Celebrating God’s Truth Even in Difficult Times

This morning I have the privilege of concluding the year 2020 on this last Sunday in December. At the conclusion of this year in just a few short days, the “Seeing More Clearly Capital Campaign” will be completely concluded. And by God’s grace that will have been a successful capital campaign and the North End Community center will be completely debt free. Praise the Lord for that!

But I have reflected on the irony of the name of the capital campaign…”Seeing More Clearly.” It was titled cleverly because of the year 2020…like 20/20 vision. Now, tell me God doesn’t have a sense of humor…

In all reality though, 2020 has been a year of seeing a whole lot more clearly…we may not like what we’re seeing, but wow did God choose a year to show us as individuals, and as a church, and as a country who we really are…

Pastor’s Viars at the start of the pandemic encouraged our entire church family to do 3things…1) get into your Bible a lot, and 2) limit the amount of news you were intaking and 3) follow the statistics...not the opinions.

Well, especially if you’ve heeded his advice on #1 and #2, would you agree that there has been a lot that we’ve seen clearly.

2020 and all its pressures of a pandemic, civil unrest and protesting, political unrest, economic insecurity, and so forth have revealed a painfully divided nation rather than a united one. A fearful, angry nation rather than a grateful one. A greedy nation that has bought more junk and stuff in 2020 than in the previous few years of a much stronger economy, rather than a generous one.

Although, we’ve seen that very clearly, what has often been voiced by folks that I’ve spoken with or folks on social media and news, and so forth, is confusion about what has happened…where did this come from? What has happened to America?

Our church believes in the sufficient word of God, and that’s why we are so committed to biblical counseling. Well, anyone that has done any amount of counseling can see how where we are as a nation, is often where individuals find themselves when they come into counseling…they are asking the same questions of themselves that we’re asking of our nation…

• how did I get here?

• What happened?

• How did it get this bad?

Well, what we do with individuals is we open up the truth of God’s Word and show them how God’s Word helps them make sense of their past, and their choices.

That’s one of the reasons why this year’s annual theme was “Celebrating God’s Truth.” And what a perfect theme for the year 2020. In a year where so many of the normal things we’d celebrate got messed up, we can still celebrate God’s Truth, because even in a pandemic God’s Word is truthful, and powerful, and sufficient, and satisfying!

By no means is this the last Sunday that we’ll individually or as a church Celebrate God’s Truth…but it is the last Sunday where our church will explicitly think about that theme.

And the passage that we’ve chosen this morning is 2 Timothy 3:1–17. But before we turn there, return back to how we help counselees make sense of their past, and their choices and their current circumstances. We open up God’s Word with them…and in 2 Timothy 2:24­–26 Paul tells Timothy,

²⁴ The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, ²⁵ with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, ²⁶ and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.

Grab ahold of the phrase in v.26…”they may come to their senses.” Friends, that’s one of things that I think God wants every single person to do…come to their senses…he doesn’t want them to be confused. He wants you and me to understand…to come to our senses about why our country is in the position it’s in…and more importantly to understand where we are in relationship to him.

Well that’s what our text this morning is going to do…help us come to our senses.

So as we read 1 Timothy 3…think about why we can Celebrate God’s Truth Even In Difficult Times.

[Read 1 Timothy 3]

This morning, we are looking at 3 Choices to make during difficult days.

Remember that hard times come to all people (v.1)

The first choice to make is to Remember that hard times come to all people.

And remembering is a choice. You’re not a victim of your memory…I know many people who would say well I just have a terrible memory, or it’s really hard for me to remember…God’s answer to you would be, “I know! That’s why I continually repeat myself in Scripture and remind you over and over again to remember!”

And I love how v.1 states this…

(NASB) 2 Timothy 3:1 - But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.

(ESV) 2 Timothy 3:1 – But understand this…

(NIV) 2 Timothy 3:1 – But mark this…

It’s almost like Paul was certain that this was going to be a truth that we were going to struggle to grasp. Now, on the surface it’s really not that hard to understand. Difficult days will come, and we can read the list of wickedness in vv.2–3 and nod our heads and say, yup I get it. But there is something much more challenging about experiencing the difficult days and wickedness rather than just reading about…especially when those difficult days just seem to continue and to linger on and on and on.

When that happens that can cause people to “lose their senses” as we talked about in the introduction. They can start to forget the simple teaching of a passage like this that in the last days, difficult times will come.

And God knows it’s hard for us to remember which is why this passage isn’t the only one to state this truth. In the gospel of John, right before Jesus was betrayed, he was preparing his disciples for what they would experience in the world…

John 15:18–19 ¹⁸ “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. ¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.

1 Peter 4:12–13 ¹² Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; ¹³ but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.

And the phrase “last days” in v.1 is referring to the time period between the ascension of Jesus Christ and when he will return at his second coming. So we are living in the last days, so we must remember—realize, understand, mark that there will be difficult days.

And Paul goes on to explain why that will be the case.

And we can summarize his point in vv.2–5 like this…there will be difficult days and times of trouble because of the wickedness of humanity.

Because of the wickedness of humanity (vv.2–5a)

The list Paul gives us is a fairly lengthy list describing the wickedness not just that people are capable of, but the wickedness that is evident and that Timothy would have been well acquainted with in Ephesus.

2 Timothy 3:2–5 ² For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, ⁴ treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power…

Each one of those vices could be a mini sermon in and of themselves. But every person in this room could give story after story of real world experiences in their life of the truth of what Paul is saying…let’s just think briefly about a couple.

Would you agree that ungratefulness is a bit of an epidemic in our culture? I don’t know everything…maybe I should repeat that for my own sake again…I don’t know everything! But you would have thought that if a pandemic had hit our world and caused thousands of people to lose their jobs, and some industries would almost be totally shut down and still remain extremely diminished, that Christmas of that year might be a little more lean…and there is no question that for many families and individuals it is, so I want to be careful in how I say this. But the challenge that UPS is facing of not being able to keep up with all the shipping this holiday doesn’t indicate a leaner holiday in general.

In fact, the pandemic didn’t seem to hurt spending but help spending, and of course our government thought that we all needed $1,200 more spending money…and maybe that’s why the groceries stores couldn’t stay stocked…we all just went and bought $1,200 extra in groceries!

Or what about irreconcilable…I think we’ve seen that through this election cycle. 2020 has been a year where people have ran fast to divide rather than running fast to reconcile.

Or what about disobedient to parents? Children have always struggled with disobedience, but our culture has never been in such a crazy place to where parents are abdicating their role as the parent and expecting obedience. And for those parents…many of the parents who will hear this message, raising your children in a culture where other parents don’t do their job, makes your job increasingly difficult.

Now, one thing to notice about this list, is how it is bookended characteristics of misplaced love.

So you have lovers of self, and lovers of money…and then in v.5 you have lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God…

The wickedness in the world can be summed up by misplaced love.

And that’s even why Jesus said Matthew 22:37–40

37 And He said to him, “ ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ 38 This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ 40 On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

If you’re love is in the right place, then so will your life. But if your love is out of place, then everything in between lovers of self and lovers of pleasure in vv.2–5 will be growing in your life, which it’s no wonder those are growing rapidly in our culture.

The love of self is really the main issue we face. We don’t struggle with low-self esteem we struggle with loving ourselves way, way too much!

The eighteenth-century preacher Samuel Johnson said, “He that overvalues himself will undervalue others. And he that undervalues others will oppose them.” Self-love alienates men from God and from each other. Self-love is the supreme enemy of godliness and of genuine friendship and fellowship.^[1]

That quote right there should also help us understand why if we live out what Jesus said in Matthew 22:37–40 that will still experience difficulty!

If we seek to love others according to the truth, because they love themselves so much and undervalue you so much, they will have no problem opposing you, harming you or slandering you.

Because of godly living (v.12)

And that’s what Paul explicitly tells us in v.12.

2 Timothy 3:12 ¹² Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

That’s very important to keep remembering. There are difficult days because of the wickedness of people…including ourselves! But there are also going to be difficult days if you are serious about pursing godly living.

There are tons of examples in America today…and tons of examples in the church in America today…not just in the secular culture.

• If you desire to live a godly life by upholding the clear Biblical teaching on marriage that was laid down in the first pages of Genesis and is affirmed all the way to the last pages of Revelation you will find their to be difficult days.

• If you desire to live as a godly parent…you’ll find plenty of opposition even in the church to following the clear principles of authority and discipline and obedience in Scripture.

• If you desire to live as a godly single adult…you’ll find plenty of difficulty in a church culture that has largely relegated the clear biblical teaching on sex as outdated…

• Or if you desire to live a sober life free from drunkenness and drugs…you’ll find lots of opposition being labeled a “legalist”, “fundamentalist,” or out of touch with the times…

• Or how about trying to live focused life and not living on social media and your phone 24/7…or maybe even choosing not to have a smart phone? You might find times of difficulty as people think you’re weird, not cool, uncultured or whatever else “I’ve been called”…I mean whatever “people have been called.”

But know this, it’s worth it to go through difficult days for godly living. It’s worth it because of Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:15 ¹⁵ and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.

1 Corinthians 6:19–20 ¹⁹ Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? ²⁰ For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

So remember, you were purchased with the precious blood of Jesus…redeemed from living in vv.2–5 so that you could live upright and godly lives in the present age for his glory!

So remember that difficult days do come. But also, Pursue right relationships.

Pursue right relationships (vv.5b–13)

And there are 2 parts to pursuing right relationships. There is a pursuing and following right relationships and there is also the avoiding of sinful, destructive relationships.

Avoid sinful, destructive relationships (v.5b–9)

That’s what we see in vv.5b–9.

2 Timothy 3:5b–9 ⁵ …Avoid such men as these. ⁶ For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, ⁷ always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. ⁸ Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith. ⁹ But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all, just as Jannes’s and Jambres’s folly was also.

Now a key interpretive question has to do with who these men are that we should avoid. There is a general principle to avoid men that are going to be destructive to your relationship with the Lord…that doesn’t mean don’t seek to share the gospel with the lost, or to reach out into the world to serve others. So we have to be careful not to become to hyper in separating.

But there is a clear command and imperative that Paul gives here that we must avoid such men.

The phrase in v.5 that I think helps us understand this, and also is a bit haunting is the phrase, “holding to a form of godliness, although denying it’s power.”

Now, think about that…in that long list of wicked vices in vv.2–5, Paul finishes with “holding to a form of godliness, although denying it’s power.” Friends, I think the whole list is referring to people who claim to know Christ and to follow Christ and yet, vv.2–5 is what characterize their life. We want to be the Lord’s servant as we looked at in 2 Timothy 2:24–25 ²⁴ The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, ²⁵ with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth…

But notice, that repentance isn’t guaranteed if you do your part as the Lord’s bond-servant…at a certain point, if they will not respond to the teaching and correction then we need to stop engaging them and avoid them. And I think Paul especially has in mind, those people who are going to infiltrate the church and manipulate others and spread rebellion.

You see the infiltration and manipulation in vv.6–7…these men are going after the weak, teaching them in order to lead them astray.

And a phrase that has always stuck out to me is v.7, “always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.” Friends, we want to constantly be learning…as Pastor Folden preached on last week, we want to be growing in our understanding of the height and depth and breadth of God’s love for us! But all that understanding, and learning should be arriving at more and more of a certainty and assurance of what is true!

We should be growing steadfast in the truth, rather than just going from one wave of doctrine and teaching to the next…we shouldn’t be Christians who follow the “flavor” of Christianity that is popular today…we should be following the sufficient, finished Word of God which is where the chapter ends and will get to later this morning.

So there are important things for the church to learn and grow in every season…but you can see how the racial tension and justice movement as become a “flavor” of Christianity…and the sad part is, Jesus Christ cares about racism and God’s children should care about racism and do something about it…but it’s our Savior’s cross, and his death and his resurrection that actually deals with racism…you can’t replace the center of Christianity with something else.

Same thing for government…politics matter. But did you know that Jesus Christ is the prophesied King who will reign from the throne of David and his peace and his dominion and his kingdom will have no end? So we will not solve the government and political issues by replacing Jesus with a focus on a presidential candidate or party platform!

But that’s what the false teachers in Paul’s day were doing…and that’s what the false teachers in our day are doing. They have an appearance of godliness but deny it’s power…they talk about Jesus, but they care a whole lot more about their agenda and so they infiltrate into the church in order to lead others astray.

In vv.8–9 we have the mention of 2 names…neither of which show up anywhere else in Scripture.

2 Timothy 3:8–9 ⁸ Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith. ⁹ But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all, just as Jannes’s and Jambres’s folly was also.

But when you read the text, apparently Paul didn’t even have to give any explanation of these characters…he expects Timothy and his readers to know who they are.

John MacArthur comments on this passage saying:

Although Jannes and Jambres are not mentioned in Exodus or anywhere else in the Old Testament, they may have been among the magicians in the pharaoh’s court who duplicated many of the miracles the Lord performed through Moses. Because Jannes perhaps means “he who seduces” and Jambres “he who makes rebellion,” those may have been symbolic names given to these men at a later time. Jewish tradition holds that they pretended to convert to Judaism in order to subvert Moses’ divine assignment to liberate Israel from Egypt, that they led in making and worshiping the golden calf while Moses was on Mt. Sinai receiving the Law from God, and that they were slaughtered by the Levites along with the other idolaters (see Ex. 32). That possibility is consistent with Paul’s warning about false leaders who corrupt the church from within. Just as those two men opposed Moses in his teaching and leading ancient Israel, so these men in Ephesus also oppose[d] the truth of the gospel.^[2]

Manipulation – meaning of ‘Jannes’

So Jannes may mean “one who seduces” which fits the context well of what Paul warns against. So watch out for people who want to manipulate others in the church for their own agenda…avoid them!

Rebellion – meaning of ‘Jambres’

And Jamebres may mean “he who makes rebellion” which again fits the context well. The character of these people is described in vv.2–5.

And the worst part of their character is that they have an appearance of godliness…like a wolf in sheep’s clothing…but they deny it’s power.

They name the name of Jesus, but they deny his power to actually help us make significant changes in our life. They use the Bible, but then just deny the clear truthfulness and power of Scripture by making cultural arguments, or medical arguments, or personality arguments, or they quarrel over words as Paul warns in the previous chapter in v.14…all for the purpose of denying the true power of God and his word.

Well, avoid those people. And Follow Faithful Examples.

Follow Faithful Examples (vv.10–13)

So avoiding sinful, destructive relationships and people that just want to manipulate and stir up rebellion is just the negative side…the positive side is a pursuit of the right relationships. You do this by following the right examples.

2 Timothy 3:10–13 ¹⁰ Now you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, ¹¹ persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium and at Lystra; what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord rescued me! ¹² Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. ¹³ But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

We come summarize the kind of examples we should follow with two characteristics…their teaching and their life. Clearly we see Paul’s teaching as part of the example.

Paul’s Teaching

What he says and teaches is crucial. You need to always start with that. Don’t follow someone because of how they dress. Don’t follow someone because of how much money they have, or how many Facebook friends, or followers they have…

The first test of who to follow is what do they believe and teach. And where the text will go next is their teaching needs to line up with the Scriptures.

The second test, once they’ve passed the test on what they believe and what they teach is their life…and Paul’s Life was part of the example.

Paul’s Life

He didn’t just teach the truth, he lived the truth. And he says as much…”his conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love perseverance, persecutions, and sufferings…”

Pastor Viars has made the comment many times that the best way to reach others and to reach your community is on the basis of a changed and changing life!

That’s what Paul is pointing to…his life that has been changed, and is continuing to change because of the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

So there really is a two-fold application or evaluation for you in this part in the sermon…

• Are you actively following strong godly examples? Are you pursuing building relationships that you are trying to imitate and learn from?

I am so thankful for Faith Church…I’m a young guy on staff that really has been blessed significantly by the foundation that has been built of years and decades of faithful teaching and living out the good news of the gospel. And as a result, there are lots of examples around here to latch onto.

So I’m especially speaking to the new believers (whether young or old), and to the younger crowd…are you taking advantage of the examples that are in our church? If you’re not sure who is a good example, I’d encourage you to ask any of our pastors. We’d love a question like, “Hey I’m really wanting to grow in 2020 in my relationship with the Lord and I was wondering if you knew any godly men or women who would be good for me to get to know?”

The good news is, that’s not a small list…we have a long list.

The second part of this is:

• Are you seeking to line your beliefs, and life up with the Word of God so that you’re in the position of Paul to say to others, “Hey follow me?”

Now the point is not simply to have people follow you…but to call people to follow your example to the degree that you are following Christ! This is what Paul told Timothy in his first letter to him,

1 Timothy 4:11–13 ¹¹ Prescribe and teach these things. ¹² Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe. ¹³ Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching.

And then a couple verses later he says,

1 Timothy 4:15–16 ¹⁵ Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all. ¹⁶ Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.

So I’ll ask again, in the words of the verse we just read, “Are you showing yourself as an example to all? Are you taking pains to be absorbed in the Scriptures so that your progress will be evident to all so that you can be one of the examples that a younger believer should cling to!”

So I would encourage every person in this room, make it a goal in 2021 to build at least 1 relationship with someone that is an example like Paul, and/or to build a relationship with someone that you can be a Paul-like example to.

So in difficult days…really in all days, but especially difficult days we need to Remember that hard times do come, and we need to pursue right relationships.

But there is one more critical choice to make, and that is to Hold Fast to God’s Word.

Hold fast to God’s Word (vv.14–17)

This passage of Scripture, especially vv.16–17 are very familiar verses if you’ve been around our church for any length of time. They are foundational to our commitment to Biblical Counseling. But don’t miss the context that these verses are in…which is why we wanted to end 2020 by looking at the entire chapter of 2 Timothy 3 and not just the end…

In the context of difficult days…in the context of a world that is upside down…in the context of attacks on the church from the inside and outside the answer is still to cling to the sufficient scriptures.

So I hope you can still visualize watching Pastor Viars on your screen when we were just doing virtual church and him telling us, 1) limit your news intake, and 2) get a lot of time in your Bible.

That’s what Paul tells us to do here!

Instead of being malicious gossips, like v.3 says—can you say news outlets and media? Or v.7 always learning and never able to arrive at the knowledge of the truth—can any say Corona Virus???

Instead of that, we should KNOW OUR BIBLE!

Know the Bible (vv.14–15)

2 Timothy 3:14–15 ¹⁴ You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, ¹⁵ and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Even though, there will be difficult days, even though the wheels might be flying off culturally speaking, even though v.13 is true, that evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

Even though all that is true, what is Timothy supposed to do? He’s supposed to continue in what he’s learned…which is the sacred writings…it’s the Scriptures…it’s the Word of God!

What are we supposed to do? Exactly what Timothy is told by Paul, continue in the Scriptures. Continue to know them, continue to study them.

This world is getting crazy…the year 2020 was one of the craziest years that any of us have been alive! And the good news is, that doesn’t mean that we throw out the Bible and now go search for a new book, or a new source to make us wise.

That’s what the world does, that what the false teachers do, they lead others astray and are constantly learning but never able to arrive at the knowledge of the truth! Friends, as believers we need to be arriving at the knowledge of the truth…always learning, always studying but actually growing more convinced of what is true.

In Ecclesiastes 12, Solomon concludes by saying in vv.11–12:

Ecclesiastes 12:11–12 ¹¹ The words of wise men are like goads, and masters of these collections are like well-driven nails; they are given by one Shepherd. ¹² But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body.

You see what Solomon is saying? Even in the time period he lived, he said there is no end to the writing of books and knowledge…if you just go after knowledge it will just wear you out! Quite frankly, I look around and talk to people that are worn about by the politics, and the news, and the virus…well what’s the answer?

• Stop searching all that stuff and know the Bible…grab ahold of the Sacred writings which are able to give you wisdom that leads to salvation through faith in which is Christ Jesus!

But, these words, these Scriptures don’t just lead you to salvation, they also lead you to LIVE THE BIBLE!

Live the Bible (vv.16–17)

2 Timothy 3:16–17 ¹⁶ All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; ¹⁷ so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

You see God’s Word isn’t just about saving your soul, it’s also about helping you live differently right now, in this present age.

We rightly look around at our culture and are shocked by the wickedness and confusion. We are shocked by the violence, we are shocked by the greed, we are shocked by the division. Well, would you agree that we might need some teaching? How about some reproof and correction? How about training in righteousness!

Friends, I love how freeing this chapter is…when things are out of control what do you cling to? The Word of God!

• When you’re not sure what to do, or how to think, or how to respond where do you turn? To the Word of God!

• If struggling, and failing in living righteously, where do you turn? To the sufficient Word of God!

Church’s have and are sadly leaving the sufficient Word of God and turning to other sources of truth to try and help them.

• Church’s might turn to medicine and doctors to solve the chaos in our lives that is in vv.2–5…but the chaos won’t be solved apart from the Scriptures which can you lead you to salvation, and to a changed life.

• Church’s might turn to all kinds social agendas…if we help fix education, or racism or poverty, then the world will be set right.

• But the sufficient word of God is clear that only Jesus Christ and the good news of gospel can really get to the heart of those issues.

• So seek to help in those areas, but through and with the powerful sufficient Word of God.

We could go on and on with examples…

But in v.5 there are those that have an appearance of godliness but they deny it’s power! What do you think it looks to deny the power of God? It looks like claiming to be a Christian and claiming to follow God, but then when it comes down to how to live your everyday life you take your of truth from some other source.

• So maybe you’re a Christian businessman, but you don’t actually seek run your business in a way that would please Jesus. Rather, you’ve bought into all kinds of secular strategies that aren’t rooted in Scripture?

• That would be a way to deny the power of God…

• Maybe you buy more into all the personality tests than you do into the sufficient word of God.

• Or maybe your student, who is just mimicking the studying habits and cramming techniques, and corner cutting that many students take to just get the grade to just get onto the next grade rather than submitting your schooling and how you go about it to the sufficient word of God.

• Or maybe you’re dating someone, and it isn’t being submitted to the sufficient word of God, but rather is just the world’s conception of dating…

My point is, don’t fall into the category of claiming to follow God and trust in Christ and then functionally live the majority of your life apart from Scripture.

All of us struggle with that. So I hope that 2021 will be a year, not when we hope to go back to normal…but a year that we can hope to grow in knowing and living out the Bible for God’s glory and other’s good!

Let’s pray to that end.

^[1] John F. MacArthur Jr., 2 Timothy (MacArthur New Testament Commentary; Chicago: Moody Press, 1995), 111.

^[2] John F. MacArthur Jr., 2 Timothy (MacArthur New Testament Commentary; Chicago: Moody Press, 1995), 120.