The Effective Word
Text: 2 Tim. 3:16-17
Introduction
1. Read 2 Tim. 3:16-17
2. Illustration: The Department of Social Services in Greenville County, South Carolina sent the following letter to a deceased individual. "Your food stamps will be stopped effective March, 1992, because we received notice that you passed away. May God bless you. You may reapply if there is a change in your circumstances."
3. Know this is what we call ineffective communication. However, we never have to worry about ineffective communication with the Word of God.
Proposition: The word of God is always effective and accomplishes its stated purpose.
Transition: There are two reasons for this. First, because...
I. All Scripture is Inspired
A. Breathed Out By God
1. Verses 16 – 17 are the strongest statement in the Bible about itself. - (Liefeld, NIV Application Commentary, New Testament: 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus,279).
2. Paul says that "All scripture is given by inspiration of God..." First we must see that he says "all Scripture."
a. That means that everything from Genesis to Revelation.
b. I loose patience with those who says "well it’s not in the NT so it doesn’t count!"
c. My Bible says that "all Scripture" is profitable.
d. You cannot pick and choose what you want to believe. You must accept all of it, or none of it.
3. Second, we must notice that Paul says "All Scripture is given..."
a. That means that we didn’t think it up, dream it up, or make it up.
b. It was given by God to man.
c. 2 Pet. 1:20-21 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
4. This leads us to the third thing that we must notice "All Scripture is given by the inspiration of God..."
a. What does that mean?
b. The idea is that God breathed out the Scripture or God produced the Scripture somewhat like He did creation.—Practical Word Studies in the New Testament
c. Ps. 33:6 By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
d. The thought conveyed is that the writings under consideration are ‘the product of the creative breath of God’ - New International Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM
B. Without Error
1. Illustration: I have always believed in the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, whereby they have become the expression to man of the Word and Will of God. Warren G. Harding
2. Why is it so important that we understand that the Word of God is inspired?
a. If they came from man, they would be tainted.
b. If they came from man, they would be filled with error.
c. If they came from man, they would be unreliable.
3. However, because the Scriptures come from God we know that...
a. They are without error
b. They are life changing
c. They are powerful
4. Because the Scriptures are inspired, we can...
a. Stand on them
b. Trust in them
c. Cling to them
5. Because the Scriptures are inspired of God they...
a. Are what they say they are
b. They will do what they say they’ll do
6. Matt. 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
Transition: Because the Word is inspired, we also know that...
II. All Scripture is Profitable
A. Profitable
1. Paul tells us that because the Scriptures are inspired they are Profitable.
a. The word profitable means useful, beneficial, and helpful.
b. Simply stated, the Bible is for man; God gave it to help man.
2 The point Paul appears to be making is that Timothy, confident of Scripture’s inspired nature, can rely upon it to be ‘profitable’. - New International Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM
3. Illustration: We are apt to think that everything that happens to us is to be turned into useful teaching; it is to be turned into something better than teaching, that is, into character. We shall find that the spheres God brings us into are not meant to teach us something but to make us something. (Oswald Chambers, “Daily Thoughts for Disciples,” January 18th )
4. The word of God is profitable for everything and situation in life.
B. Doctrine
1. The content and teaching of truth, which must flow from and be consistent with Scripture.
2. By calling the Bible "God-breathed," Paul was identifying its divine source; by making it the source of doctrine, he was reminding Timothy of its authority.
3. Teaching that contradicted biblical doctrine was to be rejected, corrected, or replaced by accurate teaching.
4. God wants man to know beyond doubt who God is; who man is; and the beginning, meaning, and end of all things.
a. The Scripture reveals the truth—the nature, meaning, and significance of truth.
b. The Bible gives man the principles and rules for life. It gives him the doctrines and foundations of life.
5. From time to time I have had people say to me "Well, I don’t believe in doctrine. I just believe in Jesus!"
a. If you don’t believe in doctrine, then you don’t believe in Jesus, because the fact that Jesus is the Son of God is a doctrine.
b. If you don’t believe in doctrine, then you don’t believe Jesus died for your sins, because that is a doctrine.
c. If you don’t believe in doctrine, then you don’t believe He rose from the dead, because that is a doctrine.
d. If you don’t believe any of those things then you’re not saved, and that is a doctrine.
6. It is important to know and understand doctrine because we not only need to know what we believe, but why we believe it.
C. Reproof
1. The Bible is profitable for reproof. God wants man to sense conviction and to be rebuked when he is disobedient to God’s will.
2. The Scripture reveals God’s will and the consequences of disobedience to His will.
3. The initial impact of true doctrine involves the confrontation of false teaching and understanding.
4. Studying the Bible should bring conviction to us. In fact, that is the way you can test whether the Word of God is moving in your life.
a. If you read this Book like any other book, then the Spirit of God is not moving in your life.
b. But if it convicts you, then you know the Holy Spirit is at work within you.
D. Correction
1. Illustration: The cartoon character Popeye is famous for eating spinach. Whenever he breaks open a can of spinach and eats it he gains enormous strength. Popeye was employed by the US Government during World War 2 to promote the idea of eating spinach. Meat was a rarity during war, but spinach appeared to be a great substitute. In the 1890’s German scientists had shown that spinach contains the same amount of iron as meat. And iron of course is one of the essential vitamins in building strength.
But the facts are wrong. The German researchers did prove that spinach contains iron, but when they wrote down their results they put the decimal point in the wrong place. They overestimated the amount of iron in spinach by a factor of 10! Unfortunately, the correction didn’t get across the ocean until after WW2.
2. It is profitable for correction. God wants man to be set right when he is wrong.
3. In the area of correction, the Scriptures have two roles:
a. (1) they provide a complete presentation of the teaching, where only part of the truth has been present; and
b. (2) they provide for a right understanding and application where true doctrine may have been taught but has not taken effect.
4. Ps. 119:9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.
E. Instruction
1. Illustration: It seems that even the obvious things in life can’t be taken for granted:
After a woman sued McDonalds because she wasn’t warned her coffee was hot, companies are changing their instruction manuals and product warning labels to cover themselves from liability. Listen to a few of these:
On a particular brand of soap- Directions: Use like regular soap
On a frozen dinner - Suggestion: Defrost before eating
A Christmas pudding - Product will be hot after heating
On a string of Christmas lights- For indoor or outdoor use only
A packet of peanuts warning - May contain traces of peanuts;
On a chain saw- Do not stop chain with hand
On a motorcycle helmet mounted mirror - Remember, objects in the mirror are actually behind you;
2. Aren’t you glad that God’s instructions are crystal clear?
3. God wants man to know the right things to do, to think and to say.
4. The Bible reveals how to live "soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:12-13).
5. The Bible is not purely a record of the past--the history of the Jews and then of the church.
a. Rather, every story, every prophecy, every teaching, every admonition, and every command points beyond to the author, God, who came to us in Jesus Christ.
b. God confronts us in the pages of his Word--telling us how much he loves us, how we can become his children, and how we should live to please him.
Conclusion
1. The Bible is the most effective book you will ever read because:
a. It is given and inspired by God
b. It is profitable
2 In order to see the effectiveness of the Word in our own lives we must do three things:
a. Read it
b. Believe it
c. Apply it
3. What are you doing with the Word?
