Pastoral Epistles - Lesson 18

Pastoral Epistles

Dr. Bill Mounce

nt630-18

2 Timothy 2:14–4:2

Lesson Transcript

 

We're at second. Timothy two, verses 14 the following. So that's where we'll start. Paul is again reminding Timothy to stay away from the opponents, to not get involved in their discussions. Rather, verse 15, he is to present himself to God as one approved a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth, which is the theme. First of all, what is it I want to set? Why here it so much is one of those one of those organizations famous verse. I mean, this is something about the rightly handling. Um. Timothy wants to be approved by God in order to be approved by God. He's a worker who does not. Should not be ashamed. There is nothing in his conduct that should bring shame. And one of the things you have to do in order to not be ashamed is to rightly handle the word a truth. So that's the flow of the logic. The problem is the Greek word translated, rightly handling it. You can't get all of it into the text, into English. It's got to be frightening. People are taking pictures of one another. That's fine. The problem is, is that it has two different nuances and there's just no way in English to do the same thing. Rightly handling does refer to, right? Teaching. So there is a theological component. So the way to not be ashamed is to continue to teach what is true. Don't go off and teach what the false teachers are teaching. But just as importantly in the Greek word is the idea of right behavior. Again, behavior that would be contrasted to the false teachers. So when someone today looks at this versus says, I want to rightly handle the word of truth, it means that, A, they have to know the word A truth, and then B, it has to define their conduct.

 

Their conduct has to be in accordance with it. So you have you have two different nuances. And I don't I don't think the is we put a footnote there, did it? No, it doesn't look like it did. But it's a it's a one of those just one of those Greek words that often happens in language. There's simply no equivalent to it in English at all. So anyway, so that's that's what Timothy is called to do. Then again, Paul, contrast that with avoid irreverent babble and you know, all this stuff. In 17 he actually names another two of the opponents. Again, very unusual for Paul to do that. They're talk is spreading like gangrene again. There's there's Luke, the physician among them are humanists and faith leaders. Harmonious was a pretty common name, so we don't know for sure, but guesses are that he is the effusion Elder named at first Timothy one. Um. It's just after lunch. Let me check to make sure I'm saying things that are accurate. Yeah, he mentioned Alexander. So probably it's that same person. And notice, though, that you will learn another little something about the false teaching that they have swerved from the truth and evidence that they have swerved from. The truth is that they're saying the resurrection has already happened. So that's another specific thing in the false teaching. We didn't cover it the first day. So it sounds like there may be some correlation between what's going on in Ephesus and what's going on in Corinth, Right in first Corinthians 15. And not so much the denial of the resurrection, but a spiritualized thing of the resurrection. And so some of that same problem is manifesting itself in emphasis, which again, wouldn't be surprised. An ancient culture that sees the material world as inherently evil.

 

The spirit world is inherently good. So any idea of a physical resurrection just runs completely counter to general flaws, to the general philosophies and teachings of those days. So it's not surprising to see a denial of the resurrection pop up in other places. But he's he's describing the success the false teachers are having. They are upsetting the faith of some, but they haven't described the problem. Paul's going to move back to encourage Timothy and but look how he encourages Timothy, even in the face of all the success the false teachers are having. What does Timothy hang on to? That hangs on to the fact that verse 19 God's firm foundation stands despite all the success. God's foundation is firm. It's standing there, and in fact, God's foundation. Think of the foundation of a building. It's got a seal stamped on it. And in that seal, there are two sayings. These are so these are things that depict the basic fundamental stability of God's foundational work in people's lives. And that is one the Lord knows those two are his. Otherwise called election. And to let everyone who names the name of the Lord, everyone who claims to be a follower of Christ depart from iniquity. Election sanctification. Justification. Sanctification. Side by side in the same seal on the building. Let's look at that just a little bit. In the face of apostasy. Paul knows that God's foundation, in other words, his his foundational work in the lives of believers is going to last. It cannot be shaken. It cannot be moved. It is God's foundational work. His work of saving them and redeeming them. And that's an unshakable foundation. So that's what in the midst of all the apparent success of the false teachers, that's what gives Timothy encouragement.

 

Doesn't mean the true believers don't struggle, but it means at the end of the day, they want a pastor service. Well, that's not a Calvinist act in any way. Foundation is firm and they are. They're not going to politicize. I just think what's so interesting is that Paul is so willing to put side by side what we so often separate. And he's he's willing to put the fact of God's foundational saving, perhaps election work in believers right next to the call for those believers to live godly lives. You see that? Two different things on this seal. It's interesting if you look at Paul and by the way, the Lord knows those who were his. I mean. I mean. I'm sorry. Let me talk a little bit more about that. The Lord knows those who are his is a quote from number 16 eight. This is the passage where God identifies Moses as the true leader over Korra. And so it's just that it's a citation from there to say, you know, the Lord, despite what's going on, the Lord does know. Despite all the problems and struggling and apostasy and whatnot, the Lord knows who his true children are. The verb is actually an arrest. And arrest can do a lot of different things. Uh, it's, it's generally past tense. And so I think most people are comfortable seeing this. Not so much as knows in the present, but he's known from time immemorial. He's known in the past. Iris doesn't have to do that. But it can if it does. And this is a statement of election. The Lord knows those who are His God chose me before time, and therefore I can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God will not let me go.

 

That's part of the foundation, the foundational work of God in our life. But at the very same time, and this is so often happens in statements of election, is that Paul moves from a statement of election to a statement of sanctification. And in our discussions of election, so often we move from a statement of election to arguing about it. And we don't see election tied to sanctification that we are elect in order to be holy. And I think that is one of, if not the major theme of election in the Bible, that the whole purpose of election is so that God would guarantee that we would move into Christ's likeness, um, from one degree of glory to the next. And that those that he knows that he's, that he knows his sheep, right. The sheep know him and he knows them. Those are the people that at the very same time don't rest in their get out of jail free card and live anywhere they want. Right. But those that God knows who are his at the very same time. Um. Depart from iniquity. Right. So again, you have this bringing together these two concepts that so often we separate. It's just wrong to do it, I think. The elect must pursue holiness. And so, I mean, if you don't want to connect the doctrine of election with that, you in some way have to see the connection between justification and entering into a relationship with God so that you know him and he knows you. You've got to make a connection between that and sanctification because the seal does. Makes sense. All right. Paul goes on to talk about how important it is that Timothy Pursue Holiness uses the metaphor of a house that's got really special.

 

One way I heard this described as in a great house are not only vessels made out of China, but those that are made out of paper. The Chinese for special uses. The paper is for just everyday use. And so if you if you cleanse yourself from that, which is dishonorable, then you're a piece of China, then you're you're there for honorable use. Actually, the dishonorable would also include pottery, use for toilets and stuff like that. So this is just using the imagery of everyday things in the house and the special utensils in the house and saying, Man, if you want to be special to God, you've got to if you don't want to be the the the if I weren't being taped, I would say a different way. But if you don't want to be for human refuse if you didn't pursue the things the. Cleanse yourself from what is dishonorable and God will be using for his special purposes. So just another way of emphasizing the Timothy is to pursue holiness. And then in verse 22, he again focuses on Timothy and say, Soulfully, useful passions pursue righteousness, have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies. Again, talking about the false teachers they did is breed quarrels. And again, in the pastoral, you've seen it so many times by now. Not only was the false teaching wrong, but it produced incorrect behavior and you identified the falseness of the theology by seeing how poor the behavior was. And so they just breed quarrels and they said, the Lord's servant again, just meaning Timothy and anyone else in Timothy's role, the Lord's servant can't be quarrelsome. Got to be kind able to teach a patient enduring evil, correcting. And this is a somewhat unusual statement, correcting his opponents with gentleness.

 

He issues pretty strong words for how Timothy is to respond to the false teachers, but hears you be let gentleness be part of what you're doing and part of the reason why he wants Timothy to be patient and at times correcting the opponents with gentleness is God may perhaps grant them repentance. In other words, he's holding out the idea that, yes, there are some times that Timothy has to command. He has to be really strong. There are times in which he has to simply saying, you know, talk to the hand. I'm not part of this discussion. I don't want to I'm just going to avoid what you're doing. And there are other times in which he is in dealing not only with the regular folk, but with the opponents. He's supposed to be gentle because a gentle rebuke can lead to resolution, can it? And that if it's always a harsh rebuke, then there's less chance of resolution of the problem. So there is a point in which we are gentle, but understand that ultimately repentance is a gift from the Lord, that the Lord grant the repentance. Yeah, it almost sounds like you're saying don't burn the bridges. Yeah. Richard, for those who might. Right? Yeah. Yeah. There are times, like with Alexander and him, and there's. I mean, there is burning bridges, although, again, it's always remedial. It's always do this so that they will learn not to blaspheme. But there certainly is time and again, it's not a dominant note in the past, which is probably why we haven't talked about it much. But there are times, even with the opponents, your false teachers. Yes, there still has to be a degree of gentleness in what you do, at least some of the time.

 

So you're not burning the bridges because I know and maybe I'm assuming that maybe you're this way, too, but sometimes when you're arguing with someone over another position. Well, I remember arguing when the book came out on the finding the will of God that, you know, the argument was that God doesn't have any special will for you. The will is holiness, and whatever you do in life doesn't matter. Gary freezes book. Remember that? It just is making a will of God. And I remember getting into an argument as one of my best friends, and we're just two males butting heads and it just got worse and worse and got harsher and harsher. We argued, we we drove down to San Diego, we went to the San Diego Zoo, we went to dinner and we were still arguing, just just butting heads. And it really did damage our friendship. And it took about six or seven years. And I finally went back to apologize because I had been wrong in how I had conducted myself. And we're very good friends now. But, you know, there are times in which when you butt heads so strongly and there's no gentleness that it just makes matters worse. And so to Paul's saying, you know, there is a place for gentleness leaving the door open and so that hopefully the Lord at the end of the day will grant them repentance and they will come to know the knowledge of the truth. So I'll get more just more instructions on how to deal with the false teachers. Yeah, I you know, I still I still think God can have a special purpose for a special person. I think his basic thesis is right. I think God's will for our lives is sanctification.

 

And after that, in most cases, he doesn't care. When I was a resister trying to decide whether to stay to do this or leave and go into programing and writing and church work or whatever, uh, the message I got back from my prayers was, I don't care. Doesn't matter what you do, Bill. I can use you here. I can use in Spokane. Um, do whatever you want. And I think there are times it's true in our life. There's other people we know and they're seven years old and they got a calling and they knew they were going to be a pastor. And their whole life was geared to being a pastor. And, you know, I just think that's all God, that God doesn't have to treat us all the same way, does he? And for some of us, he could say, you know, as long as you're pursuing holiness, I don't care if it's a plumber or a lawyer or a pastor, it doesn't matter. But for others, there's a very specific calling, at least for a specific time. So. Okay, so let's through 226. No comments on that. I'm looking for my notes. I can't find them. I will in a second. Okay, we move then into second Timothy, Chapter three. Let me just check my notes, make sure I didn't skip anything I really wanted to cover. Yeah. Okay. We come into chapter three and basically saying some of the same thing that he said in First Timothy for this thing shouldn't surprise you. This is this is what happens in the last days and of course, the last day start the next chapter, too, and we're still in them. But things are just going to get bad. I was talking to my brother in law a while back and moaning and groaning about something politically and how I didn't like the direction the country was going and and big, Terry said.

 

I may have used as an illustration earlier, but he said, Bill. Why are you surprised? Isn't it supposed to get worse? Yeah. Yeah. It is supposed to get worse, isn't it? I think it was when the whole thing with the abortion doctor was killing live babies. And, uh, it was just. It was so revolting and disgusting. I just. I said, how can a human being do that? And I was talking to him and he goes, Bill, we live in the last days. It's it's supposed to keep getting worse. It's supposed to. And that's basically what he's saying. Um, do you think last days are going to be difficult and we're going to have all these horrible descriptions of people? I mean, this is just. Just avoid them. And then he says in verse six, and this is another insight into what's going on with the false teachers. So I'm chapter three versus six, four among them, four among these. I mean, in other words, the description in three one, two, five is just in general terms. But among all these just generally bad people, there are those. And by those he means the false teachers who creep into houses. They they there's snakes, they slither into homes as idea and they capture weak women. Weak women They're weak because their burden was in their are led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. Now. This is not saying all women are weak or this is a description of all women. Right. All right. But in this situation, Paul, this thinking of a group of women who are especially weak and most people are pretty content to conclude that these are the widows, at least they include the widows of first Timothy five.

 

And there seems to be a special subgroup. But there were. There. There was a group of women that they were not leading the false teaching, but they were highly susceptible to it and were in their own ways promulgating it. So these false teachers creep into homes again, Remember home churches, house churches, and they they gain control. They capture weak women. The the phrase weak women is really hard to translate, especially if you're afraid that kids are going to give the impression that Paul's saying women are inherently weak. It's the diminutive form of the word little women. And when you call someone you know little, you've got to figure out, is this sarcasm? Is it being derogatory? What is the force of the diminutive? And sometimes there's no force in the diminutive like of how in German means woman, in how line means young woman. And there's nothing derogatory about line. But in this case, there seems to be something quite derogatory. And that's why the ESV, I guess, goes with weak willed women. What is the. Uh, I can't help but think, Siri. Um. What is the new in Ibiza? Gullible. Really? Russell says unstable. Unstable and needy. All right. Yeah. These are the kind of passages that are fun to look at all the translations. Because you can't say little women because then you're thinking of House on the Prairie or whatnot, you know? But you also had to be really careful of getting over generalizations. Let me just. Let me. Yeah. And I says, Gullible women. It's interesting in my gut in the other. Idle. Idle women. Okay. I just the whole me Christian women in ESB says weak women. It's probably not the best translation Net Bible says. Weak women. So anyway, there are there are struggling with how to handle the diminutive form.

 

But again, it's this particular women are weak, they're not strong. They're they're vulnerable and susceptible to the teaching of the false teachers. And these these are women that are burdened by their sins. They're being led astray by various passions. And if this is tied into first, the first Timothy five is that the young widows sensual passions were overcoming them and they were abandoning the faith. Then the various passions are probably sexual passions. And then he makes this a very interesting, always learning and never able to arrive at the knowledge of the truth. And this is what happens when you get when you get sin piled on sin in a human being, doesn't it? When sin gets piled on sin, there's there's a cycle involved. And as you have prolonged instruction to false teaching and you have sins piled on top of sins, there's some point in which you simply can't learn, isn't it? They just you just can't see the truth. And that's what was going on with these ladies. It just was a cycle of sin upon sin, letting their passions vent themselves, being fed by the false teachers, um, sexually and in other ways, an impulse that they're never going to be able to learn. Now, this is not the situation it's in first Timothy one 472 and first Timothy two that let a woman learn in quietness. You're saying the women can learn and they should learn even if there's some description and how they should learn. But with these particular women specifically, it appears that they simply were beyond learning because of the sin. I think it goes goes on to say eventually, just as was the case with the magicians that opposed Moses and eventually were shown to be charlatans.

 

So also, Paul is very convinced that the false teachers will someday be exposed. All right. All right. Okay, next sections first, Timothy three versus ten and following. And he's this is a passage about the necessity of persecutions. Again, you think everything just about everything a second. Timothy is encouragement, isn't it? I mean, he just he describes the problem, then he encourages Timothy, He talks about the problem and he just encourages Timothy. That's why it's such a cool book. It's this Paul. I mean, Timothy must have been at it is in I mean, I'm guessing that it as strong as Tim is as strong as I believe Timothy was, I think he must have been at the end of his rope because Paul wrote the whole book almost entirely to encourage him. So he wants to he wants to encourage Timothy by talking about persecution. And what lies behind this paragraph is that persecution isn't a sign that you've done something wrong. In fact, persecution can be a sign that you're doing something right. That's the overall message of this. And he said, you however you you follow my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfast. This email was you've seen the example of what a godly life looks like. But at the same time, you've also been witness to my persecutions and my sufferings. In other words, this is just as teaching and a good conduct and faith and patience is part of the Christian walk. So also is persecutions and suffering. Don't think that because you're being persecuted that you've done something wrong. Um, and then he he identifies. He said, Well, I'm talking about persecutions and sufferings, she says. I'm focusing in on what happened to me at any Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions that I endured there.

 

And one of the interesting questions is why did Paul pick on those? And we don't know. We're I mean, we're guessing, but these would have been the persecutions in his first missionary journey. And those were persecutions that happened before we find out about Timothy in Acts 16. But our best guess is that Timothy did become a Christian in Paul's first missionary journey. And so probably in him seeing the persecutions of Paul at the very beginning of his of Timothy's own spiritual walk, that those persecutions probably really stuck in his mind. I mean, the first time you see something, that's the in terms of persecution, it really hits you, doesn't it? Wow. No, I never seen anything like that before. I've never seen someone persecute someone that way before. So the assumption is that Paul is referring Timothy's memory back to those early persecutions that probably had a real impact on Timothy as a new believer. And then he adds, And yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. So, Timothy, just as you remember how bad those persecutions are and the Lord rescued me, what's implied is that, yes, you are being persecuted. The Lord is going to rescue you as well. One reason we should be reading biographies. I'm not a much of a of a biography reader. Fortunately, my wife is and my mother in law really is. And so and this is how we read stuff in our family. I read the techie boring stuff. My wife reads about people and spiritual growth, and then she tells me all the good parts. So when I was when I was pastoring, I had all sorts of really good illustrations and I had to keep saying how my wife gave me this illustration and I wanted to give Robin do credit because she was reading all these books.

 

But that's I mean, that's, you know, John Piper Swan series. That's why this is such an important. Are you familiar with that? In every book there's three biographies, reports every year. It is annual Pastors conference. He does another missionary or someone he talks about, and then three of them get put together in a book. That's why we read stories about saints in the past that we can be encouraged and we can see how the Lord rescued them. I mean, take Chariots of Fire, for example. Eric. Eric Little. Yeah. My next time back in China, they're going to take me to where he's buried and then the is still there. And you look at his life and what he gave up and he died and he was missionary in China and died as a missionary in China. And they. I mean, what a what a waste of an end of a life. And you might be tempted to say, but now you look at it and you see the result of the early missionary movement in China and you go, Wow. Wow. God did rescue them. They may have died, but their work had affect. The Spirit did his work. They did what God called them to do. I mean, look. Look What's there now? So I think that's one reason the biographies are important, and that's what Paul's saying. Look at my life. Learn from what has happened. I've had some horrible things happen to me. God rescued me from all of them. Yes, I was shipwrecked. Yes, I was beaten. Yes, I'd been given the all the lashes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The Lord rescued me. I'm still here and I. And that's what's going on there. And then he says and this is a I think, a very, very important verse indeed.

 

All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. In other words, persecution can be and is often a not a sign that something is wrong. It's a sign that something is right. Evil people and imposters, mainly the false teachers here. We're going to be going from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But those of us that want to live a godly life are in fact going to be persecuted. For those of us who are living lies totally consecrated to God. There is going to be suffering. What's that verse? And Romans without suffering, no one. Help me. Romans eight. That word is. As without suffering, no one will see the Lord is. What is what is the verse floating in my head? Anyway, someone can find it. I remember the first time I preached on this and I talked to someone afterwards, she says, Do you mean I have to die for my faith? I said, No, that's not what Paul is saying. What Paul is saying is that when people go through the gate, they're fundamentally changed, right? You can't be what you were before. That's the old man. You put it off, you're putting on a new man. You are now salt and light. And the only way for salt to do its job is to be different from the meat. The only way for light to do its job is for it to be different from the darkness. And so we are fundamentally changed at the gate. And so as we choose the narrow path over the broad road, we are choosing to live out who we are. And that means that our lives are going to be different and it is going to bring us into conflict.

 

And at various levels we will be we will suffer. We will be persecuted for how we're different. Some people perhaps will be martyred, other people will just be teased. I teaching to the high school students I know. I know that you want to be in in high school. You want to be the in crowd. You want to be accepted. I'm going to say that the fact of the matter is that you are the salt, you are the light of the world, and that's going to make you inherently different from the other people. At me, at high school, and you have to be different if you are going to do your job of shining God's light into darkness. You you have to be different if you are going to be a preservative in that in the moral decay of your culture, there's high school for your moral decay and it's hard. So I think I think what Paul's saying is it doesn't have to be martyrdom, but it certainly means the fact that we are going to be different and that is going to bring us into conflict. And that conflict is a good thing. It indicates that we are different and that we are being salt and light. Tim Tennant told me the story that every summer he's the president of Asbury Seminary. Every summer for Christ got to be 33, 34 years. By now he has traveled to northern India to teach in a school. And this is an area where the Hindus are Hindus are very aggressive and there is a lot of persecution of the Christians. And he said, Bill, you never know. You'll never know what it's like until you actually do it yourself to to know that what he does, he stands by the back door to greet all the students come in.

 

And every morning he wonders, I wonder who got beat up last night. And he said every single day somebody walks in with one eye shut or the nose bent or obviously just got the living daylights kicked out of him. So every single day, he said, it's humbling to watch these kids get beat up and keep coming back to school and I'm supposed to be teaching them. Was a pretty, pretty powerful image, I think. Children and heirs, spears of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer. Yeah, there's. There's the verse. Thank you. Let me. Let me. Let me. Romans. Yeah. Don't you hate it when voices are floating in your head? You can't quite nail them down. I guess that's what memory work is for, right? Romans 817 That we are the we are children of God. And if children then were heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. Write down Romans 817, so I'll know it next time. You know, scary verse seems to say that nobody gets to heaven. That isn't that hasn't suffered for Christ, right? And again, this doesn't have to be martyrdom, but it's just the fact of the matter is we are changed at the gate. We we will, in our very essence, be in conflict with society. And that conflict should and will be noticed if it's true. But this is a you know, this is when I was doing the foundations curriculum, when I was preaching it as a New Believer series. You know, this was one of the very first things that I talk about it. We talk about conversion and then we talk about the fact that people are fundamentally changed in the conversion process, and that means their life is going to start to change.

 

And so we we encourage the new believers to look at their lives and say, just just watch for things to change, you know, where there was no love. You're going to start experiencing love, where there was no forgiveness. You're going to you're going to start realizing that you kind of want to forgive and where in the past you just wanted to be like everyone else, you're going to actually start wanting to be a little different. And the message of the of the talk is that that's going to start widening the gap between those on the broad road and those on the narrow path. And as that path widens, conflict happens. So that's what's going on in this verse. But it's a I think it's a great passage. So he goes to that and then he starts in on this passage of scripture. So we're now we're now moving into what is actually the primary passage in the Bible on the doctrine of inspiration. So let's and this is one of your suggested position papers. Excuse me, suggested position papers. So we'll slow down just a bit on this one. But as for you. Continue in verse 14, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed. I love that duality that he learned the content, but through the experiences of life, he came to firmly believe it, right? That's how you come to deeper and deeper conviction, right? First time as a new Christian, you read the text, you go, Oh, really? Okay. And then in the experiences of life, the truth of that passage is driven home and you realize that you believe it in newer and deeper ways and and hang on to it tighter and tighter, he said. Paul says, Timothy, can you know what you've learned? You know how firmly you believe it, in fact.

 

And one of the tests of of firmly believe. Why do you believe the Bible is true? I mean, let me ask it that way. Why do you believe the Bible is true? What has brought you to conviction that the Bible is true? Well, you've you've learned it. So that I mean, that's the first step. You got to kind of know the content. But in the experiences, the life you have, you have been tested and you have held on to it. So you become firmly convinced that's part of it. But also partly who did you learn it from? And are they reliable people? I remember when I became a Christian, I was seven or eight years old, sitting on the bed with mom. Mom always read us Bible studies and mom said, Billy, do you want to become a Christian? You know, what did I know? Seven or eight? Well, I just knew that I wanted to be my mom and dad's side wherever they were. I wanted to be right. And I trusted my mom and dad so much that it gave me confidence to believe that what they were saying was true. So who we learned from is really important, isn't it? And so as we are the teachers and as we are as are the pastors, you know, the question is, are we conducting ourselves in such a way that people can say, well, I, I so trust Dave as a person. I so trust Seth as a person, as a joke. Thank you. Dave didn't get it. I so trust Seth is the person that when he when he talks to me and he shares with me, I'm inclined to believe what he says because of the kind of person both Dave and Seth are.

 

We're having a class vote between Dave and Seth. Okay. Well, that's what's going on here. Knowing from whom you learned it, I mean, you just said Timothy, think back thinking your mom. Think of your grandma. Would they have led you astray? I mean, you can. You can believe what they say, right? How? From childhood you have been acquainted with the, quote, sacred writings. Okay. This is where this introduces the problem. What are the sacred writings with which Timothy would have been acquainted from childhood? Now it's the Old Testament. I remember his mom and his grandma were Christians. Timothy probably became a Christian, Paul's first missionary journey. But, you know, we're not that far away from the life and death and resurrection of Jesus. So there's there's no way that Timothy could have been raised from day one in a Christian Christian household. It's just timing wise, it's not really possible. His father was a Greek, so we believe that Eunice and Lois were Jews. Well, we know they were Jews. And at some point, when Timothy was still but somewhere along the line, they became Christians and Timothy eventually became Christians. But what Timothy was acquainted with from childhood was what we call the Old Testament, or what I tried to learn to call the Hebrew scriptures. I know that Jewish folks are little offended when we call their Bible the old. So it's easier to say the Hebrew scriptures. But that's what Timothy would have been acquainted with from childhood. So it's really important to the cause. There's a transition that's going to happen in this passage. And so you need to watch it so hard. From childhood, you've been acquainted with the sacred writings, which certainly is Genesis through Malachi. Okay. And these sacred writings are are able to make you wise for salvation.

 

Okay. There are people and in Old Testament times that are in heaven, right. The wise to make you salvation. Through faith. That could still be the Old Testament, right? I mean, the Old Testament is the message of faith. I love the illustration that we talked about the other day. There's no sacrifice for intentional sins is only sacrifices for unintentional sins. So from day one, the Jews knew that if they meant to do something wrong and they did it, the only way to get forgiven is to throw themselves in the merciful arms of God. Right? That's just that's just part of it. They've known from early on that the most important commandment is to love, not not to do sacrifices. It is the love, the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. So the Hebrew scriptures wise for salvation through faith. By your faith in what? Faith in Christ Jesus, you go. Wait a minute. How could Timothy have known that the sacred writings proclaim the message of salvation by faith in Christ? Now, when Dr. Kaiser comes here and his next time, he'll tell you because he sees if I'm remembering things correctly, that the messianic hope that is traced through the Old Testament is what they had faith in. I think a senior member at Chapel address where he talks about that. But I know there are people that believe that. But the fact that he says you've been familiar with these things from childhood and they're the message of Jesus Christ. I start to wonder at that point now. Yes, I know the Old Testament points to Christ fulfilled in Christ, but it's kind of I wonder if Paul is only talking about the Hebrew scriptures at this point.

 

Okay. So I just I'm going to walk you through how I walk through. But that was kind of at that point I go, Well, maybe that's the Hebrew scriptures, but this in Christ. Now, that was a little hard to see in the Old Testament. Okay. The problem. What happens then, though? Well, actually, I'm going to jump ahead in. Yeah. In 314, everything is pushing from 314 to 4 two. And in for chapter two. So he calls it sacred writings in verse 15, he calls it Scripture in 16. And then in chapter four, verse two, he calls Timothy to preach. The word. What's the word? But Paul had been calling on Timothy to preach only Genesis to Malachi. No, there's there's no way Paul would have done that. Now, we don't have a canon yet and all that kind of stuff. But because everything from 314 is pushing to chapter four, verse two, and because for two says preach the word. Well, most people are willing to do is to say that Paul is thinking of the Hebrew scriptures as interpreted by Christ. And what are we called the interpretation by Christ. We call it the gospel message. And then Paul's writings are the interpretation of the gospel message, in other words, the New Testament or the Greek Testament. There's you have to, I think, make some kind of transition. Because if Paul is only thinking of Genesis two, Malachi, then verse two doesn't make any sense to me. He just he wouldn't tell Timothy to preach. Just. Genesis two. Malachi It's going to be Genesis two. Malachi, as explained by Jesus, interpreted by Paul as understood by the New Testament Church. So yes, I think explicitly the sacred writings and perhaps even the all Scripture in 316 is focused on the Old Testament.

 

But I think you have to view it as the Old Testament, as interpreted by Jesus and Paul and as understood by the early church. Makes sense. I mean, it's a theological thing you have to do. But I think I think you end up having to do it. So it's just hard. From childhood, you've been acquainted with the sacred writings, which you're able to make your way through salvation, through faith in Christ Jesus. And then we come to the verse on inspiration. All Scripture is. Breathes out by God. And what we are what we are is a situation where there is no word to describe what Paul means. And so Paul does what Paul does. He makes up a word. He takes the word for God and he takes the word for breathe and he crams them together. And as they open to does all scripture is. And then the movie was the was, as I recall, the first translation that that really was willing to move beyond the word inspiration. The older translations all have inspiration here. The problem is the word inspiration has changed meanings. In older days, inspiration was an accurate word, but now there's a lot of things that are inspiring, right? I like Doonesbury. Um, you know, it's inspiring to me. My son likes Garfield. It's inspiring to him. That's not at all. I was talking about the Navy. Coined the phrase. All scripture is God breathes, God, hyphen breathes. And that's exactly what the Greek means. We came to this in the ESV, and we just said, Well, we can't copy the NIV because it's a unique word in the Navy. What do we do? And I was the one that actually suggested, well, let's see, how could we see what the interview was saying but not say the same words? How about breathing out? Oh, that's good.

 

So this is one of my phrases in the ESV. Uh, this is the doctrine of inspiration that all the scripture is breathed out by God. Okay, well, let's talk about this just a bit. First of all, the word. All. All scripture. The word all is actually singular, which is part of the challenge of this verse. Um, and if you translate it all scripture, what is doing is, is viewing all of Scripture as a single entity and saying absolutely all of it. The other way to read the word all is is with the word each. The Greek word in the singular can mean each or every. And if it means each or every, it means that every single piece of the all of scripture is breathed out by God. Every single book, every single scroll, every single jot and tittle is from God. So whether you go by all or each you end up the same basic meaning. The problem is, is coming out of Fuller Seminary. And this is when I was there. This is the big debates that were happening when I was in seminary was that they headed up the view that basically said every piece of scripture that is inspired by God is profitable. Holding out the options, that there are pieces of scripture that are not breathed out by God and therefore not authoritative. I know the word inerrant and infallible. You look among the dictionary, they have the same basic meaning. But what happened historically in American Christianity is that Fuller picked up the word infallible to describe the doctrine of inspiration that says the Scripture is true in areas of faith and practice, but not necessarily true in other areas such as science and history. And so when you hear the word infallible, if the person using it is historically sensitive in modern American culture, that's what they mean by the word infallible.

 

Um, in response to that is that you had the whole inerrancy business and inerrancy says that everything that Scripture says is true, scripture is true and all that it affirms. So those are that. And you can get both out of the Greek. I mean, it is part it's awkward, but you can read it. Every scripture that is breathed out by God is profitable. I mean, in the stuff's on the commentary. But I think it's a less natural reading of the Greek and perhaps even more importantly, it just makes no sense in context to me at all. Why would Paul, in this context, when he's trying to encourage Timothy to preach the word, why would he go out of his way to make a differentiation, saying, Well, you know, when I say preach the word, I'm going to say preach the word, but I don't really mean all the word. I mean, just find those parts of the word that are true and those are the pieces you preach. I mean, I just it's a bit of a caricature, but it's there's just it doesn't fit the context for me at all. It's either it's all the scripture is breathed out from the mouth of God, or every single piece of scripture is breathe out from God. I don't think anything else fits the context of the passage. Are you saying that the average audience who would have heard this might have interpreted a sentence one way or the other? I don't think so. I think in order I think in order to read this is saying only some scriptures from God. I think it's unnatural in the context and in the wording of the Greek, just because I mean, the problem is that there's a lot of things that are possible in Greek, and that's not the right question.

 

The right question is what's the most natural way to read it? I had a question in light of your view of soul, Sleep was really interesting. I did some Easter as an example. I was giving a seminar address on translation theory and we had a stump the translator session and unfortunately they stopped me. And the question was, you know, one of the primary verses of in the Whole Soul sleep debate is today you'll be with me in paradise. Today. And the question said, Is it possible to read the Greek de Jesus as a thief on the cross today? I mean, I'm saying this today, comma, you'll be with me in paradise. Which it can. But it is awkward as all get out. It's an unnatural ordering of the Greek. Plus, it makes no sense. I mean, is the argument Jesus hanging on the cross? He's obviously near death. And he said, I'm going to tell you something today. What? What like? As opposed to telling me tomorrow, you know, and a saying in Greek, what you do is you move things forward in the sentence to emphasize them. And so, I mean, the most natural reading of that versus Jesus as a thief on the cross, comma. Today you'll be with me in paradise now. True or not? I mean, that's not the point. The point is you can you can get Greek to say a lot of things, but a lot of the debate really has to be what's the most natural reading of it? What would people have just naturally heard? And I think this passage, they would hear the affirmation of the truthfulness of all scripture. The essence of the doctrine of inspiration is not how we got, it's not how we got scripture.

 

Lots of times, I think when we're talking about inspiration, we get all tied up with. Well, did he dictate it or did the people you know, I mean I mean, how how did it get done? And that's not in essence, that's not really what the doctrine of inspiration is. The doctrine of inspiration is the doctrine of source. And this verse says, The source of Scripture is God's mouth. Okay. So whether you believe or don't believe the doctrine of inspiration, what you are believing or not believing is where does it come from? Where does all scripture are? Where does every scripture come from? And according to Paul, every last bit of it comes from the very mouth of God. The other passage, of course, that comes up in these discussions is second. Peter one. And then versus 20 and 21. Peter writes. Knowing this, first of all, that no prophecy or 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. Um, so these are the two verses that are often used in discussing your view of Scripture and whether you do or do not believe it. In other words, the doctrine of inspiration says it makes no difference whether I stand here and read this or if Jesus appears and says it there exactly the same thing. My guess is if Jesus appeared on set, it probably would have slightly different impact on me. But in terms of the truthfulness of the message, there would be no difference for that second period. 3619 76 Yeah. Now people take calls just as they did in the other scriptures. Yeah. Yeah. The second Peter 316. That's it.

 

Yeah. It's, it's, that's another important verse in that because what it shows is that Peter is willing to call Paul writing scripture. And so Peter certainly sees does not see Paul's writings as inferior to the Old Testament, but he understands that they're just as authoritative as Jesus. A statement that would be a good reference from. I have invisible pins that they hide from me. Uh, that would, that would be another very good verse on inspiration. The point then that Paul makes is the because of source, because, um, Scripture comes from the mouth of God. It is. And I wish they put the word. Therefore it it is certainly what it means. It would be nice if the word were there. But also the idea is all scriptures brought out by God and is therefore profitable. Okay. Is profitable for teaching reproof, for correction and training in righteousness. And some of these words to perhaps a little hard to get at what they mean. Um, I came to the position that teaching and reproof both refer to theology, teaching what is true and reproving, what is false. And then that means a correction and training in righteousness refers to behavior that the training and righteousness is good stuff. Good behavior correction is when there's misbehavior that has to be fixed. But the the idea is because scripture comes from the mouth of God, it therefore carries his authority. And therefore it is a basis, at least at least the primary basis is profitable for determining what we believe and how we behave. And that's why Timothy is to hang on to Scripture so much. And it's why he has to preach it in his. Why you are to preach it. Because when you start mixing Garza ideas in your own good ideas, you are, I believe, in essence, denying the reality of inspiration.

 

Um. I know. You know, the whole thing of biblical illiteracy in the American church is just gargantuan. And when I hear a preacher preach his best ideas Sunday after Sunday, I have to conclude that there's deep theological problems. Because if a person really believes that all of this comes from the very mouth of God. Then you wouldn't dare. I mean, you wouldn't even think of mixing what God said with what you think. Right now. We have to interpret it. We have to explain it, and it comes through our lives experiences. I understand all that. But and, you know, when when some preachers just want, hey, here's what I think about such and such, and I go, Hey, I really don't care what you think about such and such. Because what comes out of your mouth has no necessary claim of validity. And when I see pastors mixing their own ideas with the word of God, I think there's a deep theological problem. And but it's something that all of us have to really struggle with and come to terms with as to whether we're going to be expository preachers or whatnot now. I really believe the pastors, I don't think it's generally good long term to be topical. I really believe in, you know, preaching through a passage. But I think you can be expository and respect the doctrine of inspiration very well. I think you can see a topic. Let's say you want to talk about gossip. Let's say you want to talk about benevolence or, you know, you can be topical. My encouragement is always go find the primary passage in Scripture that talks about the topic and then preach the passage. And in preaching the passage, you're honoring your doctrine of inspiration, and you're dealing with the topic that your church may need.

 

So unlike some people, I think you can be topical and biblical and expository at the same time. Although I almost always just picked a book and went through it. But anyway, that's that is the doctor of inspiration. Comes from Gods mouth embarrasses authority. We use it to determine what we believe and how we behave. And the end result of all that Verse 17 is that the man of God may be competent, and by competent, Paul says, I mean equipped for every good work. He's not perfect, he's not flawless. But it is is that's how you get competent as a preacher. It's how you be prepared and ready. You come to know the Bible. You come to be convinced that it's true, so convinced that even in the face of your own doubts or persecutions and suffering, you say, Nonetheless, I will preach every word of scripture. You use it to base your teaching. You use it to define your behavior. That's how you and I become competent. We don't become competent by reading the latest. Jesus junk novel or the latest self-help. Those things are important in terms of extraditing culture and extraditing our audience. Are people coming to understand what they're being exposed to? I think it's important to know that stuff. Um, you know, I bought, um, I bought a couple of atheist books lately because I just. I'm out of touch with that part of culture, and I want to read what an angry atheist thinks. I just. You have to know what's out there in the culture, right? Um, but ultimately, what makes us competent is, is not that what makes us competent? First and foremost is scripture. The the phrase in verse 17. Um. If there's any one reason I got on the Navy committee for a couple of reasons.

 

Well, one, I just wanted to translate again. Uh, another reason was I wanted to help produce a Bible that that my daughter would read and that she wouldn't be offended by all the male oriented language. But it was this first that that pushed my buttons because in the old the t and I v I forget what it was, but it I thought it was a terrible translation. They don't have the t and i v I've expunged it from my memory, I think. If 317 that the something like the people of God so that all God's people may be competent. And then there was a footnote to the other footnote in your software. Footnote was something like Servants of God. And it was, I thought, such a poor translation because it's Timothy, and when you make it plural to get away from the male language, you lose the fact that this is how Timothy is going to be competent and expanding out from Timothy, of course, it's all Christian people. So in intent them in the team, I've got it right. It was this was it was the only time I wrote a letter to the translation committee before I was on it and said, Please, please, please change. Second, Timothy 317 is completely wrong. And so we at least got it to be a singular so that the Interview 2011 says that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped. And then we got a footnote and I can't I'm not getting it on my phone, but at least we got a singular. So be easier. So what you don't want to do as a translator is you don't want the pastor to have to correct your translation from the pulpit. And I would really encourage you not to ever do that.

 

When I was on the ECB committee and I was still preaching, I was preaching for some reason of the naive and I into Sundays in a row, I corrected the Navy. And at the end of the second service, a rather young Christian came up to me. Her name was Cathy, and she had tears in her eyes and she says, Do you mean I can't trust my Bible? And she loved her. And I've and she was clutching it like this when she said to me, and I can't trust my Bible. That was the last time I corrected a Bible translation from the pulpit. Encourage you to find some way if you don't agree with it. That's what footnotes are there for, by the way. And I think it's really effective to be able to say that was the translation here. But check the footnote, and I kind of prefer the footnote. Something along those lines or or I think this other translation is I'm a little more comfortable with this. I mean, just don't say that translation was wrong and I learned my lesson, I think, on that. Or throw another translation off and say, I love how this translates now. That's great. I love how the adult gets this one. Yeah, but it's dangerous to tell. And again, I don't the word layperson, but there's I don't know have any of the word is dangerous to tell an untrained person that did the bible the translation got it wrong. But it's, um, it was really frustrating because I thought it was important to contextually understand this verse that he's talking about. Timothy. And then what's true for Timothy is true for anyone who is a follower of Jesus Christ, all of God's people. Anyway, all the Scriptures breathe out by God is therefore authoritative, is therefore our basis for our teaching and for our behavior.

 

And as we go, we learn those things. We become competent. It means we're ready for every good work. It doesn't excuse me. It doesn't mean that we have we know everything, right? And by the way, Man of God is an Old Testament expression for a messenger of God. So Paul is just picking up that that background to it. Specifically, Timothy, and by implication, all Christians, men and women. The Bible tells us everything that we need to know for our salvation and our sanctification, right? It's the doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture. Everything, not everything we want to know is in it. There are still the secret things of God, but everything we need to know for salvation and for sanctification has been revealed. It's a wonderful Protestant doctrine coming out of the Reformation. We don't need priests. We don't need the church to tell us what these things mean. We can figure it out for ourselves. So he goes through and he spells out theologically this this powerful picture of the Old Testament as interpreted by Jesus and Paul and the other apostles. And then he says, Chapter four, verse one, it says, okay, here's the point, Timothy. I charge you and can't remember who's watching you, Timothy. You're in the presence of God. You're in the presence of Christ Jesus. And this is the Christ Jesus who's going to judge everyone. Remember? Remember who's watching your ministry. And I charge you by his appearing. I remember he's coming back again. Remember what's at stake? And I'm charging you in light of the kingdom and the value of the Kingdom of God has. Here's what I want to charge you. Preacher, preach it. Preach the word, be ready in season and out of season emerge no matter whether you're you want to or not.

 

Doesn't matter how difficult or easy it is. I mean, you have to preach the word in any and all situations. Matt, what's jail saying about missionaries and preaching? Jail says in the mission field, you have to be ready to preach, pray or die. Always ready. J. Williams started a mission called New Directions International that met used to work for. You always got to be ready. Always be ready. They say that's one of the unusual things about Martin Lloyd-Jones, you know, the pastor in an England. Yeah, Westminster Chapel. And that no matter where he went, he was ready to preach. And even when he was on vacation, he would offer to preach if the pastor would like him to preach. And I'm assuming Martin Lloyd-Jones walked up to a country preacher says, like me to preach, you go, Yes, sir. He was always ready to preach in season and out of season, and that means you must be ready to reprove. Kurt rebuke exhort in embrace the whole gamut from correcting error to encouraging truth, and yet do it with patience and do it with teaching. Do it doctrinally. Do it correctly.