Sermon Tone Analysis

2 Timothy 3:10-4:5

So, You Want to be an Elder

 

/You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured.

Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.

In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work/.

/In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.

For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.

Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.

They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry/.

If the man of God honours the charge he has received, he must resist wickedness.

Not all wicked people appear evil.

Some appear reasonable and their arguments may even sound appealing.

The man of God must be discerning, however.

This is not an easy task, and it is an assignment which may be misunderstood by fellow saints.

“Why can’t we all just get along?” is the question often addressed to elders.

Though the man of God longs for peace, he is convinced by the Word of God that divine peace can only be secured through submission to the will of God as revealed in the Word of God.

Perhaps the most difficult words to accept as Christians as those spoken by the Son of God in *Matthew 10:34-39*.

/Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth.

I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.

For I have come to turn/

/a man against his father,/

/a daughter against her mother,/

/a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—/

/a man’s enemies will be the members of his own/

/household./

/Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it/.

In the process of standing firm against the philosophies of this dying world, the elder will not always be appreciated.

Some will turn away in disgust, claiming that he is a tyrant for failing to compromise godly convictions.

If many of Jesus’ adherents deserted Him as He taught strong doctrine [see *John 6:66, 67*], we shouldn’t be surprised if many of our adherents likewise desert this church if we embrace strong doctrine.

Yet, without leaders appointed and approved by God, the church will drift toward disaster.

Without godly leaders who hear the voice of God in the midst of the shrill cacophony of voices clamouring for attention, the church will never know the unity of the Spirit.

There will be a modicum of peace, but it will be the peace of the graveyard.

Therefore, I pray that God will raise up elders among us, as I suspect that He is already doing.

As these godly men are raised up, they must know what they face and they must recognise the tasks which God has assigned long years before their appointment.

One vital truth I urge you to see is that elders have no power to coerce or compel.

They must, however, be prepared to act with authority.

There is a difference in those two concepts.

The authority which elders must wield is the authority of the Word, strengthened by the moral authority of a godly life.

They must expect that the sheep will frequently resist their leadership.

This is because the flock has not often seen strong, godly leadership.

There will always be the temptation within the flock of God to do something to keep the elders in line.

Elders will be seen as too strong and fearful sheep will try to ensure that their leaders are hobbled.

Such efforts must be resisted, but the elders must not be overly harsh in their resistance to such ungodly efforts.

In order to more fully explore these concepts, join me in study of the Word of the Apostle written to a young elder in the ancient city of Ephesus.

Timothy had journeyed with Paul during missionary travels.

The young servant was trusted by the older saint, and ultimately, he was established as overseer of the Ephesian church.

There, the Apostle instructed him in how to conduct the business of the church.

Little of what Paul wrote left an impression of a life without conflict, but instead he repeatedly warned the young elder of the very real prospect of conflict and of how he must conduct himself during such times.

He was specifically instructed to resist wicked people whose actions, either purposefully or unpurposefully, jeopardised the continued health of the flock.

Elders Must Struggle — /You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured.

Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them/.

If you wish to be a church leader, if you think you should be an elder, you will struggle and you will even require divine intervention on occasion.

Sinful people will be convinced that they are justified in opposing you, but accommodate them is to invite harm to the flock.

Opposition to evil—even opposition to well-meaning individuals whose actions threaten the unity of the Faith—is a major responsibility of the elder.

/Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers.

Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.

I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock.

Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.

So be on your guard!

Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears/

[*Acts 20:28-31*].

To complicate the work assigned to the elder, his resistance must always be loving—he must always keep in view the need to rescue them from the trap in which they are caught.

/The Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.

Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will/ [*2 Timothy 2:24-26*].

In the act of resisting evil, the elder will be tested.

As he opposes the exaltation of human opinion against the Word of God, it will prove altogether too easy to become angry.

An old saying says, “Scratch a saint and you find a sinner underneath.”

Absolutely true!  Nevertheless, the elder must keep the focus on winning over the errant individual.

Not everyone will love the elder, but the man of God must nevertheless keep himself from harsh reaction to provocation.

This is not to say there is no time for firm resistance.

Notice the times that Paul urges Timothy to openly oppose evil.

/Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience.

Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith.

Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme/ [*1 Timothy 1:18-20*].

Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.

Their teaching will spread like gangrene.

Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have wandered away from the truth.

They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some [*2 Timothy 2:16-18*].

Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm.

The Lord will repay him for what he has done.

You too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message

[*2 Timothy 4:14, 15*].

Paul says that Timothy knows a lot about him.

An elder will be compelled to admit that his life is an open book.

You … know all about my teaching.

Paul speaks of his doctrine, asserting that Timothy knows what Paul taught because it was openly taught.

The elder must be open in handling the Word of God.

He must not shy away from a doctrine because it is controversial; but he must rather teach what God has said and do so boldly.

You … know all about … my way of life.

The man of God will live in a fishbowl.

He cannot have one manner of life on Sunday and another on Monday.

He must endeavour to live consistently, his life matching his doctrine.

You … know all about … my purpose.

Paul says the motive for his service was apparent.

Just so, the elder’s motive and inner compulsion will be evident to those who know him.

The man of God can ever say, You know how I lived the whole time I was with you …  I served the Lord with great humility and with tears, although I was severely tested…  You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house.