Knowing in part... (Part 2)

Part 1 can be found here.

2005 Sermon @ WBGC, Transcript:

Firstly I will just do a quick review on what I spoke on last time.

Beginning with the verse about if you think you know something you don't know it as you ought.

I think this is fundamentally at the root of the problems that come out of us trying to understand the word of God. We take an individual part that we think we are certain of and we make it the whole. The approach from scripture emphasises that, to come to God the first thing we have to do is recognise our smallness, our inability and God s ability.  Its about approaching the truth in humility that we don't have all the answers. That its only through Gods help, his revelation that we are going to get a bigger picture.

Fundamentally God set it up so that we only have part of the revelation so that we need each other. So its not a mistake when we have some revelation but its only a bit of the picture. God's deliberately done it that way so that we can't just sit on a mountain somewhere and go 'wow!' I know it all. Because he gives other people in the church deliberately different parts. To get the bits together to relate together.

So starting off with the need for humility. We need each other because we only have the part. The relationships are important for our understanding. Ultimately its not about thinking we know something because knowledge puffs up, its about knowing someone, because love builds up. The primary revelation of Gods word is Jesus, he is Gods word. He is love incarnate.

For us to know it is not just on the level of the head but there's a knowledge of the heart that has to be the whole thing. We are very quick  to split down knowledge, into something very cut off from how biblical understanding is described. Its much more full its not just about what we understand in our minds its about our lives, our hearts, the way we step into things, our actions.

I want to talk about moving from the parts that we know to the fullness but beginning with this passage from Ephesians 4.

'He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe. It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.' Eph 4:10-13

That's the goal of us together, its the unity of the faith and knowledge of the son of God. Attaining the whole measure of the fullness of Christ, that's where we are going, we are going from the bits that we've got, to the whole measure. To when we see him face to face and we will be like him. Its full. I want to look at the process of how we get from knowing in part now. Its not just that we are stuck there. There's a progression on into ultimately when we see Jesus face to face and we receive the full measure.

The way God has set it up is that its impossible to get there by ourselves. To get to the point of the whole measure our faith has to be integrated into the body. Knowledge of Christ is paired with unity in the faith, they're joined together. You can't have one without the other. The whole measure of the fullness of Christ is when the church reaches unity in the faith, and also our knowledge of Jesus is perfected. Its the two things working together. The gifts that God has given us in the church, their purpose is all focussed towards that goal. So whether we are apostles,  prophets, evangelists, pastors or teachers, that individually and collectively is our goal to work towards. So its worked out in us increasing our understanding and revelation of who Jesus is, and relating that to the rest of the body. Working it out in relationship.

But lets take a step back and look at what happens when we try and make one part the whole. That crazy picture that Paul draws of what if the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be. It is that insane and yet the church very often falls into exactly this thing.

(show slide)

Different sections of the church tend to emphasise one particular pillar. And conflicts tend to occur when its about emphasising one over and against the other, and it isn't about agreement. Primarily in the Orthodox church they emphasise the traditions that were passed on and that is seen as how you understand scripture. Whereas in the Roman Catholic church its what the Pope states ultimately and  what is set out in Roman Catholic cannon laws. In protestant churches its generally a matter of your own individual interpretation. So someone just reads a scripture and comes up with their own theory or some theory they have heard. The trouble with all these systems is that although they have got part of the picture, you lose out if you say that's the whole thing, that's the foundation.

So the problems come when we try to make one of the parts the absolute.

Quote from author Chris Thackery:

"All evangelicals have the problem of how we interpret, understand and apply scripture; opinions differ, and so we have to incorporate other criteria into the process: the wisdom and experience of other Christians, past and present; the inner witness of the Spirit, and maybe reason."

The apostles didn't just leave what they wrote, most of the teaching in the early church was orally passed on and it was in the context of the oral traditions of the church that the scriptures were actually formed. The church formed the bible over a period of time. This is one of the scriptures that refers to the traditions.

So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.
2 Thess 2:15

Evangelicals generally find this a bit difficult to cope with. Quite often where its traditions of men being talked of, for instance in the NIV, its translated as 'traditions', but the same Greek word when it  appears elsewhere, like here, it is translated as 'passed on' although its actually the same word. There are traditions from men, but there are also traditions passed on from Jesus and the apostles that scripture affirms as well.

So that is one of the pillars on which the church knows and interprets scripture.

The next one is that the church was given authority to actually decide certain things.

"I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."
Matt 18:18-20

There was authority that Jesus passed on to the church. He gave the church authority to actually set certain things as true for all time. So when the apostles got together to discuss the Gentile Church they were able to decide, because Jesus had given them authority. That they would not put all the Jewish law on the Gentile believers, only that they abstain from sexual immorality, and food containing blood. That authority is given to the church.

Another verse I want to look at is

Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.
Heb 13:17

In the bible we are not just told to do whatever we understand the bible tells us to do. There is authority that Jesus specifically gave to church leaders and they are put in a place of accountability to him and how we work out our relationship in the church and to Jesus ultimately is in the context of that authority which has been given to the church. So that is the second pillar.

The third one... this is a verse from 2 Timothy

Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.
2 Tim 2:7

there are many other verses as well which talk about the use of our reason in aiding understanding as well. It talks in Psalms about what is understood from what has been made. We are given reason to explore and to examine truth.

The forth one is about our own personal interaction with scripture and what the holy spirit reveals to our hearts.

Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
Acts 17:11

we are given the scriptures as well individually. It is not just that Paul has authority and what he says goes, but there is interaction with the understanding we have and the leadership that God has put in place.

So putting those four pillars together we see the different parts we need to work towards a fuller revelation of truth of who Jesus is, in relationship.

Each of these pillars has a weakness if they are over emphasised against all the others. If any one part is taken and made absolute it is like making one part of the body the whole and the life of the body stops. If it is just about the traditions of men being passed on, if we are just repeating what has been done before, it becomes a dead thing. If the authority of the church is  not balanced and it is overemphasised to the point of a church leader being seen as infallible, then you've lost the fuller basis for the truth that God's put in place. Likewise if reason is cut off on its own without scripture, without the revelation of the church, you end up lost in empty philosophy. Even just in our own personal coming to the scriptures the doctrine of each scripture alone has spawned more variant interpretations of the bible than just about any other error in that basis of how we know. Because each individual comes with different history and experience and says 'I know what that means'. But without relation to what the early church fathers said or Christians through history said, or without reference to the authority of the church, then it becomes detached and there has been the spawning of all sorts of different sects with different emphasis on theology.

So lets look at the foundation of faith as described by Paul in Corinthians.

By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds.
For no-one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work.  If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.  If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
1 Cor 3:10-12

Ultimately the process of the church reaching that perfection, (because we are going to get to the place where we reach the unity of the faith, and the fullness of knowledge of Jesus), that process that is our goal, if we are building with wood, hay and straw, we are going to get there anyway, because Jesus is going to perfect his bride before he comes back anyway, but we are going to suffer loss.

This goal of how we interact with the different parts, how we pursue the unity of the church, is of fundamental importance because ultimately if we are just concerned with our own little bit we will end up building with wood, hay and straw, something that won't last. Because Jesus' goal for the church is the unity of the faith and all the parts integrated but if we are holding onto just our own little bit we are effectively building with straw.

The whole start of first Corinthians

Is dealing with this issue because the church then had splits and disunity

I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.
11 My brothers, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you.
What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas"; still another, "I follow Christ."
Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptised into the name of Paul?
1 Cor 1:10-13

But ultimately if we are holding onto that little bit without recognising the other bit we have lost what it means to be the body already. Our bit not integrated with the rest becomes in a sense untrue, just like if you chop an arm off it ceases to be alive because it is not connected into the rest of the body. So the important thing about our understanding of truth is where it is plugged in. Where it is plugged in is in relationship. The scriptural understanding of truth is not just about something that is separate little bits, its not  like in a machine that you can take apart and the bits stand on their own. For the life to flow it has to be connected together.

These are Paul's' conclusions in Corinthians.

So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future — all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.
1 Cor 3:21-23

So the whole thing relates to us individually.

Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.
Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, "Do not go beyond what is written." Then you will not take pride in one man over against another.
1 Cor 4:5-6

In his conclusion he comes back to this, that the bottom line is humility. Ultimately God is going to get the church there, it's Him that judges, it's Him that is going to sort it all out. We are called to walk in unity and work out our understanding together.

Quickly summarising

The foundation is Jesus. The foundation of all our understanding and knowledge is who he is; and all authority flows from him. And that's been given to the church. There is a verse that says...

Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that, if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God's household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.
1 Tim 3:14-15

This is another mind blowing thing. The church as Jesus set it up, is the basis for authority now. Its in the relationships that we see the revelation of Jesus, that's where the authority is and that's the authority that the new testament was formed under, that's the authority that we stand under when we read the scripture or when we relate to church leaders or when we look at what the early church fathers

taught it is the authority that Jesus passed on to the church.

And again in summary, God given traditions are different from man made ones. The bible doesn't just mean what I decide it means, it is not just a matter of personal interpretation.

In answering the question of how we work this out. I just want to pick out the interaction between church leaders and us as part of a congregation. We know we are supposed to walk in submission. Even Paul with all his supernatural revelation, God jumped into his life totally changed everything around, gave him stuff that totally blew his mind, and yet he didn't just leave it as his own revelation he took it in submission to the church so that his certainty was not just based on his own revelation but it was integrated.

I went in response to a revelation and set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did this privately to those who seemed to be leaders, for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain.
Gal 2:2
When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong.
Gal 2:11

So even with all his great revelations Paul' attitude was of humility to the church authorities and it was worked out in relationship with them But the flip side of that was that even when Peter was wrong Paul didn't hold back from persuading him otherwise.

So there's the two things going together of walking in submission but also we are given the responsibility to persuade and discuss, its not just a one way thing but God has given a revelation to each member of the body that has to be integrated. So sometimes the leaders need to hear from the body, often the leaders need to hear from the body. In this case when Peter came to Antioch Paul opposed him to his face because he was clearly in the wrong. And that brought about a change for Peter.

So how its worked out in the church is through submission to authority, persuasion and ultimately in agreement. That's where the bigger understanding of what God is saying comes.

I will just finish with this verse about Jesus' view of understanding. It was not just something in our heads that needed to be worked out.

Jesus answered them, "My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me; if any man's will is to do his will, he shall know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. ”John 7:16-17

The revelation ultimately cant just be taught, we can't just hear it. Unless we actually step into this and walk in obedience to Jesus, unless we are saying that Jesus is the ultimate authority and walk in obedience to that, our own understanding will always be limited because the only basis for certainty in integrating certainty in our whole beings is if we walk into it, so that it is not just understood in our head but in our hearts and our feet too.