28/10/06 Why Bother With The Bible 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5

1. Paul had been in prison many times. He had spent a couple of years under house arrest in Rome,  but now  things were different... now he had been locked away in chains.. in some dungeon in Rome so obscure that his friends had to search long and hard before they could find him.  And now he was about to go to his death during a persecution of Christians by the Emperor Nero.  So he wrote this last letter to Timothy, a young a church leader.  It is a letter full of reminders...

    Timothy, don't forget all that you have learned,

    (3:14) don't forget that the life of a Christian will always stand out in contrast to the life of those around, (2:24ff;3:4)  don't forget that a Christian can always expect to face persecution or hostility, (3:12)

    Don't forget to use the scriptures... and teach others to do the same.

    This reminder - about the importance of the scriptures is the reason why this passage from 2 Timothy has been chosen for the reading on this Sunday... Bible Sunday.

2. Timothy must have become a church leader when he was in his early twenties or maybe just a teenager, so young that Paul wrote to him in the first letter of Timothy…  “Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you teach, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity. And in that first letter, Paul reminded Timothy about the importance of the scriptures… “Until I get there, focus on reading the Scriptures to the church, encouraging the believers, and teaching them.”

   And again in this second letter he is talking about the scriptures…   he tells Timothy to remember what he learned as a child. You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood,  (word used means little child, even used of a babe in arms) and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus.(vs. 15)

   Timothy had heard about Jesus when he was a child, he had learned the scriptures as he was growing up… maybe that is one reason why he was able to be a church leader at such a young age.  (If fifteen years from now we want to see mature, wise, spirit-filled young men and women leading churches, men and women with a thorough biblical knowledge and living lives of holiness that are an example to all believers,  then we need to be teaching our children now… that’s what happened with Timothy)

3. Did Paul mean the whole bible when he spoke of the scriptures? After all there wasn't a BIBLE as such, was there, at the time Paul was writing?   Well, that’s a simple question, with a fairly complicated set of arguments to give a complete answer, but here are just two thoughts…

i. We know that the disciple Peter referred to Paul’s writing as “Scripture” (2 Peter 3:16) and it is clear that the early Christian community recognised the gospel writings about Jesus as being God given.

ii.  Did you notice what Paul said about the scriptures... they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus. The “scriptures” are writings that point to what God has done for us through Jesus.  If it is true that the Old Testament points us to Jesus, how much more is it true that the New Testament shows us what God has done for us through Jesus?  The truth about this book is that ALL OF IT helps us to discover what God has done for us in Jesus.

4. Paul reminded Timothy how these writings have come to us…All Scripture (he writes)  is inspired by God…  

    What does that mean? “Inspired”

    It doesn't mean that God shouted down to St. Paul.. “Paul take a letter...” and proceeded to dictate one to him.  It doesn't mean that the authors were like robots putting words on a page without understanding what they were doing.      When we read the books of the Bible, the human situation of the writers is often very clear… like in this letter of Paul to Timothy... read it... find that Paul was lonely for a while some Christians deserted him. We can read how grateful he is for those who have come to visit him,  and he writes at the end of his letter asking somebody to bring him his cloak to keep him warm.  This letter was written by a real person, living in a very difficult situation, and what he wrote came out of that situation, out of his friendship with Timothy, and out of his relationship with God.

    ALL the Bible is like that… written by real people, people who met God in their own lives, who were moved to write about what he was doing, and who wrote about what God had revealed of his character and purpose. And the amazing work of the Holy Spirit means that what these people wrote is what God wants his people now, and in every generation, to read and to understand.

    When we say the Bible is inspired we mean that what is in the Bible is what God wants us to know, and learn from.

   All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right.     (2 Tim 3:16)

5. There are Different ways in which we can think about the Bible. One of the most helpful ways is this… (show Bible with a heart on the cover)

    to think of it as something sent to us in love.

    one of our values as local church is this…

    “We honour the Bible as a gift given to us by our loving heavenly Father.  It contains His word to us.”  So as we open the Bible we discover the loving heart of God, who loved us so much that he gave us his Own Son, Jesus, even to die for our sake.

    But that’s not the only way to look at the Bible.

    Here is another way.

    (Show bible with a warning triangle on the cover.)

    The Bible also gives guidance, information, even rules… that we need to know.

    Would a parent  say, “Well I think it’s better for my child to find out for himself what a hot iron can do to human skin.  It’s not my job to tell him… he can make up his own mind about whether he wants to touch hot things or not.”    Wouldn’t any loving parent say

    Don’t touch that… it’s hot it will hurt you.

    Would a parent of a child who was ill say, “If she doesn’t feel like drinking anything when she has a very high temperature.. well obviously, if that is what she feels like, then I’m not going to ask her to do something she doesn’t feel like doing?” Or would a parent say…

    “Come on sweetheart, drink a little, it will help to make you better.”    A loving parent will tell a child to do some things (even things that the child might not feel like doing) …  and a loving parent will tell a child and not to do other things that will hurt them and hurt others.   Well don’t you think that if God cares about us he is going to do the same?

6. Now human parents can often give wrong information, bad advice, even foolish guidance to their children. The whole point about God is that He doesn’t !

    God, by definition is wholly good, all knowing, he is the source of all wisdom and knowledge.

    He knows what is best for us because he made us.

    Either of my children could say to me, well dad you got it wrong there…and they could well be right.

    We can’t say that to God! … and that’s why our commitment about the Bible says…

    “We will be obedient to all that we can understand of the truth that God reveals to us in the Bible.”

    Now we need to understand that to say we will be obedient to all that we can understand of the truth that God reveals in the Bible is a radical and unpopular thing to say.

7. It is radical because it will affect the way you  live today, tomorrow, and the day after that.

    If you don’t want to be a revolutionary… don’t read the bible. If you don’t want to live a radical - world-changing life.. then don’t read the bible.!!!!

    But if you DO want to live a life that MEANS something. If you want to live a life that honours the name of Jesus; if you want to live a life that will make a difference and help to bring the Kingdom of God near to those around you… then you MUST read the bible, or hear the bible on a tape, or have it read to you… whatever… you HAVE to build your life on the message in this book.

    If you do choose to live a life of obedience to all that you can understand of God’s word, then know that you are choosing to live a life which will be very different from the life of most of the people you know outside the church.

    Your values, your priorities, your standards of conduct in many areas, will not be the same as those which are communicated to you everyday through what you hear others around you say, through what you read in the papers, through what you watch on the TV programmes you enjoy.

    So basing your life on the bible is a RADICAL thing to do… and it is also very UNPOPULAR.

    It is an unpopular thing to say because we live in a culture where it is OK to ignore God’s guidance.

    In fact to say that you want to be obedient to all that you can understand of what God is saying to you through the Bible, is very likely to lead other people to dismiss you as simple minded, unthinking, old fashioned, or even worse, as being an intolerant, evangelical (have you noticed how that is a dirty word these days) fundamentalist.

    Sometimes the most intolerant people are those who say they  believe in tolerance.

    (Our society is becoming very intolerant of people who refuse to accept that not everything is acceptable.  - Pam.)

    So make no mistake… obedience to all that we can understand of what God says to us through the Bible, is not an EASY option…. that is not until we remember that what is here is a love gift, from a loving heavenly father who only ever wants the best for use. He loves us enough to give us the guidance and warnings that any parent should give to their children. He doesn’t want to spoil our life he wants to make it better. And more than that… as he calls us to live with him in obedience and love… he also joins us on the way as he gives his Holy Spirit to us.

    Living a life of obedience to all that we can understand of God’s word to us in the bible.. is something that can only be done through the help and presence of  the Holy Spirit with us.

8.   And Paul reminds Timothy that the Bible is  …God’s way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do.(16)

    (Show safety helmet)  You can walk around a building site without a safety helmet on… but it’s a dangerous thing to do. And it’s a foolish and selfish way to behave.

    (Show goggles) You can operate machinery like a lathe or cut the long grass with a strimmer without any eye protection… but it’s a dangerous thing to do, and a foolish, and selfish way to behave.

    Do either of these things and you are liable to cause injury to yourself and distress and difficulty to others who might have to cope with the consequences of your foolishness and selfishness.

    God wants his people to be properly equipped for the very dangerous mission he has called us to...  

    Our mission… (and it’s not impossible) is

    to live as his children, in this world.

    The Bible is part of the equipment he provides us with. It is dangerous and foolish not to use it... just as it would be foolish to start to weld a joint with wearing a safety mask, or operate a sanding machine without wearing a face mask.  And it is selfish and arrogant not to use the bible. If you call yourself a Christian and yet you are not basing your life on the teaching of the bible, or if you are deliberately ignoring what you know it says, then in your arrogance you are hurting the rest of the body of Christ, as well as hurting yourself. If you are NOT being obedient to all that you can understand of what God says to us in the bible.. then it is bound to show… and you will be an ineffective witness for Jesus, a bad advert for him, and a poor representative fro the church community that you claim to belong to.

    So don’t do it! Don’t ever turn your back on what you know God is saying to you though the bible.

9. Ask yourself a question?

    How important is the Bible to me? I mean Really?

    Is it an essential part of my equipment for living my life each day?  Is the Bible as important to you as your mobile phone? What would you miss most if you went on holiday and forgot to take something with you… your mobile, or your bible? Would you take a bible on holiday with you? I hope that you would.

    Lots of you already know, from your own experience, how God can speak to you through the Bible.  You already know, for instance, how he can show you what things in your life need to be changed. You already experience the presence of God with you as you spend time reading the Bible.

    But perhaps some of you, deep down feel that really the Bible is a bit boring.

    Maybe once you picked up the Bible, because you had heard someone say how important it was to read it for yourself, you started at Genesis.. felt like giving up halfway through the second book, (Exodus) and finally caved in while struggling with the long lists of rules and ritual regulations found in Leviticus.

    Perhaps still, every now and then, out of a sense of duty, or guilt,  you get your Bible out from under the piano or wherever you keep it, and you try to read some of it. And maybe when you read it, it doesn't do much for you.

    Perhaps you may feel that even when you open it... the Bible remains a closed book.. it just doesn't make any difference to you.

10.I never used to be much good at do-it-yourself.

    I can remember how, when I was first married, I had a real talent for putting up shelves which would fall down. And whenever I tried to screw a screw, the screwdriver would slip out of the slot on the screw head.. and cause some damage... usually to me!  And it was always a mystery to me how anybody could actually saw through a piece of wood, and keep the saw going in a straight line. Then when I needed to do some more serious joinery work, (building a house...)  I was taught by a professional joiner... he told me the right equipment to use ... but then, most important, he showed me how to use it.

    If you struggle with reading the bible… you need someone to show you how to use it.

    It’s a long time now… twenty years, since we built that house… (Yes, it is lovely and it’s still standing! - but we don’t own it any more) but over the last fifteen years since I was ordained, haven’t had much time or opportunity for do it yourself joinery work. All ministers anyway live in a sort of temporary accommodation… we can’t go knocking it about and changing it just as we like.  And I know that because I haven’t done the things that I was doing twenty years ago.. if somebody now said to me “Duncan go and build a stud partition”, or “Duncan go and put bracing in the joists and fit the floor boards, and form  a tongue and groove panelling on the ceiling.” I’d find it hard. What is it we say about any skill, or gift or talent that that we have?  “Use it or lose it!” I’d feel as if I was back at square one and needed teaching all over again.

    Maybe some of you… you can remember a time when you did really read the Bible - but now you don’t so much. In fact because you haven’t used this equipment.. it seems even harder to use once again.

    Well there may be many things you need to know...

    ...different versions of the Bible (when did you last browse a bookstall of go to a bookshop and look at the range of bibles available.. or consider buying a bible on DVD or CD for Christmas.)  You  may need the help of Daily Bible reading notes? Some in church today… look at them.     ...Need to know that the best place to start reading the Bible isn't with Genesis.. much better to begin with a Gospel.. say Mark, and get to know Jesus better.  

11.But the most important thing to know is something that was discovered one day by two people who were walking along a road  - away from Jerusalem.

    They were feeling miserable, because Jesus had been crucified and buried. (read about it in Luke 24) 

    And on the way they met the risen Lord Jesus... although they didn't recognise him at first. And as they walked along together, Jesus began to explain to them how the scriptures of the Old Testament pointed to his coming, to the death of God's Son on the cross and to his resurrection.

    And if you know the story, you know how they sat down, at the end of the journey, and broke bread together, it was then that the two travellers realised they were in the presence of Jesus. And afterwards they said to one another... Didn’t our hearts feel strangely warm as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?" (Luke 24v:32)   

    We are no different from those two followers of Jesus.

    The Bible will always be like a closed book ... unless we ask JESUS to open it for us. He promised he would, because he promised that he would send his Holy Spirit, the Helper who would TEACH us all things and GUIDE us into all truth.

12.If you have not yet discovered for yourself, just how essential this particular piece of equipment, the Bible,  is... Then may I encourage you, this Bible Sunday, to remember that help is available.

    Sit down, with God, your Bible,  and maybe with your husband or wife… and read it aloud together, or sit down in a quiet place on your own.

    Ask Jesus to open the book to you, ask the Father to send his Holy Spirit, to show you what can learn from the Bible about yourself,

    and about God

    and about all that he has done for you

    And he will.