Behavior of Unbelievers in the Church – 1

Transcript

GR 1392
01/25/2009
Behavior of Unbelievers in the Church – 1
II Timothy 3:1-2
Gil Rugh


We're studying II Timothy together so you can turn there in your Bibles, Paul's second letter to Timothy. I was thinking again this week as I worked in this letter how interesting it is to read what is in effect Paul's last letter, at least the last letter that the Spirit of God has chosen to have preserved as part of our scriptures. It's interesting to me what Paul would have as the burden of his heart as he knows his earthly ministry has come to a conclusion. We get toward the end of the letter he'll say he's finished the course, he's done. For all intents and purposes his earthly ministry has been completed, he expects that he will soon face an executioner and move from this life into the presence of the Lord of glory, there to receive the reward for his labors. And what would you write in a letter at that stage in your life and ministry. And you really see what comes across as you study the letter that Paul has a tremendous burden that Timothy and the church remain faithful to the Lord and to the truth that the Lord of the church has entrusted to them for the days ahead. Really this letter is all about being faithful in the midst of opposition.

There are two major divisions to the letter. The first major division dealt with facing opposition from unbelievers outside the church that would bring persecution or an attempt to destroy the church and its testimony. The second major division of the letter where we are began with chapter 2 verse 14 and will go down through chapter 4 verse 8. And it's all about dealing with opposition from within the church, counterfeit believers who would infiltrate among believers in the church and attempt to weaken the teaching of the pure word of God and turn believers away from faithful conduct. That's what Paul's burden is—be faithful to the Lord, be faithful to the truth that He has entrusted to us.

The section we're in began with chapter 2 verse 14 and deals with false teachers who had infiltrated among the church very early in the church's history. Here the Apostle Paul has not yet died, he is going to be martyred about 67 A.D. Before he passes from the scene it is already a battle and a struggle in the church. False teachers have infiltrated. Remember when Paul met with the Ephesian elders in Acts 20, a brief visit? He said that from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, seeking to draw the disciples away after them. So what has happened in the intervening years is not a surprise to Paul, but it is a great concern, the purity of the church and its maintaining its faithfulness and purity of devotion to the Lord.

Back up to II Corinthians 11:2. You see this burden of Paul for the church at Corinth. It's the same as he had for the church at Ephesus where Timothy is. For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. For I betrothed you to one husband so that to Christ I may present you as a pure virgin. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. What is the problem? False teachers, false doctrine. For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully. The Corinthian church was tolerant where it should have been intolerant, and it was intolerant where it should have been tolerant. They were criticizing Paul and his ministry and they were welcoming with open arm those who were teaching a corrupted message. Down in verse 13 Paul says, such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore, it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness whose end will be according to their deeds.

You come back to II Timothy 2, that's the very thing Paul is addressing with Timothy regarding the situation in the church at Ephesus. False teachers, counterfeit believers have infiltrated among the church and they have been accepted and they are having an impact. And it is not a good impact, it's a negative impact. Paul has been warning about that. Really what Timothy has to do is disassociate himself from these teachers in every way.

He gave three commands in verses 22-23. Verse 22, now flee from youthful lusts, flee is the command. Pursue, there's the command, righteousness, faith and so on. Verse 23, refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, refuse is the command. But he reminded him, you want to maintain godly character even when confronting your opponents. The Lord's bond servant, verse 24, must not be quarrelsome, but kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition. There is no compromise of the truth as we have seen. He presents the truth with the right spirit, the right attitude. But he is teaching with a view to correcting those who would oppose the truth. What's the goal here? So he can win them over by his powers of persuasion? No. We noted, if perhaps God may. We noted this may or may not happen. If perhaps may, maybe, perhaps God will grant them repentance. You know Paul does not attempt in this last letter, facing his own execution, to motivate them by setting out a positive picture. You know Timothy it has been hard for me, but I'm sure the days will be easier for you. Timothy, you preach the Word and you'll see revival, lives will be changed. That would seem to motivate. You know what he tells Timothy? You preach the Word, there is a chance maybe that God will change a heart. You know where he is going in chapter 3? You be prepared, Timothy, persecution is what is before you because everyone who lives godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. And furthermore it is not going to get better, it's going to get worse. So here he is motivating Timothy by challenging him to the truth, but not with false hopes, not with an unrealistic picture. God's grace may intervene.

Important section here when he said, if God may grant, verse 25, them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth. We noted the sovereignty of God, using the Word of God to change a heart is the only thing that truly brings conversion. We can have effective speakers with powers of persuasion that can move people to decisions, but not genuine salvation. Only God can take His Word and change a heart.

Back up to Acts 16. Paul is on his second missionary journey and he has come to Philippi, the gospel is being brought to Europe. Note in verse 14 as Paul has been ministering the Word. A woman named Lydia from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God was listening, listening to Paul explain the scriptures and the truth concerning Jesus Christ. And the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. You see our responsibility is to present the Word of God in love, in kindness, in gentleness, with compassion. But that's not what changes a heart. What changes the heart is the direct intervention of the sovereign God who takes that Word, opens the eye to see and believe, gives them repentance. He opens the heart to respond. I emphasize this again even though we've been through it because if we keep this before us it helps us from sliding to man's ideas of trying to manipulate people to promote and get a response. As though if we do the right things people will respond. The “right” thing for us is to present the truth with a godly attitude. We will be a savor of life to life and death to death. That's determined by the sovereign work of God. He takes His truth, His Word never returns to Him void, it accomplishes His purposes.

Back in II Timothy, the end of chapter 2. You'll note what the problem is, verse 26, God grants them repentance and they may then come to their senses, sober up, get out of their stupor, see reality as it is, true spiritual reality. And escape from the trap of the devil. They are the devil's captives and they do his will. There is what we are dealing with. John wrote in his first epistle in I John 5:19, the whole world lies in the evil one, the whole world is held captive by the devil and does his will. Religious people, non-religious people. We see here professing Christians teaching in the church and out and out pagans, captives of the devil, lie in his grasp, under his power and his authority and do his will. That's why we have conflict. We have the people of God and the people of the devil, the only two kinds of people. And the people of God, by God's grace, have been placed here to be a light in the midst of darkness, to give off the knowledge of Jesus Christ, which is the pleasing savor that rises to God.

Now Paul has held out that hope to Timothy. Timothy, you present the truth, you have to oppose those who are teaching error. But you stand against them and present the truth with a godly attitude. The desire is that God might intervene and grant them repentance to turn from their sinful error and believe in Christ.

But, chapter 3 begins. We haven't changed the subject, we're just moving on. But realize this. Now reality. Maybe God will grant repentance, but you understand the whole world lies in the evil one. The people you are dealing with are the devil's captives, they do his will, so realize this. Verses 1-9 form a unit of thought, a paragraph, but there is a break in that. And that is the first five verses form a unit, then verses 6-9. But you can see they are connected because verse 6 begins with the conjunction for. He's continuing that development. We're going to focus on the first five verses where there are 18 specific vices mentioned. We won't get through them all but we will look at some of them.

But I want you to note verses 1-5 are bracketed with two commandments. The first commandment is in verse 1, realize. Might underline it, circle it, highlight it. It's a present imperative, command given in the present tense. This must characterize Timothy continually. And then there is a command that closes out this portion of the section at the end of verse 5, avoid. Another present imperative, something that Timothy must always do—avoid such men as these. Within that he is going to unfold 18, some call it 19, characteristics, depends on how you handle the last two comparisons. We'll look at that when we get there. But basically 18 vices, sinful characteristics in this list. This is the second longest list like this in our New Testament where he just unfolds a list of the sinful characteristics of unregenerate people.

There is a similar list in Romans 1 that we are relatively familiar with. There is a difference. What is said in Romans 1 is describing unregenerate, unsaved, sinful people in the world. What Paul is describing in II Timothy 3 is sinful, unregenerate people who have been accepted in the church as believers. And what we are reminded of is the character of an unregenerate person does not change, nor does his behavior in reality. Appearances will be shaped because he has a veneer of Christianity. And make no mistake, the devil's counterfeits are good. The church at Corinth was being deceived by the counterfeits of the devil as we saw in II Corinthians 11. The church at Ephesus was being deceived by the counterfeits of the devil as Paul makes clear here. There kinds of men are in the church. When Jude wrote he said that these men had already infiltrated among the believers he was writing to. But there character is the same and when you examine them carefully over time their behavior reveals they are nothing but unregenerate men in disguise as Christians.

Let's start with verse 1, but realize this. The command is present imperative, realize, know this. Now these are things Timothy already knows, Paul has written about some of these things. He had a similar list, more abbreviated, in his first letter in the first chapter. But Timothy, these have to be impressed on your mind. Know this, keep it before you, don't forget it, continually keep this in mind. What is he to keep in mind? That moves us to that subject.

Realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. The last days, we want to be sure that we have this in its context. Sometimes we preachers preach on a passage like this and say we must be in the last days, the return of the Lord must be very near because look at the description here, it certainly fits our day. And there is an element of truth to that, but you understand the last days is a term that covers a broad period of time. Timothy was living in the last days. These men with these characteristics were present in Ephesus where Timothy was. That's why he give him the command at the end of verse 5 to avoid such men as these. If this were something 2000 years in the future for Timothy he wouldn't have to worry about avoiding these men. No, they were present there and he has to deal with them.

So when we talk about in the last days we're talking about an expression that comes out of the Old Testament. In the Old Testament prophets, the last days were the days of the Messiah. Now remember, and Peter writes about this in I Peter 1, the Old Testament prophets saw the first coming of Christ and His suffering and death on the cross and His Second Coming and His ruling and reigning in glory right together. And Peter says they couldn't sort out, how could the Messiah come and suffer and be rejected and die and rule and reign in glory. Now we see it clearly because we understand that between His first coming to suffer and die and His Second Coming to reign in glory, there have been about 2000 years so far. But the expression the last days encompasses everything around the first coming of Christ, everything down until events related to the Second Coming of Christ. So we have lived in the last days since Christ was born at Bethlehem, and those last days will continue down until He returns to earth to establish His kingdom.

Turn over to Hebrews 1. The chapter begins, God, after He spoke long ago. Talking about back in the days of the Old Testament prophets. To the fathers, to their ancestors. In the prophets in many portions, in many ways. Back through Old Testament times God spoke to His people, Israel, to a variety of prophets in a variety of ways. Sometimes it was in a dream or in a vision, sometimes it was with the appearance of an angel. So the Old Testament was given, and that revelation, to different prophets in different ways. In these last days, there is our expression, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son. So you see the writer to these Jewish believers, he recognizes and they would recognize these last days, that's the days of Messiah. The Son of God, the Messiah of Israel has come. He is the climax of the revelation from God, the fullness of the One who dwelt in eternity in the presence of God now dwelling on earth in human form, now speaking to man has brought the fullness of God's revelation. We're interested in He has spoken to us in His Son. So with the coming of Christ to earth you had the last days unfolding.

Back up to Acts 2. Peter is preaching, again to Jews, on the day of Pentecost; the Holy Spirit has been poured out, the church has had its beginning. And in Acts 2 we'll pick up with verse 16 and the phenomenon associated with the coming of the Spirit of God. Peter quotes from the prophet Joel in the Old Testament. Verse 16, this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel. It shall be in the last days, God says. There is our expression, the last days that I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind. Peter is saying we've experienced that. You see we're in the last days. Now you'll note this prophecy goes on, down in verse 20, the sun will be turned to darkness, the moon into blood before the great and glorious day of the Lord shall come. That is going to stretch on. Joel is an example, what he prophesied encompasses the days of Messiah, the pouring out of the Spirit associated with the first coming of Christ, His suffering, death and resurrection and ascending of the Spirit all the way down to events around the Second Coming of Christ, events that will take place in that seven-year period known as the tribulation that will climax with the return of Christ to earth to establish His kingdom, a period of time covered in Revelation 6-19. So you see Joel's prophecy doesn't tell you there is going to be 2000 years between the giving of the Spirit in the last days and the sun turned to darkness, the moon to blood before the great and glorious day of the Lord. So you see how the Old Testament had the last days together, includes all of that and now everything in between.

So we have lived in the last days for about 2000 years. Go back to I Timothy 4. Paul addressed this subject with Timothy in his first letter, he used a different expression but an expression referring to the same time period. In I Timothy 4:1, but the Spirit explicitly says that in latter times, talking about that same period of time, the last days, the latter times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. He goes on to talk about that was going on already, part of the problem that was going on in the church at Ephesus. You see the battle, this church has had an ongoing struggle and conflict for years. Several years before he wrote II Timothy Paul wrote I Timothy, perhaps as long as five years earlier. And this battle and conflict internally over false teaching and false doctrine, they just won't go away. It is a relentless battle.

But it will happen in the latter times. While we are on this theme you might as well go back to I John 2. The Apostle John is writing and you'll note what he says. Verse 17, the world is passing away and its lusts, but the one who does the will of God lives forever. Children, it is the last hour and just as you heard that antichrist is coming. We'll be studying the antichrist as we move further into the book of Revelation. You've heard that he is coming, it is the last hour. You say, John, you missed it. You are off by about 2000 years. Well it's the last hour, you know antichrist is coming, you've heard that. Let me tell you even now many antichrists have appeared. So all these who oppose Christ are forerunners of that climactic antichrist. So we've lived in the last hour from the first coming of Christ to the Second Coming of Christ. Now it seems like a long hour but when you see how the Old Testament saw the first coming and Second Coming of Christ as events together, and John has no idea of how long that would spread out here. These are messianic days, however long they go. We live on the brink of the return of Christ. So many antichrists have come.

Turn over to Jude. You'll note each of these reminds us of the characteristics of the period of time in which we live between the first coming of Christ and the Second Coming of Christ. So in Jude 4, certain persons have crept in unnoticed, crept in among believers within the church, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Lord and master, Jesus Christ. That's where Paul is going to go on to describe in a moment in II Timothy 3. Come down to verse 17, but you beloved ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ that they were saying to you, in the last times. So you see the last days, the latter time, the last time, the last hour, all referring to that time associated with the Messiah. There will be mockers following after their own ungodly lusts. These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly minded, devoid of the Spirit. There is a problem, they have infiltrated among the church, they act like believers, they are teaching and they don't have the Spirit of God. So they are the devil's master plan to corrupt the church of Jesus Christ.

Come back to II Timothy 3. We understand what the last days are and during this time there will be difficult times in the last days. Difficult, good translation of the word. It can also have a strong meaning—violent times, hard times. Only other use of that particular word is in Matthew 8:28. Remember the two demon-possessed men in the country of the Gadarenes when Christ arrived by boat. They lived among the tombs and Matthew 8:28 says they were extremely violent so everybody was afraid of them. That word translated violent is the same word, only other use of it in the New Testament. We have it translated difficult here. Difficult times, hard times, violent times will come. That word times, a word that has to do with seasons, periods of time. So it doesn't mean it will just constantly be on the same level all the time. There will be times when the opposition from opponents, from those within the church will be more severe. There will be times when it will seem maybe less severe. That will be true in different parts of the world now as we see as well. We are here studying the Word of God together and the opposition is not as overt as it might be in other parts of the world. In our local church we have relative peace and harmony, we are not doing the battles that in other times we may have had to do over doctrine. So in the last days difficult periods of time will come. And it is true, during this time, as we will see as we get further down like in verse 13, it's going to get worse. The progression will be downward ultimately because we are going to come to the culminating period of apostasy, the 70th week of Daniel when you have the antichrist enthroned in Jerusalem, requiring the worship of the world be directed to him. But during this time in which we live, Timothy, you know this, there is no excuse. We have had 2000 years to digest this warning. Timothy was responsible and commanded to know it. What about us as the Spirit gives the command through Paul to Timothy to us. We ought not to be blindsided, caught unaware.

Difficult, hard, violent periods of time will come, it is an established certainty. Why will they come? Well, verse 2, for men will be. It is a result of the conduct of ungodly men, primarily here the conduct of ungodly men who infiltrate the church. And that's what his concern is here. So he's going to talk about what they will be like and it is their actions that make the ministry of the Word of God so difficult. And you'll have the attacks coming from the outside as we saw in the first section of the book, and the problems from within.

Men will be, another future tense. Doesn't mean it's going to be way in the distant future, it just implies the certainty—this will happen. Men will be. First vice he unfolds in this list of 18 as I mentioned, is lovers of self. And note this list, it begins by talking about two things that these godless men love. They love themselves and they love their possessions, they are lovers of self and lovers of money. And then down at the end of verse 4 they are identified with the word love again—lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. So this list really gets bracketed by what men love—they love themselves, they love their money, they love their pleasure. They don't love God.

He's starting out to say they are lovers of self—self-lovers. They are self-absorbed, self-focused. Their concern is themselves, what pleases them, the world revolves around them. They are self-lovers and so they act accordingly. Now when your focus is on yourself everything else has to be out of focus, right? You can't be a lover of God and a lover of self because the first commandment given was you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. But these individuals begin with a love of themselves and everything focuses around them. We are in a time in our society, and I've seen the change in my life and some of you have seen it. When I was raised I was constantly reminded the world did not revolve around me. In fact my father was so unenlightened and in the Dark Ages that he, and I remember being reminded when we were going to someone's home that children were to be seen and not heard. You wait and speak if your are spoken to, and if you are spoken to you will respond politely. And you will not interrupt. Now no matter what you're talking about, the world stops if a kid opens his mouth. We've learned to develop these little children to focus on themselves.

Well in the church this idea develops and now you have people who are teaching in the church and they have so adjusted the teaching of scripture, and we have dealt with this in past years where you have to learn to love yourself before you can love God. You can see how the teachers infiltrate the church and they take the scripture and teach it and believers were taking their material and studying it to learn how to love themselves so they could really be lovers of God. And the devil is really teaching them the opposite of what is necessary. Self-lovers. This is going on, it's not a result of secular humanism that has arisen in our day or recent days, this goes back all the way to the Garden with Eve in Genesis. But here it was going on in the church at Ephesus in this early stage of the church. Lovers of self.

Lovers of money. Now of course that follows through, doesn't it? If you love yourself you love the things that you can do for yourself, don't you? Isn't all our advertising based on this? What it will do for you, how happy it will make you, you earned it, you deserved it. You do deserve a break today, right? I mean it's all on that level. Why? Because if we love ourselves we have to take care of ourselves, and of course the first thing you have to do is learn to take of yourself. And if we're ever going to be effective for the Lord and learn how to really serve Him we're going to have to really take care of ourselves. And all this “self-stuff.” So out of that comes a love of money. The world, of course, but he's talking about what goes on in the church. So we have teaching like the health and wealth gospel kind of idea. We say we wouldn't go there but we back up, we develop in our mind that the Lord does want us to prosper. And I remember sitting and listening to a Christian leader who had been brought to this city a number of years ago, many years ago, and he said the Lord has prepared a mansion for me in heaven and He doesn't want me to live in a chicken coop down here. I said, I have to figure this out. I agree, we have a mansion in heaven. That means He doesn't want me to live in a chicken coop here. Somehow that made a connection in his mind and everybody there thought it was just great. Lovers of money, teaching infiltrating the church.

Paul had to deal with this, we think Paul spent three years at Ephesus, Timothy has spent years in the church at Ephesus. Read the first letter to Timothy, back up to I Timothy 6. This is the context of false teachers again. Verse 3, if anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ and with a doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing. And he is in the context of conflicts and arguments which we have already seen in II Timothy 2. Look at verse 5, they suppose that godliness is a means of gain. Now here is a way to get ahead, get things for yourself. Verse 9, a warning, those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many grief’s. He doesn't say having possessions is wrong be he warns strongly of the danger of falling in love with your money. I've shared with you that John Wesley said whenever he got money he quickly disposed of it lest he become attached to it. We do have to guard against that because when you have it then pretty soon you have to preserve it because I have to be sure I have enough to live on in the future. And what if something happens? I have to have the cushion, I have to what else? And on it goes. That's the philosophy of the world and they should have it because they don't have a heavenly Father taking care of them. Lovers of money.

Come back to II Timothy 3. Now if you love yourself and you love money, a natural follow through is look at me. Boastful, braggers. All you have to do is turn on a program, look at them interview somebody who has been successful. What does he tell you? How I did it. And everybody else was afraid but I wasn't, I went forward and I did it, I got it done. On we go and we're bragging. Now we bring it into the church. And I realize we have confidence, we come before the throne of grace according to Hebrews, with confidence. But we ought to be careful we don't equate confidence with arrogance, boastfulness. And yet these false teachers come and they exude that confidence as they boast of what God has done in them and what God is doing through them. And they glory in displaying themselves. Boastful.

Arrogant. Obviously the idea is related. Boastful probably relates to their demeanor. They are braggers. They always tell you about their accomplishments, their spirituality. Arrogant. It means they see themselves above others. Compound word. So this is their mental attitude, they view others with contempt. They are not my spiritual equal, they are not on the same level that I am. Now you begin to see how this infiltrates the church, the super spirituality. Hard for me to just be comfortable with those who haven't attained to what I have. And so it comes out that these two would go together, their boasting reveals a mind that sees themselves as more spiritual.

Turn over to James 4:6. James quotes from the Old Testament and he uses this word. He quotes from Proverbs 3:34, but he, referring to God, gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, referring to the Old Testament scriptures, God is opposed to the proud. There is our word, arrogance. God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble. Peter uses the same quote in I Peter 5:5. So the person with this mindset is the opponent of God because God calls for humility but the world calls for that self-confidence. Take our program and you'll have the self-confidence. We need to be careful. Even in the church we begin to train people to be unbiblical. That doesn't mean I can't do anything. If I am going to hire somebody to paint my house professionally I don't want to hire someone who says, I don't know how to paint, I'm not good at it, I wouldn't know what to do. I'm not going to say oh yes you can. That's false humility. Now somebody comes down the street and says, I'm the best painter in the world, nobody can paint a house like me, I'm probably going to keep looking because I don't think he meets his own standard.

So this is not that false humility in the church. I don't have any gifts, I can't do anything, I don't even know why God saved me. I don't know why he saved you either, but he did, so let's move on from there. It was grace, right? You're right, you are miserable, worthless, useless. That's the kind of people God saves, right? We're not talking about false humility. I come to teach you this morning because God has gifted me to do it, called me to do it. But if I'm preaching here and thinking, this is quite a sermon, it's been a while since I heard a sermon this good. It says something about my spiritual character and it will come out eventually if that's the attitude.

All right, we move on. Come back to II Timothy 3. Now here you have people in the church who are the opponents of God with their arrogance. They are revilers, blasphemers is the Greek word. We've just carried it over into English, blasphemers. Now in the Greek that was used when Paul wrote this it could be used of speaking evil or insulting God or speaking evil and insulting other people. We've narrowed it down, pretty much when we talk about blasphemy we're thinking just of insulting or speaking evil of God, contradicting God. These false teachers are obviously doing that by their doctrine. They are teaching contrary to what God had revealed. We saw those who were denying a future bodily resurrection in chapter 2. They are insulting God, speaking evil of Him, saying what He said is not true and not going to happen. But in the context here it probably has to do with speaking evil because everything he is dealing with here is more focused on the people. But it would be true both ways, the character reveals itself. Those who speak evil of God also find things to be critical of, to insult, to speak evil of fellow believers as they are going around. Why do we have this divisiveness? Jude said these are the ones who cause divisions. Partly they do that by their evil speaking, they sow seeds of doubt. We as believers have to be careful of this, otherwise we begin to allow ourselves to be influenced by these kinds of people in the church. Blasphemers or revilers.

Disobedient to parents. I've not been drawing your attention, but in your cross references you'll see some of these have been mentioned in Romans 1. This is another one and this particular exact expression is only used in Romans 1:30 as well as here. The concept is used other places. Now we're talking about false teachers in the church. This is one of the things that they do and they promote. Now we note foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child because we were conceived in sin. And that rebellion develops early and manifests itself very early. Here you have these false teachers promoting this both in what they teach and in their own conduct. And this disobedient to parents and not functioning properly in handling our responsibility with our parents, even as we become adults we have that responsibility. Not the same kind of obedience I had when I was a six-year-old living at home, but I still have a responsibility to my parents for which I am accountable. It seems the church at Ephesus was having a problem with this.

Back up to I Timothy 1, Paul's first letter written as long as five years earlier. Verse 8, but we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers or murderers. And some take the word kill here to refer to those who mistreat their parents because the next word says murderers and that would encompass anything. But you know what the penalty for mistreating your parents, being disrespectful of your parents was under the law? It was a capital offense, we'll look at that in a moment. So it seems here as he quotes this there is an issue in the church at Ephesus and these false teachers are promoting it for not treating their parents properly, showing them the proper respect as parents. Comes out over in I Timothy 5.

I remember my dad telling me a number of years ago, I was grown and had my own children. But he said, just remember your children will always be your children, reminding me of that even when they are grown up. There I was an adult with my own children but he still had concerns for me, family responsibilities with me and so on. They had changed but we were still family. And it's also true that your parents will always be your parents. There are changes in relationships, especially as they get into elderly years. When we were young they took care of us, when they get old it will become part of our responsibility to take care of them. Paul deals with this in I Timothy 5:3, honor widows who are widows indeed. But if any widow has children or grandchildren, that word grandchildren can refer to any family member like a niece or nephew or whatever, they must first learn to practice piety in regard to their own family. Godliness starts at home, in other words. They must first learn to show godliness in regard to their own family, and to make some return to their parents. For this is acceptable in the sight of God, this is God's will, this pleases God.

Come down to verse 8, if anyone does not provide for his own. In other words, his own family, his own household, his parents, a widowed mother, grandmother, aunt, whatever. And especially for those of his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. Now you see this repeated emphasis. We covered it in chapter 1 of the responsibility to parents or failure, here we are in chapter 5, and Paul brings it up in II Timothy 3. You get the idea that involved in some of the false teaching that was going on was teaching that somehow freed you from unpleasant responsibilities. And let's face it, if life is all about you and you are a lover of self and a lover of money, family responsibilities can be a problem, they can get in the way of enjoying yourself. You know, kids can be that way, aren't they? I mean, they take time, they take money, they take attention. You know what happens when your parents get older? I have plans for myself, I don't want to be responsible to take care of them. Then I can't do what I want, go where I want, and it may cost me money.

Back up to Matthew 15. Jesus addresses this among the religious people of his day. It's an example of how false teachers can come up with a plan and a teaching and somehow it seems to make sense, and yet it is a corruption of the Word of God. Jesus is warning the religious people of His day about invalidating the Word of God by their traditions. Verse 3, Jesus said to them, who do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? God said, honor your father and mother. Now note this, he who speaks evil of father or mother is to be put to death. You see that respect and honor that was to be shown. But you say whoever says to his father or mother, whatever I have that would be a help to you has been given to God, he does not honor his father or mother. By this you invalidate the Word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites. Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you, this people honors Me with their lips but their heart is far away. In vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrine the precepts of men. It comes out, I'd love to help my parents, but I've really devoted everything I have, I told the Lord if He would prosper me I would give it to Him. And let's face it, we put God even before our parents, don't we? He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. So if I hadn't devoted these things to the Lord I would do it. It became a way of establishing a tradition that allowed you to “X” out that portion of the Word of God. This is the kind of teaching that comes in. I don't know exactly what it was but these false teachers were promoting disobedience to parents, a failure to honor them and respect them, care for them as he said in I Timothy 5. It's a mark of those who are worse than unbelievers. So serious responsibility that has been invalidated, if you will, by these teachers.

Well the seventh qualification, and we won't get into it, is ungrateful. These are not thankful people. They don't appreciate what God has done, they don't appreciate what He is doing, they don't appreciate the blessings that they have and so they reveal their true character. We're talking about people in the church, people that the church at Ephesus had accepted as fellow believers, people in the church at Ephesus that have been allowed to teach the Word of God. And in so doing they were corrupting it. We must avoid such people, have nothing to do with them—not sit under their teaching, not tolerate them to teach in our churches.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for your grace. Lord, we realize that this is a description of each one of us apart from your grace, the salvation you brought to our lives. Lord, you've granted repentance, you've opened our hearts to understand and believe your truth. Lord, we share the truth of your Word with other, not because we are superior, not because we are better than they. We were just like them. We share your truth so that they by your grace might experience the transforming power which will make them new and change them for time and eternity. May we as a church take to heart and be sure we know these things, understand the seriousness of the situation so that we are prepared for difficult, for hard, violent times that may come as we have to stand for the truth of the Word against opposition that will come from without the church and the difficult times that will come from opposition even from within. Our desire is to be faithful and honor you. We pray in Christ's name, amen.