Turn to 2 Timothy chapter 2. We will pick up in verse 15 through
19 this morning, Lord willing. Let's ask the Lord to bless his
word first. Our Father, we thank you for your word, your
word of truth. your word in which you reveal
yourself to us. Give us a heart to make more
of your word, to seek you in your word, to read your word. And our Father, we pray for thy
presence this morning. This worship service will not
be a worship service without your presence. Help us to worship. Help us to sing your praises
with our hearts. Enable me to rightly divide the
word of truth, to communicate the gospel, to preach the gospel
to your children here. I pray, Father, your blessings
on this congregation, on us this morning. I pray you would enable
us to grow in grace and in knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. and
that you would enable us to set our affection on things above
where our Lord sits at thy right hand. And we do pray for those in the
congregation who are sick and afflicted. Our mind is on Johnny
Tindall this morning. We pray for him, pray you'd bless. Lord, help us to be ever mindful. of thee and of one another to
look after one another. And Father, thank you. Thank
you. Thank you for this place, this
gathering. Thank you for the blessings you've given us. Thank
you. In Jesus Christ's name, we pray.
Amen. Carl had told me, you sent me
a text yesterday that Johnny Tindall, they took him to the
hospital. Thought he might have had a stroke.
I don't know. I'm going to call her today and find out what's
going on. The title of the lesson, The
Workman and His Work. The Workman and His Work. Paul, in verse 15, he tells Timothy,
study, Study, study, study. To show thyself approved unto
God, a workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing
the word of truth. Study the scriptures. The scriptures
that he had, whatever they were in the Old Testament scriptures,
and he had the epistles that Paul wrote to him and probably
read some of the other ones that Paul wrote to Ephesus and those,
he had the scriptures. Timothy did not have commentaries.
I thought about that when I read this. Paul said study. I thought
he didn't have any commentaries at all. He had the scriptures,
scriptures. He had the Old Testament scriptures
or whatever scriptures he had, he had the scriptures. I think
we have too many commentaries on the Bible. There's thousands
of commentaries written on the Bible. We have too many. Someone asked me some years ago,
if I would ever consider writing a book. And I said, we don't
need another book. We don't need another book. We
have so many books that the only book we need is being neglected.
I think it's been neglected. I use commentaries. I use a few. I don't use many. There's probably
three that I just look at when I'm studying. I don't look at
a whole slew of them. I look at two or three of them. Henry told us in the preacher
school, study a few good men. Just study a few good men, because
there's only a few good men. I think we need to be more in
this book than other people's books written on this book. Go
to this book first and make the application. Don't go to a commentary
to see what the application is. See if the Lord gives you understanding.
See if he gives you a scripture that matches the scripture and
then gives you enlightenment. Study and listen here, study
Christ in the scriptures. Look for him first, then the
application. Look for Christ first, then the
application of the scripture. And he says here, and study to
show thyself approved unto God. We only answer to God, not men. Basically, Paul's writing here
to Timothy in the ministry. But now this applies to all of
us. We all need to study. You need to study because when
someone stands in a pulpit to preach, you need to understand
if he's telling you the truth or not. And don't just take his
word for it. Don't just take my word for it.
Search the scriptures. But he's saying here to Timothy,
study to show thyself approved unto God. We do not study to
impress men or argue our position. We study to preach Christ. We
study, that is we labor in the word, but we must give an account. Here's one of the reasons Paul
tells Timothy to study. Timothy, you've got to give an
account to God for the time that you're in the ministry and the
opportunities you have in preaching the gospel and handling the word
of God. You've got to give an account
for it. I've got to give an account for myself here. That's weighty. Listen to Hebrews
13, 17. Obey them that have the rule
over you. and submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls
as they that must give account, that they may do so with joy
and not with grief. That is unprofitable for you,
but they shall give account for your soul. They shall give account
for their ministry. That's why Paul said in 2 Corinthians
5, 9, wherefore we labor, that whether present or absent, we
may be accepted of him. The study and ministry of the
word is a labor that's given to the minister, but it's a labor
that he's not sufficient for. Paul said that who's sufficient
for these things. I'm not sufficient for these
things. You know, I saw this in an advertisement, the church,
the church was looking for a pastor and they, and they had to have
this certain degrees. I mean, they've given these degrees
they wanted to, you know, from the seminary, That's not so. That's not so. Our sufficiency is of God. Our
gifts are of God. They're not given by man or a
school. They're of God. And every God-called
preacher knows he's not sufficient to handle life and death, handle
matters of eternity. Handle the glory of God. God's
chief glory is redemptive glory. No man sufficient for that. And
then those who are those who are employed or those who are
in laborers in the word are worthy. Of respect and honor. We do respect
and honor those whom the Lord calls and puts into ministry.
I was watching Henry on television this morning before coming out
here. I sat there and I felt this, and I have this great respect
for him. I have great respect for him.
God used him to preach the gospel to me. I came to faith in Christ
under his ministry, and I have and had and have great respect
for him. And I still do. When I speak
of him, I speak highly of him. Paul wrote in first Timothy 517,
let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor,
especially they who labor in the word and doctrine. It is
a labor. It's a labor of love, but it is a labor. And he says,
you're a workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing
the word of truth. Notice how he calls Timothy a
work, a workman, not a scholar, not a theologian, a workman. I wrote out in my notes, a blue-collar
worker. A blue-collar worker. He's a workman. A workman. You'd be surprised how many people
think the ministry is just one step away from retirement. I
had two people ask me how I've enjoyed my retirement from back
home. They asked me... That's how they see the ministry
is a retirement. The workman is, first of all, he's not retired
or he wouldn't be a workman. You wouldn't call him a workman.
Secondly, he's a laborer in God's vineyard. You are God's vineyard. You, you, you are God's vineyard. And here's the responsibility
of the workman. Here's my responsibility. Rightly
dividing the word of truth. You know that word dividing here
means cutting, rightly cutting the word of truth. Those back
in that day, in the days of the Pharisees and that time and the
scribes and those who handled the law of Moses, they were called
cutters. They were called cutters. They will cut the truth, try
to divide it up, and this means this. But here's what he's saying
here, rightly handling, rightly handling the word of truth. I
know you often hear me in my prayers asking God to enable
me to rightly divide the word of truth. I say that all the
time. But the word of God is his word. Enlighten me. Tell me what this scripture means.
Reveal what this scripture means. And you know, when he reveals
what this scripture means, you know how he does it? With another
scripture. He does it with another scripture.
Scripture interprets scripture. I don't hear an audible voice.
It's not an epiphany. It's this scripture all of a
sudden goes with this scripture, and then you can see the context
of it. I understand it. I understand. In 2 Peter 1, 20
and 21, it says this, Knowing this first, that no prophecy
of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy
came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, and they wrote the Scriptures. Scripture interprets Scripture. You know, when someone's asking
you a question or they're talking, if you're talking about a subject
on the Scriptures, And I was telling someone this the other
day, they called me and was asking me some questions. I said, if
you don't have scripture for it, drop it. If you can't take
scripture and interpret it with scripture, leave it alone. Leave it alone until you do have
it. Because scripture interprets script. If we don't, you know
what's going to happen? We're going to put a twist on it. We're
going to take it out of context. And here's something else, the
responsibility of the workman. He's to rightly divide the word
of truth. He is to skillfully, skillfully teach the Lord's people. And he is to feed the lambs and
feed the sheep. What was it the Lord said to
Peter there on that shore after his resurrection? He sat down
with him and said, Peter, do you love me? Peter said, yes,
you know, I love you. He said, feed my lambs. And then
he asked him again. Peter said, Lord, you know, I
love you. He said, feed my sheep. And the third time he asked him
and he said, Lord, you know, all things, you know, I love
you. Feed my sheep. Don't get caught up. And Peter
had the personality that he'd be challenging those Pharisees
and he'd forget the sheep. He would completely forget the
sheep. There's one thing I can tell you about false religion,
and I've learned this. False religion will be false
all the way to the end. You will not change false religion.
God's gonna save some of his sheep, which he's gonna save
all his sheep, but some of them are in false religion. Actually,
most all of us came out of false religion. Most of us made a false
profession. Most of the Lord's people come
out of false religion. And here's one of the reasons
why. We are religious by nature. We are religious by nature and
we can be talked into about anything when it comes to religion, except
the gospel. And then God has to reveal that
to you. He has to just save you and reveal the gospel to you.
But the workman's responsibility is to feed the sheep. It's not
to hang out the hospital. It's not to do that. It's to
be standing in his pulpit feeding the sheep. From the study to
the pulpit. From the study to the pulpit.
Meditate on it, think upon it, pray about it, read, read, read,
and come out here and give you what the Lord's given me. That's
the responsibility of the workman. Now he gives to Timothy, the
workman, something to shun. And this is one of the reasons
why he tells Timothy to study to show himself approved unto
God. in verse 16, but shun profane and vain babblings. The easiest
and the best way to shun profane and vain babblings is to study
the word and know the truth. And when you hear it, you say,
that's not the truth. That's not the scriptures. That's
not what the scripture says. God loves everybody, wants to
save everybody. That's not what the scripture says. He says, shun profane and vain
babblings, for they will increase into more ungodliness. Preach
the truth to those who hear you and avoid, shun, run, flee. Don't get caught up in vain,
empty conversations and speculations about nothing, about things you
cannot establish by the word of God. Leave it alone. Leave it alone. Give yourself to the edifying
of the body of Christ, to the maturing of the body of Christ.
Every one of us ought to grow up. We ought to grow up in Christ,
we ought to mature. You know, we go from babes in
Christ, to young men and women in Christ, to elderly men and
women in Christ. That's the way we are to progress.
And the only way you're really going to progress that way is
by the ministry that's in this pulpit. It's really, it's going
to be by the ministry in the pulpit. The health of the congregation
is largely determined by the health that's in the pulpit spiritually,
spiritually. Paul wrote this in first Corinthians
two, one and two, and I brethren, When I came to you, that you
Corinthians, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, and he
could have. Paul was very well learned. He
could have been given to intellectualism. He could have, but he didn't.
He kept it simple. You know why? His Lord kept it
simple. Our Lord said nothing complicated.
You know when our Lord spoke you could take the youngest person
in any congregation and they could understand what he's saying
now, that's that's That's how you preach to where the youngest
ones in the congregation know what you're saying Our Lord did
that and Paul told the Corinthians he said I didn't come to you
with excellency of speech and especially in that day They were
big on philosophy. They were big on oratory. They
were big on it, especially in Corinthians. They were big on
it. And he said, I didn't come to
you this way, or with wisdom, that is wisdom of words and philosophy
of men, declared unto you the testimony of God. I determined,
for I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus
Christ and him crucified. Let's get that settled first.
we are going to build our relationship on Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That's going to be our relationship.
You see, vain conversations just lead to more ungodliness. And
here's the ungodliness they lead to. Ungodliness and doctrine. Ungodliness and doctrine. And ungodliness and doctrine
will lead to ungodliness in practice. That's so. It'll lead to ungodliness
in your conduct. Not only here, but outside of
here. You remember in Corinthians, when they gathered for the Lord's
table, they were getting drunk. And Paul said, many were sick
and some have departed. Many have fallen asleep. The
Lord took some of them out because of this conduct. Somebody started
that conduct. Somebody started that conduct
and it spread like leaven. what he's saying to Timothy,
and I'll show you here in this next verse. Let's see, let me go back to
verse 16. But shun profane and vain babblings, for they will
increase into more ungodliness, and their word, not God's word,
their word, in verse 17, will eat. It has an appetite. It will eat as doth a canker. of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus. Their word will eat like, and
this word canker means gangrene. That's what it is. It's gangrene.
And if left alone, it will eat the whole man. It will destroy
the body of Christ. It will just, it will, you can
see gangrene. It'll start on a toe. Somebody
had a frozen toe or something, and it turns gangrene. You know,
that'll spread up that whole body and eat your whole body.
It'll destroy the whole body. It'll take away your life. And
that's a strong statement. Paul said, what they're teaching
is nothing but gangrene. It's destructive. It's not edifying,
it's destructive. And the only remedy, the only
way to remedy profane and vain babbling is like this. The same way you remedy gangrene. How do you remedy that? You cut
the toe off. You cut it off. If the foot is
gangrene, you cut it off. How do you get rid of it? He
says, you cut these off. You withstand these men, Hymenaeus
and Philetus. You withstand these. Don't you
back down. Don't you back down. Don't you be timid when it comes
to the word of God. When it comes to God's word,
you don't back down. He said, you cut them off. You cut them
off. That's the only way you can do
that because it's like, as the scripture says, a little leaven
leavens the whole lump. You don't take much, just a little
pinch and that whole lump becomes leaven. That's how infectious
sin is. That's how infectious false doctrine
is. It'll leaven the whole lump if
you leave it alone. And Paul mentions these two men
as examples, Hymenaeus and Philetus. You know, they evidently believed
the gospel at one time. They could profess to believe
the gospel at one time. And after some time went by,
for whatever reason, well, this reason, one thing, they were
lost. They just made a profession, but they didn't have Christ.
And usually when that happens, they take the word of God and
eventually go wrong with it, especially if they're standing
in a pulpit and teaching. But here's their error. He said,
verse 18, who concerning the truth, truth about God, truth
about Christ, truth about us, saying that the resurrection
has passed already and overthrow the faith of some. Those that
are weak, now they're confused. Now they are confused. These
two men left the truth. They went their own way, claiming
there's no future resurrection of the dead. And from some that
I've read, I think got John Gill on this one. He said, they think
that, or some think that they taught that there is no resurrection
except spiritual resurrection or regeneration, but there's
no resurrection of the body. They were just talking about
the resurrection of the soul, of the spirit, but there was
no bodily resurrection. That was past, that's over with.
Well, Satan is subtle, isn't he? And Paul says, "...and they
overthrew the faith of some." This must be cut out. It's got
to be cut out. I can't put up with that. Nevertheless,
the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal. The Lord
knoweth them that are his, and let every one that nameth the
name of Christ depart from iniquity. You know, those who who are false professors always
cause trouble. They're tares, tares among the
wheat is what they are. They always cause, apostasy always
cause trouble. But I tell you this, no one falls by themselves without hurting
someone else. You're gonna hurt somebody else.
Somebody's watching you. Somebody's watching you. This
came home to me several years ago when, When I left where I
was at, and someone else had left there, and this lady said
to me, she said to me, she goes, I've been watching you. She says,
I've been watching you and wondering if you were going to stay or
leave. I'm not going to talk about that whole situation that
went on. But she said, I was watching you. Well, I didn't
know that. I didn't know that at all. somebody's always what
we never sin alone we never sin alone we always affect somebody
falling away always affects someone always but nevertheless don't
don't fall apart here paul saying don't fall apart don't be overly
overly anxious nevertheless don't lose heart don't be overly overly
anxious Though some fall away, who you thought were strong believers.
I've seen it. But nevertheless, the foundation
of God standeth sure. It doesn't rest on me and you. The foundation of salvation is
not resting on me and you. It's not resting on, uh, on,
uh, our continuance. The foundation rests on Jesus
Christ. Other foundations can no man lay than that which is
laid Jesus Christ, our Lord. The foundation of God is sure.
The tears will eventually reveal themselves. And so will God's
children. So will God's children. It stands
sure. It's supported by God. God cannot lie, and God does
not change. Whatever He does, He does forever,
and those whom the Lord saves are saved forever. They are saved
forever. It's supported by God's power,
also the intercession of the Lord Jesus Christ. He intercedes
for us. Peter, I mean, here's a perfect
example. Peter, Satan has desired you
to sift you as wheat, but I've prayed for you that your faith
fail not. Satan, men, trials cannot destroy
the foundation of God, Jesus Christ. And they cannot destroy our faith
in Christ because faith is a gift of God. And every time you and
I go through a trial, the trials that we go through, The Lord
prays, he intercedes the same for us. I pray their faith fails
not. It is her faith, I pray for them. I intercede for them, that their
faith fail not. Now, the foundation of God, it
stands sure and has this stamp. The Lord knoweth them that are
his. He knows them, he knows his sheep, my sheep. I know my
sheep by name, he said. I know by name. He wrote our
names in the book of life before we were born. He wrote Jonathan
Darryl Chapman in the book of life before mom and dad called
me Jonathan Darryl Chapman. My name was already written.
It was already given to me. He gave it to me. And I sat around
and said, what do you want to name him? You know, we did that
with the boys. What name do we want to give
him? You start thinking about the name. I'll tell you what
name you're going to eventually give them, the one God gave them. Because
it's already written. If you're a child of God, it's
already written, written in the Lamb's Book of Life. And let everyone, and to close
here, let everyone that nameth the
name of Christ depart from iniquity. Everyone who calls themselves
a believer, One who loves Christ. He said, depart from iniquity,
iniquity in doctrine, iniquity in practice. Depart from it.
We have a gospel given to us of God. God gave us the gospel. He entrusted us with the gospel.
And we are to preach that gospel and no other gospel. There's
only one gospel. And listen, here's what he's
saying in this last verse. And we are to adorn the gospel.
by our conduct and conversation. We are to adorn it. Think of
it that way. You know, I know most time I
don't think of it like that, but our conduct and our conversation
is actually either adorning the conversation or adorning the
gospel or it's bringing reproach on it. It's one or the other. And listen to this. Let everyone
that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. When Vicki
married me, she took my last name. We take his name. This is more
than just calling yourself a Christian. We are taking his name. Taking
his last name. How sad it'd be to marry somebody
that didn't want your last name. That'd be a deal breaker. That'd
be a deal breaker. She told me after we got married
that she used to sit down and just practice writing her name,
Vicki Chapman, Vicki Chapman. She used to practice writing
it. Well, I'm glad she didn't erase it. I'm glad she didn't
practice erasing it, but writing it. We are Christians. We are Christ followers. We take
his name. We'd take his name, people of
the way. And he said, I am the way. But this is the workman,
this is the workman and his work, rightly dividing the word of
truth, feeding the sheep, cutting off those who are a problem,
who bring false doctrine. You run them off, run them off. And I tell you this, pray for
the workman. Pray for the workmen. There's a lot of subtle enemies
out there, even in your own self. All right.