WITHOUT CEASING
A unique problem has faced every pastor and Bible teacher that has answered the call to preach. Every Sunday morning, Sunday night, mid-week, home fellowship, and Bible study; this faithful servant is required to effectively teach of a passage of scripture from the Bible. Week in, week out, month after month, and year after year, the pastor/teacher/preacher must labor in the Word to produce a message that will touch not only the heart, but also instruct the mind. It can become a daunting task indeed. Where will the passages come from? From whence will the inspiration spring forth? How on earth can you even begin to interpret such vast treasure troves of truth, accurately and commendably, so that the Body of Christ may be edified? One thing is for certain; you can’t look first to the commentator, the theologian, or the scholar. The Greek and Hebrew lexicons will be of no use at this stage, and pirating material from the damp and dusty piles of 17th century expository sermons is out of the question. Logging on to www.sermonillustrator.com may get you a few laughs or points for historical content, but ultimately it will only waste the precious hours you have remaining. John Bunyun was quoted as having said, “You can do more than pray after you’ve prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed.” This sentiment is the ultimate answer to the dilemma in which the pastor/teacher finds themselves in every week. Prayer! Not just prayer though, prayer and meditation upon the word of God.
Through the rugged mountains and dense forests of Central America, march the beautifully weary feet of my dear friend, Wayne Goranson. He’s a man of great humility and simplistic lifestyle, but he is a deeply theological and spiritual man as well. He provides clean drinking water, cares for the hungry and poor, and preaches the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as you might expect, but he also teaches local pastors how to study and interpret the Bible, via the inductive Bible study method. Often, the pastors will not be listening closely to what he is trying to teach them, because they are too busy writing down every word that he speaks, so that they may include it in their next sermon on Sunday. Why? For the same reason pastors in developed countries struggle with preparing sermons; a lack of inspiration and poor interpretation skills.
All of the books, study helps and electronic devices at our disposal are mere band-aides stretching inadequately over a gaping wound, without the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and a proper understanding of hermeneutical exegesis. The inspiration of scripture originated with the Holy Spirit and it is to Him that we must return in order to first be broken and convicted ourselves by its power, and then illuminated sufficiently by His truth that we may share it with others. Prayer and meditation upon the Word itself is the only divine pattern for this colossal task, and there is no suitable substitute or work around solution available anywhere, at any cost.
As we seek out God’s divine truth with a pure heart and pure motives, He meets us there with the appropriate passage of scripture for the time that is intended and the audience to which He desires to speak. As Isaiah the prophet relays from the Lord Himself, (Isa 55:11)“So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” From this point we may seek after other sources to aid us in double checking our work, filling out the illustrations, jokes, and antidotal supporting framework, but prayer and meditation must be given the primacy from the inception of every exposition. Sadly, I note this as the most helpful tool in my own personal interpretive process, but it is also the area in which I fail most to incorporate, and an area in which I need to grow as an interpreter.
Through the rugged mountains and dense forests of Central America, march the beautifully weary feet of my dear friend, Wayne Goranson. He’s a man of great humility and simplistic lifestyle, but he is a deeply theological and spiritual man as well. He provides clean drinking water, cares for the hungry and poor, and preaches the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as you might expect, but he also teaches local pastors how to study and interpret the Bible, via the inductive Bible study method. Often, the pastors will not be listening closely to what he is trying to teach them, because they are too busy writing down every word that he speaks, so that they may include it in their next sermon on Sunday. Why? For the same reason pastors in developed countries struggle with preparing sermons; a lack of inspiration and poor interpretation skills.
All of the books, study helps and electronic devices at our disposal are mere band-aides stretching inadequately over a gaping wound, without the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and a proper understanding of hermeneutical exegesis. The inspiration of scripture originated with the Holy Spirit and it is to Him that we must return in order to first be broken and convicted ourselves by its power, and then illuminated sufficiently by His truth that we may share it with others. Prayer and meditation upon the Word itself is the only divine pattern for this colossal task, and there is no suitable substitute or work around solution available anywhere, at any cost.
As we seek out God’s divine truth with a pure heart and pure motives, He meets us there with the appropriate passage of scripture for the time that is intended and the audience to which He desires to speak. As Isaiah the prophet relays from the Lord Himself, (Isa 55:11)“So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” From this point we may seek after other sources to aid us in double checking our work, filling out the illustrations, jokes, and antidotal supporting framework, but prayer and meditation must be given the primacy from the inception of every exposition. Sadly, I note this as the most helpful tool in my own personal interpretive process, but it is also the area in which I fail most to incorporate, and an area in which I need to grow as an interpreter.
