Gospel Coalition live blog 6: K. Edward Copeland, senior pastor of New Zion Baptist Church in Rockford, Ill.
Text: 2 Timothy 3:1-9
Copeland said he would give his sermon knowing that his next stop was a hospital bed, where a pastor of more than 50 years lay. This pastor is about to die. Copeland previously went to visit the pastor and he shared with Copeland that he was concern with what was going to happen to his flock after he died. Paul writing about difficulties coming in the last days was thus particularly fresh on Copeland’s mind.
Understand this (imperative): in the last days there will be difficult times.
The last days are the days that started with the coming of Christ. According to God’s time clock, once Jesus invaded this planet, the fourth quarter started. We are in the last days.
We need to live in light of the fact that we are in the last days. We know that you have little time left you focus in on the things that are more important. You don’t care about who is going to advance to the NBA Finals from the Eastern conference or who is going to win American Idol.
Since we are in the last days, we have no time for recreational preaching.
In the last days, there will be difficult times
Paul gives a list of 18 or 19 things that are not exhaustive. They are just indicative of the types of characteristics that make up some people in the last days.
The center of these characteristics is lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. We make ourselves the center of reality instead of God being the center of reality. These characteristics boil down to misdirected love. Instead of loving God, people love self and because they love self they will do everything they can to gratify self.
People have misdirected energies. They make and remake idols in their own image. When self becomes the center, we try to remake God and say, “you shall be (fill in the blank: greedy, etc.) because I am (fill in the blank: greedy, etc.).
The tragedy of this wholesale self-centeredness is that it will not remain in the secular world. No, the so-called people of God will take on some of these characteristics. There will be some professing Christians who are practical atheists.
They are giving lip service, not life service.
Having the form of godliness, but not the power
They will have the form, but they will not deny the power that form should give. They are wells without water; clouds without rain.
Paul is telling to not overemphasize the external to the point that they ignore the internal. The power is not in your external practices or performance. Sometimes we think that somehow or another that the sun is coming up because we are growing. Somehow we think that the ministry is being affected because of what we are doing. Sometimes we think that what we are doing as passengers in a plane, flapping our arms, is causing the plane to go somewhere. God determines where you are going, how fast you are going to get there and when you are going to get there.
The power comes from the Gospel. The power is inherent in the message. But in these last days, some of us have mistakenly thought that the power is in the form of what we are saying.
We are supposed to be heralds. We need to be faithful heralds. Otherwise, we are pointless heralds. The whole idea of herald is he communicates an idea, or facts, faithfully.
Within the group of people who are self-centered and deny the power of the Gospel (3:6) are people who are ever “learning” but never coming to repentance. These people are like those who listen to the news and hear about different terrorist groups all the time. But, if asked, we couldn’t really tell someone about the characteristics of the different groups. We have a lot of exposure to knowledge, but we don’t really understand it. The same is true of some people regarding the Gospel in the last days.
Such folly will only go so far
Paul told Timothy to watch out for such men and recognize them. Paul tells Timothy that such men are dangerous and can cause damage. But Paul says that the power and influence of these men can only go so far (3:9). The Bible says that ultimately evil will be exposed.
The reality is that some men are deceivers and they will lead some astray. But the bottom line is: God is still in control. Evil men have some influence, but the influence only goes so far. All evil will ultimately be eradicated.
One day, death itself will have a funeral.
God can take the foolishness of evil men and let it redound to His glory. This is what happened in the cross.
Application
Stop acting like what you do doesn’t matter. If you are a proclaimer of the Gospel, you are on the winning side. So act like it. Why are you concerned about the lies of sinful men? Preach the truth! The power is in the truth.
Stop acting like God isn’t in control and be faithful in your proclamation.