Now, there are some incorrect methods of Bible
study.
Colossians 2, 18 and 23 tells us something
about the mystical method of permitting only the
priests and leaders of the church to explain
the Bible.
I do not believe God gave us a
Bible to be exclusively handled by the clergy,
and that's why I'm so delighted that everybody
seems to be getting hands-on Bibles these
days.
Then there's the allegorical method, charging that the
Bible is only a riddle and we've got
to sort of figure it out.
Well, the answer to that is 2 Timothy
3, 16 and 17, and you'll find what
God says.
Then there's the rationalistic method, excluding all supernatural
things.
Great number of people like to follow this,
nature as a standard and reason as a
guide, as if man designed the book.
1 Corinthians 2, 14 has an answer to
this.
Then there's extreme literalism, a method accepting even
the sinner's word as gospel truth.
If we took the book of Ecclesiastes, for
instance, which is indicative of man's wisdom and
not God's judgment, God's statement of truth, and
made the book of Ecclesiastes the sunnum bonum
of all that God had to say on
any given subject, we would certainly be missing
the mark.
1 John 4, 1 to 10, read it.
2 Peter 2, 1 to 3, and pick
up verse 9.
Philippians 3, 2 to 7.
Galatians 3, 3, and also pick up verse
11.
And then read carefully Galatians 1, 6 to
9.
And take time to look at those Bible
portions.
You'll be absolutely amazed at how clearly they
explain why incorrect methods will never give you
a satisfying answer for God's truth in your
study of the Bible.
Now, there are certain hindrances in Bible study.
For instance, a lot of people in my
earlier years used to say Mussolini was going
to be the Antichrist.
And, oh, the desire for applause.
In order to say some exciting thing, people
just guess at certain items.
The desire for applause will always hinder you
in a good, solid judgment.
Irregular study, just picking up hit or miss
verses 3, favoritism or prejudice, or having a
preconceived notion of how it ought to be.
This will destroy the inductive method of studying
the Bible.
And then, of course, sectarianism.
If you just happen to say, well, it's
going to be a Baptist way or nobody's.
It's going to be a Methodist way or
nobody's.
It's going to be a Catholic way or
nothing.
I think what you have to do is
simply take your Bible.
And here are some helps.
Number one, common sense, a logical ear to
perceive thought harmony.
Two, faith in the Bible is the verbally
inspired Word of God.
Three, mental industry, be Bible Bereans, Acts 17,
10, and 11.
Obedience, number four, Colossians 4, 16.
Read that.
And then 2 Timothy 3, 14 to 17.
Obey that.
You know, it's easier to be original than
right.
So be careful.
Read exactly.
Don't confuse names.
Check the original.
And follow a concordance to find out what
the whole Bible says about any given subject.
Well, there's so much to say, it's hard
to say it in five brief minutes.
Now let me talk to you about winning
other people to Jesus Christ.
It's so simple, such a wonderful experience.
Just to tell what Christ did in your
own life.
Don't preach.
Just be a good witness.
If you saw an accident, they wouldn't ask
you to analyze the accident.
They would simply say, what did you see?
And if you can't clinch the transaction in
trying to lead someone to the Lord, take
your prospect to the best Christian worker you
know.
Just get him all primed and as you
work for Christ and win your friends and
warn your friends and witness to your friends,
day by day, have an understanding with somebody
who knows how to answer some problems and
just say, well, George, I'll be bringing you
somebody very soon.
I'm working on a friend of mine and
trying to lead him to a saving knowledge
of the Lord.
Do it now.
Do it today.
D.L. Moody used to witness to one
person every day of his life.
You see, if you'd witness to one every
day, you're almost sure to win one every
week and that would be 52 deciders for
the Lord this year and if 100 people
like you got busy in your church, there
would be 5,000 and more deciders.
It would be like it is in Indonesia
now.
So many people believing on the island of
Java that we hardly have enough evangelical ministers
to perform the testimony of baptism.
And I am so grateful that you are
a witness.
Stay with it.
The Bible says, Proverbs 11, 30, He that
wineth souls is wise.
And Ezekiel 3, 18, When I say unto
the wicked, thou shalt surely die, and thou
givest him not warning to save his life,
the same wicked man shall die in his
iniquity, but his blood will I require at
your hand.
That shakes me.
I used to talk to young friends of
mine when I was first a Christian about
boxing and about racing cars and about everything
else except Jesus Christ.
And then when they began to die, I
began to realize year after year after year
how many of them I had missed.
I wonder what your sphere of influence is.
You want to be a wise man, win
people to Jesus Christ.
I hope it's true that 100,000 or
maybe a quarter of a million young men
and women will be in heaven because I
have told them about Jesus Christ.
But even if it were only 100, or
only one, it would be a glorious thing
for that one would be there because of
the witness I have made for our Redeemer.
I have in front of me a picture
on my desk of Tride Dowell, 16 years
of age, 6'3", 205 pounds, sophomore in
high school, who came to me one night
at 7 o'clock and said, I just
can't get the squad to come and hear
you preach.
I can't even get my gang to come
and hear the music of this crusade.
And if I have to die to get
my high school to know Jesus Christ, I'd
rather die than live.
We got on our knees, three of us,
to pray.
I wish you could have heard that young
man pray, Oh God, if I have to
die to get him saved, I've got to
see my friends in heaven instead of hell.
Well, he was in the service that meeting
after I had prayed with him.
And at 10 o'clock he was dead,
a three-car collision, hopped up car that
he was riding in with a friend, flipped
over, and the newspapers carried the story, Tride
Dowell, the hottest football star in the Imperial
Valley, killed in accident.
And then the story, when they went to
his home to find out the truth of
the matter and what happened before, his mother
said, the last thing I heard him say
was that he was going down to get
on his knees with that preacher.
He said he'd rather die than see his
high school go to hell.
What was the result?
Over 500 of his friends were in that
memorial service and scars will be in glory
because Tride Dowell, even in his death, became
a soul winner unto eternal life.
Now let me take five minutes with you,
if I may, to talk to you about
some of the questions people have regarding a
definite decision for the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the inside of the back cover of
the little book called A Hundred Hours With
Your Bible I have written a contract.
Now it may seem altogether too definite for
some of you who might be listening to
me, not you of course, but somebody might
be disturbed by it unless you realize that
just as you sign in the contract for
insurance or the purchase of a home, so
also the definite decision to trust Jesus Christ
sometimes has added value in reality and understanding
when a person sees it on a page.
And so I've written a contract which simply
says you're part of the contract.
After reading these pages, this is my decision.
Now notice how sharply worded it is and
if you happen to have the booklet in
front of you you'll see that under almost
every single word, every major word, is a
scriptural reference.
And it simply says this, admitting that I
am a guilty, lost, helpless and judgment-bound
sinner but believing that the Lord Jesus Christ
on Calvary's cross paid for my sin, took
my place, and died for me.
I now in simple faith receive Him to
be my own personal Savior and shall confess
Him as my Lord before the world.
Then I've added a little line which says
I will begin each day with prayer and
Bible study.
I will immediately take my stand to serve
Christ in His Church.
Now let me explain why I have added
this extra page in the inside of the
back cover.
Simply because so many people vaguely understand the
Gospel of Christ and are hesitant about assuring
their own hearts that all is well.
Therefore under each of these words like admitting
that I'm a guilty, lost, helpless and judgment
-bound sinner, under the word admitting I have
Luke 18.13. Under the word guilty, Romans
3.19. All the world is guilty before
Him.
Under the word lost, 2 Corinthians 4.4.
Under the word helpless, Romans 5.6. Under
the words judgment-bound sinner, Mark 9.43
.48. Revelation 21.8, which is a very
serious verse.
Romans 3.10.19.23 The fact that
all have sinned and come short of the
glory of God.
And then under the word believing, Acts 16
.31, Romans 4.5. The simplicity of believing
and Philippians 2.6-11.
And then under the words the Lord Jesus
Christ, John 5.1 and Matthew 1.21.
And under the words Calvary's cross, Luke 23
.33-46 and 1 Peter 2.25 and
Isaiah 53.5-6 How at Calvary's cross
Christ paid for my sins.
Romans 4.25 Took my place, 2 Corinthians
5.21 Died for me, 1 Corinthians 15
.3 And Galatians 2.20 I now in
simple faith, 2 Corinthians 6.2 And Ephesians
2.8 and 9 By grace are you
saved through faith And that not of yourselves
It is the gift of God I simply
receive Him, John 1.12 To as many
as received Him To them gave He power
to become the children of God As my
own personal Savior, 2 Timothy 1.12 Isaiah
12.2 John 17, 1 John 5 And
shall confess Him, John 10.27 And Romans
10.9 and 10 Confess Him as Lord
before the world 1 Corinthians 12.3 And
then beginning each day with prayer Mark 1
.35 And Bible study, Philippians 4.6 and
7 And take my stand to serve Christ
Acts 2.42 and 44 in His church
1 John 1.3 Now that took five
minutes to explain But it is one of
the most valuable sentences You will ever read
in your life You
may be puzzled about How to lead someone
to Jesus Christ And just what order of
Mental application You ought to have prepared ahead
of time I have a little series of
Oh, five or six or seven statements Number
one, I always pray with the seeker Number
two, I diagnose the need Number three, I
always answer with Bible It's irrefutable Number four,
I always Avoid any controversy whatsoever Number five,
I concentrate on Christ Number six, I clinch
the decision And number seven, I thank God
That the transaction is accomplished It's a real
decision Now let me talk to you about
those seven points When you're trying to lead
someone to Christ Sometimes you get into a
deep argument And you discuss things that are
totally irrelevant And I can recall in Long
Beach, California A very dear friend of mine,
Carl Williams Argued with a man for an
hour At the end of a crusade service
He said, Merv, this man needs the Lord
But we don't seem to come to terms
I said to the gentleman, would you like
to accept Christ?
He said, I sure would I said, kneel
down We knelt down, I prayed for him
He wept and received the Lord in great
simplicity And Carl said, I never saw anything
like it Well, oftentimes prayer Simple, warm, elementary
prayer With the one who's hungry to know
God Is the beginning And take time to
pray Just open your heart for the one
you love And the one you're trying to
lead to the Lord Then second, if there
are any problems Diagnose the need Like a
doctor, listen to what that person has to
say Don't do all of the talking Sometimes
you'll find that what the person needs is
reassurance Sometimes you'll find that the person needs
to know That God will forgive And as
you listen to his words in the conversation
Or hers You can diagnose the need Almost
instantly you can put your finger on On
the one thing that seems to bother that
person And maybe it'll be the story of
some Misunderstanding during years gone by So, diagnose
the need Then number three, keep your Bible
open Answer with your Bible And you don't
need to quote a hundred verses A half
a dozen simple, straightforward verses will do But
let your Bible lie On your lap as
you talk Or on the desk as you're
chatting And keep it in your hand So
that this person will know It's not what
you think But what God says Then number
four, avoid any controversy If they want to
talk That that person wants to talk about
some Denominational controversy Or some doctrinal issue Don't
argue You'll never win the person When you're
anxious to win the point It's better to
win the person And then number five, concentrate
on Christ Talk about the Lord Jesus Get
it in your own mind and heart That
the Lord Jesus has come To seek and
to save that one which is lost And
the Lord Jesus is there Present as you
are concerned About the one nearby And keep
driving toward a decision To receive Jesus Christ
To allow him to forgive Don't argue about
a set of words That they must say
But stay with the fact that There has
to be a decision A clean-cut decision
To allow Jesus Christ Right of way in
the heart Total forgiveness Complete surrender to the
Lord Jesus Christ And this will come Sometimes
you can get overwhelmed By thinking about it
But it will come And then when the
person does Accept the Lord Jesus Get excited
about it Thank God it's done Don't be
so blasé As to say, well, bless your
heart That's fine now, go on, do the
best you can Really get down to business
And pray a prayer of thanksgiving To God,
Heavenly Father How glad we are That Susan
has made this decision How thankful I am
That my longtime friend Harry has finally yielded
To Jesus Christ for salvation Get excited about
it Thank God it's done And in these
simple Seven points you'll find an outline That
you can follow In directing people To a
definite decision for Jesus Christ Do it today,
will you?
Now today We're going to begin What I
call hermeneutics One of the most exciting studies
That ever captured And captivated my mind A
few decades Ago when I was in the
seminary I had some Bible teachers that were
Just merely Men But fantastically yielded Bible students
The great teachers Like Dr. Robert L.
Moyer Who got up and read his Greek
New Testament At five o'clock each morning
And then carefully and practically Taught us Bible
Dr. William B.
Riley The great debater That was so respected
That William Jennings Bryan Said he was the
greatest pulpit orator of his day And then
of course Men like Dr. Arno C.
Gabeline Dr. Harry Rimmer Dr. Gray Of the
Moody Bible Institute Dr. Norman B.
Harrison All the names Run on The days
of my boyhood Gave me a chance To
hear men like Beterwolf And of course The
elegant teachings Of the theologians Louis Perry Chaffer
And many others And we thank God For
solid Bible-based beginnings And I often say
What a pleasure it is to look back
And say theologically We have never had to
clean up A single paragraph we have preached
Or taught or written In all of these
decades And it's not because of my intelligence
But because we had very good And cautious
Bible teachers Now One of the great studies
of my younger years Was the study of
hermeneutics Dr. Robert L.
Moyer Organized it for us Later on It
was taught and carefully taught By his successor
Dr. J.
Edwin Hartle And if you'd like A very
deep study on it I would say that
You should buy the book Called Principles of
Biblical Hermeneutics By Dr. J.
Edwin Hartle And you'll receive that Through the
Zondervan Publishing House I merely want to Go
into my little book here I've listed a
few of these principles And then let me
talk to you As if we were studying
the Bible On the basis of its principles
together Now hermeneutics Is a science Simply the
science Of interpreting the Bible The words derive
from a Greek god Hermes, who was the
messenger And herald of the gods And the
interpreter of Jupiter And biblically As we study
these principles We find out how to interpret
And how to use the terminology Which is
proper In understanding the Bible Our aim is
to make known The different principles of Bible
study Which must be followed If you're going
to be a true And worthy student of
the word of the living God And you've
got to Rightly divide the word of truth
As the scripture says Now Let me just
pause long enough to say That there are
certain principles I have listed some of them
In page 12 Here of 100 hours with
your Bible The context principle God gives light
on every subject Through near or remote Passages
bearing on the same theme The first rule
In solving a puzzling statement Anywhere in the
Bible Is to analyze the verses or paragraphs
surrounding it Then examine every portion Relating to
it Never lift a verse from its context
1 Corinthians 2, 12, and 13 And this
is a rule A great rule Of Bible
study I'll deal with it more in just
a little while The application principle Also obtains
Personal application of truth Should be made only
after correct Interpretation has been determined And declared
See the narration, interpretation And application of let's
say 2 Samuel 9 And Kings 5 And
Joshua 2 And you will begin to realize
How these things can be applied Then there's
the direct statement principle The agreement principle Oh,
I could name a great number Of others
And I think we ought to deal with
some of these principles As we read this
book The ethnic division principle The discrimination principle
The predictive principle The typical principle The principle
of human willingness and illumination First mention principle
Full mention principle These amazing principles of Bible
study Well, let's study them together Just as
the great scholar Dr. Moyer Gave them to
us years ago Well,
we're studying hermeneutics Bible study principles Or laws
That sort of govern our understanding Of the
Bible Correct Bible divisions To protect against false
teachings To explain seeming contradictions To promote sound
understanding To assure spiritual growth Distinguish These divisions
And you'll understand the Bible Here's an interesting
little summary This earth created perfect by God
Genesis 1.1 Visited by Satan who'd been
cast down from heaven Ezekiel 28 Blurred by
sin, retouched by God Was made for and
by Jesus The Son of God Colossians 1
.16.19 Hebrews 1.1.14 John 1
.1-10 And this Jesus later took the
form of man Philippians 2.6-8 Died
the death of the cross Matthew 27 or
John 19 That God through Jesus Christ Should
reconcile a lost humanity Romans 3.19-28
John 3.16 And through the infinite workings
Of a gracious divine plan Jesus Shows man
God's love Isn't that beautiful I don't think
we'd argue About dispensations Or administrations Or stewardship
Or order or economy If we simply put
it on the basis That God has everlastingly
sought After the soul of man And God
has wanted to make a covenant With man
Again and again There is a covenant principle
Throughout the Bible Actually the definition is an
agreement Or a contract between men And between
men and God Usually God in grace undertaking
To do things for men Sort of a
compact or a fetter Which binds them together
And again and again In fact there are
entire groups of people In the world who
call themselves Covenantors Some of the great Bible
scholars Who say if we obey God And
follow his formula Then God will do certain
things for us You remember Exodus 19 5
and Genesis 9 11 now one was conditional
And the other one was unconditional But it
was God's formula And of course We have
the Noahic Covenant and the sign of the
rainbow The Mosaic Covenant Sign of the Sabbath
The Abrahamic Covenant The sign of circumcision which
was unconditional The Davidic Covenant The sign of
the Son The Lord Jesus Christ And then
we can come down Through the years The
Edenic Covenant You remember God's covenant in the
Garden of Eden With all of its implications
Man is responsible To replenish the earth To
subdue the earth To have dominion over the
earth To restrict himself To dress the garden
To keep the garden Conditions of the covenant
were so clear To abstain from eating of
the tree Failure to do this resulted In
physical death And then of course the conclusion
Of this whole affair described in Genesis 1
28 through 30 And 2, 15 through 17
Was the expulsion from the Garden of Eden
So there's the Edenic Covenant A majestic study
of Should we say application For our own
hearts and lives Then there's the Adamic Covenant
We read about it in Genesis 3, 14
to 19 The constitution of this covenant Made
with Adam in Eden Before the expulsion Unconditional
It consists of a curse and a promise
And God has given us Description of it
In verse 14 there The curse and the
judgment In verse 16 The judgment of the
woman there And in 17 the judgment of
the man And in 18 the curse of
creation Most amazing These covenants that God has
Made with men The Noahic Covenant God made
a covenant with Noah Genesis 8, 20 through
9, 17 The Abrahamic Covenant Genesis 12, 1
to 3 And all the way through The
most amazing implications Which of course have marked
history And then finally the Mosaic Covenant Described
in our Bible So clearly Not only in
the Old Testament But also in the New
Testament Deuteronomy 28, 49, 50 and 53 Deuteronomy
28, 37 Particularly there Should be read And
how God would make them An astonishment all
over the world I haven't time to study
this with you But we ought to mention
The Davidic Covenant, 2 Samuel 7 8 to
19 And then the Palestinian Covenant Deuteronomy 30,
1 to 10 And finally the New Covenant
The Resurrection, Eternal Completeness In Christ Jeremiah 31,
31 And Hebrews 8, 8 And Jeremiah Gives
us the background story And Hebrews 8, 8
to 12 Tells us the whole story Of
what this means to us A New Covenant
The promise of sanctification The promise of the
knowledge of God And the whole conclusion Running
beyond the millennium Into a New Heaven And
a New Earth Oh, we have taken more
than 5 minutes on this