Sermon Tone Analysis

Tim Challies Quote:

False teaching has consequences.

“Satan’s greatest ambassadors are not pimps, politicians, or power-brokers, but pastors.

His priests do not peddle a different religion, but a deadly perversion of the true one.

His troops do not make a full-out frontal assault, but work as agents, sneaking into the opposing army.

Satan’s tactics are studied, clever, predictable, effective.”

That quote is painful, but I am afraid it is true.

So many pulpits around our country and around the world are filled with men who are impostors.

And what do imposters do?

They seek to kill from the inside.

and they do this through false doctrine.

“False doctrine confuses truth and error, prevents godliness, promotes sin, elevates ungodly leadership, permits false teachers, removes God’s blessing, debilitates the church for times of difficulty, and weakens her for the future.

Sound doctrine distinguishes truth from error, promotes godliness, prevents sin, qualifies godly leadership, protects against false teachers, ensures God’s blessing, equips the church for times of difficulty, and strengthens her for the future.”

Tim Challies

I believe Tim Challies is correct, and I believe this was true in Paul’s day and it is true in ours.

This is why the first thing Paul calls Timothy to do in this letter is to maintain doctrinal fidelity.

Recap Last Week.

Doctrinal Fidelity

Paul and Timothy are facing the hard reality that discipleship often brings.

The hard part of Discipleship is oftentimes the leaving the disciple on his own to make disciples.

When Paul left for Macedonia, the text here says that Paul urged Timothy.

He implored him.

Essentially, he begs Timothy to stay.

Here is where we see Paul loves the church.

He loves it more than he loves his own comfort and his own desire to keep Timothy close.

This could not have been easy for Paul.

He has poured his life into Timothy (True child in the faith), but making disciples often and even most of the time means sending those disciples off.

Training them for when you are not there.

Paul isn’t leaving Timothy just for the sake of leaving him.

Paul trust that Timothy is read

I

Paul

He is leaving him for a significant and specific purpose.

We see the same thing in the life and the discipleship and the ascension of Jesus.

Jesus spent 3 years with the same men, training them (discipling, correcting, rebuking them), and then he leaves them.

And he left them for a specific purpose.

To go and do the same thing that he did with them.

Make disciples for when they ain’t there no more.

Train up faithful available and teachable men and send them out.

Thats what discipleship is.

Training to send out.

Whether it be our biological children, or children in the faith, our job is to faithfully train them so that when the time comes for them to be alone, they have a foundation rooted in Christ and able to withstand through difficulty.

Paul gives us a model of discipleship because he is able to leave Timothy.

He is leaving Timothy to continue in faithfulness, and he believes he can, or he wouldn’t leave him.

So He tells him.

Remain at Ephesus.

But remaining for Timothy doesn’t mean inaction.

Just because Paul is leaving, ministry is not over.

Paul is going somewhere new, and Timothy will stay in a familiar place, but neither job nor neither man is dispensable.

Pauls job in carrying the Gospel to a new place is important.

but Tinothy’s job in pastoring and maintaining fidelity in the church of Ephesius is just as important.

Sometimes, we consider some positions in the kingdom as more significant, when at times the most significant thing we can do for the kingdom is remain where we are and continue to preach and teach faithfully.

Paul leaves Timothy with a vital kingdom task.

its not less important than Paul’s task, but he has to stay.

If Timothy leaves, who is going to maintain the doctrinal fidelity?

because false doctrines are rampant.

Wrong doctrines were already being circulated at this early stage in the church’s life, and this is a reminder that in every age truth is challenged by counterfeits.

They are circulating this early in the life of the church, its present today and it has been present throughout the last 2000 years, and this should remind us that false doctrine and fighting off false doctrine is a role of the church in every age.

It happened in Timothy’s day, and it happens today.

One of the enemy’s greatest and most familiar tools and ploys from the beginning has been to call into question and to distract from the truth of the Word of God.

This is why Timothy is tasked with a heavy responsibility: Guarding the saints of Ephesus from false doctrines.

And he gives Timothy some specific instructions.

He is (verse 3) to instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrine.

Timothy’s job a pastor/elder was to not just to preach, provide pastoral care, not just to pray, but also to provide instruction and oversight with regard to the things being taught.

Couple things for consideration here:

One job of the pastor is to protect the church from false doctrine.

This is an aspect of shepherding the church.

Fending off the wolves.

These wolves come in many shapes and sizes but the goal is the same.

Its important that we recognize false teachers.

Three categories of false teachers- (probably more but these are broad enough to where I think they encapsulate)

1. Heretic- a person who blatantly teaches what is false to introduce error and to lead the church astray.

Common heresies of today

1. Prosperity Gospel

2. Works based salvation (Adding to the Gospel)

3. Denial of the Deity of Christ

4. Denial of Trinity

5. Pragmatism

Swindler-a person who uses deception to deprive (someone) of money or possessions

Common Movements that house these people

New Apostolic Reformation- NAR

Word of Faith Movement

People like

Creflo Dollar

Joel Osteen

Joyce Meyer

Joseph Prince

Paula White

Kenneth Copeland

Jenetzen Franklin

These are all people who are peddling false doctrine, and they do so while they become rich.

Speculator- a person who gives themselves to speculation rather than studying God’s Word

Jonathan Cahn

Whatever category they find themselves in, False teachers seek to destroy the church through error and false teaching.

Paul recognizes this.

He also knows that Timothy must speak against false doctrines.

Paul

-It’s not permissible to remain silent with regard to false teaching.

When preachers of truth remain silent, the noise of false teaching grows louder and more people are led astray.

-It is not permissible to allow false teaching to happen in the church.