The following is a sermon transcript from our Sunday Service at The Rock Church in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. Each week, we gather to worship, learn from God’s Word, and grow together. This transcript is provided as a free resource to encourage and equip you in your walk with Christ. While you’re welcome to read and share this content for personal use, we kindly ask that it not be redistributed or published elsewhere without prior written consent from The Rock Church.
Benjamin Franklin famously said, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” In other words, the most successful people are those who have clear goals and a well-defined strategy. Without a plan, you’re simply wandering through the wilderness, hoping that one day—just maybe—you’ll reach your destination. It simply won’t happen.
Many of us exist in that state of wishful thinking: “Everything will work out.” And that is true in the end, but, “I don’t need to think about which way to go, what resources are necessary, and what challenges I might face.” While few of us would like to admit it, it’s in fact how we live our lives. And while God’s plans will always succeed, does that mean that we should simply sit on the sidelines? No, of course not.
But the problem with the Christian life is that many believers view success as the absence of hardship. They underestimate just how destructive the sin nature is, while at the same time holding expectations of others that are simply too high. It becomes a game of formulas: “If I just maintain my spiritual disciplines, I shouldn’t have any problems. God will surely bless me. He sees how hard I try. He knows my heart. He wants to give me every good thing.” Many think that since they have the truth of Christ, they don’t need to pursue the Christ of all truth. “All I need to do is study the Scriptures myself. I don’t need anyone’s help. I can do it on my own.” And there again rises the emphasis on human reason, on individual private interpretation, on worldly wisdom. There’s little talk of the necessity of Christ, the sufficiency of Christ, the centrality of Christ. As Martin Luther said, it’s a theology of glory rather than the theology of the cross.
What was that? Yeah—a theology of glory is all about your personal success, you winning all the debates, and, of course, finding true happiness. You see, the theology of the cross is about expecting hardship. Why? Because if the sinless Savior of the world faced the most suffering possible, why would we expect anything less? It’s this whole idea of dying to self and being willing to die for the cause of Christ. But sadly, we have been sold a different gospel that promises health, wealth, and success. So when anything in life is hard, we think it’s not fair, and we blame God with all of our problems.
Now, this is not to minimize the pain of today or the glory that will await us when we finally are delivered from these bodies of death and dwelling with our perfect Prophet, Priest, and King. But we need to understand the spiritual battle plan.
So what is it, pastor? Tell me—I’m listening. At the center of the plan is Christ the Lord. We can know all the Scriptures, spend much time in prayer, give away all our possessions, focus all our energy inward, but still miss what is essential—and that, of course, is knowing Christ and beholding Him and running to Him and finding safety in Him. See, that’s what I want to talk about. It’s the spiritual battle plan, and contained within it are some key assumptions. We don’t look at the world and wonder why there is so much evil. We know our hearts. We know we have the very same capacity for evil as the worst people that have ever lived.
So let’s establish the spiritual battle plan. Let’s look to Christ who has already claimed the victory. Let’s focus on the gospel of Christ, knowing that suffering will come. Sin will run wild. Evil will temporarily hold on to some ground. But Christ is Lord, and His kingdom is coming. Be not discouraged. Be not faint-hearted. There will be a day when it’s all made right.
If you’re taking note, write down the big idea: Christ is essential for a successful spiritual battle plan. And I’ve put together four key strategies from the text, the first of which is anticipating hardship. This is a vital strategy for what we’ve called the church militant. (And don’t be scared by that term; I’ll explain it if you’ve heard it for the first time.) Secondly, understanding the depths of our sin nature. Our sin nature is crucial in compassion and also essential in reflection—we’re going to talk about that. Third, true godliness can only come from the Holy Spirit’s power working from within. And lastly, know this about any spiritual leader: any spiritual leader that fails to direct people to God’s purposes in Christ has missed the mark.
1) Anticipating Hardship: A Vital Strategy for the Church Militant
Verse 1, 2 Timothy chapter 3—you can also check out our sermon notes on the Church Center app. I would add that as well. “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.”
Ah, yes, pastor—finally. We have been waiting for you to get into this topic. The end times. It’s here. Tell me. Tell me the secrets. Unlock all the mysteries. I want to know. The cry of many believers scouring the internet looking for secret clues behind what has already been revealed in the Word. Believe me, I understand. It’s very easy since whatever is being said is quite intriguing. It’s how they piece together current events and the timeless truth of God’s Word. In fact, it was—and is—a common practice for many evangelicals to hold the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other. Why? Because we’re constantly looking for fulfillment of prophecy.
And we are certainly closer to the end than we were yesterday or last year or even 2,000 years ago. But many have asked the question, “Are we in the end times now? And when did it start?” They reference the last hundred years with the proliferation of wars, more Christians being martyred than ever. Yes—very true. But I’m submitting to you that the end of times started—began—on the day of Pentecost. Amen.
Take note of Joel chapter 2, Old Testament prophet, verses 28 and 29. He said this: “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and daughters shall prophesy; your old men shall dream dreams; your young men shall see visions. Even on male and female servants, in those days I will pour out my Spirit.”
You see, it was that very moment when all the apostles were gathered in the upper room praying and waiting, and then suddenly God pours forth His Spirit and reverses what happened at the Tower of Babel. Interesting. You may recall the story—Genesis chapter 11, verses 1 to 9. Can you imagine all the inhabitants of the earth speaking one language? Well, that was, in fact, the case. And what did they agree to do? “Let’s build something. Yes, let’s build a tower.” Why? “To reach the heavens, of course.” In the text, Genesis 11: “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower that reaches to the heavens.” Notice what they say next: “Let us make a name for ourselves.”
Well, clearly the Lord was not pleased with that assertion, so He confused the people. He dispersed them. He established many languages. This was clearly a way to put a check on the centrality of man’s power in one language. Now, we see that same thing happening at Pentecost: the languages come forth by the Spirit’s power and presence—obviously the birth of the church—and the gospel would now go forward to all peoples, languages, tribes, and nations. It would go forth to Jew and Gentile, rich and poor, young and old. It’s the glory of God spreading throughout the whole world. And this inaugurates the end of times—Joel 2, Pentecost. God gathers now, and until that day He is gathering all peoples from all over the world unto Himself.
You see, when we consider the end times, many in the world tremble at the thought of the end—and rightly so. Why? Because there’s no longer peace and prosperity. It’s danger and tumult. It’s fear and unrest. But not so for the believer. It’s the anticipation of the coming King with His kingdom—our great hope. It’s, in fact, the blessed hope. But deep within the recesses of the unbeliever is fear and dread, because all of creation is without excuse. There will be a judgment day when all sin is held accountable. And the punishment must be made—and now, whether that is taken by the wicked, or, as we trust Christ, that He has taken that punishment already.
Hebrews 10:31 says, “It’s a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” And as believers, we are eternally grateful for Christ, because He bore the penalty for God’s wrath so we didn’t have to. What a Savior. And this reality should propel us to be the most zealous for spreading the gospel of Christ. Why? Because we care deeply about lost people. We must plead with lost sinners: “Come to Christ. Find forgiveness. Have this hope. Have this certainty. Know that you have eternal life.”
Yes, we’re in the last days. We have been in the last days. The Spirit was poured out on all flesh on the day of Pentecost. And if we, as the church militant—as the church advancing the spiritual battle, not of worldly weapons and physical force, but of the Spirit—have a posture of prosperity, we will always be looking to avoid hardship rather than anticipating it.
Expect hardship. Be ready for hardship. It’s a vital strategy for the church militant. Just like a good strategy for reaching any goal is expecting setbacks, we too have to expect setbacks. We must not be surprised when evil commits great violence and wickedness. And yes, we are struck by terror and grieved by evil. It’s a wickedness that we can barely even bear—but we press on. And we realize that now more than ever, the necessity of watchfulness and readiness is critical. We understand the times in which we live, but we don’t fall into the trap of always looking for the signs rather than the Sign-Giver.
The church militant does not describe the church as in a physical battle. We are not looking to force the gospel on anyone, but rather proclaim it to everyone. Amen. We’re trusting that God will do the saving work. So we must anticipate opposition, persecution, much difficulty. Don’t fall into the trap of a theology of glory this side of eternity. Embrace a theology of the cross: that you will suffer; that healing may not come this side of heaven; but there will be a day when we are all delivered. So let’s pray to the Lord of the harvest. He sends us out into those spiritual fields that are white as snow. Let’s pray God brings much increase to the salvation of sinners.
2) Understanding the Depths of Our Sin Nature: Crucial in Compassion and Essential in Reflection
Now we turn from anticipation to understanding. What are people going to be like in these last days? Second point, second key strategy: understanding the depths of our sin nature is crucial in compassion and essential in reflection.
Dare I go through this list again as you all bow your heads in discouragement: “For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.”
I want you to understand two things: unbelievers have a sin nature, and so do we. “Well, pastor, I’ve been born again. I’m not like those in the world.” And while that is true, we have to be careful about pointing the finger at everyone else except ourselves. Why? Because it’s so easy to cast judgment. “Look at that evil. Look at that corruption that is sweeping humanity. So many are deceived. I can’t believe they would not only believe the lies but be passionate about advancing the lies.” Yes, it’s sad. Yes, it’s easy for us to fall into that same deception.
“Oh, pastor, not me. I won’t fall for it. I’ve got the Holy Spirit. He’ll keep me safe. He’ll keep me away from sin and error.” Be very careful. What we see in the text is a comprehensive list of the corruption of character. And we can break down all of humanity into two categories: lovers of self and lovers of God. And that’s the ultimate question that we have to ask ourselves: Am I loving myself, or am I loving God?
Consider any behavior—any sin that you fall into—in the category of loving self. What is most natural? Clearly, someone who loves self will do whatever is necessary to maintain a posture of prominence, an attitude of arrogance, a right to railing against any opposition. It’s no surprise that the false teacher carries all these traits—claiming special knowledge. The false teacher has no problem engaging in spiritual abuse and only sees people as either on his team or not.
All this correlates back to Romans chapter 1, verses 30 and 31. Paul tells the church in Rome: the world—the unbelievers—are filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They’re full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They’re gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents; foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. What a comforting list.
At the heart of it all is the love of self. Loving self is loving money, which is what? The root of all kinds of evil. We are loving ourselves when we have no reason to be thankful—constantly complaining. It’s when children respond to their parents in disobedience, thinking to themselves, “I just want to do what I want to do. I don’t need anybody to tell me to clean my room or do the dishes. I want my device, and I want it now.” It’s this constant desire to seek what feels good and is pleasurable.
If we’re not careful as Christians, we can do the same thing. “I can’t wait until I retire. I can’t wait until the workday is over. Everybody’s working for the weekend.” It’s when all the hard work is finished that I can finally do what I want to do. “Don’t tell me otherwise. I’m an American, and I have the right to pursue my dreams and happiness.” This age-old god of self—you’ve got to put him to death. It’s a theology of glory that will not relent. “I want to make a name for myself. I want to leave a legacy. I want to be known. I want to be loved.”
Sadly, many leaders in the church hold this hidden agenda—hoping to be the next John MacArthur or Jonathan Edwards. “I want to have a mass following. I want to build my life as a tower that reaches to heaven, making a name for myself.” Nothing new under the sun. “I want people to climb up my tower and behold my glory.” Did you ever meet somebody like that? You try to help them understand the error of their ways, but it doesn’t matter how hard you try, how hard you pray for them; they will not relent. And as you try to encourage them, what do they do to you? They accuse you falsely of trying to quench the Spirit. They attack you personally. “How dare you challenge the man of God? How dare you stand in opposition to me? You are the enemy.” They are blind with pride, foolish, rash. It almost looks like they’ve surrendered to Satan. Just like Satan wanted to be God, they want to be God.
So instead of hating them and developing a strong opposition to them, we must understand something about ourselves: we have the same inclination. Given the right circumstances and the right conditions, it’s not very hard to become prideful—to be swollen with conceit (or, we used to say in high school, “swole”), that we lose all sense of self-awareness. Before we attack others and accuse them, we must have a time of personal reflection. We’ve got to ask the question, “Is my pride taking over? Am I starting to justify myself for the behavior that I’m engaged in? Is someone getting in the way of my personal pleasure? Has my heart been lacking in thankfulness—always thinking about what I don’t have rather than being grateful for all that I have in the Lord and all that He’s doing in my life?”
You see, it’s in that very moment that the Lord humbles us, and we view others with compassion rather than contempt. You see, it’s in our compassion for wicked people that we can look a Satanist in the face and say, “I love you with a love that comes from God in Christ.” We’re then able to engage with our enemies much the same way that Charlie Kirk did—without fear. We can understand people. We can know just how deep the corruption of sin is in our hearts. We can know that they’re heartless, but we can also know that they need a new heart. They need a regeneration of the Spirit of God. They need a new heart—turning from the heart of stone to a heart of flesh.
We can expect people to love themselves and not love God. It is natural. In fact, even as Christians, we’re not able to love God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength. You can raise your hand if you’ve done that for more than ten minutes. I’d be happy to acknowledge you. We can think we’re doing so well in our Christian performance, only to be blindsided by a temptation we weren’t ready for. We fall for it—but the difference is, we get back up, and we do so with all humility and thankfulness to God.
See, the problem is the world’s system of thinking is that everyone is basically good. “I’m nothing like Kyle Robinson, Charlie Kirk’s assassin. How could that man be so hateful? How could he carry so much rage, so much brutality, so heartless?” Well, the Apostle Paul is telling us right here: in the last days, people will be lovers of self. They will see anyone who disagrees with them as hateful.
But let me add one other point: there will be people within the visible church—professing Christians—who match this description. Wait a minute, pastor—no way. How could that be? How could anyone be part of a church and behave in every way that is antithetical to the life and practice of a true believer?
3) True Godliness Can Only Come From the Holy Spirit’s Power Working Within
That brings me to my next point, number three: true godliness can only come from the Holy Spirit’s power working within. It’s verse 5. We read together: “Having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.”
Now, it’s pretty easy to agree that true godliness can only come from the Holy Spirit’s power working within. So why even mention it? Well, I’ll tell you. There are many in the visible church professing to be Christians that are all form and no substance. What do I mean by that? I’m not saying our church, but the visible church in all the world contains both believers and unbelievers. And those unbelievers in the church—some of them—have learned to be “Christian,” quote-unquote, by imitating the behaviors of others. Amen. They may even lift their hands during worship, shout “Amen,” attend Sunday gathering faithfully—but lack the power.
“Pastor, why would anyone do that? You know, we live in New Jersey. It’s not very beneficial to your success to pretend to be a Christian.” I understand—that’s very true. But Paul was clear to Timothy: do not expect everyone in the visible gathered church to be a believer. Why else would Paul tell Timothy to avoid such people? If we avoided everyone who was a lover of self, we wouldn’t have very many places to go. That is the way of the world—but not so in the church.
I want us to understand what this phrase means: denying its power. Denying its power. Is Paul saying that they deny the power of living a good life? Of how helpful it is to exercise self-control? Are they denying the power of being good and kind and choosing love? No—clearly not. They’re denying a different kind of power. What is this power you speak of? They are denying the power of the Holy Spirit. They are denying the fact that the Holy Spirit is the One alone who’s able to regenerate—that is, bring new life to the soul—bring influence toward becoming more like Christ.
If you’ve been a Christian for more than a minute, you know it’s impossible to be more like Christ in your own strength. But these people will laugh at the whole idea of needing Christ. “I have a good life. I work hard. I’m an honest person. I can be a Christian simply by being a moral person.” Moralistic therapeutic deism has been the religion of our country for many, many years. Amen. While the Bible is clear about the goodness of the human heart, it simply does not exist. There’s no one that does good—not even one.
“Wait a minute, pastor. I can do lots of good things in the world. I can feed the homeless. I can volunteer at a soup kitchen. I can clean up a devastated community reeling from a hurricane.” And the answer is: of course you can. But is there any amount of goodness that will be enough to satisfy a holy God? “That doesn’t seem fair. Surely God’s not like that.” We have to understand how deep our sin nature goes—how deceitful our hearts truly are—that even our best works are tainted by sin. You see, it’s the fact that after you fed the homeless the other night, you’re gathered with some friends and you thought it was necessary to describe to them the manner in which you sacrificed to serve these poor people—the time, the effort, the energy—so that they could hear how good you are and others could honor you.
So what’s better: a wicked person who doesn’t hide their wickedness, or a wicked person who wants everyone to think they’re a good one? It’s what Satan loves more than anything else: for the unbelieving world to look on at the visible church and accuse it of hypocrisy. “Oh, there they go again—those Christians pretend to be better than everybody else.” The world loves to see another pastor fall, another church close its doors. They want evidence to prove that this indwelling power of the Holy Spirit is really something that they can copy. They can plagiarize it. “Oh, they want to show how good they are? Good. I’ll start a non-profit with its stated purpose to end poverty. That’s right, I’m going to do it. I’m going to show that church I don’t need them. I’ve got all the goodness of my own. I don’t need Christ.”
The question remains: should we be on the witch hunt for those in the church that are just fakes? “Okay, pastor, here’s what we’re going to do: spiritual assessments. That’s right. Everyone that’s a professing believer in this church—we’re going to expose them. We’re going to call them out. I mean, isn’t that what Paul’s saying here? He tells Timothy, ‘Avoid such people.’” Careful, Christian—you have fallen into the trap that Paul was not intending.
Here’s what we know about godliness—about a true reverence for the Lord: it can come only from the Holy Spirit. I’m sure you’ve had many days when you thought to yourself, “Man, this is too hard. I can’t do this. I can’t live this Christian life.” Amen. I would submit to you: you are in exactly the right place where you need to be. Why? Because it’s only then that you run to Christ. You confess to Him—your great High Priest. You let Him know, “Lord, I need Your power. There’s too much sin. It’s everywhere. I feel the weight of it. I feel spiritual darkness upon me.” You may even have an unbelieving spouse—feeling that pressure to represent the Lord. And then when you fail, you lose your temper, you feel guilty, you feel ashamed, you feel like you’ve disappointed your Heavenly Father. It’s in that moment that you need Christ. You need to run into His arms. And guess what? He welcomes you. He says, “Come. Come on. I know you’re struggling. I know it’s hard. Come on.” He says, “Cast all your cares before Me, because I care about you.” He reminds you that you have no power of your own. It’s the Holy Spirit’s power—the Spirit of Christ—the same power that rose Jesus from the dead.
As I’ve said before, pursuing piety is good. Pursuing godliness is good. Pursuing “all for Christ” is good. Pursuing the transforming power of the Spirit is good. But resorting to pietism is bad. Pause right there—what are you talking about? What’s the difference? What is this pietism? Piety is wonderful. It’s godliness. It’s God’s power. It’s the Spirit’s work. It’s forming Christ in us. Pietism, however, is constantly looking within yourself. It’s constantly looking to your performance as a Christian. It’s saying that all I need is a good Bible study plan. That’s right. As long as I have my one-year Bible, I go through it; as long as I set my prayer time three times a day; as long as I go to a small group every night of the week—surely I will be successful as a Christian. I will be a better Christian. I will feel better about myself, and God will be pleased with me.
As I’ve said before, these things are all great. But when you use them as a marker for your performance—for you to be accepted by God—it’s a problem. As I said before: God is pleased with you because you are in Christ. Period. When the Father said, “Behold, My Son, in whom I am well pleased,” if you’re in Christ, He says the same thing about you right now.
“But pastor, I’ve sinned. You don’t understand my morning, my week.” The Father says, “I am well pleased with you, because you’re in Christ.” You wear the robes of Christ’s righteousness. You’ve been declared not guilty, forgiven, washed, cleansed, given a new nature, a new Spirit, a new life. You’ve been raised with Christ, and you no longer live—that old person, that old life is dead.
In other words, the life that you now live is by trust. You are trusting God with your life. And growth in the Christian life is a growth in trust. Thankfulness says this: “I trust God has given me everything that I need for life and godliness.” Self-control says: “I trust God is working all things together for my good and His glory.” Humility says: “I trust God has given all the answers—not in myself.”
You see, what I mean is to trust God in Christ—to work all things together according to the counsel of His will. So stop trying harder and start trusting more. Yes, order your life with God as the priority, not forsaking the assembly of the saints, partaking of these ordinary means of grace. Since true godliness can only come from the Holy Spirit’s power working within, trust that God is able and willing to do just that.
4) Any Spiritual Leader Who Fails to Direct People Toward God’s Purposes in Christ Has Missed the Mark
Lastly, know that any spiritual leader who fails to direct people towards God’s purposes in Christ has missed the mark. It’s verses 6 to 9:
“For among them”—these are the such people; these are in the visible church; these are the false teachers and deceivers—“among them are those who creep”—bunch of weirdos (sorry about that)—“into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins, and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth—men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.”
Now, when Paul says to avoid such people, he helps us to understand who those people are. Remember this: the cults that exist in this world also have a spiritual battle plan. And here’s what it looks like: finding the most vulnerable people and taking advantage of them. Amen. It’s when people are lost and hopeless that suddenly someone knocks on the door. “Oh, who could that be? My, that looks like a very nice young man. He’s even wearing an elder badge. Must be someone important. I wonder what he has to say.” And after a long conversation, he will have convinced you that you need him, and he needs you.
You see, as people, we all have basic needs. We want to be accepted. We want to be loved. We want to be part of a community. This is who we are. This is how God has made us. But watch out for those who have all the answers, all the secrets, all the reasons why you need to be part of their church. And they will say, “Oh, we are the true church. Every other one is false.”
But some of you are saying, “Oh, well, I haven’t seen a Jehovah’s Witness or Mormon knock on my door in a long time.” Of course not—now we have the internet. And it’s not some nice men with elder badges that are creeping around looking for whom they can recruit—it’s the YouTube preachers and the TikTok warriors. It’s those who call themselves “prophets of God.” That’s right—they hear from God. “And this is what the Lord is saying to us in this time.” They will answer all the questions to the secrets of life. They will know why that hurricane happened or that flood occurred in that particular town. “Well, that was God’s judgment—and I’ll give you the Scripture to back it up.” They’ll put together wonderfully curated videos and captivating music.
In Paul’s day, it was what he referred to as weak women. Now, was Paul taking a dig at women? Was he a misogynist? Did he hate women? I mean, come on, Paul. Why’d you have to use “weak women” to illustrate your point? There are plenty of weak men in the world. Of course there are. He’s just using an illustration that was common at the time that he wrote it. There were these women who were weighed down by their sin, and they were looking for any excuse to feel better about themselves in their sin. So instead of repentance, they looked for anyone who would affirm them in their lifestyle.
It’s this whole concept of always seeking after change. “I just need change in my life. That’ll fix everything. I’ll just divorce my husband. I’ll be happier. Things will get better.” And so this journey goes on. It’s what Paul refers to as this process of always learning. Now, that might sound like a good thing. “I’ll just find the right podcast and other women that struggle—or men that struggle—in the same way I do. I’ll just find a support group and find the affirmation I’ve been looking for and longing for.” There’s nothing wrong with that. These are good things—support groups and podcasts. The question is: do these things direct you to God’s purposes in Christ or not? That’s the point here. Any spiritual leader who fails to direct people towards God’s purposes in Christ has missed the mark.
You know, we live in an age of information. Obviously, you can learn anything—a new language, a new recipe, how to build your very own tiny house. You can find spiritual gurus who’ll give you the secret formulas to finding peace in your life: “If you just carry out these breathing exercises, emptying your body of all negativity, you too can have peace.” It all sounds very good. It’s very appealing. But it doesn’t direct us to God’s purposes in Christ.
There’s a system of belief that I want you to take note of. You may have heard of it. It’s called Gnosticism. At the core of Gnosticism is a belief that secret knowledge is the key to salvation. And it always involves adding to what Christ has already done. “You can’t be serious. Grace isn’t enough. There must be something that I do.” It goes all the way back to the Galatian heresy. The Gnostics of Paul’s time were telling the Christians, “You can’t be truly saved unless you’re circumcised.” Today, it’s alive and well. It’s those in the charismatic movement that believe that unless you speak in tongues, you’re not truly saved. It goes back to the Jesuits of the Roman Catholic Church. They have a prescription for salvation as well—fourfold: as a Christian, you must subscribe to a life of poverty, chastity, obedience to Christ, and, of course, full obedience to the only infallible one. That’s right—the Pope himself.
So those are pretty obvious to spot, but what are some more subtle Gnostic practices? Well, I would submit to you—and this is probably going to upset you, but that’s why I’m a preacher—it’s the belief that the most important tool for any Christian to possess is proper exegesis. That’s right—individual private study, private interpretation of the Scriptures. “If you don’t know how to exegete God’s Word—that is, to understand it, to unpack it, to study it, to pull out from it the meaning of the text—you are missing out.” They will say that every church must equip the saints with these tools.
Now, that does sound very good. I certainly don’t want to discourage anyone from rightly handling the word of truth. But I would remind you that if you’re trying to be a Berean—some of you know what I mean by that—who wants to “study the Scriptures to see if these things are so,” understand a few things. Number one, it wasn’t a Berean (singular) who was studying to see if these things were true. It was Bereans (plural). Secondly, they were studying the Scriptures to see if the Christ was who Paul was talking about. Is Christ truly the Messiah? So since we know that Christ is the Messiah, why would we be like the Bereans? Context is key. Again, I’m not discouraging private Bible study—get out your concordance, open up your Bible commentaries, study the original language—but know this: God has given the church pastors and teachers for the building up of the body of Christ. It’s an ongoing office, alive and well today. God did not give us apostles and prophets for today. The church is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets—all the doctrine of both Old and New—for which we have no new revelation to add to. “Thus saith the Lord,” or “the Lord told me to do this or that”—be very, very careful in saying this if it’s not explicitly revealed in God’s Word.
Paul gives us the example here of Jannes and Jambres. These Egyptian magicians at the time of Moses were imitating Aaron’s miracles so that they could destroy the influence he had with the king. They were imitators. They were corrupted. They were disqualified. There are many false prophets today who have no capacity to understand spiritual truth. We must test everything that’s taught against the rule of faith—God’s Word. Is it consistent with what the Bible says? Does it promote “the faith that was once delivered to the saints”? Or are they trying to promote themselves—to love themselves, to make a name for themselves? That’s what we have to consider.
But the good news is: that will not last. As Paul says, their folly will become obvious. Over enough time, the truth always wins, and they will be exposed as the false prophets that they are. Why? Because what they say doesn’t come to pass. They’ll try to tell the future, predict when Jesus will come, and they think they have all the answers to your problems. Let God be true and all men be liars.
It’s the spiritual battle plan: anticipate hardship; understand the depths of your sin nature; know that only true godliness can come from the Spirit’s power; and flee from any spiritual leader who does not direct you towards God’s purposes in Christ.
Closing Reflection and Prayer
So as we close, it’s a time for reflection. Have you been distracted by the signs and focused on the evil in others? Or are you looking to Christ and remembering the evil tendencies of your own heart? This is the key: Christ is essential for our successful spiritual battle plan. We’ve got to keep looking to Christ and avoid anyone or anything that doesn’t point us back to Christ. It’s a distraction.
So here’s what I want us to do. We’re going to go to Jesus. We’re going to confess how we’ve been distracted—overly angry, maybe even hateful—and just say, “Lord, I need Your Spirit poured out in my heart. I need You to search me and know me, and if there’s any wicked way in me, root it out, Lord. Because I want to be—and I am—set apart as a vessel of honor, but I want to continue to be a vessel for Your honor and glory.”
So let’s take a minute now to confess that. If you have not confessed Christ as Lord, I want you to confess that. And that happens by first confessing that you’ve sinned in all the ways that are listed here—all of us. No one righteous—and saying, “Lord, I will go to hell if I don’t have Someone who comes to stand in for me—Someone to pay the penalty that I deserve. Lord Jesus, come. Lord Jesus, give me faith. Lord, forgive me of my sins. Wash me clean. I want to have joy in the Lord. I want to know the strength of God, the power of God to transform my life. I want to have the confidence and assurance that when I die, I’m going to heaven.”
So confess Christ if you don’t know Him. But if you do know Him, let’s confess our sin. Let’s trust in the assurance that He has for us. Let’s keep looking to Him. Let’s do that now.
Oh Lord, we consider our sin. We consider the tendencies of our own hearts to just want to love ourselves, to do what’s best for ourselves, to chase after pleasure and happiness. But we understand that a theology of the cross is a life that has been crucified with Christ—where we have been buried with Christ in our baptism; that we identify with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection; that we have been raised to newness of life. But we’re forgetful. We forget about that. We look at the signs. We look at the trouble. We look at the evil. We get angry. We want revenge. We know that the Lord will do that—“Vengeance is Mine,” says the Lord. We simply want to advance Your kingdom, proclaim Your gospel, love our neighbors, encourage them toward Christ—not to secret knowledge, methods, worldly wisdom, philosophy—but Christ. Christ alone who saves. Christ alone who will save us on that day and transform us—these bodies of death—into immortality, incorruptible, in Your presence. No more sin, no more sorrow, no more pain.
Lord, we long for that day. We’re tired people. We’re weary. We’re tired of our sin. We’re tired of our discouragement. We’re tired even to pray. But Your grace is enough to strengthen us, to carry us, to keep us all the way until that day. It’s our only hope. We have no power. We have no wisdom—just a broken people. We need You to feed us. Keep feeding us with Your Word and by the power of Your Spirit.
So we thank You that You’re doing that. We thank You that You’ve cleansed us from all sin. We pray now that You would renew us, strengthen us, and lead us—all for Your glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Confessional Reading
It’s just a quick reminder from the Baptist Confession. The thought summarizes what we talked about in terms of the sin nature. You can look at this passage and go, “Pastor, could you choose another one?” But that’s not our style.
1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, Chapter 6, Paragraph 5:
“During this life, this corruption of nature remains in those who are regenerated; and although it is pardoned and mortified through Christ, yet both this corruption of nature and all its motions are truly and properly sin.”
This is the struggle we face. Oh Lord, help us and give us Your grace.
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