Part 4 of What It Means to DATE the Word
As we DATE the Word by Delighting in the Word and being Attentive to the Word and spending Time in the Word God’s Word will equip us to live out a Biblical life. Ultimately I believe that as you DATE the Word it will EQUIP you to live out the Christian life and it will equip you to equip others. In this overview we will look out how God’s Word equips you.
We start with Scriptures that tell us of the work that word odes to equip us. We start with the all important 2 Timothy 3:16 that tells us the role of Scripture. It says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”
2 Timothy 3:17 then tell us why we need God’s Word as it says, “that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
When we look at various Biblical characters we find a connection between their success and God’s Word. For instance:
Joshua was told to meditate on the Word of God and obey what it taught, and he would experience good success.
Joshua 1:7 “Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.
Joshua 1:8 “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
David told us how all of us can be successful.
Psalm 1:2-3 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.
He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.
The king was to write their own copy of the Law so that they would know it and learn to fear the Lord and obey the Word of God.
Deuteronomy 17:14-20 “When you come to the land which the LORD your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,’
you shall surely set a king over you whom the LORD your God chooses; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the LORD has said to you, ‘You shall not return that way again.’ Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself. Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites. And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes, that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel.”
Paul told Timothy to give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. 1 Timothy 4:15
It equips the believer with direction as one has to make decisions. As one gets to know God’s Word it is going to guide their decision making. Psalms 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.
It equips you to be victorious. One of the verses I so enjoy is 1 John 2:14b. John writes, “I have written to u, young men, because you are strong, and the Word of God abides in you, and you have OVERCOME the wicked one.” As a person starts hiding God’s Word in their life they are going to be stronger and as they are strong they can defeat the wicked one. You might find it interesting that the Greek word for
OVERCOME is nenikēkate. You might notice that within nenikekate is the word NIKE. As you put the Word of God in your life you are able to NIKE the devil!
One of the most important things God’s Word does is equips you to be victorious of temptations.
Psalm 119:9 asked How can a young man keep his way pure? David answered this by saying in verse 11 Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I may not sin against You.
This was lived out by Jesus. You may recall that He was tempted 3 times. Let notice the account from the gospel of Matthew.
Matthew 4:1-11 – Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’” Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.
In each of the temptations Jesus responded by quoting a Scripture back at Satan. When Satan told Him to fulfill a natural desire an unnatural way He quoted Deuteronomy 8:3. When Satan misquoted Scripture to try to get Jesus to do some spectacular Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 6:6. And when Satan tried to bribe Jesus to worship him Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 6:13.
As we face temptations, we need to have God’s Word in your minds and hearts that we may recall quickly what God has said and then choose to OBEY what God says over what the temptation is presenting.
We therefore need to DATE the Word to be equipped by the Word in order to live successful and victorious lives.
As we DATE the Word of God we are going to be equipped how to personal live and to have information to pass on to others. We don’t just learn God’s Word for ourselves. We learn it for ourselves and for others. We have been called to be disciplers and the things that we have been taught is to be taught to others and I might add that as they are taught they become the next generation of teaching others.
Who are we to be teaching? Who are being equipped to equip?
Equipped to EQUIP your FAMILY
Deuteronomy 6:7 “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.”
Equipped to EQUIP your FRIENDS
2 Timothy 2:2 And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
Each of us are to be passing the faith on. What we learn is to be passed on to someone else who will pass it one to someone else. Many years ago I came across a definition of discipleship that was in a book authored by Allen Hadidian entitled Discipleship; Helping Others Grow. His definition of a discipleship stated: “Discipling others is the process by which a Christian with a life worth emulating commits himself/herself for an extended period of time to a few individuals who have been won to Christ, the purpose being to aid and guide their growth to spiritual maturity and equip them to reproduce themselves in a third spiritual generation.”
As I looked at my own life based on 2 Timothy 2:2 and Allen Hadidian’s definition I could see my spiritual heritage. There was a man in Madison Heights, VA who pastored Grace Baptist Church. His name was Paul Finch. A man by the name of Bill Crawford started attending Grace Baptist Church and he was discipled by Paul Finch. Paul Finch was the PAUL of 2 Timothy 2:2 and Bill was the Timothy of 2 Timothy 2:2. Without going into all the details, there came a day where Bill Crawford invited me to his home. Sitting at his kitchen table Bill began to disciple me, teach me the things he had learned from Paul Finch. I was now the one of the “FAITHFUL MEN” of 2 Timothy 2:2. When I started attending Liberty Baptist College I was invited to be a prayer leader and had 10 young men in my prayer group. Part of my responsibility was to disciple those ten young college students. Now I was passing on what I had learned to “OTHERS.” Paul Finch was the first generation. Bill Crawford was the second generation. I was the third generation and students in the prayer group were the fourth generation.
As I became the Campus Pastor of Liberty University I still discipled and little by little over the years I moved from being the FAITHFUL MEN to being TIMOTHY to one day being viewed the PAUL. As I discipled Timothys they discipled FAITHFUL MEN and they discipled OTHERS.
Each believer should want to move through 2 Timothy 2:2 from being an OTHER to being a FAITHFUL MEN to being a TIMOTHY to being a PAUL. By “dating” God’s Word a person is equipped to equip other who then can equip others!
How impactful can making disciples be? Well over 30 years one could impact 1 Billion people. You read right. 1 Billion people. You most likely are asking how. Let me show you. We begin with 1 disciple who decided to be a discipler who disciples 1 person over the period of one year every year for 30 years. During this year of discipleship, the discipler will not only equip the disciple how to live for Christ but to also become a discipler. The person discipled will make the commitment to be a discipler for the next 30 years and will disciple their disciple to make disciples. Thus, the process begins:
Year 1 you have 1 disciplers discipling 1 disciple
and at the end of the year you have 2 disciples
Year 2 you have 2 disciplers discipling 2 disciples
and at the end of the year you have 4 disciples
Year 3 you have 4 disciplers discipling 4 disciples
and at the end of the year you have 8 disciples
Year 4 you have 8 disciplers discipling 8 disciples
and at the end of the year you have 16 disciples
Year 5 you have 16 disciplers discipling 16 disciples
and at the end of the year you have 32 disciples
(after 5 years of doing discipleship based on 2 Timothy 2:2
you have gone from 1 to 32)
Year 6 you have 32 disciplers discipling 32 disciples
and at the end of the year you have 64 disciples
Year 7 you have 64 disciplers discipling 64 disciples
and at the end of the year you have 128 disciples
Year 8 you have 128 disciplers discipling 128 disciples
and at the end of the year you have 256 disciples
Year 9 you have 256 disciplers discipling 256 disciples
and at the end of the year you have 512 disciples
Year 10 you have 512 disciplers discipling 512 disciples
and at the end of the year you have 1024 disciples
(after 10 years of doing discipleship based on 2 Timothy 2:2
you have gone from 1 to 1024)
Year 11 you have 1024 disciplers discipling 1024 disciples
and at the end of the year you have 2048 disciples
Year 12 you have 2048 disciplers discipling 2048 disciples
and at the end of the year you have 4096 disciples
Year 13 you have 4096 disciplers discipling 4096 disciples
and at the end of the year you have 8192 disciples
Year 14 you have 8192 disciplers discipling 8192 disciples
and at the end of the year you have 16,384 disciples
Year 15 you have 16,384 disciplers discipling 16,384 disciples
and at the end of the year you have 32,768 disciples
(after 15 years of doing discipleship based on 2 Timothy 2:2
you have gone from 1 to 32,768)
Year 16 you have 32,768 disciplers discipling 32,768 disciples
and at the end of the year you have 65,536 disciples
Year 17 you have 65,536 disciplers discipling 65,536 disciples
and at the end of the year you have 131,072 disciples
Year 18 you have 131,072 disciplers discipling 131,072 disciples
and at the end of the year you have 262,144 disciples
Year 19 you have 262,144 disciplers discipling 262,144 disciples
and at the end of the year you have 524,288 disciples
Year 20 you have 524,288 disciplers discipling 524,288 disciples
and at the end of the year you have 1,048,576 disciples
(after 20 years of doing discipleship based on 2 Timothy 2:2
you have gone from 1 to 1,048,576)
Year 21 you have 1,048,576 disciplers discipling 1,048,576 disciples
and at the end of the year you have 2,097,152 disciples
Year 22 you have 2,097,152 disciplers discipling 2,097,152 disciples
and at the end of the year you have 4,194,304 disciples
Year 23 you have 4,194,304 disciplers discipling 4,194,304 disciples
and at the end of the year you have 8,388,608 disciples
Year 24 you have 8,388,608 disciplers discipling 8,388,608 disciples
and at the end of the year you have 16,777,216 disciples
Year 25 you have 16,777,216 disciplers discipling 16,777,216 disciples
and at the end of the year you have 33,554,432 disciples
(after 25 years of doing discipleship based on 2 Timothy 2:2
you have gone from 1 to 33,554,432)
Year 26 you have 33,554,432 disciplers discipling 33,554,432 disciples
and at the end of the year you have 67,108,864 disciples
Year 27 you have 67,108,864 disciplers discipling 67,108,864 disciples
and at the end of the year you have 134,217,728 disciples
Year 28 you have 134,217,728 disciplers discipling 134,217,728 disciples
and at the end of the year you have 268,435,456 disciples
Year 29 you have 268,435,456 disciplers discipling 268,435,456 disciples
and at the end of the year you have 536,870,912 disciples
Year 30 you have 536,870,912 disciplers discipling 536,870,912 disciples
and at the end of the year you have 1,073,741,824 disciples
(after 30 years of doing discipleship based on 2 Timothy 2:
2 you have gone from 1 to 1,073,741,824)
From 1 to 1 Billion in 30 years
An Article written by our founder Dwayne Carson
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