When you prepare for combat, you learn how to handle weapons that can save your life and save those around you. Well, John MacArthur will help equip you with the sword of the spirit today as you enter Spiritual Boot Camp on today's Grace To You. Well, thanks for making grace to you a part of your day. On today's broadcast, John MacArthur is continuing his foundational series titled Spiritual Boot Camp, answering questions about Bible study, showing you how to tap into all that scripture says about life and godliness. John, as you take a break today from your regular teaching format to answer questions about Bible study from your own congregation, your home church, I'm wondering if you could talk for a minute about the reasons for these times of Q&A, the practical value that they have for you and for those that you shepherd. Well, you know, the preacher can very easily decide what he's going to say week in and week out, regardless of whether anybody is particularly interested in that. And I guess that's something that I've always felt as a pastor. I didn't want to be answering questions that nobody's asking. I didn't want to be obtuse. I didn't want to miss the point. I didn't want to sort of cross each other and not really touch the hearts of the people. So it's always been a desire of mine. to make myself vulnerable and available in an open forum in the life of our church for any questions that the congregation wants to ask. We've been doing this, well, we've been doing it over 40 years now. I also realize that in preaching series and books and doctrines and all the things that come out of the pulpit, even the preaching itself generates questions. I mean, I know that. Every time I preach a message and hang around the front, somebody will come up and ask a question basically prompted by what I said. So it's just a great way to hear the hearts of your people, to let them feel comfortable in asking, which is really a dynamic part of learning. The Apostle Paul did that. He reasoned with them out of the Scripture, and the Greek verb means he dialogued with them. They went back and forth, and this has been a rich part of life at Grace Community Church and something I love to do no matter where I've ministered all over the world. Now, friend, you'll get a glimpse of this unique part of John's ministry in today's lesson as he answers questions about studying Scripture, continuing his foundational series called Spiritual Boot Camp. And here with verse question and then the response is John MacArthur. I realize it will be a long answer, but I was wondering in which order you're supposed to read. You said 1 John and then the Gospel of John. Alright, that's a good question. I would suggest that there is no particular order, but that you alternate a short book with a long book. Like when you finish John, you can go back and read Philippians. When you finish Philippians, you can go back and read Romans. When you finish Romans, which is 16 chapters, go back and read 1 Timothy, which is 6 chapters. Then go back and read Mark, which is 16. Then go back and read Colossians, you know. Alternate between a large book and a small book at your own discretion. And you may find the Holy Spirit drawing you to different books because there are different needs in your life at any given time, okay? You said the necessity to study like a babe that would die if he didn't get fed. What do you mean by death? Would you clarify that? It was simply said that a baby doesn't eat, he dies. And a Christian who doesn't feed himself on the Word of God will find that in a metaphorical sense, he will die in the sense of usefulness. He will die in the sense of joy. He will die in the sense of blessedness. Obviously, he will not forfeit his salvation. That's another subject that we could cover, but we covered it in other areas. Okay? If a person professes to have accepted Christ but shows no hunger for the Word, can we conclude anything about their salvation? And then also, is there anything we can do to make a person like this more hungry for the Word? I think that's a very important question and it relates to two scriptural passages. The first one is in John 8, 31. Some Jews came to Jesus and said, we believe. And Jesus said to them, if you continue in My Word, then you are My real disciple. One of the marks of a true Christian is a desire for the Word of God. Now, that desire may vary. There may be some new Christians who have a very minimal desire, and I think very often the fault of that can be in the church that they're in, or in the Christian community that they're in, where there's no emphasis on the Word, and they don't really understand what that means. It is true, I think, and Jesus pointed it out, that if somebody does really believe and their faith is really saving faith and they've really come to Christ, they will continue in His Word. In other words, they will desire to know the Word. More than that, they will desire to obey the Word. But in certain cases, that will vary. Obviously, some have a greater tenacity for the Word than others. It may be that For some, that commitment comes along later, that real total commitment comes along later. It may be that some are in an environment where there isn't the peer pressure to get into the Word that there should be. And I think the only thing that we can do to encourage them is to do what we're trying to do here, to point out the benefits and the blessings of doing this and the consequences of not doing it, to become victimized. So continuing in the Word of God is definitely the mark of a Christian. And I am very suspect of someone who just has absolutely no interest in Scripture, because Jesus said, if he's a real disciple, he'll continue in the Word. along what she was asking about, I was wondering too, is that sometimes, even though the desire is there to study, is just in the area of discipline. Some people seem to, I mean, maybe have been brought up a certain way that it's very easy for them to discipline themselves to study, where other people really have a hard time with it, even though they want to, but it's hard to be consistent. I'll answer that question two ways. One is, yes, it's true that some people are more disciplined than others. Two, that's no excuse, because the Lord says we are to study the Word. You know, I've met some very undisciplined, scatterbrained people who study the Bible a lot, and I've met some other military types who don't. So I'm not sure you always have to equate spiritual hunger for the Word with humanistic self-discipline. Now, it may be easier for a very, very self-disciplined person to set a time and get into it, but the facts are maybe he doesn't get as much out of it as somebody who does it a little more scattered but has a greater intensity of heart. So, I really don't think you're dealing with an absolute in that sense. I think that when the Word of God tells us to study to show ourselves approved unto God, that's a general command to all of us. And that we can't say, well, I'm sorry, I've taken a psychological survey and I'm undisciplined, so that lets me off the hook. And the second thing I would say, if God makes a command, He gives us the energy and the Holy Spirit to fulfill that if we're walking in the Spirit. You mentioned under study about finding a godly person and a pattern in their life that you could follow. Could you explain a little bit more about what you mean about a pattern? Yes, the Apostle Paul said to Timothy, be thou an example to the believers in word and conduct and purity and everything. The greatest feature of leadership is example. And it is true that, and I see it so often, it is true that people mimic other people. We all do it. You know, I mean, I know when I go to the South and spend two weeks in the South, I come out talking like this. Have you ever noticed you do that? When I go to Mexico and I'm there for two weeks, and I come home and everybody I see, I say, buenos dias, you know. And because you are an imitator, and the Apostle Paul picked this up, and everywhere he went, he said, be imitators of me as I am of Christ. We imitate. And it's not enough to have somebody like Christ as a pattern, because He's God. We need somebody who's human to follow. That's why Paul always went around saying, follow me, follow me, because I'm following Christ. You need some flesh that you can see the pattern of life. And it's very important that you find that kind of pattern. And that's why I say it's dangerous for Christians to just flit around and never have any godly people to whom they submit themselves so that they can watch the pattern of their lives. Does that answer it? John, about that people followers thing, pretty soon a person is going to find out that that person they're following is human and they have sin in their life. Okay, and that's obvious, that we all have sin in our life. The first thing that the guy should do is admit it, like Paul has said, I'm the chief of sinners. So let's get that straight at the beginning. Let's not wait until you find that out. But the second thing is, it isn't so much the absence of sin that makes the example, it's how it's dealt with. It's not...you know, you're not following the guy because he's perfect, you're following him because he knows how to handle his imperfection. And you'll find that in every good thing like that, Satan would want to push you to the limits, you know, so that you become a little rubber duck who quacks the same way everybody else quacks. We follow the person as long as following them is the equivalent of following Christ, and we have to keep that perspective. It's as if you were following a transparent man through whom you could see Christ. when you stop seeing Christ and the man ceases to be transparent, then he ceases to be what he should be to you. And I think it's the example, I think it's the man who's leading you, it's his responsibility to make sure he's transparent so that you see Christ. As soon as he becomes like Theotrophes who loves to have the preeminence. The interesting thing about that is the concept of preeminence is only used one other time in the Scripture and it's in relation to Christ. So here was a man who was a leader in the church who was usurping the place of Christ and he wanted the preeminence. When a man does that, then he ceases to be transparent. You can't see Christ anymore and he ceases to be functioning as a true example. But as long as the person continually points to the preeminence of Christ and keeps the focus there, I think that there's a validity in it. Okay, I'd like you also to hit on basically what you're trying to do with reading the Bible, reading 1 John through 30 days. You're trying to build a habit in our life of getting God's Word into us. And could you say a little bit about habits and how to build them? Good. Yeah, you know, habits are just doing things repetitiously and that's exactly what it does. If you can ever get the habit begun, we are creatures of habit. You know, we basically do the same things all the time. We put on Whichever pant leg goes on first always goes on first by the time you get to be 40 years old. And whichever sock goes on first, that's all, you know, you're just creatures of habit. You have the same kind of routines that the youngest of you don't at this point. You'll find out when you get old like us that everything, you know, what's happened to my thing? Why is it over there? It's not here, you know. And you get into these little deals. But then you can see this creeping up. So we're creatures of habit. And the best thing to do is to start habits when you're young. Routine really helps. And you could say, well, I just flow in the Spirit, man. I just kind of go and blow wherever. Well, you know, you can even trace habits in the life of Christ. You know, He spent most of the nights in communion with the Father. That was His time. He retreated to the Mount of Olives night after night after night after night after night in prayer with the Father, and that was His time when He was here on earth. And I think habits are very important. I don't think that the habit performed ritualistically or legalistically as a substitute for what really should be going on. But I think if you can get into a pattern, it helps. Okay, just one more thing. Are you saying that this reading of Scripture and then studying of Scripture on your own for yourself is something apart from any sort of ministry you're doing? Is it something that you do yourself apart from studying for Sunday service? Not necessarily. I feel that if I've studied the Word of God, I've studied the Word of God. If I go into the study at 9 o'clock in the morning and have prayer for a while, and then I study till 5 o'clock in the afternoon and go home, I don't say, oh, I'm defeated today, I didn't have my devotions. Not if I've spent six or seven hours studying the Bible. People talk about having your devotions. I'm not sure what that means even, having your devotions. If it means reading without understanding, I'm not sure it's even valid. If it means going through a little formula or reading something like our daily bread, that's fine. It's a little bit of input. But when you've spent time in the intensity of the study of the Word of God, that's what you're after. I don't think we need to label little segments and say, well, if you didn't do it in this context and read this kind of a thing with this thing in mind, it doesn't count. But just for the ordinary Christian, because you're a little different studying every single day, would you say that suppose they were involved in a weekly Bible study, which they did a little study during the week for that, would you say that it would be important for them to do this reading of Scripture? Yeah, I think you should set the pattern anyway, and then if you did additional things, they would be done additionally. Don't break your pattern on a normal basis. But I don't think that's a crucial thing. I think maybe there is a day when you will break your pattern because you have to work on your lesson. That's fine. I don't see a problem with that. I'd like to ask you maybe if you could explain the details of what you did this week in order to study and also what you would recommend for, you know, a new Christian, how he should study the Scripture, how it would differ from the way you would study for a particular passage. Well, it probably would differ. The way I study is to take the... First of all, I would read the text in several versions along with the Greek text. handy there, until I understand it, like I was working on 1 Corinthians 4, 14 to 21 this week. And so I read it and read it and read it and read it and read it and just kept reading. I just, again, repetitiously until 1 Corinthians 14, 21. There's so much in my mind I could probably stand here and quote you the whole passage and I haven't even tried to memorize it, but I've saturated my mind with it. Now when I do that and do that and do that, then it begins to mean something to me. Then in the middle of that I see concepts. I see in that passage Paul making a very, very clear statement about that he's the spiritual father of the Corinthians and that that means this and this and this and this and this, and an outline develops. Once that develops, I put that on paper, then I go verse by verse through the passage and I get commentaries and I line up about ten or eleven commentaries and I read everything everybody's ever written on that passage because I want to know the whole breadth of information about that verse. And so, I may read twelve commentaries on every verse in that whole section. And I take all kinds of notes on that and then I throw all that together and out comes Sunday morning. Good, bad or indifferent. But I feel, as I said earlier, that the way to study is first of all to go through the Scripture and get all you can get on the Scripture and then supplement that Scriptural understanding with any books that you have available. And as I said, you can study a book. going through it to get the understanding of it, or you can study a topic like prayer or judgment or any of those things we mentioned. You can study a character, a biography, anything you want. And you can do it by just reading the verses, putting them together on a paper and working through. You may want to study a chapter and you might want to say, what's the key thought of the chapter? Write that down. What are the other thoughts that build to the key thought? Write all of those down. What don't I understand? Write that down. What do I understand? Write that down. What are other subjects introduced in the chapter that I could also study? Write all of those down. And you'll find that out of a chapter will come so much stuff you won't believe it. It's loaded with things. So there are a lot of ways to approach it. Does that cover it? John, do you do like your word studies and your grammatical studies right out of the commentaries or do you do it in some other way? That's really hard for me to answer personally because I do it so many different ways. Sometimes, like today, I got this concept that came across where there's a man named Gaius. I was working on 3 John. There's a man named Gaius, and Gaius is commended as a man who not only knows the truth but walks in the truth. And I thought, now that's an interesting commendation for a man. And I got to thinking about the idea of commending. So I just took my my Bible and I started in the Pauline Epistles with the first one, Romans, and I found every time that Paul ever commended anybody. And I went through every one of those passages. And he starts out in 16.1, he commends Phoebe for being a servant and a fellow helper, and then down, down, and Mary and Urbanus and all this. I just went through every single book and I put down everybody that was ever commended and why they were commended. So that was one way to do the study. Other times, for example, I had that thesis on 3 John and I wanted to do some study into a Greek phrase and so I got out that particular thesis and studied through that to see what the Greek phrase meant and I read B.F. Westcott in the Greek text and found out what he said it meant and then I would do it from that angle. Sometimes I'll do the study myself. I wanted to do a study on a particular word, ahupalambano, so I took out my own Greek text, lexicon, and what I call Well, what it's called, the Englishman's Greek Concordance, and I did my own study on that. So, there's all different ways that you do it. But it gets kind of hairy with me because I go all different directions and there's no one way. Yeah, John, what do you do when you just get up in the morning and you go through a day and you just don't feel like reading the Bible? Well, usually you don't read it, right? Well, one of the things that I think is important is if you don't feel like reading the Bible, you have just recognized the truth that this is when you most need it. And if you can kind of get that into your mind, it may help. Be aware of the fact that the times you don't want to read it are the times you most need it and they're indications of the fact that maybe your approach to the Scripture isn't all that it ought to be. You know, we are...let's face it, as rigid as we would like to set ourselves, we are sinners and one of the ways we sin is disobedience and disobedience will take the form of a failure to do a lot of things and that's one of them. And we all fall there, even myself. But I think if you recognize that when you feel that way, that's when you need it most, maybe that's a help. John, if you know someone who's a new Christian and they're far away from you and they can't attend a church in your area, what advice do you give them on choosing a church and what to look for? Well, you know, there are several things. We have some tapes like the marks of an effective church or other tapes on the church and what would be the marks of a church that you'd want to go to. That's one way. But to send them the principles so that they know what they're looking for. But really the only thing you can do is maybe send them some books or some other tapes so that they become built up in the faith somewhere and can make a proper judgment of a church. And this is a very practical problem. Somebody comes to Christ in another area, they don't know where to go to church, so they go to some church because somebody takes them there and the church is all goofed up. And so they find that they lose out, you know, they don't really grow, they don't mature. So it's important to pick a good church. And I think that one way to do it is to send them books or tapes that will strengthen them and help them to grow to a position where they can make a proper evaluation. I get asked every Sunday to recommend a church in some city. I don't always know, so I say, well, send the person some tapes and some books so that they can begin to study some basic things about what the church should be. And once they've made that evaluation, then they'll know how to judge a church. And then the only thing they can do is just follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. Do you think there's a danger in overemphasizing, relying on helps and concordances, and sort of cutting down on the time after you've read and really allow the Holy Spirit to just speak to you individually and really let you know what the verse means? I know in my life, that was my first time I got hold of some helps and commentaries. I'd just read the verse and hit the commentaries. Well, in answer to that, I would say this, you really cannot know what the Holy Spirit is saying to you until you know what the Holy Spirit is saying, because He's not saying anything different to you than He's saying there. You know what I mean by that? It doesn't say, oh, isn't this wonderful? What this says to me is, well, I'm not interested in what it says to you. I'm interested in what it says. You know, we have a lot of people going around saying the Bible means this to me. Well, you know, if you interpret the Bible that way, everybody's got their own thing. So, you can't just say, well, I want to read it, and whatever God says to me, that's good. You know, half the time, at least you're going to be out of context or misinterpret the Scripture, and you missed the whole point. So, I would say that study the Scripture, read the Scripture, study the commentary, and then sit down and meditate, after you already know what it means, and go at it that way. But don't miss the meditation, because it says, and we read it already in the Psalms and in Joshua, meditate on these things day and night. We don't meditate in our day and age, and that's an important part of Bible study. I was reading some interesting things recently about the fact, I think it was Marshall McLuhan was saying that we live in a world that is so oriented around something happening all the time and conversation going on or music that no one ever thinks. He said in the article, the best way to avoid God is number one, never be alone, and number two, always have the music on. He even went so far as to say, there's nothing to talk about anymore in our world. There's nothing to say. The media has said everything. There aren't any opinions that haven't been expressed a zillion times. There aren't any conversations that haven't been held. So everybody sits around like a blank and stares at a box. There isn't anything to talk about. We have a whole world of media that Satan has used to so dominate our thinking. You see people going around with little things in their ear. They get in the car, bingo, turn on the deal. You know, get home, turn on the tube, turn on the radio. It's got to be noise going on, see? The whole idea of meditation. Then you have somebody coming in from the outside with his legs crossed and a silly suit on and his hair hanging down his back who says he's sitting in a corner and meditating. And that's the other extreme where you sit there and think about nothing. And really, you know why that's popular today? It's popular as a social reaction to a world where your brain has been just bombarded and people are sitting in a corner trying to figure out who they are. But I think the Christian and the biblical approach is to meditate on the Word of God. Philippians 4 says, think on these things. You've got to sit there and think on these things. You've got to meditate on them. But you want to be sure your meditation is correct, that you're thinking on the proper thing, and you have to interpret it properly to do that. And I'm not saying that just meditating on the Word is wrong, but if you're going to be thorough, then you ought to go at it that way. While we're growing personally by repetitive reading, is it possible also to be teaching, say, a family of small children by reading aloud repetitively? It sure is I mean without a yes without a previous. I think if you wanted to do your reading thing with your family That'd be a great way to do it. Just read it together and you'd all benefit from it That's John MacArthur, president of the Master's College and Seminary, continuing his current series on grace to you titled Spiritual Boot Camp. Now, John, you talked before the broadcast today about study aids, tools that will make it easier to understand God's Word and to teach it to others. With that said, I'm wondering what specific study aids do you use and what are some tools that you'd recommend for any believer, an experienced pastor, a brand new believer, any student of Scripture? Well, there are many study tools that I've used through the years as an expositor of Scripture and a pastor and the relentless work of preparing two or three sermons every week of my life. And obviously I use tools in the original language, particularly in the New Testament, Greek, and I use concordances and I use Greek commentaries and books on word study and theological works and systematic theologies and books on doctrine and all those kinds of things. But the staple for me Throughout the years, always beside me, is a copy of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. It helps you use the Bible to explain the Bible. And then in addition to that, all through my preparation for all these years, I've read all the commentaries that I could find on every book I've ever taught, just so I would take advantage of the work of the Lord in other men. Out of all of these years of studying and drawing this truth together, I finally completed the MacArthur New Testament Commentary Series. On all 27 books of the New Testament, it's now done. There are 33 total volumes. the Word of God explained word-by-word, phrase-by-phrase, verse-by-verse. And to commemorate the completion of the MacArthur New Testament Commentary Series, let me tell you about a special offering. You can order all 33 volumes. We'll ship it to you and enjoy a very steep discount on each volume. If you already own a portion of the series, you can order the volumes you need to complete the set available at a low price, or you can get the entire set over time by joining the Commentary Club and paying on a monthly basis. To take advantage of these prices, get in touch today with Grace To You and order the entire New Testament Commentary Series or any one of the individual volumes. Do it now. I'd encourage you to get this resource not just for yourself, but to put into the hands of any spiritual leader that you know, maybe your pastor, elders, or Sunday school teachers. Order a copy of the MacArthur New Testament Commentary. Whether you'd like the entire 33-volume set or any individual volume, contact us today. Now, if you order the entire 33 volume set, each volume costs $11. And if you'd like any individual commentary, like the two newest ones from Mark, the price is $14 each, and shipping is still free. And don't forget the Commentary Club. It offers you a discounted rate, and your last commentary is sent to you free. To order the MacArthur New Testament Commentary Series, call our toll-free customer service line at 1-800-55-GRACE or shop online at gty.org. And now, turning the corner a bit, today's lesson on how to study the Bible is just one example of how this ministry helps equip believers around the world, showing people how to think through God's Word on their own and to develop discernment. And friend, and know that when you support Grace To You, you take a part in this ministry, helping strengthen believers across the globe. To offer your support, make a donation when you call 1-800-55-GRACE. You can also donate online at the website gty.org. Or when you mail your gift to Grace To You, Box 4000, Panorama City, California, 91412. And now, for John MacArthur, thanks for tuning in today. Please come back tomorrow for another half hour of Unleashing God's Truth, one verse at a time, on Grace To You. Every do-it-yourselfer can find a helpful book, an internet article, or a video today. But for guidance on perhaps the most important do-it-yourself activity, how to pray, join us tomorrow for the next Grace to You.