Sermon Tone Analysis

I know a man who really struggled with a desire to be right.

More than right, he wanted to be respected and thought highly of.

This man loved Jesus Christ very much, and would never consider purposely disobeying the Lord.

He loved God’s Word with a passion, and wanted others to love it as well.

He studied and studied the Bible, and was very convinced of his doctrinal positions; so convinced, in fact, that he was perfectly willing to tell anyone who disagreed with him how wrong they were.

If only they knew what he knew about the Bible, none of the problems in the church would be around!

He wasn’t overtly obnoxious (often), but after awhile people weren’t very excited to talk to him about the Bible.

How can you have a discussion with someone who knows everything and is willing to tell you bluntly where you’re wrong?

He shrugged it off for awhile, thinking that if they weren’t as interested in the Lord as he was, then it was their fault and not his.

Doctrine was king, and everything else played second fiddle.

He enrolled in seminary to learn Greek and Hebrew to gain even more knowledge of God’s Word, thinking that he would be able to prove his doctrinal positions even more forcefully with more knowledge.

Then one day an interesting thing happened.

He got a letter from the seminary he was attending.

Every student got a letter like it after completing a certain number of courses, but his was different.

Instead of a form-letter that said, “Keep up the good work,” it said that his zeal for Christ was commendable, but he was academically arrogant and insensitive to other students.

He wasn’t exhibiting a Christ-like attitude, and needed to change if he was going to continue at seminary.

It was a gut-punch, but it changed this man’s life.

He found out the hard way that a heart of compassion is as much a quality of a disciple of Jesus as a yearning for truth.

That man is me.

I called my mentor and cried on the phone with him, because I was heartbroken.

He calmed me down and gave me a few simple things to change my demeanor and the perception people had of me[1], and I worked and worked to get that flaw out of my character.

Several months after that incident I studied this passage in 2 Timothy for a sermon, and finally realized where I had gone wrong.

God’s Word, which I love with everything in me, tells us in this passage that being “right” and going to war to defend a minor doctrinal position is all wrong.

More important, Paul will teach us, is our attitude toward those we disagree with.

Is our interest in ourselves, or in others?

Where are our eyes fixed?

Today we will learn that a callous heart says “It’s all about me!” while a compassionate heart says, “It’s all about them.”

1.      /*A Callous Heart: It’s all about me (2:14-21)!*/

In the first part of our passage, Paul gives us the application of verses 11-13.

He uses the “trustworthy statement” found there as a warning to Timothy, his opponents, and the entire church at Ephesus about their attitude toward each other.

What we will find in these verses is a sad description of what a callous heart looks like.

A callous heart resides in the chest of a person who is worried only about themselves, and Paul teaches us that truth loud and clear in verse 14:

/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./

(2 Timothy 2:14)

I notice immediately that Paul wants Timothy to keep bringing verses 11-13 up to his congregation[2], especially those who are causing division.

If we remember back to the previous verses, Paul uses an early church hymn to bring forward the truth that we are safe in secure in Jesus’ arms while at the same time being evaluated by Him for our faithfulness.

At the end of verse 12 we have a warning against “denying” Jesus, and this is our first example of what “denying Jesus” looks like.

Paul commands Timothy to tell the church not to “wrangle about words.”

We are not supposed to fight and bicker over little things!

The phrase “which is useless” is literally translated “over nothing useful,” which tells us about the content of the debate.

This isn’t a discussion of weighty and important matters; rather, Timothy’s opponents wanted to argue over minor issues and worthless topics.

Further, that kind of arguing and bickering doesn’t help anyone that listens to or participates in it.

The very end of verse 14 tells us that instead it leads to ruin or destruction for participants as well as bystanders.

We can already see the priorities of a callous heart.

A verbal war never starts between humble people who are willing to admit their error or their ignorance!

Rather, when someone is all wrapped up in themselves and being “right” they will fight over the smallest point just to prove how smart they are.

These are the people who want to fight over whether to call the place where we gather together on Sunday mornings a “sanctuary” or a “worship hall.”[3]

They would rather tear some innocent bystander down to prove their point.

Verse 15 continues this discussion of focus in our Christian walk.

I have seen this verse used many, many times in church.

It is normally preached as a command to be a good student of the Bible, but let’s look at it closely to see what Paul is trying to teach us:

/Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth./

(2 Timothy 2:15)

The key to understanding the intent of this verse is unlocking the Greek word translated “accurately handling.”[4]

It is only found here in the New Testament, and Greek writers in Paul’s day didn’t use it either.

How, then, can we find out what Paul meant when he used it?

Thankfully, there are two other uses of this word that we know of, and we can look them both up in our Bible!

The Greek translation of the Old Testament, called the Septuagint, uses the word that is translated “accurately handling” in our passage twice in Proverbs:

/In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He *will make your paths straight*./

(Proverbs 3:6) (emphasis mine)

/The righteousness of the blameless will *smooth his way*, But the wicked will fall by his own wickedness./

(Proverbs 11:5) (emphasis mine)

Both uses have the idea of “make a straight path,”[5] and that forms the core of Paul’s use here.

The “word of truth” is another way that Paul describes the gospel that he preached[6], and Paul commands Timothy here to provide a “straight path” for it in people’s lives.

Paul builds us an image of those who pave the road into someone’s heart and remove any obstacles to the gospel reaching them (including our actions and attitude), much as a city would pave the road leading into their town before the king or another important person visited.

This attitude is in stark contrast to the word-warriors in verse 14, who would put up all kinds of roadblocks in people’s lives to being able to hear and accept the offer of eternal life in Jesus Christ.

It has been said that many people’s objection to faith in Christ has nothing to do with Jesus, but rather with Christians and their actions on His behalf.

I saw a sad but often-heard reminder of this truth on a bumper sticker a few months ago.

It said, “Dear Jesus, please protect me from your followers.”

It seems Christians put up a huge roadblock in the path of this misguided and hurting person.

Maybe in their zeal to be right they forgot the old adage that “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

A callous person puts themselves before others, forcing them to admit that we are right before we can accept them into our lives.

/But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene.

Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some.

/(2 Timothy 2:16-18)

“Worldly” and “empty” chatter next come under Paul’s gaze.

We can really see what Paul thought of these guy’s deep doctrinal debates!

Rather than talking about important and weighty issues, they would rather spend time talking about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.[7]

They would rather have a fight over a meaningless nuance than talk about the important things before them.

When I look at this verse I first think that the timing of the resurrection isn’t exactly what I would call a trivial issue.

However, Paul words it in a /very/ emphatic way in the text[8], leading me to think that the problem was a quibbling over exactly the order of the resurrection and its timing in God’s eyes.

In their vehement arguing these men had upset the faith of some members of the congregation.

Even debates that seem important at first can become meaningless and hurtful if we take them to extremes!

I notice as well that Paul says that this kind of needless war spreads “like gangrene.”

What a horrible picture!

Gangrene[9] is a disease caused by the loss of blood flow (usually to an extremity) that results many times from an infection.

The infection causes a loss of nourishment to the region, which then causes that tissue to die.

Gangrene is a deadly infection, and can overwhelm an entire body and cause death.

What a horrible (but very apt!) picture of the problems in the church!

/2.      *A Choice to Make (2:19-21).*/

Having called out the worst offenders in the church and pointed out the problem of having a callous heart, Paul gives us an example of this kind of attitude from the Old Testament.

He then follows it up with an admonition that it is our choice whether we would like to share in the fighting and bickering that comes from a callous heart, or whether we would like to serve Jesus with our demeanor as well as our knowledge.

/Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.”/ (2 Timothy 2:19)

Paul tells Timothy that he can see which side each person is on by looking at the “seal” upon the foundation of God.

How can Timothy tell “the real McCoy” from some blowhard who wants to have things his way?

By looking at the seal!

This word referred to a ring that a wealthy person would use to imprint a wax seal put on a letter or package.

If a person got a package from the king with his wax seal on it, they knew it was the real deal.

Likewise, Paul tells us what God’s seal looks like.

He begins with a quote of Numbers 16:5; that story is not exactly an uplifting and encouraging one, but it drives his point home well.