Make every effort to present yourself approved to God, an unashamed workman who accurately handles the word of truth.Give diligence to present yourself approved by God, a workman who doesn’t need to be ashamed, properly handling the Word of Truth.Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.Give diligence to present thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, handling aright the word of truth.
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What a great, great verse. 2 Timothy 2, verse 15. Delight, or be diligent, I should say, to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed. What is he talking about? Rightly dividing the word of truth, knowing how to read and to understand the Bible and to apply it rightly. But shun prof... This is amazing. This is our age. Verse 16. But shun profane and idle babblings. Isn't that great? What's that guy saying? I don't know, but he's been talking for three hours on the podcast. And he's got millions of followers. Yeah, but what's he saying? He's just babbling. Is it life-changing? How does that help? Where do I apply that? Babblings. for they will increase to more ungodliness and their message will spread like cancer. Wow. Remarkable. So this is something to consider. Now, hang on to your seats here for a moment because you do know, right? If you can hear me right now, if you're thinking right now, it's because God has made you with the ability to be independent, to be what is known in theology as a free moral agent. …
… Study the word of God. Second Timothy 2.15 says, study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. How do you study God's word? I wouldn't even know where to begin, you may say. I'm glad you asked the question. There is a tremendous book. The best book I know of on how to study the Bible is a book that came out 20 years ago, but it's still in print. It's called Living by the Book. It's by my old professor, Howard Hendricks, and his son, William Hendricks. The subtitle is The Art and the Science of Reading the Bible. It will tell you how you can actually study the Bible for yourself. I'd encourage you to get that book, Living by the Book. You can get it at Amazon. If we're going to get a grip on God's Word, take it and assimilate it into our life, we need to listen to the word. We need to read the word. We need to study the word. And then fourthly, we need to memorize the word of God. Memorize, especially key verses that deal with difficulties we're going to encounter in our life. Do you know where to turn if you were consumed with anxiety and didn't know how to quit worrying? If a temptation suddenly came into your life? Do you know which scripture to turn to, to change your heart and attitude, to flee that temptation? You know, I remember so well reading about that 737 jetliner in October of 2018, …
… It's an awesome responsibility to be called to teach. The Bible says in 2 Timothy 2.15, we should know how to handle the word of God correctly. And then James 3.1 says, brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly. Now people have asked me, what's it like to stand up there in that stage at the crusade? That must be a real ego trip for you, right? No, not at all actually. It's kind of scary. And it's kind of an awesome responsibility. Because I recognize I'm speaking for God. I know that there are certain people that will be there that may never come to an event like that again. They may never go to a church again. And so I don't want to misrepresent God. It's a lot of weight. And there's a lot of spiritual warfare involved in it as well. I'm not asking for your sympathy. I'm just telling you there's responsibility that comes with teaching. …
… approved to God. Here, be diligent to present yourselves approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth, but shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. I'd like to begin this morning with a riddle by way of illustration. I would like a job as your tutor, your teacher, and the advisor to your family. I'll never take a vacation. I don't drink or smoke. I won't borrow your clothes or raid your refrigerator. I'll be up in the morning as early as anyone in the house, and I'll stay up as late as anyone wants. I'll help solve problems. I'll give you the satisfaction knowing that no question your children ask will go unanswered. For that matter, I'll answer any of your questions on subjects that range from how we got here to where are we headed. I'll help settle bets and differences of opinion. I'll give you information to help with your job, family, and all your other interests. In short, I'll give you the knowledge that will ensure the continued success of your family. I am your Bible. Do I get the job? …
… One of the ways you can literally be responsible for sin is to rush someone into a responsibility to teach the Scripture who is not prepared. And Paul said to Timothy also in 2 Timothy 2.15, Be diligent to show yourself approved unto God, a workman needing not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. If you don't cut it straight, get it right, You bring shame upon yourself and a stricter judgment, as James 3 said. There's an old story about Socrates. There were always young men wanting to learn from Socrates, and supposedly a young man came to him one day and introduced himself and said he wanted to be a part of Socrates' group and learn from him. But according to the old story, the moment that he met Socrates, he started talking and never stopped. And finally Socrates stopped him and said, Young man, if I do teach you, I'll have to charge you a double fee. To which the young man supposedly replied, a double fee, why is that? …