Teaching People the Bible - John Whittaker

[00:00:00] We're not just dumping information from the Bible, we teach people the Bible.

[00:00:06] Real people with real stories, real struggles, real issues, real baggage, real backgrounds,

[00:00:11] real questions, real needs. And when we forget that, it completely changes everything

[00:00:18] about what we do in our sermon.

[00:00:22] Hey, welcome to the Expositors Collective podcast.

[00:00:25] This episode 346, I'm your host, Mike Neglia, and you're in for a treat.

[00:00:31] Because you're about to hear from Dr. John Whittaker.

[00:00:35] John is a preacher, a teacher, a pastor. He has degrees from all over, including a doctor

[00:00:43] in preaching from Gordon Conwell, theological Seminary.

[00:00:47] In the past, he's been a professor of preaching at Boise de Bible College, and he's distilling

[00:00:53] so much of that education, content and experience into a short and powerful talk on how to communicate

[00:01:02] the Bible to real people. So if that's what you want to do, if you want to teach the Bible

[00:01:08] to people in a way that it actually makes an impact. This episode is I would say required listening.

[00:01:15] Well, we've just finished up from a great preacher, training, conference in Campalla, Uganda.

[00:01:24] If you don't follow us on social media, this is your opportunity or your reminder to go

[00:01:29] find us on Instagram, our Facebook or Twitter and you'll be able to scroll back and see

[00:01:35] some of the photos of what's taken place over those past few days in Uganda. We've been crowd sourcing

[00:01:43] funds to make sure that we could sponsor rural Uganda and bring them into the city for this time of

[00:01:51] equipping and training. For those of you that have donated, thank you so much. You'll be able to see

[00:01:57] some of the photos of some of the Bible teachers, church leaders, pastors and preachers

[00:02:03] that you have helped equip. Well, that's there and then here and now, you're about to listen to

[00:02:11] John Wittaker on teaching people the Bible. We don't just teach the Bible. We don't just teach

[00:02:25] the Bible. We teach people the Bible. That's three out of the Colossians chapter two,

[00:02:37] no, no, Colossians chapter one. Do we have that? Did you get that text in there? Maybe not

[00:02:43] Colossians chapter one, verse 28. There it is. We proclaim him. We've talked about that. The focus is

[00:02:49] Jesus, but notice what it says. Edmonishing every person and teaching every person with all wisdom.

[00:02:57] So the remains of the present, every person, completing Christ. Notice the reference to persons.

[00:03:04] We emmonish every person. We teach every person so that we might present every person

[00:03:13] complete in Christ. We don't just teach the Bible. We teach people the Bible and the reality is

[00:03:23] when you stand on a stage on a Sunday morning and teach people or when you sit in a small

[00:03:30] Bible study and teach people or when you stand in a Sunday school classroom and you teach people,

[00:03:36] right? You've got a gamut of people, a whole range of people. And that whole range of people

[00:03:43] shows up on that particular moment with all sorts of different experiences in their life,

[00:03:48] whole different backgrounds. Maybe things that just happened that morning and that's who you're

[00:03:52] talking to. And the goal is not for you just to take this information and dump it on them. The goal

[00:03:58] is for you to bring those people to completion, maturity and Christ. We don't just teach the Bible.

[00:04:06] We teach people the Bible. And you never know where people are at. I preached this past Sunday.

[00:04:17] We're doing a series out of Proverbs and it was on wisdom for parenting out of Proverbs this past

[00:04:24] Sunday. Literally sitting during Wesley's talk got a Facebook or Instagram message from a gal who said,

[00:04:30] I so appreciated your message last Sunday. I wish I would have had it three years ago when my kids

[00:04:36] were small but I know God's grace is good, right? You have people like that. You have people

[00:04:41] that are sitting with brand new babies, right? You have people that don't have kids yet and when I

[00:04:47] set up that sermon I'm aware of all of that in the room. And I knew I needed to do a little

[00:04:53] preparation for that. And so when I announced the topic and what we were going to talk about after

[00:04:58] of the introduction, I said no, if you're in here and you're like me, you're in your mid 50s or 60s

[00:05:04] or 70s and you don't have kids at home, why sent through a sermon on wisdom for parenting?

[00:05:10] I dressed their issue. And I said, maybe you're 13, 14, 15 or 18, 19, you're not even dating.

[00:05:17] Why sent through a sermon on parenting? I had a dad tell me at lunch on Wednesday that

[00:05:23] it's 14 year old son was in the service and said, you know, that was actually helpful.

[00:05:29] I'm not a parent yet but I figure I might be someday and I had told him that in the introduction.

[00:05:35] So he was prepared to listen and he listened with that in mind because I said the best time

[00:05:39] they developed a battle plan before the battle begins. So as a 15 year old, he could think that through

[00:05:43] we teach the Bible to people across the gamut and they show up on Sunday morning at all different

[00:05:49] stages of life, all different stages of spiritual growth, all different experiences.

[00:05:56] I got a text Monday morning from a really good friend of man I baptized 20 years ago

[00:06:01] and disciple for two or three years. My son and lot works at his mechanic shop. I got a text

[00:06:07] Anthony died on the weekend. Anthony is his 35 year old son who just died in his bed and they

[00:06:14] don't know why. Right? There's a person. They're going to show up at church on Sunday

[00:06:23] with tears and heartache. That's who we're talking to. We're not just dumping information

[00:06:33] from the Bible. We teach people the Bible. Real people with real stories, real struggles, real issues,

[00:06:39] real baggage, real backgrounds, real questions, real needs and when we forget that it completely changes

[00:06:47] everything about what we do in our sermon. And so if we forget that we're teaching people the Bible

[00:06:54] we think all we're supposed to do is teach the Bible. If we do that then our sermon might sound a

[00:07:01] little something like this. Well you know we've been going through the book of Romans over the last

[00:07:08] handful of weeks here at church in this week where at the end of Romans chapter three. So

[00:07:13] turn it in your Bible, the Romans chapter three and then we jump into the sermon as I said so

[00:07:18] the Romans 3 23. If familiar verse if you've been in the church for a while for all have

[00:07:22] sent and fall short of the glory of God. Notice it says all have sent that's every one of us you,

[00:07:26] me, all of us have sent and it says we fall short of the glory of God. What does it mean to fall

[00:07:30] short of the glory of God? Well scholars are kind of divided on what it means to fall short of the

[00:07:35] glory of God. Something the glory of God is God's own character and glory and we don't measure

[00:07:42] up to that. Some things is the glory we were created with as human beings when God first made us

[00:07:47] either way the point is that since we're all sinners we don't measure up to God's glory.

[00:07:52] And then text goes on in verse 24 and says being justified as a gift by His grace. Now justified

[00:07:58] is an important biblical word, a big theological word it's a legal term. It was used in the

[00:08:03] law courts of the Apostle Paul's day and it means the idea of like being declared not guilty or

[00:08:12] given a pardon being declared right standing with the law. That's what justified means and it says

[00:08:16] we're justified as a gift by His grace. If you've been around church for a while you've probably

[00:08:21] heard the word grace, it means something like undeserved kindness undeserved, favor and something

[00:08:26] like that. And so we're declared not guilty as a gift of grace God's undeserved kindness and that

[00:08:34] happens it says through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. What does redemption mean? That's

[00:08:41] another one of those big Bible words, those big theological words and it wasn't used in the

[00:08:46] court it was used in the marketplace and it means that you're redeemed your prices paid so that

[00:08:53] you can go free and Jesus is the one who paid that price for us. Now all that's true right? All

[00:09:01] that's biblically true, theologically accurate but the reality is it may not like directly connect

[00:09:09] with where you're at and it may not resonate with you right now. The reality is I've sat through playing

[00:09:15] Bible studies and sermons like that maybe you have too. What's missing? Here's what's missing

[00:09:22] at what's missing if we put on the screen is a point and a purpose. That's what's missing

[00:09:30] that's just random Bible facts that doesn't necessarily have any hooks to hang on right it's

[00:09:37] true information but it means we thought we were just supposed to deliver Bible information

[00:09:42] we forgot we were talking to people real people that really have real needs and so as a result of that

[00:09:49] we we lack the point and we lack the purpose. So the message wasn't going anywhere and didn't take us

[00:09:57] anywhere we lack the point and a purpose. The reality is if we will remember that a sermon is being

[00:10:07] addressed to real people with real lives who have real needs all of a sudden it takes all that

[00:10:13] information and it focuss it and it energizes it and it helps us deliver it in a way that might

[00:10:18] connect more with the kinds of stuff that people might actually be wrestling with. And so if we

[00:10:25] remember that we're actually preaching the Bible or teaching the Bible to people then our sermon

[00:10:32] will sound different and feel different and so a sermon on the same passage might go something like this

[00:10:39] when I first became a Christian I became a Christian when I was a sophomore in high school

[00:10:44] and when I first became a Christian I so desperately wanted to follow Jesus. I wanted to please

[00:10:50] Jesus in every way I could I was deeply convicted by the spirit and I really wanted to honor Jesus in

[00:10:57] being way and I tried so hard. I labored so hard and when I was doing really good reading my Bible

[00:11:04] and praying and not sending it in any of the big ways that I knew you weren't supposed to send it

[00:11:08] I felt so good about myself but then all sudden something would happen to him to say she would

[00:11:14] come my way and I would screw up and I would feel so bad about myself and I would beat myself up

[00:11:21] with oh and you call yourself a Christian and you say you're going to buy a book college

[00:11:24] and you say you want to please God so bad you just did that again you just lost your

[00:11:29] temper again you just looked at that again can't believe it John and I struggled so desperately

[00:11:37] with this desire to please God and bouncing between beating myself up feeling really good about

[00:11:44] myself beating myself up feeling really good by myself have it need you ever been there have

[00:11:50] you felt that way can anyone resonate right feel the same way well guess what Roman chapter 3

[00:11:59] has some really good news for you if you've ever felt that way and if you can relate to my struggle

[00:12:04] Romans 3 says this for all have said every one of us there's not a single person in the room

[00:12:11] who hasn't done something wrong who hasn't made some mistake who hasn't some way dishonored and

[00:12:17] pleased God every single one of us have done that you have but guess what I'm up here on stage

[00:12:23] with a Bible and I've done that too all have sent and fallen short of the glory of God each and

[00:12:31] every one of us have fallen from the standard that God had for us from the design that God

[00:12:36] created for we've all fallen short what did God do about that to God leave us to wallow in the

[00:12:48] house no look what God did we've all fallen short of the glory of God but we are justified as a gift

[00:12:57] of his grace we didn't we didn't deserve it we didn't earn it we weren't good enough for it

[00:13:08] we had all done wrong and that didn't keep God from us he justified you and me what does it mean to

[00:13:16] justify well it means that that the almighty all holy God the perfectly pure God who has never done

[00:13:24] anything wrong when he looked at you and he saw you he saw that you indeed were guilty but what did he do

[00:13:33] he pounded down the gavl and he said not guilty no penalty for you and you're like wait hold on how

[00:13:42] you do that God because certainly I know I'm guilty I feel it I'm struggling with this and I know

[00:13:48] what I've done wrong and he says not guilty no penalty for you how can he do that well look what

[00:13:56] it says being justified as a gift you don't have to buy it you don't have to pay for it it's a

[00:14:06] present it's the best gift you could ever get as a gift of his grace motivated by sheer

[00:14:15] graciousness love that stoop to help those who can't help themselves this kindness that we we couldn't

[00:14:22] earn we couldn't be worthy of and yet because of his great love force he stoop to help us even when

[00:14:29] he can't help herself and so he says no penalty for you you are justified as a gift of his grace

[00:14:36] how like how can a just God do that a holy God how can he justify people that are justified

[00:14:45] of the guilty look at the text says through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus what is redemption

[00:14:55] even me it means to pay a price to set someone free it was regularly used in the marketplace of

[00:15:04] of the apostle Paul's world and in the marketplace of Paul's world you would always find the

[00:15:08] slave market and these were people who had debts they couldn't pay and there was no chapter 11

[00:15:13] bankruptcy so what do they have to do sell themselves into slavery to work off their debt and Jesus

[00:15:20] instead of making you work off your debt paid your debt for you so that you could go free that's

[00:15:27] what it means the redemption which Jesus provided is paying a debt so you could go free from both

[00:15:33] the penalty and the power of sin that held you into slavery that's good news and then the text

[00:15:42] even amplifies that further and it says whom God displayed publicly Jesus he displayed Jesus

[00:15:48] publicly as a here's a word that we don't use every day as a propitiation when was the last time he

[00:15:57] is that word as a propitiation through faith and his blood you know what a propitiation is something

[00:16:03] you husbands may know what a propitiation is any of your husbands ever done anything that made

[00:16:08] your wife angry you were at work something happened right and also she's angry at you and you

[00:16:16] know you gotta go home in a couple hours and face her right hey man right and so now you got a

[00:16:22] face her and so you you know her favorite things are whatever they are right maybe maybe her

[00:16:28] favorite thing is this kind of coffee from this coffee shop with these kind of flowers and this

[00:16:33] other little gift and so on your way home you swing by and you get the coffee you get to the flowers

[00:16:39] you get to the gift and you now have them with you in the car and when you get to your house

[00:16:44] you take the gifts you prepare yourself you go to the house you knock on the door you don't

[00:16:52] go in because you don't go in this is a important moment so you knock on the door and and then

[00:16:59] you get down on one knee and then the door opens and it's your wife and she sees you and you say to her

[00:17:07] oh my love please please accept my propitiation right what's a propitiation a propitiation is an

[00:17:18] offering to turn away anger we were legitimately guilty and God and his justice had the right to be

[00:17:26] angry towards us but instead of pouring out his anger on you he displayed his son as an offering

[00:17:34] to deal with his own just repayment for sin and you take care of his anger and so now God

[00:17:42] because he did that he can look at you and he can look at me and he can look at us with favor in his eyes

[00:17:51] he can look at us with grace in his eyes and he can say no penalty for you come on in

[00:17:58] your my son you're my daughter and there's no penalty for you now we keep going through the text

[00:18:05] but my guess is that the second version of the sermon through Romans three feels a different than

[00:18:10] the first version of the sermon through Romans three and the reason is because there's now a point

[00:18:16] and it purpose aimed at real people and that's what when we teach the text we don't just teach the

[00:18:26] text we teach people the text which means we have to aim it on target to real people who have real struggles

[00:18:33] and so as we meditate on the text and study the text we do so with with people in view even

[00:18:40] even creating this I'm sitting in my suns old bedroom by myself at a microphone and I have people's

[00:18:48] faces in mind it's not a sermon doesn't do everything we've talked about today it's a commentary

[00:18:52] but I'm still teaching the Bible the people and there's people I know and the kinds of

[00:18:57] questions they have because it's people who God ultimately cares about it's people who last forever

[00:19:04] and so we teach the Bible to people and that changes everything it gives the sermon direction

[00:19:11] and shape and energy and a point and a purpose and that makes the whole thing different now how can we

[00:19:17] do that real quick let me just give you four quick steps that summarize pretty much everything we've

[00:19:25] said today so we're just I'm just wrapping everything up all right so four four stages for putting

[00:19:30] together a message that will help us put it on target all right so stage one is this identify the

[00:19:37] point as we're putting together a message right we're studying the text we've already talked about

[00:19:42] all of that studying all the background all the literary background all the the words and the

[00:19:48] connections all the stuff we've talked about we're looking even at the big theological angle

[00:19:52] and looking at it crystallologically all that at some point we got to narrow down the point what is

[00:19:57] the point of this text we got to put it all back there I said okay here's what this text is about

[00:20:02] got to have a point if you don't have a point then your sermon is pointless all right simple so I

[00:20:10] can't find a point stage two clarify the purpose you got to have a point in a purpose so at this before

[00:20:16] you're ready to actually begin to organize the message what and the reason why are you preaching it

[00:20:21] why are you teaching it like this is what we begin to meditate not just something text we begin to

[00:20:27] meditate on people and the world and life and all of that and so we as we try to relate these two to each

[00:20:33] what was this text doing here and what does it got into do with it here right clarify the purpose why

[00:20:42] am I going to preach this message if this if this sermon were a success how would I know

[00:20:49] good question for us you don't just right you don't just you know get out your bow and arrow and shoot

[00:20:54] if they decided to the barn and then draw the the target around it you put the target out

[00:20:59] and then you aim at the bull's eye do you have a bull's eye for your message that's the purpose

[00:21:04] if your sermon actually hit the mark what is the mark try to announce see it that as a result

[00:21:12] of this message these people will or whatever right and like announce it somehow what are we trying

[00:21:18] to achieve as we said earlier today that should be based on the original purpose of the passage

[00:21:22] so clarify the purpose stage three at this point now we're now we're ready to actually begin to

[00:21:30] shape the message is what brand was that about outline it right shaped the message and all of us do

[00:21:35] this differently it's just beyond us all right some people they're like they're like you know full on

[00:21:41] fundamental outlines you know Roman numeral one a you know then little eye and then you know little

[00:21:48] a right some people are full on outline people freaks me out that doesn't the way my brain works right

[00:21:54] other people I'm I'm more like a visual sort of learner so when I think of a sermon

[00:22:00] I think of boxes boxes like what's on the screen as when I when I preach I have usually

[00:22:10] have little to no notes unlike Ryan I have little to no notes um I have the text in larger print

[00:22:19] because my 54 year old eyes need bigger fonts but other than that I don't really have too much right

[00:22:24] but I have boxes in mind and on a really busy week where I've had extra meetings and extra few

[00:22:29] and roles and extra weddings I might just bring a piece of paper up with like four or five boxes

[00:22:34] and each box will just have the main idea of the message and maybe the illustration that goes with it

[00:22:40] right how are you doing that's what we mean by shaped the message organized the material how

[00:22:45] to achieve uh this purpose with this point from this text to these people as effectively as I can

[00:22:52] you got to map all that you got to be going somewhere you got to be organized so that you're

[00:22:58] taking people on a journey with you so map the message shaped the material right organized all

[00:23:03] of that there's different ways you can do that and then stage four is communicate with the people

[00:23:13] because it's it's not a written moment it's an oral event at some point you got to put

[00:23:21] away the notes put away the details put away the research face the people and say here's what

[00:23:28] God has said to me through this text and I think it's what he wants to say to you and you just

[00:23:34] end and communicate with the people and just talk to the people heart to heart soul to soul right

[00:23:40] my last prayer virtually every time I preach my last prayer before I go on stage just lord

[00:23:47] help me just to be present to you and present to these people in this moment just so I could be here

[00:23:54] with with them with you in the presence of God together taking this and just saying here's what

[00:24:00] I'm saying to me and for me that's why I use little to no notes because I found they got they got in my way

[00:24:07] for some people they were great for me they don't everyone always asks what happens if if I forget

[00:24:13] something right if you have a little to know notes then in fact studies have shown

[00:24:18] that a person who preaches with little to no notes usually remember about 80 to 85% of what

[00:24:24] they prepared but people remember about 80% more of what they say that the impact of speaking with

[00:24:31] little to no notes is and that's across the board that's not just sermons that's all all kinds

[00:24:36] of speaking coaches and all that studies have shown that well what happens if I forget stuff here's

[00:24:42] the reality you don't know have I forgot anything in this talk you don't know and I sit down

[00:24:55] and maybe some of the guys you preach regularly know she's sitting down and I forgot to say

[00:25:00] but no one knows so it doesn't matter no it doesn't necessarily matter because if I

[00:25:09] communicate the point from the passage as effective as I could in that moment with with the passion

[00:25:14] of Jesus for the purpose of God then God can take that and do something within people's lives

[00:25:20] right doesn't have to be perfect doesn't have to be beautiful it has has to be you know me

[00:25:27] Jesus and the Bible all of us together and so communicate with the people that stage four at

[00:25:34] some point you just stand in deliver and you share what God has said to you through the text

[00:25:38] the best of your ability with people and you trust it the Holy Spirit will do something beautiful

[00:25:43] with it and my experience has been he's pretty good at that pretty good when I try to manage it

[00:25:50] get it all right but the Holy Spirit there's times where I think I botched that whole thing and

[00:25:57] then I'll say and I get an email where it's like you don't know what that did for my wife and me

[00:26:04] it's times where I think how man I crashed and burned in that sermon and someone says

[00:26:10] that's the Sunday I came to faith in Jesus so God's pretty good at taking His word and using

[00:26:16] people's lives if we will humble ourselves before Him before His word before His people dig in right

[00:26:25] do all the things we've talked about and then let up fly in Jesus name and just stand and communicate

[00:26:31] with the people genuinely teach the Bible to people and God takes that and uses it for His glory

[00:26:36] and they're good when we'll do that for His honor and so that's our challenge that's our encouragement

[00:26:43] to you is take all this stuff work at it hone your skills get better but really what you're

[00:26:50] after is you're simply there to take God's word and teach it to people effectively as you can

[00:26:56] well thanks for listening all the way to the end I know this is a stirring and encouraging message

[00:27:04] and for those of you that want to go deeper make sure to check out the show notes you could find

[00:27:10] out more about John Whitaker you can also find a link to his amazing listeners Bible commentary

[00:27:17] and I've interviewed him in the past and so there are actually a few links to conversations that

[00:27:25] John and I have had that you can find in the show notes if you just need more John Whitaker in your life

[00:27:32] alright well I will see you next Tuesday this podcast is a part of C.G.N. Media a podcast

[00:27:41] network that points to Christ we are supported by listeners like you to help us create more great

[00:27:46] shows visit cgnmedia.org slash support