← Back to sermon library

welcome to everyone for our call to worship you can turn in your Bibles to psalm 119 psalm 119 will read verses 145 to 152 psalm 119 beginning in verse 1 45 I cry out with my whole heart hear me o Lord I will keep your statutes I cry out to you save me and I will keep your testimonies I rise before the dawning of the morning and cry for help I hope in your word my eyes are awake through the night watches that I may meditate on your word hear my voice according to your loving kindness o Lord revive me according to your justice they draw near who follow after wickedness they are far from your law you are near o Lord and all your Commandments are truth concerning your testimonies I have known of old that you have founded them forever amen well please turn in your Trinity hymnals to number 441 him number 441 will stand as we sing together let us pray for God we thank you again for the opportunity to gather in your house on the Sabbath evening we come before a great and a holy God Father Son and spirit and we praise you and we worship you we pray that you would be pleased to dwell in our midst tonight but as we sing as we pray as we look to Holy Scripture we would indeed worship you in spirit and in truth that you would be magnified and glorified and exalted on the praises of your people this evening we ask our Father that that would not be the case only here but throughout the earth wherever your name is lifted up we pray that you'd be in the midst of your people that your people would know the nearness and the goodness of God we ask Lord that you would bless richly with reference to the advancement of your kingdom we pray that more and more sinners would come out of darkness and the marvelous light confessing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior so we look at this world as we look at the sins the depravity the wretchedness we know the only hope for mankind is the truth as it is in Jesus so we pray that gospel would be proclaimed from sea to sea and that a multitude would bow the knee to the king of kings and Lord of lords we ask tonight and our meeting here together she would encourage our hearts that you would strengthen us with might and the inner man she would build us up in our most holy faith and that you would fit us for service in this coming week we ask that you would forgive us now for all of our sins and our transgressions so we look into that perfect law we see a reflection of the majesty of God we also see how far short we fall we know that law does not function in the life of the New Covenant believer as a as a Covenant of works as a means by which we are saved but it does function as a rule of life and we see how far short we fall so we pray for the forgiveness of sins through our Lord Jesus Christ we pray that you would wash us and cleanse us and how we thank you Lord God that as the psalmist said you make us whiter than snow certainly the power of the gospel is so wondrous and so excellent and certainly we confess your your kindness and your goodness in your mercy as it comes to us in and through our Lord Jesus Christ we ask for any and all who have come here tonight that are strangers to the covenants of promise those who are not in Christ we pray that today would be the day of salvation that your Holy Spirit would attend the preaching of the word she would bring conviction for sin and show men and women and boys and girls they're great need and show them the great Savior even Christ our Lord we ask that you would look with favor upon this church with reference to our unity and peace help us to endeavor to keep the unity that we have with great earnestness and with great zeal we ought not to take such things for granted you have blessed us richly you have seen us through many trials and many challenges as a local church and God help us not to rest easy but to persevere and to pursue those things that are pleasing in your sight we look with favor to what you will do in the future and we pray that this church would be faithful and would be consistent and would march onward by the power of your Holy Spirit we pray that it would be a place that our children will one day the adults in will raise families in and even among our young men we would see men pastor and serve as deacons and be faithful in this place we ask our father that you would look with favor upon the various needs in our congregation there are several many with physical challenges and trials when we come to a prayer hearing God and we present our petitions to you on their behalf we ask Lord that you would just give them grace to persevere in the midst of these ongoing challenges give them grace Lord God to to know the kindness of God even in their sickbeds and even in their times of difficulty and though the outer man decays we pray the inner man would be renewed day by day in that conformity to Christ wouldn't you take place in each and every one we pray for the mothers with children we thank you for these blessings certainly as the psalmist said children are a gift from Yahweh and we acknowledge this and we pray for these ladies and we pray for the babies in the womb that you would just watch over mother and child she would protect them and that in your time these little ones would come forth physically we pray that one day they'd come forth spiritually we pray that for all of the children and all of the young people here that you would indeed cover them by your sovereign grace and cause them to believe the truth as it is in Jesus Christ we ask that you would be merciful in this nation we know there are perverse laws and we know there is unrighteousness that is that is legislated from on high we pray that you would turn the hearts of men from the murder and the rage and the malice that so evidently has overtaken them we think of the sins of abortion and sodomy and euthanasia God we know that these are acts wherein men shed innocent blood we know these at least in one particular as an act it violates that seventh word all of these are contrary to the holy law of God and yet they are reveled in by wicked men in our country we pray that you would be merciful and send forth your gospel not only to revive the church but to awaken those who are dead in their trespasses and sins we know that you are powerful we know that you are able and we know that this is according to your to your mind that men would not serve idols that they would not abandon themselves to lawlessness but they would bow the knee to the king of kings so we pray she would bless the proclamation of the truth may that word run swiftly and be glorified and may you indeed receive all praise and honor from from those who come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior we thank you for the release of sawitta bedini we thank you that he is he's back with his family and our God this is certainly a trying period in this man's life we thank you that he is able to testify that the Lord God sustained him and we just pray there would be great rejoicing in that family and for the many others still in prison and the others still dispossessed from homes and business those even dispossessed from countries because of the ruthlessness ruthlessness of men we ask God that she would undertake on behalf of the persecuted ones that you would be their shield they're exceedingly great reward that you would comfort and strengthen them and help them not to recant in times of great aggression against their faith but may you sustain them may you embolden them and may they even be lights shining in those perverse generations or in those perverse places that they may indeed call sinners to repentance and faith god we thank you for this assembly tonight we thank you for your goodness and mercy to us we thank you for the gospel of our Lord Jesus that binds us together and we pray now that you would be glorified as we worship you and we ask through Christ Jesus our Lord amen well please turn with me again in your Trinity hymnals to number 453 453 will stand as we sing together you can turn in your Bibles to the prophet Ezekiel so we continued our consecutive reading in the Old Testament and our evening worship zekiel prophesied between the years 593 and 570 remember the fall of the southern kingdom occurred in about 586 so what we have here is just on the precipice of that fall to Babylonia or to Babylon and essentially there are three sections in the prophet Ezekiel prior to the fall of Jerusalem in the final exile invert chapters 12 24 God's judgments against the nations in chapters 25 to 32 and then the restoration and the future temple in chapters 33 to 48 so I'll begin reading in chapter 1 at verse 1 now it came to pass in the thirtieth year in the fourth month on the fifth day of the month as I was among the captives by the river k bar that the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God on the fifth day of the month which was in the 5th year of king john's captivity the word of the lord came expressly to ezekiel the priest the son of booze I in the land of the Chaldeans by the river k bar in the hand of the Lord was upon him there then I looked and behold a whirlwind was coming out of the north a great cloud with raging fire engulfing itself and brightness was all around it and radiating out of its midst like the color of amber out of the midst of the fire also from within it came the likeness of four living creatures and this was their appearance they had the likeness of a man each one had four faces and each one had four wings their legs were straight and the soles of their feet were like the souls of calves feet they sparkled like the color of burnished bronze the hands of a man were under their wings on their four sides and each of the four had face and wings their wings touched one another the creatures did not turn when they went but each one went straight forward as for the likeness of their faces each had the face of a man each of the four had the face of a lion on the right side each of the four had the face of an ox on the left side and each of the four had the face of an eagle thus were their faces their wings stretched upward two wings of each one touched one another and to covered their bodies and each one went straight forward they went wherever the spirit wanted to go and they did not turn when they went as for the likeness of the living creatures their appearance was like burning coals of fire like the appearance of torches going back and forth among the living creatures the fire was bright and out of the fire went lightning and the living creatures ran back and forth in appearance like a flash of lightning now as I looked at the living creatures behold the wheel was on the earth decide each living creature with its four faces the appearance of the wheels and their workings was like the color of barrel and all four had the same likeness the appearance of their workings was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel when they move they went toward any one of four directions they did not turn aside when they went as for their rims they were so high they were awesome and their rims were full of eyes all around the four of them when the living creatures went the wheels went beside them and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth the wheels were lifted up wherever the spirit wanted to go they went because they're the spirit went and the wheels were lifted together with them for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels when those went these went when those stood these stood and when those were lifted up from the earth the wheels were lifted up together with them for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels the likeness of the firmament above the heads of the living creatures was like the color of an awesome crystal stretched out over their heads and under the firmament their wings spread out straight one toward another each one had two which covered one side and each one had two which covered the other side of the body when they went I heard the noise of their wings like the noise of many waters like the voice of the almighty a tumult like the noise of an army and when they stood still they let down their wings a voice came from above the firmament that was over their heads whenever they stood they let down their wings and above the firmament over their heads was the likeness of a throne in appearance like a sapphire stone on the lightness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man high above it also from the appearance of his waist and upward I saw as it were the color of amber with the appearance of fire all around within it and from the appearance of his waist and downward I saw as it were the appearance of fire with brightness all around like the appearance of a rainbow and a cloud on a rainy day excuse me so was the appearance of the brightness all around it this was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord so when I felt when I saw it I fell on my face and I heard a voice of one speaking amen let us pray but God and our Father we thank you for the prophets we thank you for the apostles we thank you for these men you use to pen Holy Scripture we thank you for our Lord Jesus Christ and the revelation that comes to fruition in him we thank you that he is the scope of the whole and as we see even in a chapter like this since Ezekiel has taken up with this vision as he sees the glory of God he can only speak in terms of what it appears to be but certainly the creature cannot exhaust the Creator and he reports to us in the manner of men help us Lord God to esteem you help us to revere you help us to understand that you are holy holy holy that you are great and awesome God that you are worthy to be praised and as we are confronted with your glory in your majesty may we respond like Ezekiel may we fall as dead man may we fall as dead women may we understand woe is me for I am undone we need altima tlie the grace of God and the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ to stand us up to fit us for service unto our God we thank you for this passage we thank you for the entirety of Scripture and we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well for our final hymn will sing number 599 or final him before the preaching 599 will stand as we sing together we turn in your Bibles to second Timothy chapter 3 last time we were in second Timothy 3 we noted specifically the beginning of verse 16 all Scripture is given by inspiration of God we saw there the identity of Scripture it applies to all or every scripture and we noted that this indeed covers the Old Testament as well as the New Testament as well we looked at the authority of Scripture the fact that the Apostle says all Scripture is given by inspiration of God or literally God breathed highlights it's divine authority if God speaks the truth and it is indeed authoritative for us and to us and tonight we'll look at the usefulness of Scripture in verse 16 B through verse 17 but i do want to read beginning in verse 1 in second Timothy chapter 3 but know this that in the last days perilous times will come for men will be lovers of themselves lovers of money boasters proud blasphemers disobedient to parents unthankful unholy unloving unforgiving slanderous without self-control brutal despisers of good traitors headstrong hottie lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God having a form of godliness but denying its power and from such people turn away for of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins led away by various lusts always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth it was Janice and generous resisted Moses so do these also resist the truth men of corrupt minds disapproved concerning the faith but they will progress no further for their folly will be manifest to all as there's also was but you have carefully followed my doctrine manner of life purpose faith long-suffering love perseverance persecutions afflictions which happened to me at Antioch that Iconium at Lystra what persecutions I endured and out of them all the Lord delivered me yes and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution but evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse deceiving and being deceived but you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of knowing from whom you have learned them and 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 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 amen will let us pray father thank you for the word of God and thank you for this clear testimony concerning its usefulness for your people grant us grace Lord God to receive these things and to see the profit of Scripture in our lives certainly as Jesus rehearses to the devil in the wilderness and as you got told the children of Israel in the wilderness man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God help us father to lay hold of this help us to see it in our lives and how precious and how valuable scripture is to us we ask now that your Holy Spirit would guide us as we study Scripture he the author of it is the one that is able to illumine our minds and our hearts and cause us to receive these things may we do so with thanksgiving and may we do so with the fresh resolve to commit ourselves to the study of holy scripture when we pray these things through Christ our Lord amen well essentially what Paul is doing in 2nd Timothy 3 is contrasting the false teachers with Timothy he begins in verses 1 to 9 by highlighting the particular practices of wicked men in the last days and then he makes the contrast the first one in verse 10 but you have carefully followed my doctrine manner of life purpose faith long-suffering love perseverance these answers specifically to the vices that were given that characterized the wicked men in verses 1 to 9 Paul then makes another statement consider concerning the disposition of evil men in verse 13 evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse deceiving and being deceived note the contrast verse 14 but you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of knowing from whom you have learned that not only from a godly grandmother and a godly mother but from the Apostle Paul himself Timothy had learned these things and even most importantly he had been schooled in the Holy Scriptures note verse 15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures those holy scriptures are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus it's important to notice that the scriptures in view in that particular reference are the Old Testament and so Paul is saying that the Old Testament Scriptures are able to make one wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus so the next time you look at the Old Testament say why in the world what I want to read it because it's able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus it typifies points forward to and gives us Christ in those particular conventions or in those particular types and and shadows and all those things the Old Testament scripture is highly valuable and prize worthy and that leads Paul then to expound upon or expand upon the importance of Scripture as George night said the reminder of Timothy's long acquaintance with the scriptures and their central function verse 15 leads Paul to conclude this section with a fuller statement on the divine origin and specific usefulness of scripture verse 16 and on the purpose that it serves in the life of the man of God in verse 17 now if my children or children ever said to me why is the Bible important well I would certainly want to go to 2nd Timothy I would want to go to psalm 119 actually I'd want to go to a lot of places in the Bible but when we look at 2nd timothy three sixteen and seventeen we see it spelled out we see paul give us why scripture is profitable why scripture is useful how it is to be employed in the lives of God's people and I think as we survey these particular categories we will see that indeed they are helpful to us in these particular regards so let's look in the first place at the usefulness of Scripture and consider these four things in terms of general profitability notice what Paul says all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine for doctrine now there has been at least in the last hundred or two hundred years in the Christian Church sort of an anti doctrinal idea in other words we ought to just love Jesus doctrine divides us and doctrine hurts us and it's persons that get their minds full of doctrine that that don't do nice things for poor people and and it's those intellectuals that just want to you know make cerebral the Christian faith well the Apostle says that the Bible is profitable for doctrine for teaching for instruction and this is a recurring theme in these pastoral epistles you can turn to first Timothy chapter four it's good for us to rehearse this it's good for us to be reminded of this it's good for us to see that in the Apostle Paul as letters to Timothy and Titus his emphasis is not on the fact that they become the most popular guys the best speakers the nicest fellows in their respective communities rather he wants them committed to and preaching of sound doctrine notice in 1st Timothy 46 if you instruct the Brethren in these things you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed notice Paul's identification of what a good Minister looks like a good minister is one who instructs the Brethren in Christian doctrine a good minister is somebody who preaches the Bible a good minister is somebody who presents the truth to the persons that he is ministering unto notice in 1st Timothy 4 13 till I com give attention to reading to exhortation and there it is again to doctrine notice in first Timothy chapter six in verse 3 if anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to hold some words even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and to the doctrine which accords with godliness now we certainly ought not to be obnoxious James White speaks of the cage stage when young men come to embrace the doctrines of grace he suggests that it would be good to just lock them in a cage while that initial zeal is spent because they can be rather obnoxious you know we get these minds and hearts full of sound doctrine and we want to fight everybody we want to go on facebook and show everybody how excellent we are and present the truth as it is in gym rather than as it is in Paul or in Isaiah or in Ezekiel so we need to make sure we're not obnoxious with our doctrine our doctor not to affect us in very practical ways the doctrine that we entertain concerning God ought to result in love to God and in love to man but having said that we need doctrine we need the truth of God's Holy Word the Apostle says it is this doctrine which accords with godliness notice in 2nd Timothy 22 and these things are and the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses commit these two faithful men who will be able to teach others also teaching his doctrine Timothy is supposed to look out amongst amongst the church brethren he is to find faithful man he is to identify faithful men he is to see that those men are brought into pastoral ministry and that those men preach and teach the word of truth to others Timothy is to multiply and bring more since n so that they may teach the Scriptures notice in 2nd Timothy 2 14 to 16 remind them of these things charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit to the ruin of the hearers be diligent to present yourself approved to God always love that passage because the ministers primary concern is not approval from men it is approval from God the minister's primary concern is not the approval of men but it is the approval of God now that it doesn't mean he should irritate people and he should be obnoxious and do the sorts of things that I just suggested we should not do but he seeks by the grace of God to be a minister approved unto God he then says a worker who does not need to be shame rightly dividing the word of truth but shun profane and idle babblings for they will increase to more ungodliness notice in 2nd Timothy 225 and humility correcting those who are in opposition if God perhaps will grant them repentance so that they may know what they may know doctrine they may know the truth and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil having been taken captive by him to do his will and then in 2nd Timothy 42 he tells Timothy preach the word be ready in season and out of season convince rebuke exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine Timothy is to teach the Scriptures patiently he is to do so in a particular manner but the end result is the same preach the truth as it is in Jesus towner says as the bedrock of Christian education scriptures prime function within the community is in relation to teaching and John Murray and the most helpful statement concerning the importance of doctrine says this 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 of scripture or we ourselves are cold and lifeless something the opponents of doctrine never want to consider maybe the problem isn't the doctrine maybe the problem is your heart because if you see we understand the truth of God how can it not but produce warmth and vigor and life and promote health in the hearts of God's people he says we do nothing properly without thought and we think nothing all right except as we think the truth of him who is the king eternal immortal invisible the only God he says lack of biblical doctrine is lack of interest in god and his will for us and this is godless nests i think murray is absolutely spot-on so in the first place if my children or my grandchildren were to ask why should I read the Bible because it's profitable for doctrine it will teach you about God it will teach you about his law it will teach you about his attributes it will teach you about his son it will teach you the gospel it will teach you concerning your redemption it will teach you your great need for the blood of Jesus Christ to wash you and cleanse you the Bible as well teaches you about you the Bible shows you to be the man the woman the boy or girl that God sees you're not the individual butterfly that's floating through life doing nothing but good you are wretched sinner that is in rebellion against the living and true God you're not going to get that from dr. Phil you're not going to get that from Oprah you're not going to get that from the chilliwack progress you're going to get it from Scripture it will rightly identify your problem and it will rightly present the remedy so why should we read the Bible because it's profitable for doctrine note in the second place its profitable for reproof that word profitable qualifies all the subsequent words profitable for doctrine Ebel for reproof it's profitable for correction its profitable for instruction in righteousness but what is reproof the scripture is profitable in rebuking for wrong belief or wrong behavior the scripture exposes the errors of men notice in titus 19 it exposes the heirs of false teachers tired US 19 holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and convict those who contradict the idea of conviction and reproof standing in a close relationship there so you see the scripture not only is profitable to instruct us but the scripture is profitable to reprove us certainly you have found that to be the case in your own life I would imagine if you have the Holy Spirit you've gone to the Scriptures before if you've been living in a pattern of sin hopefully the spirit shows you that and reproves you or perhaps it's occurred under preaching you've come to the house of God you've listened to preaching you've been entertaining sin you've been engaged in sin you've been playing with sin and then you hear preaching and it sounds as if God is not this right for you it reproves you doesn't it it convicts you it shows you that you are the man it functions as David's Nathan to point that finger in our face and say that you are the one that is aired you are the one that is departed you are the one that has gone astray brethren don't balk at that don't reject that don't get angry with that that's the spirits work in our lives we ought to be thankful that he brings conviction we ought to be thankful that there's preaching we ought to be thankful that they're sermon audio we ought to be thankful that we have our Bibles such that when we go into our closets the Lord God most high reproves us for bad conduct or he reproves us for from heretical thinking or he reproves us for not being obedient to him don't get mad at that don't say I can't believe it that you said so and so are the Apostle Paul says thus and thus no that's the spirits work at our in our hearts the Word of God is a living word it cuts us deep it penetrates right down to the marrow of a man and we ought to embrace that and welcome that fact I hope that when you come to the house of God or when you come to the scripture your prayer isn't God just leave me alone just let me satisfy the daily requirement and read my section of Scripture just let me go through the lord's day motions and show up in the house of God and look alive at least for that 45 minutes to an hour God but I don't want my feathers ruffled and I don't want to be challenged and I don't want anything to mess up with my comfort zone I hope that's not your prayer I hope you have the mindset of David in psalm 119 until I Psalm 19 you can turn there to see David's mind with reference to these things Psalm 19 after celebrating god's general revelation through the created order and then God's special revelation through the written word david says who can understand his errors verse 12 cleanse me from secret faults what's he saying find me out god show me the reality lord let me not continue in this particular pathway he says keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins let them not have dominion over me then I shall be blameless and I shall be innocent of great transgression David understood the practical application of Paul's words in second Timothy chapter 3 it is profitable for reproof let the righteous smite me david says let the brother or the sister or my wife or my husband or my parent or my my child reprove me with the word of god that's a blessing from God when somebody sees us going astray would you have them to do push us along the way or try to rope us back with scripture and say you know the Bible says you shouldn't do that the Bible says that you are not to engage in that don't get upset at that person hug them and praise God that the Holy Spirit used that person to bring you back certainly we sing that song and I hope it resonates in all of our arts we're prone to wander and prone to leave the god we love if somebody in our lives has the courage and the wherewithal to stop us from wandering don't get upset at that don't get mad at them remember I referred to to Ahab last week with reference to makhaya in first Kings 22 Jehoshaphat says is there another prophet yeah there's one more but he doesn't tell me what I want to hear I don't like what he has to say I don't like it because it doesn't fit my comfort zone and in fact when makhaya shows up on the scene that is precisely what happens Ahab's Matt the prophet the false prophets max him and they put them away in prison that's not the way we are to conduct ourselves do not dare to be an Ahab rather welcome the reproof of men notice in the third place the scripture is profitable for correction again the children say what is it profitable for doctrine reproof in correction what does God do after he reproves us what does God do after he shows us our error what does God do but he corrects us he gives us the remedy gives us the antidote he gives us the medicine and we ought to bless God for that the scripture is profitable in setting persons on the right track with reference to belief and conduct notice I continually stress belief I think at times as Christians we think we're only sinning if we're looking at pornography or we think we're only sending if we're stealing from our employer or we think we're only sitting if we're yelling at our spouses we're sitting when we're not thinking right thoughts about God we are inning against the Lord most high when we are heretics we are sinning against God if we don't get the hypostatic union and we can't explain it the way those Divine's at Nicaea did I'm just kidding we don't have to go quite that far but we need to recognize Christian orthodoxy it's not just a matter of don't go here and don't do that but it's how you think and so the scripture reproves us at times and shows us that we've been thinking in a faulty manner it shows us that we have been heretical we have entertained thoughts of Christ that dishonor Christ the scripture corrects us it brings us back on to the path if we are prone to wander and prone to leave the God that we love reproof functions to show us that we have departed and correction brings us back to that blessed path that's what the scripture is profitable for you see why it's so important you should be reading it constantly regularly attentively carefully do you see why it's not just a matter of if you read five verses when you show up this week we're going to you know raise our fist and say good job or add a boy that's not the point what does the psalmist say in psalm 119 thy word I have hidden in my heart so that I can boast on Facebook that I've meditated or that I did i memorize scripture today know thy word I've hid in my heart what that I might not sin against you for the psalmist having a deposit of Scripture truth in his heart would hopefully keep him from pursuing lost from engaging in anger from engaging in all manner of wickedness the scripture correct sauce some of you might be on a path of belief or on a path of conduct that is just not right you need to be reproved and you need to be corrected you need to be educated you need to come and be conformed or rather transformed by the renewing of your mind to the Holy Scripture notice in the fourth place what it's profitable for for instruction in righteousness for instruction in righteousness the scripture is profitable for instructing God's children in the way they should go psalm 119 9 I'm sorry it was 11 19 11 i think is the word hidden in my heart 199 is how can a young man cleanse his way how can a young man cleanse his way as reference to justification and sanctification by taking heat according to your word it is instruction in righteousness we live in an unrighteous world we live in a world filled with lies and deceit we live in a world that is not out for promoting godliness on the part of the hordes in order to be instructed in righteousness we have to get our minds in the Word of God we have to bring our hearts to the Word of God how about psalm 100 119 105 your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path it instructs us in righteousness psalm 119 130 the entrance of your words gives light it gives understanding to the simple isn't that good news if you're a simple person it gives understanding to us to blessing you don't have to be a PhD you don't have to be the proverbial rocket scientist you don't have to have read every book in that office to have wisdom from on high those who are saturated in the scriptures those who have the Holy Spirit they are wise men and women and then psalm 119 verse 1 33 I love this he says direct my steps by your word and let no iniquity have dominion over me you see for David he saw things in those sort of stark contrasts he saw things and in that marshall imagery and let no iniquity have dominion over me what can we infer or what can we imply or what we can what can we at least observe if it is the case that God does not direct our steps by his word then iniquity will have dominion over us persons try to kill sin persons try to deal with particular temptations persons try to gain instruction in righteousness by not coming to the Word of God that is absolute folly we need to come to scripture to be instructed in righteousness so the next time children you ask why should I read the Bible because it's profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction and for instruction in righteousness as I said that is the general profitability now note the specific profitability and at verse 17 now the man of God certainly refers to all men of God all women of God all blood BOTS my son son Micah refers to Christians now they're called blood BOTS as far as he is concerned I quite like that term in that description blood BOTS but all of us benefit from the profitability of the word in this regard but the man of God is technical language that applies here specifically to Timothy as a minister so the scripture certainly completes every man but as I've said the context indicates that the ministers of the gospel are in specific view in verse 17 now note what Paul says its profitable for the things in verse 16 that the man of God may be complete what completes the man of God the seminary education helps the man of God it is the word of God that completes the man of God insofar as seminary education as far as book learning goes in so far as the man is saturated with the truth of God that is what completes him and it is intriguing that Paul says it's not leadership training is not the charismatic gifts it's not his you know kindness now I'm not saying ministers should be mean nasty pieces of work they should be kind however it is the word God that completes the man of God it is the knowledge of the scripture it is his understanding of doctrine it is his appreciation for the truth in all of its parts and as a connected whole his view of systematic theology his view of biblical theology his understanding of theology proper his understanding of Christology and hammar theology and de ontology and and soteriology and all these ologies all of that converge to complete the man of God this is what we need in our pulpits today we don't need entertainers we don't need persons that are just friendly fellows I would rather have a man that's not the friendliest fellow who can rightly explain to me the hypostatic union then have a man that's super friendly that couldn't figure out the humanity from the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ brethren we have co-opted in many ways the world's model for our leaders and our pastors Paul says it is scripture that completes the man of God it is nothing else notice as well he says that the man of God may be complete and that the man of God may be equipped for every good work what equips the man of God for every good work it's the scripture it's unfortunately unfortunately we have to spend time on this you know there's there's a there's a move where there has been a move as long as I've been a pastor on you know leadership this and leadership that and leadership conferences and books on leadership and what can this guy to just preach the Bible you know at the end of the day isn't that what we should want from our preachers just preach the Bible I don't care how many business books you've read I don't care how many leadership conferences you've been to I don't care how many gurus you've employed so that you can sit just preach the Bible that's it if the church collectively will just say that we would be a whole lot better off we have accepted this mindset that the movers and the shakers among us the men with this innate ability to move people and to lead people into service service cheerleaders at a pep rally those are the guys that we want to emulate no we want to emulate the Apostle Paul we want to be a man who is able to say to the Corinthian church but I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified that's the kind of preachers we want that's the kind of men of God that we want that's what we hope and pray for for men that are raised up in our church not that they are able to subscribe to whichever leadership model but they can faithfully and accurately proclaim the truth of God's Holy Word that ought to be what you always demand from me and pastor Porter you ought never ever to settle for the sorts of things that the people of God settle for I think I told you years ago I went to a church while I was visiting in California it happened to be the fourth of July I mean that and of itself was a terrible thing in other words more Americanism in this church then there was Christ we were singing proud to be an American in the house of the Living God that ought not to be I mean that in of itself were some bad preliminaries and then the guy preaches I know 15 17 minutes and it was what dl moody called birdbath theology it was about that deep and afterwards I mean if that wasn't shocking enough I just SAT through a message that was you know pablum babies in our church would reject that they'd say no I want to hear about the hypostatic Union what was most discouraging to use a renta Hannah's in the opposite way was to stand outside and visit with the people of God or at least the professed people of God who were telling me how great and how powerful that sermon was now I can be a critical man I can be a hyper you know credit jerk but brethren anybody who had spent any time thinking in any terms about Bible and theology would not conclude that that was a deep powerful robust sermon but the people of God are again the professing people of God are gobbling it up you know to break our hearts what people put up with it ought to make us pray to God awaken them not to be saved if they are saved awaken them to the reality that they are settling for mud pies when there's a holiday by the seaside to use a Lewis ISM brethren it ought not to be the case that persons are satisfied or content with surma nets for Christian ettes we need to be thoroughly equipped for every good work again I like what Knight says here he says since God created Christians for good works and calls on them and calls on them to do good works he has given scripture to instruct them so that they may know in principle what God expects of them and thus be equipped to do that particular good deed called for in each situation perhaps you men have noticed this before you come home from work or you come home from someplace or you're spending time with your beloved bright and you can tell that there's something just not right about her countenance you can tell that not everything is good and you ask the question is everything okay yeah everything's okay did I do something right now you didn't do anything wrong but you get this feeling that certainly you did something wrong and then it comes out you didn't do such and such or you didn't go there and there and you say wait a minute I didn't know God doesn't do that to us know in our house it doesn't just happen with me and her it happens with her and me I'll be pouty and whiny and moni and get it really you didn't do what I wanted you to do I didn't tell her what the deal I didn't say what the expectation was God doesn't do that he doesn't just say go go go and go do good words what's a good work God he tells us he specif aiza that specifies it to us in detailed description never say I just don't know what to do as a Christian because you know God hasn't told me yes he's told you he told you blatantly he's told you loudly he's told you clearly in the scripture perhaps you're not good doing good works because you're not reading the scripture telling you to do good works that is a blessed reality that our Lord provides the scripture not only completes the man of God but it thoroughly furnishes him unto every good work well brethren in conclusion we ought to price God or praise God in price Holy Scripture the surpassing value of Holy Scripture is seen in that it instructs us concerning God his law and his gospel the supreme value of Holy Scripture is seen in that under the spirit it is useful to reprove us God loves us too much to allow us to continue to stray so praise him that he provides the spirit to bring scripture to bear upon our hearts to reprove us when we are in a particular thought process or in a particular action as well we ought to praise god for the surpassing value of the scripture that corrects us that corrects us it specifies the way we ought to go it provides for us that particular course and it instructs us in righteousness I hope it's welling up in your heart right now to say wow I can't wait for tomorrow morning because I want to read my Bible I can't wait to get back to my scriptures God forgive me that I haven't approached it with the heart I ought forgive me help me and send me to that holy book let me go mining out those treasures let me be a spelunker you know what a spelunker is that somebody that wanders around in caves wearing a hat with a flashlight on it that's how we ought to view our approach to the scripture we ought to be miners going about our task spending time in the earth seeking to uncover those now I make it sound like there's some code involved now just read freed meditate and contemplate and think through it there's no extra special you know if you wear a hat with a light bulb on it you're going to be really extra hold on oh that's not that was not my point we need to be steeped in the scriptures we need to be instructed in righteousness as well we ought to see the importance of holy scripture for the ministers of the gospel to complete them and to thoroughly furnish them unto every good work the man of God is to take his orders from God and not men he is to study to show himself approved unto God as well the man of God must be committed to the Word of God in his own heart in his own life I love what Lloyd Jones says concerning Bible reading for the pastor he says do not read the Bible primarily for sermons but read the Bible for food I've always loved that and appreciated that no he's not suggesting that you aren't to study the Bible for sermon prep you can never argue that with lloyd jones but what I think he suggests with reference to the gospel ministry is that some ministers say you know I'm studying the Bible a lot for sermon prep that sort of covers it now maybe that does cover it i don't find anywhere in Scripture that i can condemn that and say you evil wretch don't do that but i think the thrust of lloyd jones statement is that a minister should be a man of god first reading the bible for his daily intake of food for his daily intake of bread and that sermon preparation comes on top of that he's a man of God before he's a minister of the gospel and therefore he is reading as a as a food hungry sheep and then he reads to study in sermon prep incidentally I think Lloyd Jones use the the robert murray McShane reading calendar we're only at the seventeenth of january there's still time to pick one up and you've got a bit of tough sledding to catch but once you do it's a wonderful plan you basically start the Bible in four places and over the years I've heard people that's just so confusing but you can read a newspaper and move from sports to politics to you know whatever else that somehow not confusing I mean you start in Genesis you start Ezra you start math you start and adds hopefully you're you know bright enough bulb that you can keep things clear so that's my plug for Mary McShane on the 17th I should have done this on the 31st but and the man of God must preach the Word of God second Timothy 4 to God willing when I come back we will finish second Timothy as I said I hope to move to the Epistle of James but Paul's last formal command or official command to the church visa V Timothy as a gospel minister there are later commands in the chapter but they're more of a personal nature Timothy bring my cloak bring my books especially the parchments but in second Timothy 4 to preach the word be ready in season and out of season that's the subject matter for the gospel minister it is the preaching of the word not to preach you know entertainment it's not to preach movies it's not to preach anything other than the scriptures of the word of God and the man of God must be distinguished by progress in the word of god 1st Timothy 4 6 i'm sorry 15 1st Timothy 4 15 the scriptures are so important for the man of God it ought to be evident to you as the sheet that your particular men of God are progressing in their understanding of the Bible and of theology notice in 1st Timothy 4 15 meditate on these things give yourself entirely to them that your progress may be evident to all it's not because look at me I've read it you know 15 chapters today no it's the Word of God has an effect upon the man of God it conforms him more and more under the power of the spirit unto the image of the Lord Jesus Tate to yourself and to the doctrine continuing them for in doing this you will say both yourself and those who hear you brethren I hope tonight we have seen the usefulness of Holy Scripture and I hope and I pray that there are as a renewed vigor in all of our hearts to approach the scriptures as the Blessed privilege it is it ought not to be the case all I've got to read the Bible there's it got to to be sure but there's a get too involved we get to hear from the living and true God will let us pray our Father we thank you for the word and we thank you that you've not left us to ourselves in this world you provided scripture you righted the Holy Spirit we are not orphans we're adopted sons of God most high and we pray that you'd help us to be nourished in these things help us to feed upon scripture each and every day we ask that you would go with us now watch over us in this coming week bring us together next Lord's Day to praise to worship and to honor you these things through Christ Jesus our Lord amen we'll close with a brief time of meditation and then be you