The Servant of God, 2 Tim 2:24-26

2Tim 2:24-26

The Servant of God

We are continuing in the section that has the uninspired subtitle, Approved and Disapproved Workers. As I already mentioned, these words, in my view, are not all limited to speaking about workers in the church, but also address the general sort of people who are connected to churches as well. Two of them mentioned by name were teaching heresy about the resurrection already being past. But, individuals who think they have an important insight of one kind or another are often found in churches. In the history of the church there have been many men who think what they have to say is more important than the men God has called to serve and lead the churches. The history of the church during and since the Reformation is full of them. But, since the Reformation and the opening up of Western societies to more than the noble estate, it seems as though everybody has an opinion about everything. That has done great damage to churches. And, it is really a very modern phenomenon. Since the so-called Enlightenment, this has been one of the main tools the Devil has used to undermine the work of faithful ministers in the churches. And let me add, not all ministers are considered faithful men. A diminution of the qualifications for the ministry is perhaps the second most used tool by the enemy of men's souls. But, that is a different matter, though not unrelated. 

This section of scripture is a neglected one. What we have already considered are descriptions of men who ought not be tolerated in the life of the church. There is a subset of those sorts of men who with some attention might come around to the truth and be recovered for some usefulness. But, not all will. The chief goal is the purity of the church in the truth. It is not reconciliation at any cost. That last concern is a faulty one. It has been used to countenance compromise with error in the churches of the Lord Jesus Christ. True unity and let me add, true gospel peace, never comes at the cost of false doctrine and practice. Unworthy vessels of wood and dirt have to be changed before they are fit for the Master's use. And, as we will see in this section of scripture before us, the change comes through repentance--a God-wrought change in their understanding that is used by the Holy Spirit to change people from the inside out.

Repentance is not a simple change of mind on the human level. It is a work of God upon the innermost parts of a human being. It is a change of the heart--the seat of affections after the mind has been convinced of the truth of God. Then, according to the prophecies pointing to the New Covenant is Jeremiah and Ezekiel, the Law of God is written on the heart and God causes the one being changed to follow in His ways. If after time, no change is discernible, it may be that there has been no God given change. This was the case in Judah who rose so high as to be considered a disciple among men, and Simon the magician who was baptized on a profession of faith by the apostles and Annanias and Saphira who fell from perceived grace only to be told they have no part in the work of the Spirit. And, there are others through every age. All things being equal, I would expect these sorts of men and women were in most of the churches throughout most of the ages. That is, human nature, make that human fallen nature, being the same universally. The devil uses this trap to take captives in order to do his work for him.

Let's read the text. 2 Tim 2:24-26:

1. Commands for the Servant of the Lord

2Timothy 2:24-26 And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient,

2. Character of the Servant of the Lord 

25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition,

3. Goal of the Servant of the Lord

A. 25b if God perhaps will grant them repentance,

B. so that they may know the truth, 

C. 26 and that they may come to their senses

D. and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.

Let's look more deeply at all of this:

1. Commands for the Servant of the Lord

2Timothy 2:24-26 And a servant of the Lord

Who or what is this servant of the Lord?

What it is not: it is not every person in the world, nor is it everybody in a church. It is those who have been called by God and by the church to have a special ministry of spiritual service in or to the churches of the Lord Jesus Christ.

All have a place to serve the Lord and others, but without being servants formally called of God into one of the offices of the church: elder and deacon. And, back in the apostolic days, the office of apostle or evangelist. It seems as though those distinct offices died out with the apostolic church. One of the reasons for that belief is the lack of qualifications that have been given for the men who would succeed into those offices.

Even in this passage the sense is that Paul is writing about a special group of people that are differentiated from the rest of the church. The servant of the Lord must not do something. It is not that others may do it, but that a class of men should not engage in in a certain behavior. It is that he…

 must not quarrel

The servant of the Lord (placed in a church to serve the body of Christ) must not engage in arguing. The KJV reds "Must not strive" because the original has the same root word as the word "strife" in verse 23. The servant of God must not do what is the outcome from church life with contrary people. They must not further the generation of strife brought into the life of the church by other unworthy men. Going back further, conduct yourself like you are truly precious to the church and to the Lord. Be like God and silver.

There are churches we have been a part of where business meetings turn into times for people to vent and as they do they generate strife. The word generate is the same word that means to give birth--they beget difficulty and division. It is never a good thing. The servant of God must not engage in that activity. They must not quarrel, or argue, or generate heated discussions about anything--even though contrary sinners will show what is in their hearts by engaging in such activities. If you hang around with these sorts of people you will become like them in your actions or your opinions.

The servant of God, instead of arguing is to be:

24c but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient,

Three wonderful graces. Two of these are fruit of the Spirit, gentleness or meekness and patience. The other a qualification for the eldership--apt to teach.

A gentle spirit is a spirit that is not easily stirred up to sin, it is not easily agitated, even by the presence of sin or its report. One can be affected, without manifesting a harshness of spirit. Jesus was meek. And, until Jesus, Moses was the meekest man who lived upon the earth. Yet, Moses struck the rock breaking God's direct command and Jesus drove the moneychangers out of the temple twice without sinning. There are times when leaders may manifest strength of character and even have a righteous anger about them. But, ordinarily, the sense about them should be meekness. By saying that, remember, that meekness is never weakness. People try to take advantage of the meek spirited individuals in a group. I have witnessed it many times in churches. We should realize that often accompanying meekness is the strength of wisdom.

There was a man in a church we belonged to many years ago who would sit in meetings listening to what everyone had to say. When it seemed as if the discussion was over and liable to go nowhere, this man would rise and speak words, make that gems of wisdom that made peace or gave insight and understanding to the issues at hand. I would often sit waiting for him to speak. It was worth the price of admission--as the metaphor goes.

Patience is likewise of great importance. Patience is not just giving time, but it is the wise use of time often to see what comes of the issue over time, but not as though issues had no end or should never be brought out into the light. Patience is contrasted best with an inability to pause in order to see what develops. If someone acts consistently over a few years all the while being corrected and instructed, there is a problem that may be in need of the correction of the entire church, rather than just one of its servants. The congregation does not always know the back story of all the work that has gone on. The servant of the Lord may need to be gentle and patient with many in the congregation who don't trust the judgments and discernments based on discussions they have not been privy to. Not everybody needs to know everything. Just enough needs to be told to convince or inform others. The aptness to teach is towards the individual who is contrary, yet shows some signs of being straighted out of their crookedness and it is toward the church. The church seems to always want more information.

If we read the NT we find that individuals in churches either knew a lot about situations or that Paul tells them a lot about issues and people in the letters we have. In our day, people are uncomfortable with that biblical level or degree of information being known. We do not live by Roman Catholic confessional practices where something told to the priest in the confessional is never spoken about again. If for the glory of God, the holiness of the Church the reputation of the Lord Jesus in the world or among his people, whatever needs to be public on a number of levels may come out as needed--that is how the churches in the New Testament operated. That is what it is to live as a church in a biblical manner. They did not hide behind sins, they faced them head on with the expectations of repentance when the sin was great enough to bring out. Not all sins and offenses get to that point. Not all sins are great ones. Some are and those have the potential to tarnish the reputation of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So, the servants need meekness, patience, yet seizing upon the need to teach in situations. When exercising his office, it is important to consider the character of the servant of God. It is summarized into one phrase.

2. Character of the Servant of the Lord 

25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition,

Note first, this sort of disagreement is considered to be opposition to the standards and work of the church. There is an objective standard of truth and practice  by which the actions and issues can be contradicted or corrected. Those are strong words. That shows us that this work is not something light and superficial. And, I would add it is not a work into which all are given. It is not given to the church as a body in the first steps of an issue. It is given to the servant or if there are more than one, to the servants, meaning, the elders of the churches. And, it is not given, as it has become popular in our day, given to the men as a collective to hear an sort out. Not all men by virtue of their gender alone are qualified to be involved in the leadership of the church. It is the servant of the Lord in humility, who is involved in this process.

The servant goes humbly to correct. He doesn't go to hear excuses or to have blame shifted to others or to society or to his upbringing. The assumption is that things and issues are known and the work of the servant of God is a teaching ministry made up of biblical instruction to a special goal. It is not to rehear the case agai as if it were some kind of court. A lot of facts are already known, especially if the Servant of the Lord has already been involved in the situation, and even moreso if that involvement has been over many years and many conversations.

The servant goes with and end in view:

3.The Fourfold Goal of the Servant of the Lord

A. 25b if God perhaps will grant them repentance,

There is an assumption that the principles of the scripture have been violated. People often want to make their sin to be smaller than it really is. But, it is still a sin. Men and women will often admit to one small part of what they have done as if the admission of a part is the handing of it all. Where biblical repentance according to what we find in the scriptures is full and complete as we read in 2Cor 7:11:

8 For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it. For I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry, though only for a while. 

9Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. 

10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. 

11 For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.

When you understand what true repentance is, it is easy to understand why people would rip their clothes. They understood who they sinned against and what they deserved. Their hearts were broken and they wanted to show it. We offer a quick, "I'm sorry" and we think it should be enough. True biblical repentance is so much more. We see ourselves as sinners and deserving God's wrath. When God gives repentance it looks like what we found in 2 Cor 7. Has God ever worked in you so deeply that you turned from your sins in order to live in God's ways? Jesus came to call sinners to repentance in order to be saved. But, the gospel is still preached, even to professed believers, because we continue to spit in God's face, we violate his dear Son's presence with us, we abuse the Holy Spirit who is sent to work sanctification is us. Why do we regularly preach repentance? Because knowing our sins can be forgiven, is one of the greatest promises we have in all of the Bible. We need the greatness of forgiveness because of the greatness of our sin--and in the context of our passage this morning, the greatness of sins of people connected to churches. Oh, that sins would be discovered and put away before intervention is needed. The process can get so ugly as sinners justify themselves, rather than repent.

Second the goal is:

B. so that they may know the truth, 

This is where the aptness to teach comes in. There is so much pop-psychology going around that diminishes sin and tells people they are alright. The problem is still sin. You have the problems you have because of sin in some measure. You need to repent or if you are being affected by the sin of someone else, they need to repent and you need comfort, as long as your reaction to their sin has not been sinful. All of this can get so mixed up on so many levels. 

What professed believers need is the truth of God applied to their situations in life. What people connected to churches whether truly believing or not is the truth that alone can bring them to change. The modern church wants to give the answers of the modern world without the expectation of God-wrought change. That is not what God wants. God does not want you to be happy all the time. He may send difficulties your way to mold you in godliness in ways you will otherwise never experience. God knows what his people and hypocrites among them really need. Who are we to say or think we know better than God almighty, God all-wise and God Omniscient? Who do we think we are? What do we really need?

We need the grace of God alone that can….

C. 26 and that they may come to their senses

Many people are out of their right minds. They will never think rightly about themselves and the world around them until they repent and believe. All, must submit to God and His Word to make sense out of this life. Bless God that he has sent preachers into the world to help us understand what is of ultimate importance to him and ought to be to us.

So, contrary people and all those with spiritual needs…

D. and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.

That is the state of contrary people who will not repent according to the scriptures.

It may not be PC. But, it is how God describes troublemakers in the church. Beware of who you befriend. Don't come under the influence of sinners. Seek the Lord and his true people--the trueness of which will be shown in their commitment to Christ and his church as they seek to reflect what the Bible teaches in all of their life.