Beyond Sunday with Pastor Nic
Join me for a more personal look into the weekend sermons, as well as some thoughts on theology, marriage, parenting, and leadership. I will also explore some of your most asked questions throughout the year.
www.nic-williams.com
Beyond Sunday with Pastor Nic
When God's Word Comes Alive: Understanding Spiritual Illumination
Hey podcasters, thanks for joining me today on Beyond Sunday I am continuing a podcast that I put out about two months ago Been a crazy few months with Easter and all that's been going on. But I started a podcast back in March. That was all about the Bible, why we believe it. There were some words that we talked about revelation, inspiration, illumination. If you want to go back, you can listen to that podcast. But I want you to think of it this way when you walk into a dark room, what's the first thing that you do? You kind of put yourself hand against the wall trying to find that light switch right. You're trying to get it on so that you can see. You want to illuminate the room so you won't stub your precious little toes, right? We're meant to have this kind of experience with God's Word. God wants to illuminate His Word for us, so we'll know what the Bible means and how the Bible fits into our life. In this study we're going to talk about how illumination happens, and I don't know about you, but I've noticed that it doesn't happen every time I read the Bible. Every time I sit down, things don't just pop out and all of a sudden I'm just good to go, in fact, quick plug. I'll talk about it at the end. I just finished a book that's releasing on June 10th, called how to Study the Bible when You've Tried and Given Up, because I think so many people are in that realm that they've tried to read it just to make sense. They don't know where to start. How do they know? You're interpreting right All these questions and again, I'll reference that at the end, but I think it's important because God wants us to have this kind of walk with Him.
Speaker 1:Illumination has to do with inner qualities. It's not automatic, but it's the result of choices that we all can make. Look at Psalms 18.28, where it says you light a lamp for me. The Lord, my God, lights up my darkness. Or Psalm 119, probably a more famous verse your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.
Speaker 1:The problem is, so many people read the word of God and they feel like it's not guiding me right, it's not helping, and so there are things that are necessary for illumination in your life. Again, this is coming from a study I did years ago called Foundations, with Rick Warren's church material they put out, and so everything I'm going over today comes from that material. Just give it credit where credit is due. But it's incredible, incredible stuff. Four things that are necessary for illumination in a believer's life, to love God's Word deeply right.
Speaker 1:Psalm 119, 97, the psalmist said how I love your teachings. I think about them all day long, and so I want to challenge you do you have a love for the Word of God like that? Or Psalm 119, 127, truly, I love your commands more than gold, even the finest gold. Now, I know most of us don't deal with gold today, but if you did, could you say that you loved God's Word more than gold? I think a lot of people would struggle with that. They want gold more than they want the Word of God.
Speaker 1:But that's the problem with us not understanding and not thriving in the Word of God. Is we long for other things more than we long for it? Or Proverbs 2, verses 3 through 6, it says and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, if you look for it as for silver and search for it as hidden treasure, again he's going after the things that were on the people's heart. Same thing on our hearts today. Right, we're wanting monetary things, we're wanting treasure, we're wanting the things of this world. He says if you search for it like you search for those things, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom and from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.
Speaker 1:Notice the value placed on the Word of God. Illumination starts with God. He's the one who turns the light on for you. But I'm never going to see that light if I don't value the Bible enough to pick it up and read it, to search out the truths of Scripture. I want to help you deepen that love right now. Look with me at some pictures of what the Bible tells us happens. When we read the truths of God's Word, how does the Bible picture its potential for changing our lives? There's the question we're going to wrestle with for just a moment. The first word that I'll throw at you is seed.
Speaker 1:1 Peter 1.23 says this, for you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable through the living and enduring Word of God. Think of it this way If a farmer plants corn seed in his field, what do you think is going to grow Corn? Right? If he plants wheat seed, he'll get wheat, watermelon, seed, watermelon. This verse talks about two kinds of seed the perishable and the imperishable. If you plant perishable seed, what we get things that perish. If you plant imperishable seed, you'll get things that never fade away.
Speaker 1:One of the reasons you and I face so many struggles is that we expect perishable seeds to give us imperishable crops. We want more joy in life, so we plan a lot of happy circumstances and experiences so we get a crop of happiness. We plan a lot of happy circumstances and experiences, so we get a crop of happiness, but happiness fades very quickly. It's perishable. You can't grow imperishable joy out of seeds of perishable happiness. We want more fulfillment in life, so we throw ourselves into our careers. We get success in our careers, but we're still not fulfilled. The fulfillment our heart longs for is an imperishable quality. You can't grow it out of a job.
Speaker 1:God's word is the seed for the imperishable things that you and I want. The second word I want to throw at you is the word sword. Look at two verses. Ephesians 6, 17 says take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. That sword, the word of God right Hebrews 4.12, for the word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart, the dividing of soul and spirit. Where what I want and what God wants clash. That can be the real battleground in our lives. In Ephesians, the sword is in our hand, defending against the enemy. In Hebrews, the sword is in God's hand, penetrating and deeply impacting our lives. God's word is our defense against spiritual enemies.
Speaker 1:When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the desert, he didn't turn to a self-help book or advice from friends. He used the Bible as the sword of defense against Satan. Jesus knew that the Word of God had the power to defend him from temptation. If you and I understood that and we were constantly falling in temptation we would grab the Word of God and let it help fight that battle. If we understood this the way God wants us to understand it, god's Word is also a sword that is used on us, though.
Speaker 1:Have you ever felt God's word cut into your heart? You've been in service on a Sunday morning and the pastor says something that just pierces your life. You're in a morning devotional, reading the Bible, and all of a sudden you read something that just cuts deep to your heart. You may have had everyone else fooled, even yourself, but God's Word showed the truth of your motives and your sin. It hurts, doesn't it? I was talking to a gentleman earlier today and he was telling me his testimony and moments where he's been close to God and moments where he's been far from God, and he made a statement I think everybody can resonate with. He said everybody thought I was really close to God, but nobody knew what my heart was like in closed doors when other people weren't around. They didn't know the sins that I committed, they didn't know the lifestyle that I lived, and I think that happens often and until the Word of God gets into your heart, you continue to live in that sin. God's Word shows the truth of your motives and your sin and when that happens it hurts.
Speaker 1:And so many of us stay away from the Word of God because we don't want to feel that when God uses His sword on us, he uses it not as an enemy trying to destroy us, but as a surgeon who wants to heal us. He knows how to cut in just the right place at just the right time to bring healing to our lives. The skit guys had a skit years ago. A friend of mine, pastor Joe Bradshaw, and myself actually acted it out at my last church and I think it's called the Chisel and it talks about the pain of God cutting things away, but he's molding us. He's not hurting us to bring pain. He's molding us and refining us into who he's called us to be. When God uses his sword on us, he uses it not as the enemy but as the surgeon.
Speaker 1:Let me give you the third word. The word is food. Look at this verse in Jeremiah 15, 16. When your words came, I ate them. They were my joy and my heart's delight, for I bear your name, o Lord, god Almighty, jeremiah actually ate the scrolls upon which God had told him to write his words. He was one of the first performance artists, if you will. Obviously, god wanted to make a point by commanding the prophet to consume these scrolls. Your words were my joy and my heart's delight, says Jeremiah. Can you say that reading God's word is like eating the most prized possession that you can eat? The best cake that you've ever wanted is the word of God. Feel like that to you? Matthew 4.4 says Jesus answered. It is written man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. 1 Peter 2.2,.
Speaker 1:Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk so that by it you may grow up in your salvation. You want to go from moving as a baby Christian to a strong Christian. You want to live a life that your faith feels strong, that you're closer to God. You do it by consuming the Word of God in your life. If you're always fighting with the same temptations, you're always feeling like I'm not close to God or I haven't grown in my faith. I would challenge whether you are truly in the Word of God or not. Dive into God's Word. Don't fall into the trap of thinking I'm not going to live the clear truths until I understand it all. That would be like a baby saying I'm not going to drink the milk unless you let me have the steak first right. Frankly, I still have a difficult time understanding some of the truths in the Bible, but I'm not going to let that keep me from the blessing of living out what I do know.
Speaker 1:Fourth set of words I want to give you is fire and hammer, jeremiah 23, 29. It's not my word like fire, or is not my word like fire, declares the Lord and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces. The joy that comes from what God's Word does in our lives is not always an easy joy. Sometimes God's Word is like a fire. It refines us and that process of burning out the impurities is often painful. Sometimes God's Word is like a hammer. Have you ever felt God's Word acting like a hammer? Why would God need to use a hammer on us? Because sometimes we have hard hearts and our hearts need to be broken and shattered so that tenderness and compassion can grow.
Speaker 1:Let me give you another word the word mirror. James 1, 23 through 25 says this anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and continues in it, not forgetting what they've heard, but doing it they will be blessed in what they do. I don't know about you, but I want to be blessed in what I do, and the Bible gives this formula very clearly for you and I. How many of you have actually looked in a mirror at least once today. I got my haircut this morning, and so whenever you're at the barber, you spend a lot of time looking in the mirror, and at the end of the haircut he always he cuts my hair, my beard, and he always gives me a handheld mirror to hold so we can do this kind of 360 look around, making sure everything looks the way I want. We look in the mirror to make sure that we look right. Right. If you hadn't, you'd run the risk of walking around all day with a piece of breakfast in your teeth.
Speaker 1:God's Word shows us the spiritual truth about ourselves, but it can't show it to you if you don't look. It's amazing how even a quick look at the Word of God will show you the truth about an attitude that you're struggling with. Let me ask you this what emotion do you feel when you see the Bible? For many of us, it becomes just a familiar part of our lives. We don't feel much. Sometimes we need to take a few minutes to be reminded, as we've done in the study. Do you realize how valuable the Bible truly is? The value is not in the leather binding or the wafer-thin pages. Its value is in the personal sacrifice that has been paid to experience illumination, I must understand God's Word spiritually. Once you begin to highly value and read and study God's Word, you'll need to understand God's Word spiritually, not just intellectually. The point of knowing God's Word is not for you to feel superior to others, to take pride in your knowledge, but so that you understand it in your spirit, so that it can change your life.
Speaker 1:There are two truths about every believer in Christ. First, that the Holy Spirit makes me able to understand the Bible. This is one of those things. When I talk to people about not understanding the Word of God. It all goes back to the Spirit in your life. Are you listening to yourself or the spirit? It's true for every believer. Let's look at 1 Corinthians, 2, 12 through 14 for just a moment. It says this and we have received God's spirit, not the world's spirit, god's spirit so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit's words to explain spiritual truths. But people who aren't spiritual can't receive these truths from God's Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can't understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.
Speaker 1:Have you ever read a book and wish the author was there to explain what you just read? I have a little bit of a habit of buying books. I'm sitting in my office right now and there are literally thousands of books around me, some on my bookshelf, some in books in the closet or in boxes in the closet. I love to read and sometimes when I'm reading I wish I could talk to the author and say all right, tell me what you really meant Like, tell me what was going on there. The cool thing is the author of the Bible is always available. His spirit has been put into our lives as believers. God didn't go to the trouble of sending his spirit in your life only to have you leave your Bible on the shelf John 16, 13,. But when he, the spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. I love that word guide. Sometimes we think understanding just washes over us all at once. It doesn't work that way. If I have a guide to get me through a jungle, he's going to guide me step by step.
Speaker 1:I'll never forget when Lori and I first got married, we went on our honeymoon to Bora Bora and Tahiti, and, man, we had an incredible, incredible time. In fact, I hope to go back there one day, but I'm going to need to start saving right now for 10 years from now with the cost of that place, but we had an incredible time. One of the things we did is we actually got a guide for the main island. Now, the guide was the son of the fire chief of the island and so he had grown up on this island. He knew everything, and on that day he just took us everywhere. He had this Jeep that we drove around. We went up some mountains. You weren't supposed to go up some mountains. We tried to go up and the Jeep would just shrink back down, just wouldn't make it up. And I remember he parked in one place and began to take us into the jungle on this island and he's got this huge machete just cutting away, like we're not going down a path that was already created. He's creating a path for us in that moment.
Speaker 1:Now, truth be told, I was a little nervous. I thought, man, this guy could kill us out here and we'll never survive it. So I'm walking a few steps behind Lori, just so I can tell the tale, if I need to right. Not the best husband start to the marriage, but he ended up all of a sudden. We got to this clearing and we saw some old World War II buildings that were left by Americans that had used that island back in the day. And had we not had that guide, we would have never experienced those things. Lori and I could have found some things on our own, but we would have never experienced exactly what was going on. I love having a guide.
Speaker 1:God guides us into his truth by his spirit. Step by step, you understand more and more of God's word. You take a step and he shows you more truth. But you have to take the step. You have to open the Bible. You have to read some of the words in there. The Holy Spirit makes me able to understand the Bible and then the Holy Spirit makes me responsible for understanding the Bible. Don't miss this.
Speaker 1:1 John 2, 20 and verse 27,. It says but you have an anointing from the Holy One and all of you know the truth. As for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit, just as it has taught you, remain in him. You are responsible to learn the truth of God's word for yourself. The pastor isn't responsible to make sure you understand it. Your small group leader isn't responsible to make sure you understand it. Your small group leader isn't responsible. You are responsible to learn the truth of God's Word for yourself.
Speaker 1:Now, truth be told, most people have three or four Bibles in their home or it's usually an incredible gift right or they have it on their phone. You and I have the opportunity to know more truth than most believers down through all of history, and God will hold us accountable for that. We need to take the responsibility. Very personally. I think about decades and centuries ago, where people would have died to have the Bible, where they would love to have a copy of the Word of God, that if they could get their hands on it, they would pour their life into it. And you and I, we have it so readily accessed and we ignore it so much.
Speaker 1:Let me give you another thing. To experience illumination, I must handle God's word accurately. 2 Timothy 2.15 says Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed handling accurately the word of truth. It's amazing how people will try to twist the Bible to say anything they want, often even throwing out the rules of common sense. You can't just ignore all the rules for understanding a language or a book when you pick up the Bible.
Speaker 1:As we get to know the word of God, it's vital that we understand a few simple guidelines for Bible study. So let me give you seven rules of Bible study very quickly. Rule number one faith and the Holy Spirit are necessary for proper interpretation. Number two the Bible interprets itself. When somebody asks me what's the best commentary on the Bible, my first answer is always the Bible. Right, I have a lot of commentaries in my office and there are some I prefer over others, but the first place you need to look is the Bible itself. Scripture best explains Scripture, and so learn to do cross-reference studies where you see where a verse came from or another verse that talks about the same subject of that verse.
Speaker 1:Rule number three understand the Old Testament in light of the New Testament. I absolutely love the Old Testament. I love the stories and the imagery and the history of it, but the Old Testament can sometimes be a scary place without the light of the New Testament. Picture it like this the Old Testament is a dimly lit room filled with treasures. The New Testament brings more light into the room. It allows you to see the real beauty of the treasures contained in the Old Testament.
Speaker 1:Rule number four understand unclear passages in light of clear passages. People violate this rule all the time. They find one verse they don't understand, they decide how to interpret it and then they try to make other verses fit their unique interpretation. Understand unclear passages in the light of clear passages. Rule number five understand words and verses in the light of their context. Let me give you an example. Luke 12, 19 says take life easy, eat, drink and be merry. Does Luke 12, 19 mean that we're to be party animals? No, the next verse actually says for tomorrow you die. It's good to know that. It's not a commandment, it's a warning. There are so many words on so many subjects in the Bible. It's easy to take a few of them out of context to prove just about anything you want to prove.
Speaker 1:Rule number six understand historical passages in the light of doctrinal passages. Deuteronomy 17 says this the king must not take many wives for himself, because they will turn his heart away from the Lord. Mark 1 says very early in the morning, while it is still dark, jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place where he prayed. I'm sometimes asked how about all of those guys who had more than one wife? Right History records that David had a number of wives, that his son, solomon had 300 wives. Does that mean having more than one wife was okay with God? Not, when you understand the doctrinal passage right. Genesis 2 teaches that two shall become one, not that 301 shall become one. Deuteronomy 17 specifically warned the king the king must not take many wives. These doctrinal passages help us to see clearly that David and Solomon were sinning by having many wives and to see how that sin led them astray.
Speaker 1:Now Jesus, he never left the country of his birth. Does that mean that we can never leave our country? No, there is no command attached to this example In that verse. In Mark 1.35,. Jesus often prayed early in the morning. Does that mean we're commanded to get up at 4 am and pray? Let me emphatically say no, right, that is not the answer. God may convince you that that is a good habit for your life, but he does not command every believer to pray early in the morning.
Speaker 1:Rule number seven understand personal experience in light of the scripture. This probably is the rule that believers break most often. We tend to understand scripture in the light of personal experience and we make our personal application out of scripture into a command for others to follow. In doing that, we get very legalistic. Let me go back to illumination for a minute. To experience illumination, I must study God's word diligently. Let me end with this question how do you decide to study God's word as a lifetime commitment? First, we vow before the Lord to trust in and commit to the truth of his word.
Speaker 1:1 Timothy 4 says be diligent in these matters. Give yourself wholly to them so that everyone may see your progress, watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them. You may have some doubts about God and about God's word. Can you really trust it? In these two studies about the Bible, you've seen proof in history and changed lives, but ultimately this is a matter of faith. Will you decide right here and right now to trust the truth of God's word? Number two cultivate eagerness by examining God's word for answers. Number three tell others what you're learning from God's word.
Speaker 1:Colossians 3.16 says it this way let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom. If you spend your life in small groups and teaching and leading, you're going to be in the word of God and it is going to work through you as you teach others. Last one I'll give you is this act on what you learn as you study the Bible. James 1.22 says this do not merely listen to the Word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Let me read that again Don't just listen to the Word and, by doing so, deceive yourselves. Do what the Word of God says. The Word of God is a book that gives hope. It's a book that gives us direction. It's a book that will see us safely home.
Speaker 1:Now. I said here at the beginning that I had a book coming out. I would love for you to check it out. You can go to my website, wwwnick-williamscom. That's nic-williamscom, and you can go to the store on there and see it. Or you can go to Amazon. The Kindle version on Amazon is available for pre-order. The paperback and hardback are available for pre-order on my website, but they will be on Amazon come June 10th. If you've read any of my books or read this one would love for you to give a review on Amazon. It just helps other people find the book. But this book I'm excited about.
Speaker 1:It came out of a conversation with my niece as she was wrestling with the questions that are normal, like where do I start? How do I interpret it? How do I know what I'm reading is right? How do I know how I'm interpreting it is right? Sometimes I don't feel it, sometimes it doesn't make sense All the things that we wrestle with with the Word of God. And as I was having that conversation with her and writing down her questions, I thought man, I'm going to write a book that answers these questions and teaches people how to study the Bible. So in this book I do that.
Speaker 1:First half we'll walk you through some common questions that people have, and the second half walks you through how to study the Bible, whether you want to do a thematic study, finding a theme in the Bible or a character study, or a model that we use here at South Shore is called SOAP, and it walks you through how to do that version of Bible study as well. But either way, if I can help you, if you have specific questions, please reach out, let me know, otherwise. Thank you so much for joining me today. I hope the truth of God's Word permeates your heart, gets you excited about God's Word, and that you don't just learn it but you do what it says. Until next time, I hope you have an incredible week.