2 Timothy 2:14-26

2 Timothy • Sermon • Submitted 9 months ago • Presented 9 months ago

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Paul encourages Timothy to stay on track with his faith. This involved being mindful of speech, thought and action and a drive towards godliness. Any confrontation of error was to be done with kindness and gentleness.

Notes

Transcript

Good morning everyone. Before I start I would like to thank you for the messages of support that Kathryn and I have had in the loss of my mum just over 2 weeks ago. Thank you.

This morning we are continuing our studies in 2 Timothy. We will be studying Chapter 2:14-26.

Pictures

Some of you will be aware that I was brought up in India where my parents were working a missionaries. A particularly enjoyable part of life for me was our travel by train for 3 days and 3 nights back and forth from our school in South India and our home in North India. I can not fully express how much I loved train travel. The food, the company, the setting sun on a hazy sky, the signals, the tracks, the people, the farms and villages and streams, rivers and bridges. I loved it all. On 2nd June 2023, an horrific 3 train crash took place south of Calcutta. Nearly 300 people lost their lives. What was the cause? It seems a passenger train was diverted onto an adjacent line of track and crashed into a stationary goods train loaded with iron ore. The resultant crash derailed the train and threw the engine and at least two carriages into the path of another third train travelling at speed in the opposite direction on the main track. The cause is thought to be a mixture of human error and poor maintenance of signalling devices.

Staying on Track

Todays message is not about trains, but it is about how we can keep our lives on track in terms of our faith. We will learn about people who swerved off track and created havoc in their own lives and in the lives of other people. We will find encouragement to live Godly lives, and some tips and tricks about staying on track in our own faith journey. I have titled my message Staying on Track. Lets pray and ask God’s help as we start.

Prayer: Father God, thank you for all the encouragement and instruction we get from reading your word. I pray that you will help me as I speak, and help us all as we listen so that we all appreciate what you have in mind for us to learn today. May we not just be hearers of the word only but doers, and put into practice what we learn. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen

A Reminder

For those who are new to our sermon series in the book of 2nd Timothy, Paul is writing to Timothy from prison and he is under s death sentence and awaiting execution. He wishes to pass on his last words of instruction to his dear son in the faith.

In Ch 2 verse 14, Paul wishes Timothy to remind his fellow workers of some important things. We learned about these in the last 3 -4 messages. Timothy is not to be ashamed of the gospel (Ch 1 v.8), he is to follow the pattern of sound words that he had learned from Paul and other apostles(Ch 1.13-14) and to entrust these truths and the gospel to faithful men to teach others (Ch 2.2), to be ready for suffering (Ch 2 v.3), so that people may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus (v.10). He wants Timothy and his fellow workers and the people to whom they minister to be confident and unashamed of their faith and to be able to remain on track in their faith journey.

Paul now has some very helpful words to pass on to Timothy about how he can stay on track in his Christian faith. In doing so he is not only concerned for Timothy, but also for the shepherds and leaders of the Christian community in Ephesus. He has a pastoral heart not just for them but beyond them to the congregations they teach also.

Signs of Swerving off track

So what happens when we go off track? It involves 3 major aspects of our lives. 1. What we say 2. What we think and 3. What we do. Paul now instructs Timothy to “Charge them” - meaning this is serious stuff and worthy of especial emphasis. There are some specific things to avoid.

The first thing that Paul mentions is:

1. Quarreling about words v.14

It leads to ruin - the Gk word is katastophe, ie catastrophic disaster. This is “no-go” territory for the Christian, be they pastor, teacher or not. Paul has said the same thing before.

In 1Tim 6:3-5 he says “If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.”

2. Irreverent babble v.16

This leads people to ungodly living. The word irreverent here has the idea of worthless or pointless talk or babble. Basically it is gossip. Ungodliness is the last thing any pastor or teacher would want as an end result of talking. But we need to understand that this is where gossip leads.

By the way the book of Proverbs is an excellent place to read all about the effect of our speech.

In Proverbs 10:8 we read: “The wise of heart will receive commandments, but a babbling fool will come to ruin.”

In Proverbs 10:10 again we read: “Whoever winks the eye causes trouble, and a babbling fool will come to ruin.”

And again in Proverbs 10:14 we read: “The wise lay up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool brings ruin near.”

3. Ungodly talk v.17

Ungodly talk also has the idea of errant and ungodly teaching or doctrine. It spreads rapidly, like gangrene. Our world makes it easy to spread gossip and ungodly talk - and it is the murkier, darker side of our humanity that is spread the most vigorously. You know that and I know that and Tik Tok knows that! Are you part of the gossip triangle?

4. Doctrinal error v 18

Sometimes new and fanciful teaching or doctrine can also become attractive to the masses. Be careful! It spreads quickly, but it is diseased and causes ruin.

Proverbs is again helpful. In Proverbs 4:19 we read: “The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble.” In other words these people do not even recognise the strife they are in and how deep and chaotic their lives have become.

Proverbs 4:19 ESV

The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble.

Paul gives the example of Hymaneus and Philetus, 2 people among others who have really swerved off track and got their thinking about the resurrection all twisted and out of sorts and they had upset the faith of a whole lot of people. Perhaps these people were now doubting their own faith and their belief in God.

Paul is reassuring on this: God’s firm foundation stands. The Lord knows those who are his. But if you belong to Him, then you really do have to give up on an ungodly lifestyle! Thats what “depart from iniquity” means.

Paul has already warned Timothy on multiple occasions in both his first letter and now this second letter about being careful about sound teaching and doctrine, to guard the information that he has been given by Paul and the apostles.

Speech Thought/doctrine Action

So, people like Hymaneus and Philetus (v.17) had issues with how they spoke, how they thought and how they acted. It sounds as if they were quarrelsome, gossips, who had their facts all twisted, did not know how to distinguish truth and error, led people into ungodly lifestyles and their talk was infectious and spread rapidly causing disaster in peoples lives. In fact in 1 Tim 1:19-20 Paul has already mentioned Hymaneus before as some one who has “made shipwreck of their faith.”

So how do we stay on track? What is the answer to all this chaos and catastrophic ruin?

The answer is in Our Key Verse in 2Tim 2:15, and the rest of this chapter fills out the detail.

2 Timothy 2:15 ESV

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

This verse summarises not just our study passage this morning but is arguably one of the key thoughts for the entire book of 2 Timothy.

Do Your Best

Do your best means - to work hard. Timothy this is your highest priority! Don’t hold back. Don’t just cruise. Put in your best effort. This is really important.

Present yourself to God

We are to present ourselves to God. That means that the overall trajectory of all that we think or say or do is in reference to God’s direction in our lives. We do not live to please ourselves, nor are we there to please other people. We present our lives to God. We live for him. Pauls says in Rom 12:1 “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

As one approved

“As one approved” has the idea of a person who is tested and found to be genuine and is thus approved. I want to stress this is not a call for us to prove to God that we have somehow met his standards and now meet some criteria to get into heaven. The Bible tells us that that is an impossibility. We cannot do anything of ourselves to merit God’s favour. The grounds of our acceptance with God is only ever on the basis of what Jesus has accomplished on the cross.

However any person that has repented of their sin and has put their faith and trust in Jesus as their saviour will surely have have and demonstrate a changed behaviour and lifestyle. Their life will surely reflect the God whom they serve. The genuineness of their faith will be evident by the kind of lifestyle that they have. Surely.

So what is this verse about then? It is simply a call to Timothy to fulfil his calling as a pastor teacher, to allow himself to be tested through all the ups and downs of life, and yet to remain faithful to God and to his word and to be used by God. He is to demonstrate the genuineness of his faith in God by the way he lives out his life.

A Worker, unashamed

He needs to be a worker who is not ashamed of the gospel. Living for God does involve work. It is often not easy. Sometimes it involves suffering for the sake of the gospel as we learned about last week. Timothy is encouraged to NOT be ashamed of the gospel, nor of Jesus Christ.

Rightly handling the Word of Truth

He also needs to be one who can rightly handle or discern the word of truth. Where does this Word of Truth come from? It comes from the revelation of God to us through Jesus Christ whilst he was here on earth, through the preaching and teaching of the apostles, and through the witness of the Holy Spirit in our hearts on the background of the written Word of God that we hold in our hands - the Bible. All of these things have to be in sync. Our thinking and therefore our actions cannot be based on mere speculation, nor on popular opinion, nor on gossip or idle chatter. No, we need to base our world view on God’s truth.

As we all read and meditate on God’s word, as we hear the word preached, as we discuss it together we are all aiming to rightly (or correctly) divide the word of truth, to be discerning. In other words, doctrine matters. This will deeply affect the way we think and will help us in our speech and our actions. This is a pivotal step in any Christian’s walk of faith.

We live and talk and walk and act in this world, before the living God, in the light of his eternal word and in the power of the Holy Spirit.

The next section of verses give us some very important principles for staying on track in our faith.

Depart from iniquity v. 19

In the first instance v.19 is reassurance - God knows who belongs to him. But if you are someone who follows Jesus - then part of the demonstration of that belonging is that you will “depart from iniquity”. In other words, your desire will be wanting to run away from that which is evil.

Cleansing v.20

The next 2 verses give an illustration that explains that we are all like a variety of different utensils. We are encouraged to cleanse ourselves, to live clean and holy lives, so that we can be of used to our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ. We will then be like honourable vessels fit for the Master of the House and ready for every good work. We don’t all have the same job, but we do have to be clean and fit for use.

Flee vs Pursue v.22

Paul then tells Timothy to flee youthful passions in v.22. Flee is a vigorous action word. I get the impression sometimes that we like to sail close to wind on this topic. Let’s see what is the riskiest action I can take without being frankly seen as being evil. Is that you? You might push back and say, life would be pretty boring. Can’t we just have some fun?

I believe this is where we seriously misunderstand the nature and beauty and excitement of holy living. Jesus came to give us life, and that more abundantly. He also made us all uniquely different from one another. We are born to be different. I would be horrified if you thought you had to be some sort of homgenous bland individual with no personality or creativity.

The scientist who is a believer is staggered and amazed at the beauty and complexity and intricacy of the world we live in. The mathematician revels in the precision found in the universe. The artist is constantly energised by the multitude of incredible ways of expressing thought and emotion and passion and wonder and mystery in what they create. The athlete and sportsman who believes in God is energised by and grateful for the possibilities of movement and activity and achievement at the highest level. For us mere mortals, just being alive and able to breathe is a wonder in itself. So much more could be said of the deep joys that are to be had in how we interact with our world, with people, with to enjoy God given skills and abilities.

But there is more. Paul points to the very real importance of pursuing a Godly character and he mentions only 4 aspects of this in this chapter. There are many more aspects of Godly character that are explored in other passages in the New Testament such as gratitude and thankfulness, hospitality and generosity and more.

Pursue Righteousness

Pursue is also an active word. It is purposeful. The virtues described here all deserve unpacking in detail in their own right. But at the very least, let us note that righteousness is the very opposite of ungodliness. Yes, it has in mind right actions, of course, but it does mean righteous speech and as we delve in the teaching of Jesus, we know that we also need to have righteous thinking. Righteousness though is not just something that happens. It has to be pursued. The question we all have to ask ourselves is how am I pursuing righteousness?

Faith

Similarly with faith. We are people of faith. But we inevitably have questions, we have doubts. There are things we just cannot explain. So how do we pursue faith? How much effort do we take to have our questions answered, to examine our doubts and seek solutions? How serious are we at exploring how our faith intersects with this world and the great questions that are posed in this world by the existence of suffering, the existence of evil? How do we interact with people of other faiths? How do we think about our world and our care of it? How serious are we about strengthening our faith and finding out what God has to say in every department of our lives?

Love

Love is a huge topic in its own right. It is easy enough to love people that we like or are naturally attracted to. But how do we pursue our love for God - whom we cannot see physically with our eyes? Or how do we love people that we don’t get on with? How do we love the unlovely? How do you pursue love?

Peace

How much do you value peace in your life, in your home, in your city or country? Are you at peace with your family members, with your neighbour, with your work colleagues? What does it mean to pursue peace in these different contexts? Are you at peace with God?

What is the context for all this to happen? Yes, as individuals we are to pursue these virtues, but we are also to do this alongside others “who call on the Lord from a pure heart” v.22. In other words we are somewhat reliant on other Christians alongside us so that together we explore what it means to live the Christian life in this way. This is a vital component of staying on track in following God. We need other godly believers in our lives to help us in our faith journey. We are not islands on our own and neither can we expect to come up with answers all by ourselves.

The Lord’s Servant v. 23-25

This is the final image in this chapter of what a Christian should be like. Last week we examined the soldier, the athlete and the farmer. This week the worker, the honourable vessel, and now the servant. It is so typical of human nature that we like to be top dog, to be in charge, and to control. The heart of the Christian leader is to be a servant. This servant will have nothing to do with foolish ignorant controversies and will look to avoid being quarrelsome. Rather they are to be kind, able to teach, patient in the face of evil, and they correct with gentleness. They know that it is God himself to makes any changes in other people. He alone can bring people to repentance - we can’t - and it is God himself who is the ultimate rescuer of people.

This is difficult stuff! At one end Timothy has to contend for the faith, to guard the deposit of teaching he has been given, but where he has to correct, he has to do it with kindness and gentleness. This is not easy. How is it possible? He can only do this in the strength that God gives him. He is to be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus v.1.

So how do we stay on track in our Christian faith?

2 Timothy 2:15 ESV

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

We stay on track by offering ourselves to God, seeking his mind and will in our lives, through His word and letting that direct our thoughts and our speech and our actions. We will do this by growing our faith in the company of other godly people and act with kindness and gentleness in our pursuit of godly character.

I hope you can find this as something that is really valuable to do this week. If there is anything I have said today that is hard to understand, please let me know. I would be only too happy to talk things over with you or help you to find someone who can help you further in your faith journey.