How to Study the Bible: Lesson Five

We have learned a lot in these past four weeks. We have done four study methods; started off the first week with The New Testament Survey on the book of Philippians, we looked at the themes and key verses for each chapter, and the outline of the book, the second week we did an Expository study on Philippians 4:1-9, where we exgeted scripture, drawing out the meanings of the text based on the text itself, and learned the difference between exegeting and eisegeting, the third week we did a Word study on Love in the book of John where we explored the meanings of two types of love; phileo and agape, then this past week we did a Biographical study on Epaphroditus, where we explored passages and information about him.

(Did you notice Sunday that Pastor’s sermon was on the Phileo and Agape love and did you find yourself understanding a little bit more because you did the word study on it?) It is so exciting, and you will find that you get even more out of the sermons as you study on your own also.

In doing these study methods we used six study tools. We used The Key Word Study Bible, where we have learned different aspects and usages. We learned how to look up the Greek / Hebrew words using the Strong’s numbering system, learned about Cross-references and footnotes as well as summaries of each book. We also used Warren Wiersbe’s Commentary and saw how a commentator brings out Greek / Hebrew meanings, along with cross-references and cultural information. We used The Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance. We learned how to look a verse using a specific word, and then learned how to find the number to the original Greek / Hebrew word. We looked that number up in the back of the concordance under the dictionary to find the definition. Then to expand on the definition and dig a little deeper we used Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary and pulled out Greek definitions and learned how to keep the Greek word in context of scripture. This week we added two more study tools. In our Biographical study we looked in Nave’s Topical Bible to find the verses related to Epaphroditus. We also looked at The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia and saw how it gave us information about Epaphroditus.

Before we go over the homework I would like to introduce you to some new study tools: With the women’s retreat this weekend, we are going to take a little break and not have any homework. That way you can concentrate on the retreat and the message given there. We will go over the new tools in class today and if you would like to view them, you are more than welcome to do so. The next two weeks we are going to have a lot of fun going through the Greek Tenses and learning the Grammatical Notations in The Key Word Study Bible. You especially don’t want to miss the last class.

We have used the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and have seen the different uses for it. Now I would like to show you what they call “Contemporary Concordances”: “Find it Fast in the Bible” which is a Phrase Concordance. Using the “Phrase Concordance” has its advantages, for instance; if you were searching for a specific passage that mentions “word of God”, with a standard exhaustive word concordance you would look through more than 900 references to the word “word” or about 4,500 occurrences of the word “God”, you would have to look through each scripture trying to find the ones that refer to “word of God”. But with Find it Fast in the Bible you would look under the phrase “word of God” and find 48 occurrences directly to that passage. If you recall only one word of the Bible passage, you can look it up in the index in the back. This index will help you locate the exact phrase you have in mind. Find it Fast in the Bible uses the New King James Version as the text on which the phrases are based. However, handy cross-references make the book usable with additional translations like: KJV, NASB, and NIV. For example, “Verily, verily, I say unto you” KJV when you look it up it will give you the NKJV “Most assuredly, I say to you.”

Then you have “Where to Find it in the Bible”. This is a Topical Concordance. A lot like the Nave’s Topical Bible, you look up a topic and it gives you scripture relating to that topic. We have looked at The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia which we found give useful illustrations, maps, and facts about people, backgrounds, and events of the Bible, listing words in alphabetical order. There are other types of Encyclopedias for example: AMG’s Encyclopedia of Bible Facts. It presents the facts about the Bible’s background, statistics, inspiration, archaeology, land and understanding the Bible. It gives a Bible Reading plan, shows how to study the Bible as well as how to mark your Bible and the benefits to memorizing scripture.

The AMG’s Encyclopedia also gives overviews of each book of the Bible and has fascinating Bible facts on Bible symbols and promises along with topical studies. There is so much information in this book that I can’t list them all. You are welcome to look through it.

Another Encyclopedia would be Nelson’s illustrated Encyclopedia of Bible Facts. This Encyclopedia also gives facts on the land and the people, Life in Bible times – ie. Tools, transportation, money, language etc., it shows the people and places of the Bible, Paul’s journeys and much more.

A Reference tool which would complement our studies would be: The Manners and Customs of the Bible. It is a great reference tool to understand the people and culture of the Bible.

To step back for a second, I would like to show you an excerpt from “Nelson’s Illustrated Encyclopedia”; regarding Bible Chronology:

This leads me to our next tool: Willmington’s Guide to the Bible. This guide covers the chronological and theological methods of Bible study through numerous detailed illustrations, charts and maps. It is like having eight Bible reference volumes in one: Bible commentary, topical dictionary, archaeological handbook, Old Testament and New Testament cross-reference guide, Theological manual, illustrated Bible encyclopedia, prayer fact-finder, and history of Israel textbook.

We just discussed what the Chronological method is. Now Willmington’s not only shows the Chronological method but it also shows the Theological method. You remember in our handout of “Study Methods” the last study mentioned was the Systematic Theology method. - The word "theology" comes from two Greek words meaning "God" and "word." Combined, the word "theology" means "study of God." Systematic refers to something be put into a system. Systematic theology is, therefore, the division of theology into systems that explain its various areas. For example, many books of the Bible give information about the angels. No one book gives all the information about the angels. Systematic theology takes all the information about angels from all the books of the Bible, and organizes it into a system - Angelology. That is what systematic theology is all about - organizing the teachings of the Bible into categorical systems.

In that the Biographical study and the Topical study are the same type of study; one being the study of a person and the other of a topic, we have now covered all the study methods on your list except for one; Systematic Theology which you could do using Willmington’s Guide to the Bible without having to spend a lot of money on Systematic Theology set of books. Dr. Willmington covers twelve major doctrinal themes.

Did you know Dr. Willmington teaches to this day at Liberty University in Lynchburg Virginia, they call him Mr. Bible. You can take his course at home and earn a degree – He uses Willmington’s Guide to the Bible as his soul textbook. He has made it very easy to understand and yet you can earn a University degree with his book. – How cool is that - An amazing tool.

Before we go over the homework for this week, does anyone have any questions regarding the tools we have discussed up to now?

We did a Biographical study this week on Epaphroditus: let’s go through it. To set the background we learned that:

The Philippian church had heard that Paul was in prison, and that he was having an extremely difficult time. Their hearts went out to him, so they decided to do two things: to take up an offering to meet Paul's material needs and to send a dedicated layman who could remain with him and help him. Such a man would have to be savagely brave, for by attaching himself to a man facing a capital crime, he would be leaving himself open to the charge of being an accomplice. By helping Paul the man would be risking his own life. The man chosen was Epaphroditus.

To start we needed to find out where in scripture Epaphroditus was mentioned.

1. Look up “Epaphroditus” in Nave’s Topical Bible and Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance. List verses where Epaphroditus is found:

Nave’s Topical: Philippians 2:25-27, 30, Philippians 4:18

Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance: Philippians 2:25, 4:18

2. How does Paul describe Epaphroditus in Philippians 2:25?

My Brother, Fellow-worker, Fellow-soldier, Messenger, Minister

He was a Christian brother. Note the tenderness: Paul called him "my brother." A brother is a person who has the same parent. Epaphroditus was born of God. He had placed his faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, and God had honored his faith by giving him a new birth—a spiritual birth. Therefore, he was a brother to Paul and a member of God's family.

He was a companion in the work of the Lord (Fellow-worker). Many persons serve in the work of the Lord, but not everyone is a true companion in labor. A true companion is by the side of his friend; he is there with him: understanding, feeling, supporting, consoling, comforting, encouraging, and helping whenever needed. Epaphroditus was a true example of a companion in labor. Paul was a prisoner about to stand trial for his life, and he had been forsaken by most believers (2 Tim. 4:16). But note Epaphroditus: he stood by Paul despite the severe circumstances.—Preacher's Outline and Sermon Bible - Commentary

He was a fellowsoldier. No doubt this refers to the hardiness and steadfastness of Epaphroditus. By sticking so closely to Paul, he ran the risk of being identified as a follower of Paul who was being falsely tried as an insurrectionist against the state. This danger was probably the reason so many believers forsook Paul (2 Tim. 4:16). But not Epaphroditus; he stood fast—he stood as a fellowsoldier with Paul despite the danger and despite his own ill health.

He was a messenger of the church. The word "messenger" is apostolos which is the very word for apostle. The word means messenger, an ambassador sent on a very special mission. Paul is saying that this dear saint of God had been called as a very special messenger and ambassador for God. He was a very special apostle, a very special messenger of God.

He was a very special minister (leitourgon PWS: 2600). Barclay points out that this word would have great meaning to the Greek minds of the Philippian church. The word (leitourgon PWS: 2600) was a great word and was used only of great men. The title was bestowed only upon great benefactors, men who loved their city, culture, arts, or sports so much that they gave huge sums of money to support these functions. The person was looked upon as a great servant or minister given over to his cause. Paul is here bestowing the great title of minister (leitourgon) upon Epaphroditus. Epaphroditus was an extraordinary minister of God who ministered to Paul's needs

3. Notice other people who are listed as “Fellow-workers” in the cross-references. List the Cross-reference (from middle column in the Key Word Study Bible), look them up and list who the “Fellow-workers” are:

Romans 16:3 – Priscilla & Aquila, Romans 16:9 – Urbanus, Romans 16:2 – Timothy, Phil. 4:3 – Fellow workers in Book of Life, Philemon 1 – Philemon, Philemon 24 – Mark, Aristachus, Demas, Luke

4. Acts 16:1 states Timothy was part Jew and part Greek. According to “Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia” how do we know Epaphroditus was not of Jewish origin?

His Greek name corresponding to the Lat. Venustu (belonging to Venus) indicated a non-Jewish origin.

5. What did Epaphroditus do when he heard that Paul was in prison in Rome? Do you know someone like this or are you this type of person?

He volunteered to make that long, dangerous trip to Rome to stand at Paul’s side and assist him. He carried the Church love gift with him protecting it with his own life.

6. What happened to Epaphroditus after arriving in Rome? Phil 2:26-27

While there in Rome he had become deathly sick, almost died. At that point, Epaphroditus could have forsaken the mission of the church. He could have concluded that the mission was not worth losing his life over and returned home. But as a true soldier of Jesus Christ, he would not, and he did not. This brings us to our next question:

7. Why was Epaphroditus burdened for his own church in Philippi? Notice his submissive mind – He did not think of himself.

In fact, note the glorious testimony of this verse. Epaphroditus was not concerned over his welfare, but over the church's welfare.

He was burdened over the people because they had heard he was ill and they were worried about him. He was more concerned with their well-being than his own.

8. Look up “Heaviness” in the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance – write the Strong’s number for the Original Greek word: 85. Then look up “Heaviness” in Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary and read the definition. Notice how this is the same word used in Philippians 2:26 for Epaphroditus as he was distressed for his home church as was Christ in Gethsemane in Matt. 26:37, and Mark 14:33. (Philippians 2:26 in the NASB states “Distressed” where as in KJV it states “Full of Heaviness”).

9. What does it mean to live in Philippians 1:21 not Philippians 2:21?

Phil. 1:21 – “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Phil 2:21 – “For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus.” How many of us seek out our own interests when we should be seeking out Christ’s. Our lives should count everyday for Jesus Christ.

10. Epaphroditus truly had a Servants heart. What touched you the most about Epaphroditus and why?

Epaphroditus was faithful to his call and to his church. He did not quit nor forsake the church. He had every reason to, but he did not. He stood fast despite the worst kind of circumstances and the threat to his own life. What a heart of tenderness, warmth, softness, and of ministry! Just the kind of heart we all need—especially the ministers of the gospel.