The apostle Paul said “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” 2 Timothy 4:1-2. In a closely related passage the apostle Peter said, “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God”, 1 Peter 4:11. Paul’s and Peter’s charge is clear. It reveals the message the church is to teach and/or preach is the Word of God.

The Reason Behind The Charge is “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” 2 Timothy 3:16. The Scriptures are “God breathed” (the meaning behind the word translated “inspired of God”). This points to the authoritative nature of the Scriptures.

The Benefit of The Charge is “that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” The Scriptures “are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” 2 Timothy 3:15.

The Seriousness of The Charge is seen in that it is given before two faithful witnesses – God and Christ, 1 Timothy 4:1. Notice these faithful witnesses will judge “the quick (living) and the dead”. Since we will stand before Christ in judgment, Christians should take the charge very seriously.

What The Message Is Not. Some preach/teach to tickle the itching ears of their hearers (2 Timothy 4:3-4), some serve their own belly (Romans 16:18), and some love the praise of men (John 12:43). Some preach the teachings of men, Matthew 15:2-3. Some preach from their creed books that are of human origin. Friends, these things ought not to be.

Included in the Message of The Church. Preach the Word, 2 Timothy 4:2. Listeners must demand, must tolerate, nothing less. The message must include the whole counsel of God, Acts 20:27. The message must begin with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, 1 Corinthians 15:2-3. This is the foundational principle of the Gospel of Christ.

Our Attitude Towards The Message. One of the greatest gifts God has given to the world is His Word. Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” We must be like the noble Bereans and receive “the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” Acts 17:11.

Only a Few Will Receive the Message. How sad it is for people to see “the glorious gospel of Christ” and be blinded by “the god of this world”, 2 Corinthians 4:4. Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”

The Choice Is Yours. Will you receive the message, God’s Word, obey it, live according to it and be ready to stand before God in judgment?

For further study read “Biblically Speaking About The Church by Chuck Northrop”  

–Jerry D. Sturgill

To the Pharisees who questioned Him at the feast of Tabernacles, Jesus said, “Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man. And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me” (John 8:15-16).  Their carnal, fleshly standards of judging Jesus would never allow them to see Him for His true identity, the Son of God.  Previously in their discussion, Jesus had warned them not to judge according to appearance, but to judge righteous judgment (John 7:24).  Here, in chapter 8, it seems that their judgment is even worse.  It is one thing to judge according to appearance.  We all know the fallacy of judging a book by its cover.  However, it is quite another thing for our thinking to be so corrupted and fleshly that we are unable to see plain spiritual truths right before our eyes.

Jesus said, “I judge no man.”  Now Jesus’ purpose in coming into this world was not so that people would be condemned (judged); instead, He came to save.  John 3:17 explains, “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”  However, if one refuses salvation, the other side of the coin is condemnation.

But Jesus says He judges no man, period.  While He spoke words of comfort and invitation (Matthew 11:28-30), we cannot deny that He did speak words of judgment on the Pharisees (Matthew 23).  How then can Jesus say that He judges no man?  It must mean that He judges no man in the way He has just described the Pharisees judging, that is, after the flesh.  As Christians, we too must develop spiritually so that we do not judge after the flesh.  The apostle Paul in his earlier life judged after this manner; however, when he became a Christian, he did not judge Christ or any other man according to fleshly standards.  He wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:16, “Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.”  In the church, judgments based on worldly, carnal thinking, (such as how much money people have, how physically attractive they are, etc.) should not be the criteria for whom we honor.

After Jesus said that He judges no man in this way, He went on to say, “if I judge, my judgment is true” (John 8:16).  Jesus will come to judge the word in righteousness one day (Acts 17:31).  But even when Jesus was living on earth for a third of a century and even now in our lives, Jesus judges true judgment.  One of the themes throughout the book of John is Jesus’ knowledge of who each person really is on the inside (John 2:24-25).  Whether it was Nicodemus (John 3:1-12), the woman at the well (John 4:7-26), Judas (John 6:70-71; 13:21-30), or a host of other people, Jesus always knows what to say.  He drives home His point, making the most accurate statements about who people really are and what they really need.  We ought to put ourselves in the position of these people and realize there is nothing we can hide from the Lord Jesus Christ.  He knows us for who we truly are in all our shortcomings and yet He still loves us.  We ought to judge righteously, regard Him as the true Son of God, and submit to Him by obeying the gospel (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38).  It then behooves us to be open and honest before the Lord in this life and confess our sins so that we may be able to stand before Him in the final judgment (Romans 5:2; 14:4; 1 John 1:9).

-Mark Day

God intended that His word, the Bible, be understood and applied (2 Tim. 3:16-17).  He wrote it in such a way that we can understand it when we read (Eph. 3:4).  To claim that the Bible cannot be understood is tantamount to saying God failed in revealing His will.  One cannot attack a book without maligning its author.

While the Bible can be understood, it is not all easy to understand.  There are sections that are hard to understand (2 Pet. 3:16).  These passages are not impossible to understand, but require effort to ascertain the meaning.  Sometimes help is needed in arriving at the proper meaning (Acts 8:31).  The Bible is a tremendous volume that is able to provide nourishment to people at various stages of spiritual development.  Both milk for the babies and meat for the mature may be found within its pages (1 Cor. 3:1-3; Heb. 5:12-14).  It is an inexhaustible resource of wisdom that ever challenges man with the loftiest of themes (Psa. 139:17-18).

God’s word is truth (Jn. 17:17).  Jesus Christ is the personal revelation of truth (Jn. 14:6).  While we will never know everything, we can all glean enough truth to be set free from sin, if we continue in Jesus’ word (Jn. 8:31-32).  It is God’s desire that all men come to saving truth in Christ Jesus (1 Tim. 2:4).  All truth necessary for salvation was revealed to the first-century apostles and prophets and preserved in a literary reservoir that is the twenty-seven books of the New Testament (Jn. 16:12-13; Heb. 2:3-4; Jude 3).

Each Christian has the responsibility to study this word and grow in knowledge of the truth  (2 Peter 3:18).  If we do not grow, we may forget even the basics that we should know (Heb. 5:12).  We can become blind to what God has done for us (2 Pet. 1:9).  We can even become entangled in the pollutions of the world that we had once escaped when we had come to the knowledge of the truth (2 Pet. 2:20).  Instead of forgetting the soul-saving truth that has been presented to us, let us study all the more that God will approve of us for correctly handling His word (2 Tim. 2:15).   God wants us to be filled with knowledge of His will, always increasing our understanding (Col. 1:9-10).  This way we will be firmly established in His truth and richly blessed by having His words in our hearts and on our tongues (Col. 2:2-7; 3:16).

What does your personal Bible study throughout the week show about your desire to know more about God’s word?  What about your attendance at the Bible classes offered by the church?  What about not merely your attendance, but your preparation for these studies?  Do you go home afterwards and think and study further on points made in these classes? Or are the Bible classes of the church just a box that you check each week because you were physically present?  Do you desire to know more of God’s word?

-Mark Day

I am a scribbler. I tend to be the type of person that makes notes whenever I hear something that may be handy in an article, devotional, or sermon. These notes can be found on a post-it, scrap paper, or even on my “note” app on my phone. Recently as I was looking through my “note app” and discovered at one time I had noted the following: “I am thankful there is a God to love me, a Savior who died for me, and a Bible to guide me”. Amen! I don’t know where I heard or read that statement, but it is indeed true. I am, as we all should be, thankful…

There Is A God To Love Me.

1 John 4:8, “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” God is love, but not just love. Love is one of the primary features of God’s being. Just as God is infinite in all His other attributes, God is also infinite in love. This is the love that seeks the highest good of another. Were it not for the love of God mankind would be without any hope. However Ephesians 2:4 states, “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us…” God’s love is great because it extends to all including the individual.

A Savior Who Died For Me.

Galatians 1:4 speaks of Jesus “Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father”. Galatians 2:20 says, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” J. W. Shepherd in the Gospel Advocate Commentary on Galatians says the following regarding this verse “In his love for the church (Ephesians 5:25) Christ does not lose sight of the individual believer. Each member of his body is the direct object of his love, and it is as true that he died for each as it is that he died for all. Hence, the individual believer appropriates to himself that which is the possession of all.”

And A Bible To Guide Me.

Psalm 119:105, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” The Word Of God is a light to show me the way, to keep me from stumbling, to keep me from falling, to keep me on the right path. Psalm 19:8, “The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.” The world we live in thinks that happiness comes from many various sources (money, position, power, etc.). The psalmist points out the only way that man can be truly be happy is to study and submit to the Word of God. God’s statutes and commands are right because they descend from right personified, Deity. They are pure because it contains no falsehood or error. The commands of Jehovah enlighten man’s eyes in that they instruct him in the proper way, both for the here and now as well as preparation for eternity.

Yes, indeed dear friend, I Am Thankful. “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name” Psalm 100:4

-Jerry D. Sturgill