Continue The Pattern of Faithfulness

Transcript

GR 1395
02/15/2009
Continue the Pattern of Faithfulness
II Timothy 3:10-13
Gil Rugh


We're in II Timothy 3. When Paul began this letter to Timothy he spoke warmly of the relationship he had with Timothy and was eagerly anticipating the opportunity to see Timothy again before his execution. Turn back to chapter 1. Paul spoke of the impact even the memory of Timothy had on him and he remembered him in prayer night and day, he said in verse 3, and he longed to see him. And that would bring him great joy in verse 4. Then he said in verse 5 that he remembered the genuine faith Timothy had, it was a faith that first took hold in the heart of his mother and grandmother. And then Timothy came to that genuine saving faith in Christ himself also. And that stress on the fact that Timothy, his mother and grandmother had genuine faith is key in where Paul is going with this letter, because remember much of it is taken up with the fact there are those who have a faith that is not a genuine faith. They have a veneer of Christianity but they've never experienced his life changing power. They have a form of godliness, but they have denied its power. And Paul says to Timothy, I know you have a genuine faith in Christ. And God had gifted Timothy for ministry, as Paul referred to in verse 6.

Then he proceeded to give Timothy a series of commands. You remember at the heart of these was the command to be willing to step up and suffer for the gospel. If you are a true believer in Jesus Christ and have committed yourself to Christ, then you are committed to faithfully serve Him. And Christ calls you to take up your cross and follow me. If you're not willing to take up your cross, you can't be my disciple. If you love your father or mother, your family, your friends more than Me you cannot be My disciple. I must come first. So in verse 8 Paul gave Timothy a command, join with me in suffering. He repeated that command down in chapter 2 verse 3, suffer hardship with me. Paul is calling Timothy to continue to be bold in the presentation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And that will result in opposition, in persecution, hardship for Timothy.

In connection with that he gave him a series of commands to reinforce it. In verse 8, do not be ashamed; in verse 13, retain the standard of sound words; verse 14, guard the treasure which has been entrusted to you; chapter 2 verse 1, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus; verse 7, consider what I say; verse 8, remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead, descendant of David according to my gospel. Then he turned to talk about the fact that the church has been infiltrated by those who claim to be believers. They declared themselves followers of Jesus Christ, but they had not really experienced the power of His salvation that makes them new on the inside. So he spent from chapter 2 verse 14 down through chapter 3 verse 9 instructing Timothy regarding these false teachers who have infiltrated the church at Ephesus and will infiltrate other churches down through history.

Now with verse 10 of chapter 3 he really returns and picks up what he has already talked about in chapter 1. He's going to reinforce that emphasis on join with me in suffering, suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. And with that he will remind Timothy that there is no other Christian life but a life of trial and difficulty and hardship because Christians belong to the living God. And those who have not experienced God's salvation belong to the devil. And there is no harmony between the children of God and the children of the devil.

So in II Timothy 3:10 Paul will begin with a contrast, statement of contrast—now you. Literally but you. The emphasis is on the word you. You, Timothy, in contrast, but. We have it translated now you. Literally it is but you. You in contrast to these I have been talking about who have a form of godliness in verse 5, although they have denied its power. Those who live depraved lives because verse 8 says they are men of depraved minds. They are those who are destined to have their folly revealed. But you, Timothy, in contrast to them. And verses 10-17 are really broken into two divisions based on that same expression, but you. It is really used three times; I'll pick up the other use of it in chapter 4 for you in a moment. For some reason our English Bible has translated it three different ways even though it is the exact same expression in Greek used three times. Su in Greek means you, de means but, su de, but you. You have it in verse 10 translated now you; verse 14 we have it translated you, however. Again drawing the contrast. And our translation gets it, they like variety so instead of translating it the same way, you however, literally but you. Then down in verse 5 of chapter 4 you have it translated but you. These three times he marks off a shift a little bit in emphasis to draw that contrast. But you are to do Timothy, in contrast. But you specifically do this.

There is one command in verses 10-17, it's found in verse 14. The word continue, that's the command around which verses 10-17 are built. It's the only command in these verses. You must continue, Timothy. Not it's connected to what he will say in verse 10. Now you followed my teaching, and he goes on, my conduct, purpose and so on. You followed. Then verse 14 the command, you must continue to follow. He started out drawing the contrast between Timothy and these false teachers. Timothy follows the pattern of Paul's ministry in life and he must continue that pattern. That's the emphasis here. It is a pattern of proclamation of the truth of God. And he'll say at the end of verse 15, it's a ministry of God's truth, a ministry of the Word of God which gives the wisdom that brings the salvation. You understand no man woman or child can ever be saved who does not hear the message of the Word of God. The truth of God's Word is what brings the message of salvation to a lost person. You can go to church all your life and die and go to hell if you don't hear the message of God's truth, the Word of God.

And so Paul is burdened that Timothy who has established a pattern of faithfulness continue that pattern to the end. Paul is at the end of his earthly ministry. We've already looked ahead in chapter 4. His trials have already begun; he is assured that that will end with his execution. But Timothy's ministry is not over and it is of utmost importance that he continues the pattern of faithfulness that he has established.

Let's pick up with verse 10, now you or but you, you in contrast to these false teachers, Timothy, followed my teaching, conduct and so on. That word followed, not just going behind someone but patterning your life after them, learning from them. Timothy has followed Paul's ministry, Paul's life, what he taught, how he lived. And he has patterned his life after that, if you will. In fact he knew Paul's life and ministry so well that Paul sent him out to represent him to other people.

Turn back to I Corinthians 4. This is about ten years earlier than the letter we are studying called II Timothy. And in verse 16, therefore, I exhort you, be imitators of me. For this reason I have sent you, Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord and He will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere in every church. Timothy knew Paul's life and ministry so well he could go and represent Paul and set forth that pattern for the Corinthian church to imitate. Paul had been there but now he can't come back at this time so he can have Timothy go. So you see even ten years earlier Timothy had followed the pattern of Paul's life and ministry, Paul's way as he says here, and could pass that on. He has had ten more years to follow that pattern.

So when Paul says back in II Timothy 3:10, now you followed my teaching, my conduct and so on, indeed Timothy had. It will be absolutely crucial that he continue. What Paul is going to do is give nine qualities here, another one of those lists of his own life, which really are a pattern for Timothy and others to follow. It's the pattern of a ministry that is faithful to God, He is a true teacher of the Word and that means he teaches truth and he lives truth. These are, if you will, different sides of the same coin. We can distinguish between doctrine and practice; we cannot separate doctrine and practice. False teachers are identified both by the error that they teach and by the life that they live.

So let's just walk through this list of nine items where Paul holds himself out as an example to be followed. This is not boasting, this is not bragging. This is simply saying I am following Christ and if you follow me you will be following Christ. Examine my life. Not because I see myself as superior but I have committed my life to Christ, I am committed to being faithful to His Word and being faithful with my life. You can pattern your life after mine. Sometimes we say, don't look at me, look at Christ. But who should people see when they look at you? Isn't the life which you now live in the flesh, lived by the power of the Son of God who dwells in you? Does the Holy Spirit of God who has made your body His temple, isn't He producing in you the character of Christ? Paul didn't hesitate to tell the truth here. Be imitators of me. Timothy, you followed my life in all aspects, patterned your life after me. Continue that. The best example you set for other believers, younger believers, how should I live, what should I do. Well, look at me. Doesn't mean I am perfect, Paul wasn't perfect. I think this is the most important thing we do in our homes, quite frankly, as parents. We model for our children what godliness really is. They see the truth that we talk about, that we live out in our relationships. They see if it's real in us or do we have a form of godliness. We go to church we look like this. Before we're home in the car things have changed, things come out. They ought to be able to look at us and see us. That's what Paul said. You know me well, Timothy; you know me as I am; you see me as I have been. When we've been alone together, when we've been in crowds you know what I'm like. You've followed my teaching. That's the start. If you don't have the right foundation you can't build a stable structure. And the truth of God is what brings salvation, it's the food that nourishes and nurtures. You've followed my teaching; you know that my teaching is truth, contrary to these teachers. Some of them were teaching that there is no bodily resurrection for the believer. What heresy. Paul taught the truth and the truth that changes a life.

So he can go on, the first of these nine is my teaching, the second is my conduct, my way of life. Remember we saw in I Corinthians 4 a moment ago, Timothy will tell you of my ways. My conduct, my life provides a pattern for people to follow because I am being faithful to Christ. Follow my conduct, my way of life, the pattern of my life.

You know the truth of God changes a life. If it doesn't change a life you just have a veneer of Christianity. You are back in verse 5, holding to a form of godliness but denying its power. The gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. It is a power that comes in, cleanses, forgives makes new and now we live a new life produced from the inside out. And you know my conduct follows right on the teaching, my way of life flows out of the truth of the Word of God.

The third thing he mentions is my purpose, you've followed my purpose. Paul had a sense of purpose, a resolve, a commitment, a determination to be faithful to Christ. Anybody who doubts that should study the New Testament, the life of Paul. That unshakable commitment. We have a song, I have decided to follow Jesus, prefer a different word. But the idea I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back. Another part of the song, though no one comes with me, still I will follow. The ideas are biblical. What has happened to Paul? Here at the end of his life, all who are in Asia have deserted me. Is Paul thinking of turning back? Is his resolve shaken? Is his commitment any less firm? He is resolved to follow Jesus Christ, to be faithful to Him. If no one stands with me, I am committed. He's not deciding, if I can get Timothy to stand faithfully with me, I'm going to continue to be faithful. He's challenging Timothy to be faithful. But if Timothy jumps ship you know Paul is resolved, he is committed. He's telling Timothy, you've seen my resolve. No matter what comes and we're moving toward persecution and suffering, that's the point that he's going to make, and Paul was resolved. Doesn't matter what they do to me, doesn't matter whether they stone me, doesn't matter whether they beat me, I am resolved to be faithful. Faithful to the truth, faithful in the life that I live.

You know if you commit your life to Jesus Christ that is a life that is to be lived. There ought to be a resolve there, a commitment. What's this with a wishy-washy Christianity—I wonder what they think, I wonder what they are going to do, I wonder where they'll go. Who cares? We have one focus; we are committed to Jesus Christ, being faithful to His truth, living a life that is pleasing to Him period. If every other person in this church turns away you still must stand. That's Paul's resolve.

The fourth thing about him is his faith. And you can see these things connect together. We're talking about his faith in Jesus Christ. You know my faith, it didn't come and go. Paul's faith was settled in Jesus Christ. I know whom I have believed; I know whom I have believed. That's it. It's not up today, down tomorrow, up today, down tomorrow. You know my faith; it's a settled faith in God and in His Son, Jesus Christ. That means I walk a life of faith in dependence upon God. I mean, the just shall live by faith. We enter into life by believing and we continue that life by faith. You know my faith. That's it. You know people looking from the outside; they don't have an understanding of what true Christianity is. It's hard to get past what is often just a veneer. But what is the real walking in faith? I truly believe in Jesus Christ. Well, I know I believe in Him but I don't live for Him. Forget it, that's a lie, that's the morphe of godliness, the veneer of godliness that denies its power. That faith that Paul talks about changes a life; it's lived out day by day. It didn't happen in a point in time in the past and now I'm off here. No, you know my faith.

The fifth point he mentions—my patience, sometimes translated longsuffering. It's a word that's used of patience with people, what they do, continue on. Now I'm amazed, Paul's going to use examples of his suffering in a moment. You know what causes the greatest difficulty? The Jews, Paul was a Jew, the Jews just made life miserable, humanly speaking, for Paul. You know Paul never lost his love for the Jews. He says if they could get saved I'd be willing to go to hell, in the letter to the Romans in those great chapters 9-11. You know, patience, continue to present the gospel to them. They are bitter obstinate people. Indeed they are. If only they could get saved. I'm going to present the truth to them again. Patience. We have a hard time just being patient with one another as a church. Patience, giving each other time to grow, to mature. It's a fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5, as are some of the others here, not always mentioning that.

Love, which is one of the fruit of the Spirit, is number six. And this is a demonstration of our faith. Genuine biblical love, agape love is what we're talking about here. Now up in verse 2 we were told men will be lovers of self. This would be the opposite. Lovers of self are in it for themselves, they find pleasure and they pursue that because they love themselves, they love what pleases them, they love what they enjoy. We're talking about agape love that puts others first. I'm not doing it because of what I get out of it, I'm doing it because it's the right thing to do, the best thing for them. The Spirit produces this in the life and it stands in contrast to the false teachers. Paul loved the lost; he was willing to give his life for them and ultimately does. He loved the church; he was willing to sacrifice himself for it in contrast to these false teachers who are lovers of self.

The seventh is perseverance, similar to patience. But perseverance is enduring, enduring trials. It's a compound word, it means to live under. So it comes to mean you are under the pressure, you are under the stress, and you are under the difficulty. So you are enduring, you are persevering. That picture of one who is going through the difficulties that come because you are faithful to Christ. But you persevere because you have a resolve to follow Him. And remember He called you to take up your cross and follow Him, to be willing to suffer the loss of family and friends to follow Him. This is difficult, this is hard, I didn't know the opposition would be this kind, I didn't know it would come from these close quarters. We persevere.

Now we're going to undergo a change. We have two more items in his list, numbers eight and nine, but they are closely connected together. Verse 11 we have persecution and suffering. Change the form of the word, we've moved to plural things, because this is what he wants to elaborate. All these other qualities of Paul's ministry—his teaching, his conduct, his purpose, his resolve, his faith, patience, love, perseverance—this all takes place in the context of persecution and suffering. These are events that took place in Paul's life that Timothy had opportunity to observe. And this provides a context where you could really see Paul's teaching and was he consistent and faithful. It's when the pressure is on that our character is revealed, is it not? Pressure not only develops our character, it reveals our character.

So persecutions, sufferings. Persecutions, this particular word always refers to religious persecution in the New Testament, being persecuted for religious reasons. The Jews are persecuting Paul. Why? One reason, for what he preached concerning Jesus Christ and that you couldn't be saved by keeping the Ten Commandments. You couldn't be saved by keeping the Mosaic Law. You could only be saved by believing in the Savior who died and was raised from the dead. Sufferings, these are what happened as a result of persecution. When you are persecuted you suffer, brings you pain, agony. So he's transitioning now, with persecutions and suffering, to such has happened to me. Now let me give you some illustrations of my persecutions and sufferings. So you see we are back to where he was in chapter 1—join with me in suffering for the gospel. Suffer hardship with me, Timothy. Now the same emphasis; persecutions and sufferings. Well this is what happened to me at Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. He uses some examples.

And we go back to the beginning of Paul's ministry, back to Acts 13. These accounts are taken from Acts 13-14. And that's the first missionary journey of the Apostle Paul. Remember we break his traveling to carry the gospel to the Gentiles down into three journeys, trips; we call them missionary trips because he was carrying the gospel to new places, to Gentiles in other parts of the world. He goes back to the beginning because he's establishing something here—a pattern from the very beginning of Paul's ministry was a ministry involving persecution and suffering. And here we are at the end of Paul's ministry and where is he? In prison in Rome, awaiting execution. There is something established here—persecution is not something extraordinary, out of the ordinary. It is the pattern of a Christian's life.

Come back to Acts 13, we don't have time to look at the details of these events but at least I want you to see the context. We won't be reading the whole context but I'll pull out a couple of verses. He says such has happened to me at Antioch. We are in what is called Pisidian Antioch, distinguished that way because there are several Antioch’s in the New Testament. But you can look on a map of Paul's first missionary journey and fix in your minds where Antioch, Iconium and Lystra are. Paul comes to Antioch on the first missionary journey with Barnabas; he preaches the gospel to the Jews. He's reiterated the background in the Old Testament to prepare the Jews for the coming of the Messiah and up to the ministry of John the Baptist. In verse 26 then he says, brethren, sons of Abraham's family, among those of you who fear God. To us this message of salvation has been sent. And it's the ministry Christ had during His earthly years in Jerusalem. And that resulted in, verse 28, the Jews moved Pilate to crucify Him, even when Pilate said, I find no guilt in Him. The Jews clamored for His crucifixion. They carried out all that was written concerning Him, written in the Old Testament prophets. They took Him down from the cross, buried Him, but God raised Him from the dead.

Down to verse 38, let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. You see from the beginning false teaching didn't change. He's teaching the same thing on the first missionary journey in Antioch as he is teaching here at the end of his life years later from a Roman prison. Through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses. You want to stir up opposition, tell people their religion won't get them to heaven. Tell them their going to church, their being baptized, their being confirmed, their taking the sacraments, whatever, that won't get you to heaven. Who are you to judge me? You know what inflamed the Jews? Paul says your religion won't get you to heaven. The only way you can get to heaven, the only way you can be forgiven is to trust in Jesus Christ. He's the One who frees you from all things you can't be freed from in the Mosaic Law. Sad, sad, sad. You know the Ten Commandments are part of the Mosaic Law, some people think they are going to heaven by keeping the Mosaic Law. They'll be freed from the bondage of sin, from the power of sin by keeping the Law. At the beginning he says they won't do it.

What happened with the Jews? Verse 44, the next Sabbath nearly the whole city assembled to hear the Word of the Lord. But when the Jews saw the crowds they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul and were blaspheming. Paul said, all right, we'll go preach the Word of God to the Gentiles. And now some Gentiles are saved. The Word of God, verse 49, is spreading throughout the whole region. But the Jews incited the devout women of prominence, the leading men of the city and instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their district. You know what happened—persecution and suffering. The details of it, a lot more intense than you get just reading the summaries that Luke has written, because Paul is going to say in a moment to Timothy, what persecution I endured. I mean, these were really intense.

He moves on from Antioch, the next place he mentions to Timothy is Iconium, Acts 14:1-5. He goes, where does he start? The Jews, he's a patient man. He goes to the synagogue and presents Jesus Christ. A number of people believe, but verse 2, the Jews who did not believe stirred up the minds of the Gentiles, embittered them against the brethren. Now you have Jews and Gentiles aligning together to oppose Paul. Why? Paul is telling them there is only one way of salvation. You are lost. Religious as you are, you are lost, you are condemned in your sin, and you are on your way to hell. Jesus Christ is the only Savior, you must believe in Him to be saved. Jew and Gentile alike can agree they don't want to hear that anymore, they find that offensive. The Jews have their religion; the Gentiles have their many religions. We can all unite together in determining we don't like to hear the message of Jesus Christ.

But what happens? Verse 5, when an attempt was made by both the Gentiles and the Jews with their rulers to mistreat and stone them, they had to leave. Persecution and suffering. What's Paul doing that is so bad? Telling people there is a Savior who has come from heaven, suffered and died to pay the penalty for sin. He was raised from the dead and God offers you the free gift of life if you will believe in Him. But people are enraged. These are not child molesters, these are not thieves, these are not murderers. These are simply men coming and telling them the truth from God. What does that do to the unbeliever? When you leave here today sit down next to someone and tell them, I want to tell you about the Savior that can cleanse you from your sin. Oh, I'm Roman Catholic. But you know being a Roman Catholic will not get you to heaven. Oh, you don't understand, I'm a Protestant. But you know being a Protestant won't get you to heaven either. You know your religion can't save you because the Bible says you are lost in your sin and you must be born again. See if people don't begin to get a little bit upset with you. You understand Paul stirred enemies because he told people about Christ.

So he moved on to the next city, Lystra. Things will be better here. Don't count on it. Verses 6-19 are about Lystra. He goes through, he preaches. First response, the people are so excited they call Paul and Barnabas gods. They are ready to worship them. But the crowds are fickle. You know how the ministry of Lystra ends? Paul is stoned. Look at verse 19, the Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and having won over the crowds they stoned Paul, dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. When Paul says I was persecuted and suffered, do you know what it is like to be stoned? Everybody picks up a rock and throws it at you until they kill you. That hurts. You know, we just get hit with a rock, ouch. Here somebody is standing there throwing a rock with all their might and it hits you in the head, the other one hit you in the ear, the other one hit you in the chest and on it goes until you fall over and they throw until you quit moving. Then they just drag you by the feet and drag you out of the city. We're done with you, he's dead. But he wasn't and God raised him up.

But when Paul talks about persecution and suffering, that's how my ministry began, Timothy. You know what it is like. You know why Paul went back this far? He could have talked about recent incidences Timothy would have been familiar with. Turn to Acts 16. We're on the second missionary journey some months later. Paul returns to this region. He came also to Derbe and Lystra, the city we just read about where Paul was stoned, and there was a disciple there named Timothy. And now Paul is going to invite Timothy to become his traveling companion, his fellow worker in ministry. Timothy was from this region, he would have been well familiar, he probably observed much of this, and he may have seen the stoning of Paul. He knew all about this. What Paul does is take Timothy back to the beginning. Timothy, you knew what it was like, you saw what my life was like, the persecution and suffering. And when I invited you to join with me in the proclamation of the gospel some months later, you knew what you were getting into, the persecution and suffering. Because you know the hard thing. Be faithful to the end. Not be faithful for several months, not be faithful for a number of years. Continue on. That's what he's driving home to Timothy. The way it started, continue on that way.

So come back to II Timothy. Paul reinforces what he has said in II Timothy 3:11, what persecutions I endured. That's an exclamation; you can put an exclamation point after that. What persecutions I endured. He's not bragging, he's just declaring they were intense. You can read II Corinthians 11 if you want a fuller overview of Paul's life and ministry up to the point that he wrote to the Corinthians.

And out of them all the Lord rescued me. Here he is, writing again, out of them all the Lord rescued me. They dragged him out of the city as a dead man, having pelted him with stones until they thought he was dead. The Lord rescued him. Shipwrecked, the Lord rescued him. Beatings, the Lord rescued him. On it goes. The Lord rescued him. But now he is in prison awaiting execution, I guess things have changed.

Turn to II Timothy 4:16, at my first offense no one supported me, all deserted me. Remember Paul's resolve? Did that change anything with Paul? We ought to ask ourselves, my friends are doing this so I guess I am, too. My family thinks this, I guess I better too. Well everybody deserted Paul, does that affect his resolve? You understand what faith in Christ is? That's a commitment that is a binding commitment. No one stood with me. I guess Paul is going to decide it's not worth it, can't accomplish anything alone. He's resolved, he's committed.

May it not be counted against them. Too bad for them, they lost the privilege. They could have stood, they didn't. Not just with Paul, but for Christ. May it not be counted against them. Paul is bemoaning his fate, no. Too bad for those, what a lost opportunity. But the Lord stood with me. He wasn't alone after all. The Lord stood with me and strengthened me so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished and that all the Gentiles might hear and I was rescued out of the lion's mouth. You know what Paul thought? He's on trial for his life, is what's going through his mind, how am I going to get out of this. Another opportunity. Here we are, how else would I get to stand before the court of Rome and present the gospel? What a beautiful plan God had—get me arrested and executed so in the process I stand before the court of Rome, the court of the Caesar and give the gospel. It goes to places there would be no other way get. Isn't the Lord wonderful? I wonder if I'd be sitting there saying, Lord, deliver me, give me the right words to say. Lord, have them have mercy on me, have them see me and have pity on me. Paul here, what an opportunity. God called me to proclaim the gospel to the Gentiles and here I am. Can you imagine? Appealed to Caesar and now I get a chance in this context to present the gospel to the Gentiles. And what has God called me to do? Present the gospel to the Gentiles. Is it any wonder in his prayer he has to say, may the Lord not count it against those who bailed out. How could they abandon such an opportunity? But Paul, you're going to be executed.

Verse 18, the Lord will rescue me, there's the word we are talking about. The Lord rescued me in chapter 3 and the Lord will rescue me from every evil deed. But you're going to get your head cut off. And will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom. The final rescue is about to take place. Well, that's one way to look at it, Paul. But isn't it true? To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. I'm out of here, I have a desire, I'm torn—to be departed and be with Christ is far better. In his earlier imprisonment he said, but I realize if the Lord wants me to stay I could have continued ministry with you and that would be good. But to depart and be with Christ is far better. He has rescued me from every evil deed and He will bring me safely, I will arrive at the appointed destination. So I've been rescued, now I'll have the final rescue—be gathered and brought into the presence of my Lord.

We say, that's the exciting ministry of an apostle. I would have stood with Paul; I wouldn't have been one of those who abandoned him. Of course not. Well come back to II Timothy 3 and you get your chance. Verse 12, indeed all, you might want to underline, circle or highlight that, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Now be careful here, he's not talking about two kinds of Christians—some who just want to get saved from hell and some who want to live godly. There is only one kind of Christian; they are described as those who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus. The contrast is with those in verse 5, who are holding to a form of godliness, that has denied its power. They don't desire to live godly. Why? They are lovers of self; ultimately they are after pleasure, self-fulfillment, and self-satisfaction. But all genuine believers, or if you want to express it another way, those who have that desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. So the contrast in this section is between the genuine and the false, those who have the form of godliness, that external veneer, but they deny its power, they've never experienced that life-changing power, and those who have that real desire to live a godly life. That doesn't mean we live perfectly. You know it's a difference between a believer and an unbeliever. Those with a veneer of godliness can go into sin and they love it and enjoy it and don't mind staying there. A believer sins and what happens to you? It brings misery, shame, frustration, it's not what I want to be, and it’s not what I want to do. I can't go back, I can't go do the old things anymore, it's not me. And even when I sin, I have a desire to live godly in Christ Jesus. Those who have a veneer of godliness, they deny its power; they have no sense of that desire. And the desire here, all who desire, have that will to live godly in Christ Jesus. You have to be in Christ Jesus to really truly desire a godly life. This comes from the inside; this is not that desire to please people, the desire to look good, and the desire to do what you probably should do in this kind of social environment. This is what God produces on the inside, He makes us new.

That's why I John says this marks off the difference between the children of God and the children of the devil. And the children of God cannot live in sin. Why? Because God's seed abides in them. He's done something in my life that has made me new, made me different, and has given me different desires. Doesn't mean there is not allurement in sin, but the overwhelming desire I have is to live godly in Christ Jesus. That will produce persecution. You'll note that doesn't give another alternative here. Jesus said he who is not with Me is against Me. Some people like to think, I'm not neutral, and I don't have strong feelings one way or another. Well don't think you are neutral. If you are not passionately for Him, you are passionately against Him. You know what stirs the persecution? Living godly, present the truth of God and people are antagonized. They find ways to say slanderous things about you; try to ruin your reputation. Paul battled this constantly. Oh, yes, he is powerful in his letters but he is weak when you see him, not much of a speaker. What does that have to do with anything? The opposition, the ways to undermine you. You find out, why I didn’t get a promotion. Well, people don't like you. We get the idea, if I could just get the unbeliever to like me, if they would like us then they would want to listen. You understand there is no relationship that can be established between God and the devil. None. Nor can we establish any kind of bond between the believer and unbeliever. That doesn't mean we don't treat them nice, and we love them and would desire that they be saved. But you understand there can be no real bond between the believer and the unbeliever. Jesus said if they hate Me they'll hate you. Jesus also said, contrary to what people like to think, I did not come to bring peace on the earth but a sword. He said I came to divide family member from family member. Because you know what happens? When the truth of the gospel goes out and a husband believes it or a wife believes and the other spouse does not, you have wrenched that family apart; you have split it with a chasm. Now you have a child of God and a child of the devil and there is going to be trouble. Now God in His grace may use the testimony of that believing spouse to draw the other. But over time it may have worked the other way—that unbeliever feels driven further and further away.

We fool ourselves, it's popular today, we're trying to make our churches be more appealing to unbelievers, we want unbelievers to come and be comfortable. We want them to be comfortable, we may someday get new padding for our seats or get new seats, and we turn on our air conditioning and heating. But comfortable as far as they'll hear what they are comfortable hearing. No, it cannot happen. They must hear the truth of God. And you see what happens when Paul began his ministry and he presented the truth? Some believed and were saved. You know what happened with the rest? They didn't want to hear it anymore, I don't like it, and it’s not what I am.

Now some of the veneer of godliness continues on because they, verse 13, but evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. Evil men and impostors. You know, we reveal what they really are. That word evil men, ponorous. One Greek writer said this about it. It means wicked, evil, bad, base, worthless, vicious, degenerate. And the reference here is to apostate people in the church. This is what they are. Now these people, the evil men and impostors, impostors are deceivers. Those are those, again go back to verse 5, who have the form of godliness. The word morphe, that veneer of godliness, the appearance of godliness but they have denied its power. They are impostors, they are deceivers. And with their corrupt teaching and their corrupt lives they are leading others astray.

Evil men and impostors will progress. That word proceed is the word to progress, make progress. They will progress to worse. We have put in our English from bad to worse because it makes a little more sense in English. Literally it says they will progress to worse. And it's using a word that means, we talk about progress we mean to go forward, but you know what? They are going forward in the wrong direction. They are like the guy on the football field who gets confused and runs toward the wrong goal. He's thinking progress, but he's making progress in the wrong direction. These false teachers are making progress all right, but it's to the worse. Evil men and impostors will not get better. Don't deceiver ourselves. We think we could get evangelicals and Catholics together; we could get evangelicals and various groups of Protestants together. The only way you can get them together is present the gospel and see if God by His grace saves them. If not, there is no getting together. What fellowship do the children of God have with the children of the devil? It's what Paul had to ask the Corinthians. There is no relationship there, it's all superficial. We think we'll work out our details, we'll show we can work together. No, we present the gospel. Well don't you want to see if we have some things in agreement? Well I'm willing to present the gospel and see if you believe it. Well then it's your way or the highway. It's heaven or hell; it's God's way or hell. I mean, I was on the road you are on until I heard the gospel and by His grace I believed it and was saved. I don't say this because I'm better; I say this because I am a sinner who has experienced that redemption as Paul had. Paul said I was the chief of sinners and God saved me. And anyone who is truly saved was saved out of sin, saved from under condemnation, saved from an eternal hell. I don't speak because we are a better people, we speak because we are a people who have been blessed to receive God's gift of salvation and offer it to others. We're not negotiating; we just have a message to share. It's the message of life.

Evil men will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. Don't make any mistakes. We're 2000 years down the road, evil men and impostors, deceivers will progress to worse, deceiving and being deceived. Nothing has changed, if anything it gets worse. They are deceiving people and they themselves are deceived. The devil is the great deceiver. I'm often asked, do you think these teachers know they are teaching a lie? Some are self-deceived, some are deluded, and some are deluded by the devil. You know Paul wrote the Corinthians and said the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbeliever so that the light of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ doesn't shine in. The devil even now has unbelievers here sitting and hearing this gospel. They have their mind on other things, the devil doesn't want them to hear the truth with receptive ears, and that they would hear that they are sinners before a holy God. As good as they may think they are they are not acceptable before a holy God. Their only hope is to see themselves as God sees them, bow before Him as a repentant sinner saying, God, my only hope is the Savior you have provided. I'm trusting Him. And the devil battles all kinds of ways, you don't want to hear this, why are you sitting here today wasting a good morning. You could be home with a cup of coffee reading the paper; you could be out with friends having fun. You have your mind on a dozen other things that are going on in your world and you go out and never hear it. The god of this world blinds the minds of unbelievers. Some of them will get to the judgment seat and they'll say to Christ, Lord, Lord, we did many mighty works in your name; we did all this for you. You know what Jesus said He'll say? Depart from Me cursed ones into the fire prepared for the devil and his angels. I never knew you. Some are so deceived they think they are okay. They are deceiving and being deceived.

Chapter 2 ended that if God grants repentance they'll come to their senses, verse 26, and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will. It is the power of the gospel that sets people free.

We have a contrast between those who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus and evil men and impostors, the genuine and the false. The amazing thing is God can take the false and make them genuine if they will respond in faith to the message of the Word of God. There is salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. We'll see that when we get to verse 15.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for your Word. Lord, we would take this truth to heart. Sometimes we think we're privileged to go through life without persecution, without suffering, but Lord in light of your Word we need to examine our lives. Do we really desire to live godly in Christ Jesus? Are we genuine? Are we those that know and understand the gospel of Jesus Christ and are called as followers of Christ to present that message and to live the truth? Or perhaps have we deluded ourselves? We have a form of godliness but in reality we've denied its power. Lord, may we step up, first to examine, to see if we have genuinely believed. And then as those who have, may we join with Paul and be willing to suffer for the gospel, count it an honor to be in any situation and any circumstance where we might speak forth with clarity the message of the Savior who came to this earth, was crucified, buried and raised from the dead so that all who believe in Him might be saved. We praise you in His name, amen.