Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Biblical ABC’s: K is for – Key of Knowledge


Ladies Bible Study by Mrs. Rick Jackson
I want to begin in a passage in the New Testament where Jesus was speaking to the scribes and Pharisees and He rebuked them for their own ignorance of the Word of God.  Turn with me to Luke 11.  We’ll start at verse 37, And as he spake, a certain Pharisee besought him to dine with him: and he went in, and sat down to meat.  38 And when the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled that he had not first washed before dinner.  39 And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness.  40 Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also?  Now, down in verse 44 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them.  45 Then answered one of the lawyers, and said unto him, Master, thus saying thou reproachest us also.  46 And he said, Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers.  Finally, Jesus admonishes them in verse 52 Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.  Not only were they blinded in ignorance, but they were hindering others as well from the key of knowledge!

 

Tonight’s lesson is how we can have the Key of Knowledge!

 

PRAYER

 

Tonight’s question then becomes, how can we have the Key of Knowledge?  I would like you to turn to one of my favorite passages in the Bible: Proverbs Chapter 3.  Last month we talked about prayer and reading our Bibles every day.  This lesson now builds on that framework.  Let’s read verses 1-6:

 

1 My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:  2 For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.  3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:  4 So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.  5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

     I.            The Key to a Long Life and Peace


 

Again, Proverbs 3:1 & 2 says, “My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:  For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.” 

 

It is not only important for us to read our Bibles every day, but it is also important or “key” for us to “forget not” and to “KEEP” the “commandments.”  And, if we do our part, there is a promise attached:  long life and peace will be added to us.  Do you ever wonder why your life is troubled?  Have you stopped to think that perhaps you are not in obedience to what God has commanded?  Perhaps you have forgotten to use the key?  You have the key in your hand, but it’s like you’re standing in front of a locked door and refuse to use it.  You cannot enter if you don’t turn the key.

 

A.    Long Life

Moses told the children of Israel in Deuteronomy 11:7-9 – “7 But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the LORD which he did.  8 Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it; 9 And that ye may prolong your days in the land, which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land that floweth with milk and honey.” In fact, we don’t have to wait for a longer life, because Jesus promised us in John 10:10 – “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” Again, we read in Psalm 119, verse 2 – “Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.” verse 92 Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction.”

 

B.    Peace

Psalm 119:165 tells us, “Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.”  Again, the KEY to having that peace?  We’ve got to get in the BOOK!  Read and study and keep His commandments! In Isaiah 26:3 we read, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” Finally, Paul says, in Philippians 4:9, “Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”

 II.            The Key to Favor and Good Understanding


 

Now we read in Proverbs 3:3 & 4, “Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:   So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.”

 

Here we have another key that involves binding the word of God “about thy neck.” The best way to understand this is to go back to Deuteronomy.  Let’s look at Chapter 6. 

 

1 Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it:               2 That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.  3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey.       4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:  5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.       6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:              7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.          8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.              9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.

 

The Israelites were taught to keep the Word of God close to them.  The idea was to not be separated from God’s Word and thus learn it – memorize it!  But the Israelites were frail humans like us, and the rituals took over to the point where many of them wear little boxes strapped on their bodies with Scripture verses inside, but they don’t learn the Scriptures.  But what is the KEY? To obtain favor and good understanding we must LEARN the WORDS!  Jesus is our example in this for Luke 2:52 tells us, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.” And Proverbs 16:7 says, “When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.”  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:7.

 

 

III.            The Key to God’s Leading


 

Finally we have Proverbs 3:5 & 6, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.     In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”           Our final KEY is one of direction.  It requires that we act in faith.  There are many, many verses which remind us to trust in the Lord, to have faith:

 

2 Samuel 22:3 – “The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence.”

 

Psalm 31:19 – “Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!”

Psalm 36:7 – “How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.”

 

Psalm 37:5 – “Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.”

 

Psalm 40:3 – “And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.”

 

Psalm 56:3 & 4 – “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.         In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.”

 

Psalm 91:2 – “I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.”

 

Psalm 118:8 – “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.”

 

Proverbs 29:25 – “The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.”

 

Isaiah 12:2 – “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.”

 

Romans 10:17 – “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

 

2 Timothy 3:15 – “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”

 

Now, it may be that some of us haven’t known the Scriptures from a child – but it’s not too late!  We can know them now!  Take the keys you’ve learned tonight: the key to a long life & peace; the key to favor & good understanding; and the key to God’s direction and turn them by learning God’s Word and trusting in Him.  It’s that simple!  Follow the path – He’s given us the key!

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