The Truth And Nothing But The Truth

2 Timothy 2:14 Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers. 15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 16 But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. 17 And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort, 18 who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past; and they overthrow the faith of some. 19 Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”

I like the book of Timothy. It was written by Paul to a young pastor just starting out. It looks as though Timothy faced some of the same problems modern day pastors face.....trying to keep everybody happy while still preaching the truth of God’s Word without compromise. I can tell you, THAT is hard work! Not the preaching part...but the keeping everyone happy part!

This sermon may be a bit rambling tonight. I just want to preach what God has burdened me with and I pray that no one here gets upset or thinks that I am personally attacking you. I’m not, and I love all of you so very much....you’ll probably never know the extent of that love until we all get to Heaven. This message was given by God...but delivered from my heart to those I love here tonight.

I often try to walk the line of being non-offensive. I know, sometimes it’s hard to tell...but it’s true. It’s never my desire to hurt anyone’s feelings or even to make someone feel guilty about anything. Conviction is the Holy Ghost’s job, and He does it better than anyone else can. I do know this...I am charged in our text with "rightly dividing the word of truth" in order to show myself approved before God...and this is a charge that I hold very deeply....and one that even scares me at times. I MUST know that what is preached here is the truth, and if it’s not then "woe unto me" for not knowing God’s truth before I speak to you.

Our text says to "shun profane and idle babblings". Sometimes we christians argue over the most mundane things, don’t we? There are a lot of different doctrines out there these days, all hiding under the name of "christianity". I’m not gonna talk about all of them here, but I have my own ideas about the difference in "prosperity doctrine" and in "being prosperous in Christ".

I can tell you, though, that the Bible warns of men who would come in the last days and pervert the gospel of Christ....even to the point of decieving the "very elect"..that’s you and me...and people who’ve been in church all their lives...with sweet sounding words and enticing doctrines that are totally out of the context with which the authors of the Bible meant.

Oh, they sound good.....there’s always a little bit of truth in a good lie....but when examined closely, they often fail the litmus test of God’s Word. Right now there is a movement afoot called "Kingdom Now". I wanted to know more about it because it sounds good, doesn’t it? I mean, I’d like to have God’s Kingdom right here, right now. So I researced it...and I assure you, I did my homework not just with one source, but many....and here’s what I found:

Kingdom Now theology is a theological belief within the Charismatic movement of Protestant Christianity, mainly in the United States. Kingdom Now proponents believe that God lost control over the world to Satan when Adam and Eve sinned. Since then, the theology goes, God has been trying to reestablish control over the world by seeking a special group of believers— known variously as "covenant people," "overcomers," or "Joel’s army,"—and that through these people, social institutions (including governments and laws) would be brought under God’s authority. They believe that since believers are indwelt by the same Holy Spirit that indwelt Jesus, we have all authority in heaven and on the earth; we have the power to believe for and speak into existence things that are not, and thus we can bring about the Kingdom Age. (That is as ludicrous as buying tickets to Israel for Jews in order to hasten the rapture)

Among the most controversial tenets of the theology is the belief that secular or non-Christian society will never succeed. Hence, Kingdom Now opposes a separation of church and state. Other beliefs include the idea that, as the Body of Christ, we are Christ. In other words, we have His divine nature. They also don’t believe in the Rapture, which is explained away as a feeling of rapture or excitement when the Lord returns to receive the Kingdom from our hands. In other words, everyone will be "caught up" emotionally when He returns. Also among the unbiblical beliefs is the idea that all prophecies regarding future Israel—both in the Old and New Testaments—are made to apply to the Church.