Participants: Ivor Myers, Atonte Myers
Series Code: BOF
Program Code: BOF000019
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00:15 Welcome to "Battles of Faith".
00:16 We're your hosts Ivor and Atonte Myers. 00:19 Today, our topic is entitled "The Science of the Scriptures". 00:24 Now, we're very excited, as I say probably 00:26 at the beginning of every program, 00:28 but we are excited about this program 00:29 because we are going to be talking about 00:31 how to study the Bible. 00:34 And I know that that is something that everyone 00:37 out there wants to know how to do better, 00:39 or want to learn how to do, period. 00:41 We have to know how to study the Bible 00:43 if we're going to be able to interpret and 00:46 take the things that God's Word says 00:48 and understand it for ourselves, 00:50 So, we're excited to be able to share the truths 00:53 that God has shared with us today. 00:55 - That's right. The Bible is called "the two witnesses" 00:58 in Revelation 11 and we've seen in previous programs 01:02 that the enemy of God doesn't like 01:06 these two witnesses, the Old and the New Testament. 01:09 Through all the ploys that he is using today 01:15 it is simply to get people to view the Word of God 01:18 as boring, as uninteresting, as insignificant 01:22 and we just want to take these programs, 01:26 today's program that shares how powerful the Word of God is, 01:31 how we can make it applicable to our own lives, 01:34 how we can learn to study the Bible 01:36 and, thus, realize how interesting and how eye-opening 01:40 of a book this really is. 01:42 - Especially for young people, Satan does not want you to 01:46 get into the Word, he does not want you to learn 01:48 how to study so you can understand it for yourself. 01:51 He wants you to continue to just kind of ignore it, 01:55 because it doesn't make sense or not take the time 01:57 to really get into it. 01:58 And so, this program is for you. 02:01 Take your time, get your Bible, go through it with us 02:03 and see the exciting things that God has in here for you. 02:06 - That's right. One of the things that we often talk about 02:09 is how the entertainment industry is dulling the minds 02:13 of so many people, so that, when it comes to the Word of God 02:15 you open up the Bible and all of a sudden you get sleepy. 02:17 It just doesn't seem as interesting to you 02:21 with all the exciting things that Hollywood has going on. 02:25 I believe that, that is organized by the enemy of souls. 02:30 So, we want to take this program and 02:34 begin to look at how we can see the Bible 02:37 as a very creative, interesting, not just interesting, 02:41 but eye-opening book. 02:43 - We can watch hours and hours of television, 02:46 or play hours of video games, or watch our latest music videos 02:51 or whatever is, but as soon as we get to the Word, 02:53 we just don't have interest, we're tired, we don't have time 02:57 and again, you're right, he has made it a point 03:02 to get us not to desire to study the Word. 03:07 - That's right. Isaiah 26:3 tells us: 03:09 'Thou will keep him in perfect peace 03:12 whose mind is stayed on Thee.' 03:14 And the word for 'mind' in the margin, it actually reads 03:18 'imagination'. It's interesting because, 03:20 what the devil is doing today is that 03:23 he's trying, through the entertainment industry, 03:25 to secure the imagination for himself, 03:28 so when it comes to reading the Word of God 03:30 we put no imagination to it. 03:32 I'm not talking about our own imagination, 03:34 I'm talking about godly imagination, 03:36 godly focus, godly concentration upon the Word of God 03:41 and that's why Christ says: 'I will keep him in perfect 03:45 peace whose imagination is stayed upon Me, 03:48 stayed upon my Word.' 03:49 When we bring our imagination, our thoughts, our feelings 03:55 to the Word of God and submit them to the Word, 03:57 the Bible becomes an incredible book to us. 04:01 I remember one incident I had when I wasn't even a Christian. 04:06 I was in a mall. This happened maybe 10 years ago. 04:12 So, I was walking through this mall. 04:13 As I'm walking through I see a whole group of people 04:17 and they're standing around looking at this picture, 04:20 or these pictures. And they're like: 'Wow! Look at that!' 04:24 And so, I stopped to look at this picture 04:27 and all I saw was a bunch of zigzag lines and squares. 04:30 There were pretty big pictures and I began to say to myself: 04:35 'These people must be crazy. Why are they acting so excited 04:38 about these pictures that look like mazes?' 04:41 And someone said to me: 'There's something 04:43 that you have to do with your eyes 04:45 in order to see what's really in the picture'. 04:48 So, I'm there and going: 'Okay, what do I have to do 04:50 with my eyes?' And he said: 'You've got to focus them, 04:52 shift them, do something', and so, I'm there, 04:55 looking and looking, and all of a sudden, 04:56 I don't know what I even did, all of a sudden, 04:59 the picture that first appeared as zigzag lines, 05:04 just jumped out and it was a 3D picture. 05:08 These were 3D pictures of boats, and cars, 05:11 and when you moved, the picture would move, 05:13 and it was just awesome, incredible, 05:15 and there I go: 'Oh, look at this!'. 05:17 I could just imagine the next person walking 05:19 and going: 'What's the matter with these people?' 05:22 The Word of God... I think it's comparable to that. 05:26 We can look at these things and they may seem 05:31 foolishness unto us, they may seem foolishness, 05:34 they may seem as a whole bunch of confusion... 05:38 I don't understand it... 05:39 But the Bible says that the Spirit of God reveals the deep 05:42 things unto His children, and we must go to the Spirit. 05:46 That's probably the first principle, 05:48 we must go to the Spirit of God and ask the Spirit of God 05:51 to reveal to us those things that do not appear 05:55 on the surface. 05:57 In other words, when we get into Bible study, 05:59 we've got to go beneath the surface 06:01 and it's there that we're going to find the treasures 06:04 that God has for His people. 06:06 - That's right. You know, a lot of people say that 06:10 Bible is so boring, 'I read it and it's just a story'. 06:13 That's because we're just reading the surface, 06:15 we're just surface readers. 06:18 It reminds me when we went to Hawaii 06:21 and we went diving for the first time. 06:22 You look out there and the ocean is pretty, 06:24 but as soon as you put on the goggles and 06:28 the breathing apparatus and go underneath to see 06:32 the beautiful tropical fish, then you can actually see 06:35 how beautiful this see really is, and that's like the Bible. 06:39 You can't just read the page and read it as a surface reader. 06:45 You have to actually go deeper to see what God is trying 06:48 to tell us and individually speak to your heart. 06:50 - That's right. Matthew 7:7,8. It says here: 06:54 [text on the screen] 07:07 Christ is inviting us here to ask, to seek, to knock, 07:12 and when we come to the Word of God 07:13 we've got to do those things. We've got to really be searching 07:16 and we've got to have an intent of finding. 07:19 God says: 'If you ask, if you seek, if you knock 07:22 you're going to find'. And what you find, He says, 07:25 is going to be exciting, is going to be eye-opening, 07:28 is going to be life changing. 07:31 We want to get into a little acronym that is popularly used, 07:36 many people know it. It's called NEW START. 07:39 It was created by Weimar. - Weimar Institute, 07:42 which is a health institute in Northern California. 07:45 - Right. And what they do is they go through 8 principles, 07:48 they call it 'the 8 principles of health': 07:50 nutrition, exercise, water, sunshine, temperance, air, 07:59 rest and trust in God. 08:01 We have found that this acronym of NEW START 08:08 may also apply to a new start when it comes to 08:12 Bible study. 08:13 It may also apply to the spiritual health of 08:18 those who are seeking to open the Word of God, and 08:22 to begin to understand it, to understand these two witnesses 08:26 as it were, and to hear what they have to say. 08:29 So, we're going to go ahead and we're going to go through 08:31 this acronym and we're going to begin with the letter N. 08:34 'N' stands for 'Nutrition'. 08:37 Now, we say 'How does nutrition tie in with the Bible study?' 08:42 Well, let's go ahead and look at Matthew 4:4 08:50 [text on the screen] 08:55 Very interesting. Matthew 4:4 tells us that we are to live 08:59 by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. 09:02 When we come to study, nutrition is a very important principle 09:07 in Bible studying. We must, the Bible says, 09:10 eat the Word of God. In fact, Jesus said in John 6: 09:15 "Except you eat my flesh and drink my blood 09:17 you have no life in you". 09:21 So, it is not just a matter of convenience 09:24 when we come to study the Word of God. 09:25 We've got to understand that it is our life. 09:29 - It is like Oxygen to the body. You can't live without it. 09:33 - So, we're told that we must eat the Word of God. 09:36 Another verse I think of is in Luke 6:21 09:39 and it says: "Blessed are you who are hungry for 09:45 you will be filled". 09:48 One of the principles of Bible studying is, I believe, 09:49 that we must be hungry for the Word of God. 09:53 We can't come to the Word of God filled up with 09:55 the things of the world. The best way to get hungry 09:58 is to fast. 09:59 - Right. And I believe that the entertainment industry, 10:02 the things of the world are like junk food. 10:05 It just fills us up for a very short time 10:07 and we have to just keep going back. 10:09 It's just to fill us up so we don't hunger after 10:12 the Word of God. 10:14 - That's right. So, if we were to fast: 10:16 'Okay, I'm going to step aside and set back the things 10:19 of this world. I'm not longer going to eat the devil's diet, 10:21 I'm not going to study his magazines any longer, 10:24 I'm no longer going to listen or watch the things, 10:27 or read the things that he wants me to read. 10:28 I'm going to fast from those things and I'm going to begin 10:32 to eat the Word of God.' 10:35 This is where our hunger comes from, 10:37 when we restrain from those things of the world 10:40 and the Spirit of God puts a hunger within us. 10:43 And when we hunger for the Word of God 10:46 the Bible tells us that we will be filled. 10:49 And when we're hungry... Think about when you're hungry, 10:52 when you really want to eat food 10:54 there's nothing that is going to stop you from going 10:57 into your kitchen or going to a restaurant and getting food. 11:00 And that is what God compares it to. It should be that intense 11:04 desire. You should really hunger, really desire it. 11:08 Don't let anything stop you. 11:09 - That's right. When I just came into being a Christian 11:12 there was a hunger that God put in me for His Word 11:17 and that hunger has never subsided, it's still there. 11:21 It is a process of constantly being hungry 11:24 and constantly being filled. 11:28 It's just an amazing thing: the more you study, 11:31 the more you learn, the more you think you know, 11:34 the more you don't know. It's a process of 11:37 continual growth. 11:40 God tells us that we've got to be hungry. 11:42 Also, another principle is that we've got to eat for sight. 11:49 Psalms 34:8 tells us to "taste and see that the Lord is good". 11:58 ..."taste and see that the Lord is good". 12:00 Why does the Bible say 'taste and see 12:01 that the Lord is good'? 12:03 When we begin to study the Bible our eyes are opened 12:07 and we begin to see just how good the Lord is. 12:12 And we need our eyes opened, and we've been told that 12:16 the Bible is that thing that God has given us 12:19 to open our eyes so, as we eat, our eyes are opened. 12:23 Now, that sounds very familiar to some because you're thinking: 12:26 hey, in Genesis Eve ate and the devil promised 12:32 that her eyes would be opened. 12:34 You see, and basically what he meant was not 12:37 her literal eyes, but her mind was going to be opened. 12:40 And the Bible says that Satan has blinded the minds 12:44 of them that believed not the Gospel. 12:46 So, when we eat the Word of God we're actually eating 12:49 that our minds may become open to spiritual things 12:53 and we can begin to see with our minds things that 12:56 we did not see before. 12:58 - Right. You know, earlier you talked about when you became 13:01 a Christian you hungered and that hunger 13:02 has never subsided, you kept going and going, 13:05 and I think I kind of represent the other side of people 13:08 who may be out there; I was raised as a Christian. 13:10 So, I didn't always eat. I just always figured there was 13:13 food in the kitchen, you know, 13:14 it'll always be there kind of thing 13:16 and I took it for granted. But something that we try 13:20 to tell our children, who are being raised as Christians, 13:22 is 'don't take this Trusth or this Word for granted'. 13:24 There're many people out there who would love to have it 13:27 and it's free and accessible to you and we should eat it 13:31 and hunger after it and use it to see the truth of God's Word. 13:35 - Another principle when we're dealing with nutrition 13:39 is a principle that I like to call "no work, no food". 13:47 When Adam was put out of the garden he was told that 13:50 he would have to till the ground to get his food. 13:53 And I think that principle applies the same today. 13:58 We're even told in the Bible that "For man does not work, 14:02 neither should he eat". 14:05 When we come to Bible study we've got to realize that 14:09 if we're not willing to work, if we're not willing to dig, 14:11 if we just sit back and wait to be spoon-fed, 14:16 we're really not going to be able to survive 14:18 off of that. In order to eat, we must be willing to work. 14:23 And a lot of people are not willing to dig deep and to work. 14:25 And, to just dig through those Scriptures, to till the ground, 14:29 to find that food that is down there, we've got to work 14:34 in order to really eat and be satisfied. 14:38 I tell you, when you work... We're told that one of the 14:42 best things for laboring men is to eat from 14:45 the food of his hands. 14:46 When we dig in the Word of God and find those beautiful gems, 14:50 it is a rewarding experience. 14:52 - That's right. So, we're looking at NEW START. 14:54 We have Nutrition and that there's 'E' - Exercise. 14:57 - Exercise. What does Exercise have to do with Bible study? 15:03 1 Timothy 4:7 tells us: 15:07 [text on the screen] 15:16 We're told here that we ought to exercise ourselves 15:20 onto godliness. Not only should we study to get things up here, 15:25 but God tells us when we study, if you want more, 15:28 you've got to burn it off, you've got to exercise. 15:32 Which means you've got to put into practice those things 15:35 that you learned from studying the Bible. 15:38 - That's right. It's very important to do that. 15:40 If we don't do that, then we're not going to be able 15:44 to go further into study. 15:46 - Yes. We become slothful, we become spiritually heavy. 15:52 We walk around with a lot of knowledge, 15:54 but we are living lives that are not according 15:58 with what we know. We become spiritually overweight, 16:01 so to speak because we're not exercising onto godliness, 16:06 we're not exercising those things which we learn. 16:08 So, the second principle in Bible study, 16:10 or rather in this acronym, "Exercise" simply means 16:14 that we ought to do the things that God has called us to do. 16:18 It's like that story, the parable where Jesus tells 16:21 of the two young men. Their father asked them to do 16:24 something. One said 'I will do it' and didn't. 16:26 The other said 'I'm not going to do that', but did it. 16:29 We are called to do that which the Lord reveals to us, 16:32 to walk in the light. And walking in the light 16:36 is to exercise what God has shown to us. 16:39 - Then we have "Water", which is the "W". 16:43 - And water is a very powerful tool when it comes to 16:48 this process of Bible study, because Ephesians 5:25 says: 16:55 [text on the screen] 17:20 We're told here that, as we study the Scripture, 17:24 the purpose of Bible study is actually to wash us, 17:29 to make us pure, without spot and without wrinkle. 17:33 And, as we do these things, they increase and strengthen 17:38 our Bible study. Because God sees that this man walks 17:42 in what he knows, he exercises (what I have revealed) 17:49 and allows the Word of God, he allows what he studies, 17:52 she allows what she studies to reform her, 17:55 to wash her and to cleanse her. 17:57 This is what God is looking for. 17:59 The more He sees this, the more He reveals 18:03 those beautiful and precious gems, because He doesn't 18:06 just want to cast those gems out there, 18:08 just for anybody to trample over. 18:11 They're precious gems, and He reveals these things 18:15 onto His children. 18:16 - That's right. I know that many of us want to be washed 18:20 and cleansed by God, and, by studying His Word 18:23 it helps to do that. 18:25 I was talking to a gentleman once and he said 18:27 when he heard the Word of God and when he read the Word of God 18:31 it was like the words on the page were jumping off 18:34 and right into his heart. 18:36 I believe there's a supernatural thing like that happens. 18:39 When we're studying God's Word, His Holy Spirit is writing 18:42 those things in our hearts, and that's literally changing 18:44 who we are; that begins to take the desires away from us, 18:47 of the things that we do that are wrong, 18:49 and it actually gives us power to overcome those temptations. 18:53 - That's right. The 'washing' of the Word 18:56 is that thing that helps us to begin to discern 19:00 between what is right and what is wrong, 19:03 what we actually need to be cleansed from. 19:07 And this is why it's important. As we study we keep in mind 19:10 that the purpose of study is also to cleanse us from 19:14 all unrighteousness. The next one 19:16 we go to is 'Sunshine'. 2 Peter 1:19. 19:21 [text on the screen] 19:34 The thing that really true me was the study of prophecy. 19:42 It was sunshine to my soul. 19:44 When we study the Bible, one of the most powerful 19:49 elements, even to convince a non-believer, 19:52 is the element of prophecy. 19:53 Prophecy reveals that which no other can reveal. 19:57 In fact, God challenges. He says "all the other gods, let them 20:01 tell you the future. And if they can do it, 20:02 then let them be God." But they cannot. 20:05 So, as we study prophecy, that, I believe, creates a hunger. 20:10 Even Satan had to study prophecy to know 20:14 his future. He didn't know, he had to study 20:16 the first prophecy that God gave in Genesis 3:15, 20:20 he had to study it to know 'hey, that's talking about me, 20:23 this is what it's going to happen', 20:24 so, he doesn't have the power to know this; only God does. 20:27 - That's right. As we see the future revealed before us 20:30 I believe that it creates a hunger in our hearts to study 20:33 the Word more and more. That's why God says that 20:36 sunshine ought to be a part of our life. 20:40 We ought to study the words of prophecy, 20:42 because sunshine reveals that which we could not see 20:45 in darkness. It reveals the future, it reveals 20:48 what is ahead of us. 20:49 Next, we go to what? - Temperance. 20:52 2 Timothy 2:15 says: 20:56 [text on the screen] 21:04 This is a key, this is very important. 21:05 - That's right. Because, as we study the Word of God, 21:07 we've got to study it in temperance, 21:10 we've got to study it... it's got to be balanced. 21:13 - Everything has to match up, line upon line, 21:16 precept upon precept. - And many people, 21:18 when they study the Bible, it's not done rightly 21:21 dividing the word of truth. The word of truth must be 21:24 rightly divided. And as we begin to understand these principles 21:28 of Bible study, we need to ask the Lord: 21:30 "Lord, help me to rightly divide, 21:32 help me not to go by what tradition says, or 21:34 what a custom says, or what even I feel. 21:38 Help me to rightly divide this word of truth." 21:42 And now, we're going to go to the "A", 21:45 stands for "Air". This is beautiful because, 21:50 again, we've seen that, in the Bible air is symbolic, 21:55 or wind is symbolic of the Spirit of God. 21:58 In John 16:13 Jesus says of the Spirit: 22:01 [text on the screen] 22:15 It is vitally important that, when we study the Bible 22:18 we study it under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 22:22 - If not, that's how things that are not correct 22:26 and things that are not in the Bible come up 22:28 and people start teaching them and preaching them as truth 22:31 because they studied it on their own, 22:33 without the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 22:34 - That's right. There are other spirits that 22:36 are trying to lead us as we open the Bible. 22:39 We've got to be careful of those spirits. 22:42 And as we see here, it is vitally important that, 22:45 when we study the Bible, we study it under the inspiration 22:48 of the Holy Spirit, which means what? 22:49 It doesn't mean that I'm living a random lifestyle, 22:54 and then, when it comes the time to open the Bible, 22:57 then I pray. "Lord, please be with me 23:01 as I study. Hover over me, Holy Spirit." 23:03 No! It means that we must be living our lives 23:06 under the guidance of the Holy Spirit continually... 23:09 - ...so, by the time we get to the Word, 23:10 it's a continual abiding in the Spirit. 23:13 - Exactly. There're days when I'm walking somewhere 23:16 and, without having my Bible without me, the Spirit of God 23:22 will bring a verse to my mind and all of a sudden 23:24 it's the missing link that I've been looking for 23:26 in some study that I was doing and all of a sudden 23:29 everything falls in the place. 23:30 In other words, the Spirit of God will be studying with you 23:36 even as you're just walking around, just going about your 23:39 daily chores or whatever it may be, under the influence 23:42 of the Spirit of God. The Spirit is continually speaking, 23:44 continually pulling verses together and thoughts together 23:48 in our minds, so that... I mean, I study all the time 23:52 but I don't have a Bible in front of me all the time. 23:55 I'm laying in bed and, just meditating upon the Lord 23:58 and upon His Word, and just thinking, 24:00 and all of a sudden the Spirit will 24:02 reveal some thought and I'm going: 24:04 "Oh, this is good!" And so, we've got to study. 24:09 Bible study becomes an exciting thing when you do it 24:13 under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 24:15 - And he's not joking. He does study quite a bit. 24:17 When I met him, he was studying the Bible. 24:19 Well, we want to move on to "Rest". 24:21 - In Matthew 11:28 it says: 24:25 [text on the screen] 24:29 ..."I will give you rest" 24:31 When we come to the Word of God, 24:33 the purpose, and we've said this in a program before, 24:36 the purpose of Bible study is to allow us to rest in Christ, 24:41 it is to give us peace. 24:46 When we study the Word of God and we see its beauty, 24:50 we see its consistency and we are convinced 24:54 of its consistency, we have this peace that passes 24:58 all understanding. We have this rest. 25:01 I remember being out in the world and just being uncertain 25:03 of so many things. What is this world all about? 25:06 What's going to happen to me when I die? 25:09 What is the future about? What's going to happen 25:12 to this world? And I had no peace. 25:15 None at all. 25:16 Well, the study of the Bible brings us a peace that 25:20 passes all understanding. What it does is it reveals 25:24 to us, as we've said before, the truth of the future, 25:27 it answers those questions that human beings have: 25:32 ...what about this? ...what about that? 25:33 ...what about our future? 25:35 And, when it answers those questions it, inevitably 25:38 brings us this peace that passes understanding. 25:40 I can rest now. Why? Because I know the truth. 25:44 How did I know the truth? Through the study of God's Word. 25:48 - And after we find peace we must then finally trust, 25:52 trust in God fully. 25:55 - Right. After He has revealed to us all there is, 25:57 not only we learn to trust Him, I think we inevitably trust Him. 26:03 Why? Because all we have seen, the beauty of His Word, 26:06 the things coming to pass as they were written... 26:09 ...how can I not trust Him? He knows the future, 26:13 He's put this beautiful Book together, 26:15 He has the world in His hands 26:17 and you get this trust, and ultimately that is where 26:21 the devil does not want us to get. 26:23 - He always wants us to have anxiety, not trust God, 26:27 worry about this, be uncertain about that, 26:29 but God wants us to trust. 26:30 I wish we could even to a program with all the miracles 26:33 He has done in our lives and things for us, 26:36 because He is a wonderful God who we can trust. 26:40 - Right, and let me reiterate this again, Atonte, 26:43 is that the things that our youth are facing today, 26:48 the music, the video games, the entertainment industry, 26:53 it is all designed to keep us from having 26:57 a New Start, becoming a new creation in Christ. 27:03 Because as long as those things can keep us from 27:06 the two witnesses, as long as we are under the influence 27:09 of that beast from Revelation 11 27:12 which is against the two witnesses, 27:14 the Word of God, the Old and the New Testament, 27:17 as long as he keeps us away from that, 27:19 we cannot have trust, we cannot have rest, 27:21 we will not be under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 27:24 We will not even desire to study the Word of God. 27:28 We'll starve! We won't exercise, we'll become slothful. 27:32 All these things and all to keep us away 27:35 from having that trust in Christ. 27:36 - And that's Satan's whole ploy: to keep you away from that. 27:40 He has created the entertainment industry Hollywood 27:43 jus to keep you from that. We cannot overemphasize that 27:46 enough. I think we take it way to lightly. 27:49 God is wanting us to wake up and to take it 27:52 very seriously. 27:54 - Well, we're all out of time. We'd like to invite you 27:56 to our next program where we're going to be discussing 27:59 more of how to study the Bible. 28:00 Until then, God bless you. |
Revised 2014-12-17