Author: Jinson Thomas

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Good morning church! I know we all are excited as we jump into a new series which is titled “The Story of Jesus from the Gospel of Mark.” I really liked the video intro that Saju gave to our series (Watch the video). He said that many times we have many misconceptions about who Jesus is – either from our experience or what we’ve been told or what we see in the media. The Bible accurately and clearly presents Jesus as He is. So that’s going to be our goal over the next few months – knowing and understanding Him closely through the gospel of Mark!

So before we delve into our main text passage, I think it’ll be helpful for us to understand key aspects about this gospel, the author and the purpose of this book. This gospel was written somewhere between 55-60 AD. Who was the writer? John Mark. There are quite a few things we can know about John Mark from the New Testament.

• There was a house church that met at his home. In Acts 12:12 right after Peter was miraculously released from prison by an angel he goes to the home of Mary, the mother of Mark where the church was gathered and praying together
• He was the cousin of Barnabas. (Col 4:10) We already see his spiritual heritage through his family and the church that met in his home
• Paul and Barnabas took Mark along with them on their first missionary journey. (Acts 13:5) Unfortunately, we don’t know why but Scripture records that Mark left them mid-way and returned back to Jerusalem (Acts 13:13)
• Later on Mark becomes the reason for the separation between Paul and Barnabas. Paul and Barnabas later on decided to go back to the churches they planted in every city and strengthen them. Barnabas wanted to bring Mark along but Paul thought it wasn’t wise because he deserted them earlier. They got into such a sharp agreement that Paul and Barnabas parted ways. Paul took Silas along with him and went to Syria and Cilicia and Barnabas took Mark and went to Cyprus which was his hometown (Acts 15:36-41)
• Interestingly when we come to the end of Paul’s life…we read this a few weeks back in the final chapter of 2 Timothy. During Paul’s final stages in life when he is all alone, he tells Timothy to come to him quickly and to bring Mark along because he is “very useful to him in ministry”. What changed? How was an uncommitted believer become radically changed into a powerful witness for Jesus?
• I think we may find the answer in 1 Peter 5. In v13 where Peter is providing his signature to the letter, he mentions the name of Mark whom he refers to as his son who is there along with him. It’s quite likely that during “in between” years, Peter discipled Mark. He told him about the amazing things that happened when Jesus Christ was on earth, he probably reminded him about the beautiful gospel and shared how Jesus strengthened him even though he was unfaithful to Jesus. Peter himself would say a lot of things impulsively but wouldn’t keep up him promise when things got tough. Still Jesus gave him hope, strengthened him and turned him around so that he could not only live for Jesus but also die as a martyr for Jesus! If you are at that place today, where you look at your life and see there’s very little commitment to Christ. Go back to the gospel and trust in what Christ is able to do in and through you. If Jesus Christ can do that for Peter and for Mark, he can do that even in your life
• So Mark’s gospel is the story of Jesus through the eye witness account of Peter.

What’s the main purpose for writing the gospel of Mark? I think there are two purposes:

1. To show how Jesus through his impeccable life, prophecies, astonishing miracles, deep perception of the hidden thoughts of the heart, authoritative teaching and the amazing victory over sin, Satan and death is truly the Son of God. And if he is the Son of God, then you must repent and believe in the gospel. If you are a student in a school, the moment your principal calls you and gives you a command, you know it’s serious. You can’t play around with the command or take it lightly. The principal of the school has full authority within the premises. How much more seriously should we take Jesus’ command to repent and believe because He is the Son of God?
2. To remind us that believing in Jesus is a call to discipleship. It is a call to die to your desires, your goals and your dependence on yourself. Die to yourself and follow Jesus. Also, following Jesus would involve a life of sacrifice, trouble and persecution! But for those who live a life of sacrifice for Jesus will receive the biggest reward…which is Christ Himself. And the gospel of Mark re-affirms the truth that all the sacrifices and troubles and persecutions for the sake of Jesus and the gospel are worth it. How excited are you already? With that background on the author and the purpose of the book, I invite you all to join me as we discover the story of Jesus in Mark.

Mark 1:1-8: 1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, 3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare[c] the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’” 4 John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Mark directly gets to point from the get go. He says here is the beginning of the gospel – “good news” of Jesus “the Anointed King”, the Son of God. And he talks about an Old testament prophecy in v2 and 3. The Old testament prophet spoke of the timing of the coming of Christ. He said that a messenger would come and prepare the way of the Lord.

If any important person…be it the President of a country or a King would never just land up in a new place directly. They will always send a messenger or a secretary to first go to the place, make arrangements, make announcements and then arrive.

John the Baptist could’ve come and booked the best hall, laid out a great stage, published the coming of the Lord in the newspaper in terms of preparation. It’s interesting that the preparations for Jesus the Son of God is of a very different kind.

4 John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

Repentant preparation

The way he prepared the way of the Lord is by preaching a baptism of repentance. Repentance is a change of mind and a reversal of decision to receive pardon from sin. Pardon meaning being let off as though they didn’t commit the crime.

Now we know that God cannot overlook sin, the only way in which God can pardon people is through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus. Jesus died on the cross for your sins and mine so that by believing in Him we can be fully forgiven and have a clean slate before God.

Let me ask you is repentance a one-time activity or a life-long event? Sometimes some people say that “we’ve already been forgiven in Christ, so why do we need to repent?” When we put our faith in Jesus, we are positionally made right before God. So there’s no wrath, no condemnation for those who are in Christ. But we still have to reckon with sin until Christ comes back and takes us with Him. We see the effects and presence of sin in our lives until Christ comes back, and so we need to continually and perpetually repent so that we may relationally be made right with Jesus.

Here’s the application point: how do you prepare yourself to meet with Christ every day? Is it by planning different spiritual events like listening to gospel songs, making an elaborate list of all the Christian activities you will do (not that any of this is bad) or is it by continual repentance? How do we prepare ourselves to meet with Jesus on a Sunday morning? Is it by putting on the best clothes, putting on the happiest face or is it by repentance? If continual repentance doesn’t define you as a believer, then something is wrong. Here’s what 1 John has to say about this:

8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (1 John 1:8-10)

A true believer wants to repent frequently because he delights in a close relationship with Jesus.

Humble submission

7 And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

In NT times, they didn’t have the kind of roads and foot paths that we have in the city today. Most people traveled by walking and the roads were dusty and dirty. The kind of sandals they wore also would be equally dirty due to the places they traveled on.

Therefore, even touching or untying the strap of a sandal was the job of the lowest slave in the household. It wasn’t a pleasant thing to do. It wasn’t an honorable thing to do. And yet, John the Baptist says that he isn’t fit or worthy to untie Jesus’ sandals. Wow! John was himself very eloquent and respected by the people but he understood his position before God. He understood he was mere man but Jesus is the Son of God. He understood he was a creature – created thing but Jesus is the Creator.

He understood that he baptized people with water, but Jesus would change and transform people by the Holy Spirit so that they would now obey and want to obey God. None of us would even think of having a casual attitude toward the President of the country. Even though the President might be a friend, we would still speak and respond in a manner that is worthy of the President. How much more humbled must we be toward Christ? You want to know how mature you are in the faith? Check out your humility.

Your maturity will be revealed by the level of your humility. If your biblical knowledge is causing you think more about yourself than God, then you are struggling with pride. If your biblical knowledge is causing you to look down on other people and criticize other people, then you aren’t being humble. If your biblical knowledge is not leading you to depend on Christ, then you are struggling with self-righteousness.

If your biblical knowledge isn’t bringing you closer to other believers, then you a struggling with self-reliance. And the sad part is a prideful person would never understand the need for the gospel. In pride we wouldn’t care about the sacrifice that was done for us. We need humility to accept, believe and value Jesus and His work for us!

Again my intent was not to bring condemnation but to help us realize 1) that we need repentance more than ever because the more we know Christ the more clearly we see our sin. 2) Our lives require more humility than ever in order to live to glory of Jesus.

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Good morning church! Two of the most important questions in any person’s life is: Who am I and what am I supposed to do on earth? Wouldn’t you agree that these are two very important questions every person is looking to answer. It’s is true that people have very different answers to these questions. What we will look to do in the next half hour is to see how the gospel perfectly answers and fulfils the purpose of our existence. If there are any questions, please don’t hesitate to come and discuss with me and Saju after the Gathering.

Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

In today’s passage, I believe Paul is telling Titus who is overseeing the church at Crete to remind them of a few things. Why do we need to be reminded? I mean if we’ve already heard it once, shouldn’t that be enough for the church? That’s because we are “professional forgetters”. We may be smart and clever but let me tell you it’s not difficult for us to forget the gospel when we are facing times of trouble, persecution, temptations, comfort and suffering. And what we truly believe in those moments are revealed by our actions. It’s important for us to first admit that we are forgetful in order to receive help. We need each other to be reminded of the gospel – that’s why we stress on community. And we also need elders and leaders to constantly “remind and help us recollect” the gospel day in and day out. If you’ve been following our messages closely over the last two years, you’ll see one common thread and one common message throughout. In fact it is the same message that we continue to preach and teach every week on our Sunday Gatherings and GC’s. And it’s not because we cannot make new creative messages. We want to stay true to what God has called us to do as elders which is to “remind people of the gospel”.

So we are going to be reminded this morning about four important questions:

1. What are we supposed to do?
2. Who were we?
3. What has God done in Christ?
4. Who are we now?

What are we supposed to do?

Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. (v1-2)

We are commanded and urged to submit to our earthly rulers and authorities specifically referring to the government who is ruling over your country/nation. The Word tells us to be obedient to the people who rule over us. It doesn’t matter if the political party is for Christians or against Christians, we are still called to obey them. Now if the government tells us to bow down to an idol or forces us to do something illegal or immoral, we have every right to disobey because our allegiance and loyalty remains toward Christ. However, barring this exception of sinning against the Lord, in every other case we need to submit to them out of our honor to God. Let’s remember the context. Emperor Nero was the king of the Roman empire at the time. Christians were being burnt alive and tortured. It was the most unpopular time to be a Christian. It wasn’t cool at all because a person would most likely face a death threat as soon as he decided to follow Jesus. I find it interesting that Paul would still tell the church to submit to the rulers and authorities.

Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves (Rom 13:1,2)

Also, what is the type of behavior that we should have among unbelievers? We should be always prepared to do acts and deeds which will benefit others. We should not criticize abusively and in anger insult others. We should not be people who always get into arguments. In fact, we should be known for our mild temperament and being polite and gentle to all people. If your work colleagues, college mates, neighbours and other acquaintances were to rate you on your behavior, what would they say? Would they say that you’re always ready to do good work? Would they say that you speak evil of no one? Would they say that you don’t quarrel but are gentle and courteous toward everyone? Would the people who spend 40+ hours with you each week say that you are known for your gentleness and good deeds?

And this isn’t a moral science class! Christ doesn’t call you to do these things just because these are good things to do in life. He tells us to do these things in the light of the next three points:

Who we were earlier?

3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. (v3)

You know many times parents tend to tell their kids about how they had a tough life earlier. How they grew up in humble circumstances…why do they do that? So that the kids will appreciate and value what they have right now. Similarly, in v3 we are being reminded of our past identity. The purpose is not to be sad and disappointed thinking about our past but to appreciate what has been done by God. It says that we were foolish (we had no understanding of what was right for our life), disobedient (we weren’t willing to listen and obey to anything that God wanted us to do), led astray (we were deceived by our sins, taken away…pulled astray), we were in bondage to serve many kinds of forbidden desires, spending our time and energy hurting other people and being hurt in the same process.

When we look at the list, do we like what we see there? I’m sure we don’t. We wouldn’t allow our family to be around anyone who claims to have these qualities and yet this is a description of our own lives. Would you put this up on your Facebook profile? Would you put this on your resume? It’s something that is shameful, right? What I want us to realize is…that our old self separated from God was a terrible place! It wasn’t something to be proud of because we were on the fast lane to destruction. That’s why the Bible accurately portrays it as “spiritual death” – we were dead! (Eph 2:1)

What has God done in Christ?

4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, (v4-6)

Brothers and sisters, Here is the good news…the amazing news! What we deserved was judgment, condemnation and death for our thoughts, words and actions. An illustration could be imagine you were driving a car rashly and lose control of the brakes and fall off a steep hill. What do we deserve because of our rash driving? Death. Now think about v4…but God our Savior (he delivers) showed his goodness and loving kindness to us by protecting you and me from perishing. God rescued you from the wrath that comes upon everyone who sins! God’s goodness and kindness is shown by the fact that even though we lived a reckless and disastrous life, he wants to and keeps us safe from final judgment and eternal separation from Him! And why does He do that? Is it because you or me are talented? Is it because you or me are smart and capable? Is it because we are good people? Is it because we prayed a prayer? Is it because we are knowledgeable in the Bible? Absolutely not! We just saw in the previous point how bad our condition is. If God judged us without giving us any hope for salvation, He would still be just and wise. No one can approach God and say “He is unjust by not providing another way”! Because we are utterly sinful people who deserve total condemnation. So if God does not save us due to our background, qualifications, money, talents, intelligence and good works…then on what basis does he save us? According to his mercy. God saves people out of His mercy!

How does He do it? by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. The term washing means “bathing”. The Holy Spirit cleanses and purifies you. “Regeneration and renewal” means “spiritual renovation”. Have you ever seen a renovated flat? Does it look the same as an old flat? Everything from the painting to the interiors have been changed. It’s brand new. It’s as good as buying a brand new flat in a new building. If we as humans know how to renovate an old flat and make it new…do you think the powerful Spirit of God doesn’t know how to make a dead person’s life alive and brand new?

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.[b] The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Cor 5:17,18)

When you believed in Jesus, it’s not just your thoughts that changed that day. A miracle took place due to which your life became spiritually renovated! Immediately your affections, your desires, your will, your thought patterns, your pleasures changed, your mission changed! Miraculously you were given affections for Christ, desires for Christ, a will to please Christ, thoughts to magnify Christ, pleasures in Christ and love for the people in Christ and a burden for those not in Christ! And this was done how: it was poured abundantly on us through Jesus Christ. God’s only Son had to be crucified for your sins and mine to make full payment for the punishment deserving of sins. You want to know how bad was our condition? Look at the amount that was paid as ransom. If something happens to your phone, when do you know that the damage is quite bad? When you have to pay a huge amount for the repairs. Jesus willingly shed his blood to meet God’s justice and bring God to us. It wasn’t gold or silver but the precious blood of the Son of God who became our Saviour.

Who are we now?

so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (v7)

Brothers and sisters, it’s something we must not just today but continuously remind ourselves of this identity! We are declared righteous before God. We are fully accepted by Him. By what? His grace – his unmerited favor through Jesus Christ. For what purpose? So that we might become “heirs”. Whose an heir? A person who inherits something from someone. Usually it is the child of the owner. And we know that by repenting and trusting in the finished work of Jesus, we are adopted as His very own. So we are heirs according to the hope of eternal life! You know Christian biblical hope is not just being positive. It is a confident and joyful expectation in God fulfilling His promise to give us everlasting life. Eternal life as John 17:3 says And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. Knowing Jesus, becoming like Jesus in every way to the extent of getting a glorified body like His (1 John 3:2) and finally being with Jesus forever (John 14:3)!

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Good morning church!

Sometime back a Hindu asked me this question: What would you say about people who say they believe in Jesus and still do not have/show Christian values? In other words, the question can be rephrased to “Is it possible for a person to know Jesus, talk about Jesus and still live like the rest of the world?” Does the gospel produce something more than just change of ideas or philosophy? Does Christ have a greater purpose in our lives than just “a moment in your life when you prayed a prayer and asked Jesus into your heart”? And if God has a bigger purpose, then what does that mean for me? Those are the questions we will attempt to answer this morning.

We have been going through a series titled “God Alive Church – A journey through the letters of 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus”. Currently we are in Titus 2 (Last week’s sermon on: Titus 1:10-16). Let’s go ahead and read the main text for the day:

But as for you, teach what accords with sound[a] doctrine. 2 Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. 6 Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. 7 Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. 9 Bondservants[b] are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10 not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.

The first thing I believe this passage teaches us today is:

1. The Gospel informs Right Living

But as for you, teach what accords with sound[a] doctrine. (v1)

As we’ve been seeing, whenever we see the word “but”, it is contrasting this passage with the previous passage. The previous passage spoke about false teachers who for shameless gain were upsetting the faith of many families in the church at Crete. These false teachers kept focusing on Jewish myths and man made rules. The result was that the church became unfruitful in good works! In fact, the church was gaining a bad reputation in Crete. Paul gave 2 commands to Titus in order to tackle this problem.

The first was to appoint God called, God qualified elders to lead and protect the church. (Tit 1:5-9) The second command was for Titus to rebuke these false teachers sharply and silence them from influencing the church. (Tit 1:13) The last few verses of Titus 1, Paul says that these false teachers “profess to know God but deny him by their works”. So Paul is already starting the conversation where he says “if you say you know God, then it needs to be reflected in your lifestyle as well”.

And that’s how we arrive in Chapter 2 where Paul says give instructions, exhort the church at Crete in a way that suits and is fitting for “sound doctrine” or the gospel. The reason I use the word gospel is because the gospel is the good news that Jesus Christ is God’s plan from Genesis to Revelation to reveal Himself through Jesus and also to redeem everything through Jesus! The gospel of Jesus informs, fuels and produces right living! The gospel supernaturally creates new life in people when they hear and believe. Till then as natural humans we knew nothing else but to sin, suddenly when we heard the good news we were supernaturally able to repent and place our trust in Jesus.

New affections, new purpose & a new identity. Not just that, the more we grow in our relationship with Jesus, the more we realize how much more of the gospel we require today. Why? Because as we read Scripture we see how Holy God is, we see how sinful we are…like Isaiah said in Isaiah 6:5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (Rom 7:24)

Now as believers we are justified and made right before God. There is no condemnation but we still need to recognize the difference between God and us. He is Holy and Righteous and Great and Glorious. And we like the “grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls”. As our awareness of God grows so will our awareness of our sin. The more closer you move towards God, more sin in your life will get exposed. And all of this should bring us to a place where we humbly and helplessly realize what Jesus has done for us through his life, death and resurrection.

So when we are faced with temptation and you fall, we realize we need the gospel to experience forgiveness and restoration in our walk with God. When we are in conflicted relationship with another family member of friend, we realize we need the gospel to forgive the other person just as Christ forgave us.

When we go through persecution, we realize we need the gospel to remind us that it’s a blessing to be counted worthy to suffer for our Master and Lord. When we are at work and the stress is piling up, we realize we need the gospel to remind us that we are working for God ultimately and we know we’ll find rest in Jesus who says “Come to me all who are weary, and I will give you rest”. When we are going through a severe illness, we realize we need the gospel to remind us that God is Sovereign over our situation.

When we feel insecure about our looks or your financial status or the possessions we have, we realize we need the good news of Jesus to remind us that God has accepted us fully in Jesus and we don’t require anything else apart from Jesus to live our life – He is our Security. And as we trust and obey what God has said to us in the Bible, we grow up into the hope of the gospel -> to be like Jesus reflecting everything that He is in all our thoughts, words and actions.

That’s why it’s so critical to be listening to teachers that preach and proclaim sound doctrine. Some people sometimes say “I know the preachers that I listen to aren’t exactly biblically sound, but what to do….nobody’s or no church is perfect. I’m mature enough to listen and pick what is right and not pay attention to what is wrong”. But they are missing the point. It’s not about picking and choosing what you want.

It’s much more serious than that. What you believe is what you will become. If you are chasing behind a false gospel that tells you that believing in Jesus will get you health, wealth and prosperity…that’s what your life will also be about…Making yourself prosperous. But if you want to become like Jesus, you need to listen to Jesus as He is revealed in Scripture.

That’s what we see in the following verses of Chapter 2. Instructions being given to older men, older women, younger women and younger men. People from different age groups within the church are being encouraged to live a life worthy of the gospel. It’s not for the aged ones only, it’s for everyone to exhibit self-control, respectability, soundness in faith, in love and steadfastness. Such a wonderful picture of the good news when you see the whole church growing in Christ likeness.

It’s not some sort of spiritual elite that is pursuing holiness and good works…every child of God saved by the good news in fact wants to do this. As elders our job is to remind and urge people to do it more!

This brings me to the next point…

2. Right Living adorns the Gospel

Adorn means to decorate something. Ever wondered how can you adorn the gospel? Adorning doesn’t mean adding or subtracting anything from the gospel. Neither is the gospel powerless so that we need to add some “masala” to make it relevant and effective. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. At the same time think about it, the gospel actually makes more sense to an unbeliever when they see it being clearly reflected in your life and mine. We wrongly influence the perception of the gospel when we live like the rest of the world.

and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. (v5) Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. Bondservants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. (v7-10)

How many times have we heard things like “this person calls himself a believer, but his actions deny his faith”? And this is the testimony of unbelievers. That’s not how it’s meant to be and that’s not what God desires from people who have been redeemed from their sinful lives. God’s desire is for us to live holy lives dedicated to good works so that through us God can display His transformative power! In other words, our job is not to make more barriers for people to believe, but in fact to remove the barriers so that can receive the true saving message of the gospel.

Unbelievers might become hostile toward you because you are a believer, but deep down they should know that there’s no real charge they can bring against you for doing something morally wrong or unethical. “In everything we must adorn the doctrine of God our Savior”. Have you every wondered what that means for you? When you think about the workplace, do your colleagues see the goodness, righteousness and mercy of Christ through your words and actions? When you think about your family, do your family members see the patience and humility of Christ in your words and actions? With your church family, do your brothers and sisters in Christ see a glimpse of Christ in your interactions and service? What about your neighbours? Do they know you are a follower of Jesus by your words and lifestyle? I know these are quite challenging questions. I’m convicted of certain things myself.

Maybe till now we didn’t pay attention to adorning the gospel of Jesus or maybe we’ve forgotten it. There’s hope in the gospel for us today. 2000 years back, Jesus Christ became man and lived the life of goodness, righteousness, mercy, patience, humility according to the standard required by God. He perfectly reflected and showed who God Is. He lived the life we couldn’t live. Perfect obedience. And then he took on the punishment of sin as our Savior and substitute.

He died the death we deserved to die. If there was one thing we earned on our own merit…it was death and separation from God eternally. Jesus willingly gave himself up on the cross…humiliated by his own creation to save us from the holy wrath of God. He died and rose again on the third day because his sacrifice was complete and fully satisfied the wrath of God.

Those who repent and trust in Jesus will see the hope of the gospel being reflected in their lives. Jesus would begin to display Himself through their lives. One more thing…it’s not as though God needed us and without us he cannot adorn the gospel. Let’s not trivialize it that way. God chooses to use us to adorn the gospel. In His wisdom and greatness, redeeming the lives of sinful, dead people and allowing them to reflect His glory brings Him more glory! He is the glorious One who restores the broken and condemned ones. So if we find ourselves not adorning the good news, not reflecting Jesus….solution…go back to Jesus!

[audioplayer file=”http://thegatheringcommunity.in/wp-content/uploads/jinson-sermon-new-2.mp3″]

Good morning church! Last week brother Saju gave us a wonderful start to the book of Titus (Read). He shared how Paul and Titus shared a very close friendship in the gospel. It’s a beautiful picture of gospel centered relationships that we need to invest in with other members of the Gathering. He also highlighted key themes that we’ll be looking over the next few weeks:

1. Proper leadership
2. Proper handling of error
3. Proper Christian living
4. Importance of finding our hope in the Gospel.

Today we’ll be looking at the need and qualifications for proper leadership in the church! Let me begin by asking you all a question. When you think about the word “elder” or “pastor”, what thoughts come in your end? What do you expect from an elder? What does an elder do?

Some common expectations are:

1. He needs to be a charismatic speaker – magnetic personality who speaks with eloquence and passion.
2. He needs to be an entertainer – should really know how to tell good jokes during the sermon, should add timely illustrations and stories to keep the congregation’s eyes glued on him.
3. He should have strong leadership skills – when he talks and walks, you know he’s a leader!
4. He needs to be good at administration – He needs to be very good at planning events and activities.
5. Or do we need an elder at all? Can we function as a healthy church without biblical eldership?

That was sort of the place where the church at Crete was. Let’s look into our text:

5 This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you— 6 if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife,[d] and his children are believers[e] and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. 7 For an overseer,[f] as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. 9 He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound[g] doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. (v5-9)

Paul starts out by saying that he left Titus in Crete to set into order what was lacking. Why does he say that?

1. The church at Crete was possibly a young church. By young I mean they consisted of believers who were recently converted. The gospel spread far and wide so that in each town they had a church gathering together. So they were growing numerically but they didn’t have elders in place to guide and strengthen the churches
2. There were false teachers who were teaching wrong doctrine and confusing the church. We see that in the following verses v10-16. If we see something common in the church in Ephesus and also in this church in Crete, the common issue they were facing was “false teachers”. And not only were there false teachers in those days, but we find many false teachers even today. That’s why all the more a need to have good godly elders to confront false teachers and protect the flock of God.

So for Paul this was something so essential and crucial which is why he left Titus there to appoint elders in every town.

Let me ask you was the requirement for elders merely an organizational requirement? Where they had a lot of members and now they needed elders or is it part of God’s design and gift for the church so that these elders can set the pace and lead the church to love, serve and obey Christ?

The answer can be discovered by the definition. Who or what is an Elder? Just to clarify these terms as brother shared last week: Pastor/Elder/Overseer/Bishop mean the same thing. They are used interchangeably in the Bible. Some churches have a hierarchy. Like Pastor, Sr. Pastor, Bishop…biblically there isn’t a hierarchy. They just are different terms used for the leader of the church. The word “Elder” simply means someone whom Christ has called and appointed over you to model what it means to love, serve and obey Christ! Now it doesn’t mean that the elder has to be 60+ to be an elder. But he has to be someone spiritually mature whom you can look up to which is why we come to the qualifications:

A) Shepherding his family well

6 if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife,[d] and his children are believers[e] and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination.

The first thing we see here is the qualification to be “above reproach”. What does that mean? It means that the believer should be blameless, unaccused. So someone who has a bad reputation in public cannot be a candidate for eldership. The next thing being mentioned here is that he needs to be “the husband of one wife”. Firstly, I think from this verse it’s pretty clear that elders/pastors are a responsibility for men because God has given the primary responsibility of spiritual leadership in the home and the church to men. Secondly, being a husband to one wife means being faithful to his wife. He is known for loving and honouring his wife. It obviously means that he doesn’t entertain any thought of infidelity or extra marital affairs but it also means that he speaks honourably of his wife. I know it’s a common thing in the world to make wife jokes. You find it all over the internet. However, the way you speak about your wife reveals a lot about how you value her. Therefore, he needs to be a person who loves and cares for his wife not only while talking to others but also while talking to her. That’s one of the reasons I think this qualification is in there is because we can pretend outside of home but our spouse knows us well. Can’t pretend before her. If I’m being a hypocrite, my wife knows. All our sins and weaknesses get exposed in marriage.

Can a person who is single who meets all the other qualifications become an elder? Yes, but it’s going to be a slow process for him. It’ll take a longer period of scrutiny to be able to see his life and then appoint him as an elder.

Then it says “his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination”. Now the actual Greek phrase actually can mean “has faithful children”. I would go with this explanation because it’s not up to the father to save his child. Salvation is completely based on grace through faith. And we know faith is a gift from God. (Eph 2:8,9) So the responsibility on the father is to ensure that his children are faithful and trustworthy. The other reason why I feel this means faithful children is because of the next phrase which says “not open to charge of debauchery or insubordination”. Debauchery means excessive indulgence in the pleasures of this world. Insubordination means being unruly and disobedient. Why is the elder being held responsible for the actions of his children?

1. Because it’s his primary responsibility as the leader of the home
2. Because he’s setting an example for what a godly family looks like
3. Because caring for your family shows how you would also care for God’s church.

4 He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, 5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? (! Tim 3:4,5)

If we as elders find our families in a bad condition after a few years with unsubmissive children, I think it’ll be more effective if we step down from the eldership because not only is it calling us to disciple and love our children during that season but it’s also about the responsibility of being a role model for the church. Being an elder is not a position, it is a responsibility! Shepherding our families well is a pre-requisite to be qualified as an elder.

B) Symbolized by a godly life

7 For an overseer,[f] as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. (v7,8)

The starting of v7 once again reminds us that elders are God’s stewards. We are called to manage and supervise God’s house for which we will need to give an account for. Would you entrust your home or property to a thief or a careless person? Absolutely not. How much more important it is for us to have the right people with integrity to be taking care of God’s house which is his people?

• He must not be arrogant: does what pleases himself, he is self-willed. He is his own boss. He only does what he wants to do
• He must not be quick tempered means he shouldn’t be prone to anger. Not someone who is always flaring up and getting angry
• He must not be a drunkard: shouldn’t be devoted to wine
• He must not be violent: He shouldn’t be quarrelsome, always ready to fight
• He must not be greedy for gain: greedy for money.

What Paul is trying to say is that the person who aspires to be an elder shouldn’t have a lifestyle characterized by these qualities. If these qualities are what characterizes him, then he is not qualified or fit to the lead the church! I think the “greed” part alone is enough to disqualify many pastors today.

Instead he should be characterized by the following qualities:

• But hospitable: generous to guests, a lover of hospitality…very essential because the elder will need to be hospitable and approachable when visitors come. And not just that but when the elders are being approached by members of the church.
• Lover of good: promoter of what is good. He is someone who delights and promotes good works. Whatever helps, benefits and edifies people is what he will support and encourage as the leader.
• Self-controlled: in control of his desires and impulses. His life isn’t marked by excess or lack of control of his desires.
• Upright – he makes fair and impartial judgments. Not biased when judging a matter or sharing advice.
• Holy – Reverence and purity are very important to him. His lifestyle is one worth imitating.
• Disciplined – curbing and restraining himself in order to do what God has called him to do. The lifestyle for an elder contrary to some entertaining pastors in the world may seem monotonous. It seems like they do the same thing over and over again. Same pattern. And there is a reason for that. There is a reason why biblical elders don’t party all the time. You won’t find them chasing after the latest movies and keeping up with the latest trends and TV series. In fact you’ll find them have a linear kind of life. While they are ministering to people, they will have exciting experiences but if you were to just look at their week, it’ll probably seem unadventurous. The reason for that is this discipline puts them in a place where they can love God and love people the way God calls them to. There’s a reason why Daniel prayed three times a day. There’s a reason why Jesus frequently went away to the mountain to pray. With discipline…it may appear boring to the world but it sets you up in the best place to hear and do what God tells you to do. One quote that I think of comes to my mind. It goes like “There is no discipleship without discipline”. Having a disciplined life in itself is not the goal, it’s the starting ground to open up your heart to receive from God what He wants to grant you. Discipline is not boring, it’s for your joy! That your joy may be full! For an elder, discipline allows him to prioritize his relationship with God and ministry to people.

C) Skilled handler of the Word

9 He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound[g] doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

We spoke a great deal on character qualities but the elder also needs to be competent with the Word of God. Firstly he needs to hold fast to the “trustworthy Word”: which is the gospel. He needs to be convinced by the truths of the gospel as covered from Genesis to Revelation. He knows he can’t add or delete anything from the gospel but understands the power and the beauty of the gospel is expressed only when he presents it as it is! Last year when the whole demonetization thing happened, there were a lot of fake notes that were going around and being seized. The difference between an original 500 Rs. Note and a counterfeit 500 Rs. Note is very marginal. There might only just be one small difference. Now as ordinary citizens, how can we know it is fake? Not by studying the fake note but by studying the original. Thoroughly study the original note and you’ll know the fake when you see it. The same idea it is with the elder. He needs to know the gospel, live out the gospel, preach and teach the gospel day in and day out and even if he encounters false teachers some day, he will know how to refute and respond to them. Why because? The goal is to become like Jesus. The more Christ’s church hear and listen to pure sound doctrine, the more it becomes into Jesus. What you believe, is what you become!

Even though today we learnt how God desires godly, qualified leaders to look after His church, I don’t want us to go back home today thinking, “Oh this was a message for those who are elders and want to become elders…it isn’t for me”. You would miss the point then. When you look at this list: shepherding your family well, having your life symbolized by godliness and being a skillful handler of the Word….do you think Christ exempts you from pursuing that? Is it meant for some spiritual elite? No, in God’s kingdom there is no elite club but these qualifications are also to be viewed as what Christ desires from your life. Elders are pace-setters and role models but this is what God wants from all of us. He wants holiness, self-control, discipline, lover of good, blamelessness, uprightness. He doesn’t want you to be arrogant, violent, greedy for money, quick tempered. Or maybe it’s in your family life where you’ve not been a good steward. Would you repent and turn away from this today?

Let me say also one thing here…there is only one person on the face of the earth who has perfectly exhibited these qualities. He is our chief Shepherd – Jesus Christ. Apart from Jesus, none of us perfectly display these characteristics. The truth is that in the eyes of Holy God, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. We all deserved judgment for our rebellion against God. We all pointed a clenched fist toward God. In His love, He sent His only Son Jesus to absorb the wrath that He was going to pour on us. Jesus died on the cross as the perfect sacrifice. He was buried and rose again on the third day. He is the only reason why we were accepted and saved. So that should make us run to Jesus helplessly seeking His grace and mercy to empower us to serve Him. It’s amazing how Christ uses us in our weakness to still accomplish His purposes!

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In life, there are many moments when we experience loneliness. The strange part is that we can be in a city like Mumbai that has 23 million people and still feel isolated!

We experience loneliness when our friends and companions abandon us. We can be alone when our family rejects us. We can be lonely when we are confronted with really tough situations like an illness, financial issues, job problems or conflicts within the family.

We can also feel lonely during our struggle with sin.

During all these moments we feel like we are all alone. We feel like no one can understand us, help us and be there with us. And because we don’t deal with this in the right way, it can often lead us to find comfort in the wrong places.

That’s why I think it’s important for us to pay attention to the Word and understand what God is trying to tell us today.

I hope this passage will not only provide the answer but also offer encouragement to us right now if we are experiencing a time or season of loneliness.

2 Timothy 4:9-22

9 Do your best to come to me soon.

10 For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.

11 Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry.

12 Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus.

13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments.

14 Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds.

15 Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message.

16 At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them!

17 But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.

18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

19 Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus.

20 Erastus remained at Corinth, and I left Trophimus, who was ill, at Miletus.

21 Do your best to come before winter. Eubulus sends greetings to you, as do Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers.

22 The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.

Sometimes when we think about Paul we only think about the number of churches he planted, the time he spent preaching and building up the church and the number of letters he wrote to encourage the church (13 out of 27 letters in the NT are written by Paul), the miracles he performed in his lifetime but we forget how his whole life was marked by persecutions and suffering.

In fact, the Lord told Ananias, the brother who laid his hands on Paul to give him back his eyesight (Acts 9) “for I will show him how much he must suffer for my name”.

Even when we come to the last part of his life, we see the same theme of suffering being played out. We read last week how Paul talks about his life being poured out as a drink offering and sacrifice for the church.

He knows that the time of his departure has come and he’s expectantly waiting to receive the crown of righteousness from his loving Savior – Jesus.

He’s a few months away from his impending execution and in this passage, he talks about a different kind of suffering – suffering emotionally.

Paul is experiencing a great deal of emotional suffering due to abandonment and loneliness during his last few days. And this is probably more intense and painful than physical suffering. He is experiencing emotional suffering due to two broad reasons:

1) Some companions deserted him – V10 talks about Demas who loved the present world and went to Thessalonica.

Who is this Demas?

Demas was a companion of Paul. 5 years back during Paul’s first imprisonment in Rome, Demas was with him in jail. (Col 4:14) All those prison letters like Ephesians, Phillippians, Colossians, and Philemon were written with him.

In Philemon 24 he refers to Demas as a fellow worker. It’s sad that after watching Paul so closely and seeing his devotion to the Lord, Demas still deserted Paul and left the ministry.

And it says that he loved the world! In our sin, many of us do not see our love for the world as a competing God in our life. If you are harboring a secret love for the world, then it’s eventually going to dictate your course of life and decisions in times of inconvenience, trouble, and suffering.

That’s what happened to Demas. The second imprisonment was possibly more intense and harsh than the first. And Paul himself was awaiting execution, so Demas didn’t want to associate himself with him and jeopardize his own life.

Demas’s life should be a warning for us because he was someone who was so involved in ministry yet loved the world. Eventually, his love for the world took over him. We need to repent of competing idols in our hearts.

2) His other companions went to serve in other churches – Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. (v10)

If you read through the book of Acts, you’ll see that these missionaries always did ministry as teams. They joyfully went to new areas with the gospel and even gladly faced persecutions due to the gospel.

Sadly, Paul’s last few months were spent alone without key members of the missionary team. And it wasn’t always due to desertion like Demas but sometimes it was due to the call to continue ministering to different churches.

In spite of Paul’s imprisonment, Crescens and Titus had to go to Galatia (modern day Turkey) and Dalmatia (Croatia).

To give you an idea on how bad was the emotional suffering, let’s look at v14-16

14 Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds.

15 Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message.

16 At my first defense, no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them!

Some commentators say that it’s possible that it’s the same Alexander from 1 Tim 1:20. If you remember he was a false teacher at Ephesus who was excommunicated and put outside the church.

He now vented his personal malice in accusing Paul before the Roman judges. Probably charging him for starting a political revolt and starting a new religion.

We don’t know for sure if it was the same Alexander but in any case, it’s clear that he caused a great deal of harm.

Paul still leaves the response to the Lord. Rom 12:19 says Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”

Coming back to v16 in 2 Tim 4, Paul says that during his first defense (the preliminary hearing before Caesar Nero)…remember Nero is a king who was known for his cruel behavior toward Christians.

He would burn Christians alive to be used as a torch at night, have dogs tear them to death, crucify them not because of public justice but because of personal cruelty.

So when Paul’s companions got to know that he was going to have this preliminary hearing, they deserted him. Nobody wanted to have anything to do with Paul because it would bring severe persecution.

Just imagine how lonely Paul would’ve felt at that point. He spent his whole life for people but was left alone when he was before Nero. But Paul forgives them and explains how he responded to that moment of emotional turmoil and loneliness:

1. Strengthened by Christ’s presence

17 But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me,

I think that word “but” is crucial here because it contrasts with the previous verses that talk about the companions that left Paul alone.

Even though everyone deserted Paul….yet the Lord remained faithful!! Jesus doesn’t disappear when His children are in trouble or danger. He stands by them! He stands with them!

How does God’s presence strengthen us?

It gives us tremendous boldness to know that the Lord and Judge of the entire universe is standing right beside us. All authority in heaven and on earth is given to Jesus (Matt 28:18).

No matter how powerful may be the person standing in front of you, the course of your life is determined by the Sovereign Lord who rules and sustains the entire universe.

In Matt 10, Jesus tells the disciples that in those days 2 sparrows were sold for a penny. Sparrows were the smallest of birds and pennies were of the lowest value in the Roman world. Yet not even a single sparrow falls to the ground apart from the will of the Father.

If God’s in control of a little sparrows life, isn’t He in control of the life of His children who are more valuable than sparrows?

He is the Lord who has numbered the hairs on your head. Do you know the number of hairs on your head? Does your family know the number of hairs on your head? What about your best friend? Believers in Christ have nothing to fear with Jesus by your side.

Illustration: A fearful child always finds security in the presence of the parent.

But how do we experience God’s presence?

We experience God’s presence by trusting, obeying, embracing, loving, receiving and talking to Jesus by abiding in the Word and prayer. It’s not a passing feeling.

We learned a few weeks back how God communicates with His people: through the preaching of the Word and the study of the Word. The closer your life is in line with the Word, the more assured and aware you will be of the reality of God’s presence.

I know some of you are probably listening to this and thinking “this is so basic. I know I have to read the Bible and pray. Give me something new”.

It is basic but could we honestly ask ourselves if we’ve addressed our problem of isolation and loneliness with being reminded of the presence of God? What if you weren’t created to experience loneliness? What if God intended that all of life be spent with Him?

2. Directed by Christ’s purpose

v17. so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it.

There is a clear purpose to the Lord being there with us. Yes, God loves us and He cares dearly for us. However, I don’t want us to end up with a man centered theology. We are not the end goal.

Glorifying God’s name is the end goal! Paul realized what God was doing through His life. If God is Sovereign and governs everything in all the universe, then even the struggles, pain, suffering and other issues were meant to bring glory to God through your life!

The reason why God strengthens you with His presence is so that you may show unbelievers how valuable and treasured God is.

9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (2 Cor 12:9)

God is active in stripping away every ounce of self-dependence from His children so that unbelievers may see Christ being reflected in and through them!

So it’s time we aligned ourselves to that understanding. Some of the greatest testimonies that have convinced unbelievers about the truth of gospel have not always been success stories and miracles.

It’s been stories of faithful people who have persevered in sufferings, pain, illnesses, financial issues, conflict yet not departed from the faith.

They hold on and have this indescribable peace which can only be explained through the presence of the Lord Himself in their lives.

I don’t think Paul used this tough circumstance to crib over the people who deserted him. He used that as an opportunity to witness as he experienced the presence of God. Would you consider desiring the presence of God not for quick fixes to your problems but so that the world may see how beautiful and wonderful Jesus is?

3. Secured by Christ’s protection

So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

What Paul meant by being rescued from the lion’s mouth was being kept safe from death after the preliminary hearing before Caesar. But we know that he was going to be executed soon.

So what did he mean by the Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his kingdom….what he means that in Christ, his assurance of His eternal home is in absolutely safe and certain hands.

Even though he knew he was going to be executed soon, it doesn’t change his future.

38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 8:38-39)

What if we reminded ourselves of this truth about God’s love that protects us and brings us safely into the heavenly kingdom…don’t you think that eliminates the isolation and loneliness when you realize that it’s not just Christ’s presence right now but He has graciously granted His eternal presence to us!

I just want to close by saying being isolated and lonely was also a product of the Fall. When God created Adam and Eve, the intention was to enjoy total, free and uninterrupted fellowship with them. However, when they sinned they hid themselves from God.

They isolated themselves and went away from God’s presence. Jesus Christ came into the world to rescue us from our isolation. He did it by giving up His life for us…for our sins. Jesus Christ paid the price for our reckless and rebellious life.

He died and shed His blood and on the third Day he rose from the grave and brought us back into an unending, real, fulfilling relationship with God. We got an entry back into God’s presence!

The historical context to this passage is that this is the last recorded instruction that Paul gives Timothy before his execution. We know that Paul is alone in a cold dungeon and these are the final commands for his close friend and disciple in the Lord. He has spoken a lot about suffering in this whole letter.

What marked and highlighted Paul’s life and ministry after he believed in Jesus was not a bed of roses but suffering and persecution. However, this emphasis on suffering was meant to encourage Timothy and the church and also remind them that suffering is proof that we are truly believers.

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. (2 Tim 3:12)

The immediate context tells us about the importance and value of Scripture which we learnt last week (full sermon):

1. Scripture makes us wise for salvation through Christ Jesus. Please note the phrase “through faith in Christ Jesus” because we can study and learn Scripture without resulting in salvation if we don’t trust in Jesus. That was the issue with the Pharisees
2. Scripture is breathed out by God. The imagery is like God breathing life into Adam when he created him. Scripture isn’t just words or a story but life-giving because God breathes life into it
3. Scripture benefits us for instruction, conviction, restoration to an upright state and also training us in being righteous so that believers can be perfect and equipped for every good work. Do note how good work is a result of being rooted and built up in God’s Word.

Scripture is so important and precious!

Coming to today’s passage:

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound [a] teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

Paul starts out by earnestly testifying before the eyes of God and Christ Jesus. It’s like he’s in the holy courts of God and laying this charge on Timothy. We know this is a serious command because he’s involving God the Father and the Son in this! Paul also reminds us how Jesus is the judge of those who are alive and those who are dead! On this earth I think we would be fearful of a Supreme Court judge who can pronounce a life sentence for us.

How much more authority does Jesus have to not only judge the living but also the dead! He also reminds us through the first verse that Jesus’ coming is certain and he’ll appear with his royal power! His first coming was in a humble manger, his second coming will be as a victorious King! Few passages in the NT that talk about Jesus being the judge:

42 And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. (Acts 10:42)

because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead. (Acts 17:31)

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. (2 Cor 5:10)

If there’s something we can gather from this first verse…it’s this what’s going to follow is a very serious command that needs to be paid attention to!

The Command to Preach the Word

What’s the command?

Preach the Word! Why does he say preach the Word? Out of all the things he could’ve said to him, why does he focus on preaching the Word?

Let’s first define what “preaching” means. Preaching is the exaltation of God by declaring what He says in the Bible. It’s a little different from teaching because teaching is the explanation of Scripture. Looking at Scripture, breaking down what it means, interpreting and applying it would be teaching.

Although preaching involves teaching (the process above), it’s more than that! It’s the public cry and heralding of Scripture! I like the way John Piper puts it…to paraphrase he says that the preacher praises and rejoices in God as he declared the Scriptures with conviction.

Now that we know what preaching means…let’s get back to the question: why does he focus on preaching the Word out of all that he could tell him?

It’s not just because preaching was Timothy’s gifting. Context is key here:

The context is about the authority and sufficiency of God’s Word which is able to make believers grow up in salvation (2 Tim 3:15, 16)

I believe what Paul is pointing toward is something more significant. The reason why so much of emphasis was on the Word of God earlier leading to this command on preaching the Word is because God speaks to His people through the pure preaching of the Word.

Right from Genesis we see how God communicates to the people He made. God spoke and created the universe with His Word. He also spoke to man and woman after creating them. So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.

28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Gen 1:27, 28)

After the fall, God didn’t stop speaking to His people. He continued to speak to them through commandments, the Law and the prophets. His final and clearest revelation of Himself came through Jesus.

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. (Heb 1:1-2)

And we know and understand Jesus through the written Word of God because all of Scripture points to Him. (John 5:39) So I’m not saying that God has stopped prophecies but if you are relying on prophecies or experiences more than what God says in the written Word, then you are in a sense saying that God’s Word is incomplete and insufficient for us.

We are saying then that “we need something additional than the written Word to guide our spiritual life”. That’s not the case as we’ve read in 2 Tim 3:15,16.

Therefore, it is in God’s nature to speak to His people! But His revelation of Himself comes through the preaching of the Word. Because if Scripture is read, interpreted and applied correctly, then the people aren’t listening to a message but listening to God! Which is why it is a serious thing.

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. (1 Thes 2:13)

That’s why for 2000 years since the establishment of the church, God’s church has gathered in local bodies all across the world on the Lord’s day to do one important thing – listen to the preached Word!

Now you might say, does God only speak through the preacher on a Sunday morning? No, God speaks to every believer through the Spirit when they read the Bible daily.

3 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. (John 16:13, 14)

We see how the Holy Spirit illuminates our hearts to understand God’s Word ourselves.

However, there is a growing trend in some churches where they think that the preaching of God’s Word is not relevant anymore. “It’s too old fashioned – now people need new methods of communication – skits, videos and group discussions” is what they would say.

Now all of these things are useful but how do you compare it with 2 Tim 4? Why are we redesigning God’s way of speaking to His people? And another question we can ask is why would Christ “gift” the church with pastors and teachers if every believer could manage without the preaching of Scripture?

That’s why it is a serious thing to preach the Word!

The Need for the Preached Word

I also find it interesting that in the next sentence, Paul encourages Timothy to be prepared “in season, out of season”. He’s telling him “you need to be prepared to preach when it’s convenient and also when it’s not convenient”. Why? Not just because it’s his job and Paul wants to encourage him to do it well. It’s because that’s ultimately what the flock of Christ requires. The sweet and precious words of Jesus. Not activities, events, healing conferences, all night worship sessions.

All these things are not bad but we need to remind ourselves that what we really require is the pure preaching of the Word. My desire is that 50 years down the line, if by God’s grace the Gathering grows as a church, that it will still be about preaching, hearing and obeying God’s Word. If you remember Jesus’ words to Peter after His resurrection.

15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep”. (John 21:15-17)

His flock need the Word more than anything!

The Goal of the Preached Word

Let’s come to the goal of preaching. Paul uses 3 words to sum up what preaching should do and how a preacher should do it.

It should reprove (convict people of sin), rebuke (admonish the sin), exhort (invite people to respond, instructing and consoling their hearts) with the Word. The way to do it is with complete patience and teaching. Not passing judgments on them.

Sunday morning is not the place where pastors let out their frustration on the congregation. Preachers admonish the church with gentleness acknowledging that they themselves are sinners who have been saved by grace and require grace each and every day. So there is that humility and also the aspect of “teaching” people to not remain in sin but stand up and walk in faith.

But think about it. If the content of a sermon is filled with reproof, rebuke and instruction – it’s not going to be very comfortable to listen to. We don’t like it because in our sin we don’t want to be exposed and told that we are wrong. This brings us to v3-4.

3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound[a] teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

The heart to receive the Preached Word

That’s why many hop from church to church because they don’t like certain things that the pastor taught. There might be a few genuine cases where the doctrine is wrong but in my experience of talking to some people….is that people want a pastor who says what they want to hear. This is a dangerous path to tread on.

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? (Jer 17:9)

I don’t want to trust and follow my heart when it comes to listening to what I want to hear because of Jer 17:9. In v3-4, the focus shifts from the preacher to the listener.

Ask yourself this question. When you come to a Sunday Gathering, what do you expect or desire from the message?

1. Is it entertainment? Jokes and great stories from the preacher?
2. Is it motivational and inspiring stuff? Things to inspire you to be better
3. Is it the glamour of the pastor?
4. Is it to judge and critique the pastor?

Or is it like Samuel said “Speak Lord, your servant is listening”. If it’s not to listen, receive and obey God’s Word, then pretty soon you’ll grow bored of one pastor and go to another pastor who will tell you what you want to hear. The issue is that you’ll eventually not want to hear God’s truth but be satisfied with lies and deception. Gradually you’ll wander away from the faith. That’s what is at stake.

What I’m trying to say is that the heart you bring on a Sunday matters. The ears you bring to the Gathering on a Sunday matters. I’m not talking about your physical heart or ear but to humbly bring yourself to Jesus on a Sunday morning.

It might be a hard truth to listen to because God will be exposing a sin and bringing it to light through the Word. But remember that Christ Himself humbled and took on the punishment for these filthy sins.

He died so that we didn’t have to die to sin! I would much rather listen to my Savior who loved me, died for me and saved me than anything else.

Here are few things that we can do to apply this passage today:

1. Value the Word of God highly with utmost importance. Let this be your treasure, your food and your comfort. Why? Because you get to know Jesus through the Word. Build your appetite through the week
2. Pray for your elders who preach the Word. Pray that their hearts are right before God and they interpret and apply the Scripture exactly as God wants it
3. Prepare your hearts throughout the week especially on a Saturday so that you might hear from God through the preached Word.

[audioplayer file=”http://thegatheringcommunity.in/wp-content/uploads/jinson-seron-170813_1128.mp3″]

Good morning church! So glad to be a witness to wonderful things God is doing in and through the Gathering. Today we launch our bilingual Gathering and we believe it will help in communicating the gospel in the heart language of many people in the city. Coming to our series, we are reading through 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus as a church. Currently we are in 2 Timothy and as you all remember, this is Paul’s final letter to Timothy in the New Testament. He is awaiting his execution in a cold dungeon in Rome. He’s sharing final instructions and words of encouragement to his disciple and close friend for many years. Timothy is a pastor of the church at Ephesus. He is still facing a lot of issues with the false teachers out there. That is the context of this passage. This passage specifically describes the sins of these false teachers. Let’s turn to this week’s passage:

[1] But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. [2] For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, [3] heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, [4] treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, [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.

I was really encouraged by last week’s sermon on fleeing from youthful passions and pursuing righteousness, faith, love and peace along with those who call upon the Lord with a pure heart. As young people who are looking to live out our faith, we must hold fast to this verse (2 Tim 2:22). Let it be reminded time and time again because this is what we have been called to and this is what truly gives life. So if you missed on last week’s sermon, I’d recommend you to listen/read (link) it on the Gathering website.

Coming to this passage, I want us all to think and ponder on why does Scripture speak so much on identifying false teachers. Why couldn’t it just be a chapter on it? Why emphasize so much on it as we’ve read through these letters? And what’s the heart or the root behind false teaching? Can you and I also be influenced by false teaching? We’ll address these questions and more in today’s sermon.

V1 starts with But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.

Whenever you notice the word “But”, it always means a contrast. What is this passage being contrasted with? The previous passages talk about being a gospel worker, it talks about right teaching, it talks about fleeing from youthful passions and pursuing Christ…right living, and also how to correct opponents gently. This is contrasted with the description in today’s passage. Paul says “But understand this”. It seems like he is saying “Don’t be surprised! Mark my words in the last days you are going to face a lot of trouble from these false teachers”. Which last days is he talking about? In the bible, the last days began when the Spirit poured out on the believers in Acts 2 fulfilling the prophecy of Joel. So since the day of Pentecost, we have been in the “last days”…and it will continue until Christ returns.

That brings me to an important question, why does Paul think it’s important to repeat and re-iterate about false teachers?

1. Obvious reason is that it was a current issue within the church at Ephesus.

2. Church leaders and members cannot overlook or ignore the reality of false teachers in the church.

Acts 20:28-31 : [28] Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God,[e] which he obtained with his own blood.[f] [29] I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; [30] and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. [31] Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.

Sometimes we think that the best way to not get into controversy is ignoring controversial people. We think “why to be concerned about someone else? Let’s be focused in what we need to do and let other people do what they want to do”. That’s not what the Bible teaches us. We need to deal with false teaching straight up. For three years, Paul warned the elders at Ephesus regarding false teachers. It’s almost as if he is saying that it is inevitable. It is going to happen.

3. Paul was passionate about Christ and His church.

Paul was deeply in love with Jesus and knew the love Christ had for the church. He loved the church so much that He gave himself up for her so that he might cleanse her and present the church to himself in all splendor without spot or wrinkle, holy and without blemish. Because Paul loved Christ and the church, he couldn’t stand the fact that wrong things were being taught about Jesus. It’s like a person trying to cause a fight between a married couple by telling each of them wrong stuff about each other. If you were a close friend of the married couple, you would get worked up and would feel the need to confront that person for trying to cause issues in their marriage.

So we understand how important it is to identify and also be alert regarding false teachers so that you can guard your hearts from it!

He then goes on to describe these teachers:

[2] For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, [3] heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, [4] treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, [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.

Lets look at the descriptions in detail. These people would be:

• Lovers of self: selfish, only concerned about their own interests, what can other people do for them, thinking about themselves all day long
• Lovers of money: They love money, constantly they think about how can they get more money, they lose their mind and sleep over having lack of money or wanting more money, money controls every decision they make
• Proud: someone who boasts a lot, they keep bragging about what they have, what they’ve done and what they know. They keep talking big things even if they don’t have proper knowledge of certain things
• Arrogant: They feel superiority to others, look down on other people and treat them without respect, they think they are more important and deserve more importance than others
• Abusive: Immoral, sinful and ungodly things are uttered out of their mouths. They don’t even speak of God with reverence
• Disobedient to parents: They do not submit or obey parents that God has placed over them. Throughout the Bible, obedience to parents is considered important to God. That’s why it’s also one of the Ten Commandments. Culture might think that it’s not important but it is important to God and therefore is absolutely important for us too!
• Ungrateful: We might not think of this as sin, but not being thankful to God is counted as one of the sins in the Bible! When is a person usually ungrateful? When he feels entitled, he feels that he deserve everything that he has. Or a person feels ungrateful when he expects more than what already has. This doesn’t glorify God because it views God’s gifts and actions towards us as unworthy and useless which is not the case
• Unholy: wicked attitudes and wicked actions
• Heartless: They are hard hearted and unloving. Unloving toward God and unloving toward people
• Unappeasable: You can never convince this person to stop fighting and to be peaceful, unending fights
• Slanderous: Falsely accuse someone, it can be about God or man
• Without self control: No self restraint, you do whatever you feel like doing at the moment, your impulses control you
• Brutal: Violent, fierce and aggressive
• Not loving good: They oppose anything that is good or anyone that is good
• Treacherous: betraying someone
• Reckless: rash in your actions or decision making
• Swollen with conceit: Being blinded by pride
• Lovers of pleasure: Their goal in life is to pursue pleasure for themselves. So they’ll go to any extent to receive pleasure. They think that it doesn’t matter how immoral the thought or the action is…as long as you receive pleasure!
• They have an appearance of godliness but deny its power: When you look at them or talk to them you may think that they are spiritual but it’s only external. Their lives lack the transforming power of the Spirit because they refuse to change.

These false teachers have their lives characterized by these sins above. They are known for these sins. However, I don’t think any of us can look at this list and claim to not have sinned in any of these areas. All of us if we are being totally honest will admit to struggle in one or more of these areas. That’s why I want all of us to pay careful attention to the next part!

We are now delving into the root cause of false teaching. If you see here, the list starts with lovers of self, lovers of money and ends with lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. The real issue here is misplaced love!

[18] For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. [19] For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. [20] For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,[g] in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. [21] For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. [22] Claiming to be wise, they became fools, [23] and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. (Rom 1:18-23)

When we read this passage, we see how the issue in human history has always been about misplaced love. The reason why God’s wrath is revealed against us is because even though we’ve seen and experienced the love of God in creating us and sustaining us and providing us with this beautiful world to live in and displaying His greatness in His creation, we still love created things rather than Creator God!

When Adam and Eve were created, they were created with the purpose to love and honor God. The devil told them to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Satan told them that if they ate it they would become like God! At that moment they had to chose to either “love God” or “love themselves”. They chose to “love themselves” and all of humanity and creation fell into sin and destruction! Misplaced love!

After Genesis, you see the story of the Israelites in their relationship with God and you see misplaced love. Time and time again God rescues them and loves on them and provides for them but they keep running after idols and false gods made of metal and stone. The pagan nations around them would worship idols. Israelites even after seeing God perform astonishing miracles before their eyes, chose to love “idols” rather than “Almighty God”. Misplaced love.

And we come to our present age and we love other gods in our lives. In our hearts, we build special shrines for these idols:

• Social Media Idol: We say things like “I’m addicted to social media” but don’t admit that we love seeing ourselves get all the attention. We don’t admit that Facebook is probably the first thing we look up each day and the last thing we say good night to each night
• Entertainment Idol: And this is something I confess…is looking at entertainment as a way to self-medicate you from the issues of your life
• Work Idol: I must perform better at work in order to have my self-worth
• Family and friends Idol: Both family and friends are good things and God desires that we cherish these relationships. However, these are not meant to be substitutes for God in your life. Would you lose all reason to live if your friends and family aren’t around you? Is your happiness motivated by the circle of family-friends present with you?
• Pleasure Idol: In order to feel loved you gravitate toward seeking pleasure for yourself. Your decisions and actions are motivated by your pleasures. You look at your pleasure and you look at Jesus and your pleasures seem more sweeter and better!

And you don’t need to be a psychologist to figure what your idols are. Whatever you end up thinking most of the time or whatever you end up talking about most of the time is your idol. And it is your idol because you have greater affections for these things than Jesus. You love them more than God! You may look at this and be like “what’s the big deal? Why does God have to be so upset over me loving other people or things rather than him?”

How would you feel if your spouse goes around with other partners? You would be furious! Why? Because you know you belong to each other and this is an exclusive relationship that cannot be shared. Let’s look at us going after our idols as spiritual adultery! In fact, our sin idols ruined us and left us severely bruised. In OT, adulterers would be stoned and publicly humiliated. The punishment we deserved for our spiritual adultery was the wrath of God. But God sent His only Son Jesus to buy us out by giving up his own life. The most precious gift that could have been given was given to rescue us from the penalty of sin, death and Satan! Do you see the love that God has for you?

In the light of God’s amazing love for you, how do you show your love for Jesus?

1) You express your love by sacrifice.

Whenever we think about love in today’s age, we always think about love in terms of a feeling or an emotion. Biblical love is much more than that. In John 3:16, we see God the Father loving the world so much that he “gave” his most precious gift to save us. We can show our love for Jesus by giving something that’s really costly to us. The control and authority of your life is most important, wouldn’t you agree? Maybe you’ve been holding onto it for so many years, would you give it to Jesus because you love him more?

2) You express your love loving one another.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. (John 13:34)

As God’s church and family, God doesn’t want us to be consumers but imitators. The same love Christ pours out to us, we bend it outwards to each other in God’s family. Interestingly the verse says “just as Jesus loved us, we ought to love one another”. It’s the same sacrificial love we are display to each other. Look for ways to know the other members in this family, find out how you can serve them, think about ways where you can share your life with them.

3) You express your love through obedience.

[15] “If you love me, you will keep my commandments”. (John 14:15)

[21] Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” (John 14:21)

See there is a difference between obeying the commands of Jesus to “show people” that you love Him and obeying the commands of Jesus “out of” your love for Him. You can obey the commands just because those are the right things a Christian should do. Or you can obey the commands of Jesus because you are deeply in love with Jesus. Which do you think glorifies Christ and honors Him?

The truth is you will listen and obey the person whom you truly value and treasure in your heart. If you don’t value a person, you might still do it out of obligation but not willingly and gladly. So ask yourself today, how valuable is Jesus to you today? Is he so valuable and so important that everything he says you want to do? Or is he just like someone you like listening to when you feel like?

Another question I would like to put in front of you for reflection, think about some sin that you struggle with. Maybe 8 out 10 times when you are tempted, you fall into it. Your habits, patterns, thoughts are driven by this temptation because its hard. Would you consider asking yourself the next time you are tempted “Do I love Christ more or this sin?” Your desire and will to trust Christ and obey him during moments of extreme temptation and testing makes Him look big and precious!

Good morning church! We are going through a series titled “God Alive Church: A journey through the book of 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus”. For us as a church it’s been exciting to hear and know what God desires from us individually and corporately as His body. We are in 2 Timothy right now and the context of this letter is essential to understanding the weight and thrust to each of these passages. Paul is writing this letter to his dear friend, companion and disciple Timothy while he’s in prison awaiting his execution. It’s his last few days/months on this earth and he wants to communicate some urgent important instructions for Timothy and the church.

Last week we read how we can be strengthened by the grace of God. And we learnt three analogies by which we were exhorted to have a single-minded focus, obedient and hardworking pursuit of Christ. One thing we need to constantly encourage each other and challenge each other is to live a life worthy of the gospel. God didn’t send His only begotten Son so that we may live in sin. He sent His Son so that we can be free from sin! Jesus didn’t shed His blood on the cross for us so that we receive “Salvation” and then pursue our personal ambitions. Christ became our ambition! Now as his church we want Christ and we want to become like Him! Christ wasn’t nailed on the cross so that you and I live purposeless lives. He gave us a new purpose…an eternal purpose to know Him and introduce Him to others so that we all know and relate to Him as His bride! Let’s not be fooled or deceived by the world and Satan….when everything around you compels you to live for yourself and this life! No, live for Jesus! Live because He showed us grace!

We continue our study this week in 2 Tim 2:15-21

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. 16 But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, 17 and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. 19 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.”

20 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. 21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable,[d] he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.

This passage might seem like it’s only meant for full time, professional ministry workers or pastors, but I believe the principles apply to every believer in the church because all of us are called to disciple people…help people become and grow into Jesus (Matt 28)! In that sense all of us have a calling to lead and teach people. Where all does this apply?
• We speak the gospel to each other within the church when people struggle with guilt, doubt, loss of identity, depression, sexual temptation, pride, anger, unforgiveness etc. and suffering.
• Parents need to lead their families to know, trust and love Christ.
• We declare the gospel to unbelievers outside of the church when we interact with them on weekdays at work or college or the streets.

You and I might be employees 5-6 days of the week, but we are Gospel Workers 24/7. And there’s no retirement here! Therefore, it’s very important that as a congregation we understand what this passage is trying to say to us.

1. Diligence as a Gospel Worker

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.

All of us understand the phrase “Do your best” when we think about college or work. But what does it mean as a Gospel Worker? Let me clarify at the outset that you are not working hard and doing your best to earn God’s favour. All of our best efforts are like filthy rags before a holy God. (Is 64:6) We do our best because we have earned unmerited unending favour from God!

So what does “Do your best as a Gospel Worker” mean?

It means to exert yourself and persistently work and put your efforts to present yourself to God as someone approved!

I work in a company where we sell a software product. The software developers build the product but it’s not released immediately. It goes through a testing phase where the Quality Analysts check to see if the developer’s code meets the expectations. Only when the QA team approves, is the product released.

Have you wondered what might it be to be approved by God?

It means two things:

1. Right Message: “rightly handling the word of truth”. Some other versions put it in this way “rightly divide the word of truth”. The illustration is to smoothen or straighten the paths. The idea is to correctly teach the Word of God. This directly applies to elders but as shared earlier applies broadly to every member because all of are part of a royal priesthood with a calling to teach and disciple others (1 Pet 2:9).

And in order to rightly handle the Word of truth it takes time to sit and understand what the passage is trying to say. When we look at Scripture we automatically bring our own baggage and experiences to it. Sometimes it’s our own baggage which prevents us from hearing from God. Sometimes we add things to Scripture that isn’t quite there. So in the last few years I’ve learnt how 3 things are essential to bringing out the right message from Scripture:

Context:
Every book, every passage and every verse has a context. We need to understand the context in which that verse was written. One of the reasons why we follow Expository preaching at our church is because we don’t want to take anything out of context but want to preach messages in the manner that it was written.

Authorial Intent
God used human authors to write Scripture and supernaturally used their personalities, experiences and circumstances as they wrote it. Every letter and book in the Bible has a purpose for which the author wrote it. For ex: John 20:30,31 : Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Gospel Centricity
And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. (Luke 24:17)
If Scripture is all about Jesus and everything points to Him, then how can our messages be true and complete without showing how everything in that passage is pointing us to Jesus.

2. Right Intent of the Messenger

Another thing that I believe is important is the intent of the messenger. 1 Sam 16:7: The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

So it’s not good enough to have the right doctrine and right theology. Why are you teaching this message? What is the heart behind it?

Do you share the Word so that people can look at you and praise you because of your biblical knowledge?

Do you share the Word with people because you really love them?

Do you share the Word so that Jesus gets the glory? In other words, is it your true desire to see people treasure God, see Him as the most valuable treasure & give Him utmost importance in their hearts?

Do you share the Word with people because you want something back from them? Money, appreciation or acceptance?

Do you share the Word with people because in some way you feel it cancels out the bad stuff you do?

This is a hard hitting truth for me because I know every time I preach or share the Word with another person, I know I also need to have the right intent to communicate the message of God and be approved by Him.

2. Distance yourself from unproductive teachings

16 But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, 17 and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some.

Paul tells Timothy to keep away from ungodly teachings and conversations as a speaker and listener. These false teachings end up spreading like gangrene. In science class we would’ve learnt about gangrene….how it infects a part of the body, causes severe inflammation and unless it is operated on will continue to spread in the body. If it reaches the bones, amputation is required. So you can see how this is deadly! That’s how deadly false teaching can be. False teaching has the opposite effect of sound teaching. It makes people more and more ungodly! Two false teachers are mentioned: Hymenaues and Philetus. Hymenaeus was previously mentioned in 1 Timothy when Paul said that he was excommunicated (1 Tim 1:20). It doesn’t seem like he changed. He’s continuing to have an effect on the church saying things like “resurrection has already happened”. For all believers in Christ, we experience a spiritual resurrection when we heard the gospel and repented of our sins and placed our faith in Jesus. And as the Bible says, we will also have a physical resurrection where it will become glorified just like Jesus’s glorified body. Now what these teachers propagated was that it already happened. Firstly, this wrong teaching gives a wrong idea about God. Secondly, this wrong teaching results in a wrong lifestyle.

In today’s day and age, you’ll find false teaching in different ways. Let me cite a few:

1. Prosperity theology: God exists to bless you financially and also give you the best health right now. “Claim it in the name of Jesus”…The Bible never promises a best life now….it promises our best life in heaven! But they twist verses to make it sound like all God wants to do is make you prosper. No! God wants to glorify Himself through His Son Jesus. And sometimes that would mean us going through suffering and persecution in order to glorify God!

2. Over emphasizing Grace: There are some teachers that over emphasize on grace. The Bible talks about grace but never as though it’s cheap. These teachers talk about grace but it’s more in a sense of a license to sin rather than true grace which draws people to repentance. There is no emphasis on repentance. Rom 6:1,2: What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

3. Irrelevance: They say that since the Bible isn’t as relevant as it was in 1st century AD, we’ll need to bring in science and modern ideas into the messages. The Bible isn’t sufficient for us. The Bible is then viewed mainly for social and psychological learnings but not to meet God through Jesus.

4. Liberal Theology: It’s as good as Hinduism which says that there are many ways to God. John 14:6 says : Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

5. Jesus as friend but not Lord: This is a very subtle form of false teaching. People say they are believers because they prayed a prayer. But there is no true repentance and understanding of why they needed a Savior. Christ is not the Lord of their life. They are just very Christianized unbelievers.

There are many more but the only way you will not get caught up in this is if you listen and enjoy and grow in pure teaching of the Word. As you drink from Christ – the true fountain, you’ll not want to go and drink from contaminated water! And neither will you want anyone else to drink contaminated water. That’s why it’s important to refute false teaching and also persuade others who are in it to find and drink from the true fountain of living waters!

Paul thinks about how deadly this teaching is and how many believers are getting affected by it. But he ends on an assuring note.

Rest in God’s Sovereign hand over His sheep

19 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.”

20 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. 21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable,[d] he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. 

This is an amazing truth! It is true that there is false teaching in the world today but God’s hand is firmly holding His church. He’s not like a father who doesn’t care about his children. He cares so much that when they were wayward and enroute to hell, He sent His only Son to die and give His life as a ransom to buy them back. He will ensure that His sheep remains in Him. But His people need to respond as well. If you are God’s child, here’s how you will respond when your father corrects you. You will need to repent. “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

You know what’s a key characteristic of being a child of God: you repent frequently and you continue to repent with gladness. You are constantly departing from iniquity! Paul uses an analogy to help us understand this. If we were to contextualize this today, the wood and clay vessels can be compared to something that you would use to pick up something dirty from the floor. You wouldn’t use a silver spoon for that right? Similarly, if you repent and depart from what is dishonourable in you…it can be a wrong teaching and it can be wrong lifestyle and trust on Christ’s work on the cross, Jesus can transform you into a vessel for holiness and for His glory. You can be made into a vessel useful for Christ and live with Him and for Him forever!

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We’ve had an amazing journey studying the book of 1 Timothy. We completed the letter of 1 Timothy last Sunday and we are starting with 2 Timothy this week. In terms of its biblical context it does seem like a couple of years of years passed since his last letter to Timothy. Some things have changed since then. Paul was arrested and imprisoned in Rome for a second time. From the description given in this letter it does seem like this imprisonment was much more severe and confined than the previous experience. So much so, that a believer named Onesiphorus needed to search earnestly in order to find him. (1:17) All of Paul’s companions abandoned him by this point. His chains and his martyrdom were too much for the others so they left him alone. Only Luke remained with him (4:11). It’s in a cold dungeon as he’s waiting for his “departure”, he writes a farewell letter to his disciple, faithful companion and close friend.
This letter is ordained and written through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit but we’ll see elements of personal heartfelt statements as Paul remembers his memories with Timothy. Few of the key themes that we’ll come across in this letter are:
• Suffering
• Truth
• Godliness

Let’s look at the first seven verses of 2 Timothy 1 for today’s meditation:

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus,

2 To Timothy, my beloved child:

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

3 I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. 4 As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. 6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. (2 Tim 1:1-7)

In our Christian walk there are many instances where it calls us to be bold! Let me also say by boldness I don’t mean arrogance, dominating and harsh. In our culture, that’s what we refer to as being bold. Being bold is like Arnab Goswami is what we think in today’s culture. However, biblically being bold is about having strong convictions about the truths of the gospel but expressing it with gentleness and humility.
24 And the Lord’s servant[e] must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth (2 Tim 2:24, 25)

So there are quite a few places where it requires us to be bold:

1. We need to be bold in our witness. We need to boldly speak the truths about Jesus while speaking to unbelievers.

2. We need to be bold while confronting the sins within the church. This is probably something we don’t hear nowadays. “Oh, well you have no right to tell me what to do” or “Who made you judge over my life?” These might be the responses you will hear if you confront sin in today’s church. However, as we see in Scripture the church is the body of Christ and we have a role in maintaining its purity and unity. So there’s always going to be a need for confronting sin until we are made perfect (completely separated from the presence of sin) on the day Christ returns. Paul in Galatians 2 confronts Peter with his sin because the moment a few people from the Jewish circumcision party came to Antioch, he withdrew himself from the Gentiles and only ate with Jews. Paul had to confront him because this was hypocrisy and would negatively affect the Gentile believers at Antioch. And this was Peter! Just imagine having to confront someone like Peter. That requires boldness, don’t you agree?

3. We need to be bold against false teachers. That was the context of Ephesus at that time. Timothy’s role as a pastor there was to teach the right doctrine but also refute and stop the false teachers from influencing the church. Even though some time has passed since Paul’s first letter it seems like the false teachers were still having an influence in the church. Timothy was also facing opposition from these men. They were probably older in age and claimed to be “wiser” and more knowledgeable. He needed boldness to refute them.

So we do understand that boldness is required. But what about times when we aren’t bold but timid. Here’s how today’s passage can empower us to have godly boldness:

1. Remembering each other constantly in prayer (v3)

3 I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day.

One thing I wonder when I look at this passage is, why does Paul thank God for Timothy?

It’s a prayer of thanksgiving along with petitions made for him. Paul is probably thanking God for choosing Timothy sovereignly. In God’s Sovereign wisdom, He chose Timothy to be adopted as His son in Christ. Paul’s also probably thanking God for saving Timothy. The gospel one fine day started to make sense to him. It’s like the lights went on! Suddenly the story of Christ crucified on the cross seemed so beautiful to him because he saw that his sins were placed on the cross. Christ rising from the dead gave so much hope and joy to Timothy that he wanted it and desired to repent and place his full trust in what Christ did for him. It’s the story of every believer. And Paul rightly could thank God for that. Paul then probably thanked God for the many ways in which Timothy is being changed into the likeness of Jesus. Paul has fond memories of the first time he shared the gospel with Timothy. And then seeing Timothy grow through those years of life on life discipleship – 15-20 years. Paul also probably thanks God for using Timothy to lead and minister to the church in Ephesus which was a growing church.

The next question is why does Paul constantly pray for Timothy? Doesn’t God already know what Paul has been asking for Timothy? Why pray more?

Sometimes we forget the purpose of prayer. Prayer is not designed so that God can find out what we need.

for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (Matt 6:8)

Prayer expresses our trust on God and is a means by which our trust increases. When we look at the “unceasing”, “non-stop” prayers that Paul makes for believers in other letters we see how he actually believes and has faith in what he prays. It’s not because he just wants to say something positive and encouraging to the believers. Here are some examples:

11 To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, 12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thess 1:11-12)

9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; 12 giving thanks[d] to the Father, who has qualified you[e] to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. (Col 1:9-12)

You see a firm conviction that God will answer because these requests are in perfect accordance to God’s will.

In Luke 11, just after the Lord’s prayer Jesus encourages his disciples to pray because God delights and responds to his people’s prayer.

11 What father among you, if his son asks for[d] a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

If we knew how God acts and accomplishes His purposes through prayers of his people, we wouldn’t stop praying!!!

Just know that one of the most powerful and real ways in which you can help and encourage your brother and sister in Christ who struggles with timidity and fear is by praying for them.

2. Reminding each other how sincere faith is expressed by exercising our gifts

5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. 6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands

What does Paul mean “By sincere faith”? It means a faith that is genuine and not hypocritical.

Paul is trying to encourage Timothy by reminding him of his faith and also talking about his spiritual heritage. Not to say that Timothy inherited his faith from his mother or granny. No, we enter into a relationship with Christ through personal faith. But the work of Christ in his family’s life was visible evidence to the work and power of Christ! Which is why it’s important to see our homes as one of the most key places where we display who Christ is to our family members! The way we talk about the gospel, the way we apply the gospel and the way we respond to the gospel matters at home especially.

Paul makes an interesting connection between this verse on sincere faith and relates that with the next verse which talks about “fanning into flame the gift of God”. Even though in this passage it’s not clear what the gift is but I really believe it’s referring to his gifting of “preaching and teaching”. Where do we see that?

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. (2 Tim 4:1,2)

13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. 14 Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. 15 Practice these things, immerse yourself in them,[c] so that all may see your progress. (1 Tim 4:13-15)

So that was his gifting but let’s understand the principle here. If you have sincere faith, then it will need to be expressed by using your gifts to help and serve the body! You cannot have a situation of a person who says “I have really genuine faith but I don’t want to serve a local church”.

Saju and I were just talking a few days back of how sometimes the main reason why we fail to experience joy and life in our Christian walk is due to boredom! We are just bored lacking that purpose which needs to drive us each day. And Christ didn’t give us gifts to “preserve” them. He gave them to us graciously so that we may “spend” them on the people he’s placed around us. Just imagine how passionate and life-giving your life would be if you thought each day “I need to use my gift to serve this person, I need to use my gift to meet this need, I need to use my gift to bless this person”. Our job as elders is to facilitate and encourage multiple gifts and ways by which the body is being built up into Jesus. Our conviction is that if we are all not contributing and serving each other, then we in fact end up hurting each other.

15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (Ephesians 4:15-16)

The illustration that helps me understand this is how if one of our legs is injured, the other leg has to apply extra effort in order to make the body move forward. And it’s true about the church too.

My personal experience with this is: I’ve seen so much of joy and passion as I’ve invested and spent myself in serving others with my gift. That in turn has also fuelled my faith. So let’s have those conversations about how can we use our gifts more and more.

Seeing Christ work through our administration of our gifts as we serve each other adds more confidence and boldness in our faith. That’s the principle behind 1 Tim 3:13.

Lastly, we can be encouraged to be bold by:

3. Understanding the power of the Holy Spirit within us

for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. (v7)

How many of us truly believe this verse? Often in churches like ours it’s a topic we end up wither side-lining or diminishing in terms of its focus. If I have to be honest, this understanding of the power of the Holy Spirit is something that I have a lot to grow in. When we look at the book of Acts and even other places where the Spirit is mentioned it’s in a sense of power and divine strength being given to the believer. Often times when we talk about the Holy Spirit we think of it as a fire-cracker when it’s supposed to be a dynamite in the sense of His power! Here are a few verses that reveal the miraculous power of the Spirit:

Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. (1 John 4:4)

8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. (John 16:8-11)

2 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Gal 5:22)

In the book of Acts, whenever we see instances of the disciples being “filled in the Spirit” it results in them boldly declaring about Jesus. And if we have believed in Jesus, we too have the same Spirit in us!

Also, this Spirit empowers us to love God and people in a special way! Which means that even during times when we are being severely persecuted for our faith, the Spirit will strengthen us to love God. Also, with respect to love…the Spirit will empower us to love people who hate us. And sometimes these things seem unimaginable or extremely hard but that’s the powerful Spirit within us. We do have to be step with the Spirit. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. (v25)

There is an action, a human responsibility involved here. For example, if we aren’t spending time fuelling our love for God by studying Scripture, we cannot automatically expect affections for God to suddenly turn on. True Christianity isn’t lazy Christianity! Another example is if we don’t take radical measures to kill sin and keep ourselves pure, we cannot expect our love for God to grow from there.

Finally, self-control…why is self-control mentioned in that list? How does self-control relate with boldness?

I believe the lack of self-control often affects us from being bold for the Lord. Either it adds a lot of guilt. “How can I share about Jesus when I myself struggle with an excess love for money, position, pleasure?” Or where it becomes a reason for reproach from others where they point fingers at our lifestyle.

I hope we don’t look at this passage and feel disheartened if we don’t see perfect love for God or people, or perfect self-control being exhibited in our lives. The bible has a word called “repent” which means change of mind and turning back to God. Acknowledging the Spirit’s work in our life and now keeping in step with the Spirit.

There is a reason why Paul mentioned these ways reasons to encourage Timothy in his moment of fear: remembering him in prayer constantly, reminding him to exercise his spiritual gift and helping him understand the power of Spirit that is in him. Let these three ways encourage our hearts toward immense boldness in the faith!

[audioplayer file=”http://thegatheringcommunity.in/wp-content/uploads/jinsin-the-roots-of-flase-teaching.mp3″]

3 If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound[b] words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, 4 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, 5 and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and[c] we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

1. Identifying False Teaching (v3-5)
2. Identifying Godliness (v6-8)
3. Identifying the Desire to get rich (v9-10)

As a church we’ve been studying the book of 1 Timothy. It’s been a very meaningful journey as we’ve learnt what the gospel is and how it affects and shapes the life of the church. We’ve seen how the gospel applies to the roles of men and women in the church, we’ve seen how the gospel helps us select the right people to be elders and deacons of the church, we’ve seen how the gospel trains us up for godliness and over the last three weeks we’ve seen how the gospel empowers us to honor different groups of people: widows, elders and our masters.

Last week’s sermon was super helpful to me as it helped me understand how I could glorify God in my workplace using those 5 biblical principles. This week’s sermon is titled “Getting to the root” and I believe today’s passage speaks about identifying false teaching, identifying godliness and identifying the desire to get rich.

1. Identifying False Teaching (v3-5)

3 If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound[b] words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, 4 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, 5 and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.

The first thing that catches my attention in verse 3 is that Paul is writing against those who teach a different doctrine that doesn’t agree with the sound (healthy) words of our Lord Jesus Christ. The sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ refer to his life, teachings and work. Now why would that be important?

So when Paul brought the gospel to Ephesus and spent that time teaching and training the disciples, he didn’t produce a new teaching. All he did was apply the sound words of Jesus. Even when you read all of the other letters, Paul isn’t trying to bring some new idea to the church. What he does is he elaborates and explains the life, death and resurrection of Jesus! And this is critical in our day and age where we are more concerned about what’s new rather than what’s true! In our Christian culture we are much more eager to listen to a new thought or idea rather than listen to the same gospel message that gives life to our souls!

In Luke 24 when Jesus meets the two disciples walking to Emmaus, he tells them how all of Scripture beginning from Moses and all the prophets concern about himself. Later on in the chapter when he meets his disciples, he tells them how he needed to fulfill all the prophecies that were written about him in the Law of Moses, Prophets and Psalms. (v27, 44-47)

That’s why anyone who strives to be faithful to the Scriptures needs to talk about Jesus all the time because all the Scriptures talk about him. No preacher can add anything to the Bible or the gospel. In fact adding anything would mean making the gospel powerless and ineffective.

When Paul came to the Corinthians the first time, And I, when I came to you, brothers,[a] did not come proclaiming to you the testimony[b] of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men[c] but in the power of God. (1 Cor 2:1-5)

It was a culture that adored and looked up to new philosophies and ideas. They would’ve really been impressed if he changed the gospel and made it look new and hip. However, even then he still didn’t play to the galleries but chose to preach Christ crucified so that people’s hearts be truly changed by the power of God!

In order to know if the teacher is true, the questions for the church to evaluate are:

Is Christ being made much of through the sermon? Does Christ look big to you as a result of the preaching of the Word? Who is the centre of the sermon? Is it the preacher or Christ?

This is a big one. Is the preacher making the message more about his jokes, quips, stories or is it about displaying Christ as he is. As we learnt a few weeks back, the job of the elder is to remove all kinds of barriers to ensure that the Word is handled and preached as it is supposed to be: the Word of God. That also involves removing themselves from becoming the object of worship. This I do understand also has to do with the heart of the listener but there are many today who intentionally use the pulpits to make themselves known rather than Jesus.

Is the message calling you to repent of the idols in your heart? We see that when Peter encounters Jesus in Luke 5. After the miracle, when Peter understands that he is in the presence of Holy God, he doesn’t just stand there and have small talk. He falls at Jesus’ knees and says “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord”.

Are you being encouraged to trust in Christ’s work or yourself?

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Eph 2:8,9)

Talk about counter-cultural. Today if someone came up to and told you “whatever you do, your going to fail on your own strength”. How would that make you feel? Yet that’s the story of the gospel, it tells us how weak and incapable we are to make ourselves right before God. The only way we can be rescued is by relying on the sacrifice made by someone else. Yes, you need to trust in Christ’s life, death and resurrection to rescue you from the wrath that comes upon you for your sins. It humbles us to the core because we know we are helpless.

Is it a teaching that accords with godliness?

In other words if your sin is being exposed through the message, if repentance and faith is being preached in the name of Jesus then it should lead you to greater reverence and love for God. There is always an urge for holiness that comes from true biblical preaching.

I remember once going to a Christian concert. There was wonderful excitement and joy as people worshipped God. In the middle of the worship set, the leader asked us all to be seated and asked us to think about our need for help, healing etc. He then asked us all to respond with a loud shout and call out to God which was then confirmed as assurance of salvation by the worship leader. There was no call for repentance and need to trust in Christ as Savior. Not only did it give the wrong picture of salvation but it also didn’t encourage the believers to grow in holiness. All they got was an emotional experience!

4 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, 5 and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.

Now it goes into a description of the fruit of the false teacher: you will get to see it in his lifestyle, the way he conducts himself.
• You’ll see him be arrogantly prideful about matters that he doesn’t have accurate or full information of.
• He’ll have an unhealthy appetite to stir up controversial topics.
• You’ll find him frequently argue and debate about empty, unimportant and trifling matters.
• Those discussions and teachings always result in jealousy, quarrels, damaging each others reputation, suspicion and purposely behaving in a way that’s unreasonable and unacceptable.

Then he goes deeper into the root of the problem:

It’s caused due to a depraved mind (mind that is rotting and being corrupted by desire) and deprived of truth (lack of truth – he didn’t want to hold onto to truth). What is the desire? Imagining that godliness is a means of gain. The issue starts there! Because at the deepest level of his heart his desire is to please himself, that’s why his teaching reflects what he desires and not what God desires, and he arrogantly justifies his position with his pride. It’s hard for me to look at this passage and think that prosperity preachers have good intention especially when they arrogantly boast about it. However, if you have friends or family who are in a prosperity church please don’t write them off. Continue to pursue them lovingly and Scripturally showing them what the truth is. Show them how God desires that at the deepest level of their hearts He wants to see Christ and not themselves or money. But know that this is a very enticing theology and many have been hooked onto it.

2. Identifying Godliness (v6-8)

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and[c] we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.

This great gain is contrasted with the wrongful gain in the previous verse. Contentment is a conversation the urban church needs to have today. I’ve actually heard less sermons on contentment. In fact I may have heard more talks or lessons in my moral science class. Isn’t that strange? I think it’s because all of us struggle with finding contentment. Interestingly this verse says that godliness is complemented by contentment. It goes side by side. I believe there are few important things we need to learn about contentment from this passage:

a) We need to understand that our earthly lives are finite. There is a start to it and an end. It’s short-lived too. James 4:14 says our lives are like mist that appears for a little time and vanishes.
b) We weren’t created for money or possessions. That’s why we come into the world with empty hands and we leave the world with empty hands.
c) We need to understand the difference between our needs and our wants. Often our hearts get it all mixed up. Our needs are those things that are essential to us existing. Our wants are the add-ons that we often turn into our needs and then later turn into idols.
d) True contentment is found in God only. 5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Heb 13:5) We’ve usually only heard the later part which says “I will never leave nor forsake you”, however, we often miss the part before that which says “keep your life free from the love of money and be content with what you have”. What does that have to do with the promise in the next verse? I think what it means is: our hearts long for satisfaction and security which we often mistakenly look for in money. However, we weren’t created for money but we were created to find that security and satisfaction in the promise that God will be with us forever and never abandon us. As little children do you remember going to your parents and telling them about your fears and things that would trouble you. At those moments you didn’t want to hear the best and most sorted plan to deal with your issues but what calmed you and gave you so much of rest was when your parents put their arms around you and told you that they would be there with you. Now there was nothing more to be afraid of. Isn’t it weird how God tells us that in an even more serious way…by sealing these promises with his blood, but we still don’t believe?

3. Identifying the Desire to be rich (v9-10)

9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

Another important lesson for the church today is identifying the desires of your heart. We live in a culture and generation where the one who chases after money, gets it and lives a lavish lifestyle is praised! We love listening and talking about rags to riches stories. Materialism is all around us or rather within our hearts…sometimes we get so desperate that we’ll do anything to be able to latch onto material things. These are verses that should give us a sober warning. The love of money is seriously dangerous. Just to clarify, you don’t need to be rich to have the love of money. It’s the desire of your heart. Here are few things we can understand from these verses:

1) By having a love for money we open ourselves to various temptations. The love for money is a huge breeding ground for sin and the attacks of Satan. Because you are constantly thinking of how you need more money to give you a life you always wanted or to buy you things that you always desired. You become open to compromising your faith to get what you want. This leads to destruction.
2) It is a root of all kinds of evil. We probably don’t expect this to be a root of evil. We may expect adultery or sexual immorality to be the root. However, this verse should really give a strong warning that “all kinds of evil” spring up from this desire. No wonder one of the qualifications of an elder and deacon is “should not be a lover of money”.
3) Through this desire, people have wandered away from the faith! I think this has to be the saddest consequence of harbouring the love of money. The worst thing that can happen to a person is not lose a job, lose money or anything else but is to go away from our loving Saviour. It’s like in the Garden of Eden where the saddest moment was when Adam and Eve hid from the presence of God. Moving away from our Creator and Sustainer – you won’t be living without Him! You wouldn’t have been born at all without Him. Not just that but he loved us so much that while we were still sinners, he died a painful death on a cross. He died to redeem us from the curse of being separated from God. He died so that we can be with Him forever. Why would you want to wander away from such a loving Saviour?

Ask yourself these questions to know if you are a lover of money?

Is money controlling your life? Is the presence or absence of money changing you and the way you behave with others?

Would you do anything you can do to get more money? Would you compromise your faith to get more money?

Is money always on your mind?

Maybe the love of money doesn’t quite apply to your current situation. Could it be possible that like the false teachers in Ephesus that in some way you are looking at godliness as a means to some gain? Money, popularity, fame, self righteousness, acceptance etc. Would you repent of that desire and turn to Christ to help and strengthen you? Or you’ve recognized how you’ve been discontent with life and what you have…would you repent and trust on the promise that Christ would never leave you nor forsake you?