Jn 14:13f “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14:14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”
A superficial reading of this saying might lead us to suppose that we are being offered a ‘carte blanche’ to ask for anything we like: “Dear God, I would like anew bike for Christmas. In Jesus’ name.”
This is, of course, absurd. …
Jer 29:11 – ‘I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you a future filled with hope.’
This verse is one of the most beloved in the Bible. But it has all too often been taken out of context and therefore misapplied. In other words, too many forget that a Scripture like this, although written for us, is not written to us.
As always, context is king:
…’29:10 “For the LORD says, ‘Only when the seventy years of Babylonian rule are over will I again take up consideration for you.
Summary. This text is not about abstaining from apparent evil. It is, rather, simply saying: ‘Abstain from every kind of evil’; ‘abstain from evil at all times’).
1 Thess 5:22 in the NET version reads: ‘Stay away from every form of evil.’
The AV reads: ‘Abstain from all appearance of evil’. Without a doubt, the translators meant what the NET, NIV and other modern translations say. But I have heard members of a previous generation of evangelical Christians, brought up on the AV, take it to mean: ‘Don’t do things that are really evil, or even things that appear to be evil.’ …
Jn 19:41 – ‘At the place where Jesus was crucified there was a garden.’
In ‘Preaching and Preachers’ D.M. Lloyd-Jones mentions ‘a certain famous preacher’ who used v41 as the text for a sermon on ‘Turning the place of your crucifixion into a garden’. The message was about how people suffering from illnesses could and should react to their trial.
…‘He told us that good people who took it in a beautiful spirit, and never grumbled and never complained, turned their place of crucifixion into a garden.’
NASB – ‘God made men upright, but they have sought out many devices.’
NIV – ‘God made mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes.’
RSV – ‘God made man upright, but they have sought out many devices.’
ESV – ‘God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.’
AV – ‘God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.’
This verse in its GNB version…
‘This is all that I have learnt: God made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated’
…has been recruited by at least one preacher as the text for a sermon on simplicity. …
Luke 5:4 “Put out into the deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”
Let the preacher beware of allegorising and over-spiritualising such details. Example:
…‘The invitation to put out into the deep for a catch provides a sharp contrast to our human penchant for the predictable and the routine. It is an invitation to venture into new ground or new depths, but it also points to new challenges in mission and ministry for the church in every generation…In the case of Simon, as for the Christian faced with such a command, there is the realization that the most profound and significant experiences of God and life are not to be found in the safe ways and places.’
In the NIV, Isaiah 9:6f reads:
6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.…
Preachers should always pay close attention to the biblical text. That is a given. But there is a danger of paying such close attention to the text of Scripture that we see more in it than is actually there. I came across an example of this in a little book of Christmas Sermons preached by D.M. Lloyd-Jones. Lloyd-Jones is speaking about the opening words of Mary’s ‘Magnificat’ (Luke 1:46-47)
The preacher said,
…‘First, let us notice the depth of feeling with which she spoke, which is conveyed in these words.
NET: “Stop your striving and recognize that I am God!”
NIV: ‘Be still and know that I am God’.
The text misunderstood
In popular piety and Christian song, this injunction is often (mis)understood to be a call to quiet meditation.
The following well-known worship song (whose author and composer are unknown) is based on Psa 46:10, and is described here as a ‘meditative, chant-style hymn’:
Be still and know that I am God,
Be still and know that I am God,
Be still and know that I am God.…
2:11 As [the magi] came into the house and saw the child with Mary his mother, they bowed down and worshiped him. They opened their treasure boxes and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Summary. Rather than supposing that the gifts brought by the magi carry symbolic meaning, it is probably better to view them as gifts ‘fit for a king’.
Do the gifts have symbolic meaning? I have some hesitation about this, but I’ll put this out as a gentle warning to my fellow-preachers anyway.…
