Clean Transcript

The Role of Books in the Life of the Man of God

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• Well, I figure since everyone just had a snack, they can make it through, probably. That is for sure. Well, it's a joy to be here, and certainly good to see each one of you today. And I trust that you'll not only pray for me, because I just had a little coughing spell. I don't know why. And I guess it was probably I didn't eat as much as I should, but anyhow.

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• I want you to open your Bibles, if you would please, to 1 Timothy chapter 4. We're going to read verses 12 through 16. The subject that I've been asked to deal with is the man of God and his books. So in 1 Timothy chapter 4, beginning with verse 12, "Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity."

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• "Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee." I call your attention particularly to verse 13 where the Apostle Paul tells Timothy, "Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, and to doctrine." The Apostle Paul's admonition to Timothy, "Give attendance to reading," falls on deaf ears today. Hardly anyone reads anymore, even pastors. We live in a day which we have classified most things as amusement.

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• I hope you understand as you read the word "muse," M-U-S-E, in the Bible, the word "muse" means to think or to meditate or to contemplate. And when you put the alpha or the "A" in front of it, "amuse," it means not to think, not to contemplate. And certainly that is what we have today. We have amusement parks. We have TV, which is amusing in the sense that you don't have to think, period. Well, most people today do not even read their Bibles. And unhappily, sometimes it's even pastors.

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• I heard recently from a believer who was a doctor and he and I were talking and he was talking about when he was a young man, he was talking to his pastor. And he was seriously considering the ministry, and he's a very godly man today, but he was thinking about maybe the Lord might want him in the ministry. And so he asked his pastor, he said, "Why are you in the ministry?" He said the pastor thought for a moment and looked at him and said, "Well, it's a good job." And then the man went on to say his denomination sent that pastor outlines for each Sunday. The man just simply looked over the outlines, filled in a few things and then preached whatever the denomination sent him.

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• So obviously for him there was no need to study or to read or to do anything. There's a vast difference also between a ministry and a job. There's also a vast difference between having been called into the ministry and entering the ministry as a profession. I would never put up with some of the things I've put up with for the last 47 years if God had not called me into the ministry.

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• I have a very dear pastor friend. He and I are a lot alike in many ways. He married a woman by the name of Alice. So did I. He had all daughters. I had all daughters. We both went to Bob Jones at the same time. Our senior year, we both had mononucleosis, but we never kissed each other now. I know it's called the kissing disease, the teenager's disease, but no, we didn't do that. But we are so much alike in so many different ways and it's all unbelievable.

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• But he always kids with me because he studies incessantly as well and he tells me, he said, "Now brother, I've got this thing figured out. What we need to do is to find us a large congregation somewhere that likes these 15 or 20 minute sermonettes." He said, "What we can do is we can take one outline and break it down and preach a month just from one sermon." He said, "And we would never have to study again and we would never have to repeat a message because we've got a lifetime of messages." And then, of course, we both laugh because both of us know that we can never cease studying and we can never cease preaching. One of the men in our church came up to me years ago when I turned 62 and he said, "Well, Pastor, I guess this means that you can retire now." I said, "Yes, sir."

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• I guess it might mean that, but very obviously that is not what is going to happen. Truly, when you think of books and when you think of studying, when you think of reading, you have to understand that we must be selective in our reading because certainly we cannot read everything or study everything. Solomon was certainly right in Ecclesiastes chapter 12 and verse 12 when he said this, "And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh." There are indeed many books, and some of them are absolutely, totally worthless. Anyone can say anything in a book, and just because someone writes a book does not necessarily mean that they are correct or that there is truth or accuracy in that book. Study is hard work. It is wearing to the flesh, and so much so that is probably one of the reasons why many people do not engage in it. Do you realize it's much easier to visit, to fellowship, to talk, to play, and sometimes it's even easier to pray than it is to study?

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• I had a pastor many years ago. In fact, my wife and I both were saved under his ministry. He was one of these unique individuals. You could not help but love him. You could not help but like him. And yet I have seen him at midnight on Saturday night just trying to find something to preach on Sunday morning, anything. And when he finally left that church, since it was built basically upon his personality, the church split three times. There was no doctrine. There was no understanding.

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• There was no consistency in his preaching and teaching. But you could not help but like him and you could not help but love him. Whenever we read outside of the Word of God, which I'm going to cover a little bit, we want to make sure that our reading outside is worthwhile and it is useful. One quick illustration will suffice. Years ago, when I first started preaching, I wanted to learn all I could about how God miraculously and sovereignly delivered the children of Israel from Egypt. I wanted to read about how God opened the Red Sea and how the children of Israel went across on dry ground.

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• And I was excited and I found a book on the Exodus. I thought, man, this is it. So I bought the book. It was in a Christian bookstore written by a supposed Christian. And so I got the book and I opened it and I started reading. And I immediately found out not only had I wasted my money, but I was wasting my time because the author said that the reason Moses and the children of Israel got across was because they knew when the tide was going to be out. And Pharaoh and all of his hosts did not understand the tide tables, and they tried to cross while the tide was coming in, and they were drowned. And I thought, when I looked at that book, what a farce.

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• What a blatant denial of Scripture. And so I followed the admonition of Scripture. I burned the book, you know. Acts 19, verse 19 says, "Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver." Some books are just absolutely, totally worthless. Spurgeon, in his book, Commenting on Commentaries, says this about one book. He says, "This book is an absolute must for handmaidens who wish to start good fires each morning." Unhappily, there's many such books today.

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• Our forefathers were widely read. In fact, they are far more widely read than you and I are today. They understood that each subject was important, because God created everything and therefore everything had theological implications. If I were to ask you, do you remember the names Frank and Jesse James? I'm sure that you do. Did you know that their father, Robert James, was a Baptist preacher? I have three messages on the world in times of Jesse James. I would encourage you to listen to those messages. In fact, you will probably find out that Jesse and Frank James were a whole lot different than Hollywood has presented them over these years. And they were a whole lot different from what you and I have been taught. And I'm just telling you this to just show you how well read not only their father was as a Baptist pastor, but also how well read Jesse and Frank James were. Their father, Robert James, was a man with many intellectual interests because when his will was probated in Clay County, Missouri in 1851, it listed in his library 51 books, listen carefully, dealing with mathematics, chemistry, philosophy, theology, astronomy, grammar, history, literature, Greek, Latin, public speaking, and many other subjects.

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• Did you know that Robert James was one of the founders of William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri, and that he was also on the board of trustees there? Did you know that Jesse James was fond of quoting the Bible? In fact, J. A. Dacus, who was a neighbor of theirs, said that Jesse's Bible was so underlined that you could hardly read it. Jesse quoted the Bible. Frank quoted Shakespeare.

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• Here's the point I'm trying to make. You can't quote if you don't read. And here in 1851, these so-called outlaws, who really and truly were made outlaws by the government, you need to read that and you need to hear that. They were. They were forced into what they were doing. But these were men who were well-read. Did you know that Jesse James was a member of the Baptist Church?

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• He sang in the choir. He taught Sunday school. His favorite hymn was "What a Friend We Have in Jesus." All I'm trying to show you is this. What we need in this time today is an awakening much like the Reformation when learning and Christianity were both revived at the same time. The Reformers always combine deep study with active ministry, and these two truths must go together.

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• Now, I want to call your attention primarily to verse 13. Look at what Paul said to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4 and verse 13, "Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation and to doctrine." Now, I just want to give you three simple points this morning. The first one is this, I want you to consider the admonition linguistically. When he said, "Till I come, give attendance," like the Apostle Paul, our obligation is to study so that we can keep nothing back that is profitable. We certainly understand 2 Timothy 3 and verse 16 when the word of God says this, "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 perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works."

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• But notice what he said. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. That means that each word is inspired and each word, therefore, is very profitable. If we would look into it, we have to understand what words actually mean. And I want you to look at the word "attendance." The word in the Greek is "prosecho," which literally means to have to or towards. It has the idea of giving attention, taking heed, cleaving unto, turning the mind unto, being given over to, are you listening, and being addicted to. So literally, Paul tells Timothy, "Till I come, be addicted to reading. Give your mind over to reading. Turn your mind over to reading." Now, the same idea is given to us in First Corinthians chapter 16 and verse 15. Let me just quote it, where the Apostle Paul says, "I beseech you, brethren, (ye know the house of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia, and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints)." They have addicted themselves to the ministry. The same thing is implied here.

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• Become addicted to reading now. While Paul gives a command to give attention to reading, he does not exactly specify what kind of reading. And by the way, let me just point this out. When the Apostle Paul says, "Give attendance to reading," it is a present active imperative in the Greek, which means it is a command. It is a continual command and you are to be personally active in it. So he says you are to give attention to reading. But he doesn't necessarily specify what kind of reading. Is it public reading or is it private reading? You have to remember that in the Old Testament and in the New Testament there was also the public reading of the Word of God.

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• For instance, in Nehemiah chapter 9 in verse 3. The Bible says this, "And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the LORD their God one fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed, and worshipped the LORD their God." They stood in their place and read in the book of the law of the Lord one-fourth part of the day. That was public reading. When you get to Acts chapter 13 and verse 15, Paul and Barnabas had gone into a synagogue, and the Scripture says this, "And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on."

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• I have threatened for years to preach a message on this text which I would call "The Mistake of a Great Rabbi." Can you imagine anyone being so silly to ask the Apostle Paul if he had anything to say? Just read the rest of the chapter. Man, he started at the beginning and preached and gave them a history lesson, totally, completely. But here, after the reading of the Law and the Prophets. And then in Acts 15 and verse 21, we read this, "For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day." So in the Old Testament and the New Testament, there was a public reading of the word of God. Now, while I certainly believe the word of God should be read publicly, I think in the context here, we're going to see that the emphasis, therefore, is on private reading.

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• So he tells Timothy, "Till I come. You give close attention, you turn your mind to, you be addicted to reading." Not only consider this linguistically, but I want you to consider the admonition contextually. When you take the admonition to give attendance to reading in its context, I believe it's obvious that it applies to private reading. Moreover, it should be clear that the phrase applies specifically to the Word of God, but it also has implications as well.

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• If you read the Scriptures frequently, consistently, and prayerfully enough, you will understand what that old black preacher in South Georgia meant when he said that their Bible should have shed a whole lot of light on them commentaries. And that's a fact, folks. You read the Bible, you'll find it sheds an awful lot of light on a lot of things that you read. But I want you to look at this contextually. First of all, I want you to look in verse 13.

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• He says this, "Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, and to doctrine." I want you to know that exhortation and doctrine naturally follow reading. Since the Apostle Paul was writing to Timothy, and Timothy was a young preacher, Paul is giving Timothy some sound pastoral advice. You have to understand that you cannot teach anything, nor can you communicate anything that you do not know. Reading has to absolutely come first. But yet it's not just reading for reading's sake. It must be sound, serious, and useful reading. Now, Paul knew Timothy's diligence, and yet he recommends to Timothy that he diligently, personally read the Scriptures. Do you realize pastors, I do not care what their age, must always be students.

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• I have known men that thought like this. "I have arrived. You cannot teach me anything. I know it all. Don't even try." Have you ever run into someone like that? A lot of times it's not just preachers. I mean, it's Christians. I mean, man, listen, I can say the Westminster Confession and the Catechism. I can do the Philadelphia Confession and Catechism, the Heidelberg Catechism. I know all of this.

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• We are never too old to learn. And the fact of the matter is, I've learned things here this week. I'm older than a lot of you, but I've learned. And we have to always be a student. How in the world shall pastors be able to teach other people unless they're willing to learn themselves? And if a great man is advised, Timothy was a great man, if he was advised to personally study and to read, how much more do you and I need to take that advice?

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• Listen to what Calvin said on this verse. He said, and I quote, "Lest it should be thought that careless reading was enough, he at the same time shows that it must be explained with a view to usefulness when he enjoins him to give earnest attention to doctrine and exhortation, as if he enjoined him to learn in order to communicate to others. It is proper also to attend to this order, that he places reading before doctrine and exhortation. For undoubtedly, the Scripture is the fountain of all wisdom from which pastors must draw all that they place before their flock." So he says the primary emphasis is on reading first.

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• Secondly, I want you to note that Timothy was to set the pace and to be the example for believers. Look in verse 12. He tells Timothy, "Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." So Timothy then was to be an example to other believers in personal study, in conduct, in love, faithfulness, and purity. Now watch this. In order to be an example in all of those things, he had to first be a personal example in the private study of Scripture. By implication, he would then be an example to those believers in other studies beyond the scripture as well. Paul is the man who issued this command. Paul was exceedingly well read, and Paul had a multitude of other books as well.

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• You say, how do we know that? Well, the answer is the Bible tells us that. For instance, you remember in Acts chapter 26 and verse 24 when Paul was there before Festus and Paul was speaking concerning Christ and Festus cried out, "Paul, much learning doth make thee mad." Now, Paul was a very highly educated individual. And Paul not only knew the Scriptures, but Paul also knew about pagan cultures and pagan writings because, at least on two occasions, he quoted those. For instance, if you look very quickly in your Bible, hold 1 Timothy, but look in Acts chapter 17 and verse 28. Acts 17 and verse 28, the Apostle Paul is preaching on Mars Hill.

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• And, of course, there are all those philosophers, the Stoics and the Epicureans. And the Apostle Paul says it like this, Acts chapter 17 and verse 28, "For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring." But notice he's quoting their poets. And if you look in the book of Titus, chapter one and verse twelve, right over just a few verses, Titus one and verse twelve, a few pages it is, Titus 1 in verse 12, the Apostle Paul says this, "One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies." But notice, "one of themselves, even a prophet of their own." So here the Apostle is quoting these pagans.

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• So he at least was read enough to know what they said and what they did not say. You see, the Apostle Paul also specifically asked for books. If you would turn right over in your Bibles to 2 Timothy chapter 4 and look, if you would please, at verse 13. 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 13. The Apostle Paul says this, "The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments." It's impossible to know exactly or to determine exactly what books are meant here by the Apostle Paul.

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• They could have been portions of the Old Testament. They could have been classical books, classical writings, could have been books written by other Christians, could have been books written by the Apostle Paul. But it's noteworthy that the Apostle Paul did not normally travel without books. He wanted his books with him.

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• Now, he says, "bring me the books, but especially the parchments." Now, the word for parchments here is "membranas." It's where we get our English word "membrane" from, and it's the only time it occurs here in the New Testament. The parchment or the membrane usually was from dressed animal skins, and these parchments seemingly were something different other than the books. There's been a number of suggestions. Some have suggested that maybe it was the Apostle's original writings that he had on those parchments. Sometimes others have suggested it was his own journals. Some have suggested it may have been letters from other churches. And some have even suggested it may have been his original manuscripts where he wrote to the other churches.

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• I don't know, and no one can tell conclusively exactly what these books are, but the truth of the matter is, the Apostle Paul wanted his books and he wanted these parchments. Now, here's the question. Have you ever considered where the Apostle was when he asked for his cloak and for his books and the parchments? The answer is, he was in prison. He was not only in prison, he was looking toward his death.

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• He was going to be beheaded. And amazingly, he was not going to waste any time. He was going to be reading and studying as he was in prison while he was waiting on his death. And now the great Apostle Paul, who's in prison saying, "I want my books." He tells Timothy, "Give attendance to reading. Pay attention to it." Words Paul here himself is giving young Timothy an illustration.

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• John Calvin says it like this, I love this. He said, "It is evident from this that the Apostle had not given over reading, though he was already preparing for death. Where are those who think that they have made so great progress that they do not need any more exercise? Which of them will dare compare himself with the Apostle Paul? Still more does this expression refute the madness of those men who, despising books and condemning all reading, boast of nothing but their own divine inspirations. But let us know that this passage gives to all believers a recommendation of constant reading that they may profit by it." There are those who ask why they should fritter away their days over books when knowledge comes in a flash, as the Apostle Paul was caught up in the third heaven.

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• But if you're looking for flashes from heaven, you will spend a lifetime waiting. And after all, even Paul was caught up. Nevertheless, he told Timothy to read and for Carpus to bring him his books. Have you ever stopped to think of how we have lost the art of reading? Have you ever stopped to think, do we do everything else but read? You've heard it for years. He who can read and will not read is no better off than him who cannot read.

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• Do you know why those Reformers and our forefathers were such erudite men? The answer is, they read. They studied. They were taught. You have to consider this not only linguistically, but contextually as well. And in the context, the Apostle Paul is telling Timothy it is private reading.

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• Thirdly, I want you to consider the admonition applicatorily. The command is to give attendance to reading. The question is, how do we apply that command? Do we just simply read our Bibles and let that be it? I understand that nothing can replace the Bible. I understand that. And the Scripture says, "Behold, who teacheth like God?" But do you realize, and I read the passage myself the very first night from Ephesians chapter 4, it was also read again, that he gave some pastor teachers. What do pastor teachers do? They teach. They communicate the Word of God. Well, let me ask you a question. If a pastor writes something, and he's writing it theologically, and he's writing correctly and biblically, it's not what he writes, the same as what he preaches. It's still truth.

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• And the answer would be yes. You would not do away with pastor teacher's writings. So why would you say, "Well, I'll just read the Bible and let everything else go"? True, our first focus must be upon the Word of God. But God did indeed give some pastor teachers. And we may learn by reading as well as by listening. Books do not necessarily have to be just theological in order to be good. I do say this. Our books, whatever the subject, should be written from a theological perspective because God is sovereign and God is the Creator. And we should understand everything from a theological perspective that God is indeed sovereign.

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• But one book that I found of great value to myself, and one that I've recommended over the years, and I would recommend that you get it if you can, the title of the book was "The Central Significance of Culture" by Francis Nigel Lee. In that little book, there's a little paperback quote about this thing. Francis Nigel Lee demonstrates very effectively that we've been called to dominion and it is our responsibility to bring every aspect of our culture in submission to Jesus Christ. Have you ever read a medical book? You say, "Why would I read a medical book?" Let me ask you.

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• How did our forefathers take care of themselves? There were no hospitals. When you live out in the country as far as Alice and I do, you better learn to take care of yourself. We have books on suturing. We have books on dentistry. I can pull a tooth if I have to. You say, "Really?" I've never done it, but I have the implements to do it. I've gone to a class to learn how to do it. I've got books explaining everything.

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• If I had to do it, I would do it. Have I ever sutured animals? Yes. Have I ever sutured men? Yes. How did I learn that? I have my books, my wife has her books, and then we have our books. I was just thinking, we've got books everywhere, but I was just thinking before I preach this message, if you try to slip up on us at night and you make it in the house successfully, we do have a pit bull, by the way, and if you make it past the Glocks and the shotguns and the rifles.

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• Don't come up on Alice's side of the bed because you'll trip and break your neck. Because she's got books all there. We've got books everywhere. And on every subject. I have many books. You ask me how many? I honestly do not know. Let me tell you something, this is funny. I did very well in school until the 10th grade. In the 10th grade, I got so bored because everything was just repeat. So I basically, the 11th grade, the only book I took home was my chemistry book. The 12th grade, I took no books home. I did no studying. Didn't have to. It was just repeat, same old stuff. And when I graduated from high school, I made myself a promise that I would never read another book as long as I lived. I may not have exactly 15,000 books in my library, but I've got pretty close to it. And I've read, I have no idea how many books. I'm just simply saying. I have many history books. I love history. You know why?

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• Because history is nothing less than the outworking of God's eternal decree in time. If you want to know God's eternal decree, study history. If you want to see the hand of God outstretched against his enemies, study history. If you want to see the hand of God stretched out in redemption for his people, study history. You ought to know something about biblical philosophy, too. You ought to know something about how biblical philosophy is completely contrary to pagan philosophy.

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• And listen, unless you understand this and unless you see the clear distinction, you're going to be engulfed in pure humanistic hogwash that's given to you every day of your life. And you don't even understand it's anti-God and anti-Bible philosophy. You ought to read and find out. You ought to find out about money. I've got books on economics. And you'll find out most people have no idea what money is. I will guarantee you there's probably only two or three people in this room that know what a dollar is.

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• You say, "Well, there it is right there." That's not a dollar. That's a Federal Reserve note. You know what a dollar is? A dollar is a unit of measurement. It's like an inch or a foot or a quart. A dollar is a measurement in silver or gold. Do you realize there are plenty of verses in the Bible, chapters, that teach biblical economics? What about government? What about education?

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• My goodness, what about biology? The study of life. What about music? What about business? What about education? Any field that you can possibly think on. There are books written dealing with this from a biblical perspective. And if there are not any, then you ought to write one.

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• Now, let me just be reasonable. Do you realize if I can take a book and let's say it takes me two days to read the book. If I can take two days and read the book and learn what it took the author 20 years to learn, am I better off? I don't have to go through 19 years, 358 days or whatever it is. No, I've got what it took him nearly a lifetime to learn. I've gleaned it now in two days.

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• The problem is this, folks. In order to benefit from our reading, whether it's our Bible or other books, we've got to remember two truths. The first one is this, that more depends upon quality than it does upon quantity. I know that all of God's Word is quality. I understand that. But do you realize most people read the Word of God as if it is a magazine to be devoured all at once.

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• And what they really want to do is this. They want to brag about the fact. "Well, do you realize I read 20 chapters today?" Or "I read two whole books today." Let me tell you something, I had rather, if I'm studying the Scripture, I had rather read one paragraph in the Bible and understand it than I had read 20 chapters and not understand a thing that I've read.

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• There's nothing wrong with quantity as long as you do not sacrifice quality. Likewise, in reading books, when it comes to modern theological books, I'd rather read one old Puritan book than I had 20 modern day books. I purchased, burned, thrown away, discarded, a lot of worthless, useless books in my 47 years of preaching. You say, "Brother Weaver, how have I not experienced that? I mean, I don't want to waste my money." Well, if you're talking about books, I think the first thing you should do is ask your pastor about the book. Really? Your pastor probably has more books than you do anyhow.

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• Not necessarily all the time, but usually he does. Secondly, research the author and the publisher, if possible.

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• Thirdly, if possible, peruse the book before you buy it. Look at the table of contents. Look at the author. Look at all about it. Read the foreword. But fourthly, I'm afraid that when it comes to book buying, experience only comes with time and money. But if you can ask someone, ask someone. You know, as many history books as I have in my library and as many as I have read, on occasions I've called Brother Charles Baker and I've asked him about a book because he deals with books all the time. And I ask, "Is this a good book? Do you recommend this book? What do you know about this book?" Surely.

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• So, I mean, you've got to understand that quality is what counts first and foremost. Secondly, more depends upon the use of what we read, that is, how by reflection and meditation we apply what we read in our daily lives and in our conduct. Dr. Watts says it like this, listen carefully. He says, "A well-furnished library and a capacious memory are indeed of singular use toward the improvement of the mind.

  #56 | 40:45 to 41:16 | cleaned

• But if all your learning be nothing else but a mere amassment of what others have written, without a due penetration into its meaning, and without a judicious choice and determination of your own sentiments, I do not see what title your head has to true learning above yourselves." Now, here's what he just said. You can read all you want to read, but if you can't digest it, if you can't come out and spit it out in your own language and apply it to your life, it's worthless. It's true, simply stated, if this truth, whatever you read, does not make sense to you, if you cannot understand it, if you cannot comprehend it and if you're not able to make applications of that truth, all you have is what you started with, and that's nothing. I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Mark chapter 4.

  #57 | 41:17 to 42:17 | cleaned

• Let me show you this principle. Mark chapter 4. Mark 4. Beginning there with verse 23. Look what he says. Mark 4 verse 23, "If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given. For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath."

  #58 | 42:17 to 42:46 | cleaned

• Let me just put it very pointedly. Here's what he is saying. If you don't use the truth, you lose the truth. If you cannot take the truth and apply it and make it yours, you really don't have the truth. You will forget it. It's just that simple. Let me read to you what Charles Bridges said on the view of the Christian ministry. He said, "Not to read or study at all is to tempt God. To do nothing but study is to forget the ministry. To study only to glory in one's knowledge is a shameful vanity. To study in search of means to flatter sinners, a deplorable prevarication, but to store one's mind with the knowledge proper to the saints by study and prayer, and to diffuse that knowledge in solid instruction, practical exhortation.

  #59 | 42:46 to 43:44 | cleaned

• This is to be a prudent, zealous, and laborious minister." Now let me point something out in 1 Timothy chapter 4, and I want you to go back there. And I'm sure there are young men here that not only preach, but some of them maybe even aspire to preach. But let me show you an obvious application of young preachers and the young scholars. The Apostle Paul in First Timothy chapter 4 says this in verse 12, "Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." Do you realize that every congregation wants an experienced man? And here comes a young pastor.

  #60 | 43:44 to 44:33 | cleaned

• And he's never really pastored. He's preached a little bit, but he's never really pastored. And so the congregation says to the young man, "I'm sorry, we're looking for someone with experience" and the young man counters and says, "Well, how can I get experience if nobody will ever let me preach?"

  #61 | 44:36 to 44:55 | cleaned

• Now, how do you overcome things like that? How do you overcome? Here you are, 16, 17, 18 year old or 20, 25 year old. It doesn't matter. And you think you've got a lot to say and here are the old heads kind of just sitting around and you know, you're a kid. What do you know? Well, look what he said in verse 12. "Let no man despise thy youth." How does one cease from being despised as a youth or as a novice? Well, first of all, the word "despised" is "kataphroneo" in the Greek, and it literally means to be held in contempt, to be disdained, to be despised or to be thought little of or nothing of.

  #62 | 44:58 to 45:45 | cleaned

• So how do you prevent that? Well, here's what he tells you. He says, "Let no man despise thy youth." But before I read the rest of that, did you know the Apostle Paul wrote Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 22? And he told Timothy, "Flee also youthful lusts." And Timothy was probably in his forties when Paul told him to flee youthful lust. You have to remember, in those days, even our Lord did not begin His ministry until He was thirty. And someone in their thirties and forties was considered nothing but a youth. And Paul tells Timothy, "Flee also these youthful things, these youthful lusts." But now look, now it says, "Timothy, you are a young man, you are a young preacher. But if you're going to overcome your youth, look what he says in verse 12, 'Let no man despise thy youth.'

  #63 | 45:47 to 47:01 | cleaned

• "But be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine." In other words, here's what the Apostle Paul is saying. You may be a young man, but if you will give attendance to reading and if you will give attendance to applying that reading to your life and you become an example in word and conversation and charity and spirit and faith and in purity, and if you can stand your ground theologically, emotionally, rationally,

  #64 | 47:01 to 47:40 | cleaned

• and simplistically, the old heads will stop disdaining you and say, "Hey, that kid has something to say. Look at his life. Listen to his arguments." How? Because he reads, he studies. Now, I want to show you something. It will not be an easy road because, look in verses 15 and 16, look what Paul tells Timothy. "Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.

  #65 | 47:40 to 48:16 | cleaned

• Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee." Now go back. He says in verse 15, "Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly, totally, completely unto them." My wife always complains that all I ever want to do is study. Well, that's fine. She says, "Every time we go somewhere, you want to stay in the motel and read?" Yes. Yes. Guess what?

  #66 | 48:17 to 48:47 | cleaned

• My work is my hobby. And my hobby is my work. I love it. I enjoy it. Rush Dooney was a personal friend of mine. And my wife and I have been in his home multitudes of times. He's been in our home. I never will forget the first time I ever went to his home. By the way, Rush Dooney read a book every day. But the first time I ever went to his home, here was his couch. In front of that couch was a coffee table. The coffee table was piled that high with books. You could not set a cup of coffee on it if you wanted to. The sofa on each side was piles of books. Every chair had piles of books. When you excuse yourself and went to the bathroom, you could barely get to the commode because there are piles of books on each side. Wherever he was, he was reading and he usually read three or four books at one time. And he never forgot what he read. I never will forget the last summer before he died, we were out there and he told me, he said, "John," he said, "my body, he said, I've got diabetes, I've got this, I've got that."

  #67 | 48:47 to 50:07 | cleaned

• But he said, "My mind is just as clear as ever." He said, "Just last week." Now, listen to this. I'm not making this up. My wife was there. She can testify. He said, "Just last week, I thought of a book I read in 1935." He said, "Would you believe I went to my library? I pulled that book off the shelf and I opened it to the very page that the quote was on that I was thinking of." He remembered a book in 1935 that he had read. I would not have even have remembered that there was a book written in 1935. But he read incessantly, he read completely, he read totally. All I'm trying to say is this, folks, and by the way, when I first went out to visit with him, at that time, and this was probably in the 70s, at that time he had about 50,000 books in his library.

  #68 | 50:08 to 51:14 | cleaned

• If you ask him a question, his answer would be like this. "Well, to understand that, you've got to go back to 1845 when..." and that he'd bring you all the way up until that particular day. All I'm trying to say is this, folks. It's books. Books that give us knowledge. When we stay in our studies, and when we stay in our studies, our profiting is going to appear to all. When we take heed to ourselves, when we take heed to our doctrine, we will be able to take heed and help others as well. We've got to understand that our books are our teachers.

  #69 | 51:19 to 51:56 | cleaned

• A carpenter cannot work without his tools. A mechanic cannot work without his tools. Neither can a preacher, neither can a student work without his books. We have a mechanic that we take our car to. You pull up in his garage and there are tools everywhere. Let me tell you something. He does not use all of those tools at once. But he's got them there whenever he does need them. You say, "What if I bought five books from Brother Baker right now, would I have them read by tonight?" No.

  #70 | 51:56 to 52:34 | cleaned

• I might start reading one of them. The others are going on my shelf. But guess what? I know what is in those books. I know what those books are about. And when I need them, I can go to my shelf and I can pull them off and I can begin reading and I can begin studying. It's just like that mechanic that has that tool over on the shelf. When he needs it, it's there. And if you don't have books, if you're going to teach, you don't have tools. My books are my teachers. And you're never going to grow unless you read and unless you study.

  #71 | 52:38 to 53:16 | cleaned

• And what did the Apostle Paul tell Timothy? "Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine." If you want to be able to exhort, if you want to be able to teach, if you want to be able to communicate, you must read. And you must be able to read and discuss on many different subjects.

  #72 | 53:17 to 53:57 | cleaned

• Don't ever, ever, let a wicked, ungodly reprobate know more than you do. You outstudy him so that you can refute his errors and his heresies and his wickedness. Let no man despise thy youth. Father, help us. Teach us.

  #73 | 54:00 to 54:28 | cleaned

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T16:02:15Z