WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.100 Let me pray and then we'll come to the material that we've got for our time together this evening. Let me pray. 00:00:07.360 --> 00:00:20.059 Father, we want to ask just now for your help. We're perhaps tired. We've done lots of different things today and we want this time together to be useful for us. 00:00:20.059 --> 00:00:28.320 And so we pray for the help of your spirit as we look together at your words, even as we think about how we understand the Bible. 00:00:28.500 --> 00:00:42.519 May we not just do that as a kind of dry exercise, but may we, as we work hard at trying to understand your word properly, might that expose us to what you actually say to us, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:00:42.520 --> 00:00:52.359 So it's a little experimental the next two Sunday evenings, but experiments can sometimes be huge successes, can't they? 00:00:53.020 --> 00:00:59.520 And sometimes abject failures when we will work out together which one it is over the next couple of weeks. 00:00:59.560 --> 00:01:06.219 But I've decided that what I thought might be helpful for us is to think a little bit about how we go about understanding the Bible. 00:01:06.219 --> 00:01:18.579 So what are we doing as we read the Bible and seek to understand what the point is for us that we're supposed to be hearing and listening together? 00:01:18.700 --> 00:01:21.620 And lots of the material comes from this little book called Dig Deeper. 00:01:22.640 --> 00:01:27.480 Anyone read this book, Dig Deeper? No one's read this book? Yes, Simeon's read this book. 00:01:27.920 --> 00:01:30.319 You can go home, Simeon, if you like. I mean, yeah. 00:01:30.319 --> 00:01:38.299 So this is a really helpful little book, and if you want to borrow it, you can either borrow my copy or you can borrow Simeon's copy. 00:01:38.439 --> 00:01:43.539 He would gladly lend it to you. I found it really helpful. And so lots of it comes from there. 00:01:44.299 --> 00:01:48.139 And really, he begins his book, so I'm just going to steal his opening illustration. 00:01:48.379 --> 00:01:51.139 He begins his book by imagining a small group Bible study. 00:01:51.780 --> 00:01:54.619 Bible study goes something like this. The leader asks a question. 00:01:55.239 --> 00:01:59.000 He says, we're looking at verse whatever it is. What do you think that verse means? 00:01:59.000 --> 00:02:05.500 And the first person says, well, yeah, I kind of think it means this. 00:02:05.799 --> 00:02:07.939 And they talk for a little bit about what they think it means. 00:02:08.599 --> 00:02:16.639 And then another person says, well, I know that it means that to you, but to me it means exactly the opposite. 00:02:17.680 --> 00:02:20.960 And they say something contradictory to what the first person said. 00:02:21.340 --> 00:02:25.759 And the Bible study leader goes, well, you know, thank you very much for both sharing your ideas. 00:02:25.879 --> 00:02:27.180 Let's move on to the next verse. 00:02:27.180 --> 00:02:31.640 And it's a really sort of dissatisfying experience, isn't it? 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:35.939 Because actually, it's a bad Bible study. 00:02:36.200 --> 00:02:39.840 Because the Bible doesn't say different things to different people. 00:02:41.460 --> 00:02:43.500 We've been in conversations like that. 00:02:43.640 --> 00:02:45.120 And it's not a good Bible study. 00:02:45.500 --> 00:02:51.020 Because the Bible, the meaning of the Bible doesn't lie in the impressions of the reader, 00:02:51.020 --> 00:02:53.600 but in the intent of the author. 00:02:54.840 --> 00:02:59.680 And so whilst we might not always get it perfectly right, 00:03:00.320 --> 00:03:04.980 our process of understanding the Bible should mean that we are circling closer and closer in 00:03:04.980 --> 00:03:08.740 on what God's intention was as he wrote it. 00:03:08.740 --> 00:03:13.120 So the Bible isn't saying mutually contradictory things to different people. 00:03:13.360 --> 00:03:15.520 And the author is not confused. 00:03:16.420 --> 00:03:18.480 I think, obviously, this has become more challenging. 00:03:18.740 --> 00:03:24.700 It's the whole idea of meaning in text has been challenged at various different levels by different people. 00:03:24.699 --> 00:03:32.359 Now, before we move on, let me just try and impress upon you how important this task is. 00:03:32.519 --> 00:03:34.739 What do you think is the scariest verse in the Bible? 00:03:36.280 --> 00:03:38.219 I'm sure there are many scary verses in the Bible, 00:03:38.299 --> 00:03:42.739 but I think you could make a pretty good case for Matthew 4, verse 6, 00:03:42.819 --> 00:03:45.000 being one of the scariest verses in the Bible. 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:52.699 In Matthew 4, verse 6, the devil quotes the Bible to Jesus in an attempt to lure him into sin, 00:03:53.479 --> 00:03:57.479 which Jesus then resists by quoting the Bible back to him. 00:03:57.599 --> 00:04:04.819 But the implication is that it is possible to be lured into sin by mishandling or misunderstanding 00:04:04.819 --> 00:04:07.139 or misapplying the Bible. 00:04:07.840 --> 00:04:13.099 The scary thing is the devil is a Bible teacher in Matthew chapter 4. 00:04:13.099 --> 00:04:19.159 And so you and I need to get better at understanding what is being said in the Bible 00:04:19.159 --> 00:04:22.540 so that we can both make sure that we hear it rightly for ourselves, 00:04:22.540 --> 00:04:25.779 but also understand when it is being wrongly taught, 00:04:26.240 --> 00:04:27.860 and so that we can spot that as well. 00:04:28.860 --> 00:04:34.759 You know, the Bereans in Acts 17 are commended for being better than the Thessalonians 00:04:34.759 --> 00:04:38.519 because they tested what they heard against the Scriptures, 00:04:38.759 --> 00:04:40.379 and we want to be like that. 00:04:40.379 --> 00:04:44.680 Now, what is step one in understanding the Bible? 00:04:45.339 --> 00:04:49.120 I think I want to suggest to you, and these guys would also agree, 00:04:49.680 --> 00:04:52.560 but step one is understanding who wrote it. 00:04:53.279 --> 00:04:56.860 And there are two correct answers to who wrote the Bible, okay? 00:04:57.459 --> 00:05:01.040 The first correct answer is that God wrote the Bible. 00:05:01.500 --> 00:05:02.360 God wrote the Bible. 00:05:02.360 --> 00:05:05.040 2 Timothy 3, verse 16, 00:05:05.420 --> 00:05:11.080 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, 00:05:11.319 --> 00:05:12.960 and training in righteousness. 00:05:14.020 --> 00:05:19.639 In other words, Paul's claim is that all the Bible is spoken out by God. 00:05:20.340 --> 00:05:22.300 Theo penutas is the word there in Greece. 00:05:22.819 --> 00:05:25.300 Theo meaning God, penutas meaning breath or air. 00:05:25.720 --> 00:05:28.600 Literally, the Bible is carried on the breath of God, 00:05:28.600 --> 00:05:33.879 giving the sense of not only is this what he has said, it is also what he is saying. 00:05:35.900 --> 00:05:39.060 Now, that claim is behind the contents of the Bible, 00:05:39.280 --> 00:05:42.240 albeit written over thousands of years in different places by different people. 00:05:42.939 --> 00:05:45.960 One divine author stands behind it all. 00:05:46.640 --> 00:05:48.200 There is one divine intent. 00:05:48.500 --> 00:05:50.000 There is one message in the Bible. 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:55.019 So the writer of Hebrews, for example, says that Moses, 00:05:56.300 --> 00:05:58.620 as he is writing parts of the Old Testament, 00:05:58.759 --> 00:06:01.699 is bearing witness to what will be said later. 00:06:02.199 --> 00:06:06.279 In other words, the writer of the Hebrews thinks that Moses is not just writing for his time, 00:06:06.360 --> 00:06:08.339 he is writing for a future time. 00:06:08.720 --> 00:06:11.240 And what he says is pointing to that time as well, 00:06:11.279 --> 00:06:14.980 because there's a message that Moses heard that's running all the way through the Bible. 00:06:15.420 --> 00:06:18.100 One divine author, one divine message. 00:06:18.100 --> 00:06:23.660 Jesus says in John chapter 8 that Abraham is looking forward to his day, 00:06:24.220 --> 00:06:26.700 because the promise that was given to Abraham, 00:06:26.860 --> 00:06:32.100 the word of God that Abraham heard that is recorded for us by Moses in Genesis, 00:06:32.680 --> 00:06:38.400 that word is about Jesus, one message which runs from the beginning to the end. 00:06:39.620 --> 00:06:44.500 Now, obviously, the implications of divine authorship of the Bible is massive, isn't it? 00:06:44.500 --> 00:06:47.399 Shantou, what do you think? 00:06:47.459 --> 00:06:50.360 Some of the implications, if the Bible is God's word, 00:06:50.459 --> 00:06:52.360 if he is one of the authors, what does that mean? 00:06:53.720 --> 00:06:55.160 It is inerrant, yes. 00:06:55.259 --> 00:06:59.259 The Bible is without error, because God does not make mistakes. 00:06:59.680 --> 00:06:59.800 Yeah. 00:07:02.800 --> 00:07:06.019 It is true, yes, because God cannot lie. 00:07:06.279 --> 00:07:06.459 Yeah. 00:07:06.459 --> 00:07:09.779 Yeah, we better listen. 00:07:09.779 --> 00:07:10.379 Yeah. 00:07:11.419 --> 00:07:12.560 Yeah, it's holy. 00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:13.180 Yeah. 00:07:15.180 --> 00:07:16.299 It's pure. 00:07:16.759 --> 00:07:17.699 It's important. 00:07:18.639 --> 00:07:20.939 It has a coherence as well, doesn't it? 00:07:21.139 --> 00:07:25.599 Because the Bible doesn't contradict itself, because God does not contradict himself. 00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:29.240 There are what you might call apparent contradictions, 00:07:29.240 --> 00:07:35.139 but they're not actual contradictions, because God is not able to contradict himself. 00:07:36.060 --> 00:07:39.280 And so it's his book, and it doesn't contradict it. 00:07:40.280 --> 00:07:44.740 But perhaps most significantly, which I think Ray has just hinted at, 00:07:44.800 --> 00:07:49.900 it means that reading the Bible is really engaging with the God of the universe. 00:07:51.040 --> 00:07:54.740 There's a great little line in the opening chapters of the book where he says, 00:07:54.740 --> 00:08:00.699 don't imagine when you open your Bible that you're like picking up a dusty old library of books. 00:08:01.600 --> 00:08:06.759 He says, imagine as you open your Bible, you're picking up the telephone to listen to God and what he's saying to you. 00:08:07.420 --> 00:08:08.500 That's the image, isn't it? 00:08:09.199 --> 00:08:13.319 Because for us to hear from God, to listen to him, is to open his word. 00:08:13.879 --> 00:08:16.579 And so hearing and understanding it properly matters. 00:08:16.579 --> 00:08:23.399 Now, if you're walking down the street and you mishear what somebody is saying as you walk past them, 00:08:23.479 --> 00:08:26.539 it's probably very little significance, right? 00:08:26.879 --> 00:08:30.279 If you mishear your mum when she gives you instructions for dinner, 00:08:30.419 --> 00:08:33.819 that is probably more serious, because if you don't hear her, you'll go hungry. 00:08:34.480 --> 00:08:41.259 If you mishear God when he speaks a message that he has been communicating consistently for thousands of years, 00:08:41.259 --> 00:08:46.439 I would suggest that is very, very serious because of who he is. 00:08:46.960 --> 00:08:48.240 God is the author of the Bible. 00:08:48.919 --> 00:08:53.259 The second right answer, though, is that people are the authors of the Bible. 00:08:53.399 --> 00:08:54.980 People wrote the Bible. 00:08:55.740 --> 00:08:57.279 Now, I probably don't need to prove that to you. 00:08:57.620 --> 00:09:02.360 It's in the introduction of almost every book of the Bible, certainly the New Testament letters. 00:09:02.580 --> 00:09:07.460 You're even told at times who delivered the letters or who inscribed the letters. 00:09:07.460 --> 00:09:15.120 So the Bible's claim that God is the author is not a contradiction that at the same time it is a human book written by people. 00:09:15.879 --> 00:09:26.000 And that doesn't mean it's dictated by God as if they were sort of some passive pen holder and God is dictating the Bible to them. 00:09:26.080 --> 00:09:28.120 There are parts of the Bible which are divine dictation. 00:09:28.220 --> 00:09:30.900 The Ten Commandments are divine dictation, aren't they? 00:09:31.340 --> 00:09:33.700 But actually, much of the Bible is not like that. 00:09:33.700 --> 00:09:37.220 The personality and character of the human authors comes through. 00:09:38.280 --> 00:09:42.280 Their particular situations and circumstances comes through as well. 00:09:42.820 --> 00:09:48.639 And so you can hear about what their lives are like and what they're experiencing and what they're doing and what they're going through. 00:09:49.920 --> 00:09:52.100 Now, that raises, I think, lots of questions. 00:09:52.240 --> 00:09:54.320 We don't have time to deal with all of them. 00:09:54.780 --> 00:09:55.639 But here's the point. 00:09:55.639 --> 00:10:11.939 God claims in the Bible to be able to superintend the writing of the scriptures in such a way by his spirit that people are able to write the Bible in their own style, in a way that is appropriate to the time at which they're living. 00:10:11.940 --> 00:10:18.180 And at the same time are writing what he says eternally and unendingly. 00:10:18.179 --> 00:10:22.539 Now, like I said, we don't have time to go into all the proofs of that. 00:10:22.599 --> 00:10:31.259 But one proof of this to give you, which is, again, in Dig Deeper if you want to borrow Simms' copy, is that this is Jesus' view of the scriptures. 00:10:31.259 --> 00:10:36.600 So, for example, in Matthew 19, verses 4 to 5, Jesus says this. 00:10:37.080 --> 00:10:46.179 Have you not read, he replied, that at the beginning the creator made them male and female and said, who's speaking? 00:10:47.039 --> 00:10:47.620 God is speaking. 00:10:47.700 --> 00:10:49.000 Their creator is speaking. 00:10:49.000 --> 00:10:54.100 For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and the two will become one flesh. 00:10:55.019 --> 00:11:00.419 Here Jesus is saying that Genesis 2 is the word of the creator. 00:11:00.659 --> 00:11:09.320 But when you go back to Genesis 2, verse 24, and you read that little paragraph there in verse 5, you realize that's actually Moses' explanation of what's going on. 00:11:09.639 --> 00:11:18.360 And so Jesus here is considering what is recorded as Moses' words to also be what God, the creator, is saying. 00:11:19.000 --> 00:11:31.460 Now, I want you, with the person next to you, to think, if the Bible is written both by God and by people, how does that affect how we get to the meaning of a passage? 00:11:32.700 --> 00:11:33.100 Okay. 00:11:33.659 --> 00:11:37.799 How does that affect how we get to the meaning of a passage if the Bible is written by both God and people? 00:11:38.460 --> 00:11:41.700 Go for it while Lola runs away to go do something else. 00:11:47.559 --> 00:11:47.960 Okay. 00:11:49.000 --> 00:11:53.720 Sorry to interrupt, but we probably need to keep moving. 00:11:55.539 --> 00:12:03.220 What are the implications of divine authorship and human authorship for how we understand the Bible? 00:12:08.559 --> 00:12:09.840 What were you talking about? 00:12:09.840 --> 00:12:09.879 What were you talking about? 00:12:09.879 --> 00:12:09.879 00:12:19.000 --> 00:12:19.500 Yes. 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:19.500 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:27.600 yes yes 00:12:27.600 --> 00:12:36.200 yeah so contradictions are not uh yeah are not contradictions in terms of god's 00:12:36.200 --> 00:12:41.340 intent so that there's a rule isn't there that i mustn't interpret the bible in such a way that it 00:12:41.340 --> 00:12:48.679 contradicts another part of the bible yeah the meaning of a passage cannot mean that another 00:12:48.679 --> 00:12:57.719 passage is not true yeah yes yes 00:12:57.719 --> 00:13:08.719 yes so if you if you basically have a a structure or a framework for understanding the bible which 00:13:08.719 --> 00:13:15.659 forces you to put the bible in tension against one another in such a way as uh as mike described 00:13:15.659 --> 00:13:25.179 then yeah you're you're probably going wrong yeah yeah we need to establish who is talking what's 00:13:25.179 --> 00:13:30.059 being said yeah i think there's an implication that we need to do some work right it it's not 00:13:30.059 --> 00:13:37.699 um so although it's right to say that opening a bible is like picking up the telephone to listen 00:13:37.700 --> 00:13:42.140 to what god is saying to you you might speak to him in prayer and hear from him in his word 00:13:42.140 --> 00:13:48.100 it's not actually that he's writing direct or writing directly to you he's writing through 00:13:48.100 --> 00:13:53.580 other people in other situations so you will need to understand them in their situations in order to 00:13:53.580 --> 00:13:58.259 be able to understand what then is being said to you so you will need to do some you'll need to do 00:13:58.259 --> 00:14:03.960 some work um and i wonder whether that's in some ways one of the biggest challenges because people are 00:14:03.960 --> 00:14:08.519 really lazy about reading the bible aren't they we read it as if god is just writing it directly to 00:14:08.519 --> 00:14:14.259 us and there were no other human authors involved as if you know god was just thinking about us when 00:14:14.259 --> 00:14:15.960 he wrote it yes go on trust 00:14:15.960 --> 00:14:38.820 yes great so he means that we can't edit out parts of the bible that we don't like yeah brilliant 00:14:38.820 --> 00:14:45.019 thanks charleston yeah that's really helpful yeah um so you can't read it and go well do you know what 00:14:45.019 --> 00:14:49.120 that's just that's just not something i like it was probably cultural paul probably just didn't 00:14:49.120 --> 00:14:54.159 really like women so i'm just going to delete that bit yeah we can't say that because there's a divine 00:14:54.159 --> 00:14:55.319 author behind it yeah 00:14:55.319 --> 00:15:11.019 yes 00:15:11.019 --> 00:15:22.659 yes yes yes yes yes say i mean that um 00:15:22.659 --> 00:15:28.639 yes you're right i'm not sure how i'm trying to work out how we relate it to what we're talking about 00:15:28.639 --> 00:15:33.199 the the the fact is that we stand in a long tradition we're not the first people to open a bible 00:15:33.199 --> 00:15:41.000 right so we we stand in a long history of um people interpreting the bible and say yeah if we're 00:15:41.019 --> 00:15:47.379 if we're coming up with novel interpretations we're probably wrong i uh had a seth and i had a 00:15:47.379 --> 00:15:50.519 conversation with someone in my office and i said to them 00:15:50.519 --> 00:15:52.659 i uh 00:15:52.659 --> 00:15:59.919 what you need to understand is that if what you're saying is true then every christian who has looked at 00:15:59.919 --> 00:16:06.439 the bible all the people who've written all these books around you are all wrong and you're the only 00:16:06.439 --> 00:16:13.839 right person i mean i you know that could be true but it seems really really unlikely doesn't it yeah so 00:16:13.840 --> 00:16:14.840 you're absolutely right 00:16:14.840 --> 00:16:16.680 that's quite different 00:16:16.680 --> 00:16:21.000 go on 00:16:21.000 --> 00:16:31.000 yes 00:16:31.000 --> 00:16:34.000 yeah 00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:47.419 yeah so i i think um yeah i think it's probably fair to say that the the main emphasis of the bible is 00:16:47.419 --> 00:16:53.500 summarized by the church fathers isn't it within a few centuries of the bible being written but that 00:16:53.500 --> 00:17:00.120 doesn't mean that bible study now is not going to help us you know circle even closer in on the 00:17:00.120 --> 00:17:05.659 meaning and intent and that's that's something that we need to keep doing and also because it's human 00:17:05.659 --> 00:17:10.240 authors writing in a particular time and situation we will also need to do work at then applying it to 00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:12.940 our present situation which will always change too 00:17:12.940 --> 00:17:18.019 okay let's move on because we could spend ages there and then we probably won't get very far so 00:17:18.019 --> 00:17:24.299 uh we're going to think about some different tools for understanding the bible so that's the way this dig 00:17:24.299 --> 00:17:29.700 deeper book works gives you various different tools for understanding the bible and the first tool 00:17:29.700 --> 00:17:33.140 is the only one we're going to think about this evening which is the author's purpose tool 00:17:33.140 --> 00:17:39.620 and uh satch and bynon say this about the author's purpose tool they say 00:17:39.619 --> 00:17:46.759 since the biblical writers were inspired their purpose is god's purpose that means that one of 00:17:46.759 --> 00:17:51.519 the biggest and most helpful questions we can ever ask of a passage in the bible is simply 00:17:51.519 --> 00:17:57.779 why did the author write this if we glean one or two insights along the way but miss the overall purpose 00:17:57.779 --> 00:18:04.699 of what they're saying then we haven't really understood them at all the author's purpose is king 00:18:04.700 --> 00:18:10.700 it is the tool par excellence the swiss army knife from which all the other tools fold out 00:18:10.700 --> 00:18:16.840 and which keeps them all together in some ways the whole point of having a repetition tool or a 00:18:16.840 --> 00:18:22.460 linking word tool or any other tool is to help you get hold of the author's purpose 00:18:22.460 --> 00:18:33.700 so let's think about how this works and let's try with an easy example to start off with and then we're going to do a slightly more difficult example but you're going to do that on your own and i'll 00:18:33.700 --> 00:18:45.700 get you back together at the end so let's start with two new testament passages where the intention of the author is stated really clearly the first one is in john's gospel so john 20 30 to 31 00:18:45.700 --> 00:19:03.680 here the writer john gives you the purpose for which he's writing jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples which are not recorded in this book but these are written that you may believe that jesus is the messiah the son of god and that by believing you may have life in the 00:19:03.700 --> 00:19:25.700 his name now notice john says clearly he is not writing everything about jesus nor is he writing a sort of plotted history of what happened later in his book he says that if you wrote down everything that jesus said and did you wouldn't have space for all the books that you would write instead he tells you he is carefully selecting his material to make a specific case 00:19:25.700 --> 00:19:49.700 specifically the case specifically the case based around recording what he calls signs and these signs are written so that you may believe and not just believe that the signs happened which would be one thing but believe that the signs indicate that jesus is the messiah the son of god so that by believing in him you may have life in his name 00:19:49.700 --> 00:20:17.700 now interesting isn't it that john writes those words towards the end of his book and not at the beginning of his book his assumption is you'll read his book more than once right i think his assumption is that you will read and keep reading his book and so that you will get to know it and become familiar with it and that it will keep doing this work of demonstrating to you that jesus is the messiah the son of god and that you might believe and have life in his name 00:20:17.700 --> 00:20:31.380 now that means that when i'm reading john's book i haven't really understood him properly until i have seen how what he is writing shows me that jesus is the messiah and persuades me to believe 00:20:31.380 --> 00:20:42.120 and as you read john's book in the light of john 20 you see this over and over again so john chapter 6 verse 14 after jesus has fed the 5 000 he writes this 00:20:42.119 --> 00:20:50.619 after the people saw the sign jesus performed they began to say surely this is the prophet who has come into the world 00:20:50.619 --> 00:20:55.519 they're beginning to grasp who jesus is as they see the sign that he performed 00:20:55.519 --> 00:21:01.419 jesus knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force withdrew again to a mountain by himself 00:21:01.419 --> 00:21:08.219 so they understand it but they don't quite fully understand it so he's fed the 5 000 this is a prophet this sounds like moses 00:21:08.220 --> 00:21:15.940 this sounds like something that god's messiah would do they're beginning to understand but they think that they should make him king by force 00:21:15.940 --> 00:21:25.880 and so he withdraws now that means doesn't it unless when you're reading preaching studying sharing john chapter 6 00:21:25.880 --> 00:21:32.440 or any part of john's gospel but john chapter 6 if you're not explaining that this is to show you that jesus is the messiah 00:21:32.440 --> 00:21:40.400 you've missed the point if you think the feeding of the 5 000 is mostly about what you bring to jesus for him to make something of 00:21:40.400 --> 00:21:46.680 you haven't really understood it because that's not john's purpose in writing that's not what he wrote it for 00:21:46.680 --> 00:21:54.820 he wrote it to show you that jesus is the messiah and that you don't need to make him king by force because he will be made 00:21:54.819 --> 00:22:04.059 king by god his enthronement as it turns out will be on a roman cross another example is luke's gospel he 00:22:04.059 --> 00:22:10.119 introduces his book by saying many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been 00:22:10.119 --> 00:22:16.919 fulfilled among us just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and 00:22:16.919 --> 00:22:23.240 servants of the word with this in mind since i myself have carefully investigated everything from the 00:22:23.240 --> 00:22:29.740 beginning i too decided to write an orderly account for you most excellent theophilus so that you may 00:22:29.740 --> 00:22:36.200 know the certainty of the things that you have been taught now luke's purpose is very similar to john's 00:22:36.200 --> 00:22:42.019 he's writing to expose his readers to jesus but it's not exactly the same he is writing to give confidence 00:22:42.019 --> 00:22:48.720 that people might have certainty and instead of organizing his material around signs he's organizing it 00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:55.319 around eyewitness accounts and instead of organizing it around signs for a particular purpose he's he's 00:22:55.319 --> 00:23:02.420 putting it in a orderly fashion and he is doing it for his sponsor theophilus whoever that might be 00:23:02.420 --> 00:23:10.380 and he's doing it so that he might have certainty or confidence now that means that what luke writes and 00:23:10.380 --> 00:23:15.220 what john writes they write for a specific purpose that we need to understand if we're to relate properly 00:23:15.220 --> 00:23:21.420 and hear properly what they say it also means doesn't it that this thing that we often do with 00:23:21.420 --> 00:23:27.339 the gospels is that we we basically read the story in luke and we read the story in john and then we sort 00:23:27.339 --> 00:23:32.740 of blend them together and come up with some sort of general purpose is not really what they intended 00:23:32.740 --> 00:23:39.640 luke has a specific intention and john has a specific intention with the same story and i'm to understand it 00:23:39.640 --> 00:23:45.840 separately and thoroughly now it's not always that obvious sometimes you have to do some digging to 00:23:45.840 --> 00:23:50.320 find the author's purpose looking at how the material is arranged and what is being said and 00:23:50.320 --> 00:23:55.020 who is originally reading it and so let's go for an example that we're going to do together and we're 00:23:55.020 --> 00:23:59.980 going to look at 1 corinthians chapter 13 i'm going to read it to you and then in your groups i want 00:23:59.980 --> 00:24:04.600 you to think about what are the main points being made in the passage and then there's a string of 00:24:04.600 --> 00:24:09.120 cross references so you're going to need a bible and that you can look up and then think about how that 00:24:09.119 --> 00:24:17.139 makes you uh see the passage differently okay 1 corinthians 13 famous chapter read by tony blair 00:24:17.139 --> 00:24:24.439 at lady diana's funeral if you remember that some of you may not have been alive anyway paul writes this 00:24:24.439 --> 00:24:32.119 if i speak in the tongues of men or of angels but do not have love i am only a resounding gong or a 00:24:32.119 --> 00:24:38.119 clanging cymbal if i have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge and if i 00:24:38.119 --> 00:24:45.579 have a faith that can move mountains but do not have love i am nothing i give all to possess 00:24:45.579 --> 00:24:52.099 i sorry if i give all i possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that i may boast 00:24:52.099 --> 00:25:01.679 but do not have love i gain nothing love is patient love is kind it does not envy it does not boast it is 00:25:01.680 --> 00:25:07.519 not proud it does not dishonor others it's not self-seeking it's not easily angered it keeps no 00:25:07.519 --> 00:25:14.980 record of wrongs love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth it always protects always 00:25:14.980 --> 00:25:21.900 trusts always hopes always perseveres love never fails but where there are prophecies they will cease 00:25:21.900 --> 00:25:26.840 where there are tongues they will be stilled for whether is knowledge it will pass away for we know in 00:25:26.839 --> 00:25:34.399 part and we prophesy in part but when completeness comes what is in part disappears when i was a child 00:25:34.399 --> 00:25:40.019 i talked like a child i thought like a child i reasoned like a child when i became a man i put the 00:25:40.019 --> 00:25:47.299 ways of childhood behind me but now we see only a reflection as in a mirror then we shall see face to 00:25:47.299 --> 00:25:56.099 face now i know in part then i shall know fully even as i am fully known and now these three remain 00:25:56.099 --> 00:26:04.539 faith hope and love but the greatest of these is love okay turn in your groups and have a think about 00:26:04.539 --> 00:26:09.940 the main points what do we think is the main point of 1 corinthians 13 or the main points of 1 00:26:09.940 --> 00:26:14.720 corinthians 13 and then we'll have a look at or then you can have a look at those verses together 00:26:14.720 --> 00:26:18.180 and see how that might change it go for it 00:26:18.960 --> 00:26:27.900 okay sorry to interrupt if you've not quite finished don't worry but our time is almost gone 00:26:27.900 --> 00:26:32.779 and so i want to get some feedback from you so as you initially read it what do you think the main 00:26:32.779 --> 00:26:39.500 point of the passages and how does that change as you look at those references let's let's jump to 00:26:39.500 --> 00:26:43.980 the second part what are those what do those references say about what life is like in corinth 00:26:43.980 --> 00:26:57.099 and what the corinthian church is like struggle yeah and strife hostile jealousy yeah division 00:26:57.099 --> 00:27:01.299 so how does that affect how you read chapter 13 00:27:01.299 --> 00:27:19.859 yeah so chapter 13 becomes a stinging rebuke doesn't it if you're thinking about what the author's 00:27:19.859 --> 00:27:26.299 intent is in chapter 13 he is pointing out to the corinthian church this is exactly the opposite of what 00:27:26.299 --> 00:27:33.639 they're like and so the terrifying warning to the corinthian church is that actually because 00:27:33.639 --> 00:27:38.339 of what they're like it doesn't matter if they give all they possess to the poor or give their body over 00:27:38.339 --> 00:27:45.659 to hardship that they may boast because they have love they are not gaining anything in fact their 00:27:45.659 --> 00:27:53.419 worship is like a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal which is a terrifying rebuke isn't it 00:27:53.420 --> 00:28:00.180 and so that that seeing the author's intent means that i don't just pull this out as some kind of neat 00:28:00.180 --> 00:28:07.820 definition of love to make me kind of get the warm and fuzzies i mean warm and fuzzies are not bad thing 00:28:07.820 --> 00:28:14.180 is it but that's not the author's intent the author's intent is that i might engage in some serious self-examination 00:28:14.180 --> 00:28:21.680 to see whether or not actually whilst i claim to be worshipping the lord i'm actually 00:28:21.680 --> 00:28:28.340 no real no real better off than a pagan worshipper because i'm a clanging resounding gong or a clanging 00:28:28.340 --> 00:28:30.700 symbol because i am without love 00:28:30.700 --> 00:28:36.600 now obviously you have to do a bit of work don't you to find that so 00:28:36.600 --> 00:28:41.700 you know you have to read one corinthians and you have to kind of read through it and you have to see 00:28:41.700 --> 00:28:47.860 that where you get to this point is picking out the specific things that he's mentioned 00:28:48.420 --> 00:28:52.340 and before so that is a bit of hard work but actually when you read it like that 00:28:53.140 --> 00:28:59.700 it is the point is just much sharper and much more useful to us as we're hearing more clearly what god 00:28:59.700 --> 00:29:06.500 says any other feedback from your groups on that any other things that helpful things that were said or 00:29:06.500 --> 00:29:11.059 came through 00:29:15.059 --> 00:29:22.180 yes yep yep so his thing on children at the end is is a sort of description of what they're like yeah 00:29:22.180 --> 00:29:30.500 you know 00:29:30.500 --> 00:29:36.740 do 00:29:36.740 --> 00:29:38.820 do 00:29:38.819 --> 00:29:49.579 right okay yes so to take what God has given and to use it as a means of competing against one 00:29:49.579 --> 00:29:53.379 another I mean that's that's what you see in the beginning isn't it when they say that they're with 00:29:53.379 --> 00:30:00.379 Apollos or with Paul or with even with you know we're in the Jesus group like I mean these are all 00:30:00.379 --> 00:30:07.179 good people aren't they particularly the perfect Lord Jesus and then they're fighting against each 00:30:07.180 --> 00:30:31.640 other on that basis yeah yeah yeah yeah so this I mean yes walking in the flesh and walking in the 00:30:31.640 --> 00:30:35.900 spirit from the end of Galatians I think there's a yeah it's a strong warning isn't there that it is 00:30:35.900 --> 00:30:55.400 possible to go really wrong as a church yeah yeah yeah so if you it can be taken out context idea I 00:30:55.400 --> 00:31:05.240 mean it's not a bad thing to read at a wedding but it's but yeah it's it's more of a yeah it's written 00:31:05.240 --> 00:31:09.480 as a as a rebuke rather than as anything else yeah yeah 00:31:09.480 --> 00:31:12.240 yeah 00:31:12.240 --> 00:31:31.640 yeah yeah so he's against the misuse of gifts when it's not using love yeah so I think I mean I think in terms 00:31:31.640 --> 00:31:38.640 of like um so the Lord is very gracious isn't he we will end with this but the Lord is gracious enough 00:31:38.640 --> 00:31:47.540 that he uses his word even in our hands and even when we don't quite get it right yeah I say time in God's word 00:31:47.540 --> 00:31:54.640 is never time wasted even if you don't quite get it perfectly right because God is very gracious and very 00:31:54.640 --> 00:32:00.759 kind um and so the purpose of these sessions is not for you to beat yourselves up and go oh I didn't 00:32:00.759 --> 00:32:05.480 quite understand that rightly before and actually don't worry about that the Lord is very gracious 00:32:05.480 --> 00:32:11.500 and can use even our misunderstandings of the Bible in order to correct us and rebuke us and train us 00:32:11.500 --> 00:32:17.520 but that doesn't mean that there's an excuse for not getting better at understanding the Bible right 00:32:17.519 --> 00:32:24.559 because we want to you know part of wanting to know God is wanting to know him better and listen to him 00:32:24.559 --> 00:32:31.240 more carefully and pay even closer attention to what he said than we have done before as we move on in 00:32:31.240 --> 00:32:35.920 the Christian lives in our Christian lives so let me pray and ask God that he do that and then we'll stand 00:32:35.920 --> 00:32:51.840 and sing together heavenly father we're very slow of heart and we are very often just very lazy I mean I confess 00:32:51.840 --> 00:33:01.039 Lord that I am lazy about reading the Bible and that at times you just open it and want quick solutions and 00:33:01.039 --> 00:33:11.339 easy nuggets to make us feel better and Lord that often just doesn't really reflect the seriousness of 00:33:11.339 --> 00:33:19.720 your word or really the the care with which you have attended the writing of the scriptures and the 00:33:19.720 --> 00:33:28.740 handing of them down to us and so Lord we pray that with even greater earnestness than we've had so far 00:33:28.740 --> 00:33:34.819 might we attend to what you say in your word that we might hear clearly your voice speaking to us 00:33:34.819 --> 00:33:42.240 and that we might respond in obedience and faith Lord we we recognize that you've been so gracious to 00:33:42.240 --> 00:33:50.359 us over the years and have used even just our cursory readings of the Bible to give us warnings and 00:33:50.359 --> 00:33:57.680 corrections and training and rebukes and say Lord what might you do if we commit ourselves to serious 00:33:57.680 --> 00:34:05.519 reading of your scriptures and to pouring over them and to spending our lives doing that Lord what 00:34:05.519 --> 00:34:11.760 that what that might bring what fruit that might bring by your spirit through your word in our lives 00:34:11.760 --> 00:34:20.340 and in our church so help us we pray and draw near to us we ask this week as we open your word in our 00:34:20.340 --> 00:34:26.940 homes on our own as we do that together as a church we pray please that by your spirit you might meet with us 00:34:27.679 --> 00:34:35.599 that we might live lives which bring you praise and glory and honor as we ask in Jesus name amen amen