“Godlessness and Deception”

Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:1-17

For the past two weeks, we’ve been considering the advice that Paul is offering to his friend Timothy. He has been encouraging the young pastor in the ministry that he has accepted as God’s call on his life. Today’s study, though, takes on a whole different face. Chapter 3 of this letter seems to be more of a warning than encouragement.

Ministry and mission has always been a mix of celebration and struggle. It seems that as soon as glory and honor begins to be shown to our Almighty God, Satan rears his ugly head! The last thing that he wants is for the people of earth to start walking in Godly ways, instead of his destructive ones. And the more we give to the Lord, the more Satan tries to take away. Paul knew this truth very well – Satan’s hatred had followed him every day since he traveled that road to Damascus, and the persecution would never stop until the evangelist’s life was taken. Paul also knew that this lord of darkness would begin attacking Timothy soon, just as he infects every church with anger and disagreement and torment.

Paul wanted Timothy to be prepared for the tyranny that would, without a doubt, come his way.

Read 2 Timothy 3:1-5

At first glance, these verses sound a lot like the tribulations of Revelation! But the truth is that they represent today. Satan had been defeated at Calvary, but it wasn’t the end of his reign here on earth! It was simply the beginning of his efforts to disrupt and interrupt the salvation message that the Church is called to share. This list of ungodly attributes is nearly overwhelming, but I think that we all can agree that there isn’t a single word in these few verses that aren’t part of the Church’s reality. We are in a time when both Satan and Christ have influence over our lives, but the hope is that we will choose the better one to follow.

Think about that last admonition in this passage: the force behind these “terrible times” are due to “… lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God - having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.” Satan is willing to work overtime to make these struggles seem as though they are due to Godly power, that they are assaulting our very existence because God is angry and vindictive over the life we have been living.

The truth of the matter is, though, that it is all the work of evil in human lives. Satan’s greatest power is that he can make his deceptive words and way seem to be Godly in nature, when they are anything but Godly. As we read through the gospels, we will discover that these attributes stand totally in contrast to all that Jesus teaches and stands for. These 18 traits of the human life are all based in the first – that we are lovers of self. It’s about pride, it’s about elevation of ourselves above others, and it’s about the love of anything that advances our own status and position in the eyes of the world. This was never the way of Jesus, though. For him, and by necessity, for us, it will always be about raising others up above ourselves, about accepting the heat so others can be set free.

Read 2 Timothy 3:6-9

Christian women in Paul’s day had been freed from a submissive lifestyle, but many of them were still uncertain of how to live in that freedom. They were easily swayed into accepting whatever an authority figure might tell them. These men that the passage speaks about, were deceitful, and used these unsuspecting and vulnerable women for their own purpose and pleasure.

The names Jannes and Jambres were literary names that were given to unnamed men of ancient times. The earliest use of the names were for personalization of the anonymous magicians in Pharaoh’s court who tried to match the skills of Moses but never could. (Exodus 7:11, 8:7; 9:11) Tradition would use these same two names in other instances of unnamed men in scripture who opposed the will of God, and the work of the his true servants.

Paul goes on to say that these men – the deceivers, the evil doers, the self-centered and self-serving – will never get very far in their hateful work because the Lord has rejected them in whatever deplorable faith they may have had. But the last verse can be a little strange, for we are told that their lies and depravity “will be clear to everyone.” But are the lies of earth always clear and unbelievable? Not exactly! But I believe that through prayer and petition, the faithful will be led by the Holy Spirit to see through these masks of deception, and then the truth of Christ will, in all things, be revealed and will prevail.

Read 2 Timothy 3:10-13

And now, Paul returns to encouragement for his young friend in the faith. The attributes that he lists as pertaining to himself are the very ones which he prays will live in the life of Timothy. And this is the life that Paul now leads, not the one he has left behind, and in this abrupt change, the difficulties have increased, not diminished! He wants Timothy to teach in faith, to live a life worthy of a disciple of God, to have a purpose that is grounded in the ways of Jesus Christ, to trust in all that the Spirit shows to him, to patiently wait for the Lord’s time, to love as Christ loved, and to endure in faith so that he might withstand everything that the world will throw at him.
And the persecutions and suffering are guaranteed, just as the Lord’s presence and guidance and purpose and protection will be his, too. Paul reminds his friend that whenever trials came at him, the Lord was right there to rescue him from the hatred of the mobs. But it is more than just God at work – we also must constantly seek the Lord’s purpose and plan for our lives, and follow it every day, for it is when we are within the will of God that our lives will be most useful to the Lord.

Everyone who follows in the example of Jesus, as evidenced in the life of Paul, will know the Lord’s glory, and will also discover that the animosity and attacks of earth aren’t very far behind. Satan is just as committed to his deviltry as Jesus is to the glory, but while our lot in Christ will always improve, the minions of the darkness will find that their ways pull them down, diminishing their power at every turn. That is why endurance and perseverance are so vital in a Christian’s life (Romans 5:1-5). Standing firm in the faith is the only way we will ever survive the onslaughts of earth.

In Matthew 5:10, in the part of scripture that we know as the Beatitudes, we read “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Any time that we are willing to live by a set of standards and laws that differ greatly from those that the world puts forward, there is going to be trouble. And that should surprise no one, for in Matthew 10:34-39, Jesus tells us “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword”, and later in that passage he says “anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” Following Jesus was never meant to be an easy way, but it is the only way to God’s glory.

Read 2 Timothy 3:14-17

Timothy, as are we, is to remain faithful to Jesus, no matter what may come. And no one has any excuse for deviating from that way, for we have scripture to remind us. Starting with Jesus’ words for our lives, we can discern the difference between the world’s law and God’s law, and if we submit to the truth of Christ, we can never choose poorly.

We are told that all scripture is God-breathed, meaning that the Lord wants us to see the difference between the deceptive ways of earth and the eternal way of salvation. But we have to consider the caution that goes with this charge. All books that claim to be God’s word aren’t necessarily true to God’s will. It is only the Bible that can be completely trusted to be committed to the divine will, and if any others are lifted up for our use, and if they contradict the teachings of Jesus, they are nothing more than a pack of lies. We must learn our lessons well.

It is only scripture, and writings that are based fully in scripture, that can bring us Godly wisdom. Only scriptural truth should be used for teaching, training, and correcting us in righteous ways. Scripture, as the word and breath of God, are not to be used to our own advantage, but as an instruction in living in a way that brings glory to the Lord. Scripture is to be used to reveal the truth of God in our lives, not to justify our false beliefs. It is to prepare us for service and faith in the name of Jesus, and never to lead us away from that precious Name. Scripture should fan the flame of faith until we are fully refined and prepared to be that person who loves as Jesus loved, who trusts as Jesus trusted, who teaches the things that Jesus taught, who goes to the same ones who Jesus went to, who is prepared to give their all just as Jesus did.

The lessons that Paul offered to Timothy are the very same lessons that each of us must also learn. May we all learn our lessons well.

“Unchained and Standing Firm”

Scripture: 2 Timothy 2:8-19

It is generally believed that this letter was written about the same time as the great fire in Rome – this is the same fire that led to the saying “Nero fiddled while Rome burned”. And as history tells us, whatever the actual cause of the fire was, the Christian community was blamed for the great destruction and loss of life. Paul, the recognized leader of the church, was named, therefore, as the chief “conspirator”, was arrested, and imprisoned.

If found guilty, he would have been charged with destruction of the city and the murder of countless Roman citizens – a capital crime in Rome. And yet, even as a prisoner of the Roman Empire, he continued his work for the kingdom of God. He wrote letters, he proclaimed Jesus Christ to all who would listen, he encouraged the Church to remain firm and to continue their mission to the people of earth.

As we continue with this letter to Timothy, we see the lengths that this prisoner of Rome would go to show others how to be a true “prisoner of Jesus Christ”.

Read 2 Timothy 2:8-10

His chains were real, but while the Emperor thought that he could destroy the gospel message through control of the messenger, Paul knows that nothing - not hatred, not evil, not violence, not lies nor anything else – could ever keep the truth and hope of Jesus Christ from spreading throughout the world. The word of God is carried through the work of the Holy Spirit, and by those who love the Lord, and as we know from history, the more that the Church comes under attack, the more that the word will spread.

It’s a little like a drop of mercury. If you step on it, if you try to squash it into oblivion, it just spreads out in far more pieces than you had at first. That’s what faith in Christ does – in Mark 6:10-11, we read “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” Mercury! The gospel spreads like mercury – it will never be destroyed, it will never be contained, and it will live forever.

Paul also knew that his refusal to flee from the world’s hatred and persecution, regardless of how intense it may become, and in spite of the consequence that it might bring, it was worthy of a herald of God and had a divine purpose that even the faithful might not fully understand. The Church needs to be reminded, sometimes over and over again, of what Jesus suffered on our behalf. And if our Almighty God would accept such depravity just to give us the chance to gain eternal life, shouldn’t we be willing to follow his example of what loving others fully entails?

Read 2 Timothy 2:11-13

Remember Jesus’ parable of the Ten Minas? In Luke 19:11-27, we read of the ten servants who were placed in change of portions of the master’s estate while he would be out of town. Only two would be faithful to their charge, and their reward for faithfulness would be far greater than anything they might have done for the master while living in this life. And those who refused to carry out the master’s will would suffer greatly, without any reward in either this life or the next.

Paul is telling us that a faithful life in the here and now will bring rewards that dwarf anything that we will ever know. If we suffer, and even die, in our faithfulness, we will discover that life with our Lord and King will be greater than anything we could ever possibly gain here on earth. And if we endure the hatred and condemnation that the people of earth bring down upon us, we will not only live forever with Christ, we will also reign with him!

Of course, Paul also has to lay out the consequences of our failure to be faithful to Christ. Denial and rejection of his Lordship will bring God’s denial and rejection of us at the Judgment. But the apostle offers two more important thoughts that we need to consider.

First, “if we are faithless” toward him, his faithful heart will always remain faithful. Does that mean that we just might get a pass on our sin? Unfortunately, it means that God will never deviate from his great plan of salvation – that eternal life is, and always will be, dependent on our faith and obedience to the teaching of Jesus Christ. But it also means that the promise of forgiveness when we repent of our wayward lives, is also always before us, regardless of how vicious we may have been previously toward the truth of Christ.

And the second thought is this – that God “cannot disown himself”. The truth of this issue is that even though we may be able to change our minds, God cannot! Our cognitive abilities, our ability to reason and analyze ideas, is anything but perfect. We make mistakes because our personal understanding is seriously flawed and limited, but the Lord’s understanding is complete and perfect.

Ephesians 4:18 – “They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to the hardening of their hearts.”
Philippians 4:7 – “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

We are ignorant of the greater things, while the Lord is all knowing, but if we rest our understanding in the truth, and the wisdom, and the infinite grace of Jesus Christ, he “will guard our hearts and minds” from the darkened ignorance of the world. And in this promise, God will never allow us to submit to the world’s condemnation.

Read 2 Timothy 2:14-19

In essence, Paul is warning us against falling for the lies that the world will try to force on us – “beware of false teachers” is a constant theme through many of Paul’s letters, and rightly so. These are what lead us away from the Lord’s truth! And it’s quite a list that he warns us against-
Don’t argue over words – quarreling just introduces confusion.
Don’t be ashamed of the gospel – just stay true to its message for our lives.
Godless gossip is just that – it’s a conversation that has no connection to the Lord or his word, and which will only lead us farther and farther from the truth of Christ. Stay faithful to what Jesus has taught, and let the rest fall by the wayside.

Paul mentions two men who had been teaching false ways to the people. It is possible that they had been preaching that resurrection came in the moment of baptism – dying with Christ to live again in him – while true resurrection of the faithful will occur when Jesus returns to claim his Church. He describes this as “gangrene”, a decay that must be cut out of our lives.

But the bottom line is this – that no matter how smooth we may talk, no matter how convincing our arguments may be, no matter how much good we may do, it all comes down to this – do we truly know Jesus, and does he know us? And that relationship can only come through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Consider Jesus’ teaching in John 10:14-16 – “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me –“. And in Philippians 2:9-11 – “… that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow … and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord”. We can never have a Christ centered life if our allegiance is still in the ways of the world.

Paul’s body may have been chained in a Roman prison, but his spirit could never be controlled by any physical means, for it was given by God and existed to the glory of God – period.
There was no shame for his imprisonment, and no shame for what he had been proclaiming to the people. It was the truth of Christ, and his service in Christ, and the only shame was in the unbelief that the godless of earth held within their lives.
There was no waffling in his faith, there was no hesitation in his witness, there was no fear of what the world could do to him, and there would never be any regret in his response to Christ’s call on his life.

May each one of us release the death grip that we have on the world’s ways and lies, and live unashamed in the gospel of Christ Jesus . There is no better way.

“Bold and Unashamed”

Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:3-14

Today, we begin a three week series based on what is, traditionally, the Apostle Paul’s final letter. It was written while he was in a Roman prison, and within a couple years, would be executed for his faith by beheading. As we know, Paul was passionate in his love for Christ, and in this letter, he was encouraging his young friend Timothy, who was pastoring the church in Ephesus, to live out his love for the Lord, too.

Timothy had been raised in a family of Christians, a family who Paul had come to know very well, and whose faith had been so powerfully demonstrated to the apostle. Timothy would join him in several missions, and Paul would gain an affection and trust for his young friend.

As we begin this letter, I encourage everyone to be open to experience the heart and soul and spirit of the apostle as he shares them with both his friend, and with us.

Read 2 Timothy 1:3-5

The first attitude that Paul is showing toward the Lord is Thankfulness. And this is because he has been allowed to serve his Living God, which, in turn, leads him to be introduced to other faithful people. And what is the basis for this thankful heart?

First, he sees his ministry as an honor given to him by God. He sees his conversion on that road to Damascus as God’s will, and certainly not his own. Salvation and call is always God’s decision, and never ours!

Second, he sees his call to mission as an accepted responsibility, not as an unwelcome demand. He had come to a full understanding of who Jesus Christ really is, and he realized that this is the One he had been trying to serve all of his life, but who he had totally missed in his excessive zeal for the law.

Third, he sees this responsibility to Christ as a privilege. At first, he had seen Christian faith as heresy - as the road to condemnation - but now, it has become the means to his salvation – both for him and for all who will listen to the words and witness that he offers.

This is the heartfelt life that all of us should strive for. He knew of Timothy’s faith, he knew of his trust in God, and he writes this letter to encourage him even more in his life of service. But this isn’t a responsibility between just Paul and his friend – it is something that all of us should be doing for each other. And why should we encourage each other? Galatians 3:27-28 tells us that we are to be one in Christ Jesus, and as “one”, we must support each other, encourage each other, speak and live in concert with each other.

And that is what faith in Jesus Christ calls us to do and to be.

Read 2 Timothy 1:6-10

Fan the flame of the Spirit until it is a full blown fire, for Paul knows, and writes, that this God-given gift is bold, and powerful, and loving, and full of self-discipline, and he wants Timothy to know the extent of this great gift, too.

It brings courage to the lives of all who will live for Christ, and we all will need it as we venture out into the mission field of earth. If we read of the persecution that Paul was subjected to, without him ever flinching or fleeing, we can understand the need for spiritual boldness and a courageous heart.

Paul says that this Spirit also brings power – which I believe is the authority to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. And anyone who has accepted this call seriously, will know that without Godly power and authority, our witness will have little chance of making a difference in the lives of those whom the Lord sets in our path.

But love is what separates God’s power, God’s courage, God’s Spirit from every attempt that the world makes to share and care for others. Romans 8:35-39 tells us that this love is ours, and that nothing in all the world, can take that love from us, except our refusal to use it to the Lord’s glory! You know the old saying – “Use it or lose it!”

And if this call isn’t enough of a challenge for us, Paul continues. He tells Timothy to never be embarrassed to offer his testimony to the people of earth, but that he should always be prepared to suffer as their hatred builds against the word of God. But this is where the courage and power and love of the Spirit comes to play out in our lives. Not only does it enable us in our life of witness, but it strengthens us in the stand we take for Jesus.

Read 2 Timothy 1:11-14

Paul wants his friend to know that this isn’t just some assignment that he will have to care for all by himself. The apostle has, himself, experienced everything that he is giving to this new pastor. His entire ministry has been one of boldness beyond anything that has ever been seen before. He knows that he has been led by the truth of Christ, and he has never hesitated in sharing it completely with others. And he trusts that the Lord accepts and endorses all that he has taught during his mission trips.

He is an example for all who come after him – Paul’s life in faith, and his service in the name of Jesus Christ, has been an inspiration for Christians during the many centuries since, and it should be a reason to motivate each of us in our walk of faith. But the question has to be asked – does it motivate each one of us? And if it does, what are we doing to grow the kingdom of God, and what risks are we willing to accept on behalf of Christ?

The truth is that as Christians in the US, the persecution that we should expect is nothing like what Paul and other believers in the 1st century had to endure. The most that we will ever see come against us is the animosity of unbelievers. Angry words, acts of disobedience, denial of Christ’s divinity, ridicule and insults are about the worse that any of us will ever experience. Compare that to Paul’s suffering from 2 Corinthians 11:21-30 – his very life was placed in danger time after time after time, and eventually, he would be killed for his faith. And yet, he never faltered in his call and ministry. Any suffering that we will be called to endure is miniscule in comparison to his.

And what about Paul’s words in the last verse of our passage – “Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you…”. What deposit? What bond, what pledge, what gift has been entrusted to us?

Through faith in Christ, God has promised us countless blessings. We have been given eternal life through faith, and in return, have been asked to follow in the steps of Christ. We have been promised the blessings of the Holy Spirit and all that he will bring as we respond to the ministry and mission that we have been called to care for. We have been trusted to take a stand for Jesus and his word of life, regardless of the opposition that others may throw at us. God trusted Paul, he trusted Peter, James and John, as well as the other disciples, he trusted Timothy, and his mother Eunice, and his grandmother Lois, he has trusted his followers through the ups and downs of the past 2,000 years, and now he is trusting that each one of us will remain faithful to the call he places on our lives.

The Lord has made a heavenly deposit of eternal life in our name, and in return, he trusts that we will be faithful to him. Have we been as faithful to the Lord, as he has been to us?

Paul was just as bold and committed in the new life he was given by faith in Christ, as he had been in his life as a Pharisee. No fear, no hesitation, no second thoughts, no shame – just complete and dedicated joy at being allowed to serve his Lord.

Are we as bold and unashamed as Paul?