2 Timothy 3:14-17
“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 complete, equipped for every good work.”
Good morning everyone. I’m gonna move that to the middle. The chair is here just in case I get. It’s good to be here together. Isn’t it. It’s always good to worship the Lord, bring hearts before him and thanking him for who he is. And it’s a, it’s a rich, wonderful time. Isn’t it? It really is really as good for those of you who may not know me.
I’m Jim painter. I was one of the pastors here for about a thousand years, something like that. Um, and uh, recently retired and somebody asks, what does that mean as a pastor to retire? Didn’t know pastors retired and what it means is I don’t come into the office every day. Uh, still do a lot of things. In fact, you know, I get to preach here once in a while, which I love, um, Lord willing in a couple of weeks, I’m going to be going down to.
Yeah, preaching at a camp down there, youth camp and doing all the Bible time there and devotions and everything. So I’m looking forward to that a little bit later, Lord willing, we’ll be going back to Guatemala with a medical missions team. And, uh, that’s very, very exciting. Uh, in fact, I was just talking with our friends as well, and for LA who were here from Belize and they’re wanting to put together a, um, a pastors conference by way of.
Zoom somehow in Belize. So we’re looking at that and also a pastor’s conference possibly a little bit later on in Guatemala. There seems to be a theme here suddenly believes in Guatemala. And I’m the one who likes cold weather. Oh, well, uh, so anyway, uh, that’s what I wanted to say. A couple of other things, first of all, uh, operation Christmas child, if you have a chance to do that, get involved.
It is a wonderful, great ministry. Actually, one of our missionaries that we support in Billy’s nail Ramirez, uh, actually is an operation. Christmas child recipient. Uh, he got a box. He knew nothing about the Lord, didn’t know, want to know anything about the Lord. And as he told me, he said, but I heard they were giving out presents at this church.
I thought I would go. And over the process of time, not immediately process of time, he came to know the Lord and then the rest of his family. Uh, so it is a wonderful thing. So, uh, secondly, um, also wanted to let you know, pastor mark is not here today because he’s in Collingswood our campus down there and he wanted to make sure to let you know that he, uh, is down there and we’ll pray for him even as he preaches.
And he’ll be back here next week, finishing up the series in Matthew chapter seven. And so we will be looking forward to that. So why don’t we just join our hearts together here just for a minute as we pray and then we’ll jump into. Father, we thank you so much for who you are. Thank you. That you love us with an everlasting love.
Thank you that we can shout out your praise because of the breath you give us. Thank you that you love us with an enduring and lasting love.
Thank you for your word. And as we spend time in it today, as we think about it, please pour into our hearts, burn into our hearts, the things that we need to know and understand. And remember, I pray for pastor mark as he’s there in Collingswood. Make that a special time there. I pray. Give him freedom as he speaks and great blessing as he proclaimed your word down there.
We love you Lord, in Christ’s name. Amen.
So I was thinking here, I knew a couple of weeks ago, pastor mark market asked me to go ahead and preach here. And I was thinking about what is going to do on one thing I was just thinking about is what is valuable, what is valuable to you? If I were to ask you right now, tell me what is valuable. Why did your most valuable.
And some of us would come up with, you know, for men, some of her toys, women, some of the things that we have, we’re here in church. And so I know some of us say, oh, well, I guess I have to say it, the Bible or God, cause I’m in church and that’s all right. Some of you is like, well, I guess I better say my family, my wife, my husband.
And that’s good. That’s true. But, but what you hold on to, what do you think is really valuable? I was thinking about that because there are things I value greatly and I was remembering the story. You probably have read it this story by mark Twain of Tom Sawyer. You remember Thomas Sawyer here? He was this kid who was like off the charts crazy.
And one time he was in trouble, he gotten in trouble. And so his punishment was he had to spend his Saturday. Whitewashing the fence. And that means, you know, it’s kind of like painting the fence. And so Tom was really embarrassed about this. He knew his friends would be going and play in and, and they would be making fun of him.
And so Tom, in his own unique way decided that he would become the entrepreneur. And so he’s sitting there and carefully whitewashing the fence and, and his friends start going by like one at a time and they start making fun of him and you have to do that. And we’re going to go down to the swimming hole.
He says, oh no. So this is a particularly careful job. Not everybody can do this. And before long, he convinces them. This would be a good thing to do. And Tom being Tom, well, you’re going to have to pay. And according to the story, mark Twain, what he writes down there is at the end of the day, they had whitewashed the whole fence three times because all the guys coming and giving their, their valuables to him, the things he wrote down, I looked this up just to make sure the things that Tom saw your gut.
These are true valuables. He got a piece of blue bottle glass to look through six firecrackers, uh, one high, getting four pieces of orange peel, one dead rat, and a string to swing it with. Those are valuable. So we we’ve changed. Now. What we think is valuable now. There’s a whole lot different. And so I continue to look this up and you may have seen this at some point.
This was, I think, on the internet a little while back that a list of the 10, most expensive, uh, things sold on eBay. And when I looked at it, I couldn’t believe it. I’m not going to give you all, but I’m going to give you, uh, three of them here. Uh, number five on the list was a 1909 Honus Wagner baseball card sold for 1.2, six, $5 million.
Wow. Now it was rare because it was Honus Wagner. It was actually tobacco company and it started doing it and he didn’t want his name associated with the tobacco. And so they had to shut the rundown and there were just, uh, just a handful of those cards made. But 1.26 side million. I don’t know. Another one.
Here we go. This was number four. Someone on eBay bought a town, Albert Texas for $2.5 million on eBay. It was an old ghost town. You can see there had five residents and the guy who bought it decided he was going to make it in some sort of a tourist attraction. And as far as I know, he was fairly successful with it.
Number one, I was intrigued by this giga yacht. I’m not even sure what a gig yacht is, except it’s a big boat. I read a little bit about it. I forget how many state rooms that had that were just incredible. And the things were on there. I mean, you look there, you see the picture sold on eBay for $168 million.
Wow. Now, I don’t know if I had $168 million to spend. I am not sure that I would buy a Giggy yacht, robo. Maybe I went on because this, this intrigued me. What people thinks are valuable. There is another site and it says what to collect store, keep for valuable investments for the future. You may have some of these things around one of them, old maps.
I didn’t know that couldn’t be valuable. Another one comic books, I knew comic books were a little bit mostly. I thought they were to decorate your room with when you were a boy and a, another one was old computers. Uh, just recently an original apple, one sold for $213,000. So hang on to those old computers.
So now, you know what? Hang on to. But, you know, the lot, even as I looked at that and I have to admit, I laughed, there are things are far, far, far more valuable than these things that we see here. And we know that we know there are things more valuable than just that what I want to look at is something that is extremely valuable.
In fact, I would suggest it is the most valuable thing that you can have that anyone can have, whether you live in Poland or Papa, new Guinea or Bangladesh, or here in the U S what I’m talking about here becomes very, very real. When we begin to look at it, it is God’s word, the Bible, the scriptures immensely valuable, you know, a couple of weeks ago, Jared has spoken.
He, as he spoke there, he really looked at a passage that we’re going to look at and told us a little bit about it. And it was a great remembrance of all the things you remember, what he talked about, about the foundation, the strong foundation of the word of God. And I want to build on that a little bit more.
Pastor mark, last week in his sermon, he also talked a little bit just about the, the value and, and, and the power of God’s word, the scriptures. And so we want to build on that as we look at what he has to say, the passage is second Timothy, three 14 to 17. It’s familiar, Jared, read it. We’re going to read it here together.
If you have a chance there to look along in your Bible. Second Timothy three 14 to 17. It’s here on the screen. If you want to follow along, he says this. But as for you, continue on what you have learned and have become convinced of because you know those from whom you learned it and how from infancy, you have known the holy scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ.
Jesus, all scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work and Paul in his own simple stuff. By the spirit of God boils down the value of the scriptures, really into two things that they make us wise into salvation and the equipments for life.
And for godliness, let me tell you a little bit about, uh, first or second Timothy here. Paul is writing here to Timothy. Timothy is one he’d raised up in the scriptures and who he taught and who was really one of his followers and helpers and all the ministry. And at this point, Paul is in prison and as he writes his I’m in prison, I’m in chains.
At this point, he does not expect to be released. He expects to die. Because of the sake of the gospel. And he says, even this, because I have proclaimed the gospel, I’ve stood for it firmly. I’ve proclaimed the word of God. And now I’m in chains because of that. And you Timothy, I’m putting these, in my words, you Timothy need to continue on with that.
You need to proclaim the truth of the word of God as you teach. And as you disciple and as you go through life. And so as he writes that he gets to this passage and he says this, he reminds Timothy that even though there are evil people in the world, and that’s the verse, just before I read there, there are evil people.
There are people who want to detract from who God is and what God is doing. He was talking about some false teachers who had crept in among the church. He was talking about. Those are just evil because of they are, and they really beat down things. And that’s what Paul has been experiencing. And he says, Timothy, even though there are these evil people in the world, even though there might be persecuted.
There are those who will seek to DC view and DC, others, you Timothy have something else. And that’s what we have. We have God’s word. It has far greater, has greater impact than anything else that you are. I might have. And he starts, he says, you know, Timothy, you’ve known these things as a little child. The word used here is actually an infant from an infant.
You’ve known these things. You’ve heard these sayings, how, when you look at other passages and it would seem like he’s talking to her specially about from his mother and grandmother, he learned those things later on. He couldn’t even talk about Paul himself. Although at that point, Timothy wouldn’t have been an infant.
The point is Timothy had heard these things. He learned these things. I think you could easily make a point here just on the side is why it’s so important. To invest in your children. What God has to say as why fellowship kids, I believe become so important. That’s why spending time with your kids in some sort of devotions.
That’s why, you know, summer camps or vacation Bible school or whatever else, it can become very, very important because they help your children know more about God’s word. He says here, Timothy, you’ve known that you’ve been taught that. And you’ve learned, first of all, he said that they’ve made you wise for salvation.
He’s talking here about the old Testament, because that’s what they knew at the time. That’s what they had. The new Testament was being written at that point. So in the old Testament, that’s what Timothy had heard from his mother and his grandmother later on from Paul, what the scriptures have to say, and these scriptures teach, they teach certain things.
You look at these things, even from the old Testament, I have some here, cause I think it’s so important to understand that even in the old Testament declares something about who God is and the truth and reality of salvation. I think these verses going to be up here, but read quick, I’m going to read quickly Isaiah 53, 5 and six, but he was pierced for our transgressions.
He was crushed for our new equities. The punishment that brought us peace was on him. And by his wounds, we are healed. We all like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to our own way and the Lord has laid on him talking about the Messiah, the iniquity of us, all Isaiah 45. Isaiah writes this by the spirit of God.
He’s speaking, God is speaking here. And he says, I am the Lord. And there is no other, apart from me, there is no God, I will strengthen you. And then a little bit later, he says, turn to me and be saved all you ends of the earth for. I am God. And there is no. In Psalm, David writes have mercy on me. Oh God.
According to your unfailing, love, according to your great compassion, bought out my transgressions, wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin and Psalm 32. He also says this blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin. The Lord does not count against them.
And in whose spirit is no deceit. And the last one I have here, and there are many others, but Jeremiah 14 at the end, he says this, no, it is you Lord our God. Therefore our hope is in you for you are the one who does all this. I’m reading all those things. Just to let you know, remind you that the scriptures, even in the old Testament, do talk about salvation.
And then they make us wise for salvation. They teach you several things. I, I wrote down three things here that the teachers T the scriptures teach us the holiness of God who God is and his holiness, who he is these absolutely without sin, absolutely pure, absolutely righteous. And he is worthy of our worship.
God is holy and the scriptures declare that the scriptures also declare we have a desperate need that need is because we are completely utterly sinful. That’s what we’re born into. And that sin, according to the scripture, separates us from God, absolutely forever. And there’s nothing that I can do about that.
Nothing that you can do about. That’s what the scriptures teach. It teaches the holiness of God, our desperate need, and it teaches that a Redeemer will and has come. He has provided a way for forgiveness of sin, for joy and, and, and complete freedom in what God has done. The scriptures teach that all the way through the old Testament.
And it continues to teach in the new Testament as we’ll see. I mean, on a personal note, I know there are many of you here who have already noticed that and have embraced Jesus Christ as your personal savior. And Lord you’ve understood the holiness of God and your own desperate need. And the truth is that the Redeemer has come and you have placed your faith and trust in him.
That is absolutely the most important thing you can do. There are some of you. Possibly here, or maybe you watching online, maybe you haven’t come to that place yet. Maybe you haven’t understood completely your own need. Maybe you haven’t come to the place where you really placed your faith and trust in Jesus for your forgiveness.
And you need to do that. The Bible says that’s the only way as it’s as the scriptures teach. The last thing here that salvation comes, it tells us salvation comes in Christ Jesus Messiah, and is in faith in him alone. And those of you who are here, and maybe if you haven’t believed you can do that right now.
It’s not about coming to church is not about being good. It’s not about becoming religious in any way. What it does mean is that you understand your own heart need. You understand that you are sinner. That’s probably not a hard one. Understand. And remember, your sin has separated you from God. The scripture say for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus.
Our Lord, the Bible says to place our faith or trust in him alone for that redemption, for that salvation, you can do that right? Where you sit, you want to talk to me afterwards, I’d be glad to share it with you from the scriptures, what he has to say. You know, this is one of the reasons why we teach the Bible here so much, because we understand the truth of what God has said, what we need in our own lives, what we need in terms of eternal redemption.
And so we proclaim that in all sorts of different ways, wherever we are, whatever we do, we do want to proclaim that one of the things. And that we have going on here is the living nativity, you know, and coming up to that, we want to proclaim the truth of who Jesus is this year. Ben and Melissa have rewritten some of the script just to, uh, to make it a little plainer with some of the things.
And, and we’ve looked at it as really, really good. And it carries us all away, understanding the need for Messiah all the way to Messiah has come and all that he has done, because we want to proclaim the truth. Understand the scriptures, make us wise for salvation. In his first book to Timothy, Paul says, he says, don’t get caught up in quarrels and arguments.
Even if they’re spiritual things, focus on what he calls the word of truth. That’s the first thing, the scriptures, the value of scriptures. They make us wise to salvation. The second thing, the scriptures, the value of his it equips believers, as he talks there, he says this, that all scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the man of God or the woman of God, that child of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
God’s word gives you everything that you need to help you be completely equipped for life and godliness. Harry Ironside said, this God’s word gives you everything you need so that you are completely equipped for life and godliness and fact, not just doing every good work, but the most excellent thing.
Uh, about a week and a half ago, and step-sister joy, uh, went home to be with the Lord. She’d been fighting cancer for five years and, and she went home peacefully. Uh, and on Thursday night there was a Memorial service for joy. And, uh, and it was a great time of remembrance of joy and all that. She was her love for family, her love for friends, her deep love for God.
And one things, several of the family members shared. And I asked her sister, Barb, who had shared if I could share this. Cause I thought it was so good. Yeah. If you don’t know joy in many of you probably do not. Joy was a very creative person. Joy was that sort of person who could take as, as was said is, uh, take a pile of rocks, a bunch of leaves, a few weeds, a couple of marbles and make a most incredible centerpiece you can imagine.
And it’s really true. She could, I can do the same thing. I can take marbles and rocks and leaves and twigs. You know what? It looks like. Marbles, rocks leaves and twigs joy was a missionary. And Barbara shared that as they traveled joy collected things, and she collected napkins, she collected teabags because of the different languages on them.
She collected maps where they’d been, where they’d traveled and his barber shared. I thought it was such a good picture. She says, as joy went through this time of cancer and battle the things, the things that took her through so strongly, so well, one was her friends. The other was God’s word. God’s word was her map.
God’s word was what led her in the way to go. God’s word was what she used to understand and know her destination. That’s what God’s word does it equips us. It brings us to a place where we are, are fully outfitted to live life. He says, here in the equipment is it’s inspired by God. It is, it is God breathe is God’s word with life.
And without any error, someone has said this, that God is the source of the content of scripture. So what it says is what God said. We believe that he says all scripture, not just certain ones, not just the ones we like. Or the one or just the old Testament, because the old Testament, certainly the context here, I would suggest to you that they also understood the new Testament was w was included in this.
Because even as the, they wrote that he, they say several things. And again, a list of verses I want to read here. I want you to understand here real quickly. They understood the new Testament as being the scriptures of God. First, Peter one, uh, he writes this, he, that is Messiah. Jesus was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake, through him, you believe in God who raised him from the dead and glorified him.
And so your faith and hope are in God, but the word of the Lord endures forever. And this is the word that was preached to you. First Corinthians. He says this, however, as it is. What no eye has seen what no ear has heard. What no human mind has conceived the things God has prepared for those who love him later on, these are the things God has revealed to us by his spirit.
And then this is what we speak. Not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the spirit. You understand, they’re saying what we’re saying by the spirit of God is God’s word Hebrews. The writer there’s, as in the past, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times, and in various ways.
But in these last days, he has spoken to us by his son whom he appointed heir of all things and through whom also he made the universe. And again, Peter. Is he speaking about Paul? He, that has Paul writes the same way in all his letters. Speaking in them of these matters, his letters contain certain things that are hard to understand which ignorant and unstable people distort as they do the other scriptures to their own destruction.
They understood very much, even as they wrote by the spirit and power of God that they were writing God’s word, they were writing scripture. It’s inspired by God is God breathed. And he said, it’s useful. And he lists four things is useful for the sayings, not just for a test, you know, not just so we can have stories in Sunday.
It is useful. He says these four things for teaching the word there is doctrine. And as soon as you hear the word doctrine, I hear many people just grown doctrine. Oh, that’s dry as dust stuff. No, it’s not. Doctrine is just teaching about what is true about God, about his way, his character. Well, we’ve been doing doctrine here.
I bet you didn’t even know it. I mean, we’re talking about the holiness of God and our desperate need and the Redeemer coming though, that’s doctrine, it’s useful for teaching us what we need to know about who God is and how God works is useful for rebuking or your translation might say reproving confronting us with the issues of our heart and lives of where we’re not living according to God’s standard.
And he says, look, this is the way you need to go. I’ve just recently read in first Corinthians. Uh, I’ve been reading in there and I’m out of Corinthians now with my quiet time, but there are one place Paul, by the spirit of God confronts them. He says, look, this is what needs to be happening. That’s what God does work does for us.
It’s useful for correcting that is giving us the things we need by his grace and his spirit. So we can change when we see what is needed, that we can change by the spirit of God and the areas we need to change by his grace. That’s what he does for us and training in righteousness, helping us to learn by live by grace and hope and joy because of what Christ has done in us, so that we really do live godly in Christ Jesus showing the reality of Christ in us.
We use the word do life here. We do life together and here is doing life because of the presence and spirit of God in us, because we’ve read his word and we know his word. You want it. You really want to live that way. You really want to be that way. You’re going to have to take time to know God’s word.
And you know, it doesn’t mean hours of day in the scripture, possibly a might but might mean. And Jared had said this, you’re not just, not just a verse a day. That’s wonderful, but taking a little bit of time to read right now, I’m doing something that we’d done before. I think Mike was the one who suggested the idea and just write 10 verses a day, write the whole thing out and then maybe make some comment on it or questions or whatever.
That’s one way to do it. There’s lots of other ways. And again, if you want some ideas come to, I have lots of ideas that might help you in beginning. This process of learning God’s word.
It equips us. It is fully inspired by God. It is useful. And it equips us for godly living that honors God and impacts others, shows the reality that we have in Christ. Paul Tripp in his book, dangerous calling says this. The ultimate purpose of the word of God is not theological information, but heart and life transformation again, in the first book that Paul writes Timothy, he says, there look, I’m in chains.
I’m very limited. I’m in prison. Evidently he had gotten back out, but at that time he says I’m in prison. I’m in chain. But in verse nine of chapter two, he says, God’s word is not in chains. It can go anywhere. It can go anywhere. And its power is not diminished. So that’s what God’s word, the value of it is.
And always come to a place when it looked at us. And I asked the question so many times, so what, what does that mean? What’s it matter to me and Paul goes on and I think he answers that he answers it in the sense of how it equips us, make us thoroughly equipped for every good and perfect work gift in our life.
But in chapter four, verse two, he continues on in another way. Cause then he says to Timothy, this preach the word because of these things, preach the word, be prepared in season and out of season, correct? Rebuke and encourage with great patience and careful instruction. I mean the, so what here is then as we let the word of God equip us change us.
We are to proclaim his word specifically to Timothy. He says, preach the word and I’m going to hear some people already. I’m not a preacher. I can’t preach. There’s no way I could get up in there and do that. That’s not the point. That’s not what he’s saying. What he’s saying, the word there is to proclaim.
And that’s what we are to do. We are to proclaim his word because we know what it is. We know the value of it. We need to let others know. So preach the word because we’ve taken time to know it, to let it change us, to let it equip us and then actively tell others about God, the God who is revealed in the Bible lovingly honestly carefully, but tell them the truth of who God is, their need for salvation, their need to let God change their lives and hearts.
And that’s why we look at his word. That’s why we come to. It is valuable. God’s word is immensely valuable. Isn’t it? It’s important to us. It’s important to the community of faith here. Many of you know, Ben Carlene my son-in-law. They were missionaries up in Quebec for quite a while. They lived out in west Texas, involved in a little church plant out there two years ago, Ben and Carrie and the family had been down here.
They were driving back up to Quebec and in the Northern part of New York, he got stopped by a patrolman for speeding, and the patrolman pulls him over and he loves it. Ben’s license since. So it comes back. What are you doing? And so Ben tells him, he says, I’m a Bible teacher. I teach it a little Bible college.
And I also help with a little church there and building it. And the patrolman let’s say that is amazing. He says, I’m not a particularly religious person, but I’ve just started going to a little church right here. It’s called a Bible church. And you know what they do, they study the Bible. He was astounded.
He said, that’s all they do. They look at the Bible. He was astounded and, and we trust did it change that patrolman? He gave him the ticket
is valuable in our lives. Personally tells of a holy powerful, loving God. The word shows us what we’re really like. It reveals how God has made a way to salvation for each of us through Jesus Christ. It proclaims the life we can have in him. Remember when Jared preached a couple of weeks ago, he was, he was talking about that passage in Matthew seven and, and the parable of building on the firm foundation.
That’s what we want. We do that because it’s God’s word because it is as valuable. So it’s the greatest, most valuable gift God has ever given besides his son, the Lord, Jesus, the question is this, what are you doing with it personally, taking time to read and listen, learn, invest in your life as a it as a community of faith here as a church to declare, to proclaim.
Who Jesus is through his word. We’re doing that through the living nativity. And this year, we want to continue that we want to proclaim the truth. And the reality of who Christ is, we have a short little snippet here of some of the new recording of the living nativity
Jesus was the son of God, but he was also fully human. And so he grew up as an ordinary Jewish boy in a small town in Galilee, experiencing all the normal joys and sorrows that you and I are familiar with at the age of 30, Jesus began his public ministry. He called 12 men, his disciples. To be his closest friends and helpers, but he did not choose men that were powerful, extra spiritual or influential.
The disciples included several ordinary fishermen, a reviled tax collector, a political revolutionist and more, but they all found a new identity in what Jesus taught. He came to offer himself to everyone rich and poor men and women, adults, and children has Jesus traveled from town to town. He taught people in a new way and he heightened the people’s excitement for the coming of God’s kingdom.
He told people that God is our father in heaven who loves us. He taught that the two most important commandments were to love God and love others. Even our enemies, vast crowds, flocked to him. What God’s kingdom is like, but Jesus was not just a good teacher. He claimed that he had the power to forgive sins, to bring us back to God and to fix what was broken.
His many miracles showed that he had the power to do what he promised.
Let’s pray together. Father, we thank you so much for your word, for what it does in us, through your power, through your spirit. God help us to go away today, even again, knowing the great power to make us wise to salvation and do equip us for life. And then God help us to proclaim that as we learn it by your spirit, by your grace.
In Christ’s name. Amen. So let’s go this week and the power of the Lord to know his word and to proclaim it. .