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CHURCH IMPROVEMENT : BUILDING A CHURCH THAT HONORS GOD AND LOVES PEOPLE THROUGH SMALL GROUPS2 Timothy 2:20-22 INTRODUCTION Lance Armstrong is arguably the most successful bicycle racer in the history of the sport. He won the most well known bike race, the Tour de France, seven times. His stamina and strength are legendary. Probably all of us have seen either video or photographs of Lance by himself out in front of the pack of racers, sprinting up a mountain or flying down a long straightaway. Yet I wonder if everyone realizes that Lance would have won no races if not for the team of which he was a part. Whether it was with the US Postal Service Team or the Discovery Channel Team, his success was only possible because of the group of people of which he was a part. He had a team of other racers who rode with him and who protected him and set the pace and helped him conserve energy by leading him in the early stages of a race. He regularly put in the long grueling training rides with the members of his team. He had other team members who were bike mechanics and drove the vehicles full of bikes and bike parts and others who made sure food and accommodations were set up at the breaks between stages. Lance Armstrong only succeeded because he was part of a group of people who were all fixated on the same thing, winning the race. I thought about Lance Armstrong and his team as I was reflecting on Timothy and the work he was given by Paul to lead the church in Ephesus. We saw last week that Timothy was to teach and model the gospel to the church at Ephesus. He was to make sure that his life and his teaching lined up with the biblical standards so that he would be effective in leading God's people in the way of salvation. In the second letter that Paul wrote to Timothy Paul again highlights his responsibility to lead the way in the church. It is very clear that Timothy is to be out in front of the church leading the way to Christ and showing the way by his life to live for Christ. It almost feels like Timothy is supposed to be Lance Armstrong conquering the Christian race, climbing the mountains but all by himself, out in front, leading the way. You almost get the feeling that Timothy is to be a "lone ranger" kind of Christian leader. However, 2 Timothy 2:22 tells us that is not the case. In the midst of describing to Timothy what his responsibilities are in relation to the false teachers who have arisen in the church of Ephesus he inserts this statement: "Flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace along with those who call on the Lord from a clean heart." In other words, Timothy, like Lance Armstrong cannot be in the race without being part of a team. He must be in close association with other like-minded people. Paul doesn't think that it is only the leaders in the church who need to flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, etc. "along with those who call on the Lord from a clean heart." This is a basic Christian commitment. This is what everyone who belongs to Christ needs to do. The question I want to answer this morning is why does Paul tell Timothy that he must live out this life God has called him to "along with others who call on the Lord from a clean heart"? What is it about the Christian life, about being a part of the church of Jesus Christ that makes it necessary for each of us to live in the company of, in close association with other like-minded individuals? MAIN POINT You must travel to heaven in the company of like-minded people because… I. Suffering alone is hard (1:8, 2:3-13) The fact that the Christian life is full of suffering is one of the most often stated facts in the NT. And those who lead the church are generally exposed to greater kinds of suffering as Paul makes clear in 1:8 & 11-12. Those who are called by God to serve as missionaries or as elders/pastors, because of their more public and visible witness for Christ do expose themselves to greater risk of persecution and of conflict with false teachers and those who oppose the gospel. Paul recognizes that Timothy may be tempted to hold back from being what he is supposed to be out of fear of the repercussions. Especially in light of the fact that Paul is a prisoner, probably in Rome, his faith wavers. If the great apostle can be thrown into prison and be threatened with death what hope is there that God will protect one so much inferior? When we observe the suffering of our leaders we naturally hold back from being so public about our faith or we don't take risks because we fear the same thing happening to us. The question occurs to us that if God doesn't protect those who have served him in such amazing ways, then how can I expect to be protected? So we are tempted to play it safe, not risking much so that we will not expose ourselves to either the suffering or the potential disappointment. The first thing that Paul does to convince Timothy to not be ashamed of the gospel but to join in suffering for it is to describe the greatness of the gospel (vv. 9-12). The point is that no matter what losses, what sufferings we may endure here because of our commitment to the gospel; these losses cannot even begin to compare to the greatness of the salvation being given to us. Paul says that he cannot be harmed. Whatever losses he may experience here cannot affect the final outcome. He is going to live with Christ in the new heavens and the new earth and so he fears no loss here. As he says in another place, nothing can separate him from the love of Christ. From 1:13 to 2:2 Paul both tells Timothy what he is supposed to do, guard the gospel as Paul gave it to him and teach it to others and he contrasts people who have been unwilling to pay the cost with those who have (Phygelus & Hermogenes compared to Onesiphorus). Then in 2:3 Paul returns to his exhortation to Timothy to not retreat from the work God has called him to out of fear of suffering. In 2:3-7 he uses three metaphors to describe how we should think, not only about Christian leadership but about the Christian life. The three metaphors Paul uses to describe the Christian life are the soldier, the athlete and the farmer. All three of these classes of people share this in common, each of them must voluntarily embrace a level of suffering and risk in order to obtain a greater good. The suffering they endure is freely accepted, not imposed by some outside force. Let's think about each one of these. The soldier does not participate in civilian life. He is not free to come and go as he pleases. He is told where to go and when to go there. He cannot choose how he wants to spend his time. He must obey the commands of those over him. In addition he must regularly risk his own life in the service of the one who enlisted him. Why does a person willingly, voluntarily submit himself to this kind of life? Paul says it is in order to please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. As I have listened to interviews with soldiers serving in Afghanistan and Iraq and wonder at why these young men and women willingly submit themselves to the rigors and risks of military life I regularly hear two motives. The first is that they love the U.S. They are devoted to our country and our way of life and are willing to risk all in order to help preserve and protect us. The second reason these men and women fight is out of a desire to please their fellow soldiers. They fight and obey commands in order to protect their buddies and their officers. It is very personal. Clearly Paul means by the phrase, "he wants to please his commanding officer" that we as Christians say no to legitimate pleasures or we say yes to certain kinds of deprivation and to risks because we want to please the one who enlisted us, Jesus Christ. We are living to hear him say to us at the end, "Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your master." Similarly an athlete denies himself many pleasures and voluntarily suffers loss in order to win the race and receive the gold medal. There is a voluntary suffering that an athlete must embrace if he is going to succeed. The farmer does the same. He gets up early and works in all kinds of weather taking care of his livestock and crops. He does so in the hope of the harvest. In each case the person suffers the loss of certain freedoms and pleasures and embraces certain kinds of hardship and takes certain risks in order to obtain a greater and usually future good. This way of life is not merely for those who are leaders in the church but for every Christian. Verse 8 tells us this by way of Paul's telling Timothy to remember Jesus who was raised from dead and who was great David's greater son. The reason we should live like this is because this is how Jesus lived. Jesus obtained the resurrection after he willingly suffered the loss of everything, including his life. What Jesus obtained was worth the cost. What the soldier obtains, what the athlete obtains and what the farmer obtains is worth the cost. What we will obtain is worth the cost. In 1:8 and 2:3 the command for Timothy is not merely to suffer for the gospel or to suffer as a soldier but to share in suffering. In other words, Timothy is to join himself to the company of people who suffer for the gospel, like a soldier, an athlete and a farmer. Paul did not have to use verbs that talk about sharing the suffering. He uses this verb for two reasons. First, as I mentioned, suffering loss in order to follow Christ is the normal Christian life. Second, suffering is far easier to bear when you are in the company of others who are suffering just like you for the same reasons. It is hard to suffer alone. One of the main unifying forces at work among our troops fighting overseas is their shared suffering. All of them have left family behind. They all share the same living conditions and the daily risks. I regularly hear soldiers say that the reason they survived is because they were in it with their buddies. They often speak with nostalgia when remembering the shared life of deprivation. I have been a runner for many years and I can tell you that I would not still be running if not for the fact that I have a running partner. I need someone to share with me in the pain of running or I'm not going to make it. How often have you heard someone who has suffered some great loss say that the only thing that has helped them is to be with a group of others who have experienced a similar loss? Suffering is a very personal experience that tends to isolate us from those who are not suffering. The church is supposed to be a place where everyone in it is freely suffering the loss of both sinful and non-sinful pleasures for the sake of Christ, for the sake of the future glory of being with Christ. Primarily the suffering we embrace is the suffering of love. We continue loving spouses who are less than perfect. We continue loving other Christians who don't always reciprocate. We continue to love our non-believing neighbors and family members even though they treat us bad. Everyone who engages to love others is going to suffer and according to the plain teaching of the Bible, every Christian is engaged in loving others. Therefore, all of us need to be in close association with others who are calling on the name of the Lord out of a clean heart because suffering alone is hard. We need Christian friends who are suffering the same losses and taking similar risks for the same reason we are, we want to know and love Jesus. You must travel to heaven in the company of like-minded people because…
II. It’s easy to stray off the path (1:13-15, 2:14-19) In vv. 14-18 Paul warns Timothy about the negative impact of false teaching on the church and in these verses commands him to avoid false teachers, to not associate with them or engage in conversation with them. In vv. 23-26 he commands Timothy to gently correct false teachers with the goal of getting them to repent and believe the truth like Timothy does. In vv. 16-17 Paul explains to Timothy why false teaching is such a bad thing. He describes the negative effect of "godless chatter" in three ways. First, those who engage in promoting and seriously discussing false teaching will become more and more ungodly. In other words, those who teach false things about God will increasingly live lives that are devoid of God. False teaching leads people away from the true and living God. Now, the important thing to recognize is that no false teachers or their followers will admit that they are becoming ungodly but will assert the very opposite. All false teachers say that by listening to them you will get closer to God. You don't become a non-religious person when you follow false teaching. However, you do leave behind the only true and living God, you become increasingly ungodly. The second negative consequence of false teaching is expressed in a rather vivid illustration at the beginning of v. 17. The false doctrines of false teachers will spread like gangrene. Gangrene is a voracious infection in one of the limbs of the body that kills living tissue and spreads from the infected tissue into healthy tissue. The only way to stop it is to cut off the infected part of the body. False teaching kills a portion of the visible body of Christ which must be cut off to protect the rest of the body. In other words, those who follow false teachers end up dead and in hell. God cuts them off from the true body of Christ. This is the exact same thing Jesus says with a different metaphor in John 15 where he says that every branch in him that does not bear fruit is cut off and thrown into the fire. The point is that visible union to the visible church does not prove that you are united to Christ, the true vine, the head of the church. Holding fast to the truth of the gospel and bearing fruit in a Christ like life is the visible evidence of your invisible union with Christ. The third negative consequence is at the end of v. 18. The teaching of false doctrines destroys faith in Christ. People who are led astray by false teaching stop trusting in the real Jesus and begin trusting in a false Christ, a false Savior who cannot save from the wrath of God. There is so much that needs to be said at this point. Some of you cannot believe that not believing the right doctrine will actually send you to hell. From your point of view, my saying there is only one true faith, one true "truth" is so patently wrong that you have quit listening to me. My excluding all from heaven who disgree with the Christian gospel strikes you as enormously arrogant and evil. I don't have time to engage you in this discussion right now. I'd love to talk further with you if that is your position. However the issue that I think most in this room need to give some attention to is what constitutes false teaching? What doctrines are outside of the true faith and are so deadly that believing them will poison you? It doesn't take much to observe that there is a vast amount of disagreement over all kinds of doctrines among those who claim to be Christian. There are over 33,000 Christian denominations in the world. Not all of the division is due to disagreement over doctrine but much of it is. How can we ever determine what kinds of teaching constitute the sort of false teaching that Paul is talking about here? First of all in this passage Paul identifies a particular false teaching that he views as outside of Christ. It is the teaching of two individuals who were at one time members of the Ephesian church, Hymeneaus and Philetus. They taught that the resurrection had already occurred. What they were saying is something like this. When a person is born again by the Spirit of God and places their faith into Christ they enter into a spiritually resurrected condition. They now live in a spiritual reality by the power of the Holy Spirit that is above and beyond the restraints and powers of this physical world. This spiritual world of which you are now a part is the real world and this physical world has no power over you anymore. Most likely they would also be saying that Jesus did not rise bodily from the dead but only spiritually. The body the disciples saw was not truly a physical body. Also there will be no resurrection of our physical bodies from the dead in the future. There will not be a physical, material new heavens and new earth. Rather when we die we enter entirely into the true spiritual world, which is entirely immaterial. The result of this kind of teaching in terms of lifestyle was either that what you do with your physical body does not matter because you are above this material world and so you can do with your body what you please or you must discipline yourself to avoid all contact with the material world by abstaining from certain foods or certain behaviors like marriage. This form of teaching led either to an incredibly sensual life or to an extremely ascetic life. What kinds of doctrines today fall into this same category? I spent three days this last week at a conference of pastors and leaders of the Evangelical Free Church of America where we discussed exactly this matter. The organizing principle of the denomination to which we belong and of our church is that we want to be a church that holds fast to the essential truths of the Christian faith but also we want to be a church that gives people freedom to disagree with one another about other important doctrines but yet remain in the same local church. This process of determining which doctrines all true Christians must believe is incredibly invigorating and important. The important thing is that the discussion of what is central is taking place within the entire association of like minded churches and individuals. We all are seeking to determine what does the Bible tell us that the central doctrines are and where does the Bible itself permit us freedom. This isn't being done in private or by a small group of leaders but by an entire denomination and in all of our local churches. We will be joining the discussion over the next year. The critical thing to note is that Paul tells Timothy that his primary defense against being led astray by these false teachers is to unite himself to the company of those who are calling on the true Lord out of hearts that have been truly cleansed. He is not to hang out with and discuss things with the false teachers. Rather his primary associations are to be with true Christians and then out of that primary association he is to correct those who oppose him. It is the same for us. Our only safety from being led astray by false teaching is to be in close association with true Christians where true doctrine is taught and discussed and applied to life. This is exactly what we are trying to build here at RHCC. We want every part of our association with each other to be permeated by the Bible and discussions about what it says and how it applies to our lives now. This really is our only safety because it is very easy to stray off the path. You must travel to heaven in the company of like-minded people because…
III. You become like the company you keep (vv. 19-22) Verses 16-18 are very discouraging verses for anyone who cares about the church. They are particularly discouraging if you're supposed to be the leader of the church. There is false teaching in the church that is spreading like gangrene and people are defecting from the truth and following these false teachers. The obvious fear is will the true church survive? Will this gangrene spread throughout the entire body and kill the whole church at Ephesus? In v. 19 Paul makes an incredibly confidence boosting statement. He tells Timothy that regardless of the fact that apparently faithful Christians fall into error and sin and leave the church God's true church cannot be harmed. God's sure foundation of salvation for all his people by grace through faith cannot be shaken. The proof that the foundation of the true church cannot be shaken and thus all the true people of God will persevere to the end is sealed by two quotes from the OT. One is a direct quote from Numbers 16:5 and the other is a paraphrase of a statement that is made dozens of times in the OT, including in Numbers 16. Numbers 16 is a situation much like the one in Ephesus. Several men, Korah, Dathan and Abiram, have led a revolt against the leadership of Moses and Aaron. They claim that they have as much authority as Moses and Aaron. They have the right to speak for God and lead the people. They are claiming that Moses' teaching that the priesthood belongs only to Aaron and his sons is wrong. They claim that they also can act as priests, contrary to what God said on Mt. Sinai. It's the exact same situation as in Ephesus where men have arisen and said that the gospel as taught by Paul and Timothy is false and therefore Paul and Timothy don't have a right to lead but they do. Just as in Ephesus so in Israel there are two groups of people claiming to represent the truth and fighting for control of the church. In Numbers 16 God supernaturally identifies Aaron as his only acceptable priest and then he kills those who opposed him. Paul identifies two points of contact with the story. First, while people may claim to have the truth and may lead people away from the church, God is not confused; he knows who his elect people are. He knows who makes up the church and he is going to make sure that his building, his church is built and preserved. No matter how the visible church may be decimated by false teaching, God knows who belongs to him and will preserve them until the end. As Jesus says in another context, he himself is building his church and the gates of hell will not stand against it. So the first quote looks at the church from God's point of view. The second quote, however, looks at the church from the human point of view. All those who God knows to be part of his church are known by us through two characteristics: every person chosen by God to be in the church confesses the name of the Lord and turns away from evil. This is how we know who belongs to the church which is built on God's secure foundation. All who have an orthodox faith and orthodox practice belong to the church. All true Christians believe what God says in his word and live how God commands in his word. Verses 20-21 are incredibly helpful in their description of the visible church. How should we think about this collection of people we call RHCC? In v. 20 he makes a general statement about houses and the furniture that is in them. In every large house there are vessels made out of silver and gold that are used for honorable purposes and there are vessels made out of wood and clay that are used for dishonorable purposes. In the same way in every visible church you have a collection of vessels, of human beings, some whom are made out of silver and gold for honorable use and some who are made out of wood and clay for dishonorable use. In essence he is saying that in every visible church, among every collection of professing Christians you have true Christians and false Christians. How do we know which are which? Verse 21 gives the general answer and v. 22 applies the general answer to Timothy or any other individual who cares. All those who cleanse themselves from the latter things are the gold and silver vessels fit for noble purposes in God's house. To what does the term "latter things" refer? It is an awkward mixing of metaphors but the latter things are the vessels for dishonorable purposes. In the context this can only refer to the false teachers and their false doctrines. So refusing to hang out with false teachers and refusing to consider their false teachings is the way to cleanse yourself and thus be a useful gold and silver vessel in the master's house. It is in this context then that Paul commands Timothy to flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, love, faith and peace along with those who call on the Lord from a clean heart. Clearly Paul commands this because you become like those you have close relationships with. You won't be a fit vessel by just avoiding bad things or bad people, you must also associate yourself with others who are eager to be righteous, to trust the true Christ, to love God and neighbor and who want to build a community where the peace of God rules. The question for each of us to answer is this: what kind of people do I want to hang out with? What is the number one characteristic of those whom I call friends? If you are going to make it to heaven the most important characteristic to be looking for is not some sort of shared sociological trait, like age, or marital status or economic status but rather my goal is to find people who are truly calling on the true God out of hearts that have been cleansed from sin by him. This is who I want to hang out with. These are the kind of people I pursue as I pursue a godly life. This text does not command every Christian to be involved in a small group bible study. It commands every Christian to be in close association with like-minded Christians. However, in our context we are aiming to give every person who calls RHCC their church home the opportunity to find other like-minded individuals in small groups. Our desire is that every one us who is thirteen and older be connected to one of our Discovery Groups which are our inter-generational and inter gender small groups designed to help us unite around our mutual faith in Christ, not a shared sociology. In addition we think that all of us should also be connected to a smaller group (2-5 people) of the same gender and sometimes same life situation where we can deal more directly and personally with one another in light of the particular temptations that we face. This is where last week's sermon and this one interface. We are not at this time intentionally equipping leaders for either of these small groups. While we have 10 Discovery Groups we do not currently have the leadership to offer every person here the opportunity to be involved in these smaller same gender, same lifestyle groups. In addition we are not able to greatly expand our Discovery Groups because we don't have a process in place for developing leaders. So again, you can see why it is so important that the elder board put such a process in place this next year. In the meantime let me encourage you to get into a Discovery Group and if you have an interest in forming one of these smaller same gender groups talk with one of the elders. You must travel to heaven in the company of like-minded people because…
© Copyright 2007 John Swanson.
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