4 Components to Bible Study

Receptivity: “The One Who Trembles at My Word”

On one occasion, while Jesus was speaking a message about the essential nature of the kingdom of God, he concluded with these cryptic words: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Mark 4:9). He said essentially the same thing as well to his churches in Revelation 2-3. He also complained that Israel had turned a deaf ear to his claims and ministry (Matt 13:15). As fallen people with a bent for evil we do not naturally listen well, in spite of the fact that we have been given two ears. We are even worse when we are asked to listen to a message which indicts us for sin, even if it offers restitution after repentance. We must humble ourselves deeply and thoroughly if we are ever to really experience the life transforming presence of God through his word. WE must be receptive to his message.

Reading: “By Reading You May Have Insight”

In his letter to the Ephesians Paul encourages the churches to read what he has written so that “through reading they might understand his insight into the mystery of Christ” (3:4). The inference I wish to draw from this text is that the Bible is a book and as such must be read. While we must have a vital relationship with God through Christ to understand it properly, poor reading skills will hinder our comprehension of what God is saying. We should, as Christians and committed to Holy Scripture, develop our reading skills. The literacy rate among North Americans is woefully low, to say nothing of the paucity of good readers.

Reflection: “And The Lord Will Give You Insight”

The key to transformation is meditation which means prolonged reflection on a passage(s) or truth in order to penetrate its meaning, relating it to other doctrines and life, and hearing God’s voice in it. Meditation is the bridge to meaningful obedience. Paul told Timothy to think seriously about what he [Paul] said and that the Lord would give him insight into it (2 Tim 2:7). Unfortunately, just about everything in our driven society mitigates against investing time in prayerful meditation. Nevertheless, God commanded Joshua to meditate on his word so that he could obey it and enjoy the blessing of success (Joshua 1:8).

Relating: The “So What” Question

The issue is really one of blessing. The Bible was meant to be lived not just “figured out.” We must relate what we have learned—what the Lord has spoken to us about in meditation—to our lives and the lives of others. As James says, “Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves, do what it says” (James 1:22).

Reprinted from: https://bible.org/seriespage/principles-bible-study-four-key-components

How Do You Read The Bible?

You may have read your Bible for years or it may be something you’ve never done.  No matter your experience, there are ways to get the most out of the time you’re investing in Bible reading.  So, what is the best way to get the most out of reading your Bible?

Rightly Handle It

·         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

·         Use a method

o   Pray, Observe, Interpret, Apply

§  Lean on the counselor (the Holy Spirit)

§  “What does the text say?”, “What does the text mean?”, “What should I do about this text?”

·         Understand the context

o   Matthew 18:20

For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them

§  So God isn’t there when you pray or the Holy Spirit isn’t God?

§  This is about church discipline

o   Read the passage, not the verse

o      ** Causes weak minds to be confused...example of cults **

·         Dig deeper

o   Get a study bible

o   Lean on Google, tag Bible

o   Great commentary resources on biblehub.org

New Testament Survey

New Testament literally means ‘New Covenant’, which replaced the old covenant.  The New Testament begins with the Gospels & the history of Jesus & goes through the most important things we need to know to live the Christian life

The Gospels

·         Jesus was crucified & rose in three days

·         He stayed on earth for 40 days after His resurrection

o   He appeared to 100s of people

§  To demonstrate to His followers that He truly was alive

o   He walked the Earth is a ‘Spirit’ body

§  He ate & could be touched

·         Doubting Thomas

§  He walked through walls

§  This is a window to our perfected bodies

·         This radically changed the disciples

o   10 of 11 died as martyrs

§  Andrew: Martyrdom by crucifixion (bound, not nailed, to a cross)

§  Bartholomew (Often identified with Nathaniel in the New Testament): Martyrdom by being either 1. Beheaded, or 2. Flayed alive and crucified, head downward.

§  James the Greater: Martyrdom by being beheaded or stabbed with a sword

§  James the Lesser: Martyrdom by being thrown from a pinnacle of the Temple at Jerusalem , then stoned and beaten with clubs

§  John: Died of old age, but was boiled alive & sent to Patmos

§  Jude (Often identified with Thaddeus in the New Testament): Martyrdom by being beaten to death with a club.

§  Matthew: Martyrdom by being burned, stoned, or beheaded

§  Peter: Martyrdom by crucifixion at Rome with his head downwards

§  Philip: Martyrdom

§  Simon: Martyrdom by crucifixion or being sawn in half.

§  Thomas: Martyrdom by being stabbed with a spear

Acts & Paul

·         Acts

o   Jesus ascended & Peter preached

§  Led the conversion of 3000 at Pentecost

·         Feast 50 days after Passover

§  Many signs & wonders

o   The first Christian church is described

§  “And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved” (2:47)

§  Roman & Jewish persecution

o   Stephen

§  Preached to the Sanhedrin

§  Was stoned to death by the Jews, led by Saul

o   The old covenant transition

§  The spirit living in believers

§  Peter and the unclean animals

·         Paul was Saul of Tarsus

o   He was a Pharisee and a son of a Pharisee (Acts 23:6)

§  A Hebrew of Hebrews of the tribe of Benjamin (Phil. 3:4-5)

o   He zealously persecuted the church

§  As a young Pharisee, he was present when Stephen was stoned and murdered (Acts 7:58-83)

§  He traveled with letters of arrest from the high priest and went to other cities to waste the church of Jesus Christ (Acts 26:10-11; Gal. 1:13)

§  It was on one of these missions that Saul was converted while on the road to Damascus.

o   Was also a Greek by culture

§  He was familiar with many of the sayings of classical and contemporary writers

§  Consequently, Paul was uniquely qualified to be the one chosen to carry the message of the gospel to the Gentiles

§  “I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some” (1 Cor. 9:22).

·         Conversion of Paul

o   While on the road to Damascus, Paul had an encounter with the glorified resurrected Christ

§  He had denied the Christian claim that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God

§  Further, he did not believe that He had risen from the dead

o   God blinded him with scales

§  He removed the scales when Paul realized Jesus was Christ

§  Thus, in the synagogues of Damascus, he proclaimed Christ as Savior

·         Paul spread the Gospel of Christ

o   Paul’s three missionary journeys (13:1–21:16)

o   His trials in Jerusalem and Caesarea (21:17–26:32)

o   His final journey to Rome (27:1–28:31)

o   Wrote 13 Epistles

§  Letters to the churches

§  Mainly instruction

§  Romans is a dense theological argument in favor of the Gospel of Christ

The Apostles & Revelations

·         Non-Pauline Epistles

o   More instruction by various authors

o   All walked with Jesus

·         Revelations

o   Says how it will end

o   God wins & the new heaven & new earth are created

· 

http://biblehub.com/timeline/new.htm
http://www.gotquestions.org/New-Testament-Survey.html

Did Jesus really rise from the dead?

Did Jesus Christ really rise from the dead? This is THE question, is it not? If the answer is no, Christianity falls. As the Apostle Paul puts it, if Jesus did not rise from the dead, then Christians are to be pitied more than any other, as our faith is useless, futile, without foundation, worthless. However, if the answer is yes, then there is good reason to believe in the truthfulness of Christianity. The question then becomes, how do we know whether Jesus really did rise from the dead?

Some choose simply to believe. “If the Bible says it, I believe it,” they say. There is nothing necessarily wrong with this, but to believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ need not be a leap of blind faith. Arguments can be made and evidence presented to make a strong case for the historicity of Jesus, his death, and his resurrection. In fact, according to Dr. Gary R. Habermas, Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Philosophy and Theology at Liberty University, “There are a minimum number of facts agreed upon by practically all critical scholars, whatever their school of thought. At least twelve separate facts are considered to be knowable history.”

1. Jesus died by crucifixion.
2. He was buried.
3. Jesus’ death caused the disciples to despair and lose hope, believing that his life was ended.
4. The tomb in which Jesus was buried was discovered to be empty just a few days later.
5. The disciples had experiences which they believed were literal appearances of the risen Jesus.
6. Because of these experiences, the disciples were transformed from doubters who were afraid to identify themselves with Jesus to bold proclaimers of his death and resurrection.
7. This message was the center of preaching in the early church.
8. [This message] was especially proclaimed in Jerusalem, where Jesus died and was buried shortly before.
9. As a result of this preaching, the church was born and grew.
10. Sunday [became] the primary day of worship.
11. James, who had been a skeptic, was converted to the faith when he also believed that he saw the resurrected Jesus.
12. Paul was converted by an experience which he likewise believed to be an appearance of the risen Jesus

If these facts are considered to be knowable history by Christians and critics alike, it stands to reason that any viable theory of Jesus’ resurrection must account for all twelve of these factors.

Dr. Craig Hazen, Professor of Comparative Religion and Apologetics at Biola University, put together a chart of the most prominent theories having to do with Jesus’ resurrection. Basing his chart on the work of Josh McDowell, Dr. Hazen puts each theory to the test to see how well they correspond to the twelve known historical facts concerning the resurrection of Jesus. Here’s what he came up with (The numbers correspond to the known historical facts that DO NOT fit the theory):

1. Unknown Tomb – The disciples didn’t know which tomb Jesus was buried in. (4-12)
2. Wrong Tomb – The disciples went to the wrong tomb. (5-12)
3. Legend – Jesus was not a real historical figure. He’s no more than a legend. (1-12)
4. Twin – Jesus had a twin brother who suddenly appeared as the resurrected Jesus. (4, 11)
5. Hallucination – All of the post-resurrection appearances were the result of hallucinations. (5, 11, 12)
6. Existential Resurrection – Jesus is alive in the hearts of Christians regardless of whether He actually rose from the dead. (4, 5, 11, 12)
7. Spiritual Resurrection – Jesus’ spirit was resurrected but not his body. (4, 5, 11, 12)
8. Disciples Stole the Body – (5, 6, 11, 12)
9. Authorities Hid the Body – (5-12)
10. Swoon – Jesus didn’t really die. He just swooned to make it seem as if He had died. (1, 6)
11. Passover Plot – Based on a book written by Hugh Schonfield, Jesus was a mortal man who believed he was the Messiah. He deliberately planned his entire ministry according to the Old Testament prophecies to the point plotting his own arrest, crucifixion and resurrection. (5, 6, 11, 12)
12. Jesus was an Alien – Yes, a space alien! (None!)
13. Bodily Resurrection – The Christian view. (None) 

In the end, only two theories account for all twelve knowable historical facts concerning Jesus’ resurrection. Either Jesus was an alien or He experienced a bodily resurrection. While the latter is the Christian theory of Jesus’ resurrection, there is something to the whole Jesus is an alien thing! Dr. Hazen characterizes the alien-hood of Jesus not in the sense of his being a space man the likes of E.T. Rather, Jesus was an alien in the sense that He was not of this world. Jesus didn’t come down by way of the mother ship. He was sent by the Father. In obedience to the Father, Jesus died on the cross, but was raised back to life. Resurrected from the dead, Jesus lives. In Christ, we too shall defeat death, not merely to enjoy the spoils of heaven, but to enjoy and worship the One who gives us life.

Reprinted from: http://educateandequip.org/the-resurrection-of-jesus-christ-historical-truth-or-heightened-tale/

What is Easter, really?

The origins of Easter are rooted in European traditions. The name Easter comes from a pagan figure called Eastre (or Eostre) who was celebrated as the goddess of spring by the Saxons of Northern Europe. A festival called Eastre was held during the spring equinox by these people to honor her. The goddess Eastre’s earthly symbol was the rabbit, which was also known as a symbol of fertility. Originally, there were some very pagan (and sometimes utterly evil) practices that went along with the celebration. Today, Easter is almost a completely commercialized holiday, with all the focus on Easter eggs and the Easter bunny being remnants of the goddess worship.

In the Christian faith, Easter is the principal Christian feast day and commemorates the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, the central event of Christianity.  For Christians, Easter is the holiest day of the year. In Western Christianity, Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon that occurs on or after the vernal equinox marking the beginning of Spring. That date may be anywhere between March 22 and April 25.  Easter Sunday is preceded by the season of Lent, a 40-day period of fasting and repentance culminating in Holy Week and followed by a 50-day Easter season that stretches from Easter to Pentecost.

Many Christian denominations also observe Lent,  a penitential season leading up to Easter which begins 46 days before Easter on Ash Wednesday. Palm Sunday, one week before Easter, commemorates Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem the week He was crucified, when cheering crowds greeted Him with Palm branches. Good Friday, the Friday before Easter, commemorates Jesus' crucifixion.

There is some disagreement about the exact days of the week, but the Bible says Jesus entered Jerusalem and was greeted by cheering crowds on a Sunday, probably in the year 29 or 30 A.D. He ate The Last Supper with His disciples on Thursday. He was arrested that night, tried, and crucified on Friday, Passover Eve. Jesus rose from the dead on Sunday and appeared to His disciples during the following week. He then ascended to heaven 40 days after His resurrection.

Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead at the time of the Jewish Passover celebration, but there is no mention of an annual celebration in the Bible. Early Christians commemorated Jesus' resurrection on or near the date of Passover, and the celebration was apparently well-established by the mid second century A.D.1 Due to the use of different calendar systems over the years, the dates of Passover and Easter have now drifted apart.

Reprinted from: http://www.gotquestions.org/easter-origins.html; http://www.christianbiblereference.org/faq_easter.htm