Session 7 - The B-I-B-L-E and a Man's Battle for Purity

 

Roundtable Questions:

• Which statement best describes your relationship to the Bible (please explain your answer)
• Disengaged - I have one but hardly ever read it.
• Discouraged - I read it but don’t understand it.
• Disturbed - I read it but I don’t like it.
• Disciplined - I read it regularly.
  
  
• BEST EFFORT - Verse 10 says that this man seeks God, through His Word, with his “whole heart.” What’s the difference in a wholehearted effort towards God’s Word and a half-hearted effort towards God’s Word?
• What changes do you need to make so that you are wholehearted and bringing your BEST EFFORT to God’s Word?
  
• INVESTIGATE - Read back through the passage. What are the various synonyms the writer uses for the Bible?
• List 3 attitudes the author shares in his approach to the Word of God.
• What did you notice as you reread the passage that you didn’t notice the first time through the passage?
  
  
• BEST VERSE - what verse (or verses) speaks the most to you as a man as you read this passage? Why?
  
  
• LISTEN/LEARN - rewrite or rephrase your best verse(s) in your own words.
  
  
• EVALUATE - what will you change based on what you learned from the Word of God in this session?
• What is a recent situation you would have handled differently had you known the truths from Scripture you learned in this session?

Rough Draft Teaching Manuscript:

10/8/2025

THE B-I-B-L-E and a Man's Battle for Purity

In the venue of professional wrestling there are various title belts for which competitors aspire. At last check there are 17 active championships in the WWE brand and depending on what week you ask there are 23 in the WWF. 

So what are the title belts of the Christian life? To what goals do you aspire? 

I would say that many men want happiness and prosperity from their Christian lives. Many men may not say it, but by their actions I think many men think that following Christ should exempt them from suffering. And they operate on the premise of a false theology that if they do enough for God and live well for God then they should be blessed and bypass suffering. 

If those are your aspirations in following Christ; prosperity, happiness, and a life of relative ease then you will soon be disillusioned with Christ and Christianity.

In the Bible, the undisputed title of championship Christianity is as Paul described in Philippians and that is to know Christ and to attain the resurrection. The Bible speaks of the reward of pleasing God and receiving a well done, good and faithful servant. There is a reward for faithfulness in suffering. There is a reward for faithfulness in waiting. If we are thinking of rewards and goals in the Christian life as belts for which we should aspire, there are probably several we could mention.

But what about purity? But if purity were a championship belt. How many men are training to win and fighting a good fight against temptation? 

I think many men might be giving up on this goal due to something that is implied in the opening question of the second stanza of Psalm 119. “How can a young man keep his way pure?”

The way the question is stated implies:

• Can a man keep his way pure? Is it even possible? It is perhaps the most difficult fight for any man. 

• The addition of young man doesn’t exempt older men. I think it is a mistake to think that only young men experience great temptation. I consider myself to be an older man now and I can tell you that I understand the question now better than I ever have. The question is really asking how can a man keep his way pure given his wrestling with the temptations that began in him as a young man. It’s almost as if he’s saying, if this will work for a young man it will work for any man. He’s saying that if you will start this as a young man it will work for you as a man the rest of your life. 

The answer comes in the second sentence. “By guarding it according to your word.” Notice he doesn’t say by God taking temptation away. It doesn’t say by greater will power. It says by guarding it according to the Word of God.

Gaurding is a term that implies constant readiness. It means that I am every applying what I am learning from the Word of God. I am doing what it says. As I do what it says, it purifies my life. 

Purity in Psalm 119:9 isn’t perfection. It is:

• Removing the tarnish of sin past so I don’t repeat them

• Breaking the bondage of sin present so I am not controlled by them

• Avoiding the foolishness of sin   by making me wise about God’s ways

And though we may not attain perfection in this life, it does not keep me from aiming at perfection.

And the way that happens is by a man guarding his way in the Word of God.

When it comes to the Bible, for many men the Word of God is like a house alarm they never arm. They pay the monthly subscription but somewhere along the way they got out of the habit of turning it on. The same is true of God’s Word. They have a Bible somewhere in the house – but God doesn’t call a man to have a Bible. He calls a man to aim for purity by guarding His way with the Word of God.

• God doesn’t call us to read the Bible – He calls on us to guard our way with the Word of God. 

• God doesn’t challenge us to do a devotional - He calls on us to guard our way with the Word of God.

• God doesn’t even call men to study the Bible in the sense of becoming more knowledgeable about what it says – in fact, the Bible say that knowledge for the sake of knowledge will puff you up, make you proud – NO – God doesn’t call on us to learn the Bible – He calls on us to guard our way with the Word of God.

When it comes to winning championships, athletes have to have the right attitude and approach in their training, preparation and practice. If you are going for a title when it comes to purity, you need a championship attitude and approach daily in the Word of God.   So in this session we are going to glean some principles from the passage about a man’s attitude toward the Word of God. If I am going to keep my way pure by guarding it according to God’s Word, what needs to be my daily attitude toward the Word -what’s the mindset?

And then, what is the approach? How do I get into it in such a way that it guards my way and helps me be a man who walks in purity before God?

And I want to make this easy by creating an acronym B-I-B-L-E. 

B – BEST EFFORT (vv. 10-12) – The only way a man can walk in purity is for him to come to the Word of God with his best effort. This is described with the words, “with my whole heart I seek you.” This is important because he doesn’t want his life to wander off from the commandments. So if we are to have a life that doesn’t wander off – think of how we need to approach the Word so we don’t wander off. When it comes to God’s Word are you giving it your BEST TIME of the day? Do you protect that time or do you pick up the Bible if you have time? Are you making time? Are you just reading verses or are you giving your whole heart to what it says? Because notice verse 11. He stores up the Word in his heart so that he may not sin. He doesn’t just read some verses. He wants to master the content. He wants it to get down into his heart so that it impacts his life. Head knowledge isn’t enough. So, he brings a teachable spirit (v. 12). I’m not here to just do my devotion, I’m here to learn. I want to grow. I want to mature. I want to hear from God.

I – INVESTIGATE – in every stanza he has a different synonym for the word of God. So as he goes through the Bible notice that he’s gleaning and thinking about the statutes, all the rules, the way of God’s testimonies, precepts and ways. He’s not rushing through. The cardinal offense in most Christian’s approach to the Bible is that they read it too fast. They need to slow down and see all that’s there. Ask investigative questions. Circle words. Observe the text with who, what, why, when, where type questions. EMAW questions.  Maybe 2 Tim 3:16 – method – reproof – what am I doing wrong – correction – how do I make it right, training – what repetitive action/decision do I make 

B – BEST VERSE – EMAW cred. – In what you are reading, what is the best verse or verses? What are the ones that are speaking to you? Sit down on it. Maybe underline it or write it out. Here is where you are picking up on that desire to be taught, you are delighting in a verse. You are setting yourself up to mediate on it now. Maybe you memorize this verse – maybe one a week.

L-LISTEN/LEARN – notice he says in verse 13 that with his lips he declares all the rules of your mouth. You haven’t learned it until you can explain it. And maybe this is where you do a rewrite of a verse. Maybe you journal some stuff about it. But whatever you have to do to meditate on it – get quiet before God and let him speak to you about that verse.

E – EVALUATE – Verse 16 says that he won’t forget the Word. He doesn’t just read the verse of the day and go on about his day. He is intent to do something about what God says. Also, evaluate yourself based on the best verse and what it means. And either that evening or the next morning – evaluate the decisions of the day based on what you learned in God’s Word. 

Conclusion:

God calls men to battle for purity. And the only way that happens is with an attitude and an approach that I want to win this battle. We must be on guard – always applying God’s Word.