Lesson #01

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Biblical Perspectives

September 21, 2015

Biblical Perspectives

September 21, 2015

Syllabus

February 12, 2010

RETURN TO HOW TO STUDY…SYLLABUS

Bible Perspectives: How to Study the Bible for Yourself –Part I
Lesson #01
Introduction:
To You with Love

• The Bible is God’s love letter to you. The purpose of this class is to develop your ability to read it, understand it, and to act on it.
• This class is for the serious minded believer who wants more of God.

• The key questions

that you must ask yourself before we begin:

• Do you want God to personally speak to you?
• If God does speak to you, will you unconditionally obey that which He tells you?
• Are you willing to spend some time so He can speak to you?
• The Objectives of this class:
• =1=

You are going to learn how to have an openness to God so He can speak to you every day at the point of your need.

• Read Psa 95:7
• Read Joh 10:27
• Hearing God’s voice and knowing His will is not some big awesome mystery.
• We have the tendency to think that hearing from God concerning His will is something God is trying to hide from us, and that we have to wrestle with Him to get it. Just the opposite is true. God wants us to hear His voice so we will know His will and obey it.
• In this class you will develop the habit of reading God’s Word every day and keeping a journal. This notebook is your personal journal.
• =2= You are going to learn how to study the Bible on your own with the Holy Spirit as your teacher so that you really understand the Bible.
• You will learn many different methods of Bible study. We will concentrate on using one method at a time.
• =3= You will learn how to know where to look in the Bible for answers when problems arise.
• You will gradually develop your own personal concordance of Bible verses for your own use in times of trouble and in times of helping others with their problems.
• What is a concordance?
• A concordance is a list of Bible references arranged in some order.
• =4= You will learn how to use Bible reference materials such as Bible Handbooks, Bible Concordances, Bible Dictionaries, Bible Commentaries, etc.

• The Class Requirements:

• This class will be different from all other studies you have experienced with me and with the majority of other Bible teachers.
• This class is more like a hands-on workshop where you do most of the work and half of the talking.
• In all my other classes, the homework is optional. I do all the work, and the majority of talking. In this class it is the opposite:
• The homework is required. If you do not do the homework, you will not hear from God, and you will have nothing to say in class. If no one in the class does the homework, we will spend most of our time staring at each other in silence.
• The time in class will contain a lot of discussion of what you have discovered at home in your homework time. In other words, you will be telling the class what God is saying to you.
• During the class time I will also introduce you to new methods of Bible Study and a lot of other helpful information about the Bible.
• The King James Bible is required in this class. There are no exceptions to this requirement.
• Do not

use any other resource books like commentaries unless I tell you to do so.

• Do not

use any footnotes in the margins of your Bible.

• A Very Important Class Rule:

• There are no right answers and no wrong answers in class discussion when we are discussing your personal Spiritual Diary.

• The Form of the Homework:

• =1= The Daily Spiritual Diary
• Spend 10 minutes every day (6 days a week) reading the Psalms in the King James Version of the Bible.
• Before reading you should pray and ask God to speak to you through His Word.
• Spend 5 minutes filling in one section of your Spiritual Diary.
• What to look for as you read:
• A believer’s relationship to God.
• A believer’s relationship to other believers.
• A believer’s relationship to non-believers.
• A believer’s relationship to himself.
• In other words, your personal perspective, personal attitudes, growth, priorities, ways to avoid defeat and achieve maturity.
• =2= A Bible Study Homework Method:
• Spend 15 minutes every day (6 days a week) studying the assigned scripture in the King James Bible and filling out the homework sheet. The method of Bible study will vary from week to week.
• The method of Bible study used for the homework will be explained in class the week before you have to do it. In fact, we will work an example of the method in class.

• The Class Format:

• =1= Each class period will have a discussion of what you have discovered in your homework.
• =2= Each class period will contain an informative lesson that will be meaningful to your study of the Word of God, and that will help you build the Word of God into your life.
• =3=Each class period will have a demonstration of a new method of studying the Bible which you will use in your subsequent homework.

• Lesson #1 “Manna Verses and Arsenal Verses”: The Bread of Life

• Read Joh 6:32-35 and 48-57
• Sometimes verses in the Bible can qualify as “Manna Verses”. What is a Manna Verse?
• A manna verse is a verse that speaks to the need of the moment and seems to jump off the page at you. You may have read the verse before and never noticed it as anything special. Then just when you need it, God seems to turn a spot light on that verse, and it is just what you need at the moment. You could read that same verse next week and it could be like any other verse, nothing special, and in some ways it has gone flat.
• This phenomena is evidence of God’s moment by moment closeness.
• This phenomena is evidence of God speaking to you and His desire to demonstrate His loving care for you.
• This phenomena emphasizes the oddly elusive nature of our relationship with Him. Therefore, we need to reactivate our relationship with God every day by hearing from Him through His Word.
• Sometimes verses in the Bible can qualify as “Arsenal Verses”. What is an Arsenal Verse?
• Arsenal verses are verses that meet an emergency need. They are verses we store in our memory. That is why there is always a memory verse in the lessons of my other classes. These are called Arsenal Verses because they are like a stockpiled weapon in case of war. These verses do not go flat from one day to the next. They are verses the Holy Spirit brings to your mind in an emergency when you suddenly need encouragement.
• These verses emphasize God’s Word as imperishable and inexhaustible.
• These verses are evidence that God’s Word is unchangeable and a permanent truth.
• These verses are called “the sword of the Spirit”. (Eph 6:17)
• Any Bible verse can be either a “Manna Verse” or an “Arsenal Verse” or both depending on how God wants to use it in your life,.
• “Manna Verses” will show up in your Daily Spiritual Diary, so look for them as you read the Psalms and fill out your diary.
• Arsenal Verses are those that you will want to organize and put in your Personal Concordance.
• Read Exo 16:1-36 [To go to the answers–for the teacher]

• Types of Bible Study Methods: #1 The Question and Answer Bible Study

• This is a prepared method of study. The majority of printed materials for Bible Study and Sunday School use this method of filling in the blanks. It is the most simple and the most superficial. It is often used for people who do not know the Bible well. It is a very directed study where the author of the material leads the student through Bible verses to a predetermined conclusion of what he thinks that the student should know. This is the kindergarten level of Bible Study and leaves no room for the Holy Spirit to guide the believer.The believer is captive to the prescribed truth the author wants to convey. Therefore, the believer can easily be lead into error if the author of the material lacks true integrity.This is why many cults use this method of Bible Study.

• Homework:
• =1= Work on your Spiritual Diary (15 minutes total / day)
• Pray for the Holy Spirit to give you insight for He is your teacher.
• Read at least 10 minutes in Psalms each day (6 days).
• Do not skip around in Psalms, but read verse by verse, chapter by chapter starting with Psa 1:1.
• Fill in one section of the Spiritual Diary each day.
• =2= Using the “Question and Answer Bible Study” sheet, study James 1:19-27 (King James only).
• Answer one question on the sheet each day.
• =3= Add to “My Personal Concordance” any scripture references that are meaningful to you that you have encountered during the week.

• #1 Question and Answer Bible Study

Date:

Scripture: Exo 16:1-36

Title:

Questions:

1. What were the conditions the people had to fulfill in order to have manna to eat? 

Read Joh 6:51 Joh 1:14 Deu 8:3

2. What is the Christian’s daily manna?

Why is it necessary?

3. What condition must the Christian fulfill in order to be satisfied and benefit fromhis “manna”?

Read Num 11:4-9

4. What was the people’s attitude towards God’s gift?

5. What is your attitude and action towards God’s manna to you?

Application:

6. What must I do this week to change my attitude and my actions toward God’smanna?

• #1 Question and Answer Bible Study

Date:

Scripture: Jam 1:19-27

Title:

Questions:

1. What commands are given in verses 19-21 as a preparation for the truth?

2. How do you receive the engrafted Word according to verse 22?

3. Can you think of any specific time in your life when you were a hearer of the Wordonly like the man in verses 23 and 24 and not a doer? When?

4. What is the perfect law of liberty? (25)

5. What promise is given to those who walk in the perfect law of liberty doing theWord?

6. What is the test of whether one is a hearer only or a doer (26-27)?

Application:

What word has the Lord given you this week that needs doing?

How do you plan to be a doer of the Word this week?

How does the test in question #6 above apply to my plan of action?