We’re working a little bit differently this morning in that we’re working from two passages. It may seem like two passages, but if you read through 2 Timothy, it’s really all one passage. We’re just concentrating on these verses because in them, Paul has given Timothy a clear contrast between a person with the spirit of the age and the Spirit of Christ.
2 TIMOTHY 1:7 and 3:5-7
In the 1800s, German philosophers invented a word that was brought over into English and is used to describe the times in which we live. The word is Zeitgeist—which means “spirit of the age.” For example, the spirit of the age was much different in the early 1950s than in the late 1960s. The spirit of the age is much different today than it was even a few years ago. The evidence is only as far away as the TV in your living room. In the 50’s, Lucy and Ricky had separate beds. Look at it now! Just a few years ago, homosexuality was rarely talked about and was always shown in a negative light. Today, nearly all sitcoms parade homosexuals around like it’s perfectly natural. The problem with the spirit of the age is that we live in it. We’re surrounded by it. We can’t get away from it. Just like a tea bag in water, we’re steeped in it. The problem is, since we spend our entire lives in our culture, we might not see a clear contrast between the spirit of the age and the Spirit of Christ in our own lives. Which spirit do you have? How do you know? Can you recognize the difference? That’s what we’re going to talk about this morning. In the verses we just read, Paul answers the question, “What are three differences between the spirit of the age and the Spirit of Christ?” The first difference is where you look for power. Look with me in 2 Timothy 3:5:
2 TIMOTHY 3:5
The spirit of the age seeks its power in many places. It looks to money, science, and education among others. Those can all be good things. But there’s one thing that turns them from good tools to bad theology. It’s the whole idea of progress. For the past 150 years, our society has been captivated by the idea of progress. Even to the point of worshipping it. The spirit of the age says that society can progress away from evil toward perfection. It promises that if poverty is eliminated we’ll live in utopia. (So we don’t need God as Sustainer) It promises that evolution, science, and medicine will continue on to make a perfect race. We can just help it along a little with abortion, genetic manipulation, and euthanasia. (So we don’t need God as Creator and perfector) It promises that with ethics based education, people will no longer do bad things. (So we don’t need God as the source of goodness and wisdom) Worshipping progress is a form of godliness, but it has no power. When God is pulled off the throne and the powerless god of progress is worshipped society sinks into a world of fear. When God isn’t on the throne of economics, progress calls for the government to redistribute money—taking money from those who have it and giving to those who don’t. That’s what Marx called for and Lenin did. When God isn’t on the throne of science, progress calls for killing people to make society better—it’s called abortion and euthanasia. That’s what Hitler did. When God isn’t on the throne of education, progress calls for lining up people according to their test scores. Those with low scores are forced to serve those with high scores by working menial jobs. That’s what Mao Tse Tung did. Seeing how the spirit of the age seeks power by worshipping progress is a frightening thing. But contrast the spirit of the age to what Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 1:7:
2 TIMOTHY 1:7
In contrast to the spirit of the age, which seeks its power in progress, God gives us a spirit of power. The last words Jesus said before He ascended into heaven promised the disciples in Acts 1:8: “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.” As a Christian, you have nothing to fear because your power isn’t something generated by you, society, or anybody else. It’s the very power of God Himself. God does not progress—He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He is not something you work toward or hope to attain. He gave of himself freely, sacrificing Himself, His Son on the cross. He is all-powerful and gave his Son so you can have power. So what is the power of God? Power over your circumstances, power over sorrow, power over sin, power over worry, power over fear, power over Satan, even power over death. It is realizing that you have no power in and of yourself. You can progress to the best person you can possibly be and still be lost and bound for an eternal hell. But the power of God says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” So how do you think? Do you use money as a power base? Do you try to control people by giving or withholding money? Do you see science as a power base? Do you look to science and medicine for the answers to all your questions? Or do you look at man’s science through the lens of the infallible Word of God? Do you see education as the key to society’s problems? Do you think people can be taught to be good? Or do you know that ethics without God is idolatry. The only cure to our society’s problems is the gospel of Jesus Christ. And the only way society will hear the gospel is from you and me. So the question is: Is your power based in the empty hope of human progress or is it supplied by the Holy Spirit? The first difference between the spirit of the age and the Spirit of Christ is your power base. The second difference is how you seek love. Look with me to 2 Timothy 3:6:
2 TIMOTHY 3:6
The spirit of the age is in love with the idea of love. Society knows it needs love, but doesn’t know how to find it. It reminds me of the story of the man who was trying to win a young lady’s affection. The problem was, she wouldn’t have anything to do with him so he started sending her love letters. He started with one a week—no response. He increased to twice a week—still no response. Finally, he increased to sending her a love letter every day. He sent her hundreds of letters. Just like all good romantic stories, this one has a happy ending. She ran off and married the mailman. Everybody has a built-in need for love. But the spirit of the age has told us love is something different from what it really is. Society has made love into a feeling—something that makes me feel good. Do you notice where the emphasis is? Love has become a selfish thing. Look at how this verse describes it. The spirit of the age makes men who are deceptive in the way they manipulate women. It makes women who are gullible and are willingly led into emotional captivity. There is an old saying about the difference between the way men and women view sex and love in a relationship. Men will give love in an attempt to get sex while women will give sex hoping to get love. Both ideas are based in selfishness and are destructive. That’s the sad nature of the spirit of the age. And where has it led? Divorce, abuse, and dysfunctional relationships are the norm rather than the exception. The state of the family and relationships today is frightening. But contrast the spirit of the age to the Spirit of Christ. Look back to 2 Timothy 1:7 again:
2 TIMOTHY 1:7
In contrast to the spirit of the age, which looks at love as a way to fill our selfish desires, the Spirit of Christ gives us a spirit of love. So what is a spirit of love? A spirit of love is agape love. The kind of love that says, I don’t love you for anything you can do for me. I give my love freely with no strings attached. It is completely selfless. Agape love isn’t a feeling. It’s a person—the person of Jesus. The only way you can truly love someone is for Jesus Christ to love them through you. Relationships are frightening—broken relationships are even more so. But a relationship with Christ can take away that fear. “God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of love.” So how do you think? Do you look at love as a feeling? Do you use love as a tool to get what you want? Do you allow yourself to be manipulated and led captive in an attempt to be loved? Or do you let Jesus’ love show through you—no matter what the results? The first two differences between the spirit of the age and the Spirit of Christ are where you look for power and how you seek love. The third difference is how you seek knowledge. Look with me to chapter 3 verse 7:
2 TIMOTHY 3:7
The spirit of the age prides itself on its knowledge. As a matter of fact, this is known as the information age. But where has all that information led? Throughout man’s history, there have only been three ways to have knowledge. You can physically examine something using your senses. You can figure something out using your reason. Or somebody can tell you about it. The problem with getting all your knowledge from your senses and your reason is that they both lead nowhere. If you try to find out the mysteries of the universe using your senses, there comes a place where your senses fail you. Things either get too big or small to be sensed. Getting your knowledge of the truth from your senses always leads to a place called skepticism—a place that says you can’t really know anything. On the other hand, if you try to get your knowledge of the truth from reason, your reason will fail you. When people run down both trails trying to gain knowledge, they find they both lead to places where they can’t really know anything at all. That’s brought on one of today’s leading philosophies called nihilism. Nihilism basically says that nothing is real, nothing matters, and you can’t really know anything about anything. It’s not new, Solomon got to that point when he wrote Ecclesiastes. What’s the phrase that he used over and over in that book? Vanity, vanity, all is vanity. At one point in his life, Solomon—the wisest man in the world—became a nihilist. Because he forgot the source of his wisdom—he chased after knowledge using his senses and his reason, and forgot about God. Does that sound familiar? Look back at our verse: “ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Even though we have easier access to more information than ever. Even though we have more educational opportunities than ever. Even with all this, the spirit of the age has less knowledge of the truth than ever. Seeing how the spirit of the age is sinking into nihilism is frightening. Vanity, vanity, all is vanity. Contrast the spirit of the age to 2 Timothy 1:7:
2 TIMOTHY 1:7
Remember I said that man only has three ways of having knowledge—using your senses, or your reason, or somebody can tell you about it. Guess what, somebody has told us about it. God did in the Bible. And since somebody told us about it, our senses and reason can have meaning. As a Christian, you have the ultimate foundation of knowledge. With the Bible as your foundation, you can make sense of the things your senses discover. With the Bible as your foundation, you can get perspective and understanding of the things you reason out. Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” Knowing Him is to have the knowledge of The Truth. You don’t have to be constantly searching for the meaning of life when you know The Life. So how do you think? Are you ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth? There is a whole new group of people out there who call themselves seekers. They go from philosophy to philosophy and religion to religion seeking answers. I had a lady sitting in my kitchen just a few weeks ago who said: “I wish I could take all the good stuff from all the religions and just make my own.” It’s no different in church. We have people who skip from class to class and church to church seeking answers that will satisfy them. They are searching to have their felt needs fulfilled. It’s like they have a hunger pang that can never be fed. Are you ever learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth? Do you have that pang that you can’t satisfy? Or do you realize that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom? The spirit of the age is a spirit of fear. Paul told Timothy not to have a spirit of fear because he has the spirit of power, love, and a sound mind. Seeking power is frightening. When you do, you run into the vicious world of politics, backbiting, jealousy, and betrayal. Chasing after love is frightening. When you do, you end up heartbroken. You can even end up with sexually transmitted diseases, HIV or AIDS. If you are chasing after love, you are in danger of being left used up and alone. Seeking knowledge by man’s methods is frightening. Without a biblical foundation, your knowledge will end up in confusion, skepticism, and even nihilism. You’ll end up like Solomon saying, “Vanity, vanity, all is vanity.” That’s not what God intends for us. “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” Earlier I said that we are steeped in our culture like a tea bag in water. That’s true, but you get to choose what part you play in the steeping process. Are you going to be the tea bag or the water? The water is changed completely by the presence of the tea bag. If you have chosen to be the water, you’ve been changed by the culture and you have to live in that spirit of fear. But you can choose to be the tea bag instead. If you choose to be the tea bag, you can truly impact your culture for Christ. You won’t have that spirit of fear. Instead you’ll have a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind. Understand that the choice is before you today. It’s plain and clear and there are no excuses. The Bible says to choose this day who you will serve. Will it be the lifeless, using, and confusing spirit of the age? Or will it be the powerful, loving, all-knowing Spirit of Christ? It’s up to you—which spirit will you serve?
