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.

How Do I Study the Bible? - part 1

Someone sent me this question after watching one of my video blogs.  I will not be able to answer it in one blog but will take a couple of them to answer it.

One area we need to begin with is to determine, what is out goal in Bible Study.  Our goal in Bible study should be to determine what message the author was conveying to his original audience.  This keeps me from saying things like, “Well this passage means _______________ to me.”  The meaning does not change from one person to another.  Then, once we know the meaning of the passage we must ask the question of ourselves, “How should this information affect my life?”

The three main steps of inductive Bible study are observation, interpretation, and application.

In this short article I will only discuss observation and only a brief overview of the subject. 

As one observes a passage they must question the passage.  Here are a few ideas, but in no way are these exhaustive.

Who – Who is speaking?  To whom is it being spoken?  About who is it being said?

Where – Where is the author?  Where is it taking place?  Where is the letter going?

When – When was this taking place?  When will it take place?  When did the author live?  When is this in relation to the rest of the Bible?  Who is acting?  Upon whom is the action taking place?

What – What is taking place?  What are we being asked to do?  What is to be obeyed?

Hendricks in his book “Living By the Book”  challenges us to look for things that are emphasized, repeated, related, alike, unlike, or true to life pg. 166.  If you would like an in depth study on hermeneutics, how to study the scripture, I would encourage you to get this book and go through it with someone.

We must also realize that this is not an instant process.  We must read over a passage many times patiently looking at the structure and then thinking about the message that the author is striving to relay to us.  I personally use an eight color highlighting pencil in my personal devotions which I use to mark my Bible. 

The following chart shows what I use the colors for:

Red	Names or descriptions of God; LORD, Lord , Rock
Yellow	General highlight  or  challenge
Orange	Commands: Thou shall….; Gal. 5:1 Stand Fast…
Dark Blue	Geographic locations: Jerusalem, Samaria, Egypt
Light Blue	Prophecy or promises:
Pink	OT quotations in the NT
Green	Passages dealing with Salvation or God’s promise of salvation.
Brown	Translation/ manuscript issues – usually in the notes of the margin as well.
Regular pen circle	I circle major conjunctions ie. But in Gen. 6:8 or Gal. 5:18; or Therefore in Rom. 12:1 or Eph. 4:1

These things only scratch the surface as far as observation, but for many it will give you a great place to start as you embark upon learning the Word of God.  In future posts I will discuss interpretation and application.