There is a Danger of Making the Bible say What We Want it to Say.
… raised his right hand toward heaven. He swore an oath in the name of the one who lives forever and ever, who created the heavens and everything in them, the earth and everything in it, and the sea and everything in it. He said, “There will be no more delay. When the seventh angel blows his trumpet, God’s mysterious plan will be fulfilled…” – REV 10:5-7.NLT
When people come face to face with their limitations of understanding, they are often tempted to give up trying to understand the Bible.
As we study the Bible we also face the further danger of making the Bible say what we want it to say.
We are tempted to use its authority to promote our own opinions. We seize on evidence that agrees with us and ignore evidence that disagrees (Rev 22:18-19).
A better way to approach the Bible is to take a big picture approach to the text. It is better to read broadly through the text rather than selecting our way through. We should try to discover what each Bible writer meant, rather than imposing ideas from our own time and place. We must seek to be open to the whole text, rather than picking and choosing what looks good to us at first glance. We ought to base our understanding on what is clear in the text, rather than trying to make the less clear things say what we want them to say.
If the Bible is the ultimate source of truth, then no organization should be allowed to control what the Bible says.
If you read e.g. the New Testament from beginning to end you need to then ask, “Do my beliefs reflect the central themes, or do they reflect what someone else has taught me?” Martin Luther did this and it lead to the Reformation.
We need to learn to test every opinion held about the Bible with the plain teachings of the text in its widest context. When we begin to do this, we will be amazed at what you can miss. God says, “My thoughts are not your thoughts” (Isa 55:8). We need to also acknowledge that even the work of the Holy Spirit needs to be tested against the word of God, because the work of the Holy Spirit can be counterfeited as will become evident as we get to passages like Revelation 13. Paul said “Prove all things, hold fast to that which is good.” 1 Thessalonians 5:21
Our Text for today has used language from the fourth (Sabbath) commandment, (Exodus 20:11)“Who created the heavens and everything in them, the earth and everything in it, and the sea and everything in it…”
The “mystery” is about to be complete. That mystery can be illustrated by our ANZAC heritage, which was the story of selfless love – sacrifice for the good of others! The apparent defeat of Gallipoli is akin to that of Calvary. The resurrection from the Gallipoli tragedy and the “birth of a nation,” is an image of the victory of the resurrection and the birth of the church. Soldiers at Gallipoli may have thought they were in a war that was futile and could not envisage what their sacrifice would mean to us. When Jesus said, “It is finished,” death and defeat became victory. We are in a war that may often seem futile and overwhelming, but the immensity of eternity and a place in the earth made new, without its curse lies before us.
In the New Testament the “mystery of God” is the gospel, that which was hidden in ages past but brought to light through the proclamation of Jesus Christ (Rom 16:25-26). According to the Book of Revelation, there will be a great final proclamation of the gospel just before the blowing of the last trumpet. Like stories that come from our ANZAC heritage, that gospel tells us that another One was willing to die for you and me, far away from His home, so that we could live in freedom and make a difference in this world.
Walk in the footsteps of the one who died for you. Take up His marching orders as we approach the end of earth’s history.