2 Timothy 2:14-19 No Gospel. No Mission.

Intro

Sola Scriptura. Scripture alone.

That was the battle cry of the Reformation.

It proclaimed that the Word of God alone is our highest authority.

That it alone binds our conscience, proclaims the gospel, and instructs us in all of our life, faith, and practice.

Practically every Protestant Christian affirms God’s Word alone.

They say of course God’s Word is the highest authority of my life.

Of course I believe all of my life needs to be submitted to the Word of God.

But if you look at the state of the church and the world today its a fair question to ask, Is it?

Is the Word of God really our highest authority, or is that just something we know we are supposed to say?

What would it look like if we really did live by God’s Word alone? If we really believed Sola Scriptura?

I mean practically, what would that look like in our everyday life?

2 Timothy 2:14-19 gives us an answer.

These a monumentally important questions because everything, our faith, lives, purpose, and mission rises and falls on the Word of God.

And the overarching idea of this passage is clear...

The Word of God must by our highest authority because it alone leads us to Christ and godliness.

And in these verses, Paul tells us exactly what that looks like.

The goal of the Reformation, and the goal of every Christian and every church should be Semper Reformanda.

Always reforming.

Always seeking more and more to bring our lives, our faith, and our practice into greater and greater conformity to God’s Word.

And its only by holding God’s Word as our sole and absolute authority that we can glorify Christ, carry out the Great Commission, and Semper Reformanda.

Let’s start in 2 Timothy 2:14.

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I. We Must Hold Fast to God’s Word

2 Timothy 2:14 Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers.

Them

So the first question we need to answer to understand what Paul is saying in this passage is who does Paul mean when he says “them?”

Who is Paul commanding Timothy to remind of these things and charge before God not to quarrel about words?

It could mean just Christians in general. The believers in Ephesus where Timothy is a Pastor. And as we will see, they are definitely in view here, but that is not primarily who Paul has in mind.

In this verse Paul’s concern is for anyone that would hear whoever “them” is, and the rest of this passage focuses on rightly handling the word of truth and the danger of false teachers.

So the “them” in this verse are the same people Paul mentioned in all the way up in verse 2. Entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.

They are the Pastors. The ones who would lead the churches and teach the Word of God.

Now at this point I want to urge you don’t check out.

The temptation can be, Well, I’m not a Pastor. I’m not ever going to be a pastor, so this passage must be irrelevant to me.

That’s not true. Pastors are called in the Bible to be examples to the flock (1 Peter 5:3).

That means they live a pattern of life every other member of the church should strive to follow. Like Paul said, Imitate me as I imitate Christ (1 Cor 11:1).

So everything Paul says about Pastors has a direct implication for your life as well.

Pastors are called by God to lead the churches. That means what Paul desires for Pastors, he also desires for churches in general because the flock will follow the shepherd.

And by God’s grace every shepherd will follow the Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ.

So as we work through this passage and what God says about Pastors, you should see these commands as Number 1. examples you should aspire to.

Pastors, by definition, need to have godly character that gives the church a real life picture of mature Christianity and what it looks like to live for Christ.

Number 2. You should see these commands as the standard you should expect from your shepherds.

On its surface, this passage compares faithful ministers of the gospel with false teachers who have swerved from the truth.

And if that was as deep as we went into this passage, we could do a lot worst.

But I want to go one layer deeper.

And to do that we need to ask this question. Why does Paul command pastors, and by their example all Christians, to rightly handle the word of truth?

Why is he so concerned about false teachers and holding fast to the Word of God?

To answer that you need to remember the context. Paul’s passing the torch. He’s telling Timothy, and us today, finish the mission.

Follow Christ, preach the gospel, make disciples, no matter the cost.

And Paul knows that without sound doctrine, without the word of truth, without the gospel, that mission won’t happen.

No Gospel. No Mission.

Think about it. What is the mission Jesus gave us to do?

Make disciples by baptizing them and teaching them to obey everything Jesus commanded us.

Well how do we do that? The Word of God.

The Word alone proclaims the good news of salvation in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. It alone teaches us the straight path of obedience that leads to godliness and the glory of Christ.

So in a real way, the mission of the church is the mission of the Word. And Paul knew that without the Word, without the Gospel, Sound Doctrine, everything would be lost.

How can we be saved and obey Christ, the essence of what it means to be a disciple, if we let go of God’s Word as our highest authority and allow false teaching to creep in?

How can the world be saved and obeyed Christ, the definition of what it means to make disciples, if all we have to offer them is a perverted gospel that has the power to save no one?

The Word of God must be our highest authority. It must be the foundation of everything we believe and everything we do.

No gospel. No mission.

Without sound doctrine there is no discipleship and without discipleship there is no salvation.

So as we talk about pastoral ministry, rightly handling the word of truth, and false teachers, don’t get lost. Filter everything through this idea: We need Sound Doctrine.

That means you should expect from us, your pastors, nothing less than the full counsel of the Word of God.

And that we as a church should expect nothing less, and pray by God’s grace, that God’s Word alone would be our highest authority, life, and purpose.

All of Christ, for all of life, in everything. That is the glory of holding fast to the Word of God.

Remind

And that’s exactly what Paul says to do.

Remind them, these faithful men, of these things.

What are these things?

Its everything from verse 2 until now.

Right after Paul talked about these faithful men, he gave us three pictures of what it looks like to share in suffering for the gospel and finish the mission.

He compared it to a soldier who leaves his life behind to go to war and please his master.

An athlete who runs the marathon with endurance obeying the rules. Faithfully persevering.

And a hard-working farmer who with faith and patience keeps his hand to the plow trusting the harvest will come.

Paul wants these faithful men, and by example the churches that follow them, to strive for this kind of ministry. To strive for this kind of commitment to the great commission wherever God has them.

Whether actually leading a church. A business owner. A stay-at-home mom discipling her kids.

Paul says remind them to be holy devoted to the Kingdom of God.

These things also includes the hymn right before verse 14.

If you remember, this is a hymn of the Christian life. If we died with him, we will also live with him.

This speaks to our salvation through Jesus’ death on the cross and bodily resurrection three days later. It also speaks to our Christian life as a life of holiness because how can we who died to sin still live in it?

If we endure, we will also reign with him. The Christian life is one of perseverance. And if we persevere, by the grace of God, Jesus promises that at the end, we will be saved.

If we deny him, he will also deny us. This is a warning against apostasy. Of walking away from Jesus because there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.

And finally, if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself. Even though we are weak and stumble, Christ holds on to us. From beginning to end our salvation rests in him.

So when you put all this together Paul wants these pastors and the churches from the time he wrote this letter until the Lord’s return to remember to live for the Kingdom like a soldier, athlete, and farmer and to hold fast to the gospel, holiness, perseverance, and God’s faithfulness.

Charge

And then he says and charge them before God not to quarrel about words which does no good, but only ruins the hearers.

Charge carries this idea of warn. Warn them before God not to quarrel about words.

Now you might read this and think Paul is saying, Timothy, charge them no to nitpick. Charge them not to argue and fight over theological particulars. Theological nuances.

And there’s definitely some truth to that. We should keep the main thing the main thing.

Yes we want to be theologically precise, but we don’t want to be so precise we start calling everyone else a heretic.

We are allowed to have different nuances and understandings in our church and still be theologically orthodox.

This also doesn’t mean that we should defend the truth against false teaching. Earlier Paul told Timothy to guard the good deposit entrusted to him. Paul himself fights against false teachers here.

This is the only time in Scripture this word is used. So if we want to understand what Paul is saying, we need to see how Paul uses this word in this passage.

In just a few verses, Paul is warns us against false teachers who have swerved from the truth.

He tells Timothy to rightly handle to truth.

Latter he calls this quarrel about words irreverent babble.

What that means is the kind of quarrels about words Paul has in mind is not talking about theological hair splitting, and its not about telling Timothy to just ignore false teaching and never say anything about it.

Its not quarrels about words. Its quarrels against the Word.

Its questioning Scripture, the word of truth, in a way that makes someone swerve from the truth.

Paul is saying Charge them to not fight against or question the Word of God. There’s no argument.

God has said what he said and that’s that.

There is no room for Pastors, and churches, and Christians to quote Satan and ask “Did God really say?”

Now that doesn’t mean when you have theological questions or you don’t understand a passage you can’t ask what does this mean? And debate and wrestle over it.

It means that where God has clearly spoken, we humble ourselves and hold fast to His Word as our highest authority.

And then Paul tells us why its so important to hold fast to the Word.

Questioning God’s Word, does no good, but only ruins the hearers.

Literally does no good means its “useless.” Pointless. Unprofitable.

The only good contradicting the Word of God and fighting against it does is ruining the hearers.

The word ruin is the Greek word kata-stophe (καταστροφή) where we get our english word catastrophe from.

Its used only one other time in Scripture when Peter talks about how God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for their sin (2 Peter 2:6).

Paul even expands on what he means by ruin in two other parts of this passage. In verse 16 he says that this irreverent babble will lead people into more and more ungodliness.

And in verse 18 he says that false teaching upsets the faith of some. Interestingly enough, another translation for upset is ruin, destroy, or overturn.

So what Paul is saying is false teaching, going against God’s Word is absolutely useless and gives no benefit to anyone that follows it.

It ruins the hearers by leading them to, at best, a weak and sick faith that is characterized by ungodliness, and at worst, a hard-hearted apostasy that results in a false believer’s eternal judgment and destruction.

You can start to see what Paul is doing here.

He’s saying Timothy Remind them they are soldiers, marathon runners, and hardworking farmers. They need to live like it. They need to remember the gospel, the need for perseverance, and the danger of apostasy.

And you need to charge them, before God to not tamper with the Word. To hold fast to it as the highest authority of their lives and the church because without sound doctrine, no one will be saved.

False gospels have the power to save no one. They will only ruin, overturn, and destroy the hearers.

If we lose the word, if we stop holding it as the highest authority, we lose the mission.

Hold fast to God’s Word.

Number 2. Not only do we need to hold fast to God’s Word, we also need to honor God’s Word if we are truly going to live with it as our highest authority.

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II. We Must Honor God’s Word

2 Timothy 2:15-17 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene.

So in the last verse Paul told Timothy his desire for the Pastors and by implication the churches they lead.

And here Paul speaks directly to Timothy. But remember the principle of entrust to faithful men who will teach others also.

That principle tells us these commands are not just for Timothy.

In obeying these commands Timothy is the example for these other pastors who, in turn, are the examples for their churches.

I want you to stick with me. We’re still in the same boat. These verses for Timothy trickle all the way down to us today wherever and however God has called us to serve in His Kingdom.

They apply to us individually and as a church because we should all do our best to present ourselves to God as one approved, and remember the importance of sound doctrine not only for our faith and godliness but also for our mission to make disciples.

The command do your best is a command for Timothy to make every effort. It carries the idea of being eager or zealous.

So in seeking first the Kingdom and finishing the mission Paul wants Timothy to do everything he can to present himself to God as one approved.

Approved means tried and true. Tested, and found worthy. This is a command for Timothy to do everything in his power, strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, to faithfully fulfill his ministry.

To be a worker who has no need to be ashamed. That is what it means to present ourselves to God as one approved.

And a worker is Paul’s one word summary of the three pictures of faithful ministry he gave earlier in chapter 2.

The worker who has no need to be ashamed is the faithful soldier, athlete, and farmer.

And then Paul defines exactly how Timothy can do that.

By rightly handling the word of truth. By honoring the Word.

This is the key. This is the key to the whole passage. Our job as individuals, families, and a church is to do the best we can to rightly handle the word of truth.

Well what is that? What is the word of truth?

Word of Truth

First and foremost, the Word of Truth is the gospel. The good news of Jesus Christ.

We can’t be too careful here because we live in a world where everything is gospel-centered and everything seems to be a gospel issue.

The gospel is not muddy. It starts with bad news. We are all sinners. We have all sinned and disobeyed God and deserve his just and righteous wrath. The Bible says the wages of sin is death and we deserve it.

But the good news is, God in His love, grace, and mercy sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for the sins of the world.

Jesus, eternal God, was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, suffered and died on the cross in our place for our sins, rose again three days later, and ascended to the right hand of the Father, King of kings and Lord of lords.

And through faith in Jesus, when we put our hope, trust, and life in Him, God washes us in his blood. He forgives our sins, and adopts us as sons and daughters promising to give us eternal life with Him, forever.

That’s the gospel. And how we know the gospel is the first thing on Paul’s mind when he says the word of truth, is because of what Paul said in Ephesians 1:13 “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.”

But the word of truth is not merely the gospel. It is primarily the gospel, but the gospel has implications for what we believe and how we live.

Here, Paul tells Timothy to rightly handle the word of truth, and in just 2 chapters in 2 Timothy 4:2 Paul tells him to preach the word right after he gave the glorious truth that All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable.

So the Word of truth also includes the Scriptures, what we normally think of when we say the Word of God, because all Scripture points to Christ.

It either points to Him and His saving work, or it points from Him to tell us what His salvation, His gospel, should accomplish in the life of the believer.

Righteousness, holiness, obedience. Not to earn God’s salvation, but because God has saved us in Christ.

So the word of truth is the gospel, and by implication the Scriptures that proclaim the fullness of the gospel and all its instructions for gospel living, and by implication again, it includes sound doctrine.

Earlier in 1:13 Paul says follow the pattern of sound words that you have heard from me.

If you remember, sound can also be translated as healthy, full of life.

And here’s what I want you to notice. When Paul compares faithful workmen who rightly handle the word with false teachers he says their talk will spread like gangrene.

Gangrene is either a cancer or flesh disease, but either way, the idea is simple its a sickness that eats away at the church and our faith and leads to more and more ungodliness.

And when Paul says their talk, literally, that’s their word. So he’s comparing the word of truth, healthy doctrine that leads to life and salvation, to the word of false teachers which only produces sickness and death.

So what Paul wants for Timothy, Pastors, and Faithful Churches to finish the mission is the right handling God’s revelation of salvation. The right handling of the gospel of Christ, proclaimed in the Scriptures and all that that entails for our faith and godliness.

False teaching that dishonors the word, twists the gospel, does not lead to life and salvation. Its a cancer that only leads to death.

And Paul even gets specific on what the word of the false teachers that spreads like gangrene is. He calls it irreverent babble.

Irreverent Babble

Irreverent babble could also be translated as godless, worldly, or unholy chatter.

For Paul godless and worldly babble is any teaching of salvation or forgiveness that relies on human or worldly wisdom instead of the divine revelation of God.

The false teachers in Ephesus were largely Jewish legalists who were forbidding marriage, and enforcing Jewish food laws to be a “true Christian.”

And we know Paul is dealing with the same false teachers because Hymenaeus is named in both letters and here Paul says why they are such legalists is because they got the resurrection wrong.

Basically, their specific false teaching said, we’ve already been raised from the dead. We’ve gone through a spiritual resurrection, and the only way you’re saved is if you’re ultra holy.

If you abstain from the pleasures of the world and live a truly spiritual life.

All it is is salvation by works which is no different than any other human religion or worldly philosophy today.

Even pagans who live after their hedonistic lusts say that they can save themselves no matter how many evil works they do, because they are a good person.

God’s Word, the word of truth, says no one can save themselves. The only person that can save us is Christ.

So by comparing the word of truth with irreverent babble is Paul saying, not only do you need to hold fast to the word, you need to honor the word by holding it as the highest authority.

Avoid any human wisdom, any teaching that fits right in line with the world or hints at all that we can save ourselves outside of Christ.

Instead, honor God’s word. Ignore irreverent babble. Don’t teach or proclaim your wisdom, your best thoughts. Focus on and proclaim only the word of God.

Let it, and it alone, be the foundation of all your life and the church.

Honoring God’s word means its the highest word. The final word. We don’t look to ourselves or to the wisdom of the world. We don’t try to mix Christ with human wisdom.

We build all of our life on the word of God. On Christ and his gospel, and we don’t swerve from it.

That’s why Paul says...

Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some.

Here again is a contrast between true preachers of God’s Word and false teachers.

When Paul said God’s workman rightly handles the word of truth, that word literally means to cut straight or to guide along a straight path.

Its this idea of building a highway.

False teachers on the other hand swerve. They distort the word, build crooked paths that don’t lead anyone to salvation.

They change the message to fit the culture of the day, be loved by the world at the expense of the truth, and people’s souls.

As a result, their word, their false word, upsets the faith of some.

Remember, upset can mean ruin or overturn, and in context this can mean it leads people into more and more ungodliness, as in false teaching in the life of a true believer eats away them like a cancer.

Or it can mean that the false teachers are leading people to their ultimate destruction because their false gospels don’t have the power to save, and people that follow them ultimately commit apostasy and walk away from Christ altogether.

We see this in our own day. Instead of holding fast to and honoring the Word, people are swerving from the truth.

People are falling away, not because they are losing their salvation but because they were never saved in the first place.

But still, it can be discouraging. We can start to feel foolish. We are building all of our lives, and our children’s lives on faith.

Are we crazy to take the Word as seriously as we do? To keep going one direction when it feels like the whole world is going another?

Paul knew that feeling. And that’s why he closes this passage with point three.

III. We Must Trust the Power of God’s Word

2 Timothy 2:19 But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

Where Paul just said false teachers are causing apostasy and ungodliness in the churches, here Paul says, their not going to win. God’s firm foundation stands.

In 1 Timothy he compared the church to God’s house that he himself is building and now he says that God is building that house on a sure and firm foundation.

What is that? To find that answer, we need to go to Ephesians. Remember, Timothy is in Ephesus. He pastors the church Paul wrote the letter of Ephesians to.

And in that letter, Paul also said the church was the household of God, then in Ephesians 2:20-21 he says “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.”

The firm foundation is the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.

That’s the gospel. The Word of God. The Word of Truth.

So what Paul is saying is, it doesn’t matter how many people walk away. The gospel of Christ and the church it builds will stand.

False teaching and heretics will not stop God’s mission to save sinners.

The Word of God stands firm.

And this is an encouraging word for us today.

We see apostasy left and right. False teaching everywhere you turn. Sometimes it feels like there are just as many people abandoning the Word of God as their are holding fast to it.

We are living in a day where everything is being shaken. It looks like everything is falling apart, but really, God is just shaking everything in the world, so that what cannot be shaken, His Kingdom, His gospel, His Christ will be all that’s left standing.

God is shaking our culture to call us to repentance. To bring people to an end of themselves so that they would know they have nothing left, and they need Christ.

And make no mistake. One of the things God is shaking is the church.

For too long, we have worshiped our idols of comfort, safety, and respect.

We have so desperately wanted to be loved by the world, and have loved our own neat little lives that many churches have abandoned the Word of God. Softened the Word of God.

They’ve taken the Word that is sharper than any two edged sword, and blunted the edge so much that at this point its barely more than a butter knife.

If revival’s going to come, if people and our nation are going to return to the Word of God and submit to it, it has to start with us first.

We need to repent and say God, we are sorry we’ve been ashamed. We are sorry that we wanted the love and respect of the World. Their approval more than yours.

We’re sorry that we’ve loved our comfort and our safety, more than holiness.

And what God is doing is good. Hebrews 12:11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

God in his grace is shaking everything so that we would become more like Christ. That we would put away our idols and false gods and cling only to him.

Our call as Christians, when everything is being shaken is Hebrews 12:28-29 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.

Its to worship Christ and carry out the Great Commission trusting all this shaking is to glorify Christ and make the fields white for harvest.

And we have a sure hope, and a sure faith that God’s firm foundation his Word will stand after the earthquake because he has set his seal on it.

Paul gives two quotes that together act as God’s seal, his promise, guarantee that the gospel, church, and the mission of God will not be upset, overturned, or shaken by false teaching.

That the gospel will go forth, and that God will save the church.

Paul says, “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

Korah

Both of these are a reference to the rebellion of Korah in Numbers 16.

Korah was from the tribe of Levi. One of the 12 tribes of Israel. And God had chosen the Levites to lead Israel in the worship of God.

But God had chosen the line of Aaron to be the priests.

Korah became jealous. He wanted to be a priest, so he gathered 250 leaders in Israel, and rebelled against Moses and Aaron. He said You have gone too far! For all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord? (Numbers 16:3).

And in response Moses said, The Lord knows those who are his, meaning God knew who he had chosen. He knew who spoke for him and who didn’t.

He chose Aaron and Moses. Not Korah. And God chose the faithful preachers of the Word. Not false teachers who swerve from the truth.

And God spoke to Moses and Aaron about Korah’s rebellion and said Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment. (Numbers 16:21).

And then Moses went to the people of Israel and said, “Depart, please, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be swept away with all their sins (Numbers 16:26).

You’ll notice Paul’s quote doesn’t directly match the the quote from Numbers, but he draws from other parts of the OT to summarize the main idea in Numbers 16.

Let everyone who names the name of the Lord is a way of saying Let everyone who has faith in God. Who has trusted in Christ, depart from iniquity just like the people of Israel were called to separate themselves from Korah and his rebellion against God if they did not want to perish with him.

And then God judged these false teachers. Korah and all his family. The ground opened up and swallowed them all alive, and the 250 men that rebelled with him were consumed with fire.

And Paul quotes this story here to do two things: 1. Warn false teachers and any that follow them about the judgment they are bringing on their own heads, and. 2. Comfort believers that the firm foundation of God’s Word will not be shaken.

Paul is effectively saying, the false teachers do not belong to the Lord. God doesn’t know them. He didn’t send them. And they will be destroyed soon enough unless they repent and depart from their iniquity.

But its also a comfort to believers.

Jesus said, “I know my own and my own know me” (John 10:14). And he promised that everyone who believes in him will never perish but have eternal life.

Because God knows his own, true Christians do not need to fear being swept away by false teachers. God will never lose them.

Instead all who name the name of the Lord, everyone who trusts in Christ, should busy themselves departing from iniquity. From unrighteousness. Wickedness.

And what’s funny that you don’t really see in english is that the word depart in other parts of Scripture carries the idea of apostasy.

So it’s like Paul is saying, Let everyone who trusts in Christ apostatize, separating from false teachers, false gospels, wickedness, and irreverent babble and hold fast to the Word of God alone.

Here’s the big idea. This is God’s seal. God’s promise.

Paul is saying the Word of God will not fall. His gospel will stand. And even though false teachers pervert the truth, we can have faith that the mission of God will not be stopped.

That he knows who are his.

He will save us, and he will save everyone he has elected to salvation.

The gospel is the power of God to save sinners.

And even when everything looks its darkest, when the nations rage against God and His Kingdom, and false teaching and apostasy abounds, the church will stand, salvation will stand, forgiveness and grace will stand, because it is all built on the firm foundation of the gospel, and Christ Jesus, the one in whom all things hold together no matter how much they are shaken , is the Cornerstone.

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Conclusion

The Word of God must by our highest authority because it alone leads us to Christ and godliness.

We must hold fast to the Word, honor the Word, and trust the Power of the Word.

And so, to close this sermon, I want to ask do we. Is the Word of God our highest authority or is it all just lip service.

As individuals, families, and a church do we hold fast to the Word?

Are we devoted to it? Do we feed on it?

Do we really believe what Jesus said that man shall not live by bread alone but by every word of God?

Are we constantly coming back to the Word and asking what does God say about this situation, this desire, this thought, word, action, or deed?

Do we honor the Word?

Is it our sole authority or do we mix our feelings or the ways, values, and dreams of the world with the Bible?

Do we just say we love God’s Word or do we actually do what it says?

Do we live all of our lives according to it no matter the cost?

Do we trust the power of the Word?

Do we trust God to work in us through the Word to convict us and make us more like Christ?

And finally, do we trust that the preaching of the gospel is powerful enough to change hearts or will we twist Scripture to itch the ears of the world?

The issue is simple. God’s Word is our highest authority or something else is.

When we live this way, when we hold fast to God’s Word and honor it as our highest authority, we hold fast to Christ and glorify him.

He is the Word made flesh. The full and perfect revelation of God and His salvation.

Holding fast to the Word honors and glorifies Christ because it proclaims that he really is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one comes to the Father, no one is forgiven, made clean, or born again except through him.

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Let’s Pray

Scripture Reading

John 1:1-5; 10-14; 15-17 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it...He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth...16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.