Old Testament Lesson; Genesis 32:22-30
Epistle Lesson; 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5
Gospel Lesson; Luke 18:1-8
Sermon Text; 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5

A couple of years ago, I read about a young, teenage boy who went scuba diving with some friends. Inadvertently, he wandered off under water and got separated from his friends. His leg got trapped in some rocks, and he could not escape. His friends were not able to find him.

He finally realized, as he watched the oxygen meter on his tank, he was going to die. He was going to drown to death. And so, he took his air tank off, pulled out a sharp knife that he had and he carved in his air tank a little message that he wanted people to read, when they did find his body. This is the simple, little message they found, when they did discover his body.

"Mom and Dad,

I love you.

I will see you in Heaven."

What was he saying? "I am going to be in Heaven. I believe in Jesus, as my Savior. Mom and Dad, you be there! I want to see you in Heaven, someday."

In today's scripture reading we find a similar type of statement or emotion that is made by St. Paul. St. Paul knew, as he was writing this letter, he knew he was going to be put to death for his faith. This is the last letter he ever wrote, that we know of. He writes it to a young man that he referred to as "my dear son." Although he was not his real son, they had a father-son relationship. He writes it to "my dear son, Timothy".

Today's scripture reading is sort of the last words that Paul wants to leave with his dear ‘son’, Timothy. Listen to what he says in 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5. It reads as follows, in our Savior's name.

"But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation, through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and His Kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction. 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. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry."

As Paul writes, as it were, this last message that he wants Timothy to have you see what he tells Timothy. Again, this is under divine inspiration, so this is not just for Timothy, but is a beautiful, personal example in scripture where we see a man, Paul, having a fatherly relationship with his ‘son’, Timothy. And, he wants Timothy to stay in his faith, until the day he finally gets to Heaven. He tells Timothy to be persistent in his faith. And, this scripture passage is meant for you and me, as well.

Be persistent in your faith.

And then, he tells Timothy what it all comes down to. It all comes down to what? What is mentioned over, and over, and over, again in this reading?

Scripture!

Know your scripture.

Cling to your scripture.

Be convinced of your scriptures.

Apply the scripture to your life.

Tell the scripture to others.

It all comes down, in persistence, to knowing the scripture.

Paul then gives us a beautiful example of a young man who knew his scriptures, well. This is really a model. We should see this as a model of how our own homes should be set up, especially if you, in your own home, have little children. Timothy did not grow up in an ideal home. His father was a Greek and we believe his father was an unbeliever. But, he did grow up in a home, even as a little child, where his mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois were believers. St. Paul says to Timothy,

"Continue in what you have learned and become convinced of, because you know those from whom you have learned it, and from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures."

To me that is such a beautiful passage. In fact, in Greek the word for ‘Scriptures’ is 'graphai'. You have known the 'graphai' the Holy Scriptures. But here, Paul actually uses a different word. It is a very unique word. He says, "From infancy you have known the Holy (he does not say 'graphai') 'grammata'. In Greek, ' grammata ' means 'letters, letters of the alphabet'. What Paul is saying here is, "Timothy I know your story from when you were a little boy. I know you learned to read. You learned your a, b, c's from the Bible. Your mom would take out a passage from the Bible, she would point to the letter a and then say, ‘a’. And you would repeat ‘a’. She would show you a b and you would repeat ‘b’. And finally, you would say a word together."

Little Timothy, from infancy, used the Holy Scriptures. And the Holy Scriptures were endeared to his heart. It was a textbook for him, for life.

Certainly, we know that, as a little child, Timothy's mother and grandmother exposed him to the accounts in scripture. And so, even as a little child, he came to know Adam and Eve, from scripture. He came to know Cain and Abel, from scripture. He came to know Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, from scripture. He came to know David, Solomon, and Absolom. He came to know the heroes of the faith. He came to know about sins that were committed in the Old Testament. He came to know about God's forgiveness. And, he came to know about the promises in scripture of a coming Messiah. From infancy Timothy knew the Holy Scriptures. God grant us homes like that, where from infancy our little ones know the Holy Scriptures!

Now, it is certainly possible that there are many in this room that have not known the Holy Scriptures from infancy. Maybe you have not known the Holy Scriptures from infancy and maybe you have known the Holy Scriptures for only two weeks. Maybe that was the first time you had ever been exposed to the Bible.

Why does Paul tell Timothy to continue in what he has learned? It is not because, "If your mom tells you something, you better believe it." Even mothers can be mistaken, can't they? What does he say to Timothy?

"All scripture is God-breathed."

Paul, under divine inspiration here, is telling Timothy scripture is the Word of God. The Bible says, "Prophesy (talking about the Bible) never has origin in the will of men. But, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."
We believe that all scripture is God-breathed - every single letter in the scriptures. The Holy Spirit told the writers of the Bible, word for word, what to write down so that every single word in the Bible is absolutely true, absolutely dependable. You can stake your eternity on it, because it is the Word of God. That is why Paul tells Timothy, "Continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you have learned it and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures which are (what?) able to make you wise for salvation, through faith in Christ Jesus."

It must have been almost a moment that took Timothy's breath away. He grew up in a home that was looking forward to the coming Messiah. He knew the scriptures. He did not know just the basic, simple parts of scripture, the little Bible stories. I am sure Timothy knew in depth and was familiar and converse with even the deep parts of the Old Testament. And so, it must have been a profound moment when St. Paul came to Lystra where Timothy lived with his mother and grandmother, and Paul proved from the Old Testament (which Timothy knew from infancy) that Christ was the Messiah. Oh, Paul probably pointed Timothy to Psalm 22, written over a thousand years before Jesus ever hung on the cross.

"My God. My God. Why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me? They pierced my hands and feet. My tongue clings to the roof of my mouth. All of my bones are out of joint."

What is that? That is a picture of the crucifixion. Paul must have shown Timothy, "Timothy that passage proves that Jesus, who died on the cross, is the Messiah who was to come."

He must have pointed Timothy to a passage he knew in the book of Isaiah, which was written years and years, hundreds of years, before Christ came.

"All we, like sheep, have gone astray. Each one of us has gone to our own way. The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. By His stripes we are healed. The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him."
There, Paul must have pointed to Christ’s suffering on the cross and said, "Timothy, we have all gone astray. But, by the wounds of Jesus Christ on the cross, we are saved."

"Continue in what you have learned and have been convinced of, because you know those from whom you have learned it, and from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus."

Through the Holy Scriptures, Timothy became wise for salvation, through faith in Christ Jesus. Praise God! What an awesome thing that is! The same is true for you and me. Only the scriptures are able to make us wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

There was a man named Jon whose new neighbor was taken to the hospital and put on life support. Jon learned that his neighbor was not going to survive and would be taken off the life support before the week was over. Jon didn’t know if his neighbor was a Christian. Well, how could Jon see to it that his neighbor got to Heaven? There was only thing that Jon could do.

The Holy Scriptures

are able to make you wise for salvation

through faith in Christ Jesus.

Jon had to find out if his neighbor knew the Holy Scriptures and knew about Christ Jesus, through the Holy Scriptures. And so, Jon went to the hospital. You can imagine an uneasy conversation, since his neighbor could not talk, but could nod his head, to affirm things.

Jon walked in the hospital room and asked his neighbor, "When you meet your maker this week, are you going to go to Heaven?"
There was no nod, and there were tears welling up in his neighbor’s eyes.

Jon then began to speak the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make us wise for salvation, through Christ Jesus.

He slowly, sentence by sentence, began to speak about how we have all sinned. He would pause and his neighbor would nod his head. Jon would talk about how we deserve to be condemned, and his neighbor would nod. Jon would talk about how Jesus came, took our sins, and He paid for our sins on the cross. And after each sentence, his neighbor would nod, with hope in his eyes. Jon laid out the Holy Scriptures – that Jesus is the way of salvation. And he came to faith in Jesus as his Savior!

Only the Holy Scriptures are able to make us wise for salvation, through faith in Christ Jesus. It is a dear book. The Bible is a dear book. The Bible can do what nothing else can do.

The Holy Spirit works through the Word.

He works through the Word to keep you in your faith, to keep convicting you of your sin. And, we need to be convicted of our sin, day, after day, after day.

We need to be shown the problem lies within us,

that we are born sinners,

that we have a sinful nature,

that we stand condemned, because of our sin and

we need to see day, after day, after day that Jesus is our Savior.

And, we need to be comforted.

The Holy Spirit, through that Gospel, keeps us and strengthens us in our faith.

I know how many times I, as a child, (and many of you can say the same thing), was so comforted by the Holy Scriptures. Oh, as a child, I was convicted of my sin, by the Holy Scriptures. I was brought to understand how guilty I was, (and still am today). But, how comforted I was in my home by a mom and dad who, even though I got in trouble and may have been in tears because of my shame and guilt, would remind me of my Savior. What peace that brought to my heart, then, (and still does to this day).

Paul goes on and says to Timothy,

"All Scripture is God-breathed

and is useful for

teaching,

rebuking,

correcting,

and training in righteousness."

Scripture, being God-breathed, is the very Word of God. And, not only does it show us the way of salvation, not only does the Holy Spirit work in it to bring us to faith and keep us in our faith, but it enables us to live for our Savior, Jesus, so long as we are here on this earth.

All scripture is God-breathed and useful for what? To sit on the shelf? To be a nice decoration in your home? To come here to church once a week? NO!

"All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

The Holy Scriptures are so useful in our lives. Think about how a knowledge of scripture enables us to live for our Savior. For example, what if there is a young man or a young woman (although it does not have to be a young person. It could be an older person. All people struggle with all sins.) who is struggling with temptations against the Sixth Commandment, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ What a benefit it is to know the Holy Scriptures and how useful it is for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness in your own life. What a benefit to be able to look, for example, in the Old Testament at someone like Joseph. A young man who was, as the Bible tells us, "well built and handsome." He was tempted by a young woman to fall into sin, to fall into the sin of adultery. What a beautiful passage in scripture when Joseph refuses, flees that temptation, and says, "How can I do this great evil and sin against God?"

How useful scripture is, as we look at those Old Testament examples of people of faith. How useful scripture is if a person has fallen into the sin of adultery or lust. We can go to the Old Testament example of David. There we see how David committed adultery with Bathsheba, who was not his wife. Then, we see how David came to repentance. The Lord spoke to David, that the Lord would not remember his sin, anymore. He was forgiven.

Or, we see the example of the woman caught in adultery. What a comfort to see how Jesus spoke to her and said, "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone." Well, they all went away. Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you. Now, go and sin no more."

What an awesome, awesome thing to be able to know scripture and to be able to know that our sins are forgiven, hear Christ's words, "Now, go and sin no more," and then, be built up.

What a comforting thing in scripture to be able to look at St. Paul's words and hear St. Paul say, "Your body is not your own. You were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your body."
"All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness."

If someone struggles with how to use his or her money, what an awesome passage we can go to and look at with the widow's mite. Here is an example of a woman who gave all she had to the Lord. What an awesome attitude she had, of total giving and trusting in the Lord.

We can look at a man like Zacchaeus, if we have sinned with our money. We can see Zacchaeus, who was a tax collector, and stole from others. But then, the Lord Jesus came into his house. Zacchaeus came to repentance and he was forgiven. Then, what did Zacchaeus do? He turned around and out of joy for what Jesus had done for him, Zacchaeus took what he had and he gave back more than he had ever stolen from people.

Beautiful, beautiful scripture!

"All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

I cannot encourage enough, every one of us in this room, learn your scriptures.

Know your scriptures.

The more you know your scriptures, the deeper knowledge you have of scriptures, the more able you are to be instructed, built up, corrected, and trained in the Word.

Then, Paul says to Timothy,

"In the presence of God, and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing in His Kingdom, I give you this charge: (Now, Paul places, as it were, Timothy under oath. When he says ‘in the presence of God and Christ Jesus,’ he is calling them as his witness, and he puts Timothy under oath.) Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, encourage with great patience and careful instruction."

Again, he places Timothy under oath, with his use of the Word and Scriptures and he tells Timothy, "You, be prepared. Be prepared in season and out of season. Whether you are planning to talk to somebody about scripture, or the moment just comes, be prepared. I place you under oath."

We are not the only ones that God wants to be in Heaven. He wants those around us to be in Heaven, as well.

This week, I was reading another account about a man, a Christian man, who happened to be pulling out of a parking lot at nighttime. As he pulled out of the parking lot, he drove by a young man. It was not really cold out, but this young man had his arms wrapped around himself. And as the man drove by, he thought, "Boy, it looks like there is something wrong with that young man." But, he was in a hurry to get home, so he kept going. Finally, his conscious got the best of him, so he turned around and thought, "I better go make sure that young man is ok."

He drove back and there was the young man in the parking lot, just walking. He rolled down the window, looked at the young man, and asked, "Are you ok?"

The young man just broke into tears and began to sob uncontrollably. The man got out of his car, held the young man, and asked, "What is wrong?"

The young man said, "I just paid for a lady to have an abortion. And, she just killed her baby. She just killed our baby. I just killed our baby." And, then he broke down in tears, crushed.

The man who was writing this said, "I have never encountered anything like that before. What was I to say?"

What does Paul say?

"Be prepared

in season and out of season."

Be prepared with scripture. I hope that man knew his scripture well enough and was able and prepared to apply it in that moment. I hope he was able to tell that the young man did not need to be convicted of his sin. He was crushed by his sin. But, I hope he was able to tell the young man, from scripture, with scripture passages, about how God died even for murderers - how David had committed murder. He had Uriah killed, and yet God forgave him. I hope he was able to comfort that young man with scripture.

And so Paul's parting words to Timothy, (and certainly God's Words to you, as well, through Paul, would be),

"As for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

God grant us all such a view of scripture.

Amen.