SERMON BRIEF
Date Written: January 3, 2001
Date Preached: January 3, 2001
Church: BBC (Wed PM)
FOUNDATIONAL ELEMENTS
Series: Great Imperatives for Christian Living
Title: An Imperative Regarding a Sound Spiritual Walk
Text: 2 Tim 2:15
“Do you best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who has no need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” [RSV]
Introduction:
This week we enter into our 2nd week in looking at the Great Imperatives for Christian Living. Last week we looked at the 1st great imperative and that was the imperative of looking at both the positive and the negative of this world around us.
Although this world is evil we cannot allow it to begin to mold us into the person IT wants us to be. But b/c of Jesus we are transformed and that is the positive…so we as Christians should present ourselves as a living sacrifice to prove the perfect will of God!
This week we are going to be looking at the great imperative of a Sound Spiritual Walk in the Christian life.
The passage I read from was from the Revised STD Version of the Bible. If we look at the NIV translation of this passage we find it reads like this:
“…Do you best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”
We can also see another reading in the Phillips translation:
“…For yourself, concentrate on winning God’s approval, on being a workman with nothing to be ashamed of, and who knows how to use the word of truth to the best advantage.”
Finally if we look at the Today’s English Version we find this passage reading like this:
“…Do you best to will full approval in God’s sight, as a worker who is not ashamed of his work, one who correctly teaches the message of God’s truth.”
Now while it is not necessary for someone to have a graduate degree from a school of theology to effectively serve God…God does place a premium on those who follow Him…
Ignorance of his word and ways are UNACCEPTABLE!
In the words of our passage tonight, the apostle Paul is urging Timothy and all of his readers in the importance of presenting ourselves to our Father God as competent workers who are skilled in doing the work of God’s kingdom.
Paul encouraged the Roman believers to present their bodies as a living sacrifice, b/c it is by offering their bodies that they honor and glorify God. It is in their bodies that they were to demonstrate both the wisdom and the power of God.
Paul affirms this same concept in his 1st letter to the church in Corinth, in which he declared that the body is the dwelling place for the H.S., and is should not participate in the immoral acts of this world. (1 Cor 15:15-20)
The words of our passage this evening emphasize to the reader maturity, skill, and competency in the service of God. Paul appeals to Timothy’s sense of pride and personal accomplishment when he wrote, “…a workman who has no need to be ashamed…”
Have you ever seen a carpenter who was ashamed of his work? Have you ever known a bricklayer who laid a crooked wall of brick? Have you ever known a seamstress who was ashamed of one of her creations? Now you may have run into one or two of these examples, but they are rare exceptions…those who work with their hands take pride and self worth in their work and do it well.
Here we find Paul encouraging Timothy to present himself to God and to do what is necessary to become a skilled worker in the Kingdom of God. This is what he meant when he told Timothy, “…rightly dividing the word of truth…”
So you may be asking yourself the question, “What can I do to become more skillful? What can I do to gain the approval of God? What can I do to accomplish what the preacher is speaking about tonight?”
I have the answers here for you tonight, I believe that we can do a number of very practical things to improve our spiritual walk in our ministry for God.
The KJV translates this verse, “…study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
To have a sound spiritual walk, to be a competent Christian it requires STUDY and PRACTICE! Only as we study can we be skilled. I want us to focus our attention on how we should study the Bible so that we can ‘rightly divide the word of truth.’
Rightly dividing the word of truth simply means this…we use the word of truth (God’s Word) so as to accomplish the purpose for which God intended it! How can I do that pastor?
First I see that we must…
Read the Bible Regularly:
We should (no we MUST) spend time every day listening to God as He speaks to us through the Scriptures. Jesus even encouraged this in Matt. 6:33, when He said to… “Seek ye 1st the Kingdom of God…”
But not only should we be reading our Bibles on a daily basis to become spiritually competent, but we should also…
Read the Bible Subjectively:
I don’t believe it is enough to simply sit down and just read the pages of this book! (BIBLE) We cannot fall prey to the notion that the Bible is simply a record of what happened in the Ancient past. God can and does speak to us in the present if we will but listen for Him.
Read the Bible regularly and read it subjectively (with a purpose…) are two very practical things we can do, but there is more. I believe that we must also…
Read the Bible more Intelligently:
We cannot approach our reading of the Bible as if it were some sort of ‘crystal ball’ we can use to see the future. We must follow certain guidelines as we study the Bible.
First try to understand what the Bible meant in its historical context. This is what was 1st recorded by man under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. In other words what was the purpose of this man writing what he wrote.
Second let’s try to understand the language of the Bible. We need to understand the figures of speech and terminology that the author was using to communicate divine truth.
Third let’s try to study the Bible in a logical manner, not merely searching for proof-texts. Let us examine each phrase and verse in its context. Let’s study the paragraph in light of the chapter and the chapter in light of the book and the book in light of the entire Bible.
Finally let’s remember that the Bible is a record of God’s self revelation: Only the H.S. can unlock the secrets of God and reveal to us the great truths that are found in the Bible.
Not only are we to read the Bible regularly, subjectively (with purpose), and intelligently (with focus), but we are also to…
Read the Bible Systematically:
A good pattern would be to read 5 chapters in the OT every day and three chapters in the NT. By doing this one can read through the Bible in a relatively short period of time.
Another way is to look in the back of any devotional material…they usually offer a reading guide to help the reader in reading through the Bible.
The key here is that the Christian read…choose the system of your choice…but read!
Regular, subjective, intelligent, and systematic are 4 ways to reading the Bible, but I see 2 more ways that I believe are very essential to the spiritual walk of any Christian.
Read the Bible Prayerfully:
To do this brings God right into your reading! It meshes your prayer life with your Bible reading, this is when God does MOST of his revealing of the Scripture to you!
Reading the Bible without prayer is like putting together a computer without any instructions or knowledge of computers! It is simply going through the motions…it does us no good.
Prayer takes the Scriptures and brings them alive for the believer. Prayer is how we can know what God’s will is for us.
But not only prayerfully, but we must…
Read the Bible Obediently:
We should study the Word of God so that we might learn more about God our Savior, God the Creator, and God the almighty!
But also we can learn much about ourselves as we study God’s word. Learn about others and ourselves. And as God reveals His truth to us let us learn to respond to it as Paul has charged Timothy! Show ourselves approved!
Conclusion:
I cannot stress enough how important it is for the minister to interpret Scripture correctly and apply them properly to those entrusted to him. However, it is just as important for the SS teacher to know how to handle the word of God properly as well.
Every Christian should show himself or herself to be a worker who does not need to be ashamed of their work (their study) and b/c of their proper study can use the Word of God in the right manner.
If we will study diligently and present ourselves joyfully to God’s will for our lives, it is highly UNLIKELY that we will be ashamed of ourselves and of our lives when we stand before Jesus on that final day.
The great imperative for the Christian is to know God! Studying your Bible is the only way we can come to know God, if you are not reading and studying your Bible you are being disobedient to God’s call for his children to show themselves approved and for us to know how to use God’s word when and where we need to use it.
