2 Timothy 4

The New Methodist year opens in this month of September, a rather appropriate date as holidays come to be reduced.  Members will be returning to Church and there will be friends meeting after holidays, but there will also be some sadness in places where the member with whom you shared Christian joy, is not for a variety of reasons no longer there, due to having moved home, or gone home to be with the Lord. To all, I wish every blessing for the coming year.

I want to open my talk this morning with the words of John Wesley. ‘I want to know one thing; the way to heaven, how to land on that happy shore.  God Himself has condescended to teach the way; He hath written it down in a book.  Give me that book, at any price give me that book’

This morning, I want to speak on why the Bible is so important in the life of the Church, and the need to call people back to it.   

There are times, when we need to seriously consider the position of the Church in this country. Irrespective of denomination, there is a falling away to dwindling congregations, predominantly now filled by people of older years and female. The state we find ourselves in, is due the departure from the Word of God.

We have to be honest and search ourselves when times are so evil, all Christians should be concerned that less than 2% of the population attend Church regularly, but it has not always been so, and there is good cause to believe this is due to the fact we are not accepting the authority of the Bible.

It is suggested that there are so many other attractions, but there have always been other attractions.  It is also stated times have changed, but has that been for the better?

If the Church is not performing the purpose it was created for, then it has no appeal or reason to exist. 

Turning then to the Bible passage, which was from Paul’s 2^nd Letter to Timothy, we find a Letter which might well have been written to us today. 

This has always been my favourite book of the Bible, and am impressed by the words of John Stott, the noted evangelical bible preacher, who wrote, ‘during the last five years I seem to have lived inside the second letter of Paul to Timothy. I have sat down beside Timothy in my imagination and been impressed afresh by the timeliness for today of what the Apostle writes. For our era is one of theological and moral confusion, even of apostasy and the Apostle summons us, as he summoned Timothy, to be brave, strong and steadfast.

Paul is in prison, and nearing the end of his life and wants the gospel to be continued to be taken out into the world.  He is writing to Timothy, who he has chosen to continue his ministry, and this Chapter 4 contains the last words spoken or written by Paul. For 30 years, he has faithfully worked as an Apostle, fought the good fight, kept the faith and now faces martyrdom by a cruel death.

We are reminded, that ALL Scripture was written under the direct inspiration of God, and we are to accept it as written without being selective in any way.  The Bible stands approved and needs no additions, deletions or corrections. It teaches us right from wrong as we live our lives, and to pass judgement on it, is to pass judgement on God.  We do not follow cleverly invented myths.

We have men and now women in places of influence in the Church, suggesting alternative interpretations can be offered to make the Bible acceptable to modern society’s ways of life, adopted by many within the Church;  human reason undermining people’s faith as the true Word of God.  

How God must weep, when he sees men and women singing His praise and hearing His Word on Sunday, and living in direct contrast the rest of the week.

He calls on Timothy to take every opportunity to ‘preach the Word’, which means the Word God had given.  He had also to guard it from any falsification; this applies equally valid now and in all ages.   

We do live in an evil world, where there does not seem to be any limit to which people are prepared to go to cheat, lie, and be corrupt, even to the highest level of public service.  Added to this is the widespread breakdown of family life, crime (despite the massaging of figures) and crudeness of life. This country, as many others are, in such a state because they have turned backs on the Bible.  God has said you have turned your back on me, so get on with things.

Trouble will always abound, when God is rejected. Like Timothy, we live in a time where there is a lack of restraint, it is rather like a car parked on a hill, without the handbrake being applied.

 We are to learn that every preacher has the responsibility to preach the same message. Our message, is that we are all under the judgement of God, and salvation can only be obtained by accepting Jesus Christ as Saviour, who was sent by God, born of a woman by the Holy Spirit.  By His ultimate death on the Cross, to pay the penalty and atone for our sins, all who believe it was for us He suffered, and gave His life, can be forgiven and accepted by God.  The Bible states, that salvation can be found in no other name under heaven given to man.  Jesus Himself stated, no one can come to the Father except by me, and whilst some may be reluctant to state this, it must be said.

We often hear it claimed, that all religions are the same and all lead to God.  This is unequivocally discredited by the Bible.  Further, Islam for instance worships Allah, maintains that God has no Son, denies the divinity of Jesus, and disfavours Jews.  We accept Jesus as the Son of God, worship the God of Israel and a Jewish Saviour, and teach from a book written, (with one exception) by Jewish men.

 In our preaching, we are called upon to convince those who doubt, rebuke those who fall into sin, by failing to live lives according to that laid down by God in the Bible, to encourage all troubled by fear.  We can only do that if we truly believe, and accept in the heart what God has spoken.  We are not to give personal opinions, just tell what the book states.

We have to present the Bible as truly the Word of God as if He was speaking it Himself, and do so with assurance and certainty.  Tell how the Bible was written over many years by forty different men of various occupations and characters, but with only one message, that of eternal salvation, and it all fits together perfectly. All the writers were humbled, by the task God had given them under His inspiration.  Prophecies given by the Old Testament came to fulfilment years after being prophesied.

Paul also emphasises, we carry out our preaching in the presence of God and Jesus Christ, and whilst we have a tremendous privilege in being able to speak in God’s name, we bear an awesome responsibility, for we will be judged as to how faithfully we do so, and will have to account before the Lord one day.

Paul then warns Timothy, that most people cannot bear the truth,  and will not endure sound teaching, and will instead seek preachers who will speak to their likings.  He calls on Timothy not to give in to the prevailing fashions of the day, but to keep steadfast in the faith and speak boldly without anger or fear of casing offence. 

A preacher has to teach what people need to hear, rather than what they want to hear, and do so without fear or favour, and as long as we do strictly according to the Bible, if we do offend anyone it must be asked why they are so offended.  We are not to act like a spiritual dispensary, offering soothing words, but to tell what God has commissioned us to say.

There is a growing tendency in the Church, even at the highest level to keep silent on those controversies of life which give most offence. The reason of course is that Church members want to be free to live as their compatriots do, but that embarrasses their conscience when they are fully aware that some of that modern living is not approved by Scripture.

What hope then is there for the future of Christianity?  This depends on how the Church at large, ordained and lay responds; our services in many cases need to be upgraded.  Like much of our national life, we our constricted by political correctness, and are frightened that if we are too faithful to the Bible we will upset some minority faction, so we modify our words.

It is not a case, as some Commissions try, to introduce novelty services with clowns and animals and other diversions; this only survives as a one off. When people come to Church with a desire to seek spiritual refreshment, they want and need to hear what the Bible offers in plain English without modification.

For over forty years Billy Graham preached to 220millions of people in 185 countries, and told them how their lives needed to be corrected, for they were all sinners, in danger of spending an eternity in hell, and they flocked to hear him in tens of thousands, because he also told them there was hope, and who that hope was.

If you study the tremendous success of his Crusades you will notice that inspired preaching was accompanied by equally inspired music with tunes people could adapt to.  There are Churches which still can attract good congregations by their devotional application of similar style, rather than just putting something on.

The purpose of coming to Church, should be to join with other Christians in singing praise to God, listening to His Word, having it fearless and boldly preached, so there is spiritual nourishment for the week ahead, and to join in  prayer for the needs of the world and ourselves.    Ideally, the Methodist form of service allows for these necessities, with its freedom to present a coherent and meaningful form of worship.  .  I have to admit having a different preacher each week is not always helpful, as each could take a different approach to Scripture.

We have to accept that if you state you believe in the full authority of the Bible, you will find many will oppose you, and even those close to you will challenge you , perhaps within your own family. You will be called narrow minded, bigoted or of having some kind of phobia.

The time has come, when those of us who stand firmly on the Bible will be frozen out, and attempts will be made to silence us.

The Bible is all about salvation and there is spiritual blindness,  refusing salvation, and it is a grave sin to keep others from believing.  If a person wishes to go to hell that is a matter for them, but they have no mandate to take others with them.  There are surely such people within the Church as well as those outside.

We must not be ashamed of the gospel.  It often appears that those in high Office of the Churches, on whom the public mistakenly grant superior Christian knowledge, and whose duty it is therefore to give guidance, are afraid to speak out on moral and ethical issues, for fear of upsetting politicians or damaging their career prospects. But too many in high places don’t truly believe in the Bible, academics who delight in debating what alternative interpretations can be placed on parts of Scripture; careerists rather than having a vocation.

When we appear before the Lord, He will not be interested in how wealthy or important we were in life. He will look at how we lived up to His stated Word.

We are often told God is a God love, and He certainly is, but He is also a God of wrath, and you have to go far into this book before you get to His love. He is a merciful and patient God, but has limits and no nation or person can act with total disregard of His will.  Judgement will come, but people don’t like to talk or think of it.

 All Christians, at this perilous time need to think of what we can offer to God.  To paraphrase a famous saying, ‘think not what God can do for me, but what can I do for God’.

The greatest revival in this country’s history took place under the ministries of Charles and John Wesley, and their legacy has been passed down through the ages to the Church they founded.  This should not be betrayed. Charles was one who wrote as he thought, and he saw the importance of conversion and a personal relationship to Jesus Christ.   He became vividly convinced of the message of salvation, and saw clearer than ever before how faith in Jesus Christ could change a person’s life.  This was the message he would take to as many people as he could, particularly to the poorer classes.  He preached that the value of a person’s life was to be measured by their faith.

Come to Church prepared to feast on sound teaching’ do not let anyone tell you that your life as a Christian does not count, it counts tremendously.  Glory in what God has called you to do

May God’s Holy Name be Praised and may God be Glorified