Here are 7 things I have learned about God’s Word after 37 years of Pastoral Ministry

Sometimes you will hear it said, “What does this Scripture mean to you?”  

That’s the wrong question, it’s better to ask, “What does this Scripture mean?”  

It’s NOT what you think the Scripture means – it means what God says it means and that’s the KEY question that needs to be answered by the Bible Teacher/Preacher.  

When we are teaching and preaching the Word of God, we must NEVER, EVER, EVER use the word “Story” - the Word of God is NOT a story, it is TRUTH. 

(Santa Clause is a story)  

1/ Some of the Scriptures are hard to understand.  

2 Peter 3: 16a says that some of the Apostle Paul’s teachings are ‘hard to understand’.  

2/ It’s much better not to say anything about the meaning of a Scripture that you don’t understand than say something about it and distort its meaning.  

2 Peter 3: 16b ‘those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with other parts of Scripture. And this will result in their destruction.’  

(Sometimes though, we make an accidental ‘slip of the tongue’ that we can go back and correct. For example: In one of my previous Main Messages, I made an accidental ‘slip of the tongue’; referring to Revelation 21: 2, I said that to understand the Book of Revelation we must first interpret it in the Apocryphal genre that it was written in. That was a ‘slip of the tongue’. The Book of Revelation is not Apocryphal genre, it is Apocalyptic genre, like parts of the Books of Daniel, Ezekiel and Zechariah.)  

3/ Take the ‘plain’ meaning of the Scripture first.  

For example, John 2: 12 ‘His mother, His brothers’  

Matthew 13: 55-56a ‘we know Mary, His mother, and His brothers—James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas. All His sisters live right here among us’.  

The ‘plain’ meaning of these Scriptures is that Mary was Jesus’ mother and that Jesus had 4 brothers and several sisters.   

But some distort the meaning of this Scripture by saying that Mary only had One Child, that is Jesus, and that Joseph had a second wife who was also called Mary who gave birth to Jesus' 4 half-brothers and several half-sisters. This distortion of the Scriptures is used by some to 'teach’ the sinless nature of Mary, which of course is not so.  

Then, interpret the passage according to the genre of the Book; is it Narrative history (O & NT), is it law, is it Poetic, is it Prophetic, is it an Epistle and is it Apocalyptic (O & NT). 

The Word of God needs to be interpreted using the principle ‘the Bible interprets the Bible’, for example parts of Ezekiel, Daniel, Zechariah and Revelation are Apocalyptic (O & NT) and use the same kind of symbolisms in their text. To understand Revelation, you need to apply the symbolism of Ezekiel, Daniel, Zechariah. HINT: Revelation is the fulfillment of Ezekiel, Daniel, and Zechariah. 

4/ Do some research about the meaning of the Scripture using, not Google, but reliable Bible Dictionaries, Commentaries and other Study Resources.   

2 Timothy 2: 15 ‘Study to show yourself approved by God, a workman who need not be ashamed, teaching the message of truth accurately.’ MEV & NET  

5/ Ask trusted ministry leaders about the meaning of the Scripture.  

Ephesians 4: 11-12 ‘Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do His work and build up the church, the body of Christ.’  

6/ Pray and ask the Lord to help you understand the meaning of the Scripture.  

John 14: 17 'the Holy Spirit, (who) leads into all truth.’  

7/ Wait until the Lord shows you the meaning of the Scripture.  

Cornelius said to the Apostle Peter, Acts 10: 33 ‘we are all here, waiting before God to hear the message the Lord has given you.’  

The Lord has a reason to make us wait - He is teaching us that it is His Word not ours and it is not for us to impose our meaning upon His Word! 

Our life-long calling as Pastors and Elders is to answer the Question “What does this Scripture mean?” as we teach and preach the Word of God to His people!