Introduction
15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
One of the measures of a craftsman is the accuracy of their cuts. I’ve heard an old English proverb repeated many times in the shop and on the job site: “Measure Twice, Cut Once.” In other words: double check your measurements before you make a mistake that you can’t undo.
One of the measures, and possibly one of the most important measures of a church, is how accurately they handle God’s Word. We want to be the kind of church that is accurate with our handling of God’s Word. We are taking three weeks to focus on the value of God’s Word based on 2 Timothy in a series titled: Captivated by His Word
I feel like it is the heavy responsibility of every person who handles the Bible at this church, to handle it carefully and accurately. The expression in this passage translated “rightly handling” in the Greek literally means “cutting it straight.” Example: if someone on your job site constructed this window opening, would you approve it?
“Rightly Handling” is a reference to the exact detail demanded in such trades as carpentry, masonry and Paul’s trade as a tent-maker and leather worker. Cutting straight lines is expected of a skilled tradesman. Paul is making a direct connection to the man who teaches God’s Word. He is emphatic that precision and accuracy are essential when we are interpreting and teaching the Word of God.
Sloppy workmanship for a conscientious craftsman is embarrassing and might cost him his job. In verse 15, Paul implies that sloppy workmanship for a Bible teacher gives him something to be ashamed about and then he says it will “upset” the faith of his hearers. Look down to verse 18.
Paul is speaking of two false teachers. He says that they “have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some.” “Upsetting” is literally what that word means, but in English “upsetting” doesn’t pack much of a punch. In English, “upsetting” mean to annoy or bother.
The word translated as “upsetting” in the ESV was meant to conjure up a vision more like this one. Remember this story. The captain ran his boat aground and then took off and let the passengers fend for themselves. That kind of “upsetting” it what this word means.
It is a Greek word that means “to overthrow, overturn, destroy.” It is the picture of the man who is responsible for sinking a boat, causing it to capsize and thus throwing the passengers into the ocean. Paul’s saying that careless Bible teaching can toss people to the enemy and it’s dangerous. It could destroy someone who is not yet strong enough in their faith to swim again the dark tide of this world.
What is the right way to handle God’s Word? In a word, ‘carefully.’ The Bible compares itself to a sword. Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword…” Have you ever had a really sharp knife? Is it something you played with? No you respected that knife! God’s Word is like a sword. It is not made to be played around with. It’s not a toy. It must be used intentionally and carefully and skillfully. Swords are made for warfare. They cut and hack. They penetrate and divide.
The Word of God was not written to conjure up sentimental feelings. It’s not intended to entertain us. The purpose of God’s Word is to conquer souls and subject them to the authority of Jesus Christ. It was written to penetrate men’s heart (justification) and to hack away at their sin (sanctification).
When the church uses God’s Word for its intended purpose, people see Jesus when we gather and when we teach. When we use the word correctly, we are a church that is Christ-centered. When people come, they hear the Lord Jesus calling them out of their sin (penetrates their hearts) and leading them to repentance.
In light of eternity, all other pursuits beside the pursuit of Jesus will fade away. The only thing that will matter at the end of this life is whether or not you have Jesus.
How do we know the way to salvation? Through God’s Words! Get this…The everlasting, eternal, creator God wrote us a book…HE WROTE US A BOOK! He wrote us a book that contains everything we need to know about this life and everything we need to know about the next life. How else would we know how to find Jesus… how else would we know how to be saved… if we didn’t have God’s Word?! Do you understand what a treasure it is to us? He’s entrusted us with it! King David said:
I rejoice at your word
like one who finds great spoil. Ps 119:162
It’s better than finding treasure in your attic. It is to be more greatly prized than the most valuable treasure on earth…If you had a great treasure, you’d handle it carefully… So how do we rightly handle this precious treasure from our creator? Let’s look back at our text to find some answers…
Rightly Handling God’s Word
15a Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed…
Canyon Bible Church has a desire to help believers rightly handle the Word of God:
#1 By Diligently Pursuing Jesus
When the ESV says “do your best” that Greek word means “to exert one’s self, endeavor, give diligence” to a task. It’s not at all lackadaisical (Well, I did my best). There is great intentionality with this word in the Greek. It would be accurate to translate the phrase, “Give your absolute, very best effort and then some.” It all in…It’s everything you’ve got.
We would never teach here that you are saved by your works. That’s a false doctrine. Good works do not produce saving faith, but saving faith always produces good works. Good works are the fruit of salvation, not the root of salvation. Who is the root? Jesus.
However, there has been an issue within the church since the beginning that some people use their assurance of salvation as an excuse to do nothing.
Here’s what I mean: A believer could be so convinced they are saved that they reason, “I am safe from Hell so there is no longer a need to watch or fight or put out any exertion at all. My battle is fought. My victory is won. I’m just along for the ride.”
This text, as well as many others in the New Testament, is clear that discipleship will take considerable exertion. Salvation was a free gift, but sanctification takes a lot of hard work.
Go to our text in 2 Timothy, and skip ahead to verse 19. Paul says:
“…God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal.”
What is the firm foundation of our faith? Read on
“The Lord knows who are His.”
In other words, there is nothing that can separate a child of the King from his grasp. That’s assurance of Salvation. But it doesn’t stop there…
“Let everyone who names the Name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”
That is the hard work of discipleship! Helping you to cut out sin (that entangles you from spiritual growth) and to wholeheartedly pursue Jesus is what we are all about here at Canyon. Here’s how we do that:
Canyon Bible Church has a desire to help believers rightly handle the Word of God:
#2 By Using God’s Word to Identify Sin
I’ve heard people say, “I know what the Bible says, but you don’t know my situation.” This often happens in marriage counseling.
A church that rightly handles God’s Word would never let that statement slide. The Bible was never intended to be ignored when “real life” hits or used to excuse sinful behavior. It is a sword. Its purpose is to penetrate hearts and to destroy sin! Why? Sin produces regrets. Sin separates us from God’s blessing. It’s our desire to be the kind of church that produces workers that have no need to be ashamed.
James compares the Bible to a mirror. We look into God’s word and it reflects back to us all the things that honor God and all those things that do not. Then throughout the New Testament, we are exhorted as believers that we no longer need to be a slave to our sin because Christ came to set us free. We are free to pursue righteousness. We are free to serve God! We’re free to pursue activities that produce God’s blessing in our lives – that have eternal benefits. Romans 6:22 says:
…now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life
We use God’s word in the lives of believers to help them to CUT OUT SIN! TO DESTROY SIN! Sin is deadly – like cancer – and needs to be cut out so it won’t hurt people any more. We want you to experience God’s blessing, not the wages of sin.
If you choose to sin, you choose to suffer. We don’t want that for you! The very best thing you could ever do is to follow Christ and to heap up mounds of God’s blessing as you obey His Word. We want that for you!
Canyon Bible Church has a desire to help believers rightly handle the Word of God:
#3 Using the Bible as the Center for Kingdom Conversations
For the Unbeliever:
Does a person need to have perfect theology in order to turn their heart toward Jesus? Of course not! When I decided to follow Jesus, my theology needed a lot of work. So did yours! We don’t debate non-essential theology with unbelievers here.
I talked with a Buddhist this week who said that his Buddhist temple would often invite the Mormons over to have debates. You’ll never see us stage a debate like that in one of our services. Look at verse 16:
16 But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness,
Irreverent babble in the Greek means “empty discussion, discussion of vain and useless matters.”
I’m not saying that theology is a vain and useless matter. I love theology and we teach theology at Canyon. I am saying that arguing non-essential theology – like the order of end times events – with a person who does not know Christ is not very effective witnessing tool and could serve as a distraction. It would be like firemen showing up at a five alarm fire and getting into an argument about whether a Kenworth or a Freightliner fire truck is superior. It doesn’t matter! Just put out the flames! Talk about your trucks later. Our job is not to argue people into heaven. It won’t work anyway. Our job is to proclaim the gospel and let the Holy Spirit do His work!
We believe that a sinner is saved through grace alone, by faith alone, in Christ alone. Romans 10:9 says it best:
…if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. That’s the gospel!
We are excited about God’s Word at Canyon because it is the very best possible news that a sinner could ever hear! They can have forgiveness for their sin and finally be right with God! Let’s use it to have Kingdom conversations with those who are lost about their need of a Savior.
For the believer:
The people who make up this local church fellowship – a family of God – may come from all kinds of different backgrounds, but what is the one thing we have in common? Jesus!
Canyon is the kind of church that encourages kingdom conversations in every meeting and event. You will rarely see a meeting of any size at any level at this church where the Word of God is not opened and discussed. We are a church with an open Bible. As a Bible church, we believe the center of every Sunday morning teaching, every small group meeting, every discussion group, every prayer meeting, every counseling session should be the Word of God.
We don’t take ourselves too seriously here, but we take the pursuit of Christ and the study of His word very seriously.
Life Application
Ultimately, as a Church, we want each one of you to “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”
How does that happen?
- By being a diligent student of the Word
- By using the Word of God to cut out sin
- By obeying God’s commands and then enjoying God’s blessings
We want to help you do those things. Canyon wants to stand with you in the process of discipleship. That’s the kind of church this is and we think that should be the desire of every church in this area.
Let’s end our time by praying for this new church and the other churches here in our area who endeavor to rightly handle the Word of Truth.
Teaching Outline
Rightly handling: cutting it straight.”
The purpose of God’s Word is to conquer souls and subject them to the authority of Jesus Christ.
Canyon Bible Church has a desire to help believers rightly handle the Word of God:#1 By Diligently Pursuing Jesus 2 Tim 2:15a, 19
#1 By Diligently Pursuing Jesus 2 Tim 2:15a, 19
#2 By Using God’s Word to Identify Sin 2 Tim 2:15
Romans 6:22 says:
…now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life
#3 Using the Bible as the Center for Kingdom Conversations 2 Tim 2:16
Romans 10:9 says it best:
…if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Application
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” 2 Tim 2:15
How does that happen?
- By being a diligent student of the Word
- By using the Word of God to cut out sin
- By obeying God’s commands and then enjoying God’s blessings
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