The first of three ways to make God real

is to be well versed in the Bible. That'sbecause fellowship is a two-way matter. We

not only speak to God, we must hear Godspeak to us. God speaks to us through the

Bible. All the greats in Christian history weregreat in knowing the Scripture.

own selfish sake. Not ever.He had to learn about God the

way you and 1do. It was a greatand wonderful thing for me tolearn that there is not aparagraph in the teachings ofChrist that does not have itsroots in the Old Testament.

I have to confess it took me10-15 years before I found outthat "The Parable of the RichFool" (Luke 12:13-21) wasbased on the story of Nabal inthe Old Testament (see 1 Samuel25). His name, "Nabal," means"fool" (see 25:25)

It's true. There is nothing inthe teachings of Christ that isn't based on the Old Testament.

How Jesus used the BibleWhen Christ was on the cross, he quoted the Old Testament. Hisfirst and last words from the cross come from the Old Testament:"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me7" (Matthew 27:46;Psalm 22:1 NIV). "It is finished" Oohn 19:30; Psalm 22:31 "hehas done it"). The first and last sayings of Christ on the cross arethe first and last words of Psalm 22.

When Jesus was raised from the dead, we find him stillquoting the Old Testament: "All authority in heaven and on earthhas been given to me" (Matthew 28:18). That is from Daniel7:14, where the Son of Man comes to the Ancient of Days andthere is given to the Son of Man a kingdom and dominion.

When the resurrected Christ meets the two disciples on theroad to Emmaus, again he quotes Old Testament Scripture."Jesus then explained everything written about himself in theScriptures, beginning with the Law of Moses and the Books ofthe Prophets" (Luke 24:27 CEV, see also verses 44-49).

When he was back in glory, after his ascension, Christ took alittle vacation to visit John on the island of Patmos. He dictatedto John the book of Revelation, which is full of Hebrew Scripture.There are over 550 allusions to the Old Testament found inRevelation, the Bible's climactic book.

Remember, it's not "The Revelation of St. John the Divine," asthe King James Version says. It is what the first line of the booksays: "The revelation ofjesus Christ" (Revelation 1:1 NIV).

Our Lord is the Pattern in how to use the Bible.

Walk with the BibleYou and I should get to know the Book much better than we do.

D'm going to talk about threeU ways to make God real.

Three ways that we might know andwalk in the presence of God, whenthings are good and when things arebad, when things are joyous and whenthings are tragic, when we are in themidst of life, and when we are in themidst of death.

Three things. Two of them you willexpect me to say. The third may beunexpected.

Bible fellowshipWe'll begin with the Bible.

Obviously, if we are going to knowGod, there must be communion, theremust be fellowship.

Here, again, we don't speak until we're spoken to. The onlypeople who come to know God, intimately, are those who firstlet God speak to them. This is done, constantly, through theBook, the Bible.

Every word from GodThe Bible consists of 66 love letters. (They are different from thelove letters you and I knew in our youth. None of those wereunread; many of the 66 are.)

Our Lord said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by everyword that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4KJV).

We're pretty good at reading the Letters to Seven Churches inthe Book of Revelation. We like the 23rd Psalm. The closingverses of Romans 8 are wonderful; the opening words of John 14are delicious-but have you ever heard of Zephaniah?

Have you ever wrestled with the problems in Galatians? Doyou know why Paul was so angry when he wrote Corinthians?Are you aware that as Philippians was written, Paul was waitingto have his head chopped off? Do you know which is the onlyprivate letter in the whole New Testament? Do you.know whycertain books in the New Testament are called the EcclesiasticalCanons (which has nothing to do with gun fire)?

"Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word thatproceedeth out of the mouth of God."

Jesus used the BibleOur Lord himself exemplified this, and he met all of life as ahuman. Jesus never used his divine faculties and powers for his

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We ought to know the Bible so well that we can go for a longwalk and say, "Well, what will I study today7" Maybe you'lldecide to work on the Gospel of John. And as you go for yourwalk without the Bible, you'll say, "Well, John 1, I know howthat begins. 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word waswith God, and the Word was God. He was with God in thebeginning. Through him all things were made; without himnothing was made that has been made .... '''-and so on.

We ought to be able to do that, then say, "Now, John chapter2. Oh, yes, that's Christ's first miracle. 'On the third day awedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there,and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They haveno more wine.

"Chapter 3. Ah, yes. 'Now there wasa man of the Pharisees namedNicodemus, a member of the Jewishruling council. He came to Jesus atnight and said.

"Chapter 4. Ah, the woman whocame to the well by day. Chapter 5.Yes, this is about the healing at theHouse of Mercy, Bethesda.Chapter 6. This is the feeding ofthe five thousand and the stormon the Lake of Galilee" And soon. We ought to know theBible so well that we can walkwithout it and yet still studyit. That's our objective: studythe Bible book-by-book.

No proof-textingDon't proof-text yourbeliefs. You get into realtrouble using thatmethod. All the sects, allthe cults, build theirdistinctive heresies on asingle passage. Trythem and see. All the culticbeliefs in the world, all the heretical beliefs inthe world, are based on one verse. They are like invertedpyramids of Scripture. Proof-texting is not the way you findtruth. You must know all that the Bible says on a certain topic.

We must learn to study the Word. Really study it, not simplyread it through the bifocals of our church or denomination orpastor. No pastor knows that much. All that anyone knows cango in a thimble-and there's room left over for the youngwoman's finger as well!

We are to study for ourselves, asking the Holy Spirit to teachus. That's because the Bible does need an interpreter. But it's notthe pope, or a minister, or a cult. Only the Holy Spirit is theBible's Interpreter. And he only interprets the Bible to thosewhose will is fully surrendered to him.

People great in the WordThe great people whom God has used have been great in theWord.

I think of how George Mueller used to read the Bible. Hewould rise early in the morning, take his Bible, and go for a walk.Every now and then, he would stop and lean against a fence andread a passage. He would meditate on it, then pray as he walked

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on another quarter mile. He would stop again, read a passage,meditate, and pray, as he walked on.

I think of Dwight L. Moody.Moody was so busy during his early years in evangelism, that

though he made scores of visits in one day, he wasn't gettinganywhere.

One day, a couple of spinster ladies in the congregation pattedhis arm and said, "Son, we are praying for you." Not long afterthat, he received a filling of the Holy Spirit that changedeverything in his life. He was driven to study the Bible four orfive hours a day.

According to one biographer, Moody traveled eight millionmiles and spoke to one hundred million people. I don't see howthat could be, but that's what one biographer has said. But that'safter he gave himself to the study of the Word.

Loving familiarity with God's WordBefore we discuss the second way to make God

real, let me just remind you of the first way: Lovingfamiliarity with the Word of God. The men and

women God has used are the men and women whoknew the Word.

Perhaps you and I need to take some of the overtimewe spend before the TV (or in the dining room), and spend it inthe library with the Scripture.

Scripture is the Word of life. It's not dead. We are begotten byit. It feeds us, it sustains us. We need to know its promises andits commandments.

If we are going to practice what the Word of God teaches, weneed to let God talk to us. Don't let there be any unopened loveletters. Let's get to know them all.

Books that helpRead some good books that will help you to understand the Biblebook-by-book. Christ in All the Scriptures is great book, by a goodwoman named Hodgkin. You can get it in any Christianbookstore. There's another big book-once in six volumes-calledExplore the Book by]. Sidlow Baxter. There's a little book calledThe Outlined Bible by Robert Lee. It has one big page on everybook of the Bible. That's a great book.

None of these books are infallible, of course, but they ~~are all very helpful.