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Can We Understand the Bible Alike?
John 8:32
Introduction:
1. You
know as well as I do that the Bible is one of the most misunderstood books
in the world.
2. It
is so often misunderstood that it has caused some people to question
whether it is possible to understand the Bible Alike.
3. We
must understand the Bible alike or one or both of us have not understood it.
I. Implications If We Cannot Understand The Bible
Alike
A.
There can be no unity.
1. John
17:20-21; 1 Corinthians 1:10
a. Paul expected
Corinthians to agree upon spiritual truth – it was essential to harmony
& peace
B. It
insults the wisdom of God.
1. II
Peter 1:19-21; I Corinthians 2:1-4, 13
3.
“You can prove anything by the Bible.”
C. It
contradicts clear Bible teaching.
1. John
8:32; Eph 5:17; 1 John 5:13; Matt 22:29; 2 Peter 3:14-16
II. We Do Understand The Bible Alike
A. To
an extant that many people are unaware, we already do understand the Bible
alike.
B. Genesis
3:1-6 -What kind of fruit?
C. Exodus
3:1-5 -What kind of bush?
D. John
8:3-9 -What did Jesus write?
E. John
3:1-5 - Why by night? Nicodemus
F. 2
Corinthians 12 - What was his thorn?
G.
While there are a few exceptions, the disagreements people have today are
for the most part, over matters that are not recorded in the Bible. They
are matters of opinion.
III. Factors That Help Us Understand The Bible
A.
Importance of Context.
1. Who
is speaking (Matthew 12:25; Job 2:4; Acts 5:33-39)
2. Who
is addressed (Exodus 20:8; Genesis 6:14)
3. Why
was it written (1 Corinthians 1:14; Revelation 1:1-3)
B. Acknowledge
the natural divisions of the Bible.
1. 2
Timothy 2:15
2. Old
Testament - (Law, History, Poetry, Prophets).
3. New
Testament - (Biography, History, Epistles, Prophecy).
C.
Recognize the employment of figurative language.
1.
Metaphor - (Luke 13:31-32; John 6:41; Mark 14:22-24)
2.
Synecdoche - Part put for whole i.e. bread for food, the army for soldier,
or copper for penny.(Acts 5:9; Acts 20:7)
3.
“When the normal sense makes good sense, seek no other sense, lest it
result in nonsense.”
D. A willingness to really study.
1. 2
Timothy 2:15
2. Acts
17:11-12
IV. Factors That Hinder Us From Understanding The
Bible
A.
Reading the Bible to prove an already believed position (Jeremiah 10:2-5).
B. A
desire to find something new. “Much that is called Bible study is
not Bible study at all. Satan kept men for years from any interest in Bible
study, but now that there is a great and growing interest in it he keeps
them from real Bible study. Questions about the authorship, date, etc., of
the various books of the Bible are both interesting and important; but
studying these things is not studying the Bible. A man once asked a recent
graduate of a great university why he did not give his life to teaching the
English Bible. The young man replied, "I don't know anything about the
Bible." "Why, you have a high priced professor employed in your
university just to teach the English Bible." The young man said,
"Mr. Moody, would you like to know how we study the Bible? We have
spent the last six months trying to find out who wrote the Pentateuch, and
we know less about it now than when we began." That was not Bible
study.--R. A. Torrey”
C.
Closed minded (Matthew 13:15).
D. Some
don’t love the truth (2 Thessalonians 2:10-11).
E.
Efforts to harmonize the Bible with science.
F.
Accepting the words of another man without checking for oneself.
Conclusion:
1.
While there are some things we will never know (Deuteronomy 29:29),
and there are some things that are difficult to understand 2 Peter
3:15-16, there are some things that can and must be understood if we
are to be pleasing to God.
2. Isaiah
35:8
3. God
wants us to be saved, thus he has revealed himself to us in a way that we
can understand.
4. The
Bible makes some very basic and clear statements that are impossible to
misunderstand.
a. “Arise and
be baptized and wash away your sins”
b.
“Baptism does also now save us”
c.
I Cor 14:33 – God is not the author of confusion.
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