I want to ask you a question this evening. What is it the church needs to do in these changing times?
There's no doubt about it that things are changing very rapidly all around us. The past century was one of amazing technology and development. Things are vastly different to when our grandparents were children themselves. Communications, working patterns, education - all are changing. One of my parishioners in Fermanagh turned 99 earlier this year. He would sit and chat about the changes he had seen in his lifetime. One of the biggest for him was moving from ploughing with horses to getting his first tractor. He would still rather have the horses, though.
But think how much has changed even in the last few years. On the lectern sits a wee box, recording my words. Later this week, this sermon will be available to whoever wants to listen in, anywhere in the world. And as for Facebook, video calling, and so much more - it’s incredible. As a news report recently put it, the smartphone in your pocket is more powerful than the NASA computers that put man on the moon.
With all these changes going on, let alone the social changes with proposed new definitions of marriage and relationships, we’re left wondering - should the church be changing its message to fit in with the times?
Some in the emerging/emergent church are saying precisely that. Because things have changed so much, the church needs to change the message it once proclaimed, so that we can fit in better with a new society, enlightened, multicultural, influenced by reason and not superstition.
This evening, though, on Bible Sunday, we come to the apostle Paul writing to a younger church leader, Timothy. Paul knows that he is near the end of his life; he's now in prison again, the time is short, and soon he will be killed for being a Christian. Timothy seems to be shy, fearful, so Paul is writing his last letter to Timothy to encourage him. Here, in chapter 3, he tells Timothy to know two things - know the times, and know the message.
Know the times
Boy Dylan sang in 1964 ‘The times, they are a-changing,’ and yet there's a sense in which things are still the same as ever. We have increased mobility, wealth, possessions, education, and yet things are as they ever were. Sin continues unabated. Paul says that this is the way things are going to be.
Verse 1: ‘But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.’ He then outlines a catalogue of sins, a litany of lawlessness. ‘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 pleasure rather than lovers of God - having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.’
It all sounds horrible, and yet, we realise that this is what our world is like. All these things are all around us. That’s because we’re in the last days. You see, sometimes we think that the last days are just the last couple of days before Jesus returns. But we are already in the last days. We have been since the resurrection of Jesus. The last days are every day between the first coming of Jesus and his second coming. So this is our world, these are our times.
And alongside these worsening morals, we also have the threat of false teachers. We see them in verses 6-9. They worm their way into households, they gain control over weak-willed women, spreading their false teaching, leading people astray. Jannes and Jambres (8) aren’t named anywhere else in the Bible, but they’re thought to be the magicians of Egypt who opposed Moses, opposing the truth.
So this is the world that Timothy was ministering in, and it’s still the world that we are living in. The last days.
Do you remember the theme song that brought New Labour to power in 1997? The D:Ream song 'Things Can Only Get Better'. Twenty years on, as we reflect on the Labour years under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, we can't really say things have been getting better. Nor have they been getting better under the Conservatives. No matter which government is in charge, they can’t change the hearts of sinful people. Sin will continue. Just look at your newspapers or TV news. This is the world we live in, and Paul calls us to know the times.
Notice the contrast in verse 10 though. Paul is saying that Timothy is to be wise to the times, knowing the world he is working in, but not to copy their example. Instead, he writes 'You, however...' Don't follow the wicked world, but copy Paul's example, his faith, love, patience, conduct and all the rest, including persecution!
It's a strange inclusion, isn't it? Paul promises Timothy that he will face persecution - indeed, everyone who desires to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. What a promise! Yet it's what we should expect - precisely because we know the times, we know that the world is living in rebellion against its Maker and King, so that if we stand up or stand out for Jesus, then we'll attract some opposition.
Know the times, and be prepared to stand up for Jesus.
Know the message
But as well as recognising the times, Paul also urges Timothy to know the message he has been entrusted with. Again, at the start of verse 14, notice the contrast. 'But as for you...' The evil people will go from bad to worse, but as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of. Don't change the message - hold firm to the gospel.
Paul reminds Timothy that he has been acquainted with the holy Scriptures since childhood - the scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. The Scriptures are the power of God for salvation, as they point to Jesus. Back in chapter 1, Paul mentioned Timothy's granny Lois, and his mummy Eunice, both of whom were Christians already, and had brought him up to know the Bible (the OT, of course), teaching and training him. Parents and grandparents, here's a call for you to be passing on the faith, teaching your children and grandchildren as you have opportunity.
The Scriptures, ‘All Scripture’, Paul says, are God-breathed. Sometimes we talk about how the Bible is inspired, but here Paul says that the Bible is ‘expired’ - not run out, but breathed out. As I’m speaking here, coming out of my mouth are my words, along with my breath. And God’s breath, his Holy Spirit, inspired the writers of the Scripture to communicate the words of God.
That’s why we can have confidence in the Bible - because it is God’s word. It’s not the invention of someone who wanted something to do one day; it’s not the ravings of strange people; it is the very word of God, breathed out by God.
And the Scriptures are given for a purpose. We see it in the rest of the chapter. In verse 16, there are four things that the Scripture does to us - ‘and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.’
Teaching - The scriptures teach us more about God and about ourselves. They give us information and teach us.
Rebuking - They also rebuke us when we are in the wrong. They might show us how our behaviour is wrong; or show us that what we think about God isn’t right. They rebuke us.
Correcting - They don’t just leave us in the wrong, though, they also correct us. They give us the truth, they correct the errors we might have in our thinking or doing.
Training in righteousness - They show us how to live a righteous life, what God wants of us, and encourage us to do it.
And God gives us the Scriptures (all the Scriptures) v17 ‘so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.’ God didn’t just give us the Bible to fill our heads with Bible knowledge. The Bible isn’t just there as a source of trivia - to know who Melchizedek is; where Zarephath was; or how many donkeys Job started out with. The Bible is there to teach, rebuke, correct and train us... SO THAT we may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
It’s good to read the Bible. But it must be changing us and leading us to live out our faith, by doing good works, against the backdrop of a sin-soaked world. We’re called to know the message, to know the Scriptures and grow in the Scriptures, so that they change us to be more like Jesus.
Our message must not change - we must continue to hold fast and preach the gospel contained in the Scriptures - God's revelation of his Son, the Lord Jesus. How we present the message may change, but not the message itself.
Let's take seriously today Paul's call to know the times we live in, but also to know the message that can turn sinful people into saints; rebels into redeemed people; lost into found.
This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on the evening of Bible Sunday, 29th October 2017.
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