Fear of the Final Call
II Timothy 4:3-4
Purpose: To describe how many people will react to the gospel.
Aim: I want the listener to work at being more aggressive in giving the gospel to others.
INTRODUCTION: In my 22 years of ministry I have seen a lot of people who showed interest in spiritual things, but then later turned away from the truth about Christ. Why do they do that? What can we do about it? Paul is addressing the realities of the ministry to Timothy.
✔ Many show an interest in Christ, few will really follow Him.
REVIEW:
1:1-2:13 I. How Should a Christian React to Stress?
2:14-26 II. How Should a Christian Relate to Fellow Believers?
3:1-17 III. How Can a Christian Reside in a Hostile Culture?
4:1-22 IV. How Can a Christian Remain Faithful to Christ?
Vs.1-5 A. Put First Things First
Vs.1 1. The seriousness of the commands “solemnly charge you”
Vs.2 2. The importance of the Word
a. Proclaim the Word only “preach the word”
b. Prepare to proclaim the Word “be ready”
c. Apply the Word to others “reprove, rebuke, exhort”
d. Apply the Word patiently “great patience and instruction”
LESSON:
Vs.3-4 3. The urgency of the commands
Last week we learned that God’s Word is the only tool we can use in order to see lives changed. It is a powerful weapon, but today we will see that it should be used vigorously.
George Sweeting, in his book “The No-Guilt Guide for Witnessing,” tells of a man by the name of John Currier who in 1949 was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Later he was transferred and paroled to work on a farm near Nashville, Tennessee.
In 1968, Currier’s sentence was dismissed and a letter bearing the good news was sent but he never received it. John never saw the letter, nor was he told anything about it. Life on that work farm was hard and without promise for the future. Yet John kept doing what he was told.
Ten years went by. Then a state parole officer learned about Currier’s plight, found him, and told him that his sentence had been terminated. He was a free man.
Sweeting concluded that story by asking, “Would it matter to you if someone sent you an important message – the most important in your life – and year after year the urgent message was never delivered?”
We who have heard the good news and experienced freedom through Christ are responsible to proclaim it to others still enslaved by sin. Are we doing all we can to make sure that people get the message? [Our Daily Bread, November 6, 1994.]
Here Paul is talking about a certain group of people. He says “they will not endure.” Who are these people? Look back at verse 13 of chapter 3. Paul says that there are those who are just evil – he described them in verses 2-4. Basically he is describing what we are all like apart from Christ. Then he said that there are also impostors and he describes them in verses 5- 9. We know that Paul is talking about about those who don’t know Christ because in a moment he will remind Timothy to do the “work of an evangelist.”
Only God can change a heart, but we need to be diligent in delivering the Gospel to others. 2 Timothy 2:24-25 24 The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, 25 with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, (NAU)
Vs.3a a. Some will listen to the truth “the time will come”
This phrase tells us that there is a time when unsaved people will listen to the truth. Paul knew what he was talking about, he had experienced this in his ministry.
Acts 17:19-21,32 19 And they took him [Paul] and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is which you are proclaiming? 20 “For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; so we want to know what these things mean.” 21 (Now all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.)32 ...some began to sneer” (NAU)
Acts 19:8-10 8 And he entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. 9 But when some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the people, he withdrew from them and took away the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. 10 This took place for two years, so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. (NAU) They listened closely for 3 months before they turned on Paul.
John the Baptist was popular for a while. Jesus said, “He was the lamp that was burning and was shining and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.” (John 5:35 NAU)
Jesus even experienced this problem. John 2:23-24 23 Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing. 24 But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, (NAU)
Vs.3b b. Then they get dissatisfied with the truth
“will not endure”
Soon they will lose interest in the truth and get tired of the truth because it attacks their pleasures and their selfishness. Many are willing to be religious on one day of the week as long as it doesn’t interfere with what they want to do during the rest of the week.
What they are turning away from is “sound doctrine” or healthy teaching. They don’t want to embrace spiritual “health food” because it requires that they give up their “junk food.” They don’t want their appetites changed. They don’t want their selfish desires interrupted.
Vs.3c c. Then they look elsewhere for excitement “wanting...ears tickled”
Sometimes when I challenge people to do a Bible study with me, they say they want to study prophecies or just learn some Bible stories. They don’t want to learn about God and how we can please Him. They want to learn about some insight into what may happen in the future.
One preacher said, “I have to confess my discouragement as a pastor at the remarkable success of so many ear-ticklers in our time. Television and radio have provided them with the ideal media. Ear-tickling thrives in a climate of fantasy in which real relationships are imagined with people whom we neither know nor touch. The ear-tickler designs the message to communicate what the audience wants to hear.” [Demarest, G. W., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1984). Vol. 32: , Volume 32 : 1, 2 Thessalonians / 1, 2 Timothy / Titus. Formerly The Communicator’s Commentary. The Preacher’s Commentary series (294). Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Inc.]
Paul has already warned Timothy to avoid teaching that comes from the world, rather than what comes from the Word. Colossians 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. (NAU)
This is why the “God wants you rich” preaching is so popular. It tickles greedy ears.
Good Bible teaching ceases to provide the thrill they are looking for, so they get dissatisfied with it. Often these people leave good churches because they say they aren’t being fed. Often, the problem isn’t the spiritual food, it’s that they have a taste for a “junk food sugar rush” rather than a desire for the healthy meat and vegetables of God’s Word.
Vs.3d d. Then they follow teachers who make them feel good “teachers in accordance with their own desires.”
Notice that they don’t abandon religion. They just want a religion that fits want they already desire.
This is why churches should NEVER change what they are doing so that unsaved people won’t be offended or so they will feel more comfortable.
Exodus 32:1 1 Now when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people assembled about Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” (NAU) Vincent reminds us that, “The demand creates the supply. The hearers invite and shape their own preachers. If the people desire a calf to worship, a ministerial calf-maker is readily found.” [From Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft]
Vs.4a e. Then they refuse the truth “turn away...from the truth”
The downward spiral continues. Now they are at the place where they don’t want anything to do with good Bible teaching. Look back at verse 13 of chapter 3. But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. (2 Timothy 3:13 NAU). When a person knowingly rejects God’s truth they will NOT stay the same. Their lives will get worse and worse. They will lie about the truth and then actually believe their own lies.
At this point they may not be open to exploring the truth from the Bible. But, did we use every opportunity to share God’s Word with them when they WERE interested?
Vs.4b f. Then they embrace foolish stories “turn aside to myths”
“The second occurrence of the word “turn” is from a verb (ektrepō (ἐκτρεπω)) which means “to turn or twist out.” In a medical sense it means, “to wrench out of its proper place,” as of the limbs. It is used of a dislocated arm, for instance.” [ Demarest, G. W., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1984). Vol. 32: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 32 : 1, 2 Thessalonians / 1, 2 Timothy / Titus. Formerly The Communicator’s Commentary. The Preacher’s Commentary series (294). Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Inc.]
2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 11 For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, 12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness. (NAU)
Now these people wind up believing what is ridiculous. Some start looking for secret codes that are embedded in the Bible. Some will believe that they will become gods who will rule planets in outer space as the Mormons teach.
Some foolish religion just involves talking about things that don’t really matter. 1 Timothy 1:3-7 3 As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines, 4 nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith. 5 But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 6 For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion, 7 wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions. (NAU)
CONCLUSION: There are two warnings for us in this text. The first warning is for every Christian here today. ✔ Don’t put off delivering the Gospel to those around you. We must have a sense of urgency about the Gospel.
During the Revolutionary War, a British spy appeared at the headquarters of Hessian commander Colonel Johann Rall, carrying an urgent message. General George Washington and his Continental army had secretly crossed the Delaware River that morning and were advancing on Trenton, New Jersey where the Hessians were encamped. The spy was not allowed to talk to the commander so he wrote his message on a piece of paper. A porter took the note to the Hessian colonel, but because Rall was involved in a poker game he stuffed the unread note into his pocket. When the guards at the Hessian camp began firing their muskets in a futile attempt to stop Washington’s army, Rall was still playing cards. Without time to organize, the Hessian army was captured. The battle occurred the day after Christmas, 1776, giving the colonists a late present--their first major victory of the war. [Today in the Word, MBI, October, 1991, p. 21. 10,000 sermon illustrations. 2000 (electronic ed.). Dallas: Biblical Studies Press.]
Where is our urgency to deliver the good news?
The second warning is for you if you never fully surrendered your life to Jesus Christ. You had better do it now if the Holy Spirit is speaking to your heart.
Hebrews 3:15 while it is said, “Today if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts, as when they provoked Me.” (NAU)
Hebrews 4:7 He again fixes a certain day, “Today,” saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, “✔ Today if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts.” (NAU)
✔ Isaiah 55:6 Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. (NAU) Jesus said, Luke 8:18 “So take care how you listen;. . . (NAU)
✔ You urgently need Christ, if you don’t belong to Him now.
