Turn now with me to Paul’s 2nd Letter to Timothy in Chapter 3

 

Paul is in a Roman prison, and this is the last Letter he will write, he knows this and wants to ensure he passes on his ministry to someone he can trust, to faithfully carry on in the manner he has done so.   Paul begins by speaking of the ‘last days’

The Bible states, during the ‘last days’ there will be a time when scoffers will be present who will mock God, saying he is dead, we can’t find him anywhere, and they will scoff at any talk of judgment or the return of our Lord’.   When the Bible mentions last days, as it does numerous times, it is referring to the days between the day of Pentecost and the time of our Lord’s return.  Many Bible scholars think we are in that period now and they may well be right. The Bible lists terrible events which will come before the final end, and whilst these have in some way been seemingly applicable to past years, they seem to be most applicable now. When we look carefully at them we can claim they are very much relating to our time  .Never in my life term has murder been treated has just another crime; it was given wide notice.

In the first nine verses of Chapter 3, Paul talks of godlessness, describing the very conditions we find today; lovers of selves and money, unholy, children having no respect and disobedient. This is what happens when a nation turns its back on God. We live in an age of relativism, in which there are no absolutes, no basic morals, a case of if it feels right it is. They become lovers of themselves, and there is a moral collapse as the pursuit of money becomes so important.  

In v10 Paul expresses his faith, purpose in life, endurance, love and patience, and living a godly life, and warns of impostors.   He then points out the suffering he endured, and Timothy must be prepared as every Christian must, to find he suffers be it mild or harder.

Paul must have felt saddened to see a falling away from Church after it had made much progress.  It is sad when people fall away, and once they do so find it hard to return, it is so easy to succumb, often to outside pressure.

Paul is telling Timothy, to follow the teaching of the Apostles, which he means sound words, and not be led astray, still a good message for  to-day,  when the pressure is constantly to avoid being positive in keeping to Scripture.  Sound words are those not distorted or weakened ones. It is so easy to be distracted and led astray

 Paul likens this to James and Jambres who opposed Moses, these two men opposed the truth and corrupted others in mind disqualifying the faith.  Paul contrasts all that, with the way Timothy has been brought up with a love of Scripture, something children of several generations have been deprived of in the present ages.  The Ten Commandments have become Ten Suggestions, or pick any four from ten.  We have raised a generation, who are unaware of even the most basic beliefs. A majority do not even understand the true meaning of Easter and Christmas.

It is a disturbing situation, where all the traditional manners are  not practiced, because few know what they were. Children are denied the basic details of the Bible or its characters, and Jesus is just a word they hear adults use when they swear.

Many of us here to-day grew up in a totally different culture.  We may not have had all the wonderful technological aids and comforts that now are available, but we benefited in other ways. Like Timothy, we were taught about the Bible at home, and went to Sunday school as youngsters, learning the stories about Jesus, which gave us standards and values. and a good foundation for life. 

We had morning assemblies in all schools, now largely avoided in (state) schools. This may not have been widely followed up in life, but the basics had been laid, and our lives were directed by Christian values. Children are now denied these foundations, and are growing up without knowing the country’s religious faith and heritage. 

In v14/5, he refers to the teaching Timothy had, having been  brought up in the faith by his mother and grandmother,( and also had been taught much by Paul, and in fact Peter had helped a little, so he had the two Apostles who wrote much of the new testament.  Now, Timothy had the wisdom to receive salvation, by trusting in Jesus Christ, the only way to God.

In v16 we come to an important verse when Paul reminds him that ALL Scripture is inspired by God, and tells what is right and true, so we can recognize wrong way.

In v17 God prepares his people to do good work. This will mean Timothy to be fully equipped for his ministry, when he has to correct people who are not speaking the truth, rebuke those who mislead, and encourage with patience those who are learning the gospel. We are told God inspired and guided forty men, using their different characters and occupations, to write the Scriptures which would be His message to the world.  We can reasonably presume that if God gave us these words, He would not have done so just to fill pages, but meant us to take note of all that was given.  God wants us to understand and know Him, and the only way we can do that is by Him telling us, which He does in this book. He tells, we listen and obey him.

There are 66 books in the Bible, 39 of which are in the Old Testament and 27 in the New, written by 40 men.  God used their individual personalities and occupations, to communicate His words, and none of them would claim it was any thoughts of their own. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Amos, all state they did not feel worthy, but God laid a burden on them.  This was done over many years, without any collusion, they did not meet each other, yet there is no contradiction in writings. The Bible is given to teach us and guide us in the way God wants us to live.  It is the supreme authority for the Church containing the very words of God and does not need any amendments.

This is a very stressful world in which we live.  This is a post Christian age, when most people under the age of 40 have little if any knowledge of the Christian faith or Church. 

 It may have been written by men, but these men were inspired by God, to give us the message that God wished us to have.  We are therefore enabled to live according to God’s teaching.

  The important word is, ALL.  Once you start discounting parts you challenge, the whole credibility and authority of the Bible is destroyed. When we fully understand God’s Word, we are more able to inform others.  I don’t think even Church members, give the Bible the attention one would expect.  I know there are many whose sole connection with it is in the Sunday service. But even then, is mainly a case of listening to it being read.

 In evangelical Churches, it has been the practice of having Bibles in the pews, or at least available, so that members can follow the readings, and I always found it helped to follow the sermon, (when the sermon is Bible based that is.)  I went to take a service at one Church where there wasn’t even a Bible to read the lessons from, and someone had to go out and borrow one.

I am very impressed  by some Churches I have seen in the United States, which have large congregations. When the Pastor announces the Bible reading, the whole congregations turn to their own Bibles; this is revealed when the cameras show all different Bibles; such is the attention paid by the people, they are making notes of the sermon.  This was once common in our Churches, but after many years in ministry, I never saw it happen.

There is a basic question we should all ponder.  Why do we come to Church?  There are many answers, but the real purpose should be to worship God with reverence and awe; to learn about God and how He would want us to live.

In order to do this we need to know our Bibles and be prepared to accept what is taught there.  I know this will not be acceptable to some people within the Church, for it may condemn the way they are conducting their lives.   The Bible has to be the supreme authority of the Church.

The maker of the world has laid down the terms in His manual, and if people do not conform to those terms they can have no reason to complain when turmoil occurs.   

We are told God inspired and guided forty men, using their different characters and occupations, to write the Scriptures which would be His message to the world.  We can reasonably presume that if God gave us these words, He would not have done so just to fill pages, but meant us to take note of all that was given.  God wants us to understand and know Him, and the only way we can do that is by Him telling us, which He does in this book. He tells, we listen and obey him.

We should be ready to turn to it and study it more.  For most Christians, I fear Bible reading is confined to someone else reading it in the service. 

It is not a coincidence, it is fact that as the Bible has become so irrelevant to so many people, life has become so much more coarse and immoral, and we have a breakdown in society.  There seems to be no sense of shame on the part of many people, even those in the public eye. 

We now see politicians rushing to condemn the moral condition of the nation, a condition which most of them legislated to create and encourage, and which they now realise is a moral monstrosity. Timothy is called upon to reprove, rebuke and exhort, which in fact is the task of all preachers. In other words, we have to be concerned with mind, will and emotions by correcting wrong thinking, pointing out what is wrong in behaviour and attitudes, and encouraging those depressed.  This has to be done with caring, but positive words.

     When Billy Graham, the most successful preacher of all time, was starting out in ministry, he was troubled as to whether the Bible really was God’s Word or man’s idea.  There were passages he could not understand.  He was so concerned he went up into the mountains near his North Carolina home, and read and re-read his King James Version of the Bible, then turned to God and said, ‘I have seen enough of your transforming ability in this Word, to know you are behind it.  I know there are many questions I do not understand, but I take it by faith that it is your Word and will preach it as your Word and trust you.’  The rest is history.  He always encouraged people to take their Bibles with them to his crusades and meetings.

 In my visits to preach in Churches I have been amazed how few provide the Bibles.  I went to one Church where there was not one Bible, not even for the reading of the Lessons.

    

 The Bible is essentially a book of salvation, and there has never been any doubt that the only way to be saved is through Jesus Christ.  He is the focus and climax of the Bible from start to finish.  The whole Bible focuses on the coming of Christ, after prophet after prophet in the Old Testament foretold His coming.  In the Old Testament Jesus is predicted.  In the Gospel Jesus is revealed.  In Acts Jesus is preached.  In the Epistles Jesus is explained.   In Revelation Jesus is anticipated.  

The aim of many public officials is to erase Christianity from public life in which no mention or expression of the faith is allowed, and some Christians are swept away by the tide of opposition.   In some intellectual and academic circles, the Bible is seen as some form of hate literature, and this is being taught in schools, colleges and universities, simply because it doesn’t fit in with some modern thought.

     Paul feared that Timothy, young and timid man, was in danger of yielding to the anti-Christian pressure facing him.  His message to Timothy, and which also applies to us, is to stand firm even if it means standing alone.  Don’t weaken under pressure.

     Timothy was brought up in a Jewish background, and so was taught the Scriptures from an early age by his mother and grandmother.  It was customary for Jewish boys to be taught the Scriptures from age five. Whilst these would be the Old Testament, he had also been taught by Paul and Peter, who between them had written most of the New Testament, so he would in fact have virtually the whole Bible as we know it in his knowledge. There is a great tragedy in the fact that children are growing up here  without ever hearing the stories of Jesus or the main biblical characters, as parents do not have the time, inclination or knowledge to help them.  But it has not always been like that.

 

Many of us here to-day grew up in a totally different culture.  We may not have had all the wonderful technological aids and comforts that now are available, but we benefited in other ways. Like Timothy we were taught about the Bible at home, and went to Sunday school as youngsters, learning the stories about Jesus, which gave us standards and values and a good foundation for life.  We had morning assemblies in all schools, now largely avoided in (state) schools. This may not have been widely followed up in life, but the basics had been laid, and our lives were directed by Christian values. Children are now denied these foundations, and are growing up without knowing the country’s religious faith and heritage. 

The argument that because the Bible was written so many years ago we can look at it with a different approach to the present day, doesn’t hold.  God was not just the God of the first century, but for all time.  The last words of Jesus were to his Apostles, whom he taught to go into the world, and make disciples in all nations, teaching all he had commanded.

     The Bible gives us access to the mind of God.  The more we read, the more we will know God’s intention for us.  Just as you spend more time in a person’s company you get to know them better, so as you spend time  with God through His Word, the better you will know Him. For in the Bible God speaks His mind. 

     The Church has a wonderful opportunity to recover lost ground at the present time.  The nation has woken up to the moral collapse and the Church should take the opportunity to remind the nation how far it has strayed from Christian influence.   Above all, we must defend the authority of Scripture.

   Today the Church in the West is in decline, in stark contrast to Africa, Asia, South America, where the Churches have memberships of thousands.  The reason these Churches are so strong is because of the strong biblical foundation, and they have not been tearing the Bible away as we have in the West.  They still believe it and boldly proclaim it.

Church, leaders are calling on people to actually ignore Bible teaching on marriage and sexuality, and practically have created special services to enable this.  Can you imagine a Muslim cleric challenging the Koran?

Follow God’s Holy Gospel and Prase the Lord Jesus Christ