Christmas Communication

How do you communicate with friends and family at Christmas? Cards, letters (we prepared 200 this year), phone, Skype, and the best is a visit.  God also has communicated to us in different ways through different generations through the prophets (Heb. 1:1).  Much of this came through their preaching and writing of the Bible.  Yet, we are told in verse 2 that he spoke to us through His Son.  Jesus Christ came to earth to visit not for His benefit but for ours. 

This communication from God was not happenstance. It came just when God had planned it.  Gal. 4:4-5a says, “But when the fullness of time had come God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law to redeem them who were under the law.”  We, because of our sinfulness, needed a redeemer.  Someone to pay the price of our sin.  Jesus Christ was born of a virgin and lived a sinless life so that he might be the perfect sacrifice!

God’s communication seemed like it was shortened.  His followers were expecting him to give them victory and freedom from Roman control.  Their hopes were dashed as Jesus hung on the cross and proclaimed “it is finished” (Jn. 19:30).  What they did not yet understand is that Jesus was going to rise from the dead three days later.  Jesus Christ had come not to give them freedom from the Romans, but rather freedom from sin and death.  I Cor. 15:56-57 say, “⁵⁶The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

When we get our letters and Christmas cards many of us respond in various ways. Some are quickly thrown in the trash while others are cherished and looked at again and again.  Some are ignored while others are looked at sometimes for months or years.  I ask you today, “How do you respond to God’s Christmas communication, Jesus Christ?”  Do you cherish Him and His word?  Or do you ignore Him and basically discard Him from your thinking?  I challenge you to put your faith in Jesus Christ for salvation and cherish Him.

A Secure Foundation

In Matthew 7:24-27, Jesus in concluding His “Sermon on the Mount” speaks of the wise man and the foolish man.  Both of them have built their houses and there is no distinction in the houses.  Outwardly we may not see any difference.  Both of them would face a storm but the consequences of that storm would be drastically different.  The wise man’s house stood firm but the foolish man’s house fell with a great fall!  Why the difference?  Because the wise man built on the rock and the foolish man built on the sand.  The passage is also clear regarding the rock, it is the fact that he has heard and obeyed the sayings of Jesus Christ.

Though there may be many applications to individuals enduring the “storms of life” because of their obedience of Christ that is not to be the primary understanding of this passage.  The storm in this passage would be God’s final judgment.  We learn this from the context of the passage.  Backing up to verses 13-14, we learn that there are two paths in life the narrow way that leads to life and the broad way that leads to destruction.  Verses 15-20 tell us of the differences in the fruit of individuals. The following section then tells of those who seemingly have done all the right things even “serving” the Lord, yet He says “depart from me I never knew you.” 

I challenge you, “Have you put your faith in Jesus Christ for salvation?”  God’s judgment is coming and the results of that judgment all depend upon our response to Christ.  Are you ready to face Him? Is your foundation secure?  We can be assured that the storm of His Wrath is coming. Will your house stand? 

Let Them Decide!

Some parents are so controlling! They make their kids learn so many things as they run their lives for them.   I’ve seen parents make their kids eat fruits and vegetables, instead of just putting them out with the Hershey bars, candy, and soda.  This seems overbearing surely they can decide for themselves, if we just expose them to all the food choices that are available.

Other parents are really hung up on academics they make their children learn colors, letters, sounds, numbers  and them expect them to agree that 2 x 2 =4.  These parents just want their kids to be boxed-in in life.  Surely we can just let them have a crayon, pen, pencil, and paper and they can decide for themselves if they really think a system of communication with symbols, or letters is necessary.  It is not like we as parents know everything.

There are even multiple parents I have seen that make their children take a bath, with soap, and even wash behind their ears.  This is just over the top!  How dictatorial can a parent be?   Any kid, given time, can find water, and some kind of cleaner to use, if they think it is necessary and important to themselves.

By now, most of those reading this column are really upset, or have figured out that I am being pretty sarcastic.  Yet, parents that are involved in their kids temporal lives giving all kinds of guidance from baths, to diet, to their education, never spend any time helping prepare them for eternity.  They say, “I am going to let them decide.”  Many of them do not realize that Jesus made this declaration, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes unto the Father but by me.” (Jn. 14:6, KJV)  They have not kept the command of Ephesians 6:4, to “bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.” (NKJV)

Many who are great parents academically, and physically, never put any effort into spiritually training their children.  They are not only disobedient to the Scriptures but send their children off to “decide” on their own without giving them any direction.  A parent who would never want any physical harm come to their child sends that same child off into a Christ-less eternity to suffer damnation forever!

The following six weeks on Sunday Mornings at 10:30 we will be studying the topic, “Dealing with Dysfunction”.  Principles will be covered that will help bring Biblical answers to everyday problems that parents face but seldom use, to “bring their children up in the training and admonition of the Lord.”

(This article was published in the pastor's column of the Rushville Times.)

How To Study the Bible (part 2) Interpretation

Our first step of Bible study was observation.  Hopefully we have worked hard and answered many questions regarding the passage at which we have been looking.  If we have worked hard these observations help us to know what is in the passage.  Knowing the content of the passage that we have been observing is our first step of interpretation.*

We then must consider how this passage is placed in the Bible.  This is called context.  How does it fit with the rest of the verses around it?  Is it part of a large sentence and extended paragraph?  How does it fit with the surrounding paragraphs and the rest of the book?  Then how does it fit in with the entire Bible?  These questions help us to determine literary context.

We also must consider when was this taking place?  What was going on at the same time politically, socially, and technologically in the world at this time.  This is the historical context.

Closely associated with the historical context would be the cultural context.  How people communicated and lived in their time helps us to understand the scriptures more.

In some passages an understanding of the geographical context will help with a clearer interpretation of the passage.

It is also important to see how the passage one is studying fits into the greater framework of Scripture?  God through the ages slowly revealed more of His plan.  What did the writer and the recipients understand and know about God.  What was the primary religion of the culture to which the writer was ministering?

As we come to an interpretation of a passage we must compare it to other passages that speak to the subject.  God is not the author of confusion so He will not give us two messages that fully contradict.

There are several tools that can be used to help us in our interpretation of the Scriptures.   A concordance helps us find other passages that use the same words or similar words.  Many of them also have short definitions.   A Bible dictionary is helpful for finding the definitions of key words or words that we might not fully understand.   There are various types of Bible dictionaries of which some are much more in depth than others.  Your depth of study and your knowledge of the original languages may affect the type of dictionary you want to get.  It is often helpful as well to read a passage in multiple translations to see how the different translators handled the passage.

Once you are pretty certain of the meaning of the text it is wise to check some commentaries to see if you are interpreting in a similar way to well known men whose interpretations and lives have proven faithful.  Some that have been helpful to me and that are often available both digitally and in book form are “Matthew Henry’s Commentary”, Warren Wiersbe’s Expositor’s Bible Commentary”, Albert Barnes – “Barnes Notes on the Bible”, Jameson-Fawcett Brown, John Gill’s Commentary, along with John MacArthur’s Commentary have all been helpful to me at different points in my life and ministry.  I don’t know that I agree with everything any one of them say, but they give me a great foundation for which to compare my final interpretations.

We cannot stop with interpretation but must go on to application, but we will save that for another day.

*Note: I am grateful for the work of Howard and William Hendricks in "Living by the Book".  This article reflects much of what I learned through their study.  For an in depth lesson on Bible study please get this text.