BIBLE INTERPRETATION SERMON SERIES
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4. Expect to Discover New Truths
In our sermon series on Bible interpretation we have made three points so far. First, we must pray for the Holy Spirit of God to enlighten our minds to properly understand the truth. The Holy Spirit is the true author of Scripture. Secondly, we said that we must be willing to obey the things we read or God will not give us understanding. Third, we said that we must be open-minded and learn from God's Word. The true teaching of God's Word may be different from what our society, our family and what our teachers have told us. We must let God's Word speak for itself.
Very closely tied to the concept of being open-minded is the idea that we should expect to discover new truth. The Holy Spirit of God inspired the Scriptures and they reveal truths that people with the keenest minds can investigate and there will always be more than they discover. The Bible is deep and broad in meaning. The knowledge necessary for salvation is plain enough for a child to understand yet, yet the greatest scholars will never fully comprehend all that is there.
Jesus said the following to His disciples:
John 16:12-13 "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
The disciples could only learn and appropriate a certain amount of truth at one time. This is normal. You don’t start learning higher mathematics in first grade. You learn to walk before you learn to run. You learn to cook one dish before you are able to prepare meals for the whole family. You don’t go into the gymnasium for the first time and put 100 kilos on the bar. You start small and work your way up.
Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would teach them more truth. With each new truth comes a responsibility to carry out that truth in the life. The responsibility may be something we must do. Perhaps we are given a message to tell others. The responsibility given to us may be to refrain from doing something.
Let’s look at some examples from Scripture where God gave new instruction and expected obedience to the new instruction.
Genesis 4:3-5 And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD. 4 Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering, 5 but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.
The Bible does not explain when the offering of sacrifices was instituted. But we see that Cain and Able were doing it. Thus it came in very early. God accepted one offering but not the other. Therefore there was an acceptable way to make sacrifice and the two young men knew it. What was the meaning of the sacrifice? Surely they knew that too although the Bible doesn’t explain it to us in the early chapters of the book. That information is given later.
Does this mean that God expected nothing else except sacrifice? We see things will change with Abraham.
Genesis 17:9-14 And God said to Abraham: "As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. 10 "This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; 11 "and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. 12 "He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant. 13 "He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. 14 "And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant."
Circumcision was a brand new thing to Abraham. No one had done this before. But God said it was a sign of His covenant with Abraham. This was a new truth. It carried with it the responsibility to be carried out.
At this point the Bible doesn’t explain why God chose circumcision as the sign of the covenant. The covenant was about having many offspring and inheriting the land of Canaan.
Abraham was also supposed to obey God’s laws.
Genesis 17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.
Genesis 26:5 "because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws."
Abraham also made animal sacrifice like the generations before him. We see this related in the story when Abraham was told to offer his son as a burnt offering. In his son’s place a ram was offered.
Years pass and the descendants of Abraham are in slavery in Egypt. God raises up Moses to lead them out of captivity. When the Israelites go into the wilderness God begins to give them instructions and laws. Some of these laws were not new to the Israelites. The Israelites probably knew the basic principles of the ten commandments. God gave them others rules and commands regarding everything about life, from marriage to inheritance from cleanliness to the animal sacrifices at the temple. The sacrifices were expanded. There were different types, each carrying a meaning. Much of this information was new truth to the Israelites. It did not do away with old truths. But they were expected to obey the new commands given to them. The Jewish people lived with those commands and laws for centuries.
Then Jesus came. John the Baptist had been baptizing Jewish people as a sign of repentance. Baptism was not a new idea to the Jewish people. When foreigners accepted the religion of the Jews they were baptized signifying their being reborn as a Jew. No one came to John the Baptist and asked, “What is baptism?” They knew it already.
But Jesus added something to this topic.
John 3:5 Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
Mark 16:16 "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
Jesus said that for a person to be saved to eternal life they needed to believe that Jesus is the savior of the world and be baptized. That was different. That was a new truth. The vast majority of the Jewish people rejected this. They rejected Jesus as Messiah. They turned away from eternal life as a result. They did not accept new truth. But did the new truth do away with what God had commanded beforehand?
John 1:29-34 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 "This is He of whom I said, 'After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.' 31 "I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water." 32 And John bore witness, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. 33 "I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' 34 "And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God."
The new truth expanded and explained the old truths. The sacrifices that were made since the time of Cain and Abel, the ones made by Abraham and the Jewish people were all symbolic. They pointed to Jesus who was the true offering for sin. We are to be baptized with water, but this was to symbolize the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
But what about circumcision? Was that eliminated? Physically, yes, but spiritually, no. The meaning was expanded.
Colossians 2:9-14 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. 11 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
In the New Testament, we find the meaning of the covenant of circumcision. It represented removing the sins of the flesh. Abraham was not to live in sin. He was to be a spiritual man and not live according to sinful desires. Abraham was required to be circumcised in his flesh as a sign of the covenant. In the New Testament we now understand that this circumcision is not done by human hands. We receive the circumcision of Christ which is a new heart. This is done by the Holy Spirit. This is now symbolized by baptism. Baptism is a new rite. It must be obeyed. But it is not a new truth. The truth of circumcision is an old one. The truth is our old sinful life must die. It must be cut away in the circumcision of Christ. Our old life is buried in the water of baptism. Then we rise to a new spiritual life.
Abraham kept God’s laws. The Jews also were to keep the ten commandments. Does the New Testament eliminate the moral law of ten commandments? No. But instead of being written on tables of stone, they are written on the heart.
Jesus said,
John 13:34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
Jesus said this was a new commandment. But was it really?
Leviticus 19:18 'You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.
Jesus’ commandment was not a new one. But it had been lost sight of. It was written in the Old Testament but people overlooked it. Jesus had to point it out again. It was new to the disciples.
As you read the Scriptures, expect to learn new things. God does not reveal everything to you at once. God may give new instructions or He may reveal truth in a new and expanded way. Does it eliminate the revelations that He has given before? No, but it can put the older revelations in new perspective. We will talk more about that next time.
As we read the Scriptures we can find truths and responsibilities that have been lost. They have been buried under traditions made by men. Expect to learn new things that aren’t really new at all, just new to us.
The Bible describes a crisis at the end of time.
Revelation 13:16-18 He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, 17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.
Revelation 14:9-10 Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 "he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
Who is the beast? What is his image? What is the mark? Believers need to know these things to live in harmony with God and His laws at the end time. There are truths in God’s Word that are specific to our time just as there were truths that were specific to Abraham, specific to the Jewish nation at the time of the Exodus, specific to the people in Jesus’ day. May God give us wisdom to learn our duty.
Very closely tied to the concept of being open-minded is the idea that we should expect to discover new truth. The Holy Spirit of God inspired the Scriptures and they reveal truths that people with the keenest minds can investigate and there will always be more than they discover. The Bible is deep and broad in meaning. The knowledge necessary for salvation is plain enough for a child to understand yet, yet the greatest scholars will never fully comprehend all that is there.
Jesus said the following to His disciples:
John 16:12-13 "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
The disciples could only learn and appropriate a certain amount of truth at one time. This is normal. You don’t start learning higher mathematics in first grade. You learn to walk before you learn to run. You learn to cook one dish before you are able to prepare meals for the whole family. You don’t go into the gymnasium for the first time and put 100 kilos on the bar. You start small and work your way up.
Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would teach them more truth. With each new truth comes a responsibility to carry out that truth in the life. The responsibility may be something we must do. Perhaps we are given a message to tell others. The responsibility given to us may be to refrain from doing something.
Let’s look at some examples from Scripture where God gave new instruction and expected obedience to the new instruction.
Genesis 4:3-5 And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD. 4 Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering, 5 but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.
The Bible does not explain when the offering of sacrifices was instituted. But we see that Cain and Able were doing it. Thus it came in very early. God accepted one offering but not the other. Therefore there was an acceptable way to make sacrifice and the two young men knew it. What was the meaning of the sacrifice? Surely they knew that too although the Bible doesn’t explain it to us in the early chapters of the book. That information is given later.
Does this mean that God expected nothing else except sacrifice? We see things will change with Abraham.
Genesis 17:9-14 And God said to Abraham: "As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. 10 "This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; 11 "and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. 12 "He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant. 13 "He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. 14 "And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant."
Circumcision was a brand new thing to Abraham. No one had done this before. But God said it was a sign of His covenant with Abraham. This was a new truth. It carried with it the responsibility to be carried out.
At this point the Bible doesn’t explain why God chose circumcision as the sign of the covenant. The covenant was about having many offspring and inheriting the land of Canaan.
Abraham was also supposed to obey God’s laws.
Genesis 17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.
Genesis 26:5 "because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws."
Abraham also made animal sacrifice like the generations before him. We see this related in the story when Abraham was told to offer his son as a burnt offering. In his son’s place a ram was offered.
Years pass and the descendants of Abraham are in slavery in Egypt. God raises up Moses to lead them out of captivity. When the Israelites go into the wilderness God begins to give them instructions and laws. Some of these laws were not new to the Israelites. The Israelites probably knew the basic principles of the ten commandments. God gave them others rules and commands regarding everything about life, from marriage to inheritance from cleanliness to the animal sacrifices at the temple. The sacrifices were expanded. There were different types, each carrying a meaning. Much of this information was new truth to the Israelites. It did not do away with old truths. But they were expected to obey the new commands given to them. The Jewish people lived with those commands and laws for centuries.
Then Jesus came. John the Baptist had been baptizing Jewish people as a sign of repentance. Baptism was not a new idea to the Jewish people. When foreigners accepted the religion of the Jews they were baptized signifying their being reborn as a Jew. No one came to John the Baptist and asked, “What is baptism?” They knew it already.
But Jesus added something to this topic.
John 3:5 Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
Mark 16:16 "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
Jesus said that for a person to be saved to eternal life they needed to believe that Jesus is the savior of the world and be baptized. That was different. That was a new truth. The vast majority of the Jewish people rejected this. They rejected Jesus as Messiah. They turned away from eternal life as a result. They did not accept new truth. But did the new truth do away with what God had commanded beforehand?
John 1:29-34 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 "This is He of whom I said, 'After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.' 31 "I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water." 32 And John bore witness, saying, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. 33 "I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' 34 "And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God."
The new truth expanded and explained the old truths. The sacrifices that were made since the time of Cain and Abel, the ones made by Abraham and the Jewish people were all symbolic. They pointed to Jesus who was the true offering for sin. We are to be baptized with water, but this was to symbolize the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
But what about circumcision? Was that eliminated? Physically, yes, but spiritually, no. The meaning was expanded.
Colossians 2:9-14 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. 11 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
In the New Testament, we find the meaning of the covenant of circumcision. It represented removing the sins of the flesh. Abraham was not to live in sin. He was to be a spiritual man and not live according to sinful desires. Abraham was required to be circumcised in his flesh as a sign of the covenant. In the New Testament we now understand that this circumcision is not done by human hands. We receive the circumcision of Christ which is a new heart. This is done by the Holy Spirit. This is now symbolized by baptism. Baptism is a new rite. It must be obeyed. But it is not a new truth. The truth of circumcision is an old one. The truth is our old sinful life must die. It must be cut away in the circumcision of Christ. Our old life is buried in the water of baptism. Then we rise to a new spiritual life.
Abraham kept God’s laws. The Jews also were to keep the ten commandments. Does the New Testament eliminate the moral law of ten commandments? No. But instead of being written on tables of stone, they are written on the heart.
Jesus said,
John 13:34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
Jesus said this was a new commandment. But was it really?
Leviticus 19:18 'You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.
Jesus’ commandment was not a new one. But it had been lost sight of. It was written in the Old Testament but people overlooked it. Jesus had to point it out again. It was new to the disciples.
As you read the Scriptures, expect to learn new things. God does not reveal everything to you at once. God may give new instructions or He may reveal truth in a new and expanded way. Does it eliminate the revelations that He has given before? No, but it can put the older revelations in new perspective. We will talk more about that next time.
As we read the Scriptures we can find truths and responsibilities that have been lost. They have been buried under traditions made by men. Expect to learn new things that aren’t really new at all, just new to us.
The Bible describes a crisis at the end of time.
Revelation 13:16-18 He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, 17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.
Revelation 14:9-10 Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 "he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
Who is the beast? What is his image? What is the mark? Believers need to know these things to live in harmony with God and His laws at the end time. There are truths in God’s Word that are specific to our time just as there were truths that were specific to Abraham, specific to the Jewish nation at the time of the Exodus, specific to the people in Jesus’ day. May God give us wisdom to learn our duty.