https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/WhatDoYouExpectFromYourBible.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: Psalm 119:1-8<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I. When you open your Bible, what do you expect from it?<\/p>\n
II. Some Expect a Rule Book<\/p>\n
A. Just the other day I was asked “Where do I find a list of God’s laws in the Bible?”<\/p>\n B. The Bible is not a reference book where you can look up “Cheating” and find\neverything you need to know on the subject. Nor is it a set of statutes commonly\nfound in lawyer’s offices where you find related items index and provisions listed\nby topics.\n C. God’s laws are contained between the covers of the Bible, but the laws are\npresented in a variety of ways.\n
1. Stories that make the needed information readily memorable<\/p>\n
2. Letters discussing problems and solutions<\/p>\n
3. Historical accounts showing how laws fit into the context of events<\/p>\n
4. Genealogical lists<\/p>\n
5. Poems<\/p>\n
6. Collections of wise sayings<\/p>\n
7. Accounts of dreams and visions in symbolic terms<\/p>\n
8. And yes, there are occasional lists of things to do or not to do.<\/p>\n
D. It might strike you as an impractical way to relay information<\/p>\n 1. But if you look at man’s history, it is the way we have been doing it since\nthe very beginning\n 2. When is the last time you met someone who was memorized Webster’s\ndictionary? Or who knows the IRS tax code by heart? Better yet, who\nwould want to memorize such boring things?\n 3. Yet millions of people have memorized all or significant portions of the\nBible – Psalm 119:97-103\n
E. The Bible contains a wealth of information – II Peter 1:3<\/p>\n
1. That is a broad subject matter for such a relatively small book.<\/p>\n
2. I have dictionaries bigger than my Bible. <\/p>\n
a. Try carrying the Encyclopedia Britannica around sometime. <\/p>\n b. I wonder how many rooms I would need to hold all the rules and\nregulations of the United State’s government.\n 3. Yet, God says He has managed to tell me everything I need to know about\nlife and godly living in one book that I can easily carry with me.\n
F. The Bible’s error correcting abilities<\/p>\n 1. In computers, we know that it is dangerous to keep only one copy of a\npiece of information.\n
a. One small change can make a significant loss of information<\/p>\n
b. We are encouraged to make back-ups.<\/p>\n
c. But even internally, a computer duplicates information. <\/p>\n
(1) Memory contains check bits to detect alterations<\/p>\n (2) They use error-correcting information so that small changes\ncan be repaired.\n
2. Imagine if God only mentioned every subject just once.<\/p>\n a. A copying mistake or a lost of passage would severely alter what\nGod would have us to know.\n 3. People have attempted to alter the Bible in the past, but they always get\ncaught.\n a. Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible alters John 1:1 to say “In the beginning\nthe Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a\ngod.” because they refuse to believe that Jesus is God.\n b. It has been rightly rejected because this is not the only verse\nmentioning Jesus’ deity.\n c. The same information is located in the Bible multiple times in a\nvariety of ways – some blatantly obvious, but others subtly hidden\namongst other things.\n d. Because of the interlocking information, we can even used the\naltered New World translation to show that it is in error because\nthe alterations create internal contradictions.\n
4. I don’t know of any comparable book written by man with this capability.<\/p>\n
III. Some Expect Immediate Understanding<\/p>\n
A. Pentecostals believe that the Holy Spirit gifts them perfect understanding.<\/p>\n 1. Thus they spend little time studying the Bible. Instead, it is used as a proof\ntext.\n 2. Their mind is already made up, after all they understand! So phrases and\nverses are quoted and referenced to back up their preconceived ideas.\n B. Some sit down and expect to read through their Bibles like a novel, but when they\nlose track of the plot, the put it down in disgust.\n
C. The Bible is meant to be understood – Ephesians 5:17<\/p>\n 1. Psalm 119:25-27 – Much of the design of the Bible lends itself to easy\nrecall\n
2. Stories of events and characters<\/p>\n
3. Parables<\/p>\n 4. Even the Psalms with their parallel and contrasting thoughts make them\neasily recalled.\n
D. But there are hard sections – II Peter 3:15-16<\/p>\n
E. Even more, the Bible is meant to be studied – II Timothy 2:15<\/p>\n
IV. Some Expect Total Confusion<\/p>\n A. Several denominations, most notably Roman Catholics, teach that the Bible too\ndifficult to understand by the average layman.\n
1. Many, therefore, walk away with really trying<\/p>\n
B. While portions are difficult, the whole is not<\/p>\n
C. Christians have the words as a part of them <\/p>\n
1. Word is to dwell in us – Colossians 3:16<\/p>\n
2. It is truth that lives in us – II John 1-2<\/p>\n
3. Hidden in our hearts – Psalm 119:9-11<\/p>\n
D. Some are assigned the task of helping others gain better understanding<\/p>\n
1. Under the Old Law – Nehemiah 8:8<\/p>\n
2. What Paul did – Acts 17:2-3<\/p>\n
3. What Philip did – Acts 8:30-31<\/p>\n E. But these people didn’t tell other to listen to their own words. They taught people\nhow to understand the word for themselves.\n
V. Some Expect it to be Outdated and Irrelevant<\/p>\n A. Mankind in its arrogance and ignorance believes that they are different from all\npast generations.\n 1. They believe that society has changed and evolved so that past\nunderstanding cannot be applied to today’s situations.\n
2. Yet, the Bible warns that nothing really changes – Ecclesiastes 1:10-11<\/p>\n a. Rather, each succeeding generation forgets what has happened in\nthe past.\n
b. Newness is only an illusion brought about by ignorance<\/p>\n B. People have the same flaws as they had in the past. They face the same sins. They\nneed the same solutions to their problems – Luke 17:26-30\n
C. God doesn’t evolve or change – Hebrews 13:8; Psalm 102:25-27<\/p>\n
D. Morality or ethics taught in the Bible doesn’t evolve or change – I Peter 1:22-23<\/p>\n
VI. Learning from the Bible<\/p>\n
A. A reading schedule<\/p>\n
1. Read the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John<\/p>\n a. They repeat, but they are eye-witness accounts of Jesus’s life, each\nwritten from a different person’s point of view.\n
b. Unlike multiple witnesses among men, they harmonize perfectly<\/p>\n 2. Read Acts and see how people responded to the gospel message and the\nimpact that message had on the world\n 3. Pick several of the letters in the New Testament written to churches and\nsee how people dealt with applying the laws of Christ to their day-to-day\nlives.\n 4. Turn back to the Old Testament and learn the history of God’s dealing with\nman. See how we came to point of the New Testament.\n a. Read: Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Joshua, Judges, I Samuel, II\nSamuel, I Kings, II Kings, Jeremiah, Daniel, Esther, Ezra, and\nNehemiah.\n 5. Return to the gospels and suddenly you will notice things that you missed\nthe first time you read through them.\n
6. Now read all the letters to the churches.<\/p>\n
7. Study the books of wisdom: Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Psalms<\/p>\n
8. Read through Isaiah and then start again<\/p>\n B. With each pass through the Bible, expand on what you learn by examining a few\nmore books.\n
1. If something doesn’t make sense, make a note of it, but move on.<\/p>\n
2. Something you read later will clarify what you didn’t understand earlier.<\/p>\n 3. The Bible is one of those rare books that becomes more meaningful each\ntime you read it.\n C. My grandfather, after forty years of preaching, mentioned that there wasn’t a day\nthat he took up his Bible that he didn’t learn something new from it.\n
D. Give attention to reading – I Timothy 4:13, 15-16<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Psalm 119:1-8 I. When you open your Bible, what do you expect from it? II. Some Expect a Rule Book A. Just the other day I was asked “Where do I find a list of God’s laws in the Bible?” B. The Bible is not a reference book where you can look up…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[219,964],"class_list":["post-63669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-bible","tag-understanding-the-bible"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":19309,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-believe-in-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":63669,"position":0},"title":"Why Believe in the Bible?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 11, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Corinthians 1:18-31 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Could the Bible be a product of man? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We know that the Bible was written by about 40 different people \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Each from different walks of life, from shepherds to kings, councilors to fishermen. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It was written over a 1,500 year time\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":94813,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-canon-of-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":63669,"position":1},"title":"The Canon of the Bible","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 28, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Inspired Books The Canon of the Old Testament - Part 1 The Canon of the Old Testament - Part 2 The New Testament Canon False Books The Book of Enoch The Book of Jasher The Apocrypha New Testament Apocrypha - Infancy Gospels","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26275,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-bible-and-medical-science\/","url_meta":{"origin":63669,"position":2},"title":"The Bible and Medical Science","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 4, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Isaiah 45:20-25 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We know that the Bible is God\u2019s directions for mankind \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is not a history book per se; that is, it doesn\u2019t document all of world history. Just a small, but relevant portion. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is not a science book, but it does\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2930,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-did-you-find-the-old-childrens-bible-story-books\/","url_meta":{"origin":63669,"position":3},"title":"Where did you find the old children’s Bible story books?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 6, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I came across your website while looking for Bible story pictures from my childhood. As a small child, I dearly loved the pictures in the \"Standard Bible Story Readers.\" I remember memorizing some of the stories. The story of Blind Bartimaeus was my favorite. Several years ago, I saw\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26579,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-bible-and-dinosaurs\/","url_meta":{"origin":63669,"position":4},"title":"The Bible and Dinosaurs","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 27, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Don Martin The word dinosaur, as such, is not found in the Bible. We must remember that man has named many of the animals today. The word dinosaur is associated with the Greek \"dino,\" meaning terrible. There are animals named in the Bible concerning which we have no definite\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Brontosaurus-300x213.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":42079,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/ive-listened-to-the-entire-bible-during-my-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":63669,"position":5},"title":"I’ve listened to the entire Bible during my day","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 5, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I read your article on \u00a0Reading the Bible Cover to Cover. Permit me to share that I love listening to my audio Bible and have covered 50 to 100 chapters a day. I have since gone through the Good Book eleven times. By late Wednesday, March 5th, I'll complete\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63669"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63669\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}