One of the most innovative and helpful techie things I like about my Droid is the GPS App. The GPS tells me where I am and how to get to where I want to go.
This morning I want us to think of the Bible as God’s Positioning System. The Bible is a great way for discovering where we are and where God wants us to go. Perhaps a better way to say it would be, the Bible tells us who we are, who God wants us to become and what God wants us to do.
The title of the message today is:
Title: The Christian’s GPS: The Centrality of the Word of God
In the Evangelical Covenant Church we have what we call Covenant Affirmations: The first Affirmation is:
“We Affirm the Centrality of the Word of God. We believe the Bible is the only perfect rule for faith, doctrine, and conduct. The dynamic, transforming power of the Word of God directs the church and the life of each Christian.” One of the hallmark questions that has been carried down through the years in the Covenant Church is the question: “Where is it written?” The Bible is central in the life of our church.
Our text today is:
Text: II Timothy 3:14-17
The Thesis Statement for this message is:
Thesis: God’s Word is a key component for guiding our lives… for knowing where we are and where we are headed spiritually.
Today we will be talking about the second Mark of a Healthy Missional Church in our series:
Series: The Marks of a Healthy Missional Church
1. Compelling Christian Community
2. The Centrality of the Word of God
Last week we began a series of messages on The Marks of a Healthy Missional Church from Acts 2 in which we noted that the earliest Christian community was marked by Compelling Christian Community. Today we speak to the Centrality of the Word of God as a second mark necessary for Congregational Vitality.
In our emphasis on Congregational Vitality we understand spiritual vitality to mean: Pursuing Christ and Christ’s priorities in the world. We are Healthy in pursuing Christ and Missional in our pursuit of Christ’s priorities in the world.
Introduction:
The New York Times in a report, about U.S. Olympic marathon runner Ryan Hall, mentioned a scene in which Ryan had finished second in the 2011 US Half-Marathon Championships. When he went to drug test, which is standard procedure, he was asked on a form to list his coach. He wrote: “God.” An official said, “You have to list the name of a real person.” To which Ryan replied, “He is a real person.” Great comeback!
Having a life coach has become a trend the last few years and it is generally thought wise to listen to the voice of one’s coach. Jesus said, “Man does not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4; Luke 4:4
One of the great things about the Christian’s coach is that His Words are inspired.
I. God’s Word is Inspired
All Scripture is inspired by God… II Timothy 3:16
Inspired means God breathed. In II Peter we get a glimpse into how that worked in the writing of the Bible. “Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from a prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.” II Peter 1:20-21 That simply means that when God spoke to the biblical writers, God guided them in such a way as to produce the result that was originally intended by God.
The Bible is the end result of over forty authors, writing 66 books over a period of at least 1,600 years on three different continents that consistently unfolds the story of God’s redemptive activity in the lives of mankind.
There is no other book like it. In stating Scripture is inspired by God, Paul is setting the Bible apart from all other books… it is complete. There is nothing to be added to it and nothing can be retracted from it. (Rev. 22)
The Centrality of the Word of God is where Evangelical Christians draw the line. The Word of God is not the Bible plus additional inspired writings or appendixes. An example of accepting additional or extra-biblical writings as authoritative or inspired by God, is illustrated in a statement from the Mormon church web site regarding the Mormon view of the Bible:
“To the Christian world the most well-known collection of scripture is the Holy Bible. In addition to the Bible, Latter-day Saints accept the following books which they regard as modern day scripture:
1. The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, a record of God’s dealings with the inhabitants of ancient America (2000 BC – 400 AD).
2. The Doctrine of the Covenants, a collection of revelations and inspired declarations given for the establishment and regulation of the Church of Jesus Christ in the last days (1830 AD – 1978 AD).
3. The Pearl of Great Price, a selection of revelations, translations and writings of Joseph Smith.”
For us, the only inspired Word of God is the Bible. “We Affirm the Centrality of the Word of God. We believe the Bible is the only perfect rule for faith, doctrine, and conduct. The dynamic, transforming power of the Word of God directs the church and the life of each Christian.”
God’s Word is inspired and our text describes it as “useful.”
II. God’s Word is Useful
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful… II Timothy 3:16
An older translation of this verse states that all Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable…
Several years ago I read Kathleen Norris’ book Amazing Grace. In it she tells the story of how she and her husband were visiting a man named Arlo, a rugged, self-made man who was facing terminal cancer. During their visit, Arlo started talking about his grandfather, a sincere Christian. The grandfather gave Arlo and his bride a wedding present: an expensive leather Bible with their names printed in gold lettering. Arlo left it in the box and never opened it. But for months afterwards his grandfather kept asking if he liked the Bible. Arlo told Norris, "The wife had written a nice thank-you note, and we'd thanked him in person, but somehow he couldn't let it lie, he always had to ask about it."
Finally, Arlo grew curious enough to open the Bible. And when he did he took that Bible out of the closet and found that his grandfather had placed a twenty-dollar bill at the beginning of the Book of Genesis and at the beginning of every book … over thirteen hundred dollars in all. (Kathleen Norris, Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith (Riverhead Books, 1998), p. 95)
I confess that whenever I stay in a hotel or motel I always check the Gideon Bible in the night stand to see if someone may have tucked some cash in its pages as an incentive or reward for having read the Gideon Bible. But that is not what the Scripture means when it says the Bible profitable. Useful is a better word.
Sometimes we hear people speak of a person as “good for nothing” or something snide like, “at least he’s good for something.”
If something is to be thought of as being of value it needs to be good for something. So if we were to take that tact with the Bible we might ask, “What is the Bible good for?” It speaks for itself.
The Bible is useful for bringing us to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.
A. Salvation through Jesus Christ
You have been taught the Holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus. II Timothy 3:14-15
(Reference back to II Timothy 1:5 and the spiritual nurture he received from his grandmother and mother…)
We believe that an education and especially a spiritual education is important. When little Michael returned home from his first day in kindergarten, his mother asked if he'd had a good day. He said, "I can't read and I can't write and they won't let me talk, so what's the use?" (Vivien Davies, Darien, Connecticut. Christian Reader, "Kids of the Kingdom.")
When Michael learns to read he will find a good “edgimafication” is useful and as our text says, one of the things a good Biblical education is good for is giving us the good sense to receive salvation by trusting in Christ Jesus. The importance of children being exposed to Biblical instruction cannot be overstated. 80% of Christians who accept Christ as their personal savior do so before their 18th birthday. (Pentecostal Evangel, 4/14/91. "To Verify," Leadership.) And my understanding is that the majority of those do, do so before their junior high years.
In the gospel accounts of Jesus’ life we read of how while his disciples thought Jesus was too busy and important to be spending time with children, Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me… for to such belong the Kingdom of God.”
The second thing the Bible is good for is teaching.
B. Teaching
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching us… II Timothy 3:16
Some translations use the term “doctrine.” If we wish to know the truth or what to believe, that truth is found in the Bible. So the Bible is useful for teaching us the truth about God and God’s will for our lives.
I am something of an avid reader and if you were to examine the pile of books around my chair at home you would wonder about my interests. However, the one kind of book missing from my library is the “For Dummies” books. Have you ever noticed how many “For Dummies” books there are? The “For Dummies” books are tools for those who want to know the truth about how to do something. Stock Investment for Dummies. English Grammar for Dummies. Ukulele for Dummies. Complete MBA for Dummies. Robert’s Rules of Order for Dummies. Even the Bible for Dummies. Actually I like to think that people who read the Bible are pretty smart.
The Word of God is useful not only in teaching us what to believe and how to live it, is also useful in teaching us what not to believe and how not to live. The Psalmist says the Word of God is a lamp for his feet and light for his path.
Things like sharing, playing fair, refraining from hitting, cleaning up your own messes, flushing, taking a nap every afternoon, the inherent goodness of milk and cookies and to always remember to LOOK are all helpful… all the Books for Dummies and everything you learn in kindergarten on the sand pile or the mountain of higher education or even the school of hard knocks is an incomplete education. It is ultimately the Bible that is the only perfect rule for faith, doctrine, and conduct. The Bible is where we discover the transforming power of the Word of God that directs the church and the life of each Christian.
The Bible is also useful for rebuking and correcting.
C. Rebuking and Correcting
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, rebuking and correcting... II Timothy 3:16
No one especially enjoys being rebuked or corrected. While giving a lecture on efficiency at a business seminar the presenter concluded his remarks saying, “You don’t want to try these techniques at home.”
During the Q and A time someone in the audience asked, "Why not?"
"I watched my wife's routine at breakfast for years," the expert explained. "She made lots of trips to the refrigerator, stove, table, and cabinets, often carrying just a single item at a time. 'Honey,' I suggested, 'Why don't you try carrying several things at once?'"
The person in the audience asked, "Did it save time?"
The expert replied, "Actually, yes. It used to take her 20 minutes to get breakfast ready. Now I do it in seven." ("Joke of the Day"; submitted by Aaron Goerner, Utica, New York)
Rebuking or reproving has to do with convicting and by convicting I mean convincing a person of the error of his or her ways and pointing us in the right direction. A parent who is too hard on and demanding and even denigrating toward a child to the point of driving the child to tears might read a passage like, “Fathers do not provoke your children,” and realize that frustrating the child to tears or provoking rebellious behavior is not God’s idea of good parenting. A husband may read, “Husbands love your wives even as Christ loved the Church and gave himself for it” and start being a thoughtful considerate husband. A person holding a grudge may read Jesus’ teaching on forgiveness and realize that even as Christ has forgiven us we must forgive others. In each case the reader of Scripture realizes and is convicted and convinced that they need to change their beliefs about something or their behavior.
I read an incident from the life of actor Denzel Washington. He was visiting his mother and reveling in how far he had come in life. He said to his mother, “Did you ever think this was going to happen?” She was like, “Oh Denzel, please. You have no idea how many people were praying for you when you were being a knucklehead.” Denzel got the message. (Ted DeHass, Bedford, Iowa; source: Jeanne Wolf, "Oprah Winfrey and Denzel Washington: 'Little Things Matter,'" Parade magazine (12-16-07), p. 5) Denzel’s mother reproved him for his pride and corrected him in the way of humility.
God’s Word not only convicts us of the error of our ways but it also corrects the error of what we believe and the error of our ways and sets us on the right path for both belief and behavior.
And the last use of Scripture in our text is training in righteousness.
D. Training in Righteousness
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. II Timothy 3:16
It may be easy to fall into the trap of believing that Bible is useful for teaching us what to believe and what not to believe and what is right and what is wrong and how to think and do the right things but it is more than that. It is not just about beliefs and behavior. It is about character. It is about us becoming conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. God’s will is that each and every one of us become Christ-like in character. It is God’s will that we not simply do right but that we are right. It is God’s will that we not act loving and patient but that we be loving, joyful, patient, kind, good, gentle, faithful and self-controlled people.
This past week Prince Harry made the news in Las Vegas. His behavior was so irresponsible, reprehensible and inappropriate that he will be, if he has not already been, dressed down by the British military, Prince Philip and likely the Queen Mother herself. On the farm we would says he “cut a wide swath.” In kindergarten we would say he “colored way outside the lines.” In Sarah Palin speak we would says he “went rogue.” In spring break language we would say it was a case of “Harry gone wild.”
Interestingly, at least in part, the blame was laid on his security team or as the British call them, his “handlers” or his “minders.” There are people around Harry who are responsible for keeping him on track.
That is the kind of inference we find in our text today. The Word of God is useful for coaching us or minding us or handling us or mentoring us. The Word of God is useful for training us and keeping us on track for godly living.
The third thing about the Bible in our text today is that it is purposeful.
III. God’s Word is Purposeful
God uses Scripture to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. II Timothy 3:17 (Ephesians 2:8-10)
We began with the Scriptural insight that God’s Word is inspired. As we unpacked the text we saw that God’s Word is useful. And now we are instructed to understand that God’s Word is purposeful. It is inspired by God and useful to save us, teach, rebuke, correct and train us… but to what end? What is the purpose of God’s Word in a Christian’s life and in the life of a Church?
A. God uses Scripture to prepare and equip his people.
The earlier translations used the word “furnish” to describe the work of preparing, as in “furnished for every good work.” When we typically think of furnishing something we think of setting it up as in furnishing a room with “furniture.” But it also means to fit out or outfit or prepare for a special purpose. The “equipping” of Christians for a special purpose is intended understanding in our text.
B. God uses Scripture to prepare and equip his people to do “every” good work.
“Every” may be used to describe every tree or every red car or every house on a block. It may also mean “every kind or all manner of.” In this case it means we are being equipped and prepared to do all manner of or every imaginable kind of good deed. There are no restrictions or limitations… if it is a good thing to do, do it for the glory of God and the good of others.
C. God uses Scripture to equip and prepare his people for every “good work.”
“Good” can connote quality or character as in that’s a good tree or a good house or a good person. But the meaning in our text has to do with effect as in every “beneficial” or “helpful”act or deed. The intent is that good works glorify God and bless others.
The effect of your faith is that it results in action or the application of what you learn in the Bible. James argued very effectively against just hearing and knowing God’s Word saying that hearing it and knowing it does no good unless it is applied and acted upon. He wrote, “Don’t just listen to God’s Word. You must do what it says.” James 1:22
He went on to argue, “What good is it if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, ‘Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well’ but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?
So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds it is dead and useless.
Now some may argue, ‘Some people have faith; others have good deeds.’ But I say, ‘How can you show me your faith if you do not have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.’” James 2:14-18
Our text today focuses on affirming the Word of God as inspired by God, essential for salvation, doctrinal teaching and truth, instruction for godly living and the preparation of Christians to pursue and do good deeds for the glory of God and the good of others.
The doing of good works is thread woven emphatically throughout the Pastoral Epistles. Note the references to doing good works or the doing of every good work in: I Timothy 2:10; 5:10; 5:25; 6:18; II Timothy 2:21 and 3:17; Titus 2: 7 and 14; and 3:1, 8, and 14.
Conclusion
A few years ago a group put up a bill board in downtown Chicago that simply asked, “Are You Good Without God?”
In the Wizard of Oz the Tin Man is on a quest to find a heart. When he finally came face-to-face with the Wizard, the Wizard warned him, “hearts can be broken.” The Tin Man replied, “But I still want one.” And then the Wizard said, “Back where I come from, there are men who do nothing all day but good deeds. They are called ‘good-deed-doers.’ And their hearts are no bigger than yours, but they have one thing you haven’t got.”
I’m not sure what the Wizard was implying about the “good-deed-doers” back where he came from but I believe we are better with God that without God and we are better “good-deed-doers” with God that without God.
The heart of the Christian may be no larger than that of the non-Christian but… We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to be good-deed-doers, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10
This morning, “We Affirm the Centrality of the Word of God in our Church . We believe the Bible is the only perfect rule for faith, doctrine, and conduct. The dynamic, transforming power of the Word of God directs the church and the life of each Christian.”
The reason the Word of God is so essential to Congregational Vitality and the reason the Word of God is one of the Marks of a Healthy Missional Church is because, the Bible is one of the primary ways God speaks to us, leads us to salvation, informs and instructs us and prepares us for doing good works that glorify God, benefit and bless others.
