HANDLING THE WORD

2TI 2:15, "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth."

DON'T STRIVE OVER WORDS

2TI 2:14, "Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless, and leads to the ruin of the hearers."

wrangle - logomacheo_ - to strive with words

Unfair Advantage...Never wrestle with a pig, you both get all dirty...and the pig likes it.

1TI 6:3-5, "If anyone advocates a different doctrine, and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain."

2TI 2:23, "But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels."

Bill Gothard suggests that we should ask five questions before listening to a carrier of an evil report: 1. What is your reason for telling me? Widening the circle of gossip only compounds the problem. 2. Where did you get your information? Refusal to identify the source of information is a sure sign of an evil report. 3. Have you gone to those directly involved? Spirituality is not measured by how well we expose an offender but by how effectively we restore an offender (Gal. 6:1). Satan will sift you like wheat. 4. Have you personally checked out all of the facts? Even facts become distorted when not balanced with other facts or when given with negative motives. 5. Can I quote you if I check this out?

TIT 3:9, "But shun foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Law; for they are unprofitable and worthless."

2TI 2:16-17, "But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene..."

COMMON GOALS

LOOK FOR HELPERS ON PROJECTS WHO WANT TO WORK ON IT.

2TI 2:2, "And the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also."

THOSE WHO DON'T SHARE A VISION OF THE PROJECT WILL ONLY LOOK FOR REASONS TO FAIL.

2TI 2:3, "Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. 5 And also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules. 6 The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops."

1CO 9:24-27, "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. And everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I buffet my body and make it my slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified."

JESUS TRUSTS US

WE MUST TRUST OUR OTHERS TOO

2TI 2:11-13, "It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him; If we endure, we shall also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us; If we are faithless, He remains faithful; for He cannot deny Himself."

JESUS DOESN'T FORCE HIMSELF UPON US - IF WE INSIST ON NOT HAVING HIS HELP, HE WILL NOT HELP - BUT HE STILL CARES AND WILL BE THERE WHEN WE FAIL.

2TI 2:22, "Now flee from youthful lusts, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. 23 But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels. 24 And the Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, 25 with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will."

BE GENTLE

GAL 6:1, "Brethren, even if a man is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, lest you too be tempted."

One of the meekest men in history was John the Baptist. He was such a powerful figure that Josephus, the great Jewish historian, reports many years later when John's name was mentioned people still trembled at the thought of him. Jesus' eulogy of John was that he was "greater than any man born of woman." Yet when he saw the Christ, instead of giving a speech about his own great accomplishments, he sent his disciples to Jesus telling them, "He must increase but I must decrease." When asked who he was, he simply said, "I am nobody. I am to be heard, not to be seen. I am just a voice." Did you ever notice that David never describes his victory of Goliath in all of the psalms? We live in a time of superlatives - the greatest evangelist, the greatest preacher, the greatest theologian, the greatest actor - we desire dignity, position. We want some title and to be addressed properly. No wonder Christ cannot be seen. Paul called himself "the least of all the apostles." Where is our pride? Where is our meekness?

2TI 2:25, "with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth,"

We like to think blessed are the strong, the shrewd, those who stand up for their rights, those who refuse to be taken advantage of, those who always look out for slights, those who strike it rich and make it a success. We have a tendency to put high value on self-assertion. The natural standpoint is that a strong person is one who not only does what he wills but also bends others to do his will. The Biblical concept of meekness, however, is different. Meekness in the Greek is used to describe an animal which has been trained by its master. Wild and unruly animals are worthless but when trained they become meek, that is teachable and quiet. If we remember this background of the term we will see that meekness is strength under the control of God and that gentleness is true power.

1PE 3:15, "but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;"

2TI 2:25, "with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth,"

WISDOM FROM ABOVE IS GENTLE

JAM 3:13, "Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy."

BASE YOUR ACTIONS AND TEACHING ON THE SCRIPTURES

2TI 3:16-17, "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work."

A lady standing in her kitchen was showing her friend a neighbor's wash hanging on a clothesline." As you can see, Mrs. Simmons isn't very clean. Just look at all those streaks on her wash!" Her friend replied, "Those streaks aren't on your neighbor's wash--they're on your window!"

BE WILLING TO SUFFER

2TI 4:1, "I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths. 5 But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry."

REMEMBER PAUL'S GOAL

1TI 1:5-8, "But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion, wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions...."

RESPECT PEOPLE

1TI 5:1-2, "Do not sharply rebuke an older man, but rather appeal to him as a father, to the younger men as brothers, the older women as mothers, and the younger women as sisters, in all purity."

BE FAIR WITH ALL PEOPLE

1TI 5:21, "I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of His chosen angels, to maintain these principles without bias, doing nothing in a spirit of partiality."

WATCH OUT FOR PEOPLE WHOSE DOCTRINE IS NOT SOUND (NOT BASED ON LOVE), ISN'T WHAT JESUS SPOKE, AND/OR DOESN'T LEAD PEOPLE TO LIVE GODLY.

1TI 6:3, "If anyone advocates a different doctrine, and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, 4 he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, 5 and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. 6 But godliness actually is a means of great gain, when accompanied by contentment. 7 For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. 8 And if we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. 9 But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith, and pierced themselves with many a pang."

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