Master the Bible: How to Get and Keep the Big Picture of the Bible's Story

Chapter 2: Hi dden Treasure

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2. The Pentecost sermon, Acts 2.14-36

3. Stephen’s defense, Acts 7.2-53

B. No other discipline provides us with 100% knowledge of the Scriptures in our hearts, allowing for easy retrieval and use in all other spiritual disciplines.

1. It is a purer discipline: To hide the Word in your heart is to have the very words of God in your consciousness, Deut. 8.3 – And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

2. It is an enriching discipline: It enriches every dimension of our spiritual formation (e.g., our prayer lives, our worship, our meditation and study, our times of solitude and fasting, etc.).

3. It is a transforming discipline: The Word of God can renew our lives and leave us transformed in the process, Rom. 12.1-2 – I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. [2] Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

C. The memorized Word is God’s hidden treasure that provides us with a ready resource for life, counseling, and ministry.

1. The Word of God itself is compared to fine gold, and its worth more than treasure, Ps. 19.10-11 – More to be