Growing In Christ As Christ Grows In You

Good morning Church!

Announcements:

I am thankful for a wonderful business meeting last week. We were able to accomplish a lot. We still have a lot of work to do, so please be praying that in the weeks to come, we will be able to get everything done that still needs to be done.

The swimming party for the kids is after church today!

Women’s night at OBC is on 10/6 at 6PM.

We will be having our Harvest Festival here at the church on 10/29 at 4:30. We will provide more details as we get closer to the date.

Praise Reports:

Prayer Requests:

Bro Jeff at Whorton Springs

Mrs Carol has unspoken

Tiwanda asked prayer for Kathy

JOhn asked for family

niece with kidney cancer

Grace is having foot surgery tomorrow

Jeff Hill lost mom and dad

Ralph Gunter has had a stroke

Gary Mathis has had a stroke and i hospital

Niece tore up knee

MOm has Covid

Tithes

Children’s Church

Doxology:

This is my Bible. It is God’s Holy Word. It is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path, and I will hide its words within my heart that I might not sin against God! Amen!!!

Open Bibles To: 2 Timothy 3:10-17

2 Timothy 3:10–17 ESV

10 You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, 11 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. 12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 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. 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.

We have been talking about the five functions of the Church, which is outlined in Acts 2, and we are currently speaking on the topic of “Teaching”.

I have thoroughly enjoyed every topic that we have covered so far, and I have learned a lot.

I do have to say though, this is one of my favorites, if not my favorite.

I love the Word of God. I love to read it, study it, meditate on it, and yes, I love to preach it.

One of the things we see here in this text, and one of the things I struggle greatly with, is figuring out how to apply it.

Before we dive into this text with our hearts, I want to take a few seconds and give you a little bit of context.

Context

Paul wrote this epistle to Timothy as an encouragement, as well as to give instruction.

Timothy was a disciple of Paul and the two formed a very strong bond with one another.

Acts 16:1 ESV

1 Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek.

Philippians 2:22 ESV

22 But you know Timothy’s proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel.

2 Timothy 1:1–2 ESV

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus, 2 To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

1 Timothy 1:18–19 ESV

18 This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, 19 holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith,

Timothy was like a son to Paul, and had served with him during much of his evangelistic efforts. Paul had sent Timothy to serve is a couple of different churches so that he could help establish the Christians there in good faith.

Timothy had served in Thessalonica, Pilippi, and now he serves in Ephesus.

Paul writes this letter to provide instruction to Timothy concerning leadership matters, as well as encouragement for pushing forward in the faith. Timothy was a young man, and therefore some looked down on him because of this. Paul encouraged him to follow the Lord and keep pushing forward.

The particular text that we are looking at today is concerning the infallibility of the Word of God. Paul urges young Timothy to trust in God’s Word above all else, because there will be some who do not.

The first part of this chapter addresses the end of days. Paul tells Timothy:

2 Timothy 3:1–5 ESV

1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

Paul tells Timothy not to lose sight of why he is in the ministry. He explains to Timothy that there are going to be those who despise God, want nothing to do with God, and refuse to entertain the Gospel. Not only will these people despise his message, but they will also despise him.

Paul is letting Timothy know that some people are going to challenge him publicly, shout threats at him publicly, and even persecute him on a great scale.

With all of that being said, Paul wants Timothy to remember why he does what he does, because the Word of God is true and eternal. God loves His creation, even the ones that do not love him back, and wants nothing more that to see them saved through the Gospel of His Son Jesus Christ.

That is why, when he gets to the last chapter of his letter, he begins by saying in:

2 Timothy 4:1–2 ESV

1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

The preaching, teaching, or just even spreading the Word of God, is of the highest importance. It is the baseline of all truth, and therefore should be the first line of defense in any situation, circumstance, argument, debate, and especially how one builds their life and determines their actions.

Content

Its Absolute Nature (v. 16)

“All scripture is breathed out by God”

Play out with logic.

If God is the supreme ruler of the universe as we believe, and He has written a book concerning the beginning of creation, life, death, eternity, and His requirements in order to get there, would we all not want a copy of that?

The Bible is the top selling book of all time, but guess what the second top sold book of all time is: “Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung”, aka The little red book.

The book was written by the leader of the Communist revolution in China in 1949 and Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party of China. This made him the most powerful man and leader of China, at that time, until his death in 1976.

This Book would be sacred, because it would contain information vital to the existence of mankind. It would teach us what we must do to make it to the paradise of eternity, which we call heaven, and how to do it. (v. 15)

It would be considered something that we would raise out children with and teach from the moment they are able to understand. We would want them to know about the God who created them, the eternity He has promised, and what one must do to get there. (v. 15)

We would also consider this Book to be profitable unto us. It would teach us the ways of life so that we could obey it, live it out, and have confidence in our path to glory. (v. 16-17)

2 Peter 1:20–21 ESV

20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Its Applicable Nature

Continuing our thought process of logic, if a book like that were to exist (which we believe it does and that it is called the Bible), then our actions concerning that book must go beyond simply reading it.

We must study it: learn it, teach it, meditate on it, and memorize it. (v. 16)

We need to know what it says, what it means, and how it affects our lives.

2 Timothy 2:15 ESV

15 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.

We must believe what it says (v. 14)

It is not enough to simply know what it says. We must believe what it says is true. If we do not believe it, we will never apply it to our lives.

Matthew 24:35 ESV

35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

Isaiah 40:8 ESV

8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.

We must apply God’s Word to our lives. (vv. 14-15, 16-17, 10)

If we know what it says and believe what it says, then we must apply what it says to our lives.

We must also find someone in life to mentor us through this process. If not, we can learn it on our own, but how much quicker will it be with someone to lead us and guide us.

Everyone needs Paul, a Timothy, and a Bartholomew.

We must teach it to others through our words and deeds. (vv. 16-17, 10-11)

We need to know these things so that not only we can make sure our own lives are in order, but also so that we can teach others. (v. 16-17; 15)

Matthew 28:18–20 ESV

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Remember what the Scripture is (v. 15)

It makes one wise unto salvation and teaches of Jesus Christ.

Remember the goal (v. 17)

“That the children of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

Its Advantageous Nature

Commitment