Read your Bible, it's profitable

2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness

It's the fourth Monday of the year, and I hope you've been reading your Bible. If not, today's a great day to begin again.

You should read your Bible everyday because it’s profitable. I’m not asking you to do something that’ll waste your time. I’m asking you to do something that will be for your own good. Reading the Bible will profit your soul.

It’s profitable for learning doctrine. If you read your Bible, you'll learn truth about yourself, about God, about the world, about the end of the world, and about the world to come. Have you ever made a bad decision in life because you didn't have all the facts? Think about the profit of knowing truth about your own heart! Truth about God! Truth about why we are on this Earth and what happens when we die.

It’s profitable to tell you the truth about yourself. God will correct you when you read the Bible. That’s chastisement and discipline, and that’s good for you. When you don’t read the Bible you are not listening to your God. As a father, I come from a long tradition of men, who for about 6,000 years or so, have children who from time to time, don't listen to what I tell them. When that happens, I have to take the discipline up a notch. It's much easier for children to listen to correction and then make the correction than to ignore it and endure the next step. Reading your Bible, receiving correction, is the first gentle step of rebuke from a loving Father.

It’s profitable to tell you how to live and instruction in righteousness. The whole world is ready to tell you how to live. What you should wear, what you should drive, what you should eat, how you should think, and much of it is destructive. But when you read your Bible, God is instructing you in how to live.

It’s profitable for a future day. You might read something tomorrow morning, that doesn’t apply to your life in any way, shape or form. But who knows what the next day will bring? When tragedy comes, it’s too late to start a systematic Bible study to figure what to believe. Consider Job. When the horrors of that terrible day came upon him, he leaned on the truth he learned in happier days. Read your Bible in the sunshine, and it will pray it will bear fruit in a needful day to come.

Read your Bible, it’s profitable.

It’ll Get You Nowhere

Proverbs 29:5  A man that flattereth his neighbour spreadeth a net for his feet.

I read somewhere that flattery is a poison that makes everyone sick but the person who swallows it. Honeyed words and fair speech is dangerous for the person on the receiving end of fawning toadyism and grave error for the one who dishes it out. Flattery is a deceptive tactic designed to swell the pride and manipulate the mind of the target, to promote the self-interest of the flatterer. It’s excessive, insincere, and oftentimes undeserved praise. It’s a manipulative lie. Our proverb warns us here — flattery is a trap. Be on guard and watch out for the net, an effective snare indeed. Flattery is just someone else telling us what we likely already think about ourselves, namely that we are awesome and finally, someone gets it.

The problem with flattery is it’s not just a lie, but it’s a destructive lie (Proverbs 26:28). When you flatter someone, you are not helping them, you are not loving them, but you are showing you hate their soul and working for their harm. Flattery works ruin. Those in any positions of leadership need to be leery of a Wormtounge in their midst, who heaps undue praise upon him, and not meddle with the flatterer (Proverbs 20:19).

Many marriages have been ruined by flattery (Proverbs 7:5,21). Men need to love their wives and be thankful they tell them the truth and recognize the sweet words coming from women other than their wife is a trap. Really. You’re not that awesome. Believe your wife.

Christians, you need to watch out for preachers who use flattery (1 Thessalonians 2:5). A man that reads the Bible and lives among sinners and can’t preach a message on sin is wanting something from you. Of course, if a preacher can only preach about how bad “those people are” out there, he is using flattering words. It’s not for the faint of heart to stand before people on Sunday morning, and on the authority of God, rebuke sin in the camp, then go stand at the back door and shake the hands of those you rebuked. But a man will do it if he loves the people he preaches to. On the other hand, if the preacher loves himself, he’ll preach sweet and pretty words to you, and come down hard on the sins of others, because they aren’t as right, and good, and holy as you are, and you’ll eat your Sunday dinner in comfort and satisfaction of soul. That’s a trap.

The flatter has an ulterior agenda. He’s double-hearted and doubleminded. Their unfaithful mouths are like an open tomb, and poison is under their tongue. The very craft of this sin is based on wicked plotting and evil machinations and the undiscerning victim only realizes this way too late. Beware that you aren’t found in the camp of the flatterer. Better to speak hard truths than soft lies. God knows the score and will judge flatterers (Psalm 12; 5:9-10).

Inspiration

2 Timothy 3:16  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:  (17)  That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

This is the third Monday of the year. I hope you are keeping up your Bible reading. Whether you are reading through the Bible in the whole year or not, I hope you are picking up God's Word every day and feeding your soul with the only book given by inspiration of God. No New York Times Bestseller comes by inspiration. No Facebook post, no blog article, no news story comes by inspiration of the Holy One. No other book will give you God's Word. No other book will you find God speaking to you.

And to close this article out, I'll repost something I wrote here a while back.

"The Holy Scriptures are our letter from home."  So wrote Augustine about the inspired Word of God. When I say inspired, I don't mean the writers of Scripture gazed upon a beautiful mountain one early spring morning and then were inspired to write. No, the Scriptures are God breathed. Men penned the Words God spoke as they were "moved" by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:16-21). People, not just helped by the Spirit, or guided by the Spirit, but moved and carried along by the Spirit of God, so what they wrote was not theirs, but God's. 

The Bible was written over a 2,000 year period by 40 different people.  Kings and cupbearers, prophets and priests, fishermen and farmers, scholars and slaves all carried along by the Holy Spirit to write the very words of the Lord. They wrote different genres; history, letters, poetry, and prophesy. They wrote from different places under various circumstances; in times of prosperity, and dominance, times of bondage and suffering.  And through it all, the amazing thing is there isn't any disagreement in the message. From Moses to John, from Genesis to Revelation, there is no discrepancy in the message of the Bible. How is that possible, so many men from so many different walks of life? Because they are not the words of men, but the words of God Himself. You'll find no inconsistency in message because there is one author of the book -- God.
"All scripture is give by inspiration of God" and He didn't give the ideas and let the men fill in the blanks. God gave every word - every part of speech, in every chapter and verse, just the way he wanted it. Our creator revealed the truth about Him and about us. How can we know the mind of God, unless God tells us (1 Corinthians 2:10-13)? When you read your Bible, you are reading what the Holy Spirit is teaching you. "All scripture is give by inspiration of God" and not just the parts we like. The Old Testament is just as much God's Word as the New. The Words in red are not more God's Word than the black.  So many people want to hear from God. Today, we have more access to Bibles in the United States than any other people in history. Yet, week after week, people cry out for "a word from the Lord." You have a word from God, it is your Bible! Love this precious book. A living book that speaks to us. An active book that comforts us. A relevant book for guidance in your life. How fast we search all over creation to get wisdom, when we have God's Word. Don't leave it on the shelf, hide it in your heart. God spoke to us in His Word!

Vehement Desire and Zeal

I read a clever definition of a fanatic, “One who is highly enthusiastic about something in which you are not even remotely interested.” It's one of those words, like fundamentalist, legalist, or Pharisee that is usually defined as people who disagree with me. A legalist is anyone who tells me to do something I don’t want to do. A Pharisee is anyone who tells me not to do something I enjoy. A fundamentalist is anyone who restricts my liberty, in any way. Here's the real definition of both zeal and fanatic, to show what I mean. Zeal; passionate ardor in the pursuit of anything. In general, zeal is an eagerness of desire to accomplish or obtain some object. Fanatic; wild and extravagant in opinions, particularly in religious opinions; excessively enthusiastic; possessed by a kind of frenzy. What’s the difference between someone who is excessively enthusiastic and someone who is eager? Who makes that judgment?

Others will say being balanced and moderate is the best way. Not too extreme, but a centrist who keep the main thing the main thing. But, you can fiddle with that idea as well. Balance can be another way of avoiding conflict or keeping coalitions. I have been called extremist, a fanatic, a fundamentalist and I’ve also been called a moderate and a squish – over the same issue.  It just depends on who you talk to. Either I’m not very good at explaining myself, or there is something else at play. Those who think I’m harsh and extreme disagree with my position and how much importance I put on it, while those who think I'm wishy-washy, may agree with me, but don’t think I judge the issue important enough. And, there are those in the middle who like their position because they can tell everyone they are wrong. The truth is, in some things, we need to be moderate. And, we also need to be zealous. We don’t want to be fanatical, but the Bible must be our judge, not other men.

Second Corinthians was written to the church at Corinth after Paul had rebuked them and corrected them in the 1 Corinthians. Some repented and Paul commented on the characteristics that proved their sorrow over sin was a godly sorrow – vehement desire and zeal (2 Corinthians 7:11). Desire, passion, zealousness is a gift of the Holy Spirit. It's not a curse or an evil to avoid. Zealousness doesn’t make you and extremist and vehement desire doesn’t make you a fanatic. These are the characteristics of one who has repented of their sin and turned to Christ for salvation, who has been born again and revived in spirit.

Emotions are not sinful, but how we use emotions can be sinful. Letting emotions rule us and not seeking guidance from Scripture to rule our emotions can be sinful. Desiring the wrong things is sinful. However, emotions, of themselves, are natural to human beings. God has not made us robots, but human beings and God's Word must direct us.

“Yea, what vehement desire…” 2 Corinthians 7:11.. Desire isn’t wrong, as long it’s the right kind. It's simple a great longing for something you want but don't yet have.  The problem in Corinth was they cared about the wrong things and were apathetic about things they should have cared about. Desire is a God given human emotion. Like a great many things, it can be good or bad, depending on the object of your desire. Deuteronomy 5:21 says, “Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour's wife…or any thing that is thy neighbour's.” Craving something you have no lawful right to is wicked. Desiring your neighbor's wife is sinful, but, desiring your own wife is godly, “I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me,” Song of Solomon 7:10. Or, desiring a wife when you don't have one is godly, but, if you desire the wrong kind of woman, that's going to lead you to trouble (see Proverbs and the life of Solomon). Young Christian man, it’s good to desire to marry a godly woman, one who will love you, love the Lord, and not lead your heart away from Christ. It’s a sign of the last times that false teacher tell young men not to desire a wife (1 Timothy 4:1-3).

Desiring a spiritual gift or office you don’t have is not sinful, “This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work,” 1 Timothy 3:1. The desire to serve the Lord is good, but desiring something that you have no right or authority for is bad. Just because you want to be a pastor doesn't mean you ought to be one. But, if you don't want to be one, you certainly shouldn't -- there needs to be desire so you can serve, not out of constraint, but willingly (1 Peter 5:2).

Deuteronomy 7:25, “The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it is an abomination to the LORD thy God.”  Desiring false worship, idols, and the money from wickedness is a sinful longing. Beware the snare of the desire of fame, fortune, and worldliness, even if it is just “internet famous”. Many abandon the faith for the love of money, prestige, and a nice building. However, desiring God is good. Psalms 73:25, “Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.” Having desire for lawful things is a godly desire (Psalms 10:17, Isaiah 26:8, Psalm 38:9, Proverbs 11:23, Mark 11:24). When God gives repentance, he brings a right order of our desires. Being controlled by your emotions is wrong but not having any emotions is wrong. Falling apart at the drop of a hat is wrong and not caring that everything is falling apart is wrong. We must rule our desires for God's glory.

What do you desire and why? Have you ever stopped and asked yourself, if what you long for is good? Have you ever read the Bible and seen that men and women in the Bible loved things that you don't love, or loved them more than you? We are all in different seasons of our lives, and things change, I know that, but desire for God shouldn't change. Our ministry to the Lord will change but our love for God and his glory should grow, not diminish. So when a church acts, when a church deals with issues, when a church proclaims the gospel, what is our motivation? Do we do, for God's glory or ours? For a desire for God or our own desires? Does your godly longing include the desire to see the lost saved (Romans 10:1)? The desire for spiritual gifts  (1 Corinthians 14:1)? Or the desire for courage and perseverance (Ephesians 3:13)? Desire for knowledge and understanding (Colossians 1:9)? Desire the Bible (1 Peter 2:2)? Once our desires are ordered, that transitions to action. And a vehement desire yields a burning zeal. Zeal will get you in trouble.

Zeal is a passionate enthusiasm in the pursuit of something (1 Corinthians 7:11).  Zeal can be either good or bad, it just depends on what you are passionate about and how you pursue it. Maybe the best example of how that works is Saul of Tarsus. He was a zealous man. He was passionate in what he believed and pursued his goal with full force. Early in life, he was zealous in his Judaism to the point he persecuted anyone who disagreed (Philippians 3:6). Then, he met the Lord Jesus and was born again. After he was saved, Paul mellowed out and realized being balanced and moderate was the best way to win the culture for Christ. Just kidding. Paul was more zealous as a preacher of the gospel than he was as a hit man for the Pharisees. Christ didn’t take away his zeal, he sanctified it and used it in the right way for the right reasons. Paul's zeal was guided by Christ, and for Christ. And it got him in trouble, just with a different group of people. The apostles could have quietly worshiped Jesus in their homes, as long as they didn't mention the name of Jesus publically. But how could they not tell about what they saw and heard? Their zeal for something good got them in trouble (Acts 4:17-20).

Zeal can be thought of as a fire, it can be good or bad. Fire can keep you warm and cook your food, but out of control and undirected, it can also burn down a forest. Wild, out of control passion without guidance and direction is dangerous. Passionate enthusiasm isn't always a good thing. Years back, I was down south on a trip and enthusiastically making my way back home on the interstate. I made a quick pit stop and got back on the road. An hour later, I realized I  was driving the wrong direction. My zeal for getting home didn't change the fact I was going the wrong way.

In John 2:13-17,  Jesus was righteously angry at the wicked men dishonoring his Father’s House. They turned a house of prayer into a den of thieves. His love and desire for the glory of His father and his indignation at this wanton sinfulness is displayed in his zeal by crafting a whip and running out the money changers. Jesus didn’t lose his cool. He wasn’t controlled by his emotions, but a true human man could not stand by idly and watch this wickedness without being zealous for the cause of God.  Isaiah 9:7, “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will.” The opposite of fanaticism isn't stoicism. Christian, you need to be zealous for the glory of God.

Zeal is a gift of the Holy Spirit. The answer to bad zeal is not to be a moderate and season our speech with anodyne musings. Sometimes "balance" in the Christian life is a euphemism for luke-warm. Other times, having balance means everyone around you is wrong in every direction. When God blesses with repentance, he blesses with zeal, a gift of the Spirit, a characteristic of repentance, and an attribute of revival. If we rightly order our desires by the Bible, and then are passionate to see those desires carried out, then we are righteously zealous. Galatians 4:17-18, “They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them. But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you.” Make sure those you listen to affect you well.  I’ve been fired up by the wrong people for the wrong reasons and it never ends well for me. A zealous man is powerful and will stir people up. But a zealous man isn't always a right man. Just because a person can get you roused, doesn't make them good or right. What I need is zeal in serving the Lord, in all my life. Romans 12:11, “Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord.” Christians are not Jedi Warriors or Buddhist monks. We are called to be fervent and passionate people in all we do, and not put on a show of stoic indifference. If I'm fervent at work, for the glory of myself then I'm wrong, but, if I am fervent in serving the Lord, I'll do my job for the right reason. I won't put work above Christ. I won't value reputation above my Lord. I won't put work before my family. I won’t serve men, but I’ll do my job as a servant of Christ.

God saves us to be zealous. Anything we do, we ought to do for God’s glory, and I believe that should be done will all our heart. Christians must have zeal in good works. Titus 2:14, “Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” God didn’t save you because of your good works, but he certainly saved you to do good works. God’s people shouldn’t have to be whipped and driven to do good, but we should be zealous of good works because the Lord of glory died for us and saved us, and made us his own.

What are we zealous about? Do you care about the things of God? Do you support the church with your tithes? Do you attend the services?  Do you spread the gospel of Jesus Christ? Do you pray for the membership? Do you pray for the preaching service? Do you labor to help others? Do you meditate on your spiritual gifts and seek to improve them?

Scripture is the best test to see if your desires are in the right place and if you are righteously zealous about the right things. Maybe another test, though fallible, would be, are the right people calling you an extremist and a fanatic? Having zeal is going to get you in trouble. If you have the wrong kind of zeal, you are going to sin against the Lord, and that won't bode well for you. If you have the right kind of zeal, that’s going to get you in trouble with the world. A good zeal is going to make the right people angry. I’m not a contrarian and I don’t like to fight with people. But sometimes, that’s to my detriment. The Lord didn’t call me to a life of tranquility in this world. Peace I have because peace He gave me. But I don’t have peace in this world and I won’t have peace with the enemies of the truth and the enemies of my king. A zealous Christian is going to make the right people nervous and the right people angry. And that’s what we want, for the glory of Christ.

Revelation 3:19  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

Read a book that does something

You ought to read your Bible every day because of what the Bible is able to do. 2 Timothy 3:15-17,  And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.  The Scriptures are able to make one wise unto salvation. I think a few minutes a day reading about the wisdom of God, the hidden mysteries of eternal redemption, and the way of eternal life is time well spent.

What about the Old Testament? All those stories and histories and genealogies and complicated names, why should you read them? The Scriptures Timothy learned were the Old Testament Scriptures! The Old Testament is just as truly the Word of God as the New. They were written for your examples (1 Corinthians 10:11), they were written for our time (1 Peter 1:11-12), and they were written to testify of Jesus (Luke 24:27).

The Scriptures Timothy read had real power. No other book has the power the Bible has. Life changing power. Soul changing power. Holy Spirit, effectual power. Paul reminded Timothy of the Scriptures power in his own life. There is often great debate about which works of literature belong in the list of great works. But only time will tell what future generations will hold as important and those works that will last. But in the Word of God, we have a book that has been tried and tested for millenia, and one you ought to read.

Comfort when no one pays attention

Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body. When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said. (John 2:19-22)

Commenting on verse 22, J.C. Ryle wrote,

"We see, for another thing, in this passage, how men may remember words of religious truth long after they are spoken, and may one day see a meaning in those who at first they did not see. 

We are told that our Lord said to the Jews, "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up." John informs us distinctly that "He spoke of the temple of His body," that he referred to His own resurrection. Yet the meaning of the sentence was not understood by our Lord's disciples at the time that it was spoken. It was not until "He was risen from the dead," three years after the events here described, that the full significance of the sentence flashed on their hearts. For three years it was a dark and useless saying to them. For three years it lay sleeping in their minds, like a seed in a tomb, and bore no fruit. But at the end of that time the darkness passed away. They saw the application of their Master's words, and as they saw it were confirmed in their faith. "They remembered that He had said this," and as they remembered "they believed." 

It is a comfortable and cheering thought, that the same kind of thing that happened to the disciples is often going on at the present day. The sermons that are preached to apparently heedless ears in churches, are not all lost and thrown away. The instruction that is given in schools and pastoral visits, is not all wasted and forgotten. The texts that are taught by parents to children are not all taught in vain. There is often a resurrection of sermons, and texts, and instruction, after an interval of many years. The good seed sometimes springs up after he that sowed it has been long dead and gone. Let preachers go on preaching, and teachers go on teaching, and parents go on training up children in the way they should go. Let them sow the good seed of Bible truth in faith and patience. Their labor is not in vain in the Lord. Their words are remembered far more than they think, and will yet spring up "after many days." (1 Cor. 15:58; Eccles. 11:1.)"

Preaching without brakes, metaphorically speaking

J.C. Ryle's closing comments on Jesus turning the water into wine.

"I cannot close the note on this wonderful miracle without saying something about the allegorical and typical meanings assigned to it by the Fathers and many other commentators. Many see in the miracle an allegorical history of the introduction of the Gospel into the world. Like the marriage feast, the Gospel was an occasion of joy. As at the marriage feast, the personal presence of Jesus was the great feature of the Gospel.  The times of the Jewish dispensation were times of deficiency and dim light. The coming of Christ supplied all that was lacking. Revealed religion before Christ was like water. Christ coming into the world turned the water of the old dispensation into wine. The good wine was reserved until the time of Christ. The first miracle wrought by Moses was turning water into blood. The first wrought by Christ was turning water into wine.  

These are undoubtedly pious thoughts and full of truth. I should be sorry to speak harshly of them, or to pronounce decidedly that they may not be legitimately deduced from the miracle. I only venture the remark that it is far wiser to abstain from allegorical interpretations as a general rule, and to be content with the plain meaning which appears on the surface of Scripture. Once begin allegorizing Scripture, you never know where you are to stop. You may prove anything and find anything in the Bible upon the allegorical system, and at last throw open the floodgate to a torrent of wild fanaticism. 

The allegorical lessons drawn from this miracle by Augustine, Bernard, and Alcuin, are striking examples of the extremes into which allegory may run.  When such a man as Augustine, for instance, tells us that the two or three firkins mean the two races of men, Jews and Greeks, or the three sons of Noah,--or when he says that the six waterpots in the miracle before us denote six successive prophetical periods in the days between Adam and Christ, one cannot but feel that there is something wrong. These are his words: “The six waterpots, containing two or three firkins apiece, are six ages, containing the prophecy belonging to all nations, whether as referred to two kinds of men, Jews and Gentiles, as the apostle often says, or to three, on account of the three sons of Noah.” The system of interpreting Scripture which can lead a good man into such assertions as this must surely be a dangerous two-edged weapon, and likely to do more harm than good. 

That all our Lord’s miracles were deeply significant, I do not deny. That all were intended to convey deep spiritual lessons, beside supplying proofs of His divinity, I make no question. All I maintain is that they require reverent and delicate handling, and that to rush hastily into allegorical interpretations of them and invest every minute portion of them with a figurative meaning, is an unwise mode of handling Scripture, and eminently calculated to bring the Bible into contempt."

Allegorical interpretations can be like potato chips, once you start, you can't stop. Were there 6 water pots at the wedding in John 2 because 6 is the number of man, the mark of the beast, and represented the emptiness of Judaism and will worship? Where the pots made of stone because the deadness of their religion and the hardness of their hearts? Or, because there were a lot of people at the marriage feast and they needed a lot of pots, and what else will you make a large pot out of? Did John make a point to tell us the number for a spiritual application or to give us the historical details, showing us this miracle couldn't have been a hoax?

This is something all Christians need to wrestle with. We should all be meditating on the Scriptures, and feeding our souls on Christ and His Word. I don't want to misinterpret the Scripture or have the Bible to be a text book. I quoted Ryle at length because I appreciate his spirit when he said, "I should be sorry to speak harshly of them, or to pronounce decidedly that they may not be legitimately deduced from the miracle." Certainly there are applications and good thoughts that can be drawn from the life of our Lord. For example, the main point of the passage in John 2 was not to show us how to obey by the servants example of hearing and obeying, but no doubt, there is a lesson there we can meditate on and drawn application from that text, and there is much truth to their example. It is neither untrue, nor out of place to draw out that application from the text. The disciples themselves may have thought through these very issues while the servants obeyed. Yet, I highly doubt they considered the mark of the beast. After it was all said and done, we read Jesus, "manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him," which I think is the main point. Who else but the Son of God could change the chemical compound of water into wine by the sheer power of His sovereign will?

Some  think God can only do one thing at a time with His Word and have gotten the idea that a passage of Scripture can only mean one thing. It cannot have contrary meanings, but is most certainly may teach us and show us many more things than just the main point. A quick survey of the apostles use of drawing application out of the text shows this to be a valid form of interpretation. Was Moses thinking about pastors in a church that was a few millennia from its existence when he said not to muzzle the ox when he treadeth out corn? I doubt it (Deuteronomy 25:4, 1 Timothy 5:18). But does that text have spiritual application? Paul thought so. So did Peter, when he said Christ is our example in living in a wicked world (1 Peter 2:21). Christ is most assuredly more than an example, but he is our example. There is a difference between allegorical interpretation and drawing spiritual application. Yet, there is danger going too far with both.

What's the difference between application and allegory? The both are relying on truth (hopefully) from other places in Scripture. But application says, "Just as ..." and allegory says, "This means..." The application draws inferences from the text while the allegory tries to explain the meaning. So while the main point was not about marriage, we can see many inferences about marriage from this text, based on other passages. But to say the water pots represent, assigns a meaning to the passage and puts words in John's mouth, that probably were not there.

But, while some allegorical interpreters may teach truth from this passage, I don't think they are teaching the truth of the passage. A.W. Pink, for a time, was well anchored in his systematic theology and his fanciful interpretations were well moored. But, as he isolated himself from believers and stopped serving Christ in his church, his allegorical views outstripped his systematics and he became an amillennialist. He wasn't grounded by what the Scripture said, but what he saw in the Scriptures, even though his ministry was primarily verse by verse exposition. I highly recommend his biography, if nothing else, to track the trajectory of his spiritual life with his writings. No doubt, this is a very fine line and there are needed distinctions to draw. Even those who take a strict, one-meaning policy concerning the Scripture are guided by their systematic theology. If I know what I believe, I can probably see more things in the Scripture that confirm what I believe. Which can be looking at things backwards.

We need to use every tool in our disposal, pray as we study, be humble as we read and interpret, be rooted in serving in the local church, and worshiping with the local church, and read with firm reliance on the Holy Spirit. And be thankful for God's grace and patience as we come to His word to feed our souls, that He is long-suffering with us as we attempt to rightly divide the Scriptures.

You Can Read Your Bible

Last week, I encouraged you to read the Bible everyday in 2020. Hopefully you took my charge, but if you didn't, then I'm going to charge you to start today. And, Lord willing, I'm going to keep on encouraging you every Monday this year. My plan is to offer a brief encouragement each week for daily Bible reading.

It says in  2 Timothy 3:15, "And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures" and what I want you to keep in mind is that's possible for you to read the Bible and know the Scriptures. Don't let the size of the book and the profundity of the content keep you from the fact that you can know the Scriptures. Timothy knew the holy scriptures from a child and he was taught by his mother and grandmother. 

 It doesn’t matter how old or how young you are, the Bible can be read and it can be known. What other book can offer such deep matter that the best minds in all of history have given themselves to the study of this book, and "a child can know the holy Scriptures." There is no other book on Earth that is accessible to children but profound beyond all measure to the greatest minds. There is no other book on Earth that can literally provide a lifelong pursuit of his wisdom.  A book for Kings and children.

Read your Bible.

The Good Wine Last

Experct from Charles Spurgeon's sermon on John 2:9-10, The Feast of the Lord

John 2:9-10  When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,  And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.

'Why there are some of God's best beloved who have their names upon the breastplate of the great high priest, who are purchased with his blood, and are very dear to his soul, who have not known from their youth up what it is to get out of the depths of poverty. They have to live from hand to mouth, not knowing one day whence another meal shall come. How many more there are of God's people that are lying on beds of affliction. Some of the most precious of God's diamonds are lying on the dunghill of disease. Ye may go and climb to many a chamber where ye shall see the victims of all kinds of diseases, loathsome, protracted, and painful, and ye shall see God's dear ones languishing out a dying life. I might point you to others of God's servants, whose days are spent in toil. There is needed for the human body, and especially for the soul, a little rest and a little of the food of knowledge; but these have had so little instruction that they cannot get mental food ready for themselves; if they read they can scarce understand, and they have hard bondage in this life, which maketh their life bitter and hindereth them from knowledge. They have to work from morning to night, with scarce a moment's rest. Oh, beloved, will it not be true of them, when death shall give them their discharge, when they shall leave this world, which has been to them, with an emphasis, a vale of tears? Will not they have to say: "Thou hast kept the good wine until now?" Oh, what a change for her who has come limping along these many Sabbath days to the sanctuary! for there, she shall go no more up to the Lord's house limping and lame, but the "lame man shall leap like the hart," and like Miriam, she shall dance with the daughters of Israel. Ah, ye may have had to suffer sickness and sorrow and pain, blindness and deafness, and a thousand of this world's ills: what a change for you, when you find them all gone! No racking pains, no pining want, no anxious care. Ye shall not have to cry for the sunlight to penetrate your abodes, or weep because your sight is failing through incessant labour with that murderous needle; but ye shall see the light of God, brighter than the light of the sun, and ye shall rejoice in the beams that proceed from his countenance. Ye shall have no more infirmities; immortality shall have covered and swallowed them up; that which was sown in weakness shall be raised in power; that which was sown disordered, full of pain and sorrow, and disjointed and full of agony, shall be raised full of delectable delights, no wore capable of anguish, but quivering with joy and bliss unspeakable. Ye shall no more be poor; ye shall be rich, richer than the miser's dream. Ye shall no more have to labour; there shall ye rest upon your beds, each one of you walking in your uprightness. Ye shall no more suffer from neglect and scorn and ignominy and persecution; ye shall be glorified with Christ, in the day when he shall come to be admired of them that love him. What a change for such! The best wine indeed is kept to the last, in their case, for they have never had any good wine here, to the eyes of men, though secretly they have had many a drink from the bottle of Jesus. He has often put his cordial cup to their lips. They have been like the ewe lamb that belonged to the man in Nathan's parable: they have drunk out of Christ's own cup on the earth, but still even sweeter than that cup shall he the draught which they shall receive at the last."