AWANA, part 2
2 Timothy • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Handout
I love AWANA
Acronym - Approved Workman Are Not Ashamed
The main thrusts:
Accurately Handling The Word Of Truth
Workman
Ashamed
Firm Foundation
The Firm Foundation of God:
The Firm Foundation of God:
The terms solid foundation, stand firm, and seal all highlight the unshakable nature of the truths of Scripture invoked by Paul.
Truth and falsehood must not be allowed to co-exist.
Keep oneself free from the contamination of the false teachers.
Be careful who you are listening to.
If you are accurately handling the word of truth, then you will abstain from wrangling with words and irreverent babble that only leads to more ungodliness.
Accurately Handling The Word Of Truth
Accurately Handling The Word Of Truth
To Cut or Divide Skillfully
To cut a straight line like a road or a furrow.
Example of my winrows and needing something to be my guide or my rows were wavey.
Also translated to rightly divide the Word of Truth
to present the truth rightly
to handle it in accord with its intention and to communicate properly its meaning.
context is King.
4 Levels Of Rightly Dividing
4 Levels Of Rightly Dividing
Prayer - Holy Spirit guide me to the truth in the Word.
“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.
Observation - What does it say?
Person:
Who is the person who wrote it? Author
To whom is the person writing? Audience
What does the person say?
Observation Tools
Read and reread
Outline
Lists
time indicators or sequencing
terms of contrast or comparison
terms of conclusion
Repeated words and phrases.
Interpretation - What does it mean?
Precept:
What did the person mean to communicate to the audience?
What was the author’s intent?
One Interpretation. One building block.
If you don’t get the interpretation correct, you will have a faulty application.
Interpretation Tools
What’s the genre?
narrative - is it telling a story?
apocalyptic - is it using mysterious and mystical prophetic language to describe a future event from the writer’s perspective?
parable - is it using a story to make a spiritual point?
What are the historical and cultural backgrounds?
What literary devices are used?
simile and metaphor
allegory
poetry
hyperbole
Precept Upon Precept.
Let Scripture build upon itself. Block upon block.
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
What might be unclear in one Scripture usually is clearer in another.
Let what is known in one part of the Bible define what is a mystery in another.
In the Old Testament the New is concealed.
In the New Testament the Old is revealed.
Saint Augustine of Hippo; R. C. Sproul; Robert Wolgemuth
Wrangling Over Words
It is far better to practice the things that are revealed than to speculate or argue over the truths that have been concealed.
Anonymous
Eisegesis vs. Exegesis
Be careful not to read my thoughts INTO the text.
Take what comes out of the text.
Application - How do I apply this to my life situation?
Principle:
What’s the main point(s)? What’s the takeaway?
One interpretation, many applications.
How does this apply to me?
takes discernment and wisdom
The “You Have Heards”...
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
The application for one person might be - Get out of that relationship you are in.
The application for another might be - Stop watching those certain movies.
Another might be, quit snapping that person.
Crossing cultural boundaries and divides.
Idioms specific to that culture
Prescription vs. Description
Is what you observed something simply described for information or is it a prescription to do as I have done?
The story of Ruth. Alistair Begg.
retired from pulpit
John McArthur passed away.
In the end, it’s what you build on the block, on the foundation.
And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
A spiritual sacrifice acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Accurately dividing the word should be more than just for information, but for transformation.
Final example of an application from the interpretation.
Am I rightly dividing the word of truth?
To whom does the Word of Truth point us?
It points us to THE Word of Truth
Jesus is the Word (logos) of Truth (aletheia).
Am I accurately portraying Jesus to those around me?
Workman
Workman
Soldier / athlete / farmer
As opposed to Hymenaeus and Philetus, Timothy, don’t stoop down to their level and engage in their antics.
Distinguish yourself from among them and be a good worker for God.
Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.
Be Diligent
(for Timothy, but by application to us)
“Do your best”
Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.
Make haste, be eager, hurry on
To Present Yourself Approved To God
Present - to show the quality which the person or thing exhibits.
Approved - tested by trial and getting a passing grade.
Tried as metals by fire and purified.
a test with a view towards approval.
You have the stamp of approval.
God’s standard has to be the standard by which we are compared.
God tests us not to fail us, but rather to show us that we can shine.
We often feel like failures, but God is just sanding off the rough edges and polishing the brass.
Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.
Ashamed
Ashamed
Timidity / cowardice / suffering
In this case, it’s one who does NOT need to be ashamed.
One who has no shame when his work is being inspected.
Why? Shame, here, is a result of lack of proper training and skill in handling God’s message of salvation.
This thought ties into the being approved.
Just as a Workman takes pride in a job well done, proper use of God’s word requires training and skill.
The point is that a workman’s job must be performed with skill.
There is no room for incompetence or shortcuts, and an untrained Workman may do more harm than good.
Which makes sense why God challenges us to be diligent / to make haste and with eagerness do your best.
Closing Challenge:
Closing Challenge:
The challenge is for all of us to be an unashamed workman who has passed the test, thus being approved by God.
AWANA - Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed
The first way to do that is to put your faith in that which will bring approval before God.
And that would be putting your faith in Jesus Christ.
He passed the test with flying colors and will give us His grade, if we will accept it.
If we do, we will be approved because He was already approved.
Secondly, we do that by being diligent to study the Word of God and to accurately handle it as God intended.
We are not to have a war over words.
We are to rightly divide the word of truth.
Finally, our lives reflect whether we have truly allowed the Word of Truth to purify us as a refining fire and to be a firm foundation under us.
God tests us and allows suffering to reveal our true character and identity.
The firm foundation of God’s Word allows us to weather the storm.
Closing Song: Firm Foundation (He Won’t)
