OceanSide church of Christ

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WEDNESDAY NIGHT BIBLE STUDY

A High Priority for the Faithful Christian

Victor M. Eskew

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A.   On one occasion, a man asked an elder of the church:  “When did the church start meeting for Wednesday night Bible study?”  The elder thought for a moment, and gave this response:  “When they quit meeting daily.”

 

B.   Two verses:

1.    Acts 2:46

 

And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.

 

2.    Acts 5:42

 

And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.

 

C.   As a minister, I am amazed at the lack of regard that some Christians have for various programs and works of the church.

1.    They are not a big deal.

2.    They do not demand my participation.

3.    They are like a buffet.  I can pick and choose the things that I like or dislike.

4.    They really are not that beneficial to my spiritual well-being.

 

D.   The subject of our lesson today is:  “Wednesday Night Bible Study.”  The subtitle is:  “A High Priority for the Faithful Christian.”  We want to present some reasons why Wednesday Night Bible Study should be of high priority to every child of God.

 

I.             GOD IS TALKING

 

A.   On Wednesday nights, the church assembles together to study the Bible.

1.    The Bible is the Word of God.

a.    “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God…” (II Tim. 3:16).

b.    We should not have to present any proofs of this point to those who call themselves Christians. 

2.    If the Bible is the Word of God, then when it is read, God is speaking to us.

 

B.   Question:  What could be more important than to hear God speaking to us?

 

C.   ILLUSTRATION:  If we announced a day when God would physically be in our presence to speak to us, would you make that meeting of utmost importance on your schedule?  Remember, God is a Spirit.  Therefore, you would not see Him, but you would be able to hear Him.  Again:  Would you make plans to be present?  Most individuals would.

 

D.   The only difference between that meeting and our Wednesday night Bible study is that instead of hearing God literally speak on Wednesday nights, we read the words that He has spoken.

1.    Before we read a verse, we could say:  “Thus saith the Lord.”

2.    Example:  II Corinthians 6:16

 

But what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?  For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

a.    Notice the words:  “…as God hath said.”

b.    They are followed with a quote from Jeremiah 31:33.

c.    Paul knew that when he quoted from a passage of Scripture, it was really God who was speaking.

 

E.   Every Wednesday night, we open the Bible and read from it in order to hear what God has to say to us.  Yes, we should come to Wednesday Night Bible study because God is talking.

 

II.           TO OBEY GOD

 

A.   No Christian would deny the absolute necessity and the dire importance of obedience to God (Matt. 7:21).

 

Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

 

B.   At this point, some might ask:  “Where is the command to attend Wednesday night Bible study?”

1.    The answer to the question is simply:  “There is not one.”

2.    So, how can missing on Wednesday nights be considered disobedience to God?

 

C.   The answer lies in II Timothy 2:15.

 

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

 

1.    We are commanded to study God’s Word.

2.    This is what Wednesday night is all about. 

a.    We hand out study aids.

b.    We hand out questions.

c.    When we gather, we come together to continue our study by uniting our minds in study.

 

D.   NOTE:  Most of those who forsake any Bible class offered by the church are not the most studious members of the church.  They do not skip Bible class in order to study.  They do not make up that hour of study at a later date.  In essence, they fail to study.  In so doing, they disobey God.

 

III.         TO EXAMINE OURSELVES

 

A.   All of us need times in our lives when we examine our spiritual man (II Cor. 13:5).

 

Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves.  Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

 

B.   We examine ourselves by looking into the mirror of God’s Word (James 1:22-25).

 

But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.  For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:  for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.  But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

 

1.    Wednesday night Bible study gives us the opportunity to look into the mirror of God’s Word and look at ourselves.

2.    A failure to do this may cause us to walk around with things “out of place” in our lives.

a.    Our hair might be messed up.

b.    Our collar might not be straight.

c.    A button might be opened.

d.    A zipper might be down.

e.    We might have a stain on our shirt.

f.     We might have a tear in our clothing.

g.    Parts of our under clothing might be exposed.

h.    We could have on socks that do not match.

i.     We may have forgotten to put on a belt.

j.     Our shirt could be untucked.

3.    The only way to know that that we have adorned ourselves with the doctrine of Christ (Tit. 2:10) is to look into the mirror of the Word and view ourselves.

 

C.   Those who miss on Wednesday night often go several days without examining their lives.  Sadly, there are some in the church who have gone weeks and months without doing a proper investigation.

 

IV.         TO PASS VARIOUS SPIRITUAL TESTS

 

A.   The test of priorities (Matt. 6:33)

 

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

 

B.   The test of love (Matt. 22:37-38)

 

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  This is the first and great commandment.

 

C.   The test of self-denial (Luke 9:23)

 

And he said unto them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

 

D.   The test of pleasure (II Tim. 3:4)

 

Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.

 

E.   The test of sacrifice (Phil. 3:7-8)

 

But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.  Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord:  for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.

 

V.           TO SUBMIT TO THE ELDERS

 

A.   Elders of the church are shepherds of the flock.  As shepherds, they are responsible for feeding the church (Acts 20:28).

 

Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

B.   One of the ways they feed the church is through the Bible classes.

 

C.   Here is a conundrum. 

1.    God has commanded elders to feed the flock.

2.    The belief that some have, however, is that the flock does not have the obligation to eat what the elders feed.

3.    If the flock does not have to eat, why would God command the shepherds to feed them?

 

D.   Hebrews 13:17

 

Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves:  for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief:  for that is unprofitable for you.

 

1.    There are two important words in this verse for those under an eldership, “obey” and “submit.”

a.    If the elders command something, we are to obey.

b.    If the elders provide something, we should submit.

2.    Definition of “submit.”

a.    Strong (5226):  to yield, to surrender

b.    Thayer:  to resist no longer, but to give way, yield

3.    If the elders tell us that they are providing Bible classes for our spiritual nourishment, we should yield to their desire.  We should not resist, but surrender to them.

 

VI.         TO BREAK FROM THE WORLD

 

A.   The world and its inhabitants are evil.  John tells us that “the whole world lieth in wickedness” (I John 5:19).

1.    We have to be in the world throughout the week.

2.    We have to be influenced by the world throughout the week.

3.    We have to fight the world throughout the week.

 

B.   Assembling with the church, the called out ones, is a welcomed break from the evil world.

 

C.   To be with the saints reminds us that we are standing “fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; and in nothing terrified by your adversaries…” (Phil. 1:27b-28a)

 

CONCLUSION

 

A.   Most of the time, a subject like this would be addressed in a bulletin article. 

 

B.   Why an entire lesson on the subject?

1.    To remind us that Wednesday Night Bible Study should be a high priority item for the faithful Christian.

2.    To encourage those who do not attend Wednesday Night Bible Study to change their ways and begin to come.

3.    To help us reach one of our goals for 2021.  We would like to have a 50 on Wednesday Nights on a regular basis.  We cannot do this without the commitment of everyone.

 

C.   A verse that manifests a feeling that all should have and would encourage us to be here every Wednesday night for Bible study (Ps. 119:97).

 

O how love I thy law!  it is my meditation all the day.