Skip to main content

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

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

188. Who Was Forgiven?

Luke 18:9-14 , 2 Corinthians 7:10 Key Verse: "Godly sorrow leads to repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death." 1 Corinthians 7:10 Are you surprised at the attitude of this Pharisee? You would never pray that way, right? Your prayers are much more humble! Yet, is there no one that you know that you are glad that you are better than: the homeless bum, the bragging executive, the poor single mother who is just scraping by? The human mind set is to compare. We can compare ourselves with those who have it better and covet, but we can also compare ourselves with those who fall short and, maybe breathe a prayer of thanks that we are wiser, and holier than they. The Pharisee was all caught up in thanking God for his own good works. He was thanking God for blessing him for all the things that he was able to do for himself. He was focused totally on outward behavior, the part that he, and we, can see. He did not know of Paul
Post a Comment
Read more

312. Burial Plot!

Matthew 27:62-66 Key Verse: So, they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard." Matthew 27:66 "The wicked plot against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them; but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for He knows their day is coming." Psalm 37:12-13 You have to wonder if, by now, Pilate is beginning to question the sanity of the Jewish leaders themselves. It wasn't enough that they were jealous of this quiet dreamer, Jesus, now they were afraid of His disciples. From Pilate's perspective, this last must have been almost ludicrous.  After all, only one of Jesus' followers had stuck around for the trials and crucifixion. For the most part, as soon as Jesus had been taken, they had all scattered and were probably in hiding. The idea of this rag tag group of unlearned fishermen sticking their necks out now to steal a body and then start a rumor that no one would believe anyway, was ridiculous.
Post a Comment
Read more

August 14 It’s for Your Glory

A man’s wisdom gives him patience. It is to his glory to overlook an offence. ~Proverbs 19:11   The wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness. ~James 3:17-18  Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy. Without holiness, no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. ~Hebrews 12:14-15  Sometimes, it can be hard to overlook an offense. You run the risk of the offender never knowing what they have done! It may require extra effort on your part to not allow resentment to build up toward the offender. So, the question is, when do we overlook an offense and when do we go to the offender and show them their fault? What can make this dilemma an even harder one to discern is that, when we are offended, it affects our
Post a Comment
Read more