Untitled Sermon (23)

2 Timothy 2:14-26

2 Kings 21 2 Chronicles 33 2 Timothy 2:14-26

There was a speech given by a character in one of William Shakespeare’s plays that my brother had to memorize his senior year in high school. I helped him memorize it by listening to it over and over and giving him prompts until he had it. Two years later I had to memorize it and give the speech in front of the class just like he had but for me it was simple because I already knew it. When I begin to quote it you will recognize it almost immediately. You may not remember the character or the play itself but you will recognize the first line of the speech. This is from the play “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar” and the character delivering the speech is Mark Antony at the funeral of Julius Caesar. “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; (I told you that you would recognize it). “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones; So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus hath told you Caesar was ambitious: If so, it was a grievous fault, and grievously hath Caesar answered it.” Now this is not a lesson in English literature or the plays of William Shakespeare, or even the history of Rome. The line in that speech I want us to look at is “The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones;” People remember the bad but the good gets buried. I know that covers a lot of territory. A sunny day is just another sunny day but if a storm comes with tornados and hail we remember that. My grandmother traveled from Arkansas to Texas in a covered wagon when she was a child and all she could tell us about it was how hard it was, not the adventure. That is just kind of the way humans are wired I guess. But tonight I want to talk about this idea of the bad remember and the good forgotten in terms of people’s lives.

Last week we looked at the life of King Manasseh of Judah. We looked at it from the account in 2 Chronicles chapter 33. He did evil in the eyes of God leading Judah to be worse than all the people groups God removed from Canaan using His people Israel. But later in that chapter Manasseh was captured by Assyria and taken into captivity and while there he repented of his sin and called out to God for deliverance. God heard and restored Manasseh back to reign in Judah. When that happened Manasseh corrected all that he had done that led God’s people away. I’m sure you remember all of that just like it was just a week ago that you heard it. Remember that was out of the account in 2 Chronicles. But if you read the account from 2 Kings chapter 21 you get the same story but it leaves out God’s judgment on Manasseh and Manasseh’s repentance. This account tells the same story of Manasseh worshiping false gods and leading the people of Judah to forsake God but it gives an even greater record of His evil and God’s coming judgment. 2 Kings 21:10-16 10And the Lord spoke by His servants the prophets, saying, 11“Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations (he has acted more wickedly than all the Amorites who were before him, and has also made Judah sin with his idols), 12therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Behold, I am bringing such calamity upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle. 13And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab; I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14So I will forsake the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become victims of plunder to all their enemies, 15because they have done evil in My sight, and have provoked Me to anger since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.’” 16Moreover Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides his sin by which he made Judah sin, in doing evil in the sight of the Lord.

Do you hear anything about repentance or forgiveness in this account? He was so bad according to this (and the 2 Chron. account) that he was not even buried in the tombs of his fathers. He was buried in the garden at his home. Granted the 2 Kings account was written just before Judah was taken into captivity by the Babylonians so the writer was probably pretty angry with Manasseh for leading them astray and the 2 Chronicles account was written while Judah was in captivity and the writer wanted to point out the goodness of God in restoring His people but still the evil that he did lived after him but the good just got buried.

This is where it kind of gets personal for me and possibly you. As I was noticing the two varied accounts I began to wonder what would be written of me or even what is being “written” today? Undoubtedly some will remember the “good” I’ve done but there will most likely be many more who will remember the bad. Why is that? It is basically human nature like I said earlier; the evil we do live after us but the good is oft interred with the bones. Don’t get me wrong, it is not like I want to leave this great legacy of “good works”. But I do want to leave others with the knowledge that any good done was because of my Lord and all the bad was mine and mine alone. With that in mind I have to recognize that there is nothing I can do, nor can you, about what is in the past, if you are a follower of Jesus that has been dealt with on the cross. So what about from now on? What will I do, not what can I do, but what will I do from here on out? Of course we need to ask ourselves that question every day. So while pondering this question I came across something Paul wrote to Timothy in his second letter. 2 Timothy is the last letter that Paul wrote. It was written in 64-68 AD. Tradition tells us that Paul was beheaded around 67 AD so this would indeed fit the timeline. So Paul is at the end of his life and he gives some advice to a young man that he led to the Lord and looked upon as a son. This is what he told Timothy about what to do from today onward. 2 Timothy 2:14-26 14Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers. 15Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 16But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. 17And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort, 18who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past; and they overthrow the faith of some. 19Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of £Christ depart from iniquity.” 20But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. 21Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. 22Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 23But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. 24And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, 25in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, 26and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.

Very quickly we see one thing not to be remembered for and four things to be remembered for.

1. Verses 14-18, 23-24 Don’t be one who is remembered for stirring up strife on every occasion.

2. Verses 24-26 Do be remembered as one who corrects others in humility seeking their repentance.

3. Verse 15 Be remembered for diligently using the Word of God rightly.

4. Verses 19-21 Be on who is remember for running from evil (iniquity) and being a vessel of honor in a world filled with vessels of dishonor. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. (Romans 12:2)

5. Verse 22 Be one who is remembered for pursuing righteousness, faith, love and peace with fellow believers.

With these 5 things people will see that God has been at work in your life and He will be glorified in your life. Let’s pray.