Malamulo Chindongo, a pastor from Malawi, Africa, delivered a sermon titled 'How to Continue the Christian Life' based on 2 Timothy 3:14-17. He emphasized the sufficiency of scripture and stressed the importance of remaining steadfast in faith despite the perilous times and moral decline faced by the church globally. Chindongo recounted experiences from his ministry in Nigeria, highlighting the transformative power of biblical Christianity in contrast to the prevalent prosperity gospel. He underscored the necessity of faithful and consistent Bible study and instruction, urging believers to be persuaded of the scriptures' truth and to rely on them for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness. Chindongo also emphasized the role of the Holy Spirit in convincing believers of the scriptures' validity and the importance of approaching the Bible with the aim of personal sanctification and salvation. He concluded by urging believers to hold on to the scriptures as their sole guide in the Christian life, acknowledging the complete and divinely inspired nature of the Bible.

It really is a very distinctive delight to have Mala and Rachel here with us this morning. I'm so grateful that they're here. I first met Mala 15 years ago. In 2009 we did our conference on the sufficiency of scripture in Cincinnati, Ohio. And Mala came, he was in his twenties at that time.

And he was a young pastor in Malawi, Africa. But it began a very long friendship, a very dear friendship, one that I so treasure. We've traveled to Malawi to be with their church and churches in their region. Mala is so like-minded with this church, it would be hard to find anything that really would vary from our doctrine and our practice. And you know, in the intervening years, God gave Mala a wife and a beautiful wife and a great wife and a bunch of really fun kids.

And they are with their grandparents in South Africa. So they're here on a date for a long time and they get to be with us. How about that? But I really am so thankful especially for what Mala has told us that he wanted to preach on. He alerted us some time ago.

He wanted to preach on 2 Timothy 3, the sufficiency of scripture in another text. And we haven't really probably had a sermon on the sufficiency of scripture in a long time and I thought this is perfect. So, Mala, I'm just so thankful. Would you make your way up here? I'd like to pray for you.

Lord, we're just so grateful for your word. Thank you for lighting up this man with your word and the ministry that they have in Malawi and Blantyre and around the country. Oh Lord bless that work. We see it's thriving and flourishing and what a joy it is oh Lord and so now we pray that you would pour your grace out upon this dear brother. Amen.

Amen. Please be seated. So it's a delight for me to be here, to be with you, and from time to time to be able to do a call with, or text with some of the members here. Like Scott said, our partnership, friendship, goes a long way back, and it's been a joy to collaborate with your church on various projects, different conferences, things we've been able to do for the kingdom. I will be speaking from 2 Timothy chapter 3 and we'll spend our focus will be verses 14 through verse 17.

I've titled this message, How to Continue the Christian Life, How to Continue the Christian Life, and I do believe that it's important, or at least this is the right time for us to be thinking through the scriptures in this way, thinking through our lives in this way. We don't need, I don't believe there is anyone here who didn't need to be convinced that we live in dangerous times, that we live in difficult times, that there is, this is a unique time that the devil has unleashed all his powers upon the church of Jesus Christ. And there is a lot of people today that have walked with Christ, at least professed to walk with Christ for many years that have abandoned the faith. And this is not only here, this is pretty much everywhere you go to in the world. We're seeing this in Africa as well.

Just to sort of give you an idea where I'm coming from with this, I spent a little bit of time in Nigeria, just visits to do ministry there. And Nigeria is a country with about 130 million people. It's the largest economy of Africa and the capital, Lagos, is sort of the hub of the financial hub of the continent of Africa. And during one of my visits there, I met a man who owns one of the largest hospitals in Lagos. And he was at the conference where I was speaking, and he invited me to his house after the conference.

And we spent some time together, and I wanted to hear how he came to know Reformed theology or biblical Christianity. And he shared something very interesting with me, that he was in a large, charismatic church, and I'm amazed with the size of the charismatic movement in Nigeria, not just on the continent. On the continent of Africa, we know that Nigeria is the hub of the prosperity gospel, the false gospel. It's the hub, that's where it it came from, it's coming from. And he was a part of a large church, 120,000 people on a Sunday like this, And he was one of the bishops in that church.

But as time went by, he came across the Holiness of God, R. C. Sproul's book. And he read that book and the Lord used it to bring him to faith and completely transformed his life. And he went on to share just how the Lord used that and his experience to bring his wife along with him.

And now he's in this tiny little church being pastored by a very good friend of mine. And I went to his house and what I found on the shelf was A Theology of the Family, the book that your pastor wrote. I said, where did you get this? He says, I don't remember who gave it to me, but I loved reading it with my family and I'm enjoying it. And It was just a wonderful time to see what God is doing in this sort of capital of the word of faith force gospel.

And so you and I are sort of in a very unique position because you have our church and many of the churches that we have been a part of or at least have tried to encourage over the years And across the continent, churches, brothers and sisters that we know, discovering historical Christianity, biblical Christianity. And it's such a wonderful thing as you go around the continent and you meet these brothers and sisters and excited about the word of God, the scriptures. And one place that I went close to Northern Nigeria is these young men and women who culturally are just some of the most disciplined people you can ever meet. That when they begin to study the Bible, they are so disciplined that they can sit in one sitting, reading the scriptures three, four, five, six hours uninterrupted, culturally they're just like that. And God is at work in that part of the world.

And so it's exciting to see what is happening. But for us, This is what we're discovering. It's what we've discovered by the grace of God. Now I come here and I listen to sermons being preached and watching documentaries that are coming from the US and some of the great preachers that God has raised and I keep hearing this lament, this lament that that the the moral decline that you're experiencing is because of this great apostasy that's going on in your country. And so as I'm thinking about how do we continue in the Christian life, I'm thinking for us we have a duty is to keep and to continue in that which we've discovered, which God has showed us and revealed to us.

But for you, you have a duty to not lose what the Lord has entrusted to you. So how do we both continue the Christian life? How do we continue in the things that we have discovered, are discovering by the grace of God, and how do you continue in the things that have been trusted to you. I read your history, and so I have a little bit of an understanding of how long the Christian faith has been in this country. The Lord has entrusted you with so much, but how do we continue in those things?

And this was Paul's message to Timothy because Timothy was preaching and doing ministry in this very difficult place, Ephesus. He was a bishop there. Paul had left him there to shepherd the people of God in that city given to idolatry and the Christian faith being the most persecuted group of people. And Paul wanted Timothy to be faithful. There are a number of things he says to Timothy in that passage.

He wanted him to remain steadfast, to be strong and we'll talk about some of these things later. But Paul did not think that Timothy was past the temptations of the city of Ephesus. Was a city, was a symbol of what you may know as the sexual revolution of the time. And Paul wanted this pastor, this young pastor, to be steadfast, to continue in the faith, to continue proclaiming and strengthening the churches around him. He didn't think because Paul had been with Timothy, had discipled him, that somehow Timothy did not need this council, did not need this exhortation.

He didn't think that because Timothy was a bishop there that he was not subject to these temptations in that city. How do we continue? How do we, those of us on the continent in Africa, how do we continue in the things that the Lord has revealed to us? And how do you hold on to the things that have been entrusted to you for centuries. Paul says to Timothy, if you look at verse 14 with me, he says to Timothy, but you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of.

Timothy must be faithful and consistent in the things Paul had delivered to him. I want us to just look at this one of chapter 3 and see that it's not like Paul or Timothy has a choice, has an alternative apart from continuing. And this is where you and I are today. There isn't a choice. It's not like the alternative is better.

So he says to Timothy in chapter 3, 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 1, he says, but know this, that in the last days perilous times will come. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unfunctful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power, and from such people turn away. If you look at verse 10, it says, but you have carefully followed my doctrine, man of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions which happened to me at Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. What persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord delivered me and yes yes and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution listen to what he says in verse 13 but evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you must continue in the things in which you have learned and have been assured of.

Amen! So it's not like there is some alternative. We have one goal and there should be our desire to continue in the things that have been entrusted to us. And this is what Paul wanted for Timothy, and this is the exhortation he brings to him. So he says, but you, he singles him out.

And we've seen that already, twice he singles Timothy out. He says, you must be different. You cannot join the bandwagon. You cannot be like those who have abandoned the faith and shipwrecked their faith. You must be different.

You must press on. You must continue. While many fall and stop following the faith, stop taking God seriously. Timothy must be that Christian who is pressing onward. What Paul is saying to Timothy is what Jesus said to his disciples.

Jesus said in John chapter 15 that we should abide. He says abide in me, abide with me, stay with me. This is what Paul is saying to Timothy, but you must continue, you must stay, you must abide, you must press on. And this is how Christians bear fruit. This is how Christians are pleasing to the Lord.

This is how Christians grow. Timothy must continue. He must not lean on his own understanding but the words of Christ. You know we speak of the perseverance of the saints and this is partly what Paul is saying to Timothy, you must persevere as a Christian, as a pastor, As a bishop in Ephesus, you must persevere. But it's not some passive act that Timothy will be doing.

There's an active participation from Timothy as he's looking at the Word of God, learning from the Word of God, as we will be doing this morning. So the first thing we see here, how do we continue in the Christian life? We need faithful and consistent Bible study and Bible instruction. That's what simply what it means to continue. What it means to abide is that we look at the Word, we read it, we study it, and we stay in the Word, and we seek to walk in obedience as we are understanding it.

Now we must continue, we must abide in the truth and that means we are reading it. That means we are listening to pastors and others preaching the word of God to us. And he gives them some motivations for that. He says, but you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of. Timothy had made the study of the scriptures.

His whole life was surrounded by people that preached to him, spoke to him, and Timothy studying the Word of God. It was his practice, it was his life, and so Paul is simply saying to Timothy, don't throw away your whole life. This is what you know, This is what has made you to be the man you are today. Your whole life has been saturated with the scriptures, with people that taught you the scriptures. So Timothy, continue.

Don't throw away your life. Timothy was convinced, he says, you must continue in the things which you have learned, the things that you have diligently inquired. So Paul is addressing Timothy not as just someone who was being taught as he was listening to other people, but Timothy as a student of the Word of God says the things that you have learned, the things that you have investigated, the things that you have inquired and have been assured of, the things that you have been persuaded. He was a man who was persuaded of things, some things, and we'll talk about what these things are. He had learned the scriptures and it was through, and this is what it means when he says, but you must continue in the things you have learned and have been assured of, assured of not just and yes he had heard Paul and had seen Paul's faithfulness and we'll see how Timothy growing up in that home with his mother and his grandmother teaching him the scriptures.

Yes, he could see their lives that these were godly. This was a godly man and these were two godly women, two good influences in his life. Yes, we'll see that but the first thing Paul is focusing on here that Timothy was assured of is that Timothy himself had made the scriptures a part of his life and he was constantly studying the scriptures. So There is what Paul is saying here, being persuaded that Timothy had seen the validity, that the scriptures are true. He had seen it for himself.

Yes, he had heard it from Paul. Yes, he had heard it from his mother. Yes, he had heard it from his grandmother, but Timothy himself had been persuaded. And we know where that persuasion comes from that Conviction comes from it comes from the Holy Spirit of God Timothy was a man who had been moved To by the Spirit of God. He had their conviction that the scriptures are true, that they are trustworthy.

We speak of the self-authenticating of the scriptures. Timothy had experienced that. And yes, it's good. We listen to preachers preach to us and we know their lives and we trust them. What they are saying is true, that they have spent time studying the scriptures and they understand that historically this is how this particular passage is understood.

All those things are great, but we also need ourselves, we need to read the scriptures and we need to be persuaded of those things. Yes, you hear the scriptures from your parents. As a young man or woman you hear your parents read the scriptures with conviction and you say, man, my dad believes this, my man believes this. Wow, I think it could be true. But there has to be a work of the Spirit of God in our own lives, persuading us and moving us to be convicted that the Scriptures are true, they are from God.

We need that witness in our minds and in our hearts. And then he adds towards the end of that verse, he says, knowing from whom you have learned them. Knowing from whom you have learned them. Timothy had three witnesses in his life, his mother, his grandmother, and Paul himself. There could have been others who might have visited around the time that Paul, that Timothy would have learned the scriptures, would have been taught the scriptures.

So for us to continue the Christian life, we need that conviction, but we also need to be faithfully studying the scriptures, continuing, examining the evidence, inquiring, faithfully doing so. What a gift this was for Timothy to have a mother who loved the Lord Jesus Christ and was consistently teaching him the scriptures. What a gift it was for him to have a grandmother who loved Jesus and took time to teach young Timothy as he was growing up the weight of God. What a blessing that is. See, in our church, many of the men and women who are members of our church, who attends our churches, are not people who come to church or drive to church with the support of their family members.

Some have to sneak out to come to church. To come to our church, now they can be allowed to go to any church, but to be able to come to a church where the gospel is being preached. They have to sort of fight through all of those and some of them when they get back they're being threatened to be kicked out of the house because they came to church. They came to our church. But what a blessing it is to have parents that support you as you're seeking to grow in Christ and in the study of the scriptures that are actually teaching you the scriptures.

What a blessing that is and was for Timothy. And these are the things that Paul says but you must continue because you have learned the scriptures, you have been taught of the Holy Spirit, knowing from whom you have learned, you have had human witnesses in your lives, Paul himself and Timothy's mother and grandmother. And Timothy's mother and grandmother. Listen to what Nehepiah says regarding the role that the scriptures play in our continuing and faithfully in the things that have been entrusted to us. It says the scripture play a major role in this abiding process as one leaves out an ordinary day meditating upon the Word and the Lord, seeking to bring every thought into captivity to Christ, filtering every experience through the Word.

The Spirit has free reign in the heart and communion with the Lord is vibrant. We need the Word of God to continue. Amen. We need the Word of God to continue. But not just having the Word of God, but studying the Word of God and seeking that the Holy Spirit would convince us of these truths, that this book is indeed true and it is from God.

We need that. Listen to what he says in verse 15. He's saying to Timothy, you must be different, you must continue. And then secondly says to him in verse 15, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. You know there was, within the Jewish tradition, the moment a child would learn how to speak, they had to be taught the scriptures and begin to memorize the scriptures and begin to be taught to read the scriptures.

And the idea within the community was that to not teach your children the scriptures was to put them to death yourself as a father. And this is how we should see it because Paul is saying from childhood you have known the scriptures. You have been persuaded of the validity. You have been convinced that this book is true. And so these two women in Timothy's life, knowing that there was no father in the picture, took time to instruct Timothy, to teach him the scriptures because they knew they had a duty to ensure that he would grow up knowing who Christ is, who the Lord is.

From childhood you have known the scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Listen to this, it is so easy and Paul is very careful as he's speaking to Timothy. Timothy I want you to continue, You know the Bible, you're convinced of the Bible, yes, it's the book that God has given us for us to continue in this life. Timothy, there is no doubt in your mind. But Timothy could be reading the Bible and could be reading it in their own way.

It's easy to come to the Bible because I'm gonna preach at Hope and so I need to study the scriptures. I've got a ministry here, a Bible study to teach so I should read the scriptures. Preaching at some orphanage or some abortion clinic or somewhere, so I need to study the scriptures. Someone said something online I didn't like, so I need to study the scriptures so I can refute it. Apologetics, right?

And so it's easy to read the scriptures for all those reasons. But Paul is very specific as he's speaking to Timothy, says Timothy, we must continue, but as you come to the scriptures salvation should be the goal. Yes we should study to preach, we should study to lead a Bible study, we should study the scriptures to refute error, we should study the scriptures to lead family worship, we should study the scriptures for all the reasons we do. All many of those things are good things, but Paul brings it down to the real issue and the most important thing and that from childhood you have known the holy scriptures which are able, which are quick and powerful to make you wise for salvation. So salvation should be the goal.

As you wake up in the morning or evening and you're reading the scriptures, you pick up a copy of your Bible and you want to read it, whether it's in the afternoon, you should be thinking, I'm a man, I'm a woman whom God has called to himself, he's served me and he's brought me to himself, I'm a child of God. Yes, he served me, he's serving me now and he will serve me and the way he will do it, it is through the reading of the Holy Scriptures, convinced that this is indeed the Word of God. Come to the Scriptures because they are able, they are quick, they are powerful to make you wise for salvation. It says Timothy from infancy, from childhood, from when you were a baby, you've known, you've seen, you've perceived, your eyes have been opened that the sacred writings have the power to bring your soul to salvation. The Psalmist says that the weight of God is perfect, conveying the soul.

This is why we come to the Bible. It's not to think, I need to read this because of soul in soul. There might be a place for that, but that's not the primary objective. It is not the reason why God has given us the scriptures. It is for the salvation of our souls.

Does it happen to you sometimes that you come to church like this, you hear a sermon, you say, ah, I wish So-and-So was here. This sermon is for him. This sermon is for her. Do you do that sometimes? I do that sometimes.

As pastors, sometimes you prepare a sermon and you're thinking, you know what, I'm gonna deal with so-and-so this week, this Sunday. You know, I, and it's so interesting because most of the times when you do that, that's the day they don't show up. So you're sitting there with a whole sermon for one person and they're like hundred people waiting and listening and wondering, what is he talking about? But do you do that sometimes where the reading of the scriptures, the study of the scriptures is all about applying them to someone else? And Paul says, Timothy, no.

You from childhood, you have been convinced, you have been persuaded, you have known the scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation. Why would he be saying these things to Timothy? Timothy, who is a believer, who is a pastor, who is a shepherd in whom Paul himself discipled, is things like Romans chapter 10 that Paul has said that faith comes by hearing and hearing by what? The Word of God. Timothy should be, should continue and must continue.

Timothy should be growing in faith in his service and in his love for God's people and for all those things to happen, Timothy need the scriptures. And when he comes to the scriptures, he should be thinking about his own salvation. Is this how you come to the scriptures? Is this how you approach the Word of God? It says they are powerful, they are quick, Even as we think of others who we are speaking to, we should have that in mind, their salvation, knowing that these scriptures are able to bring faith, are able to turn a soul to Christ, and it's the only thing that brings souls to Christ.

Listen to what he says in verse 16. He says, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. We must come to the scriptures for sanctification as the goal. We must continue because we desire to be sanctified. We desire to be made more and more into the likeness of our Lord Jesus as far as character is concerned.

All scripture is given by inspiration of God. Sanctification must be the third goal. Paul continues exhorting Timothy. He says, Timothy, you have known the scriptures from childhood. You've been assured of these things.

And Timothy would have had the same temptations you and I have. What we feel like, somehow we're missing out. This can't be it. This cannot be enough. It can't be it.

There must be something else outside of this. It is what is fueling the errors and the false teachings that we see on the continent of Africa. People don't believe that the scriptures are sufficient, that this book is enough. There must be, it can't be that these 66 books are all that we need to be saved and to be sanctified, to remain steadfast in the Christian faith in this fallen world. So we need something else.

Paul says to Timothy, you have known the scriptures, assured of, you have learned them, you are convinced, All Scripture, the things that you have known, the things you've been assured of, the sacred writings you've known from childhood, all of them are divinely given, are divinely inspired. We see this in 2nd Peter chapter 1 what that inspiration means. Peter says to us, he says that the scriptures were given as holy men were being moved by God. So we know when Paul says, all scripture is given by inspiration of God, all scripture is breathed out. That God opened his mouth and spoke the scriptures and revealed himself, his words to holy men who by the power of the Holy Spirit were born wrong to write and to put down these things for generations to come.

You have known these scriptures. They came from the mouth of God. It says they are useful. All scripture is given and is profitable, it's useful for doctrine. I'm always amazed with people who build a doctrine on half a verse.

Half a verse. Don't read the context. I don't read the whole verse, the whole chapter, the whole book. Just half a verse. And build a doctrine.

And you see this all over the world, all over Africa. And what do you believe in? They tell you something they believe in and based on what? And they chop off this half of this. Where do we get our doctrine, our way of thinking, our way of reasoning, our way of seeing the world, where do we get that?

Paul says to Timothy, the things you've been persuaded of, the things you're convinced of, the things you were taught, all of those things are from God and are useful for you to build and to come up with doctrine. You build doctrine as you look at the whole Council of God. What does the Bible teach? What did the Old Testament saints teach? And here when Paul is talking to Timothy about Old Scripture, for the most part he is referring to the Old Testament writings.

And so what did they write? What did Isaiah say? What did he think? What did Jeremiah say? All scripture is given by inspiration of God and It's useful.

Useful for what? Doctrine, instruction for us to be taught our way of thinking to be shaped. And then he says for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. Let's just break this down a little bit. As I say, Timothy is already a pastor.

One would say, Paul, why would you be saying all these things to someone who's already persuaded of the Scriptures. Why? Because even Timothy is subject to the temptations that Christians are facing in Ephesus. He's not above them. He's not stronger than the enemy that he's facing and that we are facing today.

He needs the scriptures. He needs to be reminded. He needs to build doctrine around the scriptures. He needs to know how to use the scriptures. And So we come to the scriptures so we can be instructed, so we can be rebuked, we can be corrected so that we can learn more about the deceptions in our hearts.

Say the most dangerous man is the man who doesn't know that he is deserved, isn't it? Is the man who doesn't know that he is deserved. And so we need the scriptures to come to the scriptures and keep saying, search me, oh God, try me, test my thoughts, my heart, and we do that as we are reading the scriptures. So we may be sanctified, so we may be led to repentance, To be instructed, to be washed by the word of God, to be taught what is right and what is wrong. Don't we live in a world today that doesn't know the difference from left to right?

Black and white? Say, I don't see the difference. Black and white, you don't see the difference? But we come to the Scriptures so we can know these things, we can be taught these things, that the man of God may be complete. So we need a complete Bible to produce a complete man.

Thoroughly equipped for every good work, I say to people all the time on the continent as I go around preaching, I say to them, you know what, if you had some sort of meeting and you met God face to face And you say, could you please speak to me because this is what is happening on the continent. People running around, pastors running around saying, you know what, God gave me a word. I heard from God. Oh, there was this audible voice. Oh, I had this dream.

And all these things that are said in the name of God and I keep saying to them if you had a meeting face to face with God as it was in the Old Testament maybe and God were to speak to you do you know that he would not say anything he hasn't said in this book you would come away saying yeah but I've read that before. Don't you have anything new? No. Everything we need for us to be fully equipped, thoroughly equipped for every good work. Think of any work you desire to do for God.

Any work you desire to do for mankind. The Bible says, God says, He's given us this book to equip us for that. We don't need anything else. You say, yeah, but you see this man, the things he's saying and the way he's saying them, I've just, you know what, they actually are found in the scriptures. I'm like, yeah, so why should I think that God is speaking to him in a special way?

Why can't I just read the scriptures? Let's reflect a little bit in closing. So it's not a question, and this is as we are looking at Timothy in Ephesus with all those problems that he had to deal with, it's not a question whether he'll be tempted or not and we can say the same thing about us. It's not a question of whether we can be deceived, we can be tempted, or we can be laid to sin against God in regard to the scriptures. It's not a question whether the devil will come after us or not.

All of us can be misled. And we need to be on guard. We need to be careful. We need to fortify ourselves. We need to ensure that we are rooted in the scriptures so that we may not be deceived.

There's no one who's above these temptations. And without the whole counsel of God, we cannot continue the Christian life. So Paul gives Timothy this manual, this counsel, and he says, for you to continue, here's what you need. Listen to what Luther says. Luther says, I've covenanted with my Lord that he should not send me visions or dreams or even angels.

I am content with this gift of the Scriptures which teaches and supplies all that is necessary both for this life and that which is to come." Are we going to continue the Christian life? Are we going to hold on, to press on? Will our children continue? Will they even start? Maybe we're talking about the wrong thing here.

Will they even start the Christian life. If yes, how? One man has said that when we are most lazy, the devil is most busy, sloth is the cause of sin, and idleness, the fruitful mother of wickedness. Rabbi Judah commenting on Deuteronomy chapter 11 verse 19 says, the boy of five years of age ought to apply to the study of the sacred writings. When the boy begins to talk, his father ought to convince with him in the sacred language and to teach him the law, if he does not do that, he seems to bury him." So how is, what is your approach to the Holy Scriptures?

Is it to continue? Is it to learn more about what God is doing in your life, what is done for you through His Son Jesus Christ? How do you approach the Scriptures? Is it to be equipped, to be sanctified, to grow in the likeness of God's Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. How do you approach these scriptures?

They are sufficient for faith and for life amen let us pray our dear father we are thankful for your goodness for your love even as one of our brothers said earlier that you have not left us to ourselves. Lord, we know in part who we are, what we are, and what we would do if left to ourselves. But you've been gracious, kind, merciful towards us. You've loved us, O God, and you've given us the Holy Scriptures. Lord, you've not given us half a book.

You've given us a complete book. Thank you for your faithfulness. Thank you, O Lord, for your care, for your flock, for your people. And God, I pray that you would give us holy desires to desire your word, to love your word, to continue the Christian life with the scriptures as our sole guide. Lord, sanctify us with your word.

Your word is truth. Purify us, O God. Search our hearts. Call us and turn our hearts, O God, to you. Lord help us to to forsake our wicked ways, O God.

If there are things, O Lord, that we have placed above your holy word, above the scriptures, above the things of your kingdom, turn our hearts, O God, to you. We pray, Father, that even in this moment, that those who might be searching their hearts and wondering whether they've even started their Christian life, that you'd give them faith to believe. That they may know that there is hope in Christ. That they may know, oh God, that Jesus died, that He died for our sins, that He paid the price for our sins. That those who turn to Him can be forgiven, can be cleansed, O God, and can be brought back to you, can be reconciled.

We pray that you would help us in Jesus' name, amen. Thank you.