Have  Faith Ministries  

2 Timothy 1:13-18 - Wed. PM

Turn to - Acts 26:19-25

19, "Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20, "but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance. 21, "For these reasons the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. 22, "Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come 23, "that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles." 24, Now as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, "Paul, you are beside yourself! Much learning is driving you mad!" 25, But he said, "I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason."

Paul certainly did not have it easy when it came to preaching God's truth to unbelievers and disobedient believers. He was often attacked and had his motives or intellect insulted by others. Still, he knew God had called him to preach the truth no matter what men thought and no matter how men reacted to God's truths. Evil Societies have never made it easy for Christians to stand firm in sound doctrine. Nor should Christians be looking for easy sailing when it comes to proclaiming God's Truths in a sinful world.

The world hates God's Pure Word. If Christians dilute God's truth a little and some will tolerate that watered down version. Unfortunately, too many Christians today prefer "a soft Gospel" and "soft Doctrine."

Doctrine that doesn't offend our sinful ways.

Doctrines that exalt Man more than God

Doctrines that exalt Man's teachings over God's clear truths.

Doctrines that mix man's truths with God's.

So, what happens when a Christian Stands firm? How are they received today? The answer to this question depends on the listener's spiritual condition. If a believer is yielded to the flesh, then God's pure word is going to rub them the wrong way. The flesh of the regenerated is still not desiring God's truths. If a believer is yielded to the Spirit within, then they will respond favorably to God's Word. Unbelievers that are seeking God's truths and being enlightened by the Holy Spirit can begin to respond positively to gospel truths. However, the unbeliever who is not seeking and has no Spiritual intervention will resist the Word of God, because his flesh rules him and the flesh of man hates God's Word.

The World and even some liberal Christians will do all they can to discourage you from staying true to God's Word, from standing on God's Word and preaching it as it is. You'll be called a:

1. Fundamentalist

2. Narrow minded

3. Intolerant

4. Uncaring

5. Harsh

The World and some liberal Christians will play on all your emotions to try and get you to abandon a "Thus saith the Lord" approach to God's Word, but don't cave into the plans of Satan and the plans of fleshly men. The Christian, the preacher, the teacher that gets WEAK KNEES doctrinally has caved into to fearing man rather than Fearing God. And the man who wants watered down doctrine and false doctrines fears and loves man more than he fears and loves God.

As we've been studying 2Tim. 1, Paul has been challenging Timothy to:

NOT be ashamed of:

1. The testimony of our Lord

2. Paul, God's prisoner

Don't fear:

1. don't let fear keep you from using your gift

2. be willing to suffer for God's purpose

Now, at the end of chapt. 1, Paul tells Timothy, "Don't Let FEAR or shame keep you from standing firm in God's Word. In other words, don't get weak knees spiritually!

Read. 2 Timothy 1:13-18

13, Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. 14, That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. 15, This you know, that all those in Asia have turned away from me, among whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes. 16, The Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain; 17, but when he arrived in Rome, he sought me out very zealously and found me. 18, The Lord grant to him that he may find mercy from the Lord in that Day--and you know very well how many ways he ministered to me at Ephesus.

13, "Hold fast" is a command, HOLD on and don't let go of sound doctrine. Rightly dividing God's truth is not optional. Sound teaching is not optional. Yet some Christians today approach Doctrine as if a smorgasbord of theology and doctrine is quite acceptable. People, if God was willing to let any teaching go, why did He give us His Word and then tell us to HOLD ON TO SOUND DOCTRINE? The fact is, God hates misrepresentation of His Word. A good example of holding onto the sword is found in 2 Sam. 23:9-10

2Sam. 23:9, "And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines that were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel were gone away:10 He arose, and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clave unto the sword: and the LORD wrought a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to spoil."

Why do we have liberal churches and liberal Christians today? Because some where along the line, Christians lost their grip on sound doctrine. Teachers lost their grip and then their students lost their grip. Truth slipped through the spiritual fingers and then they were left with bits and pieces to God's Word and God's doctrine.

Paul tells us "Don't let Go"

v. 13, "the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus."

Don't miss this very important Word "PATTERN" [ means under the print ]. A word used of stamped images on coins. Of course the stamp always makes an imprint that is the same if the stamp is struck properly, if the stamp is handled correctly. But what happens when the stamp is struck incorrectly? In the US, any double stamped or improperly stamped coin is taken out of circulation because it's defective. Folks, there is an awful lot of doctrine in the church that should be taken out of circulation because it does not follow the pattern of the apostles doctrine (Acts 2:42 ).

Paul makes it absolutely clear that the doctrine handed down by the apostles, that stamp, that image of doctrine is the Pattern to print out, the pattern to follow and none other. No one should walk away from verse 13, thinking that Doctrine doesn't matter. In fact just the opposite is true. Not only does doctrine matter, but Paul's point to Timothy is EXACT Apostolic Doctrine matters and it should matter to you.

2 Tim. 3:16, All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,17, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Let's ponder 2Tim. 3:16-17 for a moment. Do you believe it? Do you believe all of it? If you do, then you will certainly say that ALL of God's Word is important for Doctrine, not just some sections, not just the sections that prove (supposedly) your theological leanings (if you have them). When a group of Christians says, "we're not going to make doctrine an issue," they have just boldly stated their DISOBEDIENCE to God and they need to be rebuked and challenged in their sin and error.

Paul continues in v. 14, "That good thing which was committed to you, keep...". This phrase is made up of the following 3 Greek words: Good- Deposit - Guard. What is the good deposit, or the good thing entrusted to us? God's Word as it is! God's Pure unadulterated Word! Paul gives a command regarding this Good Word - guard or protect it. If we HAVE TO guard something what does that imply? Someone wants to remove it from us. Since the Adam and Eve, the flesh of man and Satan himself have had an agenda to remove God's clear teaching. If Eve had only guarded God's simple prohibition, "Don't eat", but Satan in his subtle way appealed to Eve's flesh and she gladly believed something that was not God's pure truth and it cost the whole Human race dearly. People, that subtle activity of removing God's truth still goes on today, but don't let go.

Next, Paul near the end of v. 14, tells us by what power we can hold on to God's truths, "by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us." God provides the power to hold on to God's truths. The Spirit gives us the ability to guard sound doctrine. If someone looses their grip on God's sound doctrine, what does that tell us? They stopped depending upon the Lord. For a Christian to stop depending upon the Lord is a choice. Christians down through the ages have made choices to abandoned sound doctrine and replace it with an image of doctrine that only resembles sound doctrine. In our country, money that only resembles true currency is called counterfeit money and the United States Currency Department will do all they can to take that kind of money out of circulation. Every Christian should make sure that they are not passing on counterfeit doctrines, if they are, they're accountable to God for misrepresenting Him. In the United States, those making counterfeit money serve a severe prison sentence, for the Christian passing counterfeit doctrine they pay the loss of rewards in Heaven. Be clear in your mind about this, God does not bless doctrines that are not the exact image of His truths.

As Paul tells Timothy to HOLD on to the pattern, the exact print of doctrine handed to him by the apostles, he also warns Timothy about doctrinal association with the Christians or said Christians that have let go of sound doctrine.

v. 15, "This you know"

We NEED to know WHO has defected from sound doctrine. The pastor's responsibility is to tell the assembly, so and so has departed from, has stopped clinging to, has failed to guard the apostles' doctrine. It's not a nasty thing to name names in this situation, it's the loving and responsible thing to do.

v. 15, "that all those in Asia have turned away from me, among whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.

Just imagine if God was still recording in writing WHO has defected from the apostles doctrine. God may not be writing it down, but He certainly knows who's cutting it straight and who's manipulating the original doctrinal imprint. Paul points out two men that had turned away from Paul's teaching. It's biblical to point out those that have gone astray from the apostles' doctrine.

In contrast to those that turned away from Paul's testimony and doctrine, we see Onesiphorus:

v. 16, The Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain; 17, but when he arrived in Rome, he sought me out very zealously and found me. 18, The Lord grant to him that he may find mercy from the Lord in that Day--and you know very well how many ways he ministered to me at Ephesus.

Onesiphorus is an example of someone who served with the apostle Paul. Most certainly in the context Onesiphorus was in agreement with the apostles' doctrine. We learn to learn a practical lesson from this association with Paul. Paul would never have been able to commend Onesiphorus unless he was in agreement with the apostles' teachings. Nor should we commend ministries, regardless of how sincere they may be, if they abandon the aposltes' doctrine found in the clear teachings of the NT.

All of us need to be like Eleazar of 2Sam. 23, who, "smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clave unto the sword: and the LORD wrought a great victory that day."

Don't let go of sound doctrine.

Always put forth the doctrinal image set forth by the apostles.

Guard sound doctrine, because many will try to remove if from your grip.