The Local Church Mandate We Ignore | Why So Many Empty Pulpits?
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16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
Your Bible provides truth, training, and transformation for disciples as you teach them to obey everything Christ commanded.
Your Bible provides truth, training, and transformation for disciples as you teach them to obey everything Christ commanded.
It is profitable for.
Valuable for
Useful for.
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
I want us to walk away today with these things in mind...
No matter what we do as Christian, or as a church, the Bible is what we need.
The commission Jesus gave us can feel overwhelming. It can feel daunting. We can look at ourselves and wonder how we can ever do what He is asking us to do… but He gave us all we need to do it!
1. Your Bible is useful for the spiritual development of disciples.
1. Your Bible is useful for the spiritual development of disciples.
Dr. Nicolas Ellen has identified 5 categories or stages of change.
I have modified it for our context.
1. The disciple’s thoughts, motives, desires, feelings will change. (Attitude)
1. The disciple’s thoughts, motives, desires, feelings will change. (Attitude)
Our attitude is the root of our sin.
Our theology determines our attitude. Our attitude determines our behavior or practice.
2. The disciple’s communication will change.
2. The disciple’s communication will change.
3. The disciple’s behavior or practice will change.
3. The disciple’s behavior or practice will change.
4. The disciple’s relational patterns will change.
4. The disciple’s relational patterns will change.
5. The disciple’s serving patterns will change.
5. The disciple’s serving patterns will change.
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
1. Your Bible is useful for the spiritual development of disciples.
1. Your Bible is useful for the spiritual development of disciples.
(1) A. It is useful for giving spiritual life.
(1) A. It is useful for giving spiritual life.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
The gospel, found written on the pages of Scripture.
Breathed out by the God of the universe is the power that gives spiritual live.
There is nothing more transformative than the gospel.
5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
(1) A. It is useful for giving spiritual life.
(1) A. It is useful for giving spiritual life.
We know we cannot save anyone, but how often do we try to impose outward morality on the world?
I am careful to celebrate the overturning of Roe Vs Wade.
We can rightly celebrate the lives that are saved, but we cannot be content with that.
Abortion is not the problem. It is a symptom of the problem.
The problem is not outward. The problem is the heart.
They is already talk of offshore abortion clinics.
The solution to the problem is spiritually dead people being made alive by the power of the gospel.
And you hold that power in your hand!
Use the power that you have been given, don’t try to add to it.
17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
(1) A. It is useful for giving spiritual life.
(1) A. It is useful for giving spiritual life.
We have been taught to witness by giving your testimony.
You need to be careful that you don’t empty the cross of its power.
Make sure Christ is central in the story, not you.
This is why taking your time and building a relationship is a good way.
They will SEE your testimony.
They will SEE the power of the gospel in your life.
Then, just have a Bible study with them.
Let the power of the Bible you are holding in your hands do the work!
(1) B. It is useful for spiritual growth.
(1) B. It is useful for spiritual growth.
The word teaching means instruction.
Teaching them to obey all Christ’s commands.
In the making and transformation of a disciple, there must be instruction from Scripture.
We can’t obey Christ’s commands if we don’t know what they are.
The Bible instructs us on who God is.
The Bible instructs us on who we are.
The Bible instructs us on God’s expectation for His children.
The Bible instructs us on how to live in light who, God is, who we are and what He expects of us.
The Bible transforms us and causes us to grow spiritually.
That’s why you hear a constant plea from your pastors to faithfully put yourself under the preaching and teaching of God’s Word in your local church.
Not only does it transform us and cause us to grow, but it transforms us and causes us to grow together!
Have you felt stuck lately? Like you aren’t being transformed or you aren’t growing?
19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;
We need to be growing. We need to be transformed so we can lead others.
If you don’t feel like you can do what God left us on earth to do, remember what God left us on earth to do. God left us on earth to be His mouthpiece to men, not the transformer of men.
If you don’t feel like you can do what God left us on earth to do, remember what God left us on earth to do. God left us on earth to be His mouthpiece to men, not the transformer of men.
2. Your Bible is useful for convicting disciples of sin.
2. Your Bible is useful for convicting disciples of sin.
“The Word of God I think of as a straight edge, which shows up our own crookedness. We can't really tell how crooked our thinking is until we line it up with the straight edge of Scripture.”
― Elisabeth Elliot
5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
2. Your Bible is useful for convicting disciples of sin.
2. Your Bible is useful for convicting disciples of sin.
Some key words or phrased to help us understand this.
God is light.
Think of this as a flashlight.
If we walk in the light.
The beam of light reveals the mess on the floor.
Things that will trip you up while walking.
If we confess the sin that the light reveals, God will be faithful and just to forgive those sins.
The Bible you have in your hands bring awareness of sin in a disciple’s life.
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
2. Your Bible is useful for convicting disciples of sin.
2. Your Bible is useful for convicting disciples of sin.
It is God’s communication to us that pierces and cuts apart the soul.
That digs deep into the thoughts and intentions of a disciples heart.
You cannot convict them of sin.
You cannot change their mind.
You may get them to change, but it is only an outward, pharisaical change.
The Holy Spirit will use the Word of God to begin focusing attention on various aspects of the disciple’s life.
Through the truth of scripture brings conviction, sorrow, and repentance.
Ultimately change!n (Transformation)
That leads us to our next point...
3. Your Bible is useful for correcting disciples.
3. Your Bible is useful for correcting disciples.
Not just pointing out sin, but showing how to correct it!
Don’t miss the flow of thought...
FIRST: Teaching/instruction.
This teaching and instruction will reveal sin and produce conviction in the life of the disciple.
An inward acknowledgment and sorrow for what they are doing.
It is then that the disciple will abandon sinful habits in their life.
God’s Word will teach them new and correct habits.
This can be difficult and time consuming.
Other times it will happen quickly and easily.
Through the truth and power of the Word, God guides the disciple thought the process of repentance and into a right relationship with Himself.
4. The training of disciples.
4. The training of disciples.
Again follow the flow of thought… as a result of teaching and conviction from God’s Word, the disciples practices what God commanded in His word.
He/she OBSERVES or obeys what Christ Commanded.
17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
4. The training of disciples.
4. The training of disciples.
God’s word is the truth they need.
Training is the idea of educating, discipling, and training up children.
That’s what God’s Word does in the life of the disciple.
Let’s think about the impact of this for a minute.
This takes the burden off of you as you lead a disciple.
When someone isn’t changing the way you’d like, remember the source of real change.
Remember it isn’t up to you!
Be patient and let the Lord do His work through His Word.
Learn to exegete scripture well.
Exegete: to expound, interpret, or expose.
Exegete: to expound, interpret, or expose.
You can properly dig in and explain God’s word.
This points again to our “WHY?”
Why Bible study 101.
Why do we have built into our pathway?
Why New Testament Survey?
So this brings us to our end goal...
17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
We are preparing them to be fully equipped to handle whatever life and ministry presents to them.
We are preparing them to be fully equipped to handle whatever life and ministry presents to them.
There is something here I want you to see.
11 But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.
We are preparing them to be fully equipped to handle whatever life and ministry presents to them.
We are preparing them to be fully equipped to handle whatever life and ministry presents to them.
These are the only two places in the NT that the Greek word for “man of God appears”.
Remember - the application is for all, but the letter was written to Timothy - a pastor.
This term was used over 60 times in the Septuagint.
The Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament.
It was used to describe men like...
Moses
Samuel
Elijah
David
and other unnamed prophets.
Paul is telling Timothy that God’s Word is able to fully equip a leader.
It will accomplish the goal of preparing the saints.
What we learn in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 takes the burden off the disciple-maker.
What we learn in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 takes the burden off the disciple-maker.
It also takes away the excuse that we cannot do it.
It reminds us to keep God’s Word central.
Remember: Foundations is simply a tool to help you walk them through God’s Word.
It is His Word that has the power to change. Not us.