ALL SCRIPTURE IS GOD-BREATHED

2 Timothy 3:1-17

Key Verse: 3:16

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness…”

People are interested to know when the last days will come. Some people think that the last days are near because our time has many of the signs of the last days described in the Bible. Today, Paul describes ungodly people in the last days and instructs his young spiritual son Timothy how to live a godly life of mission in the terrible times as a shepherd of God’s flocks. He encourages young Timothy to go back to the Bible in order to overcome the ungodly world and have a victorious mission life. May God bless us to have Scripture-centered life and to believe all Scripture as the word of life absolutely.

PART 1. UNGODLY PEOPLE IN THE LAST DAYS (1-9)

Look at verse 1.”But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.” Paul said to Timothy, “Mark this.” This epistle is called “the pastoral epistle.” Paul speaks to all servants of God to mark the signs of the last days. This message is not to indict the ungodly people but rather it is my prayer for the ungodly world and all of us. Generally, the last days refer to the last days before the second coming of Jesus Christ or else to the period that covers from the day of Jesus’ ascension to heaven to the day of his second coming to the earth. (Acts 2:17) Do we have any example of the last days in the past? In the Bible the flood judgment in the times of Noah can be compared to the last days. We can characterize the times of Noah with three words-marriage decay, violence, and corruption. Jesus said in Luke 17:26-27, “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.” Though Noah warned people the impending flood judgment, people became ungodly and they did not listen to the word of God. They were busy doing their own things like eating, drinking, shopping, web surfing, selling, building, and marrying. As a result, God was not in their hearts and they all became flesh and God could not dwell in them. Then, they all were drowned except Noah’s family and all those who were in the ark when the flood came. People’s ungodliness invited God’s terrible judgment.

Today, people say that we again live in terrible times. This indicates that we live in the last days. At any moment Jesus may come again with his glory. What are the characteristics of the last days? Apostle Paul lists 19 evils the ungodly people commit and later 9 virtues the godly people should do. 19 versus 9. Which one is easier to follow? Is it 19 evils or 9 virtues? Of course, it is easy to follow 19 evils. Let’s examine what causes people to become ungodly. Look at verses 2-5. “People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of the pleasure, rather than lovers of God-having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.” The source of ungodliness begins with unhealthy love problem. The word “love” is the most frequently used word in these verses. The word “love” is repeated 6 times in verses 1-5. There is nothing wrong with the word “love.” It makes even boring people excited. But the problem is that people misused love. Verse 4b says, “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.” That’s right. The ungodliness began when people became lovers of pleasure than lovers of God.” Here we find the inverted creation order. God created man and established the spiritual order-God first, man second, and material third. God created men in his own image so that they might love him to be happy and fruitful. Deuteronomy 6:5 says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” God repeatedly told Israel people to love him and then they would be prosperous before they entered to the Promised Land. That was the secret of their successful life in the new land. Israel’s history reflected that they failed to love God with all their hearts when God blessed them to live in the houses they did not build. They began to worship the idols because it was convenient and practical. The idols did not demand them to obey the law. They gained material blessings but they abandoned God who had called them out of slavery into the new life. They forgot God’s holy mission and became ungodly people like the Canaanites.

As we know, God is the Creator of all things. God is the giver of all things. Therefore, we must love God with all our heart and soul and strength. This is the creation order we must keep. But this creation order will be broken in the last days. People became the lovers of themselves and lovers of money rather than the lovers of God. When people do not love God with their hearts and with their souls and with their strength, they began to love themselves and money. We will be self-centered when we do not love God. Men will be the center of the universe when they do not love God. Fallen man becomes selfish naturally without God. We do not have to teach others to be selfish. They naturally are selfish. Humanism replaces God in the ungodly world. Humanism produced evil man like Hitler and Stalin who slaughtered millions of innocent people. “Lovers of themselves” is the ultimate symbol of selfishness in the ungodly world. Selfishness brings degeneration of spiritual life in our family and society and the world. Jesus said to all his potential followers in Mark 8:34, “if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself…” Self-denial is the first step to having a godly life. Without self-denial it is impossible to follow Jesus. Before I met Jesus, I was a super selfish man like, the tax collector Levi in the gospels. I only cared about myself and did not care about others at all. My life key verse is John 12:24, “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” Humanly speaking, I did not want to die to my old-self. It was a big struggle for me to deny my old-self and die to my old sinful man to follow Jesus. By the grace of God I became God-centered from me-centered.

“Lovers of money” is another sign of ungodly people. Materialism replaces God when we love money. We live in the most materialistic world today. There is nothing wrong with money. We need money. God gave the material world to us. The problem is that we love money more than God. 1 Tim. 6:10 says, “ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” Love of money causes us to become evil and to lose faith. Jesus warned his followers in Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” Love God or love money reveals our value system. God gave us money to serve him and to love others. Our choice reveals what we value most. Abraham chose God rather than material advantage (Gen. 13:8-9) He offered a tenth of everything to God after he rescued Lot. (Gen. 14:20b) He valued God more than money. He did not quarrel with Lot over material matters because he trusted God. God blessed Abraham. When we believe God as the provider of our material blessings, we can be generous in using money for God and others. We can offer our tithe to God with thankful hearts in spite of a tight money situation. These days there are a lot of lawsuits among the family members due to money. Some men killed their parents to claim insurance money. We should love God more than money to avoid all kinds of evil. We should not worry about money but set a priority in seeking God and his righteousness believing that he will provide all our need. After the MSU conference, we had many visitors from overseas. Many of us opened our homes in the midst of busy mission life and served them sacrificially with the love of God. I pray that God may raise up 10,000 Jesus’ centered house churches who love God and open their homes to serve sheep.

What are the characteristics of people when they love themselves and money without God? Look at verses 2-5 again. “They will be boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy…” The list goes on. I call theses verses our spiritual checkup list like a medical check-up. Let’s diagnose our spiritual condition by putting our hands to our heart and ask ourselves, “Am I a lover of myself? Am I a lover of money? Am I boastful? Am I proud? Am I abusive? Am I disobedient to my parents? Am I ungrateful? Am I unholy? Am I without love? Am I unforgiving? Am I slanderous? Am I without self-control? Am I brutal? Am I not lovers of the good? Am I treacherous? Am I rash? Am I conceited? Am I lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God? Am I having a form of godliness but denying its power?” What is your score? If you have 19 “yeses”, you are pretty bad and have to repent 19 times. If you have only 1 “yes”, you are still terrible. Why? Look at verse 5b, “Have nothing to do with them.” God’s word is absolute and one sin still makes us ungodly. The 19 evils show that our self-centered and materialistic life will influence our relationship with our spouses, children, parents, fellow workers, neighbors, employers, government, and society. All side effects are negative and destructive and unhealthy.

Look at verse 5a, “…having a form of godliness but denying its power.” Ungodliness invaded the spiritual world. In Paul’s time there were false teachers within the church who claimed that the resurrection had already taken place, and they destroyed the faith of some. They came to the church worship service but they did not believe the power of resurrection. In the so-called post-modern era liberal theologians ask, “Were Adam and Eve real people?” They do not believe the Bible as the word of God any more. One church appointed a gay bishop to lead their congregation. This bishop may not have power to teach the Bible absolutely ignoring Romans chapter 1:27. Many people look like Christians outwardly but inwardly they do not have the power of the resurrection of Jesus. They have a form but no power. They are like a beautiful church building with many artistic decorations but there is no prayer and Bible study in the building.

Look at verses 6-7. “They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, and always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.” The false teachers wormed into homes and ruined others and their family lives. Many women listened to their false teachings and were swayed by all kinds of evil desires. Here we see the importance of the godly women. All women should become the mothers of prayer by acknowledging the truth through the Bible study. I pray that God may raise up many holy nation women among us so that they can pray for many young Timothy.

Look at verses 8-9. “Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also have these men oppose the truth-men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.” Not only do ungodly people ruin others and the world but also they hinder God’s work. They oppose the truth and the servant of God. God called Moses to deliver the Israel people to the Canaan land. But two Egyptian magicians, Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses and they matched Moses for a while but their magic ran out and their folly was clear to everyone. They could not stand Moses any more. (Ex. 9:11) They did not oppose Moses but God. There are always people who oppose God’s servant for good reason. They sound good and reasonable in the beginning. But their motive is selfish. It is a historical truth that those who hindered the work of God by opposing God’s servant did not get that far because their selfish folly was revealed to everyone clearly.

Today people call our young generation “X” or “Y” generation. We live in the ungodly world and we are influenced daily by the ungodly people. Mass media, Internet, and newspapers spread ungodliness very quickly. It is alarming that we become like them. The overall spiritual condition of our society is ungodly. How can we survive Satan’s attack and moreover serve the work of God in this ungodly world? We have to go back to the Bible.

PART II. PAUL’S CHARGE TO TIMOTHY (10-17)

In this part Paul charged his spiritual son Timothy how to live a godly life in Christ. Paul lists 9 virtues of the godly life including sufferings and persecutions.

First, Follow my example. Look at verse 10-11. “You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings-what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.” Paul said in Philippians 3:17, “Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.” Paul said, “Follow my example.” At this time Paul knew that the time came for his departure. He was in the Roman prison and wrote this letter to Timothy. This was the last word for Timothy. It contained a profound meaning to Timothy who was leading the church. Paul shared his life experience with Timothy and encouraged him to follow his example. Why did Paul remind Timothy to know about his teaching, way of life, and his purpose of life? It was because Paul imitated the life of Jesus. Paul followed Jesus’ example without shame. 2 Timothy 2:8-9 says, “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained.” Paul preached Jesus’ death for our sins and his resurrection for our eternal life very clearly. Timothy knew his teaching very well. Paul lived a mission-centered life as the servant of Jesus Christ. He was humble enough to serve all kinds of people. He shed many tears to pray for his own people who persecuted him out of their jealousy. His life purpose was for his name’s sake (Romans 1:5) Paul was willing to do anything for the sake of Jesus’ name. Paul was persecuted enormously by the Jews. But he testified that the Lord rescued him from all of them. Paul demonstrates that godly people must live for the sake of Jesus’ name and that they will receive persecutions. Look at verse 12, “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” Persecution is natural for the godly people. Do not feel strange when you are persecuted. Suffering and persecutions are unavoidable when we live for mission. But one thing is sure that God will rescue us from all persecutions.

Look at verses 13-14. “While evil men and imposters will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it.” Paul knew that the trend of the world would go down from bad to worse. Evil men and imposters seemed to have a lot of fun enjoying their sinful pleasures. The majority people would follow the popular trend of the world. What should young Timothy do in these terrible times? Should he join the trend or should he go against the trend? Downstream or upstream? Paul told him to go upstream. Paul wanted him to stick with what he learned. Do not follow the world but follow the word of God. Noah did not follow the trend of the world but followed God’s word and he was saved. Paul charges Timothy to continue to follow his example. Timothy saw God in Paul. Timothy saw Paul’s endurance and patience in Paul. It is important to follow the examples of God’s servants not just several times but continuously. How many of us can say to our successors before our death, “Follow my example.” Many people say to their children at their deathbed, “Do not follow my example. Start fresh. Do better than I did.” But Paul said, “Follow my example.” It is a great blessing to have a role model to follow. People learn by imitating others first. Children imitate their parents. I blamed Lee boys’ fun-loving character. But I realized that they learned from me. I am taking a Chinese class and most of students are teenagers. I noticed that most students quickly imitated what the teachers said but I was slow. Tennis players want to imitate Pete Sampras and golf players Tiger Woods and basketball players Michael Jordan. Our exemplary life of faith will influence our sheep more than what we say. Of course, pastors want to follow Paul’s example. I learned life of prayer from Mother Sarah Barry who is a general director. Many people came to her and complained about others. After listening to them patiently, she said, “Let’s pray.” I learned deep Bible study from late Dr. Samuel Lee who loved the word of God with a life-giving spirit and loved Jesus. S. Richard from JHU said, “When I attended the UBF conference, I saw young people serving Jesus sacrificially and their examples of faith moved my heart. I learned what is a true Christian life through their living examples.” Our first YDJ leaders became good examples through their pure heart to serve Jesus. We have to strengthen our vessel by being a good example to one another. What can we do to have a godly life when we live an ungodly generation? Apostle Paul said in verse 5b, “Have nothing to do with them.” This means that godly people must have a holy life imitating Jesus because God is holy. It means that the corrupting influence of the world is so insidious that we should simply have nothing to do with them. Inner power of holiness is a key for God’s servant to have a godly life.

Second, the Bible is the word of God. Look at verses and 15-17. “..and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Paul presents that the Scriptures is the solution of all kinds of evils of the world. Timothy was blessed to study the Scripture from his infancy. His grandmother and mother was Jewess and they taught him the word of God in his young age. Our second generation children are blessed to have excellent Bible teachers. It is important for us to pray for children to learn the word of God with absolute attitude. We must raise our children with prayer and the word of God. Now Paul declares that only the Scripture gives us the knowledge of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Without the Scripture we do not know God’s plan of salvation. Bible study opened our blind eyes and brought us to Jesus. All Bible study leads us to Jesus, our Lord and Savior.

Look at verse 16-17 again. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” How many books are in the Bible? There are 66 books in the Bible. Who wrote each book? All Scripture is God-breathed. God is the author of the Bible. In Genesis 2:7, God breathed into man’s nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being. In the same way all Scripture is God-breathed. All Scripture is inspired by God and God used inspired people to reveal his plan of salvation to all men. In the New Testament, the phrase “the word of God” appears over 300 times. 2 Peter 1:21 says, “For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” This means that the Bible is divine and there is no fault. The Bible is the absolute word of God. One missionary said, “I only read the red-colored words which were spoken by Jesus in the Bible. But now I read the entire Bible.” Some people believe only the words to please their ears but do not accept the rebuking words. But we have to accept all Scripture as the word of God. What is the function of the Scripture? It is to make us have the right relationship with God. The Scripture has power to change any kinds of person through the functions of teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training. When the word of God came to Abraham, he believed. When the word of God came to David, he repented his sins. No one can rebuke or correct others but the word of God can correct us when we make mistakes. Peter said in 1 Peter 1:23, “You have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.” The word of God enabled us to be born again. The word of God is sufficient to equip us to do every good work. We have to go back to the Scripture to do the work of God. God’s servant must dig out the word of God deeply. When people studied the word of God in the 18^th century, many great spiritual awakenings came to America. When Martin Luther studied the Scripture, he found God’s righteousness. God changed play-boy like Augustine to become St. Augustine through the Scripture. There will be a spiritual revival in each fellowship when we study the word of God absolutely. Let’s go back to the Scripture and have a holy mission in our generation. May God bless your Genesis Bible study. Let’s read the key verse 3:16.