When False Teachers Infiltrate

Transcript

GR 1388
11/30/2008
When False Teachers Infiltrate
II Timothy 2:14-15
Gil Rugh


We're studying Paul's second letter to Timothy together, and we're in chapter 2. II Timothy 2 in your Bibles. We've completed the first major section of this letter; there are two divisions in the letter, really, two major sections to the book with an introduction and a conclusion. But the first major division covers from chapter 1 verse 8 through chapter 2 verse 13. And it focused on Timothy's responsibilities to be faithful to the gospel, be faithful in proclaiming the gospel, and be faithful in standing for the gospel, in identifying with those who preach the gospel, primarily concentrated on the opposition and persecution that comes to believers and to the church from outside, from the unbelieving world. In chapter 1 verse 8 Paul began the section by saying therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God. And that was the emphasis of the whole section. Don't be ashamed, rather be willing to step up and suffer for the gospel. Paul is the example of that. He is in a Roman prison, awaiting certain execution because he proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is much opposition from outside the church. The Jews were opposed to the proclamation of the gospel; the Gentiles are opposed, the Roman emperor, Nero, has made Christianity an illegal religion. And so Paul is suffering at the hands of Jew and Gentile alike, and Timothy has to be ready to endure that from an unbelieving world as well.

The second major division of the book will begin with chapter 2 verse 14, and it will go to chapter 4 verse 8. It still has an emphasis on opposition, conflict and difficulty. But here the focal point is different. In the first section the focus was on the opposition and persecution that comes from the outside world. Now in this second division Paul will emphasize to Timothy the importance of standing firmly and faithfully for the truth against false teachers and false teaching that has infiltrated the church of Jesus Christ. Opposition to the truth not only comes from the outside, it comes from within the church.

Come back to Acts 20. At an earlier time in his life Paul had opportunity to visit with the elders at Ephesus. Of course he had had an extended ministry in Ephesus at a prior time. But in Acts 20 he makes a brief stop at Miletus since he's traveling back to Jerusalem, and he visits with the elders who come there to meet him, the elders from the church at Ephesus where Timothy is when Paul writes I and II Timothy. And note what Paul said to Timothy in Acts 20:29, but I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you not sparing the flock. And from among your own selves, from within the church itself, men will arise speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore, be on the alert. That word of Paul has come to fruition, fulfillment now as Timothy is ministering in Ephesus. False teachers have infiltrated among the church and have risen up, now, to teach doctrine that is contrary to the doctrine that God has revealed through His apostles and prophets.

Stop at I Timothy 1. This has been an ongoing problem in the church at Ephesus. Paul wrote about it in his first letter to Timothy several years earlier. And note in I Timothy 1:3, Paul says to Timothy, as I urged you upon my departure from Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus. That's how we know Timothy is ministering in Ephesus, one of the reasons. Why was Timothy to remain and continue the ministry in Ephesus? So that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrine. There were certain men in the church at Ephesus who were teaching things contrary to what Paul had taught, contrary to what God had truly said in His Word. Don't pay attention to myths, endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith. But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion. And at the end of the chapter he gives the example of two men, Hymenaeus and Alexander, who have been handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme. Serious problems in the church at Ephesus, a great church but a church that has been infiltrated by unbelievers and now false doctrine have to be opposed.

Come over to II Timothy 2. This section as the first section is going to have a series of commands given to Timothy. In fact this section begins, the first three verses as we have it, each one begins with a command, something that Timothy must do—remind them, verse 14; be diligent, verse 15; avoid, verse 16. All three given as commands that Timothy must obey. And attention now will be turned to deal with the problem within. You know it's always a little more difficult to deal with problems within the church. There is confidence and strength as we unite together to present the gospel to the world, as we stand unified against persecution and opposition and suffering. But there is an added level of discouragement when we have to deal with conflict within, when we have to go to battle against those who have professed to be believers, who have been teachers in our midst. And now we have to stand against them and say, you are wrong, you can no longer teach. And if you continue, you must leave. And in the midst of everything, when you have intense opposition from the outside it becomes even more difficult to deal with problems from the inside. But you think the last thing we need is internal conflict. But it's exactly what Paul will spend the bulk of the rest of his letter telling Timothy he must do.

So he begins with verse 14 with the command, remind them of these things. And solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers. Remind them. And that's what the word means, remind them, bring this to mind, bring it back to mind. Repeated. It's a command given in the present tense. Be constantly reminded, remind them continually. Timothy doesn't have new truth to tell them, particularly, but he has to keep reminding them of what they already know. And as is always the case when there is false doctrine coming, we need to be sure that we have a firm grip on the truth of the Word of God. And that's where we stand. And as opposition comes from within, it becomes more dangerous. What happens when you have false teachers within, personalities get involved? And now you have someone who is teaching wrong doctrine, but I like him, I know him, we've been friends, I know he's sincere, I know he has good intentions, I know he loves the Lord. And we go on with all these “I knows” that have to do with our personal relationship, which we don't want to downplay, but they cannot be allowed to supersede the Word of God and its authority for us. I cannot place a friendship above God's truth. But it does become more difficult and it has the danger of further fracturing the church. Because you not only have people who have been influenced by the false doctrine, you have people who just like that person, and they don't want to have to oppose them. So what Timothy has to do is remind them of certain basics, of the truths they already know.

Turn over to II Peter 1. This is Peter's last letter. He writes it saying that he knows his martyrdom, his execution is imminent. Jesus Christ had revealed that to him. And note what he says in verse 12, therefore, I will always be ready to remind you. There is our word. What do these apostles do? They are bringing great new truth. Much of their ministry was simply reminding them what they had already taught them. To remind you of these things, even though you know them. You've been established in the truth which is present with you. I'm talking to people who know the truth, who have their feet firmly planted in the truth. But I want to remind you again. I consider it right as long as I am in this earthly dwelling to stir you up by way of reminder. Then the next verse he says, I know that my death is imminent because Christ told me. That reminder. What is the context of the setting? Look at chapter 2 verse 1, but false prophets arose among the people just as there will also be false teachers among you who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. I have to remind you of these truths that you already know, because there will be false teachers, they will come up. And if you don't have a firm, clear understanding of God's truth, you will become confused, perhaps deluded and led astray. He’s being told again, I'm being told again. It's like your children. What happens? Well if there is something that comes up, there have been some strangers trying to lure children into cars or something, what do you want to do? You want to remind your children, now remember, I told you not to talk to strangers. I've told you not to get into the car with anyone. And what do they say? I know, I know. I know, Mom. I know, Dad. You be quiet and listen. Why? You want them to hear it again so it remains fresh in their minds. That's what we go through as believers. If you've been a believer very long and you've been in the study of the Word and you say, I have my Bible already marked up. I've been through this in Bible class, I've been through this in the home Bible study, I've been through this in the service. I think I know it. And then the Spirit of God says I want to remind you. Remind them again. In fact Timothy, present tense, is to be constantly reminding them of these things.

Turn over to Jude. It’s a similar setting and a similar reminding. Verse 3, beloved, while I was making every effort to write to you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. But this is not contending against people outside who are persecuting or opposing the church and the teaching of truth. But verse 4, for certain persons has crept in unnoticed. They have come in and not been recognized for what they are. They have become part of the church fellowship and meeting and nobody recognized that these are unregenerate people. 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 Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Now I desire to remind you, now he's going on to remind them. Why? Because when false teachers come we have to be sure we are clear on what the Word of God does teach that we have a clear understanding of it. I have to say after many years in the ministry I've been amazed at people I have seen be led astray by false teaching and false doctrine. And often it is by the personality of the teacher that wins people over and tends to blur their vision on the importance of biblical truth.

I've shared with you an experience in a seminary which I was involved with and had contact with where a false teacher did come in. And I sat under men who taught in that seminary, and learned from them. I was reading a commentary written by one of them on this passage of scripture in Timothy, and you know as a result of that false teacher most of that faculty came down on the wrong side. I talked to a person who was involved in that and he said you know what he did? He won them over, he became their best friend, he got involved in their lives in ways that they felt connected to him and involved with him. And it blinded them to the doctrinal issue. How could that happen to these men? We have to be reminded and reminded.

We come back to Timothy. That was Timothy's job. Timothy, you remind them of these things. Two words in Greek—these things remind them. We have to get three words in Greek, but these things is a translation of one word in Greek, taltuth, these things remind them. What are these things? Well the things I've been telling you in the first section of this book, and particularly the things in verses 11-13 which summarize the truth of the work of Christ and our response to it. Verse 11, if we died with Him we will live with Him. There is no other way to salvation in life but to be identified with Jesus Christ in His death. So if you are identified with Him in His resurrection and His ultimate glorification. If we died with Him we will also live with Him. If we endure we will reign with Him. Remember back in chapter 1 verse 8 Timothy was called to join Paul in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God. That's built in. True believers will endure, and if we endure we will reign with Him. There is no going back. If we deny Him, He will deny us. That's just a revelation of our true character. We've looked at the details of these. If we are faithful. Even when a believer stumbles, He will remain faithful, He can't deny Himself. You remind them of these things, the truths that God has revealed. And their real meaning, correct interpretation and understanding.

Down in verse 14, you remind them of these things and you solemnly charge them in the presence of God. Be solemnly charging them, a present participle that is really forceful here, connected here to that command to remind them. You be solemnly charging them. Something he's again to continually be doing, be reminding them of, charging and warning them in the presence of God. The seriousness of this is stressed, not only by the instruction to be solemnly charging them, but you do this with God as the witness. And the one to whom they will give an account. There will be no excuses, they are being warned with God as the witness what you must do here.

Back up to I Timothy 5:21. Same kind of statement. I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of His chosen angels to maintain these principles without bias, doing nothing in the spirit of partiality. You see the Word of God is the objective standard. Doesn't have anything to do with whether he's my friend or not my friend. You do it without partiality. I solemnly charge you in the presence of God, Timothy.

In I Timothy 6:13, I charge you in the presence of God who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach. I mean, Paul is serious about this as the Spirit of God moves him to write to Timothy. These are solemn warnings, and God is the witness to them. This is what must be done. And in II Timothy he'll do the same thing when we get to chapter 4 verse 1, I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, preach the Word. These are not things to be taken lightly. God is observing and His Word is being given and we are held accountable.

I solemnly charge you in the presence of God not to wrangle about words. Wrangle about words, it's a compound word—the word, word and the word fight. No word fights is basically what it says. Not to fight about words. Now you have the context here. We're dealing with false teachers. It will become clear as we move down through the passage, and really the rest of this chapter in particular, they are not to get involved in disputes and debates with these false teachers. Not the meaning of words and so on. That becomes a trap of the devil to lure believers into debates about things that are of no use, no profit, and no benefit. And what happens? They bring confusion to the believer; they have the potential to lead us astray. That's the methodology. These teachers come in and they don't say I'm here to deny the Word of God. They want to say, you've misunderstood this and they want to present teaching which is contrary to the teaching of the passage. And you listen to them and they are convincing, they are smooth, they are good at what they do. Pretty soon you say, I think maybe they have a point there. I can't tell you the number of people over the years that have come to me, they've read something by somebody who had written a teaching on the Word of God and they said, this sounds good, and you hear it. If you've been a believer long and been in the Word you are ready to discern that's not biblical. And you know when it happens in a personal setting you have the personality of the teacher, and it becomes even more dangerous.

Look back at I Timothy 6:3, if anyone advocates a different doctrine. This is in the context, the end of verse 2 said, teach and preach these principles, these things. If anyone advocates a different teaching, a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing. He has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words. And there's the word we're talking about, disputes about words, word fights. Out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicion, constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. You see nothing is to be gained by getting involved in debates with these false teachers. It accomplishes nothing. There is nothing to be gained. And it's no wonder that true believers and the true church of Jesus Christ gets accused of being arrogant, being narrow. Because what Paul says about everyone who teaches anything different, verse 4, he is conceited, understands nothing. With that kind of language, you're talking about people who come in and teach in the church. He is teaching contrary to the Word of God, you say he is conceited and he doesn't know anything. Well he seems intelligent to me, he has some scholarly credentials, and I think he's a student. He's teaching contrary to the Word God, there is nothing good that can come of it.

How do you deal with this? Come over to Titus 3. Paul is writing to another young man that he has been involved with and trained in the ministry. And as Timothy is at Ephesus setting things in order in the church there, Titus is at Crete setting things in order there. And note what Paul says to Titus in verse 9, avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, and strife and disputes about the law. That word disputes is the word fighting. We have it in a compound form, word fighting. Here you just have the word fighting. Disputes, fighting about the law. For they are unprofitable and worthless. What do you do? Reject a factious man after a first and second warning, knowing that such a man is perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned. You see there is something about the Word of God and the Spirit of God who has given the Word of God and indwells the people of God. He gives clarity in understanding God's truth. And for those who are opposing the truth, teaching contrary to the truth, we are not open to get involved in debates and discussions with them. We give them a warning and then they have to go if they continue.

On a couple of different occasions I've been invited to be in a debate, once with a leader in Roman Catholicism and another with a person within the evangelical framework that we disagree with. On both occasions I said, no. There is nothing to be gained by that. Well, we can come to your church and put it on, if you don't want to come to ours. I said what am I going to do? Give you a platform to present your error? We draw a line, we think, we'll prove them wrong? To whom will we prove them wrong? We're not to be involved in those kinds of debates and battles when their teaching is wrong and we stand opposed to it. We reveal it as wrong but we don't come down and get involved in the debate with them. There is nothing to be accomplished by that, but there is great damage to be done by that.

Now remember he is instructing the church, he is to remind and charge the church in the presence of God, to whom they would give an account, not to do those things. And so we as the church, and I am reminding you, don't get involved with these kinds of teachers, don't think I'll get involved in the discussion. Don't do it. They lead you into a battle over it, they lure you in. Well if you're sure your position is right, let's just debate it. No. You're afraid you might be wrong. I'm afraid of what might happen.

I've shared with you many times, I share it again. When I was in a doctrinal program in a seminary I went in and told the dean, I cannot stay here. Why? I have serious doctrinal differences with you. I know, Gil, but we like having you in the program and diversity is good for us. I said, no, you don't understand. I'm afraid I'll come out like you. Am I afraid I don't know the truth? I do, but you don't just go and sit exposed to that because pretty soon you think, well, I can see where they are coming from. And to be scholarly you have to be open to diverse opinions, don't you? No matter how ridiculous and foolish they are, no matter how destructive. But you should be open to hear what they have to say. You must be open to consider. No, I don't have to be open to anything but the Word of God, and I am opposed to everything that is contrary to the Word of God. Now when this comes down to the church, it becomes personal. I mean, think about it. I've been teaching here for years. If I decide, you know I've decided God has no future for Israel, God is done with the nation Israel, I think the church has replaced Israel. And you know what the great debate in the evangelical world today is, one of the major debates? It's the doctrine of the atonement; did Jesus Christ really take our place to pay our penalty? There are those within evangelicalism, which becomes an oxymoron when you place them within evangelicalism and call it evangelical, who are denying substitutionary atonement. What if I said, I've rethought that, I've been reading some men and I've decided they’re right. What would be the thing to do? I'd have to be dealt with. And some of you would say, Well I know Gil, he's been here a long time, I don't think they ought to remove him from teaching and put him out of the church just because of that. I mean, maybe he just made a mistake. Maybe, nothing. He has to go. This is not a matter of personalities, not a matter of long-term relationships. This is a matter of God's truth. We don't get involved in this. Well let's hear what he has to say. Why? So he can try to win more people over to an unbiblical position and bring ruin to individuals and ultimately to the church itself?

You can see why this is a serious matter. And Paul has to say that I want you to remind them and be charging them, it's in the presence of God that you give this warning that they are not to get into word fights which is useless. Back in II Timothy 2, this wrangling, fighting about words, and getting involved in these kinds of battles with unregenerate people. We don't engage in that way. We expose the error and we reject the false teacher. We're not open to those kinds of battles. Why? They are useless. The basic word here is a word that means to be useful, beneficial, profitable. And then it has the word nothing. Nothing profitable, nothing useful, nothing beneficial. There is no good that can come of it. I might win them over. You know how you reach the lost? You present the gospel. When I sit down with an unregenerate person, different men in different positions, I'm not here to debate. I have a disagreement with you over the doctrine of creation. I was talking to a university professor over lunch, him and me, the two of us. He said I disagree with you on the doctrine of creation. That doesn't surprise me, but that's not our basic difference. Our basic problem is God says you are a sinner, I am a sinner. And just talk about the gospel. I'm not going to wrangle with him about words and the meaning of creation and the Hebrew words for create, does it mean made out of nothing? Where is that going? That's a debate about nothing, it denies the Word. We're going to talk about the truth of the gospel; I'm not going to get involved in a dispute and debate about these things with someone who thinks he knows the Bible. And that's true within our church. We're not open to different views; we’re not open to different teaching. Well, let's sit down and discuss it and debate it. No, you're teaching this, it's contrary to the Word of God. That's the end of it. If you don't stop it you have to go. Period. Don't you even want to discuss it? No, this is what's biblical. What you are teaching is not biblical. Well he thinks it is. Well that just shows you don't know anything. That's what Peter said.

It's useless and it leads to the ruin of the hearers, present participle, of those hearing. You see what happens here. You don't expose yourself to this. It leads to the ruin of those who do listen to it. You know the word ruin. The Greek word is katastrophe; we just carry it over into English, catastrophe. It means destruction, a complete overthrow. Leads to the destruction of those hearing. It's only used one other time in the New Testament. Come back to II Peter 2. Now remember the context, we read verse 1, there will be false teachers among you who will secretly introduce destructive heresies. How can you secretly introduce the destructive heresies? Well you have someone who is a good teacher, who wins people over and has convincing arguments. They even deny the master who bought them. How can it even be a point of discussion in the “evangelical” world? The word comes from the gospel. We are supposed to be people committed to the gospel and the major debate today is whether substitutionary atonement is a biblical teaching. Peter said He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. I have nothing to talk about with a person like that. But rebuke them as a false teacher, tell them they must repent or perish. I have no discussion. Well let's discuss what I have found. We have nothing to talk about with you. No, I'm not open to hear it.

Look in verse 6; he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to catastrophe, to destruction, to complete ruin. So when Paul tells Timothy that the result of wrangling and debating with false teachers about words and fighting over those things is useless, it leads to ruin, destruction, he's talking about destruction like Sodom and Gomorrah. Completely wiped out. That's what happens to those who listen to that kind of teaching and get involved in that kind of disputes and debates.

Come back to Romans 16:17, now I urge you brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissension and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned and turn away from them. For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites. And by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting. That's the issue. By their smooth and flattering speech they are convincing. They are good with words and they can delude and deceive, so you turn away from them. I'm not going to give them a chance to catch me in their net; I'm not open to hear it. Even when I read a book, part of my responsibility is to refute those who contradict. But I look for the fatal flaws; there is the conflict with the Word of God. That's it. I don't have to immerse myself in all the details of what they say. Here is where they are wrong, that's it. It doesn't matter where else they may be right. They are wrong. I have many agreements with Roman Catholic theology—the virgin birth, the deity of Christ. The fatal flaw is they teach salvation by faith plus works. That's it. I have nothing else that I need to know about them. Whatever else they say and do is heresy, its false teaching. I have nothing to engage in discussion and debate and see how close we can come together. We can never come close together. God forbid. So their smooth and flattering speech deludes and deceives.

Come back to II Timothy. The second command, verse 15, be diligent. So first command is remind them, reinforce with solemnly charging them. Be diligent. Sharp command here, aorist imperative, sharp form of command, forceful command. You be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the Word of truth. Be diligent. Some of us who were raised with the King James Version, study to show yourself approved to God. The word here doesn't particularly mean to study, in the context it would involve study, but the word means to be zealous, to be eager, to take pains with something, to make every effort. One Greek commentator put it this way, after you have already reached your limit and gone beyond, this is a command to push a little more to gain a better mastery. And we're talking about being diligent, applying all the effort necessary to present yourself approved to God. Remember in verse 14 we were solemnly charged in the presence of God. Now Timothy is commanded to be diligent to present yourself approved to God, in the presence of God, before God. That word approved is dokimos. It means to be put to the test and then approved after you've passed the test. It could be used of testing metal. Somebody gives you a piece of gold jewelry. You say, I wonder if it's really genuine gold or just looks like it. Well they put it to the test; they say yes, its 14 karat or 18 karat or 24 karat or whatever. It passed the test. So that's it. You are diligent applying all the effort necessary for the approval of God as He examines your life, your work in handling the word of truth, as he says at the end of the verse. It's not going to be easy. People come to church and they think it ought to be entertaining, it ought to be fun. They ought to come rested with their minds prepared for diligent work because we're going to present ourselves approved to God as workmen, those who work. We get the idea church ought to be a fun place where I come and my spirits are lifted and I feel good. It's a place where you come to do work. We have to come and study the Word of God and examine it and diligently consider it, sort through it. We have people who want to come to church and get out in 20 minutes and get on to things that are important. This is what is important. What is more important than being approved by God? We have to be diligent to present ourselves approved to God. We lose sight of what we are doing. We think, hard work, I work all week, now you want me to come to church and work, go to Bible study and work. And the teachers that teach, and we are blessed with such good teachers, diligently apply themselves to the labor and toil and the study of the Word so you come to their classes and be taught accurately the word of truth. It is work, it is toil. Present yourself approved to God, the anticipation.

Come back to Romans 14:10, the context is different but the point is the same. We'll just pick up what is pertinent to what we are saying. The end of verse 10, for we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. Verse 12, so then each one of us, there is individuality here. Each one of us will give an account of himself to God, be diligent to present yourself approved to God. We will give an account of ourselves to God.

Turn over to II Corinthians 5:9, therefore, we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. It's an awesome scene. Some day you will stand before the judgment seat of Christ and give an account. You say, I thought my sins were forgiven. They are. It doesn't matter to me as long as I'm going to heaven, that's all that counts. Let me tell you, when God says it matters, it matters. There will be nobody standing at that judgment seat and saying, I don't really care how this comes out. Nobody is doing that there. We will know how serious it is. When God says you will stand before Me and give an account and you must be approved by Me, that's serious business. Somehow we as believers get careless and lax and think, God understands. I have a general idea of the Word and I'm just not a person who is very interested in the details and I've left that to someone else. What are we saying? I don't care what God thinks? I don't care about His evaluation? Then I better stop and evaluate, do I really know the living God that I can tell Him I don't care what He thinks? That's not what a true believer says, that's not his attitude.

Go to II Corinthians 10:18, it is not he who commends himself that is approved, but he whom the Lord commends. It doesn't matter, we say, I think I'm doing fine. It doesn't matter. I will present myself before the throne of God and He will do the approving. The fact that I say Lord, I think I did a pretty good job. Yes, I did. I maybe didn't get it all right, but I got the gist of it okay. Doesn't matter what I think, it matters what He says, what He thinks. That's why the Spirit of God says through Paul to Timothy and to us, be diligent.

Back to II Timothy 2:15, to present yourselves approved to God as a workman, one who works, who toils. This word argos, means work. We talk about kopiao, the verb to labor to exhaustion. Here a worker, one who does toil and work and labor. As a workman who does not need to be ashamed, who is unashamed. The point is we stand before the Lord and we pass the test; there is no cause for shame, embarrassment. I didn't do my job, I wasn't diligent in the Word, I didn't work hard, being sure I understood it correctly. I didn't apply it to my life and live it out. There will be shame there. I believe in the sovereignty of God, but I believe in the responsibility of man as well, the responsibility we have as believers. I cannot replace my responsibility by knowing God is sovereign. He is sovereign. And just because I can't understand how everything perfectly fits together, I better not ignore what He says.

One who does not be ashamed. And what will it mean to be approved before God, to not be ashamed? It means you are a workman, accurately handling the Word of truth. A compound word that means to cut something straight. But the emphasis on cut or divide straight or right. Almost all Greek commentaries are agreed on that. The emphasis is on having something straight, having it right. And our translation, accurately handling gives you what the word meant as Paul gave it. You have to handle it correctly; you have to handle it accurately. It's the word of truth, it's God's word. Psalm 119:160 says the sum of your word is truth. It means every word of God is truth. Jesus prayed to His Father in John 17:17 and said, sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth. The book of Revelation, that great prophetic book, concludes with Jesus Christ giving a solemn warning. He'll curse to hell anyone who adds anything to that prophecy or anyone who takes anything away. You better have it right. That's God's attitude toward His word, from the first word of Genesis to the last word of Revelation. This is God's truth. You say, well, I don't know, that's beyond me. I don't even want to get involved. To ignore it is not an option, to be a workman approved, unashamed, you must handle it accurately. Ignoring it is not an excuse; it's not an out for us. We must handle it correctly; understand it as He gave it. And live in light of it.

II Peter 3:16, Peter warns of those false teachers, the untaught and unstable distort the scriptures to their own destruction. That's why we won't have anything to do with them. I realize someone is mishandling the scripture, teaching it wrong, I don't want anything to do with it. I certainly don't want him teaching here. Absolutely not. What do we say? Well you have a different view, therefore you can teach here. No. Why? This is truth. You say, you think you have it right and everyone else has it wrong. No, I believe the Word of God is right and it has to be examined carefully. And if I have a misunderstanding of a passage, I must be corrected and shown that I've misunderstood. But the Spirit of God clarifies the Word as we are taught it, and we are responsible to grab onto it.

This is true of the whole Word of God; he particularly has the gospel in view, which has been his burden here. Back up to Ephesians, as we close, Ephesians 1:13, in Him you also, after listening to the message of the truth. So it's a message of truth. The gospel of your salvation. That's the message of truth. Every part of the Word of God is truth, so when we're talking about the gospel, we're talking about God's truth. When we're talking about the book of Revelation we're talking about God's truth; when we're talking about the opening chapters of Genesis and God's work of creation, we're talking about God's truth. In II Timothy Paul is particularly focused on the gospel and that portion of God's word that he's been focusing on. That is the message of truth. You understand there is no salvation apart from hearing and believing the message of truth, the gospel, that you are a sinner under condemnation and Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came and suffered and died on the cross, was raised from the dead to pay the penalty for your sin. And the only way for you to be saved from eternal suffering in the fires of hell is to repent of your sin and place your faith in Jesus Christ. That's the message of truth. I understand there are others who teach otherwise. They say, that's your opinion. No, that's what God says. There are those who are acting as hucksters with the Word of God, as Paul defined them or called them, referred to them in II Corinthians 2:17. He says we are not like the many, the hoi paloi, the many that are corrupting the Word of God, making changes that make it more appealing, more salable, get a bigger crowd. Because we speak in the sight of God. He's evaluating to see if we are accurately handling this passage.

I've shared with you as I prepare to teach a passage I often think of myself, now if Christ in bodily form would come and sit on the front row, would I want to teach this passage as I have it prepared? Would I think, well maybe we'll just sing another song and go home. I need to do a little more work. Do I have it accurate? You understand, God is observing, He's looked at every word. Have I handled accurately the Word of truth? I've been warned, I do it in His presence, and I will give an account to Him. He will evaluate. That's true of us as a church, that's true of our ministry together. We are privileged to be entrusted with the Word of God, His truth; it is a precious treasure to us. It must be handled accurately; we must understand it and implement it in our lives, in our ministry that He might be pleased.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for your truth. Lord, it's easy for us to be careless. Many of us have been believers for many years, we've been blessed and privileged to study the Word of God over and over, to be taught the precious truths of your Word again and again and again. And Lord, there is a danger for us that we become somewhat careless, somewhat self-satisfied, we feel like we're over saturated. Lord, may we never tire looking again into the beauty of your Word, studying again the truths that you have entrusted to us, of having the Spirit of God who inspired your Word, who dwells in us to unfold and open again its beauty and its clarity to us. Lord, may we be those who handle accurately the Word of truth that we might be found approved when we stand in your presence. We pray in Christ's name, amen.