Week 3 The Practice of Service
LESSON THREE
HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE
Hymn 815
Scripture Reading:
John 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.
Heb. 5:14 But solid food is for the full-grown, who because of practice have their faculties exercised for discriminating between both good and evil.
THE PREPARATION OF THE PERSON
In order to study the Bible properly, one has to meet two basic requirements. The first requirement is that the person must be right; he must pass through proper training. The second requirement is that he has to have the right methods.
THREE PREREQUISITES FOR A “RIGHT” PERSON
To Be Spiritual
The Bible is not only a book with words or letters printed on pages of paper. The very nature of the Bible is spirit. For this reason, everyone who reads this book must approach it with his spirit; it must be read with the spirit. The spirit that we are referring to is the spirit of every regenerated person. We call this spirit the “regenerated spirit.” Not everyone has the spirit. …When can a man begin to understand the Bible? On the day he receives the Lord, he can begin to understand the Bible.
The Lord said, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (John 6:63). Here we see two realms. One is the realm of spirit, the other is the realm of flesh. In the realm of spirit, everything is living and profitable. In the realm of flesh, everything is unprofitable.
To Be Consecrated
Only consecrated ones can understand the Bible. If a man is not consecrated, he can never read the Bible well. As soon as he opens the Bible, he will come across places that he has held back in consecration, and darkness will be with him. In order to understand the Bible, we need an absolute consecration. What is consecration? It is serving Jehovah alone. A man cannot serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold the one and despise the other; he cannot serve both well.
To Be Experienced in Practice
Not Being Subjective
No subjective person can understand the Bible. A subjective person is not suitable to be a learner. If we speak to an objective person, he will understand after we speak once. But a subjective person will not understand after we speak three times. Many people do not understand what others are saying, not because they are unintelligent, but because they are too subjective.
Not Being Careless
Second, no one can be careless in reading the Bible. The Bible is a very accurate book. Not a single word of it can be misread or replaced. If a person is somewhat careless, he will miss God’s word. A subjective man will miss God’s word, and a careless man will also miss God’s word. We have to be careful. The more we know God’s word, the more careful we will be.
Not Being Curious
God’s Word is accurate, but we must never search it with a curious mind. If we search God’s Word with a curious mind, we will miss the spiritual worth of the book. (The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 54, pp.7, 9-11,20, 22, 26, 28, 32)
Reference: The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 54, ch. 1; CWWL, 1963, Vol. 3, Miscellaneous Speakings, ch. 5.
