1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:16,440 2 Timothy chapter 2 starting right where we left off last week verse 14 kind of 2 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:20,720 shifting gears a little bit here from what we've been talking about in chapter 3 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:29,640 2. Paul had been talking to Timothy about suffering for the gospel and the 4 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:34,080 first part of chapter 2 was to Timothy and really a lot of the second part is 5 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:39,440 too but here for for just a second Paul kind of shifts gears here in verse 14 6 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:46,040 giving Timothy a message to his audience here to the people of Ephesus and so 7 00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:50,880 there's good instruction in here for us this is a good book in particularly for 8 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:55,160 for pastors I think it's a good book if y'all were a group of pastors we'd be 9 00:00:55,160 --> 00:00:59,240 talking about different things then we talk but it's a good book for me to read 10 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:03,000 as a pastor it's a lot of good instruction in here that God convicts me 11 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:08,080 in some areas where I don't do good and so we'll see we'll see some of those 12 00:01:08,080 --> 00:01:15,200 instructions to Timothy and and pastors here as we go on. 2 Timothy chapter 2 13 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:20,400 verse 14 is where we will start we won't quite finish the whole chapter but we'll 14 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:26,960 we'll get close so let's pray and we'll get started. God we come to you we thank 15 00:01:26,960 --> 00:01:31,280 you for your good word I pray that it would be good for us tonight dear Lord 16 00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:36,560 that we would hear what you need us to hear God I pray that your Holy Spirit 17 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:40,360 would speak to us I pray that we had free ourselves from any of the 18 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:43,800 distractions and the worries and the thoughts of the world that we might have 19 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:48,240 brought into this place I pray dear Lord that you take away any pride or any 20 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:52,320 nerves that that I have tonight dear Lord that you'd hide me behind the cross 21 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:56,320 that you would help your instruction to be good instruction for us that we would 22 00:01:56,320 --> 00:02:00,720 check ourselves dear Lord to see areas where we may be failing in our walk with 23 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:05,240 you and that these scriptures tonight would be an encouragement to help us to 24 00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:10,480 seek you dear Lord and to be purified through Jesus Christ by your word and I 25 00:02:10,480 --> 00:02:21,280 ask these things in Jesus name amen. 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 14 remind them 26 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:26,440 of these things charging them before God okay so he's talking to his audience 27 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:30,960 here these are things that Paul tells Timothy okay you need to remind your 28 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:36,000 hearers of these things that I'm about to tell you and here's what he says not 29 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:43,600 to fight about words this is in no way profitable and leads to the ruin of the 30 00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:50,320 hearers now this is good instruction for us because as Christians sometimes we 31 00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:56,600 fight about words we fight about differences of opinion we have lots of 32 00:02:56,600 --> 00:03:02,080 scripture before us and throughout the last couple of thousands of years these 33 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:07,360 scriptures have been interpreted in a variety of ways and even among 34 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:13,560 Christians genuine Christians followers of Jesus Christ there are sometimes 35 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:19,120 differences of interpretation differences of opinion on scriptures some 36 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:24,440 scriptures are really difficult some are really hard to understand others are 37 00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:28,040 easy to understand and even if they're easy to understand we don't always 38 00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:33,280 understand them the same and so sometimes we might begin to to kind of 39 00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:37,880 have some disagreement or to find some some bickering or to find some arguing 40 00:03:37,880 --> 00:03:43,740 or disputes over over certain words or certain beliefs because sometimes we're 41 00:03:43,740 --> 00:03:48,040 labeled as this or is that depending on our beliefs and when you begin to study 42 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:51,640 scripture you begin to see that there's lots of different views and some people 43 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:56,120 are Calvinist and some people are Arminius and some people believe that 44 00:03:56,120 --> 00:03:59,880 the gifts are still at work others believe that they have ceased there are 45 00:03:59,880 --> 00:04:06,240 a variety of words and phrases that people will find themselves disputing 46 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:12,400 over now we must be careful as Christians that we do not major in the 47 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:17,280 minors that is that we don't let things that are not of the utmost importance 48 00:04:17,280 --> 00:04:22,240 divide us but we don't do too good at that as Christians that's why when you 49 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:27,280 look out there today you see hundreds of denominations because everybody was 50 00:04:27,280 --> 00:04:31,160 together and then this one said well I don't agree with that and the group 51 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:35,240 agreed with them and they split off and made another church and ten years later 52 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:38,720 they said well we don't agree with this and then that that church split off and 53 00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:42,680 pretty soon you have hundreds of different denominations because people 54 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:47,360 are arguing about certain words or certain views or certain scriptures and 55 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:50,960 that's not to say that there are not things in scripture that we don't need 56 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:55,520 to take a stand on there certainly are there are some things that we don't need 57 00:04:55,520 --> 00:05:01,080 to compromise that is that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died for our sins 58 00:05:01,080 --> 00:05:06,240 he was crucified and he was resurrected that is something that as Christians we 59 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:10,840 cannot compromise on that that we are all sinners in need of a Savior that we 60 00:05:10,840 --> 00:05:17,080 are saved by grace these are things that we can not compromise on on the flip 61 00:05:17,080 --> 00:05:22,960 side let's take a book like Revelation for instance Revelation is a extremely 62 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:28,440 difficult book it is full of symbolism and it is not agreed upon as to what all 63 00:05:28,440 --> 00:05:33,920 that symbolism means some take the book quite symbolically figuring out what 64 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:38,480 some of the symbols are and not so sure of others others take it quite literally 65 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:42,600 now there are Christians on both sides of this argument and within these 66 00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:46,880 arguments there there's probably a dozen views different views that may splinter 67 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:50,960 up in the book of Revelation and we don't we don't know for sure exactly what 68 00:05:50,960 --> 00:05:54,160 it means I say that there's probably somebody here tonight or somebody 69 00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:57,520 listening on the line says I can tell you what it means okay well that's the point 70 00:05:57,520 --> 00:06:02,600 these are the kind of things that we can waste a lot of time arguing and 71 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:07,760 disputing over and and no good comes from it and so we need to be careful 72 00:06:07,760 --> 00:06:12,440 about these things about these words or these beliefs or these views that we may 73 00:06:12,440 --> 00:06:18,120 get caught up on and why is that don't fight about words this is in no way 74 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:23,120 profitable and leads to the ruin of the hearers now we could sit here all night 75 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:27,960 tonight and we could talk about will there be a future rapture how will that 76 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:32,760 future rapture occur will it be treat pre tribulation mid tribulation post 77 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:36,840 tribulation some of you say I don't even know what those words are we can argue 78 00:06:36,840 --> 00:06:41,400 about that all night tonight and likely none of our minds would be changed if we 79 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:45,680 have a view at all and what good would it do well it wouldn't do any good we 80 00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:48,520 would likely just argue and then we'd go out saying can you believe that he 81 00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:52,320 believes that or she believes that and so a lot of these things we just simply 82 00:06:52,320 --> 00:06:58,400 need to agree to disagree there are some things we cannot compromise on but there 83 00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:02,040 are some things we have to just let go there are many Christians that believe 84 00:07:02,040 --> 00:07:05,960 the earth is young seven eight thousand years there are other Christians that 85 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:10,640 say no it's millions of years those days stand for a long period of time we can 86 00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:14,160 argue about that tonight till the cows come home and we're not going to make 87 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:18,920 any progress so we need to recognize the things that matter and the things that 88 00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:23,680 do not matter the things that are going to build up the kingdom of God and the 89 00:07:23,680 --> 00:07:28,360 things that are going to divide God's people and the devil is so good at doing 90 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:32,880 that the devil is so good it won't be cause dispute and disagreement over 91 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:37,320 things that don't matter in churches and we must be on guard that we don't fight 92 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:42,960 about words that are not for the benefit of the kingdom of God and it says are in 93 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:49,440 no way profitable and leads to the ruin of hearers now that's that's that's 94 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:54,560 pretty serious it leads to the ruin now we don't want to be those who ruin what 95 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:58,240 somebody believes about God's word we don't want to ruin their walk with God 96 00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:03,640 with a bunch of nonsense and and and and some things that aren't necessarily of 97 00:08:03,640 --> 00:08:07,080 the most important now this is this is certainly something that that that 98 00:08:07,080 --> 00:08:10,840 convicts me as I read this as a pastor to say okay I better make sure that I 99 00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:15,280 do a better job and we have to be careful of the things that we talk about 100 00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:20,040 and discuss as brothers and sisters in Christ and we watch our words and we 101 00:08:20,040 --> 00:08:25,960 don't fall into that trap of arguing about stuff that doesn't matter verse 15 102 00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:32,200 be diligent to present yourself approved to God a worker who doesn't need to be 103 00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:37,920 ashamed correctly teaching the word of truth now here kind of seems like he's 104 00:08:37,920 --> 00:08:42,640 switching back to instruction to Timothy now the audience needed to know hey 105 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:46,480 don't fight about these words but here he tells Timothy what he says be 106 00:08:46,480 --> 00:08:50,740 diligent our King James is what I'm most familiar with when I think about this 107 00:08:50,740 --> 00:08:56,800 passage study to show yourself approved okay so if Timothy is gonna be one who's 108 00:08:56,800 --> 00:09:00,480 trying to preach to the people and who's trying to teach the people then the 109 00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:06,240 instruction that Paul gives him is study to show yourself approved to God a 110 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:11,240 worker who doesn't need to be ashamed correctly teaching the word of truth 111 00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:15,880 okay so this is a good good verse for me I kind of I kind of thought about this 112 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:20,800 verse today as a pastor okay are there times that I'm not as studied as I 113 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:24,520 should be well certainly there are there are times that I say boy I'm not I'm 114 00:09:24,520 --> 00:09:29,400 underprepared or there are times that I say golly I didn't present that in a good 115 00:09:29,400 --> 00:09:32,680 way or maybe my heart wasn't in it or maybe that was confusing or maybe I 116 00:09:32,680 --> 00:09:36,240 should have studied more or maybe I didn't make a good point or maybe I 117 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:39,520 should have left this point out or maybe this was too much or maybe this was not 118 00:09:39,520 --> 00:09:44,960 enough or whatever it may be there are certainly times for those who preach and 119 00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:49,440 teach that that might be the case and so what is he telling study to show 120 00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:54,520 yourself approved so that you don't need to be ashamed now that's a bad feeling 121 00:09:54,520 --> 00:09:58,680 now now you guys probably don't know this because you're not a pastor but 122 00:09:58,680 --> 00:10:02,240 that's a bad feeling when you really feel like olly I didn't I didn't prepare 123 00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:05,320 enough I didn't present that the way I shouldn't have said that or I said that 124 00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:08,420 in the wrong way or that was with the wrong heart that's a bad feeling when 125 00:10:08,420 --> 00:10:12,560 you do that the only thing worse than hearing a bad sermon is preaching a bad 126 00:10:12,560 --> 00:10:16,000 sermon if you if you feel bad saying well that was a bad sermon I hated to 127 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:19,040 sit through that well it's just as bad for the one that preaches it to look 128 00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:22,640 back and say you know I really failed the Lord there I didn't do what I should 129 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:27,320 have done there I didn't do right by God I didn't do right by the people and so 130 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:32,600 Paul tells Timothy here he says look study so that you'll be prepared and 131 00:10:32,600 --> 00:10:36,440 then you can present things and the way that they need to be presented so that 132 00:10:36,440 --> 00:10:42,200 you don't have to be ashamed but that you can correctly teach the Word of God 133 00:10:42,200 --> 00:10:47,200 that you can correctly teach the truth of God's Word okay so he tells him what 134 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:52,720 to do study so you can present the word correctly but in verse 16 he says but 135 00:10:52,720 --> 00:11:00,520 avoid irreverent empty speech for this will produce an even greater measure of 136 00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:05,200 godlessness okay this is important important so so avoid these things 137 00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:09,060 irreverent speech you need to be reverent when you speak you need to be 138 00:11:09,060 --> 00:11:12,800 respectful to what you're doing you're presenting the Word of God you're trying 139 00:11:12,800 --> 00:11:16,480 to present it to people so that that God's people can hear the Word of God 140 00:11:16,480 --> 00:11:22,320 and grow in the Word of God what does it say to avoid empty speech that is saying 141 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:26,960 a bunch of words that may sound good but at the end of it all there's not much 142 00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:30,800 that's been said now I'm certainly when I read this today I was convicted of it 143 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:34,880 I said Kylie I'm I'm guilty of that sometimes you can say things and and it 144 00:11:34,880 --> 00:11:38,840 might be a lot of words and they might be words that sound good but at the end 145 00:11:38,840 --> 00:11:42,800 of it is there any substance to it sometimes it's just empty speech 146 00:11:42,800 --> 00:11:47,520 sometimes I'll read I won't say any names because I don't want it to sound 147 00:11:47,520 --> 00:11:51,480 like that I'm bashing folks but sometimes I'll read you know some great 148 00:11:51,480 --> 00:11:55,360 Christian thinkers that are that are just super smart and well respected and 149 00:11:55,360 --> 00:11:58,920 for good reason but sometimes I'll read their books and they'll be this thick 150 00:11:58,920 --> 00:12:03,120 and I'll read pages of it and they won't say nothing I'm like I read all that 151 00:12:03,120 --> 00:12:06,560 stuff and you ain't said nothing you know and there was a book that I had to 152 00:12:06,560 --> 00:12:11,240 read the last semester of seminary and it was two volumes stacked together they 153 00:12:11,240 --> 00:12:14,680 were this thick and I had to read chapter after chapter and it was like the same 154 00:12:14,680 --> 00:12:18,440 thing over and over and it was nothing and I was just listening to somebody 155 00:12:18,440 --> 00:12:22,960 last week I listen like two chapters of their book and I was like I didn't get 156 00:12:22,960 --> 00:12:26,000 anything out of that like I understood what they were saying but they said a 157 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:30,600 lot of words to say a little and and I think about that and I think golly I'm 158 00:12:30,600 --> 00:12:34,760 guilty of that and so what does Paul say he says look study to show yourself 159 00:12:34,760 --> 00:12:37,920 approved so that you're presenting things that are right and accurate and 160 00:12:37,920 --> 00:12:43,040 good that people can grow from and don't say a bunch of empty words that are not 161 00:12:43,040 --> 00:12:47,760 of any importance and these are good instructions now I'm just kind of 162 00:12:47,760 --> 00:12:50,720 preaching to myself now because y'all aren't preachers I'm just so y'all just 163 00:12:50,720 --> 00:12:56,160 just listen while I preach to myself but these are good that yeah these are good 164 00:12:56,160 --> 00:13:00,720 instructions though these are good instructions for us to look at to make 165 00:13:00,720 --> 00:13:05,080 sure that that that that we don't fall into these traps and so don't use a 166 00:13:05,080 --> 00:13:09,880 bunch of empty words and why is that he says for this will produce an even 167 00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:15,800 greater measure of godlessness it's not for God when you just rambling on some 168 00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:20,680 of your translations may say Bible don't Bible on there's there's godlessness 169 00:13:20,680 --> 00:13:25,280 that comes from that there's there's not good that comes from that and so we 170 00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:30,700 don't want to be those who Babylon and who have empty speech that's not building 171 00:13:30,700 --> 00:13:37,160 up godliness and people and we need to be careful as pastors that we don't do 172 00:13:37,160 --> 00:13:40,680 that and then he kind of shift gears here again it's kind of kind of difficult 173 00:13:40,680 --> 00:13:45,360 that's kind of a abrupt transition here and I looked at every translation I was 174 00:13:45,360 --> 00:13:49,000 gonna use a different translation just just for this purpose of kind of this 175 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:53,440 translation in this verse and he just kind of jumps from saying okay don't 176 00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:58,160 present these things of godlessness because there are some who are living in 177 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:02,160 this type of godlessness that's kind of the the transition we're making here and 178 00:14:02,160 --> 00:14:06,680 here's what he says and their words that is these who are practicing this 179 00:14:06,680 --> 00:14:10,800 godlessness those who are preaching and teaching these empty words that are not 180 00:14:10,800 --> 00:14:16,840 doing it for God's glory and their word will spread like gangrene okay so this 181 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:21,520 is bad it's like a disease that will spread and if it is not taking care of 182 00:14:21,520 --> 00:14:26,600 it will eventually destroy you so gangrene is not a good thing and that's 183 00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:30,680 the example that he used it's like a disease that that somebody gives when 184 00:14:30,680 --> 00:14:35,080 they when they when they get to this level of godlessness and that begins to 185 00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:39,120 be their focus and they're not lifting one another up but they're arguing about 186 00:14:39,120 --> 00:14:44,040 things that do not matter given a bunch of empty speech and there are some who 187 00:14:44,040 --> 00:14:49,480 have fallen into this trap and who are living in this way and so this is a good 188 00:14:49,480 --> 00:14:55,840 this is a good word of warning okay so verse 17 and their word will spread like 189 00:14:55,840 --> 00:15:03,160 gangrene hominous and felitis are among them now you may remember hominous you 190 00:15:03,160 --> 00:15:08,120 may remember him from first Timothy I believe chapter 1 where Paul is talking 191 00:15:08,120 --> 00:15:12,880 about a couple of guys hominous and Alexander and he says that they have 192 00:15:12,880 --> 00:15:17,280 made a shipwreck of their faith and that he handed them over to Satan so that 193 00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:22,320 they would be taught not to blaspheme so these were false teachers who were not 194 00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:26,720 teaching the gospel it's not just that they were that they were followers of 195 00:15:26,720 --> 00:15:31,200 Jesus Christ that were not not doing a good job but it appears as though they 196 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:34,240 were really teaching some things that were untrue they were teaching false 197 00:15:34,240 --> 00:15:38,760 doctrine and so we saw a mention of hominous there we don't know much about 198 00:15:38,760 --> 00:15:42,960 him but we see him mentioned again here so he must have been causing some 199 00:15:42,960 --> 00:15:48,200 problem he obviously had some impact in that area and teaching some false 200 00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:54,640 doctrines to the people and here we see him listed with felitis so hominous and 201 00:15:54,640 --> 00:15:59,240 felitis are among them he names these people by name this is somebody 202 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:04,000 obviously that Timothy would have known we don't know much about him felitis we 203 00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:07,800 don't know anything about him I think this is the only mention of his name and 204 00:16:07,800 --> 00:16:12,120 all of scripture but Paul tells Timothy because he would have known these guys 205 00:16:12,120 --> 00:16:17,200 and he would have needed to be on the lookout for these guys and be aware of 206 00:16:17,200 --> 00:16:21,040 what they were teaching and Paul is about to tell us that in the next verse 207 00:16:21,040 --> 00:16:28,520 verse 18 they have deviated from the truth saying that the resurrection has 208 00:16:28,520 --> 00:16:34,360 already taken place and they're overturning the faith of some okay so 209 00:16:34,360 --> 00:16:38,800 they were teaching some false teachings likely many false teachings but he calls 210 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:42,700 out one in particular here maybe this was the only one I don't know but he 211 00:16:42,700 --> 00:16:47,520 calls this one out and what were they doing first he says they've deviated 212 00:16:47,520 --> 00:16:53,000 from the truth well you're already off to a bad bad start when you deviate from 213 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:57,320 the truth we are in trouble now what is the truth Jesus Christ is the truth 214 00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:02,120 that's the truth and when we begin to deviate from Jesus Christ and the 215 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:06,680 teachings of Jesus Christ and the teaching of scripture then there's 216 00:17:06,680 --> 00:17:11,080 nothing good is going to come from that there but there are a lot of religion 217 00:17:11,080 --> 00:17:16,040 and a lot of religious groups and a lot of Christian so-called Christian 218 00:17:16,040 --> 00:17:22,560 denominations that at one point started with the Word of God but then they begin 219 00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:28,000 to add to the truth of the Word of God they begin to expand it and they begin to 220 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:33,440 expound upon it and they begin to add to it and pretty soon they're not preaching 221 00:17:33,440 --> 00:17:37,720 the truth at all and there might be some shreds of Jesus in there certainly in 222 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:43,080 and in many religions they'll talk about Jesus they might talk about God's Word 223 00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:47,080 but oftentimes as you begin to dig a little deeper with a lot of religious 224 00:17:47,080 --> 00:17:51,960 groups or a lot of denominations they did not stick to the truth they have 225 00:17:51,960 --> 00:17:56,560 deviated from the truth and the same way that Hymenaeus and Philetus did here 226 00:17:56,560 --> 00:18:01,760 they have deviated from the truth and they have begun to teach things that were 227 00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:07,360 untrue and what's the problem with that well it was affecting those who were in 228 00:18:07,360 --> 00:18:12,480 Christ it was affecting Christians and what were they saying they were saying 229 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:19,240 that the resurrection had already taken place okay so you can understand how 230 00:18:19,240 --> 00:18:23,760 this could cause some concern for people so you have a group of people here the 231 00:18:23,760 --> 00:18:27,700 gospel of Jesus Christ begins to make its way through you got Paul you got all 232 00:18:27,700 --> 00:18:31,240 these early folks making these missionary journeys and they're going and 233 00:18:31,240 --> 00:18:35,520 they're preaching and they're teaching and people are just coming to Jesus 234 00:18:35,520 --> 00:18:39,720 Christ left and right to hear the gospel they're repeating of their sins they're 235 00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:44,920 getting baptized they are Christians and they're looking forward to the promise 236 00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:50,000 of the day that Jesus Christ is going to return and then all the sudden you have 237 00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:54,200 these teachers saying oh by the way Jesus has returned well wait a minute 238 00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:59,000 that would cause some fear that would make you think well wait a minute why 239 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:03,040 didn't Jesus come back for me or or maybe all this stuff wasn't true if 240 00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:06,840 Jesus has returned and God's people were supposed to go with Jesus when he 241 00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:11,960 returned and I don't know anybody that's gone with Jesus and so it begins to get 242 00:19:11,960 --> 00:19:15,880 people to question that teaching of Jesus Christ well well maybe that teaching 243 00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:20,960 wasn't true or maybe I've missed Jesus Christ and so this was a pretty 244 00:19:20,960 --> 00:19:25,420 detrimental teaching that these guys were teaching that Jesus Christ had 245 00:19:25,420 --> 00:19:30,560 returned now Paul gave some some comforting words of instruction to the 246 00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:38,360 people of Thessalonica if you want to turn to 1st Thessalonians chapter 4 1st 247 00:19:38,360 --> 00:19:43,760 Thessalonians chapter 4 you probably are familiar with this passage verse 13 is 248 00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:46,480 where we'll start 249 00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:56,360 he's given a little encouragement and particularly about those who have fallen 250 00:19:56,360 --> 00:20:03,440 asleep that is they have died and in this passage he gives some encouragement 251 00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:08,720 which would also I think be encouraging for for those who were in trouble 252 00:20:08,720 --> 00:20:16,320 because of these false teachings 1st Timothy chapter 4 verse 13 we did not 253 00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:21,320 want you to be uninformed brothers concerning those who are asleep so that 254 00:20:21,320 --> 00:20:26,600 you will not grieve like the rest who have no hope since we believe that Jesus 255 00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:32,120 died and rose again in the same way God will bring with him those who have 256 00:20:32,120 --> 00:20:38,560 fallen asleep through Jesus for we say this to you by a revelation from the 257 00:20:38,560 --> 00:20:44,320 Lord we who are still alive at the Lord's coming will certainly have no 258 00:20:44,320 --> 00:20:49,520 advantage over those who have fallen asleep for the Lord himself will descend 259 00:20:49,520 --> 00:20:54,000 from heaven with a shout with the Archangel's voice and with the trumpet 260 00:20:54,000 --> 00:21:00,040 of God and the dead in Christ will rise first then we who are still alive will 261 00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:05,240 be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and 262 00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:11,880 so we will always be with the Lord therefore encourage one another with 263 00:21:11,880 --> 00:21:17,400 these words so this was the promise that was given that Jesus Christ was one day 264 00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:21,560 going to come and the dead in Christ would rise first and those who were left 265 00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:26,720 would be raised with him in the air and what does he say be encouraged with 266 00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:32,240 these words so you can understand why the teachings of Hymenaeus and Philetus 267 00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:37,040 would have been discouraging and why it would have overturned the faith of some 268 00:21:37,040 --> 00:21:41,720 they would have said either a these teachings these the things that Paul 269 00:21:41,720 --> 00:21:46,640 are saying here are either untrue or either I've missed the boat that would 270 00:21:46,640 --> 00:21:52,720 lead to a lot of despair and so Paul tells Timothy in 2nd Timothy chapter 2 271 00:21:52,720 --> 00:21:57,600 that hey here's what you need to be aware of here's what you need to address 272 00:21:57,600 --> 00:22:02,480 here some of these false teachings and these words that we just read here in 273 00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:07,920 first Thessalonians would be good words to combat to give some comfort and some 274 00:22:07,920 --> 00:22:15,040 hope to those whose faith were in danger of being overturned all right back to 275 00:22:15,040 --> 00:22:21,640 2nd Timothy chapter 2 verse 19 nevertheless God's solid foundation 276 00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:29,040 stands firm having this inscription the Lord knows those who are his and everyone 277 00:22:29,040 --> 00:22:35,720 who names the name of the Lord must turn away from unrighteousness okay so God's 278 00:22:35,720 --> 00:22:40,040 foundation is going to stand firm you've got people like Timothy and people like 279 00:22:40,040 --> 00:22:45,400 Paul who are doing the work of God who are genuinely serving the Lord who are 280 00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:50,240 preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ who are true followers of God and there were 281 00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:55,560 certainly others who proclaimed to be true followers of God but they were not 282 00:22:55,560 --> 00:23:00,760 and it was it was obvious by the things that they were teaching so God's firm 283 00:23:00,760 --> 00:23:04,800 foundation will stand strong that is the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ but 284 00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:08,760 what does it say the Lord knows those who are his the Lord's able to discern 285 00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:13,800 the Lord's able to take care the Lord's able to to help those who are doing the 286 00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:18,840 work and the Lord is able to hinder those who are trying to not spread the 287 00:23:18,840 --> 00:23:24,240 gospel of Jesus Christ are spread a lot so the Lord knows what's going on the 288 00:23:24,240 --> 00:23:29,080 Lord is not deceived and we want to make sure that we are not deceived and so 289 00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:34,120 what is he doing here Paul is sending Timothy to address these false teachings 290 00:23:34,120 --> 00:23:40,160 so that no one else will be deceived by these two men and what they are doing 291 00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:46,640 everyone who names the name of the Lord must turn away from right unrighteousness 292 00:23:46,640 --> 00:23:51,680 obviously these guys were not doing that they apparently may have been 293 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:56,640 professing Jesus Christ but they had not turned from unrighteousness they were 294 00:23:56,640 --> 00:24:03,240 very much practicing unrighteousness now what about us if we name the name of the 295 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:08,160 Lord that is if we claim to be followers of Jesus Christ are we those who have 296 00:24:08,160 --> 00:24:13,480 turned from our unrighteousness because once we put our faith and trust in Jesus 297 00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:17,760 Christ that's what our life should look like if we claim to be a follower of 298 00:24:17,760 --> 00:24:23,560 Jesus Christ but we are still habitually living an unrighteousness then it may 299 00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:28,480 very well be that we are not followers of Jesus Christ maybe these guys thought 300 00:24:28,480 --> 00:24:32,400 they were followers of Jesus Christ but it's obvious by the way that they were 301 00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:37,640 living that they were not followers of Jesus Christ so we need to make sure 302 00:24:37,640 --> 00:24:42,760 that we don't fall into that trap maybe we do fall into that trap maybe we do 303 00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:48,160 fall into that trap of being not where we need to be well Paul addresses that 304 00:24:48,160 --> 00:24:54,200 in these next couple of verses verse 20 now in a large house there are not only 305 00:24:54,200 --> 00:25:02,120 gold and silver bowls but also those of wood and clay okay now this is this is 306 00:25:02,120 --> 00:25:07,640 pretty pretty easy for us to understand in your house you got your fancy stuff 307 00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:11,800 and then you got some stuff you eat off of every day you just eat off the old 308 00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:16,440 plates and the old bowls every day but when company comes you get out the good 309 00:25:16,440 --> 00:25:20,200 dishes you get out the gold silverware or whatever it is well I guess it's not 310 00:25:20,200 --> 00:25:24,560 gold if it's silverware I don't know you get out the gold utensils you get out 311 00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:29,280 the fancy pots you get out the nice napkins you get out all the good stuff 312 00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:34,400 now every year when we go to my parents for Christmas my mom has all this spode 313 00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:37,920 Christmas stuff and all the plates are there and you got this size plate you 314 00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:42,240 got bowls and you got all the matching forks and spoons and in the rest of the 315 00:25:42,240 --> 00:25:46,520 time you go up there you know a paper plate that's what we do we understand 316 00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:51,360 that okay there's some nice things and there's some not nice things and Paul is 317 00:25:51,360 --> 00:25:56,440 using that illustration to make a point okay so there's gold and silver but 318 00:25:56,440 --> 00:26:00,120 there's also some lesser things the everyday things that you don't that you 319 00:26:00,120 --> 00:26:03,080 use every day you don't bust out the good stuff and those are the clay and 320 00:26:03,080 --> 00:26:12,640 the wood and he says some for honorable use and some for dishonorable so if 321 00:26:12,640 --> 00:26:18,840 anyone purifies himself from anything dishonorable he will be a special 322 00:26:18,840 --> 00:26:25,460 instrument set apart useful to the master prepared for every good work okay 323 00:26:25,460 --> 00:26:29,400 so there are some things that are that are that are honorable that are good to 324 00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:33,880 use there are some things that are dishonorable you don't you cannot use 325 00:26:33,880 --> 00:26:38,360 the dishonorable things for something that is honorable for instance maybe 326 00:26:38,360 --> 00:26:42,520 you've got an old tub at your house that you use to soak your feet in well you 327 00:26:42,520 --> 00:26:46,840 don't make your roast for church in the tub that you soak your feet in it's 328 00:26:46,840 --> 00:26:51,120 dishonorable if you do please let me know I'm sure we'd be glad to take up an 329 00:26:51,120 --> 00:26:55,440 offer him to buy you a new roast pan at the end of church tonight we understand 330 00:26:55,440 --> 00:26:58,680 that there are some things that are dishonorable and so you don't put 331 00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:03,000 anything good in your foot pan you you could put your food in your in your good 332 00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:06,720 pans okay and so he says that there are some things that are honorable and 333 00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:10,280 there are some things that are dishonorable but what he says is is 334 00:27:10,280 --> 00:27:15,800 that the dishonorable can be purified praise the Lord because that's you and 335 00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:21,320 me we are dishonorable and when we are living in these things that he's talking 336 00:27:21,320 --> 00:27:25,520 about and many other things that aren't mentioned sin in general when we're 337 00:27:25,520 --> 00:27:30,080 living our life in such a way that we're just we're we're disputing over things 338 00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:33,400 that doesn't matter and we're causing trouble and we got a bunch of empty 339 00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:38,520 speech and we're not living by the truth and what we are is we are 340 00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:43,640 dishonorable now if I were to go around and ask every one of you tonight do you 341 00:27:43,640 --> 00:27:48,680 want to be used by God I would hope that everybody would say yes I would like to 342 00:27:48,680 --> 00:27:54,080 be used by God but the problem is is that sometimes we're not fit to be used 343 00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:59,080 by God we're not in good shape our hearts not right we're living in sin and 344 00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:07,440 we we can't be effective and useful to God when we are in a dishonorable state 345 00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:13,960 but praise the Lord even that that is common even that that is dishonorable 346 00:28:13,960 --> 00:28:19,680 be purified that's what he said so if anyone purifies himself from anything 347 00:28:19,680 --> 00:28:27,120 dishonorable he is a special instrument okay now we can be used by God so when 348 00:28:27,120 --> 00:28:32,200 we repent of our sins when we confess our sins when we begin to seek God when 349 00:28:32,200 --> 00:28:38,520 we begin to live by the truth then we will be special instruments then we will 350 00:28:38,520 --> 00:28:42,960 be purified by the precious blood of Jesus Christ then our consciousness will 351 00:28:42,960 --> 00:28:47,720 be we be cleansed then our hearts will be made right then we will begin to 352 00:28:47,720 --> 00:28:53,120 think like God and love like God and have a heart for others like God but 353 00:28:53,120 --> 00:28:57,640 that only comes when we've been purified it doesn't come when we're dishonorable 354 00:28:57,640 --> 00:29:02,680 it doesn't come when we're living in sin and maybe tonight there's some there's 355 00:29:02,680 --> 00:29:08,200 some dishonorable things in our life and we need some purification so that we 356 00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:12,720 don't fall into the trap of Hymenaeus and Philetus that we don't get that far 357 00:29:12,720 --> 00:29:17,120 from the truth that we don't become those who were arguing about things that 358 00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:21,360 don't matter that are turning others away from the faith so maybe there are 359 00:29:21,360 --> 00:29:24,660 some things in our life that are dishonorable tonight but praise the 360 00:29:24,660 --> 00:29:28,760 Lord through Jesus Christ we can be purified and we can be made into 361 00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:32,760 something special boy that has a good sound that we can be made into something 362 00:29:32,760 --> 00:29:37,480 special that if we sit here tonight and say I want to be used by God that we 363 00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:43,000 can be used by God that he will make us fit through Jesus Christ that he will 364 00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:49,000 change our hearts that he can and will use us as instruments that are special 365 00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:55,600 and set apart but only when we've been purified it says then he will be a 366 00:29:55,600 --> 00:30:01,160 special instrument set apart useful to the master prepared for every good work 367 00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:07,080 now I don't know about you but but hopefully we all want to be useful to 368 00:30:07,080 --> 00:30:12,240 the master prepared for every good work but we're not prepared for every good 369 00:30:12,240 --> 00:30:16,360 work if we're living in sin so we need to confess that sin we need to repent of 370 00:30:16,360 --> 00:30:20,320 that sin and we need to seek God tonight if there's something there that shouldn't 371 00:30:20,320 --> 00:30:24,940 be there that God would begin to work in our life that God would begin to make us 372 00:30:24,940 --> 00:30:30,120 a new creation that he would restore us that he would purify us so that we can 373 00:30:30,120 --> 00:30:34,560 be brothers and sisters in Christ who can be used to do the good work of the 374 00:30:34,560 --> 00:30:38,560 kingdom of God let's pray father God we come to you tonight I thank you for 375 00:30:38,560 --> 00:30:42,720 these good words these good instructions dear Lord I pray that you forgive me for 376 00:30:42,720 --> 00:30:47,720 my failures of the areas where as a leader that I don't always say the 377 00:30:47,720 --> 00:30:51,720 things that need to be said or don't say I'm right dear Lord or just Babylon 378 00:30:51,720 --> 00:30:56,240 about things that don't bring clarity but confusion dear Lord I pray that you 379 00:30:56,240 --> 00:31:00,780 forgive me for that and help me to do better help your spirit to to speak to 380 00:31:00,780 --> 00:31:05,400 me help me to hear clearly dear Lord help us all tonight to be those who are 381 00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:09,680 purified maybe there are some things that are hearts and in our lives today 382 00:31:09,680 --> 00:31:14,240 that make us dishonorable dear Lord we don't want to be that way we want to be 383 00:31:14,240 --> 00:31:19,400 those who who are purified who can hear clearly from you who can listen to you 384 00:31:19,400 --> 00:31:24,440 and who can be useful for your kingdom dear Lord we do not want to be those who 385 00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:30,320 are guilty of bringing just trouble in your kingdom of turning folks away from 386 00:31:30,320 --> 00:31:34,800 you dear Lord we do not want to be those who are like Hymenaeus and Phileas and 387 00:31:34,800 --> 00:31:39,480 Alexander dear Lord to make a shipwreck of our faith so dear Lord I pray that we 388 00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:43,760 would not be those who wander from the truth but that we would continually seek 389 00:31:43,760 --> 00:31:47,760 the truth of your word and the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ that we would 390 00:31:47,760 --> 00:31:51,840 be made pure through his precious blood and ready for the good works that you 391 00:31:51,840 --> 00:32:10,040 set before us and I ask these things in Jesus name amen