Lead Pastor
Sermons by Wade Allen (Page 27)
Every follower of Jesus Christ attempts to understand and apply God’s Word to his life. This is not necessarily an easy task! There are principles that we must follow for properly handling the Word of Truth—the Bible. The process of discovering the meaning of Scripture objectively is called exegesis. In this passage, Paul challenges believers to use the Bible for what God intended—reproof, rebuke, teaching and training in righteousness—not for debating, arguing and babbling on incessantly. Understanding and applying the Bible properly is hard work that should not be taken lightly.
One thing that I really love to do is to get together with old friends and reminisce about all the crazy stuff that we used to do. Remembering the good things in life is a healthy thing, so long as we don’t live in the past. God encouraged His people to remember—remember the Passover, the Law, entering the Promised Land. He wants us to remember the great, spiritual moments of our lives as well, for when we remember God’s goodness to us in the past we will have hope for God’s goodness in the present! Remember!
In the previous chapter, Timothy is encouraged to follow the pattern of Paul’s life in Christ Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. Now in chapter 2, Paul challenges him to pour himself into others so that he can multiply the ministry by entrusting it to others. He closes this section by sharing three analogies of what faithfulness looks like in a believer. A faithful believer is single-minded in his commitment, disciplined in his actions, and diligent in his work in the ministry.
God is looking for ordinary, regular people who realize that they are not able to serve God without His intervention and help. They know that they cannot succeed without His power at work in and through them. As Oswald Chambers said, “All through history God has chosen and used nobodies, because their unusual dependence on him made possible the unique display of his power and grace. He chose and used sombodies only when they renounced dependence on their natural abilities and resources.”
In the last days of his life, the Apostle Paul found himself in a dreadful situation—imprisoned and deserted by almost all of his companions. It was in these circumstances that Paul wrote to his ‘beloved’ son in the ministry, Timothy. In spite of his own depressing circumstances, Paul sought to encourage and instruct his disciple—and every disciple of Christ since—to not be fearful but to be ever-increasing in his dependence on the Holy Spirit of God in every aspect of his life.
In the context of this passage in 2 Corinthians, Paul focuses his attention on the Old Covenant between God and the Israelites, contrasted with the New Covenant that believers have with God through Christ. So as we think about the Old and the New Covenant granted to us by God, I want us to consider “What is freedom?” because I am unsure that we—even as Americans—truly comprehend the freedom that God wants us to experience!
The way we drive, the clothes or jewelry we wear, or a number of other things have the potential of communicating a different message to others than what we want to convey. When we think about all the nonverbal communication that happens each day in our families, what message are we sending their way? Everything I do… everything I look at… everything in my home should be pleasing to God! My daily witness is most often done without words. What message am I promoting?
As we consider the moral and spiritual issues we face in our culture today, it is essential that we return to a biblical concept for influencing our families and children. The moral and biblical lessons we are imparting to our children and families need to be taught in those every day, teachable moments wherever you are and whatever you’re doing. To do this, we must demonstrate authentic faith in every aspect of our lives!
As we continue through this passage in Deuteronomy 6, we discover that the modern church has incorporated a great deal of secular psychology and parenting methods into the ministries of our churches. Churches today have taken on the responsibility of teaching the Bible to children and students through age-graded programs and special ministries designed for specific age groups, but the Bible is clear that it is the responsibility of parents to teach the Bible to their children. So what should parents do to teach their children?
People today are fanatics when it comes to their favorite school or sports teams. This fanaticism has been engrained in them since birth! This is the kind of commitment that we ought to have for Christ, but many parents never take the time to instill a biblical worldview in their children. God’s desire is that the Bible be implanted in the hearts of His children. He wants our basic life assumptions to find their foundation in Holy Scripture. He wants His Word to “be on your heart.”