Healthy Church Part 2

  Is your church a Healthy Church? - The Bible.
2 Timothy 3 verses 10-17


Famous last words - some are poignant, some funny and some tragic. For example there was a writer called Bennett who was alleged to have said "Of course the water is safe to drink", only for him to die of typhoid. Dr Johnston once said "Nothing concentrates a man's mind so much as the knowledge he is to be hanged in a fortnight." 2 Timothy is Paul's last letter, written to the young Timothy. In this letter Paul concentrates on the Gospel and Christian duty. Paul concentrates on the grace of God and the outworking of that in the life of a believer towards God and towards others. So this is Paul's last letter to his young pastor Timothy.
2 Timothy 3 verses 1-10 - in these opening verses Paul outlines a very dark picture of human behaviour. When you read those verses you see a picture of the world in which Paul and Timothy lived and I think you will also agree a portrait of the world in which we live today. In verses 6-9 Paul outlines the behaviour of the false teachers of Timothy's day. And we then come to our reading this morning.
Verses 10-11 - Paul wants to encourage the young Timothy by reminding him of the example he had seen with Paul. In contrast to this the false teachers has lived a very different life. Paul begins verse 10 with a very emphatic 'You', emphasising a clear contrast between the young Timothy and the false teachers of verses 1-9.
'know all about' - literally you follow closely, or follow faithfully as a rule of life a standard of conduct. He has not only known it mentally, and assented to it, but has also followed it closely, but what has he known fully about Paul?
Paul speaks of 'My teaching' (or doctrine) which was seen in his 'manner of life' or way of life. Paul's conduct was consistent with his teaching. Oh, if only we could say that of every Christian today.
'My purpose' which was expressed in his 'faith' lived out in his manner of life.
'Patience' which is that self-restraint, fruit of the Spirit, when faced with provocation. The very opposite of anger in a given situation, such as the persecution and suffering which he had faced for the sake of the gospel.
'Love' - divine love produced in the heart of the yielded believer by the Holy Spirit. How very different from the self-love of the false teachers of verses 1-9.
'Endurance' - whilst under pressure, which does no surrender to circumstances and does not succumb under trial. This is one characteristic that we desperately need in the church today. Too many Christians give up too easily. Too many Christians expect life to be easy with no trials or tribulations on the road to heaven - Psalm 23 should persuade you otherwise.
'Persecutions' - coming form the verb 'to pursue'. Paul had once pursued the Christian believers from town to town in his zeal to persecute them. Now he too had experienced such persecution. Why would we expect anything different than our brothers and sisters in Christ?
'Sufferings' or 'afflictions.' Paul lists the places that he had faced such sufferings. These are recorded for us in Act 13 and 14. Take Lystra for example. Timothy would have been familiar with this episode in the life of Paul as he was a young man at the time and converted under Paul's ministry there. Paul was bombarded with stones and left for dead in Lystra. Timothy would have had poignant memories of this event.
Verses 12-13 here is a very important verse for us all this morning. Suffering and persecution is a normal part, and to be expected, of living a godly life. Those who determine to be constant in godly living take note of this. Godliness is not being sanctimonious, nor is it self-righteousness but a life lived according to God's Word. You see the devil will happily ignore a worldly Christian but faithfulness to Christ and the ways of God will draw his hostility. What a contrast the life of the evil impostors of Paul's day. This is the only time in the NT where 'impostors' is used of people. The word originally meant a wailer or howler, a juggler or enchanter. Over time it came to be associated with those who practiced the deception and with witchcraft. These false teachers were themselves deceived and have set out to deceive others. Their evil character has been described in verses 2-5 and the impostor's seductive part has been outlined by Paul in verses 6-9. The authorised version of the Bible spoke of these people 'shall wax worse and worse.' We would say they are going from bad to worse. The Greek has the sense of a man cutting a way through thick vegetation for others to follow him. Such is the description Paul gives to the false teachers who lead people astray from the Word of God.
Verse 14 - we have one of the great 'But as for you...' statements of the NT. In contrast to these evil impostors Timothy is live a very different life. He is to 'continue in...' that is he is to abide or remain in the way of life and teaching in which he is already established. Timothy is not only to grab hold of the truth but he is also to allow the truth to grab hold of him. The truth must be believed and be seen to be believed in the manner or way of life lived by Timothy. Timothy's daily life was to reveal that the truth had taken hold of him. It is not enough to know the truth but also to be seen to live according to the truth. Again a lesson we all need to obey. As the evil around Timothy increases and persecution presses in on every side Timothy must stand firm in the knowledge that the truth of God does not change but remains constant and is unchanging in its character.
Listen to what Paul tells Timothy - hold on to the faith once taught 'that you have learned..become convinced of.' It was not just a mental assent but a truth that had wrought a change in his heart and life and in his way of life. He had become fully persuaded of the truth of God's Word. He had two reasons for his confidence:
First, he knows from whom he had learned that truth. He had learned from Paul, from Eunice his mother and Lois his grandmother. Their trustworthy character is the key to this. He had heard the truth from them but as equally importantly he had seen them live the truth each day. That is the key isn't it- we need to be seen to be living according to what we believe. There are enough Christians who do not live it the way they talk it today. That is why Paul has repeatedly emphasised his manner of life to Timothy - because he lived by the truth each day, even in the face of suffering and persecution.
You see the custom of the Jews was from the earliest age to teach their children the Word of God and to expect them to memorise it. We have lost that today, we should not be so quick to despise the memorising of scripture. Timothy's heritage was the holy Scriptures, the sacred writings (the OT) which his mother, grandmother and pastor Paul had taught him. Look at what Paul says - this is able to make him wise (in preparation) unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. The Scriptures that he was taught disciplined him in obedience to God and pointed to the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, through whom salvation would come. There is a simple little lesson for us all there - do not neglect to teach your children the Bible, the whole Bible and not just the NT. You know one of the field workers for Fields of Life gets angry when people only give children New Testaments. She says 'it is like giving them half a meal.' Think for a moment about Handel's Messiah - most of it is taken from the OT and yet it is all about Christ - the OT reveals Jesus Christ - it did to Timothy.
Verses 16-17 Paul now speaks to Timothy of the written Word of God. 'All' or 'Every Scripture is God breathed.' When writing to Timothy here Paul is speaking of the OT, the sacred scriptures but these two verses can be expanded to include the NT as well - when we place them alongside 2 Peter 3 verse 2 and verses 15-16, 1 Thess. 2 verse 13 and 1 Timothy 5 verse 18. These verses link the OT and NT writers together and Peter includes Paul's writings with 'the other scriptures.' Paul himself in 1 Thessalonians refers to his letter as 'the Word of God.'
Here Paul joins two Greek words together to speak of Scripture as being 'God-breathed' (theopneustos). This word is used only here in the NT and means literally 'God-breathed.' The breath of God. We know that only things that are living have breath. Paul is saying the Scriptures were breathed out by God, brought into being by the very breath of God. He then speaks of their usefulness:
Teaching the truth or doctrine. Both the content of the teaching and the action of obedience to the teaching is spoken of here. It is the impartation of knowledge which requires action. Scripture is inspired by God to transform and not just to inform.
Rebuking - which is to rebuke in order to bring about conviction of the sinner (Titus 1 verse 9). A good example of this is the letter to the Galatians. Correction - the setting right of that which is wrong, or the restoration to an upright position of that which has fallen. The restoration of a sinner to a right state with and before God.
Instruction - conveys the idea of training. Literally Paul uses the word for the rearing of a child. All believers need to be trained in righteousness and this must be by the application of the Word of God. This is to be both inward and outward.
Verse 17 the outcome of all this is that the Christian is perfect, brought to maturity by the Word of God working in their life so that they may be 'thoroughly equipped for every good work' which according to Paul in Ephesians 2 God has prepared in advance for them to do. The imagery here of being thoroughly equipped is of a vessel being fitted out and furnished for readiness. For Paul it is the Word of God which fits out, furnishes, the believer to be ready to live a manner of life worthy of a follower of Christ.
Conclusion
Is your church a healthy church when it comes to the Bible? If we believe that this is the Word of God, that it contains all we need to know for salvation and will enable us to be equipped to follow Christ - what are we doing with it? Reading it daily? Living it daily? Teaching it to our children? Are we using it in our lives to teach and train, correct and rebuke so that we commend the gospel? Well only you can answer that for yourself.
Amen.