Rightly Dividing the Word

Today’s talk is not going to be a sermon. This is a little ironic, considering that it is about the need for sermons in the Church. Today’s talk is going to be more of a Bible study which, during the course of my talk, is going to be distinguished from a sermon, and from an evangelical study.

First, let’s look at a definition. We don’t need to look up “Bible study” because we know what that is from the commonly-used words Bible and study. And further, that term itself can mean a number of different things based upon its intent.

But what about a sermon? The dictionary gives this as the primary definition, and the one relevant to our discussion: “A discourse for the purpose of religious instruction or exhortation, esp. one based on a text of Scripture and delivered by a member of the clergy as part of a religious service.” And since we are defining our terms, and since this one is commonly used in religious discussions, let’s find the definition for “exhortation.” This is given as, believe it or not, “the act or process of exhorting.” But fortunately, the follow-up definition, the second in the list, is a little more helpful: “an utterance, discourse, or address conveying urgent advice or recommendations.”

Now if we combine those two definitions, we have basically everything I want to say this morning, but the rest of the study is to distinguish that from other forms of discourse, and then to emphasize why exactly this distinction is important.

When we put those two dictionary terms together we get this concept of a sermon: It is a discourse or presentation given during a religious service for the purpose of conveying urgent advice or recommendations.

Now a Bible study may be given during a religious service, or it may be given in a more casual setting. And while the non-sermon I am giving this morning is designed to indicate the need for true “sermons” during our religious services, this is not to say that Bible study is not important either. In fact, the name of this talk, “Rightly Diving the Word,” comes from a verse that discusses Bible study. We read:

2Tim 2:15

I have pointed out in other studies that the word there for “study” is a more general term, which means to “work hard,” to put effort into the Christian life. But… clearly actually studying the Scriptures is an element of that. If we read verse 14:

2Tim 2:14

It talks of bringing the things God has spoken to our remembrance, and Bible study is one of the means by which this is done. We read in another place:

Mat 10:18-20

Some might take that to mean, “Don’t study to learn the truth, because once you accept it, you will have the right words.” That can be used to encourage spiritual laziness… but there are a few things to consider. First, how would one have courage to stand and speak at all without this very passage, or at least the concept that it presents? Second, how can we accept the truth unless we know what it is? As it’s written:

Rom 10:14

And remember, of course, that in those days they did not have a collected New Testament, just as it says in Revelation, “blessed is he that reads (implying “reads aloud”) and those that hear,” because not everyone had their own copy of the letter, so one would read it, and the others hear. But now it might just as well be said, “And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not read?” If the Spirit is to bring something to our minds, it must first be in there, for while it is true the Spirit is a teacher, It is not designed to do the work for us that we can do ourselves. This is why Timothy is instructed by Paul to “study” or “work hard,” and not to “rely on the spirit, that ye need not be ashamed.” There is a part we are called to do, that the Spirit may work in us effectively and without using force. We have spoken of this numerous times before... there are times when Yahweh must do a “strange act” and directly intervene in human history, sometimes forcefully, but the work of the Spirit within us is not forceful. We read of Elijah’s meeting with Yahweh, how the Spirit was not in the whirlwind, or the fire, or the earthquake, but the still, small voice. This is how Yah speaks to His friends, those who are one with Him, and no force is necessary.

So Bible study is important for a number of reasons, and in fact I think I cover several benefits of Bible study in one of the Highway of Holiness baptismal study books. Sometimes it is appropriate, if we want to remind ourselves of the promises of Yahweh. Sometimes it is appropriate if we are seeking information for ourselves. But it is not usually considered something designed for conveying information “urgently.”

There are also evangelical type studies. These are similar to Bible studies in that they are designed to convey information, but in general the motive and some of the details are different. In an evangelical study, the one who gives the study is – or at least should be – fairly versed in the material and confident about the information being presented. And the audience is one who the speaker is trying to convince of something.

As you might imagine, the dynamic is often very different than a mutual Bible study, and certainly a personal study. We have many verses that speak about preaching the word to others, and sometimes this can take the form of sermon. We’ve used Peter’s sermon in Acts 2 as a template for many of our studies, and there is definitely a sense of urgency involved in his attempt to convince the Jews to accept the risen Savior.

But what about during religious services? The term “services” implies something organized, something planned, and with people who attend regularly. What kind of presentation is appropriate for them? Clearly, you are not going to have an evangelical-type meeting. The people are already there. It’s always a possibility, naturally, that there may be a visitor in the congregation, and there have been times when all of us, knowing this, have chosen a topic that introduces some key aspect of our faith, rather than going into anything detailed. Or, even if we have not changed the topic, have inserted some explanatory statements if we are doing a talk about something best known to those who have been studying with us for a while.

But even there, with some evangelical elements, a sermon should be a sermon in the sense of that definition we saw earlier: “for the purpose of conveying urgent advice or recommendations.” We believe that we are in a time of judgment, a time of stern testing, not because Yahweh is trying to be “strict” with us, but that the time is drawing nearer when the children of Yah are to be introduced into a new, pure, and completely holy society. And the environment from which we are being drawn is the most wicked in human history. Some will say, “There have always been murders, thefts, adulteries, and other forms of wickedness. Every generation thinks that it is living in the worst of times.” And yes, those statements are all true, but this generation has something new. While murder, theft and adultery may not be new, this is the first generation in which “decent” people (and I put the term decent in quotes) find such activities tolerable, sometimes even acceptable.

Wicked people have always been wicked; this is why sin and crime have existed in humanity since the fall. But there was always a line drawn, a very sharply defined line, between the righteous and the unrighteous. But Paul says something in his epistles that shows how Satan has blurred that line very effectively. He writes, speaking of the wicked and rebellious:

Rom 1:28-32

And in another place:

Phil 4:8

The Scriptures talk about the “imagination” being darkened, and it is because even the members of normal society, even “regular” people, take pleasure in wicked things as never before. In the media, in the daily life, society accepts, and even approves, a far greater degree of sinful behavior than at any time in human history. Even if they do not commit such acts themselves, they find nobility, virtue, entertainment, in them, and are not seeking for anything greater than self-gratification in the vast majority of cases.

If there was ever a time for “sermons” directed at the people of Yahweh, it is now. And sermons need not be long. I think, in early Adventist writings, it was advised that sermons be about 30 minutes long. Anything longer than that and you’re really just giving data, information… which might be good for a study, but it then becomes less of a sermon, less urgent in its impact.

The sermon of a CSDA, of a Christian, must be one that stirs the heart, or it is not the message that Yahweh has given to the Church by the hand of His servant. This is a rather strong statement, but this is how things must be during the judgment of the living. Christ is returning very soon, and we read:

Isa 62:11

The Scriptures says that for some men, their sins go before them to judgment. This is the time we are living in now, one of identifying sins and sending them ahead to judgment so that when we stand before the Father, the Son will have His hand over us and say, “Receive them in my name, for they have overcome, even as I have overcome.” But for us to overcome as Christ overcame, we must stand in the place that Christ stood… and where He stood by nature, we must stand by our new nature. And this, in this generation particularly, involves the community of the saints. It is to this community we are invited, and enter it formally by baptism. It is in this community that sanctification takes place, a “becoming holy” without which, Paul says in Hebrews12:14, none of us will see the Father.

We need the urgency of the last days, and the reminders of it, as the Word tells us:

Heb 10:25

I can think of no better avenue for this, at least not in a formal setting, than the sermon. Let there be sermons, brief if possible, but always and necessarily urgent in their content, for the sake of the children of Yah.

David.