Scripture Reading: 2 Tim. 3:14-17
We have seen that the subject of 2 Timothy is the inoculation against the decline of the church. In this message we shall consider the antidote of the inoculation, which is the divine Word. In 2 Tim. 2:16-26 we have the spread of the decline and in 3:1-13, the worsening of the decline. We praise the Lord that in 3:14-17 we have a wonderful, heavenly, divine, spiritual, and rich antidote. As we shall see, this antidote is the divine word of the Old Testament and the New Testament, the God-breathed Scripture which is profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness and which completes the man of God and fully equips him for every good work.
Second Timothy 3:14 says, “But you, continue in the things which you have learned and have been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned.” The things which Timothy learned of the apostle and was assured of were the vital portion of the content of the New Testament, which completed the divine revelation (Col. 1:25). Hence, he had the practical understanding of a great part of the New Testament. These were the things he had learned from Paul and which he had been assured of by him.
The word ministered by Paul was the completing word of God’s revelation, the main part of the New Testament. Verse 14 indicates that from Paul Timothy received the proper knowledge of the New Testament and became assured of it, even though at that time the New Testament was not complete as a written volume. Timothy was granted the central revelation of the New Testament.
In verse 15 Paul goes on to say, “And that from a babe you have known the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” In addition to the knowledge of the New Testament, Timothy also had, from his childhood, a good foundation in the knowledge of the Old Testament. He was one who was fully perfected and equipped to minister the word of God, not only in caring for a local church, but also in confronting the increasing decline of the church.
Together verses 14 and 15 refer to both the Old Testament and the New Testament. By knowing the sacred writings from childhood, Timothy was familiar with the Old Testament, and from Paul he gained a proper knowledge of the central part of the New Testament. Therefore, Timothy had a proper understanding of the Bible as a whole. Today all the saints in the Lord’s recovery, especially the young people, need the understanding of the Word of God, an understanding of both the Old Testament and the New Testament.
Verse 16 says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” The Greek words rendered, “All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable,” may also be translated “Every Scripture God-breathed is also profitable.”
To confront the death, corruption, and confusion in the church’s decline, the eternal life upon which chapter one is based (vv. 1, 10), the divine truth emphasized in chapter two (vv. 15, 18, 25), and the holy Scripture highly regarded in chapter three (vv. 14-17) are all needed. The eternal life not only swallows up death, but also renders the life supply; the divine truth replaces the vanity of corruption with the reality of all the divine riches; and the holy Scripture not only dispels confusion, but also furnishes divine light and revelation. Hence, in this book the apostle stresses these three things.
The expression “God-breathed” indicates that the Scripture, the Word of God, is the breath of God. God’s speaking is God’s breathing. Hence, His word is spirit (John 6:63), pneuma, or breath. Thus, the Scripture is the embodiment of God as the Spirit. The Spirit is therefore the very essence, the substance, of the Scripture, just as phosphorus is the essential substance in matches. We must “strike” the Spirit of the Scripture with our spirit to kindle the divine fire.
As the embodiment of God the Spirit, the Scripture is also the embodiment of Christ. Christ is God’s living Word (Rev. 19:13), and the Scripture is God’s written word (Matt. 4:4).
According to verse 16, all Scripture is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. Reproof here means conviction or confutation. Correction denotes setting right what is wrong, turning someone to the right way, or restoring a person to an upright state. Instruction refers to discipline or chastisement in righteousness. This means to discipline or chastise in the element and condition of righteousness.
In verse 17 Paul says, “That the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work.” We have seen that a man of God is one who partakes of God’s life and nature (John 1:13; 2 Pet. 1:4) and thus becomes one with Him in His life and nature (1 Cor. 6:17) and thereby expresses Him. This corresponds to the mystery of godliness, which is God manifest in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:16). Through the God-breathed Scripture, the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work. Complete here means complete and perfect in qualifications, and equipped denotes being fitted out, furnished, made ready.
We need to know the Bible not merely according to letters in black and white, but also according to the divine revelation and heavenly wisdom. Do not think that having an advanced degree qualifies anyone to understand a book such as Ephesians. If we study this Epistle only in letters, we shall not be able to understand it. For a proper understanding of this book, and for the Bible as a whole, we need a spirit of wisdom and revelation. This was the reason Paul prayed, “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him, the eyes of your heart having been enlightened” (Eph. 1:17-18). We thank the Lord that for more than fifty years we have been receiving such a spirit of wisdom and revelation. As a result, the messages put out in the Lord’s recovery always contain something fresh and new. These messages are given not merely according to the black and white letters of the Scripture, but according to the spirit of wisdom and revelation.
We in the Lord’s recovery do not treasure theology, tradition, or the councils. We honor, respect, and treasure the holy Word under the shining of the heavenly light which comes by a spirit of wisdom and revelation. Because we depend on God’s enlightenment, His Word is opened to us.
Many Christians misuse 3:16 and 17. They point out that the holy Scripture is for teaching, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness and that it enables the man of God to be equipped, completed, and perfected. Although all this is true, it neglects the element of life in the Word. Those who regard the Bible as a book of teaching, reproof, correction, and instruction often ignore the life essence of the Word. As human beings we have a physical body outwardly, but inwardly we have a spirit and a soul. Our person is composed not mainly of the outward part, the body, but of the inward parts, the spirit and the soul. The principle is the same with the Bible. The Bible has not only a “body” of letters in black and white; it also has a spirit, because it is God-breathed. If in reading the Bible we exercise only our mind to study it, we shall not receive the life supply.
Most Christians neglect the spirit and take the Bible as a book of letters. The Lord Jesus once said, “The words which I have spoken unto you are spirit and are life” (John 6:63). Furthermore, we have pointed out that every word of the Bible is part of God’s breath. Thus, we should not only study the Word, but also breathe in the divine breath embodied in the Word. If we do not breathe the divine breath by exercising our spirit, we shall not receive life from our study of the Bible. But when we breathe in God’s breath, we are enlivened by a divine, heavenly, and spiritual element.
I wish to emphasize the fact that to study the Bible in order to follow its instructions is not sufficient. Often during a wedding ceremony a minister will instruct the bride and groom according to Paul’s word in Ephesians 5. The minister will then remind the wife to submit to the husband and the husband to love his wife. Although they may promise to fulfill these requirements, they will not be able to do so unless they receive the divine breath in the Word. The instructions in righteousness given according to the Bible do not work if we do not receive the breath of God, for then, in practice, we shall make these instructions the same as the ethical teachings of Confucius.
We thank the Lord for showing us that in reading the Word we need to exercise our eyes, our mind, and our spirit. We may say that with the eyes we contact the body of the Word, that with our mind we contact the soul of the Word, and through the exercise of our spirit to pray the Word, we contact the spirit of the Word. Then we not only understand the meaning of a certain portion of Scripture; we also inhale the divine breath to receive the life supply.
Many of us can testify that a certain verse of the Bible may be very precious to us as we read it. However, disciples of Confucius may also regard certain statements made by him as precious. But with the teachings of Confucius there is no divine breath. God’s Word contains His breath. Within the letters of the Bible there is the Spirit who gives life. This is the reason that in reading the Word we must exercise our spirit in addition to our mind. Then the verses we read will be not only precious to us, but they will nourish, refresh, and water us.
Actually, the function of the Word in teaching, reproof, correction, and instruction is all related to transformation. The Bible corrects us not primarily outwardly, but inwardly in the way of transformation. This means that the word of Scripture works within us in a metabolic way. Just as the food we eat and digest nourishes us from within, metabolically changing and transforming us, so the Word of God transforms us by inwardly teaching, reproving, correcting, and instructing us.
If we would be nourished by the Word, we should not only pray it, but also psalm it and sing it. In Colossians 3:16 Paul says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God.” By praying, psalming, and singing the Word we shall fan our spirit into flame. Furthermore, when we pray, psalm, and sing the Word, we inhale the divine breath and receive more of the element of God. In this way God dispenses Himself into us and infuses us with His element.
We cannot deny the fact that the Lord has shown us much light from His Word. For example, much light has been shed on the Gospel of John. If you read the outline of the Gospel of John printed in the Recovery Version, you will realize that the Lord indeed has opened the Word to us. Many may know the Bible in black and white letters, but, by the Lord’s mercy and grace, we know the Bible in life, light, and spirit.
Allow me to testify concerning the light we have received on John 16:8-11. One day in my reading of these verses I saw that sin, righteousness, and judgment are related to the three persons of Adam, Christ, and Satan. Sometime later I was asked to give the message for a gospel meeting in the church in Shanghai. I spoke on these verses and told the people, “As human beings, you were born in Adam. In Adam you have sinned and you have been condemned. But there is another person — Christ — and there is a way for you to get out of Adam and into Christ that you may be justified by God. If you believe in Christ, you will be transferred into Him. But if you do not believe into Christ, you will remain in Adam, the first person, and eventually your destiny will be that of Satan, the third person. Judgment has been prepared for Satan. Do you intend to help Satan suffer judgment for eternity? Will you remain in Adam with sin and eventually share the judgment with Satan, or will you believe in Christ and be transferred into Him in order to receive the gift of righteousness?” That message was very good, full of light. After delivering that message, I was fully nourished. Brother Nee spoke to me sometime later concerning that message and said, “Witness, hardly anyone has seen that in John 16:8-11 sin is related to Adam, righteousness to Christ, and judgment to Satan. I encourage you to continue to teach the Bible in this way.” I could never forget Brother Nee’s word to me. Today I am still being encouraged, strengthened, and confirmed by that word.
We thank the Lord that over the years the light has been shining upon us, even pouring out upon us. Apart from the Lord’s enlightening, we may read 2 Timothy a dozen times without seeing anything related to the inoculation. To see this we need a light. Under the light we can realize that the divine word, the Scripture, is the antidote of the inoculation.
We should not read the Bible in the way the religionists did at the time of the Lord Jesus and Paul. They did not realize that the title of God — the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob — implied resurrection. Probably Gamaliel instructed Paul according to Genesis 12 and 15, but it was not until Paul was enlightened of the Lord and received revelation that he realized that Abraham’s wife and his concubine typified two covenants. This shows that it is one thing to be a Bible scholar; it is quite another thing to have the light of God’s revelation.
We should not merely study the Word in letter. We need to pray that the Lord would give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation. If we do not have such a spirit but read only the black and white letters of the Bible, we shall not experience life, light, or spirit. There is a great difference between the way the Bible is used among most Christians today and the way it is used among us in the Lord’s recovery. The majority of believers use the Word in the way of letters, but we use it in the way of life, light, and spirit. This is the reason we constantly humble ourselves before the Lord, open to Him, and look to Him for light, vision, wisdom, and revelation. May we all learn to come to the Word of God in this way.
