An Overview of Right Division. Part 1

[0:00] This morning is an overview of Right Division, Part 1. And you remember Marv's instructions.

[0:13] We will be doing 2 Timothy first, and then on the back side we'll do 2 Corinthians 4.

[0:25] And you got the bold print. So with 2 Timothy 15. Study. Give diligence to present thyself.

[0:43] Earnestly endeavor to present thyself. Earnestly seek to commend yourself to God. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved.

[1:01] Try hard to show yourself worthy of God's approval. Let it be your care to get the approval of God.

[1:13] Aim first at winning God's approval. Be diligent to present thyself unto God as one approved trustworthy by trial.

[1:27] A workman not ashamed. A workman with no reason to be ashamed.

[1:41] Who does not need to be ashamed of his work. Who doesn't have to feel ashamed. Rightly driving the word of truth.

[1:54] Handling a right the word of truth. Ever cutting a straight path for the message of the truth.

[2:06] Driving a straight furrow in your proclamation of the truth. Rightly laying out the word of truth.

[2:16] Correctly analyzing the message of the truth. Skillfully handling the word. Accurate in delivering the message of the truth.

[2:30] Because of his straightforward dealing with the word. Deterioring the word of truth without distortion.

[2:42] Being entrusted then by God's mercy with his ministry.

[3:03] We do not play the coward. Seeing then that we have been entrusted with this commission. Which we owe entirely to God's mercy.

[3:17] We never lose heart. I discharge it with no faint hearted fears. I never give up.

[3:28] We are not despondent. Nothing can daunt us. We do not get discouraged. But we have renounced the hidden things of shame.

[3:47] The secret dealings of shame. The secrecy prompted by shame. The secrecy which means shame.

[4:00] I disown those practices. I disown those practices. Which very shame conceals from view. Disgraceful.

[4:10] Underhanded ways. All underhanded disgraceful methods. All shameful concealment.

[4:21] The deeds that men hide for very shame. The secret ways that anybody should feel ashamed of.

[4:33] Not walking in crafty ways. Or handling the word of God. The secret ways. I walk not in the paths of cunning.

[4:45] I adulterate not the word of God. Refusing to adopt crafty ways. Or to tamper with God's message.

[4:57] I do not go about it craftily. I do not falsify the word of God. We don't use trickery.

[5:09] No clever tricks. No dishonest manipulation of the word of God. We neither practice cunning nor distort the word of God.

[5:21] But openly setting forth the truth.

[5:36] As in the sight of God. I commend myself to the conscience of all men. But by clear statement of the truth.

[5:49] We commend ourselves to every human conscience before God. I state the truth openly. And so commend myself to every man's conscience before God.

[6:04] It is by making the truth publicly known. That we recommend ourselves to the honest judgment of mankind.

[6:14] As in God's sight. Only by declaring the truth openly. Do we recommend ourselves. And then it is to the common conscience.

[6:27] Of our fellow men. And in the sight of God. Thank you.

[6:38] Thank you. Thank you. Gary. And thank you all for your cooperation. In this unusual kind of reading. Because. The texts that we are sharing. Are so absolutely important.

[6:49] And essential to be understood. I wanted you to hear. All of the different nuances. Of the way that the items were expressed. And that is precisely why.

[7:00] We had you do it that way. Each of those translations. Is just a little bit different. But where one of them. Does not really break through. With the meaning that you're looking for.

[7:11] Or that strikes you. Very possibly that the next one will. And that's the way it has affected me. I've used this volume. For probably the last 30 years or so. In Paul's second letter to Timothy.

[7:24] A point that we have made before. That I think needs reiteration. Is this. When a man knows. That his time is numbered.

[7:35] Not only days. But maybe hours. It enables him to greatly fix his mind. On things that matter. This is no time for trivia.

[7:46] No time for incidentals. And when you are writing. What you suspect may be. The last communication. That you will ever send to anybody. You want to say something.

[7:58] That is of significance. So I think we can assume. That being the case. From Paul's own personal standpoint. In addition to the fact.

[8:08] That it is the spirit of God. Who is inspiring this text. And causes Paul to write. With the accuracy that he does. And dealing with the issues. That he does. And when he exhorts young Timothy.

[8:22] To really make this a priority item. That's another way of saying it. Put this Timothy. At the top of your list. When it comes to things to do. You are to study.

[8:34] And that right off the bat. Particularly as it's used in the King James. Is a word that doesn't mean the same to us. As it meant to them then. We in this day and age.

[8:45] With academics etc. When we use the word study. We usually think in terms of hitting the books. Preparing for an exam. Pouring over several pages of information.

[8:56] Writing reports. Or something like that. That's what we regard as study. But the word as it is used here. In the original language. Simply means. To take a particular focus on.

[9:10] Give special attention to. It has the idea. Of laying aside. Everything else that is incidental. And concentrating. Focusing upon this one.

[9:23] Particular objective. For the simple reason that. In the list of to do things. This tops the list. This is the most important thing. And this information that he gives.

[9:35] To young Timothy. Becomes the basis. For what we are referring to. As the right division. Of the word of God. That translation.

[9:45] Is rendered. Right division. In the King James Version. But it is rendered differently. In other translations. As we have seen. And when he uses the word study.

[9:57] He's talking about. Due diligence. The dictionary definition. Of due diligence. That's. D. U. U. E.

[10:09] Due. Diligence. That simply means. The diligence. Or the effort. Or the concentration. That is due. That is expected.

[10:21] The dictionary renders it. Due diligence. As the care. That a reasonable person. Exercises. Under the circumstances. To avoid harm.

[10:32] To other persons. Or their property. Timothy. Exercise. Due diligence. In your. Explaining. Of the word of God.

[10:44] Well. What is. We may ask. What is the harm. To other persons. Or their property. Well. The harm. To other persons. Can be. Of an eternal. Consequence. Because.

[10:56] It is. How. One. Handles. The word of God. That determines. The message. That is going to be delivered. And the message. That is delivered. Determines. Depends. It determines.

[11:06] What the people. Are going to be hearing. And the decisions. That they are going to make. On the basis. Of what they hear. There is. Nothing. Absolutely.

[11:18] Nothing. More important. Than the communication. And absorption. Of the word of God. Nothing begins. To compare. With that. And what Paul.

[11:30] Is. Emphasizing. To young Timothy. Is that. This. Is to be. His. Abiding. Passion. It was Paul's. Woe be unto me.

[11:41] If I preach not. The gospel. Of Christ. He said. This is the. One thing. That is of. Life. Giving. Urgency. Therefore.

[11:52] It deserves. Top priority. There isn't. Anything. That compares. With this. So as Paul. Is concluding. This letter. Writing to Timothy. He is just.

[12:04] Listing. A whole host. Of things. That this young man. Really needs. To keep in mind. To pursue. And to do. As he continues. Living his life. And if you do this.

[12:17] You will not be ashamed. Shame. Of course. Is the consequence. Of providing. Shoddy. Or inferior. Workmanship. We've all had occasions. To hire somebody.

[12:27] To do a job. Maybe it's some kind of a. Maybe it's a carpenter job. Maybe it's an electrical job. Maybe it's a plumbing job. Or whatever. Or whatever. And when the work. Is completed.

[12:38] And you stand back. And look at it. It ought to be something. That the workman. Would be able to say. I did that. And I'm glad. That's my work. I'm proud of what I did.

[12:50] He did it right. And he fulfilled the expectations. Of whatever the agreement. Or the contract was. And he has no reason. To have any kind of. Negative feelings about it at all.

[13:02] Well. Paul is telling Timothy. You need. To deliver. The word of God. In such a way. That you will gain.

[13:12] God's approval. And when the time. Of evaluation. Comes. You will not have to. Hang your head. And say. Sorry. I blew it.

[13:25] Well. I don't mind telling you. These ought to be. Sober things. For every preacher. To think about. I think this is. One of the reasons. That James. Said what he did. To his audience. That many of you.

[13:36] Ought not to. Seek to be teachers. Knowing that. We shall stand. The greater condemnation. Or the greater responsibility. Or the greater blame. And I don't mind telling you.

[13:47] Each time. I come to this pulpit. I do so. Out of a feeling. Of complete. Inadequacy. And inability. As I was confiding that. Some years ago.

[13:58] To an older preacher. I told him. I said. Well. I guess. Maybe this is because. I'm kind of young at this. And I haven't really. Gotten used to it that much.

[14:10] And he said. No. I hope that it isn't that. Because. As you mature on. In the ministry. If you ever do. Get to the place. Of where you are. Comfortable. In the pulpit.

[14:20] And think that you are. Up to the task. You are not up to it. And those words. Really stuck with me. If you come to the pulpit. Feeling a sense of.

[14:30] Adequacy. And ability. You are not qualified. To be there. We need to recognize. That the power. And the excellency. Is not of ourselves.

[14:42] It is of God. And I don't mind telling you. I take this responsibility. Very very seriously. And I have never once. Left that office. To come to this pulpit.

[14:53] With any kind. Of a feeling. Of assurance. Or adequacy. Or satisfaction. Or. I can do this. Never once.

[15:03] Not in the last. 50 years. I don't expect to either. In writing these words. To Timothy. I am confident. That young Timothy. Took them to heart.

[15:14] A workman. That needs not. To be ashamed. Handling. Accurately. The word of truth. The King James. Refers to that. In the passage. That Gary read for us.

[15:26] Rightly. Dividing. The word of truth. And that created. A real controversy. And the reason. It has created. A great controversy. Is because. The word. In the Greek. Orthotomontos.

[15:39] Orthotomontos. One word. And the difficulty. With that word. Is. This is the only place. In all the New Testament. Where it is used.

[15:50] It would be wonderful. If we had other usages. And places. Where the word is found. So that we could go there. And see how it is used. In that context. But we do not have that luxury.

[16:01] So we are limited. To what the text says. And. In the. In the. Original language. Depending. Excuse me.

[16:12] Depending on what translation. You are using. It is rendered. A little different. But the word. Orthotomontos. Simply means. To cut. Straight.

[16:23] The word. Ortho. Is a word. With which we are familiar. In English language. We talk about. Orthodoxy. Orthodoxy. Means. Straight.

[16:34] Teaching. And. We are familiar. With the word. Orthodontist. If you go to. An. Orthodontist. They may put.

[16:44] Braces. On your teeth. With the intent. Of. Straightening. The teeth. Because sometimes. Our teeth. Tend to come in. Skewed. Or a little bit. Crooked. And braces.

[16:55] Can straighten them. And we call. Dentists. Who does. That. An. Orthodontist. And. Orthotomeo. Means. To cut. A straight.

[17:06] Line. So that. You are not. Deviating. From the right. Or the left. But you are going. Right. Down. Through the middle. In other words. We might put it like this.

[17:19] Give it to them. Straight. That communicates. Something. Doesn't it? We might. Also say. Tell it.

[17:29] Tell it. Like it is. In other words. No. Foldy roll. No fooling around. Just lay the word. Of God. Out. And let it speak.

[17:40] For itself. The tendency is. For us preachers. To embellish it. And sometimes. We end up. Adulterating it. Someone has said. There is that.

[17:52] Which God says. And then there is that. Which man says. God says. And sometimes. They may be poles apart. So what we need to do.

[18:03] Is make sure. That we handle. The text of scripture. In such a way. That we. Exegete it. That means you read. Out of it.

[18:14] What is in it. Rather than. Eisegete it. Which means to. Read into it. What is not there. But. Believe it or not.

[18:25] There are some preachers. Who say. Well I wish. It said. Thus and so. So they make it say. Thus and so. That is adulterating. The word of God. And woe be unto any preacher.

[18:37] That does that. But. I suspect there are some. Who have that much brass. This word. Is. This word. Is. The prize.

[18:49] Of the planet. There is nothing. On this globe. That begins. To compare. With the authority. Or the value. Of the word of God. Without it.

[19:01] We are adrift. Without it. We have no idea. How we got here. Why we are here. Where we are going. Or what it's all about. You find answers. To those questions. Only in the scriptures.

[19:12] You will not find them. In. Encyclopedia Americana. As valuable. As it may be. It does not deal. With issues like this. So. When Paul gives.

[19:23] This information. To Timothy. He is reminding him. Of his sacred. Responsibility. And let's look at the text. As it is here. In. In first Timothy.

[19:34] When he says. A workman. That needs not to be ashamed. Rightly. Dividing. The word of truth. As it is used.

[19:44] Here in the King James Version. Rightly dividing. And in other places. It's rendered. Cutting a straight path. Or handling a right. Or driving a straight furrow. And we'll look at the Corinthian passage.

[19:56] In a moment. And see. That it does shed some light upon it. As a kind of a collateral passage. But when we. When we use the orthotomonto. And use it in a literal translation.

[20:07] From the original. Which means to cut. Or to cut a straight line. Or to cut straightly. What is it. That we are cutting. And why are we cutting it?

[20:19] Stop and think for a moment. Why do you cut. Anything. Is it not always. To separate.

[20:31] Something. From something. If you are a surgeon. And you make. An incision. You are cutting. Something.

[20:42] You are separating. Flesh. When you. Cut. Anything. It is for the express purpose. Of dividing it.

[20:54] And when you. Cut. You separate this. From that. Well. What is it. That needs to be cut. What is it. That needs to be separated.

[21:05] From what. What are we talking about here. How about. These. As a possibility. The Jew. The Gentile.

[21:16] And the church of God. When Paul wrote. To the Corinthians. In chapter 10. In verse 32. He closed out. The chapter. By saying. Giving. None. Offense.

[21:27] To the Jew. To the Gentile. Or to the church of God. Why does he make. Those three different. Categories. Separate.

[21:38] Why the distinction. Because there is a distinction. Why didn't. Paul just say. Giving. No offense. To anybody. Or to no people.

[21:50] He labors. To make a point. That there is a distinction. Between these groups. And each one. Has to be considered. On its own merit. And if you don't. If you just kind of.

[22:01] Lump them all together. Saying. Well. Jew. Gentile. Church of God. Doesn't make any difference. They're all people. Just throw them all together. You're going to have. An impossible task.

[22:11] Ahead of you. Ever trying to make sense. Of anything. The Bible says. In a whole bunch of places. For instance. If we do not. Make a distinction.

[22:22] Between law. And grace. How are you going. To handle that? As you read. The Old Testament. And as we were seeing.

[22:32] Just this morning. In the earlier class. From the book of Exodus. The emphasis. Is on the law. The law of Moses. The law that God. Gave through Moses. All of the statutes.

[22:42] The ordinances. And everything. That went with it. That's the law. The law of Moses. And then. When we come to. The New Testament. The Apostle Paul. Who is as Jewish.

[22:54] As Jew can be. Makes the statement. Writing to the Roman congregation. For you are not. Under the law. But under grace.

[23:05] Well. What in the world. Does that mean? In the Old Testament. The law was everything. And. Woe be unto the Jew. Who did not.

[23:15] Observe the law. What does Paul mean then? A Jew. By the way. Who says. You are not under law. But under grace. Grace. Well. Grace and law.

[23:26] Are polar opposites. And if you try. To marry them. Oh. My goodness. The confusion. You are going to have. It is an impossibility. So. When people come to the Bible.

[23:37] And they try to make the law. Apply to all places. Or they try to make grace. Apply to all places. The whole thing. Breaks down. And it loses coherence. You just can't make sense of it. This is one of the reasons.

[23:49] Why a number of people. Really stay away. From the book. They just don't get into the Bible. At all. Because they say. I am intimidated by its size. It is a big thick book.

[23:59] Have you seen how thick that thing is? And there are so many names. And words in it. That I can't even pronounce. Funny names. Some of them that long. And I have tried to read it.

[24:09] And make sense. But it just. It just doesn't make any sense to me. I just cannot get into it. I cannot understand it. Well this is one of the reasons. Why? If we do not make a distinction.

[24:19] In the things that need to be kept separate. But insist on muddling them all together. It's impossible to understand it. You're not going to. And this by the way. Is what causes a number of people to say.

[24:32] Well you know. There are contradictions in the Bible. Well now take the law and grace thing. How important was the law in the Old Testament? How important was the law that Moses gave?

[24:44] That was as important as it could get. Well why then does Paul say. You're not under law but under grace? Is that a contradiction or not? Of course it is.

[24:57] How do you account for that? And this enables some people to say. Well you know. The Bible speaks out of both sides of its mouth. Says one thing in one place. And then it contradicts itself in another. Well.

[25:09] That's a valid conclusion. If you don't understand anything about progressive revelation. If you don't examine what it is that needs to be separated. And how to take those things individually. It's a pointless.

[25:22] Hopeless task. No wonder. No wonder these dear folks get discouraged. And just kind of drop the book. Or just leave it on the coffee table to collect dust. This right division thing.

[25:34] Is so critical. There is the pre-cross Christ. And the post-cross Christ. There is Jesus.

[25:45] That we look to. In the gospels. Whose life is revealed there. In Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. And in the book of Acts. The Jesus. Before the cross.

[25:55] And there is Jesus. After the cross. Paul wrote to the Corinthians. And says. We once knew. Jesus. We once knew him. In the flesh.

[26:06] But now we know him. No longer in the flesh. What does that mean? It means. We are talking about. A Jesus. With two different elements. Of his life. And the center of that.

[26:18] Is the cross. That changed everything. And if you try to order. And direct your life. On the basis of the teachings of Jesus. That were given primarily.

[26:29] To Israel. To the Jew. For their adoption. In the gospels. And you try to live by that. Like the sermon on the mount. Or the other elements.

[26:40] That are specifically Jewish. And ignore. What took place. On the cross. That changed everything. And set up a whole new paradigm.

[26:50] After the cross. If you don't make that distinction. You are doomed. For one contradiction. After another. But when you see this. And understand the distinctions.

[27:02] To be made. And the things that differ. It just starts falling into place. And it begins making. A whole lot.

[27:13] Of sense. And the bible. Comes alive. And you can get into it. Appreciate it. And understand it. Because you know. Where to put things.

[27:25] And there is no contradiction. It is a beautiful. Tapestry. Beautifully interwoven. With verses. And texts. That all.

[27:36] Actually complement. One another. But each. Needs to be understood. In its context. And in its relationship. To the whole. And when you do. You've got a brand new book.

[27:46] Before you. And it is absolutely amazing. And this. This. I trust. Is what Grace Bible Church. Is supposed to be.

[27:57] All about. If you do not make a distinction. Between the first advent. Of Christ. And the second advent. Or do not make a distinction.

[28:08] Between the second coming. And the rapture. And try to mesh them. And put them together. Because they are both talking about comings. Well. Coming. Coming is coming. Is coming.

[28:19] All means the same thing. No it doesn't. They are separate comings. They need to be kept distinct. You need. Certain things. That go with the second coming. And there are certain things.

[28:29] That go with the rapture. And you can't mix them. You can't mix them. And make them work. Because when you mix them. They make no sense at all. Let me put it this way. If you do not.

[28:39] Rightly divide. The word of truth. You have no alternative. But to wrongly mix it. That's the only other option. Right division.

[28:51] Resurrection. Or wrong mixing. And wrong mixing. Does nothing. But create all kinds. Of contradictions. At least on the surface. There are two resurrections. For those who say.

[29:02] Well. There's just a general resurrection. Resurrection is resurrection. No it isn't. There's a first resurrection. Listen. There's a first resurrection. And a second resurrection.

[29:14] One of those. You don't want to be any part of. Trust me. Which one? And why? Isn't resurrection the same.

[29:25] Wherever you read it. No it isn't. You've got to look at the context. Resurrection. One place. It's completely different. From a resurrection. And the people involved.

[29:35] In another place. And then. There are the judgments. There are five different judgments. judgments. Some people. See the word judgment. And they think it means. Same thing everywhere.

[29:46] It doesn't. This is a distinction. That has to be made. There are. A minimum. Of five judgments. In scriptures. There is the judgment. Of the sins. Of believers.

[29:57] Whereby they judge themselves. The self judgment. And there is the sin. Of believers. That Christ judged. On the cross. Jesus Christ. If you are a believer.

[30:08] In Christ. He. Judged. Your sin. On the cross. And paid the bill. He acknowledged. Your sin. Debt.

[30:19] And what you owed. And on the cross. He paid it. In full. There is nothing. Left. On your account. To your name. That is negative. Because Jesus.

[30:31] Paid it. All. That's the judgment. Of your sins. And then. There is a believer's. Self judgment. Where Paul said. If we judge ourselves.

[30:41] We shall not be judged. This we are to engage in. When we come to the Lord's table. When Paul said. Let a man. Examine himself. And if there is something.

[30:52] Between us. And our Lord. That is displeasing to him. We need to deal with that. If we have an unforgiving spirit. If we have wronged another person. We need to deal with that.

[31:03] That is self judgment. And it is. It is just. Same word. But a completely different meaning. There will be a judgment. Of the works. Of believers.

[31:14] So that every one of us. Shall give account of himself. Before God. We will all stand. Before the judgment seat of Christ. That is the Bema seat. The awards room. And there. We.

[31:25] In our works. And our life. Will be assessed. By the all pervading eye. Of Jesus Christ. And some of us. Will receive. A reward. And a well done.

[31:35] Thou good and faithful servant. And some of us. Will be there. Saved. Yet so as by fire. With no reward. Because our works.

[31:46] Did not merit. Any reward. The difference. Between the law. And works. Is phenomenal. It's just amazing. And we work. Not in order to be saved.

[31:57] We work. Because we have been saved. And the difference. Is incalculable. But it is a distinction. That needs to be made. And there is the judgment. Of nations. That's going to be found.

[32:08] In Matthew's gospel. Chapter 25. Where the nations. Are going to be evaluated. Before the Lord. And the main criteria. Upon which they will be judged. Is their response.

[32:20] And their treatment. Of the Jew. In time past. The Hitlerites. Going to have a lot.

[32:30] To answer for. At the great white throne. Judgment. And at the judgment. Of nations. And then the great white throne. Is simply. One more. Of five judgments. That are mentioned. And they all need to be kept separate.

[32:43] And do you know. When it comes to the subject. Of baptism. Are you aware. That there are. Twelve.

[32:55] That's a full dozen. Twelve. Different. Baptisms. In the Bible. And only seven of them. I believe. Involve.

[33:06] Water. And do we not. Almost automatically. Think of. H2O. When we hear the word. Baptize. Or baptism.

[33:17] Of course we do. Because it's a physical symbol. And. Splash around in the water. And you see people. Baptize. Whether by sprinkling. Or by pouring. Or by immersing. By one time backwards.

[33:28] Or by three times forward. Or whatever it is. But there are twelve. Different baptisms. In the Bible. And if you take the. If you take the position. Well. Baptism means. Baptism always means. The same thing.

[33:38] No. It doesn't. It means a lot of different things. You've got to make a distinction. You have to separate. These things. Because. They are separate. In the Bible.

[33:49] But if we don't make them. Separate in our study. In our understanding. You're not going to understand. It is absolutely. Impossible. So all of these things. Come into play. As Paul goes on to say.

[34:04] This will prevent us. From being. Ashamed. As we stand before the Lord. And as the New American. Renders it here. Handling accurately.

[34:15] The word of truth. And that leads me. To our second passage. If you look at. Second Corinthians. And the flip side. Of this sheet. It is. Something that I think.

[34:28] Could be used. As a. Cross reference. For this. Second Corinthians. Four. Paul says. Therefore. Seeing. We have. This ministry.

[34:39] And of course. He's talking about. The ministry of the gospel. Of the grace of God. As we have received mercy. We are on the receiving end.

[34:49] Of God's mercy. And because of that. We're not going to quit. Paul is acknowledging the fact. That he is a beneficiary.

[35:00] Of the mercy. That God has extended to him. Mercy. Is. Judgment. That is due. And deserved.

[35:11] Withheld. So that you do not get. What is due. And what you deserve. It is withheld. That is called mercy. And the apostle Paul.

[35:22] Was so overwhelmed. With the reality. Of having received. Mercy from God. He says. You know. That's what keeps me going.

[35:35] I am so grateful. For what I have received. From God. Grace and mercy. That I did not deserve. And it won't.

[35:46] Let me. Quit. We faint not. We never give up. This is a man. That endured. Beatings. And lashes.

[36:01] And imprisonment. And ridicule. And stoning. And any. Ordinary person. Would come to the place.

[36:11] In their life. When they can say. That's enough. I've had it. God. You allow me. To go through. All of this. This is the way. You take care.

[36:22] Of your servants. See how these people. Treat me. Why didn't you intervene? All of these kind of questions. Could have come to the fore. That would have allowed him. To charge God foolishly. But this man.

[36:33] Was so. Overwhelmed. By the grace of God. And the mercy. That he had received. From God. He couldn't even. Think. About throwing. In the towel. Now that is motivation.

[36:46] That is really something. And you know what? The better appreciation you have. Of your salvation. The more eager you will be.

[37:00] To give it a workout. Out. When Paul says. We are to work out. Our own salvation. That doesn't mean. You somehow save yourself.

[37:11] It means. You work. Out. Of. Your salvation. You engage. In your labor. And in your efforts. Based upon the salvation. That you have in Christ.

[37:22] And the people. Who appreciate. And understand. The most. What God has done. For them in Christ. Are those. Who are the most willing. To spend.

[37:33] And be spent. Those with little appreciation. And little understanding. Are more than content. To just sit on their hands. And let somebody else. Do it.

[37:45] It's a good way. To gauge. Our index. Of appreciation. For those who appreciate. The most. Are those. Who are most willing. To spend. And be spent.

[37:56] And those who appreciate. The least. And understand the least. Are all too eager. To say. Ho. Hum. Let somebody else. Do it. They could do it. Better than I.

[38:07] And just. Sit back. And relax. Paul says. I can't do that. I know too much. I've received too much.

[38:19] I can't do that. God. We have received mercy. We faint not. But have renounced. The hidden things.

[38:29] Of dishonesty. I think this ties in. With the passage. In Timothy. About handling. The word of God. Accurately. There is a parallel. To this. Renouncing.

[38:40] The hidden things. Of dishonesty. not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully. I think perhaps the most despicable thing that any preacher can ever do is to use the word of God to manipulate people in the audience.

[39:06] Let me tell you, this goes on a lot. You see this kind of stuff on television a lot. Don't get me wrong. There are some really remarkable redeeming programs on television and on radio that exalt our Lord Jesus Christ and teach the word of God in truth.

[39:27] But there are a lot of charlatans out there. There are a lot of people manipulators. I remember one time and they usually don't, I don't know, I don't know why I got this, but I would have thought that they wouldn't address churches, but I got it in the mail and it was from some evangelist somewhere and it included a paper folded several times and when you unfolded it, it looked like a paper, it looked like a paper rendition of a rug and it was explained to me that it was a prayer mat.

[40:14] And of course, what you were supposed to do is you kneel on that mat and you pray whatever your prayer needs are, whether, and people were encouraged in this letter, people were encouraged to pray for a new car, a new home, all kinds of stuff like that, you know, pray.

[40:33] And then you fold up the mat and you put it back in the envelope along with your best contribution and send it back to me and then we will take that and we will open it up and we will kneel on it and we will agree with you and we will pray too and you have any idea how many people actually do that?

[40:59] Let me tell you, enough to make it worthwhile. Enough to cover all of their expenses in mailing and postage and printing and everything else and still make a killing.

[41:12] And do you know who they make it from? Usually the people who can afford it the least or people who are desperate, people who are diagnosed as cancer or they have a loved one who has a serious illness and they are willing to do anything and everything to see that person healed and whole again, they are ripe for picking for this kind of stuff and they are out there.

[41:38] This is what Paul was talking about. Not handling the word of God deceitfully. Woe be unto those who do when the time of reckoning comes.

[41:52] And I suspect it may be possible, it's hard for me to buy into it, that someone could actually be a redeemed child of God and engage in this nonsense. It's hard to believe that anyone who is under the finished work of Christ could be that crass and that...

[42:10] I don't know. I don't know. But I do know this, that it is a serious thing to take the word of God and use it in such a way to manipulate vulnerable people, usually who are in desperate positions and they think, well, you know, it probably won't do any good to send this guy $20, but you never know.

[42:36] It might, you know, it might. There might be a miracle in it. So what if I have to lose but $20 or $50 and they send it off and that's what they're counting on. And the woods are full of these kind of people out there.

[42:49] They had a great expose in Canada a number of years ago. I can't even think of the name of the guy now, but if I do, I'll use it and I wouldn't hesitate to use it in public and I'd say, sue me.

[43:01] And he had a racket going where his wife was entertaining, was receiving people who came in and she had a little card for them to fill out and the card revealed some of the things that were going on in their life and she would ask, she would ask this person, now are there certain people that you're concerned about that you want us to pray about or that you are concerned about and they would name, yes, my aunt this and that or my son has thus and so or somebody, you know.

[43:34] And this poor unsuspecting person then would go on in and sit down and take their seat. And it wasn't until this had gone on for I don't know how long that it was discovered that he had a microphone, a receiver behind his ear and his wife would take the information that was given on that card and go in another room and communicate with him and he would stand there in the pulpit with this kind of baloney.

[44:09] Yes, I'm receiving this revelation. Someone, someone has a dear sister suffering from cancer and it's stage four and the doctors have given up all hope and this person is sitting out there saying, wow, this is amazing.

[44:32] God has revealed that to them. God hasn't revealed anything to them. His wife revealed it to him through this little radio system they've got hooked up. And when he was found out he was run out of Canada but you know what?

[44:45] I can't think of the guy's name. I wish I could. Maybe some of you know his name. Trust me, you can find it on the internet. He was run out of Canada and he is now back in business.

[45:00] Same old scam, same kind of results. You might even be able to see a picture of the home that he's living in. That's handling the word of God deceitfully.

[45:12] That's manipulating people. Just amazing. It is just for those for those brethren who do try to hold forth the word of God and do it accurately.

[45:25] It is just insulting and it turns your stomach to see this kind of thing go on and these people are referred to as clergy.

[45:37] It's terrible. Absolutely terrible. Renounce the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.

[45:59] We ought to be in a position and every preacher should be in a position where you can honestly say my life's an open book.

[46:09] I don't have anything to hide. I don't have anything secret. I am what I am. And that's the way that every pastor and every preacher and every evangelist and every missionary ought to be.

[46:28] And those who aren't eventually bring discredit upon the word of God. And it goes on all too often. But you know what? They were back there in Paul's day too.

[46:41] It's nothing new. People have always known how to use people. And they do. People need to be needed.

[46:56] But they don't need to be used. And there is a huge difference. So as Paul writes to the Corinthians and as he writes to young Timothy his protege he's pouring out his heart and he's telling him Timothy these are the things that matter most.

[47:15] And he admonished this young protege of his to exercise due diligence. Make every effort to fulfill these things.

[47:26] Have you a question or comment that you'd like to make? I'll be happy to entertain it. Anybody? Let's just take a moment. Is there a mic runner?

[47:39] Okay. Here comes a pair of young legs. Somebody with a comment or a question just raise your hand and he will be there. You want me?

[47:58] Okay. Well fine. Alright. Thank you. Anyway. I'll just leave off with my old story. Anytime I preach and there are no questions that means that I just communicated the word so clearly and so completely that you can't even think of a question.

[48:18] Or I have confused you so thoroughly that you cannot think of a question. So whichever the case may be I can promise you this. It was done in good faith. So would you stand please?

[48:34] Father we are truly grateful for this incredible wonderful word that you have given us. What a privilege it is to be able to proclaim it. And we know we always do so less than adequately less than perfectly.

[48:51] But with the heart and with the right intent we trust will always be there. Thank you for being the forgiving God that you are when unintentionally we do not handle the word as we ought.

[49:09] But thank you also for being a solid and firm judge for dealing with those who intentionally mishandle the word.

[49:20] May we never be a part of that group. thank you for the truth that you built into the scriptures for the principle of right division for making it available to us as we shall see in the sessions that follow.

[49:35] Thank you for each of these dear folks who are gathered here today and our prayer for each of them is that they may know the Lord Jesus in a personal way that provides comfort and peace and assurance and joy and everything that goes with it.

[49:49] And for any who may not know him we pray no rest and no peace for them until they come to find it in the Lord Jesus. In his name we pray. Amen.

[50:01] You are dismissed.