2 Timothy 2:14-26 - The Approved Worker
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction:
The desire for man’s approval is seen from an early age and continues even into adulthood. Young children hunger for positive feedback from their parents signifying acceptance of them. School-aged children often long for a teacher to tell them how smart they are or a coach to speak of their superior athletic abilities. In college, many people seek to accomplish certain awards and graduate with honors. Even in the workplace, employees battle for recognition and honor and raises. Stay-at-home mothers aren’t out of this rat race either. With social media, there is a constant desire for approval from other mom’s in how they are raising their children or keeping their home.
This chase for approval never ends.
But what actually happens when you receive that approval?
What happens when your boss recognizes your hard work, other moms speak of how wonderful you are, your teacher gives great feedback on your work, and the coach rewards you with the game ball after a huge playoff win?
You begin to understand that this approval is fleeting. There will be another deadline at work, there will be a day where your children don’t behave nearly as well, there will be a day where you don’t ace that test, and there will be a game where you blow that final play.
Unfortunately, many people never grasp that the approval of man is always fleeting.
But there is an approval that is much more important for us as believers. And this is the approval of the Lord. His approval is all that matters. There is no moving target for the Lord. His expectations are clear. His Word is clear. He is not fickle like this world but is consistent and reliable. May we seek not to find the approval of man - but may we rest in being an approved worker for the Lord.
Let’s read our Scripture for today…
Read Full Scripture:
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. They are 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 of wood and clay, some for 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. So flee youthful passions and 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. And 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.
Prayer
Today we are going to see four points that are true of a worker approved by God. The first is…
I. The Worker Approved by God Will Rightly Handle the Truth (14-15)
I. The Worker Approved by God Will Rightly Handle the Truth (14-15)
Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers.
As we begin this section of Scripture we need to be sure to refocus on our context. Paul is writing to Timothy - his adopted spiritual son. And he has just charged Timothy to entrust the Word of God to faithful men.
He now urges Timothy to remind these faithful men - namely pastors - to be reminded of these things - meaning the Gospel and the Word of God.
Unfortunately, we are a forgetful people. God understands the simplicity of humans. He understands that we need reminders time and time again. One of my jobs as a pastor is to continually remind us about what really matters - namely the Lord and His Word.
The world often distracts us from what matters. But we need to stay focused on our mission as a good solider as we discussed last week.
We must be reminded of the truth, and we must also be admonished to avoid evil. One of the evils that can befall pastors and church leaders are quarrels. The man of God should not be quick to quarrel.
Now we need to be specific about what Paul is warning these faithful men to avoid. He is not saying that words do not matter.
Words absolutely do matter, and the correct interpretation of the Word is of utmost importance. We will see in the next verse a clarification from Paul about rightly handling the Word of truth. So we know that Paul isn’t teaching against good theology and doctrine.
What Paul is discussing here is quarreling about things that lack any practical or applicational meaning. These arguments are often speculative and are full of conjecture and assumptions.
Some men love to start arguments over the most minute of details.
Listen to Paul clearly teach against the divisive man in another Pastoral Epistle - the one to Titus:
As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.
Such quarrelsome men should be warned and if not responding to such warnings should eventually undergo church discipline with ultimate removal from the body of believers should he remain unrepentant.
He also taught a similar warning at the end of his last letter to Timothy:
he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.
In this, we see that these quarrels are from people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth. These are people who try to attain a ‘super-spiritual’ level - thinking that they can arrive at a truth that no one else can arrive at. These sinful men are puffed up with pride and lack a true understanding of the Word of God. We are to avoid such controversial people.
This false and heretical teaching was seen in the Gnostics of Paul’s age. These heretical teachers claimed to have special knowledge that no one else could gain. They would seek to divide true believers by their so-called ‘knowledge.’
Although we must stay firm on the Word of God, we are not to quarrel about things that are impractical and preferential in nature. These heated debates among church leaders can cause damage to those in the church. Paul states that it can ruin the hearers of such quarrels.
We must seek to be united around the truth of God’s Word and not fight for our own ideas and conjecture. The body of Christ can be confused and become disengaged because of quarrels without substance.
Instead of being quarrelsome, Paul urges pastors to be approved in verse 15…
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.
Now we come to the thesis or main idea point of this section of Scripture. God calls pastors to be approved workers. Although this Scripture directly applies to pastors, it clearly can be applied to all of us. We should all seek to be approved workers for Christ.
And the main way we are called to be an approved worker is to rightly handle the word of truth - namely the Bible.
What does it mean to rightly handle the word of truth? This means to interpret the Words of the Scriptures correctly. We are to study the Word and teach it correctly.
The original Greek word here for rightly handling is orthotomeo (ortho-tow-mayo) which literally means to cut straight. We actually get our word orthodox from the first part of this word which means straight. Orthodox doctrine is doctrine that is Biblically correct.
Pastors are to preach the Word and preach it correctly. Nothing is to be added and nothing is to be removed. Pastors have no room for artistic expression or variation from the Word.
Unfortunately, many pastors have not held fast to rightly handling the Word of God. And the church universal has suffered immensely for this atrocity.
Although an occasional topical sermon isn’t sinful in and of itself, the topical sermon movement has led to the cherry picking of easy Scriptures at the expense of the hard ones. Much of the Bible has been neglected in the church as pastors have shied away from the difficult Scriptures in order to preach what they wanted to preach.
This is one of the reasons that we hold fast to an expositional book-by-book and verse-by-verse preaching of the Word of God. It prevents us from skipping the hard passages and it forces us to systematically study the entirety of the Scriptures.
Another issue in rightly handling the Word can come from our cultural and doctrinal pre-understandings. We must not bring our own biases to the Scripture. We must allow the Word of God to interpret itself.
Although systematic theology is important, we must beware of allowing theological frameworks to overly influence our interpretation of Scripture.
Many might ask me if I am a Calvinist or an Arminian. They might ask if I am a reformed Baptist? They might ask if I fall in a dispensationalist, progressive dispensationalist, or progressive covenantal framework. At the risk of sounding pious, I usually answer that I am a Biblicist. Although there are truths that I would absolutely agree with in certain theological frameworks, there are other areas that might be difficult to tease out when looking at the entire counsel of Scripture.
My job is not to fit neatly within a certain theological camp. My job is to rightly handle the Word of God.
And by rightly handling the Word of God, a pastor can be an unashamed worker.
This idea of being ashamed comes from the idea of being disqualified:
But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
The approved worker practices what he preaches. He rightly handles the Word and lives by it as well.
I was talking to a gentleman a couple of weeks ago about a big issue in the modern church. Many pastors and aspiring church leaders, especially young men, have quite the zeal to have deep theological understandings. This desire for knowledge can quickly puff up and disqualify as we see here in 1 Corinthians. During this conversation, the following quote came to my mind which I think is a warning shot to all of us who love theology:
Many men seek to know right things about God, but few seek to know God rightly.
Our job is to rightly handle the truth, but it is also know the Lord rightly as well. May we seek to know the truth and live that truth out as approved workers.
Next we see that…
Scripture References: Titus 3:10-11, 1 Timothy 6:4-5, 1 Corinthians 9:27
II. The Worker Approved by God Will Readily Combat the Treacherous (16-18)
II. The Worker Approved by God Will Readily Combat the Treacherous (16-18)
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. They are upsetting the faith of some.
Paul now hits on those who are not approved workers - namely those who are false teachers.
Paul repeats himself from 1 Timothy 6:20. Avoid irreverent babble. In other words, this is unprofitable talk that makes light of the the truth of God. These false teachings will lead people into ungodliness and spread like gangrene.
This illustration of gangrene is meant to be unpleasant. Infectious gangrene is known to spread like wildfire. It is a surgical emergency needing an immediate debridement and wound cleansing along with antibiotics. For those of you wondering if I was going to take this chance to bring my medical experience and give you some pictures of these types of infectious - you can thank my wife. I knew she wouldn’t have been able to handle it!
Unfortunately, we live in a world where lies spread a lot faster than truth.
We see this even in secular news and social media. A false scandal might spread throughout the nation in a matter of hours. Yet, a fact-checking true story may never reach nearly as many people as the initial lie.
This is true about the truth of the Scripture as well. False teachings spread quickly within churches because unbelievers that are in the churches grasp onto these falsehoods quickly. These false converts are of their father the devil and follow him.
Two such heretical false teachers are name-dropped by Paul here - Hymenaeus and Philetus. These two men had swerved from the truth. This word picture is really interesting. They seemed to be on the right way and swerved the wrong way. This is the mark of a false convert. They can appear as if they are on the narrow path. Yet they were never truly on the path and quickly desert to the wide way that leads to destruction.
These two men had claimed that the resurrection had already happened. This was a heresy that had infiltrated the Ephesian church. These two former church leaders had caused great harm to the church. We saw that Hymenaeus was excommunicated along with Alexander in 1 Timothy 1:20. Yet, Hymenaeus now has a new co-worker helping him spread heresy.
What was this heresy specifically? It appears that these false teachers had taught that the resurrection referred not to a true bodily resurrection, but instead to a spiritual resurrection.
This teaching would have likely been associated with a low view of the material world and high view of Gnosis - meaning special knowledge that we mentioned earlier. This would have required works for salvation because the body would have been thought to have been forever evil and unredeemable.
Yet, this false teaching caught on because of the health, wealth, and prosperity message that it brought. If one had already attained the resurrection spiritually, then all of the promises given for eternal life could be fully realized now. Such false teachings are captivating for false believers.
These false teachers could look at Paul and claim that he was not in the right because look at where his teachings got him placed - in a dungeon on death row. Sounds a lot like the messages of the false teachers of prosperity today as well!
I am sure many false converts would look at someone like Joel Osteen and then look at many of the struggling small church pastors across America and with pragmatism determine that he must be in the right since he is so wealthy and his church is so large.
Yet Jesus clearly teaches that the kingdom of God works much differently than the kingdom of this world. Jesus says that the last will be first and the first will be last (Matthew 19:30).
This wasn’t Paul’s first time combating this false teaching. Paul had already taught directly against such heresy in 1 Corinthians 15:17:
And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.
The bodily resurrection of Christ is of utmost importance. Because if He was not raised, then we won’t be either! The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ is central to the Gospel message. Paul addresses this heresy head-on to stop it in its tracks. Church leaders should do this as well. We must be strong and courageous to combat heresy and false teachings.
The worker approved by God will rightly handle the truth, will readily combat the treacherous, and next we see that…
Scripture References: 1 Timothy 6:20, 1 Timothy 1:20, Matthew 19:30, 1 Corinthians 15:17
III. The Worker Approved by God Will Be Revealed as Trustworthy (19-21)
III. The Worker Approved by God Will Be Revealed as Trustworthy (19-21)
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.”
God’s firm foundation is the church - obviously built on the solid rock of Jesus Christ.
Those who are part of the church are sealed with the Holy Spirit.
Paul had referred to the church as a pillar and buttress of the truth in 1 Timothy 3:15 and Jesus stated in Matthew 16:18 that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
This is meant to talk about the strength and trustworthiness of the promises of God and the firmness that He provides to those who are His. True approved workers remain trustworthy. Unlike the false teachers that we just discussed, approved workers remain faithful to Christ.
In illustrating this he brings up an account in the book of Numbers. A group of men led by Korah had led a rebellion against Moses. During this interchange Moses states the following in Numbers 16:5:
and he said to Korah and all his company, “In the morning the Lord will show who is his...
The Septuagint - or the Greek translation of the Old Testament literally says what we find here in 2 Timothy 2:19 - The Lord knows those who are His.
And just before the faceoff between Moses and Korah and his followers, Moses says the following in Numbers 16:26:
And he spoke to the congregation, saying, “Depart, please, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be swept away with all their sins.”
Paul is using this illustration from the interchange of Moses and Korah to illustrate the danger of false teaching and the need to hold fast to the trustworthy Word of God.
During this face off between Moses and Korah, God did something incredibly amazing. After Moses warned the congregation to step away from Korah and his followers, listen to what happened:
And as soon as he had finished speaking all these words, the ground under them split apart. And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the people who belonged to Korah and all their goods. So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol, and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly.
What an illustration! Paul makes it clear what God thinks about false teachers!
He then gives a second illustration on the need to remain trustworthy as leaders of God’s people…
Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for 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.
Paul now gives a practical illustration for the believer.
The great house in this illustration is, again, the church.
Paul mentions two types of vessels that might be found in a great house. Some of these vessels are honorable such as those made of gold and silver and some are dishonorable such as those made from wood and clay.
The honorable vessels are used for feasting and for hosting. The dishonorable vessels speak of those used for refuse.
So in other words, we are talking about fine china compared to trash cans.
And in this discussion he uses this metaphor for true pastors and false pastors.
Those who are true Gospel pastors are those who are used for honorable purposes. They are those who speak the Word of God as those set apart by God.
Yet, those who are false teachers, they are compared to refuse containers - or trash cans. Only rubbish goes in and rubbish comes out.
Just as Israel had true leaders such as Moses and Aaron and false leaders such as Korah, the church also has true pastors and false pastors.
Be sure that you are listening to an approved worker of God - one who is trustworthy in his handling of the Word.
Although, again, this applies first and foremost to pastors, an application can be found for all of us.
Are you being trustworthy in how you handle the Word? As you teach your children and others, are you rightly handling the Word?
May we remain faithful and trustworthy as approved workers. Lastly, we see that…
Scripture References: 1 Timothy 3:15, Matthew 16:18, Numbers 16:3, Numbers 16:5, Numbers 16:31-33
IV. The Worker Approved by God Will Be Righteously Tenacious (22-26)
IV. The Worker Approved by God Will Be Righteously Tenacious (22-26)
Tenacious means extremely persistent and relentless. The approved worker of God seeks righteousness with all of his heart. Paul gives a series of charges to end this section of Scripture:
So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.
What are youthful passions?
These include lust, selfish ambition, impatience, quarrelsomeness among others. Youthful passions are selfishly motived. They are characteristic of the immature and unregenerate. The approved worker should not marked by these.
An approved worker knows what to run from - but he also knows what to run toward:
Instead of youthful passions, the approved worker should:
1 - Pursue Righteousness
2 - Exhibit Faith
3- Love God and Others
4 - Be a Man of Peace
5 - Have a Pure Heart
1 - Pursue Righteousness
He is to have correct conduct before God. He is to obey the commands of God above all else.
This type of righteous living only comes from a man with a right knowledge of God. Righteousness begins and ends with being a born-again believer of Jesus. Righteousness is only found in the Lord Jesus as we repent of our sins and place our faith and trust in Jesus who lived a sinless life, died on the cross for our sins, and rose three days later.
The approved worker also should…
2 - Exhibit Faith
He is to trust God completely in everything. This child-like faith is necessary for all who follow Christ.
3- Love God and Others
The approved worker of God is marked by His love for God above all and his love for man as well. In Matthew 22:37-39 Jesus summarizes the entire law in these two commands - love God with all of your being and love your neighbor as yourself.
4 - Be a Man of Peace
As Paul has already addressed, he should not be a quarrelsome man. He should be a man of peace. Although he rightly handles the Word and fights for the faith, he does so seeking peace whenever possible. He does not major in the minors and seeks to find common ground whenever possible.
And summarizing all of these, the approved worker must…
5 - Have a Pure Heart
The approved worker must seek to live his life free from sin. This refers to sanctification. Those who follow Christ should always be seeking to grow in their Christ-likeness.
Paul isn’t done with his charges…
Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness.
Coming full circle, Paul readdresses the sin of divisive leaders. Don’t argue about foolish matters. Instead, the approved worker must lovingly teach and correct his opponents with kindness and love despite the evil that may befall him.
Jesus was our greatest example of this. He was persecuted and yet still handled Himself graciously. He didn’t get caught up in the religious leaders’ traps. He stayed focused on His mission from His Father. Whenever they asked a question - He addressed the heart behind it.
And His gentle and kind, yet powerful, teaching led to the salvation of many who heard Him teach. Which brings us to the last two verses…
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.
Now we are told why it is so important for the worker of God to be righteous.
Those who oppose us on earth are not our true enemy. The devil is our true enemy. He has captured many people to do his will. Yet, with godly leadership, clear teaching, and patient endurance, some of our opponents will come to repentance and faith by the saving work of God. They may come to their senses - meaning awaking from their stupor.
Satan blinds the eyes of unbelievers and makes them drunk with his lies (2 Corinthians 4:4). These unbelievers are slaves to sin.
Yet, God can save anyone. He can draw anyone to Himself.
May we faithfully and lovingly preach the Gospel and live it out so that more and more might be saved.
Scripture References: Matthew 22:37-39, 2 Corinthians 4:4
Conclusion:
Today we have seen what it means to be an approved worker. Although this was directed at pastors, we should all seek to be approved workers of the Lord. May we rightly handle the truth, be willing to lovingly yet confidently confront and combat the treacherous false teachers and false converts in our churches, and may we remain trustworthy and tenacious as we graciously serve the Lord.
May we not seek the approval of the world, but instead seek to be a worker approved by the Lord.
