Living with Perseverance
2 Timothy 3:14-15
Turn in your Bibles to 2 Timothy 3. Before we pray I would like to read from Psalm 1.
“How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the way of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of Yahweh, And in His law he meditates day and night. And he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, But they are like chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not rise in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For Yahweh knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish.”
Psalm 1 (LSB)
Let’s pray. Father, may the words presented today help us understand the great depths of Scripture. Lord, your Word is beyond value to us who believe. So, may we hear Your Word, receive it, believe it, and allow its truth to penetrate our very being. And we ask this Your great name, amen.
“But you, continue in the things you learned and became convinced of, knowing from whom you learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”
2 Timothy 3:14-15 (LSB)
We understand this challenge to Timothy from Paul, as in direct contrast to the false teachers within the church spoken of earlier, as well as the ones mentioned in the previous verse.
“But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”
2 Timothy 3:13 (LSB)
We already understand that this circumstance in Timothy’s situation was not to cause Timothy any fear, for the Lord had purposely chosen him for this task, as God has chosen you and me. This “choosing” was a glorious calling, as it occurred before Timothy existed, as did yours and mine. It was ultimately to bring praise and honour to Christ, as is our choosing. And it would result in eternal glory with Christ, as with us who know Christ. So, now Paul says to “continue in the things you have learned.” There is no such thing in the Scriptures as a “Christian” who does not continue. True, Christians grow, and they may struggle at times in their faith, and there will be times of greater growth and times of greater spiritual struggle; but ultimately the true believer in Christ will continue or what the Bible often refers to as persevering.
This is not a doctrinal lesson this morning on the perseverance of the saints, but to say this, the Lord does not choose His elect, that they would come to know Him, and then later lose them. For He “secures” them, for our salvation is secure in Christ. “My sheep hear My voice, and they follow Me, and nobody will snatch them out of My hand.” So, the many who may at one time made a profession of faith, only to later abandon that faith, only prove that they were never truly His.
Now what I trust to accomplish this morning from this passage is to see the more practical accomplishment of perseverance, to be taught how this “perseverance” lives out in the life of a believer. But before we begin this, I also want you to see the focus of this continuing and persevering. Verse 14, continue in the things you have learned, Colossians 1:23, continue in the faith. Now this is not about persevering in religion, or continuing to do a specific ministry, or continuing to have a morning devotion, or continuing to say grace. No, this is about continuing in our faith in Jesus Christ. Those other things may be some of the fruits of this endeavour, but they are not the primary focus, as the primary focus of a Christian is Christ. Christ is the centre of the believer’s life: He is the reason for ministry; He is the reason for witnessing; He is the reason for your example; He is the reason you desire to love your wife and children; and He is the reason you work hard. Christ is the centre of every believer’s life. Christ is the only One who can save you. Christ is the only One who can forgive you. And think of this, Christ is the only One who will be eternally praised, therefore, such importance in receiving Him now while you have the opportunity.
We have been adding subtitles to each of our titles in this series. So, we could call this one: Living with Perseverance … for the Christian is called to a Christ-centred life. I have said before that we mistakenly place Christ at the top of our lives, as if we give Him first place, then spouse, then family, then maybe ministry. But it is so much better to understand that Christ is the centre. That everything we do and everything we are part of, that Christ is to be central to all these things. Again:
“But you, continue in the things you learned and became convinced of, knowing from whom you learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”
2 Timothy 3:14-15 (LSB)
It is not certain when Timothy came to know the Lord, for the passage does not tell us. Paul tells him to continue in what he has learned. From 1 Timothy 4, Paul tells Timothy not to let anyone despise his youth, the only reference to being quite young, was that he became acquainted with the truth of the gospel at a young age. I believe the carefulness that we want to have with this passage is understanding that Timothy came to Christ. It was not something that transpired that he was not aware of, as no one in the Bible is described as always being a Christian. For becoming a Christian involves a deep-seated decision and repentance of sin. Therefore, this was likely some time in Timothy’s life, when he understood his own sinfulness, where he received Christ (John 1:12) “as many as received Him,” prior to becoming this young pastor/elder likely around age thirty. But the first point made here in this passage is that Timothy was introduced to the gospel in a few ways:
- By the Testimony of Other Believers
Paul says (vs 14), “knowing from whom you have learned it.” Timothy had the advantage of being instructed in the gospel by others who were true believers themselves. Paul calls Timothy (1 Tim 1:12), “my true child in the faith,” leading many to believe that Timothy was saved under the ministry of Paul. Therefore, the influence of his Mom and grandmother, as well as the influence of Paul had a great spiritual impact on Timothy. Secondly, Timothy was introduced to the gospel:
- By the Testimony of Personal Assurance
I see this in two places here. Verse 14, things that Timothy had learned and became convinced of (ESV – firmly believed), and verse 15, the Scriptures are able to make you wise. Though this point is so connected with point number one, I want to stress here the importance of that phrase “personal assurance.” Timothy’s own convincing of the truth of God’s Word impacted him. What does that require? Well, it requires a personal acceptance. The importance here is to see that Timothy had a personal faith. For notice, it says, Timothy, you are convinced of this. It says that the Scriptures Timothy, have made you wise. Though Timothy heard the message from others, it did not remain second-hand information, as the truth became the truth that Timothy loved and cherished himself, in other words, he firmly believed it. This is a consideration that each of us must think about, for it is your own convincing of the Bible that will direct your life. Young people, you are going to have to consider this one as you face all the opposition in the world, to ask yourself, “How convinced am I of this truth?”
But also, Paul says that Timothy “learned it.” This means he spent a considerable time studying the Scriptures because he wanted to understand God better. If I am at home and have a few minutes to pick up something to look at, it is not a stretch for me to pick up a Sky News magazine, or check and see how the Jays are doing or the Blackhawks are getting ready for a great season. Or if I see an article on rose gardening, I will read it. Those come naturally for me, as I am pretty passionate about those things. Now if I was sitting in a dentist office and on the table was a copy of let’s say auto machine parts or NASCAR Weekly, I just made up that name. I am sorry all you race car fans out there, but I would rather just sit bored. All kidding aside, the natural passion for the believer is the things of Christ. David speaks about this in Psalm 119, where there are one hundred and seventy-six verses directed in explaining his love and passion for the Scriptures. David did not write those things to appear spiritual. He didn’t write those things so that we would all feel guilty, this was just his natural love as a believer.
Now we read here that Timothy was able to be acquainted with these things from childhood. Growing up in this Christian home with his Mom and grandmother, as we learned in 2 Timothy 1. It makes me want to ask the question, what is a Christian home? Some of you would say, I did not grow up in a “Christian home.” What does that mean? Well it usually means that though there may have been some Christian values taught, both Mom and Dad were not believers. But even an answer like “my parents were not believers,” still might mean that you had a good Mom and Dad, though for others, your childhood may have been really difficult. Some of you might say that you grew up in a “Christian home” because your Mom and Dad may have attended church, and even taught the Bible at home. But you were never really assured that your parents were saved. And because the true message of salvation was very vague, as many here likely grew up with no real direction in embracing Christ.
Others would say that you grew up in a “Christian home,” as the Bible was taught, and you were brought to church on a regular basis. But there was no evidence of salvation from a professing mother or father, as it was a strict head-only understanding, with no practical application of the Scriptures. And therefore, you thought Mom and Dad to be Christians when you were young, but came to doubt that as you grew older. This is true for me with not my Dad, but my Dad’s Mom and Dad. My Nana was always joyful about her relationship with Christ and very involved in ministry. Yet my Gramps never gave any indication of a love for Christ. And I would not have wondered about his salvation then, but I do now. And then still others who were taught the Word of God at home through both teaching and through example by a transformed life, and that Mom and Dad were true believers was always evident to you.
And though we cannot change where we came from, or the kind of home that we may have grown up in, I believe it would be good to define as best we can, what is a “Christian home”? So that we can exemplify this in our homes today, or in our homes when we eventually move away from Mom and Dad. Now if Timothy’s challenge from Paul was the continuation of his faith in Jesus Christ, in other words, his life was to be Christ-centred, I believe we could safely describe a “Christian home” as a “Christ-centred” home. Where Christ is honoured in our homes, where Christ’s Word is honoured in our homes, and where Christ-likeness is shown in our homes. And frankly all three of those statements are saying the same thing, as they are all-encompassing around a Christ-centred home, a “Christian home.”
Therefore, what does that look like? Well, I believe it comes back to what we already discussed a few weeks ago. Second Timothy 2:25, to accurately handle the word of truth. This is part of a Christian home. Second Timothy 2:19, to depart from wickedness, as cleansing is to part of the Christian home. Second Timothy 2:22, pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, where character lived out in a consistent basis is part of a Christian home. And just an encouragement to some of you who know Christ, yet your spouse is not a believer, I believe it is better to have one parent who displays this kind of life before his/her children, than having two parents who may confess Christ, but show no real change of heart, as there is no indication in the Scriptures that Timothy’s father was a believer, yet his Mom and grandmother influenced him greatly. It is no secret that the home is to be a place of training, though Timothy may not have come to Christ at a real young age. The Bible certainly stresses here the value in being taught the Scriptures during his childhood. Yes, it would seem that the sincere, uncompromising Christian witness of a mother and grandmother had an impactful influence on Timothy.
Now we need to ask, how does this training take place? Well, it would be obvious that the Word of God needs to be taught and that the Bible is lived out And there are some principles I believe essential for training our children. So, I wish to leave you three words about this teaching.
- Authentic
The need to be real at home. Often in our family classes, I will use the phrase, a place where Christianity “makes sense,” something that we will look at in our seminar in October. If your choices contradict your words, then you have some problems. I believe being authentic demands that our Christian walk is prioritized, and therefore, things such as church are prioritized over other things. I wrote an article about this stating, “Prioritize the ministry of Christ … give Christ, church, and ministry a much higher priority than other things in life.” And ideally Dad, this is best if you are the one leading the way in this pursuit.
- Impactful
I use this term, because it is necessary to know how best to teach our children, and I believe that the Bible gives us much leeway here, as some teach their children through a daily devotion at mealtime. And some do this very well, as some are very good at this. Yet for others, it may be a very rigid time with little impact. I would have grown up with the style of my father who exemplified Deuteronomy 6, as he spoke about spiritual things all the time, when you sit down, when you get up, and when you go for a walk. So, this is likely how I feel the most comfortable. And this is still how I would often teach my grandchildren today. We just had the last of our crew come for a few days a week ago. In July we had the “middles,” later in August the “littles,” and a week ago the older ones who call themselves the “originals.” So, the little, the middles, and the originals. And when they go to bed at night, I love being in their room, praying with them and talking about spiritual things, whether they are five years old or sixteen years old. And I say all this as the command in the Bible is to teach. Therefore, we need to teach whether that is through a more formal way of a family devotion, or consistently throughout the day, the key is that as best we can, is that our teaching is impactful.
- Relative
I see the effectiveness of our teaching wrapped up in the enjoyment of all that goes on in the home. Mom and Dad, make sure that your home is your place of joy, laughter, fun, kindness, and gentleness. That not only the big things with family are your passion, but the everyday meals, the playtimes, the sports times, the simple pizza nights, whatever you enjoy, do it with your children with a delighted heart. And it sounds as if Timothy grew up with many of these advantages. As his upbringing was authentic. And however, the Word of God was taught to Timothy, it was impactful. And his upbringing must have been relative, existing with much joy and delight, causing him to personally hold tightly to his faith. But Timothy was introduced to the gospel by more than others and personal assurance.
- By the Testimony of the Scriptures
- By the Testimony of the Son
And I have chosen to combine these last two because they are so difficult to separate, as (vs 15) includes both of these things, “Timothy, you have known the sacred writings … through the faith which is in Christ Jesus.” This reference to the “sacred writings” is said to be Timothy’s source for salvation (vs 15). Though the unbeliever is sinful, and though that unbeliever has been chosen by God before the foundation of the world, and though that unbeliever is convicted by the power of the Spirit, and though that unbeliever places his faith and trust in Christ and becomes a believer, the source of that information comes from the Word of God. Romans 10:17, “faith comes from hearing and hearing from the word of Christ,” as God chooses to use the Word of God to bring those He had called to Himself. In Acts 16:14, the Bible says this about the conversion of Lydia. It says that the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was spoken by Paul. In other words, she responded in faith through the work of the Holy Spirit and came to Christ through the preaching of the Word of God. This is what Timothy learned to be convinced of in his life. This is what Timothy firmly believed.
And being “convinced of” something will either make us or break us. This is such a key in living out our Christianity, as whether we are truly “convinced of” the Scriptures will either be proven or disproven at almost every turn in life. From the smallest decision to the biggest decision, from the easiest to the hardest. And times when we might take matters into our own hands, disregarding God’s Word, we miss the opportunity to prove the Scriptures to ourselves. But when we are obedient to the Scriptures, we are training ourselves to both trust God and prove God’s Word.
It would be good to clarify what is meant by the term “sacred writings.” Most agree that this was a reference to the Old Testament, and it is true that the Old Testament Scriptures led to salvation, as the Old Testament anticipates a coming Messiah, Jesus Christ. Listen to what Christ said Himself speaking to those with a hardness of heart.
“And the Father who sent Me, He has borne witness about Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form. And you do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He sent. You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that bear witness about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.”
John 5:37-40 (LSB)
What is Jesus saying here? He is saying that He Himself, Christ, could be found in the Old Testament Scriptures. Do you see how these are tied together and how they cannot be separated, as He condemns these Pharisees that though they had the Scriptures, they missed Him? Consider people like Mary, the mother of Jesus; Simeon; and Anna. Think of the Ethiopian eunuch. These are men and women who had only the Old Testament Scriptures, but they also had a true faith in God. Yet when Christ is presented to them, what did they do? They believed! Those who believed the OT Scriptures, when they further heard the gospel, though they had not known it before that time, they believed it! Their faith was proven! This explains much of our understanding of the New Testament Pharisees, though they knew the Scriptures, but they did not believe in Christ. Matthew wrote:
“Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, saying, ‘What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?’ They said to Him, ‘The son of David.’”
Matt 22:41-42 (LSB)
How did they know about a coming Christ? the Scriptures. What was their problem? they did not believe in Jesus. They knew about Christ coming and their only source was the Old Testament, yet their “true” lack of faith was proven in their stubborn refusal to accept Christ. Remember what Jesus said, if you have seen Me, you have seen the Father. The more I have studied this, it brings to light some of my own wrong thinking. Sometimes we might say, the Jews today believe in God, but they do not accept Christ. That statement really contradicts the Scriptures, doesn’t it? Let me give you two passages. John 14:7, “If you had known me, you would have known the Father also.” In other words, Jesus was claiming that they did not know the Father. John 5:46, “for if you believed Moses (the OT Scriptures), you would have believed Me.” Therefore, to say that the unchristian Jew accepts the Old Testament Scriptures is not true, for if they truly did, they would embrace Christ. For Jesus demands that anyone who “truly” believes in God the Father, or anyone who “truly” believes in the Old Testament, will also believe in Christ.
And therefore, the problem with the Jews is not that they do not accept Christ. It is really worse than that. For the problem with the Jew is that he does not truly believe both the Old Testament or God the Father, though he claims to believe both. For if he did, he would what? accept the Son. Their problem is the same as the New Testament unbelieving Jews, their hardness of heart. And this is a good lesson for us. That when we are dealing with any unbeliever about the truth of the Bible, it is good to be reminded that a person does not come to Christ, why? Because of unbelief, hardness or stubbornness, no matter what they may claim or may not claim to believe. Unbeliever, if you are here with us this morning, and I am sure there are some, understand that ultimately your unwillingness to come to Christ is because of your unwillingness to believe and because of the hardness of your heart. Those in our families or who we work with, their lostness is due to their unwillingness to believe and their hard heart. And I do not say that to be unkind, but I share this biblical truth with you out of love. Hebrews 4:7, the writer says, “Today if you hear His voice,” (you are hearing His voice through the preaching this morning), what does He then say? Do not harden your heart. Listen to the love and desire of the Saviour as recorded in Matthew 13:
“For the heart of this people has become dull, And with their ears they scarcely hear, And they have closed their eyes, Lest they would see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, And understand with their heart and return, And I would heal them. For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes have been closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.”
Matt 13:15 (LSB)
Do you know the power of these words? That if you resist Christ, it is not because there is not enough information or that you need more time. The primary matter is the hardness of your heart. And true faith in God the Father and a true belief in these Scriptures results in a faith in Jesus Christ. Timothy had those around him who taught him such truth. Timothy then claimed that truth for his own life. And Timothy’s faith came through the teaching of these Scriptures and his belief in God brought him to his faith in Christ.
So, those of you who were like Timothy and taught Christ at home, be thankful, be thankful that it brought you to salvation. And to those of you who were not brought up in a true “Christian home,” be thankful that it was taught to you by someone else, maybe someone here, or through the ministry of this church or another church that had a high regard for God and His Word. Let’s pray. Father, we are grateful that we heard the gospel. We are grateful that you softened our hearts to its message of salvation. And we are grateful for the work of Christ. So, may we be known as a people who live Christ-centred lives. That the very name that we profess, to be “Christian,” would exemplify every corner of our life and influence every part of our character. And all God’s people said, amen.