Obedience | 2 Timothy 3:15-4:5

Have y’all ever struggled with trusting in the Bible? Like really trusting in it all the time.

I remember one time when I was in high school, I had a friend who grew up as a cultural Christian. His dad was a pastor and he grew up in a religious home, but he never actually had faith in Jesus. He just kinda did some of the things that the Bible said because he was told he was supposed to.

And one day he said that he was looking around at other religions and other beliefs in general because he wasn’t sure that Christianity was true. So I asked him if he’d be down to sit down and talk with me about it, he said yes, so we talked about it.

Just to provide some context, I had been watching a lot of YouTube videos from this guy named Frank Turek in my off time. Frank Turek is a Christian apologist which basically means he tries to use logic and evidence to prove God exists.

To quote his website, “Christian apologetics is both the science and art of answering [the question of why anyone should be a Christian] by using reasons and evidence.” A lot of what I had been learning from him wasn’t necessarily from the Bible. It was proving Christianity to be true through stuff like the question of morality, how the Earth formed, etc.

And when I went into this conversation with my friend, I planned to talk about a lot of this stuff cause I thought it was interesting. And so I did. And he actually thought it was really cool. He said that it was actually really refreshing to hear evidence that Christianity exists instead of just blindly believing it.

So sounds like it was mission accomplished right? Well… not exactly. My friend didn’t become a Christian that day. And to my knowledge, he still hasn’t become a Christian.

So what went wrong? If he liked what he heard, why didn’t he become a Christian? Well… I never really talked about the gospel. I just showed him facts and evidence for Christianity. I went into the conversation thinking he’s already heard the gospel, so I need to bring something new and fresh. So I did, and he actually even thought it was refreshing and was glad he had that conversation with me, but it didn’t actually make any difference in his life.

Now I don’t want to downplay the use of evidence from the world to defend Christianity. There are times where that can be helpful, but scripture is the only thing that is completely sufficient (or good enough) to lead some to God. Everything else is just icing on the cake.

[Scripture Reading]

2 Timothy 3:15–4:5 NLT

15 You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. 1 I solemnly urge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who will someday judge the living and the dead when he comes to set up his Kingdom: 2 Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching. 3 For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will reject the truth and chase after myths. 5 But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at telling others the Good News, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you.

So we’ve been using the past couple months to really dive into The Great Commission. This is the last thing Jesus told the disciples before He ascended to Heaven. We call it The Great Commission because in these three verses, Jesus shows us what our purpose on Earth is.

Turn with me to Matthew 28:18.

Matthew 28:18–20 NLT

18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Now we’ve been dissecting The Great Commission a good bit the past couple months. We spent a week talking about Jesus’ authority, what it means to Go, how to make disciples, the Global aspect of the Great Commission to go to all the nations, but today we’re gonna go a little bit quicker cause we only have two more weeks to finish up the Great Commission. Tonight we’re taking a look at obedience.

And there’s a reason our passage tonight is all about scripture. You see scripture (or the Bible) is one of two ways God has revealed Himself to the world. God has revealed Himself to the world through 1) the Bible, and 2) Jesus. That’s why we see both Jesus and the Bible referred to as the Word of God. The Word of God literally means “what God has spoken.”

Now I don’t exactly have Jesus on speed dial, but I do have the Bible. So how else are we going to learn how we are to obey God other than what the Bible says?

So tonight we’re gonna learn about exactly how important scripture is.

There’s two big points tonight. We’ll talk about how scripture leads you personally, then how scripture leads others around you.

1. How scripture leads you (3:15-17)

The end of 2 Timothy 3 really hits the importance of scripture. Specifically why scripture is important for us personally. Now we could dissect the mess out of these three verses, but I want us to look at three specific ways scripture leads us in these three verses.

… to salvation (3:15)

2 Timothy 3:15 NLT

15 You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus.

Did y’all know it is the wisdom from scripture that led you to your salvation?

I’ll be honest with you, I was a bit confused when I read this verse. At first I thought it was saying that scripture is what saves us. And we know this isn’t true because it’s only faith in Jesus that saves us.

But then I reread it, and reread it, and thought about it. And I realized it’s not saying that scripture saves us. It’s saying believing the content of what’s in the Bible, putting our faith in Jesus, believing in the gospel saves us.

And that also begs the question, do we need to hear the gospel and understand it to be saved? I’m curious to hear what y’all think.

Yes! To put your faith in Jesus you need to hear what He did for you on the cross and understand the grace He has shown you.

So scripture leads us to salvation by showing us the gospel. Because we need to know the gospel before we can put our faith in it, in Jesus.

… to turn away from sin (3:16)

2 Timothy 3:16 NLT

16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.

I’m sure many of you have heard this verse before. It opens saying that scripture is inspired by God. That means this Bible that we read is not just something written by human authors, it is inspired by God Himself.

Paul then goes on the write that scripture shows us what is true and makes us realize what is wrong. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.

Scripture, the Bible, shows us what is truly right from wrong. And this makes sense. If this is how God reveals Himself to the world, it would show us His character and what He’s like. It would show us right from wrong.

So God gives us the desire to turn away from sin through His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit makes us desire to do what is right. And God has also provided us the Word of God to show us HOW to turn away from sin.

… to be equipped (3:17)

2 Timothy 3:17 NLT

17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.

So scripture also equips you for every good work. In other words, scripture shows you how to live out the mission God has given you. So not only does scripture show you how to turn away from sin, it shows you how to do what is good and right.

So scripture shows us the way to salvation, right from wrong, and how to live out the mission of God. It’s basically the guidelines for our entire life.

Y’all know how y’all have elective classes in high school (or connection classes for the middle schoolers)? Well these elective classes form these pathways that give you a basic idea of what you need to know for your future career.

Back in high school I followed the engineering pathway, so I took 3 engineering classes. Now as you can see, I realized after taking these three classes that I in fact did not want to be an engineer, but that’s aside the point. These classes still gave me a basic idea of what it means to be an engineer.

The Bible does this too, but with life. The Bible shows us how we are to live our lives. And instead of the Bible just being Life 101, it’s also Life 102, 103, and so on. The Bible is THE life pathway.

So guess what this means for you? This means you need the Bible. You need for it to be a priority in your life; cause it shows you how to live life. So don’t read your Bible occasionally, read it often, study it, cherish it. Cause you and I need it.

2. How scripture leads others (4:1-5)

Scripture doesn’t just help us out personally. But scripture also shows us how we are to help others.

And that’s really what the beginning of chapter 4 of 2 Timothy is all about. Leading others. And you can clearly see that this is important to Paul. This is what he writes in the first verse of chapter 4:

2 Timothy 4:1 NLT

1 I solemnly urge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who will someday judge the living and the dead when he comes to set up his Kingdom:

So what he’s about to say is a big deal. And after this bold statement, he shows us the responsibility we have to lead others.

And there are 7 responsibilities we’re gonna talk that Paul gives us here.

The responsibility of leading others:

Preach the Word

To open verse 2, Paul says preach the Word. Not to preach what we want to say, or preach what we want others to hear, or what we think they want to hear… preach the Word.

2 Timothy 2:15 (NLT)

15 … Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth.

This means you have a responsibility as a Christian to correctly explain what the Bible says. And to do this, you also need to know what the Bible says. So it’s important for you to study the Bible and to correctly show others what it means.

Be prepared

No matter what season of life you’re in, be prepared to preach the Word of God. No matter what trial you’re facing or great time you’re having, be prepared to preach the Word.

Be patient

Sometimes leading others is frustrating. They may not get it, you might be in a difficult situation, it could be a difficult time. No matter the circumstance, be patient with others. Show them grace. You’re preaching the Word of God to them because you love them. So that means showing them grace no matter how they hurt you or what you’re dealing with.

Lead people away from myths and toward truth

We’re actually gonna spend a bit of time on this.

2 Timothy 4:2–4 (NLT)

2 … correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.

3 For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will reject the truth and chase after myths.

Sounds like today doesn’t it? There are so many beliefs out there that sound good, but are just tickling the ears of the hearers. Give to the church and God will bless you with a lot of money, Jesus doesn’t care what you do after you’re saved, you just need your fire insurance and you’re good, if you have enough faith, any sickness you have will be healed; it’s just telling people what they want to hear.

It’s important for us to correct and encourage people with GOOD teaching. God has given us the responsibility to show others in His Word how to obey Him. We don’t need to just tell people what they want to hear, we need to show them the truth.

Keep a clear mind

Do any of y’all have an anger problem? I do. I’ve gotten a bit better at controlling it, but I spent a lot of my early life just angry and spiteful to others. We are commanded to keep a clear mind in every situation. When something goes down that would anger us, we are called to not let our emotions cloud our judgment and handle the situation with a clear mind.

Don’t be afraid of suffering

There’ll be times where it’ll be tough to preach the Word. We might get made fun of, we might be threatened, and (I pray this doesn’t happen to y’all) but we might even get hurt. Paul writes to not be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Earlier on in 2 Timothy, he writes

2 Timothy 2:10 NLT

10 So I am willing to endure anything if it will bring salvation and eternal glory in Christ Jesus to those God has chosen.

We should be willing to endure anything if it means bringing salvation to others, including suffering.

Fully carry out the mission

Finally to close out our passage, Paul writes:

2 Timothy 4:5 (NLT)

5 … Work at telling others the Good News, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you.

Don’t abandon the mission when it gets too hard. Keep going. Jesus kept going for us. He knew the pain He would face on the cross, yet He carried out the mission anyway. This incredible grace He has shown us; He now gives us the task of giving it to others.

Let’s take a look at how Jesus lives this out.

Mark 1:9–15 NLT

9 One day Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and John baptized him in the Jordan River. 10 As Jesus came up out of the water, he saw the heavens splitting apart and the Holy Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice from heaven said, “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.” 12 The Spirit then compelled Jesus to go into the wilderness, 13 where he was tempted by Satan for forty days. He was out among the wild animals, and angels took care of him. 14 Later on, after John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee, where he preached God’s Good News. 15 “The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!”

Here we see the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. The first step of obedience we see here from Jesus is Him being baptized.

At this moment, Jesus’ baptism would be looking forward to the act of dying on the cross and rising from the grave, but now we look back on what Jesus has already done when we get baptized today.

Baptism is an outward expression of an inward change. It is showing others that you are saved by the blood of Jesus and it’s a command that Jesus gives us to follow through on. In fact, it’s in the Great Commission. So I urge you, if you haven’t already, take the step of obedience and get baptized.

After Jesus get’s baptized, He faces a challenge in the wilderness that I can only imagine how difficult it was. He fasted in the wilderness for 40 days; which means He went without food for 40 days. Not only that, but there were also wild animals in the wilderness with Him. And just to add icing on the cake, Satan himself came to torment Jesus.

So Jesus went into the wilderness where wild animals that could kill Him were, all the while Satan was tempting Him, and yet not only did He follow through with the fast, immediately after He was done He joyfully preached to others.

Y’all this is what comes from the Word of God. Through the power of the Holy Spirit and scripture, we have been given the tools. God is going to accomplish His mission, and He wants to do it through you.

Obedience is not about following a set of rules, it’s about your heart. Do you think that Jesus died on the cross just so you could follow a set of rules? No, He wants your heart. He wants you to be more like Him. To have a heart that genuinely desires to see glory brought to God and others to enjoy His grace. And He wants you to see that there is joy in having a heart like this.

So my question to y’all is… what is your response to the gospel? What is your response to the salvation that Jesus freely gives you? Is it running after sin? Is it chasing after myths? Or is it seeking to know more about God in the Bible; or using the inspired Word of God to show others how great God is?

Scripture is how God reveals Himself to the world. Why wouldn’t we want to read it? And why wouldn’t we want to tell others about it?