Read it Right

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Passage Context:

Today we will be in the second letter that the Apostle Paul writes to the Timothy. Paul is writing about running the race and specifically how to finish well. He tells him that although there will most definitely be difficult times ahead, we have a few tools at our disposal to get through the difficulties of this life, and tools that we only have in our hands if we have Christ in our hearts.

Paul gives us a warning about the kind of world that we are living in and the type of people to avoid:

2 Timothy 3:1-

2 Timothy 3:1–5 HCSB

1 But know this: Difficult times will come in the last days. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good, 4 traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to the form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid these people!

Despite persecutions we might encounter, despite the hardships we come up against, physically, emotionally, or spiritually, Paul encourages each of us to persevere. Life is not easy. Sometimes it is a real struggle—but we are called to endure. It is Christ who gives us strength to finish the race.

Larson, K. (2000). I & II Thessalonians, I & II Timothy, Titus, Philemon (Vol. 9, p. 300). Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

Read

2 Timothy 3:13–17 HCSB

13 Evil people and impostors will become worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed. You know those who taught you, 15 and you know that from childhood you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are able to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:12–17 HCSB

12 In fact, all those who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. 13 Evil people and impostors will become worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed. You know those who taught you, 15 and you know that from childhood you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are able to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:10–17 HCSB

10 But you have followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, and endurance, 11 along with the persecutions and sufferings that came to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. What persecutions I endured! Yet the Lord rescued me from them all. 12 In fact, all those who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. 13 Evil people and impostors will become worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed. You know those who taught you, 15 and you know that from childhood you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are able to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Message Points

Message Points

Message Points

I believe that this passage teaches us 2 things:

1. Living Different is COSTLY:

As we talk about reading the word of God today, I want to be very upfront and honest with you, what the bible says to do will not always be easy, but it will always be worth it.

Paul tells Timothy in verse 10 and 11 “I have definitely had my fair share of hardships, but without fail, my God has been bigger than them all and has brought me through them.”

I wonder how many of us would admit that today we may walking through a time where we aren’t okay and that we might be wondering if this whole Jesus thing is worth it.

I want you to know that it is okay to have those thoughts from time to time. But what I want you to know more than that is that our faith, which is eternal, is definitely worth the cost of temporary pleasure.

Luke 14:25–34 HCSB

25 Now great crowds were traveling with Him. So He turned and said to them: 26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, and even his own life—he cannot be My disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28 “For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, after he has laid the foundation and cannot finish it, all the onlookers will begin to make fun of him, 30 saying, ‘This man started to build and wasn’t able to finish.’ 31 “Or what king, going to war against another king, will not first sit down and decide if he is able with 10,000 to oppose the one who comes against him with 20,000? 32 If not, while the other is still far off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, therefore, every one of you who does not say good-bye to all his possessions cannot be My disciple. 34 “Now, salt is good, but if salt should lose its taste, how will it be made salty?

Luke 14:2

This passage speaks to the kind of cost that it takes to live by the Word of God. The bible can either be the source of our greatest joy or the object of most of our pain.

What do I mean? I mean that maybe our relationship with the God of the Bible is not in right standing His Word brings us more anger and aggravation rather that joy and peace.

I want to put this on a level that hopefully most of us can relate on.

When I was in high school, I THOUGHT I was a very attractive guy. But i had a hole in my heart that stemmed from some deep rooted trauma from my past, but long story short, I knew that I could fill that hole with a relationship, I just chased the wrong ones.

I dated girl after girl trying to get it just right. This one was too clingly, that one was not clingy enough. This one was a smoke show, this one was the sweetest person you have ever met.

I realized later on that the relationship that I had been looking for was not with a girlfriend, but with my God. Once I fell in love with Him and His Word, it gave me a perspective that I had never had before.

But I had to give up what I thought I wanted in order to find what I really needed.

Which brings me to our next point:

2. Living Different brings CONTENTMENT:

When we know the God of the bible, the bible brings a peace to our lives. The very fact that the “All scripture is God breathed” gives us a peace when read about something that makes us uncomfortable.

But it is in our pursuit of the things of this world that holds us down.

James 1:22 HCSB

22 But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

Ephesians 5:1–2 HCSB

1 Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children. 2 And walk in love, as the Messiah also loved us and gave Himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.

2 Timothy

2 Timothy 3:17 HCSB

17 so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

The last part of verse 17 talks about being complete and equipped. The only way we can possibly dream of reaching the feeling of being complete is and equipped is by the study of God’s Word.

Response:

Response: