2 TIMOTHY 2:14-182008 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 2 Timothy 2:14-18

You're listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2008. We're back in 2 Timothy. We spent a couple weeks away from 2 Timothy looking at the triumphal entry as well as the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And now we're back. And so as we come back into 2 Timothy...

I'll remind you of what this book is about and what's going on. This man Timothy that Paul is writing to is a young man who is a pastor and

for the church that is located in Ephesus. And as Timothy is there in Ephesus, he's got some difficult things ahead of him. He doesn't have a really great congregation in the sense of well-behaved like you guys are, but he's got some issues that he has to deal with, some false doctrine that's going around. He's got some issues really that he needs to address. But the thing with Timothy that we find is that he's somewhat timid.

Paul has been writing to him over and over again, reminding him and encouraging him to really step up and do the things that God has called him to do, to fulfill the ministry, to address the false teachers, to correct the false doctrine, to really stand up and complete all the things that is required of him as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And as we've been looking at these things and these encouragements to Timothy, I reminded you and I continue to remind you that you and I are much like Timothy. In fact, I often say you are a Timothy because like Timothy, you have been called into the ministry. Perhaps not to pastor a church in Ephesus 2,000 years ago. That's probably not your calling. But your calling is to minister to the people around you that God has placed in your life.

Jesus said to go and to make disciples. And as you go, wherever you go, to make disciples. And God has placed people in your life that he's put there for the specific reason that you would instruct them, that you would encourage them, that you would help them in their walk with Jesus Christ, that you would disciple them and teach them what it means to draw close to him and walk with him.

He's put you there to be a witness to those who do not believe, but to strengthen those who do. And so you and I, like Timothy, are called into the ministry and we need these principles. We need the same thing like Timothy to be bold and do the work that God has placed before us. As we look here in verses 14 through 18 of 2 Timothy chapter 2,

You and I need these principles that Paul is teaching Timothy. We need to hear these things that we might apply them to our life. And we're looking at really good doctrine and bad doctrine. That's what Paul is addressing and dealing with with Timothy here in 2 Timothy 2. Those who are in the church that are leading people astray that have brought in false doctrine, Timothy, you need to deal with them. But how do you deal with them?

How is Timothy supposed to address these things? What is he supposed to focus on? Well, Paul shares with him. Now, as we look at these things, it's important to know, and I'll refer back to this throughout the study, some things are worth discussion, but not obsession.

Some things are worth discussion, but they're not worth being obsessed over and consumed with. It's okay to have the discussion, to have the various opinions shared, to dig in and find out the things that the scripture says, but it's not healthy to be consumed by many things. Most things, it's not healthy to be obsessed with them. He's dealing with striving, with false teaching, with

with contentions and disputes within the body. It's not healthy. It's not good, Timothy, to strive about those things. There's a state of mind that a person can come into, Christians can fall into this, where you cannot rest until everyone else is convinced and believe the way that you believe. And that's what Paul is dealing with. It's a dangerous place to be when it's your life mission to convince everybody else of the thing that you are convicted of or convinced of.

And Paul tells Timothy, hey, if you involve yourself in that, those who involve themselves in those things will ruin themselves, but also those who hear them. So we're dealing with bad doctrine and really three phases of bad doctrine as it kind of progresses from bad to worse. And then we'll end up with verse 15, looking at what we are to do and where we are to be focused. But let's start out in verse 14. Paul says, remind them of these things. What things?

He says, remind them of these things. Now, two weeks ago, I guess it was three weeks ago rather, we looked at verses 8 through 13 here in 2 Timothy. And as we started that portion of Scripture, the Apostle Paul started off verse 8 saying, remember,

And so he's telling Timothy, remember. And then later on now in verse 14, he says, remind them. He's telling Timothy, Timothy, you need to remember these things. You need to set your mind on these things. What are these things? Well, when we looked at verses 8 through 13, we talked about the gospel message, the

Jesus Christ being the Messiah, being God, raised from the dead, and so on and so forth. The essentials really of the faith, the essentials of the gospel message that Paul outlines and details there in verses 8-13.

And so as he told Timothy to remember those things, to set his mind on those things, now he tells Timothy also, not just you remember, but remind them, remind everybody else, remind the people that have been entrusted to you about these things. Timothy, you need to share with them again the gospel message.

As believers in Jesus Christ, we should never get tired. We should never grow weary of hearing the gospel message. We should never get tired of sharing the gospel message. It's something that we need to remember and set our minds on. It's something that we need to remind others about, that we would stay focused on the central core of our faith, the gospel of Jesus Christ.

So he says, remind them of these things. But then also, here's what you're to do, Timothy. He goes on to say, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit to the ruin of the hearers. Not only are you to remind them, Timothy, but you're to charge them or command them strongly not to strive about words to no profit. Here's the first phase of bad doctrine.

Typically, a person does not wake up and think, I want to become a false teacher today. Let me see what I can twist. Let me see how I can really develop some bad doctrine for the church. It doesn't start out that way. It starts with something small. As Paul says here, something like striving about words to no profit. Striving about words to no profit leads to the ruin of the hearers, Paul says.

It leads to destruction and ruin among those who hear it. This word strive, it means to contend about words. It means to wrangle about empty and trifling matters. It's debating and discussing and contending over worthless things that really are not important and do not matter.

Also, the word strive is in the tense that indicates that it's continuous or repeated action. So it's not we had an argument or we had a debate, but it's a continual strife. It's a continual debate that is raging on. Now, as Christians, there are some things that are worth striving about. The essentials of the faith, they're worth fighting for. They're worth standing up for. They're worth the fight every time.

The essential elements of the gospel message. The essential elements of who Jesus is. The fact that He is the Son of God. He is God. What He did for us. The clear teachings of the scripture. Those things are essential. And they're worth fighting for. But there's many other things that are not worth striving over. They're not worth fighting over. They're not worth dividing over. They're words to no profit.

There's no value in striving over them. Let me give you somewhat of a silly example, but it's fairly recent in your memory, so it might help understand these things. Last Sunday was March 23rd, and we celebrated something. What did we celebrate? He says Christmas, some said Easter, and some say Resurrection Day. Now, which is it? Is it Easter or is it Resurrection Day?

Now, when you last week came to church, you might have walked up to someone and said, hey, happy Easter, great to see you. And they corrected you saying, no, happy resurrection day. Anybody have that happen? Okay, don't raise your hand, I'm just kidding. Easter versus resurrection day, which is the way Christians should say it, resurrection day. They should never say Easter, some would say.

Now, it's worth discussing. Hey, we could talk about that. We could have a discussion about, are you supposed to use Easter? Are you supposed to say Resurrection Day? It's okay to talk about, but there's a danger when it becomes your life mission. I'm going to make every Christian, every Christian needs to know that you cannot say Happy Easter. You're supposed to say Happy Resurrection Day, and if you don't, you're probably not saved. When it becomes your life mission, your obsession, that no, it has to be Resurrection Day,

Well, now there's an issue. Now you're striving over words to no profit. In the end, it doesn't matter what you call it. It's the day that we chose to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It's the day we celebrate it. And so it's a word to no profit if we strive over such things. There's many other examples. But turn with me to Romans chapter 14 to really dig into this a little bit more.

We'll come back to 2 Timothy in a few moments, but Romans chapter 14, Paul has some important things to say about these disputes that we can get into and these arguments that we can have and how we can get caught up in these things that really do not profit and don't matter in the end. Romans chapter 14, I want to read to you verses 1 through 5. Paul says this, "...receive one who is weak in the faith."

but not to disputes over doubtful things. For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let him who does not eat judge him who eats, for God has received him.

Verse 5. Here's what Paul says. Verse 6.

Those who aren't really strong in the faith, those who really aren't mature, those who have a lot of growing to do, receive them. But he adds on, not to disputes over doubtful things. So here's the idea. There's this person who's weak in the faith and they have these matters that are really important to them, these issues that are so important to them.

And Paul says, receive them, love them, but not receive them in the sense that now you're always going to be arguing and debating and disputing over these doubtful things, over these words that profit nothing.

These things that really don't mean anything. He goes on to give a couple examples. Talking about eating. It was a big deal in that day. Well, Christians shouldn't eat this type of meat. They shouldn't eat that type of meat. Or only should eat vegetables. You know, like Daniel. You got to go on the Daniel diet. Only eat vegetables. And then you're really holy. And so, Christians would fight and dispute over these things. And that's why Paul was addressing them here in Romans. And so, Paul says, look, receive him who is weaker in the faith, but not to dispute. Now,

I think in our thinking, we would often have things reversed. We would think that the more spiritual person would be the one who would be striving over these kinds of details. You know, the person who really regulates their diet? Well, they must be the one who's the really holy person. The one who really follows the law, the Old Testament code, and they must be especially holy. They must be especially spiritual. They must have great maturity because look at the way...

that they follow these things. But here's what Paul says. It's the weaker person who's obsessed with and concerned with these types of things. He says, don't go back and forth, you judging him because he's eating meat or you judging him because he doesn't and have this despise for one another. These are not worth disputing over. Remember what Jesus said? He said, it's not what goes into a person that defiles him.

He said, "Don't you understand this? It goes in, it kind of gets processed, it goes out. That doesn't defile you. No, instead what defiles a person is what comes out, because that's what comes from the heart. That's the root of sin right there in our heart, and that's what defiles a person, not what comes into it. And so there are those still today who will fight and wrangle and dispute over what you eat. Paul says, "That's the weaker brother, that's the weaker sister.

One who is weak in the faith, who is striving over such things, who is disputing such things. But notice what he goes on to say. He talks about the difference between one day better than another. Again, it's the weaker brother, the weaker sister, the person who is weaker in the faith that has the hang-up. But then at the end of verse 5 he says, let each be fully convinced in his own mind.

Let each one be fully convinced in his own mind. Here's what he's saying. Look, you want to be convinced of that? You be convinced of that. That's fine. You be convinced. But don't hold what you're convicted of or what you're convinced of against anybody else if it's not the clear teaching of Scripture. If it's not the essentials, it's not worth striving over. It's not worth fighting over and disputing over continually. Oh, sure, we can have the discussion. We can talk about it a couple times.

But it's not worth striving over and continually fighting over because it will lead to the ruin of the hearers. You can be convinced. And you know what God has spoken to you and you need to be obedient to that. But God has not given you the mission of convincing everybody else of what you've been convinced of if it's not the clear teaching of Scripture, if it's not the essentials of the faith. So it's not your mission in life to...

Teach everybody that it's Resurrection Day and not Easter. Or that you're only supposed to eat vegetables. Or you're supposed to worship only on this day and you can't worship on the other days. God hasn't given you that mission. He hasn't entrusted you with that mission. Notice what he says here in verse 4 of Romans 14. To his own master he stands or falls. He's accountable to God. And he says God can make him stand.

You don't have to do it. God has the means. He has the capability to reach them and speak to them if they need to be spoken to about those things. It's not your mission. It's not what God has called you to do. To strive about those things that are non-essentials. To wrangle and fight over those things that are not essential to the faith. Paul said, going back to 2 Timothy 2, it's to the ruin of the hearers.

If we strive about those things, there's nothing to gain and a whole lot to lose. The danger with this striving is not just for the individual who has the hang-up or has the, this is really important to me, or has the conviction or is convinced of certain things, but the danger is also for those who hear the striving, those who are listening to the argument. It's like going to the Harvest Crusade. You know when you go to the Harvest Crusade and

There's the people out there standing in front. They got the signs, great glory leads to hell and all kinds of other things. The danger is not just for that person who is sharing those things. For the crowd that gathers as they hear the striving, the disputing. Paul says it leads to ruin. And that's why he charges Timothy, or he tells Timothy, charge them not to do it. It will be destructive.

It will wreak havoc on those who hear, those who are involved, those who are around this disputing that's taking place. Let's go on to verse 16 of 2 Timothy chapter 2. And you'll say, wait a minute, we skipped verse 15. No, we did, but we'll come back to it at the end. Verse 16 says, Here's phase two of bad doctrine.

It could start out with striving about words that are to no profit, and it leads to, well, the ruin of the hearers. And then it progresses on to profane and idle babbling, which leads to, which causes an increase in ungodliness. And so Paul tells Timothy to shun profane and idle babblings. I like this word shun. It means to turn yourself for the purpose of avoiding something.

And perhaps you can relate to that. Have you ever changed direction, maybe gone the long way around so that you don't have to run into that certain person you see at the end of the hall? Oh man, I don't want to have that discussion. I don't want to talk about the money I owe them or whatever the case. I don't want to...

Have that, I'm going to go the other way around. Make sure I don't have contact with them. That's the idea of this word shun, to change direction so that you avoid it all together. Kind of like the parable Jesus told of the Good Samaritan, you know, and there's the religious leaders who came and they saw this guy all beaten up and so they just kind of like crossed to the other side of the road, go the long way around, make sure, you know, I didn't have any part of that, I don't want to help him at all. That's the word shun. Or maybe you can relate better to this one.

Have you ever called someone at a time you knew they wouldn't be able to answer so you could leave a message and not have to deliver the bad news with them on the other end?

Oh man, I don't want to feel the pain of that conversation. They're at work right now. I'm going to call their house right now and just leave a message so that they can listen to it on their own. That's the idea here of shun. Paul's telling Timothy, Timothy, charge them not to get involved with those things and be striving about those things. And you, Timothy, hey, go out of your way. Avoid those strivings. Avoid those disputes. Avoid those contentions.

Because they will increase to more ungodliness. It's the same word that Paul uses writing to Titus in Titus chapter 3 verse 9. Where he tells Titus, avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law. Avoid these things, Timothy. You're not to get sucked into them.

Some people just like to argue and debate. They thrive on raising up everybody and getting everybody all up in arms. They thrive on that mentality and those things. Avoid that type of person. Avoid those discussions, those debates and disputes. Again, some things are worth the discussion.

We can talk about them. We can share different opinions. We can share different insight into the Word of God and the things that we're facing in life. But they're not worth obsession. They're not worth obsessing over and becoming consumed with. If we do, it will destroy us. There's a difference between a person who is asking a sincere question and a person who's asking a question just to start the argument.

Just to contend, just to start some friction. And a lot of times you can tell. You can tell when someone's kind of baiting you, like, you know, asking you a question just so that you guys can go at it. And Paul tells Timothy, shun those discussions, those debates, those contentions. Avoid them altogether. Get out of their way so that you do not become a part of it, Timothy. He says, shun profane and idle babblings.

Something profane is something that's unhallowed or ungodly. Something that's unholy. Idle babblings are empty discussion. Those things that, well, I like how the New International Version translates it. They call it godless chatter. The godless chatter, the things, they really mean nothing. They have nothing to do with God. And yet we can be consumed by them. He says they will increase to more ungodliness.

The person who is consumed with striving about words is a person who is weak in the faith, who is weak in doctrine, and their idle babblings will increase ungodliness. Know and understand that bad doctrine will always lead to bad living, to bad choices, to bad actions. What you believe will determine everything.

How you live. Bad doctrine, bad actions. Good doctrine, well, that will teach you, it will lead you to right kind of living, the way that God has called you to live. And so if you're consumed with this bad doctrine, consumed with these idle babblings, it will increase ungodliness. It will take you farther away. Because of this bad doctrine, it will affect your life, the way that you live, the choices that you make, the actions that you take.

It will always lead to bad action. In 1 Timothy chapter 6, Paul is writing to Timothy pretty much about the same thing, warning him against those who will not consent to wholesome words, to sound doctrine. And he goes on to tell them that the person who does, the person who's consumed with these things or caught up in these things that really have nothing to do with what God has given to us,

Paul says of that person, he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words. And then he adds, from which come envy, strife, reviling, and evil suspicions. Profane and idle babblings, contentions, disputes, and arguments over words. They don't lead to godliness. They lead to more ungodliness. They lead to envy and strife and reviling and evil suspicions. They lead to more corruption.

There's some things that we can discuss, but they're not worth fighting over. They're not worth dividing over. They're not worth striving for. Which language did Jesus speak? Some could get really caught up in this. And they go back and forth. Well, he spoke Hebrew. No, he spoke Greek because that was the language of the day. I say, hey, he speaks English to me. That's all I know. It doesn't matter. In the end, what does it matter? It's not worth striving over.

Doesn't make you more spiritual if you have that conversation and debate and discussion over and over and over again. It's not your job to convince everybody else what language he spoke. That's not essential. It's not important. How about, which version of the Bible do you use? Oh, there's some heavy debates there. There's one group that says only the King James Version is valid. Now, some would say they make that claim because that's the version Jesus used, but that's just a joke.

I heard a teacher once say one time, yeah, he used the red letter edition so he'd know what to say. Does it matter? Does it really matter? Well, there's some versions, yes, that are very bad. So we can have the discussion. But is it essential that everybody has a particular version and everybody only uses that version and it's your life mission to make sure that everybody knows that? No.

You can use the New King James Version, the King James Version, the New Living Translation, the New International Version. Hey, there's lots of great translations that God could speak to you through. It's not essential. It's not important. It's not worth striving over. Yeah, it may be worth the discussion. We could talk about the differences. We could talk about the merits of the King James Version and the men of prayer, the really spiritual men who are involved in that. There's great things there.

contributing to the King James Version. But it's not worth being obsessed over. It's not healthy to be consumed by these things, striving about them and not resting until everyone else is convinced. No, instead, you will ruin yourself and all of those who hear you. Bad doctrine phase three we find in verses 17 and 18. It says this,

Their message was spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort, who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past and they overthrow the faith of some.

Phase one, striving about words to no profit. It leads to the ruin of the hearers. And then profane and idle babblings, a little bit worse now. And it leads to more ungodliness. And then finally, phase three, the message now infects the people around them. There's an infection that's taking place. And the result is that it overthrows the faith of some. Paul tells Timothy, their message will spread like cancer.

Their message will spread like cancer. The original thought that Paul is conveying here is not the thought that we have whenever we think of cancer, although it applies. It's the same mentality. It's the same thought. But the word cancer is probably better translated gangrene. It was a disease by which a part of the body suffering from inflammation becomes so corrupted that unless there's a remedy applied, the evil spreads and attacks other parts of the body.

Any type of infection will do this. If you get some type of wound or scrape or cut, it's not properly tended to, it becomes infected. Well, that infection can spread to and affect your whole body. You can actually die from a very simple infection if it's not tended to. It's something that spreads and it eats away the things around it.

And so in that sense, it is a lot like cancer. It spreads, it infects, it continues to grow until it destroys completely. And that's what Paul says about their message, the idle babblings, the striving to no profit.

The message that they're teaching, the message that they're focused on will spread like cancer, will begin to infect all of the people around them and all of the people around them and continue to grow if it's not dealt with. So Timothy, you need to charge them not to strive about such things. And then he goes on to list two people by name, Hymenaeus and Philetus, he says, are of this sort.

He calls them out by name. He says, look, these guys are guys who are teaching a message that will spread like cancer, that will infect and destroy those who hear it. It's a bold statement of the Apostle Paul. And here in the United States, it's something that we would shy away from. Well, don't name them by name. You know, you might be liable for something. There might be some type of lawsuit that takes place.

Or, hey, we shouldn't judge them, you know. We're brothers and we all believe in God and so we shouldn't talk about them. Listen, would you please understand that when someone is diverting from the clear teaching of Scripture, it's okay. In fact, sometimes it's necessary for them to be dealt with by name. It's necessary for them to be called out to the carpet. It's necessary for us to address those things from time to time. Because if it's an essential thing,

if it's deviating from the clear teaching of Scripture, it needs to be addressed. Because their message will spread like cancer if it's contrary to the Word of God. Their message will spread and infect and destroy those who hear it. Paul said they've strayed concerning the truth. They didn't start out that way. They've strayed. They've wandered away. One who is weak in the faith strives over words to no profit.

They become consumed with profane and idle babblings and eventually it leads to a straying from the truth because they've never grown. They've never allowed God really to do the work that He wants to do in them because they've been so consumed with this one thing. It's like they're caught up in this one thing and they're just so focused on it that they can't see the rest of the things that God is trying to speak to them. It's like, remember Jesus said about the Pharisees? Remember He said, you strain at a gnat.

But you swallow a what? A camel. Imagine trying to swallow a camel. Jesus is saying, look, you're straining at a gnat. You're trying to keep this gnat from entering your throat so that you don't defile the law because then you would have had blood. So you're trying not to swallow this gnat. You're trying to gag yourself and choke yourself so you don't swallow this gnat that went into your mouth. And while you're focusing on this little tiny thing, you're swallowing a camel.

See, we can get so consumed and obsessed with these little things that really don't mean anything. And when we do, then we neglect, we neglect the huge things that God wants to deal with and address in our life.

We neglect the really important areas that God wants to develop in us. And so someone who's weak in the faith and strives over these words and become consumed and obsessed with these things, it leads from a straying from the truth because they've never developed, they've never grown, they've never matured because they've been so focused and so consumed on this little thing that really does not matter. We need to learn to let it go. We need to learn that, hey, if scripture did not make it that important...

If it's not clear there, if God didn't tell us 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 times, once is enough. But look at the important doctrines. How many times He shows them to us and repeats them over and over and over again. And if it's not that, if it's not reinforced and clear in Scripture, it's not worth fighting over, it's not worth becoming obsessed with, it's not worth disputing with everyone, trying to convince them of what we have come to believe, unless it's an essential thing.

Unless it's an important element of the Christian faith, of who Jesus is, the gospel message, or the clear teachings of the Word of God. These guys have strayed from the truth, Paul says, and here's their doctrinal error. They say that the resurrection is already past. The resurrection, it's already done. We missed it. Already taken place. You know, today there's still those who teach the same exact thing. The resurrection is already past. There's a teaching going around under the label of preterism.

become somewhat popular, you might have heard of it. Hopefully you haven't and that's good. Avoid those things, shun them. Go the long way around, you don't have to deal with these things. But preterists believe that everything prophetically has already been fulfilled. The book of Revelation, the tribulation, all that was already taking place back in the first century. They say that Nero was the Antichrist and there's not going to be a future Antichrist. The tribulation period is over.

They teach that Christ returned in the clouds to watch the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. And that was the return of Jesus that was proclaimed. They teach that the church now has replaced Israel, that God has no future plans with Israel. And the fact that Israel is a state right now is just kind of a big accident. And God had nothing to do with that. They, all kinds of crazy things. They teach that Satan's already bound, that we're already right now in the millennium.

And so Satan's bound. He can't hinder the spread of the gospel. And Christ is ruling and reigning. And it's not a literal thousand years, but it's figurative. And we're enjoying the millennium right now. They strayed concerning the truth. Deviated from the clear teaching of the scripture. What God has said is going to come to pass. Paul says, Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort.

And the result is that they overthrow the faith of some. These guys who have erred don't just affect themselves. It would be one thing if they just got themselves all twisted up and confused and messed up doctrinally. But what they're doing is they're affecting others. They're infecting others. And they're overthrowing the faith of some, causing some to just cast off and say, forget it. I don't want to believe anymore. I don't want to walk with God. I don't want to have a relationship with God.

As a result of this endless striving and debate and things that are taking place. So what should we do? There's people today who believe the same thing, the resurrection has already passed. What should we do? There's people around us who are really out of line. They're really living contrary to what scripture has said. Are we to continue to argue with them until they're convinced of what the Bible actually teaches? There's a certain futility about that, you should know.

Sometimes God leads us to people and he causes discussions and allows us to discuss. And that's good. We need to discuss things. Titus chapter 3 tells us though in verse 10 to reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition. So here's the thing. Hey, we can have the discussion a couple times. You believe a little bit differently about the rapture of the church. I think it comes after the tribulation. You think it comes before. Let's get together and settle this. Well, hey, we can have the discussion a couple times.

We can talk about it a little bit, but there's no point in us going endless striving, text messaging each other, you know, oh, look at this verse. I just found this verse. This is a good one. Going back and forth and every time you see each other, oh, look at this and this. I'm going to prove to you that I'm right.

There's a futility in that because you are bound and determined to convince them. At the same time, you're bound and determined not to be convinced by them. And they're on the other side, bound and determined to convince you, and they're sure you're not going to convince them. And so you're just kind of like stubborn, you know, animals going head to head. And it's useless wranglings. Striving about words to no profit.

Don't shun the profane and idle babblings. Don't get sucked into those endless debates and arguments. Stay away from them. Some people just like to argue and debate. Paul says, avoid those discussions. And when he tells Titus in Titus 3.10, he said, even avoid those people. Reject the divisive person after one or two admonitions. Some things are worth the discussion, but they're not worth the obsession. They're not worth being consumed over.

So that's bad doctrine. And it starts out small. It starts out with a little thing, but it quickly and easily grows into a straying from the truth and causing some to overthrow their faith. So what ought we to do instead? Well, that's where we turn to verse 15 here in 2 Timothy chapter 2. Paul tells Timothy, be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Here's what we ought to do.

Timothys, be diligent to present yourself approved to God. I think we could spend several weeks just looking at this verse alone, but we're not going to do that. And so I would encourage you to spend some time. Meditate on this scripture. Write it down and allow God to speak to you because there's much here. For many of you, this is a familiar verse, but I would still encourage you. Yeah, you know it, you've learned it, you've heard it from your youth, but it's worth meditating on again. It's worth considering again.

be diligent to present yourself approved to God. Notice the target. Who's being presented approved to God? Yourself. It doesn't say, Timothy, be diligent to present everybody else approved to God. It doesn't say that. It says, be diligent to present yourself approved to God. In Romans chapter 14, again, he said, why do you judge another servant? Why do you judge another servant?

To his own mastery, he stands or falls and he'll be made to stand because God is able to make him stand. And he goes on to say, let each be convinced in his own mind. Your job is not to present someone else approved unto God, but to present yourself approved to God. Your primary responsibility in life is to present yourself approved to God.

Not presenting others approved to God. Now that may sound kind of weird and you think, wait a minute, we're to put others first and be others centered and die to ourselves? Well, yeah, all that's true. But first and foremost, you are responsible and accountable for your relationship with God, for where you stand with God. Your first priority is to present yourself approved to God. It's not your job to convince everyone else.

Again, yes, it's okay to have the discussion, but not the obsession. Once or twice. And then after that, leave it alone. Don't get caught up and consumed with them and their doctrinal issues. But you present yourself approved to God. Looking at this with just a little bit of different emphasis. Approved to God. Approved to God. Who are you diligent to present yourself approved to?

If you're not diligent to present yourself approved to God, you're diligent to present yourself approved to someone. Whether it's yourself, you're diligent to present yourself so that you're comfortable and happy with what you're getting and what you're doing. Or you're diligent to present yourself approved to your boss or to your peers or to your family. There's a great danger. Proverbs speaks about the fear of man is a snare.

If we're out to please other people, if we're out to try to be approved by other people, we're in a dangerous spot. No, we need to be concerned about what does God think, not what others think. What does He say? Am I pleasing to Him? Am I presenting myself approved to God? This word approved, it means to be tested, to be proved to be genuine or pure.

And it's a word that's used along with different types of metals. Not metals like you get at the Olympics, but metals, you know, like gold and silver and iron. And how is metal approved? How is it tested? Well, it's put in the fire. The blemishes, the things that are not pure in the metal are taken care of in the fire. What are we tested with? How are our impurities dealt with?

Well, there's a few things we could look at, but primarily we're tested with the Word of God. It's the Word of God that deals with our impurities. That's why Paul says there at the end of verse 15, rightly dividing the Word of truth. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God. How? By rightly dividing the Word of truth. By having a correct and accurate understanding and application of the Word of God. The word rightly divide means to cut it straight. Now, Paul was a tent maker.

He knew the importance and value of a straight cut. In order for the tents to come together right, things had to be done according to the pattern. I remember being young, my mom would take us to all these different fabric stores and it was just torture for me and my sister. Because she would sit there and she would look at all these patterns, just look at patterns endlessly, endlessly, endlessly. And say, Mom, you're striving about patterns to no profit. No, I didn't say that. But she'd just look and look and finally she'd find the one that she wanted.

And so then she'd take it, she'd get the material she needed, and she'd go home and she would sew it together according to this pattern. And it had to be cut according to the pattern. It had to be put together right. And if you didn't follow the pattern, well, you end up with something quite different than what was intended. Paul is telling Timothy, rightly divide. You've got to cut it straight, Timothy, according to the pattern. And the pattern is God's design, what He meant for the Word of God, what He intended for the Word of God to say and to mean.

Oftentimes we talk about different things and we say, well, that's your interpretation. No, that's not my interpretation. And we kind of get the idea that, you know, there's many interpretations. But the reality is that there's only one correct interpretation. And it's the one that God intended. There's not multiple interpretations, but there's one. It's the one that God intended. And so you and I as Christians,

students of the word of God we need to rightly divide we need to learn to to cut it straight a straight cut not okay well I'm going to cut this part out I don't really like it I'm going to include that part that one's really good I'll take out that one oh that's a good promise cut that and we got this jagged cut and now we can say hey you can name it and claim it in Jesus Christ because we've got this jagged cut where we take out all the things we don't want and we keep what we do want and we failed to to cut it straight and keep it according to the pattern and design of God

We need to cut it straight. Keeping the scripture in context. Considering what we're looking at and the scriptures we're looking at in comparison to all of scripture, the whole counsel of God's word. Because we can easily fall into the trap of twisting scripture to accommodate our own sin. We can twist it. We can cut it out and avoid and not look at certain things so that we can enjoy our compromise and continue in the path that we've been

Paul says you need to be diligent to present yourself approved to God, tested and tried by rightly dividing the Word of God, by looking at what Scripture actually teaches and then taking that and applying it to your life. It's often been said, hey, I'm an expert at applying Scripture to your life, but it's applying Scripture to my life that's difficult.

it's easy to look at you and say man you really need to read this verse man you need to read this chapter it's a good chapter for you you ever do that in your devotions or in a bible study you're like oh man i gotta get the cd so-and-so needs to hear this they gotta hear this yeah it's easy to do that comes naturally to us what doesn't come naturally to us taking those same things and applying them to our own heart and that's why paul says you have to be diligent timothy

It's going to take some diligence. It's going to take some work. You've got to apply yourself and be diligent to cut it straight in your own life, to test your own heart by the Word of God, to test yourself, your actions, that in the end you would be presented, approved to God. You've been tested. You've been right standing before God as He's shown you things in His Word. You've corrected. You've repented. You've turned. You've applied His Word to your life. And in the end, Paul tells Timothy,

You'll be a worker that does not need to be ashamed. A worker that does not need to be ashamed. Timothy, if you rightly divide the word of truth, and if you apply that to your life, if you're being diligent to present yourself approved to God by His word, well, in the end, you won't need to be ashamed. The idea of this phrase here, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, is the idea of a worker, someone who's done something wrong,

And there's no need for fear or shame when their work is inspected. You ever had your work inspected? You know what it's like to have your boss kind of like over your shoulder? Or to be investigated? You know what it's like to be inspected?

As I shared with you at the beginning, we're halfway through re-piping the church and my father-in-law is the one who's doing the work for us and we're really blessed by it. But he was allowing me to get in the way and I called it helping him. And as I was trying to help him and get in the way, he was teaching me actually how to solder the pipe together and

He would let me do it on pieces that were not actually installed, but we assembled out here and then we installed it. Because that way, as he taught me to do it, then he would take it, he would pick it up, and there was this one that was kind of like a funny shape and had all these connections and

So I had to solder it all together and then after I was done, he picked it up and he inspected it. And he looked at it on the inside and, ooh, there's solder in the threads here. We've got to take care of that. You shouldn't have put solder in the threads. And okay, this one looks good. This one looks good. Oh, hey, this one needs a little bit of touch up there, a little bit of extra solder there. You didn't quite cover it all the way. The work had to be inspected. And that's the idea here.

That you and I need to be diligent to present ourselves approved to God so that when He inspects the work, when He inspects, hey, what did you do with my word? And how did you live according to it? And did you apply your word to your life? Did you apply my word to your life, rather? When He inspects it, we need to be ashamed. In Romans chapter 14, verse 12, Paul tells us that each of us shall give an account of himself to God. You're going to have to stand before God and give an account of yourself.

Did you rightly divide? Were you diligent to present yourself approved to God? When he inspects the work and looks at it from every angle, according to the standard, the word of God, will you be ashamed? Will you fall short? Paul's telling Timothy, listen, Timothy, there's a lot of guys around. You need to tell them not to strive about those things because it's going to ruin a lot of people. It's going to lead them away from the faith. But Timothy, you can't get sucked into that.

And even charging them, even giving them the command, you can't get caught up and endlessly debate them. No, Timothy, you need to keep the main thing, the main thing, and that's where do you stand with God? Are you in right standing with Him? Are you a worker who does not need to be ashamed? Are you approved to God? Are you pleasing to Him? That's your focus, Timothy. You're not going to stand and give an account of them. They're going to do that.

Each one, he says, each of us shall give an account of himself to God. Will you be a worker that is not ashamed, approved, tested by the correct understanding, the right application of the word of God. Be a student of the word for your own self. Be diligent and let God change you. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, as we meditate on these things, God, I pray for ourselves. I pray for our hearts that you would help us

to be diligent in these things. Lord, if there's those little areas where we've been weak in the faith, God, we've been caught up and consumed with really things that do not matter. God, I pray that you would help us to see that or that we would turn from those things, that we wouldn't be consumed by those things, but that we would just let it go and allow you to do the work in other people that you want to do. Lord, help us to let you be God in other people's lives. Help us not to be obsessed with

With these things that are not essentials, may we allow you, Holy Spirit, to do your work in other people. But God, I pray that you would help us to be primarily concerned with our relationship with you, where we stand with you. Lord, help us to be diligent to present ourselves approved to God. Help us, Lord, to rightly divide, to not twist the scripture. Lord, our heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. Our heart is quick to deceive us and confuse us.

and trick us into thinking that our sin is okay, that our compromise is fine. But Lord, may your word pierce through that. And may we hold fast to the right understanding, to the correct interpretation of your word. Lord, that it might affect the way that we live. Lord, that we wouldn't ruin those who hear us, but Lord, that we would minister to them and bless them and edify them. God, that we wouldn't stray from the faith or stray from the truth, but Lord, that we would grow stronger in your word, in your truth. Help us, Lord.

to turn as you speak to us, to repent, to let these things go. Lord, that in the day that we stand before you, we would not need to be ashamed, but Lord, that we have correctly applied your word to our hearts. Give us strength, Lord. Give us insight. By your Holy Spirit, Lord, lead us into all truth. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.