Basic Bible Interpretation Methods

Sovereign Grace Family Church

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May 6, 2021

00:00: Alright, now for those of you who are new and I don't know if we've got any brand new guys, but my name's Keith, I'm the pastor of Sovereign Grace, and I don't normally carry a sword everywhere I go, but I brought a sword today.
00:12: And it actually wasn't because of this, I'm actually taking it to get it sharpened, but I thought it would make a good object lesson for today.
00:22: It's going to go along with what we're talking about.
00:24: Because today we're going to be talking about interpreting the Bible.
00:29: The methods and proper methods for interpretation.
00:33: Because, as you know, we do our 12-week theology study, but I've been doing an interim study of basics of the Bible, Bible basics.
00:43: You know, we did how many books are in the Bible, who wrote them, and then we did basics on Jesus in the Old Testament, that's what we did last week.
00:52: And we did the covenants, the biblical covenants.
00:57: Well, today we're going to do interpretation.
00:59: This will be our last interim lesson before we go back to the 12 weeks of systematic theology.
01:07: Man, I hate erasing this.
01:11: It's alright? That was yesterday's.
01:12: That was yesterday's, okay, alright.
01:16: So I'm going to need it.
01:21: But the reason why I decided to bring my sword in, like I said, I didn't bring it for you guys, I brought it because I'm taking it to get it sharpened.
01:27: But the reason why I thought about bringing it in is because it makes a good illustration.
01:44: It makes an illustration.
01:46: The illustration is this.
01:48: I bought this when I was 14 years old.
01:52: I probably own this thing longer than anything else in my life.
01:57: You know, maybe a few comic books.
01:58: I'm a comic book collector, so I might have a few comic books that I've had longer.
02:02: But I've had this thing for, well, I'm 41.
02:06: So 41 minus 14 is? Is it 22? 27.
02:13: 27 years I've had this thing.
02:17: And I bought it because I started karate when I was 14 years old.
02:21: I've done karate that long too.
02:24: But I bought this thing because I thought it was cool.
02:28: And I thought when you did karate, you're supposed to learn how to use a sword, right? Because that's what I saw in all the movies.
02:33: So I bought this thing thinking this would let me be a ninja.
02:37: You know, like the guys, American Ninja, Bloodsport, all those movies, you know.
02:43: Jean-Claude Van Segal and all those guys.
02:49: But I never learned how to use it.
02:51: Ever.
02:54: I bought it.
02:55: It was fancy looking and it's nice and long and sharp.
02:59: And it's still pretty sharp even though it needs to be re-sharpened.
03:02: But I never, ever learned how to use it.
03:05: So, for the most part, it has sat in my closet for 27 years.
03:12: And it has had very little value other than just to show people when they come over, hey, I have a sword, you know.
03:19: It's so dumb, right? No, a friend of mine is starting a little sharpening business he wants to do.
03:28: So I'm letting him sharpen it, or asking him to sharpen it as well.
03:34: Well, I'm going to let my buddy do it because I already told him I would.
03:37: But that's the only reason.
03:40: Like I said, I'm not using it for anything.
03:43: But here's my point, and hopefully the illustration will drive deep.
03:48: There's a lot of people who, the same way I have this sword, I bought it, but I never learned how to use it.
03:54: There's a lot of people who do the same thing with the Bible.
03:59: The book of Ephesians talks about the armor of God.
04:04: You guys remember the armor of God? The breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation, the belt of truth, the shoes of peace.
04:11: And what's the sword? The Word of God.
04:16: But there are a lot of Christians, a lot of people who say that they are followers of Christ, who do not know how to wield the sword of God's Word.
04:26: They don't know how to read it, they don't know how to interpret it, and they end up being dangerous because they don't know how.
04:35: It is more dangerous to improperly handle the Word of God than it is to improperly handle that sword.
04:46: Turn to 2 Timothy 2, and go to verse 15.
05:09: Now you probably know this verse, but in case you don't, this is one maybe underline or write in your notes, put in there.
05:20: 2 Timothy 2, verse 15.
05:23: Now the ESV begins with the phrase, do your best.
05:28: But the King James says, study.
05:34: It says, study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman who needs not be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth.
05:51: The ESV says, rightly handling the Word of truth.
05:55: So right there we have an imperative.
05:58: An imperative is a form of language which means a command.
06:02: We have a command from the Apostle Paul to Timothy, who is a pastor, an elder in the church at Ephesus, and he says to him, do your best, or study, to show yourself approved unto God, a workman who needs not be ashamed, rightly handling the Word of truth.
06:22: So what's our responsibility? Our responsibility is to learn how to handle this Word right.
06:29: Our responsibility is to learn how to wield the sword of God correctly.
06:35: And so today we are going to be looking at a topic.
06:40: The topic is typically referred to as hermeneutics.
06:49: Now what does hermeneutics mean? You may know.
06:53: What's that? Mastery of? No, not mastery of, but...
07:03: Hermeneutics is the principles of interpretation.
07:06: The principles of interpretation.
07:09: One might say it's the science of interpretation.
07:15: Interpretation is both a science and an art.
07:18: Something can be both.
07:20: There's a science, meaning there are rules that you have to follow.
07:23: That's what science is.
07:24: There are certain standards and rules.
07:26: And there's an art to interpretation.
07:28: That means that you have to learn how to do it.
07:32: It's not just something that you follow the rules to do, but you grow and learn in gaining how to do that.
07:39: Ultimately, hermeneutics is your interpretive method.
07:45: The method of interpretation.
07:58: Just like we talk about the scientific method.
08:01: Well, hermeneutics is the scientific method of interpreting the Bible.
08:06: It actually has an interesting history where the word hermeneutics comes from.
08:11: It actually comes from the old Greek pantheon of gods.
08:17: Now, of course, we don't believe in the pantheon of gods, but a lot of our language comes from that.
08:23: Like, for instance, the days of the week.
08:25: We talked about that, right? Saturday is Saturn.
08:30: It references the god Saturn.
08:33: So hermeneutics actually references the god Hermes.
08:39: Hermes was the messenger of the gods, according to ancient mythology.
08:47: So it was the job of Hermes to take the message from the gods to the people.
08:53: So hermeneutics is the science or the study of taking God's message and making it understandable.
09:02: Recognizing the truth of God's word.
09:04: Understanding the truth.
09:07: Does that make sense? Okay.
09:08: Okay.
09:09: All right.
09:09: So hermeneutics is the method of interpretation, and that's where it comes from.
09:15: And here's something else to consider, just a distinction.
09:20: There's also something called exegesis.
09:26: Now, you have probably heard that term here many times.
09:30: But just in case you haven't, what does it mean? Well, the word exegesis does use the prefix x, which means out of, right? And what it means is it means to draw out the meaning.
09:48: So if I'm reading a text of Scripture, I want to draw out the meaning of the text.
09:55: The opposite of this would be eisegesis, and the prefix eis means into.
10:08: So that would mean that I read into the text something that is not there.
10:15: So this would be wrong, and this would be right.
10:21: We do not want to engage in eisegesis.
10:24: We do not want to engage in reading into the text something that is not there, but rather we want to draw out of the text what is there.
10:34: And let me tell you how easy it is to eisegete a text.
10:39: I want to have everybody turn in your Bible to Matthew 18.
11:03: And go to verse 20.
11:04: Just verse 20.
11:05: Don't read anything else.
11:07: It's important because I'm teaching a principle.
11:11: Matthew 18, verse 20, what does it say? For where two or three are gathered in My name, there am I among them.
11:23: Now, how is that often used? That's right, and that's true.
11:34: But what's the argument usually made from that text? It's about going to church.
11:40: But what was you going to say? Yeah, like I've heard people say, church is anywhere there's two or three people.
11:48: Right? Where two or three are gathered.
11:50: That's when we're having church, right? And they use this verse to make that argument.
11:54: All you need is a church is two or three people and then you got a church, right? My house is a church.
11:59: Well, I got five kids.
12:01: Well, I got a big church.
12:03: I got more than two or three people, right? And people use this verse to argue for that interpretation.
12:13: Well, might I tell you today that is not what that verse is about at all.
12:17: In fact, it's not anywhere close to the meaning of that text.
12:21: Now, is it true that when two or three Christians are gathered, Christ is with them? Yes.
12:27: But is it also true that when you're by yourself, Christ is with you? Yes.
12:32: So what's the point of the two or three? See, the point is we're trying to make this say something it don't say.
12:39: And I'm sorry about my voice.
12:41: Somehow my voice is starting to go.
12:42: I hope I still got it Sunday.
12:43: I got to preach.
12:45: So I promise I don't think I'm sick.
12:48: I think I feel pretty good.
12:51: But now what we're going to do is we're going to practice.
12:53: Before I even give you the methods, I'm going to show you what it looks like and then we're going to go back and break down how we do it.
12:59: The first thing we do to understand verse 20 is we read what's around it.
13:06: That's called contextualizing the text or reading within context.
13:10: So if we look at verse 20, for where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am among them.
13:16: I mean, boy, we could just stop right there and we could say we're going to have church because there's more than two or three here today.
13:21: Woo! Jesus.
13:22: You know, raise your hands.
13:23: But that's not what it's about.
13:25: In fact, I want to prove that's not what it's about by going up to verse 15.
13:29: Because if you begin at verse 15, it says this, If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.
13:39: If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.
13:41: That's verse 15.
13:42: So what's the context? Context is somebody has sinned against you.
13:46: Right? Right away, that's the context that begins this whole section.
13:51: If somebody has sinned against you, and what are you supposed to do if somebody sins against you? Go to him privately.
13:59: Right? Why do you go to him privately? Because it's between you and him.
14:05: That's right.
14:06: You go to him privately because it's not everybody's business.
14:10: You go to him privately.
14:11: And if he repents, then it's over.
14:15: You shake his hand, you hug his neck, you kiss his cheek, or whatever you do, and you move on down the road.
14:21: Right? You brothers again, because he sinned against you, he interrupted the relationship, you go to him, you tell him he sinned, he asked your forgiveness, you forgive him, and now it's over.
14:32: Right? That's verse 15.
14:34: So that's the context.
14:35: The context is someone sinned.
14:37: Now verse 16.
14:38: But if he does not listen, because not everybody's going to automatically repent and hug your neck and kiss your cheek, if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you.
14:48: Oh, wait a minute.
14:49: What does that say? It talks about one or two others.
14:54: So right there it's beginning to talk about the drawing together of a group.
14:58: But what's the group's purpose? It goes on to say, it says you take one or two others along with you that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.
15:08: Now we start to get a picture of where the two or three come into play.
15:14: The two or three are not about gathering together and being a church.
15:18: The two or three are about gathering together to bear witness against someone who has sinned against you.
15:24: Because guess what? Let's say I go to you, brother, and I say, remind me of your name? Freddy.
15:28: If I say, Freddy, you sinned against me.
15:31: And Freddy says, I didn't sin against you, man.
15:33: I didn't do nothing.
15:34: And I say, no, Freddy, you're wrong.
15:36: And I go over here to my brother here, and I say, hey, Freddy sinned against me.
15:40: Come and be my witness.
15:41: And you say, Freddy didn't sin against you.
15:42: I say, no, yeah, he did.
15:43: And I go to you, and you say, no, he didn't.
15:45: And now, I ain't got no witnesses.
15:47: Because Freddy's in the right, and I'm in the wrong.
15:49: The purpose of going and drawing together the witnesses is to assure that I am actually right.
15:56: Because I could be in the wrong, and I could be sinning against Freddy by assuming he sinned against me.
16:02: Right? So I get two or three witnesses because the Bible says every charge must be attested by two or three witnesses.
16:09: In fact, I got out of jury duty for that.
16:12: I had to go to jury duty downtown.
16:15: And they called me into the little box.
16:17: And they said, could you convict somebody based on the evidence of one witness? I said, no, I can't.
16:28: And they said, really? I said, no, the Bible doesn't allow for that.
16:32: Well, then you can't serve on this jury.
16:35: I didn't want to serve anyway.
16:37: I mean, I didn't want to be on a jury.
16:41: Fine.
16:42: That's how you beat jury duty.
16:44: Tell them you will not take the testimony of one witness.
16:51: Because the Bible doesn't allow that.
16:56: Now, there could be other witnesses, evidences such as DNA and things like that.
17:00: And I pointed that out.
17:01: I said, if one witness is corroborated by evidence, video, DNA, things like that, there can be other ways of witnessing today that maybe weren't available to our ancestors.
17:13: I said, but at the same time, if you tell me He hurt you, and you're the only one that knows, and nobody else corroborates your story, I'm sorry, I can't condemn Him to prison because of your testimony.
17:25: It's not enough.
17:27: I need at least two, and three would even be better.
17:30: I'm not saying you're a liar.
17:32: It's just the burden is on you to prove.
17:36: What do we say? Innocent until proven guilty.
17:41: That's what we used to have in our court system.
17:43: Now we don't anymore.
17:44: Now it's guilty until proven innocent.
17:47: Our whole system has turned on its head because we have condemned people in the court of public opinion.
17:52: We condemn people in the news before anybody's ever taken to court.
17:58: That's a whole other conversation.
17:59: I'm getting off.
18:01: Brother, you had your hand up.
18:02: I'm sorry.
18:03: No, I was just saying...
18:07: Well, again, it used to be.
18:11: And still today, the better...
18:16: They do seek out more than one witness.
18:18: But they have convicted people on the testimony of only one witness.
18:22: And that's sad.
18:24: Because again, it's dangerous.
18:27: What if somebody accused me of something I didn't do? And it's my word against theirs.
18:32: That's the scary part, right? Well, this says, no, you can't do that.
18:35: You've got to have two or three witnesses.
18:36: So go back to the text.
18:38: He says, if he doesn't listen to you, take two others along with you that every charge may be established on the evidence of two or three witnesses.
18:44: If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church.
18:50: And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
18:55: Now, Gentiles and tax collectors were not allowed in the assembly.
19:00: Remember, Jesus is a Jew talking to Jews.
19:03: One of the rules was Gentiles can't come in as tax collectors because tax collectors had turned against the people and were supporting Rome who was the oppressive government.
19:12: They had been excommunicated.
19:14: So what Jesus is saying here is He's saying if a person continues to sin and won't repent, he must be excommunicated.
19:20: And that is something that is hard to do but should be practiced.
19:24: But again, that's not the point.
19:25: The point is this.
19:26: He goes on to say, truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.
19:29: Whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
19:32: What's referring to there? It's referring to admission into the assembly.
19:37: The assembly gets to determine if somebody can come in or not.
19:41: They have the keys, as it were, and He says that here.
19:44: Again, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it shall be done by My Father in heaven.
19:48: The two there is referring to the people who have come together to bear witness about this situation.
19:54: Now we get to verse 20 For where two or three are gathered in My name, there am I among them.
20:01: Who's the two or three? It's the witnesses to the sin.
20:05: This whole section is about understanding the concept of discipline within the body of Christ.
20:12: If sin happens and the person refuses to repent, you need witnesses.
20:17: How many witnesses? At least two or three.
20:19: And that's where the two or three are gathered in My name.
20:22: So does that help you understand it better? And does that help you understand it differently? But rightly? Yes.
20:31: So you're saying...
20:40: No, no, no.
20:41: What it's saying...
20:42: Are you talking about verse 19? Or verse 18? Well, you had just mentioned that the cloud of witnesses, the witnesses that are above us, something about how...
20:55: I didn't say anything about a cloud of witnesses.
20:57: If I did, I didn't mean to.
20:59: I don't want to be confusing.
21:00: No, I know.
21:00: I may be confusing.
21:02: Because you said they were the keys.
21:05: Oh, the keys.
21:05: What it's talking about is...
21:09: In chapter 16 of Matthew...
21:11: I did mention keys, and maybe I shouldn't have because it's not this verse.
21:14: But earlier in chapter 16 of Matthew, Jesus is talking to the disciples and He says, you have the keys of the kingdom.
21:22: And the keys of the kingdom in that sense are referring to the ability to administer discipline within the body.
21:28: The ability to bring people in and put people out.
21:33: They have the ability to do that because of their responsibility as leaders in the church.
21:37: So that's what I was referring to.
21:38: And I'm sorry I said it.
21:40: I was thinking this verse, but that's actually from chapter 16.
21:43: Sometimes I'm drawing things in without thinking.
21:46: So, if they excommunicated you on Matthew 16, 19, does that mean on earth and in heaven as well? I think what that is saying is that what we do here on earth is affirmed by God.
22:03: When the church comes together and acts, and acts together corporately as a body, that God is affirming their action.
22:11: So, can the church be wrong? Yes.
22:15: And that's why the church has to be very careful not to do this incorrectly.
22:19: That's why there's got to be witnesses.
22:21: That's why the church has got to be involved.
22:22: What better way for Satan to use reading verses out of context? You could read your Bible all your life like I have and be invaluable in it because you're using it out of context.
22:33: That's kind of wild.
22:35: Well, it can be dangerous.
22:36: Yeah, I was completely on both of those.
22:40: The bounding, I've been confused on a lot of things which you know that already, but that's kind of wild.
22:46: Well, I'm glad it's helpful then.
22:48: Yeah, that's what we're wanting to do.
22:49: And you know what? Here's the thing, brother.
22:51: I got saved when I was 19 years old.
22:54: I've been a Christian for 22 years and I learn every day stuff.
23:01: And there are some times where I have to stand up in the pulpit and say, you know what? I was wrong.
23:05: I have actually said things in the pulpit that was wrong.
23:07: I come back later and I say, you know what? I've learned better and I was wrong.
23:11: So don't for a minute think anybody has arrived.
23:14: No, no, no.
23:18: Everything I was taught and grew up on was a lie.
23:22: Well, maybe not everything, but a lot of it.
23:24: I know what you mean.
23:25: Yeah, I grew up, but you know, a lot of stuff I was told wasn't right either.
23:28: And that's why we study.
23:30: Study to show ourselves approved, right? We can't rely on somebody else.
23:33: You were saying, brother.
23:34: I'm sorry.
23:40: Yes, sir.
24:04: Yeah, absolutely.
24:06: It's funny.
24:07: God's ways work.
24:08: Amen.
24:26: Well, praise God.
24:28: Praise God.
24:28: And I appreciate the encouragement, brother.
24:31: Anything I'm able to do is God's grace.
24:35: But I always appreciate when you give me a word of encouragement.
24:39: Thank you.
24:40: Thank you.
24:41: Alright, so what I'm going to do now, so now that we've seen it in action, as you have seen it in practice, I want to give you six principles of interpretation that you can write down and apply starting today when you're interpreting the Bible.
24:54: Here are six principles that you can use to help you be a better Bible interpreter.
25:00: Now some of these are a little easier than others because some of these require a little more work than others, but at least you'll know what they are and we just go through one at a time.
25:11: The first is the principle of context and that's what we just talked about.
25:16: So we'll just write context.
25:19: See, I messed up there.
25:22: Okay, so context.
25:26: When we talk about context, there's three parts to that.
25:29: There's three parts, so even though there's six of these, each of these are going to have a little section on themselves.
25:34: So under context, you want to go to background, immediate setting, and then the broad setting.
26:01: Okay, so let's take another passage.
26:08: What's another passage I want to look at? Philippians 4.13.
26:11: Okay, Philippians 4.13.
26:12: Everybody turn there.
26:15: Alright, we'll go one at a time.
26:18: We're going to go Philippians 4.13 first.
26:22: Now again, I haven't planned to do this because I'm letting you guys pick, so what I'm going to do is fairly surface level, but I should be able to walk through the method.
26:34: That's what we're looking at.
26:42: Philippians 4.13.
26:49: That's a real good one.
26:53: Alright, I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
26:59: Now, I've seen jerseys with that printed on it.
27:02: I've seen sports stars with it tattooed on it.
27:05: I've seen old Tim Tebow with it under his eyes.
27:08: And I like Tim Tebow.
27:09: I'm not giving him any hard time.
27:10: I'm just saying that verse becomes the verse of I can do everything.
27:16: Right? I can do it all.
27:18: And it's all about everything.
27:20: Alright, first of all, what is the background of Philippians? Anybody know? Okay, he is in prison.
27:28: What was you going to say? That is the theme, and you're right, but the theme is set in the background of him being in jail.
27:37: So the background is Paul is in jail.
27:41: And I've got to tell you something.
27:42: Some of you guys may have been in jail before, and jail ain't no picnic.
27:48: But imagine 2,000 years ago jail.
27:51: They didn't have toilets.
27:53: They had a corner.
27:54: You picked a corner.
27:55: There were dungeons.
27:56: That's right.
27:57: You picked a corner, and that's where you went to the bathroom.
28:00: And that was in there with you.
28:01: You might could dig a hole and try to cover it up, but that was it.
28:05: You didn't have no air conditioning.
28:06: You didn't have no food that was good and tasty and prepared for you.
28:11: You didn't even have bologna sandwiches.
28:13: You had whatever gruel they could produce and provide.
28:16: And a lot of it, if you read through the Apostle Paul's writings, a lot of it was stuff that other people from the outside would bring to him.
28:23: Remember he wrote to Timothy, and he said, bring me the parchments, which was paper, and bring me writing utensils.
28:28: Bring me a jacket because it gets cold, right? So these things were not provided.
28:34: He was in misery.
28:35: And yet, as Brother pointed out, the whole book's about joy and contentment.
28:41: The great juxtaposition of Philippians is you've got a guy who has learned to be satisfied in Christ.
28:49: He has learned to be satisfied in his Savior.
28:52: So that's the background of Philippians.
28:54: So now we have the immediate, what we say, setting.
28:57: If it was a narrative, we'd say setting.
28:59: If it's not a narrative, we'd just say immediate context.
29:01: And perhaps I got these backwards because it probably should be broad context and immediate.
29:09: So the broader context is part of the background.
29:12: With the background, he's in jail.
29:13: The broader context is he is exhorting the people to pray.
29:18: He is exhorting the people to be encouraged.
29:23: And to rejoice.
29:24: That's right.
29:25: Verse 10, I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me.
29:31: You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity.
29:36: Now that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.
29:44: That's the broad.
29:46: I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.
29:50: I know how to be brought low and I know how to abound.
29:53: In any and every circumstance, I've learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.
30:01: I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.
30:08: Yeah, that's what's drawing in the context both from the broad and then to the immediate.
30:14: And it's pulling you down.
30:15: So now when you get to that statement, it has a little bit more force, right? It's not about being able to throw a football or eat the world's biggest hot dog or whatever.
30:24: I can do all things through Christ.
30:26: No, it's about enduring suffering.
30:31: Now, that's right.
30:33: Being content.
30:34: I can endure all things through Christ who strengthens me.
30:41: Yeah, the immediate would be the endurance and knowing, like he said, in every circumstance.
30:47: And again, how do you get here? You just start at the big and work your way in.
30:51: Draw in to the closer...
30:57: Let me say this about that.
30:59: That's a good question, young man.
31:01: Are our lives supposed to suck forever? If you trust the Lord Jesus Christ, your life may suck forever until you die.
31:08: But in glory, you will be with Him and that will make it worth it all.
31:13: The Bible says our present sufferings are not to be compared with the glory that will be revealed to us.
31:20: I ask you this.
31:21: Would you rather spend 50 years in joy and 10,000 years in misery? Or would you rather spend 50 years in misery and 10,000 years in joy? If serving Christ brings misery, so be it.
31:35: Because it's worth eternity.
31:41: Alright.
31:43: So context is first.
31:44: Oh, you wanted to look at Luke? Well, I was going to do the other five, but what was the passage you wanted to look at? And he said to them...
32:08: Yeah.
32:11: So what's the question? Is it the question about the devil falling? Oh, okay.
32:18: Yeah.
32:22: Well...
32:25: Yeah, it's verse 18.
32:27: He says, And he said to them, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
32:31: Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions over the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.
32:36: Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.
32:42: Love that last verse.
32:43: Because he says, just like what I just said, the most important thing is not what you can do here, but what the Lord has prepared for you there.
32:49: That your name is written in heaven.
32:50: But he goes on.
32:52: He's talking about the power of the Gospel.
32:55: The 72 have been sent out for the purpose of preaching the Gospel.
32:59: And what is the statement? He says, When you were preaching the Gospel, I saw, as it were, Satan falling from heaven like lightning.
33:06: The idea is what is it that attacks the power of the enemy? It is the proclamation of God's Word.
33:15: That is the power that we have.
33:18: It's the only thing that we have.
33:19: It's the only sword that we've got.
33:22: You cannot overcome the enemy with man's wisdom, and you certainly cannot overcome the enemy with man's strength, but you can with God's Word.
33:32: And that's the point.
33:33: When Satan is faced with the preaching of God's Word, he cannot stand.
33:37: And so Jesus says, I saw Satan, as it were, fall like lightning from heaven.
33:42: And I actually connect this verse in a broader context to Revelation 20.
33:49: Because Revelation 20 talks about Satan being bound for a thousand years.
33:54: And I think that the binding that that's referring to is the preaching of God's Word.
33:59: Right? Because Satan, at the proclamation of God's Word, the Holy Spirit goes and frees men from the bondage of the devil.
34:11: Takes away his power by the power of the Spirit.
34:14: So I would see that connected there.
34:17: Yes, sir.
34:18: Alright, so, number one is the principle of context.
34:21: Number two is the principle of clarity.
34:25: Clarity.
34:28: In the old Puritan language, they would call it the perspiscuity.
34:33: I'm not sure we want to try to write that down.
34:37: The perspiscuity.
34:39: And that basically means that it is clear.
34:44: And here's the thing.
34:46: I'm going to ask this question and if you just answer it in your mind, you don't have to answer it out loud.
34:51: Do you think the Bible is clear or not? Absolutely.
34:55: Some of you are doing this.
34:56: Some of you are doing this.
34:57: Some are saying absolutely.
34:58: Some are saying absolutely not.
34:59: Here's what the Reformers meant by perspiscuity.
35:03: What they said is the overall message of the Bible is very clear.
35:08: But that doesn't mean every single verse or even every single chapter is very clear.
35:13: But the overall message is clear.
35:14: Remember I said in the first week we did this, I said there are four overarching points.
35:21: Creation, fall, redemption, restoration.
35:23: That's the whole Bible in four words.
35:25: Creation, fall, redemption, restoration.
35:27: That's everything.
35:28: And that's the simple, clear message.
35:33: But you might come to verses...
35:35: Man, there's verses I'm really still at a loss.
35:39: And I've been studying for a long time and I come to verses and I'm like, it could mean this, it could mean this.
35:43: It's really hard.
35:44: Right? Well, there's some passages in Malachi.
35:48: There's some things Jesus said.
35:51: You know, things that Jesus said that I go, wow, that's hard.
35:54: Hard to understand.
35:56: Alright, so with that being said, the principle of clarity says this.
36:01: If I have something difficult and then I have something clear, the clear should always interpret the difficult and not the other way around.
36:10: If I have something clear, the Apostle Paul, for by grace are you saved through faith and that is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
36:24: That's clear.
36:25: I could break it down for you, but it's really clear.
36:28: You're saved by grace.
36:29: You're saved through faith.
36:30: You're not saved by works.
36:32: Right? And you can't brag, right? Lest anyone should boast.
36:37: So now you see that and you might go to another passage that seems to indicate that you are saved by works.
36:42: And you say, wait a minute, that's a contradiction.
36:44: They can't both be correct.
36:45: But which one is clear? Paul's words are so clear that they have to become the interpretive grid to interpret the other part that's not as clear.
36:53: You interpret the difficult with the easy.
36:56: You interpret the unclear with the clear.
36:58: And the principle of clarity is not just that the whole Bible is clear, but that the clear passages help us interpret the unclear passages.
37:07: So if you ask me, well, how do you know you're saved by grace through faith? Because Paul said that.
37:12: It's so clear.
37:13: I don't have to interpret that.
37:15: It's just what it says.
37:16: Yes, sir, brother.
37:17: I've got a verse for you.
37:19: Oh, boy.
37:20: No, no.
37:23: They're coming at me hard.
37:30: What's the verse? John 1.18.
37:35: Oh, okay.
37:35: No one has ever seen God the one and only Son who is himself God and is at the Father's side.
37:44: Yes.
37:45: One of my favorite verses.
37:47: What is it that you're asking? Didn't Moses see the back of God? Yes.
37:52: Okay.
37:54: So then is that contradict? No.
37:58: Because let's look at it from multiple perspectives.
38:02: Number one, it says no one has ever seen God the only God.
38:06: Yours says the only Son.
38:08: Right? Mine says Spurgeon and it just says no one has ever seen God.
38:12: Verse 18 says no one has ever seen God.
38:15: Period.
38:16: It doesn't say anything else? No.
38:20: No one has ever seen God.
38:22: Period.
38:23: Finish the verse though.
38:25: It's an exclamation.
38:26: The one and only Son who is himself God and is at the Father's side.
38:31: He has revealed Him.
38:32: That's right.
38:33: You know what's interesting about that word He has revealed Him? It's the word exegesis in Greek.
38:38: Jesus is the one who reveals the Father.
38:42: Right? So I talked about this last week.
38:44: I don't think you were here.
38:45: I said anytime we see in the Old Testament I talk about Jesus in the Old Testament.
38:49: Anytime we see the Bible referring to a picture of God people can see such as Abram ate with God under the oaks of Mamre the Bible says.
39:01: Jacob wrestled with God.
39:03: The Bible says that Isaiah saw the Lord sitting in his throne high and lifted up.
39:07: Isaiah chapter 6.
39:09: But John tells us it was Jesus.
39:13: The Son has revealed Him.
39:18: Does that make sense? So when we see an appearance of God in the Old Testament that is what we call it.
39:26: But I mentioned this last week too.
39:28: The Moses portion is a little different.
39:31: Because what does God say to Moses? He says no one can look upon my face.
39:36: And I think that fits here.
39:38: He says no one has seen God.
39:39: And I think the proper interpretation is no one has seen God the Father face to face.
39:45: Even Moses didn't see Him face to face.
39:47: And even though that phrase face to face isn't there I think it's inferred.
39:56: And so I think that the inference that Moses is the closest one who ever came to seeing the Father and he still didn't see the Father in His fullness.
40:06: That's why I say I think the issue of Moses and the Father is so different than the rest.
40:13: Even Abraham.
40:15: He ate with the Lord.
40:17: And I think that's Jesus, as I said.
40:18: Even Adam, I think, walked with Jesus in the garden.
40:21: Because it says no one, right? But Moses came the closest.
40:23: And what happened to Moses when he saw even the rear parts of God? He was glowing, right? So there's a certain sense in which had he saw God face to face he'd have been DRD.
40:34: Dead right there.
40:36: Because no one can see the Father and live, the Bible says.
40:40: So I do think we have to look at this from the broadest context of saying, okay, it's telling us something about God.
40:48: No one has seen God.
40:48: But it also says the Son, who is God Himself, also reveals Him.
40:53: And so we look at it in its fullness.
40:56: Yes sir? So by your opening example, Ephesians 2, 8, 9 explains, you show me your words, I'll show you my faith.
41:05: That's right.
41:06: I think, in fact, I believe James was written first.
41:10: I've taught on this several times.
41:12: James is one of the earliest epistles, if not the earliest.
41:17: James was the pastor of the church of Jerusalem.
41:20: So again, that's the background, right? He's the pastor of the church of Jerusalem.
41:23: He is part of the early church, earliest part of the church.
41:27: We see him in Acts 15 operating as a leader in the church prior to any of the New Testament books being written.
41:35: Right? So we have James early in the church, and he's writing his work, which is basically like Proverbs for the New Testament.
41:44: He's giving things that we need to understand.
41:47: And one of the things that he says is you can't have faith without works, because if you have faith without works, it's not real faith.
41:53: It's death.
41:54: The what now? That's an interesting way of putting it.
42:16: So, James tells us we're not saved by dead faith.
42:21: Right.
42:22: Because dead faith doesn't produce works.
42:25: And that's why when you go back to Paul, he says by grace you're saved through faith.
42:29: And that not of yourselves is a gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
42:32: But then he goes on to say, Paul immediately says, for we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works that He prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
42:41: So good works aren't left out of the equation, but Paul's equation is this.
42:46: Grace plus nothing.
42:50: Because you didn't earn it.
42:52: Even faith is a gift from God.
42:56: By grace you have been saved through faith.
42:58: And that, the antecedent of that is salvation, including faith.
43:03: That is not of yourselves.
43:04: It is the gift of God.
43:06: It's grace plus nothing.
43:08: Our faith is a gift of grace.
43:11: Alright.
43:12: So, that's what I say.
43:13: Clarity is number two.
43:15: Number three, and I've got to move because I'm almost out of time and I've got four more.
43:18: Number three is the grammatical historical method.
43:31: The grammatical historical method.
43:35: Let me move this so y'all can see that.
43:42: This is actually, we talked about science earlier, how I said interpretation is a science.
43:46: The grammatical historical method is the scientific process for interpreting anything.
43:51: And basically what that means is you look at the grammar that is used and then you look at the history of when that particular language was used and that grammar was used and you interpret it based upon that method.
44:03: So, for instance, grammar is very, it's a lost art today.
44:11: A lot of people don't try to study grammar.
44:13: But grammar is how words come to us.
44:18: And so hermeneutics and exegesis is really a grammar art.
44:24: Understanding language.
44:26: We have rules, right? If I said, brother, what's your name? Remind me of your name.
44:34: Huh? Todd.
44:36: If I say, Todd, I want you to come here and then I, wow, I can't even say it wrong.
44:44: I'm trying to say it wrong.
44:46: If I say you and I are going to go outside and when I get there, we're going to talk.
44:55: What's the incorrect part of that sentence? It should say when we get there.
45:00: Yeah, that's what we call subject-verb agreement.
45:03: If we have within the sentence there are nouns and verbs and then there's adjectives and prepositions.
45:12: All of those things are constructed to make a sentence.
45:15: And when I say it wrong, you hear it.
45:17: I say you and I, Todd, you and I are going outside and when I get there, we're going to talk.
45:20: Now that could be right, but it's not really right because it should say when we get there.
45:26: So the we there is the correct.
45:28: And so when you read a sentence in the Bible, there is grammar that has to be considered.
45:36: For instance, let's go back for a second.
45:38: For by grace are you saved through faith and that is not of yourself.
45:44: The word that is a pronoun.
45:48: A pronoun has an antecedent.
45:49: An antecedent is a preceding noun.
45:52: What is the antecedent of that? The immediate antecedent is faith because it says for by grace you're saved through faith and that, so the immediate antecedent is faith.
46:02: However, if you understand the Greek language, what you will understand is that there are masculine, feminine, and neuter parts of that language and they have to agree.
46:14: And what you have is you have a neuter pronoun and a feminine noun.
46:19: And so they don't agree.
46:21: But neither does grace agree either.
46:23: So you have to have agreement with that.
46:25: And you say, oh, I don't know anything about that.
46:27: That's why I said this one is a little harder.
46:30: But the English translators have done a lot to try to help us to understand that what we're reading is correct.
46:36: And this is why one of my recommendations to you is if you are having difficulty in a passage, whatever the passage is, is to look at it in more than one translation.
46:47: So if you have the Spurgeon Study Bible, what translation is that? ESV.
46:52: ESV.
46:52: ESV Bible.
46:53: Okay.
46:54: The ESV Bible.
46:55: Alright.
46:56: What do you have? Anybody here don't have ESV? What do you have? CSV.
47:02: The NIV? NLT.
47:05: NLT.
47:05: King James.
47:06: King James.
47:07: CSV.
47:08: Okay.
47:09: Yeah, I see it right there in the box.
47:11: Alright.
47:11: So a good practice, if you don't know how to look up the Greek and the Hebrew, if you don't know how to examine the original languages, that's the ultimate goal of grammar, is to get to the original language.
47:21: But not everybody can do that.
47:23: And not everybody necessarily has to do that.
47:25: Because you have good translations, I just say look at more than one.
47:27: See how the different translations translate.
47:30: For instance, John 1.18.
47:32: King James Version says, what? John 1.18.
47:35: This is interesting.
47:37: 1.18? Yeah.
47:43: It says, No man has seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father.
47:52: He hath declared it.
47:53: That's right.
47:55: Notice it doesn't call Jesus God in that passage.
47:58: It just says the only begotten Son.
47:59: But yours says the only...
48:02: The only Son.
48:04: The one and only Son.
48:05: Who is God.
48:06: Himself God.
48:07: That's right.
48:07: Himself God.
48:08: See, that's an interesting difference, isn't it? I mean, it's the same.
48:12: Yeah, but it's clarifying.
48:15: So you have the King James, you have that, you put them together and you get a clearer picture.
48:19: Yeah.
48:19: It was just the whole...
48:21: I was so close to that.
48:22: No, no, no.
48:23: I'm with you.
48:24: I'm just saying for...
48:26: When you're looking at how to just understand what that text is saying, one of the things you do is grammar and the history of that grammar and how it was used.
48:35: So why don't we have the blue book Bible here for us to like...
48:38: What are you talking about? The blue letter Bible? The internet? Yeah, I mean just...
48:42: Well, I think that the rule...
48:44: Just using more of the actual...
48:48: I think it's just a matter of not allowing for internet use the first couple months you're here, just for safety.
48:54: I mean, internet's dangerous.
48:57: I don't think they could have it set where you could only get on that.
49:00: I don't know.
49:01: I don't know the rules as far as why that rule is.
49:04: But once you get out, you have that access again to the blue letter Bible.
49:09: But one thing though is, I will say this, a little Greek is a dangerous thing.
49:13: So if all you know is the word and the Greek word...
49:16: I've had so many people come to our church and...
49:19: Not so...
49:20: I've had a few people come to our church.
49:22: I don't want to exaggerate.
49:22: But I have had a few people come to our church and they began to want to argue with me about something that I said.
49:27: And they would say, well, the Greek word is da-da-da.
49:30: And I say, oh, you know Greek? Well, no.
49:34: Well, then why are you mentioning the Greek? But the Greek word is this.
49:37: Are you sure that that's the proper interpretation of that word in Greek? Well, that's what I read in the blue letter Bible or Strong's or whatever.
49:44: I say yes, but do you understand the concept of semantic domain? Do you understand how words work within the context of other words and how that particular word can be used in several different ways in Greek? And you're interpreting it based on Strong's or Blue Letter or whatever, but you really don't understand how that word is functioning within that sentence.
50:00: Oh.
50:01: So be careful.
50:02: A little Greek is a dangerous thing.
50:06: It's better if you know English to kind of stick with English as best you can.
50:11: All right.
50:12: Now, number four is what? You don't know because you're not looking at the paper.
50:18: Number four is the principle of singularity of meaning.
50:21: Singular meaning.
50:28: Singular meaning.
50:32: What does that mean? One thing.
50:36: Well, singular means one thing.
50:37: That's right.
50:38: But singular meaning means this.
50:40: When you read a text of the Bible, it does not have many different meanings.
50:43: It has one meaning.
50:45: Now, it can have different applications.
50:50: But when Jesus says, for instance, when Jesus says, I am the Son of God, that only has one meaning.
50:58: Some people say, well, maybe He meant that He was God's creation.
51:01: Or maybe He meant this.
51:03: No, it has one meaning.
51:05: It means He is the offspring of the Father.
51:07: He is born of the Holy Spirit of God.
51:09: That's what it means.
51:10: And when we start allowing multiple meanings, we get into a pick and choose type scenario.
51:18: It only has one meaning.
51:20: And the goal is to try to find what is right.
51:22: This is why you will never, ever, ever hear me do this.
51:25: I will never walk in the room, open the Bible, read a verse, and say what does that mean to you? What does that mean to you? What does that mean to you? Because I could give a damn.
51:34: I don't care.
51:36: I care what it means.
51:37: Not what it means to you or me.
51:39: Because meaning is not subjective.
51:41: Meaning is objective.
51:42: When Paul wrote it, he had a meaning.
51:45: And the goal of interpretation is to determine what Paul meant.
51:50: So the idea that we just count noses.
51:53: Okay, you think it means this? How many think it means this? Ten of you? Eleven of you think it means that? No, that's not how it works.
51:58: That's why we study.
51:59: We look for the right meaning.
52:01: And if you have the wrong meaning, you will inevitably have the wrong application.
52:07: I'm sorry, the wrong application.
52:08: Because application follows meaning.
52:11: Application is how do I apply this to my circumstance.
52:15: It starts with the right meaning.
52:17: Now, can somebody have the wrong meaning? Yes.
52:19: But that's how you know.
52:22: When I have people come up to me and they say, you know what? I don't believe in the Trinity.
52:29: Because when it says in John 1, 1, in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God, that should be the Word was a God.
52:36: Because Jesus is not the God, He's simply a God.
52:40: I can say, one, you're doing nothing but demonstrating your own ignorance of Greek grammar.
52:45: And two, that's not what that means.
52:50: So it only has one meaning, not multiple meanings.
52:54: Number five, the principle of accommodation.
53:02: This one will help you out if you really try to understand it.
53:05: The principle of accommodation is this.
53:08: God is greater than you and I, and therefore there are times when God speaks in human language to help us to better be able to relate to Him.
53:21: We call that...
53:22: They're actually big words, and I don't mean to throw out big words, but we call those anthropomorphisms and anthropopathisms.
53:30: And what that basically means is man-form and man-feeling.
53:35: Anthropos means man.
53:38: Anthropomorphism means man-form.
53:40: So when it talks about God's hands, God's eyes, God's ears, God His Spirit does not have a body like man.
53:45: The Bible says that.
53:46: So why does it talk about His hands and His eyes and His ears? So that we can relate to Him.
53:51: It's accommodating.
53:53: God is condescending to us and accommodating us by using language that we would understand.
54:02: It also happens when it talks about God repenting and things like that.
54:05: That is accommodating language to help us to understand and relate to Him.
54:11: It just proves that we think we're so smart.
54:16: Kind of, yeah.
54:18: That's exactly where it leads me.
54:21: I know it.
54:23: We ain't as smart as what we think.
54:25: Oh, amen.
54:26: R.C.
54:27: Sproul, I love what he said.
54:29: He said when God speaks to us, He speaks with a lisp.
54:33: What he meant basically is He really has to speak to us like children.
54:40: He really has to lower Himself to our state.
54:44: And so God is accommodating us by His use of language.
54:48: And so when we come to passages that are referring to Him and His nature, sometimes it does express the fullness of His nature.
54:55: God is not a man that He should lie, nor is He the Son of Man that He should change His mind.
55:00: God doesn't change His mind.
55:02: Numbers clearly says that.
55:04: Right? But then you come to another passage that says God repents.
55:07: Is that the Bible contradicting itself? No, what it's looking at is it's looking at it from our perspective.
55:12: God said to Nineveh, I will destroy you in 40 days, but yet they repented.
55:16: So the Bible says God relented of His judgment.
55:19: Did God not know they were going to repent? Surely He did, and that's why He sent Jonah.
55:24: But the judgment and promise was still there.
55:26: If you do not repent, you will be judged.
55:28: There's 30 minutes.
55:32: That's right.
55:33: And then He's like, well, there's not 30.
55:34: Well, what about 20? I'm going to be preaching that passage soon because I'm in Genesis, and I think about Abram's...
55:42: That was for Abraham, right? Yeah, he was talking to God.
55:46: If there's 50 righteous, well, what if there's four? Will you destroy them for the lack of 10? Man, what a conversation to have with God.
55:56: Not exactly the way I put it in the pulpit.
56:04: He certainly had an interaction with God that was unique.
56:08: So how would you simplify that one? Well, I mean, I would say that was, again, the Lord Jesus Christ, I believe, is who Abram's speaking to.
56:19: No, not that.
56:20: The accommodation thing.
56:21: Oh, accommodation is just when we...
56:24: Go back to what you said at first.
56:26: Like how would I simplify it? Yeah, you simplify the meaning of it.
56:31: Oh, okay.
56:35: I'm trying to think of simple words.
56:38: It's God humbling Himself when He describes Himself.
56:42: God...
56:43: But that's not even the best way to say it.
56:45: He humbled Himself to become a man.
56:47: He humbled Himself to become a man, yes, but accommodation is God using language that we can understand.
56:53: God using language that we can understand.
56:55: That's what accommodation is.
56:56: Something familiar with us.
56:58: Yeah, like when I talk to my...
56:59: I have a three-year-old daughter.
57:00: Took her to get her hair cut for the first time yesterday.
57:03: Right? And I had to sit her down and I had to say, baby, you got to be real still because you don't want this lady to mess up your hair.
57:12: You know, you don't want her to cut you with the scissors, right? You got to be real still.
57:16: Yes, Daddy.
57:18: You know? And she has a real bad speech impediment, so it's hard for her to understand.
57:23: So I say, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, you know, she tries to talk and she has difficulty.
57:27: But when I talk to her, I don't talk to her like I talk to you guys.
57:32: Right.
57:32: I don't use words like anthropopathism when I talk to my three-year-old.
57:35: And God does the same thing with us.
57:39: The way I speak to my three-year-old is the way God does with us.
57:41: He steps down to accommodate our weakness.
57:46: Right? We're always on the move.
57:50: Yes, in one sense.
57:52: From God's perspective, we're still on the baby food.
57:55: Yeah.
57:56: Last but not least, and this one could be considered to be the most important, and this is the principle of illumination.
58:05: Illumination.
58:06: What stands out.
58:08: No, not what stands out.
58:10: The principle of illumination is different than the principle of revelation.
58:15: Revelation is the Holy Spirit speaking or having something written down.
58:20: But illumination is the Holy Spirit helping us understand something.
58:26: The best place to look at this is 1 Corinthians 2.
58:31: We'll end by looking at this passage.
58:34: 1 Corinthians 2.
58:49: Yeah, 1 Corinthians 2.
58:51: Verse 14 to verse 16.
58:58: It says, The natural man, that is the unsaved person, the person who does not have the Spirit.
59:07: The natural man or the natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he is not able to understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
59:17: The spiritual person, that is the person who has been saved, judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one, for who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him, but we have the mind of Christ.
59:30: So here's the distinction.
59:33: The unbeliever cannot fully understand and accept the Word of God, because they do not have the Spirit's illumination within them.
59:45: So part of interpreting the Bible comes from the Spirit guiding us and helping us.
59:51: So one of the things that we should do when we're going to the Bible to seek to understand something is start by praying, God, by Your Spirit, help me understand this.
01:00:02: Give me wisdom.
01:00:02: What does James say? Let him who lacks wisdom ask God.
01:00:08: So I would say that should probably be number one, but I wanted to put it last just to say, don't ever start your study without going to the Spirit and ask for guidance first.
01:00:21: That must be the anchor and the foundation of the soul.
01:00:29: Because of all of it.
01:00:31: But yeah, absolutely, because we are so weak.
01:00:35: And what does it say? It says if we didn't have the Spirit of God, we couldn't understand it.
01:00:40: No, that's right.
01:00:45: All right, let's pray, guys.
01:00:46: Father, I thank You for Your Word.
01:00:48: I thank You for the truth.
01:00:49: I pray that this has been useful for these men.
01:00:51: And Lord, that You would use it to just help us to all be better Bible students.
01:00:55: In Jesus' name, amen.