2 Timothy 2:22-26 Pursuing the Right Things
Read Verse
22-26
An
atheist was taking a walk through the woods.' What majestic trees! What
powerful rivers! What beautiful animals!' he said to himself.
As
he continued walking alongside the river he heard a rustling in the bushes.
Turning to look, he saw a 7 foot grizzly charging towards him.
He
ran as fast as he could up the path. Looking over his shoulder he saw that the
bear was closing in on him. His heart was pumping frantically and he tried to
run even faster.
He
tripped and fell on the ground. He rolled over to pick himself up but saw the
bear raising his paw to take a swipe at him.
At
that instant the atheist cried out: 'Oh my God!...'
Time
stopped. The bear froze. The forest was silent.
It
was then that a bright light shone upon the man and a voice came out of the sky
saying:
'You
deny my existence for all of these years, teach others I don't exist and even
credit creation to a cosmic accident.
Do
you expect me to help you out of this predicament? Am I to count you as a
believer?'
The
atheist looked directly into the light.
'It
would be hypocritical of me to suddenly ask you to treat me as a Christian now,
but perhaps, could you make the BEAR a Christian?'
'Very
well, 'said the voice. The light went out, and the sounds of the forest
resumed.
And
then the bear lowered his paw, bowed his head and spoke: 'Lord, bless this food
which I am about to receive and for which I am truly thankful, Amen.'
Have
you ever considered yourself to be a runner?
A) Maybe you are like me – you hate running = Maybe you love it – you run all
the time – Others RARELY RUN
B) Reality is all of us are
runners in this regard – we all have things
that we are pursuing.
1) Webster- Pursue = to follow in order to
overtake / to strive to gain; seek to attain or accomplish.
C) All of us have things in our lives we are
pursuing in that way.
D) And all of us have areas
in our lives that we need to put the same effort into running away from.
Paul
closes out this Chapter by exhorting Timothy concerning things that He should
be running from…. running after and who He is to be running
with!
A) Paul closes the Chapter
with a word about how to correct those who have fallen out of step.
B) Begins – What we are to Run From!
A) Verse 22 Flee also Youthful Lust -
C) Now the first thing that
we need to make note of here is these are not Lusts – reserved for youth.
1) Man
I wish my teenager was in here right now!
D) These are things that
might originate in youth but can easily carry over into adult life – if we are
not careful.
Most
of the time when this verse is quoted it is being used in the context of
fleeing sensuality – Lust of sexual immorality.
A) I do believe that it is
appropriate to use it in that way: There are numerous verses in the Scripture
that warn us in that manner.
B) Joseph is often the
example used in this regard –
C) He
Literally Fled from the seduction and sexual advances of Potiphar’s wife.
{Ran out of his clothes
1) Many men have given into
similar advances and temptation
Proverbs 6:26
“For by means
of a seductress A man is reduced to a crust of bread;
And an
adulteress will prey upon his precious life.”
Flee
those situations: Flee = Phuego– Fool
go –– Run for your life!
A) Don’t think about / don’t
pray about it– don’t see how long you can resist it – Just Run! – Flee – FOOL GO! get out of there
Aa) Our English word
fugitive is derived from the greek word phuego!
B) The Greek verb is here a
present imperative of command, indicating that fleeing is not optional but is to be persistent
1)
Fugitive refers to a person who is continually on the run in order to escape
capture.
C) Don’t get tangled in the web – of sexual
immorality
1)
So it is fitting to apply this verse in that way: But the term youthful lust is
much broader than sexual temptation.
D)
In fact the context would suggest that Paul had something entirely different in
mind as he wrote these words to Timothy.
A)
The Context is about interaction with others AND INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS {
Timothy’s role as a Pastor.
B)
New Testament scholar Gordon Fee: translates “youthful
lust” as “headstrong passions of youth”—the desires characteristic of
youth.
William Barclay related it
to the tendencies toward impatience,
self-assertion, contentions or the love of arguing, and love of novelty that
stem from youthful idealism.
C) Barclay called impatience
the “Chronic sin of youth.”
1)
Impatience is not a struggle that is
reserved for the young – Most of us struggle in that area.
D) Today’s impatience is fed
by the media’s quick fix. After all, on television everything gets resolved in
the space of an hour (films 2hrs.)
1)
Problem is Real, life isn’t a Movie!
D) Did
you know that it takes seven miles to turn a cruise ship around?
It can’t just turn on a dime
like a speed boat.
E) Our lives often resemble
– cruise ship – big complicated – takes time to change things.
Impatience
can cause us to act on impulse! { Results in huge problems
A) When we get impatient we
can make rash decisions! People get hurt
B) Impatience can cause us to be harsh with
pp and abuse power – overly assertive
1) My way or the highway
mentality. I am right you are wrong,
that settles it
Where we don’t listen to
other pp point of view.
C) Impatience can breed a
sense of entitlement: Which is one of the major Challenges employers of major
corporations are experiencing today
1) Gen Y – Mid 20’s early
30’s - Sense of entitlement
Because
they are a Generation that has been given so much – They are Technologically
advanced –
A) They have grown up being
told how special they are – and it is manifesting itself in the work force in
this way: -
B) No longer are interested
in entry level positions – they expect to leap frog over others –who have been
in companies for 10 yrs or more.
1)
They expect the best pay: They think
nothing of asking for vacations way before their anniversary dates where they
are eligible for vacations
C)
This is a common problem in major corporations today and I have had a number of
Pastors – talk to me about this as well.
But again this is not a
mentality that is exclusive to youth – We all can fall into that mentality of
entitlement
A) Most of us have grown up
hearing slogans like You deserve a break today
Or Have it your way ……
Contentious:
Youth love to battle
A)
The love of debate and winning—is a sin of youth. Here dogmatism flourishes, fed
by an inability to comprehend or tolerate other points of view.
B)
The listening faculty is undeveloped.
C)
The love of novelty, which tends to condemn a thing simply because it is
old and to desire a thing simply because it is new, underrating the value of
experience.
D)
Don’t appreciate those who have paved the way. – The hard work that went into
making it easier for us.
Paul
is exhorting – Timothy run away from those tendencies – the temptation to be
overtaken in those things
A)
But here is something that I love about the Bible – It never tells us to just
run away – but always tells us to run toward something
B) Paul covers that next in
v.22 – Flee Youthful lust but #2 Pursue Righteousness /
faith / love / peace.
C) Righteousness – speaks of
right things – has to do with our relationship to God.
D) That which relates to a
personal holiness
1)
Holy is a word that we don’t like to use today
Today
many loudly claim there is no connection between character and performance. The
argument has been particularly heated in reference to those in political
life—where the analogy is often made between the head of state and an airline
pilot. “Who would you rather have at the control of the plane?” it is asked. “A
competent pilot with moral weaknesses, or an incompetent pilot with moral
character?”
The problem with the analogy is that it is apples
and oranges. Skillfully landing a plane is not an intrinsically moral task, but
piloting the state is. Even granting the analogy, suppose the plane crashed in
the Pacific, and you and the other survivors are in a lifeboat captained by the
competent (but immoral) pilot, and there are insufficient rations to maintain
life until rescue. Would you want him to make the decisions about who
gets rations and who does not? Character
counts
The
Lord wants us to pursue being pp of a Holy Character!
The godly
believer is also to pursue… faith.
A)
In this context, (Faith) is better rendered “faithfulness,” His actions before men, he is trust worthy
& loyal yes be yes and your no be no!
B)
He also will pursue… love, Of the several words in Greek that are
translated love, agapē is the highest and that is the word
that is used here.
C) Agape love is a love of
choice, not of feelings or sentiment, as fine as those sometimes may be.
D) It is the love of the
mind and the will, not of emotion or affection even of the highest sort.
1)It
is the love of conscious determination, not impulse.
It
is the love that focuses on the welfare of the one loved, not on
self-gratification or self-fulfillment.
A) Agapē love is not based on the
attractiveness or worthiness of those who are loved, but on their needs, even
when they are most unattractive and unworthy.
B) It is selfless and
self-giving.
C) It is the complete
opposite of being Self assertive and rough with people
1)
Opposite of abusing power- but sees the position of power as an opportunity to
serve.
The
godly believer is to also pursue…
peace.
A) The
word describes living in harmony with others – Pursue that – Jesus said blessed
are the peace makers
B)In this context it does not
refer to absence of warfare / the opposite of being contentious – rather
seeking to live in harmonious
relationships with others.
Paul
commands “If possible, so far as it depends
on you,”, “be at peace with all men” (Romans
12:18).
C)
Sometimes it just isn’t going to happen – but Pursue those things, run after
those things
Now
that can be hard because most of the things – fly in the face of our normal
fleshly tendencies that has had years of practice – looking out for #1
A)
Our flesh is naturally selfish – loves to battle / wants to be right/ is prone
toward many of those youthful lust.
B))
So how are we supposed to do this?
#3 We are not to run alone – Paul next
tells us who we are to run with! Those who call on the Lord out of a pure
heart!
A)
Pure heart
Matthew
5:8
Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God.
Titus
1:15 “To the
pure all things are pure.” {
Think the best of others – see Brothers and sisters in Christ – not after the
flesh. Carnal man vs Spiritual man.
1
Peter 1:22
love one another fervently with a pure heart,
B) Pure heart speaks of a
heart that is wholly devoted.
C) You find others who are
seeking to live those kind of lives and have that kind of an affect on others
and run with them
Application:
Who are you running with?
A) Running with those who
continually run toward – sensuality ?
B) Running with those who
chase after contentions – those who love disputes – complainers – love to pick
others apart
C) They can do it in such a spiritual manner that really only
reveals the immaturity of their hearts for it is so unlike Christ
D) I have literally had to run
from pp who are overly negative – I can easily get sucked into that
1) My natural tendency is to
notice things that are not right.
Finally
#4 Paul lays out guidelines how to correct and hopefully restore those who have
fallen out of step.
23 But avoid
foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife.
A) Avoid foolish and
ignorant disputes
(foolish)
has the root meaning of being mentally dull, silly, or stupid, and is the word
from which we get “moron.”
(ignorant)
means unlearned and untrained and often carried the additional idea of
undisciplined.
B)
Avoid those kind of conversations – majoring on minors – leads to strife !
2 Tim 2:24-26
24 And a
servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach,
patient, 25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps
will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, 26 and that they
may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken
captive by him to do his will.
Avoid quarrels for no
purpose – { some things we have to fight for}
Gentle:
Meek – Meekness = power under control
A)Refers to a Stallion that
has been willingly broken – The Stallion has yielded his person to the rider
B) Brokenness
does that – How many time have you been wrong – how many times have you
said stupid things / done stupid things
1) Broken under the power of
the Holy Spirit
C) Yielded our person – that
is how we become meek – that is how we have that gentle spirit
I don’t know anything: Ever been hard on your teenager – What kind
of teenager were you
Ever been hard
on a brother – Have you ever done the same thing He did
Gentleness carries with it
an attitude of brokenness – that constantly remembers I am what I am by the grace of God
Able to teach – talking more about rightly using the Word in a corrective atmosphere
Patient
– He must be patient because God has been patient with you.
A) Greg O – Kick this kid
out of his youth group!
B) Have you ever done
anything stupid like that? Did God kick you off of His team?
C)
Correcting in Humility - Not pride –
not a know it all – not a person who comes across like they are entitled to
anything.
Correcting is a word that
means to instruct, educate, or give guidance
The
heart of it is this that they might come to their senses and be restored
A) It is His kindness that
leads to repentance
B) I love this heart of the
Lord – it is never to cast off and to throw out – He is so longsuffering
C) His heart is to see the wayward
come to their senses Repent – turn from their pride / their sin their Hypocrisy
and turn to Him
Be Set free – whether they
know it or not they are enslaved – ensnared to sin
John 10:10
10 The thief
does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that
they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
Luke 4:18-19
18 "The Spirit of the
LORD is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the
poor;
He has sent Me to heal the
brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the
captives
And recovery of sight to the
blind,
To set at liberty those who
are oppressed;
19 To proclaim the
acceptable year of the LORD."
NKJV
Luke
19:9-10
10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save
what was lost."
You today: who are you
Pursuing ? Who are you running with?
A)
Bitterness
B)
Pride
C)
Sensuality
Give
the Lord your heart today