THE OFFENCE OF THE BIBLE

Transcription

1 THE OFFENCE OF THE BIBLE I. The doctrine of Christ, which is the doctrine of the Bible, offends people (MAT 13:57; 15:12; JOH 6:61; ROM 9:32-33; 1PE 2:7-8). A. offence - 1. In Biblical use: Striking the foot against; stumbling. 2. A stumblingblock; a cause of spiritual or moral stumbling; an occasion of unbelief, doubt, or apostasy. 3. The action of attacking or assailing; attack, assault. 4. Hurt, harm, injury, damage. 5. The act or fact of offending, wounding the feelings of, or displeasing another; usually viewed as it affects the person offended. B. In the above verses the verb offend translates the Greek word skandalizo and the noun offence translates the Greek word skandalon. 1. skandalizo - to entrap, i.e. trip up (fig. stumble or entice to sin, apostasy or displeasure): (make to) offend. 2. skandalon - a trap-stick, i.e. snare (fig. cause of displeasure or sin): occasion to fall (of stumbling), offence, thing that offends, stumblingblock. C. It stands to reason that man would be offended by the revelation of God since fallen man is at enmity against God (ROM 5:10; 8:6-7). 1. This enmity expresses itself in all that man does, even religiously (COL 1:21). 2. God's word attacks us by exposing us for what we are and pronouncing God's verdict against us and our works. II. The word of God is to be preached boldly, even though men are offended at it (JOH 7:26; ACT 9:27-29; 14:1-3; EPH 6:19-20). III. A. boldly - Courageously, daringly, fearlessly. B. The offence that men take to God's word calls for boldness in the preacher, rather than intimidation (ACT 13:44-46; JER 1:17-19; EZE 3:7-11). There are things in the Bible which those of overrefined taste or those who live in a dreamworld would find offensive. A. DEU 23:1-19 is quite explicit in its mention of private parts of the body, discrimination against certain peoples, bodily functions, and illicit sexual activity. 1. This law was to be read every seven years in the hearing of men, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN (DEU 31:9-13). 2. Also, it was the law of Moses WHICH INCLUDES THIS CHAPTER that was read distinctly and expounded by primary meanings according to NEH 8:1-8. B. Scripture speaks of inflammations, hemorrhoids, scabs, itches (DEU 28:27), running issues such as a seminal or menstrual discharge (LEV 15), putrefying sores (ISA 1:6), stinking odours (PSA 38:5; ISA 3:24); vomit (PRO 25:16; 26:11; ISA 19:14), urine or piss, and feces or dung (1KI 14:10; 2KI 18:27).

2 IV. C. Does a human belly ever feel like fermenting wine giving off gas until it must be released? The answer is found in JOB 32: D. Do people ever have pains like labour pains and yet bring forth only wind? The answer is found in ISA 26: E. Scripture graphically describes the human sex act (JOB 31:9-10; Song of Solomon; EZE 16:25; 23:3). F. The Bible curses and even exhorts men to curse under certain circumstances (DEU 27:11-26; JDG 5:23; JER 48:10; ROM 3:8; 14:23; GAL 1:8-9; 2PE 2:1). G. The characters of the Bible were men of LIKE PASSIONS as we are (ACT 14:15; JAM 5:17). 1. passion - The suffering of pain. Any kind of feeling by which the mind is powerfully affected or moved. 2. These people had the same grunts and gripes as we. H. The Bible does not gloss over the sins, failures, and problems of God's people. 1. Moses got mad, shot off at the mouth, and disobeyed God (NUM 20:7-12; PSA 106:32-33). 2. Abraham and Lot had a parting of the ways (GEN 13:5-9). 3. Job spoke when he should have kept his mouth shut (JOB 42:3). 4. David committed adultery and murder (2SA 11). 5. Solomon lapsed into idolatry (1KI 11:1-6; NEH 13:26). 6. Paul and Barnabas had a falling out (ACT 15:36-40). 7. The Corinthian church of saints was beset with numerous problems (1CO). 8. COL 3:13 assumes we will have things to put up with and to forgive in one another. I. Face it! These things are life in this world. J. The God Who knows what we are has exposed us for what we are. K. Although the Bible indeed describes impure things, its description of those things is pure (PRO 30:5). L. "If any man speak, let him speak AS the oracles of God" (1PE 4:11). 1. If you can't handle the exposition of God's word AS GOD DELIVERED IT, it is YOU that needs to change and not your preacher! 2. If your refinement is above that of the word of God, which is VERY pure (PSA 119:140), then you are overrefined (ECC 7:16). Consider the following elements in Bible preaching as expressed in these passages: 1TI 5:20; 2TI 4:2; TIT 1:13; 2:15. The Offence of the Bible - Page 2

3 A. rebuke - To beat down or force back; to repress or check (a person); to repulse; to reprove, reprimand, chide severely. B. reprove - To reject; to express disapproval of (conduct, actions, beliefs, etc.); to censure, condemn; to reprehend, rebuke, blame, chide, or find fault with (a person). C. chide - To give loud or impassioned utterance to anger, displeasure, disapprobation, reproof (ISA 58:1). D. sharply - Of speech, rebuke, command: sternly, severely, harshly; in cutting terms; in stern or angry tones. E. By definition, Bible preaching at times will be repulsive, condemnatory, harsh, and cutting (sarcastic). F. JER 23:29 Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? V. Tough preaching leaves no room for compromise; it forces the hearer to one of two reactions. VI. A. It convicts the hearer and brings him to repentance thus manifesting that he is of God (JOH 8:47; ACT 2:37; TIT 1:13). B. Or it exposes the hearer to be stupid and drives him into an obvious position of rebellion against God (PRO 12:1; 13:1; ACT 7:51-58). God condemns unbecomingly delicate and overrefined religion. A. The effeminate do not inherit the kingdom of God (1CO 6:9-10). 1. effeminate - Of persons: That has become like a woman: Womanish, unmanly, enervated, feeble; self-indulgent, voluptuous; unbecomingly delicate or over-refined. 2. Consider how many churches are controlled by women and have wimps for preachers. 3. Is it any wonder that many men are turned off by religion? B. Watch out for sweet, smooth, elegant preachers (PSA 55:21; ISA 30:9-10; ROM 16:17-18). C. Paul was rude in speech, but not in knowledge (2CO 11:6). VII. Paul prophesied "the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine" (2TI 4:3). A. The Greek word for "endure" is "anechomai" and is also translated "suffer" (MAT 17:17; 1CO 4:12) and "forbearing" (COL 3:13). B. Note the same word in both Greek and English in 2TH 1:4 referring to bearing persecution and tribulation. C. There is obviously something painful and hard about the word of God that calls for endurance. The Offence of the Bible - Page 3

4 D. HEB 13:22 And I beseech you, brethren, suffer (anechomai) the word of exhortation: for I have written a letter unto you in few words. VIII. How does harsh, offensive preaching reconcile with the instruction "that a servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle" (2TI 2:24-26)? A. There is a sense in which ministers strive (COL 1:28-29; 2TI 2:14). B. Ministers strive to subvert their hearers by bringing them to the obedience to Christ (2CO 10:3-5). C. 2TI 2:24 connects with the foregoing verse and points out that the primary objective of teaching is NOT to argue. 1. Foolish questions are questions that befit a fool. a. Fools despise wisdom and instruction (PRO 1:7; 18:2). b. Fools love to argue (PRO 18:6). c. Therefore, foolish questions are questions that do not promote learning but rather breed arguments. 2. Unlearned questions deal with issues that either the inquirer knows nothing about, or the one being asked knows nothing about, or both know nothing about. a. Such questions deal only with opinions rather than facts. b. Since everyone thinks his opinion is best, strife ensues. D. A minister is not to strive in the sense of just having an argument with a hearer and trying to save his ego by winning the argument. E. We are rather to confront souls with the TRUTH with the objective that they may be recovered from Satan's snare. F. Any argument should be with the truth or within the hearer himself, not with the person presenting the truth. G. gentle - Of persons: Well-born, belonging to a family of position; having the character appropriate to one of good birth; noble, generous, courteous. 1. The servant of the Lord is to BE gentle, even though he may have to preach harshly. 2. 1TH 2:3-12 describes a gentle teacher of the word. a. Paul was seeking the good of his hearers, not his own personal gain. b. He showed the same concern as a nurse and a father for their children. c. A gentle parent will rebuke and chasten his children (PRO 3:11-12; 13:24). d. Paul's conduct was above reproach. The Offence of the Bible - Page 4

5 IX. 3. A preacher who preaches smooth, people-pleasing sermons in order to feather his own nest is NOT gentle! a. He is a ravening wolf in sheep's clothing (MAT 7:15). b. JOH 10:13 The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. c. False prophets through covetousness use "feigned words" and "great swelling words" to allure souls for advantage (2PE 2:3, 18; JUD 1:16). 4. The Lord Who drove the moneychangers out of the temple with a scourge and upbraided His disciples for their unbelief was gentle (JOH 2:13-17; MAR 16:14; 2CO 10:1). H. We should esteem the reproofs of the righteous as a kindness (PSA 141:5; PRO 27:6). I. Would you rather have tough preaching by a faithful man of God that leads to salvation, or smooth words from a self-serving whore that lead to destruction (TIT 1:13; PRO 5:3-5)? God takes things that we find in our experience to be vulgar and offensive and uses these things to describe His estimate of our ungodly works, including our ungodly religion. A. John the Baptist and Jesus Christ called the Pharisees a generation of vipers (MAT 3:7; 23:33). 1. A viper is a poisonous snake. 2. These religious people were dangerous. 3. These "upstanding" people conspired the death of God's Son. B. Paul counted his religion as a Pharisee as dung (PHI 3:4-8). 1. This was written to be read and expounded in church. 2. To grieve over the losses of one's unconverted state would be tantamount to grieving over dung flushed down the toilet. C. Paul referred to the Judaizers as dogs (PHI 3:2). 1. Consider how greedy and filthy dogs can be (ISA 56:11; PRO 26:11; LUK 16:21). 2. This description was no compliment! D. The church of Laodicea made Christ so sick He was going to spew (vomit) them out of His mouth (REV 3:14-16). E. Jehu turned the temple of Baal into a draught house (2KI 10:26-28). 1. A draught house is a privy or a toilet (MAR 7:18-19). 2. God commended Jehu for this (2KI 10:30). The Offence of the Bible - Page 5

6 F. God called the solemn feasts of the apostate Jews dung and said he would spread it upon their faces (MAL 2:3). G. Isaiah described the moral condition of Jerusalem in terms of a disgusting disease (ISA 1:5-6). H. Isaiah prophesied of the casting away of idols as a menstruous cloth (ISA 30:22). 1. These were idols made of precious substances. 2. We should esteem the idols of our past as foul as a menstruous cloth, no matter what their value may have been otherwise. I. EZE 23 vividly describes the idolatry of Israel in terms of filthy whoredom. 1. The abominations of idolatry are under consideration (vs ). 2. The men she was infatuated with would qualify for the pornographic models in Playgirl (v. 20). 3. If what is described here appeals to you as pornographic, you have gotten the message. This is how filthy paganism is! 4. God's judgment would be so severe that it would drive her to frightening selfabuse (v. 34). 5. From EZE 16:28-29 we learn that an illicit sexual appetite is insatiable. a. Such persons tend to become disillusioned with what they were formerly infatuated with (EZE 23:22). b. Pornographic models breed dissatisfaction with one's own body and/or the body of one's spouse. c. After Paul warned us against whoremongering and adultery, he exhorted us to contentment with what we have (HEB 13:4-5). 6. Learn from this lesson what God thinks of pagan adaptations to His worship (DEU 12:29-32). a. The reason advanced for not taking up pagan practices into God's religion is the hateful abominations they did to their gods. b. LEV 18 is a graphic account of the abominations of paganism. c. Christmas was derived from the Roman, pagan festival of Saturnalia, the birthday of the sun. (1) The religion that gave us Christmas was the religion of the empire that decreed the crucifixion of the Son of God! (2) How inconsistent that one of their feasts should be used to celebrate His birth! d. God will not have such filth mixed with His pure worship. X. The Bible warns against individuals and groups BY NAME (MAT 16:6; 2TI 2:16-18; 4:14- The Offence of the Bible - Page 6

7 XI. 15; TIT 1:12; 3JO 1:9-10; REV 2:6, 20). A. Some find this offensive because it offends people. B. Warnings against wrong must be specific as well as general. C. How can we mark and avoid those who cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine, if we don't identify them (ROM 16:17)? By means of such preaching a minister puts a difference between the holy and profane, the unclean and the clean (EZE 22:26; 44:23). A. Using cursing and vulgarity to describe that which the Bible pronounces cursed and vulgar is NOT profanity in the pulpit. B. Cursing an idol is not profanity, but worshipping an idol is! C. The false prophets of Jeremiah's day were charge with being profane (JER 23:9-22). 1. These prophets prophesied a soothing message of peace. 2. Such preaching did not turn the people from wickedness. 3. These caused the people "to err by their lies, AND BY THEIR LIGHTNESS" (JER 23:32). D. Unsound doctrine is profanity (1TI 4:7; 6:20; 2TI 2:16-18). XII. The doctrine of Jesus Christ and His cross is offensive (1CO 1:22-24). XIII. A. It is offensive to the unbeliever who seeks righteousness by works instead of trusting what Christ did (ROM 9:32-33). B. The idea that a butchered Jew rejected and despised by His own nation is the ONLY way of salvation is offensive to man's pride. C. Jesus Christ offended the Jews when He preached Himself as the only means of having eternal life (JOH 6:32-61). D. Men add works to the means of salvation in order to take away the offence of the cross (GAL 5:11; 6:12-15). E. Those who are offended at this doctrine only manifest themselves to be unbelieving and disobedient (1PE 2:6-8). The following verses present condition of those who are not offended at the word of God. A. PSA 119:165 Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them. B. MAT 11:6 And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. The Offence of the Bible - Page 7