Deo Gloria
Sermon for February 2, 2025
Pastor Martin Bentz
Text: 2 Timothy 3:14-17
Theme: Continue in the Truths of God’s Word!
- You know those from whom you learned them.
- They come from God’s inspired Word.
- They are able to make you wise for salvation.
I know no one likes to think about death and dying; but that’s exactly what I am going to ask you to do this morning. I want you to imagine for a moment that you are dying. You’ve been diagnosed with cancer—stage 4. The doctor has given you roughly 3-6 months to live. You’ve gone through the various stages: shock, anger, denial, depression, bartering with God. And finally you’ve come to accept it. Yes, you are dying and it’s only a matter of time.
What do you say to your family—your spouse, your children, your grandchildren, your close friends? I mean, yes, you have to tell them. They need to know the truth about your condition, that you aren’t going to be around a whole lot longer; but what else do you tell them? As a Christian husband, for example, what do say to your spouse? As a Christian parent, what do you say to your children? As a Christian grandparent, what do you say to your grandkids? As a Christian friend, what do you say to your friends? What do you want them to know and remember? What words of encouragement do you want to give them?
Obviously, I’m sure you’d want to tell them how much you love them. Obviously, I’m sure you’d want to tell them how special they are to you and how much you appreciate them and their love. Obviously, you’d want to tell them that you are at peace with God, that you trust in Jesus as your Savior and that when the time is right, you know Jesus will take you home to heaven. Obviously, there are some practical things you’d want to talk about: things like life insurance plans and investments; things like money you saved up for their college education; things like telling your son to watch out for and take care of his little sister. But among the things you’d want to say, wouldn’t you also want to encourage them to remain strong in their faith? I mean, more than anything, you want to see them again in heaven some day. After you’re gone, you don’t want them to wander from their faith and turn their backs on Jesus and end up missing out on heaven. You want them to stay strong in their faith. You want them to continue looking to Jesus and trusting in him as their Savior. You want them to continue trusting in the truths of God’s Word. And that is exactly the encouragement Paul gives you and me today in the verses we have before us: Continue in the truths of God’s Word! And Paul gives three reasons why: 1.) because you know those from whom you learned those truths, 2.) because those truths come from God’s inspired Word, and 3.) because those truths are able to make you wise for salvation.
As you may remember, the apostle Paul was in prison when he wrote these words to Timothy. Of course, he wasn’t doing time for robbery or assault or some other serious crime. No, the crime Paul had committed was being a Christian and proclaiming the good news of Jesus to others. And Paul was convinced that this was it. His chances of being released like last time were slim to none. Emperor Nero needed someone to blame for the fire that had devastated the city of Rome and he chose to blame the Christians. And Paul was one of their leaders. No, Paul was under no illusions. He knew how grave his situation was. He knew it was only a matter of time—a few days perhaps, maybe a few weeks at the most—it was only a matter of time before he would stand before the executioner and his life would come to an end.
As you might expect, Paul had some things to say before that happened, some important and urgent things to tell his family and friends, those who were nearest and closest to him. And among them was a man named Timothy, a dear, fellow Christian, a fellow pastor, and a partner in Paul’s ministry. That’s why Paul wrote this letter. He wanted to encourage Timothy one last time. He wanted to give him some final words of instruction. He wanted to remind him of his love and of God’s love, a love he had demonstrated by sending his Son to rescue lost sinners. He wanted to encourage Timothy to carry out the duties of his ministry faithfully—not to be ashamed of the gospel, but to continue to preach God’s Word boldly and confidently. And he wanted to encourage Timothy to be faithful, to continue in the truths of God’s Word. Notice again what he says in v. 14: “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of….” “Continue in what you have learned, Timothy. Don’t give them up because you face persecution or hardship. Don’t give them up because they aren’t very popular anymore and instead tell people what they want to hear. No, hold on to those teachings. Continue in the truths of God’s Word!”
Why? First of all, because you know from whom you learned them. “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it.” Timothy had learned the truths of God’s Word from his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice. From little on they had taught him the truths of the Old Testament Scriptures. From little on they had taught him the stories of how God had rescued his people from their enemies through people like Moses and Samson and David. From little on they had taught him about the promise God had made, his promise to send a great deliverer some day, someone even greater than Moses and greater than David, a Messiah, a Savior to rescue them from sin and death. Timothy also had learned the truths of God’s Word from Paul himself. Paul came to Timothy’s hometown of Lystra on his first missionary journey and told him and his mother and his grandmother about Jesus, the one who fulfilled all of those Old Testament promises, the one who suffered and died on Calvary’s cross to rescue them and all people from sin and death. Timothy hadn’t learned these things from strangers. He hadn’t learned these things from some fly-by-night, traveling preacher. These were trustworthy people, reliable people, people who cared deeply about him and his spiritual welfare.
The same is true of you, is it not? Did you learn the truths of God’s Word from reading a magazine? Did you learn the truths of God’s Word from some stranger you met in the Wal-Mart parking lot? Did you learn the truths of God’s Word from some fly-by-night, traveling huckster, someone who was only after your money? Of course not! Like Timothy chances are you learned these things from your parents and grandparents, who taught you from little on about Jesus your Savior. Likewise you learned these things from your Sunday School teachers in Sunday School and your pastor in confirmation class. These are reliable people, trustworthy people, people who truly care about you and your spiritual welfare. You know whom you learned these things from. Continue in what they taught you. Continue in the truths of God’s Word.
But where did they get those truths? Where did they get the things they taught you? Did they just make them up? Did they get them from a magazine or find them someplace on the internet? No. They got them from the Word of God, the inspired Word of God. “All Scripture is God-breathed,” Paul says.(v. 16) That’s where that word inspiration comes from. The word inspire means “to breathe in.” God breathed into the men who wrote the Bible. He inspired them to write the things they did.
And notice Paul says, “All Scripture is God-breathed.” It’s not like some of it is inspired and some of it isn’t. It’s all God-breathed. It’s all inspired by God. Peter makes the same point in his second letter. He writes, “No prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit”(1:20+21). You see, it’s not like Moses got up one morning and said, “You know, I think I’ll write the book of Genesis today. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Or it’s not like David got up one morning and decided to write one of the psalms: “Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits”(103:1+2). No, God inspired these men to write those words. He guided them. He helped them. He directed them. At times he even gave them the very words to say. How many times don’t we hear that phrase in the Bible, “This is what the Lord says”? I’ve never bothered to count them but I’d guess it’s several hundred times at least. Do we miss the point? This isn’t just Moses’ word or David’s word or Paul’s word that we have recorded on the pages of the Bible. It’s God’s Word. From Genesis to Revelation and everything in between, it is all God’s Word.
And therefore it is also true. That’s what Jesus said, right? “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth”(John 17:17). You see, it’s not like some of the Bible is true and some of it isn’t. It’s not like the story of Jesus and his resurrection is true, but the story of how God created the world is not. It’s all true. We can believe everything the Bible says—what it tells us about ourselves, what it tells us about our world and where it came from, what it tells us about God, what it tells us about Jesus our Savior, what it tells us about heaven and how to get to heaven. We can believe it all because it’s all true, which is one more reason we should continue in the truths we have learned. We know where our parents and grandparents and pastors got the things they taught us: from God’s Word, his inspired Word.
A third reason Paul gives us in v. 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.” When you were in grade school, I’m sure your teacher taught you how to add and subtract and multiply and divide. And it’s good that you know how to do those things. I’m sure you’ve used those skills countless times throughout your life; but will they matter on Judgment Day? Before he lets you into heaven, is God going to quiz you on the multiplication table? “OK, what’s 4 X 4? What’s 5 X 7? What’s 9 X 9? Likewise, when you were in grade school, I’m sure your teacher taught you how to spell, that “i” comes before “e” except after “c,” but will that matter on Judgment Day? Is God going to give you a spelling test before he let’s you into heaven? The same is true of what you learned in Chemistry class or Geography class. Will knowing those things help you get into heaven? No, but these truths will. The truths you and I have learned from God’s Word will be able to save us.
Why? Because these truths teach us about Jesus Christ, the Savior God sent to take away our sins and bring us back into a right relationship with him. They teach us that as our Savior, Jesus took our place and suffered the punishment we deserved on account of our sins. They teach us that Jesus rose again on the third day, victorious over sin and death. They teach us that whoever believes in him shall not perish but shall have eternal life. They teach us that, contrary to popular belief, there are not many different ways to heaven, but only one way: through faith in Christ Jesus. These are the things we need to know and believe so we can be saved. These are the truths that make us wise for salvation.
And to think there were times we thought we didn’t need God’s Word! There were times we despised God’s Word and neglected God’s Word because we had more important things to do. There were times we thought we were good enough for God just the way we were. There were times we dismissed the truths of God’s Word as antiquated and foolish, because they weren’t very popular anymore or made us unpopular with certain family members or friends, or maybe because our itching ears wanted to hear something new, something different. How foolish on our part! How sinful on our part! May God have mercy on us and forgive us for such sins! May he forgive us for the sake of Jesus Christ our Savior!
For Jesus’ sake and our own good, let’s take Paul’s words to heart this morning. No matter how much longer we have to live—whether it’s 6 months or 60 years—let’s take his words of encouragement to heart. Continue in the truths of God’s Word, because you know from whom you learned them. You know where those truths come from, from God’s inspired Word. And unlike the truths you learned in math class or science class, these truths are able to save you. Amen.