How To Study The Bible - Part 3

[0:00] Thank you for choosing to listen to today's message by Rev. Dr. David Entry. We know you will be blessed as you seek and serve God. We believe that this message will stir up a desire for more of God even as you listen.

[0:14] Be blessed. The teaching of God's Word is so important. One of the things I always pray that God gives me the grace to do is that as I bring people to God's Word, I will be able to focus them on what God is saying.

[0:32] Now, I just don't, my interest is not just to tell you what the Bible says. I actually want to show you what the Bible is saying.

[0:42] So not just to tell you, but to show you. So we all do a journey into the Scriptures through expositing the Scripture, letting somebody see how God systematically, what the Bible actually says, and watch this, what the Bible actually means.

[1:00] Every good preacher of God's Word has one major assignment. And the major assignment of the preacher is to let the people see and understand what the Bible is saying.

[1:15] In other words, it's to explain the Bible. The job, the main job of a pastor is to, the main job is to explain the Bible or make people, help people to understand what the Bible is saying so they can live by it.

[1:31] In Jeremiah, sorry, in Nehemiah chapter 8 verse 7, it says that, And Joshua, Joshua, and Bani, and Sheribiah, and Sheribiah, Jamin, Akub, Shabetai, Shabetai, Shabetai, sorry, Shabetai, Hodidja, Masia, Kelita, Azariah, Josabod, Hanan, Peliah, and the Levites caused the people to understand the law, and the people stood in their place.

[2:19] If we, the pastors, if we can help people to understand God's Word, it will help you to stand in your place. Hallelujah. I see you standing.

[2:30] I see you standing. The Bible says that. Let's stand. Let's stand. Having done all things to stand. Stand therefore. It takes knowing the Word of God to be able to stand.

[2:40] I watch this. Verse 8 says that, So they read the book in the law of God, text distinctly, clearly, unambiguously.

[2:51] They made it clear. My job is to make the Scriptures clear to somebody so someone can get what the Bible is saying and be able to apply. So let me read.

[3:02] I'll say something about application in a minute. And give the sense and cause them to understand the reading. I pray that God will help me to cause you to understand the reading and understand His text.

[3:15] So that when you go into your private studies, it helps you to be able to grow in the Lord. And as I said, Eliam, there is, when you read the Bible, there is the intention of, or as a teacher, or as a teacher of God's Word, the application of God's Word is important.

[3:32] But my teaching is first and foremost to help with the implication of God's Word, then the application of God's Word.

[3:43] So what do I mean by the implication? As you read it, what does it imply? What we just read? What's the meaning of what we read? As I said the other time, the Bible can have thousands or ten thousands of applications, but only one correct meaning.

[3:58] And teaching is to help us establish the meaning of a text. All right? The meaning. So that's why every pastor and every teacher of God's Word must be a good student of the Bible.

[4:09] Steady the Word of God in 2 Timothy says that, chapter 2, verse 15. Steady to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly, clearly, accurately, dividing, finely, fine division of God's Word.

[4:28] So you make sure the A's are at the A part, the B's are at the B part, the C's finally, rightly dividing the Word of truth. So if Bible talks about rightly dividing the Word of truth, can you understand, a lot of people might be doing the wrong division of God's Word, wrongly dividing, just cutting it away, say this is what this means, take this cut and paste, paste it here, make it look what they want to do.

[4:50] But I pray that God will help us all to get His Word. Because when you get His Word, you'll get His mind. When you get His mind, you'll get your life. When you get your life, He that the Son sets free is free indeed.

[5:02] He says that, and you shall know the truth, and the truth you know is what sets you free. Amen. You know, this is just introduction. I just want to share some things with you. In our previous teaching, we spoke about, we started the 10 steps to studying your Bible.

[5:21] 10 steps to studying your Bible. And I got to point five. So point one is schedule time, gather your tools, plan your reading. Step two is get your steady tools.

[5:34] Step three is pray. Step four is read with purpose. Step five is read with perspective, which has to do with interpretation, interpretation, interpretation.

[5:49] All right. So how you interpret the scriptures or the word of God, the Bible. And I taught on the effective, I taught five steps to effective Bible interpretation, how to effectively interpret the Bible in a previous session.

[6:06] And someone actually sent a, someone sent a question. Someone said, pastor, but why does the Bible have, for instance, the story of Jesus, the account, the gospels, you know, we have four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

[6:20] So why do we have four? Four, why must there be four? Why didn't they just merge them into one and have just one, you know, biography of Jesus, one story of Jesus.

[6:32] And it's a very interesting question, a good question. And that's why sometimes you hear other people of other religion who have so much interest in the Bible, but try to attack the Bible, which that's what the devil always does.

[6:42] It attacks the word of God. Say, okay, that you see they have four different accounts of Jesus, four different people telling. It's not consistent. Oh, come on. It is. It is. And for instance, when you read the Bible, it's not only the gospel that have actually different accounts.

[6:56] When you read Genesis, right from Genesis, the creation, there are two creation accounts in Genesis. Genesis one is about creation and Genesis two is about creation as well. So Genesis one tells the story of creation from one perspective.

[7:10] Genesis two tells the story of creation from another perspective. So it's two different perspectives, but the same story is being reported. And then secondly, when you read the book of Kings, first Kings and second Kings, first Kings and second Kings and first Chronicles and second Chronicles, if you study very carefully, you realize that they're actually talking about the same thing.

[7:33] All right. So the same history, these are narratives. Okay. We call them historical narratives. So they are telling this happened to this person, this happened, and this will happen is history books.

[7:44] They are history books, but they span the same period of time, the same characters and talking about practically the same, the same story, same storyline, but from two different perspectives.

[7:56] For instance, first Kings was written by a prophet. It was written by a prophet. Well, so I said first Kings, and then Chronicles was written by a priest.

[8:06] So a priest's account of the history within that time or the history of the time and a prophet's account of that history. Now, what is also interesting is the first Kings, sorry, the book of Kings was written by a prophet and it was written before they went into exile.

[8:26] And then the book of Chronicles was written after they came from exile. Even though they are talking about the same period of time, the same historical event being recorded, one was recorded before they went into exile and one was recorded after they came from exile.

[8:42] So it's like kind of two perspectives. That's why you hear that David and Bathsheba, the one before they went to exile, it tells, it focuses more on the behavior, the bad behavior that allowed the heathens to overrun them and get into exile.

[9:00] What they were doing wrong. It focuses a lot of the wrong things that were happening before the exile, even though it was the same period. Whereas after the exile, it was focusing on how the people's mind were being focused or trained or, you know, directed towards because they've been to exile in exile for so long.

[9:20] A new generation has come who didn't actually know their roots, their history. So he's trying to tell them, it focused more on how the Israel, Israelite. So when you read first Chronicles chapter from chapter one to chapter five, it's all about, and this one began this and this one began telling them their genealogy, who they were as a people, their roots.

[9:37] And then he also tells them about their God, so that they can have a good perspective, perspective about their God, their God they worship, who he is and, and all that. So there's a focus on their roots and their God.

[9:49] And then they are actually, they are storyline about their kings, how the succession of their leaders, it tells them who they, it's, so you can tell two different perspectives, but the same, the same story.

[10:02] Come, that brings me back to quickly. What the, how about the Jesus, Jesus account for different accounts, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Matthew presents Jesus as the King of the Jews. Mark presents Jesus as the, as the son of man.

[10:16] Luke presents Jesus as the, the savior of the world. Um, and then John presents Jesus as the, as the son of God. So king of the Jews, son of man, savior of the world, son of God.

[10:27] For the same story, the same period of time, the same history about Jesus, but from different, four different angles, because Jesus is not just an ordinary person.

[10:38] If you are telling a story, you might miss something. And then not just that, the, the audience, the audience were different. For instance, Mark is a Roman. Mark is a Roman name. And he was writing to predominant audience were Romans.

[10:51] Whilst Luke is a Greek name, his predominant audience were Gentiles. So it was Romans and Gentiles as well. So it was kind of to Gentiles are unbelievers, as you might say it. So Mark and Luke were written to unbelievers.

[11:04] Whilst Matthew and John were written to believers. It's very important. So they had, as he was writing, had believers in mind, people who actually have a relationship with God already and was writing to. Whilst Luke and Mark and Luke were writing to people who didn't actually have a relationship with God already and was writing to them.

[11:20] That's, that's the predominant focus. All right. The audience, the focus, they're writing to audience. And so they have to present him in a certain way. So that is, it helps you. For instance, Matthew was more to, to new believers.

[11:32] Whilst John was to mature believers. So even the believers. So John is deeper. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John tells the, the story from, of Jesus about like the, the things he did and the things he said.

[11:45] So Mark talked more about what he did. He did. He did. He did. Whilst Matthew and Luke talk a lot about what he said, the things he said, the things he said. Whilst in John, he talked about who he was from the inside, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John from the outside, John from the inside.

[11:59] I hope you are getting what I'm trying to say. So that is why we have different gospel, different perspective, but the same story. For instance, Matthew, Britain to believers.

[12:10] when we talk about the story of the lost sheep, the shepherd and lost sheep, he focused more on like a believer, a believer who has, someone who has a relation with God, who has fallen off and being restored.

[12:21] Whilst the Luke account is like someone in the world who was coming to Christ, or who was coming to the Lord. Even though the same parable, the focus and the emphasis was slightly different. For instance, two great, great feasts in Matthew was about, or the one in Luke was about go out, Luke chapter 14, go out and compel them to come in.

[12:42] So it's like compeling people, bringing people who are outside of God into God. Whilst in Matthew, it's not just people who are outside of God, it's someone who has backslided and being restored. So when you look at the history, that story of the feasts, he said, bring them in.

[12:57] But when he came, he said, why are you inside with the wrong garments? Why are you in church with this bad behavior? You haven't changed and you have come. He said, cast him out. You see, but it doesn't say that in the book of Luke, because Luke was just mainly to just get people to come in.

[13:11] Matthew is more to get people to have a good relation with God, because you should know what you're supposed to do. See, so when you study that, the last thing I might, let me even add this, last thing I might say is, there's something called the synoptic gospels.

[13:23] Okay, it's good if you're a Christian and you're growing, just know, this is theological terms, but it's okay, synoptic gospels. The synoptic gospel, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. All right, synoptic gospel.

[13:33] Matthew, Mark, can look at synoptic in the sense that soon, the word synoptic comes from soon and optics. Soon, syn, or synchronize. Okay, synchronize, synonymous, similar.

[13:46] All right, that those ways, those, those ways. So anytime you see syn, it has to, S-Y-N, it's the same from the Greek S-U-N. All right, so, so syn means that together, together, that's why when you have to synchronize your phone to your computer, you are synchronizing your, your, whatever, your data to your new, syn, to bring it together in sync.

[14:10] Okay, so, synchronize. We have the word synagog. Synagog. That means that syn, metaphor, two words, syn, and agog, which is kind of, again, which means that to, to, to bring.

[14:25] And then syn is together. So together, bring, bring together. Synagog means a place of meeting where everybody comes together. In the same way, so, synoptic is together and optics, optician, optics, has to do with seeing.

[14:40] Okay, so see together. So when we say synoptic gospel, that means that they are all seen from the same angle. All right, seen, they see together. Whilst John tells stories and tells events and miracles that are not the same as the ones that are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

[14:55] So Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are synoptic gospels. Whilst John is also a gospel, but not in the same way that he's seen it from a different perspective, but none of them contradict and conflict itself.

[15:07] So the reason why we have four gospels is four accounts. For instance, if you are telling, we want to tell the news, okay, the news to children, children in nursery or children in year one, year two, come on.

[15:21] It will be put in pictures. The way you present it is the same story, but the emphasis will be different. Whilst we are saying it to professors, it will be different. When you are saying it to secondary university students, it will be different because of the audience you have in mind, it's money.

[15:37] It implies that your presentation might be in a certain sense. I hope because of my audience, that's why I'm talking about trying to explain this, because if I'm talking to theological students, I might not even go at this.

[15:51] I might not just, I will go further and deeper. So it's sometimes the same explanation, but deeper and use different terminologies and different ways. So that's why we have Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

[16:02] Well, so I spoke about interpretation of the Bible. Very important. All right. Now, so after interpretation of number five, read the perspective. Number six is pay attention to verses.

[16:15] So number one, shadow. Number two, get your tools. Number three, pray. Number four, read with purpose. Number five, read with perspective. Number six, pay attention to verbs and tenses.

[16:26] Is it, what verb is it saying? The verb, what is, what does, did he say dance or rejoice? Okay. The, the, the, these are two different ways, but it can, it might mean the same thing.

[16:39] So it's good to pay attention to. That's how to study your Bible. You pay attention to verbs. Okay. Did he say he was running or he was walking? When he said, and the person ran to the tomb, did he mean he walked?

[16:52] So you have to pay attention. He said, run, run means run. Okay. So when you are studying, pay attention to verbs and tenses. For instance, there is a place where it says, by his stripes, we were healed.

[17:06] I think, um, in first, is it first Peter chapter two, verse 24. Let me quickly rush to that place. First Peter chapter two, verse 24.

[17:18] It says that who he, who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sin, should live unto righteousness, by whose stripes we, no, we are healed.

[17:35] We were. So it looks like our healing is already done. We were healed. So sometimes pay attention to the, to the tenses, the verbs and the tenses. All right. This is past tense.

[17:46] We were healed. So for instance, the other time I was studying Ephesians, Ephesians chapter one, verse three, it says that blessed be God, the father and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed, not who will bless us.

[17:58] He has blessed us with all spiritual blessing in heavenly places, through Christ Jesus, who has. So it's good when you are, it's good to pay attention to the verb, the, the, the verbs and the tenses when you are studying.

[18:12] It's because just one verb or just a tense. Okay. The tense in which the, the, the statement has been phrased. There's the past tense, present tense, present continuous tense.

[18:26] It is very important. It's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, what you're reading. It'll help you to grasp what is being said. So when you are studying your Bible, please pay attention to verbs and tenses.

[18:41] Where, was, is, should be, you know, things like that. I think it's important. It helps with your understanding of the scripture.

[18:52] So pay, number six, pay attention to verbs and tense. And then number, number seven, number seven is, mark key words.

[19:03] Mark key words and phrases or highlights, facial verses. So mark key words. There are words you have to mark, mark them when you are studying your Bible. It helps.

[19:13] You have to mark them. And then in fact, that, that leads me to the next point. Um, the next point, point, point number eight is take notes. Sometimes write in the book, right?

[19:24] You can write. When you are studying, sometimes go to mark things and then make notes and making notes. Let me, I say this. Sometimes you need a white margin.

[19:35] Okay. I don't normally use that much, but there's something called white margin. The margins are so white. You can actually write your own things inside there. And then finally, may I also say this, that you need to have the, you know how to use references, references in the Bible.

[19:55] So the, the words there, it will lead you to something else that will help you. And on that test, because remember analogous scriptura, the whole scripture speaks with one voice, all of scripture.

[20:07] So once you read something somewhere is similar, you will find other similar things being said in other places that link to it, that even go a long way to help understanding the text or help support the, the fact that is there.

[20:21] I hope I'm making some sense. So it's good to use references. Okay. References in your Bible. Those of us who don't know what the references is.

[20:31] Sometimes you have a Bible that when you are buying a Bible for studies, buy something that there's a difference between a steady Bible and a reference. But a reference, but most steady Bibles have references anyway.

[20:41] They have references like the middle column that little, little letters or figures are written corresponding to what you just read. And then you go there and it gives other references in other parts of the Bible.

[20:55] It helps in your Bible studies. You can spend a lot of time behind your Bible, enjoying a buffet in God's word, or enjoying great banquets in God's word. When you do it like that, you study and check the references, try to understand what you are reading.

[21:10] And now check the references in other places. That's how sometimes I'm preaching. I'll quote one statement or one verse, but I'll quote a lot of other verses that are saying the same thing.

[21:21] Cause you get them through the references in your steady Bible. All right. There are different types of steady Bibles. And it tends to make comments on the words that have been written. Someone's commentary, a scholar or a Christian scholar's commentary on what that verse is saying.

[21:36] Sometimes it just helps you. You don't have to go there first. Read and then use that to help elaborate or explain what you are reading. I hope that that makes sense.

[21:46] I hope you are getting something. Praise God. All right. So back to, back to where we were. So as I said, the next thing is that you, so you take notes.

[21:58] Okay. Highlights or mark keywords and phrases and highlights special verses. And then number eight is take notes. Take notes.

[22:10] Number nine. This is important. Number nine. Stop. Stop where stopped. Cause maybe you are getting into the thing. You are enjoying it. And then, Oh, you have to go.

[22:20] You have to go to work. See, sometimes you can schedule your life this way. Like every, you wake up one hour earlier just to study the Bible. You wake up an hour earlier so you can study the Bible because you have to schedule it into your life.

[22:32] All right. So, um, stop where you stop. Maybe you are enjoying it by time to stop. In Isaiah chapter 28. Let me show you in Isaiah chapter 28, verse, verse nine.

[22:45] It says that we have read it over and over whom, whom shall he teach knowledge and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? Them that are weaned from the milk and draw from the, um, yeah, draw from the, and draw from the breasts.

[23:04] For precepts must be upon precepts, precept upon precepts, line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little.

[23:16] It's precept upon pre. So it's not, you can, a city is not built in a day. All right. You can't get everything one day, but systematically. So when you finish, when you have to stop where you are stopped and then continue from the next point, that is important.

[23:32] I will say something later about, um, types of studies. And then, uh, number 10 is review, reflect, and commit to memory. Okay. So review, reflect, review, reflect, commit to memory.

[23:44] So review, once you finish, just review what you have just read, reflect, think about it, and commit some things to memory. Sometimes good to even memorize, memorize.

[23:55] You are memorizing the verse, what the verse is saying, memorize it, commit to memory. It is very important way of studying that. So review, reflect, and commit to memory. That is very important, uh, in studying your Bible.

[24:08] So 10 steps to studying your Bible, schedule time, gather tools, play, uh, so plan your reading to get your study tools. Three, pray for read with purpose.

[24:20] Five, read with perspective. Six, pay attention to verbs and tenses. Seven, make, uh, make keywords and, sorry, mark keywords and phrases, highlight, highlighting special verses.

[24:35] Eight, take notes. Nine, stop where stopped. And 10, review, reflect, and commit to memory. These are 10 steps to studying your Bible.

[24:47] Quickly, before I go to the next two points and end, quickly, how, somebody may ask, but pastor, why, why should I even study my Bible? Why? People, why?

[24:59] Let me give you one main reason why you should study your Bible. In 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 15, it talks about how since childhood, you have known the word of God. 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 15.

[25:10] And from child, from a child, thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation. The scriptures will make you wise. Okay? Wise. That's why you need to study the Bible for wisdom.

[25:22] Because why? Because you get to know the truth. He said, and the truth shall set you free. You know the truth. The truth, Jesus said, as I said earlier on, thy word is truth. The word of God is truth.

[25:32] Let me say that again. The word of God is truth. Okay? John 17, 17. Sanctify them by thy truth. Thy word is truth. The word of God is truth. So, the more you know the truth, the more, the wiser you become.

[25:46] It doesn't guarantee you richer. It says, the word, the scriptures that will be able to make you wise. Not to make you rich. Not to make you clever. There is a difference between being clever and being rich. Being clever means you, you know stuff.

[25:58] You know stuff and understand them. But being wise means that you know how to apply your life or how to, what to do under every given situation, circumstance, how to apply the things you know, how to apply it appropriately to gain the best or to get the best out of every moment.

[26:18] All right. So, if you don't live your life based on God's word, you are bound to make mistakes. It's wisdom that makes you go forward and you look back and you don't have regrets. When you have regrets in your past, that means you made silly mistakes or mistakes or stupid mistakes.

[26:33] So, all of us, the older you grow, the more you look back and regret for some things you have done. But when you have wisdom, you don't look back and regret because you look, you look back and you said, yes, I made the right decision.

[26:45] I made the wise decision. But how can you make wise decisions without knowing wisdom or knowing the truth? And so, when you study the word of God, he affords you knowing the truth.

[26:56] The truth will help you to be wise. The truth makes you wise, not clever. If you want to be clever, go to the library, get other books and read. But if you want to be wise, read the word of God. The word of God is the most important book ever written, the most important book.

[27:10] And unfortunately, even though most of us believe is the most important book, most of us don't give it the attention. Why? If it's the most important book, why don't you read it? Why don't you study it?

[27:22] So, it's good to study the word of God. Now, watch this. When we're talking about the truth, truth in three areas quickly. It helps you to know the truth in three areas. Number one, you know the truth about yourself.

[27:33] Number two, you know the truth about God. Number three, you know the truth about life or the world. It's important. If you know the truth about yourself, but you don't know the truth about God and the world, you will make mistakes and you will regret them.

[27:47] All right? So, what should you know about yourself? The Bible helps you to know who you are. It helps you to know. Most people read the Bible and you find out that the Bible is actually, the Bible is actually reading you.

[27:58] The Bible is reading you. It tells you so much about yourself. It's a great, wow. This thing, sometimes you read it and you are, you are, you are, you are, you are, shot.

[28:09] Wow. This thing knows. It's like, it's talking to me. The Bible helps you to know who you are. If you know to know who you are, get to the, the word of God, because most of us have wrong opinion of ourselves.

[28:22] I was in a conversation with somebody the other time and says that you don't have to think about yourself the way you think. When you are dealing with people, you have to see yourself the way people see you. So it will help you to relate with them better.

[28:33] See yourself the way people see. But most of us, even the way people see you can be wrong. The way God sees you is important. The way you really are, despite of who people see you to be or what you think yourself to be.

[28:45] Sometimes you can think yourself to be very, very good. So you go to God's word, you find out that you are not that good. So one, when you study the Bible and you know the truth, it helps you to know the truth about yourself, not just about who you are, but what you ought to be.

[29:01] What you ought to be is important. So you know yourself, you know who you, not just yourself, but who you ought to be. And then number three, who you can become or who you can be.

[29:12] The word of God will help you to know who you are, who you ought to be. Not just some people say, the Bible is telling me what I should be, what I should be. No, not only what you should be or who you should be, but to also help you to know who you can become.

[29:24] Really, who you can become. Number two, it helps you to know about God. When you read the Bible, there's no way you can know God without the Bible. There's no way. There's no way. When you read the Bible.

[29:35] And so you don't read it only in spots. You have to read it comprehensively, holistically. And it helps you to know God. Because some people only know a part of God. And some people only have a God they have created in their mind, with their imagination.

[29:49] That God is supposed to be like this. That's why they say, if there's God, why this? There's a certain God they have created in their minds. But when you go to God's word, you study the word of God.

[29:59] It helps you to know that God is a God of love. And he's also a God who has anger. An angry God. And a loving God. The same person. It helps you to know that God is righteous.

[30:12] It helps you to know. It helps you to know. Okay, three things you know about God. It helps you to know the thoughts of God. So how God things. How God things about the way you are treating your wife.

[30:25] The way you are treating your job. The way you are treating your career. The way you are treating your neighbor. The way you are treating your church. It helps you to know. How God things. The way you are treating your pastor. Or the way you are treating the preacher.

[30:39] It helps you to know. How God things. The thoughts of God. But not only the thoughts of God. The feel. How God feels. So you see Bible says. The place Bible said God regretted.

[30:49] What does that mean? that God has said, I've regretted. God repented himself for making man. Genesis 6. I mean, what does that mean? It helps you to know, grieve not the Holy Spirit. And God was grieved and God was displeased.

[31:01] Jesus said, I know. He said, I please. The Father is with me. The Father who's standing with me because I do the things that please him. I do the things that please him. Something like that. So Jesus always pleased him.

[31:12] So he had God's presence. Is God pleased with you? So how does God feel about you? Listen, most of us are more interested in how we feel about God. Oh, I feel this. No, it's good to know how you feel about God.

[31:26] But how you feel about God is not as important as how God feels about you. How does God feel about you? When you read the Bible, it helps you to know that God feels, does God feel excited about you?

[31:38] What would you do for God? What would you do for God to be excited about you? For God to be happy with you? Bible, if you don't know the Bible, you don't read your Bible. You don't study the Bible. You wouldn't know that God has feelings.

[31:50] God has feelings. Bible said he sings. Can you imagine? God laughs. He does his sin and heavily shall laugh. God laughs. God whistles. In Isaiah chapter 5, verse 26, sorry, Isaiah chapter 5, verse 26, he said he will whistle.

[32:07] He will whistle. God whistles. Yes. New King James. He said he will whistle. God whistles. Whistle. Whistle. In Isaiah chapter 7, verse 18, God whistles.

[32:18] He said I will whistle. So, if you study the Bible, you know that God has range of emotions. He expresses in the book of Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 62.

[32:29] Let me read that one. Isaiah chapter 62, verse 5. You will like this. Isaiah 62, verse 5 says that, For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee.

[32:44] And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over you. God can be, you can't imagine, God is rejoicing over you.

[32:55] He said, hey, that's my boy. That's my girl. God is rejoicing over you. Do you care to know how God feels about you? Stop telling me about how you feel about God. It's not as relevant as how God feels about you.

[33:11] How does God feel about the way you are behaving in this coronavirus season? God, how does God feel about the way you are behaving towards his word? Towards other Christians who have offended you?

[33:22] Or towards your neighbors? Towards your mother? Towards your daughter? Towards your husband? Yeah, I didn't like what my husband did. I didn't like what my wife did. But, you know, I feel very funny about it. But have you considered how God feels about your attitude towards the situation?

[33:37] How God feels? The Bible says that God sings over some people. Let me just show you another scripture. God sings in the book of Jeremiah chapter 32, verse 41. He says that, yeah, I will rejoice over them to do them good.

[33:54] And I will plant them in the land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul. He said, I will rejoice over them.

[34:07] You see, God rejoices over people. Last scripture. I like this one. Zephaniah chapter 3. Zephaniah chapter 3, verse 17. Watch this.

[34:17] The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty. He will save. He will rejoice over thee with joy. He will rest in his love. And he will joy over thee with singing.

[34:30] God is joying over people with singing. God is joying over you with singing. So it's good to know that God has feelings. How does God feel about you?

[34:41] How does God feel about his people? My desire is that God should, anytime God looks at me, he's happy. He's smiling. He's singing. He's whistling and singing about me. Because God said, that's my boy.

[34:53] That's my boy. God, when you study the Bible, it helps you to know how God feels. So how God thinks, how God feels, and it also knows the will of God, the plan of God, the purpose of God.

[35:08] It helps you to know the purpose of God, the plan of God, the programming of God. Hallelujah. All things work together for good to those that love the Lord and according to his purpose. God has a plan.

[35:18] He's working with a plan. When you read the Bible, it helps you to see the plan of God in this, your church life, in this, your Christian work. It's not just about you, but there's a plan God is following. He can start something with you and continue with somebody else.

[35:30] What is the plan and how you fit into the plan of God? It helps you to know. When you study your Bible, number one, it helps you to know yourself, the truth about yourself, the truth about God, and the truth about our world. The truth of what is it about our world, where our world came from, where our world is going.

[35:44] The Bible is the only book that tells you where the world comes from. The only book. Because there's only one eyewitness account of creation. There's only one eyewitness, and that's God himself.

[35:56] And he has told us how things were created. And the Bible is the only, so it contains history. But the difference between the Bible and all other history books is, it has, its history starts earlier than any history book.

[36:07] That is from creation. And guess what? Its history finishes later than any history book. It goes and tells us what will happen in future. The end of everything.

[36:18] Those people who, existentialism, okay. Existentialism focuses on, the heart of existentialism is about how, now.

[36:29] I live for now, enjoy now, and all that. No. You can't live just for now. You live for, if you study the Bible, it tells you we are from somewhere. The world came from somewhere. How the world is going now, and where it's going.

[36:41] You live with the future in mind. It's only a fool who lives only for today. How can you go into your account, spend every money you have on your account now?

[36:52] It's just a sign of a fool. Bible says a fool has said it is that there is no God. If you know God's word, it helps you as well to align yourself and think ahead and prepare for the future.

[37:03] You don't live for the short term. You live for the long term. You also live for the long term, and you look ahead. You have a long view of life.

[37:14] Not a short view of life, but a long view of life. A long view. So it helps you know the truth about our world, the truth about God, and the truth about yourself.

[37:25] That's why you should study the Bible. It will tell you about you, about God, and about our world. Hallelujah. So that's why, and as I mentioned briefly, different types of studies. You can study.

[37:38] There's character study. There is verse study. There is chapter study, like Hebrews chapter 11. You are studying that chapter. Chapter study. Character study. Word study. Maybe I'm studying on forgiveness.

[37:50] So word study everywhere. And then there's character, chapter. Okay. So character, chapter, word study. Okay. Character, chapter study.

[38:01] Word study. And then you can actually study a verb. Sorry, a verse. Verse study. And then we have also the most important one is the book study. If you are reading the Bible and you are studying the Bible, I will encourage you, start with the book study.

[38:16] Study. So you take maybe Matthew and you study Matthew to the end. Then afterwards, maybe you take John or you take Romans. You study to the end. Then you take it's helpful, systematic way.

[38:28] Because if you pick and choose, pick and choose, pick and choose, like somebody puts it, it's like, as I told you, you just go around, around, around, around, around, around, around, around, and you pick your finger on something.

[38:41] You won't understand the scripture. You have to read it because when you are reading the chapter, it helps you, okay, this is the trail of thoughts in the chapter. It's the key word in the chapter. The key, the key, or the overarching theme.

[38:58] Okay. The theme of what you are reading, you can tell it's talking about something in particular. So the chapter is focusing on something. And then the entire book is focusing on something. It helps you study systematically, book after book, book after book.

[39:11] It's a very helpful way. And make sure you cover all the books of the Bible. Don't say, I don't like that book. All the books of the Bible. Don't forget, total scriptura. Okay.

[39:21] The all of scripture. Total scriptura. All of scripture is inspired. Okay. Total scriptura. So it's not only part. Every part of scripture is inspired.

[39:32] That's how you should study your Bible. So now in, to wrap everything up, how to grasp, remember how to grasp the Bible. So number one, hear. Number two, read.

[39:43] Number three, study. Number four, share it. Okay. Share it. To share it is to share it with yourself. Meditate on it. Let it be on your mind. He said, he said that by his delights, blessed is the man that does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly or stand in the way of sin or sit in the seat of the scumful.

[40:00] By his delight is in the word of the Lord. And in his word, Psalm 1, verse 1, 2, 3. And in his word does he meditate day and night. Meditate. Meditation means focused thinking. As you are going, the word is in your mind.

[40:11] On your mind, you keep thinking. Regurgitating the word. Bring it back. Think about it. Okay. Okay. That's what we're not reading. Meditate upon it. Meditate. It's a way to have grasp of the word.

[40:22] So to meditate upon it means you are sharing it with yourself. Teach yourself it. Okay. Teach yourself. And then teach others. Share it with others. The more you talk about the word to others, the more the Bible stays with you.

[40:33] Some people ask me, Pastor, how come you remember scriptures? Because I talk about it. When I'm talking to you, I want to refer to it. The more I talk about it, the easier I remember. And it sticks with me.

[40:44] All right. So share it with yourself and others. So teach it. Share it. However, I want to say, teach and share. Share it. So number four is share it.

[40:56] And then number five, apply it. When you read the Bible, it's good to know. But when you start feeling some way as you read the Bible, it's a step forward. Some people read the Bible.

[41:07] As I said the other time, don't focus just on your feelings. Okay. But when you feel it's a step forward, it's talking to you, it's ministering to you. Something is happening to you. So it's a step forward when you read your Bible and feel.

[41:20] But as I said earlier on, it's good to have the implication of what is written. But the reason why you need the implication is so that you can apply it. The application is more important.

[41:32] Okay. So, but to be able to apply it effectively, you need the implication of the word of God. So you can, you can engage in the application of God's word. So implication will lead to application.

[41:43] You need to apply the word of God. So number, number five is apply it. Apply it. Act it. The Bible is good to know the Bible. It's good to feel the Bible.

[41:53] But it's far better after knowing and feeling to do the Bible. Act the word of God. In, um, in John chapter, let me read one or two scriptures and end.

[42:04] Revelation. Let me start with Revelation. Revelation chapter one, verse three. It says, thank you, Jesus. Revelation chapter one, verse three. It says that blessed is he that reads and they that he, blessed is he that reads and they that hear the word of this prophecy and keep, and keep those things which are written in it, uh, written therein for the time is that.

[42:30] So you have to keep it. Keeping it is acting it, practicing it. Jesus said in the book of John chapter three, um, 13, sorry. John chapter 13, verse 17.

[42:43] Let me read John 7, 17 first. If any man will do his will, he shall know that he shall know the doctrine, whether it be of God or whether, uh, whether I speak of myself.

[42:59] Said if you do God's will, you, it even takes you further. In fact, Jesus said in, in fact, the next verse, chapter, chapter eight, verse 31, he says that if you are my disciple, indeed, if not, he said, if you keep my word, verse 31, John 8, 31.

[43:13] It says that then Jesus said to the Jews who believed on him. If you continue in my word, then are ye my disciples, indeed. How do you know a genuine disciple? The one who continues in the word of God.

[43:24] What does that mean to continue? Keep it on your heart and act accordingly. So if you continue in the word, then you are my disciples, indeed. Some people are not disciples, indeed. Okay. They, they are happy to have Jesus as their savior, but not as, as their Lord.

[43:39] He must be your Lord and savior, both the one who saves you and the one who rules your life. Jesus is not only savior, he's Lord. That all, every man shall confess that Jesus is Lord.

[43:49] Philippians chapter two. If Jesus is Lord, so he's not just savior. So he wants to be your savior and your Lord. Some people want him just to be a savior, but don't tell me how I should live my life.

[44:00] No, he says that he has to be your Lord as well. And your savior, your Lord to control and influence what you do. So in John 8, 31, he said, if you continue in my words, then ye are my disciples, indeed.

[44:15] Then you will know the truth because as you apply the word of God, you get to actually know God's word more. That's why in John 7, 17, I'm reading it again. He says that in, in, in, sorry, 17, he says that if, if any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine.

[44:35] You will know something. As you act on God's word, you begin to know something. John chapter 13, verse, verse 17. Um, John 13, verse 17 says that if you know these things, happy are ye if you do them.

[44:48] It's not enough to know God's word. It is important to behave God's word. Hallelujah! It's important to behave God's word. So behave God's word, my brother.

[44:58] Behave God's word, my sister. And last but not the least, James, a very important text. It's, it's not complete. My teaching is not complete if I don't mention it.

[45:10] So James chapter, chapter 1, verse 22. James chapter 1, verse 22 said, but be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

[45:22] He said, if you hear the word and you don't do it, you are deceiving yourself. But you have to be a doer of God's word. So hear it, read it, study it, teach it or share it.

[45:34] And then God applied, do it. Do it. Whatever God says, do it. That Mary told the disciples when they wanted water to be turned into wine, then the disciples, the people at the wedding feast, John chapter 2, he said to the people, whatever he tells you, do it.

[45:51] Whatever Jesus, I don't know what Jesus is telling you, but do it. When you read your Bible, read it to do. In my art class, when I was in secondary school, my art teacher told us, when you are drawing something, just look, do.

[46:02] Look at what is, what you see and do it. Look, do, look, do. The same way, the Bible, look, do. Look and do. Act it. Read it. And act it. Behave it.

[46:12] You shall see the glory of God in your life. And the word became flesh. John chapter 1, verse 14. And the word became flesh and we beheld the glory. If it doesn't become flesh, you don't see the glory of God.

[46:24] God bless you so much. I pray this teaching has been a blessing. You've learned something. God bless you. We thank God for using the servant, Reverend Dr. David Entry, to share this awesome word. If this message has blessed you in any way, please spread the word by sharing it and send us an email to amen at caris.org.

[46:40] Remember to stay connected with us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter for regular updates on what God is doing here at Caris Ministries. Stay blessed. Stay blessed.

[46:52] Stay blessed. Stay blessed. Stay blessed. We'll see you next time. Stay blessed. Stay blessed.