1 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:05,960 Welcome to the Liberty Baptist Sermon Archives. 2 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:09,040 The message you're about to hear was preached at Liberty Baptist 3 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:13,040 Church in Easton, MA. You can find out more about us 4 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:17,280 or contact us at my libertybaptist.org or just look 5 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:19,760 us up on Facebook. And now we hope that this 6 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:22,080 message from God's Word will be a blessing to you. 7 00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:27,160 Second Timothy we're going to be in the book of second Timothy 8 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:33,320 again, chapter #2 tonight. Second Timothy chapter #2 Again, 9 00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:34,960 if you don't know, I'm sure most of. 10 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:36,880 You do, because this is your church, but your pastor's on 11 00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:39,040 vacation. So he asked me to come fill in 12 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:40,880 for him last Wednesday and tonight. 13 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:43,640 And so I'm here. This is the last time I'll be 14 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:46,000 here for a while. I, I just pop in and out every 15 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:47,600 now and then. That's, that's pretty much all 16 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:50,200 you get of me. But I'm right down the street. 17 00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:52,360 So, you know, if you ever want to come visit Lighthouse, we're 18 00:00:52,360 --> 00:00:56,000 right over there too. Second Timothy chapter #2 is 19 00:00:56,000 --> 00:01:00,400 where we'll be 1st 13 verses is what we're going to look at 20 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:03,200 tonight. Lord willing, if you're capable, 21 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:06,000 please stand in honor of the reading of God's Word and we 22 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:08,160 will read together. If you'd read along quietly 23 00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:11,360 while I read out loud. Second Timothy chapter #2 24 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:16,040 Beginning in verse #1 The Bible says, Thou therefore, my Son, be 25 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:19,680 strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and the things 26 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:23,160 that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit 27 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:26,800 thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. 28 00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:30,800 Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus 29 00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:33,920 Christ. No man that woreth entangleth 30 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:37,440 himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who 31 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:41,560 hath chosen him to be a soldier. And if a man also strive for 32 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:44,960 masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive 33 00:01:44,960 --> 00:01:47,480 lawfully. The husbandmen that laboureth 34 00:01:47,480 --> 00:01:49,520 must be first partaker of the fruits. 35 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:53,160 Consider what I say, and the Lord give the understanding in 36 00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:56,160 all things. Remember that Jesus Christ of 37 00:01:56,160 --> 00:01:58,760 the seed of David was raised from the dead, according to my 38 00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:03,040 Gospel, wherein I suffer trouble as an evil doer even unto bonds. 39 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:05,200 But the word of God is not bound. 40 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:09,120 Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sake, that they 41 00:02:09,120 --> 00:02:12,520 may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with 42 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:16,240 eternal glory. It is a faithful saying, for if 43 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:19,000 we be dead with him, we shall also live with him. 44 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:22,200 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him. 45 00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:25,600 If we deny him, he also will deny us. 46 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:29,000 If we believe not yet he abideth faithful. 47 00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:31,440 He cannot deny himself. Thank you. 48 00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:36,240 You may be seated. One of my pastor's best friends. 49 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:39,360 This is from before my pastor. One of my dad's pastor. 50 00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:42,560 My dad's best friends from before I was even born. 51 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:47,000 Was a man named Jim Booberry. He was the pastor. 52 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:49,840 That's how I said pastor. My father's best friend was also 53 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:54,480 the First Baptist pastor that my father ever sat under. 54 00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:57,480 He was saved in a Southern gospel Southern Baptist church, 55 00:02:57,480 --> 00:03:00,160 But then this was the first independent Baptist Church and 56 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:03,920 Jim Booberry was the pastor. That was in Utica, OH. 57 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:06,680 Utica, OH. If you don't know where it is, 58 00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:08,640 don't worry because I couldn't tell you where it is either. 59 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:12,320 It's tiny little spit of nothing out in the middle of rural Ohio. 60 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:15,800 3 to 4000 people. That's about as big as it gets. 61 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:17,960 Very small town, very rural town. 62 00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:22,040 Utica, OH. For around 25 years, Pastor 63 00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:26,000 Blueberry pastored Utica Baptist Temple in Utica, OH. 64 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:29,240 He did all the things like going out door to door, sharing the 65 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:32,240 gospel. You know, starting a having 66 00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:34,640 services Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, Sunday 67 00:03:34,640 --> 00:03:37,840 school, starting children's children's church and, and 68 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:40,720 King's kids and going and visiting those who are sick, 69 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:42,800 even those who weren't a part of his church. 70 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:46,880 They would, they would call him because their, their pastors 71 00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:49,040 wouldn't come and he would go and he would pray with them and 72 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:50,720 he would share the gospel with them, even if they weren't a 73 00:03:50,720 --> 00:03:53,000 member of his church. And you did this for 25 years. 74 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:56,280 And my father was there with him for, for a period of that time. 75 00:03:56,280 --> 00:03:58,400 They went out and they did all these things together. 76 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:01,960 They didn't cancel church. My I asked my dad about this and 77 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:04,320 he was, he made a point of saying we didn't cancel church. 78 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:07,520 Didn't matter what the snow was like in Ohio, we get a lot of 79 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:10,160 snow. I we lived in Ohio for a period 80 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:14,160 of time when I was younger and we got about 8 feet of snow a 81 00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:18,000 year, a lot of snow. There was no virtual services 82 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:21,640 back then, so the pastor showed. Up and if anybody else showed up 83 00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:23,640 they had services. If not, I guess he preached to 84 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:26,680 his wife because she was there with him and his son. 85 00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:30,440 But that was for 25 years. That's what he did, 150 year 86 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:31,760 old. That's how old the church was. 87 00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:35,280 So the church building was old. I remember going and helping my 88 00:04:35,280 --> 00:04:37,160 father. We, he liked to go, we would go 89 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:38,880 and help Pastor Blueberry from time to time. 90 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:41,320 And so one Saturday we drove down there and I had the 91 00:04:41,320 --> 00:04:43,720 wonderful privilege of scraping paint. 92 00:04:44,920 --> 00:04:47,200 Off of that. Building it was unpleasant. 93 00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:51,360 I was probably 14, and I definitely did not enjoy it. 94 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:54,480 And summers in Ohio can be very hot, very humid, kind of like 95 00:04:54,480 --> 00:04:56,560 they can be here. And so it was very hot. 96 00:04:56,560 --> 00:04:58,160 It's very humid. I'm up on a ladder. 97 00:04:58,160 --> 00:05:00,760 I don't like heights. I'm trying to scrape paint, and 98 00:05:00,760 --> 00:05:04,000 that's not going very well. But we did it all day Saturday. 99 00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:06,880 But my father said often times they'd have work days. 100 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:09,280 And Pastor Blueberry was the only person who showed up. 101 00:05:09,840 --> 00:05:13,480 That was 25 years of that. And so one day my dad asked him, 102 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:16,760 My dad is known for being blunt. So this is a, a very much 103 00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:19,800 something my dad would ask. He said, why don't you just move 104 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:22,520 somewhere else? Why are you still the pastor 105 00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:24,280 here? I mean, you're doing everything 106 00:05:24,280 --> 00:05:26,280 right. This is what my father told me. 107 00:05:26,280 --> 00:05:28,920 He told Pastor Blueberry because I wasn't alive at this time. 108 00:05:29,200 --> 00:05:30,480 But he says you're doing everything right. 109 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:33,120 You, you're going out on visitation, you're preaching is 110 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:35,320 solid. You're, you're going and, and 111 00:05:35,320 --> 00:05:37,720 talking to people when they're sick and you're starting all 112 00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:40,160 these children's ministries and you're, you're reaching out. 113 00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:43,960 And yet it seems like no one's, no one seems to want to change. 114 00:05:43,960 --> 00:05:45,400 No one. Nothing seems to be happening 115 00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:47,240 here. I mean, the church averaged 10 116 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:52,400 people for 25 years, 10 people. That's it. 117 00:05:52,680 --> 00:05:54,280 That's. And that included his wife and 118 00:05:54,280 --> 00:05:56,560 his son. So take them away and there's 119 00:05:56,560 --> 00:06:00,080 only eight people or seven people left, Not a lot. 120 00:06:00,840 --> 00:06:02,760 So my dad asked him, why? Why don't you just leave? 121 00:06:02,760 --> 00:06:03,960 I mean, you're doing everything right. 122 00:06:03,960 --> 00:06:06,440 You seem to be doing great. You could move somewhere else. 123 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:09,040 You could be more successful. You could have bigger buildings, 124 00:06:09,040 --> 00:06:11,880 bigger projects, more, more money in the offering plate, 125 00:06:11,880 --> 00:06:15,880 more things to do, more, more accomplishments under your belt. 126 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:21,280 And Pastor Blueberry of my father's admission, he said God 127 00:06:21,280 --> 00:06:24,400 called me here. And I'm going to stay here. 128 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:27,120 He hasn't called me somewhere else. 129 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:30,160 And so he stayed there for 25 years. 130 00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:33,160 He had to work full time the entire time he was there. 131 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:35,000 He worked full time at the Postal Service. 132 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:39,440 He fixed their sorting machines. And he worked there until one 133 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:44,000 day he was out and shoveling snow and he fell and. 134 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:47,440 Through the events of that fall, I think he must have hit his 135 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:50,200 head because he ended up having to be in a nursing home and 136 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:53,600 dying in that nursing home with very limited cognitive function 137 00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:54,800 left. He didn't remember his wife. 138 00:06:54,800 --> 00:07:00,040 He didn't remember my father 25 years and that's that's how it 139 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:03,360 ends. So the question that I would 140 00:07:03,360 --> 00:07:06,080 like to pose tonight, and I believe that Paul is trying to 141 00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:10,400 encourage Timothy with is was Pastor Blueberry successful? 142 00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:15,760 Was he successful? What is the measure of success? 143 00:07:16,200 --> 00:07:18,840 And we live in a culture that measures success through 144 00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:21,560 accomplishments, through the things that we we accomplish, 145 00:07:21,560 --> 00:07:23,920 the things that we gain. We measure our success through 146 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:27,760 finances and financial stability and bank accounts and retirement 147 00:07:27,760 --> 00:07:29,600 funds. Or we measure success through 148 00:07:29,600 --> 00:07:30,800 jobs. You know, if you have a good 149 00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:33,360 job, you get promoted, you're successful in your job. 150 00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:35,320 We measure success through education. 151 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:38,200 If you had a great education, you had lots of learning 152 00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:39,720 opportunities, you have the chance to grow. 153 00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:42,680 We can measure success that way. We measure success through 154 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:44,760 influence. The more followers you have on 155 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:47,440 social media media. Makes you a more successful 156 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:52,040 person, a more popular person, so influence and relevance and 157 00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:53,920 popularity. We can measure success through 158 00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:58,320 awards and accolades. You get an award, you get a 159 00:07:58,320 --> 00:08:00,960 certain accolade, a recognition. That's the word I'm looking for. 160 00:08:00,960 --> 00:08:03,160 You get recognized for what you've accomplished and. 161 00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:07,120 You feel like you are successful we can even get success in our 162 00:08:07,120 --> 00:08:09,960 culture through relationships. We feel like if we have a 163 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:13,640 relationship that fulfills us that that makes us successful, 164 00:08:13,640 --> 00:08:17,280 or we can even be very personal in our success. 165 00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:18,720 If I. Feel happy. 166 00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:24,120 If I feel good about what I've done, then I am successful. 167 00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:26,400 We can be like that. None of those things are 168 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:29,760 necessarily bad. It's not bad to work a job and 169 00:08:29,760 --> 00:08:32,320 make money and get promoted. I've done all of those things 170 00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:34,799 myself. I work full time alongside of 171 00:08:34,799 --> 00:08:37,640 being the assistant pastor and I've been promoted and all those 172 00:08:37,640 --> 00:08:39,320 things. None of those things are bad, 173 00:08:39,799 --> 00:08:43,520 but the question is, are they the standard for success, 174 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:46,920 especially as Christians? As a Christian, is the standard 175 00:08:46,920 --> 00:08:50,440 for success what we accomplish in this life? 176 00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:56,480 Churches can also begin to measure success, and Christians 177 00:08:56,480 --> 00:08:58,840 can begin to measure success in much the same way that our 178 00:08:58,840 --> 00:09:01,160 cultures does. I was when I was thinking about 179 00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:03,040 this, I was thinking about me as a preacher. 180 00:09:03,320 --> 00:09:06,760 Preachers can measure the success of a sermon by the 181 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:12,920 response of that sermon. Is that a good measure of 182 00:09:12,920 --> 00:09:16,000 success? Just because a lot of people 183 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:18,880 come down to the altar and it makes you feel good, like, yeah, 184 00:09:19,560 --> 00:09:21,520 does that really mean it was successful? 185 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:27,480 What is the measure of success? We can measure our life's worth, 186 00:09:27,480 --> 00:09:31,720 our life's value by what we achieve, why we feel successful 187 00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:34,840 based on what we do and based on how important it is. 188 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:37,520 At least it is how important it is to our culture. 189 00:09:38,080 --> 00:09:42,320 So the question is, is that the measure of success, especially 190 00:09:42,320 --> 00:09:44,280 for a Christian? Does God another way? 191 00:09:44,280 --> 00:09:48,320 Could we could ask it? Does God reward His people based 192 00:09:48,360 --> 00:09:53,120 on their accomplishments? If He does, then Pastor 193 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:56,360 Blueberry was not successful because he did not accomplish 194 00:09:56,480 --> 00:10:00,200 very much in terms of the number of people that came to his 195 00:10:00,200 --> 00:10:03,960 church, the growth of his church, the projects that his 196 00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:06,680 church did, the missionaries that his church sent. 197 00:10:06,960 --> 00:10:10,920 None of those things happened. So if the answer is that God 198 00:10:10,920 --> 00:10:14,320 rewards His people based on what they accomplished, then he 199 00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:18,080 failed. So is that the measure of 200 00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:21,240 success? There's always work to be done 201 00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:22,920 around the church. I'm the I want you to just 202 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:26,520 imagine this with me. I'm, I'm the assistant pastor. 203 00:10:26,520 --> 00:10:29,160 So I do a lot of a lot of different things. 204 00:10:29,160 --> 00:10:32,720 I have a lot of, a lot of. Things that I have a hand in. 205 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:36,400 I teach junior church, I teach Sunday school class, I teach the 206 00:10:36,400 --> 00:10:38,560 master clubs during the school year. 207 00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:42,200 I run the I. Well, I manage the ITI don't run 208 00:10:42,200 --> 00:10:44,920 it, but I manage the ITI manage the website. 209 00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:47,000 There's a lot of things that I do. 210 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:49,840 On top of that, I song lead. You saw me song leading tonight. 211 00:10:49,840 --> 00:10:52,040 I lead all the singing. I do all the special music 212 00:10:52,040 --> 00:10:55,320 arranging to be done. I also do go out on visitation 213 00:10:55,320 --> 00:10:57,360 every week. So there's a lot of things that 214 00:10:57,360 --> 00:11:00,520 I'm doing. So again, we're thinking of what 215 00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:04,080 is the measure of success is the measure of success since I do 216 00:11:04,080 --> 00:11:07,240 all of these things, am I more successful than somebody else 217 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:10,040 who doesn't do all of those things, who does less things Is 218 00:11:10,200 --> 00:11:12,720 is the number of check marks that I can check off? 219 00:11:12,720 --> 00:11:15,400 Yep, did that did that did that did that Does that make me more 220 00:11:15,400 --> 00:11:19,480 successful as a Christian? I, I think you know, the answer 221 00:11:19,480 --> 00:11:21,160 is no. I think we all could agree 222 00:11:21,160 --> 00:11:24,200 that's not the measure of success. 223 00:11:24,840 --> 00:11:28,840 Another way to think about it. I have five children and I'm 224 00:11:29,280 --> 00:11:32,520 responsible, I've been entrusted by God and I'm responsible for 225 00:11:32,520 --> 00:11:34,840 teaching them, for training them in the nurture and admonition of 226 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:36,960 the Lord, preparing them to be. Adults. 227 00:11:36,960 --> 00:11:41,960 And to be Christian servants and it, it often means doing that 228 00:11:41,960 --> 00:11:45,120 often means giving up on getting things done. 229 00:11:45,840 --> 00:11:47,880 They take a lot of time. There's two of them right here 230 00:11:47,880 --> 00:11:49,280 and the rest are back there in the nursery. 231 00:11:49,280 --> 00:11:52,440 And they take a lot of time. And it often means giving them 232 00:11:52,440 --> 00:11:55,280 the time they need means I don't get done all of the things that 233 00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:59,040 I would like to get done. For example, we mow the grass at 234 00:11:59,040 --> 00:12:01,440 the church when when we're able to get over there, we mow the 235 00:12:01,440 --> 00:12:04,120 grass at the church. And I taught them how to use the 236 00:12:04,120 --> 00:12:06,920 push mower. It takes a long time for them to 237 00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:09,920 push mow the grass. I could push mow the grass a lot 238 00:12:09,920 --> 00:12:12,560 faster than they could, and I could probably do a better job 239 00:12:12,560 --> 00:12:14,000 than they could because they usually. 240 00:12:14,200 --> 00:12:16,640 You know, they miss the corners and I have to go back and clean 241 00:12:16,640 --> 00:12:18,360 it up when they're done. You know what I'm talking about. 242 00:12:18,360 --> 00:12:20,080 They miss stuff. And so it has to go and be 243 00:12:20,080 --> 00:12:22,680 cleaned up and it doesn't look all nice and sharp with the 244 00:12:22,680 --> 00:12:25,160 straight lines like somebody might want it to look like. 245 00:12:25,160 --> 00:12:28,360 And so I could. Do it all myself. 246 00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:31,680 I could get it done faster and it would look better and they 247 00:12:31,680 --> 00:12:36,040 would learn nothing. Say God didn't call me to mow 248 00:12:36,080 --> 00:12:39,560 grass. He didn't call me to mow grass. 249 00:12:39,560 --> 00:12:42,360 He called me to be a dad. He called me, Here's our 250 00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:44,320 keyword. He called me to be a faithful 251 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:48,960 father, Father, a faithful husband, and a faithful servant. 252 00:12:50,440 --> 00:12:53,640 Faithfulness. We're going to be talking about 253 00:12:53,640 --> 00:12:55,160 faithfulness night. He didn't talk. 254 00:12:55,160 --> 00:12:57,240 He didn't call me to just get things done. 255 00:12:59,120 --> 00:13:02,440 God didn't call Pastor Booberry to Pastor Booberry to big 256 00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:05,720 buildings and large projects and full pews, but he did call him 257 00:13:05,760 --> 00:13:09,080 to Utica. OH, and he was faithful. 258 00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:12,840 And that's what God calls us to tonight. 259 00:13:12,840 --> 00:13:16,640 That is the measure of success. It's not how much you 260 00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:18,160 accomplish. It's not what you do. 261 00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:20,320 It's not how many check boxes you can check off. 262 00:13:20,760 --> 00:13:25,680 It's faithfulness. Paul is encouraging Timothy here 263 00:13:25,680 --> 00:13:29,680 to be faithful and I believe that that's what God wants us to 264 00:13:29,680 --> 00:13:32,040 be encouraged with tonight. This is an encouraging book. 265 00:13:32,040 --> 00:13:35,040 The book of second Timothy was meant to encourage Timothy. 266 00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:39,000 Remember, if we remember from last Wednesday, this is this was 267 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:43,840 written with Paul in prison under the under the rule of 268 00:13:43,880 --> 00:13:48,360 Emperor Nero and his. Fanaticism, he was crazy and he 269 00:13:48,360 --> 00:13:52,160 was horrible person and he he persecuted Christians greatly. 270 00:13:52,160 --> 00:13:54,720 It was a terrible time to be a Christian in terms of 271 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:57,040 persecution. That's what's going on in the 272 00:13:57,040 --> 00:13:59,240 world. And so Paul is writing to 273 00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:01,400 Timothy. He knows he's going to die later 274 00:14:01,400 --> 00:14:03,880 at the end of the book, he he says, my life is dumb. 275 00:14:03,880 --> 00:14:05,480 This is it. I'm not getting out of this. 276 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:09,040 He knows he's going to die and he's writing to Timothy and says 277 00:14:09,280 --> 00:14:12,080 and trying to encourage Timothy. And here he's trying to 278 00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:14,920 encourage him to be faithful. He uses words like. 279 00:14:15,120 --> 00:14:21,160 Be strong, endure hardness and he's trying to encourage him. 280 00:14:21,160 --> 00:14:23,840 Be faithful, Timothy, be faithful. 281 00:14:25,640 --> 00:14:28,400 This is a key thought. This is this is the thought that 282 00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:30,200 I'd like you to get. If you don't get anything else 283 00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:31,720 out of this message, just get this thought. 284 00:14:31,720 --> 00:14:36,680 God's servants are judged and rewarded for their faithfulness 285 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:40,840 to God's call. God's servants are judged and 286 00:14:40,840 --> 00:14:43,880 rewarded for their faithfulness to God's call. 287 00:14:43,880 --> 00:14:47,760 Remember this Timothy was following God's call. 288 00:14:48,440 --> 00:14:52,080 He was a pastor at this time at the church at Ephesus. 289 00:14:52,440 --> 00:14:55,320 He was, this is what he had been assigned by Paul and he was 290 00:14:55,320 --> 00:14:58,160 doing it faithfully. First Timothy was written to him 291 00:14:58,160 --> 00:15:01,400 before Paul went to prison, and it was written to encourage him 292 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:03,400 to stand up to the false teachers. 293 00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:05,600 That were trying to infiltrate the church. 294 00:15:05,880 --> 00:15:07,880 Ephesus was not a very nice place. 295 00:15:08,160 --> 00:15:11,600 The Temple of Diana was there with all of the the promiscuity 296 00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:14,240 and, and, and immorality involved in that. 297 00:15:14,240 --> 00:15:16,600 And so it was just. It was a terrible place, and he 298 00:15:16,600 --> 00:15:20,040 was being faithful to God there in Ephesus. 299 00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:23,520 This book was not written to somebody who had the call of God 300 00:15:23,520 --> 00:15:26,120 and rebelled against it. It was written to somebody who 301 00:15:26,120 --> 00:15:28,640 had the call of God and accepted it. 302 00:15:28,920 --> 00:15:31,440 And Paul was trying to encourage him. 303 00:15:31,440 --> 00:15:36,120 So God's servants are judged and rewarded for their faithfulness 304 00:15:36,720 --> 00:15:38,400 to God's call. Timothy. 305 00:15:38,960 --> 00:15:41,160 Be faithful. The first thing he says there 306 00:15:41,160 --> 00:15:44,920 thou therefore that therefore is there because of what was 307 00:15:44,920 --> 00:15:47,520 happened in chapter 1. There, at the end of chapter 1, 308 00:15:47,760 --> 00:15:51,880 he talks about all. Day in Asia be turned away from 309 00:15:51,880 --> 00:15:55,160 me. And then he talks about one man, 310 00:15:55,160 --> 00:15:57,880 Onissa Foris, who stuck with him. 311 00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:02,440 Paul was abandoned. People were scared in the book, 312 00:16:02,440 --> 00:16:04,680 in the 1st chapter he talks about fear. 313 00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:07,840 We talked about that last week. People were scared about what 314 00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:11,120 Nero might do to them if he got caught, he talks about. 315 00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:14,840 Shame in the first path in the 1st chapter, people were 316 00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:17,560 ashamed. Shame is a terrible thing. 317 00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:21,160 I preached a message out on that passage and the title of it was 318 00:16:21,160 --> 00:16:24,920 there is no cause for shame and there's no cause for shame. 319 00:16:24,920 --> 00:16:26,200 But we're not going to preach that tonight. 320 00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:29,840 That would take too long, Timothy the first thing he says, 321 00:16:29,840 --> 00:16:36,440 Thou therefore my son be strong. Timothy will need to be strong. 322 00:16:37,720 --> 00:16:42,000 Pay attention, Timothy, he says, thou therefore my son be strong. 323 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:45,120 That word strong there he uses the same word or the same word 324 00:16:45,120 --> 00:16:49,000 is used by Luke in Acts 922, where it says this about Paul, 325 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:52,360 says but Saul before he turned into Paul he was Saul. 326 00:16:52,360 --> 00:16:57,040 Saul increased the more in strength and confounded the Jews 327 00:16:57,040 --> 00:17:02,200 which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ 328 00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:06,520 strength strong. Paul did not confound the Jews 329 00:17:06,680 --> 00:17:09,160 with his biceps. That's not what it's talking 330 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:10,839 about. Does it say when it says be 331 00:17:10,839 --> 00:17:13,440 strong or his strength? It doesn't mean that he was 332 00:17:13,440 --> 00:17:15,560 ripped. That's not what it's talking 333 00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:18,079 about. The word strong here has to do 334 00:17:18,079 --> 00:17:22,440 with resolve, an inner strength, a determination to say this is 335 00:17:22,440 --> 00:17:25,440 what's right, this is what I'm going to do, and nothing is 336 00:17:25,440 --> 00:17:28,160 going to change this. Be strong. 337 00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:32,480 Be strong. In fact, the Bible says in the 338 00:17:32,480 --> 00:17:37,160 very next verse in Acts that he was so strong in his resolve and 339 00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:39,800 in his knowledge of the Scriptures and improving, that 340 00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:43,000 Christ was their Messiah, that he was so strong in that that 341 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:44,600 the Jews took counsel to kill him. 342 00:17:46,320 --> 00:17:49,560 He was strong. And Paul is concerned again, the 343 00:17:49,560 --> 00:17:52,760 spirit of fear, the spirit, the power of shame is creeping in. 344 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:57,160 And the temptation would be to shrink back, to be timid, to not 345 00:17:57,160 --> 00:18:00,400 be bold, to not stand up, to not preach the truth, to not 346 00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:02,880 continue to be faithful. And Paul is trying to encourage 347 00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:06,840 Timothy to be faithful. And so he says, be strong. 348 00:18:06,840 --> 00:18:10,520 Don't buckle under the pressure. The pressure was great. 349 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:13,040 We talked about Nero already. People were abandoning the 350 00:18:13,040 --> 00:18:14,720 church. You don't know who you can 351 00:18:14,720 --> 00:18:17,920 trust. Paul is concerned, so he says to 352 00:18:17,920 --> 00:18:22,280 Timothy, be strong. But notice what he says after 353 00:18:22,280 --> 00:18:24,440 that. Be strong in the grace that is 354 00:18:24,440 --> 00:18:26,760 in Christ Jesus. In other words, Paul didn't say, 355 00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:28,120 all right, Timothy, it's up to you. 356 00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:31,200 You're just going to have to grit your teeth and bear it. 357 00:18:32,080 --> 00:18:34,720 Just going to have to bear up under it, under the pressure, 358 00:18:34,720 --> 00:18:37,480 under Nero's persecution. You're just going to have to be 359 00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:40,280 strong in your own strength. That's not what he said. 360 00:18:41,280 --> 00:18:46,680 Be strong in the. Grace that is in Christ Jesus. 361 00:18:48,040 --> 00:18:49,960 Be strong. In other words, he say, be 362 00:18:49,960 --> 00:18:53,640 strong in your dependence on Christ. 363 00:18:54,080 --> 00:18:57,280 Be strong in your dependence on Christ. 364 00:18:57,280 --> 00:19:00,320 The idea of the phrase is that there's this continuous 365 00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:03,720 dependence on the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 366 00:19:03,720 --> 00:19:06,640 If he's going to be strong, if he's going to stay faithful, 367 00:19:06,800 --> 00:19:08,760 it's not going to be by his own strength. 368 00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:11,960 Timothy's strength is going to buckle. 369 00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:14,600 Timothy's strength is going to give in. 370 00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:17,040 Temptation is going to get the better of him. 371 00:19:17,240 --> 00:19:19,680 It gets the better of all of us when we try to live the 372 00:19:19,680 --> 00:19:21,680 Christian life in our own strength. 373 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:27,760 But praise God, we have the grace of Christ Jesus and we 374 00:19:27,760 --> 00:19:31,680 ought to be strong. Our dependence on Christ Jesus 375 00:19:31,680 --> 00:19:34,800 ought to be strong. Being strong. 376 00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:37,160 This, I found this interesting as I thought about that. 377 00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:40,200 Being strong is a command. It's a, it's something that 378 00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:42,880 Timothy has to do. It's a choice, Timothy, I want 379 00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:45,640 you to choose to be strong, but I want you to choose to be 380 00:19:45,640 --> 00:19:47,480 strong in something that was a gift. 381 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:51,200 It's almost, it's almost, it's weird. 382 00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:53,560 It's a weird phrase. I want you to be strong, 383 00:19:53,560 --> 00:19:54,720 Timothy. I want you to choose to be 384 00:19:54,720 --> 00:19:57,800 strong, but I want you to be strong in the grace that is in 385 00:19:57,800 --> 00:20:01,440 Christ Jesus, which was a gift, something that was given to him. 386 00:20:01,680 --> 00:20:05,760 Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 387 00:20:05,760 --> 00:20:09,320 The gift is given to all who trust Jesus as their Savior. 388 00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:14,920 When we try to be strong without the grace of Christ Jesus, we 389 00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:18,040 try to bear up under it. All that's going to happen is 390 00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:19,480 we're going to burn ourselves out. 391 00:20:20,600 --> 00:20:22,880 That's what happens because we don't have the strength to 392 00:20:22,880 --> 00:20:26,280 continue this life that he's called us to, to be faithful. 393 00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:28,600 All that's going to happen is we're going to do a bunch of 394 00:20:28,600 --> 00:20:31,120 stuff, but it's going to be a bunch of stuff that we want to 395 00:20:31,120 --> 00:20:32,760 do. It's going to be stuff that we 396 00:20:32,760 --> 00:20:35,600 do in our own strength which will not bring us reward, which 397 00:20:35,600 --> 00:20:39,440 will not bring success. It just brings self fulfillment. 398 00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:41,640 It's selfish. It's about me. 399 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:47,520 I can do a lot of things through Denwood Strength, but eventually 400 00:20:47,520 --> 00:20:49,040 Denwood Strength is going to give in. 401 00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:51,600 Denwood's strength is going to buckle. 402 00:20:53,200 --> 00:20:56,440 Denwood strength is not strong enough to to continue on. 403 00:20:56,640 --> 00:21:00,040 And Denwood's strength does everything for Denwood. 404 00:21:01,440 --> 00:21:04,360 It doesn't bring me reward. It doesn't bring me success. 405 00:21:05,280 --> 00:21:09,680 So I'm not I'm we can try to be strong with without the grace of 406 00:21:09,680 --> 00:21:13,120 Christ Jesus and all we will do is burn ourselves out. 407 00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:15,960 We're not being faithful to what God has called us. 408 00:21:15,960 --> 00:21:19,680 We'll be faithful to ourselves. We'll we'll set the direction, 409 00:21:19,680 --> 00:21:22,840 we'll set what we want to do and we'll burn ourselves out. 410 00:21:22,840 --> 00:21:24,720 But there's another flip. We could go the other way and we 411 00:21:24,720 --> 00:21:27,480 could say, all right, well, the gift of the grace of Christ 412 00:21:27,520 --> 00:21:30,080 Jesus is, is a gift. So I'm just going to sit down 413 00:21:30,080 --> 00:21:32,360 and I'm just going to wait for him to do everything for me. 414 00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:35,080 There are people who do that. They do they, they think, well, 415 00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:36,800 God's going to take care of these problems. 416 00:21:36,800 --> 00:21:38,200 God's going to take care of this sin. 417 00:21:38,200 --> 00:21:41,920 I don't have to do anything. So they're not being strong. 418 00:21:41,920 --> 00:21:45,480 They haven't made the choice to to practice and to train and to 419 00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:47,320 study. Those are all things that are in 420 00:21:47,320 --> 00:21:50,600 the the book of Second Timothy. Study to show thyself approved 421 00:21:50,600 --> 00:21:52,880 unto God. They don't choose to do those 422 00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:54,200 things. Instead, they just sit back. 423 00:21:54,200 --> 00:21:56,800 And say, well, God's given me the gift of his grace, so I'm 424 00:21:56,800 --> 00:22:00,240 just going to wait for him to solve all these problems for me. 425 00:22:01,120 --> 00:22:04,440 What happens to a car when you let it sit and it does nothing? 426 00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:09,520 It rusts and eventually it doesn't start and it becomes 427 00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:13,280 useless. What happens to a Christian when 428 00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:18,320 they sit and do nothing? They become useless. 429 00:22:19,480 --> 00:22:24,200 They can't be successful. They can't gain the reward 430 00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:25,960 because they are not being faithful. 431 00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:31,760 Be strong, Choose to be strong, Timothy. 432 00:22:32,160 --> 00:22:36,920 You need to train and study and resolve to live with full 433 00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:41,040 confidence in God. That's how we could read that 434 00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:44,760 God will never leave you. God has promised you a future 435 00:22:44,760 --> 00:22:47,240 home in heaven. God has defeated death. 436 00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:50,200 God has saved you. God has called you. 437 00:22:50,800 --> 00:22:53,080 I say it all the time. One of my favorite passages, 438 00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:57,840 Joshua chapter 1 have not. I commanded thee if I told you 439 00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:01,720 to go, if I called you, Timothy, I have the ability. 440 00:23:01,720 --> 00:23:03,840 I have the power to see it through. 441 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:08,000 You just have to be. Strong in the grace that is in 442 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:12,760 Christ Jesus Timothy. If you think you have some 443 00:23:12,760 --> 00:23:17,360 clever gimmicks, 10 Steps for Church growth, forget that. 444 00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:20,520 Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 445 00:23:20,520 --> 00:23:23,320 If you think you've got a plan for how to avoid the suffering 446 00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:25,600 and persecution of Nero, forget that. 447 00:23:26,280 --> 00:23:28,520 Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 448 00:23:28,520 --> 00:23:30,160 God knows how to build his church. 449 00:23:31,440 --> 00:23:33,200 God knows how to protect his people. 450 00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:38,920 God is in control. God makes no mistakes and God 451 00:23:38,920 --> 00:23:42,960 can be trusted. So be strong, be faithful. 452 00:23:44,120 --> 00:23:45,960 He says in verse 2. And the things that thou has 453 00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:49,600 heard of me among many witnesses the same commit thou to faithful 454 00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:52,560 men who shall be able to teach others also. 455 00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:56,040 You know if you were wondering what God's process for church 456 00:23:56,040 --> 00:24:00,040 growth was. Paul told us right here, he 457 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:01,320 says. And the things that thou has 458 00:24:01,320 --> 00:24:04,160 heard of me are. Right, so you've got Paul who 459 00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:06,880 taught Timothy. So you've got 2 generations. 460 00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:09,800 Then he says the same commit that of faithful men. 461 00:24:10,120 --> 00:24:13,320 There's another generation who shall be able to teach others. 462 00:24:13,320 --> 00:24:17,920 Also, there's four generations of Christians in one verse. 463 00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:20,280 You want to know how to grow your church? 464 00:24:21,040 --> 00:24:25,080 God's plan is discipleship. Tell people the gospel. 465 00:24:25,240 --> 00:24:28,560 Get them saved, get them plugged into the church, get them 466 00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:30,800 baptized. Disciple them. 467 00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:33,720 God didn't. God doesn't have a plan that 468 00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:36,680 involves activities and doing and and 10 steps. 469 00:24:36,680 --> 00:24:40,480 God's plan is you and me. Discipling people. 470 00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:46,360 Discipling people. God's plan be strong in the 471 00:24:46,360 --> 00:24:48,600 grace that is in Christ Jesus, but we're under attack. 472 00:24:48,760 --> 00:24:52,840 Don't worry about that. You worry about sharing the 473 00:24:52,840 --> 00:24:56,120 gospel. You worry about discipling, you 474 00:24:56,120 --> 00:24:59,320 worry about taking the truths that you got from Paul that that 475 00:24:59,320 --> 00:25:02,400 Paul got from me and you got from Paul and passing them on to 476 00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:05,560 somebody else so that that person can turn around and pass 477 00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:08,520 them on to the next person you know. 478 00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:13,040 This church, that this church is here because of that chain of 479 00:25:13,040 --> 00:25:20,080 events, somebody gave the gospel to your pastor and he got saved. 480 00:25:20,840 --> 00:25:24,240 And he chose to surrender to God and be faithful to God and come 481 00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:27,720 up here and somebody shared the gospel with you and you got 482 00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:29,120 saved. And if you went backwards, 483 00:25:29,120 --> 00:25:31,400 somebody shared the gospel with them and somebody shared the 484 00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:34,360 gospel with them. That's how you got here. 485 00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:39,240 You didn't get here because of a 10 step program or some weird 486 00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:41,440 activity. You got here because of 487 00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:45,840 discipleship, God's plan for church growth in a world. 488 00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:48,760 Where success is measured by accomplishments and 489 00:25:48,760 --> 00:25:52,600 achievements, it would easy to it would be easy to see the fear 490 00:25:52,600 --> 00:25:56,840 and shame he talks about in chapter 1 as being the fear and 491 00:25:56,840 --> 00:26:01,320 shame and the persecution as a failure, as a reason to adapt to 492 00:26:01,320 --> 00:26:03,000 the culture, as a reason to adapt. 493 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:05,680 That's what the people did at the end of chapter 1 all. 494 00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:07,840 Day in Asia be turned away from me. 495 00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:10,120 Why? Because they were afraid, 496 00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:14,320 Because they were ashamed. Because of what was happening 497 00:26:15,280 --> 00:26:17,400 and they didn't want to stand with Paul, they didn't want to 498 00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:20,800 be associated with Paul because being associated with Paul 499 00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:24,040 probably meant they would be in prison, that they would be 500 00:26:24,040 --> 00:26:29,280 persecuted. Benjamin, stop it. 501 00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:33,000 In a world where success is measured by accomplishments, it 502 00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:36,920 would be easy for Timothy to see this as a failure and to adapt. 503 00:26:36,920 --> 00:26:41,440 I'm saddened to say that many churches and many Christians 504 00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:47,160 have adapted to our culture today because of fear and 505 00:26:47,160 --> 00:26:50,400 because of shame. They're no longer willing to 506 00:26:50,560 --> 00:26:53,400 disciple people. They're no longer willing to 507 00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:56,760 call sin sin. They're no longer willing to 508 00:26:56,760 --> 00:27:00,800 stand on the truths of the Bible beginning in Genesis chapter 1 509 00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:02,040 and all the way through to the end. 510 00:27:02,280 --> 00:27:06,200 They change it and they twist it to line up with what the world 511 00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:10,120 thinks and what the world says because of fear, because of 512 00:27:10,120 --> 00:27:13,360 shame. They were not strong, they were 513 00:27:13,360 --> 00:27:16,200 not faithful. And Timothy, you need to be 514 00:27:16,200 --> 00:27:17,680 strong. You need to be faithful. 515 00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:23,200 God's servants are not judged and rewarded for their 516 00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:25,440 achievements. They're judged and rewarded for 517 00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:26,320 their faithfulness. So. 518 00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:29,960 Timothy, you need to be strong. Be strong in the grace that's in 519 00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:32,520 Christ Jesus. Be strong to continue 520 00:27:32,720 --> 00:27:36,240 discipleship. Then he says in verse #3 Thou 521 00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:39,760 therefore endure. Endure hardness. 522 00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:44,400 Timothy, you need to endure. He gives him 3 illustrations, 3 523 00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:46,280 illustrations. I'm going to have to go quick or 524 00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:48,320 I will run out of time. SO3 illustrations. 525 00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:52,760 He gives him the illustration of a soldier, of an athlete, and of 526 00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:55,360 a husbandman, a farmer, a soldier. 527 00:27:55,360 --> 00:27:57,920 He has. He says, thou therefore endure 528 00:27:57,920 --> 00:28:01,680 hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 529 00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:04,920 Romans. The Romans were at the time of 530 00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:08,240 Paul, they were in control of much of the world at that time 531 00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:12,320 and they had secured world domination largely through their 532 00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:15,920 military might and through their roads that allowed them to move 533 00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:18,800 their military around. But because of this vast 534 00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:22,200 military force, they also had to have lots of discipline, lots of 535 00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:26,640 training to be able to hold the land that they had taken. 536 00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:30,960 And so they, they, this picture would have been very familiar to 537 00:28:30,960 --> 00:28:34,560 both Timothy and to Paul. Paul was arrested by Roman 538 00:28:34,560 --> 00:28:37,920 centurions a couple of times and they were in prison with Romans. 539 00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:41,960 They were familiar with Roman discipline, Roman soldiers, how 540 00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:44,200 Roman soldiers looked, how they operated. 541 00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:46,760 So this would have been a familiar sight. 542 00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:52,760 For both Timothy and Paul. To maintain this huge empire, 543 00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:55,320 they had to train, they had to discipline, because there could 544 00:28:55,320 --> 00:28:58,280 be no weakening of resolve. There could be no weakening of 545 00:28:58,280 --> 00:29:00,560 skill or strength. There could be no diversions. 546 00:29:00,560 --> 00:29:01,920 They needed to. Follow orders. 547 00:29:02,080 --> 00:29:04,840 They needed to endure the hardness that was commanded of 548 00:29:04,840 --> 00:29:06,560 them. That's what it meant to be a 549 00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:09,720 soldier. A good soldier Imagine if you 550 00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:13,160 will, a soldier today, doesn't it could be a soldier in. 551 00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:14,840 Any in any branch doesn't matter. 552 00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:16,880 But he enlists, Somebody enlists, they enlist in the 553 00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:19,680 military. They go to boot camp, they get 554 00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:22,480 trained, they're ready to be shipped out. 555 00:29:22,720 --> 00:29:25,840 Their commander comes in and says, all right, we're shipping 556 00:29:25,840 --> 00:29:28,560 out tomorrow. And that soldier looks at his 557 00:29:28,560 --> 00:29:33,000 commanders and says, but I've got a date, so I'm not going to 558 00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:36,920 be able to be there. That's not going to go over very 559 00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:38,280 well with the commanding officer. 560 00:29:38,280 --> 00:29:39,920 That's not OK. You're a soldier. 561 00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:43,080 You don't get to just decide, well, I'm not going to go with 562 00:29:43,080 --> 00:29:45,160 the the the unit. I'm not going to be involved. 563 00:29:45,160 --> 00:29:48,000 I'm going to take a step back because I've got other plans. 564 00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:51,720 That's what he's talking about in verse 4 when he says no man 565 00:29:51,720 --> 00:29:55,520 that woreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life. 566 00:29:55,800 --> 00:29:59,800 A Roman centurion, a Roman soldier, had restrictions on how 567 00:29:59,840 --> 00:30:01,840 what he could do, on what he could do with his time. 568 00:30:01,840 --> 00:30:04,240 He didn't have just free time that he could spend doing 569 00:30:04,240 --> 00:30:07,280 whatever he wanted because he was under someone's authority. 570 00:30:07,280 --> 00:30:09,800 And that person told him where to go and what to do. 571 00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:13,480 That's what it meant to enlist and to be a soldier. 572 00:30:13,600 --> 00:30:16,480 He didn't get to decide how he was going to spend his free time 573 00:30:16,480 --> 00:30:19,360 or what kind of occupation he was going to have. 574 00:30:19,520 --> 00:30:22,520 When the commander said go, you went. 575 00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:26,520 And he says here, Timothy, you are now a soldier. 576 00:30:27,120 --> 00:30:30,320 Be a good soldier of Jesus Christ, Timothy, you're a 577 00:30:30,320 --> 00:30:32,840 soldier now. Soldiers don't quit because it's 578 00:30:32,840 --> 00:30:35,320 difficult or because it's dangerous. 579 00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:39,680 Soldiers don't tell their commanding officers they're busy 580 00:30:40,280 --> 00:30:41,600 when the order comes down to move. 581 00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:47,800 Timothy, you're a soldier and a soldier is faithful as to his 582 00:30:47,800 --> 00:30:49,560 commander and to the commands he gives. 583 00:30:49,560 --> 00:30:53,320 He's very specific about that. Verse 4 again, no man that worth 584 00:30:53,360 --> 00:30:55,760 entangleth himself with the affairs of this. 585 00:30:56,200 --> 00:30:59,840 If you're in the army, you don't go in and tangle, tangle 586 00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:03,640 yourself up with with all the cares and worries and and 587 00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:07,640 difficulties of this life because he goes on that he may 588 00:31:07,640 --> 00:31:12,440 please him who has chosen him to to be a soldier, who chose 589 00:31:12,440 --> 00:31:16,560 Timothy to be a soldier? Jesus Christ did, He says be a 590 00:31:16,560 --> 00:31:21,040 good soldier of Jesus Christ. You're in the Lord's army now. 591 00:31:21,560 --> 00:31:25,800 Going and tangling yourself up with world's affairs is not 592 00:31:25,800 --> 00:31:29,680 going to please Jesus. That's not what he's looking 593 00:31:29,680 --> 00:31:31,120 for, remember. What is he looking for? 594 00:31:31,120 --> 00:31:36,240 He's looking for faithfulness, for faithfulness, for endurance. 595 00:31:37,320 --> 00:31:42,200 You're a soldier, Timothy, and a soldier is faithful to his 596 00:31:42,200 --> 00:31:45,080 commander and to the commands he gives. 597 00:31:46,200 --> 00:31:48,400 When you got saved, you were enlisted in God's army. 598 00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:50,880 If you're saved tonight, this could be said of you. 599 00:31:51,680 --> 00:31:56,080 If you're saved tonight, then you are a soldier of Jesus 600 00:31:56,080 --> 00:31:59,200 Christ. Tomorrow night I'll be teaching 601 00:31:59,200 --> 00:32:00,680 a men's Bible study at our church. 602 00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:04,720 We're going to be talking about angels, elect angels and fallen 603 00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:09,760 angels and oppression on on Christians and how to overcome 604 00:32:09,760 --> 00:32:12,600 that. And part of my study, I've been 605 00:32:12,720 --> 00:32:15,560 watching some videos on on spiritual warfare. 606 00:32:15,760 --> 00:32:19,080 And I was this one pastor I believe is back in Oklahoma City 607 00:32:19,080 --> 00:32:22,600 where I'm from. He listed 1010 things, 10 signs 608 00:32:22,600 --> 00:32:24,880 to know that you're under attack, that you're involved in 609 00:32:24,880 --> 00:32:27,240 spiritual warfare. And I was expecting, you know, 610 00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:29,440 some, some great thing. And no, he said things like, 611 00:32:29,600 --> 00:32:33,800 well, if you're telling the truth, you're preaching, if 612 00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:36,440 you're going out soul winning, if you're praying. 613 00:32:37,440 --> 00:32:38,640 Those are the kinds of things he said. 614 00:32:38,640 --> 00:32:42,560 You're involved in spiritual warfare just by doing those 615 00:32:42,560 --> 00:32:43,880 things. You're in the battle. 616 00:32:45,800 --> 00:32:49,760 You're in the battle and you must learn, just like Timothy 617 00:32:49,960 --> 00:32:53,320 had to learn to endure, to not be distracted. 618 00:32:54,120 --> 00:32:56,920 No man that woreth entangleth himself. 619 00:32:57,400 --> 00:32:59,960 That was the first illustration. The second illustration is in 620 00:32:59,960 --> 00:33:02,240 verse 5. It says and if a man also strive 621 00:33:02,240 --> 00:33:06,880 for masteries, yet is he not crowned except he strive 622 00:33:07,280 --> 00:33:10,040 lawfully, strive for the masteries. 623 00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:13,800 The phrase there comes from the Greek word athleo, which is 624 00:33:13,800 --> 00:33:16,520 where we get our word athlete. So it's an athlete. 625 00:33:16,520 --> 00:33:20,160 He's talking about an athlete. Paul is probably picturing the 626 00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:23,200 public games, Another thing that would have been very familiar to 627 00:33:23,200 --> 00:33:26,240 both of them. Ephesus was a city, a major 628 00:33:26,240 --> 00:33:28,720 city. They probably had Olympic Games 629 00:33:28,960 --> 00:33:30,360 there. And there would have been 630 00:33:30,360 --> 00:33:33,240 people, men who came from all around the, the, the, the 631 00:33:33,240 --> 00:33:36,960 countryside, all around the, the nation of Rome and came there to 632 00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:40,520 compete in these games, whether it be wrestling, whether it be 633 00:33:40,800 --> 00:33:42,520 whatever other games they were playing. 634 00:33:42,520 --> 00:33:47,080 They came there for the purpose of competing to to with all 635 00:33:47,080 --> 00:33:49,000 their might and to be victorious. 636 00:33:49,280 --> 00:33:52,160 They would have followed strict diets and they would have 637 00:33:52,360 --> 00:33:55,880 exercised multiple times a day and they would practice to 638 00:33:55,880 --> 00:33:59,040 perfect their art. And the winner of the game was 639 00:33:59,040 --> 00:34:01,000 crowned with a little ring of leaves. 640 00:34:01,320 --> 00:34:03,840 That's what you got. That was that was the sign that 641 00:34:03,840 --> 00:34:06,520 you won in the in the Olympic Games. 642 00:34:07,600 --> 00:34:10,080 Paul doesn't. Draw attention to anything I 643 00:34:10,080 --> 00:34:14,120 just said, he says. You're using the picture of an 644 00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:19,000 athlete, but he specifically. Says if a man also strive for 645 00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:23,280 the masteries, yet is he not crowned except he strive 646 00:34:23,480 --> 00:34:27,120 lawfully? He doesn't draw attention to his 647 00:34:27,120 --> 00:34:31,080 workout or the hardness that he has to endure or or the waking 648 00:34:31,080 --> 00:34:33,639 up early or any of the things that you might think of when you 649 00:34:33,639 --> 00:34:36,639 think of an athlete who's working hard to gain the 650 00:34:36,639 --> 00:34:38,920 victory. He draws attention to following 651 00:34:38,920 --> 00:34:43,199 the rules. Following the rules. 652 00:34:43,679 --> 00:34:47,000 Run in a. Race, but you disqualify 653 00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:49,800 yourself because you didn't follow the rules. 654 00:34:51,679 --> 00:34:54,280 See, the The thing is, an athlete would know this. 655 00:34:55,320 --> 00:35:00,800 You can be the best you can practice the most and get up the 656 00:35:00,840 --> 00:35:05,520 earliest and still lose. Not because you didn't come in 657 00:35:05,520 --> 00:35:09,480 first place, but because you broke the rules and you 658 00:35:09,480 --> 00:35:13,520 disqualified yourself. I think a great example, modern 659 00:35:13,520 --> 00:35:15,800 example today would be Lance Armstrong. 660 00:35:17,400 --> 00:35:23,000 He had a lot of medals under his belt and now he has none because 661 00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:26,440 he disqualified himself. He broke the rules and 662 00:35:26,440 --> 00:35:30,360 disqualified himself. When I was a school teacher back 663 00:35:30,360 --> 00:35:32,680 at our church, we have a little private school and I, when I 664 00:35:32,680 --> 00:35:35,200 first came up here, I worked there as a school teacher and I 665 00:35:35,200 --> 00:35:39,360 taught PE and we had a large range of kids. 666 00:35:39,560 --> 00:35:43,200 We had kids that were 5-6 years old all the way up to high 667 00:35:43,200 --> 00:35:45,560 schoolers. So playing PE was difficult 668 00:35:45,560 --> 00:35:48,440 because of course a high schooler is a little more 669 00:35:48,440 --> 00:35:50,600 athletically accomplished than a 5 year old. 670 00:35:50,840 --> 00:35:54,560 And I needed to find ways to make it fair for everyone. 671 00:35:54,560 --> 00:35:57,600 So we would play kickball and I quickly realized that, you know, 672 00:35:57,680 --> 00:35:59,920 somebody 16 would get up there and boot it and it would go 673 00:35:59,920 --> 00:36:02,360 soaring off into the distance and you'd watch these five year 674 00:36:02,360 --> 00:36:06,280 olds. And by the time it hit the 675 00:36:06,280 --> 00:36:07,720 ground, the guy was already back at base. 676 00:36:07,720 --> 00:36:09,720 There was no way. There's nothing they could do. 677 00:36:10,040 --> 00:36:14,560 So I I am modified kickball, much to the 16 year old's 678 00:36:14,560 --> 00:36:18,040 chagrin. I made the bases backwards. 679 00:36:18,560 --> 00:36:20,920 So you ran to 3rd, then second, then first. 680 00:36:21,160 --> 00:36:23,680 You've no idea how many times somebody would run to 1st. 681 00:36:23,720 --> 00:36:26,080 I'm safe. You're on the wrong. 682 00:36:26,080 --> 00:36:29,880 Base, you're out. They didn't like that very much. 683 00:36:29,880 --> 00:36:33,320 I changed the rules so that as soon as the ball was picked up 684 00:36:33,320 --> 00:36:37,200 by someone you were out if you were not on a base. 685 00:36:38,960 --> 00:36:42,120 They didn't like it, but the point was there were new rules 686 00:36:43,080 --> 00:36:46,520 and if you didn't follow the rules, you were disqualified. 687 00:36:46,800 --> 00:36:49,480 You couldn't play the game. You had to be out and go back 688 00:36:49,480 --> 00:36:53,200 and kick again. Paul said that very something 689 00:36:53,200 --> 00:36:56,160 very similar about himself in First Corinthians 927. 690 00:36:56,320 --> 00:36:59,320 He said, But I keep under my body and bring it into 691 00:36:59,320 --> 00:37:02,160 subjection, lest but by any means when I have. 692 00:37:02,160 --> 00:37:05,680 Preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. 693 00:37:06,360 --> 00:37:09,240 What was his concern? His concern was he'd be out 694 00:37:09,240 --> 00:37:12,440 doing all the right things, but he would fail to follow the 695 00:37:12,440 --> 00:37:15,360 rules and he would be disqualified. 696 00:37:15,560 --> 00:37:18,240 He would miss out. He would not be successful. 697 00:37:18,480 --> 00:37:23,600 He would fail simply because he did not follow the rules. 698 00:37:24,960 --> 00:37:28,080 You know, we're not running a race, the Christian race, if we 699 00:37:28,080 --> 00:37:30,560 wanted to use Paul's illustration, we're not running 700 00:37:30,560 --> 00:37:33,800 this race to be famous. We're not. 701 00:37:33,920 --> 00:37:35,480 We're not Christians to be famous. 702 00:37:36,320 --> 00:37:38,960 We're running to please Jesus Christ. 703 00:37:39,720 --> 00:37:43,360 That's why we're here. And if we're going to please 704 00:37:43,360 --> 00:37:46,000 Him, we have to follow his rules. 705 00:37:46,960 --> 00:37:49,880 We can't pick and choose which rules we want to follow either. 706 00:37:50,040 --> 00:37:53,480 There's plenty of people today who pick and choose well. 707 00:37:53,480 --> 00:37:55,280 I don't like this one. It's not called. 708 00:37:55,280 --> 00:37:57,080 It doesn't match with our culture today. 709 00:37:57,080 --> 00:37:58,600 So we're going to ignore that one. 710 00:37:58,600 --> 00:38:00,840 We're going to change that one you don't get to do. 711 00:38:00,840 --> 00:38:04,320 That you have to follow the rules. 712 00:38:05,200 --> 00:38:09,680 We have to know the rules. An athlete would study the rules 713 00:38:09,680 --> 00:38:12,840 because he wants to make sure he knows this is what I need to do. 714 00:38:13,000 --> 00:38:16,000 This is how I win. This is how I'm successful. 715 00:38:16,120 --> 00:38:19,120 This is how I can finish the race and win the crown. 716 00:38:21,200 --> 00:38:26,000 There's no shortcuts, there's no cheat codes, there's no ends 717 00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:28,400 justify the means. There's no picking and choosing. 718 00:38:28,600 --> 00:38:33,600 We must be faithful. Faithful to the law, faithful to 719 00:38:33,600 --> 00:38:37,880 the rules, faithful to the the manner of running that Christ 720 00:38:37,880 --> 00:38:42,040 has prescribed for us. The third illustration is a 721 00:38:42,040 --> 00:38:45,080 husbandman. He says in verse #6 the 722 00:38:45,080 --> 00:38:47,400 husbandman. That laboreth must be first 723 00:38:47,400 --> 00:38:50,480 partaker of the fruits. A farmer. 724 00:38:50,680 --> 00:38:54,080 Farmers work a lot. They work outside in the field 725 00:38:54,080 --> 00:38:57,280 all day. Rain, snow, whatever it is, 726 00:38:57,280 --> 00:38:59,520 they're out there working. There's always something to be 727 00:38:59,520 --> 00:39:01,480 done on a farm. I'm not a farmer, but my 728 00:39:01,480 --> 00:39:04,240 father-in-law is a farmer. I may have told you guys this 729 00:39:04,240 --> 00:39:05,720 story before, but it's a great story. 730 00:39:05,720 --> 00:39:08,720 So I'll tell you again. When before I married my wife, I 731 00:39:08,720 --> 00:39:10,600 went, I, we lived in Oklahoma City. 732 00:39:10,600 --> 00:39:13,840 We went to Heartland Baptist Bible College together there. 733 00:39:14,080 --> 00:39:18,680 And so one of our breaks, I went home with her to visit with her 734 00:39:18,680 --> 00:39:21,960 family and, and see her dad. This is the first time I'd ever 735 00:39:21,960 --> 00:39:25,760 met him and he thought it would be a great idea for me to go out 736 00:39:25,840 --> 00:39:29,760 and work on the farm with him. Now he he had a farm, but he 737 00:39:29,760 --> 00:39:32,120 worked for a farmer and he was a maintenance guy. 738 00:39:32,120 --> 00:39:34,920 So a lot of what he did was working on these massive 739 00:39:34,920 --> 00:39:39,000 sprinklers, like half mile long of these huge sprinklers pumping 740 00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:41,280 out hundreds of thousands of gallons of water. 741 00:39:41,480 --> 00:39:45,720 I'd never seen anything like it. And so I go out there and he's 742 00:39:45,720 --> 00:39:48,000 like, I'm pretty sure he planned this. 743 00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:51,040 He decided that this was a great day to replace the sprinkler 744 00:39:51,040 --> 00:39:52,880 heads. On the sprinklers. 745 00:39:53,080 --> 00:39:55,880 Long sprinkler. And so he's sitting in this 746 00:39:55,880 --> 00:39:59,280 little four Wheeler just coasting along and I'm walking 747 00:39:59,280 --> 00:40:01,640 along and I'm trying to unscrew these things and they're all 748 00:40:01,640 --> 00:40:03,480 calcified so they don't want to come off. 749 00:40:03,800 --> 00:40:06,200 And I'm trying to RIP these things off and it's not working 750 00:40:06,200 --> 00:40:07,720 out. And then he gets off and he just 751 00:40:07,720 --> 00:40:11,280 goes pink and pink and it makes me look like a fool. 752 00:40:12,200 --> 00:40:13,600 And you can see I'm not hurt by it at all. 753 00:40:13,600 --> 00:40:17,200 But farmers work hard. And he did that every day for 754 00:40:17,200 --> 00:40:19,240 many years. They work hard. 755 00:40:19,640 --> 00:40:21,560 It takes a lot of work. And back then it would have 756 00:40:21,560 --> 00:40:24,360 taken even more work. Nowadays they've got fancy 757 00:40:24,360 --> 00:40:25,800 tractors that do everything for you. 758 00:40:25,800 --> 00:40:28,840 Back then, you, you planted by your, you planted by hand. 759 00:40:29,040 --> 00:40:30,880 You watered. If you had to water, you watered 760 00:40:30,880 --> 00:40:33,320 it by hand. You had to go pick it by hand. 761 00:40:33,320 --> 00:40:35,760 You had to bail it by hand. Everything was done with 762 00:40:35,760 --> 00:40:37,120 manpower. That was it. 763 00:40:37,280 --> 00:40:42,040 That's all you had. The labor had to come before 764 00:40:42,040 --> 00:40:47,520 there was a harvest, he says. The husbandman that laboreth the 765 00:40:47,520 --> 00:40:51,920 labor comes first. There is no harvest without 766 00:40:51,920 --> 00:40:57,800 labor, without work. Long hours must be spent tilling 767 00:40:57,800 --> 00:41:00,360 the soil, planting the soil, wedding the soil. 768 00:41:00,600 --> 00:41:03,280 And the work is never done. There's always another field to 769 00:41:03,280 --> 00:41:05,880 plow, another field to prepare and plant, another garden to 770 00:41:05,880 --> 00:41:08,360 fertilize and weed, another field that needs protection from 771 00:41:08,360 --> 00:41:10,520 pests, fences that need to be mended. 772 00:41:10,720 --> 00:41:13,760 And then the harvest comes and you start it all over again. 773 00:41:15,080 --> 00:41:18,200 Farmer. Long, Tedious. 774 00:41:19,040 --> 00:41:21,720 But if he was going to see the reward, the husband and the 775 00:41:21,720 --> 00:41:23,960 laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits. 776 00:41:24,160 --> 00:41:27,920 There will be no harvest without the labor. 777 00:41:28,640 --> 00:41:32,640 He must be faithful to the labor if he wants a harvest. 778 00:41:33,640 --> 00:41:35,880 You know, the work God called Timothy to. 779 00:41:36,960 --> 00:41:40,160 Was. Long and tedious and. 780 00:41:40,480 --> 00:41:43,960 Often times very uncomfortable. We don't know a whole lot about 781 00:41:44,000 --> 00:41:47,200 everything that happened there in Ephesus with Timothy. 782 00:41:47,200 --> 00:41:50,720 We have first Timothy, which tells us about some nasty false 783 00:41:50,720 --> 00:41:52,680 teaching that was trying to infiltrate the church. 784 00:41:52,960 --> 00:41:56,640 We have knowledge about Ephesus from history and what kind of 785 00:41:56,640 --> 00:42:00,000 place it was and about what was going on at that time with Nero 786 00:42:00,840 --> 00:42:03,680 and what we know. Again, Ephesus was not a great 787 00:42:03,680 --> 00:42:11,040 place, and Timothy had a long. Hard road to hoe, you know. 788 00:42:11,040 --> 00:42:14,960 A parent's work is never done either if you've ever had 789 00:42:14,960 --> 00:42:17,480 children. My children are young, my dad 790 00:42:17,480 --> 00:42:19,640 tells me all the time and I'm 34. 791 00:42:19,640 --> 00:42:23,000 He says I'm still a dad. It never stops. 792 00:42:23,800 --> 00:42:29,760 Parents, work is never done and sometimes it's a long hard Rd., 793 00:42:30,760 --> 00:42:35,200 a long bit of work to raise your child and the nurture and 794 00:42:35,200 --> 00:42:37,800 admonition of the Lord. And sometimes you wish you could 795 00:42:37,800 --> 00:42:41,080 just sleep in. You wish you could just take a 796 00:42:41,080 --> 00:42:42,600 break. You wish. 797 00:42:42,600 --> 00:42:43,880 It could just be. Peaceful. 798 00:42:45,680 --> 00:42:47,760 But you can't. You can't stop. 799 00:42:49,960 --> 00:42:53,200 You have to be faithful. If you want to reap the reward, 800 00:42:53,840 --> 00:42:56,280 you have to work. There's always. 801 00:42:56,280 --> 00:42:57,920 Someone else who's needing prayer. 802 00:42:57,920 --> 00:43:00,000 We had a prayer meeting tonight. There was only a couple prayer 803 00:43:00,000 --> 00:43:01,320 requests. Praise the Lord, God's been 804 00:43:01,320 --> 00:43:03,200 good. But there's always somebody who 805 00:43:03,200 --> 00:43:06,040 needs prayer. There's always another prayer 806 00:43:06,040 --> 00:43:07,400 request that could be prayed for. 807 00:43:07,400 --> 00:43:10,160 There's always another person who's sick, another person who's 808 00:43:10,160 --> 00:43:13,440 lost, another person that needs to get saved, another person 809 00:43:13,440 --> 00:43:15,440 that needs to come back to the church, another person that 810 00:43:15,440 --> 00:43:18,280 needs to repent. There's always work to be done. 811 00:43:19,880 --> 00:43:23,680 It's hard. There's always a person who 812 00:43:23,680 --> 00:43:26,120 needs a kind word and needs the gospel. 813 00:43:26,400 --> 00:43:31,360 If we are to see the reward of our labor, we must be faithful 814 00:43:31,960 --> 00:43:36,280 to the work. Faithfulness, He says in verse 815 00:43:36,280 --> 00:43:40,760 #7 consider what I say, and the Lord give the understanding in 816 00:43:40,760 --> 00:43:43,680 all things. Consider what I say. 817 00:43:45,000 --> 00:43:46,560 Consider. What it means to be a good 818 00:43:46,560 --> 00:43:50,080 soldier, A soldier who endures hardest and isn't distracted. 819 00:43:50,720 --> 00:43:54,640 There are many good things that can distract Christians, but 820 00:43:54,640 --> 00:43:56,080 they're not. And they're not all bad. 821 00:43:56,400 --> 00:44:00,920 Some of them are even necessary. But it didn't Jesus say, seek ye 822 00:44:00,920 --> 00:44:05,280 first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these 823 00:44:05,280 --> 00:44:09,600 things shall be added unto you. How often do we find ourselves 824 00:44:09,600 --> 00:44:15,000 seeking those other things and we've given up the first thing 825 00:44:15,600 --> 00:44:18,240 that we ought to be seeking? We get distracted. 826 00:44:19,560 --> 00:44:24,040 Many Christians today are soldiers whose focus is torn, 827 00:44:24,400 --> 00:44:28,080 parents and spouses who are not faithful to the responsibility 828 00:44:28,080 --> 00:44:30,640 God has given churches, and Christians who are not faithful 829 00:44:30,640 --> 00:44:32,480 to the gospel God has commissioned us with. 830 00:44:33,120 --> 00:44:36,200 Be faithful, there will be no victory. 831 00:44:36,600 --> 00:44:39,040 Without focus, consider what it means to strive for the 832 00:44:39,040 --> 00:44:41,920 masteries. If an athlete can bring his body 833 00:44:41,920 --> 00:44:44,000 into subjection, Timothy, you can too. 834 00:44:45,160 --> 00:44:48,440 If he can do it just to win a little circle of leaves. 835 00:44:48,960 --> 00:44:51,960 You're trying to win a crown. You're trying to win the Lord 836 00:44:51,960 --> 00:44:54,840 looking at you and say well done, my good and faithful 837 00:44:54,840 --> 00:44:56,920 service. If he can bring his body in 838 00:44:56,920 --> 00:44:59,200 subjection for a ringlet of leaves. 839 00:44:59,560 --> 00:45:04,240 You can do it too, Timothy. Consider what it means to strive 840 00:45:04,440 --> 00:45:08,040 for the masteries. Later in the book, Paul tells 841 00:45:08,040 --> 00:45:11,360 Timothy, study to show thyself approved unto God. 842 00:45:11,600 --> 00:45:17,000 Be faithful to the commands of God because you can do 843 00:45:17,000 --> 00:45:20,800 everything right, but you can do it in your own strength. 844 00:45:21,440 --> 00:45:23,200 You can do it without following the rules. 845 00:45:23,400 --> 00:45:25,880 You can do it without the way and in the manner that in a 846 00:45:25,880 --> 00:45:27,960 manner that God did not prescribe. 847 00:45:27,960 --> 00:45:31,240 You can get a big church. You could have a full church 848 00:45:31,240 --> 00:45:37,400 tonight if you just gave up on the Bible, had some rock music, 849 00:45:38,280 --> 00:45:42,880 changed the lighting, nobody in suits, we could fill this place 850 00:45:42,880 --> 00:45:49,560 up. You'd have success, but you 851 00:45:49,560 --> 00:45:53,080 wouldn't be faithful. You wouldn't be the athlete who 852 00:45:53,080 --> 00:45:56,200 followed the rules. You would disqualify yourself 853 00:45:57,000 --> 00:46:01,840 from the reward of your labor. To Timothy, consider what it 854 00:46:01,840 --> 00:46:05,560 means to be a husbandman, that labor to be diligent, patient, 855 00:46:05,560 --> 00:46:08,680 getting every up every day, doing the same things over and 856 00:46:08,680 --> 00:46:11,160 over and over again. Not giving up because you know 857 00:46:11,400 --> 00:46:15,520 that eventually, somewhere, maybe even after you're long 858 00:46:15,760 --> 00:46:17,960 dead. There will be a reward. 859 00:46:17,960 --> 00:46:22,600 There will be a harvest to reap. God will open the books and he 860 00:46:22,600 --> 00:46:25,160 will. He will make wrong or make right 861 00:46:25,160 --> 00:46:29,560 that which was wrong, and He will reward His servants for 862 00:46:29,560 --> 00:46:34,800 their faithfulness. Nothing for God will be 863 00:46:34,800 --> 00:46:38,320 accomplished in this life without effort and sometimes 864 00:46:38,320 --> 00:46:41,400 hardship. We need to be faithful like a 865 00:46:41,400 --> 00:46:43,920 soldier, faithful like an athlete. 866 00:46:44,240 --> 00:46:47,000 Follow the rules, follow the purpose. 867 00:46:47,280 --> 00:46:50,040 Faithful to the work, confident of the harvest. 868 00:46:51,440 --> 00:46:52,840 He was trying to encourage him there. 869 00:46:52,840 --> 00:46:56,120 Be faithful, He tells him to consider what I say, go back and 870 00:46:56,120 --> 00:46:57,760 just think about it. There are so many. 871 00:46:57,760 --> 00:47:00,280 Ways that that. Those 3 verses, those 3 872 00:47:00,800 --> 00:47:03,520 examples, illustrations could be applied. 873 00:47:03,880 --> 00:47:07,640 A soldier, an athlete and a farmer. 874 00:47:08,120 --> 00:47:10,760 And we don't have time to go into any more than what we 875 00:47:10,760 --> 00:47:13,720 already have. Next he gives him 2 examples. 876 00:47:14,280 --> 00:47:16,000 Gives them the example of Jesus Christ. 877 00:47:16,000 --> 00:47:19,720 Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised 878 00:47:19,720 --> 00:47:22,320 from the dead. Jesus endured hardness. 879 00:47:23,560 --> 00:47:27,280 Jesus was a good soldier. He was sent here by God the 880 00:47:27,280 --> 00:47:31,360 Father to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind. 881 00:47:31,600 --> 00:47:34,320 That was His purpose. That was why He came. 882 00:47:34,440 --> 00:47:37,520 He didn't allow himself to get distracted by other things, by 883 00:47:37,520 --> 00:47:41,200 the politics and by the the the Pharisees and the Sadducees. 884 00:47:41,360 --> 00:47:44,760 He said of himself, I don't even have a place to lay my head. 885 00:47:45,440 --> 00:47:48,400 The Son of Man has no place to lay his head. 886 00:47:48,600 --> 00:47:51,320 He endured hardness. He disciplined Himself when it 887 00:47:51,320 --> 00:47:54,200 came, when it came time to suffer. 888 00:47:54,200 --> 00:47:57,840 It says that when he prayed, He sweat drops of blood. 889 00:47:59,400 --> 00:48:01,760 He endured hardness as a good soldier. 890 00:48:02,280 --> 00:48:04,280 He labored patiently in the fields. 891 00:48:04,280 --> 00:48:07,880 He said they were ripe under harvest, and he was there so 892 00:48:07,880 --> 00:48:09,560 that that harvest could be brought in. 893 00:48:11,000 --> 00:48:14,840 That's what he came to do. So he gives the example of 894 00:48:15,040 --> 00:48:18,600 Jesus, who he says he was of the seed of David, and he was raised 895 00:48:18,600 --> 00:48:20,480 from the dead, according to my gospel. 896 00:48:20,480 --> 00:48:24,640 Then he gives his health himself as an example, wherein I suffer 897 00:48:24,640 --> 00:48:28,680 trouble as an evil doer, even under bonds, But the word of God 898 00:48:28,960 --> 00:48:32,080 is not bound. Therefore I endure all things 899 00:48:32,080 --> 00:48:34,840 for the elect's sake, that they may obtain the salvation which 900 00:48:34,840 --> 00:48:37,960 is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. 901 00:48:39,160 --> 00:48:40,960 Paul's in prison. Paul is suffering. 902 00:48:41,800 --> 00:48:44,840 But Paul is also enduring, and he says he may be bound. 903 00:48:44,840 --> 00:48:46,080 I thought this was great. Here he is. 904 00:48:46,080 --> 00:48:47,320 He's in prison. He's bound. 905 00:48:47,840 --> 00:48:51,520 I'm bound for the gospel. But the word of God is not 906 00:48:51,520 --> 00:48:55,480 bound. The word of God is not bound. 907 00:48:56,920 --> 00:48:59,720 You know, there have been a lot of people down through the years 908 00:48:59,760 --> 00:49:03,640 who have tried to silence God's word, stamp it out. 909 00:49:03,640 --> 00:49:06,360 They burned it. They made it illegal. 910 00:49:06,520 --> 00:49:09,240 They put it into languages so no one else could read it but the 911 00:49:09,240 --> 00:49:12,000 papacy. They have done everything they 912 00:49:12,000 --> 00:49:14,720 could to keep it out of people's hands. 913 00:49:14,720 --> 00:49:18,600 When people translated it into into the language, the original, 914 00:49:18,600 --> 00:49:20,800 the people who began to translate it into English for 915 00:49:20,800 --> 00:49:23,240 the common man, they persecuted them. 916 00:49:23,240 --> 00:49:25,280 They killed them. They burned them at the stake. 917 00:49:25,640 --> 00:49:28,960 Silencing God's Word. God's word is not silenced. 918 00:49:29,800 --> 00:49:32,960 It is not bound. Yeah, I'm in prison, Paul said. 919 00:49:33,320 --> 00:49:34,800 But Timothy, you're still out there. 920 00:49:35,960 --> 00:49:39,200 You're still discipling, you're still preaching, you're still 921 00:49:39,200 --> 00:49:41,440 teaching. I can endure, Timothy. 922 00:49:41,720 --> 00:49:46,040 So can you. Be faithful if I must endure for 923 00:49:46,040 --> 00:49:48,040 God's word to move forward. This is Paul. 924 00:49:48,040 --> 00:49:49,240 Say, this is what he's saying here. 925 00:49:49,440 --> 00:49:53,160 If I have to endure for God's word to move forward, I will as 926 00:49:53,160 --> 00:49:56,080 a good soldier, he says. Therefore I endure all things 927 00:49:56,280 --> 00:49:58,840 for the elect's sake that they may obtain. 928 00:49:58,840 --> 00:50:02,720 They also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with 929 00:50:02,800 --> 00:50:08,120 eternal glory. I can win the prize and not be 930 00:50:08,120 --> 00:50:09,960 disqualified. I can endure. 931 00:50:10,160 --> 00:50:14,800 I can be faithful, patient. So he gives them these two 932 00:50:14,800 --> 00:50:16,840 examples. He's trying to encourage him to 933 00:50:16,840 --> 00:50:18,280 be. Faithful, so he's so far he's 934 00:50:18,280 --> 00:50:21,400 given him these three illustrations of enduring of 935 00:50:21,480 --> 00:50:23,200 being faithful. He's given in these two 936 00:50:23,200 --> 00:50:26,520 examples, Jesus and himself. And then he gives him this last 937 00:50:26,520 --> 00:50:32,240 thought, God's assurance, a reason to be faithful. 938 00:50:33,640 --> 00:50:37,240 God's assurance, he says in verse 11, it is a faithful 939 00:50:37,240 --> 00:50:39,560 saying. There are five faithful and true 940 00:50:39,560 --> 00:50:43,080 sayings inside the three prison epistles. 941 00:50:44,120 --> 00:50:46,400 It's worth studying it someday if you're ever interested. 942 00:50:46,400 --> 00:50:48,480 We are not going to look at them tonight, but there are five of 943 00:50:48,480 --> 00:50:51,240 them, faithful and true sayings. This is one of them. 944 00:50:52,000 --> 00:50:56,280 It is a faithful saying. For if we be dead with him, we 945 00:50:56,280 --> 00:50:59,120 shall also live with him. If you're saved this evening, 946 00:50:59,840 --> 00:51:07,000 then when Jesus died, you died. When Jesus rose from the dead, 947 00:51:07,680 --> 00:51:11,400 you rose from the dead. When we baptize people, what do 948 00:51:11,400 --> 00:51:13,440 we say? I baptize you in the name of the 949 00:51:13,440 --> 00:51:16,160 Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, buried with him in 950 00:51:16,160 --> 00:51:19,440 the likeness of his death, and. Raised to walk in newness of 951 00:51:19,440 --> 00:51:21,600 life. Thus the baptism doesn't save 952 00:51:21,600 --> 00:51:23,120 you. It doesn't make you more saved. 953 00:51:23,320 --> 00:51:26,840 It's a picture of what actually happened when you got saved. 954 00:51:27,880 --> 00:51:30,480 You died and you were brought back. 955 00:51:32,360 --> 00:51:35,240 If we, if it is a faithful saying, if we be dead with him, 956 00:51:35,520 --> 00:51:40,560 we shall also live with Him. Physical death is of no concern 957 00:51:40,560 --> 00:51:43,320 to a Christian. It's nothing. 958 00:51:43,920 --> 00:51:47,080 So be faithful. Then he says in verse 12, if we 959 00:51:47,080 --> 00:51:49,760 suffer, we shall also reign with him. 960 00:51:50,000 --> 00:51:52,840 If we deny him, he also will deny. 961 00:51:52,840 --> 00:51:56,120 Us, There's this contrast, suffering and denying. 962 00:51:57,080 --> 00:51:59,600 Those who are strong in the context, those who are strong, 963 00:51:59,600 --> 00:52:03,360 those who endure hardness, those who are faithful will one day be 964 00:52:03,360 --> 00:52:06,760 rewarded. Those who are faithful, if we 965 00:52:06,760 --> 00:52:10,120 suffer, we shall also reign with Him. 966 00:52:10,520 --> 00:52:12,960 I mentioned this already, but there's coming a day at the 967 00:52:12,960 --> 00:52:15,360 Great White Throne. I'm sorry, not the Great White 968 00:52:15,360 --> 00:52:18,880 Throne, but the Bema seat where Christians will be judged, the 969 00:52:18,880 --> 00:52:21,880 books will be open and we our name will be in the Lamb's book 970 00:52:21,880 --> 00:52:23,160 of life. So we're going to heaven. 971 00:52:23,160 --> 00:52:24,800 That's what the next verse is going to teach us. 972 00:52:24,800 --> 00:52:26,920 Verse 13. God isn't going to kick us out 973 00:52:27,160 --> 00:52:28,840 no matter what we do, if we're. Saved. 974 00:52:29,160 --> 00:52:32,760 We're going, but there's going to be a reckoning. 975 00:52:33,720 --> 00:52:36,960 What did you do with the responsibilities I gave you in 976 00:52:36,960 --> 00:52:39,640 this life? What did you do with the 977 00:52:39,640 --> 00:52:41,680 opportunities I gave you in this life? 978 00:52:41,880 --> 00:52:47,520 Were you faithful to the calling I had or did you waste it, 979 00:52:48,440 --> 00:52:50,800 piddle it, chasing after the things that you wanted? 980 00:52:51,720 --> 00:52:54,280 He's not saying that we'll lose our salvation. 981 00:52:54,520 --> 00:52:57,440 The next verse again makes it very clear, but he's saying we 982 00:52:57,440 --> 00:53:00,480 will be judged and we will be rewarded based on our 983 00:53:00,480 --> 00:53:03,600 faithfulness. The last thought, if we believe 984 00:53:03,600 --> 00:53:09,200 not yet He abideth faithful. He cannot deny himself if we 985 00:53:09,200 --> 00:53:11,520 believe not. The phrase there believe not is 986 00:53:11,520 --> 00:53:14,080 not talking about losing salvation. 987 00:53:15,040 --> 00:53:18,040 In the context, it can't mean that it's talking about 988 00:53:18,160 --> 00:53:24,920 unfaithfulness, Unfaithfulness if we believe not, if we, if we 989 00:53:25,000 --> 00:53:28,120 are unfaithful to him, if he has given us opportunities, he's 990 00:53:28,120 --> 00:53:31,560 called us, he's saved us, he's given us responsibilities, he's 991 00:53:31,760 --> 00:53:34,480 given us the opportunities to do what he's called us to do. 992 00:53:34,640 --> 00:53:38,320 And we are unfaithful to those we set back from them because of 993 00:53:38,320 --> 00:53:44,160 fear, because of shame. He says he abideth faithful. 994 00:53:45,040 --> 00:53:51,160 He cannot deny himself. We are all unfaithful. 995 00:53:51,160 --> 00:53:55,240 From time to time, all of us, myself included, there have been 996 00:53:55,240 --> 00:53:59,440 times where we knew God wanted us to do something and we chose 997 00:53:59,440 --> 00:54:01,800 not to. We were unfaithful to Him. 998 00:54:01,800 --> 00:54:06,040 We were not strong and enduring. We were not like the athlete who 999 00:54:06,040 --> 00:54:08,480 followed the rules. We were not like the husbandman 1000 00:54:08,480 --> 00:54:11,280 who went out there and did the work because it was the work 1001 00:54:11,280 --> 00:54:13,960 that needed to be done. We were unfaithful because of 1002 00:54:13,960 --> 00:54:17,000 sin or because of weak flesh or the influence of the world and 1003 00:54:17,000 --> 00:54:19,320 of the spirit of fear and the power of shame. 1004 00:54:19,520 --> 00:54:20,280 We. All. 1005 00:54:20,280 --> 00:54:23,440 Fail to be strong and to endure hardness. 1006 00:54:23,440 --> 00:54:28,680 But no matter how much we may disappoint our Lord, he abideth 1007 00:54:28,720 --> 00:54:35,160 faithful. He abideth faithful with God's 1008 00:54:35,160 --> 00:54:39,160 assurance of life, God's assurance of reward, and God's 1009 00:54:39,160 --> 00:54:43,520 assurance of His faithfulness. Timothy, you can be faithful. 1010 00:54:45,160 --> 00:54:48,040 You can be strong, You can endure hardness. 1011 00:54:49,440 --> 00:54:52,200 God has not called you tonight to grit your teeth, bear it, 1012 00:54:52,320 --> 00:54:53,960 bear up under it in your own strength. 1013 00:54:53,960 --> 00:54:57,200 He's called you. He's given you His grace. 1014 00:54:58,400 --> 00:55:01,480 He wants you to live tonight with full confidence that His 1015 00:55:01,480 --> 00:55:04,360 grace will carry you through. Trust it. 1016 00:55:04,640 --> 00:55:07,880 Be strong in it. Oh, there's so many great 1017 00:55:07,880 --> 00:55:09,280 thoughts. So we could go down with that. 1018 00:55:09,280 --> 00:55:11,560 I have one of my favorites. So taste and see that the Lord 1019 00:55:11,560 --> 00:55:13,040 is good. I think I talked about it last 1020 00:55:13,040 --> 00:55:14,600 week. Just try it out. 1021 00:55:15,080 --> 00:55:18,960 That's what he's saying. Taste and see that God is good. 1022 00:55:21,480 --> 00:55:24,600 God is pleased when His soldiers are ready to answer His call, 1023 00:55:24,600 --> 00:55:28,440 when they're not distracted. There will be no victory in your 1024 00:55:28,440 --> 00:55:34,840 life, no reward, no success without focus, without enduring 1025 00:55:34,840 --> 00:55:39,080 hardness and not being entangled in this world. 1026 00:55:39,760 --> 00:55:41,680 God is pleased when we know the rules. 1027 00:55:41,680 --> 00:55:44,320 And when we follow the rules, when we don't take shortcuts or 1028 00:55:44,320 --> 00:55:47,800 try to cherry pick what we want, but we read the Bible, we study 1029 00:55:47,800 --> 00:55:50,640 the Bible. Study to show thyself approved 1030 00:55:50,640 --> 00:55:53,840 unto God. The workmen that needeth not to 1031 00:55:53,840 --> 00:55:56,760 be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 1032 00:55:57,000 --> 00:56:00,400 God is pleased and we're diligent and faithful day in and 1033 00:56:00,400 --> 00:56:03,600 day out to the harvest, to the work that He's called us to. 1034 00:56:03,600 --> 00:56:06,960 Because there will be no harvest without the work. 1035 00:56:08,320 --> 00:56:12,640 Whatever God has called you to tonight, Paul is encouraging you 1036 00:56:12,720 --> 00:56:16,360 to be faithful. You're a husband, you're a wife, 1037 00:56:16,760 --> 00:56:18,080 you're a father, you're a mother. 1038 00:56:18,080 --> 00:56:21,600 You, you teach a Sunday school class, you work in the nursery, 1039 00:56:21,880 --> 00:56:23,720 you work back there in the sound booth. 1040 00:56:24,040 --> 00:56:26,920 You're a soul winner, you're a Co worker, you're a friend. 1041 00:56:27,120 --> 00:56:31,680 You give, you pray. God is calling you to be 1042 00:56:31,680 --> 00:56:34,560 faithful. Faithful. 1043 00:56:35,440 --> 00:56:39,640 One day in heaven we will be rewarded not for what we 1044 00:56:39,640 --> 00:56:43,200 accomplished, not for how much we did, but for how we were 1045 00:56:43,200 --> 00:56:46,280 faithful, what God called us to do. 1046 00:56:46,560 --> 00:56:50,560 It may seem like a small thing, may seem like it's nobody 1047 00:56:50,560 --> 00:56:53,200 notices. You come and you clean the 1048 00:56:53,200 --> 00:56:58,040 bathroom and nobody notices. God notices if that's what he's 1049 00:56:58,040 --> 00:57:01,880 called you to do. Be faithful, Be faithful. 1050 00:57:03,040 --> 00:57:05,680 It might be a big thing and you think I don't know how I can do 1051 00:57:05,680 --> 00:57:07,600 it. You can do it. 1052 00:57:08,720 --> 00:57:11,640 Be faithful. It might be easy. 1053 00:57:11,640 --> 00:57:15,040 It might be hard, but tonight I'd like to encourage you. 1054 00:57:15,040 --> 00:57:18,800 The measure of success is faithfulness. 1055 00:57:20,120 --> 00:57:22,800 Thank you for listening to the sermon from the pulpit of 1056 00:57:22,800 --> 00:57:25,720 Liberty Baptist Church. If this message was a blessing 1057 00:57:25,720 --> 00:57:29,200 to you, or if there's any way we can serve you, please let us 1058 00:57:29,200 --> 00:57:33,800 know by contacting us at info@mylibertybaptist.org. 1059 00:57:34,080 --> 00:57:38,600 Or you can visit us this Sunday at 800 Washington St. in Easton, 1060 00:57:38,600 --> 00:57:41,440 MA. May the Lord bless you as you 1061 00:57:41,440 --> 00:57:42,600 grow in His Word.