Beginning with the Bible, Part 2: Measure Twice, Cut Once

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Scripture: 2 Timothy 2:11-19, NLT

11 This is a trustworthy saying:

If we die with him,
    we will also live with him.
12 If we endure hardship,
    we will reign with him.
If we deny him,
    he will deny us.
13 If we are unfaithful,
    he remains faithful,
    for he cannot deny who he is.

14 Remind everyone about these things, and command them in God’s presence to stop fighting over words. Such arguments are useless, and they can ruin those who hear them.

15 Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth. 16 Avoid worthless, foolish talk that only leads to more godless behavior. 17 This kind of talk spreads like cancer, as in the case of Hymenaeus and Philetus. 18 They have left the path of truth, claiming that the resurrection of the dead has already occurred; in this way, they have turned some people away from the faith.

19 But God’s truth stands firm like a foundation stone with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and “All who belong to the Lord must turn away from evil.”

- Between pastorates, when my daughter Abbi was a toddler and preschooler, I worked four years learning carpentry with my father in law.

- I learned many things about carpentry.

- One of the lessons that I learned over and over again is one of the most basic, time tested lessons of carpentry, "measure twice, cut once."

- Measure twice and cut once is the foundational rule for building anything.

*- This lesson is so important in carpentry because, as my father in law and I used to joke, after cutting something and finding it too short, "You can't cut a piece onto it."

- Imagine the frustration of cutting an enough two by fours to stud up a room, then discovering that you cut them all too short.

- You have to hope that you will use that wood elsewhere for other things, otherwise it's a waste of materials and time and both add up to wasted money.

- It's always better to take the time to measure twice and cut once.

- It is a rule that is really about paying attention to the facts in front of you and knowing for certain that what you measured is true.

- My maternal grandfather and great-grandfather owned men's clothing stores and the same rule applies when tailoring material for a new suit.

- My great-grandmother was a milliner, i.e., she was a hatmaker and would have been familiar with the same principle: measure twice, cut once.

- The apostle Paul used this kind of language as he wrote to Timothy.

- When Paul encouraged Timothy to correctly handle or correctly explain the word of truth, he literally wrote, "one who cuts straight the word of truth."

- As a tent maker, Paul understood the importance of measuring twice and cutting once.

- Paul understood that if you make a mistake when you're cutting and you don't cut straight or you cut too short, then you can't "cut a piece onto it" .

- Cutting mistakes waste precious time and precious material.

- With the word of God, we need to be certain that we cut a straight path for the good news about Jesus Christ.

- Rightly understanding the Bible equips God's people for living rightly.

- But with the Bible many times we do try to "cut a piece onto it" , but it's no laughing matter.

*- How do we try to "cut a piece onto it" with the Bible?

*- We try to "cut a piece onto it"  by reading into the Scriptures what we want the Scriptures to say, with ourselves in mind rather than what God has in mind.

*- In other words, we try to "cut a piece onto it" by bringing our assumptions to the biblical text and there are many ways to do that.

*- We can bring our assumptions to the text through theology, worldly philosophies, human traditions, personal values, convictions and experiences, etc.

- Paul wrote Timothy encouraging him to work zealously measuring the word of truth, God's word, accurately, so that God's people will be equipped to live faithful and holy lives.

- Paul didn't want Timothy to become like Hymenaeus and Philetus whose incorrect understanding of the word lead people away from the truth and back into lives of sin.

- Paul wanted Timothy to handle the word of truth correctly, why? Because...

- Rightly understanding the Bible equips God's people for living rightly.

- Not only does the Christian need to read the Bible, but if the Bible is going to have an impact on the Christian life, then the Christian also has to understand the Bible.

*- If we try to "cut a piece onto it" by reading into the Bible something that it does not actually say, then how are we to read the Bible?

- The simplest answer is in today's sermon title: Measure Twice, Cut Once.

- If we are going to cut a straight path for the word of truth, the good news about Jesus, then we need to measure twice and cut once.

*- As we read the Bible we need to measure twice.

*- The first way we measure is by observation. We read the biblical text and observe carefully what we read in a chapter or a section.

*- We observe the text by asking "the 5W's plus how."

*- Let me share some sample questions from this week's lesson: To whom is the author writing? What words are repeated or emphasized in the passage? Where is the event taking place? When was this written? What kind of literature is being used (history, poetry, parable, letter, etc.)? What is the main point of the passage?

- If we ask these questions of our passage for today, we will learn a number of things.

- First, we learn that Paul wrote this letter to Timothy from his imprisonment in Rome sometime in the first century, around 66 or 67 A.D. (To learn of his imprisonment and the date of writing, we have to dig a little deeper into second Timothy, as well as be aware of history.)

- We also learn that Paul was concerned that Timothy work hard to keep in the minds of God's people the truth of the gospel.

- Truth is mentioned a number of times.

- The passage has a strong emphasis on God's people staying faithful and holy by remaining faithful to the truth.

- In it Paul also emphasizes what happens to people who do not stick with the truth.

- They turn to useless arguments, foolish talk, godless behavior, leaving the path of truth by making false faith claims.

- But those who stick with the truth have a firm foundation sealed by the knowledge that they belong to God and, therefore, must turn away from evil.

- Verse 15 speaks of Timothy working hard to correctly explain the word of truth is, quite literally, the central verse in this passage.

- The first part of measure twice is observe the passage.

- Once we observe the passage then we have a good handle on what the passage says.

- But the old general rule of thumb was measure twice, so we need to know more than what the passage says.

*- The second part of measure twice is interpretation. We need to know how to interpret the passage based on what the rest of God's word reveals without trying to "cut a piece onto it" by reading our thoughts back into the text.

*- Once we know what a passage says, how do we interpret the text?  This part is where good reference materials come into play.

*- Check cross-references, notes in a Study Bible, lexicons for word meanings, historical and cultural contexts, parallel passages, commentaries, Bible dictionaries, etc.

- For example, if we asked ourselves if what Paul has written here agrees with what he is written elsewhere, and with the rest of the New Testament, then we could answer that question by checking cross-references.

- Rather than going through all that this morning, which would take the better part of an hour, I'm going to ask you to trust that I already did it and give you the short answer, yes.

- Yes, this passage agrees with what Paul has written elsewhere and compares well with what others have written in the New Testament.

- Again, for the sake of time rather than going through everything I've listed on the slide, I just want to give you an interpretation of the passage with one sentence.

*- Why would we want to summarize a passage with a single sentence? The short answer is for clarity of understanding.

- Accurately summarizing a passage with a single sentence shows that you have understood the passage and can communicate it clearly.

*- Paul strongly impressed upon Timothy the importance of correctly explaining the word of truth to enable Timothy to help his flock avoid falling away from the truth and continue living as God's faithful and holy children.

- Now that's a big sentence, but it's a sentence which we can make more concise and clear to communicate a principle.

- Rightly understanding the Bible equips God's people for living rightly.

- First, Observe, then interpret; that's measure twice.

*- Now we're ready to cut once, to cut a straight path for the word of truth to speak into our lives. We are ready for application.

- Applying the text to our lives is where the rubber meets the road.

-  After all, what use is observing and interpreting so that we can understand if we do not do what the Scriptures say?

- God has preserved for us Paul's words to Timothy, because we also must correctly explain the word of truth. So we understand not only what the Bible said in the past, but also what the Bible is saying to us about how we ought to live.

- We need to ask four simple questions about how to apply the text to our lives.

*- The first question has to do with doctrine. Has the text increased my understanding of the essentials of the Christian faith? If so, how?

*- The second question has to do with rebuking sin. Has the text identified sin in my life? If so, confess and repent.

*- The third question has to do with correcting sin. Has the text revealed steps for me to take to correct a sinful habit, attitude or lifestyle? If so, what are they?

*- The fourth question has to do with righteousness or justice. Has the text shown me a command or principle that I need to start obeying or practicing? If so, what is it?

- These are the basic steps to understanding and applying the Bible to life and they are essentially the same as what we're going to be using from week to week in Sunday school and in our small groups as we dig into the word and go deeper into the Bible.

- I want you to know this morning that my main objective, my key goal as your pastor has always been and will continue to be to correctly explain the word of truth thereby helping you avoid falling away from the truth and continue living as God's faithful and holy children.

- I want to give you this assurance today: I am fully committed to measuring twice and cutting once with the word of truth.

- As far as the application goes for today's message, I want to at least remind us again of the principle that God has helped me draw out of this text.

*- Rightly understanding the Bible equips God's people for living rightly.

- This principle directs us back to one of the essentials of the faith and that is the authority of Scripture. Paul maintains that the Bible is the word of truth.

- If we are going to live right before God and before our neighbors, then we need to understand what the Bible says and do it.

- If we are going to be open to a gentle rebuke, then we must accept the Bible as the word of truth.

- If we are going to be open to having our thoughts, attitudes and behavior corrected, then we have to accept the Bible as a word from God.

- Is there pious nitpicking among us or godless chatter?

- Do you ever find yourself talking a good game for the Lord, but actually doing very little to build up the kingdom of God?

- Do you find yourself following the teaching of others who try to add to or take away from the basic good news about Jesus Christ?

- Are we prepared to let God use the Bible to measure twice and cut once in our lives, cutting a straight path for the word of truth to thrive?

- It all comes back to this principle, today's take-home truth: Rightly understanding the Bible equips God's people for living rightly.