Farber, George: Fall Conference-2004-03 ~ 2 Timothy 2-A Call To Courage And Committment

Good evening. Turn in your Bibles to Second Timothy chapter two. And I know what some of you are thinking. You're saying this guy only made it through seven verses in an hour, and he only made it through eleven verses in an hour. He is not going to make it through twenty six verses in an hour. Yes, we are. Okay? So we will. Second Timothy chapter two. we'll read verses one and two. You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Father, once again, we just commit this time, it's your time, it's not ours, and we want, uh, it to be used for your glory. We want it to, uh, be a time, perhaps, that you'll struggle with our hearts, uh, regarding issues that only we and you know are going on in our lives. And so we pray for that, uh, work of your word to shine on our lives, to confront us, to change us into the very image of our Lord Jesus Christ. And we ask that you would do that work to his glory, because we ask it in Jesus' precious name. Amen. Verse one is a summary of chapter one. He says, be therefore, and looking back, whenever you see a therefore, look back to see why it's there. You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that's in Christ Jesus. Timothy, I've been talking to you about your own life. I've been talking to you about all that God's done in your life to equip you to this time. I'm, I've been talking to you about not being ashamed, but standing for the gospel, communicating it, being willing to sh- to suffer for it, and guarding that truth. And Timothy, you got to be strong in the grace that's in Christ Jesus. We mentioned to you that grace is a word that really means strength to the believer. Salvation, it's God's, uh, unmerited favor that brings salvation to the lost and grace to, or strength to his people. And all the way through chapter one, you've seen that word grace or the word power up in verse two of chapter one: grace, mercy, and peace. You come down to, um, verse seven, and you see God has not given us a spirit of tim- timidity, but of power. You come down to verse eight, and suffering for the gospel according to the power of God. You come over to, um, uh, verse fourteen, guard through the Holy Spirit that dwells in you. That's our source of power. All the way through, he's been talking about this power that God wants to display in our lives, his grace. Timothy, stand. Timothy, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And then, Timothy, you've got a mission, and that mission is to find faithful men like I found you and entrust to them this treasure that, um, I've entrusted to you. You notice also the first two words of chapter two, you therefore. This is a book, there's a little phrase in the original language that it's but you. It's translated a number of different ways, but you find it a number of times. Uh, chapter two, verse one. you therefore, but you be different, be different from other people like, uh, Phygelus and Hermogenes that are falling away. Be like Onesiphorus, be strong, you be different. You come on down to, um, oh, let's see, there's several others, and I don't have them marked in my New American Standard, but over in chapter three, verse ten, now you be different. Now you followed. Uh, you come over to verse fourteen of chapter three, You, however, these evil men are going to do this, but you be different. And, uh, you come over to, um, well, there's several other places. There's about eight or nine places where that, that phrase is there. Be different. Be different. I know that others are, are drawing back. I know that others are refusing to stand, but be different, Timothy. Be different. But how can Timothy recognize these faithful men? That's the question, isn't it? Commit to faithful men this deposit, this treasure of the gospel, those men who will stand for the gospel, those men who will keep the gospel, those men who will share the gospel, and then they'll in turn transfer it to others. So he gives a whole series of ways to recognize these kind of people. And so that's what we want to look at, is, um, faithful men. You know, Paul talks about the cost of faithful service, and too often we hide its cost. If you want to stand above the crowd, if you want to be different, if you want to be faithful, there is a cost. If you, um, we have a, a woman in our meeting who's, who's becoming pretty well known as an artist, even a little bit nationally, and she gave a talk the other night, and so my wife and I went, and she said, you know, I've always had this desire, but, you know, I got married, I had children, and and the kids came along, and my husband had responsibilities, so I set it on the back burner, I set it on the back burner, but several years ago I decided to pursue it. And so an hour a day, every morning for an hour, I began to draw an eye, just draw an eye, and I found a mentor kind of helped me every day for an hour, and then I began to work on two eyes, and then I began to work on two eyes and a nose, and then I bumped it up from one hour a day to two hours a day until I was doing it all morning, Five hours every morning, drawing every day of the week. And she's very good, especially on eyes. She, she, she, you see, you see her paintings, and you see the eyes on those paintings, and you say, she's got that. She's got that down. But you know there was a cost. You want to be good in sports, there's a cost. You want to be good in school, there's a cost. You want to be the kind of person Timothy's looking for, there's a cost. And so Paul doesn't hide that. He talks about, he's going to show us three pictures of this truth. Verse three, Suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. He talks about the dedication of a soldier. Uh, the kind of man you're looking for is, is, is like a soldier, Timothy. He has a willingness to endure hardships. He has a willingness to suffer. Our men in Iraq understand that, don't they? They understand what it means to, to be in danger. They understand what it means to, to not have the best of food. They understand what it means not to be at home. They understand what it means to, to sleep in maybe uncomfortable situations, to, to work in the heat and work in the rain and work in some of this. A soldier understands that. And he says, listen, you have to be willing to endure hardships. A good soldier for Christ lives differently, not just missionaries, not just full-time workers, every committed believer in Jesus Christ has to live differently and has to be willing to endure hardship. And not only that, he has to be willing to concentrate. Verse four, No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. When you signed up for the Roman army, you didn't join the Roman army, you joined a particular general. You gave your allegiance to a particular general. You signed up to serve under a particular general. You agreed to go where he wanted you to go, to do what he wanted you to do, and so you had to, um, make sure you didn't get entangled or sidetracked by civilian pursuits in order to please the one that you, you had committed yourself to out of loyalty to him. And the believer has to do the same. The believer is called to be devoted to Christ. And there are things that will entangle you in this life, that will keep you from that devotion to Christ, that will keep you from, from that single-mindedness. It can be unsaved partners, it can be boyfriends or girlfriends, it can be jobs, it can be associations, and you have to be careful, and you have to ask yourself, what is this going to keep me from my service to Christ? Is this going to keep me from giving him first priority in my life? Timothy, look for these people. They're like soldiers. They're committed, fully committed, and they're willing to suffer hardship. You know what else they're like, Timothy? They're like athletes. Verse five: Also, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules. You know, athletes have goals. Do you have goals? Do you have spiritual goals? Athletes have goals that they work towards, and we need goals in the Christian life to know the word of God, to be growing in our faith, specific goals. And yet an athlete can have goals and even wholehearted devotion and miss out if he fails to abide by the rules. And that's true of the believers. Flip, if you would, back to First Corinthians chapter nine. Paul deals with this in First Corinthians chapter nine and verse twenty four. These three pictures that Paul uses are, are all through the scriptures. Paul uses the soldier and the athlete and the farmer again and again. And First Corinthians chapter nine verse twenty four, he says, do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Have a goal. I want to win. I want to be useful to God. I want my life to count. Have a goal. Everyone, verse twenty five, who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore, I run in such a way, not as without aim. I box in such a way, not as beating the air, but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified, put on the shelf, not useful, disqualified. And we have athletes all the time. They use drugs, they get disqualified. They cheat, they get disqualified. They, they had goals. They exercised, they, they did all the stuff, they, they were devoted to the sport, but they didn't keep the rules, and they were disqualified. Timothy, look for people who have the obedience, the self-discipline of the athlete. Well, this gives us two principles. First of all, know the rules. Know the rules. Nobody participates in a sport without knowing the rules. Where are the rules? Right here. These are the rules. This is going to show you how to be useful to God. This is going to show you how to have a life that counts. This is going to show you what will, what will disqualify you. Know this book. You cannot be a growing Christian without a growing knowledge of this book. Not perfect knowledge, growing knowledge. Get in the book. Read the book. Everyone here by, by this age ought to be a person who's committed to, to reading it from cover to cover. If it takes you two years, fine. If it takes you three years, fine. If it takes it one year, fine. But be a person who reads the whole counsel of the Word of God. And then secondly, discipline yourself to keep the rules. There are Christians who are disqualified. Sometimes it's just with some person. They didn't keep the rules in this person's presence, and they are no longer the person God can use to speak to that life. They have disqualified their testimony. They have disqualified them for service to minister to that person because they broke the rules, and this person saw it. There are some people who just are disqualified. Their lives are in total shambles, and they're disqualified. Timothy, look for a person who has that mindset of an athlete. They, they get into the word of God. They are committed to discipline themselves, to keep the word of God. And then thirdly, the farmer, verse six. The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crop. And here the, the emphasis is on hard work. The word he uses for labor is a word that depicts working carried to the point of great weariness and exhaustion. And if you know farmers, you know that. When harvest season comes, when planting season comes, they're in the field. They may be out there twelve hour days. They may be out there sixteen hour days. They've got to work, and they expend themselves to get to the harvest. Oh, there's a reward. He says, the hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops, and there's reward. There is fruit in the Christian life. Sometimes that fruit is the fruit of the spirit. Sometimes that fruit is winning other people to Christ. Who gets the fruit? The person who seriously commits himself to pursue the fruit. That's the person that God is changing because they want to be changed. They want to be like Christ. They're hard working when it comes to submitting to the Spirit of God and responding when the Spirit of God speaks to them about sin in their life and speaks to them about areas of their life, and and they're committed and they're they're hard working in in getting that out, and they pursue the lost. It's the hard-working person that gets the first. It's the one God turns to. Dan Smith shared these seven laws of the harvest, and I put them in your notes because I said, boy, there'd be writing and writing if people were taking notes, and I ran through these real quick. But these are tremendous points that you learn from harvest. One, we reap only where there's sowing. If you don't sow, you're not going to reap. Unless you're reaping what someone else has sowed. But if there's been no sowing, there'll be no reaping. We reap the same kind as sowed. You cannot reap to the flesh and reap spiritual benefits. You sow to the spirit, and you of the spirit reap eternal life, that life that qualif- that bears the qualities of the eternal, Galatians tells us. We reap in a different season than we sow. There's time, and we have to be patient as we sow. The day of reaping will come. Galatians again says, we will reap if we faint not. We reap, we reap in proportion as we sow. If you sow a little, Paul says in second Corinthians, you'll reap a little. If you sow a lot, you reap a lot. It, it depends to you how much you're willing to invest. Number five, we reap the harvest of good only if we persevere. The evil harvest, the the evil works on its own, but the good is only if we persevere. And then number six, we can't do anything about last year's harvest, but we can about this year's. I don't know if last year you did any reaping. Last year was a washout. Last year I didn't do any sowing. Last year I didn't invest spiritually. Last year I didn't work for the kingdom, and you know what? I got nothing last year. Okay, that's last year's harvest. Can't do anything about last year's harvest. You got this year, if the Lord be not come. This year, you can affect the harvest. This year, you can affect it, if you're willing to work hard. And so Paul says, listen, here are the qualities that you need. Nothing worthwhile is ever easy. The Christian life calls for sacrifice and devotion and discipline and plain old hard work. And these aren't new things. Any area of life, we understand that. But somehow, when we come to the spiritual life, we seem to want to spiritualize it and, and, and act like these principles aren't true, and Paul says they are true. And then he breaks in in verse seven. he says, listen, think about it. Verse seven, consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. Paul knows what he's saying is true, but all of us need to search the scriptures and let God, by his spirit, show us the truth of, of his word. I was, um, a young man, a young man in our meeting was, was sharing, and he says, you know, things fall into three categories. Preferences, I'm not remembering the second word, I think it's principles and convictions. He says, you know, we have preferences of what we like, and then there's principles that how we guide our things, and then there's those rock hard convictions we have. And he said, you know, convictions come from the book. I may have some principles and this that, but my convictions come from the book. He said, as a parent, I can share with my kids my, my preferences and my principles, but I can't give them my convictions. They've got to get their own convictions from the book. And so he says, listen, I'm telling you the truth. Think about what I've shared, and may God show you. So you yourself take this and you say, this isn't my mom and dad's preference, this isn't my mom and dad's principle, this is my conviction that comes from the word of God. And then you can stand. So think about it, Paul says. And the Lord will give you understanding as you look at the word of God and you open your heart to let the spirit of God guide you. Well, now Paul is going to say, all right, you say these principles are there, but is this really true? And so Paul says, I want you to think about three groups or three different, uh, people and the fact that these principles are reflected in their lives. Verse eight, remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, a descendant of David, according to my gospel. He said, you know what, these principles were true in Christ's life. Before the crown, there must be the cross. Hardship, discipline, and labor all precede the enjoyment of reward. Was that true in our Lord's life? Yes. Did these character qualities I've been talking about, are they true in our Lord's life? Yes. Is he going to reap? Yes, he's the descendant of David. He will sit on the throne. He's risen from the dead. It's true in Christ's life. Paul says it was true in my life, verses nine and ten: for which I suffer hardship, even to the imprisonment as a criminal, but the word of God is not imprisoned. For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they may also obtain salvation, which is in Christ Jesus, and with it eternal glory. Paul says, you know what? I'm in jail. There is hardship, there is things to suffer, but nothing can imprison God's word. I've suffered faithfully to carry the message to the Gentiles, and what's the result? Salvation to them and future glory. But what brought salvation to them and future glory? Hard work, discipline, me being like that soldier, me being like that athlete, me being like that farmer. And there is coming a day when I will see those people in heaven, and they'll be in glory, but it's because I did these things. It was true in Christ's life. It's true in my life. And you know what? He said it's true in the lives of Christians. Verses eleven through thirteen: It is a trustworthy statement. If we died with him, we will also live with him. If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we deny him, he will also deny us. If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself. He says, listen, if you die for Christ, if you give your life for Christ, you're gonna live with Christ. If you, um, endure hardship, and if you suffer for Christ, you will also reign with Christ. That's the principle. If you deny him, he will deny you. Doesn't mean you're going to lose your salvation. It means there's going to come a day, and people are going to come into the presence, and the Lord is going to say, here's my good and faithful servant. And here's one who isn't. He's not a servant of mine. He's saved. He never was a servant of mine. He chose not to be my servant. And then Paul ends with this verse thirteen: If we are faithless, he remains faithful. He will remain true to his commitment to us. He will remain true to his promises. He will remain true to his character. He cannot deny himself. He cannot be other than he is. And in that is some comfort and some warning. The comfort is if, if I give myself to Christ, he will be true to me. If I'm faithless, if I fall away, but I repent and come back to him like Peter did, he will still be true to me. He'll be true to his character, that mercy. But if, if I'm faithless and I continue to be faithless, there will come a day when he will deny me. Because I spent my whole life denying him. And he cannot be other than true to his character and true to his promise. Timothy, understand these principles. Christ displayed them. I've displayed them. Here's some faithful, true sayings. Lock them in your head. They're a little, they're a little poem that you can say to remind yourself. When the going gets tough, if I suffer with him, I'll reign with him. If I die, I'm gonna live with him. If I deny him, he'll deny me. Oh, if I'm faithless and I come back, he'll be there because he's faithful, but he can't deny himself. It's serious stuff, Timothy, we're talking about. Don't choose anybody. You look for these qualities of a faithful man, of a faithful woman. In the second half of the chapter, Paul contrasts the faithful person with the unfaithful one. And again, he uses a series of three. The first is the unashamed workman. And in verse fifteen, he talks about the approved workman. Um, the unashamed workman, I think you're saying, says it's clear in his teaching. Look at verse 15. Be diligent. The King James version says study, and it doesn't mean study in the sense of study your book. It has the idea of being diligent. Um, be so diligent that one's work can pass the test and not result in shame because of the poor quality of his work. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. This, this is a agricultural or an engineer term, to cut straight. You cut a straight furrow when you're farming. You cut a straight road as an engineer. Well, how do you cut straight or handle rightly the Word of God? Well, you handle the Word with discernment. You make the right distinctions when you come to the Word of God. The Old Testament was written for us. We see examples, we see pictures there. The New Testament's written to us. I can pick up the epistles, and and they speak straight to me and to where I am. We make right applications to lives, and we teach it in a right manner when we present the word. Even when I'm talking to another person, First Peter three fifteen, sanctify Christ as Lord in your heart, and be ready always to give an answer to those that ask of you, yet with meekness and fear. Not arrogance, but with meekness and fear. And so he handles the word of God rightly. He teaches the truth. He doesn't water it down. He doesn't twist it. He, he handles the word of God with discernment. He makes the right application to lives. And he handles it with the right manner. Oh, but look at the unapproved workmen. We have an example in verse seventeen. And their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenius and Philetus, men who have gone astray from the truth, saying that the resurrection's already taken place, and they've upset the faith of some. Hymenius and Philetus, they did wrong teaching regarding the resurrection. They said the resurrection's already happened, and they upset the faith. What was the character of their teaching? Well, look at verse fourteen. Remind them of these things and soundly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of their hearers. They wrangled about words. They had useless word battles, word strife. Verse sixteen: but avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, hair-splitting debates about meaningless details. Ever been in some of those discussions? It has nothing to do with taking the word of God and being obedient to the word of God. You get in these long, involved arguments about this, that, and the other thing, and it does nothing but upset hearts, wind people up, and it has no application to how they live and how they're obedient to Christ and how they ought to live. He says, don't get involved in that. These, these guys that just are filled with, um, useless information and hair-splitting debates, and the result is they're useless. They lead to the ruin of their hearers. Verse sixteen, they lead to further ungodliness. Verse seventeen, they're like gangrene. My grandfather got gangrene in his foot, and they had to cut in and take out part of his foot because gangrene is a destroyer, and left to itself, it'll destroy his whole limb. Nothing good about gangrene. All you can do is cut it out. Verse eighteen, they've gone astray from the truth, they've missed the mark, and they've upset the faith of some. How would you like to have the Lord describe your service in those terms? Well, what was George Barber like? Well, he was basically useless, filled with empty chatter. Everyone who listened to him was led astray, and they ended, he ended up ruining their faith. Handle this book with care. Handle this book rightly. The, the person who is an approved workman is clear in his teaching. He handles the word of God with respect. He teaches the word of God with respect. Timothy, look for men, look for women who, who value and want to know what this book says and want to live this book. Those are the men you can give the treasure to. Those are the women you can give the treasure to. Again, verse nineteen, Paul ends this section like he ended the first section with that little think about this. He, he ends with this little encouragement. Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal. The Lord knows those who are his, and everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness. You might say, well, these bad builders have ruined everything. No, the foundation, the bad builders can't touch. The foundation of the work that our Lord Jesus Christ did, he's our foundation, they can't touch. And it stands sure. God knows. It has a seal is a mark of ownership. God's foundation, if there's someone and they're built on God's foundation, however poorly the builders that helped them build were, this foundation stands sure. First of all, God knows who his own are. That's an invisible. You can't see it, I can't see it, but God can see into a heart. Sometimes I see people, and they're Christians, and they're doing all kinds of strange things. You say, boy, are they really Christians? And God knows they really are. Here's another person, he looks real good to me, and I said, well, that's a fine Christian, but God knows he's really not. God knows those that are his. And then number two, the visible test is, let all those who name the name of Christ, um, abstain from wickedness. That's your responsibility. Again, that balance. We are to be removing wickedness from our lives. We are beginning to bring the discipline of the word of God into our lives, that we become like Christ. Well, it comes to the second comparison. It's the clean vessel. Not only is he clear in his teaching, look for someone who's clear, who handles the word of God right, who wants to know the word of God, who wants to teach the word of God, but find a person who's clean or holy in his living. Verse twenty, Now in a large house, that's Christendom, there are not only gold and silver vessels, but se- vessels of wood and earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself of these, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the master, prepared for every good work. He says, listen, in Christendom, there's two kinds of people out there. There's the honorable, pictured as gold and silver. There's the dishonorable, pictured as the common dishes, the, the earthenware and the wood. And if you want to be useful to God, if you want to be, um, something that God, uh, wants to use, you want to be one of these faithful men, there has to be separation from the common vessels. Verse twenty one, therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these, those common vessels. What's it mean? It means separation from fundamental doctrine error, like Hymenius and Philetus was teaching. People who are involved in bad doctrine, stay away. Just stay away. They'll lead you to ruin. They'll, they'll destroy your ability. And then secondly, separation from moral evil. We see that down in verse twenty two. Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, and love with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Get away from the spiritual danger. What are useful lusts? Pride, love of money, immorality, display of knowledge, contentiousness, just arguing for the sake of arguing. All those things can ruin usefulness. Positively, pursuit of spiritual good. Separation is always to something as well as from something, because nature abhors a vacuum. And look what he says. Flee youthful lust, but pursue righteousness and faith and love and peace. And notice he says, with them that call on God out of a pure heart. We need those relationships that we talked about in chapter one. We need those people who want to pursue God. Iron sharpens iron. Find people who have a passion for the word of God, who want to be useful to God, and with them pursue spiritual things. It's not just enough to remove the evil. We have to pursue the good. And notice the result at the end of verse twenty one. He will be an a vessel for honor, sanctified, set apart, fit for the master's use, useful to the master. Um, and then notice that last phrase, prepared for every good work. We're going to find that in chapter three. The word of God equips a man so he's prepared for every good work. Here, it's morally. See, you can be prepared for every good work because you know the book, but you can be disqualified because morally you're not pursuing righteousness and holiness. You pursue those things. You're clean and you're living, and then you let the word of God equip you, and you're prepared for the master's work. It's not enough to know the book. The book must affect your life and change your life. Well, that brings us down to the last comparison, verses, um, twenty two or twenty three through twenty six. The Lord's servant, courteous in his speaking. But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels. You know, someone comes, asks a question, scripture has nothing to say about it. You know how quickly people can take sides? They're arguing about something the scripture doesn't even talk about, and they got their side, and they argue and, and just avoid it. Just avoid it. Verse twenty four, the Lord's bondservant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God will grant them repentance, leading to knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been held captive by, by him to do his will. Some of you have probably heard me speak on the passage. This is one of my favorite passages. See, I've known some of these men. I- I've known men who were gentle. I- I'll tell a couple stories, and I'll still get you out by seven thirty. When I went to Emmaus, there was a dear man there by the name of Mr. Smart. Mr. Smart was a Christian gentleman in all that means. And they had a rule that hair had to be above your ears and off your collar, and I had thought I had achieved the look, and uh, but it was a little long, and so Mr. Smart came to me and said, George, it's time for a haircut. So I went to the barber and I said, listen, it's got to be above the ear, it's got to be off the collar, but, you know, you make it as close as you can. But then I suspected he might question it, so I had the man sweep up all the hair and give it to me. And I went to Mr. Smart's, I was, that's rough, okay, all right. So I went to Mr. Smart's apartment after supper and knocked on his door, and I said, Mr. Smart, I obeyed you. I went and got my hair cut, and I have the proof right here. You can see how much I had cut off. And he said, well, sit down, we're just having pie. Why don't you just sit down here? And so I piled the hair up on the table right there beside him, and she brought in pie, and he began to talk, and in my mind, you know, as he was so kind, and he never mentioned the hair, he's just kind and talked to me about schoolwork and all the rest, that hair began to grow, and I would reach out to him, he said, just leave it there, just leave it there, and gently he taught me how inappropriate, uh, that was and how much I'd missed the mark, but he was just so gentle, and he killed me with kindness. There was another man in Emmaus by the name of Dick Saint Marie. And Dick Saint Marie, uh, was just a go-getter. And, uh, one night I was at the Emmaus in Chicago, and and I was standing in one of the lounges, the lights were out, it was almost time to be in the dorm, and I saw Dick Marie coming up the steps, and I knew he had to pass the lounge. And I said, this will be so funny. I'll leap out of the dark onto his back, and I'll just scare the stuffing out of him. So Dick St. Marie came by, and I leaped out onto his back, having not remembered that he was a black belt in karate. And I swear I didn't even touch his back when I was flying through the air, found myself on with my back on the ground with his knee on my throat, and he was looking down, and when he saw it was me, he just kind of bounced a little on my throat, and he took the moment to teach, and he said, George, don't leap out on people's back out of the dark. It's not as funny as you think it is. And I, I swear to you, it was effective. I have never jumped on the back of a man I knew with a black belt ever again in my life. But, you know, they were godly men who taught. They didn't argue, they didn't berate, they didn't attack, they were gentle, they were kind. They were not quarrelsome. They lived it in their lives. They cared about their students. They wanted them to grow, and they had an impact. We don't have to go out there and win every argument. You can win an argument and lose the war. We can be gentle. We can come, but take the opportunities to teach. Because why? Because behind your talk, behind the give and take, there's another battle going on between the Spirit of God and the evil one. And what's really happening there? Well, that maybe God will grant them repentance, leading to the knowledge of the truth. And notice repentance precedes the knowledge of the truth as God uses your gentleness and uses your character, and the Spirit of God is able to convict them of their sin and bring them to repentance so that God can bring in the truth to their lives. In verse twenty six, that they may come to their senses. It's the same word for that, that prodigal son who's feeding the pigs, and all of a sudden he comes to his senses and says, wait a minute, back home, my dad's servants are eating better than I am. I'm gonna go home. It's that kind of thing. They may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will. There are people out there, and they're ensnared. Yes, what they do is ugly. Yes, some of their character things are ugly, but they're ensnared by the devil to do his will. And God wants us to come alongside their lives, to live a life that speaks to their hearts, to gently and kindly, yet teaching, standing for the truth and teaching, not being, as he says here, uh, patient when wrong, with gentleness correcting those in opposition, having that attitude that we love them, we care about them, we want what's good for them, even if they attack us. Well, what are some lessons out of this passage? First of all, there are some basic principles that determine whether one will be useful or not. Sacrifice, commitment, discipline, obedience, hard work. There's a cost. Brothers and sisters, and I don't want these messages to be hard, okay? And harsh, but there is a cost. You can't, if you float in this world, you never float towards spiritual usefulness. You always float away. You, we are going against the current, and it takes hard. And secondly, commitment always brings opposition. There'll be those out there, for every good teacher, there's, there's those that are, that are unapproved workmen. In the, in the Christendom, there's good vessels, there's the bad vessels. And against the Lord's service, there's those in opposition. And what's the key? Learn to keep your focus on certain things. Learn to keep your focus on the word, not useless arguments. Ask yourself, if you're involved in some heated thing, what is the value? What is the value of this? Is this changing my life? Is this bringing me closer to God? Is this making me more useful? Or is this one of those empty chatter, useless world word wranglings that has no value? Walk. Keep your focus on the word, not useless arguments. Keep your focus on godliness, not worldliness. Keep your focus on usefulness, not personal glory. The Lord's servant isn't looking for personal glory, he's looking to be the Lord's servant. And remember, God is giving us the great privilege of helping those ensnared by the devil. Focus on that, not on winning arguments. You're never going to take a winning argument to heaven, but there are people ensnared by the devil, if you love them and are patient and are gentle and are a Lord's servant, some of them we will. Okay? Let's pray. Oh Father, so much. And you look at it, and who, who can stand under such a light? Things pop up to your memory, things pop up to your heart. Oh God, we are so thankful, not only for grace that gives strength to do these things if we want, that you'll provide to help us do them, but we thank you for mercy that allows us to come to that precious fountain that's filled with your son's very blood, that allows us, uh, to be washed clean again and again, uh, permanently clean. Uh, and Father, we're just so thankful, and we pray that you would strive with our hearts, and that we would leave this place touched in a way that's going to make us more useful to the kingdom of God, to the glory of your Son, because we ask in his own precious name. Amen.