Thru the Bible

Steve Schwetz: Welcome to Thru the Bible. I'm Steve Schwetz, and in just a moment, Dr. J. Vernon McGee continues our short series, "Guidelines for Understanding Scripture." But first, let's listen to his brief introduction to our message.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: I would like to preface our study today with a statement or two concerning the studies that we're having right now. All of this is a preface to the Thru the Bible radio program, beginning as we shall in a few days with the book of Genesis.

But in these guidelines, we are not attempting to give rules. We're giving great principles for the understanding of Scripture. I make a distinction between rules and guidelines or principles like this: rules are generally negative. "Keep off the grass." "Do not talk in school." You know, they're generally negative.

But guidelines are positive. They tell you what you are to do. And we're looking at those things that will help us in the understanding on the human plane of the word of God and be able to understand divine truth.

Steve Schwetz: Let's pray. Heavenly Father, would you focus our minds and then open our hearts to what your Spirit wants to teach us. We want to know you more fully, Lord. We want to love you more deeply as well, and live in faithful obedience to your word. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Here's Thru the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: I want to continue today our discussion relative to revelation, inspiration, illumination, and interpretation. I had not quite concluded talking about illumination last time, but I'd like to give you this statement of Bishop Pollock as we get underway today.

He says, "The Bible is a corridor between two eternities down which walks the Christ of God. His invisible steps echo through the Old Testament, but we meet him face to face in the throne room of the New. And it is through that Christ alone, crucified for me, that I have found forgiveness for sins and life eternal. The Old Testament is summed up in the word 'Christ,' the New Testament is summed up in the word 'Jesus,' and the summary of the whole Bible is that Jesus is the Christ." A statement by Bishop Pollock.

Now we were talking about illumination—the fact that the Spirit of God must take these words and make them real to us. The reading of the Bible can become almost profitless pastime, by the way. And it is a book, though, that will bless you even if you do not have the spiritual truth open to you.

Goethe said the mere ethical teaching of the Bible would alone stamp it as the greatest literary treasure of mankind. And may I say to you that that was one of the saddest things that took place when the Bible was taken away from the public school. Why, they took away the best production of literature, and then they flooded it with some of this dirty, filth-modern literature today. What hypocrites for men to say they didn't want the Bible taught to their children because it contained stories that might soil their mind.

Believe me, my friend, they're getting them soiled today in our schools, and in the name of freedom. And it's nothing in the world but dirt. Why is it that when we talk about freedom of speech, what we really mean is we want to talk dirty, and we want to look dirty, and we want to be dirty? That's freedom. Well, it is, because man is totally depraved, and when he's given freedom, that's the direction he wants to go.

It was John Milton who said, "There are no songs comparable to the songs of Zion, no orations equal to those of the prophets, and no politics like those which the Scripture teach." It's a wonderful book just to read. It was Webster who said, "If there be anything in my style or thoughts to be commended, the credit is due to my kind parents for instilling into my mind an early love of the Scriptures."

What about you today, Christian parent? Are you making a Daniel Webster in your home or a little hippie? You'll be making one or the other, I can assure you. And apparently, Webster thought it came about because his parents taught him the word of God.

May I say to you, the Spirit of God, though, will have to open your mind and heart if you're going to understand spiritual truth that's here. And Paul, writing to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians the second chapter, verse 13, "Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Spirit teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual."

And may I say to you that Paul says that the Spirit of God is our teacher. And that's one of the reasons that we have prayed that the Spirit of God would teach us on this program because, if he doesn't teach me and teach you, we're not going to get anywhere as far as the Bible is concerned. We're dealing with a supernatural book, if you please.

The Lord Jesus himself said, in John 6:63, "It's the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." A great man of the past made a statement concerning one of the greatest writers of the past and he says, "His words if you cut them would bleed."

Well, may I say to you, that's true of the word of God. And the Lord Jesus said, "The words I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life." And the Spirit of God can make it real to you. And in John 17, in his great high priestly prayer, in verse 18, he made this statement, "For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me." Not the thoughts—the words which thou gavest me. "And they have received them and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me."

It was back in Exodus 20, verse 1, where Moses wrote, "And God spake all these words, saying." It was God who did the speaking. That's what Moses wrote. It's very difficult today to reject the Bible without impugning it as an evil book.

Now notice what he said in John 3, verse 17 and 18, "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God."

In other words, may I put it very frankly to you? The Lord Jesus said that if you don't accept this word, you're condemned. If you accept it, you're saved. And that means that you've accepted and received him as the Savior of the world.

Now, I want to make just one or two other statements. You remember that when Simon Peter answered him after he had inquired of them, "What are men saying about me?" and they said everything. They still say that. You can get about as many answers today as as many people as you happen to ask. And therefore, there are many viewpoints of him.

But he said to Simon Peter, or he said to the apostles, and Simon Peter answered—and I think he answered for the others—"Whom do men say that I am?" and "Whom do you say that I am?" And he said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."

Now, you remember what our Lord said to him. He said to him, "Flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee, but my Father, which is in heaven." He's the one. And "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah." May I say to you, only God today can open up the word of God for us to really understand it.

And our Lord said the Father opened it for Simon Peter. And the Lord Jesus taught them and opened up their understanding before he left, but he said he was going to send the Holy Spirit, as we saw in Luke. "Wait for the promise," because he's the only one that can make this thing real.

And he had said to them yonder in the upper room, you will recall, in John 16, verses 7 through 11, "I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come." And he went on, "He'll take the things of mine and show them unto you."

And may I say, I leave this subject of illumination by saying only that the Spirit of God today can open your mind and heart to see and to accept Christ and to trust him as your Savior. How wonderful.

I have always felt as I enter the pulpit how helpless I am, because believe me, Vernon McGee can't convert anyone. And I feel just that way before this microphone right now. But I not only feel weak, but I also feel that I'm mighty—not mighty in myself, but that the Spirit of God today can move out yonder where you are, riding in your car, in your home doing housework, sitting down at a meal, or wherever you might be, in your place of business, wherever you might be right now.

The Spirit of God can take these dead words and make them real and living to you, incorporate them into your life, and give you an excitement and enthusiasm that only he can give today. Now, may I say that it's nice to take all the vitamin pills that you can today. My doctor keeps me loaded with them. But I want to say to you, my friend, the Spirit of God can give you something that vitamin pills can never give. Now, let's come to this fourth subject: interpretation.

I've already spoken of the versions, and I'd like to just add this to that also. I've had to move so speedily the other day and I forgot that we were going to be together here five years, so we have a little time to talk about these things.

The question often arises, what about the versions that we have today, the translations? Are they dependable? And what about the modern translations? Can we depend upon them? Now, I want to make this statement recognizing that it is a blanket statement and it's a generalization. And as the French proverb has it, all generalizations are untrue, including this one.

And therefore, the fact of the matter is I cannot recommend the modern translations. Now, I recognize that there are some good things in them. In fact, in most of them there is. Even one or two put out by the liberals today, it's excellent Greek in places. But I found out that today we are so divided doctrinally that every group that attempts to translate the Bible just naturally injects into his translation his particular viewpoint. Therefore, if the liberals go in to do the translating, you may get just a little taste of liberalism.

And if the fundamentalists are going to do the translating, you'll get his bias in certain places. I feel that the men who did the original translation were men who believed that it was the word of God and that they handled it like that. And actually, certain words they wouldn't translate. They just transliterated them. "Abba," for instance, "Abba, Father." They didn't dare translate that word Abba.

And the same is true of "baptizo," "baptize." They just transliterated it. And yet we have so many today that want to be dogmatic about things, and you see that's the danger today in these modern translations. And then actually, some of them are not too good in their translating.

I would like to take this position, which I do, that they are interpretations. Now, I have my bookshelf right where I prepare my messages, I have that bookshelf filled with all the translations: good, bad, and indifferent. And I refer sometimes, I'll refer to 15 different translations. Why? Just see what these men have to say. And me, I look at them as a form, not of translation, but interpretation. And I would like to call them that.

I said concerning one the other day, which I'll not specify right now, somebody said, "Is this a good translation?" And I said, "Well, it's owing to how you look at it." I said, "It's a marvelous interpretation but a lousy translation."

Now, when you translate, you have to take something out of one language and put it into another language in comparable terms—identical terms if possible. And the thing that most of these modern translations are trying to do is to get it into modern speech. And to get it into modern speech, many times they really miss what the original is saying.

And I personally, as I've said before, I stick by the Authorized Version. And I don't find it too difficult. The "haths" and "thous" and the "thees" don't seem to bother me. In fact, I guess through the habit of the years that they add a note of reverence. And I personally would recommend the American Standard Version of 1901 of being more accurate than any other.

I feel like the New Scofield Reference Bible has made a tremendous step forward in this connection in making certain distinctions and corrections that needed to be made. But I personally still use the old Scofield Reference Bible. I know my way around through the book, and after all, the old scout will follow the old trail because he knows that, and that's the reason that I use it. I'd recommend it also, of course.

I'd like to give you here something that's quite interesting in this connection of translation, and it comes from a man who actually was a rank unbeliever, George Bernard Shaw. And he had some harsh things to say about religion, that is, about present-day churches and present-day Christianity.

But notice what he says concerning the translation that we have in the Scripture. He says, "The translation was extraordinarily well done because to the translators, what they were translating was not merely a curious collection of ancient books written by different authors in different stages of culture, but the word of God divinely revealed through his chosen and expressly inscribed scribes. In this conviction, they carried out their work with boundless reverence and care and achieved a beautiful artistic result." He's talking about the Authorized Version. That's George Bernard Shaw.

Now actually, there are frankly in interpretation certain, I think, rules that should be followed. And today, the great difference among some of us conservatives is the fact that we differ on interpretation. We believe the Bible is the word of God. We believe it's plenary verbally inspired.

Now, this may surprise some of you, but one of the leading Pentecostal leaders of this country today, he and I have had lunch together, and he wants us to resume this. And we sit down and talk about our mutual differences and also about where we are in agreement. And you know we agree more than we disagree.

Fact of the matter is, I think I'm about to convert him, friends—and I say that facetiously because he's a wonderful man of God, and I love him in the Lord and I respect him. And you know why? Because he believes this book is the word of God just like I do, and he loves the Lord Jesus maybe more than I do, and he trusts him as his Savior just as I do. And so he and I can sit down together and we can disagree, and I can just tell him that one of these days he's going to see it as I see it. And he said, "Yes, and that day I see it as you see it, you're going to change also and we both'll see it eye to eye." Well, that day's coming.

Now there are certain rules that we need to keep in mind. One is the overall purpose of the Bible. And that's the reason I'm teaching all of it, is because I believe you need to have it all before you can come to any dogmatic statement concerning any particular verse of Scripture.

And that is something that's important—to take all verses that are related to that subject in consideration. That's important. And then also, we ought to always consider the Scripture to whom it's addressed.

Now way back yonder, God says to Joshua, "Arise, go over this Jordan." Now you know when I was over in that land, I crossed the Jordan River. That's when you could cross it then without being shot at, and I crossed over. But I didn't cross it to fulfill that Scripture, and I didn't say to somebody, "Well, now I've obeyed the Lord. I've crossed over Jordan." No, when I read that back in Joshua, I have a feeling that the Lord is talking to Joshua.

But I believe there's a tremendous lesson there for me. All Scripture is not to me, but all Scripture is for me. And that's a very good rule to keep in mind. And then we ought to always consider the immediate context either before and after Scripture. And then, as we've indicated, there should be a consideration of all Scripture relative to a certain passage of Scripture.

And then there should be an attempt made to discover what the original says. Now, you recognize in our versions we have certain translations, and they're good. They give to us meaning. I think that when you're reading that American Standard Version of 1901, you're right close to what the Lord said.

But the important thing is determine what the exact text. And that's the reason in several of our study books, I attempted to give a translation and as I've said a thousand times, I wouldn't recommend that to anybody. But we did attempt to go back to the original, and I think that's imperative.

Let me give you a rule that years ago I heard Dr. David Cooper, the late Dr. David Cooper of Southern California, give. He said this, and this is a good one: "When the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense; therefore, take every word at its primary, ordinary, usual, literal meaning unless the facts of the immediate context studied in the light of related passages and axiomatic and fundamental truths indicate clearly otherwise."

Now, that may be a little complicated, but I want to tell you, that's just about as fine as you could possibly have. And remember, he said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." And he said, "Forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in the heavens." The psalmist said that.

The Bible was born in the East and clothed in Oriental form and imagery. The Bible walks the ways of all the world with familiar feet and enters land after land to find its own everywhere. It's learned to speak in hundreds of languages to the heart of man. It comes into the palace to tell the monarch that he's a servant of the Most High and into the cottage to assure the peasant that he's a son of God.

Children listen to its stories with wonder and delight, and wise men ponder them as parables of life. It has a word of peace for the time of peril, a word of comfort for the time of calamity, a word of light for the hour of darkness. Its oracles are repeated in the assembly of the people; its counsels whispered in the ear of the lonely.

The wicked and the proud tremble at its warnings, but to the wounded and the penitent, it has a mother's voice. The wilderness and the solitary place have been made glad by it, and the fire on the hearth has lit the reading of its well-worn pages. It has woven itself into our dearest dreams so that love, friendship, sympathy and devotion, memory and hope, put on the beautiful garments of its treasured speech, breathing of frankincense and myrrh. A Bible—the word of God. So until next time, may God richly bless you, my beloved.

Steve Schwetz: Learn more about Thru the Bible by calling 1-800-65-BIBLE, downloading our app, or visiting TTB.org. You can also write to Box 7100, Pasadena, California, 91109, or in Canada Box 25325, London, Ontario, N6C 6B1. I'm Steve Schwetz, and I'll meet you back here as together we make our way through the Bible.

Our story on the Bible bus today is just one step in a five-year journey through the entire word of God. Come along for the ride and you'll study both the Old Testament and New Testament, discovering God's great redemption story. Is this your story too?