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2 Timothy 3, last week we considered 
verses 16 and 17 under the consideration of the doctrine of Scripture. 
Tonight we're going to consider the interpretation of Scripture. And I just want to begin reading 
in 2 Timothy 3 at verse 1. But know this, that in the last 
days perilous times will come. For men will be lovers of themselves, 
lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, 
unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without 
self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, 
haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a 
form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people 
turn away. For of this sort are those who 
creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded 
down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never 
able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Janice and 
Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth, 
men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith. But they 
will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest 
to all as theirs also was. But you have carefully followed 
my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering, 
love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions, which happened to 
me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra, what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord 
delivered me. Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ 
Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil men and imposters will 
grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you must 
continue in the things which you have learned and been assured 
of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood 
you have known the holy scriptures, which are able to make you wise 
for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture 
is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, 
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 
that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every 
good work. Amen. So last week we looked 
at the doctrine of Scripture concerning its extent. The Apostle 
says all Scripture. We consider that that includes 
both the Old and the New Testaments. We considered its character. 
It is given by inspiration of God, or literally, it is God-breathed. And then we noticed its utility 
or its profitability in verse 16. It's profitable for doctrine, 
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. And then we drew out some implications, 
some obvious implications from the passage, and tonight we're 
going to draw out another implication, and as I said, some principles 
of interpretation. Perhaps you've heard people say, 
with reference to the Bible, everyone has his own interpretation. You ever heard that? Everyone 
has his own interpretation. Well, that doesn't mean that 
his own interpretation is necessarily correct. Just because everyone 
has their own interpretation doesn't mean that the truth is 
somehow relative and that whatever it means to Mike or to Stephen 
or what it means to Tony that is right. No, because everyone 
has their own interpretation does not invalidate the truth 
that there is a correct interpretation. If you met five people that said 
2 plus 2 equals 3, it doesn't make it so. 2 plus 2 equals 4, 
whether the entirety of the world acknowledges that fact or they 
reject that fact. The Bible is the Word of God, 
it is objective truth, and as a result we ought to be able 
to come to a proper interpretation of Scripture. You've heard the 
old saying, this is our idea tonight, if you give a man a 
fish, you feed him for a day. You teach a man how to fish and 
you feed him for a lifetime. It is important for us as Christians 
to have some basic understanding of how to approach, how to interpret 
the Bible. Now this discipline is called 
hermeneutics. Do not be afraid of big words. I hope to define all of those 
words or all the words that we use tonight. First thing we want 
to do is provide a definition of hermeneutics. Secondly, the 
necessity of hermeneutics. And then thirdly, some basic 
principles of hermeneutics. I realize some of this may be 
review, but that's a good thing. Hermeneutics is defined by Louis 
Burkhoff as the science that teaches us the principles, laws, 
and methods of interpretation. That's all it means. When we 
speak about hermeneutics, we're talking about the science of 
interpretation. Now hermeneutics does not just 
apply to the Bible. There's a hermeneutic for when 
you study Shakespeare. There's a hermeneutic for when 
you study other types of literature. There are principles of interpretation 
that one brings to the particular study in a particular field. So general hermeneutics applies 
to all kinds of writing. The word was first used by Plato, 
the philosopher, as a technical term. Special hermeneutics applies 
to certain definite kinds of writing, and sacred is what we're 
concerned with. Sacred or biblical hermeneutics 
applies to the Bible as the inspired, infallible, and inerrant Word 
of God. So hermeneutics provides the 
principles, the laws, the methods of interpretation. Exegesis is 
what we do when we take those principles and we put them into 
practice. Just like if a young man goes 
to university and he learns the theory of engineering, he learns 
the principles, he learns the laws, he learns the methods of 
how to do his particular task. When he takes that body of information 
and he goes and he's hired by a particular firm, and he starts 
to flesh that out, now he's engaged in practice. So there's theory, 
there's practice, there's idea, and there's application. And 
when we consider hermeneutics, it's the principles of interpretation, 
and then when we go to specific texts and seek to open up those 
texts to draw out the particular meaning, That's what's called 
exegesis. Exegesis means to lead out of 
the text the meaning that the Holy Spirit intended. We don't 
want to read into the text what we'd like it to say, even though 
people do that. We don't read into the text what 
we wished it would say, but rather we are tasked with leading out 
of the text of Scripture what the Holy Spirit intended for 
it to say. So, while this has primary application 
to people that are teaching and preaching the Word of God, it 
has general application to all of God's people. When you sit 
down with your Bible tomorrow morning, Notice the assumption. You're going to sit down with 
your Bible tomorrow morning. Don't you want to know what it 
means? Don't you want to understand what it says? Don't you want 
to take that word and internalize it so that you can obey God and 
bring glory and honor unto Him? I hope that's your intended goal. 
So having some basic principles, and tonight It is going to be 
just that, basic principles. But even if you read the biggest, 
fattest books on hermeneutics, you probably wouldn't be really 
surprised, because much of what is said there really makes a 
lot of sense. And if we just take the time 
to reflect, we will see that it isn't rocket science, it isn't 
brain surgery. God has saved common folk and 
has called upon them to understand his word. The psalmist says that 
the law of God makes wise the simple. The psalmist says that 
God's law made him smarter than all of his instructors, all of 
his teachers. I dare say that the youngest 
child that attends this particular church that can answer the question, 
what is God, is smarter than the most celebrated PhD who is 
an atheist and one who denies God. So the scriptures are given 
to people like you and I so that we can understand them and so 
that we can put them into practice in our lives. Now remember last 
week we considered Peter's statement about Paul's writing. Peter identified 
that in some of the Pauline corpus, in some of Paul's letters, there 
are things that are difficult to understand. That is the case. When you go through Scripture, 
there are those things that are difficult. But for the most part, 
those things concerning the glory of God and man's salvation are 
expressly set down. They are clear. They are obvious. It isn't difficult to interpret 
the sixth word. You shall not murder. Now, if 
everybody has his own interpretation of that, hopefully they're all 
right. It means you don't cut people's 
throats, you don't murder babies in the womb, you don't poison 
people, you don't hate people without cause in your heart. 
That is a very straightforward passive. So beware the people 
that say, you know, I've tried to read the Bible, but it's all 
so confusing. What's confusing about you shall 
not commit adultery? What's confusing about you shall 
not steal? You see, most of the Bible is 
very straightforward. I would suggest that some of 
the difficult passages are oftentimes clear when we take some principles 
and apply it to the text at hand. So never let the idea come into 
your head that the Bible is so confusing, I am not going to 
read it for myself. Or I'm going to let the specialists, 
the preachers, tell me what I ought to believe. No, the people of 
Thessalonica or Berea were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica 
because they examined daily the scriptures to see if what the 
Apostle Paul was teaching was accurate. So when Paul the Apostle 
is teaching and preaching, he's not offended that the Bereans 
are opening their Bibles. I doubt they had, you know, Cambridge 
wide-margin genuine goatskin leather Bibles or they had the 
ESV study Bible, but wherever that word was contained, they 
searched those things to make sure that what the Apostle Paul 
was preaching and teaching was accurate and was correct. Beware 
of the idea where we have a professional priesthood that has to tell us 
what we believe. It is unfortunate that more Christians 
can't open to passages, can't open to chapter and verse to 
ground their faith. Don't just walk blindly, but 
rather verify and validate the things that you hear according 
to the scriptures themselves. So that's a brief definition, 
the science that teaches us the principles, laws, and methods 
of interpretation. Secondly, the necessity of hermeneutics. do we need these principles? Because we're sinners and our 
minds are darkened and our hearts are hardened and very often we 
will impose meaning on the text that the Holy Spirit never intended. We like to find exception clauses 
where there are none. You shall not commit adultery 
except for us because we really love each other and we believe 
the Holy Spirit would have us to engage in such a practice. 
You shall not steal unless you work for the federal government, 
then it's perfectly acceptable to steal randomly for anybody 
that you are over. We can't do that. We can't impose 
our meaning. And sin darkens our understanding, 
darkens our minds, darkens our hearts. The scriptures themselves 
indicate that they are to be interpreted properly. Look at 
Ephesians chapter 4. just while you're turning there, 
the incident where our Lord is led out to the wilderness by 
the Holy Spirit and there He is tempted by the devil indicates 
that to know Scripture itself isn't necessarily adequate. Remember when the tempter came 
to our Lord, the tempter brought Scripture with him. The tempter 
said, throw yourself off of the pinnacle of the temple, because 
he will give his angels charge over you. Well, he understood, 
or he had the proof text in his mind, but he didn't interpret 
the passage correctly. So just because a Jehovah's Witness 
can recite a few scripture verses, that does not mean that Jesus 
isn't God. Just because a Mormon knows several 
scripture verses, that doesn't mean their whole theology of 
good Mormons attaining godhood and having multiple wives so 
that they can populate their own planets with spirit babies 
in the eschaton is necessarily right. You see, just because 
someone knows or can recite a passage doesn't mean they understand 
it, doesn't mean they've interpreted it properly, and the devil sets 
that forth very clearly in the wilderness with our Lord. The 
Lord not only uses the word, but He interprets it accordingly 
and appropriately. Now notice in Ephesians 4, verse 
11. And he himself, this is speaking of the ascended risen Christ, 
gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and 
some pastors and teachers. Now notice their threefold function. the equipping of the Saints, 
for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 
till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge 
of the Son of God to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature 
of the fullness of Christ, that we should no longer be children 
tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine." 
You see, there ought to be those gifts given by Christ to his 
church to instruct the people of God in this manner, for the 
equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the 
edifying of the body of Christ, so that the people of God are 
not tossed to and fro, carried about with every wind of doctrine 
by the trickery of men in the cunning craftiness of deceitful 
plotting. but speaking the truth in love 
may grow up in all things into him who is the head, Christ, 
from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every 
joint supplies, according to the effective working by which 
every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying 
of itself in love." Now, again, the primary application of this 
is for the gifts that Jesus gives to the church so that they may 
instruct the church." Now I think a legitimate application, or 
at least an implication, is that when pastors or preachers effectively 
communicate the Word of God, they are also effectively communicating 
how to interpret the Word of God. whether they have sermons 
like these, whether they have Bible studies like these, it 
ought to undercut or undergird all of their teaching that the 
people of God are not learning only the specific text, but how 
to approach every text so that they themselves can rightly interpret 
the Word of God. Notice 2 Timothy 2. 2 Timothy 
2 verse 15. Be diligent to present yourself 
approved to God. It's absolutely crucial. Not be diligent to present yourself 
approved to men, first court the favor of men. Rather, gospel 
ministers ought to be diligent, not haphazard, not sluggish, 
not lazy, but rather be diligent to present yourself approved 
to God, notice, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, 
rightly dividing the word of truth. What does Paul's language 
indicate? There is a right way to divide 
the word of truth. If there is a right way, guess 
what? there's also a wrong way. And 
gospel ministers are to take pains, they are to be diligent, 
they are to understand, they will give account to God for 
the way that they have handled His Word, and therefore they 
ought to truly and earnestly seek to divide it accordingly. 2 Timothy 4, verses 2 and 3. We've already considered this 
one. Last week, preach the Word, be 
ready in season and out of season, Convince, rebuke, exhort with 
all long-suffering and teaching. For the time will come when they 
will not endure sound doctrine." You see, the text contrasts the 
proper conviction, rebuke, exhortation, teaching, and long-suffering 
that Timothy is to undergo versus the contrary or the false doctrine 
that those will turn away to. So Timothy is to take seriously 
the Word of God, to interpret it properly, to handle it rightly. And then 2 Peter 3, we referred 
to this text as well last week. 2 Timothy 3, verse 14. Therefore, beloved, looking forward 
to these things, be diligent to be found by him in peace, 
without spot and blameless, and consider that the longsuffering 
of our Lord is salvation, as also our beloved brother Paul, 
according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you. as 
also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which 
are some things hard to understand, here it is, which untaught and 
unstable people twist to their own destruction. Untaught and 
unstable people will do what with the Scriptures? They will 
twist them. Untaught, unstable people do 
not handle accurately the Word of God. Untaught and unstable 
people twist to their own destruction the Scriptures as they do also 
the rest of the Scriptures. So within the Bible itself there 
is this emphasis on handling the Bible accurately, handling 
the Bible properly, dealing with it faithfully. If we do not do 
that, we will be like the devil, citing verses taken out of their 
context, applied in ways that God the Lord never ever intended 
them to be applied. I'm sure you've probably heard 
people with their examples, you've heard some strange things before 
that people bring out of the Bible Well, those things are 
not supposed to be brought out of the Bible, because they were 
never in the Bible to begin with. We can only exegete or lead out 
of the text what the Holy Spirit has intended by inspiration. So the definition, the necessity. Now thirdly, some basic principles. Some basic principles. This is 
not a particular order. This isn't the eight most important. These are basically, dare I say, 
a random suggestion of things that you ought to be on the lookout 
for. A bolo, that's what that means, 
be on the lookout. Be on the lookout when you're 
studying your Bible for some of these basic things so that 
you don't mess up too badly. And again, I don't think any 
of these things will be mind-blowing and you'll stand there and go, 
wow, we never ever thought that it would be like this. And I 
don't know why, but they have taken the form of realize and 
understand. The first thing is that we need 
to realize that interpreting the Bible is a spiritual exercise. Realize that interpreting the 
Bible is a spiritual exercise. While there is a hermeneutic 
for Shakespeare, there is no hermeneutic like the sacred hermeneutic. It is in a class by itself. So 
we need to realize that interpreting the Bible is a spiritual exercise. Therefore, dependence upon the 
spirit for illumination and for guidance is essential. Pray that 
the Spirit of the living God will help you in your understanding 
of the Word of God. The psalmist prayed, Psalm 119, 
verse 18, Open my eyes that I may see wondrous things from your 
law. He's calling out to God. In a 
psalm celebrating the word of God, he says, open my eyes that 
I may see wondrous things from your law. John Owen said it this 
way, for a man solemnly to undertake the interpretation of any portion 
of scripture without invocation of God, to be taught and instructed 
by his spirit is a high provocation of God. He then says, nor shall 
I expect the discovery of truth from anyone who thus proudly 
engages in a work so much above his ability. In other words, 
if a man is tasked with studying scripture in order to preach 
scripture, Owen says for a man to undertake that without invoking 
God, calling upon God, entreating God to be taught and instructed 
by his spirit, he says that is to provoke God himself in the 
exercise and the execution of his duty. Spurgeon has a wonderful 
sermon on the Bible, and Spurgeon makes this comment. If you were 
reading a book that was written by your next door neighbor, and 
you came across something you didn't understand, what would 
you more than likely do? You'd probably walk next door, 
you'd knock on his door, and you'd say, what do you mean when 
you write this? Or nowadays you'd email him, 
or you'd text him, right? What did you mean when you said 
this? The same thing is true with God. We have the book of 
God. How many times do we actually 
wrestle with the text of Scripture, pray about it, and if we don't 
get the specific answer, put it on the back burner, think 
about it another time, roll it about in your head, seek guidance 
from the Lord, God will give answers to such things. If we 
mean business about studying his word, we can trust that the 
author of truth will himself bless us and aid us and guide 
us and instruct us. So realize that interpreting 
the Bible is a spiritual exercise. Therefore, dependence upon the 
Spirit for illumination and for guidance is essential. Secondly, 
understand that it doesn't matter what the text means to you. Again, 
I'm sure all of you have heard me say this. You can stand to 
hear me say it one more time. Understand that it doesn't matter 
what the text means to you. It matters what the text means. You see the distinction? There's 
Bible studies where people sit around and say, well, this text 
means this to me. Well, this text means this to 
me. Well, this text means this to 
me. Now, what if we're talking about 
the same text? And three of us have three separate 
meanings. Somebody's wrong. Two people 
are wrong. It doesn't matter what the text 
means to you, unless, of course, you're right. But then again, 
it still doesn't matter what it means to you. It matters what 
it means. If you look at that sign up there, 
it says exit. The preposition at means out 
of. If there was a fire, we would 
go out of that door. Exegesis. Out of. The preposition ice means into. And we do not want to practice 
eisegesis. That means reading into the text 
what we want it to say. reading into the text what we 
hope that it says. The task of biblical interpretation 
is to lead out of the text, not to read into the text. I remember 
giving on several occasions the illustration by Pastor Greg Nichols. Have you ever seen the torture 
rack? That's that thing they used to use when they'd tie your 
feet and they'd tie your arms and then they'd start to sort 
of twist this thing and it would stretch you. This wasn't chiropractic, 
this was pain, this was suffering, this was torture and punishment. 
Well, Pastor Nichols suggests that sometimes Christians take 
texts and throw them on that torture rack and they start to 
crank that wheel and they're basically screaming at that text, 
say it, say what I want you to say. That's not the task of biblical 
interpretation. We don't torture out of the passage 
a meaning that we want to be there. Rather, we understand 
that God the Spirit is altogether wise, infinitely holy, majestic, 
and is the Lord God of truth. And that as He breathed Paul 
to write the epistles, as He breathed Isaiah to write his 
prophecy, as He breathed through Moses to write the Pentateuch, 
our task is not to try and impose a meaning, but our task, rather, 
is to try and uncover a meaning. The debate about baptism is an 
interesting one. I've got to say, if infant baptism 
was taught in the Bible, I'm not opposed. I have no problem. If God says, sprinkle babies, 
that's fine, if it's a passage taught in scripture. But I submit 
that it's not a passage taught in scripture. But the point is 
that we ought to be willing and able to come to the scripture 
to be taught by the spirit wherever he leads us. We ought not to 
impose things. We ought not to thrust things. 
We ought not to force things. We ought to practice exegesis, 
not eisegesis. Thirdly, now, I'm going to just 
say this the way I have it written, and I'm going to explain it. 
Understand and use what has typically been called the grammatical historical 
approach to interpretation. I will explain that in just a 
moment. I noticed that as the literature continues and progresses, 
sometimes words get changed in the meanings and the titles and 
the nomenclature and all that sort of thing. What I mean here 
is that when we come to the scripture, we employ a grammatical interpretation. Grammar has to do with words, 
right? God the Lord spoke. God the Lord had His apostles 
and prophets write. In other words, we come to a 
book, and we open that book, and we see ink on a page. That 
ink takes the form of words. Those words are connected to 
each other, and as a result, they convey meaning. When we 
take a statement like, you shall not steal, Grammar says that 
we look at that, we look and see what it means, there's a 
subject, there's a verb, there's something told us what to do 
or what not to do. Grammar, take the words as they 
are written and learn. Learn about words, learn about 
verbs, learn about nouns. I realize some of you are going, 
wait a minute, It'll help you in your Bible study. If you know 
what a noun is, if you know what a verb is, if you know what a 
predicate is, if you know what a subject is, stay with me, Stephen. Stay with me, buddy. When we 
see that words are what God gave, We need to understand that. Grammar. Do you realize that in the book 
of Galatians, the apostle hinges an entire argument based on the 
singular use of a particular word. 1S, in English, makes all 
the difference between Paul's argument in Galatians chapter 
3 when he is telling us that he does not say, and to seeds, 
plural, but to seed, singular. He tells us that the seed of 
Abraham is Jesus Christ. And as a result, those who believe 
on the Lord Jesus Christ are Abraham's children. The whole argument hinges upon 
the use of a singular. So when we know these things, 
it will help us, hopefully, to understand and interpret the 
scripture. So grammar just has to do with 
the words in their connections in the way that we find them. 
When you read through the book of Romans, have you ever seen 
the word therefore? You say no, then I'm going to 
say you've never read the Book of Romans. Because Paul uses 
the word therefore all the time. What is therefore therefore? It's an old cheesy saying, but 
it certainly has application here. Why does Paul say therefore? There's a reason. Usually it's 
an implication, usually it's a conclusion, usually it is the 
fruits of the argument that has preceded it. So grammar is important, 
but not only grammar, history, the historical understanding. Now I'm not suggesting that you 
have to be a Ph.D. in ancient Near Eastern history 
to properly understand your Bible, but to properly understand the 
Old Testament, a working knowledge of Israel, is quite helpful. When you study the prophet Jeremiah, 
it's very helpful to know what kingdom he is speaking to. When 
you study the prophet Jeremiah, it's helpful to know what empire 
is the dominating force in the world at that particular time. 
It's helpful to know where the people of Israel or Judah are 
in terms of their religious commitment to the Lord. It's good to know 
who's sitting on the throne as the king in that particular kingdom. history. Not only the grammar, 
the words on the page, but the history of a given situation. It will help you, it will aid 
you, it will enable you to rightly understand the Word of Truth. One man says, biblical interpretation 
that seeks to understand the text on a grammatical, syntactical 
level. Syntax just means how words relate 
to one another. on a grammatical or syntactical 
level as well as situated in its historical context. This approach often seeks primarily 
to know what the author intended in the text and what it meant 
to its first recipients. When we get to Matthew chapter 
24, for instance, it's going to be very important to understand 
how Jesus' disciples would have understand his statement concerning 
the destruction of the temple. If we don't understand or try 
and put ourselves into the minds of that original audience, then 
we will probably mess up the interpretation of that particular 
prophecy. The same thing is true with the 
Old Testament prophets. You do not understand where the 
author is or where the prophet is at the particular time. I'm 
not saying you can never uncover the meaning, but it's like trying 
to dig a hole with a fork. You'll do a lot better with a 
shovel. Hodge says the words of scripture are to be taken 
in their plain historical sense. That is, they must be taken in 
the sense attached to them in the age and by the people to 
whom they were addressed. So very often in preaching, preachers 
We'll try and set the stage, set the context, what characters 
are involved, what's going on, what's the issue, what is being 
identified, what is being addressed. Doesn't that help you to uncover 
the meaning of scripture when it's opened up in that manner 
and you're able to see what's going on? Hodge says, this only 
assumes that the sacred writers were honest and meant to be understood. Historical means the author of 
a particular book, the date of composition, the audience to 
whom the book was written, the historical background at the 
time. Again, when we introduce a new 
book that we're going to study in our church, our practice usually 
is to tell who wrote it, to tell when they wrote it, to tell why 
they wrote it, to whom they wrote it, and some of the major themes. 
So that when we go through the book, we're tethered to history. We're tethered to the context, 
and we don't run amok. You see, if the Bible is taken 
out of its context, it can be made to say anything. And if 
it says anything, then it means nothing. We need to take it seriously. There was a school of interpretation 
in the early church that looked for the allegorical meaning. 
In other words, they saw what the text said. They had a surface 
meaning. But they said the important meaning 
is below that. The important meaning seeks to 
penetrate deep down and to try and find the mystery that the 
Spirit intended for us as readers to get. Most responsible exegetes 
say, no, it is the meaning on the surface. It is what is written. John Calvin said, with reference 
to the allegorical method, a contrivance of Satan to obscure the meaning 
of scripture. You know, you meet somebody who's 
trying to find the hidden deeper meaning to a particular parable, 
and they've missed the point. Pretty sad, isn't it? Get the 
point. Generally speaking, that's the 
point. You get that, you don't need 
to penetrate down into the lower echelons of mysterious esoteric 
truth. That's not the way the Bible 
is written. The Bible isn't a code. The Bible 
doesn't need to be cracked. The Bible doesn't need to have 
a special priesthood that's skilled in uncovering the mysteries. 
The Bible was written for people like you and I, so that by the 
power of the Holy Spirit, we'd be able to read, you shall not 
murder, and not try and find a deeper hidden meaning, an allegorical 
meaning. That's not what we are supposed 
to do. So that's the third. Employ, 
whether you call it this or not, the grammatical historical method. Fourthly, realize that context 
is of the utmost importance in interpreting scripture. Context. Context. Context. very crucial that you understand 
context. It flows out of that third one. That whole idea of grammar, that 
whole idea of history brings us to a particular context. It's helpful to understand what 
is going on to understand the situation that the Scripture 
is given to. Remember that all of the Bible 
is written for us, but it wasn't all necessarily written to us. There are very specific instances 
in the Scripture where if we take them out of their context 
and we apply them to ourselves, we are wrong. I've used the illustration 
before. The prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah 
were pretty well destined to fail in their ministry. Isaiah 
was told, you're going to go preach and speak to these people, 
but hearing they will not hear, seeing they will not see, and 
they will not receive the truth. I've often wondered how motivational 
a speech that was for the prophet Isaiah. Basically, Isaiah, I 
am sending you out to preach and no one's going to listen. 
And then you had Jeremiah. Jeremiah was told they're going 
to reject you, they're going to despise you. Now let's say 
a preacher gets some pretty negative feedback on a Sunday night and 
on Monday morning he starts to cry and he finds comfort in Jeremiah 
and Isaiah. He should find comfort in Jeremiah 
and Isaiah. But he ought not to conclude 
that because of what was spoken to those prophets, that means 
his particular ministry is destined to fail. No, maybe he needs to 
put on his big boy pants and study harder and try better and 
pray more and maybe God will bless his preaching. You see, 
we cannot take things that were written in a specific situation 
and then universalize it. There's a difference as well 
between interpretation, what does the text mean, and application 
or implication. We can make an application or 
we can make an implication that at times gospel preaching is 
met with great rejection. People refused Jeremiah. People 
refused Isaiah. We ought not to be surprised 
or shocked. if they refuse us. However, that's 
different than saying, because of what was stated to Isaiah, 
I know that my ministry is destined to fail. It's a different ballgame. 
Is everybody with me? Context, context, context. Who is the author writing to? 
Who is the author speaking to? Who is the speaker addressing? 
Believers? Unbelievers? Who is reading a 
book in the study every other Saturday morning? When you read 
scripture, look for believers, look for unbelievers, look for 
the uncertain ones. Who are the players in David's 
battle with Goliath? Who's involved there? What's 
happening? What are the armies of Israel 
doing? What are the armies of the Philistines doing? What is 
Goliath doing? There's a contact. Read it. Survey 
it. Look at it. Look at the details. 
Get into the text of scripture jump into it if you have to but 
try and think God's thoughts after him as Revealed in a given 
historical context so context is of utmost importance in Interpreting 
scripture the end of the night if I give you a test, please 
answer Context is of the utmost importance very important very 
very important. This is why people mess up with 
the Bible. They don't look at context mess up. Existentialism, narcissism, self-absorption, 
mysticism, esoteric, yeah. There's not a one definite fixed 
meaning. It's whatever I think or I give 
sort of value or I bring to the table or I bring to the scripture. 
Well, that is absolutely incorrect. The Bible is objective, revealed, 
propositional truth given by God. Our task is to understand 
it. It's not to shape it. It's not 
to manipulate it. It's not to massage it. It's 
not to lift it out of its context and say, well, Jeremiah cried, 
so therefore I must cry. No, we ought not to do stuff 
like that. It is indicative of the spirit 
of the ethos of our age, not only with reference to scripture, 
deconstruction, taking documents, historical documents. and taking 
them out of their context, vis-a-vis certain amendments, and saying, 
well, that's not what they meant. No, no. What did they mean in 
their given context? We need to understand that. That's 
how we get at the meaning of the scripture. A big problem 
today is the confession of faith. Everybody, or not everybody, 
there are factions that say, we need to change the confession. 
We need to change the confession. No, we need to understand the 
confession before we ever begin to make improvements upon it. 
Nine times out of ten, the revisions, I don't know about nine times, 
but five times out of ten, just to be fair, the revisions that 
are suggested are oftentimes because we don't understand what 
the original authors meant. the impassibility of God, simplicity 
of God, these concepts, these doctrines that the Reformers 
and the Puritans hashed out and worked through, we don't understand 
it, doesn't fit our conceived ideas of theology, and so we 
say, well, let's just change the Confession. Nobody will ever 
understand that, so let's just change it. Why don't we educate 
people on what it really means? So yeah, it's not just confined 
to the Scripture, it unfortunately happens to other historical documents 
as well, but it's just irresponsible. It's very irresponsible. It'd 
be irresponsible to read another book of nonfiction and not to 
give credit to context. We would never think to do that 
in other areas, but when it comes to the Bible, we just sort of 
lift texts out, and then they mean whatever it is that we want 
them to mean. Well, that's not biblical interpretation. That's falling. Sorry, but this 
really gets my goat when people misinterpret the Bible. And get 
it, we all misinterpret the Bible. We just need to try and not do 
it so much. Yeah. No, it's not just that. I mean, people can take very 
orthodox translations of scripture and still mess up. So, I mean, 
Jehovah's Witnesses have formulated their own translation of the 
Bible to suit and fit their theology, so it certainly helps them. It 
certainly helps them that they strip away the deity of Jesus 
when it comes to John 1.1 or it comes to Colossians 1. It 
helps their cause, but people with King James Bibles or New 
King James Bibles or ESV Bibles still come up with some pretty 
bizarre interpretations. If it was only those people with 
their faulty Bible, that'd be nice, but it really isn't that 
way. That's why it's very important that we understand – again, these 
are basic principles. I hope no one's scratching their 
head saying, well, I never heard this before. Hopefully it's just 
a reminder of what you already know and it's good to be refreshed 
so that when we come to the scripture we don't fall prey to making 
foolish mistakes. The fifth observation is realize 
that the scripture is its best interpreter. The Scripture is 
its best interpreter. Our confession of faith says 
the infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture 
itself. And therefore, when there is 
a question about the true and full sense of any Scripture, 
which is not manifold but one, it must be searched by other 
places that speak more Clearly. It just makes sense, doesn't 
it? Perfect example. 1 Corinthians 
15. Verse 29. Somebody read that 
passage. 1 Corinthians 15. Verse 29. You can read it out 
loud when you find it. A little sword drill here. Otherwise, what will they do 
for a baptized for the dead? If the dead do not rise at all, 
why men are they baptized for the dead? That's an interesting 
passage, isn't it? Paul assumes that there is baptism 
going on for the dead. It's an interesting passage, 
no? I think it is. Mormonism has 
a whole theology of baptism for the dead. Now, when we come to 
1 Corinthians 15, verse 29, we must conclude that that's a difficult 
passage, unless we're Mormons. we must conclude that it's a 
bit of a tricky passage. So what do we do? Do we let that 
tricky, difficult passage shape the way we interpret all the 
clear passages that deal with baptism? Or do we let all the 
clear passages that deal with baptism help us with the tricky 
ones? And I think at best, at least 
for me, it's enough to say, I don't know what Paul means in 1 Corinthians 
15, 29. But I know what he doesn't mean. 
He doesn't mean that we are to upset the apple cart and start 
baptizing for the dead. He does not mean that we are 
to undo every clear passage that speaks to belief, then baptism. So the analogy of scripture or 
some scripture helping shed light on other scripture may not necessarily 
give us certainly what it means, but it may at least help us to 
understand what it doesn't mean. 1 Corinthians 15.29 might remain 
a melon scratcher, but it's not going to upset the ecclesiology 
of a particular church. Because we have a whole bunch 
of verses that tell us that you baptize living people, that you 
baptize believing people, that you baptize them by immersion. And that analogy of scripture, 
that analogy of faith, helps us to deal with difficult passages 
along the way. Another passage that's quite 
interesting is found in Revelation chapter 20, where the devil is 
bound. He is bound with a chain, and 
he is cast into a bottomless pit. Now, if you've ever read 
the book of Revelation, you'll know there's a lot of symbol, 
there's a lot of things signified there, and Revelation 20 is not 
exempt from that. I mean, we have a spirit being, 
the devil, he's bound with a physical chain, and he's cast into a bottomless 
pit. Obviously, there's some word 
pictures and symbols going on there. When we read through Revelation 
20 and we try to figure out what's going to happen at the end times, 
we can get a bit confused. What unfortunately happens is 
that we take very clear passages, like 1 Corinthians 15, 20 to 
28. That's a very clear passage about 
what's going to happen when Jesus comes at the end. See, I think 
faulty interpreters take Revelation 20 and interpret 1 Corinthians 
15 through its lens, rather than taking the clear passage of 1 
Corinthians 15 to help us with the not-so-clear passage of Revelation 
20. That really shouldn't be difficult. We take the very clear to help 
us with the not as clear. That's all I'm trying to convey 
here. And this is a helpful rule, a helpful way to apply this principle. Scripture is its best interpreter. Sixthly, understand, we're going 
to run through the last three really quick because I have an 
unwritten covenant with all of you that we don't go past nine. 
Understand the various literary genre utilized in the Bible. I will explain the terms. Understand 
the various literary genre utilized in the Bible. Genre just means 
type. If you went to college, the way 
that you read your book on mathematics, you understood it was a bit of 
a different approach than the way you read Archie Comics when 
you were five, or maybe that morning. You read Archie Comics 
in the morning, and then you went to school, and you got your 
book on mathematics. They're different genres, aren't 
they? The way you approach Archie and Jughead is going to be fundamentally 
different than the way that you approach quantum physics. I think 
that's a no-brainer. Well, the Bible is filled with 
various types of literature. You need to understand that God 
is good. God is gracious. God is kind. God is loving. God made steak, 
and he made chicken, and he made mangoes, and he made asparagus, 
and he made all kinds of good things for us to eat. So he has 
given us a book containing various types of literature to satisfy, 
to entice, to feed, to thrill. I mean, there's something exhilarating 
about watching David take down Goliath in that battle. There's 
something exhilarating about Jesus stepping into that boat 
and the disciples panicking and Jesus hushing the storm. There's 
something exhilarating about that way that God communicates. But that's not the only way. 
There's other times where it's straightforward narrative, straightforward 
instruction, straightforward history. There's different types 
of literature in the scripture. The way that you interpret Revelation 
will have some unique principles as opposed to the way that you 
interpret Romans. The way that you interpret the 
Proverbs may differ from the way that you interpret the Gospel 
accounts. The way that you interpret 1 
Corinthians may be different and will be different than the 
way that you interpret the Song of Solomon. God has chosen to 
communicate through story. God has chosen to communicate 
didactically, strictly teaching. He's given law. He's given prophets. He's given all of these things. 
And it's helpful for the interpreter to understand what type of literature 
We are reading. That's a good thing. Seventh. This one's huge. We oftentimes 
discuss this when we go through the Confession, specifically 
Chapter 7. Understand the relationship between 
the Old and the New Testaments. Understand the relationship between 
the Old and the New Testaments. Augustine said, the New is in 
the Old concealed. The Old is in the New revealed. Great statement concerning continuity 
between the Old and the New Testament. The New is in the Old concealed 
and the Old is in the New, excuse me, revealed. It is important 
to understand there's continuity, there's discontinuity. There 
are things similar between the Old Covenant Israel and the New 
Covenant Israel. There are things similar between 
that theocratic nation and the church, but there's some dissimilarity. The church is not given the mandate 
to go out and execute Canaanites in a given city. The church is 
not to take up arms and destroy people for King Jesus. That is 
a discontinuity that we need to recognize that exists between 
the Old and the New Testaments. And then the last principle is 
realize that you are not the first one to engage in this task. Realize that you are not the 
first, or should I say first or only one, to engage in this 
task. Ephesians 4, Christ gave some 
to be apostles, to be prophets, to be pastors and teachers, to 
be evangelists so that they may equip, so they may do ministry, 
all those things for the entirety of the church. Have you ever 
met anybody who said, all I need is my Bible alone and I'm good 
to go? They're the scariest interpreters 
out there. We need the Bible and the gifts 
that Jesus has given to His church. You may disagree with John Calvin 
in some points of doctrine, but you should understand John Calvin 
in some points of doctrine. Spurgeon said it this way, It 
seems odd that certain men who talk so much of what the Holy 
Spirit reveals to themselves should think so little of what 
He has revealed to others. Beware the man who says, oh, 
you know, I came to this all on my own. You know, I read 15 
commentators and none of them saw it. Well, maybe you're right, 
but be very cautious. If you've come up with a new 
interpretation after 20 centuries of Christ's rule in his church, 
I'm not here to say you're necessarily wrong. I am here to say be very, 
very careful. before you go into print, or 
you take on Calvin, or you take on the Puritans, or you take 
on the Reformers. We need to make sure we realize 
that this is not an individualistic, narcissistic, self-absorbed task. We are people of a community, 
the church. We are connected to the church 
that we are in. We are connected to the church 
universal. We are connected to Calvin. We 
are connected to Augustine. We're connected to the Puritans. 
We ought to realize that Christ gave those men as gifts, and 
for us to turn from or neglect those gifts is to do so at our 
own peril. So remember, you're not alone. Check yourself. If you come up 
with a brand new cool interpretation, take a few moments, examine some 
others, just to make sure you're not whacked out. All right, so 
those are eight principles. And I think this came up in our 
Saturday morning study. It's not like there's a Roman 
17 where Paul says, herein lies your biblical hermeneutics. And 
it's not like Calvin said, OK, here's 15 things you need to 
do in order to interpret Scripture. These are just principles that 
through the age of the church have been recognized by interpreters. Many of them are codified in 
our confession of faith, that idea. that the best interpreter 
of Scripture is Scripture itself. So these things have been developed 
in the church for the use of God's people in the context of 
the church. Well, let us pray. Father, we 
thank You for this time to consider these things, and I pray that 
You would help us to love Your Word, help us to delight in it, 
help us to read it as You've intended us to do so, God, for 
Your glory, and for our well-being. Go with us now, we pray. Again, 
comfort the families tonight, Father, who have lost their loved 
ones. Comfort the Van Worden family. Give them great grace. Give them 
strength. Give them rejoicing at the thought 
that their dearly beloved brother is now in the presence of God 
the Lord. Also be with Terry's family, 
be with Sandy. She's just lost not only her 
sister, but her brother as well. Please comfort that dear family 
also. And we ask through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen.