When I have opportunity to do
so, I seize the chance to visit with
God's people when they're going through trials. I always profit
from what they have to say. I go to try to comfort them,
but I always come away comforted. And when I have opportunity to
do so, I seize the opportunity to visit with God's Saints when
they're leaving this world. If I can find an old, wise believer
and hear what he's got to say when he leaves this world, I
don't want to miss that chance. Well, in 2 Timothy, we have the
words of inspiration given by the Apostle Paul to his son in
the faith, Timothy, just as he's leaving this world. Second Timothy
is Paul's last epistle. I don't mean the last as in the
order of scripture. I mean the last in the order
in which they were written. This was the last thing Paul
wrote, and he writes it to Timothy. Paul was about to be put to death
for preaching the gospel, and he writes this epistle. The primary
purpose of it was to urge Timothy to remain loyal and faithful
as the servant of God. Now I find that remarkable and
delightful. Here is a man who knows that
his executioner is at his door. He knows that he is about to
be put to death for preaching the gospel. His head is about
to be severed from his body, and he is fully aware of it.
And yet as he writes this epistle, He shows us that his heart, his
mind, his concern was not for himself, but for his dear friend
and fellow laborer in the gospel, Timothy. He writes to Timothy,
urging him to be steadfast in the midst of trial and opposition,
as he puts it, to endure hardness. as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. What a remarkable man Paul must
have been. He's sitting alone in a dark
Roman prison, the flash of the executioner's axe is etched on
his eyes, and yet his heart is concerned for his dear son in
the ministry, Timothy. This man who was serving as the
pastor of that church at Ephesus of which we see so much in the
New Testament, a strong church, a vibrant church. But now, as
Paul had warned them back in Acts 20, grievous woes had crept
in. Evil men arising from their own
midst were causing great difficulty, and the flagship church of Asia
Minor had now become a battleground for the truth of God, the glory
of God, and the souls of men. and Timothy was the pastor. By all accounts, the scholars
tell us that Timothy was naturally a timid man, and showed great
timidity in lots of things. Be that as it may, I don't know.
Timothy was the pastor, and he was enduring difficulty. Before
leaving this world, Paul wants to encourage his friend, God's
faithful and you and I to remain faithful in the midst of opposition. I sat down this morning and tried
to picture in my mind's eye Timothy sitting with this piece of paper
in his hand that we call the Book of 2 Timothy as he reads
it. His heart had to have I expect
his eyes had to be wiped frequently as he read these words. He knew
he was reading the very last thing the Apostle Paul would
ever write to him, his dear friend. It's likely that even before
this letter reached Timothy, Paul's head had already been
severed from his body. This great man of God, and I
can't tell you how reluctantly I use those words, this great
man of God, died like he lived, as a living sacrifice unto God. That's the way to live, and that's
the way to die. He lived and died as one who
had given himself entirely to the Redeemer. A more fitting
epitaph could not have been written for this man than that which
the Holy Spirit inspired him to write concerning himself at
the end of this epistle. In verse 7 of chapter 4, this
is what he has to say. I fought a good fight. I finished my course. I've kept
the faith. I fought a good fight. God put
me into a warfare, and I've never put up my sword. I have never
turned back from the enemy. I have never failed to follow
the path set before me. I finished my course. I finished
what God put me here to do. The Lord puts us here for a purpose. Paul says, I finished mine. And
all the while I've kept the faith. Kept faith in Christ, but kept
the faith. Kept the faith of the gospel.
I've not been turned aside from it. But these four chapters were
not written just for Timothy. No part of Holy Scripture is
written for any single person or any single group of people,
but rather, while it is addressed often to an individual or to
a church or to a specific group of people, the whole volume of
scripture was written for us, for our learning, for our admonition,
that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might
have hope. So as we read this very personal letter written
to Timothy, read it as a word from God the Holy Spirit, by
the hand of his servant Paul, specifically to you and to me. That's how I've tried to read
this epistle in preparation for this message. As God abideth faithful, Paul
says, let us be faithful to him. There are three words that might
summarize these four chapters. The words are personal, pastoral,
and practical. This is a distinctly personal
epistle. It's full of personal emotions,
personal concerns. Paul tells Timothy that he prayed
for him. He tells him that he's his dearly
beloved son. He tells Timothy that he longed
to see him one more time before he leaves this world. And he
shows this great personal love and concern as an example for
you and I. That's exactly how we ought to
be in our attitude toward one another. Particularly, those
who are called of God and given by God the gift of his grace
to preach the gospel of his grace, ought to manifest such love and
concern for one another all the time. So that the people who,
you folks here, so you folks know your pastor loves and is
concerned for God's servants. And those folks over in Lexington
know that their pastor loves and is concerned for God's servants. This is also a pastoral letter.
Timothy was pastor of the church at Ephesus. in troublesome times,
dark days, opposition everywhere. The influence of the Ephesian
society crept into the congregation, and this once great church was
now in real trouble. And being pastor of that church,
Timothy's task was not an easy task. He writes this epistle
to encourage and exhort him to continue faithful in all things,
regardless of the state of things. Now that's not easy. That's not
easy. Timothy, I know what you're facing. I told the folks back at Ephesus
a long time ago this wasn't going to happen. I know what's going
on, and I know you have no easy task. But don't allow the influence
of evil that you face every day in any way to deter you from
your work or to move you from the message of the gospel of
God's grace. And this is a very practical
letter. Of course, all of God's word is practical. People talk
about hearing doctrine as though doctrine is not practical. We
want to hear practical things. That means we want you to tell
us how good we are. Now they'll put it that way.
The way they put it is, tell us what we need to do. And if
you'll just tell us what we need to do, we'll be like that rich
young ruler, we'll do it. And then we'll know how good
we are. That's what most folks think about practical things.
But this book is practical. And this particular section of
the book, here in 2 Timothy, is very practical. For here,
the apostle distinctly concentrates on the practical aspects of daily
taking up our cross and following Christ. Nothing could be more
practical. We are to daily take up our cross. Taking up our cross, That's not what you're doing
right now. That's not it. Sickness, those things come in
time, and we have no control over them. No control over them. You fall down and break a leg,
you've got no control over that. That's not taking up your cross.
To take up your cross is to willingly and deliberately follow Christ. in the face of
opposition, knowing that it's going to cost you. Knowing the
pain and difficulty. Take up your cross every day. Faithfulness to God requires
it. Faithfulness requires it. Now,
in the opening chapter, here in chapter 1, Paul assures Timothy
of his thankfulness for him. He tells him how he prays for
him continually. And he urges him to stir up the
gift of God that's in him, in verses 1 through 7. He says,
Timothy, stir up this gift that God's given you. The fact is,
if nothing else, will cause a gospel preacher to be faithful in the
work trusted to his hand. Nothing else will cause him to
stir himself to devotion and dedication, the consideration
of the fact that God Almighty has gifted him to preach the
gospel, entrusted to his hands the treasure of his grace. And
to me who am less than the least of all saints, indeed the chief
of sinners, is this grace given, that I should preach the unsearchable
riches of Christ to you. That ought to stir a fellow.
And Paul urges Timothy to stir up the gift that's in him. But
he wouldn't leave any stone unturned. As he sought for arguments that
would encourage Timothy to continue faithful in the cause of Christ,
he reminds him of his mother's faith, of his grandmother's faith
in Christ, of his own unflinching faithfulness in serving God with
a pure conscience. And then he tells Timothy and
us that there's never a reason never an excuse, never any basis
for cowardice or compromise or timidity in the cause of Christ,
never any at all, because God has not given us a spirit of
fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Look at
verse 6, 1 Timothy 1, Wherefore I put thee in remembrance, that
thou stir up the gift of God which is in thee by the putting
on of my hands." Now, when we ordain men, I don't lay my hands
on their heads. Paul did, but he was an apostle.
I'm not. We don't have such ceremonies.
There's no command for such ceremony in our day. I like what Mr. Spurgeon said. Somebody asked
him about having this imposition of hands. He said, I don't see
what good laying your empty hands on my empty head will do either
of us. But Paul was an apostle. When he laid hands on a man,
he conferred something to them. Now, look at verse 7. For God
hath not given us the spirit of fear, timidity, cowardice,
but of power, strength, and of love, and of a sound mind. Having the spirit of God, that's
power from on high. That's how he's described in
the book of Luke. Dwelling in us, having our hearts motivated
by the love of Christ and love for his people, and having our
minds established firmly in the gospel, we've got no reason to
be afraid for our lives, afraid for ourselves, or afraid as we
seek to do the will of God day by day in our lives. And I know
the fears that we naturally have. You want a witness to somebody
and you, well, I'm afraid of how they're going to respond.
If I tell them exactly what I know they need to hear, they're going
to get upset with that. Or the cowardice shows other
places. Well, if I do what I know I ought
to do. My children won't understand. My wife won't understand. My
husband won't understand. My kinfolk won't understand.
My neighbors won't understand. God has given us the spirit of
power, of love, of a sound mind. We've got no reason to be afraid
of anything, no reason to be tempted. Remember, Paul was writing
from prison. And beginning in verse 8 and
going through the end of chapter 1, he urges Timothy, the spirit
of God urges us, to hold fast and remain faithful in believing
the gospel, in proclaiming the gospel, and in serving our Redeemer
in the very teeth of hell itself. And he does this while he's in
prison. While he was there, many who
pretended to be believers, many who had served with him in the
ministry, many who had endured other trials with him, forsook
him and forsook And some who were believers, some who were
genuine disciples, like our Lord's disciples when he was crucified,
abandoned him, now abandon the Apostle Paul. He tells us in
verse 15, he names Philegius and Hermogenes who had turned
away from him. He was distinctly, keenly hurt
by their departure from him. And then there were others like
Onesiphorus who comforted him and refreshed him. Paul understood
well that Timothy's strength wouldn't come from within himself. Some of us like to think we're
stronger than others, and we look at one another and say,
Boy, if I was just as strong as Brother David is, if I just had the kind
of strength this gal has or that man has. Spiritual strength is
not a character of nature. is not a character of nature.
Any of you who have been around men, and been around them much,
you've seen men that you would think nothing would bother them. You'd think, man, nothing would
bother them. And that which you would think
wouldn't bother a baby terrifies them. Peter is a good example.
Spiritual strength is not a character of nature. And Paul understood
that our strength is not something that comes from within. It's
not just having a good constitution. It's not just being able to muster
strength from within. But rather, it is something that
God Almighty must give us. In verses 8 through 12, he says
this essentially. He says, Timothy, let me remind
you that I am here in these chains because of the gospel I preach.
Because I've been faithful in the cause of Christ, you do the
same." You see, our willingness to stand firm, our willingness
to be faithful to our God, to be faithful to the gospel of
his grace, will be determined in great proportion by our understanding
of the gospel of God's grace. Look at what Paul says here in
Timothy. This is the form of sound words which he urges us
to hold fast. Verse 9, it tells us that the
gospel for which he suffered imprisonment is a declaration
that salvation is entirely God's work. Who hath saved us? Salvation is God's work. Declare
that and you're going to face opposition, and you're going
to face opposition primarily from religious people. The gospel
is the declaration of salvation that is done. The gospel is not
a proposition. The gospel is not an offer. The gospel is not an invitation
for men to do something. The gospel is not the promise
that God will do something. The gospel is the declaration
of something done. The word gospel means good news. Not good advice, not good counsel,
good news. This is what it says. God hath
saved us and called us." And then he says, the gospel, that
salvation declared in the gospel, is altogether God's work, without
the aid of men. You think, well, Paul, you've
already said that. Yes, he has. But we're so backward
to believe it. Did you ever notice, as you read
through the New Testament, almost every time Paul says salvation
is God's work, salvation is by grace, he turns right around
and he says, just in case you don't understand what those words
mean, you didn't have anything to do with it. This is what it
does here. "...who hath saved us, and called us with an holy
calling, not according to our works." And then he declares
it the gospel. is the blessed good news that
salvation is altogether a matter of God's free grace accomplished
and given in Christ Jesus before the world began. He says, "...who
hath saved us and called us with an holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace." Now
remember, he is defining the gospel. He's saying, Timothy,
this is the reason I'm in prison, for preaching the gospel. The
gospel is the revelation of the fact that salvation by God Almighty
and grace from God Almighty were given to chosen sinners in Christ
before the world began. Do you see that? This thing is
not something that's new, it's not something that just popped
into God's mind because you decided you needed mercy. This is what
God purposed and accomplished before the world began. And this
gospel, look at verses 9 and 10 together, this gospel, this
declaration of God's salvation, is the manifest revelation of
light, life and immortality in Christ, in whom is the promise
of life. Now look at it, verse 9. God
hath saved us and called us with an holy calling, not according
to our works, But according to his own purpose and grace," in
other words, God's salvation, God's call, is not according
to something you do, but it's according to his purpose and
his grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began, but is now made manifest. What happens when God causes
Christ to be revealed in you? What happens? What happens? When Christ is revealed in you
and God creates life and faith in you, he causes you to know
what he has done for you before ever you were born. This is what
it says here. Look at it. It's now made manifest
by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ. Now watch this.
Who hath abolished death? Isn't that good? The Lord Jesus said, he that
liveth and believeth on me shall never die. Never die. I ain't going to die. I'm not going to die. Did you
get that? I'm not going to die. I was talking
to a friend a few months ago who's lost a dear relative, and
folks kept saying, well, he's passed, he's passed. And my friend
said, I wish they'd just say he's dead. And sadly, that probably
was true. But I'm not going to die. When
I leave here, when this body quits breathing, you can say
to anybody you want to, Brother Don has passed. He just passed out of this tabernacle
of clay into glory. How can you be sure? Because
Christ has abolished death for me. It has no sting, no power. I've been delivered from it.
Not I've gone to be, I have been. And have brought life and immortality
to light through the gospel. God commands and calls the light
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ to shine into
the hearts of sinners at the time of his grace by the revelation
of the gospel. Though he was imprisoned and
facing immediate execution, Paul says to Timothy, Now Timothy,
I'm not ashamed of the gospel, and I'm not ashamed of these
chains. Other folks have been, other folks are, but I'm not.
Don't you be ashamed of me, and don't you be ashamed of my chains,
and don't you be ashamed of the gospel for which I am suffering
these things right now. But rather, be steadfast. In fact, Paul declares that he
was full of comfort. peace, even death. Look at verse
12. For the witch calls also, I suffer
these things. You mean, Paul, you're about
to be put to death, and your only crime is proclaiming God's
free grace? You go back to the book of Acts,
you remember when he stood before the Jews as accusers? And he
said, I'd like to have something to say. He said, after the way
which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers. And it was on from then on. And
for that reason, he's right here. Now watch this. Nevertheless,
I'm not ashamed. I'm not confused. I'm not embarrassed. I'm not confounded. I'm not mixed
up. I know exactly what's going on.
That's what's included in that word of shame. For I know whom
I have believed, and I am fully convinced, I stand convinced,
I am persuaded that he, this Christ who has abolished death
and brought life and immortality to life, to my soul by the gospel,
he is able. Oh, what a word. He is able. He's able to save to the uttermost
all that come to God by him. Our God is able to deliver us.
He is able to keep that which I've committed unto him against
that day. And that's against this backdrop
that Paul calls for Timothy and us to hold fast. And with that
backdrop, how dare we do otherwise? Look at verse 13. Hold fast the
form of sound words. which thou hast heard of me in
faith and love which is in Christ Jesus, that good faith which
was committed to thee by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in
thee." Now, children of God, whatever comes down the pike, And I've got some idea what's
coming. You do too. Whatever it is, whatever adversity,
whatever opposition arises from whatever quarter, don't be moved
away from the gospel. Hold fast. And then in chapter
2, he says, Timothy, hold fast this form of sound words, the
gospel of God's grace, and be strong. Be strong. In these 26
verses, Paul calls for us to be strong in the grace that is
in our Lord Jesus Christ. Like Timothy, we're not only
to hold the gospel firmly for ourselves, but we have a responsibility.
That which we have been taught of God, we are responsible to
teach to others. Particularly those who are called
of God to be gospel preachers have the responsibility of committing
these same things to other faithful men. Now, what Paul's doing here
is passing the torch. He's passing the torch to Timothy
and is urging him to continue to depend on God. And he does
so assuring him that he will find the strength he needs and
the grace sufficient for him in Christ Jesus. Paul's long
ministry, working together with Timothy, took him through many
difficulties. And now, Paul has come to the
end of his hardships, and Timothy is taking up his mantle. And
he's going to have to face the same thing. He's got to face
the same thing. It never changes. In verses 3
through 6, we're given examples of how we're to be strong. in
the grace that is in Christ Jesus. He uses three examples. And I
find it interesting that he uses these three totally different
examples, telling us what he means by us being strong and
holding fast this form of sound words. First, he tells us that
like a good soldier, we must remain free from entanglements
with lesser things. Look at verse 3. Thou therefore
endure hardness." Endure hardness. I can almost picture Brother
Scott Richardson preaching on this verse of Scripture. He's
kind of graphic, you know. He's talking to me one time just
a while back about how cold it is out here on this hill in the
wintertime. He remembers that cold, cold December conference
we had here. He said, I guess you just turn your collar up
and bow your back and go against it. That's what he said. Hardness comes, bow your back,
turn your collar up and press on and do a hardness like a soldier. How do you do that? No man that
woreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life. Don't get involved with it. Don't get tangled up with lesser
things. That he may please him who hath
chosen him to be a soldier. And then it tells us that we
must, like disciplined athletes, do the work of building Christ's
kingdom. spreading the gospel of his grace,
ministering to his people, and we must do so according to the
rule of his word. He's the king, verse 5. And if
a man also strive for masteries, yet he is not crowned, except
he do it lawfully. I don't remember, I forgot which
marathon it was, was it Boston Marathon? Some fellow ran out
right at the end of the thing, took over a while, a few years
back. He crossed the finish line first, but he broke the rules,
and he didn't get the crown. And Paul says to Timothy now,
like a disciplined athlete, like a loyal soldier, you obey Christ,
and you endure hardness. And then he tells us that we
are, as laborers together in God's vineyard, we are to give
ourselves to the constant tending of his vineyard, Like any good
farmer tends his ground, verse 6, the husbandman that laboreth
must be first partaker of the fruits. Laboreth. Man has a farm,
and that's where all of his livelihood is. That's where all his hope
is. That's where everything he has
is tied up. He takes care of it. If he doesn't,
he won't have a farm to take care of him for very long. Paul
says, Timothy, like a good soldier, like a disciplined athlete, like
a laboring farmer, devote yourself to Christ. Oh, my soul, hear
what he says, Don Fortner, devote yourself to Christ. Hear what
he says, children of God, devote yourselves to Christ. In a word, that which is required
in the service of Christ. required of gospel preachers,
and required of all who would serve Christ in the place where
God's put us, is dogged, relentless persistence. Just dogged, relentless
persistence. Dogged, relentless persistence. And if you value these things,
that's how your life will be ruled. That's just all there
is to it. Any of you men in your various
careers who have been in any measure successful, in any measure
successful, didn't get it by slothfulness, didn't arrive at
it by slothfulness. My oldest brother-in-law, Started
to work at R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company when
he was 19 years old. Had six months and a little more
in college down at Pfeiffer College just outside of Charlotte, North
Carolina. You know where he started doing? He started out sweeping
floors, third shift. He retired a couple of years
ago. He was the head honcho. He was a top dog. How come? You know, I didn't know this
for years. That man made it his business to be there for every
shift. He was there before first shift
got done, through second shift, and before second shift got done,
through third shift, and before first shift came on. And folks,
well, he's serious about this. Boy, you've got to do without
sleep for that. You've got to deprive yourself
of some fishing time for that. Boy, you can't play golf every
day and do that. No, you can't. No, you can't. No, you can't. And you can't
serve Christ without such dogged, determined persistence and faithfulness. And then Paul assures Timothy
that the Word of God is not bound and cannot be bound. In verse
9, he tells us and assures us that our great God is ever, ever
faithful. He does so to inspire this persistence. Look at chapter 2, verse 11.
This is a faithful saying. If we be dead with him, we shall
also live with him. If we suffer And nothing to that,
we shall also reign with him. If we deny him, he'll deny us. If we believe not, yet he abideth
faithful. It wasn't written just for your
pastor. It was written to instruct eternity-bound men and women
in the truth of God. And if we are to teach men and
women the things of God as his witnesses in this world, Whether
it is me preaching from the pulpit, or Lindsay preaching from the
pulpit, or someone else preaching from the pulpit, or whether it's
Bob Duff, you run into your neighbor at service station and he starts
to ask you about things of God. Starts to talk to you about spiritual
things. The same things apply. Now what
are we to do if we would faithfully serve the cause of Christ? Look
at verse 14. Avoid strife about words. Avoid it. If you mention anything about
this book to anybody, I don't care who he is, I don't care
if he's a drunk, he can't stand up, he has an authority on it. You can bank on it. He knows
everything there is to know about it, and you can't tell him anything.
unless God opens his ears. So when folks want to argue with
you about words, things, this thing and that, don't even try
to answer them. It's useless, and all it does
is cause a strife. Verse 15, you want to know how
to serve God? Study his word. Study it. Make it your business to know
this book. Verses 16 through 19, he tells us to shun profane
and vain babblings of men. I like the way he put that. Most of what folks have to say
in the pulpit and out of it about God, Christ, and salvation are
the vain babblings of men about the things of God. And you can
shun those things with ease. being confident that the foundation
of God standeth sure. God's going to save his elect.
And you don't have to answer all the yik-yak that goes on.
And then in verses 20 and 21, Paul tells us to purge ourselves
of all false religion, all the vain babblings of false religion.
Look at it. In a great house there are not
only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and of earth,
some to honor and some to dishonor. If a man therefore purge himself
from these," what's he talking about? These vain babblings. The religion of the age. Purge
himself from it. If a man therefore purge himself
from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet
for the Master's and prepared to every good work. Verse 22,
he says, Timothy, flee youthful lust. Now what's he talking about? What's he talking about? You
can find lots of things said about this. And I would urge
every young man and every young woman, every old man and every
old woman to flee the sensual lust of the flesh, but that's
not what he's talking about here. He talks about it elsewhere,
but not here. What's he talking about? He's
telling us to flee those youthful lusts that inspire religious
debate, and rather to follow righteousness and faith and love
and peace. Flee also youthful lusts, but
follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that
call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But foolish and unlearned
questions avoid, all they'll do is cause more trouble. All
they do is stir up strife. And then in verses 24, 5, and
6, he tells us that we must instruct men, any who will hear us, with
gentleness, meekness, and patience. Don't argue, don't fuss, don't
do it. As soon as you sense things beginning
to get a little hot, Talk about the weather. Just don't do it. You're not going to honor God,
and you're not going to do anybody any good. What do you do? Don't
do it. Instruct folks with gentleness. By gentleness, he simply means
being unruffled, undisturbed. Don't let yourself get upset. Just don't do it. Well, he can't
see. Why would you get upset with
a blind man because he can't see? No need in it. He's blind. And if he can't see,
it's because he's blind. There's no other explanation.
With meekness. What's that mean? Being confident
of God and his word and that you're his servant. And with patience. Don't forget,
you were in the same boat not so long ago. Just as blind and
just as ignorant. And then in chapter 3, Paul says,
Timothy, Don, Skip, and Sandy, if you're going
to be my witnesses in this world, there's some things you need
to know. You can't possibly minister to
this generation if you don't understand it. So this third
chapter It tells us how that in these last days, which began
with our Lord's first coming and end with his second coming, there is a continually increasing,
that's what it says in verse 3, waxing worse and worse, continually
increasing self-centeredness, ungodliness, rebellion, filth,
and degradation in the religious world. in the name of Christ
among folks who have a form of godliness. They love their ceremonies.
They go to church every Sunday. They love it all, but they deny
the power of it. And that's not talking about
a, oh, we can feel the power. The power of godliness is the
gospel of God's grace, and that's what they deny, lest we be overwhelmed
by the realization of things as they are. We look at things,
and I do the same thing you do. Shelby and I will, we'll watch
the news, we'll see things and say, how bad can things get?
Would you look at that? How can we do that? Look at the
religious world. How horrible things are. Don't
get too upset. Now look at verse 8. Look at
verse 8, chapter 3. As Jamees and Jambrees withstood Moses.
You remember who those fellows were? Moses and Aaron went in
before Pharaoh, and Aaron cast down his rod and turned it into
a serpent. And Janes and Jambres, Pharaoh's magicians, cast down
their rods and they turned into snakes. There's two snakes! Don't worry about that. Abram's
rod ate them. Look at it. As Janes and Jambres
withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth. Men of
corrupt minds reprobate concerning the faith. But they shall proceed
no further. All they can do is bluster. Then
in verses 10 through 16, Paul tells Timothy, now, the word
of God and the word of God alone is that by which we will swallow
up these serpents. And it is profitable for doctrine
to teach you everything you need to know about God. For reproof
to correct false error and refute it. For correction, to correct
misunderstandings and wayward behavior, for instruction in
righteousness. That is to teach sinners the
way of righteousness by faith in Christ. And then in chapter
4, he says, Timothy, preach the Word. Preach the Word. Preach the Word. Preach the Word. Do your diligence to come to
me. When you come, try to get here before winter. Bring the
coat, bring the books, bring the scriptures, but do all things.
Preach the word! That's God's answer for every
trouble in society. That's God's remedy for everything
that ails men. That's how we deal with the corruption
all around us, outside the church and inside the church. Preach
the gospel. make a full proof of your ministry.
That is, stay with it until you have fought
the good fight.