Right Side Of The Divide

The Right Side of the Divide

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

Reading: 2 Timothy 2:1-18

Introduction:

So much of our ministry at Hope Baptist Church is committed to the word of God…and whetting people’s appetite for the word of God. Our earnest desire is that people grow in the grace and knowledge of their Lord and Saviour and that…through the word of God.

Continuing on from my previous message: “Appreciation for the Scriptures” today’s message deals with: 

DOCTRINE and RIGHTLY DIVIDING the word of God.

INTERPRETATION and gaining a better understanding of the word of God. 

Today’s text (v15) comes as part of an exhortation from Paul to Timothy…and not only an exhortation but a warning also. 

It’s an exhortation to continue and grow in the grace of God which is in Christ. 

It’s an exhortation to follow the example set by Paul himself. 

It’s an exhortation to instruct others who will likewise be able to teach. 

It’s an exhortation to endure hardness as a good soldier of Christ…

It’s an exhortation to make the gospel the sole focus of his life and remind others of the same. 

And in so doing to avoid vain babblings which are of no profit but rather subvert the hearers…and not only are they unprofitable, but they also have the potential to overthrow the faith of some.

Clearly these are serious warnings. And warnings that apply to us all…

Verse 15 of our text sits right in the middle of the exhortation and gives us the means by which to heed the warning and avoid the pitfalls and to fulfill the commission given by Paul to Timothy. 

 The means is to “Study” and to “Rightly divide the word of truth.” 

Underpinning the seriousness of the charge should come the realisation:

THAT DOCTRINE MATTERS 

When we talk about dividing and divisions, many things come to mind. 

We see divisions among believers addressed in 1 Corinthians (We will look at this in our second point). 

Incredibly we see that the word of God itself…divides. 

We have to realise that there is no such thing as NEUTRALITY when it comes to the word of God. Jesus said if you are not with me, you are against me.

“He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.” (Matthew 12:30)

SO YES…the word of God does divide: Jesus came NOT to bring peace but a sword…a two-edged one at that.

We see that right from the beginning when God spoke this universe into existence, he DIVIDED light from darkness. 

And God saw the light, that it was good: and God DIVIDED the light from the darkness. Genesis1:4

And in like manner the word of God divides light from darkness in the believer. 

For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness [A REFERENCE TO CREATION], hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2Corinthians 4:6

Again: DOCTRINE MATTERS!!!

And because DOCTRINE does divide and it is imperative that you be on…

THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE DIVIDE.

This is the title of today’s message and my personal exhortation to you today.

Let’s pray 🙏

The Requirement of Study:

“Study to shew…”

Our text today tells us to study…and right off the bat I’m going to highlight the deficiencies and perversions of modern versions which go out of their way to avoid the concept of study. 

“Do your best…” NIV

“Make every effort…” NET

“Be diligent” NASB, NKJV

“Work hard” NLT

“Do your best to win God’s approval” CEV

“Concentrate on doing your best for God, work you won’t be ashamed of, laying out the truth plain and simple” The Message

Looking at these examples, you’d almost think that there was a deliberate effort being made to steer believers away from studying the word of God and you’d be right . I’m certain that Satan doesn’t want us to study our bibles. 

The commandment of scripture is VERY specific and VERY simple. And the word of God itself testifies to this. 

Because:

The word of God, itself is clear and straightforward…as it should be. Not ambiguous or confused as modern translations would have us believe. 

GOD ISN’T THE AUTHOR OF CONFUSION

[19 C BAPTIST PASTOR J C Philpott said and I quote:]

“The more a man’s heart is alive unto God, the more will he read his Bible; nor can there be a surer sign of a sickly state of soul than distaste to the Word of God … But we made a remark also on the grace and wisdom bestowed upon our translators to give us such a faithful and noble, clear and beautiful, yet SIMPLE and PLAIN version. The blessing which has rested upon our English Bible in the thousands of souls who by it have been quickened and fed, liberated, sanctified, and saved, eternity alone can unfold. But much of this, under the blessing of God, has been due to the PLAIN, simple, yet strong and expressive language which our translators were led to adopt. They were deeply penetrated with a reverence for the Word of God, and therefore they felt themselves bound by a holy constraint to discharge their trust in the most faithful possible way. Under that divine constraint they were led to give us a translation unequalled for faithfulness to the original, and yet at the same time clothed in the purest and SIMPLEST English. How suitable is all this to the simplest understanding, and how in this way the most precious truths of God are brought down to the plainest and most uncultivated mind.

No one can read, with an enlightened eye, the discourses of our blessed Lord without seeing what a divine SIMPLICITY ran through all His words; and our translators were favoured with heavenly wisdom to translate these words of the Lord into language as simple as that in which they first fell from His lips. What can exceed the simplicity and yet the beauty and blessedness of such declarations as these? — ‘I am the bread of life’; ‘I am the door’; ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life’; ‘I lay down my life for the sheep’; ‘I am the vine’; ‘God is love’; ‘By grace are ye saved’. Even where the words are not monosyllabic, they are of the simplest kind, and as such are adapted to the capacity of every child of God, in whatever rank of life he may be said.”

When we talk of simplicity:

It’s quite clear that modern translators didn’t have the reader in mind when they translated words like “prime minister” as SATRAP or “oak tree” as TEREBINTH.

PRAISE GOD THAT THE AV BIBLE CONFORMS TO WHAT IT ACTUALLY TEACHES…and that is to condescend to men of low estate. 

“Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.” (Romans 12:16)

The beauty of the Authorized Version is the consistency of word use which makes cross-referencing so much easier. The more that you read your bible, the more this will become apparent. 

THUS, the clear and simple command of scripture is to: “STUDY”

And if the command is simple, so is the process. By giving us the Authorized Version, the Lord has truly made bible study SIMPLE.

AND YET:

Sadly, people tend to complicate bible study. They arm themselves with dictionaries, concordances, commentaries and multiple versions of the bible which only leads to confusion.

AS WITH ANY FIELD OF STUDY…first and foremost you must be familiar with the subject matter. When it comes to bible study, there should be a presumption that you have read it MORE THAN ONCE!!! [ad lib]

Obviously, the more times we read it, the more familiar we will be.

(Clarification) When I say “Read,” I mean reading it from cover to cover. Again, the concept of bible reading is a simple one… As a book the bible is no different to any other book. After all…don’t we read books from beginning to end? 

I strongly recommend reading cover to cover for several reasons.

(Granted it takes discipline the first few times)

Completion: It ensures that the entire bible is read.

Continuity: The bible is in chronological order (for the most part)

Context: It enables us to understand the bible as a whole and therefore put into context the individual parts (Testament Old and New, Books, Chapters and Verses)

Along with reading the bible, my sincere advice to you is AVOID COMMENTARIES…I don’t say this lightly.

I know I’m in good company as even the apostle Peter concurs:

“As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” (1 Peter 2:2-3)

The word “sincere” means pure and uncorrupted. I think that it’s clear that the word of God alone is sufficient to cause the believer, and especially the new believer, to grow. 

Another thing to avoid is YouTube…which is an an absolute minefield (especially for the new believer). 

[Just letting you know]

There is no shortage of heretics and false teachers on the internet. 

So much of the content is riddled with errors. It might be a bold presumption when we think that we have the discernment to filter out the errors.

Whilst it is commendable to desire spiritual growth: 

We need to crawl before we can walk… 

We need to walk before we can run…

SPIRITUAL GROWTH CANNOT BE FAST-TRACKED

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In regard to study:

As students of the bible, (provided we have read it sufficiently) we can study the word of God several ways.

By topic (context required)

By book (line by line as we do in our wed night study)

By word (how does God use certain words?)

Incredibly, scripture doesn’t place limits on the person who is “throughly furnished” by the word of God…the inspired word of God has been given that the man of God may be PERFECT!!!

Therefore it is not inconceivable that we should outgrow those who have taught us God’s word:

“I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.” (Psalms 119:99-100)

The Recommendation of God:

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed…”

This should be obvious…but nevertheless I will spell it out. Central to all bible study is the approval of God…and this doesn’t just apply to our study of the bible but in all aspects of our lives. 

Remember that knowledge puffs up but love builds up. Studying the bible isn’t an end in and of itself. And the last thing bible study should be producing in believers is pride.

(As with our description of a pastor’s qualifications)

Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil. 1 Timothy 3:6

When it comes to:

DISCERNMENT…DIVISION and DEPORTMENT

Our communion text reveals DIVISION in a disturbing light:

[Turn to]

“For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.” (1 Corinthians 11:18-19)

Central to this division and heresy was a lack of discernment and a departure from the word of God…

This departure from the word of God affected not only their relationship with God but also other believers. We see this so clearly in our communion passage.

Our ultimate desire and purpose of bible study should be to please God. 

And in order to have his approval it is important to know God and glorify him for who he IS rather than who he is NOT. In the case of our communion text…the purpose is to proclaim Christ as Saviour and to give thanks.

Clearly something was amiss in the Corinthian church 

When we wrongly divide scripture, we distort who God is (we will touch on this in our final point.) The Corinthian church had turned communion into a Bacchanalian feast. 

THE DIVISIONS WHICH WE SEE IN OUR COMMUNION TEXT ARE REMARKABLE:

[Turn to 1Corinthians 11:17]

We see the approved (which are made manifest v) and the disapproved (I praise you not)

We see the “haves” and the “have nots” (shamed v22)

We see the discerning and the undiscerning (not discerning the Lord’s body v29)

We see the chastened (vv31-32) vs the judged and therefore damned (vv28-29)

We see the intended solemnity vs salubrious (drunken v21)

We see the holy and the profane (not to eat the Lord’s supper v20) 

[Turn to] 

So how are we to deal with divisions and how are those approved of God made manifest?

“And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. But all things that are reprovedare made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.” (Ephesians 5:11-13)

Looking at this text and relating it to our communion passage:

It’s not hard to see why they which were manifest, were approved. 

These understood the solemnity of the occasion, discerning the Lord’s body in that Christ died for their sins. 

Light will always expose darkness…hence the manifestation (made manifest) of those who were approved of God and those who were not. God is our record.

There’s an obvious contrast and separation (division) between the unfruitful works of darkness and those who are walking in the light (and love) …

People often say that those who stand on the truth of God’s word (taking a biblical stance) are being divisive…

BUT IN REALITY 

It is those who are in error which are divisive. They’re the ones who have moved position. 

Those who stand on the truth of God’s word…STAND FIRM 

Doctrinal soundness and orderly conduct accompany godliness

While…the opposite is true of those labelled “unfruitful works of darkness”

“But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.” 

(Ephesians 5:3-4)

There’s another aspect in our text in regard to being approved of God. Our text tells us that we are workmen:

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed…”

We see this (concept of workers) elsewhere also:

“For we are labourers together with God:…” (1 Corinthians 3:9)

Even in our reading today, scripture refers to believers as “soldiers” and “husbandmen” (2 Timothy2:4&6)

Regardless of the job title, the fact is that if we ARE workers. 

And if we are workers, we have a job to do. 

And if we have a job to do, we are expected to perform that job to a certain STANDARD: According to the job description (or a set of guidelines) 

Or as scripture states “…to strive lawfully”

“And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.” (2 Timothy 2:5)

This implies doing things God’s way or in an ORDERLY fashion.

(Homework: search the word “disorderly)

And not only that, but also according to the grace that is given to you.

Remember that without Christ we can do nothing.

However, the simple fact is:

You’re not going to understand a job description if you don’t educate yourself regarding your role. Similarly, you’re not going to “strive lawfully” if you aren’t reading your bible.

These 2 things which are cause for SHAME:

IGNORANCE & DISORDERLY CONDUCT

Behaviour is always determined by what we believe. 

ERRANT BELIEFS RESULT IN ERRANT BEHAVIOUR

OUR DOCTRINES BECOME OUR BELIEF SYSTEMS AND OUR BELIEF SYSTEMS GOVERN THE WAY WE BEHAVE…

This is why it is imperative to rightly divide the word of truth…it isn’t a case of TRUTH for TRUTH’S sake. 

If ever there was a text which highlights the failure to grow spiritually and the SHAME which ought to be associated with not growing…it is: 

Hebrews 5:12-14

“For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their sensesexercised to discern both good and evil.” (Hebrews 5:12-14)

There’s clearly an expectation here (to mature) …the shame of which is the inability to discern between good and evil. 

Scripture repeatedly draws a line of division between two sets of people or two opposing standards of behaviour. With such a wealth of information, ignorance is no excuse. 

In verse 16 of today’s reading, the ability to “rightly divide the word of truth” and the approval of God is contrasted (scripture is good at contrasting differences) with the “profane and vain babblings” of two heretics

“But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;” (2 Timothy 2:16-17)

Furthermore, we see our two heretics named and shamed…who rather than being approved (unto God)have been condemned by God. 

The apostle Peter gives us an even starker reality saying that:

“…they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.” (2 Peter 3:16)

This should be an example to us all…of what can happen when we neglect our bibles. Inevitably we shipwreck our faith. 

A FINAL WORD ON THE APPROVAL OF GOD:

The word “approved” appears 8 times in the bible (all in the New Testament). It should come as no surprise that the first mention the word, refers to our Lord Jesus Christ. HE IS THE STANDARD…

The Recognition of Division:

“…rightly dividing …”

Whilst we know that the bible is divided in various ways: Testaments (Old and New), Genre (Historical, Prophetic, Wisdom etc), Books (chapter and verse) …and it can be useful to know these things in our study of the bible…

First and foremost, we need to know that in rightly dividing the word of truth, we are: 

SEPARATING TRUTH FROM ERROR…LIGHT FROM DARKNESS

[A little tangent]

It’s interesting that in the book of James, God is described as “the Father of lights.” 

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” (James 1:17)

Light, when uninterrupted cuts a straight path…and so it is with the light of God’s word.

IT’S STRAIGHT AS AN ARROW

WITH NO SHADOWS (it’s black and white)

In verse 16…James (in his rebuke concerning temptation) says “do not err” or in other words, “do not fall into error”

DO NOT STRAY FROM THAT STRAIGHT PATH OF TRUTH!!!

And so it is, with rightly diving the word of truth. We need to avoid deviating from the truth. 

At this point it’s worth noting here, that in interpreting scripture…

SCRIPTURE INTERPRETS SCRIPTURE 

It is always wise to hold the light of a clear passage of scripture up to an obscure or difficult passage rather than twisting the clear passage to fit a preferred interpretation. Likewise, if an interpretation contradicts the clear teaching of scripture, you have definitely strayed from the truth.

In rightly dividing scripture we are literally dissecting it…using scripture itself.

Remember that the word of God is sharper than a two-edged sword and it always sheds light on itself.

I love this profound statement in the book of Psalms

“For with thee is the fountain of life: IN THY LIGHT SHALL WE SEE LIGHT.” 

(Psalms 36:9)

This fits perfectly with this verse from Psalm 119 

“The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.” (Psalms 119:130)

The underlying principle is that word of God must be the starting point in everything

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So, we recognise that in rightly dividing the word of truth we are separating truth from error. Following on from this is the importance of CONTEXT. We shouldn’t presume that a particular passage of scripture is strictly speaking to a specific topic. 

Here is an example: 

Certain false teachers use this verse to fabricate a version of “Gap Theory (between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2)” that seeks to discover when Satan fell and was supposedly judged. They use a verse in Jeremiah as a proof text to suggest that there was a gap in the creation week. 

“I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.” (Jeremiah 4:23)

Simply because it is similar to Genesis 1:2

“And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” 

(Genesis 1:2)

Jeremiah 4:23 is CLEARLY referring to the Babylonian captivity and these false teachers ought to be ashamed of themselves. 

Understanding the basic principle of CONTEXT will help you (IMMEASURABLY) to rightly divide the word of truth. 

Sadly people listen to this garbage because they want their ears tickled. 

In my previous message we saw that in the book of Nehemiah (as the book of the law was read) certain men were assigned to explain the word of God.

“So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.” (Nehemiah 8:8)

NOTE: In explaining the word of God, they “gave the sense.” Or in other words they put it in context…

As I explained in my previous message:

As we discovered last time: the word “sense” doesn’t appear very often in the bible (in fact only once). 

The plural word “senses” also appears only ONCE.

(We read this earlier)

“But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” (Hebrews 5:14)

Both these words “sense and senses” are closely associated not only with CONTEXT but also DISCERNMENT (discerning good and evil): 

And the only way to exercise your SENSES is to be reading your bible. 

This passage also highlights the difference between a mature Christian (who is able to digest strong meat…solids rather than milk) and the “babe” who is UNSKILLED in the word of God.

Once again: 

There is an expectation contained in this passage of scripture…that the MATURE Christian is able toteach in some capacity…

Which brings us back to the worker “who needeth not to be ashamed” 

As workers…we need to be SKILLED in the word of God. 

The process of rightly dividing the word of truth (AND AVOIDING ERROR) can seem difficult at times. However, knowing some principles makes the process somewhat easier.

There’s another principle that we need to employ and that is 

“AUTHOR INTENT”

GOD HAS SOMETHING TO SAY!!! And it is his intended message that needs to be understood.

The question that we ask of every text is “WHAT DOES IT MEAN?” Not what does it mean to me…BUT what does it mean? 

The bible is meant to be read and interpreted from a literal, grammatical and historical perspective. And where symbolism IS employed, those symbols are interpreted for us (especially in the parables and prophecy).

The alternative approach to bible interpretation is allegorical. This sadly, is the slippery slope that too many Christians find themselves on and allows the bible to mean virtually whatever you want it to mean. 

THAT’S NOT HOW THE BIBLE WORKS

We’re dealing with absolutes here!!! We’re dealing with OBJECTIVE CONCRETE FACTS 

Having a love for the truth and a hatred for falsehood is critical when it comes to understanding our bibles and generally living out our Christian faith.

Twice (which is significant) in Psalm 119 we receive the admonition to reject falsehood and esteem the precepts contained in scripture. 

“How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.” (Psalms 119:103-104) 

“Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold. Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way.” (Psalms 119:127-128)

WE absolutely need to have a love for truth…

The Reconciliation of Truth:

“…the word of truth.”

Our text this morning EMPHASISES the word TRUTH and for good reason.

“Thy word is true from the beginning….” (Psalms 119:160)

Whilst I’ve already established the fact that when dividing the word of truth, we are in fact separating truth from error…it’s important to know 

WHY TRUTH MATTERS…

There’s a saying which goes:

A VERSE TAKEN OUT OF CONTEXT IS A PRETEXT FOR A PROOF TEXT

This is exactly how the false teacher twists scripture to make it confess to whatever WHIMSICAL belief he likes. 

Yet this is the biblical method of acquiring knowledge. 

[Turn to]

“Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:” (Isaiah 28:9-10)

CONTEXT and CONSISTENCY without CONTRADICTION

SINCE the bible is free of contradiction and therefore our understanding of its precepts must also be free from contradictions…. otherwise, it becomes a LIE.

IT ONLY TAKES ONE LIE TO UNDO THE INTEGRITY OF GOD’S WORD. 

Just as a little leaven, leavens the whole lump. 

The reason truth matters is because it is a blight on God’s character. 

JESUS IS THE WORD AND JESUS IS THE TRUTH

ALL FALSE DOCTRINE is a blight on God’s character. 

Error always leads to self-centredness. Unless your understanding of scripture leads to the conviction that YOU ARE NOTHING WITHOUT GOD…then something is amiss. 

Our lives ought to be Christ centred 

TO LIVE IS CHRIST

Any doctrine which puts MAN in the centre or perverts the character of God NEEDS to be questioned. (Calvinism, Eternal Security)

When it comes to perverting truth, one of the most insidious perversions of scripture would have to be the “prosperity gospel” 

IT STARTS LIKE THIS:

“…Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.” (John 16:23)

And slowly builds to this:

“And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods (along with all the other blessings in Deuteronomy 28.)” (Deuteronomy 28:11)

And this:

“Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper 

(and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth).” (3 John 1:2)

And pretty soon instead of singing “…ALL TO THEE I OWE” …the silent tune playing in their hearts is Janis Joplin “Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz”

This philosophy completely ignores James’ admonishment that in asking they asked in error…only to satisfy their ungodly lusts. (James 4:3)

It completely ignores the fact that the blessings in Deuteronomy were conditional to the obeying the law of Moses.

And it completely ignores the importance of spiritual health above a healthy bank balance.

The prosperity gospel ultimately turns God into a genie who is able to grant infinite wishes. 

The truth of the matter is that when we delight ourselves in the Lord his desires become our desires. This radically changes our prayer life. 

Whilst the previous error is blatant to (hopefully) all of us, there are too many and more subtle errors that have been perpetrated and believed on by unsuspecting believers. 

FALSE DOCTRINES ARE FOUNDED ON WORLDLY WISDOM AND THEY ARE DEVILISH…

Conclusion:

Sadly, we are living in days of extreme biblical IGNORANCE and APOSTASY. The church which Christ died for and the institution which is supposed to be the pillar and ground of the the TRUTH is falling away at an ever-increasing rate. 

We live in Perilous TIMES…

A time where the Fear of God is absent in many churches. 

Where too many have turned their ears away from the truth and unto fables, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. 

Believers would rather have their ears tickled than their senses exercised by the sincere milk of God’s word. 

YET:

God is LIGHT and those who fall into error travel further and further into DARKNESS. It’s really hard to unlearn false doctrine.

I love what Matthew Henry had to say about error:

The way of error is down-hill; one absurdity being granted or contended for, a thousand follow: Their word will eat as doth a canker, or gangrene; when errors or heresies come into the church, the infecting of one often proves the infecting of many, or the infecting of the same person with one error often proves the infecting of him with many errors.

Incredibly, the false teacher somehow reckons himself to be enlightened. Remember that Eve was promised enlightenment when the serpent offered her the forbidden fruit. 

“And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be OPENED, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.” (Genesis 3:4-6)

The desire for such wisdom and esoteric revelation equates to “the pride of life” We know that Satan was created with much wisdom and yet we see in the book of Ezekiel:

“Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.” (Ezekiel 28:17)

PRIDE comes before destruction.  Again…we think of those unlearned and unstable who wrest the scriptures to their own destruction. 

Ultimately his wisdom was transformed into SUBTLETY 

It’s interesting that I’ve always applied this to New Age practitioners but it equally applicable to false teachers. 

“…If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” 

(Matthew 6:23) 

Just as Satan masquerades as an angel of light…SO DO FALSE TEACHERS APPEAR TO BE ENLIGHTENED. 

There are so many warnings in scripture regarding false teachers:

Twenty-six out of twenty-seven books in the New Testament. And three out of four major prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel) all warn of false prophets. 

AND:

Lest you be carried away by every wind and doctrine…the only way to avoid being deceived is to know what your bible teaches and what it doesn’t teach…(repeat)

As we close today…it’s worth looking again at the exhortation given to Timothy and make it our PERSONAL conviction.

To grow in the grace and knowledge of our Saviour 

To follow the example set by Paul. 

To instruct others who will likewise be able to teach. 

To endure hardness as good soldiers of Christ.

To make the gospel the sole focus of our lives.

To avoid vain babblings which are of no profit but rather subvert the hearers.

Let’s pray 🙏