2 TIMOTHY 3:10-172008 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 2 Timothy 3:10-17

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2008. But this morning we're in 2 Timothy chapter 3. And as we look at these last verses of the chapter 10 through 17...

We need to be reminded very briefly of where we came from, where Paul has been talking about, what he's been writing about in the first part of the chapter and really the first part of the book of 2 Timothy.

Paul in verses 1 through 9 was warning Timothy about perilous times that will come. And these perilous times that will come, which are the times that he was living in, the times that we're living in, in these last days, they will continue to get worse and worse. And it's as a result of, and the things that Paul was pointing out was about the people.

He's not so much talking about it's going to be perilous times because of cataclysmic events and earthquakes and things like that, but what he's talking about is the people in the last days are going to make for a perilous environment. It's going to be perilous times because people will be far from God, they'll be ungodly, they'll be serving their own selves and full of all kinds of sinful activity that Paul lists there in the first part of chapter 3.

He's telling Timothy things are going to be difficult, there's going to be perilous times, and it's going to get worse, he tells us here in our portion today. And so what he's seeking to do with Timothy and with you and I this morning is to calm a little bit of the nerves.

understanding that there's perilous times, and if we believe the Bible and what Paul has written here, we can understand that there's some difficult days ahead, that there's great cause for concern, but it doesn't mean that we should be freaked out and wondering whether or not we're saved. Instead, Paul will give us today something to stand upon, a foundation in which we can be established, a foundation in which we can be assured that

In these last days, Paul was warning that there would be great deception. He talks about those false teachers who come in and they creep into households and they lead people away from the faith and they cause people to abandon the faith.

And so there could be great concern for us, and there should be some concern for us, that we would not abandon the faith. How do we do that? If these perilous times are coming and these great deceptions are coming, how do we be assured that we're right with God? How do we make sure that we're going to make it into heaven? How do we make sure that the truth that we believe is actually the truth as God sees it, and not just as we like to think about it?

Well, that's what Paul is giving to Timothy here. He's giving him some solid things to stand upon, really two legs to stand upon. The first leg is the genuineness of a minister. The real and the fake minister is what Paul is dealing with here. There are false apostles. There are false teachers. There are those who would deceive and lead people astray. But he gives us some characteristics of a genuine minister.

A genuine apostle. He uses himself as an example of that, that we could make sure that the people that we're receiving from, the people that we're trusting spiritually, that we're allowing to have authority in our lives, are real, genuine ministers and not false teachers or false apostles. The second leg in which we have to stand on is the Word of God.

The Word of God, Paul will go on to say, is something that we can rely upon. It's something that's trustworthy. And so we can know, standing on these two legs, that we are in right standing with God. Paul is dealing with these two subjects, and so we start out in verse 10 with the first leg to stand upon. He says, "...but you have carefully followed my doctrine, my manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, and perseverance."

So right away in verse 10, we see the contrast. He starts out with the word, but what's he contrasting? What is he drawing a contrast between? Well, he just finished talking about those who would creep into households to deceive, to oppose the work of God, much like those two guys way back in Egypt opposed Moses.

And so he's giving the picture, talking about these false prophets. And now in contrast to those guys who creep into households and lead people astray, in contrast he says, Timothy, you've carefully followed my doctrine. He's providing himself, putting himself up next to them. So here you have these guys and what they're doing. And now, Timothy, remember my life. And you can look at these characteristics and nine things that he lists

For Timothy to evaluate and to understand that Paul is a genuine minister of the gospel and not a false teacher, although false teachers will be prevalent in the last days. And so Paul tells Timothy, look at me, Timothy. And he says, you have carefully followed my doctrine. And then he goes on with the rest of the list. Now, the words carefully followed, I thought this was really interesting because for as long as I can remember...

I've always thought that this meant that Timothy imitated Paul. He says, you've carefully followed my doctrine. So I was of the understanding that Paul was saying, you know, you've taken my doctrine and you've applied it for yourself. And my manner of life, you've followed that same manner of life. You've imitated me. You've emulated me. You've copied the things that I do and you've put them in practice in your own life.

But that's not what Paul is talking about at all when he says, you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, and faith, and so on and so forth. You can think of it this way. When someone says that they follow a particular sport, you don't think that

they mean, although some people go to this extreme, but you don't think they mean, you know, they get in the car, they go and they follow around all the players and they, you know, go to all the different games and they, you know, every stadium they're at, they're at and so on and so forth. That's not what you understand that to mean. When someone says, hey, I follow football, well, you know what it means, that they're keeping track. They have a good knowledge of that sport or that activity. For some of you football fans, you got excited. There's rumors perhaps, the football team coming back to LA, how exciting. You know,

So, a person who follows something, still keeping the illustration of sports, I mean, they know the stats, they know each person, the numbers, the possible trades, all the intimate details of the sport. And that's the type of following that Paul is talking about when he's telling Timothy, you have carefully followed my doctrine. The King James puts it this way, you have known well.

my doctrine, my manner of life, and all these other characteristics. And so Paul is telling Timothy, Timothy, you've known well. You've been really involved in the intricate details. You know about all of the inside things, and you've paid careful attention to my life, the way that I live, and the things that I've gone through. Now, at this point, as Paul is writing the letter, it's estimated that Timothy had been with Paul, serving with him, for a

Somewhere between 13 and 16 years. And so in that amount of time, he's had opportunity to carefully observe Paul in all types of situations.

And so Timothy could look back during this time, during this last 13 to 16 years, and evaluate these things that Paul is presenting to him. These nine things, what are they? Doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, and afflictions. These nine things, Paul says, are evaluation tools for

For me. So that you can see the contrast between the genuine minister and the false teacher. So that we would know the real from the fake. False teachers creep into households. Paul says in verse 13 that it's going to grow worse and worse. Many will be deceived and will go about deceiving. So how can we know that we're not being deceived? How do we know that those who are leading us and instructing us

are genuine and not fake. Well, Paul gives us these nine things. The first one is doctrine. Paul says, Timothy, you've known my doctrine. You've well known my doctrine. You've carefully followed the things which I have taught. That's what doctrine is. Doctrine is just the things which are taught. Paul says, look, you went with me from city to city. You've heard all the Bible studies. You've been in all the things and you've heard all the things that I teach.

And this is the first thing to look for in a minister. If we're going to evaluate the people that minister to us, the people that want to have authority in our life spiritually, this is the first area that we need to look. This is our first concern, our first evaluation tool, is what is it that they are teaching? What is their doctrine? Is it right? Is it accurate? And does it line up with the Word of God?

This is an area we cannot compromise on. You know, it's very dangerous for us to do so. You know, having the attitude that, well, you know, I really like this guy and he really inspires me and he speaks to me a lot and he's funny and makes me laugh, but, you know, he just really doesn't believe in the deity of Jesus Christ. Well, I would suggest to you that you're in a dangerous place. The doctrine is, well, it's the first place to start when evaluating those who you allow to minister to you.

Or you look at this other guy, man, he has just a powerful ministry and it's just so wonderful. But you know, he just doesn't believe that Jesus is the only way of salvation. Well, that's a serious issue. There's a doctrinal difference there and it's the first thing we need to look at when evaluating who we allow to teach us, who we allow to influence in our decisions and in our thoughts and in our beliefs. I like what Isaiah says in Isaiah 8.20. He says, "...to the law and to the testimony." That is, to the Word of God.

He says, if they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. If they don't speak according to the word of God, if what they teach in their doctrine isn't according to the word of God, Isaiah says, there's no light in them. There's no compromise on this issue. And so in evaluating real teachers as opposed to false teachers, genuine apostles as opposed to false apostles,

We need to look first at their doctrine. What is being taught? Does it line up with the Word of God? Paul goes on to say the next criteria to evaluate in a person's life is the manner of life. Paul says, look, Timothy, you've been with me. It's been some time. You've carefully followed. You know well the lifestyle that I live, the manner of life that I have. This is appropriately placed immediately after the criteria of doctrine.

Because what you believe will always impact and affect what you live, how you live. What you believe actually dictates the way that you act and the manner of life that you have. And so the question is, do they practice what they preach? What's their lifestyle like? Does it line up with what they teach? And does it line up with what is correct according to God and His principles and standards?

Paul says, look, you've seen me, Timothy. You've seen my manner of life. You've seen that it lines up with what I teach. I don't teach one thing and live a completely other way. But I practice what I preach. And I live my life in a way that is in agreement with what God has asked. Because your manner of life shows what you really believe. And for a teacher, for a minister, for someone who's involved in the ministry...

The manner of life demonstrates whether they really believe what they teach or not. It shows the heart of a person, whether it is for the people or for themselves. And so we need to be able to look at the manner of life and use that as an evaluation tool so that we are not led astray by false teachers, by those who would deceive us. So doctrine, important thing to look at. Manner of life. The next thing he says, purpose. Again, Timothy, you've known my purpose. Purpose.

This is the end result. You've known the goal, the things that I'm working for, the things that I want and hope for in the lives of those that I'm ministering to. It's the intent and motivation behind the actions that are taken, behind the ministry that is taking place. Paul says, you've known me long enough to know what my goal is in the ministry. You've known me long enough to know what I seek to accomplish.

Remember, later in Paul's life, well, actually it was earlier than when he was writing this, but he was in chains there in the book of Acts, appealing before Festus and King Agrippa, and he's sharing the gospel message. And he says, man, I wish that all who heard my voice would become as I am except for these chains. That was Paul's purpose. He wanted everyone to come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

That's why he lived. That's why he had the manner of life that he lived. That's why he taught what he taught. That's why he made the decisions that he made. That's why he preached the gospel. Because he wanted people to find the freedom, the salvation that is found in Jesus Christ. Paul is saying, look, you know my purpose. There's not ulterior motives involved.

I'm not out to fulfill my own needs. I'm not benefiting and gaining something and just kind of doing this to meet my needs. But you know my purpose, Timothy, that I'm working for people to come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. The next characteristic he gives us for evaluation, he says, faith. Timothy, you know my faith. It's a conviction of truth. Timothy, you know the truth that I'm convinced of. You know what I believe, Timothy.

Timothy, you know that I haven't wavered in my faith. Sometimes we can waver in our faith, can't we? Trusting God one day, not trusting God the next day. Freaked out in this situation. Often it's when turbulent and difficult times come. We can waver in our faith and our conviction of the truth. Sometimes people waver in doctrine.

in faith. They waver in their conviction. Well, I don't believe that's the truth anymore. Okay, well, this week I believe it's the truth. Well, man, this other person was talking and I read this book and it was pretty convincing and this is what they had to say and there's a wishy-washiness, a wavering back and forth. Paul says, look, you can see my faith. You can see my conviction. I'm steadfast. I'm not wavering in the faith. I haven't abandoned the faith, but I'm holding fast to it. The next characteristic he says is long-suffering.

Long suffering. It's a pretty easy word when you break it down, right? Long and suffering. It's not words we like to combine together, but it's what the scripture says, so we must deal with it. Long suffering. That's suffering a long time. Enduring a lot of suffering for a long time. Now, when we're in the midst of it, of course, it feels even longer than it actually is because we're consumed by it.

But long-suffering. Now, this word is interesting because it's long-suffering specifically in regards to people. So, you have those people that really bug you, really irritate you, get under your skin, really annoy you.

To be long-suffering is to put up with them for a long time. Not lashing out at them, not beating them up over it, not, you know, blowing it out of proportion, but just putting up with it for a long time. Now, Paul says, look, Timothy, I've had a lot of people come against me. I've had a lot of people that have irritated me and bugged me. And Timothy, you've seen throughout the time, throughout these years, you've known well, you've carefully followed Timothy.

The way that I'm patient with them. The way that I suffer for a long time with people who are in my life or who come against me. And of course, this is as a result of the next characteristic, which is love. The word love is the word agape in the Greek, which is God's love. It's unconditional love. It's the perfect love that God has for us. Now, I can tell you, this is a hard one to fake.

Just check it out in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. It describes for us this type of love. And it's perfect, unconditional love. And he tells Timothy, Timothy, you've known, you've carefully followed my love. You know how I have a genuine love for people, that I want what's best for them and I put up with them for a long time because, again, going back to the purpose, I want to see them come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

It was an important characteristic in the heart of Paul and the life of Paul that Timothy could observe. The last one in verse 10, he says, perseverance. This is another characteristic by which we can evaluate those who would seek to minister to us. Perseverance, it's the same idea as long-suffering, except for this time, instead of focusing and being more about people, this is about circumstances and just things in life that we have to face.

Perseverance is going through and enduring when times are hard. And so it's not necessarily a particular person that's bothering you, but there's hard times financially. Gas prices are up. Housing market's crumbling. There's all kinds of difficulty around us. There's devastation or pain or sorrow, death in the family, things like that. It's just the circumstances that every one of us face and go through in life. Perseverance is enduring.

And pressing on through those situations. In verse 11, he goes on with the last two, which are persecutions and afflictions. The last two characteristics by which we could evaluate to determine whether or not a person is a genuine minister or a false teacher is, first of all, persecutions.

To persecute is to harass or to cause to suffer. Paul says, look, Timothy, you've seen the things I've endured. The persecutions, the harassment, the suffering that I've endured as people come against and oppose the gospel message. It's very clear throughout the book of Acts. You see it over and over again. Paul goes on.

all different places throughout his ministry. You know, we talk about Paul's missionary journeys, but they're not missionary journeys in the sense perhaps like we might think. When we take a missionary trip, we plan where we're going to go. Okay, we're going to fly here. We're going to do some ministry here. Then we're going to go over to this place and we're going to do some ministry there.

Paul wasn't so much flown to different places. He was driven to different places. And I don't mean by a car. He was driven out of the town. So he'd go to the next town. He was driven out of that town. So he'd go to the next town. He'd driven out of that town. And so he progressed. He went around going to different places.

for the most part, being driven out and there was riots and things that were causing him to leave because his life was in danger and the city was in an uproar. There was great persecution and opposition to the message of the Apostle Paul and the ministry of the Apostle Paul.

And so Paul tells Timothy, hey, you've known the persecutions. You've known how I've endured as people have opposed and come against me, caused to suffer, caused me to suffer or have harassed me. The last one he says is afflictions. Now this is again another general type of word about any type of affliction or suffering that we may have to face. Paul says these nine things are afflictions.

what sets up the contrast between the genuine and the fake. By looking at these types of things, you can see whether a person is really a minister of God or whether they're out for some own profit, whether they're out to deceive, and so on and so forth. Now, it's one thing to hold fast, to have faith, to have love when it's the good times. But Paul's telling Timothy, you haven't just seen me in good times.

You've seen me for quite a while, Timothy, and we've been through thick and thin together. And you've seen how I react and respond under extreme pressure in difficult situations. Timothy, you've seen how I respond when it's easy, when there's not much opposition. And these nine characteristics are true throughout all of those times. It's important for us to use these tools that Paul is giving to us. Now, today...

I'm not hinting at anything specific, so please don't read into my questions here. But consider, does great success prove the authenticity of a minister? So a minister says, hundreds of thousands of people have read my book, sold millions of copies. Does that prove the authenticity or the genuineness of a minister? How about they have a big ministry?

Look at the congregation that gathers and there's all these people that come to hear this person speak. Does success, does big ministry, does selling lots of books prove a leader to be genuine, a minister to be real? Not according to the Apostle Paul. That's not the characteristics that he gives for us to evaluate.

He says, look, if you want to know if someone's really a minister, look at my example. And look, you can see my doctrine. You can see my manner of life. You can see my long-suffering and my patience, my faith. Look, you can see the persecutions that I endured and the afflictions that I faced. These are the tools, Paul says, to evaluate a minister to see if he's genuine or not. We see a similar type of

thoughts and construction in 2 Corinthians chapter 6. You don't have to turn there, but I'd encourage you to look it up later. 2 Corinthians chapter 6 verses 4 through 10. Paul says, here's how we commend ourselves as ministers to God to you. Here's what he's saying.

There, as he's writing to Corinth, the situation is that there's a lot of false teachers. There's people that have come into the church and said, you know, are saying bad things about Paul and false accusations. And so they're trying to promote themselves and set up their own ministries. And Paul says, as he's writing the letter to prove that he is an apostle and that those things that they're saying are not true, he says, look, here's how we commend ourselves. Here's how we prove that we're ministers of God.

It's not about great success and it's not about having, you know, Paul could say, well, a lot of people have read my letters and that proves I'm an apostle. No. He says, we prove it in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distress, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings.

So he's describing all kinds of hard times and difficult things and circumstances that many of us would not want to be in. But it's not just about going through hard times and enduring difficult days because we could look at a lot of so-called religious leaders, those who have been sent out to deceive, and there are those who have endured such things.

So it's not just those difficulties and endurance that matters. Paul goes on there in 2 Corinthians 6. He also says, we commend ourselves to you by purity, by knowledge, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness, and so on and so forth. And so it's the whole picture. We can't just look at one point and be satisfied with that. Well, they've got good doctrine, but

But if they don't endure, if they're wishy-washy, if they're jumping back and forth, well, they're not people that you want to be ministering to you. You don't want to allow them to have that type of authority in your life. You want to test and to evaluate and see the contrast between what is real and what is not.

There needs to be the endurance, the long-suffering. There needs to be the love. There needs to be the doctrine. There needs to be the faith. There needs to be the perseverance. All of these things need to be in place that we could see and know whether a person is genuine or not as they seek to minister to us or to have some type of spiritual authority in our life.

Now, there in verse 11, Paul goes on to give some specific examples of the things that he endured. And he talks about what happened in Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra. Acts chapter 13 and 14 all talk about different things that took place in those three cities. I'm not sure if that's what Paul is talking about here in referencing those three cities.

Because those things happened before he met Timothy, because he meets Timothy in Acts chapter 16. And what is recorded for us in Acts is Acts chapter 13 and 14. So it's possible Timothy heard about it and was carefully following Paul, and so he knew about those situations that happened there. But it's also likely that Paul went back to those places and experienced yet more persecution and tribulation that he endured. 2 Corinthians chapter 11 says,

Verses 22 through 28, Paul gives kind of a list. This is a list of some of the things that he's gone through as a minister of the gospel. And he shares it again to prove his authenticity, to prove that as he's gone through all these things, he's not wavered and he's held fast to the things of God. But here's some of the things that he lists.

Five times, he says, he received 39 lashes by the Jews. 39 whips with a scourge. Three times, he was beaten with rods. That was probably by Romans. That was their usual thing. One time, he was stoned. That's with rocks. It's in Acts chapter 14. He was stoned to death. Three times, he was shipwrecked.

He also goes on to say that he faced perils of waters and robbers and countrymen and Gentiles, perils in the city, perils in the wilderness, perils in the sea and false brethren. The point is, as he lists all of these things, we don't have all of these things recorded in the book of Acts.

And so although there's a lot there we see that Paul endured and afflictions and persecutions that he faced, there was much more that took place in his life. And so as he's reminding Timothy, he's reminding Timothy about specific examples that Timothy knew of. He was involved with Paul. He was perhaps with Paul when those things took place. And so he says, remember these places? Remember what happened there? And how I endured. And so again, Paul is using all of these areas, these nine things, to prove the contrasts.

It's a leg to stand on, on the foundation that we have in Jesus Christ, that the Apostle Paul is a genuine apostle. But it's also a useful tool for us to evaluate those who minister to us, that we would know if they are real, if they're genuine, or if they're going to lead us astray, if they're deceiving or being deceived. Verse 12, he goes on to say, Yes.

and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. So as he reminds Timothy about the persecution that takes place there, now he tells him this truth. Everyone who desires to live godly will suffer persecution. Paul says, Timothy...

Not just me. I'm not the only one going to suffer persecution. But everyone who desires to live godly will suffer persecution. I heard a pastor talking about this one day. He says, hey, how can we never see this verse in all those little promise books? You have the promise for this and the promise for that and you know how much God loves you and there's beautiful promises and not to discount the promises that God's given to us. All things work together for good. Oh, wonderful promise. But when you open those promise books, very rarely would you find promises

For all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. And yet it's a promise for us. Those who want to follow Christ, Jesus said, don't be surprised when the world hates you. The world hated me first. As you follow Jesus Christ, you will not fit in with this world. There will be persecution as a result. There will be harassment. There will be those who cause you to suffer. But here's the thing. The value of the Christian life

The value of what God offers to us as we follow Him is worth whatever this world can throw at us. It's worth it to follow Jesus Christ and be persecuted because no matter what this world throws at us, it doesn't compare. Paul says in Romans chapter 8, I consider the present suffering not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in me. God has so much greater things in store. The persecutions and things that I face today, it's not even worthy to be compared.

So it's worth it to endure. It's worth it to live godly and suffer persecution because of the greater things that God has in store for us. That's why Jesus said in Matthew chapter 10, don't fear those who can only kill the body. That's people, right? The worst thing that they could do to you is they could kill your body. But he says instead, fear God because he can kill the body and cast his soul into hell.

And so God's the one that we need to fear. He's the one who has ultimate authority. If we fear man, well, the Bible says that's a snare. If we're not willing to suffer persecution for our stance with Jesus Christ, our relationship with Jesus Christ, we're in great trouble. But we should stand. We must stand. We must live godly and suffer the persecution because what God has in store for us on the other side, when we finish the race,

It's not even worthy to be compared to the sufferings that we're facing now. It won't even be a thought. We won't even have a care or concern. It'll be worth it. Verse 13 and 14, Paul says, But evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them. Paul says, There's going to be persecutions, Timothy, for all those who want to follow Christ. Also,

The news just keeps getting better, right? First, there's going to be persecutions. Great. But also, evil men and imposters are going to get worse and worse. There's going to be those who are deceiving and those who are being deceived. Timothy, times are going to get difficult. There's going to be more deception.

It's really sad to think about it. There is a lot of deception that goes on today. There's a lot of people who are led astray. There's a lot of people who think that they have a right standing with God, but they're not approaching God on the basis of faith in Jesus Christ, and they're led astray. They're deceived into thinking that they're okay. The reality is, without faith in Jesus Christ, unless you are born again, you cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

In the last days, perilous times will come, Paul says. Things are going to get worse and worse. And so there's going to be more deception. As there are people who are deceived today, there's still going to be greater amounts deceived. There's going to be more who go about deceiving. There's going to be more deception. So what do we do? Here's what Paul says in verse 14. But you must continue. Here's what you do. You continue in the things which you have learned.

You continue in right standing with God. You continue in relationship with God. Make sure that you don't waver. Make sure that you don't stop walking with God. Because there's great deception out there. For your own protection, it's best for you to continue, to stay close to God, to walk with God, that you would not be deceived. If you've never started living the Christian life, if you've never had a relationship with God, then instead of saying continue, Paul would say you need to start living the Christian life.

You need to come to faith in Jesus Christ. You need to put your faith in Him and be born again. Believe Him at His word. But for those of you who've already made a commitment to Jesus Christ, you need to continue. Don't waver. Don't be wishy-washy. At first service I said, don't wiffle-waffle. I don't know if that's a word, but I kind of like it. Continue. Press forward. Press on. Because we have two things to stand upon. The first leg, we spent the majority of the time

is the genuineness of the Apostle Paul. Paul says, you know the things that, or you need to continue in the things that you have learned and have been assured of, but you also know the people who you've learned them from. The people who you've learned them from, first of all, we have the Apostle Paul, and he's presenting himself as an example. He's reminding Timothy of how he's carefully followed and observed his life. Paul has been a mentor to Timothy and taught him much.

But he's probably not limiting that to himself, but he's also reminding Timothy about his mom and his grandmother who taught him the Holy Scriptures. That's what he says in verse 15. And that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures. From childhood you've known the Holy Scriptures. 2 Timothy 1.5 tells us that his mom and his grandmother would teach him the Word of God, taught him the faith that he has in obedience to Deuteronomy 6.

where God says you must teach diligently to your children these words that I command you. You should talk of them when you sit down and when you go to your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You should be teaching your kids and talking to your kids about the words and the commands of God, he says in Deuteronomy chapter 6. And so Timothy's mom had done that, and Paul reminds Timothy, remember, you've learned from the beginning, from childhood, you've known the Holy Scriptures.

You've learned it from people who are trustworthy, from people who are genuine ministers. Again, as Paul lists these nine things so that Timothy could evaluate and remember to see the contrast of the genuine minister and the false teacher. So that's one leg. But the other leg that we can stand on in this age of deception as evil men and imposters grow worse and worse is the Word of God. The Word of God. Now,

As I shared, next week I won't be here, George will be sharing in my place, but in two weeks I want to spend a little bit more time on these verses and we'll dig in a little bit deeper. But this morning I just want to give more of an overview of what the Word of God is and what it means that we can rely upon the Word of God. Paul tells us five things here about the Word of God. He says, first of all, it's useful for salvation. Second, for doctrine.

Third for reproof. Fourth for correction. And fifth for instruction in righteousness. Here in verse 15 he says, You've known from childhood the Holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Jesus Christ. The Word of God is able to make people wise for salvation. The Scriptures are how we know God's plan of salvation for us.

The scriptures are the ones that tell us that we can get right with God by putting our faith and trust in Jesus Christ. It's the word of God that tells us how to get right with God and that God even wants to and desires to get right with us or to have us get right with Him, that He would have a real relationship with us. It's by the word of God. It's not by our arguments. It's not by convincing. It's not by our great debates. No, it's the word of God which is able to make us

Wise for salvation. Romans chapter 10 tells us that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. And so when it comes to evangelism, when it comes to sharing with those who are lost, those that we love, we need to stick to the word of God because it's his word that's able to make wise for salvation. In verses 16 and 17, we have an incredible portion of scripture that

about the Word of God. He says, all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for the last four things, doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness. He says, first of all, Scripture is given by inspiration of God. Also has been translated, the New International Version puts it as that. It's God-breathed. The Scriptures are God-breathed, God-inspired.

Peter tells us in 1st Timothy that, I'm sorry, in 1st Peter, Peter tells us that prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men of God spoke as they were moved or carried along by the Holy Spirit. In other words, he's saying prophecy was not man's idea. It wasn't man didn't come up with it, but men of God spoke as

prophecy as they were carried along, moved along by the Holy Spirit. This is the idea of inspiration, that God used human instruments. He used their personalities and their characteristics. We can see very distinct differences between the writings of the Apostle Paul and

and the writings of Luke. And we can see differences between Luke and Peter, and Peter and James, and James and John. We can see differences in the styles, the personality, the characteristics of each one. And so he used the human instrument through their personality, through their characteristics, and communicated the truth through them as he wrote for us the scriptures. I like the way that Warren Wiersbe explains it. He says this,

What we mean by biblical inspiration is the supernatural influence of the Holy Spirit on the Bible's writers, which guaranteed that they wrote what was accurate and trustworthy. Notice this, he says, Revelation means the communicating of truth to man by God.

inspiration has to do with the recording of this communication in a way that is dependable. So revelation is God revealing truth to man. But inspiration goes beyond that. To now say that revelation that was brought to man, now inspiration means that God supernaturally enabled the recording of that communication, the recording of that revelation in a way that is dependable.

something that we can count on. This is the word of God. It's God-inspired. Now, some will object and say, well, that's just the Old Testament. That's all Timothy had when Paul was writing this, but we would beg to differ. 2 Peter chapter 3, Peter is writing about the Apostle Paul to those who he's writing to, and he says that Paul and his epistles speak things which are difficult to understand, and he says unstable people

twist those things that Paul says to their own destruction. And he adds on this clause there at the end of 2 Peter 3.16. I encourage you to check it out. He says they twist the things that Paul writes as they do also the rest of the scriptures. They knew they were writing the word of God. Peter puts Paul's epistles and his letters in the same category as the scriptures. It's

along with and part of God's Word. And so what we have before us, the Old Testament and the New Testament, is the Word of God. It's inspired of God. It's dependable and reliable because God supernaturally communicated revelation to these men and enabled them to record it in a way that is dependable, reliable. We can count on the Word of God. The Word of God was inspired by God

For a specific purpose. He says, it's profitable for, and then he goes on to list these different things. It's useful, it's profitable, it's helpful, it's beneficial. It's what's needed in these different areas. And so we understand that the word of God is profitable for specific things. Now, yesterday during our conference, Rob was mentioning that at one point he had a gym membership. But during the whole time of that gym membership, he didn't go once, he shared with us.

That's not very profitable. It's not what a gym membership was designed for. Now, a gym membership can be profitable if you use it the way it's designed. So if you go several times a week, use the equipment, and use it the way that it is designed for, it's very profitable. But if you just have the membership, well, then it's just wasteful. Right, Rob? I'd pick on him. I did the same thing, but I didn't want to use myself as an example. Okay.

How about this one? I will use myself for this one. Like many of you for the past couple of weeks, I've been fighting different kinds of allergies and things and my sinuses have been bugging me and there's been headaches and itchy eyes and all these things that go along with that. And so when I need it, what I've been doing is I've been taking sinus medicine. And sinus medicine really helps me out a lot, even though I know it's allergies, but the sinus medicine helps.

Well, this morning, as I'm putting the final touches and preparing for our time together this morning, I decided, well, although I have some sinus medicine, I thought I'm going to take some allergy medicine instead. And so I have this allergy relief right here, and it's loratadine. And my wife really likes this stuff, and usually it's really helpful. So I took this instead. I thought it would be better for me than just taking sinus medicine.

Well, about an hour later, an hour and a half, I still don't feel any better. And it's having a hard time thinking straight and still suffering these same conditions. And I realized later it expired in January. That might be part of the problem. So I'm like, well, this isn't really helping me. So maybe I need to take my sinus medicine.

So I'm looking at this and then I'm about to take and I think, wait a minute, can I take sinus medicine even though I just recently took allergy relief and I'm trying to read the boxes and okay, is there going to be any adverse effects by me taking both of these at the same time? By the way, I decided not to chance it. I just waited until this time ran out and then I took this one and I feel great. So medication can be very helpful. This sinus medicine clears it right up. I feel good.

It is very helpful if it's used as prescribed. If it's used the way it's intended to be used. Now, if you mix certain medications, it can be quite deadly in the same way. The scripture is useful. It's profitable for what it was designed for. But if you try to use it with other things, if you mix medifications, then you start talking funny. Yeah.

If you mix medications and combine your metaphors and you're applying some scripture but then some worldly philosophies and some other ideas over here and you can mix your medications then it could be very damaging to you spiritually. It could be deadly spiritually. But if you use the medication that God has given, if you use the word of God for what he's designed it for, it is very profitable. It will be very effective.

And so what is it profitable for? We already saw that it's profitable for salvation. But he goes on to say it's profitable for doctrine. The scripture was given to us by God that we might learn doctrine, that we might know what to believe and why to believe it. We need to interpret our experiences by the word of God and not let our experiences interpret the word of God.

Our feelings need to be interpreted by the Word of God. And the Word of God should not be interpreted by our feelings. The Word of God is the standard. It's profitable for doctrine, for what to believe about God, about a life with Jesus Christ, and all the things that the Scriptures speak. So it's profitable for doctrine. It's also profitable for reproof. The word reproof comes from the word that means to convict in the Greek. To convict. To convict.

bring conviction to us. The Word of God is profitable to show us where we're off base, where we're disobedient to God. The Word of God is very effective at showing us and bringing light to our hearts that we might understand where we're in rebellion to God or where we've neglected what God has commanded us to do. He says it's profitable for correction. Correction means to restore to an upright state. So,

It brings conviction. You've been off base. You've been off kilter. You've been involved in some wrong activity. The Word of God brings conviction, but it doesn't just convict you and leave you there. Then the Word of God is also profitable for correction, to bring you back to that upright state so that you can get right with God. The Word of God is effective and profitable to bring you back to the right path, to the straight and narrow, off of the path of destruction.

the wide path of destruction, and back onto the narrow path of life. The Word of God is profitable for correction. It's also profitable, he says finally, for instruction in righteousness. To teach you how to continue in the path of righteousness. To teach you how to walk uprightly with God. When you use it as it's prescribed, as it's designed to be used, it's profitable. It's effective. You'll benefit greatly by the Word of God.

How did God design his word to be used? Well, it's not like a regular book. It's not like a book that you could just read it once, you learn the principles, and that's enough. No, the word of God is living and active, Hebrews 4.12 tells us. It's a spiritual book. And so it's not you read it once, you get the principles, okay, got it, move on to something else.

The Word of God is something for us to dwell upon. To go back and read over and over again. To spend time regularly in the Word of God is the way that God has designed it. George was reminding us of that this morning in Psalm chapter 1, verse 2, talking about meditating day and night on the Word of God.

In Joshua chapter 1 verse 8, God tells Joshua the same thing. Meditate. Do not let this book of the law depart from your mouth, but meditate on it day and night. God prescribed and intended, He designed His word to be regularly read, meditated on,

and used by you and I. Jesus said, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. The word of God was designed not for us to just read our favorite portions and read the portions that we like, but every word. That's why we have the emphasis here to teach through the Bible, chapter by chapter, verse by verse. We need it all. Although it'd be nice, you know, to just kind of focus on our favorites, we would be immature as a result. No, it was designed for us to

Partake of the entire Word of God, not in one sitting, but throughout time, day by day, as we're regularly spending time in His Word. Jesus said in John chapter 8, Abide in my Word and you will be my disciples indeed. The Word of God was designed for us to abide in it, to live in it, to spend time daily, regularly in it.

And when we use God's word as it's designed, it will be profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction, righteousness. And the end result is verse 17, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. The end result of abiding in the word and using it according to what it was designed is a complete man or woman of God. That is a mature, a whole man or woman of God.

God wants to bring you to completion. He wants to bring you to maturity. He wants to bring you to the fullness of His desires and His plans for you. And it's accomplished by the Word of God. Not only will He bring you to maturity, but it says thoroughly equipped for every good work. Thoroughly equipped. It's the equivalent of when we say fully furnished. You move into a place and it's fully furnished. What does that mean? You don't have to bring anything.

You'll have everything you need right there in the same way. When you use God's Word as He designed it, it's profitable, it will make you a complete man or woman of God and will provide for you everything that you need. There's not one thing that you would lack. God's Word provides it all. 2 Peter 1, I'll close with this scripture.

2 Peter 1.3 says, His divine power, that's God's divine power, has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. Everything we need for life, that's the job, that's parenting, that's finances, everything that we need for life and for godliness, walking uprightly, living the life that God's called us to live. He says He's given it all to us through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue. It's through the knowledge of God

through a relationship with God, through spending time with God and His Word. And so we have these two legs to stand upon. The genuine Apostle, the genuine minister, and the Word of God. And by these two things, we can stand fast. We don't have to worry. Although, yes, it will get worse. There will be those who are deceived and many more who deceive. There will be persecutions for those who try to live godly, but you can stand fast on the genuine Apostle,

recognizing that the truths were communicated to you by one who is dependable, who is a minister and agent of God, but also by the Word of God, given to us by God, that He could transform us into the Christian that He wants us to be. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank You for these tremendous gifts that You've given to us, these two solid things to stand upon, Lord, in that You gave us godly men who minister to us, who are examples for us,

God, who provide the contrast that we would not be deceived by false teachers, by those who would lead us astray. And God, you've given to us your word, Lord, which is able to make us wise for salvation, which is able to bring us to completion. Lord, as you said, that you would be faithful to complete the work that you began in us. You've chosen to do that through your word. And so God, I pray for each of us that we would have a thirst for your word.

Lord, that you would help us to abide in your word, that we would truly be your disciples. Help us to use your word as you've designed it to be used, as you've prescribed it for us. Lord, that we would meditate on it day and night. Teach us, God. Lead us. And Lord, if there's any who are not right with you this morning,

If there's any who need reproof or have been convicted by you and need correction, they want to get right with you, Lord, I pray that you would enable them, empower them, bring them to right relationship with you. If there's those who are listening to this and they need to make a first-time commitment to you, Jesus, they need to be born again so that they would not be led astray, that they would not be deceived. God, would you open their hearts? Would you open their eyes? By your word, which is able to make us wise for salvation, speak, Lord.

Bring us to right relationship with you. Bring us to completion. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.