How Can We Change Our Neighborhood? Part 2

Purpose: To describe how a Christian becomes a good disciple of Christ.

Aim: I want the listener to pursue having both right doctrine and right living.

INTRODUCTION: America enjoys more of a Christian heritage than any other nation on earth. Godly Men like Jonathan Edwards and George Whitfield who lived and proclaimed the Gospel in America 200 years ago had a tremendous impact on our country. But, that does not guarantee that we will have the blessing of God today. Modern Turkey is an example. "...98% of its 60 million citizens consider themselves Muslim. Less than one tenth of one percent of the population claim any kind of Christian affiliation.

Over ten million people live in Istanbul, an exotic 30 mile by 60 mile city of two continents where East meets West, and where the skyline is marked by the minarets of 2,000 mosques. ...Istanbul was once Constantinople, a city of churches. Turkey was once a land of the Bible.... The Lord repopulated the earth after Noah’s landing on Mt. Ararat. Abraham received God’s call from Haran. The apostle Paul was born in Tarsus and returned to his hometown after his conversion.

Paul planted some the first churches in this area, and Antioch was the place where followers of Christ were first called Christians. In fact, Antioch became the sending church for Paul’s missionary travels. Thousands of churches would later be planted in this region once called the Roman province of Asia. To this area Peter would address his first letter to Christians dispersed in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. Here we find Colesse, Hierapolis, and Ephesus and the other six churches of the Revelation....

With the Edict of Milan in 313, he [Constantine] legalized the Christian faith and later became one of its chief benefactors and advocates. In 325, the Council of Nicea became the first of several major church councils in this region. Some of the most important doctrinal work ever done by the church came from these councils.... we received the Nicene Creed, still used in some churches today. For 1,000 years this region was dominated by people who thought of themselves as Christian." [1]

The letters to the seven churches in Revelation were all in Turkey. One church lost its first love, one was fearful, one was giving in to sensual temptations, one wouldn’t confront false teachers, one was apathetic, and one was being lured by material wealth.

America will go the same way of Turkey if we don’t see a revival. How can we do our part to bring our nation back to God?

REVIEW:

I. Our Method: a Biblical Vision of God

A. We must long for God’s glory

B. We must only look to God’s Word

C. We must reject man’s methods

D. We must rely on God’s power

II. Our Mission: Gospel Growth not Church Growth

A. We need God’s priorities to guide us

1. It begins with the heart

2. It is built in the home

LESSON:

B. We need prepared servants of Christ

We see this goal very clearly in the last verse of our text: "so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:17 NAU).

ADEQUATE 75.4 ἄρτιος, α, ον: pertaining to being qualified to perform some function--’qualified, proficient.’ ἵνα ἄρτιος ᾖ ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ ἄνθρωπος ’in order that the man of God may be qualified’ 2 Tm 3:17. [2]

EQUIPPED ἐξαρτίζω exartizō; from 1537 and ἀρτίζω artizō (get ready, prepare); to complete, to equip fully:--ended (1), equipped (1). [3]

So what we need is to be completely qualified to serve Christ.

This is a theme we see repeated in the NT: "Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen" (Hebrews 13:20--21 NAU).

"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work"(2 Timothy 3:16--17 NAU).

How do we reach this goal? Paul is going to show us four necessary ingredients of a prepared servant of Jesus Christ.

Vs.10a, 15-16 1. Prepared servants of Christ have the truth "teaching...Scripture"

Sometimes we don’t have the right answers because we aren’t asking the right questions. When we need to make a decision our very first question should be, "What does the Bible say?"

Warren Wiersbe: "Thus saith the Lord!" is the final answer to every question. [4]

Those who trust God’s Word will never be ashamed of God’s Word! Isaiah 40:6-8 6 A voice says, "Call out." Then he answered, "What shall I call out?" All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. 7 The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever. (NAU)