boldness in every scenario and opportunity we find in our lives.

Lord, we pray that you be with us as we go throughout this week.

pray that you will be with those who are traveling, those who are away from us.

Pray that they have safety and return home safely as well.

We pray for those who are dealing with illnesses and pray especially for those who are

struggling spiritually.

We pray that they might

look to your word for guidance and for strength to hold fast to what you would have them

to do and always strive to walk diligently before you.

Lord, we pray that you forgive us when we sin and fall short of your glory as we know that

we all do.

All this we pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

Paul instructs Timothy to teach the things which he is teaching Timothy.

Now that doesn’t really seem like much of a surprise since Paul’s writing to a young

preacher teaching him what to teach.

But it is important to realize that as Paul is teaching Timothy what to teach, he’s also

teaching us what to teach.

And He is giving instructions that we also need to follow and the things that we need to

make sure that we are careful to declare as well.

Paul says in verse 9 of chapter 4, this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance.

For to this end, we both labor and suffer reproach because we trust in the living God.

who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe, these things command and

teach.” Paul doesn’t leave it up to Timothy’s uh ability to surmise, to guess, or to

wonder, or to even educatedly study what it is that he should teach.

He tells him, you are to teach these things.

But then he says, verse 12, let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the

believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

As Paul gives this instruction to Timothy, the first thing we should realize is that

Timothy is not an 18-year-old when Paul gives this instruction.

Timothy is likely around 30 years old when Paul gives this instruction.

But is a 30-year-old someone who is youthful?

It depends on how old the other person is you’re comparing them to, right?

To an 18-year-old, they’re an old fogie.

But to a 70-year-old or a 60-year-old, they got a lot of living and experience left to do,

left to gain.

Maybe they’re young, maybe they’re married, maybe they’re not.

You know, thinking about today, preacher who’s 30.

Maybe they’re just…

getting started with their family.

Now, is it possible for a preacher to teach on something he’s never lived in experience

himself personally?

Absolutely.

Let’s throw out an example from the scriptures.

Alright, Paul taught on marriage.

All evidence from scripture, Paul wasn’t married.

So how could Paul teach on marriage if Paul’s not married?

All right, from the authority of the revelation of God.

Paul could teach what God said about marriage.

And guess what?

Not only would he teach what God said, not only would he be able to teach it accurately,

but he’d be right every time.

Now, does that mean that there’s nothing gained by experience?

Not at all.

What is the difference between a person who has learned about something and a person who

has learned about it and lived it?

What do we typically use, there’s kind of one word out there in the English language we

use to describe the difference between those two?

Experience or wisdom?

If you’ve learned about it, you have knowledge.

If you’ve learned about it, applied it with experience, you have wisdom that is gained and

insight that is gained only through the experience.

Okay?

It’s additional knowledge, but it’s application of knowledge.

So there are times where the knowledge is sufficient.

And then there are times where you need knowledge and experience and wisdom.

And sometimes you need counsel and advice and others to support you.

What does the book of Proverbs tell us about counsel?

to seek counsel, to seek wisdom.

It also says that in the multitude of counsel, there is safety.

The Proverbs writer in writing about wisdom says, you’re not doing things very

intelligently if you don’t talk to those who are more experienced than you.

Now the reason why I say more experienced is it’s not really a counselor if they have less

experience than you, right?

If they’ve got less experience than you have, then they’re not really a counselor, they’re

just giving you their opinion.

So, counsel is someone who has more experience than you do, and you go to them seeking

their advice and their wisdom.

There are times where Timothy is supposed to teach.

But you see from both Paul’s writings to Timothy and to Titus that there are times that

Timothy is supposed to teach others so that those others can teach others.

Over in 2 Timothy chapter 2, you find Paul instructing Timothy to teach faithful men that

they in turn will teach others because they’ll find people in their time that they are

able to teach that have no interaction with Timothy.

But Paul tells Titus in Titus chapter 2 that Titus is supposed to teach the older women

and the older women are supposed to teach who?

The younger women.

Why is it that the older women need to teach the younger women?

Is it because Titus can’t understand what the Holy Spirit says to younger women?

Alright.

The experience that the older women have of living better prepares them to teach the

younger women in the topics that were under discussion.

How to love their husbands.

Does Titus have a lot of experience on how to love his husband?

No.

He wasn’t married by all indications of scripture at the time and he doesn’t have one.

Alright.

So

There are some things that are important to be taught with experience.

There are some things that are important to be taught with knowledge.

There are some things that are important to be taught with knowledge, wisdom, counsel,

instruction, and support.

But Paul leaves it in the responsibility of Timothy, of Titus, to make sure that the right

things are being taught.

What if, use the scenario, a good-natured, kind-hearted, elderly woman in the church

decides to start teaching her opinions about how marriage should work, and they don’t

agree with the Scriptures?

Is Titus or Timothy supposed to say, you know what, the older women got to teach the

younger women.

I can’t even control over that.

I don’t have any authority to put an end to that.

Absolutely not.

He has all the authority he needs to put an end to that.

As a matter of fact, you might remember that if we go back to verse 7, Paul tells Timothy,

reject profane and old wives’ fables and exercise yourself toward godliness.

Paul gives into Timothy’s hands the role and responsibility of making sure that the right

thing is being taught.

But that doesn’t mean that Timothy has to do all of the teaching himself.

Timothy has a responsibility to teach others so that they can teach others as well.

But as Paul writes this, he says, let no one despise

look down upon, belittle you for your youth.

but rather be an example.

Now, as Paul makes this do let no one despise your youth statement, he offsets it with a

contrast because you will have individuals despise your youth if you aren’t an example of

these things.

If you rather are an example

as we go through the list, if you’re an example of ignorance of the Word.

If you just say things and you don’t know what you’re telling people, you don’t know what

you’re saying, you’re a novice and you’re youthful and you just say it as if it’s so, yet

you’ve never studied it.

If you are not an example in conduct, you know, one of the things that is probably the

hardest thing to overcome as a young preacher is if you’ve got a lot of bad habits.

Imagine how hard it is for an elderly Christian who’s been a Christian for 30 or 40 years

to continually listen to a preacher preaching who’s got a lot of bad habits.

They’re constantly doing the wrong thing.

They’re reacting the wrong…

Now, when I say bad habits, I don’t mean that they get their adverbs and their adjectives

confused.

I’m talking about the conduct of life.

They don’t make wise choices, yet they’re supposed to be teaching others.

They don’t pay attention to the things that are matters of holiness, yet they’re supposed

to be teaching others.

They’re not living a life in their conduct that could be patterned after, yet they’re

supposed to be teaching others.

If an individual comes forth who is saying, I’m going to be teaching others, but they

don’t first live what they teach.

It’s going to be very hard for people to not despise their youth.

But then consider, says, not only in word, in conduct, but in love.

It is the role and responsibility of a minister to love the sheep.

The contrast that we noticed back when we were in chapter 3 of the eldership, when we went

all the way back into Ezekiel, and Ezekiel was talking about the shepherds in Israel that

God condemned, and then the contrast of the shepherd that God approved of.

And the ones he condemned were those who used the sheep to their own benefit.

They consumed the sheep, they devoured the sheep, they took advantage of the sheep, they

did all of those things because they didn’t care about the sheep.

The sheep were there to serve them.

In contrast, God’s picture of a good shepherd is one who cares for the sheep, who tends

the sheep, who helps the sheep when they’re sick, feeds the sheep, develops their ability

to be strong, and protects them.

Why?

Because he loves them.

Now you have a challenge as a preacher.

Those who haven’t lived it may have had some similar experiences, but it’s a little

different.

Those who’ve grown up in preacher’s families or have lived it know that sometimes if

you’ve spent time in a lot of different congregations, you’re not too terribly quick to

build really strong relationships in the congregation you’re at.

because sometimes your perception is, well, I’m only going to be here couple years.

Then we’ll move again.

And it’s kind of heart wrenching when you build really great relationships in a

congregation and two years later or three years later, you’re gone.

But think about it for a moment.

How long did Jesus have to build a relationship with his disciples?

three, three and a half years.

Do you think Jesus held back on that relationship?

He’s like, huh, it’s only gonna be around for about three years.

No.

The other side of that, sometimes it’s not the moving that’s the hard part.

It’s that you build a relationship with someone who then turns against you while you’re

there.

One of the things that we found interesting in our life, my parents’ time in ministry, and

Dad’s been preaching since 1983, so quite a few years, is when you go and try out for a

congregation and go through that application process and come and speak.

It’s kind of been our experience that the family that tends to be the most vocal about

wanting you to come and work there ends up being one of your biggest struggles.

And a lot of times it’s not because of the fact that they’re intentionally that way, but

they tend to be the family that wants to be in charge.

And so you come in and you think, all right, this is a great opportunity.

I’ve gotten to know these folks.

They’re great.

And the moment that you’re at odds with what they want to do, they’re not on your team

anymore.

Paul’s writing to Timothy, it’s important to notice the contrast between this letter and 2

Timothy.

When Paul’s writing to Timothy in 2 Timothy, Timothy is in a crisis.

Timothy is going through difficulty and it’s a crisis by all indication of the text from

inside the church.

And the challenge that Timothy faces is one of his own internal struggles and the church.

And Paul’s working him through that.

But Paul, as he writes this letter, says, Timothy, you have to be an example to the

believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, and in purity.

You have to build yourself spiritually.

You can’t just build others.

There are times where teachers and preachers, ministers and missionaries and elders get

burnt out.

They get burnt out most of the time because they spend all their time trying to help

everyone else and don’t spend enough time making sure they’re where they need to be.

They’re not spending enough time growing themselves spiritually.

How well can a tree grow fruit if the tree’s receiving no nourishment?

It can’t.

How well can the vine grow grapes if the vine has been cut off at its base?

It can’t.

And so eventually not only does the vine die, but everything that it’s trying to grow

dies.

Paul writes to Timothy and says, you must first take care of you.

You must first be an example.

Otherwise your commands and your teaching become ineffective.

They become that which is of no profit.

But as he gives this instruction, those six categories, to be an example in word, in

conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity, he lays a challenge in front of Timothy.

This is what you must be in order to teach what you must teach.

But then he says, “‘Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation,

to doctrine.

As he counsels Timothy, he reminds Timothy, have to be in the Word.

You have to give attention to certain things.

You’ll notice in the list is not visiting, it’s not the sick, it’s not the

person who wants to sit and chat.

It’s not breakfast with the members.

What’s in the list?

Reading?

exhortation, and doctrine.

Now, reading is something that Timothy does.

Exhortation is something someone does to Timothy.

Paul gives the instruction that Timothy needs to be in the Scriptures himself, and then

Timothy also needs to be learning from others.

And then Timothy always needs to be measuring everything that he learns and reads against

sound doctrine.

What might Timothy have read which originated with Christians but wasn’t inspired by the

Holy Spirit?

Pause for a moment and think about it.

We know the early church existed.

We know that there were teachers and preachers.

Do you think any of them wrote anything down from their own study, from their own

knowledge?

As a matter of fact, Luke tells us as he writes his record of the life of Christ, actually

let’s turn over there and read it.

Luke chapter 1.

because I want us to appreciate something that maybe sometimes we lose sight of.

Luke chapter 1 verse 1, inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of

those things which have been fulfilled among us.

When Luke writes that down, he doesn’t mean Matthew, Mark, Luke, or Matthew, Mark, and

John equal many.

Does he?

Luke is telling us that in the early church there were many individuals who had taken the

time to sit down and to write out the things which they had learned and experienced even

in regard to their interactions with Jesus.

So could those things have been among the things which Timothy read?

Could those things have circulated and been passed around the early church?

Absolutely.

But we also have mention of letters that we don’t have in Scripture that haven’t been

retained for us by the providence of God.

Paul writes to Corinth a third time that we’re aware of, and yet we don’t have a record of

that letter.

So there are letters and there are things that are going around the churches that Timothy

will have opportunity to read.

But as he reads, he needs to measure that against the doctrine that originates with God.

oh

the origination of that source material as it were from the Holy Spirit.

So he needs to give attention to reading to exhortation of the doctrine.

Now those things, says you can’t leave these behind.

You can’t grow far enough, study long enough where you no longer need to give attention to

these things.

But does he say, Timothy, you need to spend all your time doing these things?

No, he doesn’t say that either.

Paul says you must give attention, you must give priority to these things because

otherwise you won’t be equipped to teach.

But you must not, he does not say, but you must spend all of your time in the study.

You’ve got to get a good 70 hours a week in that study, otherwise you’re not going to be

equipped to be a preacher.

Some have said that as you study and prepare,

Some have suggested you have about 10 hours of preparation for every one hour of

presentation.

Well, if you deliver a Bible class, two sermons, and a Wednesday night lesson, how many

hours do you have in preparation for those four hours of presentation?

Forty hours.

Now one of the things that you learn when you’re not starting out in preaching, but you’ve

been doing it for a while, is you get compounding value out of your study, if you’ve

studied diligently through the years.

Because believe it or not, the first year Greek student doesn’t understand Greek nearly as

well as the 40 year Greek student does.

The 40 year Greek student has some advantages, he’s been doing it for 40 years.

If someone gets hired in a job and they’re in the first year that they’ve ever worked that

job and there’s somebody next to them that’s been doing it for 20 or 30 years, who’s going

to be more efficient at their work?

It better be the 20 or 30 year experienced guy.

Now, not always.

Sometimes they’ve not given attention to their work and now they’re just lazier than the

first year guy.

But Paul’s telling Timothy you need to give attention to these things.

You need to be able to develop your skills, your ability, your knowledge, and you need to

focus on these things.

Now,

Sometimes you have scenarios where you need to do the presentation part and you don’t get

any of the preparation time.

Because someone says, you walk into a congregation on a Sunday morning, Rebecca’s smiling

because she knows this has happened to Lewis many times.

You walk into a congregation on Sunday morning expecting to be a visitor sitting in the

pew.

And a good kind elder walks up to you and says, brother, it’s so good to have you.

We’ve got about five minutes for class.

You want to go ahead and teach this morning.

My father used to always have a sermon in his Bible.

just in case.

There was one occasion we were in Jonesboro, Arkansas visiting my grandparents and uh my

grandfather was one of the elders, but uh we arrived there Sunday morning.

It was literally five minutes before Bible class and Brother Kenneth Gossett walked up who

was also one of the elders, walked up to Dad and Keith, it’s good to have you today.

Why don’t you teach class for us?

five minutes beforehand.

Dad didn’t have his normal sermon in the Bible, not expecting it, not planning it, just

going to visit his parents.

So he preached his moving sermon, his tryout sermon.

When he tried out at the congregation two years later, he had to preach a different sermon

because he had already preached his tryout sermon.

But when Paul,

arrives in Acts chapter 20 and is there meeting with the Christians, we read that he began

preaching and he preached till midnight.

Well, that’s great.

I don’t know what time they started.

It wasn’t noon.

They usually met at night because people worked during the day.

People had to work.

Many of them in the early church were slaves.

They had been servants.

They had no choice but to work.

So they would meet at night.

So Paul preaches, begins at midnight, but a lot of people joke about the midnight thing,

they don’t pay attention to the rest of the text.

After Eutychus falls out of the window and is raised from the dead, Paul continues

teaching till daybreak.

Now do you think Paul got a chance to have 10 hours of study for every question that they

asked him all night long?

No.

You say, well that’s okay, Paul was inspired.

Doesn’t mean every word that Paul ever spoke was inspired.

An individual who is striving to prepare themselves to teach must not just be prepared to

follow an outline.

They must be prepared to open the Word of God and understand it and explain it and expound

upon it.

and you can’t do all of that in a year.

You have to give yourself time.

You have to continue and build on things.

You have to study it once, and you’ve got to come back and study it again.

But you also have to teach yourself how to learn.

You have to teach yourself how you learn, because you don’t learn the same way someone

else does.

I would wager there’s about maybe nobody in this room who learns the way I do.

I’m weird.

I’ve always known it.

But I tried for a long time to learn the way I had been taught to learn.

It didn’t work for me.

I was constantly struggling to learn anything.

And then I stopped trying to learn the way I had been taught to learn, started trying to

learn the way I knew my brain worked.

and I learned a lot faster.

Sometimes we have to be diligent, but we also have to be intelligent and not try and do

what others have done just because it worked for them, rather do what works for us.

Now, Paul says to Timothy, give attention to these things.

But he also says be an example of these things.

Can you be an example in love if you spend all your time with a nose in a book but never

actually show any love to the members?

Not at all.

You have to balance the things which you do.

You have to balance expectations.

You have to balance preparation.

And sometimes,

due to the circumstances in life, you’ve got to do some of that preparation at 11 p.m.,

midnight, 1 o’clock in the morning and 2 o’clock in the morning because the rest of the

time was spent dealing with the funeral, dealing with a family member that was having,

dealing with scenarios that that was not in your plan during your preparation time but it

became the priority.

Paul says in verse 14 though, do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to

you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership.

Paul tells Timothy, have a responsibility to not neglect this gift.

Now, what was this gift?

Does the text tell us?

The is no.

The text doesn’t tell us.

Is this gift a miraculous gift?

Question, who had to give the miraculous gifts by the laying on of hands?

The apostles.

Is that who’s mentioned in the text?

No, the text mentions an eldership, not the apostles.

Now, it could be

that the scenario in the discussion here is a miraculous gift because that’s not what Paul

means by giving to you by prophecy with the laying on of hands.

He may not be talking about the method of transmission or the giving of the gift.

He may be talking about an event that occurred in coordination with the giving of the

gift.

Okay?

So let’s examine how that may look.

Let’s say that Paul, through his apostleship, through the laying on of hands, gave Timothy

a miraculous gift, and that Paul bestowed that gift during an assembly.

All of those things would be completely normal in the first century church.

But perhaps on that occasion,

most likely in Lystra where Paul met Timothy and where Timothy was converted, that during

that assembly there was also an occasion where the eldership of that congregation was

inspired by the Holy Spirit to prophetically proclaim how Timothy would use that gift.

consider this, that Paul and Barnabas at the beginning of their first missionary journey

were called by the Holy Spirit to be separated from those in Antioch to go on these

missionary journeys.

That would have been by prophecy.

The Holy Spirit said, you send these two here.

that came as a direction from God.

Now would there have been elders, likely, who had the gift of prophecy in the early church

through the laying on of the Apostles hands?

Certainly.

high likelihood that there would have been elders within an eldership who had the gift of

prophecy or the gift of inspiration or the gift of speaking in tongues.

All of the gifts would have potentially been those if you had enough elders where there

would have been an assortment of gifts among the eldership.

So it would be possible, saying possible, it would be possible that the scenario that’s

under discussion here is not the how did Timothy get the gift, but rather what occurred

when he received the gift that the elders prophesied that he would go forth and

participate in this ministry.

And Paul is saying, do not neglect the gift that is in you.

Paul gave him the gift the elders prophesied concerning his use of the gift.

That’s one interpretation.

That’s one possibility.

The other possibility is that the eldership under discussion here had benefited Timothy in

some way that Timothy had an obligation to fulfill his ministry.

Could it be that the gift is monetary?

Read the text.

Do not neglect the gift that is in you.

Now, I’m not enough of a Greek expert to know if the N here could be something that

conveys with or the support given that you’ve received this and it’s with you.

I don’t know.

It could be that rather this has to do with something that they have instilled in him.

All right?

Now, I want to notice this one last thing.

As Paul has just said, give attention to reading, to exhortation, and to doctrine.

He follows three discussions of learning with a do not neglect the gift statement.

So could it be that the eldership had benefited Timothy by spending time teaching Timothy

and preparing him to be able to do the work?

When Paul first comes through Lystra, we don’t read anything about Timothy, when Paul

comes back through Lystra on the second missionary journey, Timothy is there and the

church presents Timothy as someone prepared to go with Paul to do the work.

Could it be that the eldership, by the prophecy and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, had

been told to prepare Timothy to do the work and they had instilled their time, their

energy, their knowledge in helping prepare Timothy to be ready to work with Paul?

That’s a possibility on what this text is meaning.

So I’ll say, of the three ideas, I prefer the last one.

I think that Paul’s home congregation had instilled in Timothy time, effort, and energy to

prepare him to do this work with Paul, and Paul’s saying, don’t neglect the gift they put

in you.

Don’t neglect what they’ve done to prepare you for this.

in addition to, of course, what Paul’s done, what he also mentions that uh Timothy’s

mother and grandmother have done.

All right, we’re out of time right there, so we’re going to pick up uh in that spot verse

15 next week.

Thank you for your attention.

Good to see everyone here this morning.

good class Aaron did an excellent job as usual and we appreciate him for that.

He didn’t have his better half with him today.

He said today is their anniversary and he didn’t want to see her.

No, she took the items up to Eric Richardson’s for that camp they had up there.

And she’s going to be up there a little while.

But today is their anniversary date, and we want to wish them a happy anniversary.

And then I believe uh it’s good to have Rebecca back.

We’ve been missing her.

She’s been gone too long, too long.

So it’s good to see her back today.

And let me see if I’ve missed anybody else I wanted to call out.

Good to see Murray and Joan here.

Always glad to see them.

I think that’s all I remember.

I probably forgot something that was going to do.

We want to remind you, especially those of you that are guests that have not been here,

they’re visiting with us.

We’re glad that you’re here and it’s our pleasure to have you here.

If you have not filled out one of the cards off the table in the foyer, we’d ask that you

maybe get one of those going out and fill that out for us.

We appreciate that so much.

uh Diana Schaffer, most of you know that she fell and hurt her knee pretty badly.

uh So we want to remember her in our prayers and pray that she’ll…

make some improvement.

wasn’t feeling well today.

It’s quite painful for her.

the way she, when she fell on it, it kind of hyper-extended it, I believe is what, if I

understood it right.

So keep hearing your prayers.

uh There are many…

uh

list on the bulletin board who need our prayers.

So you might want to go by that.

It’s next door to the office.

So go by there and take a look at that list and maybe give them a call or send them a

card.

Let them know we’re thinking about them.

July the 30th, or the 27th through the 30th is a Somerville Gospel meeting.

If you would like to participate in that and be there for that, begins the 27th through

the 30th.

Joe Mallory is the speaker.

And then on July the 30th, we have our birthday and anniversary celebration.

So keep that in mind.

And the final one is part of Children’s Home will be here a week of August the 10th.

and if you have a coin can please make sure you bring that in ah before on the sixth and

that way we’ll make sure that they they receive that I believe that’s all the

announcements that I had ah we have

We need five people that are willing to sign compassion cards today.

They’re back on the table in the corner of the auditorium.

So if you would like to do that, we’d appreciate you just going back there and taking care

of that.

Thank you.

First song this morning will be number three.

Hallelujah, praise Jehovah.

We’ll sing the first and third stanzas.

Hallelujah, praise Jehovah.

Praise name, Rachel.

together praise him sun and moon and stars on high praise him oh ye have not

Let let them bright

No.

Thanks for watching!

the earth and sky.

All ye fruitful trees and seeders, all ye hills and mountains high, breeding things and

beasts and cattle, birds that in the air

King of earth and all ye people, Praise and praise our judge is all, Praise and praise the

name

Let children’s ball, let them praise the King.

Peace out.

And His glory is exalted, and His glory is exalted, far above the earth and sky.

We need to have slides for this one.

Eight, five, five.

Again, we’ll sing the first and third stanzas.

We read of a place that’s called heaven, it’s made from the pure and the free.

These truths account for what He has given.

How beautiful heaven must be, how beautiful.

Sweet home, and happy and free.

Fair hand, and our breast, one of the weary.

How beautiful heaven must be.

How beautiful the heaven must be!

How beautiful the

Sweet Alma, the happy and free, Fair Alma, the wretch for the weary, How beautiful heaven

must be!

Please bow with me.

God our Father in heaven, we come to you this morning thanking you for your son Jesus and

the fact that he was willing to come to earth and teach us how we should live as

Christians and then pay that ultimate price when he gave his life so that we have the

opportunity to have our sins washed away and also that opportunity to live with you in

eternity in heaven.

Lord, we are thankful for those amongst our number that have had improving health.

But Lord, we also are aware that there are still several that are struggling with various

ah issues and we ask that you be with them and if it be your will, restore them to a

measure of health that they desire.

Lord, we ask that you be with those that are struggling spiritually and help us to pray

for them diligently each and every day so that they turn to you and read your word and

study your word and seek your guidance.

And if there’s anything any of us can do here in the Collegial Church of Christ to help

those that are struggling spiritually that we are aware of, give us that.

knowledge and enlightenment and the right words to say to them so that they will return to

you and fully and faithfully follow you each and every day.

Lord, we are so thankful for the opportunity to build a live in a country where we can

freely worship you and praise you and sing songs to your great name.

And we cannot thank you enough for that because there are many in this world that don’t

have that opportunity that we do.

And we are so thankful for you to you for that.

Lord, also ask that you be with our leaders, not only in this nation, but in the nations

throughout the world, and get these leaders to want to get to know you by picking up your

word and reading it and studying it, and help them to understand what they’ve studied and

learn from what they’ve studied to make decisions that will make this country and this

world a God-fearing world and a better place for all to live.

Lord, we ask that as we continue to go through this service today that ah everything we do

be accepted.

in your sight and help every one of us assembled here today to take what we’ve learned

from the message that’s coming from your word and use it in our lives to be faithful

followers of yours, but most importantly Lord, to do the mission that you’ve directed each

and every one of us Christians and that is to seek and save the lost.

We ask all this through your son Jesus’ amen.

As we prepare our minds to take the Lord’s Supper, we will sing number 349, 349.

We’ll sing all four stanzas and then the chorus.

They bowed the heads of Jesus in the garden where he prayed.

They spat upon the Savior so pure and free from sin.

They said, crucify him, be to blame.

Thank you.

They laughed and said, Behold the King!

They struck him and they cursed him, And mocked his holy name.

All alone he suffered, and

When they nailed him to the cross, his mother stood near by.

He said, “‘Woe, love, behold thy son!’ He cried, “‘I thirst for water.'”

gave him the two-tree.

Then the sinful work of man was done.

To the howling maw he yielded, he did not for verse he cried.

The cross of shame He took alone, And when He cried, It’s finished, He gave Himself to

die, Salvation’s wondrous plan.

In the end, will end.

To try the world, and to set him free.

He could have called ten thousand angels, but he died of

you need the implements of the Lord’s Supper, are left there on the back table if you want

to grab those.

We are going to turn to Isaiah chapter 53.

um

Isaiah chapter 53.

This is one of the most concentrated collections of prophecy about Jesus.

uh This and Psalm 22 seem to be the most in one short area.

ah Starting in verse one, who has believed our message?

And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

For he grew up before him like a tender shoot.

Like a root out of parched ground.

He had no stately former majesty that we should look upon him, nor appearance that we

should be attracted to him.

He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief.

And like one from whom men hide their face, he was despised and we did not esteem him.

Surely our Greece he bore himself.

m

and our sorrows he carried, yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken, smitten of God and

afflicted.

But he was pierced through for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the

chastening for our well-being fell upon him.

And by his scourging we are healed.

All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way.

but the Lord has caused the iniquity of all of us to follow in him.

He was oppressed and he was afflicted.

Yet he did not open his mouth like a lamb led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that is

silent before it sheers.

He did not open his mouth by oppression and judgment he was taken away.

And as for his generation who considered that he was cut out from the land of the living

for the transgression of my people, whom the stroke was due.

His grave was assigned with wicked men, yet he was with a rich man in his death.

Because he had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in his mouth.

The Lord, but the Lord was pleased to crush him, putting him to grief, that he would

render himself as a guilt offering.

He will see his offspring.

He will prolong his days.

And the good pleasure of the Lord.

will prosper in His hand.

Let’s pray for the bread.

Heavenly Father, we ask you to be with us this morning as we prepare our minds to partake

of your Son’s body and blood.

We ask you to please bless this bread, represents his flesh, flesh that was willing to

come to the earth.

flesh that was willing to teach, to spend all of his effort.

serving others and that was willing to be given as an offering to his own creation hung on

a tree so that he could be mocked and scorned and abused.

but the very thing he created.

so that he could be our perfect example.

We ask you to please bless this and bless us as we partake of it.

In his name we pray.

pray for the cup.

Father, also ask you to bless this cup that we may all partake of it in a fitting manner,

that we may remember the blood that was shed.

so that we could be washed clean.

We could remember him hanging on that cross.

We could remember him.

oh

being willing.

because of His great love for us.

We thank You, Father, so much for Your providence and Your love for us.

And it’s in His name we pray, amen.

Also as part of our worship, we have the opportunity to give back as the Lord’s provided

for us.

The opportunity is also on that back table.

But let’s pray and thank God for all of his many blessings.

Heavenly Father.

You give to us so abundantly.

Your grace, your teachings.

Our very livelihood, our very lives.

We thank you, Father, so much for how much you care for us.

We thank you for knowing without doubt that you’re going to provide for us, that you’re

going to take care of yours.

We see it in nature, that you take care of those

that are without souls, Father.

So we know you are going to take care of us and you provide for us so abundantly.

We ask you to be with us.

Let us remember to be cheerful givers and help us to remember that there’s nothing that’s

ours, Father.

We have borrowed everything from you.

So we ask you to be with us as we choose how to spend your money, Father, that we make

wise decisions that will help expand your kingdom.

And it’s in His name we pray, amen.

you’d like to go ahead and mark the song of invitation, will be number 927.

And that one actually will be on the slides.

This one, however, before the lesson will not be.

That is number 643.

Six, four, three.

We’ll sing the first and third stanzas.

Are you sowing the seed of the kingdom, brother, in the morning?

Slowly the seed of the kingdom, brother, in the heat of the new day’s glare.

For the heart is a

She’s the main, will you go now?

is knowing the seed of the kingdom, brother of the Lord.

Are you sowing the seed of the kingdom from that you must reap at the last great day?

For the harvest time is coming on, and the reaper’s work will soon be done.

Will your sheep be many?

Will you guard them?

you

As we begin this morning, ah raise your hand if you do not have or at least do not have

with you a copy of the booklet.

We’re going over the Back to the Bible booklet, so if you’ll raise your hand, ah Jacob or

Walker will bring one of those to you.

they’re making their way around.

We uh have proceeded through the first two of the booklets in the Back to the Bible

series.

We will begin this Sunday with the third one, and we’ll conclude that next Sunday morning.

uh

We’re not going to cover the entire thing in this particular lesson, and we will, as we’ve

done before, discuss some of the things that are in it for the sake of helping you to

understand what you will be doing if you sit down and study with someone these booklets,

as you sit down and help them to understand the Word and the will of God.

But as we pause just for a moment, we’re gonna take a moment right now and hopefully you

all still have your, oops, the other bookmarks, you have your bookmarks with you.

And we’re gonna take a moment uh for us to pray for the people who are on those lists.

As we’re progressing in our training concerning how to study with people.

You’re reaching the point where you can sit down and study with these people.

You can look for an open opportunities and open doors to be able to study with the

individuals who you have on the names that you have on that sheet.

And so I encourage you to be thinking about the people who are on those sheet.

Be looking for life events occurring in their lives that you might find the opportunity to

be able to

uh instill in them and sit down and study with them the Word of God that they might know

both how to live and how to be obedient to God.

So we’re going take a moment and pray silently on behalf of those who are on each of our

own lists.

One last thing as we begin.

Those who’ve been here through all of the studies, remember that at the beginning, one of

the first things you will have done, if you didn’t have the opportunity to do it at the

beginning of your study with someone, then this would be the opportunity that you would

take to do it.

uh Preferably, I prefer to do it at the very beginning before any of the study has begun.

But if you don’t do it then, you need to do it.

at this point right here, before you open the third book, before you start into the third

book, sit down with the questions that are on the back of this.

ah This is the Back to the Bible Survey.

These questions are in the booklet.

These questions can also just be on a piece of paper.

Stick it your Bible.

You’re going to regularly think through these questions.

The key to the questions is getting the person to write

them down.

You know, if you had them write them down at the beginning of the first study, have them

give you that piece of paper.

Bring it back out at this point.

Not at this moment in time at the beginning of the study, but during the third study.

Which means you have to keep track of it.

So put it somewhere where you’ll lose it.

ah But if you do have them write it down at this point in time, that’s fine too.

But what I encourage you to do is go through these questions.

Now, the questions just by way of reminder that are on this survey.

Or, do you know God exists?

You don’t have to rehash that before the third one.

If you’ve gone through two booklets, you’ve probably got a good idea whether or not they

believe that God exists.

But just going through the questions that are here.

Do you know who the Holy Spirit is?

Do you believe the Holy Spirit is God?

The answers that are on this are yes, no, or unsure.

Do you know who Jesus is?

Do you believe Jesus is God?

Do you believe the entire Bible is God’s Word?

Do you believe the Bible contains contradictions, mistakes, and or false statements?

Now, if you filled this out before the first study, they may have said, well, not sure

about that, or they may have said no.

And you may be at this point now, and they may have changed their mind entirely because of

reading what’s in booklet number one concerning inspiration and revelation.

So, they may be in a different place on some of these answers than they were when they

started this study with you.

uh

Do you believe God will do everything he has stated in his Word?

Now, the last section from this point forward is the point that I typically make sure

we’ve gone over and we’ve answered and we’ve written down the answers before we start the

third study.

First question, are you saved?

You know, every single person I’ve ever studied with who comes from a denominational

background has said yes to that answer.

They’re certain they’re saved.

Part of the reason it’s important to have this written down is because the person they’re

going to argue with during the course of the third book is themselves.

And I don’t know about you, but if you’ve ever observed someone who’s tried to convince

themselves to go to the gym, work out on a regular basis, and get in shape, most of the

time we beat ourselves in our own arguments.

And so if they’re going to be arguing with themselves, the only way you’re going to be

able to hold them accountable for their answers is if it’s written down.

That’s why it’s so important.

Because as they argue with themselves, they’ll be looking at the sheet and going, you know

that’s not what I said two hours ago, or an hour and a half ago, 45 minutes ago.

I said this.

Now I’m looking at the Scriptures and it says this.

Okay?

So the next thing, if yes, at what point were you saved?

What did you do to become saved and have them give you the details?

What day it was?

Where were they?

How old were they?

What did they do?

And it may go something like this, well, I was 14 years old.

ah It was in Samarna, Tennessee.

I was at the Northwest Baptist Church.

I went down to the front with two other friends of mine.

We kneeled down and we prayed.

It may go something like that.

It may be something entirely different.

But they’re going to say, this is what I did.

They’ll know what they’ve thought about it before.

They’ve considered it before.

They’ll give you the answer and they’ll write it down.

How old were you when you were saved?

Have you been baptized?

Yes, no, or unsure?

How old were you when you were baptized?

Now they may say, well, I was saved when I was 14.

I was baptized when I was 18.

That’s a completely normal answer for most people in the denominational world.

well, I prayed and I was saved on July 7th, but oh the baptismal ceremony was until July

24th.

circle the word that describes your baptism, sprinkling, pouring, immersion.

Someone may say, well, I’ve never been baptized as an adult, but I know I was baptized

when I was a baby because my mother told me I was.

Okay?

If you’ve been baptized, were you saved before or after baptism?

And if you were to die tonight, do you know where you would go for eternity?

Yes, no, or unsure?

As you open the third book, you’ve gone through revelation, inspiration, and authority.

You’ve talked about the church, who started it, who it belongs to, what are the aspects of

it that they need to know and they need to understand.

They now know what the body of Christ looks like.

They now know that the Word of God is inspired and is something that they are accountable

to.

And as you open up this book, you’re now not talking about those things, you’re talking

about them.

But you’re not going to approach it in talking about them, per se.

You’re going to do the same thing you’ve done in the last two studies.

You’re going to open up the Word of God and just see what it says.

You’re going let them read it for themselves.

This does not and should never turn in to an accusatory study unless it’s them accusing

themselves.

You go back and look at the gospel record of Christ’s life.

The times where you see an extreme uptick in the animosity of the Pharisees and the chief

priests is when Jesus causes them through the conversation or the teaching or the parable.

to see themselves as guilty.

So there’s a caution there.

Not everyone will accept this the same way.

Not everyone will react the same way.

Some will get angry.

Some will get angry at others because they’ve always been lied to.

Some will become sad.

Some will grieve.

Some will be very, very stoic all the way up until the point they make a decision.

And some will get part way through, close it, and walk away.

as you realize that what they’re facing is the challenge of what they’ve always believed

with what they’re now confronted with is actually in the Word of God.

You must remember Paul’s instruction to Timothy.

He says, preach the Word, be instant in season,

out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering.

Do not give up on an individual because you study the third study with them and they’re

not immediately converted.

one of the individuals that was incredibly kind and beneficial to us in our work, our

first work in North Carolina.

was an older lady who uh she attended the congregation where her husband was a member with

him for seven years.

before she could talk herself out of what she had always believed.

She knew what the Bible taught before she’d been there year.

And it took her six more years to get out of what she had always been taught.

Do you know that person was the single most evangelistic person in the entire

congregation?

My emphasis here is you give people time.

Don’t give up on them because they didn’t change their mind in one study.

Remind yourself that the scribes and the Pharisees and the Sadducees, many on the council

denied Jesus, denied Jesus, would not accept Jesus, knew that He was who He claimed to be,

and still

wouldn’t obey Jesus, and yet we’re told in the book of Acts that after his resurrection

many of them believed.

Sometimes you have to give people time.

Now let’s begin with Isaiah chapter 59.

The section of this study starts with your spiritual condition, that’s the header.

Then what is sin?

How many have sinned?

Those are the areas we’re going to, sorry, and the consequences of sin, those are the

areas we’re going to discuss this morning.

Isaiah chapter 59 verses 1 and 2,

The visual is helpful.

Man’s here, God’s here, sin’s in the middle.

Sin is what divides man from God.

You know what?

That is not something that most people are astounded by.

Most denominations will teach that.

Most religious groups will say there’s something that separates humanity from God, and

it’s our morality.

It’s not a big surprise when that is discussed.

So as you go through, again, read the text, let them fill it in.

1 John chapter 3 and verse 4, the question is, what is sin?

If sin is what separates man from God, then what is it?

Paul, sorry, John will write in 1 John chapter 3 and verse 4, whoever commiteth sin

transgresseth also the law for sin.

is the transgression of the law.

John says sin is when we violate the law of God.

When we violate the law of God, we’ve sinned.

Easy enough to understand.

Now, some might say, well, what’s a transgression?

One, the original Greek word carries with it the idea of missing the mark.

as if there was an archer who was shooting at a target and he overshot the target or he

fell short of the target.

That’s a good illustration.

People get that.

Hey, this is what you were supposed to do, but you went over it, you went under it, you

missed it.

James chapter 1.

James chapter 1 in verse 14 and 15, but every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his

own lust

and enticed.

Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it is finished,

bringeth forth death.” As they look at that text, the man is tempted when he is

drawn away by his own lusts.

You know, many in the religious world who have a Calvinism background are far less

concerned about the sins they commit themselves and spend much of their time worrying

about the doctrine of original sin, the sin they believe they inherited from Adam.

If you were to go back and look at the doctrine of Calvinism, would find that Calvinists

teach that you are born in sin, and you’ve probably heard people say that.

I know that I was born in sin.

That’s going to be a challenge when they look at this and go, sin occurs when I am

allowing myself to do that which God has told me not to do.

Because babies can’t do that.

And babies don’t do that.

When lust has conceived, it brings forth sin.

Now, there’s already a conclusion there that, as you’ve observed throughout this study, we

don’t draw out everything that’s in every text.

Sometimes we loop back to these texts.

Build one thing upon another.

James chapter 4.

James chapter 4 verse 17, therefore to him,

that knows to do good and doeth it not to him and his sin.

You can emphasize that one is a sin, James 1, commission.

You don’t have to use that word, but you can say one is a sin because you violated the

law.

Here is a sin because you failed to do what the law commanded you to do.

One is God told you not to do something and you did it.

The other is God told you to do something and you didn’t do it.

Both of them are sin.

If one knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

So the question, have you ever failed to do what you knew was right?

There’s not a competent, well-meaning, well-thinking individual who’s an adult who could

say no to that question.

Yes, of course, there have been times where I failed to do what was right.

Romans chapter 3.

under the header of how many have sinned.

Romans chapter 3 verse 10, as it is written, there is none righteous, no not one.

Now the context in this discussion is righteous in and of themselves because there may be

some confusion.

They may go, wait a minute, well aren’t Christians righteous?

What ah does it mean?

Paul’s discussion in this text is righteous separated from God, apart from God, righteous

in and of themselves.

uh Romans chapter 3 verse 23, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

And you ask the question, how many have sinned?

All have.

Does this include you?

you’ll find in this text, in this booklet, more than the others the directed questions.

And if you’re like me, maybe you’re not, but if you’re like me, you’ll be less comfortable

asking those.

It’s really easy to ask a question about the text, but you’re going to feel a little weird

internally going, does this include you?

But just ask the question.

Don’t overthink it.

Just ask the question.

Does this include you?

They’ll answer it.

You answer it.

Romans chapter 6 verse 23.

The consequences of sin.

For the wages of sin is death.

But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The wages of sin.

is death.

They understand what wages are.

This microphone is driving me nuts today.

Sorry.

They understand what wages are, and if they don’t immediately connect, when you go to

work, you earn wages.

You get paid and you are owed that because you worked for it.

That’s what wage is.

God is saying when you sin, you earned.

death.

A lot of people really want to believe that they’re owed heaven unless they just somehow

did enough bad in their life to have missed heaven and end up in hell.

That’s not what the text says.

The text says the wages of sin is death.

How many sins must one commit to be separated from God eternally?

You know, I’ve never had anyone miss the answer.

I never had anyone say, probably have to commit a few thousand.

No, they look at the text and go.

One, because now that you’ve committed the sin, you’ve earned the wage.

And if they struggle with that, ask how many hours they have to work at their employer

before they expect to be paid for the hours they work.

You want to just one hour.

Do you expect to be paid for that?

You expect to be paid for the first hour and every hour thereafter?

Yeah.

it’s your wage.

1 Corinthians chapter 6 verses 9 and 10.

Paul writes to the Corinthians as it says,

Nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor

revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.”

You may be tempted to take a moment here and explain what all the depth, the detail of all

these things are and what all they mean.

Don’t.

not because it’s not important for them to know it, but if they don’t know what it means,

that’s probably not the sin that they need to repent of.

But there’s a few of them on there I can just about guarantee you they’re going to

identify with from some point in their life.

Will the unrighteous inherit the kingdom of God?

Nobody misses it.

The answer is no.

Matthew chapter 13 verses 40 through 42.

As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of

the world.

The Son of man shall send forth his angels, they shall gather out of his kingdom all

things that offend, and them which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of

fire, there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” At the end of world sinners will be.

Burn.

Punished.

Now, something that I haven’t always stated, sometimes they’re going to use a word that’s

not the direct word right out of the text.

They’re going say, they’re going to be judged, punished, burned.

You put the right word in yours.

If they’ve got the gist of it, move on.

Don’t argue over technicalities as long as they’re understanding the text.

Now as you think about where this study has left them,

It’s left them seeing sin.

It’s left them seeing God’s judgment.

Now, if you left them right here,

That’d be a pretty sad place to be, wouldn’t it?

But the thing is…

At this point in the study, they’re answering all of these questions for the most part,

most people you’ll study with, they’re answering all these questions thinking it’s

somebody else.

because they’re saved.

This is about lost people.

This is about people who will be judged by God, not welcomed home.

This is about people who are going to hell, not heaven.

At this moment in the study, they’re fine with it.

And I want to emphasize that for this reason.

When you sit down with the Word of God, with a tool like this or any other tool, when you

sit down with the text of Scripture, it is important that you do not sit down to see why

others need to be accountable to God.

while simultaneously not holding yourself accountable to God.

It is not enough to open the Word of God and see what others must do.

uh

You’ve got to open it up and see what you must do.

You’re here this morning and you’re outside the body of Christ.

You need to realize and we need to remember.

that God will hold each and every one of us accountable for what we do in this life.

that when we reach eternity, we will give an account for the words that we say, Jesus

says, that you’ll be judged by every idle word that you speak.

By the things that you think, Jesus emphasized in Matthew chapter 5, verse 5, around verse

20, that if a man lusted in his heart over a woman,

He’s just as guilty of committing sin as if he had committed an act of adultery.

If he hated his brother, he’s just as guilty of sin as if he had murdered his brother.

We’re gonna be judged for the words that we speak, for the thoughts that we think, but

we’re also gonna be judged for the actions we take.

And if we add in James chapter 4, we’re to be reminded that we’re going to be judged for

the things that we violate and the things we fail to keep.

If you evaluate your life and you think, you know what, I’m not passing that test.

I violated something that I was told not to do.

I failed to do something I was told to do.

I’ve thought things that I shouldn’t have thought.

I’ve said things I shouldn’t have said.

then the text of Scripture very plainly teaches us that the wages of sin is death.

but the gift of God is eternal life.

If that is where you find yourself this morning, no, that’s not where God wants you to be,

nor is it where you have to stay.

If you’re outside the body of Christ this morning, why not consider changing your position

in life and being obedient to the Word of God?

by hearing the Word and believing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, by repenting of

your sins and confessing His name, by being immersed in water for the remission of your

sins, to rise to walk in newness of life, no longer being guilty of those old sins, no

longer living that old life, but being obedient to the Word of God.

If you have need of the invitation,

of Jesus Christ.

Why not come forward this morning as we stand and as we sing.

Jesus waiting, waiting in the…

He will bear you gently, gently to His fold.

See Him so and know.

O world, I am

Why keep Jesus waiting, waiting at the…

It’s all and all.

Soon he’ll cease his pleading, yet for ever.

For our closing prayer this morning, we’ll sing number 755.

First dance on the 755.

God be with you till we meet again.

Till we meet at Jesus feet.

Till we meet.

God be with you till we meet again.

Most Gracious in Heavenly Father, Lord, we bow before your throne.

We’re grateful for today.

We’re grateful for the present day that you’ve given us.

We’re thankful, Father, for the sunshine.

We’re thankful, Father, for everything that you do to keep this world out of chaos,

Father.

We’re thankful, Lord, for your love and your mercy and your long-suffering, which without

any of it…

would be nowhere father.

We’re thankful for the bread of life that’s been given today.

Pray Lord that we take it, apply it to our lives Lord where we can help each other along

the way and help those who are lost.

We’re thankful father for our visitors today.

Pray Lord that things that have been said and done here be according to your will that

they may be pricked in the heart father.

Pray Lord that as we leave here

pray that you’ll keep your providential hand upon us, keep us safe, give us courage,

Father, to go out and seek and save the lost, Lord.

We know that is your will.

We pray, Lord, that you’ll forgive us when we sin.

Bless the food, Father, that’s been prepared today.

We pray that you’ll bless it to the nourishment of our bodies, bless the hands that

prepared it.

It’s in Christ’s name we pray, amen.