“We Must Know who to Follow!”
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Men we live in a day and age where it is so easy to follow the lives of people we think are positive influences in our society. Many people follow someone on social media or even Youtube. It is easy for our younger generations to follow a sports figure or famous actor or musician. Many people are following a so called celebrity pastor or mega church pastor because their messages are relevant and play to people’s emotions. So, who are we to follow as we live our lives???
Throughout the life and ministry of Christ we see exactly who we should follow and God has even given His very words in the Bible to follow and obey. We also see in God’s Word what we should not chase after or follow after. What is that you may ask??? A few weeks ago as we began chapter 3 of 2 Timothy Paul laid out many examples of ungodly examples to avoid and you can go back and re-read the first 4 verses of chapter 3 to see all of these un-godly characteristics. These are the characteristics and people whose lives that these things are true of to avoid. This is why Paul begins verse 1 by saying mark this or understand this that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. Men, we are in those days!!! So, tonight I want us to cover this theme of knowing what we should follow after and what we must not follow after. Tonight we will continue to look at the emptiness of powerless and godless religion and the corrupt nature of false teachers. Then next week we will begin to look into what we must follow after to live godly lives pleasing to our Lord.
READ THE TEXT:
5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. 6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. 9 But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.
Verse 5 = Men if Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light than it should not surprise us that there will be men and women in the church who are Satan’s servants who disguise themselves as servant’s of righteousness.
The word here that Paul uses here that stands out to me is appearance. This word refers to an outward shape or shadow of something. But, that is all that it is. Like the unbelieving Pharisees of the Lord’s time they were only concerned about themselves and their outward form. This is what Jesus had to say about their lives.
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
Paul here describes their lives is that they do not appear to truly be who they actually say they are. But why is this??? Because they deny the power, the essence of what a true Christian is by continuing on in their sins. A true Christian turns from their sin and lives in the power and victory of what Jesus has done for them. So, these folks that Paul mentions here are religious fakes pretending to be religious leaders and teachers of God’s Word. In all actuality they are servants of Satan.
True Christianity is not about a show or religious works but in a public profession of what Jesus has done in our lives and obedience to Him as we go about our lives. As Paul shares this news with Timothy on what to be on the look out for we also know that he did this with Titus. Here is what Paul said to Titus in chapter 1.
16 They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.
As we look deeper into verse 5 we understand that this list of ungodly characteristics and people could apply to all unbelievers of course, however Paul is really guiding us to watch out for professing Christians who in the last days we be lovers of self more than having a love for God. Satan’s most dangerous attacks against God’s people come from within the church by means of false preachers and teachers who pretend to speak for God. These type of people deny the true, life giving power of the gospel. Ultimately these so called leaders have no love for God and no love for His people, only a love for themselves and this eventually becomes clear in time.
So what are we to do? What should be our approach?
Look back with me at the end of verse 5. Paul says, “Avoid such people.” So, what exactly does this mean for us today? We are to reject their false doctrines and false teaching. We are to reject their false standards by which they tell us to live. Men, it does not matter how convincing their message may see or even how catchy it may come across. If it is contrary to the Word of God it is a lie from Satan. We are to avoid men and people like this. We are to separate ourselves from them and to have no fellowship with them until they repent of their ways. Commentator Kelley says that this word avoid here is a strong term indicating that Timothy is to avoid them with horror.
*Illustration of my fake Rolex Watch. A few years ago I was given a watch and it looked real but it was not. There were several things to look for to tell me that it was not genuine. However, none of that really matters because in the end it was not real or genuine, it was fake and worthless.
Men you know how to spot someone who genuinely loves the Lord. They are humble and have a love for God and His word. Scripture is the basis for everything that they believe and their personal character lines up with what they profess. A godly leader will see the importance of sharing their faith with others and as they do these converts will begin to have a deep love for God and His Word.
What else do we know about those whom we should not follow after? These people and more specifically these men, prey on those who are weak.
6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.
Paul now begins to speak on those false leaders who are preying on women. These men were sneaky and were known as men who were creeping into households undetected or unnoticed. A favorite target of these men or false teachers were weak women who were weighed down with certain sins and ungodly impulses or desires that weighed them down. These type of women were emotionally and spiritually weak woman or were very easily seduced by false teachers and their false teaching. These Ephesian women were falling prey to the opponents.
Paul lists out to us 3 descriptions of these weak women that these false teachers preyed on.
#1 They have been burdened with sins. Here we see that there is a piling up of sin over time and because of that the sin has effected their behavior. Paul does not list out their sins specifically, but these sins would have been in their past and that gave the false teachers an ability to capture them as Paul says here in verse 6.
#2 As a result of their sins, the women were led by various passions. This shows us the consequences of their situation. They should have been controlled by their passions but this is not the case. Their passions and sinful desires have led them astray. The word “Passions” here has the possibility of sexual impurity and shows us why Paul used the illustration of being captured in the privacy of their own homes. This may have been the reason earlier for Paul to write to the younger widows on why they should get remarried lest they become consumed in various passions.
#3 Finally, in verse 7 Paul tells us that they were always appearing to learn but never able to arrive at the real truth of the gospel. What in the world does this mean? Because these women were weak they did not have a knowledge of God’s Word and then add on sinful living and they were not able to discern against unbiblical and ungodly teaching. They could not learn the truth, either because they were exposed only to these false teachings or an exposed time to false teaching that had dulled their eyes and hearts to the knowledge of the truth. What is truth?
17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
God wants His children to know the truth from that which are the lies of Satan and this World. The only way that we can know what is truth is to get into God’s Word men. Are you spending time in God’s Word? Then you will be more discerning and know what is truth from that of the lies and deceivement of the Devil.
We now come to one last character trait that stands out to us about those whom we should not follow after. These men are against the truth!
8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. 9 But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.
Paul now compares his opponents here who were creeping into the homes of women with 2 Egyptian magicians who opposed Moses and opposed the true Message of God. Although Jannes and Jambres are not mentioned in Exodus or anywhere else in the Old Testament we know through Jewish tradition that these men came against Moses and their failure was evident to all. The comparison of these men mentioned here in verse 8 shows us the deceptiveness and foolishness of these false teachers that Paul is dealing with. Paul mentions 4 specifics about these men.
#1. They opposed the truth. Not only were these false teacher found to be opposing what Paul and Timothy were for and what they were teaching, ultimately these false teachers were opposing the truth of God’s Word. They were against the teaching of the gospel. They were against the teaching and truth of what Jesus did throughout his life, his death and even his resurrection.
#2. They had a depraved or corrupted mind. These men had a depraved mind.
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
#3. They were disqualified regarding the faith. Because these men rejected God and His Word and the faith, they themselves were rejected by God as regards the faith. This means that Paul was speaking of individuals within the church who claimed to be Christians but who were truly not. We know that throughout Paul’s ministry he told the church to test yourself to see if you were in the faith. We are to examine our lives and make sure men that Jesus Christ is in us. Paul of course is not saying here that we can be disqualified from salvation if we are truly saved, however there were some men who were disqualified as being usable instruments or servant for God.
#4. Finally, Paul tells us that these men won’t get very far. Because these men could ultimately hurt the church and could keep people from being saved, they will not make further progress and their foolishness will eventually come to light. Sooner or later the foolishness of these false teachers and preachers will become evident to all as that of Jannes and Jambres in ancient Israel. We eventually see the sin and error of these false teachers and godly people around them see the error clearly. Paul says it this way, “their folly becomes plain to all.”
So, what do we do in the meantime? How are we to respond as true believers???
-Remember that until the Lord returns we will constantly be fighting against this problem. The church is in a spiritual battle especially as we get closer and closer to the return of Christ.
-We need to be men who are in God’s Word. We need to have a sense of spiritual discernment, testing every message that claims to be God’s Word. We won’t know if it’s coming from God’s Word unless we ourselves are spending time with God through His Word.
-We ourselves need to be men who are living pure and holy lives for God. We have been bought for a price men, therefore we should live to please our Father.
-Be patient. It is not easy living in times where we see so many false teachings. We also live in a day where we want immediate answers to all of life’s problems and issues. Remember today that God will answer those in His timing and ultimately victory belongs to Christ and His bride.
-Our responsibility is to remain faithful to Christ.
2 Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.
Be faithful men and keep your eyes and life focussed on following Jesus. When we take our eyes of Christ is when we get sidetracked by the Devil, so watch out and armor up!!!
