Lesson 5

1. Opening Prayer

2. The Bible: A means of Spiritual growth.

3. Bible Text Discovery Sheet (401)

Job 29:2,3 His candle shined upon my head.

4. Important things to remember when studying the Bible.

5. The Bible: A means of Intellectual growth.

6. The Word to be our Study

7. Closing Prayer

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The Bible: A Means of Spiritual Growth

“And even greater is the power of the Bible in the development of the spiritual nature. Man, created for fellowship with God, can only in such fellowship find his real life and development.

Created to find in God his highest joy, he can find in nothing else that which can quiet the cravings of the heart, or satisfy the hunger and thirst of the soul.

He who with sincere and teachable spirit studies God’s Word, seeking to comprehend its truths, will be brought into touch with its Author, and, except by his own choice, there is no limit to the possibilities of his development.

In childhood, youth, and manhood Jesus studied the Scriptures. As a little child, He was daily, at His mother’s knee, taught from the scrolls of the prophets. In His youth the early morning and evening twilight often found Him alone on the mountainside or among the trees of the forest, spending a quiet hour in prayer and in the study of God’s Word. During His ministry His intimate acquaintance with the Scriptures testified to His diligence in their study.

And since He gained knowledge as we may gain it, His wonderful power, both mental and spiritual, is a testimony to the value of the Bible as a means of education”.

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Bible Text Discovery Sheet (401)

Bible Verse: Job 29:2,3

“Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God
( ) ( )

preserved me; When his candle shined upon my
( ) ( ) (

head, and when by His light I walked
( )

through darkness”

What is the Main Physical thought of this text?

His (Physical) candle (Physically) shined upon my (Physical) head by His (Physical) light I (Physically) walked through (Physical) darkness.

What is the Main Spiritual thought of this text?

His (Spiritual) candle (Spiritually) shined upon my (Spiritual) head by His (Spiritual) light I (Spiritually) walked through (Spiritual) darkness.

Substitute the Spiritual meaning for the Real Objects.

Paraphrase:

His___candle________shined my_____ head; and by Hislight I was able to __walk from __________ darkness.

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IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER

WHEN STUDYING THE BIBLE

1. Always use the King James Bible.

2. Use Strongs Concordance and learn how to “compare the Scriptures” and how to look up the meaning of any word in its Hebrew or Greek Dictionaries.

3. Always consider the relationship between the Physical and the Spiritual in any Bible text.

(Physical Bread / Spiritual Bread)

4. If the text you are studying has Real Objects in it, it will have a deeper meaning than what is on the surface.

5. Locate each Real Object and determine its Spiritual Meaning by using the Bible Word Pictures reference booklet. If the object is not in the Reference Booklet use the Concordance and compare the Scriptures until you find the Spiritual Meaning.

6. Substitute the Spiritual Meaning of each object back into the verse and Paraphrase the verse.

7. Do not speculate as to the meaning of any Bible Text. Always let the Bible explain itself.

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A MEANS OF INTELLECTUAL GROWTH

“When thus searched out and brought together, they will be found to be perfectly fitted to one another. Each Gospel is a supplement to the others, every prophecy an explanation of another, every truth a development of some other truth.

The types of the Jewish economy are made plain by the Gospel. Every principle in the Word of God has its place, every fact its bearing. and the complete structure, in design and execution, bears testimony to its Author. Such a structure no mind but the Infinite could conceive or fashion.

Not alone in searching out truth and bringing it together does the mental value of Bible study consist.

It consists also in the effort required to grasp the themes presented. The mind occupied with common place matters only becomes dwarfed and enfeebled. If never taxed to comprehend grand and far reaching truths, it after a time loses the power of growth. As a safeguard against this degeneracy, and a stimulus to development, nothing can equal the study of God’s Word. As a means for intellectual training, the Bible is more effective than any other book, or all other books combined.

The greatness of its themes, the dignified simplicity of its utterances, the beauty of its imagery, quicken and uplift the thoughts as nothing else can. No other study can impart such mental power as does the effort to grasp the stupendous truths of revelation. The mind thus brought in contact with the thoughts of the Infinite can not but expand and strengthen”.

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THE WORD TO BE OUR STUDY

“The Word is to be our study. Here is a mine of precious ore.

Much of it has been glimpsed at, but there is the digging to be done to secure much more precious treasures.

There have been many who have just rummaged over the surface in a most careless, slovenly manner, when others are searching more carefully and prayerfully and perseveringly, and hidden inestimable treasures are found”.

That I may know Him pg 198

William T. Barrett

Bible Made Simple Ministry

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