What are we to do?

Sunday mornings, Thanh Tran 9/26/10

 10You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, 11persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. 12In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:10-16

Live the Word of God V10-11Timothy had seen Paul in the good times and bad times. Timothy has known Paul long enough to realize that Paul was a man that lived the word that he preached. If he preached holiness he would live a holy life. If he preached righteousness then he would live righteously. Christianity has a lot to do with doing the basic things well. EX NBA players are magnificent athletically. The only way they were able to reach that point of excellence, they had to master the basics. Following the doctrine consistently is a basic thing that many of us still haven’t achieved.

Live by the Will of God V12 Paul says that all Christians who desire to live a Godly life will become persecuted. Living a Godly life exposes the ungodliness in other people and they will begin to hate you. Paul suffered because he obeyed the will of God. Acts 13-14 Paul is in Lystra. He met a man crippled man and under the guidance of God’s spirit, Paul told the man to get up and walk. The man jumped up and was healed. A crowd was formed and the priest came out of the temple ready to sacrifice to Paul. The crowd wanted to make sacrifices to him. Paul tore his clothes and told them not to worship him. He said he was only a man. As a result, the crowd became angry and Paul was stoned. Paul says that living in obedience to God’s will, will cause us persecution, but we should do it.

Live for Other People V13 Paul realized that the days ahead would grow even worse, people would get worse. The church has to live up to its challenge and calling. Humanity will grow darker and the only way to solve this problem is to bring the Gospel to the lives of these people. We can’t depend on society or government to change the hearts of people. We need to bring light into this world by the Word of God.

V14 We need to carry on even in the face of suffering. We should live for the spiritual well being of other people. Each of us need to embrace the challenge and live beyond ourselves and start living for other people. While others stumble in darkness, we need to continue in what we learned. As we are living for other people, keep in mind that we won’t even realize whose lives we are changing.

Live in the Word V16 The bible is not a book that men made. It is the Word of God. The bible is complete, true, and trustworthy.

1) The bible is unique in its continuity. It is written in different languages, countries, and circumstances. Despite this, the bible still speaks in unity. From beginning to end, the bible was knit together perfectly.

2) The bible is unique in its survival. No other book in this world has ever been attacked more than the bible and survived.

3) The bible is unique in its honesty. The bible exposes the sin of humanity. It brings truth and righteousness to a sinful world.

4) The bible is unique in its influence. The bible has changed more lives than any other book because it is the Word of God.

5) God uses prophecies for building proof that the bible is His word. It is impossible for one man to fulfill even a few prophecies. God gave prophesies all throughout the bible, and Jesus Christ fulfilled every one of them.

The bible is true and we can trust it. We can live in it and lets its power manifest in our lives. Live in the Word.

Allow God’s Word to Speak to Us Let the word of God convict us and mold us into the people we once were, passionate and loving. Our outlook has changed, our mentality has changed. We no longer worship the way we used to. Let’s let the word of God bring us back to him.