John 16:13-15 Pt. 1: Guided in the Truth: How to Read the Bible

2 Timothy 3:16–17 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Intro

How do you read the Bible?

That is the Big Question and the Big Idea we are going to be looking at today.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable… (2 Timothy 3:16).

Profitable for the life of the Believer.

Essential… Necessary…

The only way to know God and know how to live a life that is pleasing to Him.

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4).

But only if you know how to read it.

In John 16:13-15 Jesus promised When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth… He will glorify me, for He will take what is mine and declare it to you.

But how can you be guided in the truth if you don’t know how to read the truth God has given you?

That’s my goal here today.

To help make Scripture profitable for you.

Jesus said Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth (John 17:17).

But to grow in sanctification and the truth of God’s Word, you need the tools to read it and interpret it.

To rightly handle the word of Truth to know God more and and live a life that is pleasing to Him.

You can think of this sermon as a Hermeneutics 101.

Biblical interpretation.

How do you read, know, and interpret the Bible to make God’s Word the most profitable for you?

Roadmap of the Bible

Perhaps it would be good to just start with a general overview of the Bible.

A roadmap if you will… because many of us are so unfamiliar with the Bible that when we open it up we don’t even know where we are.

So let me just give you a survey of the Bible as a whole.

Law

The first 5 books of the Bible are called the Law.

Genesis is the Book of beginnings.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1).

Genesis reveals to us God as Creator and then reveals to us the beginnings of God’s Covenants and relationship with Man.

I will be their God and they will be My People.

This is where you have Abraham and the Patriarchs all leading and pointing to Jesus Christ… the true offspring of Abraham and blessing to all nations (Galatians 3:16, Genesis 12:1-3).

Exodus is the story of Moses and God’s redemption of His people out of slavery in Egypt.

Jesus is of course the true Moses who leads us out in the true Exodus… not out of slavery to Egypt but out of our slavery to Sin, Satan, and Death.

The Book of Leviticus is the giving of the Law which defines what it means to Be Holy as I am Holy. (Leviticus 11:44, 1 Peter 1:16).

What it means to belong to and live as the Covenant People of God.

Numbers then recounts Israel’s journey to the Promise Land where Israel was kept out of the Promised Land because of their sin and unbelief and the entire Exodus generation died wandering out in the wilderness until a new generation came up (Hebrews 3:12-19).

And then Deuteronomy is a second giving of the Law.

A re-giving of the Law that God gave a Mount Sinai for the new generation of Israel before they entered into the Promised Land.

Historical Books

That takes us to the Historical books recounting the History of Israel.

Joshua is the Conquest of the Promise Land where Judges shows life after the conquest of the Promised Land where everyone did what was right in their own eyes and their was not King in Israel anticipating the coming of King David (Judges 21:25).

Ruth tells the story of David’s family and then 1 and 2 Samuel recounts David’s story of His rise to power and eventual reign.

Then 1 and 2 Kings tells the story of Israel’s Kings and History as a nation.

And there’s a few important events that happen in this time that you need to know.

Solomon… David’s Son… built the Temple… the place where God dwelled in the midst of His people.

Then after Solomon came Rehoboam.

Rehoboam was a foolish King who basically ostracized half the Kingdom and split the Nation (1 Kings 12).

Two Kingdoms

From that point on you had Two Kingdoms.

Israel the Northern Kingdom and Judah the Southern Kingdom.

Judah was the true Kingdom and where the throne of David was.

Sometimes in the Bible the Northern Kingdom Israel is called Ephraim and its capital was Samaria...

And the Southern Kingdom of Judah was often called Jerusalem or Zion… the mountain where Jerusalem was built.

This might help you when you read some of the prophets and who in the world they are talking about.

And in the Northern Kingdom you basically had all bad Kings all the time and in the Southern Kingdom you had mostly bad Kings with some good ones obviously building anticipation for the True Son of David, Jesus to come and sit on the throne.

Assyrian/Babylonian Captivity

And there are two events that are very important that get talked about a lot in the Prophets that end up shaping Israel’s life and History.

The Assyrian and Babylonian Captivity.

Basically… in 722 BC… so 700 years before Jesus was born… the Northern Kingdom Israel was destroyed for all their sins and taken into exile in the Assyrian Captivity.

And then in 586/587 BC Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and the Kingdom of Babylon and the people of God were taken into exile under the Babylonian captivity.

This is where you have Jeremiah and Ezekiel… the Book of Daniel…

Lamentations is written about the Fall of Jerusalem…

And for 70 years the people of God remain under judgment in exile far way in Babylon for all their sins (Jeremiah 29:10).

Then comes Ezra and Nehemiah.

The People of God return to the Land and rebuild the Temple to worship the Lord.

This is also where the Book of Esther fits in where God describes His faithfulness to preserve His People under Ahasuerus and the Kingdom of Persia which came up after the Kingdom of Babylon.

That’s basically the History of the Nation of Israel all the way from Genesis to Nehemiah where 1 and 2 Chronicles is basically a retelling of the history of 1 and 2 Kings for a post-exile audience to learn from their past mistakes and God’s faithfulness with the insight and lessons learned after 70 years in captivity.

Prophets

And somewhere in that History is where all the Prophets fit.

You have the Major Prophets and the Minor Prophets which is basically the Prophets that wrote the big books and the Prophets that wrote the small books.

That’s it.

And to understand them you need to see where they fit in that History.

Were they preaching to the Northern Kingdom or the Southern Kingdom.

Were they looking at Assyria or Babylon as they basically act as a prosecuting attorney and bring charges against the people for violating God’s Law.

Wisdom/Writings

And then you have the Wisdom writings like Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon.

Which all focus on the glory of God with (Psalms being a book of songs and prayers) and wisdom on how to live a holy and godly life.

Summary

That’s the Old Testament… that’s the whole thing.

Basically Genesis through 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles the History of Israel.

The Prophets all prophesying somewhere in that time.

And the Psalms and Wisdom literature all reflecting on life and the glory of God.

That takes you to the New Testament.

Gospels/Acts

The New Testament starts with the four Gospels which describe the life and ministry of Jesus.

Then you have the book of Acts which is the work of Christ in the life and history of the early church.

Then you have all the letters of the New Testament.

Those letters fit somewhere in the book of Acts.

Letters

You have the letters of Paul starting with the Book of Romans which is a Gospel Treatise of sorts.

And then you have what’s called the General Epistles which are letters written to New Testament Churches by other Apostles other than the Apostle Paul… Hebrews all the way down to the Book of Jude.

And these are all basically organized by length.

While still keeping groups of letters like 1 and 2 Corinthians still together the longer ones come first.

Where the Gospel and Acts are like a history of Christ and the Early Church, the Letters of the New Testament are like doctrinal instructions and implications laying out the faith that was delivered once for all to all the Saints for Christ’s Church.

Revelation

And then you have the book of Revelation which has a lot of debate but at the very least describes Christ and His New Covenant Kingdom where He reigns over all history as King of kings and Lord of lords leading up to and including the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70…

Another important date where the Second Temple… the one built in Ezra and Nehemiah… was destroyed…

All the way to the Final Day and the Day of Judgment ushering in the Eternal State… Heaven and Hell.

Summary

That’s the whole Bible.

All pointing to… leading to… and proclaiming God’s grace and salvation in Jesus Christ.

And hopefully that gives you some confidence about what every book of the Bible is ultimately all about and how it fits as you read God’s Word.

Interpretation

Now how do you actually read it?

This is where we start to get into actual Biblical Interpretation.

And to do that you need to know the goals and the tools for interpreting Scripture.

And here’s the Big Idea: For us to understand what a passage of the Bible means for us today we need to understand what it meant for Them Then.

We need to understand what it meant to the Audience it was originally written to.

You can’t just go from Scripture and jump to us today.

The Bible was written for a particular purpose in a particular Historical and Cultural Context.

Our goal is to understand what the Original Author originally meant to say.

Not to just make up our own meaning but to find the meaning that is actually there.

What was God saying that was true for all people, all times, everywhere in this particular passage.

In other words, we want to find the theological principle that transcends times and culture that builds a bridge from us to them.

That by seeing what God was originally saying to them… we can see what God is now saying to us today.

What Theological Principle or Truth is this passage saying in an original historical and cultural context that is true for all of God’s people for all time everywhere no matter when or where they live.

That’s what you’re going for. What is the Theological Principle or Application that is always true.

And to find that you use the Grammatical-Historical Method.

Grammatical-Historical Method

Grammatical meaning the words and grammar of a passage.

And historical meaning the historical and cultural context of their day.

In other words… Context is King.

If you could walk away with one thing today that would be it.

If you want to understand a passage and start building that Theological Bridge, you need to understand what the passage originally meant to them in both its literary and historical context.

Literary Context

The literary context deals with the book itself.

Genre

First of all you need to know what genre of literature your in.

Your Bible is a library of 66 different books all made up of different genres of literature.

you have Historical Narratives, Wisdom, Poetry, Psalms, Parables, clear Didactic teaching - plain doctrine and instruction, and even Apocalyptic literature using fantastic signs and symbols.

And you’re going to interpret different books differently.

You’re going to read a Historical Narrative different than you are going to read Wisdom or Poetry.

For example when you read a Historical Narrative about King Saul using a witch to talk to the spirit of Samuel… just because that’s in the Bible doesn’t mean that’s what you do (1 Samuel 28).

You should not use witches to talk to the dead… which if I was going to be snarky is just one step below praying to any saints.

Likewise when you read Poetry there is symbolic and metaphorical language used.

The Lord is my Shepherd… He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters (Psalm 23:1-2).

These are not literal green pastures and still waters… these are the blessings of salvation.

Proverbs for example are truisms (Chapell, Christ-Centered Preaching, 89).

They are statements so tending to be true that the wise take them to heart and put them into practice.

They are not promises that are always guaranteed to happen.

For instance, Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it does not guarantee that your child will be saved (Proverbs 22:6).

We are born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:13).

But what it does say is that you can labor in faith and labor hard knowing God’s pattern is to save our kids using our labor as the means to do so.

Genre Matters.

Words/Ideas

You also need to pay attention to particular words and ideas.

What does the passage say?

Are there any ideas or words that are repeated cluing you in to the main theme the author is driving home/

How does the author use that word in context?

For example John 3:16 For God so loved the world…

But 1 John 2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the world.

The first world is talking about God’s love for humanity in their plight of sin.

The second verse is talking the fallen world system and sinful humanity in rebellion against God.

Its a different use of the word “world.”

Conjunctions

Pay attention to the actual language and grammar.

Words like but, therefore, for and because… so that… for the purpose that…

These are how the author is connecting their ideas.

We were dead in our trespasses and sins, but God being rich in mercy made us alive together with Christ (Ephesians 2:4-8).

That but highlights the contrast there and the grace we have in Christ.

Book Context

The actual context of the actual passage.

What comes before that passage in that chapter or book.

What is the author talking about in that section?

How does that passage fit in the flow or argument of the book?

Historical Context

You also want to look at the historical context.

Basically anything outside the passage or surrounding the passage that helps you understand the passage itself.

Who wrote it?

Who did they write it to?

Why did they write it?… What was going on in their context or situation?

What are some of the cultural or social peculiarities that were going on in their day?

In other words, what’s the background of this passage.

Remember, you are trying to find the original meaning the author originally intended to build a theological bridge to us today.

What kind of historical or cultural background information do you need to do that?

Holy Kiss

For example in 1 Corinthians 16:20 Paul says All the brothers send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss.

Now does that mean we are in sin if we are not greeting each other with huge sloppy kisses?

I hope not because in a church like this someone is going to get socked in the mouth!

No… that was a cultural norm.

What it means is we are to greet each other with brotherly affection however that looks in our culture in our day.

Women Teaching

Now you gotta be careful with that because some people will try to say things are cultural that actually aren’t.

For example, homosexuality is not wrong as a cultural norm… it is wrong at all times everywhere.

And also look at 1 Timothy 2:12–14 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.

Some people will look at that and say well that is just a cultural norm.

That was the patriarchy, women weren’t as educated back then.

But look at the literary context...

For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.

Paul takes it all the way back to creation so it is not a cultural norm but is true for all people at all times everywhere.

I do not permit a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man transcends culture…

Audience Purpose/Relevance

Closely related to the Historical Context is the Audience Purpose/Relevance.

Why did the author write this?

You want to be having the same conversation and sometimes why the author wrote a particular passage of Scripture defines for us it meaning and how we apply the Theological Principle.

Rich Young Ruler

Take Jesus and the Rich Young Ruler. (Matthew 19:16-22)

There’s a young man that comes up to Jesus and says Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?

And Jesus says to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.”

What is Jesus doing?

Is He teaching works based salvation? Keep the commandments and you’ll be saved?

No… consider the audience relevance.

Jesus is talking to the Rich Young Ruler.

He thinks He is righteous.

He asks Which ones? Which Commandments?

Jesus says, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

And the Rich Young Ruler said, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?”

And so Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.”

The Rich Young Ruler was an idolator.

He had broken the most important commandment of all… You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (Matthew 22:37).

Jesus was not teaching works based salvation.

He was showing him that He did not keep the Law.

That he was missing something. That he treasured his possessions more than God himself so that the man might see his sin and trust in Christ.

No one is good but God alone. Jesus is our only hope of Salvation.

So the Audience Relevance… who Jesus is speaking to… also explains why we don’t sell all that we have when we become a follower of Christ.

That was a particular command for a particular man in a particular place.

But the Bridge… the theological principle that is true at all times for all people everywhere is Whoever does not deny himself, take up his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple (Luke 14:27, Matthew 16:24).

I tell you the truth whoever does not renounce all that He has cannot be my disciple (Luke 14:33).

That’s the Theological Principle… to follow Christ is to die to self… to renounce everything and follow Him because He is the only way to have Eternal Life.

Context is King.

the Literary Context… Historical Context… and the purpose, occasion, and background… the Audience Relevance all give shape and meaning to the passage.

Us Today

And then once you have all that… and you are reading the passage in its context… then you build the Theological Bridge from their time to our time.

The Theological Principle that is true at all times for all people everywhere.

What truth… commandment… doctrine… warning… exhortation is this passage saying to all Christians so that we can take what God said to Them Then in a specific, historical context, and apply it to our lives today?

We are looking for similarities and differences… connection points between us and them… us and the historical context the passage was written in so that by those similarities and differences we can see how a particular passage applies to us today.

And then you check that principle against the rest of Scripture because the Bible will never contradict itself.

For example if you come out of James and say, “Well I contribute something to my salvation… I’m saved by grace plus works… then you need to go back to the drawing board because you have more work to do.

Redemptive Historical Context

And then… to make sure we are reading the Bible as Christians and not just Moral-Legalists we always need to ask, “What does this verse say about Christ?”

All Scripture points to Him.

John 5:39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me.

We don’t just read the Bible in its Literary Context and its Historical-Cultural context… we also read it in its Redemptive-Historical Context.

Where does this fit in the History of Redemption… God’s grand plan of salvation in Jesus Christ?

All Scripture is either pointing forward to Christ… Preaching Christ and the significance of His Person and Work… or leading from Christ and His finished Work on the cross?

What does this passage say about Christ and our Redemption?

When we read the Bible, everything needs to go through this Redemptive-Historical Lens either drawing us to faith in Christ and the worship of Him or teaching us to live out our faith in Christ living all of our lives for His glory.

So commands for obedience for example are not just moral obligations they are the outworking of our faith and the newness of life… the resurrection life!… we have in Him

Typology/Biblical Theology

One of the most helpful ways to do this especially from the Old Testament is Typology… using Biblical Theology to where you see Christ as the True and Better X.

We do this all the time here.

He is our Great High Priest.

The True and Better Sacrifice.

The True and Better David.

The True and Better Jonah who doesn’t run from God’s call but sets His face to the cross so that we might be saved.

Joshua Example

Let’s work through an example that puts all of this together to give you a picture of how all of this works itself out.

Let’s go to Joshua 1:7-9.

Joshua 1:7–9 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

First of all… what’s the historical context.

Joshua leading the people into the promise land.

That’s verse 2… Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel (Joshua 1:2).

Well what’s God telling him?

Remember Them/Then.

Be strong and very courageous.

Meditate on the Word and be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

Now what’s it mean? What are the similarities and differences between us and them?

Well we are not Joshua or Old Covenant Israel. We are not embarking on a conquest of the Promise Land.

But we are still the people of God.

We are under the Word and called to worship God just like they were.

And as individuals God calls us to do all kinds of things that stretch our faith and as a church there is some sort of conquest we are on… the Great Commission to take the Gospel out to the whole world.

So what’s this passage telling us? What’s that theological bridge?

To put our faith in the Lord.

To trust in Him in all that He calls us to do.

To be strong and courageous whether that’s starting some new ministry… fighting cancer… struggling in marriage or parenting.

Draw on the Lord for strength.

And be careful to keep His Word.

Strive to honor God in all that we do.

For then you will have good success.

What was their success? Entering the Promised Land.

So what is our success? Faithfulness and inheriting the promises of God.

I will never leave you or forsake you (Joshua 1:5).

The Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

And what’s the connection to Jesus? What does this passage say in its Redemptive-Historical context?

Jesus is the greater Joshua… that’s Hebrews 4:8-9.

He conquered our enemies of sin, Satan, and death to bring us into the Promise Land of Salvation and eternal life.

So we can trust in Him… Follow Him… Hold fast to His Word… everything the passage tells us to do.

Trusting, as a Christian, He will never leave you or forsake you.

And as a Church taking the Gospel out against the giants in the Land… I will never leave you or forsake you… I am with you always to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:18-20).

[You have to remember] This is a discipline and a skill that you have to train your mind to think this way the more you read the Bible so that your Biblical Theology is not just rooted in your imagination, but is actually there.

In the Old Testament you are looking for how the promises of God are fulfilled in Christ… the answer to our weakness and the fulfillment of all our souls are longing for.

Helpful Question

I think one of the most helpful questions you can ask to build this Theological Bridge is to zoom out from the passage and ask, “Why did God put this in the Bible?”

What is God wanting us to know… believe… understand… or do?

And what does it say about Christ? How does this passage draw us or explain our faith in Him?

And then live that out.

Be a doer of the Word and not a hearer only (James 1:22).

Tools

Now you might be sitting there thinking that sounds like a lot… I don’t know where to find or how to do all that.

I’m not a pastor or theologian.

If that’s all you need to know… how am I ever going to be able to read the Bible for myself?

So let me help you and encourage you… the tools are available.

Translation

First… get yourself a good translation… one’s that are most literal while still holding the main idea of the text.

Use the ESV, LSB, CSB, NASB95.

Stay away from things like the NLT New Living Translation or the Message.

Get yourself a good literal copy of God’s Word.

Study Bible

Then you need to get yourself a good Study Bible.

This is the best tool and probably the only tool most of you will ever need.

All that historical and background information is going to be in there in the Introduction to every book.

Who wrote it… why did they write it… who did they write it to?

Its all right there.

So you read that introduction and then with all those thoughts in mind you read the book and use the notes from faithful Bible scholars to explain the difficult passages along the way.

A couple recommendations would be The ESV Study Bible… the Reformation Study Bible edited by RC Sproul or the ESV Gospel Transformation Study Bible that intentionally tries to show how every passage connects to Jesus.

Commentary

If you want to go a little more in depth, you could get a good commentary.

A good single volume one is the New Bible Commentary edited by DA Carson .

If you are going to have one that’s the one you should get for your home.

And if you’re looking for other commentaries you can go to bestcommentaries.com where you look up a book of the Bible and it ranks them so that you can pick out the best one for you.

Scripture

And of course the most important tool you have is Scripture.

Scripture interprets Scripture and the more you know you’re Bible… the more you’re able to make cross references and connections to see the full scope of Scripture come to bear on a passage… the more profitable and fruitful it will be for you.

You have to remember… reading the Bible is a skill.

You grow in it. You get better with practice.

OIA

And when you come to the Bible… especially if you’re just reading it for personal worship and devotion… you don’t need to have this check list of, “OK… gotta know the literary context… gotta know all the historical stuff going on…”

Those are just the principles… the grid… that you need to read Scripture through.

When you come to the Bible… just to make it really simple… you just need to ask three questions.

What Does It Say?

Just on its face what is being said in the passage?

What Does It Mean?

That’s where all your background comes in.

What did it mean to them then?

What is the overarching theological principle that is true for all people, all times, all places?

That bridge we talked about and how it connects to Christ… what does it say about Christ and our faith in Him?

And then… What Does It Matter?

What difference does this make in my life?

How do I put this into practice?

What is God wanting me to know, believe, understand, or do?

And that’s it…

What does it say?

What does it mean?

What does it matter?

The three basic question of biblical interpretation.

Conclusion

And most of all… never forget… When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.

The Holy Spirit dwells in you to teach you and illuminate the Scripture He inspired to be written.

You have the Helper who helps you understand Scripture.

As a Christian just by reading the Bible… even if you don’t know everything there is to know about it… the Holy Spirit still works in you to illuminate the Word and guide you in all truth.

When you read the Bible God Himself is with you to help you understand and live out the truth.

So read in faith knowing this that God’s Word will not return to Him void, but accomplish all that which He purposed it (Isaiah 55:11).

Let’s Pray

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