basic instructions before leaving earth

few things are as simple and complex at the same time as the Bible.  it is a truly unique book.  it has been translated into more languages than any other book.  it can be used to wield power, and to destroy it; it can lead governments, or overthrow them.  it has been used throughout history to control people, and to liberate them.  one person can read Scripture and be challenged to make radical changes in their life, while another can read it and be encouraged in the current path that they are in.  a book this powerful is akin to electricity:  when used properly, it can bring benefit to countless people, but when used carelessly, it can cause considerable harm. 

in the book of 2 Timothy, paul instructs us to "study" Scripture.  he says that it is good for a variety of things, such as correction, for rebuking, and for instructing in righteousness.  this is an important command, for a major problem among those who profess and even teach and preach CHRISTianity is that they do not know Scripture; they do not know what it says or what it means.  misquoting Scripture and misinterpreting Scripture have led to heresies infecting the church like a cancer throughout history.  what is interesting, is that martyrs gave their lives to translate Scripture into the popular language of the people so that we could read Scripture for ourselves and not be led astray because of ignorance of Scripture.  and recently, with the advent of the internet and the wide availability of studying resources, we are truly without excuse.

many modern day churches have twisted Scripture by taking verses out of context, piecing them together to create a frankenstein CHRISTianity that is not only unbiblical, but downright dangerous.  this is what paul was talking about when he said that men would not endure sound doctrine, but would gather teachers who would tell them what they wanted to hear.  the sad thing is that people are so ignorant of Scripture and what it actually teaches, that they buy into these lies hook, line and sinker.  many of these teachers actually think that they are right, and are not leading others astray out of malice, but out of ignorance.  this problem is due to two primary reasons:  people don't read the Bible and people don't study the Bible.

in order to know the Bible we must first read it.  that means we actually have to get it out and read it, not just when we are trying to find a verse to prove a point or when we are in church.  as part of that reading, memorization should also be priority.  the psalmist said that he had hidden God's Word in his heart.  there have been stories of prisoners who have written whole books of the Bible from memory on the walls of their cells because they were not allowed to have a Bible.  in Jesus' time, a child was expected to have the first five books of Scripture memorized by the time they were ten, and then the rest of the old testament memorized by age twelve!  today, we have multiple Bibles in our homes, and never open them.  if we truly believed the Bible was God's Word, then we, who claim to love and follow Him and seek His will, would logically want to read His Word to find out what He had to say.

however, we must go beyond simply reading the Bible.  that's the purpose of the word "study."  as stated before, Scripture is no mere novel that you can simply read at face value.  we need to look at things such as language, context, history, author, audience, other passages, and then derive application by pairing it with prayer.  take for example the phrase, "his palms were sweaty, his heart raced, and he held his breath as he lined up his shot."  now, just for a moment, think about what that phrase means.  you are automatically going to interpret it from your point of view.  some of you may be thinking that it is a basketball player at a free throw line, while others are thinking it's a hunter in a deer stand about to shoot a large buck, and still others may be thinking it's a military sniper like chris kyle getting ready to kill an enemy.  however, if i were to tell you the sentence before it said, "the cool breeze blew across his face, cooling the sweat on his forehead as he focused on the contours of the lush, green carpet that lay between him and the hole," you begin to get a better picture of what is going on.  if i then were to tell you that the subject of the article was phil mickelson, you get an even better picture.  then, finding out it was an article in "golf digest" gives you a greater picture.  as you look at the author and when it was written, and find out it was written in augusta, georgia, you begin to find out more about the context and the importance of the shot.  so by digging deeper, and not stopping at that one phrase, you learn more about what that one phrase means.  Scripture is the same way.    

so first, you need to start with the original language.  our english translations lose so much of the meaning of the text that it is simply skimming the surface when reading it without digging deeper.  we even get so wrapped up in our english versions, that we begin to claim one as superior to others.  my favorite is the "king james only" crowd, who claim that the "1611 king james" is the only authorized Word of God.  this is comical, because when you look at the history of the king james version, you realize that the first edition, published in 1611, is not the version we have today.  the english of that time was very different from our english today, and reading a first edition of the 1611 king james is like reading the "canterbury tales" in the old english.  the king james today is actually the 1769 edition, or the 1881 edition if you take out the 14 aprocryphal books.  regardless, it is not the original language, which is the most accurate version of Scripture.  for instance, did you know in the original koine' greek, there were multiple words for "love?"  so when you read a passage like Jesus talking to peter after His resurrection, and Jesus asks peter if he loves Him, you only see the word "love."  however, in the greek, there were two different words used for love in that passage, one meaning "love as a brother" and the other meaning "unconditional love."  that opens up the passage that much more.  you may say, "well, i don't know greek."  the good news is, amazon has books on learning greek, or, if you are not that dedicated, you can look up the words in lexicons and interlinear Bibles that contain "strong's" references, which tell you the original greek or hebrew word, and you can then go and look up what that word means in the tense that it was used. 

secondly, we need to look at context.  things such as geography, location, and what a passage would have meant to the people of that time and place are important.  for example, how many of you have heard that God would rather have you be completely cold towards Him or on fire for Him, rather than lukewarm, being on the fence?  well, when you read about laodicea, you find that it was situated between two hills, from which two springs came:  a hot one, like our own hot springs, arkansas, that was in the city of hieropolis, known for its therapeutic bath houses; and a cold one, that was in the city of colossus, known for its cold, pristine drinking water.  the two springs met, and flowed through laodicea, and picked up sediment, and became toxic.  when you look at that context, it's clear that God wants us to be like a hot, healing bath, or a cold, refreshing drink of water, to those we minister to, rather than being neither and having a toxic attitude. 

a third question to ask is the history of the passage.  what was going on at the time it was written?  when you look at the roman society of the early church, in which most of the new testament books were written, you will find out that it was a very decadent society, one that was plagued with intense persecution of CHRISTians.  when you read paul's letters, and realize that some of them were written from a roman holding cell while awaiting trial, you find out the squalid conditions of those cells, where prisoners were dropped into holes in caves and forced to eat and sleep in their own excrement, and phrases like, "i am in need of nothing," from Philippians take on a new meaning.  so history is important.

fourth, looking at the author and intended audience makes a big difference.  for example, look at the gospels.  each one was written by a different author, to a different audience.  matthew was written by a devout jew, to a jewish audience, so he is going to spend a lot of time focusing on Jesus' rabbinical teachings.  mark was a young man at the time, so he's going to focus on more of the actions of Jesus.  luke, we know, was a physician, writing to a gentile named theophilus, so he is going to focus more on the details of who Jesus was.  john, was the more theological of the three, and is writing to convince people of the messianic claims of Jesus.  

 you also need to interpret passages in light of other passages.  some people use Scripture like a spiritual ouija board, taking one Scripture and running with it without comparing it to other Scriptures, and end up with a heretical view because of their own presuppositions when reading a passage.  remember that Scripture is never going to contradict itself when it comes to doctrine.  many people today claim that Scripture says to not judge, but they only look at that one verse, while ignoring the countless other Scriptures that tell us we are to judge, especially when it comes to those claiming to be of the faith. 

the final piece of the puzzle is prayer.  God speaks to us through His Word, and through prayer.  we are always to approach Scripture with prayer, because while you may be looking at printed words on a page, Scripture is far different than any other printed work, in that God speaks to us through His Word.  gone are the days when God would speak audibly from pillars of cloud and burning bushes, and now He speaks to us in that still, small voice.  so we are to approach Scripture with an attitude of prayer, and seeking God's face and will as we read, asking Him to reveal Himself to us through the words on the page.  that is why different people can read the same passage and God can speak to them in the midst of their circumstances in completely different ways; or person can read a passage one day, and God speak to them one way, and then another day hear from God in a completely different way.  Scripture is a living, breathing entity, and one that is there for our benefit, but we have to use it if we are to benefit from it.

there are things that you can do to get started in your biblical journey.  if you do not read Scripture, and don't know how to approach it, don't dismay.  everyone has to start somewhere.  begin by reading it.  pick a translation that you can understand.  the new international version is written in a way to be accessible to beginners. the language used is meant to be at a middle school reading level.  while it is not the most accurate in terms of literal translations from the original languages, it is a good place to start.  if you are looking for an accurate word for word translation, the new american standard Bible is the most accurate, other than going to the original languages themselves.  the english standard version is a newer version of the nasb, and is also very accurate, but tried to correct some of the readability problems with the nasb.  as you read, build on that, and start looking at commentaries (there are some free ones you can download, including matthew henry's commentary,) which help do a lot of the research for you.  however, don't fall into the trap of reading more of what people say about the Bible than the Bible itself.  devotional books are good, but should never replace Scripture itself in your own life.  bank tellers are taught to recognize counterfeit bills not by handling counterfeits, but by spending so much time handling real bills, that a counterfeit will be easy to spot.  paul tells us to test the spirits, and the way to do this is by knowing God's Word inside and out, so that when a false teacher or an errant teacher presents a "different gospel" than the one in Scripture, you will recognize it and rebuke it.  as numbers in the church dwindle, and members are led astray by false teachings of other religions, including the one of science and logic, because although science is a good thing, it can become a religion (with scientists as their priests,) the more the faithful know and practice Scripture, the more we will be able to stand firm and be the ones mentioned in Revelation that overcome.