What Does the Bible Mean by What It Says? Part 1
Selected Scriptures
For this morning, we're continuing our series that we'd begun several weeks ago in dealing with the charismatic movement; and we're going to be approaching it this morning from a little bit different angle, perhaps, than the remainder of the series, in that we're gonna be dealing with a technical question somewhat, rather than specifically a Biblical text, although we will cover several passages. I would say, initially, that we're thankful to God for the much good that is done as our brothers and sisters in Christ are sharing the Gospel and winning others and so forth; and we're not disparaging that for a moment; but only trying in the light of the Word of God to evaluate the movement so that we can get a clear understanding of what is good and what is not so good to be able to make a proper judgment. So we've entitled this...the message and the series, "What's Wrong in the Charismatic Movement?"
I was watching Channel 40 one night this week, and the well-known Christian personality, Dave Wilkerson, whom God has blessed in many ways, and has had a wonderful ministry in the streets of New York, made an interesting statement. He was being interviewed, and this is what he said. "There are some serious things wrong in the charismatic movement." Thought that was interesting coming from one who would have to be considered a leader in that movement. He went on to emphasize his tremendous concern and to discuss some of the things that he saw that were wrong in the movement; and I agreed with all of 'em. In fact, all of the ones he mentioned were a part of my list that we'll be covering in weeks to come; but I didn't feel that he went far enough, and it was interesting that he stopped after mentioning a few things and then said that he wanted to...to tell them about a revelation he had just received from Christ.
And I thought, "Well, isn't it interesting that he could see some of the superficial elements that are wrong, but he doesn't yet understand the heart of the issue, which is adding revelation to Scripture." That's what we've talked about the last two weeks. He stopped and said that he had received the revelation from God that New York City would go bankrupt, that the Midwest would have a killing drought, and that California would realize a terrible earthquake such as we've never known before, that churches and homes would be destroyed and Christianity would have to exist apart from the way we know it now. And he said that everybody should get rid of all their debts and get rid of all their credit cards and become flexible and mobile, so that when the churches and the homes are destroyed, we can take Christianity out to the streets and so forth; and all of this is what Jesus had told him. And he went on to say that the Lord had told him other things, and the person who was interviewing said, "Well, what about storing up food? Did the Lord tell you that?" And he said, "No, the Lord has told that to some of my friends, but the Lord has not given me a revelation on that yet." And I thought it was so interesting, because here is a man who is perceiving some wrong things in the movement, but doesn't perceive the most wrong thing, which is God continually giving supposed revelations, and so we no longer know where Scripture ends and...and somebody's ideas begin, and he was telling them that those things he received from God were just as binding as anything in the Bible.
Now, we spent the last two weeks discussing the issue of revelation, and we said that the first thing wrong in the charismatic movement deals with the issue of revelation. They must face the fact that the Bible is complete, and they cannot continue to add supposed revelation to Scripture without resultant chaos.
Now, that brings us to the second thing we wanna deal with today; and that is the issue of interpretation. The issue of interpretation, and as I studied this this week, I don't think before this week I really understood the ramifications, but I'm...I'm concluding this week from my study that this is just about as essential as point No. 1. The issue of interpretation, and I say that on this basis. What good does it do if we agree that this is the revelation of God, and there isn't any more, and then set about to misinterpret it? The result will be the same. We will miss God's truth. It doesn't make any sense to add to Scripture, and it doesn't make any more sense to say, "This is all," and then go ahead and misinterpret it, and make it say what it never was intended to say.
And, as I mentioned to you last week, the cults, all of the cults that have been sprung from off of a Christian base, wind up adding to Scripture. It's the Bible plus the writings of so and so, but they also were guilty of misinterpreting the Scripture. I pulled a...a file out of my file drawer this week, and I looked through all the material I've collected through the years on the cults, and I was amazed to find that all of them listing their doctrines, which we disagree with, have in parenthesis underneath them the Scriptures in the Bible that they say defend those wrong doctrines. People have used the Bible to prove anything and everything. The Bible can be twisted around to say whatever anybody wants it to say. You know, the old one about "Judas went out and hanged himself. Go thou and do likewise and what thou doest, do quickly." That's all in the Bible, but it just shouldn't come together like that.
You can prove anything if you just misinterpret the Bible. People have defended polygamy on the basis of the Bible. People have said, "Well, because the plagues in the Old Testament were judgments of God, we ought to avoid all sanitation in order to allow God to have the right to bring plagues, because that's the way historically He brings judgment...You can defend just about any kind of crazy thing if you put the wrong verse in the wrong place in the wrong context and attach it with other things that don't make any more sense than that either when they're put together in a combination that is not fair to the totality of Scripture.
So we must allow for the fact that the issue of interpretation has to be faced. The cults, the Roman Catholic church, the liberals, they've all been guilty of misinterpreting the Bible. Now, I'm not offering myself or Grace Church or any other human being as infallible, but I am saying all of us at least have to make a commitment to try the best we can in the energy of the Holy Spirit and using our minds and our hearts and our intense desire and...and strong commitment to do the best we can do to...to interpret the Bible the way God intends it to be done.
Now, there are some basic principles for interpreting the Bible, and they come under the name hermeneutics. Somebody might say, "Herman who?" Well, hermeneutics, that is a simple word, really. It comes from a Greek word, airmanuo, and airmanuo means to give the meaning. To give the meaning. How many times in the New Testament have you read the statement, which being interpreted is such as, say, Matthew 1:23, "His name shall be called Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God with us." That is the word airmanuo, and what it means is simply this. The meaning of. Emmanuel which means God with us.
So hermeneutics is the science of telling what the Bible means by what it says; and, really, that's basically what my responsibility is. The job of the teacher is to tell you what the Bible means by what it says. That's clearly what we are to do; and, in fact, that's simply interpreting the Bible. We have a Supreme Court in our country who have the problem of interpreting the Constitution, and it isn't easy. All documents of any significance must be interpreted, and the Bible is no different. It demands careful interpretation, so that we do not in any way distort what God intended to say; and it always bothers me when I hear a charismatic person or...or...and there are people, incidentally, who are guilty of misinterpreting the Bible in all areas of Christianity, not just the charismatic; but I think it's come to the fore in that area, and I'll explain why in a minute.
But I've heard many charismatic people, other people say, "Well, I think this verse means so and so." Well, that doesn't really matter what you think. Or they'll say, "Well, to me, this means..." and my response to that is, "Well, if you weren't alive, what would it mean? Because it has to mean something in and of itself apart from you. You see, the neo-orthodox and liberal view of Scripture is, "Well, to me, this says..." and what's happened in the charismatic movement with everybody saying what this verse means to them, and "I think this one means this and Jesus told me it means that," is basically we've reduced Christianity to a neo-orthodox thing that says if the Scripture speaks to you, it's the Word of God, and whatever it says is okay. It doesn't matter what it says to you. It doesn't matter what it means to you. What matters is what does it mean, and what does it say apart from you. It is objective truth, not defined experientially. What does the Bible say if you don't exist? You know, what does the Bible say if you don't have a problem you're looking for a solution for? What does the Bible say in these verses apart from my superimposing anything on them?
Now, lemme take you to 2 Timothy chapter 2, and let's discuss a little bit about the basics of hermeneutics. Now, this is gonna help you with your Bible study, so I want you to get ahold of this. This is one of the most basic courses that any Bible teacher or Bible student needs - an understanding of hermeneutics or the science or the principle or the art, if you will, even, because it's even an art, as well as a science, of getting the meaning of the Bible. Second Timothy 2:14.
Now, here Paul speaks to Timothy, who is a teacher of the Scripture, and he calls him a workman, basically carrying along the same theme that he began in the 2nd chapter of 2 Timothy, where he goes through those first eight verses or so describing the teacher of the Word in many different ways, but he carries on this concept of the teacher as a workman, and he makes four basic points about the kind of work the teacher is to do. No. 1, in verse 14, the teacher is to avoid useless arguments with heretics..."Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not or dispute not or argue not about words to no profit to the subverting of the hearers." In other words, you do not want to get into a debate with heretics in front of the church, in front of the believing community. That only confuses the issue. Avoid useless disputing with heretics.
I remember when I was gonna finish a doctorate and went to a certain seminary, and they said, "Well, what do you...what do you wanna major in?" And I said, "Well, I wanna major in Bible, New Testament," and they said, "Well, let's look at your transcript," and they looked at it and said, "Well, you can't get your degree right away, because you have too much Bible." I said, "How could you have too much Bible for a major in Bible and New Testament?" They said, "Well, you need a lot more philosophy. Your...your spectrum is too limited," and they gave me a list of 200 books to read, less than half of which were in English, and I gave them back the list, and said, "I already know the truth. There's no sense in spending a couple of years finding out what's wrong. I don't wanna involve myself in useless disputation, because that does not edify me," and I think it's like the...the...the little foxes that spoil the vines.
I...I often warn young men who go off to seminary to be sure they choose their seminary very carefully. A seminary should be a reinforcement of what you believe, not...it should not be a war in which you fight to come out with some remnants of your faith; and so we are to avoid useless disputing. In 1 Timothy 6, he said essentially the same thing, talking in verse 4, he said, "He's proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and disputes of words, of which comes envy, strife, railing, and evil suspicion, perverse disputing of men of corrupt minds, destitute of the truth." There's no sense in just getting into hassles with heretics. There's no sense in those kinds of confrontations, because all they do is undermine.
They're...and what he's saying here, and I want you to get this, what he's saying here is there is a right interpretation, and that right interpretation makes futile disputing and wrangling about debating over what other interpretations there might be. In other words, the Bible is not something which is to be determined by a group discussion. It is to be determined by diligent, careful study of the basic elements revealing the basic meaning, and it is not something that you argue over. It isn't ten people saying, "Well, I think it means this." "Well, I think it means this." "Well, I think it means this." It does mean something, and God has given us the wherewithal to find out what it means. There's no sense in just arguing about the meaning of the Bible, debating about it, and the implication of such a statement is that it isn't something that's up for argument, because it's clear. There is a one meaning to that which God says.
Second principle that He tells the workman who works in the Word, and this is very important. Be diligent to find that interpretation. Be diligent to find that. In contrast to a useless kind of dialogue, the...the servant of God, the teacher, must give diligence to the quality of his work, that he may be documas, approved by God; and if he doesn't do that, then he'll have every reason to be ashamed, won't he? He should be ashamed of anything that is less than accurately giving the meaning of the Scripture. We must be accurate, and anything less is a shame to us and is not approved of God. There is one meaning. We are to apply ourselves to know that one meaning with tremendous commitment and diligence. And, people, it isn't a matter of saying, "Well, I...I was reading this the other day in the kitchen and, you know, the Lord showed me that it means loo..." and down they go, and you know well it doesn't mean anything like that. That goes on. I hear that so often. People say, "Well, this verse means to me, well, you know, I..." and even those of us who are here at Grace and at many evangelical churches not in the charismatic movement can fall pray to that when we get into Bible study, which becomes a pooling of ignorance where everybody says, "Well, I think it means this." "Well, I think it means this." And nobody really knows what it means. That isn't the way to study the Bible.
The discussion might come at the point of application, but not at the point of interpretation. There you need somebody who's applied some diligence, and it's wonderful if everybody's been diligent. Then the pooling of all those diligent resources can come up with richness; and so it must be then that we must be diligent. That it's hard work. That it's struggle. That it's just plain sweat to come to the meaning of the Word of God, and not this haphazard, adlib, flippant, freewheeling, it-means-to-me thing that we hear so much today.
And there's a third principle. The first one is there is one meaning. The second one is be diligent to find it, and, thirdly, be accurate. He says, "Rightly dividing the Word." Literally, in the Greek, he says, "Cutting it straight," and this is interesting. Paul is no doubt referring to his tent making trade; and when he would make a tent, he obviously, either in his mind or in some forms that he carried with him, he had patterns by which he would build a tent or make a tent. He would have to cut all of the pieces to put them together to fit. Since we know tents in those days were made out of the skins of animals, it would be a patchwork kind of tent, and every little bit and piece would have to be properly cut and fit together so that the final product was what it oughta be; and he was simply saying, "If you don't cut the pieces right, then the whole doesn't fit together," you see? And if you don't deal with each Scripture accurately, then it won't fit together in the whole, and you're gonna come up with a problem. Cut it straight. Be precise and careful and straightforward and accurate, so that everything fits the thing that God designs for His Word.
You must deal fairly and carefully and with integrity when you interpret the Bible, and I...this is where I call upon charismatic teachers and preachers to begin to do this, because they don't do this in so many cases. They are not treating the Word of God carefully and accurately and precisely, but there is a shoddy, sloppiness; and, of course, this is like a pet peeve to me. I just react so strongly, because I say, "God has given us this Book, and He has something to say, and how ludicrous it is to foul it up by a lack of diligence." Believe me, in just preparing messages in the Word of God, I could spend my whole life doing nothing but studying. That's the kind of thing this Book demands...
Be accurate, and the opposite of this is the tragedy that's indicated in 2 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 17, where Paul says, "We are not like so many who corrupt the Word of God...who corrupt the Word of God. We are sincere. We speak from God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ." Paul says, "Listen, I'll tell you one thing. When I get up there to speak, I cut it straight, because I know God is watching. God is listening. Christ is there, and I'm preparing to glorify Him, to be documon of Him, approved."
Frankly, people, I've told you this before. I don't prepare my message so you'll like them, although I'm glad when you enjoy them and respond. I don't prepare them for any other thing than ultimately to know that God would be pleased, and God would approve, because this is His sacred Word; and Paul says, "Because of this, I cut it straight." But he says, "That's not the way with so many who corrupt the Word of God," and he uses the Greek word kapalas, and kapalas basically means a huckster, a conman, a corrupter, a cheater, a charlatan, somebody dealing deceitfully, somebody making merchandise out of the Word of God. In other words, there are some people who twist the Word of God, who adulterate the Word of God to get their point across. The cults are hucksters of the Word of God. They corrupt the Word of God. There are people who will, because they have an end in mind, because they have an objective in mind, and they wanna get people to buy their objective, they twist the Scripture. I've seen this a lot of times, and maybe you have, too, in building programs where a church will set about to build and, in order to convince the people that God is in it, they'll take some verses out of the Old Testament about the building of the temple...Or if...if they wanna make sure everybody gives 10 percent, they'll use Malachi 3 to make sure you give your 10 percent, and Malachi 3 isn't talking about giving to the church at all. The church didn't even exist in Malachi 3. He's talking about paying your taxes to the treasury in Israel.
But, you see, it's so easy sometimes to take the Word of God and to kinda turn it a little bit to say what you want it to say, and then you're really selling cheap glass as if it was diamonds. You're conning people using the Bible. It's so tempting to do that. Believe me, people, because so many times you wanna say something, and you know the verse doesn't say that, but if you wiggle a little bit around and twist it a little bit, you can get it to say that, and then it becomes more intimidating to the people...
Paul says, "That's huckstering. That's falsifying." It's so easy to do that. Conning people to buy a false interpretation. Look at 2 Peter 3:16...Now here you have a similar word, because Peter is talking about the letters of Paul, the epistles of Paul. We looked at this in another context last week. He says, talking about Paul, "As in all his epistles is speaking things that are hard to be understood." Then he says this. "Which they that are unlearned and unstable..." Notice those two things that define the people. They are unlearned and unstable wrest or twist or tur