Multiply Through Clear Teaching on Proper Belief and Behavior | September 20, 2026

Ishmael LaBiosa: We're looking today at 2 Timothy chapter 2, verses 14 through 26. And we've been focusing on 2 Timothy, especially the idea of mentorship. The Apostle Paul is at the end of his life. He is giving his last words to his mentee, Timothy, because Paul sees that his life will soon be over. 2 Timothy 4. Paul says, I'll be poured out like a drink offering. He's like, I'm out. Timothy, you're up. And what we get here are the last lessons of the aged apostle facing his martyrdom, saying, Timothy, this is the type of person I want you to become, and this is the type of people I want you to train others to become. You know, one of the scariest things about Mentorship, if you take that seriously, is the people you pour into will start looking like you. Like, ⁓ boy. It's one of the terrifying things, be honest, of raising kids. Just wait. When they get older, I see some things and I'm like, I don't think I act like that. And then I asked Melissa, she goes, Yeah, you do. I said, Okay, well, we need to rectify that in Rusty so we can rectify that. In the boys, because what you model is is what people follow. More is caught than taught. That's the way this goes. And I would say today, the Apostle Paul gives some salient lessons about what it is his Minty Timothy is supposed to be, which gives us insight into what we're supposed to be and how we are to train other people. Every week, if you listen, Pastor Ishmael prays for people in need. And every week here at Liberty, there's someone in the hospital, someone getting surgery, someone in a difficulty. And so between Pastor Ishmael Ishmael and myself, we visit the hospital a lot. And I've noticed a few things. I can usually tell a difference between a young doctor and an old doctor. It's a very And it's not just by looking at the wrinkles on their face. It's about how they engage the patient. Because sometimes a young doctor, you can say he comes in, he or she, and they seem to have an answer for every ailment. They got a treatment for every disease. They've got a solution for every problem. And sometimes they don't quite listen enough. They just start talking at the patient and telling the patient everything the patient ⁓ needs to hear, at least so they think. And I can I can be in the room sometime, and you know, far be it from me to tell the doctor, I don't think you're handling this person very well, but but it's almost like they've got the education, and the education has gotten them. And honestly, that's not a sign of maturity. It's actually a sign of the novice. Because someone more seasoned comes in with all the knowledge. But sees the person in front of them and only gives that which is appropriate to the person. And furthermore, when debate ensues, which sometimes does even happen in the in the hospital room, that the wiser, more subtle doctor doesn't get into a debate, just lets the person have their say. You say, Why do you say that, Rusty? Well, because today. The Apostle Paul is going to give some very clear words about the way in which Timothy is going to have to confront difficulties and is going to say, I want you to make sure that you're not acting like the novice when you get there, that you act like a person with wisdom and maturity and grace. If you have a Bible, 2 Timothy chapter 2, verses 14 through 26, three big ideas today. That are important. The first big idea is to multiply. We must explain the Bible with sufficient clarity and refuse to fight. Notice it says in verse 14: remind them of these things, charging them before God not to fight about words. This is in no way profitable and leads to the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent to present yourself, approve to God. A worker who doesn't need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth, but avoid irreverent empty speech, for this will produce an even greater measure of godlessness, and their word will sp spread like gangrene, among whom are Hymenaeus and Philetus. They have deviated from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already taken place and are overturning the faith of some, nevertheless. God's solid foundation stands firm, having this inscription. The Lord knows those who are his, and everyone who names the name of the Lord must turn away from unrighteousness. If you're reading this text carefully, you notice that it zigs and it zags because on one level you get this very straight admonition. Charge them before God, remind them of these things. That's very straight confrontational language, but then it says, don't fight about words. It then says avoid irreverent and empty speech, for that will produce an even greater measure of godlessness. It's not just enough to train people what to say. You must train people how to say it. When to start, when to stop, when to set truth on the high ground, when not to debate. And this is actually very much a part of maturity. I remember as a young seminary student long ago. ⁓ boy, I could debate you into the ground, and I would win. But that was not helpful. And Paul tells young Timothy, it's not helpful for you either. You need to Know what you believe, you need to be able to set truth on the high ground, but you don't need to get down in the muck. This is actually a very important truth that I think sometimes is not always highlighted. Now, the apostle Paul is under no illusion of how far afield the church at Ephesus, that's where 2 Timothy is written to Timothy, but he's going to Ephesus. Paul is under no illusion of how deep the false teaching is at Ephesus. You have Hymeneus and Philetus denying the central tenet of Christianity. Christianity rises or falls on the resurrection of Jesus. 1 Corinthians 15 says, if Christ is not raised, the Apostle Paul says, Your faith is in vain, you are still in your sin. But there was this belief that started to bubble up in the first century. It came to full. ⁓ full relief in the second century, and it was the idea that the body is not important. What really matters is the soul. You know, if you got your soul right, forget about your body. I mean, what's the purpose of that? It's just like taking it off like an old jacket and throwing it away. Well, that's not what Christianity believes. Christianity believes not only in the redemption of the soul, it believes in the resurrection of the body. And evidently there were some people, Hymeneus and Philitus, they're named. Who came to the church and said, Let's talk about soul salvation. We don't need to worry about the body. And they said that the you've had a spiritual resurrection, so don't worry about the physical one. The resurrection has already happened. You've already had a spiritual resurrection. Don't worry about a physical resurrection. And they were promoting this around the church. And the apostle Paul says, go in there and tell them, stop teaching that. But don't get in a fight over it. And that is the situation. It's a dire situation in Ephesus. Now I will often I'm I'm one of the I have I'm I'm working hard here because I want all of you, if you did confront or see error, that you would know it's error. Did you know it's wrong? Did you actually know what Is within the bounds of Christianity. And there's this great verse here that really sets the tone, 2 Timothy 2.15, in which it says, some people say, well, you know, I like reading my Bible. You know, I don't really like studying. That sounds pretty boring. Well, that's not what the Bible says. The Bible says, study to show yourself approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed, who can correctly handle the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2.15. So part of your responsibility is sufficiently know the scriptures so that you could spot error, but not get in a fight over it because you're mature. That's what the text is. You say, Rusty, what are we doing here to live out the principles of 2 Timothy 215? Well, I'm glad you ask. ⁓ For our Awana program. Yes. Approved A Workman W R A. You know, A for the letter A, okay? Not ashamed. Approved workmen are not ashamed. Awana. That's what it means. It comes from Second Timothy two fifteen. I think of all the children's programs that I've engaged with. Very few do as well in implanting the scriptures in the heart of a child like Iwana. It's really nice to put a Bible under your arm. It's much better to put a Bible in your head to memorize it. And I came to faith through the Iwana program and my two boys clearly understood the essence of the gospel through Bible verses that they memorized in the Iwana program. It's very important for us. To have internalized the scriptures, memorized the scriptures, at least some key verses, so that when you're out and about, you can say, Well, that's not right, because the Bible says, and you can quote the verse to yourself. I think about just a little backstory here two men, one by one named Lance Latham, and another man by the name of Art Roheim. ⁓ Art in particular came to cr came to faith in Christ after his brother died of meningitis and decided to become the youth the church's youth director. The the two, both Lance and Art, had already worked at the Chicago Gospel Tabernacle, but in 1941 they built a weekly program meant to reach churched and unchurched children. And so they developed games, uniforms, awards, handbooks. And a clear gospel presentation. The Game Square, which you can see if you pick up these chairs, by the way, ⁓ Bible memory and council time were in place, and immediately these two men got 500 students there, children, in Chicago. In nineteen fifty, they decided to form the Awana Youth Association, and now today the amount of good that the Awana program does in training children, the Bible, is really untold. ⁓ I mean here tonight you're gonna have over a hundred children. They'll be sitting in these rooms and they'll be quoting passages of scripture. Excellent. This is part of our mentorship program. I mean, my two, I was listening to Thomas the other day, my son. Rejoice in the Lord always, and I say it again, rejoice. He's quoting it. ⁓ he was kind of upset that day, so he was kind of crying and quoting it, but nevertheless, he was given the right words, even with the wrong emotions. ⁓ you understand? But this you cannot underestimate. Study to show yourself approved, because we cannot be able to isolate you or children from the culture. You must insulate them. And you insulate them by giving them the scriptures. Now look, it is not enough to be a know it all. Actually, we don't want to just train, and you don't want to just train as a mentor in knowledge. You must also train, you ready for it, in character. I can see some guys who say, ⁓ I'm caught into ministry, and I say, Well, you're smart enough. I'm not sure you're godly enough. I've told a few of this. I said, Your brain is right, but your behavior is wrong. You need to be a person usable. You need to be a person of integrity. You need to be a person of your words. You need to be a person of moral fortitude. If you want to be used of God, you have to not just inform your mind. You have to put to death the deeds of the flesh, the apostle Paul says. That which is contrary to God must be contrary to you. That's the second big idea. Timothy says, Don't just ⁓ Paul tells Timothy, don't just focus on your teaching. Focus on your life. He'll actually, in a few weeks, lay out the care the quality not just of his teaching, but his life. Notice the second big idea. To multiply, we must cleanse ourselves from any corrupting influences and become a vessel ready for God's use. Verse 20 says, Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver bowls, but also those of wood and earthenware, some for special use, some for ordinary. Now, if anyone purifies himself from these things, he will be an instrument set apart, useful to the master, prepared for every good work. Now, right before this, during our Sunday school time, we have coffee set up, which I am one big coffee fan. Okay. Rusty, he is a coffee fan. Coffee, what is this? I think somebody have seen a shirt. I'm running on coffee, and Jesus. I probably ought to buy the shirt. That's my that's my shirt indeed. ⁓ although I don't I'm not gonna wear that shirt. Don't buy it for me, please. Okay. ⁓ I I try to keep it simple, keep it plain in my life. But it right out there, like if you come to the ten o'clock Sunday school, which I highly recommend. If you're coming here, go to the ten o'clock Sunday school. We have like these containers where you put your coffee in them. They're thermoses to keep the coffee warm. It's real nice. And that's a nice container. But like literally across the hallway, we have plenty of other nice containers. They just happen to be lo and located in something we call the janitor's closet. And if next Sunday we just decided that the coffee containers could go in the janitor's closet and we'll serve the coffee out of the container, yeah, I know. She doesn't like this. Okay? She's like, whoa, whoa, whoa. ⁓ I I I'm not I don't I'm not gonna drink coffee out of the mob bucket. And not you're not only gonna not gonna drink coffee out of the mop bucket, I'm not gonna drink coffee out of the mop bucket. You say, what, Rusty, what is going on? That's exactly Paul's point. He says, in a house there's a lot of different vessels. He says some have, he says there are gold and silver bowls, there are also wood and earthenware. And you you eat off the good stuff and you use the lesser stuff for lesser uses. That's the point. And Paul says if you have a Cleansed yourself appropriately, moral integrity, well, n the coffee might be good, but the bucket, it's dirty. I'll tell you something that's happened, and I'm a little sad about it. I'm sad about it, but I understand it. ⁓ in the I'm a little sad about it, but I can get over it. I'm over it now, okay? ⁓ and this is it. That long ago it was very common. That if you wanted to have a meal at a at the church, you had a church. ⁓ no. A church podluck. What is wrong with you people? You know what I'm saying? Where have you been? You know? Yeah, I mean, this is like this is like Christian America for like a hundred years. You know, you're gonna have a meal, let's everybody bring a dish. And several things happen. ⁓ one, people don't like to cook as much, although there are great cooks in here. They're like, I'm not, I'm not cooking a casserole. So then you'd have a hundred people show up and then you wouldn't have enough casserole, and that's a disaster. Okay, that's the first thing. The second thing is we have all we have become a great deal more concerned about who cooked that casserole. I hate to tell you this. I I've been here long enough. I wait for people to die. Then I can share the stories, you know. And so the everybody they're they're dead now, so I can share the stories. There was a lady who I I thought a great deal loved. She's now in heaven, and ⁓ she loved to visit around people, and she would go and visit people and eat in their homes. And sometimes I would go, not all the time. Mercifully I wasn't here at this time. She said she was eating, she was having such a good time at this person's house. It was pork loin or something, and mashed potatoes and green beans. And she and she said, These mashed potatoes are really good. And she looked over. And then as she was putting the mashed potato in her mouth, she could see the mashed potatoes on the stove. And here comes the cat. And the cat pressed the paw right down in the mashed potatoes and just kept on trucking. And all of a sudden, Cat hair mashed potatoes. She just said she stirred it around. And so she it was nice because back then we'd still be doing potlucks and she would come up behind me and go And so I'd make sure steer clear of the cat pot, you know, right there, because I didn't want to eat cat fur. And then I'd see other people come in behind them and I'm like, I'm under a confidentiality agreement. Okay, so that was unfortunate. Okay. So the good news is, the good news is if you want the people you train need to be people of character because a dirty vessel. Creates a problem. Even if the contents are good, the vessel needs to be clean. Now, hear me clearly. In two weeks, we're gonna have a meal here on harvest day, okay? And we have excellent caterers, okay? David Giles and his crew, and there'll be no cats anywhere close to it, okay? You will want to come, you don't have to bring a thing, it is free of charge. And you'll get barbecue pork, barbecue chicken, macaroni and cheese, green beets, coleslaw, yeast rolls, and cupcakes. All right. So if you come to the 930 service, you'll eat at eleven. If you come to this, you'll eat at twelve. And we wash the bowls big time. It's cleaner than probably most of the restaurants you eat in. Okay. So that's the way that goes. you need to know that. I'm afraid always that you remember my illustrations and not the point. Be a clean vessel God can use. That's the point. Here's the third and final point, and I will wrap it up. To multiply, we need to pursue Christian character and correct others with gentleness. ⁓ Here's the big idea. I'll read the text here in just a half a second. That if you are a Christian in this world or in any world, there will be some level of confrontation because of what you believe. The way it goes. And probably more so in this world as things become less Christian, less Christian-influenced. But our goal is to set truth on the high ground. But our ultimate goal is always to remember the person in front of us and to win them. And I want you to hear these words that to multiply, we must pursue Christian character and correct others with gentleness. Listen to the scriptures. Verse 22. Flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the name of those who call on the Lord from a pure heart, but reject foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they breed quarrels. Listen to verse 24. The Lord's slave must not quarrel, but must be gentle to everyone, able to teach and patient. Instructing his opponents with gentleness, perhaps God will grant them repentance to know the truth. Then they may come to their senses and escape the devil's trap, having been captured by him to do his will. I want you to notice this there's Paul tells Timothy to flee. In the old translation you remember this flee youthful lust, and some people say, Well, that's only sexual immorality. It is sexual immorality. But it's a lot more than that. Impulsiveness, rashness, the things that are often associated with youth. Paul says, Leave those behind, Timothy. Grow up and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with a pure heart, for those from those who call on the name of the Lord. But notice this he says, in the context of going into Ephesus, in the context of dealing with Hymeneus and Philetus and their false teaching, In the context of keeping your character together, don't lose sight that the ones that you have to correct and the ones that you have to oppose, that your ultimate desire is to win them. And that you want to not just win an argument, you want to win the person. Because it says the Lord's slave must not quarrel, he must be gentle. Instructing his opponents with gentleness, perhaps God will grant them repentance to know the truth. You know what our culture I think has totally lost, especially on social media? I almost feel like I ought to post this on social media. The Lord's slave must not quarrel. We thrive on this now to learn how to speak gently. I understand what you're saying, but here's the reason that I don't agree. And just put that out there. And to be able to do that, honestly, you would stand out in this culture. You'll stand out as a Christian if you have confident convictions. That you cut the word straight, that you studied to show yourself approve, that you will say, Hymeneus and Philetus, that is wrong. It's not consistent with Christianity. And the moment they want to fight, you say, I'm not. I'm not going to fight with you. I'm going to say what I say. I'm going to set truth on the high ground. I'm going to correct error. I'm going to do it as a person of integrity. And at the end of the day, you say, and I hope. One day you'll see it's wrong as well. And come to trust in Jesus. You know, one of the difficulties of being a mentor is that you are training a person to become a certain person. And I think if you have the responsibility and I have the responsibility of training a person to become a certain person. That we ought to use the scriptures as our guide of the certain person that we like them to become. And if we just think, ⁓ I got it, I mean, some pastors built their whole ministry on controversy and bombast. I actually know a few of them. The Lord's slave must not quarrel. How do you square that? But with gentleness. Because our culture likes bombast. They like they like Difficulty. They like something more flashy. But Jesus loves the truth, but he also loves people and knows how to speak the truth in love. And so I would commend this to you today to think about am I this type of person and am I training others to be this type of person? I said it at the beginning, I'll say it at the end. Your first step in Christianity is not to be mentored. Your first step in Christianity is to become a Christian. And if there's never been a time, never been a place, where you've turned from sin and self and put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, this altar is open. I'm here, Pastor Ishmael's here. We'll talk to you. If you say, Rusty, I don't know if I were to die today, where I'd spend eternity. Well, that's something you can get straight, and you can get it straight today. This altar is open. And if you're a Christian, my question is since this series will soon be over, who are you mentoring or who is mentoring you? Every Christian oughta have some parts in the mentor or mentoring relationship. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we ask you, God, we ask you that. We would see your word for what it is, a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. God, after we have worked together to make disciples of Jesus Christ as a church, God, we pray they look like Jesus. They look like people consistent with your word. And God, today may you correct us, instruct us, and train us in righteousness from your word, so that Not only do we know how to live, but that we know how to communicate to others wise living. God, we pray for your help. God, we pray for the continuation of the ministry of Liberty Baptist. In Jesus' name. Amen.

2 Timothy 2:14–26 2 Timothy 2:14–26