September3_2023_2timothy3

The speaker discusses the idea that God equips us for every good work and governs us with righteousness. They reflect on the importance of faith and being transformed by God to carry out his work. They also discuss the stress and troubles that can arise from self-centeredness, pride, and greed. The speaker emphasizes the need to search and examine our own ways and to have a one-on-one relationship with God. They highlight the importance of gratitude and obedience in the process of sanctification. The speaker warns about the negative behaviors and attitudes that can lead to disobedience and hatred of good works. September 3rd, 2023, Treasures in Christ, Psalm 72b, C. We're going to make it C today. Third installment on this. Jehovah din am tizdek, our Lord God who governs his people in righteousness. Let him judge and govern your people with righteousness and your poor and afflicted ones with judgment and justice. And today we're going to look at God as Jehovah artios exartizo pas agathos ergo. Our Lord God who perfectly equips us for every good work. 2 Timothy 2.17. And I'm going to just read that here. I need to copy that over. So that the man of God may be complete and proficient, well-fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work. And we'll put that right in there. Heavenly Father, we're just so grateful this morning as we think about this truth, we think about in your governing, Father God, as you govern your people, that you provide all the provisions, that you give us every perfect thing that we need to do the very action you've called us to do. Because faith in fact is an action word and without it we can't please you. And in those actions, Father God, if we contrive it of ourselves, we're going to fall short. We're going to be fleshly in nature, not under your powerful hand. So we offer our entire lives as living sacrifices today. I do, Father God. I bring it to you now. I want you to transform me in the way that I should go, that I will walk in the way that you've called me, the good work that you've put in me to do, that you've given me the perfect input so that I can have the perfect output in the kingdom. Oh, I have reverent awe of you for that fact today, Father God, that you are sovereign over all of these things is why I bring my entire life as a living sacrifice. I truly want to be transformed in all fashions, Lord, all the ways that are out of your way that are in my own way. There we go. We're going to go right there. And I just thank you, Father God, for being such a good God. And see if that helps us out a little bit. I'm trying to get the volume to increase. I don't know what. Oh, I see. I see what happened. The microphone got turned off. There we go. That explains it maybe. We'll see. Can you hear me now? Okay. So that's what happened. The microphone got unplugged. Try it now. See if that helps. Oh, there we go. Much better. Much better. Thank you, Lord. So we just thank you, Lord, Father God, for giving us this input that we need to operate in the way that you want us to operate. You don't call us to do anything you haven't equipped us to do. And we thank you for that truth today, Father God. We thank you for the word that you've given us to give us this instruction and the Holy Spirit to give us. So I'm encouraged today. The recording program is having its issues, but I'm doing okay. And I love it. I love this word today because we're going to continue on and I'm continuing on in Second Timothy. We're going to go to three. Let's take a quick look and see what God has to say. And I love this characteristic of God because he gives us everything we need that we don't have to. I'm a worrier and I'm a stressor. I'm confessing. And how well can I perform? But God says, I've got you covered. So let's see what he says here. For Second Timothy But understand this, that in the last days will come set in perilous times of great stress and trouble, hard to deal with and hard to bear. For people will be lovers of self and utterly self centered. So if we understand the context, the stress is going to come from what we're about to read. The perilous times, the stress, the trouble. This is what I just confessed. I confessed this. I have stress. So I fall into these categories where I need to be transformed by the power of God so that I'm prepared to do the work of the kingdom. Right? That's what we're going to see as we read today. It's beautiful. Beautiful. And it shows us the overall governing of God in the kingdom. I mean, that's what it's all about. God is governing us. He's ruling over us. He's the sovereign in the kingdom. But these are indicators. So these are indicators that like with me, like I said, I have great stress and trouble and perilous times. You know, these are all different angles that show when we're out of sorts. And this is how we become out of sort. For people will be lovers of self and utterly self-centered. Lovers of money and aroused by inordinate greedy desire for wealth. Proud and arrogant and contemptuous boasters. You know, so much pride in ourselves. And that's that performer personality in me that comes out. It's an arrogance. It may not be a cocky, you know, athletic kind of an arrogance what you normally see. I'd say a football player is something you traditionally think in your mind's eye when you think, oh, you know, but it's still there. It's still a pride. If I'm operating in my performance as a performer personality, I'm operating in pride and arrogance, contemptuous and contemptuous boasters because we get to that place where we're boasting in how good we are and how good we're doing and how we're making it all happen. But it puts us in contempt with God, see, because we're not operating in the kingdom. We're operating in our own kingdom. And this is what creates perilous times, stress and troubles. I mean, we wonder why we're in troubles and stress and perilous times. Well, it's because of these behaviors that we have. This is not for us to look around and point the finger at everybody. This is for us to search out, test and examine our own ways. That's what I'm going to use this scripture for, because God's word is alive to me. And as it transforms me, then it can go out and I can love and help carry the burden of those others around me. This is not so I can go nitpick people. Oh, he's a lover. Yeah. And why? And it's neat because he says in the what he's saying in verse one in the last day, see, because time has gone by. The more time goes by, the further off course we get. If we think that we're going to get better in time since Jesus went back to the right hand of the father, I think we've sold ourselves a bill of goods. I mean, it was bad then while he was walking on or right after he ascended. It was bad. I mean, it was going all kinds of issues in the in the in the body of Christ. This is why we have all of the review, correction and encouragement coming in the New Testament because of all of this that was taking place. Now, more time goes by. Well, more issues are going to be there. More of this self stuff, more of this pride and arrogance and self-centeredness and lovers of money even. And, you know, I mean, can you imagine we know how money can do? You know, you start getting it, more of it, and you start to see, oh, the joy of or the I should say the pleasure, not the joy, but the pleasure of all the things it can do. And you just it just gets you distracted, even if it's and then, you know, we see it a lot and we'll see it in Christendom where there'll be that growth and it just becomes this thing. It's all about this growth and the size and all of this and this and this and this. And it just takes us out of the kingdom work because really kingdom work happens one on one at the end of the day. Jesus quieted the crowd to talk to the woman with the bleeding issue. He quieted the crowd to even listen to the king that was going, he was going to heal his daughter. And he quieted the crowd to call Zacchaeus. And you see what I mean? The crowd was always there, but he quieted and had a one-on-one because God has a one-on-one with all of his creation. That's what he wants, an intimate relationship. So this is an amazing truth. But these are the things that take us away from this. And then it causes stress, trouble, and perilous times in these things. Desire for wealth, proud and arrogant, contemptuous posters. They will be abusive, blasphemous, scoffing, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, and profane. Ungrateful, unholy, and profane. Ungrateful, not having a heart of gratitude. Because we in the kingdom as God's sanctifying us, and he's putting a death of deeds of our flesh, that is not a pleasant thing. So a lot of people, and myself, I confess, I have to look at myself, I can feel ungrateful, I can act ungrateful at times towards God. Because it becomes, it's rough, it's abrasive, it's a hard thing to be under the discipline of God. But this is what creates the sanctification. So when I'm in a place where I'm ungrateful, I'm probably not going to be walking in the holy life he's sanctifying me into. And disobedient to parents is a reflection to when we, I mean, he's using this, this is to me symbolism, I think, because in the end, all of these things, he's showing us that these things would lead to disobedience. And that's really what it is. And God is our Heavenly Father, and he is the obedient one, we must be obedient to, but when we, but to reflect in the flesh by also our disobedience to our parents, because it's same kind of scenario God set up with us in him, he set up with parent and child. Ungrateful, unholy, and profane. They will be without natural human affection, callous and inhuman. See, that compassion that we're supposed to have, we start to lose. They'll be relentless, admitting of no truce or appeasement, they're not seeking peace. They will be slanderers, false accusers, troublemakers, intemperate and loose in morals and conduct, uncontrolled and fierce, haters of good. See, the works of God, it's not what they want, it's not their, it's not my agenda, so I have to, I become this slanderer and this, I can become intemperate and uncontrolled in my zeal to get my agenda met. Relentless, he says, uncontrolled, haters of good. Now, let's not get it twisted. The good he's talking about here is not just anything that man contrives is good. It's the good works that God has prepared for us to do. It could look really good in human's perspective, but if it's not, if I'm trying to fulfill my own agenda in doing it, well then I'm operating outside of God's kingdom and I become the hater of what is truly good. I would add the word truly there, you know. And there's only one true good, and that's God. So, if we're, if I'm operating in my own agenda, even if I'm out feeding the hungry and clothing the, the, the, the clothesless and sheltering the homeless, but I'm not operating in the kingdom of God doing it, I become a hater of what is truly good, what is kingdom good, right? And he goes on to say, right? And he goes on to say, they will be treacherous betrayers, rash and inflated with self-conceit. Isn't it amazing how we know that at certain month every year, this is going to be our outreach month, and we're going to go do all of this thing. This becomes this treachery, this treachery towards the kingdom and rash. There is no room to come in and give any input when, when I've set my agenda so strongly without God and outside of the kingdom, it becomes this thing where I will do anything to guard it. That's what he means here, but the treacherous, treacherous, the treacherous, rash, inflated with self-conceit, it all becomes about me and my, my agenda. They will be lovers of sensual pleasures and vain amusements more than, and rather than lovers of God. And this is not, this is sensual, not sexual. I mean, it could be that, I guess as well. Sensual is any of the senses, touch, taste, see, hear, smell, whatever, feel good. It's our feel goods, right? And I go do this ministry every year because it makes me feel good that I'm doing it, you know, but, but even though the thing itself is in human eyes is a good thing, it's outside the kingdom. So we're actually haters of what's good. We're unholy. We're profane. We're in all of these things that we're reading here in doing it. And it is the thing, the agenda that we love, which is what makes us feel good. And it's a self-conceit and it will be very, you can't tell. Oh, God loves ministry work. Well, yeah, but when God calls us to do a ministry work, yes, obviously we're doing the good work God has called us to do, but just to put it in the schedule, because, hey, it's that time of year. That's what he's, what he's saying here. We have to be careful here because now we have, we've become lovers of how we feel and not on what God wants. First five, for, although they hold a form of piety, see, this is why I say, I'm saying it's not just evil things that are being done here. It looks religious, right? It looks good. It looks pious. That's the trap that therein lies the trap because it looks good. I mean, it is good. God will call us to go put shirt and clothes on those clothes, clothesless and feed the hungry and shelter the thing and visit the orphans and the widow, all of these things. He'll call us to go do these different things to help the needy, basically, you know, so that they can see the love of God, right? He calls us to do these things. These are pious things to do, but if we just do them religiously, that's what the whole thing is talking about. So I have to be cautious. He's not talking about overtly bad things. He's talking about overtly things that are good at their surface level, but they're just self-motivated. It's pride-motivated. It's all of these things that I want for my agenda, and this is what makes us not a lover of God because those who love God obey Him. Well, if we're obeying what we want, well, even if it looks religious and it looks good and it's helping the needy and it's doing the things God tells us to do, but it's not when and how God tells us to do them. See, that's the difference. And then we get caught up in it and it becomes about our agenda, my agenda, my agenda, my agenda, and I'll go to battles and toes with people. And it's weird because we're battling, it's kind of like the Crusades, if I can speak about something that's no longer here. The intention to save souls, have the souls be saved and come into relationship with God is a good intention, and it is the gospel, in fact, and what our purpose in the kingdom is. But to kill people when they don't do it and to do the things that they did to try to force people into it is not the answer. That's how far it went. And now we see it, but it's a lot more subtle. It's not as overt as that. It's very subtle. I can find myself I can find myself trapping people into religious habits and not into obedience to God. You see, it's very, this is a very powerful passage about making sure that God is the one governing our, the kingdom that we're operating in and not ourselves. That's what this is all, not myself. That's what this is all about. And he goes on to say in verse five, for although they hold a form of piety, true religion, they deny and reject and are strangers to the power of it, their conduct, the lies, the genuineness of their profession, because I'm operating in my own agenda. I'm not operating in God's agenda. I'm operating in my agenda. It doesn't matter how Christianese I can look and how many Christianese things I can do. If I can go to a formal gathering four times a week, I can do a formal outreach programs nine times a year. I can go build homes for people religiously every year. These things are denying the true power. These have taken the true power away from God and have made God a stranger. The power of God. This is why I don't, we don't see greater things than these. They tell us we aren't going to see greater things than these. And that's what it says. And it can't lie. It can't, you know, it's not kidding. So this is what it is. And we're not seeing it. We're not seeing the power of God operating in the kingdom the way we should. The way we should. I'm not. I mean, he still works in my life. I see him work, but not the power he said we would work with, because I need, he's training me, sanctifying me and teaching me, give me understanding through his word and his spirit, how to operate in his power. But unfortunately, it comes right in the face of everything I know from a religious standpoint. Everything I know from a religious standpoint is a mechanical thing we do. Oh, we are earnest in doing it. I'm earnest in doing it. I earnestly go to church. I earnestly do the Bible studies. I earnestly do the missionary trips. I earnestly do the retreats and all of these things. And I earnestly pray for others. But those are just check marks that I'm doing. Those are agendas that I'm trying to meet. And in doing that, I become a lover of self. And I have a form of piety, but I'm rejecting the true power in it. And God's saying, this is, he's thinking, this is how he's, he's showing us how important this is, that we have him transform, I have him, me, how important it is for me, that God transforms me in these ways when I go off course. Because listen to what he says at the end of verse five, avoid all such people, turn away from them. From among them are from for among them are those who will worm their ways into homes and captivate and captivate silly and weak natured and spirited dwarfed women loaded down with burden of their sins and easily swayed and led away by various evil desires and seductive impulses. He's using symbolism here. Okay, this is not only for women, but he's trying to symbolize as the weaker one that God says that woman is the weaker one. Okay, so he's using symbolism to just show weakness. He's not just talking about women, weakness. And what happens as we get in, I get into this religious piety thing where I'm just doing church and doing all these scheduled ministry things that are not God scheduled that are not God, God doesn't move me to go do right. So I mean, I'm just kind of, you're kind of coerced. Really, I mean, and that's not an evil intent. I mean, because everything that's happening is good, you know, but again, it's not the goodness of God. It's a form of piety. But it's in a worm in and you think about a worm as he's, you know, going into, you know, the ground, it doesn't take up a lot of doesn't make a big hole and then jump in, it just gets squeezes in. And so it squeezes into our inner life, our personal lives, we get, it gets squeezed in. And it captivates us. And it gets us sidetracked and loads us down with, oh, we have to go, we have to go into this formal gathering, and we have to do this, and we have to do that. And there's all these compulsions and coercions. And it just sways our heart, you know, when we're in this place of weakness. These weak women will listen to anybody who will teach them. See, they're forever and again, he's not talking about just women here. Let's not get this twisted. He's just talking about when somebody has more maturity in the Lord as far as time with them, we've come in, we're kind of in this place of weakness, like a Timothy Paul situation. And we come in, and we are willing to listen. And we want the teaching, we desire it, we're eager for it, we're zealous for it. But it's wrong teaching. So this is why he says, avoid all such people, turn away from them. Because if they're not, if we're not operating free willy in the Holy Spirit and truth, then, and we have organized religion, we are not operating in this in the kingdom. He's telling us that here. I mean, it can't get any more plain than what he's making it. He's going into great detail about it. Now, is it, does it make me feel good to think that I've been raised and trained in a broken system that is just religious piety, that has a form of piety, but has denied the power of it? Yeah, of course it does. It makes me feel some kind of way. But that doesn't change the fact that it's true. The fact that I feel some kind of way is not relevant. Because if I'm not constantly desiring God and being grateful for the process of sanctification and transformation, then I'm not working in the kingdom anyways. So that's where he started up top. There's no gratefulness. I mean, ungrateful, you know what I mean? Unholy, not set apart, you know? I mean, anyways, I can go on and this is amazing passage about organized Christendom and just how it's perfect description of what we have and what happens with the teachings that come from it. It worms into our life and it gets this thing where we're just like, we feel like we need to have it, right? And we need to come get that. But we're coming to the wrong source. We're getting it wrong. And it says, these weak will listen to anybody who will teach them. They are forever inquiring and getting information. See, it all becomes about how smart we can become. And this is a major, major thing in organized Christendom. You see it everywhere. If you don't go to a formal gathering and they're not encouraging us, study your Bible, study your Bible, study your Bible. Come get to preaching Monday, Sunday, Tuesday, every night. We're going to come on every night. Let's get it. You know, then that's not like any formal gathering I've ever been to then, if you don't experience that in your gathering. But in all my gatherings, it's always been about how much information we can get. But we are never able, it says, to arrive at a recognition and knowledge of the truth. Why? Because we don't use the spirit. See, we can't just use the truth. We have to use the spirit and the truth. Well, the spirit's telling us here, you know, the truth of the matter. We can read it and get a knowledge and understanding, I mean, ahead information. It says forever inquiring and getting information, but never able to arrive at true recognition and knowledge of the truth. So we're getting the data, but we're just not recognizing and knowing the truth because we're not operating in spirit and in truth. We're operating just with the truth with our own agenda. Now, he says in verse eight, now, just as James and Job were hostile to and resisted Moses. So these men also are hostile and to and oppose the truth. They have departed and distorted minds and are reprobate and counterfeit and to be rejected as far as faith is concerned. But they will not get very far for their rash folly will become obvious to everybody as was that of those magicians mentioned. Now, so we think about what's going on here. And I know this is where formal, this is where Christendom automatically assumes that it's operating correctly because they have a title. You see Moses, Moses shows us the title. Moses is the title. Moses was the one God called to lead the people spiritually. But Moses was operating in spirit and in truth and doing whatever God told him to do. God told him to go up on the mountain and told him to leave his family. I mean, God moved him all over the place in things Moses wouldn't have chosen to do, would not have been on his agenda. You know, he would have just camped down, kept his wife and kids with him. And he would have just started a church there or something, you know, I mean, if after seeing God in the burning bush and said, Hey, maybe the Israelites will come here one day, you know, and I'll just wait for them. And we'll send out missionary trips every year to go see them, you know, and Moses would have went that route. But see, when we see Moses, they we can't automatically just apply it to what we're doing, unless what we're doing applies to what Moses did, right, which is operating in spirit and in truth. He went and did exactly what God told him to do every time. He didn't have a plan. Moses didn't have an agenda. There was no agenda. In fact, he didn't even want to do, he wanted to be a Jonah for a minute. He's like, I don't even want to do this thing. I can't talk. I can't do none of this. So not only did he not have an agenda, he didn't want to do God's agenda. But that's a natural response to doing the heavenly because you have to walk in faith and faith is tough for the flesh. Oh, sorry, I got ahead of the scripture. Actually, I read it and I read right over it. And here he was just bringing it to my spirit because Moses operated in faith at the end of the day in God's agenda, not in his own. Moses didn't have the plan to go get the people out of Egypt. God did. Was it Moses plan? It was his plan to have wife and kids. And that's what he was doing. And actually, that was God. That was the opportunity God opened up when he met his wife at the watering hole and saved her from those bandits and was accepted in the family. God actually ordained and set all that up so Moses could have a family so he could experience what it was like to have an intimate love relationship intimately with a family. With strangers, because that at the end of the day, that's what our relationship with him is. It's an intimacy with a God who to us is in the flesh is a stranger. He's spirit, you know what I mean? Wow, what a powerful passage. So James and John were hostile and opposed the truth that had been given to Moses via the spirit. And it says, they have depraved and distorted minds. See, it's not that they're just overtly anti. It's just a distorted way of thinking, right? And are reprobate and counterfeit at the end of the day. Why? Because they don't have, they're not operating in the power that runs the kingdom. We're operating when we're doing this. We're operating outside of the power. Right? We're not actually using every perfect thing that God gives us to do every perfect and good work. We're not allowing him to govern us in this. We're governing ourselves because we just have been taught this traditionally and our minds are distorted in it and reprobate, you know, because we are refusing to do the will of God to do our own agenda. And it becomes a counterfeit and to be rejected as far as the faith is concerned. See, there's that's where that walking in faith comes in that spiritual side where you can't see the outcome, but you trust and lean on, rely on God in the process of the truth that he has given you. And that's of the truth that he's revealed to you, but they will not get very far for their rash folly will become obvious to everybody as was that of those magicians. And it is, you look around in Christendom and it is a laughing stock. There is not greater things than these happening. It's just simply social gatherings that are comforting. And they're, I mean, nobody can look at them and go, yeah, they're committing crimes or anything like that, but it's not about doing good works. It's about doing God's work, right? Which are good, but there are two different goods. There's regular human good, and then there's God good. And he wants us to do his good. So even though we are doing good works in the flesh, we're not doing his good work. And we're supposed to avoid that and come away from that. And he's put, he's called, he's kind of called me out of a lot of this. And he said, you know, I want to separate you from this because it's in, it has an influence. If we continue to go there for the teaching, we're going to continue to be taught wrong. Now you have closed verse 10. Now you have closely observed and diligently followed my teaching, conduct, conduct, purpose in life, faith, patience, love, steadfastness, persecutions, sufferings, such as occurred to me at Antiochian, at Iconian, at Lystra, persecutions I endured, but out of them, all the Lord delivered me. Now notice the transfer into what was going on up there when I operate in my own agenda to when I'm operating in God's agenda. You follow my teaching, you know, we're going to speak the truth of God and the Spirit in truth. We're going to live the life with the purpose of God in operation, which is our faith in action. And in so doing, as others are coming along, we're having God giving us the patience and love and steadfastness to endure during their journey and our journey and all of the persecutions and sufferings. Because out of every single one of those moments, God delivers us. He brings us out to the other side so that others will see the deliverance and be drawn to him. He says, verse 12, Indeed, all who delight in piety and are determined to live a devoted and godly life in Christ Jesus will meet with persecution. All, all, all who delight in God's way and are determined to live that life, not compromise, remember it said uncompromising. It's not a perfection thing. We've got the righteousness of Christ, you know, but we're going to meet with persecution. It's not an option. The Pollyanna doctrine doesn't exist, but the suffering doctrine and persecution doctrine do. Verse 13, But wicked men and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and leading astray others and being deceived and led astray themselves. See, when I follow my own agenda and I go fall head and I go headlong into it, I find that I have, I find that I have, I go worse and worse into the delusion and God brings it. We see the other passage where God brings the delusion and the deception, it becomes harder, but that gives it more value when we come to the place of conviction, that turning point and come back in repentance. There's more value in it than if we had no, you know, it was just, you know, yeah, no, no, you know, we could clearly see what's wrong and we just, we're just going to get it right. It's impostors. That's another indicator that it's not, it's wolves in sheep's clothing. It looks good, but they're really impostors. They're just in there. I just want to become an imposter when I just want to push my own agenda, you know, and God wants us to get out of this organized Christendom that we're in. This is what he's telling me to get away from it and let God move us in those directions that we need to go and let God give us the direction and so that we can have true piety, which is godliness, which is what God's transforming us in as he sanctifies us and transforming us. This is what we develop in us is the piety that others will see and they'll see the light of God coming through. That's the piety that they see coming through us that draws them to him. It's kingdom work after all at the end of the day. Yeah, indeed all will delight in piety and our says it's indeed all who delight in piety and are determined to live a devoted and godly life in Christ Jesus will meet with persecution, will be made to suffer because of their religious stand, but wicked men and impostors will go on from bad to worse deceiving and leading astray others and being deceived and led astray themselves. But as for you, continue to hold to the things that you have learned and of which you are convinced knowing from whom you learn them. See, this is we learn through the power of the Holy Spirit through the truth of God as we're discipled by the lives of others and if we have nobody to disciple us to direct Holy Spirit and truth, spirited and true. This is where we get our learning. We don't get our learning from that because we're doing that Bible study series. That's not where we get our learning. That's we go back up to the top where that becomes how where does he say where it becomes our information where we get so jacked up about getting information, but it's not information we're looking for. It's transformation we're looking for. But as for you, continue to hold on to the things that you have learned and of which you are convinced knowing from whom you learn them. When you know God has transformed you, set you apart and shown you the way to go, stick to it, stay convinced about it and committed to it and not be lukewarm, not be wishy-washy about that and how from your childhood you have had a knowledge of and been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to instruct and give you the understanding for salvation which comes through faith in Christ Jesus through the leaning of the entire human personality of God in Christ. Jesus's absolute trust and confidence in his power, wisdom and goodness. This is the gospel and we're going to unpack it real quick because we don't want to get it twisted. So we get the knowledge from the word of God, the truth of God. How do we learn? Through the spirit of God. So spirit and in truth, right? So this is what he's talking about which are able, the word, the writings are able, the word of God is able to instruct us. Instruction comes when the Holy Spirit gives us understanding, right? Because understanding just as it comes, has to be what the spirit gives us or we'll be deluded and we'll be walking in our own fleshly understanding. For salvation gives you the understanding for salvation. So we, now this is a process we know. Salvation is not an event, it's a process. Now we get access to it through faith in Christ Jesus. Now what is faith? Faith is an action word. So we need the spirit and in truth to give us understanding of the process of salvation because it is a process. It is not a decision. And because at the end of the day, did I know you or don't I know you? That's what he's going to ask. And if we just raise their hand one day and think that's all it takes to be saved, we've sold ourselves the bill of goods. Now for a thief on the cross dying that day, he committed, submitted under the powerful hand of God. And even though he was nailed to the cross and couldn't get off and do any actual acts of service, his willingness and his submitting under the powerful hand of God to direct and move him is what sent him to paradise that day. So that was his act of faith, right? Even though he couldn't physically do a lot of actions, right? And that's why somebody in their deathbed has the same potential to be coming to salvation as somebody who is a young child. But it's the word of God through the spirit of God that gives us the understanding for salvation, which comes through, this is the gateway now of salvation, faith in Christ Jesus, which we're given faith. We're given all of this by God. So it's all provided by God. Through the leaning, and he just goes on to expand what he's talking about. So we're leaning of the entire human personality on God in Christ. See, because we're going back to the salvation, the gateway is Christ. Salvation is God's plan, the gospel, right? The relationship he wants with us, with Jesus in absolute trust, confidence in his power, wisdom, and goodness. This is why I don't want to operate in my own agenda, because outside of God, he has the perfect and absolute goodness and wisdom and power. So when I operate outside of his kingdom, then I'm operating in a faltered, even if it looks really, really, really, really good. Like we really should go run that thing for that, you know, some kind of a cancer awareness thing and get involved with these worldly customs and traditions. We should just, we just feel so good to do it. But God may not call us to do that. He may call you to go do one, then go. If God goes, you know, I mean, randomly went to that gay parade, I mean, I would go, wow, I wouldn't have ever planned to do that. But God wanted us to go that day. And so we went and told us, go today, tonight, and love on those people. Let that love of me come through you so that they can see me and be drawn to me. It doesn't matter lifestyle. God's not looking for perfect people. He's looking for broken people who recognize their need for him. Right? So, and now I love this because he's going to give us the clarification here that every verse 16, every scripture is God-breathed, given by his inspiration. And when we see that, we can just don't, you know, put connotations. He is talking about the Bible, but he's also talking, the word of God goes beyond, there wouldn't have been enough pages to put it all in. Right? So God's scripture, basically what he's putting down his word, right, comes from him through inspiration and through the Holy Spirit, of course, because we need the Spirit in truth and profitable for instruction. This is for us. Now this is for me. This is what all this is all about. He's given us the rebuke, the correction, the rebuke, the correction, and the encouragement. Now, all of the word of God is profitable, which is God-breathed to give us back and given by his inspiration, again, to give us, show us the Spirit and in truth. So it's every word of God in spirit, okay, is profitable for instruction, for reproof, not just his word. We can easily just grab this and say, well, we just got to be Bible thumpers. No, it's the scripture that is God-breathed. So when the word comes out, it has to transfer through the air. And again, we see that symbolism to reflect the spiritual side of things, right? Or else we would just be legalism like they were in the Old Testament. But we know that everything that's Spirit-driven, word of God, every Spirit-driven word of God, Spirit and in truth is profitable for instruction, reproof, and conviction of sin for correction of error and discipline and obedience and how it has to be in spirit. Because like the one person told me, smoking cigarettes is not a sin. It's not in the Bible because there wasn't the Spirit and in truth. There was just the truth they were trying to operate out of. But every conviction of sin can come from the scriptures, whether or not it specifically mentions a certain sin or doesn't is not relevant. The Holy Spirit brings the conviction through the word of God that says your body is the temple of God. And if you destroy it, God will destroy you. And from that can come the conviction about doing anything that's harmful to the body, right? I mean, only if you're seeking God in that way. And conviction of sin for correction of error and discipline and obedience and for training in righteousness and holy living and conformity to God's will and thought, purpose, and action. This is the brass tacks where the rubber meets the road. If we operate outside of Spirit and in truth, we're not going to get any of this. So that the man of God, and this is the outcome of it. So, and this is man or woman, of course, so that the man or woman of God may be complete and proficient, complete and proficient. We don't need anything else. When we are operating in this way and God is transforming us and saying to me, when I'm in this place and I'm submitting under the power of the hand of God and I'm I'm in sacrificial worship so he can transform me and I have this heart of gratitude in the journey and all of this. And yeah, I'm going to be persecuted, sure. But I'm also going to be made complete and proficient, well-fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work that God wants me to do. Right? And I love this passage. What a beautiful passage. So that the man or woman of God may be complete and proficient, well-fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work. We don't need those extra programs. We don't need to go unless God tells us to go do them. We don't need them. We need God. We need God's transforming power in our lives. I need God's transforming power in my life. But I need to submit under his powerful hand so he can transform me. And I need to be doing it in the spirit and in truth. I need to be operating in that place of conviction so I can come back in the correction and utilize the discipline to become obedient to God, which is by training in righteousness. It's beautiful. My gosh, man. This is the standing operating procedures in the kingdom. So beautiful. And it's a true reminder that God, that Second Timothy 3 is a true treasure in Christ and a treasure in heaven. And that God is both Jehovah Din Amtizdek, our Lord God who governs his people in righteousness, and Jehovah Artizo, our Lord God who perfectly equips us for every good work. Oh, Heavenly Father, we're just grateful for this truth today. What an amazing truth, Lord. You are the governing power of the kingdom, and you are the one who perfectly equips us for every good work. It's not ever by us doing our own agenda. It's by doing your agenda only. So I pray you'll transform the body of Christ today. Give them an enlightenment today on this. Give them God goals today so that they can see the kingdom work that you want done, every good work. And we know that is that the light will pour forth from us, that others will see that light and be drawn to you so that none would perish, but all would come into salvation. So we thank you for this truth. We praise you for it today in Jesus' name. Amen and amen.