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Well, there's an obvious contrast 
in this particular chapter. It's marked in verse 10. But 
you have carefully followed my doctrine. He sets forth the character 
of men in the last times. He highlights that again in verse 
13. When he says, but evil men and imposters will grow worse 
and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you, he says in 
verse fourteen. So he's making a positive statement 
to Timothy on how he is to conduct himself in the last days. If you back up for just a moment 
there in chapter three at verse one, he says, know this, that 
in the last days, perilous times will come. A lot of times we 
hear today that we're living in the last days or the last 
days are still in our future. The last days is biblical shorthand 
to refer to that time between the first and the second coming 
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We know that because Tim or Paul 
describes the character of these men. And then he tells Timothy 
from such withdraw yourself. The implication is clear. Timothy 
is living in the last days. Timothy is surrounded by these 
types of men. So what we find in our own day 
when we are tempted to say, boy, look at how bad it is. It was 
just as bad in Timothy's day. There is nothing new under the 
sun. Now, certainly we hear about 
it a lot more, a lot more today. I mean, we can hear about that 
horrible rape that occurred in Arizona. Those four young people 
raping a young woman. I mean, we hear about these things. 
But it's not as if these things never occurred. All that Paul 
describes there in second Timothy chapter three verses one to five 
were the types of things confronting Timothy in his ministry in Ephesus 
in the first century. He says in verse five, having 
a form of godliness, but denying its power and from such people 
turn away. So the implication is that Timothy 
himself, along with us, are living in the last days and those last 
days are punctuated with godless men, unrighteous men, men that 
are engaged in secular humanism. We see that in the text. They 
are lovers of themselves. We see materialism. People are lovers of money, lovers 
of stuff, lovers of things. We see just a godlessness that 
typifies unregenerate men. And so the contrast here for 
Timothy is that he steep himself, that he saturate his mind, that 
he fill his soul with the knowledge of God's Holy Scripture. That 
is evident again from verse fourteen. You must continue in the things 
which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom 
you have learned that he learned from a godly mother. He learned 
from a godly grandmother, and he's also learned from the apostle 
Paul verse fifteen. He said in that from childhood 
you have known the Holy Scriptures. which are able to make you wise 
for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. This 
reference to the Holy Scriptures is primarily referring to the 
Old Testament, because at the time Paul wrote this, which was 
his last letter prior to his death, history or tradition tells 
us that he died under Nero. that he had his head chopped 
off because he was a faithful witness and he was a faithful 
servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. He probably died around AD 64. This was his last letter that 
he penned. But the sacred scriptures of 
the New Testament at this point, it was in print or most of it 
was in print, but it had not been collected together. And 
so, the reference here to Holy Scriptures teaches us very clearly 
that one can take the Old Testament and that Old Testament can make 
us wise unto salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. If you 
neglect the Old Testament, you are neglecting a great deal of 
material concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, it's good 
to give away New Testament, but it's better to give away whole 
Bibles. It's good to read the New Testament, 
but it's better to read the whole the whole Bible. And this is 
Paul's emphasis. And then I think he sets forth 
here for our purposes this evening, a wonderful doctrine of Scripture. He says 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. So he speaks, first of all, of 
the extent all Scripture. And I want to show us that this 
includes both the old and the New Testament. Secondly, he speaks 
of its character. He says it is given by inspiration 
of God. And we'll look at that in a bit, 
in just a moment. And then he speaks of its usefulness or of 
its profitability. We are to avail ourselves of 
the Word of God. We are to search it. We are to 
look to it. We are to follow its precepts 
and its commandments. We are to receive from it all 
that the Lord God has intended. But notice, first of all, the 
extent. He said all scripture. Now, very 
often people don't challenge the authority of the Old Testament 
because all throughout the Old Testament it says, thus says 
the Lord, thus says the Lord. We have various occasions, various 
instances where God commands Moses to write down everything 
in a book. We see that in the prophet Jeremiah. 
We see it with Isaiah. We see it with the prophets of 
Israel, where God stamps his authority all throughout the 
Old Testament. In fact, the New Testament refers 
very often to the Old Testament. The various times we read it 
is written, and then there's an appeal to the Old Testament. It shows us or highlights for 
us its authority, its usefulness, or it's the fact that it's of 
God. But I just want to look at a 
couple of texts that refer to the Old Testament in the new. 
Luke 24, you can turn there. I want you to see these passages 
and I want you to have an accurate doctrine or understanding of 
Scripture, because the Scripture is foundational for us. It is 
that that word. It is that truth by which we 
conduct ourselves, by which we live, by which we move and have 
our being. Luke 24. beginning in verse twenty-five. The scene here is Jesus has rose 
from the dead and he is walking on the Emmaus road with two men 
who, up to this point, he has not revealed his glory to. They 
are still unaware of the fact that this is Jesus. And notice 
in verse twenty-five it says, He said to them, O foolish ones, 
and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have 
spoken. Ought not the price to have suffered 
these things and to enter into his glory and beginning at Moses 
and all the prophets he expounded to them in all the Scriptures 
the things concerning himself. That means he went to the book 
of Genesis. That means he went to the book 
of Leviticus. That means he went to Deuteronomy. 
That means he went to the prophet Isaiah. He went to Micah. He 
went to Amos. He went to Joel. He went to 1st 
and 2nd Samuel. He went to those scriptures and 
he explained or expounded to them how those things were written 
concerning himself. And notice in chapter 24 at verse 
44, Then he said to them, these are 
the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you that 
all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law 
of Moses and the prophets and the songs notice concerning me. Again, this idea that we don't 
need the Old Testament is absolutely foreign to the New Testament. 
We need the scriptures, the entirety, the totality. In many ways, the 
New Testament scriptures don't make a lot of sense without the 
old. Augustine said that the old is 
in the new or the old is in the new revealed and the new is in 
the old concealed. We need both because they present 
to us. the glory and the majesty of 
Jesus Christ, verse forty five. He opened their understanding 
that they might comprehend the Scriptures. And then that classic 
passage in John five, verse thirty nine, John five, verse thirty 
nine. Again, my hope and prayer is, 
is that you'll learn these passages. My mind, there's nothing more 
embarrassing than a Christian saying, well, the Bible says 
somewhere. No, the Bible says right here. When you're trying 
to prove something, you're trying to testify to a sinner or trying 
to refute a cultist or some person with a mistaken understanding. 
Know what the scripture says. These things are worth fighting 
for. These things are worth dying for. As Scourgeon has well said, 
the Bible is a blood soaked book. Reformers and martyrs and confessors 
have all died confessing and defending this book. And in the 
21st century, when we have the availability of the scriptures 
that we do, when we can pull out an iPod and look at the Bible, 
when we have it in tape, we have an insert, we have everything. 
And yeah, I don't know. Somewhere the Bible says this. 
Write it down if you have to underline it in your Bible, write 
it in your heart so that you're able to tell people why you believe 
what you believe. Our faith is reasonable. God doesn't ask us to take a 
blind leap and just hopefully everything works out. No, the 
Bible is given for our instruction. John five, verse thirty nine. You search the Scriptures for 
in them. You think you have eternal life 
and these are they which testify of me. Dealing with unbelieving 
Jews here, he says, you have the scriptures, you search the 
scriptures, you want eternal life. But all the while you neglect 
me, you're rejecting me. But these very scriptures testify 
of me. And then notice in verse forty 
six, if you believe Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote 
about me. Now, brethren, this must have 
angered them amazingly. Well, we know as much because 
as we travel through the book of John, what do we find on several 
occasions? How do they respond to Jesus 
teaching the way any God hating rebel does? They pick up rocks 
and try to throw the rocks at him and destroy him. These men boasted of being Moses 
disciples. These men prided themselves on 
an understanding of the Old Testament. These men put scripture verses 
in boxes that they wore around their arms. I've seen Jews today 
at the airport when I've traveled with their open scriptures sitting 
there reciting like in the middle of, you know, the whole, whatever 
they call that, not gangway, whatever that area is called, 
where all the people are waiting for the plane. These are people 
who esteem Moses, allegedly. Christ says to them, if you believe 
Moses, you would believe me. Why? For he wrote about me. You neglect the Old Testament. 
You are neglecting the Lord Jesus Christ. All scripture is given 
by inspiration of God. Do not make the mistake of simply 
focusing on one area to the neglect of others, read Psalm 78, read 
the book of Exodus, understand God's redemptive plan, understand 
the promise given in Genesis 3 and how it's opened up and 
unfolded and in the fullness of the time Christ comes. Born 
of a woman born under the law in fulfillment of that first 
gospel promise in Genesis three fifteen. But of course, this 
statement refers to the New Testament as well. All scripture is given 
by inspiration of God. You can turn to First Timothy 
five. First Timothy five. One place or a particular instance 
where we see old and New Testament quoted together to prove a particular 
point. First, Timothy, Chapter 5, verse 
17. Let the elders who rule well 
be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in 
the word and doctrine for the scripture says you shall not 
muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain and the labor is 
worthy of his wages. The scripture says you shall 
not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain. Deuteronomy. You 
don't put a muzzle on the ox when it's working. Why? Because 
the ox should get to eat. The ox should get to gobble up 
some of the grain. The ox needs the nutrients and 
the fortification so that he can continue in his oxing endeavor, 
so that he can please his master. He says, you shall not muzzle 
an ox while it treads out the grain and the labor is worthy 
of his wages. This is out of Luke's gospel. 
So he says the scripture says, and he quotes for us old and 
New Testaments. Second, Peter chapter one. Second Peter chapter one, you 
may turn there again. These are the classic passages. 
There are certain doctrines or certain text rather than a classic 
passages for the doctrine under consideration. Like the deity 
of Jesus, for instance, the fact that he's God, you should know 
John twenty twenty eight. When Peter or Thomas said, my 
Lord and my God, classic passage, you might not want to forget 
that one. Well, these are the classic passages dealing with 
the authority and the inspiration, the infallibility, inerrancy 
of God's holy word, the scripture. Second, Peter, chapter one, verse 
19. And so we have the prophetic 
word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that 
shines in a dark place. Until the day dawns in the morning 
star rises in your hearts, knowing this first that no prophecy of 
scriptures of any private interpretation for prophecy never came by the 
will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved 
by the Holy Spirit. Again, in 2 Peter chapter 3, 
notice in verse 1, Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle 
in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder 
that you may be mindful of the words. Now notice this, which 
were spoken before by the holy prophets and of the commandment 
of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior. refers to the holy 
prophets of old, and now he refers to the apostles of our Lord and 
Savior. The apostles were conscious. 
They were mindful. They were knowledgeable that 
the very words they were writing were God's words. They didn't 
just go out and take drugs and let their hand take root and 
just whatever it was they produce. Wow, this is a word from the 
Lord. No, they were conscious that they were being used by 
God to communicate the word. That's even more evident at the 
end of 2 Peter. Notice in chapter 3, verse 14. 
It says, therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, 
be diligent to be found by him in peace without spot and blameless 
and consider that the long suffering of our Lord is salvation. As 
also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given 
to him, has written to you as also in all his epistles. speaking 
in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, 
which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, 
as they do also notice the rest of the Scriptures. What Paul 
was writing in his epistles was just like the rest of the scriptures, 
is what Peter said. All of Paul's letters were written 
according to wisdom given to him. They were all written within 
the category of divinely inspired scripture. And they had that 
power when those who twisted and distorted them, they would 
be destroyed. So, all Scripture includes both 
the old and the New Testaments. Paul insisted that his letters 
be read. This is amazing. He's writing 
the churches and he's saying, read this publicly. Well, you 
only did that with the Scripture. Right. First Thessalonians 527, 
he demanded that his letter be read. He insisted that his letters 
be exchanged in Colossians chapter 4. Church in Colossi and the 
church in Laodicea were to exchange the letters they had received 
from the Apostle Paul and they were to read them in the congregation. Paul insisted that his letters 
be obeyed. In fact, in 2 Thessalonians, 
he says, make sure everybody obeys our word in this letter. If they don't obey, note them 
and reprove them and deal with them severely. And Paul insisted 
that his words were taught by the Holy Spirit. First Corinthians 
chapter two, and then as well in First Thessalonians two, he 
commends the church in Thessalonica because you received our word, 
not as the word of man, but as it is in truth, the word of God. So all scripture that means from 
Genesis to Revelation. All the Bible, the law, the prophets, 
the New Testament documents, the songs, the proverbs, every 
bit of it. We speak of plenary. That means 
the fullness of it, the wholeness of it, the completeness of it. Every single word is given by 
inspiration of God, and that is its character. Secondly, Paul 
says all scripture is given by inspiration of God. Now, what 
does that mean? I think we have a warped view 
at times of what just this inspiration means. We get inspired when we 
see a beautiful sunset and we might want to write a poem. We 
get inspired when we hear a beautiful piece of music and we might want 
to compose a love song for our wives or our husbands. That's 
not inspiration. I mean, it is in one sense, but 
it's not what Paul's speaking of here. He's not saying these 
men just felt sort of religious and near to God and they took 
pen to paper and they wrote some things that they thought might 
be helpful. The NIV is accurate in its translation here. All 
scripture is God breathed. That's what it means. God breathed. So when God took Moses, when 
he took Isaiah, when he took Jeremiah, when he took Paul, 
when he took Peter, when he took James, when he took Jude, God 
breathed his word through those human vessels. So that the word 
that they wrote was, in fact, God's holy word. Robert Raymond says, just as 
God's breath or his word created all the host of heaven, Psalm 
thirty three, six, just as his breath gave physical life to 
Adam and all mankind. Remember, God breathed the breath 
of life into the nostril of Adam, just as his breath gave spiritual 
life to Israel, the Valley of Dry Bones. So also his powerful, 
creative breath In its word form is living and active, imperishable 
and abiding. And through it, God's spirit 
imparts new life to the soul. So the extent is all the character. It is God breathed the Puritan 
set of the old and the New Testaments. These are the two lips of almighty 
God. And we need to understand this. 
In fact, if you just keep in your mind four eyes, Four eyes, 
not four eyes, but the letter I, you got the doctrine of scripture, 
inspiration, infallibility, inerrancy and instructability. Instructability 
means what Paul says later on, and we'll see in a moment, it's 
profitable. It instructs us. The fact is, God's word is inspired 
and because it is because God is spoken, because as we saw 
this morning, he is the Lord God of truth. Paul says in Titus 
one, he cannot lie. His word is infallible. Infallibility means that it cannot 
lie. It is incapable of lying. God cannot contradict himself. God does not lie and neither 
does his word. So, if the word is infallible, 
it is certainly inerrant. Inerrant means it does not lie. If you follow biblical studies 
or theology or anything having to do with the discipline of 
inspiration and the scripture and all that, over the last, 
I don't know, 50 years, inerrancy has been a big topic of debate. Is the Bible inerrant? Does the 
Bible contain errors? I mean, when the Bible says that 
the sun rises, are we to actually believe, contrary to scientific 
verification, that the sun rises? So inerrancy has been a great 
big debate, which inerrancy means the Bible does not lie. Sometimes 
people have tried to affirm infallibility and denied inerrancy. So what 
you're saying is that it cannot lie. But it does lie. No, an infallible Bible, brethren, 
is an inerrant Bible. An infallible Bible that cannot 
lie certainly does not lie. There's a Baptist version of 
the Westminster Shorter Catechism. You know, I've mentioned some 
classic passages and some, you know, four eyes. Well, here's 
one more thing you can add to your arsenal of good things to 
to fight for a biblical doctrine of the Bible itself. The question 
says, are the scriptures trustworthy and all that they affirm? And 
the answer says the scriptures of both the Old and New Testaments 
being God breathed are infallible and inerrant in all their parts. and are therefore trustworthy 
in all that they affirm concerning history, science, ethics, doctrine, 
religious practice or any other topic. That's a great statement. That's what the Bible says about 
itself. The only part of the 20th century 
people used to scoff at the Bible because it spoke of the Hivites. 
Oh, there were no Hivites. Oh, yes, there were Hivites. 
Later on in the 20th century, Hivite culture and civilization, 
whatever was left of it, was founded. But you know, that doesn't 
prove the Bible. We ought not to go to that, because 
then that becomes our standard of authority. We look to archaeology. We ought to worship archaeology. 
We look to external evidences to verify the Bible. They become 
more authoritative in the final analysis. We start from the scripture. We use the Bible. We argue from 
it to deal with everything else. So it's extent, all scripture, 
it's character, it's God-braved. And then thirdly, it's useful 
mass. Paul says it's profitable for 
doctrine. This means instruction and teaching. Doctrine. Remember, on the day 
of Pentecost, when those people receive a gladly received the 
word, they were baptized. And then what did they do? They 
continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine. They didn't 
say, let's just go home now. We've been baptized, we're saved. 
Let's just go lay down and chill. No, they wanted the doctrine 
of the apostles. They wanted teaching. It warmed 
my heart this morning. Steve read a letter from a pastor 
in Haiti. He said, in my 30 years as a 
Christian, I have never seen what we're seeing now. There's 
a certain area in northern Haiti where people want the Bible. 
They want the truth. They want the word of God. They 
want preaching. You know, God is there when people 
want preaching, you know, God is in the midst when people want 
doctrine, when they're not thinking, man, it's ninety five degrees 
and it's almost six. Can we go now? If you're thinking 
that you're not wicked, evil, malicious, horrible people. Apostles doctrine, Paul says 
it's useful, it's profitable for doctrine. John Murray said 
doctrine concerns the whole range of thought, respecting God, the 
world, man, man's paramount interests, his destiny. If doctrine is to 
us cold, dead and lifeless, then there are only two alternatives. 
Either our doctrine is not a scripture. That's one alternative. It's cold, dead and lifeless. 
It must not be the truth. Or the other alternative is this. We ourselves are cold. and lifeless. That's the other 
alternative. We do anything or we do nothing 
properly without thought, and we think nothing right, except 
as we think the truth of him who is the king eternal, immortal, 
invisible, the only God, lack of biblical doctrine, his lack 
of interest in God and his will for us. And this is God bless. Amen, John Murray, a hundredfold. I agree with that completely. 
Secondly, the Bible is useful for reproof. Reproof means rebuke 
for wrong behavior or wrong belief. There are times when we need 
the rebuking word of God. We go astray. We are prone to 
wander. We are prone to leave the God 
that we love. That's why coming to church is 
important. First and foremost, you come 
to worship and praise God. And secondly, you come to put 
yourself under the word so that you can be rebuked. Lloyd-Jones 
had a problem with taped sermons, said you can't put the Holy Spirit 
on tape and you can also turn the tape off. Interestingly enough, 
there are Lloyd-Jones sermons today on tape, but nevertheless, 
that was not his first choice. You see, some people want to 
sit at home and listen to sermons. That's OK, as long as you're 
not absenting yourself from God's means publicly. See, as bad as 
it may get in here, as hot as it may get in here, and as loud 
as I may get, you can't press stop. And God may actually have 
something in here for you, because you started to stray. You started 
to go away. You started to depart. You started 
to wander. You need to be rebuked. I need 
to be rebuked. I need to listen to good sermons 
that plow up my soul, that get in my face. When I choose to 
listen to sermons, there are certain men I go to for this 
very reason, because I know my heart. I don't just need information. You don't just need information. Teaching is the presentation 
of information. Preaching is the presentation 
of information with teeth. We need that we need reproof, 
we are prone to wander, we are prone to leave the God that we 
love after reproof, we need correction. Isn't that a beautiful statement 
the apostle gives us? It's profitable for doctrine 
to instruct us, to teach us, to set forth the proper course. 
It reproves us or rebukes us when we've gone astray. And then 
it provides that necessary element of corruption. See, it's not 
enough just to say, yeah, we're wandering. But how do I get back 
to the right and true path? How do I get to where I'm supposed 
to be? Well, the Bible furnishes that 
for us. The Bible in the Old Testament 
says, how can a young man? How can a young man cleanse his 
way by taking heed according to your word? That's a great 
statement. It presupposes the young man's 
way stands in need of cleansing. God's not a humanist, he understands 
our hearts, he knows we're sinners. He knows that a young man's way 
is already filthy and defiled, and it stands in need of cleansing. 
Well, how is it cleansed? By taking heed according to your 
word, by believing the gospel first and foremost, so that by 
God's grace I'm justified. By God's grace, Christ's righteousness 
is imputed to me. But as well, in my life of sanctification, 
I'm studying the scripture, a young man, a young woman with all of 
the pressures and all of the temptations and all of the things 
that surround us in a godless culture. The only thing differing 
between Timothy's day and our day is that all this stuff is 
taken out from behind the closet, from behind closed doors, and 
it's thrust right out into the public arena. Second Timothy chapter 3, 1 to 
5 is what we traffic in each and every single day. Secular 
humanism. Men love themselves. Materialism. Men love money. Godlessness. All these things are true and 
they are true in our context and with the Internet and with 
the television and with the news media and with, I mean, billboards 
and signs and all those things, brethren, it's always right there 
in our faces. How in the world could we go 
out into the day without taking heed according to God's word? How could we ever go out into 
this battlefield without putting on the whole armor of God, without 
taking out that sort of the spirit, without taking that shield of 
faith, without putting on that helmet of salvation, without 
shodding our feet with the gospel itself and going into battle 
that way? You see, the Bible is profitable 
for doctrine, reproof, correction, and then instruction and righteousness. 
The Bible is the book for instructing God's children in the way they 
should go. Your word is a lamp to my feet 
and a light to my path. Christ and his high priestly 
prayer said sanctify them by thy truth. Thy word is truth. That is, in a nutshell, a doctrine 
of scripture, extent, character, and usefulness. And I just want 
to say, by way of closing, this ought to lead to a consistent 
systematic theology. Now, you can tell I've been listening 
to a lot of sermons or listening to a lot of lectures for the 
seminary course, but it's very important. Systematic theology 
means knowing what the Bible says in various categories and 
being able to use it. We all do this. We should just 
do it right. Everybody has a systematic theology. We should just have the right 
one. J. Gresham Machen defined systematic 
theology this way. He said it seeks to set forth 
no longer in the order of the time when it was revealed. That's 
biblical theology. Biblical theology begins with 
Genesis, goes through Revelation, takes out doctrine all along 
the way as it's given in its historical content. Systematic 
theology difference. He says that it seeks to set 
forth no longer in the order of the time when it was revealed, 
but in the order of logical relationships, the grand sum of what God has 
told us in his word. It looks at the doctrine of the 
Bible, finds all those classic passages, gets it in the mind 
so that it's able to refer to people or to tell people about 
the doctrine of Scripture. It's the doctrine of God. What 
does the Bible say about God? The Bible says God is glorious 
and powerful and majestic. The Bible says God is triune. 
So it takes all that teaching, all that data, and categorizes 
it in the mind, makes it available for ready reference. The Bible 
goes on. A systematic theology deals with 
man. What does the Bible say about us? It says we were made 
upright, but we sought out many devices. Systematic theology 
treats man in his original righteousness, it treats man in his depraved 
state, it treats man as being redeemed by grace, and it treats 
man as living forever with God. Systematic theology gathers up 
all that material and keeps it in a ready place. Then the system 
petition goes to Christology. What's the Bible say about Jesus? 
Well, the Bible says he was prophet, priest and king. The Bible says 
he was pre-incarnate and then he came to a state of humiliation 
and then a state of exaltation. The Bible teaches he was God 
and man. The Bible teaches that his death 
at Calvary was substitutionary atonement on behalf of all the 
father gave him. You see, that's systematic theology. It's the fruit ultimately of 
having studied your Bible. It's the fruit, ultimately, of 
having interpreted the Scriptures. And this is the goal, brethren. 
This is what we want to be able to do. It's not good if your 
Bible sits on your shelf. It's not good if your Bible sits 
in your lap. It's good if your Bible is in your heart. It's 
good if your Bible is in your head. It's good if you can rehearse 
those doctrines. It's good if you can tell others 
about the gospel without stammering, without being heretical, without 
botching it up. If you can't point a sinner to 
the Lord Jesus Christ, you need to repent. If you can't tell 
people about sin, if you can't tell people about God, if you 
can't tell people about His holiness and His righteousness, and you 
can't tell people about the way He has made provision through 
Christ, you need to repent. You need to study. You need to 
learn. You have a responsibility. God has made you to shine as 
a light in a crooked and perverse generation. It does no one any 
good for you not to understand Scripture. So, exegetical theology 
simply means taking the scripture, exegeting out of it. Luke used 
that word. He expounded the scriptures. John 1.18 says that he who is 
in the bosom has declared or exegeted him. Exegesis simply 
means to read out of the passage what the Holy Spirit has intended. 
If you look at that sign, it says exit. Exit means to go out 
of. We want to take out of the scripture. We don't want to put into it. 
We don't want to read into the Bible. You know, ultimately, 
it doesn't mean it doesn't matter what the Bible means to you. 
It matters what the Bible means. Keep that in mind. It does not 
matter. You get into a Bible study. What 
does this text mean to you? I don't care what it means to 
you. I care what it means as given by the Holy Spirit. And 
so should you. Exegesis means that it means 
going to the text of Scripture and reading out of that text. 
by sane and faithful interpretation what the Spirit intended. Once 
we've done that, once we have those fruits, we then systematize 
it so that we're able to think in a manner that is consistent 
with Christ Himself. We are able to think in a manner 
consistent with Paul himself, and we are better witnesses, 
we are better worshipers, and we are better servants of God 
Most High. Well, let us pray. Father, we 
thank you for the scriptures and we just pray that you would 
help us to see the beauty of your holy word given by inspiration 
of God and profitable for all these things. Help us not to 
be lazy or to be negligent, but help us to take up and read. 
Help us to study, to show ourselves approved and help us, Lord God, 
with this sound doctrine to be an encouragement to those who 
believe and to be able to refute those who contradict. And I ask 
now that you would go with each one of us, watch over us and 
protect us, and we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.