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INTRODUCTION
ILLUS: Here is a recommendation for our Annual Business Meeting today - let us go to 4 worship
services... Finders, Keepers, Losers, Weepers.
Text for today: 2 Timothy 2:15. Theme Verse of Awana.
KJV “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman needth not to be ashamed
rightly dividing the word of truth.”
NIV “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not
need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”
NLT “Work hard so God can approve you. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be
ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth.“
NASV “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need
to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” The phrase I wish to target
today is “accurately handling the word of truth”
The point of the verse: We need to correctly study and apply the word of truth. We do that by
being diligent = working hard, doing our best. And when we do that we are a workman approved
by God, blessed by God.
The Bible is written Word of God. The Bible is the greatest book ever written. And it is for
you and me - the very word of truth directly from God.
1. Exposition: What does it mean to "accurately handle the word of truth?"
John MacArthur: “accurately handling” literally means to cut
straight. It was used of a craftsman cutting a straight line, a farmer plowing a
straight furrow, a mason setting a straight line of bricks, a workmen building a
straight road. Because Paul was a tentmaker by trade (Acts 18:3), he may have had in
mind the careful, straight cutting and sewing of the many pieces of leather or cloth
necessary to make a tent. The phrase is used to describe carefully performing a task -
working with God’s word
- The preacher/teacher, any student of the word of truth is to carefully analyze and
apply God’s word. Must be precise in the way he interprets and pieces together
the many individual truths found in Scripture.
- My definition: To handle accurately the word of truth is to reverently and responsibly
search and study, exegete and explain, absorb and apply the Word into our lives. What
a privilege, but an awesome task.
- The instruction is given because it is possible to inaccurately handle the word of
truth such as: to violate its message, to wrongly interpret, to deceive the hearers,
to misrepresent God, to ignore its live giving truth.
- The first and most important principle is that of basing doctrine and standards of
living on Scripture alone - “sola scripture” a key watchword of the
Protestant Reformation, a central concept to orthodox evangelical belief still today.
The Bible is our final authority. There are right ways to study and apply, and many
wrong ways - we must rightly divide word...
- Basic principles of study: study the context of a passage, look at the historical
setting, understand who the author and the audience are, notice the grammar, interpret
scripture with scripture, understand types of speech. Seek the plain and literal
meaning of the Bible first. Believe that when God speaks it is absolutely true and
accurate, infallible, and inerrant. 2 Tim. 3:15 “All scripture is inspired
by God...” Psalm 119:151: “You are near, O LORD, And all Your commandments
are truth.”
- One of the great dangers is taking a verse or phrase out of its context.
ILLUS: Opening Bible: “Peter went fishing.” Did you know the
Bible says “There is no God?” Context: “The fool
has said in his heart ’there is no God.’” Psalm 14:1. I
heard this one in connection to politics someone said: “You shall know the
truth and truth shall set you free.” John 8:31-32 The context says
“If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of mine; and you
will know the truth and the truth will make you free.”
- It is essential for Christians to “accurately handle the word of truth.”
2. Exhortation: How does this apply to First Baptist Church of Colfax, IA?
- It is a serious responsibility for us to preach/teach the Bible - all our church
leaders, teachers who handle this book must do so with utmost care. This is
God’s holy word, the word of truth.
- With that in mind, it has become my burden to help make sure we as a church remain
true to the Bible as we have historically believed.
- Preaching theme for few months: “Timely Truths that Transform Us.”
- Take a break from John for a few months - absence makes the heart grow fonder. So we
can reestablish our theological, moral, church life foundation. “Timely Truths
that Transform Us” - SEE INSERT CHART
A. This is TIMELY.
- False teachers abound, you can buy a book, or search the internet and find all sorts
of unbelievable interpretations and applications of this book. Even Christian
Bookstores have resources that inaccurately handle Bible. There are issues in our
church, in Christianity at large we need to be aware of, be on our guard for. Timely
in that God has laid this on my heart. The world is changing, Christianity is
changing, our church is changing - let us change in the Biblical direction.
- The study of doctrine/theology is not stagnant. We have new understandings in
progressive revelation, we have new ideas, insights, new terminology, new
controversies (mostly old dressed new).
- As an evangelical pastor, who believes in the orthodox doctrines of Christianity,
conservative in application - I believe we must be very careful - for the Bible says
in last days people will be “always learning and never able to come to the
knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 3:1,7).
- 2 Tim 4:1-5 So this is timely. Now is a good time to
reaffirm truth.
B. This is about TRUTH.
- I want to make sure we believe the truth. “Timely TRUTHS that transform
us.” Thus it begins with right doctrine.
- 11 times in the Pastoral Epistles of 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus is the word
“doctrine” is found. Phrase “sound doctrine”
= 4 times.
- “teaching/teach” 56 times in Acts and epistles. 1 Tim. 1:10
“sound teaching” “preaching, preach” 40 times Acts and
Epistles.
- We have a great theological foundation already laid by our forefathers. We have a very
good foundation of Biblical doctrines. I am one who believes that we need to move
“forward to the past.”
ILLUS: Spent about 2 months reading the history of our evangelical theology. I
like history, so if I can study doctrine in the context of history I learn better.
So I have devoured a couple of excellent resources, done some study on-line - at
home I finally moved from Windows 95 to Windows Vista and dial up e-mail to
Broadband internet - fun. Even read boring looking theology books on planes and
sitting on the beach - has been enjoyable.
- One thing I have learned is 20th century evangelicals/fundamentalists, Baptist’s
included, made a mistake. They forgot 2000 years of great Christian history and
ignored the historic creeds, confessions and catechisms. They threw out the baby with
the bathwater. We Baptist evangelicals today don’t talk about those. But
historic Baptist’s did.
ILLUS: Reform theologians wrote Heidelberg Catechism in 1563. Presbyterians wrote
the Westminster Confession of Faith in 1646, The Baptists wrote the Second London
Baptist Confession of Faith in 1689. American Baptists took that and wrote the
Philadelphia Confession of Faith in 1742. Then the New Hampshire Confession of
Faith of 1833 was written, and that one influenced the theology of the CBA. These
are lengthy detailed documents. The Apostles Creed goes back to the 5th century
AD, it is an amazingly concise and correct creed. The Nicene Creed of the 4
century AD gives the best description of the deity of Christ. Both found in our
hymnal, hardly read. Charles Spurgeon wrote a Baptist Catechism. Baptists had
several catechisms in the 1800’s. Today John Piper of MPLS has rewritten the
Spurgeon’s. The Southern Baptists and other Baptist groups have published
catechisms. Great stuff, great history. Hard work has been done.
- Forward to the past. We do write doctrinal statements - a friend calls them
“Docturnal Statements.” We write and forget about them.
- BUT, I want us to remember ours. The is closest detailed confession of faith we have.
And it is pretty good, is our constitutions “Statement of Faith.” More
detailed than many churches. It has 16 points.
- SO, I am going to bring that out, dust it off, seek to bring it to life, and apply it
to us in the context of 2008. Our forefathers wrote it back in the 1976 - Pastor
Synder. Danny and I studied it and revised it in 2001, the church approved it in 2004.
So now let us see what is says to us again, see it fresh again. Even some new issues
that we might want to look at.
- So, this is timely. “Timely Truths that Transform Us.” It will not be an
exhaustive study, but a fair and helpful study, hope fascinating.
- We do need to combat Biblical illiteracy and ignorance, with the goal that we as a
body have Biblical convictions of the truth.
- I am to make sure we hold to conservative, orthodox, Biblical and Baptistic beliefs.
Our doctrines and practices must line with God’s Word.
- With the late Francis Schaeffer, I believe we have the true truth. Our orthodox
understanding of the Bible is very good. It has historical validity. Literary
continuity. Logical consistency.
- “true/truth” key words in Bible, over 250 times.
C. Truth needs to TRANSFORM us.
- “Timely Truths that TRANSFORM us.” The doctrines need to be applied to our
spiritual disciplines. The problem we are addressing is immaturity. The goal is for us
all to behave Biblically.
- Doctrine is not just academic, it is actually practical, life changing. Knowing Christ
Jesus the Savior and Lord transforms us.
- “...the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two edge
sword...” Hebrews 4:12. Transform/disciple answers the “So What?”
- “discipline/disciple” over 60 times in Bible. Romans
12:1-2
D. I want US to learn and practice this together.
- “Timely truths that transform US.” We are to be dependent upon each other.
Body life. We are to exercise our spiritual gifts together. We need to love each other
- we need to serve each other.
- We need to overcome our problem of independence from each other, with the goal to
become a truly loving Biblical community. Believers together who are transformed by
truth. It will show up in our church body and in our church testimony.
- Confident convictions must change our character and our community. We need to turn
Doctrine into Discipline and mutual Dependence in our body. I had a pastor friend say
once: “The church needs to be a place where people love each other.”
John 13:34-35
CONCLUSION
That is where I want to go with you for a few months. I am looking forward. I believe we need
to reaffirm our foundational beliefs. They are being challenged by increasingly anti-Christian
culture, even in Christianity.
We are not the same as other churches, there are differences, we need to know and affirm what
we believe and be committed to our beliefs, so much so the beliefs will be based on Bible and
will change our behavior and body life.
We have great potential here, we have growth taking place, we are heading in the right
direction. “Timely Truths that Transform Us.”
ILLUS: When we were in Jamaica there were times I wondered if this was the place for a
Conservative Baptist Pastor. Learned some of its history. It was a slave colony under
British rule. In a history we read, it gave credit to Baptist missionaries in the
early 1800’s who turned the colony away from slavery. Evangelized the slaves,
after a number of years of struggle and war and revolts, that influenced the entire
British empire, it lead the abolition of slavery in the British empire in 1833, 30
years ahead of USA with Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. Baptist
missionaries believing the Bible, transforming people’s lives changed their
country, established the gospel in the land. The church we attended I understand
traces it’s history goes back 180 to that period of time.
Truth transforms people - the church and the world. Do we need some transformation? Of course!
Always room for improvement, room for growth, room to change our communities with the gospel
truth of Jesus Christ.
Motto of the church: Growing Disciples for Jesus Christ...
Are you a disciple who wants to grow?
“The Savior is Waiting” #329
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