INTRODUCTION
(MARCH 19, 2011)
Paul wrote II Timothy a tear after he wrote I Timothy, about A.D. 67. He wrote his first epistle to encourage Timothy for his huge task of overseeing the assembly at Ephesus. The theme of first Timothy was how Timothy should bring order to the church; notice, I said 'bring order to' and not 'organize' the assembly. When the church began to organize it began to deteriorate until today we have so many denominations I have lost count. The theme of II Timothy is found in chapter 2 verse 15, "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." Paul wrote this, his final letter, from prison in Rome, just before he was beheaded. Paul recognized that there would be a great apostasy of the visible church, and that is why he puts such a huge emphasis on the Word of God, for it is all that is able to sustain the invisible church, the genuine believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. We see today the gathering dark clouds of this apostasy, When the church is taken out of the way in the rapture, the visible church will be free to propagate their liberal fodder, of bringing all men, of whatever race, religion, or social order together.
McGee has a very true presentation of the apostate church:
"Liberal preaching, instead of presenting the grace of God to sinful man, goes out in three different directions. From some liberal pulpits we hear what is really popular psychology. It majors in topics such as this: "How to Overcome" or "How to Think Creatively" or "How to Think Affirmatively or Positively. It says that we're on the way upward and onward forever! That is the popular psychology, and it doesn't seem to be getting us anywhere.
A second type of liberal preaching involves ethics. It preaches a nice little sweet gospel - a sermonette preached by a preacerette to Christianettes. The message goes something like this: "Good is better than evil because it's nicer and gets you into less trouble." The picture of the average liberal church is that of a mild-mannered man standing before a group of mild-mannered people, urging them to be more mild-mannered! There's nothing quite as insipid as that. No wonder the Lord Jesus said to the church of Laodicea: "I know thy works that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth" (Rev. 3:15-16). That would make anybody sick to his tummy. That's another reason I call these people Alka-Seltzer Christians. They're not only fizz, foam, and froth, but they cause you to need an Alka-Seltzer.
Then there's a third type of liberal preaching, which is called the social gospel. They preach better race relations, pacifism, social justice, and the Christian social order. It is Christian socialism pure and simple."
J. Vernon McGee wrote this in 1983, so you can just imagine how far the church as apostatized since then; here in 2011 the world has become more and more galvanized in one-worldism, and the organized visible church has become one with the world. I cannot even describe the crap that is being spewed out in the modern pulpits, because I cannot stand to sit long enough to hear these pastors. But you can turn on the TV and hear some of these clowns like Joel Osteen, and the Robert Schuler family, or read books by Rick the slick Warren, or listen to him occasionally on the TV to see the direction the visible church is headed.
Paul had this apostasy in mind when he wrote this second farewell letter to his dear friend and brother in Christ, Timothy. In this letter Paul will asks Timothy to come and help him in his last days, for he still thought there was more work that could be done in Rome.
William Pringle has this quote [anonymous to me] concerning the significance of this letter:
"Although, in all that Paul has left us in writing, we must consider that it is God who speaks to us by the mouth of a mortal man, and that all his doctrine ought to be received with such authority and reverence as if God visibly appeared from heaven, yet still there is in this epistle a special object to be kept in view, that Paul, being in prison, and perceiving his death to be at hand, wished to ratify his faith, as if he had sealed it with his blood. So then, as often as we read this epistle, let the condition in which Paul was at that time come before our eyes; namely, that he was looking for nothing but to die for the testimony of the gospel (which he actually did) as its standard-bearer, in order to give us stronger assurance of his doctrine, and that will affect us in a more lively manner. Indeed, if we read this epistle carefully, we shall find that the Spirit of God has expressed Himself in it in such a manner, with such majesty and power, that we are constrained to be captivated and overwhelmed. For my own part, I know this epistle has been more profitable to me than any other book of Scripture, and still is profitable to me every day; and if any person shall examine it carefully [which I intend to do], there can be no doubt that he will experience the same effect. And if we desire to have a testimony of the truth of God, which pierces our heart, we may well fix on this epistle; for a man must be in a profound sleep, and remarkably stupid, if God do not work in his soul, when he hears the doctrine that shall be drawn from it."
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