362. Keep Studying!

2 Timothy 2:14 - 4:5

Key Verse: “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and His Kingdom, I give you this charge:  preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage with great patience and careful instruction.”

2 Timothy 4:1-2

First of all, I apologize for selecting such a long passage of scripture for my final day in this series. I am convinced, however, that what Paul says here is so important that I couldn’t break it down any further. Paul is giving final instructions to a young man that he has discipled, since they met in Derbe. (Acts 16:1) Paul is in prison in Rome, and will soon be facing the death penalty for Christ. Timothy is a pastor who must carry on without any further guidance from Paul after this letter.

Paul is warning Timothy of the hardships he will face. They are no different than those we face today as disciples of Christ. There will be those who will not believe. There will be those who will twist our words. There will be those who believe what they want to believe so that they don’t have to change. All these are hurtles that we too face as we share our faith with others. It has never been easy. That’s why Paul calls Timothy to take his faith seriously. Similarly we need to take our faith seriously. Never give up being a student of God’s Word. My prayer in this project is that it will spark those who have walked this journey with me to continue on, on their own, to keep learning more of Christ and His amazing love for us all.

I found a lot of help from the N.I.V. commentaries put out by Zondervan. I also read books from Jews for Jesus. Another good resource for me was “The Life and Times of Jesus,” and as I mentioned at the beginning, I found the chronology from Tyndale’s Chronological Bible helpful, but there is so much more. I know that I’ve barely scratched the surface, but my goal was never to do an exhaustive work. My hope was to whet your appetite for more, because you will need it.

For most of your hearers today, it won’t be enough to tell them to, “just trust Jesus.” They will have questions, just as you probably did and still do. For your sake and theirs, it is good to go deeper, always deeper. You will never reach the end of the road of getting to know Christ.

The writer of Hebrews put it this way: “We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s Word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!  Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.  And God permitting, we will do so.” (Heb. 5:11-6:3)

Just as children long to grow, God wants us to grow in our faith and in our knowledge of Him. I urge you, whether you are a seasoned saint or if this year has only been the beginning, a small seed, a mustard seed. May it grow to greater maturity. May you feed it and water it with prayer and study and by proclaiming what you know to others. Any teacher will tell you that you learn more about any subject or skill when you know that you have to impart that knowledge on to others. Don’t let this beginning lay dormant. Use it for His glory!

A Charge to Keep I Have