Biblical Manhood & Womanhood - 2 Timothy 2 - Lead By Living…

Good morning, family. All right. Excellent. All

right. If you guys would, please turn to 2 Timothy

2 Timothy 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2. Before we do that, we will read. So

we will read from the 1689 London Baptist Confession,

chapter 13, section 1 of... They who are united

to Christ, effectually called and regenerated,

having a new heart and a new spirit created in

them through the virtue of Christ's death and

resurrection. are also farther sanctified really

and personally through the same virtue by his

word and the spirit in dwelling in them. Amen.

So love those things. Such good stuff. So we're

going to pray and we're going to get started.

Okay. Father, I want to thank you so much for

your goodness and faithfulness. Thank you, Lord,

for your word. Thank you that you are at work

molding and shaping and growing your people into

the full maturity of Christ. I pray, Lord, that

we would be people willing to make a stand on

the truth, proclaim it boldly, walk in humility,

and be wise in our conversations. May everything

we do bring honor and glory to you, being obedient

to the chief and commander in chief of our faith,

run the race. to win the prize, and Lord, as

farmers, that we would work the field so that

we can enjoy the harvest. To you be honor and

glory forever, in Jesus' name, amen. Chapter

2, 2 Timothy, you then, my child, be strengthened

by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what

you have heard from me in the presence of many

witnesses, entrust to faithful men. who will

be able to teach others also, sharing in suffering

as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier

gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his

aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An

athlete is not crowned unless he competes according

to the rules. It is the hardworking farmer who

ought to have the first share of the crops. Think

over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding

in everything. Remember Jesus Christ, risen from

the dead, the offspring of David, as preached

in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound

with chains as a criminal, but the word of God

is not bound. Therefore, I endure everything

for the sake of the elect, that they also may

obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus

with eternal glory. The saying is trustworthy,

for if we die with him, we will also live with

him. If we endure, we will also reign with him.

If we deny him, he also will deny us. If we are

faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot

deny himself. Remind them of these things, and

charge them before God not to quarrel about words,

which does no good, but only ruins the hearers.

Do your best to present yourself to God as one

approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed,

rightly handling the word of truth. But avoid

irreverent babble, for it will lead people into

more and more ungodliness, and their talk will

spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus

and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth,

saying that the resurrection has already happened.

upsetting the faith of some, but God's firm foundation

stands bearing this seal. The Lord knows those

who are his, and let everyone who names the name

of the Lord depart. from iniquity. Now in a great

house, there are not only vessels of gold and

silver, but also wood and clay, some of honorable

use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone

cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he

will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart

as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready

for every good work. See, so flee youthful passions,

pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace,

along with those who call on the Lord from a

pure heart. Have nothing to do with foolish,

ignorant controversies. You know that they breed

quarrels. The Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome,

but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently

enduring evil. correcting his opponents with

gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance,

leading to a knowledge of the truth. And they

may come to their senses and escape from the

snare of the devil after being captured by him

to do his will. It's quite a bit. Question is,

are we going to get through the whole chapter?

We are. You're like, that's a lot. Yes. Five

points, five sections. and let's go for a ride.

You guys ready? All right, first one. A genuine

godly leader obeys the commander -in -chief of

faith, runs the race to gain the prize, works

the field with patience and endurance to receive

its fruit at harvest. Therefore, do not throw

away your confidence. which has a great reward,

for you have need of endurance, so that when

you have done the will of God, you may receive

what is promised, Hebrews 10, 35 through 36.

I want you to notice a couple things here. You

then, my child, be strengthened by the grace

that is in Christ Jesus. Jesus is your strength.

You don't get strength anywhere else. You get

strength from Him. It is an absolute necessity

that you are fully dependent upon the King of

kings and the Lord of lords. You need Him to

be strong. When you're weak, He makes you strong.

In your weakness, you find your strength. He

is your strength, and it's in Him. Second, and

what you have heard, Now this word means learn

from hearing. Now I want you to get that. So

what you've heard or what you learned from hearing

from me in the presence of many witnesses. So

what Paul is saying to Timothy is all the things

that you've heard concerning the doctrine and

the truth of Christ, you've heard and learned

from me in the presence of many witnesses. You

have grown in faith. He says now, this entrust,

these things, these truths, you need to give

to faithful men. This word entrust means to be

kept and taught to others. You must be obedient

in the trust, and then you must teach others

to do the same. Exactly what we talked about

to the kids. Do we keep the Word of God and teach

others to do it also? And it's one thing to give

it away. To people who aren't faithful, it's

another to give it away to faithful men. The

question is, what kind of man are you? What kind

of believer are you? Are you faithful? Are you

not faithful? What's interesting is this word

faithful men means reliable and trustworthy.

Reliable and trustworthy. Are you reliable and

trustworthy to keep, hold, and do the Word of

God? teach it. This word here, meaning who will

be able, this is hikanas. Hikanas is the word

fit, sufficient, or competent. Fit, sufficient,

or competent to teach others also. That's one

of the major problems in our churches today,

is because there are men who are not fit, who

aren't even competent to teach the word. And

they're there standing behind a pulpit with thousands

of people following them. And they have no clue

what the word of God says. They just tell you

what you want to hear. You get the fluffy. I

talk about this like every week because it's

so prevalent in our day to day. We have to have

men who have been entrusted with the truth of

God's word, who can teach it to others, who are

reliable and trustworthy, and who are fit and

sufficient and competent to do it. Too many.

I can't help but think about the, it's not a

political statement, so I'm just letting you

know that. But I watched the Rose Garden signing

of this declaration of the National Day of Prayer.

Does anyone realize the representatives of the

religious community that were present there?

Paula White? Are we serious? That's the Christian

evangelical representative of the faith of Jesus

Christ for the National Day of Prayer, along

with all the ecumenical, non -believing, quote

-unquote Christians of all kinds of, we call

that a National Day of Prayer. That's crazy.

Why? Because we have entrusted the truth of God

to people who are not fit, sufficient, or competent,

which means they don't give out truth. They just

give out lies. Come on. I can't help but, as

a pastor, sit there and just cringe at some of

these quote -unquote teachers of the gospel.

Now, Share in suffering. So not only should these

people be fit, sufficient, and competent to teach

others, but he also tells Timothy, share in suffering.

Suffer hardship together with one another. Do

we suffer hardship together with one another?

I will tell you, it's one of the things as a

pastor that as a believer in Christ, you must

learn to do and do well. If you don't learn to

suffer well, you can't shepherd well. And if

you don't learn to, if you can't suffer well

and learn to suffer well, then when you suffer

with others, you actually don't really spend

time with them at all. And I've seen this in

some pastors too, where there's hurting within

the church, within the family of God, there's

hurting within people and they don't spend time

talking with them. They give like 30 minutes.

Like 30 minutes is enough time to help. When

you counsel, it's not a timeline. God guides

the conversation. God guides the counseling.

God determines what that person needs in that

conversation. Learn to suffer with one another.

Do you suffer with others? Are you willingly

suffering with those who are suffering? Are you

putting yourself out there? Hebrews chapter 10

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

says that the believers willingly went out and

suffered with them and accepted the plundering

of their property. Are you willing to suffer

with each other? As a good soldier of Christ

Jesus, Paul says. Notice he doesn't say as a

good believer. He says as a good soldier. Why?

How many of you guys have been in the military?

What's the number one responsibility being on

the field? No one gets left behind. That's what

it means. No one gets left behind. If you suffer,

I'm suffering with you. We go together. You're

not alone in this. No soldier, no one who leads

soldiers to battle gets entangled in civilian

pursuits. This is hard for me. I will be honest

with you. Lord knows there are times I want to

get on my soapbox. There's times when it's proper

to deal with issues. But this is difficult. It's

one of the reasons why if you go on my Facebook,

either I delete things because I guess the Lord

convicts me and so does my wife. But I don't

put stuff on there. Why? Because we get involved

with things that have nothing to do with the

kingdom. Notice what it says here. No soldier

gets entangled in civilian pursuits. This word

civilian pursuits is the idea of getting involved

with issues not related to the kingdom. I mean,

how many things do we get involved in that have

nothing to do with Jesus? A lot. Why do we, why

should we as leaders of the church not get involved

in the junk because our aim is to please the

one who has enlisted us into his army. I want

to make Jesus happy, pleased with my service.

Now, that's hard. I know it's hard. An athlete

is not crowned unless he competes according to

the rules. So if I'm running a race and I cross

the finish line and the judge comes to me and

says, you know what? You just tripped that guy,

you know, trying to get into just like right

there. You just did in front of everybody. I'm

like, no, I'm first. I crossed the finish line

first. I'm the winner. Well, there's a rule.

You can't trip the runner running next to you.

You know, how many guys have saw the girl running

with the baton? And this girl is chucking right

past her and she just like hauls up, like not

running like this, like who in the world comes

up like this and kabong somebody? Kabong! How

many of you guys have seen Bugs Bunny? I'm a

big, if you haven't seen, so all you young people

have no idea of Bugs Bunny. But Bugs Bunny kabongs.

You know, I crown you king of Nottingham. Kabong!

You know, she kabonged her really badly. That

picture just floods my brain. That being said,

do you run the race according to the rules? God

has set the rules for the Christian race right

here. You don't get the choice of what rules

you obey and follow. You follow them all. Jesus

says, if you love me, you will obey my commands.

Now, second, it is the hardworking farmer. who

ought to have the first share of the crops. I

mean, don't you want to enjoy the harvest and

the work that you have put in? So Paul then turns

and says to Timothy, think over what I say. The

Lord will give you understanding. What's the

understanding of all this? It's very simple.

Obey the commander in chief of the faith. Run

the race to gain the prize. Work. the field with

patience and endurance to receive the harvest.

Your work is not forgotten if you do it well.

Godly leaders are not ashamed of Christ the King

and his gospel. They are willing to suffer for

it. For I have been crucified with Christ, yet

I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The

life I now live in this body, I live by faith

in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself

for me. Galatians 2 .20. You're like, how do

you know that's my favorite verse? After all,

it's on the wall in my office. It's the key to

the Christian living. The key, you're dead. Let

Jesus live it. Remember, call to mind, recollect.

Paul says to Timothy, remember, recollect Jesus

Christ. What about him? Risen from the dead.

He's the risen savior. The offspring of David,

reigning king. As preached in my gospel. Not

only did Jesus come to die on the cross, but

he rose from the dead to show he has victory

over sin, death, and the grave. And he reigns

as king on the throne of David. Does your gospel

carry the weight of the risen Christ and the

reigning king? And he says, for which I am suffering,

bound with chains as a criminal. In arrest. He's

been arrested. He's locked up. And he is stuck

there. He can't leave. He's in house arrest.

And what does he do? He writes letters. All of

the letters you read. He writes letters. The

Word of God is not bound. You might be able to

bound the person. You might be able to imprison

the person, but you can't imprison the Word of

God. Take it from me. God will speak regardless

of whether I have the written word or not. He

speaks regardless because his word is living

and active. The word of God is not bound. It's

not stuck by chains, regardless of anything that

someone would try to do, especially in the days

to come. Therefore, he says, I endure everything

for the sake of the elect. I endure. everything

for the family. Do you? Are you willing to endure

everything for the family? And are you willing

to endure everything for the family that have

not come home yet? We have brothers and sisters

that aren't home yet. That being said, says this,

he says it this, he says that they also may obtain

salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal

glory, not temporary temporal glory, eternal

glory. Are you going and getting the family?

Bring them home. Bring them home. The saying

is trustworthy. If we died, with him, we will

also live with him. If we endure, we will also

reign with him. If we deny him, he also will

deny us. If we are faithless, he remains faithful,

for he cannot deny himself. Regardless of what

we do, Christ always wins. Godly leaders avoid

foolish controversies. not pertaining to the

kingdom and of Christ. What's this mean? Don't

get into stupid arguments about nothing. It's

a waste of time. Walk in wisdom towards outsiders,

making the best use of the time. Let your speech

always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that

you may know how you ought to answer each person.

Colossians 4, 5 through 6. Remind them of these

things, Paul says to Timothy. Timothy, remind

the people of these things. What things? All

the things I just told you. Don't get involved

in civilian affairs. Preach the gospel. Christ,

the risen Savior, the reigning King. All the

things that I've just said, remind them of them

and charge. Earnestly affirm is the idea here.

Earnestly affirm them before God not to quarrel

about words, not to dispute over trivial things.

It's crazy. Why do Christians do this all the

time? Because I have an opinion. I'm going to

say this as lovingly as I possibly can. God doesn't

care about your opinion. Your opinion doesn't

matter when it comes to the truth. God says what

he says, whether you like it or not. God don't

care about your opinion. Opinions are like, nevermind.

It was always lit somewhere. Sounds kind of harsh,

doesn't it? Because if God was moved by everyone's

opinion, would he ever get anything done? Therefore,

look what it says. Why are these things important?

Why should we not quarrel or dispute about trivial

things? Because they're not good, which does

no good, but only ruins. Catastrophe is the word

here. It's the word we get the word catastrophe

from. It only subverts, overthrows, and destroys

the errors. It doesn't help anybody. Paul says

it this way. Do not let any unwholesome talk

come out of your mouths, but only that which

is useful for building up others. Stay out of

disagreements and arguments that mean absolutely

nothing. And what we do as Christians is we find

a reason to fight instead of preaching the gospel.

We got all kinds of things that we can get involved

in and picket at. Picketing doesn't do anything.

How about if you sit down with that person and

preach them and teach them and bring them the

love of Jesus? Drives me nuts. Anyway, we should

be totally different. I mean, can you see the

difference between the believer who pickets and

complains because it's our freedom to do so in

the country versus the non -believer? Is there

any real difference? No. They're both complaining

about something they can't control. Just saying.

Look what it says here. Do your best. Spudazzo.

I kind of like that. Spudazzo sounds a little

Italian. Spudazzo. Spudazo, hasten, exert oneself.

Are you hastening? Are you exerting yourself

to present yourself to God as one approved? Are

you putting in the work? Or do you come to church

to be told what you should do? Or are you spending

time challenging what you've been told? proving

that that teacher is right. And then if he is

right, are you willing to change what is wrong

in your theology? Because every one of us are

theologians. Now, look what it says. This word

approved, dakemas is the word here. It means

to approve by testing, tried, and genuine. Do

you approve? Have you proved it by testing it,

trying it, and finding it to be genuine? That's

the type of person that you should become, one

who is approved, one who has been proven by detesting,

by being tried and proven to be genuine, a worker,

a doer, a laborer, a practitioner of the Word

of God, who has no need to be ashamed, no cause,

or has anything to do with being ashamed. There

can be nothing brought against you whatsoever.

That you could be ashamed that you have mishandled,

misused, misappropriated the word and the truth

of God. Rightly handling is the word here. And

this word rightly handling means to make straight

and smooth as if you were cutting a paper. What

are we cutting? What are we making straight and

smooth? The word of truth. Are we making straight

and smooth the word of truth that we are fitting

into that according to his purpose and will?

Notice again, verse 16, he says, but avoid irreverent

babble. Reference verse 4 and 14 again. This

is now the second time, almost the third time

that he tells them, stop arguing about stupid

stuff. Why? Because it will lead people into

more and more palas, or palus is the word here,

means much ungodliness. And their talk will spread

like gangrene. Mortification. Now, you ever looked

at something that was gangrenish? Once it's gangrene,

you can't make it un -gangrene. You can't heal

gangrene. You cut it off. It's mortified. It's

beyond repair. It is dead. The only way to get

rid of something that's dead is to cut it off.

That's the idea here. Now, think about that.

When we get involved in this foolish conversations,

this irreverent babble, Then we lead people into

much ungodliness. And as a result, the talk spreads

like gangrene. If you have any question about

that, look at some of these guys who are teaching

and preaching today. Why do I talk about this

all the time? One, I'm going on sabbatical for

a month. And we have five godly men who are going

to come and give you the word. Praise God. Do

you know how many churches don't have that? Holy

smokes. Now, he mentions these two particular

guys. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus.

Now, if you went to Bible study on Wednesday,

we talked about 1 Thessalonians and 2 Thessalonians.

And these two gentlemen went around saying that

Jesus returned and they got left behind. We read

that in a minute. Isn't that interesting? Why

would Paul mention these two guys in his letter

to Timothy? Because Timothy... went to meet Paul

in Corinth when he left Thessalonica. Isn't that

interesting? So, the very thing that Paul's talking

about here is mentioned in 1 Thessalonians chapter

1 Thessalonians 2 · chapter mention

2 and 2 Thessalonians, I mean, 1 Thessalonians

1 Thessalonians 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5 and 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. Now,

2 Thessalonians 2 · chapter mention

What happens with these men? Well, they swerved

from the truth. They've shipwrecked their life.

They've become ineffective, worthless, saying

that the resurrection has already happened. Now,

I'm a Reformed guy. You guys know that. So to

some of our Reformed gentlemen who teach, this

may be a little bit of a problem, I think, in

how they present that the resurrection has already

happened. If it is, we're in trouble. So it has

not. Not the second one. You're like, there was

a first resurrection? Yes, there was a first

resurrection. When Jesus was crucified, all the

graves were open and they were just waiting for

Jesus to come out. And many saw them after his

resurrection, saw the resurrected people afterward.

That's the first resurrection. There is a second

coming. A second resurrection is coming. That's

the resurrection they're talking about here.

It has not happened yet. How do we know? But

this is what it says. But God's firm foundation

stands bearing this seal. Now I want you to notice

he uses this terminology for a reason. He says

God's promise concerning your redemption is absolutely

guaranteed. It's a seal for you. A guarantee.

This truth you can stand on, and it is an absolute

guarantee. The Lord knows those who are his.

Get that. The reason why he hasn't returned yet

is because you're here. He hasn't forgotten you.

And let everyone who names the name of the Lord

depart from iniquity. Get your life cleaned up.

You want to make sure that when he returns, he

finds you busy. And he finds you full, controlled

by the Spirit, living a life that is holy and

good. Godly leaders must maintain a holy and

faithful life to be useful and usable. Now, if

anyone builds on the foundation with gold and

silver, precious stones, hay, wood, and straw,

each one's work will become manifest, for the

day will disclose it. Because it will be revealed

by fire, and the fire will test what sort of

work each one has done. If the work that anyone

has built on the foundation survives, he will

receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned

up, he will suffer loss, though himself will

be saved. but only as through fire, 1 Corinthians

3, 12 through 15. Interesting enough, Paul uses

the same terminology here. 2 Corinthians 2, 20

through 21. Now, in a great house, Paul uses

this term, God's family, God's house. There are

not only vessels of gold and silver, but also

of wood and clay. So this is not... The scripture,

contextually, that talks about the God out of

the same lump of clay creates vessels for noble

use and vessels of ignoble use. It's not what

he's talking about there. Here he's talking about

vessels that are already in the house. Vessels

that are clean and vessels that are dirty. That's

why I use 1 Corinthians 3, 12 through 15. God's

vessels. Notice what he says here. They're not

only vessels of gold and silver, but also wooden

clay, some for honorable honorable use, meaning

usable, and some dishonorable, meaning unusable.

I don't know about you, but sometimes my dishwasher

doesn't do the job. I go in, get a cup of coffee.

What do I find? Caked and burnt on the bottom

of the coffee cup. Yep, you guessed it. Like

why did not, why did that not clean? It's pretty

disgusting. So I don't want to use it. It's not

usable. That's the idea here. Therefore, if anyone

this word tis, if any certain one among the vessels,

cleanse himself to clean thoroughly, purify or

clean out himself from what is dishonorable,

meaning his sin. Get your stuff right. That's

what he's talking about up here. Let everyone

who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.

Clean up your junk. Notice how he continues in

this thought. If he cleans up his stuff, he will

be a vessel for honorable use. He will be usable

and a valuable object for God, set apart as holy,

meaning that God has set apart from profane things

and dedicated for his use, meaning useful. He

can use you when you clean up your trash. Can

you imagine if I was shepherding and my life

was a shipwreck and it was a disgusting mess.

What kind of value or use would I be? They expect

it from pastors, but God expects it from every

one of his children, not just the leaders of

the church. Lord knows we have a lot of them

that are in question. So useful to the master

of the house, meaning that the value, the vessels

that are already in the house. are for his bidding.

And if your life is dirty, he can't use you.

Notice what he says here. Useful for the master

of the house, ready for every good work. I guess

if I was a dirty, messed up vessel, I might take

it out back to go use it to dig something maybe.

That'd be kind of nasty. Bring it back in and

drink some soda out of it. Godly leaders grow

and develop in loving God, his word, his ways,

and his things. You want to be a vessel for honorable

use? You want God to use you? You want to clean

up your vessel? Here it is. This is the answer.

Grow. and develop in God's love, his word, his

ways, and his things. Look carefully then how

you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, making

the best use of the time, because the days are

evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand

what the Lord's will is. Ephesians 5, 15 through

17. What's his will? Be obedient. End of the

chapter. Here we go. 22 through 26. So flee youthful

passions. Epithume. Epe Thume means get rid of

forbidden desires, cravings, and lusts. Young

men, clean up your stuff. Do you know how many

men are addicted to pornography? Just in this

room. If we had 100 men, it'd be 99%. That's

the average. 90%. Nine out of every 10 men. You're

like, what? Do you know what it is for women?

Almost the same. Pornography is not a man's issue.

It's a lust issue. Now, it's hard. It's not easy.

Flee youthful lusts. Get rid of forbidden desires,

craving lusts, and pursue diako. Earnestly endeavor

to acquire. Seek with all your heart righteousness,

faith, love, and peace. Seek the kingdom of God

and his righteousness. Notice it says that. Same

idea here. Earnestly endeavor to acquire righteousness,

faith, love, and peace along with those who call

on the Lord, along with the true family of God

from a pure heart. We do it together. We don't

live life apart from each other. We live life

with each other. When you struggle, I struggle.

When you're hurting, I'm hurting. When you're

in need, I'm in need. We do it together. never

alone, have nothing to do, here it is again,

with foolish, ignorant controversies. Why? You

know they breed quarrels. I mean, why do you

think people like, there's two things we don't

talk about at the dinner table. Go ahead. Okay.

Now think about that. Can't talk about religion.

What else are Christians going to talk about?

Makes no sense. Just don't get involved with

dumb stuff. Talk about the things that matter.

Why? Because the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome.

This word quarrelsome means war with words. He

must not be fighting over foolish things that

don't matter because he wants to try to make

a point. But he must be kind to everyone, able

to teach. patiently enduring evil. In other words,

patiently enduring the ills and wrongs of life.

What kind of man should he be? He should correct.

He should castigate. He should be molding the

character of others by reproof and admonition.

He should be castigating. He should be admonishing

his opponents with gentleness, with the truth

of the word of God. God may, perhaps, he may

give them repentance. And repentance is one brought

to repentance, and then God changes the mind.

He brings them to a changed life, then the mind

is changed. That's called sanctification. You

don't change your mind about God and then come

to Jesus. You know what, God? I really hate you.

Oh man, you know what? I'm changing my mind.

I just decided I think you're amazing. But that's

what we were taught. Repentance is not the change

of mind. Repentance is a change. Of the creature.

The creature is no longer a creature of death

and evil. He's been a creature of life. And as

a result of being changed to life, made a new

creature, God changes the mind. He renews the

mind with the word of God. If you have any question

about that, Romans chapter 12, verse 2. Okay.

Romans 12:2

Now, here we go. This change of mind may lead

to the knowledge of truth. May lead to faith.

which was given, faith and truth, which was given

through the partaking of faith. This whole change

of the knowledge of the truth of God, of the

truth of Christ, comes as a result of God giving

his faith to the dead creature. It's interesting.

Sort of like a spiritual shock pad, I guess.

Now, what happens to these people? They may come

to their senses, maybe. But you ever have people

that you share the love of God with and you just,

you look at them, they look at you like a deer

in headlights and going, how come you can't understand

this? I mean, you can't get any more simple than

that. It's because they're not supposed to understand

it. They may, not always, but may come to their

senses and escape the snare of the devil. For

those of us who have been on the conversation

for several months on the issue of Satan, the

devil, and the demons. This is an example of

that. We talked about that he snares people.

He entraps them. He puts a noose around them

with false accusations and slander and lies.

And as a result, all of those people who have

been ensnared and entrapped and noosed by him

are now out there teaching the same nonsense.

And it gets taught from person to person. It's

the same idea. As discipleship. If you have any

question about that, Jesus says that to the Pharisees,

does he not? What's he say to the Pharisees?

He says, you are like your father, the? Okay.

And they went about teaching. And that's exactly

what these two men did. Called a lie. Ensnared

people in lies. What happens when they're ensnared?

Where after being captured, caught. by his lies,

by his snares, by his entrapments to do his will,

to go out and propagate the same stuff. Don't

we see that going on in the world today? Propagating

the same stuff, doing the same things. And we

see that all the time, i .e. the Pope. When are

God's people going to have the courage and strength

and determination to stand solely on the truth

and not argue about foolish things. It's very

difficult and it's not easy, but God is good.

God is good. All right. Father, I want to thank

you so much for your goodness and faithfulness.

Thank you, Lord, that we got through this chapter.

Thank you for all that you're doing in the lives

of your people. draw us, help us, Lord, to seek

righteousness, faith, love, to endeavor, to walk,

and to learn, and to grow in truth. We praise

you and thank you for your faithfulness, your

goodness. In Jesus' name, amen.