Thank you.
Let me just say this, Caleb, thank you for being with us
this morning, man.
You know, you got a home here and right now, Caleb.
But you're in New York. New York, right?
Doing doing, doing the theater.
Doing this theater thing.
But, you know, you're always a part of this family.
You always got a place here.
And I love the fact that when you come back, you are here.
So thank you.
You bless us, man.
Thank you.
It was great for,
Shelly and I to be gone last week together with our sons.
And Jeff did a great job kind of tying things in.
Ephesus together.
From the letter Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus.
And what Paul said or what is quoted for us in acts about FSS, and then what Jesus,
his response to the church in Ephesus and Revelation two, and kind of wrapping
all those things together because the, the, the books of first
and second Timothy deal with Timothy as a leader of the church of Ephesus.
And so Jeff kind of painted the picture last week of the overarching theme
through for this church, through the through the eons.
But we're going to be back in second Timothy today in chapter two.
So if you have a Bible
and brought one with you, I want to encourage you to turn there.
But Shel and I were gone last week in Boston over the 4th of July,
which was a great experience and was great to be there with our sons.
And something that
I've realized while we were there,
and I want to share with you,
about the, the,
the, the things that led into the Revolutionary War,
because it has a profound it struck me profoundly.
The correlation between and I'm going to share with you and
and how we live faith and our practice of it.
Are you familiar with the battles
of Lexington and Concord and.
All right.
And let me, let me let me start then at the beginning.
As as this
these colonies were beginning the process
of establishing independence.
The redcoats had infiltrated Boston,
and they heard that there was some,
commune at ease in the colony
of of of Massachusetts that were amassing,
weaponry, muskets, gunpowder and whatnot to fight them.
And so
the the order went
out to march from of the redcoats to march from Boston
to Concord to put an end to this
budding rebellion and to arrest
Sam Adams and John Hancock,
who were in Lexington at the time,
which was just before the Russians would get to to Concord.
So they were marching through Lexington to arrest
Sam Adams and and and,
sorry.
John Hancock and Adams and then go to Concord
and destroy this cache of weapons
on their march.
Y'all heard of Paul Revere's ride, right?
One of my plan to.
If I see the regulars are coming, that's what he.
He didn't say the the British were coming because they were all British.
The regulars are coming because it was a regular army.
The regulars are coming. The regulars are coming. That whole the whole story.
So he's making his way around the circuit
with about probably 30 other riders in all to spread the news.
The Redcoats are marching up to Lexington to get to Concord
at Lexington.
If you ever heard of the shot heard around the world.
Okay, that happened at the Green and Lexington.
And as the as the Redcoats marched
into Lexington, there were men from Lexington
called the militia that formed a line to meet them.
And to try to stop
the largest army in the world
at the time from carrying out their orders
at that Lexington green where the first shot happened.
There's a statue.
It's a real iconic, and they call it the minute ma'am statue
you've all seen it on, if you realize it or not,
but it's called the Minutemen statue in honor of these, of this little.
This is where the first shots happened.
This is where the first Patriots had died as an act of war,
in an act of war, just after the Boston Massacre.
But this was the first war time.
Shots that were fired and deaths that occurred.
There's a statue there of the Minutemen.
The interesting thing is this.
That Lexington didn't have any Minutemen.
They had militia,
but it's called the Minutemen statue.
Just in honor of of this whole thing.
There's a difference between militia men and minutemen.
And eventually they made their way to Concord
after election day and after this, this little battle,
and then encountered all kinds of colonists that pushed them back.
And the ones who gathered together both militiamen and minutemen.
But at Lexington, though
the statue says the Minutemen statue, they were militiamen.
And here's the difference.
If you know the difference, militiamen and minutemen
now get so that Minutemen
were hired by the community to be really full time soldiers.
There was no Continental Army at the time, but a community.
If it had enough money, hired men to be their full time
soldiers, and as part of a full time soldier, as a minutemen,
you had to carry your musket with you 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
You had to sleep with it even.
You had to always carry with you water and food. Why?
Because if something happened, you had to be ready
to respond in in a minute.
So they trained about 3 to 4 times a week,
carried their weapon with them everywhere they went, slept with it, burned
food and water because they were ready on a minute's notice for battle.
The different them and
militiamen were this militiamen in those communities
that didn't have enough money to hire soldiers, they were just regular Joes,
and so they might train once or twice a year.
And when,
something happened where they, the community needed a responsive,
responsive force,
they would grab their musket or their shovel or their pitchfork
or whatever they had and kind of respond because it was a special emergency.
And then when it was over, they just go back to their regular civilian life.
And when I heard that,
I thought, that really reminds me
of people of faith.
Churches are full.
Of militia.
And what we're called to
is Minutemen.
To understand the difference.
Like, if something's needed
and we like to rally the troops, and, you know, you show up and.
And then as soon as it's over, we get right back to life is normal.
Rather than everyday training
and disciplining ourselves
and carrying our sustenance with us
and the weapon with us
that were ready at a moment's notice,
we're on duty.
You follow.
So as we go through second Timothy two,
consider.
Militia
or Minutemen.
It will have a profound impact
on the rest of your life.
In Second Timothy chapter two,
Paul comes out swinging.
He's in his 60s.
He knows he's going to be beheaded under, Caesar Nero.
He's at the end of his life, is in a dungeon at this point,
and he's writing a couple of letters first Timothy, second Timothy and Titus,
two men who will take over the leadership of these churches.
And to Timothy, first and second Timothy,
who has taken over the leadership of the church in Ephesus.
He imparts these very last words and basically says to him, listen,
this is how you lead and live.
Well.
And this is the final things I want to impart to you,
and I want you to take this responsibility seriously,
not as a militia man,
but as a minuteman.
Do you understand?
And so, because these are the final words
we have written of Paul, he comes out so and so.
I'm just telling you upfront, this is going to be a little difficult for some,
but you're all right.
You're going to handle it.
It's not going to break you.
Okay.
So just let let let's together
let's just suck it up and go through it.
Agreed.
And agreed.
I'm glad you said agree.
Here's the big idea.
What you flee determines your purity.
What you pursue determines your destiny.
And so Paul is going to tell Timothy.
Timothy, there are some things you need to flee from,
and there are some things you need
to pursue with your whole being
the same for us,
because what we flee will determine our purity,
and what we pursue
will determine our destiny.
And so let's be clear about these things.
And so he starts in verse one
and in verse one,
he says this.
You then, my child,
be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
Let me just I want to unpack this a little bit.
He says, I want you to be strong, but
I want you to be strong in what?
In the grace of God.
I want you to be strong in grace.
This is
really important, and this is important for us to understand
what he's saying to be strong in and the implication,
what he's saying not to be strong.
It he doesn't say, I want you to be strong in your obedience.
He doesn't say, I want you to be strong in your faithfulness.
He doesn't say, I want you to be strong in your ability to perform, I don't, I
he doesn't say, I want you to be strong in your in all your religious duties.
He says, I want you to be strong in the grace of God,
not in your strength and not in your performance.
This is the difference between religion and Christianity.
Religion will tell you
you'll be strong in your duty.
Make sure
that in your own strength
that you don't do these things and you do these things.
That's religion.
How many of us are strong enough in ourselves
to consistently not do the things we're not supposed to do, and consistently
do the things you're supposed to do?
Anybody strong enough in ourselves to do it all the time?
No. That's why Paul says, I don't want you to be strong in yourself,
Timothy, and not even in your faith, not even in your devotion,
not even in your Bible, not even in your prayer life.
I want you to be strong in the grace of God,
be strengthened
by the grace of God.
In other words, you know says, be strong in the grace of God.
Literally increase your strength
in the grace of God, not in your abilities.
This is really important for us to understand.
And this is such good news
because if you have a test your life to Christ,
he now lives in you.
And so this is accessible to every Christ follower.
The grace of God,
the grace of God.
Let me tell you what that is.
That's the undeserved and unmerited favor and assistance of God.
As a Christ follower,
you have at your access the undeserved and unmerited
means you can't earn it favor and assistance of Almighty God.
And Paul says, oh, that's what I want you to be strong in.
He will say, and he has already said in Second Corinthians 12,
my grace is sufficient for you.
God says, for my what?
My power is made perfect.
In what?
In your weakness.
So don't try to be strong in yourself.
Be strong in my grace, because my grace is sufficient for your weakness.
You have access to my assistance by grace,
so don't try to be strong enough.
Don't try to be good.
It's your test. You're going to fail.
So press into the grace of God.
I can rely on the divine help of God Almighty.
His unmerited assistance of me,
not because I deserve it,
but just because of his undeserved grace.
See, I become weak when I see by my strength,
I'm going to do everything right because I can't.
And the moment I think I'm strong enough to do everything right
and I don't, the only thing I'm reminded of is my weakness.
You understand?
And so I become strong when I say without earning it and without deserving
it, I have the full love and favor and assistance of God.
I haven't done anything to get it done.
It is just mine.
Do you know how strong that makes me?
And every Christ follower has access to this?
And that's why Paul tells Timothy, be strong in the grace of God,
not in your ability, not in your own faithfulness,
not in your discipline.
See, it's strength through grace,
not strength through grind.
And so many people trying to follow God,
just grind it out.
Just grit their teeth and would do it
even if I don't like it.
I'm. And the people like that.
We call them religious people and they're just mean, nasty,
bitter, angry people.
Nobody likes them.
And Paul says, look, his strength isn't through your grind.
It's through the grace of God.
You can't do this on your own.
You have to rely on the grace of God, his undeserved, unmerited
favor and blessing, his assistance that you don't deserve.
But if you're in Christ, it's yours.
Press into that.
You rely on that prayer and he says, he says.
So verse two,
and what you've heard from me, in the presence of many witnesses, entrust
to faithful men who will be able to teach others also
everything that a pastor or a minister does.
He should train someone else to do.
That's what that's what Paul Saint
well, you've heard from you goes from me to you
and then from you to someone else and from that person to someone else.
And so what he's saying is think for generation,
to think for generations.
Timothy is the second. There's Paul.
Paul gives to Timothy.
And he said, give it to other people who give it to other people.
So Paul's thinking to Timothy, think for generations deep.
Listen, dear Christ follower,
our responsibility is not to grow in this ourselves
is to grow in this ourselves, so we can give it to someone else and to
train them to give it to someone else who would give it to someone else.
And that's what this whole thing is about.
It dies on the vine and starts with us.
This is one thing and one reason I'm
so proud of of our T2 group, second Timothy two and Titus two.
It's based on this principle
that I will teach others, who will teach others who will teach others.
The first iteration of this was last year.
Me and 12 guys.
The second generation, which is the third generation, is this year.
42 others now,
and some of those in the first iteration.
The second generation are all hoping to lead the third generation.
And the following year we'll do it again.
And those who will teach the understand I'm saying this is what we do.
This is one reason why I do so much,
training with church planters.
The next generation, they'll plant a church,
the next generation, they'll punch the next generation.
And I love the fact this says what you've heard from me.
All this stuff.
Pass it on.
What do you say to qualified man?
Does he say that?
Gifted man.
You say that creative man. Does he say that?
Strong man. Does he say that?
What he say?
Faithful men,
faithful.
Just be faithful to what this word says.
Be faithful to passing it on.
Be faithful to these things that he's going to tell us.
You want to know who the faithful men are in this church.
It's the guys who are doing this
and passing it on to other faithful men.
I'm so proud of our two guys
and you should be proud of them. Two.
They're the faithful ones
passing it on.
Not now.
Let me look at verses three and four.
Let's let's look at this.
Just be strong.
And God's grace, not your own ability.
Share in suffering.
As a good soldier of Christ Jesus, no soldier gets entangled
in civilian pursuits.
Since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.
An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.
It is a hardworking farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops.
So he says, Timothy, this is the
I want you to emulate these three vocations,
if you will, the soldier, the athlete and the farmer.
There's qualities about all three of these that you need to emulate.
If you're going to follow Jesus,
he says, the first thing that you have to
understand is as a soldier, as an athlete, as a farmer,
suffering is going to come.
So you better endure it.
All right.
That's what he says. Your share in the suffering.
There has to be an expectation for the Christ follower
that at some point we're going to
experience ill treatment.
A Christ follower
that wants to avoid ill treatment is not following Christ.
Jesus said the world hated me, is going to hate you two, treated me
bad, is going to treat you bad.
You just we just have to expect it.
A faith that avoids ill treatment
is not a Christian faith.
And I realize that most of the preaching that goes on
is not about enduring and embracing suffering.
It's about God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life,
and you invite him into your life.
He'll make your marriage better,
make your finances better, make your kids better,
and make your car better and make a dog better. He'll just make everything better.
And it just doesn't seem to be what Paul says.
Paul says as a follower of Jesus, the first thing you gotta do is you
share in the suffering.
It has to be an expectation that there's going to be some suffering as I follow
Jesus, and I can't let it shake me.
I have to embrace suffering like a good soldier.
How many,
how many people going to boot camp carrying a bean bag in their PlayStation?
You don't do that. Why?
Because you go to boot camp expecting to suffer, right?
Right, right, right.
Oh, former marine,
I don't. You were at Pendleton, weren't you?
I was at Pendleton.
How many of the guys went to Pendleton with, you know, their little pillow
in hand and their little Gatorade canteen, a catering and a care package from Mama.
That didn't happen in Pendleton, did it?
No. It's why you're freaking Marines, right?
You know, it looks like we're just going to this.
Is this our expectation?
This is what we're going to do.
Josh?
The same way you're at Pendleton, too, right?
Yeah. Which one was in the Marine Corps first,
I wonder what's it?
Oh, same time you always know an old marine
because there's disdain for the young marine like you.
Well, back when I was in the corps, you know,
and there's almost an honor in the suffering that I'm going to suffer.
Well, there's an honor.
And this is what Paul's saying in
share in the suffering like a good soldier.
Oh, what's the priority for a soldier?
What's the soldier's priority?
Mission accomplished.
Carry out the commands of your commanding officer right.
That that's your priority.
The priority of a soldier is not the a civilian's life.
You say goodbye to the civilian life once you enlist as a soldier, right?
You say goodbye to that.
And that's what he says here in the services, a good soldiers cry.
No soldier gets engaged in civilian pursuits,
since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.
There's
nothing wrong with the pursuits, pursuits of a civilian.
Until those pursuits entangle you from your commanding officers.
Commands.
There's nothing wrong with the pursuits of a civilian life
until those prevent you from being a good soldier.
Do you understand the connection, friends?
Do you?
There's nothing wrong with the pursuits of life until
they entangle you and distract you from being a good soldier,
serving the kingdom and the commands of your commanding
officer.
Embrace suffering.
Can you imagine?
Can you imagine a military
whose soldiers gave up when stuff got hard?
Can you imagine?
Well, what kind of military would that be?
Did you say the Navy?
The Army, of course, of marine says it would be the army.
Okay.
So here's here's what he's saying.
Don't interweave.
Go back to that.
Don't enter with your life with things that are not
of the interests of the kingdom, nor of your commanding officer.
Just don't
interweave your life with that stuff.
If it's not the interests of the kingdom or the commands of the commanding officer,
don't let that intermingle with your life, is what he's saying.
You cut ties with the civilian world
because you want to please your commanding officer.
And athletes not crown unless he competes according to the rules.
Verse five.
Now Paul's talking in the difference between a professional athlete
and an amateur athlete.
And in that context, you're talking about Olympians,
those training for the Olympics and those who were just weekend warriors.
And he says, you can't compete if you don't do it according to the rules,
like there's a right way to do this and there's a wrong way to do this.
And you, he says, you can't. You gotta do it right.
And actually, for the Olympic athletes,
they couldn't even compete in any type of athletic activity until they had signed
an affidavit that they had trained a properly for ten months beforehand.
Because if you don't train appropriately beforehand
and then you try to compete, you lessen the standard
and the quality of the competition and the games and the title of an athlete.
Do you understand
sin? So listen, if you're going to claim this title,
then you gotta put the work in.
Because if you just try to work it out, when it's time to work it out,
you're going to lessen the standard, you're going to lessen
the quality
of everybody who came before you
and claim the same title.
You feel this is.
It's.
When I was
thinking about this, I thought, Carl, I don't know
how much I say and how much I don't say, but I might say anyway,
I was thinking about this.
I thought, you know, this just just reminds me,
basically what Paul is saying is don't be a poser.
Yeah. Just don't be a poser.
And we are back in, in Boston or standing,
in, in, just outside of Lexington, standing in Concord of the bridge
where the redcoats and the
and the militiamen and minutemen met.
And our guide was saying, you know how,
the British armor call the rebels not British?
Because he said,
because, you know, we're we're all British anyways, where we came from.
And and this one guy, I don't know, because I'm American.
And I thought this, this is
this is what I had in mind when I, when I thought of this analogy.
There are.
There are poser preppers.
Those guys
that can't run a mile under ten minutes, but they sure look good
wearing a sidearm.
And I thought,
that's that's what Paul saying.
There are poser disciples
who don't serve and don't lead, but sure look
good carrying a Bible.
You know what I'm saying?
He said, don't, don't
don't be one of those guys.
Don't act like you're this almost patriot guy.
You can't even, like, run like, don't.
What defender are you?
Preaching.
And I think Paul would tell Timothy.
Look, unless you're putting in this.
Unless you really are,
don't try to look good. Carrying a Bible.
To make sense? Yes.
And he says it's
the hard working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crop.
Shares were saying,
look, you got to put the work in first
and you need to eat.
You have the first share the crops.
And if a farmer,
unless you're taking it and consuming it
from here to here, you can't give it out there.
It's got it.
First share here.
It's got to be, planted here before you can plant it there.
And the farmer
who it isn't doing this first with the Word of God has nothing to give.
There. Amen.
And the interesting thing about these three the soldier,
the athlete, the farmer, now all three of them suffer.
We have to understand that
all three of them so.
But, but but but listen, listen.
When we settle for lesser
things we forfeit greater victories.
When the soldier settles for lesser
things and comfort, he forfeits greater victories.
When the athlete settles for lesser things of, of,
of not competing, not training.
Well, he sells for lesser victories.
You understand this?
The soldier and the athlete,
they get an immediate reward.
The farmer.
They toil
and they don't see any fruit of their labor for a long time.
And even the fruit of their labor that they see, they don't experience.
It's on behalf of somebody else.
The athlete and the soldier.
They do it for crowds and their heroes.
The farmer does it in anonymity,
in the dark hours where no one sees.
And what he's saying, he's saying, Timothy, listen,
you have to embrace the suffering.
Yeah, because as a soldier, you're going to suffer and you have to
let go of the civilian stuff when it entangles your commands.
As an athlete, you have to train hard
all the time.
You can't just show up and play.
And as a farmer, it's going to be in the shadows.
It's going to be lonely.
Nobody's going to cheer for you, and you might not see
the results of your labor for a long time, and you may never really enjoy
the full benefit of it, because it's for someone else who will never tell you.
Thank you.
You understand? Amen.
And so share in that suffering.
This is what it means to be a disciple.
To share all three of them.
All three of them.
Will settle
for lesser victories if they tap out,
you know,
all three of them.
Have to endure suffering.
What I know is this
wholeness is when my life is aligned
with my mission, not my distractions.
Now he's saying, soldier,
don't get distracted by civilian stuff.
Athletes don't get distracted.
Farmers don't be distracted. But
wholeness comes when my life is aligned
with my mission.
Not my distractions.
And so, friends, let's make sure
that we're not getting distracted
by distractions.
You follow me on this?
Yeah.
Don't live for lesser things
and for greater victories.
You're a soldier. You're an athlete.
You're a farmer.
Don't live for the lesser things.
Share in the suffering that it requires.
Because they're
great victories and great produce that's coming.
Share in this.
All three of these will endure suffering.
So must you.
And I.
And we can't think that because we're suffering, God is against
us, has given us, or we've done something wrong.
Matter of fact, if we've done it right, suffering will be a part of the mix. You?
Oh yes.
Let me press on here.
Verse seven.
Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding and everything.
And basically what he's saying is just like,
just don't let this like come on one ear and out the other.
Like think about this because as you contemplate
this, God will give you through the whole of your understanding to it.
There's a lot more understanding coming for you
than what I'm giving you right now.
As you continue to think through this and ponder this and consider this
and the implications for your life,
the Holy Spirit will start to flesh this out, is what he's saying.
Press friends, please press into this.
Verses eight and nine.
Remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead, the offspring of David as preached
in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal.
But the Word of God is not bound.
He's saying, and also remember Jesus Christ.
And he says two things about Jesus what you say
risen from the dead, the offspring of David.
He's claiming two things about Jesus.
He's claiming Jesus's full divinity and full humanity.
And this is what sets Christianity apart from every other religion.
It's what we call the hyper static union.
This this truth that in Jesus there is full
God and full human, fully God and fully human.
It's called a hyper static union, the only one that this has ever existed in
being fully human.
He knows what it is to be tempted like you and I, yet without sin being fully God.
He's the only ransom for our sin on the cross.
He's the only pure holy sacrifice that's settled.
All the sacrifice, all the sacrificial system.
And he's saying, Jesus, this one, fully God, fully human, remember him.
He is unique.
For which I am suffering, bound in chains as a criminal.
But the Word of God is not bounded.
You know, the Bible has been the most maligned,
the most attacked, the most burned book in the world.
Yet it is without fail and will never go away.
It can never be bound.
And Paul says, Even I'm in chains here.
I'm going to be beheaded soon.
But the Word of God endures forever.
And remember this.
And I love the fact that Paul expected suffering in his.
He wasn't one of those preachers
that sought a life of ease, some life of privilege.
He wasn't a pastor that had his own private parking
spot or a green room to retreat to.
He was a pastor.
So look, this is just part of the sufferings, part of the gig,
and I know I'm doing it right.
When I embrace suffering, it's going to come.
It's all right.
But look at what he says.
Therefore, I endure all of this for the sake of the elect, that
they may also obtain the salvation is in Christ Jesus with the eternal glory.
I would expect him to say, I endure all the suffering
for God, or I endure all this for me because of what Jesus went through for me.
Or I endure all the suffering because it's for the kingdom,
or I endure all this suffering because God told me to.
He didn't say any of that because I endure all the suffering for whom?
The elect, those who will accept Christ.
Here's what he's saying.
He's saying, I know that my suffering and how I go through
suffering is a benefit for you because as you watch me
be strong in the grace of God, not in my ability to handle it,
not in my own effort to give through it, but on the grace of God.
Because it's bigger than what I am.
It's heavier than what I can carry.
But I'm reliant upon the grace of God, the power of God.
This made perfect in my weakness.
Other people will see me go through this and to realize there's
something different about this Jesus that I follow.
Yeah, it's for your sake that I endure this suffering.
You know, you have seen people
go through hell on earth as a Christ follower,
and they've endured it with such grace.
Yes, yes.
And they've endured it with such patience
and an element of joy in their suffering.
And you've watched them walk this road of faithfulness
with the embracing of suffering because of the grace of God given them.
And you look at them, are these something's different.
Oh, and when people who claim the name of Jesus
look just like the world, when we go through suffering difficult times,
it tells the world they nothing special about Christ.
He says, sorry for your sake
I will endure this
relying on the grace of God.
Yes, his undeserved merit and favor
for me that gives me strength when I am weak.
Yeah.
And I want you to watch me suffer.
Isn't that what Jesus did?
Yes, yes.
The lamb before the shears opened.
Not his mouth.
That they may obtain the glory
of eternal life.
Look at verse 11. The saying is trustworthy.
For if we died with him, we will also live with him.
If we endure, we will also reign with him.
If we deny him, he will also he will deny us.
If we're faithless, he remains faithful.
Listen. He's saying, listen, here's the deal.
If you die with Christ, you're going to live with him.
What's he talking?
What do you mean, die with Christ?
Well, one thing you talk about martyrdom.
Do you live your life in such a way that you suffer the point of death?
Guess what? There's a special reward for you in heaven.
Martyrdom is a spiritual gift.
It's a gift you only use once. But it's a spiritual gift.
Well, Celebes a spiritual gift.
Celibacy is a gift to you. It's a gift you never use.
So, I mean, there are those things.
If it's also if you die with Christ,
Paul will say in baptism you died with Christ.
In baptism you were raised with Christ.
So when you profess your faith in Christ, you live with him.
And it's seen by others in baptism, baptism, water.
But he says, if we endure, we'll also reign with him.
Some of you, you got to know that the endurance now
is leading to reigning later, so you endure it now. Why?
Because what's coming is greater.
But if we deny him, he'll deny us.
This is a twofold thing. Here.
One of it is, look, as a Christ follower, I cannot be faithful all the time.
And that's why he will say, if we're faithless, he remains faithful.
Praise God.
But if I deny God,
he is so faithful
that he cannot
acknowledge me.
If I deny him.
So when he says, when you're up
for he cannot deny himself
so, so, so this whole idea, if we deny him, he'll deny us.
If we're faithless, he remains faithful.
It's by the grace of God that he is faithful to his promises 100%,
even when I'm not faithful to him.
But if I deny him,
he is so faithful to His Word,
he cannot acknowledge me.
You understand?
So be careful.
This is the warning.
Verse 14 remind him of these things, and charge them before
God not to quarrel about words which does no good,
only ruins hearers.
So, Timothy, your job is just simply to remind them of Scripture,
to remind the people of good, solid doctrine and the gospel of God.
He said, there are some things
that that that that can ruin each other.
These
when we get in these stupid, ridiculous quarrels and arguments about stupid stuff
that have nothing to do with the gospel, nothing to do with God's Word.
And unfortunately, church people are famous
for getting into stupid arguments about stupid stuff.
They have nothing to do with the gospel and nothing Luke
and Paul says to me, just keep the main thing, the main thing,
and keep telling your people to keep the main thing, the main thing.
You understand that.
That's why I will never preach the front page.
You understand what that means, like whatever's hot on the news.
But I'm not going to preach that it's front page preaching.
And Paul says all that's going to do is ruin people.
Just keep the main thing, the main thing.
There's plenty of other church of the preacher front page.
You want one of those churches? Go, please.
I welcome you to go there. I'm not preaching the front page.
I'm gonna stick true to the gospel.
Do your best.
Verse 15 to present yourself to God as one approved.
A workman who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
Do your best.
You know, the best way to refute error is to embody
the truth of God's Word yourself.
The best way to refute error
is to embody God's Word in your life.
It says, do your best to present yourself to God as one approved.
Literally, he said, make haste to this.
Make this year prior to get this right, get to it,
and exert yourself to show yourself as approved to God.
When he says, make this your prior to be approved of God.
That word approved his use regarding money and he's saying don't be a counterfeit,
be the real deal.
It's the thing
they would use to prove what is legitimate and what is illegitimate.
Listen off.
He's talking about authenticity over imitation.
Do the work to show yourself as the authentic one,
not the poser one, not who looks legit but has no real value
to the kingdom.
And rightly handle the word of truth.
Make the road you cut
by this word so apparent
that all deviations are obvious.
Like this is the standard and it cuts a straight line.
And when this is firmly cut, that line is straight.
All deviations become apparent.
You understand that
this is the guide.
Now listen.
Rightly handling the word he says
there is a correct interpretation for all of Scripture.
It is illegitimate for us to say, well, the Scripture means this to me,
and it means that for you.
And I mean whatever it means for you is right. It's not right.
There's a
legitimate right interpretation to the Word of God and Christ.
Followers need to be under teaching that rightly discerns
and interprets the Word of God, so that the line that is cut
in life is straight and all detours are apparent
and obvious.
When he says,
present yourself as one approved,
I mean, think about it.
How embarrassing is it
to have your work inspected by your boss,
and have your boss disappointed with your work?
Do you understand?
He's saying you press into this Timothy
so that when it is inspected,
you got nothing to be ashamed of.
Let me finish this out.
Let me jump down to verse 19.
God's firm foundation stands bearing this seal.
The Lord knows who are his.
And let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity
is in the foundation.
And all this is built on is two things one, that the Lord knows who he is.
He's talking way back in the Old Testament, the Book of numbers,
chapter 16 called Coras Rebellion.
Read it sometime later.
And he says, this whole sound is based on two things God knows who are his.
Let God sort out who are his and who's are like, that's not our job
to determine who are who, who God's kids are like, God will take care of that.
That's first thing. Like he is sovereign. He knows.
The second thing is everybody who claims the name of Christ has to depart
from iniquity.
I mean, you gotta get away from those things that entangle you.
You have to choose to depart from iniquity.
He says.
So therefore,
if anyone cleanses himself, verse 21, from what is dishonorable,
he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as solely useful
to the master of the house, ready for every good work said so.
There are some things that you have to cleanse yourself from.
We rely on God's grace first.
Salvation, forgiveness. He does all that work.
But our responsibility
is to cleanse ourself from everything that is dishonorable to God.
And as we cleanse ourself from those things that are dishonorable
to God, we become ready for every good work.
Do you understand that?
Like God, he expects us
to do our job of cleansing ourself.
We're forgiven by his grace, but we are cleansed by our choice.
You understand?
And we have responsibility to that.
It means literally
to purge yourself of everything that dishonors God,
everything that dishonoring to your commanding officer,
everything that's dishonoring to the kingdom.
We're to purge ourselves of all of that.
Here's what here's what I'm saying.
If it dishonors God, it deforms me.
If it dishonors God, it deforms us.
True joy comes
when I let go of it, dishonors my creator.
We have, our difficulty
is seeking in something
a joy and a peace that that thing was never intended to give us.
Only God was.
And when we seek those things
to bring us joy, contentment, and peace,
it dishonors God,
and it deforms me, and I
will never have joy.
To understand.
So then, Timothy,
verse 22, flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith,
love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord
from a pure heart have nothing to do with foolish,
ignorant controversies and rabbit holes and posts online.
You know that they only breed
quarrels with your friends and family.
The Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome.
But be kind to everyone.
Even those we disagree with.
Do you know that we can disagree without being disagreeable?
Yeah.
Able to teach
patiently enduring evil.
Endure it patiently.
It doesn't say riot and revolt.
There's some bad stuff in this world.
Patiently enduring evil.
Correct your opponents with gentleness.
That's meekness.
You know what meekness is?
Meekness is strength under control.
It's an uncaged lion that chooses not to devour you.
That's.
That's meekness, strength under control.
It looks.
Just because you're right doesn't mean you have to prove it all the time.
Just because someone wrong doesn't mean you get to beat them up all the time.
You understand,
can win an argument and lose a heart.
That's not right.
God may perhaps grant them repentance, leading to a knowledge of the truth,
and they may come to their senses and escape
from the snare of the devil after being captured by him to do as well.
They just might.
When we live this way, people just might come to their sentence,
to their senses, because they've been deluded.
The Bible says by the influencers.
There are minds
that are deluded by the influencers.
And when God's people live this way,
they just might come to their senses.
And so, dear friends, flee
those things that dishonor God and that entangle you.
Flee means to run away from and get out of the danger zone.
Quit flirting
with stuff you're flirting with, he says.
Quit letting this stuff entangle your life.
It's screwing you up. It dishonors God.
It deforms you.
And pursue faith and agape love.
Pursue Christ.
It means you run fast to catch them.
And by doing that,
some people may come to their senses.
Because they've been duped
by influencers.
It's just so pertinent to our world right now.
It's so pertinent to our lives and so.
Here's the questions.
We end where we started.
What you flee determines your purity,
and what you pursue determines your destiny.
So the question is,
what must you flee?
What must you flee?
There are some things you need
to run away from fast.
There's some things that are even good things,
but it entangles you fulfilling the command of your commanding officer.
Flee!
Quit flirting.
Quit acting like it doesn't matter.
Quit playing around.
You're a soldier.
You're an athlete.
You're a farmer.
And what must you pursue?
Or better said, whom must I pursue?
Christ.
Without him, we can do nothing.
And so.
Amen.
You okay?
Yeah.
Let's pray.
I've said enough.
I expect the Holy Spirit to speak now.
Yeah.
You've done a good job listening to me
do a better job listening to him.
Ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you.
And say, Holy Spirit, what must I flee?
Bible says, ask and you will find her.
Ask and you will receive. Seek and you'll find.
Knock and there will be opened.
Ask him right now.
Seek his voice right now.
Holy spirit, what must I flee?
Listen to what he's saying.
Holy spirit, what must I flee?
And when you hear his voice respond.
Say, father,
I hear you telling me I must flee.
Whatever this is.
And by your grace, not my strength.
I choose to run away from it right now.
I choose to reject its power and its hold on my life.
By your grace,
I am free.
Free?
What must you pursue?
And if you've never pursued Jesus.
You pursued religion. You pursued church.
You pursued being good, but you've not pursued Jesus.
Bible says you will find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Yeah,
for God is not far from any of us.
If you've not pursued Jesus yet, I wouldn't encourage you in this moment
to pursue him, because he will be found.
And to say, God, I need you in my life.
I need you,
Jesus.
I want you,
and I receive you,
and I trust you as the leader
and liberator of my soul. You.
Thank you for your forgiveness.
I accept it.
And I will choose to do
what I can do with my responsibility as a soldier,
as your athlete, and as your farmer. You.
Father.
Thank you. Thank you that you love us.
Thank you that when we are faithless, you remain faithful.
Thank you that you cannot deny yourself.
That we've attached ourselves to.
You will never be denied.
Thank you, thank you, thank.
Holy spirit, I pray that you continue to speak
to us.
Calling us to flee those things.
We need to flee.
Pursuing you
with our whole heart and soul and mind and strength
and father, for that will give you thanks.
In your name I pray.
Amen.
Let's not love you, Second Timothy.
It's good, isn't it? Yeah, it's good words.
Good words.
This and this week read second Timothy two again and let it challenge you.
Paul just told Timothy like he'll give you understanding as you apply yourself.
So read it again and pray through
and let the Holy Spirit
talk to you in the kind of flesh this stuff out and within you.
That makes sense.
You understand like, let this keep living on.
Remember, you're Nancy, you got ten months of training before you get to compete.
So train hard this week. You got that?
Don't walk from here and be a militiaman, right?
Like warfare.
You got your your your musket in your gunpowder.
Like be a minuteman.
Press into this training.
All right.
You good?
All right. We got one more song. Right.
This is about Jesus.
Jesus, that's a good song. I like that song.
I love that song. That stand up and sing.