From a book of mine, printed in 1964…
by Ken Pullen
Monday, May 17th, 2021
ACP — A Crooked Path Made Straight By the Word of God
When this book of mine was printed in 1964 I was consumed by the music of the British Invasion and all that rock ‘n roll rather than what this book contained to reveal to me. I was at war with my parents. Over music. Over a style of clothing to wear and how to wear my hair rather than having any knowledge that in Nashville, Tennessee, by a company called Royal Publishers this book was being printed.
It’s a book I’ve had for decades, and it’s one of those books the casual observer that knows such things could tell it’s not a new book from how it is aging. Aging extremely well, yet in its physical sense, it is aging like all things material do.
To my detriment, I ignored this book for far, far too long. Even over the past number of years I’ve ignored it as I have many others with its central contents that I own and use on a daily basis.
Yes, it’s a Bible. Hopefully, everyone here continues on and does not delete this page now or move on elsewhere. I won’t be much longer. Promise. Hang in there a wee bit longer…
The book is New Encyclopedic Edition Reference Bible, Authorized King James Version. Leather bound.
Now many would imagine this volume to be large, thick, and bulky but it is not. Consisting in its physical structure only a little over an inch thick, but jampacked with all sorts of keen and extremely useful information. It’s why I’m now writing this and now have pulled this book from the shelf and it’s remained on my desk in one location or another, open and read at various times in the past days and nights.
Why am I taking the time to write this about one of the several Bibles I have? Because in going through this specific Bible and its myriad aids and Biblical information there is a section titled “How To Study the Bible.”
Now, I realize there are possibly 3,967, 442 (a made-up number pulled from my head as I sit here writing) versions written up, possibly more even but I want to take the time to sit here and type out one character at a time some of what is written in this particular version of “How To Study the Bible.” If I can sit typing out one character at a time I sincerely hope you’ll continue the kindness of reading this as it will take you a lot less time to complete than it did me.
Without wasting any more time, here we go…
HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE
The Bible is the greatest book that has ever been written. In it God Himself speaks to men (and women and children). It is a book of divine instruction. It offers comfort in sorrow, guidance in perplexity, advice for our problems, rebuke for our sin, and daily inspiration for our every need.
The Bible is simply not one book. It is an entire library of books covering the whole range of literature. It includes history, poetry, drama, biography, prophecy, philosophy, science, and inspirational reading. Little wonder then that all or part of it has been translated into more than 1,200 languages (that was as of this books printing in 1964. According to information from 2017, the latest I could find, the Bible has been translated in part in over 3,324 languages, including an increasing number of sign languages. The whole word of God, including the Protestant canon has been translated into 674 languages) and every year more copies of the Bible are sold than any other single book (although in recent years Bible sales have been steadily decreasing, another sign of the times, and of us living in the last of the last days).
The Bible alone truly answers the greatest questions that men (women, and children) of all ages have asked: “Where have I come from?” “Where am I going?” “Why am I here?” “How can I know truth?” For the Bible alone reveals the truth about God, explains the origin of man, points out the only way to salvation and eternal life, and explains the age-old problem of sin and suffering.
The great subject of all the Bible is the Lord Jesus Christ and His work of redemption for mankind. The person and work of Jesus Christ are promised, prophesied, and pictured in the types and symbols of the Old Testament. In all of His truth and beauty, the Lord Jesus Christ is revealed in the gospels; and the full meanings of His life, His death, and His resurrection are explained in the epistles. His glorious coming again to this earth in the future is unmistakably foretold in the book of Revelation. The great purpose of the written Word of God, the Bible, is to reveal the living Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ (read John 1:1-18).
Dr. Wilber M. Smith relates seven great things that the study of the Bible will do for us:
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- The Bible discovers and convicts us of sin.
- The Bible cleanses us from the pollution of sin.
- The Bible imparts strength.
- The Bible instructs us in what we are to do.
- The Bible provides us with a sword for victory over sin.
- The Bible makes our lives fruitful.
- The Bible gives us power to pray.
You do not need a whole library of books to study the Bible. The Bible itself is its own best commentator and explanation.
And I will include one more bit here from this section in my Bible printed in 1964 before wrapping this up as this section goes on for another five very full pages in small font, but before moving on I want to include this…
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- PERSONAL BIBLE STUDY
A. DEVOTIONAL BIBLE STUDY
The Bible is not an end in itself but it is a means to the end of knowing God and doing His will. The apostle Paul said, “study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (handling aright) the Word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15). God has given us the Bible in order that we might know Him and that we might do His will here on earth.
Therefore devotional Bible study is the most important kind of Bible study. Devotional Bible study means reading and studying the Word of God in order that we may hear God’s voice personally and that we may know how to do His will and live a better Christian life.
A great scientist and a great doctor, Dr. Howard A Kelly (professor of Gynecology at Johns Hopkins University from 1889 through 1940) was also a great student of the Bible. He once said, The very best way to study the Bible is simply to read it daily with close attention and with prayer to see the light that shines from its pages, to meditate upon it, to continue to read it until somehow it works itself, its words, its expressions, its teachings, its habits of thought, and its presentation of God and His Christ into the very warp and woof of one’s being.”
For your devotional reading and study of the Bible, here are several important, practical suggestions:
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- Begin your Bible reading with prayer (Psalm 119:18; John 16:13-15).
- Take brief notes on what you read. Keep a small notebook for your Bible study.
- Read slowly through one chapter, perhaps two or three chapters, or perhaps just one paragraph, or one verse at a time. After reading ask yourself what this passage, that verse is about. Then reread it.
- It is often very helpful in finding out the true meaning of a chapter or passage to ask yourself the following questions, and then write the answers simply in your notebook:
a. What is the main subject of this passage?
b. Who are the persons revealed in this passage: Who is speaking? Who is acting? etc.
c. What is the key verse of this passage?
d. What does the passage teach me about the Lord Jesus Christ?
e. Is there any sin for me to confess and forsake in this passage?
f. Is there any command for me to obey in this passage?
g. Is there any promise for me to claim?
h. Is there any instruction for me to follow?
i. Is there any prayer that I should pray?
Not all of these questions may be answered in every passage.
Keep a spiritual diary.
Memorize passages of the Word of God. No one is ever too old to memorize the Word of God. Write the verse on cards with the reference on one side and the verse on the other. Carry these cards with you if it helps. Review them while waiting for a train, standing in line, etc.
To meditate means “to reflect, to ponder, to consider, to dwell in thought. Through meditation the Word of God will become more meaningful and real to you, and the Holy Spirit will use this time to apply the Word of God to your own life and problems.
Obey the Word of God. As Paul writes to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:16.
Do not adopt all these methods at once, but start out slowly, selecting those methods and suggestions which appeal to you. You will find, as millions of others have done before you, that the more you read and study the Word of God, the more you’ll want to read it…
And then this section continues for five more pages.
If you can somehow find this wonderful out-of-print version of God’s Word I can’t recommend it strongly enough. But what is most important is to have an approved version, an approved translation in your home, and not just sitting on a shelf collecting dust. Have and hold God’s Word in your hands and then transmit it into your heart, mind, and daily life.
Faithfully, obediently, prayerfully, devotionally, daily, and nightly. I know of folks who turn to things such as a little daily devotional, the One-Minute-With-The-Bible and such.
Can you imagine how your life might truly be should Almighty, Awesome, Wonderful and Magnificent, Loving and Faithful God merely focused on providing breath, a beating heart, taking care of you for one minute a day thinking that was sufficient and you were being taken care of? Providing to you a one-minute meal and that’s all your nourishment for the day. And night.
Pray on and about. Read and study and meditate on God’s Word. And eat of it. Daily for the spiritual and life-giving nourishment, it provides and EVERY person truly needs. And benefits from. As they could not, will not benefit from any other pursuit in this fleshly life.
According to The American Bible Society, as well as other similar studies, surveys, and polls from other organizations, as of 2020 when the most recent information can be known, only 9% of people in America read the Word of God on a daily basis. That is the lowest percentage in decades.
While in 2006 over 83% of Americans claimed they were Christian. This number has declined to now less than 65% from statistics gleaned from the Pew Research Center as of 2018 – 2019. Again, in decline each year. And clearly due to FAILURE to feed upon, live according, study, pray over, meditate upon, read the inerrant infallible living and active Word of God! A failure of prayer, a failure of Bible study and meditation, a failure of Bible-preaching, Bible-teaching, Bible-believing churches and pastors, and a failure of expository Bibel preaching of the WHOLE Word of God not adding to or omitting from. Not thinking the Word of God is no longer relevant in today’s polluted and massively immoral and lost culture where relativism and New Age (Pagan) ideologies prevail.
And this while over 34% never read the Holy Bible, the God-breathed words of God to man, woman, and child clearly, plainly revealing the way to salvation and eternal life — the gospel — the Lord Jesus Christ.
Over 34% have no desire to ever read the Bible. And this figure increases annually in America.
Lastly, in reading God’s Word daily and studying God’s Word, meditating upon it, living according to it — do not neglect or fail to begin to memorize Scripture.
I realize this sounds daunting and perhaps impossible to some. Nothing is impossible with God and His people. I am 68 years old. I have terrible short-term memory at this point compared to what my memory once was. I had a phenomenal memory for most of my life and while I still do have a lot of stuff filed away in the grat matter, and a lot of the arcane nonsense and not needed falls out of a file here and there, and memorization never was my strong suit? Because I did not work at it?
My wife and I each have a copy of “100 Bible Verse everyone should know by heart” written by Robert J. Morgan. And we work within this book individually and then we come together and work on Bible verse memorization as a couple. Working as a couple, working on memorization with someone else is a GREAT help in accomplishing this. I hope and pray you have someone in your life to do this most edifying endeavor with. If not? This can be the ideal opportunity to grow a friendship, to spend very good time with another human being you may not be married to or related to. Be bold. Be brave. Speak up and ask someone if you find yourself without a current Bible verse and passage memory friend.
Also, in the Sunday morning Bible class we attend at the church we attend to learn more of God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Word of God, to praise the Lord, to increase in our faith and spiritual understanding from the expository Bible-preaching in hearing the Word of God — the pastor who leads our Sunday morning Bible study class asked everyone in his class to memorize Ephesians 1:1-14, as we’re studying Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus.
I typed out Ephesians 1:1-14 and printed two copies. One for my wife, and one for me. We take just a few minutes a day individually to work on memorizing this important Bible passage, and then after our evening meal and cleaning up we sit down and together we read the section we’re working on aloud 3, 4 times. Each of us reading and rereading that portion 3 to 4 times aloud. Then we from memory attempt to say around what portion we’re working on.
And this works. It isn’t easy for me, or for my wife, but it is working. And it is a great help and JOY to know we can memorize the Word of God to hold within our hearts. It far surpasses watching any broadcast news, any television program, or any other banal inane pursuit. We’ve been working on this now for a few weeks. We are not able to do this every night as sometimes something comes up, but we do this beneficial pursuit at least 5 out of 7 evenings, and while we’re only 4, 5 verse along we’re 4, 5 verse further than we were a few weeks ago. Be patient. Be consistent. Be faithful. At any age. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you in this. I ask the Holy Spirit for help in memorization each time I sit down to undertake this exercise. It’s the only way I can truly accomplish this. Trust. Be faithful. Be consistent. Believe.
Pursue God. Pursue the Lord Jesus Christ. Pursue the Holy Spirit. Pursue the Holy Bible, the Word of God in your life and heart, mind, spirit, and soul. Into your whole being.
Sadly, the spiritual part of every human life is the most neglected.
Or if pursued the overwhelming majority pursue darkness, false teachings in their spiritual life pursuits.
There is only one spiritual pursuit that is Light, and leads to Life, and is Truth, and is the only Way to the Father, to see the face of the Lord Jesus Christ, to eternal life.
And that is all contained within the Word of God. The Holy Bible.
Begin if you have not. Resume if you once had. Continue always. Daily. Nightly. Eternally.
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