What a tremendous advantage it is to have a veteran minister take him under his wings, and teach him things he needs to know.
Illus: Such is the case, when Dr. Odell Belger was starting in the ministry, as a young man in his mid twenties. When he was called to a church, the church had just had a split. Most of the trouble makers had left, but there were still a few that remained.
Since he was new to the church, he did not know those who were godly among the congregation. And the last thing he wanted to do, was to turn to the wrong crowd, or place them in leadership positions.
Since he had recently graduated from Bible College, he tried to reflect back on his college days. Did they teach him anything about handling a problem like this? He could not recall ever hearing this problem brought up.
He contacted a veteran pastor that he had a lot of confidence in, and asked him, “How can I find out who the troublemakers are that are still in the church?” That old veteran preacher said, “Young man, if you want to find out who the troublemakers are in the church, all you have to do is watch who people associate with”. Then he used the old cliché, “Birds of a feather will flock together!”
That was some marvelous advice from a veteran pastor. It taught this young pastor how he could always recognize troublemakers, and he never forgot that advice.
Paul was a veteran minister. What a great advantage it was to Timothy to have someone like Paul to be his mentor.
IN A PREVIOUS MESSAGE, PAUL TOLD TIMOTHY:
(1) HOW TO PREACH
(2) WHAT TO PREACH
HE TOLD HIM SEVERAL THINGS HE WAS TO DO:
(1) REPROVE
(2) REBUKE
(3) EXHORT
(4) PREACH WITH LONG-SUFFERING
(5) PREACH DOCTRINE
But also look at-
II. A CHALLENGE TO GOD’S MESSAGE
Look at verse 3, we read, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears.”
After Paul CHARGED TIMOTHY TO PREACH THE WORD of God, he told him WHAT HE COULD EXPECT.
And you have to admire the apostle Paul. He did not make it sound like once Timothy did these things, he was going to be voted in as the “Man of the year”.
HE SHOWS HIM FOUR THINGS.
A. THEIR REFUSAL
Look at verse 3a. We read, “... they will not endure sound doctrine;...”
The ungodly cannot take strong Bible preaching.
Someone said, “The best way to clean out a restaurant, is to have a crying baby.”
But it also needs to be said, “The best way to clean the hypocrites out of the church, is to preach the Word of God.”
Paul said they cannot, “Endure sound doctrine.”
Oh no! Once they have been REPROVED, REBUKED, and EXHORTED, if they are not willing to straighten their lives up, they will get out of there.
One of the reasons that we have so many hypocrites in the church today, is because the Word of God is not preached. That will smoke them out!
Paul said they will not ENDURE SOUND DOCTRINE.
Why?
Because most of the time, trouble makers do all their dirt behind closed doors, and whisper in ears in private.
But once God’s Word begins to expose them, they will scatter like cockroaches do when you walk into a room, and turn the light on.
Paul said they are not going to take it.
It is time that God’s church accepts the fact, that we cannot compromise the Word of God, to keep that crowd sitting in our pews.
It is wonderful to have a large crowd in church, but it is more wonderful when people will OBEY GOD’S WORD.
Illus: When you have a crowd, large or small, that loves God and wants to please the Lord, it is the nearest thing to heaven on this earth.
But you can have a large crowd of people who REFUSE the Word of God, and they will not stop their hating, envying, and back-stabbing. Such a church is the nearest thing to hell you can find on earth.
God’s man has to love the Lord enough to PREACH THE WORD.
BUT IT IS THE CONGREGATION’S JOB TO OBEY THE WORD OF GOD, ONCE IT HAS BEEN PREACHED.
We looked at THEIR REFUSAL, but also look at-
B. THEIR RIDICULOUSNESS
Illus: Many of these people remind us of the wealthy Chinese businessman that was fascinated by a powerful microscope.
Looking through its lens to study crystals, and the petals of flowers, he was amazed at their beauty and detail. So he decided to purchase one of these devices, and take it back to China. He thoroughly enjoyed using it, until one day, he examined some rice he was planning to eat for dinner. Much to his dismay, he discovered that tiny living creatures were crawling on it. Since he was especially fond of rice, he wondered what to do.
Finally he concluded that there was only one thing to do - he would destroy the instrument that caused him to discover the little creatures! So he smashed the microscope to pieces.
"How foolish!", you say. But many people do the same thing with the Word of God. They hate it, and would like to get rid of it, because it reveals their evil nature.
They reject the Word of God, but notice how THEY RESPOND.
Look at verse 3b. We read, “...after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;”
People seek out teachers who will tell them what they want to hear.
Illus: How much good would it do you, to only go to a doctor who tells you what you want to hear?
Illus: Suppose we find the ugliest woman in America. But she was wealthy, and able to help us, so we made her MISS AMERICA.
Now that would be RIDICULOUS!
We have a lot of folks today, who are living ugly lives SPIRITUALLY, and they are finding people who will tell them how beautiful they are SPIRITUALLY. That is RIDICULOUS!
In many churches, the doors are open, but the hearts of the people are closed to the Word of God.
People don’t mind going to church if you will entertain them, and DON’T MAKE THEM FACE THE TRUTH!
We looked at:
• A CHARGE TO GOD’S MEN
• A CHALLENGE TO GOD’S MESSAGE
But also, let us look at-
III. A CHANGE FROM GOD’S METHODS
Look at verse 4. We read, “And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”
Notice two things in this verse of scripture. We see:
A. WHAT THEY WILL DO
Look at verse 4a, “They shall turn away their ears from the truth,”
THEY TURN THEMSELVES away from truth. Many simply do not want the truth! This is WHAT THEY WILL DO.
But look at-
B. WHAT GOD WILL DO
NOTICE that THEY TURNED THEMSELVES from truth, but now THEY ARE TURNED unto fables. When you leave truth, there is no place to go but to fables!
This is indeed a strange world in which we live.
People have turned from the Word of God unto fables. THEY WILL BELIEVE IN ANYTHING TODAY, EXCEPT THE WORD OF GOD.
For example, there are some strange beliefs.
• Some believe there is a Lizard man in the swamps of South Carolina. You ought to hear some of the stories that people tell about the Lizard man.
• In some of the foreign countries, there are people who believe that statues of Mary, the mother of Jesus, actually shed tears.
• There are some who believe that we evolved from the lower forms of life.
• Some believe that the moon is made out of cheese.
Today, people will believe in any ridiculous thing they can imagine, BUT THEY WILL NOT BELIEVE THE TRUTH OF THE WORD OF GOD!
Conclusion:
We live in a changing world, and for many of those changes we are grateful.
But for those of us who believe what this Bible teaches, it saddens our hearts, to see many of the changes today that are taking place in God’s church.
Today, let’s reaffirm our commitment before Almighty God, that we will always try to walk in agreement with His Word.
Forget what the other churches are doing. We need to keep ourselves following the path that His Word has laid out before us.
I. A CHARGE TO GOD’S MEN (1 of 2)
A. THE COMMAND
B. THE CONFRONTATION
C. THE CHARGE
II. A CHALLENGE TO GOD’S MESSAGE (2 of 2)
III. A CHANGE FROM GOD’S METHODS
