Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening and now
for today's program. Welcome to our program. Now,
today I'm going to be speaking from the book of 2 Timothy, chapter
1, if you'd like to follow along in your Bible. 2 Timothy, chapter
1. And the title of this message
is, The Form of Sound Words. The Form of Sound Words. And
this message is part of a series of messages concerning the subject
of how to interpret The Bible. How to read and study and find
the meaning of the Bible, the Scriptures. Various verses and
passages and all of that. Mainly the whole Bible, the Bible
as a whole. And I've been talking to you
in these messages about the rules of interpretation. You see, there
are rules. of interpretation that are given,
and just to read the Bible willy-nilly without any set pattern or rules,
you won't find its meaning there. And I've spoken of you first
about what I call the rule of Jesus Christ crucified and raised
from the dead. That's the rule of the gospel,
the rule of grace, showing that this book is a book of Jesus
Christ. Christ said in John chapter 5
and verse 39, these scriptures, this written word, are they which
testify of me. They testify of Christ. And so
we're to read the Bible first with a Christ-centered view,
a Christ-centered understanding. And then the second rule is the
rule of first mention, where a concept, a truth, especially
the gospel, how God saves sinners, where it's first mentioned back
in Genesis chapter 3, it stands true all the way through the
scriptures. It never changes. You're not
going to read the gospel message as it is related and revealed
and communicated in the book of Genesis and then go over to
the book of Revelation and find the contradiction to that message.
And of course, the Bible teaches that all of salvation is by grace
through Jesus Christ based on His blood and righteousness alone.
That was first mentioned back in Genesis 3 and it never changes.
And then I spoke of the rule of simplicity, which simply says,
if God says it in his word, that settles it. It's true, whether
I understand it or even whether I believe it. I believe God's
word, but my believing doesn't make it so. People can believe
anything they want to believe, but that doesn't make it true.
But the rule of simplicity, here's the simple truth, that when God
says it, that settles it. And then the rule of revelation,
that when we read the scriptures and study the scriptures, we
are totally dependent upon the Holy Spirit to reveal it to us
for our understanding. And incidentally, the Holy Spirit
always leads sinners to Christ for salvation, for forgiveness,
for righteousness, eternal life and glory. Well, today I'm gonna
talk to you about what I call the rule of language. the rule
of language. And the rule of language concerns
mainly the meaning of words, the meanings of words, the meanings
of phrases, the meanings of sentences. As we go through the Bible, words
have meaning. Now, I recognize that people
get bogged down in words and people argue over words. The
Bible warns us against that. Strive not about words to no
profit. We're to understand with wholesome
words the words of the Lord. This Bible is the word of God. Christ himself is the living
word, the incarnate word, the word made flesh. This book is
the written word, and then we have the preached word. And we
use words to communicate. But words have meaning. And as you know, the Old Testament
was written in ancient Hebrew and some in Aramaic, or ancient
Hebrew and some in other, just a few passages in other languages.
The New Testament was written in ancient Greek and Aramaic. There's some passages in Aramaic.
But we don't, you know, most people don't know Hebrew and
Greek. I've studied it, many preachers have studied it, but
you can get a concordance There's good concordances out there that
you can get to find word meanings. And when you talk about the meanings
of words, there's a lot to consider. There's historical context. A word 1,000 years ago meant
something much different than what it means today. And we even
see that in our society. It wasn't too long ago that people
would just change the meanings of words. I can remember when
bad come to mean good and all of that in certain contexts.
So we know word meanings change. The study of the origin of word
meanings and its change is called etymology. And so we've got to
consider that. That a word that was used back
in the book of Genesis may mean something different in the book
of Matthew, for example. And then you've got to understand
cultural context. There's all that. And then just
context within the written portion. A word may mean one thing in
one context and something different in another context. But we have
to know the meanings of words. We have to do word studies. Again,
we don't want to get bogged down in them, but they have their
use. And I'm going to show you some
examples. And that's what I'm going to do throughout this message,
is show you some examples of word meanings and how they help
us to understand the meaning of the Bible. Now, I want to
start here in 2 Timothy chapter 1. Verse 8 now the Apostle Paul
here is writing this letter to Timothy Paul at this time is
an older Apostle. He's the old man the elder and
Timothy is a young man who was a companion of Paul co-worker
a fellow laborer and an evangelist and Paul is writing to Timothy
and Paul was in bonds at this time. He was in prison and And
he says, Timothy, in verse eight of chapter one, he says, be not
thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of
me his prisoner, but be thou partaker of the afflictions of
the gospel according to the power of God. Now the word power there,
what does it mean? Well, it's a Greek word, and
we get our word dynamite from that word. And so what he's talking
about is the gospel. as it is applied to each one
of God's elect in time, to the sheep of Christ. It's like dynamite. It has that kind of power. It
blows their world apart, turns their world upside down. It brings
them to see things they've never seen before. It brings them to
believe things, to desire things. That's the new birth. You must
be born again. They're given a new heart, new
eyes, new ears, and they believe the truth. And so, that's the
power of it. He says, it's the power of God
who hath saved us and called us with an holy calling, not
according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace,
which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.
Verse 10, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior,
Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and has brought life and
immortality to light through the gospel. That's similar to
what I talked about last week in the revelation. He says, where
into I'm appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher
of the Gentiles. And look at verse 12. For the
witch calls, I also suffer these things. That's why Paul's saying,
preaching this message has put me in prison. And he says, nevertheless,
I'm not ashamed. For I know whom I have believed.
and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed
unto him against that day. Now look at verse 13. Here's
what he says to him. In light of all this, Timothy,
hold fast the form of sound words. Now that word form means pattern. You see the meaning of that word?
The form. Sometimes you think of a form,
you might think of a ghost. You know, having a form but no
substance. That's not what is meant here.
The word form means a pattern. Hold fast. What does it mean
to hold fast? That means to stand firm, immovable. You're convicted about this.
You're convinced. This is a truth you cannot come
off of. Hold fast, the pattern of sound
words, right words. true words, godly words, which
thou hast heard of me in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. So you see the importance of
words here. Words mean things. What we say
many times reveals the state of our heart. Now, sometimes
that's not true. We, you know, somebody loses
their temper and they regret it and they don't mean it. Actually,
it does reveal the sin of the heart. We still are sinners,
but does it reveal our true self? You know, that's what Paul meant
in Romans chapter seven, verses 14 through the end of that chapter.
What he said is talking about sin that dwelleth in him. It's
not I that do it, but sin that dwells in me. He wasn't passing
the buck. And he wasn't saying there, well,
there's part of me that's sinful and part of me that's not. No,
he's simply saying that my sins, as a believer in the Lord Jesus
Christ, as one who has been washed in the blood of Christ, as one
who is justified before God, not guilty, righteous before
God, that's how God sees me. It's God that justifies. As one
who's been born again of the Spirit, my sins and my shortcomings
do not show you the real me. Now I mean that. Now I'm not saying, well, the
real you is a sinner. I am a sinner. There's no doubt
about it. But I, again, I'm washed in the
blood of Christ. You don't see that when you look
at me. And especially when you see me
losing my temper. If you see me doing religious
activity, you really don't see that. Because that's by faith. Because God's Word says it. I
am perfectly righteous in Christ. Not in myself now. I have His
righteousness imputed to me. I stand before God holy, unblameable,
and unreprovable in His sight based on the righteousness of
Christ Imputed charged accounted to me. You don't see that But
it's true because God said it. So that's that's the issue of
Understanding this this whole issue that this whole meaning
of the scripture But look at let me show you some scripture
about these word the rule of language where we use we need
to use the world the rule of language to understand. And I want you to go to the book
of John, chapter 1. Here, this passage starts out
talking about Christ as the Word. He's the Word of God. He's the
Creator God. And it says that He came unto
His own, verse 11. John 1, 11. It says, He came
unto His own, and His own received Him not. Now, that's a description
of man left to himself. Some people say, well, that means
his own nation, the Jewish nation, because he was born a Jew, according
to the flesh, born of the seed of David, according to the flesh. And that's true. His own nation
didn't receive him, but neither did I, and I'm a Gentile. In
other words, by nature, I wouldn't receive him. I have received
him now. And I want to show you, but by nature, I'm no better
than these who received him not. Well, why did I receive him and
they didn't? Am I better than them? Am I less
stubborn, less obstinate, less sinful? Absolutely not. Look at verse 12 of John 1. But
as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons
of God, even to them which believe on his name. Now let me show
you the rule of language here. If you have a Bible with a concordance,
it may have a number by that word power. To them gave he power. What does that mean? Does it
mean that when a person receives him, God gives him the ability? To become a son of God? That's
not what it means at all. Now, you remember over in 2 Timothy
1, we saw that word power, the gospel message being the power. The word power there means ability. That's God's ability to bring
the gospel to his people. We get our English word dynamite
from that. That word power in 2 Timothy
1 is used again in Romans 1.16. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, Paul wrote, for it is the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and the Greek also,
the Gentile also. That word power, but here the
word power is different. It's not the word ability. If
you've got a concordance, look at it. It probably says something
like it. It says right or privilege. And what it's talking about is
this, what gives me the right to call myself or identify myself
as a son of God? Am I a child of God? A son of
God? Somebody says, well, aren't we
all sons of God? No, no. Now you could say maybe
by creation, but you see, we fell in Adam. Remember he told
the Pharisees in John 8, 44, you're of your father the devil. That's what we are by nature.
This is a son of God by election. God chose his people before the
foundation of the world. That's what the Bible says. This
is a son of God by redemption. Redeemed his people from their
sins Christ did by his blood he paid in my dead in full. I'm
an adopted son of God Because God chose me and Christ redeemed
me and then a son of God by regeneration ruined by the fall redeemed by
the blood regenerated by the Holy Spirit a son who's called
into the kingdom by the power of God and And how do you know
that? You receive Him. You believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ and rest in Him for all salvation. So this word power here means
not ability because we don't have any ability in this realm.
It means right or privilege. John wrote in 1 John 3 and verse
1 he said, Behold what manner of love that we should be called
the sons of God. Sinners saved by grace. That's
who he's talking about Now, how did how does a person become
a son of God in receiving Christ look at verse 13 of John 1? He
says these son, you know to be a son you're born into a family
Well these sons verse 13 which were born Not a blood literally
that's plural not of bloods Well what he's talking about there
is physical heritage. In other words, the Jews who
were physically connected to Abraham, physically descended
from Abraham, they thought that made them sons of God. They said,
we be Abraham's seed. Well, that doesn't make a person
a child of God, a son of God, not of blood. Some of you may
have been born into Christian families. That doesn't make you
a Christian. He says, nor of the will of the flesh. Now the
will of the flesh is a way of describing the works of man.
In other words, it's not your works that make you a son of
God. It's not your physical heritage.
It's not your works. And then he says, nor of the
will of man. It's not your will that made
you a son of God. You may be one of those who are
going to a church or in with a group of people who believe
in what we call decisional regeneration. They'll say this. They'll say,
here's how to be born again. You decide for Christ, and then
you're born again. No, my friend, that's not the
way it happens. It's not of the will of man.
The new birth is the power of God. He says, but of God. You're
born of God. You must be born again. You see
what it means? That's the rule of language.
It's not of blood, it's not of the works, it's not of the will
of man. If you have a will to come to
God His way by His sovereign grace in Christ Jesus, it's because
you've been born again by the Spirit. Think about that. All
of this privilege, this right to call myself a child of God,
it's because God chose me. It's because Christ redeemed
me. I'm justified by His blood, His righteousness imputed alone.
And it's because the Spirit has regenerated me and called me
and I receive Christ. Yes, I made a decision for Christ,
but that's not why I'm born again. You see, I was born again and
then I made my decision for Christ. That's the evidence, all right?
Let me show you another passage where you can use the rule of
language, the rule of scriptural interpretation, and it's in the
book of Colossians, in Colossians chapter one. And I'll just show
you a few things here. Here, the apostle Paul writing
to the church at Colossae, and he says in verse three, He says,
we give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ
Jesus and of the love which you have to all the saints. We heard
of your faith in Christ Jesus. The word faith. The word faith
today is very much misunderstood and very much misused and abused. But here, the word faith has
to do with their believing in Christ Jesus. They believe in
Christ Jesus. It's the gift of faith that God
gives his people by which we receive Christ. We believe in
him. But over in Colossians chapter
one and verse 23, look at this. Here he says, he's talking about
those who are saved by grace, and they give evidence that they
are truly saved. Verse 23, if you continue in
the faith, Grounded and settled and be not moved away from the
hope of the gospel which you have heard and which was preached
to every creature Which is under heaven wherever I poem made a
minister now He says there if you continue in the faith the
faith there means the body of doctrine That's communicated
and revealed in the gospel of Jesus Christ so whenever you
see the word faith and Is he talking about our belief in Christ? Or is he talking about the doctrine
of Christ? You see what I'm saying? That
means something. Well, context determines the
meaning. And I'll give you just one more
here. You know, there's a word in the scripture that comes up
several times. It's the word propitiation. It's
used in Romans 3, 24, talking about how God set forth Christ
to be a propitiation. for the sins of His people. It's
used in 1 John 2-2 when it's talking about Christ as the advocate
of His people, that He is the propitiation for our sins. And it's used in 1 John 4-10.
It talks about the love of God. They're hearing His love, not
that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to
be the propitiation. What does the word propitiation
mean? Do you know? If you've looked it up, I hope
you have. I'll tell you exactly what it
means. It means satisfaction. And what it's talking about is
when the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross, He satisfied the
justice of God for His people. He satisfied the requirements
of the law. He satisfied everything God required
to establish righteousness for His people. Based upon that satisfaction
through Christ who was the sin bearer of his people He secured
the entire complete eternal salvation of Every person for whom he died
and rose from the dead That's what propitiation means And that's
what we need to be saved. That's the ground of salvation
and Christ died for my sins. That secures the salvation of
his people. Now, how do we know those for
whom he died? Well, they receive him. They
have the right and the privilege to be called sons of God because
they receive Christ. And I would ask, have you received
him? Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as he is identified
and distinguished in this word? in the parable of the publican
and the pharisee. You remember the publican cried
out in Luke 18, he said, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. That term, be merciful there,
is a form of the same word translated propitiation, and here's what
he's saying literally, Lord, God, be propitious to me the
sinner. And what the publican is saying
is I need mercy, but I need mercy in line with satisfaction to
God's justice. I need grace. I want the love
of God. I want the mercy of God. I want
the grace of God. But I cannot have those things
apart from justice being satisfied. God must be just when he justifies
the ungodly. God must be both a righteous
judge as well as a loving Father who saves sinners. If God is
going to forgive me, if He's going to bless me, if He's going
to save me, justify me, if He's going to bring me into His fellowship
and into glory, He must be just in doing so. And propitiation
through Jesus Christ is how that's answered. That's how God is reconciled
to His people. and how his people are reconciled
to God. And that's the only way. There's
no other way. So you see these words have meaning. You've got
to use the rule of language. And it applies to phrases, too,
as you go through and you read the scripture. Find that. And
I know it's a daunting task. It's not easy. Takes some time,
doesn't it? But it's worth it. Because what
we're talking about is salvation. Do you know, for example, that
the name Jesus means salvation itself. His name shall be called
Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Is he
able to do that? Well, his name shall be called
Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God with us. That's who Jesus
Christ is. He is the savior of his people. He is Jehovah who saves. He is
Jehovah Sidcanu. That's a word that means the
Lord our righteousness. What is righteousness? What does
righteousness mean? It means perfect satisfaction
to God's law and justice. And that's what Christ is for
his people. He's not a martyr even though he died for what
he believed in. He's not just a mere example,
although He is the supreme example of righteousness and obedience
and faith that there is. He's the supreme example. He's
not just another prophet among many prophets. You know there
are many prophets, but Jesus Christ is the prophet, and that's
who He is. I hope you'll join us next week
for another message from God's Word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, write us
at 1-1-0-2 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia, 3-1-7-0-7. contact us by phone at 229-432-6969
or email us through our website at www.theletterofgrace.com. Thank you again for listening
today and may the Lord be with you.