Searching The Scriptures

The premise for the idea that this article is based upon, is found in John 5:39 ("You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me." NKJV). In the passage, the Jews have accused Jesus of acting "unlawfully" because He had healed a paralyzed man on the Sabbath day (v. 10), and they sought to kill Him (v. 16). In this circumstance, Jesus defends Himself as "the Son of God" (vs. 18-19), which angers the Jews all the more, and they want to kill Him, all the more. Read Jesus' own defense through v. 39 where He challenges the Jews to "search the Scriptures" for themselves and prove whether or not they testified of Him. Based upon that premise, lets consider HOW one should search the Word of God in order to come to the conclusion that these Jews of John 5 should have attained. Remember that "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God". (Rom. 10:17). These points will be brief and concise, and should give us cause to reflect more deeply on our own.
[1] We should search the Scriptures Reverently.
Read Psalms 19:8-1 1, which tells us that the "statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart... and "more to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold..." and "in keeping of them there is great reward." Shouldn't a person approach such "greatly to be desired" revelations of God's love for us with reverence for that truth? In them we are "warned", and in them we are "rewarded".
[2] We should search them diligently.
"But his (the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly -v. 1) delight in the law of the Lord, and in His law doth he meditate day and night." (Ps. 1:2). Paul told Timothy to "be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth." (2 Tim. 2:15). To be "diligent" is to be continuously persistent in the effort of trying to present oneself approved to God.
[3] We should search them intently .
When we really want to hear something that is being said, don't we listen intently? We don't let any outside distractions break our attention to what we want to hear, do we? That seems to be the effort implied in Pro. 2:2 -"So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom and apply thine heart to understanding."
[4] We should search them systematically.
Remember when Paul wrote that Timothy should be able to "rightly divide the Word of Truth" ? The ability to rightly divide the Truth comes from the systematic approach of Bible study, not just hap-hazard reading. Organized study will permit God's Word to reveal to you what He has intended for us to understand, and understand correctly, without our preconceptions being there to interfere with the Truth.
[5] We should search them prayerfully.
Ps. 119:18 -"Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law." The truth is there, and the right attitude of approaching it is necessary.
[6] We should search them understandingly,
The Ethiopian eunuch asked Philip for help to understand the Scriptures about Christ from lsa. 53 (Acts 8:30-31). In his day, the Scriptures were not yet compiled into one Book and we have it in our day. Notice that Philip started at lsa. 53 and used the Scriptures to teach the eunuch about Christ and what he must do to be saved. Now that we have the complete Will of God put together for us in the Bible, we too can search them with the knowledge that the Truth can be understood when a person lets the Word give us that understanding.
[7] We should search them believingly.
At the close of John's testimony about Jesus, he said, "But these things are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing, ye might have life through His name." (Jo. 20:31). What Jesus told the unbelieving Jews of His day also applies to us. "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins: for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." (Jo. 8:24)
[8] We should search them retentively.
We are well able to remember what God wants us to remember about the Truth. Stop now and consider the total knowledge that you have about the world in which we live, and you will understand that we can RETAIN much. That is what the Psalmist implies to us when he wrote, "Thy Word have I hid in mine heart (remembered, retained), that I might not sin against thee." (Ps. 119:11)
[9] We should search them daily.
The best way to learn and know what the Bible says is frequent study. A constant exposure to anything brings great familiarity. So it will be when we daily expose ourselves to God's Word. The Bereans looked daily into the Scriptures in order to prove those thing being taught to them. Acts 17:11 --"These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the Word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so." -- NKJV
[10] We should search them to be saved.
The Word of God is able to save us, because the Truth about God's love for us is revealed only there. There is no other source of God's Truth for men, nor has there ever been any other source than through the agency by which He delivered His Truth. Today the Bible is that record of God's Truth. Key in on what Paul said. "And now brethren I commend you to God, and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified." (Acts. 20:32)
Niles Hissom