Sunday Service September 26th, 2004
The Church Ministries
Bible Truth Christian Church
Good morning everyone from Hawaii to all the remotest parts of the world, welcome to The Church Ministries we are all glad to see you all back and we welcome all new visitors to the blessings of the word and the bread of life, from our Lord through the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. We all gather as one in the Body of Christ and we all seek to worship and praise the Lord together as one. I myself am going through the toughest part of my life, this whole month; it has been the hardest I have ever gone through. I know deep within my heart that the Lord is with me and guiding me with a special calling a calling of suffering, It might not be very plain at this time, but it seems God has chosen a group of all different Christians from all different places, and backgrounds, and heritages, and it seems we are all going through a tearing of the earthly flesh and all the worldly lusts and we are all suffering some sort of health problem or other different burdens compiled together to bring us closer to Christ, and none of us are alone. We may feel like we are, but our Lord is right along with us, we do not go through any of this alone. There are many of us out there going through all kinds of a different series of attacks and hurts and all sorts of pain to more or less bring us to our knees. That is what the Lord wants, to fully call and depend on Him for all things. We have to ask our Lord for all His strength to help us through this time of tribulation, and many of us have gone through some sort of troubles for years, and then our lives are getting tossed to and fro, with compounded pain and suffering and at times we do not know if it is a teaching or an attack from evil. All we do know that as we go through all this we are to run to God for everything. This brings us to a closer walk with Him, and a more intimate relationship with more strength then we ever had before. God has to do this to some of us, this way when it comes about to many more down the road, we will be able to minister to all the suffering ones of the future. In other words we are going through the horrible times of tribulation now in order to lose ourselves completely and only have Christ in us, to have the mind of Christ, not the mind of Adam which is our earthly flesh and our old way of thinking. We may be all in the valley now but some as we have done the will of God; He will bring us to new heights and new ways of thinking, not with what we were born with, now we are being in the true process of being born again with Christ in us. We will not carry anymore earthly baggage. It is hard for now what some of us are going through, but we all have to remember that God is always in control, we can not lose faith now, we can only handle one day at a time, we can not analyze the future or do any planning ahead because we do not have any idea what will tomorrow be or become, everything might change for all of us. Nature is changing and all sorts of prophecies are coming through and going forth. So we must all joy in our suffering because we know the end result to be more apart of the vine and branches, more apart of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Dear Loving Father, we all come to You this day with open hearts and stand in the truth of Your love and your caring compassion. We put all trust in You and we place ourselves before You so You can cleanse us all and to lead us all through these different storms of this life and bring us to the rainbows and sunshine of your son Jesus to select the coarse and to have us enter and to walk the proper roads to the light and to keep us far from the darkness of this world, to nurture us and care for us even though we are going through strange different awakenings each and every day. We all need you Father we need you more than we can individually ask, You know what is deep within us, we are here to tell You we all love You, and we need to share in the new hopes and dreams of our new lives being more like Christ. We all thank You for all the things that You are constantly doing for our eternal souls. We all understand the ups and downs of your teaching as we all face different trials and some days Your radiant joy. We want to be more like your Spirit, so our spirits can be in better communication, so we can all worship You better in spirit and in truth. We can not do anything without You, we need your help and the anointing of the Holy Spirit to bring us closer to the truth and closer to Your love. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Please turn your bibles to 2 Timothy 3.
1 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. NASB
In Paul’s statement that we are in the last days well the last days are now. Any time period after the resurrection of Jesus and when the Holy Spirit came upon the 120 in the upper room at Pentecost, is the period of the last days and will continue in the same era until Christ returns for His second coming. So we are living technically in the last days, you might say to yourselves that is a long time between, but as we see things changing we know that the time is getting closer and closer. So we as Christians should all utilize the time that has been given to us wisely.
Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Eph 5:15-17 NIV
That I may proclaim it fully and make it clear [speak boldly and unfold that mystery], as is my duty.
Behave yourselves wisely [living prudently and with discretion] in your relations with those of the outside world (the non-Christians), making the very most of the time and seizing (buying up) the opportunity.
Let your speech at all times be gracious (pleasant and winsome), seasoned [as it were] with salt, [so that you may never be at a loss] to know how you ought to answer anyone [who puts a question to you]. Col. 4: 4-6 AMP
2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,
4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 2 Tim 3:2-4 NASB
Things are different all over this world as far as being a Christian, some places you could be hurt for even having a bible, others you could be tortured and others imprisoned. But here in the USA you can have all kinds of freedom to be and act and preach the good news and to talk about Christ, and have your own ministry or church here. Some of us do not realize how good we all have it here, and if we were in another country worship and prayer would be different. Now basically Paul is speaking about our society and a lot of other close countries to us, with mirror ethics at hand. And it is also a shame that it would also include Christians. It is an awful shame that many Christians today think they are Christians and I am sorry to say they are not. I am not trying to judge but in another sense we do have to expose the truth and to also avoid men as these. As we look at our Christian population today things have definitely changed progressing as we reach further into the last days. And if we go down the list we can see all of this happening to all people, lovers of self and lovers of money we see everywhere, even in many churches all over the world. We are all here to take notice to the truth of what is taking place now. We all have to stand firm and to help as many people as we can, and if we have to say a few words to others as a warning just as Paul is doing here, we must act and continue with our faith and beliefs to better others to their walk with our Lord, and to keep the darkness away from others and shed light to the ones that are acting as part of this list. We see all these things and all these different personalities functioning all over. So we call on the name of the Lord to help us guide our fellow man to the light of the Christian way and value
5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. 2 Tim. 3:5 NASB
I guess we all have heard of the phrase of playing church, well in these scriptures Paul is talking about playing the roll or acting out the part of being religious, many go to church and many know Christian doctrine, and other Christian ethics but a lot of it has been laid down by man. Sometimes I wish I could know the true translation of the bible, I usually use about four different translations, and sometimes more, and many times they are all different and some have a basic familiarity, but we are all children of God searching for the truth, and we do not want to be misled. We do not just want to go to church to eat lunch together and to go and just socialize. We are there to learn the bread of life and to worship our Lord. We do not go to just listen to the music and follow the churches or mans traditions, or be able to go to the bake sale, or the holiday festivities. On the outside you see people dressed up and all coming to the building to meet with there friends or relatives. We all have to look deep at our and their insides. We have to look within the people’s attitudes of their true worship, belief, and faith, towards why we are all going to church in the first place. So our outer body looks and seems like we are Christians and that is only an appearance. We all have to look out for just an appearance, while they are wearing a nice suit they must be a good Christian, no we can not go on that rule, remember, God looks at the heart of a man and his sincerity not what type of role they are playing on the outside. I went to a church one time and everyone was so prim and proper and very friendly and caring inside, but as soon as church was over, it was a race in the parking lot, and a lot of words were being passed back and forth as people were fighting over who was going to get out of the parking lot first. I have never seen such a personality change in my life, and it makes you wonder are they true Christians? And that is only one example. So Paul is warning us to not be deceived, we to have to look at the inside, and pick up the true behavior of each and everyone’s way of life.
6 For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses,
7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 2 Tim 3: 6-7 NASB
From the this last letter of Paul we all know that he was writing to Timothy to give him a final encouragement, edification, and instructions being he was the pastor of the church at Ephesus which would also include a warning also to all other Christians everywhere in the world. Now as the scriptures flow we realize that the women of Ephesus within the church were not up to par with special teachings and religious backgrounds. Some times when you are so excited to learn you forget to look out for the teachers that are doing the teaching. Here Paul is warning Timothy that the women might be so enthusiastic about learning the new Christian values and ethics they might over look the men who are inching there way into their homes and teaching false doctrine and deceiving the women without there knowledge. Many of us have to be careful, at times I sat in a classroom hearing false teaching in class, one day we were all listening and a teacher was going on and on about us being a missile flying towards heaven and one person raised there hand and asked where was that in the bible, the teachers comment was, it is in there somewhere, as he slowly changed the subject. Anytime you hear something like that, you know something is not right. So these particular men were inching their way into women’s homes that were so eager to learn but not basically matching their words with scripture. Many of the women did not have the basic foundation of matching all teaching with the word of God, aligned with a man with a deceiving spirit or his own summery or abbreviation. We all know about the people of Berea how they harmonized everything that Paul and Silas were teaching with the word of God. We should always be open, but doing the same thing. Any conflicting teaching that does not hold up with the truth, it should be questioned and maybe latter completely discarded. Just like in Acts 17:11
Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. NIV
It is hard for all of us with out the right discernment, which is a blessing of a gift to be able to tell good teaching from poor teaching, and be able to tell the spirit of a man that is leading you, or deceiving you. That is why the bible is so important. If you do not know the basics, or you are a baby Christian like these women of Ephesus, it is very easy to fascinate their minds into a misleading of truth. We should always be seeking the truth, and you can only find the truth, in the word of God.
8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith.
9 But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all, just as Jannes's and Jambres's folly was also. 2Tim. 3:8-9 NASB
Through widely circulated tradition in both secular and apocryphal writings Jannes and Jambres were the two magicians who went up against Moses during the time he and Aaron were standing in front of Pharaoh in his court, Ex. 7:8-13 making their demand that the people of Israel be allowed to leave Egypt, and then Pharaoh wanted to see some kind of proof that God has sent them, and then Aaron threw down his staff and it turned into a snake. Then through some kind of trickery Jannes and Jambres copied the same thing with there staffs, and they turned into snakes through some kind of satanic art. But the event ended when Aaron’s snake ate their snakes. Then in Ex. 8:16-19 Paul explains about Moses and then he goes on to explain about these magicians which will be defeated and exposed of whom they really are counterfeiting the truth, and how foolish it is to go up against God. So the same will happen here, in Ephesus that God will expose the evil intentions and show up these false teachers that were trying to tear down the church.
The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "When Pharaoh says to you, 'Perform a miracle,' then say to Aaron, 'Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,' and it will become a snake." So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts: Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. Yet Pharaoh's heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said. Ex. 7: 8-13 NIV
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, 'Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the ground,' and throughout the land of Egypt the dust will become gnats." They did this, and when Aaron stretched out his hand with the staff and struck the dust of the ground, gnats came upon men and animals. All the dust throughout the land of Egypt became gnats. But when the magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, they could not. And the gnats were on men and animals. The magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God." But Pharaoh's heart was hard and he would not listen, just as the LORD had said. Ex. 8: 16-19 NIV
Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Take handfuls of soot from a furnace and have Moses toss it into the air in the presence of Pharaoh. It will become fine dust over the whole land of Egypt, and festering boils will break out on men and animals throughout the land."
So they took soot from a furnace and stood before Pharaoh. Moses tossed it into the air, and festering boils broke out on men and animals. The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils that were on them and on all the Egyptians. But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said to Moses. Ex. 9: 8-12 NIV
Any wrong doing against God or the church will end up being revealed for what they truly are; everything will be revealed, you can not hide anything from God. Some people think they can get away with certain actions, but all evil will be known to everyone. So we all should live our lives like we know all our actions will be revealed. That is why all our actions should be good works, or holy works all with consideration for others not hurting others, sometimes we do not realize our actions could be hurting others just with words, unconsciously doing or saying things to others, and not even knowing what we are doing. We may be trying to make a better Christian out of a person or trying to set them on the right road, but any criticism could hurt others. You might say to a person do not linger in the past, that is over with, look to the future, but that particular person might need a listener at the time, or need a shoulder to cry on, or just to get something that is bothering that person off their chest so to speak, that is why we all must be more understanding and to recognize why that person is talking about the past, that is why we should not judge at all. Who are we to try to govern our brothers and sisters, our Lord will do that. Our opinions could be wrong, and very destructive. We are to edify and talk goodness and to be gentle with all our people. Everything we have done will come to the light, and be revealed so we must all be conscious of all of our actions and words.
10 Now you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance,
11 persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium and at Lystra; what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord rescued me! 2 Tim. 3:10-11 NASB
These three cities are in the Roman province of Galatia, since Timothy was born and raised in Lystra he would know the ins and outs of the area, and would understand better of the sufferings of Paul. Paul went through a main ordeal at Lystra and he was stoned and left for dead on the outside border of that town.
But some Jews arrived there from Antioch and Iconium; and having persuaded the people and won them over, they stoned Paul and [afterward] dragged him out of the town, thinking that he was dead. Acts 14:19 AMP
As you all know this is only one of the many sufferings that Paul has suffered there were many of them and the Lord has delivered him and saved Him for the cause of the good news and the loyalty of the Name of Christ. Paul had to make his suffering known for an example to show up the false teachers that were only seeking pleasure.
But I will continue doing this to cut the ground out from under the feet of those who boast that their work is just like ours. These people are false apostles. They have fooled you by disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. But I am not surprised! Even Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light. So it is no wonder his servants can also do it by pretending to be godly ministers. In the end they will get every bit of punishment their wicked deeds deserve. 2Cor. 11:12-15 NLT
I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then receive me just as you would a fool, so that I may do a little boasting. In this self-confident boasting I am not talking as the Lord would, but as a fool. Since many are boasting in the way the world does, I too will boast. You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or pushes himself forward or slaps you in the face. To my shame I admit that we were too weak for that!
What anyone else dares to boast about--I am speaking as a fool--I also dare to boast about. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham's descendants? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?
If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying. In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me. But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands. 2Cor.11:22-33 NIV
We all know now what a tough time Paul had and he is trying to explain to Timothy the contrast between true Christianity and the way of false teachers, and we also realize between verses 2 and 9 in 2Tim.3 pointing out from verses 10-11, that he carefully follows his teaching, and Paul brings ten distinctive qualities of his own life and teaching out, so Timothy understands his way of life and would examine and learn.
12 Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. 2 Tim. 3:12 NASB
As it all appears those who wish to serve the Lord will suffer some great lengths in conjunction with other believers and the rest of the world, some of the people in the world cannot comprehend the value of serving God and trying to reach out to the Lord. People in the world are trying to live this small life we have here on earth and making the best of what they have and putting there lives into the race of possessions and accomplishments, not even considering that the master of the universe has given them all the things they all ready have, and most do not even thank the greatness and power of the Lord. So as true Christians with our beliefs and faith we know we are on the battle field constantly, being misunderstood by the rest of the population, some even take advantage of our hope in the afterlife and we all get hurt in some way or get criticized to some extreme. But that is what we are here on this planet for, to show the rest of the world to seek the Lord Jesus and to know him, and love Him and to understand what He has done for all of us. We are to continue and even though we face pains and hurts we are to keep the faith and go on with each of our journeys and our distinctive callings to serve the King of Kings. We may all go through extensive trials and tribulations in order for each one of us to get stronger, to learn, and find peace in the Lord. We end up realizing that we are nothing and the only power we have is what the Lord gives us, and that we can not do anything on our own. We have to completely shake off the flesh of this world, as our God chips away making us better people, to eventually have the purity of Christ in us. So to some they do not have the understanding of what we go through, and the steps we have to take and deal with, so to the outside world treats us differently and we suffer persecution because they fear and do not understand the unknown and the unexplainable. Then we also get hit from darkness also, because the evil one does not want us to succeed so the devil will use other people to make us divert from our walk with the Lord using pain and discouragements brought upon from others, and some people do these things unconsciously. That is why we pray and forgive so many others even though we are getting hurt, judged and wounded. There are other scriptures talking about hurt and pains with broken feelings of sufferings that most servants of God have to go through.
You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved. Matt. 10:22 NASB
When they had preached the good news (Gospel) to that town and made disciples of many of the people, they went back to Lystra and Iconium and Antioch,
Establishing and strengthening the souls and the hearts of the disciples, urging and warning and encouraging them to stand firm in the faith, and [telling them] that it is through many hardships and tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. Acts 14:21-22 AMP
For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him. We are in this fight together. You have seen me suffer for him in the past, and you know that I am still in the midst of this great struggle. Phil. 1:29-30 NLT
Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 1Pet. 4:12-13 NIV
13 But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 2 Tim. 3:13 NASB
In this scripture we know that false teachers and evil people do not change on there own, they have been deluded themselves and they will continue to get worse and worse, that is another reason for our strength from the Lord to have these people take notice of God’s wrath and to reveal to them that what they are doing is wrong, we have to try and bring them all to the truth, show them scriptures and ask the Holy Spirit to guide us in any type of these situations, we must look out for other young Christians in this situation, we can not let the immature get taught the wrong things, or any type of incorrect teaching, so we have to expose the false teaching from its source, and do our best to correct them, without ourselves falling into sin.
14 You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 2 Tim. 3:14 NASB
I feel that Timothy was surrounded by false teachers just like some of us are today, look at how many divisions we have and denominations and each and every one has their own way of translating the bible and there own statements of what they believe, as with Timothy, Paul asked him to remember his past foundation from what he was taught probably from his mother and grandmother, just as we move along with our search for the truth, we all remember our teaching of the past, and all the doctrine we kept within our minds and all the basics we learned and analyzed before as we know is the truth. We all must rest on what we know is true, and not let society alter any of our ground based learning. That is why we stay in the word, to build our base teaching and let the Spirit of our Lord guide us to the truth for our future.
15 and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 2 Tim. 3:15 NASB
As Paul brings out to Timothy that he learned a lot as a child from his mother Eunice and Lois his grandmother, as they started teaching Timothy at around the age of five, he learned the ways of the Old Testament as he also learned and was influenced to the ways and love of Christ, also with the combination of there teaching God’s Word there also was the Spirit of God nestled in there. We all need the Word of God and the Spirit of God in combination which brings life to the Holy Scriptures and the life of God to ourselves. That is why we should find our way into people’s homes, and or at there sides, to bring them to the light of God, leading them to Christ, by way of the Spirit of God in us, and through the teaching of the Holy Scriptures
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;
17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. 2Tim. 3:16-17 NASB
As you all know the bible is a lot different than any other book, they call it God breathed and it basically is, it was written by the inspiration of God, which is an extraordinary or a supernatural divine influence brought upon those who wrote the scriptures each person had there own mind and language and personality but God sent them a supernatural ability to express exactly what God intended them to write. So the writings are infallible because the writers were inspired by God Himself. So we have to consider that the words are in purity of truth, with authoritative values, teaching, setting something straight, instruction or a training, knowledge, understanding, the bible and scripture are every way pointing to God, and the way of God, as if to say to open the mind of God Himself. Everything that we need is all in one book, we have physical healing, mental healing, and spiritual healing, all contained in one book. When we fully get into the Word we realize that we are learning God’s thoughts and His personality and His way of living, and conjunction with living with others, acting with others, and how our way of life should be based. When we fully get into and learn and feel the word of God we will end up being complete in all respects, fully prepared in all aspects, never lost in any situation, never alone on any given day. We should be fully capable and proficient for any work or deed set before us. It brings us the life and the love of God, with a full understanding and guidance. Of course there isn’t any error; we have pure truth before us, which is why we must utilize our time in the word for all questions, all concerns, and all difficulties. So we are equipped with strength, faith, trust, honor, loyalty, love, compassion, protection, and the list could go on and on, all to do good for others and ourselves.
Dear Loving Father, We bless Your name, we call out to You to thank you for all the blessings you have showered upon us. We thank You for Your word that You have handed down from generation to generation. How can we all express the love we have for You. How could we ever thank Your Son enough, for coming down to the earth and taking the pain and torment for us, and then dying for us, even when we were yet still sinners? We are here to praise the Name of the Lord. We are to shout upon the rooftops of Your love and compassion, plus how You have forgiven our sins from day to day. You also have left Your Word on how to worship You, and with all the different writings on giving You the proper praise. We thank you Father for the scriptures, so we can learn to draw closer to You, as we live. We all praise You Father, and the Spirit, in Jesus wonderful Name, Amen and Amen
