We Are What We Eat
OKAY…
This morning we are jumping back into our messages series ‘Understanding The Bible…’
NOW – we jumped out of it 3 weeks ago…
SO – I think it is important for us to do a quick review of where we have been so far in these conversations.
FIRST – let me remind you of the 2 primary goals for this series
Goal #1 – To take a look at the overwhelming evidence that demonstrates (contrary to the onslaughts of modern culture) that The Bible is not just another book or mere ink on paper, but that it really is from God, the Maker of heaven and earth.
Anyone think that this is a worthwhile goal?
Goal #2 – Motivate, encourage, challenge and inspire people to read the Bible like never before… because it is from God and because in this series they will be given tools and principles that will equip them to understand it better.
NOW IN…
WEEK ONE – we talked about… how if a non-contingent, uncaused by anything else, self-sufficient, self-reliant, all-powerful, intelligent, always existing, unique, good & moral God who loves us were to write a book – that it would be the most amazing book ever written… AND B/S – I stand before you today and without any doubt whatsoever in my mind declare to that the bible is that book and therefore you can trust what it says… UNDERSTAND – the bible is…
• Unique (in a class of it’s own),
• Accurate (we can trust what it says)
• Supernatural (it knows some stuff that only God could know – pre-scientific knowledge and fulfilled prophecy)… and
• Transforming (it radically changes the lives of people).
IN WEEK TWO - we talked about how the Bible has one overriding – theme, purpose and storyline… ‘the coming of Christ.’
I mean, from Genesis to Revelation that is with the Bible is about.
The message of the O.T. (all of the 39 books, of law – history, prophecy and poetry) – is that Jesus is coming.
The message of the 4 Gospels – Jesus is here.
The message of the rest of the N.T. (23 books) – Jesus is coming again.
IN WEEK THREE - we talked about the canon of the bible and about how we can be totally confident that our bibles contain the books that God intended.
In other words - no books are missing and there are not any books in there that should not be in there.
IN WEEK FOUR - we talk about the transmission of the text, ABOUT HOW … The bible has been copied so much and so early that we can be confident that we have the original text.
AND – though there are differences (variants) in the ~25,000 hand written manuscripts that we have, 99% of those variants are things like spelling and word order…
And though these manuscripts were copied by hundreds of different people, over centuries, living in different places not one single variant touches any core teachings of our faith.
AND FINALLY IN WEEK 5…
We talked about the various translations that are out there for us today… and about how there really is no best translation.
Bottom line - most are good, some are not so good and some are kind of bad and are really not translations at all.
OKAY MGCC – that is where we have been…
AGAIN – all of these messages are online (website, facebook live, podcast)… and if you missed any I would strongly encourage you to give them a listen.
NOW - the title for today’s message is, “You Are What You Eat.”
YOU KNOW - eating is something that our culture knows a lot about. YES – we are pretty serious about our eating in the good old U.S. of A.
I MEAN – what do you find in the center of most malls (a food court)…
What do we have on almost every street corner? (restaurants) AND - food usually plays a pivotal role at movies (I always get popcorn and have something chocolate and something sour) and when watching sport events (like a Super Bowl Party without food simply would not make sense)…
AND - on Friday and Saturday nights people will stand in long lines for over an hour at places like Out Back Steak House – just to eat food…
YES – food has become a national past time in our country…
AND TODAY – there are literally hundreds of TV shows centered around food… and cooking.
I MEAN – food even has it’s own TV network…
QUESTION - anybody out there watch any food or cooking shows…
Here are my 2 favorites…
YES – we are what we eat.
And we eat a lot…
AND LISTEN - in your mind and your heart, what you eat is what you study.
UNDERSTAND…
Martin Luther, Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X; Adolph Hitler, Genghis Kahn, Abraham Lincoln, the apostle Paul – they were all students.
Each made a serious study of a certain philosophy, a system of thought and action.
As a monk Luther - studied St Augustine as well as a philosophy known as nominalism, but he was transformed by a penetrating and painstaking study of Paul’s letter to the Romans, and then a careful reread of the entire bible.
Malcolm X - began reading widely while in prison for larceny, but fell especially under the spell of Black Muslim Leader Elijah Mohammed.
Adolph Hitler - a sulking and awkward teenager stung twice by rejection from Vienna’s elite art school, came under the teaching of Frederick Nietzsche’s will to power philosophy and Richard Wagner’s anti-Semitic nationalistic music that paid homage to the pagan gods of Nordic and Teutonic legend.
AND so it goes.
Each of them was shaped…
BY - the books they read and reread,
BY - the art they surrounded themselves with,
BY - the music they soaked themselves in, and
BY - the teachers they bowed to.
YES - in heart and mind they were what they ate.
In His Book – Your God Is Too Safe – Mark Buchanan describes study this way;
Study is the ingesting and digesting, the chewing and swallowing and being filled with ideas, images, thoughts, and attitudes.
To browse an idea, to skim it and dabble in it – that’s like getting a whiff of food, maybe a faint taste on the tongue. But to study: to really plunge into the depth of a thing, to interrogate it and allow it to interrogate you, to probe it and be probed by it – that is study. That is eating.
NOW UNDERSTAND – the bible in many places uses the metaphor of eating in connection with God’s word; for example… Jeremiah writes in the 15th chapter of his book;
When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O Lord God Almighty.
– Jeremiah 15:16
In the book of Ezekiel, the prophet tells us about his call from God and as he does, we see this metaphor of eating once again… Son of man eat what is before you, eat this scroll and then go and speak to the house of Israel. - Ezekiel 3:1
HEY – do you see the intended progression there?
Eat first – then go and speak.
In John 6, Jesus tells a great multitude of people that they must eat his words if they are to have eternal life…
The one who feeds on me will live because of me. – John 6:57
AND – in the last book of the bible (in Revelation 10:10,11)
WE SEE - the apostle John meeting up with an angel who holds a scroll of God’s word, and he tells John (like He told Ezekiel) that he must eat the scroll before he can go out and preach it, Revelation 10:10,11
SO YOU SEE - the idea of eating God’s word is a biblical concept…
NOW - the Ethiopian emperor Menelik II took this literally.
And whenever he got sick, he’d eat actual pages from the bible, believing that this would cure him.
It is said, that he died in 1913 after ingesting the entire book of 2 Kings.
NOW – that is not the kind of eating that I want us to begin diving into this morning.
NO – the kind of eating I want us to partake of - is the spiritual discipline of studying God’s Word…
Which is often referred to as hermeneutics.
NOW – don’t let that technical term intimidate you…
UNDERSTAND - the word comes from the Greek word
hermeneuo, which means to explain or interpret.
We see Jesus using a form of this word in Luke 24 while he is walking with those 2 guys on the road to Emmaus, who had lost hope because Jesus had died…
Then beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted for them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures. – Luke 24:27
NOW – the noun form of this verb, Hermes, was the name given to the Greek god who was the spokesman or interpreter for the other gods.
YOU SEE - whenever Zeus, or some other notable deity, had a message for the human race. Hermes the messenger god was one to get it done.
AGAIN – Hermes brought the message from the gods to the people…
WHICH IS WHY - in Acts 14 we read that after Paul preached the message of the gospel and then healed a cripple at Lystra, the people thought that the gods had come to visit them.
And they started to call Barnabas, Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the main speaker. – Acts 14:12
BOTTOM LINE - the term “hermeneutics,” simply describes the practice or discipline of interpretation and the rules involved.
AND – as Mark Moore writes in His book seeing God in HD…
Hermeneutics is both a science and an art.
NOW UNDERSTAND - it is not a ‘hard’ science that can be reduced to test tubes and element charts.
RATHER – it is a science of language – specifically the science of the way that language works in everyday life.
UNDERSTAND – language has rules… you know
LIKE RULES ABOUT… - words, grammar, context, parallel passages, historical setting, about reading and understanding specific genres (psalms, gospels, prophecy, narratives)…
QUESTION – and who made up these rules?
I really like how Mark Moore puts it…
No one and everyone. It’s not like a bunch of theologians sneaked off to some cathedral in the Alps and came down with a list of divine hermeneutical ‘do’s’ and ‘don’ts.’ These rules come from observing how language works in the rough and tumble of real life. They are observations about the language of the market place and the blog, the sitcom and comedy central. This is why we can say that hermeneutics is truly a science – it comes from observing this incredibly complex and eminently fascinating phenomenon we call language. – Mark Moore
BUT LISTEN – hermeneutics is more than just scientific rules…
YOU SEE – it also requires a certain degree of artistic skills.
FOR EXAMPLE…
Ladies what if your husband makes the following statement…
“Wow, she is really hot!”
UNDERSTAND – you may not know what these words mean without the help of your inner artist.
NOW – if he is sitting on the edge of the bed after taking your daughters temperature. Then those words mean she has pretty significant fever.
BUT – if he says those same five words… ‘wow, she is really hot’ as a beautiful woman walks by your table at a restaurant… those words means something entirely different.
LIKE – you are now officially ‘dead meat.’
OR – if he says those same 5 words as you pull your car over to the side of the road, and steam is pouring out of the hood and the temperature gauge is pegged high… those words mean yet something different again.
MGCC – what I am trying to say is that language can be kind of slippery.
I MEAN – imagine the poor foreign exchange student that you happily meet at the airport…
“What’s Up?” (she looks up to the sky for the answer)
(so, you say) “No, I mean, what’s going down?
(she drops her gaze to the ground)
(so you say) “I mean, what’s going on?”
“On what?” (she asks with a confused look on her face)
B/S – we do have a confusing language…
I MEAN…
• When something that is hot can be cool
• When boxing rings are square
• When we drive on parkways and park on driveways, and
• Where restrooms are the last place you actually want to rest.
SO, LIKE I SAID – mere rules are not sufficient.
Hermeneutics
Understanding and studying the bible
requires both the rules of linguistic science and the skills of an artist…
SO – we are now going to begin dealing with goal #2 for our series, ‘Understanding The Bible.’
Goal #2 – Motivate, encourage, challenge and inspire people to read the Bible like never before… because it is from God and because in this series they will be given tools and principles that will equip them to understand it better.
NEXT… we will begin looking at some specific rules and principles of hermeneutics is a conversation I am calling Take A.I.M. and Always Respect The King…
BUT TODAY – in our time remaining I want to talk about several motivations or reasons why you should begin or deepen your study of this book… and why should really care about learning some basic hermeneutics skills
The Bible Is
Is The Word of God
UNDERSTAND - if the Bible is just a collection of 66 different books with some good advice… THEN - it doesn’t merit the level of study or commitment that I am asking each one of us in this room to make… BUT LISTEN – this is more than just a book of wise sayings and good advise… THIS - is the very words of God.
Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. 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. – 2 Peter 1:20,21
You accepted what we said as the very word of God—which, of course, it is. And this word continues to work in you who believe. – 1 Thessalonians 2:13
All Scripture is God-breathed… - 2 Tim 3:16
MGCC THIS BOOK…
• IS - the owners manual for life written by the author of life…
• ANSWERS - life’s most important questions…
o Is there a God?
o Why am I here?
o How did we get here?
o How can I resist temptation?
o Is there life after death?
o Why is there evil and suffering in the world?
o What is God’s will for my life?
o What is love?
o How can I be a better – husband? Wife? Parent?
Person?
o What is the kind of life that leads to lasting
satisfaction and contentment?
AND LISTEN – since this book is the words of the Maker of heaven and earth, it will be around forever….
I like how Max Lucado puts it,
The Bible has been banned, burned, scoffed, and ridiculed. Scholars have mocked it as foolish. Kings have branded it as illegal. A thousand times over, the grave has been dug and the dirge has begun, but somehow the Bible never stays in the grave. Not only has it survived, it has thrived. It's the single most popular book in all of history. It has been the best-selling book in the world for years.
1 Peter 1:24,25 - “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.”
A 2nd reason we should study the bible is because the bible;
Nourishes Us Spiritually.
QUESTION – do you pretty much eat every day?
AND - are you aware throughout the day when your body needs nourishment…? NOW - I don’t know about you but I need very little encouragement to eat physically?
YOU SEE – I have found out that if I don’t eat – my body doesn’t work so good, I loose energy, I get tired, I get a headache, I get cranky….
UNDERSTAND – in the same way that we are aware of our need for physical nourishment, we need to be aware of our need for the spiritual nourishment that comes from God’s word…
In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, which by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. - Hebrews 5:12-14
The Hebrew writer describes the bible as milk and solid food…. AND – check out what Peter says in his first letter about the Word of God…
Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. – 1 Peter 2:2,3
A 3rd reason to study the bible is because the bible;
Encourages Us To See Ourselves As We Are
There are two ways to know what you look like.
One is a photograph, the other is a mirror.
NOW - the thing about a photograph is that you prepare for it, you primp, you get ready for it.
Even guys comb their hair for a picture.
MY - guess is that this morning when you got up, you didn't get out of bed, pick up a photograph and say ‘Man, I'm looking good today,' and head off to start your day.
NO MY - guess is that you walked over and looked in the mirror, and said, 'Whew! I've got some work to do here.'
AND THEN - you invested some time and effort making the necessary changes to your appearance.
CHECKOUT – what James says;
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.
But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.
- James 1:22-25
MGCC - the Bible is a mirror. The Bible shows you the things in your life that you need to correct so that you can look like what God wants you to look.
YOU SEE - we do not study the Bible to impress people with our superior knowledge… NO, the purpose of studying the Scripture is to help you straighten out your life so you will look more like, the one in whose image you've been made.
SO – that you can more accurately reflect His glory.
The goal is not for us to get through the Scriptures. The goal is for the Scriptures to get through us…
The bible helps us find our red dot that says “you are here” – hard to get to where you need to be, if you don’t know where you are…
4th reason
Exposes False Teaching
UNDERSTAND – there is a lot of false teaching out in our world today. There are many who claim to be following the Word of God… BUT INSTEAD - have distorted and twisted it.
THERE ARE CULTS – who in name claim Christ while at the same time dethroning Him and devaluing His world.
AND – even within what is considered to be main stream Christianity… there are many false and dangerous teachings that are not found in the bible…
NOW – though it is not a good thing, this should not surprise us after all Jesus warned about false teachers in the Sermon on the Mount… AND - much of the N.T. was written expose false teaching…
Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. – 1 John 4:1
The people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth. – Acts 17:11
His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position.
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
– 2 Peter 3:16-18
A 5th reason to study the bible is because the bible;
Empowers Us To Resist Temptation
How can a young person stay pure? By obeying your word and following its rules. I have tried my best to find you-- don't let me wander from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. - Ps 119:9-11
OKAY – here’s the deal…
Sin will keep you from the Bible,
or the Bible will keep you from sin.
UNDERSTAND - a regular diet of the word will enable the Holy Spirit to work in your life. I have found that when I'm regularly reading the word, I tend to overcome temptation rather than give in to it.
AND – one of the best ways to use the word to defeat temptation is to memorize passages that deal with whatever your struggle is…
6th… the bible
Brings Transformation.
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. - Romans 12:2
The word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. - Hebrews 4:12
B/S – the word of God is living and active and helps to transform us by renewing our mind – by judging the thoughts and attitudes of our hearts…
(the place where real transformation begins)
The brilliant Jewish philosopher Dennis Pragger was debating Jonathon Glover, the atheistic philosopher from Oxford. Pragger asked, “Let’s say you arrived in L.A. and were driving through a rough part of the city at 2:00 AM and your car dies. You open the hood, and you're looking under it when you hear approaching footsteps. You look up, and 10 big, burly men are approaching. Would it, or would it not make a difference to you if you knew they were just coming from a Bible study?” Glover laughed and admitted it would be consoling.
(From Ravi Zacharias.)
Why? Because even cynics have to admit that the Bible has the power to transform people’s lives!
Martin Luther said, The Bible is alive, it speaks to me, it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold of me.
QUESTION – has the living word of God, ever spoke to you; has it ever ran after you, laid a hold of you – told you about something that needed changing?
The bible brings about transformation…
A 7th reason to study the bible is because the bible;
Is A Source Of Comfort and Hope
Your promises to me are my hope. They give me strength in all my troubles; how they refresh and revive me. - Ps 119:49
When I am hurting, I find comfort in your promise that leads to life… I find true comfort, LORD, because your laws have stood the test of time. - 119:50,52
I rise up early before the sun is up; I cry out for help and put my hope in your words… Ps 119:147
B/S – when you study the bible you will uncover some incredible words from God that will comfort you and give you hope… LET – me share just 1 with you, both are found in the book of Isaiah…
But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me." "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.
– Is 49:14-16
So many believers because they do not study the bible live without the hope and comfort that comes from God’s word…
Isaiah 40:26-31; 43:18,19; Isaiah 55:1-2
Romans 8:28-39
Eph 3:14-21
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
1 Timothy 1:15-17
Hebrews 4:14-16; 12:1-3
Revelation 21:1-7
Is The Foundation For A Storm Weathering Life
Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.
But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.
- Matthew 7:24-27
Has an extremely important purpose
SO – what is the purpose of this book?
IS IT – to transplant the dress, food and culture food of the first-century to today?
Some religions go into great detail about clothing and customs, assuming that this the goal of God and the Bible.
IS – the purpose of the Bible, to provide it’s readers with a secret code of prophecy which, once deciphered, will reveal the day on which our Lord will return and explain in detail modern political systems of the 21st century?
IS – the bibles purpose to provide a ‘how to’ manual for health, wealth and prosperity?
IS – the purpose of the bible to hide deep meanings behind (numbers, letters, names and other things) that only a few have the ability to discover.
IS – the purpose of the bible to provide people with ammunition for all ready held beliefs… Think about it… (people used this book to justify both the crusades and slavery)
NOW – don’t misunderstand me, the Bible may have thoughts on some of these subjects…
BUT - none of them identifies the purpose of Scripture.
THEN WHAT – is the purpose of the Bible?
YOU KNOW – I think it’s best to let the bible that question for itself.
I want us to look at 4 passages of Scripture that have within them the 3 fold purpose of Scripture.
Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his Word. – Hebrews 1:1-3
You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus. – 2 Timothy 3:15
But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. – John 20:31
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right. It is God's way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do. – 2 Timothy 3:16,17
OKAY – in these verses we see clearly the 3 fold purpose of the bible is to….
1. REVEAL - God to us, to tell us things about God’s character and His nature, so that we will know what He is like. Understand if God did not reveal himself to us (through His word) we would know as much about Him as a bug crawling on the floor knows about us.
2. REVEAL - the way of salvation, the way of being reconciled to the Father through His Son Jesus Christ.
3. REVEAL & EQUIP - God’s people to live the life that He desires.
A LIFE - that displays God’s glory.
UNDERSTAND – the purpose of Scripture is not information… IT’S – transformation.
THAT – is the 3 fold purpose of the bible….
THEREFORE – as you study the bible some good questions to ask are…
• Does this passage reveal something about God?
• Does it reveal something about the salvation that I have in Christ?
• Does it reveal something about the life God both desires and empowers me to live?
As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
12 You will go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
will clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thorn bush will grow the juniper,
and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the LORD’s renown,
for an everlasting sign,
that will endure forever. – Isaiah 55:10-13
