1 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:08,520 This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Lewis 2 00:00:08,520 --> 00:00:12,200 Harold, assistant pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland 3 00:00:12,200 --> 00:00:16,520 County in Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Lewis as he 4 00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:18,920 continues teaching through God's Word. 5 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:40,040 Paul is in this prison. You know, he's not eating well, 6 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:43,600 and I'm sure he probably doesn't have a whole lot of physical 7 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:45,600 strength at this point. And I'm sure they try to weigh 8 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:48,440 him down as much as possible, try to wear him out. 9 00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:52,320 But the truth of the matter is, Paul says that at one point he 10 00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:55,120 felt strong. Even though his outward man was 11 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:57,240 perishing, his inward man was being renewed. 12 00:00:57,440 --> 00:01:01,760 He felt strong in the Lord at one point, and even to the point 13 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:06,240 where he was bold enough to stand up and in front of the 14 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:10,760 rulers of a Pagan nation. Have you ever felt inadequate 15 00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:13,840 for the task in front of you? Sometimes it can give you 16 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:17,160 butterflies in your stomach. Maybe it's a physical task that 17 00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:20,240 you just don't know how you're going to get it all done. 18 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:23,320 Maybe you have to make a presentation in front of people 19 00:01:23,320 --> 00:01:25,840 where there's a lot hanging on the outcome. 20 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:29,520 In today's message, Pastor Lewis shares with you that even when 21 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:33,360 you don't have the strength in yourself, God will strengthen 22 00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:35,800 you. When God calls you to a task, 23 00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:38,000 his Spirit will empower you to do it. 24 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:42,080 Now here's Pastor Lewis in the Book of Second Timothy, Chapter 25 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:46,200 4, with today's edition of Living Waters of Grace. 26 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:49,920 That is not of the Lord. When two people or how, 27 00:01:50,120 --> 00:01:54,520 regardless of how many people, have contentions for extended 28 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:57,520 periods of time and they're never resolved, that is not of 29 00:01:57,520 --> 00:01:59,760 the Lord. That is not the Spirit of 30 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:04,200 Christ. He was denied by Peter three 31 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:10,280 times, yet after his resurrection he said go get 32 00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:13,920 Peter and bring him with you to Galilee. 33 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:17,480 Don't leave him out. I'm not casting him out. 34 00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:20,360 I'm not forgetting about him. Go get him and bring him with 35 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:22,280 you. I'm reconciling with Him. 36 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:26,880 I want Him to know I've forgiven him and that's what we should be 37 00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:29,200 doing with each other. Either I need to call you or you 38 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:31,560 need to call me, but we need to reconcile. 39 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:36,360 We need not to be allowing this thing just to last forever and 40 00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:39,280 ever and ever. You talking to your people about 41 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:41,840 what happened and somebody else talking to their people about 42 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:44,000 what happened. Let's sit down and talk with 43 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:47,560 each other and let's love on each other the way Christ 44 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:51,320 intended so that we can do the work of the ministry. 45 00:02:52,600 --> 00:02:53,880 And that's exactly what happened. 46 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:57,240 Paul is basically saying, he said I need, I have need of him. 47 00:02:57,240 --> 00:03:01,360 I have use for him for ministry. And that's exactly, and this is 48 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:04,280 what gives the devil a black eye, because the devil knows 49 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:07,320 that we have use for each other that we add to each other's 50 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:09,400 ministry. Just the evil one knows that, 51 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:12,040 our enemy knows that. And So what he's going to try to 52 00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:16,000 do is to keep us separated so that your ministry can't bless 53 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:19,200 me and my ministry can't bless you, and we can't serve together 54 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:22,560 to be a blessing to whomever the Lord has sent us here to be a 55 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:25,880 blessing too. Paul says I have need bring him 56 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:28,240 to me. I have need of him for ministry. 57 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:31,200 But it took him a while to realize that. 58 00:03:32,640 --> 00:03:36,440 Let us not take us that long to realize that we need each other. 59 00:03:37,160 --> 00:03:40,080 So let's reconcile. Let's reconcile quickly. 60 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:44,480 Is that one of the things that we would do today if we knew 61 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:47,400 that we were short and we didn't know how long we would live? 62 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:50,880 Well, guess what? We don't, we don't. 63 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:54,520 We can reconcile quickly. And then he goes on. 64 00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:58,680 He says in in Tychicus, I have sent to Ephesus, Tychus. 65 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:00,920 Tychus also was a beloved brother. 66 00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:04,480 He was a ministry, very faithful man in the ministry with Paul 67 00:04:04,880 --> 00:04:08,680 and he sent him to Ephesus. And the reason why he sent Ticus 68 00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:12,600 to Ephesus is so that he could free up Timothy to come to Rome 69 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:16,760 to be with Paul. So Tychus would go to Ephesus 70 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:20,440 and deal with the with the church at Ephesus, while Timothy 71 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:24,880 would be traveling to be with Paul because Paul wanted Timothy 72 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:28,200 with him. Paul needed Timothy to be with 73 00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:30,120 him. He had things he wanted to say 74 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:32,600 to Timothy. He had things he wanted Timothy 75 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:35,280 to understand before he left this world. 76 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:39,760 And, and what's amazing about that is that he wrote this 77 00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:42,520 letter. The reason why he even wrote 78 00:04:42,520 --> 00:04:45,720 this letter in the 1st place was just in case Timothy didn't get 79 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:48,400 there in time. So Timothy would have a record 80 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:51,120 of the things that he wanted to say to him, to the things that 81 00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:53,920 he wanted to encourage him in, in the faith. 82 00:04:54,760 --> 00:04:58,000 This is a record. And then after he, he talked to 83 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:00,960 about tigers, he sent him. But the amazing thing is all the 84 00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:06,120 men that Paul had access to because he had discipled these 85 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:08,160 men, he has spent time with these men. 86 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:12,720 So now he had a number of men that he was able to distribute 87 00:05:12,720 --> 00:05:17,600 into place in different places so that they could minister and 88 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:20,600 they can go on with the work that Paul had began. 89 00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:23,360 It's one of the things that Clark is doing here in this 90 00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:28,440 church with us. And my heart is that there be 91 00:05:28,440 --> 00:05:33,320 men that continue to be raised up by the Lord so that in 92 00:05:33,320 --> 00:05:38,080 different places they can be distributed, be assigned to do 93 00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:40,400 the work that the Lord wants to do here. 94 00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:44,320 It blesses me on Wednesday night when there's a rotation of men 95 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:48,120 who teaches because that ministry is not dependent upon 96 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:52,080 just one man being there. We have many men who can teach 97 00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:57,240 on a Wednesday night and teach us well, and that's our heart is 98 00:05:57,240 --> 00:06:02,080 that men be raised up for ministry, women be raised up to 99 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:05,760 do the ministry that they do, and that there's depth with that 100 00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:10,200 ministry, but there's many who can do it, many that can do it. 101 00:06:10,280 --> 00:06:14,920 Whatever the ministry is, God give us more men and women who 102 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:18,600 can step up and take over if need be. 103 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:22,720 And this is what Paul was doing. It's a blessing that he had all 104 00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:26,520 these men that he had discipled. And then in verse 13, he says, 105 00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:30,760 bring the cloak that I left at car what I left with carpets. 106 00:06:31,280 --> 00:06:33,320 Bring it. He said he left. 107 00:06:33,320 --> 00:06:36,520 He left some things with with carpets when he was at tro ass, 108 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:38,280 he said bring those things with me. 109 00:06:38,280 --> 00:06:43,320 And the things that he left, he left books and he left his cloak 110 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:47,600 and he left parchments. Now his cloak, now as you know, 111 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:49,920 cloak is a covering. It's around the circular 112 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:51,920 covering. And it, you know, he's going to 113 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:54,800 need it because, you know, he was in the maritime prison. 114 00:06:55,560 --> 00:06:58,760 And it is a, it's very bad conditions in this particular 115 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:01,280 prison in Rome, very bad conditions. 116 00:07:01,480 --> 00:07:04,800 It was actually an old cistern of some sort and they turned 117 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:07,320 into a prison. I think it's only like 2 cells 118 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:10,560 or two blocks in that whole particular prison. 119 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:12,600 I think there's a lower cell and an upper cell. 120 00:07:12,600 --> 00:07:15,000 I think it's only like 2, but the conditions are just 121 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:17,360 terrible. Basically, they sent you there 122 00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:18,960 when they know they're going to execute you. 123 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:22,360 So that's probably one of the other reasons why Paul knew he 124 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:24,040 probably wasn't going to come out of there alive. 125 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:27,440 But he says bring my cloak because it's damp there. 126 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:30,280 It's wet there. And you know, those are probably 127 00:07:30,280 --> 00:07:34,760 just a milder conditions that he has to deal with there in that 128 00:07:34,760 --> 00:07:37,600 particular prison. But he says bring my cloak and 129 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:39,760 also bring books in the parchments. 130 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:43,120 Now books are going to be Old Testament scrolls and things 131 00:07:43,120 --> 00:07:46,680 that he has there that in the Old Testament and he probably 132 00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:48,880 left urgently. He probably left quickly. 133 00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:53,040 He's probably arrested there Troas and taken, you know, or 134 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:55,760 taking the after he left Troas, he probably went to Roman, was 135 00:07:55,760 --> 00:07:59,000 arrested there, you know, but something caused him to leave 136 00:07:59,160 --> 00:08:03,040 all of these personal things. They're a troas and he said 137 00:08:03,040 --> 00:08:04,840 these books, these Old Testament scrolls. 138 00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:08,040 He wants those. You know, Paul has, I mean, my 139 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:10,720 goodness, he wrote, you know, we know now that he wrote half of 140 00:08:10,720 --> 00:08:15,160 the, the, the, the, the New Testament, but yet he continues 141 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:19,080 to want to be kept up in study. He wanted to continue to study 142 00:08:19,280 --> 00:08:21,920 the word of God. But I can imagine some of the 143 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:26,920 things that he wanted to read out of the Old Testament sitting 144 00:08:26,920 --> 00:08:30,000 there in that prison. He probably wanted to read those 145 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:35,320 scriptures that men wrote, that God inspired men to write, that 146 00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:38,919 would that would help him, that would comfort him, that would 147 00:08:38,919 --> 00:08:43,200 give him some sort of relief, some sort of hope. 148 00:08:44,120 --> 00:08:46,360 I would imagine he probably wanted to read some of the 149 00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:50,720 Psalms that were written by David and some of the other 150 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:54,560 psalmist because these Psalms offer comfort. 151 00:08:55,280 --> 00:08:57,600 Can you imagine if he was just sitting there? 152 00:08:57,600 --> 00:08:59,520 He probably wanted to read Psalm 27. 153 00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:02,000 The Lord is my light and my salvation. 154 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:05,440 Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my 155 00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:07,200 life. Of whom shall I be afraid? 156 00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:10,760 He probably wanted to read that. He probably wanted to read Psalm 157 00:09:10,760 --> 00:09:14,440 46. God is my refuge and strength. 158 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:17,560 He's a very present help in trouble. 159 00:09:18,360 --> 00:09:20,680 I'm sure those things will comfort him in that particular 160 00:09:20,680 --> 00:09:22,480 time. And he probably wanted to read 161 00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:28,800 Psalm 62. Truly, my soul silently waits 162 00:09:28,920 --> 00:09:32,920 for God. From Him is my salvation. 163 00:09:33,440 --> 00:09:40,000 For He only God only is my rock and my salvation. 164 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:45,760 He is my defense. I shall not be greatly moved. 165 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:47,920 These are probably some of the things that he wanted to read to 166 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:53,520 encourage his heart while he sat there in that dingy dudgeon 167 00:09:53,960 --> 00:09:57,760 prison, cold, damp. And like I said, those are the 168 00:09:57,760 --> 00:10:01,920 milder conditions that I would mention in this particular 169 00:10:01,920 --> 00:10:03,520 place. But he said bring nose. 170 00:10:03,520 --> 00:10:05,240 But then he said also bring the parchments. 171 00:10:05,640 --> 00:10:08,400 And those parchments are animal thin animal skins that were used 172 00:10:08,400 --> 00:10:10,680 for notebooks. And Paul probably has some 173 00:10:10,680 --> 00:10:13,680 things that he wrote out that he probably didn't even publish 174 00:10:13,680 --> 00:10:15,840 that didn't put them out there yet to everybody. 175 00:10:15,840 --> 00:10:18,440 Just some thoughts that he would have in different places that 176 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:21,200 he's been. And he probably wanted him to 177 00:10:21,400 --> 00:10:24,360 bring nose as well, Bring those parchments. 178 00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:27,880 And then he gets to verse 14. He says Alexander the 179 00:10:27,880 --> 00:10:33,280 coppersmith didn't me much harm. May the Lord repay, repay him 180 00:10:33,280 --> 00:10:36,240 according to his works. Can you see how Paul will go 181 00:10:36,240 --> 00:10:38,160 back and forth? There are those that were a 182 00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:40,720 blessing to him even though he was still by himself. 183 00:10:40,720 --> 00:10:42,640 But there were those who were a blessing to him. 184 00:10:42,800 --> 00:10:46,560 And then there were those who he remembers did him harm. 185 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:53,440 But unlike me, sometimes when people do me harm, I want to get 186 00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:56,960 back out of myself. I feel like I have a right to 187 00:10:56,960 --> 00:11:01,480 get back out of myself because I feel like I can, at the very 188 00:11:01,480 --> 00:11:04,080 least, I can get even. Because this is what we're 189 00:11:04,080 --> 00:11:07,920 taught in the world, right? Get even, you know, get back at 190 00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:09,240 people. Don't let people do that to you. 191 00:11:09,240 --> 00:11:10,760 Don't let people walk over you like that. 192 00:11:10,760 --> 00:11:12,560 You, you, you, you get back at them. 193 00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:15,360 Get even. But that's not what the Word of 194 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:20,320 God says, because if you look in Romans 12, round verse 19, the 195 00:11:20,320 --> 00:11:24,360 Bible says avenge not yourselves, avenge not 196 00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:27,560 yourselves, but give place to wrath. 197 00:11:27,920 --> 00:11:31,680 And I always fill that in and say give place to godly wrath 198 00:11:32,320 --> 00:11:35,320 because we don't want to give place to our own fleshly wrath, 199 00:11:35,320 --> 00:11:38,840 our own, you know, human wrath, because we go overboard. 200 00:11:38,840 --> 00:11:42,440 God does it justly. He's the only just judge. 201 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:45,720 He judges righteously. And then he says, you know, for 202 00:11:45,720 --> 00:11:49,600 vengeance is mine. Vengeance doesn't belong to me, 203 00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:53,760 although I think it should. I may think it should sometimes. 204 00:11:54,080 --> 00:11:56,000 Lord, did you see what they did to me? 205 00:11:56,080 --> 00:11:58,080 I don't have the right to respond to that. 206 00:11:58,680 --> 00:12:03,400 He says vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord. 207 00:12:04,040 --> 00:12:08,840 Says the Lord. Not Says Joe or Johnny says the 208 00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:14,240 Lord, so that's why we obey that and Paul did just that. 209 00:12:14,920 --> 00:12:17,560 Now some people get kind of stumbled with this one verse 210 00:12:17,560 --> 00:12:20,960 when he says may the Lord repay him according to his works. 211 00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:27,680 Paul is not he's not praying a a prayer of a curse upon, you 212 00:12:27,680 --> 00:12:30,840 know, Alexander the coppersmith. He's not praying that Lord judge 213 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:35,640 him and and and and and just bring down fire upon him and and 214 00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:38,880 just do him in Lord. I mean, give him your best 215 00:12:39,360 --> 00:12:41,360 judgement. That's not what he's doing. 216 00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:45,040 He's actually giving it over. He's doing exactly what the 217 00:12:45,320 --> 00:12:48,520 verse tells him to do and give it over to the Lord. 218 00:12:49,120 --> 00:12:52,960 He's giving place to godly wrath, not his own. 219 00:12:53,360 --> 00:12:55,760 And that's what we should do. It's hard. 220 00:12:56,400 --> 00:13:00,120 It's very hard, and it's the Holy Spirit that helps us to do 221 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:03,600 that. But that is what we are intended 222 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:06,040 to do. That's what God intends for us 223 00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:09,760 to do. Now, one of the reasons why he 224 00:13:09,760 --> 00:13:14,720 says Alexander Coppersmith had harmed him or did a lot of 225 00:13:14,720 --> 00:13:17,720 things to harm him is because, you know, it's believed that it 226 00:13:17,720 --> 00:13:20,520 was Alexander Coppersmith was actually one of the witnesses 227 00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:23,720 for the prosecution. So he probably gave some very 228 00:13:24,840 --> 00:13:29,520 damaging witness against Paul, probably caused Paul. 229 00:13:29,520 --> 00:13:31,560 Some people didn't believe that he was the reason why Paul got 230 00:13:31,560 --> 00:13:34,720 arrested was because of this Alexander Coppersmith. 231 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:38,960 But he also opposed the teachings of Paul and that was 232 00:13:38,960 --> 00:13:42,080 probably even worse. He opposed the teachings of 233 00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:43,440 Paul. He went against it. 234 00:13:43,680 --> 00:13:46,720 He was one of the ones that they mentioned earlier in the, in 235 00:13:46,720 --> 00:13:50,680 the, in first Timothy, second Timothy mentioned earlier when 236 00:13:50,680 --> 00:13:53,440 he said that there were people, you know, who were, you know, 237 00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:57,960 teaching blasphemy over here in first Timothy chapter one, verse 238 00:13:57,960 --> 00:14:04,600 20, I believe it is, he mentions the fact that it was Alexander, 239 00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:07,080 it was him. Now he believes that this is the 240 00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:09,680 same person. Some people say it might not be, 241 00:14:09,680 --> 00:14:13,400 but he believes that it is. But here in verse 20, he says 242 00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:17,320 that he's the one that made shipwreck of his faith. 243 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:21,320 Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they may 244 00:14:21,320 --> 00:14:25,280 learn not to blaspheme. So obviously they were teaching 245 00:14:25,280 --> 00:14:28,680 some things that were contrary to the teachings of the true 246 00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:32,600 faith, contrary to the teachings of the gospel, is what they're 247 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:35,200 saying here. So he did Paul a lot of harm and 248 00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:37,880 he warned Paul, warned Timothy against that. 249 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:41,400 He said you must be, you must also be aware of him, for he has 250 00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:45,960 greatly resisted our words. And then in verse 16, I think 251 00:14:45,960 --> 00:14:49,120 things get really interesting. Paul says here, he says at my 252 00:14:49,120 --> 00:14:53,040 first defense, no one stood with me, but all forsook me. 253 00:14:54,440 --> 00:14:56,760 No one stood with me at my first defense. 254 00:14:57,000 --> 00:14:59,640 Now we first read that. We say, oh, poor Paul. 255 00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:04,560 You know, he was, he was in a room with all Pagan Roman 256 00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:07,520 leaders. Everyone that was in that room 257 00:15:07,520 --> 00:15:10,240 was actually considered to be an enemy of Paul because they all 258 00:15:10,240 --> 00:15:13,840 wanted to see him dead. The people that they brought in 259 00:15:13,840 --> 00:15:18,280 as witnesses against them, the Roman leaders, Neo, you know, 260 00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:20,840 wanted to see these people, wanted to see him dead. 261 00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:25,560 Nero wanted to see him dead. And yet Paul says, no one stood 262 00:15:25,640 --> 00:15:27,200 with me. Could you imagine going to court 263 00:15:27,200 --> 00:15:28,840 and no one testifying on your behalf? 264 00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:30,560 Everybody's testifying against you. 265 00:15:30,560 --> 00:15:33,840 You don't have nobody there that can even say, hey, he's actually 266 00:15:33,840 --> 00:15:36,120 a good guy. No one can even do that. 267 00:15:36,640 --> 00:15:41,200 So Paul's in this room and he's before all of the leaders of the 268 00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:45,640 Pagan world, of one of the biggest nations of the Pagan 269 00:15:45,640 --> 00:15:48,960 world. But then Paul says may it not be 270 00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:52,080 charged against them. No one came to identify 271 00:15:52,080 --> 00:15:54,280 themselves with Paul. No one came to associate with 272 00:15:54,280 --> 00:15:57,440 Paul. Again, probably out of fear if I 273 00:15:57,440 --> 00:16:01,320 will come and identify myself, then I'm next, I'm next, I'm 274 00:16:01,320 --> 00:16:03,120 going to be executed next after Paul. 275 00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:07,080 So no one came to do that. But he says may it not be 276 00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:11,160 charged against them. Just as when when Jesus was 277 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:13,880 forsaken and when he was on the cross, he said forgive them for 278 00:16:13,880 --> 00:16:17,920 they know not what they do. He interceded on behalf of the 279 00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:21,360 people. Stephen also interceded on 280 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:24,600 behalf of his persecutors when they were stoning him. 281 00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:28,160 Stephen said forgive them for they know not what they do. 282 00:16:28,560 --> 00:16:30,560 And Paul is saying the exact same thing here. 283 00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:33,600 He's saying, look Lord, may it not be charged against them. 284 00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:35,800 He had the right to be angry, but he wasn't. 285 00:16:36,640 --> 00:16:40,600 But he wasn't and it actually opened up a door for Paul 286 00:16:40,720 --> 00:16:44,360 reading verse 17, he says with the Lord stood with me and 287 00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:46,520 strengthened me. That's interesting because you 288 00:16:46,520 --> 00:16:49,960 say, wait a minute, Paul is in this prison, you know, he's not 289 00:16:49,960 --> 00:16:52,880 eating well, and I'm sure he probably doesn't have a whole 290 00:16:52,880 --> 00:16:55,280 lot of physical strength at this point. 291 00:16:55,280 --> 00:16:58,080 I'm sure they try to weigh him down as much as possible, try to 292 00:16:58,080 --> 00:17:00,600 wear him out. But the truth of the matter is 293 00:17:00,600 --> 00:17:03,840 Paul says that at one point he felt strong. 294 00:17:04,040 --> 00:17:06,800 Even though his outward man was perishing, his inward man was 295 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:10,160 being renewed. He felt strong in the Lord at 296 00:17:10,160 --> 00:17:13,920 one point, and even to the point where he was bold enough to 297 00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:19,240 stand up and in front of the rulers of a Pagan nation, he 298 00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:23,040 stood up and shared the gospel. So maybe it was better that no 299 00:17:23,040 --> 00:17:26,800 one came because he had time to do all the talking and he took 300 00:17:26,800 --> 00:17:28,920 it. The Lord gave him a window, he 301 00:17:28,920 --> 00:17:32,160 said, But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me so that the 302 00:17:32,160 --> 00:17:35,320 message might be preached fully through me. 303 00:17:35,360 --> 00:17:38,200 He didn't just mention parts of the gospel, he said it was 304 00:17:38,200 --> 00:17:41,160 preached fully through him. He was able to preach the whole 305 00:17:41,160 --> 00:17:45,120 gospel to these unbelievers. What a blessing. 306 00:17:45,640 --> 00:17:50,000 If you have a desire to have an opportunity to teach the gospel, 307 00:17:50,160 --> 00:17:54,040 to share the gospel, to to speak with someone about Jesus Christ, 308 00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:57,120 He will give you that divine appointment. 309 00:17:57,280 --> 00:18:00,880 He will give you an opportunity to do it if you really want to 310 00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:03,960 do that, because He knows that that is a desire that you have 311 00:18:04,120 --> 00:18:08,320 and it is surely His desire that you share the gospel. 312 00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:11,600 So we go, we, we, we get, we get to the point we're closing to 313 00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:14,400 the end now. And he says here that the gospel 314 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:17,400 was preached to that all the Gentiles might hear it. 315 00:18:17,680 --> 00:18:20,080 And I also was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. 316 00:18:20,080 --> 00:18:23,200 He wasn't executed that day because of what he taught the 317 00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:25,920 people were thinking on those things and they were able to get 318 00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:28,480 more time. And then in verse 18, he says, 319 00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:32,440 and the Lord will deliver me. He was delivered from the lion 320 00:18:33,120 --> 00:18:35,880 at that particular day, meaning symbolic for he was delivered 321 00:18:35,880 --> 00:18:39,040 from Nero and from those who wanted to take his life. 322 00:18:39,280 --> 00:18:42,840 He was delivered from those and he says in 18, and the Lord will 323 00:18:42,840 --> 00:18:45,320 deliver me. That was just like the three 324 00:18:45,320 --> 00:18:48,760 Hebrew boys right back in the book of Daniel where he said, 325 00:18:48,760 --> 00:18:52,320 look, you know, I'm not going to bow before your golden, your 326 00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:54,400 golden image. I'm not going to bow before you. 327 00:18:54,920 --> 00:18:58,720 And even if you throw me in this, if you throw us in this 328 00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:01,520 fiery furnace that you're threatening us with, even if you 329 00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:04,960 throw us in there, it don't matter because God is able to 330 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:07,480 deliver us. I want you to know he's able to 331 00:19:07,480 --> 00:19:10,040 do it. But even if he chooses or he 332 00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:12,880 wills not to, I am. We are still going to be 333 00:19:12,880 --> 00:19:17,960 delivered from you. Rather we delivered in life or 334 00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:21,200 in death, we will still be delivered. 335 00:19:22,320 --> 00:19:25,440 That is a blessing of the Lord. And he said he will preserve me 336 00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:29,640 or he will keep me for his heavenly Kingdom, and then he 337 00:19:29,640 --> 00:19:31,840 goes down. Paul went into a praise and 338 00:19:31,840 --> 00:19:34,680 worship service right there. He started saying glory to God 339 00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:38,440 forever, you know, to him be glory forever and ever, Amen. 340 00:19:38,440 --> 00:19:42,000 He he, he himself began to feel the spirit raising up in him. 341 00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:45,400 And then in verse 19 he talks about, you know, come before 342 00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:48,680 winter. He says Greek Prisca and Aquila, 343 00:19:48,880 --> 00:19:51,560 they are from Ephesus and they worked with Paul. 344 00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:54,920 They were Akeelah was a tent maker just like Paul was a tent 345 00:19:54,920 --> 00:19:56,760 maker. And they met with each other and 346 00:19:56,760 --> 00:19:59,080 they were blessed by each other's ministry. 347 00:19:59,200 --> 00:20:03,200 He says give them, give them a greeting from us and the 348 00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:06,480 household of Onisphorus. Onisphorus back in chapter 1 349 00:20:06,480 --> 00:20:12,080 again, Onisphorus was one of the people who zealously came from 350 00:20:12,080 --> 00:20:15,640 Ephesus and sought out Paul, so that while Paul was imprisoned 351 00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:18,280 there in Rome. Artnisophus was one of the 352 00:20:18,280 --> 00:20:21,600 people who came and ministered to him, kept him company, 353 00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:25,000 blessed him. Erastus was actually one of the 354 00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:28,120 other Co laborers with Paul and he end up staying in Corinth. 355 00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:31,360 The Bible know what we learned about him is that he is actually 356 00:20:31,360 --> 00:20:33,880 a treasure. He works on the treasury in 357 00:20:33,880 --> 00:20:35,760 Corinth. And then there's Trufflemis. 358 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:39,320 Trufflemis was it was another Gentile who was with Paul. 359 00:20:39,320 --> 00:20:41,440 He was actually one of the reasons why there was this big 360 00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:46,200 anarchy back in Jerusalem. You know, the riot that actually 361 00:20:46,200 --> 00:20:48,920 led to Paul being forced out of there was because of Trophimus, 362 00:20:49,080 --> 00:20:52,000 he said, but he left him in Malita's because he was sick. 363 00:20:52,440 --> 00:20:55,800 OK, so this young man was sick and he needed healing. 364 00:20:55,800 --> 00:20:58,800 So Paul left him in a place where he was able to get care. 365 00:20:58,880 --> 00:21:02,040 And then in verse 21, he says do your utmost to come before 366 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:04,680 winter, Timothy. Do your utmost. 367 00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:08,280 Do as much as you can to try to come before winter. 368 00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:12,640 And the reason being is because the the the ships were in harbor 369 00:21:12,680 --> 00:21:14,240 in the winter, they couldn't go out. 370 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:17,080 It was too dangerous for ships to travel over the winter. 371 00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:19,000 So they harbor the ships in the winter. 372 00:21:19,120 --> 00:21:22,280 So if Timothy didn't come before winter, he would not get there 373 00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:26,400 before Paul would be executed. It would delay his coming. 374 00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:32,560 And then he says also Ubilis greets you as well as Putin's 375 00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:35,560 Linus, Claudia and all the brethren. 376 00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:38,960 And then he goes into his farewell. 377 00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:40,800 This is the last line that he goes into. 378 00:21:41,040 --> 00:21:45,680 He says, the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. 379 00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:48,600 Again, it goes back to the same thing we were talking earlier. 380 00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:51,880 If this was your last day, what would be your parting line? 381 00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:56,600 What would be your parting line to someone that you cared about? 382 00:21:56,600 --> 00:21:59,280 What would be the line that you would give? 383 00:21:59,280 --> 00:22:02,320 What would you say? Well, Paul's heart was toward 384 00:22:02,320 --> 00:22:04,280 them. He say, may the Lord, may the 385 00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:08,480 Spirit, may the Lord be with your spirit. 386 00:22:09,080 --> 00:22:11,480 And then just as he started his letter, and just like every 387 00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:15,320 other letter, he started with grace and he ends it with grace. 388 00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:21,120 Just as we started our journey with the Lord and grace, by 389 00:22:21,120 --> 00:22:23,400 grace we are saved through faith. 390 00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:28,560 We start this journey with grace and when we end, we will end in 391 00:22:28,560 --> 00:22:32,040 God's grace and everything we do in between. 392 00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:34,960 The time that we start and the time that the Lord gracefully 393 00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:38,040 takes us out of here, everything that we do in between will be by 394 00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:42,880 his grace. So grace be with you all. 395 00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:47,840 Amen. I just wanted to say imparting, 396 00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:53,480 just wanted to mention that as we think about this last letter, 397 00:22:54,440 --> 00:22:57,680 Paul's last time ever being able to talk with Timothy, ever being 398 00:22:57,680 --> 00:23:02,320 able to to be any kind of help to Timothy. 399 00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:05,040 Paul is just emphasizing one thing. 400 00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:08,880 He's saying look, finish, finish what the Lord has given you to 401 00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:12,440 do finish. He said, I have fought the good 402 00:23:12,440 --> 00:23:15,160 fight. I've I've finished the course. 403 00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:20,120 I finished and I kept the faith. Paul is just saying finish, 404 00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:26,560 finish, finish strong. If you need help, a body of 405 00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:31,440 believers is of good help. People can pray with you, people 406 00:23:31,440 --> 00:23:34,520 who can encourage you, people who can help build you up. 407 00:23:35,120 --> 00:23:37,280 That's the way you want to finish. 408 00:23:38,440 --> 00:23:42,720 You want to finish faithfully, finish the race that is set 409 00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:44,360 before us. That's what Jesus Christ did. 410 00:23:44,360 --> 00:23:48,040 He finished. In fact he said at the end of in 411 00:23:48,040 --> 00:23:52,200 his prayer to the Father, he said, I have finished the work 412 00:23:52,200 --> 00:23:55,440 that you have given me to do. I finished it. 413 00:23:57,360 --> 00:24:00,640 Thank you for tuning in to Living Waters of Grace with 414 00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:03,840 Pastor Louis Harrell. We're currently in the books of 415 00:24:03,840 --> 00:24:07,600 First and Second Timothy. Some of the things included in 416 00:24:07,600 --> 00:24:11,680 these New Testament letters from Paul are that the young and 417 00:24:11,680 --> 00:24:16,360 newly established Pastor Timothy was being encouraged to hold 418 00:24:16,360 --> 00:24:20,400 fast to what was true. He was challenged to confront 419 00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:23,360 and address the false teachers that were rising up. 420 00:24:23,960 --> 00:24:27,680 He was also reminded to accept his calling to the ministry with 421 00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:31,640 gratefulness and to address the happenings going on in the 422 00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:35,520 Ephesian church. Paul was imparting his 423 00:24:35,520 --> 00:24:38,960 experience and knowledge to the next generation. 424 00:24:39,400 --> 00:24:42,520 Timothy was receptive to learning and gleaning what he 425 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:46,160 could from Paul's wisdom. This is how it should be in 426 00:24:46,160 --> 00:24:48,880 ministry across multiple generations. 427 00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:52,720 Those who have lived a little more life should be open to 428 00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:56,920 sharing their successes and also things they've learned along the 429 00:24:56,920 --> 00:25:00,840 way that we're not a wind. The younger generations coming 430 00:25:00,840 --> 00:25:04,960 up can learn and appreciate much from those ahead of them and 431 00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:09,240 perhaps avoid some of the same pitfalls that their mentors work 432 00:25:09,240 --> 00:25:13,800 through mentoring. It's a beautiful relationship 433 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:17,040 when the hearts are in the right place to learn and grow. 434 00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:20,000 We trust that you're in a community where this is 435 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:23,120 happening. Older ones providing advice and 436 00:25:23,120 --> 00:25:27,400 wisdom and each side learning and growing from one another. 437 00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:31,440 This certainly was the case for Paul and Timothy as they were 438 00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:33,760 comrades for the sake of the gospel. 439 00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:38,000 For more information on where this teaching came from, go to 440 00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:42,640 calvarychapelonline.com. There you can also learn about 441 00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:45,360 our service times to join us in person. 442 00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:48,720 This has been living waters of Grace.