2 TIMOTHY 2:23-262008 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 2 Timothy 2:23-26

When I was in Bible college,

I had a class on the book of Romans taught by Pastor David Hawking. You might have heard him on K-Wave and a very bold guy, boisterous guy. And he had this saying that he would repeat over and over again throughout the course and it stuck with me and so I pass it on to you this morning. And that is that he would say, you think you are right. And of course you think you're right because if you didn't think you were right, then you would change your mind.

It makes sense, right? I'm going to say right a whole lot, I just know it. But you think that you're right. There's things that you have opinions on and beliefs about, and you're pretty convinced that you're right. Because if you weren't convinced that you were right, well, you would change your mind and you would begin to believe or think or have an opinion of a different sort. And so we, as believers in Jesus Christ, we have these things in

Well, we think and we're pretty convinced that we are right, that we believe it the right way, that we know exactly the right stand or stance upon an issue. And yet, Paul the Apostle, as he's writing to Timothy, is sharing with him something that we need to know. Because we think we're right, doesn't give us the right to now fight and dispute over every little thing.

He tells us in verse 23, but avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. Although we think we're right, and although we have within us, and maybe you've experienced this, and probably most of you have, that there's the need that we have to be right. There's the need that other people need to know that we are right. And sometimes, well, we get caught up in dumb and foolish arguments.

You don't have to raise your hand, but how many of you...

have experienced an argument and afterwards you realize this was stupid. It was over something that's not worth arguing about. Sometimes you get to the end of an argument and I know you've experienced this and you try to think what started this in the beginning? What was it that started this fight, this striving, this dispute that we had? And often times it's something little that even we cannot remember because it's not significant.

Paul is talking to Timothy and he's sharing with him that, yes, there are things that you have opinions about. And as Christians, there's lots of variety in things that we believe, in areas that we differ in practice, in style, in preference, in the way that we apply different scriptures and the choices that we make. There's lots of variety about our lives and our choices and our decisions and our beliefs.

But Paul tells Timothy that in light of that, knowing that those things are true, we need to avoid foolish and ignorant disputes because we know that they generate strife, Paul says.

Now there's some things that are worth fighting about. There's some things that are worth dividing over and striving for. The essentials of the Christian faith. When you come to the essentials of the gospel message, the basic gospel message about Jesus Christ being God, becoming a man,

Dying on the cross for our sins and being raised again the third day. And that by believing in Him, we can have life in His name. That's the clear gospel message according to the scriptures. And those elements cannot be changed. Those elements are worth striving for. As soon as a person or a group

deviates from that, now begins to say, well, Jesus isn't the only way, or other such claims. Well, now there's something worth striving over. There's a deviation from the essentials, and so we need...

To have division there. There needs to be a separation. It's worth fighting for those things. The essential elements of the person and nature of Jesus Christ. The essential elements really are the clear teachings of Scripture. And on those things we must stand fast and we must stand strong.

But there's lots of other things that are not worth fighting over. And that's what Paul's talking about. Not on the essentials, not on those areas where we need to stand strong, but those other areas, well...

They're not so important. And we looked at this a couple of weeks ago and earlier in 2 Timothy chapter 2, where Paul is showing the pattern as people get involved in these pet doctrines or they get obsessed with these things. And then it leads to really a straying from the truth, a falling away from the faith and the corruption of those who listen and hear those things.

And so Paul says you need to stay away from those kind of disputes, the things that generate strife, that ruffle everybody's feathers and cause all kinds of problems between brothers and sisters in the Lord. The word avoid that he uses here, I like this word, it means to beg to be excused, to beg to be excused. The idea is as people come with these disputes,

This word dispute could also be translated questions. As they come with these questions, these disputes, these argumentative type things, our job, our response is to, hey, can I please be excused from this? Not rude, not inconsiderate, not arrogant, but just humbly, I really don't want to participate in this argument, in this dispute, in this type of thing because it generates strife. Because some people are not looking

for answers to their questions. They're looking for reasons not to believe. They're not looking for reasons to believe. Help me understand this. But they're looking for reasons not to believe. Excuses really not to believe. They're looking for the argument, for the fight, so that they can say, that's why I don't believe in Jesus Christ. Pastor Chuck, in sharing about these types of things,

He shared the example of someone who comes up to him after service. He said it happens quite frequently that someone comes up and says, hey, why don't you baptize people right away when they get saved? And he went on to share it. It's not that they really want to know, but they really want to express their opinion and their view that it's so important that it's essential that people get baptized or they're not saved. Now that's not a biblical stance.

It's not what the Bible teaches. They don't ask because they want to know, because there's a genuine need or desire to have that information or understand. But it's to create strife. It's to have an argument. It's really to try to convince you that what they believe is right. There's many more examples that we could look at. There's some that teach women should only wear dresses. Deuteronomy chapter 22 verse 5, dresses or skirts. You get a little bit of a selection there.

Deuteronomy 22.5 says that women shouldn't put on any clothes to make themselves appear as men. And so they say, well, pants are men's clothes and that's not what women should wear. So they got to wear either dresses or skirts. And it's not just a matter of personal preference for themselves, but it's something that they impose. It's something that they isolate. And it's something that they gather people around and exclude other people and bring condemnation. And it's exactly what this. It's a generating of strife.

Between brothers and sisters in the Lord, between believers and non-believers, it's something that causes trouble and agitation, and it's not good. There's some who focus completely on the sovereignty of God.

And they're bound and determined to get everybody else to believe about God the same way that they believe about God. That God is sovereign, man does not have free will. And then there's a whole other group of people on the other end of the spectrum that emphasize the free will of man and

You might have heard of the debates between the Calvinists and the Arminianists, and they want you to, well, which are you? Are you a Calvinist or are you an Arminianist? And that's the problem, is it causes there to be this division, and you've got to take one side or the other. And maybe you have no idea what I'm talking about with all this, and that's good. That's okay, because what we want to do is not side with this group or that group, but we want to look at what does the Scripture say? Okay?

And we want to be centered around not this teaching or that teaching or this person or that person, but we want to be centered on what the Scripture says and hold the balance of Scripture. There's some that would teach and insist that spiritual gifts are no longer available, that spiritual gifts are no longer active, that the Holy Spirit's not at work in the way that He was during the beginning of the church in Acts, in the book of Acts. There's some that will insist

separate on, divide upon, cause strife regarding the type of Bible that you use, the version that you use. We talked about that a couple of weeks ago. Some will come with questions. And again, they might be genuine or they might be fake. How could a God of love, and then you fill in the blank. You've probably heard these questions. There's all types of endings to that sentence. How could a God of love send people to hell? How could a God of love allow this to happen? How could a God of love allow this to happen? Or say that?

And it might be genuine, it might be fake, it might be just, well, a foolish and ignorant dispute to generate strife. Why would God, again, it might be genuine, it might not be. And so we need to have some discernment and take into consideration what type of question is being asked. And when it's to generate strife, we need to beg to be excused. I don't want to be a part of that.

It's to purposefully and intentionally excuse ourselves from arguments and disputes, things that generate strife. We're a Calvary Chapel church affiliated with Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa.

grouped together a bunch of believers, a bunch of churches that have some distinctives. And they're called the distinctives of Calvary Chapel. Now, these distinctives, they're worth discussion. They're great to talk about. We can have a great dialogue about them. But you know, they're not worth fighting over. They're not worth striving over. They're not worth disputing and debating and having our anger raised and being enemies with one another. When it's not an essential thing,

We can have fellowship with those who believe slightly differently than us. Sometimes even radically differently than us. We need to be careful to avoid, to beg to be excused from those kind of disputes that generate strife. I had a situation happen a while back. And this person called me on the phone and began to ask me what I think about Christians dancing. Now,

I was familiar with the person who called me and so I was not quick to jump to an answer. I was kind of hesitant to really get involved in this discussion because I'm wondering, okay, where is this going? What's this leading up to? And so it turns out as we're kind of talking a little bit, then now the agenda is revealed. Well, I think that you should forbid this family to allow dancing at their wedding.

It's not at the church. It's not anything to do with the church. And yet they want this. And I don't want to be the Lord of people's lives. And it's not my say to say anything. Whether I believe one way or the other, it doesn't matter.

Well, then as we're continuing to have the discussion, then it turns out, well, I talked to Pastor Tom, not me, but this person who's talking to me. And so now this person is trying to kind of pit us against each other and kind of putting out the bait to, well, to generate strife. And unfortunately, it happens within the church.

That there are those who divide, there are those who bring up questions and disputes and cause people to take sides and bring division within the body of Christ. And Paul is telling Timothy, you need to watch out for that. And you need to beg to be excused from those types of things. If it's causing strife, if it's causing ruffled feathers and division to take place within the church, you need to not take part in those things, Timothy.

This was a point that Paul stressed both to Timothy and to Titus as he's writing the pastoral epistles, 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. 1 Timothy 1, verse 4, Paul deals with this issue of these foolish debates and arguments

He also deals with it again in 1 Timothy 4.7 and again in 1 Timothy 6.4. We saw it two weeks ago in 2 Timothy 2.14-18. We see it again here this morning. We'll see it again in Titus 3 when we get to that.

Over and over and over again, Paul is reminding and telling these guys, hey, don't be involved in these disputes. Don't be involved in these battles, in these fights, in these struggles. They're foolish and they're ignorant and they generate strife. Now, what's the big deal? Why is Paul stressing this over and over and over again to these pastors, to these guys? Why is it so important that we avoid these disputes? Verse 14 gives us one indication.

One important point about avoiding disputes is that it's to the ruin of the hearers. The people who are involved in the dispute, the people who are around the dispute, everybody involved, everybody impacted. It's destructive. It doesn't build up and help people in the faith, but it destroys, it ruins those who are involved and those who hear those disputes and are part of that strife that's taking place.

But there's another element of why this is so important and why we need to know that we should avoid foolish and ignorant disputes. And that is that we need to understand who we are dealing with. Once we understand who we're dealing with, well, then it will make sense. Then we can understand why it's so important that we avoid foolish disputes.

So to understand who we're dealing with, I'm going to jump ahead just a little bit and look at verses 25 and 26. Here's what Paul says. In humility, correcting those who are in opposition. Notice this. If God perhaps will grant them repentance so that they may know the truth and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.

Here's what Paul says. Here's why we should avoid these disputes and battles. Because we need to realize it's a spiritual battle. The reason why we should avoid these things is because, well, things are not always as they seem. And in reality, there's a spiritual battle taking place behind the scenes. And that is the real issue. It's not...

the opinions, it's not the "I believe I'm right and I need to share this" but there's a spiritual force taking place and going on that's behind these strivings, behind these disputes and that's going on behind the scenes. Paul says, notice at the end of verse 26, that they've been taken captive by him, that is of the devil, to do his will. People who are in opposition

have been taken captive by the devil. The people who oppose, the people who come against you, the people who come against the church, the people who come within the church to bring division and disputes, the people who come bringing these problems, Paul says, these are people who have been taken captive by the devil. And that's why we must not engage in these disputes because it's a spiritual battle. It's not a logical battle.

It's not a battle of wits or a battle of reason. We often think that it is. We think, if only I could sit down with this person and show them what the Bible says. If only I could convince him. If only he could hear my arguments. I've got the greatest arguments and the best presentation of these points. If only I could spend a little bit of time, I could convince them. But the problem is, it's not that type of battle. It's not a logical battle or a battle of wits.

It's a spiritual battle. And the reality is that there is a spiritual deception and blindness that is taking place. Do you remember what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4, verses 3 and 4? Paul said, look, if the gospel is veiled, it's veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the God of this age has blinded, who do not believe. There is a deception. There's a blinding that takes place by the God of this age, by the devil.

There's a spiritual deception that takes place and they're held captive by that deception, by that blindness. They've been caught in the snare of the devil. And we think we can convince them. We think we can really talk them out of it. If only we could show them this or tell them this. But the thing I always say is, hey, if they will not listen to God, they're not going to listen to you. God has a lot more authority and much more credibility.

And if they're disregarding God's word, if they're disregarding what he has said, they're not going to listen to you. It's not about your arguments or your ability to reason or your ability to show them really what they're saying or what they're teaching. No, the reality is they've been ensnared. They've been caught. They've been blinded by the devil. It's a spiritual battle. And how do you fight a spiritual battle? Not with words, not with swords, not with fists, but

You fight a spiritual battle. Ephesians chapter 6 tells us, as it describes the elements of the armor of God, Ephesians chapter 6 tells us, our offensive weapon is the Word of God. And secondly, offensively, what we have is prayer. Prayer and the Word. This is how you fight a spiritual battle. You need to pray. When you have opportunity to share it, you need to stick to the Word of God and let God do the rest.

Paul says, God must grant them repentance. Do you see that there in verse 25? If God perhaps will grant them repentance so that they may know the truth and that they may come to their senses. The idea there of coming to their senses, well, those words really are used to describe someone who's becoming sober, who's been drunk, their senses have been inhibited, their judgment has been inhibited by the alcohol. In the same way, their senses, their judgment,

their knowledge, their understanding has been affected because they've been blinded by the devil. They've been caught in his snare. And so Paul says, God needs to bring them to repentance. That's why reasoning won't work. It's why it's not a battle of wits. Because they need to repent and God needs to grant that repentance. They don't know the truth. They don't have their wits about them. They are blinded. And so we must not involve ourselves in disputes.

and foolish and ignorant disputes because it's a spiritual battle and we cannot win it by arguing, by dividing, by striving. Like James said, the wrath of man does not accomplish God's will. No, it needs to be fought on a completely different plane, a completely different battlefield. It's the spiritual warfare that is going on. Now, we also need to understand that some division is good and some division is necessary.

In John chapter 6, Jesus is teaching the people. And it says specifically that he's teaching his disciples. Not just the 12 that were with him, but there was many more that were following Jesus and said, I'm his disciple. I want to follow him. I want to obey him. I want to walk with him. I want to follow Jesus. And as he's speaking to those who would call themselves his disciples, he's teaching some hard things in John chapter 6.

Some difficult things to understand, some hard things to swallow, to digest. And so they begin to complain about this, about that it's so difficult. And Jesus goes on. He knows that they're complaining. He knows that there's this difficulty with it. And he says, hey, does this offend you? He says, well, what if you see the Son of Man go back to where he came from? In other words, you think this is difficult? There's even some more difficult things. Does this offend you? We see a gentleness here in Jesus.

We're going to talk about that in a few moments because Paul says to avoid disputes. And so what do we do instead? Instead of disputing, how do we address these things? And he'll tell us four different ways that we're to approach these types of situations and those who are in opposition. And the first of that is that we're to be gentle, just like Jesus was gentle. Hey, does this offend you? But he goes on in verse 65 of John chapter 6.

to say, therefore I have said to you that no one can come to me unless it has been granted to him by my Father. And it says in verse 66 of John 6, from that time many of his disciples went back and walked with him no more. As Jesus was teaching hard things, as he was sharing with them the truth, they couldn't handle it.

And they begin to walk away. And Jesus says, Hey, no one can come to me, notice the wording, unless it has been granted to him by my Father. Now, notice again what Paul says in verse 25 of 2 Timothy 2. He says, If God perhaps will grant them repentance. There needs to be God's working in order for people to come to repentance. In order for people to come to Jesus, it must be granted to them by God, by the Father. And so the people left.

Now, we see that some division is good. Some separation is okay. It's necessary, in fact. Jesus didn't chase after them and say, okay, whoa, whoa, whoa, I'm sorry you guys are leaving. Never mind, I take it back. Forget everything I just said. We're just talking about God is love and, you know, how much he loves you and we can live in peace and let's do good to one another and we'll talk about those things. I'm sorry I said those hard things. You know, the most important thing is for us to all stay together.

No, Jesus didn't do that. He let them go because, well, there needs to be division when it comes to the essentials. There needs to be that separation. There needs to... We need to take a stand. But it's when it's the non-essentials that, well, we need to stay away from those disputes because we can't win by arguing. Well, because God must grant them repentance. See, we need to give space for God to work. Your job is not to convict. Your job...

is not to force a person to change their mind. You can't do it. It's not within your power and God hasn't given you that authority. Our job is to lovingly share the truth and then we have to let God do the rest. Whose job is it to convict? Jesus said in John chapter 16, I'm sending the Holy Spirit and when the Holy Spirit comes, He will convict the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. It's the Holy Spirit's job to convict

to change, to draw men unto the Father. It's our job to share the truth in love. And so arguing and disputing, it doesn't help. It's not going to be effective because the battle is spiritual. So what should we do? If we're not to argue and dispute these things, if we're not to strive against those who are in opposition to us or in opposition to the gospel or to the church,

What are we to do? How do we handle these situations? Paul would go on to tell us in verses 24 and 25. He says in verse 24, And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient. And then in verse 25, he goes on to say, In humility, correcting those who are in opposition. Four things here.

that we are to be. Instead of being argumentative, instead of involving ourselves in the dispute, we're to be gentle, we're to be able to teach, we're to be patient, and we're to be humbly correcting or correcting in humility. So these are the things that we need to learn. These are the things that we need to practice. We need to be gentle if we're a servant of the Lord, which you are.

As I often share and continue to remind you, you are a Timothy. Like Timothy, you have been called into the ministry if you're a believer in Jesus Christ. Because God has placed in your life people that he desires for you to disciple. Matthew 28, 19, and 20 gives us the great commission that we're to make disciples and we're to teach them all the things that Jesus commanded us.

And so you are to make disciples. You are involved in the ministry. You are called to teach people and lead people how to walk with God and how to draw close to God and how to apply God's word to your life. And in doing so, the first thing you must do when there's opposition, when there's disagreement, when people come against you, when there's a difference of opinion, Paul says, here's what you need to do. You must not quarrel. Instead, you must be gentle to all.

Be gentle to all. Is that an accurate description of you? Are you gentle to all? I know it's difficult. You've been standing in line for a long time and the cashier keeps making mistakes and the person in front of you is paying with pennies and has every coupon from every newspaper all over the place. It's hard to be gentle to all sometimes. It's even harder when that opposition is direct and personal.

directly coming against you or directly coming against something that you believe and treasure and value and something that's so important to you. But Paul says, this is what you must do. You must be gentle to all. The word gentle, it means simply to be gentle, but it also means to be tolerant. Now, it's not tolerance in the sense of you can believe whatever you want. It's

You can live whatever lifestyle you want. It doesn't matter. We're just going to be tolerant. That's what God wants us to be. No, again, it goes back to the essentials. It goes back to the basic elements of the Christian faith and who Jesus is and what the Bible clearly says. And those things, we're not to be tolerant of false doctrine. We're not to be tolerant of sinful lifestyles. We're not to be tolerant of sin in our lives or in those that we're called to disciple. There needs to be a separation. There needs to be a dividing over those things.

But there's so many more things beyond those basic and essential elements. And we need to be tolerant about. We need to allow for other people to have different opinions. We don't always have to be right. Now again, you think you're right because if you didn't think you're right, you would change your mind.

But you need to be willing to be gentle, to be tolerant, and to allow, well, we can disagree about certain things, and that does not mean that we cannot have fellowship. And it doesn't mean that we can't pray for one another, and encourage one another, and love the Lord together, and worship Him together. We need to be gentle to all. And unfortunately, as Christians, many times we can be way too harsh in our attitudes, in the way that we treat others. There's not much worth dividing over.

There's many things that are worth, well, being gentle, overlooking, and allowing there to be still fellowship. If it's just a matter of opinion or preference or style, a particular thing of interpretation, it doesn't impact the essentials. We need to be gentle. Even if it's clearly a biblical truth that we're discussing. Even if it's clear that this person is out of line biblically.

This person is really off. They've disregarded and thrown away the Word of God. Even if it's a clear biblical truth, remember what Paul said in Ephesians 4, verse 15? Speaking the truth in love. Even if it's not a matter of opinion, even if it's not just a matter of preference or style, even if it is a biblical truth that we must stand upon and fight for, it still needs to be sharing the truth in love. There still needs to be a gentleness.

Be gentle, even if you're right, even if it's clear biblically. The world has a picture of Christians as being mad and hateful and we're known for all the things that we're against. Recently on Pastor's Perspective, someone called in and Pastor Chuck was on the program and they called in and said, I know you're against this and this and this. And Pastor Chuck was like, you know, I don't want to be known for what I'm against. I want to be known for the things that I'm for. And

It's not that we're against all of these things he went on to say, but I'm for Jesus Christ. I'm for the accurate teaching and understanding of the Word of God. The systematic, verse by verse, chapter by chapter, study of the Word of God. We're not out against everyone else and everything else. You know what Jesus said would be the chief characteristic of the church? Of his disciples? John 13, 35. He said, "...the world will know that you're my disciples by your love for one another."

That's to be the defining characteristic. Not what we're against or how upset we get over certain things, but our love, how we love one another. And it places the relationship of more importance and more priority than our differences. As Warren Wiersby put, we're to ignore the arguments, but not the people.

So, you have a difference of opinion with this person. It doesn't mean we split. We don't have fellowship no longer. We can't enjoy one another's presence. We can't be encouraged and edified together in the Lord. No, we're to ignore the arguments and the disputes and the things that bring strife, but not the people. Warren Wiersbe went on to say, a servant's purpose is not to win arguments, but to win souls. See, our job is not to have the victory on the debate. Our job is to reach the person.

And so we need to be gentle to all. So take a deep breath. It's okay. Everyone else doesn't have to think the same way that you think. When it's not an essential, they don't have to believe the same way that you believe. They can apply the scripture a little bit differently. They can have a different opinion about baptism than you do. They can have a different opinion about the gifts of the Spirit than you do. They can have a different opinion about, well, a whole variety of things. We need to be gentle to all.

And when there is opposition, we need to remember that it's a spiritual battle. So changing from gentle to harsh, well, that doesn't help the battle. Instead, it really distracts from the battle. It takes away from what God wants to do. We need to pray and let God work. And then give space for the Holy Spirit to work. We can't cram truth down people's throats and force them to believe the same way that we believe. Because I'm right. I like what Paul said in Philippians 3, verse 15.

He's talking about running the race, forgetting what's behind, striving for what's ahead. And he tells the Philippians, hey, as many as are mature, let them have this mind. And if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. Here's what Paul says. Hey, this is what we ought to do. This is the attitude of mature believers. But if you think differently, if you have a different opinion, if you think there's something else that God wants you to focus on, well,

God will reveal that to you. Very gentle. If you think differently, repent or die. No. If you think differently, hey, God will reveal it to you. I'm going to pray for you. I'm going to pray that God would show you. And that's sufficient. Letting God do the work. It's okay to have the discussion. It's okay to have the difference of opinion. But avoid the dispute. Don't get up in arms over it.

It's not worth fighting over and striving over and causing division. Instead, be gentle to all. The next thing Paul tells Timothy, not only is he to be gentle to all, but he's also to be able to teach.

Be able to teach. Now this isn't to be teachable and that you can be taught and that's an important Christian element as well. We need to be humble knowing that, hey, we don't have all knowledge and all truth and we aren't the right answer and the standard for everything. But what Paul is talking about here is you need to be able to teach. You need to be able to convey truth, to share the truth.

Now you may be thinking, well, I don't have the gift of teaching, so this part doesn't apply to me. Well, I beg to differ. You may not have the gift of teaching in the sense that God has called you to be a pastor or a teacher or to lead a Bible study. But again, in Matthew chapter 28, verses 19 and 20, it's called the Great Commission. God has called us to make disciples. And in part of that commission, Jesus says to teach them to observe all the things that I've commanded you. God calls every believer in Jesus Christ to

to make disciples. And in making disciples, you need to be able to teach. It doesn't have to be structured and it doesn't have to be in front of a group of people, but you need to be able to share the truth about what you believe, about what God's word says. The beauty of the Christian faith is it's a personal faith. You are not to believe things because I say so,

Or because some other pastor said so. Or because that's what your parents told you. Or because that's what your friends think. Or that's what, you know, we took a poll in America and everybody thinks this and so that's what you ought to believe. No, we have a very personal faith. And so you are to make your personal decisions about what you believe. And you need to make those decisions based upon the Word of God.

In Acts chapter 17, as Paul was going around the different churches teaching the gospel message, it tells us in verse 11 that the Bereans were more noble than the Thessalonians because they heard the things that Paul shared and then they searched the scriptures daily to find out if those things were true. They went to the word of God because this is the standard for what we believe and why we believe it and what God has revealed to us.

And as they looked at the Word, they said, does this check out? He says this. Is this what the Bible teaches? Is this what the Word says? Does the Scripture support these things? It's why Paul told Timothy, last week we studied 2 Timothy 2.15, that you are to study to show yourself approved unto God. A worker does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth. To be a worker approved unto God, who doesn't need to be ashamed, you need to learn how to, you need to know how to rightly divide, rightly understand truth.

the Word of God. And so to be able to teach you, you need to make your own personal decisions about what you believe, about what the Bible teaches, who God is, who Jesus is, what the Gospel is, what you must do to be saved. You need to base your decisions upon the Word of God. And so it's going to involve that, well, you need to be in the Word of God. And you need to study, you need to prepare, you need to be looking at what God says.

Because you, as a believer, you're called to teach. You're called to make disciples. You're called to share with others what you believe and why, based upon the Word of God. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 3 that we're to always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks the reason for the hope that's within us. And he adds on, with meekness and with fear. There's again the gentleness.

with meekness and fear, being ready to share. This is why I have hope. This is why I believe what I believe. This is what the Word of God says. You need to be able to teach. Can you share with someone why you believe in Jesus Christ? What you believe about Him? Can you share with someone the reason for the hope that is within you? Paul says, Timothy, you need to be gentle, but you also need to be able to teach, able to share the truth of the Word of God.

The third thing he says we need to do in approaching those who are in opposition, those who come against, he says you must be patient. Be patient. Patience is a hard one for us. We like everything to be resolved and fixed immediately. The interesting thing about this word patience is it's not just the matter of passing time.

That's part of it. You know, we need to give God time to work. We need to give people time to repent. As 2 Peter 3.9 tells us that God's not slow in keeping His promises, but He's patient. He's waiting for all to come to repentance. He's giving time. He's providing time. The reason Jesus Christ has not come back yet is because He's giving people time to repent. And there's a patience that's involved in that. And we need that. As people oppose us, we need to be patient.

As there's those disputes and strivings, we need to be patient to allow the work to take place. Allow God to do the work. Allow them to come to repentance. It doesn't usually happen immediately overnight. Situations aren't resolved that quickly in real life. Only on 30-minute sitcoms. It takes some time. But this word patience...

Also includes some other things and you probably won't like this so much but I need to share because it's the truth. The word patient, it means to bear evil, to bear sorrow, to endure wrongdoing.

Here's what it means, guys. Here's what Paul's saying to Timothy. Not only do you need to be gentle and able to share the truth and to teach what God has shown you and what God's Word says, but as you're doing this, those who oppose you, well, they're going to inflict pain. They're going to afflict you. There's going to be some suffering. It's going to be difficult. They're going to come against you and you need to be patient. You need to endure sorrow.

It's going to be hard. It'll be difficult. Yeah, there will be some pain involved. There will be some sorrow. But Timothy, you need to be patient. You need to endure. This is what you're called to do as a servant of God. I shared with you 1 Peter 3.15. That's only the first half of the thought that Peter is conveying. In verse 16 of 1 Peter 3, he goes on to say that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.

He says, look, be ready to give a defense for the hope that's within you and meekness and fear and having a good conscience so that when they defame you, when those that you're sharing with defame you, when they call you evildoers, when they revile you and your good conduct in Christ, there's going to be some persecution. There's going to be some opposition, some fighting against. Jesus said it this way, Luke 6, 22,

Blessed are you when men hate you. You wake up in the morning and think that? Blessed am I when people hate me. Blessed are you when men hate you, Jesus says, and when they exclude you and revile you and cast out your name as evil for the son of man's sake. Jesus says, look, for my sake, you're blessed. If people, because of your relationship with me, your commitment to me, your relationship with God,

As a result of that, men will hate you and they will exclude you and they'll revile you and they're going to cast out your name as evil. Jesus said later in the book of John that, hey, the world hates me. The world's going to hate you. Don't be surprised when the world hates you because the world hated me. And as you follow me, the world is not going to love you. The world is going to hate you. There's going to be opposition. They're going to exclude you from some things and that hurts. It's hard sometimes.

They're going to revile you. And that's difficult too, to suffer wrongdoing or to really, you know, you want to defend yourself. Man, they said this about me. I don't know how I'll get them back. No, you need to be patient. Endure the wrongdoing. Endure the suffering. Endure the evil. Because you're giving time for God to do that work. For them to come to repentance. Value the person more than your right.

Value the opportunity to minister to them. Value the opportunity for them to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ more than your right for restitution or retribution. Finally, in verse 25, we're to humbly correct. He says, in humility, correcting those who are in opposition. We need to be gentle. We need to be able to teach. We need to be patient. And finally, we need to humbly correct.

Humbly correct. Now, not arrogantly correct, not joyfully and gleefully correct, but humbly. There needs to be a humility, a humbling of ourselves, an acknowledgement, hey, I don't always get it right. Yeah, I blow it too, I understand. It's an attitude of compassion, of understanding. We have a tendency when we correct, especially if it's after the fact, right? I told you so. We love that phrase.

You go back afterwards and they know they messed up. They know they blew it. And you know they blew it. And you told them ahead of time. But still, you know, there's that desire. Just kind of, I told you so. I told you that would happen. I was right. And you didn't listen to me. It's really an attitude of arrogance. Paul says, we need to correct in humility, humbly, with compassion.

Yeah, I know what it's like to blow it. I know what it's like to be off base. I've been off track before. I don't have all the answers. I don't know everything. But I want to share with you what God's Word says. I need to bring some correction. But I understand what it's like to be corrected, to be off base. I relate it to what took place in Acts chapter 18. If you remember the story there with Priscilla and Aquila.

This husband and wife team, they served alongside with Paul for a little bit. They're involved in the tent making business and the ministry of the gospel. And as they're there, they're serving. Paul's long gone, but they've remained back and they're continuing to minister. And there comes this new guy into town.

And he comes in and he's preaching boldly. He's got really great gifts as it comes to sharing and presenting the truth. And people are listening and there's a great work taking place. But as Priscilla and Aquila are there, they notice, hey, there's something a little bit missing from this message that this guy is bringing. It's not fully complete. It's not the whole gospel message. There's some elements missing. And so Acts chapter 18 verse 26 tell us that

As Apollos, that's the guy's name, he began to speak boldly. Then Priscilla and Aquila, this husband and wife team, it says, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. Now, they didn't stand up in the middle of his speech or in the middle of his sermon or teaching and cause a big struggle and yelling back and forth. They didn't cause a big division. Instead, they, in humility, just kind of took him aside and said, hey,

we need to explain the Word of God a little bit more accurately to you. It's amazing the gifts that God has given to you and how He can use you, but you're sharing from the perspective, you only know the baptism of John, the baptism of repentance, and you don't know the full Gospel. And we have this revelation. We have what God really has shared in His Word in the person of Jesus Christ and the fullness of all that means. And so they pass that on. They humbly correct Him.

And instead of an enemy, he goes on and continues to do the work of the ministry, now with the full message. And he goes on to do a great work for God. It's a good example of humbly correcting, pulling aside. Now again, in the beginning, Paul said, avoid foolish and ignorant disputes. Does that mean we never correct? No. But it means we're very careful about how we do it and the arena that we do it in.

Not publicly, not having this great fight and strife for everyone around us to be infected by, but personally, individually, privately, with humility, sharing the truth of the Word of God. This was something that Paul was very serious about. And obviously it was a big problem with the church there in those days. And unfortunately it still continues.

There's still arguments and debates and strivings and separations and divisions. There's a sea of destruction in the wake of all of these battles and strivings. So Paul says, beg to be excused. Don't take part in those things. Instead, you need to be gentle. Not up in arms, not harsh, not coming against people hard, but being gentle and tolerable.

allowing for there to be some difference of opinion, allowing for there to be some other perspectives. It doesn't always have to be your way if it's not an essential. You need to be able to teach. It means you need to be a good student of the Word of God. You need to know what you believe and why you believe it, that you'd be able to share with someone else the reason for the hope that's within you and what God's Word says. Don't share with them, "Well, you know, Pastor Jerry said..." Now share with them what the Word of God says.

You need to be patient. It's going to take some time. And in that time, well, opposition is opposition. And there's going to be some harsh words towards you. There's going to be some reviling, some excluding. You're going to feel left out, perhaps. But you need to be patient. You need to endure it so that God can do the work. And then as He gives you opportunity to bring humble correction, humble correction, not with an attitude of arrogance,

Not I'm better than you or I know, but in humility. Not thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought. Hey, I'm just a sinner saved by grace. I praise God that He saved me. I praise God that He granted me repentance. And I'm grateful for the opportunity to share with you what God says in His Word. Turn with me to one last portion. Titus chapter 3. It's just one page to the right. Titus chapter 3. We'll get to this

As we finish up Timothy and head into Titus, a few more weeks. But here in Titus chapter 3, verse 9, it says, But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law, for they are unprofitable and useless. Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition, knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned.

Here Paul provides for us a great summary of all the things we've just been looking at. We're to avoid those foolish disputes, the contentions, the strivings about the law, all the details. Again, they're not essentials and so we shouldn't strive over them and there shouldn't be division as a result of them. He says, "Don't argue endlessly about those things, it's unprofitable and useless." But that doesn't mean there's no correction to take place. And so, when there is opposition, when there is someone who is divisive, he says,

Give them a couple chances. Humbly correct them once or twice. Give them opportunity. Give them a space. There needs to be that patience. And you need to be gentle, but admonish them. But if they don't receive it after the first couple admonitions, they don't receive it after bringing that humble correction, you need to reject them. Stop trying to change them. Stop trying to convince them.

knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned. What's Paul saying? He's saying they've been caught, they've been snared by the devil. They've been taken captive to do his will. So you're not to take part in that. And so as believers in Jesus Christ, our chief characteristic needs to be love. Not what we're against, not what we're up in arms about. We're not to be continually fighting each other over these things. But we need to love. Let's let that be our characteristic. Let's pray. Heavenly Father,

God, it's unfortunate that these disputes and debates, strivings continue to go on. Lord, I pray that you would help us to take your word seriously. Lord, I pray that as there comes opposition in our lives personally, Lord, in the church corporately or this church specifically, Lord, I pray that you would help us to apply these things. Give us understanding and discernment, God, that we would know when to beg to be excused

from discussions and questions and disputes. Lord, we don't want to dishonor your name. We don't want to ruin the hearers. We don't want to disregard you and try to do our own thing. So Lord, help us. Help us to realize that it's a spiritual battle. And help us, Lord, to fight it on the spiritual plane, allowing you to work as we spend time in prayer in your word. God, I pray that as we do

Deal with opposition, those who would come against us, be it at home or in the workplace or with neighbors or extended family. Lord, or even within the church, God, help us to be gentle, to be tolerant, not to insist that we are right and you have to believe our way. But Lord, help us to really love people more than our need to be right. Help us, God, to reach out to them in gentleness, in love, in love.

Help us, Lord, to be able to teach. God, I pray that you would make us good students of your word. I pray that you would give us boldness to share your truth. Help us, Lord, to stand fast on your word, the solid foundation of our faith, the standard which you've given to us by which we may believe and understand your truth and your plan for our lives. God, I pray that you would help us to be patient. Lord, you don't call us to do more than what you did yourself.

You're patient now, waiting for them to come to repentance, but you were patient. Lord, you were patient as they spit in your face, as they rejected you and excluded you, as they beat you. You were patient. You endured the evil. You endured the wrongdoing and the suffering. You endured the sorrow. As your word says, despising the shame, you endured the cross. Lord, you still prayed, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they're doing. Lord, teach us that kind of patience.

Lord, that we wouldn't insist on our rights, but Lord, we would take advantage of the opportunity to minister and win a lost soul. May we give you time to work. May we give space for people to repent and not be quick to action, quick to arms, quick to defend ourselves. God, I pray that you would help us to humbly correct. Lord, we can be so arrogant, so convinced that our way is right, but Lord, help us to be humble. Lord, help us to recognize that you can speak to others humbly,

just as well as you speak to us. And so, Lord, as we bring correction, as you give us opportunity, Lord, as you call us to, Lord, may it be in obedience to you as a servant of you, not in a position or attitude of dominance or superiority, but with compassion. Lord, give us love for those who would oppose. Give us love for our enemies, that we would accurately represent you, that we would honor you, that we would have the opportunity

to bring them to a saving knowledge of you, Jesus Christ. God, for those, I pray that when they don't know you yet, or they've been away for some time, and you desire to draw close to them once again, you desire to have a personal relationship with them, Lord, I pray that you would reach them this morning, that you would grant them repentance, help them to come into right relationship with you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

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