Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Accurately Handling the Word │ Msg 614 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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Accurately Handling the Word │ Msg 614 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: As it was a raining this past week, and things
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Speaker 1: looked a little dreary around us, I was reminded of
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Speaker 1: the words Isaiah wrote. Just as he wrote those words
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Speaker 1: regarding rising up with wings like eagles, as the rain
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Speaker 1: comes down and the snow from heaven and returns, not
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Speaker 1: without watering the earth, so that it may bring forth
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Speaker 1: and bud, that it may give seed to the sower
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Speaker 1: and truth to the hearer. Even so shall my word
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Speaker 1: be that goes forth out of my mouth, It shall
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Speaker 1: never return to me empty, and it shall accomplish the
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Speaker 1: thing for which I have sent it. What a great promise,
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Speaker 1: isn't it? His word will never ever return empty, and
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Speaker 1: it will accomplish exactly what he intended for it to accomplish. Today,
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Speaker 1: I want to read from his word as it is
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Speaker 1: recorded in the second Letter to Timothy. If you'll turn
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Speaker 1: there to the second chapter, we'll pull six verses from
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Speaker 1: sort of the core of the chapter for our time
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Speaker 1: and attention today. Not any of his word will return empty,
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Speaker 1: including these six verses, which is a great thought. Paul's
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Speaker 1: writing to a man who is in his forties. Paul
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Speaker 1: is in his mid sixties. Paul is in a Dungeon,
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Speaker 1: as he writes, and Timothy is actively engaged in the
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Speaker 1: pastorate in a city we would know in the country
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Speaker 1: today is Turkey, but the city was Ephesus. Ephesus still stands.
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Speaker 1: If you're ever in Turkey and you're able to take
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Speaker 1: that tour, make sure you see Ephesus a meaningful visit
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Speaker 1: Paul's writing to Timothy in Ephesus. May we stand together
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Speaker 1: for the reading of his word in two Timothy two
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Speaker 1: verse fourteen. To begin with, remind them of these things,
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Speaker 1: and solemnly charge them, in the presence of God, not
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Speaker 1: to wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to
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Speaker 1: the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent to present yourself
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Speaker 1: approved to God as a workman who does not need
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Speaker 1: to be ashamed, accurately handling the Word of truth. But
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Speaker 1: avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to
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Speaker 1: further ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangren. Among
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Speaker 1: them are Haminaeus and phileite Us, men who have gone
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Speaker 1: astray from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already
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Speaker 1: taken place, and they upset the faith of some. Nevertheless,
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Speaker 1: the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal the
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Speaker 1: Lord knows those who were his, and everyone who names
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Speaker 1: the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.
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Speaker 1: God will honor his word and will make it real
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Speaker 1: in our lives first, and as we live it out
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Speaker 1: in the lives of others. You may be seated, Join
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Speaker 1: me as we pray. Please, there is some thing about
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Speaker 1: your word, our Father, that touches where no surgeon scalpel
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Speaker 1: can ever reach. It penetrates to the soul and the spirit.
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Speaker 1: It brings to our attention things we would have otherwise ignored,
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Speaker 1: or overlooked or denied. Thank you for your word that
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Speaker 1: will live and abide forever. The grass may pass away,
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Speaker 1: and the and the flowers may wither, but the word
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Speaker 1: of our God lives forever. May we learn to trust
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Speaker 1: in its truths, and may we establish ourselves on the
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Speaker 1: foundation that you have laid. How firm a foundation the
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Speaker 1: saints of the Lord is laid for your faith in
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Speaker 1: his excellent word. What more can he say than to
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Speaker 1: you he has said? And we rest our case there,
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Speaker 1: our Father, you who for refuge to Jesus have fled.
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Speaker 1: I pray for all today whose hearts are heavy for
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Speaker 1: whatever reason, the loss of a dream ill health, joblessness,
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Speaker 1: struggles at home with a marriage with wayward kids, feelings
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Speaker 1: of brokenness, insecurity, and a thousand other things. Our Father
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Speaker 1: that plague us in the flesh, help us in these moments.
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Speaker 1: We're together to see beyond all that and to hear
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Speaker 1: again truth that abides, that enables us to say, as
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Speaker 1: we come to terms with it, it is all now
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Speaker 1: well with my soul. These gifts are yours, and we
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Speaker 1: give them gratefully. And we thank you for our occupations
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Speaker 1: that allow us to earn a living. And we pray
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Speaker 1: that you will use each coin, each bill, each check,
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Speaker 1: each gift for your greater glory. And may we watch
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Speaker 1: over these funds with enormous integrity, and may this work
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Speaker 1: go on by your power and for your glory. As
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Speaker 1: we sing to you, and as we listen to you,
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Speaker 1: and as we give to you, and now as we
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Speaker 1: pray to you in the name of your son, Jesus Christ,
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Speaker 1: our Savior, and everyone said amen. Toxic religion has been
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Speaker 1: around for a long long time. In fact, for as
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Speaker 1: long as there has been truth to tell, there have
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Speaker 1: been charlatans and deceivers and liars, not all, not even most,
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Speaker 1: but there have always been some who take advantage of
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Speaker 1: trusting people and act as though they are modeling and
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Speaker 1: declaring the truth, when in fact they are liars, they
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Speaker 1: are deceivers, and they are promoting in the lives many
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Speaker 1: without those people knowing it. A toxic faith, Steve Ardeburn
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Speaker 1: in his searching book titled Toxic Faith begins with a
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Speaker 1: true story that will make you uneasy. My grandmother died
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Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty nine. If there were ever a person
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Speaker 1: of strong faith and convictions, it was Nanny all alone.
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Speaker 1: She reared her three children, including my mother, after the
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Speaker 1: suicide of my grandfather. She never gave up, never stopped believing,
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Speaker 1: never lost faith. For her death was merely a step
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Speaker 1: into a better place. She didn't fear it. Her faith
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Speaker 1: kept her at peace, motivated her to care, and provided
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Speaker 1: constant hope. She was always actively doing her part while
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Speaker 1: she to trusted God to do his. At Nanny's funeral,
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Speaker 1: the minister told of one of the frustrations my grandmother
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Speaker 1: had to endure an audit by the Internal Revenue Service.
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Speaker 1: The IRS went to a lot of trouble to make
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Speaker 1: sure that someone who made every bit of eight thousand
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Speaker 1: dollars a year paid her fair share of income taxes,
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Speaker 1: while others were hiding millions of dollars from the federal government.
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Speaker 1: Special agents were hard at work in the case of
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Speaker 1: Pearl Russell, making sure the country would not be shortened
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Speaker 1: a few hundred dollars by a sweet old lady in Athens, Texas.
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Speaker 1: At issue was Nanni's large deduction for charitable contributions. The
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Speaker 1: government couldn't believe that a woman making so little could
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Speaker 1: give thirty five and some years forty to the church
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Speaker 1: and still have enough money left over to pay her bills.
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Speaker 1: The IRS finally backed off when she dug out of
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Speaker 1: the attic. All the canceled checks to television ministers, radio preachers,
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Speaker 1: and her local church agents did not understand it, but
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Speaker 1: they were convinced that she had given every penny she deducted.
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Speaker 1: My grandmother not only gave away almost half her income,
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Speaker 1: she paid off her carloans, early paid off her mortgage,
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Speaker 1: and still had enough money left over to bake her
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Speaker 1: special pies for hurting people. Nanny was an amazing woman
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Speaker 1: of faith. It seemed that no matter how much she
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Speaker 1: gave away, she still was provided with enough to live comfortably.
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Speaker 1: What little she could do for God she did. She
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Speaker 1: did it because of a real faith in God, not
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Speaker 1: a faith motivated by the idea that if she gave
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Speaker 1: she would become rich. She knew she would never have
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Speaker 1: a lot of money. Neither did she give because she
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Speaker 1: hoped to buy her way to heaven. She had taken
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Speaker 1: care of her place in eternity years ago. No, she
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Speaker 1: gave because she wanted to give back to God a
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Speaker 1: portion of all he had given to her. Her pure
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Speaker 1: motives set a great example for all who had the
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Speaker 1: privilege to watch her. There was nothing toxic about Nanny's faith.
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Speaker 1: She never gave to a particular minister, but always to
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Speaker 1: the ministry, such as to a children's home or to
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Speaker 1: a project to feed the homeless. When she gave a dollar,
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Speaker 1: she knew how that minister was going to expend it.
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Speaker 1: At least she thought she did. Some of the individuals
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Speaker 1: to whom she gave her money were not so admirable.
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Speaker 1: Their toxic faith robbed my grandmother of the great blessing
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Speaker 1: of knowing her money had been used to further the
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Speaker 1: Kingdom of God. They took her money and spent it
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Speaker 1: on themselves and their big plans, schemes that had nothing
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Speaker 1: to do with my grandmother's desire to tell the world
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Speaker 1: about God's love or to feed and clothe orphans. Some
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Speaker 1: of those ministers that she so faithfully supported wound up
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Speaker 1: in jail, were arrested for indecent exposure, or fell into
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Speaker 1: other public sin. They proclaimed a faith on television or
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Speaker 1: over the radio, but they lived something else. They didn't
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Speaker 1: shrink from asking my grandmother and others like her to
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Speaker 1: sacrifice their money so they could buy jet fuel to
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Speaker 1: flyt to Palm Springs for a weekend getaway. What they
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Speaker 1: did was dishonest, unfair. The kind of faith they lived
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Speaker 1: looked radically different from the one they proclaimed on the
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Speaker 1: public airwaves. These unfaithful men and women who spent Nanny's
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Speaker 1: money put more faith in themselves than they did in God.
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Speaker 1: They relied more on their manipulations than on God's providence.
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Speaker 1: They were more concerned about their own comforts than they
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Speaker 1: were for the people who gave them money or for
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Speaker 1: those whom the donations were intended to help. They built
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Speaker 1: big empires for themselves, while my grandmother turned off her
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Speaker 1: heater at night so she might be able to save
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Speaker 1: a few dollars and therefore give more, their faith toxic.
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Speaker 1: It poisoned many who trusted them, and it distorted the
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Speaker 1: view of God held by many who watched as these
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Speaker 1: ministers fell from grace. As a result, many today believe
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Speaker 1: all ministers are Charlatans and out to fleece the flock.
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Speaker 1: These cynics have derived a toxic, unhealthy view of faith
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Speaker 1: from the toxic examples they saw and heard in the media. Unfortunately,
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Speaker 1: media ministers are not the only ones who poison faith.
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Speaker 1: Believe it or not, There were Charlatans and deceivers and
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Speaker 1: liars as far back as the first century. In fact,
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Speaker 1: they go as far back as the presence of truth.
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Speaker 1: For as I said earlier, wherever there has been the
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Speaker 1: proclamation of truth, there have been those who fake it,
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Speaker 1: or act as though they are declaring it, or line
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Speaker 1: their pockets because of their messages. Admittedly they are in
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Speaker 1: the great minority, but tragically they are the ones who
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Speaker 1: give a bad name to ministry at large. All ministry
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Speaker 1: suffered today because of a few who take advantage of
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Speaker 1: those like Ms. Russell and thousands of others. When Paul,
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Speaker 1: sitting in his dungeon in Rome awaiting his death, chose
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Speaker 1: the subjects to address in the life of a man
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Speaker 1: much younger than he, who had many more years to
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Speaker 1: live on this earth. As he carried out his ministry
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Speaker 1: in places Paul would never reach. He took the I'm
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Speaker 1: to address the subject knowing that Timothy was by nature
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Speaker 1: halting and weak and timid, and he would need the
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Speaker 1: backbone to stand against those who needed to be exposed
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Speaker 1: as people of toxic faith. The section we're looking at
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Speaker 1: today is the way Paul alerted Timothy to this need
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Speaker 1: and encouraged him to stand against it. I'm referring to
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Speaker 1: the fourteenth through the nineteenth verses of two Timothy Chapter two.
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Speaker 1: Rather than immediately getting engaged in all of the trees
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Speaker 1: in this forest of words, let's back off and let's
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Speaker 1: look at the forest at large. Let's get the big
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Speaker 1: picture first, and to do so, I suggest we start
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Speaker 1: not at verse fourteen, but fifteen. On a positive note,
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Speaker 1: Paul writes to Timothy, and Paul urges this younger pastor
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Speaker 1: to be a diligent workman who has no reason to
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Speaker 1: be ashamed, to make certain that he is an authentic messenger,
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Speaker 1: to handle the word accurately and will, and then to
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Speaker 1: go back to verse fourteen to remind those and solemnly
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Speaker 1: charge them, in the presence of God, not to wrangle
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Speaker 1: about words. The terms mean warring with words are word wars.
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Speaker 1: Don't be engaged in word wars arguing over needless and
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Speaker 1: unhelpful and impractical theories that will get you nowhere. In fact,
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Speaker 1: they will lead to the ruin of the hearers. Don't
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Speaker 1: go there, Timothy. And now in verse sixteen he adds
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Speaker 1: avoid worldly chatter, godless, empty chatter that will only lead
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Speaker 1: to further ungodly When he gets on that subject, he
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Speaker 1: turns to the negative and the strong warnings, and they're
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Speaker 1: found right here among the word wranglers verse fourteen, as
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Speaker 1: well as you will see verse seventeen. These who spread
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Speaker 1: their words like gangreen. Interesting Greek word. It is literally
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Speaker 1: the word gangreen in Greek. We have the English word gangreen.
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Speaker 1: It's the idea of spreading poison in a system, in
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Speaker 1: this case, in the blood system, in the system of
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Speaker 1: the church. They are those who spread poison. And Paul
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Speaker 1: even has the temerity to add them by name. Look
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Speaker 1: at this, Hymenaeus and Philetus. He puts their name down
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Speaker 1: on the manuscript, and their names will be read through
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Speaker 1: the centuries, as various people pour over the word of
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Speaker 1: God and discover these are the people who lived out
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Speaker 1: a toxic faith in that first century. We'll meet Hymenaeus
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Speaker 1: a little later in the first part of First Timothy,
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Speaker 1: but let's go on. The great part of this is
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Speaker 1: that it ends on a positive, strong note, Timothy, Nevertheless,
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Speaker 1: in spite of all of these individuals who would stand
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Speaker 1: against the truth, Nevertheless, Timothy, there is a firm foundation
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Speaker 1: upon which we stand, and it has a twofold seal. First,
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Speaker 1: the Lord knows those that are his. And second, let
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Speaker 1: everyone who names the name of Christ depart from wickedness. That,
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Speaker 1: in an overall scale, is sort of the overview of
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Speaker 1: where we're going. Now, let's look at the verses in
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Speaker 1: more detail. To begin with, Paul needs to explain for
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Speaker 1: us the role of the accurate messenger. By the way,
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Speaker 1: the pen portrait that he paints here is so helpful,
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Speaker 1: it would be good to hang it on the gallery
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Speaker 1: of your of your mind, make it a mental gallery
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Speaker 1: as you think about what are the qualifications of the
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Speaker 1: responsibilities of one who is an accurate messenger? And I'm
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Speaker 1: referring to those who teach the scriptures who preach the scriptures,
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Speaker 1: who write of the scriptures, who do evangelistic work from
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Speaker 1: the scriptures, people who do mission work, people who do counseling,
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Speaker 1: people who teach home Bible classes, people who speak at conferences. Listen,
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Speaker 1: all those individuals who lead people to believe that they
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Speaker 1: are accurately handling the word of truth. What can we
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Speaker 1: say about them? Paul? What is it we need to
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Speaker 1: keep in mind? First of all, each one needs to
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Speaker 1: pay attention to himself or to herself. Look at how
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Speaker 1: he puts it verse fifteen. Timothy, be diligent to present
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Speaker 1: yourself approved to God as a workman who does not
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Speaker 1: need to be ashamed. And we'll stop there for a
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Speaker 1: few moments. Make every effort, Timothy, to pay close attention
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Speaker 1: to yourself. I was reading in Harvard Weekly the other
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Speaker 1: day the results of the findings of men who had
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Speaker 1: made a serious study of strong natural leaders, and as
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Speaker 1: a part of this article, I found it fascinating that
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Speaker 1: one of the number one problems among strong natural leaders
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Speaker 1: is an absence of self awareness. Isn't that telling? We
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Speaker 1: can be so driven and so passionate, and so engaged
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Speaker 1: with our message to people that we failed to stop
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Speaker 1: and take a look in the mirror and see the
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Speaker 1: truth regarding ourselves as we're challenging others and encouraging others
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Speaker 1: and instructing others. So pulses don't go there, Timothy, start
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Speaker 1: with a self examination. By the way, the charlatan has
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Speaker 1: long since lost interest in examining himself or herself. People
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Speaker 1: who are liars and stand as though they are truth
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Speaker 1: tellers are either delusional or they are downright and purposefully
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Speaker 1: intentionally deceptive. But there's one thing they're not, and that
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Speaker 1: is honest before God with the truth of their lives. Timothy,
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Speaker 1: understand that your message first must go before God, and
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Speaker 1: your life must be lived before God. When no one
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Speaker 1: is around, nothing in secret, no double life, no acting
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Speaker 1: one way and living another. Take a look at yourself.
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Speaker 1: In fact, hold your place here and go to First Timothy,
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Speaker 1: chapter four. This is a perfect occasion where we allow
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Speaker 1: scripture to help interpret scripture. First Timothy, Chapter four, beginning
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Speaker 1: at verse twelve, and at the risk of being a
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Speaker 1: little pedantic, but even ask you to notice the verbs.
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Speaker 1: To start with verse twelve, Let no one look down.
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Speaker 1: On the end of verse twelve, show yourself an example.
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Speaker 1: Verse thirteen, give attention verse fourteen, Do not neglect verse fifteen.
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Speaker 1: Take pains with these things verse sixteen. Pay close attention.
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Speaker 1: These are all passionate words. Don't have time here to
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Speaker 1: develop them. But I'll want you to see what he's
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Speaker 1: saying to this younger preacher, this younger minister, Timothy, he
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Speaker 1: writes verse twelve, don't let anyone look down to the
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Speaker 1: fact that you're young. In those days, Timothy was about
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Speaker 1: thirty eight to forty years old. That gives encouragement to
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Speaker 1: all of us, doesn't it that was considered young back then, Timothy.
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Speaker 1: There'll be those who will view you as too young
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Speaker 1: to be speaking forth rightly. Pay no attention to that.
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Speaker 1: It's not your youth that will be your problem. It
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Speaker 1: will be your immaturity. So in order for you to
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Speaker 1: live out a mature life, Timothy, be sure that you
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Speaker 1: are making the grade. Look at the verse, in your speech,
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Speaker 1: in your conduct, in your love, in your faith, and
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Speaker 1: in your purity. Show yourself an example to those who believe.
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Speaker 1: Until I come. Give attention to the public reading of
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Speaker 1: the scriptures, and to exhortation and to teaching. That's where
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Speaker 1: you spend your time, Timothy, Verse fifteen or verse fourteen.
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Speaker 1: Don't neglect the spiritual gift which is within you. Verse fifteen.
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Speaker 1: Take pains with these things. Isn't that interesting how he
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Speaker 1: puts it. Don't be negligent, Timothy. Don't spend so much
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Speaker 1: time on the golf course that you don't have time
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Speaker 1: to pay attention to your life. Don't lay back as
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Speaker 1: if there's all the time in the world and there's
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Speaker 1: really nothing urgent going on. Pay attention to these things, Timothy,
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Speaker 1: Pay attention to them. Pay attention to those things. Take
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Speaker 1: pains with then verse sixteen. Pay attention to yourself and
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Speaker 1: to your teaching. Talk about direct guideline for the minister
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Speaker 1: of the gospel, and look at the order. Pay attention
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Speaker 1: to yourself. And as you do that and you pass muster,
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Speaker 1: then you will be paying attention to the things that
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Speaker 1: you teach. Now back to tewod Timothy, Chapter two. No
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Speaker 1: secret life, no shame, no ulterior motive, Timothy. First of all,
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Speaker 1: pay attention to yourself. Second, you must be careful, Timothy,
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Speaker 1: to accurately handle the word of truth. Remember memorizing this
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Speaker 1: verse in the King James Bible. You may recall these
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Speaker 1: words that we are to study to show ourselves approved
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Speaker 1: unto God. A workman that needs not to be ashamed?
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Speaker 1: What rightly dividing the word of truth? Now this verse
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Speaker 1: appears in the New American Standard in a little different
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Speaker 1: manner and more accurate than that. Actually, this verse begins,
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Speaker 1: be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman.
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Speaker 1: Don't forget the first half of that two syllable word,
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Speaker 1: A workman who does not need to be ashamed accurately
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Speaker 1: handling the word of truth. See the words accurately handling.
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Speaker 1: It is rendered in the King James rightly dividing. But
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Speaker 1: the Greek term listen to this means to cut straight.
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Speaker 1: It literally means to cut straight. In the first century,
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Speaker 1: it was used for riding in a chariot or a
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Speaker 1: carriage that took a straight route across the field. It
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Speaker 1: was used in the life of a farmer who plowed
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Speaker 1: a straight furrow. He cut a straight line in the dirt.
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Speaker 1: It was used of a stone mason who cut a
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Speaker 1: straight edge on the stone before putting it into place.
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Speaker 1: It's the idea of cutting straight, getting it straight, saying
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Speaker 1: it straight. That's the thought here. A reliable messenger who
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Speaker 1: is an accurate handler of the truth will be a
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Speaker 1: precise communicator of the Word of Truth. There will be
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Speaker 1: no deviation, it will not be diluted. He or she
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Speaker 1: will stay true to the context, refusing to misinterpret and
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Speaker 1: misapply the text of scripture. You can rely on that
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Speaker 1: individual to cut a straight line when it comes to
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Speaker 1: the truth. The primary question to be asked to every
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Speaker 1: minister of the Gospel does that individual accurately handle the
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Speaker 1: word of truth. Physicians who fail to practice their profession
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Speaker 1: correctly are found guilty of malpractice. Attorneys who fail to
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Speaker 1: do their work are found to be illegal in the
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Speaker 1: practice guilty of illegalities. People who work in finance can
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Speaker 1: be guilty of fraud as they misrepresent the records in
28:19
Speaker 1: the keeping of those financial records. But when it comes
28:22
Speaker 1: to the minister of the Gospel, it is remarkable how
28:27
Speaker 1: many fail to rightly handle the Word of Christ. I
28:33
Speaker 1: love the way Kent Hughes puts it in his book
28:35
Speaker 1: on two Timothy Listen to his words. Scripture is often
28:39
Speaker 1: wrenched from its context and mistakenly and obviously misapplied, like
28:46
Speaker 1: the preacher who used Revelation eleven ten in the King
28:52
Speaker 1: James version as a Christmas text, and he read and
28:57
Speaker 1: they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them
29:00
Speaker 1: and make marry, and she'll send gifts to one another.
29:05
Speaker 1: And he preached a Christmas text from that Versus scripture.
29:09
Speaker 1: The problem is he neglected to include the final clause
29:13
Speaker 1: in that same verse, which reads, because these two prophets
29:18
Speaker 1: tormented them that dwell on the earth, and can't huse ads,
29:23
Speaker 1: have yourself a very merry Christmas. I remember when I
29:29
Speaker 1: was mustering out of the Marine Corps and a friend
29:31
Speaker 1: of mine I had met while I was in the
29:32
Speaker 1: Corps had his family living in the area where I
29:35
Speaker 1: would be discharged. Shortly, he said, when you get there
29:39
Speaker 1: and there's a Sunday free, why don't you visit my family.
29:42
Speaker 1: Fact that they might even go to church with you,
29:44
Speaker 1: because I've told him that you're a religious man, whatever
29:48
Speaker 1: that meant. So I got there and sure enough called
29:51
Speaker 1: up his folks and we went to their church, very large,
29:55
Speaker 1: formal church, full of stone and marble and granite, magnificent
30:01
Speaker 1: a structure, a massive pipe organ, and nothing wrong with
30:05
Speaker 1: any of that. When we first walked into the vestibule,
30:09
Speaker 1: there were life size pictures of one great person after
30:14
Speaker 1: another's I recall there was Mahatma Gandhi, and there was
30:19
Speaker 1: one of the queens of England hanging there, and then
30:22
Speaker 1: then there was George Washington, and then there was Abraham Lincoln,
30:26
Speaker 1: and then there was Jesus, Jesus of Nazaire hanging there.
30:30
Speaker 1: And underneath written in bronze, big bronze letters, you were
30:35
Speaker 1: all the sons of God dot dot dot, And he
30:41
Speaker 1: gave the reference. I thought, well, I wonder what the
30:44
Speaker 1: rest of the verse says. So when I sat down,
30:47
Speaker 1: I turned over to the verse, and it said you
30:50
Speaker 1: were all sons of God by faith, which is in
30:52
Speaker 1: Christ Jesus a little different. Huh, what's wrong? Well, you
30:58
Speaker 1: can make the verse say whatever you wanted to say say.
31:00
Speaker 1: If you don't cut it straight through, if you don't
31:03
Speaker 1: end a sentence, or if you leave out words of
31:05
Speaker 1: a sentence, you can make it save whatever you want
31:08
Speaker 1: to That's why every cult that thrives saying it's a
31:12
Speaker 1: it's a body of people who really teach the Bible.
31:15
Speaker 1: They'll come with their CDs at your door and they'll
31:19
Speaker 1: knock on your door, and I want to get you
31:20
Speaker 1: involved in Bible study and discussion groups, and we'll we'll
31:24
Speaker 1: we'll bring our bibles and will wait a minute. Hold it,
31:27
Speaker 1: hold it. Don't put your discernment on hold at that point.
31:31
Speaker 1: Remember every cult finds this foundation in the Bible versus
31:36
Speaker 1: the scripture that they pull out of their contact half,
31:38
Speaker 1: versus that they wrench from their proper setting. It is
31:42
Speaker 1: propaganda to lead you away from the truth. So what
31:49
Speaker 1: are we not to do? Verse fourteen. Please observe solemnly
31:55
Speaker 1: charge those in the presence of God not to wrangle
31:58
Speaker 1: about words. It's a wonderful way to put it. Stay
32:04
Speaker 1: away from word fights, which is useless and leads to
32:10
Speaker 1: the ruin of the hearer. Timothy, as you pay attention
32:15
Speaker 1: to yourself, accurately handle the word of truth. How far
32:22
Speaker 1: we have drifted from this? I like the way one
32:25
Speaker 1: fellow pastor put it. So much of today's preaching reduces
32:28
Speaker 1: salvation to self esteem, sin to maladjustment, the church to
32:36
Speaker 1: group therapy, Jesus to dear abby. We've fallen on hard times, folks,
32:45
Speaker 1: and the reason is ministers don't work hard. In the text,
32:50
Speaker 1: I want to emphasize that we are to be workmen.
32:55
Speaker 1: It is hard, hard work in these days when there
32:59
Speaker 1: are many pressing needs in every church. Undisciplined habits and
33:05
Speaker 1: sloppy research and negligent attention to detail, and inadequate time
33:10
Speaker 1: and effort, and homolytical sloth all play a role in
33:15
Speaker 1: poor preaching, so that the congregation is left hungry. The
33:21
Speaker 1: word picture in this text of verse fifteen, right down
33:25
Speaker 1: to the last detail, tells this minister of the Gospel
33:30
Speaker 1: that he must present himself in a way that he
33:33
Speaker 1: will not be ashamed. And a great deal of that
33:37
Speaker 1: depends upon how the minister spends his time when he's
33:41
Speaker 1: not with the flock. John Phillips adds a good word here,
33:46
Speaker 1: and I ask you to follow it very carefully as
33:49
Speaker 1: I read his words to you. To divide the word
33:53
Speaker 1: of truth rightly, we must have a consistent hermenutic. That's
33:58
Speaker 1: a method of interpretation. We must interpret the Bible not
34:02
Speaker 1: allegorically but literally, taking into account the Hebrew and Greek
34:07
Speaker 1: languages of its birth, and make allowances for the cultural, historical,
34:13
Speaker 1: and geographical backgrounds against which it arose. We must take
34:18
Speaker 1: into account the obvious differences between the dispensations, the various
34:22
Speaker 1: kinds of judgments that people will face, the two different
34:26
Speaker 1: resurrections our standing in our state Israel and the Church,
34:31
Speaker 1: the Church and the Kingdom, the Kingdom of God and
34:34
Speaker 1: the Kingdom of Heaven. In other words, we must make
34:37
Speaker 1: a difference where God makes a difference. He continues, we
34:41
Speaker 1: must pay close attention to figures of speech, types and symbols,
34:45
Speaker 1: the chronology of events, the structure of each book, the
34:49
Speaker 1: harmony of scripture, and the significance of names and places.
34:52
Speaker 1: If we follow these guidelines, and adequate, comprehensive, consistent, and
34:57
Speaker 1: correct exegesis of the text should emerge from our study.
35:01
Speaker 1: The diligent student will build an ever growing library of
35:05
Speaker 1: useful books, including commentaries, dictionaries, encyclopedias, atlases, histories, biographies, systematic theologies,
35:14
Speaker 1: works on comparative religions and the cults, words, studies, and
35:18
Speaker 1: even good fiction. He will extend his study into scores
35:22
Speaker 1: of disciplines, including archaeology, geography, history, astronomy, apologetics, and languages.
35:29
Speaker 1: He will fill file drawers with illustrative material culled from
35:33
Speaker 1: extensive reading of magazines, journals, newspapers, and books. He will
35:39
Speaker 1: join libraries, subscribe to a variety of periodicals, attend lectures,
35:43
Speaker 1: and consult experts. In short, the diligent student will work.
35:49
Speaker 1: He will fill his note books as he steeped his
35:51
Speaker 1: mind in the Word of truth. That, my friends, has
35:57
Speaker 1: to do with handling the Word of truth correct. If
36:01
Speaker 1: you visit today and you are listening to these words,
36:04
Speaker 1: and your pastor is one of those kind of individuals,
36:07
Speaker 1: you go back and you thank him, and you thank
36:10
Speaker 1: him and thank him for the hours he spends preparing
36:14
Speaker 1: every thirty or forty five minute message. And if you
36:17
Speaker 1: give him more than forty five minutes, God bless you.
36:20
Speaker 1: Special blessing falls upon you. How can you study twenty
36:24
Speaker 1: thirty hours for a message and deliver it all in
36:26
Speaker 1: nineteen minutes? Have said for your sermonetes are for Christian nets,
36:31
Speaker 1: and we are Christians. We need full messages from the
36:35
Speaker 1: Word of God based on the truths that had been
36:38
Speaker 1: correctly interpreted. And that takes work, that takes time, That
36:44
Speaker 1: includes saying no to all different kinds of invitations, all
36:49
Speaker 1: different opportunities to go elsewhere and do your thing. The
36:53
Speaker 1: hard work of staying with the text is a demanding assignment.
36:59
Speaker 1: I think I have made my point, so we will
37:03
Speaker 1: press on. What do we say when we expose the
37:07
Speaker 1: false teachers? What does Paul say? What do they do well?
37:15
Speaker 1: Clearly they spread false information. Look for yourself verse sixteen,
37:22
Speaker 1: avoid worldly and empty chatter. YadA YadA, YadA, YadA YadA. Yeah,
37:26
Speaker 1: the theory of this, the plan of that. What do
37:29
Speaker 1: you think about this? How do you feel about that? Well?
37:32
Speaker 1: You know, I was with a group the other day
37:33
Speaker 1: we were talking about this. Well, what I think is
37:35
Speaker 1: a pre tribulation rights a mid reread or is it postmaty?
37:39
Speaker 1: What's that? Please? Please please? It'll lead to further on godliness.
37:47
Speaker 1: Do you see that? It won't just lead to time wasting.
37:51
Speaker 1: They'll replace godliness with chatter. The Christian life is a
37:57
Speaker 1: life of purity, is a life of discipline. It is
38:00
Speaker 1: a life of lived, straight, narrow life. It isn't a
38:07
Speaker 1: wild and crazy life full of talk. In fact, it
38:11
Speaker 1: says their talk verse seventeen will spread like Gangreen, Spread
38:18
Speaker 1: like Gangreen. How many congregations are being poisoned by the
38:21
Speaker 1: empty talk of empty headed pastors, just talking, just giving
38:28
Speaker 1: current events, telling what my mother used to call pepatch stories,
38:34
Speaker 1: just tantalizing people's interest and entertaining them with stupid, silly stories.
38:41
Speaker 1: The teaching of the text is absolutely essential. Without it,
38:46
Speaker 1: we are debilitating people. In fact, it says here they
38:51
Speaker 1: will upset the faith of some. Why do they do this?
38:57
Speaker 1: By Verse eighteen tells us they have gone astray from
39:00
Speaker 1: the truth. They've gone astray from the truth. They don't
39:05
Speaker 1: cut a straight line. Their line is crooked. They're lining
39:10
Speaker 1: me anders all around. You hear all kinds of things,
39:16
Speaker 1: and you leave feeling so good. You learned love. Now,
39:26
Speaker 1: before I go any further, so I are gonna hear this.
39:28
Speaker 1: I'm gonna say, Man, Swendell, you are getting real crotchety.
39:31
Speaker 1: Holy you get you're really getting negative. Whoever knows me
39:35
Speaker 1: knows a lot better than that. But for the sake
39:38
Speaker 1: of you who do not, may I say, there's every
39:41
Speaker 1: reason in the world, when you know the truth to
39:42
Speaker 1: live your life on a higher plane. And you don't
39:46
Speaker 1: get crotchety. You aren't negative. You just are discerning. And
39:52
Speaker 1: you can spot a phony a half a block away.
39:55
Speaker 1: You can listen to something and you will hear in
39:57
Speaker 1: between the lines that's phony. Baloney, there's another word for it.
40:01
Speaker 1: But I won't go there. Look at first Timothy chapter one.
40:05
Speaker 1: Don't you go there? Okay? First Timothy Chapter one one,
40:11
Speaker 1: Timothy one, I want to show you this man Hymoneus,
40:14
Speaker 1: And my heart kind of goes out to Hymoneus because
40:16
Speaker 1: he's now in the inspired text that has been there
40:20
Speaker 1: for centuries for every preacher to point out. Aren't you
40:23
Speaker 1: glad God does no longer write his word first? Timothy?
40:27
Speaker 1: Chapter one, verse eighteen. This command I entrust to you, Timothy,
40:30
Speaker 1: my son, in accords with the prophecies previously made concerning you,
40:35
Speaker 1: that by them you fight the good fight. Timothy. There's
40:38
Speaker 1: a fight to be fought. You don't enter a playground,
40:41
Speaker 1: you enter a battleground, Timothy. The ministry will be filled
40:45
Speaker 1: with fighting situations, fighting the enemy, fighting the adversary, fighting heresies.
40:51
Speaker 1: But don't become a fighter by nature. You just must
40:53
Speaker 1: fight the good fight. How do I do that? Next verse?
40:56
Speaker 1: Keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected
41:02
Speaker 1: and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith next verse.
41:08
Speaker 1: Among them among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander. How does
41:16
Speaker 1: Paul feel about them? Whom I have handed over to
41:19
Speaker 1: Satan so that they will be taught not to blaspheme.
41:25
Speaker 1: Here's a man named Paul who has the audacity to
41:28
Speaker 1: say they are poisoning the minds of people, and I
41:35
Speaker 1: stand against them. Himonaeus Alexander. We'll meet him later on
41:41
Speaker 1: in the letter of two Timothy. Back to two Timothy,
41:44
Speaker 1: chapter two. Let me come here again. These are men
41:49
Speaker 1: who have gone astray from the truth, verse eighteen. And
41:53
Speaker 1: they've said the resurrection has already passed. Now the first
41:56
Speaker 1: thought you have is the resurrection of Christ. But I
41:58
Speaker 1: don't believe that's the reference. Everyone knows that by then
42:03
Speaker 1: the resurrection of Jesus was already passed. He's referring to
42:06
Speaker 1: any future resurrection. So this particular false teaching had led
42:12
Speaker 1: people to take the word resurrection and to spiritualizing we
42:16
Speaker 1: all have our resurrections. You have resurrections when you awaken
42:20
Speaker 1: in the morning and you are resurrected to new insights
42:25
Speaker 1: and great ideas, and how great it is to know
42:29
Speaker 1: that you can have this enlightenment. And it even implies
42:33
Speaker 1: the idea of being resurrected and coming back into another
42:35
Speaker 1: life like reincarnation. And they spread that in their culls,
42:41
Speaker 1: and they spiritualize the word. They don't take resurrection to
42:44
Speaker 1: mean what it literally means, that there will literally be
42:47
Speaker 1: a resurrection of all who have passed on, the dead
42:49
Speaker 1: in Christ shall rise first, and we who are alive
42:52
Speaker 1: and remain shall be caught up together with them in
42:54
Speaker 1: the clouds and will meet the Lord in the air.
42:56
Speaker 1: So shall we ever be with the Lord that's called
42:58
Speaker 1: the blessed Hope of the believer. Can you imagine what
43:01
Speaker 1: it does to people to know that they'll never see
43:03
Speaker 1: their loved ones again? You imagine what it would be
43:06
Speaker 1: like to think all of life is contained in these
43:08
Speaker 1: sixty seventy eighty years spent on this planet. Please, the
43:13
Speaker 1: word of hope I have at every funeral is that
43:16
Speaker 1: someday you'll see your loved one. Someday you'll be with them,
43:20
Speaker 1: and the two of you and the family of you
43:22
Speaker 1: will be with him face to face. How glorious that.
43:25
Speaker 1: But these people taught otherwise, and that's why they upset
43:31
Speaker 1: the faith of some Verse eighteen. People long to know
43:37
Speaker 1: the truth, and it is the truth that sets you free.
43:41
Speaker 1: It is false information that holds you in bondage. Embrace
43:48
Speaker 1: the truth. Don't be afraid of the truth. When the
43:54
Speaker 1: drums of World War II were stilled and men and
43:57
Speaker 1: women turned hopefully to the pursuit of peares, many of
44:02
Speaker 1: us will remember that those dreams were turned soon into
44:06
Speaker 1: a nightmare. The Soviet Union launched a global effort to
44:10
Speaker 1: bring everyone under communist rule. The Iron Curtain came down,
44:15
Speaker 1: and Eastern Europe was swallowed up behind the curtain, the
44:19
Speaker 1: Cold War began. A man very concerned about that was
44:24
Speaker 1: Sir Winston Churchill. In fact, his word was appalled. It
44:29
Speaker 1: occurred to him that the Bible had prophecies that might
44:32
Speaker 1: shed light on his path as he sought to guide
44:36
Speaker 1: his people through the perilous paths toward peace. But who
44:42
Speaker 1: could he get to shed light on these things? Churchill
44:45
Speaker 1: I never read, ever became a believer. But Churchill knew
44:48
Speaker 1: that there was something about this Book of Truth that
44:51
Speaker 1: held information that was truthful. But he knew nothing of
44:54
Speaker 1: the book. After diligent inquiries, my source tells me he
44:59
Speaker 1: chose a full former missionary named Harold Saint John, a
45:04
Speaker 1: gifted Bible teacher who was at home in the prophetic word.
45:10
Speaker 1: Arrangements were made for Churchill and Saint John to sit
45:13
Speaker 1: down and meet together an entire day. For the better
45:17
Speaker 1: part of that day, the great Statesman sat at the
45:20
Speaker 1: feet of one of God's choice saints, and great Bible
45:24
Speaker 1: teachers who took him through the scriptures. He cut a
45:28
Speaker 1: straight line. Are you hearing this? He cut a straight
45:31
Speaker 1: line through the prophetic word. As the two men parted
45:35
Speaker 1: at the end of a long day, Churchill sighed and
45:39
Speaker 1: said to his new friend, mister Saint John, I would
45:43
Speaker 1: give half the world for your knowledge of the Bible.
45:48
Speaker 1: Saint John acknowledged the compliment and quietly said, Sir, I
45:52
Speaker 1: have already given up all the world to get it.
45:57
Speaker 1: You cannot gain all this world, and all of the
46:00
Speaker 1: accouterments of this world, and all the culture of this
46:03
Speaker 1: world and gain a knowledge of the scriptures. You must
46:06
Speaker 1: make a choice for your mind to be transformed. You
46:10
Speaker 1: must commit to the Word of God, and be a
46:12
Speaker 1: better student of this word than you are of our government.
46:16
Speaker 1: Be a better student of the Word than you are
46:18
Speaker 1: of our constitution. Be a better student of the Word
46:21
Speaker 1: than you are of history. A better student of the
46:24
Speaker 1: Word will make you prepared for whatever the future may bring.
46:30
Speaker 1: Now we're living in tough times, folks. It occurred to
46:34
Speaker 1: me in preparing this message that the farther these people
46:37
Speaker 1: go in their empty chatter apart from the truth, the
46:42
Speaker 1: more people are led into those areas that are poisonous
46:47
Speaker 1: and debilitating. And look at how it ends in verse eighteen.
46:50
Speaker 1: Their faith is upset. Your faith may have been upset
46:55
Speaker 1: by a charlatan. Some of you are just now coming
46:59
Speaker 1: back to believe that there are still people who will
47:02
Speaker 1: tell you the truth. I've said for many years, as
47:05
Speaker 1: after founding our church, that some of you simply need
47:09
Speaker 1: time to heal. You have been victims of toxic religion.
47:16
Speaker 1: You have had pastors who have taken unfair advantage of you,
47:20
Speaker 1: or religious workers, or those who would who would simply
47:25
Speaker 1: milk you for all your worth and then toss you
47:29
Speaker 1: aside when you disagree with some detail of their teaching.
47:33
Speaker 1: You need time to heal from that. You need time
47:36
Speaker 1: to recover and know that there are a few that
47:39
Speaker 1: you can rely on. But the way you know it,
47:42
Speaker 1: they will be those who stand firm on the word
47:46
Speaker 1: of God. You will know it on that basis. So
47:50
Speaker 1: keep your Bible open, keep your head in gear, and
47:53
Speaker 1: remember it's not all for loss. My wife just got
47:56
Speaker 1: back from a trip to England and she came with
47:59
Speaker 1: sort of a heavy She returned. She said, everything i'll
48:03
Speaker 1: see around us sees us moving in that direction and
48:06
Speaker 1: the people there are at a loss to know where
48:09
Speaker 1: to go next, and all of that socialism that comes
48:13
Speaker 1: into a country when the doors are open for it.
48:16
Speaker 1: And it occurred to me, oh, honey, you just have
48:19
Speaker 1: to wait in the morning, because I got a nevertheless
48:22
Speaker 1: to tell you about. Look at verse nineteen. Nevertheless, don't
48:26
Speaker 1: you love it? I love doing stuff like that? People go,
48:28
Speaker 1: what why? Nevertheless? And the reason says that because things
48:33
Speaker 1: are so tough, they're so bad, forced teachers are proliferating,
48:37
Speaker 1: all kinds of people are leaving the fate nevertheless, Nevertheless, Timothy,
48:43
Speaker 1: here's Paul the Dungeon underscoring this word. But on the
48:48
Speaker 1: other hand, however, these connectives are so important in the text. Nevertheless,
48:55
Speaker 1: what Timothy must have been on the edge of his seat? What, Paul?
48:59
Speaker 1: What the firm foundation of God stands? How good is that?
49:08
Speaker 1: What if all these kinds of things happen in America
49:10
Speaker 1: the firm foundation of God stands. What if everybody else
49:15
Speaker 1: in the neighborhood does so up of the firm foundation stands?
49:18
Speaker 1: What a church is continue to leave if the firm
49:20
Speaker 1: foundation stands? And what about the foundation? Well has two seals?
49:25
Speaker 1: Look at it? The firm foundation of God stands having
49:29
Speaker 1: this seal. Look at them, they're in quotes. The first
49:35
Speaker 1: seal is the secret seal known only by the Lord.
49:38
Speaker 1: The Lord knows those who were his. Isn't that good?
49:44
Speaker 1: Remember Elijah when he thought he was the only one
49:47
Speaker 1: left that was walking in the truth, and the prophet
49:51
Speaker 1: had the Lord speak to him and said, I have
49:53
Speaker 1: seven thousand that have not bowed the need of bail.
49:56
Speaker 1: I got thousands of them that are followers of mine.
50:01
Speaker 1: The Lord knows those who were his. Don't you wish
50:03
Speaker 1: you did? Don't you wish it? Everybody you meet on
50:06
Speaker 1: the street you could know just by looking at they're Christians.
50:11
Speaker 1: Charles had the Spurgeon once said that if the Lord
50:13
Speaker 1: had put a stripe down the back of every believer,
50:17
Speaker 1: he would spend his time in London walking up and
50:19
Speaker 1: down the streets, lifting up shirttails, finding out who belongs
50:24
Speaker 1: to the Lord. But since he didn't, he said, I
50:28
Speaker 1: preach whosoever will may come. Isn't that good? So I
50:32
Speaker 1: shared the Gospel with people and sometime they say, you
50:34
Speaker 1: know what you're talking to the choir. I met Christ
50:38
Speaker 1: fifteen years ago. It's like people in our church. Are
50:40
Speaker 1: you a visit or no, I'm a charter member. As
50:42
Speaker 1: a matter of fact, you don't know those things. You
50:44
Speaker 1: can't tell by looking. Who can tell? The Lord? He
50:50
Speaker 1: knows everyone who is his. By the way, if you
50:52
Speaker 1: or not, he knows that too. That's why you feel
50:56
Speaker 1: under such conviction right now. That's all by his plan.
51:00
Speaker 1: I knew you were gonna hear this message. He knew
51:02
Speaker 1: you got to put up with a screaming preacher. He
51:04
Speaker 1: knew the message you were gonna hear was gonna cut
51:06
Speaker 1: to your heart. He knows if you're not his, and
51:09
Speaker 1: that's between you and him, because see, he doesn't take
51:12
Speaker 1: away our responsibility even though he knows those who are his.
51:15
Speaker 1: Look at the next line. Here's another part of the seal.
51:17
Speaker 1: This isn't secret. Everyone who names the name of the
51:20
Speaker 1: Lord is to abstain from wickedness. Why why should I
51:24
Speaker 1: abstained from wickedness? Because I'm the only gospel many people
51:28
Speaker 1: will read. I mean truthfully, and you never know who's watching.
51:37
Speaker 1: I'm in the most amazing places, and people will pick
51:40
Speaker 1: me out. I don't know they're looking. The other day,
51:44
Speaker 1: I decided to go to the grocery store at six
51:46
Speaker 1: point fifteen in the morning on my pjs, nobody will
51:51
Speaker 1: be there. Well, if you can see my pj's, you'd
51:55
Speaker 1: know they're not racy by any means. Okay, So I
51:59
Speaker 1: slide in, go into the section over here to get
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Speaker 1: the juice, and go over here to get the butter,
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Speaker 1: and go over here and get the eggs. And two
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Speaker 1: people go past this smandal, Lord have mercy there. There
52:10
Speaker 1: were three or four of them, and we're going to
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Speaker 1: we've heard about you. We two of us go to
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Speaker 1: your church. We'd all really I always say, man, I'm
52:19
Speaker 1: glad I was behaving myself at the time. Well, I
52:22
Speaker 1: pretty much was behaving myself at that time. Well, why
52:26
Speaker 1: not walk in wickedness because they'll spot you a block away.
52:30
Speaker 1: He's one of the phonies. So don't talk to me
52:33
Speaker 1: about Jesus, because I'm surrounded by those guys that act
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Speaker 1: like one thing, but they live another. They say one thing,
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Speaker 1: but they don't carry it out. So that's part of
52:43
Speaker 1: the seal of the foundation. You part of that seal.
52:47
Speaker 1: Let everyone that you put your name there, who names
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Speaker 1: the name of the Lord, to abstain from wickedness. By
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Speaker 1: the way, you're still doing that aren't you. Every week
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Speaker 1: you have an opportunity to depart from the truth. Every
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Speaker 1: day you have occasions when you can let your mind
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Speaker 1: wander and you can drift away from what you know
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Speaker 1: to be the truth. So there's a human responsibility. Towards
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Speaker 1: the end of this nineteenth verse, the Lord knows those
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Speaker 1: who are his. At the same time, he holds us
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Speaker 1: responsible for living in a way that pleases him, and
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Speaker 1: that's abstaining from wickedness. You know what the foundation is.
53:30
Speaker 1: It's the true Church. It's the true church. The true
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Speaker 1: Church consists of those who belong to the Lord Jesus Christ.
53:39
Speaker 1: In Paul's words, out of Ephesians and out of Romans,
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Speaker 1: it is the elect. It is those who have been
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Speaker 1: called out, those who have been chosen by God, those
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Speaker 1: who have believed, those who have trusted in the Lord
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Speaker 1: Jesus with their heart, with their soul. And the true
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Speaker 1: Church deliberately and intentionally abstains from wickedness, works hard at
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Speaker 1: it feels the responsibility of living a life that will
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Speaker 1: cause people to be attracted to, not repelled from the Gospel.
54:09
Speaker 1: That's the foundation, and it stands, it stands through the
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Speaker 1: eras how great it is to know that the foundation
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Speaker 1: of God stands sure. So meaningful was this to a
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Speaker 1: man named John Rippon, who served as a pastor of
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Speaker 1: a Carter's Lane Baptist Church and one of those long
54:29
Speaker 1: term pastorates get this sixty three years in the city
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Speaker 1: of London, sixty three years in the same church. Man.
54:40
Speaker 1: During that time he fell in love with great music,
54:44
Speaker 1: and there wasn't much by way of books that held
54:47
Speaker 1: music for the church to sing. There was the old
54:51
Speaker 1: book put together by Isaac Watts that was even in
54:55
Speaker 1: that day somewhat dated, and so he put together a
54:58
Speaker 1: piece that was published and it was called Ripon's. His
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Speaker 1: name is John Rippon, rip On's Selection of Hymns. It
55:06
Speaker 1: was a runaway hit fact in his lifetime. It went
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Speaker 1: through eleven editions as it continued to be published. In
55:15
Speaker 1: that hymno for the first time there was published a
55:18
Speaker 1: song that was titled Exceedingly Great and Precious Promises. It
55:23
Speaker 1: had seven stanzas. Seven stanzas we know it today is
55:31
Speaker 1: how firm a foundation? The first stanza telling us, how
55:36
Speaker 1: firm a foundation the Saints of the Lord is laid
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Speaker 1: for your faith in his excellent word? What more can
55:43
Speaker 1: he say? Than to you. He has said, to you
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Speaker 1: who for refuge to Jesus hath fled. Quite likely that
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Speaker 1: opening line was originally taken from the verse. We have
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Speaker 1: just finished nineteen. And what sets it apart is the
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Speaker 1: word that this hymn omits. And that's the word nevertheless,
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Speaker 1: regardless of our time, in spite of what you're dealing with,
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Speaker 1: no matter where the government is going, no matter how
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Speaker 1: difficulty economy, no matter what the scuttle butt may be
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Speaker 1: in your neighborhood, or around the office, or in the
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Speaker 1: school where you attend, Nevertheless, God's foundation stands firm. The
56:33
Speaker 1: Lord knows those who were his bout with me. Please,
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Speaker 1: if there's never been a time in your life when
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Speaker 1: you have trusted in the One and only Savior, this
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Speaker 1: is your moment. You've heard his word proclaimed. You have
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Speaker 1: heard today that he is the one who paid the
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Speaker 1: complete penalty for your sins, and he is the one
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Speaker 1: today who will rush into your life as you receive
57:05
Speaker 1: him as your own. Do that now, our Father, We
57:10
Speaker 1: stand firmly on the foundation that will never be moved
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Speaker 1: in the person of Christ. Thank you for your word
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Speaker 1: reveal to us in print so that we might see
57:23
Speaker 1: it understand it, study it, commit it to memory, and
57:27
Speaker 1: most importantly live it out. Thank you that upon standing here,
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Speaker 1: we're able to stand against the tide of our times.
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Speaker 1: Develop in our lives our Father, hearts that are strong
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Speaker 1: and sure, and wills that are determined to make a
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Speaker 1: difference in the world in which we live. And may
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Speaker 1: that difference point people to a knowledge of Christ and
57:59
Speaker 1: their eternal home with Him. We pray in the name
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Speaker 1: of Jesus our Savior, and everyone said amen. The preceding
58:08
Speaker 1: message accurately handling the word was copyrighted in two thousand
58:13
Speaker 1: and nine and twenty fifteen, and the sound recording was
58:16
Speaker 1: copyrighted in twenty fifteen by Charles Rswindall, Inc. All rights
58:21
Speaker 1: are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use
58:26
Speaker 1: is strictly prohibited. In the preceding message, Charles Rswindall, Inc.
58:31
Speaker 1: Is grateful to a Live literary agency for permission to
58:35
Speaker 1: quote from Toxic Faith, copyrighted in nineteen ninety one and
58:39
Speaker 1: two thousand one by Stephen Arterburn and Jack Felston, published
58:44
Speaker 1: by WaterBrook Press. Contact Stephen Arterburn at new life dot com.