Preserve, Proclaim and Endure

He'll open your bibles to Second Timothy, two Timothy, and key verse today is two and verse two those things you've heard from me in the presence of any witnesses, and trust the faithful men who will be able to teach others. Also, this is a picture of mission. This is a picture of the mission minded pastor. This is a picture of the mission minded church. The theme of the Book of Two Timothy is a two part theme. One Paul is calling. Young Timothy to preserve and proclaim the gospel, and secondly, he's calling him to endure the hardship that will inevident follow as a result of preserving and proclaiming the gospel. You find this in every chapter of this short letter. There's four chapters in this letter. In every chapter you find both of these themes at least once. Look with me, if you will, in chapter one, chapter one, and verse eight. Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me as prisoner. The idea of not being ashamed of the testimony is an idea of preserving in spite of the suffering one verse thirteen fourteen. Follow the pattern of sound words that you have heard from me in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus, by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. Guard the good deposit entrusted to you. So follow the pattern of sound words and guard the good deposit again, which is preserving and proclaiming the Gospel. Recognize the fact that Paul is in prison. He understands that he is most likely at the end of his life. He says, I'm already being poured out as a drink offering. And at this point he knows that it is important for the gospel message to be preserved and for the Gospel message to be proclaimed. Looking chapter two, beginning of verse one, this is where we get our primary texts. You, then, my child, be strengthened in the grace that is in Christ Jesus and what you have heard from me, in the presence of many witnesses, and trust the faithful men who will be able to teach others also again preserved and proclaim three. The beginning of verse thirteen. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. And finally, in chapter four. Four, verse one, I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom, preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with complete patience and teaching, for the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into miss He's warning him Tody as to what's going to happen. And this is why it's important to preserve and proclaim the truth. Because people are going to wander off. They're going to accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires. They're going to wander off in dements. And when this happens, it will be important that Timothy have a commitment to preserving and proclaiming the message that was given to him by the Apostles. This is at the heart of mission. At the heart of mission is preserving and proclaiming this message. At the heart of mission is these two things. And by the way, this is our theme, is it not running forward remaining faithful. Remaining faithful is about preserving the message, and running forward is about proclaiming the message. And this is what Paul is telling Timothy. But here's the question, why do we need to be reminded of this again and again and again. There's some reason that Paul is telling Timothy to be mindful of these things. In other words, there is something that. He knows will likely draw him away from these things, or at least tim tim to be drawn away from these things. Well, that's where you get the second half of the thing. The first half of the theme is preserving and proclaiming. The second half of the theme of the book is enduring the hardship that will follow inevitably as a result. Remember, Paul knows that he is about to die. Why is he about to die proclaiming the gospel? So, in short, here's what Paul is doing with young Timothy. He's saying, young Timothy, they're about to kill me for preaching the gospel. When they kill me, preach the gospel. Amen. They're about to kill me for doing this. And when they kill me for doing this, I want you to take up the mantle and do the very thing for which they are killing me. Now that's not normal, Amen, Here's normal. Normal is they're going to kill me for doing this. You probably don't want to do it. Amen. By the way, that's normal from both ends. First, it's normal from the father figure for a father figure to say, hey, listen, I'm in prison and I'm about to be executed. Do what they're about to execute me for. That's not normal. Normal is son, look at me, look at where I am. They're about to execute me for what I've done. Don't you dare do what I've done? That's normal. What's normal for the sun figure. What's normal for the Sun figure is to come there, look at the father figure about to be executed for whatever, and say, you know what, there's a lot of things in my life that I might take from him. I'm not taking this from him. And yet this is exactly the opposite. Notice what it says again in every chapter one, verse eight. Again, therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord nor me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the Gospel by the power of God. Oh, we got to pause there for a minute. We got to pause there for a minute, because again, there is theology that is crept into the church. And this theology that is crept into the church has lied to people. And the lie is this, if you are suffering, it's because you must be outside the will of God. Because if you're in the will of God, then you won't suffer, Paul says, But share in suffering. For the Gospel by the power of God. We're being told that the power of God exists to deliver us from suffering, and that if we really tap into the power of God, we will eliminate our suffering. Folks, that's blasphemy, that's unbiblical, Paul says. It's the power of God that enables you to suffer. This is part and parcel of the Christian life. Christianity is not, nor has it ever been, nor will it ever be, get out of suffering free card. Oftentimes, when you come to faith, you invite suffering. This is amazing to me. It's amazing to me that people get away with preaching this stuff. It's amazing to me that people sit and listen to those who preach this stuff. People stand up and read from the apostles writings, and they say things like, if you have faith, if you serve God, if you love God, you will not suffer. And they're preaching from the letters of men who were beheaded, one run through with a spear, another beaten to death with a brush of an olive tree, boiled in oil, and crucified upside down. So we read the writings of these men who suffered this kind of death, and we say that what these. Men are trying to communicate. To you is that if you believe what they wrote, you won't get what they got. You see how wrong this is. Next two Timothy one, eleven and twelve for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher. Which is why I suffer as I do? What's the message? The message is, you suffer because you're not being obedient. You suffer because you're not having faith. You suffer because you're not doing it right. Paul says, I'm doing it right, and that's why I'm suffering. Sans. Do you see this? By the way, this is why he has to encourage young Timothy to preserve and proclaim the truth why, because when suffering comes, you will be tempted not to. When suffering comes, you will be tempted to do anything you need to do in order to relieve the suffering. And so so, if you need to adjust the gospel that you preach just a little bit so that you will no longer suffer, then you adjust the gospel just a little bit so that you will no longer suffer. But once you adjust the gospel just a little bit so that you will no longer suffer, the enemy will constantly press in on you to adjust. Again and again and again. In the Arab world there is the same The translation of it is basically, if you let the camel get his nose in the tent, the rest of him will soon follow. Amen chapter two. Again, you see this in every chapter. Share and Suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. Again, I don't want to belabor this point, but at every point he is defining the current teaching of the age. Share and Suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civil pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. Two verse eight. Remember Jesus Christ had risen from the dead. The officering of David has preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with change as a criminal. Three. Beginning in verse ten, Paul is giving his bona fides here as an apostle. You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my step fastest, my step fastest. Again, why don't we hear that? People say because they don't have, saying because they don't have. Come on, now, everybody, why because they don't have That's what we're told. Right, Let me read this list again. You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my what, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings. He puts it all on the same list that I happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra. Not just one time, Paudy said, you remember that time I suffered. That's not what he says. It's his lot in life. Everywhere he went he suffered, which persecutions I endured? Yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, Lord help me today. Did you read that? Because again, another thing that's happening is, you know, there's these these these promises in the Bible, and we have to go and claim these promises in the Bible. And oftentimes we claim these promises in the Bible that are promises really that don't we don't have any business claiming at all, you know. And then there's other promises in the Bible that I promises directly to us, and we won't claim them. And I'm waiting for somebody to claim this one, because this is a promise in the Word of God directly to us. Right, we love to go claim you know, if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and turn from that where he weighs and so and so and so, you know, I heal their lands and give their sins, we love that. In America, we have this thing called the National Day of Prayer. We kill that verse to death at National Day of Prayer time. Paula, and I'm sitting there going, okay, wait a minute. This is what God says to Israel at the dedication of the Temple, and he says that he'll hear the prayers offered in this place, meaning the. Temple in Jerusalem. How did that become America? Amen? Somebody, how did that become America? I mean, we're just ripping this thing, kicking his cream out of this context. And then here's one right here. Why go steal other people's promises when you have your own? And I'm waiting to go to that one service where somebody stands up and says, Lord, I'm claiming my persecution in Jesus' name. Holler, persecution is coming, right, But it's right there. All those who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus shall be persecuted. It's a promise. It's a guarantee, while. Evil people and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. You know, the great irony here because we bought this lie about suffering and persecution. You know what, many young Christians will ask. Their faith is shaken because they look around and they say, here are these people who are not faithful to God, and here are these people who are not faithful to the Gospel, and it seems that they are actually prospering, and they asked that question as though that's an indictment against God. The opposite is true. That's exactly what God said in his words. Amen, That's exactly what God said in his word. David dealt with his in Psalm seventy three when he says, my foot had almost slipped, and then what happened. He considered their end, he considered where they're headed, and he's reminded to have an eternal perspective. Four verse five, as for you always be sober minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. Again, in every chapter of the letter, it is, on the one hand, preserve and proclaim this gospel, and on the. Other hand, it's endure the suffering. That will come to you inevitably as a result of doing so. That there are a lot of people who are struggling at this point, and in fact, when we. Think about running forward admissions, it's very easy. To struggle at this point because you know you've come to a place and you know you're preaching the gospel, and there are certain aspects of a gospel. That people in the area where. You're preaching they just don't like, and they just don't respond to. And so what you say is okay, fine, I'll just emphasize other aspects of the gospel, and then maybe eventually we'll get around to those. And so we emphasize the other aspects of that, and we reshape the gospel in order to fit and in order to appease men. Listen. We do this because we don't believe what Kin's been teaching us about the doctrines of grace. We do this because we actually believe that man is capable in his fallen state of seeing Christ as his greatest good. And so what we do is we just try to get to that part of man that's not fallen and reason with that part of man that's not fallen. And if there's. Something over here that that part of man that is reasonable and not fallen doesn't like, we'll just keep it over there until we convince this part of man that's reasonable and not fall what's the problem. He's not reasonable and he has fallen. Don't let the camel get his nose in the ten. The content of this message, it's looked now more carefully at chapter two, verse two. What you have heard from me? What you have heard from me? Four things we see here that if we're going to run forward, just four commitments or four things about this commitment. One, there's a commitment to Apostolid teaching. The first thing about this that we see is that it's a commitment to Apostolic teaching. The second thing that we see about the content here is that it's part of a common Pauline theme. This is not just something for Timothy, but this is a common Pauline theme. We also see that it's a common New Testament theme. And then I want you to see that Paul introduces what I would argue is the idea of confessionalism as a guard and a guide. Let's look at this first commitment to Apostolic teaching in chapter two, verse one. It's chapter one, verse one, sorry, and then in verse eleven Paul identify himself as an apostle. It's rather ironic that he would do this multiple times in a letter that's written to a close personal friend who knows that he's an apostle. However, it's important to his seen because Paul is not calling Timothy to remember what he's been taught because of his personal affection for Paul. He's calling him to hold on to it because of Paul's office as an apostle. That's why it's important, not because of the personal relationship, because of the authority that Paul has as an apostle. So he says, Paul an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus. And then in verse eleven for which I was appointed. A preacher and apostle and teacher, he reminds him, I am an apostle, so I'm not just coming to you as your friend. I'm coming to you as an apostle. We hold to Apostolic teaching, and we hold the Apostolic teaching above holding to friendships. We hold the Apostolic teaching above holding to other allegiances. I never forget the first time I heard the phrase is during my training and seminary. We're just talking about the authority of scripture and the sufficiency of scripture. We're talking about the doctrine of revelation, the doctrine of the Word of God, and the phrase king. This doctrine means that we must be willing to forsake the teaching of our closest friends, family, and even our most strusted teachers. If it does not accord with what we find in scripture. Amen, Hallelujah, Praise the Lord. We must be willing to disagree with it. It's uncomfortable sometimes. Listen. I agree with John Calvin on things. I love Calvin I do, and when I find things where I disagree with him, there's always this sort of check that goes. Man, this is Calvin. But if I don't believe he's reading the text right at a particular point, I have to jennison what he said and hold to the text. Amen. This is what the Behrens did, and an apostle commended them for it. An apostle commended them for it. Paul didn't say, how dare you check out what I'm saying against the scripture. No, he commended them for it, and we ought to be like them. It's a common following thing. We see it. For example, second Thessalonians two fifteen Southern brothers stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter tiedus one to nine. Speaking of the elder, it says he must number one whole firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may too be able to give instruction in sound doctrine. And three also rebuke those who contradicted that sound doctrine is Apostolic teaching. It's also a common New Testament theme. We see this, for example in Acts two forty two. What does the church look like? They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers, And all came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching. This hasn't changed. We devote ourselves to the apostles, teaching confessionalism as a guide and guard. The Second Timothy, chapter one, beginning verse nine saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the Agis began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior of Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel. And it is this to which Paul refers when he says the pattern of sound words two beginning. Of verse eight. Part of this appears to be an early hymn. We remember Christ Jesus risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my Gospel, for which I am suffering bound with change as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. The saying is trustworthy. Here's a trustworthy say, and it was a trustworthy saying that was preserved probably in him form. For if we have died with him, we will also live with him. If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we deny him, he also will deny us. If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself. And in your mibls it ought to even be sent off as a song by the way it's printed there. So how do we do this? How do we use confessionalism as a guide and guard in terms of preserving and proclaiming the Gospel? And why should we use confessionalism as a guide and guard? I would argue, and again this would not be universal among all reformed people. But I would argue that being reformed is about three C's this to separate people who are, you know, just Calvin instinct from people who are reformed. That people who are reformed are number one, Calvin instinct. They're at least that as can be said to us. Number Two, they're convenancial and their theology. And number three, they're confessional. They hold to Reform confessions. Now some more formally than others. But why would I say that. Well, if I say that I'm reformed, I'm saying that I hold to the doctrines that came to us out of the Reformation. Well guess what those doctrines were codified in confessions that came out of the Reformation. And so if I'm holding to Reform theology, I ought to be holding to theology that resembles those confessions. Amen. This means that we hold to confessions and that we ought. To be using catechisms in order to keep him. Remember those creeds and confessions. Why Number one, because they connect us with the historical church. Because they connect us with the historical church, and we are connected to the historical church we're connected to the Apostolic Church. We're connected to people who've been doing this for thousands of years, and those great creeds and confessions remind us that we're not the first ones to come up with this. Amen. We're connected to people who believe these very same things. Secondly, they clarify our doctrine. They clarify our doctrine. Who are we and what do we believe? Well, if you want to know who we are and what we believe, here's something that you can read. And there are a lot of people, and even some Baptist people, and they'll say things like this, Well, no, no, no, no, I don't believe in all that creed and confession stuff. No creed but Christ. Two problems with that number One, that's a creed. Amen, No creed but Christ, that's a creed. Number two, you have to define Christ. Amen, no creed but Christ. The Jehovah's witness can jump up and say amen. The Mormon can jump up and say Amen. And now the person who says they don't believe in creeds, who just said no creed but Christ, looks at the Mormon and the Jehovah's witness and says, oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, you don't mean the same thing that I mean when I say Christ. When I say Christ, I mean whatever comes out of your mouth next is credle and confessional. Don't buy it when people tell you that Baptists are not credal or confessional. We always have been. That's why we have Baptist confessions going back as far as sixteen forty four. Thirdly, it's a guide for discipling children and new converts. It's a guide for discipling children and new converts. There are a couple of ways that we can think about discipleship, and oftentimes we get hung up on what discipleship is. The one way that we look at discipleship is the factory model, and we say, here's what discipleship is. There's gonna be a series of five or six classes. You go through those five or six classes, and we're gonna teach you how to have a class on. We're gonna teach you how to share your faith. We're gonna help. You find what your spiritual gifts are, and we're gonna, you know, whatever, four or five things and we're gonna do. And then bam, you have been disciples know you haven't. No, you haven't. There's so much that you don't know. Creeds, confessions, catechism help give us a guide for discipling new converts. There's a catechism that we use. With our children when they're smaller. There's several of them that we use. The one that we use with them when they're smaller is a catechism for boys and girls. And it's interesting that you know we use that and oftentimes talk about how it's important for families to categories and how they need categories, and they talk about fathers and a lot of the books that are out there of mind, we're talking about how fathers have to step up and leave their families. And the question that often comes is, well, what do you do if the father is a relatively new believer and he's supposed to take this role of leading, spiritulating his home and teaching his children and he doesn't know much his self. Well, if he's a new believer, then he needs to be catechized. Just like his children do. So what do you do. You give him a catechism and you kill two birds with one stone, and you tell them all you gotta do is be a day ahead. But yeah, but the Catechism for boys and girls, that's for children. If it's for children, then certainly it wouldn't be fit for you know, grown ups. Really, Catechism for boys and girls? Who made you? God made me? What else did God make? God made all things? Why did God make you and all things? Where's glory? How can you glorify God by loving him and doing with in commands? Why? How can you glorify God because He made me in takes care of me. Are there more gods than one? There is only one? And how many persons does this one? God exists for your persons? Who are they? The Father of the Son? The Holy Spirit? Who is God? God is the spirit that doesn't have a body like men? Where is God? God is everywhere? Can you see God? Know? I cannot see God, but He always sees me. Does God know all things? Yes? Nothing can be hidden from God. Can God do all things? Yes? God can do all his Holy will? Where do you learn how to love and o make God? And the Bible alone? Who wrote the Bible? Holy men? Who were taught by the Holy Spirit? Who are our first parents Adam and Eve? Of what our first parents made? God made the body of Adam I and the ground is formed to eat from the body of Adam? What did God give Adam and Eve? Besides bodies? He gave them souls that will never die? Have you a soul as well as a body? Yes, I have a soul that will never die. How do you know you have a soul because the Bible tells me so. In What condition did God make out Ofam? And if you made them holy and happy? Did they say holy? Have to know they sinned against God? What is sin? Sin as any transgression of the law of God? What was the sin of our first parents eating the forbid the truth? Who tended them to the sin? The devil tempted even she gave the truth to Adam? Why did they eat the fruit because they did not believe what God had said? What happened to our first parents after they had sin? Instead of being holy and happened they became sinful and miserable? What effect did the sin of Adam have on all men? All mankind is born in a state of sin and misery? And again we go on from there. There's over one hundred questions in that catechism. Now you tell me this, what new believer doesn't need to know what I just said. Every new believer needs to know that catechism is a powerful teaching to them. And here we are wandering around trying to figure out, you know, what do we do for discipleship? What material do we use for discipleship? How do we And we've got these wonderful catechisms that have been written hundreds of years ago that the Church has been relying on to teach the basics of Christian doctrine to new believers and to children. Why aren't we using them? We ought to be, We ought to be as we run forward. Finally, Creeds, catechisms, and confessions expose and guard against the cults. They expose and guard against the cults. And so the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Mormons. You know, I haven't seen Mormons here, but I'm assuming that they're around somewhere. Okay, the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Mormons, you know they're here, right, And their cults. How do we know that their cults? How do we teach our children that these are cults? How do we let them know that they're in a cult? Well, the Creeds, Confessions, and catechisms of the Faith make it. Very clear what Christians have believed since the beginning. Sit down with it, Jehovah's witness and go through the affirmation creed where affirmations dealt with their heresy. Long, long, long. Believers who are faced with Jehovah's witnesses. Cannot answer them. Why Because believers have come to faith. They went through a discipleship class. They learned how to read your Bible and have a quiet time, how to share your faith. They learned, how to assess your spiritual gifts. They learned, you know, four or five other things. They learned. How that's it. That's what they learn. And now you're a disciple. Now go find someplace to serve. In the church. And now that Jehovah's witnesses come up to you and say, Jesus is actually not God like the Father is God. But he was the first creative being. That's why he's called the first born overall creation. And you sit there going, well, you know, the Trinity is too difficult for us to understand. For most Christians, that's their only answer. Been at Christian ten fifteen years. And your answer to the Jehovah's witness who presses you is well, you know, we can't exactly understand or explain the Trinity. We just have to believe it. How about you to learn the affirmation Creed. Because it explains the Trinity, and for hundreds of years it's been fine for us, and it's the perfect answer for the Jehovah's witnesses. Number one because it answers their heresy specifically. And number two because it shows that for hundreds of years, this is what the church has believed about the Trinity. But again, we're afraid of creers. The context. You've heard this in the presence of many witnesses. This means that he's heard to preach. Here's what it means. Timothy wasn't pulled aside and given, you know, a diet all on his own that had nothing to do with the diet that was given to everybody else. He says, you've heard these things from me in the presence of many witnesses. That means Paul was preaching and everybody heard this. He may have given Timothy some more specific personal instruction, but everybody heard this. This means our preaching should be doctrinal. Our preaching should be doctrinal. Well, you know, we don't want to preach all that doctrine stuff. You don't preach. You're preaching doctrine. Do you either mean to preach doctrine or you don't mean to preach doctrine. You're either intentional about the doctrine you preach or you're unintentional about the doctrine you preach. But you're preaching doctrine. We must preach again. This is another reason why the cults come around and they ask a specific doctrinal question and. People have been don't think I don't know. I can tell you take ways to have a happy life, and five ways to reduce stress, and you know four ways to raise up they have the kids and whatever doctrine, I don't know. Who's that. Our preaching should be expository. We should preach the Biblical text in context. Our preaching should be expository. Why because of the doctrine and the sufficiency of scripture. Because scripture sufficient. We preach the Bible. Because my opinions are not sufficient. Preach the Bible. Secondly, our preaching should be exhaustible. We should preach the whole counsel of God. We should preach everything I believe. We should through books in the Bible and just go. Amen. There was also a personal instruction. Paul instructed Timothy personally, this is time consuming and it's risky, and this is why we don't do it. This is why we don't invest in young men with potential. This is why we just entrusted to the university in the seminary. And this is why the university in the seminary sits there and says we can give them information, but they need a church to evaluate them, to disciple them, to mentor them. You don't learn how to be a pastor in a seminary, Amen, somebody. You learn how to be a pastor in a church. And this whole idea that we divorce the training of pastors who are to serve and love and give their lives to and for the church from the church they're supposed to serve. And love is nonsense. It's the church. And anybody else who's aiding the church is doing just that. They're aiding the church. You cannot learn how to be a pastor in a classroom. The only way you learn how to be a pastor to be beat up by some sheep for a while, Amen, the sheep bite. You'll learn that in the seminary classroom. You learn that in church, and then you come back to the seminary and you go, professor, this sheep bit me, and the professor goes, excellent. Their training has begun. So you sit in a classroom and you can learn about how to counsel somebody on this issue or that issue, but you know what you want learn in a classroom. You won't learn the heartache that you experience as a. Pastor when you look somebody in the eye and tell them the truth and they look you back in the eye, and you know that behind their eyes they're saying, I'm not doing that, and you've seen it dozens of times before, and you know what they're about to do to themselves and what they're about to do to their souls. And yet they get up and they walk out, and months later they come back for you to pick up the pieces. You don't learn that in a classroom. You don't learn what it's like to stand up and preach and serve and suffer and then have people murmur on your back. About petty things. You don't learn that in a classroom. You know where you learn that. You learn that by walking with a pastor and watching him endure these things as a godly man. So that you understand what it means to shepherd a flock. Do you need the discipline of Greek and Hebrew and systema theology and all the stuff, amen, Yes, yes, yes, yes, Praise. The Lord, get all of that. But there's some things that that won't teach you. And the only way that these young men are going to learn this is if the experienced pastors among us will take them under our way and let them walk with us. That's the only way it's going to happen. Listen to this chapter one, verses two through seven. But listen to this. This is an apostle. This was a busy, busy man, amen. I mean when he wasn't traveling and preaching, he was in jail writing. I mean, this was a busy busy man to Timothy, my beloved child. He didn't say that to everybody. By the way, Timothy's without a father, so it's important that he refers to him this way. Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank God whom I serve as did my ancestors, with the clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers ninth and days, as I remember your tears, as I long to. See you, that I may be filled with joy. I'm reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that brought first in your grandmother Lewis and your mother Eunice, and now I am sure dwells and you as well. For this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God which is in you through the laying on my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and self control. You know what we learned there. Paul knew Timothy. He knew his strengths, he knew his weaknesses, he knew his family, he knew his background, he knew his journey and faith, he knew his fears. He knew Timothy. Timothy wasn't just a faith and a crowd. Timothy was a man in whom he invested his life. Paul prayed for Timothy. He prayed for Timothy. This was a personal, intimate relationship. Paul and Timothy served together, and they walked in together, and they suffered together. How do I know that, Because Paul says, I remember your tears. This is the making of a pastor. You can't put this on a piece of paper what Paul got from Timothy. You can't put on a piece of paper the commission in trust to faithful man who will be able to teach others. Also, it must be intentional, it must be personal uh a purposeful and it must be selective. When we talk about being selective, we talk about called man men who are called of God. There has to be a calling on a man's life. You can't edum educate a man into the pastor that he has to be called into it. He has to come to a place where he says, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel. There has to be a calling on his life. You can't manufacture that. We can't manufacture that. And I'm afraid that what we've done, especially in our culture, what we've done is we've created this expectation and we've created this environment of professionalism that says, if you want to do this, here are the steps that you go through. You go to this school, you get this degree, and then you go out and get this job, and you work your way up to that job, and eventually this is how you do it. And so we have these professionals who are serving in the. Ministry, and many of them are worth a quarter because they're just professionals who are serving in the ministry and there is no sense. Of the calling of God on their lives, none whatsoever. And you will not endure if there is not a calling of God on your life to do this. This is not a job. You don't come to this and do this as a job. You do this because it's a calling. There is a price to pay, and you will not pay it if. You are not called. We need to talk about that calling from God and examine men for that calling from God. Gifted men, men who are gifted folks. You can love the church and you can want to serve the church, but there are gifts that God gives that are required to serve in this particular regard. We look for those gifts. We look for qualified men. New Testament writers went to great links to give us specific qualifications for men who serve in leadership positions in the church. We need to pay attention to those men who are tested and proven. The only way that can be tested and proven is if we make this investment and then continuity. This is where it all goes to the continuity. Why is all of this important. It's all important because we desire that the faith be continued. We're running forward. This is our mission. Again, Paul has missions in mind in this letter. Paul has the advance of the Gospel. In mind in this letter. Listen to this from John Gallery. I don't disagree with him at all on this. Calvin, commenting on this passage, he again shows how earnestly desirous he is to transmit sound doctrine to posterity, and he exhorts Timothy not only to preserve its shape and features as he formerly did, but likewise to hand it down to godly teachers, that being widely spread, it may take root in the hearts of many. For he saw that it would quickly perish if it were not soon scattered by the minut of many persons. And indeed we see that. Satan did not long after the death of the apostles, For just as if preaching had been varied for some centuries, he. Brought in innumerable reveries, which. By their monstrous absurdity, surpassed the superstitions of all the Heathens. We need not wonder therefore, if Paul. In order to guard against an evil of such a nature and of such magnitude, earnestly desires that his doctrines shall be committed to all godly ministers who shall be qualified to teach it. Paul knew then what we know now. There is error around and three corner. And as the apostles were dying off, or more specific being killed off, it became more and more important and more and more urgent to them that these things be recorded. And not only that these things be recorded again, there's the preserving. We want these things to be recorded, but these things had to be handed off to faithful men who would hold onto them and who would spread them abroad. The gospel had to be communicated. The gospel had to be spread, so it had to be preserved so that it would be pure. We had to remain faithful. It's got to be pure. It's got to be the apostotic doctrine as we've perceived it from the apostles. And in second, when we've got to run forward, we've got to take it. We don't just hold on to that pure doctrine as they us forward, no more shut the door. We preserve that pure doctrine. And then we'd propagate that pure doctrine. And as we propagate that pure doctrine, it is only going to spread as God multiplies those ministers who will take it upon themselves too. I've read this pure doctrine, and that must be in the forefront of our minds as a church. And listen, it's hard. It's hard. Why is it hard? Well, first of all, it's hard because as process, we're busy. Heymen, we're busy. There's a lot of stuff to be done, and we're just playing old busy and when we look at what we have, you know, just right here, here's what I have to say, grace over right here in front of me. Oftentimes it's very easy for us to forget there's this work to be done beyond the work that we're doing, because we're busy. Secondly, because we're busy, it's much easier to hold longs to good men than it is to let them go. It's hard to let go of good men. It's much easier to keep them because they strengthen your hand. And you say, look, here's all this work that I have, and I'm so incredibly busy, and now I'm going to go pour my life into this young minister, and then this young minister is going to become capable, and then I'm going to let him go. No, when he becomes capable, he can help me and my work can become more manageable. And if one more helper is good, five more of great. I served on a staff once at a megachurch in the United States. I tell you this at the end of. The meeting so that you won't judge me. But I did. I did. I served on the staff of the mega church in the United States where there were third ministers on the full time payroll, thirty on the full time payroll, making nice stallions thirty And when I was involved in that world, just never dawned on me that there might be, I don't know, another use for twenty five of these guys. But all we could think of was building this. Kingdom between our four walls. And we always needed somebody else to do something else. There was always something that could be done better, something that could be managed better, someone who could oversee this, someone who could oversee We even had ministers on the payroll who were called pastor of whatever, and they weren't even preachers. We had an executive pastor This man couldn't preach his way out of a paper bag. And he would tell you that God hadn't called him to preach, He called him to overseas. We had a counseling pastor, again, not a preacher. We had a pastor over the recreation ministry, again not a preacher. All of these people who were coddling, overfed and greedy sayers. When the world was crying out, can you send. Us a messenger? We have to be willing to let go of fifty men, and it's a hard thing to do. The other difficulty with this is there's pressure coming at us from the outside. There's pressure always coming at us from the outside, but there's pressure in very specific ways in the day and age in which we live that's coming at us from the outside. We've alluded to some of these pressures already this week, but there's the pressure that comes at us that says, you know, you're sitting here and you're ministering to twenty thirty, forty fifty people. If you would just tweak your music like this, and if you would just tweak your sermons like that, you could or quadruple the attendance in this place and wouldn't it be better to minister to two hundred people than to minister to fifty people? And then the little voice comes into your ear, Well, if you're not willing to tweet these things so that you can reach more people, do you really have a passion for souls? Because if you really had a passion for souls, that would be far more important to you than holding on to something like dot dot. Paul does not give Timothy the warning. In chapter four. So that when he saw people running off into miss and when he saw them not enduring sound doctrine, that he wouldn't sit there and. Say, I wonder what's happening. Paul gave him this warning. So that Timothy would preach the word regardless of the temptation that always comes to hold onto people. However, you have to hold on to them, you see. This is why he says, preach the word before you tell them. What's gonna have? Priest the word. Be ready in season, out of season, reprove, review, exhort with complete patience and teaching. Why why do I tell you this? I tell you this because there's gonna come a time where people are going to want something from you, and you're gonna be tempted to give it to them, And right after that he says, but you you would do a hardship. There are these conferences all over the world where people will come and say, we went from fifty people to fifteen. Thousand, and here's how we did it. And the temptation is to say, who wouldn't want to minister the fifteen thousand people? What can it hurt to learn how to go from fifty to fifteen thousand. So there's the temptation from those in the cults. There's the temptation from our busyness. There's the temptation from our hardship and the suffering that we endure that we just don't want to endure anymore. And then there's the temptation from success. I've been to so many churches. I know that there are pastors out here in front of me who are laboring faithfully in places with ten members, twenty members, thirty members. I've sat down and had conversations with some of you, and you're prevailing with God in prayer like you never have before. The presence and power of God on your ministry is such that you've never seen. Your preaching is that as anoided of the spirit of God as it's ever been. You're digging deeper into the text and bringing more meat from the Word than you ever brought. And you went from fifty people down to twenty five. And you kneel in prayer at night, and you weep before the Lord and say why this letter was written for you? Preserve and proclaim the epistotic doctrine. That's your job. Endure the suffering that will come. It is inevitable. Endure it how long I don't know how long. Until you find relief from it, or until you face him and he says, well done, good and faithful servant. But endure it. Endure it, endure it, endure it. Preach the word in season out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and teaching. Just do it, Just do it. Just do it. And then when you find every once in a while that faithful man that God brings alongside you, invest in him. Invested in it. And then when you invested in it, rejoice in the health that God has brought you. But the minute God places it on his heart to go and multiply the work, open your. Hands and let him go. Why Because there are one point eight billion people on this planet who've never heard the name of Jesus. And if we hold on to every gifted man with a tight fist, they never will. How can they preach you. Unless they're sent. Let's pray, Oh God, we confess to you that we are tempted to compromise. Then we confess to you that the temptation is great. We are tempted because of the hardship that we simply grow weary of enduring. We are tempted because of the work that can be so overwhelming. We're timpted because of the success. That we envy. And we're tempted because of the sin that so easily besets us. We're tempted because of the smallness of our vision. We're tempted because of our forgetfulness. We're tempted because we don't remember that the only way we received the Gospel is that someone was released to bring it to us. We're tempted because it's hard for us to see beyond ourselves and our own surroundings. We're tempted because it's hard to see beyond our own knees in the here and the now. And we're tempted because we do not comprehend the reality of the mission to which we've been called, the mission which we've been given. The mission that is the very reason that we remain in this world, granted by your grace, that we might repent of these sins, that we might turn to and trust Christ, that we might have a passion for souls, that we might rejoice. He said, this bread of the Gospel, and that Christ might have the fullness of the reward for which he died. This we pray that his name and for his sake, Amen. H m hm hm m hm hm hm m m m m m. M m. M m m us Nations