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Your life can feel like it's full of meaning, and that's great, but hear me. I don't want the life that I want, I want the life that God wants. How many want a life that God wants for you, right? And there can be a difference there, right? I tell people all the time, if it was the life I wanted, I'd be playing for the Chicago Cubs right now, starting pitcher for them, and on my way to the World Series, right? That would be my life. Um could have still happened, but that's another story. Um for me, I tell people we want God's life. I want God your will, not mine, your ways, not mine. So we need the scriptures for that. We have to have the scriptures for that. And um I kind of will break this down for you today as we go through it, just by looking at 2 Timothy 3. So before we do that, let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. I thank you, Father, today your word is fulfilling us, your word is satisfying us. I thank you. Corona X 2.42, your word is received gladly. Coronax 19.20, your word will prevail. I pray now, Father God, that every word spoken out of my mouth, Father, is according to your will, according to your desire, that even as I stand here, the Spirit of my Father speak through me, according to Matthew 10.20. And I pray now, Father my God, that every heart has it, uh every heart has is ready to receive, every ear is ready to hear. And I pray, Lord, that the seed of your word takes root in the soul of our hearts, and we shall see it, the fruit of our lives produced through it. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So I want to kind of just hang out on 2 Timothy here and kind of show you why the Bible, why Scripture, as we said, is going to be so necessary, why why it is it is so needed, why the man of God is not complete, why the servant of God is not thoroughly equipped without it, how and why it is so vital to our lives. And if you notice in his letter, this is Paul writing to Timothy, he tells Timothy in verse 16, here's what scripture can do for you. Here's how scripture, how much it's needed for you. Go to the next slide. I'll put it like this. The scriptures are useful, and they are profitable. Those two words are very interesting. He's telling Timothy, Timothy, I want you to understand that the scriptures, God's word, the Bible, it is useful. In the NIV, in the New King James, it is profitable. And these two words really stand out to me because I think to myself, useful and profitable sound a little different from the two translations, but but I'm not gonna shy away because it all kind of lines up the same way at the same time, because we're gonna break these words down a little bit and kind of see how they're speaking to us and kind of helping us understand a little more of what Timothy's telling Paul. Again, you read the two words useful, profitable, and they sound really different, but but hear me because when you apply them to scripture, I think you can say, you know, I I can see why the scriptures are useful, I can see why they're profitable, so useful. Something that is beneficial helps accomplish a purpose. I don't ever want you to think that the Bible is useless. The Bible is always useful. Have you ever found yourself kind of in a moment where you feel like something is useless? And I'll give you a very practical example, a very simple thought. You know, growing up, I'm a I was a TV kid, a 90s kid. I watched a lot of TV, probably more than I should have. There was one vital component that was necessary when watching TV, and that was the remote control. What's the point in watching TV without a remote control? And when there was no remote control, I had to get up and change the channel. And my thought was we're not in the 50s anymore, we're supposed to have a remote control. But have you ever been in this part where you find a remote control or you have a remote control, and you think to yourself, I can finally sit down and change the channel. And you point the remote control at the TV, and next thing you know, it's not working, and you realize you don't have batteries. So it doesn't work. That's the very simple example I can give you of a remote control being useless. There's no point in it, it has no use. I'll give you another thought. This is this happened again to me. I ordered something online one time, and I had to put it together. And the instructions were in the box, and I opened up the box, the instructions were there. I opened up these instructions, and true story, all the instructions were in some language I did not understand. They were like in Japanese, Chinese, something. And I'm looking for the English instructions, and they were nowhere to be found. I submit to you, those instructions were useless. But if we open up scripture, first of all, I'll tell you like this, going back to this analogy of a remote control with no batteries. Remote control with no batteries has no what? No power. Church, there's always power in the word of God. These instructions that were in another language that were useless. I'm so glad to say that all the instructions of the Bible are useful. And hear me. We need them. We have to have them. And good news, the Bible is written in just about every language, and all of you here either speak English or Spanish. So there's no excuse for you not to read it. Don't ever open it up and say, I can't read this. Now, if you genuinely can't read, I will pay for your reading lessons. I will sit down and I will read with you. But I'll tell you this when we have something so powerful and something so useful, don't ignore it. We need it in our lives. If it's useful, it's helpful. If it's useful, hear me. It meets a need. Then we go into this thought of profitable. That's an interesting word, profitable. To say something is profitable, it's and I give you two, I give you a few things here, gaining that which is needed, avoiding a deficit. Something that's advantageous. The first part, gaining something that's needed, avoiding a deficit. And those of you that own businesses here, when you have a business, you want to gain money. You want to make money. Nothing wrong with that. I come from a business-owning family. You want you need to make money. Or else the business is not making what? It's not making a profit. You're not gaining money, you are losing money. And I think it's interesting that we see a word called profitable. That is to say, like a business of making money, or another way to say gaining resources, you're gaining resources. Cash is a resource. A business makes enough money and buys a building, the building becomes a resource. Like you gain resources because of the profit coming in. You don't want to lose. And we'll touch on this a little more in a second, but let me say it like this: you never lose when you read the scriptures. The most winning thing you can do in life is apply the Bible to your life. It's to read scriptures and apply it. A business wants to make money. A business has to be profitable. A business has to gain money, gain resources. And here's what's cool, here's what's cool, I think. That when a business gains resources, when a business has money, what does it do? The business can build and grow. Pin that. Another thought is the word advantageous. Um you're running a race and they give you a head start. You know what that is? That's in advantage. You um this will go over well with this crowd today. Um you have the best player on your team. You have in advantage. All of you here, you want Wimby on your team. You were crying for 10 years without him, now you're happy, right? Oh, I'll say it again. Didn't hear a peep out of you for 10 years. Now nobody's not talking, everyone's talking. Why? Because you have probably the best player, you have an advantage. And I think to myself, hear me. Do you want an advantage or do you want to be at a disadvantage? And I just want this to kind of sit in your mind as we move forward. This thought of profitable, advantageous, gaining, uh, avoiding a deficit, useful, something that is beneficial, helps accomplish a purpose. So I want you to keep those thoughts in mind, and in the end, here we're gonna kind of come full circle. Because then Paul goes on a little further, and then he gives Timothy four specific ways how the Bible is useful and profitable. And it's a little gonna be a little wordy here, but before I do that, let me highlight this for you too, real quick. When we talk about profitable, the opposite of profit is a lot of things, but one word I'll throw out to you, put on the board, is deficit. And here is what I submit to you for us today is what deficit means. Bad teaching or direction that must be overcome. Because whenever there's a deficit, the deficit has to be made up. It has to be overcome. Uh, my business right now is in a deficit. God forbid I don't confess that over anybody, but my business right now is in a deficit. I have money I need to make up. And the first money I make isn't even profit. What's it doing? It's making up the money I lost. I'm recovering the deficit. For today, I want you to think of deficit as bad teaching or direction that must be overcome. Now, promise we're going somewhere, just hang tight. Here's the four ways that Paul shows Timothy. All scriptures give my inspiration to God and it's profitable. We're going to go to the New King James Version. Profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. Four things. Doctrine, reproof, correction, instruction in righteousness. Say those four words with me. Say doctrine, reproof, correction, instruction and righteousness. Now, y'all sound like a really mixed-up class here. Let's do it one more time. One more time. One, two, three. Doctrine, reproof, correction, instruction in righteousness. Now, what does that mean? Put on the board. It's wordy, but stay with me. Doctrine. I call it backbone. Something you stand on. No backbone, can't stand. Doctrine. True and correct beliefs learned by a person. Church, the Bible is doctrine. The Bible teaches you what to believe. You stand on the word. You have a backbone, spiritual backbone, because of the word of God. You know what to believe. You hear something that's not true, how do you know it's not true? Because the word of God tells you what's true. You believe the word, you know the word, you are taught the word, and you have correct beliefs and godly beliefs, godly truths, correct truths, and that's your doctrine. Side note, how many know there's a lot of false doctrines in our world today? Many false doctrines. Unfortunately, not just in churches, in schools, in neighborhoods, and homes, false doctrines are being teached. And hear me, if you're not gonna fall prey to a false doctrine, you need the true doctrine, which is the word of God. It's vital doctrine. How do you get sound doctrine? Through the word of God. Then Paul writes to Timothy and says, but also you get reproof. Criticism of faults or mistakes, rebuke, conviction. How many have ever been rebuked in your life? Raise your hand. If you've never been rebuked, come to me after service and we'll rebuke you well. Rebuke, conviction. How many ever been convicted in life? Raise your hand. If you've never been convicted, then we'll pray for you at the church because you're missing something. Conviction. Rebuke. Criticism of false or mistakes. In other words, hey, that's wrong. Hey, that's not right. And you know what the Bible's really good at? Telling you that something's wrong. The Bible can just be very direct about it. This is wrong. But here's what Paul is telling Timothy. Hey, Timothy, that's not a bad thing. That's a good thing. And then it's not just reproof, but then it's correction. And the difference is this that correction will tell you, hey, this is how you fix that. And I'm great, hear me real quick. I'm so grateful that we serve a God that just doesn't tell us we're doing something wrong. He tells us this is how you fix it as well. That's a good teacher. If a teacher is just pointing out all the wrong things, that's not a good teacher. A good teacher says, This is wrong, this is how you make it right. Give God a hand clap and thank him for being a good teacher. Not just leaving us hanging trying to figure it out. Like this is that's not right. Okay, how do you fix it? I don't know, figure it out. No. God's saying this is how you fix it. This is how you make things right. You have hatred in your heart, you need to make that right. How do I make it right? Start loving your neighbor. You know, you you have some uh there's some some things in your heart that you're battling that you know are wrong. And well, God, I want to make them right. I'll help you make them right. Let's repent, let's let's confess, let's repent, and let's make it right. This is how you make it right. So the Bible isn't just a book that tells you everything wrong, the Bible will help you make it right. Say amen to that. But also, here's the last one: instruction in righteousness. And to me, this is vital. This is what an ob in other words, this is what an obedient life looks like. Make these things your passions. Righteousness, to be in right standing with God, to have an upright heart, to have a heart without faults, which is a challenge, but that's what we're called to, to live a righteous life, to walk in holiness. And although it seems challenging, it may feel impossible, here is scripture saying this is how you do it. Here are the instructions to live this out. This is how you live an obedient life. So, in other words, that reproof you got, that correction you got, hey, scripture will help you to not have to fall into that again. Scripture will help you not to so that you don't keep doing that thing over again. You did it once, you asked for forgiveness, you made it right. Now let's walk with the Lord and do our best with the help of the Holy Spirit to walk in holiness and righteousness, to make these things your passions. What does the Bible want us to make our it wants us to have prayer as a passion, to have worship as a passion, to have reading the word as a passion, it wants us to have seeking God as a passion, to loving people as a passion, obedience as a passion. The Bible tells us to make these your passions. Why? So that you can live righteously, so that you can walk in accordance to God's will. So now we see how the scripture is useful, it's profitable. How is it? Paul tells Timothy, here's how. If the scriptures offer all of this and helping us renew our mind, we shouldn't ignore what God says every day, saying, God, I want to know you more and hear you more every day of my life. Because hear me, these aren't bad things. These these these four things you see on the board here highlighted, they're not bad things. They are necessary in our life. And look at me. No one's exempt. We all need these things. Put the next slide. Why? Simply put, all scripture benefits all people. All scripture, what does all mean? All scripture benefits all people. All people need the scriptures, all people need doctrine, need reproof, need correction, need instruction in righteousness. These things are useful, they are profitable. We have how listen, I know we all have needs in life. We all have needs, physical needs, material needs, but I'll tell you also, we also have spiritual needs as well. We also have needs that go beyond this material world. And hear me today. If there's needs in your life that go beyond this material world, the only one who can meet those needs, truly meet those needs, is the Lord God Almighty. Yes, he's the one we depend on for our material things and physical things. But for the things the world can't offer, church, don't look at yourself, don't look at your spouse. You need to set your eyes on the Lord God Almighty. Put your eyes on him, put your eyes on the scriptures, put your eyes on the word. The word helps to meet the needs. The scriptures have been given so that the needs of all people can be met everywhere. No matter where you are, the scriptures help you meet your needs. Japan, the scriptures help you meet your needs. Afghanistan, the scriptures help you meet your needs. Mexico, the scriptures help you meet your needs. Canada, the scriptures help you meet your needs. Wherever you are on this planet, the scriptures help you meet your needs. They benefit all people. All people are touched by it, all people are taught by it, all people are being given doctrine, all people are given reproof, all people are given correction, all people are given instruction, all people. So why? Why is Paul just so adamant here in this verse telling Timothy, here's what the scriptures do for you? Well, put on the board. Because when you read and act upon the scriptures, purpose can be fulfilled. And I think that's the thing that before we get to next week, that I just want to kind of throw out to you to think about. Look at me. No matter who you are today, no matter how old you are today, there's a purpose in your life. There's a calling in your life. God wants to do something not just in you, but through you as well. You may say, Pastor, you know, I'm kind of older. It doesn't matter. He still wants to do something in you and through you. I just got saved. He still wants to do something in you and through you. Look at me. I believe it for you. If you have a hard time believing it for yourself, I'll believe it for you. And I'll stand up here and talk to them red in the face, blue in the face, whatever color I turn, to remind you that God has a calling for you, a purpose for you, a destiny for you. You're called to do great things. And hear me. I want to see them come to pass in your life. I want you to see them come to pass in your life. You are the hands and feet of Christ, a chosen people, a remnant. Look at me today. I will pray it for you. I will believe it for you. But I pray more than anything that you will believe it in your heart and in your mind and realize that we have the scriptures to see all that come to pass in us and through us as well. And that's why my heart here is pushing towards you. To let you know how the scriptures benefit us. Because I want to see fulfillment not just in my life, in my wife's life, and all of our lives. Because there's still a lot more to do. Look at me, there's still a lot more to do. Pastor, you don't know where I've been and what I've done. God does. And know what God says? There's still a lot more to do. He loves us, doesn't he? And he loves you. Today, halfway through this message, I just want to remind you. Purpose can be fulfilled. There's a lot still for you to do. But we need the scriptures in our life. Look at your neighbor and tell them you need the scriptures. Tell your neighbor you need the scriptures. Let's bring it back full circle. The scriptures are not useless. They're useful. All scripture is useful. Church. Helps, it benefits us. It helps us fulfill. All scripture is useful. Hear me today. If it's useful, am I putting it to use? If it's useful, am I exercising it? If it's useful, am I applying it? If it's useful, is it going to work for me? You can have all the tools in your tool bag, man of God. You can have all the tools in your tool bag. But those tools are useless if you don't begin to apply them to the project. The project that's at hand, that you're trying to do something, create something. The tools are useless unless you apply it. So, man of God, I tell you today, like tools in a tool bag, so is your word in the heart of your heart and in your life. It is useful. Apply it to your life. Apply its instructions, apply its commandments, apply what it says to your life, and you will be a witness and testify that these words of God truly do work and do something special in my life. To every person here, this useful word, this useful Bible, this useful scriptures, these useful scriptures can do wonderful things in our mind, in our life, in our heart when we read them and begin to apply them. And hear me. Of course, the enemy doesn't want you to apply them. Of course, the enemy doesn't want you to become familiar with them. Of course the enemy wants you to ignore them. You know why? Because it's the very word that defeats the enemy. Say amen to that. You having trouble with the devil, you know what you need? You need some more of the word in your life. You're having trouble with lies in your life and temptations in your life, you know what you need? You need more of the word in your life. If it feels like the enemy's attacking you from every way, you know what you need? You need more of the word in your life because the word is useful. The word can be used not just to overcome the enemy, but hear me, to defeat the enemy. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. Church, one day, the enemy will be defeated forever. Like he will be cast into that eternal fire. You know how we know that? Because that's what scripture tells us. But hear me today. You don't need to wait till the end times to see scripture fulfilled. You can see scripture fulfilled in your life today. Defeat the enemy today with the word of God in your life. Defeat him today with the useful word of God being applied to your life. Scripture is useful. Say useful. Scripture is not just useful, but then we see that it is profitable. Put on the board, when you read the scriptures, you gain. You don't lose. What do we gain? We gain doctrine, reproof, correction, instruction in righteousness. We gain commandments, we gain all the instructions of the Lord, all his insight. We're gaining all those things. And like I said earlier, like a business that is making money, the business is gaining resources. And with those resources, hear me, with those resources, with those resources, something is built or something is built upon. And I begin to think about how the Bible is profitable. That is, you gain. That is the Bible is helping you gain what? Correction, instruction in righteousness, reproof doctrine. But the Bible is helping you also gain wisdom, and it's helping you gain knowledge, and it's helping you uh uh gain peace and joy, and it's helping you gain the strength you need and the empowerment you need. See, you gain so much as you read the scriptures, you are propheting as you read the scriptures, you are gaining as you read the scriptures, and all these things become resources. And hear me, what do you do with these resources? You build your life with these resources. What do you do with doctrine, with reproof, with correction, with instruction and righteousness? What do you do with the wisdom of God? What do you do with the knowledge of God? What do you do with the insight of God? What do you do with the words of the holy scriptures? You build your life with those words. The prophet, the prophet comes in, you gain, and you're gaining all these things. But hear me, with these things, you know what you build? You build your life, you build your family, you build your marriage, you build your home, you build your community. The scripture helps you gain the resources you need, gain the insight you need so that you all of a sudden begin to understand that every part of my life, the word of God must be applied to it. And hear me, you're not gonna go broke when you read the word of God. Your family will prosper, your marriage can prosper, your community can prosper, your home can prosper. Because when you gain, when you read the word of God, you see gaining in your life. So, church, rejoice and be happy that the word of God is gonna help you build something strong. And when something is built correctly in the name of Jesus, the enemy's not gonna be able to tear it down. You build and you build and you continue to build because you see the profit of the word of God. The word of God helps you gain, and with what you gain, you build, and what you build, you testify, and when you testify about how the Lord is building your life, others can see it too. Hey, how did you get through that? How does your family seem to be united? Yet there's things going on. How's your marriage getting through even though there's tough times? How's your church? How's your ministry going, even though there's difficult times? How is it that your job, even though it's been rocky, how have been how have you been okay? How do you seem to manage? Because here you tell them, hear me, listen, tell them simply as this, because I'm building the right way. Because I'm using scripture, I believe the word, the word is profitable, and with the word, hear me, with the word of God, I build my life. And I think sometimes to myself, is Paul really telling Timothy that it's that simple? And I think, yeah, I think he's telling him it's that simple. It's challenging, but that's what we're called to do. That, hear me, through the scriptures, you are gaining resources because they're profitable. And with these resources, you're able to build or build upon. Um We're all guilty of it. I'm guilty of it. Sometimes we want a better fill in the blank. We want a better fill it in. Whatever you want to make better, you need the scriptures for it. I want to I want this to be better. Like you want to build, right? You need the scriptures for it. You need it. And I think to myself how often I'm guilty of it. That I want this to be better. And I totally push aside God's instructions. I don't see his word. I don't search his word. Search. God's in the business of taking good things and making them better. And taking those better things and making them the best they can be possible. Seek him. And see those things you want to become better. Be better. Through the word of God. Let's wrap this up. Advantage. Advantageous. So the scriptures are they're they're advantageous. They help you gain. They're advantageous. And you know what I find fascinating? Put on the board. That the scriptures give us an advantage in a world that challenges us. Doctrine, reproof, correction, instruction, and righteousness, all scriptures, all scriptures are profitable. Give us an advantage. And God has provided us with these scriptures because we're confronted by the world and the enemy every day. Yet, hear me. Even though we're confronted by the world and the enemy, yet we still choose not to seek the scriptures. And little do we realize we put ourselves at a disadvantage when we don't. And I think it's very simple. Do you want, as you walk this world, hear me. Do you want an advantage? Or do you want to be at a disadvantage? Because I will be the first to admit, this world is hard enough. Parents are gonna tell your kids, right? This world is tough. This world isn't always nice. God bless my old teacher, brother Douglas. He had a nice interesting way of putting it. This world isn't always peaches and green. It's not always the fun place, the best place. This world is hard, man. Like, how many really agree with that? That this world can be a hard place? Well, hear me. Why do we choose to make it harder by not searching the scriptures? We are at a disadvantage without the scriptures. Just think about that with me for a second. Let me remind you. When you got saved, thank God he washed your sins away. Say amen to that. Thank you, Lord. But unfortunately, he didn't wash your mind away. Some messed up thoughts, some things that aren't right, some habits that you're not proud of, those didn't get washed away. You got forgiven of sin, the mind still needs to be worked on. And you know you're trying to work on it as you live in a very difficult world. A world that opposes the renewing of the mind. And yet here we are with something that'll give us the advantage, and yet we choose to keep ourselves at a disadvantage. I know Christ is in you, and he's in me too. Christ is in you. Say amen to that. But you know what I realize? I don't know, and this may sound weird, and if you have something to say about it afterwards, just come find me after service. But I'll just say like this. If I need the scriptures, like if I have to have the word, if I if if the word is necessary to renew the mind, I think to myself, everything that's in this world is counteractive to it. Everything that's in this world goes against the renewing of the mind God wants to do. Like that that's that's the whole purpose. The thief comes to what? Steal, kill, and destroy. Where in there is renewing of the mind? Where in there is he wants to help your thinking? Where in there is he wants to help you live better? Where in there is he wants to help you live godly, I should say. It's nowhere in there. It's nowhere in there. And we're in this world that hear me, he has power in. Don't look at me funny. He has power in this world. He uses the methods of this world, he uses tools in this world. This is what we're facing day by day. Church, look at me. And here's the Bible itself, Paul saying, just ignore that. Paul saying that all scripture is profitable. It's gonna give you an advantage. You want to be the team without Wimby? Got quiet real quick, right? God forbid. And here we are living daily without an ounce of scripture in our life. And we want to go out in this world, church, you may think, I have Christ, I have it all. Even Christ has directed us, read the scriptures. Even Christ is imploring from the inside of us we need the scriptures. Even Christ within us desires for us to search the scriptures. And I tell you today, and I'm adamant about it, just to close out this thought, that I'm thinking to myself, God forgive me when I think I can go out in this world without knowing anything you've said. Because I've already taken a step out, and thank God Christ is in me, but even Christ has been saying, Manual, you need these scriptures. Because hear me, I don't want to just go blow the bowl with the world. You know what that means, right? Like they punch me, I punch them, the enemy punches me, I punches him, and we're back and forth, back and forth, like it's a heavyweight bout. And we think to ourselves, I'm gonna keep fighting them, I'm gonna keep fighting them. Last I heard, we should be knocking out the enemy every single day of our lives. This shouldn't be a round-for-round bout. This should be by the time I get home with the help of the Holy Spirit, I look back on my day, and even though it might not have been perfect, I know because of Christ in me, because of the word of God inside of me, enemy, you were defeated today. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God. Thank you, Lord. You were defeated today. You did not win today, you were defeated today. I know you tempted me, but I was able to say no. I know you tried to lure me in, but I was able to say no. I know you tried to lie to me, but I was able to say no. I know you wanted me to do this, but I was able to say no. And maybe, maybe somewhere along the way, there was that one yes who's like, man, God, I'm sorry, Lord, but I repented, I confessed, and I've been forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ. So even in the end, enemy, you still lose, and my God is still victorious. Why? Because I understand what the scriptures say. I didn't walk out today without an advantage. I took the advantage with me. And hear me, the reason you overcame was not because you're so beautiful and smart. You were able to overcome because there was a power inside of you, a power that the world cannot defeat. So hear me. Do you want power or do you want no power? Do you want the power of the word or no power? Do you want an advantage or no advantage? Do you want to go blow to blow to blow and every day look like, oh my God, I'm so glad I got through that today, and look messed up and feel defeated? Or do you want to take advantage of the advantage that the scriptures give you and say, get this word in me, God? Holy Spirit, help me understand this thing, help me learn this thing, help me seek this thing, help me apply this thing, and in the name of Jesus enemy, you're gonna see that I'm gonna walk in victory and I'm gonna have overcoming power, but I will testify to all the world. It's not even me, it is Christ inside of me and his word giving me the authority and the power. And you how did I get an advan? Yes, you get an advantage. Why would you not want an advantage? Why do you want? There was once this little boy, he was getting picked on a lot by this group of kids. And all of a sudden, one day he stepped up to one of the particular kids, one of the boys who always was kind of giving him a hard time. And he was looking at him right in the eye. And he said, Listen, I'm tired of you picking on me. And if you pick on me one more time, I'm gonna hit you. And he looked around and he said, Maybe, maybe these guys will beat me up, but I'm gonna hit you. I'm gonna hit you. True story. He said, I may only knock out one of you, but it's gonna be you. And the guy said, Go ahead, try to hit me. The guy said, We're the same size, go ahead and hit me. I don't care. And the little kid stopped for a second and he got discouraged because he had an older brother. And the older brother was bigger than him, and he said, Well, I guess I have to be bigger to be able to defeat this guy. So he ended up backing away and saying, You know what? Forget it. I was just playing around. So he went home and told his older brother about it. And the older brother said, Who are these kids picking on you? He said, Well, they're over there, they play at the park. Well, let's go talk to them. But here's what he didn't tell his little brother. This boy had some friends of his own, all the same age, all the same size. So now this group of four or five-year-old boys, this group of four or five boys go to this park and meet up with this other group of four or five boys. And these four or five boys are about foot taller than all the other boys. And guess what happened? Just by looking at this group of bigger kids, the little boys took off. They ran because they said to themselves, we can't take them, they're too big for us. And I think to myself, sometimes, isn't it funny? That I truly believe that many times when Christ walked this earth, the enemy would see Jesus and he would know we can't defeat him. We can't defeat him. They would still come after him, but they knew he has the advantage. And I'm telling you today, when the enemy looks at you, do you want him to see somebody who has the advantage, or do you want him to see somebody who he already has the advantage over? And I think if you start to think about it that way, you'll start to realize I don't want to just be a walking target in this world where the enemy says, look at him, look at him. We have the advantage on them. We're bigger, we're stronger. Church, you and I are called to walk this world every day with the power of God inside of us and with scripture inside of us and with Christ in us, that even when the enemy looks at it, he looks at us, he already knows I am at a disadvantage because this one has been reading, this one has been praying, this one has been seeking the Lord. And church, you know what that does? That should give you a peace and a joy and a hope inside of you. That no matter what the enemy may throw your way today, church, you already have the advantage and you're ready to overcome him. He sees you, he sees Christ in you. Here's your crew, you ready? You, the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. All of you bigger than the enemy. Yeah, you're bigger. You have the advantage over the enemy because you have the Christ, you have the Holy Spirit, you have the Father, and you have the Word. So, church, when you walk this earth, walk it with the scriptures inside of you and hear me and give God thanks, knowing that you already have the victory through the power of Jesus Christ. Give the Lord a hand clap. Let me close this out with a very simple question for you. Put it on the board. Would you want to pass on a deficit or a profit? My friend's dad, he was a character. He was always in bad debt. And my friend would tell his dad, Dad, you know, what are you ever gonna do about this debt? He's all son, I'm 65 years old. That's gonna be your problem. Bad life philosophy. Don't follow that. Question: Do you want to pass on a deficit or a profit? Think about it. What did I tell you earlier what a deficit was? Bad instructions, bad teachings that a person has to overcome. To close this out, I just want to ask you this one question. What are you passing on to those behind you? What are you passing on? Without the scriptures, there's no prophet. You need it. Without the scriptures, you're in a deficit. The scriptures put on the board. The scriptures never leave you in a deficit. But hear me. Let's wrap this up. What kind of teaching are you leaving behind your kids? What kind of instructions are you leaving behind? Your grandchildren. Children. What are you leaving them behind? Man, my heart goes out as my youth pastored, and I saw kids sometimes that would do things. And you know what they would literally tell me sometimes? Well, my mom did that. My dad did that. I literally had a kid one time that was developing a drug habit at 14 years old. Developing, I mean a serious drug habit, like a very, very bad drug habit. Heavy drugs. I asked them, what's your story? My mom was a drug had a drug addiction. My dad was a drug dealer. My aunts and uncles are all involved in drugs and alcohol. This is all I really know. That's what he told me. You see the deficit? That boy's gonna have to overcome these things. So I ask you today, or I'll say it like this. If you don't want to read the scriptures for yourself, at least read them for the kids and the children coming behind you, man. At least apply it to your life so that children and grandchildren can see this is what the scriptures say. Set the example because you know what I've learned? A deficit you have to overcome. But when you leave somebody a prophet, they can continue to build. So are you leaving something that is telling them you're gonna have to overcome this, or are you gonna leave something that is gonna be a blessing to them? And I think with that's a good way to think of why now Paul would say, hey Timothy, all scripture is useful and profitable. Because, Timothy, it's not even just about you, it's about the people coming behind you as well. It's about the church you're gonna pastor, it's about the people you're gonna minister to, it's about the example you're setting because eyes are watching you, Timothy. Don't leave them a deficit. Let them build upon what you're already doing. And I think to myself, church, if I want to then leave a prophet and not a deficit, if I want to leave something that can be built upon, put it on the board, last slide, then I need to remember all scripture helps me renew my mind. Look. If those of you haven't heard, we're expecting a child. And um, yeah. I got one congratulations the past three weeks, but that's fine. Um Manual will be the first to admit that Manu has renewing of the mind to do. I need, look at me. I need doctrine, reproof, correction, I need instruction in righteousness. I need all the scriptures. But you know why what's been kind of tag poking at me lately? Manual, and this is to every person. Do you want your family to be led by somebody with a renewed mind or still struggling with the same old mind? Are you gonna put them in a deficit or leave a profit that's gonna bless them? And I think that applies to every person here. What are we leaving? Well, how are we marking the people in our lives and around us? I pray that we have a renewed mind through all the scriptures. Because that renewed mind through doctrine, reproof, correction, instruction, and righteousness through all the scriptures, that renewed mind, hear me, is gonna help not just you build, but the people in your life build as well. And they'll build, and the people to follow will build. And though maybe one day ask, hey dad, how did we, you know, how why do we live these kind of lives? Well, let me tell you about your great-great-grandpa who chose to have the word, who chose to renew his mind through the word. And we're profiting off that still today. Every head bowed, every eye closed. Father, I pray today that Father, we have desire to profit through the word, to see the word be useful in our lives. I pray today, Lord, that all scripture will be beneficial, useful, advantageous to us, Father. I pray today, Lord, that to every person here present, Lord, I thank you that the scriptures are for them. The scriptures are beneficial to them, useful to them. They give them an advantage, they gain through the scriptures. I confess today over every person, married, unmarried, father or not a father, it doesn't matter. Every person here, Father, they are not creating a deficit, they are building a prophet, Lord. A prophet that'll bless others, a prophet that others can see and be blessed and build their, help even build themselves through, Father, my God. But Lord, we will know. It's not because of us, it's because of you, Christ in us. And Father, I thank you today that somehow, somehow, Lord, through these past few weeks, Father, there's an urging for the scriptures, desire for the scriptures. We are recognizing the need for the scriptures because all scripture benefits all people. And we thank you, Lord, that we will not deny it, we will not ignore it. Father, our life will be built on it. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.