Staying Out of Trouble

Well, if you ever heard this expression, a stay out of trouble. Sure you have. You've heard that from your parents. You've heard that from teachers, as this young lady on the screen, no doubt had heard. And you probably have used that expression just as a kind-hearted word of parting. When you're saying goodbye to someone, stay out of trouble. We hear that expression a lot. And in 2 Timothy chapter 3, there is a sense in which Timothy hears that expression, from Paul. In 2 Timothy chapter 3, Paul begins that chapter, as we saw last week with this expression, there will be terrible times in the last days. So in the days between the first and second comings of Christ, there will be Paul says, terrible times, violent times, menacing times, fierce times, times of great opposition to the Christian faith and all that we stand for. He has described what those times will be like in verses 1 through 9. Terrible times in the world, the trouble in the world, and also the trouble in the church that comes about because of those who are teaching false doctrine. He's described that. And then look at how it begins verse 10. He says, you, however, he addresses Timothy and says, Timothy, I'm going to give you a contrast between what I have just said and what I'm going to say now. You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, et cetera, et cetera, will get into those verses in a moment. Basically what Timothy is going to say, I told you about the trouble in the world, the trouble that's facing threatening the church, but I want you to know, and you know, you already know, the difference in the phony lives of the false teachers and what you've seen in my life, you know the difference between the corrupt doctrine that the false teachers have taught, and the doctrine you heard me teach. You know, you know, Timothy, you know the difference. And so in these troubling times, in these threatening times, these times of violence against the kingdom of God, in these times what he is going to tell Timothy and us today is this, this is how to stay away from the trouble in the world and the trouble threatening the church. This is how to stay away from that, Timothy, and he will give Timothy and us to specific strategies for staying out of trouble. The first is this, follow the right models. Notice he says in verse 10, you however know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings, what kinds of things happen to me in Antioch, Iconium and Listera, the persecutions I endured, yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. Timothy, you know all about. Now that goes much deeper than just head knowledge. The word that Paul uses here for know all about is a word which literally means to follow alongside or to accompany someone. So the idea is Timothy, we have had a close relationship. You have studied me at close quarters. You have noted things about me. You have carefully observed and you have committed your life to following the example that I set before you. What he's talking about here is real discipleship. You've walked with me, you've lived with me, you've served alongside me, you've watched me, you've noted my behavior, my teaching, you know you've accompanied me in all of these things. And I am your model, you have determined in your life that by God's grace you should follow my leadership and my model that I've set before you. You know that Timothy. And in the same way all of us have models whether we know it or not. All of us have people that we look up to, that we want to know what they're saying and how they're living. Some of us have models that we really don't even know, but they come from maybe the entertainment industry or the athletic endeavor or business world or people that we've read. And hopefully our models are good models. They're worthy of being followed, but I want to challenge you to set your life course. To follow models that are worthy of being good examples. So what is it we're supposed to look for? What is it we're supposed to follow in the models that go before us? Paul says first of all, follow their teaching. You see it there, Ember Stin. You however know all about my teaching, you've accompanied me, walked alongside me, taken close note of my teaching. That's mentioned first. And it is foremost, it is prominent in the pastoral epistles. I've said this before, I say it again because it is an emphasis of these books in the three letters that Paul wrote to the two young men that he trained and sent out into ministry. Timothy, second Timothy, Titus, the thrust is on the teaching. You know what I taught. You know my teaching 25 times in those three books. And we're talking about 6, 4, 10, 13 chapters, in 13 chapters, 25 times. He mentions some form of the word teach or teaching or teacher. It is the thrust of his ministry. And so he says Timothy, you know my teaching before you ever start following anybody. You need to know what they're teaching. It's primary, it's of utmost importance. And I don't care where they operate. If they're in the entertainment industry, you better know what they're teaching you through their films and through their music. If they're in the corporate world, you better know what they're teaching you through their business practices and model. If they're in your family, you need to know what they're teaching you. What do they believe? What are they communicating? That's primary. So follow their teaching. But then Paul says also follow their lifestyle. He says notice, you know all about my teaching. And then he says my way of life. I love the balance here. Way of life has to do with daily conduct that is patterned after Christ in Paul's case and is worth following. So you know my way of life. And I love the balance between the teaching and the way of life. Both are important in any model that we choose to follow. Both what they communicate, what they teach and how they live. And that balance is always found in scripture. You cannot air on either side and be a well-balanced follower of Christ. Too much teaching if all you do is sit in teaching all the time. And there's nothing that filters out into your way of life. You never do anything. You're imbalanced as a Christian by the same token. And if all you do is serve and all you do is activity and work and doing things. And you forsaken the teaching of the word. You're no longer in any church services. Of course I guess if that's the case you're not here to hear this. But if that's the case with you, you're also imbalanced. Listen, you never come to a point in your life when you can air on either side of that balance. You never, there's never a point in your life where you can say, well I've had enough teaching, I know what I need to know. And I'm just going to forget all that. I'm never going to be in church service again. I just need to go do stuff. You're imbalanced if you do that. We always need that balance. But neither can we say, oh, I need more teaching, more teaching, more teaching. I'm going to go to five services a week. I don't have any time to do anything else and serve the Lord in any other way. But I love the teaching. You're imbalanced. There's a beautiful balance here between teaching and way of life. And that balance needs to be strived for in churches and individual believers' lives. Paul says, you know my teaching, but you also know my way of life. And then he describes his way of life. This is beautiful. As I got into this this week, I realized he's describing the things that are worth following in a model about their way of life. So I think this is a good list of things to look for in people. When you're choosing people you want to follow, Paul gives five things about his way of life. He says, first of all, you know my purpose. A good question to ask ourselves about everybody we look up to is what is their purpose? What is the real aim and purpose in life? What are they really living for? Ask that of anybody you seek to follow. What are they really living for? For Paul, it was clear his purpose was a firm commitment to a focus on Christ, the preaching of the gospel, and the building up of the church through the teaching of the Word of God. That was his purpose. He describes that for us in Romans 15 when he opens his heart and tells us what his purpose in life was. And how he was going to make his plans in line with that purpose. Paul's purpose in life was crystal clear. And for those you choose to follow, you better know what their purpose in life is. But he says, you know my way of life, my purpose. Secondly, my faith. Now that can mean two things. I think it means both of them actually saving faith. And then a lifestyle of trusting God. You know my faith. So who are you going to follow? It needs to be people who know Jesus Christ and who are living out their faith. In a lifestyle of trusting God day by day. Man, that's a good quality to follow. And then thirdly says, follow my patience. You know my patience. That's part of my way of life that you've chosen to follow. The word for patience here is a word that's used in the New Testament of patience with people. There's another word typically used of patience under circumstances. And we'll get to that word in a moment. But patience with people, this is the ability to wait for results, the ability to continue to give the gospel to that lost person. Even though they may reject it for a long time, it's that kind of patience. It's the patience to persevere in opposition to never lose sight of the goal, to never lose sight of the vision, and to continue to persevere. That kind of patience is worth following. And then the fourth word is love. You know my love and he's not talking about mushy feelings here. The word for love here is the word for a sacrificial giving of yourself to serve others. Cossily though it may be you sacrifice yourself for the good of others. Paul had seen that or Timothy had seen that in Paul. And he was to follow that. And then the last word endurance. That's a part of his way of life. That word is usually used in the New Testament in combination with suffering, in contexts of suffering. It is the determination not to give up when you suffer. It is the determination that no matter what you're going through now, you have hope because you know Christ. And you know that even in the suffering he has a purpose to mold and shape you. And you trust him for the future. You trust that he will be at work. That's endurance. So Paul says you know my way of life. It's marked by purpose and faith and patience and love and endurance. That's the kind of person I want to follow. That's the kind of person I want to spend time with and learn how they think and how they act and how they live and how they serve. So that I can use them as a model, follow their lifestyle. And then thirdly Paul says not only follow their teaching and their lifestyle, follow their resolve, their resolve. And I mean by that the fact they just will not quit no matter how hard it gets. They are resolved to follow Christ no matter how hard it gets. And that's what Paul talks about next in verse 11. He talks about his suffering. He says persecutions, sufferings. And he mentions the things that happened to him in Antioch, Iconium and Lister, the persecutions I endured, he says. He just would not quit. Paul did suffer persecutions and he reminds Timothy of them. The fascinating thing to me about this list is that Paul could have chosen from other places where he suffered. Even more. Philippi. Ephesus. Rome. Tremendous suffering in all those three places and others. But he pulls out three obscure places. And I think the reason for that is Antioch, Iconium, Listera. That's Timothy's home area. Timothy will resonate with the suffering in that area. In fact, I believe Timothy saw some of it and it deeply marked him. On Paul's first missionary journey, he went to these three cities that he mentions and some others as well. But these were three of the first cities he went to. And I want you to see what happened in each of them. First of all, he goes to Antioch in modern day Turkey. And the book of Acts describes what happens to him in Antioch in Acts chapter 13 verse 50. But the Jewish leaders incited the god-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from their region. That's what happened to him in Antioch, persecution. So where does he go next? The next stop is Iconium. What happens in Iconium, Acts 14 verses 5 and 6 describe. There was a plot afoot among both Gentiles and Jews together with their leaders to mistreat them, Paul and Barnabas, and stone them. But they found out about it and fled to the Iconium cities of Listera and Derby and to the surrounding country. So Derby or Listera is the next stop. What happens to him there? By the way, Listera is Timothy's hometown. It's where Timothy lives. What happened to him in Listera? Acts 14 verses 19 and 20 tell us. Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium where he's just been and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city thinking he was dead. But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derby. I want you to put the pieces together here. These are three early stops on Paul's first missionary journey. The third one where he's actually stoned and dragged out of the city and left for dead and God miraculously I believe raises him up. That's the city where Timothy lives. On Paul's second missionary journey, he will go back to Listera and he will find Timothy in Acts 16 as a disciple already maturing, ready to join Paul on his missionary journey. But remember, Paul calls Timothy his son in the faith. So when did Paul win Timothy to the Lord? First missionary journey, obviously. I believe based on that sequence of events and timeline that Timothy probably witnessed what happened in that stoning. He may have been one of those disciples gathered around Paul outside the city, praying for him as he lays there. They think he's dying. That marked Timothy. And when Paul brings that back up, Timothy can't help but remember how that marked him as a teenager to see the suffering, the endurance of Paul that his resolve was to get up and go to the next place and preach the gospel. He would never give up that marked Timothy deeply. Now what does that have to do with me? It's a nice history lesson, John. But what does that have to do with me? Verse 12. Verse 12 tells us what has to do with us. In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. He's reminding Timothy of that. You saw it in me, Timothy. I want to remind you of that. And he's reminding us of that. If you resolve, if you purpose in your heart to live by standards that are different from this world, you're going to face some trouble. If you have a holy resolve to hold to beliefs and values that are ridiculed by this world, you're going to have some trouble in this world. If your loyalty to Christ rises above every other loyalty in your life, the world will not understand that and they will ridicule you for that. You will face some trouble. That may come in many different ways. It may come by just simply being ignored because your scene is a little bit fanatical or weird. So you may be passed over for that promotion or that recognition or that honor. It may come in that form. It may come in the form of just being patronized. You know, kind of the subtle nod of the head and the smirk on the face like poor ignorant person that believes in those old fables. It may come in the form of being mocked or laughed at or ridiculed or literally even persecuted. But if you live like Paul lived and you live radically like Timothy lived, you're going to face some trouble in this world. And it's only going to get worse as time goes along. Verse 13 tells us that he says at the same time, he says while evil doers and imposter will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. In other words, the opposition, the false teaching, the threats of trouble in this world and the threat to the church is going to grow worse and worse. It's not going to get better, my folks. Listen, I don't care who's in the White House. It's not going to get better as far as how the world sees believers. Believers will continually and I believe increasingly be marked out for opposition, mockery and ridicule. Should that threaten us? Should it cause us to wither back into some place of seclusion where we never show our faces no, no, by all means no, where to follow the models like Paul who went to the next place and preached the gospel there too. Don't give up. That's why we need good models, models who have resolved, models that we follow their teaching, we follow their lifestyle, but we also follow their resolve never to give up no matter how hard it gets. We need models like that. Choose your models carefully. Choose the people you look up to carefully. Choose the people you choose to learn from and to follow very carefully. Again, it doesn't matter whether the entertainment industry, the athletic world, the corporate world, the ministry world, doesn't matter whether in your family, it doesn't matter where they come from. Make sure you know what they teach, how they live and what their hearts, purpose and resolve is. If it's not to follow Christ, they're not worthy of being your model. I think God, as I look back on my life and I'm doing a lot of that these days as I get toward the end of my full time ministry, I've been blessed by the Lord with so many great models to follow. And I thank God for them. I really do. I thank God for them all the time. The list begins with my dad. I thank God that he allowed me to be born in the family I was born in to have the dad that I had. I do not know as objectively as I can say this. I do not know of a more godly man than my dad was. A tremendous model of how to live for Christ. I was preacher, Jimmy. I came to this church as a little snotty knows seven year old kid and I got saved when I was eight in a Bible school across the road over there. preacher, Jimmy became my pastor. But he became much more than a pastor. He was a mentor. He was a model. He taught us. He played ball with us. He took us places with him. He was a youth rally. But I will never forget to ride the Hinton where he was going to be preaching and I was going to be singing with the quartet. He wanted me to go with him. I think the purpose for that was to scare me half the death first of all with his driving. And then to say, okay, John, let's talk about spiritual things. Oh man, you're ready by then. Jimmy gave me my first set of golf clubs and tried to teach me to play golf. I still believe to this day it's the only thing preacher Jimmy ever failed at. Such a mentor, such a model. And then there was Mary Wade. I taught the senior high Sunday school class. I will never forget it. I can remember exactly the room. It was in the basement near the boiler room and the old church over there right underneath the auditorium. I can remember where I sat in that class and I can remember her passionately teaching the book of Romans. I'll never forget it. She made for high school students the word of God come alive. And we ate it all up. And then I headed off to Piedmont. I'll never forget Dr. Bowman just died about a year and a half ago. In his 90s, he was still teaching theology when he died. I got in Dr. Bowman's class and when I saw the name of the class systematic theology. My OCD and tennis went up. This is going to be right down my alley. And it was I loved it. Somebody who could take all the truths of the Bible and put them all together in a systematic order. And I was lit up in my heart with a love and a passion for theology. It's never left me. I owe that to Dr. Bowman. I'll never forget Professor Ballinger taught pastoral theology at Piedmont. He taught us pastors how to pastor. I'm 21 years old and I'm just now in my first church. I've stood out a year and a half of Bible college. I haven't even had the pastoral theology class yet. I don't know how to pastor. And there I am. A pastor. Two weeks in. I'm sitting in chapel and I'm called out of chapel. And the person who got the message got the phone call said there's a little two year old boy that just died of what they used to call crib death in your church 65 miles away. They want you down there. And I panic. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to say. And I found Professor Bowman in his office. Never forget that dear humble man. I never forgot he told me that day. I've never forgotten it. Always tried to practice it. He said, John, they may remember what you say at the funeral. They'll not remember what you say today. They will remember however that you were there. Just go. Be with them. Make your presence known. Never forgotten that. I haven't always practiced it as I should but I've never forgotten. So many others Billy Martin. When I was a freshman at Piedmont, I was serving as a youth pastor in a church in Daniels West Virginia, Daniels, missionary Baptist. And the pastor Howard Wilbur and I would come up on weekends. We drive up furiously from Winston Salem on Friday afternoon. Our midweek service was on Friday night. And we do ministry all day Saturday and have services Sunday morning and Sunday night and get back to feed month to a clock in the morning Monday morning and go to class at 7 30. It was a whirlwind. It was a wild ride, but it was great. But on Wednesday nights, I needed someplace to go to church and like so many other Piedmont students, we gravitated to Urban Street Baptist Church to Hill, Billy Martin, preach. Prince of preachers. He marked me deeply as a preacher and so many others. Dr. John Whitcombe who was so gracious to invite me at Grace Seminary to be his teaching assistant and Dr. Zimic, my theology mentor and Chuck Harvey. Dear man of God, I'm not even sure he finished high school in Indiana, but he was a member of our church there. He taught me so much, so much practical stuff that I needed. John Woodbridge at Trinity so many others. I've been blessed to be around good people and whatever God has built into my life has been because of those models. I know how they've impacted me. I know how they marked my life forever. I plead with you, choose and follow the right models for your life. But Paul tells Timothy something else quickly. Stay in the word. Stay in the word, Timothy. He says in verse 14, but ask for you. Continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of. Notice he learned it, but then at some point you became convinced of it. Learning the Bible is one thing. Becoming convinced of it is recognizing that what my parents taught me, what my teachers taught me. I believe it's a part of my system now, part of my heart, part of the way I think you learn it, then you become convinced of it. He says, remember, remember, follow, continue in that because you know those from whom you learned it. Verse 15, and how from infancy you've known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. The Scriptures, the Bible, able, that's a word of power, powerful to make you wise for salvation. We need to continue in the word first of all because of the power of the word. It's power to bring salvation. Paul says it is the word of God that is able, that is powerful to bring salvation, not people's clever arguments or philosophical debates as helpful as those might be in some way. It is the word of God, which gives the power for salvation, communicates life giving power over and over again. The Bible emphasizes that Hebrews 4.12, the word of God is like a sword piercing to the dividing of the sun, the soul and spirit. It deserts the thoughts and intents of the heart. Only God's word has the power to do that. Jeremiah 23 talks about God's word is a hammer. It can break the hardest of hearts. Jeremiah 20 verse 9. God's word is like a fire. It can burn away self righteousness and all the flimsy excuses that people use not to be saved. God's word Psalm 119, 130 is a light which opens blinded eyes to the truth of the gospel. For Peter 1 God's word is likened to a seed which penetrates the heart, the soil of the heart, germinates and grows and produces life. Only the word of God can do that. So whether you're witnessing to a neighbor personally or teaching or preaching from a pulpit, eventually it is God's word which captures the heart and changes the soul and penetrates all the objections. Only God's word has the power to do that. The only living book ever written that remains living to this day. It has power. One of my favorite stories comes out of Africa. It's the story of a man by the name of Galoni or Gaylord, Kumbarami. He was an executive secretary of the Bible Society in Zimbabwe and he tells this story. One day he's witnessing to people on the street and he tried to give out a new testament to a man who was very belligerent, very opposed to the gospel. The gospel man didn't want to take the testament and the laughing he told Mr. Kumbarami said, I'll just tear it out, page by page and roll the pages up and make cigarettes out of them. Kumbarami said, okay, that's all right. He said, promise me this. First of all, you'll read every page before you roll it up and make a cigarette out of it. And the guy laughing and he said, I'll do that. But he did. He did. 15 years later. Kumbarami is at a conference in Zimbabwe, Convention of Churches. There's a man on the platform giving his testimony. He's now an evangelist. It's that guy. That guy gave that new testament to. And this was his testimony. He said, I smoked Matthew. I smoked Mark. I smoked Luke. By the time I got to John 316, I couldn't tear that page out. Because after I had read Matthew and Mark and Luke, I had come to see that Jesus was the Son of God and he was the Savior. And I needed him. And when I got to John 316 and I read, God so loved the world that, who's whoever believed that he's the only bigot in Son, that, who's whoever believed within him should not perish but have everlasting life. I was ready to believe through the testimony of the Word of God. Stay in the Word because of its power. Stay in the Word also because it has power not only brings salvation, but also to bring growth. The Bible brings us growth as God wants us to grow. Jesus said in John 15, now you are clean through the Word which I've spoken to you. John 17, 17 in these upper room prayer to the Father. He says, Father sanctify them through thy truth. Thy Word is truth. In Ephesians 5, the Bible says that we're to love our wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her so that He might cleanse her with the washing of water through the Word. 1 Peter 2, 2, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word that you may grow thereby. The Word has the power to bring growth. It can bring salvation. It can bring growth, but it can also have the power to impact the young. I love that about this passage in 1 Timothy. He says, how from infancy, verse 15, you've known the Holy Scriptures which have the power to make you wise into salvation. From infancy, the Greek word literally means a little baby, a little infant. He didn't get that in Sunday school necessarily. We know where he got it from. Chapter 1, verse 5 says, the faith first of all was found in his grandmother and his mother. He got it at home from the very beginning of his life. They were surrounding him with the Word of God. None of us knows exactly when that moment comes in a young child's life where they begin to grasp things and begin to understand. They begin to pick up abstract truths. You can set an age on that if you want to, but none of us knows for sure. And so why not from infancy surround them with biblical things and biblical truth so that at the very first moment they're able to start understanding what their understanding is the Bible. And that begins at home, my friend. We have a great children's ministry. Lots of things to help you as parents, but it's primarily your responsibility to teach your children and train them. And we'll come alongside you and help with all those wonderful ministries, but it begins at home. It begins in the nursery. It begins in the crib. With them being surrounded by the Word of God, I know, I know mothers who have quoted scripture when their babies were still in the womb in the hopes that the first voices they would hear would be voices quoting scripture. Wow. That's what Paul's talking about. Stay in the Word because of its power. Secondly, stay in the Word because of the perfection of the Word. Verse 16, all scripture is God-breed. Let me stop right there. King James, we've memorized most of us have memorized the verse in the King James. All scriptures given by inspiration of God. And so we come up with that word inspiration. What does it mean? What's the meaning of inspiration? The word inspiration or inspired has so many connotations today that it's lost its biblical meaning. And so a lot of people even think, oh, yeah, I believe in inspiration. The Bible, those writers were really inspired, kind of like Shakespeare was or John Grisham or somebody like that. Maybe I'll pick a spiritual author. Somebody else like Matt Chandler or somebody like that. That's not at all what the Bible means by inspiration. I'm thankful the NIV has chosen to move away from that word, which has become so clouded in our culture of what inspired means. Oh, this is so inspiring. It moves me. That's not what the Bible's talking about. The word literally means God-breed. It's composed of two words. One for God and one which has to do with our breath. Newstoss, we get our word pneumonia from it or pneumatic drill, which has the idea of breath or air. It is the very breath of God that gave us his word. It means it originated with him. It came from him. He breathed out his word. That's where it came from. So it's perfect, just like he is. Now, yes, he used human writers to get it on to paper. Second, him or the second Peter chapter one, verses 20 and 21, tell us above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophets and interpretation of things for prophecy never had its origin in the human will. But prophets, though human, spoke from God, here you go, as they were moved, carried along by the Holy Spirit. So God breathed out his word. That's its origin. The way it got to us was it was pinned by men who were being protected, carried along by the Holy Spirit so that they would not make any mistakes. So that God's perfect word coming from his mind and heart and breath would be communicated through the minds and hearts and pins of men who would be protected by the Holy Spirit from any error. That is inspiration. That's what it means that the Bible is God breathed. It is a perfect book and I will go a step further than that. Through the ages, the Bible has been preserved in its essential purity so that we have an authoritative Bible today in a number of good translations. We have the word of God today. But Paul says, all Scripture is that way. All Scriptures, God breathed. Not just part of it. You begin to deny any part of the Bible, a geographical reference, a historical reference, a scientific reference. You begin to deny any of that and you're denying what Paul says here that all Scriptures give by inspiration. Heard of a farmer one time that had the prize watermelon crop of the year. So all the other farmers in the area were a little jealous of his crop. But it also became the target of thieves and some were stealing watermelons because they were the best in the county and they were getting the eat them. Some of them just were throwing them off the back of the truck as they went down the road and watching them shatter on the highway. And he tried everything he knew how to keep people from stealing his watermelon. He put signs up, private property, trespasses will be prosecuted, whatever. It didn't help. He couldn't hire security around the clock. That was too expensive. And finally he hit on this idea. He put signs up around his field that said one of these watermelons has been poisoned. Nobody bothered to patch again. You see, if any part of this book is not true, the whole thing is suspect. There are some who say, well, the moral spiritual parts of the Bible are good for us, but not necessarily all the historical events. The resurrection of Christ is a historical event. It's spiritual impact is rooted firmly in a historical event. If you question anything about this book, you might as well throw the whole thing out. It's all suspect. That's why Paul says all scripture is inspired. We stick with the word because of the power of the word because of the perfection of the word, but finally because of the prophet of the word. Notice it there in verse 16. All scriptures, God breath and is useful. This is the most practical book you could have. And the more you get in it, the more you'll realize that this book will help you to understand how to handle your finances, how to operate your marriage, how to raise your children, how to conduct your business, how to live a good life, how to tell the truth, how to be honest, a person of integrity. You go right down the list, anything you want to find out, you'll find out in this book in principle form, at least many times by way of an illustration of a historical figure. It's useful and Paul tells us things that's useful for. It's useful for teaching. There's that word again. No greater textbook than this. It's useful for rebuking. That's when God's word hits us right between the eyes and we are rebuked convicted because of our sin. It's useful for correcting the word literally means to straighten out. So when we're rebuked, we realize something's wrong. Here's how to straighten it out. And then it's useful for training in righteousness. The word training. There's a word for childhood education. This is an entire educational curriculum in how to live. Training in righteousness. And then it's useful. Fifthly for equipping for 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. You want to know how to live. You want to know how to serve. This is the textbook. This is the book full of what you need to know. So we stick with the word. We stay in the word because of its power, its perfection and its profit. We live in difficult times. Do we not? We live in difficult times. But we can steer clear of the difficulty and blaze out a path of following Christ, even in these difficult times, if we will choose and follow the right models. And if we will stay in the word. A photographer for a major magazine in our country was going to cover some of the Western wildfires and take pictures to send back to his magazine. He couldn't get close enough to the fires on the ground because of all of the damage and the heat and smoke and so forth. So he decided, you know what? I need to plan. I need to get up on a plane so that I can take pictures. So he radioed back to his editors. I need to plan. I need to get up on a plane. So we were able to get pictures and so the editors said, I'll have one waiting at the airport for you. So the photographer shows up at this little rural airport, you know, one little air strip and there's a plane waiting out there ready to go. And so he runs over to throws his equipment in, hops in, says, let's go, let's go, get up. And so the young pilot turns his plane into the wind and gets it up in the air. And once they get up in the air, the photographer said, okay, I want you to make three or four passes close on the north end of the fire, go real low so that I can get good pictures. And the young pilot said, why do you want to do that? And the guy says, I'm a photographer, photographer, state pictures for Crown Aloud just getting out close to the fire. There's an awkward silence. And then the young pilot said, you mean you're not the instructor? Uh oh. If you listen to the wrong counsel, choose the wrong models, you're in trouble. If you follow the wrong advice, you're in trouble. That's why in troubling times, we need to make sure we're following the right models. And we need to make sure we stay in the word. That was Paul's advice to Timothy. I think it's still good for us today. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. How it is. God breathed and is useful for us today. Help us to learn from Paul's challenges to Timothy, how we need to live in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.