Sermon 2 Timothy 3:14–4:5 Equipped for Good Work

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam Churches

Sermon 2 Timothy 3:14–4:5 Equipped for Good Work

October 20, 2013

For the last few weeks we have been looking at two of the pastoral epistles, letters sent by the Apostle Paul to a young pastor named Timothy serving the church in Ephesus. Paul has told Timothy to center his ministry on prayers to God for everyone including the king. Paul then told Timothy that if his church focuses on prayer, worship and Bible study they would grow spiritually and become more content and generous. Then in the second letter Paul explained that as the church grows spiritually it's faith in Christ Jesus also grows and this faith will sustain them in times of trouble. And Paul told Timothy to keep himself spiritually strong and recruit others with spiritual strength as teachers of the gospel. Today we will see how Paul told Timothy how to distinguish between true and false teachings. We will get to this, but first let's pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

2 Timothy 3:14 - 4:5 ¹⁴ But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, ¹⁵ and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶ All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷ so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. ^NIV 2 Timothy 4:1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: ² Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage-- with great patience and careful instruction. ³ For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. ⁴ They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. ⁵ But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

Timothy was facing many problems in his church. And on top of all of this Paul was about to be executed. Up until this time whenever false teachings came into a church all they had to do was contact an Apostle of Jesus Christ to determine which teachings to keep and which to throw out. And this process worked well for them because the Roman postal system could deliver letters back and forth even if it took time. But by Timothy's day it has become apparent that the Apostles would not always be around. The unthinkable was happening, the Apostles were dying before Jesus returned. What should they do? And how should Timothy deal with false teachings in his church?

In 2 Timothy, Paul is answering these questions for Timothy. Rather than directly dealing with the content of the false teaching, Paul has decided to give Timothy a way of discerning true from false teaching that will last past the age of the Apostles.

According to Paul the way we know that a church doctrine or teaching is true is to test it by scripture. For Paul “scripture” referred to the Hebrew scriptures that had been translated into Greek. This is our Old Testament. But Paul would go beyond this and say that scripture is the Old Testament as interpreted by Jesus and the Apostles. The church had come to a new way of understanding the Old Testament in the context of who Jesus was and what he said and did. In the light of Jesus' teachings and his resurrection their understanding of the Old Testament had changed. This new understanding was contained in letters Paul and Timothy had written to other churches and was contained in the stories the church maintained about Jesus which were being written down by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. And so Paul, if he was here today, would say that scripture is the Old Testament as interpreted through the New Testament.

So, how do know that scripture teaches us that which is true? Paul suggests that there are three ways that we can know for sure that scripture is reliable. Let's look at each of these.

First, Paul wants Timothy to remember from whom he learned the scripture. Timothy learned about faith from his mother and grandmother, two very faithful women. And since they were faithful Timothy could trust them and through this trust come to believe that the scripture was true.

I first learned Bible stories from my parents, grandparents and Sunday school teachers. As an adult I learned about scripture from a pastor of my church and became a teacher myself. I then went to Fuller Seminary to study under some of the best Bible and theology professors on the planet. And today I continue to learn through reading and listening. There are teachers whom I trust and have come to believe the trustworthiness of scripture through them. And I hope that by my faith in God's word you will trust me and find what I say trustworthy.

Second, Paul wants Timothy to know that he can trust scriptures because of the work of the Holy Spirit. As we read and meditate on scripture we find that the Holy Spirit acts upon us to convince us of its truth. As we grow spiritually it becomes obvious that the Bible is true. So I urge you to pray and meditate on scripture every day, find a Bible class with a faithful teacher, and come to worship every week. Do these things and you will grow spiritually and find that you believe in the truthfulness of scripture.

And this brings us to the third thing Paul wants Timothy to know about scripture. As we grow spiritually the scripture will equip us for good works. I found that the more I studied the Bible the more unusual things I started to do. I participated in service projects. I began to go monthly to a downtown church where I gave away lunches to homeless men once a month. I helped a poor church in Mississippi on their farm. I worked on a housing project in Palestine. I began to do things for others as I grew spiritually.

This will happen to you too. The more you pray and worship and study scripture the more you will want to serve others. You will find yourself teaching children or volunteering at Samaritan Shelter or delivering gift baskets to needy families at Christmas. This will be all the proof you need that what you are studying and who you are worshiping is true. Grow spiritually with daily prayer, worship and Bible study and you will find yourself transformed into a new creation, someone obedient to God who follows God into the community.

And so we have to give thanks to the dedicated teachers who have taught us the Bible. We must also thank God for the gift of the Holy Spirit who transforms us as we pray, worship and study scripture. As a we grow spiritually we will joyfully follow God into those places where only God willing goes. All of this will confirm for you that the Bible is true, and its trustworthiness is something you can count on.

And so Timothy has all the tools he needs to combat false teachings in his church even after the Apostles are gone. He has the inspired word of God and the transforming power of the Holy Spirit which allows him to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ which will transform his church.

Let's pray. Holy God we ask that you Holy Spirit be with us today. Send him to open up the scripture to us so that in understanding it we will know the truth of your son. Use this to transform us into a church which follows you into places of need. This we pray in your son's name. Amen.