It is a faithful saying, for if we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him. That's two we's in one verse. It's talking about saved men and women. That's the context. Verse 12, if we suffer, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. So the living with Christ The living with Christ now isn't the reigning with Christ that is addressed in this verse. And we talked about last week, we're not going to be denied eternal life. We are going to be denied what? Eternal reign with rewards. That is correct. So there is some denying. And verse number 12 is not talking about unsaved people. Verse 12 is talking about saved people. All of the we's, there's six of them in 11, 12, and 13. All of them are referenced to believers and it's all in context to save people. So, verse number 13, let's read it. If we believe not, verse 13, yet he abideth faithful, he cannot deny himself. You and I may be unfaithful to God's Word, but we all know God is not going to be unfaithful to His Word. And under persecution, which is what Timothy is under, he's writing this as a prison epistle, he's under persecution. I know we talked a lot about this last week, but I want to catch up so we can move forward, so we won't spend a lot of time here. But under persecution, you and I might deny our profession of faith. But God isn't going to deny us an eternal home in heaven, but He will deny us and not reward us if we do fold under pressure or persecution, so to speak. He will deny you reward. He will deny me reward. That is what is being denied. It's all about saved people earning rewards that will be realized in the reigning and it shall reign. That's millennial kingdom stuff. We are going to come back with Christ and we are going to rule and reign with Him. Make sense? I believe we tackled that quite thoroughly last week. Now look at verse 14. New verse. "...Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord, that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers." To subvert means to bring someone under another authority. It's not submitting to the Lord. you're submitting to another authority. And to subvert that is to get someone to come under something or someone else other than God. May God help us not to subvert any hearers. This is why the Bible is so important. And this is why we should be excited about the Word of God. Because I know this is true all day, every day. Other stuff, I'm not so sure. So, if we know this book better and better every day, every week, every year, if we know this book well enough, if we know the real thing well enough, I don't have to spend hours of my life trying to figure out all the counterfeit stuff. I know it's false. I've used this expression before. I have a septic tank at my yard. I saw them put it in there. I know what goes in there. I don't have to go out there every day, dig it up, open up the lid, put my head down there and know that it smells. I know it's awful. I know it is. I'm going to leave it alone and I'm going to focus on something else. I know it's bad. I'm not going down there. And I think too many times Christians get caught up in side trails. They're so far deep in the forest on a rabbit trail that they've gotten away from the Word of God. And so what has happened to many churches in America is they've been subverted. depending on where people are at in their walk with the Lord, they might think our church is weird. You guys are the ones standing out there handing tracts and holding signs, and all you do is talk to people about the Lord. Well, that's kind of normal stuff if you read the Bible. But if you're not in the Word all the time, you're going to get subverted and think that something else is more important to talk about. Make sense? It's the Word. This word shows up in Acts 15 and it talks about people have been troubled. They've been troubled with words and souls have been subverted. In Titus 1, we're pretty close to that. Let's look at that. Flip forward. And it should show up on the next page. Titus 1. Look at verse 10. There are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, especially they of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped. Why? Because they subvert, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not for filthy lucre's sake. Subverting happens all the time. And the whole trick to subverting somebody is to get them to put their faith in someone or something else. I'm sure you've seen these things all over. They're all over the internet. And I saw UC Good, and then it's the president that they want to win. And they have him decked out like a powerful, muscular angel with wings and good. And then under it, evil. And then it's the political candidate that they don't like and made up like the devil. What? Wait, what? What are you talking about good and evil? The church is the pillar and ground of truth. The gospel is how we understand that nobody is good. I've heard both candidates talk about their testimony, and very recently, the candidate that I'm going to vote for, it doesn't sound like he is a saved man. Not based on the Bible. So we get subverted. We think that somehow we're going to be saved, and now we're going to have some reigning now. But we're not having reigning now, not what's talked about in this verse. We're going to have reigning in the millennial kingdom under a king where nobody's going to be subverted. So what do we do now? We can't conflate the two. We can't conflate the two. Now you ask me as an individual some things and I'll say, yeah, I'm for that and I'm for that and for that politically and economically and financially and I'm all for it. But when we try to start making that somehow a spiritual realm, that's how we get subverted. So it's a clear distinction that must be made. We're part of the church of God. And because of that, Paul, who is imprisoned because of evil government, is charging Timothy, young Timothy, don't allow hearers to be subverted. And here's what the solution is. Verse 15. Study. You've got to start school? What have you got to do in school? I asked one of you, did you do your homework? Because you've got to come home and you've got to do more work. Study. If you want to be good at anything, you've got to study. It's a setting of the mind or thoughts upon a subject for the purpose of learning what is not known before. And study is when you give something your absolute attention. Young people, you know this to be true. Don't tell me it isn't. You know it to be true. It's time for math. As soon as you go, you're not giving 100% attention to that. Your study has been interrupted. Oh, I have to do homework? It's not 100% study. Christians? Oh, it's time for me to study the Word of God? The Word of God is more important than ESPN. The Word of God is more important than anything else out there. And we are to study it. You know, you can go to college. You can major in computer science. You can major in engineering. You can major in education. You can major in a whole host of things. And you're going to focus and you're going to study. A lawyer is going to go to school for eight years. Someone in the medical profession is going to do four years of this, four years of that, and four years of this, and by the end of 12 years, the study's been done, now they're going to get into their field. I'm telling you, the Word of God's more important than all of that. And if we are going to dedicate our lives to studying other things to provide for our family and to be able to live down here as a contributing citizen, we're going to have to put some time, work, and effort into it, right? Why would we drop the ball when it comes to the spiritual bucket? We got a lot of people where their buckets are full, financially, economically, all of that. We got full buckets. But God says, you better fill this bucket and study. That's how you protect yourself and I protect myself from being subverted. You know, we've been having a good flow of visitors come in, and that's a blessing. I hope, I hope, and I trust they are seeing that what Pilgrim Baptist is about is studying the Word. Studying the Word. I can take all types of weekend courses and learn how to be more charismatic, and I can learn how to insert emotional stories so that just at about 25 minutes I've got you crying, and I can do all that. I know, well, I can make you laugh here, I can make you cry here, I can make you hoot and holler. Look, I know I fish for amen sometimes, but praise God, it's better to be in the Word. It's better to be in the Word. And it's better to study the Word. Amen. Amen and amen. Good, good, good. Study. the seminary professors and the textual critics, they want you to think that that word study shouldn't be in there. But it's in the King James Bible, and it's only in the King James Bible, and it's not do your best or be diligent. Because a lot of these textual critics say, well, here's what they say, and I'll quote them, this doesn't refer to the preacher studying the scriptures, rather, and I quote, here's the quote, it's handling the word of truth aright. Well, I want to know what in the world you're talking about because you mean to tell me I'm supposed to rightly handle the Word of Truth without studying it? What are you talking about? I don't need four years of Greek or Hebrew to figure that one out, Chris. Somebody's been subverted. Somebody's been subverted. I want to study. And I want you to study. And I'll stop here and go fishing a little bit. Thursday night we're going through 1st Timothy, now we're on 2nd Timothy. And getting something prepared after 2nd Timothy's done that I won't tell you yet, but I'm getting some materials ready and it's going to be a blessing. And Sunday mornings we're going through Romans, amen. How long have we been on that? Right? I would hope that you are going home and getting your hearts and mind filled with 2 Timothy and Romans. I want you to know that book. And when I'm studying the Word and preparing a Bible lesson regarding these verses, it's so that now you can be fed and now you can study it with your family. You can meditate it on your daily devotions. In other words, the idea is the church family should be, at the end of 2 Timothy, man, we should know that book. If somebody were to take you to 2 Timothy, you've got some real good meat. Someone were to bring you to Romans 14. Man, you've got some really good meat. No pun intended. Right? That's the idea. Go to Deuteronomy 17. We see it all through the Bible. Old and New Testament. Deuteronomy 17. Look at verse number 19. Deuteronomy 17. Look at verse 19. Deuteronomy 17, 19. And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them. And you know what the nation of Israel had? They had some words from God. They had some commands from God. And part of studying is you've got to read it. All the days of your life. And if that means unsubscribing to all of the YouTube non-preachers that are trying to talk to you about everything and anything besides the Word, then do that. If you can do that and this, then do that. We talked about this Sunday. Why is the home so off? Why is the church family so off? Because we've been subverted. We're not reading and studying the Scriptures. Somebody comes to Pilgrim Baptist Church. I hope we're talking to... Look, I know we talk about a whole bunch of things. I know we have hobbies, praise the Lord. I've got them, you've got them. But I hope if someone comes to Pilgrim Baptist Church, they know, they can hear you talking to them about the Word, about the Word. Go to Psalms, chapter 119. Psalms, chapter 119. Look at verse 15. The Bible says, I will meditate in thy precepts and have respect unto thy ways. I will delight myself in thy statutes. I will not forget thy word. And studying the Word not only means reading it, but you've got to meditate on it. Earlier in Psalms, I think it's chapter 1, it talks about meditating day and night. How are you going to do that when you're dreaming about your favorite sports hero, and you're dreaming about your favorite political candidate, and you're dreaming about your favorite movie star? You can't, because you're always daydreaming about something or someone else. The Super Bowl's on. I don't care. I'm going to be on Sunday. And I'd rather spend time with my church family than a bunch of people who don't even know or care who I am. Just study the Word. Read. Meditate. Look at verse 18. Look at verse 18. Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. We've got to pray that God would reveal to us spiritual truth as we read His Word and as we meditate upon His Word. Look at verse 34. Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law. Yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart. This is about praying not only that God reveals spiritual truth, but within that spiritual truth, Understanding it. That's reading. That's meditating. That's praying. Last one. Look at verse 160. Thy Word is true from the beginning, and every one of Thy righteous judgments endureth forever." Not only do we have to read, not only do we have to meditate, not only do we have to pray for spiritual truth and understanding, but we've got to believe that His Word is true. Do you believe it's true? Go to Proverbs 22, and then we'll get back to 2 Timothy. Proverbs 22. Proverbs 22, verse number 17. Bow down thine ear, Proverbs 22, verse 17, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge. For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee. They shall withal be fitted in thy lips, that thy trust may be in the Lord. I have made known to thee this day even to thee. Have I not written to thee excellent things and counsels and knowledge? that I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth." Are you certain that this Word is true? You better get a hold of that promise in Proverbs. That you can be certain that God's Word is true. "...that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee." I'm going to make it simple. 2 Timothy 2, verse number 15, study. So that when someone asks you a question, you can give them a certain answer out of a certain word of truth, and they can believe it and trust it just like you do. 2 Timothy, we'll go back. New Testament. That was old, we'll get back into the new. 2 Timothy chapter number 2, verse number 15. That was one word we preached on and we studied on. And sometimes that's the way it goes. I hope that you read the whole Bible. I hope that maybe you're going to study a chapter or a book in the Bible. I hope when you're in a chapter or I hope when you're in a book you're studying each chapter. I hope when you're in a chapter you're studying each verse and I hope when you're in a verse sometimes you're going to study one word. And I hope when you study the words you study the punctuation too. Because you know You can't just have your kids put a period or comma anywhere. It's gonna change the whole meaning and the whole emphasis of the sentence. But that's why it's called study. And then it says to show thyself. So this is personal. Remember we talked about thee, thy, thine? Show thyself approved. You read that just like I do. I must do it. This isn't, well, this is what we pay the preacher to do. Well, that's the preacher's job to do. No, that's all of our jobs to do. Young people, your parents are going to teach you a Bible devotion, a prayer, a little lesson here, a little lesson there. Show thyself approved. You need to make it personal. You need to have your own Bible study time. Mom, can you come up and pray with me? How about you pray? Dad, can you read the Bible to me? How about you read it? Now that's all great. We do that as parents. Show thyself approved. It's personal. Don't worry about the other guy. Approved. To study, show thyself approved unto God. Our culture seeks approval from everything and everybody else. Let's see if I can make some sense of this. So I write a daily blog-votional. I write something every day except Sunday. But I turn the comments off. Because I know if I have the comments on, I may write differently based on what other people say. Now, you can't do that with, you know, the YouTube and the Facebook and all that. But, well, now that I have an option, that's a do. So, I said that to say this. I can preach to get the people's approval. Remember we were praying about the pastor, and he got voted out because he was preaching the truth? Well, in order to keep his job, but it wasn't a job to him, all he had to do was get the approval of the majority of the people. And then he had a building to preach in, he would have had a pulpit to preach behind, and man, isn't it a blessing to have a building, amen? They say you want to give a preacher an early heart attack, have him go through a building program. Those things are stressful. It's a blessing to have a building. It is. But I can't and you can't live the Christian life trying to get approval from others. You have to study and live your life so it's approved of by God. And you young people sitting here, look up for a second. Look at me. I love you. It's a blessing that you're here on a midweek service, listening to preaching. I like to think to myself that if your parents didn't bring you, that you'd ride your bicycle here because you're that excited about being at church on a midweek service. Now, I don't know if that's true or not, but I tell myself it is, okay? It's a blessing. It's a blessing. But when you're 16 or 17 or 18, and you want to go the way of the world, and you don't want to listen to what your mommy and daddy said anymore, or you're sick and tired of the, by then, the really old preacher, then guess what? I can't go with your approval. I have to go with God's approval. Please don't make me have to make that choice. Are you living your life to be approved unto God, or are you worrying about what the classmates say? Are you living your life to be approved unto God, or are you worried about what all the other socially classed parents are doing? And if you just go this way, you'll fit in with everybody. Our approval is based on what God thinks, not what others think. Amen? God approves it. And study is demanding. The Bible talks about in Ecclesiastes, much study is a weariness of the flesh. And the temptation of man, it's designed so that we would take the way of the worldly pleasures rather than taking the way of escape from that that God provides for us. That's how temptation is designed. Two roads. Take this way. Get approval from the world. Get the applause. I don't like the applause. I don't like the clapping. I don't like it. It's a blessing the kids come up, they do their memory verses. I'm not trying to say kids don't need an atta boy and an atta girl. But I'd rather the amens and the hallelujahs. That's just me. I don't think, I think this applause is the downfall of our society. Don't applaud me. Don't. Because I'm nobody. I'm just blessed to be used by God and I want to keep it that way. I want to keep it that way. The last thing I need is an applause from a man or a woman. I don't want it. I don't need it. It's not good for me. You got some 10-year-old that can swing a ball bat and everybody goes crazy for him. You got a Christian that wants to live for God and they think that you've gone insane. How do you study the Bible? Study it doctrinally. Study it literally. Study it historically. Study it chronologically. Study it prophetically. Study it dispensationally. Study the Old Testament. Study the New Testament. 2 Corinthians 10 says, For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth. I want to be approved of God. Do you? Then get busy studying. Study to please God. Study to please God. 2 Timothy 2, look at verse number 15. Then it says, A workman that needeth not be ashamed. There's a lot of shameful things out there, and we got a lot of Christians getting involved with things they should be ashamed of. Why would you be watching or reading Harry, You're Not My Potter? Why would you immerse yourself in these romance fornicating soap operas, The Young and the Hopeless, and all this junk? Hours and hours and hours of smut online. From video gaming, and I'm not talking, I mean, we had Pac-Man when we were kids. They got vile, vile, filthy video games. It's all over the internet. And kids are immersed in it. It's something that should be shameful. Most Christians are ashamed of the Word of God. And they are happy to side with the world rather than with the conservative preacher or the conservative Christian. And if you have ever taken a step of faith to try to live by the Bible a little bit better today than you did yesterday, I'm telling you, trouble's going to come your way. And they're going to try to shame you. I'm not trying to shame anybody by preaching. I'm trying to get you to see what the Bible says is shameful. And none of us have to be ashamed of the Word of God and what it says. We should be ashamed of who we were. And if we profess to be a Christian and our life is involved in things that are shameful, we need to repent. Fill in the verse. Let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. Be a workman that needeth not be ashamed. Alright, we'll need 2 Peter. We'll start to wind down here. 2 Peter chapter number 1. The Bible says rightly dividing the word of truth is the end of Verse 15, Study to show thyself approved unto God a workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. So as you get 2 Peter, you have to remember that rightly dividing is the only true and Bible time-tested method of studying God's Word. and you can't take the Word of God and scramble it up like an egg, or chop it all to pieces with an axe, or just regurgitate what you heard at seminary, or just live your life based on how you were brought up. All of those are faulty foundations. Everything that I have heard And everything that I've read, everything that I've been taught, it's up to me. I am responsible to filter it through the Word of God. And let the Word of God bring out the truth of it. You've seen the water guy at these festivals that we go to? And he says, I'm going to take your water, I'm going to put it through this filter, and it's going to be great. You all have a water filter. I want to come over just to have the water, right? I mean, I want some really good water. Well, look, I think that's a picture of how we live our lives as Christians. Everything we see, hear, think, and do, we should filter it. through the Word of God. But what we have been doing is Romanism. We have been taking the Word of God and filtering it through what we want. And we can come up with all sorts of doctrines, can't we? Rightly dividing the Word of Truth. And yes, the Bible is divided. We'll be getting into that on Sunday School Lessons. And 2 Peter, I ask you to turn to 2 Peter 1. Look at verse number 3. 2 Peter 1, verse number 3. The Bible says, According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue. Look, if you want to learn about physical life and how to stay healthy, you talk to someone that's in the fitness and medical field. Amen. Okay? If you want to get better at pouring concrete, you talk to a guy that's poured concrete his whole life. If you want to understand how to build a structure, you talk to someone who's studied engineering his whole life, right? If you want to understand all things that pertain to our life here as Christians, spiritual life, eternal life, things that matter for eternity, it's found right in this book, all things pertaining to life. Young people, and say this word, godliness. Godliness. Say it like you actually want to live in a godly-like manner. Godliness. If we worship God, we should want to live a life that is godly, not worldly. But all my friends, your friends are wrong. Look at me, young people. Look at me. As a young person, I got in more trouble. You know why? Because of my friends. And I got more people in trouble because I was a wrong friend. Because you start hanging around with a certain group of people, guess what? That's you. That's you. If you're one of five of a group that's doing wrong, it's not the four that are doing wrong and you're just some sweet kid that's just a victim of the four. No, you're part of that group. That's you. That's you. That's who you are. I want to be surrounded by Christian people. I want to be surrounded by Christian people because they say, man, you're one of the five. Yeah, I'm one of the five and we're all walking in agreement the same way. We want to live more godly. Look at verse 16 in 2 Peter. 2 Peter 1, verse 16. For we have not followed cunningly devised Disney fables. Sorry, I thought I found that in one of the oldest manuscripts, but it's not there really. Devised fables. People love a good false story. That's why all that stuff we talked about earlier, all the romance soap operas, all that stuff, people love Something to hold on to. Dream a dream. Let your conscience be your guide. We can all be one. Believe in yourself. Yeah, go ahead. Believe in yourself because everyone else thinks you're an idiot. That's a quote from We Won't Say Who. Why do we want a fable and a story to believe in. You know they're cunningly devised to get us just a little bit off track. The next thing you know you're immersed in another episode of as the world burns. That's what it is. No fables, the Word. Don't follow. Look, all things that pertain to life and godliness, don't follow cunningly devised fables. Look at verse 19. We have also a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto you do well that you take heed. as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts, knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation." If you have something to say, if I have something to say, if we have something to say, it should be in public for everybody to hear. Not a little whisper here, a little whisper there. Hey, did you hear about this? It shouldn't be in private. If you've got something to say from the Word of God, we all want to hear it. What is it? Private interpretation has gotten a lot of people in trouble. We need to be careful of that. You know what we have? A light that shineth where? You live in life and darkness. You live in a life in darkness. Flashlight. It's the light of God's word. You live in a life of darkness. Yeah, it exposes you. It exposes you. You know what the police do when people are sinning and getting in trouble at night? They come a knocking. They click on their flashlight and they shine it. What are you up to? What are you doing? Why are you back here? God's Word. You're living in a dark life, God's Word shines light on it. That's what it does. You want to do something behind your parents' back, why don't you do it in front of them? Because you're trying to hide it. Light of God's Word. It's the light of God's Word. It's going to shine light in a dark place. This is why we believe the Bible. And it's more sure than anything else. Yeah, but I read it on the internet. It isn't a conspiracy theory. It's a fact. It may be. But if that's more sure to you than this book, it's off, brother. This book is more sure than anything else. Every time you can mark it down. You got this brother in the medical industry, and every day it's a race to figure out, man, this is a life-threatening thing. What is going to be the... I mean, you're weighing out, alright, what's going to be the best approach to this? What's going to be more sure? As Christians, we don't have to worry about that when it comes to life and godliness on how to live. We've got something that's more sure. We don't have to roll the dice. We don't have to gamble on it. We can know that we know that we know. That's why we read and study the Bible. It's not a prop. We don't worship it. We worship the author of the book. But it can't just be a prop. Three points, a poem, a few amens, and you get everybody riled up, get them crying, get them laughing, and send them home. They need to be fed the Word of God, and they need some light shined into their life, because a lot of it's dark. I know it's Thursday night, but we're talking about studying the Word of God. Amen. Is that alright, Danny? It's the Word of God. You get more people get excited about it. You go to a Gideon meeting and it's all people with white hair. They're all over 80 because none of the young people want to get out and get the Word of God out anymore. It's the Word of God and it's more sure than anything else. Amen to you too, sister. You don't have to turn there, I'll read it. Nehemiah 8.8 says, So they read the book and the law of God distinctly and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading. Write that verse down, Nehemiah 8.8. So if you're going to teach, you're going to preach, you're going to exposit the Word, you can help people understand it by giving the sense of what God's trying to say. Acts 17, you don't have to turn there for the sake of time. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica in that they received the Word with all readiness of mind and searched the Scriptures daily whether those things were so. So really, what's your desire? Do you want to receive the Word? Do you find enjoyment in searching the Scripture? Five ingredients. of the gospel worker. Five ingredients. I'll close with this. Number one, he studies. That's ingredient one. Number two, he's looking for God to approve him, not for man's approval. Number three, it's personal to him. It says, show thyself. Number four, he's not ashamed of Christ. And because of that, he doesn't want to live a life doing shameful things. Number five, he rightly divides the Word of Truth.