2 Imothy 3
There is the choice from two collects today. One prays that the Church will be steadfast
in faith; the other prays that God will defend His Church from false
teaching. This morning I want to collate
those prayers into words of St Paul
when he wrote Timothy.
During
the 1939 war there was a comedian named Rob Wilton who had a catch-phrase, ‘don’t
you know there is a war on.’ Those words
are what all Christians need to hear, and should remember and recognise, there is an intense anti=Christian attack, which we have to defend, from forces not only from the secular world with its actvists, but from within the Church, a false doctrine is being thrust on us which true Christians must be prepared to resist.
There is now a spiritual war going on. We are living in a time
when our faith is under sustained attack, so in the words of the collect, ‘we
must be fervent in the fellowship of the gospel, and steadfast in faith and
active service.’ And in the words of the other collect,’ Lord God defend your
Church from false teaching.’
First
then, the need for being steadfast in the faith.
I
watch American news broadcasts, and see the American people are both stunned
and amazed at how we in this country, have let our Christian faith be attacked
and diminished. Something many of us
wonder at.
On
the main services in the United States, the Church services are all solidly
biblical with the Pastors devoid of the robes our Ministers have. A Bible is very apparent, often held in the
hand. How wonderful to see the Bible given its due authority. What is the
purpose of a Christian service, unless the Bible is given its true place.
One
of the favourite pastimes of our entertainment industry is ridiculing
Christians. On TV, Christians are portrayed as gullible, and somehow lacking in
common sense. There has always been hostility toward Christians, but today it
is open season. TV ministers appear to
be shallow and superficial. And this very perception, real or not, has given
ample ammunition to the detractors of Christianity. It is most noticeable, that
these people never have the courage to mock Islam.
Any expression of Christianity,
by word, deed or symbol can lead to suspension or dismissal from employment, again
something which does not apply to other faiths.
Far more serious, is the legislation that the government has
introduced which is distinctly anti-Christian.
Churches and Church organisations no longer have freedom to act in
accordance with their beliefs, but are forced to employ people who are clearly
unsuitable, because their lifestyle is blatantly contradictory to Biblical teaching.
In addition, we are not expected to suggest our belief and
standard of morality are more worthy.
Indeed, some verses from the Bible could put us under threat of
prosecution if forcibly preached upon.
You can realise how the fundamental beliefs of Christianity are
being eroded, and there are undisguised attempts to force our faith into a
closed minority sect. Every Christian is
required to fight this spiritual attack on our faith.
Paul was writing to Timothy, a young man who Paul hoped would take
over from him and maintain the faith in those early days. Timothy was a timid man, and like many in
today’s world,was put under enormous pressure from non-believers. We all have to keep on pursuing our faith,
not content to think we are all safe and have all we need. If you just coast along, and let down your
guard, you may fall into their trap.
Secondly, let us look at false teaching.
In addition to these direct attacks from outside, we are facing
problems from within the Church, from those who preach a different and false
gospel from that laid down in Scripture.
There are those who have their own agenda, motivated by a desire to
promote a moral lifestyle which is acceptable to modern society, but which does
not accord with Scripture.
However convenient and popular same sex marriage is, to people and
some of the bishops, it is not to God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who have created
marriage, the bedrock of society, to be only between a man and a woman.
Sometimes we hear a suggestion, which I accept is made as an
attempt to cause people to attend Church services, but unfortunately that put
forward is as ridiculous as it is unsuitable.
For instance, have coffee services in which people sit at tables and
have coffee as part of the service. The minute coffee is withdrawn, is when the
people leave.
There are others it would be embarrassing to mention.
It was a similar situation, as when the Pope condemned people
living together outside marriage. Whilst
we recognise it is now a fact of life, any Church which preached that would soon
empty.
Today, worship services do not always have the fervour and passion
that once was held; people are drawn away from belief in judgement, such a
major doctrine of the Bible. We need to
return to the Scripture, with eyes opened afresh, to learn the doctrine of
eternal life and salvation.
Paul, writing to Timothy, said, ‘ a time
would come when people would not want to listen to sound teaching, but having
itching ears, would find teachers ready to suit their own likings.
Surely that is descriptive of our own day. It indicates a time
when people will forsake what is commonly called ‘a Christian consensus,’ an
undergirding of the institutions of social life by Christian principles, and
substitute others. This is the time in which we live.
Paul is referring to a godless world, a life centred on self and
what’s in it for me approach. As we see
crime and lawlessness increase, rebellion against authority, many people wonder
what is going wrong with our country.
Some of us would say when the liberal minded educators, were
allowed unlimited freedom, to take Christianity out of education and supplant
it with freedom of expression.
Sound teaching, is that which leads to health and wholeness of
spirit, soul and body; teaching that permits human beings to live at peace, to
develop themselves and enjoy their lives. But, Paul says, men and women will
turn away from that and refuse to hear it.
They will do this, because truth requires people to abandon passions,
which they do not like to do; and submit to the authority of God. They turn
away from the truth, they will not even give it a hearing. It is not that they
will listen to the truth and then decide whether it is right or wrong; no, they
do not even want to hear it. They do not want you to say anything in this
direction, and they resist, sometimes openly, sometimes with subtle influences,
every attempt to introduce the truth into any situation.
Then, since they will not listen to teachers of truth, as the
apostle says, they will look for others who will teach them what they want to
hear. There is a disease, widespread in our day, called "itching ear
disease," which Paul mentions. This is an ear that wants to hear a
particular line of things, an ear that wants to be entertained, an ear that is
always looking for something new, an ear that wants constant affirmation and
does not want to hear anything negative or contradictory.
People who have this disease, look for teachers who will scratch
that itch; and the result, the apostle says, is that they "wander into
myths."
What do these teachers, which such people accumulate in great
numbers teach? They cannot teach the truth because the truth is unacceptable,
so they teach attractive lies, fantasies for the most part, speculative
philosophies, that emerge from the minds of men which have no basis in fact or
history.
A matter of greatest concern, is that our children are being
denied Christian teaching. All other
faiths, educate their children in their own faith, only Christian children are
missing out. Children are a trust from
God and belong to Him not the state. Yet the state interferes so much. All of us, parents, grandparents, godparents
have a responsibility for them.
But, schoolteachers have a tremendous influence on them. And in
consideration of the views of some teachers, parents need to be so
watchful. They need to examine the
children’s work, and find out what is being taught.
I understand, many teachers do not even believe in God, or have no
Christian belief, and in some schools children are being taught that all religions
are the same. No longer are assemblies
held, sometimes said to be because of shortage of time, yet there seems plenty
of time for explicit sexual instruction.
Gone are the days, when parents as a matter of course, would send
their children to Sunday school and/or read and tell them about Jesus and bible
stories. Consequently, the children are
growing up without any Christian knowledge, and are then unable to pass it on
to their children.
We have been saturated by a world that is committed to falsehood.
That is why, as Paul sets forth here, we must increasingly proclaim the truth
as it is in Jesus. I understand the feelings of frustration, that come when we
see all that is dear and precious in humanity being destroyed by these lies.
The apostle reminds us, that the most effective thing is, announce the truth,
tell of reality, make it clear, spread the word. and declare that Jesus is
Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
You and I are called to advance that work. Do not let anybody tell
you that your life as a Christian does not count. It counts tremendously. It is
the most significant thing taking place on this earth today, Glory in what God
has called you to do, and be faithful to his command.
May God bless you and may God's Holy Name be forever glorified