Shooting Straight

All right, as we come to the Word of God this morning, we are continuing our way through

the second letter to Timothy.

So if you have your Bible with you, you can open it up to 2 Timothy, and we are in chapter

2.

Last Sunday, we covered the first seven verses here of chapter 2.

Next Sunday, we're going to work on verse 8 to 13, and we're going to jump ahead this

Sunday and look at verses 14 to 19.

So let me read these verses for us this morning.

Paul writes to Timothy,

Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David.

This is my gospel, for which I am suffering, even to the point of being chained like a criminal.

But God's Word is not chained.

Therefore, I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the

salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

Here is a trustworthy saying.

If we died with Him, we will also live with Him.

If we endure, we will also reign with Him.

If we disown Him, He will also disown us.

If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot disown Himself.

Keep reminding God's people of these things.

Warn them before God against quarreling about words.

It is of no value and only ruins those who listen.

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved.

A worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.

Their teaching will spread like gangrene.

Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have departed from the truth.

They say that the resurrection has already taken place.

And they destroy the faith of some.

Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm.

Sealed with this inscription.

The Lord knows those who are His.

And everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.

Father in heaven, please open our eyes to see what you have said here and give us ears to hear.

Fill our hearts with faith and help us to respond as you desire.

Pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

We're just going to work through these few verses, 14 to 19, from the top.

Starting in verse 14.

Paul urges Timothy to keep reminding the people in his church of the truths of the gospel.

Specifically, the ones that are laid out here in verses 8 to 13.

And we're going to look at those next Sunday.

But keep reminding God's people of these things.

The job of a faithful teacher and preacher

is to keep on saying the same things over and over again.

It's to tell and to teach what most of us already know.

These things.

This gospel.

These words of God.

Spoken through the prophets.

Through Jesus.

And through His apostles.

There's a lot of other things going on in our world

that we could be talking about on a Sunday morning.

Some of the false teachers

who Paul spoke of in the first letter to Timothy.

They had gone off into speaking and teaching about other things.

But Timothy, you keep on reminding God's people of these things.

Of this gospel.

Next he says,

Warn them.

That is, the people in the church.

Warn them before God

against quarreling

about words.

It is of no value

and only ruins those who listen.

Now I know that we've heard this a lot

in this journey through the pastoral epistles.

These letters to Timothy and Titus.

But Paul repeats himself, I think,

because this is a really big issue.

It can be so tempting to argue over things.

And to get into squabbles,

disputes.

Here specifically,

are it quarreling about words?

That word words,

it can be used more broadly as well

to refer to matters,

subjects,

issues.

And it's so easy to get sucked into this sort of behavior.

Most of us want to understand the issues.

We want to come to some sort of an opinion on the issues.

And then we want to offer that carefully formed opinion to others.

And that's all good.

But then what happens when others don't agree?

Are we going to fight over it?

Trying to convince them?

Are we going to belittle them

and their view?

Paul's basically saying,

don't go there, Timothy.

Quarreling,

arguing about things

is of no value.

It only ruins

those who listen.

No value.

What does that mean?

It's a waste of time.

It's a waste of energy.

It's a waste of breath.

Zero good

comes from it.

That's what no value

means.

In fact,

even worse,

he says,

arguing about these things

ruins

those who listen.

That word in the original language

is actually the Greek word

katastrophe,

from which we get

our English word

catastrophe.

The point is,

it utterly spoils,

utterly damages,

utterly wrecks

those who listen.

And we kind of know this,

don't we?

Fighting over things

hurts

relationships.

Sometimes in those

kinds of debates

and things,

we're so worried about

winning the argument

that are we really

representing things well?

Are we really

speaking the truth?

Do we have

legit sources

that we're

drawing from

as we share things?

And there can be

hearsay that enters

into the mix

and gossip

and slander

and misinformation.

And it really can

skew people's

understanding of things

or of other people

and do a lot of damage

and a lot of hurt.

And so what's

Timothy supposed to do?

He's supposed to warn

the people in his church

against this kind

of behavior.

In verse 15,

Paul says,

do your best

to present yourself

to God

as one approved.

A worker who does not

need to be ashamed

and who correctly

handles the word

of truth.

And so Paul gives

Timothy something

to aim for

as he goes about

his life and ministry

there in Ephesus.

First and foremost,

he says,

aim for God's approval.

You want to be approved

in his sight.

Work and teach

and preach

to win his approval.

As you live before him,

you don't want to have

any need to be ashamed

for the things

that you said

or the things

that you did.

And very specifically

here in this passage

as it relates

to Timothy,

you will meet

with God's approval

by being one

who correctly

handles

the word of truth.

Now this is

an interesting metaphor

to translate here.

If we were to do it

just straight,

literal,

it would be

to be one

who cuts

straight

the word of truth.

And it's often

this phrase

used with reference

to like a physical path.

Meaning to,

you know,

to clear everything out,

to cut a straight path

whether it's through

the forest

or through the hill

or whatever,

through some brush.

Instead of going

around the tree,

cut it down,

go straight through.

So that's

the physical image

that Paul is

using here.

and he's using it

about how Timothy

should teach

the word of God.

Cut straight

the word of truth

which probably means

something like

in your teaching,

Timothy,

don't be turned aside

to these other debates

and these other arguments

and issues

and controversies.

Stay on course.

Stay on target.

Teach the word of truth.

You have a goal here

and it's to get

this good deposit

that I've entrusted

to you

to your people.

Passed on to them.

So teach it.

Preach it straight.

Stay focused

on that goal

even if there are

challenging circumstances

going on

which we know there are

or challenging people

in the way

which we'll hear about

in a moment.

And so this is how

you're to present yourself

to God

as a worker

who meets his approval

and who does not

need to be ashamed.

Teach the word of truth

and shoot straight.

don't just tell the people

what they want to hear

in order to win

their approval

but tell them

this word of truth

that we've received

from God

in order to get

his approval.

These are good words

for those of us

who teach in the church.

They help us understand

what our aim should be.

It's not to entertain.

It's not to scratch

the itching ears

or to tell people

what they want to hear.

it's to pass on

this good deposit

this gospel

that we've received

from God

to put the words

of God

before people.

I think though

that these words

are also helpful

for all of us

as we aim to speak

about Jesus

to others.

Those who don't know Christ

those who don't believe

maybe our unsaved

co-workers

neighbors

friends

family

and sometimes

we can get

all tied up

by this

thought

that we have

to be so careful

in the way

that we speak

about Jesus

that we don't

offend anybody

that we don't

rub anybody

the wrong way

but that's just

people pleasing

that's trying

to win the approval

of men

of man

Jesus wants us

to shoot straight

with people

about him

we have

the truth

from God

cut it straight

tell the people

the good news

ask the question

that cuts to the heart

and tell of the hope

that we have in Jesus

look for the approval

of the Lord Jesus

himself

on that day

that's coming

in all your speaking

and sharing

with others

about Jesus

verse 16

he says

avoid godless chatter

chatter

because those

who indulge in it

will become more

and more ungodly

their teaching

will spread like

gangrene

among them

are Hymenaeus

and Philetus

who have departed

from the truth

they say

that the resurrection

has already

taken place

and they destroy

the faith

of some

so avoid

godless chatter

he says

what is godless

chatter

the ESV

translates this

as irreverent

babble

and there's really

two ideas

in this phrase

first

Paul seems

to be characterizing

the kind of talk

or the kind of teaching

as a kind

that is empty

or worthless

now probably

the people doing

these kinds of teaching

or talk

see it as being

valuable

but Paul

characterizes it

as just chatter

it's just babble

it has no

value

and the second

idea

that's in this phrase

is that it's

godless chatter

or as some

translations say

irreverent

chatter

and this word

can mean

a couple of things

it could be

that the talk

or the teaching

is devoid of God

that it really

doesn't have anything

to do with spiritual

things

it's worldly

secular

or

it could also mean

even stronger than that

that it's profane

that it's irreverent

that it mocks

or makes light

of spiritual things

it jokes about

serious spiritual truths

or it just

dishonors God

by misrepresenting

him

and his word

and verse 17

to 18

is kind of

this living example

of this

that's right before

Timothy

Paul gives the example

of Hymenaeus

and Philetus

he says

their teaching

will spread

like gangrene

among them

are Hymenaeus

and Philetus

who have departed

from the truth

Paul names

two men here

and Timothy

knows these men

and they're

the example

of what he means

by this irreverent

chatter

the only other

mention of

Hymenaeus

in the Bible

actually was in

Paul's first letter

he talked about

how he had handed

over

Hymenaeus

and Alexander

to Satan

to be taught

not to blaspheme

and so definitely

we're probably

in the irreverent

side of things

when it comes to

the way that

they're talking

or teaching

Philetus

on the other hand

this is the only

time he's mentioned

in the whole Bible

so we really

don't know much

about these two

other than

what Paul says

in these two spots

but Paul says

that their words

have spread

like gangrene

according to

one scholar

the disease

that's described

here involves

severe inflammation

which if left

unchecked

could become

a destructive

ulcerous

condition

and so the

emphasis here

seems to be

on the slow

eating away

of the flesh

rather than

a rapidly

spreading

infection

so their

talk

the things

that they're

saying

it's slowly

spreading

and it's

doing damage

amongst the

churches

Paul says

that these

two have

departed

from the

truth

some of the

things that

they're advocating

are falsehood

and Paul gives

an example

right here

in the letter

in verse 18

he says

they say

that the

resurrection

has already

taken place

so these

are not

men that

are straight

up denying

Jesus

and saying

there is

no God

well they're

saying yes

we believe

in Jesus

but

here's some

other stuff

that we also

believe

they're adding

some things

on

where they

got this

idea that

the resurrection

had taken

place

we don't

know

the

resurrection

that's the

great event

that all of

us believers

are looking

forward to

that's the

moment that

Paul describes

in his first

letter to the

Corinthians

where the

trumpet will

sound

and all who

are dead

but belong

to Jesus

will be

resurrected

to new

life

and a new

body

never to die

again

and never to

become corrupt

again

Paul says

these guys

are claiming

that that's

already happened

and we have

to wonder

was it

were they

just saying

that well

no it's

just a

spiritual

reality

that somehow

it just

happened

already

inside of

us

or were

they actually

claiming that

they weren't

going to

die

we don't

again we

don't know

the details

here

but Paul

makes it

so clear

in the way

that he

says this

that this

is a

bunch

of

baloney

the

resurrection

that we're

waiting for

hasn't

happened

yet

and sadly

some were

buying into

these things

Paul says

they destroy

the faith

of some

with this

teaching

again a

very strong

word

destroy

the faith

of some

so this

is the

effect of

this

godless

chatter

this profane

chatter

it

it

it

doesn't

indeed

have

an

emptiness

to it

because

it's

not

true

but it

also

has

an

irreverence

to it

in that

it

proclaims

this

false

idea

as if

it

were

spiritual

truth

from

god

it

makes

a

mockery

of

the

real

thing

that

we're

hoping

in

the

resurrection

by

saying

oh

it's

already

happened

it's

already

here

and so

in this

case

with

these

two

men

it's

kind

of

this

wonky

blend

some

of

the

truth

of

Christ

but

then

adding

on

these

other

things

and

declaring

those

things

to be

true

without

any

real

basis

and

it's

having

a

terrible

effect

on

the

people

who

hear

and

are

listening

to

these

things

some

people

are

getting

sucked

into

it

and

it's

hurting

the

credibility

of the

message

about

Christ

it's

distorting

things

it's

confusing

things

Paul

says

avoid

that

kind

of

talk

and

those

kind

of

teachers

who

would

be

the

modern

day

equivalent

of

these

guys

I

think

the

key

marker

here

seems

to be

people

that

are

proclaiming

Jesus

plus

something

else

maybe

it's

Jesus

plus

the

earth

is

flat

or

Jesus

plus

you

need

to

have

had

this

special

kind

of

experience

or

go

through

this

rite

or

ritual

or

Jesus

plus

getting

back

to

the

teachings

of

certain

rabbis

or

Jesus

plus

some

other

speculative

historical

digging

that we've

done

that shows

that every

prophecy

in the

Bible

has already

been

fulfilled

there's

a lot

of

different

ways

that people

do

the

Jesus

plus

good

news

and

often

times

with these

kind

of

teachers

you can

kind

of

sense

that

something

is

off

because

Jesus

seems

to be

the

name

that's

used

to

really

draw

people's

attention

but then

very quickly

the focus

the main

message

goes away

from Jesus

to these

other things

these side

things

the Bible

becomes more

of a springboard

or a starting

place

and it

gets us

hooked in

and then we

go over

to here

and we

talk about

this other

thing that's

not in

the Bible

or maybe

the Bible

is part

of it

but then

it's

interpreted

in some

way

that's

wonky

I mean

you'd

have to

not even

be really

reading it

in context

and thinking

about it

to kind

of twist

it and

get it

to say

that

I went

to a

global

missions

conference

one time

and I

remember

hearing

this

very

charismatic

and

interesting

speaker

but it

seemed

that he

was more

interested

in God's

redemption

of creation

and

environmentalism

than God's

redemption

of you

and me

he was

almost

trying to

turn

conservation

and

environmentalism

into a

form of

missionary

work

and it

was like

he was

trying to

recruit

for that

like we

need to

go out

there

we need

to get

the good

news

out there

for

creation

we need

to help

God

in his

redemption

of this

and stand

up

to

industry

or different

things like

this

again

Jesus

but then

this main

thing is

really over

here for

them

another

example

of this

in

just this

week

I don't

know how

many of

you got

one of

these

in your

mailbox

I think

they did

a mail

drop

here in

Davidson

and

everybody

with a

residential

mailbox

subscribed

to

getting

the flyers

got one

of these

the great

controversy

will

two

former

rivals

unite

and you

got the

American

flag

at the

top

the

white

house

and the

flag of

the

catholic

church

I think

that is

on there

and if

you were

like me

you probably

wonder what

on earth

is this

what is

this book

and it's

published by

amazing

facts

ministries

dot com

you flip

through it

it's full

of bible

verses

could be

some really

good stuff

maybe

but if you

dig deeper

into it

what do

you find

you find

that it

was written

by

Ellen G

White

she was

a follower

of a man

named

William

Miller

and William

Miller

was a

preacher

who predicted

that Christ

would return

in 1843

or 1844

and then

when his

prediction

didn't come

true

most of

the followers

of William

Miller

disbanded

but there

was one

17 year

old girl

named

Ellen

who had

her first

of

supposedly

2000

visions

from God

and she

later married

a guy

named James

White

and they

began studying

the teachings

of Joseph

Bates

who promoted

strict

Sabbath

keeping

for all

Christians

like I'm

talking

Saturday

at

sundown

Sabbath

keeping

and

or would

it be

Friday to

Saturday

and they

went all

over the

place

telling

this is

what we

got to

do

we got

to

keep

the

Sabbath

just

like

they

did

in

the

Old

Testament

suddenly

that was

the main

message

and man

she

wrote

60

books

they

traveled

all over

the place

telling

about

what God

had

supposedly

told her

in

these

visions

nearly

10,000

pages

of

prophetic

material

she

wrote

and

the

Seventh

Day

Adventists

were

born

and

back

then

she

was

considered

to be

a true

prophetess

of God

by the

Seventh

Day

Adventists

as

recently

ago

as

1995

the

Seventh

Day

Adventists

had a

general

conference

and this

was what

they

stated

at their

conference

they

said

we

consider

the

biblical

canon

closed

what

that

means

is

we

consider

that

this

is

complete

all

the

books

of

the

Bible

are

in

here

and

we

don't

think

God

is

adding

new

ones

or

revealing

new

stuff

it's

all

in

here

we

consider

the

biblical

canon

closed

however

we

also

believe

as

did

Ellen G.

White's

contemporaries

that

her

writings

carry

divine

authority

both

for

godly

living

and

for

doctrine

therefore

we

recommend

that

as

a

church

we

seek

the

power

of

the

Holy

Spirit

to

apply

to

our

lives

more

fully

the

inspired

counsel

contained

in

the

writings

of

Ellen G.

White

that

was

their

statement

in

95

she

also

preached

the

gospel

of

health

and

certain

dietary

restrictions

about

consuming

meat

which

she

called

flesh

food

and

how

it's

injurious

to

your

health

and

even

to

your

soul

to

eat

meat

and

there

were

elements

of

law

keeping

that

crept

in

and

doctrines

of

soul

sleep

and

annihilationism

that

hell

is

not

forever

even

to

the

point

of

saying

that

our

sins

were

put

onto

Satan

as

the

scapegoat

rather

than

onto

Jesus

and

so

what

do

we

do

with

this

we

throw

it

in

the

fire

pit

he

says

avoid

this

kind

of

irreverent

chatter

this

false

teaching

it's

empty

there's

no

value

in

it

they've

departed

from

the

truth

and

sometimes

it's a

challenge

to

discern

because

that

Jesus

message

is

there

but

then

it's

that

plus

it's

that

Jesus

plus

this

other

stuff

and

so

look

at

what

Paul

says

next

he

gives

Timothy

a

couple

words

of

encouragement

in the

midst

of

this

to

help

him

know

how

to

know

who's

who

verse

19

he

says

nevertheless

God's

solid

foundation

stands

firm

sealed

with

this

inscription

the

Lord

knows

those

who

are

his

and

everyone

who

confesses

the

name

of

the

Lord

must

turn

away

from

wickedness

so

these

are

two

helpful

things

in

the

midst

of

all

this

two

truths

that

can

help

us

discern

and

navigate

and

avoid

who

we

should

truth

number

one

is

that

even

though

sometimes

we

can

be

deceived

God

cannot

the

Lord

Jesus

knows

those

who

are

his

sheep

and

he

knows

who

are

the

wolves

pretending

to be

sheep

ultimately

we

can't

rest

just

in

our

own

wisdom

our

own

discernment

but

we

can

rest

in

Christ

nobody

is

going

to

pull

a

fast

one

on

him

he

knows

who

belongs

to

him

and

he

is

able

to

look

after

us

and

to

protect

us

and

he

knows

those

who

are

pretending

and

how

to

deal

with

them

and

so

Timothy

look

to

the

Lord

look

to

his

knowledge

when

you're

unsure

or

in

doubt

about

who's

who

and

the

second

truth

he

says

everyone

who

confesses

the

name

of

the

Lord

must

turn

away

from

wickedness

everyone

who

confesses

the

name

of

the

Lord

must

turn

away

from

wickedness

genuine

faith

true

repentance

shows

itself

in a

changed

life

it

shows

itself

in us

turning

away

from

wickedness

and

embracing

what's

right

and

what's

good

in

its

place

the

same

simple

faith

in

Jesus

that

we

have

at

the

start

that

saves

us

will

also

through

the

rest

of

our

lives

say

yes

Lord

to

what

he

has

commanded

us

to

do

and

how

he

has

asked

us

to

live

this

doesn't

mean

that

we

live

perfectly

or

that

we're

never

tempted

that

we

never

fall

into

sin

or

temptation

again

but

it

means

that

on

the

whole

we're

continually

turning

away

from

wickedness

and

to

what's

right

everyone

who

confesses

the

name

of

the

Lord

must

turn

away

from

wickedness

this

is

to be

a

foundational

truth

he

says

and

it's

a

helpful

one

there's

no

such

thing

as

a

true

believer

who

deliberately

lives

a

wicked

life

on

the

whole

for

the

rest

of

their