Living Up to Our Middle Name!

[0:00] Well, turn with me in your Bibles to 2 Timothy chapter 3. As you do, I'll just tell you I'm so grateful to be here.

[0:12] Thank you for the warm welcome to myself and to my family. I feel blessed to have the opportunity to worship alongside you this morning, sing to our great Savior, and just bring greetings from the saints and the elders at Canyon Bible Church of Prescott.

[0:30] Our church thinks of you often. Our elders pray for you in our elders' meetings. Our people pray for you. We've prayed for you on Sunday morning. Just grateful for what the Lord is doing here in Cottonwood Bible Church.

[0:42] Consider Jim Masters a good friend and thankful for his faithfulness to minister to each of you. I'm really thankful for your commitment to take such good care of your pastor, letting him get away, get some time with his family to refresh and recharge.

[0:58] We all need that. So look with me now at 2 Timothy chapter 3. We'll be looking this morning at verses 14 through 17.

[1:10] 2 Timothy chapter 3, starting in verse 14. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you've been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

[1:35] All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

[1:58] Father, you have laid a firm foundation for our faith in your word. Thank you, God, for the Bible.

[2:10] As I unpack these verses from your precious word this morning, I'm just asking that by your spirit, you would awaken the passions of your people all the more. For any of us who have been in Christ for any length of time, this is a familiar passage, and yet how dear it is to our hearts.

[2:29] I pray that as we look at it this morning, it would just cause your word to be that much more dear to our hearts, that we would treasure and cherish your word, that you would do a mighty work in our hearts this morning, God, that we would be a kind of people who run like the wind to your word.

[2:50] Every day of our lives, we hunger for it more than food. Lord, we every day feel the hunger of our souls, and yet too often we seek to satisfy that hunger in other ways.

[3:08] Let us continue to come back to your word, that we would not be merely hearers and so deceive ourselves, but cause us by your grace to be doers of the word, so that our lives would have a spiritual flavor to them, that we would have a colossal influence in this dark world.

[3:33] And I pray, Father, for each of the souls here in this room this morning, Lord, let us leave this place with a greater passion for your word.

[3:46] Use us in Cottonwood, in Clarkdale, in Prescott. Use our lives, use our families to put your gospel, your grace, and your glory on display, that many would come to know Christ through our lives.

[4:02] I pray in Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Middle names. They serve several purposes. Of course, the first purpose of your middle name is so that your mom would have greater ability to display her displeasure with you.

[4:22] Jason, David, Drum, get over here. You're familiar with this? One of the other, maybe more significant purposes of a middle name is to allow parents to bring that much more meaning to the lives of their children as they place over them this name, something that they will be called for the rest of their lives.

[4:50] When we chose our kids' names, even their middle names, we chose them with intentionality, right? You don't just like take a huge list of names, put it up on the wall, and throw a dart.

[5:04] Right? Like a banner over their lives that say, this is what we want for you. Our kids' names, Sophia, Faith, Drum.

[5:17] Alethea, Grace, Drum. Ethan, David, Drum. We chose their middle names with purpose. We wanted to convey something about what we wanted for their lives.

[5:31] And they're still young, but we're praying that our kids would live up to their middle names. And they're praying that I would stop talking about them in the middle of this sermon.

[5:43] But here we are this morning at Cottonwood Bible Church. And I get it, because I'm a pastor at Canyon Bible Church.

[5:55] Our middle name is Bible. There's a good reason for that, isn't there? Like a banner over your church and mine that says, this is what we want for our church.

[6:09] We're all still young. Our church is young. Our church is only four years old. We're praying we'll live up to our middle name. So it faces us with the question, how do we do that well?

[6:23] And that's why this morning we're in 2 Timothy 3, verses 14 through 17. Look at these verses again. You know, the one and only command here is right at the start in verse 14.

[6:35] It's the only command in all of these verses. It says, you continue. And we're kind of parachuting down into these verses, but it helps when you get a grasp of what Paul has just said in this letter to his young protege, Timothy.

[6:51] The reason he tells Timothy to continue in or remain in the Bible is because he's contrasting what he had just said in verse 13.

[7:01] Look at it. Paul had just finished saying in the verses before this, evil men and imposters will proceed. That is, move on, or it could be translated progress. And he says, from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

[7:16] And then notice the contrast here, the little word play. He says, evil men will proceed, move on, they will progress. They're the same kind of people in chapter four, verse four, that he says they will turn away from listening to the truth.

[7:30] They will wander off into myths. And so you see the picture there of moving on, advancing from something, progressing away from something, turning away from something, wandering away from something.

[7:44] And so he says in verse 14, but as for you, and there's an emphatic contrast here in the original language. It's like he's pointing his finger in young Timothy's chest.

[7:57] He actually says, you, however, verse 14, but as for you, you, however, Timothy, continue in.

[8:08] So not progress, not move on, not to turn away from, but continue in what you have learned and firmly believe, which is namely, he'll go on to say the Bible.

[8:20] You see, Timothy's the young pastor at a relatively new church, and they've gotten a great start. But Paul knows how easy it is for churches and for Christians to veer off from where they started.

[8:32] And so he writes to Timothy, continue in the Bible, Timothy. Don't try to get fancy, Tim. Just keep it simple. Continue in the Bible.

[8:44] It's like we could say, you're driving down the correct road, right? Don't take the exit. Don't turn off of this road. You're going the right way. Continue on this road. And the main point of the passage is that Timothy is told, and we are reminded to hold on to, to continue in, to remain in, to stand firm in the Bible.

[9:09] Don't consider it progress to try to move on from the Bible. As though, okay, okay, we got the Bible. That's the Christianity ABC kind of thing.

[9:20] And now let's make some progress and move on by adding something to that. Now we've got the Bible and, no, the Bible is the Christianity A through Z.

[9:31] There is no other. A Christianity that moves on from the Bible very quickly becomes not Christianity anymore. And this is so simple.

[9:42] I mean, I know you're sitting there thinking like, we know this. And yet it's so critical, isn't it? Timothy's young church needed this reminder to continue in the Bible.

[9:54] And our churches, Cottonwood Bible Church, Canyon Bible Church, we need these reminders to live up to our middle name and continue in the Bible.

[10:07] And so everything else that Paul says in the remainder of these verses are reasons for continuing in the Bible. You can see that because he says, as for you, continue in what you've learned and have firmly believed, knowing.

[10:22] So he's gonna say, because you know these certain things, you're going to continue in the Bible. So here's four things you need to know. Four reasons to continue in the Bible. Four reasons to continue in the Bible.

[10:34] Number one is the character of your teachers. Look at verse 14. It says, but as for you, continue in what you've learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you've been acquainted with the sacred writings.

[10:48] And so the first reason Paul gives Timothy to stay the course, depend on the Bible, is to look at the lives of the people who taught him. Look at verse 15.

[10:59] Who taught Timothy? It says, how from childhood you've been acquainted with the sacred writings. Well, just flip back with me to 2 Timothy, just maybe a page over, maybe just a page before this is chapter one, verse five.

[11:13] Look at it there. Paul says, I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well.

[11:26] You know, Timothy's dad was an unbeliever, totally out of the picture, spiritually speaking, but his mom and his grandmother were the kind of believers whose lives gave strong credibility to the truths that they taught from Scripture.

[11:40] So Paul tells Timothy, look at the people who taught you. You know who taught you. Look at their lives. Let that motivate you to stay on course, to continue in the Bible.

[11:52] This is a good place for us to stop and think. I mean, just do that for a second. Think about this. Who taught you? Who are the people shared the gospel with you, brought you to the Lord, continued to teach you?

[12:05] Who are the people that continue to teach you? What is their life like? Your parents, maybe, or your grandparents, your pastors, your teachers, your aunt or uncle, certain friends or coworkers.

[12:21] Think about their lives. This is a reason to have confidence. Now, it's not an infallible reason, is it? Because people aren't perfect like the Bible is.

[12:35] And so as another person who may have taught you wanders away from the Bible, their life now even gives credibility to the truth of the Bible because what God's Word says will happen to people who wander away happens to them.

[12:50] And so, but as people continue to live according to what they have learned in the Bible, their lives become a credible witness to the reliability of the Bible.

[13:01] And it becomes, for each of us, a motivating influence to continue in the Bible as we remember the people who taught us. I have this little frame on my desk. It's one of those ones that it's got like four pictures in it and it's got the little cardboard back thing so it stands there.

[13:17] And in this frame, some of the, are pictures of me with some of the most influential men in my life. Influential men in my life. My teachers, my pastors, my friends.

[13:30] And so, there's a picture there of Ken Ramey and Chris Steyer and Andrew Gutierrez and Chris Hamilton. These men who have invested in me, been an example to me, prayed with me, confronted me, taught me, discipled me.

[13:44] And when I think about their lives, when I think about their faithfulness to the Word of God, it makes me that much more want to live a fired up, sold out life for the spread of the glory of God according to the truth of Scripture.

[14:00] Their life and character motivates me. And the life and the character of the people who taught you is not just an example to you, but it's also an encouragement to you to continue in the things that you've been taught, to continue in the Bible.

[14:18] And that's legit too. Right? This is no kind of side motivation here. Right? Because reliable testimony from a person of character is a valid source for confirmation of truth.

[14:32] Right? In fact, that's exactly what they use in a court of law. Testimony from reliable witnesses. And so Paul says to Timothy, and I say to you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed knowing from whom you learned it.

[14:51] These people who taught you, they've staked their very lives on these truths. I mean, don't take that lightly. Don't be quick to just brush that off.

[15:03] Continue in the Bible. Stake your life on these truths. And as you do, you also will be a testimony to the truth of the Bible.

[15:14] And that's just part of the reason to continue in the Bible. There's more reasons here, right? So the first reason to continue in the Bible is the character of your teachers. The second one, and you can look at it here with me in verse 15, the second reason to continue in the Bible is the character of the Bible.

[15:31] Look at verse 15. It says, how from childhood you've been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

[15:42] Notice that phrase, the sacred writing. writings. This term here, sacred writings, literally means holy writings or holy book.

[15:55] In fact, do something with me. This is the only time you'll hear me say this during a sermon, but close your Bible for a second. You just keep your finger there in 2 Timothy. Don't panic. I know the preacher says close your Bible.

[16:06] That could be very concerning. Everything's gonna be okay. We're gonna open them back up again in a minute. But take a look at the spine. See what it says there. We're familiar with this. We kind of take that for granted. It says, holy Bible.

[16:18] Guess where that comes from? It comes from this verse. The sacred writings. This is the holy Bible. Have you ever stopped to consider the significance of that phrase?

[16:33] The sacred writings. It's a holy book. You opened your Bible again, right? Okay. If not, now's the time. Open that back up to 2 Timothy 3.

[16:44] Good. Holy writings. Why? Because it's distinct. It is like, we know the word holy means it's separate. It's set apart. It's different from anything else. That's true of the Bible, isn't it?

[16:55] It's separate. It's different. This is set apart from anything you've ever read before, right? I mean, this is, your Betsy Tacey book doesn't have this in there. Okay? This is a different kind of a book. And as you read it, the Bible has marks of holiness that make it self-authenticating.

[17:12] It is, it's holy. It's distinct. And as you read, as you study, as you learn, there's something about this book that screams from God. This book shares in the holiness of God and it's obvious.

[17:30] Now here's the thing because someone who doesn't know the Lord will say, I mean, it's obvious. It's not obvious to me. Maybe you're thinking that this morning. What do you mean? It's obvious.

[17:41] It's obvious as you read it and study it that the book is holy, that it comes from God. How's that obvious? It's not obvious to me. I've read the Bible a bunch. See, if you can't see it, it's not actually a problem with the book.

[17:55] It's a problem with your eyes. It's a problem with your spiritual eyes. If you're sitting here this morning and thinking, I don't know about all this Bible stuff. I mean, I've looked at the Bible.

[18:06] I didn't really see much there. It didn't scream from God to me. Stop and consider this. Maybe the reason you didn't see anything is because you have been blinded spiritually by a force outside of yourself, namely Satan.

[18:25] 2 Corinthians 4, 4 actually says that this is true, right? It says that Satan has blinded the minds of unbelievers. Why? To keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God.

[18:42] So I would just consider, I would encourage you to do this, right? 2 Corinthians 4, 4 says that Satan blinds the minds of unbelievers. Well, just jump two verses forward to verse 6 in 2 Corinthians 4 and pray that because it says that the God, the God who said let light shine out of darkness in creation has shown into our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

[19:11] And so, if you don't see the marks of holiness of God in the pages of Scripture, you need to pray that God will open your eyes. Ask Him, Lord, forgive my sin, unblind my spiritual eyes and cause me to see what is true in Scripture.

[19:28] Let the light of the gospel of the glory of Jesus Christ shine into my heart, awaken my heart so I can see. Because the character of the Bible is one of the reasons that it is self-authenticating.

[19:47] And you'll notice it also says here, it says, the sacred writings which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. This is talking about the power of the Scripture to do that very thing, to open your eyes.

[20:05] Right? We know faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of God. How does the Bible do that? Well, first, because it's the Scriptures that teach you the gospel.

[20:18] Right? They do that by teaching you about God, who He is, that He's holy and righteous and set apart, that He's set a standard for us, that we've broken the standard.

[20:28] The Bible teaches you about yourself, that you are sinful and that you need forgiveness from the Lord. The Bible teaches you about who Jesus is. There's nowhere else to find the truth about who Jesus is.

[20:39] Lots of opinions out there. This is the truth. teaches us that He came into the world to save sinners, to die on the cross, and that when He did, the wrath of God against your sin and mine was placed on Him so that we can be forgiven, so that we can stand, as Jude 24 and 25 says, holy and blameless before Him with great joy.

[21:03] And the Bible teaches you about your response to all of that, that you need to repent, that is, turn from your sinful way of living, believe the truth of the Scripture, believe the truth of the Gospel, and follow Jesus Christ.

[21:18] That's why Acts 4.12 says, there's salvation in no one but Jesus, for there's no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. There's no other way to learn about Jesus and His Gospel than in the Holy Bible.

[21:36] So think about how you got saved. Somehow, someone shared the truth of Scripture with you, or maybe you just read it for yourself, and by His Spirit, God gave you eyes to see that, yes, this is all true.

[21:56] I mean, that was, it was a Thursday night, I was up at one o'clock in the morning reading a book by J.C. Ryle called Holiness. And I didn't know what holiness meant.

[22:07] I thought the title of the book was Holiness. And I was sitting there smoking a cigarette, drinking a beer, and reading a sermon manuscript. I didn't even know that's what it was.

[22:18] But as J.C. Ryle from 150 years ago echoes through history preaching to me John chapter 7 where Jesus says, anyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but anyone who drinks of the water that I give out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.

[22:34] And I read that and I thought, for sure, Jesus is weird. That's a weird thing to say. Out of your heart flows rivers of living water? Well, that's weird. And I was drawn in. I read this chapter and as J.C. Ryle explained the truth of Scripture to me, my eyes were opened.

[22:54] Faith came from hearing the Word of God. And in some way, shape, or form, that's how you got saved too. Somebody shared with you truth from Scripture and God, in His grace, opened your eyes to see that what they were saying was true.

[23:13] And that came from Scripture. So, the truths of the Bible are what make you wise to salvation. And Paul is telling Timothy that's a very good reason to stick with the Bible.

[23:25] I mean, this is how you got saved. Why are you going to move on to something else? If you became a Christian by hearing the Word of God by faith, then why wouldn't you just live your entire Christian life by hearing the Word of God with faith?

[23:39] Why would you move on to something else now? Let me ask you, are you doing that? When you think about this, when you think about how precious the Word of God is, that this is living and active.

[23:52] You can't say that about any other book, that it is alive. Are you saturating your life, your whole life in the Scripture? Or, did you get saved by hearing the Word and then you metaphorically closed it up and put it back on the shelf and now you're just living your Christian life?

[24:12] Let me tell you, take it off the shelf. Dust it off. This book is precious. It's living and active. It's alive. And it is not only able to give you wisdom for salvation in Christ Jesus, it's also able to guide you and direct you as a lamp unto your feet, a light unto your path so you will know the way in this life.

[24:35] So, memorize it. I mean, as you're reading through it in your quiet time each morning and you come across the verse, you're like, this is powerful. Memorize it.

[24:47] Jot it down on a three by five card, whatever it takes. Save it as the, you know, wallpaper on your iPhone. Whatever you have to do, get the Word of God into your life. Memorize it.

[24:58] Meditate on it. And by that, I mean, intentionally set your mind on the truth of Scripture. Not emptying your mind meditation, but focusing your mind on truth meditation.

[25:12] Pondering the Word of God. Thinking, picking it apart in your brain and asking the Lord to reveal Himself to you through Scripture. And then, pray the Bible back to the Lord.

[25:23] Open up to the Psalms and read through a Psalm and let that be a prayer. Read it and say it to the Lord. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

[25:33] Lord, you are my shepherd. That's an amazing truth. I don't think about too often. God, man, how you guide me, Lord. And this says that because you're my shepherd, I shall not want.

[25:48] I know that's true. There's so much I want, Lord. Would you help me to be content in the fact that you're my shepherd. I have everything I need. God, I can walk through darkness.

[26:01] I can walk through valleys and trials. Lord, because your rod and your staff strengthen me, I don't have to be afraid of evil. God, thank you.

[26:12] Pray the Bible back to the Lord. Let the Bible guide and direct your entire Christian life. Shape your life with the words of life. As a friend to other people, continue in the Bible.

[26:27] I mean, we're all constantly helping one another. I mean, this is like what parenting is. Kids are like, I don't know what to do. And parents say, this is how you do it. This is often what friendship is.

[26:37] Your friends say to you in the drive on the way to the restaurant or sitting at the coffee shop or whatever it is and your friends say, I don't know what to do right now. Or, would you pray for my son who walked away from the faith?

[26:51] Or, would you pray for this friend who just got cancer? Or, would you pray for me because I'm trying to find a job? Whatever it is that your friend says to you, ask yourself in the back of your head, what does the Bible say about this?

[27:04] Because they don't need my opinion right now. They need to know what God says. So ask yourself, what does Scripture say about this? And then, say that to them. You know what?

[27:14] I don't know a lot. I don't have all the answers. But I know the Bible says this. I just pray that's an encouragement to you. Right?

[27:25] We're all constantly helping one another in this life. Use Scripture in those conversations. The Bible is what saved you. The Bible is what saved your friend.

[27:38] So don't turn and live your life or give advice from anything but the Bible. Stay on course. Continue in the Bible. And there's great rewards when we continue in Scripture and great dangers when we veer off course.

[27:56] You've heard the story of the Costa Concordia. Mediterranean cruise ship disaster. the captain went off course because he decided as I look off to the side here I'm driving my cruise ship and there's kind of this this cliff over there and all the people are standing on it.

[28:20] And he thought you know what would be great is we'll go over here and if I get a little closer then I can I can I can the people on the ship can wave to the people on the land.

[28:31] Well that would be great this is a good idea and so he veered off course and you can Google Costa Concordia not now like when you get home Google Costa Concordia and see the images of a ship capsized with a big hole in the hull because the captain veered off course.

[28:53] His idea might have seemed like a good idea but because he veered off course there was a course for a reason and because he veered off course he found himself in great danger.

[29:06] Man we have a lot of great ideas don't we? Make sure that your great idea doesn't veer you off course from scripture because it might seem like a good idea but there's a course for a reason.

[29:21] So make sure that when you talk with people when you give advice when you comfort a friend when you lead a Bible study when you talk with your children continue in the Bible in all of those things just continue in the Bible.

[29:36] It's so simple and yet we're so prone to blow it. We try to move on and try to offer something contemporary something relevant something fancy just be the Bible nerd.

[29:53] Okay? We're all afraid like man you know if all I do is like quote scripture people are just going to think I'm a huge nerd. Well then let them think you're a huge nerd. Let them think you're a huge Bible nerd. That's a great thing for people to think of you and maybe they'll consider maybe I ought to use the Bible a little more in my conversations.

[30:09] Just be that guy or that girl. Be the Bible nerd. That's why the Bible is so critical. So stay on course continue in the scriptures.

[30:20] We're looking at four reasons to do that. And third third reason to continue in the Bible is the character of its source. Look at verse 16. It says all scripture is breathed out by God.

[30:34] The source of the Bible the place the person that it comes from is God himself and there's no better reason to continue in the Bible. If you have an NASB translation it says all scripture is inspired by God and we think I saw this beautiful field and it inspired me to write this poem.

[30:51] The word inspired literally means breathed into. You can hear it in there like we think respiration inspiration there's a breathing in and so inspiration when we say the scripture is inspired we mean it's breathed out by God.

[31:10] So this literally when the NASB says it's inspired by God it literally means God breathed like the ESV translates it. It's a compound word in the Greek phoenoustos two words God breathed.

[31:26] The Bible is God breathed. It came to us directly from God himself. That is profound and it's about as plain and obvious as it gets too.

[31:41] I mean this doesn't even need an explanation. I can just tell you this verse says the Bible is God breathed and nobody is going to go like what in the world does that mean? People always want to know where'd the Bible come from and here's the plain and obvious answer all scripture is breathed out by God.

[31:57] Maybe you ask okay that sounds kind of weird how does that work? I mean I thought Paul wrote this letter but maybe you're saying now you're saying God breathed it so maybe you're saying how does that work?

[32:10] Paul approaches this topic with the focus on the book itself in this verse. Peter addresses the same topic in 2 Peter 1 verses 20 and 21. Let me just flip over there real quick.

[32:20] his focus is on the people involved in the process and kind of how this worked and it says in 2 Peter 1 20 and 21 he says we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed 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 knowing this first of all that no prophecy of scripture comes from someone's own interpretation.

[32:47] In other words it wasn't written by men. verse 21 for no prophecy was ever produced by the will of men but here it is men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

[33:03] so you can see how while Paul describes the fact that God breathed the Bible Paul describes the people and the process that was involved in making that happen.

[33:13] The fact that God breathed the scriptures for us is the primary number one most important greatest significance biggest reason for us to continue in the Bible because God wrote this book.

[33:29] God is holy so his book is the Holy Bible. God never makes a mistake so his book contains no mistakes. God is perfect his words to us are perfect.

[33:42] There are no errors in the Bible. It is inerrant. The Bible in its original manuscripts is completely without error entirely true in every word every fact every sentence it cannot be wrong.

[33:56] It is without error. I believe every word of the Bible every word and I defy anyone who says oh the Bible is full of errors and I defy them to put their money where their mouth is and show me one error in the Bible.

[34:12] They're not there. I believe every word of the Bible. That means I believe Jonah was swallowed by a great fish and he was in the belly of the fish for three days.

[34:25] You tell me like well that's scientifically been proven to not be possible. The Bible says it it's true. I believe Balaam had a talking donkey and the Israelites had bread from heaven. I believe God gave Moses ten commandments and he gave Pharaoh ten plagues.

[34:41] I believe Moses stretched out his staff over the Red Sea and God parted the waters and the Israelites walked through not on the muddy bottom but on dry ground.

[34:54] And I believe Jesus was raised from the dead physically in his body on the third day after he died. And I won't have any of these miracles explained away by some scientific notion that makes them all sound like perfectly natural rationalizations for the absence of the supernatural.

[35:15] These are miracles done by God himself and when the Bible says that it happened I believe that it's true because the Bible is the word of God. He breathed it out for us himself so that we would know that when Ezekiel cried out to dry bones they came alive and when someone cried out to my dead heart I came alive because this is the word of God it's breathed out by God so continue in it.

[35:44] There's not one myth not one error not one inaccuracy this book has withstood the test of time for 2,000 years and more.

[35:55] This book alone determines my convictions and my life to turn from this to any other source is to choose miserable self-destruction. So Paul is telling Timothy that one of the reasons we can trust the Bible one of the reasons to continue in the Bible is because of the character of its source.

[36:14] it came from God and where something comes from makes a big difference doesn't it? When we lived in Los Angeles we were regular visitors to the beach.

[36:30] We preferred Malibu but there's a lot of beaches there. Some people go to Santa Monica for example. Now the thing about Santa Monica is this is where all of the storm drains from Los Angeles drain out into the ocean.

[36:49] So often times people who swim in the water at Santa Monica go home with like red burning eyes and rashes on their skin. Most of the beaches are great there but not Santa Monica.

[37:02] Enjoy the pier enjoy the restaurants don't get in the water. Now let's say you're thirsty and I say wait right here I'll get you a glass of water and I come back with two glasses of water.

[37:19] One of them I've brought fresh gushing from the springs at the source of the mountains and the Rocky Mountains I don't know the mountains of Sedona right you guys all know where the little you know the place to get fresh water is on the side of the road there it just comes right up out of the ground it's like the freshest water on earth so I've brought you some fresh water and I've also brought you a glass of water fresh from the beaches of Santa Monica now which of these glasses of water do you obviously want to drink I mean they both look the same they both look like clear liquid water can't tell the difference by looking at them obviously you choose the fresh wonderful Sedona water yeah now if there's a level of importance to the source of your drinking water how much more significant is it for the truth that you base your entire life on to have a trustworthy source and since there's no source more trustworthy than God himself let's base our lives on the book breathed out by him four reasons to continue in the Bible the character of your teachers the character of the Bible the character of its source and finally the character of its effects look at verses 16 and 17 it says all scripture is breathed out by God and it's profitable for teaching for reproof for correction and for training in righteousness so that the man of God may be complete equipped for every good work now God didn't write this book so that we could all read it and say hey nice book whenever someone writes a book they have a reason they want you to get something out of it it's good for something and when the creator of the universe writes a book what's it good for let's look at what else the verse says it says all scriptures breathed out by God and it's profitable and profitable just means it's useful to us we can gain from it benefit from it we get something out of it well what's it profitable for what are the effects of the Bible it's profitable for teaching reproof correction and training in righteousness that's

[39:41] I know you can count that's four things and there's a progression here teaching is what is right doctrine the teachings of scripture that help us to see the world as God sees it to have a biblical world view to have guidance and direction in our lives reproof what is wrong reproof reproof shows you where you're wrong it's rebuke for wrong behavior this refers to the Bible's ability to expose things in our lives that are not right they are wrong it shows us where we're off course third it says it's good for correction this is this is the idea of knowing how to get right right this word refers to getting something back on track or headed back in the right direction so after scripture shows us what's right it also shows us where we're wrong but it doesn't stop there thankfully praise the Lord it also then shows us how to get our lives back on track again and it says it's good also for training and righteousness and this is the idea of how to stay right this is positive training and godly behavior and living not just the rebuke and correction of wrong behavior so it shows us the Bible shows us what's right that's teaching it shows us where we're wrong that's reproof it shows us how to get right that's correction and it tells us how to stay right that's training and righteousness look at the end of verse 17 why does the Bible do all of those things all of this so that purpose clause the man of God may be adequate equipped for every good work or complete that means that whatever this life throws at you you can be ready it means that whatever trials come you can be ready whatever your friend brings up in that conversation that typically you would think you wouldn't be ready to respond to if you know the word of God you can be ready whatever ministry opportunities

[42:04] God gives you you can be ready in spite of the challenges of parenting you can be ready in spite of the difficulty in your marriage you can be ready you can be equipped for every good work because the Bible makes us that way makes us adequate equipped for every good work and remember Paul is telling Timothy this is one of the reasons to continue in the Bible to love the Bible to cherish the Bible to stand firm on the Bible when you think about the character of the Bible's effects in your life why would you turn away from this we need this so much as much as we all like to live and act and put on the face like everything's going so well if we all just had a moment of honesty we could admit we all have things in this life that we just haven't figured out things that if we think about too much we might just burst into tears things that we're just dumbfounded people that we don't know how to help situations that we're not sure how to respond to heartbreak that we're not sure how to heal life is full of this the Bible bring us so that we are trained and equipped and ready and we need this so if we want to be

[43:35] Christians who grow who help others grow who live for the glory of Christ we do it through reading and knowing and living the word of God and nothing else that's why 2 Timothy 3 14 through 17 has clearly given us four reasons to continue in the Bible and clearly shown us if we're going to grow as individual Christians if we're going to succeed as families if we're going to train our kids in righteousness if we're going to allow our marriages to be a picture of the gospel if we're going to be the kind of employees that we want to be if we're going to live up to our middle name as a church we must continue in the Bible Paul's given us four great reasons to do that this morning let me pray

[44:35] Father how grateful we are for this precious text certainly Lord every word is inspired and profitable yet we confess God that some passages like this one just stand out like a diamond among gems we just cherish these kind of truths to be reminded how wonderful the Bible is Father forgive me for how often I can live my Christian life with my Bible closed how often I can take for granted that you've given us this incredible thing forgive me for how easy it is to sleep in instead of getting up to dive into scripture forgive me for how often

[45:39] I give people my opinion instead of yours Lord work in our lives to make us these kinds of people thank you Father for scriptures thank you that you have you have not remained silent you have spoken you have not left us without a testimony to the truth you have spoken you breathed out your words so that we could know the truth Lord help us in all that we do to continue in the Bible we need it so much God we just confess that to you now we need the Bible Father we're grateful for our incredible time together to sing to you this morning to read your word to study your word to talk with you we pray

[46:42] Father that you would bless us our hearts as we go from this place thinking about this passage thinking about our time together may it be influential in the way that we live this week this month for the rest of our lives we ask in Jesus name amen now have a time to take just a few minutes where we'll ponder the things that the Lord has taught us from his word this morning take a few minutes to pray about their application in our lives we'll do that now time to drive you