Today’s Main Idea: The only way to produce a mature disciple is by teaching the Word of God.
One of the strongest characteristics of FBC is our commitment to Biblical teaching. We began last week by looking at the Essentials of the church, looking to the things that the first Christians did in Acts 2. We examined EVANGELISM, last week as we studied the result of Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost. Today, we want to look at the SECOND ESSENTIAL. Following the proclomation of the gospel, Acts 2:42 describes what the Church did. “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” So today, we will look at Essential Two: Teaching the Word.
I received a VERY ENCOURAGING LETTER from someone who has been visiting FBC:
Dear Pastor Paul,
Please be encouraged by your flock.
My wife and I are a young married couple (24) and were visitors in your church this morning. We have been looking endlessly to find a church around home over the past year. It has been very discouraging trying to find a solid Bible-focused church, with conservative theology, exegetical preaching, and also has an average age of under 70.
A co-worker of mine invited us to Faith Bible. Upon pulling in the first thing we noticed was everyone walking in carrying their Bibles. Many folks greeted us and welcomed us. We found empty seats near the back where we sat next to a gentleman and his family.
We opened the bulletin and saw you were teaching from Nehemiah - believe it or not many of the churches we've been to the pastor just pulls one random sentence Jesus said and just tells story after story to make everyone feel better. I am not convinced that is what Christ has called us to.
After the service, the man we sat next to thanked us for visiting. After a hand shake, he asked if my wife and I were doing anything for lunch; he proceeded to invite us over for lunch. I was rendered speechless at the love I could see in him. Unfortunately we had to get going home. But I will say, if I we were not already followers of Christ and we went to lunch with him and his family, we would have come to faith just seeing how evident the love of Christ was in him.
I decided to send this to you, because I want you to be encouraged as a shepherd that members of your flock are walking in the light. We were excited leaving, and looking forward to coming back.
I include that letter here because it is one of the nicest letters I’ve ever received from a visitor. The testimony from this letter demonstrates the importance of teaching matched with kindness and fellowship.. Sometimes we can be discouraged by little problems and challenges in the church. This letter reminded me that we have a great church and should be thankful for the people that are a part of this church family!
This should encourage us to STAY COMMITTED to the WORD of GOD
There is a debate about whether or not the Church should be emphatic about Truth since we are living in an age of moral relativism.
Even the POPE is following this idea...
Pope Francis wrote a lengthy letter to a newspaper, La Repubblica, in which he said:
“God forgives those who obey their conscience,”
Even unsaved, theologically ignorant newscasters recognized the unorthodoxy of this statement, which ran on every news outlet.
In this interview, the Pope was asked whether “the Christian God forgives those who do not believe and do not seek faith.”
He replied, “The question for those who do not believe in God is to follow their own conscience. Sin, even for a non-believer, is when one goes against one’s conscience.”
Now there are many doctrinal problems within the Catholic church - an institution that promotes a gospel different from the gospel of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. However, this statement represents a new departure from the truth of Scripture, even for the Catholic church.
Jesus did not come to save us from our CONSCIENCE. He suffered to save us from SIN
Isaiah 53:6 (ESV) “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
So, we as Faith Bible Church, and every other Bible preaching church, need to continue to hold to unapologetic biblical teaching and not cave in to the pressure to make our message more accommodating to our post-modern, believe-whatever-makes-sense-to-you, world.
But HOW do we teach the truth?
We need to be more than just vending machines spewing out true sayings from the Bible.
TRUTH must be communicated through a LIVING VESSEL.
Those who change our lives the most are the ones teach God’s Truth and match it with their lives.
When I was ten years old, Pastor Watt invited the Sunday School boys to his basement workshop. He taught us some of the basics of woodworking. We had a great time and made some Mother’s Day gifts for our moms. I really got to know the pastor as a genuine man, and not just a man in a suit standing behind a pulpit. I don’t think I had ever seen pastor Watt NOT in a suit prior to that woodworking class! I listened more intently to his sermons after that!
Truth is always Truth, but it tastes much more appealing when it is wrapped in authenticity and love!
One of the BEST EXAMPLES is the relationship between PAUL and TIMOTHY.
Here, at the end of Paul’s life, we get a glimpse into how Timothy became such a godly man and faithful preacher. Here’s just a brief sketch of the long relationship between Paul and Timothy.
- Paul meets Timothy on the 2nd Missionary Journey in Lystra (Acts 16:1-3).
- Timothy traveled with Paul and Silas on 2nd Missionary Journey.
- Timothy ministers on Paul’s behalf in Thessalonica, Corinth and Ephesus.
- Facing his execution, Paul asks for Timothy to be with him. (2 Tim 1:8)
Timothy’s spiritual success can be attributed to the teaching he received from Paul. This teaching was wrapped in authenticity and love!
In this passage, Paul exhorts Timothy to follow his example of teaching. He also reminds Timothy of the blessings that come from God’s Word.
2 Timothy 3:14–16 (ESV)
14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
I. Teaching is Essential to Keep us from DRIFTING. 2 Timothy 3:1-9
There were many false teachers at Ephesus. Some faithful ones had fallen prey to the false teachers. See 2 Tim 4:10 “Demas has forsaken me, ... Alexander the coppersmith has dome me much harm...”
We must faithfully teach so that believers do not DRIFT AWAY. Hebrews 2:1 (ESV) 1 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.
Many were drifting away, as we read in 2 Timothy 3:1-9. There, Paul writes of perilous times and the effect that it was having on people who were following after their own ways. However, Timothy was the EXCEPTION (2 Tim 3:10 “you however.....”). It was because he had been TAUGHT God’s Word!
We are living in the LAST DAYS - characterized by
1. Self love
2. Love of money
3. Disobedience
4. Love of pleasure
5. “Always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth”
In these last days, we must stay faithful at teaching God’s Word to keep people from drifting.
II. Teaching is Essential to Keep us from QUITTING. 2 Timothy 3:10-13
Paul reminds Timothy of the persecutions that he faced at Antioch, Iconium and Lystra. Timothy was not yet with Paul at Antioch and Iconium. He must have told Timothy about these trials. In the first two cities, Paul faced ridicule and opposition and had to leave the cities. However, at Lystra, the ridicule fomented into a riot in which Paul was stoned and left for dead.
Antioch: Acts 13:50 (ESV) 50 But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district.
Iconium: Acts 14:1–2 (ESV) 1 Now at Iconium they entered together into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed. 2 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.
Lystra: Acts 14:19 (ESV) But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.
Paul did not sugar coat the cost of discipleship!!! He reminded Timothy of the trials and encouraged Timothy that the only way to endure the trials that all Christians will face is to be completely grounded in the Word of God!
III. Teaching is Essential to Keep us Growing. 2 Tim 3:14-15
Timothy’s growth began when he was a child! His mother and grandmother taught him the Jewish Scriptures. This foundation of Biblical Truth made Timothy “wise for salvation...”
Note that the salvation still comes through FAITH.
Scripture provides the Truth that we must believe in.
IV. Teaching is Essential to make us COMPLETE in CHRIST. 2 Tim 3:16-17
God’s word is INSPIRED. The word theopneustos meand “Breathed out.” The Greek word for "inspired" describes ships sails filled, being carried along over the seas. (Precept-Austin)
David writes about being carried along by God’s Spirit when writing God’s message. “The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, and His word was on my tongue." (2 Samuel 23:2)
God’s word is PROFITABLE
God’s word will produce MATURITY. “That the man of God might be competent, equipped for every good work”
The only way to be equipped is through God’s Word!
Here, the word for “make you complete” is artios - It means “capable of doing everything he (or she) is called to do” (Precept Austin). A second word from the same root is used. It is the word Exartizo and was used in secular Greek writings to describe documents, a wagon or a rescue boat, all of which were completely outfitted and needing nothing. (Precept Austin)
FIRST ESSENTIAL: Evangelism
SECOND ESSENTIAL: Teaching
Our Commitment:
A church that TEACHES God’s Word
Our HERITAGE goes back to the Bible studies started by Jack Murray.
DECADES of faithful preaching.
The preachers and their styles have changed.
God’s Word has not.
In 1949, a young preacher was rising in popularity. At the same time, he was also struggling with challenges to the authority of the Bible. A close friend who attended a liberal seminary was exhorting the vibrant preacher that much of the Bible was just stories and must not be taken literally.
The young preacher had a decision to make. He was torn in his heart and by his own testimony, the turning point came early in l949 when he and a group of men and women met at a place called Forest Home, a Christian conference center in southern California. He was there, deeply troubled over the raging battle in his soul: Is the Bible the word of God or is it not? Can I believe it or not? His friend was telling him, "Don't be a fool. If you follow that fundamentalist path your ministry will come to nothing and nobody will ever hear you."
Finally the night came when he knew he had to make a decision.
He skipped the evening meeting to pray by himself. These are his own words:
I dueled with my doubts, and my soul seemed to be caught in the crossfire. Finally, in desperation, I surrendered my will to the living God revealed in Scripture. I knelt before the open Bible, and said, "Lord, many things in this Book I do not understand. But Thou hast said, 'The just shall live by faith.' All I have received from Thee, I have taken by faith. Here and now, by faith, I accept the Bible as Thy Word. That which I cannot understand I will reserve judgment on until I receive more light. If this pleases Thee, give me authority as I proclaim Thy Word, and through that authority convict men of sin and turn sinners to the Savior."
That was the turning point for Billy Graham.
Six weeks later was the great crusade in downtown Los Angeles, a meeting which would change the course of American history.
During that crusade I discovered the secret that changed my ministry. I stopped trying to prove that the Bible was true. I had settled in my own mind that it was, and this faith was conveyed to the audience. Over and over again I found myself saying, "The Bible says." I felt as though I were merely a voice through which the Holy Spirit was speaking … I found that the Bible became a flame in my hands. That flame melted away unbelief in the hearts of people and moved them to decide for Christ. The Word became like a hammer breaking up stony hearts and shaping them into the likeness of God …I found that I did not have to rely upon cleverness, oratory, psychological manipulation of crowds or apt illustrations or striking quotations from famous men. I began to rely more and more upon Scripture itself, and God blessed. (All quotes from "Give Me That Book" by Robert Coleman in The Alliance Witness, January 7, 1987)
