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Lessons and Sermons from the Longmire Road church of Christ in Conroe Texas USA
If a subject has been greatly overlooked
and grossly misunderstood,
we would have to say it is the subject of
hermeneutics.
Many times when we look at a
congregation's curriculum and what is
being taught,
generally speaking, hermeneutics is
usually not one of the things that
is on the list. We spend a lot of our time
talking about the doctrines of
God and we should.
But very little time in how to arrive at a
correct understanding of said doctrine.
And so therefore, many times people fall
by the wayside because they do
not know how to approach the scriptures
correctly.
Now, there are varying factors for the
oversight,
one of which might very well be the
intricate nature of hermeneutics.
This is by no means a 30-minute study,
if you will, when you consider
hermeneutics.
It is very in detail and barring a crash
course is what this amounts to tonight.
We understand that also it is not the most
exciting study at time when
we get into languages and we get into the
things ~ as it relates to to word studies.
But nevertheless, the study of
hermeneutics is critical to
our understanding of scripture.
Knowing some basic rules will help us to
be able to rightly divide the word.
As Timothy was instructed in Second
Timothy chapter two.
And verse 15 to study the word of God,
to show himself approved, dividing aright
the word of God,
cutting aright. That is the idea of to cut
straight,
to to make sure that he is dividing it or
understanding it and cutting it correctly.
And I want you to appreciate that
statement.
It's made in a time where there was still
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
And Timothy was told to cut the word
straight.
He was told to divide the word of God
correctly.
Not to wait on the Holy Spirit to divide
it for him.
And so it's very interesting here when we
consider the topic of hermeneutics.
What we want to do tonight is reinforce
the proposition that hermeneutics
is important, and we'll do this in three
stages.
First, we'll consider a proper definition
of hermeneutics.
What is hermeneutics? How do we define it?
What does it mean? Then, number two,
what we will consider is a
Pertinence of hermeneutics. Why is it that
we even need to cover hermeneutics?
I've never heard of it. Why does the
church have to deal with it?
And then, number three, we want to take a
look,
~ the majority of our time looking at some
key principles in hermeneutics,
some basic principles that is going to
help us to employ the word
of God more effectively, to look at the
word of God and study it,
I should say, more effectively.
So, first let's look at a proper
definition of hermeneutics.
The term hermeneutics has its roots in
Greek two words specifically.
If we go to Luke chapter 24 and verse 27,
we find the word there. And also in John
chapter 1 and verse 42.
So let's start in Luke chapter 24 and
verse 27,
where we find the word diatmenu'o.
Diermeneo. We see the the the the sounding
there of the word,
the assonance of the word.
At the beginning at Moses, and beginning
rather,
Jesus said at Moses and all the prophets,
notice this, he died manuo, he expounded.
That's where we get our word hermeneutics
from.
He expounded unto them all the scriptures,
the things concerning himself.
And so Dietmanuo means to unfold the
meaning of what is said,
to explain or to expound. It is
He explained to them or he unfolded.
It's a beautiful picture. It's a really
beautiful word picture.
When you think of hermeneutics,
when you think of being able to expound
something,
when you're explaining something,
you're unfolding something. And the more
layers you peel back,
the better you understand. And so that's
what Jesus is doing.
He is unfolding. He's explaining.
But then also we have another ~ section
here in John chapter 1 and verse 42.
And it says, and he brought him to Jesus.
And when Jesus beheld him, he said,
Thou art Simon, son of Jonah, thou shalt
be called Cephas,
which is by interpretation.
By interpretation, a stone.
And so that is Ermenul. So the first is
Di-Ermanuel,
and the other one is Erminu, which means
to interpret.
So you have the concept of expounding,
and you have the concept of.
Interpretation. So when we put it
together,
hermeneutics is the science of
interpretation.
The study of hermeneutics has reference to
interpreting written documents.
And so you practice hermeneutics every
time you read something.
You may not know this, but you practice
basic hermeneutics every time
you read something. When you pick up a
newspaper,
when you're reading a column, when you're
reading a book.
You're practicing hermeneutics.
You're employing the basic principles of
hermeneutics.
You interpret the material in light of
various key principles.
And we'll look at some more of that.
And so delving a little bit deeper,
we we have to understand when we consider
the science of hermeneutics,
when we also look at hermeneutics as it is
defined by Milton Terry
in his book, Biblical Hermeneutics,
the science assumes.
That there are diverse modes of thought
and ambiguities among,
or of expression rather, among men,
and accordingly it aims to remove
supposable differences between a writer
and his readers, so that the meaning of
the one may be truly
and accurately apprehended by others.
Since the Tower of Babel, man speaks
different languages.
But not only do we speak different
languages,
the way we speak is different.
The words that we use are different.
The colloquialisms, ~ the expressions and
various idioms that we use,
it is all different. And so, how are we
going to understand the writings
of someone else? There has to be a set of
rules.
Like, for instance, when you think about ~
the child's game,
I I got your nose, right? You take
somebody's nose and apparently you got it.
You that that's something that children
do.
Don't do that when you go to South Africa.
All right, you get to visit there.
Don't take a child's notes because that
gesture is an obscene gesture.
And so understand then that there are
things that you can do over here,
there are things that you could say,
there are gestures and words that may not
be appropriate in another country.
So hermeneutics, what hermeneutics does,
it takes all of these into account and
helps the reader make sense
of what has been written. It takes all of
these differences and employs rules.
To help you understand what it is that is
written.
And so it also does this, but we have to ~
consider this,
I should say. It only does this so far as
the historical evidence
of how the language was used. This is very
important.
It only does this so far as the historical
evidence of how the language was used.
Certain written documents remain
undeciphered.
We don't know what it says, even though we
have the documents.
We don't know what it says because we have
no history of the language.
The Singapore Stone. You might look that
up in your own time.
The Singapore Stone is one of those where
you have a document and they know nothing.
They know very little about the document
because that language,
that culture, has disappeared into
obscurity and we don't know anything about
it.
And so we can't know what the document
says.
Why? Because we have no history.
Of the language. The Bible does not have
that problem.
The Bible is written primarily in three
languages.
The Bible is written in Hebrew.
It was written in Chaldee or Babylonian or
Aramaic,
as it is said, and then it is written in
Greek.
So primarily Hebrew, Chaldee, and then in
Greek.
We know a lot about those three languages.
We know plenty about those three languages
to be able to look at the text
in the Hebrew.
To be able to look at the Babylonian text
or the Chaldee text,
to be able to look at the Greek text and
to know this is what they meant.
To know that this is how they used these
words.
So can we be certain that baptism should
be interpreted as immersion?
Absolutely. There's no doubt about it.
Why? Because we know the Greek history and
how the language was used.
We know what the gr how the Greeks used
the term baptizo.
It is to submerse, to immerse,
to put underwater. And so when the Holy
Spirit uses that word,
we can't then take that word and then
apply it somewhere else or apply
it in a different way. And so the concept
of hermeneutics is applied generally
to writings that warrant investigation and
interpretation.
Let me say that again. The concept of
hermeneutics is employed generally
to writings that warrant investigation and
interpretation.
Now, consider this as we continue to look
at the proper definition that hermeneutics
have several divisions within it.
First of all, we have to understand that
there is general and special hermeneutics.
Let's consider general hermeneutics.
General hermeneutics, this is devoted to
the general principles which
are applicable to all writings of
language.
There are general ways of interpreting
what is said or what is written.
This is these there are ways that we use
in everyday life that fall into this
category. We read instructions.
And there's a general way in which you are
going to interpret instructions.
We read laws, we read newspapers and the
like,
and we employ general principles of
hermeneutics.
It involves us thinking logically and
recognizing the philosophy
of general human speech.
And so we understand or we know the
difference between satire and facts.
I do not go online and look at the Babylon
Bee and then call my friends up and say,
Have you read what the Babylon Bee says?
I can't believe it. You know, this is
happening.
You don't do that. Why? Because you
understand that that is satirical.
And when you read the Babylon Bee,
unless you're a liberal, when you read the
Babylon Bee,
you understand that these people are
joking.
You understand that these folks are not
serious when they say these things.
That's hermeneutics. You are interpreting
the writing with some key principles.
But when you pick up the Wall Street
Journal,
you don't read it the same as you do
satire.
When you're picking up the Constitution,
you don't do the same thing with that.
Why? Because you're employing
hermeneutics.
You are assigning a basic principle to
interpretation.
Based on general hermeneutics,
but then we have special hermeneutics.
Special hermeneutics is the specific
concepts or classes or sections of
writing.
Historical writing differs from poetical
writing.
And poetical writing differs from
philosophical writing.
And so the application of principles and
methods corresponding with that style
should be employed. We have poetry and
then we have didactic discourses.
We have philosophical writings,
we have historical writings, but you
cannot employ the historical facts
or the historical principles to poetry.
Why? Because poetry in and of itself is
going to have a different set of rules.
We don't interpret the Constitution of the
United States in the same
way we interpret Shakespeare. And we don't
interpret Shakespeare or the Bible
in the same way we interpret the
Constitution in that sense.
Right? We interpret the Bible as being
absolutely true.
But the Constitution, people may go back
and forth.
Well, I think it means this, and I think
it means that.
Well, you can do that and you can argue
back and forth in a court of law.
This country is allowed to do that,
but when it comes to the scripture,
that's not the principles that we employ.
And herein lies the problem of a
postmodern society.
The rules have been flushed down the
drain,
and we interpret everything through our
own lenses without
any regard for hermeneutics.
People don't study hermeneutics anymore
because everyone wants their own truth.
They are not concerned about the
principles of how to interpret something,
because when they read something,
this is what it means to me. And then
another person reads it and said,
Well, this is what it means to me.
Well, with that type of mindset,
you don't need principles of
interpretation.
You might as well just give the book to
someone and say,
you know what, you go do whatever you want
to do.
Because that is the mindset that people
have and desire.
And so what we have is general and special
hermeneutics,
but then we come to our subject matter as
it relates to the Bible,
and this is sacred or biblical
hermeneutics.
Sacred or biblical hermeneutics.
Sacred hermeneutics is the interpretation
of Scripture.
This is where we will spend most of our
time in our lifetime when
we study the Bible. It employs both the
general and
And the special principles in the
interpretation of the scripture
to accomplish its ends. What we do in
sacred hermeneutics is what
is called exegesis. What we do in sacred
hermeneutics is what is called exegesis.
The term exegesis, as you get the word ex
there at the very end,
is to lead out. That's what it means.
It means to lead out or to draw out.
Using the principles of hermeneutics.
The hermeneutic principles used,
well, are the principles used rather,
while exegesis is the actual
interpretation based on the principles.
So hermeneutic, the principles and
exegesis are the actual interpretation
based
on the principles. You cannot have proper
exegesis with improper hermeneutics.
If you are using the wrong principles,
you're not going to get the right
exegesis.
If you are employing the wrong set of
standards,
you're not going to get the right thing
from the text.
You're going to be wrong all the time.
You cannot come to a right conclusion by
using the wrong methods
of interpretation, by using improper
hermeneutics.
Let's say, once again, for instance,
by reading ~ the book of Joshua and
treating it like it is poetic in nature,
like some people do. They read the book of
Joshua.
And then they read the miracle where God
is causing the sun to stand still.
And they do not interpret that as a
miracle.
They said, no, it is all allegorical in
nature.
And so they are not employing the proper
principles of hermeneutics that looks
at the context, that looks at what hap
what's happening,
that looks at the structure of the book,
and goes, Well, this is not a wisdom
literature book.
This is not a poetry book. This is a book
of historical fact,
and this really happened.
And so you see, then, if you don't employ
the proper principles of hermeneutics,
you're not going to get the right thing
out of the Bible.
That is not proper exegesis. But then
there's another word that
we employ during studying, and that is
eegesis.
Isegesis. Isegesis does not draw out of
the text,
isegesis leads in. You are not taking
something out of the scriptures,
you are putting something into it.
And so the practice is contrary to
hermeneutics.
Hermeneutics allows us the ability to gain
from the text
the intention of the writer. Let me say
that again.
Hermeneutics allows us to gain from the
text using the principles of hermeneutics,
it allows us to gain from the text the
intention of the writer which is God.
Hermeneutics, therefore, when we consider
in isegesis.
That one cannot do this with eisegesis
because the interpretation is hindered
by the reader trying to insert their own
views into the text.
You cannot get the meaning of what is
written in the book of John
by going to the book of John with your own
view already intact.
I want to know what John says or what John
means when he says this.
And then you go there.
And you bring your own ideas with you.
You're not trying to get the
interpretation of what John said.
You're trying to get John to agree with
you.
That's eegesis. And that is not proper
hermeneutics.
One cannot do this when when we are
studying the Bible.
How can you understand what the writer is
saying when you already have
a preconceived idea of what you think he
should be saying?
When we go to the Bible, we go with the
principles of hermeneutics
in our hands because we desire to draw out
of the text the intent of God.
We come, as we said last week,
with an empty cup. We do not come with
preconceived ideas.
We do not come with a mindset full of
opinions and saying,
Well, I think it needs to be this way.
No. We go with an empty cup and we study
the scriptures.
We employ the principles so that I can
find,
thus saith.
The Lord. That's all I want to find.
I don't want to find my own opinions.
I want to find thus saith the Lord.
And so hermeneutics are the principles
applied to the written text to gain from
it the writer's intentions, to gain from
it what the Lord desires.
And so herein, when we then understand
that that is why hermeneutics exists,
we then can conclude this: the pertinence
of hermeneutics.
What is the point of the Bible?
What is the point of the Bible?
The chief aim of the Bible is
communicating God's intentions for his
creation.
That's the chief aim. We have the book so
that we can know the mind of God.
Turn your attention to 1 Corinthians
chapter 2.
In 1 Corinthians chapter 2, we are
introduced to this concept
by the Apostle Paul as he talks about
salvation.
The Apostle Paul is contrasting the wisdom
of man with that of God.
And he says that when he preached unto
them,
that it was God speaking, not him.
And in this we see why revelation is so
significant.
He says, I want you to consider that we
have a great dependency on revelation.
Notice verses four and five of 1
Corinthians chapter 2.
And my speech and my preaching was not
with enticing words of man's wisdom,
but in the demonstration, he says.
Of the Spirit and of power, that your
faith should not rest or stand
on the wisdom of men, but in the power of
God.
He says, What I'm preaching to you is the
word of God.
It's not the wisdom of man. If it was the
wisdom of man,
I want you to think about this,
Paul says, if what I'm giving to you is
man's wisdom,
then your faith is built upon man's
wisdom.
And we know how fallible man is.
So my faith then would be built on the
apostle Paul.
I don't want my faith to be built on the
Apostle Paul's wisdom.
I don't want my faith to be built upon the
philosophies of that time.
I want my faith to be built on that which
is eternal,
because my faith can only endure into
eternity if it's built on something
eternal.
And so that's Paul's point. Our faith does
not rest in the wisdom of man,
our faith rests in the Word of God.
Now, what does the Bible say about faith?
Mark chapter 16 and verse 16, he who has
faith and is baptized will be saved.
It's critical. It's critical to your
salvation.
Hebrews 11 and verse 6 says, Without
faith,
it is impossible to please God.
1 John chapter 5 and verse 4, for
whatsoever is born of God overcomes this
world,
and this is the victory that overcomes the
world,
even our faith. And so Paul says,
We have received his revelation so that
our faith
Is built upon the wisdom of God.
Revelation is significant because of our
dependence upon it.
But then also revelation is significant
because our our disability without it.
Consider verses 6 through 11 of 1
Corinthians chapter 2.
He says, How be it we speak wisdom among
them that are perfect,
yet not the wisdom of this world,
nor of the princes of this world that come
to naught.
But we speak the wisdom of God in a
mystery.
Even the hidden wisdom which God ordained
before the world unto our glory,
which none of the princes of this world
knew,
for had they had known it, they would have
not have crucified the Lord of glory.
But as it is written, I has not seen nor
ear heard,
neither have entered into the heart of man
the things which God
has prepared for them that love him.
But God has revealed them unto us by his
spirit.
For the Spirit serves us all things,
yea, the deep things of God.
For what man knoweth the things of a man
save the spirit of a man which is in him,
even so the things of God knoweth no man
but the Spirit of God.
The Apostle Paul says, God has prepared
our salvation before the foundation
of the world. He says, as it relates to
salvation,
eye has not seen, ear has not heard.
Nobody knew exactly how this was going to
happen.
People were trying to figure it out.
Even Satan was trying to figure it out,
trying to kill everyone that could be the
seed of promise along
the lines of history. If you read your
scriptures,
where is Satan always trying to do?
What is he always trying to do?
Trying to stop the seed of promise.
He doesn't know what's coming.
And so the Apostle Paul says, nobody knows
what's coming.
Nobody knows what God has prepared,
the salvation that he has prepared.
How did we come to know? Paul says,
God revealed it. You wouldn't know the
mind of God unless God told you.
You wouldn't know God's intentions unless
he revealed it.
And so the question then becomes if God
has revealed his will,
and we are greatly dependent upon that
revelation,
our faith is dependent on that part of
revelation,
how should we interpret his will?
How should we interpret his intentions?
How should we understand it?
1 Corinthians chapter 1, verses 10 through
13,
the Apostle Paul said this. Talking to the
brethren in Corinth,
he says, Now I beseech you, brethren,
by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that ye all speak the same thing.
That he all and that there be no divisions
among you,
but that ye be all be perfectly joined
together in the same mind
in the same judgment. For it has been
declared unto me of you,
my brethren, that there are ~ by the
household of Chloe,
that there are contentions among you.
Now, this I say that every one of you say,
I'm of Paul, I'm of Apollos, I'm of
Cephas,
and I'm of Christ. Is Christ divided?
Was Paul crucified for you, or were you
baptized in the name of Paul
or into the name of Paul? He says,
No, that none of that is true.
Why are you guys divided? You should be of
the same mind and the same judgment
in relation to our subject matter.
There is one undeniable and inescapable
fact that Paul points out here.
Paul says that we
Have to be harmonious in our comprehension
of the Word of God.
The revelation of God's intentions demand
harmonious comprehension.
What do you mean? I mean when I open this
book and I read a passage,
I should come away with the same
interpretation as Brother Dale,
as Brother Bailey over here, as Brother
Don.
We should come away with the same
interpretation.
Why? Because we should all be speaking the
same thing.
But how is that possible? How is it
possible for us to come away with
the same interpretation? If the Bible must
be universally harmoniously comprehended,
of necessity, brethren, there must be a
standard or a rule by which
it can be interpreted. That's the only way
all of us are walking away with
the same understanding, is if we employ
the same rules.
Imagine trying to reach the same
conclusion using different rules.
Imagine it's football ~ season,
you've got one team that operates by a
completely different set of rules,
you've got another team over here that
operates by a completely different
set of rules, that's chaos. Somebody does
something over here and it says,
no, but that's okay for us. Well,
we don't like that. Well, that's that's
fine because these are our rules.
It doesn't work that way.
If we were trying to interpret the
scriptures and we were trying to look
at the scriptures, if all of us were using
our own set of rules to interpret it,
then the result of that would be chaos.
And isn't that what we see in the world?
Is that not the chaos that exists in the
world where we have
so many different flavors of just about
every type of service to the Lord?
There are people tonight and this morning
that will had full-on shows.
Of people flying through the air in
worship to God.
There are people who had an entire band
and concert where you walk in
and you think it's a nightclub because
they're worshiping God.
Well, how did they arrive at that
conclusion?
Well, they used their own principles in
order to interpret the Bible.
Some of them didn't even read the Bible.
Without the principles of sound
hermeneutics,
emphasis sound hermeneutics, there is no
way we can know what God wants.
We must then operate by these principles.
Herein do we see the pertinence of this
subject in and of itself.
God has allowed us or given us his
revelation.
God has also given us a mind to be able to
reason.
God is the author of language,
and he has given us principles by which
language can be interpreted.
And so now, now that we know.
What it is and why it is needed,
let's look at some basic, some very basic
key principles of hermeneutics.
Consider the first principle of
hermeneutics is get over to that slide.
Key principles of hermeneutics.
The first principle is common sense.
I believe it is fair to say that common
sense is not so common anymore,
whether by malice or by abject ignorance.
Common sense is defined as follows:
common sense has its root idea in the
ability to discover harmony
in the things which agree, and conversely
to perceive unlikeness in opposites.
Common sense makes us go, well,
duh, right? Can you not see that?
How is it that you can't perceive that?
How is it that you can't understand that?
Because the two agree. Common sense is
rudimentary understanding
of various things in life. When you remove
the basic elements
of proper thought during interpretation,
the result inevitably will lead to false
doctrines and faulty assessments
of just about everything. A friend of mine
years ago,
he ran into some issues with his eldership
where he was.
Because one of his elders taught a
doctrine that Jesus did not bleed on the
cross.
He said there was no blood spilled by
Jesus,
which, interestingly enough, if you go to
1 John,
that's actually a Gnostic doctrine.
That's part of the sect of Gnosticism,
and they have plenty of different
deviations of Gnosticism.
But he said that Jesus did not bleed on
the cross.
Now, common sense, common sense will tell
you wait a second,
that doesn't make sense.
Jesus, the Bible tells me, in Philippians
chapter 2,
verses 5 and 8, him being in the form of
God,
thought it not robbery to be equal with
God,
but made himself of no reputation,
and took upon him the form of a servant,
like us, and was made in the likeness of
man.
And being found in the fashion as a man,
he humbled himself and became obedient
unto death,
even the death of the cross. First John
chapter 1,
verses 1 and 3, the Apostle John refutes
that concept that Jesus was just
a figment of.
Of our imagination, of their imagination.
He refutes it. He says, that which we have
seen,
that's which our hands have handled,
the word of life, he's real. Common sense
would then say that
if you pierce Jesus with a spear,
if you beat him with a whip, if he's
human,
he's going to bleed. That's common sense.
You have to remove common sense to come up
with that type of doctrine.
It's foolishness.
Common sense helps us differentiate
between figures of speech in writer in
writing.
Is the writer speaking literally or is he
speaking figuratively?
Common sense helps us to look at that and
go,
no, that must be figurative. Luke chapter
22 and verse 19.
And he took bread and he gave thanks,
and he broke it, and he gave it unto them,
saying, This is my body which is given for
you.
This do in remembrance of me.
Now, is Jesus telling them that this is
his actual body that
he's giving to them? Or does common sense
say he's employing figurative language?
Well, common sense says this is figurative
language.
Common sense allows me to come to the
proper conclusion that Jesus
is not literally breaking a piece of his
body off and giving it to them.
Not the bread is not turning into his
actual body,
and the blood is this is not turning into
his actual blood,
but you know who employs that doctrine?
Catholicism. In the doctrine of
transubstantiation,
a doctrine that was against the concept of
Martin Luther,
who was against at least just that part of
Catholicism,
says that the body, the body and the
blood,
the bread and the fruit juice,
in their case wine.
Turns into the actual body of Jesus.
Turns into the actual blood of Jesus.
That's an entire doctrine in Catholicism
called transubstantiation.
Common sense would have stopped that
doctrine right in its tracks.
Listen, you guys need to just back up.
You need to employ some common sense.
And so there's common sense that must be
employed when we go to
the scriptures and we look at what it
says.
Number two here, consider logic.
What is logic? Logic is the older brother
of common sense.
Logic is the science of correct reasoning.
The principles of logic will help you
perform the correct habits
of mind that prevents erroneous
conclusion.
Logic deals with the law of rationality,
only drawing such conclusions as are
warranted by the evidence.
Let me say that again. When you're
studying the scriptures,
you're only drawing the conclusions that
That are warranted by all the evidence
that is presented in it.
If you study the Bible and you come across
a verse that says,
Christ did not send me to baptize,
1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 7.
1 Corinthians 1 and verse 17. If you come
across that verse,
logic will tell you, wait a second,
I need to see about this. Is Paul saying
that baptism is
not essential for salvation? Is that what
he's saying?
Or is he using a figure of speech here?
Well, in order for me to come to a proper
conclusion,
I must induce all of the evidence.
So, what am I going to do in my study?
I'm going to look at all the verses as it
relates to baptism.
And then I'm going to find that he who
believes and is baptized will be saved.
wait a second. I need to be baptized in in
order to be saved.
I'm going to find 1 Peter 3:21,
the like figure unto baptism doth also now
save us.
And here it also says that.
These individuals were baptized and they
were commanded to be baptized.
Cornelius was commanded to be baptized.
I'm going to find all of those verses,
and then I'm going to come to the
conclusion.
Wait a second. Paul is not saying that
baptism is not essential for salvation.
The question you have to ask is:
is baptism commanded or not? You will find
that it is.
And the only way to come to a proper
conclusion is to induce all
of the evidence relating to the subject
matter.
You don't even have to go far.
Stop in Matthew chapter 28, verses 18
through 20.
Jesus commanded them to go into all the
world to preach the gospel and to baptize.
Now you're telling me baptism is not
essential for salvation,
and yet Jesus commanded it? So what you're
saying is that we can just ignore what
Jesus said and be okay? That's the
conclusion you would have to come to
if you have not induced all of the
evidence.
And so the proper conclusion is that
Paul's statement is not about
the necessity of baptism.
But whether it was the only or the
principal act of evangelism.
They were saying, well, they were going
around saying,
well, I was baptized by so-and-so,
and I was baptized by so-and-so,
as if baptism, which is the starting point
of your journey,
as if that was the end-all and be-all,
if they forgot about the gospel of Jesus
Christ.
They should have been focused on that as
well.
Most of the time, when false doctrines are
espoused,
the principles of logic and the mutilation
of reason is the culprit.
No logic is employed. No reasoning is
employed.
People hop from one verse to another
verse,
or they take one verse and they completely
run with it without considering
all of the evidence. They do not judge
proper judgment.
Number three, consider this. Another tool
in studying context.
This is arguably one of the most crucial
principles.
People like to come with the helicopters,
if you've heard me say.
And lift their lift the verses out of its
context and take it all over the place.
The text or the speech that comes
immediately before and after a particular
phrase,
or piece of text and helps to explain its
meaning.
That's what context is. The text or the
speech that comes immediately before
and immediately after. That's context.
We make sense of things because of
context.
If I were to ask you tonight, what is this
lesson about tonight?
What is the sermon? Would someone say,
Well, the sermon is about Cain and Abel?
That's what the sermon is about.
no, that's what this morning's sermon was
about.
Well, somebody else may say, Well,
I think the sermon is about loving your
brother.
Nobody would say that. Why? Because in the
context,
we're talking about hermeneutics.
You can go to what I've said before,
you can look at what I say after,
and you can come to a proper understanding
that this is about hermeneutics.
We use this in everyday life. When we read
something or we listen to someone,
we understand what is written or what is
said within the confines
of that subject matter being discussed.
We don't read instructions on how to bake
a cake and go out to the car and say,
Well, you know what? I think this is
talking about.
This is talking about how to change a
tire.
We don't do that. But people will do that
with the scriptures.
They will read and it will say one thing
and they'll go over here and say,
Well, I think this is talking about
something else.
Wait a second. Have you considered the
context?
It's important. There are literary
contexts that we must consider.
Literary context, that's the book within
itself.
We have to understand the immediate
verses,
the surrounding paragraph, the chapter,
and the whole book.
That's why it's very dangerous when people
just take one verse.
Brethren, read the whole chapter,
read the whole book before we form
doctrines just off of one verse.
Understand how this passage fits into the
author's overall message and his argument.
If this method was applied correctly,
we would eradicate the erroneous
interpretation of Salafida.
We would eradicate the concept of faith
only if we employed this doctrine.
If we employed the method of understanding
context.
Historical and a cultural context must be
considered as well.
Research the time period. Research the
geography,
the customs, and the social culture of the
original audience and its author.
This helps avoid anachronistic
interpretations.
What anachronistic interpretations are is
trying to use or read modern views into
the text. We have a way we use words.
We have certain words that we use that
also appears in the scriptures.
But the way it is used in the scriptures
during that time is not the same
way we use it over here. And so,
in order for me to get an appropriate
understanding of that word,
I have to look at the historical and
cultural context.
I have to make sure that I understand how
that word is being used at
the time so that I don't run all over the
place.
Do not build entire doctrines on single.
Isolated verses lifted out of its proper
context.
I always say this, I say this to students
of the Word of God,
to preachers. I say, if there is a
doctrine,
if God has a doctrine, a moral code,
you will find verses for it. You don't
have to piecemeal together 15 verses
out of its context in order to establish a
doctrine that has relation
to your salvation.
God has revealed his word in such a way we
know what we can know.
God has revealed it in such a way we know
what he has given us.
We can know what he wants us to do.
We don't have to take things out of
context just to be able to prove a point.
And sometimes we may even do that even
where on the when we're on the right
track.
We've got to be careful about that too.
Context. But then literary styles.
Literary styles that have to move
expeditiously.
We have to recognize the literary
genre of a passage. Is it a narrative?
Is it a story? Is it a poetry?
Is it prof of prophecy, law, wisdom,
literature? Is it an epistle? Is it an
apocalyptic language being employed?
Each literary style is approached
differently.
As we noted earlier, we do not treat
apocalyptic literature in the same
way we treat poetry. Apocalyptic
literature may sound foreign to us.
The word is apocalypto.
Revelation. That's all revelation is.
It's not this grand day of the beast and
all of that nonsense.
Revelation is literally the revelation
that God has given to John.
It's written in apocalyptic language,
and apocalyptic language had a purpose to
conceal and to reveal.
Apocalyptic language was used by the
prophets in order to conceal
the truth from those who are outside of
God's chosen people.
But those who were God's chosen people,
when the apostles spoke, or rather the
prophets spoke apocalyptic language,
they got it. They understood it.
They knew exactly what it's meant.
Why? Because that's how God spoke to them.
And so we have to make sure that we
understand what apocalyptic language is,
how it was employed. So you need to know
what the literary style is,
and you need to know their respective
principles of interpretation.
We are not going to interpret doctrine
from the book of Romans in the same
way that we're going to interpret wisdom
literature,
in the same way that we're going to
interpret the book of Ecclesiastes.
The book of Ecclesiastes is a revelation
of Solomon's mind.
That's what it is. It is an inspired book,
but it is inspired revelation of Solomon's
mind.
Not everything in the book of
Ecclesiastes.
Should be followed. Because not everything
Solomon says in the book
of Ecclesiastes is right. Solomon says
some things that are off the wall.
Solomon says some things that are
extremely negative,
that are contrary to what God would have
us to believe and God would have
us to know. But what is, but I understand
that of the book.
Why? Because I know what it is.
This is a revelation of Solomon's mind.
And so you go to the book of Ecclesiastes,
you start pulling verses one by one out of
it,
and you can get all over the place with
it.
Hopefully, in the future, we'll have an
opportunity to study that great book.
It's a great book. He comes to a great
conclusion.
He comes to the right conclusion.
But it took him a lifetime to get there.
A lifetime of doing all of the wrong
things,
and a lifetime of trying to figure things
out,
and finally he came to the conclusion
listen,
fear God and keep his commandments.
That is the whole duty of men.
That is the whole of man. But I need to
understand how that book
is written versus how the book of Romans
is written.
Two different books. We need to have that
approach to be understood.
Literary styles, figures of speech.
Figures of speech. The Bible contains
parables.
The Bible contains allegories.
The Bible contains metaphoric expressions.
It contains fables. I need to be able to
discern what a fable is.
Versus a parable. I need to be able to
discern a parable from allegorical speech.
I need to be able to discern whether this
is Jesus actually saying this
or whether he's using a figure of speech.
God uses it to convey principles.
There are rules and principles for figures
of speech.
There are rules and principles to employ
when we're interpreting parables.
We used to say to the students,
don't preach parables when you're in
school,
because you're going to get it wrong.
What's the parable of the talents about?
It's about the skill that God gave you to
employ in his service,
right? Wrong. That's not what that parable
is about.
Talents, what do we do with the talents?
What is a talent? A talent is money.
That's what it's about. But what do we do
with the word talent?
We use it the way we use the word talent.
We take the word talent and we say,
skill. God has given us a lot of skill.
That's not what the parable is about.
Parable is not about God giving you a
skill and then you using that skill
in his service. The parable is about God
having given work to
his servants and expecting them to be
productive as possible.
And this servant went and hit his money.
I could only understand that by looking at
the figures of speech,
by looking at the customs, by looking at
how the word is being used.
If you do not know how to handle these
correctly,
You will run into some doctrinal problems.
I've seen the parables just twisted and
turned to mean just about everything.
Theological coherence, last and in no wise
the least.
Theological coherence. The Bible must be
interpreted in light
of its overarching theological message,
which centers in and culminates in Jesus
the Christ.
The Bible consists of 66 books written by
various inspired authors.
However, it is not disjointed.
As we noted before, the Bible is one unit
recording the history
of man's redemption through the cross of
Christ.
And within that narrative, the moral and
arbitrary laws of God are set forth.
Within the narrative of his story,
within the narrative of Jesus' story,
we have the moral code of God set forth.
The Bible comprises of two sections,
an Old and a New Testament. They are
different in style and in composition
and in language, yet they are
complementary to one another.
And when we are interpreting these two
sections,
we do it not as separately,
disjointed from one another, but as a
whole.
We cannot employ ~ the principles that God
has said.
Well, well, we're only going to read the
New Testament,
we're not going to consider the Old
Testament.
No.
There is theological coherence.
The message that you hear over here goes
all the way through the New Testament.
It's always about the Christ. We cannot
also employ
the principles of hermeneutics to the Old
Testament without considering
the New Testament. Should we employ the
Sabbath?
Should we keep the Sabbath holy?
There's a lot of people today who said,
Yeah, we keep the Sabbath holy.
All right, when do you guys meet?
Well, we meet on Sunday.
The Sabbath is on Saturday.
The first day of the week is Sunday.
The Sabbath is on Saturday. So why do you
meet on Sunday?
Well, that's the new Sabbath. Who told you
that?
Where do you read that? The church met on
the first day of the week.
That's what the Bible says. That's what
the New Testament says.
So we have to be careful. We have to be
careful when we study the scriptures.
We cannot just study these things over
here without considering its relevance
to the Old Testament.
And we cannot just consider the Old
Testament without considering
the revelation that is contained in the
New Testament.
There is theological coherence.
The Bible must be interpreted in light of
its overarching theme.
Scripture will not contradict itself.
So if you find a verse that seems contrary
to the rest,
you've not studied long enough.
If you find a verse that, well,
this contradicts this over here,
study some more. Study some more and study
harder.
Or study correctly. When we consider these
things,
brethren, when we consider the Word of
God,
when we consider the things that God has
given us in relation
to understanding His book, I think we,
generally speaking, of Christians in this
audience,
we are the proof. We are the proof that
the Word of
God can be understood. We are the proof
that hermeneutics works.
Because we come from different walks of
life.
We grew up in different timelines,
if you will. Some of you are older than
others.
We grew up in different countries.
And here we are with the same
understanding.
Here we are understanding the same
principles that are set forth
in this book. That there was a man who
lived a long time ago,
about 2,000 years.
And he claimed to be the son of God.
And when you read about him, you read
about him going through life
and preaching the kingdom of God.
And he said that he was going to establish
the kingdom of God here upon earth
in Matthew chapter 16. He's going to build
his kingdom,
his church. And he did so, the Bible says,
through him going to the cross,
being beaten, brutally beaten and mocked.
Being put on a cross, dying, being taken
down and put in a tomb,
and then on the third day being risen
again.
We have all heard that message.
And we have all come to the same
conclusion,
those of us who are members of the body of
Christ,
that we believe in the gospel of Jesus the
Christ after we've heard it.
And when we heard the gospel of Jesus the
Christ,
we too, in the same fashion as those who
heard it on the day of Pentecost
in Acts chapter 2, we asked the question
what shall we do?
We all remember where we were when we
obeyed the gospel.
What shall we do? And we heard the answer
repent of sins.
Because God commands all men everywhere to
repent.
We heard the answer, confess the name of
Christ before witnesses.
That we believe that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of God. We heard the answer.
Be immersed in water for the remission of
sins.
And what did we do?
We asked the question that the Ethiopian
eunuch asked,
see, here is water. What's stopping me
from being baptized?
And we entered into the waters of baptism,
and we had our sins washed away,
and we were added to the body of Christ.
I did that all the way in Cape Town,
South Africa, reading this book.
You did that all the way here,
30,000 miles removed. You did the same
thing.
Reading this book. This book can be
understood
if we employ proper sound hermeneutics.
And tonight, as you have heard the gospel
of Jesus the Christ,
the question is simple. What are you going
to do about it?
How are you going to respond to this
glorious gospel?
The response is obedience to it.
If you understand the glorious gospel of
Jesus the Christ and you're willing
to put him on in baptism.
We want to help you in any way we can
while we stand and as we sing.