But Continue Thou...
Our text for consideration this week is 2 Timothy 3:14: “But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them.” While writing to a young pastor by the name of Timothy, the aged apostle exhorted him to continue in the things that he had learned – things being plural, meaning that he was not to continue in just one thing, but in many! Often good people will continue in some things. Now the obvious question is “What are we to continue in?”
1. We are to continue in doctrine.
There’s an old saying: “Love unifies, but doctrine divides.” This is the theme for the ecumenical movement, a push toward one world church. “Let’s put aside doctrine, and let’s just love one another,” is what pastors and church leaders are saying. Doctrine does divide, but the division is both right and essential. In fact, God commands it! To love with a true love, we must love in truth. Speaking of love,
2. We are to continue in love.
John 15:9 says, “As the Father hath loved me, so have I loves you: continue ye in My love.” We are told to love both saint and sinner. We are not to love the world, nor the things that are in the world (1 John 2:15), but we are to love the lost, pray for them, and try to win them. We are to love each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.
3. We are to continue in soul-winning.
Acts 1:8 says, “Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” In the highways and the hedges of the countryside, in the streets and lanes of the cities, from our Jerusalem to the uttermost part of the earth, we are to be God’s witnesses, and that can be accomplished by surrendering to God, and cooperating with His Holy Spirit – not by sending missionaries, but by being missionaries ourselves! After all, “he that winneth souls is wise” (Proverbs 11:30).
4. We are to continue in prayer.
Philippians 4:6 tells us, “Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” We are to pray frequently and faithfully. We are to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), but we must first learn to cease in order to pray. We are to pray for family, friends, church, our nation, and the world at large. We are to pray for purity of heart, the desire to serve, the souls of men, and the boldness to stand for God!
5. We are to continue in watching.
1 Thessalonians 5:6-10 says, “Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.” He is coming, and we will be leaving to go home to live with Him forever. That is the message that we are to be delivering to the world!
Many of us use our knowledge, but don’t remain learners, becoming complacent, and ceasing to move forward. The second President of the United States, John Adams, said, “There are two kinds of education: one teaches us how to make a living, and the other how to live.” How much of what we learn affects who we are and what we do should be one of the things we keep in mind. The appeal for us all is the same that the apostle gave to his apprentice: “But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them.”
Paul Penaranda contributed to this blog entry.
- Joshua Penaranda
1. We are to continue in doctrine.
There’s an old saying: “Love unifies, but doctrine divides.” This is the theme for the ecumenical movement, a push toward one world church. “Let’s put aside doctrine, and let’s just love one another,” is what pastors and church leaders are saying. Doctrine does divide, but the division is both right and essential. In fact, God commands it! To love with a true love, we must love in truth. Speaking of love,
2. We are to continue in love.
John 15:9 says, “As the Father hath loved me, so have I loves you: continue ye in My love.” We are told to love both saint and sinner. We are not to love the world, nor the things that are in the world (1 John 2:15), but we are to love the lost, pray for them, and try to win them. We are to love each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.
3. We are to continue in soul-winning.
Acts 1:8 says, “Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” In the highways and the hedges of the countryside, in the streets and lanes of the cities, from our Jerusalem to the uttermost part of the earth, we are to be God’s witnesses, and that can be accomplished by surrendering to God, and cooperating with His Holy Spirit – not by sending missionaries, but by being missionaries ourselves! After all, “he that winneth souls is wise” (Proverbs 11:30).
4. We are to continue in prayer.
Philippians 4:6 tells us, “Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” We are to pray frequently and faithfully. We are to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), but we must first learn to cease in order to pray. We are to pray for family, friends, church, our nation, and the world at large. We are to pray for purity of heart, the desire to serve, the souls of men, and the boldness to stand for God!
5. We are to continue in watching.
1 Thessalonians 5:6-10 says, “Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.” He is coming, and we will be leaving to go home to live with Him forever. That is the message that we are to be delivering to the world!
Many of us use our knowledge, but don’t remain learners, becoming complacent, and ceasing to move forward. The second President of the United States, John Adams, said, “There are two kinds of education: one teaches us how to make a living, and the other how to live.” How much of what we learn affects who we are and what we do should be one of the things we keep in mind. The appeal for us all is the same that the apostle gave to his apprentice: “But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them.”
Paul Penaranda contributed to this blog entry.
- Joshua Penaranda
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