The Profitable Word

What's the Bible to you?

Is it an historical record, a book of wisdom, a guide to the Bible, a guide for moral and ethical living, or is it something more? Today on Truth for Life, we're beginning a series called The Work of the Word, and we'll explore Scripture's authority and usefulness. Alistair Begg is teaching from 2 Timothy chapter 3. We're looking at verses 16 and 17.

He will no longer be there. And if he is going to discharge all the duties of his ministry—to quote verse 5 of chapter 4, at least to quote it in the NIV and the ESV, which many of you will have in front of you, it simply reads, Fulfill your ministry. If Timothy is going to be able to fulfill the ministry as God intends, then it is, as Paul has pointed out in these verses, crucially important that he continues in what he has learned and in what he has become convinced of. Earlier he says to him, I want you to follow the pattern of sound words that I gave to you.

And then following that picture, he says, and I want you to guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you. You see, by the time you get to your thirties—and some of you are in your thirties, young folks in your thirties, or maybe in your twenties, younger even than that, and you say, Well, I was here in the early days. I went to the Sunday school program and so on, and I came to believe in Jesus.

Let me just ask you, how are you doing in your mid-thirties? Are you prepared to acknowledge that there are temptations all around you to devalue the Bible because of the influence of a world that is syncretistic and pluralistic, that it is a challenge to hold the line, that there are temptations and dangers that beset you not only from outside of you but inside of you, that it is imperative that you, if you are a faithful follower of Jesus, that we together then make sure that we hold to the pattern of sound words, that we guard this good deposit that has been entrusted into our care? Because, you see, the instruction that Paul is giving to Timothy I take to be instruction not only for Timothy in his role as a pastor but for Timothy in his role as a Christian.

There is particular emphasis for his responsibilities, as we've been seeing and will see, but it's not unique—at least not in this respect. So, if he's going to be effective in holding the line, Paul has told him that he needs to be thoroughly convinced about the authority and the sufficiency of the Scriptures. And Paul here is mentioning not only the Old Testament, as in the sacred writings, but also these bits and pieces of the New Testament that have begun to form. When Paul writes in 1 Timothy, he quotes from the Scriptures. In one verse he quotes two pieces from the Scriptures.

One is from the book of Deuteronomy, and the other is a quote from the Gospels. And he refers to it as quoting the Scriptures, giving us the immediate indication that the New Testament is there—Paul and Peter referring to one another's writings in the same regard. We don't need to go back there, but we need to recognize that when Paul speaks in this way, he is reminding Timothy that all of Scripture—as we now have it in its enclosed canon of sixty-six books—all of Scripture is God-breathed.

God-breathed. We go wrong if we think of Scripture as already existing and then subsequently God-breathing into it a sense of inspiration. To think correctly, to think biblically, is to realize that Scripture itself is brought into existence by the breath of God. Scripture exists because God breathes.

In the same way that my words come to you now as I speak, as a result of the flow of air across my vocal cords, you are now hearing what is going on in my mind, largely as a result of the words that I am conveying to you. And the Bible is exactly that—that God speaks and the Word comes. Now, Paul had the advantage of Timothy's background—a background that not all of us share, a background, as we've said, in the Old Testament Scriptures. So he would be able to make these references in the awareness of the fact that Timothy would be putting two and two together in his mind, so that Timothy, for example, would be very, very clear of the many, many times in the Old Testament that the phrase comes, the Word of the Lord came. The Word of the Lord came. God's mind is conveyed in speech.

Makes sense, doesn't it? I mean, how else would we know what God was thinking unless he told us? Where has he told us? In his Word.

Listen to how Calvin puts it. The Scriptures obtained full authority among believers only when man regard them as having sprung from heaven as if there the living words of God were heard. Do you see what he's saying here? He's not saying that Scripture only has authority if you believe it. He's saying Scriptures obtain full authority among believers.

In other words, the authoritative impact of the Bible on a life or in a church will only be realized when that individual, when those believers in that church receive the Bible as the very living words of God, as if God was speaking in the ramparts of heaven and what he was saying in the ramparts of heaven were then being written down by Jeremiah or being written by Ezekiel or being written by Paul as he writes the letter of 2 Timothy. Now, why is Paul reinforcing this? Is he teaching him the doctrine of inspiration? No.

No, he's not. He's actually teaching him not so much about how the Bible is the Bible, how the Word of God is the Word of God, as about the utility of the Word of God. In other words, you need to know, Timothy, that all Scripture is breathed out by God.

That's number one. That's its authority. And secondly, it's profitable or useful or beneficial. And the utility of the Scriptures, if we can put it in that way, is directly related to the authority. If they have no inherent authority, then what's the point of sitting around paying attention to them? The only basis for saying, This Bible must teach me what it means to be a husband, what it means to be a father, what it means to be single, how to live as a widow, how to handle my finances—all of these practical things. The only reason that there is any basis for that at all lies in its authority. It is God-breathed.

Therefore, it is profitable for these things. In other words, he's saying to Timothy, This is the pastor's toolbox, if you like. This is the tool that you need to use in order to fulfill the ministry to which you've been called. He's going to say at the end of 17 that when these things take place, then a result is that the man of God will be thoroughly equipped and will be complete and ready for every good work.

But that doesn't happen in a vacuum. And there is a process involved in it, and the tool that's involved, he says, is the Word of God. Last week I had the privilege of visiting the Ronald Reagan ranch, which is up just beyond the Santa Ynez Valley. But I had always seen these photographs of him cutting down trees and clearing brush and using these chainsaws. And so I was so keen to get into the carriage and see if they were there.

And they were there. A funny anecdote was that he also had a chipper that he would put the branches into. And they told him, You cannot use the chipper.

If that thing sucks you in there, we can't go. And so they agreed that he could use it as long as the Secret Service man stood with his hand holding on the back of his pants, and then he put the stuff in the chipper. But I could see the evidence of his handiwork, and then I could see the tools that were used to achieve that. The analogy works on multiple levels, doesn't it? But let me say this to you. When you go into a church where there is—forget the numbers now, let's just talk about a genuine sense of the presence of God, a genuine interest in reaching out with the Word of God, a genuine awareness of the praise of God, and so on—I can guarantee you that in there, there will be somebody, there will be people, who are absolutely convinced that the tool that is necessary for the instilling of this from children to your dotage is actually in the teaching of the Word of God, teaching the Bible with clarity and with relevance so that unbelievers will be converted, and so on.

And the reason for it is because of where it comes from. If we can change metaphors, let's change and use a metaphor that Paul would never have used—namely, that Timothy needs to see to it that he allows the clubhead to do the work. He allows the clubhead to do the work. So that somehow or another, that clubhead is going to get back to square.

Whatever happens up here, you've got to get it back to square. And the great temptation is to think that by manhandling it and doing all kinds of things, you can increase its effectiveness. And anyone who tries to teach you golf, that's all they'll tell you. They'll say, Quit trying to hit the ball and swing the club. And then they will always say, And let the clubhead do the work. There's a big, big difference, isn't there, between somebody who uses the Bible as a trampoline in teaching it and just jumps up and down on it a little bit, and people go, Wow!

Did you see how many times he did a flip there this morning? That's amazing what he's able to do with that. That should never be an encouragement to a pastor. The youngest child ought to be able to go out from a service like this and say, It seems that the pastor wants us to know that the Bible is absolutely sufficient for everything that we will ever need to live a life that pleases God.

Now, the key to this, he says, is in teaching, reproving, correcting, and training in righteousness. It's so wonderfully basic, isn't it? It's wonderfully basic. That's why years ago, in 2000, we decided to call our pastors' conference when we launched it Basics 2000. People said, Well, what are you going to do? Well, we said, We're going to do the basics. We're going to suggest to the people who come that you can teach the Bible by teaching the Bible. We said, That's pretty basic. That's exactly right.

Yeah. We're going to say, You can teach the Bible by teaching the Bible. And then they said, Well, what are you going to do in 2001?

We said, Well, we'll call it Basics 2001. Now, in all the time that we have been doing these conferences called Basics, there have been all kinds of new ideas, concepts, strategies, innovations—lots of things to unsettle me or my colleagues, or to suggest to us, You know, there's a far more effective way of doing this, there's far more significance in this, do you know how many people are doing that, have you ever considered this, and so on. Now, it's not that all of these things are unhelpful and certainly not all wrong, but there's a wonderful simplicity in coming to the conviction that Paul desires for Timothy to come to—namely, that at the end of the day, the pastor needs to be convinced that Scripture is entirely sufficient, because it is the God-ordained tool for every aspect of ministry. And if one is convinced of that, then you can teach it. And if you have a teacher who is convinced of that, then you can learn from it. But if that conviction is lost, if there is a loss of conviction concerning the truth and the relevance and the power of a sufficient authoritative Bible, then the whole thing is over.

It is only a matter of time before it becomes apparent. Now, Jesus was the priest who came to bear our punishment and die for our sins. He is the King who comes to subdue our rebellion and to reign. But he is also the prophet who came to teach us. To teach us. And when we read the Gospels, we're immediately confronted by the fact that Jesus is actually a teacher and a preacher.

We ought not to miss that. Mark's Gospel begins in this way, as Jesus is among the people, he heals a man with an unclean spirit, and so on. And then it says, And they were all amazed, and that they questioned among themselves, saying, What is this?

A new teaching with authority. And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout the region. Early in the morning, Mark goes on to tell us, while it was still dark, the disciples came and found him, and they announced to him, Everyone is looking for you.

It's off to a terrific start, Jesus, this thing that you're doing. And so they said, Everyone is looking for you. And he said to them, Let's go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, because that is why I came out. He said, I didn't come to do this. I came to do this. I came to teach. Remember, he says, The words that the Father gave me, I gave to you. I came out to take the very word of God. The word of the Lord came to me, says Jesus. And I conveyed that word. And so when you read the Gospels, you find the same thing. And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home, and many were gathered together so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. The Sermon on the Mount begins, and he went up onto a mountainside, and he gathered the people to him, and he opened his mouth and began to teach them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit.

He said, Well, you don't have to be a genius to work this out. I'm not suggesting that you do. All I'm saying is that what Paul urges upon Timothy is in keeping with the pattern of Jesus. And if somebody sells you on an idea about the Bible or about some area of doctrine, ask yourself this question before you buy it. How does this work in the life of Jesus? Take, for example, the doctrine of providence. How does it work in the life of Jesus? Because if it doesn't work in the life of Jesus, it doesn't work. And so when we think in terms of the responsibility of teaching and we take and we apply it to Jesus, we realize this is exactly what Jesus did. The same thing is true as you go into the Acts of the Apostles. When the Ethiopian eunuch is coming back from Jerusalem writing in his chariot and reading from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, and Philip is dispatched to run alongside him by the Holy Spirit, what is he dispatched to go and do?

Yeah. He says to the fellow, Do you understand what you're reading? To which the man replies, No. How can I?

Unless someone teaches me. You see, some people that I meet seem to be living their Christian lives on their glands. Well, I felt this, and I feel this, and I was feeling that, and I felt implo… and I feel… It's like, Man, oh, man! And then I'm like, I'm not having any of these feelings. I don't even know if I'm a Christian. And some of you feel that way.

You're like, Whoa, I never… I didn't get that going. Be thankful. Be thankful.

You've got everything that you need in this book. The question in the morning is not, Do I feel that God wants me to wear black shoes or brown shoes? The question in the morning is, Am I gonna wear shoes or not? And I don't need to look in the Bible to find out if there's an answer there. Common sense says, Probably a good idea.

Unless you're having a vacation on a beach, in which case it may be a different answer. Do you understand what I'm saying? That the apostolic pattern is the very same. Paul is a teacher of the Bible. Him we proclaim, he says in Colossians 1, warning everyone and teaching everyone.

So he says to Timothy, Listen, Timothy, this book, this Bible that you have now, this Old Testament, and these bits and pieces that are coming to you, this is what you need to do with them. And it is a reminder—and I need to stop—it's a reminder, isn't it, that our minds matter? Our minds matter. That Christianity is a mind-engaging reality. That Christianity is not about, Disengage your faculties of intellect and see if you can't find God. Christianity is not saying, Look inside of yourselves like contemporary environmentalism and Buddhism says. Christianity is saying, No, you're gonna have to think.

And if you think about these things, this book will provide you the instruction that you need. It will teach you what you need to know about yourself and about God and about why God has done what he's done. And that's why Paul earlier has said to Timothy, having written to him only as far as about halfway through chapter 2, remember, he says, Think about what I am saying, and the Lord will give you understanding. He gives the understanding, but we have to do the thinking.

And one of the most tragic circumstances is to find a thoughtless, clueless, professing Christian congregation. That's why we need to pay attention. Well, I was going to go on and give application to this teaching, but we'll leave that for later on. You're listening to Alistair Begg on Truth for Life with a message he's titled The Profitable Word.

Keep listening. Alistair will return in just a moment. As Alistair mentioned, one of the things we're committed to as a ministry is encouraging pastors and their congregations. In fact, one of our primary goals at Truth for Life is to strengthen local churches. That's why Alistair holds the Basics Conference each year.

He talked about that in today's message. The conference is specifically designed to encourage church leaders to follow Jesus' pattern of teaching solely from scripture. If you'd like to get back to the basics, you can listen or watch any of the Basics Conference teaching going all the way back to 2002. The messages from the conferences are free to access.

Go to basicsconference.org. By the way, if you use the Truth for Life website, and we hope you do, there are thousands of free teaching messages available there from Alistair. Let me suggest you create a Truth for Life account if you don't already have one. Having a profile allows you to track messages you've listened to or that you viewed through a series.

Studies pick up right where you left off. You can also create a file of your favorite series, messages, devotions. You can even track your financial giving to Truth for Life. It's quick and easy to set up a profile. Visit truthforlife.org. Click on the circle in the top right of our homepage.

Once your profile is set up, you can add your favorite series or messages to a folder called My Library. And while you're on the website, be sure to check out a book we are recommending currently, a children's book that tells the incredible story of a missionary who went to Africa. The book is titled Helen Rosevear, The Doctor Who Kept Going No Matter What. And Helen's biography teaches young children the importance of persistence and an unwavering faith in God.

Ask for your copy of the book when you give a donation to Truth for Life through our mobile app or online at truthforlife.org slash donate. Now here is Alistair to close today's program with prayer. Oh Lord, we want you to be our teacher. We don't want to listen to the meanderings of a mere man. We want the word of God to be light in our darkness. We want the word of God to be help for us in our helplessness. We want the word of God to be hope for us when there is no hope.

And we pick it up, and we realize that that's exactly what it says. So come, Lord, into the darkness of our hearts and shine the light of your truth. Come to those of us who feel ourselves hopeless and lacking in any kind of strength and ability, and show us how strength and might is found in you, the living God, and in no one and in nowhere else. Come, Lord, and convince us again this morning that every promise of your Word is reliable. We may take you at your Word and find you absolutely true, so that when you invite us to turn from our sin and say that you will welcome us, that no one will come to you, whoever comes to you will ever be turned away. Then help us, Lord, to come to you. And when you make clear to us that the life of Christian living is a life that learns not only to say yes to your promises but to pay heed to your warnings, grant that we might do so. Keep us, Lord, in your will, we pray, and reinforce for us the fact that we don't worship the Bible. We worship the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the center and focus and apex of all of the biblical instruction. And it's in his name we pray, Amen. I'm Bob Lapine. We learned today how profitable God's Word is, but it is much more than that. Tomorrow we'll find out why it is absolutely necessary. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life, where the Learning is for Living.