WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:04.160 Well, this summer uh we are continuing through the book of 2 Timothy. 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:06.080 So this morning we're gonna be in 2 Timothy chapter 2. 00:00:06.160 --> 00:00:08.720 And normally we have like a scripture reading, an intro, and all that. 00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:09.599 Uh so that was that. 00:00:09.679 --> 00:00:12.320 So we're not gonna stand and read, but we're gonna dive through it together. 00:00:12.480 --> 00:00:15.039 So uh this morning we're gonna be in chapter 2 of 2 Timothy. 00:00:15.119 --> 00:00:18.480 So if you do have your Bibles, uh go ahead and grab those uh and turn there. 00:00:18.640 --> 00:00:23.839 And this morning, we're gonna be working through the whole chapter, which is 26 verses, so we're gonna move quick. 00:00:23.920 --> 00:00:26.239 Uh so y'all just get ready and we're gonna crush it. 00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:27.440 Uh we're gonna crush it together. 00:00:27.600 --> 00:00:29.120 So give you up to speed a little bit. 00:00:29.199 --> 00:00:30.879 Uh we started in chapter one last week. 00:00:30.960 --> 00:00:35.359 So this is Paul's personal letter to his spiritual son, Timothy. 00:00:35.439 --> 00:00:36.719 He's not his biological son. 00:00:36.880 --> 00:00:41.119 Paul was never married, had no children, so this is his spiritual son in a sense. 00:00:41.200 --> 00:00:42.799 And Paul adores Timothy. 00:00:42.880 --> 00:00:43.759 We saw that last week. 00:00:43.920 --> 00:00:45.039 He adores him. 00:00:45.439 --> 00:00:48.719 Timothy is probably one of Paul's favorite people in the world. 00:00:48.960 --> 00:00:53.039 They have a deep, vulnerable, and really rooted relationship. 00:00:53.280 --> 00:00:54.880 They've endured suffering together. 00:00:55.039 --> 00:01:00.479 They've seen many souls one to the Lord together, and now they're apart. 00:01:00.719 --> 00:01:04.079 There's pain in Paul's words that we write. 00:01:04.400 --> 00:01:09.359 There's missing a longing that Paul has for Timothy in this book that we see. 00:01:09.840 --> 00:01:18.159 Timothy's a young man, probably between 30 and 35-ish, and he's newly pastoring the church at Ephesus, like that little book we read called Ephesians. 00:01:18.400 --> 00:01:20.000 Timothy's that pastor. 00:01:20.159 --> 00:01:21.840 And he's facing a lot. 00:01:22.319 --> 00:01:25.040 The church is heavily divided. 00:01:25.280 --> 00:01:30.079 There are intense divisions on secondary beliefs, which is probably comforting to us. 00:01:30.319 --> 00:01:32.640 Not much has changed since the first century. 00:01:33.120 --> 00:01:37.519 Emperor Nero is persecuting Christians like the world had never seen before. 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:39.439 And Paul is about to die. 00:01:39.680 --> 00:01:41.040 So that's where we find ourselves. 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:44.959 So let's like put it at ground level together, because it's easy to hear those things and be at a distance. 00:01:45.040 --> 00:01:46.000 So let's just bring it here. 00:01:46.159 --> 00:01:52.079 So let's imagine our pastor Russ, instead of being on sabbatical right now, let's say he was beaten and thrown into prison. 00:01:52.159 --> 00:01:55.760 Uh, President Biden was setting Christians on fire and feeding them to animals. 00:01:55.920 --> 00:02:02.319 Half of your friends got scared, left the church altogether, and then you're left with an infant like me to lead you. 00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:05.280 That's where we're at this morning in 2 Timothy. 00:02:05.519 --> 00:02:05.840 Okay? 00:02:06.879 --> 00:02:10.319 So this is what is happening as Paul writes this letter. 00:02:10.560 --> 00:02:15.039 Babyface Timothy leading this church in the gospel. 00:02:15.520 --> 00:02:25.840 So last week, with that in mind, we talked about the Christian's call to guard the gospel, to protect it, to stand behind it, to guard it from all the world will try to take from it. 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:29.599 And so we're seeing our culture today disintegrating around us. 00:02:29.759 --> 00:02:31.039 I know y'all see it. 00:02:31.199 --> 00:02:39.039 And what we believe in the gospel is that we actually have the redemptive, life-giving answer that the world is trying to give but can't find their way to. 00:02:39.199 --> 00:02:40.719 That's what we believe. 00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:43.680 Do y'all see how hopeless the world feels right now? 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:45.680 Do y'all see the division? 00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:54.719 So the call for us in chapter one from Paul and into chapter two is we don't need to be ashamed of this message. 00:02:55.039 --> 00:02:55.680 Why? 00:02:56.080 --> 00:03:11.439 Because the God of the Bible is alive, He's moving, the gospel is moving like wildfire across the world, and the message of Christ and Him crucified transforms hearts and lives like no message, no legislation, and no rulings in the world can offer. 00:03:11.599 --> 00:03:12.479 And that's what we believe. 00:03:12.639 --> 00:03:13.919 So with that in mind, let's dive in. 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:16.240 We're gonna be in 2 Timothy again, chapter 2. 00:03:16.400 --> 00:03:18.240 We're gonna start in verses 1 and 2. 00:03:18.560 --> 00:03:31.360 So Paul says this to Timothy You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, and trust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. 00:03:31.840 --> 00:03:37.120 So, as with every other imperative in the Bible, it's built on the indicative. 00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:41.599 Every command from God in Christ is built out of what is the indicative. 00:03:41.680 --> 00:03:49.199 So, in other words, we're not commanded to do things because of what we are commanded to do things because of what God says about us, and it's not the other way around. 00:03:49.280 --> 00:03:53.919 So, for example, I'm married to my wife Grace, and because of that, I get to bring her flowers, right? 00:03:54.479 --> 00:03:57.680 I don't bring her flowers in hopes that I would win her over. 00:03:58.240 --> 00:04:11.840 In the same way, we don't do for God that we might win him over for us, but rather in Christ we are called sons and daughters, fully, freely, forever, forgiven, innocent forever, and therefore we get the freedom to be obedient to him. 00:04:12.400 --> 00:04:13.599 So here's what's going on here. 00:04:13.680 --> 00:04:19.839 At the end of chapter one, Paul talks about this big kind of turning away that happened in Asia, as he says. 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:23.439 So in this day, when Paul's talking about Asia, it's not Asia as we think about it. 00:04:23.600 --> 00:04:27.680 To him, Asia was kind of like Turkey and in the surrounding areas, right? 00:04:28.480 --> 00:04:31.439 So, where is Timothy pastoring, right? 00:04:31.680 --> 00:04:32.639 Ephesus. 00:04:32.879 --> 00:04:34.079 Where is Ephesus? 00:04:34.319 --> 00:04:35.199 But Turkey. 00:04:35.439 --> 00:04:42.240 So as Paul is talking about this huge turning away, he's talking about the landscape that Timothy is pastoring in in this world. 00:04:42.399 --> 00:04:48.480 He's seeing people, dozens, dozens, hundreds of men and women walking away from the faith because they're terrified of Nero. 00:04:48.639 --> 00:04:51.759 They're seeing each other walk away, and so there's this huge turning away. 00:04:51.839 --> 00:04:54.160 And that's that's about all we know about it. 00:04:54.720 --> 00:04:58.800 So that's why Paul's message to guard the gospel is so important to Timothy. 00:04:59.279 --> 00:05:01.439 And how important is it for us? 00:05:01.680 --> 00:05:04.560 Because we see our culture completely doing this, don't we? 00:05:04.800 --> 00:05:09.759 How uncool and behind the times is it to be a Christian today in the West? 00:05:10.240 --> 00:05:12.319 And that brings us to the whole point of this chapter. 00:05:12.399 --> 00:05:15.759 This is the whole point and the lens that we're gonna be looking at chapter two together. 00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:17.759 It's to suffer for the gospel. 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:21.600 That's what Paul's charge is to Timothy in chapter two, is to suffer for the gospel. 00:05:21.680 --> 00:05:26.639 And it's built off of chapter one's message, which again was to guard the gospel and say, this is what Paul is saying. 00:05:26.800 --> 00:05:28.000 It's hard. 00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:30.079 It's hard to guard the gospel. 00:05:30.319 --> 00:05:32.959 So to illustrate this point, Paul gives us three metaphors. 00:05:33.040 --> 00:05:34.879 So we're gonna kind of paint this picture together. 00:05:35.040 --> 00:05:41.439 So we see one, the soldier, which is in verses three through four, but that represents unwavering dedication. 00:05:41.680 --> 00:05:49.120 The athlete, verse five, represents committed obedience, and then the farmer in verse six represents continuous toil. 00:05:49.439 --> 00:05:54.240 So keep those images in your head as we look through verses three through six together. 00:05:54.399 --> 00:06:01.120 So Paul writes here in verse three Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 00:06:01.360 --> 00:06:06.480 No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuit since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. 00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:10.240 An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 00:06:10.399 --> 00:06:15.360 It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. 00:06:15.759 --> 00:06:19.600 So these three metaphors are painting one big picture, right? 00:06:19.839 --> 00:06:22.639 This is what it looks like to guard and suffer for the gospel. 00:06:22.800 --> 00:06:25.759 This is the picture that Paul is giving us. 00:06:25.920 --> 00:06:28.800 So we're just gonna work through each one of those three pretty quickly together. 00:06:28.959 --> 00:06:29.839 So, soldier. 00:06:30.079 --> 00:06:34.560 A few weeks ago, I had the really exciting task of preaching in Revelation 12 and 14. 00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:40.240 And that's just by the way, the passage in Revelation that talks about the woman and the dragon and the mark of the beast. 00:06:40.319 --> 00:06:41.759 So it was awesome, right? 00:06:41.920 --> 00:06:47.600 Uh but there's this tiny, like pretty unknown show on Netflix called Stranger Things. 00:06:47.759 --> 00:06:49.839 You might not have heard about it, uh, but it's pretty small. 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:52.879 Uh but in this show, there's a boy named Will Byers, right? 00:06:52.959 --> 00:06:56.000 And he's a little kid at the beginning, uh, and he gets taken. 00:06:56.079 --> 00:07:04.720 Uh he's biking home with uh some of his friends after a thrilling night of Dungeons and Dragons, and on his way home, all of a sudden he disappears. 00:07:05.120 --> 00:07:09.439 No one has any clue what happened, no one knows where he went. 00:07:10.079 --> 00:07:12.720 And they thought he was probably dead, just gone. 00:07:12.879 --> 00:07:16.000 Like they thought Will Byers was just gone out of the picture. 00:07:16.319 --> 00:07:22.480 But as the show unfolds, as his crazy mom, Winona Ryder, is talking to walls, talking to lights, right? 00:07:22.639 --> 00:07:30.319 Like putting Christmas lights around her house and talking to them, something really eerie begins to emerge, doesn't it? 00:07:30.560 --> 00:07:34.160 So what we learn is that there's this place called the Upside Down. 00:07:34.240 --> 00:07:38.480 Uh so we have a picture of it uh that kind of shows this image here. 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:43.920 And in Stranger Things, the upside down is the world as they know it, but flipped upside down. 00:07:44.560 --> 00:07:50.319 It's the same world but much darker, much scarier, and with monsters that are out to kill, as we learn. 00:07:50.399 --> 00:07:57.519 Uh and as the show continues on, the more the characters understand the reality of the upside down, the more their lives begin to change. 00:07:57.680 --> 00:08:03.279 They want to understand it, how it works, how to kill these monsters, and ultimately how to defeat the evil that resides within. 00:08:03.360 --> 00:08:06.079 And that's the whole narrative plot of the whole show. 00:08:06.319 --> 00:08:19.120 And those chapters of Revelation that we looked at a couple weeks ago, I think John is using these big apocalyptic images to grip us, to hook us deep in our gut about the spiritual reality that's going on in our world. 00:08:19.360 --> 00:08:26.720 What's true is that we have a real enemy, his name's Satan, uh, and he is the big dragon in Revelation, right? 00:08:26.879 --> 00:08:41.120 And we saw in Revelation 14 that he's going down swinging, and as he's going down on his way down, he desires to split churches, he desires to split marriages, to cast us against one another, and ultimately to stir in us a sense of hopelessness, and that God's not good. 00:08:41.759 --> 00:08:46.240 So just like a soldier, we have to recognize that the gospel is war, right? 00:08:46.559 --> 00:08:48.559 It's war against evil. 00:08:48.799 --> 00:08:52.320 It's war against everything that is against God. 00:08:53.120 --> 00:09:03.120 And our enemy isn't just a person that wrongs us or an ideology that threatens us or a country out there seeking to destroy us, but we believe that we have an enemy behind all enemies, right? 00:09:03.840 --> 00:09:09.120 And it's so easy to forget about these spiritual realities, to forget about the upside down, right? 00:09:10.080 --> 00:09:15.840 Paul says this in Ephesians 6, and remember, that's the book that Paul was writing to this church that Timothy's pastoring. 00:09:15.919 --> 00:09:29.120 He says this, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 00:09:30.080 --> 00:09:44.240 So just like a soldier committed to the task of serving and pleasing the one who enlisted him, we too, if we want to guard this gospel, if we want to work for it and even perhaps suffer for it, we have to be more committed to God's glory than our own, which is really hard. 00:09:44.480 --> 00:09:51.679 Fully dedicated to this mission that he has, which is to bring redemption and healing and life to the world through Jesus of Nazareth and through no other way. 00:09:51.919 --> 00:09:54.399 And we also have to recognize that there are spiritual realities, right? 00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:58.559 That there is this upside down in a sense that is real and present. 00:09:59.120 --> 00:10:10.639 We win this battle not by legislation or great programming, we win this battle by the people of God being committed to the message of the gospel, by worshiping, living lives of worship and by fasting and prayer. 00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:14.559 And that's that's the warfare that the Bible speaks of. 00:10:15.279 --> 00:10:16.720 Alright, next point. 00:10:16.960 --> 00:10:17.840 Athlete. 00:10:18.240 --> 00:10:19.919 Here's the whole point of athlete. 00:10:20.080 --> 00:10:20.879 Here's the whole point. 00:10:21.039 --> 00:10:25.600 If we want to continue in the gospel in the world, to guard it and to suffer for it, we have to play by the rules, right? 00:10:25.840 --> 00:10:28.799 That's what Paul says in verse uh four and five there. 00:10:29.039 --> 00:10:34.080 In that, Paul's just essentially saying this we can't pick and choose from the Bible what we want it to say. 00:10:34.320 --> 00:10:39.679 We can't take verses and the ones that we don't like and kind of sweet talk away around them, right? 00:10:40.159 --> 00:10:48.000 If we want to run the race and get the victor's crown, like Paul talks about, we have to be obedient to the whole counsel of God's word, which is really hard. 00:10:48.159 --> 00:10:49.120 It's really hard. 00:10:49.360 --> 00:10:50.879 And then lastly, the farmer. 00:10:51.200 --> 00:10:53.360 This is an analogy that's consistent throughout the Bible. 00:10:53.440 --> 00:10:55.519 We see it all over the New Testament, especially. 00:10:55.679 --> 00:10:58.720 Jesus talks about farming in the parable of the sower, right? 00:10:58.960 --> 00:11:00.960 Paul talks about it throughout his letters. 00:11:01.120 --> 00:11:07.039 And this is primarily because the economic system of the first century was almost entirely agrarian. 00:11:07.440 --> 00:11:12.240 So a farming illustration would have hit home for everybody that would read these letters. 00:11:12.559 --> 00:11:15.919 Here's the point: farming is hard. 00:11:16.159 --> 00:11:19.360 It takes endurance, commitment, and trust. 00:11:19.600 --> 00:11:21.279 But the harvest is worth it. 00:11:21.600 --> 00:11:23.120 But the harvest is worth it. 00:11:23.279 --> 00:11:29.600 Paul writes this in 1 Corinthians 3, 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 00:11:29.840 --> 00:11:31.600 Being a farmer takes hard work. 00:11:31.759 --> 00:11:39.360 It takes months and months of tending to the plants, watering them, feeding them, picking weeds, and killing insects, right? 00:11:39.679 --> 00:11:42.559 It's hard, sweat on the brow type work. 00:11:42.799 --> 00:11:48.559 And this is what Paul has explained to Timothy about the ministry of the gospel, about being a pastor in this church. 00:11:48.799 --> 00:11:50.080 It's hard work. 00:11:50.320 --> 00:11:51.759 It's a lifetime of work. 00:11:51.840 --> 00:11:54.639 It's sweaty work, but the harvest is worth it. 00:11:55.039 --> 00:11:56.240 Harvest is worth it. 00:11:56.399 --> 00:12:02.879 But what we have to remember is in these three metaphors, they are rooted in what Paul says to Timothy in verse 1. 00:12:02.960 --> 00:12:08.240 He says, Timothy, my child, my child, be strengthened in the grace of Christ Jesus. 00:12:08.799 --> 00:12:09.440 How? 00:12:09.919 --> 00:12:16.960 This isn't for Paul to tell Timothy to pick him up by his bootstraps and try really hard, painting himself to be perfect. 00:12:17.039 --> 00:12:19.200 And that's definitely not the message for us either. 00:12:19.440 --> 00:12:22.399 But being strengthened in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:24.879 And this is the grace that is sufficient in our weakness. 00:12:25.120 --> 00:12:27.519 That's actually made perfect in our weakness. 00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:31.120 The grace that took Jesus to the cross with your sin in mind. 00:12:31.519 --> 00:12:39.279 And the grace that has stirred God's heart to ignite in you faith to love Him, even when you are running from Him. 00:12:39.679 --> 00:12:42.480 That's the grace that Paul is talking about here. 00:12:42.799 --> 00:12:48.720 And this is the grace that strengthens us, the grace that gives us hope when we feel like we've outsinned it. 00:12:49.600 --> 00:12:56.639 This is the grace that gives us courage, that gets us to keep going when everything in our world tells us not to. 00:12:56.799 --> 00:12:58.879 That's the grace that he's talking about. 00:12:59.360 --> 00:13:02.080 Alright, let's jump to verse 8 together. 00:13:02.159 --> 00:13:04.320 And we're gonna go through verse 13 together. 00:13:04.480 --> 00:13:14.799 So verse 8 Remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. 00:13:14.960 --> 00:13:17.360 But the word of God is not bound. 00:13:17.600 --> 00:13:24.879 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. 00:13:25.039 --> 00:13:28.879 The saying is trustworthy, for if we have died with him, we will also live with him. 00:13:29.200 --> 00:13:31.360 If we endure, we will also reign with him. 00:13:31.600 --> 00:13:34.159 If we deny him, he will also deny us. 00:13:34.399 --> 00:13:37.519 If we are faithless, he remains faithful. 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:41.440 So Paul begins this by saying, Remember Jesus Christ. 00:13:42.559 --> 00:13:46.240 I'm not thinking our boy Tim was gonna forget that, right? 00:13:47.039 --> 00:13:55.919 For this war to be won, for the gospel to move like wildfire in our culture and in our world, the gospel of Christ and Him crucified has to be central. 00:13:56.240 --> 00:13:57.120 Has to be central. 00:13:57.200 --> 00:14:03.759 That's why every single week here at Redeemer and every Sunday night at Youth, that's the message we preach throughout every verse in the Bible. 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:05.600 How can we get this to Jesus? 00:14:06.879 --> 00:14:10.480 Souls are not transformed by moralistic do-better sermons. 00:14:11.039 --> 00:14:14.720 Souls are transformed through the preaching of the gospel and the ignition of the Spirit. 00:14:15.679 --> 00:14:17.120 That's Paul's point. 00:14:17.440 --> 00:14:19.120 It's gonna be tempting to sway. 00:14:19.840 --> 00:14:22.639 It'll be tempting to preach around hard topics. 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:26.960 And that's where Paul is guiding us as he gets to verse 9, right? 00:14:27.360 --> 00:14:29.919 Paul's in prison, about to die. 00:14:30.159 --> 00:14:32.480 He is bound like a criminal. 00:14:32.879 --> 00:14:35.519 But he writes one of my favorite verses in the Bible. 00:14:36.240 --> 00:14:38.159 The word of God is not bound. 00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:42.159 Though Paul is bound, the word of God is not bound. 00:14:42.559 --> 00:14:54.000 If you look at the history of the church over the last 2,000 years, the more the church seems to be bound, the more a government presses down on the gospel and on the word of God, the more the gospel is ignited and moves. 00:14:55.360 --> 00:14:58.799 I love this quote from this guy named David Guzik. 00:14:59.120 --> 00:15:10.080 He writes this no government, no religious authorities, no skeptics, no scientists, no philosophers, or no book burners have ever been able to stop the work of the Word of God. 00:15:10.799 --> 00:15:18.080 In places like the Middle East, North Africa, Southeast Asia, that's where the gospel is moving like wildfire today. 00:15:18.159 --> 00:15:20.559 And that's where it's hardest to be a Christian. 00:15:20.879 --> 00:15:25.679 Now, in verses 11 through 13, we saw this little poem that Paul cites, right? 00:15:25.840 --> 00:15:30.559 And a lot of times in Paul's letters he's citing from the Old Testament, but here it's actually really cool. 00:15:30.639 --> 00:15:40.240 What he's doing is he's kind of giving this poem that is likely a hymn that the first century church sang together in corporate worship, which I just think is awesome. 00:15:40.559 --> 00:15:45.360 Which means that this first century church congregation, they probably sang it together, which I just love that. 00:15:45.440 --> 00:15:46.399 I think that's so cool. 00:15:46.559 --> 00:15:55.279 But here's the point of that whole poem: spiritual and eternal life come through Jesus Christ, and spiritual and eternal death come through ultimate denial of him. 00:15:55.600 --> 00:15:58.000 That's the whole point of that hymn. 00:15:58.320 --> 00:16:04.159 Now, this next section of 2 Timothy is directly dealing with the false teachings that Timothy is facing. 00:16:04.320 --> 00:16:07.360 And again, there's three illustrations or metaphors that Paul uses. 00:16:07.440 --> 00:16:10.480 He kind of does group of three, him, group of three, right? 00:16:10.559 --> 00:16:12.080 So that's how he paints it for us. 00:16:12.159 --> 00:16:15.279 And these are the three kind of metaphors that he gives for us in the second half. 00:16:15.440 --> 00:16:24.320 He gives the unashamed worker in verse 15, the vessel for honorable use in verse 21, and then the Lord's servant in verses 24, 25. 00:16:24.480 --> 00:16:28.399 So I'm going to work through these three really quickly, and then we're going to land the plane. 00:16:28.799 --> 00:16:36.159 So the false teaching that Paul is referencing here is in verse 18, where he says that false teachers were claiming that the resurrection had already happened. 00:16:36.399 --> 00:16:49.039 And they would have agreed that the resurrection of Christ already happened, but what they were referring to here is the final resurrection, or when Jesus returns, our bodies and souls are united together, and the new heaven, the new earth are fully consummated, right? 00:16:49.279 --> 00:16:52.000 So there's two things I just want us to hit on here. 00:16:52.399 --> 00:16:57.840 False teachers often, number one, were once teaching the truth but have swerved. 00:16:58.080 --> 00:17:00.799 We see that in verses 17 and 18. 00:17:01.120 --> 00:17:03.679 That's what happened to these two guys Paul mentioned. 00:17:03.840 --> 00:17:06.880 That would stink to be mentioned by name about that, wouldn't it? 00:17:06.960 --> 00:17:07.839 That would be tough. 00:17:08.079 --> 00:17:10.000 But they used to teach the truth, right? 00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:13.920 At one point, they taught the truth, but they swayed. 00:17:14.480 --> 00:17:17.279 And swayings like this don't happen overnight. 00:17:17.759 --> 00:17:20.319 No one wakes up teaching this. 00:17:20.640 --> 00:17:25.839 Swayings like this happen over long periods of time, slowly drifting. 00:17:27.039 --> 00:17:30.000 Internal doubts go unchecked, right? 00:17:30.319 --> 00:17:33.839 Internal wrestlings with the Lord go unspoken of. 00:17:34.079 --> 00:17:40.880 Until all of a sudden, like these false teachers, they were consumed by them and they were in a tough spot. 00:17:41.759 --> 00:18:02.880 So the compassionate word for us from Paul, I think, is if you're in here, and all of us in here, if you have real doubts about the Lord, about his goodness, about the gospel being the one truth, if you wrestle with the Lord of the Bible, like please find someone to talk through. 00:18:03.279 --> 00:18:06.079 Nobody ends up walking away from the faith after one night. 00:18:06.319 --> 00:18:08.640 It happens over a long period of drifting. 00:18:08.880 --> 00:18:14.400 And so just the plea for you is if you're wrestling with these serious things, like please find somebody to talk to. 00:18:15.519 --> 00:18:22.160 Number two, false teaching is not always a whole lie, but is often a partial truth. 00:18:22.720 --> 00:18:24.640 Verse 18, we saw that. 00:18:25.119 --> 00:18:30.799 In other words, false teachings will we will see and hear in our day will sound right. 00:18:31.519 --> 00:18:34.400 And with that, they will be partially right. 00:18:34.960 --> 00:18:39.359 But even if a tiny part of a claim is false, it negates the whole truth, right? 00:18:39.920 --> 00:18:46.000 So the question now that we're left with for us today is how do we counter false teaching? 00:18:46.160 --> 00:18:49.200 How do we spot it, how do we counter it, and how do we walk together? 00:18:49.359 --> 00:18:53.440 So I think, again, three things. 00:18:53.839 --> 00:18:56.480 Number one, I think these are the three things he gives us. 00:18:56.559 --> 00:18:58.640 Number one, know the Bible, verse 15. 00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:02.400 Number two, live holy lives, verses 20 and 21. 00:19:02.559 --> 00:19:06.799 And then number three, counter false teaching with grace and truth. 00:19:07.119 --> 00:19:08.400 That one's really important. 00:19:08.799 --> 00:19:10.319 So point number one, know the Bible. 00:19:10.559 --> 00:19:18.160 This might seem like super obvious, and I'm sorry we have to do it, but uh, this is something a lot of us heard probably our whole lives in church, right? 00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:20.079 Read the Bible, know your Bible, whatever. 00:19:20.400 --> 00:19:22.799 So Paul writes here in verse 15. 00:19:23.440 --> 00:19:26.880 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved. 00:19:27.119 --> 00:19:29.279 A worker who has no need to be ashamed. 00:19:29.359 --> 00:19:30.799 Remember the unashamed worker. 00:19:30.960 --> 00:19:32.799 How is one to be unashamed? 00:19:33.119 --> 00:19:35.519 Rightly handling the word of truth. 00:19:35.839 --> 00:19:39.119 So remember, Paul's writing to Timothy, right, who is a pastor. 00:19:39.279 --> 00:19:41.039 So he has pastors in mind here. 00:19:41.200 --> 00:19:45.599 He has church leaders in mind here, but also he has all Christians in mind. 00:19:45.839 --> 00:19:49.119 We see in 1 Corinthians throughout the body of Christ, right? 00:19:49.200 --> 00:19:51.519 We all have this part to play. 00:19:52.640 --> 00:19:56.640 We all have a part to play in this idea of rightly handling the word of truth, right? 00:19:56.960 --> 00:20:02.640 So what that means is that we all come to the Bible with our 21st century Western presuppositions, right? 00:20:02.720 --> 00:20:06.079 We all have these thoughts that we're coming into the Bible with. 00:20:06.880 --> 00:20:12.480 And I think the thing that's true from Paul here is that there's ways to interpret it rightly and there's ways to interpret it wrongly. 00:20:12.640 --> 00:20:15.119 And it takes work to understand it rightly. 00:20:15.200 --> 00:20:17.359 And that's the theme that we're seeing, right? 00:20:17.680 --> 00:20:20.480 But it is work that is worthwhile, I think. 00:20:20.799 --> 00:20:21.440 Why? 00:20:21.839 --> 00:20:29.119 Because there are people with m-divs on TikTok that are discipling your middle and high schoolers into believing that the Bible is a made-up mythological book. 00:20:29.279 --> 00:20:41.440 These people with m-divs on TikTok are uh telling your middle and high schoolers that Christianity is a hateful and bigoted religion, that there are inconsistencies in the Bible and therefore we should discount it altogether. 00:20:41.599 --> 00:20:45.440 These people that claim to have m-divs are discipling our kids. 00:20:46.559 --> 00:20:48.160 That's why we need to know it. 00:20:49.039 --> 00:20:53.039 Because Gen Z is walking out the back door of the church faster than ever. 00:20:53.599 --> 00:20:54.880 Alright, second point. 00:20:55.039 --> 00:20:59.279 If we want to continue in this world as Christians, we are called to be holy. 00:20:59.920 --> 00:21:05.920 Paul, giving another illustration, paints this picture of these vessels of gold and silver and then of wood and clay. 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:11.119 And what he's doing there is showing that there's some for honorable use, right, and some for dishonorable use. 00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:18.319 This illustration is building off of his point in verse 19, which says this let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity. 00:21:18.480 --> 00:21:25.519 And here's his point: we are all vessels, we are all carrying messages, we are all holding things. 00:21:25.759 --> 00:21:30.160 And if we carry the message of the gospel, what Paul is saying is our lives need to reflect it. 00:21:30.400 --> 00:21:36.480 The inside of our hearts needs to be consistent with this holy life that He is calling us to. 00:21:36.799 --> 00:21:41.279 That doesn't mean perfection, of course, because all of us just will never be there. 00:21:41.920 --> 00:21:44.160 But what it means is that we're called to live differently. 00:21:44.880 --> 00:21:49.119 We are called to be loving in ways that the world doesn't love. 00:21:49.680 --> 00:21:54.079 We're called to treat each other differently than the world says to treat each other. 00:21:55.359 --> 00:21:58.000 Now, again, this is the result of the grace of God. 00:21:58.400 --> 00:21:59.680 This is not a try harder point. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:02.400 Yourself up from your bootstraps, kind of holiness. 00:22:02.640 --> 00:22:06.160 Not a moralistic do great kind of thing, right? 00:22:07.039 --> 00:22:15.200 But it is a combination of the Holy Spirit working in our hearts through his word, through the gospel working in the body of believers. 00:22:15.279 --> 00:22:17.359 It's not a solo project. 00:22:18.240 --> 00:22:21.920 And it's also our own will and effort matched with all these things. 00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:27.200 In other words, we don't sit on the sidelines passively hoping that all of a sudden we become more like Jesus. 00:22:28.319 --> 00:22:37.039 As we rest in our identity in Christ, as we soak up the grace of Jesus, we are empowered actually to live holy lives, is what the gospel says. 00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:39.759 And again, this isn't moralistic legalism. 00:22:40.079 --> 00:22:45.359 This is not trying to grow in holiness so that God will love and approve of us more, right? 00:22:45.920 --> 00:22:50.319 He already loves us and approves us perfectly through the cross of Christ. 00:22:50.960 --> 00:22:57.200 So when we mess up big time, we're actually free to run back to our Father, not away from him in the gospel. 00:22:58.319 --> 00:23:02.400 In 1957, one of my favorite films hit theaters. 00:23:02.480 --> 00:23:05.599 And if you're thinking, yeah, the 16-year-old likes old films, that's true. 00:23:06.000 --> 00:23:11.119 But one of my favorite films hit theaters, it's uh Sidney Lumay's masterpiece, Twelve Angry Men. 00:23:11.279 --> 00:23:18.160 Uh it's probably one that not many of y'all have seen, but here's a picture that I just love uh that kind of captures what's going on. 00:23:18.480 --> 00:23:25.680 And I'll be honest, before I saw it, I never expected uh for 90 minutes of 12 old white guys arguing in a room to be as fun as it was. 00:23:25.839 --> 00:23:28.160 I thought it was gonna be brutal, but it was awesome. 00:23:28.480 --> 00:23:33.279 But in this, there's a young man about 16 years old who is uh on trial for murder. 00:23:33.359 --> 00:23:38.559 Uh and in this jury, the 12 angry men are in charge of determining his fate, which is really black and white. 00:23:38.720 --> 00:23:41.279 It's either innocent or death penalty. 00:23:41.519 --> 00:23:42.960 Those are the two options. 00:23:43.200 --> 00:23:47.440 And what's interesting is that you don't see much of the actual trial at the beginning. 00:23:47.519 --> 00:23:48.880 It's very brief. 00:23:49.119 --> 00:23:54.240 So you, as the viewer, enter into this deliberation room seeing this going on. 00:23:54.480 --> 00:23:56.480 We don't really actually know if he's innocent. 00:23:56.640 --> 00:24:00.880 Like we don't have a good conclusion built up in our minds as the movie starts. 00:24:01.200 --> 00:24:07.519 All we know is that this kid is from the slums, he's poor, and it seems like the jurors are dead set in their opinions. 00:24:08.079 --> 00:24:13.920 They need a unanimous vote, either way, before they can leave that deliberation room, no matter how long it takes. 00:24:14.160 --> 00:24:19.599 On the first vote, all of the first 11 jurors, without question, voted guilty. 00:24:19.839 --> 00:24:24.559 Without even blinking an eye, voted guilty in favor of sending this 16-year-old to death row. 00:24:24.799 --> 00:24:33.279 But then our boy, juror number eight, Henry Fonda, much like Yoda, comes out and says this there were 11 votes for guilty. 00:24:33.440 --> 00:24:38.559 It's not easy for me to raise my hand and send a boy off to die without talking about it first. 00:24:39.359 --> 00:24:49.200 Then, with incredible patience, with amazing empathy and gentleness, Fonda slowly convinces all 11 other jurors to vote for innocence. 00:24:49.519 --> 00:24:52.640 Sorry for the spoilers, it came out 70 years ago. 00:24:54.799 --> 00:24:58.160 Now, what we don't know is whether or not they were right. 00:24:58.400 --> 00:25:00.799 We don't know if the boy was guilty. 00:25:00.960 --> 00:25:02.799 We don't know if he was innocent. 00:25:03.119 --> 00:25:10.240 But what we do know is that the 11 other jurors would not have had their minds changed by a kicking and screaming angry man. 00:25:11.359 --> 00:25:18.960 It took nuance, it took good questions, it took compassion and empathy, and it took grace. 00:25:20.480 --> 00:25:29.680 As we close our time, Paul is explaining to Timothy that a good Christian leader should be able to disagree well. 00:25:31.200 --> 00:25:37.200 There will be people in the church and outside of the church that we will disagree with. 00:25:37.519 --> 00:25:39.680 And they really might be wrong, right? 00:25:39.920 --> 00:25:41.519 Like they really might be wrong. 00:25:41.839 --> 00:25:47.119 But the challenge here is not to just label someone and then attack the label, because that's what our culture is really good at, right? 00:25:48.960 --> 00:25:58.000 The challenge is to seek correction and disagreement and challenge with grace, with gentleness, and really with love. 00:25:59.039 --> 00:26:01.279 And that is so different than the culture today. 00:26:01.440 --> 00:26:03.680 We have both sides screaming at one another. 00:26:03.839 --> 00:26:06.240 And so what a time to be a light. 00:26:06.480 --> 00:26:10.400 What a time to speak life into this culture that's disintegrating. 00:26:11.119 --> 00:26:15.519 I'm gonna close with this passage from 1 Corinthians chapter 9. 00:26:16.079 --> 00:26:22.240 This is Paul painting this picture about what his life looked like trying to win people for the gospel. 00:26:22.400 --> 00:26:24.160 And I think it's beautiful. 00:26:24.480 --> 00:26:32.880 So as I read it, I want you all to imagine with me that instead of when he says Jews or someone under the law, imagine someone that thinks radically different from you. 00:26:33.119 --> 00:26:37.359 Someone that's on the other political side of the spectrum, someone that you disagree with boldly. 00:26:37.599 --> 00:26:40.160 I want you to put them in your mind as we read this passage. 00:26:40.400 --> 00:26:43.680 This is 1 Corinthians chapter 9, verses 19 to 22. 00:26:44.319 --> 00:26:50.000 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all that I might win more of them. 00:26:50.240 --> 00:26:53.599 To the Jews I became as a Jew in order to win Jews. 00:26:53.839 --> 00:27:00.720 To those under the law, I became as one under the law, though not being myself under the law, that I might win those under the law. 00:27:00.960 --> 00:27:09.680 To those outside the law, I became as one outside the law, not being outside the law of God, but under the law of Christ, that I might win those outside the law. 00:27:09.920 --> 00:27:12.960 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. 00:27:13.119 --> 00:27:14.079 I love this. 00:27:14.400 --> 00:27:19.839 I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 00:27:20.480 --> 00:27:22.079 Let's pray together. 00:27:23.200 --> 00:27:25.920 Father, thank you so much for this time. 00:27:26.319 --> 00:27:30.799 We get to come and hear from your word that is not bound and will never be bound. 00:27:31.039 --> 00:27:39.519 Father, the promise from Isaiah is that the word of God will do that which it accomplishes, it will not return void. 00:27:39.680 --> 00:27:52.000 And the word that is from you, Lord, is one that brings liberation to captives, one that brings life to dead men and women, and one's one that brings redemption through Jesus Christ. 00:27:52.319 --> 00:27:54.720 Father, your word is not a word of condemnation. 00:27:54.960 --> 00:27:57.200 Your word is not a word of shaming. 00:27:57.599 --> 00:28:02.640 Father, your word is actually one that tries to set us free from the bondage we've placed ourselves in. 00:28:03.039 --> 00:28:15.839 So, Father, this morning we we just we come to this book and into this room with baggage, with wounds, with addictions, with doubts, with anger. 00:28:16.640 --> 00:28:21.279 And Father, I just pray that this morning your word would speak a better word to us. 00:28:22.400 --> 00:28:27.920 That you would speak a word of life in the midst of words of death that we see all around us. 00:28:28.240 --> 00:28:38.960 Father, I pray that you would empower us by your Spirit to be a city on a hill, to be a people that speak life and light into a culture that speaks death and darkness. 00:28:39.279 --> 00:28:52.799 Father, I pray that we would rest more deeply in the gospel that that says that all of our sin was nailed to a cross on Jesus' shoulders, and then if we simply believe in him, we would have life and forgiveness forever. 00:28:53.359 --> 00:28:58.319 And Father, I pray that your spirit would have done work this morning in our hearts. 00:28:58.480 --> 00:29:03.359 And I pray that you would continue to work on us, to show us the goodness of Jesus. 00:29:03.680 --> 00:29:10.079 I pray that as we move into this time of communion and close with worship, Lord, I pray that you would stir our hearts and affections for Jesus. 00:29:10.319 --> 00:29:17.519 I pray that we wouldn't have felt burdensome from this word, but that it would actually be a relief of burden on the shoulders of Christ. 00:29:17.839 --> 00:29:18.720 Father, we love you. 00:29:18.799 --> 00:29:20.400 I pray all this in Jesus' name. 00:29:20.640 --> 00:29:21.119 Amen.