Giving The Sense Of Scripture

 "They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading" (Ne 8:8). This is also known as preaching. It is the pastor's job to open a text of Scripture and explain what it means to the congregation. Not only is it the pastor's job but any that come before the flock of God to give a message from the Word of God. To do otherwise is to become what Dr. Al Mohler termed a "pulpit babbler." But to be gifted by God to open the His Word and explain what it means to His people is a huge task. It is a joyful, awesome and dangerous task.

It is dangerous because people will hate and dislike you for it. They may even slander you. But this comes with the calling. Examine the ministry of Paul whom was often slandered and misunderstood by those he ministered to and by his enemies (2 Cor. 2:17-4:6, Gal. 1:10, Gal. 5:11, Ph. 1:15-18 e.t.c.). The same can be said of Peter and John ( 2 Pe. 1:16-21, 1 John 1:1-4 and see the whole epistle). To proclaim the Word of God is to preach pure truth and truth can be painful and is often despised by even believers (observe the detestation of God's sovereign election of some and rejection of others). The author of Hebrews writes, "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account" (Heb 4:12–13). And this is what the pastor, preacher or elder is called to do. He proclaims the sense of Scripture. He must open the text before Him and say "thus saith the Lord" and explain. This is why he has been raised up, called and gifted by God. It is how the sovereign Lord is glorified in the context of the local church. To do otherwise is make a mockery of God.

The pastor is not called to make the congregation feel good, he is not called to please them. He is called to shepherd the flock of God and this is done primarily through giving the sense of Scripture, known today as preaching the Word of God. The writer of Hebrews says "Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith...Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you" (Heb 13:7,17). The only way to maintain the well being of Christ's sheep is to preach the Word of God and to be in the sheep's pen  and minister to them. This is also why congregations must submit to the leadership of the local church. It is a joyful and difficult calling. Giving the sense of Scripture, often, causes rejection rather than submission to the elder's of the church. Families and individuals will often leave a church because the pastor gives the plain sense of the Word to which does not line up with their traditions or because the sermons do not make them "feel good." Others looking to join a local church will attend a local congregation and determine if that church is "for them" on the basis of how well they are welcomed, the age of the congregation or how many of their friends attend it. Rarely, is the ultimate criteria if the pastor gives the sense of Scripture. It is a contradiction to say that the "pastor" loves people but fails to preach the Word of God to them! And by preach the Word, I mean, give a sermon based on the actual meaning of a text of Scripture. Not giving his own ideas or thoughts or visions but opening a passage and giving the sense of it. However, when a pastor faithfully does declare what the Lords says, he is often rejected or his church may be small and his ministry viewed as a failure.

A large part of this stems from the fact that many "pastor's" have deceived their way in the pulpit and do everything but preach the Word! They preach their own ideas about God and read back into Scripture how they think God should be. They aim to tickle the ears of people because they are concerned with the quantity of people rather than the quality of them. They get the title "pastor" when in reality they are nothing more than charlatans that have not met the qualifications of and elder given in 1 Timothy and Titus. Their messages are nothing more than humanistic speeches classified as a sermon because the have a few out of context verses sprinkled about in their speech. They do not give the sense of Scripture because they don't know how and haven't been called and gifted by God to do so. They are then left to their own creativity which has as its goal to tickle and please the people before them. Their messages, devoid of giving the plain sense, becomes the way in which people determine how they should view a "sermon." Thus, when one truly gives the meaning of a certain text, it is rejected and sometimes belittled. People often mock true biblical preaching because they don't know what it is and why it is done. Concerning these shenanigans Spurgeon said, "A time will come when instead of shepherds feeding the sheep, the church will have clowns entertaining the goats.

Where you do not have the plain sense of Scripture given by an elder, you do not have a true local church! It matters not how many Christians are gathered there or how well the community speaks of your works done in it or how many others praise the "family environment" present. Apart from the proclamation of God's Word we are left to human ideas, feelings, emotions and traditions all of which, do not produce disciples of Christ. We, as minsters of the Word of God, are called to preach the Word of God and nothing less. It is how God is glorified and His people grow in relation to Him and are equipped for the work of ministry: "And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes"  (Eph 4:11–14). Not only do we edify the people of God through giving the sense of Scripture but it is also how we protect the flock from false teaching and the foolishness that can be found in pulpits today: "I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry" (2 Ti 4:1–5).

A failure to stand in the pulpit and give the sense of Scripture is to a failure to love Christ and His sheep. I leave you with a quote from Michael Lawrence: "God's Word has the power to change lives. Therefore, as people we  have a vested interest in knowing how to understand and apply the Word correctly...God has spoken through his Word, he has revealed who he is, who we are, and how he calls humanity generally and his people specifically to live. Non-Christians are saved and Christians grow in grace through the the preaching, teaching, counseling and speaking of God's Word, applied by God's Spirit. Our goal as pastors and Christians in ministry is to present this Word to others, so that the Word might do its work. We hold it up and say, 'Here it is. This is what God says. Please, hear and heed.' We're called to read it, yes, and we're called to 'give the sense' of it for our hearers (Neh. 8:8)." If you are in the pulpit and doing everything but giving "the sense,"  you need to step up or step down. Soli Deo Gloria!

For His Glory,

Fernando