James 1:22–25 “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.”
Commentary from the sermon “Don’t Kid Yourselves” by Alistair Begg:
“What James is pointing out is simply this: that if the Bible is going to be effective in our lives, it must not only be listened to but also received and acted upon. Not simply listened to but received and acted upon. James has urged everyone to make sure that they’re ‘quick to listen,’ in verse 19, but he now says, ‘But make sure that you are not merely listening.’
“Now, in this he is much like his brother Jesus, isn’t he? And in one particular instance this becomes very clear. … After Jesus had concluded what we refer to as the Sermon on the Mount, He then tells a story of two builders. And Jesus was a masterful storyteller, and having given them all the material in His sermon, He then gives them a ‘therefore.’ He deals in the realm of the ‘So what?’ if you like: ‘I’ve told you all these things, and some of you may be saying to yourselves, “So what?” So,’ He says, ‘let Me tell you so what.’
“‘Everyone who hears these words of mine’—now notice the next phrase—‘and puts them into practice is like a [man, a] wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, … the [wind] blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine’—and notice this next phrase—‘and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash’ (Matt. 7:24–27 NIV 1984).”
Nehemiah 8:1–3, 6–8 “And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the LORD had commanded Israel. So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. … And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people answered, ‘Amen, Amen,’ lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground. Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places. They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.”
Commentary from the sermon “Bring Out the Book!” by Alistair Begg:
“The people all gathered, and you will notice there were boys and girls there as well as men and women. They gathered expectantly, and their expectation was directly related to what was about to happen, because they told Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses which the Lord had commanded for Israel. ‘Bring out the Book!’ they told him. ‘We want to hear what God has to say, what the Lord had commanded. We don’t want to hear too much from you, Ezra, but we want to hear a lot from God. We don’t want a lot of your opinions and your notions; just read the Book to us, explain the Book to us, apply the Book for us, and we’ll be very thankful for that.’
“Do you know that every time that reformation and a revival has taken place in the history of Christendom, it has always been related to great preaching? Always! That’s why we would do well—and I say it to you often—to pray for God to raise up young men in whose hearts there is a conviction concerning the Scriptures. Because at every point in history when society has turned around as a result of the people of God being stirred, it has been directly related to preaching. Acts, on the day of Pentecost, what did they do? They preached: ‘“Men and brethren, listen to this: this Jesus whom you crucified, God has made him both Lord and Christ.” And when they heard this, the people were cut to the heart’ (Acts 2:36–37, paraphrased).”
Colossians 3:16 “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
Commentary from the sermon “Life in the Local Church — Part Two” by Alistair Begg:
“Let me give you one or two things as to how to make sure the Word of God is dwelling. First of all, if the Word of God is going to dwell in our hearts richly, we need to hear it. And we’ll go to any lengths to hear it. And because we’ve heard it once, we won’t say, ‘That’s enough.’ We’ll go back and hear it a second time—oh, yes, if we want it to dwell richly. …
“Secondly, we need to learn to read it for ourselves. … Why do we read it? How do we read it? Deuteronomy 17:19: … have it with you all your days; read it so that you may learn to revere the Lord, so that you may follow carefully all the decrees, so that you don’t grow conceited, and so that you don’t wander off when you find that as a temptation in your lives. …
“Thirdly, if it would dwell in me richly, I need not only to hear it and to read it, but I need to study it. Proverbs 2:4 says, ‘Search for it as for hidden treasure’ (NIV 1984). Paul says to Timothy, ‘Study to show yourself approved to God, a workman who doesn’t need to be ashamed rightly dividing the Word of truth’ (2 Tim. 2:15, paraphrased). Read the Bible aiming for God’s approval. …
“… Fourthly, memorize it. Deuteronomy 11:18. The instruction that was given to the people of God there in the Old Testament may not be applied in the direct physical terminology in which it’s written, but the point is nevertheless applicable: ‘Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads’ (NIV 1978). That’s what it means to have the Word of Christ dwelling in me richly. I make every effort to fix God’s Word in my heart and in my mind. …
“And finally, if we would fix it in our hearts, we need not only to hear it and to read it and to study it and memorize it, but we need to learn to meditate upon it. … Let me tell you how I try to meditate on the Scriptures. This is all I try and do. I ask two questions as I read the Bible: one, ‘What does this verse mean?’; and two, ‘How should this verse affect my life?’ That is meditation for me. There are deeper dimensions, but that’s the baseline.”
2 Timothy 2:15“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”
Commentary from the sermon “Why Bother with the Bible? — Part One ” by Alistair Begg:
“How are we supposed to understand the Bible?
“Let me give you the answer in one word: properly. Properly. The Bible does not have a special, esoteric, spiritual meaning which can only be gleaned by setting aside the plain, grammatical, and historical sense. Let me say that to you again: the Bible is not a book of special, intriguing little ideas that are only found by initiates who are able to set aside the grammar and the history and discover these little nuggets. You’ll find people like this all the time. They pop up in Bible studies all over the place: ‘Well, I believe that what this is saying is… Because I…’ such and such, and so on. I say, ‘Well, listen, sir, if you could just maybe make a cup of coffee or something and just sit over there in the corner for a little while, we’ll come back to you, maybe. But right now, our concern here is to understand the Bible properly. We’re not really interested in what it means to you.’
“… The way to avoid that kind of foolishness in interpretation and application is to keep certain principles before you. And let me just give them to you quickly.
“Number one: … Scripture needs to be interpreted on the basis of the straightforward sense of the passage. … In order to do that, you have to interpret it first according to its original meaning. … So Paul writes to the Corinthians at a certain point in time, at a certain place, a certain latitude and longitude. We must first understand the historical context to which he writes in Corinth before we start making application here in Cleveland. If you go immediately to application in Cleveland without first understanding ‘Why Corinth?’ then you can make the Bible say just about anything you want it to.
“If you’re going to interpret it according to its straightforward sense, not only do you have to pay attention to its original meaning, but you have to pay attention to its literary form. Its literary form. Am I reading poetry or prose? Am I dealing with a parable? Am I dealing with history? Am I dealing with allegory? Am I dealing with a metaphor, with a simile? Because it makes a difference, doesn’t it? …
“Secondly, Scripture needs to be interpreted by Scripture. There is a harmony to the Bible, there is a unity to the Bible, there is a self-consistency to the Bible that you would expect given a single divine author. And when you interpret Scripture with Scripture, you need to interpret it according to the purpose of Scripture. What is the purpose of Scripture? … He says to Timothy as a young man, … ‘You should be paying attention to all these things. You should be thankful that you’ve known the Bible for a very long time—the Bible, which is able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus’ (2 Tim. 3:14–15, paraphrased). What is the purpose of the Bible? It is to make men and women wise unto salvation.”
For more like this, read “5 Bible Verses about the Bible”
Truth For Life Blog