RESOURCES — SHORT ARTICLES

 

SHORT ARTICLES BY TOM ELSEROAD
	2020-10-07	Why Do I Need to Read the Bible When We Have Bible Teachers Online?
		Psa 119:97  Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. Psa 119:98  You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; For they are ever with me. Psa 119:99  I have more understanding than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation. Psa 119:100  I understand more than the ancients, Because I keep Your precepts. Some perceive that listening to sermons online is more efficient than studying the Bible on your own. Simply listening to sermons leaves the believer with some deficients compared to personal Bible study. There is a preciousness that is missing when one does not study the Bible for themselves. Also there is a danger if he keeps thinking that mere human teachers can replace the Word of God as the focus of his meditation. The Psalmist says, “I have more understanding than all my teachers” (Ps.119:99). Really? How can you say that? Because “your testimonies are my meditation.” The Psalmist is likely referring to esteemed teachers who were looking at the same record of God's Word that he was. The difference is that the Psalmist believed that a direct and personal study of the Word of God would produce a kind of discernment that would protect him from errors in his teachers. It would give him an authentic and true understanding of God and His ways, that would go beyond what he got from his teachers. We have access to something so powerful and precious we would see things that these teachers did not see. 1. Do you believe Psalm 119:97-100? Notice in verse 98. It says, “Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; For they are ever with me.” Then in verse 100 it says, “I understand more than the ancients” Notice the following:    • Your Word is ever with me (v.98)    • It is my constant meditation (v.99)    • I obey your precepts (v.100) When I do these I exceed three groups of people.    • I exceed my enemies (v.98) - Presumably in their subtities so they cannot trip me up and bring me to ruin    • I exceed my teachers (v.99) - in their doctrinal grasp so they cannot lead me into false teaching    • I exceed the aged (v.100) - so all their life experiences will not intimate me if it should point me away from God's way. So do we believe these words concerning personal study of God's Word, and their value beyond just listening to teachers? Do you believe that having the Word of God with you, mediating on it day and night, and obeying it will bear better fruit or insight and wisdom than depending on other human teachers? Are you content to be a second hander for the rest of your life in view of Psalm 119:97-100? 2. How will you test the liability of your teachers by the Word of God? The Bible makes clear that when we are taught something by a teacher, we are to test all things, and hold fast to what is good (1Th.5:21). 1Th 5:21  Test all things; hold fast what is good. We are to test the spirits (1Jn.4:1) 1Jn 4:1  Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. Paul gave us the criterion for the test (1Co.14:37-38) 1Co 14:37  If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord. 1Co 14:38  But if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant. Paul is saying the apostolic word, not the word of a human teacher, is the criterion by which we judge the truth of teachers. So if you are using teachers as the sole means of understanding God's Word, by what will you judge the teachers with any confidence? 3. Why do you want to avoid the authentic experience of savoring your love letter by asking someone else to read it for you? Do you ever say with the Psalmist, “Oh, how I love Your law!” And “It is my meditation all the day.” Is it the Bible or a teacher that you meditate on all the day? If you choose the teacher, then something is wrong with a relationship if everytime a lover gets a letter from his beloved, and instead of reading it himself, he searches for someone else to read it for him. That is a defective relationship. It is important not to intellectualize our faith, that the only category in which he thinks he will profit is by verbal explanation. What he is missing is the heart felt exhortation that a lover has in reading every word of his beloved. 1. Do you believe Psalm 119:97-100? 2. How will you test the liability of your teachers by the Word of God? 3. Why do you want to avoid the authentic experience of savoring your love letter by asking someone else to read it for you? Pastor Tom Elseroad

 

An Evangelical Free Church of America

23304 E Wellesley Ave. Otis Orchards, WA 99027 Church Office: 509.926.9552 Church Cell: 509.342.9145 Pastor Cell: 509.828.8843 tomelseroad@gmail.com