Those That Oppose Themselves

Temple Baptist Church - 2-9-2014

2 Timothy 2:24-26

 

Introduction:

A. In our last message, I dealt with the pastor’s responsibility towards those who “oppose themselves.” He is to be patient, gentle, longsuffering, and continually instructing them. Tonight, I want to look at the opposite side of the issue.

B. Tonight, I will hit us all to some degree. I often joke when I say, “If they had been here, I would have gotten them.” Tonight, we are all here and I will get us all! This message will help if we listen and heed or it will do nothing if we hear but do not heed.

C. “Oppose themselves!” This is a statement that needs to be understood by all because it affects us all.

1. Yes it does hurt the Lord when His people “oppose themselves” because He loves them and wants only the very best for them.

2. Yes it does hurt the pastor when his people “oppose themselves” because he loves them and wants only the very best for them.

3. Yes it does hurt the local church when its people “oppose themselves” because every member is important and their part of the ministry remains undone.

4. And, yes it does hurt the lost when God’s people “oppose themselves” because their testimony is lost and the gospel is not shared.

D. We must learn to recognize our worst enemy: self! Many people blame Satan, circumstances, friends and others for their spiritual condition instead of placing the blame in its proper place.

1. Our Heart Is Wicked - Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

2. Our Flesh Is Wicked - Romans 7:18, 24 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

3. Our Mind Can Be Wicked - Genesis 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

2 Corinthians 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

E. When you fail to grow spiritually or rebel against authority, you not only oppose yourself, but you also expose yourself as being carnal.

1. We can oppose ourselves by being unteachable: not hearing or heeding God’s Word. It is not between you and the pastor; it is between you and God!

Deuteronomy 30:15-20 See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

2. We can oppose ourselves by being unfriendly. It is not between you and the congregation; it is between you and God!

Proverbs 18:24 A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

3. We can oppose ourselves by being unfaithful. It is not between you and the church; it is between you and God!

Hebrews 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

4. We can oppose ourselves by being unruly. Such behavior shows us up for having a rebellious nature.

Hebrews 13:17 Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.

Conclusion: The list could go one but I believe that we get the point. There is enough opposition in this life without opposing ourselves and the end result is being taken captive at Satan’s will.