The following sermon was taught on Sunday, February 13th, 2000.

Strength for Difficult Times

You have to wonder about the days we live in ‑ with all the technological advances and modernization of everything, you have to ask yourself, "Is life really getting more simple?" Just because you can now microwave your dinner in two minutes as opposed to three hours ‑ is life really any easier? The answer would have to be no. Life really is getting more difficult. Another question we have to ask ourselves is, with all the advances we've made in society and how humanity supposed to be better today, is there a greater awareness of truth? Is there a greater awareness of righteousness in our culture, in our society, in our world, and we'd have to say no to that, also. This really shouldn't surprise us. 

Turn to 2 Timothy 3 ‑ starting in verse 1: "But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self‑control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; and avoid such men as these. For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. And just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected as regards the faith. But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all, as also that of those two came to be. But you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium and at Lystra; what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord delivered me! And indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them; and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. 1 solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths. " (2 Timothy 3:1-4:4)

We live in difficult times, and we need strength. We need strength to live in and through the times that we're in. I want to give 4 major things I see from this passage that can help us be strong as we realize some things and as we choose to do some things during this time. 

The first thing deals more with our attitude. The first thing to help us deal with difficult time is to expect them. We must expect  difficult times to come – it’s not a matter of if they will come, but when. 

Paul's writing to Timothy ‑ over 1900 years ago asserts "realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come."  Folks, if we expect utopia here on earth we're going to be disappointed. We're going to be greatly disappointed. The book of Proverbs says that "hope deferred makes the heart sick." You can think as positively as you want, and it's not going to change the times. It won't. We must expect difficult times to come. Expecting difficult times doesn't make you a pessimist. It makes you a realist, because God says we need to expect difficult times in these last days. Now to focus on the difficult times ‑ to be consumed by all the disaster that's happening ‑ that makes you a pessimist. We must focus on the fact that Christ is going to return ‑ that He is going to return for His bride, for His church. To expect difficult times doesn't make you a pessimist ‑ it makes you a realist. And don't be deceived ‑ just because there's prosperity in our land, it doesn't matter what the politicians say. There are difficult times all around us. We as Americans have such a narrow view because all we see is what's happening in our own little corner of the world, where there are people all over the rest of the world that are being slaughtered and murdered and killed ‑ there's famine, starvation, and more ...we close our eyes to that. We view life around the globe by what's happening here in the United States. We get so anesthetized because we turn on the TV and go into a fantasy world and think that's what life's really like, and it's not. I'm not a pessimist ‑ I'm a realist. And I know that God says there are going to be difficult times, and so we must expect them. 

There is a book that was written back in the 1970's by John Warwick Montgomery, called "Damned Through the Church." Disturbing title, don't you think? In this book, Montgomery identifies 7 specific periods, movements, or theological orientations throughout the history of the church ‑ where a certain thing was being taught, and as a result of this false teaching, there was much destruction in individual's lives who adhered to them, and there was much destruction to the church as a result. 

The first period ‑ era ‑ that he identifies is what he calls "sacramentalism." This lasted the longest, and it's the period we call the Middle Ages. It used to be called the Dark Ages. You know why they were called the Dark Ages? Because God's Word was held in the dark. The Word of God was held captive, and the church, during that period, did not give the Word of God ‑ thus the light of God ‑ to the people. And so it was called the Dark Ages. Now we don't want to call it that today because we may offend a certain group of people. So be it ‑ I'll offend them. Dark Ages. In this period of sacramentalism, the church became God. That's a false teaching. 

The second period he identifies is what he calls "rationalism." This is where reason was God. 

The third period he calls "orthodoxism." This is where God became sterile and impersonal. 

Realize as I give these to you, all of these are still existent today in some form or another. 

The fourth era he identifies as "politicism," which is where God was the state, or government. They still try to make that one today, don't they? 

The fifth one he calls "ecumentism," which is where God was uncritical fellowship and cooperation among nominal Christians, all in the name of "love." 

The sixth one he calls "experientialism." This is where God ‑ or truth ‑ was determined by a person's own personal experience. You determined truth ‑ and thus God ‑ based on your own personal experience.

The last era he gives he calls "subjectionism," and this is where self has become God. And that was prevalent in the 60's, and it's prevalent today. 

John MacArthur, Jr. rightly adds two more eras to this, since 30 years have gone by since the book was written. There are two other teachings ‑ two other false theological orientations ‑ that are out there. 

One we could call "mysticism" and is similar to  experientialism but has many varied venues.  There's a lot to it ‑ all the New Age Movement and this came out of the 60's, 70's, and 80's, and there are a lot of people who purport this. Summarizing mysticism, if that's even possible ‑ this is where a person seeks to determine truth based on their feelings or intuitions. They may even say they're a psychic, because they "feel." 

The second one to add is what we would call "pragmatism." This is very prevalent today, especially within the church and evangelical Christianity. This is where truth is determined by what produces results. The phrase "the end justifies the means" ‑ that's pragmatism. That's very prevalent in the church. When I say the church, I'm talking about the broad scope today, because it's so easy for people to think because there are numbers ‑ and large numbers ‑ then what they’re doing must be right. From what we glean in our passage this morning, this is not necessarily so. 

How can we avoid being led astray? First, as I have stated, we have to expect that there are going to be difficule times so that we are not caught off guard.  We have to expect that there's always going to be false teaching ‑ not only in our culture, but within the church, also.  

These last three points on what we can do to avoid being led astray come down to choices we have to make to avoid these difficult times. 

The second thing we need to do is avoid ungodly men. We can broaden that and say men and women. We need to avoid ungodly people. We need to avoid ungodly leaders, ungodly followers. I want to go through this list of words Paul gives to Timothy, because they can open our eyes to a lot that's happening today. All you have to do is open the newspaper and you can see each one of these words being lived out in our times. 

But before we go through these, I want us to make sure that we are not holding up what we're hearing to a magnifying glass, but we're looking at it in a mirror. What I mean by that is let's not be quick as we look through this litany of words to point our fingers at society. Let's be quick to examine ourselves to make sure that we are not being lured into this type of behavior. We need to ask ‑ and you need to ask right now as we go through this ‑ ask God through the Holy Spirit to reveal to you if any of these may, in one form or another, be in your life. 

The first one ‑ in verse two ‑ 'for men will be lovers of self' and this is where it starts. This is where it all begins. This begins the downward spiral. Now the thing here is that love is not wrong ‑ we know that ‑ but the object of love is. What's the object of love here? The object of love here is self. This is self love. They become lovers of self. We're going to see how this happens as we get further on the passage. The object is wrong ‑ when all we do is love self, that's what starts spiral. When you start being concerned about yourself, when you start focusing on yourself, and say 'well gosh, the Great Commandment says I need to love others the way I love myself so I should love myself first.’ No. We'll get to that. 

Then he goes on ‑ "lovers of money. " And wouldn't that be obvious? If you're loving yourself, what are you going to want next? You're going to want possessions. He's not just talking about dollar bills and cash, but materialism, too. Coveting ‑ where there's a craving for earthly possessions. It's amazing with all these new game shows on at night ‑my stomach is now turned with the recent one called "Greed." It is awful. I can justify seeing "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" but now when you call it "greed" they expose it for what it is. Now I can't even watch it without conviction. We become lovers of money‑we want, we want, we want. And that's very prevalent in our society today. 

Next is they're boastful, and this boastful means that they're bragging. This is really the outward manifestation of self love isn't it ‑ when you brag about yourself or you're constantly putting the spotlight on your accomplishments, your achievements, you, you, you. 

They become arrogant. This arrogance means that there is a feeling of superiority, that they're always right. They can't be wrong. You've probably experienced some people like this. We need to be very careful when we experience that within the church. I'm sure I can have people stand up here in this room who I have told personally that I was wrong. I am not always right, and I'll be the first one to admit it and my wife will second that motion. And my kids will vote unanimously on that. But this person that Paul is describing here gets to the point where they feel they're always right. And they may know that they're not, but because they're going down this downward spiral, they can't be exposed, and so they are going to be very arrogant. 

They're revilers. This means to abuse and to slander others. It means literally because they're arrogant, because they're boastful, they exalt themselves ‑ how? By tearing down others. The only way they can make themselves look good is by making other people look bad. 

They become disobedient to parents. Should this be a surprise? I don't think so. 

They become ungrateful. This means that every good thing that comes along in this person's life ‑ they feel they deserved it, so they don't need to give thanks for it. They don't need to show appreciation for it ‑‑ because they're superior, because they're always right and any good thing that comes to them they think "I deserve that." 

They're unholy. This simply means "gross indecency." And we see that prevalent today. 

They become unloving, which means that they are without natural affections. They're heartless. Those people who they should be the warmest and closest to ‑ they're heartless toward and they don't care about them because it will not bring any profit to them since that is what life is all about. 

They're irreconcilable, which means that they refuse to change, regardless of the circumstances, regardless of the consequences. They refuse to change ‑ even if it's going to bring harm on them, even if it's going to bring harm on others ‑ they don't care. They're irreconcilable. 

They become malicious gossips. And this is where they make a determined effort to destroy other people's lives through their words. This word "malicious gossips" comes from the word "diabolos" which in English we translate diabolical. But in the New Testament, it's translated "accuser," and it's used 34 times for Satan himself. That's what these people become ‑ they become instruments of Satan and they determine to destroy people's lives through the words that they use. 

They're without self‑control. It means that they're a slave to their passions and ambitions, not caring about what other people think, and not caring about what happens. 

They're brutal. And that means that they are savage ‑ they're like a wild beast. We see this prevalent today when you hear these horrendous stories about mothers giving birth to their babies and leaving them in trash cans and killing them. If that's not brutal, I don't know what is. Abortion itself is brutal. It's no better than being a savage wild beast. Sometimes when an animal gives birth to a young one, they eat it. I've seen it happen, growing up on a farm. And that's what abortion really is. And that's the state we're in. 

They become haters of good. They know what is good but they choose to oppose it. 

They become treacherous. This means they turn against family and friends. That's what it means to be treacherous. You're not really treacherous with somebody you don't know; you're treacherous when you oppose and you turn against family and friends. 

They become reckless. That means they become careless, negligent. They are negligent because they are so obsessed with themselves. 

And then they're conceited. They think more highly of themselves than is warranted. It means that their judgment is clouded. 

Finally, it says here that they are "lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. " It's interesting that it ends where it began. It began with being lovers of self, and they love themselves so much that God just gets pushed out of the picture, and they love pleasure more than they love God. This kind of completes what I call the "self‑love sandwich." You've got the self‑love cookie, and the cream is pretty messy inside. Here we see the Great Commandment, as I alluded to earlier, turned around, because people always quote that to justify their self‑love. "Well God told me that I need to love others as I love myself." No, that's the second commandment ‑ to love others as you love yourself. What's the first commandment? "You shall the love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength." If we're obeying that, there's not going to be room for self‑love. If we're obeying that, then that's how we love others as we love ourselves. We love ourselves by loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, because that's the greatest devotion that brings the greatest fulfillment in our lives. That's what it means there. We really need to examine ourselves, especially on this last one ‑ "they become lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God" ‑ because there are so many things around us that lure us toward that. 

In verse 5 Paul says that they're "holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power, avoid such men as these." That word “godliness” is referring to religion. They're holding to a form of religion, but they deny its power. 

As we continue on, I want to give you 6 distinguishing marks of an ungodly teacher, an ungodly leader, and thus an ungodly follower, that we find here in verses 5‑9. Here are some distinguishing marks that we need to be aware of that this passage makes very clear to us. 

First, we see in verse 5, where it says "holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power”. The distinguishing mark of this kind of person is they're religious. They're very religious. They're very spiritual, but they're not godly. And when I say godly, I mean there's really been no life change in the person. There are many people on the radios and on the TV today that exhibit this. They can talk a great talk, and they can sound very spiritual, and they will use the word of God to deceive you, just as Satan did to Adam and Eve and to Jesus himself. He's not going to use anything else. That's how he's going to lure you in. "Well it's the Scripture that they're using, so it must be right." Well no, not necessarily. They're religious, but they're not godly. There's no life change. 

The second thing we see in verse 5 is they deny the power of God to change lives. They deny that power. Now they may bring up a lot of people to share testimonies of supposedly how their life has changed, but do you know if it's legit? Do you know if it's true? I do know one thing ‑ it brings a lot of donations in, because people want that change, so therefore, "if this man or woman produced that change in this person's life, maybe it'll happen to me if I give enough." And all you have to do is listen to their appeals ‑ "Give more money. We need more money." 

You may be thinking “Chuck you're being unfair. How do we know? How do we know that's such a person?” That's a question I want you to hold onto. How do you know? That's where we need to use discernment and be very careful of what we listen to and watch. 

In verse 6 it says that they captivate weak women ‑ they enter into households and captivate weak women. They take advantage of the weak. And that's so easy nowadays with radio and TV. It's so easy to do ‑ they take advantage of the weak. It says they captivate weak women weighed down with sins led on by various impulses. Thus, it shows they play on peoples' emotions and lusts. That's a good sign ‑ if you're listening to somebody and they're playing on your emotions, they're playing on your lusts and your desires, that should be the red flag. A red flag to you to beware. 

What's it mean "they captivate weak women'"? Some translations say "gullible women." Now in all fairness, just as there are ungodly men and women, there are weak women and men. Especially nowadays. What does this "weak women" mean? Let me divert here. It means to be gullible and it says they are weighed down with sin. That means they are burdened ‑ they're feeling guilty ‑ something's happened in their life where they have a genuine need and sense of guilt. It says that they're led on by various impulses. It means that they're being led by their lusts. They're being led by their emotions and not the truth. It says that they're always learning, but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Always learning means they go from one false teaching to another. They may listen to one and they may try it or they get bored with it so they go on to another one. They follow the fads around. They're always learning, but they never come to the knowledge of the truth. That knowledge means to be discerning, to comprehend, to understand the actual truth. And the reason why they're always learning and never coming to the knowledge of the truth is that they're unwilling to subject themselves to the truth. They're led by their emotions and impulses. They don't want to subject themselves to the truth. 

There are two more things these verses tell us about the ungodly men or leaders. In verse 8 it says 'just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses" ‑ these were the magicians in Pharoah's court ‑ "so these men also opposed the truth. " They oppose the truth. They don't promote the truth ‑they oppose it. "Men of depraved mind, rejected as regards to the faith. "And that depravity and rejection it's referring to is the fact that they are irreconcilable. That's a harsh statement, but these men that Paul's describing here ‑ God's saying there's no hope for them. They're irreconcilable, they're depraved, and they're rejected as regards to the faith. They're not going to come back, and so if you think that you can win them back over, it's not going to happen, because God says it won't. We must avoid these type of men. How do we do that? How do we avoid these type of men? Paul explains that next. 

The third thing that we need to do ‑ Paul goes on to say here, in verse 10 ‑ "you followed my teaching." The third thing we need to do is follow the right examples. "You followed my teaching, my conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, persecutions, and sufferings. " We'd like to take that one out. But that's what Timothy was following, and Paul is reminding Timothy that these times will come, that these type of men and women, teachers, will rise up, but you, Timothy ‑ you, men and women ‑ you follow what is right. Timothy saw what was right exhibited through Paul's life. Here Paul gives this list of things that helps us see what the qualities are of a godly example. 

First, he told Timothy to follow his teaching. The question we have to ask is "what is the teaching based on?" Is the teaching based on man, self‑love, lusts and passions, or is the teaching based on God and His Word. What's the central focus of what's being taught? Is it Jesus Christ and Him crucified, or is it man exalted? 

He says, 'you followed my conduct. " And what that means is that Paul's conduct was congruent with what he taught.  

He followed Paul's purpose. This purpose was his motive for doing what he did. Timothy saw Paul's motive, and Timothy followed Paul's motive in preaching the gospel. 

Now this begs us to really stop and examine some things. When you listen (or if you listen) to preachers on the radio or TV how do you know that their conduct is congruent with what's being taught? The only way you can know that is to know them. You have to be around them to know their purpose. How do you know that person you're hearing on the radio or hearing and seeing on the TV ‑‑ how do you know what their motive is? They may say what their motive is, but the only way you're going to really know what their motive is, is by knowing them. And you cannot know them over the radio or TV. We can know, over time ‑ 10, 20, 30 years ‑ once their dead and buried and you see the overall fruit - then you may know. But do you want to wait that long? Do you want to take the chance of being led astray? Now I'm not saying that every radio and TV teacher out there is a false teacher. I'm not saying that at all. There are some very good and godly men out there. But we need to be careful who and what we're listening to, because we don't know if their life follows their teaching. The only way you can really know that is to get in their home, get in their personal life, and know then and their purpose. What is their motive for what they do? You can't know that without knowing them. 

Now, in the local church, you can know that. God has ordained the local church as the instrument to advance His kingdom and to exhibit His grace. Because in the local church, you should be able to know what the teacher's conduct, purpose, and motive is. I invite all of you ‑ if you want to come and hang out in my home and examine my life ‑ feel free. I'll tell you right now ‑ you'll be shocked. You really will. I'm not perfect. My family will tell you that. But I invite you, because, by the grace of God, I do the best I can to make sure my conduct is congruent with my teaching. And my motive? I can tell you what my motive is and I ask God to continually purify my motives for His glory. 

Brethren, we need to be careful. That's why it takes discernment and wisdom to see whom we're listening to and following. He said, 'you followed my faith. " We need to see whom they were looking to. Are they depending on someone greater than themselves? 

"You followed my patience." Timothy knew that Paul was a patient man. That means he kept with people regardless of their responses. The wolf ‑ the false shepherd ‑ the false teacher ‑ if they're not getting what they want, they leave. If the people aren't giving them what they want, they're out of there! That's a sign of a false teacher. 

“You followed my love. The love he's referring to here is a selfless love. 

"You followed my perseverance." That means that you keep on proclaiming what is right and what is true, and you don't get sidetracked with current trends and fads and fantasies. 

"You followed my persecutions and sufferings." For righteousness. Now I know that a lot of false teachers will tell you they're being persecuted. But they're not being persecuted for righteousness' sake. They think that they are being persecuted simply  because they didn't get enough money that week and their lifestyle is being threatened. They call that persecution.  They manipulate God’s people by claiming that "God's curse is on His people because His people aren't giving." The guilt that is used ‑ they always go back to Malachi and say that God will open the floodgates of heaven if you give." So give, 'cause you can't out‑give God." Right? But you know what the problem is with that Scripture? That Scripture has been fulfilled in Christ, and in Christ, there are no more blessings that you can get. You can give $1, you can give $100,000, you can go on "Greed" and get a million dollars and give it all to the church. You're not going to get any more blessings than you already have in Christ. Now, you may realize more blessings, but you're not going to get any more. You've got all you can get in Jesus Christ. Do you know that? But you see they twist that to make you feel guilty. And usually what people do is they give with impure motives and out of guilt. There are problems there. I won't go on any more. You can catch it. 

Verse 12: “indeed, all who desire to live godly will be persecuted." We need to follow persecutions and sufferings. You want to follow persecutions and sufferings? No ‑ it's not usually high on everybody's list, but we need to be prepared for that. That's part of the right example ‑ that we will stand by those men and women who are godly, who are following Jesus Christ ‑ and if they're being persecuted for doing what is right and for teaching what is right ‑ we need to follow that, right alongside them. I WILL defend and die for truth. By the grace of God, I will. And that truth is that embodiment of truth that God has given us through His Word and mostly that truth is Jesus Christ, who is the living truth and the living word. And I will die and defend that. But I WILL NOT ‑ I will not defend or die for systems, for programs, for fads that prevail through the church. I won't even stand up for them. Because that's all they are, systems and programs and fads that man has developed. We must stand, defend, and be willing to die for what is true and unchanging, and that's the Word of God, which gets us to our last point. 

Our last point of how we stay strong in difficult times, and we do that by holding to the Word of God. In this last passage in Chapter 3:14 and on through chapter 4, Paul continues this litany about the Word of God and how it's sufficient. "You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them; " Knowing that Paul's life ‑ his teaching, his conduct, his motives, over time ‑ were exemplified ‑ there's congruency there. 

Here Paul is exhorting Timothy to continue in these things. They may not be exciting, they may not be the newest and latest and greatest fad for church growth, but they are truth these words are truth, and you are to continue in these things). And folks, you cannot afford to wait until difficult times come for you to decide to start holding onto the Word of God, because then it's too late. You can't afford to wait until the difficult times come. You've got to make the choice now to start holding to the Word of God, and you've got to become convinced of it. You've got to become convinced that the Word is true, not because another person says so, not because I say so, but because God says so. You need to become convinced that it's true in your life. Yes, other men and women may point you to the truth. They may teach you the truth, but it's your responsibility to be noble-­minded like the Bereans and examine the Scriptures to see if these things are so, so you can become convinced, so you can have conviction of what's right and what's true. If you're basing your life upon what somebody else says about the Word of God, you're on a very shaky foundation. You need to base your life, ultimately, upon what God shows you in His Word. Now yes, other men will point and teach you in that direction, but you've got to examine the Scriptures to make sure they are so. You can disagree with me, and there are probably many things I have said over the years where you may disagree, but I want to challenge you. If what I'm saying is what God's Word is saying, you're not disagreeing with me, you're disagreeing with God and His Word. We must hold to His Word. We must become convinced of it. 

Here we see in this passage, and I've said it before and I'll say it again because it's so important, we see that God's Word is sufficient for three things. God's Word is sufficient for: 

1.  Our Salvation

2.  Our Transformation

3.   Proclamation 

Paul tells Timothy "that from childhood you have known the sacred writings" which was the Old Testament, that he was brought up on, "which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. " God's Word is the only thing that will lead us to Christ. It's the only thing. And it's the only thing that's unchanging. Now God may use a number of things to bring you to this point, but unless you're basing your faith on the unchanging Word of God, you're going to have a shaky salvation. 

God's Word is sufficient for our transformation. "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; "The emphasis here is not on the inspiration of Scriptures. When the Scriptures were written, it was taken, accepted, that the Scriptures were inspired by God through the Holy Spirit coming upon these men. What's the emphasis is here is that the Scriptures alone are sufficient for transforming our lives into what God wants them to be. To make us mature, adequate, and to enable us to do the good works that God wants us to do. 

Four things it says that God's Word is sufficient for in our transformation:

1) teaching ‑ that means God's Word teaches us what is right. And it's that teaching ‑ that doctrine or embodiment of truth which unites us as believers ‑ not our feelings, not our emotions, not our systems or our fads ‑ it's this truth.

2) reproof ‑that means what is not right. First Scripture teaches us what is right, and then it will reprove us for what is not right.

3) correction ‑ this simply means how to get right.

4) training in righteousness ‑ how to stay right. 

Let me show you how these four things work out in two different areas, first based on what we believe, the second in regards to how we should live. 

What We Believe ‑ Jesus Christ is Lord 

Teaching (what is right) ‑ Romans 14:9 ‑ "For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. " The Word of God tells us explicitly that Jesus Christ is Lord. 

Reproof (what is not right) ‑ 1 John 2:22 ‑ "Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. " That's the spirit of the antichrist ‑ they deny that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Lord. There are many groups out there who teach that Jesus is not the Christ. 

Correction (how to get right) ‑ Romans 10:9 ‑ "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; " We get right by confessing Him ‑ we agree with what the Word says, that He is Lord. 

Training in righteousness (how to stay right) ‑ Hebrews 12:1‑3 ‑ "Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart. " How do we stay right in that teaching that Christ is Lord? We keep our eyes fixed on Him. We "consider Him who endured such hostility toward sinners." We keep our eyes fixed on Him, in that embodiment of truth. 

How We Should Live – Speech 

Teaching (what is right) ‑ Proverbs 15:4 ‑ "A soothing tongue is a tree of life, But perversion in it crushes the spirit." Proverbs, in one verse, will give you what is right and what is not right. How we should live ‑ we should have a soothing tongue. We should speak kindly, is what it is saying. 

Reproof (what is not right) ‑ Proverbs 12:18 ‑ "There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword, But the tongue of the wise brings healing." We know it's not right, according to the Word, to speak rashly, because it's like taking a sword and cutting the other person. That's where if you come to my home you'll be surprised, because there are times when the sword comes out. It's getting better. 

Correction (how to get right) ‑ Proverbs 21:23 ‑ "He who guards his mouth and his tongue, Guards his soul from troubles." Now when you've spoken rashly, was your soul troubled? Maybe not immediately, but then the conviction of the Holy Spirit came upon you ‑ either through your spouse, or your children ‑ or hopefully, through your just getting alone with God. How do we get right? We get right by guarding our tongue and our mouth. It's a choice, and it's not always easy. 

Training in righteousness (how to stay right) ‑ Ephesians 4:29 ‑ "Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear. " We make a determined effort to be sure that when we speak only a good word comes out of our mouths that will build somebody up. It comes to a choice. 

The Word of God is sufficient to transform us, and I encourage you, if there's an area you're struggling with, use this. "What's the teaching ‑ what's right? What's the reproof ‑what is not right (so I know when I do it)? What's the correction ‑ how do I get right, what do I need to choose to do? And how do I stay right, to keep training in righteousness?" And the key that we need to realize is that the Word alone is not enough. Let me qualify that. It's not enough to just know the Word. You've got to unite it with faith. It says in Hebrews 4:2 that the Israelites' problem was they didn't unite the promises with faith. We need to unite the Word with faith, and that simply means that you need to step out in obedience to it. God's Word tells you what's right, then step out in obedience to it. 

Lastly, we see that the Word of God is sufficient for proclamation. Paul charges Timothy, and this is a very serious charge ‑ I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, " ‑ he was bringing the presence of God, the presence of Jesus Christ, into the mix so that Timothy would understand the seriousness of this. He charges him in the presence of God and of Jesus Christ "who is to judge the living and the dead, " and that was to sober Timothy up. It should sober us all up. And what was that charge? The charge was to "preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction." 

Difficult times were going to come, and difficult times are upon us. I believe from what Paul is saying here that one of the major reasons difficult times come to us, and predominantly into the church, is because the truth is not being taught. The truth is not being preached. And the truth oftentimes will not be taught and preached when self‑love becomes prevalent. That's why Paul is solemnly charging Timothy to make sure that he preaches the Word. If self‑love comes into the church and comes into people's lives who are responsible for teaching, and for those who are following, it always twists the gospel message. Allistair Begg says "The gospel was not preached so that Christian people could have a better lifestyle for themselves as a result of the gospel message spilling out into the culture. No, the gospel was preached for no other reason than that men and women might be saved. And as a result of the transformation of individual lives, then families, communities, and cultures were radically changed." 

We must be careful not to corrupt and twist that gospel message (and self‑love will twist it) into a gospel of self‑love, a gospel of prosperity, a gospel that promises you to have the greatest life, and that's a false gospel. The truth is, and I know many of you have experienced this ‑ the truth is that if you give your life to Jesus Christ, you may start experiencing the worst time of your life that you've ever experienced. People may start rejecting you. You may have come to Christ because you were lonely. Well if you accept Christ, you may become lonelier. People offer a false, man-centered, gospel of "give your life to Christ and you'll get rich and you'll get famous and you'll get friends everywhere." Well that may not be true, here and now. It's true in eternity, but it may not be true here and now, and we need to be careful. 

The gospel was preached to save men and women from hell, and here Paul's telling Timothy to preach the Word. That means to preach this embodiment of truth ‑ to preach the gospel, even when it's not popular. Preach it in season and out of season. Even when the Word of God is out of season, it's not vogue, it's old fashioned, preach it. Preach it is what he's saying. Be ready in season and out of season. Preach it when it's not popular. He says to "reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and instruction." It means that we need to keep proclaiming the Word of God because the Word alone is sufficient and we need to keep proclaiming it even if there are no apparent results. We need to keep preaching it with patience and instruction. Paul says, "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; " People get tired of sound doctrine. They get tired of the Word of God. "I've heard that before. Give me something new. Give me something exciting. Put a little pizzazz into it. Put a little Hollywood into it. Make it relevant." Well you know what ‑ the Word of God IS relevant, and if it's not changing your life, it's because you're not uniting it with faith, and you're not expecting God to change your life through His Word. You're expecting some other outside "force" or thing to make your life exciting. We need, as Paul exhorted Timothy, to continue in what we learned. 

"Wanting to have their ears tickled. " We see this so prevalent in the church today because the church today is so filled with spectators and not participators. The cry is "entertain me." You see big churches that have all these numbers ‑ and here's where pragmatism comes in ‑ they have these numbers, so they think 'what we're doing here is right.' They're being entertained, but are they being taught the truth? The truth doesn't necessarily bring in great numbers. The truth being taught may make the ranks thin, because people don't want to endure sound doctrine. They want to go where they can have their ears tickled, as Paul is telling Timothy.  

It's unfortunate that oftentimes we don't come on Sunday morning with the expectation that God is going to speak to us. We come because we fall into a form of religion ‑ it's tradition. You need to let God shake that up. You need to expect that when you go to God in your daily time in His Word, when you come to church in the public gathering ‑ you need to expect that God's going to speak to you through His Word. It may not even be anything I say, and that's OK. My only desire is that you hear from God, be it through a song, through a prayer, through another person who shares with you ‑ you need to hear from God, and we need to have that expectation. 

He says that people "will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires." As I said this is where pragmatism is born, where the end justifies the means. "And will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths. " 

Let me ask you this as we wrap it up. How do you determine what is true? How do you determine truth? Here he says that people are going to turn their ears away from truth and they're going to turn aside to myths. It means that they're going to turn away from the Word of God. And what they end up doing is determining truth based on their feelings, based on their emotions, and based on their experiences. Especially on their experience ‑"well I experienced this, so therefore it's got to be right." The danger in what we are doing there is that usually a person goes to the Scripture and looks for a verse that validates the experience. Usually, though, 99.999% of the time, that verse is taken way out of context to justify their experience. What we're doing when we do that is bending Scripture to our experience, and that's a dangerous place to be. We're bending Scripture to our emotions. We're bending Scripture to our feelings. We're bending Scripture to our thoughts, and that is wrong. We need to bend our experience; we need to bend our thoughts, our feelings, and our emotions to the Scriptures. That means we need to subject our feelings, our emotions, our experiences, and our thoughts, to what God says. If, when I'm looking at God's Word, I find that what I see is true does not validate my experience, then my experience was wrong, and my emotion was wrong, and my feeling was wrong, and my thoughts are wrong, because God's Word is true. My feelings and thoughts aren't ‑ they'll change all the time, but God's Word doesn't change. 

It's so easy for us to grow tired and become lazy, and that's what we see happening here when they wanted their ears tickled, because they grew tired, and  lazy, and bored with the truth. But the truth doesn't change, and we always want change, whether we say that or not, we want something new and exciting. But God's Word doesn't change, and that's why we have to be very careful that we don't grow bored or allow ourselves to grow lax and tired. Because when we do ‑ when we want to start throwing in all these false teachings to make it exciting ‑ that's when we become easy prey for false teachers and to be lured away. I just want to tell you that as your pastor, I'm committed to giving you what you need, not necessarily what you want, and not what the latest and greatest fad dictates. I'm going to give you what you need, and that's the Word of God. By the grace of God and to the best of my ability, I am going to preach the Word of God, because I'm committed to the Word of God and because I know, I believe, and I'm convinced that only the Word of God is going to change your lives. Not systems, not fads, not entertainment, but the Word of God, and thus, I am going to preach the Word of God. As your pastor I'm called to tend the flock, to tend the sheep, to feed the flock, I'm called to preach and teach the Word of God, and that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to do my part. My challenge to you is will you do your part? Your part is to unite the Word of God with faith. I'm going to preach it. Will you believe it? And that's the challenge before us. Will you come ‑ whether it's in your daily time alone with the Lord or on Sundays ‑ with the expectation that God is going to speak to you? If you don't, you won't hear from Him. You'll just have a nice Sunday morning and enjoy the fellowship and refreshments. We need to come with an expectation to hear from God. 

Paul says that difficult times will come. "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled. " May this never, ever, be said of us ‑ that we will not endure sound doctrine, that we want to have our ears tickled. We need to expect that difficult times will be among us. We need to avoid those ungodly people who will lead people astray. We need to follow the right godly examples of men and women. We need to hold on to the Word of God. And we need to do that now. Now, when times may not be so difficult for you.  

What are you building your life on? Jesus told the parable of the people who built their houses ‑ one on sand, one on rock. What are you building your house on? First you have to build it on the foundation of Jesus Christ, and if you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, then you're on a foundation that's going to crumble. You need to accept Jesus Christ. Just as Paul reminded Timothy that from his childhood, the Scriptures had led him to faith in Christ. You need to put your faith in Him. 

What do you build faith with? The only thing that we can build with that we know is secure and valid is the Word of God. And we need to hold on to that Word.  

And who are you building with? Who are the people you are looking to and surrounding your life with ‑ godly men and women ‑ not perfect, but people who are following the Word of God and their lives are showing it, and the grace of God is begin exhibited. We need to have strength for difficult times. We need to hold to God's Word and follow His people.

By God's Grace ~ Through God's Word ~ For God's Glory!

Chuck Long

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