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2 Timothy 2:14-19, Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers. 15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. 16 But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, 17 and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some. 19 Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are His,” and “Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.”
Have you ever been the victim of shoddy workmanship? You hired a plumber, carpenter, or mechanic and when it was all over you told yourself or your wife, “We’ll never hire them again.” A number of years ago we took our vehicle to a body shop and when we got it back, we had a two-toned blue vehicle. The back hatch did not match the rest of the van. But we’ve had better experiences. We had a new driveway put in and were thoroughly happy with the job. We had an Amish group resize a cabinet to fit above our microwave and it fit perfectly and matched the other cabinets perfectly.
When it comes to handling the Word of God, Paul is charging Timothy to avoid all shoddy workmanship. Truth is a straight line and every deviation from that truth is dangerous and reason for shame. You can’t bend and shape it to fit your own desires. Many of you know verse 15 is the motto for the AWANA program, “Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed.” The workman in verses 14-19 is a skilled, unashamed worker who handles the truth of God’s Word accurately and is approved by God. So, what qualifies someone to be an approved workman in God’s sight? Let’s look at five qualifications that Paul gives in these verses.
AN APPROVED WORKMAN REMINDS GOD’S PEOPLE OF TRUTH AND WARNS THEM OF ERROR.
2 Timothy 2:14, Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers.
Paul starts with “remind them.” Paul says what all teachers know; people learn by repetition. We don’t preach anything new. I don’t come to you with anything novel or what you haven’t heard before. Truth may be stated in a fresh way, but the truth is the truth, from Genesis to Revelation. An approved worker just keeps on preaching the Word verse by verse, chapter by chapter, book by book. He keeps on reminding you of the sovereignty of God, the depravity of man, all the glorious doctrines of redemption, and as Paul said in verse 8, remember Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the core and center of the entire Bible. If someone comes with something new, be sure you demand chapter and verse. It may be a good truth you haven’t heard for a while or maybe you’re a new believer and just learning God’s Word, but always compare what you are hearing to the Bible to weed out heresies that need to be condemned. For example, the Bible does not teach theistic evolution, nor does it approve same sex attraction or marriage. Often people will try to use the Bible to defend their erroneous beliefs or behaviors. They find what they are looking for by twisting scripture of pulling verses out of context.
Paul says you are preaching in God’s presence. That’s an awesome thought. Solemnly charge them in God’s presence means you speak with authority. When the police catch a criminal, they don’t softly say, “May I suggest that you get on the ground?” No, police speak with commands because they have the authority of the law. Paul says to preach strongly and tell them to stop wrongdoing. Don’t argue or hold “word-wars” about stuff you don’t have any authority in Scripture to teach. “Word-wars” are useless and turn those who listen upside down in confusion and ruin. The word ruin is “catastrophe.” Paul informed Timothy about these troublemakers back in 1 Timothy.
1 Timothy 6:3-5, If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, 4 he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, 5 and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.
You’ll run into these when they come knocking on your door to argue that Jesus was not God, and the trinity is a false teaching, and there isn’t an eternal hell. They’ll want to come in and have a Bible study. Unless you are in charge and teaching them, don’t make that appointment. You’ll find false teaching in the cults. But be aware that there are many kinds of wrong thinking even in the church. People will argue over whether God loves everyone unconditionally, or if it is right to build up self-esteem. “God told me you should marry me.” Run from the person who says that! “God wants his children to be healthy and wealthy.” Those who believe that worry about why it isn’t happening to them and have no peace. “You’re sick because you don’t have enough faith.” Again, God is sovereign in all things. Take care of your body and trust God through the sickness. If they can’t show you chapter and verse rightly interpreted by context and comparing scripture with scripture, don’t buy it.
We must expose false teaching to protect the sheep. Calvin said a pastor must have two voices, one to gather the sheep and one to drive away wolves and thieves. We’re using both voices this morning. There are times to fight over even a vowel like the Greek “iota.” In the early church a heretic named Arius claimed Jesus was “like” God, but not the same as God. The Greek word homoiousias meant like God. But the orthodox doctrine of Christ was that he was homoousias, of the same substance as God or equal with God. Arius could not say Jesus was the eternal Son of God. He believed Jesus was only the Son of the eternal God. That’s an important distinction. Arius was rejected by the early church as a heretic, although his heresy continues in the Jehovah’s Witness cult and other cults which do not believe in the deity of Christ.
AN APPROVED WORKMAN IS DILIGENT TO PLEASE GOD.
2 Timothy 2:15, Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.
This is just an outstanding verse for all of us, not just the preacher. First, God says you need to be diligent and spare no effort in your Bible study. Work hard. If you’re going to teach tomorrow, don’t wait until 9 pm tonight to start preparing. Charles Spurgeon may have done that, but we’re not Charles Spurgeon. You may have to miss that ball game or movie. Preaching and teaching God’s Word is serious stuff. When should you begin to prepare for next Sunday? Begin on Monday or at the latest, Tuesday. How many hours? However long it takes to know it mentally and spiritually and put it in an understandable form. Be diligent. Work hard. People have asked me regarding my sermons, “Are you ready?” I’m never ready.
Why? Because you aren’t preparing and handling the Word to please people, but to please God. You can’t be shoddy. You can’t just wing it. You must work extra hard. You must desire to be approved to God. To stand alongside your work and say, “Here’s my work, God.” What a thought!
So how can we not be ashamed? By “accurately handling the Word of Truth.” Accurately handling literally means “cutting straight” (ortho, straight + tomeo, cut). Every carpenter understands the importance of cutting it straight, although quarter round can hide mistakes. Plumbers don’t have that luxury. If there’s just one drip, it’s not on the approved list. Paul was a tent maker and knew you had to cut the pieces straight to sew them together. A good workman is careful to do an excellent job. I worked for a contractor in a paint shop some years ago. I remember sanding and smoothing and staining a beautiful front door. I laid it horizontally on two work horses and sprayed polyurethane on it. I wanted this one to be perfect. I had to move it to another area before it was dry, so I asked another guy who didn’t have my ownership in this door with these words, “All you have to do is slide your hands under the bottom to lift it and we’ll move it right over there.” Everything went smoothly for about five seconds. That’s when he thought he had to plant his big fat thumb on the top right on the sticky urethane. No!!! There went my finished door!
Be careful with God’s Word. Cut it straight. Don’t mutilate, twist, torture, or hack it into pieces. Neither can you just throw hunks of meat to the sheep expecting them to be able to eat it. It must be cut it into digestible pieces, like a father carving the turkey at thanksgiving. You’ve got to cut it straight and make accurate distinctions. You look at the words, the grammar, the context. You compare Scripture with Scripture, distinguish between law and grace, expose legalism and antinomianism, the work of Christ for you and the work of the Spirit within you, faith and repentance, all those doctrines of grace – bring these truths out of the glorious body of Scripture. Some verses you take literally, some are clearly figurative. Christ is literally the way to the Father, but He’s figuratively the door. This is using good hermeneutics.
We believe God revealed His truth in a way that is understandable and not hidden to His children. Yes, there are some difficult passages like Peter said about Paul’s writings, “some of which is hard to understand” (2 Peter 3:15-16). Always consider the context. It is deceitful to rip verses out of context and make them mean whatever you want them to mean. Accurately handling the word of truth guards every preacher from going off the rails and teaching weird and wacky stuff.
AN APPROVED WORKMAN AVOIDS USELESS AND EMPTY CHATTER.
2 Timothy 2:16, But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness,
Before going further, I want to list the deadly effects of false teaching as given in our passage this morning. Second Timothy 2:14-19 tells us false teaching is: 1) useless, 2) ruins hearers, 3) promotes ungodliness, 4) spreads spiritual deadness, and 5) destroys faith. False teaching is deadly.
Now Paul tells Timothy to avoid or take a wide berth around any quibbling, worthless talk that does not come from God’s Word. Our talk should exalt God and Christ and humble man, calling people to repentance and faith and then to obedience. If you hear a preacher or influencer (as they are called these days) spouting words that embolden you toward sin, that flat out deny what the Bible clearly asserts, such as homosexuality or same sex attraction, give it a wide berth! Stay away. There have been preachers who emphasize grace to the point that how you live really doesn’t matter. There are some preachers whose teaching seems sound, but they ruin it by using language that’s verges on the obscene. You may have heard of the cussing pastor Mark Driscoll. If teaching promotes ungodliness, if it doesn’t draw you to honor and worship God in spirit and in truth, if it hinders your personal love for Christ and loving God’s people and wanting to please God in all you do, or if the message isn’t coming out of the text of Scripture, avoid it like the plague. People can use the Bible to promote their own agenda and profit. Beware.
When the Syrians were pressing hard against Israel and Judah, Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, visited Ahab, the king of Israel. Jehoshaphat wanted assurance from the Lord that they should go to war against the Syrians. All 400 of Ahab’s fake prophets agreed, “Yes, God says go.” That’s what Ahab wanted to hear. But Jehoshaphat asked for a true prophet of God. Ahab said, “There is Micaiah, but he never tells me what I want to hear!” Jehoshaphat said, “Let’s hear him.” Messengers went to get Micaiah and told him he should agree with all the other prophets. Micaiah’s words are memorable for any speaker for God, “What the Lord says to me, that I shall speak” (1 Kings 22:14). The point is, don’t make the Bible say what YOU want to hear, but what it actually says.
AN APPROVED WORKMAN WILL EXPOSE FALSE TEACHNGS AND FALSE TEACHERS.
2 Timothy 2:17-18, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some.
Paul knew wolves were out there sneaking into churches, getting teaching positions in churches and seminaries, and winning people’s ears with teaching destructive to the spiritual health of God’s people. Some people are drawn to certain teachers just because they ridicule or belittle true doctrine. It’s heady stuff, “We know stuff others don’t.” Herbert W. Armstrong was one of these in the 20th century. He believed God had given him special revelation to restore the true gospel and resurrected the Worldwide Church of God. But you have people like this today in the healing and deliverance movements giving appearance of having powers other believers don’t. Some belittle people who do not speak in tongues as if they are less Christian. If you are enamored by teaching that no one else ever found in the Bible before, be cautious. If no one has found it before, it could be true, but more likely, it’s probably false. Be Bereans who went to the Scriptures to see whether these things are true (Acts 17:11).
Paul says this false teaching spreads like deadening gangrene, which spreads quickly and must be stopped before it gains strength and ruins many. Just think of all the liberal denominations which have been fed false teaching or just haven’t been taught much at all. I met with a young Methodist pastor back in the 80’s in North Vernon. As we chatted, I asked him if he believed in hell? He said he didn’t think hell existed, but if it did, no one would go there. He was a Universalist – God’s going to save everyone. I asked him if his congregation knew he believed that about hell. No, he never told them, and they never asked. This gangrene of false teachings has spread throughout most of the mainline denominations, teachings that deny the inspiration and inerrancy of the Scripture or the wrath of God against sin or the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ on the cross, or the new birth.
Now Paul names two of these characters who were spreading their poison into the church. Paul wanted Timothy and others to be fully aware of their heresy, so he called out their names: Hymenaus and Philetus. This is what I appreciate about Justin Peters. He humbly exposes and names false teachers and exposes what they teach. I saw him recently interview Michael Brown and Sam Storms, exposing their misguided thinking. Paul calls the elders of the church to not only teach sound doctrine, but also refute or expose those who contradict it (Titus 1:9). Then he adds these instructions.
Titus 1:10-11, For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, 11 who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain.
What were these two heretics teaching? Verse 18 says they got off the rails, had gone astray. They denied the physical resurrection by saying the spiritual resurrection was all there was. As we know from 1 Corinthians 15, if there is no physical resurrection then Christ didn’t rise, and our faith is vain. Deny the resurrection and you’ve gutted the gospel! This is not a small difference of opinion but a capital error. They probably held to a dualistic philosophy that says spirit is good and matter is evil. All kinds of evil came from that teaching, including, if the physical is evil, then what you do with your body doesn’t matter, which encouraged all manner of immoral behavior.
I read an article some time ago claiming that the rapture of 1 Thessalonians 4 had already happened. In fact, they claimed all the prophecies regarding the future in Revelation were already fulfilled in AD 70, and we’re already in the new heaven and earth. Huh? That gets people’s attention. This thinking is called full or extreme preterism (meaning already fulfilled in the past). One preacher rightly said, “Mark it well: heresy always begins with truth out of balance and out of context. There’s often an element of truth in the teachings of the cults. That’s how they get their hooks in people. They even have verses to back up their errors… A counterfeit always looks genuine at first glance.”
These two heretics exposed by Paul probably came across as amazing experts. That’s why we as elders and others in our church must be careful to oversee the teachings of the church. We’re concerned that the children’s Sunday School teachings are biblically accurate. We must be on the alert. The modern sexual orientation movement is pressing hard into churches. Just google the Bible and LGBTQ and you’ll discover plenty of sites assuring people that God and the Bible are just fine with it. The woke movement is still alive and well within Christianity. Someone said, “In leaning over to help the world the church has fallen in.” It’s sad to witness young minds being led astray toward unbiblical thinking that will destroy their lives. But there’s good news.
AN APPROVED WORKMAN HAS CONFIDENCE IN GOD’S SAVING WORK.
2 Timothy 2:19, Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, ‘The Lord knows those who are His,’ and, ‘Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.’
I love how Paul starts this verse, “Nevertheless.” All this heresy and false teaching could be really discouraging. Will the church even survive? Martyn Lloyd-Jones says we shouldn’t spend too much time worrying about the demise of the church. The world, the flesh, or the devil will never destroy what God is building. While we contend earnestly for the faith and the truths of the gospel, God is sovereign, and His plan goes on seamlessly. He hasn’t been taken by surprise. The “foundation” in verse 19 is God’s church, and it will stand. The church has a double-sided seal.
Godward – God knows those who are His. Many people are swept away by false teachers who have told them what they want to hear. But 1 John 2:19 says they went out from us because they were not of us. God knows His people and will keep them. He will lose none of His sheep.
Manward – while God knows His own, His own people have hearts in which God has worked and regenerated. They have confessed Christ as their Lord and Savior, and the evidence of their salvation is His people have a hunger for godliness. Every genuine believer battles with sin but has a heart desire to please God and turn away from wickedness. They know evil is offensive to God. They know this world offers nothing compared to Jesus Christ. The outworking of the doctrine of election is godly living. God chose us in Christ to be holy (Eph. 1:4).
SO WHAT?
There’s great sobriety in this text. Accurately handling God’s Word is a non-negotiable qualification for a preacher or teacher of God’s truth. And you don’t play games with God’s truth; you submit to it. You don’t debate and argue with God. You bow your heart to Him and give Him all the praise because you esteem Him above all else. Do you love the truth of God’s Word? Is it like honey and more desirable to you than fine gold? Is it changing your life toward more and more godliness? Perhaps you still need to confess your sin and guilt and receive Christ as your Lord and Savior. You can do that right now as we close this service.