Discerning God's Word

Introduction

God desires a relationship with us, so He has communicated His will to us -

Since He is our King, our lives should be about pleasing God and doing His will - ;

Last week we began trying to understand how God communicates with us. He either tells us to do things, shows what we are to do, or He gives us the necessary information and He expects us to see the implications.

Being aware of how God communicates will help us discern what we believe and how we are to live, worship, and work in the Lord’s church.

There are more things we must learn about God’s communication with us if we are going to discern God’s will correctly.

Two Kinds of Communication

As we look at God’s word and try to gain understanding of it, we must discern the kind of communication God offers to us:

General communication

Specific instructions

General communication is applicable to any and all people and is not exclusive to just one way of doing things.

“Go into all the world...” -

Jesus did not limit us to only walking; He spoke in general terms, allowing us to travel by walking, going by boat, train, plane, automobile, etc.

We can spread the gospel now without leaving where we are at — Facetime and Skype, websites, etc.

God told Noah to build an ark -

Noah was given specific instructions on how to build the ark (size), but God did not tell him what tools he could use.

Noah must have had a hammer, scaffolding, a saw, and measuring rod.

General communication and commands must be obeyed, but the means by which they are accomplished are not specifically given. There are liberties that we have to fulfill the commands, e.g., meeting on the Lord’s day (do we meet once or twice; do we meet in the mornings or evenings or in the afternoon)

Specific communication is when there has been something that limits and specifies how we are to do something.

God told Noah to build an ark of “gopher wood” which limited the type of wood Noah was to use -

Paul specified the kind of music we offer in worship to God: singing - ;

Law of Exclusion

Pertaining to the matter of specific communication, when something is specified, by nature, it limits. There is a “law of exclusion” that we must recognize.

This “law of exclusion” is easily seen in legal matters:

Law Dictionary defines this Latin phrase “Inclusio unius est exclusio alterius” as “the inclusion of one is the exclusion of another. The certain designation of one person is an absolute exclusion of all others” (p. 687).

Black’s Law Dictionary defines this Latin phrase “Inclusio unius est exclusio alterius” as “the inclusion of one is the exclusion of another. The certain designation of one person is an absolute exclusion of all others” (p. 687).

A will specifies those who receive an inheritance, not those who are not to receive it.

1.A will specifies those who receive an inheritance, not those who are not to receive it. A deed to property specifies the property owned; it does not list all the property one does not own. A prescription for medicine specifies the medication one may receive, not all the medication you may not receive.

A deed to property specifies the property owned; it does not list all the property one does not own.

A prescription for medicine specifies the medication one may receive, not all the medication you may not receive.

When Moses specified the tribe of Israel that would serve as the priests, he specified the tribe of Judah and eliminated and excluded all other tribes -

Moses did not have to specifically state which tribes were excluded.

By his specificity, the law of exclusion was applied. Judah, and only the tribe of Judah, was permitted to do the work of priest.

When God Is Silent

There are times when studying the Bible that the word of God does not specifically address a question or issue that we might be facing and struggling with.

God’s silence on matters has led people to assume that they can do whatever they might like to do.

So this becomes an issue of when the Bible doesn’t say

“The Bible doesn’t say instrumental music is wrong...”

“The Bible doesn’t say fellowship halls are wrong...”

In matters where God has specified something that He wants to be done, or things that are contrary to His will, then silence is not permission.

God has specified singing; therefore, adding instruments of music to our singing is wrong -

Therefore, we must recognize the question of silence only comes up in matters pertaining to God’s general communication with us.

Silence is silence; it is when God has not spoken in a specific way to address whatever situation we might be dealing with. Silence, in and of itself, does not grant permission. Neither does it restrict.

God did not say anything about Noah using or not using a hammer. Is God’s silence permissive or does it restrict and prohibit?

Silence is silence; it is when God has not spoken in a specific way to address whatever situation we might be dealing with. Silence, in and of itself, does not grant permission. Neither does it restrict.

Silence does NOT prohibit when God has given general authority and NOT specified something He wants to be done.

There may be things that we have that the Bible is silent about but are completely and totally acceptable:

There are occasions when silence

Church buildings — in the New Testament, many churches met in homes; others met in single rooms ("upper room”); these examples do not restrict us to only meeting in homes or meeting on the second story of a building

Baptistery — in the Bible, you only read of people being baptized in outdoor water pools or in natural bodies of water; but the only binding elements of baptism are the water and the amount (it must be enough for an immersion)

Same could be said about song books, trays and cups for the Lord’s Supper, pitch pipes, etc.

But what all of these things do is aid us in our worship; they do not alter nor change the command that God has given.

Buildings help us fulfill the command to assemble together -

Baptisteries help us baptize - ;

Pitch pipes help aid our singing by giving us the key and the note that the song is written in; they do not accompany our singing -

But if God’s silence is used to change or alter what He has told us, then we are abusing God’s word and acting without authority:

Fellowship halls — “fellowship” is joint participation and partnership; the work of the church is spiritual in nature, not social and recreational

Instrumental accompaniment — this changes the nature of what God has told us to do

Next week we will consider more about the issue of God’s silence and the “law of expediency” — helping us discern the use of liberties, aids, and/or inventions — and what helps or what alters God’s words.

Conclusion

God’s word has been clearly written down so that we may come to understand what is written therein.

God has specified many of the things that He wants us to do and we must recognize His authority since He is our king -

Our God reigns as King and He is our Master. We must recognize His authority and His will for us — individually and as the church.