Approved Workmen

2 Timothy 2:14–26 NASB95

Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some. Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.” Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels. The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.

INTRO: One day, we will stand before God and present our lives to Him so that we may give account for all of our actions, attitudes, etc. Our hope is to hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant...”

So, as we begin out time in God’s word this morning I’d like to ask, “Are you and I leveraging that which God has entrusted to us in such a way that we can present ourselves to God unashamed?”

We can tie this back to our study from last week and ask, “If I presented to Christ my efforts as a disciple-maker, would I be ashamed or would I be able to stand with a clear conscience?”

Now I want to say right up front today that this section of Scripture is one that I have truly wrestled with this week. Not because it has difficult theological concepts or even because I had a lot of extra-curricular items to attend to. As I have explained before in this series, this letter was written directly to Timothy, with the intention that the church would learn from them also.

This section of Scripture, as much as any, is aimed directly at me. As your pastor, the personal weightiness of this passage is a constant struggle as I ask those very questions we began with. So for those of you who have insinuated that I take a Sunday off from stepping on your toes, today I want you to know that my toes have been stomped all week… I hope that God will move to share that with you as well.

These questions we asked come up a couple different ways in this text and I want us to look together at what it means to live as approved workmen for Christ. There is not a formula per se, but I hope that when we are finished this morning, you will walk away with a determination to present yourself to God in this manner.

There are 3 elements that we will deal with, so grab your sermon guide, and follow along.

The first element necessary to be an approved workmen is:

Constant Reminders (14)

Paul tells Timothy to ‘remind them of these things’. This is a present, ongoing command for Timothy to keep God’s plan for the church in front of them. In other words, the church needs constant reminders of the BIG PICTURE.

There are a number of things that tend to derail the church’s conversation and focus.

The way we worship (music style, service times, etc.)

Speculation over the roles of angels & demons

Whether or not one should be cremated

When Jesus will return (this was big even in the early church. In fact, this is the controversy that Paul calls out Hymaneaus and Philetus on in v.17-18)

But these distractions only serve to derail the mission of the church.

ILL- Have you ever started a project, like say, cleaning out the garage or attic. You have high hopes of actually using your garage for your car, but as you get in there, you get distracted looking at old pictures, trying to fix that toaster you set aside, maybe even trying to repair the sheetrock from the time you got mad and slammed the bicycle up against the wall. At the end of the day, you’ve been very busy, but the main goal- getting the garage cleaned out to park your car there, was not accomplished. You got derailed. If you were paying someone to do this, you would likely not be inclined to pay them if they did not accomplish the task.

So, when we think about the BIG PICTURE of our lives- the Church in particular, we must be reminded constantly to be about the work we are called to do. That is one of my responsibilities.

God has placed me here at LRBC to constantly remind you of our mission and help keep you out of the ditches of derailment.

This means evaluating our ministries in alignment to the mission instead of tradition.

It means directing us to reach out and grow, not simply maintain

It means pointing you to Jesus even as the waves of the world crash around us.

Discuss: How can you bring reminders of the big picture to your home? List 3 ways you can remind your family/ friends of God’s design for our lives.

Constant reminders are pertinent in order to present ourselves to God as approved workmen. But next, we need the element of

Constant Guidance (15-19)

Paul tells Timothy to be diligent or work hard to present himself as an approved workman as he “accurately handles the word of truth”

Some people have equated this to mean “proper interpretation.” This is close, but to be exact it means proper guidance in the word of truth.

In other words, it includes proper interpretation, but is even more broad than that.

It means walking the church along in the word of God- understanding it, applying it.

It means to keep the Word of God - the truth of the Gospel primary in everything we do as a church.

Paul uses the negative example of two teachers who went astray and began teaching something other than Scripture. They allowed their speculations, philosophy, and worldly understandings to become their authority instead of the word of God. I think he gives this example so we will see how easy it would be to fall into that trap. Paul describes it as a disease or a cancer that spreads!

How many Christian pastors have embraced their own speculative authority? I can tell you that there are several who have departed from God’s Word as the authority, teaching all kinds of stuff that is contrary to the truth.

You ever see the picture of the turtle on a fence post? I was reading about an old pastor who had this picture hanging in his study. You see, when you see a turtle on a fence post, you have to acknowledge that it didn’t get there by itself. Someone had to put it there. Instead of looking at the turtle, our mind should go to the one who put him there. My desire is that when you come here, your eyes are on God’s truth, not me, for He placed me here. This is His church and His doing.... I’m just a turtle on a post. My prayer is that God gives me wisdom to guide this church according to His truth.

Folks, the call here, again aimed directly at the pastor, but also for you, is that we would be firmly planted in the Word of God. (v.19) Paul says, nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands.

Regardless of what anyone teaches, God is truth. God is never wrong. He is never less than worthy of our devotion and praise and He cannot lie. He knows those who are His and has set forth a holy calling for them. (19b)

As a church, we must be so full of God’s Word that there is no place in us for the rot of ungodliness.

Discuss: How specifically can we surrender ourselves to the guidance of God’s Word this week?

Approved workmen provide constant reminders to God’s people of the Big Picture, they give constant guidance in God’s Word, but next they are to be

Clean Vessels (20-26)

This description is one that embodies turning from wickedness and embracing the life God has called us to.

Paul uses a picture of dishes here, and I think that will help us as well.

Imagine in your home those country crock containers… you guys ever use them? In my fridge, I’d have to open 3 or 4 of them to find the actual country crock… Anyway, imagine that you take one of these or another container and it gets used for all kinds of things- you use it when you clean out the hair from the shower drain, you might use it to put bolts or screws in, or maybe you use it to hold the used motor oil from the lawn mower. Now, would you use that same dish and serve your famous peach cobbler to an honored guest?

No! You have nice dishes set apart for that kind of thing. They don’t get filled with nasty motor oil- they are put in a cabinet and useful to you as you show hospitality to your guests.

Paul says that we are all vessels. But if we are to be useful for the Lord’s work, we must be cleansed from the wickedness that we once embraced. We must be ready- set apart like that nice set of dishes in order that God would use us to present His Gospel to those around us.

My life and your life should be such that people looking on recognize that we are different. It’s not that we are perfect or snooty, but rather that we reflect the goodness of God in our actions, attitudes, and motives.

Paul outlines the character of a pastor- called a bond-servant here (24-26).

Part of being a useful vessel is that we do not repel those who we come in contact with. Can you imagine how you would react if you were served a piece of cake on a dirty plate? You’re not sure what was on there, but it looks like it could have come out of the diaper bin.

We can present the Gospel to people technically right and our demeanor, our character or our actions be so full of hate and hypocrisy that we push people away from their only hope. We can, if we are not diligent, be the stumbling block that keeps people from experiencing the mercy and grace of Jesus Christ.

Instead, we must be kind, gentle, and patient. We must pray that God would grant them eyes to see the glorious gospel so they might be saved.

Discuss: Does your life currently reflect a clean vessel or a dirty pot?

Friends, what will it look like when we stand before God?

Will we stand ashamed of the life we lived for Jesus, regretting the distractions that overtook us? Will we present ourselves as people who placed His Word as the authority in our lives? Will we see ourselves as useful vessels for the King?

My prayer is that we will all hear, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”

Today, as we close our time together, I want to encourage you to be an APPROVED WORKMAN for the Lord.

- Surrender, Repent, and be ready for God to use you in His Gospel work.

- How will you leverage that which God has given you to advance the Gospel?