Focus: God reveals himself through Jesus Christ in the Scriptures. In order to worship and serve God aright in all of life, we must therefore devote ourselves to the reading of the Scriptures, to the proclamation of the gospel, and to the teachings of the apostles.
Function: To move the people to honor and obey God’s second commandment by worshiping him in spirit and truth.
Text: I Timothy 4:9-16
Lord’s Day 35
INTRODUCTION
Idols galore! It’s always been that way, so it seems. The Israelites in Moses’ days fled the Egyptians who served many gods, and they ended up living among the Canaanites with their gods. Baals, Astoreths, sacred trees, hills and altars galore!
It was the same in the days of the apostle Paul. As he traveled to the market place in Athens, he discovered all kinds of altars and statues dedicated to the gods: Zeus, Athenia, Aphrodite, Bacchus, and many other gods galore!
It’s still the same today. The eastern world is full of statues of Buddha and Hindu gods; the African continent can point to its witch doctors, voodoos, and superstitious rites. And the western world—with its secular sophistication—carves its own idols. America’s idols pop up in Hollywood and showbiz. Sport idols live and die by their heroic athletic efforts and achievements.
Last week I read about a t.v. actress (Kathy Griffins), who received some kind of Academy of Television Arts and Sciences award. When she accepted her award she made it a point to denounce the name of Jesus publicly; then she said: “This award is my god now!” Idols galore!
Let’s be honest: most of us are tempted to bow down and serve the god of money; many of us are drawn to the god of power and military might; others worship pleasure and self as the center of life. Idols galore!
All people, I think, are tempted by idols. And if there are no idols to follow, then we’ll carve a few of our own with our own imagination. It happened the other day again when I heard someone say, “Oh, I don’t believe in a God who sends people to hell. I believe in a god of love! And a god of love certainly does not dish out eternal punishments!” That person had carved her own god, suitable to her own likes and comfort. You see: Idols galore!
Now in the midst of all these idols throughout the centuries, we hear God’s voice declaring his second command: “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them….”
Perhaps one of the main reasons people carve idols and bow down to them is because of a need to see our gods. It’s hard to worship and serve and follow an invisible God. And the Bible tells us very clearly that God is invisible; he is Spirit. So, how do you worship and serve the invisible God of the universe? Jesus has given us the answer: we must worship God in spirit and in truth.
Since God is Spirit and since his Word, the Scriptures, is truth, the second commandment drives us to the Scriptures. There, in the Scriptures, the invisible God reveals himself through Jesus Christ. In order to worship and serve God aright in all of life, we must therefore devote ourselves to the reading of the Scriptures, to the proclamation of the gospel, and to the teachings of the apostles.
LORD’S DAY 35
As we ponder the Scriptures and listen to the voice of the Catechism, echoing God’s will for us in the second commandment, we are struck by the emphasis on God’s Word. The voice of faith in the Catechism asks: “What is God’s will for us in the second commandment?” It then responds saying: “That we in no way make any image of God nor worship him in any other way than he has commanded in his Word.” And then, in Q&A 98 we learn that God “wants his people instructed by the living preaching of his Word—not by idols that cannot even talk.” Why do people of faith steer us away from any idol or image or god carved by our own imagination? Why must we go to God’s Word?
The answer is very simple, yet deeply profound: God reveals himself through Jesus Christ in the Scriptures. If you want to see the invisible God, you must go to the Scriptures. If you want to bow down to the One and Only God, you must go to the Bible—for there, God reveals himself through Jesus Christ as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
THE PASSAGE
Now you know why I have selected I Timothy 4:9-16 as the text for today. For in this letter to Timothy, the apostle Paul emphasizes the centrality and the importance of the Scriptures. Let’s explore the content of this passage and let me share with you some insights from this passage (Those insights come from the pen of Dr. John Stott, a British evangelical pastor and theologian).
Timothy is a very young leader in the church of Ephesus. Raised with the scriptures at home, discipled by the apostle Paul, Timothy assumed leadership responsibilities in helping the Christians in Ephesus to grow in faith and Christ-like conduct. He may have been a bit timid in his approach to the members of the church. And Paul seems to think that this timidity comes from Timothy’s self-awareness. Can a rookie like Timothy assert himself among people twice his age, for example?
Paul gives Timothy some “medicine” to swallow. Here’s how you conduct yourself as a young Christian leader in the church of Ephesus:
1. Timothy, watch your example: (vs.11-12) “Command and teach these things. Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.”
2. Timothy, you must identify your authority: (vs. 13) (I’ll come back to this one)
3. Timothy, you must exercise your gift: (vs. 14) “Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on
4. Timothy, you must show your progress: (vs.15) “Be diligent in these matters: give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress.”
5. Timothy, you must show persistence and tenacity: (vs. 16) “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.”
Thus we see that this entire passage is Paul’s prescription for Timothy to cope with and overcome his timidity and youth among his peers and elderly in the church. Now as part of the medicine, Paul urges Timothy to fall back on the Scriptures as his final authority. He says (vs. 13) “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.”
Why go back to the Scriptures? It’s because God reveals himself in the scriptures. To worship and serve the invisible God aright all throughout life, the Scriptures reveal to us the way of true worship and service.
In driving Timothy and us to the Scriptures, the apostle Paul is simply building on a very ancient Jewish practice. For centuries, on every Sabbath day, the Jews would read the Scriptures in the synagogue. Following the Scripture reading there would be a “Midrash” or exhortation or sermon. The reader of the Scriptures would explain the meaning of God’s Word, and in that way the people of God were taught or catechized in the teachings of God. Thus, says Paul, “devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.”
Note that Paul is emphatic and comprehensive: As an outflow of the reading of Scriptures, there must be proclamation and teaching. Reading, preaching, and teaching the Scriptures are the way to shape the people of God in their service and worship of God. Why go back to the Scriptures?
God reveals himself through Jesus Christ in the Scriptures. By turning to God in Christ in the Scriptures, we learn to avoid idolatry; and by looking at God’s self-revelation in Scripture we learn to avoid carving images of our own “personal” gods. In fact, by turning to the Scriptures, we see God at work in Jesus Christ and in us as well.
For example, the Scriptures teach us that God created humankind. In his own image, he created Adam and Eve. You and I, in some astonishing way reflect God’s self-image. That image of God is shattered within us because of Adam’s (and our own) sins. We have lost the ability to reflect God’s character or self-representation in us. That’s the bad news.
But in Scriptures God declares good news to us in Christ Jesus. God sent his own Son, Jesus Christ. And the Scriptures says in Col. 1:15 that Jesus is the “icon,” the “image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” When you see Jesus, you see the image of God shining in him and through him, so much so that the writer of Hebrews can say (Hebr. 1:4) that Jesus is the “radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation (character) of God’s being….”
Now by turning to the Scriptures, by embracing its teachings and by putting our trust in Jesus Christ alone, the Spirit of God renews us more and more in the image of God. Anyone who turns to the Scriptures and embraces the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God and as Savior of the world is being renewed in the image of God. So much so that Paul could say (Col. 3) “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God…Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”
You know, when you really think about it, keeping the second commandment of God comes down to this for Christians: serve and worship God by reflecting the image of Christ in your life. Serve God by dying to sin and rising to a life of obedience and love. Serve God and worship him by producing fruit of the Holy Spirit—fruit that give off the fragrance of Christ; fruit such as love, kindness, humility, peace and patience. By putting off the old man of sin (our old sinful nature), and by putting on the new man—by turning to the second Adam, the Christ—we reflect the image of God.
There is no need to carve a god by means of our imagination; there is no need to bow down to any piece of rock or statue. All we should do is turn to the Scriptures and, by faith, embrace the Lord Jesus Christ.
For in the Scriptures God reveals himself through Christ. And by committing ourselves to reading the Scriptures, to preaching and to teaching, the glory and character of the invisible God will be revealed in us more and more.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.