2. 2 Timothy chapter 2, it has been
a little while since we've been here. We're going to continue
on in our study, picking up with verse 20 today. But let's begin reading in verse
one, just to get what he's saying here back in our minds, all right? 2 Timothy 2, verse one. Paul is
speaking to Timothy on the subject of pastoring and preaching the
gospel. That's what he's talking about. So verse one says, thou therefore
my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Be strong
in grace. Get rid of man's works and be
completely committed to preaching God's grace. That's good, sound
advice. Verse two, and the things that
thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou
to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also. Thou
therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
No man that woreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this
life, that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. And if a man also strive for
masteries, yet is he not crowned except he strive lawfully. The
husbandman that laboreth must be first partaker of the fruits.
Consider what I say and the Lord give thee understanding in all
things. Remember that Jesus Christ of
the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my
gospel. wherein I suffer trouble as an
evildoer, even unto bonds, but the word of God is not bound. Therefore I endure all things
for the elect's sake, that they may also obtain the salvation
which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. It is a faithful
saying, for if we be dead with him, we shall also live with
him. If we suffer, we shall also reign
with him. If we deny him, he also will
deny us. If we believe not, yet he abideth
faithful, he cannot deny himself. Of these things put them in remembrance,
charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words
to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers. Study to show
thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain
babblings, for they will increase unto more ungodliness. And their
word will eat as doth a canker, of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus,
who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection
is past already, and overthrow the faith of some. Nevertheless,
the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal. The Lord knoweth them that are
his. and let everyone that nameth
the name of Christ depart from iniquity. Now we've studied all
of that to this point, and I would love to take the time to go over
all that again and really enter into what he's saying again.
There's just so much in all of that. But to summarize it, to
just summarize what he said, it was this, stay on Christ. That's what he was saying. If
you get right down to everything he just said, He was saying,
keep the message on Christ. Keep the conversation on Christ. Keep the doctrine on Christ. Don't get sidetracked on unnecessary,
unimportant, hair-splitting, ridiculous things. Just ridiculous
things. People get so hung up on ridiculous
things. Paul said, Timothy, as the pastor
of Ephesus, stay on Christ. You stay on Christ. Now, remembering
that that's the context of what he's saying here, let's finish
these verses. Verse 20, he said, but in a great house,
there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also
of wood and of earth, and some to honor and some to dishonor. Within a congregation, There
will always be believers and unbelievers. There will always
be sheep and goats. I know that in false religion,
it's generally the idea that every soul inside the four walls
is saved. You go to church here, you're
saved. All you gotta do is go to church and you're saved. That's
not the case. Within every congregation, there
will be sheep and goats. There will be those who are called
the children of God, and there will be those who are the children
of the devil. Isn't that what our Lord said?
You're of your father, the devil. That's what he said to some Pharisees. And it's so sad, but it's true. It's so sad to me. And this is
what I've been thinking about all morning. Lord, reveal Christ
to us. Reveal Christ to us. This difference is only made
by the grace of God. It's only made by the grace of
God. Who maketh any of us to differ
but the Lord himself? It is the Lord. Let him do what
seemeth him good. But some are going to receive
eyes to see, I mean eyes to see, and ears to hear, and a heart
to believe. And others, sadly, are going
to spend their whole lives in the pew, never understanding
what the fuss is about. This is the truth. And here's what I have to say
about that. If you don't see and understand what the rejoicing
is really over, ask God to reveal it to you. If you are a person, and if I am
a person starting right here, who's trying to figure all this
out, And if I don't have a handle on this and a grasp on this,
and if I don't see what everybody's rest and happiness and rejoicing
is over, ask God to reveal it to you. Literally, ask God, reveal
Christ to me. Reveal the truth to me. Reveal
the gospel to me. That's literally what I'm crying.
as your pastor, that's what I'm crying. Reveal Christ to me. Reveal the truth of these things,
the truth of eternity, even me, let thy blessing fall on me. What we're doing in saying that
is without you revealing it, I'm blind, I'm dead, I'm deaf,
I'm ignorant, I'm lost. Without you, I'm lost. Reveal
these things to me. Hold your place and go over to
John 14. John 14 verse 19. Yet a little while, and the world
seeth me no more, but you see me, because I live, you shall
live also. And what a statement that is,
if the Lord would just reveal that to us. Because I live, you
shall live also. Verse 20, at that day, you shall
know that I am in the Father, and you in me, and I in you,
He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that
loveth me. And he that loveth me shall be
loved of my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself
to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot,
it's not talking about Judas Iscariot, that's Jude, the apostle
Jude, said unto him, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest
thyself unto us, his people, and not unto the
world? How is it you're gonna manifest
yourself to us and not to the world? Jesus answered and said
unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words, and my father
will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with
him. He that loveth me not keepeth
not my sayings. That's how you, they don't believe,
they don't He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings, and
the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father's which
sent me. Jude said, Lord, you're gonna
manifest yourself to us. You're gonna reveal yourself
to us and not to the world? And the Lord said, yes, that's
right. Yeah, that's right. Those who have had Christ revealed
to them, Everybody knows about Jesus. Everybody knows about Jesus.
Everybody talks about Jesus. We just finished a holiday season
where Jesus, you know, according to everybody, was the reason
for the season. Everybody talks about Jesus. If the Lord ever reveals Christ
to somebody, If the Lord ever reveals Christ
to a person, that person will, by faith, see him for who he
truly is. He will go up in people's eyes. He will ascend. If they ever
see him for who he truly is, he will go up. He will be high
and lifted up, not just by the Father, but by all of God's people. They'll see Him for who He truly
is. They will see what He has truly
done, finished. I mean finished. And they will
believe on Him and they will hope in Him. And those who have
not had Christ revealed to them, they're gonna spend their entire
lives trying to figure out what the rest of false religion is
trying to figure out. What must I do to be saved? Those who have not had Christ
revealed to them are going to spend their entire lives trying
to figure out what must I do to be saved. It's not what I must do, it's
what He has already done. The vessels of mercy, God's people,
by believing on Christ, they're going to be fitted for glory
by looking to Christ. And the vessels of wrath, those
who, as our Lord said, are of their father the devil, they're
going to be fitted for destruction. And our Lord said, you just keep
preaching Christ and I'll sort it all out in the end. And thank
God he said that because it could be that a vessel who we think
is a vessel unto dishonor, God may reveal, no, no, no. You just
look at Saul of Tarsus, you'd say, boy, that's a vessel of
dishonor right there. God said, no, he's a chosen vessel
of mercy. God may make it known that a
soul is a vessel unto honor, a vessel unto Christ. So he said,
you let who you think are the wheat and the tares grow together.
And I'll sort it all out in the end. Now go with me back to 2
Timothy 2. Verse 20, but in a great house
there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also
of wood and of earth and some to honor and some to dishonor. Verse 21, if a man therefore
purge himself from these, he's talking about these things that
he just told him to purge themselves from. Verse 14, he said, words
to no profit. Verse 16, he said, profane and
vain babblings. Verse 18, he said, false prophecy
predictions. Verse 21, if a man therefore
purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor,
sanctified, that means set apart, and meet for the master's use,
and prepared unto every good work. What's the good work of
a servant of the Lord if a man or a woman is called to be a
servant of the Lord? In this, what I'm about to say,
if a man is called to be a servant of the Lord, what is the good
work? Here it is. Preach Christ. Preach Christ, declare Christ
and Christ alone, Christ only, Christ only. That is a servant
meet for the master's use and prepared for his good work. Look
with me at Galatians 1. Galatians 1 verse 6, I marvel that you are so soon
removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ
unto another gospel, which is not another, but there be some
that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though
we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than
that which we have preached unto you, let him be cursed. As we said before, so say I now
again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that
you have received, let him be cursed. For do I now persuade
men or God, or do I seek to please men? Or if I yet pleased men,
I should not be the servant of Christ. Servant of Christ. If I am a servant of Christ,
then I've been given one work. Be a marriage counselor. No. Be the referee over every dispute
that comes along. No. You know, start soup kitchens. You know, really, honestly, people
in religion, in false religion, they think that all of these
humanitarian efforts are the work of the ministry. It's not
so. If I have been called to be a servant of Christ, I have
been given one work. Preach Christ. Preach Christ. Go back to 2 Timothy 2. Verse 21 says, If a man therefore
purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor,
sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto
every good work. Flee also youthful lusts. The youthful lust of pride, you
know, he's talking to Timothy about being in the ministry.
And sure, flea lust, all those, you know, get rid of sin, try
as hard as you can, it's never gonna happen. Not in this flesh,
but, you know, should we sin that grace might abound? God
forbid. But what he's talking about here
is the youthful lust of a youthful man like me preaching. I'm a
young, I know you may not believe me based on my gray hair, but
I think I'm a young man. And us young men have a problem
with pride. We do. You like that illustration
of that young man who filled in for the pastor while he, what'd
you think of my message? Can't stand it, I gotta hear
a little praise. You know, what'd you think of my message? Flee
the youthful lust of pride. Flee the youthful lust of self-righteousness,
self-glory. Get rid of all that. Verse 22,
flee also youthful lust, but follow righteousness, faith,
charity, peace with them that call on the Lord out of a pure
heart. Righteousness is Christ. He is our righteousness. He is
made unto us righteousness. He's the end of the law for righteousness.
If we're talking about righteousness, we're talking about a person.
Faith is Christ almost. I'm going to use the word almost,
but I mean almost every single time in the scripture. When you
see the word faith, you can just put the word Christ right there.
Thy faith hath saved thee. Your Christ has saved you. Without
faith, it's impossible to please God. Without Christ, it's impossible
to please God. Faith is the substance of things
hoped for. Christ is the substance of things
hoped for. We want to know what faith is.
We don't go here, we go there. Charity or love. It's Christ. We had a message Wednesday on
love, brotherly love, and a sister sent me a text. She was reading
in 1 Corinthians 13 and said, that went so well with the message
and this and that, and I said, it does. 1 Corinthians 13's all
about charity, which means love. Stick the word Christ right there.
Oh, if I speak with the tongues of angels and I have all these
gifts and all that stuff, but I don't have Christ, I don't
have anything. Christ is the one who was not
punished. Christ is the one who suffered
long. Christ is all these things. Peace. He is our peace. He's the one who made peace. So he's saying flee everything
and follow Christ. Verse 23, but foolish And unlearned questions avoid
knowing that they do gender stripes. I'm striving to get to that more
and more. When I first became a pastor,
I thought I had to have an answer for everything. This is probably
my most common answer now. I don't know. I don't know. I just don't know. Everything that's not Christ
is just gonna produce debating. Irrelevant debating. We don't
have time for that. All we have time for is Christ.
Verse 24, and the servant of the Lord must not strive, but
be gentle unto all. Men is in italics. Apt to teach,
patient, in meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves,
if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging
of the truth. and that they may recover themselves
out of the snare of the devil who are taken captive by him
at his will. Now, this is a rare moment where
I have not timed my notes properly, but
this is important, okay? So, I think I have five minutes
left. Here we go. That's Christ. This is the most important part
of the whole study. What we just read, that is the
great example of Jesus Christ. Verse 24, he said, this is what
the servant of the Lord must be. And this example right here perfectly
describes Christ. Very quickly, go with me to Isaiah
42. Isaiah 42. In my Bible, the heading
at the top of the page says, The Office of Christ. That's
what this is. And this is God the Father speaking
to Christ his son. Verse one, he said, Behold my
servant. We're talking about the servant
of the Lord this morning. The title of this Bible study.
And God the Father said, Behold my servant, whom I uphold, mine
elect. in whom my soul delighteth, I've
put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment
to the Gentiles. He shall not cry nor lift up
nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed
shall he not break and the smoking flax shall he not quench. He
shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor
be discouraged till he have set judgment in the earth. and the
aisles shall wait for his law. Thus saith God the Lord, he that
created the heavens and stretched them out, he that spread forth
the earth and that which cometh out of it, he that giveth bread
unto the people upon it and spirit to them that walk therein, I
the Lord have called thee in righteousness. and will hold
thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant
of the people for a light of the Gentiles." He said, I'm giving
Christ for my covenant to the people, my light to the Gentiles. Verse 7, to open the blind eyes,
to bring out the prisoners from the prison and them that sit
in darkness, Out of the prison house, Jesus Christ the Lord
was the servant of God the Father, sent to accomplish a work, and
he accomplished that work in righteousness and victory. But he accomplished that work
in meekness and gentleness and patience and love. And that's what our text is describing
to us. It describes Christ and his work. Go back to 2 Timothy 2. This is Christ, verse 24. And
the servant of the Lord must not strive. That's what Isaiah
42 just said. He's not gonna cry, he's not
gonna lift up, he's not gonna break a bruised reed, he's not
gonna quench smoking flax. The servant of the Lord must
not strive but be gentle unto all, apt to teach, patient. The long-suffering of the Lord
is our salvation. And that's how we as servants
of the Lord ought to be because of Christ. We ought to be patient,
gentle, kind, as he is, so should we strive to be. Verse 24, the
servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all,
apt to teach, patient in meekness, instructing those that oppose
themselves. That's all that our Lord did
because that's all he encountered. His very own people being sinners,
everything about them opposed themselves. That's all we do
is oppose ourselves. But in his goodness, he said
in John 6, they're all gonna be taught of God. Verse 25, in
meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves, if God peradventure
will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. That's what the teaching of God
will produce. We're gonna have a moment of
silence. I wanna emphasize this. I'm gonna
slow down, emphasize this. This is what the teaching of
God produces. A changed mind to everything a sinner believed
in false religion. That's what it does. That's what the teaching of God
produces. It's a changed mind to the acknowledging
of the truth. The moment that a sinner becomes
taught of God, It's a changed mind from man to God. It's a changed mind from works
to grace. It's a changed mind from do to
done. And that new enlightened quickened
mind is what sets a prisoner to sin and self and Satan and
the law free. Our Lord said you're going to
know the truth and the truth is going to make you free. So in verse 25, in meekness instructing
those that oppose themselves, if God peradventure will give
them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth that they may recover
themselves out of the snare of the devil who are taken captive
by him at his will. Now let's take notice of this. Even though it is the will of
the adversary to keep God's people captive. It is not in the ability
of the adversary to keep God's people captive. We're not gonna
turn to Ephesians 4, but it says our Lord Jesus Christ led captivity
captive. He came in when he delivered
his people, he didn't just set them free, he led their captor
captive. He put a chain on them. He told
Eve, your seed is gonna have his heel bruised, on the cross
of Calvary by bearing the sin that the adversary brought to
God's people. But in that bruising of the cross, the adversary is
going to have his head crushed. And that's what he did. He led
captivity captive. We're not going to go to John
12 or other places, but that's what our Lord was saying. Now,
he said, I'm going to the cross. Now is the prince of this world
cast out. If I be lifted up, I'm going
to draw my people to myself and I'm going to cast him out. And
that's what he did. And Christ is God's servant,
thank God. Christ is God's servant, but
for his sake. I pray God would teach us to
be that kind of servant, servant of him.