SCRIPTURE: 2 Timothy 4:1-5
In
the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, (stop and breathe in his presence) who will judge the living and the dead,
(He is the judge – not us) and in view
of his appearing and his kingdom, (He has appeared as well His kingdom has
come) I give you this charge: (This
means there is something you are required to do – HERE IT IS) 2 Preach the Word; (Stop – last week I
suggested that our bible text really referred to all of us as preachers. This is different – It is from a spiritual
father to his son in the faith. Paul to Timothy. That is the context – teaching moment about
context. Paul is about to die – he wants to ensure the gospel does not die with
him so he is passing the mantle to Timothy. This text is used in nearly all preachers’
ordination services and we love it.
However – now that we have the context, we have to ask – how does this
apply to my life and my growth as a disciple of Jesus Christ? Oh, are you a
disciple, a learner, a follower of Jesus, then you are not exempt from the
desires God has given to us in His word – things like what follows my fellow
preachers…) be prepared in season and
out of season;(we will come back to that phrase) correct, rebuke and encourage (convict, convince, / admonish;
rebuke. / to call near, i.e. invite, invoke) — with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not
put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will
gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears
want to hear. 4 They will turn their
ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, (1) keep your head in all
situations, (2) endure hardship, (3) do the work of an evangelist, (4) discharge all the duties of your ministry.
3 more ways
to defend the bible
The Bible Had No Editors
It is often claimed that the Bible
was edited by men who decided what books should be included. The Roman Catholic
Church is often cited as be the authority that decided what books would become
part of the Bible.
The truth is that there was no lengthy
period when the contents of the Bible were in limbo. The church accepted the
New Testament books almost as soon as they were written. Once a Gospel or
letter was produced by someone like Paul, it was copied and widely distributed
among believers. Because no single Church had an exclusive hold any one book,
there would be no opportunity for someone to edit Paul's writings.
Col 4:16 After this letter has been read to you, see
that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read
the letter from Laodicea.
1 Thess 5:27 I charge you before the Lord to have this
letter read to all the brothers.
The books that didn't make it into
the canon of Scripture, such as the Gospel of Judas and the Gospel of Thomas,
were not included because they were written long after both of those men died.
The book credited to Judas was written by the Gnostic sect around 130-170 AD. These and
other Gnostic gospels conflicted with the known teachings of Jesus and the Old
Testament, and often contained numerous historical and geographical errors.
The only editing the Bible had came
in AD 367 when Athanasius formally listed the 27 New Testament books in the
order we see today. Athanasius didn't bring in any new books. The whole church
had recognized and used the same list of books since the first century after
Christ.
Not Lost in
Translation
Some people have the idea that the
New Testament has been transcribed "so many times" that it has become
corrupted through various stages of translation. It's like the game of
"telephone" in which players pass along a common phrase until the
words reach the ears of the player at the end of the line. The resulting phrase
is often quite different from the original phrase.
The translation of the Bible cannot
be compared to that game. If the translations were being made from other
translations, critics would have an argument. But modern translations are
actually made directly from original Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic source texts based
on thousands of ancient manuscripts.
The scribes who copied Hebrew
manuscripts were keenly aware of the fact that they were handling a sacred and
precious revelation. They were trained to exercise the greatest care.
Historical Witnesses
There has long been debate
concerning the life of Jesus. Some people claim that Jesus never existed. One
reason for their argument is the fact that Jesus never wrote anything himself.
There may not be a book of Jesus, but Matthew, Mark, Luke and John certainly
offer detailed records about Him, His life and His activities.
We don't have archives of old
newspapers to turn to, but several ancient historical records corroborate the
Bible's account of Jesus. Because the first century was a time when the vast
majority of these witnesses were indifferent to Christianity, there would be no
reason for them or later Christians to fabricate their statements.
Flavius Josephus (AD 38-100+) The great
historian of the first century 18.3.1
(read this from the works of Josephesus)
Lucian of Samosata (c. AD 120 - after 180) was born at
Samosata in Commagene and calls himself a Syrian. In Lucian's book, The Passing
Peregrinus, he wrote about a traveler named Proteus who met some followers of
Jesus in the early Church. "At which time he learned the wonderful
doctrine of the Christians, by conversing with their priests and scribes near
Palestine... they spoke of him as a god, and took him for a lawgiver, and
honored him with the title of master... They still worship
that great man who was crucified in Palestine, because he
introduced into the world this new religion... Moreover their first lawgiver
has taught them, that they are all brethren, when once they turned, and
renounced the gods of the Greeks, and worship that master of theirs who was
crucified, and engage to live according to his laws."
Tacitus (c. 56 c. 117) wrote on
the subject of Christ and Christianity in 116 AD. He wrote about several events
that match the New Testament writings. He states that "Christ" was
put to death by "the procurator Pontius Pilate" in Judea in the reign
of Tiberius, and this is where the mischief originated.
"But not all the relief that
could come from man, not all the bounties that the prince could bestow, nor all
the atonements which could be presented to the gods, availed to relieve Nero
from the infamy of being believed to have ordered the conflagration, the fire
of Rome. Hence to suppress the rumor, he falsely charged with the guilt, and
punished Christians, who were hated for their enormities. Christus, the founder
of the name, was put to death by Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judea in the
reign of Tiberius: but the pernicious superstition, repressed for a time broke
out again, not only through Judea, where the mischief originated, but through
the city of Rome also, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of
the world find their centre and become popular."
Pliny the Younger (c. 62 - c.113 AD) the
provincial governor of Pontus and Bithynia, wrote to Emperor Trajan in 112 AD
concerning how to deal with Christians, who refused to worship the emperor, and
instead worshiped "Christus." The Emperor replied that it would be
the right thing in executing them, but advised him not to seek out Christians
for prosecution. Pliny mentioned Christ by name three times as the center of
Christianity and described Christian practices, including the worship of
Christ, "as to a god."
Even the Jewish
Talmud, certainly not biased toward Jesus, concurs about the major
events of His life. From the Talmud, "we learn that Jesus was conceived
out of wedlock, gathered disciples, made blasphemous claims about himself, and
worked miracles, but these miracles are attributed to sorcery and not to
God."
IN SEASON: Occurring at a fitting or
advantageous time OUT OF SEASON: at an inconvenient time. /
Seasons remind us that we are in a marathon not a sprint. You are just
beginning new bible habits for a lifetime not just a yearAs a church we are in
a marathon not a sprint. We stand on shoulders form the past and are the
shoulders for those in the future.
[Sabrina’s story about the man who attended here 44 years ago.]
Like Paul we
will no longer be here – how will you run?
How will you finish?
2 Tim 4:6-8 For I am already being poured
out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished
the race, I have kept the faith. Now
there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the
righteous Judge, will award to me on that day — and not only to me, but also to
all who have longed for his appearing.
