Improper Attitudes
Principles of Interpretation 1 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 4 viewsNotes
Transcript
Handout
Handout
Introduction:
Three types of attitudes from Acts 17:32-34
32 And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, “We will hear you again on this matter.” 33 So Paul departed from among them. 34 However, some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
Mockers (laughed)
Those that would hear him again (refused to commit)
Those that joined him and believed. (truly believed)
What was the difference between the three?
Attitude
Our attitude the lens through which we study the Bible.
If our lens is out of focus, it blurs the truth revealed in the Bible and distorts what we see, causing us not to see the truth—not because it is not there, but because our lens is out of focus. (Test)
Things that may cause our attitude to be improper.
Being upset
Feeling threatened (Test)
Body:
Trying to Prove Somebody or Something Wrong
Problems with this approach
It starts with the belief held and then goes to the Bible for confirmation.
Bible study should begin with the Bible and build belief.
17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
When we approach the Bible with our belief “already in hand,” we will often end up using a text out of context in order to prove something we believe but that the text does not say. (Test)
Example of trying to prove somebody or something wrong.
Trying to justify a person’s absence from the assembly.
Misapplying Matthew 18:20 (Test)
20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
Majoring in minors (Test)
23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.
This is done when someone has become so concerned with proving others wrong that they completely overlook some of the most important principles of what God said because of their attitude. Test
Example of Majoring in minors
15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk.
They were so concerned with proving Jesus wrong that they had no room left in their hearts to accept that He was right.
Holding On to Preconceived Ideas. (Test)
Example of holding on to preconceived ideas.
Naaman
10 And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.” 11 But Naaman became furious, and went away and said, “Indeed, I said to myself, ‘He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy.’
Naaman’s anger, which originally caused him to ignore the prophet’s instructions, was rooted in his preconceived idea of what the prophet should do. (Test)
Jesus’ statement.
17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
Jesus knew that His disciples were likely to make an improper assumption so he warned against drawing improper conclusions without all the facts.
48 He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.
Denomination of today holding to preconceived ideas.
Thinking That We Cannot Understand the Bible. (Test)
Paul said all scripture is profitable.
This means we can understand it and apply it
16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
The only things that remain unknowable are the things that God has not revealed.
29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
if God authored a book that was unknowable he would be the author of confusion.
33 For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.
Jesus said you shall know the truth. (Test)
32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
If you cannot understand the truth then you cannot be free.
Pride (Test)
18 Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.
This happens when a bible student begins his study thinking that he already knows the answer.
Bible study is about learning what God has to say—not seeing whether or not He agrees with you.
Example
When Paul preached in Thessalonica.
Paul preached Jesus to Jews and their pride caused them not to listen.
5 But the Jews who were not persuaded, becoming envious, took some of the evil men from the marketplace, and gathering a mob, set all the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.
Their pride not only caused them to reject the gospel themselves but to assault those who accepted it.
12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
Self-Justification (Test).
One of the greatest difficulties we face in studying the Bible is that we have already developed a certain lifestyle and way of thinking prior to our study.
God’s word will confront us—our ideas and our way of life.
This challenge creates an internal conflict—God’s will and ours.
In this conflict we are face with either justifying ourselves or admitting we are wrong.
It is indeed unfortunate that many prefer to justify themselves rather than repenting.
30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,
Example the Young rich ruler.
matt 19.16-22
16 Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” 17 So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to Him, “Which ones?” Jesus said, “ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ 19 ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” 20 The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
Paul said this about self-justification.
4 For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord.
Self-justification effectively places the individual in charge of judging himself instead of accepting that the Lord will judge according to His Word.
48 He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.
Self-justification causes us to proclaim our innocence despite the overwhelming preponderance of facts against us.
It creates a false image of right and wrong that is based in personal practice rather than divine direction.
It leads us to reject truth and accept lies.
10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Self-justification puts the sinner in the position of God as the standard, as the judge, and as the redeemer.
Appealing to The Wrong Standard (Test)
In Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness He appealed to the proper standard.
“It is written”
Example of the wrong standard.
Tradition of the elders.
Not washing their hands
3 For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches. 5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?”
Jesus’ reply.
9 He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.
The problem was not in accepting something passed down but that they accepted something that did not come from God.
13 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, 14 to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.
improper standards.
Creeds
What you were taught growing up
Commentaries
Favorite preachers
Things that are irrelevant to proper standards.
What other people have accepted.
What other people have taught.
What other people have practiced.
Closed-Mindedness (Test)
The concept of being “closed-minded” has received great abuse in recent years, mostly because it has been twisted and defined incorrectly.
Rejecting certain ideas does not alone make someone closed-minded.
Rather, being closed-minded refers to someone’s refusal to consider pertinent facts and evidence.
Examples of closed-mindedness
Jesus’ heals a lame man. John 5:1-9
1 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. 3 In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. 4 For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. 5 Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” 7 The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” 9 And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath.
Certain Jews ignored this miracle’s attestation to the truth of Jesus’ words because they had eliminated any possibility of accepting what He had to say.
38 But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. 39 You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. 40 But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.
Despite the Jews claims, they had no real interest in what the Bible said.
45 Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you—Moses, in whom you trust. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. 47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”
They had closed their minds even to the possibility that Jesus could be God in the flesh, causing them to reject Him—not due to the evidence, but because they did not want to know the evidence.
It seems so easy for people today whose beliefs are challenged by the Bible to respond. “That’s just your interpretation!”
They close their mind to the truth simply because they do not want to accept it.
A closed mind shuts out possibilities not already accepted.
Thus, a closed mind limits itself to what evidence it considers helpful and rejects all evidence that might disprove previously held conclusions or require a change.
Wishing Something Were True. (Test)
Many Bible students mistakenly go the scriptures looking for what they want to be true.
Example—Faith only
Romans 5:1 teaches justification by faith but it does not teach justification by faith only.
1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
If we wish something to be true it is possible to read into the text whatever we desire to be true.
Many people find the conclusions of Jesus’ teaching about marriage and divorce painful.
1 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these sayings, that He departed from Galilee and came to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. 2 And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them there. 3 The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?” 4 And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” 7 They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?” 8 He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”
So they adjust what they believe in order to avoid the pain that those conclusions bring.
Jesus would not want me to be unhappy.
Jesus would not want my children to grow up with no father or mother in the home.
When we go to the Bible wanting to believe something is true, we have things in the wrong order.
A Willingness to Impugn God’s Word. (Test)
A willingness to imply that the Bible is inconsistent or wrong rather than admit to being inconsistent or wrong themselves.
Example—The Pharisees were so intent on proving Jesus was wrong that they were willing to assign Jesus’ healing power to Beelzubub.
22 Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw. 23 And all the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the Son of David?” 24 Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”
Example—How many people have quoted Jesus saying, “Judge not that you be not judged” (Matt. 7:1).
Then interpreted that to mean that all judging is wrong.
Jesus said, “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge righteous righteous judgment” (John 7:24).
Therefore, Jesus could not have meant in Matthew 7 that all judging is wrong.
Yet some people would rather act as if Jesus was right in Matthew 7 but wrong in John 7.
This is done in order to justify their own position.
When you have two verses contradicting one another, you can be sure that your interpretation of at least one of them is wrong.
33 For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.
Applying Things to Everyone But Yourself. (Test)
The purpose of sermons and of Bible study is not to see if we can find fault in others but to see how well we can see fault in ourselves and then make the appropriate correction.
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.