(044) The Bible III: Correctly Handled
The Bible: Correctly Handled
September 7, 2008
Prep:
· Last week’s sermon, Proverbs sermon, John 14
· How to Read the Bible, PDL: 185-192
· Leftovers: Driscoll on Revelation vs. speculation
· Jewelry: 1 Timothy 2:8, 1 Peter 3:3
Intro
Continuing our series on the Bible:
1. Of Canon & Copies: Does our modern Bible have the right books and the original words?
2. Can We Trust the Bible? Why should believe that the Bible is God’s revelation?
3. Rightly Handled: The goal of this sermon is to inspire and equip you to effectively study God’s Word.
The goal of this series is twofold:
1. Demonstrate the trustworthiness of the Bible as God’s revelation, both to strength our faith in it and equip us to defend it.
2. Train us to “correctly handle the word of truth.”
Q & A: Text questions to 360-421-5530.Answered at end of sermon.
Prayer
I love law!
The longest chapter of the Bible is Ps 119, an acrostic, and a long song. To what? The Law.
Reading it, I wondered how anyone could be that in love with a bunch of statutes about mildew removal and dietary laws.
That’s not the big deal – the big deal is that God has spoken and has told us what he is like and what he wants. In both the Bible and Jewish literature there is an emphasis upon the fact that God has only spoken to his people.
· The rest of the earth is left trying to figure him out.
If you want to know God and please him, the Bible is a really good thing. If you want to pretend he doesn’t exist or live like you want to, it is not so good.
Psalm 119:97-104 m Mem
97 Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.
98 Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me.
99 I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes.
100 I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts.
101 I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word.
102 I have not departed from your laws, for you yourself have taught me.
103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104 I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path.
If you believe that the Bible is God’s words, it’s still one thing to know you should study the Bible and another to want to.
As a kid, I knew that I should take a shower every day, but I did not want to. I knew that I should brush my teeth every day but I did not want to.
The Bible is far more than rules and laws, it is God’s revelation of himself, showing us what he is like and showing us how we were made to function.
But it is not enough to know that you should study the Bible. Ultimately, until we want to, our success rate will be sketchy.
· We have to desperately want to be healthy and whole and seek God’s wisdom for your everyday problems.
· We have to be so in love with Jesus we want to know him more.
That doesn’t mean we will always be eager, but it means that we go from an external motivation to an internal one.
It is like exercise. I have known for some time that I should exercise, but that did little to motivate me. The biggest motivation I have is having kids.
Q How do we cultivate an internal desire to study the Bible?
No one answer: It takes awareness of need, and a greater desire to know God. A sermon can’t drum up these up, rather they are cultivated through prayer and the work of the Holy Spirit.
Ä The two purposes of the sermon are to inspire and equip you to study, but I can’t really inspire you (I am not that good), but I hope to inspire you to pray the Spirit inspire you.
Does the Bible support slavery?
Q Why do we need to learn to study the Bible? Can’t anyone just pick it up and read it?
Q Think about this: Does the Bible support slavery?
During the Civil War, many in the South used the Bible to justify slavery, people who just picked the Bible up and read it. The Bible has been used to justify:
· Domestic violence.
· The Crusades.
· Saying Jesus isn’t God.
It takes more than reading; we have to read the Bible carefully, seeking to understand what God is intending to convey to us.
2 Timothy 2:15 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
How many will be ashamed? I know that Charles Russell will.
Q When I stand before God, you and I will be accountable for what was in this book – What will we say?
Ä So I hope to teach you some basic tools for “correctly handling” the Bible, no matter what your background is.
· We don’t all have to know Greek and Hebrew, but we are accountable to whatever our ability is.
This is a crash course that would normally be an entire semester at college, so I have boiled it down to down to five big ideas:
· These notes will be online soon.
1. Read consistently, contextually, carefully, in community and read for change
1. Read consistently
Everything I have to say will be useless if you don’t actually read the thing. A Bible on the shelf is worthless.
· Create a do-able plan to study the Bible on a regular basis
It is vital to have a practical plan to read the Bible on a regular basis. For the majority of us, the “when I get to it” plan ensures that it won’t happen.
Q When is a time in your day or week that you can read?
· There is a particular place in the house that you can put the Bible to ensure that it gets read.
There are also many reading plans that you can find: Logos, and daily Proverbs. Not only will this keep you consistent, but it will assure that you don’t skip around all over the place.
The only “offensive” weapon in our spiritual armor (Eph. 6:10-20) is “the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.” In other words, the Spirit works through the Bible.
Q Will the Holy Spirit only find John 3:16?
2. Read contextually
The Bible is not 31,103 verses printed individually on decorated cards dropped from the sky in a pretty box. It is the record of God’s interaction with man.
· It is a library of 66 books written over 1,500 years by over 40 authors, from various areas.
I am apprehensive about any “verse of the day” because it tends to rip the verse from its context and can totally bend its meaning. Try doing that with any other book.
“Never read a Bible verse”:
a. Know the purpose and context of the entire book: Why was it written? What is the basic point of the book? How does the purpose influence the meaning of verse?
· A good study Bible is a vital tool.
b. Read full paragraphs.
Ä Not only is it vitally to know the context of the entire passage and book, it is also crucial to know the historical and cultural context.
Know the background: The better you understand the historical and cultural background of the passage, the better you can understand the passage. The customs of the day are frequently the key to a passage.
E.G.: Abraham’s covenant/smoking fire pot
· The majority of my education simply serves to bring me to the level of a 13 year old in Jesus day. Again, use a study Bible.
Ä In addition to the passage’s context and the historical context, it is also important to know literary context.
Understand the genre: This is a very brief, see “How to Read the Bible for All Its worth.”
1) Law (Exodus–Deuteronomy): God’s instruction to the Israelites for external holiness that needs to be understood in the light of Jesus’ sacrificial death.
2) Historical Books (Genesis–Esther; Acts): Stories of Israel and the early church that teach us about both ourselves (both through good and bad examples) and God.
3) Wisdom Books (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes): Practical advice. Not to be mistaken for specific promises.
4) Poetry (Psalms, Songs of Solomon, Lamentations): Israel’s response to God in song that teaches us how to worship.
5) Prophets (Isaiah–Malachi): God’s warnings of the consequences of disobedience that help us pursue righteousness.
6) Gospels (Matthew-John): The account of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.
7) Epistles (Romans-Jude): Letter to encourage and train the Church.
8) Apocalyptic (Daniel, Revelation): Encouragement to trust and serve God in the midst of trials.
3. Read carefully
Don’t read what you think it says, or what you have been taught what it says – carefully read what it says (exegesis vs. eisegesis).
Q Did Jesus sweat blood?
· The majority of my time since college has involved reading Scripture exegetically.
Careful reading asks two questions:
What did it mean to “them”? This is the goal of interpretation is the plain meaning to intended audience.
What does it then mean to us? This is the goal of hermeneutics. The word “then” is very important. “The Scripture can never mean something it never meant.”
E.G.: Not wearing jewelry.
Q How is this done?
Active reading: Careful reading, looking for main point, key ideas, watching connecting words (For, Therefore, So).
· Write in your Bible! Make observations and ask questions.
Find a couple of good translations: If you are tied to one translation, you are tied to one interpretation.
4. Read in community:
What else does the Bible say about this topic? Especially by same author.
What have others said about this passage? Do your own work first, but then read and or listen other trusted sources.
Discuss it with other believers.
5. Read for change:
None of this matters if you don’t change. I would rather a KJV-only, eisegetical, granny who is loving a neighbor as herself than a evangelical Greek scholar who is an arrogant jerk.
Pray for understanding (of the passage) and empowerment (to change) from the Holy Spirit.
What have you learned about God, others, and yourself?
Mediate on what you have learned.
How should this change you? If you don’t live it, you haven’t learned it.
· Discuss this in community – accountability.
Answer questions now
closing/Application:
I will be a successful pastor if my church is reading their Bibles consistently, contextually, carefully, in community, and being changed.