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Three Reasons We Need To Consider Truth And Interpret Scripture - Part 6

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• To 2 Timothy chapter 2. And again, we're going to read verse 7 and then we're going to read verse 15 as well. So this is in the series on how to study and learn biblical truth. This is the sixth message. Notice, if you would please, in verse 7, the apostle Paul tells Timothy, "Consider what I say, and the Lord give thee understanding in all things." And then skipping down to verse 15, "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." One of the problems that has really emerged over the last number of years is there has been actually a lack of study of the word of God. The lack of study is even true among pastors. While not excusing the lack of study, which, by the way, is a sin, the truth is that most pastors and most preachers have allowed things to slip in that would steal their time of study. And many pastors oftentimes visit—in fact, visit beyond what they actually need to.

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• They fellowship. They go to ministerial meetings. Some coach ball. Some teach and perform other host of duties that actually could be laid aside. And it should be emphasized as well that if the original deacons were selected by the people and presented to the apostles to do one thing, and that was to relieve the apostles so that they could attend to the Word of God. If you would look in your Bibles very quickly to the book of Acts chapter 6, and notice the first four verses, Acts chapter 6, beginning there with verse 1. And I want you to know why these deacons were chosen originally, and it's very plain in this passage.

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• The Bible says, "In those days when the number of the disciples was multiplied, and there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration," that is, they were not getting the food that they were supposed to be getting. "Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. Wherefore, brethren, look you out among you seven men full of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the word." So the apostle said, it's not meet that we should leave the word of God and serve tables.

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• In other words, there's nothing wrong with serving tables, but obviously you could not take care of all of those duties and do the studying and praying that needed to be done. So the deacons originally were chosen to relieve the pastors of extraneous duties so that they may give themselves actually to prayer and the ministry of the word. So I believe this, if deacons today were biblical and they fulfill their official function and duties as they should, it would certainly give the pastor the needed and necessary time to study. And I might point out deacons are not to run the church. They are servants. They're not to run the pastor. They are servants.

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• And the word deacon is transliterated from the Greek. That is, it's brought down letter for letter, deacon and to deacon. But the word translated actually means servant. So obviously they were to serve not only the people, but they were to serve the pastor as well. Arguably, when you have Christians and when you have pastors who are working anywhere from 40 to 60 hours a week, that also cuts into your study time as well. And that's true not only concerning the pastors, that's true concerning the Christians.

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• So the second problem, I think, is this. It's not just simply that there is a lack of study. It is the fact that most pastors and most Christians have never been taught to study. They do not know how to study. And if you do not know how to study, then you obviously cannot study. And the truth of the matter is no pastor and no teacher should be struggling just to find something to preach or to teach.

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• I mean, there's so much in the Word of God. And yet I have seen and I have known pastors. I know one particularly I observed personally. It was midnight on Saturday night and he was just trying to find something to preach on Sunday morning. To me, that's just absolutely insane. I mean, he should have been studying. No teacher, no preacher should ever run out of material. The Bible is just simply full of material. So what I'm trying to say is this, if you really want to learn how to study, that's what I'm trying to teach. If you do not really want to learn how to study, then just don't pay attention and you really will not.

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• And you'll end up paying the price later on, especially the judgment seat of Christ. So last week when I began giving you these 13 principles that you need to use when you're considering truth, the first one I gave you was linguistics. That is, you must understand what the word actually means. And you cannot come and superimpose upon that word your definition or what you think the word means. You need to find out exactly what that word means. Since words have meaning, and you need to know what the meaning is from the one in Scripture.

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• Now, to begin today, I want to give you the second thing that we need to consider when we're looking at a text, or a passage, or a chapter, or even a book. So we not only need to consider it linguistically, but secondly, we need to consider it historically. The Bible was not written in a vacuum. In fact, the truth of the matter is, each book of the Bible is written for some reason, for some purpose, and to some people, especially the epistles. So you need to be asking these questions like, to whom was this book written? Why was this book written? When was this book written? What was the author's need or what was the author's person or purpose in writing? And how was this epistle or how was this book to be applied when the people to whom it was written received it? So our first goal then, when we look at scripture, is not only consider things linguistically, but also to consider the original intent and the original purpose and the original meaning of the passage.

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• In other words, what was the author's meaning when he wrote that book or that passage? So again, this principle recognizes that the Bible was not written in a vacuum. It was written in history to a specific people or person and for a specific reason. So once we understand the specific purpose or reason, then we need to understand also how it applies to us today. So when you look at scripture, there are several things that you need to understand when it comes to this. First of all, observation. What does the Bible say? Secondly, interpretation. What does the Bible mean? Thirdly, what did this passage mean or this chapter or this book mean to those persons to whom it was written? And then number four, how is this passage applied to us today?

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• I'm going to get into this more next time, but the truth of the matter is we need to ask those questions. And each and every book in the Bible should be considered historically.

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• Now, if you do not have the time, if you do not have the knowledge, if you do not have the know-how to look up the history of each book, its date, its purpose, its time, its writing, its theme, there is a wonderful help. I purchased the book many, many years ago. It's a book written by J. Sidlow Baxter. It is entitled Explore the Book. It is a book about three or four inches thick, and it gives you the historical background on every book in the Bible. And it gives you a lot of different information as well. So if you don't have that Explore the Book by J. Sidlow Baxter, I would encourage you to get that book because that way you could read even concerning the book before you begin to go through the book in the Bible and you'd already basically have the history laid out for you.

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• So we need to consider truth not only linguistically, we need to consider truth historically. Now here's the third one today. We need to consider truth judicially or legally. The Bible is a book of law. It is the revelation of God's law, and therefore there are many judicial or legal principles in the Bible. Without me going into depth on many of these, I want you to just stop and think with me just for a moment of all the laws that are there in the Bible. There are the laws of sacrifice, there's the laws of cleansing, there's the law of the leprosy, of the leper, there's the law of the lever, right? There's the law of the kinsman redeemer. I mean, there are many, many passages that you cannot even understand unless you begin to grasp the fact that here is a legal or a judicial principle. Now, let me just show you how many times the Pharisees perverted this truth. So let me show you. I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would, first of all, to Deuteronomy chapter 19.

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• We're going to look at several passages. And I want to point something out, and then we're going to go to the book of Matthew when we get through with the Old Testament. So look, if you would, in Deuteronomy chapter 19, and let's begin reading there with verse 16. I want you to see this in the context because, again, this is a legal or judicial principle. So Deuteronomy chapter 19 verse 16, God says, "If a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong, then both the men between whom the controversy is shall stand before the Lord, before the priest."

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• Now look, "and the judges which shall be in those days, and the judges shall make diligent inquisition. Behold if the witness be a false witness and have testified falsely against his brother, then shall you do unto him as he thought to have done unto his brother. So shalt thou put the evil away from among you and those which remain shall hear and fear and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you and thine eyes shall not pity. But life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot." So here is my question.

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• To whom was this passage written? It is a legal judicial principle, and it was written for those who stood before the judges and the priests, and consequently the Lord, whom the judges and the priests represented.

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• Now look back in your Bibles to the book of Exodus chapter 21. Exodus 21. And let's begin reading there with verse 22. Exodus 21 verse 22. The Bible says, "If men strive and hurt a woman with child so that her fruit depart from her and yet no mischief follow, he shall be surely punished according as the woman's husband will lay upon him and he shall pay as the judges determine. And if any mischief follow, then shalt thou give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, and stripe for stripe." But note, if you would, in the context, it is to the judges. One more now, look in Leviticus chapter 24, and let's begin reading there with verse 19. Leviticus 24 and verse 19. Here it is.

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• "And if a man cause a blemish in his neighbor, as he hath done, so shall it be done to him. Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again. And he that killeth a beast, he shall restore it. And he that killeth a man, he shall be put to death."

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• Now watch, "Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger, and as for your own country, for I am the LORD your God." Now, note if you would please, in all these other passages, it was before the judges. Now he's saying this is to be a matter of law.

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• Now, if you will turn in your Bibles to the book of Matthew chapter 5, I want you to note what the Pharisees had done with this legal judicial principle. In Matthew chapter 5, beginning there with verse 38. Look what our Lord says. Matthew 5 verse 38, our Lord said, "Ye have heard that it hath been said, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. But I say unto you that ye resist not evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn him the other also." And then he goes on now.

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• What is he talking about? "Ye have heard that it hath been said, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." What our Lord is doing in Matthew chapter 5 is this. He is correcting the misinterpretation of the law by the Pharisees. He's also correcting the misapplication of the law by the Pharisees. So what the Pharisees had done, they had taken this legal judicial principle, a principle of the law, a principle that was given to the judges where they were to make the punishment fit the crime, an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, life for life, foot for foot, hand for hand, burning for burning, stripe for stripe. And what they had done, they had turned it to mean and to teach personal vindictiveness and personal vengeance. That's what he's correcting right here.

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• Because they were saying, well, if Steve hit me, I can hit him back. If he cursed me, I can curse him back. If he slapped me, I can slap him back. I want you to note what he said in verse 39. "But I say unto you that ye resist not evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn him the other also."

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• Now, this is not a self-defense situation. So if Gary and I are facing each other and I take my fist and I ball it up and I swing at him and I hit him as hard as I could hit him, which cheek would my fist land on if he's facing me? Left, not his right. So if I smite him on the right cheek, that means this, it's a back fist. It's a slap. It's an insult. It's kind of like back in the 1700s when these Frenchmen would take their glove and say, "I challenge you to a duel" and just slap him on the cheek.

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• It was not anything that was hurtful. It was just an insult. And actually what our Lord is doing in this passage is teaching how to deal with these petty annoyances of life. So he said, if somebody smites you on the right cheek, that is, he insults you, turn him to the left cheek. And then he goes on to say, if a man will sue thee at law for your coat, give him your cloak also.

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• Then he says, if someone compels you to go a mile, go with him twain, because any Roman soldier could compel a citizen to carry his armor and his equipment for a mile. And if you and I were in a hurry to go do something and here's a soldier and he compels us to take his armor a mile out of the way, it's an annoyance. So our Lord is just teaching us here. But what these Pharisees have done, they had taken a legal judicial principle and they then turn around and have made it a personal vendetta, when it was not applied to them at all in that matter.

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• Now, I want you to go back in your Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 25, but let me show you another thing. You see, you have to understand that the Bible is full of legal and judicial terminology, as well as principles. So when you look at Deuteronomy chapter 25 and verse 1, and I'll show you some other passages, you must understand that the doctrine of justification is indeed a legal, judicial, not only term, but concept. So in Deuteronomy 25 verse 1, "If there be a controversy between men and they come unto judgment, that the judges may judge them, then they shall justify the righteous and condemn the wicked." So notice if you would, again, the judges are to justify the righteous and they're to condemn the wicked. Now, both justification and condemnation are legal concepts. Justification is a declaration before the law that a man is righteous and innocent. Condemnation is a declaration before the law that the man is guilty and has violated the law. Now, I want you to turn to Proverbs chapter 17.

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• You see, the Roman Catholic Church teaches that justification is an infusion of righteousness, which is not true. Justification is a declaration of righteousness from the judge. So if you'll look in Proverbs chapter 17 in verse 15, look what the Bible says. "He that justifieth the wicked and he that condemneth the just, even they both are an abomination to the Lord." Now, if justification is an infusion of righteousness into someone, how could justifying the wicked be an abomination to God? Because you'd be making the wicked righteous. But no, justification is a declaration. So here the judge then is declaring the wicked just or righteous when he is not. And then he's declaring the just condemned and wicked when he is not. So both of these, he says, are an abomination to the Lord to justify a wicked man or condemn a just man.

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• Now turn in your Bibles to the book of Luke chapter 7. And look, if you would please, at verse 29. Luke 7, verse 29. Here's a very revealing verse. Luke 7, verse 29. "And all the people that heard him," that is John the Baptist, "and all the people that heard him and the publicans justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John."

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• Now, if you try to tell me that justification is an infusing of righteousness, how do you make God righteous? How do you make him more righteous? It's impossible because he is perfectly righteous. He cannot be made more righteous. He cannot be made less righteous. Well, how in the world did the people justify God? Remember, justification is a legal, it is a judicial declaration. And Lord, here's what they were saying. God is right. I am wrong. God is holy. I'm unholy. God is just. I'm a sinner. So they were justifying God by saying that the sentence that had been declared against them was right.

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• Now look at the next verse. "But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him." So what the Pharisees were doing were justifying themselves. They were not justifying God. They were not pronouncing God righteous. They were pronouncing themselves righteous. So if you will look in Luke 16 and verse 15, here's what our Lord said concerning these Pharisees, Luke 16 and verse 15. He said, "Ye are they which justify yourselves before men, but God knoweth your hearts. For that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God." So the Pharisees were justifying themselves.

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• They were saying, we're not that kind of sinner. We're not wicked. We're not vile. We're not condemned. They were justifying themselves. Where the publicans and sinners said, yes, Lord, you're right. We're wicked. We're wrong. We deserve punishment. So you have to understand that justification is actually the antithesis or the opposite of condemnation. And so just like hot is the opposite of cold and big is the opposite of small, justification therefore is the opposite of condemnation. So you're either justified or you're condemned.

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• If you will look in your Bibles to the book of Romans chapter 8, Romans chapter 8. And look, if you would, beginning there with verse 33, Romans 8 and verse 33. Look what the scripture says. "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." So it is God who justifies and it is God who condemns. And if you will go back up to verse 1, look what he says. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." So you're either justified or you are condemned.

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• So to justify means that you are pronounced righteous in light of the law. Condemnation means that you are pronounced guilty in light of the law. Justification and condemnation are legal forensic terms and acts. Justification is the passing of a sentence in favor of a person, while condemnation is passing a sentence against the person. It was Herman Witsius who said this, "We thus define the gospel justification of a sinner.

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• It is a judicial and but gracious act of God, whereby the elect and believing sinner is absolved from all the guilt of his sins and hath a right to eternal life, adjudged to him on account of the obedience of Christ received by faith." One more quote, Jonathan Edwards said it like this, "A person is said to be justified when he is approved of God as free from the guilt of sin and its deserved punishment, and as having that righteousness belonging to him that entitles him to the reward of life." So when you think about justification, that grand and glorious doctrine is indeed a judicial doctrine. It is a legal doctrine.

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• And so therefore, you have to look at Scripture not only linguistically, not only historically, but you also have to look at scripture judicially and legally. Now, let me give you number four today. You must also consider scripture experientially. Now, what do I mean by experientially? We must ask ourselves when we look at a passage of scripture, is there something in this passage that I must experience in my life?

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• Now, there is a vast difference between something that is judicial and something that is experiential. When something is judicial, it is something that is done for you. When something is done experientially, it is something that is done in you. So let me just try to show you this concept when you consider justification and when you consider sanctification. Justification deals with the guilt of sin. Sanctification deals with the pollution of sin. Justification is a legal, judicial act which is done for you. Sanctification is experiential and internal, which is done in you. Now, let me just try to show you some distinctions between justification and sanctification. Remember, justification is judicial. Sanctification is experiential. Now, let me make a statement before I show you these differences. Actually, when you consider sanctification, there are two concepts that you must consider. There is indeed what you and I would call a positional sanctification which you and I have in Jesus Christ. That positional sanctification is absolutely perfect. But I'm not talking about positional sanctification. Today I'm talking about what you and I would call a practical sanctification.

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• Our practical sanctification is what we are in this life. So, sanctification is something that is moral, experiential. Justification is legal and judicial. Sanctification results from the operation of the Holy Spirit in us. Justification is based upon what Jesus Christ has done for us. Let me go further. Sanctification, which is practical I'm talking about, practical sanctification is gradual and progressive. Justification is instantaneous and immutable. So when I say that sanctification admits degrees and that it's gradual and progressive, it means that we should actually be going, as the Bible says, from strength to strength.

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• We should be gaining in holiness every day. But when you stop and think about the fact that justification is instantaneous and immutable, that will bring me to this. Sanctification admits degrees, but justification does not. So let me try to explain it like this. When it comes to justification, even the apostle Paul is not any more justified than I am. The apostle Peter is not any more justified than Steve. Justification is perfect. It is instantaneous. It is immutable. But when you talk about sanctification, you remember our Lord said some fell on good ground.

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• And some brought forth thirtyfold, some sixtyfold and some a hundredfold. In other words, there are degrees in sanctification. That's why some men are more holy than others. Some women are more holy than others. Some are less holy than others. That's why we are to go from strength to strength. We are to be progressing in our sanctification. Here's another difference. Sanctification deals with the state of the sinner. Justification deals with the standing of the sinner.

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• We're justified as we stand before God. That's our standing in Jesus Christ. But our sanctification is our state before God. And I don't think anyone in this room would say that you are as holy as you should be or would want to be in this life. So sanctification is always experiential. So let me put it to you like this. While there are differences between justification and sanctification, there is no such thing as a justified unsanctified person. Whomever God justifies, he sanctifies. The word sanctify means to be set apart for a holy use.

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• You may not be bringing forth but thirtyfold while some are bringing forth sixty and some are bringing forth eighty and ninety and some a hundred. But the truth is, if you've been justified, you will be sanctified. You will be set apart. And so for these individuals who tell me that, yeah, I was saved when I was seven years old, I've just lived for the devil the last 50 years, but I'm saved—no, no, no.

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• The Bible said they went out from us, that it might be made manifest that they were not of us, for had they been of us, no doubt they would have continued with us. 1 John 2, verse 19. So the proof that we have ever been justified by faith is that we're being sanctified in our lives. You cannot confuse the doctrine of justification and the doctrine of sanctification without perverting the gospel and without confounding the saints.

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• So we have to consider truth linguistically. Yes. Historically. Yes. We must consider it judicially, legally, and we must consider it experientially.

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• Now I'm going to tell you this. I'm going to repeat it probably again today. I'll repeat it in the next message. Just have to remember this. Not all the Bible was written to you. Not all the Bible was written about you. But all the Bible's written for you. So you need to ask, is there something in this passage that I am to experience in my life? Okay? Number five, and this is probably as far as we will get today, we must consider truth expositionally or contextually. Every passage, every verse, has to be taken in its context. You can prove anything that you want to prove if you take a verse out of context. For instance, I could prove from the Bible that thieves prosper.

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• That it pays to be a thief. He said, where would you find something like that? Well, I'll show you. Look in your Bibles to the book of Job chapter 12, right before the book of Psalms. Look in Job chapter 12. Job is speaking. And look what he says in verse 6. Watch this. Look in Job chapter 12 and verse 6. Here's what he said. Watch carefully. "The tabernacles of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure into whose hand God bringeth abundantly." Why? It pays to be a thief, if you take that verse like that. But when you take it in the context, you will have to know that Job, in this chapter, is answering and refuting Zophar's argument in chapter 11. Look if you would, verse 1, "And Job answered and said, No doubt, but ye are the people and wisdom shall die with you. But I have understanding as well as you.

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• I am not inferior to you. Yea, who knoweth not such things as these? I am as one mocked of his neighbor, who calleth upon God and he answereth him: the just upright man is laughed to scorn. That's Job. He that is ready to slip with his feet is as a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease. That's Job. Then he says the tabernacles of robbers—what's he talking about?

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• Well, remember, he had these three friends. He had Eliphaz and Bildad and Zophar. Well, when you get to Eliphaz, Eliphaz was a man who based all of his arguments on tradition. Bildad versed his own experience. Zophar was the dogmatist. And if you read Job chapter 11, he just simply says this, Job, you're a sinner. You've sinned against God. If you'd repent of your sins, God would bless you and God would give you all this money and God would give you all this prosperity. And what Job is saying is, look, you're not helping me. Do you understand that God oftentimes curses his enemies with riches? Yes, the tabernacles of robbers prosper temporarily until God judges them. This is what he's saying. And you're trying to tell me that I'm a great sinner and I just need to repent. So the point I'm trying to make is when you take this in context, then you see very clearly that, you know, they do not prosper. Job is just answering Zophar's dogmatism back in Job chapter 11.

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• Now, so you have to take things in context. So I want you to do this. I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would, to Luke chapter 15. And I want you to bear with me just for a minute. Everyone knows the content of Luke chapter 15. Or at least I sure hope you do. Because in Luke chapter 15, you read about the lost sheep, you read about the lost coin, and you read about the prodigal son. I wish I had time to read this whole chapter to you. Well, let me read just a little bit of it. Look in verse 1.

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• "Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. And he spake this parable unto them, saying, What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?"

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• "And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth."

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• And then he goes on and he said, "A certain man had two sons." I'm not going to read it all. You know it. "And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth unto me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living." Now you know the rest of the story. So let me try to ask you some questions since I read this to you. Number one, how many parables are there in Luke chapter 15? Anybody answer. Give me an answer.

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• Well, the average Christian and the average preacher says there are three. Well, that's not true. Although you read the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son, if you will go back to verse 3, "And he spake this parable unto them." One parable. There's only one. But this one parable is divided into three parts. So the lost sheep demonstrates the work of the Savior. He came to seek and save the lost. The lost coin illustrates the work of the Holy Spirit. And the prodigal son returning to the father pictures the result—the Son seeking and the Spirit working and the sinner therefore comes back to the father. Okay? So the prodigal is the lost sheep that the Son sought and the woman illuminated the picture of the Holy Spirit. Now so let me ask you this question. So we know there's one parable in Luke 15. To whom was this parable spoken? There were two groups. So you have to deduce that there's got to be something in this parable for both groups.

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• So if you look back at verse 1, "Then drew near unto him all the publicans and the sinners to hear him." So there were publicans, tax collectors, sinners. Verse 2, "And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them." So you've got publicans and sinners. And you've got the scribes and the Pharisees on this hand. So you've got to look in this parable now and find that there is something for each of these groups. So let's see. In the first part of this parable, the shepherd goes looking for the lost sheep. Hmm, let's see, would someone answer this question? Where were the 99 sheep left? In the wilderness. What is the wilderness a picture of? It's a picture of sin, rebellion. Where was the lost sheep taken? Home. Look at it. Verse 5. Well, let's read verse 4. "What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?"

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• "And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost." And then look at this amazing statement. "I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance."

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• Where were the 99? In the wilderness. Who were the 99? Scribes and Pharisees. They didn't think they needed to be saved. They didn't think they were lost. And so very clearly the 99 then speak of those Pharisees while the one speaks of the publican and the sinners.

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• Now, when you get to the last section of this parable, the prodigal son, the prodigal son comes home. But is there another brother? Yeah, he's the older brother. I've got a message that I preached years ago, I just entitled it "The Other Brother." The other brother. When he heard the rejoicing, he didn't know what was going on. And he asked one of the servants, "Well, what is this?" "Well, your brother who's lost is now back home and your father slain the fatted calf and we're having a party." And what does the other brother do? He gets angry. He gets upset. He said, "All these years have I served thee?

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• And I haven't done what this boy has done. And you've never given me a fatted calf." There's the 99 just persons who need no repentance. So the point I'm trying to make is very clear. This parable is a picture of what transpired in Luke chapter 18, verses 9 through 14, when the Pharisee and the publican went up to the temple to pray, and the Pharisee said, "I thank thee, Lord, that I'm not as other men. I'm not even as this publican over here.

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• I fast twice in the week. I pay tithe of all that I own, and I do this and I do that." And the old publican would not even lift his eyes toward heaven, just smote himself on the breast and said, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner." And our Lord said, "Verily, that man, the publican, went down to his house justified rather than the other." So our Lord takes us one parable and shows us the work of the Son, the work of the Spirit and the work of the Father, because the Son sought the lost sheep. The woman with the candle sweeping indicated the work of the Holy Spirit in conviction. And then you see that prodigal son running to the father and the father receiving him and giving him the ring of sonship and putting the best coat on him as could be possibly made. Let me read to you very quickly just a comment by Arthur W. Pink. He said this, "The parable recorded in Luke chapter 15 cannot possibly be interpreted aright if its context is ignored.

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• What needless perplexity has been occasioned and diversity among commentators concerning the identity of the 99 sheep left in the wilderness, defined as just persons who need no repentance, and the elder son, who complained of the generous treatment accorded to his brother, through failure to use the key to observe this one parable in three parts, was not spoken by Christ to the disciples, but addressed to his enemies. It was given in reply to the Pharisees and the scribes who had murmured because our Lord received sinners and ate with them.

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• His design was to expose the condition of their hearts and to vindicate his own gracious actions. He did so by portraying the lost condition of his carping critics and by making known the ground on which he received sinners into fellowship with himself and revealing the divine operations which issue in that blessed result. Once these broad facts be apprehended, there is no difficulty in understanding the details of the two distinct and sharply contrasted classes that are set forth to us in Luke 15, 1 and 2.

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• The despised publicans and sinners who, from a deep sense of need, were attracted to Christ and the proud and self-satisfied Pharisees and scribes. In each of the three parts of this parable, the same two classes are in view and in that order." Wow. There are so many comments that I have where this parable is actually broken down, but let me just read one quick one from Matthew Henry.

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• He said this, "Here is a great deal of care and pains taken in quest of it. The woman lights a candle to look behind the door, under the table and in every corner of the house, sweeps the house and seeks diligently till she finds it. This represents the various means and methods God uses to bring lost souls home to himself. He has lighted the candle of the gospel, not to show himself the way to us, but to show us the way to him, to discover ourselves. He has swept the house by the convictions of the word. He seeks diligently. His heart is upon it to bring lost souls to himself." So when you look at Luke chapter 15, if you do not take this expositionally, if you do not take it contextually, there's no way in the world that it can be properly interpreted. There's no way that it could be properly understood.

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• So let me make some applications today. I'll finish this next time, Lord willing. But in order to interpret a passage, we must not only have the tools, we must not only have the spiritual necessities that I've already dealt with. But when it comes to the consideration of a passage, we need to look at that passage linguistically. We need to look at it historically. We need to look at it legally and judicially. We need to look at it experientially. We also need to look at it contextually and expositionally. So when you begin to analyze the passage in these ways, all of a sudden the passage begins to come out and you see exactly what is taught in Scripture.

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• You see, Paul did indeed command Timothy, "Consider what I say, and the Lord give thee understanding in all things." So there's not going to be any understanding given unless we actually begin to consider. And so without real studious consideration, no understanding is going to be given. That means this, it doesn't matter if you've got two hours of study or 15 minutes of study, whatever verse you're looking at or whatever passage you're looking at, you need to say, "How am I to consider this passage?" And you begin to look at the passage and so forth in the way that I've described, and you'll be absolutely astounded at the truths that you will see as God gives you understanding. You always have to consider truth in these ways that I've given you so far. And Lord willing, next time I will finish up to number 13 and let you see what it means to consider things and the 13 ways that God gives us to consider scripture. Well, let's pray.

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• Father, we ask in the name of Jesus Christ for your grace and for your mercy, for your goodness and kindness. Help us, Lord, to love thee, to live for thee, to honor thee, to consider your word, and Lord, to consider it linguistically, to consider it, Lord, historically, to consider it legally and judicially, consider it experientially, to consider it, Lord, contextually. Our Lord, we ask that you would indeed teach us and build us up in the most holy faith. In thy name we pray. Amen.

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-04T23:42:09Z