“know,” I will then want to find out what the Bible says about knowing. By following this method, I immedi ately see that the first thing is shown in verse 3, “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?” The second is in verse 6, “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that hence forth we should not serve sin.” The third is in verse 9, “Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.” In verse 16 it is stated: “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” It is not because I have a wonderful memory that I can do this. It is simply because I have marked in the margin a small 1, 2, 3 and 4. Could it be any more simple? You might keep in mind things which are in a very real way related to each other. This is good to mark by a thin line drawn from one to the other. While reading Romans 6, my eye automatically fell'on Romans 5. I have lines drawn from verse 12 where it says “sin entered” to verse 20 with the statement that “sin abounded.” Further, I have a line drawn from verse 20 to verse 21. Here the thought of “sin abounding” is linked with the idea of “sin reign ing.” In a short time I have come up with three things stated about sin in this passage: sin entered, sin abounded, and sin reigned. I know that you will find how that marking your Bible carefully in this way is tremendously helpful for spiritual growth. What is more, a system of marking your Bible will encourage you to work more regularly on Bible study. This will make you so much more excited about searching the Word.
PART IV O NE OF the most profitable ways for you to spend a portion of your day is in Bible study. In pre vious messages we’ve been talking about some of the practical tools you can and should use. The Bible is God’s Word to man. He tells us what He’s like and what His purposes for us are. There are things the Lord intends for us to know and the only way we can learn them is by study ing the Scriptures. It isn’t a case of just going to church twenty minutes a week and having a “pre-digested” diet stuffed in our mouths by the preacher. We need to be feeding our selves regularly day by day. Successful Bible study can depend a great deal on your attitude. Before you can have an appetite for the Word of God, you must have as a primary requisite, the life of Christ within you. The Holy Spirit must be living in and through you. Check to make absolutely certain that you have such a relationship to Almighty God. Next, you will need to have a real love for the Word of God. Such interest and devotion can’t be manu factured. It comes only from a per sonal relationship with the Lord Je sus Christ Himself. In Jeremiah 15: 16 we read the prophet’s declaration, “Thy words were found and I did eat them. Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart.” What a beautiful expression! Humanly speaking, there wasn’t much going on which could cause Jeremiah to rejoice. Things were most difficult. Yet there was still real joy in his heart. He found his complete satis faction in the Word of God. The same ideas are expressed in the Psalms (such as the first chapter). Follow ing this, there should be an honest desire to work on the Word of God. In the Proverbs, Scripture is likened to a silver mine. This precious metal never jumps out of the ground in front of a prospector. One who would 13
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker