Key Value 2 - Sermon Notes
Hold confidently and courageously as vital, sound biblical teaching and principles.
Steve Harzo
Like an anchor holding firm. 2 timothy 3:10-17
“Hold confidently and courageously as vital, sound biblical teaching and principles”.
Mike explained last week when he looked at the first of the four proposed St Andrew’s key value statements that this has been a collaborative exercise by people in the church seen in some ways as having a leadership role, our first was ”Give time and effort to value and empower each member of our church family” our second is “Holding confidently and courageously as vital, sound biblical teaching and principles”.
To be able to value and empower we need to remind ourselves of what it is we believe and those beliefs, which have been held steadfast and true over previous generations here at St Andrews, are firmly grounded on the word of god, his holy scriptures.
It has long been a tradition of ours at St Andrews to have an evangelical position on things, part of that identity is to hold as vitally important god breathed scripture, “all scripture is god breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuke, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man or woman of god may be thoroughly equipped for every good work”.
God-breathed means that god without impairing the intelligence, individuality, literary style or personal feelings of the human authors, supernaturally directed the writing of scripture so that they recorded in perfect accuracy his comprehensive and infallible revelation to mankind. If god himself had done the writing the written word would be no more accurate and authoritative than it is.
So whether it’s genre is history, law, poetry, prophecy, wisdom etc it can all be accepted and believed as god’s message, god’s guide book, god’s manual and as we read at the end of our bibles there comes a very stern warning, “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, if anyone adds to them, god will add to that person the plagues described in this book, if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, god will take away that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which was described in this book”.
In our passage Paul in his pastoral epistle is writing to timothy and a wider audience, including you and me, it states in verse 1 of our chapter that it’s about the last days, if you get time when you go home read chapters 3 and 4 for yourself see what you think about the state of affairs Paul is writing about in the last days and compare it to our day. I’d love to hear your findings next week.
Paul is warning of apostasy in the church, that is a falling away or deliberate rejection of the truths of scripture, such as the deity of Christ, redemption through his atoning and redeeming sacrifice etc.
But Paul’s charge to them and us is in verse 14 “but as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it..”
Our god is eternal, the great “i am”, “the same yesterday, today and forever”, we change but he does not change, says the scriptures.
We thank him for that, why should we living in the latter part of the church age have a different way of coming to god or pleasing god than those of the early church, why should god’s rules and standards apply to them but not to us, why should salvation be found in any other way than through the sacrificial finished work of Jesus Christ at calvary, why shouldn’t the eye witness account of over 500 people to the fact that Jesus rose from the dead suddenly not really have happened, remember the things we have been handed down and always held dear, for as the apostle Paul said, “if Christ has not been raised your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins” 1 cor 15:17.
This means that the truths and teaching of scripture stand for all time, as Jesus said, ”Heaven and earth will pass away but my words shall not pass away” matt 24:35 this is reaffirmed by the apostle peter in 1 peter 1:23 “the word of god that abides forever”, the word does not change as the values of society change, we cannot let the world and its ways into the church, we are to be different, in fact the authorised version of the bible calls us “a peculiar people” i peter 2:9 or “god’s own people”.
Yes there may be more appropriate ways of proclaiming the truth in the gospel message but the gospel message does not change, “it is in Christ alone that our hope is found”, therefore if society says one thing that is against the scriptures and their teaching we are not obliged to believe it nor adopt it. We believe in the inspiration of god’s word we will not give in to outward pressure to conform.
This is not something our blessed lord ever did, i say reverently, even when it seemed he could have got himself off with a flogging instead of the death penalty by crucifixion he chose to fulfil the prophetic scriptures and do his father’s will. Furthermore Jesus stood up to those who deliberately altered the words of scripture to suit their own agenda, just as people are doing today, the arguments that it doesn’t really mean that, it has been supposedly misinterpreted for centuries, it’s not appropriate for our time etc.
The people of Jesus’ day misrepresented god’s word to put over-bearing pressure on people to behave in a certain way such as making the Sabbath a legalistic observance instead of a benefit to the people, a day of rest and worship, “the Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath”, said Jesus in mark 2:27. Thank god for the no vote in the states recently to extended Sunday trading a big thumbs up to the importance of family life for individuals and community alike.
Jesus was not afraid to stand up to what was wrong and he expects us to do so as well, not just our church leaders but all of us have a responsibility to tell it god’s way, if people take offence that is their problem, but we are being faithful to god and them by sharing god’s truths in love, not judgementally but graciously and sincerely.
Presently there are little or no consequences to us being faithful to the scriptures, unlike many in areas in the world where Christianity is not well protected in law. This doesn’t mean our stance won’t one day be challenged but for now we may simply face harsh words of criticism.
I am reminded of Osmund’s talk at men’s breakfast a few months ago about the occupation here in jersey and how hard things were. During those dark days the folk of jersey knew the oppression they were suffering was not right and so opposed it as much as they were able. They stood up for themselves and stood up for truth, justice and freedom. If that can be done for our amazing island home then why shouldn’t we be prepared to do that for our blessed lord!
Our vicar mike was not the only prominent person speaking on radio jersey last Sunday morning, John Shenton from Grant Thornton the accountants was speaking, not about faith but about jersey finance and businesses, I’ve known john for many years professionally he is a very sincere chap, if a bit misguided as he supports West Ham.
John was talking about the state of the economy here, he said both finance and retail industries will never be the same as they were, they need to change to fit the current trends and customer needs, he talked about making shopping a better experience, that firms should sell themselves more favourably, train people more effectively to know the brand and sell it to the public if they are to be profitable.
John would never have told his clients to bend the rules of accountancy, to lower standards or do anything illegal, no he would impress the need to uphold sound and basic accountancy principles, proper accurate records, the balance sheet, the income and expenditure statement etc.
As a church our product is unique and sound it hasn’t nor should it change as it is said of Christ, ”the same yesterday, today and forever”, but john has a point about commerce that we would do well to heed, the way we sell the product, the gospel of our lord and saviour Jesus Christ.
How can we do that, through training, prayer, study how can we convince people to buy into the brand if we do not know it well enough, “do your best to present yourself to god as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth” 2 timothy 2:15.
When we stop seeing the bible as god’s message, rule book and manual for mankind and that really if people don’t agree with it then it’s not really worth falling out with them over, where does it stop, what parts do we decide cease to be that important, what can we leave out, what will the end be!
When the world started calling Christmas Xmas, they started leaving Christ out of Christmas, why bother celebrating something they don’t believe in, some calling themselves Christians would have us believe that Jesus is not the son of god but a son of god, others that there are more ways to god than through Christ, they preach another gospel and with it confusion, but Jesus himself said “ i am the way….no one comes to the father but through me” john 14:6 could it be any simpler or planner.
The apostles Paul and peter have much to say in their epistles about people being “tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by peoples trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful schemes” Ephesians 4:14. We are told by peter to “discipline ourselves, keep alert for like a roaring lion our adversary the devil prowls around looking for someone to devour” 1 peter 5:8, interestingly we have been looking at these things in our home group studies.
Can i ask a very personal question, do you pray every day, do you read your bible every day, do you study the scriptures either on your own or as part of a study group for it is when we do these things it gives us the spirit led confidence to stand in our most holy faith, to tell of the hope of our calling and our looking forward to the glorious appearing of our blessed saviour.
We can’t leave it all to the likes of our vicar mike to put his head above the parapet and take the flack, John the Baptist was a lone voice in the wilderness telling people to repent and prepare the way for the lord’s coming, let us be united in our church behind the precious truths of the bible.
In theological terms we believe in the virgin birth, the sacrificial death and bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead, his glorious ascension into heaven, all believers dead or alive being caught up to meet the lord when he returns to the air and his eventual return to earth to rule and reign. The details of the latter have been much discussed but the reality of his return is not in doubt.
We believe that the proper place for children to be born and to thrive is within a heterosexual marriage where both mother and father are present, supportive and active in the family unit. Though we accept that in society moral standards have moved a long way from the biblical position we do not condone that which is opposed to holy scripture.
We can and should all love the sinner, as we ”all have sinned and come short of god’s standards”, but we do not support or agree with the sin. Sadly one of todays most hotly argued secular positions is that of human sexuality. The bible clearly sets out god’s ideal for society and family life, it also strongly stands against anything other than that ideal.
Both the Old Testament (Deuteronomy etc) and in the New Testament (romans 1 in particular) we read that there are perversions of god’s ideal. People fall from grace, are influenced by their past or by others and we are all subject to the constant bombardment of temptation. However we are all also encouraged to resist temptation though we still fall at times.
As a church we recognise this in every person, however, those who continue in a life outside of god’s ideal intentionally, though supported and loved, should not be given positions of authority or influence in our church. This key value also means that as a church we will not permit the incumbent or anyone else to preside over a blessing or “marriage” of a same sex couple.
This key value of sound biblical teaching and principles is vital as an identity for St Andrews church. It is something the present church has received from those who went before us and it is something that we believe should not be discarded.
There may well come a time when it becomes a very unpopular key value but it is who we are and who we have been for many generations. Jesus did and said many things that were unpopular but right and it cost him his life, he also encourages us to take up our cross and follow him in fact he puts it in this way “whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me” Matthew 10:38, it won’t be easy, as Jesus told his disciples “in the world you face persecution. But take courage, I have conquered the world” john 16:33 Jesus does not ask us to do anything he has not already done for us and so much more.
I remember a very dear Christian man, Geoffrey Harrison, he was a great scholar and teacher of god’s word, he would stand out front with his little bible in his hands, just like mike no notes, and expound the truths of scripture and he had a wonderful saying which we do well to practice concerning god’s word, “read it, read it carefully and read it more carefully”.
The apostle Paul charges timothy and every believer down through the centuries in chapter 4 to “preach the word, be prepared in season and out of season, correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and instruction for the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine”
What of us at St Andrew’s, are we prepared to stand firm for the truths of scripture, to stop any erosion of those teachings in the church and the infiltration of worldly ways into the church.
In closing I wonder will each of us be able to say as the apostle Paul un-boastingly writes, “I have fought the fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the lord the righteous judge will award to me on that day and not to me only but also to all who have longed for his appearing”.
Like an anchor holding firm. 2 timothy 3:10-17
“Hold confidently and courageously as vital, sound biblical teaching and principles”.
Mike explained last week when he looked at the first of the four proposed St Andrew’s key value statements that this has been a collaborative exercise by people in the church seen in some ways as having a leadership role, our first was ”Give time and effort to value and empower each member of our church family” our second is “Holding confidently and courageously as vital, sound biblical teaching and principles”.
To be able to value and empower we need to remind ourselves of what it is we believe and those beliefs, which have been held steadfast and true over previous generations here at St Andrews, are firmly grounded on the word of god, his holy scriptures.
It has long been a tradition of ours at St Andrews to have an evangelical position on things, part of that identity is to hold as vitally important god breathed scripture, “all scripture is god breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuke, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man or woman of god may be thoroughly equipped for every good work”.
God-breathed means that god without impairing the intelligence, individuality, literary style or personal feelings of the human authors, supernaturally directed the writing of scripture so that they recorded in perfect accuracy his comprehensive and infallible revelation to mankind. If god himself had done the writing the written word would be no more accurate and authoritative than it is.
So whether it’s genre is history, law, poetry, prophecy, wisdom etc it can all be accepted and believed as god’s message, god’s guide book, god’s manual and as we read at the end of our bibles there comes a very stern warning, “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, if anyone adds to them, god will add to that person the plagues described in this book, if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, god will take away that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which was described in this book”.
In our passage Paul in his pastoral epistle is writing to timothy and a wider audience, including you and me, it states in verse 1 of our chapter that it’s about the last days, if you get time when you go home read chapters 3 and 4 for yourself see what you think about the state of affairs Paul is writing about in the last days and compare it to our day. I’d love to hear your findings next week.
Paul is warning of apostasy in the church, that is a falling away or deliberate rejection of the truths of scripture, such as the deity of Christ, redemption through his atoning and redeeming sacrifice etc.
But Paul’s charge to them and us is in verse 14 “but as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it..”
Our god is eternal, the great “i am”, “the same yesterday, today and forever”, we change but he does not change, says the scriptures.
We thank him for that, why should we living in the latter part of the church age have a different way of coming to god or pleasing god than those of the early church, why should god’s rules and standards apply to them but not to us, why should salvation be found in any other way than through the sacrificial finished work of Jesus Christ at calvary, why shouldn’t the eye witness account of over 500 people to the fact that Jesus rose from the dead suddenly not really have happened, remember the things we have been handed down and always held dear, for as the apostle Paul said, “if Christ has not been raised your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins” 1 cor 15:17.
This means that the truths and teaching of scripture stand for all time, as Jesus said, ”Heaven and earth will pass away but my words shall not pass away” matt 24:35 this is reaffirmed by the apostle peter in 1 peter 1:23 “the word of god that abides forever”, the word does not change as the values of society change, we cannot let the world and its ways into the church, we are to be different, in fact the authorised version of the bible calls us “a peculiar people” i peter 2:9 or “god’s own people”.
Yes there may be more appropriate ways of proclaiming the truth in the gospel message but the gospel message does not change, “it is in Christ alone that our hope is found”, therefore if society says one thing that is against the scriptures and their teaching we are not obliged to believe it nor adopt it. We believe in the inspiration of god’s word we will not give in to outward pressure to conform.
This is not something our blessed lord ever did, i say reverently, even when it seemed he could have got himself off with a flogging instead of the death penalty by crucifixion he chose to fulfil the prophetic scriptures and do his father’s will. Furthermore Jesus stood up to those who deliberately altered the words of scripture to suit their own agenda, just as people are doing today, the arguments that it doesn’t really mean that, it has been supposedly misinterpreted for centuries, it’s not appropriate for our time etc.
The people of Jesus’ day misrepresented god’s word to put over-bearing pressure on people to behave in a certain way such as making the Sabbath a legalistic observance instead of a benefit to the people, a day of rest and worship, “the Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath”, said Jesus in mark 2:27. Thank god for the no vote in the states recently to extended Sunday trading a big thumbs up to the importance of family life for individuals and community alike.
Jesus was not afraid to stand up to what was wrong and he expects us to do so as well, not just our church leaders but all of us have a responsibility to tell it god’s way, if people take offence that is their problem, but we are being faithful to god and them by sharing god’s truths in love, not judgementally but graciously and sincerely.
Presently there are little or no consequences to us being faithful to the scriptures, unlike many in areas in the world where Christianity is not well protected in law. This doesn’t mean our stance won’t one day be challenged but for now we may simply face harsh words of criticism.
I am reminded of Osmund’s talk at men’s breakfast a few months ago about the occupation here in jersey and how hard things were. During those dark days the folk of jersey knew the oppression they were suffering was not right and so opposed it as much as they were able. They stood up for themselves and stood up for truth, justice and freedom. If that can be done for our amazing island home then why shouldn’t we be prepared to do that for our blessed lord!
Our vicar mike was not the only prominent person speaking on radio jersey last Sunday morning, John Shenton from Grant Thornton the accountants was speaking, not about faith but about jersey finance and businesses, I’ve known john for many years professionally he is a very sincere chap, if a bit misguided as he supports West Ham.
John was talking about the state of the economy here, he said both finance and retail industries will never be the same as they were, they need to change to fit the current trends and customer needs, he talked about making shopping a better experience, that firms should sell themselves more favourably, train people more effectively to know the brand and sell it to the public if they are to be profitable.
John would never have told his clients to bend the rules of accountancy, to lower standards or do anything illegal, no he would impress the need to uphold sound and basic accountancy principles, proper accurate records, the balance sheet, the income and expenditure statement etc.
As a church our product is unique and sound it hasn’t nor should it change as it is said of Christ, ”the same yesterday, today and forever”, but john has a point about commerce that we would do well to heed, the way we sell the product, the gospel of our lord and saviour Jesus Christ.
How can we do that, through training, prayer, study how can we convince people to buy into the brand if we do not know it well enough, “do your best to present yourself to god as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth” 2 timothy 2:15.
When we stop seeing the bible as god’s message, rule book and manual for mankind and that really if people don’t agree with it then it’s not really worth falling out with them over, where does it stop, what parts do we decide cease to be that important, what can we leave out, what will the end be!
When the world started calling Christmas Xmas, they started leaving Christ out of Christmas, why bother celebrating something they don’t believe in, some calling themselves Christians would have us believe that Jesus is not the son of god but a son of god, others that there are more ways to god than through Christ, they preach another gospel and with it confusion, but Jesus himself said “ i am the way….no one comes to the father but through me” john 14:6 could it be any simpler or planner.
The apostles Paul and peter have much to say in their epistles about people being “tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by peoples trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful schemes” Ephesians 4:14. We are told by peter to “discipline ourselves, keep alert for like a roaring lion our adversary the devil prowls around looking for someone to devour” 1 peter 5:8, interestingly we have been looking at these things in our home group studies.
Can i ask a very personal question, do you pray every day, do you read your bible every day, do you study the scriptures either on your own or as part of a study group for it is when we do these things it gives us the spirit led confidence to stand in our most holy faith, to tell of the hope of our calling and our looking forward to the glorious appearing of our blessed saviour.
We can’t leave it all to the likes of our vicar mike to put his head above the parapet and take the flack, John the Baptist was a lone voice in the wilderness telling people to repent and prepare the way for the lord’s coming, let us be united in our church behind the precious truths of the bible.
In theological terms we believe in the virgin birth, the sacrificial death and bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead, his glorious ascension into heaven, all believers dead or alive being caught up to meet the lord when he returns to the air and his eventual return to earth to rule and reign. The details of the latter have been much discussed but the reality of his return is not in doubt.
We believe that the proper place for children to be born and to thrive is within a heterosexual marriage where both mother and father are present, supportive and active in the family unit. Though we accept that in society moral standards have moved a long way from the biblical position we do not condone that which is opposed to holy scripture.
We can and should all love the sinner, as we ”all have sinned and come short of god’s standards”, but we do not support or agree with the sin. Sadly one of todays most hotly argued secular positions is that of human sexuality. The bible clearly sets out god’s ideal for society and family life, it also strongly stands against anything other than that ideal.
Both the Old Testament (Deuteronomy etc) and in the New Testament (romans 1 in particular) we read that there are perversions of god’s ideal. People fall from grace, are influenced by their past or by others and we are all subject to the constant bombardment of temptation. However we are all also encouraged to resist temptation though we still fall at times.
As a church we recognise this in every person, however, those who continue in a life outside of god’s ideal intentionally, though supported and loved, should not be given positions of authority or influence in our church. This key value also means that as a church we will not permit the incumbent or anyone else to preside over a blessing or “marriage” of a same sex couple.
This key value of sound biblical teaching and principles is vital as an identity for St Andrews church. It is something the present church has received from those who went before us and it is something that we believe should not be discarded.
There may well come a time when it becomes a very unpopular key value but it is who we are and who we have been for many generations. Jesus did and said many things that were unpopular but right and it cost him his life, he also encourages us to take up our cross and follow him in fact he puts it in this way “whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me” Matthew 10:38, it won’t be easy, as Jesus told his disciples “in the world you face persecution. But take courage, I have conquered the world” john 16:33 Jesus does not ask us to do anything he has not already done for us and so much more.
I remember a very dear Christian man, Geoffrey Harrison, he was a great scholar and teacher of god’s word, he would stand out front with his little bible in his hands, just like mike no notes, and expound the truths of scripture and he had a wonderful saying which we do well to practice concerning god’s word, “read it, read it carefully and read it more carefully”.
The apostle Paul charges timothy and every believer down through the centuries in chapter 4 to “preach the word, be prepared in season and out of season, correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and instruction for the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine”
What of us at St Andrew’s, are we prepared to stand firm for the truths of scripture, to stop any erosion of those teachings in the church and the infiltration of worldly ways into the church.
In closing I wonder will each of us be able to say as the apostle Paul un-boastingly writes, “I have fought the fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the lord the righteous judge will award to me on that day and not to me only but also to all who have longed for his appearing”.