FBC Morning Light – August 17, 2022

Well, a good Wednesday morning to you, and it's appropriate on this Wednesday that we're looking at 2

Timothy 2 .15. I say that because as a child growing up, I attended

Iwana clubs like a lot of young people back in the day. The Iwana clubs were held on Wednesday nights in our church, and the theme verse for that ministry was 2

Timothy 2 .15, study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

That's in our reading today. I want to highlight that verse because it has a twofold application.

Paul is writing to Timothy, and Timothy is a pastor who has the responsibility of preaching and teaching the word of God.

That's why he's primarily writing to him as a pastor, as one who teaches the word, and he's telling him, listen, you need to be diligent, you need to give all diligence to present yourself an approved workman, a workman of God's that does not need to be ashamed.

The way you demonstrate that, the effect of that diligence, is that you rightly divide the word of truth.

That is, you teach it accurately, you preach it accurately, you understand it clearly, you study it thoroughly so that you do understand it and then are able to communicate that to others, rightly dividing the word of truth.

That's critically important for God's people, because Paul goes on to say, you need to shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness.

Rather than just spouting off your opinion about things and just rambling about meaningless drivel from the pulpit or from the lectern, you need to shun that, because what that will do is encourage ungodliness among God's people.

He says that as that happens in verse 17, the message of ungodliness, of profane and idle babblings, will spread like a cancer and ruin people, destroy people.

Then he gives a couple of examples of individuals who've done that very thing, these two guys,

Hymenaeus and Philetus. You remember the other day, if you heard Monday's broadcast,

I talked about how there are some, in the course of the work of the ministry, who can be a heartache to the pastor.

I mentioned these two individuals back in chapter 1, remind myself of their names,

Phagellus and Hermogenes. Paul was distressed over how they had forsaken him and forsaken the ministry and forsaken the word.

But now he brings up a couple more individuals, Hymenaeus and Philetus, and they were a grief to him because they strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past and they overthrow the faith of some.

Paul is exhorting Timothy, listen, don't fall into the trap of Hymenaeus and Philetus.

How do you avoid that trap? By giving all diligence to show yourself an approved workman, one who rightly divides the word of truth.

That's the application and the primary application of this for those of us in the work of the ministry.

But I think there's also an application of this for the person in the pew, if you will, for just the everyday

Christian. I think that you too, all of us, have the responsibility of being diligent to know the truth of God's word, so that if you happen to turn on the television and you come across one of these

TV evangelist guys, and he's very eloquent, probably a whole lot more eloquent and charismatic than your pastor, that's for sure, and you're drawn in by this guy's speech, are you going to be led astray if he's a heretic or if he's preaching and teaching error?

How will you avoid that? How can you discern whether someone is proclaiming that which is heretical or that which is untruth or a distortion of biblical truth that will further ungodliness rather than godliness?

How will you know? By being well -equipped with the word yourself. So don't assume that 2

Timothy 2 .15 is just for pastors. It's not. It's really for all of us.

I think all of us who claim the name of Christ and claim to believe the word of God, that we actually know it, that we give diligence to know it and to divide it rightly, to understand it correctly.

As you go to church, maybe tonight in a prayer meeting, or you go to church on Sunday morning and you're listening in a

Sunday school lesson, or to the preaching on Sunday morning service or Sunday evening service, when you go to church, be attentive, be listening, be alert, be diligent about it so that you can rightly understand

God's word. By the way, just a hint, take some notes.

Have a pen and paper in hand when you're sitting in a teaching setting or a preaching setting so that you might learn and grow and rightly divide the word of truth.

Just part of diligence. That's just a suggestion. All right, let's pray. Father, I do thank you for your word and thank you for its impact in our lives.

It does help us and protect us and grow us in godliness. But Father, help us to be diligent about our taking in of and studying and understanding the word, that we may divide it rightly.

We may understand it correctly and avoid the errors that lead to ungodliness. This we pray in Jesus' name, amen.