Woodlawn Ev. Lutheran Church 

Pentecost 7/Church Picnic
2 Tim 3:12-17 – Do Tough Times Change Your Mind About the Word?
July 17-19, 2009 by: Pastor Wessel

 12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

 Introduction – What things have you changed your mind about since you were younger? I was just talking with someone about different foods that we didn’t like when we were kids, but now we like. For him, it was raw tomatoes; for me, it was squash. Different foods that we may not have enjoyed or appreciated so much when we younger, sometimes we really like as we grow older.

                I would guess there are activities you enjoy now, that you didn’t when you were young. And probably the other way around as well. Maybe there were certain games you used to really like playing, but now, not so much. Maybe there were certain places you got excited about visiting, but now, not so much.

                Unfortunately, the same type of thing can happen to people when they think about the Bible. Some enjoy hearing about Jesus and King David and Moses when they are young, but as they get older, they think: “I’ve heard all that! I’m not interested anymore. There are too many other important things to do with my time.”

                Or maybe people change their minds about the Word of God when things aren’t going so well and they think that God must not be there for them. They think the value of the Bible is limited and when you reach the limit, you might as well set it aside and look for answers somewhere else. Do you know anybody who has changed their mind about the Bible and made the decision to set it aside? The devil works hard. When times are good, he tempts us to think we’re doing fine without God. When times are tough, he tempts us to think that God must not care about us anymore, if he ever did. Many people are saying that times are tough.

Do tough times change your mind about the Word?

I. Even in tough times, his Word is God-breathed

II. Even in tough times, his Word is useful

 I. Even in tough times, his Word is God-breathed

                The man who recorded these words for us today knows what he’s talking about. He isn’t just making some observation from a distance. He’s been there. On both sides of the issue. “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted”? Saul of Tarsus, whom we know better as the Apostle Paul, persecuted Christians. He wanted their religious teachings erased from history and tried as hard as he could to make it happen.

                But Jesus Christ, with love and mercy, grabbed a hold of Paul and shook him to his senses. He intervened directly in Paul’s life and said, “No more! Now you serve me. Now you go and share with others those same religious teachings that you hated so much.” Paul’s was baptized into the Christian faith and the Holy Spirit used him to tell the news that Jesus Christ was chosen by God to rescue the human race from everlasting punishment. Because he taught and defended the truth of this message, Paul was persecuted.

                Yeah, he knows what he’s talking about, doesn’t he? And as he writes these words, he is sitting in jail, in Rome, waiting for the end of the road for his life on earth. He is anticipating the worst that persecution can do – take his life from him. But Paul, resting comfortably in the arms of Jesus, is not afraid. He is eager to see the one who called him to follow and believe. He is eager to see his Savior in heaven.

                Others must carry on the work now, instead of Paul. And they will have to do it when it is easy and when it is hard. They will have to share the message of Jesus Christ and all the implications that brings with those who want to hear it and those who don’t want to hear it. They will continue to proclaim repentance and forgiveness of sins in the name of Jesus Christ. What a job for young Timothy, the man to whom this letter was first written.

                So Paul encourages Timothy. Even though Paul would be gone, nothing changes. “Continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of.” Timothy was blessed, like some Christians, to have grown up in a home where devout, God-fearing women taught him the truth from little on. Since his infancy, Timothy’s grandmother Lois and mother Eunice apparently demonstrated to Timothy the love of God through their words and their example. Their faithfulness helped lay for Timothy a solid foundation on which the Holy Spirit would build Timothy’s faith. It emphasizes the sacred responsibility that parents have to teach their children about our God, so that they might be protected from those who would harm them. And no age is too young to start. The Spirit works in the baptism of an infant, to create a faithful heart in a child of God.

                Paul had been through tough times. Timothy would be through tough times. Christians can always expect that evil men and impostors will make life as a Christian tough. They deceive, or trick people and they are deceived themselves, thinking they know the truth when they follow the devil’s lies. Who are these evil men and impostors? They are described earlier in this same chapter:

                “There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good,  treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God-- having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.” (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

                Sound familiar? You don’t have to look far to see people who are controlled by the sinful nature causing pain for those who  want to remain faithful to God, tempting them away from a life that is good and pure and dedicated to sacrificing our time and resources to God instead of to ourselves.

                When you look in the mirror, do you sometimes see these traits in yourself? Would your family and friends use some of these words to describe you? Do you cause problems for yourself and others when you react first and think later; when your first thought isn’t, “How can I put a smile on God’s face”, but “How dare they do that to me!”

                By God’s grace we are not slaves of our sinful nature, but our sinful nature still tries and often succeeds in getting control of our hearts. We sin. We cause pain. Our selfish nature doesn’t want to submit to God and to our fellow believers. We need God’s forgiveness, so that we can have hope.

                That is when we need to hear the reassuring statement “All Scripture is God-breathed.” What does that mean and why is it important? It means that these words that you and I are meditating on today are words that come from a greater authority than the Apostle Paul. It means that the human writers of the Bible were not using their own observations about life to come up with these ideas. “God-breathed” means powerful, truthful, no mistakes, no flaws.           “God-breathed” means “inspired by God” and every Word from him, for us.            And what power does the Word have? The power to make you wise for salvation. It tells us how we are saved; how we have been rescued.

The Bible tells us that the wisdom of God is foolishness to people. God chose to save you and me by punishing his innocent Son for our sins. He used human governments and their right to execute people. His Son put himself under their authority, suffered their beatings and their cross and suffered God’s righteous judgment on our sin. That is what the inspired, God-breathed Word of God has to say to you, Christian, as you face tough times and the world sometimes seems to be collapsing. It is the reassurance that your Heavenly Father cares for you even when the Lord takes away some of the blessings he has given in this great land of ours and you don’t know whether your faith is solid enough to handle it. With your faith resting on Jesus, it is solid enough. He’s not going anywhere.

II. Even in tough times, the Word is useful

The Bible is not a self-help book, but it sure helps us. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” What tool do you have at home that is all worn out? A favorite knife that you use for everything in the kitchen? A special shovel for working in the dirt outside? Wrenches, drills, screwdrivers, Swiffers, brushes, vacuum cleaners. Why do these tools get worn out? Because they are useful! We use them over and over and over again and we’d be lost if we didn’t have them to use. If we wouldn’t use them, they would look nice and new for a long time.

How about your Bible? Does it look nice and new? Sometimes a Bible looks beat up, because it’s been thrown into a box or in a backpack, traveling back and forth. That’s not good, we should treat our Bibles with care and respect, trying not to damage them. But at the same time, “All Scripture is . . . useful.” Worn pages, because you have been turning them over again and again, eager to know God better through his Word – that is a good thing! Maybe you take notes and write down questions and stick them into your Bible as you read. Soak up what it says, mark important verses, because the Holy Spirit is working through that God-breathed Word and filling up your soul. If you need a place to start, let one of us pastors know.

What is the Bible useful for? For teaching. Teaching what? Teaching the content of our faith – the truth about you and me and the world we live in, why there is lust, why there is violence, why there is pain. Especially teaching the truth about God, that he created us, freed us from the curse, and set us apart to be his own people forever.

What is the Bible useful for? For rebuking. Knowing the truth about God helps us mark and identify false ideas as humans try to shape God into a form that they prefer, whether it is a god who allows any sort of behavior, or a God who is weak and we can manipulate him to get what we want.

What is the Bible useful for? For correcting. How are you doing with the 10 Commandments test? As you make decisions each day about how to follow God and his will for your life, do you need to correct some of your answers? The Bible shows us right and wrong, so that we can repent of our sins and find joy in forgiveness through Jesus our Savior. Then, by God’s grace, we will correct our wrong answers and straighten out our crooked paths.

What is the Bible useful for? For training in righteousness. Righteousness, the right relationship with God, comes to us only by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. The Bible is useful for keeping us close to the One through whom we have been saved.

How could we go a day without God’s inspired Word? In these tough times, when belts are tightening and sacrifices are being made, sometimes causing people to lose their trust and confidence in others and in God, what better place to run to for safety than that place where we hear God’s own voice speaking to us. He does not tell us to give up, but to be filled with the Spirit, who equips us “for every good work.”

We all need a break, don’t we? We all need rest when we are tired. Sometimes we get it, sometimes we don’t. God says to find rest with him in his Word, but he also wants us to know that he is going to use us. His word does not compel us to sit around, but it gets us in shape. The truth about God’s love for us sinners motivates us to want to do good in every situation. The Holy Spirit equips us with faith and love and hope that are to be actively put into practice with every relationship we have. You may feel that you are lacking in certain skills, but the Word thoroughly equips you to use the skills that God has blessed you with for the good of others. Never underestimate what God is able to accomplish through you.

 Conclusion – The events of history, both small and great, cause constant change in our lives. Sadly though, people are basically the same throughout history, hostile to God and his will and making a mess of things. Joyfully, though, God is the same, with his justice and mercy meeting at the cross of Jesus, your hope and your Savior. I hope tough times don’t change your mind about how valuable this Book of Books, this Word of God is for you in your life. Wear it out! We need to be searching its pages now, to hold on fast to that hope for the future, from the only one who knows the future. Amen.