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Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Isaac Eliot: Teach A Man To Fish

Isaac Eliot

Teach A Man To Fish, Part 1

And today, I didn't know exactly how many people would be here.

If you didn't get a handout, I encourage you to share with someone who is here.

The handouts are pretty important because I've put some information in there that is not in the presentation just so that as you go home, you might be able to use the handout for your own study.

Today, my presentation is entitled, Teach a man to fish.

And actually, although the title may sound like it is a presentation on soul winning, it's actually not.

This is a presentation on how to study the Bible more effectively.

Now, before we begin, I would like to invite you to bow your heads with me as we have an additional word of prayer.

Father in heaven, this morning we are thankful for a beautiful Sabbath day.

I pray that you would bless this opportunity, this time to study together, And may this coming year mark a year that we become better Bible students and thus be empowered to be better Christians and to be better witnesses for you.

Well, just to give you a little background on this.

I have to tell you a little bit about myself first.

I know that sounds strange but as you know I travel a lot.

We travel with a truck and a cargo trailer and a car top carrier.

We need all the space that we can for the amount of things that we carry.

And it frustrates my wife, I think, at times, because I carry my own dumbbells and all these gadgets that I have supposedly to help me get more fit.

And the difficulty is that Often when I travel with this, I end up becoming so busy during the course of whatever I'm doing that I end up neglecting to use it.

There are some meetings when I never pick up any of the fitness equipment that I bring along with me.

And what I've discovered is that in analyzing my own self, I've realized that these fitness companies, you know, that they sell all of these gadgets, they don't sell fitness, they sell the promise of fitness.

That's what they capitalize on, that the person is envisioning that this is going to make them much stronger, much fitter, and so forth.

If you listen to it and you take the handout home, it only promises the possibility of being a better Bible student.

The reality is that this presentation won't do anything for you unless you really incorporate the principles that we share into your own diligent Bible study.

Well, there's a Chinese proverb and it says, if you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day.

But if you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.

There are Many people that come week after week to church and they're being given a fish.

The problem is that if that supply dries up, their spiritual life dies or if they move somewhere else and they don't feel like they're being spiritually fed, that ends up affecting their spiritual life.

And really what God wants is He wants us to learn how to feed ourselves, amen?

This is underscored by 2 miracles in the Bible.

When you go to the gospel accounts, and you don't have to turn there, But when you go to the Gospel accounts of Christ feeding the multitudes, you'll discover that in both of the accounts of Christ feeding the multitudes, you'll discover 2 things.

Always the order that was… that the food was given in was always the same.

It was Christ first, and then it was passed next to who?

And from the disciples, it was then given to the multitude.

Now, that underscores a very important spiritual point, and that is that as Christ's disciples, God wants us to receive the bread of life from Him.

And as we receive the bread of life from Christ, we are to disseminate it and share it with others around us.

Now, in my seminars and as I travel, I am constantly admonishing people to study the Bible.

You know, 1 of the big points that we use in evangelism is we tell people, go back and study it for yourself.

And as people examine, you know, different subjects that we present, they can see that it's biblical.

We say, study the Bible for yourself, study the Bible for yourself.

I've gotten to the point where I say it so much, and I've begun to hear something very familiar as I listen to the groups that I share these evangelistic presentations with.

I often hear an undercurrent of people that are asking this question and they ask simply, how do we study the Bible?

You're saying to us week after week, day after day, study the Bible for yourself, study the Bible for yourself.

How practically do we study the Bible for ourselves?

So I began to think about this because the reality is that oftentimes you can say things, they become a cliche and if you don't really think about it, you may sometimes assume that you know but you really don't.

And I've listened and I've read and I've done a little bit of research.

What I'm sharing with you today is really the cumulative effort of several years of looking and listening to others and reading about what others have shared and written.

And really, a lot of these principles that I'm sharing with you, I only share them if I have been able to reproduce it in my own personal studies.

So 1 of the first things that we have to be careful of, or 1 of the first things we have to be aware of is that the message of Scripture is given largely to us in 2 broad categories.

The message of Scripture, it can be given to us in 2 broad categories, the literal and the allegorical.

And when we look at the Bible, it's important to determine which of these 2 areas that we are looking at.

And These 2 areas represent 2 extremes in Bible study.

You have some people that want to allegorize the entire Bible.

There are churches that have accepted this idea lock, stock, and barrel.

It takes the church to interpret what is truth.

There's the other extreme of looking at the Bible purely as literal.

And I say this up front because as we go through different things today, I'm trying to make it clear that as we study the Bible, we have to be careful to avoid these 2 extremes of allegorizing everything or literalizing everything.

Now there are 2 quotes that I want to share with you, and I think that these quotes will help define the boundaries under which we launch into our study today.

Thomas Hartwell Horne, he says in his book, an introduction to the critical study and knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, he says, of any particular passage, notice these next 4 words, The most what?

In other words, that which it most readily suggests, the most obvious, the most simple sense or that which most readily suggests itself to an attentive and intelligent reader, possessing competent knowledge, is in all probability the genuine sense or meaning.

Now some of you might say this is common sense, but you would be amazed as you listen to various preachers or expositors how often we look for the fanciful or the, you know, the just amazing, incredulous interpretations of the Bible.

The most simple sense is often the most accurate, the most true to what the author intended.

John Calvin, in his introduction to the commentary on Romans, said this, it is the first business of an interpreter to let his author say what he does say Instead of attributing to him what we think he ought to say.

How often have you heard a sermon or maybe done a Bible study and people can put into it what they want to get out of it?

You know, it's – there's a term for it, it's called eisegesis.

It's when people project into a passage a meaning that is not really there.

And I have to say that as I look back in my own life, the sermons that have had the greatest impact on me are those presentations where I could most clearly see what God was saying through me, to me, through that particular passage of Scripture.

Not what the person explaining it wanted me to hear, but what the Bible was really saying.

Now when we look at the Bible, there is a term that I want to introduce to you, and this term is important because it's really the goal of what we're focusing on today, and that word is exegesis.

Now this simply means that we're looking for the actual meaning of the passage based upon the historical and literary contexts.

In other words, we want to know what Did the Holy Spirit want conveyed through the writer in this particular passage?

And that's our goal today as we study about how to learn to be more effective at Bible study.

What practical steps can we take to be more effective at extracting the meaning of a passage from scripture?

Here's a statement from the pen of Ellen White.

She says, in daily study, The verse-by-verse method is often most helpful.

Before I understood some of these things, after I gave my heart to Christ, I'm a pretty fast reader, and I would wake up and I would have my morning worship and I could read several chapters in a setting.

Teach A Man To Fish, Part 2

Well, good afternoon and thank you for joining us again.

We're continuing from where we were this morning, and I want to go back… If you have your handout from this morning, I'd ask you to turn with me to number 4.

We were talking about comparing, and for the sake of those that may not have had a handout this morning, I do want to put this quote up again because I want to share some points in this that will lend itself to what we're going to discuss first off this afternoon.

And this is taken from Christian Education, page 85.

1 passage will prove to be a key that will unlock other passages, and in this way, light will be shed upon the hidden meaning of the Word." Now, notice this part.

This part is critical because it says, by comparing different texts, treating on the same subject, viewing their bearing on every side, the true meaning of the Scriptures will be made evident." I want to just underscore that 0.1 more time.

By comparing different texts, treating on the same subject, viewing their bearing on every side, the true meaning of the Scriptures will be made evident.

Now I want you to consider that we had used some examples.

We had earlier gone through the example of Matthew 7, 7, and we had seen that Matthew 7, 7 talks about asking God and it will be given.

But we saw that when we look at Other passages in the Bible that talk about asking, you'll notice that there are many conditions, there are many other qualifications to receiving what you're asking for.

Well, this is another example of looking at passages that are similar but examining them from different sides.

I'd like to ask you to open your Bibles this afternoon to Matthew 25, and I'd like you to look with me at verses 10 through 12.

Matthew 25, verses 10 through 12, And we want to try to understand the simple practical application of this principle, looking at similar passages but viewing their bearing on every side.

Matthew 25 verse 10, notice it says, and while they went to buy, the bridegroom came.

And they that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut.

Afterward came also the other virgin saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.

Now, I have to be honest, when I first studied this passage, 1 of the things that perplexed me was, okay, here is this bride and there's a bridegroom, and why would it be that the bridegroom doesn't recognize the friends of the bride?

Why does he say to them, I don't know you, I know you not?

And it perplexed me, but I realized that in the Bible there is another passage that is very similar.

I'd ask you to turn there now, and I'd like you to notice something interesting.

In Luke chapter 13, Luke 13 verse 25, and notice here this passage, notice the similarities.

Verse 25 says, when once the master of the house is risen up and hath'…' What?

"'Shut the door.'" Okay, "'Hath shut to the door, and you begin to stand without and to do'…" What?

"'Knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us.'" By the way, are there some similar elements between Matthew 25 and this passage, yes or no?

Yeah, so we're fulfilling the criteria of looking at passages dealing with similar things.

So here we see a similar element, the knocking, the door, outside they're saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.

And he shall answer and say unto you, I know you how.

We have some of the very same components that we saw in Matthew 25.

You've got a door, you've got people outside, you've got the people outside knocking, you have the people outside saying, open, open, and the person inside says the same thing the person inside says, I don't know who you are.

Luke 13 gives us some additional information not found in Matthew 25.

In verse 26, it says, then shall you begin to say, we have eaten and drunk in thy… what?

In thy presence, and thou hast taught in our what?

But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not from whence you are.

Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity." Now, let's pause here for a moment.

Do you notice that you have almost the exact same things going on in both stories?

You have a door, you have knocking, you have the person outside saying, open.

The person inside says, I don't know who you are.

But what's interesting is that in Luke 13, the person actually says a reason why they think they should open the door.

In Luke 13, the people outside, do you notice they said 2 things?

And notice these 2 things that they said.

In verse 26, they said, we have eaten and drunk in thy presence.

Now, if you really look at this carefully, if you look at what the people are saying, it's telltale or it's enlightening to see what they are not saying.

You see, they tell the person inside, they say to the person inside, they say, You know, open up, we've eaten and drunk in my presence.

But do you notice what they're unable to say?

They are unable to say, we have eaten and drunk with you.

And so it's like saying, you know, I was at potluck when you were there.

Yeah, but there was a hundred other people there, is that right?

So you know, the issue that these people, they had a… We might say they had an association with Christians, but perhaps they never had an intimate connection with Christ.

In verse 26, they also say, thou hast taught where?

Again, the ambiguity, or I should say, the distance that's implied, because notice, they are unable to say, we have sat at thy feet.

And this is why the voice inside says to them, I what?

I don't know you." You see, friends, when we look at these passages that are similar, sometimes the passages will shed perhaps more light on something that may not have been clear on things that were mentioned earlier.

Again, the Gospels afford many opportunities because they cover the same ground.

This is a technique that you can use as you study the Bible for yourself.

Let me share something with you from Signs of the Times, March 21 of 1906, speaking of the Bible.

She writes, this book, speaking of the Bible, contains nothing that is non-essential, nothing that has not a bearing upon our lives.

Now, let's see how that works when we… Oh, 1 more statement.

Many a portion of Scripture which learned men pronounce a mystery or pass over as what?

Unimportant is full of comfort and instruction to him who has been taught in the school of Christ.

Luke 13 verse 6, He spake also this parable, a certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard And he came and sought fruit thereon and found none.

Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these 3 years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none.

Cut it down, why cumbereth it the ground?

And he answering said unto him, Lord, Let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about and dung it, and if it bear fruit, well.

And if not, then after that, thou shalt cut it down.

Now 1 of the things that my personality tends to naturally lean towards is I tend to look at the details of a passage.

And really, when you study the Bible, it's always, since we know that nothing is unimportant, it's always important to pay attention to the details.

If you read this parable carefully, you'll discover some unique things.

The primary focus of the parable is a what?

But the location of the fig tree is interesting.

Did you notice that the Bible specifies that?

It says in verse 7, behold, these 3 years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree.

So we find the Bible actually specifies how long the fig tree is in the ground.

Now if you were a Bible student, it would be important for you to ask yourself, well, God mentions this, you know, in giving this parable, Jesus deliberately mentions the time frame.

He mentions that it's in the ground for 3 years.

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Series

Isaac Eliot: Teach A Man To Fish

Teach A Man To Fish, Part 2

Transcript

Parent Series

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Learning to Fish, Part 2

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