Introduction: (Where did all these different religious ideas come from? Some suggest we all interpret the Bible our own way. We will learn from the parable of the tares this is not true. We will learn from the parable of the tares varied religious ideas are the work of Satan.)
1. The Parable Of The Tares: Mt. 13:24-30, 36-43 (The phrase of our title comes from the parable of the tares. Our analysis of this parable will show it refutes the idea of interpreting the Bible our own way.)1. Good Sower: Lk. 8:11, Isa. 55:11 (This is Jesus. Jesus reaches our hearts with his word. It is the word that he sows into our hearts to produce spiritual growth. This seed is good. It does not produce different kinds of plants. God s word does not produce calamity and religious confusion.)2. The Field: (This is the world. It is not God s spiritual kingdom as many believe. It is every accountable individual.)
3. Good Plants: 1 Pet. 1:22-23 (These are real Christians. These are the ones who have obeyed the truth. These are not pretenders, people who said, "I ll interpret it my way and do what I want." They are people that hear what God said and obey it.)
4. Tares: Mt. 7:22-23 (These are pseudo Christians who are really children of Satan. Christ talked about how there would be some on judgment day who thought of themselves as children of God. However, he says they were people who never really knew him. To take the Bible and say, "I ll read it my way and do what seems good to my heart." Is not to obey God. That is cloaked self service. Imagine a client telling a painter how to paint the house. The painter does their own thing. Then the client protests. What if the painter responded, "Well, your instructions were a matter of interpretation. I interpreted my way." Would that be acceptable?)
5. The Enemy: Jn. 8:44 (This is Satan. He is intent on wrecking our souls. It is his delight to confuse and confound, to spread chaos among the way that is right. In this way he seeks to frustrate the purposes of God s word.)
6. The Harvest & Reapers: 1 Cor. 15:24-26 (This is the end of the world. Christ will reign through his church until the end comes. Then the final resurrection will destroy death and the world will end.) Jude :14-15 (These are the angels. They will come with Christ and be instrumental in gathering the faithful out of all creation. The unfaithful will be dragged away to their eternal doom.)
2. Truth Is Truth: Jn. 16:13 (The message the Spirit revealed to the apostles, the New Testament, is truth.) Jn. 8:32 (Truth is absolute and knowable. The Bible can t teach two contradictory messages from one passage and both messages be true.) Isa. 40:8 (Some suggest the Bible has lost critical truths by being corrupted through the ages. It is absurd to suggest God is incapable of making his truth available and keeping it in tact through the ages.)3. A Divided House Cannot Stand: Mt. 12:25 (If it is true the message of the Bible produces these variant, adversarial and competing denominations, then God planned for Christianity to be divided. To think that is absurd.)
4. Examples Of Wild Interpretations: 2 Cor. 4:2/2 Pet. 3:15-16 (If the principle "we all understand the Bible our own way" is true then we must accept any wild interpretation as valid. Peter said some twist God s word. Paul warned of those who handle it deceitfully. If we accept the idea we can all understand the Bible our own way, we are forced to accept any "far out" idea. Think of these examples.)
1. Adultery: (One fellow thought the Bible justified him cheating on his wife as often as he wanted. Can he just interpret the Bible this way and be okay?)Conclusion: Mt. 13:28 (Jesus said these pseudo wanna-be Christians are products of Satan. He clearly teaches they are not his children. What about your life? What about your religion? Does Jesus look at your man invented religion and say, "An enemy hath done this"?)2. Jesus: Jn. 2/Mt. 26 (Jesus said "destroy this temple and I ll rebuild it in three days". His enemies interpreted this to mean he would do this with the literal temple in Jerusalem. Were they at liberty to interpret the words of the Lord in their own way? If so, they were right to use this against him at his trial and have him crucified!)