2 Timothy lesson 9 end

All right, so we are wrapping up lesson number nine today, and we'll kick off 10 next week. Last week on question number five, we were talking about how we can use how the words spread, the false teaching that was happening in Timothy's day that Paul was very well aware of, but we talked about how it spreads. We said that the word was Nome, and it meant literally that their words had pasture, like an animal grazing a field bear head down, you know, mouth by mouth, mouthful by mouthful.

And we mentioned James 3.5 also.

James 3.5 says, see how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire. And so the false teaching, in this case about the resurrection, was spreading like fire. And so Paul was encouraging Timothy about how to deal with these things. And the question we left is, who is providing pasture? Who's making way for the fire to spread, so to speak?

And oftentimes we find ourselves in situations where joining in to a conversation that is off the target with God's word simply feeds the fire, so to speak. And then in question six, we asked, is this deadly? And we came to the word gangrene, and gangrene starts where something gets cut off from its blood supply.

So it doesn't hurt while it's killing you. Paul's telling Timothy that that's the nature of this teaching. It doesn't hurt the person who thinks they believe those things, and bad doctrine feels fine to the person carrying it, right? It's deadly, but Paul says it is treatable. And we looked at Macaulay, I believe, mentioned that it's treatable if the remedy comes in time.

And then verse 18, the miss the mark. Ostokeo, an archery word, they were aiming, they didn't deny the resurrection, they simply moved it. The Greek thinking saw the body as a prison, so a resurrection that was only spiritual made it a little bit easier to understand why Frank wasn't there, as Miles talked about last week. And question seven, we talked about that there are men like them today. And we named a movement, not necessarily a people, but there are movements today that relocate the promises of God. We talked about full preterism.

They did that with their 80-70 is when resurrection happened. Myles also mentioned that these folks often think that they are very sincere about their belief, but they're sincerely wrong. And they think they have the truth. Question eight, men of the kind who, Hortenes points out two men and describes a type. And we talked about that pattern. Paul gave Timothy a faith for a pattern that he's going to meet again in these two men.

And so, We came to the point that, the conclusion, and it's a good one, if we've already been raised with Christ and seated with him, Ephesians 2.6, what exactly did Hymenaeus get wrong? So we talked about the fact that position is settled now, and we were raised with him, right?

So our position is that we were resurrected, we were raised with him, that's Colossians 3.1.

But even Romans 6 keeps a future tense to this. In Romans 6, 5, we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection. That's future tense. And they were teaching that it was already done. And Romans 8 says, we're still waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. So they believed in the spiritual resurrection, but they did not believe in a future bodily resurrection. So the identification truth there, it's real. And it's exactly what Hymenaeus really bent was the identification truth. He took the position and said that all there is, the body is still coming.

He says that's all it is, but the body in Romans 6.5 and 8.23 says it's future, but he said that's already happened. It's all done spiritually in the past. You know, Miles also mentioned last week, I believe, there's this Kingdom Now concept, that we're already in the kingdom, we've already been resurrected, and Christ is already on the throne and ruling the kingdom. So that Kingdom Now theology kind of creeped in.

So verse 17, 2 Timothy 17 and 18 showed us a gospel coming, kind of coming apart with the resurrection teaching that Hymenaeus and Philetus were communicating. And verse 19 shows up now, and Paul explains what doesn't come apart. So men were teaching doctrine that were false, leading some astray and causing trouble amongst the brethren.

Verse 19, though, go ahead and read 2 Timothy 2.19 aloud for us. Great, you're good at it. 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. Great, thank you. Nevertheless. Do you use that word? Question nine. The word nevertheless connects two different people with two different views. Explain that. Nevertheless. This is a hinge word.

From our notes we have, nevertheless connects the mention of the defection of some from the truth with the fact that the foundation of God stands sure. The thought being that the church of Jesus Christ has an ideal integrity unaffected by some who seem to belong to it. Does that make sense? So like I said, that word nevertheless, that's really hinge here, because on one side, men who missed the mark, remember the archery term, they missed the mark, they moved it, moved the location, they aimed, they shot, they just completely missed the target. So on one side, you have men who missed the mark and upset the faith of some, and on the other, a foundation that has not moved a single inch.

And the phrase to catch, I think, in this verse is, some who seemed to belong to it. That's from the expositors there. Some who seemed to belong to it. So, we're going to start some conversation around having men like Hymenaeus and Philetus that represent the pattern of those in our church, our churches, the local body.

I'm not pointing out anyone in Holly Hills per se, but these types, these pattern of men and thinking enter into the church, and so Paul's teaching Timothy about how to deal with this situation. He's not conceding that the church lost two of its own, he's saying the foundation was never resting on them.

1 John 2.19 talks about this kind of thing too.

In 1 John 2.19, they went out from us, but they were not of us. If they had been of us, they would have continued with us. So John's saying the same thing to a different audience at the time. This idea of departure did not make them outsiders. It revealed them. We're going to talk about that. It revealed them.

Here's the comfort in this, nevertheless, in what follows, and it's aiming straight at men like Hymenaeus and Philetus, men like that, who has watched who has gone astray, who has departed. And here we are, we're watching this happen within the body, just like Timothy.

These men walk away from sound doctrine. Have you ever had a situation where you parted fellowship with a brother over doctrine and they walked away? And the point that Paul is making to Timothy is that their leaving does not put a crack in the foundation of God's word. It doesn't change the foundation that you stand on, Timothy. It shows where the foundation actually runs. Where does it run? Where is the foundation, where is it settled, rather? It's settled in the word of God. So going back to the question, the word nevertheless connects two different people with two different views. Explain. Mike, you wrote the question. You want to take a stab at that one?

I think like a lot of the epistles, one, you probably should expect that you're going to have somebody in your church that's going to oppose some doctrine to some degree or somewhere. And so they may or they may not attract others to them. The other group are those that do genuinely belong to the Lord, are serious about sound doctrine. I think you see a lot of empathy within sound doctrine Christians to invite everyone in. But the doctrine is so sacred to the Lord, the truth, that if someone buries off of that, you need to be aware, number one.

Number two, like this, these two men, Paul actually excommunicated one of them at one point because he wouldn't back off, so to speak. And I think that, I mean, in Romans and in Corinthians Paul says they're already there they're not you know Satan doesn't walk down the street and see your church and decide to build one across the street He comes into your church infiltrates. Yeah, he tries to corrupt to some degree, the Colossians that were studying them in the main service, a huge thing. Bain philosophy, the asceticism that we've been talking about.

Mike, turn your mic on. Turn my mic on. Notes from the group behind. Also, your mic's been cutting in and out. Oh, has it? So I told Nick, he said if it's bad enough, he'll come in, but it's been kind of in and out. I thought it was just me. No, it's in and out. It's kind of frustrating. They can hear it back there, but he said yes, if it's bad enough. So he may or may not come in. Okay.

The other thing on this one, I always say, like, nevertheless, it's regardless of all that they say, stand firm. And so it's, it's regardless, again, it's the two sides. It's people who are off God's word and the people who are on God's word. So, you know, and he's basically saying, regardless of what they say, nevertheless, regardless of what they say, stand firm in the word. This, this is consistent with All that he's been saying stay away from people with horrible, you know bad doctrine don't even listen to him Don't engage them just stand firm. It's the it's the continual message that he's bringing to Timothy It's just stand firm in the word. Don't be don't be led astray Regardless of what they say nevertheless what they say you stand firm and what what I've taught you In question 10, what is the firm foundation? God's Word. God's Word. What is that word, firm? In King James, it says the firm foundation of God stands. Stereos, King James version has it, standeth sure. So what does this firm foundation mean? So we have this word, stereos, solid, hard, firm.

Thayer gives it here as immovable. I love that one. I love that definition. It's the word behind our stereo or stereotype, something with real meaning to it, real body to it. We can see what it represents. It's firm. It's something that sits in front of you, so to speak. It's not a surface. It's an object of firm standing, immovable. And so when you read firm, you might read immovable there. The immovable foundation of God stands.

And a little bit of a note on this word stands. It's a form that means it took its stand in the past and it is still standing right now. Not will stand, not trying to stand, it has stood with the present result that it stands permanently. That's where the Greek comes into that word stands. It's a finished, enduring condition. The word of God has always stood and it will always stand.

It's immovable. And Vincent catches a translation point worth taking note of. He says, it is the firm foundation of God stands, not the foundation of God standeth sure. The firmness belongs to the foundation itself, not to how well it is holding up. It's its nature to stand. Another has one of the notes that Mike shared.

The church is existing in the divine knowledge, not as apprehended by man's intellect. It is the firm foundation of God, that which God has firmly founded. And Vincent says, the church, which is the pillar and stay of the truth. I like that, pillar and stay of the truth.

And you go back to 1 Timothy 3.15, he says something similar there, by means of which the truth of God is to withstand the assaults of error.

So something to think about is when you find yourself amidst doctrine that is not sound, do you have to be clever and argue that fact? Is the weight of the argument on you or is it solidly placed in the firm foundation of God's word that permanently has and will continue to stand firm? So even when you're not popular amongst those that may have a really interesting perspective on, in this case, the resurrection, but maybe it's about the Holy Spirit. Maybe it's about how the Holy Spirit falls on you or comes upon you.

I mean, there could be any number of doctrines that are taken out of the firm foundation and made very attractive. But what is Timothy to do here? Nevertheless, Stay on the solid ground of My Word. It doesn't change, it hasn't changed, and it won't change.

You may not be liked for that. There's times when sound doctrine is not pleasing to the ears because it doesn't tickle the right way. You know? And sometimes the ears don't hear. They're too busy in the getting their point across or something instead of just simply listening to the Holy Spirit. No, I'm not. Wayne, I'm not doing that.

This last week I found that to be extremely true. You had an experience with this? Well, I went to my brother's memorial. That's right. Most of them believers. I mean, sure. But when it comes to identification and positional truth, they don't have a clue. And that's part of the firm foundation of John 17. It's just extremely where it is, in Christ. Yeah. We run into that a lot with the identification truths, right? Those are not unique to us, by the way. That's not a Holly Hills thing.

It is unique to God's Word, found throughout Scripture, and Paul specifically. However, when we're trying to communicate who you are in Christ, and that you've been taken from Adam's history and placed into Christ's history and made in union with him and now you belong to him and so what he says is true of you has to be believed positionally so that you can live conditionally by faith. That sounds like heresy to a lot of people or it sounds so confusing that they throw their hands up and think that you've got your head in the clouds.

They're too busy trying to fix up the old man. That's right. Too busy trying to improve Adam. The engineer in me. Firm foundation. Without a proper foundation, it all falls down. It's like Christ, the chief cornerstone. It's the foundation that holds you up. Without a firm foundation in God's Word, you fail.

We recently, when Dave was here, we ran around Castlewood Canyon and looked at the dam. I hadn't really been there in a long time. I look at it and it was like, what were they thinking? Where they put the bottom of the dam was on this really soft, friable sandstone.

And so when the water goes through it, it erodes, and guess what? The dam collapses. And it was a very poor foundation, what they put it on. And again, without a firm foundation, you fall apart. And I think the key here is firm foundation. Stay in God's Word. You won't be moved. You won't fall. You won't collapse if you're in the firm foundation of God's Word. And man doesn't have an opportunity to make a faulty foundation because God's the one who founded this foundation.

Mike? I think it's interesting that, and I think it's been historically true of Holly Hill says that not everybody has all of the truth individually. So we're not only dependent on God's Word, but I'm dependent on you and other people who say things to me or question me about what I've said, which may cause me to go and check out what I have thought. My mind gets changed at least you know, to study, to show yourself a workman that doesn't need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth. I know that somebody will come in today and talk to me about some doctrinal thing, and I may learn something, or he may learn something, I don't know exactly what.

But there's a track and a solidness of doctrine. The people that you look out for are those that either take you into legalism or take you off of earth or take you out of heaven back on the earth or are trying to get the doctor to fit what they think ought to be happening.

So you can't get away from God's Word because it's the the firm foundation about what we believe and what we are. It doesn't mean all of us have, like all of Paul's epistles, memorized and understood word for word. It doesn't mean that at all. But that's the foundation. Stand there. Just like Timothy. These guys were trying to shipwreck what Timothy was teaching in the church.

And it caused a lot of unsettled feelings amongst the congregation. I didn't realize I called Mike two or three times a week. Oh, yeah. Got to get upset straight. The other thing you see in the doctrine, you see in God's Word, is that it develops, the Spirit of God develops in intimacy with the person of Christ to the point that you kind of know I have a friend who calls it the smell test. You kind of can smell that it isn't just right. Because it isn't the Lord Jesus that I know. Right.

Well, that's the unsettling. That's the intention of this false doctrine is that it unsettles. But the thing is that The thing that God laid down has never moved. So we stand on that. Your visibility into it is not the same as its stability. And that's where you change your mind, because the way that you understand it may grow, but the foundation has never changed. And that's where the trials and experiences actually come in. Sure. Documents, is that the right word? We have a trial to prove that what we know is actually true.

Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal. What is the seal here? That's number, question 11. Describe what the seal is. So the Greek word here, sphrayis, sphrayis, The firm foundation of God stands having this seal, a seal or a signet. We think of a mark on a ring, you know, pressed into wax clay. They call it the signet ring, you know, the seal. It said two things at once here in this verse, who it belonged to, and that it was genuine and untouched. So Paul uses the same word for circumcision. We talked about that last week in Colossians with Myles.

But in Romans 4.11, Paul uses the word a seal of the righteousness of the faith.

And the verb form for believers in Ephesians 1.13, sealed in him with the Holy Spirit of promise.

So when you read seal, read the owner's mark. The owner's mark. From the notes, here the apostle passes rapidly from the notion of the church collectively as a foundation to that of the men and women of whom it composed and who have been sealed by God. They are marked by God so as to be recognized by him as his. And this mark also serves a perpetual reminder to them that they are not their own. and of the consequent obligation to holiness of life. 1 Corinthians 6, 19 and 20.

It's the expositor's notes. So a seal in the ancient world, it did two things at once. And both are being represented here in this verse. It marked the ownership and it guaranteed what was inside. A sealed stone, a sealed jar, a sealed document. This belongs to someone and it has not been tampered with. That's the idea there. This belongs to someone and it has not been tampered with. You catching that? I like the metaphor of branding cattle. Branding cattle. Once you brand them, that's permanent. It marked ownership and it guarantees that he belongs to this ranch. What's that?

Well, yeah, I mean, in this case, it's not talking about the Holy Spirit per se, but certainly by comparison to Ephesians 1.13, sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.

In this case, we're talking about the firm foundation of God's stands having this seal, and then it goes on, and we have to go on to figure out the ownership side of it and the guarantee of what's inside side of it. So those are the two inscriptions. Not two seals, but two inscriptions. One seal, basically two sides to it. What's on the outside and what it's protecting on the inside.

And Timothy, he's in Ephesus, the church has already been told this. In Ephesians 1, 13, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed, you were sealed with him in the Holy Spirit of promise. Sealed after hearing the word of truth. So the same word of truth, Timothy is told to cut straight back in verse 15. So it's cut this straight, right? That was the word that we looked at in verse 15, but sealed after hearing the word of truth. So what are the inscriptions of the seal?

If you read a little bit further after that, the Lord knows those who are his. Do you think the Lord repeatedly persuades a believer, you belong to me? What do you guys think? Does God have to persuade you that you belong to Him? That you have a seal repeatedly? Do you ever find yourself feeling like you're kind of on your own and I don't really know if God is involved in my life? Which self?

I think probably initially, as a new believer, he does that a lot more. But as you settle in and your spiritual growth, it becomes less and less a necessity to remind you or to, you know, realize who you are in Christ. I think, again, a new believer needs that, I think, a lot. But as you grow spiritually, that's less and less need of the Lord to convince us or to remind us of our salvation or in Christ.

I think so. I didn't have in mind that I needed to be reminded. But it's like Donna tells me every day she loves me. Thank you. It isn't that she's trying to convince me. I already know. But it's nice to hear it every day. So the Lord comes and just lets you know, hey, you belong to me. That's right. Okay. I'm good with that. Every day, you know.

In 2 Timothy 2.13, going back a little bit, it says, he remains faithful for he cannot deny himself. So, where's the security of this firm foundation, this seal. It doesn't rest on our ability to identify it, it rests on the truth of what God said. He cannot deny himself, he remains faithful.

Now, the question is, do you believe that? And that's how you are reminded. And he's always telling you that he loves you, but we're not always listening. And it is nice to hear it, and where do you hear that? Right here. Right here in the Word. The Lord knows those who are His. That's the first part of the seal. The second inscription, the first one was what God knows. The second is what we do about it. What do we do about that? What's the second part of the verse here? Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness. This comes from number 1626, where Moses was dealing with Korah. Numbers reads, depart now from the tents of these wicked men and touch nothing that belongs to them.

And similarly in Isaiah 52.11, depart, depart, go out from here, touch nothing unclean.

So both these inscriptions kind of come out of the same scene. God knows who he is, who's his, he knows who's his, and his people step away from the tents. That's the picture that's being communicated here. And where has Paul landed in this verse? Because this whole truth that Timothy needed to understand was, first of all, he's told to turn around and walk away from worldly chatter. And it ends here with depart. So you can see in the first portion of what Paul is sharing with Timothy is turn around, have nothing to do, and now get out of there.

Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness. And the wickedness was mishandling sound doctrine to the point of leading others astray. That's what Timothy is, being told his wickedness, and he's literally being told to turn away.

That word, names, everyone who names the Lord of, the name, excuse me, everyone who names the name of the Lord, Nameth, King James. Everyone who Nameth. To pronounce a name is having a special virtue. Anomatsu, to utter a name, acknowledging and appropriating what the name involves as a confession of faith and allegiance. Not mentioning a name, claiming one. So when we read names the name, read claims the name. Everyone who claims the name of the Lord. not just says the name, but claims it. We're answering the question number 11, describe what the seal is. We're talking about what God did about it. In this case, we're looking at the word everyone who names the name of the Lord or claims the name of the Lord. Why is that important? Why do you think Paul mentions this to Timothy as part of this seal? Because when you claim the name of the Lord, there's a result, and that is the abstaining from wickedness.

So, abstain. Let's just put these together. Names the name of the Lord, or claims the name of the Lord. And then abstain. Abstain is apo histemi. So, apo is away from, and histemi is to stand. So, away from, to stand. To stand away from. To step back from. It's the same picture as Moses at Korah's tents. Depart now from the tents of these wicked men. So when you read abstain, you read step away. So claim the name and step away. Everyone who claims the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.

It's to step away from it. We've already had that word, peristemi, to turn around and walk, and now God's foundation stands, same root, and then this word for abstain, to stand away from wickedness. So we could kind of put this together and say God's foundation stands so we can step away. We don't have to hold the foundation up. That's not your job. We just don't stand where the gangrene is. See, I don't stand there.

Vincent says, there are two inscriptions on the foundation stone, the one guaranteeing the security and the other the purity of the church. The two go together. The purity of the church is indispensable to its security. We talk about security a lot, right? If you're like Courtney, you've experienced the security issues of your email for over a year. What is the security of the church? Well, he's guaranteeing it here. And he's also communicating how that security leads to the purity of the church. The security is, stand on the firm foundation of my word.

And when those that come and would have you go on astray, abstain, walk away. That's how the church remains pure. That's where Vincent's getting at here. A little bit of the greeky geeky stuff. It's interesting, the naming is present active. You continually do that. The depart from iniquity or abstain from it is an aorist tense. You walk away, get away from it. Naming is a continual thing. Depart from the iniquity, abstain from wickedness, done. Now let's continually name the Lord. That's not something you do like putting a bumper sticker on your car. These are personal things.

Yeah. So the word abstain, what, abstain is a verb? Yeah. Is to abstain, that's aorist tense? That's aorist tense. Cool. That's aorist active, and then the naming is present active. Yeah. So yeah, just kind of the difference is you're continually supposed to name the Lord. Abstain. Done. Get away from the wickedness. I think that's a characteristic of a believer. That's the way they are. Not what they're trying to be. They already are that. That's why it's so important to know our identification with them, or their standing.

Those things that happened to us, to us, is a point of salvation. It's almost impossible, I think, to live the Christian life without the doctrine of identification. I was crucified with Christ, buried and resurrected, and now I'm one of these guys. And one of these guys, resurrected in Christ, part of it that comes with that new life is abstinence from wickedness. Good discussion. We're at time, but not self-effort. Yeah. I'll leave you with this. The seal is not a badge you earn. It's a receipt that you were purchased. Do you believe it?

And Timothy was dealing with those that were confusing these things and disrupting the faith of many, or some, rather, in the church. It's encouraging to know that it's a perpetual reminder that we're sealed. As believers, positionally, we are sealed. And this has conditional results in the sense that we abstain from the wickedness that this unsound doctrine could produce within the body.

And the rest come from, that's the way he sees us. That's the way he sees us. Let's pray. Father, how we thank You that we do stand on the firm foundation of Your Word, that it has stood and will continue to stand. And where we find ourselves in situations that don't line up, Lord, we understand what the The command here is to abstain from the wickedness that it produces. And so, Father, we just pray that we would rightly divide your word and that we would depend upon your Holy Spirit to illuminate us to the truth of who you are, what you've done, and most of all, the intimacy that we can have with the Lord Jesus as we behold you through your word. We pray these things in your name, amen.