2 Timothy 2:15-19 ESV
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: ‘The Lord knows those who are his,’ and, ‘Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.’”
What is “irreverent babble”? Do you know? I have a general
idea, but I am going to look it up because I am not entirely sure of all of its
meaning.
Well, to be irreverent is to be disrespectful, mocking,
ungodly, profane, and blasphemous, particularly to God or about God, or to those
who are the Lord’s servants, or to those who are deserving of honor and respect.
And respect is “a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited
by their abilities, qualities, or achievements” (source Google). And babble is
chatter, or talk, gossip, chat, and conversation.
So, in our conversations with others we should never be
irreverent and disrespectful to God nor to his true servants nor to anyone
deserving of respect. And we shouldn’t even treat the disrespectful with disrespect,
although at times we may have to be strong in our words to those who are
treating God and his servants with disrespect and in a way that is dishonoring
to them. But we should speak the truth in love, not hate.
So, what is the danger of this “irreverent babble,” besides
the fact that it hurts other people? It is that it will lead people into more
and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. In other words,
how we talk to and about others, and how we treat others, and how we talk about
God, and how we treat God can impact other people and how they treat God and
how they treat other people. So we need to watch what we say.
It is especially offensive if you are giving honor and
praise to the ungodly, and if you are treating the ungodly with enormous
respect and value while you dishonor God and his servants by your speech and by
your actions. But this happens a lot! Have you ever noticed, particularly on
social media, how professing Christians will honor sports figures and actors
and politicians, etc. while they will display lack of respect to God and to his
servants?
And the more that this happens, and the more that it is
accepted, the more that it spreads like gangrene and it leads many people
astray. And it is spreading like gangrene in the Christian culture in America,
though not impacting everyone, but seemingly impacting the majority of those
professing faith in Jesus Christ. For so many professing Christians feel that
they can dishonor God with their lives and that they can blast his servants.
But all this is while they raise to superior status those
who are lying to them, who are manipulating and tricking and deceiving them. So
the ungodly are getting the praise and honor while the godly are being devalued
and disrespected. For the godly are being treated as though they are trash to
be discarded while the ungodly are being raised up and considered worthy of
honor and respect, not in all cases, but this is happening a lot!
But we are not to be like that. We are to be people who
honor our Lord with our lips and with our actions, and who do so in front of
other people, too, and who are not ashamed of Jesus and of his Word. And we
should be people who honor the Lord’s true servants and messengers, too, who
are bringing to us the truth of the gospel, for our good, and who are not
telling us lies, which are for our detriment, and not for our good.
And we are to be workers for the Lord who are approved by
God who have no need ever to be ashamed of our Lord or of his gospel that he taught.
But we are to be those who are correctly handling the Word of Truth, to the
best of our understanding (and in context), so that we are leading others to
the truth and not to the lies. For it is the truth which sets us free from
addiction to sin and which empowers us to live righteously in obedience to our
Lord.
For not everyone who says to Jesus, “Lord, Lord,” will enter
the kingdom of heaven, but only the ones DOING the will of God the Father in
heaven. Therefore, the Lord knows those who are his, and they are those who
have departed from iniquity so that sin no longer has mastery over their lives.
And they are those who are walking in righteousness and in obedience to the
Lord, and who are not walking in deliberate and habitual sin against God.
Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer
Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897
Oh,
to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This
is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly
I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus,
Thy perfect likeness to wear.
Oh,
to be like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving,
forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping
the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking
the wandering sinner to find.
O
to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy
and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly
enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing
to suffer others to save.
O
to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour
out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make
me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit
me for life and Heaven above.
Oh,
to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd
Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come
in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp
Thine own image deep on my heart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg
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