Warning: Inductive Bible study
can be habit-forming. Putting the principles into practice can cause loss of anxiety, decreased appetite for
lying, cheating, stealing, hating and "symptoms" of growing sensations of love,
peace, joy, compassion.
Leave not off reading the Bible till
you find your hearts warmed. Let it not only inform you but inflame you.
-- Thomas Watson
Inductive Bible study is meant not
merely to inform but to transform. (Ro 12:2-note)
Men do not reject the Bible because it contradicts
itself, but because it contradicts them. - E. Paul Hovey
The old covenant is revealed
in the New, and the New Covenant is veiled in the Old. - Augustine
The new is in the old contained, and the Old is in the New
explained. - Graham Scroggie
The family Bible is more
often used to adorn coffee tables or press flowers than it is to feed
souls and discipline lives. - Charles Colson
The Old Testament altar points to the New Testament cross.
The Bible is meant to be bread for daily use, not cake for special
occasions. (Dt 8:3, Mt 4:4)
The Bible is the best "TV guide".
(Ps 101:3) (Spurgeon
on Ps 101:3)
When you open your Bible, ask the Author to open your heart.
(Ps119:18-note, Luke 24:45,
Eph 1:17, 18 -see
notes
Ep 1:17; 18)
If a Christian is careless in Bible reading, he will care less about
Christian living.
To understand the Word of God, rely on the Spirit of God.
You can't enjoy the harmony of Scripture if you play just one note of
truth. (Acts 20:27)
To hear God speak, read the Bible carefully and study it prayerfully.
Backsliders begin with dusty Bibles and end with filthy garments. Spurgeon
We cannot bear fruit without the water of God's Word.
(Luke 8:15)
The highest goal of learning is to know God.
(John 17:3)
When we look into the mirror of God's Word, we see ourselves more clearly.
(Jas 1:23, 24, 25-note)
A text taken out of
context becomes a pretext.
Let God's Word fill your mind, rule your heart, and guide your tongue.
(Col 3:16-note,
Ep 5:18, 19, 20-see
notes)
The Bible: The more you read it, the more you love it; the more you love
it, the more you read it.
The best protection against Satan's lies is to know God's truth.
(Ep 6:14-note,
cp Jn 17:17)
Like a compass, the Bible always points you in the right direction.
(Deut 28:13, 14, Joshua 1:7, 8, 9-note)
Those who only sample the Bible never acquire a taste for it.
(Jer 15:16, Job 23:12-note,
Ps 19:10-note)
While other books inform, and some few
reform, this one book transforms. -- A. T. Pierson
Other books were given for our
information—the Bible was given for our transformation.
If you're too busy to read the Bible, you're too busy.
As A W Tozer put it...
Whatever keeps me from my Bible is my
enemy, however harmless it may appear to me.
God feeds the birds, but He doesn't throw the food into their nests.
We lose the joy of living in the present when we worry about the future.
And we lose the joy of living for the future when we focus on the present.
Opening your Bible can be a real eye-opener.
A well-read Bible is a sign of a well-fed soul.
The Bible breaks hard hearts and heals
broken hearts.
A Bible that's falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn't.
Sin will keep you from the Bible or the Bible will keep you from sin.
It's better to live one verse of the Bible than to recite an entire
chapter.
The Bible: read it through, work it out, pass it on!
The jewel of the Word should not hang
in our ears, but be locked up in a believing heart. -- William Jenkyn
The Word is both a glass to show us the
spots of our soul and a laver to wash them away. -- Puritan Thomas Watson
(Jas 1:22, 23, 24-note,
Jas 1:25-note)
One proof of the inspiration of the
Bible is that it has withstood so much poor preaching. - A. T. Robertson
It is impossible to practice godliness
without a constant, consistent and balanced intake of the Word of God in
our lives. -- Jerry Bridges (1Ti 4:7, 8, 9, 10-note)
The Bible is none other than the voice
of him that sitteth upon the throne. Every book of it, every chapter of
it, every syllable of it, every letter of it, is the direct utterance of
the Most High. -- John William Burgon
Apply yourself to the Scriptures and the Scriptures to yourself.
The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it
has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold on me. - Martin
Luther (He 4:12, 13-note)
Reading the Bible without meditating on it is like eating without chewing.
(Ps 119:15-note,
Ps 119:23-note,
Ps 119:27-note,
Ps 119:48-note,
Ps 119:78-note,
Ps 119:97-note,
Ps 119:99-note,
Ps 119:148-note)
Psalm 119:102 (note)
I have not turned aside from Thine ordinances, For Thou Thyself hast
taught me.
God speaks through His Word--take time to listen.
(Ps 95:7, Pr 8:6, Isa 55:3, Re 3:20-note)
If my sermons kept people from reading
the Bible for themselves, I would like to see the whole stock in a blaze
and burned to ashes. But if they serve as fingers pointing to the
Scriptures and saying, “Read this and this and this,” then I am thankful
to have printed them. - C H Spurgeon
The value of the Bible is not knowing
it, but obeying it. (1Sa 15:22, Ho 6:6, Mt 5:24-note,
Mt 12:22)
When you have read the Bible, you will
know it is the Word of God, because you will have found it the key to your
own heart, your own happiness and your own duty. -- Woodrow Wilson
He that reads his Bible to find fault
with it will soon discover that the Bible finds fault with him. - C H
Spurgeon
It is not the Word hidden in the head
but in the heart that keeps us from sin. - Vance Havner (Ps 119:9, 10, 11)
A Bible in hand is worth two on the
shelf.
Born in the East and clothed in
Oriental form and imagery, the Bible walks the ways of all the world with
familiar feet, and enters land after land to find its own everywhere. It
has learned to speak in hundreds of languages to the heart of man. It
comes into the palace to tell the monarch that he is a servant of the Most
High, and into the cottage to assure the peasant that he is a son of God.
Children listen to its stories with wonder and delight, and wise men
ponder them as parables of life. It has a word of peace for the time of
peril, a word of comfort for the time of calamity, a word of light for the
hour of darkness. Its oracles are repeated in the assembly of the people,
and its counsels whispered in the ear of the lonely. The wicked and the
proud tremble at its warnings, but to the wounded and the penitent it has
a mother's voice. The wilderness and the solitary place have been made
glad by it, and the fire on the hearth has lit the reading of its
well-worn pages. It has woven itself into our dearest dreams; so that
love, friendship, sympathy and devotion, memory and hope put on the
beautiful garments of its treasured speech, breathing of frankincense and
myrrh.— Henry van Dyke
A Red Letter Bible is fine, but
one that is Read is far better!
When the Bible becomes a part of you, you'll be less likely to come apart.
The Bible is a corridor between two
eternities down which walks the Christ of God; His invisible steps echo
through the Old Testament, but we meet Him face to face in the throne room
of the New; and it is through that Christ alone, crucified for me, that I
have found forgiveness for sins and life eternal. The Old Testament is
summed up in the word Christ; the New Testament is summed up in the word
Jesus; and the summary of the whole Bible is that Jesus is the Christ. —
Bishop Pollock
The Bible is simple enough for a child to read and too deep for a scholar
to master. (1Co 2:14)
A Bible that has frayed edges usually
has an owner that doesn't.
The best thing to do with the Bible is
to know it in the head, stow it in the heart, sow it in the world, and
show it in the life.
Devout meditation on the Word is more
important to soul-health even than prayer. It is more needful for you to
hear God's words than that God should hear yours, though the one will
always lead to the other. -- F. B. Meyer (Ge 24:63, Josh 1:8, Ps 1:2, 3,
Ps 38:12; 63:6; 77:3, 6, 12; 119:15, 23, 27, 48, 78, 148; 143:5; 145:5)
The Christian is bred by the Word and
he must be fed by it. --William Gurnall
The best way for Christians to grow is
to eat the Bread of Life. (Jn 6:48, 51, 58, Mt 4:4, Lk 4:4)
The Word of God is the candle without
which faith cannot see to do its work. (Pr 6:23, Ps 19:8)
The true Christian church is the work
of the Word communicated by every available means. -- Martin Luther
The Bible is like a compass—it always
points the believer in the right direction.
The Bible is like the ocean. You can wade in it, feed from it, live on
it--or drown in it. But those who take the time to learn its truths and
practice them will be changed forever.
With God's Word as your map and His Spirit as your compass, you're sure to
stay on course. (Pr 3:5, 6, Pr 16:9 Ps 25:8,9, 32:8 Isa 30:21, 48:17 Jer
10:23, Jas 1:5-note)
When you study the Bible "hit or miss," you MISS more than you HIT.
When the Word of God dwells in you, the love of Christ shines through you.
Beware! Error often rides to its deadly work on the back of truth!
--Spurgeon (2Cor 11:13, 14, 15)
Spiritual growth requires the meat of God's Word.
(He 5:14-note,
1Pe 2:2-note)
Be diligent in your study of the Word of God. Then, instead of falling
into error, you will stand firmly on the truth.
God’s Word is like the wheat in the
hand of the mummy, of which you have often heard. It had lain there for
thousands of years, but men took it out of the hand and sowed it, and the
bearded wheat, which has now become so common in our land, sprang up. So
you take a divine promise, spoken thousands of years ago, and lo, it is
fulfilled to you! It becomes as true to you as if God had spoken it for
the first time this very day, and you were the person to whom it was
addressed. - Spurgeon
Study the Bible to be wise; believe it
to be safe; practise it to be holy.
The Word of the Lord is a light to
guide you, a counsellor to counsel you, a comforter to comfort you, a
staff to support you, a sword to defend you, and a physician to cure you.
The Word is a mine to enrich you, a robe to clothe you, and a crown to
crown you. - Thomas Brooks
Your life will run smoother if you go by "The Book."
Some people like to read so many
chapters every day. I would not dissuade them from the practice, but I
would rather lay my soul asoak in half a dozen verses all day than rinse
my hand in several chapters. Oh, to be bathed in a text of Scripture, and
to let it be sucked up into your very soul, till it saturates your heart!
Set your heart upon God’s Word! Let your whole nature be plunged into it
as cloth into a dye! - C H Spurgeon
If we want our life to run well, even through stormy situations and rough
circumstances, we must take the time to study the "Owner's Manual."
Mark 4:4 -
Click for interesting Illustration from
nature!
Many people store the Bible on the shelf instead of in their heart.
Some people make the Bible say what they want to hear
To be a healthy Christian, don't treat the Bible as snack food.
A well-read Bible is the companion of a well-fed believer.
Remember that our Bible is a
blood-stained book. The blood of martyrs is on the Bible, the blood of
translators and confessors. The doctrines which we preach to you are
doctrines that have been baptized in blood—swords have been drawn to slay
the confessors of them. And there is not a truth which has not been sealed
by them at the stake or the block, where they have been slain by hundreds.
- Spurgeon (Related Resource -
See one of the most incredible DVD's
[about 4 hours long] you will ever watch - The Indestructible Book -
How We Got our English Bible - It will make you weep!)
I never saw a useful Christian who was
not a student of the Bible. - D. L. Moody
We must approach God's Word as if our lives depended on it--because they
do.
If your life depended on knowing the Bible, how long would you last?
We must align ourselves with the Bible, never the Bible with ourselves.
The branches of growing trees not only reach higher, but their roots grow
deeper. It's impossible for a strong tree to have high branches without
having deep roots. It would become top-heavy and topple over in the wind."
The same is true with Christians. It's impossible for
us to grow in the Lord without entwining our roots around His Word and
deepening our life in His commands." - Joni Eraeckson Tada
The roots of stability come from being grounded in God's Word.
Bible study demands pondering deeply on a short passage, like a cow
chewing her cud. It is better to read a little and ponder a lot than to
read a lot and ponder a little."
Unless God's Word illumine the way, the
whole life of men is wrapped in darkness and mist, so that they cannot but
miserably stray. -- John Calvin
Hold fast to the Bible as the
sheet-anchor of our liberties; write its precepts on your hearts and
practise them in your lives. To the influence of this book we are indebted
for the progress made in true civilization, and to this we must look for
our guide in the future. Ulysses S. Grant
If you wish to know God, you must know
his Word. If you wish to perceive his power, you must see how he works by
his Word. If you wish to know his purpose before it comes to pass, you can
only discover it by his Word. - Spurgeon
There’s no better book with which to
defend the Bible than the Bible itself. - D. L. Moody
The study of God’s Word brings peace to
the heart. In it, we find a light for every darkness, life in death, the
promise of our Lord’s return, and the assurance of everlasting glory. - D. L. Moody
Martin Luther on the Word of God
- "I had then already read and taught the sacred Scriptures most
diligently privately and publicly for seven years, so that I knew them
nearly all by memory" (LW 34:334)...There I began to understand [in Romans
1:17-note]
that the righteousness of God is that by which the righteous lives by a
gift of God, namely by faith . . . Here I felt that I was altogether born
again and had entered the gates of paradise itself through open gates.
There a totally other face of the entire Scripture showed itself to me.
Thereupon I ran through the Scriptures from memory. I also found in other
terms an analogy, as, the work of God, that is, what God does in us, the
power of God, with which he makes us strong, the wisdom of God, with which
he makes us wise, the strength of God, the salvation of God, the glory of
God (LW 34:337)...For some years now, I have read through the Bible twice
every year. If you picture the Bible to be a mighty tree and every word a
little branch, I have shaken every one of these branches because I wanted
to know what it was and what it meant (LW 54:165)...The neglect of
Scripture, even by spiritual leaders, is one of the greatest evils in the
world. Everything else, arts or literature, is pursued and practiced day
and night, and there is no end of labor and effort; but Holy Scripture is
neglected as though there were no need of it. Those who condescend to read
it want to absorb everything at once. There has never been an art or a
book on earth that everyone has so quickly mastered as the Holy
Scriptures. But its words are not, as some think, mere literature
(Lesewort); they are words of life (Lebewort), intended not for
speculation and fancy but for life and action... May Christ our Lord help
us by His Spirit to love and honor His holy Word with all our hearts. Amen
(LW 14:46)....You should diligently learn the Word of God and by no means
imagine that you know it. Let him who is able to read take a psalm in the
morning, or some other chapter of Scripture, and study it for a while.
This is what I do. When I get up in the morning, I pray and recite the Ten
Commandments, the Creed, and the Lord's Prayer with the children, adding
any one of the psalms. I do this only to keep myself well acquainted with
these matters, and I do not want to let the mildew of the notion grow that
I know them well enough. The devil is a greater rascal than you think he
is. You do as yet not know what sort of fellow he is and what a desperate
rogue you are. His definite design is to get you tired of the Word and in
this way to draw you away from it. This is his aim (WA 32, 64f.).
A description of the Bible -
This book contains: the mind of God, the state of man, the way of
salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. Its
doctrine is holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true, and
its decisions are immutable. Read it to be wise, believe it to be saved,
and practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to
support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveler’s map, the
pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword, and the
Christian’s charter. Here heaven is open, and the gates of hell are
disclosed. Christ is the grand subject, our good its design, and the glory
of God its end. It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the
feet. Read it slowly, frequently, and prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth,
health to the soul, and a river of pleasure. It is given to you here in
this life, will be opened at the judgment, and is established forever. It
involves the highest responsibility, will reward the greatest labor, and
condemn all who trifle with its contents. —
Anonymous (found on the flyleaf of an old Bible)
The Bible is like a telescope. If a man
looks through his telescope, then he sees worlds beyond: but if he looks
at his telescope, then he does not see anything but that. The Bible is a
thing to be looked through, to see that which is beyond; but most people
only look at it; and so they see only the dead letter.” Phillips Brooks
I would rather speak five words out of
this book than 50,000 words of the philosophers. If we want revivals, we
must revive our reverence for the Word of God. If we want conversions, we
must put more of God’s Word into our sermons. - Spurgeon
Reader, remember this: if thy knowledge
do not now affect thy heart, it will at last, with a witness,
afflict thy heart; if it do not now endear Christ to thee, it
will at last provoke Christ the more against thee; if it do not
make all the things of Christ to be very precious in thy eyes, it
will at last make thee the more vile in Christ's eyes. --
Puritan Thomas Brooks
The Bible was not written to satisfy
your curiosity, but to make you conform to Christ’s image. Not to make you
a smarter sinner, but to make you like the Savior. Not to fill your head
with a collection of biblical facts, but to transform your life.” --Howard
Hendricks in Living by the Book
If lips and life do not agree, the
testimony will not amount to much - Ironside
It
has been said that the Bible is so deep that theologians cannot touch the
bottom, yet so shallow that babes cannot drown.
Joseph Parker's interesting
discussion on
How To Read the Bible (from The
People's Bible, Luke 10:26)
J. I. Packer once said that...
If I were the devil, one of my first
aims would be to stop folk from digging into the Bible.
In
the midst of that period of intellectual history called The Enlightenment,
a philosophy known as deism was sweeping Europe. In the midst of this
development, the famous skeptic, Voltaire, proclaimed that within 25
years, the Bible would be forgotten and Christianity would be a thing of
the past. However, 40 years after Voltaire’s death in 1778, the Bible and
other Christian literature were being printed in what had once been
Voltaire’s own house!
Precious book! I would say of you what
David said of Goliath’s sword: “There is none like that; give it me” (1Sa
21:9). You are marrow and fatness, honey and wine. Yes, manna of angels
and water from the Rock, Christ Jesus. Of all soul medicines you are the
most potent. Of all mental dainties you are the sweetest. And of all
spiritual food you are the most sustaining. - Spurgeon
My rule for Christian living is this:
anything that dims my vision of Christ, or takes away my taste for Bible
study, or cramps my prayer life, or makes Christian work difficult is
wrong for me, and I must, as a Christian, turn away from it. - Dr. Wilbur Chapman
The Bible is God’s chart for you to
steer by, to keep you from the bottom of the sea, and to show you where
the harbor is, and how to reach it without running on rocks or bars. -
Henry Ward Beecher
Sow
a thought, and you reap an act;
Sow an act, and you reap a habit;
Sow a habit, and you reap a character;
Sow a character, and you reap a destiny. - Samuel Smiles
Leave not
off reading the Bible till you find your hearts warmed...Let it not
only inform you, but inflame you. - Thomas Watson
Never let good books take the place of the Bible. Drink from the Well, not
from the streams that flow from the Well . -- Amy Carmichael
Gipsy Smith told of a man who said he had received no inspiration from the
Bible although he had “gone through it several times.”
“Let it go through
you once,” replied Smith, “then you will tell a different story!”
John Mason on the Bible...
The word of God must be . . .nearer to
us than our friends, dearer to us than our lives, sweeter to us than our
liberty, and
pleasanter to us than all earthly comforts.
Take the candle of God's word and
search the corners of your heart.
We speak to God in prayer; God speaks
to us in His word.
All arguments against the word of God are fallacies; all ideas against the
word are delusions; all derision against the word is folly; and all
opposition against the word is madness.
When God threatens, that's a time to repent; when He promises, that's a
time to believe; when He commands, that's a time to obey.
If a man believed the threatenings of the word of God, he would tremble
and fly to the promises for refuge.
C H
Spurgeon in his sermon on
Hosea 2:23 exults in the authority and efficacy of God's holy Word...
To my mind, it is very instructive to
notice how Paul quotes from the Prophets. The revelation of the mind of
God in the Old Testament helps us to understand the gospel revealed in the
New Testament. There is no authority that is so powerful over the minds
of Christian men as that of the Word of God. Has God made known any
truth in his Word? Then, it is invested with divine authority. Paul, being
himself inspired by the Holy Spirit, and therefore able to write fresh
revelations of the mind of God, here brings the authority of God’s Word in
the olden times to back up and support what he says: “As he saith also in
Osee (Hosea).”
Beloved friend, if you are seeking
salvation, or if you want comfort, never rest satisfied with the mere word
of man. Be not content unless you got the truth from the mouth of God.
Say in your spirit, “I will not be comforted, unless God himself shall
comfort me. I want chapter and verse for that which I receive as gospel.”
Our Lord’s reply to Satan was, “It is written, man shall not live by
bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”
Give me, then, but a word out of God’s mouth, and I can live upon it;
but all the words out of man’s mouth, apart from divine inspiration, must
be as unsatisfying food as if men tried to live on stones.
Notice, again, how Paul teaches that
the very essence of the authority of the Scriptures lies in this, that God
speaks through his revealed Word:
“As HE saith also in
Osee (Hosea).”
It is God speaking in the Bible whom we
ought to hear. The mere letter of the Word alone will hill; but when we
hear God’s voice speaking in it, then it has power which it could not
possess otherwise. It is a blessed thing to put your ear down to the
promises of Scripture, till you hear God speaking through them to your
soul. It is truly profitable to read a gospel commandment, and to listen
to its voice until God himself speaks it with power to your heart. I
pray you, do not regard anything that is preached here unless it agrees
with what is written there in the Bible. If it is only my word, throw it
away; but if it is God’s truth that I declare to you, if God Himself
speaks it through my lips, you will disregard it at your peril.
I will make only one other observation
by way of introduction. Is it not wonderful how God’s Word is preserved
century after century? There were seven or eight hundred years between
Hosea and Paul; and it is remarkable that the promise to the Gentiles
should lie asleep all that time, and yet should be just as full of life
and power when Paul was quoting it after all those centuries. God’s
Word is like the wheat in the hand of the mummy, of which you have often
heard. It had lain there for thousands of years; but men took it out of
the hand, and sowed it, and there sprang up the bearded wheat which has
now become so common in our land. So you take a divine promise, spoken
hundreds or thousands of years ago, and lo, it is fulfilled to you! It
becomes as true to you as if God had spoken it for the first time this
very day, and you were the person to whom it was addressed.
O blessed Word of God, how we ought to
prize thee! We cannot tell yet all that lies hidden between these covers;
but there is a treasury of grace concealed here, which we ought to seek
until we find it. (See full message on
Hosea 2:23 God's People, or Not God's People)
(Bolding added for emphasis) (Copyright
AGES Software. Used by permission. All rights reserved. See
AGES Software
for their full selection of highly recommended resources)
