Hermeneutics

Acts 22:21 “And He said to me, ‘Go! For I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”

points about his testimony, his witness.

1. does not get into theological issues, he relates his personal experience
2. spends small amount of time with pre-conversion, most time spent on post-conversion
3. his testimony is received right up until he uses a bad word, gentile.  He is still trying to get jews to accept his testimony even after God has told him they will not.
   1. he has a dream to witness to jews
   2. he has been told by God, they will not accept him
   3. he is warned that persecution awaits him if he goes
   4. he goes and is persecuted

Each of us was challenged to have a testimony ready to present today (5 minutes or less)

– be ready to clarify points

– be ready to answer questions

Now lets review the hermeneutical process combined with the homiletic process

(homiletics is the process for creating a sermon for another to hear)

I submit that homiletics is one of the best ways to get the most from your own time in the word

(since the first person who needs to hear the sermon is yourself)

Hermeneutics begins with basic principle of literal interpretation of text

tell story about my mom

1. cutting ends off of the cucumber to remove the poison
2. cutting ends off the turkey legs for roasting …

   PRINCIPLES of SCRIPTURAL INTERPRETATION:

Scripture Interprets Scripture Principle (God wants us to understand His word, and uses the word to do so)

The Progressive Revelation Principle (fulfillment of OT prophecy in NT, shadows of things explained in later books)

The Accommodation Principle (God using language at our level to communicate something above our level, such as anthropomorphism)

The One Interpretation Principle (one interpretation can have various applications)

The Harmony of Scripture Principle (interpretation does not contradict other verses)

The Genre Principle (history, poetry, wisdom, prophecy)

The Grammatical Principle (original texts are inspired, all else is translations which have various errors)

The Historical Principle (texts are applicable to all generations and cultures)

Look at 

Psalm 37:4

Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart

• often applied as “say you are following God and you’ll get all the stuff you want”
• context talks about not being envious of what evil doers get away with. Their works will wither and become worthless. Trust in the Lord, do good, cultivate faithfulness, commit your way to the Lord.  (context is all about doing it God’s way for God’s purposes)
• The Hebrew word for “delight” comes from the root anog, which means “to be soft or sensitive.” Thus, to delight yourself in the Lord means means to be soft-hearted, to make yourself pliable to His molding and shaping of your heart, mind, and life., completely open to His refining fire, to His potter’s touch. So with this diction, it can be seen that the meaning of the verse is that if you let God mold you so that you solely desire God with all your heart, then He will grant that desire.
• look at verse 16 ¶ “Better is the little of the righteous Than the abundance of many wicked.” (does this sound like the focus is “getting stuff” ?!
• This entire Psalm is talking about the evil of selfishness, and the virtue of humbly seeking the righteousness of God’s Kingdom.

Jer 29:11

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”

• often applied to mean “God will let no harm befall us, and everything will be great in God’s control”
• written to the elders of the exile (Babylon captivity under Nebuchadnezzar)
• verse 4 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon,
• verses 10-14 is the topical context, which is “God will bring them back to their land and fulfill His promise”
• verses 15-19 is God declaring punishment to those who disobeyed
• God does have a plan for us, and it is good, but that does not mean we will not face pain and hardships. It’s important to realize that we shouldn’t think that God’s plan for our life is about us and how we can be happy, but how we can bring glory to God. This passage, on the other hand, is God speaking to the Israelites about their punishment and His plan to redeem and restore them.
• EBC notes “hope and a future” (v.11) are literally “an end and a hope,” which is a hendiadys (a figure in which a complex idea is expressed in two words linked by a coordinating conjunction) and means “a hopeful end.” (i.e. “this is not the end.

Matt 18;20

For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.

• often used to prove that Jesus is always present in fellowship, and verse 19 to prove that if all agree in a fellowship, it proves the item of agreement is always blessed by Jesus.
• Immediate context is verses 15-20 talking about dealing with sin in the body. (greater context is dealing with stumbling blocks between people)
• Although God is always with us when believers gather together, it doesn’t mean that He is not with us when we are alone because God is omnipresent meaning He is always with us no matter the circumstance. Put in context this verse references dealing with sin in the church and matters must be settled based on testimonies of two or more. (loving accountability within a  local body, and progressive accountability if required)

Phil 4:13

I can do all things through him who gives me strength

• often applied as panacea to basically do anything we feel like accomplishing that day.
  • I can write checks to pay bills with no money in the account
  • I can walk into a lion’s den with meat wrapped around my neck and not be harmed
  • I can walk up to a pulpit and deliver a perfect message with no preparation whatsoever
• immediate context is verses 11-13
• The concept is introduced earlier in verses 6-7
• 2 Cor 12:9
• Put in context, it can be seen that Paul’s intent in his letter to the Church of Philippi was one of contentment, not achievement.

Matt 7:1-3

judge not lest you be judged

• often used when a believer sees something wrong but doesn’t want to deal with the matter of trying to correct the other person.
  • they still do drugs but who am I to judge ?
  • I know you believe something different than I do but who are you to judge ?
  • you are all discussing this person’s public sin, like you think you are better than them, who are you to judge ?
• κρίνω, krinō, v.  [root of: 88, 95, 185, 373, 374, 503, 537, 645, 646, 647, 850, 896, 1359, 1360, 1464, 1605, 1637, 2137, 2890, 2891, 2892, 3210, 3213, 3215, 3216, 3217, 4622, 5173, 5347, 5693, 5694, 5695; cf. 1637]. to decide, consider, as preferring one thing over another or determining the correctness of a matter; by extension: to judge, pass judgment on, condemn in a legal sense
• immediate context is verses 1-5
• proper interpretation is “you must be able to see clearly (heart and mind) before attempting to help another see”

Rom 8:28

God works all things to work together for the good to those who love God (who are called according to His purpose)

• context is following verses which explain “good”

Who wrote it?

Who was it written to and for what purpose ?

Any clarifications/context to bring out ?

– textual context (immediate containing area)

– biblical context

-same book

– same writer

– other writers on same topic, or word usage (not taking those out of context)

– historical context

– cultural context

What is the main point of this passage?

– a one or two sentence summary

– make it into a question

– answer to this question is the main point to the reader

What is the principle (action point) ?

– generalization (generic) version of the main point

How does it carry forward into our lives ?

– general point as it is relevant to our present life, trials, etc.