Somebody Loves You

Raul Ries: We're living in such a time today that when Paul was exhorting Timothy in the last 10, 15 years, we have seen hundreds of leaders fall by the wayside.

Guest (Male): All kinds of things have happened. And it's really important that we not only exhort pastors and leaders, but that we exhort the people of God, too, those that are sitting and listening to the word of God.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Somebody Loves You Radio, the Bible teaching ministry of Raul Ries in Diamond Bar, California. Well, it's great to have you with us today as we return to Second Timothy for encouragement to persevere in our faith.

Just as the Apostle Paul exhorted young Timothy, Raul will urge us to not let opposition, confusion, or discouragement cause us to drift away from the Lord. Like athletes in training, we need to stay disciplined and diligent in our pursuit of God's perfect will, even when we feel weary. Here's Raul Ries in Second Timothy chapter two, beginning in verse 14, with the lesson, "Timothy's Practical Appeal, part two."

Raul Ries: Paul tonight again is going to be talking to Timothy. And Timothy had been in the church. His mother and grandmother led him to the Lord. They were very faithful women in teaching Timothy the word of God.

And Timothy, by the time he got to be about 35 years old, he started to have some problems in his life. They really don't know what the problems may be. Maybe he was doubting God's word, maybe the false teachers had really gotten to him because he was a pastor in the church of Ephesus.

And Timothy was not only in a place where Paul is saying, "Look," Paul says to Timothy, "Timothy, listen, I'm getting ready to die. You're my son in the faith. And I have poured my life into you for all these years. And don't forget your grandmother and your mother that poured themselves into you."

He says, "And now you're struggling, and you're actually thinking about quitting. And yet, I want to let you know, Timothy, that I, Paul the apostle, I am waiting for my execution, and I'm counting on you to carry the baton onto the next generation. To the next generation. Don't be fearful, but trust in the Lord."

Paul was standing there in Rome and he had been abandoned by everybody. They left him alone. There were a couple guys that came to see him. One of them was Luke. Epaphras was the other one.

And now Paul is asking Timothy to come and see him, but it is believed that by the time Timothy got to see Paul, Paul was dead. He had been beheaded and had gone to be with the Lord. But he left them these letters to remind Timothy and to remind us what Paul intended to do in the life of Timothy, pouring himself into the life of Timothy.

And this is why now Paul has a real burden for Timothy and pastors and leaders. Because we're living in such a time today when Paul was exhorting Timothy in the last 10, 15 years, we have seen hundreds of leaders fall by the wayside. All kinds of things have happened.

And it's really important that we not only exhort pastors and leaders but that we exhort the people of God, too, those that are sitting and listening to the word of God. So what Paul does is Paul gives Timothy in verses three to 13, he gives them here the first three analogies of the minister: that the minister is a soldier, the minister is an athlete, the minister is a farmer. You see?

Now look at the fourth thing that he says to them beginning with verse 14. He says, "Now the analogy is that the pastor is also a workman." A workman. He says, "Now, Timothy, remind them of these things that I just told you, how to be a soldier."

You see? How to be a soldier. How to be an athlete, and the disciplines of an athlete, the disciplines of a soldier, the disciplines of a farmer. And at the same time he says, as you talk to them and you tell them these things, make sure charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers.

What do you mean, Paul? What Paul is saying here, "Hey, listen, those false teachers that are coming and they're preaching legalism and not the grace of God, be careful with them because not only are they destroying themselves, but they're ruining the souls of the people that are listening to them." They're taking people to hell with them. Be careful.

I think this is a real important point that Paul is bringing out to Timothy here, that as Christians we should never argue with anybody about the Bible. If a person is open to listen, a person is open to hear the truth of God, then you know what? I feel that I'm not wasting my time and I'll share with that person.

But if I see a person that is not open, argumentative, pressing their point, and they're not willing to listen, you know what I'll do? I won't even talk to them or waste my time with them.

When Pastor Chuck Smith was on the radio, on the radio talking on a talk show, and Greg Laurie's on the other side, they're both talking. And this caller called in, a professor from USC. And he started talking to Chuck, and he started saying things about the Bible and God.

And Chuck says to him, "Are you telling me that you know better than God?" And he said, "Yep." You know what Pastor Chuck did? He hung up on them. Because you don't want to argue with people that are ignorant concerning the things of God. Why should you argue with them? They can have their point. You see?

But I think it's really of importance as Paul is talking to Timothy, he says, "Remind them of these things, charging or commanding them before the Lord not to strive about words that have no profit." No profit. And it says here, "To the ruin of the hearers." That word "to ruin" here, it's a very interesting word in the Greek, and it means to totally destroy the souls of those people. To destroy them. Imagine that, the soul of that person.

And think how the Jehovah Witnesses, the Mormons, Unity Church, the New Agers, and those that are calling themselves atheists are constantly, constantly trying to share with people that there is no God, or that Jesus is not God, the deity, they attack the deity of Christ.

Don't be intimidated by people that have said, "Well, I read the Bible." Well, let's open the Bible together. Let's go to the book of Haggai. And so you need to know the word of God when you talk to people, but don't argue with them.

If you argue with them, you're not going to win them. They're not going to be converted. And you know what they've done? It over and over with other people. The best thing to do is to love people into the kingdom of God.

And here Paul says to Timothy, "Timothy, be careful with those that are pushing their doctrines, false doctrines. Don't argue with them. They don't want to hear it." And yet if you have an ear to hear what the spirit is saying to the church, let him hear.

And here we are tonight, listen to what God says. The next point is really important. Watch this, verse 15. The old King James Bible says, "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that doesn't need to be divided but dividing the word of truth."

Okay, here in the New King James, he uses the word "be diligent." Literally, it says, "Do your best. Do your best to present yourselves approved to God, a worker who doesn't need to be ashamed, but rightly dividing the word of truth." Very important point right here.

If you don't read, if you don't study, if you don't meditate on the word of God, then what can you really share? That which the Lord has given to you, or that which you've never received of the Lord. What can you share? Nothing.

That's why if you never read Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, you're not going to understand the book of Hebrews. And you can't share. When you can say, "I have read from Genesis to Revelation," you can be like Paul and say, "I wash my hands from all men's blood because I have not failed to give to you the full counsel of God."

I gave you from Genesis to Revelation. I've done that in West Covina, I'm doing it here in Diamond Bar. The full counsel. But if you're only reading certain books of the Bible and you're not going through the whole Bible, then you really don't have the full counsel of God. You can't give it.

It's really important what he says here. Timothy, make sure that you study, that you do your best to present or approve to God. And the word "approve" here is worthy after testing. After you've been tested by the Lord and by time.

Notice to God, a workman who does not need to be ashamed. Ashamed of what? Ashamed by rightly dividing the word of truth. Notice that. What a shame. Shame comes to those who teach false doctrines and confuse people.

The word of God, now of course, these are Bibles that we've bought in the bookstore and they've been printed. As we look at them, this is the word of God from the manuscripts where they got the writings by the apostles in the first-century church. They were given to us and the writings of Moses.

And that's why it's really important that when you talk to people, this is the word of God. And how many books are there? Well, in the Christian Bible, there's what? There's 39 Old Testament, 27 New. You see? And the Jews have the same books we have except for the New Testament. Same books.

And the Catholic church has the same books we have in the Old Testament and the New Testament, but they add Apocrypha books which were written between the book of Malachi and the book of Matthew during the 400 years of silent. That's when they wrote the Apocrypha books, and they're not inspired by the Holy Spirit. You see?

So we don't accept them. We don't accept them. We only accept them historically, that's it. Not as the word of God. That's where the Catholic church goes into the Apocrypha books, like the book of First and Second Maccabees. And what they do is they say, "Yes, you can pray for the dead because it's in those books that it talks about the dead."

Nowhere in the Bible does it say to pray for the dead. Nothing about the worship of Mary. You have to prove. Show me.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. If you're in the Diamond Bar area on March 14th, be sure to make plans to join Pastor Raul and other solid teachers at Calvary Chapel Golden Springs for a family conference titled "Family God's Way."

Whether you've been married for decades, newlyweds, or raising children of any age, this conference offers timeless biblical truths and real-life application to help your family thrive. For more information, go to somebodylovesyou.com and click on the family conference graphic. Let's continue now with more from Raul Ries.

Raul Ries: So Timothy's really exhorted here, verse 16. Look what he says: "But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness." Notice here Paul is telling Timothy to really be careful of meaningless teaching. Meaningless teaching. It means nothing. Don't even listen to it. Don't even argue with them. Don't even go that way. It's a false message.

And yet, they need the right message about Jesus. Yes, Jesus came 100 percent man, 100 percent God, the incarnation of Christ. Born of a virgin. Mary never had sex with Joseph before Christ. After Christ, yes, they had other sons and daughters. In the book of Matthew, he tells you that in chapter 15, he has it there. Other brothers and sisters.

But they say all these things that are not true. You see? Mary never ascended to heaven. The last time we see Mary is in the upper room in the book of Acts chapter two. After that, we don't hear about her anymore. She's gone.

She was a normal person just like you and me. She died just like you and I, and she's in heaven. But she's not the intercessor between Christ. It doesn't say that in the Bible. The Bible says in Acts 4:12, there's no what? That there's nothing between what? God. Who's between God and men? Jesus Christ. He's the mediator.

Look what he says again: "It's going to increase to more ungodliness," verse 17. He says, "And their message will spread like cancer." And the word "cancer" here in the Greek, very interesting word, we get our English word "gangrene." You know what that is? When if infection gets into an arm and they have to take the arm off, gangrene.

He says, "It's into gangrene." He says, "And their message will spread like gangrene as Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort." Here's a couple of guys that he names by name. They were in the church and they became apostates. And now they were coming back with their false doctrines to talk to people.

Paul says, "Be careful with them," verse 18, "who have strayed concerning the truth." You see? Can a Christian stray from the truth? Oh yeah, people can stray. If you're not in the word of God, if you're not studying, if you're not checking things out, you can be deceived by anybody. That's why Paul says, "Check everything out. Go back and check the Bible, the word of God."

"Who strayed concerning the truth saying that the resurrection is already past and they overthrow the faith of some." What were they saying? They say, "Hey, Jesus really didn't die and rise again from the dead. There's no life after death."

First Corinthians 15, Paul gave us a whole chapter on the resurrection. Look what he says beginning with verse one. He says, "Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel that I preach to you, which you have received and in which you stand. By which also you are saved, if you hold fast to the words I have preached to you, unless you believe in vain."

"For I delivered to you first of all that I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures." See? According to the Bible. "And that he was buried, and that he rose again on the third day according to the scriptures." Like Billy Graham says, "The Bible says, the Bible says." That's what Paul was saying. It's in the Bible. Notice.

"And that he was seen by Cephas or Peter and by the 12. And after that he was seen by over 500 brothers at once of whom the greater part remains into the present time, but some already have died." You see?

You got to read the rest of the chapter. Because Paul again, let me get a little bit ahead, verse 12: "Now if Christ is preached that he hasn't been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection from the dead?" You see? Paul says they were teaching that. When you die, you just become nonexistent. Or when you die, you become a butterfly or a cockroach, whatever.

He says, "But if there is no resurrection from the dead then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Let's go home and pack up and let's go out and get drunk and take drugs and fornicate and commit adultery because tomorrow we die and we're nothing." That's what Paul says. If there's no resurrection, that's the centrality of the Christianity.

That's it. Watch what he says: "Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ whom he did not raise up in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is empty and you're still in your sins." You see?

"Then also those who have fallen asleep, those that have died in Christ, man, have perished. Your grandpa, your grandma, your aunt, your uncle, your mom, your dad, those in the past that have died and went to heaven, there is no heaven so they're lost. And if in this life we only have hope in Christ, we are almost men most miserable. If we only believe here and there's nothing else, hey, we're dust. We've had it."

Verse 20: "But now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep or died. For since by man came death, and by man also came the resurrection of the dead." Adam died, Christ rose. You see? First Adam, second Adam. First Adam was a sinner, second Adam was God, Jesus Christ incarnate in the flesh.

Read Paul's letter to the Romans chapter five verses 12 to the end of the chapter. First and second Adam. He goes on to say, verse 22: "For as in Adam they all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive."

You mean what does he mean? Adam died in sin and we all became what? Sinners. Adamic sin. So if you die without Christ, you go to hell. But because Christ came and died on the cross and rose again from the dead, then we shall what? Live with Christ.

That's what Paul says. You see? He's proving the text. He's an apologist. He's teaching the people. They were teaching false doctrines, that there was no resurrection from the dead. It's all a lie. And yet people today do the same thing. People do the same thing today.

Like the Da Vinci Code. It's all a lie that Mary Magdalene was the actual Mary to Jesus. Imagine how ludicrous and how blasphemous that is to say that when the gospel is so clear that she was never married to Jesus, she was a sinner and came to Christ and got saved.

So sad they perverted the gospel, they twisted it to make money and to deceive people's minds. And it's amazing how many copies that book has sold. Millions and millions. The guy got rich on deception. Imagine what sells today. But you speak the truth and they'll say, "Oh, oh, don't do that. You can't pray in the public schools. You can't preach in the public schools."

Oh, but you can speak about Islam, and you can speak about witches and demons. But if you stand up to name in a graduation the name of Jesus, they pull the plug on you. They're going to have to more than pull the plug on me, I'll tell you that. They're going to have to kill me because I'm not going to shut up about Jesus Christ no matter what people tell me. Because I know that he's real and I know that he's my Lord and savior, and I know that he's done a miracle in my life and he's done a miracle in all of your lives. We know that. That's why. Cool.

So Paul is so cool the way he does things and the way he teaches the people. He says, "You guys are his workmen." And here we are tonight. We are who? His workmanship created in Christ Jesus. And that's why we come to the house of the Lord. That's why we study, that's why we sing, that's why we pray, that's why we worship the Lord.

Why? Because we want to know the truth. And when people ask you the truth, for the truth, give them the truth. And if you don't know it, study it and then give it to them. But don't speak unless you know. Because then you're making people accountable and responsible. And guess what? The Holy Spirit will get them good.

Guest (Male): Well, if you're worn out in your faith walk, we hope you've been re-energized by today's assurance that as a believer, God will equip you with everything that you need to persevere in following him. You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries.

If you'd like to hear today's lesson in its complete form, just call us at 800-634-9165 and for a donation of $5 or more, we'll send a copy of today's study, "Timothy's Practical Appeal, part two." We'd also like to tell you about Raul's entire 11-part study of Second Timothy available on CD and flash drive.

Written from a prison cell, Paul's letter is rich with inspiration and insights that will help you overcome your fears, endure your trials, and honor the Lord in every season of your life. You'll find that when you entrust your future to God, he will richly bless you today and guide you in fruitful paths.

To order Raul's 11-message Second Timothy series, visit somebodylovesyou.com or call 800-634-9165. We'll send you the CD set for $24 or the thumb drive for $15. That's 800-634-9165. You can also get this resource by writing to us at Somebody Loves You Radio, P.O. Box 4040, Diamond Bar, California 91765.

This is a listener-supported ministry, and we're grateful for your partnership. Your gifts help us keep sharing faith-grounding truth from God's word. Tune in again next time as we continue in Second Timothy with wisdom to keep you from falling into worldly ways or walking away from your faith. You'll find that your best defense is to ground yourself firmly on Christ the rock and spend daily time in the word of God. Now with a closing comment, here's Raul once again.

Raul Ries: So what Paul is doing here is giving great counsel to Timothy and saying, "Timothy, not only are you a soldier for Jesus Christ, but you're an athlete. And athletes train and discipline themselves, and so do soldiers."

And then he says, "Don't forget that you're also a workman and a farmer. Make sure you take care of yourself. Make sure spiritually you're right and that you do not only what you do right but also give the truth to people about what Jesus is all about. And don't be afraid to tell them of the resurrection because there is a resurrection after you die. You go to heaven or you go to hell and there ain't no in-between place."

No in-between place. And yet people today still do not want to believe.

Guest (Male): This program is sponsored by Somebody Loves You Radio in Diamond Bar, California.