CHERRY-PICKING THE WORD OF GOD
2 Timothy 2:15
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMON: 5 TIPS TO FIND A GOOD HUSBAND
1st TIP: Find a man who loves you & is loyal.
2nd TIP: “ “ “ ‘s fun & makes you laugh.
3rd TIP: “ “ hard worker, makes a good living.
4th TIP: “ “ “ is a good father & loves children.
5th TIP: It’s important that none of these men know each other.
B. THESIS & TITLE
1. The Word of God is something that many of us take for granted. It provides guidance, inspiration, and faith on how to live a life pleasing to God.
2. There are some individuals who approach the Word of God selectively, singling out some verses to promote and ignoring others so as to bolster their preconceived systems.
3. In order to understand the implications of this behavior, commonly referred to as "cherry-picking," we need to explore the implications of this practice on the pursuit of truth.
4. The title of this message is “Cherry-Picking the Word of God.”
I. WHAT IT MEANS TO CHERRY-PICK
A. CHERRY-PICKING DEFINED
1. Cherry-picking is like going to a buffet with many types of foods laid out and picking and choosing which of them you want to eat and rejecting the rest.
2. Many so-called spiritual leaders emphasize certain passages or teachings from the Bible to support their preconceived beliefs, and ignore or downplay other passages that might challenge or contradict their teachings.
3. People who cherry-pick use scripture to justify their sins, to promote their ideology, or for personal gain. In our modern age of sexual freedom, I have often heard unbelievers quote the Bible to believers about the sin of judging others. They don’t want to be confronted with their sins. Of course, we’re not to judge the lost (James 4:12), but the Lord told us we could recognize people’s true condition by the fruits of their lives (Mt. 7:6). We also have the responsibility of rebuking sin (Ezek. 3:18, Lk. 17:3).
B. EXAMPLES OF CHERRY-PICKING
1. MAJOR AREAS OF CHERRY-PICKING: PROPHECY TEACHINGS (making them for today); JOINING CHRISTIANITY & POLITICS (Republicans are God’s party); ONCE SAVED ALWAYS SAVED and denying SPEAKING IN TONGUES.
2. As we engage with the Word of God, let us remember the importance of humility, openness, and a commitment to seeking the truth wherever it leads.
3. Another area of abuse is the prosperity gospel – where only promises of blessing are emphasized while curses for disobedience are ignored.
II. WHAT ARE THE DANGERS OF CHERRY-PICKING?
A. FORMS OF ERROR THAT RESULT:
1. DISTORTION. Jeremiah 23:36, “each one’s word becomes their own message. So you distort the words of the living God.” 2 Cor. 4:2, “We do not use deception, nor do we distort the Word of God.” 2 Pet. 3:16, “[Paul’s] 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.”
2. MISINTERPRETATION. Defined as “To interpret or explain wrongly, to misunderstand.”
3. FALSE TEACHING, 2 Pet. 2:1, “there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them.”
4. IGNORING THE WORD
a. Dan Haseltine, lead singer for Jars of Clay, once said in a Tweet, "I don't particularly care about Scripture’s stance on what is 'wrong.' I care more about how it says we should treat people." he said. “[Resisting gay marriage] feels akin to women's suffrage. I don't think scripture "clearly" states much of anything regarding morality.” What mindless drivel!
b. Many people who claim to be Christians are “living” with someone, i.e., having sex with them, and they talk about “God putting them together,” etc. Nothing could be clearer, if one reads the Bible, that God considers all sexual behavior outside of Biblical marriage to be sinful, excluding them from Heaven (Lev. 18:6-23,29 spells it out; 1 Cor. 6:9-10).
5. JOKE
a. Two old friends met one day after many years, one rich and the other in debt. The indebted one asked the successful one, "How did you end up making so much money?"
b. "Well, one day I opened the Bible at random, and dropped my finger on a word and it was oil. So, I invested in oil, and boy, did the oil wells gush. Then another day I dropped my finger on another word, and it was gold. So, I invested in gold and those mines really produced. Now, I'm as rich as Rockefeller."
c. The indebted man was so impressed that he rushed to his hotel, grabbed a Gideon Bible, flipped it open, and dropped his finger on a page. He opened his eyes and his finger rested on the words, "Chapter Eleven."
B. GOD, NOT MAN, IS THE AUTHOR
1. Peter said, “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” 1 Pet. 1:20-21 & ramifications
2. Mark Twain said, “It ain't those parts of the Bible that I don't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do.”
3. THE REAL ISSUE HERE IS THE AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE!
a. Either the Bible IS the Word of God, the unchanging standard by Almighty God, whom we’re to fear and obey, or it’s not. If it’s NOT the Word of God, then let’s jettison this whole religious thing from our lives and live for pleasure and for ourselves.
b. But if the Bible IS the Word of God, then there’s a heaven and a hell, there’s a Judgment Day coming where we’ll all stand before God and be judged by God’s Word. If that’s true, we must pay careful attention to what it says!
III. HOW TO AVOID CHERRY PICKING
“Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15
A. CHECK THE ENTIRE BIBLE
1. The Psalmist said, “The entirety of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.” Ps. 119:160 NKJV.
2. What were the customs of that culture? What was the situation when the Bible book was written? Is what's being taught culturally relative? Hair length, holy kisses, foot washing, silence of women in the church, head coverings, etc.?
3. If it's a command or doctrine, was it universally taught to the believers of that day? The Bible often relates things, like Lot's incest with his daughters, Judah's going to a prostitute (Gen. 19:36; 38:15), or Solomon’s taking many wives, without giving a moral reprimand, but it’s not encouraging the reader follow their example!
4. Only if the Bible actually tells us to do something -- and it's found in more than one place -- should a person feel the responsibility to obey that teaching. “Let everything be established by the testimony of 2 or 3 witnesses” Deut. 19:15.
B. LITERAL METHOD OF INTERPRETATION
1. The Literal Principle means that we are to interpret the Word of God just as we interpret other documents. We should accept the plain and proper meaning, without reading other ideas in.
2. The Christian faith is historical and evidential. The biblical text is best understood when the customs, culture, and historical context are considered.
C. LET THE BIBLE SPEAK FOR ITSELF
1. You can make the Bible say anything you want. One man said that the Bible taught that “there is no god.” He didn’t mention his source – Ps. 14:1, “The fool has said in his heart ‘there is no god.’”
2. When we go to the Bible to find proof texts for what we believe, we’re in dangerous territory. Let the Bible speak for itself.
3. The task of the interpreter is twofold: to determine the original intended meaning of the verse or passage (what it meant to them back then), and secondly, to translate the text to the 21st-century (what does it mean to us here and now?).
4. A Scripture cannot mean now what it never could have meant to its authors or its readers.
D. THE HARMONY OF SCRIPTURE
1. Scriptural harmony demands that individual Bible passages may never be interpreted in such a way as to conflict with the whole of scripture. The Holy Spirit Doesn’t Contradict Himself!
2. Any new "insight" that goes against the literal interpretation of Scripture is wrong, unless the passage can’t be interpreted literally (like prophecy).
3. Beware of “new” interpretations claimed as a revelation from God that don’t line up with the Word. “The Holy Spirit always operates within the parameters of the Word.”
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. For twenty-five years Fred Schwartzwalder's hobby had been collecting rocks. Weekend after weekend he had roamed the Rockies, bringing home new samples for his collection. He filled up his basement and then his backyard with rocks.
2. Then came 1950 and the growing public interest in radioactive minerals. Schwartzwalder bought a Geiger counter for $100, which was like $1,000 today.
3. Time magazine tells how he poked the Geiger counter around his backyard rock pile. Immediately, it began to jitter excitedly.
4. But when Fred located the radioactive rock and dug it out, he couldn’t remember where he’d found it, except the region. For three months he retraced his steps through the hills until at last, late one afternoon, he discovered the spot where he had broken off the sample from an outcropping on Indian Head Mountain."
5. The Geiger counter went wild and the happy explorer felt sure he had found a major source of uranium. Three weeks later he learned that he’d hit upon "one of the most significant uranium deposits" in the United States.
6. That long-forgotten rock in his back yard has made him wealthy beyond his wildest dreams.
7. It is amazing what riches are sometimes found close at hand. And nobody needs a Geiger counter to lead him to the greatest treasure of all--the Holy Bible. Through this Book men are led to the Rock of Ages, the Source of power immeasurable and wealth incalculable. [Arthur S. Maxwell]
B. THE CALL
1. “Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth” 2 Tim. 2:15.
2. Let’s determine to become more diligent in our study and application of the Bible in our daily lives!
