Hello everyone and welcome to this final episode of the week.

Pastor John joined us today remotely over Skype for this question, a question that comes

all the way from a believer in Hong Kong.

Pastor John, what can I say to my friend that refuses to study the Bible for himself because

he thinks he can get all the answers from teachers like you and others online.

He thinks that our spent listening to good and faithful expositions of Scripture is time

better spent than reading the Bible for himself.

He thinks sermons are less confusing and more efficient in his pursuit to comprehend

the message of the Bible.

How would you make the case otherwise?

Well, when I saw this question, I was really eager to say something about it because just

this morning, when I read the question, I was on a Zoom call with two precious friends

exulting together over Psalm 119, 97 to 100, which addresses this very issue directly and

ties into my own personal experience and fills me with a longing to help this young

brother wake up both to the preciousness of what he's missing and the danger that he's

in.

If he keeps thinking that mere human teachers can replace the very word of God as the focus

of his meditation.

So let me start with that passage of Scripture and show how relevant it is to his question

and what it has meant to me in my personal experience and then give two other reasons for

why I think he should give himself primarily to serious, prayerful personal meditation directly

on God's word rather than assuming that he will be better off receiving God's word

...