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I suggest we read from verse 8.
Second Timothy 3, verse 8.
Now as Jonas and John brace withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth. Men of corrupt minds reprobate concerning the faith, but they shall proceed no further, for their folly shall be manifest unto all men as theirs also was.
But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering, charity, patience, persecutions, afflictions which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra, What persecutions I endured, but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yeah, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution, but evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.
But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned, and hast been assured of knowing of whom thou hast learned them, and that from a child. Thou hast known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfectly.
00:05:24
Perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
It'd be nice if we could get through this chapter this afternoon and get a little outline of what we have here, but I would like to just make this qualifying comment before we go on. And that is that this morning as we took up these characteristics, these things that characterize the professing church in the last days. It doesn't mean that every believer who isn't gathered to the Lord's name is characterized by these things because they while they may be in a false position or in on unscriptural ground as far as.
The fellowship they're connected with, they may exhibit moral piety and godliness, perhaps putting many of us to shame. And so there are many dear, sweet Christians that I enjoy fellowship with up to a point, who are not gathered to the Lord's name. Not only that, but brethren, we want to be thankful for any way that the gospel and the truth of God goes forth. I'd like to just take a moment and go to the book of Philippians because there we see Paul's spirit and attitude in connection with this.
With the, when the days of the Apostle Paul, there were those who were preaching and they were preaching out of contention. They were preaching with the wrong motive. Some were even hoping to add to his, his afflictions. He was in prison when he wrote to the Philippian Saints and many were hoping to add to his bonds and so on. But I want to read what Paul says here in that context. He says, uh, I'll read from verse 15 of chapter one.
Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife, and some also of goodwill. The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely supposing to add affliction to my bonds, but the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defense of the gospel. Now this is the verse I want you to notice particularly. What then, notwithstanding every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached, and I therein do rejoice, yeah, and will rejoice.
In other words, Paul was thankful for any way that the truth of God went forth. We have the privilege of shipping, uh, about 22 tons of Bibles and literature into the English Caribbean and Guyana, South America every year. And I'm thankful that probably 95% of that is taken and used by those who have never been gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, but they're believers who are getting out the gospel.
Encouraging the Saints of God, having young people's meetings. Sometimes we get orders for Bruce Anstey's pamphlets because they want to use them as study guides in their youth meetings and so on. We rejoice, we're thankful for any way the gospel and the truth is going out. And so the Lord said to the disciples on one occasion when they saw some that weren't walking with them, they said, should we go and forbid them or call down fire from heaven? Oh no, the Lord said, he that is not against us is for us.
And so I just say that to qualify our remarks this morning, lest there be any misunderstanding of, you know, it's it's interested, it's significant to realize that we who by the grace of God are gathered to the Lord's name, are in the great house in spite of ourselves. And so in the chapter before we have the church, the the House of God in the last days has become this great house, a mixture of profession and reality. But within that great house there are many.
True, sincere believers.
Who are seeking as to the light they have and the the measure of grace they've been given to go on to the Lord. So what we are talking about here are general characteristics that characterize us in the last days. If you just allow me to make one more comment and that is that in Scripture we are never told to separate from true believers. What we are told to separate from is evil. That which is not according to the mind of God, whether it's moral evil.
Doctrinal evil or an ecclesiastical connection that is not on scriptural ground and according to the truth of God and brethren in separating from one or more of those aspects of evil. If that means there are true believers I cannot go on in fellowship with, then I have to say so be it. But it is evil that we are told to separate from and it is the spirit of things in the great house that we are told not to let affect our own conduct and our and our walk. So I I trust that is helpful.
00:10:20
And then he brings before us these two Old Testament examples of Janus and jamborees. Now in the Old Testament, if we were to go back to Exodus 7 and, and and so on, we would find that there were in Pharaoh's court, there were these magicians that were brought to magicians that were brought out by Pharaoh. And they opposed Moses and Aaron in the miracles that they did and the truth they presented. They're not named in the Old Testament.
But here we find that the apostle by inspiration, he named them specifically and they sought to oppose what they were doing. And what's significant is they were able to copy many of the miracles and the things that Moses and Aaron did. And again, we need to be careful. There's much today that is a coffee or seems like it is the truth. But when we get right to the root of it, we find that there's something else.
Why are they mentioned here when they're not? When we're when the names are not given an access, what is the significance of their of their names being given here?
Because those that are imitators of the truth, and so they imitated the power of God. They didn't have the power of God, but they imitated it. And so I believe he gives the names because they are significant. The names mean Jenny's means he mocked or he deceived. And then this other name, Jan Breeze means a diviner or a sooth Sayer. And so it's evident that they were deceptive. They were using.
The power of Satan, they were under the influence of Satan. They were agents of Satan to oppose Moses at the time that he faced umm, Pharaoh and delivered his message. It's interesting in Acts chapter 2, I'll just refer to this, uh, in Acts chapter 2, verse 22, there's three words that are used in connection with the power of what the Lord, uh, did in his, uh, ministry, the work that his father gave him to do. It says Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles.
And wonders and signs. And then Paul by inspiration and 2nd Thessalonians uses the same words verse chapter two of Second Thessalonians verse nine. And he speaks of the imitation of the Antichrist and those that are his agents as well. Satan's agents, Second Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 9. Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power.
And signs and lying wonders.
And so the Lord Jesus brought blessing from the heart of God to his people. Every work of, uh, every miracle act of power, a sign was he delivered, uh, souls from the power of sin and Satan. And there was tremendous blessing brought. But these are signs. They were evidence of power. But as you say, it was satanic power. It was the influence of the demonic world.
And so they're exposed and their names are given.
God leaves the He leaves that covered in the Old Testament, but he exposes it, and I believe partly because their names really mean deception. He mocked and a diviner. It exposes the fact that they were under satanic control.
Has then too, we find in the next verse that God is in full control of everything, and God only allows man to go so far. He only allows Satan to go so far, and so he says they shall proceed no further.
In other words, he says, Timothy, if I can apply it for our hearts, Timothy, I'm in full control. There's a rise of evil, and we see today the seeds of apostasy being sown. But, brethren.
Take comfort, we will never see the full blown apostasy this side of the rapture. Well, we're here in this world. There are two things that are hindering the full blown tide of apostasy from rising. One is the presence of the believer. We're the salt of the earth and salt is a preservative. Now the salt can lose its savor, we can lose our testimony, but we are the salt of the earth and so we're preserving the full blown tide of evil.
00:15:18
People say, oh, I'll be glad when those Christians are gone. They have no idea what they're talking about.
But there's something else too, and we get it in Second Thessalonians that the Spirit of God is here and he is hindering again the full tide of apostasy from rising, because he that now hindereth will hinder until he be taken out of the way. Because when we go at the rapture, the Spirit of God goes to, He doesn't leave till we leave, as we've already said in these meetings. That's why on the last page of the Word.
It says the Spirit and the Bride say come. Why does the Spirit say come? Because he's here, and he doesn't leave till we leave. And so we have the salt of the earth. There's the salt of the earth, the Spirit of God, the restrainer of evil, and they will be here until the rapture. And I say I find that a great comfort to my own soul. Yes, things are waxing worse and worse, and the moral darkness is deepening every hour over the Western world.
But brethren, it's only going to go so far. God puts His hand here, and like Janice and Jamboree, they shall. And it's the spirit of things. I think it's what he bringing out here more than the individuals. He uses them as an example, but he says that spirit of things, that progression of things, I've got my hand there and I'll only let it go so far.
Ends chapter 2 where you quoted in verse six. It speaks of another hindrance. And so he says what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. Now you know what withholdeth. What is it? It's the governments of this world that God has ordained. They resist. They are ordained of God to resist the evil and to keep a cap on it and to judge those that are evil. And then we have the Spirit of God as well.
In verse seven, so the apostle Paul speaks of two that resist evil, those governments that are raised up of God and then the Spirit of God as well. And I'm sure that what Jim has said too in connection with the believer we know in figure Lot was in Sodom and Gomorrah. God could not judge Sodom and Gomorrah until the righteous were removed. And so Lot was removed and judgment fell.
And the rest of the chapter, and this was really one of my main exercises in suggesting this portion, is to see now how Paul sets before Timothy encouragement to go on. And first of all, he brings before him, brings before Timothy Paul's life, what Paul had seen or what Timothy, I should say, had seen, exemplified in the life of the apostle Paul. And it's interesting.
You mentioned the list of things that God has in Scripture, and I've often said the same thing and let me just reiterate it.
Because it's been a help to me in my study of the Word of God. When God lifts two or more things in Scripture.
He doesn't list them haphazardly. I like to do the shopping when I'm home. It gets me out of the office and Faye, Faye doesn't like to, to shop if she doesn't have to. So she'll make me out grocery list. I think, uh, at home on Thursdays is when the, the various ads for the grocery store come. And so Faye will make me out of grocery list. And if I was to say to Faye, why did you list these items in that way, she'd say, well, it's just the way I California. I thought of the, what we needed or I came up with them as I flipped through the ads.
She doesn't list them in regard to the aisle that they're going to be found in so that I can go consecutively up one aisle and down the other of the grocery store. No, it's haphazard. And we often, as you said in the previous meeting, we often list things just haphazardly as they come. That came to mind. But I say to those who are younger, it was helpful for me to get a hold of the fact when I was young that when you see a list of two or more things, notice how God lists them. There's always an importance to the order.
And as we start verse 11 or verse 10 here, you'll notice what comes first.
But thou hast fully known my doctrine. Now if I had been writing this, I probably would have put some of the other things that are listed here first. Maybe the manner of life. Maybe my persecutions are what I felt I went through for for the Lord. But he lists, first of all, doctrine. Why? Because if we're going to have sound, if we're going to have a sound life, if we're going to walk for the Lord's glory.
00:20:21
There must be sound teaching at the bottom of it, at the basis of it. Now doctrine is just another word for teaching.
And so in this epistle, the first epistle and the 2nd epistle, you have the word doctrine or teaching 13 times. Paul is stressing to Timothy the need for sound doctrine and sound behavior is based on sound doctrine. It must be. And so Paul says, you fully know my doctrine. Now what was Paul's doctrine? Well, it's been brought before us already in these meetings.
It was the truth that Paul was given by divine inspiration.
And as we've had, you cannot really have sound behavior in your life and understand your true position and calling here in this world unless you go to Paul's doctrine. We're going to notice later on, we won't take it up now, but we're going to notice later on in this chapter. He brings other aspects of the word of God before us. But he stresses at the beginning, Timothy, you've heard my my teaching, what God has given me.
You've known it. Now, everything else that's listed, I believe there are nine things that are listed here, and everything else that is listed is built on sound doctrine. And that's the way we need to build our lives as well.
Robert, you mentioned about an outline of truth and I just explained, so we understand because there might be some here who say, well how can we have a outline of the whole word of God and how do you know it says Paul said on another occasion, we know in part and we prophecy in part, and you can spend your whole life studying the word of God or even Paul's doctrine and you're not going to get it all. We know in part, in prophecy in part, and not till we get home to glory.
Well, that which is in part be done away with. But on the other hand, it's not hard to just have some understanding of what the different writers bring before us, even the Old Testament just to see Genesis is the book of beginnings, Exodus, we have redemption and and Leviticus we have we have have worship Israel worship Numbers is the wilderness book and and so on Deuteronomy we remember.
And just to have some idea of of in in a sentence or two, what the Old Testament writers bring before us, the New Testament to realize that each of the evangelists that the four gospel writers, they each presented different aspect of things. Paul's ministry is a little different than Peter's ministry. John has a characteristic James and so on. Just to have some little understanding. And that's a safeguard. It's like the the jigsaw puzzle. I don't know if young people are children, do jigsaw puzzles like we did when we were children.
That was, uh, entertainment on a snowy winter's evening when we were growing up. But when we got out of 500 or 1000 piece jigsaw, what did we do? First we did the outline, we took the edge pieces and when we got the edge, the outline done, then it helped us to fill in the rest of the, of the pieces and not put pieces in the, in the wrong place or try to force pieces where they didn't fit. And so if you know what Paul's ministry, Paul brings before us the church.
The heavenly calling of the church, John brings before us the family of God and so on. Again, Peter brings before us the wilderness. Those are just little keys that keep us from miss applying Scripture. So that was fully known my doctrine. But then there is a manner of life and other things that that go with it. There's a practical side. So again, sound teaching will lead to sound behavior and a real testimony in our Christian pathway.
Typically taught us that we were heavenly citizens. We didn't belong to this world at all. And so his manner of life was consistent with it. And Paul taught the younger generation and he taught Timothy. Timothy had observed Paul in action. He was, Paul didn't speak one thing in private and then one thing in public. He spoke in a very consistent way in his, uh, testimony and in his teaching. We get that and might just turn to it in Acts chapter 20, I think it is.
00:25:30
And Paul says that in verse 20, Acts 20 and verse 20. I kept back nothing that was profitable on you unto you. He's speaking to the Ephesian elders, but have showed you and have taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Well, Paul had a line of things that was given to him, of God-given to him by revelation.
By the risen head in glory. And he delivered that once to the Saints. But Timothy was diligent and he had an outline of that line of truth. He could understand and know and appreciate what Paul taught. I think Mr. Darby's translation says in verse 10 that he had fully followed up. Fully followed up.
He knew Paul's doctrine and then he observed Paul's life and then he observed Paul's purpose. Paul only had one goal. It was Christ, and he wanted to, uh, please his master. He wanted to please the one who had loved him and given himself for him. He had a real purpose to his life and he was willing to suffer long-suffering, charity or love, patience, persecutions. There are enemies without.
And there are enemies within.
Not all enemies are without. And so he speaks of persecutions, and I think he speaks a little bit further on of persecutions in verse 12. Yeah, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. That's the enemy from the outside who wants to shut down the Christian testimony, wants to shut down your testimony. If you're faithful to Christ. He wants to destroy that testimony. But then we have enemies within. Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. That's within the Christian testimony, what we were Speaking of earlier.
Those that say they're Christian, those that say they're trying to serve Christ, but really they're enemies from within and perhaps even imitating the power of God. And so the apostle Paul doesn't mince any words. He speaks very plainly. And so he's telling Timothy, he's giving this to him, this instruction that he might be safeguarded in an evil day. And we need to be safeguarded. Not everything that is written in the name of Christ.
That says it's Christian. Not every book is a book that we should read. And I was just reading. I read a lot of ministry because we need to be refreshed ourselves. If we're going to feed any anyone else, we need to be fed ourselves. I read a lot of mystery, and I have tended to read a little more of Mr. Darby's ministry lately, and it will surprise you that he writes at a very understandable level in many of his lectures.
If you read some of his lectures, very understandable. You don't need a PhD or anything to read Mr. Darby's writings. I would just encourage you as those that are younger in the faith or younger people, young men, read the that ministry read some of these older writers. It's not complicated. Some of the most profound writings that Mister Darby has are on some of those subjects of the Lord's coming and some of the.
John's ministry and so on, very understandable. And so Timothy had these outlines. He had observed the persecution in verse 11 in Iconium Antioch, Iconium Lystra. He knew how Paul had suffered for the truth. And Paul says, you know, it's all worth it. I endured. But out of them all the Lord delivered me. And so we can count on the Lord's deliverance. And if we're not going to be delivered.
From the persecution we'll be delivered through it. And the Lord Jesus was delivered. He cried unto his God on the cross. My God, my God, why is thou forsaken me? In in chapter in the 22nd Psalm, he speaks of crying to God and not being heard and so on. But he was heard and he was delivered by death and through resurrection. He was delivered not in the way that sometimes we might think we might. We have an idea of how we should be delivered.
00:30:10
But God knows how to deliver the faithful, and so He is able to deliver us in the way that He chooses.
Have an easy life in connection with his service for Christ. He wasn't appreciated even by his own brethren. He had to say all they that be in Asia are turned away from me didn't mean they turned away from the Lord, but they didn't follow on with the apostle Paul and the teaching that he he had been he had been given. He suffered from without as well as has been said and you know, brethren, we enjoy today.
The liberty in this land and on this continent to meet in this way, and we didn't have to lock the doors or meet in secret or like some of our brethren, trickle into a meeting so that the authorities don't see a stream of people with their Bibles coming together and so on. I've been in countries where we had to meet very circumspectly and where you only had a meeting one night in one place. And it was when the, when the brethren came, they made sure they didn't all get there at once. And maybe over the course of a couple of hours they would come and we'd have a cup of tea or a cup of coffee and it looked like a social gathering.
When it's time for the meetings, we shut the everything's closed up. Sometimes we don't sing because we don't want to.
Give any indication to those around that we're having a Bible meeting rather than we don't have to do that and thank God for it. But brethren, what we enjoy here in North America is not normal Christianity. Normal Christianity is what you have in the book of the Acts. A normal Christianity is what the Apostle Paul described here. And it's interesting. I think it's the 23rd verse of the 20th chapter of Acts. You can go back and look at it sometime.
He says there in summing up his his ministry and his travels, he says in every city bonds and afflictions abide in me. Now in coming to Pella for this conference this weekend, if I knew I was gonna have bonds and afflictions when I got here, would I have come?
Be a real test of faith, wouldn't it? And you'd want to be pretty sure you had the Lord's mind. But Paul said in every city when he went to Philippi or Troaz or Ephesus or wherever he went, he expected he was going to have some kind of physical persecution.
Rather, I'm looking for the Lord to come this afternoon. But if the Lord leaves us here, we may suffer in more ways than perhaps we do now. However, I used to struggle with this verse. Robert will forgive me because we mentioned this in Kirkland last weekend, but I want to just notice verse 12. Yeah. And all they that will live godly in Christ Jesus.
Shall suffer persecution, not might, and this used to bother me.
Because I thought, well, we don't suffer persecution the way Paul did or the way he described in the previous couple of verses. So are we living godly? But I believe this, that there are two kinds of persecution that a Christian is going to suffer for their faithfulness for Christ. One is physical. And there are many of our brethren today in other corners of the world who are suffering physical persecution.
In prison, being tortured and even facing martyrdom this very day, we may never be called on to do that here in North America.
But there is a reproach connected with following Christ. There's either physical persecution or there's a reproach. And I'm gonna say this to my own heart and I'll and I perhaps it will exercise your soul too.
If we are not suffering reproach in our daily life, whether it's in the neighborhood we live in, whether it's at work, at school, or whatever, we need to question our own souls. And I can't answer for you, and you can't answer for me, but we must need to question our own souls. Are we living godly in Christ? In other words, if I can put it another way, in the measure in which you and I reflect something of Christ.
In our lives from day-to-day there will be a reproach, and in the measure in which we seek to be faithful to the name of Christ without taking any other of the celebrated names in Christianity Today, there will be a reproach. Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, and we might suffer reproach. No bearing his reproach. So I just say that to encourage our hearts. We're thankful for what we enjoy as liberties here. But if we are reflecting something of Christ and being faithful to him, to the to Paul's doctrine, to the truth of God's Word, we are going to suffer in one way or another.
00:35:32
It may come from our own families, Jim. Yes, absolutely.
Keep in mind I I know for years I didn't catch it. Uh, because.
We don't, it's not the way we normally express ourselves, but the word will here is not an expression of some future action. We say I will, uh, eat supper or something like that. And we're talking about the future of future action. But what's talking here? What's talking about here is those that desire, uh, to live godly or wish to live godly.
It's and and I think the persecution will be.
Somewhat reflected or reflective of the intensity of our desire to live godly. Now I'd like to ask somebody to tell us what this word godly means. We in the previous reading meeting, we talked about the word piety and pious, which are the words that Darby uses in his translation. But piety and Pius are not in current, umm, vogue and godly and godliness has lost a lot of his meaning too. Because somebody please tell us what it means to live godly and what godliness is.
Well, I have one that satisfied me, but I'd I'd rather hear somebody else.
To display, to appreciate and display the character of God down here, God like this, yes.
Ugliness is it's really a short form of shortened expression. God, we could say God likeness or we could say godliness. And so that's the desire of the Lord that we would express his moral features in this world. I was, uh, thinking of, uh, Acts chapter 19. It uses this word continue thou in verse our verse 14. But in Acts chapter 19, there was a beginning. When it says continue, it really infers that you began.
And that now you have to press forward and keep going. So there was a good beginning. Timothy had a good beginning. And so in chapter 19 of Acts and verse 19 or verse 17, it says this was known to all the Greek, Jews and Greeks also dwelling in Ephesus. And fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. And many that believed came and confessed and showed their deeds. Many of them also which used curious arts, brought their books together and burned them before all men.
And they counted the price of them and found that 50,000 pieces of silver. These are uh, books, uh, occult books. They are, it costs, I think it was uh, for a, a Roman slave, something like uh, umm, 30 pieces of silver. You could buy a slave for 30 pieces of silver. So you could buy with the value of these books, 16166 slaves. I mean, it was an awesome figure.
But.
The Apostle Paul and those that were engaged in the work of presenting Christ to the heathen in the darkness of the heathen world went into that world, into Satan's stronghold in Europe and in that part of the world where they were steeped in all kinds of satanic occult practice and so on. And they got saved. And there was a light that shone in the brightness of the glory of Christ was displayed in the persons of these individuals. And they had a fire, and they burned those things that they had been associated with before.
And someone has said, umm, this is the young man's fire. Have you had the young man's fire? Is there something in the life, something in the bookshelves that you have something in the home that you shouldn't have? You need to have the young man's fire. You need to get rid of it. Well, Timothy had, uh, fully followed up on the apostles doctrine. He understood it, he enjoyed it and he had a, an outline of it. He had a, he was a mature believer. And the apostle Paul says, continue.
It's not good enough just to have a good beginning. He says continue in it, continue thou and the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of knowing of whom thou hast learned them. And so that's why this verse is exercised me when I was a young man and I still feel exercised about it is of whom thou hast knowing of whom thou hast learned them. I like to see the author of the book, and I like to as.
00:40:30
Brother Jim was mentioning a little earlier, you have a sense of how that man lived, who wrote and taught the truth of God. How did he live? How did, what was the end of his path? Did he continue on? We know that there's failure all abounds all over, but it's a wonderful thing to have a good beginning, but make sure we continue and continue on to the end and then there's a full reward. So the apostle Paul was encouraging Timothy in this way to continue in spite of the difficulties that he faced, the opposition.
He knew what he had learned from the apostle Paul, and Paul had received it from the risen Christ in glory.
What we read either is it is who we associate with.
Having, uh, a good rapport with our brethren. There's relationship in this starts out verse 10. But thou hast fully known my doctor, there was a relationship between Paul and Timothy. And so, uh, we go to act.
Chapter 4.
Verse 23, it says and being let go, they went to their own company. There's a relationship there. So on a practical note, dear young people, when you go home from these meetings, when you leave.
Where do you go? Who's your company?
Make it the Lord's people. Make it those who want to call the Lord out of a pure heart. Don't be found in company with those who reject the Savior and find their joy in the fleeting things of this world.
Establish your company with the Lord's people and seek to encourage them that way.
So with the pot with, uh, Daniel in the Old Testament, what was it that encouraged his three friends to stand fast? It was their association with Daniel in the first chapter. It's true that later on, I think the third chapter, the test came for them individually because Daniel wasn't there on the plains of Dora when they were told to bow down to the image and the story of the fiery furnace. I'd just like to say this too, about Daniel in connection with what's been said because.
Daniel first of all, had purpose of heart and we talked a little bit about purpose and it takes real purpose to stand in days like these. These Paul had purpose in his life. He had a goal, he had an object and purpose of heart is really a desire where the heart is motivated by an object because we might have a have a desire, but the sluggard desires and has nothing. It says, let me illustrate it this way. This is a little bit of a crazy illustration, but.
Here we sit on these chairs, and after the next meeting is over, there's going to be an announcement that the evening meal is going to be served in the dining room next door. And we might have every desire to go in and have a meal, but if we don't do something about it, if we don't have purpose, we'll never get up off these chairs and go in. We could sit here. I don't want to be funny, but we could sit here until we starve to death. It takes more than desire. If we're going to live for the Lord, it takes that real purpose of heart.
That real motivation, but what I want to point out in connection with the beginning of verse 14, where as Robert said, Timothy is exhorted to continue, it says at the end of Daniel chapter 13 words and Daniel continued. Isn't that beautiful? It started as a young man with purpose of heart, but go on through Daniel's life on to the 6th chapter and on to the prophecies that he's given at the end of his life as an old man.
But it didn't start when he was old. It started with real purpose.
And because he had that purpose, that desire not to compromise the truth as he had had it in his day, he continued, Brethren, that's what God wants in your life and mine. And that's what Paul's real desire for Timothy. Timothy had been committed with the truth. If we were to go back to the second chapter, Paul was passing the torch of truth to Timothy, which he was then to commit to faithful men who would be able to teach others also.
00:45:04
The truth is like the relay race, that the baton is passed, but not just to anybody, faithful men who can teach others also, and faithful men who pass, pass that along. And brethren, I trust I can say this circumspectly, but I started meetings like this and I heard the truth presented from my older brother who are with the Lord now. And I trust that by the grace of God and with the Lord's help, I can pass the truth on.
To you.
With the same purity in which I received it myself. That was Paul's desire for Timothy and those he passed the truth on. And I'll just say to the brothers here who have some responsibility, maybe in your local assembly, is your desire and exercise to pass the truth on in the same purity with which you received it. I know that many of us here can remember brothers, that we sat under their teaching in the local assembly and at conferences like this. Let's be exercised not to water down the truth. Yes, we wanna present it in a format.
That it can be taken in and and meditated on and enjoyed in with the generation. We wanna be sensitive to the generation we're serving, but we don't want to compromise or water down the truth. And so Paul's exercise here was to pass it on. I just want to notice a couple of things here. Continue Thou and the things that thou has learned and been assured of. Verse 14. Knowing of whom thou hast learned them. Now who was that? Well, it's been already mentioned. That was the apostle Paul. And again.
Paul, first of all, stresses the need for the ministry that he had been given by inspiration. Paul wasn't proud here. It wasn't just that this is what I've taught and you need to walk in it. No, Paul recognized that he had been given a special revelation concerning, if I can put it this way, the meat and the foundation of Christianity. He was the wise master builder. You get that in Corinthians. Others have built too, the apostles and prophets, the New Testament foundation. But Paul was the wise master builder, so that's first.
Then notice what he says in verse 16. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. Now he says, Timothy, you don't just need what I've taught, but you need all the Word of God. This includes the Old Testament because in the Old Testament we have the figures and the foreshadows. We have the pictures and the illustrations. That's why we go back to the Old Testament and we draw on those illustrations.
Then, but not only do we need the Old Testament, but it's interesting go back to, uh, the 5th chapter of the previous Epistle to First Timothy, chapter 5, I believe it is. I want to read you an interesting verse here. It may seem completely out of context, but I'll tell you why I read it. Verse 18, First Timothy 5, verse 18 for the Scripture. Seth, thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn.
The labor is worthy of its higher. Now why did I read you this? Because this is a quote from one of the gospels. This is actually a quote from Luke chapter 10. In other words, the apostle Paul recognized the need for the Gospels as well. So we need the four gospels, the life of Christ, the perfect example, the work of Christ in not only in his perfect life, but the work of atonement, His resurrection, and so on. So we need the Old Testament.
We need the Gospels, we need the New Testament, we need Paul's doctrine. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. And that's why, brethren, it's important when we take up the Word of God to read the whole Word of God. Something I found helpful in my life and it's not a precedent, but, and we all have different bends to the way we take up the Word of God and so on. I found it helpful to read something in the Old Testament and something in the New Testament every day.
An old brother who used to serve the Lord amongst the people of God. When he was asked what his secret was in in reading the word of God, he said Wherever else I read in the scriptures, every day I made sure I read something in the gospel.
That was the balance he felt he needed the perfect example of the Lord. So we need all Scripture. Read it from cover to cover. You wanna have a godly life? You wanna exhibit godliness? You wanna exhibit moral piety? You wanna be a blessing to others? We need, yes, Paul's doctrine, but we need all Scripture.
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In verse 15 it says from a child.
Thou hast known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make the wise unto salvation, and that again is salvation, practical salvation, which is in Christ Jesus. And so the Holy Scriptures, the Holy Scriptures, the sacred writings, I think are the sacred letters, Mr. Darby's translation.
We're given by God himself.
And what Timothy had was those Old Testament pictures. He had the pictures and the illustrations in the Old Testament. The Old Testament gave God's thoughts and his relationship with man before the cross. And then after the cross, we have the New Testament. And so they have the Gospels. And really, by the time the apostle Paul was martyred, the Word of God was almost complete. We know that the Book of Revelation was written a little later, perhaps.
Some of the epistles of John and so the word of God was complete, I believe, when John went to be with the Lord. But Timothy had the Old Testament scriptures. He didn't have a steady diet of it. After the Lord died and rose again, was ascended in glory. Now he had a new.
A new appetite, you might say. It was for the risen Christ and glory. And he read of that purpose that Christ had, and the teaching that Christ had in the gospel.
And in the epistles, so we need the picture book of the Old Testament, and we also need the doctrine. And so it's all Scripture. But remember, the Old Testament can be used to understand the principles of how God deals in relationship with man.
Things here.
Scripture is given for by inspiration is profitable for doctrine. That's what's right for reprove. That's what's wrong for correction. That's what sets right for instruction and righteousness, what keeps right. And I just have a question because this has come up, uh, this doctrine, we understand it was emphasized earlier in the chapter of that positive truth, but then it says reprove.
What is the difference between reproof and legality?
Uses conviction instead of reproof. And so it's really we need to have our thoughts reproved. The word of God reproves our wrong thoughts. We may not detect it at the present time when we're reading it, but the Word of God applied by the Spirit of God will correct us. And we can use the word of God to correct and to help to correct one another. But I believe there's a the spirit in which we correct one another, the spirit in which we use the word of God.
Is really what you're referring to legality. I may say that this is how it is and this is, there's no ends if there, but there are no Gray areas in the word of God. It's true, but I can apply it and I can use it in a kind way and just remember that it's the Holy Scriptures and it's God's mind in connection with a certain thing that I might be going on with. So it can be used for recruit, but it has to be done in the right spirit. I think this is, uh, what uh, Paul tells Timothy in the first, uh, epistle.
He says umm.
Let's uh read the first pistol, uh Timothy chapter 4, verse UH-16. Take heed to the unto thyself and unto the doctrine, continuing them. For in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee. He was to use the doctrine, but use it in the right way.
Improving and scolding the Scripture never scolds us, but it does reprove us. Paul, when he wrote to the Galatians, he was very, very direct in what he wrote, but it really wasn't a scolding. It was a reproof in the spirit, in the proper spirit because of the things that they were taking up and they had gone they, they digressed from the truth that had brought them into the good of salvation. And so they needed, I believe Galatians is a book of, of reproof, but.
As we seek to interact with one another and present the truth rather, and we don't wanna scold one another, but we do wanna be faithful and reproof. I I wanna make one other comment too before we go ahead. Yes, that just directly brother John. Obedience to the word of God is not legality. Let's me re. Let's remember this obedience to the word of God is not legality. So if I desire to obey the word of God, the word of God says.
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Uh, be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. It's not being legal if I don't engage in, uh, that type of activity.
When we when we speak of legality, legality always has to do with the 1St man.
It's, uh, seeking to, to create righteousness in the first man. And when the believer doesn't realize, as we've been Speaking of being in Christ, our brother just gave us a meeting of being in Christ. Umm, and the, the blessings we have in Christ, everything we have is in resurrection life when we, when we begin to apply the principles to the first man.
Seeking to get fruit out of Adam. That is going to be le legality and umm, I it TH this is a this is a point that I'm sorry, Jim, I I I I know our time is, but this is a point that I'm not sure that we really make a good enough distinction when we speak of it says in umm, it says in first 12. Yay and all that live godly in Christ Jesus.
So it's godly in Christ Jesus. Well, that's in resurrection life, isn't it? That is in the new life. We are consciously enjoying the life that we have in Christ and the the desires that it has umm and the Spirit of God power in connection with that when we take up reproof and instruction and everything we directed to the first man that leads to.
Being under the law, it doesn't want to do any of that. So legality really is outward moral conformity without the heart being engaged.
It's, it's having a, a form of godliness, but de denying the power thereof, the power of our of our life in Christ is the Spirit of God. When we take up things as in, in the first man, in the energy of the first man, which is the flesh. We can even take up spiritual things in the flesh. Then we're there's gonna be pride. There's gonna be all those things that are characteristic of the flesh and umm, that is.
Not what the apostle Paul, uh, trained, you might say Timothy to understand, I know our time is gone, but just one little word before we pass on from this verse about the word inspiration, because it's a word we use today. And we, we, we don't always use it in the scriptural context. We talk about something that was inspired or that was an inspiring message or whatever. But in the context here, inspiration is God breathed.
Every word of scripture comes from God himself. The the the writers from Moses through to to John who wrote a little later than Paul. They all wrote exactly what God told them. Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. I want to give you 1 little illustration that helped me when I was younger. There's some boys and girls here and so on. And here's the illustration that helped me to understand what inspiration is in the context of Scripture.
When I was when I when my girls were younger.
That sometimes they would put a pencil in their hand before they learned how to write. And I would put my hand over theirs and I would guide their pet, their pencil so that they would maybe write their name. And after that was done, they would take the paper and they would maybe go to my wife and say, look, mom, what I wrote now, who really wrote it? They held the pencil, but who held their hand and directed what they, what they were direct what they wrote? I did. And that's perhaps a feeble little illustration to, uh, make help us to understand.
That when the Word of God was penned, it was penned by men. Yes, God used men, a number of men through the centuries to write what He wanted to convey to us. But they did not write their own opinions. They did not write what they thought they saw. They did not write what they thought was the truth of God. They wrote exactly what God told them to write. And that is why, brethren, it is important to realize that every word of God is pure. We need it all. And never question the Word of God. You might question something I say.
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You might question something I write, and you have every right to do so. But do not question the word of God. It is true from cover to cover because God wrote it.