God’s Word as a Lamp to our Feet
Pastor Joe Fuiten, April 23, 2006
A
businessman was in a great deal of trouble. His business was failing, he had
put everything he had into the business, he owed everybody-- it was so bad he
was even contemplating suicide. As a last resort he went to a priest and poured
out his story of tears and woe.
When
he had finished, the priest said, "Here's what I want you to do: Put a
beach chair and your Bible in your car and drive down to the beach. Take the
beach chair and the Bible to the water's edge, sit down in the beach chair, and
put the Bible in your lap. Open the Bible; the wind will rifle the pages, but
finally the open Bible will come to rest on a page. Look down at the page and
read the first thing you see. That will be your answer that will tell you what
to do."
A
year later the businessman went back to the priest and brought his wife and
children with him. The man was in a new custom-tailored suit, his wife in a
mink coat, the children shining. The businessman pulled an envelope stuffed
with money out of his pocket, gave it to the priest as a donation in thanks for
his advice.
The
priest recognized the benefactor, and was curious. "You did as I
suggested?" he asked.
"Absolutely," replied the
businessman.
"You
went to the beach?"
"Absolutely."
"You
sat in a beach chair with the Bible in your lap?"
"Absolutely."
"You
let the pages rifle until they stopped?"
"Absolutely."
"And
what were the first words you saw?"
"Chapter
11."
The use of the Bible on computer has diminished that problem somewhat and may even eliminate it one day. In the meantime we have the issue of rightly dividing the word of truth.
God
has given us the Scripture and the Holy Spirit as the means of revealing Jesus
and his way of life to us.
The
apostate clergy of
“Biblical
scripture is being cherry-picked, and preached as gospel without regard to
context or historical factors by many religious leaders. This results in bad theology and is
tantamount to false witness.
Five
verses out of the million in the Bible get attention far beyond their merits.
(Actually it is 31,103 verses not a million)
Each
verse that seems to condemn homosexuality occurs in close conjunction to
verses that we find untenable, even shocking, today, such as slavery,
torture, and the subjugation of women.
Anti-gay
verses are the subject of much contention by biblical scholars, particularly
regarding the accuracy of the translations, the accuracy of their
interpretation, and, in some instances, their rightful place in the Bible.”[1]
The irony
is in the admissions they make in the process.
They admit to five verses that are a problem for them. They admit that there are other verses they
find untenable as well. They are cutting
and pasting to suit their own interests.
They say the Scripture is mis-translated, wrongly interpreted, and some
of it shouldn’t even be in the Bible.
The
Scriptures that I have chosen for the Scripture readings today relate to the
topic at hand. I also chose them because
they are all part of the Dead Sea Scrolls that will be on display in
Psalm 132
is a prophecy of things to come. The two
passages from Psalm 119 speak to the Word of God. Let’s give attention to these passages from
the Bible and from the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Psalms
132:8-18 “Arise, O LORD, and come to your
resting place, you and the ark of your might. 9 May your priests be clothed
with righteousness; may your saints sing for joy." 10 For the sake of David your servant,do not
reject your anointed one. 11 The LORD
swore an oath to David, a sure oath that he will not revoke:"One of your
own descendants I will place on your throne 12 if your sons keep my covenant
and the statutes I teach them, then their sons will sit on your throne for ever
and ever." 13 For the LORD has
chosen Zion, he has desired it for his dwelling: 14 "This is my resting
place for ever and ever; here I will sit enthroned, for I have desired it
— 15 I will bless her with abundant
provisions; her poor will I satisfy with food. 16 I will clothe her priests
with salvation,and her saints will ever sing for joy. 17 "Here I will make a horn grow for
David and set up a lamp for my anointed one. 18 I will clothe his enemies with
shame, but the crown on his head will be resplendent."
Psalm
119:59-73, “I have considered my ways and
have turned my steps to your statutes. 60 I will hasten and not delay to obey
your commands. 61 Though the wicked bind me with ropes, I will not forget your
law. 62 At midnight I rise to give you thanks for your righteous laws. 63 I am
a friend to all who fear you, to all who follow your precepts. 64 The earth is
filled with your love, O LORD; teach me your decrees. 65 Teth Do good to your servant according to
your word, O LORD. 66 Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I believe in
your commands. 67 Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your
word. 68 You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees. 69
Though the arrogant have smeared me with lies,I keep your precepts with all my heart.
70 Their hearts are callous and unfeeling,but I delight in your law. 71 It was
good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees. 72 The law from
your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold. 73 Yodh Your hands made me and formed
me; give me understanding to learn your commands. NIV
Psalm
119:1-6
Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law
of the LORD. 2 Blessed are they who keep his statutes and seek him with all
their heart. 3 They do nothing wrong; they walk in his ways. 4 You have laid
down precepts that are to be fully obeyed. 5 Oh, that my ways were
steadfast in obeying your decrees! 6 Then I would not be put to shame when I
consider all your commands. NIV
The believer says the Bible is the
Word of God and is to be obeyed. The
unbelievers says I don’t agree with a lot that is in the Bible. It shouldn’t be there in the first place.
If it is not the Jesus of the Bible, it is a Jesus of their
own creation. A Jesus that they create
is not Jesus at all. Their Jesus is not
the Son of God but the idol of man. The
Bible is not the Word of God because we, or others before us, agreed upon
it. We agreed upon it because it is the
Word of God.
The devil’s goal is not just the
Bible. It is Jesus. When they are through undermining the Bible,
we are also through with Jesus.
Paul wanted Timothy to have a foundation in the Word of God
so he write to him in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All
Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting
and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly
equipped for every good work.”
Peter said much the same thing in 2 Peter 1:20-21 “Above all, you must understand that no
prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. 21 For
prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as
they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
How do we interpret the Bible? The Bible means what it plainly says about
99% of the time. An author intended to
communicate something and his readers would have understood it in a particular
way. That is the first meaning. Writers employee figures of speech, humor,
understatement, overstatement, sarcasm, etc.
We cannot read it without regard to
how others have understood it in the past.
There is a sense in which tradition is very important here. How have others who have standing in the
church interpreted these passages? What
do they say they mean? The people who spoke
Greek as a daily language were probably in a good position to understand what
others wrote in Greek. We do not give
tradition an equal weight with the Scripture itself, but we do want to consider
what the Church has historically said about these passages.
When I wrote “Modern Pentecostal
Controversies” I took AG doctrine relating to the Holy Spirit and tested it
against the first three centuries. I
wanted to demonstrate the relationship between current doctrine and the ancient
leaders.
Personal experience is a
valid perspective. However, we test
personal experience by the Scripture rather than the other way around. Years ago there were people in the church and
in this area that were teaching that Christians could be demon possessed. They were doing so based on their personal
experiences. I did my doctoral
dissertation on that topic doing a computer study of every verse in the Bible
as it might relate to that topic. In the
end I concluded that the Bible does not sustain that idea, and another explanation
should be sought to explain their personal experiences.
In a few weeks we will get another
dose of the Da Vinci Codes. It is a
completely different story than what either the Bible or standard history would
tell. The so-called “Enlightenment” tried
to show that Christianity was superstitious, repressive, and violent. Lots of people still believe that. Rabbi Lerner tried to perpetuate that myth
when he and I were with the Seattle City Club.
When presented with real history, he had to withdraw that
sentiment. Now we have the new “history”
that is trying to show Christianity as secretive, manipulative and
fraudulent. Jesus was just like other
men. He married, had kids, and joined
the anti-female conspiracy to repress goddess religion.
We should approach the Bible like we
approach Jesus. We should say Jesus I
believe in you. Teach me your ways as I
read this Bible. I am willing to do it
your way instead of my way. “Teach me
your ways, O God.”