HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE  (continued)
Christ Centered Meaning.
In the passage of Luke 24:25-27, Jesus tells the two Disciples that all Scripture speaks concerning Him - beginning with Moses and ending with all the Prophets. Christ is the centre of the revelation, the object and the end of all Scripture revelation.
He is the central figure in the whole Bible. Directly or indirectly every passage in the Word points to Christ. Until you have glimpsed Him in the passage you are studying you have not got to the bottom of it.
From the beginning to the end of the Bible it is the work of the Holy Spirit to reveal Christ, the Son of God. Our Lord is lovely, perfect in all His virtues, attributes and graces that cannot be expressed in human language. Even the Holy Spirit seems to meet difficulty to express in human language the excellency of Christ, so He draws from creation all kinds of illustrations to express the loveliness of Christ.
For this reason many names are applied to the Saviour, each one a descriptive title, each one serving as a window through which to behold new and different views of His infinitely multi-sided
loveliness and beauty. So He is called by the Spirit in the Bible; the Second Man, the Last Adam,
Prince of Peace, King of Kings....                                        End

HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE (continued)
Authority. Before you are ready to study the Bible you must accept it as the Word of God and therefore as absolutely infallible and correctly inspired in every detail.
You must accept the whole Bible as the final authority on every subject it deals with. The Bible claims for itself divine infallible authority and this holds good for each and everyone of its books- 2 Tim.3:16, 2 Pet.1:19-21.
If you are born from above you should not have any trouble at all believing the Word of God in its entirety, even if you do not understand most of it. The believer accepts God's Word by Faith, not only by reason -Heb.11:3.
No Private Interpretation. Scripture cannot contradict itself for it was written by holy men as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. All Scripture must agree so if you find a passage which seems to contradict another passage it is your failure to understand it correctly.
Allow the whole body of revelation on any subject to be the answer, not a single passage. Hang no doctrine on a single, isolated Scripture. If you cannot reconcile the contradiction skip over it at present, study something else and the first thing you know in the course of your Bible study some other passage will suddenly illuminate the difficult one. Do not try to force a meaning on any passage, wait and go on with your study until the light breaks.
No Scripture is of private interpretation-2 Pet.1:20-21.
Selective Reading. 1 Timothy 4:13.
Paul the Apostle, writing to Timothy exhorts him to 'Till I come give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine....', in other words, Paul is exhorting Timothy to 'devote' himself...
This exhortation implies that Timothy should 'be careful what you are reading', choose your reading material with great care. Do not be a casual reader.
That is a problem with many believers. While the Bible is our textbook of authority the average believer needs help from others and from other sources and needs to be taught by teachers to systematically study the Word profitably.
The Ethiopian eunuch had the Scriptures but could not understand them, so when Philip asked him he answered 'How can I, except some man should guide me'.
Rightly Divide the Word-2 Tim.2:15.
The expression 'rightly divide' comes from the Old Testament and means to 'Cut Straight'.
When the offerer of a sacrifice brought a sacrifice it was divided into three parts-except the whole burnt offering.
One part was offered to God, another part was given to the one who brought the offering and the third part went to the priest, so we have the expression 'Rightly Divide'. It means to give to each that which belongs to his.
In Bible study be careful that you give to the Church that which belongs to the Body of Christ, to Israel that which belongs to Israel, to the Gentile that which belongs to the Gentile. Just as the sacrifice was divided into three parts, so too the Bible tells us that there are three kinds of people in this world.
In 1 Cor.10:32, we have, 'Give no offence neither to the Jew, not to the Gentiles not to the Church of God'. In Bible study first of all ascertain who God is speaking to before you make your application. Do not mix Israel and the Church, Faith and works, Law and Grace, the Church and the Kingdom, Heaven and the Millennium.  Only foolishness and confusion can result from such handling of the Scriptures.
All the Scriptures are for us but they were not all given to us. Example, God told Noah to build an Ark but He never told you to do it. We may draw many lessons and practical applications from all these for 'All these tings happened to them for examples and are written for our admonition' - 1 Cor.10:11.
While they are for us they certainly were not written to us. Always inquire therefore whom God is
speaking to and then believe it literally.           (To be continued)

HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE  (continued)
Repetition. The Holy Spirit is the Author of the Scriptures, which are divinely inspired. Therefore, there can be no non-essentials in the Word of God, no needless use of Words. To the uninitiated it appears that the Bible is full of unnecessary repetitions and superfluous writings.
When the Holy Spirit repeats anything it is for the purpose of emphasis and to remind us that this truth is of such unusual importance that it needs to be repeated.
Whole Revelation. The full truth of God's Word on any subject must not be gathered from an isolated passage but the collected revelation of all the Scriptures which bear on this one truth.
The Bible is a whole and we must not base our conclusions on one single passage until we have inquired and investigated what the rest of the Bible has to say in regard to the entire matter.
Organization. Before you can understand the Bible you must read it first to get the general idea of the content and then organize your knowledge on the basis of the full revelation of the entire Bible:
Read it through from beginning to end.
Learn to distinguish the various books of the Bible and their teaching.
Gather together the various Scriptures bearing on any one point or doctrine.
Read through from Genesis to Revelation systematically in the order the books appear. Read a few chapters a day and when you are through read it again from beginning to end. You will never know your Bible until you have read it well.
It may not mean much to you at the beginning; but you are at least getting acquainted with the Bible-'The entrance of God's Word gives Light'.
When you are fairly familiar with the whole Bible you can organize your knowledge by a study of the general content of each book. You will get out of it what you put into it and then having done this you are ready for the next step. You can then trace the various subjects throughout the Bible.
Practical Appropriation. Every truth of God revealed to us must be practiced, obeyed and put into operation or our knowledge will leave us with a theology as clear as ice but frozen.
To really know your Bible you must practice it. Every bit of added truth or light is an added responsibility and God will hold us accountable for it. It is better not have known the will of God than to have known it and not followed it-Hebrews 10:26.             (to be continued)

Η ΠΡΟΣΕΥΧΗ ΤΟΥ ΚΥΡΙΟΥ  (Λουκ.11:1-4)
Συνεχιζουμε τη μελετη μας με την επομενη φραση, 'που εισαι στους ουρανους' .
Με αυτες τις τεσσερεις λεξεις ο Ιησους προσδιορισε τη θεση του Θεου σε σχεση με τη δικη μας. Τα λογια αυτα σχετιζονται πρωτιστως με ολη τη σταση μας στη προσευχη. Στον Εκκλ.5:2 διαβαζουμε, 'Μη βιαζεσαι με το στομα σου, και η καρδια σου ας μη επιταχυνει να προσφερει καποιον λογο μπροστα στον Θεο, επειδη ο Θεος ειναι στον Ουρανο, ενω εσυ εισαι επανω στη γη'
Τι ειναι ο Ουρανος; Αρκει προς το παρον, να πουμε οτι ειναι ενας υπαρκτος τοπος. Ο πρωτομαρτυρας Στεφανος στην απολογια του μπροστα στο Συνεδριο ειπε για το Θεο, 'Ο ουρανος ειναι ο Θρονος μου, η δε γη το υποποδιο των ποδων μου' , και ο ψαλμωδος στον Ψαλ.19:1 λεγει 'Οι ουρανοι διηγουνται τη δοξα του Θεου και το στερεωμα αναγγελλει το εργο των χειρων του' .
Ο ουρανος η ουρανοι δεν ειναι μια αφηρημενη Βιβλικη εννοια αλλα ενας τοπος οπου το κατοικητηριο του Θεου και απο εκει κυβερνα το συμπαν. Ειναι επισης και ο προορισμος καθε πιστου η το μερος της τελικης του αναπαυσης. Εκει αναληφθηκε ο Ιησους Χριστος και εκει εχει ετοιμασει κατοικιες για τους πιστους.
Μερικες (σαρκικες) θρησκειες χλευαζουν την ιδεα της υπαρξης τετοιου μερους και λεγουν οτι ολα ειναι εδω στη γη. Η ελπιδα ομως του αναγεννημενου χριστιανου  στηριζεται στο γεγονος οτι ο Θεος θα κατοικει μια μερα μαζι με τον λαο Του, ακριβως οπως και ενας βασιλιας στο Βασιλειο του. Ειναι επιπλεον οι ουρανοι ο τοπος οπου αμαρτια δεν εχει μπει ουτε και προκειται να εισχωρησει ποτε γιατι οπου κατοικει αμαρτια δεν βρισκεται εκει και ο αγιος θρονος του Θεου.
Στη Γεν.1:1, διαβαζουμε οτι ο Θεος δημιουργησε κατ' αρχη τους ουρανους πριν ακομα δημιουργησει τιποτα αλλο και παντα οσα εκαμε ηταν τελεια. Δια του Πνευματος του Θεου τα ματια μας μπορουν ν' ανοιξουν για να δουμε τη δοξα του Θεου στους ουρανους και τοτε κατανοουμε οτι ο ανθρωπος ειναι πραγματι γηινος και η επιρροη του περιοριζεται πανω στη γη αυτη μονο, οσο κι αν προσπαθησουμε ν' αποφυγουμε αυτη την αληθεια.
Η Αγια Γραφη διδασκει οτι οι πιστοι εισερχονται στους ουρανους  'δια χαριτος'  Θεου και οχι 'εξ εργων' . Τα λογια λοιπον 'Που εισαι στους ουρανους' μας δειχνουν αλανθαστα τη θεση του Θεου ως προς τη δικη μας και μας ενθαρρυνουν να στρεψουμε τη πνευματικη μας οραση προς εκεινη την κατευθυνση. Οταν προσευχομαστε λοιπον χρειαζεται ν'αφησουμε στην ακρη τις γηινες μας μεριμνες και να προσηλωθουμε πανω στη δοξα που κατοικει στους ουρανους.    (Συνεχιζεται)