Take A.i.m. And Always Respect The King Series

Take AIM Always Respect The King

Maple Grove…

2000 years a David… a king, a warrior, a worshipper, a man who chased after the heart of God... wrote the following Psalm about how he felt about the Words of God.

The instruction of the LORD is perfect, renewing one’s life; the testimony of the LORD is trustworthy, making the inexperienced wise.

The precepts of the LORD are right, making the heart glad; the command of the LORD is radiant, making the eyes light up.

The fear of the LORD is pure enduring forever; the ordinances of the LORD are reliable and altogether righteous.

They are more desirable than gold—than an abundance of pure gold; and sweeter than honey, which comes from the honeycomb.

In addition, your servant is warned by them; there is great reward in keeping them. – Psalm 19:1-7

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. – 2 Timothy 2:15

Prayer

OKAY – so we are this series ‘Understanding The Bible’

LAST WEEK – we talked about

Hermeneutics

And

several reasons that should motivate you to study God’s Word and to

The Bible is the Word of God (2 Peter 1:20,21; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:16,17)

The Bible nourishes us spiritually (Hebrews 5:12-14; 1 Peter 2:2,3)

The Bible encourages us to see ourselves we are (James 1:22-25)

The Bible exposes false teaching (1 John 4:1; Acts 17:11; 2 Peter 16-18)

The Bibles empowers us to resist temptation (Psalm 119:9-11)

AND REMEMBER – I said that we defeat temptation the same way that Jesus did during those 40 days in the wilderness… with the Word of God. By like Jesus memorizing scripture.

In Ephesians 6 when Paul writes about the armor of God that enables us to stand firm against all of the schemes of the evil one… He only mentions one offensive weapon, the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.

QUESTION – how can we (how can you) expect to stand firm against his attacks if you have never stabbed those attacks with a Sword.

The Bible brings transformation (Romans 12:2; Hebrews 4:12)

The Bible is a source of comport and hope (Psalm 119:49-52; Isaiah 49:14-16)

The Bible is the foundation of a storm weathering life (Matthew 7:24-27)

The Bible has an important threefold purpose (Hebrews 1:1-3; John 20:31; 2 Timothy 3:15-17)

• To reveal God to us

• To reveal the way of salvation

• To reveal and equip us to live the life that God desires

NOW – I don’t know about you but those are 9 very good reasons for studying the bible…

AND LISTEN – we could to those reasons what David said in Psalm 19…

The Bible

• Renews our lives

• Is trustworthy

• Makes the inexperienced wise

• Makes our heart glad and lights up our eyes

• Is pure and will endure forever

• Is reliable and altogether righteous

• Is more desirable than gold and sweeter than honey

• Warns us of danger and rewards us greatly when we follow it’s teachings

AND LISTEN – because of these reasons…

We should want to, we should be motivated to, compelled to…

Read and understand the Bible.

UNDERSTAND – if we do not read the Word or understand the Word and therefore handle it correctly we, you, I… will neither experience it’s power or benefits.

Which is why hermeneutics the science and art of studying, understanding and interpreting the Bible is so very important.

NOW – I like how Robert Stein puts it…

The importance of interpreting the Bible correctly cannot be overemphasized. The claim that the Bible is inspired and that it is God’s revelation to humanity is ultimately of little value without some understanding of how that divine revelation should be interpreted. When we describe the Bible as “infallible” or “without error,” these terms are meaningless if we do not know how to interpret it.

– Robert H. Stein ‘Playing By The Rules, A Basic Guide To Interpreting The Bible’

AND MGCC – here’s the deal…

If you read the bible you are already interpreting it, you already have a hermeneutical theory in mind.

YOU SEE – you cannot read the Bible for long before the questions of ‘what does this mean’ begin forming in your mind.

SO – the issue is not whether or not we have a basic interpreting framework, because we all do.

NO – the issue is…. Whether or not our framework is clear or unclear, adequate or inadequate, correct or incorrect…

Is our framework, our way of interpreting the bible, our hermeneutical process leading towards the truth of God Word or further away from it.

GET IT?

OKAY