How to Shine the Clear Light of Scripture, Part B

previously on grace to you these things are written that you might believe that jesus is the christ and believing have life in his name that is to say it is directed at those who don't believe and it is clear enough for them to know what they are to believe you will be judged you will be condemned because you believe not and understanding enough of that so that in rejecting it is damned forever what in the world makes us so embarrassed about the gospel i determined to know nothing among you except jesus christ and him crucified [Music] rome in the counter reformation and ever since says that the bible is completely obscure and inaccessible as if it had been written in a mystical code rome says any clear understanding of the bible is only possible through the mediation of the church which has all interpretation authority now the reformers rejected that lie and they all held to the clarity of scripture i'll give you an illustration luther against erasmus the dutch humanist luther postulates this nothing in scripture is obscure anything seeming to be so is due to man's sin and ignorance some texts seem obscure because readers lack the tools of interpretation satan blinds the minds to true meaning scripture where seeming to be unclear in one place is clear in another externally scripture is clear to all in normal language internally it is clear to believers and the holy spirit brings about full internal clarity that's luther that's good you would affirm all of that so the clarity of scripture has been attacked and it has been defended through history we all remember the emergent church brian mclaren clarity is overrated shock and ambiguity often stimulate more thought than clarity in fact clarity with regard to scripture can be deemed hate speech this is in the groundwater of our culture by the way this culture hates certainty it hates biblical certainty god's words are intended to do something but the evangelical movement today doesn't like what some of god's words do john 7 7 jesus said there's a reason why people hate me there's a reason why i'm going to end up on the cross he summed it up in john 7 7. the world cannot hate you but it hates me because i testify of it that its deeds are evil so you will hear somebody like the man i just quoted if he's asked a question what do you think of homosexuality do you think the jews are going to hell any challenging question like that you will hear a long drawn-out obfuscation of words that mean nothing because he's caught up in what the words do rather than what they say this is an assault on truth god said those words so that they would do something and they must do exactly what it is obvious they do and if you try to avoid that you're gagging god biblical revelation is clear enough again so people know what they don't like the word is alive and what powerful sharper than any two-edged sword it cuts that's what it's supposed to do post-modern thinking goes silent when the words offend someone post-modern evangelicalism doesn't want to offend homosexuals feminists people who advocate same-sex marriage etc etc etc etc post-moderns hate clarity because they bought into the fact that you can't offend anybody the bible's the most defensive book ever written damns the entire human race and no one escapes if you're tampering with that get out of the ministry if you can't do what the bible demands that you do that is preach the clear truth of the word of god get out go do something else doesn't mean you don't do it with love and and compassion and a broken heart like our lord did who wept over the city of jerusalem that he was pronouncing judgment on but we can't wrangle about words the message is clear that's not really all we have to deal with in handling scripture um there is a popular hermeneutic these days i guess you could call it the christocentric hermeneutic that says well um [Music] christ is the hermeneutic for every passage sounds noble but it's not legitimate it looks for jesus christ in every text jesus christ in every verse every passage so christology becomes the hermeneutic this is isa jesus not exegesis this leads to spiritualization of all kinds of things like you know somebody asked what's the back board in the rear of the tabernacle [Music] four and i said to hold up the roof and we all are dealing again we're dealing with this new testament priority hermeneutic i need to say a few things about it this is to say the new testament interprets the old testament we haven't been able to shake that because it's in the groundwater of covenant theology honestly in reality it says the new testament priority hermeneutic says the old testament can't be interpreted on its on its own think about that so in what sense was it revelation to all those generations of people if they couldn't understand it without the new testament in what sense was it revelation it rejects the progress of dogma it makes the old testament concealment there's like a bunch of riddles it leaves old testament writers and readers in the dark so you have to ask the question what did they think they were saying when they said your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path what were they saying if the new testament is the interpreter of the old testament a fatal blow is done to the clarity of the entire old testament george eldon ladd said this the fact is that the new testament frequently interprets the old testament prophecies in a way not suggested by the old testament context so the old testament expectation of a kingdom on earth could be reinterpreted by the new testament to refer to spiritual blessings in the spiritual realm end quote what's he saying he's saying the promises that god made to israel weren't for israel that's what he's saying that's why he developed the eschatology he did the old testament is so unclear listen to this the old testament is so unclear as to seem to promise the future salvation of national israel it is so unclear as to seem to promise new covenant salvation to the nation it is so unclear as to seem to promise that the messiah will set up an earthly kingdom in jerusalem from which he will reign over the entire world it is so unclear as to seem to say that all the promises to abraham in the abrahamic covenant and david in the davidi covenant will actually come to pass literally that's how unclear it is if you don't get the new testament to work on it so if that's what you think then the entire body of people who are reading the old testament through all those centuries were being deceived replacement theology this amillennialism this idea that the promises of god to israel are fulfilled in the church just does havoc to the old testament and to the old testament people no new testament author claims such interpretive power over the old testament did you get that no new testament author claims such interpretive power over the old testament nor does any new testament writer ever say i know it seems like the old testament means this but really it means this and we're also fighting another kind of hermeneutic that's very popular called census plenar that is to say that scripture has a deeper meaning again back to kind of allegorical mystical there's only so many things wrong you can do and they just keep coming up with different names the idea of this one is men see one meaning but god sees another meaning that means that scripture is not revelation it's just confusion this leads to a kind of gnosticism which leads to a kind of charismatic notion that the bible means whatever you think it means very convenient all these things are very convenient because there are ways to handle the scripture which people can use to take away the plain truth sixth day creation is a casualty to this assault days don't mean days jeremiah ezekiel isaiah zechariah all the promises of national restoration salvation for israel earthly kingdom of messiah had absolutely no meaning when they were written they could only be misunderstood the true meaning was not even available to those people worse than that not only did god not reveal the truth to them he deceived them he deceived them he knew the promises were never going to be for them gave them false hope so in acts 1 when the disciples say to jesus will you at this time restore the kingdom jesus should have said oh guys i don't know how to tell you this we've been kidding you all the time what time does this session end okay i have a few more minutes that was the introduction so let's talk about some principles regarding clarity of scripture okay that was the introduction um you thought it was a joke but it was the end of that if the sinner is held responsible these are principles regarding clarity i just want to roll them out if the center is held responsible for the revelation of god in creation romans 1 if the sinner is held responsible for the revelation of god in conscience romans 2 he is surely to be held responsible for the written and preached revelation of god in scripture so that the sinner is without excuse on that account as well furthermore the new testament is very clear that the sinner can understand the law of god enough so that the law of god is the only ally the gospel has in the sinner's heart you only have one ally you only have one point of agreement in a fallen sinner's heart and that is sin so that the sinner's law and conscience are an ally to the basic gospel the sinner knows he's a sinner and when the revelation of god comes against him it escalates that knowledge of sin it clarifies that knowledge of sin that's why we preach the law and the sinner is undone and then understands even on a superficial level the offer of the gospel and grace the only ally you have in the sinner is the assault that the bible makes on the sinner at the point of his sin and so if we mute that and remove that and dance around in some speech act theory so that we don't say anything that people don't like you have cut yourself off from the only ally you have in an unredeemed heart and that is the reality of sin and the work of the conscience accusing the unbeliever the ignorance and blindness of sinners dead in their trespasses is not by the way to be compounded by god who knowing that sinners are blind and ignorant delivers them an incomprehensible revelation like a bunch of allegories like jewish kabbalah like myths and gnosticism god is not as stupid as liberals their problem is not the ambiguity of scripture it is the sinfulness of their own minds they reject the truth because their deeds are what evil scripture is necessarily plain because god its author creator redeemer and the judge of all men speaks plainly to accomplish his purpose of salvation and eagerly speaks plainly to justify his judgment scripture is plain in matters of salvation so that without tradition without church interpretation it can be read and understood when one is aided by the holy spirit it can lead even to salvation scripture yields its meaning to ordinary reason literal sense there's no secret hidden implicit meanings it is light it is light even to those who reject it and our lord said they hate the light no man can savingly embrace and believe the scriptures yes without the aid of the holy spirit this does not prove their ambiguity it merely says that internal clarity the full understanding of scripture is the work of the holy spirit scripture is clear to the believer by the grace of spiritual life the illumination of the holy spirit that was given to him as anointing from god first john 2 how sad it is to convey to christians christians who have the anointing from god the holy spirit the author of scripture living in them as their own interpreter to convey to them that the bible is not clear and then for god to hold them responsible for how they respond to it what has god done made us responsible for something that he's not even clear about even the old testament scripture is crystal clear and that is why god was just in his judgment when they were found disobedient and guilty and accountable think about jesus in his teachings his conversations his disputes he never responds to any of discussions about the old testament there were many of them he never says oh sorry guys i know it's unclear and and by the way you'll never know what it means until we get this new testament written anyway our lord never ever makes excuses have you not read have you not understood have you never read in the scripture matthew 12 3 12 5 19 14 matthew 22 31 matthew 21 42 he even said this you're wrong because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of god your problem is you don't know the old testament the old testament was not only clear for jews in the ministry of jesus paul said to the corinthians first corinthians 10 the whole old testament happened as examples for gentiles it's clear enough to set examples for how gentiles ought to interact with god sure there are old testament prophetic passages that are made clear in the new testament such as in the the emmaus discourse where our lord goes back to the old testament shows how all the things were fulfilled concerning messiah in him and peter admits that that it's hard to know what person and what time all the final events are going to be until they happen prophetic things yes but just think about this the new testament epistles were not written to church leaders they were written to churches gentile churches to the church of god which is at corinth to the churches of galatia to the saints in christ jesus who are at philippi with the bishops and deacons and so on and so on and so on and so on they're written to congregations of people who have been converted out of gentile pagan religion and yet so many of paul's arguments are based on old testament truth you you want to know his great his most powerful extended proof of salvation by faith alone is romans chapter 4 the entire story of abraham which gentiles in rome would know nothing about the bible is so clear that even gentiles can see its truths they had no previous background in any kind of christianity or any kind of jewish history the bible is so clear that the lord did something only once and i think he did this very purposely i suppose most people would agree that the most difficult book to understand is the book of revelation so if that's what you think listen to this revelation 1 3 blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy and heed the things which are written in it for the time is near really blessed is he who reads and who hears or understands the words of the prophecy you say revelation that's the only time he ever said that that's the only time he ever promised a blessing on anybody for reading a book and understanding it he said but that's such a hard one that's that's probably the one of the easiest books to understand it's chronological take it at face value now if you don't believe it means what it says lots of luck but it's just it's almost it's you almost get the idea that god may just have a bit of humor in view putting that in front of revelation all scripture is is not so clear that it doesn't need an interpreter the lord has raised up teachers for the perfecting of the saints the bible is not so clear that everybody understands the full depth of it paul talks about milk level and meat level and those are not different truths or different doctrines they're different depths of the same doctrine you can know enough about grace and faith to be saved and spend the rest of your life trying to plumb the depths of soteriology right scripture has its heights and depths of truth which like god himself motivate an increased diligent study humble pride and threaten attitudes of irreverence arising from all of this arising from what is on its own face simple straightforward truth and this is my life how many years now probably 65 years in the word of god and i feel like i'm sitting on the beach in front of the pacific ocean and i've just got one little bucket full of it and the vast realities of divine truth are far beyond it is bred at a table for a child isn't it but it is gold buried deep for the mature scripture demands all our mental powers to grasp its transcendent truths sometimes it's hard to understand second peter 3 right 15 and 16 it's hard to understand and because it's sometimes hard to understand the untaught and the unstable distort it as they do to their own destruction this of course is the work of false teachers people are victims listen i guess what i'm trying to say to you is we cannot let this post-modern culture attack the clarity of scripture and we are the light bearers are we not and you don't want to stand in the presence of the lord and have to be ashamed because you wrangled about words and you did not let that light shine clearly faith and obedience on the part of the people must not rest on the preacher even the most gifted expositor faith and obedience must rest on the scripture and there's the real challenge in ministry how do you stand up and be the voice and make them connect with the scripture and not you we've all seen preaching histrionics it's all over the place we've all seen people parading all over platforms entertaining people with quasi-spiritual talk and were there to be any response on a spiritual level of faith and obedience it would appear to have had to be between the person and the preacher that's a prostitution of your purpose you want the people to interact with the scripture show them what god is saying in his word do not let them be captivated with you do not let them interact with you that is a failure they must be captivated and interact with the word and thus with god and if you open the word to them and they interact with the word in the process of you showing them what the word is saying not telling them but showing them you are teaching them how to interpret the scripture for themselves and so then you're just initiating what becomes a lifelong passion for your people searching the scriptures for themselves you're showing them what scripture means and you're showing them how they can find what scripture means their faith and obedience must rest on the scripture [Music] over the past two weeks we've learned the importance of shining the clear light of scripture the only way to do that is to study and know the truths of scripture pastor john mentioned this resource to you last week but i want to remind you of a resource that has been invaluable to the people of grace church for many years it's available now through grace to you and it's called the fundamentals of the faith workbook in it are 13 lessons to help you grow in the grace and knowledge of christ to order a copy give us a call at 888 57 grace or visit our website gty.org this resource is great for personal study or with friends in a small bible study as always thank you for joining us today we are so thankful for those of you who share our commitment to proclaim the truth one verse at a time

Channel: Grace to You

Views: 43,230

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Keywords: John MacArthur, Bible, Preaching, Christianity, Expository, Exposition, Sermon, Jesus, Christ, Grace to You

Id: mNLWi6Sv2Sc

Length: 28min 30sec (1710 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 28 2021