Please take out your copy of God's Word and turn with me to the book of 2 Timothy chapter 3.
We may all remember Mother's Day 2019 as the Sunday that it got a little rock and roll at Christ Family Church.
There's a little white stripes going on on the stage, I think.
It's good stuff.
I commend you guys for that.
It's great.
Our text for this morning is 2 Timothy chapter 3, verses 14 through 17.
As we take a break this morning from our verse-by-verse exposition of the book of Hebrews,
it's my intention to be an encouragement to the mothers and future mothers of our congregation.
You may find some challenge in God's Word to us this morning,
but I want you to know that I believe that the mothers of our church work hard to excel in the training of their children,
and this does not go unnoticed.
Moms, we know you are working at this.
I know that your job as mothers can often seem mundane and unending,
and that it is always exhausting.
So I want you to be encouraged this morning to persist by grace,
to train your children as God will use you to yield fruit in their lives.
If you are not a mother or future mother ever planning on being a mother,
like you may be a man in the room,
I hope that this morning will help aim your prayers for the moms of our congregation.
So with that in mind, let's take a look at 2 Timothy chapter 3, verses 14 through 17.
Beloved, this is God's Word to us, written for His glory and our good.
We would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.
Paul writes,
In verse 14, Timothy is exhorted by Paul to continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed,
as opposed to, set up against, in juxtaposition to, the men of verse 13.
Paul says they're evil people and imposters,
that will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
It's in light of that statement in verse 13,
that he's now exhorting Timothy to continue,
but you continue in what you have learned and firmly believed.
And then Paul encourages him to faithfulness to those things with the phrase,
knowing from whom you learned it.
Paul states that remembering the godly people from whom you learned the truth
is a source of strength and of encouragement.
Continue in the things you learned because of who taught them to you.
And Timothy learned the truth that he has learned and has firmly believed by being instructed,
we see this in verse 15,
in the sacred writings,
and also we see in verse 16,
Paul tells us this is the Scripture.
Timothy had been taught the Bible.
But who is it that taught Timothy the Bible?
Timothy learned the Scripture from his family.
Timothy's mother was a Christian.
His father, unfortunately, and as far as we know, was not.
And we know this from Acts chapter 16 and verse 1,
where Luke writes,
Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra.
A disciple was there named Timothy,
the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer.
He was a follower of Christ, a believer in the way.
And then Luke writes,
but his father,
in opposition to, in difference to,
was a Greek.
He doesn't say that he was a believing Greek.
He's speaking to his ethnicity, to be sure.
He just says that he's a Greek.
He doesn't include any reality that he's a follower of Christ there.
We know later, 1 Timothy 1, verse 2,
that Paul became Timothy's spiritual father.
He adopted him in that sense,
where we read,
to Timothy, my true child in the faith.
So, Timothy was also instructed by Paul in the way of the Lord.
A bit earlier in chapter 3 of 2 Timothy,
verses 10 and the first part of 11,
we can read,
you, however, have followed my teaching,
this is Paul speaking,
my conduct,
my aim in life,
my faith,
my patience,
my love,
my steadfastness,
my persecutions,
and sufferings.
And so we have Timothy learning from his mother.
We have Timothy learning from Paul
as a spiritual father,
and likely,
his grandmother.
You see in the first part of verse 15,
and how from childhood you've been acquainted
with the sacred writings.
And in chapter 1 of 2 Timothy,
verse 5,
Paul writes,
I'm reminded of your sincere faith,
a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois,
and your mother Eunice,
and now, I am sure,
dwells in you as well.
So, God-fearing Christ-following mother,
God-fearing Christ-following grandmother,
instructing young Timothy
in the sacred writings in the Scripture,
and then Paul as a spiritual father to him,
instructing him in the manner
that he should walk.
So, Timothy is instructed.
He is trained in the Bible
by Paul as an adult,
but also as a child,
he becomes acquainted with the Scripture.
That is to say,
Timothy knew his Bible
from an early age.
God worked saving faith in Jesus Christ
into Timothy
through the labors of his mother
and grandmother.
Recall that when Paul encounters him
in Acts chapter 16,
he's already there called a disciple.
He's already a follower of Jesus Christ.
God has used the work of his mother
and his grandmother
and their instruction
to bring him to saving faith.
What an absolute blessing it is
that God includes us
in his saving purposes
toward our children.
He uses us as the means
to bring our children
to believe in him.
And this is a blessing for us
to get to participate
in this way.
Now, I would never argue
that the church does not have a place
in the instruction of children.
That is not good
for the gathered people of God
to diminish the word of God
to our gathered children.
But I will argue
that the responsibility
of instructing children
belongs firstly,
primarily,
to the family.
Fathers and mothers
loving their children
with gospel truth.
How can I say such a thing
with any measure of authority?
In many churches
that function today
as if the work
of bringing children
to Christ
is entirely the work
of the church
and the work of the parent
is to merely drive
their children
to gather
with said church.
There are many Christian leaders
today
that would strongly
even disagree with me
that aim most
of their ministry
at child evangelism
and sadly altogether
neglect the parent's
spiritual maturity.
I can make this claim
because God's word
makes this claim.
And I want to give you
just a couple of examples
and we're going to do so
from the book of Proverbs
and I'll run through these
quickly.
You're welcome
to try to join me
if you'd like.
Proverbs 22
and verse 6.
We read,
Train up a child
in the way he should go
even when he is old
he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 23
verse 13 and 14.
Do not withhold discipline
from a child.
If you strike him
with a rod
he will not die.
If you strike him
with a rod
you will save his soul
from Sheol.
Now,
neither of those two
specifically say
that this is
the job of parents
although I think
most parents in the room
would agree
that I shouldn't
strike your children
with a rod.
This is not my place.
But,
we can read on
Proverbs chapter 29
and verse 17.
More specifically here
discipline
your son
and he will give you rest.
He will give
delight
to your heart.
Just a couple of examples
of instruction
in the Bible
for parents
to help train up
their children.
Charles Spurgeon
once wrote,
You are as much
serving God
and looking after
your own children
and training them up
in God's fear
and minding the house
and making your household
a church for God
as you would be
if you had been called
to lead an army
to battle
for the Lord of hosts.
It is a weighty
and important task
that's been given to us
as parents.
Mothers,
it is a privilege
to spend
the day in
and the day out
with your little ones
wiping
snotty noses
and teaching them
to share.
We need to be
familiarized
at all possible
as young children
with the sacred writings.
We would know
the gospel truths
that we would be able
to pick them up
when God brings us
to faith.
But more specifically,
right,
and we're developing
this idea
and continue to,
how are children
trained for godliness?
How predominantly
and primarily
are they trained?
Right?
It's not merely
through
moralistic shaping
of our children.
It includes that
teaching them
what is right
and what is wrong.
But doing that
from a place
of authority,
right,
as bringers
of God's authority
into their lives.
We live in an age
where people
desperately
need to understand
authority.
Authority is given
to us as a good
blessing for us,
right,
not as something
to restrict
our freedom.
Deuteronomy 6,
verses 6 and 7,
God says,
and these words
that I command you
today shall be
on your heart.
You shall teach
them diligently
to your children
and shall talk
of them when you
sit in your house
and when you
walk by the way
and when you
lie down
and when you
rise.
So all the time,
right,
the good instruction
of the Lord
is to be taught
to our children
for their good.
Mothers,
you provide
many necessary
things for your
children.
Don't stop
doing that.
There's many
things that they
need that I know
takes a lot
of time,
right?
You keep them
clothed and fed,
but your children
do not need
a perfectly clean
house.
Stop trying to
compete with the
Pinterest moms.
They're faking it
anyway,
right?
Only that corner
of the house
is really that
clean for that
moment.
They don't need
wrinkle-free
clothing.
They honestly
don't really even
need clean clothes
to be totally
frank.
They don't need
the most exciting
meals.
They don't need
to love everything
that you put
in front of them.
In fact,
it's probably good
if they don't.
They do need
you.
And they need
your careful
instruction in
the scripture,
right?
Let the laundry
stay unfolded
if it means
that you're
going to neglect
spending time
in the Bible
with your kids,
right?
Make that,
right?
Instructing them
in the way
of the Lord
the priority
and see if the
other things
appropriately fall
into place.
So our children
need the good
instruction of
the word of God.
We never
outgrow our need
of this instruction
by the way.
We're always
in need
of the instruction
of God
found in the
scriptures.
As the scripture
is necessary
for our salvation
and it's also
necessary for
our sanctification,
our continued
growth in the
Lord.
And let's take
a look at both
of these as we
consider the rest
of the text.
First,
found in the
last half of
verse 15,
we can see
the scripture
is the power
for salvation.
As Paul say,
familiar with
these sacred
writings which
are able to
make you wise
for salvation
through faith
in Jesus
Christ.
Our children
are currently
forming a
worldview,
an understanding,
a base on
which to build
an understanding
of the world,
a lens through
which they will
interpret the
world around
them and
their place
in it.
We ought to
work to build
for them a
biblical worldview
for the glory
of God and
for their good.
The book of
Proverbs juxtaposes
the way of
wisdom and
the way of
folly.
And what is the
beginning of
wisdom?
Fear of the
Lord.
It's understanding
rightly Him as
creator, God,
and us as
creation.
This is why
this is stated.
Having a
proper worldview
lends us
toward wisdom.
We want our
children to walk
in the way
of wisdom.
Proverbs 2.6
says,
For the Lord
gives wisdom.
From His mouth
come knowledge
and understanding.
And what is the
Bible?
But the very
words of God.
Paul tells
Timothy that the
Scriptures are
able to make
you wise.
Here in
verse 15,
specifically for
salvation through
faith in Christ
Jesus.
It is the
Scripture that
tells us the
story of the
world in which
we live.
Our children
need to
understand that
we have a
creator God
who made all
things, who
spoke it by
His power out
of nothing.
We weren't
and then we
were.
And then He
ordered it
under His
good rule.
He gave
very simple
instruction.
Things to do
and things to
not do.
And Adam and
Eve were meant
to live in this
world and to
go forth and
to multiply and
live under the
good rule of
God forever.
But it didn't
last for very
long.
One of my
post-glory
questions will
be how much
time actually
passed from
Genesis 1-1 to
the beginning of
chapter 3.
Was it only a
couple days?
I want to hope
they did a little
better than that
in the garden.
But it doesn't
take long in the
biblical narrative.
For Adam and
Eve to do the
very thing they
were commanded
not to do,
to say to God
that they wanted
to be like God,
they rebelled
against Him,
they became His
enemies.
And He justly
and rightly
punished them
for it.
Our children
need to understand
that they live
in that fallen
world.
That they have
inherited the
sin nature of
Adam.
That they are
guilty before God.
That they are
rebels before
Him.
If you have
held children
for very long,
you know.
I've seen people
walk out of this
room already this
morning that are
going,
sin.
Voddie
Baccham has
famously said,
a contemporary
pastor has
famously said,
do you know
why children
are so small
when they're
born?
And people
go, you
know, why?
He said,
because if they
weren't, they
would kill you.
The first time
you didn't give
them something
that they wanted,
seen the rage
of a baby.
And thankfully
they're so cute,
so we don't
want to do the
same.
They're broken.
Right?
My children
are broken.
They're enemies
of God.
They need
reconciliation to
our Creator,
God, because
it's good for
them.
It's loving
kind that God
would even give
them a way to
be restored to
Him.
So they need to
understand redemption.
We don't always
use these types of
words with our
children.
They need to
understand that in
order for them to
be accepted by
God, all of the
penalty for their
sin needed to be
erased.
It needs to be
stricken from the
record.
But beloved, they
also need to
understand that
that's not enough.
That's not a full
presentation of the
gospel of Jesus
Christ.
Just to say that
the record was
canceled is not
enough.
That only brings
them to neutral
with God.
God requires that
we not be His
enemy, but He also
requires that we be
obedient to His
command, that we
show ourselves to
belong to Him.
We cannot do
this because of
our nature.
And so we need
the perfect nature
of Christ.
Our children need
to understand that
we are found
righteous in
Jesus.
That His
righteousness is
imputed to us.
It's given to us.
There's a great
exchange that
happened on the
cross as Jesus
hung for the sins
of the world.
There was a trade
that happened.
We gave Him our
guilt.
He gave us His
righteousness.
And therefore, we're
justified before God.
We're counted as
righteous.
No longer guilty, but
being perfect law
keepers because Jesus
kept the law
perfectly.
Our children need to
understand this.
And oh, what a work
it is to help them
understand this.
I have tried every
imaginable way to
explain this to my
children.
I'm going to
continue to do
that very thing.
To plead with them
to understand not
only the person, but
also the work of
Jesus Christ.
What it accomplished
for us.
And our children need
to have their minds
drawn to to be
enthralled by the
final restoration
that will one day
take place.
Christ will return
and He will judge
the world and He
will set all things
straight.
We want to aim our
children to that
bigger and higher
reality.
Yes, the world lives
in a cursed and
broken state, but one
day God's going to
make it all new
again.
Our children need
this worldview to
fit everything else
that they're going to
learn into creation,
fall, redemption,
restoration.
And these things are
important for us to
understand rightly.
You ask many people
in the church today,
what is the gospel?
And you will get a
varied and wide
range of answers.
And many of those
answers will be
partly right,
sometimes they'll just
be totally wrong,
but mostly partly
right, but
incomplete.
Full biblical
narrative answer
to that question.
Creation, fall,
redemption,
restoration.
And allow me to
caution you at this
point to not jump
at the first
opportunity your
child offers to
lead them to
faith in Christ.
When you present
the gospel in some
form or fashion,
it kind of makes
sense.
When you say to a
young person,
heaven is a great
place and hell is a
horrible place.
And here's a thing
you should do to
have the one and
not the other.
They're not dumb.
It's not a
complicated choice
to make.
We want to be so
careful that we
don't give our
children false
assurance.
Be so careful that
they actually are
placing believing
faith in Jesus
Christ.
We also don't want
to overcomplicate
that.
But we should be
exercising some
caution.
Many, as I
mentioned, churches
are all about
child evangelism.
Every year I get
tons of promotions
from our denomination
to put on vacation
Bible schools,
to do them super
well.
This will be the
chance.
This is the
opportunity.
This is the...
And a couple of
years ago I got a
stat as an enforcer
to that which said
children are 70%
more likely to
respond to a gospel
invitation before
they turn eight.
This was the
promotion for this.
And I wouldn't
throw statistics out
the window altogether,
right?
But this was the
reason they were
saying we should do
this work because
they're 70% more
likely to respond to
a gospel invitation
before they turn
eight.
You know what else
happens on average
at the age of eight?
Children stop believing
in a particular
jolly elf that
comes down a
chimney and fills
stockings at the
same time.
So at the age of
eight children become
less gullible.
And we want to be
careful that we're
not preying upon
that.
Is it possible for a
child to come to
faith before eight?
Sure.
But we just want to
be very, very careful
in the process of
sharing the good
news with children.
The call of the
gospel is repent
and believe, not
repeat after me.
It's repent and
believe.
Our church has
unapologetically
reformed soteriology,
which means if our
children are to be
saved, they will be
saved by God's
grace alone.
Sola gratia.
This is good news
for parents.
This is really good
news for parents who
want their children to
make professions of
faith that persist,
to make real
professions of faith
that persist to the
end, that God is
in control.
Thomas Watson, a
Puritan, once said,
this is on your
bulletin if you
happen to have one,
God's decree is the
very pillar and
basis on which the
saints' perseverance
depends.
That decree ties the
knot of adoption so
fast that neither sin,
death, nor hell can
break it asunder.
That said, God uses
and has always used
means to accomplish
his saving purposes.
So, moms and dads, we
want to faithfully
teach the gospel to
our children that
they might believe.
A number of years
ago, I went to a
large conference called
Together for the
Gospel.
It's in Louisville,
Kentucky, every other
year.
And there were some
10,000 church leaders
and seminarians from
Southern Seminary
there.
Rather a large
crowd.
And it's kind of a
warm-up thing to the
conference.
A pastor named Mark
Dever got up and was
just asking questions
about how people had
come to faith in
Christ.
So they were having us
stand when he said,
how was it that you
came to faith in
Christ?
And he had gone
through a couple of
options.
And then he said,
how many of you came
to faith in Christ
because your parents
taught the gospel to
you in your homes?
And if you've ever
been in a stadium
where it's quiet and
everybody stands and
the chairs flip up
because you're all
packed in way,
way too tight,
it was almost
deafening the amount
of those people who
stood.
It was 85% of that
group.
And their parents
were used of God
to share the gospel
with them and God
saved them.
So we play an
incredibly important
part in this.
It's not dependent
upon us,
but we're used as a
tool in the mighty
hands of God to see
our children come to
faith.
And so we should do
it all the more
and all the more
confidently because
of this reality.
We should be like
Paul in Romans
chapter 1,
verse 16,
where he said,
for I am not ashamed
of the gospel,
for it is the power
of God for salvation
to everyone who
believes,
to the Jew first
and also to the
Greek.
Right?
We would see our
children come to
faith in Christ.
So Paul exhorts
Timothy.
Continue in what
you have learned.
Don't be like those
men who have
abandoned the faith.
Continue in what
you have learned
and firmly believe
knowing from whom
you learned it
and from childhood
you were acquainted
with the sacred
writings,
which are able to
make you wise
for salvation
through faith
in Christ Jesus.
Scripture is also
powerful for
sanctification.
Verse 16 and 17
teaches us this,
that Scripture
is breathed out.
God is its very
source.
And because of
that, it is
sufficient.
It's profitable
for teaching,
reproof, correction,
and training
in righteousness.
And then in verse 17
Paul says that the
man of God
may be complete,
equipped for
every good
work.
It is what we
need to be
trained in
godliness.
Our labor as
parents is to
raise men and
women, not
merely boys
and girls.
We want to
think with the
end in mind.
And we should
want our children
to grow up
to be children
who honor the
Lord with all
that they feel
and all that
they do
and all that
they say.
Our children
will seek
instruction.
If you are not
instructing them,
they will find
some path to
follow.
They are going
to find it
on TV.
They are going
to find it
with their
friends.
Eventually,
someday,
they will find
it in the
philosophies of
their school.
As adults,
they will continue
to do this
very thing
if they have
not been
given
faithful
instruction,
faithful grounding
in the
Scripture.
This is why
the Oprahs
and the Dr.
Phills and
the Tony Robinsons
of the world
are so very
popular.
People are
saying we
need instruction.
We need
help for how
to walk
in the
world.
But only
the Bible
is competent
to this
task.
Only the
Bible is
competent to
the task
of training
our children
in faith
and godliness.
And it
is sufficient
for this
task.
It contains
within it
everything we
need to
know.
Any other
good books
that we
promote,
there's a
couple of
wonderful
books out
in the
book note
on mothering
and on
fathering,
are just
aiming us
at the
Scripture.
They're just
helping us
to understand
what the
Scripture
teaches
about this
topic
or any
other.
Moms
and dads,
we must
be faithful
students of
the Bible
ourselves,
that we
might be
faithful
teachers
of the
Bible
for the
sake of
our
children.
And that
doesn't have
to be an
overwhelming
task for you.
That can
simply start
today.
Open up
the Scripture
and learn
something from
it and
then turn
and impart
what you're
learning to
your children.
Try to
speak it in
the simplest
possible terms
you can
without diluting
it as truth
at all.
I still fly so
high for my
kids sometimes
and then I
think,
can I say
this any
simpler?
I don't
know that I
can try to
explain the
Trinity to
anybody but
much less a
five or six
year old.
You can
only make
it so
simple.
So our
children and
we need
the Scripture
to lead us
to the
gospel for
our salvation
and for
our
sanctification.
So I want
to close with
an encouragement
to you from
history.
I'll commend
this book.
It's called
Devoted.
It's by a
man named
Tim Challey.
The subtitle is
Great Men
and Their
Godly Moms.
It's got a lot
of really neat
examples of the
way men
throughout church
history were
served faithfully
by their
mothers,
moms especially.
This would be
a great one
to pick up
and to read.
Husbands,
you could order
on Amazon
right now
for your
wives.
I think it
would be
good for
their souls.
I want to
tell you a
little bit
about a
man named
John Gresham
Machen.
Late
19th century,
early 20th
century Christian.
Became a
Christian rather
young in his
home.
His mother
faithfully
worked with
him and
taught him
the scripture
as well as
his father,
but this book
is not about
the fathers
of these
men.
His mother's
name was
Mary,
but went by
the name
Minnie.
I don't know
why,
but this book
tells us that
she did and
refers to her
as such.
And Gresham
Machen was
tempted by
the liberal
theology of
his day.
He had gone
away to school
where he
encountered
liberal
theologians
who were
whimsical,
who were
kind to
him,
and he
was tempted
to begin
to forsake
the inerrancy
and the
authority of
the scripture.
And his
mother was
aware of
this.
He had
shared this
with her
and was
talking out
these things
with her,
and I'll
pick up
reading at
this point.
Minnie
wrestled
with
growing
anxiety
over
her
son's
doubts.
But because
she was
rooted in
scripture,
she knew
better than
to panic
and confront
her son
in fear
or anger.
Relying
instead on
the grace
of God,
she chose
to provide
him with
comfort
and steadfast
love.
She wrote
to him,
quote,
But one
thing I
can assure
you of,
that nothing
that you
could do
could keep
me from
loving you.
Nothing.
It is easy
enough to
grieve me.
Perhaps I
worry too
much,
but my
love for
my boy
is absolutely
indestructible.
Rely
on whatever
comes.
I'm sorry,
rely on that
whatever comes.
And I have
faith in you
too and believe
that the strength
will come to
you for your
work,
whatever it
may be.
And that
the way
will be
opened.
Pulled back
by his
mother's
love,
along with
the counsel
of other
godly
mentors,
Gresham's
crisis was
soon quelled
and he
returned to
the sound
doctrine in
which he
was raised
in the
Presbyterian
Church.
One of
Gresham's
biographers
would write,
No one
ever seriously
rivaled his
mother in
her capacity
to satisfy
his need
of deep
spiritual
sympathy or
in her
hold upon
his affection
and admiration.
With God's
help,
the combination
of training
and tenderness
won her son
back to his
roots.
He soon
took up a
position at
Princeton teaching
New Testament
and became
well-liked and
highly respected
among both
faculty and
students.
This is a
long time ago
Princeton.
Non-liberal
Princeton.
He would
teach at
Princeton until
1926,
though his
time there
would be
interrupted by
overseas service
during the
First World
War,
but liberalism
would continue
its ascendancy,
forcing him
to take
action.
In 1929,
he would
take the
lead in
founding
Westminster
Theological
Seminary,
and in
1936,
a new
denomination,
the Orthodox
Presbyterian
Church.
Because Gresham
was a lifelong
bachelor,
his mother
would remain
the closest
woman in
his life
until her
death in
1931.
This was the
most grievous
event he had
experienced,
for no one
had held
him in
greater
esteem
than his
mother.
No one
had been
so unswervingly
loyal to
him.
Perhaps no
one had been
so impacted
by him.
She once
wrote to
him,
I cannot
half express
to you my
pride and
profound joy
in your
work.
You have
handled in
a very able
manner the
most important
problem of
the age,
and you
have given
voice to
my own
sentiments
far better
than I
could
myself.
On the
day the
family laid
her to
rest,
Gresham
wrote,
My mother
seems,
to me at
least,
to have
been the
wisest and
best human
being I
ever knew.
May we
be a church
that produces
faithful mothers
and fathers
who will
impart with
great charity
and patience
the wisdom
of God
to their
children.
Let's pray.