Wrangling Over Words

Well, can someone get close to 2 Timothy 2, 14 and 15 and read that aloud for us? Remind them of these things and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed. Absolutely handed the Lord truth.

Well, there's a lot of work in that. So, Paul turns from what we would assume was a hymn, and now he's talking about the job that Timothy needs to fulfill. And he's just handed him One of the most important portions of the letter, I think, in the first instruction after this, after he kind of unveils the role of the soldier, the farmer, the athlete, and so forth, we talked last week about if you deny him, he will deny you, and we related that to fellowship. And we talked a lot about that last week. So here's an instruction, and here's your first question. Paul reminds Timothy of Timothy's responsibility to function as an overseer.

How strong is this reminding and charge? We're going to get into this verse. To call to remembrance. There's that word. To bring back to mind. To call to remembrance. What do you think about this question? Paul reminds Timothy of Timothy's responsibility to function as an overseer. Why do we need remembering? The Greek word for that word remembrance brings up the understanding of to put the truth back under someone so it holds them up again. You ever feel like that, maybe the word feeling is not the right word, but do you ever think that that's an important reminder for yourself? To put the truth back under your mind, to hold you up again, because that's what Paul's doing for Timothy here.

Is it easy for things to slip? And I think, you know, Paul's instructing Timothy about his responsibility. He's got a job to do, he's got work to do, which is writing these verses. And it's easy to, you know, lose focus on what, on the responsibility that you have and to need to be reminded of the, of what, you know, why you're doing what you're doing, right?

And what was he being reminded to do? He's being told to remind the body of these things. Remind them of these things and solemnly charge them. And then verse 15, more to Timothy, be diligent. present yourself. But yeah, he's just was reminding him of the mission that he's on. Sometimes parents think that they have to do all the reminding. And we do. We do sometimes. But what are we reminding our children of? And is it just our children? Or is it also us being reminded as well?

And the question is, if we're going to solemnly charge, if Timothy's instruction from Paul in this situation is so strong in this instance, what does that mean for your life? That word testify, to testify solemnly, to charge earnestly to bear witness under oath. Those are big courtroom kinds of words that Paul's using. And it's pretty intense. I mean, it's a witness swearing to what he has seen with consequences attached.

Who's the charge to? Christian, just the body of believers. forward to the leaders, to the teachers. I think Timothy's function is like Titus's function. He's an overseer, he appoints elders, he does all this. And I think that Paul is reminding Timothy to remind those that are teachers, those that you've appointed. I think that's who he's talking to. Not necessarily the body of believers. This is a keep on reminding. Yeah. That's what I was going to say. I looked at all the verbs. They're all present. Yeah.

So, continually doing it. It's not one time, it's not occasionally, it's always keep doing this. This is a command, an imperative, built on repetition. Why do we, why would we as believers sometimes think, you know, I don't, don't fall into repetition or do the same thing over and over and over again, but that's not what this verse is talking about. This is talking about in courtroom terms, keep doing these things. Stay close. It's not like, it's not like I got an email and I'm reminded to do a thing. I got my reminder for the day. This is like a post-it note that you put on your mirror and you see every single morning. Keep doing it.

And like Mike said a few Sundays ago, or even just last Sunday, you can hold a truth and still not be settled on it. And it is the spirit who does the persuading. So think about where Timothy was, what he was being reminded of, what he was having to hold based on what Paul had given him, and then What do you have that you hold, that you keep remembering? And does the spirit do the persuading? So this isn't coaching. This is a testimony from Paul. And it's, there we go. Hey. Go for it. Okay. So, Paul uses this same verb in chapter 4 verse 1 of this book. And he says, I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus. So,

1. Keep on reminding.

2. Solemnly charge.

3. In the presence of God. What is in the presence of God? Why would that matter to what Paul was saying to Timothy in this case? What does in the presence of God mean? Do you think that God in his glory was present with Timothy visually? keep charging you in the presence of God. It means in the sight of, before the face of. So the room that Timothy found himself in when he received this letter, he's standing there receiving this information and Paul's saying, God's standing right there with you. Another way to say it is that the responsibility of the teacher comes direct from the Lord, not necessarily through Timothy. Timothy's just transmitting the information, but your calling comes from him, and that's who you're responsible to.

Go ahead. I was just kind of adding to that. I think the subtle nature of the presence, I think that's just saying, this isn't just man's wisdom. This isn't just, you know, you're doing it to do it in front of the people or for the people. He's putting kind of the exclamation point on this, saying, this is for God. And I solemnly charge you in the presence of Him, saying, you know, this is important. And it's important to God.

So continue doing this. And going back to the reminding, you know, that's why in our remembrance service, do this in remembrance. We're a very forgetful people. And we need reminding of these things. And I think Paul is charging Timothy, this is important. Remember this. Remind them of how important. And then it's important. I saw him charging the presence of God to continue to remind people. But I think it's more of a statement that how important this is.

Yeah, Mike. Do you think when you're like, I don't want to put you on the spot, But do you think, like, what you're doing right now, that the Lord's right here, and that you're responsible to Him to be accurate, to transmit the information that you know?

Yeah, that's a lot of pressure, isn't it? It is. It is. Do you feel the bolt of lightning coming on you right now? Well, the fact that you're aware that you're not here to impress me or anybody else, you're here to transmit what the responsibility of God has given to you to be a teacher. Yeah. I have a story. This week my son was asking me about how to relay some truth to a friend. And I conveyed to him that he's an earthen vessel and that what he contains is the glory of God's word and that he has to communicate that, but he needs to be right before the Lord.

What do you think about that? Just in its bare bones. I think you do. I think you do too. And I think that's the pressure Paul's applying here. Wayne? Look at all of Paul's epistles. He's always saying, set your mind on things above and on things that are So it's the same thing. You just, that's where he's at. He's telling them. And his question was, well, how do you be an earthen vessel? What do you guys think about that? That's one of those things that you don't have to be. That's what you already are. Oh.

Position, not condition. Some of your notes, Mike said, Timothy is to charge teachers as though they were looking in the face of God. The issue is not to be focused on human personality. The issue is divinely given responsibility. And that's what Timothy was given, right? So the present tense of the verb remind shows this responsibility is ongoing and is always to be a part of his ministry. The issue is not human personality.

What do you think, how would that work if it were human personality? I'd sound a lot better than I do. Maybe there would be a lot more inflect in the words that I would use and I would really work to use my hands to convict you of the things that you need to be reminded of. Does that work? Well, I think there's a lot of pastors that make a lot of money doing that. Maybe I should do that. So just notice what this does to the office. An overseer's first job here is not innovation. It's not coming up with something new.

It's what we're seeing here is that Paul is saying, Timothy, I want you to be reminded of this repetition. And this is under oath in the presence of God. And he's deposited it in you in front of himself. He's there with you. Be reminded of these things.

This isn't about Timothy becoming some superpower Christian. This is about staying with the sound doctrine. That's the course of where Paul is taking us. Before I move on to question 10, any thoughts there? I just thought about in the presence of God, We automatically think that, well, God is standing here. No, I think it's the other way around. I think Timothy and whoever he's, Paul and Timothy are positionally in the presence of the Lord Jesus where he is, because they're spiritual people. And in that environment is the responsibility given to transmit spiritual information from there.

You think Timothy had it all figured out? No. I don't think so. You think he made bad decisions the day before or the night before or the day of? So did Paul. So did Paul. Alright, well question number 10. What were these things? in quotes. These things, it's pointing somewhere. Where is it pointing? Back, pointing back, not pointing forward. And that goes right back into, don't forget this stuff. Be reminded of these things. It's a, it's a pointing word. And it is, like Miles just said, it's pointing backward. It's exactly what Paul had just finished saying. It's not ahead of what's coming next. It's pointing back. It's kind of like one of the therefores. What is the there therefore?

Yeah, these things go back to these things. And if you look back to verse 2, It's where he begins talking about, he says, the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses and trust these, the faithful men who will be able to teach others.

He's kind of reconnecting with that thought here now. He's like, so remind them of these things. He kind of spends time explaining it. I think you're right. But in the most present context of what he's saying, Look at verses 11 through 13, and there's a really special reference there with regards to life and death, and it's set out there. Some of the notes that Mike has provided, there's no such preventative against striving about words as a serious endeavor to realize the relative importance of time and eternity. And then, quote, he to whom the eternal word speaks is set at liberty from a multitude of opinions. Mike, why did you include that? Life and death. And I'll quote again. He to whom the eternal word speaks. Is that you?

It was Timothy. is set at liberty from a multitude of opinions. When you're grounded in God's Word, you're set free from a multitude of opinions. How many opinions do you go through every day about where you're headed, who you are, what's going on? You could have psychology, all kinds of Instagram, interesting posts that come across your feed. And I think that's going to connect with the last part of the verse, right? The wrangling about words.

That's a lot of opinions that fly around and we wrangle about them, but when we're, like you said, we're grounded in the Word of God, we don't have to step off of that to go debate some opinion. We can settle our hearts. So, Timothy is instructed, like, don't get into a debate with a reformer or a spiritual formation person or something like that. Just stick to what I've taught you, what you know. And so it doesn't necessarily eliminate a debate, or a discussion maybe is a better word, about false teachings versus the word of God. But it isn't one of the, I envision, The core is God's Word. When you start debating systems, and theological preferences.

We all have them. We've all been through them and we'll face them with others. But Paul's telling Timothy, stay here. Be reminded of this. This is a life and death saying that I'm trying to communicate to you so that you hold close to its core. If you get off of this subject and you get into these other things in this particular sound doctrine discussion that he's having with Timothy, then you're not remembering.

What about the risen Christ? Verse 8, remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead, descended of David according to my gospel. It's always a person first. So, when you get into a debate or a situation, Where does the person fit? Where's the risen Christ fit in your thinking with regard to what you're talking about? Are you getting caught up in tenses? It's a person first, always.

And I think that's what he's reminding Timothy. Remember the person. He's risen. And remember, we've got that unchained word, Paul is bound as a criminal, but the word of God is not imprisoned. And Mike, you called that the faithful saying itself, and I think you're right. The chains are on the man, never the message.

And you've got to remember this, There's endurance for the elect, for this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen. So there's suffering with a purpose that's attached to it. If you're suffering, and Paul was, and he knew that Timothy would if he wasn't already, he's just, remember, this suffering has a purpose, and that purpose is a person.

And he says it's a trustworthy statement, and that's verses 11 through 13, died with, live with him, endure and reign, deny and be denied, faithless, and he remains faithful. And that's the most important part of the person. He's faithful, even to the faithless. So these are the deposit that Paul's making into Timothy. This is the collection of thinking that he's giving to him And we've been working through them, you know, these last several Sundays.

And just remember that the instruction is, say them again. And then keep saying them. Repetition is not a failure of imagination in what we do as teaching. That's what we do. That's the thing that we do. I was told very early in my young Christian teaching life, repetition is the key to learning. And I think that I've mentioned it to some of you in this room. And the reason it is, when that repetition is on the Word of God, it does exactly what Paul's talking to Timothy about here. And it keeps him straight and focused on God's Word. When you get caught up and you find yourself in a conversation that gets you out into la-la land, so to speak, go back. Go back to the word and allow it to be repeated to you in your mind. Don't forget. What kinds of things would you tend to forget?

Oh, well, I have a really difficult situation, God must not really be caring about me right now. I guess he's busy. Or I think he's done doing the revealing of himself to me, so I'm just going to have to sit with what I got. He says, nope. I'm going to continue to reveal myself to you. You're going to grow in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. It doesn't mean you're done. It means you need to be reminded that you're growing. So these are the whole deposit. Say them again and keep saying them.

That's what he's telling Timothy. This is a quote from a person's last name, I cannot really, Thomas Akempis, that you sent to me. And it has specifically to do with verse 14. And I think that Thomas a campus tried to summarize verse 14 with this term or this saying He to him Excuse me. He to whom the eternal word speaks is set at liberty from the multitude of opinions and we've talked about that So you're going to get hit with So many arguments Don't get into an appetite for argument.

Stay. Stay home. Stay settled. Question 11. Describe wrangling about words. He gave two main pastoral letters, Titus and Timothy. And I know there's another one somewhere. I've been trying to find it, about arguing about words and arguing in these things. And in Titus, he gives almost the same counsel. And Titus 3, start at 8, is a trustworthy statement concerning these things.

I want you to speak confidently. who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and profitable to men, but avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, and strife, and disputes about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.

Reject a factious man after first and second warning, knowing that such a man is perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned." I think it's, you know, go to Mike's statement, you know, about what do you do with the reformer. You know, if you go repeatedly to that person and they reject God's word, do you keep on going? Maybe, maybe not. But if it's somebody within the body, I think everything you've been saying, if somebody is just constantly going against the things Paul taught, it's a warning. So wrangling about words, don't, you know...

Yeah, let's look at the term. Because I want to build on what you're saying there, Courtney. You've got the word logos, and then the way that I'm going to attempt to pronounce it, logoma-keo. So the logos is word, and then the last portion of that is to fight or to battle. To fight or to battle about words. Literally, to war about words. And it comes back, or it showed up previously in 1 Timothy 6, 4, among, quote, controversial questions and disputes about words.

So to wrangle about words is to contend about them, and in this context, to wrangle about empty and trifling matters. The expression, and this is Macaulay, The expression wrangle about words is a single compound word in Greek made up of the term word and the term battle. They are not to engage in word battles. How many situations could be resolved by not engaging in word battles? A word fight. that Zodiac tends to just warring about words to contend or debate about word, dispute about trifles.

Yes. And you got two believers with swords drawn over terminology. And while the truth underneath the terminology stands really kind of unattended because you're too worried about the words. How do you tell the difference? in these situations. If you're knowledgeable and you know what the word says, how do you navigate word battles and contend for the faith and defend truth from someone who's trying to take it away from you? What do you do with the wrangling of that situation Well, it tells us not to engage.

Because one of you, if you're Timothy, according to what Paul's telling Timothy, he's guarding the deposit. The other might be guarding the vocabulary. You know, the way that we say these things amongst ourselves, and we've had to say it even amongst teachers, is I think this is semantics. Because we know the person. We both agree with the person. But sometimes we get wrangling about the vocabulary instead of finding our focus on the person. And Christ in me has no problem with Christ in you, so why are we wrangling with these words and this vocabulary?

And I think that First Timothy 6.4 really kind of hits at some of the, if you want to call it the engine that's running beneath this.

The man who does, who wants to wrangle has, and this is the quote of First Timothy 6.4, a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, an appetite for it, not a conviction, just an appetite to get into it. He's not fighting because the truth is at risk, he's fighting because he likes to fight. So, at the end of a word fight, nobody knows Christ any better than when it started, and that's really the point.

So where's the line for you? When is a disagreement worth having and when has it turned into a word fight? That's the teaching from today. Think about the deposit that Paul made into Timothy. Stay on sound doctrine. And sometimes that means that there are no words. Sometimes you let that settle down because you're not going to know Christ any better if you keep going on with this. And that's the whole point of the deposit that Paul made to Timothy. Final thoughts?

We're out of time. responsibility on every believer to know the word, to spend time with it, present tense, all the time, primarily because it's not of the world. It's spiritual and it's of God and it's a whole different frame of reference to life, eternal life. And if you ask them over words, it usually is a debate between someone who has adopted an earthly solution to a problem, opposed to what God's word really has to say about it.

Pick something simple like suffering. And the non-believer, suffering is not part of their hope. This is normal. Suffering is not normal for a non-believer, but it is normal for a believer. Yeah. Anything else? All right, let's pray. Father, I just pray that we would also be reminded of these things and that in the presence of God, such as Timothy was, and we are, that we would not wrangle about words, which leads to a type of ruin for all of us because it doesn't teach us about who you are. It builds us up rather than allows us to be taught and to hold truth to the word of God. And so I pray that In those situations that we find ourselves, that we would trust you with that and just find that your comfort and your person, your son, is greater than any wrangling that we could engage in. Pray that you give us the wisdom to understand when that wrangling needs to slow down and make it aware to us that We're just not walking with you, and you're everything that matters. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.