This week we will be thinking about getting to work. When I have a job to do, one of the first steps is to assemble the tools I will need to get the job done. If I am writing a sermon, I need a Bible, some basic study resources, and, most importantly, lots of time to pray and to meditate on the passage at hand. If I need to patch some drywall, I would gather up the compound, knives, and tape I need to finish the job. If I am to set about doing the good works prepared for me beforehand, I will need...well, read this week's passage and find out!
"Now you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium and at Lystra; what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord rescued me." (2 Timothy 3:10-11, NASB)
Everyone who desire to live godly lives will be persecuted, Paul wrote. The list of persecutions the Apostle Paul suffered was a lengthy one. The key to surviving that persecution was the simple act of continuing, of staying the path. That in turn requires us to do something that the word translated as "continuing" can also mean: "abiding" in Christ. If we are to handle the difficulties that will certainly come our way, we must make sure that we not only know of Christ, but that we also know Him intimately. One of the ways the Bible describes that level of knowledge is to say that we "dwell" or "abide" in Christ; that in Him we live and move and have our being. That level of intimacy is achieved only by knowing Jesus intimately, and the way God has provided for that is the Scripture, God's Word. If you would abide in Christ, you must read His Word.
The unifying principle in these passages seems to be the importance of God’s Word: 2 Timothy 3:10-17 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. Psalm 119:49-56 Remember the word to Your servant, Upon which You have caused me to hope. This is my comfort in my affliction For Your word has given me life. Habakkuk 2:1-4 “Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; 1 Corinthians 3:1-9 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; 2 Timothy 3, outlines the “tools” from Scripture that we need to be fully equipped for every good work -- doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness; The passage from Psalm 119 defines the importance of hope and comfort in preparing us for inevitable affliction; Habakkuk needed reassurance of God’s Sovereignty for impending disaster to the nation of Judah – God seemed to give him His clear Word as if in a vision and as if written on a billboard; Sadly, the Corinthians, hadn’t got past the “milk” of the Word, and unless they “woke up”, they were ill prepared for being God’s fellow workers, facing deceptions and afflictions. Happily, Paul’s second letter to them (that we have) suggests that his rebukes and further instructions had brought about significant maturity.
Let's take a moment to look at something this week's sermon will not spend much time on, which is the four useful things Scripture does (teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness). We'll touch on that, of course, but a while back Jon Gerstel preached an excellent sermon which explored all four of these in detail. Jon likened it to snowmobile racing, where it is important to know what the right track is (teaching), what the wrong track is (reproof), how to get back on track (correction), and how to stay on track (training in righteousness). That is one way we can use God's Word: to delineate sound doctrine, to designate what displeases God, to direct (or redirect) us to what is correct, and to discipline us for godly living. As you study this week's passage, consider what Jon taught us regarding how to use Scripture profitably, which will set us up for thinking through how we become adequate (artios; fitted or complete) and equipped (exartizo; prepared) so that we can go about getting to work.
I don't really have much to contribute to this conversation (by the way, it's so wonderful to see Dr. Vic's posts again! Welcome back!), but I wanted to share what has been buzzing in my brain since I read these verses yesterday. As I read the passages given and the posts that are up, my brain continuously goes back to Ephesians 2:10 (maybe because it is one of my favorites): "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." God has a plan laid out and he gives us the incredible opportunity to take part in it. How awesome is that? He has work for us already planned out; he wants us to share his good news with the world and lift up fellow believers as they do their work, as well. He also knows we won't meet the world's expectations for us becausr we aren't of the world and we will catch a lot of flack for that. Some go out into the world to work and end up tortured, in prison, or killed for their decisions to follow through with that work. Doing the work of God can be so hard. What a reassuring and joyous thing that God gave us his Word to show us his plan, his love, his patience, and his guidance. It can show us his expectations for us, give us hope, joy, comfort, and peace as well as convict us and quietly, patienty transform us. I have just been sitting here for two days in awe and thankfulness for his amazing Word!
Pastor Matt's first post about making sure we have all the tools before we get to work, hit home for me. I seem to often times fall into 2 categories, neither of them being good.
1) I make sure I have everything I need to do the job, but when it comes time to actually work, I have lost all motivation and passion or have become distracted with something else. To often we prepare to do God's work and than when the time comes or when things get rough, we back down, we lose focus. God reminds us in His word, our primary tool for the job, that he will always be there for us to help us through the rough patches, we just need to stay the course. Or...
2) I don't think I have the necessary tools to do the job God is calling me do, so I don't even try. This is a big lie used by the devil, because again God's word reminds us in 2 Tim 3:17 that God HAS ALREADY equipped us to do His good work, we just fail to rely on Him when we the time comes. God is never going to call us to do a job, without providing us with the necessary tools, that would imply He is setting us up for failure.
"I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. (1 Corinthians 3:6-9)
Paul and Apollos were all about getting to work, and each one used the tools and the gifts God had equipped him with to do the task set before him. Those tools and gifts served different purposes and moved the work forward in different ways. Paul was the one who presented the gospel, planting the seed which would blossom into belief. Apollos provided discipleship for those new believers, helping them to grow up into their faith. Both used God's Word as a primary tool in accomplishing that work. One work was no better than the other, and they were both necessary because they both served the same purpose: to make disciples. That is the work we are called to as well, and each one of us has a part to play in the process. Some will plant, some will water, but God gives the increase. As you and I apply Scripture to our lives and share what God has revealed to us with others, we both grow up into faith and help others in that same process, that both we and those over whom we have influence might be adequate and equipped disciples.
As Paul wrote this passage, the Spirit had a goal in mind, which was to communicate what God wanted to happen as a result of our reading, studying and meditating on His Word.
"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."
The key words are found near the end, where Paul writes that Scripture works as it does SO THAT those who serve God are adequate, equipped for every good work. The Word of God helps make us complete so that we are fit for the work that the Lord has set before us and properly prepared to do it. The Bible is not only the tool we need to do the work; it is also the manual that explains how those tools are used in order to carry out the work. We cannot hope to be 'adequate, equipped for every good work' if we will not pick up our tools, turn to the manual, and follow the steps that will lead us to bear fruit. Have you picked up your tools today? Have you checked the manual so that you know how to use them? When you do, you will be adequate, equipped for every good work.
What faith it takes to sow seed and NOT to reap! But isn’t that what so many of us do, when we share our faith -- we plant seed, water it with our prayers, and then wait and hope, for the harvest -- and wait, and wait. I have an older brother, and his wife – both raised in Godly homes where Christ was honored -- with whom I shared my new-found faith 60 some years ago, and from time to time I am able to represent the love of Jesus to them, but they have hardened their hearts and still do not believe in Jesus as the Son of God. They know my position, and they live upright and moral lives, but still they subscribe to the world’s philosophy. They attend and support a Unitarian church regularly. So I pray for them daily. The abiding comfort I get is to have heard the experience of some, who have, after many years, rejoiced in the conversion of loved ones – or it may have happened even after the death of the Pray-er. So let us persevere, for the Day will come when the Sower will rejoice with the Reaper.
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. 2 Timothy 3:16-17. Paul wrote this second letter to Timothy shortly before Paul dies. He wrote this letter to encourage Timothy to persevere in his Christain faith and life.
As I reflected on the scripture above, I thought about my brothers and sisters in Christ. Over this past week, I observed leaders at work teaching our youth that God has a place for them in the Body of Christ. I observed facebook posts of our youth who are preparing to go on a mission trip and I observed the Body of our Church working to make it a good teaching experience for this Sabbath.
What I saw this week is God's Masterpiece at work within our community to prepare other's to also get to work for God's glory. That my friends is................. AWESOME !
Amen! It can be so hard to wait! To spend countless hours in conversation and in prayer and never see fruit. However, for a long time God has been bringing me to the truth that there is comfort in the fact that we may sow but not reap. My more subtle, conversational way of sharing may not be the way (or the only way) God uses to change a person's heart, but another's direct, aggressive way of sharing may be. We each have different personalities and gifts and God uses all of them. Where one may not be effective, another is. There is so much peace in that fact. We call, we encourage, we care for, we comfort, we correct, we serve, we contribute financially and physically, we lead, and we teach. We each have different gifts and none of us get all of them. This way we stay humble. We are one, unified body and through him we can do his work on earth more thoroughly than we could do it alone. Can you imagine how hard it would be to be all of things to just one person that God calls us to reach out to? Thankfully we don't have to!
Good Sabbath! Are you ready...adequate, equipped for every good work? That's wonderful, but first let's rest and worship the Lord together. See you at church!
This week we will be thinking about getting to work. When I have a job to do, one of the first steps is to assemble the tools I will need to get the job done. If I am writing a sermon, I need a Bible, some basic study resources, and, most importantly, lots of time to pray and to meditate on the passage at hand. If I need to patch some drywall, I would gather up the compound, knives, and tape I need to finish the job. If I am to set about doing the good works prepared for me beforehand, I will need...well, read this week's passage and find out!
ReplyDelete"Now you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium and at Lystra; what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord rescued me." (2 Timothy 3:10-11, NASB)
ReplyDeleteEveryone who desire to live godly lives will be persecuted, Paul wrote. The list of persecutions the Apostle Paul suffered was a lengthy one. The key to surviving that persecution was the simple act of continuing, of staying the path. That in turn requires us to do something that the word translated as "continuing" can also mean: "abiding" in Christ. If we are to handle the difficulties that will certainly come our way, we must make sure that we not only know of Christ, but that we also know Him intimately. One of the ways the Bible describes that level of knowledge is to say that we "dwell" or "abide" in Christ; that in Him we live and move and have our being. That level of intimacy is achieved only by knowing Jesus intimately, and the way God has provided for that is the Scripture, God's Word. If you would abide in Christ, you must read His Word.
The unifying principle in these passages seems to be the importance of God’s Word:
ReplyDelete2 Timothy 3:10-17 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Psalm 119:49-56 Remember the word to Your servant, Upon which You have caused me to hope.
This is my comfort in my affliction For Your word has given me life.
Habakkuk 2:1-4 “Write the vision And make it plain on tablets,
That he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time;
1 Corinthians 3:1-9 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food;
2 Timothy 3, outlines the “tools” from Scripture that we need to be fully equipped for every good work -- doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness;
The passage from Psalm 119 defines the importance of hope and comfort in preparing us for inevitable affliction;
Habakkuk needed reassurance of God’s Sovereignty for impending disaster to the nation of Judah – God seemed to give him His clear Word as if in a vision and as if written on a billboard;
Sadly, the Corinthians, hadn’t got past the “milk” of the Word, and unless they “woke up”, they were ill prepared for being God’s fellow workers, facing deceptions and afflictions. Happily, Paul’s second letter to them (that we have) suggests that his rebukes and further instructions had brought about significant maturity.
Let's take a moment to look at something this week's sermon will not spend much time on, which is the four useful things Scripture does (teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness). We'll touch on that, of course, but a while back Jon Gerstel preached an excellent sermon which explored all four of these in detail. Jon likened it to snowmobile racing, where it is important to know what the right track is (teaching), what the wrong track is (reproof), how to get back on track (correction), and how to stay on track (training in righteousness). That is one way we can use God's Word: to delineate sound doctrine, to designate what displeases God, to direct (or redirect) us to what is correct, and to discipline us for godly living. As you study this week's passage, consider what Jon taught us regarding how to use Scripture profitably, which will set us up for thinking through how we become adequate (artios; fitted or complete) and equipped (exartizo; prepared) so that we can go about getting to work.
ReplyDeleteI don't really have much to contribute to this conversation (by the way, it's so wonderful to see Dr. Vic's posts again! Welcome back!), but I wanted to share what has been buzzing in my brain since I read these verses yesterday. As I read the passages given and the posts that are up, my brain continuously goes back to Ephesians 2:10 (maybe because it is one of my favorites): "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." God has a plan laid out and he gives us the incredible opportunity to take part in it. How awesome is that? He has work for us already planned out; he wants us to share his good news with the world and lift up fellow believers as they do their work, as well. He also knows we won't meet the world's expectations for us becausr we aren't of the world and we will catch a lot of flack for that. Some go out into the world to work and end up tortured, in prison, or killed for their decisions to follow through with that work. Doing the work of God can be so hard. What a reassuring and joyous thing that God gave us his Word to show us his plan, his love, his patience, and his guidance. It can show us his expectations for us, give us hope, joy, comfort, and peace as well as convict us and quietly, patienty transform us. I have just been sitting here for two days in awe and thankfulness for his amazing Word!
ReplyDeletePastor Matt's first post about making sure we have all the tools before we get to work, hit home for me. I seem to often times fall into 2 categories, neither of them being good.
ReplyDelete1) I make sure I have everything I need to do the job, but when it comes time to actually work, I have lost all motivation and passion or have become distracted with something else. To often we prepare to do God's work and than when the time comes or when things get rough, we back down, we lose focus. God reminds us in His word, our primary tool for the job, that he will always be there for us to help us through the rough patches, we just need to stay the course. Or...
2) I don't think I have the necessary tools to do the job God is calling me do, so I don't even try. This is a big lie used by the devil, because again God's word reminds us in 2 Tim 3:17 that God HAS ALREADY equipped us to do His good work, we just fail to rely on Him when we the time comes. God is never going to call us to do a job, without providing us with the necessary tools, that would imply He is setting us up for failure.
"I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. (1 Corinthians 3:6-9)
ReplyDeletePaul and Apollos were all about getting to work, and each one used the tools and the gifts God had equipped him with to do the task set before him. Those tools and gifts served different purposes and moved the work forward in different ways. Paul was the one who presented the gospel, planting the seed which would blossom into belief. Apollos provided discipleship for those new believers, helping them to grow up into their faith. Both used God's Word as a primary tool in accomplishing that work. One work was no better than the other, and they were both necessary because they both served the same purpose: to make disciples. That is the work we are called to as well, and each one of us has a part to play in the process. Some will plant, some will water, but God gives the increase. As you and I apply Scripture to our lives and share what God has revealed to us with others, we both grow up into faith and help others in that same process, that both we and those over whom we have influence might be adequate and equipped disciples.
As Paul wrote this passage, the Spirit had a goal in mind, which was to communicate what God wanted to happen as a result of our reading, studying and meditating on His Word.
ReplyDelete"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."
The key words are found near the end, where Paul writes that Scripture works as it does SO THAT those who serve God are adequate, equipped for every good work. The Word of God helps make us complete so that we are fit for the work that the Lord has set before us and properly prepared to do it. The Bible is not only the tool we need to do the work; it is also the manual that explains how those tools are used in order to carry out the work. We cannot hope to be 'adequate, equipped for every good work' if we will not pick up our tools, turn to the manual, and follow the steps that will lead us to bear fruit. Have you picked up your tools today? Have you checked the manual so that you know how to use them? When you do, you will be adequate, equipped for every good work.
What faith it takes to sow seed and NOT to reap!
ReplyDeleteBut isn’t that what so many of us do, when we share our faith -- we plant seed, water it with our prayers, and then wait and hope, for the harvest -- and wait, and wait.
I have an older brother, and his wife – both raised in Godly homes where Christ was honored -- with whom I shared my new-found faith 60 some years ago, and from time to time I am able to represent the love of Jesus to them, but they have hardened their hearts and still do not believe in Jesus as the Son of God. They know my position, and they live upright and moral lives, but still they subscribe to the world’s philosophy. They attend and support a Unitarian church regularly. So I pray for them daily.
The abiding comfort I get is to have heard the experience of some, who have, after many years, rejoiced in the conversion of loved ones – or it may have happened even after the death of the Pray-er.
So let us persevere, for the Day will come when the Sower will rejoice with the Reaper.
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. 2 Timothy 3:16-17. Paul wrote this second letter to Timothy shortly before Paul dies. He wrote this letter to encourage Timothy to persevere in his Christain faith and life.
ReplyDeleteAs I reflected on the scripture above, I thought about my brothers and sisters in Christ. Over this past week, I observed leaders at work teaching our youth that God has a place for them in the Body of Christ. I observed facebook posts of our youth who are preparing to go on a mission trip and I observed the Body of our Church working to make it a good teaching experience for this Sabbath.
What I saw this week is God's Masterpiece at work within our community to prepare other's to also get to work for God's glory. That my friends is................. AWESOME !
Amen! It can be so hard to wait! To spend countless hours in conversation and in prayer and never see fruit. However, for a long time God has been bringing me to the truth that there is comfort in the fact that we may sow but not reap. My more subtle, conversational way of sharing may not be the way (or the only way) God uses to change a person's heart, but another's direct, aggressive way of sharing may be. We each have different personalities and gifts and God uses all of them. Where one may not be effective, another is. There is so much peace in that fact. We call, we encourage, we care for, we comfort, we correct, we serve, we contribute financially and physically, we lead, and we teach. We each have different gifts and none of us get all of them. This way we stay humble. We are one, unified body and through him we can do his work on earth more thoroughly than we could do it alone. Can you imagine how hard it would be to be all of things to just one person that God calls us to reach out to? Thankfully we don't have to!
ReplyDeleteGood Sabbath! Are you ready...adequate, equipped for every good work? That's wonderful, but first let's rest and worship the Lord together. See you at church!
ReplyDelete