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2 Timothy 4:1-8 (NIV2011)
¹ In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge:
² Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.
³ For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
⁴ They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.
⁵ But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
⁶ For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near.
⁷ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
⁸ Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

In 2 Timothy 3 Paul instructed Timothy to be perseverant in remaining true to his calling. He warned him about what is coming and the spread of wickedness within the church. Timothy was to use Paul as an example of how to live the Christian life and thus be an example to others so that they can imitate him.

Paul now turns from what Timothy was to do in his personal life to what he was to do for others. His charge to Timothy is based upon his knowledge of scripture and what needs to be done with that knowledge so others may benefit. It is a most solemn charge and one that is to be taken with all seriousness because it involves the Sovereign God of creation and His purpose for history. The fact that God through Christ will judge the world and every man, woman and child in the world highlights the importance of Timothy’s calling. There are but two outcomes for mankind in the judgments, eternal life or eternal damnation. Everyone will be judged by Christ, both the living (those alive when he returns), and the dead (those who have died prior to his return).

Acts 10:42 (NIV2011)
⁴² He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead.

Romans 14:9 (NIV2011)
⁹ For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

Paul then begins his charge to Timothy by issuing five imperatives. First he is to “preach the word.” Paul has already instructed Timothy to study scripture so that he may discern apostasy from truth, now Timothy is charged to preach that truth to others. This teaching includes the preaching of sound doctrine instead of what they want to hear (vs. 3). In other words Timothy is not there to please people, but to be faithful to scripture regardless of the reaction of the hearers. Something that is lacking in today’s preachers. We are not to use the pulpit for our own gains either. We above all are to be faithful to the truth contained in all portions of God’s word.

Paul’s next imperative is to “be prepared”. He is not to worry about whether the message seems popular at the time of not. He is to be prepared to preach what is appropriate by God’s standards when God wants it preached. In season or out of season by human reasoning. He is to preach it even when his audience may not be receptive .

The last three imperatives are to “correct, rebuke and encourage”. This is to be done with all patience and careful instruction because the time will come when people will no longer be willing to hear what is right.

The time will come, and was probably already present in Ephesus, when they will not want to hear sound teaching. Apostasy enters into the church by way of those within who do not wish to have a solid foundation in the truth, but desire to hear only what is flattering to their idea of truth. Such is Hymenaeus and Philetus in 2:18. Not only do they not want to hear the truth, but they actually recruit those who do not challenge their beliefs but preach what is pleasing to their concept of truth.

Paul challenges Timothy with four more imperatives so that he can stand before the teachings of the apostates. First he is to “keep his head in all situations”. He is to be self controlled when he suffers abuse. He is to “endure hardship”. Because of the abuse he will suffer from those who reject his message the end result will be hardship as they turn against him. “Do the work of an evangelist”. In other words do not succumb to the temptation to please the congregation, but rather preach the message of salvation to all so that they can turn to the truth. Finally Timothy is to “discharge all the duties of your ministry”. Timothy was the elder of the church of Ephesus. He was not to run or ignore his responsibilities given to him by God. He was to be faithful to God no matter what the consequences. He was to use his mentor Paul as an example of how a Christian should behave.

Paul’s charge to Timothy was given because Paul was about to depart this life. He is passing on his ministry to Timothy so that his work may live after him. Timothy is to care for those whom Paul ministered to and continue to evangelize the gentiles in Paul’s absence.

Paul had no fear of death, but only a certainty of what was coming. He knew that he had been faithful to Christ in all aspects of his ministry. He was confident that he had run the race and would receive the crown that was do him. He would be given the crown of righteousness when he is finally judged, and looked forward to that day. That same crown is also promised to all those who look forward to the second coming of Christ. They are those who do not look at the hear and know, but live as if Christ is coming today. Indeed he may.

We should always examine what is being preached form our pulpits. Today you would be amazed at some of the “doctrine” that is being spewed from the pulpit. How much of it is truly biblically centered, and how much is just pleasing words that are intended to keep the peace within the church. When is the last time you have heard preachers talk about election, justification, sanctification or any of the other great doctrines of scripture. How often is the sermon designed to be inoffensive and doctrinally week. They are still giving milk instead of solid meat just like the Corinthian church.

1 Corinthians 3:1-2 (NIV2011)
¹ Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ.
² I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.

The time is close to the return of Christ. The apostasy in today’s churches is rampant. Let us take up Paul’s charge to Timothy and stand up for what the truth is. Let us lift up the scripture and proclaim it’s truth no matter what the consequences.

Maranatha.

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2 Timothy 3:10-17 (NIV2011)
¹⁰ You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, ¹¹ persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. ¹² In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, ¹³ while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. ¹⁴ But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, ¹⁵ and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶ All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷ so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Having shown what the character of the apostate teacher is, Paul then tells Timothy how to combat them. Paul cites three things that Timothy needs to maintain in his life to insure faithfulness to sound teaching. The three things are:

• Follow the example of faithful people. (Verses 10-14)
• Remember what you have learned and hold fast to those truths. (Verse 15)
• Make the scripture part of your life and use it’s truth to dictate your beliefs. (Verses 16-17)

Timothy was very familiar with Paul so he is reminded of the type of life that every Christian should expect if they are living in harmony with God. It is a life filled with all kinds of joy as well as suffering. Anyone who desires to follow God will suffer persecution. The world is no friend to the godly and will try to silence them. Persecution is a mark of a true believer and godly man, a sign of the truth they hold. The apostate does not suffer persecution, but rather receives rewards and blessings from the world. It is by their fruit that you will know if they speak the truth or a lie.

The true child of God starts with the truth of the Gospel. Every Christian is brought to faith by the Scripture. 

1 Peter 1:23 (NIV2011)
²³ For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

It is the acceptance of the truth in the Scripture that every believer starts with. We are to continue in that word of truth. Timothy had a mother and grandmother who raised him in the truth of scripture. Timothy had a foundation from his youth that he could rely on. Not everyone has faithful parents, but they should have those who led them to the truth and can disciple them to maturity. Paul tells Timothy to hold fast to those basic truths through which he came to faith in Christ. Surround yourselves with those who are trustworthy and can impart further revelation. In Timothy’s case that is Paul. There are many Godly men in the world today that we can trust with the truth and who will not willingly deceive us.

The final way that we can avoid apostate teaching is to understand the scripture and continue in it,  and only in it. The Bible is profitable for every decision we make, and every belief we hold. If anything is contrary to what it teaches then it is apostasy. If you do not know what the Scripture say’s then you will not be able to recognize the lie. There are many lie’s and perversions of scripture out there, and the only defense we have in recognizing them is to know the Scripture so well that a lie becomes instantly recognizable for what it is. We measure every belief, thought, and action against the only truth available to anyone.

Maranatha

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2 Timothy 3:6-9 (NIV2011)
⁶ They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over gullible women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, ⁷ always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. ⁸ Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these teachers oppose the truth. They are men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. ⁹ But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.

Paul continues to give us a picture of what the last day apostates will be like. The way they lead people astray is reminiscent of Genesis 3 and the serpent who deceived Eve. What they do is befriend a family and once they are allowed to preach their vile within the home the women become the most susceptible to their message.

The motive for the apostate is to bring as many as he can into his camp to support his desires. Those desires can run from monetary gain to sexual perversity. Power and control become the driving force behind the message.

We see some of the apostates that Paul has alluded to in today’s society. David Koresh and the Branch Davidian’s in Waco Texas reflect some of what Paul alludes to here. The women were the greatest disciple’s even giving some of the underage daughter ‘s in spiritual marriage to Koresh. Spiritual marriages were accepted by the cultists as proper and scriptural.

Jim Jones and the “Peoples Temple” which lead to the Jonestown Massacre is another example of what a charismatic leader can accomplish through indoctrination and intimidation.  Rev. Jones claimed that he was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ and had divine powers. He forced his congregation to drink poisoned Kool Aid after he killed a congressman and several of his team who were investigating him.

These may be extreme examples of today’s cults, but their methods are the same and they prey upon those who have a minimal knowledge of scripture and who seem to be trapped in a life that offers nothing but heartache. These are the gullible women who are looking for escape from their lives, hoping for something better. They are constantly looking for the truth, but are never able to find it. The knowledge they seek is found only in a deeper understanding of biblical truth and not the surface knowledge that is so prevalent today. They become the victims of the many apostates who prey on them.

Paul gives us two examples of how these apostates operate. Jannes and Jambres are traditional names of the Egyptian priests who opposed Moses. They were either in Pharaohs court when Moses asked for the release of God’s people and mimicked some of the miracles Moses performed, or they were Egyptian priests who went with Moses after the Jews were permitted to leave. They could have been instrumental in leading the rebellion at Sinai when Aaron made the golden calf while Moses was on the mountain receiving the law of God.

The important fact about the two is that they opposed God. They are not true prophets but are in opposition to the truth. They masquerade as prophets of the truth but only bring destruction to those who are gullible enough to believe their lie.

Their lie will be found out and will become evident to everyone. Just as Jannes and Jambres were unable to mimic all the plagues that Moses brought upon Egypt so also will the deeds of the end time apostates be revealed for the lies that they are. These apostates are those spoken of by Paul in 2 Corinthians.

2 Corinthians 4:3-4 (NIV2011)
³ And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. ⁴ The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

It is only through the knowledge of the truth that the church can protect itself. That truth cannot be watered down as is the case today. It is only through understanding the truths of the scripture that we can understand the deceitfulness of the false prophets and apostates who have a message of that seems correct, but leads to eternal damnation.

Proverbs 14:12 (NIV2011)
¹² There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.

Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV2011)
¹³ “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ¹⁴ But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Which gate and path are you on? What truth do you believe? Are your truths consistent with the clear teaching of Scripture? Do you understand the truths of Scripture? These are important questions to ponder.

Maranatha

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2 Timothy 3:1-5(NIV) ¹But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. ²People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self–control, brutal, not lovers of the good, ⁴treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— ⁵having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

Paul has instructed Timothy in how to oppose the apostate teacher within the church community. He has advised him to pursue the qualities of righteousness, faith, love and peace in order to prevent problems within the church body through quarreling, and also to try and bring the apostate to see the truth in the Gospel. The end result should be a harmonious relationship between believers within the local assembly.

Paul leads into his next topic which concerns a future period. He tells Timothy that there is going to come a time when the advice he just gave him will not work. Paul reflects back to his comments in his first letter to Timothy as the basis for his next argument.

1 Timothy 4:1(NIV) ¹The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.

Paul wants Timothy to understand that in the last days the church is in for some terrible times. How are we to understand what the last days are? There are two main views concerning what Paul means by the “last days”.

The first view is that the last days are referring to the church age. This includes the time between Pentecost and the second coming of Christ. The idea here is that at Pentecost Peter quoted a prophecy from Joel.

Acts 2:17-21(NIV) ¹⁷“‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. ¹⁸Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. ¹⁹I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. ²⁰The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. ²¹And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

Those who believe the last days began at Pentecost say that this prophecy was completed with the coming of the Holy Spirit and because Joel say’s that this would occur in the last days, we must therefore be in the last days.

The second view is that the term “the last days” is a technical term (a term that is always means the same thing) which always refers to the last days of the church age just before the second coming of Christ. I would tend to believe this is the correct view because the context seems to indicate that what Paul is talking about will be in the future. It seems reasonable that the only future we are looking at in context is the future of the church age, so it seems best to interpret the last days as meaning the time period at the end of the present church age, and before the second coming of Christ.

Paul gives a a rather scary look at what the church will face in the future. The context still concerns false teaching, and false teachers, so the characteristics described point to those within the church community, not just the heathen. We also see this from the phrase in verse 5 “having a form of godliness” indicating that they claim the mantel of Christianity. The description seems to reflect the church at Laodicea in the book of  Revelation.

Revelation 3:14-18(NIV) ¹⁴“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. ¹⁵I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! ¹⁶So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. ¹⁸I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

Paul also indicates that before the rapture of the church that there will be a falling away or apostasy 2 Thessalonians 2:3. God has said that the greatest commandments are to love God, and to love your neighbor.

Matthew 22:36-40(NIV) ³⁶“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” ³⁷Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’^{£ 38}This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^{£ 40}All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

We notice what characterizes the apostates in the last days is contrary to what God commands from His people. They were lovers of themselves, lovers of money, not lovers of the good, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. The other adjectives that describe the character of the church apostates during these last days are very dramatic and sad. The only thing that can be done with such people is to have nothing to do with them.

The church has always had apostates within it, but we were to originally try to win them to the truth. It is a very sad commentary that these last days apostates have degraded themselves to the point where there is nothing salvageable in their lives. We are in no way to allow them to enter our churches and spread their toxic message. We are to abandon them to themselves just as God will abandon them to their eternal doom. 

Are we living in these last day’s today? We can look around us and see how the church has abandoned sound doctrine and allowed for all sorts of perversion within it. Some of the more egregious sins are the rejection of Genesis 1-11, the ordination of homosexuals, the idea that scripture is malleable and can be interpreted to suit today’s world, the denial of the resurrection and many others that are too numerous to name. We are living in exciting times.

Maranatha

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2 Timothy 2:22-26(NIV) ²²Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. ²³Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. ²⁴And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. ²⁵Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, ²⁶and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.

Paul has given Timothy two contrasts so far and here he gives him the third. The first contrast was between the workman who is not ashamed and the one who is ashamed, or the apostate teacher. The second is the vessels used for honor and dishonor, and the third is between those who are kind and those who are quarrelsome. In order to be the proper leader Paul has instructed Timothy to study so that he understands the truth vs. 15-16. Next he is to purge himself of all forms of wrong teaching vs. 21. Finally he is to pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace vs. 22.

Timothy was the leader of the church at Ephesus. He was still young to have such responsibility, probably in his early 30’s. Paul understood what being young is like. Youth makes one impatient and sometimes intolerant. This could lead to division and quarreling which is what Paul wants Timothy to avoid. Youth leads to hasty decisions at times which can be disruptive. This is what is probably intended when he instructs Timothy to flee evil desires. It may also deal with the physical desires a young man has which if not controlled could lead to serious problems. Timothy is to flee from these evil desires.

Not only is Timothy to flee evil desires, but he is to also pursue positive qualities. There are four mentioned. The first of these is righteousness. Righteousness is doing what is right. There is only one who is righteous and that is God. Christ demonstrated how to live righteously. Anything that is contrary to God is not righteous. We are instructed to be like Christ and that means living a life that is in conformity to the nature of God. Anything that is contrary to the will of God is unrighteousness so we must live in conformity to His will.

The second thing to pursue is faith or faithfulness. Faith is believing God. Faithfulness is following what God has revealed. In either case, Timothy was to use the knowledge that he has through his understanding of the truth and apply that to his life. It is impossible to be faithful is one fails to comprehend the truth of God’s revelation. How can you believe God if you do not know what He said? How can you be faithful to his desires if you fail to know what God’s desires are? How important is God’s revelation to man? I dare say without it we are most miserable. Romans 10:17(NIV) ¹⁷Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.  If this is true then apart from the revealed word of God it is impossible to have faith, or to be faithful to Him.

Third Timothy is to pursue love. This is Agape love which is, affection or benevolence. It is translated in the KJV as charity. It is not the emotional love that a husband and wife or family members share, but it is the type of love that generates good deeds toward others. It is the type of love that allows for the fourth pursuit that Paul wants Timothy to have, peace. When we have the other persons best interest a heart then we can live in peace so much easier than if we are resentful. Paul stipulates that the greatest of all gifts is love in 1 Corinthians 13:13. If we view others through the eye’s of agape love then peace is easier to maintain.

These four qualities are important when being confronted with apostate teachings, and we need to know how to react within the body of believers when this happens. Notice that this does not mean that we are to ignore apostasy or not defend truth. We are not to get involved in “foolish and stupid” arguments. The teachings of the apostate should not be given a forum for discussion within the church, especially by the pastor or leaders. They are to be ignored because they are not based upon the truth of scripture. We are to give proper respect for the apostate but give no credit for the teaching.

Timothy is to treat the apostate like any other non believer. He must have the ability to teach the truth of God’s revelation and gently instruct the apostate teacher in these truths. The hope would be that the apostate will come to his senses and receive the truth so that he may join the fellowship of believers. Notice that Paul believes in an active devil. Apostasy is Satan’s way of marginalizing the church. We will see in chapter 3 that this will be a very effective strategy for him.

Today we see many apostate teachings within Christianity. There are hundreds of churches and denominations which have varying doctrine. The truth has been thoroughly corrupted in much of Christianity today. The idea that God is the creator has vanished from much of what is taught from the pulpit. We have bought into many lies which has corrupted the integrity of the Bible itself. The belief in the trinity, virgin birth, bodily resurrection are looked upon with skepticism today. We will deal more specifically with the present time next post.

Maranatha

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2 Timothy 2:20-21(NIV) ²⁰In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. ²¹If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.

Having contrasted the false teachers from true teachers Paul brings us to another contrast between noble and ignoble service. Paul uses household items to illustrate his point. The items mentioned are gradually degraded in value starting with gold items and ending with clay. This could be compared to items in our own household such as fine china, common dinner ware for everyday use and ending up with perhaps our garbage cans which handle our waste. The emphasis is on service and what is useful service to God.

There is essentially two ways of viewing these verses. Either way we can assume the house is the church and the vessels are church members. The Church contains all types and classes of people as well as saved and unsaved individuals. The articles mentioned could be either saved and unsaved members or all saved. If we tie verses 20 and 21 with the previous paragraph it would seem that we are talking about saved, true teachers and their teaching and unsaved, false teachers and their teaching. If we view these verses with the next paragraph they could be speaking of those who are true believers and thus how to improve their standing with Christ by eliminating sin in their lives.

Romans 9:21(NIV) ²¹Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?

Romans 9:21 is talking about God’s sovereignty in having made some vessels for salvation, and some for suffering wrath. If we use this verse to support 2 Timothy 2:20-21 then we can conclude that the vessels are synonymous with the true and false teachers mentioned in the previous verse. If that is the case then we are encouraged to cleans ourselves from these false teachers and their teaching. That would indicate we are to throw out those who are the apostate teachers. We can then stipulate that these verses are the how of verse 19 in the previous paragraph. 2 Timothy 2:19(NIV) ¹⁹Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”  This verse seems to agree with the Romans 9:21 view of the household articles by stipulating that those who truly belong to God (God knows who they are) must turn away from the false teachings that are plaguing the Church and rid themselves of the evil.

The second way we can view this passage is to view the household articles as saved members of the congregation. 2 Timothy 2:22(NIV) ²²Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. If you link the thoughts in verses 20 and 21 with verse 22 then this would indeed indicate that the we are talking about the saved members of the local congregation, or those “who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”

The interpretation of verses 20 and 21 would then change to one of bettering your position with God as you grow. The reasoning is that all Christians are given gifts to serve the local church. Some of these gifts are not as glorious as others, but they are all important to the body. Sin destroys our usefulness to God. When we are living in sin we are ineffective in our ministry which destroys the church. The idea then is that we should purge ourselves of the sin so that we can be fit for God’s use no matter what that use is.

Both interpretations have merit, and either could be used without doing harm to the context of 2 Timothy. I prefer the first interpretation because the main theme of the entire book is apostasy, and how to deal with it. The thrust of Paul’s letter is centered upon those who oppose the truth and how we are to deal with that opposition. 2 Timothy 2:25(NIV) ²⁵Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth,. This verse would seem to indicate that the entire section we are dealing with is centered around those who were opposing the truth in the church at Ephesus. These are the false teachers such as Hymenaeus and Philetus who were teaching that the resurrection had already happened. I would therefore tend to believe that the household articles are members of the church, some of whom do not embrace the false teachers (vessels used for noble purposes), and those who do embrace the false teachers to some extent (vessels used for ignoble purposes).

It becomes very important if this is correct because it puts a burden on us to know what the truth is. It is not possible to cleans yourself from the false teachers and their false doctrine if you fail to know what true doctrine is. This is not that easy in today’s churches. Fewer and fewer churches are teaching sound doctrine today. Christianity is becoming indistinguishable from paganism (False teachings). I can only do what Paul is telling Timothy. I can encourage you to know the truth and practice it. Not an easy thing to do in todays world.

Maranatha

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2 Timothy 2:16-19(NIV) ¹⁶Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. ¹⁷Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, ¹⁸who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some. ¹⁹Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”

Having instructed Timothy on how the proper teacher should conduct himself, he now contrasts that with how an apostate teacher presents his message. What Timothy needed to do was to study the word of God so that he would be able to understand it. He was not to become involved in godless chatter. The context indicates that this godless chatter, derived from two words which indicate that which is godless and fruitless, are theological in nature. It gives us the idea of crossing the line from what is true to what is apostate teaching.

This does not mean that we should not correct the error that is being taught, but rather that we should not succumb to the teaching. By not defending the truth we approve the apostasy which is just as bad as outwardly participating in the falsehood. The danger for anyone who actually indulges in apostate teachings will find themselves wandering further and further from the truth. We are thus to avoid these types of false teachings in our church because the end result will be apostasy. Proverbs 14:12(NIV) ¹²There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.

False teaching is a cancer in the church. Paul say’s it will spread like gangrene. Once it is allowed it can and does destroy the gospel leading to a dead church. Timothy will deal with this in Chapter 3 and say’s that the church which allows apostasy (2 Timothy 3:5) has only the form of godliness, but is completely lacking in any power that is available to God’s servants. In other words it dead.

The church at Ephesus had two such false teachers. They are named by Paul as Hymenaeus and Philetus. It is obvious from the context that they had once been taught the truth, but for whatever reason had wandered away from that truth to grasp a different truth. That different truth was not a truth at all, but an apostate position. The false teaching that they were spreading involved the resurrection. They were saying that it has already taken place. This is contrary to what is the clear teaching of scripture. Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 deals with this very argument. The resurrection will not take place until the end of the present age. For the church it will occur at the rapture. If there is no resurrection then our salvation will never be complete because God will be a liar. How can we be like Christ if we are not physically resurrected? It is the resurrection we long for because it is only at that point in time that our salvation will be complete. Not only do we long for that time, but also the entire creation groans for it because that is the final stage of our redemption.

Romans 8:22-25(TNIV) ²²We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. ²³Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? ²⁵But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

This teaching was more than likely an early form of Gnosticism which taught that the body was evil but the spirit was good. The resurrection into a physical body was not desirable if this were true. They probably taught that the resurrection was some form of spiritual awakening which freed the spirit from the body. What ever the content of the teaching was it did cause believers to wander from the truth of scripture. If the error was not corrected then the apostasy would begin to worsen. Note that apostate teaching “destroy the faith” of those who believe the lie. Faith is belief in the truth therefore it cannot exist when we believe an untruth.

Regardless of the apostasy which has invaded the church, this will in no way stop God’s purpose in creation. God’s foundation, which is the scripture, stands firm. Notice that it is a solid foundation. Those who study and believe in the revealed will of God, the Bible, will stand firm against apostasy. The reason is they are secured in Christ. God knows who belongs to Him. They have been sealed with His Holy Spirit and have confessed there belief in Christ. They have been taken out of the family of Adam and placed into the family of Christ. The old nature of sin has been conquered and a new nature of life has been given. It is this new nature that allows us to turn away from evil. The child of God should be distinguishable from the unsaved. His life should reflect that he belongs to Christ. The child of God has repented or changed his mind about evil to walk in a new direction. Their desire is to please God and not get caught up in the pleasures of the world.

We will discuss more about apostasy in future posts. These verses depict the apostasy in the Ephesian Church during the life of Timothy. Paul will deal with a much bigger apostasy that will happen just before Christ’s return.  Because I believe we are in that time spoken of in Chapter 3, I will forgo for now my impression of the church today.

Maranatha

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2 Timothy 2:14-21(NIV) ¹⁴Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. ¹⁵Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

Paul begins to bring forth the main point of the letter to Timothy. There are false teachers and apostates within the Church. Paul has encouraged Timothy to remain faithful to what he has learned and to follow Paul’s example even during times of persecution. There are rewards for doing this as the poem in 2 Timothy 2:11-13 point out. If we die with Christ we will also live with Him. If we endure we will reign with him. It also reminds us that there are consequences for rejecting the gospel for when you deny Christ, He will also deny you. Paul wants Timothy to remind the people of these truths which he has learned. It is only by immersing yourself with the truth that error can be avoided.

Quarreling over words is one of the ways that will lead to apostasy and error. We humans can make words say whatever we want, as demonstrated from the many denominations in Christianity today. I have seen and heard Theologians argue over the meaning of a particular word to simply prove a presupposition that they have made about the meaning of a text. I don’t want you to think that arriving at a meaning for a particular word in scripture is wrong, but the fact that you try to change the meaning to justify your interpretation is wrong. It is when we try to prove our preconceptions in scripture that we begin to ruin those who listen. We begin to magnify ourselves and our ego’s at the expense of the plain teaching of scripture.

Paul gives Timothy the remedy against such quarreling. We must learn to correctly handle God’s word. It is only through the plain straightforward presentation of the Scripture that we can put an end to word quarrels. This has some major inferences. First we are to do everything we can in our understanding to be approved by God. When we submit our wills and minds to God He will reveal all truth to us. That truth is revealed as we diligently study scripture and rely on the Holy Spirit for enlightenment. Apart from God’s Spirit we can understand nothing.

Second, we should not be ashamed of what we have been given. We should have it within our ability to answer all questions and arguments directly with the truth of scripture and let that do our arguing for us. Imagine if you had the opportunity to bring someone to the knowledge of Christ but could not answer any of the questions that were asked. We should be ashamed if that ever happened because it would mean we failed in our responsibility to God. Everyone should have enough knowledge of the truth to defend the reason for his beliefs.

1 Peter 3:13-16(NIV) ¹³Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? ¹⁴But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened. ¹⁵But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, ¹⁶keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.

A third thing that we see is that there is a proper way to handle God’s word. In todays world the majority of “Christians” have no concept of God’s word. They believe in evolution which means they do not accept the creation story found in Genesis. They try to explain away the fact that God created the world in six days by reinterpreting the word “day” to mean ages, even though the context does not substantiate the claim. They have tried to argue for a “gap” between Genesis 1 and 2 to account for the billions of years evolutionists say they world has existed. They have rejected the nation of Israel through what is called replacement theology, which is contrary to the clear teaching of scripture. These are but a few instances where the word of God has been violated.

Paul understood what was happening in the church at Ephesus and what would happen latter in the church age, so he warns Timothy to make sure he understood correctly what the revelation of God means. This would include the entire Old Testament as well as the New Testament which Timothy had most likely received directly for Paul who was the author of the majority of the epistles. Satan will do everything possible to corrupt the truth to prevent salvation from happening. It is because of this that we must do everything in our power to correctly handle God’s word and present it’s truths unblemished to the world.

Hebrews 4:11-12(KJV) ¹¹Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. ¹²For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

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2 Timothy 2:10-13(NIV) ¹⁰Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. ¹¹Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; ¹²if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; ¹³if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.

Paul has just reminded Timothy about the importance of speaking the truth about God. It is the Word of God which is important in Timothy’s life because it is the very power of God. The importance of knowing and understanding the Word of God is paramount in our lives. It is so easy to pervert the word and lead people astray. It was happening in the church at Ephesus already. Being truthful with God’s word means suffering the consequences. Paul is in chains in prison for his testimony and preaching of the Gospel, which is the word of God. That word is not chained but will accomplish everything that God intended it to.

Isaiah 55:10-11(NIV) ¹⁰As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, ¹¹so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

Salvation only comes when we believe the Word of God. This is faith. No one is saved without God’s word penetrating their soul. God has chosen men to spread the Word through preaching. Paul is stressing this point to Timothy so he can continue in the ministry which God has called him to.

1 Corinthians 1:20-25(NIV) ²⁰Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. ²²Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, ²³but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, ²⁴but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.

Hebrews 4:12-13(NIV) ¹²For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double–edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. ¹³Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Paul begins in verse 10 of 2 Timothy by saying that because the word of God saves, especially the Gospel, he will never quit preaching and sharing, lest one of the elect fail to receive the word. His whole purpose in life is to bring all that God has called into the family of faith. It was worth all the torture and abuse that has happened to know that he was faithful to God and the Gospel. His love for humanity is manifested in the statement above. He endured all things so that he can preach the Word and bring as many as believed to eternal glory with Christ. Talk about a burden for the lost. What would happen in the world today if we had the same burden as Paul?

Paul then gives a poem that sums up what the unchained word of God accomplishes.

• If we died with him, we will also live with him. This first stanza alludes to the fact that Christ died for our sins and the only way for that to be efficacious in our lives is to believe in Him. There is a saying that kind of goes along with this. Born once die twice, born twice, die once. What occurs upon believing in Christ is the escape of the second death which is eternal damnation. Christ has already died in your place you you have victory over that second death through His death. That is why we say we have died with Christ and it is what baptism represents. We have died with Christ and we are resurrected with Him. Paul alludes to this in Romans:

Romans 6:5-10(NIV) ⁵If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. ⁶For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— ⁷because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. ⁸Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. ¹⁰The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

• if we endure, we will also reign with him. Enduring doesn’t mean you can somehow lose your salvation. The only criteria for salvation is dying with Christ mentioned above. This statement indicates your dedication to Christ after salvation. There are rewards for those who are faithful to Christ. Paul is our example of one who is faithful and endured to the end. He never stopped putting Christ first. So should we. There are rewards for faithful service.  We are reminded in Luke of these rewards. In the parable of the ten minas we see this principle in action.

Luke 19:17(NIV) ¹⁷“‘Well done, my good servant!’ his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.’

• If we disown him, he will also disown us; This is a warning about those who claim to be of Christ’s but are not. They are the apostates who will try to destroy the church by bringing in false teachings.

Matthew 10:32-33(NIV) ³²“Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. ³³But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.

• if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself. This is typical of most Christians today. They choose to not be true servants of God, yet they have faith in Him. This departs from the future tense and brings us to the present. Human’s have a sin nature, and will stray from God during their life after salvation. The very nature of God demands that he cannot be faithless in return. God is faithful to His word and His promises no matter what. This is a very important principle. If you place your faith and trust in Christ, God cannot ever be anything but faithful to His promise of eternal life that was demonstrated in the first stanza of the poem. If you died with Christ He is faithful to give you eternal life. It is only when you fail to die with Christ that you are subject to the third stanza. If you reject the salvation promised you will suffer the second death and be rejected by God. If you have trusted in Christ then you are secure in His love and faithfulness, even though you fail to be faithful to Him. What a tremendous God we have who can do this for us. All praise goes to Him.

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2 Timothy 2:8-9(NIV) ⁸Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, ⁹for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained.

Paul wants Timothy to be single-minded, and that single-mindedness needs to be focused upon Christ. Not only should we be focused upon Christ, but we should focus on two aspects of his person, His resurrection and his lineage. To Paul, and the early church, these statements meant a lot more than they seem to mean today.

The term Gospel simply means “good news.” In the Biblical sense it always is associated with what God has done in Creation. We have the Gospel of the Kingdom, The Gospel of God, The Gospel of Christ, The Gospel of Salvation, The Gospel of Peace etc..All of these deal with something that has or will happen in God’s plans for creation. Paul has instructed Timothy to start using the gift which he was given and begin revealing the truth of the word of God to those whom God has entrusted to his care, namely the Church at Ephesus. It is the truth that is contained in Timothy’s message and instructions that will prevent the apostasy that Paul is going bring up in the Ephesian church. Timothy is to use the sound teaching that Paul himself had given him, which is the very word of God. He is to instruct people in those teachings so that the sound doctrine can continue.  This doctrine will be needed to battle the false teachers who are already permeating the church.

The two doctrines that Paul wants Timothy to remember are the resurrection and lineage of Jesus Christ. Later in this chapter Paul indicates that an early form of Gnosticism was being taught in Ephesus. The false doctrine being taught was that the Resurrection had already taken place. This would have been referring to a spiritual resurrection and not a physical one which is taught in scripture. This would be an apostate teaching that has no place in the church. It makes the resurrection of Christ of little value, and destroys the fact of a physical return of Christ to establish his messianic kingdom.

It would seem logical that Paul would thus want Timothy to remember that Christ was resurrected physically. If Christ did not rise physically then we have no hope of becoming like him and joining him in our resurrected bodies. If we have no future hope of being raised then what hope do we have for eternity. Paul answers this question more completely in 1 Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 15:12-19(NIV) ¹²But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁴And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. ¹⁵More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. ¹⁶For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. ¹⁷And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. ¹⁸Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. ¹⁹If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

The fact that some in Ephesus were preaching that the resurrection already occurred contradicts the above passage and makes the word of God a lie. Timothy will need to confront this apostasy in his church.

The other doctrine that Paul wishes for Timothy to remember is that Christ is the descendant of David. This is a clear reference to the Davidic covenant that God had established. If Paul wanted to indicate the manhood of Christ then he would have used Adam as the ancestor of Christ because scripture indicates that Christ is the second Adam who obeyed God and thus became the Son of Man through His obedience. Paul chose to use David as the ancestor that signifies the kingship of Christ and the future rule that the kingship represents. This is indicating a future return of Christ to set up His kingdom.

If the resurrection has already taken place then that future rule cannot happen and thus makes God a liar concerning His covenant promises to David. The false doctrine being taught in Timothy’s church would thus completely devastate any prophecy given which shows the end of God’s plan for creation. At least 30% of the scripture concerns the last day’s, and that portion of scripture would be irrelevant if the resurrection had already occurred. Paul reminds Timothy, who was raised by a Jewish mother, that Christ is the promised Messiah who would one day set up a kingdom and rule from the throne of David in righteousness. Timothy understood the implications from the statement “descended from David”.

This is the very message that Paul preached which led to his imprisonment. That is the simple message of the death, burial, resurrection and future glory of Jesus Christ, the Gospel. It is a message that cannot be stopped no matter how many times it is tried. It is a message that has persisted for over 2000 years already and will never be silenced. It is still the same message today as it was when Paul penned this to Timothy. Jesus Christ died for our sins, he was buried, on the third day he rose from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father. He will come again to claim His own and establish His rule. You can take that to the bank.

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