Acquainted with the Scriptures from Childhood

2 Timothy 3:10-17

You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.[1]

It would be ideal if parents assumed responsibility to provide religious education for the children God entrusts to them. Fathers are charged by Scripture to model the Christian Faith before their children, ensuring that their children are brought up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord [cf. Ephesians 6:4]. Likewise, according to Scripture, mothers are responsible to be mothers, above all else providing training in righteousness and pointing their children toward salvation.

While this is the ideal, it is a tragic truth that many parents have tacitly abdicated responsibility for moral and ethical training of their children. Parents seem content to look to public educators to provide moral/ethical training, or they seem to simply anticipate that somehow standards of righteousness will arise de novo in their children. Perhaps this accounts in part for the serious lack of ethical standards witnessed in modern businesses and the failure of contemporary politicians to fulfil their promises.

Churches bear responsibility for this distressing state of affairs. By levelling such a strong charge, I am laying responsibility at the feet of church leaders. I fear that we who serve as spokesmen of the Faith have failed to hold parishioners accountable for the biblical standard of the home. We have permitted this condition to arise through our failure to teach biblical ethics and morals to those claiming this holy Faith. Under our leadership, churches have rejected discipline, demonstrating neither willingness to apply biblical discipline nor willingness to accept such discipline.

If my children prove to be a benediction to my life, I share in some measure in the training they have received. Similarly, if my children reject the Faith and choose to walk contrary to godliness, I must be willing to assume some degree of responsibility.

Timothy apprenticed under the great Apostle, Paul. He learned from the Apostle, not in a formal setting, but through observing and listening. This method of learning is neglected in this day, but there was a day when every preacher, every physician, every professional and every tradesman, obtained their various skills through apprenticeship. Because of Timothy’s apprenticeship, the Apostle, in the twilight of earthly days, says of Timothy that he had followed his teaching, his conduct, his aim in life, his faith, his patience, his love, his steadfastness, his persecutions and the sufferings he had endured.

I seek to address two primary issues through this message. I want to convince each hearer of the necessity of sound instruction in the Faith of Christ Jesus our Lord. I am also endeavouring to present a strong case for the necessity of biblical instruction through the church, not to supersede the teaching of parents, but to complement parental training and to ensure that those not receiving training in righteousness have opportunity to learn of Christ the Lord. I want to strengthen the teaching ministry of each parent and of each grandparent through laying a foundation for reaching the next generation with the message of life. Coincidentally, I seek to strengthen the teaching ministry of this church, and especially to strengthen the teaching ministry of our Sunday School through strengthening the teaching ministry of each member of the congregation.

The Foundation for a Godly Life is Knowledge of the Word of God — Continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Every structure requires a foundation if it is to withstand the pressure of the elements. No less, does an individual require a solid foundation if he will survive the pressures that accompany life. In this context, perhaps it would be well to recall the story Jesus told about two houses built on two different strata.

Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great [Luke 6:46-49].

It is not merely by calling Jesus “Lord,” that one prepares for the pressures of life, but rather it is in actually ensuring that He is the foundation for life that one guarantees survival as the pressures of life come. Do not be deceived, pressures will come. Heartache and sorrow and pain will attend the way of each individual in greater or lesser measure. Should you be one of those rare individuals who do not experience such pressures, you will be tested by the good fortune you experience. Wealth and the absence of need are every bit as great a test as is injury and misfortune.

Since we have already established that the Word of Lord is the only foundation certain to survive such testing, I wish to press this issue yet further by referring you to the words of the Apostle recorded in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

Lest some are confused by the call to consider what foundation you are building on, I simply remind you that the proper foundation for all life is the teaching of Christ, that is, the instruction of His Word, just as Paul has taught elsewhere. As an example, consider the following passage in the Ephesian letter.

Remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit [Ephesians 2:11-22].

Each of the passages just cited, and others that could have been mentioned, attest to one great truth—the teaching of God’s Word is foundational for a godly life. Do you want to be successful in life? How do you define success? Is a large portfolio the mark of success? Is success a secure position in the labour force? Is success determined by a name immediately recognised throughout the community? All these conditions may be a mark of success—if this present existence is all there is; but none of these conditions will survive this life. At the last, the sole mark of success is to be known by God, commended by Him and accepted into His Kingdom.

If an individual is to make a success of life, the foundation upon which he or she is building must be carefully selected. If, as the Word of God insists, the teaching of the Word is foundational for a successful life, then we must ensure both that those who preach the Word carefully and correctly handle the Word, and that those who receive the Word as students receive every opportunity to discover the revealed mind of God.

Thus, Paul commends the training Timothy had received during his formative years. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well [2 Timothy 1:5]. A mother instructed her daughter in the truths of the Faith, and laid the foundation for that young girl to look in faith to the True and Living God. That girl grew to adulthood and in turn was instrumental in training her son in the truths of that same Faith she had embraced as a child, and her son was prepared for life when the Spirit of God called him to faith.

Throughout the years of my service before the Lord, I have observed a great truth. Parents are the most influential person in the life of a child, but their opportunity to influence their children is limited to an incredibly narrow window of opportunity. An overwhelming majority of individuals who profess the Faith of Christ the Lord will attest that they came to faith in their youth. Multiple studies and surveys state that an overwhelming majority of Christians come to faith before the age of eighteen.

In a recent sermon, Jerry Falwell, founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, stated, “About 95% of all believers are saved before age 21. Yet, the average U.S. church spends 2% of its budget to reach teens and another 2% to reach pre-teens. There are thousands of men and women in education who have dedicated themselves to teach teens. The church must do the same.

“John Calvin was a pastor at seventeen. George Whitfield was preaching to great crowds by the time he was twenty-one. Charles Spurgeon was a famous pulpit orator when he was only sixteen, and became pastor of the great Metropolitan Tabernacle in London at age twenty. The three Hebrew children and Daniel were all teens when they made Biblical history. I was twenty-two when I graduated from Baptist Bible College, returned to my hometown and started Thomas Road Baptist Church. My internship experience was as a youth pastor at Park Avenue Baptist Church in 1953 when I was nineteen...and Kansas City Baptist Temple in 1955 at twenty-one.”[2]

Here are some questions for you to ponder. What percentage of our budget is dedicated to ensuring an effective teaching ministry reaching out to our communities? According to my calculations, before changes initiated by our deacons, the percentage allocated for our Sunday School was 1.1% of our budget. Even with the adjustments we have made, the percentage does not reach 2%. There is great room for improvement.

What percentage of your time as a parent is invested in teaching your children the deep truths of the Faith? I assume that you do spend time teaching moral and ethical values, explaining why you do not act in a way that would dishonour your confession of Christ as Lord. I further assume that you invest time with your children speaking of what honours you as a parent and what is pleasing in the sight of God.

What percentage of your day is spent in prayer with your children? What percentage of your day is spent in reading the Bible with your children? What percentage of your day is invested discussing the truths of the Faith with your children? For far too many of our youth, more time is spent watching television, passively permitting a fallen wicked world in which we are temporarily placed to teach them standards of death.

There is a reason why our children are doctrinally illiterate and there is a reason why few of our youth choose to continue in this Holy Faith after age seventeen or eighteen. We squander our narrow window of opportunity and at last, the day arrives when they are no longer willing to hear our pleas to consider the Faith of Christ the Lord.

One of my friends is a fellow elder. He came to faith relatively late in life and shortly after becoming a Christian he started a church, which he still pastors. His sons never saw their dad pray or read the Bible—until they were gone from the home. Today, none of his sons is in the Christian Faith. They are good boys, decent men, but they are lost. Their lost condition is a blot on the heart of that good man and his fine wife.

I mention this because I need your help to guard against this happening in our homes and in our church. It should be the goal of each Christian, and certainly the goal of each member of this particular congregation, to keep our children from the danger of hell and to live godly lives. It must be our goal as Christians to work hard to provide the finest Christian education for any child who attends this church, and assuredly, we should labour to ensure that our own children will grow to be godly adults—a benediction to the investment of love and to our lives as a people of the Book.

Our great need is for men and women to willing accept little ones, seeing them as precious in the sight of the Lord. We need to be a congregation committed to providing facilities and materials to instruct in righteousness all that the Lord sends us. We must have men and women willing to commit themselves to serving as teachers and as assistants. Each of us should prepare ourselves to teach through participating in Sunday School and through seeking opportunity to teach the Word.

The Fruit of Sound Teaching Ensures Endurance in Life — You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

Paul lived life as an Apostle in a fishbowl. Unlike the message of many modern preachers, he did not promise an easy life or worldly wealth for those entering the Faith. Quite the contrary to what seems to be a constant and growing theme within evangelicalism, Paul warned of hardship in the world and of persecution from those who are not of the Faith. In this, he was but following the lead of the Master.

At the conclusion of his first missionary journey, Paul passed once again through the villages where churches had been established. There, together with Barnabas, he delivered a message designed to encourage the new believers. When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God [Acts.14: 21, 22].

Now, there is a message that will get the preacher fired from most churches! Come; place your faith in Jesus and experience hostility like you’ve never known before! Come; enter into the Kingdom of God and discover what it feels like to be persecuted! Early in his labour as the Apostle to the Gentiles, Paul wrote some of the first letters to be included in the New Testament canon. In those letters, he spoke of the need for stamina.

We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring [2 Thessalonians 1:3, 4].

Earlier, he had written that same church, revealing his deep concern because of persecutions they were experiencing. When we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone, and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s co-worker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know. For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labour would be in vain [1 Thessalonians 3:1-5].

The message of Paul among the churches, was the same that had been delivered when the Lord Jesus sent Ananias to commission Paul for divine service. Note especially one major point in the commissioning message Ananias delivered to Saul of Tarsus was, I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name [Acts 9:16]. Would you serve God if He called you with a message that assured you that you will suffer for His sake?

As He prepared to depart this earth by way of crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus warned His disciples of the manner in which the world was likely to receive them and their message. The words of Jesus always serve to underpin the apostolic teaching that we have received. The passage is sufficiently important that I will ask you to look it up in your own Bible, marking it so that you can think about it later.

If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: “They hated me without a cause” [John 15:18-25].

Peter, also, warned us who are saints to anticipate suffering. In the first letter Peter wrote to believing Jews of the Diaspora, he cautioned believers in this way. Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And

“If the righteous is scarcely saved,

what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good [1 Peter 4:12-19].

Tribulations, persecutions and suffering are not all together negative. James identifies one significant benefit. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing [James 1:2-4].

Sound teaching prepares the Christian for the reality of the Christian life. Thus equipped, the child of God will not be quickly moved when challenged. One taught in the reality of the Faith and prepared to live boldly for the cause of Christ will walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, will attempt great deeds to the glory of Christ the Lord, and will therefore reveal the grace of the True and Living God. Instead of bemoaning the pressures of life as a Christian and wailing “why” when pressures come, as do the ignorant, the child of God who has been taught in the truths of the Word will ask instead, “how?” “How can I glorify God in this situation?” “What is God teaching me?”

Paul reminded Timothy of his teaching—the doctrines he had taught. He also reminded the young theologue of his conduct (his whole demeanour and way of life), his aim in life (the spiritual ambitions that had motivated him), his faith (which here perhaps includes his fidelity), his patience (long suffering toward aggravating people, no doubt gained through enduring trials), his love, his steadfastness (patient endurance of trying circumstances), his persecutions and his sufferings. This catalogue of experiences speak of a life characterised by soundness and strength gained through withstanding trials.

There is a point here worthy of careful consideration. When I read the words, You, however, I discover that the language Paul used [Σὺ δὲ παρηκολούθησάς] employs a technical term defining the relation of a disciple to his master.[3] In other words, all that Paul had experienced as a disciple of the Lord Jesus, Timothy had witnessed at close quarters. Moreover, we would rightly anticipate that Timothy had shared in many of those experiences, suffering the same pressures as he stood by the side of the Apostle.

These words are not issued by some scholar ensconced in an ivory tower. Rather they issued from the heart of one who had lived daringly as he called to a younger man who had shared the dangers to likewise pick up the torch and continue this daring life. Do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savoir Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me. Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.

The Apostle then emphasises the need for steadfastness in the Faith. You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything [2 Timothy 1:8-14; 2:1-7].

You will never stand firm, you will not resist the pressures of this hostile world, until you are trained in the truths of the Word of God. If we as adults find it so difficult to withstand such pressures, should we really be surprised when our children fold like a cheap pocketknife when challenged by their peers to discard the Faith and to embrace the standards of this dying world? Our children have virtually no hope of standing firm if we fail to train them in the Faith and if we fail to provide an example of godliness. This we do as we live righteously in our own homes and as we provide sound teaching through our Sunday School programme and through our children’s church programme.

A Fulcrum Capable of Moving the World — All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. We are entrusted with incredible power. Christians have been assigned an impossible task. We are responsible to proclaim the Word of God in power, calling all mankind to life through faith in the Son of God. We recognise that we have no power of our own. That power we do have to accomplish this great task is unseen—it is the power of God’s Holy Spirit within us.

It is only so long as we faithfully proclaim the word of God that we have hope of accomplishing the assigned task of bringing others to life. Our proclamation must not be a mere declaration of what we think is appropriate to say or what we hope will not be offensive, but rather the message entrusted to us is the message from Holy God Himself. Whether heralding the message of life from a pulpit or carefully instructing others in the setting of a Sunday School classroom or patiently presenting the claims of Christ over a cup of coffee, we are each called to be witnesses of His grace. The power of our message—and there is considerable power available to each of us—is supplied through adherence to the Word that God Himself has given.

The words of this Bible claim divine origin. The very words of Scripture were literally breathed out by God Himself. The words originated in God’s mind and came into existence as men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit [2 Peter 1:21]. God’s Spirit superintended all that was written, ensuring that precisely what was necessary for life and liberty was conveyed to us.

Therefore, if we wish to know the mind of God, we need but read this Word. Someone has accurately described the Bible as God’s love letter to mankind. Throughout the pages of Scripture are found precepts designed to honour Him as Creator and God, together with teachings intended to ensure that we discover what makes for a complete and delightful life. Notice how the Bible correlates the Word of God with life.

Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labour in vain [Philippians 2:14-16].

When Peter and John were finally freed from prison, they were commanded by the angel, Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life [Acts 5:20].

When the Law was complete, Moses spoke of the Words that God had given. Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law. For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess [Deuteronomy 32:46, 47]. If those words were true of the Law, the same Law to which we are said to have died [see Romans 7:4], how much more is the same commentary to be applied to the whole of Scripture! This Word of God is our life. By the Word of God we live and without that Word we die!

Consider also the words of the Psalmist.

My soul clings to the dust;

give me life according to your word!

I am severely afflicted;

give me life, O Lord, according to your word!

[Psalm 119:25, 107]

This Psalm is in agreement with the words of Jesus Himself. He affirmed this truth when He said to His disciples, the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life [John 6:63]. To Jesus, Peter attested, You have the words of eternal life [John 6:68].

Consider, one last time, how we have been taught us to do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world. As we live holy and godly lives described in this passage, it will be because we are always holding fast to the word of life. With the Apostle, my hope is that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labour in vain [Philippians 2:14-16].

This is my plea to the congregation, hold fast to the Word of life. Communicate that Word to others. Seek to be teachers of the Word. Help us grow a church where all may come to learn of Christ and of the Faith. Join me in affirming that together we will instruct our children in righteousness. Too many of our youth are theologically ignorant, and we dare not permit this condition to persist. Find a place of service in our Sunday School and help me grow a great church where we constantly reach out to all people, holding fast to the Word of life.

And that Word is the word that always marks the message I proclaim. It is this. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” [Romans 10:9-13]. Amen.

[2] Jerry Falwell, A New Wind Blowing in America, http://www.trbc.org/sermons/20010128.html

[3] See J. N. D. Kelly, Black’s New Testament Commentary: The Pastoral Epistles (A & C Black (Publishers) Ltd., London, England 1960), 198

[4] Jerry Falwell, A New Wind Blowing in America, http://www.trbc.org/sermons/20010128.html

[5] See J. N. D. Kelly, Black’s New Testament Commentary: The Pastoral Epistles (A & C Black (Publishers) Ltd., London, England 1960), 198