All Scripture is God-Breathed | Sermon 10/10/2021

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2 Timothy chapter 3 verses 14 through 17. Here now the words of the living and true

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God. You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

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All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

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Thus ending the reading of God's Word, let's pray quickly. Lord, thank you again for this service.

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Please let my teaching be clear, let it be helpful to your people, and let it be true.

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Let no error come from this pulpit, O God. Lord, please illuminate the Scriptures today and teach your people, and let us leave here,

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Lord, in closer relationship to you and more knowledge of your Word. Pray this in Christ's name.

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Amen. So last week we started our

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Sola series, our series on the five solas with Sola Scriptura. And as I said,

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Scripture alone will be our focus for the remainder of the month just about. We first took a look at the foundation of Scripture, which is that God spoke.

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That's the foundation. God spoke. God speaking to create ex nihilo, out of nothing, is the first record of He giving us a record of Him speaking.

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We discovered through the text of Genesis 1, 2, and 3 that God spoke, and creation objects came to be, then

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He called them something, He named them something. His Word has shown to exhibit power unlike we have ever seen or will ever see by a creature.

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It is a personal Word that can communicate with us, those made in His image, and it obligates a response due to its authoritative nature.

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God gave His commandment to Adam and Eve not to eat of the tree, the fruit of the tree, the knowledge of good and evil.

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The man and the woman knew that God's Word was trustworthy and that the Word of an animal was beneath them, and yet Eve believed

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Satan's Word over God's Word when Satan says, did God say that?

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And so there began the battle of sola scriptura, or as I said, the war of words, the war of words, and that war has been won by the one called the

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Word, Jesus Christ. But still today as Christians we raise the alarm, we do, we raise the alarm and cry out that the war of words is over, and all must believe on the one who said it is finished.

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So we join in today with many other saints all over the creation to herald

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God's Word as supreme and absolute, and we will do that by taking a look at Paul's second letter to Timothy, to his young protege, to his child in the faith, blessed

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Timothy. Although second Timothy is not the last

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Pauline letter, not the last letter of Paul in the New Testament, we believe it to be the very last letter that Paul wrote before his death, okay?

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It was likely written after his fourth missionary journey under a second round of Roman imprisonment.

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You would understand all about that when you read through the book of Acts. While his trial had not yet come, it appears he anticipated it would end in his execution and martyrdom.

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In chapter four of our text, verse six, he states, for I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.

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He knew, he knew his life was coming to an end, and he wrote this letter before that.

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Just as he knew he had to go to Jerusalem, in Acts that chains awaited him, he knew his time to serve

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Christ on this earth was coming to an end, and that a crown awaited him to be awarded by the

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Lord Jesus in heaven. The letter shows that many had deserted

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Paul during his time of imprisonment, during his time of suffering, but Onesiphorus and Luke had been there with him in Rome, he says, that they were tending to him, that they cared for him.

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Timothy, however, was still in Ephesus, where Paul had previously left him to appoint elders and to deal with false teachers.

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Paul had left Timothy there in Ephesus. Paul tells Timothy that he constantly remembers him night and day, that he is longing to see him.

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It appears that this letter serves two primary functions. Second Timothy serves two primary functions.

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One, that Timothy come visit Paul in Rome, giving instructions on who to bring and what to bring.

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He says, will you get my cloak that I left in Troas? I don't even know where Troas is, but if it was far, that's going to be a journey.

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Can you grab my cloak and can you bring my books and my parchment? That's what he asked for. A man is in prison and he wants books in his cloak.

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What a man of God. And two, that's the first reason he tells Timothy to come to Rome. Second function of second

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Timothy is, he wants to give Timothy a final letter of encouragement and exhortation.

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Paul is soon departing and he has encouragement, he has wisdom and warnings that he wants to impart to this young evangelist.

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One of the themes that you will see throughout first and second Timothy is the significance of holding to and teaching sound doctrine.

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And the doctrines that we derive from this letter are the passing down of the faith and teachings of Christ, passing them down, and that scripture is

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God -breathed and that his word is sufficient. Those are three things that we see in our text.

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So starting in verse 14, okay, of chapter three, it says, you, however, continue in the things that you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

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So he is to continue in the things that he has learned. And it's clear that Paul is likely one of those that Timothy learned from, no doubt.

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In chapter 1, verse 10, Paul tells Timothy, retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.

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Retain the standard of sound words, the things he says that you've heard, you've learned, you've learned them from me, you've heard them from me.

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He says the same thing, he says similarly in chapter 2, verse 2, the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these things to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

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Okay, take what I've taught you, Timothy, and pass it to other men who are faithful like you.

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Pass it on. And as I said, even during our time of catechism,

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Christianity is a faith that is handed down from Christ to the Apostles and to believers in every single successive generation proceeding.

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And what has been given to us to ensure the retention of sound words? God's Word, of course.

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God's Word. The scriptures are the road on which we walk throughout time, and orthodoxy or the apostolic teachings are the guardrails on that road.

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He says in verse 10, now you followed my teaching. Continue in the apostolic teachings.

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Christ as the Word came and gave his Word, his doctrine, his teaching. You might remember in the

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Sermon on the Mountain, Matthew chapter 5, 6, and 7, Jesus reaffirms the law.

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He cuts to the heart of the commandments and establishes his teaching. Every moment the

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Apostles had with Jesus was an opportunity to learn a lesson, hear a parable, receive his instruction, and witness his very example.

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And it was from Christ whom Paul received his instruction. And you might say, wait, what?

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How did Paul receive instruction from Christ? Well, it says in Galatians chapter 1, verse 11 and 12, he says,

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Paul says, for I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which is was preached by me is not according to man.

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For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

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He is, in a sense, defending his apostleship here, because he's saying

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I've seen the risen Christ, and he has given me the gospel that I preach has been given to me directly from Jesus.

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Between the acts of the Apostles and further explanation in the letter to the Galatians, it says

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Paul went away for three years to study the Scripture and be taught by the resurrected

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Christ by way of revelation through the Holy Spirit. Paul learned for three years from Jesus, just like the other

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Apostles who walked with Jesus and studied with him for three years. And so Timothy undoubtedly spent countless hours with the

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Apostle Paul, and many years by his side learning the teachings of Christ. Even in this letter,

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Paul continues to remind him in chapter 2 verse 7 and 8, consider what I say, for the

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Lord will give you understanding in everything. He says, remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead, descendant of David according to my gospel.

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In this, Paul is saying, remember that the Messiah is Jesus Christ.

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Remember that Jesus is the Messiah. Remember that he resurrected from the grave.

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Remember that Jesus has the rights to the throne by his bloodline and he is king by the way of the

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Davidic covenant, all according to the good news that was told you. That is what

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Paul is admonishing to Timothy. Continue in the things that you have learned and become convinced of, he says.

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In the Greek, convinced or epistothesis, coming from the root pastuo, which is believe.

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And a derivative of believe is pistis in the Greek, which is faith. Faith. Faith, belief, convinced.

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Continue in the things that you have confirmed. Continue in the things that you've established, in the things that you have believed, in the things that you've had faith in.

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Don't stop. Don't shrink back. Continue in them. So besides from Paul, where else would

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Timothy learn from? Where else? Because it says in the passage there that he continues in the things that he has learned.

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Where else would he have learned these things besides Paul? It says the things that he learned from his childhood.

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And so who are the primary teachers for children in the home? The Bible shows a child's primary teachers are to be the father and mother, or in some cases, even grandparents.

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In chapter 1, verse 5 of this epistle we're studying, it says, for I am mindful of the sincere faith within you,

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Timothy, which first dwelt in your grandmother, Lois, and then your mother,

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Eunice, and I am sure that is in you as well. No doubt

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Lois and Eunice taught Timothy many things pertaining to faith and the scriptures.

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And after the Shema is given in Deuteronomy chapter 6, which is, hero

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Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one, that is the Shema, God tells his people right after that and all the commandments he gives them, he tells them to diligently teach all these truths to their children, to their children.

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Ephesians 6, chapter 6, verse 4, fathers do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the disciplined instruction of the

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Lord, or the fear and admonition of the Lord. A man and a wife receive what

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I would call kind of a promotion when they have children, a promotion when they have children, and I don't mean to say that against single people or people who haven't had children, let me explain.

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Like a worker who has no subordinates then gets promoted to a manager and has staff beneath them, underneath them to lead similarly as parents, we no longer just care for ourselves.

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We no longer just care for our own needs or our spiritual needs, we care for the spiritual health and needs of our children, and that is definitely a reflection of our discipleship and parenting and teaching.

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The way that they go is a reflection of how we do that. In Acts chapter 16, verse 1 through 3, it says

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Paul came also to Derbe and Lystra, and a disciple was there named

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Timothy. This is when he first met Timothy, okay? Acts chapter 16, Paul came also to Derbe and Lystra, and a disciple was there named

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Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer. But Timothy's father was a

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Greek, and he was well spoken of by the brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted this man to go with him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the

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Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. And so we see that Timothy's mother was

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Jewish. She taught him the word and Jewish traditions. It appears, though, that his

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Greek father didn't have him circumcised according to the law. So we can deduce that Timothy's father was possibly not a believer or even a

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Gentile God -fearer, Gentiles who would have feared the one true God, the

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Jewish God. Some scholars speculate that Timothy's father maybe even died when he was younger.

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On multiple occasions, though, Paul calls Timothy his beloved true child in the faith, or simply his child.

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And so you can imagine that that's why Timothy gravitated towards Paul, and Paul gravitated towards him.

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He called him his true child in the faith. He loved Timothy. Paul loved

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Timothy so much. And so now we know why it was so important for Paul to see

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Timothy before he died. He loved him. He was like a son to him. Nevertheless, Timothy would have received teaching not just from Paul, but in his childhood from his mother and grandmother,

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Eunice and Lois. But what would have been the sacred writings that he was raised up in since childhood?

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What would have been the sacred writings? And Paul firmly implies to Timothy that he needs to remember something old.

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Remember something foundational. Timothy, remember something sacred. The sacred writings or Hera Gramata in the

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Greek could be translated the holy letter or the holy book. What we know to be the

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Old Testament or for the Jews, the Tanakh. The Old Testament. Paul makes it known that the

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Old Testament through the Old Testament, one could obtain wisdom that leads to salvation through Christ and the promises thereof.

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And I mean, boy, you could do like a over a year long study of Christ and the promises of salvation in the

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Old Testament. I mean, you could just go on forever. The Old Testament is all about Christ, all pointing to Christ.

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And so maybe we'll do that one day or maybe we'll do it on Wednesday nights because that would just be amazing. The question is, though, people hear that and they go, so how are

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Old Testament saints saved? How are Old Testament saints saved? And of course, it's by faith in Christ and promises given pointing ahead to Jesus.

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They had faith in the types and shadows and in the promises that God had given.

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They had faith in God. They believed God and it was credited to them as righteousness. They believed that a

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Messiah would come and they had faith in that. No one is saved other than by this kind of faith, this faith in Christ.

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I was tempted to go through an overview of passages pertaining to Christ in the

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Old Testament, but I'd probably derail the whole sermon. So just know the entirety of the

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Old Testament points to the person and work of Christ. These are the sacred writings.

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These are the scriptures they would have known during Jesus' ministry. After the resurrection in Luke chapter 24, we have two disciples on the road to Emmaus.

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You might have read this story. And on the road to Emmaus, these two disciples were discussing together all that had to happen with Jesus.

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The crucifixion, his death, they didn't know anything beyond his death at this point.

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They're defeated, they're walking away, they're recounting all that they had just seen with Christ, and they were saying how, boy,

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I wish if only he was the one who was going to redeem Israel, is what these two disciples were talking about.

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And then Jesus appears to them in his resurrected form on the road to Emmaus and not recognizing him, he approaches these two men and it says, then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, he explained to them the things concerning himself in the

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Scriptures. From Moses all the way to the prophets, explaining himself.

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The Old Testament, even Jesus affirms that the Old Testament speaks all about himself.

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And Pastor James, back at Apology in Arizona, always says that this would have been the coolest

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Bible study to have been a part of. As Jesus tells these two young disciples, from Moses to the prophets, here's where I am, here's the story.

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Oh my goodness, it would have been glorious. And my thought is that some of these truths that Jesus gave, not only them were given to maybe the apostles in part, and that some of these truths are possibly in the

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New Testament epistles. Some of the deep theology that we see there. Think about Romans, Galatians, Ephesians.

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What about Hebrews? Hebrews is a book, boy that really shows us the

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Old Covenant and now the New Covenant and how that all works out. So these letters, the

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New Testament, would be largely commentary on the Old Testament. That's how the

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New Testament really is organized. It's not the old versus the new.

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They are fluid, they are complements of each other. Acts chapter 26, 22 says, so having obtained help from God, I stand to this day testifying both to small and great, listen to this, stating nothing but what the prophets and Moses said was going to take place.

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That's what he says. The only thing, when he gives an account of why he's in this situation, standing before the crowd there, he says,

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I've stated nothing but what the prophets and Moses said was going to take place. This is

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Christ. This is who we've been waiting for. That the Christ was to suffer and that by reason of his resurrection from the dead, he would be the first to proclaim light both to the

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Jewish people and to the Gentiles. And so there is no mistaking it, brothers and sisters, the sacred writings demonstrate these truths of Jesus.

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Therefore, Timothy was to continue in what he learned from them through his family, through Paul, and through his own study of the sacred writings, or even his time at synagogue.

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So one question we can ask is, why is he to continue in the things that he's learned?

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Why is he to continue in these writings and what's been handed down to him? Why? And one big reason that Paul gives is because of false teachers.

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Because of false teachers. Look at the beginning of chapter 3. Let me read through it. The beginning of chapter 3 of 2nd

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Timothy. It says, but realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.

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For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, excuse me, without self -control, brutal, haters of God, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power, avoid such men as these.

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For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women, weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

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You know what's interesting is, it's pretty clear from the first century until now, God has decided not to take away false teachers from the experience of the church.

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They're even prevalent today. There's always been false teachers and false Gospels.

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I don't know, maybe it keeps us on our toes. Maybe it keeps us always, what does the word say?

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Maybe it keeps us from complacency and comfort, right? And so isn't this list though much like wicked false pastors we've even learned of?

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Lovers of money, arrogant, they're boastful. These kinds of men are narcissistic.

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It says they're lovers of selves. They love themselves. I've seen that in the

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Word of Faith and Prosperity Gospel movement. Lovers of self. It says they go after weak women and captivate them and cause these women to sin.

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Pastors who maybe close the office door with women and use their position and this bit of religious knowledge they have to take advantage of these women.

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They have taken their brother's wife. And it is wicked and it is evil, my friends.

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And you know what causes me great fear when I read through this passage?

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It says they hold to a form of godliness but they deny its power.

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They hold to a form of godliness but they deny its power. They are, it says they are always learning and yet never able to come to the knowledge of truth.

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They're always learning. They're in church Sunday after Sunday. They're learning. They're learning. They're learning. They're hearing the truth.

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They're being exposed to God's Word and yet they are never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

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And that is scary. And that is that is frightening for for unbelievers like that.

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I have more hope for us, for those in Christ. But what does

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Paul, what does God give Paul, give Timothy, what does he give us to combat these false teachers and false doctrine?

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What does he give us? Verse 16. Verse 16. All scripture is inspired by God.

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Notice it says all. All scripture is inspired by God. From historical narratives to penal codes and case laws to prophecy, psalms, wisdom, literature, letters of deep theology, no matter what it is, all scripture is inspired by God.

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Even the letter Paul wrote and sent to Timothy is inspired by God despite Paul possibly not even recognizing that it was inspired at the time.

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Whether orally handed down or written, the canon of scripture as we know it today is inspired by God.

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When he says all scripture, he agrees with the proverb every word of God proves true.

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Every word of God proves true. And we will we'll get more into canonization next week when we look at Peter's epistle.

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But it's like when people say, well look Jesus said it. See the red words?

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It was Jesus. Jesus as if you know that has as if the black words have less authority than the red words, right?

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Or when or when they say well that that was just that mean old God of the Old Testament that said that.

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His word doesn't count. That was just the God of the Old Testament. Oh well that's just a psalm.

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It's just music. It's just music. It's a psalm. It doesn't carry any significant weight to it, any spiritual weight to it.

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It's just a psalm. Well first, Jesus has never contradicted anything in the

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Holy Scriptures by what he said. He's never contradicted anything he said. All the other words in the

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Bible are his words. And secondly, we know the scriptures to demonstrate that they are inerrant and infallible.

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They follow the law of non -contradiction, which is to say that a and non -a cannot be true at the same time or in the same sense.

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A and non -a can't be the same. That's that's defeating the law of non -contradiction.

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For example, one cannot say that the Bible demonstrates that Jesus is

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God while simultaneously established that he is not God. Jesus is

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God. Jesus is not God. That's a and non -a. They don't, they, that can't work. The Bible never shows that.

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That is a contradiction. And the most amazing thing is, is the

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Bible does not have one single contradiction. Not one. No matter what atheists say.

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No matter what they say of other religions. The Bible has no other, has no contradiction. I would recommend a book called

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Scripture Alone. It has a chapter called Allegations of Contradiction. Very good. Check that out.

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So what does inspired mean though? What does inspired mean? All Scripture is inspired by God.

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What does inspired mean? Inspired does not mean when we are inspired to finally fix the broken gate on the side yard as men.

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Ah, Saturday I'll finally fix the side gate. I'm feeling ready for it. That's not the inspiration we're talking about.

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Inspired here does not mean like when you go see the orchestra and they're playing

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Beethoven Symphony No. 9 and you feel moved or emotionally stirred in your heart.

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You're inspired. Beautiful. Wonderful. Listen to those instruments. Listen to that symphony.

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That is not the inspiration we're talking about. A better translation would be like the

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ESV which says all Scripture is breathed out by God.

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Inspired by God is breathed out by God. The Greek word is theanoustos.

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Theanoustos. Theos meaning God and noustos comes from pneuma, breath.

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Think like, think like pneumonia or something. Pneumone is lung, breath, pneumonia and so it has to do with breathing.

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But this is not like what some may think with breathing, okay? For instance, when

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God created man in the garden it says that the Lord God took the dust of the earth and breathed into Adam's nostrils the breath of life.

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Some have wrongly asserted here that God breathed upon the words of men and made them come alive.

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He just breathed on them, men's words, and he made them inspired. That is very much not the case of what's happening here.

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Think about breath. When you speak words what occurs? Actually if I just kind of put my my hand in front of my mouth by like two inches and I keep talking like this, do this later, just put your hand in front of your mouth a couple inches off, talk.

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You could feel your breath coming out. I can feel it on my hand right now. Breathed out by God, that that is what that means.

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Breath, your breath leaves your mouth. It means all Scripture is spoken by God.

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That's what it means. Breathed out by God means spoken by God. As the breath leaves his mouth,

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God speaks. Scripture is from the very mouth of God.

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His breath formed the words that we know today in the Bible. These are God's personal utterances.

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And so whether it was God's audible voice or thus saith the Lord, the words of Christ or the letters we see penned in the

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New Testament, God spoke every single word. God spoke every single word.

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You may recall from last week when speaking about the personalness of God's Word, I said

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God's Word or God speaking is as a divine attribute.

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In this we can deduce that where God is, His Word is there too. Where His Word is, is where He is and where His personalness is.

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The fact is you cannot divorce God's Word from God's being. You cannot divorce them.

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It is divine. Some have wrongly declared that the

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Scriptures are the highest and truest sense God's creation. The Scriptures are God's creation.

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That they are a creation of divine origin. But this is categorically wrong. This is wrong.

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What is created is never divine. Whether mankind, animals, plants, water, sun and moon, stars, these are the creation of God.

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They are objects of what we call general revelation. General revelation refers to general truths that can be known about God through nature.

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Romans chapter 1 verse 20 makes it clear, defines it best when it says, for since the creation of the world,

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God's invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen through what has been made.

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It goes on to show that general revelation and even the law that's written on our hearts, it is enough to condemn us but is not enough to save us.

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General revelation, what we see outside, what we see, of course, the heavens are telling of the glory of God.

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We see that there is a God through creation and yet it can't save us.

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We need what's called special revelation. Special revelation is supernatural.

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It's supernatural. Special revelation is the Word of God. Special revelation is the incarnation, life, ministry, death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ.

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Jesus is part of that special revelation. God in the flesh.

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God came and dwelt among us. I bring up Jesus Christ because if we were to say that Christ was the highest and truest creation of God, we would then be heretics.

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That is heresy to say that Jesus was created. This is the heresy of what's called

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Arianism, which plagues many false religions and cults throughout time.

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Things like Mormonism. Mormonism says that Jesus was created in the pre -existence, that he's not

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God from all eternity. Jehovah's Witness, they say that Jesus is the first and best of beings, that he is

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Michael the Archangel, a creature. These are false. Christ is not a creation.

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He is fully divine. He is the living Word. We'll cover more about Christ and his nature in Solus Christus by Christ alone in that in that portion of the

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Solus series. And so when some have sneered, you

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Christians idolize the Bible. You guys idolize the Bible. But I just established that God's Word is divine.

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They say, you guys, you guys worship the Bible. I would say, I would say it's impossible to do that.

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Now can you take a physical Bible, can you take a physical Bible made of calf skin and paper, and then

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I set it up maybe by my bed, and then I pray to my Bible and I think it's the exact representation of God.

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Oh God, and I pray to this Bible. That would be idolatry. That would be wrong. But the words of God, God's Word, is divine.

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It's what he spoke in their original form. Those are divine. They, you can't idolize those.

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They are from his very being. You can't, like I said, you can't divorce them. You can't separate the two.

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His Word proceeds from his mouth and being. We now consider the sufficiency of Scripture.

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Inspired is what the Bible is. Profitable is what it does, according to this passage.

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We already saw in verse 15 that Scripture is able to give one wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

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Now in verses 16 and 17, all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness so the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

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The principle of Sola Scriptura doesn't allege that the Bible is an exhaustive record to man on every single idea and every single thing.

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In other words, the Bible doesn't tell us about rocket science or about building cars or certain things about, you know, robots or something like that.

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The Bible doesn't show us how to build robots. But I guess you could say that the

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Bible morally infers that it'd be wrong to make something like a sex robot. That would be wrong, of course.

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So it's not exhaustive, but it sheds light on all that we do in this life.

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Some of you are probably thinking of like Terminator or iRobot. You're thinking, well, it's probably not good to make robots in general, and I agree with you there.

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Let's not make robots. We could maybe make an argument from the Bible for that.

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I don't know. I'm just kidding. So the Word is sufficient, though.

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The Word is sufficient in that it contains everything necessary for salvation and righteous obedience.

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It contains everything that we need in that regard. Psalm 19, which is actually the psalm that we read last week at our first service, it showcases a comprehensive look at the sufficiency of Scripture.

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What is Scripture good for? It says in Psalm 19, the law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul.

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The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the

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Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

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The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true.

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They are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold. Sweeter also than honey in the drippings of the honeycomb.

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Moreover, by your servant, your servant is worn by them. In keeping them there is great reward.

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So that's Psalm 19. Remember from our brief look at the Reformation, Roman Catholics would have us believe that the church and the

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Pope, without the church or the Pope, we could not have peace with God. So we need the

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Bible, we need the church to tell us what to do, we need the Pope to tell us what to do, and that's how we can be saved.

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The Mormon Church does that as well. You have to be baptized in their so -called one true church.

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You have to listen to the words of the prophet, the president of the Mormon Church, and with that and with all the extra books that they have, then you'll know how to be saved.

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And that is of course false. This is demonstrably false according to our study right now.

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The church and offices God gave us in the New Testament are good and necessary, but they are of course not the same level of authority as God's Word.

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And of course we need the ministry of the Holy Spirit to regenerate us, illuminate the scriptures to us, guide us in all truths, and impart understanding upon us.

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I don't want to dismiss that, but that is presupposed in the sufficiency of Scripture.

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So it says the Scriptures are profitable for teaching. In the Greek this is didaskalion, which from whose root comes instruction and doctrine.

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The Bible is where we develop doctrine. We don't make up the doctrine of the

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Trinity and then find it in the Word. The doctrine of the Trinity is clearly revealed in Scripture, and so we identify it and we label it.

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We label that doctrine. Teaching is the one requirement that really sets apart the office of an overseer elder from the office of deacons, according to 1st

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Timothy. The ability to teach the congregation. But don't misunderstand, that doesn't mean that only pastors can teach these truths.

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That is most certainly a defining role of a pastor, but the Bible commands of all believers in certain contexts.

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Not just how I said even previously with parents. Parents are to teach these truths to their children, but even that, think about the

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Great Commission in Matthew chapter 28. It says, and Jesus came and spoke to them saying, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.

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Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the

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Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Here we go, teaching them to obey all that I've commanded you.

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And lo, I'm with you always even at the end of the age. And so this is not just a command given to the eleven apostles at that time.

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The Great Commission is a universal calling on all of us to give the gospel to all people and teach them to obey all that Christ had commanded.

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We don't teach people our ideas. We don't teach them our flavor of the Bible. We teach the

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Holy Scriptures and it says they are profitable to help you do that. And if I just read 2nd

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Timothy from start to finish tonight, if I read chapters 1 to 4, which

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I saw some of you get worried I'm not about to do that right now. If I did that, undoubtedly you would learn.

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You would learn from it. It would teach you. Of course we ought to practice correct exegesis and hermeneutics, which detail the correct way to interpret

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Scripture. And yet, as believers, regenerated by the

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Holy Spirit, we need not be afraid to pick up our Bibles daily and read these.

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Don't be intimidated by this glorious word, right? And so it says it is profitable for reproof and correction.

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When one is above reproach, they can, through the Bible's instruction and teaching, reproof a brother or sister in Christ.

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Reproof is to expose sin. Okay? Reproof is to compare sin to God's law lovingly and so as to let the work of the

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Holy Spirit come in and convict that person, right? We're not the ones able to convict people, but we can reproof them.

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We can show them what the Scripture says about their sin, about their issue. Reproof is a tool to combat sin.

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And correction goes hand in hand. You can't have one without the other, actually.

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Reproof and correction. After reproof, one needs correction.

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After they've been reproofed, they need correction of what is the right way. So correction then is a tool to grow in holiness.

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One is to fight sin, reproof. One is to grow in holiness, correction.

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The Greek root for correction is orthos. Orthos is right. Orthos is straight.

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Think orthodontist. They make your teeth straight. Orthos, straight. To be corrected is to go back on the right path, to get back on the straight way, the right way.

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Orthos is where we get orthodoxy. Paul uses the same root word in chapter 2 verse 15 when he says to accurately handle the word of truth.

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To handle it rightly. To handle it accurately. Orthos. These actions are similar to rebuke or admonish.

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Colossians chapter 1 verse 28 says, we proclaim Him admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom so that we may present every man complete in Christ.

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This is similar to our passage admonishing, teaching to present every man adequate or complete in Christ.

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Paul exhorts in the letter to the Thessalonians to admonish the unruly.

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Do it in patience. When you do it, treat them like your brother. Don't treat them like your enemy, he says.

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And I want to highlight something for all of us. The correction, the admonishing, all of that is never displayed in a negative way in Scripture.

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It is always seen in a positive light. It is reorienting your will with God's will.

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And so does it hurt to receive reproof and correction? Yeah. Oh boy, it hurts. I've been on the receiving end of that.

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Especially, you know, when I was being raised up by my elders in Arizona, the Apologia. It can hurt.

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And it can sting. It could sting the pride, of course. But it's always good. It's always good. Reproof and correction is always good.

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It can only help us grow. So I want us to consider that next time that may happen to you.

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And maybe I'm just giving that so I can all tell you guys something about yourself right now. Boom, roasted.

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No, I'm just kidding. That's a bad joke. So again, it's always good.

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Listen to this proverb that doesn't mince words. It says, whoever loves discipline loves knowledge.

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But he who hates reproof is stupid, it says. And I looked at like five translations and they all say stupid.

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It's crazy. Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge. But he who hates the reproof is stupid.

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So the lover of knowledge welcomes the reproof. The lover of knowledge welcomes discipline.

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But who doesn't accept it is unteachable.

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It says they're stupid. The King James Version says, who so loveth instruction loveth knowledge.

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But he that hateth reproof is brutish. Brutish. I feel like that could be like a

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Christian t -shirt. You know, like don't be a brute, take reproof or something like that.

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Yeah, I'll be here all night. I thought this guy was supposed to preach. So teach with the

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Word. Teach with the Word. Reproof with the Word.

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Correct with the Word. Which is all to say that the Scriptures are sufficient for training in righteousness.

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Training shows us that we don't have it altogether. That's what it presupposes.

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Training in righteousness. We need these Scriptures to show us where our folly is and where we can make correction.

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Training in righteousness. Sanctification is a process. So when you train for an event, you train for a job, you train or practice for anything consistently, you will become more proficient.

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You just will. If you take anything you want to do today and you practice at it, you're consistent with that practice, you will get better at it.

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I know a lot of you know that firsthand. Some of you have decided to learn an instrument and you practice it and you learn.

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We got, you know, Dax back here who, you know, plays basketball and he trained and he's gotten so good.

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Dylan singing and acting and he's gotten so much better at it. But we all start somewhere.

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And we, as we learn it and we're consistent, we get better at it, right? We train. So the idea is, are you not having victory over personal sin?

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Are you finding it difficult to pursue holiness? And it is often because we don't try.

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We don't practice the training in righteousness. We are not intentional. We don't train consistently.

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And I think this passage makes it clear. It even just starts with the Word of God. It just starts with the

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Word of God. Know it. Read it. Pick up this book every day and you will start overcoming the sin that plagues you.

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Read this book daily. Seek to understand it. Pray. Read the Word. It starts there.

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Have it in your heart and mind and I think you will see a difference. And if you are sitting here today and you want training in righteousness, my encouragement is to take this

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Bible. To take up your Bible and read it. Because, you know, you eat. We eat food every day to sustain ourselves.

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You get energy to perform what God has put in front of you with that food. And so we eat the daily bread of Scripture and we will have the spiritual fortitude and strength to battle our sin, the flesh, and the devil.

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And it can go the opposite as well. If you mainly make a practice of sin, if that's what you do all the time, you make a practice of sin other than righteousness.

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If you train in the flesh, it says, then you will only gain more sin.

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You will only bring more sin upon yourself. So consider that as you examine your daily life.

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Train the right way. We're wrapping up just about here. Hold on with me for another minute.

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Verse 17 it says, so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

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We're coming full circle now, in a sense. All Scripture is breathed out by God.

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And then you have verse 17, so that, so that. The verse opens with a clause, with the word hena, which indicates a purpose or result.

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So that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

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Adequate, complete, capable, proficient, well -fitted for the functions of the man of God.

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The Word will equip you for every good work. I think about this even in like a

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Trinitarian way. The Father speaks, and so we have the Word. The Son is the

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Word that justifies us before the Lord, and the Spirit regenerates us so as to be able to understand the

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Word that equips and empowers us to walk in these good works. Right?

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The sufficiency is likewise in the Word every, every good work, which can also be translated all.

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All Scripture will lead to all good works. All Scripture, breathed out by God, lead to all kind of good works.

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And we, we have all we need in His Word to understand salvation, gain faith, of course not without His sovereign election, and to know what

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He commands and what pleases our Lord. We don't need, we don't need a spiritual journey.

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You don't need a spirit guide to discover this. We don't need to live in a monastery isolated from the world as a monk to discover these truths.

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We don't need personality tests or anyograms, you know, to find your sign, astrological sign.

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What does it say today? No, we don't look to any of those things. We look to the Word of God.

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The Word of God is what will show us truth. God's Word is what is supreme, objective, absolute, and sufficient.

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And so as I close on 2nd Timothy for today, remember to continue in the things that you have learned.

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Continue in what you have learned. The right things, the straight things, orthodoxy from the

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Scriptures. Retain the knowledge of sound words because all the words in your Bible are breathed out by God.

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They're spoken by God. And if God speaks, we listen. We listen.

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And through His Word, we can know the truth about Jesus Christ and His Gospel. We can know with certainty the way of salvation.

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You know, people say that when we're doing evangelism. They're like, you know, I think I'm saved, you know, with my religion, with Buddhism, with Mormonism, with Hare Krishna, with whatever they're doing.

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I think I'm saved. Well, you can know with certainty today. You can know with certainty and that comes from God's Word.

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Excuse me. It is by no other name and no other way than but through Jesus, the

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Jesus Christ of Scripture. And with that, I can't think of a better word of exhortation following our study of 2nd

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Timothy chapter 3 than actually the first few verses in chapter 1. So here's the end of the sermon.

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It is like this. Chapter 4 of 2nd Timothy. I won't exegete it, but here are the captain's orders, so to speak.

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He says, I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead and by His appearing in His kingdom, preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and instruction.

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For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.

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Like some of the myths that I mentioned before. Brothers and sisters, preach this God -breathed word.

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In the presence of God and by the power of Jesus Christ, preach this word, preach the gospel, be ready in season and out of season, which is to say, preach at all times.

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Preach this word at all times. This God -breathed authoritative word.

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Don't wait for the next evangelism event. Don't wait to invite someone to church.

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You see someone, God's put it on your heart, share this God -breathed word. Because we are indeed in a time where most people will not endure sound doctrine.

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Some people will not endure sound doctrine. We might have even had people here last service and maybe this service who will not endure sound doctrine.

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And so preach this word. That's what we'll do. We'll just be faithful with this word. We'll preach this word. They want to have their ears tickled and soothed into a false sense of security by false teachers adhering no longer to truth but to falsehoods, even myths.

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The false way is their path and self -delusion is their doctrine. They train for unrighteousness and perfect evil, inventing new ways of wickedness.

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The time to give the God -breathed word is now and it's crucial that we do that, my brethren.