Why It’s Important to Study the Scriptures

Tonight I want to talk to you about a subject that I’m very passionate about. The reason that I’m so passionate about this subject is because I see so many people who are led astray in their Christian beliefs. Many of them go to a church or they sit under a pastor or teacher who either has not studied scripture sufficiently, or they just pass down whatever they hear somebody else teach or a message that someone else has written. Or the third possibility is that some of these church leaders deliberately mislead their congregation with false doctrine and deceptive teachings. Either way, multitudes of people who are faithful to their churches, and many of these people have been in church for a very long time, but for whatever reason, they don’t take the time or make an effort to actually study the Word of God for themselves, and so they end up just believing whatever their pastor or Sunday School teacher or denomination tells them to believe…and unfortunately, much of what they think is truth…is not really truth at all. And they have no way of knowing that it’s not true, because they didn’t study their Bibles…and so they become deceived about God and His Word. And Friends…let me tell you…being deceived about God’s Word is a very dangerous position to be in. 

First of all, let me just say that I believe with all my heart that the Word of God is the ONLY absolute Truth there is in the world, and when we don’t take the time to study it and learn it for ourselves, then we run the risk of going down a path where God never intended for us to go, and believing doctrines that are not scriptural, and our ignorance will lead us to deception. And one of the most prevalent warnings that Jesus gave to His followers in the Bible is the one He spoke in Matthew 24:4 and also in a number of other places when He made statements such as, “Take heed that no one deceives you.” 

Think about this…Paul specifically wrote to his protégé, Timothy, “Be diligent (or the King James Version translates this word “study”) to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15) And so Paul is telling Timothy that it’s IMPORTANT for him to study the scriptures so that he can be approved to God and unashamed…and here Paul makes it perfectly clear to Timothy how important it is to study and know the scriptures for himself. No one…I said NO ONE knows ALL the absolute truth except the Holy Spirit. And when you study God’s Word and ask the Holy Spirit to teach you His Word…He will give you revelation on scripture that will keep you busy learning about God for the rest of your life. 

And Peter wrote, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” (2 Peter 3:17) So we know that the Word of God will prepare us to walk in obedience to God and to serve Him in our ministry to others. 

I remember a few years ago, a dear friend and I started studying the Bible together. We would go out to lunch and then go back to my apartment to continue our visit and get into some deep Bible Study. This friend LOVES God’s Word and she has a remarkable understanding of scripture, and that’s why I love to study with her. One day, we were talking about what scripture says about end times and I mentioned something that I had heard taught every since I was a Christian, and she challenged what I had said by asking, “Where did you read that?” I thought about it and I tried to find it on Google…and I couldn’t answer her. So we looked up what the Bible actually says about that particular subject…and to my shock…what I had heard for years was not actually scriptural. That was such an eye-opener for me, and from that day, I began to read my Bible with the intention of seeing what the Bible actually says, and not what I had always heard or what other people teach…and to my surprise…MUCH of what I had learned over the years, through sermons, Sunday School lessons and many of the books I had read…was NOT actually scriptural. From that time, I stopped reading books…and I became very particular about who I listen to…and I read and study the Bible asking the Holy Spirit to teach me the Truth of God’s Word. And Friends, I can tell you, when the Holy Spirit teaches you something, you NEVER forget it! It’s an amazing way to do Bible Study. 

So tonight I want to share with you 3 advantages it will give you if you will commit to diligently studying the Word of God every day. So let’s get into it: 

1.      When you know the Truth, it’s really hard for someone to deceive you. As we get closer to the end of the age, we see in scripture that Satan is going to be working harder than ever trying to deceive everybody…and he is especially interested in those who belong to God. We see in 1Peter 5:8 that “the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1Peter 5:8) We are warned of false teachers, false preachers, false prophets, false doctrines, false christs, false gods. Whatever God has working inside the Church, you can be sure that Satan has a counterfeit for it, and he is just brazen enough to park his counterfeit right inside the church building and targeting people who call themselves Christians! And Friends, the only way we can equip ourselves to recognize the false, is to become so familiar with the real, that anything that doesn’t line up with the Truth of God’s Word, we need to recognize as a counterfeit. Listen Friends, we are warned in 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not (I want you to hear this) because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”  Friends…we KNOW that the Bible tells us there will be a falling away, or what some versions call an apostasy, and I can tell you that is…in fact it has been taking place for quite some time right before our very eyes. Many who go to church believe everything that is told to them there. They believe strange doctrines, they believe false signs, they believe false prophecies that simply tickle their ears. I can personally tell you that I have seen and heard some of the most ridiculous things inside churches that DOES NOT line up with scripture. Some of the false doctrines will take a few scriptures and twist them so that they look totally different from what the Bible teaches, and hundreds of thousands of “so called Christians” are chasing after these teachings…why? Because they did NOT receive the LOVE of the Truth so that they might be saved. They preferred the lies, they would rather have their ears tickled, they would rather believe that God is going to make them rich or famous or give them the person of their dreams. People chase after all kinds of false doctrine and they believe all kinds of false things about who God is or who Jesus is. And God is saying here that HE will “send them a strong delusion” because they didn’t love the Truth! Friends, please…don’t allow yourself to be deceived. Read and study the Word of God every day.
2.      The second advantage of diligently studying the Word of God for yourself is, The Word of God will change your outlook or perspective on life. I can tell you from my own life, if you will go into this relationship with God with a desire to please your Heavenly Father and live your life in obedience to Him, I promise you, His Word will make a new person of you. It will change your likes, your dislikes, your attitude, your whole belief system. You will begin to think like God thinks and you will begin to hate what God hates and love what God loves. You will be continually changed from the inside out…for the rest of your life! Romans 12:1-2 gives us this advice, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed (take note of that word transformed) by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” In the first verse, Paul tells us to present our bodies to God, and in the second verse, he tells us that by renewing our minds, we will prove the perfect will of God. Friends, God’s Word continually comes alive…the Holy Spirit speaks to you by His Word, and as you put God’s Word into practice, you’ll see your life changing day by day. And that NEVER stops! I have been reading and studying and teaching God’s Word for over 39 years now…and I STILL find things I didn’t know, things I need to change and ways that I can know my Father even more intimately. It’s an amazing journey…and to me, there is NOTHING more exciting than the Word of God. I know who I used to be, and now I know who He has made me to be, and He has done that through His Word, and His faithfulness to be everything that He promised me He would be in my life. If I had never read and studied His Word, that would have never happened! I would still be living the same old defeated life I was living before I knew Christ.
3.      And then the third advantage of diligently studying the Word of God is that… There is POWER in the Word of God to give you victory over the Enemy. Friends, before you were born-again, you didn’t know you were defeated. You had nothing to compare your life to and you thought everything was fine. I didn’t know I was beaten and defeated in my mind and in my emotions and in my life. I just thought that was how life was supposed to be. And so I looked for ways to make it bearable. I smoked, I drank, I went drinking and dancing, I thought if I could just find the right man, then life would be beautiful...but NONE of that stuff made my life worth living. And I often thought of suicide…though I actually never actually tried it. I didn’t feel like there was any reason for me to live…except that I had two small sons…and they were the best reason for me to go on with my life. But in my heart of hearts, I knew there had to be something more that I was missing in my life, but I didn’t know where to find the answers that my heart was long for. I just wanted my life to have meaning and value and purpose…and I wanted to be happy. But just as King Solomon found out in his life…I learned that all that the world has to offer is vanity...it’s all meaningless.

But at the age of 30, I was considering getting back into church. I had tried that route a few years earlier, but I didn’t find what I needed in church. But this time I made a vow to myself…and I believe God heard it too. I remember thinking if I was gonna go back to church, I was gonna make it real this time…I wasn’t gonna play games with God anymore. And from that time until this, God has been very real in my life, and I began right away to study my Bible, and I began to do everything I could to obey whatever I believed God wanted me to do. But I had NO IDEA how drastically God would change my life. And do you know…from that time until this…I have never considered suicide again. God has put meaning and purpose in my life and my greatest joy has been to love Him and grow with Him and to serve Him with all my heart.

And as you learn the Word of God, you begin to think as God thinks, and when the Enemy of your soul comes along and plants lies in your mind or tempts you to sin against God, you have His Word to back you up. And when you speak God’s Word in the Name of Jesus, and you begin to meditate on the Word that you have planted in your heart, then Satan has no power, no victory, and there is nothing he can do that will harm you. Even if he takes your life, he does nothing more than to toss you right into the arms of Jesus. But without God’s Word planted in your heart…you have nothing to fight off the enemy and you will live in defeat. And that is how he will destroy you. You MUST know the Word of God. I know you have heard of the time when Jesus was tempted three times in the wilderness as recorded Gospels of Matthew Mark and Luke. Just as Jesus used the Word that He knew in His heart to combat the temptations of Satan, You have that power too, in His Name. You have to know there is Great Power in the Name of Jesus and your knowledge of the Word of God, because Satan definitely knows it, and he also knows that he is defeated! 

And so I want you to think about these things Friends. I want you to consider how valuable it is to give the time and effort necessary to study God’s Word. You can’t do that with a quick 5 minute devotional in the morning as you are preparing to run out the door into your day. You need to be deliberate about you relationship with God by spending quality time with Him everyday talking to Him and learning hiding His Word in your heart.  And a quick bonus reason to learn His Word is found in Psalm 119:11: 

“Your word I have hidden in my heart,
That I might not sin against You.”

 I want to pray with you if I may….if you will bow your heads with me:

Father… I want to thank You for Your Word. Your Word has the power to change my life if I will let it, and Your Word gives me meaning and purpose for my life. I cherish Your Word Father because You are faithful to Your Word…and Your Word is Truth. 

Father, I commit to You right now that I will spend quality time every day reading and studying Your Word and I ask You Father, to teach me and guide my life as I learn more and more about You and the things that You love and the things You hate. Help me to be everything You created me to be Father, and help me to fulfill the purpose that You created me to do. More than anything, I want to be pleasing to You. Father, I know that I am weak and I fall sometimes, but by studying and learning Your Word Father, I want to sin less and less as You renew my thinking and my life. Thank You Father for all that You have done, and that You continually do to make me more and more in the image of Your Son Jesus Christ. I love You Father, and I give You praise and honor and glory right now…in Jesus Name I pray…Amen.