Begin the study with prayer. Some possible petitions might be:
1. Thanksgiving to God for the death and resurrection of Jesus by which we are changed from worthless creatures to instruments of God.
2. Thanksgiving for the new heart we have in Jesus and its contents.
3. Supplication that God would grant us the sensitivity we need to recognize the "dull" areas of our spiritual lives and to "sharpen" the image of Christ in us through victory over them.
4. Others?
Begin with a review of the assignments from last week.
1. Quickly review the passages memorized thus far in the study (Proverbs 16:18, Galatians 2:20, Matthew 28:18-20, John 14:21, Proverbs 4:23, and Psalm 73:26). You might have the group recite a couple of them together and then ask for volunteers to recite the remainder. We want to start moving from group recitation to holding people personally accountable for their memory work.
2. Ask those present if they ran into any "Betties" this week and how they handled the situation. If no one responds, have the group share any witnessing or discipling opportunities they confronted recently.
3. Ask for a volunteer to define the Biblical concept of the "heart."
4. Have the group share what they discovered while studying Ecclesiastes 1:16-2:11 and give personal testimony if they ever sought their happiness in the same "vain experiences" as Solomon.
Purpose: To reveal the importance of inscribing the Word of God into the new heart we have
received in Christ, as well as to refute the futile excuses people give for not inwardly
digesting God's Word.
Teaching: Begin the study by reading Psalm 119:9 and ask the following questions:
* Who might ask the question in this verse?
1. Any person who loves the Lord.
2. Anyone watching a person they love destroy themselves through vain living.
3. A person who is frustrated with the fruitlessness of his sinful life.
* What is the only legitimate answer to this question?
By taking heed to God's Word.
* What all is included in "taking heed?"
Studying the Word of God and applying it.
* What cleansing does the Word offer?
Cleansing through the Gospel, the proclamation of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Cleansing of
sin from our daily walk.
* According to Proverbs 3:5, what is the opposite of trusting the Lord and His Word?
Leaning on your own understanding.
Explain that the refusal to study the Word of God and apply it to one's life is nothing less than the
sin of pride. It is the exaltation of our own understanding above God's.
* What rationalizations do people offer for not studying the Word of God?
A. "As soon as things slow down at work I plan on getting started." (REFUTATION: You find time to eat and sleep because they are important to you, you will find time to study the Word of God if it's important to you. Failure to eat and drink would result in physical death but failure to partake of God's Word can end in spiritual death and hell.)
B. "I just can't understand it, it's too deep." (REFUTATION: Yes, it is deep, but God gives us what we need to understand it by giving us a new heart. The more we study the more we understand. Every Christian starts at the same place, as a baby Christian, yet not all grow at the same pace. The difference is their involvement with God's Word.)
C. "We're all sinners, God just expects us to do the best we can." (REFUTATION: Yes we are all sinners and yes God expects us to do the best we can. He expects us to hate sin and overcome it, not by our own strength but by His. Being a sinner is not a reason to lay God's Word aside, but a reason for heeding it.)
D. "I'm saved by grace, not by studying the Bible." (REFUTATION: The same Word of God that brought you the grace of God in Jesus, brings you Christian maturity. Failure to mature is to condemn one's self to spiritual deterioration and jeopardize the salvation you have by grace.)
E. "I know what the Bible says." (REFUTATION: At the most a human being can just begin to know and understand what the Bible teaches. To leave even one stone unturned is to sacrifice blessings.)
* What rationalizations do people offer for not applying/following the Word when it contradicts their own will?
A. "That's not what my parents taught me." (REFUTATION: It doesn't matter what teachers or opinions have influenced us in the past, our life's course is to be in harmony with Scriptures, not past traditions.)
B. "I'm a Methodist (Lutheran, Baptist, etc.) and we have our own beliefs." (REFUTATION: Same as above.)
C. "I respect you for your convictions. However, I believe differently." (REFUTATION: Same as above.)
D. "This is the twentieth century, those principles don't apply anymore." (REFUTATION: God's principles are eternal. While their applications may vary from culture to culture, the principles themselves continue to stand.)
E. "Jesus fulfilled the law, I'm no longer under it." (REFUTATION: Correct, now the law no longer condemns us to hell. However, as Christians, the law of God becomes the very path of the Christian life. It is the Christian's desire to please His God by doing His will.)
* Explain that unfamiliarity with, or neglecting the Word of God in our life opens the door for sins of ignorance. What personal consequences result from such sins of ignorance? Use the example of complaining as an example (Philippians 2:14-15).
Some of them are:
A. We reap the consequences of sin in this lifetime. As we argue with others, others will tend to be hyper-sensitive and argumentative around us. (Galatians 6:7)
B. Occasion is provided for God's enemies to blaspheme Him. We lose our distinctiveness and the heathen say, "Why should I become a Christian, they are just as obnoxious and selfish as we are. The Christian God is no God." (II Samuel 12:14)
C. God's blessings are sacrificed in the area of our life where the sin resides. God does not bless sinful labors. Our conversation becomes fruitless rather than saving/edifying. People stop talking to us, or at least they stop listening. (Deuteronomy 28:15-68)
D. God disciplines us. (Hebrews 12:5-11)
E. Christian fellowship is hindered. Christians are forbidden to fellowship with those walking in darkness. Strong Christians will avoid us. (Proverbs 29:27)
F. We become stumbling blocks for others. (I Corinthians 5:6) Complaining always begets more complaining.
G. Others?
* How does Word negligence also hinder family life?
Family structure plays a large role in family harmony. When God's principles are not adopted as the
family's structure, each member will endeavor to implement his own principles. The strongest willed
person will win. When God's Word provides the structure the structure is irrefutable and any issue
with the structure must be taken up with God.
* Have you ever known a family where the children ran the family rather than the adults because they were the strongest willed?
* How would the structure of your family have differed if you had supplanted God's principles for your own when you were growing up, or even now? How about when you were 5, 18, 26, etc.?
* How does Word negligence affect life within a Christian congregation?
When God's Word does not direct the ministry, the strongest willed people will. The ministry is
rendered impotent.
* Have you ever been the member of a congregation where God's Word did not occupy the proper place in member and congregational life? What was it like?
* What percentage of the membership of most Christian congregations do you think actually studies the Word of God every day? What percent are cautiously heeding it?
Probably less than 5% study it daily. Probably less than 2% are consciously seeking to change their
lives to conform to the new Biblical principles they are learning.
* What effects does the failure to study the Word have on life in our nation?
Society is left without any moral absolutes. Right and wrong is determined by public opinion rather
truth.
* What moral absolutes have been eliminated from our society because the Christian Church has been heeding the Word of God less and less?
Abortion, liberal divorce laws, diminishing justice, criminal punishments that don't fit the crime,
humanistic education, virginity outside of marriage, etc.
* What does verse 11 say is to be the goal of all Bible study?
Our goal is to hide the Word of God in our heart.
* What benefits accompany hiding the Word of God in one's heart?
1. Power: God has chosen to accomplish His will through His Word. Only when His Word is being used will the power of God be manifested in the Christian's life.
2. Sin sensitivity/sin hatred: Sin cannot catch one off guard because the Word of God is like an anti-body to sin. It attacks temptations to sin before it can enter the heart.
3. Motivation: The Gospel in a Christian's heart is his motivation.
4. Direction: The how to's of the Christian life.
5. Confidence: No confusion, but certainty as to who you are and what you are to be doing.
6. Growth: We grow in faith and productivity. Baby Christians are only capable of producing baby Christian deeds. We are only capable of functioning according to "present light," that is the light God has placed in us through His Word.
7. Others?
* Is hiding the Word in one's heart synonymous to memorization?
No! It includes memorization but goes beyond it. Memorization can be a solely cerebral experience.
* How might Scripture memorization help people be more willing to be a witness or disciple others?
Many people feel they aren't competent to minister because they do not know the Word.
Memorization of Scriptures makes available the very substance of every witness and discipling effort.
* What are some excuses people give for not memorizing Scriptures?
1. They don't have a good memory.
2. They aren't smart enough.
3. They've never been able to memorize.
* What are the real reasons, though?
Unless there is a physiological disorder:
1. A lack of appreciation for the Word of God.
2. A lack of commitment to Christ.
3. Laziness.
* Is it really God's will for man to memorize His Scriptures or is it enough to just be familiar with what they say?
Beyond a shadow of a doubt. If more Scriptures are needed to confirm God's desire to have the
"Words" (not concepts) in man's heart you might also see Deuteronomy 6:6, 11:18, Luke 2:51,
Romans 10:8, and Colossians 3:16.
* What are some hints that might help a person be more effective at memorizing Scriptures?
1. Seek a place to memorize where there will be a minimum of distractions.
2. Pray before starting.
3. Thoroughly understand the meaning and application of the verses being memorized.
4. Learn the sequence of major thoughts and be able to recite them.
5. Read the verses through many times orally. (This gives visual, verbal and audible contact with the passage.)
6. Learn letter perfect, including verse location.
7. Recite the verses orally.
8. Use several short periods of time to memorize rather than one long period.
9. Select several times a day to recite your memory work and faithfully honor them.
10. Prime study times are just before bedtime and just after waking.
11. Be accountable to someone as an encouragement to be faithful.
12. Use flash cards.
13. Quote the Scriptures whenever possible in spreading.
14. Put the passages on tape and listen to them whenever you can, reciting along with the tape.
* Judging from verses 9-16, what prompted the Psalmist to heed God's Word?
1. He was seeking the Lord with his whole heart. (vs. 10a)
2. He believed wandering from God's will was an ever present threat. (10b)
3. He wanted to be taught. (vs. 12)
4. He understood the comparative value of God's Word, it meant more to Him than all riches. (14)
5. He found the Word of God delightful. (vs. 15)
* Which of the above was most important?
His seeking the Lord with his whole heart. He loved the Lord more than anything else, therefore,
he was motivated to be taught, to value God's Word, delight in the Word and not wander from it.
* What "Word" activities mentioned in verses 9-16 should be a part of every Christian's spiritual discipline if they too are seeking the Lord with their whole heart?
A. Inscribing God's Word in the heart (including memorization).
B. Meditation.
C. Being taught.
* Who is to be the teacher and if the teaching is proper, who will always be the teacher?
God. This makes it easier to disciple, doesn't it, when we know God does the teaching through His
Word and we are just His mediator.
Proclamation - explain that what is in the center of one's heart will dominate one's conversation. To
learn what is most important to anyone, one merely need listen to his conversation. If it is self, work,
etc., problems exist. The person seeking the Lord with his whole heart and whose heart is filled with
the Word of God, will have God and His Word on his lips continually.
* What does this include?
Witnessing of the Lord, but also declaring all the judgments of God which includes reproving,
correcting, edifying, encouraging, etc.
* The Psalmist commits himself to declaring all of God's judgments. Are there some judgments people might not want to declare? What are they?
Rejoicing in the Word.
Close the study with a prayer of thanksgiving for the Word of God and supplication for the
wisdom to use the Word properly.
1. Which of the following rationalizations have you used in the past to justify not studying the Word?
As soon as things slow down I plan on starting.
I just can't understand the Bible, it's too deep.
We're all sinners, God just expects us to do the best we can.
I'm saved by grace, not studying the Bible.
I know enough of what the Bible says.
Others?
2. Which of the following rationalizations have you used in the past to justify not accepting/applying certain Biblical principles?
That's not what my parents taught me.
Lutherans have never believed that way.
This is the twentieth century, those principles don't apply anymore.
Jesus fulfilled the law, I'm no longer obligated to do it.
Others?
3. Have you ever experienced some of the "Word" neglect consequences listed on page 3 of the LG
(Leader's Guide)? When?
4. Previous to this study, on the average, I memorized verses of the Bible each year.
5. What reasons have you used in the past to justify not memorizing Scriptures? What were the real
reasons?
6. I am presently seeking to implement the following Biblical principles more effectively in my life:
7. Prior to today's study, the following "Word activities" have been a part of my life:
Inscribing the Word in my heart (including memorization).
Meditation on God's Word.
Being taught.
Proclaiming all the judgments of God.
Rejoicing in the Word.
Daily Assignments
Day 1
* Review Lesson 5 using the Leader's Guide.
* Confess any failure you might have had in the past with "Word neglect" and ask God to fill you with desire for His Word.
* Establish a daily memorization schedule.
Day 2
* Quickly review the Lesson 5 material by questioning each other on its content.
* Memorize Psalm 119:9-10.
Day 3
* Read Psalm 1 and discuss its teaching on proper use of God's Word and the blessings of such usage.
* Evaluate your family life. Whose will dominates the family? Is the Word playing its proper role? What changes need to be made?
Day 4
* Memorize Psalm 119:11.
* Review Psalm 110:9-16 word by word, explaining the importance of each concept to the whole passage. How might you use this passage in ministering to others? In what areas does this passage challenge you to seek immediate growth?
Day 5
* Read I Samuel 13:1-15 and I Samuel 15. What do these passages teach about the importance God places on the honoring of His Word? Hoe did pride affect Saul's conforming to God's Word and handling guilt? How does this apply today?
* It will be assumed from this point on that all memory work for this study will be reviewed daily.
* Is the Word of God playing its proper role in your Christian congregation? How might it play a larger role?
Day 6
* Memorize Proverbs 3:5.
* Re-evaluate your memorization schedule. Is it the best it could be? How faithful have you been in honoring the schedule?
* Read Psalm 119. It is the longest Psalm in the Bible. As you read it, note why the psalmist says he loved God's Word, the various roles it played in His life and how many different terms he uses in reference to God's Word. How many verses of the Psalm do not have a reference to the Word of God in them? Record their verse numbers.