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Reading 2 Timothy 3:10-11, where the Apostle Paul sets an example before Timothy to "follow the teaching," and lead others in the truth and warn them of imposters. Featuring a helpful clip from Justin Peters. Visit wwutt.com for all our videos!
In 2 Timothy 3 .6, Paul said that among the false teachers are those who creep into households and capture weak women. How would that apply to our modern context today? We're able to identify who the false teachers are when we understand the text.
You're listening to When We Understand The Text, an online Bible ministry committed to teaching sound doctrine and exposing the faulty. Find videos and more at our website, www .utt .com. Now here's our host, Pastor Gabe Hughes.
Thank you, Becky. In our study of the book of 2 Timothy, we got into chapter 3 last week, and we'll pick up here in verse 10 to the end of the chapter. The Apostle Paul writes, you, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra, which persecutions I endured, yet from them all the Lord rescued me.
Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and imposters will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you have learned it, and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. What an incredible section of Scripture.
I mean, it's all amazing. And depending on the season of my life, there may be certain sections that blow me away more than others. But this in particular, especially as you consider that Paul is writing to Timothy, whom he has sent to Ephesus, and whom he is beckoning from Ephesus to come and see him in prison in Rome.
The great responsibility that he has to teach the gospel there in this port city of Ephesus. I mean, a huge traffic center there in Asia Minor. It was a big, big deal that Paul sent Timothy to this place and that he would lead the other elders in the church in Ephesus, as well as that church in the preaching and teaching of the word of God.
And this is really the heart of that mission. And this is something that every pastor must hold dear, understanding that all Scripture is breathed out by God. As Paul says in verse 16, profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped with every good work.
As I said last week, and I've said in previous weeks as we've been going through this study in 1 and 2 Timothy, right teaching leads to godliness. Sound doctrine, good theology, will produce godliness in the heart of the hearers.
The gospel accords with godliness, whereas if you teach anything else that strays from sound doctrine and the teaching that accords with godliness, it produces not righteousness in the life of a believer, but it produces ungodliness.
Instead of godliness, it's ungodliness, which is why we must hold fast to the gospel and continue to preach it and grow in our knowledge and understanding of who Christ is and what he has done on the cross and with his resurrection from the grave.
What he is doing for us now, for all who believe on him, seated at the right hand of the throne of God and is interceding for us before the Father. I tell you, my brothers and sisters in Christ, you don't know the half of it.
I don't either. You don't know the half of what Christ has done for you and is continuing to do for you. And how do you continue to understand these things? By studying the word of God. How do you know the mind of God?
You study the word of God, the Bible. This is what John MacArthur has been doing so faithfully for all those years through his ministry, Grace to You, and the pastoral teaching that he's done at Grace Community Church, the whole decades that he has been pastor in that pulpit.
This is what R .C. Sproul did so faithfully throughout his entire ministry, and Sinclair Ferguson, and Stephen Lawson. And time would fail me to go through the names of faithful men who have been so committed to the word of God, not trying to diminish it, diminish its power, not trying to push it aside and espouse their own thoughts and push their own agendas on the people that would come to their churches, but simply to stand behind the Bible.
Not out front, not in front of the pulpit, but they're back behind that pulpit with the Bible in front of them, presenting the word of God to the people of God, that we would be shaped more and more into the image of Christ.
And it's through his word that this powerful transformation happens. And as Paul begins this address here with Timothy here in verse 10, he says, you, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience.
The example that Paul was to Timothy is the example that Timothy is following. This is in contrast with who we just read about in the first nine verses of chapter three. Understand this, that in the last days, there will come times of difficulty.
People will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive. And notice that as Paul goes through that list, he begins with lovers of self. But Timothy witnessed the selfless nature of the apostle Paul, who was an imitator of Christ, who laid down his life for the sheep.
And so likewise, the apostle Paul is going to lay down his life for the flock of God. And so this is the example that Paul has set before Timothy. This is the example for Timothy to follow, one that is faithful in preaching and teaching and understands that all scripture is breathed out by God.
Folks, as a pastor, I have nothing impressive to say. There is nothing about me that is amazing or that I'm trying to impress you with. I have only the word of God. There's nothing else that I have to offer.
I'm not even creative enough to come up with a better program than to just open up a microphone and read through the Bible with you day by day. You know, that's the that's the extent of my creativity right there.
But what better thing could I offer to you than this, than what God has given to us through his prophets and apostles, than is what been than what has been laid out for us in the scriptures. If you, as a parent, struggle with how do I teach these things to my kids, where do I begin?
Just open up the Bible and read to them. I mean, there's some great resources out there to help you in communicating this with your children. I talked about a few of these things last week about catechizing your kids, you know, looking up Keech's Catechism and doing that or going to founders .org and look up the truth and grace books that they have put out, teaching you to memorize scripture, going through catechism.
They've got worksheets there for your kids. So there are some great resources out there, but there's no better offering than you can give to your family husbands, to you in particular. There's no better, better resource than you that you have to raise your wife and children up in the knowledge of God, then the word of God, then the Bible you've got right there for five or six of them that you have in your house, pull it off the shelf, open it up, read the scriptures.
This is what your family needs. It's what you need. It's what others need to hear for faith comes by hearing and hearing through the word of Christ, Romans 10, 17. So again, Paul sets himself in contrast against those who are lovers of self.
And among those, Paul said in verse six, are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.
Now, as I went through these things last week, as I went through verses one through nine and warned you about those false teachers who present themselves as godly people, but they actually oppose the truth and they're corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith.
There's that phrase in there in verse six that I didn't spend a whole lot of time on. Among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women. What does that mean? What does that mean exactly?
I want to provide for you today, an example of what that means. It doesn't exclusively pertain to this, but in our modern day, it's this certainly applies. Televangelists, televangelists, faith healers, the word of faith movement.
These are those who creep into households and capture weak women at TBN, the Trinity Broadcasting Network. Day by day, they are feeding these lies into homes. And there are weak women who listen to this stuff and are captured by it.
I want to play you a clip here. This is from Justin Peters. He's got a teaching series entitled clouds without water. You can pick it up on his website, justinpeters .org on DVD for home personal use.
Show it at your church so that you would become aware of the dangers of prosperity theology and the word of faith movement and the different tactics and manipulations they use to con people out of their money, particularly little old ladies that sit at home and watch TBN or Daystar.
Some of these networks in which these kinds of things are rolling out constantly to get people to spend money, believing that money will buy them a miracle. The first voice that you're going to hear is Justin's, and then you'll hear a series of false teachers with Justin breaking in periodically.
This clip's about 10 minutes, so it'll take us all the way to the end of our lesson today.
Another requirement to receive your healing from God, according to the faith preachers,. Show me the money.
Today, you should give the biggest cash bill or write your biggest check and send it in and then expect God to give to you. You can't out give God.
A thousand dollar vow of faith, big deal. We got people on welfare that's got enough faith to make a thousand dollar vow and paying it. And paying it!
He prophesied and he told me how he did it, he looked right across the table back and forth at me and he told me how he confiscates money, he says he's on this station, it's over 40 states, and he'll go on there and he'll get on the radio and he'll say, I know that listening to my little voice tonight, that there's some lady out there and you've got $10 put away in a cookie jar.
Now God spoke to my heart and told me to go and tell you to get that $10 and get it in the mail and send it to me and God will bless you, God will give you a reward such as you have never known before.
And then he comes back to me and tells me, he says, if you're on the radio and you're going over 40 states and you're on at prime time, you've got thousands of people listening, the chances are that there are at least two or three hundred little old ladies who've got a $10 bill in a cookie jar and so if you even get, you know, if a couple hundred go over and get it and send it to you, that's two grand that you've made, just like that.
And so, you know, if you're going to get into big time religion, this is the games you've got to play, things like that. It's a, it's a, you go into it as a business and you work it as a business, you know.
Saints, this is why we need to give to the gospel now more than ever. You know, now you may say, well, I gave last year, forget it, last year it's gone. That cycle is over with, seed time harvest of last year is gone.
Every season is a fresh season. We are in a fresh season. What you gave last year will not reap you anything this year. What you gave even a few months ago is gone, you got the harvest for that.
When I talked with Dr. Roberts today and we talked about this seed faith thing, he said something awesome. He said, the Bible says giving and receiving, but he said, God has taught me by studying that word receiving that another way to say that word is receipting.
The word receiving means receipting. And so he said, when you give, you get a receipt in heaven that when you have a need, you can then go with your receipt and say, you see, God, I have got my receipt from my sowing.
And now I have a need and I'm cashing in my receipt.
I get asked a lot about Joyce Meyer and that clip should be enough in and of itself to give anyone serious pause as they follow this woman's ministry. Joyce Meyer gets up and she says, another way to say the word receiving is receipting.
Paul Crouch said, just before she said this, Paul Crouch said, we're not telling you that you can buy a miracle. Oh really? What do you call it, Mr. Crouch? When Joyce Meyer gets up there and says, another way to say the word receiving is receipting.
And when you have a need, you give to God, you give to TBN that's sitting on cash reserves of over $300 million or more. And when you sow your seed, God will give you a receipt. So when you have a need, you go before God and you say, here God, here's my receipt.
I'm cashing in my receipt. If that's not buying a miracle, then what is it? And stop and think about how many millions of people around the world watching that night and they're sick or they have a sick child.
And so they go to their checkbook and they write out a check for an amount of money they probably cannot afford. Because remember, if you give, it's got to be sacrificial. Because if you don't give sacrificially, God's not going to honor that.
So you give sacrificially and then you send it in to these multi-millionaires thinking that God's going to cash in your receipt. One day, these false teachers will have to stand before a holy God and give an account for what they are doing to God's people.
But precious people, just keep calling and the Lord God is going to bless you beyond your expectations. Get ready. Specific. And then, send a gift. Here's why. The word of God says give and then the promise says and it shall be given.
The word says sow and then you shall reap. You can't expect a harvest unless you've sown a seed. You can't expect a miracle until you've acted in faith towards that miracle coming your way. So send that seed today.
Whatever amount. And really, it depends on your need. Someone came to me in church recently and said, well pastor, how much should I give to God? I said, what kind of harvest are you looking for?
How much should I give to God? Well, what kind of harvest are you looking for? The not so subtle insinuation is, is that if you have cancer or maybe you have a sick dying child, you had best dig deeply because the bigger miracle you need, the bigger monetary seed you better sow.
One day, these false teachers will have to stand before a holy God and give an account for what they are doing to God's people. The following rather astonishing admission from Gloria Copeland.
Father Hagin's always taught us that healing is the dinner bell. Healing is the dinner bell.
Healing is the dinner bell. I was really surprised when I heard Gloria Copeland be so frank and honest. Healing is the dinner bell. Have you ever wondered how it is that these prosperity preachers can pack out 20, 30 ,000 seat coliseums night after night after night?
Have you ever wondered how it is that they have such huge and devoted followings? You think people are flocking to these prosperity preachers to hear the gospel of repentance preached? No. Healing is the dinner bell.
The faith preachers appeal to two of the most basic and universal of all human desires. Nobody enjoys being sick. And so, they flock to these preachers. Not to serve the master, but to feast on what they are being told is on the master's table.
Healing is the dinner bell. That's what gets people coming. You know, I couldn't pack out a 30 ,000 seat coliseum night after night after night. And Pastor Bob, I know you're a wonderful pastor, wonderful preacher, no offense, but neither could you.
Because the gospel that your pastor and I preach doesn't promise people that if they'll come and give to our ministries, that God will make them wealthy and heal their bodies. There's not a great deal of money to be made in the true gospel if it's preached right.
But there's a ton of money to be made in this gospel. Healing is the dinner bell. I want us to take a brief excursion from the norm, and I want you to listen to an audio clip from a preacher that I actually very much admire and respect.
The late Dr. Adrian Rogers.
I believe that God heals, and I want to make that abundantly clear. I believe that God heals people supernaturally. But friend, that cannot and should not be the focus of any ministry. If I had the power, and I am not a healer, but if I had the power to bring somebody down here in a wheelchair, paraplegic, lay hands on that person, and that person would be instantaneously miraculously supernaturally healed, the word would get out in this city next Sunday, you couldn't put people in here with a shoehorn.
They would be here, mister. And I mean, if I began to do that, there would be people coming down here in great numbers. I mean, if it were real, if it were authenticated, they would be all over this place.
Touch me! Heal me! Touch me! Heal me! But you preach Jesus, preach salvation, preach repentance, preach being broken, oh no, preach power, give me this power.
Dr. Adrian Rogers is spot on there at the conclusion of that clip. This goes right with what we've read today in 2 Timothy 3, verse 12, evil people and imposters will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
But as for you, Paul says, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
Let us conclude with prayer. Our wonderful God and Savior, we thank you for the gospel that was spoken to us by those who believe the word of God and proclaimed it, and we have heard and believed. And so grow us all the more in the knowledge of you, according to what the scriptures say, and protect us from those wolves who try to deceive us.
The whispers of Satan, as he's been saying from the garden of Eden, did God really say and trying to plant doubt and draw the believers away from the word of God? May we may we be able to have discerning hearts that we may know when those voices come along that they are not truly speaking from the word of God, but speaking from their own depraved minds, and that we would likewise warn others about those false teachers doing so with gentleness and respect, knowing that it is you who grants repentance, leading to a knowledge of the truth.
You've led us to your truth, and we praise you for that. And grow us in this truth all the more. Build us steadfast on the truth that we would not be ashamed, but always listening to and proud to share the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray, amen.
This is When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. There are lots of great Bible teaching programs on the web, and we thank you for selecting ours. But this is no replacement for regular fellowship with a church family.
Find a good, gospel-teaching, Christ-centered church to worship with this weekend, and join us again tomorrow as we continue our Bible study When We Understand the Text.