This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Lewis
Harold, assistant pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland
County in Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Lewis as he
continues teaching through God's Word.
Join in on that with me. Don't be fearful continue to do
what God has called you to do and then he says here in verse
9, he says who has saved with us a holy calling.
He called us to be separate from the world.
The world is not going to go through those things.
The world is not going to take that risk, but because of what
we believe in and because what we know is waiting for us, that
promise of life, we can continue to do what we've been called to
do. And whatever happens, happened.
Faith is the substance hoped for, the things unseen.
Literally, faith is believing in something that you can't see.
So that means that faith requires risk.
How can we as followers of Jesus take risks?
Well, it requires us to 1st believe in the One who empowers
us to do the things that He's called us to do.
When we believe in God, God moves.
Now, that doesn't mean that God doesn't move just because we
don't believe. God's will is like water.
It will always take the path of least resistance.
But when we believe, walk in faith, God moves in bigger ways.
Now here's Pastor Lewis in the Book of Second Timothy chapter
1, as he continues his message last words.
He sees Paul getting arrested and about to be executed, and
he's in the same ministry. He is testifying to the same
name that Paul was testifying to that's leading to his impending
execution. Maybe that caused Timothy to
weep. We don't really know what caused
Timothy to weep. But Paul says I'm mindful of
those tears, that I may be filled with joy when I call into
remembrance. Your genuine faith, Timothy,
your faith is not hypocritical. Your faith does not come from
surface belief. Your faith comes from the real,
the real source. Your faith is based upon your
knowledge and your belief in Jesus Christ.
That is genuine faith. It's faith in the face of fear.
It's faith in the face of all things of persecution.
It's faith in the face of danger.
That's genuine faith, Faith and temptation, Timothy.
Your faith is not hypocritical because your examples were good.
First, it was in your your grandmother, your grandmother
Lois, she was a faithful woman. And that was passed down to your
mother, Eunice, who was a faithful woman.
They pray for you, Timothy, and now you have genuine faith.
I'm going to tell you something. Most of us, and I know I am,
chief, I am definitely one who are here as a result of the
faithful prayers of someone who prayed for us.
Maybe it was your grandmother, maybe it was your grandfather,
maybe it was your father, maybe it was your mother.
For me, it was mother, grandmother and my older sister.
They desperately prayed for me to come out of those streets,
and maybe somebody did that for you.
So we have evidence that the fervent prayers of the righteous
availeth much, and Timothy understood that.
So if you're praying for somebody that's not in here yet,
if you're praying for somebody that you want to see walking
with the Lord before you leave, don't stop praying.
Regardless of what you see, regardless of what you see.
It's not about what we see. It's what we believe.
We serve a God that is able to change hearts, to change lives,
to change the destiny of men and women.
He is able. So don't give up your prayers.
Don't give up your prayers. And then he goes on and he says
in verse 6, he says, therefore, I remind you now, this is his
first. If you're taking notes, this is
his first instruction to Timothy.
He says, therefore I remind you, stir up the gift of God that is
in you through the laying on of my hands.
Stir up the gift that's instruction #1 Timothy.
Stir up that gift that is in you.
Every one of us have a gift that's in us that came to us at
the time that we got saved. When the Holy Spirit came to
dwell on the inside of us, it brought gifts.
So we all have a gift, but non use fear and other things can
cause that gift to go dormant. Circumstances, frustrations,
problems in ministry, it can cause that gift to go dormant.
Non use of that gift. And Paula said, Timothy, stir up
that gift. Fan those embers into a flame.
Timothy, don't let your ministry die.
Don't let your faith die. Don't let your testimony die.
Stir it up. And that's what He's saying to
us. He sent it to me and I know He's
saying it to you as well. Stir up that gift that's in you.
God placed something in you. I don't know what it is, but He
placed a gift that's in each and every one of you who believe.
Stir it up. Don't let it sit and go dormant.
Don't let the enemy be able to celebrate because you are not
serving the Lord in the way that God has called you to do it
because your gift went dormant. Stir it up.
But it's also important that we
remember that the gift is in you.
You're not the gift, he said. The gift that's in you.
We're not the gift. Don't let people think you're
the gift. Don't let people make you
believe that you are the gift. The gift is in you.
It's in US whatever that gift is teaching praise and worship, AV
leadership, whatever the gift is administration.
It doesn't matter. The gift is what's in you.
So he goes on that was necessary just to put out there before we
move on. Then verse 7 he says, for God
has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love
and a sound mind that was must have been necessary to say Paul
would not have made that admonition if it wasn't
necessary. Somewhere along the line Timothy
must have became timid somewhere along the line.
Somewhere along the line Timothy must have become pretty silent
about his gift and was not teaching the word of God or
doing what he needed to do with the gift that was placed in him.
Somewhere along the line something was going on where
Timothy was becoming fearful. Otherwise Paul would not have
made that admonition to him. He would not have brought that
up. And it was right after he said,
stir up the gift. And then he says, for God has
not given us a spirit of fear. So you put those two together.
That tells us that Timothy somewhere along the line became
fearful. Maybe it's because he was seeing
so many people executed around him.
Maybe it's because he was seeing the treatment.
Maybe it was because he was getting threats from Nero.
Maybe he was because the older people that was around him was
just disrespecting him so much that he become fearful.
But whatever the case was, he must have become fearful.
And Paul said God did not give us a spirit of fear.
Timothy, God gave us a lot of gifts came and a lot of things
came with the spirit that God gives us.
A lot of things come with the spirit that God gives us.
In fact, if you go to Isaiah Chapter 11 verses one, it talks
about the seven spirits of God, the fear of the Lord, the spirit
of counsel and might, the spirit of understanding and knowledge,
and the spirit of fear. All those things come with the
spirit. Fear is not one of them.
Anything that we fear, it's the fear of God.
And that's a reverent fear, not a oh, I'm so afraid fear.
It's the fear of God, the reverent fear of God.
So somewhere along the line Timothy became fearful.
So he goes on here and he says, but what did come with that
spirit was power, love, and a sound mind or a disciplined
mind, a mind of self-control. That's what did come with that
spirit. But not fear.
Fear wasn't one of them. So Paul's acknowledging Timothy,
he says, look, serve boldly and not fearfully.
And he's given us that same admonition to serve boldly and
not fearfully. So he goes on here in verse 8,
so #1 stir up the gift of God #2 Now verse 8.
Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor
of me his prisoner. That's number two.
Do not be ashamed of the testimony of the Lord.
When you look at that, when you look it up in the Greek, it
really talks about don't be disillusioned or don't be
disappointed of the testimony of the Lord.
There's a lot of things that happens that could disappoint
us, so we lose faith. We can lose faith in the
testimony of Jesus Christ, so we don't give it as much anymore.
And Paul says don't be ashamed of it.
Don't be ashamed to suffer for him.
Don't be ashamed to talk about Jesus Christ, Timothy.
He is the Messiah. He is the real deal.
He is the Son of God, He is the Christ.
You don't have to be ashamed. You won't be disappointed if you
put your faith in him, Timothy. You won't be disappointed,
Timothy, Don't be ashamed. Don't be ashamed.
And that's what he talks about. Then he says nor of me, his
prisoner. Some people can be ashamed.
Wait a minute, You, you're doing all that teaching out there.
I mean, think about how some people can say that, you know,
you're always talking about Jesus and you talk about your
faith, but look at you, you're suffering.
Look at you, you going through, look at you.
You ain't prospering. Don't care about that because we
have the promise of life that Paul talked about at the
beginning. I don't care about what goes on
here in this world. So what I know, I serve a God
who's able to do anything that he wants to do for me and for
you. I serve a God who's able.
But the promise that he gave us was the promise of life, and
that's what we trust in. So he says.
So don't be ashamed of me either, just because I'm
suffering. But instead of being ashamed,
and this is #3 the third instruction, Share with me in
the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God.
Timothy, join me in the sufferings.
Join me in it. Suffer with me, you know, Don't
try to avoid it. Preach the Word.
And if you have to suffer as a result of preaching the Word, as
a result of sharing the message of the gospel, so be it.
Then join in it with me, Paul said to Jesus.
I want to know you in the fellowship of your suffering.
I want to stand the way you did. Jesus stood and looked of all of
the people who wanted to kill him every day.
He looked right into their face and continued to teach what God
gave him to teach, to preach what God gave him, to preach, to
do what God gave him to do. Looking right into the face of
those who he knew wanted to kill him, he kneeled down in front of
the man who he knew was going to betray him.
But he didn't become ashamed of it or back off of it.
He washed his feet anyway. He washed his feet anyway.
And Paul is saying, let's join in on that.
Join in that with me, join in on that with me.
Don't be fearful. Continue to do what God has
called you to do. And then he says here in verse
9, he says who has saved with us a holy calling.
He called us to be separate from the world.
The world is not going to go through those things.
The world is not going to take that risk, but because of what
we believe in and because what we know is waiting for us, that
promise of life, We can continue to do what we've been called to
do. And whatever happens, happens.
And he's going to tell us why that's important for him a
little further down. But he called us with a holy
calling. That means it's a calling to be
separate. You know, you're a chosen
people. You know, you're a royal
priesthood, you're a holy nation.
You're separate. You're separate.
You're a peculiar people. You're a people unto me.
You're separated unto me. So he says, walk in that.
And then he goes on and he says according, not according to your
works, but according to his own purpose and grace Things here in
the world that we achieve. We achieve them because of our
efforts. We achieve them because of our
efforts. You get a job based on your
history of work, things that you have done.
It's based on your own effort. There's a lot of kids right now
always relate things to sports, but there's a lot of kids right
now that are playing high school basketball.
OK, There's thousands of high school basketball teams around
the country and thousands of basketball players.
There's only a few. There's only a few colleges that
will give scholarships to these players.
So all these players are trying to earn a scholarship and
they're doing it through their works, but that's in the world.
What Paul is saying here is that you're going to be called out,
but it's not going to be because of your effort.
It's going to be because of God's own purpose and grace.
Nothing that we do makes us credible to be called out by
God. Nothing.
It's all according to His purpose, and He's given it to us
through His grace. That grace is that unmerited
favor, but it's also that enablement to do what God has
given us to do for his purpose. Amen.
And then he goes on and he says here, which was given to us in
Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the
appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death
and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
Here's Paul again focusing on the promise of life.
He says, look, this thing was already established, and it was
done before time began. Not before your time, but even
before our time, OK, Not before God's time.
God doesn't have a time, right? He's infinite.
There's no beginning, there's no end.
But it was before our time began.
It was already established, already steps, because God is
sovereign. He knows the end from the
beginning. We see to the corner.
He sees around the corner but what he saw.
But what he brought to us whenever it was revealed was
basically the same message that was given to the prophets of
old. He abolished death through the
cross and brought life and immortality to light through the
gospel. And that's the message again,
the message that God wants us to preach.
That's what Jesus wants us to send out.
It's the message of life through the gospel.
That's what the gospel is. It's a message of life.
Those who don't believe the wrath of God abides on them.
That's death, that's death. But for those who believe, it's
eternal life. It's eternal life.
He's given it to us. And then he goes on here in
verse 11 and he says to which I was appointed a preacher,
apostle and a teacher of the Gentiles.
Paul said it's for this gospel that we're talking about that
I'm talking about with you now. It's for that gospel that I was
appointed to be an apostle. I was appointed to be 1 sent
from God with the message to share with everyone.
I was appointed that. And then he says, I was also
appointed to be a preacher. And a preacher is a herald, one
who goes out and he shares he, he exhorts and he shares the
gospel. He exhorts, he he shares the
good news. Paul said I was appointed to be
that as well. And he's also appointed to be a
teacher. And that's a systematic
instructor of the doctrines of Christ.
I was appointed to do those things.
That's why I was called by God. But then he says here for this
reason, in verse 12, for this reason, I also suffer these
things. For this reason, for the message
of life that God has given me, I suffer the things that I'm
suffering right now because of the message of the gospel.
That's why he's suffering, he says here.
And then he says, I'm suffering these things.
Nevertheless. Nevertheless, Paul's never
focused on his situation. He's never once focused on the
fact that I'm in a dungeon, the fact that I'm cold, the fact
that I'm lonely. He never focused on that.
The fact that I'm looking at impending death.
He never focused on that, he says.
But nevertheless, I am not ashamed.
You know, if you can read this and not feel some enthusiasm,
some a spirit rousing up the stirring of the Spirit reading
this, Paula said, I don't care that I'm looking at death.
I don't care about that. I don't care because I know who
I believed. I know who I believe.
I believe the Messiah, Jesus Christ is the Messiah.
I'm not believing what those Pharisees are saying about Him.
He is the Messiah. He's the truth.
He's the way, and he is the life.
I know who I believe. I know it.
It's in my knower. He said I know who I believe.
I am persuaded. Paul says I'm already persuaded.
You know, no one has to persuade me.
No one has to convince me. I am persuaded that he's able to
keep what I have committed to him, and that's his life, that's
his soul. He's able to keep it and he's
able to keep it for us. He's able to keep it for us as
well. The scripture says in Matthew,
he says those who try to keep their life will lose it.
If you try to keep this life we have down here mingling with the
world, we don't lose that. But those who will lose their
life for my sake, meaning Jesus Christ, the sake of Jesus
Christ, they will find it. And that would be eternal life.
They'll find it. So he says he's able to keep it
against that day. And then in verse 13, he says
hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from
me in faith and love, which are in Christ Jesus.
I just want to stop there for a second.
He says hold fast. That means grab hold to hold
tightly, hold near, stand on. But then he doesn't just say
hold fast the sound words. Let's not miss the word that he
put in between that. He said hold fast the pattern of
sound words. Let's not change the gospel.
Let's not minimize the gospel. Let's not water down the gospel.
Let's not make the gospel something that it's not, don't
add to or take away from it. The gospel is not a a get rich
quick scheme. The gospel is not a motivational
speech kind of a thing. It's not for motivational
speaking. It's not a self help program.
The gospel is not a prosperity project.
It's not a way just to get money, he said.
Hold the pattern the way that I gave it to you, Timothy, which
is the way that I got it from Jesus Christ.
Hold on to that. Keep that same pattern.
Keep that word true. Be true to the word that I have
given to you. Don't change it.
Don't try to influence anybody by doing something different.
Don't try to modernize it. Don't try to make it appealing
to the new believer. No, Timothy, no.
I know you're young and there's young people that's going to be
trying to come to your church, but don't change the pattern of
the gospel of those sound words. Keep those words the same.
Keep the message, the message. Keep the main thing, the main
thing, Timothy, and don't turn away from that.
And when you give it to somebody else to teach it, give it to
them the same way. Hold the pattern and that's what
God is saying to us. Hold the pattern of sound
teaching. We don't have to water nothing
down. It's one of the things I love
about Calvary Chapel. You can't really do that because
you're going verse by verse, chapter by chapter.
You can't roam around and try to twist and turn and and make
things into your own message. No, you can't do it.
What's here. That's what you got to teach.
Thank you, Jesus.
Amen. Thank you, Jesus.
So as we get ready to think about our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ, he said I only said what my father gave me to say.
I only did what my father told me to do.
He was true to the word of God. He kept the pattern of the
sound. He never changed it.
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever.
He didn't change anything to try to gain popularity.
When he knew people wanted to kill him for his message, he
didn't change his message so it sounded less threatening.
He didn't do that. He kept the pattern of sound
words. When he knew that the Pharisees
were trying to trick him up, He didn't do something to try to
appease him. He spoke the gospel.
He spoke the word of God. He didn't change it when the
devil came to him, when he was in the wilderness, when he
fasted for 40 days and 40 nights and the devil was trying to get
him to change things up. He just simply preached the word
every time. He didn't come up with his own
examples or come up with his own way or something that might be a
pleasing or appealing to Satan. He didn't do that.
He kept the pattern of sound words.
Let's keep the pattern of sound words.
We endeavor to do that here in this house.
For many years, Clark has been a a watchman over this house.
To keep the message pure, the way that it comes out of this
work, we have to do the same. We have to do the same.
He was called to do it, we're called to do it and we have to
continue to do. It you've been listening to
Pastor Louis Harrell here on Living Waters of Grace, we're
digging into all that Paul shared with Timothy in the books
of First and Second Timothy. Timothy was commissioned to do
the following fight, the good fight of faith, lay hold on
eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed
the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
Timothy would be carrying on what Paul had taught him and
continuing on in ministry, even though Paul knew that more
hardships would come. For Timothy.
This is the Christian life. It's not glamorous.
It's not some celebrity status. It's hard fought, it's gritty,
it's unpopular, but it's worth it.
Do you believe that today? Are you willing to fight the
good fight even at the cost of earthly pleasures?
Living the life of a follower of Jesus will have its heavenly
rewards. To be a part of a community
that's looking forward to that heavenly reward, we invite you
to join us at Calvary Chapel Westmoreland.
If you're in the Greensburg, PA area, come be with us this
Sunday at 10:30 AM at 400 E Pittsburgh St.
Ste. 6B. Check out Calvary Chapel
online.com For more information on directions and any other
details you might want to know. You can also download our mobile
app from our website thatscalvarychapelonline.com.
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encourage them to listen on Grace FM 91.7.
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