Reading: Two Type of Biblical Messages - Basic Interpretation

Outline and Explanation of "So You've Been Asked to Speak" Course Session on Message Types

Introduction

• Bruce Ballast continues his course on public speaking within a religious context.
• The focus shifts to understanding and developing different types of messages derived from the Bible.

Two Types of Biblical Messages

1. Exegesis
• Definition: Exegesis comes from a Greek word meaning "from out of," indicating that the message is derived directly from the biblical text itself.
• Approach: Involves a deep, contextual study of a specific passage. This method emphasizes understanding the text within its original historical, cultural, and literary contexts.
• Components to consider in exegetical preaching:
• Historical Context: Understanding the time, culture, and circumstances surrounding the text.
• Bible Issues: Ensuring the interpretation is consistent with the broader scriptural narrative.
• Symbols: Examining symbolic elements within the text to enrich understanding.
• Rational Thought: Integrating logical analysis to connect the ancient text with contemporary relevance.
2. Topical
• Definition: Topical messages are structured around a specific theme or subject matter rather than a single scripture passage.
• Approach: Begins with a topic and then integrates various scripture passages that speak to that topic, forming a cohesive message.
• Process:
• Select a Topic: Identify a relevant issue or theme.
• Find Key Scriptures: Gather biblical texts that address the topic.
• Extract Principles: Derive key principles from the scriptures to address the topic.
• Use Anecdotes and Illustrations: Incorporate stories and quotes to make the message relatable and engaging.
• Application: Conclude with practical applications that listeners can implement in their lives.

Pros and Cons of Each Approach

• Exegesis Pros:
• Ensures faithfulness to the original text and intent.
• Prevents misinterpretation by considering the full scriptural and historical context.
• Exegesis Cons:
• Can be complex and require extensive background knowledge.
• May not directly address current issues or audience needs unless carefully applied.
• Topical Pros:
• Directly addresses specific audience concerns and needs.
• Allows for a broader exploration of biblical themes across multiple texts.
• Topical Cons:
• Risk of taking verses out of context to fit the pre-determined theme.
• Potential to oversimplify complex biblical doctrines or to bend scripture to fit personal agendas.

Conclusion

• The choice between exegetical and topical messages depends on the speaker’s goals, audience needs, and the specific context in which they are speaking.
• Bruce plans to delve deeper into how to construct these messages effectively in upcoming sessions, aiming to equip participants with the skills to choose the appropriate type for their speaking engagements.

Welcome back to this short course on "So You've Been Asked to Speak" somewhere. Last time, we covered some introductory material. In fact, where do messages come from? Well, today I want to introduce you to what I'm going to call two different kinds of messages. And when we look at how to take a message from the Bible, and again, that's my primary emphasis if you've been asked to preach somewhere, but this fits anywhere. But if you're looking at the Bible, there are two different ways that you can approach the scriptures. One is called exegesis. And the other would be called topical, or I'm going to give you a couple of different words for that initially, so exegesis, and topical. 

Now the word exegesis means "from out of." In other words, the message is going to come from out of the passage that you are looking at. And so you're going to do an in-depth study of a particular passage. And in that process, you're going to look at those things that are on the screen. Now, you're going to look at the historical context, you're going to look at Bible issues, you're going to look at symbols, you're going to look at rational thought, or in other words, you're going to think through how all of this fits together. Now, let's just make a comment on each of those for a few moments. First of all, Bible issues. Just want to make a comment about that. And that when you're doing a deep dive into a particular passage, you have to keep in mind the whole of Scripture. So you want to have in mind the fact that you are not in some way or another contradicting another passage of scripture as you form your message. So you have those things in mind. But then you want to look at the historical context. In other words, what did this Bible passage mean for those original hearers? What is the context of that message? And just to give you an example of how that might work? Yeah, I was doing a message recently on the seven churches of Revelation, a series of messages. And you may remember in Revelation chapter three, that there is a letter to the church in Laodicea Revelation chapter three. And one of the things that Jesus says there to that church in Laodicea as he's speaking in the book of Revelation is, you are neither hot nor cold. Therefore, I'm going to spew you out of my mouth, how I wish you were either hot or cold. 

Now, the traditional interpretation of that passage that doesn't look at the historical context is, you've got to spend more time in Bible study, you got to spend more time in the Word, you got to spend more time faithfully coming to worship, and engaging in those kinds of things. But if we look at the context of how that was said, and where it was said, it sheds a different nuance to the message, for instance, Colossae, the picture you see there, and the Lycus, river that partly way up the mountain. And so it was known for its cold water. In fact, many years ago, now I had the privilege of standing on that hillside, where Colossae stood at one point, it is now totally ruined, there's no nothing there to see. Collect pottery shards, and that sort of thing. But I was with a group and we had communion together. And one of the things we celebrated was the cold water, there was a stream coming down there, and it was coming off the mountain. So you know, snow melts, and cold water comes down. And so Colossae was known for cold, refreshing water. Now, here Hierapolis, which is also in view of Laodicea, and Colossae. Hierapolis was known for its hot water springs. In fact, if you want to try something, you should look that up online, and just look for a picture of Hierapolis. And you'll see what often happens in hot water springs is that the sulfur is coming up. But there's this forming of white kind of layers of crystal kind of stuff coming down the side of the mountain as the water comes down there. But Hierapolis was known as a place that people would go to find healing in the hot springs. And in fact, it was particularly known for soldiers. Soldiers who had been injured would go to Hierapolis and they would spend a time recuperating their of their wounds and felt like the hot water helped that process. So now you put that context, that historical context into that idea of Laodicea being told you are neither hot nor cold. It doesn't mean just just do more in your Christian life just to study more, spend more time in prayer, etc. But it means what do you identify as? Are you somebody who's helping people, are you are you a church that is engaging and refreshing people in healing people How I wish you were you were either hot or cold, you know, are you refreshing people who need it are healing people who need it. And because you're neither, I'm going to spew you out of my mouth. 

That's just one example. But if we look at the historical context, we're going to get insight into what God meant back then so that we can have a better idea of what it means now. Now, in addition to that, you look at this historical context, we talked about Bible issues, you look at symbols. Now. There are a variety of symbols in Scripture, you know, the lion can represent Jesus, he's known as the Lion of Judah, now that's an important symbol, right? And you can develop that in a message as one of the characteristics of a lion. But a lion can also be a symbol of Satan, our enemy, prowls around like a lion, seeking whom he may devour. And so we look at that symbol in the context, what does that mean? Sheep are often used as a scripture symbol, and they are a symbol of waywardness a tendency to wander All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way. And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. prophecy of Isaiah, so it can be a symbol of something, bread and wine become a symbol, they become a symbol of food and nutrients going into our body, but Jesus takes them and empowers them with a new symbol. And that symbol becomes the symbol of the life giving presence of Jesus, spiritual feeding that we get in communion. So when we're looking at a deep dive into a particular passage, we want to look at what are the symbols in this passage, there are symbols like snake, a snake is mostly in Scripture, a symbol of Satan. And fact, I have a marvelous time. 

Many, many years ago, I was in a class that went up into the mountains of Georgia to a snake handlers meeting. This is a small group, I believe that the end of Mark says these signs will follow those who believe they will handle snakes and not be injured, etc, etc. So they take this as a command, but they've got to do this. So in their worship services, they're handling the poisonous snakes, rattlers that they caught in the mountains. And so we went there as a group of doctoral students unbelievably sitting in there. But the preacher was an old man in his 70s. At that time, I've got to watch how I say that now that I'm approaching that, but and he just followed that image of a snake all the way through Scripture. And so most often, it's a symbol of Satan. But sometimes it's a symbol of Jesus, where, you know, in the book of Numbers, when there's a plague going through the camp, they have to look to this serpent that's raised on a pole, for their healing and salvation. So, we look at symbols, we look at all of these sorts of things. Now, exegetical passage. This is Kevin Smith, who teaches at South African Theological Seminary, and he put the idea of exegesis pretty well. And so I'm quoting from him here. The scriptures are the inspired Word of God. The primary goal of biblical interpretation is to discover the author-intended meaning. Each text has one author-intended meaning. So when you're doing this, you ask a couple of questions. What did this passage mean then? In other words, back when this was written, whether it's an Old Testament passage, or a New Testament passage, when this passage was written, what did those original readers get from it? What are those original hearers get from it? What was God trying to communicate to them, and how it fit to their world? And then you look at scripture and say, what does it mean Now? In today's world, how can I make this applicable to today? In fact, one of the old, old preachers that doesn't quite fit anymore, but he said, you know, you should always pre-prepare your sermons with the Bible. In one hand of the newspaper in the other. 

Today we'd say, you know, that you have online resources that you're looking at together. What did it mean then? And what does it mean Now? The next kind of preaching is topical preaching or it's sometimes referred to as free text preaching, or synthetic outlining, and that'll become clear as I describe the process that happens with this kind of topical preaching one word here as before we go on, and that is most people who have are not used to preaching are not used to speaking in front of people will begin with topical kinds of messages. And that's okay. There are a variety of strengths to this that we're going to look at, but the process is that you're looking at a variety of scriptures and how they impact people's lives. And how can I present this positively to people? So the process is this. The preacher starts with a topic. You know, that topic could be marriage, it could be divorce, it could be, you know, when you when somebody's hurting, where is God when it hurts, and many find Bible passages that deal with that topic, seeking key principles. In other words, what, what principles can we learn from this, and then he arranges those key passages and principles to exhort or encourage people. And then you find anecdotes and quotes that will help people connect to that. And then you'll come to a conclusion to Apply that truth. Now, that's a process that you go through, right, instead of starting with one passage, you're looking at a bunch of them, and you look at everything you can find on it. And then you say, what's going to help people and you begin forming into a message that you believe is going to be heard well, by people. Now, having said that, there are some real pros to this. It allows exploration of a Bible truth be on a single passage, it encourages seeing the Bible as a whole. Because not all truth is contained in one place. There's an application of felt needs is one of the best ways to preach, felt needs, like anger, management, etc, etc. 

And great Bible themes and doctrines are best explored this way. And then you can't really explore things like omniscience or omnipresence, without grabbing on to this idea of using many scripture passages. So there are big positives to this. There are some negatives, one, many times you can take a verse out of context other than sense of the whole passage. And it can mean something different. In fact, you can make the Bible say just about anything you want it to say, if you take enough verses out of context, you know, one of those, one of the great old sermon examples of that is the guy who wanted to find God's will open the Bible, and he popped it open and did one of these things, putting his finger down. And he looked at and said, Judas went and hanged himself. That can't be God's will for me. So he did it again, give it another shot and did it. And they read, go and do likewise. That can't be God's will. So he opens it again, flops it the open, puts his finger down. What thou doest do quickly. Obviously, it's an old, old sermon illustration. But the idea is, you can make the Bible say anything, about slavery, about marriage, about divorce, about racism, you could, you could make it say anything you want, if you just take selected pictures. So one of the cons is, sometimes you have to be you have to be very, very careful that you don't take verses out of context. Now, the second con is moral lessons rather than the whole counsel of God, sometimes scripture, instead of looking at that passage, becomes just a little moral lesson. I was part of that, and a Sunday School skit that we did a skit on a passage, and the moral lesson was you got to work hard. That's not the point of this passage. If you only do topical-centered preaching, you'll become need-centered as a main way of preaching and that will be an overall weakness for you. And oftentimes, the preacher then focuses on his own agenda, rather than God. So those would be the cons to this kind of preaching. Just as an example. Let me give you an example of an outline of a topical sermon. This person, you'll notice that this is compiled by www.onlinesermonsforbusypastors.com.

This is available online. But this person did a topical sermon. Insights into winning the spiritual battles of life, we have three enemies, the devil, the word, the flesh, each one has a different proof text. And we have to battle fronts, personal holiness, personal witness two proof texts, we have two weapons, the armor of God and the Word of God and proof texts. That's an extreme example of a topical sermon, I would look at this as a people are going to start tuning out to keep flipping around in the Bible that much, etc. But this is an example of the outline that comes with topical sermons. So you choose the kind of sermon you want. And next time, we're going to look more carefully at okay, how do you approach putting this message that you have in your heart at this point, it's not your head. How do you go about putting it together? We'll see you next time.