2 Timothy 3

[0:00] Let me turn you please to 2nd Timothy, this time at chapter 3 and verse 15 to the end of the chapter.

[0:19] 2nd Timothy 3, 15 to the end. How from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

[0:45] All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness that the man or woman of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

[1:02] Amen. May Lord bless us that reading. Last week I was introducing this study on Timothy to look at the issue that he has known the apostle Paul for 17 years and now things are coming to an end.

[1:23] Indeed he says in 2nd Timothy 4, 6, I'm already on the point of being sacrificed. The day of my departure has come. And so the issue is, how is Timothy going to face the future?

[1:40] That's the issue. Now Paul has said to him that what you have to do, Timothy, to make sure you're on the right road, you have to fan into flame the gift of God that is within you, which was in you through the laying on of my hands.

[2:01] That's part of it. But there's another part. And that other part is, what is the resource that he's going to call on to do the work of the Lord?

[2:15] And I'm suggesting that the resource that he's going to call on is the word of God. So let's think, first of all, of the quality of scripture.

[2:27] 316 says, all scripture is inspired by God. Interestingly enough, this word inspired is in Greek, the word theonoustos, literally meaning God breathed.

[2:45] And in the whole of the scope of the Greek language, this indeed is the only place it occurs. Not in classical Greek, not in the Greek version of the Old Testament, which you call the tuagent, only here.

[3:00] And it's a very interesting word. Because it suggests to us there's something very different about the scripture that we read and preach from, we believe, we meditate on.

[3:13] It's God breathed. And Calvin, who is commenting on this verse, says this. If this is true, that the scripture is inspired as this word indicates, what it means is that the scriptures are filled with the authority of God.

[3:36] God, and accordingly, the same reverence is due unto them, that is, due unto God himself.

[3:48] Inspired. How does this inspiration show itself? Peter says something about this in 1 Peter 10, verses 10 to 11.

[4:00] And he's talking here about the ministry of the prophets. The prophets who prophesied of the grace that was to be yours, searched and inquired about this salvation.

[4:16] They inquired what personal time was indicated by the spirit of Christ within them when predicting the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glory.

[4:30] The gist of that quotation simply means that when the prophets were prophesying and their prophecies were recorded, they didn't necessarily understand how it was all going to work out.

[4:45] So they searched, they inquired, they prayed. Let me suggest to you there are four directions that the prophecies of the Old Testament point to Jesus.

[5:01] First of all, there is the family. The prophecy of the family is in Genesis 49.10. It says this. The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs, and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

[5:26] That prophecy was issued about the tribe of Judah. And from a very early age, it was believed that when the Messiah came, he would come via the family and tribe of Judah.

[5:45] And that is why in the Gospels, in Matthew and Luke, you have these long genealogies, tracing back the person of Jesus right away back into the Old Testament to show you that he came to the family of David and the tribe of Judah.

[6:08] Then there's the place, Micah 5.2. But you, O Bethlehem Ephrata, who are to be little among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from old, from ancient days.

[6:24] Gospels are very clear about this. They say that when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, it came about exactly as the prophet said.

[6:40] The prophet said that somewhere about 600 years before Jesus was born. Then, they also said how he was to be born.

[6:52] Isaiah 7. A virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel. That very clearly states that the birth of the Son of God into this world was to be means of a virgin birth.

[7:13] And the Gospels substantiate that. They say this. When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, he took his wife, but did not know her until she had born a son, and he called his name Jesus.

[7:35] The final thing that they have to say, these prophecies, is something about the time. Now, the time is contained in a prophecy in Daniel 9, verses 24 to 27.

[7:49] Now, we don't have the time to go into the depths of this, because it's a complex argument, but listen to what the first verse says. Seventy weeks of years, that is, seventy-sevens are four hundred and ninety, interpreted on the basis of one year to a day.

[8:08] Seventy weeks of years are determined concerning your people and your holy city. To finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and profit, and to anoint a most holy one.

[8:34] When this is worked out, it can be seen that it started with Nehemiah in chapter 2, verse 5, and these period of years ended when Jesus began his ministry in AD 29, and Luke makes that very clear.

[8:56] He began his ministry in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar. So here we have the quality of this inspiration.

[9:11] The inspiration would tell you the family, the place, the manner, and the time. And only God can do that through this God-breathed word.

[9:26] Let's move on. The use. All scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and training in righteousness.

[9:38] So, the first use of holy writ is to teach you everything you need to know about Jesus Christ and the doctrines of the faith.

[9:57] That verse says that there are four different usages. Teaching, reproof of errors, correction of faults, and training in righteousness.

[10:12] So, for Timothy, this is a very useful thing for him to consider. This is his resource. This is how he's to carry on.

[10:23] This is how he's to face the future. This holy word. This scripture. Which he has known since a child.

[10:36] How important it is to do the work that is now being done in the Sunday school next door. That work will reap its harvest in the years to come.

[10:48] And this ministry of teaching is something that Paul believes that he is appointed to. So, he says in 2 Timothy 1.11.

[11:02] I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher. And you can see his teaching ministry, not so much in the sermons he preached because they were evangelistic, but in the letters that he wrote in which he covered virtually every doctrine of the faith.

[11:23] Teaching for his people. A source for throughout all the ages of the church. But he goes on.

[11:37] And he says they are useful for refutation of error. Now, that refutation of error comes in in John 16 verse 8.

[11:50] Speaking of the coming of the Holy Spirit. When he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.

[12:06] The coming of the Spirit of God. Campbell Morgan, who was a forgotten voice of a previous generation, said, The mission of the Holy Spirit with men and women is that of revealing to them the truth on these subjects in such a way that they shall be convinced that what is being said is true.

[12:33] I knew a wonderful example of all of this on the day of Pentecost. When Peter preached this sermon based on the resurrection of Christ, His two texts were Joel chapter 2 and Psalm 16.

[12:50] And he sums it up. And so the conclusion is coming in verse 36. Let all the house of Israel therefore know that God has made him this Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.

[13:10] That's his last word. Now, the next verse is very important. When they heard this, they were cut or pricked to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, What shall we do?

[13:31] A movement of the Spirit of God in the reproof of error. The error being that they hadn't recognized the Son of God when he came.

[13:45] The error being that they were there in the crowd shouting, Crucify him. The error being they had rejected the one that God had sent.

[13:58] And it's all made clear because of the Spirit of God who comes to convict or reprove of error.

[14:09] Finally, the use. All Scripture is inspired of God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.

[14:24] The man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. The man of God, the woman of God, will be complete as a result of studying this wonderful word.

[14:47] And it's indicated by a Greek term which simply means fully qualified. And it is the Spirit's function acting through the word to give you this full qualification.

[15:03] And this is what is being said to Timothy. This is indeed how you are to face the future with this fully qualified gift that comes from the Spirit of God.

[15:18] Now there's an appeal that he says here in 2.15. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

[15:40] So he begins off by saying, do your best, i.e. spare no effort, i.e. work hard.

[15:52] And there is work involved in it. There is a study involved in it. You've got to wait on God and allow him to speak to you through his word.

[16:06] This is what we're called to do. When we turn to Colossians, he's got a different way of approach. He says this, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teach and admonish you, one another in all wisdom, and sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

[16:35] Now you see, what he's saying here is this. This is how you're to approach it. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.

[16:50] That means you're going to have to take time with it. You will be fully qualified in what God is saying. That the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

[17:06] So what does that mean? The idea is that you will be completely equipped. You won't need anything else. It comes to you through the spirit of God, speaking through his own word.

[17:20] But you're required to read it, to study it, to believe it, and to use it. that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

[17:36] Now what are the works he's got in mind? In chapter 4, before he gets to the fact that he's soon in departure, he says this, I 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 kingdom, preach the word.

[18:02] Be urgent. Be ready. When it's popular, when it's not popular, convince, rebuke, and exhort, be unfailing in patience, and teaching.

[18:19] So here we have to, here it is as far as Timothy is concerned, what you are to do. You are to preach the word.

[18:31] In fact, he goes on, in a few verses later on, and says, see that you do the work of the evangelist.

[18:45] The evangelist being the person who turns other people in the direction of the mercy of God. So, with this challenge that's coming from the apostle before he dies, the apostle is giving him ideas, truths, by which he can live, by which he can face the future, by which he can take his experience further.

[19:15] These are the matters which the apostle is bringing before Timothy. There is a sense of the quality of scripture, and if you think of the quality of the scripture as being totally inspired, it means that the quality of the person who receives it is virtually identical.

[19:40] all scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

[20:00] Amen. Stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy. To the only God, our Saviour, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time and now and forever.

[20:21] Amen. Amen.