Rightly Handling the Word of Truth
Notes
Transcript
Opening
Opening
Welcome
Happy Mothers day
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth.
We need some context
Paul is in prison, and he is writing to Timothy who is in Ephesus, working to get the church there back to a healthy spot after a leadership disaster.
This leadership disaster has to do with some false teachings. People were getting really focused on things that didn’t really matter, teaching things based off opinion, and likely uneducated speculations about old testament scriptures.
So Timothy is there in Ephesus to get this church back on the right track, and raise up leaders who are educated in the Gospel, who won’t turn away from the mission of Jesus to follow these pointless rabbit trails.
And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
Remind them of these things, charging them before God not to fight about words; this is in no way profitable and leads to the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth. But avoid irreverent, empty speech, for this will produce an even greater measure of godlessness.
Paul urges Timothy to not fight and argue about useless irreverent things, but to keep the focus on the clear, ever true message of the Bible.
An approved worker
An approved worker
Okay, we now have the context for this verse. But does it apply to us today? I think so. And not just preachers, or elders, or deacons, or teachers; I believe that this is a challenge to all of us who are new creations in Christ to step up to a higher standard.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come. Everything is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed the message of reconciliation to us. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, certain that God is appealing through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.”
So how can we be faithful ministers of the Gospel? Well, lets take a closer look at 2 Timothy 2:15
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth.
We’re going to look at the three deeper meanings in this verse that every Christian should strive for.
Christlike Attitude
Christlike Attitude
We get this from the first part of this verse
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth.
If you look at this verse in other translations, you might get, “work hard to...” or “do your best to...” But the greek here carries a sense of zealousness. Be zealous to present yourself approved to God.
And why approved to God? Because the goal is not to get the approval of others. And how do we become approved by God? It’s about the way we live life.
Eagerly seek God’s approval, and the rest will fall in line. It’s an attitude thing. Our attitudes, as Christians, should be to desire to be diligent to live life in such a way that God is pleased even if man is not impressed.
Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus,
who, existing in the form of God,
did not consider equality with God
as something to be used for His own advantage.
Instead He emptied Himself
by assuming the form of a slave,
taking on the likeness of men.
And when He had come as a man
in His external form,
He humbled Himself by becoming obedient
to the point of death—
even to death on a cross.
For this reason God highly exalted Him
and gave Him the name
that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee will bow —
of those who are in heaven and on earth
and under the earth —
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
As Christians we should strive to have this Christlike attitude.
Action
Action
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth.
A worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed. Why would a worker be ashamed? When he knows he didn’t put full effort into his job.
We’ve already established that anyone who is in Christ is a new creation and that each of us has been given the ministry of reconciliation, our new job as Christians.
What does it look like to give a full effort in this work of reconciliation? There’s not exactly a one size fits all answer to this question; it would probably be pretty intimidating if there was.
“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
This is a hard message to hear, but it’s important to know. God gives each of us gifts and abilities, and with those, a responsibility to serve the church, and spread the good news. Our faith is not to be buried, saved for ourselves. God intends for us to be effective kingdom workers. We read in James chapter 2 that faith without doing something about it is worthless!
Faith is an action, Church. Whether you realize it or not, God has given you a gift for building up his Church, your duty is to act in faith. Trust him with the results. Work in such a way, you don’t have to be ashamed. I want to hear those words, Matthew 25:21 ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’
Love God’s Word
Love God’s Word
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth.
A better translation of this word here would be handling. Correctly handling the Word of Truth. Which is obviously important. It’s obvious that when Mike or I come up front on Sunday mornings to teach from the Word, that we need to be careful to handle and teach the Word of God properly.
But what about everyone else, all of you? How are you supposed to handle the Word of Truth? Now, there is no verse in the Bible that says “thou shalt love and enjoy reading the Word of God.” but I truly believe in my heart that Christians should love the Word of God. I really enjoy reading the Bible, and I know that many people find it boring, or hard to read, or just don’t like to read in general, but spending time in God’s Word, and getting to know it is important, and it’s good for us in our Christian walk.
3 Reasons
God’s Word is our weapon of spiritual warfare
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
The enemy attacks us with lies and deceit to lure us into sin and strife, to make us believe we’re worthless, to get us to lose hope, to give up on faith, to be complacent.
But knowing God’s word helps us fight those battles. When we know God’s word, we can strike down those accusations with the Truth.
Follow after Jesus’ example: After he was baptized, he went into the wilderness and was tempted by the devil. Matthew chapter 4 records 3 temptations that Jesus faced, and with each one Jesus refuted the enemy with God’s Word, because he knew it! Answering each temptation with “it is written”. He even quoted Deuteronomy 8:3 saying “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” Even Jesus points out that it’s important for mankind to consume God’s Word!
Gods Word is our weapon
2. God’s Word guides us
The Bible shows us how to live. A friend of mine, any time he would teach a bible class at church would refer to the Bible as God’s instruction manual from humans. There’s clearly a lot we can learn from the Bible about how we’re supposed to live as Christian, otherwise, I’d be out of a job and this would simply be a history class.
My desire is to be like the Psalmist in Psalm 119. This psalm is the longest chapter in the Bible, and it’s about how he loves God’s Word, specifically the law: the first 5 books of the Bible. That’s pretty hardcore, loving the book of Leviticus; enjoying the book of Numbers!
This is what he says about God’s Word: Psalm 119:105
Your word is a lamp for my feet
and a light on my path.
He also says: Psalm 119:11
I have treasured Your word in my heart
so that I may not sin against You.
I’m telling you this is true! When you put God’s Word, his truth, in your heart, your desire is to stay away from sin. So if you’re like me and saying, “I want to stop sinning, but I want the sin too much” knowing God’s Word, and holding it in your heart helps us to desire what God desires.
God’s Word guides us; keeps us on a straight path.
3. God’s Word transforms us
For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the ideas and thoughts of the heart.
God’s Word has the ability to penetrate hard hearts; to reveal to us our wrongful thoughts and attitudes. It is powerful in our lives, to change us more and more into what God made us to be.
I’ve witnessed it in my life! Spending time in God’s Word convicts me when I need it. It has makes me into a better man day by day. Practicing hiding God’s Word in my heart changes my heart.
I’ve seen it work in my parents lives.
Make time to Read God’s Word. Put him first. Read with your families. Make sure they know that the Bible is important.
My prayer for my Wife and I is that God would put a burning desire in us to want to know him and his Word more. And that’s going to be my prayer for my daughter too. And now I pray that over you, Church, and our community; that there would be a great desire among you to read the Bible.
If you are sitting here thinking, “I just have a hard time reading the Bible” or you just don’t read, pray. Pray that God will give you that desire.
My mom is the most Bible readingest person ever.
If you pray that God will help you love his Word, and you start to try, he will give you that desire.
Closing
Closing
Paul encouraged Timothy to be diligent to present himself approved to God, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly handling the Word of Truth. And I’m encouraging you all, church, to do that as well: To have a Christlike attitude; to let your faith be action, and to love God’s Word. You can do it.
Communion
Communion
Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus,
who, existing in the form of God,
did not consider equality with God
as something to be used for His own advantage.
Instead He emptied Himself
by assuming the form of a slave,
taking on the likeness of men.
And when He had come as a man
in His external form,
He humbled Himself by becoming obedient
to the point of death—
even to death on a cross.
For this reason God highly exalted Him
and gave Him the name
that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee will bow —
of those who are in heaven and on earth
and under the earth —
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
But until that day we take these emblems in remembrance of him. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11:26 “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”