstrue the Word or not get what it is that God is fully looking to teach us. So seek His mind. Pray for Him to give you understanding in these things. Point number three is to have a focused study pattern. Have a focused study pattern. Because with so many options, so many places that go in the Bible, it can be hard to know where to begin. And yet we have to start somewhere. And probably all of us have a little different pattern at which we study God's Word. But let's have something that is focused and consistent. I like to recommend doing a complete Bible read-through, in addition to a topical study that goes on alongside that as well. Because you see, both methods are important, and they teach us in different ways. If it's been a long time since we've read completely through the Bible from cover to cover, we can be missing out on the overview of Scripture. Often times in sermons, because it's not a Bible study technically in that way, it is a sermon. We're speaking about a point. So we jump to a Scripture here and a Scripture there. And sometimes our focus can simply be on a Scripture apart from all the rest of the context and overview. So make a regular habit of reading through the Bible simply for context and overview. And then alongside that have your topical studies that help focus you on a point. My problem with doing a Bible read-through is I see all these exciting things that I want to look at, and I kind of end up on these detours that derail me from reading through for overview. So I'd encourage you to keep a pen and paper there and just jot those things down as you come to them. You can go back and study into them later, but don't let it take you away from the process of reading through the Scripture. Because again, that's how it's been recorded for us. And there's much that we can lose sight of if we don't do that on a regular basis.

There's also certain times of the year, brethren, where topical studies naturally present themselves. When we come up onto certain holy days, perhaps when we approach, for example, the Day of Atonement, we might do a number of different topical studies in terms of fasting and drawing close to God and reconciliation and atonement. All those things that tie in. That's a regular part of what our study routine should be as well. But I encourage you to take on one without forsaking the other. You can set a routine to reading your Bible, maybe one session, do a topical study one session, or maybe you'll split your sessions in half reading Scripture part of the time and doing a study part of the time. It's really up to you. I'm not trying to mandate exactly how you would do your Bible study, but I just encourage you to try to make sure you get both aspects included in your study of God's Word.

Point 4. Let the Bible interpret the Bible. Let the Bible interpret the Bible. Brethren, there's times when we read through the Scriptures and we come across one that might seem to us to be confusing or out of place. Or maybe it's saying something that we wouldn't expect it to be saying in accordance to what we see in God's Word elsewhere. Those things can be somewhat confusing for us, but we need to let the Bible interpret the Bible. It's important we evaluate those different, cold Scriptures through the lens of the rest of the abundance of Scripture on that topic. Because God's Word does not contradict itself. There's translation errors that have taken place through the translation of the Word, but in its original form and autograph, the Word of God is authentic, it's true, and does not contradict itself. So learn to prove the Bible by the Bible. Don't try to force the lone, difficult Scripture into interpreting the other mass of clear Scriptures on the topic. That could be, in one sense, something that's easy to do. So what happens in the world around us, oftentimes, is to look at a Scripture in the Bible and say, Oh, this is what it says! And suddenly, because of one Scripture, you just threw out 120 others that are the weight of evidence over here. If you want to understand that Scripture, understand the context. Read for the flow. Understand what it is truly that's being addressed. The Bible does not contradict itself, but it does interpret itself. David declared in Psalm 119, verse 160, that the entirety of God's Word is truth, and every one of God's righteous judgments endures forever. In John 10.35, Jesus Christ stated that the Scripture cannot be broken, and so God's Word agrees with itself wholeheartedly. And of course it would. It's the same mind inspiring all these words across the pages, across the centuries. It's the mind and the inspiration of God, and it is in agreement in that way. So let the Bible interpret the Bible. Point 5 is to work to draw out what is contained in Scripture. Work to draw out, and I have draw out in quotes, what is contained in the Scripture.

The Bible was written in a time and a place much different than ours. It was written in a language, and to a culture much different than ours as well. And so we can't assume that everything contained in the Bible, that we're just going to automatically understand it perfectly from the perspective and the time in which we sit today.

There's things that we would look at and maybe view in one sense because of our culture and use of language, and that's not exactly what the Word of Scripture may be saying. And so I guess I'm telling us that we need to do our research. Which again, that sounds like labor, doesn't it? We need to labor in the Word, do our research, seek to draw out what is truly contained in the Scripture. While the principles of Scripture clearly apply to all of us, there are many passages where you wouldn't necessarily understand the full intent and meaning, again from our perspective, without asking and answering a number of questions related to it. For example, to whom was the passage written? To whom was it written? Because you see, the Bible was written and recorded for our benefit, however, much of the Bible was not written directly to us. Let me say that again. The Bible was written and recorded for us, but much of the Bible was not written directly to us. For example, the book of 1 Corinthians, how does it start? Well, it's from Paul the Apostle to the Church of God, which is in Corinth. That book was written directly, specifically to Corinth, and addressed specific issues related to that congregation.

So 1 Corinthians contains instructions that are specific to the situations that they faced, and what it is that that congregation was enduring and dealing with. Today we learn many valuable lessons that apply to us simply by reading through Paul's letter to the Corinthians in that way. But if we want to have a fuller understanding of the instructions contained in the book, we have to understand to whom it was written.

Who were those people? Where did they live? What was the culture? What was that society around them? Why did Paul have to specifically answer the questions which he answered in the book of 1 Corinthians? If you did your homework on Corinth, you'd realize it was the most important city in Greece in the Apostle Paul's time.

It was a bustling hub of commerce and trade. Corinth sat in a position where it controlled two port harbors. So you had ships and trade, commerce coming in and out on a regular basis. And so like many port cities, Corinth was a docking area for many ideas and philosophies and religious concepts. And so as a culture, Corinth was a degraded and idolatrous place to live.

And yet there was a church of God that was called out of that. A number of the things that Paul addressed in the book of 1 Corinthians are related to the pressures and struggles of that church that were called out of that pagan society, called to be different. And yet they still had struggles that were very much related to the pulls of that way of life, the pulls of the culture around them.

The fact is, you couldn't find a much more dysfunctional church than the Church of Corinth. I think it's interesting because who essentially was the pastor of the Church of Corinth? There's the Apostle Paul, and yet what he had to deal with is a very dysfunctional group of people in many ways. There's clear and open and strong rebuke from Paul and instruction in the book of Corinthians.

Now sometimes we think if a church has its problems, this certainly can't be the Church of God. Look at Corinth!

The Church of God, who is its pastor. What would our evaluation be today? I'm not saying that we must live steeped in problem, but brethren, it is a process, and hopefully we're being led by God's Spirit, whereby we can overcome those things.

But again, you need to understand what was the time, what was the place, to whom it was written. When you study Scripture, ask the question, who, what, when, where, how, and why. We all learned that in elementary school English, but that's investigative reading. That's laboring in the Word. Understanding those questions will give a deeper understanding into the context of what is being addressed, and it'll help you and I understand more fully what it is, that lesson that we need to learn, what it is to be applied in our life. For example, the Apostle Paul said, you know, I think it's right for the current distress that if a man is not married, that he remain that way. Does that universally apply for all time in all cases? If you're single now, don't marry. What was the context? What was happening there? Why did he say those things? That's all part of laboring in the Word, trying to pull out what it was in that way that was being addressed. So those things are important. Sometimes it takes a historical reference book or two to go alongside the Bible to understand those things, to understand the culture and history that surrounded those group of people. Sometimes it takes a Greek and a Hebrew lexicon to look up words in order to understand their fuller intent and meaning. Because words have changed over time. If I said my wife was hot, what would they think in the Corinthian church? Maybe they got to run down to the port and grab a bucket of water and throw it on her. You know? Words mean different things over time, and context change, and we need to understand what it was being said when it was being said.

The Scripture is in the Bible that, for example, there's a Greek word that is translated time. But there's another Greek word that's translated time in Scripture as well. And in the English, that's not designated for us. You just read through and it says time. Well, one means the passage of time, the chronology of time, day in, day out time. The other one means a slice of time, a season, an opportunity in which, once that time is passed, you cannot go back and necessarily do what you've been given. So understanding those things and what's being addressed sometimes takes a little deeper study than reading on the surface. Again, it takes work. We need to dig, and it's what I would call laboring in the Word. In technical terms, brethren, to draw out of the Scripture in those ways is called exegesis. It's a term of biblical hermeneutics. Exegesis, spelled E-X-E-G-E-S-I-S, means to draw out, to pull out what is contained there, what is it that the message is contained in that Scripture. And exegesis is a good thing, because if we're not careful, we can find ourselves doing the opposite.

The opposite is called isegesis, in technical terms. E-I-S-E-G-E-S-I-S. Isegesis is reading into the Scripture something that's not there. And if we're not cautious, that is a trap that many people have fallen into, and it can skew our understanding of the Word of God.

We don't want to study Scripture from the perspective of trying to prove our own personal preconceived ideas, as opposed to what it is that the Scripture actually says. Again, that's called isegesis. That's proof-texting. That's taking the Scripture and bending it to your will, as opposed to drawing out what it is that God is giving to you to understand.

In the Christian world today, many have used isegesis, or proof-texting, to say that the law of God is no longer binding on Christians today. That you don't have to keep the law in order to be saved and to be obedient in that way. And how do they do that? They pull a few slivers of Scripture out of context and line them up to say a certain thing that is not the case.

We understand what the Word of God says. We understand what the abundance of weight of Scripture says. We understand that in those slivers that are pulled out, you have to look at the context of what is being addressed. Again, seek to draw out of Scripture. Don't seek to add to it or take away.

Point number six, final point, is meditate on what you've learned.

Meditate on what you've learned. It often takes a period of time to fully grasp what we've studied, have the full effect of it sink into our life. Sometimes it takes reading the Scripture and then walking away throughout your day and you encounter a situation and then bang! The lesson hits home.

So meditate on these things. Keep them front and foremost in your mind.

Consider how you can directly use what you've gleaned in your studies.

Let's go back again to Psalm 119, this time in verse 97, and see David's words.

Psalm 119, verse 97, David said, Oh, how I love your law. It's my meditation all the day. It's what I think about. It's what I focus on. It's what guides and directs my steps as I walk throughout the day.

Verse 98, You through your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever before me, your commandments, not my enemies. Verse 99, I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation.

When God's ways are ever before us in our thoughts, brethren, they guide our works and our actions in a most positive way.

God's given us His Word so that we can come to know Him more fully, to know His nature and His character and His will for us. And we need to study into those things and meditate on them. Studying in the Word of God will reveal the mind and will of God. Laboring in it will teach us right from wrong. It will help us to understand what sin is, what sin is not. Help us to understand how it is we need to change our ways. God's Word equips us for action, equips us for good works, and trains us in matters of righteousness. So, brethren, as God's people, why would we not spend our time laboring in the Word? Digging through it, studying it, seeking to understand it. Indeed, we should be.

Final scripture for today, 2 Timothy 2, verse 15.

2 Timothy 2, verse 15, in the Apostle Paul writing, and he says, Be diligent to present yourself approved to God. In some translations, say, Study to present yourself approved to God.

The point is, labor and be a worker who is endeavoring to live these things, to understand them, to grow in them.

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God. A worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.

Brethren, let us never fail to put our focus and our attention into God's Word. Laboring in it, studying in it, seeking to understand it each and every day, so that we too may be a people who need not be ashamed.

So that we too can be the people of God, the people who rightly divide the Word of Truth.