2^nd Letter of Paul to Timothy Chapter 3

Paul was writing to Timothy who he expects to take over ministry now that Paul is nearing the end of his life.  Turn to the 2^nd Letter of Paul to Timothy Chapter 3 

 

As we look at these words together  I hope we may all realise how far removed Paul’s view of the Church is from that of society to-day.  Most people seem to think of the Church as an anachronism, a relic from the past, a crutch for the weak minded, totally irrelevant to the modern world.  Whether we realise it or not, the Church isa under attack.  The world hates us, .and there are many who would like to see the Church marginalised right out of the public arena.  If you have any doubts about that, read some of the comments appearing under articles about the Church when published on newspaper websites.  They are venomous.

 

When I was ordained most people respected the Church and its Ministers.  They knew the principal characters of the Bible and stories of Jesus.  Now there is  rank ignorance.  Even people within the Church are not  fully Bible literate.  This is somewhat due to lack of proper teaching within the Church.

There is a basic question that we should all ask ourselves from time to time: Why do we go to church? Do we go to church for Christian fellowship? Do we go because we like the music?   To meet friends?
The primary reason we gather at church on Sunday is to learn about God and to grow closer to Him. Everything else is secondary. Knowing Christ, becoming like Christ, is what we are here for.

Since the day of Pentecost, when the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit in the upper room, the church has been used of the Lord to change individuals, families and whole societies. The true church has always stood for righteousness, holy living and godliness. The church has always been an instrument for change in the world. Because of the church, people’s lives have been changed, families and communities have been strengthened and the message of Jesus Christ has been given feet in the world.

This means that the church has a special importance in God’s plan. The church is not optional. Jesus established the church. He did not merely establish individual Christian living, he established corporate faith..

The New Testament assumes that people who are believers are connected to a local church where they live out that faith. Individual and independent Christianity is no where to be found on the pages of Scripture. So the church is not man’s invention, but God’s. Because Christ instituted the church, we should know what it is and how we should function in it.

Many images are used to describe God’s people in the Scriptures. One of the most powerful images is that of the church as family. It is powerful because it focuses on the essential ingredient of relationships.. We are brought together into this covenant community where our bond is the relationship we share both to God and to one another. We are committed to one another because we are family. As brothers and sisters in Christ, based on our common spiritual life.

God puts us together with a variety of people. He puts us with people we like and people we like less.  The church is not an optional part of life. For believers the church is a fundamental and foundational way of life.

There is a basic question that we should all ask ourselves from time to time: Why do we go to church? Do we go to church for Christian fellowship? Do we go because we like to sing hymns? Or out of sense of tradition. The primary reason for going to church on Sunday is to worship God and to grow closer to Him; to hear about Christ, so that we may live as He wants us to, becoming like Him.     This is achieved through hearing the Word of God,

       Paul is writing to Timothy who he has appointed to take over the ministry Paul is ending and begins this chapter with a command to Timothy.   Paul is issuing a forceful directive to Timothy, and by extension to all Christians and especially to all Ministers, with the simple message ‘Preach the word’.  Paul has earlier emphasised to Timothy the importance of Scripture, and he now tells him to go out and preach it. 

The word preach means to proclaim    We are to spread God’s word, not theories, or one’s own opinion, not a political analysis, not criticism of America or Israel, just the word of the living God.  Thus saith the Lord  It has to be remembered that for most congregations the Sunday sermon is as much of the Bible as they get and it should not be wasted with small talk about irrelevant subjects.

     .  A church which rejects the teaching of the bible loses its authority.  People have a right to expect men speaking as Ministers of the Church to do so, based on the word of God and not expressing personal opinions or preferences. Not giving personal views of morality or political rhetoric.  God has given what has to be taught and if preachers feel uneasy with that and unable to proclaim it, they should stand down   

    Paul  has stated that the Scriptures call upon preachers at times to reprove, rebuke and exhort. In other words, by correcting wrong thinking, pointing out what is wrong in behaviour and attitudes, and encouraging those depressed. 

       When  Paul tells Timothy, to ‘preach in season and out of season’, he means Timothy should use every opportunity to tell the gospel story. The world’s greatest need is to hear about Jesus Christ. All Christians, not simply all ministers, are commanded in Scripture to share their faith    

      There is no more important task than proclaiming the Word of God.  Churches do great work in caring for the needy and through social programming, but nothing however represents the means by which the Lord builds His Church than through His Word.  The Bible reveals wherever Church shows significant growth it is because the gospel was being forcefully preached.  Paul wrote in Romans, ‘I am eager to preach the gospel. I am not ashamed; it is the power of God unto salvation.’ 

     Many people are ashamed, or at least embarrassed, of identifying themselves as Christians.  Sometimes, because they are afraid of being isolated or harassed, others, for fear of being ridiculed, or for being challenged. 

     How many indeed could explain what the gospel is?  How many could say it is all about the person and life of Jesus Christ, what He did on the Cross, and how He conquered death?  How many are prepared to stand up and say Jesus Christ is the only way we can get to heaven. The majority of society would say all religions lead to God, but this contradicts what Jesus, Paul and Peter have told.     We try hard to think of ways for Church growth. The Bible tells us we have all the power we need within its pages.

     We put a lot of energy into fairs, fetes and garden parties, but treat them as just that without trying to reach out to the people at the same time. 

     We have parish magazines and newsletters which mostly tell what HAS happened, and contains articles about gardening or other hobbies, pieces about where people have been, or of memories.  There needs to be stimulating, provocative writing on a biblical theme.   

      Most of all we need to look at our services.  I have been to services and rather than come out inspired I am demoralised, and say to myself what was all that about. Too often services are done as if it is because something has to be done, rather than create an exciting experience.

      Often we find the sermon is a homily to fill in up to ten minutes when it should be the focal point of the service to motivate and teach and inspire.

     It is possible to attract people to Church if we are prepared to make the effort and offer a service with vibrant content.

     On a cold dark winter’s night last year, and again in May this year, (as we will in September).we were able to bring more than 80 people to Putnoe Church for a praise service and people went away feeling renewed and encouraged having sung and heard a gospel message 

          When Billy Graham or either of the last two Popes came to this country, crowds of people flocked to hear these men. That was because they offered people something worthwhile through inspired preaching and joyful praise, and people were ready to respond.

     In verses 3 and 4, we are reminded why persistence in proclaiming the Word of God is so important.  Surely, Paul is accurately describing our present context.    ‘For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers who will say what their itching ears want to hear.’    

     Sound doctrine aims to correct our faulty beliefs about God, and it aims to shape our character to be like Christ. If such is so vital to the life of a church, what is it that produces sound doctrine?
     Faithfulness to God's Word produces sound doctrine and produces mature Christians. Mature Christians fulfill the ministry God has called us to.  

     Sound doctrine calls us out of our comfort zone. challenges our sinful desires and behaviours.

  calls us to shift our focus away from ourselves,    

      and calls us to focus on God.

      I am afraid that "the time " Paul predicted has arrived. And, because we are living in the dangerous times Paul predicted, we, more than ever, need to heed his counsel to Timothy.
     This refers to a time when people will reject  Christian standards, morality and values and will substitute others. Such is the time in which we live.

     Paul says, men and women will turn away because truth requires the admission of human weakness, which people do not like to admit; the restraint of passions, which they do not like to do; and submission to the authority of God and other authorities under him, which they dislike and reject.

     They turn away from the truth, and will not even give it a hearing. It is not that they will listen to the truth and then decide whether it is right or wrong; they do not even want to hear it. They do not want to hear anything which will restrict their indulgences, and they resist, sometimes fiercely, every attempt to introduce the truth into any kind of social or governmental situation.

     Then they will look for those who will teach them what they want to hear; those who share their preferences, and are prepared to re-interpret Scripture to meet the desires.

     There is a disease, widespread in our day, called "itching ear disease," which Paul mentions here. This is an ear that wants to hear a particular line of things, an ear that wants to be entertained, that is always looking for something new, an ear that wants constant affirmation and does not want to hear anything negative or contradictory. People who have this disease look for teachers who will scratch that itch; and the result, the apostle says, is that they "wander into myths."

     What do these teachers, which such people accumulate in great numbers, teach? They cannot teach the truth because the truth is unacceptable, so they teach attractive lies, fantasies for the most part, speculative philosophies that emerge from the minds of men which have no basis in fact or history. There are many of these myths abroad today.

     We have been saturated by a world that is committed to falsehood. That is why, as Paul sets forth here, we must increasingly proclaim the truth as it is in Jesus. You and I are called to advance that work. Do not let anybody tell you that your life as a Christian does not count. It counts tremendously.    

     There is spiritual drift in the Western Churches. You will find at the highest level of Church office, biblical morality being denied and opposed.  There are those who would rather pay attention to the Equality and Diversity Act than Holy Scripture, despite the fact that some biblical Christians fought hard to have the Church excluded from some of the provisions of that oppressive Act. 

     There is too ready a desire to preach political correctness rather than biblical correctness

    We are facing sustained attack from secularists who are trying desperately to remove any semblance of religion from the public life of the country. Humanism is now the belief of millions. 

     What happens when you hear the Word Of God faithfully preached?  How do you respond?        

     We all have the opportunity today to respond positively to the Word of God.. Listen for the Word of God. Prepare your heart to receive it positively.

     The seed is always the same. The sower would drape a bag of seed over his shoulder, and as he walked up and down the furrows, he would take handfuls of seed and scatter it. This seed would fall, typically, on soil of four conditions.
     The soil can be said to represent a type of person, but more specifically, the soil represents the human "heart".
It is too often that a sermon or Scripture reading does not penetrate our heart. Sometimes that is the preacher's fault, but not always.
     Here is a little test. Starting tomorrow, ask the first person from church that you talk to what today's sermon was about. You won't remember every detail, but see if you can recall the thrust of the sermon. If you can't, the reality is that either I'm a very poor communicator or even worse, the Word of God did not penetrate your heart. The initial trouble is a heart unprepared for the Word of God.(1956)

 Come to church then, prepared to feast on sound doctrine, ready to accept, receive and proclaim the Word of God. This combined with the work of God's Spirit, will not only transform you, but it will transform others as you seek to become one who faithfully preaches the Word of God. Amen,