Book: 2 Timothy

The Qualities of a Faithful Pastor
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Summary

This passage from 2 Timothy 4:1-5 teaches us what it means to fulfill a faithful ministry. Paul’s final charge to Timothy reveals that every believer ministers under the watchful eye of Christ, who will judge all works. We are reminded that proclaiming God’s truth without compromise is the foundation of all ministry, that adversity and opposition to sound doctrine are inevitable, and that persistent, sober-minded behavior is required to finish well.

Key Lessons:
1. Every act of ministry is performed in the presence of a holy God who sees and evaluates all we do — this should produce both reverent fear and comfort.
2. Faithful preaching means proclaiming the entire Word of God exactly as written, without adding, subtracting, or softening the message to please people.
3. Opposition to sound doctrine is not surprising but predicted — nominal believers will reject truth and accumulate teachers who tell them what they want to hear.
4. Fulfilling ministry requires persistence, self-control, willingness to suffer, and continued evangelism regardless of circumstances.
Application: We are called to examine whether we are faithfully using our spiritual gifts in service to Christ, to guard against ear-tickling teaching, to embrace sound doctrine even when it confronts our sin, and to take every opportunity to share the gospel.

Discussion Questions:
1. How does the awareness that Jesus is watching and will evaluate our ministry change the way we approach serving in the church?
2. In what ways might we, even as committed believers, be guilty of rejecting sound doctrine when it confronts areas of sin in our own lives?
3. What practical steps can we take to ensure we are fulfilling the ministry God has given us before Christ returns?
Scripture Focus: 2 Timothy 4:1-5 provides Paul’s final charge to Timothy with nine commands for faithful ministry. John 5:17-23 establishes Christ’s equality with the Father and His authority as Judge. 2 Timothy 2:15 and 3:16-17 emphasize the importance of accurately handling and teaching the Word of God.

Outline
Introduction

Well, as you think about your faithful pastor, the late John MacArthur said, “The role of the pastor in Christ Church is vital, and God has ordained that his people be taught and shepherded by spirit-gifted, spirit-led, and spirit empowered men.” The spiritual life and faithfulness of a congregation always is closely related to the spiritual life and faithfulness of its pastor. How true that is. And we’ve seen that, right, for 40 years.

And how you guys have grown. I’ve heard testimony on how much you guys have grown in this church because of Pastor Joe preaching faithfully the word of God. I invite you, if you have your Bibles to turn with me to 2 Timothy chapter 4. 2 Timothy chapter 4:es 1:5.

Hopefully you have an outline. If there’s an outline for this message, 2 Timothy 4:es 1:5. Let’s go ahead and read 2 Timothy 4:es 1:5.

The Apostle Paul said, “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing in his kingdom. Preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled. They will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires.

Verse four says, and will turn away their ears from the truth and return aside to myths, but you be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

Let’s pray. Our heavenly father, we thank you so much for the opportunity to look into your word. And father, we heard so many times last night during praise and even this morning how your son Jesus Christ willingly went to the cross to die for our sins, all of our sins, past, present, and future.

And thank you, Father, so much for your grace in our lives by allowing us to to look into your word, to study your word, for giving us your word, which encourages us and makes us more like Jesus Christ. Thank you again, Father, for the Bobbies. I pray you bless them, bless this church, encourage them, and now, Father, please help us, please illuminate our mind as we look into your word. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Background of 2 Timothy

Well, as you look at second Timothy, just a little background there, a brief background of second Timothy. This was a personal letter written by the apostle Paul around AD67 to 60 around 6667 in Macedonia to his protege Timothy before Paul was executed under Nero’s persecution.

And this was the third and last of the pastoral epistles, first Timothy and Titus being the others. And as commentator D. Ed and Min Heert said this was Paul’s last will and testament.

“This was Paul’s last will and testament.”

Well, Paul in his first missionary journey led Timothy to Christ. Timothy was ordained by God and commissioned through the lay of the hands of the presbyter. So Paul was about to pass a baton of faithful ministry to Timothy who was pastoring the church in Ephesus.

Well, like a loving father, Paul wanted to write this letter of encouragement to Timothy, his son in the faith, because maybe Timothy’s faith was shaken. Or maybe he was about to quit due to the heavy pressure within the church and also the persecution by Nero.

Well, Timothy, whose name means one who honors God, as Timothy was despised for his youth, as 1 Timothy 4:12 tells us, he felt inadequate. He had a timid spirit, didn’t have a strong personality like the Apostle Paul in order to debate the false teachers that he ran up against. So, Paul wanted to remind Timothy to defend the faith, to be strong in doctrine, and be excellent in his service to our Lord Jesus Christ.

“Paul wanted to remind Timothy to defend the faith, to be strong in doctrine, and be excellent in his service.”

Well, in our text this morning, there are nine commands Paul gave to Timothy, right? Pastor Dave Dave said I had two hours. So, we got nine commands we’re going to go through this morning. I’m just kidding. But nine commands. And you’ll notice Paul’s last command there in verse five. Paul said to fulfill your ministry. Fulfill your ministry. The last command he gave to Timothy before he was martyed.

But what did Paul mean when he said to fulfill your ministry? What does that look like? Well, in the New Testament, there are many requirements and you how pastors can fulfill their ministry of mercy as 2 Corinthians chapter 4:1 calls it. And these requirements are for you, the congregation, to make sure you hold your pastor, true to these requirements to honor Jesus Christ. Well, Paul gave Timothy three other requirements on how he could fulfill his ministry.

Proclaim God’s Truth

And I believe if pastors do these things, they will fulfill their ministries. Well, the first requirement for taking notes for a pastor who fulfills ministry is to proclaim God’s truth. Proclaim God’s truth. And we’ll spend a good amount of our time here in our first point. But look at verse one.

The Solemn Charge

It says, I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus. But notice before Paul charged Timothy to preach the word of God, he wanted to remind Timothy of something very important. The word solemnly charged is from the Greek verb which is dia martrami. You hear the word martyr in there. Dia marturami, right? Which speaks about witnesses like the apostles who preached on the life, death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

However, the use of this verb in our passage speaks of an earnest appeal or a warning. And the preposition dia attached to the martrami intensifies its meaning and brings a directive, a stern warning almost like a command to Timothy.

MacArthur again says the solity of Paul’s charge is drawn from the fact that is tied directly to the awesome majesty of the one who commisss men to divine service. Those who are called to proclaim and interpret the word of God have the most profound responsibility that the Lord places on any man.

“Those called to proclaim the word of God have the most profound responsibility the Lord places on any man.”

John Stodd said the verdia marturami has legal connections and can mean to testify under oath in a court of law or to adjure or demand a witness to do so.

And this phrase solemnly charged was also used in 1 Timothy 5:21, warning Timothy not to be biased or partial when disciplining church elders. Also in 1 Timothy 6:13 that despite persecution, he is to be faithful to confess Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. And also in 2 Timothy chapter 2:14, not to argue with false teachers. It’s kind of like a waste of time. Continue on with your ministry. Fulfill the ministry.

Reason 1: Jesus Is Watching

Well, what was the reason? What was the reason for this charge to Timothy? Well, what was the reason that Paul charged Timothy to follow these nine commandments? Well, the first reason that Jesus is watching.

Jesus is watching. Look at verse one. I slely charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus.

The word presence means before the eyes or sight of a holy God. It’s like in Isaiah 6 before the prophet, right, was commissioned by God to preach. Remember what he said? He said, “Woe is me for my eyes have seen the king, the Lord of hosts.” As he stood in the presence of a holy God.

Isaiah 6:5: “Woe is me for my eyes have seen the king, the Lord of hosts.”

Paul is saying every time you preach and minister, scrutiny is taking place because you are in the very presence of God and Christ Jesus. Sometimes it’s easy for us to to focus on the critical command, right?

To preach the word and the other eight commands we’ll take a look at at but bypass verse one which which has some serious details and it applies not just to preachers but applies to every believer who currently ministers for Christ like you all do here at Calvar’s equipping ministry Hebrews chapter 4:13 I like what the New King James Version said and there is no creature hidden from his sight but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Hebrews 4:13: “There is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him.”

For example, when Missy and I allowed our children to use the computer, right?

Remember those days? I want to use a computer, mom and dad. Right? Well, the password we gave them as they logged in was God is watching.

And if there’s any hackers out there, we don’t use that password anymore. Okay?

So, just we changed it. So, anyway, but God is watching. Just to remind them that watch out what you’re doing in that computer cuz God is watching everything that you do. But it’s interesting enough though, Paul was not thinking about his own execution, which was imminent, but wanted to remind Timothy that Jesus was going to evaluate his ministry.

But grammatically the phrase in the presence of God and Jesus Christ or Christ Jesus could also say maybe your version says this in the presence of God even Christ Jesus. He wanted to highlight Jesus Christ. Very interesting there.

He wanted to exalt Jesus Christ who is Yahweh the great I am. Ago, as we just sang, the root of David, right? The line of the tribe of Judah, the second person of the Trinity, the son of man, and Jesus is the first fruit of our resurrection.

One day we will be resurrected, too. Pastor Joe Bobby in part two of his excellent sermon called the battle rages, the outcome is determined said, and I quote, “Our atonement is complete, and that atonement is that sacrifice of Christ.

Where Christ’s death was a substitution for our sin and for sinners. And God imputed the guilt of our transgressions to Christ and then punished him for it.

And then of course that was the full payment for the price for our sins.” Well said. And not to exclude God the Father who is the orchestrator of history, right? And also God the Holy Spirit who illuminates our minds as we read through the scriptures. They are also watching as we minister for Jesus Christ. It is truly an audience of one.

And when I think about the presence of God, there’s also a positive side, right? There’s also a a grace side that God is always with us, isn’t he? As we go through trials and tribulations and suffering and pain, God’s presence is there with us. He knows exactly what we are doing, what we’re going through. As Hebrews chapter 4:15 tells us, with this accountability, Jesus should bring a healthy fear. However, there’s one more reason to have reverential fear here.

“God’s presence is there with us. He knows exactly what we are doing, what we’re going through.”

Reason 2: Jesus Will Judge

The second reason for the charge to Timothy is because Jesus would not only be watching, but look what verse one says. Second part of verse one says, who is to judge the living and the dead. The pronoun who refers directly back to Jesus Christ. His judgment is imminent.

Why? Because within that in verse who is to judge the living and dead the Greek word mellow is included and that means about to which means imminency that Jesus Christ is about to come maybe today maybe before the worship service is over. He is coming back soon and Jesus will be the judge of the living to those who died in Christ before the rapture.

And as believers, we will not be judged, right, for our sins because there’s no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, right? We’ve been declared righteous. We sing about that and we talk about that, right?

Romans 8:1. So after we hear those words, well done a good and faithful slave, all believers come before the beac seat of Christ and our works while serving in the body of Christ will be judged as 1 Corinthians chapter 3 12-15, 1 Corinthians 4:es 1:5 and 2 Corinthians 5:10 tells us and then we will receive our eternal rewards. So the question is this morning, how are you are you prepared?

Are you prepared to be judged by your works of Jesus Christ in the church? Well, if you think if you’re not serving God and using your giftedness, repent and confess that sin to God and he will forgive you and start serving him before he comes back. Right?

Well, speaking of Jesus being a judge, do you remember the event in John 5:1 17-22 where Jesus declared to the Jews that he was equal to the father? Do you remember that? Well, turn with me very quickly to John 5.

“How are you prepared to be judged by your works for Jesus Christ in the church?”

John chapter 5, we look at verses 17 to 22. I want you to turn here. Let’s let me just give you a little background.

Jesus’s Equality with the Father

This was during Jesus’s Galilean ministry as he went up to Jerusalem after healing the noble man’s son in John chapter 4. But in chapter 5, after seeing the he seeing the lame man and healing him on the Sabbath in verses 1-6, which by the way made the Jews furious, didn’t it? They didn’t like that he healed on his on the Sabbath and they wanted to kill Jesus because Jesus called God his father and said his essence and his works were identical to God’s proving himself to be equal with God. Well, let’s take a look at John 5 verse starting with verse 17.

Jesus says, “But he answered them, my father is working until now, and I myself am working.” For this reason, therefore, the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because he not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God his own father, making himself equal with God. Verse 19 says, “Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, truly, truly I say to you, the Son can do nothing of himself, unless it is something he sees the Father doing.

For whatever the Father does these things, the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all things that he himself is doing, and the Father will show him greater works than these, so that you will marvel. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son also give life to whom he wishes. So you see the equality there, right? Whatever the Father does, Jesus does also. Equality with God.

Great verses to use against Jehovah Witnesses or anybody else that thinks Jesus Christ is not God. But look at verse 22. For not even the father judges anyone, but he has given all judgment to the son.

He has given all judgment to the son. Well, why did the father give all judgment to the son? Well, we know that Jesus was rejected by so many people, right? Not because of his amazing miracles. They love that.

They love when he healed and they followed him, right? All over the place. They love they love that. But it’s because of what he said. They did not like his words. His words cut deep into their heart and they did not honor Jesus as the son of God.

In fact, look back at verse 22 and 23. For not even the father judges anyone, but he has given all judgment to the son. So that purpose, right, the purpose clause so that why?

John 5:22: “He has given all judgment to the Son.”

So that all will honor the son even as they honor the father. He who does not honor the son does not honor the father who has sent him.

John 5:23: “He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who has sent him.”

Those Who Reject Jesus as God

This is the reason why the father has given all judgment to the son because people reject Jesus Christ and they say that he is not the son of god you may have seen this I don’t know in in California I thought it was prevalent only in California there are billboards you may have seen it on the freeways we call freeways in California or highways here I guess I checked on the internet I guess it’s kind of all over the country have you seen these billboards that said one says are you committing idolatry have you seen that scripture says God is one, not three and one. We’ve seen that implying we shouldn’t be worshiping Jesus Christ as God or the Holy Spirit.

And there’s another one that says Jesus is not God. Scripture says Jesus did not preexist in heaven. Well, I like for them to tell me the chapter and verse.

Well, they found that, right?

No scriptures. They don’t have any scriptures to back up what they are saying, but they’re all over. You see these billboards as you’re driving all over. Maybe it was just in wacky California. Maybe. I don’t know. Maybe.

Actually, I heard I I heard it was like in Mississippi and and other places also. But one day they will be judged.

They will be judged by Christ because they did not honor Jesus Christ as the son of God. Well, if you go back to our text, Old Testament saints will be judged after the great tribulation as mentioned in Daniel 12 and Revelation 20. Unbelievers will be judged at the sheep and go judgment of the nations.

In Matthew 25 and the great white throne judgment in Revelation 20. I just want to take a moment just to to to ask you if hopefully and I don’t know everyone here hopefully you have placed your faith and trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. If you haven’t, I plead with you, I beg with you to believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God.

That he died on the cross for your sins. He was on the cross. He was buried. He rose again. And he loves you and he can give you eternal life. You can do that right now, right where you are sitting. Come to know Jesus Christ.

“I plead with you to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that he died on the cross for your sins.”

Command 1: Preach the Word

If you look at the third part of verse one, I slemly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is the judge of the living and dead and by his appearing and his kingdom. This is a visible appearing of Christ during his second coming to set up his millennial kingdom and eventually the eternal state. So Jesus is watching and he’s coming back to judge soon.

And as I mentioned, there are nine commands that Paul gave to Timothy. Five are in verse two and four are in verse five. And I believe again these nine commands form the basis of a faithful ministry. A faithful ministry for the pastor but also for you also for a faithful ministry by which you will be judged on by Jesus Christ.

This is the criteria criteria that he will be using. Well, first command verse two is preach the word. We’ve heard that so many times, right? Preach the word. Preaches from the Greek word keruso meaning to proclaim means to herald right herald it out word is from Greek word logos meaning the entire word of god not partial word of god right but the entire word of god is what’s supposed to be preached and this is what a herald did he fearlessly loudly clearly proclaimed the king’s message exactly as the king wrote it down that’s what the herald did so a preacher a teacher Sunday school teacher, you must proclaim with urgency the exact message of Jesus Christ without compromising one single word at all.

A pastor friend of mine heard this from his seminary professor who said this, “The herald who changes the message of the king is a traitor to the king.” The herald who changed the message of the king is a traitor to the king. We don’t want to be traitors, do we? No. We want to teach and preach Jesus’s exact words.

“The herald who changes the message of the king is a traitor to the king.”

But did Jesus teach and preach his own words?

When John 12 49 to 50, here’s what Jesus said. For I did not speak on my own initiative, but the father himself who sent me has given me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak.

What to Preach: The Whole Counsel of God

Jesus preached God’s exact words. And so should we. The exact word of God. And Jesus exalted the word of God in John 17:1 17, the high priestly prayer.

Remember what he said? He said, “Sanctify them by your truth.” the verse, “Your word is truth.” Psalm 19:7, we see the power of the word of God, how it changes. Psalm 19:7 says, “The law of the Yahweh is perfect, restoring the soul. The testimony of Yahweh is sure, making wise is simple.

Psalm 19:7: “The law of Yahweh is perfect, restoring the soul. The testimony of Yahweh is sure, making wise the simple.”

Right? This verse defines to us what the word of God is and its benefit to us.

Psalm 119:1 says, “Your word I have treasured or hidden in my heart that I may not what? Sin against you.” The word protects us from sin. Right? Why wouldn’t we want to read the word of God? It protects us from sin.

And there’s some other biblical themes you could preach, teach about Christ’s deity in Colossians 1:15. Jesus never refused worship. Remember when he healed a leper, he came back and worshiped Jesus. He bowed down and worship.

Jesus didn’t say, “No, no, no wor.” No, he bowed down and worshiped Jesus. You teach on his deity. Christ is the eternal God. You preach about Christ’s humility and his incarnation about taking on human flesh and becoming a man.

As Philippians chapter 2 6 and 8 says, you show Christ humanness, how he wept, he was tired, he fell asleep, and he prayed to God the Father for strength. You explained the passion week of Christ’s suffering leading up to his crucifixion, his burial, and his glorious resurrection. All for who?

Psalm 119:11: “Your word I have treasured in my heart that I may not sin against you.”

First for God’s glory, right? That’s why he died on the cross. Then for us secondarily, you expound on Christ’s attributes, how he knew thoughts, he knew actions, his compassion, his mercy, his grace to love, to love us dearly.

And you talk about Christ preaching about sin, heaven, money, and how he warned people about hell because hell was not created for us. It was created for who? The devil and his angels. Not for us. Not for us.

What about the Apostle Paul? Did he teach and preach the entire word of God? Remember what Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:2, I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and what and him crucified.

In Acts 20 27, he said, I did not shrink from declare to you the whole purpose, the whole council of God.

And Paul taught on I like to say he taught on all theations, right?

Justification, sanctification, glorification, there’s election, adoption, substitution. He taught on all that, the entire purpose of God.

Rightly Handling the Word of Truth

And before the pastor preaches the word of God, how should he approach the text?

We’ll just turn a page back with 2 Timothy 2:15. This is how the pastor or anyone teaching the word of God should approach the text.

2 Timothy 2:15 says, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed accurately cutting it straight, handling the word of truth.” That’s what that phrase mean. Accurately handling means cutting it straight. It’s like taking a pair of scissors and cutting a piece of paper straight. Right? We want to cut it straight. We want to interpret the word of God exactly as God wanted it taught. We interpret it correctly and we preach it correctly. Right? It’s like setting a broken bone, right? Greek word is ortho tomato, right? Ortho, bone, tomato.

2 Timothy 2:15: “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”

Setting it straight. Interpret the word of God straight before you teach it. And what is the purpose of teaching preaching the word of God? Just a couple verses back there in 2 Timothy chapter 3:16. All scriptures inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for proof, for correction, for training and righteousness.

Purpose clause. Why? So that the man of God may be adequate equipped for every good work. That’s the purpose. That is the purpose we it should be desire our desire for every pastor and teacher to make every single believer in their congregation as Colossians 1 25 and 28 says mature in Christ.

We want mature believers. That’s what we want. They will know more about God and the glories of heaven. That was one of the things I believe that John MacArthur his desire was to teach word of God and teach us how to learn and and study the word of God, right?

But also I heard one of his desire was to have us to increase our appetite for the word of God. That was his purpose so that we could have a a hunger for his for the word of God, right? He wanted us to know more and more about the word of God.

I think I was talking to Tony about that earlier this morning, how his appetite for the word of God, how MacArthur helped him in that sense. But John Piper said, “A church is a body of people who minister to each other.” Part of what preaching does is equip us for that.

And how true that is. Well, Jesus taught and preached to a generation and he passed the baton on to Peter and the other apostles to teach God’s divine revelation. The baton went from Jesus to Paul who taught Timothy who taught other faithful men, right? Second Timothy 2:2, who would teach and pass the baton on to other generations.

“The purpose is to make every single believer in their congregation mature in Christ.”

This baton was also passed to Pastor Joe Bobby who has faithfully taught and preached the word of God to those when he first arrived at Calvary and to so many others who came and left as God used him to continue the process of spiritual reproduction and transformation from one generation to the next. Right? Faithfulness there.

Commands 2–5: Be Ready, Reprove, Rebuke, Exhort

Well, Paul followed the command to preach the word with four other commands which speak about the actions of preaching the word of God. We’ll go through these kind of quickly. Second command, be ready in season and out of season. Basically means preach it all the time, right? Whether it’s popular or not. Be ready means is an attitude of urgency to guard the truth also and preach the truth. Guthrie said the word was also used in a military sense to stay at one’s post. But here it means to be at one’s task and and indicates that the Christian minister must always be on duty all the time.

Seasons means eras or periods of time, not chronological time like on your watch or on your eyew watch. Eseason in season means when it’s popular, when it’s convenient, right? Out of season when it’s not convenient, right? But you always preach the word of God. It doesn’t matter under persecution, whatever. You always preach the word of God. And aren’t you thankful that we can still preach the word of God freely in the United States? Thank God we can. And yes, guys, even in wacky California, we can still preach the word of God. So I don’t know. John McCarthy just passed away. So, I don’t know.

“The Christian minister must always be on duty — be at one’s task, preach it whether popular or not.”

We’ll have to see just being in California. We’re still we’re still going to preach for God no matter what.

Doesn’t matter what Newsome says, right?

So, but three other commands when preaching. Third command to reprove and rebuke. Kind of the same words there mentioned back in 2 Timothy 3:16 means to confront sinful behavior and wrong doctrine beliefs by using the scriptures to bring heaviness heaviness to the sinful believer’s heart.

Whereas the fourth command, rebuke, brings an idea of using the word of God to correct a person’s sinful motives and to have them confess and repent of their sins. Our fifth command, exhort. After correction, you are to preach encouraging them to keep living for Jesus Christ.

You want to make sure you convict, but you also want make sure you encourage, right? In some you bring them down and make sure you bring them up, right? We always want to make sure we do that as we preach the word of God.

And how should a preacher reprove, rebuke, and come alongside one who is sinning? Verse says, “With great patience.” Great patience. Right? Aren’t you glad God is patient with us? He is so patient with us.

I know some of you are involved in biblical counseling and a manner in which you interact with your counsel should be with great patience.

“You want to convict, but also make sure you encourage. Bring them down and make sure you bring them up.”

With Great Patience and Instruction

It takes time, right, for the heart to change. I mean, sometimes I know I know we want to take a hammer and chisel and chisel that hard, right? That hard heart. But it takes patience. Jesus was so patient with James and John. Remember in Mark chapter 10 verse 45 when they asked Jesus if one could sit on his right hand and the other on his left hand in glory.

Remember that. So what did Jesus teach them? Well, he taught them humility. He taught them servantthood and self-sacrifice which is what we should be doing also.

Pastors, we cannot change a believer’s heart overnight. Doesn’t happen. In fact, the Holy Spirit is the one I was talking to someone said, “I just can’t change it.” Remember, the Holy Spirit is the one that transforms the person’s heart through the use of the word of God. And speaking of that, we have patience, right? And also great patience and also instruction, skillful teaching, using the word of God skillfully from one who has been trained. So if all these five commands are followed, everything in ministry will be perfect, right? Peaceful, right? Paradise, right?

“The Holy Spirit is the one that transforms the person’s heart through the use of the word of God.”

Prepare for Adversity

No problems, right? Ask Pastor Joe, right? No problems. Well, this leads us to the second requirement for a pastor to fulfill his ministry. So that well, let’s say it this way, to prepare for adversity. Prepare for adversity. There’s an article in the expositor seminary that says this. Half of the ministers beginning their pastorate will not survive five years.

They will self-destruct or be chewed up before the ink on their seminary degree is dry. The average tenure in a church is less than three years. 40 years. Wow.

Amazing. If these statistics are even closer to reality, then the lifespan of an average pastor in one church is all too brief. That is well said. Well, if you look at verse three, the conjunction therefore expresses Paul’s concern for future difficulties that might personally affect Timothy and also the church.

And this is the reason why Paul commanded Timothy to be so faithful to preach the word. Be ready in season, out of season with proof, rebuke. That’s why because difficult times are coming. A time will come, as verse three says, when they will not endure sound doctrine.

They will not endure sound doctrine. And I believe verses three and four describe what preaching out of season looks like in many churches today. Time again refers to seasons or periods of time.

“The average tenure in a church is less than three years. Forty years — wow, amazing.”

They Will Not Endure Sound Doctrine

It’s a time when nominal believers in the church will battle you and will not put up with or tolerate sound doctrine that you are preaching or teaching.

Sound doctrine means healthy, demanding, confrontive preaching about sin, guilt, holiness, progressive sanctification, forgiveness.

Preach again all the cations. We preach all of that.

Well, DM Heert said they will not put up with doctrine that is healthful, useful, practical teaching which gives health and soundness to the spiritual man.

“Sound doctrine means healthy, demanding, confrontive preaching about sin, guilt, holiness, and progressive sanctification.”

And this isn’t the first time that the Apostle Paul warned Timothy what difficult times will look like in the future. Remember, just turn a page back in 1 Timothy 3:es 1-5.

Difficult times are coming, Timothy.

2 Timothy chapter 3:1 says, “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy.” Verse three says, “Unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

They hold to the form of godliness, although they have denied its power. Avoid such men as these. And that’s happening in our churches today. We know that. We see that even as you interact with with unbelievers today or believers maybe unbelievers in a church might be happening there.

But I think we got to be careful kind of a warning for us here that we don’t point the finger at them because we can be guilty of this too, right? Whenever somebody preaches or we hear scriptures that confront us about the sin of pride or not forgiving someone or not loving someone as we should, we can kind of reject that teaching too, right? We kind of give the the whole Heisman trophy approach like stay away, right?

We do that. No, we want to make sure if there’s sin in our lives that we are confessing that sin, repenting of that sin to God, and he will forgive you immediately.

“We can be guilty of this too — whenever scripture confronts us about sin, we can kind of reject that teaching.”

Ears Tickled and Turning to Myths

Not only that, verse three says these nominal believers, they will want to have their ears tickled. Speaking about teaching that gratifies or comforts a person, and it looks past sin. You hear that, I don’t know if you you turn on the live stream, right? You see churches today, they don’t talk about sin.

Threeletter word sin is not even mentioned here.

Commentator Kenneth Reese said, “This describes a person who desires to hear for mere gratification.” Like the Greeks at Athens who spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear not some new thing but some newer thing. That’s what they did back then in Athens.

And you can find this type of preaching as you live stream churches today as I mentioned everywhere today. They will tickle your ears to death and please you but will not lead a sinner to Jesus Christ.

And then they will what as verse three says they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires. It means accumulate teachers right these false teachers motivational speakers whose desire is to please their selfish materialistic lustful desires that they want to hear. And you guys know this social media is going crazy with all this.

Have you seen in social media just just crazy about guys who are trying to teach the word of God speaking about end times. They haven’t been trained and are trying to talk about revelation and everything. I remember our son showing us a clip on YouTube and the guy was totally off regarding the book of Revelation.

Totally off. Be careful with these false teachers. The prophet Jeremiah witnessed this, didn’t he, in Israel in Jeremiah 5:30-31. Like I said, there’s nothing new under the sun. Why? It happened in Israel.

It’s happening today. He said, “An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land. The prophets prophesy falsely. The priests rule on their own authority and my people love it. So, so it happened back there in Israel and it’s happening today.

One commentator said, “People want teachers who will allow them to live like they desire in their lust.” The attitude of loss is make me feel good about myself. Tell me something sensational, entertaining, or that builds up my ego.

It’s all about me, right? You hear about e me. We got to be careful too. Even our worship songs should be about me me, right? And be so careful about that. They want teachers who might even disagree or debate whether the word of God is inherent, infallible and without error.

Or maybe this or tell the preacher what to preach. Maybe telling the congregation, the pastor is telling the congregation who to vote for. Have you heard that from I heard you can from the pulpit tell your political favorite or whatever who to vote for?

Or maybe having a pastor preach on the LGBTQ QQ agenda, woke feminism, social, all all of that. Be very careful. And in verse four says, they will turn away their ears from the truth and turn aside to myths.

Meaning, stop listening. They’ll take both hands and put it up on their ears and say, “I don’t want to hear the word of God.” When a person turns away from sound doctrine, it’s just a matter of time till they what? They turn to myths which are fables, legend story, man-m made up stories, not true. Right?

“Be very careful. These stories cannot lead a sinner to repent of their sins and save them.”

Be Persistent in Behavior

These stories again cannot lead a sinner to repent of their sins and to save them from their sins. But despite all this hardship, what does Paul exhort Timothy to do? Well, this leads us to our third and last requirement for a pastor to fulfill his ministry. And that is to be persistent in his behavior. Persistent in his behavior.

A pastor is not to be swayed in what he preaches. He is not to be influenced by rich or powerful men. And I’ve heard that that has happened in a number of churches of today. Or even to be relevant. Be careful. It’s not to be relevant today. When you think of the Bible’s relevant for all times, isn’t it? I mean, we don’t need a 2025 Bible and a 2026 Bible. No, it’s relevant for every time.

It needs to be uncompromising and be committed to God’s unchangeable truth.

“The Bible is relevant for all times. We don’t need a 2025 Bible — it’s relevant for every time.”

Command 6: Be Sober in All Things

This brings us to our sixth sixth command in verse 5. But you be sober in all things. Now Paul gets personal. He says, “But you be sober in all things, Timothy.” He gets personal with Timothy as he contrasts the lifestyle of nonominal Christians and their irrational behavior with how Timothy should be behaving and to fulfill his ministry.

The word sober means pastor be alert. Level-headed, calm, have self-control, steadfast in your judgment, clear-minded, awake, unwavering, immovable, and what’s the phrase? Having one’s wits about himself, right? Hold your pastor to this. This is how he should be behaving.

“Pastor, be alert, level-headed, calm, steadfast in your judgment, clear-minded, unwavering, and immovable.”

Well, Paul wanted Timothy to be in total control of his thought process and not surprised when nominal believers suddenly turn from the word of God to myths. So pastor, be firm in your actions, honor God, and do not be disqualified.

That’s one of the sad stories when you hear pastors being disqualified.

Right? Remember what Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter 9 26-27. Therefore, I run in such a way as not without aim.

I box such a way as not beating the air, but I discipline my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be what?

Disqualified. We don’t want to be disqualified. Not just for pastors, could be believers too. We don’t want to be right. We want Jesus tell say well done thy good and faithful servants.

Commands 7–9: Endure, Evangelize, Fulfill

Right? The seventh command endure hardship means pastor be willing to suffer evil and bear it. Don’t quit. Be a man. Right? Be a man. One thing I would say in California, I don’t know if Missy likes what I said, but I always say don’t men.

Don’t be mammy pamby. Be men. Let’s go. Be men. As believers, we are going to suffer. We are going to suffer in life because Christ suffered too. And we know suffering is part of the whole maturing process to make us more like Jesus Christ.

Well, early in second Timothy chapter 1:8, Paul asked Timothy to partner with him. Remember, and suffering for the spread of the gospel according to the power of God, even through Nero’s persecution.

“As believers we are going to suffer because Christ suffered too, and suffering is part of making us more like Christ.”

But did Timothy, listen, did he suffer evil at the hands of wicked men?

Hebrews chapter 13:23 says, “Take notes.

Notice that our brother Timothy has been released.” So yeah, Timothy did go to jail for the sake of the gospel or eighth command, do the work of an evangelist. Timothy, Timothy did not hold the office of an evangelist, but like Timothy, we all must continue to carry out the great commission, right?

In Matthew chapter 28, share the gospel.

And I know your church used to go. I know if you still do go to the mall, right? Set up tables, go to the mall and evangelize. Still do that. Excellent.

Very good. And take every opportunity to share the gospel. Your car breaks down, we go, “Oh, no. First, I got to take it to the mechanic.” Great. That’s a great gospel mini sharing opportunity, isn’t it? Or I’m sick. I got to go to nurse or doctor. Share the gospel. Right? Take all those opportunities to share the gospel. Well, the ninth and final command of Timothy before Paul was executed. And he said to fulfill your ministry. This means to complete it with eagerness, urgency, and wholeheartedness.

“Take every opportunity to share the gospel — your car breaks down, you’re at the doctor — share the gospel.”

Conclusion: Fulfill Your Ministry

So what does a pastor’s fulfilled ministry look like? Well, if you follow the nine commandments we just studied, you will fulfill your ministry. And that’s for pastors and also for believers. Our first point was proclaim God’s truth. Secondly, prepare for adversity. And lastly, be persistent in your behavior. And hopefully we can say like the Apostle Paul said in 2 Timothy chapter 4:7, look what he said. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith. That great. That’s what we want to say. Amen.

2 Timothy 4:7: “I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith.”

Closing Prayer

All right, let’s pray. Our heavenly father, we we thank you for allowing us to look into your word this morning. And it is our desire to glorify you and your son and the Holy Spirit. Father, we pray, Father, that we will hear the words that were spoken this morning or even in our text, we apply it to our lives, Father.

But thank you for the word of God which is able to mature us and to transform us from one level of glory to another to make us more like Christ. Continue to make us more like Christ, Father, whether it’s through suffering, trials, tribulations, we desire that. We pray that we will be faithful to fulfill the ministry that you have given to us.

And again, Father, we wanted to take a moment to honor two of your faithful servants today, Pastor Joe and his wife Jane. Thank you for their faithfulness for all these years.

Bless them, their family, and Calvary Community Church. In Jesus name we pray.

Amen.
August 24, 2025
God’s Word Guides Us

Answers Bible Curriculum 2nd Edition Unit 1 Lesson 5

In this lesson, we consider the doctrine of the Inspiration of Scripture. Who really wrote the Bible, men or God? And if God wrote the Bible, what implications does divine authorship have for the way we approach the Bible’s inerrancy, authority, and interpretation?

Our main texts for this lesson are 2 Peter 1:19-21 and 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

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Note: This rough transcript was automatically generated by YouTube’s AI algorithm. We provide it here for your convenience, but know it will surely contain errors as it has not been proofread or edited by a human.

all right thanks Jake well good morning everyone and welcome to Sunday school for transitioning this week from our introductory lessons about God to more introductory lessons about God’s Word have you seen thus far that God’s Word must be the foundation for our thinking and the tester of all truth claims especially regarding God’s character but also regarding God’s essential nature God has triune God as the eternally existent God now we use evidences too as we speak with people but only from the perspective that already knows and presents the Bible s truth God’s Word must be our foundations and one of the frequently cited reasons from skeptics people who don’t believe the Bible for dismissing the Bible is that it’s just a book written by men it’s just man’s opinion sure the Bible’s right on some things but I don’t need to pay attention to it because it’s just the word of men huh is that really true is the Bible the word of men well because the Bible is our ultimate foundation for truth let’s go to the Bible to understand what the Bible is and how it came to us this morning we’re going to ask a number of key questions about the Bible and look to answer them from where did the Bible come for what is it useful and how should we send you as you can see the title today’s lesson is God’s Word guides us let’s pray before we get into our lists Lord God I pray that this time would be profitable that you could help me be able to explain your word well give me clarity of understanding give them clarity of understanding my god I pray that we might know you more enjoy you more and enjoy your word born in Jesus name Amen as I say we chiefly concerned today with where did the Bible come from and the Bible does answer question for us we’re going to look at a couple of main passages today and the first one is 2nd Peter 1 verses 19 to 21 so please take your Bibles turn to 2nd Peter 2nd Peter 1 verses 19 to 21 and just a little bit of quick background on this passage here we have the Apostle Peter writing and writing their fellow Christians it’s a letter filled with encouragement and warnings for Christians who are experiencing persecution but are threatened by false teachers and mockers now chapter one has a lot to say about the Word of God and at the end of the chapter Peter is saying something intensely relevant about the Word of God and our subject today so look at verses 19 to 21 with me 2nd Peter 1 verses 19 to 21 says so we have the prophetic word made more sure to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts but notice first of all that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God all right so let’s observe some details in this shorter section of text verse 19 says that believers would do well to pay attention to something pay attention to what the prophetic word and note what this prophetic word is compared to it is like a a lamp in a dark place pay attention to it like a lamp in a dark place there’s a familiar metaphor right from what we’ve already seen notice also that the idea of prophecies repeated several times in this passage but it’s specifically linked to Scripture as we see in verse 20 in essence Peter says here it is wise for you Christians use the scriptures like a lamp in a dark world now why is that well notice the phrase more sure in verse 19 we have a moisture prophetic word other translations say more fully confirmed or completely reliable but there is there are some options when it comes to understanding this phrase and we need to pay attention to the immediate context so that we understand it properly if you just look back to verses 16 to 18 and we see the immediate context Peters reminding his listeners that the Apostles didn’t make up what they said about Jesus but for themselves eyewitnesses of Jesus unveiled glory even in the Transfiguration and verse 19 then Peters making a qualitative comparison between that eyewitness experience and the Bible this means that the sentiment from Peter can be translated two different ways either the sense is as it is translated in the new American Standard of the ESV in the New King James Version so you can see the scriptures are even more sure because of our firsthand experience as to how what it said came to pass so our experience confirms the word and so it’s more sure or you can also take it really the opposite way as it isn’t it NIV and the King James Version which to be like this not only should you believe our message about Jesus because we were direct witnesses of him but even more so because the more sure scriptures proclaimed the same message so is it the experience makes it more sure as it is the new American Standard or regardless of our experience we had the moisture prophetic word in context it appears the latter sense is preferred Peter in this instance is underscoring the primacy of Scripture it says you should pay attention to it not and it’s not telling him to pay attention to their experience but the scripture and as we’ve seen in other lessons the Bible repeatedly affirmed its chief authority even above man’s experience you remember the words of Paul may God be found true and every man found the line but regardless of how you take this specific translation Peter certainly emphasizing to its listeners why they should believe and pay attention to the Bible now that’s one part of this verse but there’s more notice that Peter also wants to say something about the origin of scriptures here first when starts with knowing this first of all referring not to chronology like this is the first thing you should know but importance here’s one of the most important things to know and he explains what that is in verses 20 to 21 since two things that scriptures are not what are they not well first of all he says they’re not private interpretations of divine truth and they do not originate in man’s wills and notice how exclusive Peter is about these statements she says no prophecy comes from man’s own interpretation no prophecy has its origin than man not one none instead who moves men to write the prophetic word as as they do he says it’s the Holy Spirit they are moved by the Holy Spirit a Greek word removed has the idea of carried or borne along so Peter says every word of prophecy was the result of the spirit moving and carrying along each man as he wrote now this is very important let’s pull together these details that we see into an interpretation of this passage what is Peters main idea he wants to communicate to his Christian audience in these verses you can trust the Scriptures to be what guides you like a lamp because it ultimately comes from God not men now let’s make sure we understand this did men write the Bible well yes yes they did where their will their desires and personalities involved in the right here scriptures well yes yes they work but man is not the origin of the scriptures now man’s agency should be obvious for even meeting second Peter Peter is not simply riding in someone else’s dictation as if it were someone else’s style and tone and vocabulary now Peters using his own you can see as you look at second Peter you can see his concern his specific concern expressed for these believers his will his intellect his experience even as he has he’s already mentioned in the previous verses they’re all involved and they come through and they’re riding into Leonard so this is not God riding apart from men and yet we can’t get away from what Peter says he says I and the other writers we are not the ultimate origin of anything that you see in Scripture what is or who is the ultimate emergent it’s the Holy Spirit it’s God and this is a very important truth this is what we call the doctrine of inspiration even though God used Peter and his mind and his personality in the writing of Scripture Peter was moved carried along to write exactly what the Spirit wanted Peter to write it’s not the spirit gave Peter impressions that Peter then had to interpret no God gave him the words of prophecy God gave him the prophetic word to write exactly as the spirit what an empty right even though it was totally consistent with what Peter himself desired to write so from this passage we can affirm the Bible was written by men but only in the sense that these men were instruments of God who was the true writer of the Bible now you’re familiar with this truth but think about it if God is the writer of the Bible and that is a very big deal but once you got the only God that is the God who made everything upholds it holds you and me the God who allowed himself to be incarnating be murdered on a cross by mankind in order to pay for the sins of his people that God has written something to us and it’s called the Bible he used men but it’s God himself speaking you have a purposeful message from God in your hands this is an incredibly special message it’s written for you from God have you ever thought about that how we react to this message is one of the most important decisions we make in life the most important decisions how do you react to God’s Word because God himself is speaking you must be aware how you respond to God let’s think through another implication of this truth presented in second Peter versus chapter 1 verses 19 to 21 if the Bible is God Himself speaking how many errors should the Bible contain if this Spirit of God gave Peter and the other writers exactly what God desired for them to write how many errors should be in the Bible well none if God is God he gave him exactly what to say God can’t make a mistake and God can’t lie there should be no errors in the Bible and the original writings in the Bible and this is another important doctrine when we talk about the scriptures not only the Scriptures are inspired it is also inerrant we refer to the inerrancy of Scripture and that just means that the scriptures in the original documents contains no errors it could never contain any errors because it comes from God now what about copies and translations of the original documents could those contain errors oh yes yes they could we will talk next time them about how God preserved his word and even though we only have copies of the original document state we can still be sure that we have God’s full and accurate word as a preview and you maybe have heard these types of statistics before but know that for almost 2000 years after the writing the New Testament and the other Old Testament books rigorous textual comparison what we call the science of textual criticism has led the majority of New Testament scholars to conclude that 99.99% of the original manuscripts of the Bible and remember those that sir and Aaron have been reclaimed 99.99% and their remaining point 0 1 percent where there’s some uncertainty do not substantially affect any major Christian doctrine again we’ll talk more about that next week in terms of God’s preservation one thing I also want to mention though even right now is more than quoting you numbers the accuracy the perfection the cohesion of the Scriptures is something that each one of us can witness for ourselves can we not you read through the bottom 40 different authors writing in various places over a period of 1,600 years and yet the Bible is consistent and agrees with itself fits together unanimously proclaims a salvation not by works which can never reach God’s standard of affect the standard of perfection but by faith in God’s substitute provided to bear our penalty of sinful the penalty of sinful failure and give us his standard of righteousness so that we can be saved from the hot and a holy anger of God and delivered to eternal life with God it’s as Jesus said John 5:39 you searched the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life these that testify about me there’s a consistency there’s a a perfection in the scriptures that’s observable by anyone and that’s because God preserves his word and that’s because God’s Word is inerrant and that’s because God’s Word is inspired so can a person justifiably dismiss the Bible as merely the word written by men Peter is pretty clear no the Bible itself tells us that it was written by God through men and thus the Bible is fully accurate and fully authoritative it is indeed as Peter says the word to which we must pay attention as in a lamp in a dark place now always connected to a discussion of belief in the Bible based on the Bible’s own claims is the accusation of circular reasoning we’ve talked about this a little bit already in our Sunday School classes you believe the Bible because it says it’s the God’s Word you believe it’s God’s Word because it says it’s God’s Word it’s not reasonable for you to do that nor is it reasonable for you to use the Bible to persuade others that the Bible is God’s Word that’s just circular reasoning you probably remember my answer to this in previous lessons but let me show you another angle for why we are indeed justified in standing on the Bible to prove the Bible standing on the Bible to present the Bible as God’s Word and for that turn to the book of Hebrews Hebrews chapter 6 verses 13 to 20 so just a couple books before 2nd Peter Hebrews 6 verses 13 to 20 now in this context so the writer of the Hebrews is admonishing Jewish Christians not to abandon the faith and not to abandon the faith in Christ and go back to Judaism in the face of persecution and then this passage specifically the author is speaking about the surety of the Christians hope and he uses Abraham as an example he says you want to know that your salvation in Christ is secure that you have the truth will consider Abraham and look at what the author of Hebrews says verses 13 to 20 make sure I have their right ok very good verse 13 for the writer says when God made the promise to Abraham he could swear by no one greater he swore by himself saying I will surely bless you and I was surely multiply and so having patiently waited he obtained the promise for men swear by one greater than themselves and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute in the same way God desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of this purpose interposed with a note so that by two unchangeable things which it is impossible for God to lie we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement that take hold of the hope set before us this hope we have as an anchor of the soul a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil where Jesus entered as a forerunner for us having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek now we’re not going to analyze these verses and in great depth but notice that the one key aspect relevant to our question in God’s promise to Abraham on what does god base his own on himself he swears by himself now first this seems unreasonable since when you swear the veracity of the second claim the rasa tea of what you swear no the rest of what you say depends on the veracity of the second claim on further examine her how can God say you know that I’m true because I’m gonna swear that I’m true is that reasonable well on further rumination on further examination it is reasonable because the only way God could swear by something else as if something else were more reliable than him there’s something else were more reliable than his own word but it’s the writer points out this is not the case God cannot lie and nothing is more reliable than him therefore God cannot swear by anything except himself to do otherwise would be unfaithful to its own truthfulness its own essence and you can see how this principle parallels how we view and use the Scriptures how how is it that we know about God’s will and his decrees well he’s told us about those things in his scriptures a new spirit has made it clear that these are the words of God to us the Spirit testifies to us God wrote the Bible is there any standard greater than the Bible no God Himself is the standard of truth by extension whenever he writes must be the standard of truth so if God cannot lie and God wrote the Bible then what can we conclude about the contents of the Bible everything in the Bible is true and we can stand on it it is reasonable to use the Bible to make an argument to support the but because like God who swears by himself because nothing else is more reliable so we use the statements of the Bible as supports because there’s nothing more reliable than the Bible God himself wrote it it alone is inerrant and infallible and since we have it it does not make sense for us to swear by other less reliable authorities now you may ask but what do we do then with a person who denies that the Bible is true he says oh don’t don’t give me the Bible I don’t believe the Bible is it useless to use the Bible with such a person but you can’t force him to listen but we do use the Bible even with those who say they don’t believe it because the Bible shows reality we let the word of God be what it is and do what it does as Hebrews 4 says it is the living inactive word sharp as a double-edged sword able to pierce between the most intimate divisions and expose the heart that’s what we do we need to show people show people their own hearts in the light of God’s revealed righteousness in the Bible we don’t pretend that reality is untrue we present reality as God expresses it in his word we’ve seen from Romans 1 and elsewhere that everyone has a basic understanding of the true God but they suppress that understanding in unrighteousness and one sense we do not need to prove God and the Bible to people since they already know in their hearts that it’s true they know about God already and when they hear that word they know it’s true but because of man’s corrupted mind and because of his love of sin and his love of idols they need to be in awakens to the truth that they do not want to see and the way God does that the means God ordained is through the word and through the explanation and persuasion that’s based on the word faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ and truly the Christian sinking as my geology teacher which it puts it it’s not viciously circular but virtuously circular that’s different than what people can’t commonly mean when they refer to circular BC and say it is variously circular is to say that only the Christians thinking is truly reasonable because a biblical worldview is both internally and externally consistent ascending well that’s the idea that a perspective based on the Bible is consistent with itself the teaching of Scripture fits together perfectly with itself and it’s consistent with the reality we experience it makes sense of life it makes sense of man it makes sense of the universe in a consistent way it accurately describes the world outside of the Bible no other system of thought provides a consistent rational treatment for the world and for what is within us every other explanation every other world of you is actually inconsistent in some sense now these concepts I presented to you they fall under a form of argument that’s commonly referred to as presuppositional apologetics he probably heard the term or I’m sure you’ve heard the term apologetics before that just means a reason defense of something and a presupposition is just another word for an assumption something you presuppose something you assume and presuppositional apologetics rather than trying to show the possibility or probability of Christianity being true based on objective treatment of the evidence the presupposition list is straightforward about his presuppositions he assumes he does not deny because it’s true that God exists God wrote Bible and the Bible is true presuppositionalist then argues for Christianity from the foundation of the Bible and argues against false worldviews by exposing faulty and self invalidating presuppositions that’s presuppositional apologetics that’s not the only brand of apologetics it might not have heard of it it might it might sound a little bit strange to you but don’t worry we’ll be talking more about this kind of reasoning as we go through our course but one thing that I appreciate about presuppositional apologetics is that it emphasizes what we’ve been seeing so far in our course which is the Bible as our foundation for truth we start with the Bible we stand on the Bible which is what the presuppositional apologize for now brands of apologetics aside don’t lose sight of this most important truth the Bible shows us that it is right and reasonable to seek to persuade others with the Bible even if they say they don’t believe the Bible now again it doesn’t mean you can just talk at people and you can not pay attention to what they say but it does mean that we don’t ever or we should never surrender the truth or just lay it aside God’s Word is true we should not argue as if it isn’t or might not be especially if we want to ultimately prove to people that they need to see the Bible as the ultimate authority we can’t do that if we appeal to another authority that to try and prove the authority of the Bible but anyways let’s rather return to the subject of the Bible’s ultimate origin and for what it was given us we can’t really talk about the inspiration of Scripture or the authorship of Scripture without going to that other key passage on the topic and that’s 2nd Timothy 3:16 and 17 so take your Bibles and let’s turn over there 2nd Timothy 3 verses 16 and 17 what’s the context of this letter well you may remember Paul sin his second imprisonment awaiting execution he writes one last letter of encouragement and charge to his ministry partner and protege Timothy charges Timothy to be faithful and preaching God’s Word declaring God’s word and one way to Paul that monitors and encourages Timothy is reminding us by reminding Timothy what the scripture is and we see that in our verses look at these two verses in 2nd Timothy 3:16 and 17 Paul writes all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching for reproof for correction for training in righteousness so that the man of God may be adequate equipped for every good work all right let’s observe these two verses main subject of these verses are the scriptures what is the source of Scripture according to this it’s God all Scripture is inspired by God the new American Standard says this described the transition the transmission of the word from God to man but other English translations are even more informative about this term inspired ESV says breathed out by God and I be God breathed well you may have heard the Greek term used before earth you made before her the Greek term used for inspired by God and that is theö new stuffs the openness tous Theo sir Thais meaning God yep new stoats meaning breathe out we even have that that roots new PNG you in some English words that have to do with air or breathing a pneumatic drill is a drill powered by air or gas pneumothorax is a hole in the lungs this has the idea of air or breathing in it and when paul describes God’s Word he says it is what is breathed out by God it’s God’s breath that breathing is a very intimate expression for the transition transmission of God’s word the words description and spoken by the apostles and prophets are the very breath of God now this is a very important for us understanding of the new American standards use of inspiration because our inspired because when we hear the word inspiration or inspire we might think of how it’s commonly used today I think about art or music being inspired art or poetry ah that was just an inspired poem but this understanding of inspiration is an ACME for talking about God’s Word but these writers wrote as we saw from second Peter they wrote exactly God’s Word they didn’t put their own ideas down based off of promptings from God these words themselves are God’s breath it’s not even that technically speaking it’s not even that the men were inspired to write God’s Word as we’ve seen that the word for inspired means God breathed so the men are not God breed but the word written and spoken by the men that is God breathed that is the very breath of God now Paul has other things to mention here he mentions four four areas and which Scripture is profitable he says it is useful for teaching that is showing us right doctrine useful for reproof showing us what is wrong it’s useful for correction showing us the way back to what is right and it’s useful for training in righteousness showing us how we can consistently practice right behavior and verse 17 gives us the purpose of our receiving this inspired scripture it is so every person may be made adequate which is I think is it may be a misleading term for us it can also be translated complete or mature that’s why I have a little picture there of a baby growing up into a man that’s what the word does it makes a person mature adequate complete it equipped for every good work every good work of ministry so we can paraphrase of the passage in this way in terms of what Paul is communicating to Timothy Paul says Timothy you can trust God’s Word in the face of persecution and apostasy because it is God’s very breath and it will give you everything you need for ministry she noticed by the way how similar the context and content of this passage is to what we read in second Peter verses 1 19 to 21 both are written by authors about to die and giving people their last words and exhortations both are in the context of persecution and apostasy and you are filled with a reminding and warning and both are excitation to the audience to remain true to the Scriptures and to be motivated to do so by remembering the scriptures divine inspiration that it is not man’s word but God’s Word so then let’s let this instruction of these dying apostles ring in our ears we need to recognize the Scriptures for what they are they are ultimately not the word of men no men dude right then the Scriptures are the Word of God and thus carry divine perfection authority and instruction you can’t trust the Scriptures because they are God’s words and God’s words never fail you can reason from the scriptures because there’s no higher authority than God but you must pay attention to the scriptures or else as Peter says you’ll be walking around in the dark or else as Paul says you will stay immature and then complete not ready to feel the good works that God has called you to do if this is the Apostles instruction and it is we need to ask ourselves what is our response to this instruction ask yourself do you regard this word the Bible for what it really is the Word of God do you treat it as such do you value it as such do you submit to it as such do you read the Bible do you study the Bible do you care about the Bible this is God’s Word we’re talking about this is no mere man’s word of course I’m not referring to the actual physical book in your hand I mean that’s just paper and ink but the words in the meaning within that’s God’s Word how do you respond to God’s Word do you love it it’s a precious to you do you love God for it do you put it into practice don’t ignore the Word of God and expect that God will not care how you value God’s Word says a lot about how you value God himself how you revere God’s Word says a lot about how you reveal condoms Revere God himself value the scriptures for your own blessing ignore it or demean it at your own peril this is God’s Word now there are a few other implications based on what we’ve read today now one of them is this if Scripture is the Word of God or rather if scriptures are the words of God giving the message of God in the way God desired and what is the right way to study God’s Word well from what we’ve seen this is God’s Word we want to uncover God’s meaning not our own so what wave steady does that uncover God’s meaning not our own think you’ll agree that the only appropriate way to study God’s Word is to take it on its own terms it is to say to allow them meaning to come out of the text rather than to try to force meaning into the text that is to say we need to exegete the Bible leading the meaning out rather than ICG the Bible leading the meaning in you may have heard these terms before exegesis eisegesis plenty of people can make the Bible say what they wanted to say that’s not really letting the Bible talk that’s not really letting God talk that’s just man and his eisegesis talking man putting meaning into the Bible putting his own ideas in survival but we want God to talk therefore we want exegesis of the Bible we want the meaning to come out what is exegesis it’s the process of understanding the meaning of Scripture exegesis as a process is both a science that is is a it has objective rules and standards and an art it takes skill to apply these to apply the process and the rules correctly and consistently exegesis both a science and an art well how should one exegete well according to proper hermeneutics okay introducing a bunch of technical terms but these are important terms what is hermeneutics hermeneutics is a term that refers to principles of interpretation hermeneutics equals principles of interpretation you need to have the right principles for interpreting a text if you’re going to execute it properly well how do you know the right principles are well one sense you use the same principle as if you would for any piece of communication that you first discover and you want to understand for example if you find a piece of paper with writing taped to your door you do not stare at this piece of writing blankly wondering how on earth you’re supposed to understand it no you approach it as you would any text reading it and looking for clues within the text for how to understand it as you learn more about your unknown text you then can refine your approach according to the stack the texts own stated or implied rules according to the text owen demonstrated nature as another example the rules of interpreting an op-ed piece in a newspaper are different than the rules for interpreting a bank statement though many principles many hermeneutics would overlap and those two pieces of communication ultimately the nature of the text drives how you interpret the text therefore when it comes to Bible the approach that best reflects the nature of the Bible and how it was written man how was transmitted to man is called the historical grammatical hermeneutic the historical chromatic wa hermeneutics sometimes also called the literal hermeneutic or the literal interpretation for short now notice hermeneutic singular has a slightly different meaning than hermeneutics plural a hermeneutic refers to a particular approach or system of hermeneutics plural one system or one method of hermeneutics is called a hermeneutic there are different hermeneutics but the one that is most appropriate for the biblical text is a historical grammatical hermeneutic this method I should clarify even though sometimes called a literal interpretation does not take everything in the Bible literally but rather the historical grammatical hermeneutic pays close attention to the words and grammar of a text as well as the literary and theological and historical context of a text in order to some understand the author’s original intent for a text whether it’s prose or poetry that’s key the stroke or grammatical hermeneutic is chiefly concerned with recovery based off of the clues in the text in the context of the text the author’s original intent in this method we are asking what did the original author intend to communicate what Clues has to given in the text to inform us of his intention and with what historic information did he assumed his audience would have been familiar now granted we can never fully recapture the mind of another person I can’t each one of you listening now I can’t just observe you and say I know exactly what you’re thinking in every single aspect of your mind I can’t do that that’s impossible and certainly we couldn’t do that with God we can’t read the scriptures to say I know everything that’s in God’s mind but we can sufficiently and adequately understand an author’s intent if he is a skilled and purposeful communicator and if he wrote us a perfect communication and this is exactly what we have in the Bible so even though we may not have exhaustive understanding of the author’s intent we do have adequate understanding we can’t have adequate understanding because God is a purposeful communicator he’s a skilled communicator and he wrote is a perfect communication I succeed from the text of Scripture itself it is inspired it is an area it is authoritative thus we use the historical grammatical or literal interpretation of the Bible to exegete to lead out the meaning of the text that God intended another term that is somewhat interchangeable for what up for what I just described is called the inductive Bible study method and this is a term that I’ll be more commonly referring to in this course and inductive Bible study method is proper heard and permit exciting to the store for grammatical method with an emphasis on asking questions and following a distinct three-step method for understanding any passage of the Bible many of you better in strum enters Bible critical in version one will remember these three steps they’re not just featured in the answers about the curriculum but many many good publications for interpreting the Bible they break down the method the inductive I will study method into three steps observe interpret and apply what are these well observe you start by just noticing the various details of the text the text asking questions such as who is the writer who is the audience who is speaking in this passage what words are repeated what is the tense of the verb are their transition words what are the authors say before this what does he say afterward they’re essentially asking simply what do I see in the text you must start with observations simple observations that cannot be argued can’t say ah that’s not in the text it should be clear should be clear to anyone reading when you make an observation you must start with these observations and build your interpretation from it because otherwise if you interpret according to some system of doctrines some creator some other thing you might actually be miss reading the text you must start with the details of the text the clues that the author actually gave and there’s so much to observe in every biblical text you may come to one verse and say okay what do I see and it’s just one verse it’s only so many words how much could there be to observe how do you be surprised there’s almost unlimited maybe they’re saying it too strongly but there’s far more to observe in any text and we commonly suspect even short sections of Scripture even rephrase this they tell us a lot in the particular road choices Pence’s context and we can observe all these things and get a clearer idea of the author’s original intent so our first step is the trigger our second step our first step is observe our second step is interpret once you’ve gathered your observations you look to synthesize the data to make conclusions about the texts that are not obvious in the text you’re essentially asking what does it mean for example you might ask after you’ve done your observations what is the main idea of this passage you might ask why did the author write this to his audience what is the structure of the author’s argument why did he say what he said in the exact way that he said it why didn’t he say it another way how does the author’s message here fit with other sections of the Bible what does this passage teach us about God man the world said it these are interpretation questions and these can only be assessed and answered after you’ve done observations and the third is apply apply in the apply steps you look at the conclusions from your interpretation step and ask what difference should those things speak to you and others in the world today there will always make a difference God’s Word is meant to be put into practice so we could essentially say that the question in the apply step is how does it work it does work well you just want to know how how does this passage work out in my life some good questions to ask and any passage to relate to what we see in the Ephesians passage where we talk about what Scripture is useful for you might ask up a passage what doctrine does this passage indicate that I need to believe how does this passage give me a necessary correction or rebuke what is the correction that I need to make in my life what do I need to do to get back on to the way that God has for me how can i integrate what I’ve learned here to a righteous plan of action so I can be trained in righteousness God’s Word is always relevant it is his purposeful communication to us there’s always something for us to apply sometimes we forget or ignore this last step though because we’re lazy or because we’d rather just keep doing what we’ve always done oh I don’t need to apply the scriptures I’m sure I’ve got everything already squared away we don’t want to get in it to that mount line of thinking rather we want to do what James exhorts I don’t want to be mere hearers of the word but doers and as Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount it’s not the ones who hear Jesus’s word that are gonna be blessed or saved it’s those who put it into practice they are the wise people to build their house on the rock so this inductive our study method is a method that we’ll be using in class and really it’s the method that’s at the heart of any truth study of the Bible when you read the Bible don’t just let the words pass before your eyes but ask questions according to these three steps what do I see what can i or what does it mean and how does it work this method of interpretation flows out from the nature of Scripture itself it is the inspired Word it is the inerrant Word for it needs to be approached in a certain way as I say this is not too different from how we would approach any text but it is refined by those characteristics of the Bible will we come to understand from the body that this is not just any word it is God’s Word God’s Word is a great gift to us but it’s also a great responsibility let’s reap the benefit of God’s gift by revering and setting his word appropriately alright now what questions or comments do you have on today’s lesson are you thinking you would like clarified or further extended okay if not that’s totally fine or if you think of something later that you’d like to email me about I’m more than happy to help in any way I can well that’s all for this week next week we’re gonna come back to that question I raised in part of the lesson we go that because the scripture says so God’s Word was perfect without error in the original documents but how do we know it’s still God’s Word today because we don’t have the original documents all we have are the copies can we trust the copies of God’s Word well we’re gonna see next week that we can because God preserves his word so looking forward to discussing that with you that’s closing prayer I great God and this is a really profound truth God that you have given us your word what a privilege what a blessing what a serious reality you have given your very word to us O Lord what you say is so important god what you communicated to us must be paid attention to you not only because you are worthy of that but because that’s for our good if we why don’t we bless that we will pay attention to your word but I pray that people listening today would be paying attention to your word that they would value your word that they would seek your word and seek your wisdom which is communicated in your word just as proverbs extorts what more diligence and with more echinus in’ and one searches for silver or gold these words are precious and Lord we think back even to Psalm 19 and other other places God they talk about just how sweet and valuable your word is God forgive us for how we have how to use your word we have ignored it we have put other things I already to it we have explained it away we have even twisted the meaning of it God forgive us for our ignorance and forgive us for our disobedience but lord I pray that by your spirit you’d be gracious to us so that we can gain the benefit of your word that you designed us too that we would truly understand it that it would impact us in the deepest way even into our affections and that it would be put into practice in our lives I pray Lord that you would help those listening to be able to study the Bible properly according to the way you meant and within the community of believers so that none of us gets off course in our own interpretation when I prayed should protect your church I pray Lord that we would love your truth that you would enable us understand it bless Calvary and the rest of the worship today bless your people in Jesus name Amen you’re welcome thank you everyone else

October 7, 2018
Final Words on Finishing Well

In this guest sermon by our supported missionary, Ken Newton examines part of the charge given by the apostle Paul to Timothy as Paul was about to die. Specifically, Ken Newton examines 2 Timothy 4:7 and explains the three main responsibilities Christians must fulfill if Christians are to finish well and gain Christ’s reward: fighting the good fight, running the course, and keeping the faith.

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our long time missionaries with us today I will not be preaching today ken Newton will be preaching he has been our missionary for a long time well I I think I know ken over 30 years about 30 years and so they were of course in the if you don’t know who they are they were in Colombia for over 40 years ministering there and of course they were a blessing to the tribal people if you know anything about new tribes they actually go into tribes that many times don’t even have an alphabet or anything written in a language and they go in there and they bring linguist in there and they learn get an alphabet and they put words together and then they put it into a Bible and they begin to preach them sometimes the processes between five to seven years before you could ever preach the gospel and and so they were a support to those missionaries and then of course they have been a great blessing to us here at Calvary and if I think of any people who are faithful I think of the Newton’s if I people I think of people that endure through thick and thin I think of the Newtons and they’re kind of my soldiers in Christ Jesus because they’ve battled they’ve kept they fought the fight right they kept the faith and they’re now retiring retreading or and they they’re never going to stop ministering you know and they’ll never stop so even though they’re retired and now they’re back in the United States and Georgia close to their daughter and be able to see that’s one thing when you’re a missionary’s when your missionaries sometimes your family gets split up and you’re all over the place you don’t get a chance to see them and grow see them grow and so that’s part of being a missionary and so now they have a chance to be in there any other kids and that’s they’re going to do but I know that Ken and Carlene are always going to be minister and every time Ken and they come on low i’m always blessed by them always blessed by kens preaching and and it is bringing the Word of God to us so I’m going to ask him now can come and preach to us this morning and let’s be ready have our Bibles ready to wherever he brings us to and be ready to listen to his message today good morning for those that speak Spanish buenos dias and if there are any brazilians here this morning in Portuguese bond gia first of all Carlene who’s here this morning to sitting here out front and supporting us financially over all these many years I think this church took us on for support back in the 1980s the middle 80s and how faithful you folks have been you talk about us being faithful you as a church have been extremely faithful to us and to other missionaries that you helped support and so we thank you from the bottom of our hearts and your support continues to this day and words can’t really express how grateful we are for the many times you’ve prayed for us and held us up before the throne of grace and you’ve prayed on our behalf and interceded for us and you’ve given to us and so we’re just so grateful now as many of you know these last seven years we’ve been in Brazil caring for carlene’s mother who is a missionary in Brazil for over 60 years I think it was like 66 years and carlene’s parents went down to Brazil as missionaries back in nineteen forty nine and her dad went to be with the Lord in an automobile accident there in Brazil in 1989 and so her mother was a widow and she continued on in Brazil as a missionary and then her later here is in in her 90s she began to to show her age and she was taking some Falls and breaking some bones and so in one of our visits to her there in Brazil it became apparent that she was going to need help from here on out until she crossed the finish line and so after praying and analyzing the whole situation the Lord gave His perfect peace and made it evident to our hearts that we were to be the ones to have the privilege of caring for her and so that’s the way it was these last seven seven a half years there in Brazil before us as we did that I think our last time here we ask for your prayers for us as caregivers rhiannon we went into it quite naively not knowing just how hard it would be but it’s not easy it’s not a piece of cake so to speak to be a caregiver for someone who can’t care for themselves and as time went on she began to get progressively worse until she was totally dependent on what we could do for her and back in probably july or august of last year it became apparent to us that she was nearing the finish line and the Lord directed me to this passage that i’ll be sharing with you this morning if you’d like to turn in your Bibles to second Timothy chapter 4 second Timothy chapter four and just hold that open and then we’ll read this in just a few minutes but as as carlene’s mom coorah Taylor was approaching the finish line of her of the race as a Christian and as her lover life here on earth this passage really became alive to us as caregivers and we had the privilege of seeing her across the finish line and words can’t express the privilege that we had of being a part of her her last years in her last days in her last breath and knowing that when she crossed that finish line she was absent from the body but present with the Lord what a great joy and yet at the same time one has mixed emotions because we were so attached and it was an emotional time but yet a time of great joy knowing that she was in the presence of the Lord Jesus so thank you for your part and all of that through your prayers you’re giving now in ancient times long before medical processes could cause a person to live well beyond consciousness people often planned their final words as their death neared some of the most telling words a person can speak or words that come at or near the time of their death what we might call their final words and I call this message this morning the sermon final words on finishing will perhaps you’ve been in a hospital room or in a nursing home or beside the bedside of a loved one and their final words to this day bring encouragement the last conversation you have with someone is significant especially if you find that they’ve passed from this life to another soon after and shortly before he was martyred some of Paul’s the Apostle Paul’s final words to Timothy and the body of Christ at large are found in this chapter second Timothy chapter 4 will start with verse 1 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead and by his appearing and his kingdom preach the word be ready in season and out of season reprove rebuke exhort with great patience and instruction for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine and we’re certainly living in those days but wanting to have their ears tickled they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths but you be sober in all things endure hardship do the work of an evangelist fulfill your ministry for I am already being poured out as a drink offering and the time of my departure has come I fought the good fight I have finished the course I have kept the faith in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge will award me or to me on that day and not only to me but also to all who have loved disappearing shall we pray our Father we give you praise for your precious word this morning and we commit it to you to use and each one of our lives as we’re gathered here as the local body of Christ and we look to You Lord to use your word to equip us to edify us to encourage us our lives but throughout the world where your word is being preached in truth and correctly interpreted and applied and may it be for your glory and for the up building of the body of Christ in Jesus name Amen Paul and I what i’m going to say now is a quote from Pastor Steven Davey who is the senior pastor at clonal colonial Baptist Church in Cary North Carolina and in his one of his sermons on this chapter he said Paul was not a threat to the kingdom of Rome he had encouraged the Romans to pray for Nero and for all those in authority and even to pay their taxes to Nero Paul was the best that Rome could ever hope to have but Paul was a threat not to Rome but to Satan’s Kingdom of this world Paul was an obstacle to the doctrines of demons he was an enemy of the Prince of Darkness so put him to death Nero ordered it God allowed it lcb asst the historian recorded for us that poll was taken one mile outside the city of Rome and on that road called the Austin way was told to kneel down the sword was raised by the Roman soldier and it flashed in the sunlight for a brief moment and then came down and the apostle of grace the champion of Christ finished his race looking at our text here this morning in chat and verse 6 verse 6 says for I am already being poured out as a drink offering and the time of my departure has come and this verse Paul looked around at his present situation and his impending death I am already in other words it was impending it was imminent being poured out as a drink offering and his time of departure was at hand so he looked around and then in verse 7 I have fought the good fight I finished the course I’ve kept the faith here we find that Paul looked back he looked back over his life his past life and his ministry as a believer ever since he was gloriously saved on the road to Damascus until this very hour in this dungeon in the city of Rome he looked back and pinned these words about notice that there in the past tense I have fought i have finished i have kept and then in verse 8 Paul looked ahead he the verse eight starts in the future so here as he looked ahead he looked to the rapture of the church he had hoped that it would be in his lifetime but I think you realized that now that wasn’t going to happen and so he was looking at his physical death but more importantly he was looking at beyond death to the rapture when Christ would come as the bridegroom and snatch up his bride in the clouds and take us to heaven to be with him forever and that event immediately beyond or past the rapture of the church known as the judgment seat of Christ and Paul refers to that here in verse 8 in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness that the judgment seat of rice is a time only for believers there will be no unbelievers at the judgment seat of Christ only those who are in Christ who had gone to glory either by physical death or by the rapture of the church and the judgment seat of Christ is not about who’s going to be saved and who’s not going to be saved no that was already determined the moment we placed our faith only in Christ and in his finished work at Calvary and his resurrection from the dead and on that basis we were saved forever in Christ forever and our our future with God was eternally determined and so it’s not about salvation it’s all about here the judgment the judgment seat of Christ is for is all about rewards or lack thereof so Paul looked ahead to the rewards for believers at the judgment seat of Christ and these three tenses present looking around looking back past looking ahead future give us the context of these verses and especially verse 8 but also for all who have loved his appearing so let’s look back in verse 7 and this is going to be where we’ll be for the remainder of our time together this morning in verse 7 first of all we see here in verse 7 he said I have fought the good fight every believer from the moment we were saved from the moment we were baptized by the Holy Spirit into Christ and into the body of Christ we have a war to fight we were born from above the moment of our salvation we were born again and we were born into battle we were born into a spiritual warfare we didn’t realize it at the time we thought everything was going to be hunky-dory we thought everything was going to be a-okay as far as our Christian why we didn’t have any idea what we’re going to face did we when we first got saved but here we are in a war we’re in a war zone and Paul says looking back he says I fought the good fight the words fought is an athletic term in the Greek and it referred to the Olympic Games those who were wrestlers or boxers and they were in a fighting mode to see who is going to win and now why is it called the good fight why is it called a good fight that is intriguing me for a long time and as I began to meditate and investigate and pray over this passage I came up with 6 reasons why Paul called this war that we’re in this spiritual warfare this fight why he called it a good fight number one first of all it’s a good fight because we’re on God’s side in this war God is for us and he’s the one that gives us the victory as we fight this good fight of faith secondly it’s a good fight because our enemies are also God’s enemies and who are our enemies and who are gods in me actually they’re all the same and who are God’s enemies first of all one of his in there we can reduce it down to actually three enemies that God has and that we have the first one is this evil world system known as the world this evil world system in which we’re living controlled by the god of this world Satan the second enemy is Satan himself the arch enemy of God dating back to before creation when he rebelled against God and wanted to exalt his throne above the throne of God and back when he was known as Lucifer so to this day the devil or Satan is God’s enemy and our enemy as well the third enemy is an internal enemy the flesh our old corrupt sinful nature which as all of you know was not eradicated or taken away from us the moment we got saved we’ve still got it the old nature the old disposition to sin that gravitates to sin and Paul says in my flesh there dwells no good thing and the more we live the Christian life the more we realize how true that is because we’re in the spiritual warfare we have these enemies and we face them every day the world the devil and the flesh so God’s enemies are our enemies and when we think of our enemies I think of if he what it says in Ephesians chapter 6 in verses 11 and 12 where Paul says put on the full armor of God so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil now the devil has two major tactics or schemes one is deception and the other is to accuse he accuses us and he also tries to deceive us so we need to be on the alert for his schemes as tactics but notice what it says in verse 12 for our struggle and there we have the element of warfare back to that word in second Timothy 4 where it says I fought the good fight this struggle our struggle is not against flesh and blood it’s not again our struggle is not against people it’s not again against physical person many times we’re tempted by our flesh and by Satan to start struggling and striving and like we say in Spanish luchando against people even brothers and sisters in the body of Christ in the Fellowship we if we aren’t careful if we’re not only alert if we’re not walking in the spirit we can find ourselves walking in the flesh and struggling and striving and fighting against our brothers in Christ and even against the unsaved our fight is not against flesh and blood but where is it our fight is a spiritual warfare against who verse 12 he says but against the rulers against the powers against the world Force’s of this darkness against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places the world the devil and our own flesh our own sin nature the back to the reasons why it’s a good warfare what are the first to the first one is we’re on God’s side in this war he is for us secondly our enemies are also God’s enemies thirdly our weapons are not carnal which means our weapons are not physical the believers weapons are not pistols and rifles and automatic weapons and mortars and and so on all the way up to nuclear bombs our weapons are not carnal not physical but they’re nevertheless mighty we have weapons that are mighty and that are powerful through God second Corinthians chapter 10 if you’d like to turn there in your Bibles second Corinthians chapter 10 and I’ll read starting in verse 3 second Corinthians 10 3 for though we walk in the flesh we do not war again according to the flesh in other words we’re not battling we’re not doing warfare according to the flesh to the physical world in the physical realm verse 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of this flesh or none of the flesh but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses verse 5 we are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God and all how many lofty things are being raised up in our days in our nation against the knowledge of God oh it’s just it’s overwhelming i was talking to pastored Bobby this morning before the service it just blows our minds when we stopped to see the lawlessness and the immorality and all the things that are being raised up against the knowledge of God and against his word it’s just breathtaking at the speed that this is taking plate and so here in verse 5 it says and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ know that’s what we have to do on a personal level each of us individually as believers must take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ we are responsible individually as born-again believers to bring our thoughts into captivity to the obedience of Christ we can’t rely on other people to do that for us the pastor the elders the Deacons can’t do that for us we have to do it ourselves in the power in the strength the enabling of the Holy Spirit but the Holy Spirit needs our cooperation in order to be able to do it but we have these weapons and what are these weapons that he has given us like it said here in verse 44 the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but divinely powerful for the destruction and leads us to mention that the weapons that God is entrusted to us in this warfare are twofold they’re mainly first of all the Word of God and prayer these are our two weapons powerful weapons that we must use in this warfare that we’re in the word and prayer how do we know that Ephesians chapter 6 we could turn quickly back there to Ephesians 6 where we just were a few minutes ago and look at verses 17 and 18 such as the shield of faith the breastplate of righteousness the belt of truth and so on all that’s for our defense but in verse 17 and in verse 18 Paul begins to talk about our offensive weapon these are weapons that God has given us to go on the offense against the world the flesh and the devil and these two offensive weapons that we can use to attack or the Word of God in prayer verse 17 and take the helmet of salvation and thus the sword of the Spirit there it is the sword of the Spirit and Paul identifies it here he says which is the word of God the scriptures because it’s in the Word of God that we find the truth that we need to disarm the lies and the deception of Satan it’s the thing that we need in order to disarm the lusts of our flesh and so we need to employ the Word of God in our mind and with our lives one bible teacher dr.

Charles Rory said that this phrase which is the word of God in the Greek it implies the spoken word of God as we take the written word of God and incorporate it into our lives and as it renews our mind and we make the written word of God a part of our lives we can begin to do spiritual warfare in a way that pleases God and in a way that will be effective for us to stand firm against the wiles of the devil and to defeat the onslaughts of Satan the world and our only right now no here thank you Noriega the Armed Forces is it I think call that operation just cause if i’m not mistaken well that can pretty well sum up the spiritual warfare that we’re in its believers Noriega the Armed Forces is it I think call that operation just cause if i’m not mistaken well that can pretty well sum up the spiritual warfare that we’re in its believers its operation just cause for us as well it’s a Just Cause because God’s good plans and purposes are always good and they’re always righteous and he will ultimately prevail how true is that God’s plans and purposes will ultimately prevail and victory is assured we are more than conquerors through him that loved us according to Romans chapter 8 verses 35 and 37 and then in first career it’s 1557 it says thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ our war is good because it’s a just cause and then the fifth reason is it’s a good fight is because God has enlisted us to fight in this good fight God has enlisted us how do we know that second Timothy back to second Timothy and this time chapter 2 and verse 1 you there for my son be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus now why do we need to be strong in the grace of Christ Jesus why is that rather than say be strong in your own strength were there are many reasons but one of the primary is look what it says in verse 3 suffer hardship with me that’s what as a good soldier of Christ Jesus here again we encounter our warfare as Christians this spiritual warfare that we’re in were to suffer hardship as good soldiers we were born into battle in our case born again into battle and God wants us to endure hardship the key word there is suffer or endure ok as good soldiers he wants us to be good soldiers fighting the good fight the good fight of faith verse 4 no soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life why is that why should we not be entangled in the affairs of this life so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier I our primary duty and purpose as soldiers of Christ is to please our commander-in-chief is it not and so we need to be very careful about what we entangle ourselves in in this life we need to be free in our spirits and in our souls in our inner man and even physically to war and to fight the good fight of faith as good soldiers and to please our commander now why do we need to please him well there’s many reasons why he’s worthy number one he’s worthy of being pleased and of receiving the honor and the glory but secondly one day we’re going to have to stand before him at the judgment seat of Christ and give an account so God has enlisted us to fight this good fight and lastly number six this the sixth reason why it’s a good fight is because this good flight increases our dependence on God and His Word back to verse 1 of chapter two my son be strong in the grace that’s in Christ Jesus that speaks of our dependence on our commander and his grace strong and His grace strong in his mind strong in his power when we’re in the heat of the battle it should if we’re wanting to please our commander it should cause us to run to him and begin to consciously depend on him for the mercy and for the grace that we need to help us in our time of need okay now in chapter four we’re back to our main text in verse 8 Paul says that he had finished the race first of all he says he fought a good fight secondly I finished the race every believer has a race to finish and we could get some perspective on this race as we look at a passage like Hebrews chapter 12 and verse verses 1 2 3 Hebrews 12 and verses 1 to 3 therefore since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us fixing our eyes on Jesus the author and finisher of faith who for the joy set before him endured the cross despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God for consider him who has endured such hostility by sinners against himself so that you will not grow weary and lose heart now that’s our tendency is to grow weary and lose heart but what does God want for our lives he wants us to run this race of the Christian life with endurance endurance again is the key and where does this endurance come from it comes from being strong in the grace that’s in Christ Jesus second Timothy to one that we just looked at it comes from looking to him who is the source of our strength strong in the Lord and in the power of his money now as we’re running this race what do we have to do it says here in Hebrews 12 lay aside or cast off every encumbrance the things that are waiting us down what’s weighing us down in this race well for some it’s stubborn habit overcome in the power of the Holy Spirit for others it may be bitterness and an unforgiving spirit for others it may be even a physical habit being undisciplined and our eating habits or or whatever for others it may be the area of pride or the love of money I mean we can just go on and on and the flight our flesh our old sin nature is capable of committing any sin and our flesh one of the descriptions or our flesh is the lust of the flesh what are we lesting after and these the lusts of our flesh are things that can wait us down and can hinder us and running this race so we need to maintain a walk in the spirit so that we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh and don’t need to turn there but Paul to the Galatians in chapter 5 verse 17 who has hindered you so that you have turned aside so that you have gotten off the race course and gotten out of the will of God who has hindered you well it’s a rhetorical question because Paul knew that it was false teachers now for some believers it may be that this is another thing that we need to set aside our false teachers who are leading us astray and hindering us from running the race with endurance first Corinthians 9 we’re not going to turn there but he talks about fighting boxing and running as if in the Olympic Games and Paul says he had to learn to discipline his body for what purpose so that he would not be disqualified from the race so that he would it was not talking about losing his salvation of losing rewards at the judgment seat of Christ ok we have a battle in a war to fight we have a race to finish and the question is how do we want to finish this race do we want to finish well so that when we enter the Lord’s presence in heaven he can say well done there’s the judgment seat of Christ well done you good and faithful servant is that what we really want to hear I hope so and I know that’s the desire of your heart as well and that should be our goal one of our goals is to hear that from from our dear Lord but we not only have this battle we not only have this race to finish well but we have as Paul terms it we have a faith to keep I have kept the faith now when we find in Scripture the article before the word faith the faith that’s not talking about our personal faith in Christ it’s talking about the faith which is the body of scriptural truth known as sound doctrine and God has committed to us the faith this body of truth of sound doctrine of sound words to guard to keep to use for the glory of God but he wants us to preserve it to pass it on to the next generation and Paul says that he had done that he had kept the faith the truth of the gospel and the truth of how to live the Christian life and all the truth found in the old and new Testament and so in 1st Timothy 614 it says so that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ now God wants us to keep the commandment in other words the truth of the word of God the body of sound doctrine without stain without reproach right up until the rapture or right until our physical death when we cross the finish line whichever comes first and then in verse 20 of the same chapter it says Oh Timothy guard here we have that same word art or keep what has been entrusted to you avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing of arguments of what is falsely called knowledge in other words we regard the body of truth of revealed Scripture and to keep it to guard it to oversee it to preserve it in all of its purity so that our generation and in the generation to come if the Lord tarries will be will have in their possession this great treasure this body of sound doctrine and it will be preserved from false teaching this was a great concern to Paul and should be our great concern as well in Jude verse 3 it talks about contending for the faith were to contend for the faith were to defend the faith and not to be passive in this warfare and in this guardianship that we have to maintain the purity of the Word of God and the gospel of grace and there’s many more verses that we could look at but may the Lord in conclusion this morning may the lord continue to impress upon our hearts these three important responsibilities and what are they again we have a war to fight we have a race to finish and hopefully finish well because many have started well but there are many two who don’t finish well so with God’s help and by His grace may he help each one of us to finish well this race that we’re in and then thirdly this responsibility of a faith to keep the guard in purity and integrity the body of truth sound doctrine that he’s entrusted to us may the Lord impressed these three responsibilities upon our hearts that will be taken into account at the judgment seat of Christ when we stand before him these are three things that the Lord’s going to three standards the Lord’s going to be looking at as he as he’s not going to judge us for our sins because that was taken care of at the cross but he will take into account how we have lived how we have behaved what has been our lifestyle as Christians in this life after we’ve been saved and as we consider these these three responsibilities this spiritual warfare this race to finish in this faith to keep I think of that great hem in title our shield we try we rest on thee our shield and our defender it goes like this we rest on thee our shield and our defender we go not forth alone against the foe strong and vice strength safe and thy keeping tender we rest on thee and then thy name we go yea and thy name o captain of salvation and the idear name all other names above Jesus our righteousness are sure foundation our prince of glory and our king of love we go in faith our own great weakness feeling and needing more each day though grace to know yet from our hearts a song of triumph peeling we rest on thee and in thy name we go we rest on Villar shield and our defender thine is the battle and we might I had dine as the race and thine is the guardianship thine shall be the praise when raining in the kingdom of thy splendour Victor’s we rest on thee through endless days may God help us let’s pray our Father we we can’t praise you enough for yourself for your greatness for the greatness of your grace thank you for entrusting these three responsibilities to us this warfare this race and this guardianship and father we don’t take this lightly and we pray that you will continue to help us to be strong in the grace that’s in Christ Jesus and that this body of believers here each believer will be able to take this these responsibilities seriously and to heart in too long to hear as we all do your words well done my good and faithful servant we thank you and we praise you in Jesus name Amen stand together for final thought

July 17, 2016
One Mark of a Healthy Church

August 3, 2014