Growing In Our Worship (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

[Read 2 Timothy 3:16-17]

I’ve mentioned before that many of the major turning points in my life and faith came as a result of a rebuke. When I began in ministry I did not like to read books and I didn’t like studying—sounds like a path of success, right? I did like listening to podcasts, though.

One day I was listening to a guy named Greg Stier—from Dare 2 Share Ministries—and he rebuked youth leaders. He said, “You youth leaders need to challenge yourselves and read some hard books!” I took that rebuke as a word from God. I went home and began asking around for a set of Calvin’s Institutes. I had a bunch of people discourage me from reading them. People kept saying things like, “They are really dry and dusty doctrine” or “Your going to get really bored” or “Are you really sure you want to read these?” But God had laid it on my heart to read these books, so I persevered. 

As I began to read Calvin’s Institutes, I found exactly the opposite of what everyone was telling me. Rather than being bored, I couldn’t put the book down. Rather than finding my soul dry up, I found my heart inflamed. Rather than finding myself tempted to lock myself up in a room and study, I actually found my passion for God and His people growing more and more. Then I came across this line in his Institutes and things began to make sense: “Our mind cannot conceive of God without rendering some worship to him” (1.2.1).

Take a moment to think about that. Our mind cannot conceive of God without rendering some worship to Him. God is the greatest, most powerful, most beautiful, most loving being that we could ever conceive of. It is impossible for us to “get to know Him” more fully without worshiping Him more fully. You cannot see God for who He is without being in awe of Him. You cannot understand what God has done for you without falling on your face in front of Him and worshiping.

Now connect all of this to our definition of worship. Worship is our response of adoration, submission, trust, and joy to who God is and what He has done. So, as we more fully see who God is, we respond more fully in adoration, submission, trust, and joy. As we more fully understand what God has done—and is doing/will do—we will respond more fully in adoration, submission, trust, and joy. 

There is no disconnect between our head and our heart. Let’s get rid of this assumption. We cannot rightly worship God unless we KNOW something. We have to KNOW who God is and what He has done—is doing/will do. It’s only after we KNOW these things about God that we can rightly respond in worship. So, it begins in our heads and then moves into our hearts, overflowing in worship. 

In speaking about these things, we should all be aware that we fall short in our worship of God. Do we really adore God the way we should? Do we really submit to God the way we should? Do we trust God the way we should? Do we find joy in God the way we should? No. None of us do these things fully. We all fall short. We all need to grow in our worship of God. In order to grow in our worship of God, we need to more fully know who God is and what He has done, is doing, and will do. 

So, where do we go to know more about who God is and what He has done? We can hear these things directly from His mouth. That’s what our passage says this morning: “All Scripture is God-breathed…” (2 Timothy 3:16, NIV). All of scripture—all of the Bible—is breathed out by God. It comes from his mouth—ALL of it. 

Take a moment to think through how comprehensive this statement is. It says ALL of scripture is God-breathed. That doesn’t mean most. It means ALL. So, if you were to ask me if the beginning of Genesis is God-breathed, we would answer, “Yes.” If you were to ask me whether the funny story about a man being swallowed by a whale is God-breathed, I would answer, “Yes.” ALL of it is breathed out by God. Every single part of this book is God-breathed. The Bible is God speaking to His people about who He is and what He has done, is doing, and will do. Every time we open up our Bibles we are hearing directly from God and He is telling us about His character and His work—things that should stir our hearts to worship. 

Not only is the Bible breathed out by God, but Paul also says it's useful. He says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness…” (2 Timothy 3:16, NIV). Again, this says that ALL of scripture is useful because ALL of scripture is breathed out by God. This is one of the reasons why I think it is important for us to work through books of the Bible on Sunday mornings—doing through both Old Testament and New Testament books. It is a way of enforcing on our hearts that every portion of scripture is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness—even some of the obscure minor prophets or the book of Numbers. 

I think we can summarize this statement by saying that all of scripture is God breathed and useful for growing us in our worship. Scripture is useful in teaching us how to worship. Scripture is useful in rebuking and correcting our false worship. Scripture is useful in training us in righteousness—which is our spiritual act of worship. If we want to grow in our worship of God we must be spending time in God’s Word—reading, studying, and meditating upon it. 

Paul goes on to tell us the purpose of all this. What is the goal? Since scripture is God-breathed and useful, what is it accomplishing in our lives? Paul says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16–17, ESV). Isn’t that an incredible promise/purpose. The Word of God is teaching us, correcting us, rebuking us, and training us SO THAT we would be complete—like Jesus Christ. The Word of God is the very tool used by the Spirit to conform us into the image of Jesus Christ. If you look at Christ and see Him as beautiful, and you want to become more and more like Him—which is the goal of every Christian—you need to be in God’s Word because THAT is the tool that is going to accomplish the work of becoming like Jesus. 

Paul also says it another way. He says that scripture works in our lives so that we are “…equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16–17, NIV). In the same way that ALL of scripture means ALL of scripture, EVERY good work means EVERY good work. If there is any good work that you want to accomplish, scripture is what will equip you for that work. Scripture is what will equip you to raise your children. Scripture is what will equip you to work each day to the glory of God. Scripture is what will equip you to bring the gospel into the community around you. In summary, Scripture is what will equip you to worship God in every aspect of your life. 

Take a moment to think about the areas of worship in which you struggle. Do you find it hard to adore God? Do you find it difficult to submit to God? Do you find it hard to trust God? Do you struggle to find joy in God? Each of these struggles are answered in Scripture. 

If you find it difficult to adore God, spend time in Scripture meditating upon who God is and what he has done. This God has never had a beginning nor an end. This God has created everything that exists by the breath of his mouth. This God is sustaining all of creation—the vast universe—at this very moment. This God is not only big and vast and powerful, but lowers himself to meet us. He is here with us this morning. Jesus entered the world in order to save us poor sinners. He suffered in this life and ultimately suffered in death to redeem you from your sins and to restore your life to who God has created you to be. How can this NOT stir our hearts to adoration? And this is only scratching the surface of who God is and what He has done. If it doesn’t stir your heart to adoration, you need to confess and repent before God, ask him to forgive you and to stir your heart to adore Him more fully. 

If you find it difficult to trust God and submit to Him, spend time in scripture meditating upon who God is and what He has done. This past week I spent some time meditating on the name Yahweh—which has a double meaning of “I am who I am” and “I will be who I will be.” As I was meditating and studying this part of God’s character, I came across this line from Herman Bavinck which put me on the floor at God’s feet. He said, “He will be what he was for the patriarchs, what his is now and will remain: he will be everything to and for his people. It is not a new and strange God who comes to them by Moses, but the God of the fathers, the Unchangeable One, the Faithful One, the eternally Self-consistent One, who never leaves nor forsakes his people but always again seeks out and saves his own. He is unchangeable in his grace, in his love, in his assistance, who will be what he is because he is always himself” (Bavinck, 1.143). Not only does that stir my heart to adoration, but it also brings me to my knees before God saying, “I trust you and I give you my life. I see your faithfulness from generation to generation to generation. I see you as the unchanging God. I trust you and give my life to you.” Again, this comes from knowing who God is and what He has done—it comes from Scripture. 

Maybe you struggle with finding joy in God. I want to respond to this with a quote from John Piper that speaks powerfully to this. He says, “The preservation of our joy in God takes work. It is a fight. Our adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, and he has an insatiable appetite to destroy one thing: the joy of faith.But the Holy Spirit has given us a shield called faith, and a sword called the word of God, and a power called prayer to defend and extend our joy. Or, to change the image, when Satan huffs and puffs and tries to blow out the flame of your joy, you have an endless supply of kindling in the word of God. And even though there are days when we feel that every cinder in our soul is cold, yet if we crawl to the word of God and cry out for ears to hear, the cold ashes will be lifted, and the tiny spark of life will be fanned, because, ‘The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.’” If you struggle to find joy in God, turn to God’s Word, read, study, and meditate on who God is and what He has done, as Him to meet you there and stir your heart.  

If we are to be a church that “Worships the Triune God in community, as a community, for the community,” we must be a church that is immersed in God’s Word. We must be a community that truly knows who God is and truly knows what God has done, is doing, and will do. As we come to a fuller understanding of these things, we will find our hearts stirred to respond in adoration to our God, our hearts stirred to submit to our God, our hearts stirred to trust our God, our hearts stirred to find joy in our God. We will truly become a people who truly Worship the Triune God in every aspect of our lives—complete, equipped for every good work.