Sermon Tone Analysis

By Pastor Glenn Pease

A sophisticated social leader was expecting a large group of friends at her home one evening.

Knowing her husbands habit of using guests towels indiscriminately when he came home from the office, she put a note on the ones she put out for the occasion.

It read, "If you use one of these towels, I'll slay you in cold blood."

Even the most insensitive husband would get the message loud and clear.

The problem was that she got busy and forgot to remove the note before the guests arrived.

At the end of the evening she found, to her shock, that the note was still there, and not one towel had been touched.

Here was a message that called for interpretation.

A discerning guest should have known that in this context the note was a warning to the husband and not to the guests.

They should have felt free to use the towel without fear.

Life is full of messages that have to be interpreted wisely or they make no sense, or they lead to consequences not intended.

It is like when Mrs. Grand instructed her old servant, "Now Maggie, for the first half hour you stand at the drawing room door and call all the guests names as they arrive."

"Thank you very much ma'am," she replied, "It's what I've been wanting to do to some of your friends for the last 10 years."

Maggie was getting a message that was quite different from the one Mrs.

Grand was sending.

Sometimes messages are deliberately made difficult to interpret.

Like the man who said to another, "I have two and a half dozen children."

The man was amazed, but the father explained it so that it was not that amazing.

"I have 2, and then a half dozen more, which is 6 plus 2 making 8.

I have 8 children, or as I said, 2 and a half dozen."

Without explanation the words carry a different message.

At other times people read into a message more than the speaker intends to say.

The disciples did this with Jesus.

In John 21 Jesus said, "If I want John to remain alive until I return that is my business and not yours.

You just follow me and don't worry about John."

The rumor spread among the disciples that John would not die, but Jesus did not say that at all.

John had to write and put a halt to this misinterpretation, and tell people that Jesus did not say that he would not die, but only that if it was His will that was His business and not theirs.

Even the Apostles could interpret the words of Jesus in a way that did not convey His true message.

This means that correct interpretation is absolutely vital to the understanding of truth.

The Bible does not mean whatever you or I feel it means.

It means only what the author intended to convey when he was inspired to write it.

It is true that people get many different impressions as they read the same words, and there can be a variety of perspectives, but the bottom line is that only the message the author intended to convey is valid.

The reason this is important is because without this principle the Bible can be used to support all kinds of nonsense that contradicts what it clearly means to convey.

We have come to Titus 1:15 which is an ideal example of how important it is to know what Paul intended, and not just let any interpretation be acceptable.

Paul makes a startling claim when he says, "To the pure all things are pure."

This verse can be used to justify every form of evil and folly known to man.

It has been used to justify polygamy, stealing, and even murder.

Is that what Paul is saying?

There is nothing impure to the pure, and so all evil becomes pure?

Sirhan, the assassin of Robert Kennedy, read Madam Blavatsky, the founder of theosophy.

She taught that every man has the right to interpret truth in his own way regardless of what others think.

The New Age religion teaches this to children.

If something seems right for them, than it is right for them, even if it is contrary to the value system of their parents or society.

If it's right for you, than it is right.

Sirhan concluded that he was doing the will of God when he murdered someone he felt should be eliminated, for it seemed right to him.

Do you think for a moment that this was the message Paul was trying to convey, and that he was teaching that everything was right and pure to certain people?

Was he saying that they can do anything the Bible forbids if they just have the right spirit?

You can see how this appeals to the fanatic.

I am pure, and so I can violate all the commandments of God, for now everything is pure and right for me.

If ever there was a text calling for proper interpretation, this is it.

This verse does not mean whatever anyone wants it to mean.

It means only what Paul intended it to mean, and we know he did not intend it to eliminate all that he has just written.

It is easy to see what Paul does not mean, but it takes some thought to discover just what he does mean.

We need to interpret this in a way that is confirmed by other passages where Paul uses this same word for pure.

Paul said that all God made is pure in the sense that it is valid for food and not to be rejected because of some legalistic or superstitious tradition.

Men contaminate a lot of food by adding to it what is not healthy, but God never created a bad food.

In Rom.

14:20 Paul says that all food is clean.

So to the pure all food that God makes is pure.

It is good and not forbidden.

There is no forbidden food to the pure.

Mark has Jesus teach this very truth to eliminate all the legalistic restrictions of Judaism.

Jesus taught that nothing going into a man can make him unclean, but only what comes out of him.

In Mark 7:19 he adds this comment: "In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean."

Both Jesus and Paul make an issue out of this, and they make it clear that if you really believe in Jesus and His rejection of all the food legalism of Judaism you will not have hangups with any food.

To the pure all foods will be pure.

Only to the unbeliever will there be fears, doubts, and corruption connected with food.

The bottom line is that there is no natural food that is forbidden by God, and so the pure Christian can enjoy anything God has made with thanksgiving.

This is not a major issue with most of us, but it was a major issue in the Reformation period, and John Calvin made these strong statements: "They do wrong, who impose religious scruples on conscience in this matter... Accordingly, this must be true till the end of the world, that there is no kind of food which is unlawful in the sight of God.

Thus, if any law binds the conscience to any necessity of abstaining from certain kinds of food, it wickedly takes away from believers that liberty which God has given them."

If you carry this through in all areas of life, you get Paul's point.

Whatever God has made is good and pure.

Did God make marriage and sex?

Then it is pure, and as Hebrew says, "The marriage bed is undefiled."

Did God make desire, appetite, and the love of competition?

If so, then the world of work and recreation are pure as well.

It can be good to work to make money and possess things.

It can be good or pure to play and enjoy exercise and sports.

If these are seen as God given blessings, then they are pure, and they will not defile the man who loves God all the more for his chance to participate in these aspects of life.

He does so with thanksgiving because to the pure all things are pure, and they are from God.

The pure live life based on this sound doctrine: If God made it, it is good.

If God approves it, it is good.

If God recommends it, it is good.

If God commands it, it is good.

This means that even in this fallen world so corrupted by sin the vast majority of reality is still pure.

There is goodness everywhere.

Even in the hearts of fallen men there is an abundance of truth, wisdom and value.

The world is loaded with good things, and the pure in heart see it and enjoy it, and they praise God for it.

The Christian does not say that this tastes so good it must be sinful.

They say that it tastes so good that it must be from God.

But there is a constant battle in the minds of those who see only evil and pessimism.

They try to rob Christians of the good life in time.

Paul writes to Timothy about this very thing in I Tim.

4:1-5, "The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.

Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared with a hot iron.

They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

For everything God created is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving."

If you can give thanks for it, it is good and pure, and we are to give thanks in all things, and so it follows that to the pure all things are pure.

In the mind of the faithful Christian there is already a taste of things to come.

There is a heaven on earth with daily joy and pleasure.