Jump Start # 3664

2 Timothy 3:6-7 “For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

The apostle is advising and instructing his young friend and preaching collogue, Timothy, about some turbulent times ahead in the Ephesian church. Things were not being done publicly but privately. From house to house, error was spreading. The spiritual cancer was first seen in the lives of weak women. Rather than recognizing error, they were embracing it. But the spiritual disease would not stop there. It would continue to spread, quietly and quickly, until it became obvious to the faithful who would draw a line in the sand with the Lord and put a stop to it. But until that time, the destruction of the storm would cause a lot of havoc.

One of the characteristics found within our verses today is the phrase, “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of truth.” There are three layers of this that we ought to explore.

First, as the passage states, there are those who are always learning, but that learning doesn’t change them. I think about the volumes of books written about Jesus and His word, yet, so many of those brilliant minds that explained the times, the history, the language, the culture, never fully walked with Jesus themselves. Our Lord said, “you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” Yet, Timothy was warned about those who are always learning, but never getting the truth. Some just never seem to get it. Like wearing colored sun glasses, everything they see is tinted to an idea that they assume is true but has never been proven. Pride and prejudice, not just the name of a book, but a characteristic of hearts that are learning but unchanged by the gospel message.

Lest we only see denominational error here, we must be very careful that we too are not defined as always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of truth. Sitting in years of Bible classes, yet we continue to gossip. Hearing more sermons than the majority on this planet, yet we can seem to control our anger or remain unwilling to forgive. The ‘always learning, but never able’ may be a image that is reflected when we look into the mirror of life.

Second, there are those who are never learning. They have no interest in learning. They want to be told what to do, and like a mindless robot, they will do things without knowing why. A big segment of our fellowship knows more about the Bible than a vast number of people who stand before an audience on a Sunday morning and preach. It’s hard to learn when first, my heart has no desire to learn. More today, would rather watch a funny video than spend ten minutes reading God’s word. And, then there are those who have just a little bit of interest, and they’ll want someone else to tell them what the Bible says. Spoon feed us, works well for a baby. But one shouldn’t be spoon feeding a teenager. The same is true spiritually.

Open the day with a few passages. Just look at the words. Think about what is being said. “Where do I begin,” is a common thought. Start with Luke. Start with Mark. Start with Psalms. Read and think. Read slowly. Read carefully.

The slick message of the false teachers would not capture a heart that knows the truth. They’d recognize error. They see through the fog of inconsistencies and assumptions and opinions. The way to put an end to error is to know the truth.

Third, there are those who are always learning and always growing closer to the Lord. I saw this first hand on a recent trip. The man who preached on Sunday morning was in his 90s. He spoke from the heart and his message was clear and true. That evening, another man preached. I could see the 90 year old sitting ahead of me. As the other man preached, the 90 year old, had his Bible open, pen in hand, and he was writing and writing throughout the sermon. After all those years, he was taking notes as he listened to someone else preach. He hadn’t gained all knowledge. He might have thought, “I don’t need this stuff.” But he did. He was always learning. And, his kindness and sweet disposition expressed that he had spent a long time with the Lord. His name was Olie and the church was very small. But late in life, he was learning, teaching and showing the rest of us, how to walk with the Lord.

Learning. Some never have and never will. Some learn but do nothing with it. And, then there are some, like ole’ Olie, who never stopped learning and is a fountain of blessing because He knows the Lord so well.

How about you? Are you learning God’s word? Is what you learn, changing your heart? Sure is something to think about.

Roger

Jump Start # 3173

2 Timothy 3:6-7 “For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sin, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of truth.”

Our verse is found in a long stream of expressions that describes the coming troublesome times that the young preacher Timothy was being warned about. Rather than loving God, these people loved self, they loved money and they loved pleasure. Sure sounds like our times, doesn’t it? And, among them, as our verse indicates, is a planned and concentrated attempt to mislead some to follow them. And, those who would dance to the tune of these pied pipers are described as “weak women” who are “weighed down with sin.”

Weak women weighed down by sin. Now, that’s a statement! It could just as easily be, “weak men weighed down by sin.” Now some thoughts for us:

First, spiritual weakness is caused by a lack of faith and little spiritual desire to engage in the kingdom. Doing as little as one can is all that some are after. What’s it going to take to pass the test, is what some students ask. Wrong question. What they ought to be asking is, what’s it going to take to get an A in this class. Doing as little as possible often isn’t enough to make a difference in the heart or the lives of a family. Barely coming to services. Barely interested. Never bringing a Bible. Sitting in a pew, with no intentions of taking notes, singing a hymn, or praying along with others. Just starring off into space, bored, day dreaming, playing on the phone and convinced that they are Heaven bound because they are sitting in a church building.

In the Thessalonian letter, the apostle said, “Help the weak.” In dealing with the abuse of the Lord’s Supper among the Corinthians, Paul said, “for this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.”

It’s hard to imagine being weak in a time when apostles walked among the people. How can one be weak when some were witnessing miracles and spiritual gifts? But they were. And, they are today. Too much world and too little Christ. Too much time spent on self and not enough time spent doing spiritual things.

Second, spiritual weakness is a choice. It’s not about the church building. It’s not about who is preaching. It’s not about the size of the church. It’s a choice that happens because faith was not built and spiritual habits were not developed. I don’t think anyone starts off planning to be weak. Often, it’s just the opposite. The were weak, have been weak and were always weak. They never got strong. They never had good spiritual health. This is all that they ever knew and it’s all that they want to be.

In these days, it’s so easy to be spiritually strong. So many tools available for us these days. One can read passages from dozens of translations right on their phone. Blogs, podcasts, recorded sermons  – all around us. Every day we can connect, grow and become what God wants. But in the midst of an amazing spiritual banquet, there will be some who starve. There will be some who are undernourished. It’s their choice. All they want is to stick their big toe in the water and no more.

Third, to our passage today, the weak are vulnerable. The weak women were captivated by the smooth talking false teachers. They didn’t know. They couldn’t recognize error. They would not know a serpent if he introduced himself to them. And, being captivated, they dance off to new fads, new ideas, new teachings, embracing the fascination they have with these slick and smooth talking teachers that are peddling poison and not the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Captivated.

• They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over gullible women (NIV)
• For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women (ESV)
• Some will slither into households and control immature women (CEB)

You get the picture from these various translations. Weak women now believing what is false. Weak women chasing after ideas that are not Biblical. Weak women unstable in faith, now influencing their children in the false and wild ideas that captivated them.

Fourth, you notice from the passage that the impact is upon weak women. It’s not strong women. They know better. They can see through the fog of error. They search the Scriptures and realize that what these false teachers are saying is false. They know. They recognize a snake when they see it. They are not fooled by charism, charm, twinkling eyes and popularity. Sound words are not coming from the lips of these foolish teachers. They are not confused by the persuasive speech, the phony humbleness, and the promise to only say what God says. No. Not the strong women. They see right through it. They look beyond the messenger and look at what he is trying to sell. And, what they see is fake and they will have no part of it.

How does one get strong? Get into the book. Then, get the book into your life. Don’t be persuaded by “one of us.” Know God’s word. A wolf wearing sheep clothing can be very convincing from a distance. But up close, one sees the difference. Jesus said you’ll know the tree by it’s fruit.

It is a challenge working with weak brethren. Their attendance isn’t consistent nor good. They won’t help out. They are a constant struggle. So much time and effort is devoted to those who haven’t made up their minds if they are walking with the Lord or dancing with wolves. The leaders often care more for their souls than they do. Constantly praying, teaching, and influencing is what shepherds must do.

But in the end, if a person doesn’t care about their own salvation, little can be done. There were weak folks then and there will be weak folks today. We never give up, but onward with the Lord we must go.

Roger

Jump Start # 1788

2 Timothy 3:6-7 “For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

Our passage today is found in a long descriptive characteristic of false teachers that Timothy was being warned about. Every line, every word in Paul’s portrait of these wicked men illustrates where they missed it. They did not have the faith, heart nor love as Christ did. The verse before ours, Paul plainly states, “avoid such men as these.”

There is a line from our verse that I want to give some thought to: “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” A few things here.

First, some simply do not get it. They don’t understand the nature, purpose or will of God. They don’t understand what the Gospel is all about. They don’t understand what the church is all about. Some have read the Bible just enough that they think they know it all. For many today, either they have picked up something from the internet, watched a TV show or just heard word of mouth and now they have become experts. It’s like a conversation I overheard the other day at a fast food place. I came for a quick bite of lunch. Two young men were discussing the Bible. I was listening. One proudly stated, “There were over 30 Gospels and the church chose which ones to put in. Have you read any of the other Gospels?” This guy was skeptical, aggressive and sure. The other guy, I guess, believed in the Bible. Like a boxing match, he was against the ropes. The challenger was throwing punch after punch against inspiration, the cannon of the Scriptures and even the authority of the Scriptures.

This is exactly the point of our passage. Some have enough knowledge to be dangerous but not enough to make a difference in the lives. Always learning but never coming—shows that the knowledge wasn’t doing much good. The knowledge didn’t change the thinking and it definitely didn’t change the behavior.

Even among believers, we must give thought to these words. We sit through years of sermons, Bible classes and have read volumes of articles in church bulletins, and yet, here we are, still slammed with worry, consumed with greed, jealous, hateful at times, and stressed to the max. Are we too, always learning but never coming? The learning ought to change us. The learning ought to have an impact upon us. This isn’t school, where we learn facts to pass a test and then forget it about as quickly as we learned it. This is life. What is taught in sermons and Bible classes ought to shape our hearts, change our thinking and lead to us becoming more and more like Jesus. It is because of our learning, that we should be better people. There should be a direct connection between our learning and our becoming.

Second, there is something special about that phrase, “always learning.” That has stuck with me for a long time. What a noble venture that is, to always be learning. Paul was not critical of the learning part. He was pointing out that the learning didn’t do these people any good. Don’t toss the learning. Take the learning and do something with it.

Here are a few “always learning” areas that will help us:

1. Parents need to always be learning about parenting. Our kids do not come with manuals. God’s word gives us great guidelines, but there are specifics that parents are looking for practical help. Be careful who you learn from. Make sure it’s Biblically based. Learning about communication is great. Kids speak a different language than parents do. Learning how to get the lazy bone out of them is important. Dealing with attitudes, peer pressure, modesty, dating—tough topics. Always learning is a great thing for parents. Christian parents need a network among each other to help.

2. Preachers need to always be learning. Not just always learning the Bible, which is first, but they need to continually learn about preaching. In so many other fields, there are “continual education” classes. It’s good for preachers to listen to other preachers preach. I do that often. My preference is to do it in person rather than listening to a CD. Watch. Learn. See. How does he begin the sermon? How does he connect with the audience? How does he move from point to point? How does he manage his time up there? How does he end? Is he convincing? Learn. Get better at what you do, Mr. Preacher. Just because you have preached for more than a decade, don’t think you have learned all there is. Talk to preachers older than you are. Learn how to stay fresh. Learn how to stay relevant. Learn how to connect with teens. Don’t stop learning, Mr. Preacher.

3. Shepherds need to always be learning. There is so much for them to know. They have to understand the nature of sheep. They have to know what’s going on among believers. They have to recognize trends that steal the faith of some. They need to always be learning. Learning how to mentor. Learning how to lead. Learning how to connect. Learning how to communicate. Learning how to warn. Learning how to deal with the broken hearted. Learning how to plan and have vision. A church that is led by those who are no longer learning, will soon stall out and become sluggish. Shepherds ought to have their own classes together. They ought to bring in people to teach them more. Learning to deal with the problems of addiction, pornography, homosexuality and now transgender are what today’s elders must deal with. Do you know how?

I have seen too many tender hearts crushed by elders who did not know what they were doing. They rough when they should have been tender. They were impatient when they should have been patient. Maybe, had they learned, these things wouldn’t have happened.

4. All of us need to learn God’s word. That never ends. It’s more than the academic stuff, such as how many times the word “believe” is found in this chapter. That’s interesting, good to know, and points to themes, but what is essential is learning and turning. Because of what we know, we turn from our old ways, old thoughts, old ideas, and come to understand God’s way. We become more and more like Christ. We must not allow the preacher to be our only source of learning. We must not allow “church time” to be our only place of learning. Get a plan. Open the book. Get a notebook and a pen. Read. Write. Read. Write. Read and write questions you have. Write words that are important to you. Write things you want to remember. Write other passages that come to your mind. Then write applications. Paul’s words, always learning but never becoming speaks of application. Practical, front porch kind of stuff. This is what we need. This is where change takes place.

We are more than life long students, we are disciples of Jesus. We are molded, shaped and conformed to His image. We learn this through the Scriptures. We become this by changing our thinking and our behavior.

Always learning is good, if something positive follows.

Roger

Jump Start # 1286

2 Timothy 3:6-7 “For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

In our verse today, Paul is warning Timothy about some dangerous and difficult times that were ahead. The ship of faith doesn’t always sail in smooth waters. Turbulence, rapids, and dangerous rocks must be steered with care and upmost caution. What Paul describes takes place in the “last days” (v. 1). The “last days,” used here, and in Acts 2 and Hebrews 1, wasn’t the final hours before Jesus returned. The last days was the final period of time. For Timothy, who first read these words, he understood, that he was in the “last days.”

Paul identifies a list of terrible characteristics of those who simply do not become disciples of Christ. They hold a form of godliness. They are always learning. However, they never become. They love pleasure rather than God. They are ungrateful and unholy. Paul’s words to Timothy are to avoid such people.

Our verses today follow this ugly description of those who simply do not get it. The difficult times are a result of these people. It’s not difficult weather. It’s not difficult economics. It’s not difficulty even with the Roman government. It’s troubled hearts who are troubling the people of God. That’s the trouble Paul warns Timothy about. These false people are influencing others and steering them away from the truth in Christ. The language is troublesome. Those who are influenced are:

• Weak women
• Weighed down by sins
• Led on by various impulses

Paul says they are “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” This verse reminds me that there are three kinds of people.

(1) Some never learn. They are not interested in learning. Learning means growth and leads to change. Learning takes effort and energy. Learning involves interest. The learning here is not in academics, but in God’s word. This is the learning that God is interested in. Learning about truth. Learning about the Bible. Doctrine. Foundations. Some never learn. They have an opinion, but it’s unfounded and without truth. They are simply not interested.

(2) Others, as in our verse, are always learning, but the learning doesn’t help them. They study. They take notes. They chase rabbits in their minds. They ask questions. They seem interested, but some how they simply never come to the knowledge of truth. They never advance. They don’t change. Year after year, the same issues come up with them. Year after year, it’s the same questions. A new preacher on the scene is asked the same things that the last preacher was asked. The same answers are given, yet nothing changes. How well this describes so many religious books, blogs and articles today. Great depth of knowledge about early language, the times, the histories are given. Great insight into passages are revealed. However, they don’t connect the dots. They remain loyal to thoughts and doctrines not taught in the Bible. Their words are inconsistent. If they listened to what they are saying, they would move on with Christ. But they don’t. Always learning, never changing. It may be that pride and position keeps that from happening. It may be fear keeps that from happening. But a head full of truth does little good if it does not trickle down into our hearts and change us. We must wonder if the same could be said of us? We hear the sermons. We sit in the Bible classes. We read the bulletin articles. All about us truth is taught and delivered. We underline words in our Bibles and take notes and know so much, but still we refuse to talk to someone who we don’t like or we still refuse to forgive someone who said something mean to us or we still refuse to be friendly to someone because of their skin color or nationality. Always learning, but never getting it. Those are haunting words. Jonah had his Nineveh that he refused to go to. We have ours. There were lepers and Samaritans that Jesus associated with that the Pharisees were troubled by. We have our lepers and Samaritans that we must decide whether or not we will associate with. Always learning and never changing, that’s the real problem.

(3) The final group are those who are always learning and always adjusting and becoming. Truth means something more than just a head religion, it defines their choices, their attitudes and their behavior. Truth does something to them. In the parables, these folks find themselves. The story of the prodigal makes them try to be more and more like the father and less and less like the older brother. The parable of the sower makes them develop that honest and good heart. These folks judge themselves more than others. They are constantly striving to please the Lord. Doctrine is more than a creed for these people, it’s a definition of life that they live by. The years of learning has paid off. They are richer in Christ, stronger in faith and able to point the way for others to see Heaven. What a beautiful thing these people are. They are the joy of every preacher and every class teacher. They love to learn and love to be more like Jesus. They have that real hungering and thirsting for righteousness as Jesus defined in His great sermon.

Three kinds of people. Those who don’t want to learn. Those who learn but never change. And, those who learn and become. We must wonder which one describes us? We must wonder, after all these years, am I still the same or have I gotten better?

The learning is essential. You can’t change if you don’t know how or why. However, the learning isn’t the end. It isn’t accumulating facts, it’s changing hearts that God is after. What has your learning done for you?

Now, that’s a question to ask!

Roger

Jump Start # 976

2 Timothy 3:6-7 “For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

The older I get the more I realize that I simply do not understand some people. This is true even of some Christians. A well known Biblical writer who many are acclaiming to be the most brilliant scholar of this generation is winning over too many folks with his clever writings and new insights. His many books are being read and he is on the lecture circuit in many places. I hear many drooling over the things they have discovered because of his books. I don’t get it. I’ve read several of his books. He is not Biblically accurate, on many things, such as: inspiration, salvation, worship, marriage, second coming, Hell. These are not little things. These are core foundation stones. How can someone say, “I don’t agree with everything he says,” when there is so many things to disagree with. I simply do not understand the fascination some have with things like this.

Some folks are tired of old ways and are quick to jump on something that looks new and different. I think that is the basis of our verse today. Long ago, false teachers were busy. Earlier this passage described them as “holding a form of godliness, although they have denied its power.” They are busy spreading their twisted Gospel, their new insights, among those who are not spiritually stable.

Look how Paul defined those who were being captivated by this erroneous poison: weak women; weighed down with sins; led by various impulses. These were the ones who were being held spellbound by the false teachers. The most damaging statement is: “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” The knowledge of the truth will make you free. That’s what Jesus promised. That knowledge will lead you out of the land of error. It will bring you to a rich and wonderful relationship with God. That knowledge will drive away fears and doubts. It will bring you spiritual confidence as you walk closer to God each day. Studying the Bible is incredible and the bridge to this knowledge. However, if what is taught in these Bible studies is inaccurate, then the learning will not lead to this true knowledge of God’s word. That was the problem. They were learning, but not growing. What they were learning was not God’s word but a corrupted form that the false teachers were spewing.

Three thoughts here:

First, Why women weighed down with various sins? Why did the false teachers pick that audience? Why not the leaders of the church? Why not the preachers and the shepherds? Do you think possibly they knew they would be exposed as false if someone stable, solid and with a knowledge confronted them? Do you think that this was an easy audience because there was a lack of Biblical knowledge? Do you think that these false teachers were more interested in a following than what they were saying? The gullible are easy targets. Truth never suffers under investigation. Ask questions. Investigate. Look into things. Think. Compare. Most of us would never put ourselves in the category of these weak women, as Paul called them. Yet, error is finding a place among God’s people. Could it be that too much time is spent reading blogs, listening to what others say, reading other books than God’s word? Makes you wonder doesn’t it.

Second, false teachers are always busy. They are never satisfied and they never go away. The shepherds of God’s people must be keen about this. They must know the condition of their flocks. They ought to know what their sheep are reading. They ought to recognize which sheep would be described as “weak…weighed down by sins…led by various impulses.” The various impulses is an interesting way of describing someone who is wishy-washy, unstable spiritually, and changes their beliefs and mind often. We are to be led by God’s word. We are to be led by the Spirit. Various impulses is what gets most of us in trouble. We become worried and off we go. We doubt and off we go. We get discouraged and off we go. Impulses leading us to where ever they take us. No direction. No guidance. Drifting about without an anchor. False teachers recognize this. They didn’t stumble upon weak women by accident. They knew. They knew exactly who to go to and they knew exactly what to say. False teachers are sharp. I wonder if they are sharper than the shepherds who are supposed to be watching the sheep. Maybe the shepherds do not want to admit that some are weak and led by impulses. Maybe they don’t want to deal with those kind of things. False teachers don’t mind. They will visit homes, as our passage describes, just for that very purpose.

Thirdly, God’s word is the answer through all of this. Brethren need to know God’s word. We need spiritually strong Christians. Error doesn’t stand a chance against truth. A twisted statement is caught early and swiftly by those who know. Those who are weak are hurting others. They are prone to spiritual trouble. The solution? Teach God’s word. Get to know the Bible. Quit being weak. Stop being weighed down by sins. No longer be led by impulses. That is the solution. Error has to leave when that happens. It will look for another house.

We should take away from this study the thought that Satan never quits trying to get God’s people. He will use every avenue, including books, sermons and even other Christians to trip us. The battle is on going. Our outcome is based upon how much of God’s book is in us.

I hope this helps.

Roger