601 SFL - Session 2: Essential 1, The Bible

Spiritual
Disciplines for
the Christian
Life
Donald S. Whitney

Bible intake...
for the
purpose of
godliness
Chapters 2 & 3

“No spiritual
discipline is more
important than the
intake of God’s
word. Nothing can
substitute for it.”

The Bible is meat and milk for
the believer - in it, God tells us
about himself, about Jesus,
about the incarnation, about
the Law and how we have
broken it, about the death and
resurrection of Christ, about
how to walk in the ways of
God, about how to please
God... information that is found
nowhere else apart from in the
Bible. To know God, and to be
godly - we must know the Bible
intimately.

Many believers agree - yet still
they neglect to read their Bible,
their lips agree with it but their
hearts from it.
Bible intake is not only the
most important spiritual
discipline, it is also the most
broad consisting of several
sub-disciplines.

Hearing God’s word
This is the easiest of all disciplines -
listening to God’s word for example
through faithful biblical preaching.
Lk 11:28 But [Jesus] said, “Blessed
rather are those who hear the word
of God and keep it!”
Listening should lead to obedience!
Rom 10:17 So faith comes from
hearing, and hearing through the
word of Christ.
What does this verse mean - how
can we ‘hear’ the word of God?

Preaching
Christian radio / tv
Audio - cd, dvd etc.
The Internet
1 Tim 4:13 Until I come, devote
yourself to the public reading of
Scripture, to exhortation, to
teaching.
Whitney suggests this verse shows
we need to go to church and hear
preaching of the WOG there - not
just say we can worship God in all
that we do.
There has been a lot written about
how to listen to a sermon...

Phil Ryken:
“So what is the right way to
listen to a sermon? With a
soul that is prepared, a mind
that is alert, a Bible that is
open, a heart that is receptive,
and a life that is ready to
spring into action.”
Full article can be found here:
http://www.reformation21.org/
articles/how-to-listen-to-a-
sermon.php

Stephen Altrogge suggests,
“Through the preaching of God’s
word we hear God speak to us in
a unique way that is different from
when we read the Bible in private.
Because of this it’s crucial that we
hear the word of God preached
and apply it to our lives.
Remember Who Is Speaking
Listen Intently
Listen With Humility
Apply The Word
A ﬁnal word. Always pray before
you listen to a sermon.”

John Newton explains how we should listen to
sermons.
“As a hearer, you have a right to try all doctrines
by the word of God; and it is your duty so to do.
Faithful ministers will remind you of this: they will
not wish to hold you in an implicit and blind
obedience to what they say, upon their own
authority, nor desire that you should follow them
farther than they have the Scripture for their
warrant. They would not be lords over your
conscience, but helpers of your joy. Prize this
Gospel liberty, which sets you free from the
doctrines and commandments of men; but do not
abuse it to the purposes of pride and self.”

Newton also explains how we
should not listen to sermons:
“There are hearers who make
themselves, and not the
Scripture, the standard of their
judgment. They attend not so
much to be instructed, as to
pass their sentence. To them,
the pulpit is the bar at which the
minister stands to take his trial
before them; a bar at which few
escape censure, from judges at
once so severe and
inconsistent.”

Reading God’s word
Barna research of US Christians
showed:
18% read the bible every day
23% say they never read it
Jesus,
On numerous occasions quotes
the Scripture - Mk 12:10, Lk 4:21,
Lk 22:35-37, Jn 7:38, 10:35 etc.
Matt 4:4,“It is written: ‘Man shall
not live on bread alone, but on
every word that comes from the
mouth of God.”

2 Tim 3:16, All Scripture is breathed out
by God and proﬁtable for teaching, for
reproof, for correction, and for training in
righteousness,
Rev 1:3, Blessed is the one who reads
aloud the words of this prophecy, and
blessed are those who hear, and who
keep what is written in it, for the time is
near.
One survey showed that there is no
factor more inﬂuential in shaping a
persons moral and social behaviour
than regular Bible reading. For
change to take place - read your Bible!

How often should we read our Bibles? How To
Enjoy Your Bible by John Blanchard:
“Surely we only have to be realistic and honest
with ourselves to know how regularly we need
to turn to the Bible. How often do we face
problems, temptation and pressure? Every day!
Then how often do we need instruction,
guidance and greater encouragement? Every
Day! To catch all these felt needs up into an
even greater issue, how often do we need to
see God’s face, hear his voice, feel his touch,
know his power? The answer to all these
questions is the same: every day!”

Blanchard goes on to quote DL
Moody:
“A man can no more take in
a supply of grace for the
future than he can eat
enough today to last him for
the next 6 months, nor can
he inhale suﬃcient air into
his lungs with one breath to
sustain life for a week to
come. We are permitted to
draw upon God's store of
grace from day to day as we
need it.”

Practical suggestions for
regular Bible reading:
1. Find the time - 15 minutes
reading per day gets you
through the bible in one year!
Discipline this use of time - and
make sure you do it with good
quality time.
2. Find a Bible reading plan -
and use it! There are loads
online to suit all types of reading
habits or styles.
3. Mediate on something you
read - a word, phrase,
sentence, idea etc.

http://www.biblegateway.com/reading-plans/
http://www.navpress.com/dj/content.aspx?id=138

http://www.ligonier.org/blog/bible-reading-plans/
http://www.esvbible.org/Genesis+1/

Studying God’s word
“Reading gives us breadth, but study
gives us depth.” Jerry Bridges

Ezra 7:10 For Ezra had devoted himself
to the study and observance of the Law
of theLord, and to teaching its decrees
and laws in Israel.

and laws in Israel.
What is the pattern of development
in the life of Ezra?

and laws in Israel.
1. Devoted himself

and laws in Israel.
1. Devoted himself
2. To the study

and laws in Israel.
1. Devoted himself
2. To the study
3. And observance

and laws in Israel.
1. Devoted himself
2. To the study
3. And observance
4. (After 1-3) then he is teaching

Acts 17:11 Now the Berean Jews were
of more noble character than those in
Thessalonica, for they received the
message with great eagerness and
examined the Scriptures every day to see
if what Paul said was true.
2 Tim 4:13 When you come, bring the
cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and
my scrolls, especially the parchments.
Paul was in prison soon to die - he wants
a coat and the scriptures - note that Paul
had seen heaven, the resurrected Christ,
known the HSp power and written
portions of scripture - yet still he wanted
to read, study and learn.

So why don’t we study like Paul? RC
Sproul has strong words to say:
“Here, then, is the real problem
of our negligence. We fail in our
duty to study God’s Word not so
much because it is diﬃcult to
understand, not so much
because it is dull and boring,
but because it is work. Our
problem is not a lack of
intelligence or a lack of passion.
Our problem is that we are
lazy.”

Another problem, apart from
laziness, might be insecurity about
how or where to study. Whitney
says the difference between Bible
reading and study is a pen and
paper - you simply write down what
you observe, questions, cross
references, look up key words etc.
(If you are really uncertain about it
then ask a couple of friends to join
with you as you start.)
Rick Warren has an excellent book
on Bible study techniques - a great
starting point and well worth a
read.

One blog suggests, “Asking these
questions when reading a passage
in Scripture helps in unpacking the
meaning of a passage, in helping
you dig deeper into Scripture and
leave you having a better
understanding of what you read.”
1. Ask “Who?” to ﬁnd out who the
passage was originally written to,
who wrote the passage and who
are you reading about.
2. Ask “What?” to determine what
the author is talking about and
what is the main point of the
passage.

3. Ask “When?” to learn when was
this passage written, when the event
that is talked about did or will
happen, and when the people written
about in the story did something.
4. Ask “Where?” to help you
understand where did the story take
place, where was the author writing
from, where did the people in the
passage go and where is this
passage placed in the book you are
reading as well as in the overall story
of Scripture.

5. Ask “Why?” to ﬁgure out why
the author said something, why
did characters did something,
and why the passage is there.
6. Ask “How?” to discover how
was something accomplished,
how is something to be done,
how did the people in the
passage respond, and how
should you respond.
http://biblestudyforher.com/ﬁve-ws-and-an-
h/

More application
If your growth in godliness were
measured by the quality of your Bible
intake - what would be the result?
John 17:17 Sanctify them by the truth;
your word is truth.
Simply put, the Bible makes you live a
more holy life. If your intake is low and /
or of poor quality, probably your life in
God will be poor too.
This should not induce guilt - but
should lead us to repent and renew
our walk with the Lord and bible
reading.

Join a Bible study group at
church.
Listen to sermons online etc.
Set goals for reading the Bible
each day, month, year...
Use a study guide to get you
started
Think of something - and do it!
Make a commitment to do
something new so that you
might grow in godliness.
Imagine:
A church member
comes to you and
asks,
“What is the best
thing I can do to
improve my intake
of God’s word?”

Join a Bible study group at
church.
Listen to sermons online etc.
Set goals for reading the Bible
each day, month, year...
Use a study guide to get you
started
Think of something - and do it!
Make a commitment to do
something new so that you
might grow in godliness.

“Do not expect to master the Bible in a day, or a
month, or a year. Rather expect often to be puzzled by
its contents. It is not all equally clear. Great men of God
often feel like absolute novices when they read the
Word. The apostle Peter said that there were some
things hard to be understood in the epistles of Paul (2
Peter 3.16). I am glad he wrote those words because I
have felt that often. So do not expect always to get an
emotional charge or a feeling of quiet peace when you
read the Bible. By the grace of God you may expect
that to be a frequent experience, but often you will get
no emotional response at all.

...Let the Word break over your heart and mind again
and again as the years go by, and imperceptibly there
will come great changes in your attitude and outlook
and conduct. You will probably be the last to recognize
these. Often you will feel very, very small, because
increasingly the God of the Bible will become to you
wonderfully great. So go on reading it until you can read
no longer, and then you will not need the Bible any
more, because when your eyes close for the last time in
death, and never again read the Word of God in
Scripture you will open them to the Word of God in the
ﬂesh, that same Jesus of the Bible whom you have
known for so long, standing before you to take you for
ever to His eternal home.”
Geoffret Thomas

Memorising God’s word:
Beneﬁts and methods
Why are people unwilling and so
poor at doing it?
Whitney notes that if you offered
people $1,000 per verse they
memorised for a week then they
would do it willingly - yet the
beneﬁts of memorising scripture
are far greater than mere money.

Memorising God’s word:
Why are people unwilling and so
poor at doing it?
Whitney notes that if you offered
people $1,000 per verse they
memorised for a week then they
would do it willingly - yet the
beneﬁts of memorising scripture
are far greater than mere money.
How many Bible verses do you
have memorised?
How many have you memorised
in the last week / month / year?
“Many Christians look on the
discipline of memorising as
something tantamount to
modern-day martyrdom.”

Memorisation supplies spiritual
power
Verses stored in your mind are there
available for HSp to use at any time -
Ps 119:11, I have hidden your word
in my heart that I might not sin
against you.
Col 3:22 Set your minds on things
above, not on earthly things.
This verse might be useful when you
are looking at, or thinking of,
something you know is not the will of
God.
Remember that Jesus used the WOG
to defeat satan in the wilderness

Memorisation strengthens your
faith
Proverbs 22:17-19 Pay attention
and turn your ear to the sayings of
the wise; apply your heart to what I
teach, for it is pleasing when you
keep them in your heart and have all
of them ready on your lips. So that
your trust may be in the Lord, I
teach you today, even you.
Often we ﬁnd that when we are
tempted to doubt or to be
discouraged the words of Scripture
give us strength and renew our faith

Memorisation and witnessing
and counselling
Acts 2 Peter proclaimed the
words of Joel and other OT
scriptures - how? He had
memorised them and they were
then used in proclaiming the
Gospel
Often in our witnessing or in
counselling other people the
words of the Bible are more
reliable, and more powerful, than
our own words and ideas.

A means of God’s guidance
Psalm 119:24Your statutes are my
delight; they are my counselors.
What if you don’t know what to say
in a situation? Remember Eph
4:29 Do not let any unwholesome
talk come out of your mouths, but
only what is helpful for building
others up according to their needs,
that it may beneﬁt those who listen.

Memorisation stimulates
meditation
Once a verse is memorised it can be
meditated upon at any time and in
any place - it is always available.
Ps 119:97 Oh, how I love your law! I
meditate on it all day long.
Many people know only a few
“popular” verses - Jn 3:16, Gen 1:1
- but for the powerful sword of the
Spirit to be more effective in
resisting temptation, giving guidance
we need a wider range of materials
to choose from.

How to memorise scripture
1. Know you can do it - you
memorise all sorts of things it is
simply a case of working hard at it
2. Have a plan - use a plan
developed by someone else (there
are lots available) or choose a topic
and memorise 10 verses on that,
then move onto another etc.
3. Write them out - separate pages
or cards for each one
4. Be creative - e.g. you might draw
pictures to help you

5. Be word perfect in your
memorisation of it.
6. Be accountable - often doing
it with a friend brings
accountability and stickability
7. Review and meditate every
day - when learning a language
a key is in using and reviewing
new words, it is the same in
Bible memorisation.
8. Allow transformation of you to
come through the verses, Dallas
Willard has said,

“As a pastor, teacher, and
counselor I have repeatedly seen
the transformation of inner and
outer life that comes simply from
memorization and meditation
upon Scripture. Personally, I
would never undertake to pastor
a church or guide a program of
Christian education that did not
involve a continuous program of
memorization of the choicest
passages of Scripture for people
of all ages.”
Dallas Willard

Meditating on God’s word:
Method and beneﬁts
Meditation is biblical - we are told to
do it and shown some models.
Christian meditation involves ﬁlling our
mind with God’s words - not emptying
our mind as in other religions - it is a
positive, constructive technique for
edifying the believer.
“Meditation is deep thinking on
the truths and realities revealed in
scripture for the purpose of
understanding, application and
prayer.”

Whitney likens it to a cup of tea:
You are the cup of hot water - the
intake of scripture is the tea bag.
Hearing God’s word is like dipping
the tea bag in once - some flavour
and colour can be seen/tasted.
Soaking and further plunging of the
bag into the water is like reading,
studying and memorising the
scriptures. This has an increased
effect on flavour and colour.
Meditation is when the tea bag is
immersed completely until all the
flavour and colour are taken into the
water.

Joshua 1:8 Keep this Book of the
Law always on your lips; meditate
on it day and night, so that you
may be careful to do everything
written in it. Then you will be
prosperous and successful.
There is a link between success (in
God’s terms) and meditation. In
such meditation the scriptures will
permeate all of your being and
your conversation - and will result
in the right godly actions.

Psalm 39:3While I meditated, the
fire burned; then I spoke with my
tongue:
Remember Jer 23:29 - it is as if my
meditation we fan into flame the
burning fire of the WOG - which then
gives off more heat and more light.
Why is your Bible reading so cold
and you lack spiritual success?
Thomas Watson suggests,
“The reason we come away so
cold from reading the Word is
because we do not warm
ourselves at the fire of
meditation.”

Psalm 1:1-3 Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the
wicked or stand in the way that
sinners take or sit in the company of
mockers, but whose delight is in the
law of the Lord, and who meditates
on his law day and night.That
person is like a tree planted by
streams of water, which yields its
fruit in season and whose leaf does
not wither—whatever they do
prospers.
We think most about what we
delight in - meditation helps us to
think and drink more deeply on God.

Note the progression in Psalm
119:98-99 Your commands are
always with me and make me wiser
than my enemies. I have more
insight than all my teachers, for I
meditate on your statutes.
His great wisdom comes from
meditation.
In our day there is more information
(distractions) available to us than at
any other time in the history of the
earth - we have information in a
newspaper that is greater than that
encountered by an 18th century
person in their whole lifetime.

Romans 12:2
Do not conform to the
pattern of this world, but
be transformed by the
renewing of your mind.
Then you will be able to
test and approve what
God’s will is —his good,
pleasing and perfect will.

How do we meditate in a
Christian manner?
1. Select an appropriate passage
- perhaps something that took your
attention during your reading
- something that is appropriate to your
life situation
- something that will help you deal with
temptation you are facing
- something that focusses your heart
and mind upon God and who he is

2. Repeat it in different ways, Jn
11:25
“I am the resurrection and the life.”
As you say it each time you should
think deeply upon the idea, the
truth or light, that ﬂashes into your
mind. Such insights often come
slowly!

3. Rewrite it in your own words
Paraphrasing a verse often
helps you to go deeper as you
search for understanding and
meaning in the text. Think of
synonyms, look at the order of
words etc.
4. Look for applications of the
text
Meditation is incomplete until it
results in action - and worship.
Ask “what should I do as a
result of this verse?”

5. Pray through the text
Psalm 119:18 Open my eyes that I may see wonderful
things in your law.
John 14:26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the
Father will send in my name,will teach you all things and
will remind you of everything I have said to you.
As we read and meditate we should also be praying the
text, asking for greater illumination - this then moves us
further into application.

6. Don’t rush - take time
Reading too fast often results
in us remembering nothing (or
very little)
Maurice Roberts, “Our age
has been sadly deﬁcient in
what may be termed
spiritual greatness. At the
root of this is the modern
disease of shallowness.
We are all too impatient to
meditate on the faith we
profess…

It is not the busy skimming
over religious books or the
careless hastening through
religious duties which
makes for a strong
Christian faith......Rather, it
is unhurried mediation on
gospel truths and the
exposing of our minds to
these truths that yields the
fruit of sanctiﬁed
character”
Read less - and meditate more
Give more time to your reading
and meditating

Applying God’s word:
For many people there is a great
difﬁculty in applying the Bible
into contemporary situations -
how to raise my children, how to
act at work, making good
decisions.
1. The value of applying Gods
word
James 1:22-25
John 13:17 Now that you know
these things, you will be blessed
if you do them.

2. Expect to discover an application
If God wants you to do his word then you can be sure
he will want you to find the application
Thomas Watson encouraged us,
“Take every word as spoken to yourselves. When
the word thunders against sin, think thus: ‘God
means my sins;’ when it presseth any duty, ‘God
intends me in this.’ Many put off Scripture from
themselves, as if it only concerned those who
lived in the time when it was written; but if you
intend to profit by the word, bring it home to
yourselves: a medicine will do no good, unless it
be applied.”

3. Understand the text
Knowing the context is important in
hermeneutics. In order to follow
Watson’s advice we need to ensure
we know what it meant for the initial
people it was written to - think, if you
took all the words said to Abraham
and applied them literally, you would
have to move to Israel! But we can
use the text to help ask questions
about our obedience to what God
has told us to do in our lifetime.
E.g. with promises - are they a
general, universal principle or speciﬁc
to the person and time?

4. Meditate to discern
application
Meditation is not an end in itself
- application must follow. The
memorised wog becomes the
applied wog through meditation.
The wog has to be held in our
brains for a while - this is what
meditation does. It then can be
applied to the real day-to-day
situations of life.

5. Ask application orientated
questions of the text
Questions are a great aid in
meditation - and lead us into
application - e.g.
Does the text reveal something I
should believe about God?
Does it reveal something I should
praise or worship God for?
Is there something I should pray
about for me or others?
Does it reveal a problem with my
thinking?
Does it show something I should
do?

6. Respond speciﬁcally
As a result of meditation there should be at least one
speciﬁc response you make - faith act, worship, praise,
prayer, ask for forgiveness, repentance etc.
It is always important to ask yourself if you can remember
what you have read, and have discerned application of
the truth in your life.

More application
Will you begin a plan of
memorisation?
Will you cultivate the
discipline of meditating on
God’s word?
Will you prove yourself a
“doer” of the Word?

J. I. Packer writes: “If I were the
devil...one of my ﬁrst aims would
be to stop folk from digging into
the Bible...How? Well, I should
try to distract all clergy from
preaching and teaching the
Bible, and spread the feeling
that to study this ancient book
directly is a burdensome extra
which modern Christians can
forgo without loss...At all costs I
should want to keep them from
using their minds in a disciplined
way to get the measure of its
messages.”

601 SFL - Session 2: Essential 1, The Bible

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601 SFL - Session 2: Essential 1, The Bible