How to Study the Bible

Dwight L. Moody

• Publisher: Aneko Press
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781622454563
• eBook ISBN: 9781622454570
• Topic: Theology & Religion

I will never forget thy precepts; for with them thou hast caused me to live. (Psalm 119: 93)There is no situation in life for which you cannot find some word of consolation in Scripture. If you are in affliction, if you are in adversity and trial, there is a promise for you. In joy and sorrow, in health and in sickness, in poverty and in riches, in every condition of life, God has a promise stored up in His Word for you. This classic book by Dwight L. Moody brings to light the necessity of studying the Scriptures, presents methods which help stimulate excitement for the Scriptures, and offers tools to help you comprehend the difficult passages in the Scriptures. To live a victorious Christian life, you must read and understand what God is saying to you. Moody is a master of using stories to illustrate what he is saying, and you will be both inspired and convicted to pursue truth from the pages of God's Word.

How to Study the Bible

Those who love Your law have great peace, and nothing causes them to stumble. – Psalm 119:165

Contents

Preface

Ch. 1: No True Life Without the Bible

Ch. 2: The Word of God Is True

Ch. 3: All of God’s Word Is True

Ch. 4: Don’t Neglect the Old Testament

Ch. 5: God’s Word Endures Forever

Ch. 6: Accurate Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

Ch. 7: Give Them God’s Word

Ch. 8: Take Time and Study

Ch. 9: Learn and Use the Bible

Ch. 10: Try the Telescope Approach

Ch. 11: From the Telescope to the Microscope

Ch. 12: Look and Learn; Read and Remember

Ch. 13: Types, Characters, and Names

Ch. 14: Take God at His Word

Ch. 15: One Word at a Time

Ch. 16: Mark My Word

Ch. 17: Personal Work for God

Ch. 18: Summary of Suggestions

About Dwight L. Moody

Preface

It is always a pleasure to me to speak about studying God’s Word. I think I would rather preach about the Word of God than anything else except the love of God, because I believe it is the best thing in the world.

We cannot overestimate the importance of being thoroughly familiar with the Bible. I try to use every opportunity and every means in my power to urge people to constantly study this wonderful Book. If, through the pages that follow, I can reach others and inspire them to read their Bibles, not randomly but with a plan and a purpose, I will indeed be thankful.

When you walk about, they will guide you; When you sleep, they will watch over you; And when you awake, they will talk to you. (Proverbs 6:22)

Register This New Book

Benefits of Registering*

• FREE replacements of lost or damaged books
• FREE audiobook – Pilgrim’s Progress, audiobook edition
• FREE information about new titles and other freebies

www.anekopress.com/new-book-registration

*See our website for requirements and limitations.

Chapter 1

No True Life Without the Bible

A spiritual revitalization that will last must come through the Word of God. A man stood up in one of our meetings and said he hoped to get enough out of the series of meetings to last him all his life. I told him he might as well try to eat enough breakfast at one time to last him his lifetime. That is a mistake that people are making; they are running to religious meetings and thinking the meetings are going to do the work. But if these don’t bring you into closer contact with the Word of God, the whole impression will be gone in three months. The more you love the Scriptures, the stronger your faith will be. There is little backsliding when people love the Scriptures. If you come into closer contact with the Word, you will gain something that will last, because the Word of God is going to endure. In Psalm 119, David prayed nine times that God would quicken or strengthen him according to His Word. For example:

Revive me according to Your word. (Psalm 119:25)

Strengthen me according to Your word. (Psalm 119:28)

Revive me, O LORD, according to Your word. (Psalm 119:107)

Sustain me according to Your word. (Psalm 119:116)

If I could say something that would motivate Christians to have a deeper love for the Word of God, I think I would be doing them the most important service that could be done for them. Do you ask, “How can I fall in love with the Bible?” Well, if you will only stir yourself up to study it and ask for God’s assistance, He will definitely help you.

Word and work make healthy Christians. If people are all Word and no work, they will suffer from what I may call religious gout. On the other hand, if they are all work and no Word, it will not be long before they will fall into all kinds of sin and error, so that they will do more harm than good. If we first study the Word and then go to work, we will be healthy, useful Christians. I never saw a fruit-bearing Christian who was not a student of the Bible. If a man neglects his Bible, he may pray and ask God to use him in His work, but God cannot use him, for there is not much for the Holy Spirit to work upon. We must have the Word itself, which is sharper than any two-edged sword.

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

We can have many prayer meetings, but there is something just as important as prayer, and that is that we read our Bibles, that we have Bible study and Bible lectures and Bible classes, so that we may get hold of the Word of God, and that it may get hold of us. When I pray, I talk to God, but when I read the Bible, God is talking to me; and it is really more important that God should speak to me than that I should speak to Him. I believe we would know how to pray better if we knew our Bibles better. What is an army good for if the soldiers don’t know how to use their weapons? What is a young man starting out in Christian work good for if he does not know how to use his Bible? A man isn’t worth much in battle if he has any doubt about his weapon, and I have never found a man who has doubts about the Bible who has been successful in Christian work. I have seen work after work wrecked because men and women lost confidence in the spirit of this old Book.

You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 11:18-20)

If young converts want to be used by God, they must feed on His Word. Their experience may be very good and illuminating at the outset, and they may help others by telling it; but if they keep on doing nothing else but telling their experience, it will soon become stale and unprofitable, and people will get tired of hearing the same thing over and over again. After they have told how they have been converted, the next thing they need to do is feed on the Word. We are not fountains ourselves, but the Word of God is the true fountain.

Like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord. (1 Peter 2:2-3)

If we feed on the Word of God, it will be easy to speak to others about the Word of God; and not only that, but we will also be growing in grace the entire time, and others will notice the change in our walk and conversation. So few Christians grow, because so few study. I would advise all young converts to spend as much time as the...

Table of contents

• Contents
• Preface
• No True Life Without the Bible
• The Word of God Is True
• All of God’s Word Is True
• Don’t Neglect the Old Testament
• God’s Word Endures Forever
• Accurate Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
• Give Them God’s Word
• Take Time and Study
• Learn and Use the Bible
• Try the Telescope Approach
• From the Telescope to the Microscope
• Look and Learn; Read and Remember
• Types, Characters, and Names
• Take God at His Word
• One Word at a Time
• Mark My Word
• Personal Work for God
• Summary of Suggestions
• About Dwight L. Moody
• Additional Updated Classics