2 Timothy chapter 3. Be in verses 10 through 17, Lord willing, tonight. This, of course, is Paul's last letter in Scripture. It's the last writing of his of any kind of which we are aware. And he talks a lot, especially as he's writing these pastoral epistles to Timothy and Titus about the necessity that the true Word of God be preached and that falsehood be opposed. So let us read, beginning in verse 10, Now you followed my teaching, my conduct, my purpose, my faith, my patience, my love, my perseverance, my persecutions, and my sufferings. Such has happened to me at Antioch, and at Iconium, and at Lustra. What persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord rescued me. A mighty fortress is our God. Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But evil men and impostors will proceed to worse, deceiving and being deceived. You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them. and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God, is God-breathed, and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. Thank You, Lord, that You have given us this Word, that You speak to us in language that we can understand, that You have accommodated Yourself to our fallen and finite minds. Thank You that You have caused the Good News to come not only into our ears and our minds, but into our hearts. that You have opened our hearts to believe the things that have been written here in Your Word. And so Lord, again tonight we ask that Your Spirit would be our teacher and that this Word would be transforming and sanctifying in each and every one of us. And we ask it in Christ's name. Chapter 3 began with Paul telling Timothy, realize this, in the last days, difficult, perilous times will come. When Paul wrote this, he was warning Timothy, difficult times are going to come in Ephesus in the first century, during his lifetime, during his ministry. And in verses 2 through 5, Paul listed 19 of the evil traits of men that will characterize those last days that we're still in. And that make these last days difficult or perilous. Men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant. revilers or blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, unforgiving, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Men have been marked by these characteristics since the fall of Adam. And he said these men will be marked by a form of godliness, an appearance of godliness, but literally having once for all denied its power. Its power is in the gospel. Gospel is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe. And yet the world still today adopts many forms of godliness. And we have unregenerate people speaking of God, religion, and morality, but without the true gospel and without the power of God, without the transforming power that only the gospel can bring. And so Paul cautioned Timothy, avoid such men as these. Verses 6 through 9, Paul's focus turned specifically to these enemies of Christ in the first century in Ephesus. Among those, he said, are those who enter and sneak into households and taking captive weak-minded women who are weighed down with sin and led on by various impulses. And I'm constrained to say Paul wasn't speaking of all women here. He's not suggesting all women are weak-minded or weighed down with sins. But some are, and they are targets of and susceptible to the advances of false teachers and their false teachings. These wicked men will seek to take such women captive by their false doctrines. Danger was not only present in Ephesus in the first century. It's been present for 2,000 years. And we looked at Galatians 2.4 where we saw the same thing. False brethren secretly brought in. 2 Peter 1.1, false prophets arose among the people. At Jude 4, certain persons have crept in unnoticed. And we see the sneakiness, the deceptiveness of these false teachers. Paul said they enter households of single or widowed women or whose husbands are out at work. They employ flattery and superstition and false promises and many deceptions. And this was an evil practice in Paul's day. That's why he's writing about it. It began in the Garden of Eden when the serpent deceived Eve. He didn't go to Adam but caught Eve alone and deceived her. And so this continues in the days that have followed. These men come with novel doctrines which offer an easy way, maybe, to eternal life and forgiveness. And so today they enter Homs how? They don't have to go door-to-door like the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Mormons do. They come through your TV. You can turn on a false teacher any hour of the day on the radio or on the Internet. And many fall victim to their wares. Now, he says these are women who are of a type who are always learning. Very anxious to learn new things. New ideas, secret inner wisdoms that are falsely taught. The spiritual insights of men who are speaking inventions of their own, not of God. But the things they're learning don't have the power to save them as the gospel does. Because only the gospel can save. So they're learning false and useless information. Now this is going on still today. In fact, it's probably more widespread today because of the internet than it's ever been. Like Paul wrote in Ephesians 4.14, people are, some of these are subjected to every wind of doctrine. And this is why it's so important that we teach true doctrine. And, you know, those who are in churches where the true doctrines of Scripture are not taught are going to be the ones who are susceptible to these false teachers. But Paul comforts Timothy in verse 9 with these words. They're not going to make any further progress. Their folly will be exposed. It'll be obvious to all, just as Janus and Jambres' folly was also. Of course, that was a reference to the sorcerers who attempted to duplicate Moses' miracles in front of Pharaoh. And who were, in effect, standing against the truth of God. So now, in view of the fact that this is going to be a challenge for Timothy and for other ministers of the gospel, there's going to be these wicked men, these imposters. Paul exhorts Timothy to continue to exert himself in sound doctrine. So first, he reminds him here, beginning in verse 10, of his long personal association with him. He reminds Timothy, you've known me, you've known of what I've been through, you've known my teaching, and you understand, I hope by now, Timothy, the inevitability of the persecution that's going to come for all Christians. And by recounting Timothy's past association with him, Paul renews his call to Timothy to be loyal to the gospel and to endure suffering, even persecution, for the sake of the gospel. So verse 10, now you followed my teaching, my conduct, my purpose, my faith, my patience, my love, my perseverance. Timothy was aware of all these things. He saw them, he observed them, he followed them in the sense that he observed them, but he also followed what Paul taught him. So the followed is really used in two different ways. You followed my persecutions. You were aware of my persecutions and sufferings. And he reminds Timothy of what had happened to him in Antioch and Iconium and at Lustre. Timothy was from Lustre. And Antioch and Iconium were very near there. And Paul had endured pretty significant persecutions in those places during his first missionary trip. Now, he met Timothy during his second missionary trip. We see that in Acts 16, which we'll look at briefly in a moment. But Timothy, being in Lucera, was aware of what was happening. He was a young man, probably in his teens at that point, and he understood the gospel was being persecuted. Paul, Barnabas, others, all were facing persecution everywhere they went. They were being stoned in one town. They'd leave. Some would follow them and seek to cause them harm where they followed them. So Paul now is soon to die. He's now in the Roman prison, some say in a dungeon. And he's looking back upon and reminding Timothy of his whole life of service to Christ. Remember, he's only got two chapters left in all of his thirteen letters. He's down to chapters three and four of his last letter. And now he looks back. And he's reminding Timothy because Timothy traveled with him beginning on his second missionary journey. And remember, several of Paul's letters begin with a greeting from Paul and Timothy or Paul and Timothy and Sylvanus. So Timothy knew all these things. He was aware of all of them. And Paul reminds him of this. Timothy, you see what we went through. Now you're going to have to continue in this pattern. Now Acts 16 verse 1, we learn it was in Lustre that Paul met Timothy. We read there that Timothy was well spoken of by the brethren in Lustre and Iconium. Antioch and Syria at that time had been one of the central bases of operations of the new Christian church. And from the time that Timothy met Paul, Paul had been his teacher and his mentor. Paul spoke of himself as a spiritual father. He addresses Timothy as a son. And so Timothy traveled with Paul and Silas and others, and he learned the doctrines of Christ that Christ himself had taught Paul. Remember, Paul said in Galatians, I didn't get my gospel from the other apostles. I got it from the Lord Jesus himself. And so he then taught Timothy what he had learned from the risen Christ. Now these towns that he's talking about here in verse 11 are all in the area from which Timothy came. And so Timothy's aware of all these episodes. Now we're going to see in verse 15 that from the time of his childhood, Timothy had been taught the sacred writings. That's the Old Testament Scriptures at that time, at home. Chapter 1, verse 5, it was his mother and grandmother, Lois and Eunice, who had taught him. He had a Greek father, remember, so he wasn't teaching him the Old Testament Scriptures. In Acts 16.3, we learn that Timothy's father was a Greek. And that for that reason, when Paul was going to take Timothy on the second missionary trip, he had Timothy circumcised. So it wouldn't be an offense to the Jews. And Paul had told Timothy, and you know this as we've been through these letters, repeatedly to expect hard times, even persecution. And he has exhorted him, chapter 1, verse 8, Don't be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me, his prisoner, but to join with me in suffering for the gospel. This has been the message of this letter. Stand for the truth and be prepared to suffer for it. And to rest in the power of God. Paul mentions those earliest persecutions, perhaps to remind Timothy of his commitment to the Apostle and his ministry from the very beginning. I mean, he's saying, look, we go way back here, Timothy. Fifteen, twenty years anyway. And Timothy had been through all this. By now he was well-versed in the Gospel as well as the Old Testament Scriptures. And he reminds Timothy of these persecutions. And he says, the Lord has rescued me from them all. Mighty Fortress is our God. And if you look at verse 18, Paul writes in one of the very last statements. He writes in Scripture, The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom. To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. And he says it again to Timothy, indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ will be persecuted. In Acts 14, 22, what did he say? Through many tribulations, we must enter to the kingdom of God. Through many tribulations. So Paul is talking about here those who desire to live godly in Christ. Not necessarily all professing Christians. Those who desire to live godly in Christ. He's speaking of those who have made it their earnest resolution with God's help and by His grace to live a life of devotion to Christ. Now, Paul wasn't the only one being persecuted. But scars of persecution he is saying here, and this isn't hardly the first time he said it. These are the price which every true believer pays for his loyalty to Christ. They're also his credentials before God. These scars of persecution. All who adorn their confession with Christ with a truly Christian life are going to face many foes and many challenges. You know, if nobody knows you're a Christian, you may skip by life without any persecution at all. But those who live godly, who live a Christian life, who wear Christ on the sleeve, which, of course, the atheists want us not to do. Don't do that. You keep it to yourself. That's not our calling. Those who go forward boldly, defending the faith, are going to be targets. The result's going to be persecution. And, you know, I've heard many preachers and many pulpits say something along the lines of, you know, if you're not being persecuted, maybe your faith isn't obvious enough to people. We read Matthew 5, 10 through 12. Go back and look at it one more time. Matthew 5, verse 10. Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Now, if you're a criminal and there's some criminal event and people are accusing you and you didn't do it, that's not being persecuted for his sake. That's different. But if you're being persecuted, people saying evil, false things about you because of your walk with Christ, And he says, rejoice and be glad. You're blessed. Rejoice and be glad. Your reward in heaven is great. And he reminds his listeners in the Sermon on the Mount, they persecuted the prophets who were before you. John 5, 18. John, I'm sorry, 15, 18. This was our first sermon, the passage from which we preached our first sermon when we planted this church almost 10 years ago. If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you. John 16.1, These things I have spoken to you, so that you may be kept from stumbling. They're going to make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think he's offering service to God. They thought they were serving God by killing the Christians, who they saw as traitors to the religion of Judaism. John 16.33, These things I have spoken to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have, what? Tribulation, that's right, but take courage. I have overcome the world. The persecution, the hardships, the trials, and all that we go through is part of God's design. It's not, they're not small victories for Satan and for the opponents of Christ. They're part of his design to sanctify us, to correct us. So when we come to verse 13, it seems to me that Paul's words in verse 10 through 12 have been written almost as a premise for the exhortation that's going to come in verses 14 through 17. And so these verses seem almost as an aside, as in verse 13, Paul now returns back to that central theme of both 1st and 2nd Timothy, warning about false teachers. Evil men and impostors will proceed to worse, deceiving and being deceived. So one writer suggests that the evil men are those described in verses 2 through 5, where he listed all those 19 characteristics of fallen men. And then the imposters he speaks of as the false teachers in verses 6 through 9. It may be what Paul had in mind that it does make some sense. Now, again, in his first two letters, in his two letters to Timothy, Paul has spoken of the false teachers as men whose teaching leads to foolishness, to useless speculation, teaching that doesn't lead people to saving faith. He speaks of the teachers as men whose consciences have been seared who are conceited, have a morbid interest in just engaging in foolish questions, who engage in worldly and empty chatter, he says, which leads to ungodliness and whose talk will spread like gangrene. And they're always going to be among us. They're always going to gain support from among those who do not hold to sound biblical doctrine, at least for a time they will. But he says they're not going to proceed further. They're not going to get very far before they're exposed. And they're easily exposed, by the way, in the eyes of true believers who have learned and read their Bibles and learned the correct and proper biblical doctrine. They're always exposed before them. But he's saying something else here. He says, they shall proceed to the worse. And I believe he means that they're going to grow inwardly from bad to worse. They shall degenerate more and more. If you stand there saying lies and false doctrine, Day after day, hour after hour. That's going to do something to you inside. You're deceiving somebody, but you're also deceiving yourself. And you're being deceived by your own teaching. So this implication here, I believe, is that while they are engaged in deceiving others, they're themselves being deceived. They get a good response. Well, I must be teaching what's true. No, you're not. Either what you're teaching is true or it isn't. So delusion is their weapon and it's by delusion that they themselves are destroyed. They believe, they try to make themselves think that the falsehoods by which they are seeking to ensnare others will somehow gain them something. But in the end, they're going to be bitterly disappointed. And speaking of the end, now Paul was writing this in 2 Thessalonians 2.11 as of the time of the man of lawlessness, the man of sin. But it has some application here. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false. And that's kind of what Paul is saying about the false teachers even in the first century in Ephesus. In order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth but took pleasure in wickedness. There's a price for unbelief. There's a price for falsity. And the price is eternal misery. On the other hand, that's not the case with the true doctrines of God. And so Paul admonishes Timothy in verse 14. You, however, you continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of. Now, to learn them is one thing. To be convinced of them is something else. That's another step. If you're convinced of something, you now live according to it. It becomes a guiding principle of your life. You could learn something. You could know it. You could know the whole Bible. You could recite the whole thing from memory. That wouldn't mean you'd become convinced of the truth of it. We tell when someone's convinced of the truth of it by how they live. our lives, are the expression of what we truly believe. So he says, "...you, however, you continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." Now what are the sacred writings he's talking about here? The Old Testament. Because that was all they had when Timothy was a boy growing up and he was being taught the Scriptures. Didn't have anything else. Well, how was Timothy convinced of the truth of the gospel through the Old Testament? Well, that's what we're going to look at here. He says, remember always the doctrines of God you've learned from your youth and the gospel that you've heard from me. That's what he's talking about, the things you have learned. The Old Testament writings, which Timothy had been taught by Lois and Eunice, grandmother and mother, contain the truth concerning what? What truths do we find in the Old Testament that might lead Timothy to salvation? He learned the law, and in the law we see what? The righteousness of God, His righteous standard. We also see what when we look at the law? Our sin and our inability to what? To keep it. And yet the Old Testament tells us if you commit one of these sins, you die. So he would learn that. He would learn of the righteousness and justice of God throughout the Old Testament. And the need for an atonement for every violation of His law. Where do we learn that? Where do we learn that there has to be an atonement for every violation of God's law? See, nobody likes to read Leviticus. And all those sacrifices. And all those bringing the animal up. And the one holds his hand on its head. And the other guy comes up and slits its throat. And you let the blood draw down here. All of that is showing us the need for an unblemished sacrifice for our sins. And our sins are violations of His law. And in that law, in that Old Testament, what else is there that's good news? the promise of a Savior, He shall bruise you on the head. In your seed, Abraham, all the families of the earth will be blessed. David, there will be a descendant of yours who will sit on your throne forever. And then the new covenant through Jeremiah 31. All of this is promised in the Old Testament. This is the promise of a Redeemer, a Messiah sent from God. So Timothy had been taught all those things. He'd been taught that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. This is the end of the matter. Fear God. Keep His commandments. For this is the whole duty of man. Ecclesiastes 12, 13. And then in Romans 15, 4, Paul wrote to the combined church of both Jews and Gentile Christians in Rome, for whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. You see, that hope is in the Old Testament. This is the great tragedy of the Jews in Jesus' time, not understanding. Here's the Pharisees and the scribes, their scribes. Here's the chief priests, and they don't understand what it was that God was saying to them in the Old Testament. And Paul was sent by Christ himself, as were the rest of the apostles, and he had taught Timothy that the Savior, Redeemer had come. The things you had learned from the Old Testament, now from Paul. that the Savior had come in the person of Jesus Christ who had lived a sinless life and then could be an unblemished sacrifice to take the punishment of God for the sins of all who would believe in Him. And that's what He did on the cross. And then He was raised on the third day. Timothy learned all these things from Paul. And that all who believe in Him have been restored to spiritual life and to fellowship with God, have been restored to peace with God. And all who believe in Him will be raised on the day He returns to live with Him in glory for all eternity. Now this is what Timothy had learned. The need for a Savior, the coming of the Savior, This is what he had to cling to this is what he was preaching This is the good news that Paul and Peter and John and Silas and Timothy and all the Apostles had been preaching for the past 30 years all over the world Apostles were getting executed for preaching this in many places India, maybe Britain Alexandria Greece So again, here's Paul in verse 15. He speaks of the sacred writings, the Old Testament writings, which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus, the Messiah Jesus of Nazareth. And so, brethren, we must learn to see Christ in the Old Testament. The Old Testament tells us our need for a Savior. It tells us what he'll be like. It tells us about his crucifixion. It tells us about his virgin birth. It tells us where he would be born, Micah 5, 2. Timothy had done more than just learn all these things from Scripture and from Paul. What he had learned had been applied to his heart by the Holy Spirit. He'd become convinced of this truth with a conviction that resulted in a transformed life. Folks, that's what we need to see in all of us, a transformed life. We can't be who we were and have confidence that the Holy Spirit has transformed us. Now in verses 15, 16, and 17, Paul talks about the Old Testament Scriptures. But his words here apply to all Scripture in what he says here in verse 16. All Scripture is inspired by God. It is God-breathed, literally. And it is profitable, useful, helpful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be adequate, complete, equipped for every good work. So, the sacred writings, since they are inspired by God, are given not only to point a person to the salvation that is in Christ, but also to teach him, to disciple him, to teach us, once we have been converted, to rebuke us when we're off the track, to correct us and put us back on the right track. To equip us to live a life that is to the glory of God. Scripture is the greatest thing in the whole world. It's the greatest thing we have. Nothing's even close. This is the Word of God. That's God's creation. We can't be saved by knowing He's the Creator. We can be condemned by refusing to acknowledge He's the Creator. Because then we don't believe anything we're reading here. Belief in Paul's first statement here, all scripture is inspired by God, is essential to understanding the one and only way of eternal life. All scripture is inspired by God and those who do not believe this are in grave danger. And unless they repent of their unbelief, they're without hope. Without hope. Because it's only in the scriptures that we learn of the one and only way of eternal life. Now, I said he's now talking about Old Testament and New Testament here in verse 16. Remember, the Scriptures were completed no later than the end of the first century. There are those who say all Scripture was completed by the year 70, before the fall of Jerusalem. Nobody knows for sure. We know as a youth, Timothy was taught the Old Testament Scripture. But Paul's statement, all Scripture as God breathes, applies to both Old Testament and New Testament. And think about this. In 1 Timothy 5.18, Paul refers to some words that were spoken in Luke 10.7 as Scripture. Who spoke those words? Jesus did. That's right. He said, Scripture says. And then he quotes those words of Jesus. 2 Peter 3, 15 and 16 includes Paul's letters in the category of Scripture. He calls Paul's writings scripture. Paul insisted that his letters be read and exchanged and obeyed. And he said this in 1 Thessalonians, in Colossians, in 1 Corinthians, and in 2 Thessalonians. These letters are to be read. Why should they be read? Because they're a word given by God through Paul. And he identified the words he used to communicate the gospel message in 1 Corinthians 2.13 as those taught by Paul. No, as those taught by the Spirit. identified the words he used as words taught by the Spirit. So clearly, clearly the New Testament is in the mind of the Holy Spirit as he writes through Paul here when he talks about all Scripture is God-breathed. The inspiration of Scripture, the inerrancy and singular authority of Scripture is a battle for the truth that's been going on for many centuries. And it's going to continue until the day of Christ's return. What's sad here is that this battle for the truth is going on in churches that call themselves Christian. So we have to be vigilant. We have to be on guard against that which opposes the Word of God. That's a responsibility of all of us. We must be willing to stand in the breach for the truth. Because it's the only truth that can keep anybody out of hell. You understand the unbelievers around us are in grave danger of going to hell. If there is not a change, that's where they will spend eternity. No man decided what's Scripture and what isn't Scripture, by the way. No body of man. The Catholic Church like to say they decided what's Scripture and what isn't. That's not at all true. The Scriptures are self-attesting. They bear the mark of divinity. They were written, all of them, by the apostles, all of the New Testament. or by one in close association with an apostle, all sent by Christ. Their very contents attest to the authorship of God. They're canonical because God is the one who wrote it. The other mark that was accepted by believers in the 2nd and 3rd centuries was that they were in, had become to be in wide use. They'd been tested in the church for 200 years. And so we have many of these letters of Clement and others and many spurious Gospels that were not recognized. But you read these words in every book, on every page, and you see the imprint of God. You see the divine imprint. So this word inspired by God, theōnustos, it means God breathed. And hear what 1 Peter writes, 1 Peter 1.20, But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. This word, God breathed by many, occurs only here in all the Bible. And it, you know, the word pneuma can mean breath, it can mean spirit. And here, that's why it's translated God breathed by many. The human authors were guided by the Holy Spirit. The human authors were not stenographers who were just taking dictation. Their own personalities, their own experiences are always part of what they're writing here. But God is directing. them. He has left it so that we know the Scripture is infallible, and nobody can find a contradiction in the Bible. I know when I first became a believer, that was a big thing. People are always, well, here's a contradiction, and they try to find them, and you try to find them. They're not there. What you can have is poor exegesis and poor interpretation, not contradiction, because God does not contradict Himself. Spirit didn't suppress though the person the personality of the human writer in John 14 26 jesus said the helper the holy spirit Whom the father will send in my name? He will teach you all things he's talking to the apostles and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you So the individuality and personality of the human author was not destroyed in this process. And so that's why we find different writing styles and throughout the different ways of using the language throughout the Bible, all guided by the Spirit of God. In Paul's case, Jesus himself spoke to him, the risen Christ. If a person has any question about the infallibility, inerrancy, and inspiration of Scripture, he needs to cry out to God that He will give him clarity on this. This is so critical. It's absolutely critical that we understand, believe, and are convinced that it's God who's speaking to us in this Word. One writer says this, he says, God made the mind and the heart of man, and His Spirit knows how to guide them. He doesn't move them about like blocks, but He fills them with light, guides them with light, guides them in word and in thought. Now, here's what Paul said, 1 Corinthians 1.12. Now we have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God. Why? So that we may know the things freely given to us by God. Without the Spirit of God, we can't know the things given to us by God. And they're given to us here in His Word. Verse 13, Which things we also speak, and I hear this, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. All Scripture is profitable, beneficial, useful for teaching. Very practical. Very practical uses. It teaches us, gives us information. It's indispensable to bring somebody to eternal life. But the teaching is the content of Scripture. That's what we teach. That's what Paul taught Timothy. That's what Timothy was taught as a boy. Scripture is the content of what we teach. Scripture is profitable, second, for refuting the lies and delusions that deny God's truth. He says it is profitable for reproof, a word which means rebuke, or better, refutation. This word is only used once here in the New Testament. So errors in doctrine or errors in conduct must be refuted in a spirit of love. Dangers must be pointed out. That's what reproof is. False teachers and false teaching must be exposed by reference to Scripture. Scripture is profitable for refuting that which is error, but it's also profitable for correction, which means restoration. You point out the bad, but then you restore someone. You set them right again by reference to Scripture. So reproof stresses the negative aspect of pastoral work. Correction speaks of the positive side. In other words, we want the sinner to leave a wrong path and then be directed to the right path. So, Scripture is profitable for restoring either a fallen person or a Christian who is having a difficult time in some way. And finally, for training in righteousness. Here's where we learn about the righteousness and the justice of God. The righteousness of which He is the source and the author. We seek to train ourselves to live in the manner commanded by God. To live righteously. How many books would you say are very much like the Bible? None. There's no book like this. There is no comparable. We talk about is there a comparable to this or that. There is no comparable for this. There are some works of men that are spurious and are always false if they claim to teach a different way of salvation. There's no other book, there's no other library, there's nothing else in the world that can make a sinner who is lost wise for salvation. Nothing else can do it but the gospel, but the Word of God. Everything else lacks that quality of being God-breathed. And there are other works that may be useful for this or that. Cookbooks are probably pretty good sometimes. Maybe even be some books that will encourage you to work out harder, whatever. They're not going to save your soul from hell. You got one of those workout books? If you can share it with all of us. In this book, which I call a treasure, is found everything a man needs to be taught, to learn the way of salvation. It's through this gospel that God transforms us. He does the work. We can't do that work ourselves of becoming a new creature in Christ, but he does it through the preaching and teaching of the word. John 17, 17, your word is truth, Jesus said. So it's profitable for the refutation of every lie, every falsehood, and it naturally destroys all those and freezes from them. It corrects us and it trains us to live as God wants us to live. That's where we learn this here. Now, if you don't want to learn how God wants you to live from the Bible, you may be living a very decadent life, a very self-centered life, very self-indulgent life, a very sinful life, a sexually immoral life. So all of this has a purpose, another purpose. So that the man of God may be adequate or complete, equipped for every good work. Now a man of God is a true believer, one who has been born again of the Spirit of God. And such a man is called to be living in light of that new life. It's the Word of God that has made him now alive, and it's the Word of God that makes him adequate to live day by day in the way that God desires. Hebrews 11, 6, without faith, it is impossible to please God. Without faith, it's impossible to please God. Nothing we do, if we have not come to true saving faith, could ever please God. Scripture is given to enable any man of God to meet the demands God places on him God has created us For what purpose? Ultimately, what's the purpose for which he has created us? To glorify him in this life. What is the aim he has for us? To conform us to the image of Christ Now if you're conformed to the image of Christ, you know, you don't do anymore You don't sin anymore. You love everybody. That's the whole purpose of all of this. You know, Ephesians 2.10, speaking of what we're created for on this earth, what we're born again for, he says salvation is a gift of God. And he says that so that the man of God has been created for every good work, so that we would live in good works in this life, ultimately to be conformed to the image of God. And so, He's given us the Scripture so that we'd know how this all ends. And He's given us the Scripture to instruct us so that we may know what God desires of us. He equips us by His Word to do works pleasing to Him. and evidence of sanctification on the road to ultimate conformity to Christ is our goal. see that evidence of sanctification in our lives. And that's what he's saying to Timothy here. It's what he wants Timothy to preach. It's what the Holy Spirit has left here for us in these last two verses of chapter three. All scripture is inspired by God. It's profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be adequate and equipped for every good work. May it be so. Father, thank you again for blessing us so abundantly. Thank you for the grace that you've shown us. And thank you for giving us this Word. Let us always regard it as the treasure that it is. Let us always come to it daily and seek your wisdom and seek your instruction. and just seek that time with you that is such an enormous blessing day by day. Lord, thank you for giving this gift to us. And Lord, may we walk day by day in gratitude for it. In Christ's name, amen.