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Now let's dive into today's teaching from Pastor Skiff Heitzig. 2 Timothy chapter 4. As you're turning there, let me just... Warn you. Today's message is going to be a little different in that Yes, it will be instruction.
Yes, it will be exposition. I hope it will be inspirational, but it will also be informational because there are certain things I believe we all need to be aware of. You'll see what I mean when we get through it, but 2 Timothy chapter 4. Let's have a word of prayer. Father, we ask that you will give us Your Wisdom and discernment.
To understand the days in which we live, to be able to not only know. our times, but to be able to meet the need The questions the wranglings that people have And to be able to Speak the truth clearly. Lord, prepare us, equip us. And use us. Also, Lord, I just have a special prayer for families.
College-age kids. People, Lord, that are dealing with... Ideas and Philosophies in this world that are so different from how they were raised. We pray, Lord, that you would give strength. and clarity in Jesus' name.
Amen.
So, um 26 years ago, In 1998, a movie Hit the box office called The Truman Show. Anyone remember the Truman Show?
Okay, the Truman Show starred Jim Carrey. He played the main character named Truman. and Truman was adopted at birth by a T V studio And he was placed in a literal. Bubble of a town. He thought it was just the regular world that everybody else I was living in, but it was basically a Stage set.
There were cameras everywhere. It recorded his every move as he grew up in this imaginary world. All of it was unbeknownst to him. Until certain clues emerged where he thought Maybe this isn't reality, maybe this is something else.
Well about halfway through uh the film as he discovers that The sets and the people are imaginary. He sort of gets the idea and he understands that he is the most popular. Actor That the world is watching. And about halfway through the show, the show's creator Named Christoph. Played by Ed Harris.
is asked this question by a reporter. The reporter says Why has Truman never discovered the true nature? of his world until now. And the response was pretty amazing. Ed Harris Christoph said, We accept the reality of the world with which we're presented.
It's as simple as that. We accept the reality of the world with which we are presented. In other words, This is his truth. This is Truman's truth. Of course, the whole plot of the movie is it's not his truth.
I mean, it might be his truth, but he discovers his truth is not the truth. And the truth is very different. About a decade ago, I first heard this little phrase that we're addressing today: speak your truth. It was in a context of a conversation where somebody said, Well, that's your truth. I'm speaking my truth.
And I remember being. Like taken aback by that. Because I didn't know that there was a difference. between a person's truth and the actual truth. I mean, since when do you get to personalize it?
And I was taken aback because I grew up with a framework of. Absolute truth. I grew up believing that something is either true or It is false. I had in my family and in my education a framework of basic logic. You know, A.
Must always be A. It can never be non-A. In other words, 2 plus 2 equals 4. That's not my truth, that's the truth. Smoking is hazardous to your health.
That's not my truth. That happens to be the truth. There are only two genders, not 42 genders. That's not my truth. That is the truth.
Every pastor gets asked, self-included, from time to time. By parents. Why is it? When I send my kids to college, they come back thinking completely different than how we sent them. This is not who we are.
This is not what we train them to be. Why is it that they think so radically different? And the answer is not because now they're enlightened necessarily. The answer is because the basis of truth has been moved and you didn't know it. Let me explain that.
The basis of truth Has been moved from something that is objective, that is outside of us. to something that is subjective. Inside of us. It's how you feel about it. That has been the shift.
You see, there was a time in our society when there was a moral consensus, a shared value system. Right was right, wrong was wrong, good was good, evil was evil, truth and error. We're different. But what has happened is over the years, over the centuries, really. There has been a rise of humanism that has changed all of that.
When I use the term humanism, I'll define it as simply this: it's the idea that man is the center of all things. Not God. And that goes all the way back to a Greek philosopher named Protagoras who. said man is the measure of all things. Man is the measure of all things.
This phrase, speak your truth. when you drill down has very little or nothing at all to do with actual truth. What it really means when you strip it all away is simply this, say what you feel. Express your opinion. State your perspective.
In other words, say it as you see it. That's all it means. But when you add the word truth to it, You are now elevating it a little bit. You are making it sound so much more noble when you say, well, that's my truth as opposed to your truth. And in such a world as ours, Objective truth statements Are now seen as narrow-minded, bigoted, and arrogant.
And so Here we are. Proclaiming what Jesus said about himself, I am the way. The truth. The life. And when you make that statement, or people read that statement.
To modern ears, that sounds abrasive, that sounds confrontational. I'm going to show you how we got there briefly in a minute. For the meantime, I've had you turn to 2 Timothy 4. You should probably know that 2 Timothy is Paul's last Letter? It is You might say his last will and testament.
He writes to young Timothy, who's not so young anymore. He has grown up under Paul. He's been mentored by Paul. He has been the apostle's protégé. When Paul writes this letter, he knows he's going to die very shortly.
He says so in this letter. And when you know your time is short, you usually talk about what matters most. And what is uppermost in Paul's mind as he is facing his own mortality, it is inevitable. What concerns him the most is people who would be falling away from the truth. It's smattered throughout the entire letter.
I'll spare you from reading it all. But throughout the letter, he expresses this concern that there is deviation going on, falling away, departure from the faith because of deception. That brings us to our text, 2 Timothy chapter 4. Beginning in verse 1. I charge you, therefore, before God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
who will judge the living and the dead. At his appearing in his kingdom, Preach the word. Be ready in season. And out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering, and teaching.
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. But according to their own desires, Because they have itching ears, They will heap up for themselves teachers, and they will turn their ears. Away from, notice the truth. and be turned aside to fables. But you.
Be watchful in all things. Endure. Afflictions. Do the work of an evangelist fulfill your ministry. In those five verses, we basically have three instructions regarding the truth.
And they're very simple. We should know the truth, we should guard the truth, we should speak the truth. First of all, we should know the truth. There's some important phrases I want to draw your attention to. In fact, if you don't mind circling writing in your Bible with a pen or a pencil, you may want to circle these words or connect them with a line.
Notice in verse 2 the phrase the word. Preach the word. And then also. At the end of that, Second verse, the word teaching. And then, would you notice in verse four the phrase, the truth?
And then in verse 5, your ministry. All those words and phrases are connected, they essentially mean the same thing. In other words, what Paul is saying is your ministry, Timothy. is to teach people the word which is sound doctrine. And when he says preach the word, he means Preach the scripture.
The Word of God. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Every day, the generosity of friends like you helps reach more people with God's word, changing lives through clear, practical Bible teaching. And this month, we want to thank you with a powerful and inspiring resource from Skiff's wife, Lenya Heitzig. It's her book, Reload Love, Transforming Bullets to Beauty and Battlegrounds to Playgrounds.
This remarkable book tells the true story of how God took Lenya's heartbreak over suffering children in war-torn regions and turned it into a global movement of compassion, melting down bullets to build playgrounds and bring hope where it's needed most. Request your copy of Reload Love when you give $50 or more to support Connect with Skiff Heitzig. Call 800-922-1888. or visit connectwithgift.com slash offer.
Now let's return to today's teaching. Lest you think I'm reading that into it, I want to take you back for the sake of context, if you don't mind. Even if you do mine, go back to chapter 3. Look at verse 14. Where Paul says, but you must continue in the things.
which you have learned and been assured of knowing from whom you have learned them. And that from childhood you have known the holy scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith. which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture. is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped.
for every good work. Then he launches into our text. I charge you, therefore. Before God, The Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead, preach. The Word.
So all those are connected. Here's a little Here's a little diagram. Word. equals Scripture equals doctrine equals truth. We should know that.
We should know. The truth. Knowing the truth is on Paul's mind so much that he repeats this 11 times in this letter. We should know the truth. Why?
Well. We are primarily people of truth. That's sort of his our calling card. We are proclaiming the one who said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And we believe, I believe, I hope you do as well, that our source of truth is the Scripture, the Word of God, the teaching, the sound doctrine.
In Daniel chapter 10, Daniel referred to the Bible as the scripture of truth. You wanna know why? It's the only book in the world that'll tell you the truth about God, about you, about your condition, and about what you need to do to fix that. It'll tell you the truth.
So, rather than a humanistic foundation, man is the center of all things, the measure of all things, ours is a theistic. Foundation. That's a different worldview. God is the measure of all things.
Now look at a phrase. In verse 3, look at that phrase, sound doctrine. I am aware that whenever I speak the word doctrine, that will fall on different ears different ways. And for some of you, that is a word that just sounds way too stiff. I know that because I hear the way some Christians talk about doctrine almost apologetically.
I've told you before, I feel sorry for certain words. This is one of them. Yeah, I listen to Christians say, well, I don't want to make this about doctrine. First of all, before you say that, you need to know what the word doctrine actually means. It means, Good.
Teaching. wholesome, solid instruction.
So, how ridiculous does it sound when you say, I don't want to make this about good, wholesome, solid. Teaching Really, you don't? Because I do. That's what doctrine is. I've told you before that Many people treat the scripture like they treat the owner's manual in their vehicle.
They know it's there. They're not going to go home and read it. But when something breaks in the car, they will open it and feverishly look through it to find how they can fix the problem. A lot of people neglect the manual of truth. in favor for their own personal truth.
But doctrine is important. In Acts chapter 2, remember what was on the church's priority list? They gave themselves steadfastly. to the Apostles' Doctrine, number one. 1 Timothy chapter 4, until I come, give attention to reading, exhortation, and doctrine.
To Titus, very similar, teach what is in accord with sound doctrine. I'll never forget reading these words from one of my favorite authors, James Boyce, years ago. He said, We do not have a strong church today. Nor do we have many strong Christians. And this can be traced back to an acute lack of sound.
spiritual Knowledge. You see, there are certain things you need to know. You need to know the truth. On four different occasions, Jesus said to his detractors. religious people.
Have you not read? He was referring to their Bible. Don't you read the very book you claim is your source for authority? Have you not read? And I wonder if Jesus were here and asked us that question: have you not read?
How would we honestly answer that?
Some of us would have to say, well, actually. No, I haven't. Because 11% of Americans read the Bible. Four percent of Americans have a biblical worldview. Do you realize what that means?
It means 96% of Americans would basically agree with the idea: speak your language. Truth.
Well, it gets worse because that's just Americans in general. And I know you could say, yeah, but we're Christian Americans. We're very different.
Well, according to George Barna, two in five evangelicals. Say it doesn't matter what religious faith you follow.
So if I were to get five people and I won't point to them in a row somewhere in church. If I took five of them, two of them would say, Didn't matter what you believe in. And he continues, one-third of evangelicals. Say, we all pray to the same God, and faith in Jesus Christ is not necessary.
So we should know the truth. We should know the truth second. We should guard the truth. Verse 3 tells you why. For the time will...
come and I wonder if it hasn't come. already for the time will come when they will not endure good wholesome solid sound teaching But According to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers, they will be they'll turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables. I'd like to read that to you in a paraphrase version called The Message by Eugene Peterson. He translates it this way. There will be times, the times will come when people will have no stomach for solid teaching.
But will Fill up on spiritual junk food. Catchy opinions that tickle their fancy. I wonder how many of you realize there's a crisis of truth today. And when I say a crisis of truth, what I mean is most people are cynical when it comes to truth. and believe truth cannot be known.
Like Pontius Pilate, even 2,000 years ago, who in the presence of Jesus said, What is truth? That's the prevailing thought today. The prevailing thinking today is that no one No one can legitimately claim to have a corner on the market when it comes to truth. They insist. There is no absolute truth.
Have you ever had somebody say that to you? There is no absolute truth. Now, first of all, whenever you hear somebody say there is no absolute truth, they just made a self-contradictory statement because they just stated inabsolute. But I digress. Most people think truth is personal.
Individual. And variable. That it is Subjective from within, not objective from without.
Now why is that? How did we get to that point? I want to give you now a brief. Thumbnail sketch. A little brief historical journey through the weird world of philosophy.
And I say weird, I took so many philosophy courses for a master's degree years ago. And I'll tell you what, you want to be confused? I've discovered that human philosophers for thousands of years have Try to explain truth, decidedly unsuccessfully. You see, the ancients, and I go way back. Just simply assumed the validity of truth.
and human knowledge. But around 500 BC, these three guys popped up: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. They started dealing with the problem of how do we discover what is true. And they set forth several explanations of how truth is conveyed to the mind. I'm not going to go through their streams of thought, I'll just lump them all together.
But since then, for the next couple thousand years, Philosophers presupposed that knowledge was conveyed through nature. that truth is related to reality. And it centers around the way the world. Actually is. But In the sixteen hundreds, and I'm only selecting a few major.
Philosophical streams. In the 1600s, this guy came, René Descartes. He was a French philosopher, and he wrestled with the question. How do we get knowledge? Descartes was a rationalist.
That is, truth is known by reason.
So he began with a few fundamental truths. In fact, he believed that all people are born with a few imbued fundamental truths. And then using logical deductions, he built a more sophisticated structure of knowledge. Rene Descartes was the father of epistemology. And I know you're thinking, really, really?
You got to say epistemology in church. Shouldn't you be telling us a scripture verse or something? But let me tell you what it is. Epistemology. is the theory of knowledge.
And in academic circles, It's the fare of the day. It's the theory of knowledge. It is how we know what we know. How do you have a justifiable belief in anything? That's epistemology.
By the way, Rene Descartes was the one who said, I think. Therefore I am. See, I knew you knew who he was. I think, therefore, I am. That is, he established his own existence and built up from there to prove other facts.
So that was rationalism. Uh Thanks for joining us today on Connect with Skip Heidzig. Before we go, remember that your generosity helps share God's word around the world, bringing truth and hope to people who need Jesus. And this month, we'll send you Lenya Heitzig's powerful book, Reload Love, Transforming Bullets to Beauty and Battlegrounds to Playgrounds, as our thanks for your gift. This inspiring story shows how God can turn bullets into beauty and how love can transform even the most broken places into beacons of hope.
Give now at connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-8888. We'll see you next time on Connect with Skip Heitzing. Make a connection. Make a connection now. Four.
Of the crossing. Castle with burning Sorry. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of connection communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
