“I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His Kingdom; Preach the Word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” – 2 Timothy 4:2-4
We cannot put God in a box, but He can put Himself in a box. God has placed Himself into the confines of His Holy Word. The Apostle Paul taught Timothy how to be a disciple of Jesus. In this passage, he was earnestly exhorting Timothy to proclaim God’s Word continually, whether it is a welcomed message or not. God gave His Word even though it is not always accepted, and when in those times of rejection, long suffering is required.
Paul said to reprove, rebuke, and exhort, because the people will not endure the truth of the Scripture. Instead they would look for teachers to scratch their itching ears. For their desire would be to satisfy their flesh, not their spirit. They would rather hear fairytales and soft speeches. Their lifestyles would become pleasure oriented, not God centered. Paul called these times “perilous”. (2 Timothy 3:1-5)
Paul knew people would reject God’s Word, but he did not stop proclaiming. God’s Word is sufficient. He told Timothy earlier in this letter that the Word of God is inspired, meaning that, “God breathed”. The text of the Bible is God directly speaking to the hearer. (2 Timothy 3:16-17) This means that this Book is alive, it continually breathes. (Hebrews 4:12) God’s Word is the source of our faith. (Romans 10:17) Paul exhorted Timothy to study the Scripture and rightly divide the Word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)
Before Jesus Christ came and fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament, God spoke through men. The prophets whom He had chosen. Now God speaks through His Son, the Word became flesh. (John 1:1-14) Jesus upholds all things by the Word of His power. (Hebrews 1:1-4) Jesus completed the redemption plan. The Scripture belongs to God, it is of no human origin. (2 Peter 1:19-21)
“I will worship toward Thy holy temple, and praise Thy name for Thy lovingkindness and for Thy truth: for Thou hast magnified Thy Word above all Thy name.” – Psalms 138:2
God’s Word is where the power is. Jesus said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”(Matthew 24:35) God’s Word stands forever. (Isaiah 40:8) God’s word is settled in heaven unto all generations! (Psalm 119:89-90)
The Word of God has been under attack since the Garden Of Eden, when the serpent said unto Eve, “Hath God said?”. (Genesis 3:1) His Word is still under attack today. We are in perilous times and people are more interested in fables than truth. Just as Adam and Eve were not satisfied with God’s Word in the garden, today, people will go and look outside of the Scriptures for “experiences”. Thinking they are able to attain a special knowledge of God. This is why we are told to test the spirits. (1 John 4:1,1 Thessalonians 5:19-21)
God gave us a Book! He breathes through His Word to us! He has given us all we need! Yet some in their prideful lusts, want more. Folks will travel many miles to try and experience God in a new way, but God is omnipresent. He lives in His Word and the Holy Spirit dwells within born again believers of the Lord Jesus Christ. We don’t have to travel to the temple like they did in Old Testament times. We are the Temple! (1 Corinthians 3:16) If we want the manifestation of Jesus Christ in our life, He said to love and obey Him. (John 14:21)
We cannot put God in a box, but He has put Himself there. He lives within the confines of His Word. Everything we need to know about God is found in The Holy Bible. God is true to His Word. God has set His own parameters. If we are looking outside of His Word to experience Him, we will not find Him. We will only find wolves in sheep’s clothing sharing fables.
“If we don’t know the Bible, if we don’t know theology, it is virtually impossible for us to identify false prophets.” ~ Voddie Baucham
If we do not believe that God remains true to His Word, then we are not Bible-believing Christians, we are mystics. Our experiences do not interpret Scripture, Scripture interprets our experiences. Jesus DID NOT say, “Sanctify them in their experiences.” Jesus said, “Sanctify them in Thy Word, Thy Word is truth.” (John 17:17)
God has placed Himself in the box of His Word. His Word governs our knowledge of Him and gives us the expectations concerning how He will work in our lives. We cannot exhaust the Word of God. He lives in His Word and He is everlasting (Isaiah 40:28). If the Holy Bible is not enough for us, then it is not God we really want.
Oh, how we need to be sober and vigilant in these perilous times. (1 Peter 5:7-11) The first warning Jesus gave at His “Olivet Discourse” regarding the end times was deception. He warned a total of 4 times within only 24 verses about deception. No other warning that He gave was mentioned more than once. Do you think He wanted us to pay attention? (Matthew 24:1-24)
May we hold fast to the Word of God and be able to say as the Apostle Paul said, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing.”– 2 Timothy 4:7-8
In Times Like These 