Opening Comments
Today we begin our new SURVIVOR series. Our theme will be “Surviving the Challenges of Life.” This is not, of course, an original idea. It is based upon the wildly popular reality TV show called “Survivor.” The fifth installment of that show begins this Thursday night.
Now, I realize that not all of you are familiar with “Survivor,” so let me give you a rough idea of how it works. Sixteen people, divided into two tribes, are placed in a remote, deserted location … most often an island. They are allowed to take one luxury item of their choice. Many people take things like a pillow, hairbrush, or stuffed animal. They have to survive off of the land and take part in very difficult physical and mental challenges. At the end of each episode, one person is voted off of the island. At the end of the season, one person remains as the ultimate survivor, and wins a prize of one million dollars.
I want everyone to know that my message series is in no way an endorsement of the show. It does contain things that are not appropriate for young children to see. So, I’m not encouraging you to go out and watch the show.
But, I do like it myself. I see in it a microcosm of our overall American culture. I see in it a perfect example of what greed and lust can lead a person to do. And it is a huge part of our culture today … so we need to be relevant … we need to take something that ordinary people relate to, even if it is a stupid TV show, and use it as a vehicle to teach spiritual truth. So that’s what we’re doing for this next ten weeks. I plan to have fun with this one. I plan to use video clips from the show, on occasion, as teaching opportunities.
So, as we begin thinking about this theme of SURVIVOR, let me tell you about a man who was shipwrecked on a desert island.
Lead-In Illustration
Sadly, he was the only man from his ship who survived. So he had to struggle and scratch out for himself a life on that lonely, deserted island.
Some years later, a ship passing nearby the island saw a thin trail of smoke in the distance, so it altered course and headed for the smoke, and it headed right for his island. As the ship approached, the captain looked through his binoculars and saw three huts, one with smoke coming out of it, and a long-haired, dirty man.
The ship anchored off shore and the captain led a small launch to the beach. He stepped off onto the shore to meet a very happy and newly rescued man.
The captain shook the man’s hand, looked around, and asked, “Where are the others?”
The man gazed back at the Captain with a puzzled look and said, “There are no others.”
The captain pointed at the three huts and asked him, “Well, why, then, are there three huts on this beach?”
The man glanced over at his three huts and said, “Oh, that … Well, the one in the middle is the hut that I live in and the one on the right is where I go to church.”
The captain asked, “Well, what’s the other hut for?”
Then the man said, “Well, that’s where I used to go to church, but there were some problems and I felt like I needed to leave.”
Well, that fellow was having some problems at church wasn’t he? Even as he was trying to physically survive on that island, he still did not understand the key to spiritual survival. Now, obviously that’s a fictional story … but it does illustrate a truth that is very much a reality in the lives of so many church folk.
So often church people look for spiritual leadership, guidance, and direction in places other than where God intended. Some look for all of their guidance in a person such as a pastor or leader. Others look for the answers to spiritual issues in majority votes. Still others seek spiritual guidance and direction in self-help books, on web sites, or even on television.
But all of those sources of guidance fall woefully short of God’s guidebook. You see, friends, God has given us a Guidebook to surviving the challenges of our lives and faith. That guidebook is His Holy Word – the Bible. It is God’s love letter to us, literally a gift from the hand of God. And it is the only Survivor’s Guidebook that we need to navigate the course of life.
That is part of the message that Paul was reinforcing to his young pastor-friend named Timothy. Both of his letters to Timothy are known as Pastoral Epistles. That means that they are letters full of encouragement, reassurance, and instruction for that young pastor. And today, as we study a short passage from 2 Timothy, the second letter that Paul sent him, we are going to see some insightful, reassuring instruction regarding the Scriptures – God’s holy word.
So, today, as we study this passage, I want you to consider …
What you need to know about this Survivor’s Guidebook.
1. It is best to study this guidebook as early and as often as possible.
Scripture
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures … (14-15a NIV)
We see here that Timothy had learned God’s word in a most marvelous way … from his family. He had grown up in a godly home. We know from the first chapter that he was brought up in the ways of God by his grandmother, Lois, and his mother, Eunice.
That young man grew up in a godly home. And he grew up to become a pastor. I saw the same thing in my work with the Maasai in Kenya. All of the men who were leaders in the churches were young men, in their late teens and early twenties, much like young Timothy. And they all came to know Christ because their Christian mothers took them to church. They were taught God’s Word, that seed planted in their hearts, and they became believers and leaders! A beautiful illustration of this Timothy principle!
That’s why my wife and I have had our children under the teaching of God’s Word since infancy. Neither one of them were more than ten days old when we began taking them to church. They were potty-trained in the nursery. And they were taught God’s Word. I praise God that both of them beautifully and naturally accepted Christ as their Savior and Lord when they were seven years old. You see, we didn’t give them the opportunity to go out and build a testimony first. I wanted to be like Lois and Eunice, and I wanted my children to be taught God’s Word from infancy … like Timothy.
That is a worthy goal for all of you who are parents. Instead of offering your children up as sacrifices to the gods of sports, television, and Nintendos … you should be offering your children to be trained faithfully in the Word of God.
We would all do well to be like Timothy – start early and study often … what a beautiful testimony that would be if we could all claim it!
2. It gives you dependable directions to your spiritual destination.
Scripture
… which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. (15b NIV)
Illustration
An explorer deep in the Amazon jungle found himself surrounded by a group of bloodthirsty cannibals. The explorer said quietly to himself, “I’m doomed!”
Suddenly a ray of light appeared from the sky, and a voice boomed out, “No, you are not doomed. Pick up the stone at your feet and bash in the head of the chief standing in front of you.”
So, the explorer picked up the stone and attacked the chief. After a few swift blows, he looked down at the chief’s lifeless body. And the rest of the cannibals simply stared wide-eyed at the explorer.
Then the voice boomed out again, “Okay … now you’re doomed.”
You know, it’s always a good idea to check your sources. Not every voice, and not every book that sounds authoritative is looking out for your best interests. You can find all sorts of advice, especially spiritual advice. Just about anywhere these days … and a lot of it can sound pretty convincing.
But, friends, when it comes to spiritual matters … matters of eternity … there is only one source that will suffice. There is only one Spiritual Guidebook that will give you accurate directions to your desired spiritual destination. That guidebook is the Bible. The only way to know the heart of God, the only way to know God’s plan, and the only way to find eternal life is through the message of Christ Jesus that is contained in this book.
These are the Holy Scriptures … the only writings able to make you wise unto salvation through Christ Jesus.
So, fends, be careful! Check your sources. Evaluate what you are really using to guide you through the challenges of this life. Pop psychology, self-help books, and Oprah Winfrey are not able to guide you through life. The path that you must follow is God’s path, and the map for that path is found in this perfect Book!
3. It is authored by the foremost expert in the field.
Scripture
All Scripture is God-breathed … (16a NIV)
Let’s camp for a minute on this phrase, “All Scripture is God-breathed.” The Greek word used here is theopneustos, which literally means “breathed out by God.” It is a beautiful statement that demonstrates the essence of how God communicated His divine message through divinely chosen men. God breathed, he spoke, those words into the minds, hearts, souls, and emotions of those human instruments, and they recorded it for all eternity. These are not the words of any man … they are the words of God.
So, this book is, without a doubt, the only valid source of information and guidance with regard to matters that are spiritual. These are the words of God, the Supreme Creator, the One who has everything in His hands. We can trust in these words, because they are uttered from the very mouth of God.
4. It provides guidelines and training for the Christian walk.
Scripture
…and is useful for teaching …and training in righteousness… (16b NIV)
Teaching and training. Those are important tasks for us, aren’t they?
The word translated as “teaching” here is didaskalia. It is not a reference to the process of teaching. Instead, it deals with content … what should be taught.
You see, when it comes to godly living and godly service, when it comes growing in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, this God-breathed Scripture provides us a total and complete body of information that we need to live as God desires us to live. It provides the content … the information that we must learn to live as believers in and followers of Christ Jesus.
I am convinced that we cannot witness and minister effectively without access to the divine content of this “God-breathed” Scripture. And we have plenty of access. Think about it. We all have at least one copy of the Bible, and many of us have multiple copies. No other nation has greater access to God’s Word, yet we are arguably the most biblically illiterate people on the globe. Even among church folk, knowledge of the Bible is pitiful.
In fact, it has been my experience that the people in the world who have the most limited access to the Bible seem to be the ones who know it best. I found that out as I encountered believers in the former Soviet Union. Their knowledge of the Bible was incredible. And often times that knowledge came from one copy of the Bible. They would remove the pages and pass them in secret throughout the village. They would copy the words off of the page by hand and make their own copy of God’s word. The made sure that they would be taught the content of the Scriptures.
But, beyond teaching, God’s Word provides “training in righteousness.” Actually, the word for “training” here has to do with raising up and training a child. It brings to mind the process of repetition and reinforcement. Doing something over and over again until it is learned.
Illustration
Training is an interesting word. Training is what you do with animals. I was reading this week about the process for training elephants. I discovered that elephant trainers take a baby elephant and chain it to a strong steel post in the ground. The baby will try to break from the post, but it won’t have the strength. So, eventually, the little elephant will give up and stop trying to escape from the chain.
So, once the elephant has learned that it can’t pull the stake out of the ground, you can replace the steel stake with a smaller wooden one, even though it wouldn’t have enough strength to hold the elephant. You see, the elephant was trained from the time that it was a baby. It will stay anchored to that small wooden stake, even though it has the strength and capacity to break free from it.
Friends, that’s the kind of training that we need from God’s Word. Like we talked about a few minutes ago, it’s best to begin young and study often. That way we can be trained in righteousness and in the ways of God. Then, when we become older and have the ability and capacity to beak free from that training, we’ll remain anchored to the ways of God because those are the only ways that we have ever known.
So,don’t look to other sources for teaching and training in the ways of God. This guidebook is the definitive source of that information … and it is the only source that you need.
5. It serves as your guide when you get off of your path.
Scripture
…and is useful for … rebuking, correcting … (16b NIV)
Illustration
How many of you have ever done any whitewater rafting? I have hit the rapids three times in my life, and I had different experiences each time. But I will never forget my first time.
Now, when you go rafting on a truly challenging river, you cannot just jump in a boat and take off alone. You have to have an experienced guide in your raft. On my first whitewater rafting expedition, I had a very experienced guide. And I found myself in a raft with him and seven teenagers. And the further down the river we got, the more they started cutting up and the less listening they did. Now that guide was there to give us instructions and help us safely down the river, but they weren’t even listening to him.
Well, finally, after about a half hour of frustration, our guide pulled the raft over to the side and he had what I call a “come to Jesus” meeting with those students. He rebuked them for their behavior. He corrected their attitudes. He let them know that if they didn’t listen they could die on that river. They were doing something very fun, but also very dangerous. Man, he scared them to death.
So, the rest of the way down the river, they were obedient. When he said he wanted five strokes, they gave five strokes, and they counted them. And because of their discipline, they had the ride of their lives. Because of their discipline he was able to take us down the most challenging and most dangerous parts of the river. But it took a little bit of rebuking and correction of attitudes to get us there.
Folks, God’s Word serves that same function in our lives. Sure it has positive actions in our lives … it teaches and trains us. But it also deals with us in a negative way when it has to. The word “rebuke” means that it convicts us of misbehavior or false doctrine. The word translated “correct” is used in Greek literature to refer to setting something that has fallen back up … like picking up a vase or a statue that had fallen down.
This Holy Survivor’s Guidebook serves both of those functions in our lives. God’s Word convicts us of our sin and error. It tears down and destroys what is sinful in our lives, and it returns us to our proper condition. This process is called conviction. That is what God’s Word brings to us when we have sin in our lives. When we read these holy words, they tear down the sin that dwells within us and they lift us back up to the place of godliness where Jesus wants us to be.
Closing Illustration
Many of you will recognize this quiet man from Crittenden, Kentucky. (Show photograph on screen.) His name is Rodger Bingham, and he was a contestant on the second episode of Survivor … the one filmed in the Australian Outback. Mr. Bingham is a Christian. He made no bones about that during his time on Survivor. He acted out in his life everything that you could desire from a follower of Christ. He was quiet, thoughtful, respectful, and full of integrity. On one episode, after one of his tribe mates had been seriously burned, CBS showed him leading the other members of his group in prayer for the man who had been injured. It was an amazing sight to behold, watching this man on the most popular show on television pray for his friend in Jesus’ name!
In the end, when Rodger was asked about his final impressions of his own performance in the experience, he said that he was just glad he didn’t have to lie or do anything that he was ashamed of.
Rodger Bingham was a man of integrity. He was a man whose word could be trusted. And everybody knew it. And do you remember that I told you about the luxury item that each person was allowed to carry? Do you know what Rodger Bingham’s luxury item was? It was his Bible – His Survivor’s Handbook – and he could be seen reading it often.
Friends, that man knew what was important. He knew where to turn for guidance in the challenges of his life … in the challenges of being a Survivor … I pray that we will all learn the same lesson, and cling to our own handbook for Spiritual Survival.
Pray & Challenge
Life Applications
1. Buy a readable copy of God’s guidebook for life.
2. Set aside time each day to study it.
3. Search the Bible when you are faced with an important decision. Don’t rely on your
own intuition or even the advice of others.
4. Don’t ask “What Would Jesus Do?” Ask, “What Does the Bible Say?”
