Power for Living -- Our Moral Task -- 2 Timothy 3

Introduction
Lynn Anderson was a country singer from the 1970’s.
Her signature song was called Rose Garden. The chorus or refrain of the song made this statement, “I beg your pardon; I never promised you a rose Garden. Along with the sunshine, there’s got to be little rain sometime.”

Describing the Biblical Text
Timothy was a pastor and he was assigned by Paul to take care of the church at Ephesus and if we notice Paul’s description of the times at hand or that will come to Timothy’s ministry, they are perilous.
As we consider the theme of the revival that we had last week, we think about the idea that life is great.
But we must contextualize that.
What is not stated but is assumed is that life in Great when lived in the Lord Jesus Christ.
That was the clear implication of the theme verse from Philippians 3:10.
Paul was issuing a warning to Timothy and then preparing Him to deal with that which he predicted to come.
As we look at the last few verses of this chapter, we see what are some pretty familiar verses as they were the cry of the conservative movement in our denomination.

Narrate the Contextual application
In Timothy’s day, heresy was a very real concern in the church and if you don’t think that it is today, just turn on the TV and watch the preachers in their coliseums and their glass cathedrals and just listen for a few minutes.
They have confused the preaching of the gospel with t eh idea of making people fell good.
Usually the preaching of the gospel does the opposite.
Usually it makes people miserable in the knowledge of their sin and then gives them that peace in forgiveness.
Think about that verse from the song “Amazing Grace.”
‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear and grace my fears relieved.
Grace brings the conviction and then grace gives comfort to the soul.
What is the best preparation for the perilous times that are to come?
It is the faithfully fulfilling our moral task in Jesus.
But what is that task and how do we find it?

Life Application (thesis)
That question is answered by a simple statement.
The word of God will equip us to follow Christ in our deeds.
I want you to think about 3 s words for just a minute.
Situation
Spirit
Scriptures
Every situation in which we find ourselves is handled by engaging the scriptures through the Spirit for the wisdom of God.
Every situation in which we find ourselves must me approached from a biblical per5spective on how we can handle it in the power of the God’s Spirit and the wisdom of the Bible.

SO WHAT!! (Outline)
As we look at this text this morning, we are going to see 2 distinct realities that we will need to confront in order to be equipped by the word for service to God.
Things are not always hunky dory even in church.
Some of us probably remember the Susan Smith story from a few years back. She had a boyfriend that wanted to be with her but did not want to have anything to do with her kids. Her small children were in the way of her having this relationship so she did the unthinkable. She locked her kids in a car and pushed them into a lake.
How could it come to that?
How could someone decide to destroy their own life and the life of the kids and the lives of the father’s family just to be with a boy friend?
Look at our passage.
In the last days, difficult times or perilous times will come.
That word perilous or difficult is only used in one other place in the NT.
In Matthew 8, we have this account given from the ministry of Jesus.
Listen to Matthew 8:28
When He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way.

Paul is warning Timothy that the end times will be times of violence
That is not surprising based on the description that we read in verses 1-5.
When people think what they see in the mirror everyday is more important that what they read in the word or who they should worship, it leads to big problems.
There is an attitude of self-gratification that is described here that has the potential to not only come into the church but to ruin it.
Lovers of self is the very opposite of one who loves God and who loves his neighbor.
Lovers of money are the very opposites of those who seek God’s Kingdom and His righteousness.

There list goes on and on but what should really jump out at us is the description found in verse 5
“Holding to a form of godliness and denying its power.”
That is a scary thing.
That means that the world has crept into the church.
I think that many people have become confused about what it means to have a worldly church.
I think that if you polled a group of 100 people and asked them what it means to have a worldly church, the answer you would get would come back to music.
If there is a band that plays music that someone might call Rocknroll, then it is worldly.
But, there might be other answers as well.
The church that handles its finances like they are a business could be seen as a worldly church.
The church that has the country club mentality where the social gospel is preached which is neither social nor is it the gospel could be the worldly church.
But if we look at this text and we look at this context, we see worldliness as something much more sinister don’t we?

This is serious business as we consider what is appropriate behavior for a person who is called a follower of Jesus Christ.
It is a cinch what is not.
We see the list right here in verses 2-5 and then we see the Christian response to it.
Avoid such men as these.
Our lives cannot look like these things because we look like the world and we are not showing to the lost around us what a difference that Jesus Christ has made in our lives.
These people have nothing to offer the follower of Jesus Christ except to tear him down and lead Him to stumble into sin.

Look at the results of lives lived like this.
They are impulsive making decisions without any input let alone God’s wisdom.
They claim to be seeking truth but never come to grips with any real truth in that they cannot comprehend the Gospel of Jesus as their eyes are blinded to it.
And what is worse, they ridicule and criticize the true church.
Look at verse 12.
These people who are described in the early verses of this text are shown in verse 13 as actually persecuting the true followers of Jesus.
But, we can’t think that we are too good for persecution or struggle.
We cannot think that we are above receiving any trouble.
Our faith demands that we be troubled.
We will be squeezed for it if we truly desire to live for Jesus Christ.
But, In spite of those who seek to trouble us and to deceive us with partial truth and falsehood, there is something that we can do.
Our second reality tells us that things are always handled well when we allow God’s word to inform us.
There are things that always go better when we have some kind of instructions to guide us.
I almost never go anyplace unfamiliar that I don’t Google a map for the trip.
I hate getting lost and even hate stopping to ask for directions even more.
When we look at our text there we see Paul giving Timothy some very basic instruction
Stick with what you know.
Continue in the things you have learned.
Remember where you got the good stuff
You have known it from childhood.
What is it?

It is the Holy Scriptures, that which teaches you and corrects you.
But, it does something else.
It completes us in so far as is possible in this life.
It makes us perfect and throughly furnished for all good works.
When the violent times come, how do we cope?
When the persecution comes, how do we cope?
We trust that what we have learned from the word of God will be there to inform us and to encourage us.

But, it is also preparing us to do the Lord’s work.
In the midst of tribulation and in the midst of the church becoming that form of godliness without any power, the follower of Jesus is still able to change the world through the power of Jesus and the teaching of the word of God.
But we have to spend time in the Bible.
Psalm 5 tells us that the Lord will hear us in the morning.
I want to challenge you to give the Lord the firstfruits of your day and take some time to read the word in the morning and then meditate on what you read for the rest of the day.
Then as you pray, ask God to give you the wisdom you need to apply the truth of the Word of God.
Our moral task is to know the Bible and to live the Bible that we will bear the fruit that God has called us to bear.