Caught in the Swirl – Part 2

Second Timothy. We’re continuing on in a passage
that we entered into last week. And we spent a good degree of
time there, and as you’ve already determined, in a sense, I’m preaching
the passage upside down. I’m preaching verses 3 and 4
prior to verses 1 and 2. And you might think I had lost
it or perhaps I lost the notes from verses 1 and 2. That’s not
the case. What I simply wanted you to know,
first and foremost, was the reason behind the admonition at the
outset. I wanted you to know how bad
the situation was that Paul was addressing or how bad Paul saw
that it was going to get which would give him cause to such
a strong admonition. And you might even have gone
away last week. You certainly may have greater
cause to go away this week, fretting and wringing your hands, thinking
that the church is going down. And I love the third line of
the hymn. The third line of the hymn puts
it all back in focus for us. And I didn’t plan this. John
picked it. But the third verse of the hymn reads this way. Though
with a scornful wonder, men see her sore oppressed. The church
is always visible before a watching world. And the church has gone
through far greater difficulties than the gyrations that she is
currently going through in our modern society. It goes on and
says, by schisms, divisions, factions, church splits, by schisms
rent asunder, by heresies distressed.” The church isn’t facing anything
new. It’s faced all of these before.
In fact, in some cases, much, much worse. Though with a scornful wonder,
men see her sore oppressed by schisms rent asunder, by heresies
distressed, yet saints, their watch are keeping. Their church,
their cry goes up, how long? And soon the night of weeping
shall be the morn of song.” That’s what we look forward to, isn’t
it? I don’t want you to get caught up in the fact that the church,
as I suggested last week, is caught in what I say, a vortex,
a downward spiral. Because God has His people. God’s
not going to lose His people. The church is not going to fail.
But that said, the church is struggling. The church and much
of it is caught in what I suggested last week is akin to that vortex,
that little swirl. Above the drain in the tub, much
of the church is going down in that downward spiral. As I suggested. If you would take your Bibles
and turn back, if you’re not already there, Second Timothy,
chapter four, verses one. And I want to take you first
to the marks of a spiritually decadent society. That’s what
we’re focusing on last week in this. The marks of a spiritually
decadent society. This is why I would suggest that
much of the church is caught in a swirl. And we pick it up
in verse three, where Paul says, 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. And
I suggested last week we even put that in quotes, teachers
in accordance to their own desires and will turn aside. Pardon me.
They will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn
aside to myths. And it was with that And so often
in our day and age, we read those first few verses and skip over
the purpose statement, the cause. And I wanted you first to know
the cause. I wanted to highlight the scenario
that Paul was facing or that he saw that Timothy soon would
be facing. And it’s with that backdrop,
the marks of a spiritually decadent society, that Paul said, I 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. Preach the word because there
eventually going to turn their ears away. Preach the word as
long as you can, because they’re going to start with a doctrinal
intolerance and it’s going to go down from there. It’s going
to go downhill and quickly. Preach the word. Be ready in
season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with
great patience and instruction. What Paul drives home here is
the very heart of ministry. And it isn’t just the quote unquote
pastor. This is the heart of those who
would lead and serve the church. And that’s why I said young men
particularly pay dire attention to this passage, because this
is the passage. That relates to the ministry.
In our day and age in the 21st century, we began to see last
week that there are those that say It’s a very common theme
in our day and age. There are those that say our
modern day and age needs a modern approach to ministry. We need
to change a few things. With all the inventions that
we’ve seen and all the changes that have occurred, we need to
revamp ministry. We need to do things different
ways. The old ways of doing ministry are outmoded. We need new methods,
better methods. We need to reinvent the church,
reinvent worship, reinvent ministry itself. I want to take you to Paul’s counsel
this morning to answer that question. Is this traditional mode of ministry
really archaic, outmoded? Is it really broken? Does it
really need to be fixed? I don’t believe so. Paul wrote to his beloved what
he called his son in the faith. He wrote to Timothy. This is
the last chapter. This is the last, if you will,
book that he ever wrote to anybody. These are his last words to his
beloved friend Timothy, his faithful partner in ministry, a man that
I believe Paul was providentially used by God in bringing to faith. And then having brought him to
faith, he brings him into ministry and walks with him through those
crucial first years of ministry in that first century church.
Let me just have you review with me. Walk with me. Now, this is
not there is a science to the timelines woven through Scripture. This is not an exact science,
but I can give you a thumbnail sketch of Timothy’s background
as best we’re able to determine it. This is how I believe Paul
and Timothy’s relationship went. Let’s just review. Timothy was
living in Lystra. And Paul made what we now know
is his first missionary journey to that city, during which time
Timothy seems to have been converted on that first missionary journey.
In Acts 16, we read. Paul came to Derbe in Lystra
and a disciple was there. He’s already a disciple, which
means he was probably converted earlier. He was a disciple was
there named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer.
But his father was a Greek and he was well spoken of by the
brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium. And Paul wanted this
man to go with him. I say all that because it’s not
like Paul blows through town, sees a young man enthusiastic
about ministry and immediately plugs him in. Timothy came to
Christ, likely had years of seasoning. Paul came back through, saw the
maturity that had developed in him, saw his godliness, saw his
character, and drafted him into ministry. As I said, Paul considered him
a spiritual son. 1 Timothy 1.2, my true child
in the faith, he calls Timothy. 1 Timothy 1.18, this command
I entrust to you, Timothy, my son. Second, Timothy one, two to Timothy,
my beloved son. This is a this is the closest
thing to a father son relationship that you can even come close
to. And so Paul and Timothy now bond
mates in Christ become partners in ministry. And Paul and Timothy
and Silvanus and others set out in a journey to Philippi. And
there they plant the little church that we know as the Philippian
church. Paul had to have been with Timothy rather had to have
been with Paul in Philippi, because later to the Philippians, Paul
writes these words. I hope in the Lord Jesus to send
Timothy to you shortly so that I may also be encouraged when
I learn of your condition. Listen to this. Listen to this
commendation of this young man, Timothy, that we so often brush
off as unimportant. I have no one else of kindred
spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. Did
you hear what the Apostle Paul is saying? Out of all the men
at his disposal, in Paul’s estimation, They all paled in comparison. There were none that stacked
up to Timothy’s qualifications, his faithfulness. But they all
seek after their own interest, not those of Christ Jesus. And nothing has changed, really.
Two thousand years of church ministry, not a whole lot has
changed. They all seek after their own interest, not those
of Christ Jesus. Then he says to the Philippian
church, calling them to remember Timothy. And he says, but you
know of his proven worth. Timothy was with Paul. Timothy
was with Paul when they planted the Philippian church. I believe
it with all my heart. Perhaps then he even leaves Timothy
behind in Philippi to minister, to serve there. From there, we
see Timothy later with Paul in Berea. Paul leaves Silas and
Timothy there. And now you get the idea of a
man so faithful that everywhere Paul went and the Spirit called
out believers and a church was planted, Paul left Timothy behind
to set in order the things that remained as he told to Titus.
He later joins Paul at Athens, from where then he is dispatched
immediately to Thessalonica as a faithful emissary of God’s
grace. Listen to the words. First Thessalonians
3. Therefore, when we could endure
it no longer, we thought it best to be left behind at Athens alone. And we sent Timothy, our brother
and God’s fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen
and encourage you as to your faith. Faithful man. He leaves Thessalonians, Timothy
does, to be with Paul at Corinth, where Paul writes 1st and 2nd
Thessalonians, mentioning Timothy in both of those letters. The
next time we meet with Timothy, Timothy is in Macedonia with
Paul. In Acts 19, it says, having sent
into Macedonia two of those who ministered to him, Timothy and
Erastus, he, that is Paul, stayed in Asia for a while. This is
a man that was constantly coming and going from Paul’s side, ministering
with him and ministering apart from him with great faithfulness.
He returned and met up with Paul again in Macedonia. There, immediately,
he was sent to Corinth. He’s with Paul again in Corinth
from where he sends a greeting from the book of Romans, chapter
16, verse 21. He follows Paul through Macedonia,
including Philippi. And people, I’m not talking about
a weekend of ministry. I’m talking about years and years
and years and years of faithful ministry. He follows Paul through
Macedonia, including Philippi and Troas. He eventually joins
Paul at Rome, the prison epistles tell us. We find him solidly
residing finally in Ephesus. In 1 Timothy, Paul writes, as
I urged you upon my departure from Macedonia, remain on at
Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange
doctrines. That’s how the church has been
protected over the ages. From solid men faithfully teaching
the Word of God over a long period of time. First, Timothy one three, we
learned that after Paul’s release from prison, prison, they visited
Timothy and Paul visited Asia. The apostle then continued his
journey back to Macedonia while Timothy remained in Ephesus,
half reluctantly. In fact, get this, 2 Timothy
1.4 records that Paul says of Paul that he was longing to see
Timothy, even as I recall your tears that I may be filled with
joy. Timothy wept when Paul departed
from him. These were faithful men serving
faithfully together. So much so that Paul in his dying
days knew that the end was near. And he expresses to Timothy at
the end of this letter, make every effort to come to see me
soon. Paul longed to see his dear brother,
his son in the faith, Timothy. And then he reiterates that statement
in 421. Make every effort to come before
winter. I believe Paul knew his days
were numbered. One of the last things he wanted to do was to
embrace his beloved friend and fellow servant, Timothy. Now, with that backdrop, when you read someone’s last
words, they become some of the most crucial, some of the most
gripping words that you can read out of all their writings. What
they say last is the most important. such as the case with Paul and
Timothy. Paul saved his best for last
to young Timothy. Paul saved the most important
message he would ever communicate to Timothy in these words penned
here. The most crucial element of ministry.
We were reminded as we looked last week that essentially Timothy’s
faith may have been flagging. He may have been struggling.
He may have been faltering a bit through all the persecution and
all the trials and all the schisms in the church as we sang about.
All the difficulties were getting to Timothy and he was down. And
that’s the occasion with which Paul writes 2 Timothy. The problem
for Timothy, as is the problem in our own day and age, is that
Timothy was saddled with the ever growing desire to make the
church more palatable, to advance the ministry. Timothy felt that kind of pressure,
and the pressure in the church today is unbelievable. The goal is to try to make Christianity
more palatable to a cynical world, an impossibility, really, if
you think of it. Today, those kinds of sentiments,
those kinds of pressures have reached an all time high. As
I suggested last week, entertainment now is elevated far above the
proclamation of God’s word. Technique is elevated above the
sovereignty of God. There is a form of unity that
is elevated above all doctrine. an ecumenical push that urges
us to ignore doctrinal differences. The audience is, or the consumer
rather, is the customer far above God. Felt needs are above biblically
identified needs. The bottom line, it is all labeled
in our day and age as pragmatism. The end justifies the needs. We can compromise and do whatever
works as long as It works. A.W. Tozer, and I mind you, this
is almost 75 years ago that A.W. Tozer wrote. And you would think
that he wrote in this last week’s paper. Listen to the words. For centuries, the church stood
solidly against every form of worldly entertainment, recognizing
it for what it was, a device for wasting time, a refuge from
the disturbing voice of conscience, a scheme to divert attention
from a moral accountability. Religious entertainment is in
many places rapidly crowding out the serious things of God.
People, this is 75 years ago. A.W. Tozer would have an absolute
fit if he came back today. Many churches these days have
become little more than poor theaters where fifth-rate producers
peddle their shoddy wares with the full approval of evangelical
leaders who can even quote a holy text in defense of their delinquency.
And hardly a man dares raise his voice against it. Seventy-five
years ago, As I began to suggest last week, the consumer, the person in the
pew, is the one that is determining what the church does. The end justifies the means,
pragmatics. Whatever method you want to use
is fine if it works. That’s the bottom line. And so I suggested last week
as we began to get into this, the marks of a spiritually decadent
society. And I see here four marks clearly. It’s clearly a progression and
it’s clearly a downward progression. One pastor said of this passage,
when the carnal heart is not broken and renewed by the gospel,
it will become hardened against it. And people, I believe that’s
what we see in some professing churches in this country. Hardened
hearts that are not broken by the gospel, hardened to it. Forms of religious worship will
still be retained. You’re talking now about a place
called a church. You’re talking about people that
gather together and go through all the motions Forms of religious
worship will still be retained. The unconverted will still crave
types and modes of teaching more in harmony with their natural
tastes. They will gather teachers prepared
to minister doctrines diverging from the principles of the gospel.
And since the mind must have something to feed upon, such
fickle hearers will swallow all manner of fanciful representations
of sacred things, however far removed they may be from the
teaching of scripture. It’s just a paraphrase. That’s
a paraphrase of Second Timothy four. First point last week, by way
of review, the first mark of a spiritually decadent society
is that they will become intolerant of doctrine. Look at verse three.
The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. We presented there that the sound
doctrine is simply the Bible’s teaching on any given issue.
It’s what the Bible says. It’s doctrine and it’s solid
and it’s unchanging over time. The question isn’t how well is
it said, not whether it’s this flowery argument, not whether
it’s presented, you know, in a multimedia fashion, but is
it biblical? That’s the question. That’s what
makes doctrine sound. That’s why we constantly argue
that if a man takes a position, he ought to biblically be able
to support that position. We’re not interested in opinions.
Not at all. Sound teaching, last week when
we considered that, we discovered that it means healthy. Sound
means healthy. And ultimately, it says the church
will not endure healthy teaching. As I took you to the passage,
I reminded you who they is. I believe this was Timothy’s
congregation that Paul said, look out, there’s going to come
a time when they will not endure a sound doctrine. I took you
back to chapter two, where dozens of times it referred to they
and them as being those that Timothy was ministering to. In
other words, church people are going to grow intolerant of what
the Bible teaches. Now, at the risk at the risk
of being postmodern, I brought in some examples. I have a file
about a half an inch thick on this kind of stuff, so you’ve
got to be patient this morning. Here’s one echoes the one that
I told you last week, a white, beautiful white church with a
red circle and a line through it. where anything traditional
is bad. Anything that smacks of a long-standing
tradition, orthodoxy, is bad. It’s evil. Well, there’s a very
similar one. A very similar one. The first question it asks, do
you like to have fun? Well, don’t go to this place
if you want to have fun. You see, that’s what it’s about
in our day and age. Do you want to have fun? And then, of course, there is
this line of thinking. You cannot even get one of these
kinds of cards in the mail, can you anymore? Where you don’t
read on the back of it that the messages are relevant. And here’s
the point in focus, people. What the accusation is, is that
doctrine and expository preaching is irrelevant. But their message
is the 20 minute nice. And you know what? I know some
good brothers that can preach some solid things in 20 minutes. I’m sorry, I’m not able. The bottom line is what they
mean when they say the messages are relevant is that doctrine
and expository preaching are not. Over and over again, different
church, same message, relevant biblical teaching. As if there’s
biblical teaching that’s irrelevant. Another church, same message,
relevant message from the Bible. The bottom line is they will
not endure sound doctrine. So in time, they’ve got to fill
it with something else. And they will. And they have.
Second point that we looked at last week, the marks of a spiritually
decadent society. Not only are they intolerant
towards doctrine, point number two, they are impudent towards
teachers. They are impudent towards teachers. Look at this. Later on in verse
three, the second step downward, but wanting to have their ears
tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers. And
I put that in quotes because I don’t believe they teach anything,
nothing valid. They will accumulate for themselves
teachers in accordance to their own desires. First and foremost
is the motivation, wanting to have their ears tickled. They
want people to say what they want to hear. They are the consumer
after all. They will dictate what they want.
They will demand. And if they don’t get it here,
they’ll go somewhere else. Today, there is an itch for anything
that’s novel. Curiosity, flattery, debate,
oratory. Don’t give me anything hard.
Don’t give me anything challenging. Don’t convict me. Give me what
I want. It’s childishness and that’s
why I called it impudence. That’s what it is. And they will accumulate. Literally,
it means to heap up. They will pile up all these teachers. As I suggested last week, where
else could you get this idea of church tramps than in a day
and age where if you don’t get what you want, you’re gone. You’re
down the street. And there are so many places.
I mean, look at what it’s come to. One church advertises the
King of Glory jazz service. That’s what they wanted. Somebody
wanted it. So somebody came up with it. Where else? But in America, in the spiritually
decadent day in its age in which we live, do you need a ticket
to get into church to see a movie? During worship? Where else? In our spiritually decadent society
where people have forsaken sound doctrine, do you have to go to
the Andy Griffith show or Beverly Hillbilly’s Bible study where
they’ve taken these shows, gone back in and find some homespun
wisdom and they’ve dipped in and applied this now using allegedly
biblical texts? Of course, there’s the Simpsons.
You all, I’m sure, are familiar with those great theologians,
the Simpsons. One new church some time ago
sent out another card and on it, of course, their advertising
slogan, a place designed to fit your schedule and your needs. This is another way of saying,
let us, let us Let us say what you want to hear. Let us meet
your needs. Let us tell you what your needs
are. And you know, there’s another,
I’ve said this before, there’s another common thread running
through all of these brochures and cards that come in the mail.
It’s almost every single one of them refers to great coffee. Gourmet coffee. Because you’ve
got to have that in this day and age if you’re going to really
minister Well, as I said, the file is
a half an inch thick and I could spend all my time there, but
I have two additional points. Not only are people going to
become intolerant of doctrine, they’re going to become impudent
towards teachers. And if you don’t give them what
they want, they are like so many children and they will thumb
their nose at you and go down to the place that gives them
what they want. They are impudent, childish.
Point three. In remarks of the spiritually
decadent society, we come to the third mark. Not only are
they intolerant of doctrine and impudent towards teachers, thirdly,
they are insolent to the truth. That’s what they really don’t
like. Verse four says they will turn away their ears from the
truth. First, you know, when we first
saw it, there was an intolerance to the truth. You know, it’s
kind of inconvenient for them. It bothers them. They don’t really
spend a lot of time there. You know, they don’t enter into
a whole lot of discussions. I told you about the ordination
where the pastor came to me and said, we don’t make a big deal
about doctrine here in our church. Well. That’s kind of their attitude
initially, but eventually it degenerates in here, we see that
ultimately it’s outright rejection. The truth that they reject is
that they are sinful and that they are in desperate need of
a Savior. They cannot live without Him. They cannot make it to heaven
without Jesus Christ, our Lord. And they don’t like that message.
They want to participate. They want to contribute. They
want to help Jesus out. They want to pay Him back a little
bit. One Puritan said it this way.
The reason they hate the truth is that the truth strips them
of their vices. It sacrifices their idols. It
darts its lightnings against their easily besetting sins and
absolutely requires conformity to a crucified Christ. Therefore,
they turn their ears away from it. They cannot endure it. They won’t endure it. They turn
their minds from the truth. It’s a great difference there
from what is said in verse 3 when it says they will not endure
sound doctrine. It’s one thing to just tolerate
something, just have it playing in the back of your head. There’s
another thing to turn from it completely. And we see in our
day and age doctrines that for centuries have been held as the
foundation of the Christian faith itself set aside like so many
needless discussions. In our day and age, let me just
suggest a few of these truths. Not just suggestions. Not just
what some theologians have come to. Foundational truths that
in large part have been set aside by a great portion of the church.
The doctrine of original sin. I mean, if you start there, I
mean, if you set aside that doctrine, what have you got left? You’ve
got essentially what’s called Pelagianism that says, man is
basically good and I don’t really need God. The doctrine of original
sin strips us of everything. It says that we are dead in our
trespasses and sins and that we are hopeless and helpless
without Jesus Christ. And the church in a large part,
one of the. All right, I’ll read it. One
of the pastors, I couldn’t believe this. Pastor, the biggest church
in the country, Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, Pastor Joel
Osteen preaches to 25,000 people. And he said sin is not on the
menu. His goal is to give people a
boost for the week. The last thing that you’re going
to hear at some of these places is a treatment of original sin
and its effects on you. We’ll talk about Adam all day
long. But to tell you that you are dead in your trespasses and
sins, and that without Jesus Christ you are hopeless, you’re
not going to hear it. The male leadership of the church.
Another unpopular doctrine. Almost every one of these places
nowadays presents the pastors the husband-wife team almost
every time. The charismatic gifts, that some
of the gifts were for a set and specific purpose for a set and
specific time, and that those have passed away. The doctrine
of self-denial. When was the last time that you
saw a big, bold advertisement on one of these churches calling
people to self-denial, to selflessness? Can’t possibly do it because
self is in the focus. It’s self centered to the core. When was the last time you heard
one of these churches address the sin of homosexuality? When
was the last time that you saw and heard of a church of that
ilk practicing church discipline where they go in and they minister
to someone and they call them to repentance? And when they
don’t repent, they’re presented before the whole church as being
rebellious. and needing restoration, not
only to the church, but to Christ. The sin of drunkenness, the sin
of abortion. When was the last time we really
addressed the moral bankruptcy that is our nation in so many
spheres? When was the last time we really
got a glimpse of justification by faith and faith alone? I mean, you can’t possibly preach
a sermon on the sufficiency of Scripture because so much of
Scripture has been nullified. The Bible has a lot to say. It
has everything to say about how to live our lives, how to do
work, how to maintain our family life, how to conduct life in
the church. And many people sadly don’t want
to hear what the Bible has to say, what God thinks of their
life, what God thinks of our lifestyle, what God thinks of
our work. It’s a sad day. It is a sad day. There’s a fourth mark. Not only is the church in our
modern day and age in a large part intolerant of doctrine,
impudent towards teachers, insolent to the truth, finally and fourthly,
intimate with the fanciful.” It’s one thing to be intimate.
It’s one thing to be intense and deep with certain things.
But look at what the modern church is intimate with. It says not
only Wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate
for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, will turn
away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. This is a fascinating word here.
I was telling a friend about this the other day when I was
in my 20s, I was water skiing. And just like everything else
I did in my 20s, you know, way, way over the top. And the boat
was going way too fast and I was way too inexperienced to be out
there doing one of these things, you know. One ski, sideways to
the water, sailing along at 60 miles an hour or whatever it
was. And I fell. And I thought, I seriously thought
I had left my arm back there. I dislocated my arm and if you’ve
ever seen the injury, what ends up happening is the top of your
arm ends up approximately in the middle of your chest and
there’s a large hole. It’s skin covers it. Don’t panic. And I went to move my arm and
I couldn’t move my arm and I nearly passed out from the pain. That’s
what they call a dislocated shoulder. And people, the word here is
the same word. They will turn aside. They will
dislocate themselves out of the way. It’s never, ever, ever in
Scripture used in a good way. You can’t dislocate yourself
unto Christ. We can’t do that. 1 Timothy 1.6
says it this way, straying from these things, have turned aside
to fruitless discussion. They dislocated themselves out
of good, sound discussions and they turned aside to fruitless
discussions. 1 Timothy 5.15 Paul is the one
that uses this word. 1 Timothy 5.15 says some have
already turned aside. They’ve been dislocated out of
following the good and narrow way. They’ve been turned aside
and dislocated to follow who? Satan. John Gill says they missed the
mark. They went astray. And instead of promoting charity
or love and creating, they create feuds and contentions and divisions. The main scope and drift of the
divine law is to engage us to the love of God and to one another.
And whatever tends to weaken either our love to God or love
to the brethren tends to defeat the end of the commandment. The
bottom line is they said that this fruitless discussion was
having such an ill effect on the church that it was as if
they had been wrenched, wrenched right out of the discussion. One Puritan said it this way,
when the scriptures are neglected in the worship and preaching
of the church, the people receive instead fabulous stories of life
and exploits of the saints. This was so true in the early
church. All kinds of ridiculous stories about who had done what
and, you know, fancy miracles as if the church needed any more
testimony of the truthfulness and veracity of Christ. The number
of these miracles and legends grew until the great historical
facts of Christianity were thrust into the background. And essentially the same tendency
is seen today, isn’t it? When we don’t focus on the truth,
we’ve got to have something else to fill our skulls of mush. Where else would you justify
the prayer of Jabez and just the overwhelming reception that
it got to the church from the church? Some will dislocate themselves
from any connection with the truth. They don’t want the truth. They can’t handle that portion
of God’s teaching. They’ll tear themselves away.
One godly pastor said, we can scarcely believe that this indicates
as the result of a complete turning away from every doctrine of Christian
truth. You hear the frightening statement
that he begins to utter? These are church people. This
is in the church. They continue on in the path,
but ultimately they don’t want the truth, but they’ll go through
the motions. We can scarcely believe that
this indicates, as the result, a complete turning away from
every doctrine of Christian truth. For if such were the result,
there would necessarily be an abandonment of Christian profession,
a going over to the ranks of unbelief. But it is rather a
deprivation within the professing church, a deprivation as would
disincline the minds of men to sound doctrine. In other words,
he says, this is all going on, all this spiritual declension
inside the church. And they turn aside to myths. Another interesting word, it
referred to fables, these stories, novelty, the errors of novelty,
the emptiness and folly and all the extra biblical theories And
where else but in a spiritually degenerating society would things
grow and flourish such as that man is basically good, not sinful.
You can’t get that from Scripture. That’s a myth. That nothing is
a sin. Everything that we fall into
is a sickness and nothing’s my fault. It’s dad’s fault. It’s
dad’s fault. Where else would the Moonies
and the Mormons and the JWs had such flourishing ministries over
the years? Where else would psychology,
modern psychology, mind you, taken such foothold, not in the
world only, but in the church? A preoccupation and dependence
upon a man-made study of the God-made soul that God has already
examined. God has already spoken to. Where else would people come
up with and flock to the doctrine that there is no hell, that everybody
goes to heaven or that there’s a purgatory and you can pray
your way out or that there are these things called crystals.
And if you just have the right ones at the right time, this
rock can provide you some kind of cosmic power. Where else can you come up with
the idea that you can somehow take Christ as your Savior and
not as your Lord? Where else can you come up with
the idea that God wants you to be healthy and wealthy? These are myths. They’re myths. And it’s all characterization
of what young Timothy was facing. And really, what any man who
desires to serve in the office of a pastor That’s what he’s
going to face. Because society is going to continue
to spiral. The church is going to continue
to struggle. There are going to be constant needs for men
to stand in the gap and call people back to the pure Word
of God. It’s a spiritually decadent society
that touches even Timothy’s own congregation. And what is young
Timothy to do? Paul told him. Preach the Word. Be ready in season and out of
season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and instruction.
Because you don’t have long, Timothy. We’ll look to that passage next
week. Let’s examine our hearts. Oh, merciful God. Each one of
us is inclined to each one of these degrees of error. There
are doctrines that each one of us find distasteful. We know in our hearts that at
times we have sought to kill the messenger, to turn from a
faithful teacher, a friend who was calling us to a right way. Too many of us have been insolent
towards the truth itself, turning away from passages and teachings
that we find uncomfortable. And Lord, instead, we have filled
our lives with so much nonsense, so many myths. Lord God, we pray
for forgiveness. We pray that you would help us
to call others to repentance on these things. That your church
would be restored, as we sang about earlier. That once again,
your church would be strong. Would once again find a firm
foundation in the rock which is Christ. We humble ourselves
before you and we pray for your mercy. We pray these things in
Christ’s name. Amen. you