This sermon explores what it means to truly engage with Scripture — not as an academic textbook to be studied, but as the living words of God given to us so that we might know Him. John traces the journey from the dramatic scene of Nehemiah 8, where God's people gathered as one to hear the Torah read aloud for the first time in a generation, through practical tools for studying the Bible at home, to the uncomfortable turning point: all the reading, studying, and note-taking in the world is meaningless unless it goes deeper. The real call is to slow down, chew the cud, give the Holy Spirit room, and let Scripture take us into an intimate knowledge of God — and then to be doers of the word, not just hearers.
In the first section, John opens by laying the foundation for why Scripture is a core value of the church — it's like saying fish value water. He warns of a growing movement called “;post-biblical Christianity” which he describes as having a cup of tea without a teabag: completely pointless. Jesus doesn't leave any room for it. Saint Augustine said, “The faith will totter if the authority of the Holy Scriptures loses its hold on men. We must surrender ourselves to the authority of Holy Scripture, for it can neither mislead nor be misled.” John is clear that as a church, they could become far more palatable to society if they softened their commitment to biblical principles — but he has absolutely no intention of doing that, because without Scripture their faith would totter and fall. He reinforces this with Charles Spurgeon's answer when asked what's more important, prayer or reading the Bible: "I ask what is more important, breathing in or breathing out?” And Tozer: “The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men and women to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God.”The purpose of Scripture is to know Him. Psalm 119 says, “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth” — an invitation to experience Scripture as delight. But John draws the warning from the Pharisees: they were top-heavy in intellectual knowledge, they knew the Scriptures inside out, but when the Word of God stood in front of them, they didn't recognize Him. We don't want to be like that.
In the second section, John turns to Nehemiah 8 — the incredible scene of God's people back in Jerusalem after exile, gathering “as one man" into the square before the Water Gate to hear Ezra read the Law of Moses, Genesis to Deuteronomy, from sunrise to midday. They had forgotten their own history. Only a few like Ezra knew the Scriptures, but here they were listening again to who God was and who they were to Him. Both men and women were included, and all who could understand — Scripture is for everyone. John draws out the principle: “We are one church, and we believe in one book." He casts a vision for the church to gather simply to read entire books of the Bible aloud together — Mark's Gospel, the letter to the Ephesians — just reading and listening, because “here's something powerful about coming under the sound of the Scriptures” that builds faith in us. He then gives practical tools for studying the Bible at home: pray first, asking the Holy Spirit for help, then observe, interpret, and apply — observe the scene, interpret it in its original context (“the three most important things in Bible study are context, context, and context”), then apply it to your life now. He introduces the Discovery Bible study method for groups — one person reads, another retells from memory, everyone fills in the blanks, then discuss what it says about God and about us. He points to resources like Bible Hub for commentaries and original languages, Bible Project for video overviews, and the eight-week Bible Course starting at the church. John shares his own practice of going through Isaiah verse by verse with a commentary — laborious, sometimes boring, sometimes exciting — and making notes in his Bible. But then comes the turning point: "All of that stuff is meaningless unless it goes deeper." The Pharisees knew all of this back to front, but they didn't know Him. C.S. Lewis said, “It is Christ himself, not the Bible as such, who is the true word of God. The Bible read in the right spirit and with the guidance of good teachers will bring us to him.” Theology is not an academic subject. John is passionate about this — how could the study of God be an academic exercise? We're not clever enough to understand Him academically. It's got to be a Spirit thing. We've got to engage our hearts and our spirits, not just our minds. J.I. Packer said the Bible “does not yield its secrets to the irreverent and censorious” — its wonders are hidden for those who seek Him with an honest heart.
In the third section, John lands the sermon with the call to meditate on Scripture — to slow down and let the Holy Spirit take us deeper than any commentary can. He uses the image of pickling: it takes time, you can't rush it. He tells the story of his son Sam going trick-or-treating in a full pickle outfit, his mate dressed as Batman, standing in Tesco asking where the jars of pickles are — pickling takes time, and so does Scripture. Bonhoeffer said, “Meditation is the prayerful consideration of Scripture.” Bible reading without meditation gives you information and contextual understanding, which is helpful, but it won't necessarily take you deeper — that's what changes and shapes you. John recalls his dad telling him what his grandad used to say: “You need to chew your food 37 times.” He compares how some of us read Scripture to his cockapoo wolfing down Sunday leftovers — we rush through our reading, scratch the surface, and move on, when the Holy Spirit is wanting us to slow down. The Hebrew word “hagah”means to meditate, ponder, muse — like the noise a lion makes over its food, or a cow chewing the cud. The cow eats the grass, swallows it, then brings it back up and chews it for seven or eight hours a day to get every nutrient out. That's the picture: we read Scripture, understand it, then bring it back up and chew on it, giving the Holy Spirit time and room to let the nutrients go deep. John points to Lectio Divina — ancient “sacred reading” that teaches you to read, pray, meditate, and contemplate Scripture so it's not a transactional experience but a meeting with God — and the Lectio 365 app for daily guided Scripture prayer. He then returns to Nehemiah 8 for the response: the people wept, worshipped, prayed the Scriptures back to God, and renewed their covenant. Scripture can move us if we give the Holy Spirit time — He will brood over us and speak to us. When God highlights something in your Bible reading, that's not the end of something — it's the beginning. It's an open doorway of revelation, and He's saying, “Come in here, I want to show you some stuff.”; Don't just walk away. Spend time there. Finally, James 1:22: “Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”; Reading without being changed is like looking in a mirror and immediately forgetting what you look like. Martin Luther said, “The Bible is alive. It speaks to me. It has feet. It runs after me. It has hands. It lays hold of me.”; That's what God does when you give Him room in the Scriptures. John closes with the call to respond: do you need to surrender yourself again to the authority of Scripture? Do you need to rethink how much time you're spending in the Bible and how much it's shaping your life?
Central Message:
The purpose of Scripture is not information — it's knowing Him. The Pharisees knew the Scriptures inside out but couldn't recognize the Word of God standing in front of them. All the reading, studying, commentary-reading, and note-taking in the world is meaningless unless it goes deeper. Theology is not an academic subject — it's a Spirit thing. We've got to engage our hearts and our spirits, not just our minds. The Bible is given to us to bring us to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, and the way we get there is by slowing down, chewing the cud, giving the Holy Spirit time and room, and letting Scripture shape us from the inside out. And then we must be doers of the word — not just hearers who forget what they look like the moment they walk away from the mirror.
Key Encouragement:
If your experience of Scripture isn't “sweet as honey” yet, that's okay — it absolutely can be. You don't have to be a scholar to understand the Bible. You're not clever enough to understand God academically, and neither is anyone else — it's a Spirit thing. When God highlights something in your reading, that's not the end — it's the beginning. It's an open doorway of revelation, and He's saying, “Come in here.” Don't rush past it. Don't wolf it down like a cockapoo with leftovers. Slow down. Chew the cud. Give the Holy Spirit room to let the nutrients go deep. He will speak to you. He will move you. He will lay hold of you. And when that happens, don't just be a hearer — be a doer. Let it shape your life.
Reflective Question:
Take a moment to consider: how much time are you spending in Scripture, and how are you reading it? Are you rushing through it like a cockapoo wolfing down leftovers, or are you slowing down enough to chew the cud and give the Holy Spirit room to take you deeper? And when God highlights something in your reading, do you walk away — or do you step through that open doorway of revelation and let Him show you what He wants to show you? What would change if you truly believed that theology is not an academic subject, but a Spirit thing — and the purpose of every page is to know Him?
