2nd timothy chapter 2 we will
cover the rest of this chapter beginning in verse 20 and the title of this lesson
is the minister and his ministry the minister and his ministry
now paul having instructed timothy concerning the ministry and concerning
those who would go astray from the truth of which is Hymenaeus
and Philetus. But he says to Timothy that in
verse 19, that nevertheless, the foundation of God stand is
sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his and
let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. in doctrine and in practice. And then in verse 20, Paul gives
a contrast between believers and unbelievers in the church
to Timothy. And he used the similitude or
the likeness of a great house. He says, but in a great house,
there are not only vessels of gold and silver, expensive, beautiful,
beautiful, but there are also vessels that are of wood and
earth, some to honor, some to dishonor. And he likens the church
here to a great house built by the master builder, Almighty
God. And Jesus Christ is the foundation
on which this house is built. It is the house of God. It's
the house he has built. It's the house he's pleased to
dwell in. However, in the church on this earth, now he's speaking
about the church on this earth, not in heaven, but the church
that's on this earth has vessels of gold and silver and wood and
earth. It is earthen vessels made out
of clay. clay pots. And what he's doing
here, he's likened the church has believers at their local
assembly and the church all over the world, the Lord's church.
It has, it is made up of believers. It's built, the stones of it
are made of believers, but there's vessels in it. And he likens
these vessels of gold and silver to believers. But the wood and
earthen vessels are tears among the wheat. It's sad, but it's
so. Tears among the wheat. And when
I read that, I think, Lord, don't let me be a tear. Don't let me
be a tear. Do not let me be a goat among
the sheep. Lord, let me be your sheep. Let
me be your sheep. And just as there are thorns
among roses, weeds in every good garden there are false professors
in in the in the church it's just so we read this throughout
all the scriptures from old testament new testament satan sows these
tears among the wheat look over in matthew 13 In Matthew 13, let me start reading
in verse 24. Another parable put he forth
unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man
which sowed seed, good seed, in his field. But while men slept,
his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his
way. But when the blade was sprung
up and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the
servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst
not thou sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath
it tares? And he said unto them, An enemy
hath done this. The servant said unto him, Wilt
thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay, lest
while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with
them. You see, God know, the foundation
of God standeth sure, having this sealed, the Lord knoweth
them that are his. I don't know. And I have a real good I think,
uh, understanding, uh, discernment of those that are the Lord, but
now there are those that can fool you. Simon Magus. There's many, you know, here
at one time at Hymenaeus and Philetus, no doubt. One time
they, they walked among the brethren. But the Lord knoweth them that
are his. And he said, no, no, you don't go around trying to
root up which ones are tares and leave the weeds, because
you're going to mess it up. He said, you'll root up the weed
also. Let both grow together until the harvest. And in the
time of harvest, I will say to the reapers, gather ye together
first the tares, bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather
the weed into my barn. The one that sowed the tares
is a devil. It's Satan. And Satan sows these tares among
the wheat, and he does so in the Lord's church, in this great
house, on this earth. That's one of the sad things
about the church on this earth, is that it has goats among the
sheep and tares among the wheat. And it's heartbreaking to see
those who have made a profession, and I've seen this over the years,
I've seen those who have professed faith in Christ. I've even seen
some stand and preach from the word of God and then deny the
faith, deny the gospel, go to another gospel. I've seen that.
And you would think, and I saw one particular person comes to
mind that sat for years under the gospel. And one day said,
I don't believe that anymore. And went over to Arminianism.
I mean, that's sad. It's sad. But it's so, it's so. It's so. Just like Hymenaeus
and Philetus did. And Paul's telling Timothy here,
what he's telling him here is, don't be shaken. Don't be overly
shaken when this happens. Because it's going to happen.
There'll always be men like Hymenaeus and Philetus. There'll always
be a Simon Magus in it for the money. There always will be. So he's telling Timothy, in a
great house there are these different vessels. So don't be shaken when
one turns out to be a tear. False professor. He said, don't
be overly shaken. It's sad. It's sad and it hurts.
But we don't fall apart over it because we know it's so. In
every house are vessels of great worth, and there are vessels
of clay and wood, which have no worth. Look over in Jude, over in the book of Jude, look here in verse 12, now go to verse 11. This whole
book is basically about these false professors. Woe unto them,
for they have gone in the way of Cain, these false professors,
ran greedily after the heir of Balaam for reward, and perished
in the gain saying of Corrie, these are spots in your feast
of love. When they feast with you, they
feast with feeding themselves without fear. Clouds they are
without water, carried about of winds, trees whose fruit withereth
without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the root, raging waves
of the sea, foaming out their own shame, wandering stars, to
whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. They are
spots in your feast, and they always will be. They will always
have a presence in the Lord's church. In the Lord's Church,
there are men and women who are examples of the grace of God.
The grace of God shines forth in them. And then there are those
who do not show forth the grace of God, though they claim to
have it. They don't show forth the grace of God in their conduct,
in their conversation, in their witnessing. They don't show forth
the grace of God. It's not there. Now he says,
if a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel
unto honor, sanctified in meat for the master's use and prepared
unto every good work. I want to, I want to be meat
fit for the master's use. And I know you do too. You want
to be used of God. There's no greater privilege
blessing than to be used of God. And what he's saying here, if
a man separates himself from the company of heretics, from
those who promote error, and he separates himself from those
who have an evil influence, he can be an honorable and useful
vessel in the church of the living God. He doesn't keep company
with them. He's fit for the master's use.
You know, we are, and I've said this many times, we are the company
we keep. And the scripture says this,
evil companions corrupt good manners. And Paul says, when
these people become evident, separate from them. Don't have
fellowship with them. You know, he says over in John,
he says, if they come and don't bring this gospel, this doctrine
of Christ, don't bid them Godspeed. Don't tell them to have a good
day. That's what he's saying, don't tell them to have a good
day. If they bring to you a false gospel, don't bid them Godspeed. No good ever comes from such
a company. Listen to Romans 16, 17, 18.
Now I beseech you brethren, mark them, mark them which cause divisions
and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned,
and avoid them. Avoid them. For they that are
such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly,
and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple,
the unlearned." Now he says, in this house there are vessels
of gold silver there's believers and there's unbelievers earthen
vessels and he says you separate from them you have nothing to
do with them and in verse 22 he makes it even stronger he
says flee we also youthful lush But follow righteousness, faith,
charity, peace with them, with God's people, that call on the
Lord out of a pure heart. But flee useful lust. Now, we
know that we are to flee the lust of this flesh. We know that. We are to flee uncleanness. We
are to flee from worldliness, a worldly spirit. We flee from
that. Lord, save us from that. Keep
us from that. But that's not what Paul's talking
about. Paul, if you keep it in context, Paul is speaking of
lust that leads young leaders into vainglory, seeking self-recognition
and preeminence. That's what he's talking about.
That's the lust he's talking about. You know, there is a lust
of wanting recognition. That can be a lust. There's a
lust of wanting preeminence, wanting to be the leader, wanting
to be out front recognized as a leader. That's one of the downfalls
of leadership, is there is in us such an ego, such a sinful
nature, that God has to keep it in check. That's why he gave
Paul a thorn in the flesh, to keep him down, because of the
abundance of revelation, lest he be puffed up. And so the Lord,
when He calls a man to be a leader, He has to give him some afflictions
to bring him down so that the leader will always be aware that
the power is of God and not of ourselves. It's always of God
and not of me. If God blesses you this morning,
I mean, if He really blesses your heart, He's doing it. Now, He's using me as an instrument
But now he can use anybody else as an instrument too, if he will. So if we keep this in context,
Paul is speaking about this lust of, this desire, this craving
desire to have recognition, to have preeminence. And he tells
him, especially this, especially this, this is, I think young
preachers are prone to this, because I have lived it. I was
a young preacher at one time. You know, I was 23 years old
when I started in that preacher school back at 13th Street, 1979,
1980. Long time ago. Long time ago. I was a young preacher, and here's
one of the things that a young preacher has to be careful of
is that he gets caught up in a debate, these debates that
mean nothing. IT'S DEBATES OVER THE SECRET
THINGS OF GOD. YOU SEE, THE REVEALED THINGS
BELONG TO US AND OUR CHILDREN, BUT THE SECRET THINGS BELONG
TO THE LORD. LEAVE THOSE ALONE. BUT YOU GET
INTO DEBATES OVER IT, AND ALL IT DOES IS CAUSE CONFLICT, CONFUSION,
AND THAT'S ALWAYS OF SATAN. AND YOUNG PREACHERS ARE PRONE
TO THAT. WE'RE NOT GOING TO DEBATE THE GOSPEL. We are not going
to debate the gospel. The gospel is what it is. And
by God's grace, I'm going to stand here and preach the gospel
to you week after week. And we are going to submit to
God's word on the gospel. You know, we're not going to
submit to what I, this is what I think. It doesn't matter what
I think or you think, what does God say? Really? What does God say about this?
Whatever the subject is. And so young preachers have to
be careful, and as Paul writes to Timothy, flee, run. That's what that means. Turn
and run from this. Don't get caught up after. But
you not only run from that, but you also follow after something.
You follow, pursue. Run after this. Pursue after
this. Give yourself to this. Love, peace, and do so with them
that call on the Lord. Do so with the Lord's people.
You are my company. You're my company. I hope I'm
your company. We are. We are one another's
company. The world's not my company. That's the truth. The world's
not my company. Now, I know we have to work out
there. I know that we have to work out there in the world,
but you're my company. You're my family, as I was telling
Vicki. We was talking last night. I was talking about our brothers
and sisters. I said, you know, our relationship
will be dissolved. I said, and I mean this in a
very, I don't know, compassionate way,
but it's a truthful way. You know, I have family in the
flesh. They are my family and they're
not my family. They're my family and they're not my family. Because
those of them who are not in Christ, who do not love Christ
and believe on Christ, our relationship will be dissolved. It will be
dissolved. Our relationship is eternal.
It will not be dissolved. It's eternal. Our relationship
will grow. You know, one of the things that
I have said to Vicki, you know, whether the Lord takes her first
or me first, whichever one, when we finally are in glory, we will
love each other like we ought to love each other. You know, we don't love each
other as we ought to now we do, but we don't not like we ought
to. Not like we ought to. So Paul tells him, he said, you,
you pursue after faith. That is, faith in Christ. That's
not just faith as a blank statement, but faith in a person, faith
in growing grace, and in knowledge of Jesus Christ. Grow in that. See that you grow in that. Pursue
that. Seek to know more of the Lord
Jesus Christ in a personal way. In a very personal way, seek
to know more of Christ. And love. Seek to love one another. To genuinely love one another.
I tell you what, the more we grow in love, the more we will
be able to let things go. You're like, well, they didn't
mean that. They didn't mean that. We think the best of each other.
The more you love someone, the better you'll think of them.
You will. And peace. Peace in heart, peace
with one another. and do so within the call on
the name of the Lord out of a pure heart that is sincerity, but
foolish and unlearned questions, unrevealed questions, unlearned,
ignorant questions, avoid knowing that they do gender strife. You
know, there are people who set themselves up, you know, like,
well, ask me, you know, we get on stage and you ask me questions
and I'll take your questions. I'm not going to do that. Stay away from all things that
do not glorify the Lord Jesus Christ and edify the body of
Christ. And this applies to all believers,
not just me. I know Paul's writing to Timothy,
he's writing to ministers, but this also applies to the body
of Christ. You have a ministry where God's
put you. You have a ministry where God's put you. If it's
just being what you call housewife, wife, be the best wife, be the
best husband, be the best worker. Seek God's grace, God's grace
to be the best as a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. We
are ambassadors of Christ. Wherever we are at home, be the
best father, grandfather, grandmother, children. to our parents. I still have one parent living.
I want to be the best at her. Be the best at it. But stay away
from unlearned questions. Avoid knowing that they gender
strife. That's all. Stay away from them. And stay away from speculations
and arguments over the mysteries of God. If it's a mystery, unless God's
made it known to you, which if he has, it's not a mystery no
more. But if it's a mystery, stay away from it because it's
a mystery. And you and I do not have the intelligence to crack
open the mysteries of God. They've got to be revealed. They've
got to be revealed. The secret things of the Lord
belong unto the Lord. We stay away from those things
that we don't know anything about, and the Scriptures are not clear
on. We just stay away from them. And the servant of the Lord must
not strive. He's not one that strives. And here's the preacher's attitude. Here's his attitude and conduct.
He's not one that strives. He's to be gentle. He needs to
be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, able to teach, has the
gift to teach, and patient. Patient. If there's one of the
things I can say looking back to my time with Henry for 40
years, he was very patient with me. Very patient. The servant of the Lord, the
minister of the gospel, He's not to strive and contend about
words, about words. He's to strive and
contend for the faith of the gospel, that's true, but not
just about words. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 2,
17, for we are not as many which corrupt the word of God, but
as of sincerity, but as of God in the sight of God speak we
in Christ, but we don't corrupt the word of God. We don't do that. And he's to do so, listen, the
servant of the Lord must not strive. He's to be gentle. He's
a gentle man, you know, gentleness. And he says here
in verse 25, in meekness, meekness is not softness. Don't think
of meekness as somebody that is really soft. Our Lord was
the meekest man. He's meek and lowly, but he was
not soft. He was not solved. You know,
one of these days they're going to cry for the rocks to fall on them
and to hide them from the wrath of the land. That's what it says. When he spoke to those Pharisees
and they were lying, he called them, he said, you're of your
father, the devil. and bear it patiently, and do
so in meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves." You
know, it's not that they just oppose me. Here's the way to
look at it. You say, they're against me.
They oppose what I'm saying. No, they oppose themselves. They
oppose themselves. He says here, if God, peradventure,
will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth.
correct errors in meekness, correct in love, considering, listen,
yourself, that could be you. And they oppose themselves. And
how's that? When you oppose the word of God,
when you oppose the gospel in doing so, you are opposing yourselves. You are bringing ruin on yourself. You're not bringing ruin on me.
You're not going to ruin the Church of God, whoever's doing
that. Not you, but whoever's doing that. They're not going
to ruin me, they're ruining themselves. They are, another place it says,
they forsake their own mercy. They oppose themselves, they
ruin themselves in doing so. We must be firm, and this is
what Paul's telling him, he said, do so in gentleness, in meekness,
those who oppose themselves be firm in the truth yet tender
in spirit tender in spirit with those who oppose you in hopes
that god will grant them repentance in other words what he's telling
timothy here don't build a wall so high they can't get over don't
build that so high they cannot get over make it easy for them
to repent without embarrassment Make it easy for them to come
back without embarrassment because it's only by God's grace that
you and I stand. We haven't fallen. We haven't
turned aside. That's true. And that they may
recover themselves out of the snare of the devil. The devil's
got him. He laid a snare. He laid a snare
and they fell for it. They fell for it. and they're
taken captive by him at his will. They do his will. Here's the desire of God's minister
of the gospel. The desire of God's preacher
is that these who have turned aside will, by God's grace, come
to themselves, not give up on them. not give up on them. You remember that prodigal that
went away? He said, give me my inheritance. He went away, squandered
all of it, sitting there on the fence with those hogs, slopping
with the hogs. He came to himself. As I told
you Thursday night, he came to himself and then he came to his
father. That they would come to themselves, they would awake
out of the sleep of death and be restored to the right mind.
Isn't that the way we ought to think? That should be our desire. Because that could be me, it
could be you. Someone said this, rebels are
like drunken men, intoxicated with error and taken captive
by Satan to do his will. And only the Son of Man can make
us free. and pray for those who err. Pray
for them. Pray for them. And I'll leave
you with this. Romans 10 verse 1. Brethren, Paul writes this.
Brethren, my harsh desire and prayer to God for Israel is that
they might be saved. That's how we handle them. We
pray that God might save them. Paul, Paul even went so far as
to say, I would count myself a curse from Christ if it would
save them, if that would bring salvation to them. That's the
attitude in which we are to handle these errors and these who go
astray. All right.