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Continue Clinging to Scripture
54 Plays3 months ago
2 Tim. 3:1-17
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Transcript
Is the American church overemphasizing the Bible?
00:00:01
Speaker
Has the American church placed too much emphasis on the Bible?
00:00:10
Speaker
This was the title of a rather troubling article that I just happened upon from a pastor in Pennsylvania last week. The thrust of the article is that we, the church, have somehow strayed from the original intent of Christianity by placing his words, not mine, a ridiculous amount of emphasis on the Bible.
00:00:31
Speaker
Instead, we should rather focus that attention on Jesus himself. He closed his article with this question saying, what if one of the reasons we're also spiritually dead in the churches, visibly failing at its mission, is not because we study the Bible too much, but that we study the Bible way too much. I thought to myself this week,
00:01:01
Speaker
Perhaps we're studying God's word too much, really? Perhaps we're placing too much emphasis on the very word of God, really?
Trends in Bible reading and perception
00:01:14
Speaker
Friends, I believe the modern American evangelical church hasn't placed enough emphasis on the Bible. And I think we'd really need to see a revival to get us back on track.
00:01:29
Speaker
How do I know this? Well, recent polls from both Barna and Lifeway say that even in the midst of unprecedented access to the scriptures, meaning there's never been a time like this where we all have access to the Bible, that professing Christians are less likely to read the Bible than ever before. When asked to rate the following statement, good works results in going to heaven,
00:02:01
Speaker
Nearly three-fourths of the people surveyed answered something other than strongly disagree, even though the Bible explicitly teaches that salvation is apart from works. Perhaps we're studying God's Word too much? Really? Others surveyed said that only 50%, 56 to 58%, read their Bibles, get this less than four times a year.
00:02:30
Speaker
That's once a quarter. 32% don't read it at all. 30% of those say we just don't have enough time in our busy days to read our Bibles. Half of those people who actually do commit to reading it say they simply don't know how to apply it to their lives.
00:02:52
Speaker
78% of the people surveyed in some capacity believe that the Bible, the Quran, and the Book of Mormon are all different expressions of the same spiritual truth.
00:03:06
Speaker
Maybe we're studying the Bible too much? Really? Friends, it's easy for us here at First Baptist Church, Cameron, to think those people who were polled, well, those are other people living in other places.
00:03:22
Speaker
It's easy to think that, isn't it? But I think if we're honest with ourselves, it's tough to be faithful in our pursuit of the Scriptures, isn't it? Because if you're like me and I know you are, there are times that I know I should be committing myself to the serious studying and application of God's Word. But I find myself being occupied by anything other than that. Somehow there's always something fascinating on TV to watch.
00:03:53
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or that dirty F word, Facebook.
00:04:00
Speaker
What is time you burn on Facebook? You name it, we find some other reason to occupy ourselves versus committing ourselves to the godly pursuit of the Scriptures. So how can we be faithful in this regard? How can we be faithful in studying our Bibles? Friends, this is what we're gonna look at this morning.
Characteristics of faithfulness and warnings of false teachings
00:04:23
Speaker
We're gonna answer this question by looking at two characters, two character traits, if you will, the faithless people in this regard and the faithful people. And I sure hope we fall into this second category of faithful people. But we're gonna look at the faithless first, the faithful second, and then we're gonna answer this question, how can you and I be faithful in our pursuit of scriptures? We're in 2 Timothy chapter three,
00:04:50
Speaker
If you have your Bibles, please open them. If not, it'll be on the screen here for you. You don't need to stand, but I will read it, verse one through 17, which is the entire chapter. You start saying, you should know this, Timothy. This is Paul writing to Timothy. You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days, there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money.
00:05:19
Speaker
They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God. They'll be disobedient to their parents and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving, and they will slander others and have no self-control. They'll be cruel and hate that which is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride and love pleasure rather than loving God.
00:05:49
Speaker
They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly.
00:05:57
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Don't miss the end of verse five here. He says, stay away from those type of people. Verse six says, there are the kind who work their way into people's homes and they win the confidence of vulnerable women who are burdened with the guilt of sin and controlled by various desires.
00:06:16
Speaker
Such women are forever following new teachings, but they are never able to understand the truth. These teachers oppose the truth, just as Janus and Jambres oppose Moses. They have depraved minds and a counterfeit faith, but they won't get away with this for long. Someday, everyone will recognize what fools they are, just as Janus and Jambres.
00:06:45
Speaker
He says, but you, verse 10, you Timothy, certainly know what I teach and how I live and what my purpose in life is. You know my faith, my patience, my love, my endurance. You know how much persecution and suffering I've endured.
00:07:05
Speaker
You know all about how I was persecuted in Antioch and Iconium and Lystra, but the Lord rescued me from all of it. Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil people and impostors will flourish. They will deceive others and will themselves be the deceived. But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught.
00:07:33
Speaker
You know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you. You have been taught the Holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have get they have they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives.
00:07:59
Speaker
It corrects us when we are wrong and it teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and to equip His people to do every good work. This is the word of the Lord.
00:08:15
Speaker
The emphasis this morning, if you can't tell, is about knowledge on one hand and our responsibility to do something with that knowledge on the other.
00:08:28
Speaker
The passage can be pretty cleanly divided. The first nine verses, one through nine, tells us about this horrible time that's to come, this last days. And the last verse 10 through 17 instructs us how do we respond in those last days.
00:08:49
Speaker
He begins here in verse 1 saying, understand this that in the last days there will come times of difficulty or your translation may say violence or danger. It is the same word that is used to describe the garrison demoniac. This is the guy that was out of control that nobody could bind him, that he was dangerous, that he was ferocious.
00:09:19
Speaker
He's telling Timothy here, friends in the last days, this this will be characteristic and we'll be able to know it because the things will be violent and increasingly difficult. Now I struggle with this term these last days because like you, oftentimes when we hear somebody tell us this phrase, they say it in the context in 2024, we all live in, say it.
00:09:49
Speaker
the last days. This is the last days. And they what they mean by that is things are so bad, surely this is the end. Surely God is right around the corner. Surely Jesus is coming back. Have you heard that before, friends? These last days really began in Jesus' ministry.
00:10:13
Speaker
And when He ascended to heaven, this is the last days. And until He comes back, we are in the last days. So I want you to understand that while it's easy for us to think times are really bad now, and as things draw to a close, we may be very close to the end. I want you to understand that many, many people throughout history thought they were in the last days.
00:10:40
Speaker
No doubt the early Christians, when the Romans took them and threw them in with the lions to be eaten, thought surely this is the last days. I'm sure the Jewish people in the Holocaust thought surely this is the last days. And many of you as you turn on the news,
00:11:04
Speaker
and you see the state of our society and you see your two political choices that you have to vote or thinking to yourself, surely we are in the last days.
00:11:17
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But he gives us friends these first nine verses, some 18 characteristics of what it's gonna look like in the last days. He says people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money,
00:11:32
Speaker
Lovers of self, meaning they'll be boastful and proud, they'll be abusive and disobedient to their parents, to which all the parents turn and look at their children right now. They'll have an attitude of ungratefulness. They will be unholy and unloving and unforgiving. They'll be slanderous, without self-control.
00:11:58
Speaker
brutal, not lovers of good, treacherous, rash, conceited. They'll be lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.
00:12:10
Speaker
Friends, this list is an exhaustive list to let you know how bad it's gonna get. And I'm sure Paul could have listed even more here than just these 18 that we see, but the heart of every problem is a problem of the heart, we see.
00:12:27
Speaker
God commands us to love Him supremely, and then our neighbors as ourselves, Matthew 22 states. But if we love ourselves supremely, we will not love God, and therefore we will not even be able to love our neighbors. I love this quote from Warren Wearsby. He says, in this universe there is God, there are people, and there are things. We should worship God, love people, and use things.
00:12:57
Speaker
But when we get that backwards, he says we end up worshipping ourselves, ignoring God, loving things, and using people. It's a formula for quite a miserable life. It's a formula for what we see here in these end times, these last days. It's this worldwide craving of anything but God. I don't know if you turn on the news, if you follow the news,
00:13:23
Speaker
ah Kim and I over the years have tried to unplug ourselves from just the constant bombardment that is programming. But you can definitely tell that things are bad all over. And I like to to tell people the last days, if you look at the full trajectory of fallen humankind, is a downward spiral.
00:13:51
Speaker
And so when I hear well-intentioned good Christians say, well, I just think if we get so-and-so in office, things are going to be so much better. Friends, the trajectory of mankind until Christ returns is a downward spiral. Do not be surprised when society looks the way it looks like when you turn on TV.
00:14:24
Speaker
It says not only will they turn away from God, they will reject the truth. The most shocking aspect of this picture here the last day, Paul says that there are going to be these people who profess God on one hand, who claim spiritual knowledge, who claim religious knowledge, but they they don't possess a relationship with God. We see this here, having a form of Godliness but deny its power.
00:14:55
Speaker
Paul means it's possible for us to engage in some type of outward church life where we come here and we sing the hymns and we pray the prayers and we walk through the liturgy but we know nothing about the inward power of the Holy Spirit.
00:15:15
Speaker
He's saying it's possible to spend time in God's Word and read it and never apply it. Do you believe that to be true?
00:15:26
Speaker
You bet it is. You know why? Because I did it for a long time. I'd go and read the Bible. And I'd go, that's very interesting.
Living a transformative life through the Bible
00:15:36
Speaker
So that's what Timothy is to okay that's what timothy's talking about. Oh, I shouldn't gossip. That was last week, right? And then you just close your Bible and you go about your your day. And you never let God's word change you.
00:15:54
Speaker
from the inside. And this is this picture, this empty shell that he's saying there's going to be these forms without substance. They're going to be phony. And I think, friends, we have to be real careful of this because we can we live in a society that loves checklists. If I can just give an example. um I'm a checklist person. This is why I can tell you this. I like to go I know I'm supposed to read the Bible. I know I want to do it daily. I want to be obedient in that call. So I'm going to sit down and read my Bible. Check. right Did that. Check.
00:16:33
Speaker
Now I want to learn more about Timothy. Got that down. Check. no and What we end up doing is we just we're just checking the boxes. We're not letting the Word of God change us.
00:16:47
Speaker
transform us into the likeness of Christ. Friends, we're not just studying God's Word for the sake of studying God's Word. We're studying to know God and we're allowing the Holy Spirit to convict us in the areas in which our lives don't align align with His will. J.C. Ryle, the great evangelical leader of some 100 years ago, he writes this. He says, My friends, there appears to be an entire generation coming. Beware.
00:17:18
Speaker
He says, they know the theory of the gospel intellectually, meaning with their mind, but when you examine their inner lives, you will find that they know nothing practical of godliness. They preach the gospel on one hand, but if you look at their lives, they are neither truthful, nor charitable, nor humble, nor honest, nor kind-tempered, nor gentle, nor unselfish, nor honorable. What shall we save these people? J.C. Ryle, 100 years ago, says this.
00:17:50
Speaker
Beware of Christians in name only. You ever heard this political term, a rhino, for those of you who follow that term, r-i-n-o? Republican in name only, meaning you're a Republican, but then you vote some other way.
00:18:09
Speaker
St. J.C. Riles pointing out something, we have to be real careful that we're not just Christians in name only. Meaning that we come to God's word simply to read God's word and check off a box saying, I've read my Bible today. It's very easy to do.
00:18:28
Speaker
We gotta be very cautious. He says, be careful not to become Christians in name only. So if we don't wanna be faithless, we wanna be faithful what is What is the characteristics of somebody who's faithful? Paul tells Timothy here, he says, first off, don't follow those people. Don't follow those type of people the end of verse 5. Look at me, verse 5. He says, these people, they'll act religious, but they will reject the power that God can make them godly. Stay away from those type of people. So if we want to be faithful, we're going to not follow those people, not follow their model.
00:19:10
Speaker
if the And if I can say this in the most kind way, if you're following a preacher, and this is a very popular thing because we have the internet, and I and i just, i you know, I was talking with Sweet Charlene the other day, and she was like, that that recording of preachers online is a double-edged sword, you know? She was said, you know, it's, you know, you get so comfortable watching them online, you don't want to come in person.
00:19:34
Speaker
She goes, you got to be real careful who you watch. And I thought, you know, that just kept replaying on my mind as I drove back from Temple back here to to Cameron. You have to be real careful who we watch, because there are a lot of great people that are great orders, are great preachers, that are great leaders, but if they steer away from the gospel, the true gospel message, we would have nothing to do with them. Paul tells Timothy,
00:20:00
Speaker
Watch out for those guys, don't follow them, but follow the godly model. In contrast to these who have phony lives or phony ministries, these faithless people, he he says, Timothy, remember your apostolic roots, if you will, your apostolic lifestyle and your virtues. He says, you, however, know all about my teaching, Paul's teaching, Paul's way of life, Paul's purpose, Paul's faith, Paul's patience, his love, his endurance.
00:20:30
Speaker
He says, I've modeled this to you, Timothy. You simply have to follow that model. And I thought to myself this week, and it's a question I'm posing to you, do you have a godly model? Do you have somebody in your life that you can look to and watch what they're saying matches what they're doing? Somebody who's not just reading the Bible and not letting it change them, but somebody who is earnestly studying the word of God.
00:21:01
Speaker
He says, follow my model, follow my doctrine. Paul's doctrine is true faith. It's the gospel of Jesus Christ. He says, my doctrine lines up with the way that I live. I practice what I preach. Make sure that your message matches your way you live. He says, and you know my purpose. My purpose in ministry was to do the will of God and to finish the work of God that he gave to Paul.
00:21:30
Speaker
we should We should have these type of godly models, men and women, in our lives. Somebody that you can look to that is persevering, that is continuing in the walk. And it's and it's not a ah it's not somebody who's doing it all perfect. Because if you're looking for that person, you're probably not going to find them.
00:21:56
Speaker
You wanna find a Christian who's obedient to God's word, who's walking the walk and doing the best they can and and lives in God's grace and lives in his mercy. They may not be getting it 100% right, but there's somebody that you can model yourself after. Friends, we're not just here at First Baptist Cameron trying to do this on our own, trying to figure it out on our own. There's been many, many generations of godly men and godly women that have came before us that have paved this path and to show us how to say true to God's Word. We need these people to hold us accountable, to encourage us, to suffer alongside us. He says here in verse 14, he says, look at me here in verse 14, he says, continue. Continue on what you have learned and become convinced of. Our faith is proved by endurance. Starting something is easy, amen.
00:22:56
Speaker
Finishing things are difficult. I've got all sorts of projects at the house that are started. Not quite all those projects are completed. Continuing, enduring is difficult. But he says here in these last days, in these troublesome times, in these difficult times ahead, you are to continue in what you have learned and become convinced of.
00:23:24
Speaker
Two elements here of faithful living. First is that we must possess the knowledge of truth. This is why you have God's word. Truth enlightens us to what is right and wrong. We cannot trust or love that, which we do not know. So we first must know it. The only way we can do that is by studying it. And I use studying your Bible different than reading your Bible. I hope you know that. So anybody, I'll sit and read um My Turning Wheels magazine. My Turning Wheels Studebaker magazine. Love reading that thing. But I don't study it. There's a difference. I don't sit and I'm not intent to read and to understand like I do God's Word. And for fantastic as that magazine is, it will never change my life. Only God's Word here can change your life.
00:24:18
Speaker
So first, we must not only know God's word, but second is we must walk out those beliefs. You must take the truth of what we learned through our Bible study and apply that to our lives. No other book has this type of power.
00:24:38
Speaker
The New Living Translation, verse 16, probably doesn't do it quite justice. Your translation may say, look with me real quick, All scripture is, this is inspired by God, but it's really God-breathed.
00:24:53
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I often find it's hard when you go to talk to somebody about spiritual matters and you point them to God's Word. If they don't think it's really God's Word, meaning really from God Himself,
00:25:13
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It's hard to have any basis for any other kind of conversation because they don't there's no authority unless you believe it's God's word. It says it's God-breathed and it's authoritative over your life. And it's really just that simple. Either you believe it's God's word or you don't. But if you do believe it, then there's a certain authority that comes with it. And that authority covers all aspects of our lives.
The Bible's authority and role in salvation
00:25:46
Speaker
I have a friend of ours, Kim and I, who lived out West Texas. And he says often, I like this about Christianity, but I don't like this. So I'm gonna believe this, but I'm not gonna believe that. Or I'm gonna practice this, but I'm not gonna practice that because this, I don't agree with. and i And I've given him this loving moniker a long time ago. I said, that makes you a buffet Christian.
00:26:09
Speaker
And he just laughed and thought that was so funny. But if if you think about it, that's really what a buffet line is, right? When you go through, I want some of this, but I don't want some of that. Friends, if if it's God's very word and it's authoritative to your life, there is no picking and choosing what you want to follow and not follow. It's authoritative over all aspects of our lives. So how do we remain faithful in our pursued scripture? This will be our last slide there. Just a couple observations from the text. First, the Bible is from God and it's for you.
00:26:51
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It's from God and it's for you. So the source, meaning its source author, author with a capital A, is God.
00:27:04
Speaker
The Bible owes its origin and its contents to God and the leading of the Holy Spirit like we talked about in Bible study today. Peter put it like this, he says, no prophecy of scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation, for prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit, 2 Peter. So it's inconceivable to me, Brother Billy kind of touched on this a little bit in class today, it's and it's inconceivable to me that God would give us this book
00:27:38
Speaker
this instruction manual, if you will, and it not be 100% trustworthy. If he is a God of truth, which he is, if Jesus is the truth, which he is, and the Spirit is truth, which the Spirit is, why in the world would God give us a book unless it's 100% truthful?
00:28:03
Speaker
You either believe it or you don't. If you do, it's authoritative. It's from God. Therefore, it carries a certain amount of weight in our lives. It's unlike any other book.
00:28:18
Speaker
As much as I like reading classical works, Moby Dick will never change the way I live my life. It just won't. It doesn't have that type of power. Only God's word has that. It's not only from God, but it's for you. It's an instruction book for humanity, and it reminds me that we're not left alone here on earth to figure out things for ourselves. There's nothing worse than getting home with a box from Ikea, and there's no instruction manual on that thing.
00:28:46
Speaker
Because there's always so many extra parts in there. God doesn't want us fumbling around in this life. He has given us this manual, his very word, on how to know what is right, how to know what is not right, how to get it right, and how to stay right. All right here.
00:29:11
Speaker
And if we study the Bible and we apply what it says, it will will help us not only grow in holiness, but it will help us avoid many pitfalls in this world. Second, the Bible is necessary. It's not a nicety. It's a necessity, not a nicety. If we want to navigate this life in a manner worthy of our calling, the Bible, my friends, is not something that we can just say, I should probably spend some time this week in in the Word.
00:29:42
Speaker
It should be something like, I have to eat three times a day. I'm so hungry, I have to eat every day. I'm so hungry, this is so important to me, I have to spend time in God's word every single day. One of my old pastors gave this great illustration. I wrote it in this particular chapter. He said the Bible for him is like a tool belt when he goes out to the construction site.
00:30:10
Speaker
He said, you drive all that way out to the construction site to get there and go, oh, I forgot my hammer. Oh, well, guess what? I'm not going to be very productive today. He says, it's necessary it's necessary for us to do the work that is God has required for us.
00:30:32
Speaker
So the ultimate purpose is to equip us, to equip believers, those who read it, those who study it, to do the good works that God has called us to do. It's a necessity, not a nicety. And finally, and I think this is the probably the biggest one, and this is why I wanted to leave it for the last, the Bible leads us to salvation.
00:30:58
Speaker
But the Bible doesn't save. Does that make sense for us? Too often what we have, friends, is we have a a world that either doesn't understand us as Christians or they say, oh, you guys just put too much weight into this. And the reason they say that is because they don't realize it's God's Word.
00:31:19
Speaker
But they think, wow, I can't believe you guys. or you know You spend so much time in God's word, but then you go out and live wildlife or whatever. you know The two contradict contradict each other.
00:31:34
Speaker
There is a real fear that we can simply study God's Word and know a lot about God and not know God. Does that make sense? It's a lot of head knowledge that we can get, simply reading it and not applying it and not letting it change us. The Bible, friends, points us to the fact that we need a Savior, that we're broken, that this world is broken, and that we can't save ourselves.
00:32:05
Speaker
So is studying God's Word important? You bet it is because it points us to the Master. It points us to the King. It points us to the only person that can save us. And it also reveals God's wonderful plan of salvation, that Christ died for our sins and rose from the grave. Our 10 word evangelistic message that we learned last week on Wednesday nights. And if you're not coming Wednesdays, you need to be coming Wednesdays.
00:32:36
Speaker
Jesus saves, the Bible does it, but the Bible does point us to the Savior. Does that make sense? It's very easy for us to simply make it a checklist, and I don't want that for us, and I think we need to be real mindful of that. I'm gonna end with this.
00:32:56
Speaker
I wanna end with an upbeat message today. Friends, the times aren't getting any better. They're only gonna get worse. So if you think the stuff you see on TV is bad now, it's only going to get worse. We must separate ourselves from that which is false, but we must also devote ourselves to that which is true. And we must continue. We must cling to, as the scripture reading this morning said, cling to the very word of God. Then and only then God will equip us for the ministry in these last days.
00:33:38
Speaker
My prayer for you, my prayer for myself, is that we are a people who cling to God's work and that we allow it to transform us. Amen? Let's pray.