2 TIMOTHY 3:16-17: Inkblot Christianity

TOPIC: Scripture; Bible, Inspiration, Interpretation, Word (of God)

NOTE FROM EDITOR: The following message is mainly topical; it was a promotional message for a impending seminar: GOD BREATHED- Making your bible live! The traditional outline format is therefore absent.

TITLE: INKBLOT CHRISTIANITY - Tell Me What the Author Says!
TEXT: 2 Timothy 3:16-17

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

GLEANED FROM OUR TEXT

For those who hold to an inspired view of Scripture, Paul would (among many things) be telling us …

1. … all Scripture is “inspired by God,” not just pieces or parts
2. … being either in-“adequate” or ill-"equipped” isn’t one of God’s objectives for us
3. … every believer is expected to have some good work to do (in this message we understand "good work" to be defined as ministry)
   
4. …“and profitable” is not financial advise; it is God’s intention that students of "Scripture" benefit personally from His “sacred writings” [see v. 15]
5. … we should assume the inclusion of and the order of the four discipleship/life-topics are intentionally specific (i.e., "teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness")

FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: Is this what I say Paul means or is this what Paul actually meant?

WORDS HAVE MEANING

• I’ve approached the above passage in the same way I would expect any student of Scripture SHOULD approach them; not all do so
• Robert Stein (Mildred and Ernest Hogan Professor of New Testament at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) suggests two principal approaches (hermeneutics) to determining the meaning of Scripture today [Jeff Robinson, SBC LIFE May 2002] ...

• Reader-centered Bible Study – the practice of reading a passage of Scripture then asking students the following: “Now, what does the Scripture say to you?”
• Author-centered Bible Study – the same players and passage only a different question is asked: “What is the author’s meaning?”
  

• What’s being practiced in the field today is what might be called “inkblot” biblical interpretation … a perverted stepchild of Christian relativism; let me show you an inkblot from the Bible; now, you tell me what it says to you!
• “If you really believe … it’s not the author who determines meaning, then any Doctrine of Inspiration we have is … irrelevant” [ibid.]

ABOUT GETTING SERIOUS

• At least with a Rorschach inkblot 50% reflects the other 50%
• Not true with the Inkblot Christianity of many today; it’s mostly unlike anything the author intended
• More than half of our professing church goers admit they’ve never read the Bible cover-to-cover, let alone study it [Barna 2006]
• If they’ve not read what God says, how then can they know what God means?
• What is the reason for this? No one but God can seriously answer that question
• Surveys appear to be the only place we might find some clarity
• Should we read/study our Bibles? The whole Bible? Of course we should!
• At a more personal level, most of our best leaders (past and present) say we should study our Bibles
• But, you ask, isn’t that why God gave us “some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ” [Ephesians 4:11-12]? Isn't that their job?
  

TWO BARRIERS TO BIBLE STUDY

• Survey after survey seems to reveal two pernicious barriers to wide acceptance of Bible reading/study:

First, “the Bible is so difficult to understand that only highly skilled theologians with technical training can deal with the Scriptures”
Second, “the Bible is boring” [R. C. Sproul, Knowing Scripture, p.13]

• Only an extremely childish view of God and His Inspiration of Scripture would say the Bible is too difficult to understand or too boring to read/study
• If you agree with me (and many others) you will want to know what the inspired authors meant when they said or wrote what they did
• You will not be terribly interested in what just any Tom, Dick, or Harry thinks they meant
• You will want to know what they actually meant
• Is it possible to do that? With certain qualifications, the answer is yes!

After all, the Bereans did! And thousands of our extended spiritual family have also

HOW TO STUDY YOUR BIBLE

In the sixteenth century, the Reformers declared their total confidence in what they called the perspicuity of Scripture.

What they meant by that technical term was the clarity of Scripture.

• They maintained … the Bible is basically clear and lucid
• It is simple enough for any literate person to understand its basic message
• This is not to say that all parts of the Bible are equally clear or that there are no difficult passages or sections
  
• "Laymen unskilled in the ancient languages and the fine points of exegesis may have difficulty with parts of Scripture, but the essential content is clear enough to be understood easily." [Sproul, p. 15]
• Luther … was convinced that what was obscure and difficult in one part of Scripture was stated more clearly and simply in other parts of Scripture. [ibid.]
  

We could plead for people to study the Bible for personal reward; we could try to stimulate their curiosity. We could tell them it would be the most fulfilling experience of their life.

Ultimately, though, the reason they should study their Bible is that it is their duty.

DUTY

If the Bible were the most boring book on earth, even (God forbid) irrelevant, it would still be our duty to study it.

If its style were awkward and confusing, duty would remain.

We live as fallen beings under His divine Sovereignty; it is His Word, not ours.

We are the creatures; He is the Creator.

Under those circumstances duty is not an option

TEN RULES FOR LAYMEN

• Read your Bible like you read the paper
• Read it with same passion & personality with which you treat your spouse
• Read with an awareness of literary style and purpose
• Read the implied (what Scripture seemingly implies) in the light of the explained (that which Scripture makes explicate)
  
• Read without guessing at purpose or meaning or even the definitions of words
• Read without fear of literary devices
• Read the proverbial (wise generality) differently than the absolute (command)
• Read the spiritual differently than you read the literal (and don't spiritualize or allegoricalize the literal unless the context requires it)
  
• Read parables according to the generally accepted rules which govern parabolic speech
• Don’t read prophecy for understanding until you’ve done your homework (this is one area of Bible study where we all need help)
  

THE BATTLEGROUND

• Many of my brethren believe with me that the War for the Pew will be the battleground for believers in these early decades of the 21st Century
• Many also agree that God purchased a beachhead in the world with His own blood, and that ground is our Bible [John 1:1, 14]
• If we lose the struggle for interpretation and application … well, I don’t know!
• Perhaps the faux church will continue to meet in buildings; we’ll have to meet in the fields and by the streams … on the beach I guess!

We must remind one another of this truth however …

Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.

1 Corinthians 2:14-15

CHALLENGE

Using the two competing hermeneutics mentioned in the beginning of this message, we might ask ...

What do you think the above means

Or, we might ask...

What did Paul mean in this verse?

Which question would you prefer be answered?

• If you have not yet begun to respond to the duty that is yours, then you need to ask God to forgive you!
• You need to ask your brethren to pray for you!
• And need to resolve in your heart to do your best to do your duty from this day forth!

DISCLAIMER

The Bible IS a living document; no class/seminar will make it live … only by faith will it live for you – “without faith it is impossible to please God” [Hebrews 11:6]

Bible, Christianity, Expository,
Homiletics, Outlines, Preaching,
Scripture, Sermons, Word

2 Kings 22:1-23:3 - Dust On the Bible!

TOPIC: Scripture; Apostasy, Bible, Consecration, Covenant, Word (of God)
TITLE: DUST ON THE BIBLE: Go Find The Book!

TEXT: 2 Kings 22:1-23:3

(1) Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. (2) And he did right in the sight of the LORD and walked in all the way of his father David [and] he did [not] turn aside to the right or to the left.

CONTEXT: Manasseh’s evil reign had brought Israel to its knees. Though money was everywhere it only flowed in the hands of the rich, the privileged, or the powerful. The poor were considered a necessary evil. The nations’ leaders were self-serving.

Politicians were corrupt to the core, even good politicians lack ethical and moral depth. Religious figures were no better … it was rare that good was done publicly in the name of the Lord. False religions and cults abounded. Right was wrong and wrong was right; black was white and up was down.

When King Josiah, the grandson of Manasseh, was 18 (perhaps as old as 26) he began a project to restore the run-down, cluttered temple that had been abandoned during his father’s horrible reign.

Hilkiah, the High Priest, had done some Temple Spring-cleaning and discovered a hidden copy of the law of Moses. He turned it over to the scribe Shaphan who had been sent by the king to prepare the administration of the Temple for the needed improvements.

Shaphan read the scrolls and reported to the king on what had been found. The king, a righteous man, ask that they be read to him. After they were read he came under conviction for his nation and himself. The result was a mighty revival.

TRUTH CLAIM: There is an old gospel song that has a stanza which says, “Dust on the Bible, Dust on the Holy Word, the words of all the prophets and the sayings of our Lord.” (Kitty Wells)

How is it possible that we allow dust to collect on God’s Holy Word? I continue to be amazed at how little Bible reading goes on among God’s people; I am equally amazed at how often I am asked questions that are fundamental in nature.

And yet right here in Scripture is an example of a prior time when the same thing was taking place.

Now please don’t misunderstand, I would much rather the questions be asked than not asked. It just surprises me that certain questions are asked by solid believers. And I am equally surprised at how few people want to know more about the Bible.

FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: What Does the Story of Israel’s Rediscovery of God’s Word Suggest To You And Me?

EXPANDED OUTLINE:

I. IT SUGGESTS WE SHOULD NEVER NEED TO REDISCOVER GOD'S WORD! (vv. 3-8a)

Now it came about in the eighteenth year of King Josiah that the king sent Shaphan, the son of Azaliah the son of Meshullam the scribe, to the house of the LORD saying, "Go up to Hilkiah the high priest that he may count the money brought in to the house of the LORD which the doorkeepers have gathered from the people. And let them deliver it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the LORD, and let them give it to the workmen who are in the house of the LORD to repair the damages of the house, to the carpenters and the builders and the masons and for buying timber and hewn stone to repair the house. Only no accounting shall be made with them for the money delivered into their hands, for they deal faith-fully."

(8a) Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, "I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD."

What place does the Word of God have in your life? Is it abandoned in your home like it was in Israel in the days of the evil king Manasseh?

[BIBLES] Bibles per capita in the world as a whole is estimated at less than half of a Bible per person. Yet in the USA we average over five bibles per household. An average household is 2.2 people. That’s over two Bibles per person in America.

More Bibles are used as coffee table decorations or bookshelf fillers than are used in Bible study.

God did not ordain the written word in order that we have a record of what He has said, nor as a book of dos and don’ts, nor as a reference work. The Bible is God’s way of reminding us of who He is and that His word is sure and true!

GO FIND THE BOOK! GO FIND THE BOOK!

The old saying, “Out of sight, out of mind!” applies to the Word of God. It was not the cause of Israel’s rebellion, nor the cause of their unrighteousness. Their hardened hearts and stiff necks were the cause of their apostasy.

When the word of God was rediscovered by His people they were reminded of Him, when they were reminded of Him they were reminded of their great apostasy, when they were reminded of their condition they were brought under conviction.

Now just because someone is brought under conviction does not mean they will change, change comes about after a person has broken and pleaded for forgiveness.

GO FIND THE BOOK! GO FIND THE BOOK!

II. IT SUGGESTS WE SHOULD GO READ THE BOOK TO KNOW ITS CONTENTS! (vv.8b-10)

(8b) And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan who read it. And Shaphan the scribe came to the king and brought back word to the king and said, "Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the LORD." Moreover, Shaphan the scribe told the king saying, "Hilkiah the priest has given me a book." And Shaphan read it in the presence of the king.

GO READ THE BOOK! GO READ THE BOOK!

God’s people not only discovered the word but they uncovered the word. They rolled open the scrolls and read what God had said to His people. They rejoiced to hear from the living God. They came from every corner of the nation to hear form their Lord.

In general they broke as a nation and repented of their errant way of life. The turned from their evil ways and determined to follow after their God.

GO READ THE BOOK! GO READ THE BOOK!

A dusty Bible says it has not been read. A dusty Bible says “I don’t care what God says.” A dusty Bible says “I know everything it says, it can offer me nothing new.” A dusty Bible says, “This book is old fashioned, it doesn’t apply to today, it’s not relevant.

III. IT SUGGESTS WE SHOULD HEAR THE BOOK! (vv. 11-20)

And it came about when the king heard the words of the book of the law, that he tore his clothes.

Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Achbor the son of Micaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king's servant saying, "Go, inquire of the LORD for me and the people and all Judah concerning the words of this book that has been found, for great is the wrath of the LORD that burns against us, because our fathers have not listened to the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us."

So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter); and they spoke to her.

And she said to them, "Thus says the LORD God of Israel, 'Tell the man who sent you to me, thus says the LORD, “Behold, I bring evil on this place and on its inhabitants, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read. Because they have forsaken Me and have burned incense to other gods that they might provoke Me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore My wrath burns against this place, and it shall not be quenched.”

But to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the LORD thus shall you say to him, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel, ‘Regarding the words which you have heard, because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I truly have heard you," declares the LORD. Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, neither shall your eyes see all the evil which I will bring on this place."'" So they brought back word to the king.

GO HEAR THE BOOK! GO HEAR THE BOOK!

The Bible says, "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ." [Romans 10:17]

GO HEAR THE BOOK! GO HEAR THE BOOK!

IV. IT SUGGESTS WE SHOULD SHARE THE BOOK! (vv. 23:1,2)

Then the king sent, and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. And the king went up to the house of the LORD and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests and the prophets and all the people, both small and great; and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant, which was found in the house of the LORD.

The Gospel of John begins by identifying the Lord Jesus Christ as the Word, the writer of Hebrews identifies Him as the Living Word!

GO SHARE THE BOOK! GO SHARE THE BOOK!

V. IT SUGGESTS WE SHOULD OBEY THE BOOK! (23:3)

And the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people entered into the covenant.

We need to heed: “When all else fails, follow instructions.” When we survey the panorama of contemporary American life we must conclude that we have failed. We need to read the instructions and determine where we have gone wrong.

GO KEEP THE BOOK! GO KEEP THE BOOK!

The Bible says,

But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man shall be blessed in what he does.

James 1:25

GO KEEP THE BOOK! GO KEEP THE BOOK!

APPLICATION/CHALLENGE:

[DAVID AND GOLIATH] The Rev. Frank Morgan reported in a recent issue of Reader’s Digest that …

“My daughter’s boss, Gene, a commercial appraiser of short stature, arrived in court with a bulging briefcase. The lawyer for the other party was a Goliath of a man who, when he caught sight of Gene, cried out across the courtroom, ‘Well, little man, what have you got in that briefcase?’

Without looking up, Gene replied, ‘Five smooth stones.’”

Let me suggest to you that the quickness of this man’s response was a function of his personality and character: his self-esteem was in place, he was confident and he knew his bible.

PRINCIPLES

1. It is possible for God’s people to abandon His word!
2. It is possible for religion to go on without His word!
3. God abandons those who abandon His word! Scripture suggests that God blesses those who humble themselves, pray, fast, repent, and turn from their evil ways!
   
4. Scripture suggests that leaders must be involved in revival and spiritual awakening!
5. Scripture emphasizes the hearing of the Word!
6. The bottom-line is man’s heart!

Notice the godly man’s has a heart for the upkeep of the Lord’s house! The godly man searches widely for the truth in God’s word! The godly man is not only a hearer of the word but an effectual doer as well!

2 Kings, Christianity, Expository, Homiletics,
Preaching, Sermon Outlines, Sermons