Read 2 Timothy 3:16-17
I love these verses and there is a lot of truth packed into this short portion of scripture. But once again we’re just jumping into the middle of this passage in 2nd Timothy tonight, so let’s take a few minutes and see who is talking to who and how we get to the place where this passage was written. The book of second Timothy isn’t just a chapter of this book, of this Bible that we have. I mean it is and it was completely God’s purpose for it to be in here for our benefit right now, but it was actually a personal letter that was written to a man named Timothy. And by the fact that this is 2nd Timothy we can see that this wasn’t the first letter that was received by this man. So, a guy named Timothy is receiving letters, but who is writing these letters?
Interestingly enough, these letters were written by Saul, the guy we looked at last time we met, or how he became more commonly known for us as Paul. And remember, Saul was bad news for the early believers and the early church, but Jesus Himself intervened with this man and transformed everything about him. In Acts 9 we saw the first few moments of the new direction of this man’s life as he sat blinded, not eating, not drinking, probably in a bit of shock, as he waited for God’s next steps for his life, while being ministered to by other faithful Christians who were willing to go out on a limb and help a man such as this. Paul was taken in by the other Apostles and invested into, he was empowered and put on mission by God, and he’s been doing the work of God throughout many different regions preaching and teaching Jesus to many that needed to hear of Him. And it was during this work as Paul and his friend Silas came to a city called Lystra, which would be located in modern day Turkey, that they met a young believer named Timothy. Timothy joined Paul in his travels and in his ministry and was eventually given the responsibility of leading the church in a city called Ephesus. It’s while Timothy is leading this church that Paul is sending these letters to him and recognize that this is happening about 30 years after Acts 9 and the Damascus Road. Paul has seen some things, has learned some things, has gone through plenty of things in the last 30 years. So, this isn’t the destructive young man that we talked about last time, this older man has been discipled by other believers, he’s walked with the Lord seriously for quite some time now, and he’s multiplying the movement in Timothy. He’s taking what others have invested into him, what God has put into him, and passing it on to a leader of the next generation.
And so, Paul is teaching Timothy all sorts of valuable aspects of leadership throughout these letters and also just encouraging him, because it hasn’t been easy for him as a younger man in the leadership role that he has been given. With all of that background and throughout all of the leadership training of Paul’s letters comes this passage in 2 Timothy 3. Let me read it again:
Read 2 Timothy 3:16-17
Last time we met, we looked at a man, the man that is writing this, being confronted by the almighty God. You see, when this man understood who he was talking to then he immediately understood that he needed to listen and follow whatever was told to him. And he did just that. And now as he has been sharing all of these lessons of leadership and the right foundations for the church and just living as a Christian throughout these letters, he kind of makes this last statement as kind of a punctuation mark at the end of the lesson. There is more after this in the letter, words of challenge and encouragement to Timothy, and some updates on Paul’s situation that he shares, but 2 Timothy 3:16-17 kind of ends the main lesson here. And so, Paul starts this statement by saying that “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God”. That statement includes all of the Old Testament scripture and also the New Testament that was being written right at that moment. And why is this statement so important? What brings us here tonight to look at it?
Well, we spent our last gathering considering the gravity of the Almighty God and the awe and respect or reverence of Him that we should have. And if that gravity of Who He is has at all settled on us, then I would hope that we would really want to hear what He has to say to us. So, Paul’s statement of “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God” lets us know that all of this book is His idea, it’s His work, it’s His voice, it’s His words and the question for us is: “Are we listening?”
We can ask like Paul, “Lord, what do you want me to do?” and the reality is that God has already spoken at great length about this and it’s all right here. It may not have the specific elements of your life that are unique to you, but the framework of what our life should be in following Jesus is all laid out for us in here. There are some that would tell you that this is just a work of people, and we can disregard it, but even the people who were a part of recording this down knew it wasn’t of them and its purpose was far greater than just attention given to them.
You can see that in a passage like 1 Thessalonians 2:13:
- For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.
Also 2 Peter 1:20-21:
- 20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
These are the very words of God and carry with them all of the weight of Who He is. These men who God used to record these things understood this clearly. And so, Paul says back here in verse 16 that God’s words are valuable or profitable “for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness”. If you stop to think about it, that’s like the full package of living and growth and let’s break it down. When he says that it’s profitable for doctrine or teaching, that’s like our core foundations, the core truths upon which everything else is built. Which incidentally is part of the heart behind the name Base Church and having the strong foundation of truth gained solely from God’s word. But even when we have that foundation, we’re still people, we’re not perfect, I know I’m not, and because of that His word brings necessary reproof, rebuke, or in simpler terms, it’s good at letting you know when you’re wrong. And we need that. Maybe you don’t feel like that’s all that profitable or valuable because you don’t like being told you’re wrong. But if somebody loves you, they don’t just let you keep doing the wrong thing over and over and over again. Because that’s how you can waste a life or at least waste time and maybe relationships or whatever else. But you get into scripture and it’s dealing with immoral things, it’s dealing with pride, it’s dealing with materialism (the love of money and things), it’s dealing with idolatry and so much more. And as much as you may not want to be confronted with these things, it’s actually really valuable for you to be confronted with these things and get it dealt with.
But you know what’s great? He doesn’t leave you hanging for the getting it dealt with part either, because His words are profitable for, as it says there in vs 16, correction as well. He’ll show you what’s wrong and He’ll also show you what you need to do to correct it and that should be something that we want to do. It doesn’t do us any good to just acknowledge problems, but then not actually want to do anything about it. And so, we need to have our foundation set on scripture, we need to accept that we aren’t perfect and see the problems in ourselves that scripture shows us, and we need take the corrective steps that it gives us. And finally, God knows us so well, He made us, He knows that growth will be a lifelong process for us and so His Word continues to be profitable as it instructs us in righteousness, as it teaches us the right things to do in light of a holy God. You see the Bible isn’t just for Bible scholars or for people that already think super highly of themselves and think that they have it all together already. Some people have tried to make it that way and some still do, but the Bible is for all of us, it’s come as you are, because all of us really need the truth that is inside of here. It alone has what we need to guide us from anywhere that we are currently, wherever that might be, to everywhere that we need to go in following Jesus. And I hope we recognize that value and how vital His Word is for our life. I think of Peter’s perspective in John chapter 6 at this moment when a lot of the newer people that had started following Jesus decided to bail on Him. John 6:66-69 says:
- “66 From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. 67 Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” 68 But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
John gets it; and obviously John says “we”, so John and the other close disciples got it. But for some of these other people around this must not have really set in yet and maybe, just maybe, that’s true for us as well. They probably liked the social part of hanging out with all the people following Jesus around, but they missed what John saw, that this was the Christ, the very Son of the living God and that there was true life to be found in His words. Last time we talked about needing that gravity in our view of God, well we also need to feel that gravity when we hear and read His words. There’s a big difference between appreciating the bible, even respecting the bible, and maybe even having a ton of knowledge about the bible versus actually hearing what it has to say and doing it. Knowledge doesn’t do much good if you don’t know how to use it or even just don’t intend to use it which is why Solomon in the book of Proverbs says, “Get wisdom, (or get knowledge)”, but right after that, he says “get understanding”. The understanding of how to live out His truth. When we really acknowledge the awesome God that we talked about the last time we met, then we’re going take it seriously when He is talking to us and He’s talking to us through His word, through the Bible.
This isn’t to be taken lightly, this isn’t just a school textbook, or a storybook, or a social club handbook, these are the very words of God recorded down with the expectation that when His people hear it they will listen and do something about it.
And so why am I so concerned with us putting some action to His words? Let’s turn together to a passage in Matthew chapter 7.
Read Matthew 7:24-29
For Base Church, as I said a few minutes ago, part of the heart behind the name is being built up on the right base or the right foundation and here we have a definitive description of what that base needs to be. If we went around asking people: what’s the rock in these verses? We might get a few different answers. We would probably get answers of “Jesus” and that’s a strong answer, just like it always is in Sunday school. Maybe we would get some answers of “God’s word” or “The Bible” and again a strong answer and you might think that would be the bottom line with our focus for tonight. But look at these verses. What’s the difference between verse 24 and verse 26 that puts one guy on the rock and the other guy on the sand? The difference is active obedience. Obedience or the listening and then doing of what God says is what puts you on the rock. Both of these guys heard the truth, both of them had the knowledge, but only one of them acted on it. Obedience to God’s word is the rock. You can have all of the knowledge in the world, but if you aren’t actively obeying what God says then you’re still on the sand. And when the storm comes, which there’s always one coming eventually, but when it comes if you aren’t on the rock then don’t expect that to go well for you according to these verses.
So once again, why am I so concerned with us putting action to His words? Because that obedience is the only base worth building on and if we’re going to do well as individuals and as a church for God’s glory then there is absolutely no other place to start. Because not only is it the rock that will help us weather the storm, but if we catch Paul’s last point 2 Timothy 3:17 we see that it’s also the only means for the man (or woman) of God to be made complete, or prepared, or ready, and thoroughly equipped for every good work. So, in the simplest of terms, the main points for tonight are that we need that solid base to stand on, and we need to be ready for the work, because there is so much work to be done. And the only way we’re going to be ready for those things is with the Word of God, so we have to take it seriously.