Systematic Reading of The Word

In this part of the sermon: The sermon moves to the first element of structured devotional time: preparation. Suggestions include singing psalms, reading devotional literature, listening to Christian music…

Some people feel they must shave or dress before praying, illustrating how personal temperaments influence physical preparation for meeting God, which is neither virtuous nor vicious but simply human.

Suggestion if your domestic situation is such that while you're getting yourself prepared physically, I know some people that just feel they can't pray unless they first shave. They just feel wrong coming into the Lord's presence with a scruffy chin. I know others that don't feel right praying until they're dressed. It's just a peculiarity of their own temperament.

7:42 - 8:15 Read in full sermon

The point: Take sufficient time for preparation of mind and heart for prayer and meditation, as no time spent in preparation for secret time with God is wasted.

The analogy of preparing to meet President Ford is used to illustrate the mental disposition and focus one would have before entering the presence of an important earthly figure, and how much more so for the King of Kings.

Anything that will pull in the loose ends of the mind and dispose it to the conscious awareness that I am now about to have special dealings with God. May I give another suggestion? That if you're one of those who, like myself, finds it necessary to have a little something on your tummy when you first get up before you can pray or meditate or do any of those things, it's helpful then, while you're preparing your cup of coffee or post-it or tea or whatever else it is, that you begin to think of who it is into whose presence you are coming. The same way if you had an appointment to meet with som...

8:45 - 9:30 Read in full sermon

The point: Take sufficient time for preparation of mind and heart for prayer and meditation, as no time spent in preparation for secret time with God is wasted.

Describes feeling like 'treading water' or being on a 'treadmill' in devotional exercises, suggesting that insufficient preparation of mind and heart is often the problem.

Yes, Gordon? So, this again would come under one of the dispenses just mentioned, recounting the past mercies of God, Psalm 103. All right, I'm sure there could be other suggestions, but I hope these have been helpful to at least give you some idea, if you've been finding that you seem to be treading water, or to change the figure, you're on a treadmill in the first half, or maybe you feel you go through three quarters of your devotional exercises and you're just really not with it. Your body is there, but somehow the rest of you isn't there.

11:12 - 11:54 Read in full sermon

The point: Be content with nothing less than meeting God in His Word and in your prayers; do not be satisfied with merely reading your Bible and saying your prayers if God is not met.

Compares merely reading the Bible or saying prayers without meeting God to going through a 'Protestant rosary,' highlighting that the goal is communion, not ritualistic completion.

How many would agree? Alright, that's the issue. We're not coming to read the Bible so we've had our Bible reading, so that we can take the thorn out of our conscience if the preacher happens to say in the next sermon, have you been reading your Bible? Say, oh boy, I've been reading my Bible.

12:49 - 13:05 Read in full sermon

The point: Be content with nothing less than meeting God in His Word and in your prayers; do not be satisfied with merely reading your Bible and saying your prayers if God is not met.

Quotes John Newton's hymn 'Sometimes a light surprises the Christian while he sings' to illustrate the unpredictable nature of God's sovereign manifestation of His presence, even in times of dullness.

No. You see, there's that element of divine sovereignty. And Newton caught that in that hymn. Sometimes a light surprises the Christian while he sings.

14:23 - 14:33 Read in full sermon

The point: Engage in systematic reading of the entire Word of God, as ignoring any part will lead to deficiencies in spiritual health.

Compares the Word of God to a well-balanced diet of 'spiritual minerals and vitamins,' arguing that ignoring any part of it leads to spiritual health deficiencies.

Now how much of this book do we believe by bread alone? If he is to live and have good physical health, he should live by bread. That is, he ought to have a well balanced diet that takes in all of the things that God has provided in creation for the sustenance of physical life. And the more we realize the delicate relationship between chemical imbalances and emotional and mental disorders, the more we realize that we are living in a world that is full of spiritual minerals and vitamins in our

28:39 - 29:23 Read in full sermon

The point: Adopt a concurrent reading plan (e.g., a Psalm, a Proverb, a chapter from the Old Testament, and a chapter from the New Testament daily) to receive balanced edification from contrasting portions of the Word.

Illustrates the potential dryness of reading only Leviticus for weeks compared to the richness of Matthew or Ephesians, arguing for concurrent reading of contrasting portions.

Four chapters a day, it would take you through in approximately two years. But can you imagine how dry it would be if in your devotions for a period of a couple of weeks, you were hung up in that section of Leviticus with all the ceremonial law, and that's all you had to feed your soul upon. Now, there's food for our souls in that section. And we'll come, perhaps, when we take an Old Testament survey course down the road in this class, we'll come to some of that wonderful contribution.

42:19 - 42:47 Read in full sermon

The point: Adopt a concurrent reading plan (e.g., a Psalm, a Proverb, a chapter from the Old Testament, and a chapter from the New Testament daily) to receive balanced edification from contrasting portions of the Word.

Uses the story of David slaying Goliath as an example of how historical narratives can stir the soul to cry to God for faith, balancing doctrinally heavy sections like Colossians.

now, I'm not saying it's not inspired, it's not as rich in its surface or immediate devotional yield, what is lacking here on that given day may be made up for that chapter in Matthew that sets before you. That sets before you the glory of Christ and that Psalm that brings you into the interactings of a believer with his God. Likewise, when you're coming in the New Testament, perhaps, to a more heavy doctrinal section that is really stretching your mind, Colossians chapter 1, and you're finding it a bit difficult to penetrate that, maybe your Old Testament reading now will be in a historical s...

43:36 - 44:19 Read in full sermon

The point: Single people should read the Song of Solomon to understand the sanctity and purity of intimate marital relationships under God, but not make it their exclusive devotional reading.

Uses the Song of Solomon to illustrate how systematic reading can help single people understand the sanctity of marital relationships, guarding against both hedonism and pagan asceticism.

I don't know who the brother was, so I'll say that if he's here, I don't mean anything personal by it. I think that shows, you see, a defective mentality. The Song of Solomon is calculated to help a person, married or unmarried, to see the sanctity and the purity of the intimate marital relationship when carried out under the eye of God. And it's one of the most wonderful ways to keep, on the one hand, from being infected with the hedonism of our day, the preoccupation with the flesh, and, on the other hand, the asceticism that has often been identified with Christianity, but is pagan.

50:29 - 51:02 Read in full sermon

The point: Single people should read the Song of Solomon to understand the sanctity and purity of intimate marital relationships under God, but not make it their exclusive devotional reading.

Illustrates how some believers might selectively read Romans 8 ('no condemnation') while avoiding Romans 6 ('shall we continue in sin?'), demonstrating the need for systematic reading to prevent abuse of Scripture.

I begin to suspect their motives for reading it, you see. And here again, if they're committed to a systematic reading, then they'll be kept from making an abuse of it, because there's no portion of the word that the flesh will not abuse. See, some people, left to themselves, would simply live in Romans chapter 8. They never read Romans 6.

51:12 - 51:32 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not use the Word of God as a 'magical talisman' or interpret verses out of context; understand that God speaks through grammatical construction and thought units, requiring accurate linguistic and theological interpre…

Warns against using the Word of God as a 'magical kind of talisman' where words can mean anything, emphasizing that God speaks through grammatical and contextual accuracy.

You see, it just underscores again we can't make a rule in this. Now, again, that's a principle that can be abused because God does not speak to us apart from the laws of grammar and context. And a lot of believers have come up with silly ideas because one verse leaped out at them and they gazed on that verse for half an hour until they saw nothing but that verse. But when it was looked at in its context, in the flow of thought, in the general argument of the epistle, the verse meant completely the opposite of what it was or what they thought it meant.

54:47 - 55:17 Read in full sermon