Hey Gang,
We continue this week in our series on balancing your spiritual growth. Last week we learned that a healthy Christian connects with God in prayer and worship, relates to others in positive relationships, and connects to the church. We watched how Andy handled a delicate situation with a fellow church member (Barney) that didn't have the gift of singing - not a lick!
This week we look at how we grow in biblical understanding and the importance of this to our overall balance of spiritual maturity. The importance is that we REMEMBER!
REMEMBER (ING) 9-11
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Where were you the morning of 9-11 when you first heard the news?
What have we learned from the events of 9-11?
- Are we willing to say and think that this is what happens when a nation turns it's back on God?
- Are we willing to say or think that maybe God removed His hand of protection over America that day?
- Are we willing to fall down on our knees and ask God to forgive our nation and to heal and restore us once again?
Do you believe that we are living in "the last days?"
- Paul called the last days the time period between Jesus' ascension into heaven and His return. He spoke of his day and time as well as ours.
To grow spiritually, means knowing and obeying God’s Word so it makes a daily difference in our lives. Gaining knowledge is vital, but we need more than information. These are some of Paul's last words written to Timothy. Paul was in prison in Rome and facing execution. Think about the last words spoken by the innocent victims of the highjacked planes to their loved ones the morning of 9-11. Think about what you would want to say to your son or daughter if you knew you were going to die. Paul saw Timothy as a son and he wanted to warn him of the perilous times that were ahead.
I. MAKE GOOD CHOICES – 2 TIMOTHY 3:1-9
But know this: difficult times will come in the last days. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good, traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to the form of religion but denying its power. Avoid these people! For among them are those who worm their way into households and capture idle women burdened down with sins, led along by a variety of passions, always learning and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so these also resist the truth, men who are corrupt in mind, worthless in regard to the faith. But they will not make further progress, for their lack of understanding will be clear to all, as theirs was also.
Paul paints a real picture of moral decay and the foundation of that decay is that people will be lovers of self. But as sad as this sounds, in verse 5 Paul says that to especially avoid those that hold to a form of religion but deny its power - he's talking about the church!
When your children were young, what type of people did you want them to avoid?
Are there certain people that we as adults should avoid? Why should we avoid certain influences? How can we identify them?
How do people mask these character traits? What makes them acceptable or respectable? Can we imitate them without realizing it?
A healthy Christian grows in spiritual maturity by exercising discernment.
Paul goes on to prepare Timothy for these perilous times ahead with instructions to be careful who you follow!
II. PICK WHO YOU FOLLOW – 2 TIMOTHY 3:10-13
But you have followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, and endurance, along with the persecutions and sufferings that came to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. What persecutions I endured! Yet the Lord rescued me from them all. In fact, all those who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Evil people and imposters will become worse, deceiving and being deceived.
What mannerisms – such as gestures, sayings, habits, etc. – that you do that resemble those of your parents? How did you learn these? In what other ways are you becoming more and more like your parents? How do you see your children becoming more like you?
If Timothy was going to grow spiritually during “difficult times” then he needed to do more than avoid certain people. He needed to find and follow godly examples. Timothy’s mother and grandmother had taught him the scriptures, and Timothy had followed in Paul’s footsteps as he traveled with Paul on his missionary journeys.
How can you tell when you are easily influenced to follow the wrong way?
A healthy Christian grows in spiritual maturity by picking carefully who he or she follows.
Paul's final advice is very practical - stay the course! Don't be distracted by clever sounding religious hucksters and don't believe everyone who knocks at your door. There are absolutes to your faith and you should be ready to defend them. Stay away from those that:
III. LIVE WHAT YOU KNOW – 2 TIMOTHY 3: 14-17
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing those from whom you learned, and that from childhood you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
Remember both what you have learned and also who taught you.
What struggles do children have when others act differently or are permitted to do things they aren’t allowed to do?
What led you to discover that it’s okay and wise to choose what you will and won’t do rather than do as others do?
A healthy Christian grows in spiritual maturity by living out what they already know from the Bible.
It's called the doctrine of the sufficiency of Holy Scripture. The Bible brings wisdom that leads to salvation, that comes to us through Christ and is received by faith. God's Word saves us. Our understanding of this is critical to our Spiritual Growth! We must never forget the truths of the Bible.
I. MAKE GOOD CHOICES – 2 TIMOTHY 3:1-9
But know this: difficult times will come in the last days. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good, traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to the form of religion but denying its power. Avoid these people! For among them are those who worm their way into households and capture idle women burdened down with sins, led along by a variety of passions, always learning and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so these also resist the truth, men who are corrupt in mind, worthless in regard to the faith. But they will not make further progress, for their lack of understanding will be clear to all, as theirs was also.
Paul paints a real picture of moral decay and the foundation of that decay is that people will be lovers of self. But as sad as this sounds, in verse 5 Paul says that to especially avoid those that hold to a form of religion but deny its power - he's talking about the church!
When your children were young, what type of people did you want them to avoid?
- Strangers and troublemakers - Wouldn't this advice hold true for adults as well?
Are there certain people that we as adults should avoid? Why should we avoid certain influences? How can we identify them?
How do people mask these character traits? What makes them acceptable or respectable? Can we imitate them without realizing it?
- Going to church, knowing Christian doctrine, using Christian cliches, and following a community's Christian traditions.
- Yes, we can imitate them without realizing it.
- Daily behavior will always give them or us away.
A healthy Christian grows in spiritual maturity by exercising discernment.
Paul goes on to prepare Timothy for these perilous times ahead with instructions to be careful who you follow!
II. PICK WHO YOU FOLLOW – 2 TIMOTHY 3:10-13
But you have followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, and endurance, along with the persecutions and sufferings that came to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. What persecutions I endured! Yet the Lord rescued me from them all. In fact, all those who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Evil people and imposters will become worse, deceiving and being deceived.
What mannerisms – such as gestures, sayings, habits, etc. – that you do that resemble those of your parents? How did you learn these? In what other ways are you becoming more and more like your parents? How do you see your children becoming more like you?
- Verses 10-13 are a basic principle based on the truth that we become like the people we associate with. If we follow the ungodly, then we will become like them.
If Timothy was going to grow spiritually during “difficult times” then he needed to do more than avoid certain people. He needed to find and follow godly examples. Timothy’s mother and grandmother had taught him the scriptures, and Timothy had followed in Paul’s footsteps as he traveled with Paul on his missionary journeys.
How can you tell when you are easily influenced to follow the wrong way?
- When you begin to turn away from God's Word.
A healthy Christian grows in spiritual maturity by picking carefully who he or she follows.
Paul's final advice is very practical - stay the course! Don't be distracted by clever sounding religious hucksters and don't believe everyone who knocks at your door. There are absolutes to your faith and you should be ready to defend them. Stay away from those that:
- don't believe the Bible and don't accept it's authority over every area of their life.
- don't believe Jesus is Savior and Lord and that He is the ONLY way to salvation.
- don't believe in salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ.
III. LIVE WHAT YOU KNOW – 2 TIMOTHY 3: 14-17
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing those from whom you learned, and that from childhood you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
Remember both what you have learned and also who taught you.
What struggles do children have when others act differently or are permitted to do things they aren’t allowed to do?
- They are tempted to follow.
What led you to discover that it’s okay and wise to choose what you will and won’t do rather than do as others do?
A healthy Christian grows in spiritual maturity by living out what they already know from the Bible.
It's called the doctrine of the sufficiency of Holy Scripture. The Bible brings wisdom that leads to salvation, that comes to us through Christ and is received by faith. God's Word saves us. Our understanding of this is critical to our Spiritual Growth! We must never forget the truths of the Bible.
I hope that everyone has had a blessed week as we continue in this week's lesson on how we grow in our spiritual journey through life.
See you on Sunday!
In His Love,
David & Susan
