Introduction
I. I believe it was two Saturday ago that I was channel surfing, and I stopped for a few moments because a speaker caught my attention.
A. At first I thought it to be a Jewish Rabbi on television.
1. He was wearing a “yamaka”
2. He was speaking about Adam and Eve.
3. He had a form of godliness about him.
B. I had never seen a Rabbi speaking on television before, especially about the scriptures, so I stopped to listen.
C. I couldn’t listen to him for long however.
D. He stated,
1. “I really appreciate Eve.
2. Eve was a woman that wasn’t afraid to take chances.”
3. He continued,
a. “When Eve became bored in paradise, she decided to explore the one thing that was off limits.
b. When Eve explored this “off limits” fruit, her love for Adam became stronger.
c. For the first time Eve began to know love.”
E. And I went “Huh. That’s enough of you buddy.”
II. Paul wrote to Timothy about the last days in 2nd Timothy chapter 3; in verse 5 he wrote - holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power.
A. In other words, in the last days
1. Some will distort the truth of the scriptures.
2. They may use the scriptures, but they will more often misuse them,
a. For personal glory
b. For personal advancement,
c. If they do speak of the power of the scriptures, it might be for things such as “health and wealth” salvation in place of or before spiritual salvation.
B. In the last days, many will possess a form of godliness, yet without God.
C. But in verse 14 God’s directive is,
1. In contrast to those that the world,
2. The man; or women of God is to learn and trust in the word of God,
The Greatest Gift You Can Give
14 You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them; 15 and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
I. If I say “perhaps”, it may give the idea that what I am about to say may not be true.
A. In this case, I say perhaps, with the assurance that it is totally true.
B. Perhaps, the greatest gift that we can give as parents and grand parents is a grounding in God’s written word to us.
1. As a parent, I cannot acquire spiritual salvation for my child.
2. In one sense, as a parent, or grand parent, there is nothing I can do to be totally assured that my child or grand child will, with certainty, come to faith in Jesus Christ.
3. What I can do is
a. Be a model of the truth of the Bible,
b. What I can do is be a transmitter of the truth of the Bible.
c. What I can do, the greatest gift I can give, is the assurance through demonstration in my own life, and testimony with my own mouth, demonstrate that I believe and so should you, that Jesus is Lord, and the Bible is God’s word to all mankind for all time.
II. Paul tells Timothy, “In contrast to those that profess godliness, and yet do not life up to godly standards, you (Timothy) continue in the things you have learned...”
A. Timothy had scripture taught and modeled for him by several people.
1. In 2nd Timothy 1, verse 5, Paul reminded Timothy of his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice.
2. Timothy was also a protege of Paul himself, which included at the very least Barnabas, and others that traveled with Paul.
B. Am I still responsible to teach and model truth if my spouse is an unbeliever, “YES.”
1. Acts 16, verse 1 states that Timothy’s mother was a believer, while his father was a Greek.
2. I would take “Greek” to mean non-believer.
III. I have often heard parents say, “I don’t want to force my children to believe.”
A. So what, you are going to allow them to not believe.
B. If that is you, you are correct, you cannot force your child to believe.
1. Perhaps they will not believe,
2. Perhaps they will never believe,
3. But the question is,
a. “don’t you believe, and if you do believe, what do you believe.”
b. Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him.
4. Guess what, if Christ’ statement is true, we need to be guilty of making every attempt to give the truth to our children, grand children, and everyone else we love.
IV. Paul says that “from childhood” Timothy had been taught from the “sacred writings.”
A. From childhood,
1. The word translated childhood here is the Greek word “befros”
2. “Befros”
a. The word means “an unborn child” what we would call “an embryo.”
B. The idea conveyed is “Before you were even born, you mother and your grandmother were already in the process of teaching you the truth about God.”
V. We need, in fact, we must be models of what we believe to be true.
A. And modeling what we believe begins, even before birth takes place.
B. Modeling must begin as soon as we ourselves are convinced of the truth.
VI. I don’t say this to make you or I feel guilty.
VII. I don’t say it to put pressure on you or beat you down,
VIII. I say it because it is what God says in His written word to us.
IX. How can I model truth.
A. Study it on your own,
1. Demonstrate that the scriptures are important to you.
2. Demonstrate that your faith in God is important to you.
3. Maybe we should say things like,
a. “I am going to spend some time with God, and God’s word.”
b. “I’ll be back as soon as I pray or study.”
B. Apply what you learn,
1. When God’s word speaks a truth to you, make application.
2. If appropriate, don’t be afraid to say, “I learned this in the Bible, and I am going to do it; or not do it.”
C. In Timothy’s day, it was common for young children to be required to study and memorize scripture.
1. Perhaps we need to get back to that.
D. Is God real to you? Is salvation through faith in Christ real to you?, then believe that one of God’s gifts to your children and grandchildren is for you to be a model of what God has said in His word.
X. Why is doing everything we can to insure our we and our children believe, and know scripture important?
A. Because of what God says in our next two verses.
The Power of God’s Word
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;
17 that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
I. We hear a lot of talk these days that the Bible was just another book, written by men.
A. In part, that is true.
B. For the most part, the Bible was written by mere mortal men.
C. But the Bible is so much more than just a book.
II. The Bible is essentially 66 separate letters or accounts, written by some 40 different men, living over a period of several thousand years, that all agree with the idea that there is a God, who so strongly desires a relationship with man, that He planned before the dawn of time to come to earth as a human child, in order to die for the sins of all that would believe.
III. If you are reading the NIV, your translation has a more accurate description of the origin of the Bible than either the King James or my New American Standard.
A. The word “inspired” gives the idea of movement by a thought or idea.
B. According to verse 16, the writers of our Bible were not moved by thoughts and ideas;
1. What they wrote was somehow the very words of God.
2. Scripture is “theospneustos”; the breath of God himself.
IV. In 2nd Peter 1, verse 20 and 21, we read, “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”
V. How did God “breathe” His written word to us? We don’t really know.
A. In some cases scripture reflects the very words of God.
B. In some cases God used human authors to relate His word to us, and experts can determine the difference in writing style of Paul and Mark and Peter, and John, and all the rest.
C. The Bible was written by various men, in various times, using their own personalities, backgrounds, and personalities, yet in every case, “All Scripture is the very breath of God.”
VI. All scripture, from the most seeming insignificant to the grandest of statements are God’s words to us.
A. That means Numbers 1:27 which says, “their numbered men, of the tribe of Juda, were 74,600" just as well as Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.”
B. That means John 11:35 which simply says, “Jesus wept.”
VII. Maybe it’s not even fair to say that the Bible is God’s second greatest gift.
A. Without scripture, what would there be to tell us the way to salvation?
B. Without scripture, what would there be to “equip us for righteousness?”
VIII. God’s word is “profitable for teaching.”
A. It is the Bible which allows us to know God.
B. Now I know what Romans 1, verses 18-23 say.“ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
C. The truth of God has been made manifest from creation.
D. But the Bible is the instrument by which God has chosen to clarify in word, that which man has chosen to suppress.
E. The Bible is profitable for teaching of the truth concerning God, knowing the truth without acting on it is a waste.
IX. Therefore the Bible brings “reproof.”
A. That word reproof means “to prove” or “conviction.”
B. We respond to those things which we believe to be true.
C. Have you ever considered that you may be beyond the reach of God’s mercy? I have.
1. What is there that is redeeming in me?
2. For what reason would God decide to give me eternal life.
3. I can be a pretty bad person,
D. But if I believe scripture is the word of God, I can see how God dealt with sinners we might consider far worse than ourselves.
1. King David, an adulterer and a murderer, yet his son died, he was able to say, “I know that I will see him again.”
2. Paul, a persecutor of the church of God, yet God chose him to be a great evangelist and apologist for the truth.
3. Peter, who denied ever knowing Christ, and yet Peter was one of the great leaders of the early church.
E. If God can do that for others, what might He be able to do in and for me?
X. The Bible brings correction.
A. That word correction means, “to restore to an upright state.”
1. I am 52 years old
2. I am a preacher of the Bible,
3. I’ve been around and I’ve made mistakes, and there are times that I still need corrected.
B. The Word of God, is the vehicle God uses to communicate needed course correction in my life and yours, “WHY”?
XI. Because it is training us in righteousness.
A. Righteousness is a word which relates to relationship.
1. Relationship with God, and
2. Relationship with the people of God.
B. The word “training” or “instruction” originally referred to the instruction that was given to children, in order to prepare them for life.
C. God uses His written word to prepare us and to return us to a right relationship with Himself, and His other children.
XII. All this work of the Bible accomplishes teaching us about God and salvation, but verse 17 states that a secondary purpose of scripture is to equip us for the works God has planned for us.
A. that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
B. Ephesians 2, verse 10 states, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
XIII. God has given us a purpose for life,
A. Yes we are to worship God.
1. Part of that worship is to live our lives in conformity to what is revealed in the Bible.
2. Part of that worship is to be a witness to the power of God.
3. Part of that worship is to share the good news of salvation with others.
B. Each of us has a part to play,
1. You part is a bit different than mine,
2. My part is a bit different than yours.
3. Yet the same Word of God is the tool by which we are made adequate to complete those works God had planned for us from eternity.
Conclusion
I. The Bible is God’s written communication to us.
A. If we really believe that, why does it gather so much dust throughout the week?
B. If we really believe that, why do we so often accept the teaching, yet ignore the correction?
II. In closing, “How are you making use of God’s second greatest gift to you, or has it become like that Christmas gift you really didn’t want in the first place?
