On Interpretation

SERMON SUMMARY:

Drawing from 2 Peter 1:16-21, this sermon establishes the reliability and divine origin of Scripture as the foundation for Christian belief, particularly belief in the return of Jesus Christ. The pastor presents Peter's apologetic defense against opponents who denied Christ's second coming, grounding that defense in both eyewitness testimony and the inspired nature of God's word. A key distinction is drawn between human interpretation, which is fallible, and divine inspiration, which is not. Using the metaphor of sailboats carried by the same wind, the sermon illustrates how the various human authors of Scripture each retained their own voice and personality while being carried along by the Holy Spirit toward the same divine truth. The sermon warns against relying solely on human reasoning and experience -- symbolized by the "Willow Man" -- as the basis for knowledge of God, and calls listeners to anchor their faith in the God-breathed word of Scripture.

QUOTES:

A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things that Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic on a level with a man who says he's a poached egg or else he would be the devil of hell.

Making a defense does not mean we should assume that everybody's on the attack and against us, that we need to perpetually be on our guard. That produces paranoia, not stronger faith.

The writers of scripture are not like puppets and that God puts his hand in their mouth and goes, here's what I have to say. They're not Kermit the Frog.

The writers of the scripture are more like sailboats. When each of those sailboats raise their sails, they are all carried by the same wind.

Interpretation comes from us. Interpretation is when we're trying to understand the word of God rightly, and that's a good thing to do. We should put effort, study, time into that. We should try to interpret God's word correctly, but we can be wrong.

If everything we think we know about God ultimately comes from our own minds, our own experience, our own heart, our own willow man, that means we have invented a God of our own imagination. a God who's just reflecting our own understandings about how we think God ought to be.

If we take the hand of the willow man, and follow our own wills, it will lead us down into the grip of death.

Jesus confirms it all. that all the scripture, the words that the Jews have had for centuries, it was all his word, God's word, safely and securely carried to shore by the Holy Spirit.

By inspiration, we don't mean that God sort of inspired the authors, like artists get inspired. What is inspired is not the people, not the writers, but the writing. The words are inspired.

SCRIPTURE REFERENCES:

2 Peter 1:16-21, the primary passage, addressing eyewitness testimony and the divine origin of Scripture

Matthew 16:27, in which Jesus speaks of the Son of Man coming in the glory of his Father to repay each person according to what he has done

1 Peter 3:15, calling believers to always be prepared to make a defense for the hope within them, with gentleness and respect

2 Timothy 3:16, describing all Scripture as breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness

KEY POINTS:

- Peter defends the truth of Christ's return not with cleverly constructed arguments but with the testimony of eyewitnesses who saw Jesus transfigured in glory and heard the Father's voice from heaven.

- The Bible is not the product of human will or imagination. The writers of Scripture were carried along by the Holy Spirit, like sailboats moved by the wind, retaining their own voices while being guided by God to say what he would have us know.

- There is an important difference between interpretation, which comes from us and can be wrong, and inspiration, which comes from God and cannot be wrong.

- Beware the "Willow Man" -- a picture of what happens when we build our understanding of God entirely on our own minds, hearts, and experiences rather than on the revealed word of God.

- God has spoken clearly: Jesus has come, Jesus has saved his people from sin, and Jesus will return in full majesty and glory.

2 Peter 1:16-21

Matthew 16:27

1 Peter 3:15

Matthew 17:1-8 / Mark 9:2-8 / Luke 9:28-36

Exodus 20:1-17

2 Timothy 3:16